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(
(,
, 4026), “tower; small fortress; watchtower; podium.” Cognates of this
word appear in Ugaritic, Aramaic, Syriac, and Akkadian. The word occurs about 50 times
in biblical Hebrew.
"
means “tower.” This is its use in Gen. 11:4 (the first occurrence of the word):
“And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto
heaven.…”
The word often refers to a “small fortress”: “And he went up thence to Penuel, and
spake unto them likewise: and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth
had answered him. And he spake also unto the men of Penuel, saying, When I come
again in peace, I will break down this tower” (Judg. 8:8-9).
"
sometimes means “watchtower,” one of the specially fortified towers
safeguarding the gates of a city and spaced along city walls: “Moreover Uzziah built
towers in Jerusalem at he corner gate, and at the valley gate, and at the [corner buttress],
and fortified them” (2 Chron. 26:9).
In Neh. 8:4 the word is used of a wooden “podium”: “And Ezra the scribe stood upon
a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose.…”
TO TRANSGRESS
A. Verb.
(
#
, 6586), “to transgress, rebel.” Apart from biblical Hebrew, this verb
occurs in post-biblical Hebrew, in Palestinian Aramaic, and in Syriac, where it has the
significance of “to be terrified” or “to be tepid, to be insipid.” It does not appear in any
other Semitic languages. The verb occurs 41 times in the Old Testament. It is not found
in the Pentateuch. The first occurrence is in Solomon’s prayer at the occasion of the
dedication of the temple: “And forgive Thy people who have sinned against Thee and all
their transgressions which they have transgressed against Thee …” (1 Kings 8:50,
NASB
).
The basic sense of
is “to rebel.” There are two stages of rebellion. First, the
whole process of rebellion has independence in view: “Then Moab rebelled against Israel
after the death of Ahab” (2 Kings 1:1). Second, the final result of the rebellion is the state
of independence: “In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and made a
king over themselves” (2 Kings 8:20,
NASB
). A more radical meaning is the state of
rebellion in which there is no end of the rebellion in view. The process is no longer goal-
oriented. The state thus described refers to a
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“So Israel rebelled against the
house of David unto this day” (1 Kings 12:19). The prepositions used ( , “against,” and
more rarely
, “from under the hand”) indicate the object of revolt. The
usage of
with
fits into the category of rebellion with no goal in
view (2 Chron. 21:8, 10). It is best translated as an absolute, radical act (“to break away
from”).
Thus far, the usage has a king or a nation as the object of the revolt. Translations
generally give the rendering “transgress” for
when the act is committed against
the Lord: “Woe unto them! for they have fled from me: destruction unto them! because
they have transgressed against me …” (Hos. 7:13). This meaning also appears in Isa.
66:24: “And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have