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Several other nouns are derived from the verb
!
,
, which occurs 89 times,
refers to the “side” (1 Sam. 14:1) or “edge” (Exod. 28:26) of something. When speaking
of rivers or seas,
means the “edge or side opposite the speaker” or “the other side”
(Josh. 2:10).
"
, which appears 8 times, means “ford” (Josh. 2:7) and “ravine” or
“passage” (1 Sam. 14:4).
"
appears 3 times to mean: “sweep” (of a staff, Isa.
30:32); “ford” (Gen. 32:22); and “ravine” or “passage” (1 Sam. 13:23).
*
, which
occurs twice, means “crossing or ford” (2 Sam. 19:18,
RSV
).
PEACE
A. Nouns.
(
, 7965), “peace; completeness; welfare; health.” The root is a common
Semitic root with the meaning “peace” in Akkadian, Ugaritic, Phoenician, Aramaic,
Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic.
-
is a very important term in the Old Testament and has maintained its place in
Mishnaic, rabbinic, and modern Hebrew. In Israel today, people greet the newcomer and
each other with the words
, (“what is your peace,” “how are you doing,”)
and they ask about the “peace” (“well-being”) of one’s family. The use of
is
frequent (237 times) and varied in its semantic range. The first two occurrences in
Genesis already indicate the changes in meaning: “And thou shalt go to thy fathers in
peace [
in the sense of “in tranquility,” “at ease,” “unconcerned”]; thou shalt be
buried in a good old age” (Gen. 15:15); and “that thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not
touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent thee away
in peace [
with the meaning of “unharmed” and “unhurt”] …” (Gen. 26:29). Yet,
both uses are essentially the same, as they express the root meaning of “to be whole.” The
phrase |ish shelomi(“friend of my peace”) in Ps. 41:9, “Yea, mine own familiar friend
[literally, “friend of my peace”], in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted
up his heel against me” (cf. Jer. 20:10), signifies a state in which one can feel at ease,
comfortable with someone. The relationship is one of harmony and wholeness, which is
the opposite of the state of strife and war: “I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for
war” (Ps. 120:7).
-
as a harmonious state of the soul and mind encourages the
development of the faculties and powers. The state of being at ease is experienced both
externally and internally. In Hebrew it finds expression in the phrase
(“in
peace”): “I will both lay me down in peace [
], and sleep: for thou, Lord, only
makest me dwell in safety” (Ps. 4:8).
Closely associated to the above is the meaning “welfare,” specifically personal
“welfare” or “health.” This meaning is found in questions: “And Joab said to Amasa, Art
thou in health, my brother? And Joab took Amasa by the beard with the right hand to kiss
him” (2 Sam. 20:9), or in the prepositional phrase
with the verb “to ask”: “And
he asked them of their welfare, and said, Is your father well, the old man of whom ye
spake? Is he yet alive?” (Gen. 43:27).