57. Let’s talk more about טוב

From the last entry:

Here are those three verses:

Genesis 11:6

6 וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יְהוָ֗ה הֵ֣ן עַ֤ם אֶחָד֙ וְשָׂפָ֤ה אַחַת֙ לְכֻלָּ֔ם וְזֶ֖ה הַחִלָּ֣ם לַעֲשֹׂ֑ות וְעַתָּה֙ לֹֽא־יִבָּצֵ֣ר מֵהֶ֔ם כֹּ֛ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר יָזְמ֖וּלַֽעֲשֹֽׂות׃

Genesis 11:6

6 And the LORD said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.

Psalms 16:5

5 יְֽהוָ֗ה מְנָת־חֶלְקִ֥י וְכוֹסִ֑י אַ֝תָּ֗ה תּוֹמִ֥יךְ גּוֹרָלִֽי׃

Psalms 16:5

5 O LORD, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup;

You maintain my lot.

Psalms 35:1

1 לְדָוִ֨ד ׀ רִיבָ֣ה יְ֭הוָה אֶת־יְרִיבַ֑י לְ֝חַ֗ם אֶת־לֹֽחֲמָֽי׃

Psalms 35:1

A Psalm of David.

1 Plead my cause, O LORD, with those who strive with me;

Fight against those who fight against me.

What did you see as common in these three verses? You may have seen something different. I will share what I saw, having to do with the definition of טוב and יטב. The difference is in “allowing” God to set the definition for our own lives what God defines as “good” for us.

☸︎ ☸︎ ☸︎ ☸︎ ☸︎ ☸︎ ☸︎ ☸︎ ☸︎ ☸︎ ☸︎ ☸︎ ☸︎ ☸︎ ☸︎ ☸︎ ☸︎ ☸︎ ☸︎ ☸︎ ☸︎ ☸︎ ☸︎ ☸︎ ☸︎ ☸︎ ☸︎ ☸︎ ☸︎ ☸︎ ☸︎ ☸︎ ☸︎ ☸︎ ☸︎ ☸︎☸︎ ☸︎ ☸︎ ☸︎ ☸︎ 

Do we not all have our own “definition” of what is good? Do we all trust that  our own intentions are “good?” Or do some purposely say I am intending to do evil? If there is some universal definition of what “good” is, even in the evil that we do, are we not thinking of it as a benefit either to ourselves as individuals or somehow to mankind? Most folks initial thought of someone doing evil is Adolf Hitler. Did he not somehow think he was doing mankind a favor? Is this not the perfect example of twisted thinking? Certainly there are many examples of much smaller proportions but of a “flipped” nature, my looking out for what is good for me at the moment, but its hurting others. That is why that definition of the root for iniquity is so eye-opening to me: “p.171 עון time to advantage; benefit for specific time periods;; CM עון form (A6).” This ties back to our investigation into the letter ב (beyt) and its reflecting “in the house,” where we are currently living. If I am currently living in the mindset that I am being harassed by my spouse, for example, that colors all of my thinking. Everything is seen through those eyes. It is where we are living at the moment. I just want to hit this point pretty hard, and then we will move on. Ideally you would read five chapters in Judges, chapters 17 through 21. But the last three are pretty tough reading and is a continuation of the theme in the first two, which is offensive, but not as strongly so. The point being made is focused by several related verses. Please read the last verse in Judges, Jg21:25, and then read 17:6, 18:1, 19:1. 

Two thoughts: there was no king; everyone doing what was right in his own eyes. The second thought is very straightforward and clear. The first thought about no king takes a little more explanation. The obvious is that there was no authoritative structure in place, but if you recall from some of our discussions about Samuel, God warns people of the downside of kings, telling Samuel to give warning to the people wanting a king (1S8). The other point about commenting there was no king is seen in the root definition for king:

Please see the two statements are saying the same thing. Doing what is right in my own eyes means I don’t consider anyone else’s view. I am the judge of good and evil. My assumptive reasoning rules.

So, I do ask that you read chapters 17 and 18 of Joshua. And having read it, I ask you to sort out your feelings about what took place. And then I will point out a few things. There is much said about good and evil and what is right in our own eyes here. I’m sure I catch only a small part of it. Feel free to share with me other thoughts. And please be clear, I am not telling you how to believe••• I am sharing what some of the Hebrew words mean.

Things to see: they begin in the territory of Ephraim, which is “prosperity,” as we have discussed. Here is what Strongs says for Micah:

h4321. מִיכָיְהוּ mîyḵâyehû; or מִכָיְהוּ Mikayhuw (Jeremiah 36:11), me-kaw-yeh-hoo; abbrev. for 4322; Mikajah, the name of three Israelites: — Micah, Micaiah, Michaiah.

AV (20) – Micaiah 16, Michah 2, Michaiah 2; Micah or Micaiah or Michaiah = “who is like God“

• an Ephraimite during the period of the judges

• son of Imlah and a prophet of Samaria who predicted the defeat and death of king Ahab of Israel

• son of Gemariah in the time of Jeremiah

Is Micah here really “like God,” or is he an example for us of people doing what is right in our own eyes and maybe wanting people to think we are Godlike? What is his presence in the story speaking to the reader?

Notice the Levite, from:

Is the Levite fulfilling his role/his definition of who a Levite is? (There are different pieces that precede this, defining the Levite role – see Gn49:5-7, which refers back to the Dinah incident in Gn34, and then see the Levite role defined after the golden calf incident – Ex32:25-29 – notice the word “restrain” in v.25 – there are several instances in Tanakh where it is clear the Levites are both to restrain their own feelings and help restrain others’. This is their role. They get no “inheritance;” they are dependent on others, which we do see here – the prosperous Micah giving “meager” wages to the Levite, and then the Levite does move to a situation of serving more people, “connecting,” though with an idol.) And notice he came from Bethlehem-he left the house of “struggle for existence” לחם for the place of prosperity, Ephraim. 

And Dan דן means “judge.”

GV p.52 דנן [repose] rest permanently; p.48 דון judge [and defend ideas; apply justice]; p.50 דין sentence [apply final judgment]

DV אדן – p.52 דנן repose [rest permanently] > p.4 אדן sustain; provide base   No other DVs

h0113. אָדוֹן ’âḏôn; or (shortened) אָדֹן ’adon; h0134. אֶדֶן ’eḏen; h0135. אַדָּן ’aḏân; h0136. אֲדֹנָי’ăḏônây; and several proper nouns/names

CM דנן remain contented (D34); דון pull together (D20); דין complete (D12); אדן rely and gratify (A18)

The Israelites have been assigned areas of the land of milk and honey as an inheritance, including the Tribe of Dan. We have spoken of the “nations” they were supposed to conquer, the traits that we all need to conquer, “all those nations” we have discussed before. They were not successful in their assigned territory, so they “judge for themselves” – (right in their own eyes) and wipe out “a people quiet and unsuspecting, and struck them with the edge of the sword and burned the city with fire.” And then “make a name for themselves” – shades of the Tower of Babel in calling the place Dan? They are the judge of right and wrong, good and evil. Is this the definition of good and evil? To set up an idol from Ephraim and make a name for oneself on the backs of a people quiet and unsuspecting? Isn’t this where God promised to fight against Amalek from generation to generation? Those who are oppressors of the weaker ones? There is no consideration of differing views••• in those days there was no king in Israel. Dan does become prosperous there in their new city. Where does good leave off and evil begin? How doe iniquity play into it? In these two chapters and the three after, there is a lot of tension brought to the reader to consider the definitions of good and evil. 

And I go back now to Psalms 35:1.

1 Plead my cause, O LORD, with those who strive with me;

Fight against those who fight against me.

Recall the times that David had opportunity to kill King Saul who was pursuing him, but refused to. (See 1S24:3-16 and 1S26 – and recall that he really learned this “restraint” from his (later) wife Abigail in 1S25:28-35). David learned restraint. The Levites “learned” restraint. The people at the golden calf were “unrestrained.” I refer back to our prior discussion on our “conscience,” the Ruach רוח, and our need to recognize the feelings that are welling up inside of us (we had extensive teaching in school about our soul versus our spirit. The “soul” includes our feelings/our ego. We also have a spirit and ideally we allow the spirit of the LORD (יהוה) to work with our spirit to restrain those feelings that well up inside. But first we must recognize them. The solution is spelled out here by David and in Mt5:39. We do not immediately respond with what we “feel.” We use restraint. We recognize our feelings as part of the soul, which is much more closely attached to the flesh. We stop and we pray, as David did. We cannot change the heart of others. God’s business is changing hearts by way of the Godly perspective of Good and Evil, as opposed to our soul-influenced definitions. 

I can’t define good and evil. God knows even beforehand what is benefit to man. Sometimes when we reach out to the LORD, as David does above, God does change the other’s heart. And sometimes, if we are listening שמע to that spirit inside, it is our heart that gets changed. If you are unwilling to have your heart changed, two things: God knows already; the answer is more likely to be “not now.”

Oh, by the way Abigail – Strongs: h0026. אֲבִיגַיִל ’ăḇîyg̱aiyl; or shorter אֲבִיגַל ’Abiygal; Abigail = “my father is joy” – אבי is “my father.”

BUT I encourage you to look at the entire family for גל:

GV p.40 גלל rotate [roll]; p.40 גלה expose [bare]; p.38 גול rejoice; p.100 יגל shudder [from fear]

DV אגל – p.40 גלל rotate > p.2 אגל drip   –   Jb38:28

DV גאל – p.40 גלל rotate [roll]; p.40 גלה expose [bare] > p.34 גאל release; purge   No other DVs

CM גלל encircle (C26); גלה contain/expose (C25); (גול and יגל no cognates listed – for גול, see ⬙; for יגל, see ⬘); אגל move directly/circularly (A11); גאל activate/deactivate (C2)

⬙ גול should be a part of (C5) express control [יבל bring home; קבל counter; כבל restrain; כולcontain; כפל double] – is listed in back, p.311 

⬘יגל should be listed with p.104 יכל prevail CM might be along the lines of “master/fail” or “overcome/fail”

Two other very helpful thoughts: “My father on a roll,” and “My father exposes.” 

More another time perhaps. Time to 🤔 

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