HEBREW WORD STUDY – LOVE – TOV MO’ED –מאד טוב
Genesis 1:31: “And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, [it was] very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”
You won’t find this in any lexicon or commentary, nor has this idea been published in any academic journal for peer review. I am strictly out on my own on this one. I did mention it to a rabbi who only smiled and shrugged. So feel free to disagree with me.
However, before you pick up your rocks to throw at me, at least hear me out and see if you think there is merit in my line of thought. God looked at everything He created and saw that it was mo’ed tov, very good as we would say in English. He did not use that adjective mo’ed – very as he created the world, so we are led to assume that the creation of a tree and a fish were just good by themselves but put them together and you they become very good. From this many see the holistic nature of God’s creation. Everything God created is somehow linked together to move from good to very good. I believe this to be true and my theory only makes the holistic nature of the world even more apparent.
Let’s look at that English word good. What would you think if I pointed to my 2001 Ford Focus and say: “It is a good car?” You would think it was a good running car, dependable or adequate. Now if I were to say it was a great car or an excellent car, you would think it was low mileage and in mint condition. You see our English word good conveys something that is adequate, useful and just simply ok. Webster defines good as something that is satisfactory, beneficial, pleasing, suitable, fit.
Yet, in English we have words that elevate the worth of something. We say it is excellent or if even better quality we call it superior. Biblical Hebrew does not have words to elevate. There are words that you could apply the word excellent or superior. For instance nasa’ to lift up in a certain context could be rendered with the English word superior. Perhaps mo’ed tov, very good could be rendered as excellent as the word mo’ed suggest something better than just good.
There are a couple other words in Biblical Hebrew that could be rendered as good such as to’eleth which means to be useful or beneficial. We could apply the English word good to that. There is shapir which means to be well, fine and we could apply the word good to that or even the word excellent depending on its context.
Would you like Chaim Bentorah as your personal Hebrew teacher?
|
|
Note I am talking context here. Meanings of words vary with the context. So what is the context here at creation? Is God’s creation just simply good? Why not excellent or better yet superior. Again the context. How do you see the context? Is good speaking of the quality of his creation or the relationship of creation. Hebrew is a related language. You are always seeking to find a relationship. I am continually trying to find a relationship between Hebrew words that sound alike, are spelled alike or have the same numerical value for in Biblical Hebrew there is a relationship between such words. This is unlike English where you can have words that sound alike. Take for instance the word bear and bare. You can say: “No his name is not Sitting Bull, it is Standing Bare.” If you speak if you have no problem but if you read it spelled the way I did you get a different idea. In English, we have the word trunk. If you pass through customs you declare a trunk and the agent knows from the context you are not speaking of an elephant’s nose nor a tree log. However, in Biblical Hebrew, you would look for a relationship between these three usages, seek a common denominator which would be something that is cylindrical. It means little in English but in Hebrew that gives you a clue to some deeper understanding.
I believe the context of good in Genesis is speaking of a relationship and not the quality of His creation. Hence we use the idea of being in harmony with God, being of value to God, being fit for God etc. I like the word harmony. Then when he completed His creation it became very good, or in complete harmony with God, like a symphony orchestra where each instrument and musician are good and in harmony with the director’s ear but when all the musicians and instruments are played together they are in complete harmony, they are holistic, they are all connected with each other in perfect harmony. So what words do we use for this perfect harmony? We can apply the English words beautiful, lovely, heavenly, wonderful – hold it – wait, back up – lovely? What is lovely? It is something that is loveable, that you love. In a way, you can say that an orchestra playing in perfect harmony is an expression of love for the musician can only create that sound if he or she loves making that sound.
God saw his creation and found it was very good. I believe the best English words to help understand the intent behind those words very good mo’ed tov would be: “And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, [He] loved it.”
Meditate on this: “There isn’t anything God makes that He does not love.”
Hi there! Thank you for reading this Daily Word Study. Can I ask a favor? Share this Daily Word Study with your friends on Facebook and Twitter by clicking one of the icons below.
Thanks & Blessings, it means a lot to me!
Thank you my Dear Teacher.
I certainly won’t throw rocks at you because I believe that you are ” Spot on” as your British readers would say .
At the Shabbat Mishkan service at my favorite Synagogue ,the Canter sang these words ” God will build this world from love . Now I asked myself why does God love His creation ? I believe that God loves it because it serves the purpose for which he created it .
Some Jewish people believe that God’s creation contained imperfections because God wants mankind to work with him to perfect it .I believe that we are meant to brothers and sisters ,friends and companions to God’s beloved Son Jesus and our world is where we must learn to be like Jesus so that we may merit the Kingdom of God.
May God Bless you all in this New Year and Chaim please stay safe and well because we need you !
I like your interpretation of …and, behold, He loved it.
JoAnne
Wow! I never noticed that “very” in verse 31 or the fact that it wasn’t a part of the other days of creation. Thank you for bringing that to our attention and sharing your beautiful way of seeing the word’s meaning.
We in our current times would very much like for things to get ‘get back to normal’ — imagine how much God can hardly wait for life to return to the normal, the harmony that He originally created.
Thank you for this very meaningful study. Even the lesson on how the Hebrew language works is very insightful to me. And I loved how you said at the end, “There isn’t anything God made that He does not love”. I feel like this was God speaking to me, affirming something I said earlier tonight when in a deep conversation with my parents. My dad is deeply into Calvinism, so he believes in predestination, etc. I have a problem with predestination and God’s “elect”, because it greatly implies that God plays favorites. I can’t accept the idea that God would choose some people and not others and often say, “God wouldn’t create some people just to reject them”. Thank you for this. I am very encouraged by it.
I get this, God is love, God is the origin of love. On the sixth day He brought himself and everything together, thus this bringing together equals Love. Thank you Chaim.
God + complete creation = love.
Amen.
I love it and it makes total sense as I’ve come to understand that in Hebrew, something is defined more by its function and as you said relationship. So if something is in alignment with God’s purposes/nature then it’s not just “okay” or good or will suffice but it’s “eternally life-giving.” The symphonic analogy is a great one too because I play the cello and there is a major difference between playing a solo versus being surrounded by a sea of strings, wind instruments and percussion all resounding in harmony from the same score. Now that takes one into a different dimension. One sense the crescendos and decrescendos far more and as you alluded to, creation from Day 1-6 was crescendo-ing and I would like to think to the apex – the Sabbath Day, where interestingly, there was no statement following it’s creation — “And there was evening and there was morning, a seventh day.” One doesn’t find it. Perhaps it’s inferring that the ultimate “good” doesn’t need definition and occurs when there is holiness – a state or dimension of being complete, whole and lacking nothing.
Thanks for the word study today. It was tov moed.
Agree! Man thinks mostly of things he can feel and see, so good becomes a tangible thing. But, in the spiritual world of God, good IS God and therefore beautiful, lovely, harmonious, etc.
Good in my eyes (the physical) is different in someone else eyes, and therefore, that’s why “good” doesn’t get into heaven. If I knock on your door and say I want to move in because I am good, you would probably tell me to go fly a kite.
But good describing Jesus we know as “He who had no sin” and that good is physical, spiritual, and emotional and is heaven, the 3 in one.
If we could think in the Spirit (ex., calling on THE PHYSICIAN before the doctor) before we think with our physical world, we would be walking in faith, stay in love with Jesus, and be who He has called us to be—walking in glory to glory.
And I think God would say mo’ed tov.
This is really an excellent article Chaim
Yes, He created things out of Himself and He is the
fount of all that is good, so yes to be in harmony with
Him is good. The morning stars sang together…it must have
been perfect harmony.Most important of all..you draw us back
into His love with your ending line. Thank you for this help and insight
You are beloved Chaim!
No rocks in my hand. I thoroughly enjoyed reading your treatise and am confident that your insights are pure gold.
This is very interesting and there is a scripture in the Nee Testament that tells us to let all we do be done with love.