Basic HTML Version
TO DEAL OUT, DEAL WITH
(
%
, 1580), “to deal out, deal with, wean, ripen.” Found in both biblical and
modern Hebrew, this word occurs 35 times in the Hebrew Old Testament. While the
basic meaning of the word is “to deal out, with,” the wide range of meaning can be seen
in its first occurrence in the biblical text: “And the child grew, and was weaned …” (Gen.
21:8).
5
is used most frequently in the sense of “to deal out to,” such as in Prov. 31:12:
“She will do him good and not evil.…” The word is used twice in 1 Sam. 24:17: “…
Thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil.” The psalmist rejoices
and sings to the Lord “because he hath dealt bountifully with me” (Ps. 13:6). This word
can express ripening of grapes (Isa. 18:5) or bearing ripe almonds (Num. 17:8).
DEATH
(
(
"&/
, 4194), “death.” This word appears 150 times in the Old Testament.
The word
(
occurs frequently as an antonym of
(“life”): “I call heaven and
earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and
cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live …” (Deut. 30:19). In
the poetic language,
(
is used more often than in the historical books: Job-Proverbs
(about 60 times), Joshua-Esther (about 40 times); but in the major prophets only about 25
times.
“Death” is the natural end of human life on this earth; it is an aspect of God’s
judgment on man: “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat
of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Gen. 2:17). Hence all
men die: “If these men die the common death of all men … then the Lord hath not sent
me” (Num. 16:29). The Old Testament uses “death” in phrases such as “the day of death”
(Gen. 27:2) and “the year of death” (Isa. 6:1), or to mark an event as occurring before
(Gen. 27:7, 10) or after (Gen. 26:18) someone’s passing away.
“Death” may also come upon someone in a violent manner, as an execution of justice:
“And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death and he be to be put to death, and
thou hang him on a tree: his body shall not remain all night upon the tree …” (Deut.
21:22-23). Saul declared David to be a “son of death” because he intended to have David
killed (1 Sam. 20:31; cf. Prov. 16:14). In one of his experiences, David composed a
psalm expressing how close an encounter he had had with death: “When the waves of
death compassed me, the floods of ungodly men made me afraid; the sorrows of hell
compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me” (2 Sam. 22:5-6; cf. Ps. 18:5-6).
Isaiah predicted the Suffering Servant was to die a violent death: “And he made his grave
with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither
was any deceit in his mouth” (Isa. 53:9).
Associated with the meaning of “death” is the meaning of “death by a plague.” In a
besieged city with unsanitary conditions, pestilence would quickly reduce the weakened
population. Jeremiah alludes to this type of death as God’s judgment on Egypt (43:11);
note that “death” refers here to “death of famine and pestilence.” Lamentations describes
the situation of Jerusalem before its fall: “… Abroad the sword bereaveth, at home there
is as death” (Lam. 1:20; cf. also Jer. 21:8-9).