RR Psalm 34:7,8 Part 6
Shalom,
Psalm 34:7 This poor man cried, and Adonai heard, and saved him out of all his troubles. 8 The angel of Adonai encamps around those who fear Him, and delivers them.
More Hebrew than you ever wanted to know. Remember, Psalm 34 is an acrostic in the original Hebrew. Each verse starts with the next letter of the “Aleph-Bet,” until now. As you may recall, the numbering of all the verses is different in Hebrew because in the original, verse one was much later split into two verses in the Christian Bible, affecting all the other verses. Psalm 34 has 22 verses in the Hebrew Bible and with the same words, 23 verses in the Christian Bible. So verse two of the Hebrew Bible starts with an Aleph, and verse seven starts with “Zion” (the sixth letter). The “Vav” (seventh letter) which should have started verse eight, is missing altogether (however; with all due respect, the second half of the seventh verse does start with a “Vav”). But the “Vav” is still missing altogether from verse 8.
Why would that be? Let me offer you one possible explanation. It could be that because the “Vav” is widely understood to be the Hebrew letter that represents man, and the author of Psalm 34 is writing such high praise for God, that he is avoiding the “Vav.” This could be his way of marginalizing man while he is exalting God.
Rabbi Trail: A similar thing happens in Psalm 145 where the “Nun” (pronounced almost like “noon”) is omitted. It is widely thought that this is done to disrespect the word “Naphel,” meaning “fall” which begins with a “Nun.” We don’t fall before God, we stand before Him. However; unlike Psalm 34, some manuscripts of Psalm 145 have been found to include an extra verse that does start with a “Nun.” Yet Psalm 145, verse 14 (which starts with a “Samech” and not a “Nun”) still contains the word “HaNoph’lim” which means “the fallen ones.” End RT.
In our two subject verses today, a poor man (who call out to God) is saved (in Hebrew, he is Yeshua’ed) from troubles, while in the next verse, those who fear God are delivered. These are two sides of the same coin. Biblically speaking, poor people are those who have a lack of zeros to the left of the decimal in their bank balance. Deuteronomy 15:11 “For there will never cease to be poor people in the land. Therefore I am commanding you, saying, ‘You must surely open your hand to your brother—to your needy and poor in your land.’” This Scripture appears just before the “great reset” in God’s economy, the seventh year in which the enslaved are set free.
And there is another biblical definition of poor people. The Bible identifies poor people as people who realize they don’t have their own resources, so they have to depend on God. Jacob 2:5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters. Didn’t God choose the poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom that He promised to those who love Him?
Paul says he has been both rich and poor, and what he has learned is to keep focused on Yeshua, no matter how many zeros he has in his bank account.
Philippians 4:11 I am not saying this because I am in need—for whatever circumstance I am in, I have learned to be content. 12 I know what it is to live with humble means, and I know what it is to live in prosperity. In any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of contentment—both to be filled and to go hungry, to have abundance and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things through Messiah who strengthens me.
And may we all do the same. Shalom shalom.
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Mon11-Aug 202517th of Av, 5785
De 8:11-9:3Ez 411 Ch 191 Ti 3 (Jn 8:1-30)
Psalm 34:7 This poor man cried, and Adonai heard, and saved him out of all his troubles. 8 The angel of Adonai encamps around those who fear Him, and delivers them.
More Hebrew than you ever wanted to know. Remember, Psalm 34 is an acrostic in the original Hebrew. Each verse starts with the next letter of the “Aleph-Bet,” until now. As you may recall, the numbering of all the verses is different in Hebrew because in the original, verse one was much later split into two verses in the Christian Bible, affecting all the other verses. Psalm 34 has 22 verses in the Hebrew Bible and with the same words, 23 verses in the Christian Bible. So verse two of the Hebrew Bible starts with an Aleph, and verse seven starts with “Zion” (the sixth letter). The “Vav” (seventh letter) which should have started verse eight, is missing altogether (however; with all due respect, the second half of the seventh verse does start with a “Vav”). But the “Vav” is still missing altogether from verse 8.
Why would that be? Let me offer you one possible explanation. It could be that because the “Vav” is widely understood to be the Hebrew letter that represents man, and the author of Psalm 34 is writing such high praise for God, that he is avoiding the “Vav.” This could be his way of marginalizing man while he is exalting God.
Rabbi Trail: A similar thing happens in Psalm 145 where the “Nun” (pronounced almost like “noon”) is omitted. It is widely thought that this is done to disrespect the word “Naphel,” meaning “fall” which begins with a “Nun.” We don’t fall before God, we stand before Him. However; unlike Psalm 34, some manuscripts of Psalm 145 have been found to include an extra verse that does start with a “Nun.” Yet Psalm 145, verse 14 (which starts with a “Samech” and not a “Nun”) still contains the word “HaNoph’lim” which means “the fallen ones.” End RT.
In our two subject verses today, a poor man (who call out to God) is saved (in Hebrew, he is Yeshua’ed) from troubles, while in the next verse, those who fear God are delivered. These are two sides of the same coin. Biblically speaking, poor people are those who have a lack of zeros to the left of the decimal in their bank balance. Deuteronomy 15:11 “For there will never cease to be poor people in the land. Therefore I am commanding you, saying, ‘You must surely open your hand to your brother—to your needy and poor in your land.’” This Scripture appears just before the “great reset” in God’s economy, the seventh year in which the enslaved are set free.
And there is another biblical definition of poor people. The Bible identifies poor people as people who realize they don’t have their own resources, so they have to depend on God. Jacob 2:5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters. Didn’t God choose the poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom that He promised to those who love Him?
Paul says he has been both rich and poor, and what he has learned is to keep focused on Yeshua, no matter how many zeros he has in his bank account.
Philippians 4:11 I am not saying this because I am in need—for whatever circumstance I am in, I have learned to be content. 12 I know what it is to live with humble means, and I know what it is to live in prosperity. In any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of contentment—both to be filled and to go hungry, to have abundance and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things through Messiah who strengthens me.
And may we all do the same. Shalom shalom.
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Mon11-Aug 202517th of Av, 5785
De 8:11-9:3Ez 411 Ch 191 Ti 3 (Jn 8:1-30)
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