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can also be used in the legal sense of “testify”: “Thou shalt not bear false
witness against thy neighbor” (Exod. 20:16). Or we read in Exod. 23:2: “Thou shalt not
follow a multitude to do evil.…” In a similar sense, Jacob proposed that Laban give him
all the spotted and speckled sheep of the flock, so that “my righteousness [will] answer
[i.e., testify] for me in time to come, when it shall come [to make an investigation] for my
hire before thy face …” (Gen. 30:33).
TO ARISE
A. Verb.
%$
(
, 6965), “to arise, stand up, come about.” This word occurs in nearly every
Semitic language, including biblical Hebrew and Aramaic. It occurs about 630 times in
biblical Hebrew and 39 times in biblical Aramaic.
It may denote any movement to an erect position, such as getting up out of a bed
(Gen. 19:33), or it can be used as the opposite of sitting or kneeling, as when Abraham
“stood up from before his dead” (Gen. 23:3). It can also refer to the
$
of arising, as
when Joseph saw his sheaf
and remain erect (Gen. 37:7).
+$
may be used by itself, with no direct object to refer to the origin of something,
as when Isaiah says, “It shall not stand …” (Isa. 7:7). Sometimes
%$
is used in an
intensive mood to signify empowering or strengthening: “Strengthen thou me according
unto thy word” (Ps. 119:28). It is also used to denote the inevitable occurrence of
something predicted or prearranged (Ezek. 13:6).
In a military context,
%$
may mean “to engage in battle.” In Ps. 18:38, for instance,
God says, “I have wounded them that were not able to rise …” (cf. 2 Sam. 23:10).
+$
may also be used very much like
to indicate the continuation of
something—e.g., “Thy kingdom shall not continue” (1 Sam. 13:14). Sometimes it
indicates validity, as when a woman’s vow shall not “stand” (be valid) if her father
forbids it (Num. 30:5). Also see Deut. 19:15, which states that a matter may be
“confirmed” only by the testimony of two or more witnesses. In some passages,
%$
means “immovable”; so Eli’s eyes were “set” (1 Sam. 4:15).
Another special use of
%$
is “rise up again,” as when a childless widow complains
to the elders, “My husband’s brother refuseth to raise up unto his brother a name in Israel
…” (Deut. 25:7). In other words, the brother refuses to continue that name or “raise it up
again.”
When used with another verb,
%$
may suggest simply the beginning of an action.
When Scripture says that "[Jacob] rose up, and passed over the [Euphrates] river” (Gen.
31:21), it does not mean that he literally stood up—merely that he began to cross the
river.
Sometimes
%$
is part of a compound verb and carries no special meaning of its
own. This is especially true in commands. Thus Gen. 28:2 could simply be rendered, “Go
to Padan-aram,” rather than, “Arise, go …” (
KJV
). Other special meanings emerge when
%$
is used with certain particles. With
“against,” it often means “to fight against or
attack”: “A man riseth against his neighbor, and slayeth him …” (Deut. 22:26). This is its