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faces westward: “He turned about to the west side …” (Ezek. 42:19). Exod. 10:19 uses
as an adjective modifying “wind”: “And the Lord turned a mighty strong west wind,
which took away the locusts.…”
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is used of the great basin immediately in front of the Holy Place: “And the
pillars of brass that were in the house of the Lord, and the bases, and the brazen sea that
was in the house of the Lord, did the Chaldees break in pieces, and carried the brass of
them to Babylon” (2 Kings 25:13). This is also called the “sea” of cast metal (1 Kings
7:23;
KJV
, “molten sea”) or simply the “sea” (Jer. 27:19).
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is used of mighty rivers such as the Nile: “And the waters shall fail from the sea,
and the river shall be wasted and dried up” (Isa. 19:5). This statement occurs in the
middle of a prophecy against Egypt. Therefore, “the river” is the Nile. But since the term
“river” is in synonymous parallelism to “the sea,” this latter term also refers to the Nile.
Ezek. 32:2 uses
of the branches of the Nile: “… And thou art as a whale in the seas:
and thou camest forth with thy rivers, and troubledst the waters with thy feet, and
fouledst their rivers.” This word can also be used of the Euphrates River (Jer. 51:36).
In some instances the word
may represent the Canaanite god Yamm, “which
alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea” (Job 9:8). If
understood as a statement about Yamm, this passage would read: “and tramples upon the
back of Yamm.” The parallelism between “heavens” and “seas,” however, would lead us
to conclude that the reference here is to the literal “sea.” Ps. 89:9- 10 is a more likely
place to see a mention of Yamm, for there the word is identified as one of God’s enemies
in immediate proximity to the goddess Rahab: “Thou rulest the raging of the sea
[Yamm]: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them. Thou hast broken Rahab in
pieces, as one that is slain; thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arm.”
Especially note Job 7:12: “Am I a sea [Yamm], or a whale, that thou settest a watch over
me?” (cf. Job 26:12; Ps. 74:13).
SECRET
(
$
, 5475), “secret or confidential plan(s); secret or confidential talk; secret;
council; gathering; circle.” This noun occurs 21 times in biblical Hebrew.
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means, first, “confidential talk”: “Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked
…” (Ps. 64:2). In Prov. 15:22 the word refers to plans which one makes on one’s own
and before they are shared by others: “Without counsel [self-made] purposes are
disappointed: but in the multitude of counselors they [succeed].” Sometimes the word
signifies simply a talk about something that should be kept confidential: “Debate thy
cause with thy neighbor himself; and discover not a secret to another” (Prov. 25:9).
Second, the word represents a group of intimates with whom one shares confidential
matters: “O my soul, come not thou into their [Simeon’s and Levi’s] secret; unto their
assembly, mine honor, be not thou united …” (Gen. 49:6—the first occurrence of the
word). Jer. 6:11 speaks of the “assembly [informal but still sharing confidential matters]
of young men together.” To “have sweet counsel” is to be in a group where everyone
both shares and rejoices in what is being discussed and/or done (Ps. 55:14).
SECURITY
A. Nouns.