We all seem to be so concerned about being able to choose. Perhaps a good topic:
❶ choosing
- (I simply comment before the following passage that here we are focusing on the word “choose,” בחר, but realize that the commonly occurring word “place” מקוםin the passage may not be talking about a physical location but about a concept on the spiritual level, similar to how we have spoken of being in a “house” is the perspective from which we look at the world, our “worldview.” I have done a deep dive into this word מקום which we will eventually share here, LORD willing. There are some loose ends to tie together.)
⦁ Deuteronomy 12:8-14
8 “You shall not at all do as we are doing here today—every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes— 9 for as yet you have not come to the rest and the inheritance which the LORD your God is giving you. 10 But when you cross over עבר the Jordan ירדן and dwell in the land בארץ which the LORD your God is giving you to inherit, and he gives you rest from all your enemies round about, so that you dwell in safety, 11 then there will be the place מקום where the LORD your God chooses (h0977. בָּחַרḇâḥar) to make his name abide. There you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, and all your choice offerings which you vow to the LORD. 12 And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levite who is within your gates, since he has no portion nor inheritance with you. 13 Take heed to yourself that you do not offer your burnt offerings עלה (olah) in every place בכל–מקום that you see; 14 but in the place במקוםwhich the LORD chooses, in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings עלה, and there you shall do all that I command you.
- (Please recall the Jordan/Yarden is ירדן, from ירד p.110, descend, which reflects a humbling. “Crossing the Jordan, or on the (other) side of the Jordan, עבר ירדן,” is עבר p.178 cross over to other side; move to different condition plus ירד descend, indicating a change to a different condition by a humbling experience.
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Genesis 24:11-14
11 {And he made his camels kneel down} {outside the city} by a well of water at evening time, the time when women go out to draw water. 12 Then he said, “(O) LORD God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham. 13 Behold, (here) I stand by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw (water). 14 Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say, ‘Please let down your pitcher that I may drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink’—let her (be the one) you have appointed for your servant Isaac. And by this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.”
- My apologies, but another idea must be partially shared here. These two ideas are so totally intertwined, it is almost impossible to share one before another. Another quick mention, which will have to be included in more depth with the discussion of מקום/place, the spectrum, full range of “sustenance to weaning.” We will briefly point out this spectrum in two scenarios so that you can understand the comment about the highlighted words in verse 11. As a backdrop, recall from Genesis 1:27 that God’s nature includes attributes that we see as both male and female attributes. First, think of the easily understood image of the baby that is first sustained entirely at the breast of its mother and its eventual weaning, the process of being able to sustain itself. It is a process. The suckling does not one day move from nursing at the breast to laboring in the field. There is a process of teaching that a parent must do to move the young one, be it human or beast, to be able to care for itself.
- Likewise, parallel the Exodus story. I am totally simplifying here (more depth another time), but we discussed earlier the passage through the doorway at Pesach/Passover with blood painted all around as the imagery of the birth canal, the birth of the nation, which is God’s “firstborn בכור.” And then recall that the nation is initially fully sustained by God, given pillars of fire by night and cloud by day, fed with manna, thirst quenched with water, provided clothes that did not wear out, and feet that did not swell. (There are intertwined images of a parallel weaning from the life they knew in Egypt.) The final destination was to be the land ארץ where they were able to provide for themselves, but a land ארץ that itself was sustained by God (see e.g. Dt11:11-12). The sustenance was of the land/earth ארץ itself, and the people were to be able to extract their existence in a “place” provided for them by God. There is never a separation from provision by God, who is always in the background (just like the teaching of the parent through the vicissitudes of life always remains with the child). God works by way of “the place/the land” rather than direct sustenance. This is the weaning process. And why we are to “honor our father and our mother.” (We learn from the people who were most important to us at the time when we were most vulnerable – sometimes we learn how we want to be, and sometimes we learn how we do not want to be, but we learn from them. This is why parents are given teaching in God’s Word and told to pass that teaching down, because God’s teaching is [from LogAndSpeck subtitle] “the Revelation of Life”.) Note that the entry into the land ארץ, moving from the sustenance in the wilderness toward maturing/weaning in the land involves a crossing עבר of the Jordan (discussed above). This is a humbling experience and a maturing experience.
- The highlighted words/combinations of words in verse 11 are the ones that include cognate permutations of the root בחר. Notice the words:
- 1.) באר/well is p.20 clarify; go from dark to light.
- 2.) ערב/evening is p.191 mix substances with no change in character; penetrate with foreign matter (a permutation, also note, with עבר)
- 3.) מחוץ/(from) outside is מ “from” + p.76 חוץ exclude – לעיר/(to) the city is ל “to” + עיר. There is no root עיר – said to be derived from p.182 עור awaken; absorb external impulse
- 4.) ויברך “And made to kneel down” is ברך p.31 power growth; spur prosperity – הגמלים/“the camels” is גמל p.41 mature; develop completely
- (See how kneeling/spurring prosperity → “humbled is exalted” concept.)
- (Note גמל mature is “weaning” and the cognate meaning is provide/deny sustenance (C31))
- We spoke of keywords in Post 10, and pointed out particularly the word Damascus and נס, which is banner or signal, each of which alerts us to pay attention. Damascus is a signal word that Scripture uses to point out a passage dealing with a humbling (see the Post). נס is more generic. Here, I will suggest that when you see camels in Scripture, you should be looking for passages that have to do with this nurturing/weaning message; provide/deny sustenance. We will of necessity go into this in much more detail at a later date, but it had to be included here in the discussion of בחר as choosing, מקום “place,” in the setting of our Creation, reflecting consequences (the nature of the LORD (יהוה).) I will leave this topic for now; simply I ask you see the importance here.
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Please refer back, if necessary, to Blog 109, to recall the discussion of Canaan, referred to here.
❷ chosen soldier
⦁ Exodus 14:5-9
5 Now it was told the king of Egypt that the people had fled, and the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people; and they said, “Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” 6 So he made ready his chariot and took his people with him. 7 Also, he took six hundred choice (h0977. בָּחַר ḇâḥar) chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt with captains over every one of them. 8 And the LORD strengthened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the children of Israel; and the children of Israel went out with boldness. 9 So the Egyptians pursued them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and overtook them camping by the sea beside Pi Hahiroth, before Baal Zephon.
❸ youth
⦁ Numbers 11:28
28 So Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, one of his {choice men} (h0979. בְּחֻרוֹת ḇeḥurôṯ), answered and said, “Moses my lord, forbid them!”
▸ h0979. בְּחֻרוֹת ḇeḥurôṯ; or בְּחוּרוֹת bchuwrowth; feminine plural of h0970. בָּחוּר ḇâḥûr; also (masculine plural) בְּחֻרִים bchuriym; youth (collectively and abstractly): — young men, youth.
AV (3) – youth 2, young men 1;
youth
▸ h0970. בָּחוּר ḇâḥûr; or בָּחֻר bachur; participle passive of 977; properly, selected, i.e. a youth (often collective): — (choice) young (man), chosen, x hole.
AV (45) – young man 42, the chosen 1, young 1, not translated 1;
youth, young man
❹ best
⦁ 2 Kings 3:17-19
17 For thus says the LORD: ‘You shall not see wind, nor shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, so that you, your cattle, and your animals may drink.’ 18 And this is a simple matter in the sight of the LORD; he will also deliver the Moabites into your hand. 19 Also you shall attack every fortified city and every choice(h4004. מִבְחוֹר miḇḥôr) city, and shall cut down every good tree, and stop up every spring of water, and ruin every good piece of land with stones.”
▸ h4004. מִבְחוֹר miḇḥôr; from h0977. בָּחַר ḇâḥar; select, i.e. well fortified: — choice.
AV (2) – choice 2;
choice
▸ h0977. בָּחַר ḇâḥar; a primitive root; properly, to try, i.e. (by implication) select: — acceptable, appoint, choose (choice), excellent, join, be rather, require.
AV (172) – choose 77, chosen 77, choice 6, choose…out 5, acceptable 1, appoint 1, excellent 1, chosen men 1, rather 1, require 1, not translated;
to choose, elect, decide for
(Qal) to choose
(Niphal) to be chosen
(Pual) to be chosen, selected
Note Elisha is one chosen, who stands in the presence of the hosts. It has to do with seeing/not seeing, speaking, it has to do with rain and wind/spirit. It has to do with attacking (h5221. נָכָה nâḵâ – נכה p.156 disable; strike blows) which is a cognate permutation of the root for Canaan, כנעp.120 subdue. Attacking cities, עיר – see below the discussion of city ▣.
▣ City – עיר Strongs and EDBH indicate עיר is from the root עור p.182 awaken; absorb external impulse. We will look here at what actually is written in Scripture, עיר, and see how it compares with the עור root. Using the principles we have been using, we will look at עיר as י + ער/אר. We will not go through my entire investigation of the two-letter group of אר/ער, but share that the underlying meaning I discerned (warning, I have not read this elsewhere – it is my own work, as I have shared with other two-letter words, a very deep dive into each root containing cognate permutations of the word, hopefully led by the LORD) for the אר group is “transition.” I will also point out that one cognate permutation is רע. You may see how each of these רע meanings might bring about transitions in our lives.
ֵרעַ • brother, companion, fellow, friend, husband, lover, neighbour, [idiom] (an-) other-
ֵרעַ • thought-
ֵרעַ • [idiom] be so bad, badness, ([idiom] be so) evil, naughtiness, sadness, sorrow, wickedness.
h7453. ֵַרע rêa‘; h7462. ָרעָה râ‘â; 795 occurrences
p.246 רעה tend; satisfy needs
GV p.247 רעע break [into pieces]; p.246 רעה tend [satisfy needs]; p.241 רוע break [physically or morally]; p.111 ירע restrict [limit space] No DVs
CM רעע shatter (E81); רעה satisfy needs (E63); רוע increase/decrease (E66); ירע limit activity (C40)
[Note that רוע is cognate with רוח (wind/spirit) and ירע is cognate with ירה, whence Torah תורה.]
- We think of transitions as “evil;” we do not like change. But God’s design is one of cycles, of change. We are not to discern good vs. evil (“do not eat of the tree”).
The other component is the Yod י. Using the homorganic consonant concept plus the different resources for definitions of the meanings of the Hebrew letters gives us insight. The palatals are ג ,י ,כ ,ק. Theoretically there should be similar meaning, a “palatal thread,” which is a “double-check,” a “multiple witnesses” approach. Will these agree with what we have suggested previously? The ק has to do with cycles and finishing/ending. The כ “highlights an example for all to emulate,” and is “like” or “as.” The ג is “lifting/rising,” “pride,” and “culmination.” The י is “creation/metaphysical,” “work of the hand,” “finished work.” The “palatal thread,” then, might be something along the lines of “completion” or “an end point.” The end point might be good or evil in God’s eyes, thus not necessarily something to be strived for. The end point of an action has an impact on the results/consequences.
And for completeness in comparing עיר with עור, the definitions we have for Vav ו, are “adding/securing” and “completion, redemption, and transformation.”
If עור is awaken; absorb external impulse, and עיר is the “finished work of transitions,” what does this mean, keeping all of this in mind? We always have a tendency to focus on the tower, but I encourage you to read slowly through Genesis 11:4-9 and notice the occurrences of city עיר.
One more piece should finalize today’s message. Scripture ties the two concepts of transition together in Genesis 6-8. The first is a cataclysmic transition with a flood in which (Gn6:17) “all/measure of/striving to attain כל in ב earth ארץ perish גוע.” [See the palatal ג in גוע perish – an end-point example.] At the end of the perishing גוע, Noah took of the very precious little that was left, built an altar and offered in thanks burnt offerings עלה (ones completely consumed in fire) to the LORD (יהוה). After this, the response of the LORD was a series of transitions in cycles of opposites (with a covenant that the ground (¿ is ground אדמה a “place” like land ארץ is a “place” ?) will never again be cursed):
⦁ Genesis 8:21-22
21 And the LORD smelled a soothing aroma. Then the LORD said in his heart, “I will never again curse קלל the ground אדמה for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.
22 “While the earth remains,
Seedtime and harvest,
Cold and heat,
Winter and summer,
And day and night
Shall not cease.”
Lamed ל is “authority/yoke/control,” “movement to/toward,” “teaching/purpose.” A קלל is a cycle of intense teaching. Nighttime ליל comes from p.130 לול, blend together.We are in a cycle of transition, a time of “night,” a blending together.
Noah’s time in the ark was a time of separation, a time to think about טמא “unclean” and “clean” טהור/טהר. We’ve spoken a lot about טמא, but טהר not so much. טהר isp.94 purify; free from foreign elements;; CM improve/impair (D16). Noah offered עלהthe clean טהור, given entirely to the LORD (יהוה).
One more contrast to point out. In Genesis 6:17 earth is ארץ. In Genesis 8:21 “the ground” (sometimes translated as earth) is אדמה. The root (obviously also the root for Adam, and one of the words for mankind) p.3 אדם be earthly and solid;; CM control (A17). I share the variant family. Recall that blood דם is the product of this “family.” See Leviticus 17:11, the life is in the blood.
•דָּם-blood(-y, -guiltiness, (-thirsty), [phrase] innocent.
h1818. דָּם ḏâm; from h1826. דָּמַם ḏâmam (compare h0119. אָדַם ’âḏam); (361 occ.)
GV p.52 דמם quiet [refrain from speech or action]; p.51 דמה resemble; p.48 דום quiet
DV p.3 אדם – p.52 דמם quiet [refrain from speech or action]; p.51 דמה resemble; p.48 דום quiet > p.3 אדם be earthly and solid
DV דהם – p.52 דמם quiet [refrain from speech or action]; p.48 דום quiet > p.47 דהםconfuse
DV הדם – p.52 דמם quiet [refrain from speech or action]; p.51 דמה resemble; p.48 דוםquiet > p.56 הדם sustain elevated object No DV דאם
CM דמם repress (D31); דמה lose independence (D30); p.48 דום hold together (D19); אדם and הדם control (A17); דהם clarify/confuse (D15)
And notice the cognate meaning of the Derivational Variants, “control” and “clarify/confuse.” They are cognate permutations of one another, and thus on the same spectrum. Recall that Derivational Variants p.296 “target or individualize” the action, that is, we may experience them in a very personal manner.
Time to 🤔 – טמא a time set apart:
Noah on the ark || dispersion from Babel || time in Egypt || time in “wilderness” – cycles ליל night/teaching/blending together and יום day p.102 ascend.
A יום time to ascend and time to לול blend together.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 – (NKJV – Everything Has Its Time) and read through verse 8.
1 To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:
What we see as a curse קלל may be a time set aside for pondering and coming to the conclusion that we should offer thanks to our loving God for all that we have come through. And we must willingly turn control over to the One really in control. It most certainly is not us אדם. Read Deuteronomy 30:15-20, and notice in that passage both ארץ and אדמה occur twice. Especially see verse 19:
Deuteronomy 30:19
19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;
This is the choice. Release our attempts at control and send them rising to the One, like the olah עלה offering.
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