exodus 16 hebrew roots

Read Exodus 16 at Bible Gateway.

Hebrew paragraph divisions

Exo 15:27-16:3 {s} Israel complained of no bread
Exo 16:4-10 {p} YHVH answered that He will provide bread from heaven
Exo 16:11-27 {s} YHVH provides manna + Sabbath rest commandment
Exo 16:28-36 {p} The Sabbath rest is YHVH’s commandment + memorial of manna

Hebrew roots

And he said to them: This is that which YHVH has spoken: Tomorrow is a solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to YHVH. Bake that which you will bake, and boil that which you will boil; and all that remains over, lay up for yourselves to be kept until the morning. Exo 16:23

Solemn rest is Strong’s H7677, shabbathown, a concrete noun meaning, “sabbath observance,” from Strong’s H7676, shabbath, a concrete noun meaning, “Sabbath,” the seventh day of rest; itself intensive from Strong’s H7673 שבת shabath, a primitive root meaning, “to cease, desist,” i.e. to rest. The ancient pictographs are shin + bet + tav.

shin ש = two front teeth, thus sharp, press, eat, two, again
bet ב = the house, thus house, household, family, in, within
tav ת = crossed sticks, thus mark, sign, signal, monument

The story the ancient Hebrew pictographs are telling, is of pressing in (shin) to home (bet), for work in ancient times was done in the fields, so when one returned home, it was because the work was done for the day and it was time to sit and rest. When one pressed in to home, when one ceased from labor and took their rest, that action is a sign or signal (tav) that marked that person.

And YHVH spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you.” Exo 31:12-13

Holy is Strong’s H6944 qodesh, a concrete noun meaning, “a sacred place or thing,” from Strong’s H6942 קדש qadash, a primitive root meaning, “to be holy.” We have seen this word before.

Sabbath is Strong’s H7676, Shabbath, the same as above.

Six days you shall gather it; but on the seventh day is the Sabbath, in it there shall be none. Exo 16:26

Seventh is Strong’s H7637, shebiy’iy, an adjective meaning “seventh,” the ordinal from Strong’s H7657, shib’iym, a numeral meaning, “seventy;” which is a multiple of Strong’s H7651 שבע sheba, a concrete noun meaning, “seven.” The ancient pictographs are shin + bet + ayin.

shin ש = two front teeth, thus sharp, press, eat, two, again
bet ב = the house, thus house, household, family, in, within
ayin ע = the eye, thus watch, know, shade

The verbal root having the same pictographs is Strong’s H7650, “to swear,” which we have seen before. Its story is that which passes through the teeth (shin, i.e., spoken words) which the family (bet, not just those who share the same tent, but also the entire extended family) will watch over (ayin) to ensure compliance. Its connection to the number seven, sheba, is that “to swear an oath” meant literally, “to seven oneself,” as seven was a sacred number throughout the ancient world, and the oath would be repeated seven times, or given with seven sacrifices, or witnessed with seven witnesses and pledges, as a testament to the sincerity of the oath-taker.

And YHVH said to Moses: “How long will you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws? Exo 16:28

Refuse is Strong’s H3985 מאן ma’en, a primitive root meaning, “to refuse.” We have seen this word before.

To keep is Strong’s H8104 שמר shamar, a primitive root meaning, “to keep, to watch, to guard as a husbandman or shepherd.” The Ancient Hebrew Lexicon tells us that the shin + mem in this root were originally a sin + nun, the similar sounds becoming transposed over time. So the ancient pictographs were sin + nun + resh.

sin ס = the thorn, thus grab, hate, protect
nun נ = the seed, thus continue, heir, son
resh ר = the head of man, thus head, first, top, beginning, man

Shepherds would surround their flocks at night with thorn branches to protect them from predators when they were pasturing them away from the fold. They kept or guarded their flocks so that their children would be provided for. Thus shamar is to closely guard (sin) for the next generation(nun) that which is of first importance (resh).

Commandment is Strong’s H4687, mitsvah, a concrete noun meaning, “commandment.” We have seen this word before.

Law is Strong’s H8451, torah, a concrete noun meaning, “instruction, teaching.” We have seen this word before.

“See that YHVH has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.” Exo 16:29

Given is Strong’s H5414 נתן nathan, a primitive root meaning, “to give.” The ancient pictographs are nun + tav + nun.

nun נ, ן = the seed, thus continue, heir, son
tav ת = crossed sticks, thus mark, sign, signal, monument
nun נ, ן = the seed, thus continue, heir, son

God chose to use two seeds surrounding the sign, the mark, to mean, “to give.” The first time the seed appears in Scripture, God has, on the third day of creation, hidden the seed in the ground, so that it will grow and produce fruit, which contains seed within itself also.

“Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. So the evening and the morning were the third day.” Gen 1:11-13

That is the picture of giving. Giving is like planting seed, and there is the meaning of the Hebrew. Giving (nun, the seed) is like (tav) planting a seed (nun). What you give will grow and produce fruit; and not just any fruit, but fruit of the same kind as the seed. When the fruit is produced, we take the seed within it, and plant it, that is, give it, again.

Abide is Strong’s H3427 ישב yashab, a primitive root meaning, “to sit down, to dwell.” The ancient pictographs are yud + shin + bit.

yud י = the closed hand, thus work, throw, worship
shin ש = two front teeth, thus sharp, press, eat, two, again
bet ב = the house, thus house, household, family, in, within

The story the ancient pictographs are telling is that when work (yud) is ended, we press (shin) into the house (bet), to sit down at the end of our day of labor.