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enemy to be ejected from one’s territory. This sense is found in an early biblical
occurrence, in which Isaac said to Abimelech and his army: “Wherefore come ye to me,
seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you?” (Gen. 26:27). The word may mean
“unloved” in the sense of deteriorating marital relations: “And the damsel’s father shall
say unto the elders, I gave my daughter unto this man to wife, and he hateth [i.e., turned
against] her” (Deut. 22:16). This nuance is especially clear in Ezek. 23:28, where the verb
is in synonymous parallelism to “alienated”: “Behold, I will deliver thee into the hand of
them whom thou hatest, into the hand of them from whom thy mind is alienated.” In the
case of two wives in a family, in which one was preferred over the other, it may be said
that one was loved and the other “hated” (Deut. 21:15). This emphasis is found in Gen.
29:31: “And when the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb; but Rachel
was barren.” The word, used as a passive participle, represents a spurned woman: “… An
odious [unloved] woman when she is married …” (Prov. 30:23).
B. Noun.
(
*
, 8135), “hatred.” This noun occurs 17 times in the Old Testament.
Num. 35:20 is one occurrence: “And if he stabbed him from hatred, or hurled at him,
lying in wait …” (
RSV
).
HEAD
A. Nouns.
(
, 7218), “head; top; first; sum.” Cognates of
appear in Ugaritic,
Akkadian, Phoenician, biblical Aramaic, Arabic, and Ethiopic.
and its alternate
form
appear about 596 times in biblical Hebrew.
This word often represents a “head,” a bodily part (Gen. 40:20).
is also used of
a decapitated “head” (2 Sam. 4:8), an animal “head” (Gen. 3:15), and a statue “head”
(Dan. 2:32). In Dan. 7:9, where God is pictured in human form, His “head” is crowned
with hair like pure wool (i.e., white).
To “lift up one’s own head” may be a sign of declaring one’s innocence: “If I be
wicked, woe unto me; and if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head. I am full of
confusion; therefore see thou mine affliction” (Job 10:15). This same figure of speech
may indicate an intention to begin a war, the most violent form of selfassertion: “For, lo,
thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head” (Ps. 83:2).
With a negation, this phrase may symbolize submission to another power: “Thus was
Midian subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted up their heads no more”
(Judg. 8:28). Used transitively (i.e., to lift up someone else’s “head”), this word may
connote restoring someone to a previous position: “Yet within three days shall Pharaoh
lift up thine head, and restore thee unto thy place …” (Gen. 40:13). It can also denote the
release of someone from prison: “… Evilmerodach king of Babylon in the year that he
began to reign did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison” (2 Kings
25:27).
With the verb
$
(“to raise”),
can signify the victory and power of an
enthroned king—God will “lift up [His] head,” or exert His rule (Ps. 110:7). When God
lifts up (
$
) one’s “head,” He fills one with hope and confidence: “But thou, O Lord, art
a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head” (Ps. 3:3).