Bible Geek Word Nerd - to say

"Thus sayeth the LORD..."
 A Series on Saying

July 6, 2022

One of our most vivid childhood memories of a semi-religious nature is watching Charlton Heston in the 1956 classic film, “The Ten Commandments”. The film is worth watching for so many reasons, from aesthetic to religious. And Heston was great in the part of the prophet Moses. The film from Cecil B DeMille marked the high water spot in Hollywood’s sword-and-sandal phase (tied for the other Heston epic, “Ben Hur”).

 

The most evocative moments in the film seem to be when Heston’s Moses conflicted with
Yul Brynner’s Pharaoh Rameses. Even today, we can picture them and can hear Heston’s authoritative command, “Thus sayeth the LORD, ‘Let my people go!’”

 

That phrase, “thus sayeth (or saith) the LORD”, is an archetype, one immediately familiar to Bible readers (and classic movie fans). 

 

The phrase occurs more than 430 times in the Hebrew Bible, from Exodus to Malachi. But 360 of those occurrences are in the prophets, with Jeremiah leading the pack at 150 uses, followed closely by Ezekiel with 130 uses.

 

With the phrase being so ubiquitous in prophetic speech, we got thinking about the many ways Hebrew has for saying “to say”. Just as English has its own repertoire of synonyms for “to say” (in fact, Dictionary.com offers 59 synonyms for “say”, from “add” and “announce” to “put forth” and “put into words”), Hebrew also has many ways. Hebrew has significantly fewer words at its disposal than does English. Nevertheless, it is not “one word fits all”. With “to say”, different Hebrew words get the job done, but each of them means something slightly different from the others.

 

The subtle differences between the Hebrew words matter for the meaning of the Text. In the next several posts, we are going to explore several Hebrew words that English translators render into “say” or “said” (or “sayeth”). And we will discuss the nuanced meaning that might lie behind each of them. After all, the Text was meant to be read out loud…to be SAID, in other words. Knowing what “to say” means in the Text might lend new insights into understanding it.

 

So, stay tuned as we explore what is SAID.