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(
(
, 1767), “sufficiency; the required enough.” Cognates of this word appear in
late Aramaic, Syriac, and Phoenician. Its 42 biblical occurrences appear in all periods of
biblical Hebrew.
The word is translated variously according to the needs of a given passage. The
meaning “sufficiency” is clearly manifested in Exod. 36:7: “For the stuff they had was
sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much.” A different translation is warranted
in Jer. 49:9: “If thieves [come] by night, they will destroy till they have enough” (cf.
Obad. 5). In Prov. 25:16 the word means only what one’s digestive system can handle:
“Hast thou found honey? Eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled
therewith, and vomit it.” Other passages use this word of money (Deut. 15:8). In Jer.
51:58
preceded by the preposition means “only for”: “… The people shall labor in
vain [only for nothing], and the folk in the fire [only for fire], and they shall be weary.”
The phrase “as long as there is need” signifies until there is no more required (Mal. 3:10,
NEB
; KVJ, “that there shall not be room enough to receive it”). The word first appears in
Exod. 36:5 and is preceded by the preposition
&
“The people bring much more than
enough for the service of the work, which the Lord commanded to make.”
There are many special uses of
where the basic meaning is in the background and
the context dictates a different nuance. In Job 39:25 the word preceded by the preposition
may be rendered “as often as”: “As often as the trumpet sounds he says, Aha!” (
NASB
).
When preceded by the preposition , “as,” the word usually means “according to”: “…
The judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to his
fault, by a certain number” (Deut. 25:2). Preceded by
, “from,” the word sometimes
means “regarding the need.” This illuminates passages such as 1 Sam. 7:16: “And he
[Samuel] went from year to year [according to the need of each year;
NASB
, “annually”]
in circuit to Beth-el …” (cf. Isa. 66:23). In other places this phrase ( preceded by
)
signifies “as often as”: “Then the princes of the Philistines went forth: and it came to
pass, after [
NASB
, “as often as”] they went forth, that David behaved himself more wisely
than all the servants of Saul …” (1 Sam. 18:30).
SUN
(
, 8121), “sun; Shamshu (?); sunshield; battlement.” Cognates of this
word occur in Ugaritic (
/ /
), Akkadian, Aramaic, Phoenician, and Arabic. It appears
134 times in biblical Hebrew and in all periods.
This word means “sun”: “And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon
Abram …” (Gen. 15:12—the first occurrence of the word). The “wings of the sun” are
probably its rays (Mal. 4:2). The “sun” and especially its regularity supported by divine
sovereignty (Gen. 8:22) figures the security of God’s allies: “So let all thine enemies
perish, O Lord: but let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might”
(Judg. 5:31). God can also make the “sun” stand still when He wishes (Josh. 10:12-13) or
darken as an indication of His judgment upon His enemies and salvation for His people
(Joel 2:31-32). The “sun” and all the heavenly bodies were created by God (Gen. 1:16)
and are summoned to praise Him (Ps. 148:3). The Canaanites and other people worshiped
the “sun” as a god, and this paganism appeared among Israelites in times of spiritual