Basic HTML Version
(
"
, 571), “truth; right; faithful.” This word appears 127 times in the Bible.
The Septuagint translates it in 100 occurrences as “truth” (
) or some form using
this basic root. In Zech. 8:3, Jerusalem is called “a city of truth.” Elsewhere,
is
rendered as the word “right” (
) “Howbeit thou art just in all that is brought upon
us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly …” (Neh. 9:33). Only
infrequently (16 times) is
translated “faithful” (
), as when Nehemiah is
described as “a faithful man, and feared God above many” (Neh. 7:2).
C. Adverb.
(
, 543), “truly; genuinely; amen; so be it.” The term
is used 30
times as an adverb. The Septuagint renders it as “truly” (
) once; transliterates it as
“amen” three times; and translates it as “so be it” (
) the rest of the time. This
Hebrew word usually appears as a response to a curse that has been pronounced upon
someone, as the one accursed accepts the curse upon himself. By so doing, he binds
himself to fulfill certain conditions or else be subject to the terms of the curse (cf. Deut.
29:15-26).
Although signifying a voluntary acceptance of the conditions of a covenant, the
was sometimes pronounced with coercion. Even in these circumstances, the one
who did not pronounce it received the punishment embodied in the curse. So the
was an affirmation of a covenant, which is the significance of the word in Num. 5:22, its
first biblical occurrence. Later generations or individuals might reaffirm the covenant by
voicing their
(Neh. 5:1-13; Jer. 18:6).
In 1 Kings 1:36,
is noncovenantal. It functions as an assertion of a person’s
agreement with the intent of a speech just delivered: “And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada
answered the king, and said, Amen: the Lord God of my lord the king say so too.”
However, the context shows that Benaiah meant to give more than just verbal assent; his
committed him to carry out the wishes of King David. It was a statement whereby
he obligated himself to do what David had indirectly requested of him (cf. Neh. 8:6).
BETWEEN
(
, 996), “between; in the midst of; among; within; in the interval of.” A
cognate of this word is found in Arabic, Aramaic, and Ethiopic. The approximately 375
biblical appearances of this word occur in every period of biblical Hebrew. Scholars
believe that the pure form of this word is
but this form never occurs in biblical
Hebrew.
This word nearly always (except in 1 Sam. 17:4, 23) is a preposition meaning “in the
interval of” or “between.” The word may represent “the area between” in general: “And it
shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes …”
(Exod. 13:9). Sometimes the word means “within,” in the sense of a person’s or a thing’s
“being in the area of”: “The slothful man saith, There is a lion in the way; a lion is in the
streets” (Prov. 26:13). In other places,
means “among”: “Shall the companions make