ARAMAIC WORD STUDY – REJOICE EVERMORE – CHADA KULZAVAN  חדא כלזבן Cheth Daleth Aleph   Kap Lamed Zayin Beth Nun

I Thessalonians 5:16: “Rejoice evermore.”

I Thessalonians 5:16: Rejoice always,  NIV

I Thessalonians 5:16: Always be joyful. NLT

I Thessalonians 5:16: Rejoice at all times. Berean Study Bible

I Thessalonians 5:16: Rejoice always and delight in your faith;  Amplified Bible

I suppose it is safe to say that all modern English translations of the Bible pretty well walk in lockstep with each other.  We are to always be joyful. That is not an easy task, especially these days.  

I suppose we should understand what Paul meant by rejoicing.  In English, Webster says that rejoicing is great joy; jubilation.  So, what more can we say, we all know what it means to rejoice but to do it always is troubling.  Paul did not put this in the Bible to take up space, he must have really meant it. In Greek, the word is chairete which simply means to be glad.

It is in the Aramaic where we get some kind of picture.  Like Hebrew, Aramaic is a picturesque language, and understanding of the ancient world, at least what the ancients thought when they heard a word, can best be described in pictures. So, what is the picture of this word in Aramaic? The word is chada’ which means to rejoice and be glad, but this word is usually associated with something else.  It is associated with a bridal dance. Not the word for a bridal dance, but the joy of a bridal dance. 

You never hear of a groom dance.  I guess in this woke generation the groom should be getting equal billing but traditionally, the focus is the bride dancing with her father and brothers. Everyone is always gushing over the bride wanting to dance with her.  Even during the ceremony the groom sort of sneaks up to the front and no one stands or goes ooh and ahh, no one really notices him.  All attention is turned to the rear and all stand when the organist strikes up the chord for the bridal march to ooh and ahh for the bride.  Ah, the bride, she’s the star of the show, the poor groom seems to be there just to fill in space. 

I am not sure why it is the bride that is showcased in Western weddings.  I could not find anything on the internet to explain why the groom is almost an afterthought in a wedding. There is a universal opinion that it should not be that way and that the groom should be just as celebrated as the bride, but it is still the bride that gets all the glory and one cares to explain why.  My guess is that many cultures in ancient times treated a woman as property and the wedding was really a legal procedure to seal a contract between the bride’s father and the groom and the bride was adorned and made as beautiful as possible for the groom to show off his new possession, sort of like an auto dealer detailing a new car so the new owner can drive it around and show off his new acquisition. 

​But to get back on topic, when Paul says to rejoice what is going through the minds of the people of his day, if they heard this in Aramaic, they would hear Paul say to rejoice like it is your wedding day and you are dancing the bridal dance.

A wedding can be a pretty scary event.  You are committing yourself to someone for the rest of your life.  You are giving up your personal freedom, you are now going to have to share everything, no more this is mine that is yours, it is now this is ours.  Not only that, you have no idea what you are tying your knot to.  It is for better or is it going to be for worse, will it be richer or poorer, health or sickness?  Yet, you dance chada’ a joyful dance because no matter what you will share it with someone you love and who loves you in return.  People mocked the old song that sang: “Love is all you need.”  But, really, with Jesus, love is all you need.  

Now let’s put this word in it’s context.  Paul tells us we are to rejoice evermore. Evermore in Aramaic is kulzevan which is a merchant’s term for buying and selling.  You are to rejoice as if you made a good sale or purchase. I believe that this adverb associated with chada’ for rejoice is painting a picture of a bride rejoicing over having been part of a purchase agreement to be the bride of a man who has promised to love her, at least was in a Jewish wedding.  The bride and groom enter into a covenant to love each other no matter what the future throws at them.  This is a picture of our relationship with Jesus. He has paid a tremendous price to make us His bride, he paid with His life. 

Not only has He purchased us as His bride He has promised to love us no matter what life throws at us.  He will be there with us through sickness and health, richer or poorer, and for better or for worse.  Maybe war is in the future, starvation, poor health we do not know but what we do know is that we will not go through it alone, there will be someone who loves us, who will always be there for us and He will be someone that we will love and He will always belong to receive that love from us. 

The bridal dance shows the joy of not just being loved but to have someone who longs for us to love. The human heart longs to be able to say “I love you” and have that person respond in love.  Jesus has died to give us that chance to say; “I love you.”  He gets just as much joy in hearing us say it as we get in being able and free to say it.  We get to say: “I love you” whenever we can. 

Of course, if you married Jesus just because He is rich and powerful and can give you whatever you want, then just delete this study, it doesn’t apply to you, you’re just some gold digger. 

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