the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Dictionaries
Jehovah-Jireh
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
or JEHOVAH-JIREH . The name given by Abraham ( Genesis 22:14 ) to the spot where he offered a ram in place of his son. The name means ‘Jehovah sees,’ and probably also (with reference to Genesis 22:8 ) ‘Jehovah provides.’ The proverb connected in Genesis 22:14 with the name clearly relates to the Temple hill, ‘the mount of the Lord.’ But it is not easy to see the exact connexion between the name and the proverb. The most obvious translation is ‘in the mount of Jehovah one appears’ (referring to the festal pilgrimages to Jerusalem), but in that case the connexion can be only verbal. Other possible translations are: (1) ‘In the mount of Jehovah it is seen,’ i.e. provided; this is a possible translation in the context; but it appears to be suggested that the proverb had an existence independently of the tradition of Abraham’s sacrifice; in which case the meaning assigned to the verb is not a natural or obvious one. (2) ‘In the mount of Jehovah, Jehovah is seen.’ The significance of the phrase would then be that, as Jehovah sees the needs of those who come to worship Him, so as a practical result He is seen by them as a helper. Other translations have been suggested which do not, however, alter the general sense. Driver decides that, unless the connexion be regarded as purely verbal, the last suggestion quoted above seems the most satisfactory. In any case, the point lies in the relation between the name which Abraham gave to the place of his sacrifice and some popular proverb dealing with the Temple at Jerusalem.
A. W. F. Blunt.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Jehovah-Jireh'. Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdb/j/jehovah-jireh.html. 1909.
