HEBREW WORD STUDY – THE SOURCE – AYIN עין Ayin Yod Nun

I Samuel 18:9: “And Saul eyed David from that day and forward.”

I remember hearing an evangelist tell of a time he went to a church in some backwater town on the other side of the tracks. He was asked to conduct a two-week revival. After the first few days, he noticed he was not moving in the same direction with the rest of the congregation. On the fifth day, he was approached by the deacons who asked to speak with him. They informed the evangelist that he needed to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. The evangelist handed his Bible to the deacons and asked them to show him from the Word of God that he did not have the Holy Spirit. They ignored the Bible and simply said: “You don’t jerk.”

Apparently somewhere in the history of that church, the Holy Spirit manifested himself through causing the people to “jerk.” Ever since that time they figured that the way you got the Spirit of God to move and prove you really have the Spirit was to get into one of those little Pentecostal huddles, start moaning, and then when you were filled you began to get these muscle spasms and jerk around.

Those deacons had what I call the “King Saul syndrome.” King Saul was a very religious man, he followed the law very closely. He only had one wife and as far as we know he was faithful to her. He would fast and pray and seek the face of God. But he grew cold to God and began selfish pursuits. This all came to a head when he was ready for battle but would not go to battle until Samuel offered a sacrifice. Did I tell you that King Saul was very religious? When Samuel did not show up and Saul’s army was ready to desert, he offered the sacrifice himself. Because of this disobedience, Samuel advised Saul he would lose his kingdom.

Along comes David. He demonstrated the power of God to bring down the greatest warrior among the Philistines. Now Saul knew all about the power of God, he had at one time moved in the power of God but the Spirit of God had long since left him because he refused to repent. Many translations of I Samuel 18:9 renders the word ayin (not the letter but the word) which means eye as Saul casting a “jealous” eye on David. The word jealous is not in the Hebrew but translators assume it is implied. You see the word Ayin is repeated twice in the Hebrew and when a word is repeated it is to show an emphasis. Some interpret this emphasis to imply a jealous eye, or a suspicious eye or some just ignore the repeat of the word and say Saul kept an eye on David.

Well, let’s look at this more closely. The first time ayin is used it is spelled Ayin Vav Nun which is avan. However, the English word eye Ayin is spelled Ayin Yod Nun. Ayin Vav Nun avan is a noun. It is a little hard to express avan as a noun because it has the idea of taking advantage of someone’s time. What is a good noun for that? Next time I see a car dealer I will ask him what he calls someone who has no intention of buying a car but takes up the salesmen’s time with a lot of question which is worthless since the person will not be purchasing a car. This is what Saul was doing with David, he kept him busy and close so he could watch him, which basically means he was keeping his eye on him.

The Ayin that follows is spelled Ayin Vav Yod Nun avayin which is a participle form of ayin if you view the root word as Ayin Yod Nun or eye. The root could be Ayin Vav Nun avan which brings us back to taking advantage of David but being repeated it would be to really emphasize taking advantage of him. I suggest we go with the Ayin Yod Nun ayin but use another meaning other than “eye”. The eye has also been considered the window to the soul. You look into someone’s eyes to see the source of their emotion, who or what they really are.

Saul was keeping a close watch on David to see the source of his power and influence. Saul once had a relationship with God but it was long gone. He was, however, jealous of David’s relationship with God. He knew the people saw this too and it gave David great respect. So, Saul, like those people in that church that felt the evangelist needed the Holy Spirit because he did not perform like they thought he should, tried to imitate David to demonstrate he had the Holy Spirit.

The people looked to David because they saw God in Him. They began to turn against King Saul because he did not demonstrate the same holiness. So King Saul watched David closely and tried to imitate him to show that he too was a holy man.

I remember hearing a story about when Billy Graham held a very successful crusade in Great Britain. No sooner had he left Great Britain than it seemed like every divinity student when they preached started to hold their Bible open in their right hand just like Billy Graham and then repeat his famous words: “The Bible says…” People in that little church that the evangelist spoke in recalled a time when the Spirit of God did move and was manifested by jerking. So, everyone wanting to prove they too had the power of the Holy Spirit would get into a little Pentecostal huddle and begin to moan and before long they started jerking and everyone shouted: “Praisealleluia Brother Jim Bob got the Spirit.” Not to mention his ten minutes of fame.

Come on, don’t we all at times feel a little insecure among the brothers and sisters and sort of put on the airs of holiness like we have seen it done by someone who was genuinely blessed by God? We give a whoopee and all that to show we are overcome with the Spirit.

In Christianity, we have a lot of showboaters who really put on a good show of spirituality to impress the brethren. Especially if they are trying to enhance their ministry. In a quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln: “You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.” People who really know God will recognize a phony when they see one. It is best you go for the genuine whoopee rather than a rehearsed one. Of course, that means being like David and getting to know God’s heart, which takes time in His Word and in prayer.

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