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merciless, attacking weapon. In Gen. 27:40 “sword” is symbolic of violence: “And by thy
sword shalt thou live.…” Prov. 5:4 uses
(of a long twoedged “sword”) to depict
the grievous result of dealing with an adulteress; it is certain death: “But her end is bitter
as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.”
The “sword” is frequently depicted as an agent of God. It is not only used to
safeguard the garden of Eden, but figures the judgment of God executed upon His
enemies: “For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon
Idumea …” (Isa. 34:5; cf. Deut. 28:22).
)
may be used of various other cutting implements. In Josh. 5:2 it means
“knife”: “Make thee sharp knives, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second
time.” Ezek. 5:1 uses
of a barber’s “razor”: “And thou, son of man, take thee a
sharp knife, take thee a barber’s razor, and cause it to pass upon thine head and upon thy
beard.…” The exact size and shape of this tool cannot be determined, but it is clear that it
was used as a razor.
This word can also be used of tools (“chisels”) for hewing stone: “And if thou wilt
make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool
upon it, thou hast polluted it” (Exod. 20:25). The fact that a “sword,” an implement of
death, would be used to cut the stone for an altar, the instrument of life, explains why this
action would profane the altar.
B. Verb.
)
means “to smite down, slaughter.” This verb, which appears 3 times in
biblical Hebrew, has cognates in Arabic. The word appears in 2 Kings 3:23: “This is
blood: the kings are surely slain.…”
T
TABERNACLE
A. Noun.
(
, 4908), “dwelling place; tabernacle; shrine.” This word appears 139
times and refers in its first occurrence to the “tabernacle”: “According to all that I show
thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof,
even so shall ye make it” (Exod. 25:9).
"
is found primarily in Exodus and
Numbers, and it always designates the sanctuary. With this meaning it is a synonym for
the phrase “tent of meeting.” In total, 100 out of the 139 uses of
throughout the
Old Testament signify the tabernacle as “dwelling place.” God dwelt amidst His people
in the wilderness, and His presence was symbolically manifest in the tent of meeting. The
word
places the emphasis on the representative presence of God: “And I will set
my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you,
and will be your God, and ye shall be my people. I am the Lord your God, which brought
you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have