Language Studies

The word gâ’al (Strong's #1351, x11) in its few uses is translated by "pollute" x7, "defile" x3 and once "stain" in the KJV. It is actually spelled identically to gâ’al (Strong's #1350, x104) which is rendered by some idea of redemption or ransom or even revenge in 80% of its uses and again, in a debatable use, by "stain" once (Job 3:5). There…

The verb bâr⒠(Strong's #1254) means literally 'to create by cutting out or carving' (especially in a particular form of the Hebrew verb known as piel, cf. Joshua 17:15,18; Ezekiel 23:47) and the ideas of 'creating' and 'begetting' and 'filling' flow from this. Its close Arabic cousin can mean to carve or cut or whittle wood for an…

The word lâham / lâhêm (Strong's #3859, x2) only occurs in one context, the book of Proverbs, but is repeated in Proverbs 18:8 and 26:22: "The words of a talebearer are as wounds, And they go down into the innermost parts of the belly." (Proverbs 18:8, KJV) "The words of a talebearer are like tasty trifles, And they go down into the inmost…

The word tâbhal (Strong's #2881, x16) is first used in Genesis 37:31 of Joseph's brothers taking his multicoloured tunic and dipping it in goat's blood to fake his death. Usually rendered by baptô (Strong's #911) "to dip, dye" in the Greek Septuagint version of the Old Testament it is unexpectedly translated here by molunô (Strong's #3435), a verb…

The root verb bâsar (Strong's #1319, x26) is used of bringing or carrying fresh news generally from the battlefront. The messenger was usually "fresh-faced" or "flushed" from his arrival and the news was usually "good", though its first use in 1 Samuel 4:17, using the participle of the verb mebhassêr, is of a "messenger" bringing the bad news…

The word, tâmîym (Strong's #8549, x91) means "complete perfection" and in the Greek Septuagint Old Testament is translated by such words as teleios "mature, complete, finished, perfect". It derives from the verb tâmam (Strong's #8552, x64) "to be complete, finished, whole" first used during the famine in Egypt of both the money being…

The word tôrâh (Strong's #08451) means more than just 'law', its usual simplistic translation (always 'law' in the KJV 219x). It derives from yrh yârâh (Strong's #03384) meaning 'to shoot out the hand as pointing, to show, indicate', 'to teach, instruct', 'to lay foundations', 'to sprinkle, to water', 'to shoot…

The Hebrew verb lâmadh (Strong's #3925, x86) begins with the picture letter l, pronounced lâmedh, of an ox-goad, used for disciplining and training an animal or soldiers. The shape of the Phoenician letter, like the Hebrew, also resembles an ox-goad. Hence, we get the once-used mal'mâdh an "ox-goad" (Strong's #4451), in Judges 3:31, of Shamgar…

Amos 3:7 must be one of the most beautiful pictures of the early relationship between the prophet and God. A proper understanding of the picture language that Hebrew is able to portray enhances the full meaning of this verse. The word çôwdh, usually rendered 'secret' in this passage is not done justice…

The word ‘êdhen and its feminine counterpart ‘edhenâh (Strong's #5730) occur just four times. Despite the masculine word being spelled the same as the word used for the Garden of Eden, it is not certain that the two are related. Eden, used 14 times from Genesis 2:8 onwards, describes a place, which may truly have described as a garden of…