(This is a thread aken from a larger investigation of יהוה יראה)
1 Kings 5:13-14
13 Then King Solomon raised up a labor force (h4522. מַס mas) out of all Israel; and the labor force (h4522. מַס mas) was thirty thousand men.
14 And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month in shifts: they were one month in Lebanon and two months at home; Adoniram was in charge of the labor force.
h0141. אֲדֹנִירָם ’ăḏôniyrâm is two things ➨
1 Kings 5:28
28 וַיִּשְׁלָחֵ֣ם לְבָנֹ֗ונָה עֲשֶׂ֨רֶת אֲלָפִ֤ים בַּחֹ֨דֶשׁ֙ חֲלִיפֹ֔ות חֹ֚דֶשׁ יִהְי֣וּ בַלְּבָנֹ֔ון שְׁנַ֥יִם חֳדָשִׁ֖ים בְּבֵיתֹ֑ו וַאֲדֹנִירָ֖ם עַל־הַמַּֽס׃ ס
➨ Strongs – Adoniram = h0113. אָדוֹן ’âḏôn + h7311. רוּם rûm “my lord is exalted”
➨ Also מרי + נדא if reversed.
Perhaps explanation is needed: וַאֲדֹנִירָ֖ם עַל־הַמַּֽס
BDB All Results: מַס הַ עַל
עַל
GLOSS on; towards; beside; against; according to; more than; before; because
PARSING Hebrew, particle, preposition
הַ
GLOSS the
PARSING Hebrew, particle, definite article
מַס
GLOSS conscription
PARSING Hebrew, noun, common, masculine, singular, absolute
• מַס-discomfited, levy, task(-master), tribute(-tary).
• מָס-is afflicted.
GV p.141 מסס melt [dissolve]; p.141 מסה melt away; p.137 מוס abandon [deny]
DV המס – p.141 מסס melt [dissolve]; p.141 מסה melt away; p.137 מוס abandon [deny] > p.60 המס liquefy
DV מאס – p.141 מסס melt [dissolve]; p.141 מסה melt away; p.137 מוס abandon [deny] > p.135 despise; objectively find defect No other DVs
CM מסס move slowly (B68); מסה melt away (B61); מוס forsake (B59); המס effect graduated change (A41); מאס act negatively (B50)
More accurate to say Adoniram was in charge of forced labor, if one uses this “in charge of” terminology (no such Hebrew word is there, only על, seen above), but there is more to explore.
May I also say here, what will come back later, that המס reversed would be סמה, which would be phonetic cognate with שמע p.265 listen; pay attention. סמה is not a root, but would fit with this family:
סַם-sweet (spice).
h5561. סַם sam Ex. 25:6; 30:7,34; 31:11; 35:8,15,28; 37:29; 39:38; 40:27; Lev. 4:7; 16:12; Num. 4:16; 2 Chr. 2:4(3); 13:11.
p.173 סמם concentrate substances
DV אסם – p.173 סמם concentrate substances > p.13 אסם store; concentrate in one place
CM סמם combine/separate small units (E22); אסם hold back (A48)
THERE ARE TWO SIDES TO EVERY STORY. When decisions are made, a good leader (servant leader) must carefully consider both sides, and put self below others.
➨ Also Adoniram is מרי + נדא if reversed.
And I will throw out one “potential translation” to consider as you read definitions below. Solomon conscripted people to do the work – this was not voluntary work as the LORD (יהוה) had instructed in Exodus 35:4-26. God’s is a focus on the “willing/generous hearts” – h5081. נָדִיב nâḏîyḇ; from h5068. נָדַב nâḏaḇ; properly, voluntary, i.e. generous
God’s way has always been the way of free will. God gives us the choice. The final results are based upon our own choices. The “potential translation” of
מרי + נדא is bitterness/opposition to the separation. And I will further suggest that this is precisely why God gives us free will because in the end we know what comes to us is perfectly well deserved. Let’s review the definition of צוה one more time, and then move on with the topic at hand. We know צוה best as “commandment.”
When God gives us “commands,” the authority is given to us to make decisions. God’s ultimate “retained control” is the design of Creation, and you can go back to Newton’s laws for some understanding there, and the “butterfly effect” we’ve discussed before. Our choices have consequences. Action ↔︎ Reaction
Let’s explore••• מרי + נדא
First נדא
GV p.149 נדד [distance] separate; p.149 נדה distance; p.151 נוד separate [keep away from others; put in isolation]
DV נאד – p.149 נדד [distance] separate; p.149 נדה distance; p.151 נוד separate [keep away from others; put in isolation] > p.146 נאד separate liquids No other DVs
CM (נדד no cognates); נדה establish/separate (D74); נוד move/separate (D64); נאד contain (D56)
And hopefully you will see the connections here, when we come to discussion of judgment below:
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)
And please note that Hiram is King of Tyre. You could spend lots of good effort on reading about Tyre. But to be brief, Tyre is one we are to keep a distance from. It is צר, the same root family from which we get Egypt, מצרים, and might be called “peer pressure,” or “the world;” the pressures of wealth and power. Hiram’s name is telling:
Then מרי, and then combining them, which will require a bit more space
GV p.144 מרר arouse [bitterness]; p.143 מרה oppose; p.143 מרא expand [enlarge]; p.137 מורexchange; p.105 ימר exchange; ¿ p.157 נמר spotting?
DV אמר – p.144 מרר arouse [bitterness]; p.143 מרה oppose; p.137 מור exchange > p.12 אמרorganize speech to be heard and understood
DV המר – p.144 מרר arouse [bitterness]; p.143 מרה oppose; p.137 מור exchange > p.60 המרheap
DV מהר – p.144 מרר arouse [bitterness]; p.143 מרה oppose; p.137 מור exchange > p.136 מהר hasten to act, usually to cement a relationship
DV מאר – p.144 מרר arouse [bitterness]; p.143 מרה oppose > p.135 מאר perforate; destroy
CM (מרר none listed); מרה and מרא spread (B69); (מור none listed); ימר effect change (C33); (נמר none listed); אמר and המר bring together (A42); מאר and מהר move in directed manner (B51)
● Separation arouses bitterness. It creates opposition. That is why we have to do two things. The first is that we must recognize the Truth in God’s separations. The second is where the separations of God are clear, to submit them. The third is to be very balanced in our assessment of separations/choices, to go slowly and ask for God’s guidance in making decisions when they are not so clear. (God lets Cain and Abram know of what displeases and pleases him. He also lets us know if we are patient to await answers.)
I want to give you one example from Torah of this principle, give a follow-through on the current discussion of Solomon’s actions, apply it back to Torah, and then share with you a place where another culture took God’s teaching into their own beliefs. I will try to be brief with each. The Torah example we have shared parts of before. I cannot go into every detail here and now.
We spoke before of Genesis 21:9-13 and how God tells Abraham to give free will to Sarah. We have spoken before about what theoretically are the long-term consequences of the harshness of Sarah’s treatment of Hagar, the four-hundred year exile in Egypt. My own personal thoughts (caution! Personal interpretation.) is that the name change from Sarai to Sarah was an indication of what God was up to. He gave her an opportunity. I think Sarai שׂרי was from the root שׂרר p.281 rule by exerting exorbitant power, and the name change to Sarah שׂרה, a subtle change, p.280 שׂרה rule; exert power, was to give Sarah the opportunity to be a less harsh ruler of the household. God gave her a child at age 90 after many long years of being “separate” because of childlessness, and bitter. But her treatment of Hagar showed she did not change her ways. I also see (but will not muddy the waters here) a shorter term consequence for Sarah personally in Scripture.
Notice here הנה ! God’s telling Abraham to submit, to give Sarah her own free will, is NOT the same as God telling Abraham to send Hagar away. God is not saying it is the right thing for Hagar to be banished. He is saying it is not in Abraham’s control, but that what happens will be Sarah’s consequence. (You can follow to the logical conclusion the consequences of trying to be in control of others in what happened later.)
There are likely more good examples, but here we will concentrate on Solomon, his shortcomings (his p.181 עון, time to advantage; benefit for specific time periods) passed down to his son Rehoboam, for which Israel still suffers separation today. This has been covered earlier I’m LogAndSpeck. God gave guidance for “king” (leaders) in Deuteronomy 17:14-20. It was reiterated in a warning God gave to Samuel to share with the people, 1 Samuel chapter 8. Basically, please recall that every negative aspect of having kings that God had told Samuel, Solomon did. Every point of guidance for kings in Dt17:14-20, was not followed. He was indeed “wise,” but did not follow God’s guidance, God’s separations or lack thereof. Reiterating:
Deuteronomy 17:19-20
19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, 20 that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.
One of God’s lack of separations is that hearts (h3824. לֵבָב lêḇâḇ) are not to be lifted up above others. I want to come back to h3824. לֵבָב lêḇâḇ in a moment. Let’s finish this thought.
See Rehoboam – 1K12:6-11 and 2Chr10:6-11 – and note that a waiting time is to listen to God, not to the voice of the world.
We have spoken before many times of Exodus 34:6-7 and the Attributes of God. We have noted the עון being passed on to children and grandchildren, the way that we handle things in current life situations. The generations following do watch how we react to and manage life.
This idea of our children learning from us, and that we would be teaching God’s ways, and not ways of favoritism is picked up by the Greeks in a legend. Read Deuteronomy 6:4-21. Here is the Shema, a prayer said twice daily. Note the part about teaching our children, and that the children will learn by watching how we live our lives.
In the form of legend, the Greeks give a similar message. The message is based upon the Torah (teaching) principle of considering both sides fairly. Read this brief summary and then we will see how God has shared that teaching. Notice a skilled elder trying to pass along to the next generation. Note a theme that connects to Rehoboam.
Icarus
In Greek mythology, Icarus (/ˈɪkərəs/; Ancient Greek: Ἴκαρος, romanized: Íkaros, pronounced [ǐːkaros]) was the son of the master craftsman Daedalus, the creator of the Labyrinth. Icarus and Daedalus attempt to escape from Crete by means of wings that Daedalus constructed from feathers and wax. Daedalus warns Icarus first of complacency and then of hubris, instructing him to fly neither too low nor too high, lest the sea’s dampness clog his wings or the sun’s heat melt them. Icarus ignores Daedalus’s instructions not to fly too close to the sun, causing the wax in his wings to melt. He tumbles out of the sky, falls into the sea, and drowns. The myth would later be coined in the idiom, “don’t fly too close to the sun“.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icarus retrieved 10.16.2021
Exodus 23:1-3
1 “You shall not circulate a false report. Do not put your hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. 2 You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after many to pervert (justice). 3 You shall not show partiality to a poor man in his dispute.
Leviticus 19:15-18
15 “You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor. 16 You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor: I am the LORD.
17 “You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. 18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.
Deuteronomy 1:17
17 You shall not be partial in judgment. You shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be intimidated by anyone, for the judgment is God’s. And the case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.’
Deuteronomy 16:18-20
18 “You shall appoint judges and officers in all your towns that the LORD your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. 19 You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous. 20 Justice, and only justice, you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
Proverbs 24:23
23 These also are sayings of the wise.
Partiality in judging is not good.
The impartiality theme is also noted in the GS (Yeshua/Jesus, Paul, James), but those would come later, again based upon the earlier teaching/Torah.
OK – a return to the h3824. לֵבָב lêḇâḇ/heart thought from above, and we will wind up. Notice that לבב is בבל in reverse order. בבל is Babel, the infamous tower that led to the separation/dispersion of peoples. Indeed the separation has caused bitterness and opposition, different points of view. ((••• and we will not delve currently into this, but remember the consequence related to language – the loss of recognition of the universal (אחד– one) language.)) How would one reverse that? A big word is “repentance,” which really means a true change of heart. Of course the true change of heart would only be seen by our actions. That’s why repentance is often measured by whether different behavior is seen. In my (opinion-based) example of Sarai/Sarah, she did not display a true change of heart, even when God gave her the desire of her life. Her heart was not softened.
Please see four verses (you may want to look at context) in the book of the prophet Ezekiel who has spoken a lot to me of late: verses 11:19, 36:26, 44:7, and 44:9. It was the attitude of the hearts of the builders of the Tower at Babel, Genesis 11:4 “let us make a name for ourselves,” that led to bitterness, opposition, division. Let us give our hearts to God for the purpose of circumcision; let our hearts be changed from stone to flesh. Look back at all your assumptions. Remember Assumptive Reasoning. ((And, I know you know what I mean when I say the prophet Ezekiel has spoken a lot to me of late. I do not mean I am hearing voices. I mean that God’s word, God’s language, written down by a man who was listening and transmitting what he was understanding, has been touching my heart, changing my attitudes, making my heart less of stone and more of flesh.))
I am in the midst of dozens of threads I am tracking down. This is one I was led to share. My hope is to follow up on this from just above, but no guarantees as I am not in control:
● Separation arouses bitterness. It creates opposition. That is why we have to do three things. The first is that we must recognize the Truth in God’s separations. The second is where the separations of God are clear, to submit to them. The third is to be very balanced in our assessment of separations/choices, to go slowly and ask for God’s guidance in making decisions when they are not so clear. (God lets Cain and Abram know of what displeases and pleases him. He also lets us know if we are patient to await answers.)
① Recognize the Truth in God’s separations (this is obviously the major thrust. If we truly recognize these, the other two should follow.)
② Where the separations of God are clear, submit to them
③ If not immediately clear, go slowly and ask for God’s guidance
I personally would like to get at these three spelled-out points. But often I do not get my desires.
© October 2021 logandspeck.com please cite if copying