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location) and an opening for entry (a passageway): “… And the incense altar, and his
staves, and the anointing oil, and the sweet incense, and the hanging for the
at the
of the tabernacle …” (Exod. 35:15).
There are a few notable special uses of
!
The word normally refers to a part of
the intended construction plans of a dwelling, housing, or building; but in Ezek. 8:8 it
represents an “entrance” not included in the original design of the building: “… When I
had digged in the wall, behold a door.” This is clearly not a doorway. This word may be
used of a cave’s “opening,” as when Elijah heard the gentle blowing that signified the end
of a violent natural phenomenon: “… He wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out,
and stood in the entering in of the cave” (1 Kings 19:13). In the plural form,
sometimes represents the “city gates” themselves: “And her [Zion’s] gates shall lament
and mourn …” (Isa. 3:26). This form of the word is used as a figure for one’s lips; in
Mic. 7:5, for example, the prophet mourns the low morality of his people and advises his
hearers to trust no one, telling them to guard their lips (literally, the “openings” of their
mouths).
In its first biblical occurrence,
is used figuratively. The heart of men is
depicted as a house or building with the Devil crouching at the “entrance,” ready to
subdue it utterly and destroy its occupant (Gen. 4:7).
B. Verb.
(
"#
, 6605), “to open.” This verb, which appears 132 times in the Old
Testament, has attested cognates in Ugaritic, Akkadian, Arabic, and Ethiopic. The first
occurrence is in Gen. 7:11.
Although the basic meaning of
is “to open,” the word is extended to mean “to
cause to flow,” “to offer for sale,” “to conquer,” “to surrender,” “to draw a sword,” “to
solve [a riddle],” “to free.” In association with
, the word becomes “to deprive of.”
DREAM
A.Noun.
(
, 2472), “dream.” This noun appears about 65 times and in all periods
of biblical Hebrew.
The word means “dream.” It is used of the ordinary dreams of sleep: “Then thou
scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me through visions …” (Job 7:14). The most
significant use of this word, however, is with reference to prophetic “dreams” and/or
“visions.” Both true and false prophets claimed to communicate with God by these
dreams and visions. Perhaps the classical passage using the word in this sense is Deut.
13:1ff.: “If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a
sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass.…” This sense, that a dream is
a means of revelation, appears in the first biblical occurrence of
(or
):
“But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night …” (Gen. 20:3).
B. Verb.
(
, 2492), “to become healthy or strong; to dream.” This verb, which
appears 27 times in the Old Testament, has cognates in Ugaritic, Aramaic, Syriac, Coptic,
Arabic, and Ethiopic. The meaning, “to become healthy,” applies only to animals though