This study help is for Exodus 911 (will be live 10/1) and The Wonders that Plagued Egypt. These listing from the Strong’s are for hard or harden, and several other words in the Exodus 1 – 14. The list of verses at the bottom are every time the Hebrew words were used. (God bless translators.) Not all of the listing will show “hard” I saw things like the staff being in the hand. I did put biblehub.com and blueletterbible.org listings; both are great, and I have no connection to either, they are just great study aids.
Looking at other references that use these words can give you an idea of the scope of what God did with Pharoah and how he reacted. you will notice that the Hebrew has good and bad side to each of these words.
H 2388 – chazaq: to be or grow firm or strong, strengthen
H7185 – qashah: to be hard, severe or fierce the word for Rachael’s labor Gen.35:16, before the plagues began Ex 7:3, and what the fathers told children about leaving Egypt13:15
Hallow or hollow as a question comes from a study on the Lord’s Prayer, Hebrew 10:14, and a short night of sleep. Grammer, tenses, and etymology are not real big in this study.
Hollow has several uses, but they revolve around something having an empty or not filled space inside.
The 1828 Websters’ is a good resource; it has Bible references, when appropriate, and is missing 200 years of humanism and cultural references. The contrast can be striking at times.
Hallow is what caught my attention. It is a good 1500’s Geneva and King James Bible word and is used in many modern translations. If you continue on your internet search, you might find a few references to the Lord’s Prayer or Father God. That may not be inappropriate, I just found it a bit odd to purposely leave them out. There were videos on hallowing the Name of the Lord.
This post started as a pointed and cute question on whether you are empty or filled with the Holy Spirit because of Jesus. We are holy because of Jesus’ sacrifice and His blood covering us in the sight of the Father. So, are you hollow or hallow?
Father God is holy, and He has agape for us; He loves righteousness and justice. These are important to Him. So, they should be important to us. The Father and Jesus wants a family that chooses to belong to Them and allows the Holy Spirit to work in them and through them.
Yes, things and places are holy and hallowed in the Bible. I see that as occurring because God ordered them that way, but He wants a holy people. In Man’s attempt to prove ourselves holy we add things to God’s Word and Works. An example is the Sabbath. God declared it holy and said to rest; Man, then started listing things to make sure that we “rest”. Jesus even talked about Man making the gold in the Temple more important than the Temple or Altar it was on (Matthew 23:16 +17), or gifts that should be helping Family but were being withheld. To put this into perspective, God paved the streets in heaven with gold, has a glassy sea (sapphire?) that His throne sits on, and pearls for gates. They are holy because He is in Heaven, the Holy City. (On a science note, glassy may just be smooth and something can be clear and have a color.)
This is more than enough post about Greek words! Okay, my pun will be clear later. My objective in this post is to talk about perisseuō, Strong’s number: G4052, and give some tools for understanding our study helps, like Strong’s and Mounce’s Greek Dictionary.
Concordances do not list every form of a word. That is why they will have more than one definition in a listing. Especially in the On-line Mounce Dictionary you will see something that looks like this: fut pass ind 3 sg. Ignoring those is easy, after all its Greek to me, right. But those strange letters behind some italicized words can further your study, if you take the time to do look that up. These may help. Do not feel bad if, like me, it takes a while.
Depending on your translation those two verses are saying the exact same thing – If you have it, you will get more and have an ABUNDANCE; if you don’t have it, even that is taken away. (Mark’s Translation) Then I noticed (fut pass ind 3 sg) for both of them and decided to learn something new. I possibly learned about parsing in high school, enough said. This is from the Lesson V link above.
The future is used to describe a simple or ongoing action in the future.
The passive voice is used to show that the subject of the verb is acted on.
The indicative is the most common verb form you will encounter. It is used for simple statements and questions.
The English third person singular (3 sg) pronouns are ‘he’, ‘she’, and ‘it’.
Yes, both are in Matthew but the “where and who” really pushed me to look further in. The back story of 13:12 is it is early in Jesus’ ministry; I call it the Second Block of Kingdom Teaching. This story seems to start in Chapter 12 and may cover only a few days. Jesus has upset the Religious; healings, casting out demons, not preforming on-demand miracles, and taking care of business on the Sabbath. This verse is referring to knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom and why He speaks in parables. Jesus then goes on to talk about more seeds, weeds, treasure, pearls, and nets. After all of this He leaves for Nazareth. Block Three more or less starts with John’s beheading, Chapter 14.
Matthew 25:29 is in His last block of kingdom teaching, and I have been referring to them being His Sermons on Two Mounts. This verse is in the Parable of the Talents and this sermon was given to His followers on the Mount of Olives after He left the Temple Mount. Money or using your gifts and giving them back to God are two favorite lessons taught from one of the last teachings He gave before His death.
Jesus wants an ABUNDANCE of knowledge of His Kingdom and your talents used in His Kingdom for every one of us. He rode into Jerusalem to pay the Bride’s Price so He could gather His Family in advance of His Second Return.
If you continue studying perisseuō, you will find it associated with the bread in the feeding of the four and five thousand, and Paul uses it 1 and 2 Corinthians several times. I hope I have given you more than enough for you to continue this study.
Wine, beer, and vinegar are some of the beverages you find in the Bible. These three all have their beginnings with yeast. Vinegar was made by letting air have free access to wine and the bacterium in the air does the rest. No, I do not think the ancients would talk to you about microbes, but they did understand yeast starters and the like. From everything I have read, their wine and beer are not like their modern counterparts. (See the articles below.)
Do I consume alcohol? No. That decision came very early in my Christian-walk and had nothing to do with Bible study or outside influences. Over the years it has been interesting to experience the reaction of people who do drink, when I choose not to. I do not remember anyone ever asking me why I don’t drink. SO, this study in not about your choice or mine. It is an introductory look at the topic because it is in the Bible.
There may have been distilling units in the Indus Valley a long time ago, but the production of alcohol got its start in Spain in the late 1200’s. (From an internet search.) So, Biblical references to “strong drink” are not what we call “intoxicating drinks”.
A reoccurring thought/statement is that wine, beer, and vinegar were safer and healthier to drink than the water. I find no reason to argue with that as not everyone had a nice spring next to the house. Please leave opinions and preferences aside and look at Paul’s advice to Timothy in 1 Timothy 3:38 and 5:23. (I have heard statements about divine healing, medicine, in favor of and totally against drinking come from these verses.) In 3:38 Paul says “much” wine, not avoid wine. Timothy may have been choosing to not drink (like a Nazirite vow). Paul may have been repeating Luke’s medical advice because of the water, no that is not mentioned. Was Paul confused? I think the advice of “not much” and “a little” is what needs to be heard and why he might recommend this. This pair of verses show the good and evil sides of the same drink.
Vinegar or Sour Wine
Bacteria in the air will change alcohol into acetic acid, changing wine into vinegar. The ancients were not as quick to throw things away as modern societies do. You will find Ruth dipping her bread in vinegar during her rest break and Jesus being given some as He hung on the cross. I have come to believe that soldier, who was mocking Jesus, did not offer that to be nice.
Beer or Strong Drink
This ancient drink has a history much older than Moses and the five books he wrote. From everything I have read, it did not resemble our modern six pack from the corner store. The Egyptians baked bread and then made it into beer, apparently, they had various flavors and colors of this brew. It was part of the workmen’s daily wage in Egypt.
Compare an undiluted beer to straight water and it is “strong”; even the wine could be watered down and had things added to it for flavoring. Get modern out of your head, it is not the same drink, but it was possibly drunk every day.
Wine or the Blood of Grapes
If you chose to translate “new wine” as grape juice, that is fine. Grapes are harvested in the fall in Israel. I am not sure their refrigeration units would have kept the juice fresh until the springtime Passover Feast. I do respect your choice about not consuming the 12%. Christian Brothers used to make a nice communion wine, Manischewitz was also good, I do not suggest MD 20/20 as to many people wanted seconds.
Basic winemaking has changed little since Bible times; it has gotten more efficient and the product looks a little different. Mixing wines and adding flavors to it was practiced very early in human history. Like beer, it was more of a daily drink, because it could be stored once the alcohol killed off the yeast. In reading the Bible, excessive drinking was the problem and not the wine. Having “just one” does not always work.
Like knowledge, wine has a good and evil role in human history. Noah got drunk and Jesus said to remember it as His blood in communion, that is a wide spread for uses. Because of its many uses and restrictions, I see a lot more in that wood-plant that produces grapes.
Some positive references:
Genesis 14:18 – Melchizedek brought out wine and bread as a refreshing meal to Abraham and his party.
Judges 9:13 – The vine did not want to lose its new wine that cheered God and man to rule over trees.
New wine was part of the blessing in Joel 2:19.
Luke 7:33 and 34 – John the Baptist may have taken the Nazirite vow as found in Numbers 6:3, and was called crazy. Jesus must have drunk wine because He was called names.
It was a Drink Offering to the Lord.
Some other facts about wine:
Proverbs 20:1 – Wine is a mocker and beer is a brawler. If you use Bible Gateway looking for wine and beer, use the NIV. It is listed nine times; other translations have strong or intoxicating. Proverbs 20:1 Hebrew Text Analysis (biblehub.com)
Nazirite Vow- Numbers 6:3. No wine, strong drink, vinegar, raisins, or any other part of the grape plant. Numbers 6:3 Hebrew Text Analysis (biblehub.com) I feel it is important that in the rules for separating yourself for God, that the two major things were no grapes/yeast and hair. Step very carefully into that study.
Deuteronomy 29:6 – Moses is talking to the Children, they had no bread, wine or strong drink for almost forty years so they could know God. Sounds like the vow for the Nazirite. Once they got manna they had no yeast. Deuteronomy 29:6 Hebrew Text Analysis (biblehub.com)
I will make a simple introduction into the science part of sour and bitter before going to the Bible material. Our “modern” knowledge of sour and bitter can transfer some metaphorical ideas associated with these two taste sensations.
In early-years studies of acids you were told they have a sour taste. Lemon juice, soft drinks, and certain types of candy may have been given as examples of things that are sour or acidic. Hydrogen ions (H+), their pH numbers between 0 and 6.9, and their ability to turn pH paper to a red color would have soon been added to define an acid. The strength of an acid is related to the hydrogen ion concentration and its reactivity. You will not find acid in the Bible but sour is used several times and is connected to grapes, wine, or vinegar.
Bitter tasting is how we describe a base or OH- or hydroxide ions. Their pH goes from 7.1 to 14 or higher; they turn pH paper blue. The best descriptor for bitter was a spoon of powered cocoa. It is an experience you do not forget. Concentration is again key to its reactivity. Soap and natron (Proverbs 25:20) is the connection to bases in the Bible. Bitter people and roots are used several times in Scripture.
Both acids and bases are corrosive. Strength and contact time will determine the reaction. If they are mixed together, they try to form H20 and “a salt”. I could push treaties as “neutral” but I won’t.
The FIRST aid for skin contact is running water and plenty of it; the second aid may be more complex. If either are swallowed the first aid can be more complicated because of internal reactions; know your chemical and the treatments for them from the label or MSDS.
Sour
I suggest using a text analysis website for your verse as translators do not always see it the same and use similar but not exactly the same word(s).
There is a proverb in Jeremiah 31:29 and Ezekiel 18:2 (remember they are contemporaries) about fathers eating sour grapes (sin) and the children suffering for it. Father God put an end to that proverb with those two witnesses. The children have their teeth blunted or set on edge, that could be the feeling or reaction of an acid on teeth.
Oxos in the New Testament is used with sour wine or vinegar that was given to Jesus as a drink on the Cross, Matthew 27:48. Yes, that drink has a lot of history, prophecy, and science with it and I will not uncork all of those bottles here. Vinegar or “soured wine” was a common drink (See Ruth) in those days, water and spices were added to make it pleasing to the taste. I believe posca is what it is called today. Just leave wine uncovered for a few days and a fancy vinegar is now in your bottle. There are two possible reason the soldiers had vinegar: 1. It was posca. 2. Vinegar may have been used for cleaning; a sponge may have been in their helmets or they used them for cleaning. Xylospongium – Wikipedia It is not lost on me that the last thing Jesus consumed was soured grapes.
The etz that produces grapes, wine, vinegar, and raisins has a long history in the Bible. It starts with Noah getting drunk, there is the rules for Nazirites, and the drink (water and wine) that was used during our Lord’s last supper and communion. (For you Hebrew scholars, etzmeans wood or tree; well at least when Moses wrote Genesis. Later, another word for wood was added and vine tree is in the KJV. Vines are still wood, even though you are not making much from it.) There are two etz that have a long and varied metaphorical usage in the Bible: grapes and figs. Yes, there are other fruit trees (olives, dates) but those two have a lot of symbolism hanging from their branches. For “good and evil” those two fruits from a woody plant are ripe in my leaf and ink Scriptures. (Sorry, puns happen.) A little contrast here, grains (bread) produce beer or the “strong” drink in the Bible.
Bitter
Bitter can have several associated words if you go searching for it like bile and venom. It refers to human spirits, speech, and actions. The New Testament has four times it is used. (See πικρία | Free Online Greek Dictionary | billmounce.com) The bitterroot in Hebrews 12:15 comes to my mind first. Many of the Hebrew words come from H4843. Job has three different words in it and Jeremiah has H8563 used twice.
Bitter is a problem. It can sit inside for a long time and quietly spread. It may affect your health and relationships without you knowing why. But take bitter and add sour, you will get the same reaction as vinegar and baking soda (natron); something will bubble up and be apparent.
Mark's Bible Study 