HEBREW WORD STUDY – BAD BREATH    ‘EL  ZAR   אל  זר  

Psalms 81:9: “There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god.”

I read this verse in my Hebrew Bible before going to bed this evening and I could not sleep.  It is getting very late but I just could not sleep until I felt some peace about this verse. What is troubling me is the Hebrew word beka.  This word could be rendered as in you, on you or with you.  We are commanded to not worship any strange god nor are to allow any strange god to be in us, on us or with us. 

Ok, I think I am safe in not worshipping any strange god, but allowing a strange god to be in me or even on me or with me, well, that is a little creepy.  It appears from this verse that I have some control over this god, whoever it might be, and that I can prevent him from being in me, on me or with me.

I checked our commentaries which seem to conveniently over look this verse and when they do address it they just say we are not to allow strange gods in our midst.  After studying my Hebrew Bible for over forty years I know that if the writer intended to say in our midst it would have used that word, we just assume it means in our midst, but we don’t get off that easy. 

The KJV suggest allowing a strange god in you and worshipping a strange god are one and the same gods.  That is not the case, the strange god we are not to allow in us is an el zur god and the god that we are not to worship is an el nakar god.  Most modern translations treat these two words, nakar and zur as synonyms and render it as strange.  The Talmud teaches that there are no synonyms in the Classical Hebrew and so there must be a difference.  Our lexicons tell us both words mean strange, but when you examine the details you discover that there is a major difference. 

Nakar specifically references a foreign or alien god. A nakar is clearly an idolatrous god or religion that worships a god other than Jehovah. The command is not to worship this god.  I mean you can attend a service to find out what goes on, you can read about in order to address it, just do not go worshipping it.  

A zur is a different animal, this is not a pagan god, an idol or a religion, it is an enemy.  In fact, the word zur is often used for a prostitute or committing adultery and it is also a word used for estrangement.  As a participle, it is used for bad breath or loathsome breath. In its Canaanite origin, it was used to express the idea of turning aside or declining or something that is repulsive. The Talmud in Sabbath 105b indicates that zur is a tempter, one that will seek to draw you away from God.  Like bad breath is prevents God from coming near you. 

Bad breath or loathsome breath is really a good definition for zur. Not that bad breath is sinful, but the idea of what bad breath brings about.  Have you ever been around someone who really had bad breath?  I am not talking about someone who ate a garlic sandwich, but bad breath due to a medical condition and the person is unaware of how foul their breath is. I remember a couple occasions when there was someone who I considered a friend and I really wanted to talk with this person, I had something important to discuss but his breath was so foul all I wanted was to get out of there. I never really did get the information I sought. This is zur.  When the person became  aware of the problem they do something to correct it either, mouthwash, mints, tongue scraper or any number of things but this was just a temporary fix, the problem was not in their mouth but came from their digestive system, deep with inside of them and a mint only addressed the problem momentarily. 

The word god as used here is simply el. We automatically think of a supernatural being when we hear the word el or god.  However, to the Semitic mind el is a very common word in all Semitic languages. It could mean someone of superior rank, a judge who has the power of life and death A strength or power that is within you can be an el. Your heart can be an el as it can rule over you. A mighty or powerful man or a mighty nation can be referred to as an el.  You really need to look at the context to determine just what el means.  

In the context of Psalms 81:9 we are not to have this el zur within us.  We are not warned against worshipping an el zur which leads me to believe we are not talking about a supernatural being. I believe an el here is a something that rules over you. Zur is something that will distract or repulse God’s presence from us.  Thus, before we are even commanded to not worship any pagan god we are the first command to not have any controlling desires or influences that would draw us away from God and allow these desires or influences to dwell within us.