Hebrew Word Study – Waters of Rest – Me Menuchot – מי מנחות  Mem Yod   Men Nun Cheth Vav Taw

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Psalms 23:2: “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.”

God causes David to lie down in green pastures but He leads him beside still waters.  Still, waters in Hebrew is me menuchot which is literally waters of rest. Most of us have experienced a peaceful time along the shores of a lake, river, creek, or ocean.  My father was a real fisherman. He loved to leave the city and find a little lake, river, or even a creek to just sit and fish. I soon began to suspect catching fish was more of an excuse to get away from the hustle of city life and spend time in the tranquility of a me menuchot, waters of rest.  I recall how we would travel to Canada taking the highway all the way to where the highway ended.  From there we would take a dirt road, an old loggers road.  Sometimes we would have to stop to clear the road or repair an old decrepit bridge that appeared to barely hold a person let alone an automobile.  At the time it was an adventure, today when I think about it I wonder: “Was my dad nuts or what?”   Yet, we made it all the way to the end of that so-called road to what I felt was the end of the world.  There at the end of this road was a crystal clear lake surrounded by wildlife and woods. No human being was in sight. Then my father would take our rowboat and go out clear to the other end of the lake.  I mean we were totally off the grid and I could see my father just stare out over that lake and you would see a physical change come over him. He gave off a sense of true peace and serenity. I often imagine that God was just encompassing or surrounding him.

I reflect how, as a child and teenager our family would vacation at my uncle’s cabin in the North Woods.  There were miles of hiking trails and I would hike out past both running waters and still waters.  I often wondered why David specifically referenced still waters in Psalms 23:2.  If I had my choice of drinking water I would take the running water,  still waters seemed so stagnate. Still waters were filled with algae-covered with bugs.  I hate bugs. They are little demons who can steal your peace very quickly.  There was nothing refreshing about still waters.  As far as refreshing goes, the flow of the running waters was the most refreshing. Running waters creates coolness in the area giving a refreshing feeling.  Still water just sits there and bakes in the hot sun. 

When I was a camp director for a summer camp for young teenagers who were in trouble with the law or came from troubled backgrounds, I was often under great stress. I was responsible ultimately for the discipline in the camp and I tell you there were constant battles trying to maintain discipline in a camp of troubled teenagers. I would finally get one problem resolved and I would go off alone worrying about the next problem that would come. There were times I would take a break, put someone in charge of the camp and I would take an hour or maybe two to hike off into the woods and find a trail that led to the Mineral Springs.  Back in the late 19th and early 20th Century, there was a spa built over the mineral springs and people from all over the world would come to seek its healing powers. The spa was long gone but the springs were still flowing. I knew when I was getting close to those springs for I would feel a slight breeze of cool air. When I arrived, I would fill my canteen with that cool, not cold mineral water and drink it until my belly ached. To this day I can still feel that sense of peace and serenity of those refreshing waters as I reflect on those days. 

This brings me back to this word used in the  Hebrew for still which is manuchah and means rest or peace.  As far as I am concerned, my preference is to render this not as still waters, but as waters of peace.  That I can relate to and I am still within the parameters of the word manuchah. Manuchah comes from the root word nauch which means to rest, to cease, to relax.  Yet, there is another possible root word other than nauch and that is manach which means to give as in a sacrifice.  A secondary meaning is that God leads David besides sacrificial giving waters.  The word for water is miy which can be a noun or the interrogative word who.  I believe David carefully choose his words under the inspiration of God to give us two messages in one.  Not only did he say that God leads us beside waters of rest (to bring us peace) but there is a little play on words here where he is saying: “He leads me to the one who will make a sacrificial gift (which will bring eternal peace).  

David says that God will lead us, not force us to these waters of rest but He will lead us. The word lead is yenaheleni which comes from the root word nahal which means to guide, to guide slowly, and to manage. It is specifically used for guiding one to water.   Rabbi Samson Hirsch says that it means to lead the one who is weak. The word is used in a Piel form which is intensive so I would suggest this leading is a picture of one who has reached the point of total exhaustion, totally dehydrated, and in desperate need of water. Not an uncommon event in the desert of which the Middle East had plenty.  It is a picture of being so exhausted that you need someone to support or even carry you to the waters to refresh you.  

For me and my personal understanding of this passage, I would render it as: “God puts his arm around me to support me when my strength is almost gone and he guides me to waters of refreshment.  

The very next verse tells us that He restores our soul. I believe this is speaking more than just leading us to a spot of peace and relaxation, it is guiding us when we have reached the end of our strength to a place of renewal. 

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