Bible Geek Word Nerd - Say #9 - the Big AMAR and DABAR

Say #9 - Say it ain't so

September 19, 2022 

Long, long ago, on a keyboard far away, we began typing out a series of posts on various Hebrew words translated as some form of “to say”. 

 

We’ve made the point ad nauseam that Biblical Hebrew has orders of magnitude fewer words to work with (about 8000) than does English. Consequently, Hebrew words often do double and triple duty, which can present challenges and obstacles to translation. It is the single best argument for reading the Text in multiple translations if you want a better understanding of what’s being written. Moreover, translators are human with all of the biases and a priori commitments “that flesh is heir to”. As is often said in the world of hermeneutics, context is king. The very same Hebrew word which plainly means one thing in one part of the text, might necessarily mean something completely different in another. This is why it is literally impossible to have a literal translation of the Hebrew Bible. 

 

As it relates to our ongoing series, there are about 27 different English words used by the NIV translators for “to say”, running from “add” and “announce” to “talk” and “utter”. These 27 words comprise 6,239 occurrences and are all derived from 11 Hebrew verbs, of which we have discussed nine. 

So much for a level set. Now let’s jump into the final two verbs, which are the Big Ones in the Hebrew Text: DABAR (דָבַר) and AMAR (אֲמַר). 

 

AMAR is by far the more common of the two, appearing 5308 times in the Hebrew Bible. DABAR occurs 1144 times in the Text. While they are obviously similar in that they each mean some form of “to say”, there are both significant and subtle differences between them which have potentially profound implications for how you read the Text.

 

AMAR means “to utter, to say”. In the Hebrew Bible, it is also rendered as answer, appoint, boast, challenge, command (though there is another Hebrew verb which is more common for that English word), declare, demand, require, and utter. AMAR gives us the Hebrew nouns EMER (אֵמֶר) and IMRAH (אִמְרָה), which mean utterance, speech, or word, but also commandment and promise.

 

AMAR enters the Text in the beginning on the first page of the Bible. Genesis 1:3 reads, “And G-d SAID, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” The word is used 30 times in the first three chapters of Genesis. Its final use is in Malachi 3:14, which tells us, “‘You HAVE SAID, “It is futile to serve God. What do we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the LORD Almighty?”

 

DABAR (or DAVAR, depending on how the “B” is pronounced) means “to speak”, and in the Text, it might be rendered as answer, declare, talk, or teach (though there is another word more commonly rendered as “teach”). Its noun form is DABAR, appearing the phrase “the word of the LORD”, for an important example.

 

DABAR makes its first appearance in Genesis 8:15, “Then G-d said to Noah…” And its final use, like AMAR’s, is in Malachi, one verse before AMAR’s final use: “’You HAVE SPOKEN arrogantly against me,’ says the LORD. Yet you ask, ‘What HAVE we SAID against you?’”.

 

It would be a grave error to think that simply because they are synonyms AMAR and DABAR are interchangeable. They are not. In our next post, we will look at some important differences which might encourage you to look behind your English translations to discover some of the hidden beauty in the Text.