march 06 bible reading

Today’s Old Testament chronological reading is in Exodus 39 and 40.

The Psalms/ Proverbs reading is in Psalm 66.

The New Testament reading is in Luke 4.

Hebrew root words.

All the gold that was used for the work in all the work of the sanctuary … Exo 38:24

Gold. Strong’s H2091 זהב zahab, a concrete noun meaning, “gold,” from an unnamed, unused root meaning, “to be yellow,” or some say, “to shimmer.” The 3-letter root of the noun, according to Gesenius, is zayin + hey + bet:

zayin ז = the mattock, thus tool, food, cut, nourish
hey ה = man with upraised arms, thus look, reveal, wonder, worship, breath
bet ב = the house, thus house, household, family, in, within

The story: The mattock as a tool (zayin) is used to unearth or reveal (hey) the ore hidden within (bet) the earth.

*****

And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation … Exo 38:25

Silver. Strong’s H3701, keseph, a concrete noun meaning, “silver,” interchangeably also used for money, and covetous longing; from Strong’s H3700 כסף kasaph, a primitive root meaning, “to be pale.” The 3-letter root is kaph + sin + pey.

kaph כ ך = the open palm, thus bend, open, allow, tame
sin ס = the thorn, thus grab, hate, protect
pey פ ף = the mouth, thus open, blow, scatter, edge

The story: That which in the palm (kaph) can become a thorn (sin) fueling an unsatisfied longing (pey as an open mouth).

*****

And the brass of the offering … Exo 38:29

Brass. Strong’s H5178, nechosheth, a concrete noun meaning, “brass,” as a copper alloy; from Strong’s H5154, nechushah, a concrete noun meaning, “item made of brass;” from Strong’s H5153, nachush, an adjective meaning, “coppery, brazen;” from Strong’s H5172 נחש nachash, a primitive root meaning, “to hiss, to whisper, to practice enchantment.” The 3-letter root is nun + chet + shin:

nun נ ן = the seed, thus continue, heir, son
chet ח = the wall, thus outside, divide, half
shin ש = two front teeth, thus sharp, press, eat, two, again

The story: The chet + shin pair conveys the idea of hissing, in that making a wall (chet) with your teeth (shin) and then pushing air through it makes the hissing sound. To get to divination, we have to understand what a seed (nun) is. Yeshua taught us that the Word is the seed (Mar 4:14). Remember that the serpent in the Garden planted a seed (nun) of doubt within Eve when he whispered (chet + shin) to her his word which opposed YHVH’s word. That bad seed brought forth a bad fruit. So a seed (nun) planted by making a wall (chet) with your teeth (shin), i.e., by hissing, whispering, is the foundational meaning of occult speaking and spell casting, and is a product of the enemy.

There are two possibilities to explain the verbal connection to the root. First, when a serpent hisses, as he opens his mouth to strike, it is seen that he has a red throat; therefore applied to the red color of copper and its alloys, brass and bronze. Second, silver and gold are pure metals, whereas brass and bronze are copper alloys. Brass is copper plus zinc, and bronze is copper plus tin, that is, they are not pure, and impurity likewise describes the serpent’s whispering of a lie wrapped around a kernel of truth.

*****

And of the blue, and purple, and scarlet, they made plaited garments … Exo 39:1

Blue. Strong’s H8504, tekeleth, a concrete noun meaning, “stuff dyed blue;” from Strong’s H7827, shecheleth, a concrete noun meaning, the blue “shell” of the helix ianthina mussel; from Strong’s H7826, shachal, a concrete noun meaning, “lion;” from an unused primitive root probably meaning “to roar.” The 3-letter root is shin + chet + lamed according to Gesenius.

shin ש = two front teeth, thus sharp, press, eat, two, again
chet ח = the wall, thus outside, divide, half
lamed ל = the shepherd’s staff, thus teach, yoke, to, bind

The story: When a lion roars (shin, exposing his sharp teeth) the sound encircles (chet) his prey as it proclaims his authority (lamed). I suspect shecheleth is cognate because the shell encircles the mussel like a wall. Interesting that both “blue” and “lion” are cognates of the same root. The lion has been known as the king of beasts from ancient days, and blue is the royal color associated with YHVH, the King of the universe.

Purple. Strong’s H713 ארגם argaman, a concrete noun meaning, “stuff dyed purple.” It is of uncertain or foreign derivation with no verbal root listed, although Gesenius speculates the root may be רקם raqam, “to variegate, to dye with colors.”

resh ר = the head of man, thus head, first, top, beginning, man
quph ק = sun on the horizon, thus condense, circle, time
mem מ ם = the water, thus chaos, mighty, blood

The story: The beginning (resh) of the sun’s descent onto the horizon (quph) dyes the water (mem) red.

Scarlet, in Exo 39:1, uses two words:

Strong’s H8144 שני shaniy, a concrete noun meaning, “stuff dyed scarlet;” of uncertain derivation. The 3-letter root of the noun is shin + nun + yud.

shin ש = two front teeth, thus sharp, press, eat, two, again
nun נ ן = the seed, thus continue, heir, son
yud י = the closed hand, thus work, throw, worship

The story: The female scarlet worm pressed her body down (shin) onto the ilex tree or leaves, affixing herself firmly. She then deposited her eggs (nun) beneath her body, which enclosed them (yud), protecting them until they hatched.

“When the female of the scarlet worm species was ready to give birth to her young, she would attach her body to the trunk of a tree, fixing herself so firmly and permanently that she would never leave again. The eggs deposited beneath her body were thus protected until the larvae were hatched and able to enter their own life cycle. As the mother died, the crimson fluid stained her body and the surrounding wood. From the dead bodies of such female scarlet worms, the commercial scarlet dyes of antiquity were extracted. What a picture this gives of Christ, dying on the tree, shedding his precious blood that he might ‘bring many sons unto glory’ (Hbr 2:10)! He died for us, that we might live through him! Psa 22:6 describes such a worm and gives us this picture of Christ. (cf. Isa 1:18).”

– Henry Morris; Biblical Basis for Modern Science, Baker Book House, 1985, p. 73

Strong’s H8438, towla, a concrete noun meaning, “worm;” used often interchangeably to mean the female scarlet worm above; from Strong’s H3216 ילע yala, a primitive root meaning, “to devour.” The 3-letter root is yud + lamed + ayin, however, I am not wise enough to discover its story today. I did find I have covered this word before in its prophetic significance, and it might be of interest.