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Israelite whose protection they enjoyed (Deut. 24:14). This, however, was not always the
case. Sometimes a “client” was rich and an Israelite would be in his service (Lev. 25:47).
The was to be treated (except for feudal privileges and responsibilities) as an
Israelite, being responsible to and protected by the law: “Hear the causes between your
brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that
is with him” (Deut. 1:16); “ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and
shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any
stranger that sojourneth among you” (Lev. 18:26); “ye shall have one manner of law, as
well for the stranger, as for one of your own country: for I am the Lord your God” (Lev.
24:22). The also enjoyed the Sabbath rest (Lev. 25:6) and divine protection (Deut.
10:18). God commanded Israel to love the “client” as himself (Lev. 19:34).
The could also be circumcised (Exod. 12:48) and enjoy all the privileges of the
true religion: the Passover (Exod. 12:48-49), the Atonement feast (Lev. 16:29),
presenting offerings (Lev. 17:8), and all the feasts (Deut. 16:11). He was also obligated to
keep the purity laws (Lev. 17:15).
Israel is told that God is the true owner of all the land and its people are but “clients”
owing Him feudal obedience (Lev. 19:34; Deut. 10:19). They are admonished to treat the
client with justice, righteousness, and love because like Abraham (Gen. 23:4) they were
“clients” in Egypt (Exod. 22:21). In legal cases the “client” could appeal directly to God
the great feudal Lord (Lev. 24:22).
Two other nouns related to
$
are
$
and
$ ! " $
occurs 11 times and
refers to the “status or condition of being a client” (Gen. 17:8) and to a “dwelling where
one is a client” (Job 18:19).
5 $
appears once to refer to a “place where clients dwell”
(Jer. 41:17). Some scholars think this word is a proper name, a part of a place name.
SOUL; SELF; LIFE
A. Noun.
(
!&
, 5315), “soul; self; life; person; heart.” This is a very common term in
both ancient and modern Semitic languages. It occurs over 780 times in the Old
Testament and is evenly distributed in all periods of the text with a particularly high
frequency in poetic passages.
The basic meaning is apparently related to the rare verbal form,
!
The noun
refers to the essence of life, the act of breathing, taking breath. However, from that
concrete concept, a number of more abstract meanings were developed. In its primary
sense the noun appears in its first occurrence in Gen. 1:20: “the moving creature that hath
life,” and in its second occurrence in Gen. 2:7: “living soul.”
However, in over 400 later occurrences it is translated “soul.” While this serves to
make sense in most passages, it is an unfortunate mistranslation of the term. The real
difficulty of the term is seen in the inability of almost all English translations to find a
consistent equivalent or even a small group of high-frequency equivalents for the term.
The
KJV
alone uses over 28 different English terms for this one Hebrew word. The
problem with the English term “soul” is that no actual equivalent of the term or the idea
behind it is represented in the Hebrew language. The Hebrew system of thought does not
include the combination or opposition of the terms “body” and “soul,” which are really