Judah; The Power of Praise
The ongoing saga of Jacob, and the revealing stories of his two wives and eventually his two concubines, has all the earmarks of a modern day soap opera. Indeed, it could have the makings of a successful television series, with all of the necessary victims, villains, dupes and stooges. But it is also the unveiling of many carnal trappings, with the ensuing Spiritual lessons, that can and do affect us all. For none of us are immune from the lows and highs expressed in these events, and many of us can identify with these situations in our own Spiritual growth. First the natural, then the Spiritual. In this, Our Father seems to be very consistent.
The idea of ‘praise’, throughout the Old Testament, is one of varied events, consequences and eventual responses. We rarely, if ever, discover someone offering praises before a stupid and avoidable incident. Praises are usually reserved for responses to ‘deity’, or some excellent benefactor, for bailing us out of a blunder we should have seen coming. Praise is normally a response to being rescued from the consequence of carnal and selfish behavior. Hence, praise usually expresses relief from the powerful repercussions of mindless blunders. I speak from experience.
In the continual saga of Jacob and his first wife Leah, the story seems to take a turn from the pattern of the first three sons given birth to by Leah. In the naming of Reuben, Simeon and Levi, Leah attaches monikers to her sons that are descriptions of how she deems her relationship with YHWH, and what she hopes will be the resulting response from her husband Jacob. Leah ascribes names to the first three sons as responses to revelations she is learning about YHWH, and what she understands as the nature of YHWH. And Leah also hopes that the names of these sons will draw Jacob closer to her. Alas; the heart throb of Jacob is Rachel.
NKJ Genesis 29:35 And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, "Now I will praise the LORD." Therefore she called his name Judah. Then she stopped bearing.
There are numerous Hebrew words that are translated as ‘praise’ throughout the Old Testament writings. Each of these words has a unique implication and meaning, and rarely does the verse containing a specific word, translated as ‘praise’, communicate the unique expression of the Hebrew word being used. The English word ‘praise’ is used over 250 times in the O.T., including showing up as ‘praised’, ‘praising’, ‘praises’, etc. Most of these occurrences, by far, are in Psalms. There are at least five different Hebrew words translated as ‘praise’ in the O.T., and the most prolific of these is the Hebrew word ‘hal-lal’; Strong’s # H1984. This word ‘hal-lal’ is also translated numerous other ways than ‘praise’. The basic inference of this word ‘hal-lal’ is that of being obvious and conspicuous. This verb ‘hal-lal’ is often used to describe the shouts and oral praises elicited from those that offer up worship through words and phrases. The word ‘hal-lal’ normally is describing the loud and boisterous verbal activity of those in audible ‘praise’ to their God. This word is used when someone or something is easily and readily understood for what it appears to be, or what it intends to communicate. There is very little room for ambiguity when this word ‘hal-lal’ is used. Strong’s Concordance lists numerous descriptions of how this word has been used in scripture. In my opinion, Strong’s Concordance doesn’t adequately communicate the simple clarity that this word ‘hal-lal’ is describing. Again, Strong’s is not a dictionary, but a reference work listing how Hebrew and Greek words are translated into King James English. ‘Hal-lal’ is a loud and clear and blatant proclamation of what you intend to communicate.
Another word prolifically translated as ‘praise’ is the Hebrew verb ‘zamar’, referenced in Strong’s Concordance as # H2167-8. An easy ‘give-away’ to the use of this verb ‘zamar’ is when this word is translated into English as ‘sing praise’, and sometimes simply as ‘sing’. While there are other words also translated as ‘sing’, and ‘song’, the emphasis of the verb ‘zamar’ is that of a song of praise, elicited from the heart of worshippers. I find it very interesting that the Hebrew word translated as ‘psalm’ is from this root verb ‘zamar’. The Hebrew word for ‘psalm’ is ‘miz-mor’ (Strong’s # H4210), and is described as a ‘melody; psalm’. The emphasis of the word ‘miz-mor’, translated as ‘Psalm’, is the song of praise that ascribes glory and honor to the Spirit of God that prunes us of our shabby excesses of carnality and selfishness. A ‘song of praise’, or ‘zamar’, is an expression of gratitude and thanksgiving for having been tenderly and compassionately pruned of our carnality. Of this we can all probably agree. Also, this word ‘zamar’ is translated several times simply as ‘prune’, or ‘pruning’. But neither of these two words, ‘hal-lal’ or ‘zamar’, that are most often used to be translated as ‘praise’, were the word used by Leah in Gen. 29:35.
There are several other less familiar and more scantily used words translated as ‘praise’. We won’t delve into those here, for now we need to recognize the word that Leah used when she declared “Now will I praise the LORD (YHWH)”, and more importantly, what did Leah mean by this phrase? The word used by Leah, and translated as ‘praise’, is also the word that is used to express the name ‘Judah’, or more accurately pronounced, ‘Yahudah’. And that word is the simple expression of ‘ya-dah’ (Strong’s #H3034).
The Hebrew word ‘ya-dah’ is described in many different ways. Strong’s Concordance has a long list of descriptions of the use of this word, and most of them are illustrated as the sending forth, or shooting forth, of the hand. ‘Ya-dah’ is a rather simple feminine expression of the activity of using the hand, for all activity is a feminine expression of masculine ability. ‘Ya-dah’ is the feminine expression of using the masculine ability ascribed to the hand; the ‘yad’. In Hebrew the word for hand is ‘yad’, Strong’s # H3027. But simply describing ‘yad’ as ‘hand’ dismisses the weightier importance of this word. For the ‘yad’ is more accurately a representation of an individual’s power, might, authority and ability. Throughout scripture, the hand, or ‘yad’, is used to represent a person’s authority and/or might over another. The word is used to describe having power over another person, or a situation or condition. ‘Yad’ represents the ability to be in charge of a situation, and to exert influence over the outcome of events. This ability and authority, referred to in the hand, is the basis of the word we translate as ‘ya-dah’, which also sometimes gets translated as ‘praise’. Leah is about to teach us something valuable.
"Now I will praise (‘ya-dah’) the LORD." Therefore she called his name Yahudah. Then she stopped bearing”.
The spelling of the Hebrew verb ‘ya-dah’, as used in this verse, unveils much. Leah wasn’t declaring that now she will ‘praise’ YHWH in the context of the words ‘hal-lal’ or ‘zamar’. Those words are descriptive of oral praise and adulation by words and shouts and songs. That wasn’t what Leah was declaring. The very use of this word ‘ya-dah’ in this setting indicates that the very act of conceiving, and giving birth to another son, was a ‘praise’ to YHWH who enabled her to conceive and give birth. Leah wasn’t verbally giving up praise to YHWH. She was proclaiming that her very conception and delivery was an act of praise to the LORD which enabled her to do so. Leah was announcing to all that this fourth son, sired by Jacob and birthed by her, was a declaration of how close her life was interwoven into YHWH. Leah was affirming to all that her conception and delivery was testimony to her righteous relationship with the LORD. Leah was broadcasting her deliverance from the negative emotions of rejection and hurt that elicited the names of her first three sons. She was announcing that her very presence and activity was praise to YHWH, because it was YHWH that had empowered her to conceive and bare again. Leah was taunting, with the implication that “if you aren’t conceiving and baring sons for your husband, there must be something amiss in your relationship with the LORD. There must be something wrong with you, and my fruit of the womb is praise and confirmation of my relationship with YHWH.”
There is something inherently out of balance in the heart/mind that takes solace in the idea that I am more righteous than you because of my ability to do something that you cannot do. For me to ascribe praise to God because I was enabled to do something that you were not is very untenable. This attitude will inevitably have to be exposed, and then addressed, for the purpose of Spiritual cleansing. In this Our Father seems to be very consistent.
"Now I will praise (‘ya-dah’) the LORD." Therefore she called his name Yahudah. Then she stopped bearing”.
Did YHWH, or the LORD, cause Leah to cease conceiving and bearing because of her self-righteous attitude? Or, did Leah’s heart condition cause her to cease conceiving and bearing? I will leave that up to you to sort out for yourself. However, I find it most interesting that the name ‘Yahudah’ has been adopted by an entire clan that claims direct descent from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and which now calls itself simply ‘Jew’. The name/word ‘Yahudah’, that which we pronounce as Judah, means “…my very presence and activity are praise to YHWH.” Jacob had eleven sons while embracing the name of Jacob. How ironic that those from this ‘lineage’ still refer to themselves as ‘Jew’, and none from this culture/mindset refer to themselves as descendants of Israel. Leah, Leah! Girl, what have you done?
…to be continued
alan