The first occurrence
And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth. Gen 1:17
The primitive root
Strong’s H5414 נתן nathan, a primitive root meaning, “to give, put, or set.” The 3-letter root is 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 mark, to mean, “to give.” The first time the seed appears in Scripture, God has, on the third day of creation, given the seed to the earth, hidden 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
Giving is like planting a seed, and there is the meaning of the Hebrew. Giving (nun, the seed) is marked by (tav) , that is, like, 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.
Leave a Reply