The Heart Grieves--Part III--XIX

The word "grief" is depicted in two Hebrew words denoting "bitterness."
   1. The Hebrew verb chamets, "to be soured, embittered," appears once with "heart" in Psalm 73:21-22:
            "When my soul was embittered,
                    WHEN I WAS PRICKED IN HEART,
               I was stupid and ignorant;
                    I was like a brute beast toward you [Yahweh]."
    2. The Hebrew noun marrah, "bitterness," occurs once in Proverbs 14:10:
            "THE HEART KNOWS ITS OWN BITTERNESS,
                    and no stranger shares its joy."

There are NINE other words with which "heart" occurs to describe "grief," some of which are very graphic. These include FIVE Hebrew verbs which appear with "heart."
    1. The Hebrew verb laqach, "to take," appears with "heart" in Job 15:12-13 in the second speech of Eliphaz addressed to Job:
          "WHY DOES YOUR HEART CARRY YOU AWAY,
                  and why do your eyes flash,
            so that you turn your spirit against God,
                  and let such words go out of your mouth?"
     2. The Hebrew verb yabhesh, "to be dry, dried up, withered," appears with heart in Psalm 102:4:
           "MY HEART IS STRICKEN AND WITHERED LIKE GRASS;
                 I am too wasted to eat my bread."
     3. The Hebrew verb tamam, "to be complete, finished," appears with heart in Psalm 143:4:
          "Therefore my spirit faints within me;
                 MY HEART WITHIN ME IS APPALLED."
     4. The Hebrew verb hamah, "to murmur, growl, roar, be boisterous," appears with heart in two biblical texts.
           Jeremiah 4:19 says:
           "My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain!
                  Oh, the walls of my heart!
             MY HEART IS BEATING WILDLY;
                  I cannot keep silent;
             for I hear the sound of the trumpet,
                  the alarm of war."
           Jeremiah 48:36:
           "THEREFORE MY HEART MOANS FOR MOAB LIKE A FLUTE,
             AND MY HEART MOANS LIKE A FLUTE FOR THE PEOPLE OF KIR-HERES;
             for the riches they gained have perished."
      5. The Hebrew verb haphakh, "to turn, change, destroy," appears with "heart" in Hosea 11:8:
           "How can I give you up, Ephraim?
                   How can I hand you over, O Israel?
             How can I make you like Admah?
                   How can I treat you like Zeboiim?
             MY HEART RECOILS WITHIN ME;
                   my compassion grows warm and tender."

The Hebrew verb ka'ah, "to be disheartened, cowed," appears with "heart" in two texts.
     Psalm 109:16 [Heb. 109:17] says of the wicked person:
         "For he did not remember to show kindness,
                 but pursued the poor and needy
                 AND THE BROKENHEARTED to their death."
     Denouncing false prophets among God's people, Ezekiel says in Ezekiel 13:22-23:
         "Because YOU HAVE DISHEARTENED the righteous falsely,
           although I HAVE NOT DISHEARTENED them,
           and you have encouraged the wicked not to turn from their wicked way and save their lives;
           therefore you shall no longer see false vision or practice divination;
           I will save my people from you hand.
           Then you will know that I am the Lord." 

Three Hebrew nouns appear with "heart" connected with grief.
    1. The Hebrew noun mikhshol, "stumbling-block," appears with "heart" in 1 Samuel 25:30-31.
         Abigail makes this plea to David:
          "When Yahweh has  done to my lord [David] according to all the good that he has spoken
                                   concerning you,
             and has appointed you prince over Israel,
             my lord [David] shall have no cause of grief, OR PANGS OF CONSCIENCE [literally
                                   or stumbling-block of heart],
             for having shed blood without cause or having saved himself.
             And when Yahweh has dealt well with my lord [David], then remember your servant
                                  [Abigail]."
    2. The Hebrew noun `inyan, "occupation, task," appears with "heart" in Ecclesiastes 8:16-17a.
     "WHEN I APPLIED MY MIND [literally when I accepted the task of my heart] to know wisdom,
        and to see the business that is done one earth,
        how one's sees see sleep neither day nor night,
        then I saw all the work of God,
        that no one can find out what is happening under the sun."
    3. The Hebrew noun tsarah, "anguish, trouble, distress, persecution," appears once with "heart" in Psalm 25:17:
          "RELIEVE THE TROUBLES OF MY HEART,
                 and bring me out of my distress."

All the words connected with heart having to do with grief describe the undesirable nature of sorrow, and suggest the laborious warfare which the heart must wage against it. Grief is the antithesis of joy.

Share YOUR joys and grievances and remorses and losses and successes with others. Let me hear from YOU.

John Willis