Hebrew Word Study – Comfort –  Nacham – נחם  Nun Cheth Mem

Hebrew Word Study – Comfort –  Nacham – נחם  Nun Cheth Mem

Psalms 23:4: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”

Just what is comfort?  When do you need comfort?  Webster defines comfort as the easing or alleviation of a person’s feelings of grief or distress.  It is interesting that comfort follows walking through the valley of the shadow of death. Despite all my little side roads in describing the shadow of death I still believe that our first impression of the shadow of death is also correct among many other expressions. It also means entering a place where we face death. 

Are we so self-centered that we just think of our death?  Could not this refer to the death of someone else, someone we care about, we love?  Comfort involves easing our grief.  David had a very close friend, they were like brothers. His name was Jonathan and when Jonathan died at an early age, David grieved.  David grieved over the death of the child he bore with Bathsheba, he also grieved over the death of his own son Absalom.  David faced the passing of many close friends and family members and he grieved over their passing.

If David were truly the author of this Psalm, I doubt very much he viewed this valley of death as his own death.  It was also a deeply hidden fear that someone he loved would also die and he likely feared that more than his own passing. The rod of the authority of God and the staff of support, the staff of God to lean upon would be a great source of comfort.  

The authority of God, the fact that God is in total control is a comfort.  How many times does a person approach a grieving person and say; “Well, we need to remember God is in control.”  It doesn’t help much at the time but eventually when the one grieving really has a chance to think about it and has a personal relationship with God they will find comfort in this.  Then, of course, during a time of grieving, you need someone to lean upon like a staff.  God is that trustworthy friend that always has a shoulder ready for you to lean upon. When you enter that hospital to visit one you love knowing that person will never leave the hospital you will find yourself really praying. You will be learning upon the God that you trust with all your heart, soul, and might. 

The word comfort in Hebrew is yenachamuni which is in a Piel form.  The Piel intensifies the word comfort. There are words of comfort, there is comfort in someone being there for you but the greatest comfort is when someone you love takes you in their arms and hugs you, weeps with you, and assures you that everything will be ok.  The greatest comfort comes when someone is able to tell you in just the right way, the way that you personally need to be told that it will be ok and then it is really ok. That is comfort in a Piel form.  That is the comfort that God can give.

​Who knows you better than you know yourself? Who knows exactly what you need for the ultimate comfort?  Who is capable of offering that comfort? Obviously, God. As a pastor, I attended many funerals. I often observe the friends and family who came to comfort the grieving person, perhaps the widow or the parent who lost a child.  I observed the awkwardness and yet the longing of the friend or family member to comfort their friend or relative.  They try to say something but realize that their words are not enough.  They try to reach out in some human way but realize they just haven’t given enough and ache over their inability to drive away that pain and grief.  

Then I watch those who hold a closer relationship with the grieving person.  Perhaps a husband reaching out to his grieving wife whose father has passed away.  That husband likely feels the loss of his father-in-law but not as much as his wife who bore a closer relationship. So, in his own grief, he reaches out to the one grieving more.  I observed this once at a funeral.  I saw the husband hold his wife. There was no shame in the physical embrace, everyone understood. I heard him whisper tender words to her, touch her cheek or neck, a place she longed to comfortably feel the touch of her husband.  I saw him gentle kiss her forehead.  All were spontaneous acts, they were not rehearsed or planned, they just came naturally. This husband loved his wife.  He not only grieved the loss of his father in law but he grieved over his wife’s grief and a broken heart.  I heard him ask if there was anything he could do and I knew he would do it no matter what the cost if she just asked. 

I could not help but feel this was a picture of God wanting to comfort us, grieving over our grief. When Lazarus passed away and his sisters were grieving we learn in John 11:35 that “Jesus wept.”  The word that is used for wept is used only once in the New Testament. It is the word edakrysen which were tears of love, of sympathy, and of deep emotion. Jesus shed tears of sympathetic sorrow.  He knew Lazarus was ok, but he was grieved over the grief of the loved ones left behind.  His longing for comfort was shown in those tears.

The word for comfort yenachamuni in the Hebrew comes from the root word nacham which is expressing restrained feelings, to have the compassion to console.  His rod and staff console and have compassion for you as you walk through this valley of the shadows, this journey through your life.  God is always ready to console you and show compassion.  In the ancient Persian it is the word nahama which is used for a horse panting, that is when it is in heat, desiring to be intimate with another horse.  It is no surprise that nacham is also a word for repentance.  Repentance or nacham is sorrow that causes you to change your behavior so your relationship with God will be complete.  The root motivation for repentance is to enter into an intimate relationship with God. 

Thus, the comfort the Psalmist feels from God’s rod and staff is the comfort of knowing that he will be entering an intimate relationship with God.  In that time of intimacy, when God is holding you tight in the midst of your grief or sorrow He is gently whispering to you, “It’s ok, it is all ok.”  And do you know what – suddenly it is ok?

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