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disputants go to court (having a “case or dispute” does not mean one is a wrongdoer): “If
there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, that the judges may
judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked.” So in Isa.
1:23 the unjust judge accepts a bribe and does not allow the widow’s just “cause” (
NASB
,
“widow’s plea”) to come before him. Prov. 25:8-9 admonishes the wise to “debate thy
cause with thy neighbor” when that neighbor has “put thee to shame.”
may represent what goes on in an actual court situation. It is used of the entire
process of adjudication: “Neither shalt thou [be partial to] a poor man in his cause”
(Exod. 23:3; cf. Deut. 19:17). It is also used of the various parts of a lawsuit. In Job
29:16, Job defends his righteousness by asserting that he became an advocate for the
defenseless: “I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out.”
Here, then, the word means the false charge brought against a defendant. Earlier in the
Book of Job (13:6), represents the argument for the defense: “Hear now my
reasoning, and hearken to the pleadings of my lips.” Elsewhere the word represents the
argument for the prosecution: “Give heed to me, O Lord, and hearken to the voice of
them that contend with me [literally, “the men presenting the case for the prosecution”]”
(Jer. 18:19). Finally, in Isa. 34:8 signifies a “case” already argued and won and
awaiting justice: “For it is the day of the Lord’s vengeance, and the year of recompenses
for the controversy of Zion.”
Two other related nouns occur rarely.
"
occurs twice, and it means “strife.”
The word refers to an extra-legal (Gen. 13:8) and to a legal confrontation (Num. 27:14).
'
appears 3 times to mean “disputant; opponent; adversary” (Ps. 35:1; Isa. 49:25; Jer.
18:19).
TO BE STRONG
A. Verb.
%
(
, 2388), “to be strong, strengthen, harden, take hold of” This verb is
found 290 times in the Old Testament. The root also exists in Aramaic and Arabic.
The word first occurs in Gen. 41:56: “… And the famine waxed sore in the land of
Egypt” (
NASB
,
NIV
, “was severe”). The strong form of the verb is used in Exod. 4:21: “…
I will harden his [Pharaoh’s] heart.…” This statement is found 8 times. Four times we
read: “Pharaoh’s heart was hard” (Exod. 7:13, 22; 8:19; 9:35,
NIV
;
KJV
,
RSV
,
NASB
, was
hardened”). In Exod. 9:34 Pharaoh’s responsibility is made clear by the statement “he
sinned yet more, and hardened his heart.…”
In the sense of personal strength
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is first used in Deut. 11:8 in the context of
the covenant: “Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this
day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land.…” Moses was commanded to
“charge Joshua, and encourage him” (Deut. 3:28). The covenant promise accompanies
the injunction to “be strong and of a good courage”: “… For the Lord thy God, he it is
that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee” (Deut. 31:6). The same
encouragement was given to the returned captives as they renewed the work of rebuilding
the temple (Zech. 8:9; 13; cf. Hag. 2:4).
If in the above examples there is moral strength combined with physical, the latter is
the sense of Judg. 1:28: “And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the