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usually refers to movable goods considered as “wealth”: “But if he [the thief] be
found, he shall restore seven-fold; he shall give all the substance of his house” (Prov.
6:31; cf. Ezek. 27:12). “Wealth” can be good and a sign of blessing: “Wealth and riches
shall be in his [the righteous man’s] house: and his righteousness endureth for ever” (Ps.
112:3). The creation is God’s wealth: “I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as
much as in all riches” (Ps. 119:14). In the Proverbs “wealth” is usually an indication of
ungodliness: “The rich man’s wealth is his strong city: the destruction of the poor is their
poverty” (Prov. 10:15).
This word can also represent any kind of concrete “wealth”: “… If a man would give
all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned” (Song of Sol. 8:7).
This is the significance of the word in its first occurrence: “Thou sellest thy people for
nought and dost not increase thy wealth by their price” (Ps. 44:12). “Wealth” in general is
meant in Prov. 12:27: “The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting: but
the substance of a diligent man is precious.”
Finally,
means “enough” (only in Prov. 30:15-16): “The horseleech hath two
daughters, crying, Give, Give. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four
things say not, It is enough: the grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled
with water; and the fire that saith not, It is enough.”
WEEK
$
(
, 7620), “week.” This noun appears about 20 times in biblical
Hebrew. In Gen. 29:27 it refers to an entire “week” of feasting. Exod. 34:22 speaks of a
special feast in Israel’s religious calendar: “And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of
the first fruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year’s end.” In Lev.
12:5 the word appears with the dual suffix and signifies a period of two weeks: “But if
she bear a maid child, then she shall be unclean two weeks.…”
TO GO A WHORING, BE A HARLOT
( , 2181), “to go a whoring, commit fornication, be a harlot, serve other
gods.” This is the regular term denoting prostitution throughout the history of Hebrew,
with special nuances coming out of the religious experience of ancient Israel. The word
occurs approximately 90 times in the Hebrew Old Testament. It is used for the first time
in the text at the conclusion of the story of the rape of Dinah by Shechem, as her brothers
excuse their revenge by asking: “Should he deal with our sister as with a harlot?” (Gen.
34:31).
While the term means “to commit fornication,” whether by male or by female, it is to
be noted that it is almost never used to describe sexual misconduct on the part of a male
in the Old Testament. Part of the reason lies in the differing attitude in ancient Israel
concerning sexual activity by men and women. The main reason, however, is the fact that
this term is used most frequently to describe “spiritual prostitution” in which Israel turned
from God to strange gods. Deut. 31:16 illustrates this meaning: “And the Lord said unto
Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a
whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them,
and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.”
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became, then, the common term for spiritual backsliding. The act of harloting
after strange gods was more than changing gods, however. This was especially true when