Read Psalm 91 at Bible Gateway.
Let’s unpack the Hebrew of dwelling in the secret place.
“Secret place” is in Hebrew, Strong’s H5643, cether, from the three letter primitive root H5641, cather, סָתַר.
Cether (the noun): covering, shelter, hiding place, secrecy; covering, cover; hiding place, shelter, secret place; secrecy (of tongue being slanderous, or backbiting). A hiding, hence, something secret, clandestine, hidden; a veil, covering; protection or defense.
Cather (the verb and primitive root): to hide or conceal; to be hidden or to lie hid.
The root is samech + tav + resh. The ancient Hebrew pictographs paint the picture of the word meaning: the samech is from the thorn, meaning, to grab, hate, or protect. The tav is from the two crossed sticks, meaning, mark, sign, signal, monument. The resh is from the head of a man, meaning, first, top, beginning, man. This is a puzzling combination, but the first usage of words in Scripture is often the definitive usage, and I think that is the case here:
“Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass , [that] every one that findeth me shall slay me.” Gen 4:14 KJV
Cain is remarking on the punishment he received from the Lord, for killing his brother Abel. He was being exiled from his family. His family, moreover, dwelt in God’s face, outside of Eden. Away from God’s face, Cain was saying, he would be visible to every one finding him, who would slay him. So God put a mark (tav) on Cain so that this would not happen.
In other words, thorns (samech) surrounded the marked (tav) man (resh). Now instead of being visible to those who would slay him, he was hidden, camouflaged, behind a hedge of protection (as thorn bushes were used to create a hedge of protection around the flock of sheep at night, to protect them from predators).
This is why pestilence, war, and enemies pass by the Psa 91 man. They cannot see him and are turned back from him, by the wall of thorns. The man is covered and sheltered and hidden from view. So how does one enter in and dwell in this secret place?
Very helpful, thank you. I looked up the Hebrew word for secret place in Bible Hub and their definition was backbiting. Your article clarified it for me
Thank you for visiting today and for your kind comments Teresa. Please do come back again!
My first time here! I must say, Glory to God! To actually have a BIBLE TEACHING channel we can ALL benefit from! Born-Again, Spirit filled, Yes and for Sinners who have not met Our Lord and Master yet! Also for those who used to follow Hesus diligently, and whatever happened, they backslid.
Yes, Our Lord, Our Father God, and Our Holy Spirit will guide you to all the answers to your questions in the Bible. But you must SEEK HIM. That makes God very happy indeed! Much Love and Many Prayers going out to all here! “The secret place of the Most High…..”, I’ve always loved to read it, but thanks to you, I’m starting to u dersrand WHY, and how important it is!
I will be praying for you……I don’t know you, but Jesus does! And He promised “Anything you ask in MY NAME, that shall I do.” THANK YOU LORD JESUS!!!! ♥️🙏✝️🕊🙋♀️💕💜🕎🌹
Thank you very much for visiting, and leaving your kind comments Deborah. And the prayers are very much appreciated. Please do come back again.