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indicates reflexive action: “… A flaming sword which turned every way [
NAB
,
“revolving”;
NEB
, “whirling”] …”
In its simplest meaning,
expresses the turning from one side to another, such
as “turning” one’s back (Josh. 7:8), or “as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it
upside down” (2 Kings 21:13). Similarly, Hosea refers to Israel as being “a cake not
turned” (Hos. 7:8). The meaning of “transformation” or “change” is vividly illustrated in
the story of Saul’s encounter with the Spirit of God. Samuel promised that Saul would
“be changed into another man” (1 Sam. 10:6,
JB
), and when the Spirit came on him, “God
changed his heart” (1 Sam. 10:9,
JB
). Other examples of change are the “changing” of
Pharaoh’s mind (Exod. 14:5; literally, “the heart of Pharaoh … was turned”); the
“turning” of Aaron’s rod into a serpent (Exod. 7:15); dancing “turned” to mourning
(Lam. 5:14); water “turned” into blood (Exod. 7:17); and the sun “turned” to darkness
and the moon to blood (Joel 2:31). Ps. 41:3 presents a difficult translation problem in its
use of
!
Literally, it reads: “All his bed you [Yahweh] change in his sickness.” In
view of the poetic parallelism involved, restoration of health must be meant. Thus, the
RSV
translates: “In his sickness thou healest all his infirmities.” Perhaps only a refreshing
of the bed is meant, so the
NEB
translates: “He turns his bed when he is ill.”
The
KJV
rendering of Isa. 60:5 sounds strange to our modern ears: “The abundance of
the sea shall be converted unto thee.…” A slight improvement is given by the
RSV
, which
reads: “The abundance of the sea shall be turned to you.” The meaning is best captured
by the
JB
: “The riches of the sea shall be lavished upon you.”
(
, 5437), “to turn, go around, turn around (change direction).” This verb
occurs only in Hebrew (including post-biblical Hebrew) and Ugaritic. Nouns using these
radicals appear in Arabic and Akkadian. Biblical Hebrew attests the word in all periods
and about 160 times.
Basically this verb represents a circular movement—“to take a turning.” First, it
refers to such movement in general. The first occurrence of
having this emphasis is
in Gen. 42:24, where Joseph “turned himself about” from his brothers and wept. Here the
verb does not tell the precise direction of his departure, only that he left their presence.
Similarly, when Samuel was told that Saul went to Carmel and “is gone about, and
passed on, and gone down to Gilgal” (1 Sam. 15:12), we are not told that he reversed
direction in order to get from his origin to Carmel and Gilgal. God led Israel out of the
way (by an out-of-the-way route) when He took them into the Promised Land. He wanted
to avoid having them face war with the Philistines, an event that was unavoidable if they
proceeded directly north from Egypt to Palestine. Therefore, He led them through the
wilderness—a back route into the land: “But God led the people about, through the way
of the wilderness of the Red Sea …” (Exod. 13:18). Perhaps one of the passages where
this meaning is clearest is Prov. 26:14, which speaks of the “turning” of a door on its
hinges. An extension of this meaning occurs in 1 Sam. 5:8-9, “to remove, to take away”:
“And they answered, Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about [taken away] unto
Gath. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel about thither” (cf. 2 Kings 16:18).
A second emphasis of
is “to go around,” in the sense of to proceed or be
arranged in a circle. Joseph tells his family: “… Lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood
upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf”