the Week of Proper 26 / Ordinary 31
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Bible Dictionaries
Complete
Vine's Expository Dictionary of OT Words
or A. Verb.
Shâlam (שָׁלֵם, Strong's #7999), “to finish, complete, repay, reward.” The Hebrew root denotes perfection in the sense that a condition or action is “complete.” This concept emerges when a concrete object is described. When sufficient building materials were at hand and workmen had enough time to apply them, “the wall [of Jerusalem] was finished” at the time of Nehemiah (Neh. 6:15). However, this Hebrew root is also found in words with so many nuances and applications that at times its original and basic intent is all but obscured. In the NASB, for example, shâlam is represented with such words as: “fulfill, make up, restore, pay, repay, full, whole, wholly, entire, without harm, friendly, peaceably, to be at peace, make peace, safe, reward, retribution, restitution, recompense, vengeance, bribe, peace offering.”Perfection and completeness is primarily attributed to God. He is deficient in nothing; His attributes are not marred by any shortcomings; His power is not limited by weakness. God reminded Job of His uninhibited independence and absolute self-sufficiency: “Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him? Whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine” (Job 41:11). And Job himself admitted: “And who shall repay him what he hath done?” (Job 21:31).
Without any deficiency or flaw in executing justice, God is likewise never lacking in mercy and power to bestow benevolences of every kind. Job is told by his friend: “If thou wert pure … he would make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous” (Job 8:6). He can make it happen that “… to the righteous good shall be repaid” (Prov. 13:21). Cyrus says of the Lord: “He … shall perform all my pleasure” (Isa. 44:28). The Lord will also “… restore comforts unto him and to his mourners” who wept in the Babylonian exile (Isa. 57:18).
The God of perfect justice and goodness expects total devotion from His creatures. Job, suspected of not rendering the required obedience to his Maker, is therefore urged to “be at peace [with God]” (Job 22:21).
The concept of meeting one’s obligation in full is basic in human relationships. Israel’s social law required that the person causing injury or loss “… shall surely make it good” (Exod. 22:14). “And he that killeth a beast shall make it good; beast for beast” (Lev. 24:18). In some instances, an offender “… shall pay double unto his neighbor” (Exod. 22:9). David declared that the rich man who slaughtered the poor man’s only lamb “… shall restore the lamb fourfold …” (2 Sam. 12:6). Debts were not to be left unpaid. After providing the widow with the amount needed, Elisha directed her: “Go sell the oil, and pay [shâlam] thy debt …” (2 Kings 4:7). “The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again …” (Ps. 37:21). A robber who has mended his ways “… give[s] again that he had robbed …” (Ezek. 33:15).
National relationships were established on the basis of “complete” negotiations. Thus cities and peoples “made peace with Israel” after they agreed to Joshua’s stipulations (Josh. 10:1). War between the two kingdoms ended when Jehoshaphat “… made peace with the king of Israel” (1 Kings 22:44).
B. Adjective.
Shâlêm (שָׁלֵם, Strong's #8003), “perfect.” God demanded total obedience from His people: “Let [their] heart therefore be perfect with the Lord our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments …” (1 Kings 8:61). Solomon failed to meet this requirement because “… his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God” (1 Kings 11:4). Hezekiah, on the other hand, protested: “… I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart” (2 Kings 20:3).In business transactions, the Israelites were required to “… have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure …” (Deut. 25:15).
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Vines, W. E., M. A. Entry for 'Complete'. Vine's Expository Dictionary of OT Words. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/vot/c/complete.html. 1940.
