① learning
Deuteronomy 31:12-13
12 Gather the people together, men and women and little ones, and the stranger who is within your gates, that they may hear and that they may learn (h3925. לָמַד lâmaḏ) to fear (h3372. יָרֵא yârê’) the LORD your God and carefully observe all the words of this law, 13 and (that) their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn(h3925. לָמַד lâmaḏ) to fear (h3372. יָרֵא yârê’) the LORD your God as long as you live in the land which you cross the Jordan to possess.”
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Psalms 25:4-5
4 Your road (h1870. דֶּרֶךְ ḏereḵ), LORD, make known (h3045. יָדַע yâḏa‘) to me;
Teach (h3925. לָמַד lâmaḏ) me your paths (h0734. אֹרַח ’ôraḥ).
5 Lead (h1869. דָּרַךְ ḏâraḵ) me in your truth and teach (h3925. לָמַד lâmaḏ) me,
For you are the God of my salvation;
On you I wait all the day.
- Here למד is parallel with p.101 ידע acquire knowledge; know and p.53 דרך step forward; progress toward a goal
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Psalms 34:8-11
8 Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good;
Blessed the man trusting in him!
9 Oh, fear (h3372. יָרֵא yârê’) the LORD, you his saints!
No want to those fearing (h3373. יָרֵא yârê’) him.
10 The young lions lack and suffer hunger;
But those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good.
11 Come, you children, listen to me;
I will teach (h3925. לָמַד lâmaḏ) you the fear (h3374. יִרְאָה iyr’â) of the LORD.
- Notice, please how many times ירא is seen in these verses. VERY important to understand from the perspective of our cognate permutations being used here. This may be the most important message we’ve seen recently. To get your attention, we will begin with a somewhat different presentation, and go full circle. Here is a set of cognates:
- The cognate meaning (CM) listed for C40 is “limit activity.” We cannot go through all of them here, but I encourage you to look them up. I will point out some, that you may understand. As we go through them, recall the CM, and then we will cover this important message.
- p.232 קרא summon; cause change in direction (among other uses, this is used of “the Call” of the LORD)
- p.110 ירא fear; call to constant attention (our index word)
- p.110 ירה cast; shoot (the root from which Torah תורה is derived)
- p.124 כרע kneel; limit height (also translated as bowing down, subdued, and brought low at times)
I particularly wanted to remind you of the palatal family ג, י, כ, ק and remind you that the prefix כ means “like” as in to be similar to something. Thus כרע is “like כ + evil רע.” And this entire cognate family of “limit activity” brings out the point that what looks evil to mankind may be a good in God’s eyes, and what looks good in mankind’s eyes may, in God’s longer-term vision, be evil in God’s eyes. This is why we were not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because God looks on things from a different perspective (see 1 Samuel 16:7; Psalm 147:10-11; Isaiah 45:7) God is good but may find it necessary as a teaching tool to use something we consider evil, in order that we may learn. This is the calling to constant attention, the means of learning. God is not evil. God is good. But God’s children must be taught, and when necessary, if we have not learned by more gentle repetition, something we consider evil must be in the LORD’s (יהוה) armamentarium. Think as a parent who must be able to use “no” in raising their child at times, not always “yes,” if the child is to grow to be an adult that can be tolerated by other human beings. The CM limit activity is one place where we may be able to best see God’s perspective. A synonym for “limit activity” could be “restrain.” We don’t really like being restrained. We look at it as an evil, perhaps. But it is by way of restraint that we learn to focus and move in a more productive fashion. Think of it as blinders on a horse and a bridle with a horse, or as lines painted on the highway as we are driving. They are guides. The great power and speed of the horse are “brought low,” “channeled” for purposeful activity. In a wild stallion running free is great beauty, but harnessed, that power can be channeled, guided, to pull a plow to allow for more food to be brought forth. Teaching (“laws”) in the Torah about oxen goring people relate to lack of placing proper restraints, not just on the animals in our stalls, but to the children we raise. Subduing, causing to bow low, humbling, submitting, all are necessary for societal relationships.
And teaching, למד, could be separated into מ + דל and ל + מד and ל + דם.
- Of course מ is “from.”
דל is from דלל impoverish and/or דלה raise pendulously (some of the uses are drawing up water/swaying bucket/a swinging door – might think of as uncertainty). We are taught/we learn by these kinds of circumstances. (There is no לד family.)
- Of course ל is “to/toward.” And we must look at first מד and then דם.
The family for מד is מדד measure length or distance and מוד prolong. You may think in this realm of having to repeat something over and over in order to get it to the condition that you really know it, either memorizing a poem or getting good at free throws in basketball. You may also think of the prolonging as time, in that for some things to be learned it just takes time, or patience.
For דמ there is דמם quiet; refrain from speech or action. There is דמה resemble. There is דום quiet. And there are three Derivational Variants, אדם be earthly and solid; הדםsustain elevated object; and דהם confuse. Sometimes silence is the best teacher. Silence is definitely a response if we stop talking long enough to recognize it. Think in the realm of resemble, being earthly and solid, and sustaining an elevated object as having mentors or heroes or ones we admire that we aim to resemble. Of course אדםis “man/mankind,” and we certainly learn negative things from other people, in addition to positive. This of course can be peer pressure. We may learn from that which we choose to emulate. But an elevated object can also be a higher goal. Confuse – confusion can certainly be a teacher; when we are put into a time of uncertainty may be when we learn best, when we are forced to consider many things, when the lack of the familiar may make us turn to the One sustainer. All of these things should be in our mind as we think of למד. And we shared long ago that the word “lamed,” the letter ל, is the shepherd’s staff. The imagery should be clear, how the shepherd uses her/his staff to help guide the sheep.
③ goading; directing
Judges 3:31
31 After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed six hundred men of the Philistines with an ox (h1241. בָּקָר ḇâqâr) goad (h4451. מַלְמָד malmâḏ); and he also delivered Israel.
The מלמד is “from” the shepherd’s staff, but with the added sharpened point that may be required for the more stubborn animal. The ox is בקר. It is a powerful animal. When domesticated, it provides great benefit to mankind. Unchecked, it is dangerous. בקר would be ק + בר. Think of the palatal ק as similar to כ which is “like” and “an example to emulate.” בר comes from a family, as listed in the GV of this root:
- The one Variant that benefits from a fuller definition is בור dig, which is, more fully, dig a clear pit, as in a well.
May we all, by way of the teaching of life, be cleansed. One thing being taught, maybe one of the most critical things being taught, is self restraint. It takes many fewer goads, painful experiences, when the restraint comes from internally, rather than having to be imposed.
Ⓒ copyright LogAndSpeck, September, 2022. Please cite if sharing.