Basic HTML Version
that I may go up and down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my
7 (
" (cf. Judg. 11:38; Ps. 45:14). The noun
means “beloved companion;
bride.”
occurs many times in the Song of Solomon: 1:9, 15; 2:2, 10, 13; 4:1, 7;
5:2; 6:4.
$
refers to a “fellow woman.” This word is usually translated idiomatically
in a reciprocal phrase of “one another,” as in Zech. 11:9: “Then said I, I will not feed
you: that that dieth, let it die; and that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest
eat every one the flesh of
!
"
B. Verb.
(
, 7462), “to associate with.” This word appears in Prov. 22:24: “Make no
friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go.…”
TO HAVE COMPASSION, BE MERCIFUL
A. Verb.
(
, 7355), “to have compassion, be merciful, pity.” The words from this
root are found 125 times in all parts of the Old Testament. The root is also found in
Assyrian, Ethiopic, and Aramaic.
The verb is translated “love” once: “I will love thee, O Lord …” (Ps. 18:1).
is also used in God’s promise to declare His name to Moses: “I will make all my
goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will
be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will
(
on whom I will show
mercy” (Exod. 33:19). So men pray: “Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy
loving-kindnesses” (Ps. 25:6); and Isaiah prophesies messianic restoration: “… With
great mercies will I gather thee.… But with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on
thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer” (Isa. 54:7-8). This is the heart of salvation by the
suffering Servant-Messiah.
B. Nouns.
(
, 7358), “bowels; womb; mercy.” The first use of
is in its
primary meaning of “womb”: “The Lord had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of
Abimelech” (Gen. 20:18). The word is personified in Judg. 5:30: “Have they not divided
the prey; to every man a damsel or two …?” In another figurative sense, the
KJV
reads in
1 Kings 3:26: “Her bowels yearned upon her son,” which the
NIV
translates more
idiomatically: "[She] was filled with compassion for her son.” The greatest frequency is
in this figurative sense of “tender love,” such as a mother has for the child she has borne.
(
, 7356), “bowels; mercies; compassion.” This noun, always used in
the plural intensive, occurs in Gen. 43:14: “And God Almighty give you mercy [
NASB
,
“compassion”].” In Gen. 43:30, it is used of Joseph’s feelings toward Benjamin: “His
bowels did yearn upon his brother.” (
NIV
, “He was deeply moved at the sight of his
brother.”)
is most often used of God, as by David in 2 Sam. 24:14: “Let us
fall now into the hand of the Lord; for his mercies are great.…” We have the equivalent
Aramaic word in Daniel’s request to his friends: “That they would desire mercies of the
God of heaven concerning this secret …” (Dan. 2:18).