The one who asked this question,
asked it to test Messiah.
Mark 12:28-34
-
And when one of the scribes came, and heard them disputing together, and saw that he had answered them well, he put a question to him, Which is the first commandment of all?
-
29. And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. 30. And, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength; this is the first commandment. 31. And the second, which is like it, is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: there is no other commandment greater than these. 32. And the scribe said to him, Master, thou hast answered well with truth, that there is one God, and there is no other besides him. 33. And that to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is better than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices. 34. And Jesus, when he saw that he had replied skillfully, said to him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And after that, no man ventured to put a question to him.
Matthew 22:37-40
-
But when the Pharisees heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they assembled together. 35. And one of them, a doctor of the law, put a question to him, tempting him, and saying, 36. Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37. Jesus saith to him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38. This is the first and great commandment. 39. And the second is like it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as much as thyself. 40. On these two commandments the whole law and the prophets depend.
Luke 10:25-28
-
And, lo, a certain lawyer 1rose up, tempting him, and saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 26. And he said to him, What is written in the law? How readest thou? 27. He answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself. 28. And he said to him, Thou hast answered right: do this, and thou shalt live.
Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
He calls Him “master, Rabbi, or doctor”,
as the Sadducees had in Matthew 22:24.
Which is the great commandment in the law?
Notice this translation does not read
the greatest but the great.
That is, the great/greatest commandment,
or
the one most important.
Before we look deeper at Messiahs specific answer we should consider that the question is not which of the laws was the greatest, the oral, or the written law. The Jews give the preference to the law delivered by word of mouth; they prefer the traditions of the elders before the written law of Moses; but the question was about the written law of Moses; and not merely about the decalogue, or whether the commands of the first tablet were greater than those of the second, as was generally thought; or whether the affirmative precepts were not more to be regarded than negative ones, which was their commonly received opinion; but about the whole body of the law, moral and ceremonial, delivered by Moses: and not whether the ceremonial law was to be preferred to the moral, which they usually did. Yeshua/Jesus had already made a contribution to the discussion by setting the ethical above the ritual.
Matthew 15:1-20, cf. Matthew 19:18-22.
The point of this question was:
which kind of command is great in the law?
That is, what kind of a commandment must it be to constitute it a great one?
Not, which commandment is greatest as compared with the others?
One of them, an expert in the law, tested Him with a question:
Teacher, which commandment is the greatest in the Law?
Which is the great commandment . . .? Literally, of what kind. The questioner asked as if it belonged to a class. Messiah’s answer is definite, “This is the first and great commandment.”
Matthew 22:36 f. What kind of a commandment (qualitative, comp. Matthew 19:18) is great in the law; what must be the nature of a commandment in order to constitute it great? The commandment, then, which Yeshua/Jesus singles out as the great one κατʼ ἐξοχήν, and which, as corresponding to the subsequent δευτέρα, He places at the head of the whole series (ἡ μεγάλη κ. πρώτη,) in that of Deuteronomy 6:5,
The Jews are said to have divided the law into “greater and smaller” commandments. Which was of the greatest importance they had not determined. Some held that it was the law respecting sacrifice; others, that respecting circumcision; others, that pertaining to washings and purifying, etc.
The law / torah / instruction. The word “law” has a great variety of significations; it means, commonly, in the Bible, as it does here, “the law given by Moses,” recorded in the first five books of the Bible.
The scribes declared that there were 248 affirmative precepts, as many as the members of the human body; and 365 negative precepts, as many as the days in the year; the total being 613, the number of letters in the Decalogue. Of these they called some light and some heavy. Some thought that the law about the fringes/zitzit on the prayer shawl/garments was the greatest; some that the omission of washings was as bad as murder; some that the third commandment was the greatest. It was in view of this kind of distinction that the scribe asked the question; not as desiring a declaration as to which commandment was greatest, but as wanting to know the principle upon which a commandment was to be regarded as a ‘great’ commandment.
Messiah said the first and greatest commandment is to love God with all one’s heart, soul, mind and strength.
What readers outside of Israel and unfamiliar with Hebrew culture may not have realized is, that even a child knew the answer to the question on what the greatest commandment was.
How did they know?
Because they recited it every day in their morning prayers when they said the Shema. The daily declaration of faith:
Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad Baruch Shem Kavod Malchuto L’olam Vaed.
Hear, O Israel, the L-rd is our G‑d, the L-rd is One. Blessed be the name of the glory of His kingdom forever and ever. You shall love the L-rd your G‑d with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words which I command you today shall be upon your heart.
This comes from the word of God in Deuteronomy 6
and specifically the biblical text of Deuteronomy 6:4-9, which contains the Shema,
a central confession of faith in Judaism and Christianity.
In the recitation of Deuteronomy 6:4-9, special emphasis is given to the first six Hebrew words of this passage:
Shema Yisrael, Adonai eloheinu, Adonai echad.
The Shema is the core Hebrew affirmation and admonition.
And you shall love את Yahuah your Elohiym,
with all your heart, and with all your soul,
and with all yourself;
and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.
U’ahavtah את Yahuah Elohayka, v’kole levav’ka, v’kole nefeshka, v’kole meod’ka; v’ahav’ka l’reacha kemo’ka.
The reason they asked Him was because at that time there was amongst others, duly noted above, a big debate among the Pharisees, Scribes, Sadducees, Rabbis and Teachers of the Law, as to whether the greatest commandment meant we were to love God with
all our hearts, soul and might (strength)
or
hearts, soul and will.
To love Him with all our might would mean:
force ourselves to love God with all our hearts and soul, like gritting our teeth and doing it whether we want to or not.
But if we are to say we love Him with our wills, it would mean
we just simply sit back and decide, making a choice to love Him?
The issue is that the word meod could mean either or both.
mə·’ō·ḏe·ḵā
Deuteronomy 6:5
HEB: נַפְשְׁךָ֖ וּבְכָל־ מְאֹדֶֽךָ׃
NAS: your soul and with all your might.
KJV: and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
INT: your soul all your might
3966 meod: Very, exceedingly, much, greatly
Original Word: מְאֹד
Part of Speech: Adjective
Transliteration: m`od
Pronunciation: meh-ODE
Phonetic Spelling: meh-ode’
Definition: Very, exceedingly, much, greatly
Meaning: vehemence, vehemently, wholly, speedily
Derived from an unused root meaning “to vehemence” or “force.”
The Greek equivalent often used in the Septuagint (LXX) for “meod” is “σφόδρα” (sphodra), which also means “very” or “exceedingly.”
The Hebrew word meod, is an adverb, used to intensify the meaning of an adjective or verb. It conveys the sense of very or exceedingly, often used to emphasize the degree or extent of something. In the context of the Hebrew Bible, meod is frequently employed to underscore the intensity of emotions, actions, or characteristics.
In ancient Hebrew culture, language was often used in a vivid and expressive manner. The use of intensifiers like meod reflects a linguistic tradition that values emphasis and clarity. The Hebrew Bible, as a foundational text for Jewish and Christian traditions, uses meod to convey the depth of human experience and divine attributes, highlighting the importance of wholehearted devotion and the magnitude of God’s works.
The Pharisee who asked this question, as we learn in verse 35, asked it to test Yeshua/Jesus, because as previously mentioned, that even a child knew the answer to the question on what the greatest commandment was; however, the Jewish oral tradition taught by the rabbis referenced something called:
Derech Eretz, which literally means: the way of the land.
Hebrew: תורה עם דרך ארץ – Torah with “the way of the land”,
it’s a common phrase in Rabbinic literature referring to various aspects of one’s interaction with the wider world. A term used to describe proper behavior good manners,
Derech Eretz teaches respect for all of humanity, including those handicapped, the elderly, and those in need regardless of their race, religion or color. In contemporary Jewish life today, derech eretz, (literally “the way of the land”) means something like good manners or the done thing, proper etiquette, common decency and correct moral behavior.
However, in Messiah’s day the Pharisees taught that
Derech Eretz was equal to the study of Torah.
In the Mishnah in Tractate Avoth 2:2 it declares “Beautiful is the study of Torah with Derech Eretz, an involvement with both makes one forgets sin.”
This Pharisee wanted to test Yeshua to see if He agreed with them.
This is the basic point of their questioning Him.
Here we see the wisdom of Messiah and our Heavenly Father in His reply being aware that they were trying to trick Him.
Yeshua/Jesus knew what was in a person’s mind and didn’t need anyone to tell him what people were like, because He himself knew what was in every person. John 2:25
By the time Yeshua/Jesus was born, Aramaic had been the language of Palestine for centuries; because of this, the vast majority of scholars agree that He spoke almost exclusively in Aramaic, specifically in the Galilean dialect of Aramaic which would have been His native language. Aramaic was the common language in Judea and Galilee during Messiah’s time, and Hebrew, the language of the Bible and the Mishna, was also common among Jews. While He very likely spoke Aramaic, Hebrew, and Greek, Aramaic was probably the language He spoke the most. The Gospels record Messiah speaking numerous Aramaic words.
When Messiah grew up as a boy in the village of Nazareth, He no doubt attended the synagogue school. The Jewish child was sent to school in the fifth or sixth year of his life. The pupils either “stood, teacher and pupils alike, or else sat on the ground in a semicircle, facing a teacher.” Until the children were ten years of age, the Bible Torah and Tanakh was all they learned. Both rabbinic material and Josephus mention that in the first-century Judaism it was a duty, indeed a religious commandment, that Jewish children be taught Torah.
To learn Torah and to teach it, as it is written
“thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children ”
Deuteronomy 6:7.
The elementary school system among the Jews developed in connection with the synagogue. Even before the days of Yeshua/Jesus, schools for the young were located in practically every important town. Simon ben Shetach (75 b.c.) taught people systematically. He decreed that children should attend elementary school (בֵּת הַסֵּפֶר) the “house of the book.” The Book, of course, was the Torah, with the explanation and oral law. He decreed that children should attend elementary school (בֵּת הַסֵּפֶר) the “house of the book.” The Book, of course, was the Torah, with the explanation and oral law.
When the son reached the age of twelve, the Jews believed his education in the Torah was complete enough to help him know the Law and keep it. He was then known as a “son of the Law. Recall the event of Messiah age twelve, remaining in Jerusalem talking with the Rabbis.
Much of the Torah and the prophets and writings were memorized rather than written or read. However we know Yeshua/Jesus could read Hebrew as He read from the Isaiah scroll. This was not an isolated case as teachers, rabbis and visiting guests regularly read from the Torah Scrolls every Sabbath.
However, the school system did not develop until Joshua ben Gamla (64 CE) the high priest caused public schools to be opened in every town and hamlet for all children above six or seven. The word for education (חִינּוּך) in modern Heb. is derived from the root חָנַכְ, H2852, to train which is used in late Biblical Heb. “Train up a child in the way he should go…” (Prov 22:6). Other verbs are used to denote “training,” “instructing” and “learning.” Teaching and learning often took the form of repetition שִׂיחַ֒, H8488. The scribal school was attached to the Temple and was called the “House of Life.”
In the Mediterranean world in which Yeshua/Jesus lived, children held a different kind of status than they do in our world today. We expect our children to grow into adults and to engage in a life of fulfilled dreams. This was not the case for parents of Messiah’s day because more than half of the children born at this time never reached puberty, they died of diseases and of malnutrition; so when children appear in the Gospels, they usually are used to convey a very important message. For example such is the case in the passage of Mark’s Gospel 10:14.
In their culture, children had the free reign of the family compound. They lived in extended families, brothers lived with their brothers and their wives and their children; the eldest brother or their father was the patriarch. The women lived in one section of the home, usually to the rear where they were not so vulnerable to passers-by. The men lived in another room, usually near the front of the home and were seen as the protectors of their women and children.
The children roamed freely between the two areas and were often used by the adults to discover what was going on in the other rooms. They carried stories back and forth and were the ultimate destroyers of secrecy between the men and between the women as they had access to the whole house; so if anyone wanted to keep a secret, it was necessary to make sure there were no children within earshot. With this in mind, when the disciples tell the children to move away from Yeshua/Jesus, it may not have simply been a matter of giving Him some quiet time. It may have been that they were protecting him from gossip/stories that the children could retell to the adults; however, Yeshua/Jesus in welcoming the children shows that He has no secrets, that His life is open and what He talks about is for everybody who has ears to hear. The story is to show that Messiah offers a special relationship with all men and women including children. He was authentic, trustworthy, and didn’t try to hide His private life, by allowing the children into His life proved that.
Research revels that the first elementary school was probably in Jerusalem with the institution spreading to the urban centers at a later time. Joseph ben Gamala (c. a.d. 65) tried to make elementary education universal and compulsory by endeavoring to make provision for teachers in all provinces and allowing children to enter the school at the age of six or seven. Instruction was given in reading, and the Torah was studied both in its written and oral form. The curriculum in the elementary school was basically the Bible, the Old Testament and the Apocrypha. The Pseudepigrapha was not part of the formal education in school, though it had a widespread circulation. Scientific ideas were embedded incidentally in the Old Testament, this is true also of political ideas. The Old Testament was studied in Hebrew, except for a few passages in Aramaic, notably in Ezra and Daniel. Some apocryphal books were in Greek, but Hebrew continued as the language for scholarly study.
Back to the scripture in question and the four areas that Yeshua/Jesus included in His reply. Matthew only records three: heart, soul and mind.
Matthew 22:37 “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.”
From the Greek – KJV
both the text In Mark and
Luke both say all 4.
However from the Aramaic, the Peshitta Bible,
Matthew records all four areas:
Matthew 22:37 “Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love THE LORD JEHOVAH your God from all your heart and from all your soul and from all your power/might/strength and from all your mind.’
Messiah was making a direct quote from Deuteronomy 6:5, yet it seems as if He did not quote the passage accurately? In Deuteronomy 6:5 He says
we are to love the Lord God with all our might,
but in Matthew 22:37 He says
we are to love Him with all our mind.
This seems to point to the fact that
mind and might are two separate things?
The One Who gave the covenant commandments in the first place would not have made such an mistake and it also seems strange that the Scribes and Pharisees who were trying to trap Jesus and knew every letter of the law backwards and forwards, didn’t point it out?
Here is where digging into the Peshitta, the Aramaic Hebrew translations helps to reveal what Yeshua/Jesus did.
The name Peshitta in Aramaic means “Straight”, in other words, the original and pure New Testament. The Peshitta is the only authentic and pure text which contains the books in the New Testament that were written in Aramaic, the Language of Mshikha (the Messiah) and His Disciples.
This quote follows the Hebrew text of Deut 6:5 and then adds another phrase
and from all your mind.
No OT text has these 4 stipulations as does the peshitta NT
in all three NT quotes of Deut 6:5.
The peshitta OT text does use the unusual word in its final phrase w’minkalah quinak – with all your faculities.
Messiah apparently preferred that the all your mind condition be included in our love to God. Almost all Greek translations leave out all your strength in this verse, but include it in the parallel passages of Mark 12:20 and Luke 10:27. However the critical greek text also leaves out with all your soul in Mark 12:33. (Page58)
The on-line version of the Church of the East Peshitta New Testament text in Aramaic/English Interlinear Format. http://peshitta.org
Matthew 22:37 the Aramaic Bible shows that He did quote the passage correctly, the only difference being that He added a comment to it to challenge the Pharisees!
In the Greek the word
mind is dianoia
which simply means:
mind, understanding or imagination.
Yeshua/Jesus, however, was not speaking in Greek, He was speaking in Aramaic and according to the Aramaic Bible what He said was
from your power and your mind.
In Hebrew Strongs # 2430
cheylah: Strength, power, force
Original Word: חֵילָה
Part of Speech: Noun Feminine
Transliteration: cheylah
Pronunciation: khay-LAH
Phonetic Spelling: khay-law’
Definition: Strength, power, force
W’min kalah quinak – with all your faculties.
for the Hebrew word m’od or meod (strength, will).
He used two Aramaic words
kayla (power, strength)
and
Reina (mind, will)
meod: Very, exceedingly, much, greatly
Original Word: מְאֹד
Part of Speech: Adjective
Transliteration: m`od
Pronunciation: meh-ODE
Phonetic Spelling: meh-ode’
Definition: Very, exceedingly, much, greatly
Meaning: vehemence, vehemently, wholly, speedily
Derived from an unused root meaning “to vehemence” or “force.”
Greek equivalent often used in the Septuagint (LXX) for “meod” is “σφόδρα” (sphodra), which also means “very” or “exceedingly.”
Definition
muchness, force, abundance
NASB Translation
abundantly (1), all (1), almost (1), badly (3), carefully (1), closely (1), diligent (1), diligently (3), enough (1), especially (1), exceeding (1), exceedingly (14), exceedingly* (3), excessive (1), extremely* (1), far (1), firmly (1), fully (1), great (16), great abundance (1), greatly (52), greatly* (1), hard (1), harder* (1), highly (4), immense (1), louder (1), measure (2), might (2), more (2), more* (1), most (1), much* (1), quickly (1), richly (1), serious* (1), severely (1), so (2), so much (1), sorely (1), strongly (1), swiftly (1), too (2), utterly (1), utterly* (3), very (139), very well (1), very* (2), violently (1), violently* (1), well (2).Brown-Driver-Briggs
מְאֹד noun masculine muchness, force, abundance, exceedingly (compare Assyrian mu’du, abundance, HomZMG 1878, 711 (‘treasures ana mu’di, in abundance’) DlHWB 399): —
1 force, might, Deuteronomy 6:5 וּבְכָלמְֿאֹדֶ֑ךָ
and with all thy might; hence 2 Kings 23:25.
Deuteronomy 6:5
HEB: נַפְשְׁךָ֖ וּבְכָל־ מְאֹדֶֽךָ׃
NAS: your soul and with all your might.
KJV: and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
INT: your soul all your might
In The Lord’s Prayer ḥaylā/kayla translates as power.
The Aramaic says: For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory.
Strong’s Hebrew: 8633. תֹּ֫קֶף (toqeph) — Authority, Power …
Definition: Authority, Power, Strength Meaning: might, positiveness. Word Origin: Derived from the root תָּקַף (taqaph), meaning “to overpower” or “to prevail.”
Strong’s Hebrew: 2429. חָ֫יִל (chayil) — Strength, valor …
חָ֫יִל (chayil) — Strength, valor, wealth, army, capability. Word Origin: Derived from the root חוּל (chul), which can mean to twist, whirl, dance, writhe, or travail. Usage: The Hebrew word “chayil”
8632 tqoph tek-ofe’ (Aramaic) corresponding to 8633; power:–might, strength. 8633 toqeph to’-kef from 8630 ; might or (figuratively) positiveness:– authority, power, strength.
8633 toqeph to’-kef from 8630; might or (figuratively) positiveness:– authority, power, strength. 8632 tqoph tek-ofe’ (Aramaic) corresponding to 8633; power:–might, strength.
In this exchange we see
both the mind of Christ
and
the wisdom of the Father in operation.
Yeshua/Jesus answered in his own native language, Aramaic, which meant that He would have had to more clearly define the Hebrew word
meod (strength and/or will).
This word can be stretched to mean:
inner strength or resilience.
The word might
in Hebrew is simply the word
meod
which often used as an adverb to intensify and modify a verb.
The most common rendering for meod is very.
He is very (meod) מְאֹד
Strong’s Hebrew: 2430. חֵילָה (cheylah) — Strength, power, force
חֵילָה (cheylah) — Strength, power, force. Word Origin: Derived from the root חָיִל (chayil), which often denotes strength, power, or an army.
Strong’s Hebrew: 360. אֱיָלוּת (eyaluth) — Strength, might …
אֱיָלוּת (eyaluth) — Strength, might, power. Word Origin: Derived from the root אָיִל (ayil), meaning “strength” or “might.”
As mentioned above, in The Lord’s Prayer
ḥaylā translates as power.
Aramaic said: For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory.
If He would have said kayla (strength)
ḥaylā power, strength; fortitude, endurance
Synonyms: (ḥaylā), (ˁūzā), (ˁušnā) energy…
He would have said that:
you must use your own power to do good works
as loving mankind to show your love for God.
If He would have just said
reina (will)
He would have simply said
you must choose to love God, regardless of Derech Eretz.
Instead, Yeshua/Jesus used both Aramaic words which clearly defined the word
mo’ed
as
the strength of your will.
In other words, in the Hebrew this commandment would read,
“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
with all thy soul and with all the strength of your will.”
Again here Messiah used one of their own sayings on them.
When they wanted to equate oral tradition with the Torah but not place it equal or greater than Torah they say:
“The second is like unto it.”
Here Yeshua/Jesus confirms the importance of Derech Eretz by saying: you shall love your neighbor as yourself,
but without placing it above the commandment to
love the Lord with all your heart, soul and strength of your will.
In reality He did not misspeak Deuteronomy 6:5 He simply translated it into the Aramaic!
But what is strength of the will?
Loving people as we term and understand it, is often hard if we are simply trying to do it in our own strength and base that love on human feelings and emotions; especially when there are problems, conflicts and other desires. In the case when we ‘feel’ we do not love someone, we are to love with meod – the strength of our will. Not by human emotion. but by letting the unconditional love of the Father flow through us to them. There can be times in relationships when love no longer comes naturally or there is abuse in that relationship, however in that case, we must choose to love and sometimes it will take all the strength of our will to love that person.
This is the same with our Heavenly Father. When the battles get tough, the mountains too steep and we cry out to Him and seemingly get no response and we may find it hard to love God in the midst of your struggle can we look up and say: “Father I still love you no matter what happens.” That is loving Him with all our meod. We just don’t love the Lord, we choose to love Him and sometimes it takes all the strength of your will to make that choice, just as Messiah clearly pointed out that the second is like the first. Sometimes we confront a person that we cannot naturally love, but we must make the choice to love and sometimes it takes meod – all the strength of our will, to follow Derech Eretz, respect and love for all mankind.
There is another verse in Isaiah 26:3 where the Hebrew word is translated as Mind – Yetsar יצר Yod Samek Resh
Isaiah 26:3: “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace,
whose mind is stayed on thee:
because he trust in you.”
Perfect peace is something we all long for
and according to Isaiah 26:3,
we can have it so long as
our minds are stayed on Him,
Isaiah 26:3
HEB: יֵ֣צֶר סָמ֔וּךְ תִּצֹּ֖ר
NAS: The steadfast of mind You will keep
KJV: peace, [whose] mind [is] stayed
INT: of mind the steadfast will keep
יֵצֶר סָמוּךְ Isaiah 26:3
a steadfast purpose or frame of mind.
The Hebrew word for mind is the word
yetser
which in its very Semitic origins is the word for
imagination.
yetser: Inclination, imagination, mind, purpose, framework
Original Word: יֵצֶר
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: yetser
Pronunciation: yay’-tser
Phonetic Spelling: yay’-tser
Definition: Inclination, imagination, mind, purpose, framework
Meaning: a form, conception
G1271 (dianoia): Refers to the mind, disposition, or understanding.
– G1761 (enthema): Refers to an inward thought or purpose.
The Hebrew word yetse” primarily refers to the inclination or disposition of the mind and heart. It is often used to describe the inner thoughts and intentions of a person, whether good or evil. In the context of the Bible, yetser can denote the moral and spiritual inclinations that drive human behavior.
In ancient Hebrew thought, the concept of yetser is closely tied to the understanding of human nature and morality. The Hebrews believed that humans possess both
a good inclination (yetser ha-tov)
and an evil inclination (yetser ha-ra).
This duality reflects the ongoing moral struggle within individuals to choose between righteousness and sin. The idea of yetser is foundational in Jewish ethical teachings and is explored extensively in rabbinic literature.
Isaiah 26:3
HEB: יֵ֣צֶר סָמ֔וּךְ תִּצֹּ֖ר שָׁל֣וֹם ׀
NAS: The steadfast of mind You will keep
KJV: [whose] mind [is] stayed [on thee]: because he trusteth
INT: of mind the steadfast will keep perfect
The way we can obtain this shalom/peace, is by
having our minds stayed on Him.
The text reads shalom shalom = double peace – perfect peace!
God will keep us in perfect peace
if (condition)
our imaginations are stayed focused on Him.
The word
stayed is
samuk
sā·mūḵ, 5564 strongs
סָמַךְ
which is like a covering, overlaid. to lean, lay, rest, support
braced (1), holds (1), laid (6), laid siege (1), lay (17), lean (1), leans (3), relied (1), rested (1), steadfast (1), support (1), sustain (3), sustained (2), sustainer (1), sustains (3), upheld (4), uphold (1).
The Hebrew verb samak primarily means:
to lean upon or to support.
It conveys the idea of resting or relying on something for stability and strength. In the biblical context, it often refers to physical support, such as leaning on a staff, or metaphorical support, such as relying on God or His promises.
In ancient Near Eastern cultures, the concept of leaning or supporting was significant in both physical and spiritual contexts. Shepherds would lean on their staffs for support, and elders would lean on their wisdom and experience. Spiritually, the Israelites were encouraged to lean on the Lord God, trusting in His strength and guidance rather than their own understanding or the power of foreign nations.
When our imaginations cover our Heavenly Father, His peace will become our peace. His imaginations will become our imaginations.
How do you keep your mind stayed on God?
He is showing Himself all around us in the nature He created and part of every environment we may find ourselves in. Many times we just don’t understand that He is there; wanting to show us and teach us from every tiny flower and bird, to the huge energy of the sun and the entire starry universe. It really is so easy to keep our minds stayed on our Heavenly Father, if we will just stop and let Him reveal Himself to us.
The word strength and power
are basically the same word from the same root –
chayl/chayil.
