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18:15; 1 Sam. 10:4). Frequently, it is used to indicate someone’s asking for God’s
direction or counsel (Josh. 9:14; Isa. 30:2). In Ps. 109:10 it is used to indicate a begging:
“Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg.”
B. Noun.
(
, 7585), “place of the dead.”
-
seems to be the basis for an
important noun in the Old Testament,
. Found 65 times in the Hebrew Bible,
refers to the netherworld or the underground cavern to which all buried dead go. Often
incorrectly translated “hell” in the
KJV
,
was not understood to be a place of
punishment, but simply the ultimate resting place of all mankind (Gen. 37:35). Thus, it
was thought to be the land of no return (Job 16:22; 17:14-16). It was a place to be
dreaded, not only because it meant the end of physical life on earth, but also because
there was no praise of God there (Ps. 6:5). Deliverance from it was a blessing (Ps. 30:3).
In some instances, it may be a symbol of distress or even plague; it is often used in
parallel with “the Pit,” another symbol of destruction. Everything about
was
negative, so it is little wonder that the concept of hell developed from it in the
intertestamental and New Testament literature.
-
is translated variously in the English versions: “hell, pit, grave” (
KJV
);
“netherworld” (
NAB
). Some versions simply give the transliteration, Sheol” (
RSV
,
JB
,
NASB
).
ASSEMBLY
A. Noun.
%
(
, 6951), “assembly; company.” Cognates derived from this Hebrew noun
appear in late Aramaic and Syriac.
+
occurs 123 times and in all periods of biblical
Hebrew.
In many contexts, the word means an assembly gathered to plan or execute war. One
of the first of these is Gen. 49:6. In 1 Kings 12:3 (
RSV
), “all the assembly of Israel” asked
Rehoboam to ease the tax burden imposed by Solomon. When Rehoboam refused, they
withdrew from him and rejected their feudal (military) allegiance to him. For the
application of
%
to an army, see Ezek. 17:17: “Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty
army and great company make for him in the war.…”
Quite often,
%
is used to denote a gathering to judge or deliberate. This emphasis
first appears in Ezek. 23:45-47, where the “company” judges and executes judgment. In
many passages, the word signifies an assembly representing a larger group: “David
consulted with the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, with every leader. And
David said to all the assembly of Israel …” (1 Chron. 13:1-2,
RSV
). Here, “the whole
assembly” of Israel refers to the assembled leaders (cf. 2 Chron. 1:2). Thus, in Lev. 4:13
we find that the sin of the whole congregation of Israel can escape the notice of the
“assembly” (the judges or elders who represent the congregation).
Sometimes
%
represents all the males of Israel who were eligible to bring
sacrifices to the Lord: “He whose testicles are crushed or whose male member is cut off
shall not enter the assembly of the Lord” (Deut. 23:1,
RSV
). The only eligible members of
the assembly were men who were religiously bound together under the covenant, who