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Scripture and especially the Mosaic Law (the Pentateuch; Ezra 7:6). The word first
occurs in Judg. 5:14, where its meaning is debated. The
NASB
translates it “office”; some
scholars translate it “scribe” (
KJV
, “they that handle the pen of the writer”).
Some other nouns are related to the verb
!
Three of them occur only once:
, “numbering or census” (2 Chron. 2:17);
, “book” (Ps. 56:8);
,
“number or sum” (Ps. 71:15).
TO NUMBER, VISIT, PUNISH
A. Verb.
%
(
$ #
, 6485), “to number, visit, be concerned with, look after, make a search
for, punish.” This very ancient Semitic word is found in both Akkadian and Ugaritic long
before it appears in Hebrew. It is used over 285 times in the Old Testament. The first
occurrence is in Gen. 21:1 (“The Lord visited Sarah”) in the special sense of “to intervene
on behalf of,” so as to demonstrate the divine intervention in the normal course of events
to bring about or fulfill a divine intent. Often this intervention is by miraculous means.
The verb is used in an expression which is unique to Hebrew and which shows great
intensity of meaning. Such an occurrence appears in Exod. 3:16ff., in which it is used
twice in two different grammatical forms to portray the intensity of the action; the text
reads (literally): “Looking after, I have looked after” (
KJV
, “I have surely visited”). The
usage refers to God’s intervention in His saving the children of Israel from their bondage
in Egypt. The same verb in a similar expression can also be used for divine intervention
for punishment: “Shall I not visit them for these things?” (Jer. 9:9), which means literally:
“Shall I not punish them for these things?”
Hebrew usage also allows a use which applies to the speaker in a nearly passive
sense. This is termed the reflexive, since it turns back upon the speaker.
8 %
is used in
such a sense meaning “be missed, be lacking,” as in 1 Sam. 25:7: “… Neither was there
aught missing.…”
However, the most common usage of the verb in the whole of the Old Testament is in
the sense of “drawing up, mustering, or numbering,” as of troops for marching or battle
(Exod. 30:12 and very frequently in Numbers; less so in 1 and 2 Samuel). Recent English
versions have tended to use the meaning “take a census,” but this equivalent seems to
encompass only part of the actual meaning. The verb is used in this sense fully 100 times
in the historical books.
The term has such a wide application of meanings on the whole that the Greek
Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate versions use a number of terms to translate the single
Hebrew word. The usage in the English versions also varies: “number, visit, punish”
(
KJV
,
RSV
); “take a census, take note of, visit, punish” (
NASB
); “did as promised, to see,
visit, punish,” and other variations (LB); “blessed, seen, to take a census” (
TEV
); “take
note of, to witness, visit, punish” (
NAB
); “take a census, be gracious, punish,” and other
variations (
NIV
).
B. Noun.
%
(
$
#
, 6496), “one who looks after.” This noun, derived from
%
in the
sense “to number, muster, draw up (troops),” possibly means “one who draws up troops,”
hence “officer” (2 Chron. 24:11). Another example of this meaning occurs in Jer. 20:1: