HEBREW WORD STUDY – UNCLEANNESS – ‘ERVATH ערות Ayin Resh Vav Taw

HEBREW WORD STUDY – UNCLEANNESS – ‘ERVATH ערות Ayin Resh Vav Taw

Deuteronomy 24:1 “ When a man hath taken a wife and married her, and it comes to pass that she find no favor in his eyes because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.”

Many Christians are totally unaware of this fact and some would even be ready to burn me at the stake for heresy for even suggesting such a thing. But the facts are facts, there are words, more than we care to admit, in the Bible that we have absolutely no idea what they really mean. I call then them the bummer words. Every time I read a word like this in the Hebrew, Greek, or Aramaic, I find myself saying; “Bummer.” Bummer words are easy to spot. Just look at the parallel translation on Bible Hub for a particular verse and you will find the bummer word which is the one that is rendered differently in most modern English translations.

For instance, in Proverbs 30:31 the word the KJV renders the word zarezir as a greyhound. The real meaning of this word has been lost to antiquity; we have no idea what it means. All we really know is that it has the idea of being girded, but when used as a noun, we can only make a guess. We can see from the context that the reference is to an animal that moves gracefully. The girded idea is an obvious reference to an animal that is “girded” about the loins. This has been interpreted as a leopard, hunting dog, horse, eagle, rooster, or another type of bird and even a bee. You look at the major translations and you find the KJV says a greyhound and the NIV says a strutting rooster. Now I ain’t no country boy but I sure know there is a difference between a greyhound and a rooster. Apparently, the only thing they have in common are girded loins but what the duce are girded loins, and who says zarezir means to be girded in the first place. We assume the word comes from the root word zur which means to press. In extra-Biblical literature, I have found the word to be used to express the idea of something that is strange. Indeed, this is a strange word, especially when modern translators render this as everything from a rooster to a greyhound or a bee to a horse.

Now I know what you are thinking, “what difference does it make, we get the idea of this verse without being sure if it is a rooster or a greyhound.” And you know what? You are right. In the majority of cases, the bummer words really make no difference. Aside from that, bummer words create a wonderfully irrelevant discussion in small group Bible studies. You know what I am referring to, one of those things you like to get off on and pontificate with your vast knowledge, knowing all the time that no one can prove you wrong even when you secretly know in your heart that you haven’t the slightest idea what you are talking about. What? Am I the only one who has ever done that?

However, a bummer word can, on rare occasions, take on far-reaching significance. The word rendered in the KJV as uncleanness in Deuteronomy 24:1 is one such word. A man is allowed to divorce his wife if he finds some uncleanness in her. The word rendered as uncleanness is a bummer word because Christians and Jews have argued for thousands of years as to just what the word ‘ervath (unclean) really means. The word is used elsewhere in the Bible for nakedness, however in its origins as found in extra-Biblical literature and as used in the Akkadian language it expresses the idea of pulling a sword from its sheath. This could express nakedness in the sense of exposing the sword. It could also express the sense of a threat. In ancient times a sword was drawn to call attention to someone, just as sheriff walking into a barroom brawl and shooting his gun in the air so everyone stops fighting and looks at him. In other words, we haven’t the foggiest idea what ‘ervath means. Modern translations vary greatly in its renderings, for instance, uncleanness KJV, indecent NIV, improperHolman, wrong Living Bible, objectionable ISU, unseemingly Douay, and nakedness Young’s Literal; just for starters.

In fact, the debate over the meaning of ‘erwath dates back to the time of Jesus where the two major schools of Judaism differed as much as in the problem of the rooster and the greyhound. The School of Shammai interpreted ‘ervath (uncleanness) as adultery as opposed to the School of Hillel which interpreted ‘ervath (uncleanness) as an offense as mundane as using too much seasoning or burning a man’s dinner. I don’t have to tell you which school was the most popular school. The Mishnah in Gittin 14:10 instructs that a man may divorce his wife if he happens to find a woman prettier than his wife and prefers her.

Do you want me to define ‘ervath for you? Forget it, I am not about to get burned on that one. If the best of the best scholars cannot come up with a definition of ‘ervath (uncleanness) in two thousand years, I certainly do not expect to come up with one. Heck, they could not even agree on the definition of n’aph (adultery) in Jesus’s day. The definition ran all the way from a man sleeping with another man’s wife to a man dishonoring his ex-wife by sleeping with another woman before giving her a bill of divorcement. Well, Jesus put that one to rest quite easily by speaking as He always did, not in actually physical acts but in matters of the heart. In Matthew 5:27-28, He equates looking upon a woman in lust to adultery. Actually, in the Aramaic the word used is chamed and is identical to the Hebrew word chamed and the Septuagint even uses the Greek word used in Matthew, epithumeo, for chamed. Chamed does not mean lust but to covet,strongly desire something. Jesus was simply repeating one of the Ten Commandments, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife (Exodus 20:17). Like Martin Luther said: “You can’t stop the bird from flying over your head, but you can prevent him from making a nest in your hair.” A man may not be able to avoid sudden thoughts of lust when he sees a woman, but he can control his desire so he does not covet her. A woman who loves her husband will know the difference and it will wound her heart.

But back to ‘ervath (uncleanness), why did God give us His Word in a language that has so many bummers? Perhaps God wants to speak to us personally and individually about such matters. The Bible clearly says that God has written the law upon the hearts of man (Jeremiah 10:16, Romans 2:15, and Hebrews 10:16). Maybe the true definition of ‘ervath (uncleanness) is found in your own heart and not the guesswork of man. Sometimes man’s best guess is not as demanding as the revelation of God in one’s own heart.

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