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a burial site: “And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham
for a possession of a burying place by the sons of Heth” (Gen. 23:20).
In Lev. 25:45-46 non-lsraelites could also be inheritable property, but a fellow
Israelite could not. The “inheritable property” of the Levites was not fields but the Lord
Himself (Ezek. 44:28).
B. Verb.
(
, 270), “to seize, grasp, hold fast, bolt (a door).” This verb, which occurs
64 times in biblical Hebrew, occurs also in most other Semitic languages. The verb
appears in Gen. 25:26: “… And his hand took hold on Esau’s heel.…” The meaning of
“to bolt” (a door) appears in Neh. 7:3: “… Let them shut and bolt [
KJV
, “bar”] the doors”
(
NASB
). In 2 Chron. 9:18,
means “fastened.”
TO PROPHESY
A. Verb.
(
, 5012), “to prophesy.” This word appears in all periods of the Hebrew
language. It seems to be related to the ancient Akkadian word
$
, which in its passive
form means “to be called.” The word is found in the biblical Hebrew text about 115
times. Its first appearance is in 1 Sam. 10:6, where Saul is told by Samuel that when he
meets a certain band of ecstatic prophets, he too will “prophesy with them, and … be
turned into another man.” This incident points up the fact that there is a certain amount of
ambiguity in the biblical use of both the verb and the noun forms, just as there is in the
English “to prophesy” and “prophet.” Thus, there is a wide range of meanings reflected in
the term in the Old Testament.
Most frequently
is used to describe the function of the true prophet as he
speaks God’s message to the people, under the influence of the divine spirit (1 Kings
22:8; Jer. 29:27; Ezek. 37:10). “To prophesy” was a task that the prophet could not avoid:
“The Lord God hath spoken, who can but prophesy?” (Amos 3:8; cf. Jer. 20:7, where
Jeremiah says that he was both attracted to and forced into being a prophet). While the
formula “The word of the Lord came [to the prophet]” is used literally hundreds of times
in the Old Testament, there is no real indication as to the manner in which it came—
whether it came through the thought-processes, through a vision, or in some other way.
Sometimes, especially in the earlier prophets, it seems that some kind of ecstatic
experience may have been involved, as in 1 Sam. 10:6, 11; 19:20. Music is sometimes
spoken of as a means of prophesying, as in 1 Chron. 25:1-3.
The false prophets, although not empowered by the divine spirit, are spoken of as
prophesying also: “… I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied” (Jer. 23:21). The
false prophet is roundly condemned because he speaks a nonauthentic word: “…
Prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that
prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the Lord; … Woe unto the foolish
prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!” (Ezek. 13:2-3). The false
prophet especially is subject to frenzied states of mind which give rise to his prophesying,
although the content of such activity is not clearly spelled out (1 Kings 22:10). The point
is that in the biblical context “to prophesy” can refer to anything from the frenzied
ecstaticism of a false prophet to the cold sober proclamation of God’s judgment by an
Amos or an Isaiah.