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discovers that because of his sin, he will be “hidden” from the presence of God, which
implies a separation.
In the so-called Mizpah Benediction (which is really a warning),
again has the
sense of “separation”: “The Lord watch between me and thee, when we are absent one
from another” (Gen. 31:49). To “hide oneself” is to take refuge: “Doth not David hide
himself with us …?” (1 Sam. 23:19). Similarly, to “hide” someone is to “shelter” him
from his enemy: “… The Lord hid them” (Jer. 36:26).
To pray, “Hide thy face from my sins” (Ps. 51:9), is to ask God to ignore them. But
when the prophet says, “And I will wait upon the Lord, that hideth his face from the
house of Jacob …” (Isa. 8:17), he means that God’s favor has been withdrawn. Similarly,
Judah’s sins have “hidden” God’s face from her (Isa. 59:2).
HIGH
A. Adjective.
(
4 %
, 1364), “high; exalted.” This adjective occurs about 24 times. The root
seen in this adjective, in the verb
and in the noun
, occurs in every period of
biblical Hebrew.
This word means “high, lofty, tall in dimension”: “And the waters [of the flood]
prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole
heaven, were covered” (Gen. 7:19—the first occurrence). When used of a man,
means “tall”: Saul was “higher than any of the people” (1 Sam. 9:2; cf. 16:7). In Dan. 8:2,
describes the length of a ram’s horns: “… And the two horns were high; but one
was higher than the other, and the higher came up last.”
The word means “high or exalted in station”: “Thus saith the Lord God; Remove the
diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and
abase him that is high” (Ezek. 21:26). In Eccl. 5:8, this connotation of “one of high rank”
may be expressed in the translation “official” (
RSV
).
5
may be used of a psychological state, such as “haughtiness”: “Talk no more
so exceeding proudly [this double appearance of the word emphasizes it]; let not
arrogancy come out of your mouth …” (1 Sam. 2:3).
(
, 5945), “high; top; uppermost; highest; upper; height.” The 53
occurrences of this word are scattered throughout biblical literature.
This word indicates the “uppermost” (as opposed to the lower): “… I had three white
baskets on my head: And in the uppermost basket there was of all manner of bakemeats
…” (Gen. 40:16-17). In Ezek. 42:5,
describes the “uppermost” of three stories:
“Now the upper chambers were shorter: for the galleries were higher than these, than the
lower, and than the middlemost of the building.” A figurative use of the word appears in
2 Chron. 7:21, where it modifies the dynasty (house) of Solomon. The messianic Davidic
king will be God’s firstborn, “higher than the kings of the earth” (Ps. 89:27).
In many passages,
means “upper,” in the sense of the top or higher of two
things: “… the border of their inheritance on the east side was Ataroth-addar, unto Beth-
horon the upper” (Josh. 16:5; cf. 2 Chron. 8:5).