Bible Geek Word Nerd - Keep Hoping

Hope #2

June 29, 2022

In our previous post, we explained that one of our favorite concepts in Scripture is the idea of “hope”. Hope is less certain, less convinced, than faith is. The old preacher Doug Wead used to say that hope is adolescent faith…faith that has not yet grown up. We see it in Paul’s writing:

 

“And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13.

 

We previously discussed the Hebrew term QAVAH (קָוָה), occurring 49 times in Jesus’ Bible and having the primary meaning of “to wait”. Today we are going to look at SAVAR (שָׂבַר), sometimes transliterated as SABAR.

 

SABAR only occurs eight times in the Hebrew Text and has the primary meaning of “inspect” or “examine”. For instance, Nehemiah 2:13: “By night I went out through the Valley Gate towards the Jackal Well and the Dung Gate, examining (SAVAR) the walls of Jerusalem, which had been broken down, and its gates, which had been destroyed by fire.” 

 

But in Ruth 1, English translators render the word as “wait”, as Naomi encourages her daughters-in-law to return to their fathers' houses: “would you WAIT (SAVAR) until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the LORD’s hand has turned against me!’” 

 

In Esther 9:1, it is often translated as “hope”: “…On this day the enemies of the Jews had HOPED (SAVAR) to overpower them, but now the tables were turned and the Jews got the upper hand over those who hated them.”

 

In Psalm 119:166, it has been rendered as “hope”, “wait”, and even “long for”, depending on your version:

 

• NLT: “I LONG FOR your rescue, LORD, so I have obeyed your commands.”
• NIV: “I WAIT FOR your salvation, LORD, and I follow your commands.”
• NASB: “I HOPE FOR Your salvation, LORD, and do Your commandments.”

 

Translation is hard work. SAVAR is one word that can be rendered in multiple ways. As with English, context drives its meaning. But so do the translator’s preferences and a priori commitments. Do you long for, wait for, hope for, or look for G-d’s salvation? The answer, of course, is “yes”.

Bible Geek Word Nerd - the Hope of the Nations

 Hope, #1

 June 29, 2022

One of our favorite concepts in Scripture is the idea of “hope”. Hope is less certain, less convinced, than faith is. The old preacher Doug Wead used to say that hope is adolescent faith…faith that has not yet grown up. We see it in Paul’s writing:

 

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13.

 

The English word “hope” is from a Proto-Germanic word “hopon”, which in Old English became “hopa”. In the Old English, etymologists will tell us that it means “confidence in the future” or the “expectation of something desired”, even “wishful desire”.

 

In the language of Jesus’s Bible, there are three Hebrew words which the English translators render as “hope”: YACHAL (יָחַל), SAVAR (שָׂבַר), and QAVA (קָוָה), with a wildcard fourth word, NAVAT (נָבַט). The simple English “hope”, which seems so familiar conceptually, has rich precedents in the Hebrew.

 

Let’s take these one at a time, for the sake of keeping these posts manageable.

 First look at QAVA (because it’s the first one we learned in our study of Hebrew). For what it’s worth, QAVAH is unrelated (insofar as we know) to the fabulous Mediterranean culinary brand, CAVA, though everytime we think of CAVA, we hope for a chance to eat there.

 

Fundamentally, QAVA means “to wait for”. For instance, in Genesis 49:18: “I wait for Your salvation, Lord.” It occurs 49 times in the Hebrew Bible, the majority of those occurrences being translated as “wait” (which, as Tom Petty would tell you, is the hardest part).

But the origin of the word is very interesting (at least it is to us).

 

Hebrew scholars tell us that the word derives from an earlier root which means “twist” or “stretch”. QAVAH gives us TIQVAH and MIQVEH. It is a TIQVAH that Rahab uses to demonstrate her house is the one that gave refufe to the Hebrew spies in Jericho. (Joshua 2:18: “unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet CORD (TIQVAH) in the window through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into your house.”)

 

One can imagine Rahab and her family letting down the scarlet TIQVAH and then waiting (QAVAH) in anticipation of their deliverance from the destruction promised to Jericho.

 

Bible Geek Word Nerd - Comfort Ye, My People

Comfort

June 20, 2022

We’ve been away for too, too long. Working on some new stuff, but all the while working on some cool Hebrew and Greek words (we cannot read the Psalms without translating the terms – it’s like an addiction).

 

We’re going to take a break from Genesis 1 and beginnings and jump to a word that has been inspired by a friend’s great loss. Her son has become a widower, and she is grieving. Death stalks all of us, until our Lord comes again. And our friend has suffered a devastating, almost inexplicable loss. Parents should not gieve at the death of their children. That is disordered. But our friend lives that disorder and suffers greatly.

 

Our prayer for her is that the G-d of all comfort will comfort her. And the word we wish to look at is the Hebrew word for “comfort”: NACHAM (נָחַם) which means to be sorry or to console oneself.

 

NACHAM occurs over 100 times in the Hebrew Bible as a verb, most famously in Isaiah 40, which occurrence should ear worm us with Handel’s “Messiah”:

 

“Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.”

 

The context of the verse of a powerful promise of forgiveness and restoration, not to mention a promise to the Coming One who puts an end to death itself. And at the end of the chapter comes the ultimate promise:

 

“but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

 

Our friend’s suffering does not magically end with the words from Isaiah. But the G-d of all comfort, who enjoins His people to be comforted, can bring TANCHUM (תַּנְחוּם), which is a noun form of “consolation” or “comfort”.

 

Death is a monster. But “be of good cheer”, the Master says. He has conquered death.

Bible Geek Word Nerd - the Aleph Beth

Beginning, but not at the beginning

June 1, 2022

We have been posting about the Beginning in the Genesis Text. This terrific article from Lois Tverberg will add colour to your understanding of not only the Genesis Text, but to all of Scripture.

 

 

"The rabbis asked the question, “Why do the Scriptures begin with the second letter of the alphabet rather than the first?” Their answer: “To show that the Scriptures do not answer every question, and not all knowledge is accessible to man, but some is reserved for God himself.”"

https://ourrabbijesus.com/articles/the-secrets-god-keeps/