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Exod. 4:10). This use of
appears with an explanation in Ezek. 3:6, where God is
describing the people to whom Ezekiel is to minister: “… not to many people of a strange
speech and of a hard language, whose words thou canst not understand.” Another nuance
of this word appears in Exod. 7:14, where it is applied to Pharaoh’s heart: “Pharaoh’s
heart is hardened, he refuseth to let the people go.” In all such contexts
depicts a
burden which weighs down one’s body (or some part of it) so that one is either disabled
or unable to function successfully.
A second series of passages uses this word of something that falls upon or overcomes
one. So God sent upon Egypt a “heavy” hail (Exod. 9:18), a “great” swarm of insects
(8:24), “numerous” locusts, and a “severe” pestilence (9:3). The first appearance of the
word belongs to this category: “… The famine was [severe] in the land” of Egypt (Gen.
12:10).
Used with a positive connotation,
can describe the amount of “riches” one has:
“And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold” (Gen. 13:2). In Gen. 50:9 the
word is used to modify a group of people, “a very great company.” The next verse uses
in the sense of “imposing” or “ponderous”: “… They mourned with a great and
very sore lamentation.…”
This adjective is never used of God.
HORSE
$
(
, 5483), “horse.” Cognates of this word appear in Ugaritic, Akkadian,
Egyptian, and Syriac. It appears in biblical Hebrew about 138 times and in all periods.
The first biblical appearance of
$
is in Gen. 47:17: “And they brought their cattle
unto Joseph: and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for horses, and for the flocks, and
for the cattle of the herds, and for the asses.…” In the second quarter of the second
millennium the chariot became a major military weapon and “horses” a very desirable
commodity. This was the time of Joseph. It was not until the end of the second
millennium that a rudimentary cavalry appeared on the battlefield. In the period of the
eighth-century prophets and following, “horses” became a sign of luxury and apostasy
(Isa. 2:7; Amos 4:10) inasmuch as Israel’s hope for freedom and security was to be the
Lord: “But he [the king] shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to
return to Egypt, to … multiply horses …” (Deut. 17:16).
The “horses” of God are the storm clouds with which he treads upon the sea (Hab.
3:15).
HOST
A. Noun.
(
, 6633), “host; military service; war; army; service; labor; forced labor;
conflict.” This word has cognates in either a verbal or noun form in Akkadian, Ugaritic,
Arabic, and Ethiopic. The noun form occurs 486 times in biblical Hebrew and in all
periods of the language.
This word involves several interrelated ideas: a group; impetus; difficulty; and force.
These ideas undergird the general concept of “service” which one does for or under a
superior rather than for himself.
is usually applied to “military service” but is
sometimes used of “work” in general (under or for a superior). In Num. 1:2-3 the word