My apologies up front for the meandering path taken on this entry. I actually find there is much to be learned on a meandering path. (See the Doctrine of the Roadfrom our headmaster in Blog 105, also referred to in Blog 131.) A straight line is fastest, but more the way of mankind, not God. I recalled this from my architectural background, “Nature abhors a straight line.”
In Scripture there are references to “walking in the field” (see e.g. Genesis 24:65 with context and Jeremiah 10:5) as time hearing from the LORD. Field is
שׂדה p.274 produce food; sustain;; search for sustenance (E39). As often as possible I take a walk in the mornings, in the freshness of the day, mine being more like Forest Bathing, as I get to meander in and around trees as well as fields.
From today’s walk – colorful…
It has been a hot dry summer, but of late we have been blessed with some early Fall rains. Ever notice after the rain how the scents, “pleasing aromas,” come more into our awareness?
⦁ Deuteronomy 11:13-14
13 ‘And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the LORD your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, 14 then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil.
My “Forest Bathing,” walking in the field, especially helps me “gather” after a rainfall, such as we have recently been blessed with. I had asked of the LORD that he help me put this discussion together. I only hope i can bring him the firstfruits of the harvest to share here. Forgive, please, when my words get in the way of his words speaking into your life.
As always the true inspiration comes from a combination of what is witnessing to me in life surrounding me and Scripture (“The Revelation of Life in Scripture”). So, the meandering will be in some life examples and some Scriptural examples in hopes there may be something that speaks into your life (some gleaning for you).
First, three life witnesses…
I have been in the process of helping a relative look at some meanings in a Scriptural passage for a message he is preparing. The word we will be talking about today really struck me as a major part of the passage he is trying to discuss.
A different relative of mine is experiencing some very hard times in a current marriage separation, in which our word may play a role.
And finally, in my own life I can reflect upon many instances where this word comes into play, and I am guilty of misdirection in “establishing limits.”
So, I will do my best in wending my way through the many pieces the LORD has shown me. Please follow the thread. Our word for today is חמד.
חמד p.82 covet; value and desire;; determine degree of motion (A64).
And the Impression from חמד cognate permutations (establish limits). I share my work on the cognate permutation investigation below.
Please see how the word אמת “Truth,” though a noun, is shown there with the roots, in bold. In this way, the blog entry connects to the last one.
Coveting is a theme throughout Scripture, which touches on SO many things. I will try to explain, but please recall the title of this blog as we stroll.
First, I show some background work from very early in Scripture.
⦁ Genesis 2 NKJV
1 Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. 2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
4 This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, 5 before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; 6 but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground.
7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
Life in God’s Garden
8 The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. 9 And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
10 Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. 11 The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are there. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it is the one which goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.
15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
18 And the LORD God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” 19 Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.
21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.
23 And Adam said:
“This is now bone of my bones
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man.”
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
- Now with our word, חמד.
Several things jumped out at me here. The bolded words may also help you see. We are not made from ארץ earth/land; we are made from אדמה ground. And we, mankind, are אדם. Ground and man(kind) both include the “establishing limits” idea. Also notice that עדן Eden includes the “establishing limits” idea, remembering the מ ↔︎ נrule. We will not go into all that is in Genesis 2 here… maybe another time. We know that Genesis 3 shows the crossing of “established limits,” but Genesis 2 sets the stage for Genesis 3.
“Truth” that the Teacher came to witness to (see last blog) was a witness toward “establishing limits.”
Let us look at some other important aspects of establishing limits/coveting, but remember that this is the very ground of which we are made.
- The first part of The Ten Commandments:
⦁ Exodus 20:2-7 NKJV
2 “I (am) the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness (of anything) that (is) in heaven above, or that (is) in the earth beneath, or that (is) in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, (am) a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth (generations) of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
7 “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
You know this as the beginning of “The Ten Commandments.” There are some variations between the Exodus and Deuteronomy versions, some of which we will point to shortly. Just see how much of this part is focused on “establishing limits/coveting,” and how it relates to “likenesses” or idols.
First looking at the wording in Exodus, and we will point out some things. After that we will look at the difference in the explicit “covet” commandment between Exodus and Deuteronomy. So, hold that thought for some meandering.
The other nine are (recall Hebrew numbering may vary): Jeremiah 17:24, 17:27; Amos 5:18; Malachi 3:2; Psalm 137:7; Esther 9:19, 9:21; and Nehemiah 13:17, 13:22.
See that the first את יום reference is in Genesis 2 that we looked at above You may wand to go back to that context to plug in mentally this wording, “understanding restrained/expressed emotion,” the “shorthand.” We will not go that far down that side trail here.
The second thing to point out in Exodus 20:8-17 jumps to verse 12, where “establish limits” is seen with “and את your mother.” In Appendix 9, see the cognate permutation meaning for “mother” as (positioned for influence; direct to/target goal). If you looked in the Appendix you saw that מה “what.” is listed with אם “mother.” If we plug in “restrain/express emotion” for את in the phrase “and את your mother,” which reflects “establishing limits,” we again see the necessity of “weaning” (thanks again, Beth Reisfeld) and the old saying, “cutting the apron strings. Part of maturing is cutting some of the emotional ties to mother. And I throw in here, the מה, simply to say that it may be also telling us that we should establish limits in our “what” questions. This is blasphemy of course, with my medical background, but is there a suggestion here that we must establish limits in our scientific endeavors? As in the Tower of Babel? See this is reflected again in Appendix 1, where מה is explored in with mammon.
Third, also in verse 12, “the ground” and “your God giving.” The “you” of “your God” is singular. God gives us each our own individual strengths and weaknesses. He has “established our limits,” so to speak. But our task is to make the most for the glory of God with the talents he has given us (see e.g. the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30 and Luke 19:11-27.)
And I just point out one more single word “adultery” from the root. It is in the imperfect form here with the prefix ת, allowing it definition as including “establishing limits.”
- נאף p.146 turn from one to another (no cognates)
I point that one out specifically because of the upcoming discussion on the differences in the “not coveting” commandments, Exodus 20:17 and Deuteronomy 5:21. We, of course think of spouses turning from one to another, but Scripture speaks a lot of this word in our relationship with God, turning from the LORD to other gods, idols. We hone in now on the Deuteronomy 5:21 version.
⦁ Deuteronomy 5:21 NKJV
21 You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife; and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.’
I place the versions together here for your comparison.
For some reason or reasons Moses/Moshe changes both the order and the verb, separating “wife” from the remainder. And there is obviously an intended protection (established limit) for a female in a lower social stratum (the female servant):in both. The אוה verb does not have as strong a connotation as the חמד verb. As we spoke, when there are differences, we are purposely drawn to consider why?”
I share here some speculations, so be warned that they are speculations. These are “educated guesses” based on that previously discussed theorem of Scriptural study, “Analogy of Faith,” Post 04. Interpretation Overview, the best interpreter of Scripture is Scripture itself. In line with the earlier discussion here about our own “formation” being based upon what has gone before in our lives, and the need to be sensitive to the feelings of others based upon their own experiences, I have two thoughts.
First relates to the experience in Numbers 12, when Aaron and Miriam challenge Moses and his Cushite wife (perhaps meaning of “lower social status? כוש p.117 lessen in value) and the LORD’s response. Not sure how that relates to (same or different person?) his Midianite wife Zipporah – see particularly Exodus 4:25-26 and realize these are דמים verses, when she calls him “husband of blood.” Her view of Moses is that he goes to excesses, in terms of his demanding circumcision of their son.
Marriage is hard under the best of circumstances, requiring much concentrated effort. Having another covet one’s spouse undoubtedly puts additional strain on the relationship. Moses had his share of challenges in marriage relationship(s) and this likely brought the topic to the forefront of his mind. He perhaps focused attention on the topic of others looking at one’s marriage relationships.
The other speculation is that (and perhaps because of his heightened awareness due to his own life circumstances) he likely saw in the “mixed multitude” he was leading this infraction as being very common, “coveting” another’s spouse, seeing only the good and not the challenging aspects in the other marriage (those more challenging aspects are often held more privately). We tend to see “the grass is greener on the other side.”
For whatever reason, Moses clearly changed some wording to what he believed the people needed to hear. And the Teacher, in his so-called Sermon on the Mount picked up on this very point, as he said:
⦁ Matthew 5:27-30
27 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.
Here he speaks of “lust” as being “adultery of the heart.” Coveting, perhaps. We saw in the Exodus passage that “commit adultery” was a word indicating “establishing limits,” coveting. We also see that coveting the neighbor’s spouse (woman or man) is going beyond established limits, and Moses says more than the desires of other things.
Just a couple more points to bring up and try to tie this together.
The first is the passage in John 8 about the woman caught in the very act of adultery. It is a pretty familiar passage. The important message is that we all sin and the answer is to turn and sin no more, especially once it has been pointed out to you (see Nathan and David in 2 Samuel 12), once it is “out in the open,” uncovered, though far better if we recognize it ourselves and choose to change. ((We have shared the writings of The Jesus Seminar before (reference #21 in the Bibliography), a group of experts who got together and “voted” on whether things were actually said by Jesus – this is one particular incident that they challenge. My response to them is that is is a message consistent with Scripture and paints a very clear picture. Therefore it is a very important incident to be included. Such efforts as The Jesus Seminar only divide people rather than bringing them together.))
In our current society, much of coveting is placed before us in the media of all sorts and in our everyday lives. Establishing limits when I was growing up was seen as “censorship,” but that has greatly gone by the wayside. The Rating System for movies is now such that gratuitous foul language or a brief splash of flesh is added to increase the rating because it will help bring in more viewers, more revenue. The radio is full of songs with words never previously even considered. I myself (having already shared previously on the website, that I have broken all Ten Commandments, some physically and some only in my heart) have definitely coveted the spouse of a neighbor and know that has caused troubles in others’ lives. For that I have greatly changed my lifestyle, but our covetous nature, חמד as in ground אדמה, is not so easily changed. It must remain a constant battle. I fail, and pick myself up again. Thankfully the LORD (יהוה) is both very forgiving, and is aware of the ground אדמה which he gave each of us as individuals. See this discussion above about Exodus 20:12:
Circling back to Truth אמת for a moment, all of us covet, all of us come from the same ground אדמח. But we are all also given individual ground, with established limits. This is Truth. We have the opportunity, the free will, to directing out coveting toward God or toward the world in/on the ground in which we live. We have to make the choice.
⦁ Deuteronomy 30:19-20
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; 20 that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the ground אדמה which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”
And please, please remember the point above about את יום, as in את the day, understanding the restrained/expressed feelings in others. Take a pause, a sabbath, try to see more deeply. Read between the lines, read the body language. See the underlying pain, the consequences your neighbor carries within, and, from Leviticus 19:18, “love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.”
In other words, love the LORD and love your neighbor, by showing both in how you live.
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