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against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto
Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus” (Gen. 14:15). The one pursued is not
always a hostile force—so Laban “took his brethren [army] with him, and pursued after
him [Jacob] seven days’ journey; and they overtook him in the mount Gilead” (Gen.
31:23).
At times
signifies pursuing without having a specific location or direction in
mind, as in hunting for someone. This meaning is in 1 Sam. 26:20—David asked Saul
why he was exerting so much effort on such an unimportant task (namely, pursuing him),
“as when one doth hunt a partridge in the mountains.” The word occurs in Josh. 2:5,
where Rahab tells the soldiers of Jericho: “… Whither the men [Israelite spies] went I
wot not: pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them.” This verse embodies the
meaning first mentioned, but by Josh. 2:22 the emphasis has shifted to hunting, not
intentional pursuit after an enemy whose location is known but a searching for an enemy
in order to kill him: “And they went, and came unto the mountain, and abode there three
days, until the pursuers were returned: and the pursuers sought them throughout all the
way, but found them not.”
In another nuance
can signify “to put to flight” or “to confront and cause to
flee.” Moses reminded the Israelites that “the Amorites … came out against you, and
chased you, as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even unto Hormah” (Deut. 1:44). Bees
do not pursue their victims, but they certainly do put them to flight, or cause them to flee.
In Josh. 23:10 Israel is reminded: “One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the Lord
your God he it is that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you” (cf. Lev. 26:8).
Used in another sense,
signifies the successful accomplishment of a pursuit;
the pursuer overtakes the pursued but does not utterly destroy him (in the case of an
army) and, therefore, continues the pursuit until the enemy is utterly destroyed. So Israel
is warned of the penalty of disobedience to God: “The Lord shall smite thee with a
consumption, and with a fever … ; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish” (Deut.
28:22; cf. v. 45). This is the emphasis when God admonishes Israel: “That which is
altogether just shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live, and inherit the land …” (Deut.
16:20); Israel is “to pursue” justice and only justice, as a goal always achieved but never
perfected. They are to always have justice in their midst, and always “to pursue” it. This
same sense appears in other figurative uses of the word: “Surely goodness and mercy
shall follow me all the days of my life …” (Ps. 23:6; cf. Isa. 1:23; 5:11; Hos.6:3).
In a related meaning
can signify “follow after.” This is not with any intention
to do harm to the one pursued but merely “to overtake” him. So Gehazi “pursued”
(followed after) Naaman, overtook him, and asked him for a talent of silver and two
changes of clothes (2 Kings 5:21-22). The word also means “to follow after” in the sense
of “practicing,” or following a leader: “They also that render evil for good are mine
adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is” (Ps. 38:20; cf. 119:150; Prov. 21:21).
The third meaning of
, “to persecute,” represents the constant infliction of pain
or trouble upon one’s enemies. This meaning is seen in Deut. 30:7: “And the Lord thy
God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which
persecuted thee” (cf. Job 19:22, 28).