Basic HTML Version
(
,
, 5462), “to shut, close, shut up or imprison.” Found in ancient Ugaritic,
this verb is common also in ancient and modern Hebrew. It is found some 80 times in the
text of the Hebrew Old Testament.
)
is used for the first time in the Old Testament
in the story of the creation of the woman from the rib of the man: “And the Lord God …
closed up the flesh instead thereof” (Gen. 2:21).
The obvious use of this verb is to express the “shutting” of doors and gates, and it is
used in this way many times in the text (Gen. 19:10; Josh. 2:7). More specialized uses
are: fat closing over the blade of a sword (Judg. 3:22) and closing up a breach in city
walls (1 Kings 11:27).
Figuratively, men may “close their hearts to pity” (Ps. 17:10,
RSV
;
KJV
, “They are
inclosed in their own fat,” with “fat” symbolizing an unresponsive heart). In the books of
Samuel,
is used in the special sense of “to deliver up,” implying that all avenues of
escape “are closed”: “This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand …” (1 Sam.
17:46; cf. 1 Sam. 24:18; 26:8; 2 Sam. 18:28).
In Lev. 13-14, in which the priest functions as a medical inspector of contagious
diseases,
is used a number of times in the sense of “to isolate, to shut up” a sick
person away from other people (
Lev. 13:5, 11, 21, 26). The more extreme sense of “to
imprison” is found in Job 11:10: “If he cut off, and shut up, or gather together, then who
can hinder him?”
TO BE SICK
A. Verb.
(
, 2470), “to be sick, weak.” This verb is common in all periods of the
Hebrew language and occurs approximately 60 times in the Hebrew Bible. It is found in
the text for the first time near the end of the Book of Genesis when Joseph is told:
“Behold, thy father is sick …” (Gen. 48:1).
A survey of the uses of
shows that there was a certain lack of precision in
many of its uses, and that the context would be the deciding factor in its meaning. When
Samson told Delilah that if he were tied up with bowstrings he would “be weak, and be as
another man” (Judg. 16:7), the verb obviously did not mean “become sick,” unless being
sick implied being less than normal for Samson. When Joram is described as being sick
because of wounds suffered in battle (2 Kings 8:29,
RSV
), perhaps it would be better to
say that he was weak. Sacrificial animals that are described as being lame or “sick” (Mal.
1:8) are actually imperfect or not acceptable for sacrifice.
This word is sometimes used in the figurative sense of overexerting oneself, thus
becoming “weak.” This is seen in the various renderings of Jer. 12:13: “They have put
themselves to pain …” (
KJV
); “they have tired themselves out …” (
RSV
); “they have worn
themselves out” (
JB
); “they sift but get no grain” (
NEB
). The versions are divided in the
translation of Song of Sol. 2:5, which the
KJV
,
RSV
, and
JB
translate “sick of/with love,”
while the
NEB
and
NAB
make it “faint with love.” The
NASB
renders it “lovesick,” but the
TEV
is probably closest to the meaning when it says “weak with passion.”
B. Noun.
(
8
, 2483), “sickness.” This noun occurs about 23 times. The use of this word
in the description of the Suffering Servant in Isa. 53:3-4 has resulted in various