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In the book of Job in chapter 2 verse 9 in some translations we
have Job’s wife saying "Curse God and die" and some
say " Bless God and die" !
How can both be right? To us they are opposites.
But a study of the Hebrew shows that they are indeed both right
but the idea we have of the relative meanings of they words is
misleading.
What we think of for "blessing" is " tov" or "tovah" in
Hebrew,which has the range of meanings: good, fruitful, fertile,
pleasing, happiness, prosperity, welfare, goodness, beauty, the
best or choice, virtue.
The word used in this passage in Job is not that – which
makes sense: because how can you wish those things for God who
has them all anyway?
It also is not the word for " curse" as used, for example,
in Genesis 3, for what God pronounces on the serpent, and the ground.
That word is " aror" , which means to become abhorrent,
and detestable. Job might have felt so angry with God as to curse
Him, but he did not.
The word used here and in many passages, such as Jacob’s
blessing of Joseph’s sons and the 12 tribes, and in the psalms " Bless
the Lord, oh my soul" .. is " beren" which means " to
break or bend the knee i n worship," " or to break away
from" .
So was Job’s wife saying " Admit God has broken you
and die" or possibly " Why do you not break away from
God and die" (to escape).
From Job’s retort it seems he took it to be the latter.
Moses’ list of blessings and cursings in Deuteronomy 28 uses "beren" and "aror" .
So this passage needs careful thought with this understanding
and gives a whole new aspect on "prosperity" teaching.
It does not mean to "speak good "over things or people
to produce good things for them – which is akin to witchcraft
and spell making anyway.
"Berecherah" comes from the same root and means to make
a blessing, as Jacob did.
It is used in Genesis 12 in the promise to Abraham that his progeny
would bless the nations and those that blessed them would in turn
be blessed.
So what does it mean? In Genesis 48 when Joseph brings his sons
to Jacob he kneels to ask for the blessing.
So here we have the key : to bend the knee (blessing) to God is
to admit you are broken by him – He is the greater and your
will is subservient to His and you bow down to Him. This brings
the blessing in return which we think of when we use this
word. It was only whilst Israel continued to worship God that they
remained in the blessings that came with the land.
The Jews speak of the " otherness" of God and " beren" is
more than bending the knee before God – it seeing His "otherness" :
that He is the creator and outside His creation and He is what
it is not – i.e. eternal, and not made in the image of man.
And He sends both good and evil (apparently bad things) and suffering
is not necessarily a punishment for sin – as the book of Job
teaches us.
This under standing gives more insight into a number of passages.
For instance in Genesis when Jacob wrestles and says "I will
not let you go until you
bless me." Does that mean " until you bow to me" ?
But the outcome is that Jacob is "broken" in one leg
and limps for the rest of his life
as a reminder. We have thought Jacob was fighting to get a blessing
from God as to
material provision etc., but it was a battle of wills – and
Jacob lost (partially).
He was already a wealthy man so what was the battle really about?
He partially won too – having contended with God and men.
He wanted to know the name of the person with whom he wrestled,
but was not told it. To know a person’s name is to know them
and so have some power over them.
Was this battle to know more of God and to come to terms also
with his relationship with Esau as he has fear as to how the reunion
will go?
Another interesting encounter is that of Abraham with Melchizedek
in Genesis 14.
Melchizedek blessed Abraham. Does this mean that he bowed the
knee to Abraham because Abraham had just done this great act of
retrieving other people’s goods and relations from the alliance
of enemy kings?
The text says that he gave tithe from all to him . But who to
who is not clear.
A question is – how could Abraham give a tithe of what was
not his?
And he refused the offer from the king of Sedom (Sodom) of goods
as a reward.
Perhaps the answer is that Melchizedek gave from the tithes of
the people as a reward to Abraham?
The word used for tithe (it is singular) is " measher" which
can mean a tenth (as it comes from the root "esher" – ten,
but it also means a large amount, and so wealth, riches, abundance.
Abraham was already a powerful tribal chief and wants nothing
from the king of Sodom –"lest you say I made Abraham
rich" – similar word.
In 2 Chron. 31 v 5 there is a similar phrase " measher hakol" -
tithe of the all.
But the phrase in Gen. 14 is " measher mekol" – tithe
from all.
There is a subtle difference but it could be the clue to understanding
the passage rightly.
We do not know the practise then, but maybe the people wanted
to give back something to God for the restoration of their property,
and the priest-king Melchizedek wanted to honour the man responsible.
(The remark that Abraham chased them all the way up to Dan shows
later editing as Dan did not exist then. But it tells us that the
area was being defined as the north west of the Golan and not the
kings highway to the east. And that Abraham went through the gap
between Hermon and Golan to get to Damascus.
The valley of Shaveh the valley of the kings is a puzzle – shaveh
means a level plain and the Hebrew says " a level plain with
a valley as in the valley of the kings" .
The passage earlier speaks of "shaveh kiriathiam "– which
means the plain of the villages. This is usually said to be the
plain near Jericho, but could also be the plateau of Bashan Golan)
next section : psalm 110 and Melchizedek
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