Ancient
Hebrew Research Center
Biblical
Hebrew E-Magazine
December, 2004 Issue #010
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Issue Index
Biblical Word of the Month – Trust
Name of the Month – Methuselah
Question of the Month – King David?
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Biblical Word of the Month - Trust
By: Jeff A. Benner
In this issue we are going to look at the different Hebrew words that are translated as "trust". While the word "trust" appears 134 times in the King James Version of the Bible. There are several different Hebrew words behind the English. The English word "trust" is an abstract (cannot be sensed by the five senses), but Hebrew is a concrete oriented language where each word is associated with something that can be sensed by one or more of the five senses. Each of these Hebrew words has their own nuance of meaning that can aid in interpreting the passages they are found in.
חסה (chasah strong's #2620)
Ps 18:2 The LORD [is] my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;
my God, my strength, in whom I will trust. This word has the meaning of
"to lean on someone or something". If you are hiking with a group of
your friends and you sprain your ankle, you are going to lean on one of your
companions to help you out of the wilderness. God is the one that we lean on
when things get tough. We can also lean on our friends and family for support
as well.
בטח (betach strong's #982)
Ps 56:4 In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me. This word has the more concrete meaning of "to cling". A related word, avatiyach (#20) is a melon which clings to the vine. Even though the melon is huge, just as our problems seem to be, the vine is very small. We may not see God but, his is our strength, the one who nourishes us just as the vine nourishes the melon.
יחלל (yachal strong's #3176)
Isa 51:5 My righteousness [is] near; my salvation is gone
forth, and mine arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and
on mine arm shall they trust.
This word is usually translated as hope but it does not mean to wonder if
something will happen and "hope" it does but, to "know"
that something will happen in the future. We do not hope that God will protect
us, we "know" he will. In the above passage the concrete image of
holding onto God's arm for support can be seen but, the word arm (zeroah) is a
Hebraic euphemism (using one word to mean something else) for
"strength". This passage is saying that the people will know that
God's strength will save them.
אמן (aman strong's #539)
Psa 78:22 Because they believed not in God, and trusted
not in his salvation
The word aman means to "be firm". When setting up a tent you always
choose "firm" soil to drive in your tent pegs so that when the wind
blows, the tent pegs will not be pulled out of the ground collapsing your tent
(see Is 22:23 where the word aman is translated as "sure" in the
KJV). This word is the verb form of the word "amen". When we say
"amen", we are literally saying I stand firm on this prayer.
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Name of the Month - Methuselah
By: Jeff A. Benner
This name is pronounced "meh-tu-sheh-lahh" (the "hh" is pronounced hard like the "ch" in the name "Bach") in Hebrew. This name is a combination of two words - metu and shelahh. Strong's dictionary states that this name means "man of the dart". According to Strong, the root for "metu" is the word "mat" (#4962) which means "man" and the word "shelach" (#7973) means a weapon or missile (hence the translation of dart).
But, there is another possible meaning for this name. The word "metu"
may be derived from the word "mot" meaning death and the
"u" is a suffix that means "their" - "their
death". There is no way to know for certain if the final vowel in
"metu" was an "o" or an "u" as the vowel
pointings that make that distinction are of fairly recent origin. If it was
originally an "o" then the suffix would change to "his" -
"his death".
The word shelach (missile or weapon) is the noun form of the verb shalach
meaning "to send" (a missile or weapon that is sent). Shelach has the more literal meaning of "to
send something".
We know have the possible meaning of "their death sends" or "his
death sends". Sounds like an incomplete sentence doesn't it? Well, it is
interesting to note that the year Methuselah died, something very big was sent
- the flood. Methuselah's name may be a prophecy that on the day of his death
"his death will send" the flood.
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Question of the Month – King David?
By: Jeff A. Benner
Q: Is King David mentioned in the archeological record outside of the Bible?
A: Have you heard proponents against the accuracy of the Biblical text say that many of the characters, like King David, or the Temple never existed and that there is no ancient written account of their existence outside of the Biblical text? The inscription above is written in Aramaic (a sister language of Hebrew and written in the same Middle Semitic script as Hebrew). The Arameans were not Hebrews but did write about the King of Israel (top line) and the house of David (bottom line).
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Copyright © 2004
Jeff A. Benner
Ancient Hebrew Research
Center
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or distribute any material within the "Biblical Hebrew E-Magazine"
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