ARAMAIC WORD STUDY – DELIVER – SHAZAV שזב Shin Zayin Beth
Daniel 3:16-17: “Shadrach Meshach and Abednego answered and said unto the king, O’ Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer you in this matter. If it be so our God is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of thy hand O king. But if not be it known unto thee O king that we will not serve your gods nor worship the golden image which you have set up.”
Ezekiel 37:4: “And he said unto me, Prophesy unto these bones and say: O’ ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.”
I was reading something very interesting in the Midrash (Canticles Rabbah 8) with regard to Ezekiel. Ezekiel was a priest and prophet during the Babylonian exile. King Nebuchadnezzar had already executed some of the young men from the House of David because they were so handsome and the Babylonian women were falling head over heels after them. So, Nebuchadnezzar had them executed and their bodies mutilated and their bones scattered. The Talmud teaches that these were the dry bones of Ezekiel 37:4 and that this was not only a vision but reality as well. God actually instructed Ezekiel to speak to these dry bones and they would come together and live again. Not only was this a prophetic sign but it actually happened according to Jewish teaching. The Talmud goes further to teach that these now resurrected men went on to marry and live out a full life.
Needless to say, such an event would have established Ezekiel as a prophet of God. In the Midrash it recounts the story of the three Hebrew young men thrown into the fiery furnace and that before they made their decision to defy Nebuchadnezzar, they consulted with Ezekiel. Ezekiel initially said he had no witness in his spirit that the three Hebrews would escape the furnace if they defied Nebuchadnezzar nor did he have any witness that God would raise them from the dead. The men, however, decided to defy Nebuchadnezzar without any assurance that Ezekiel could raise them from the dead. After they left God spoke to Ezekiel and said that they would survive the ordeal, but Ezekiel was not to tell them this, God wanted them to take their stand without this knowledge.
This may explain the strange statement they made to Nebuchadnezzar that God would delivered them for Nebuchadnezzar‘s hand, but if not they would still not bow down before his idol. Actually, they are not saying God would deliver them out of the furnace, but out of the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. This passage is written in Aramaic and in verse 17 the word deliver in Aramaic is shazav, It is the grammar that gets a little confusing. In Aramaic the yod before the zayin creates a sere yod rather than a chireq yod which we would have if the zayin came before the yod. This form actually intensifies the word. What this tells me is that this is intended to be a particle but rendered as a future tense not to show a time element but a sense of certainty. This leads me to believe they are speaking of a prior event and not one that is about to happen. The Talmud is not the inspired Word of God, but it may have some historical accuracy and the three Hebrews are really saying: “God is able to deliver us as He has already done with the other Hebrews you executed, If He took their dry bones and breathed life into them, then He can take three crispy critters and breath life into them as well.”
Would you like Chaim Bentorah as your personal Hebrew teacher?
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It is possible the three Hebrew youths went to Ezekiel to get assurance that he could raise them from the dead like he did their companions who were executed. After all they were executed for their good looks, while these three Hebrews were facing execution for their faith, surely God would be more incline to raise them from the dead. Yet, Ezekiel could not give them that assurance. Nonetheless, they still determined to die rather than bow to the idol, even if God would not raise them from the dead like their companions.
As I journey to the heart of God, I find myself getting a little irritated (ok jealous) over the fact that others, seemingly less devoted than I am are getting their prayers answered while I get apparently nothing. I want my piece of the blessing pie. I mean some nominal Christians seems to get these great miracles of healing and wealth. Me, I just want to pay off some bills so I can retire like any self serving 70 year old.
Nonetheless, I have seen God take the dry sun baked bones of someone’s ministry and breath new life into it. So why He can’t he do the same for me if he chooses? Then I think of the three Hebrew men who had no assurance of their outcome but choose to follow God’s purpose in their life, whatever it might be. So I choose to follow the example of three Jewish young men and point my finger at the king of darkness and say: “No, I will not bow down nor serve your god of despair and discouragement.”
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Thanks & Blessings, it means a lot to me!
I cracked up when you said “crispy critters”. GOD is wonderful and funny is part of HIM. I love HIS word and all the languages HE uses to share HIS message. Thank you so much for these word studies!!!!!!!!!
Thank you so very much! This was something I totally needed to hear. God is using you to be a blessing and I received that today.
Thank you for this teaching!!! I stand with you fighting daily almost for prayers to be answered. I know He hears me and sees my tears too. I am nowhere nearly as deserving as you. I pray He will bless you abundantly and quickly. Thank you for being open with us about your own heart. That is so rare these days. Gid bless you!!
No where near as deserving as me? I must really put on a good front. None of us are deserving. We surely cannot bribe God with out good works. He blesses those who He wishes to bless and doesn’t bless those that He doesn’t want to spoil. He had me spoiled there for a while but I grew out of it.
Thank you again for your words of wisdom .
I once read somewhere that the sages said “If you chase greatness it will elude you , but if you run from greatness it will find you ” .
I have come to believe that I was trying to hard to get into the Heart of God . I now know that God wants to give His Heart to me ,but it comes to me over time . If God gave all of His Heart to me at once it would overwhelm me .
I just like you worked up into my seventies .I have very little money and can no longer afford a car . When I first started working I had to take a bus . I worked nights and when it was dark and stormy and that bus would come it was like heaven to me . Please be thankful that you can drive and I believe the people who ride your bus are very grateful that you are there for them .
I have told a few people that the greatest honor God can give you is to use you to answer someone else’s prayer the way my neighbors answered mine .
Take care good people and stay safe in God’s Heart and know that He truly loves you
In my search for the heart of God I used Jeremiah 29:13. You will seek me and find me if you search for me with all your heart. You search for God’s heart with your heart. My mother and father were married for 67 years, they knew each other’s heart because they let their hearts search for each other. As a result they were inseparable.
As always, I take treasures away from your word studies and am grateful. I am a single mom who has had to rely upon God for everything, and I mean everything. I often work and receive nothing for helping others. I have worked in positions that give me little to nothing and yet I am one of the richest people I know. If you want health you have to fight the devil for it, letting Jesus take down the high places in your life so that you can take your land back. If you want wealth you have to rid yourself of the poverty spirit that even the rich often do not conquer. God wants to give us more but we have to let His mind come into our lives and overcome the carnal mind. We have to overcome the lies of Babylon, of living in captivity to this world, and believing is not enough. I have had to do this with just one encourager so far, one Mordecai. If I can overcome so can you. Hope you take this treasure and run with it. The religious spirit cannot help you because it bargains and God is not a gambler. God is taking care of my bills, even the student loans, because I am saying so. David had to learn to take down Goliath’s in his life and so do we if we want to prosper and live a long, satisfied life. I did not grow up in religion. If you have these high places, ask God to help you overcome. The devil complicates but Jesus simplifies. Cast pride in the dung gate if it has come in and you will see results. There is no seniority in the Body. The thief on the cross did not do good works to get to be with Jesus. He let Jesus do a work in him. He humbled himself. He died with Christ and so rose with Him. Following Jesus is going forth into something new and God is calling you to something new. Very few go this path. We learn to be priests and then kings, ruling and reigning over our land for sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. David learned this and so must we who do not want to suffer unnecessarily or cause others to suffer from our ignorance of what it is that we are dealing with and believers have an accuser that goes to and fro seeking whom it may steal from. I know personally that living a good moral life is not enough.
Preach!!!!! Amen!!
Reminds me of this scripture.
Revelation 12:11 (ESV)
And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.
This was and is so good and encouraging . It brings faith to a new light and encouragement to always move forward regardless of the present circumstances we face. God will always bring us through and out for His glory! Thank you for your teaching.
I think the study you and Laura did on ‘ Weary and Weak’ in 2014, Isaiah 40v29, is very applicable to this wonderful study today. You talked about Clarence Jordan and his reply when he was questioned and derided about the success of his life’s work- you said he replied “About as successful as the cross. You see, sir, we are not about success, but about faithfulness to God.”. To me, and to many, dear Chaim, your faithfulness to God in this ministry is inspirational, and Im sure your reward in Heaven will be great. But meanwhile, prayer also for your earthly needs now.
I’ll have to go back and check that one out, thanks!