Hebrew Word Study – Upon Their Heads – Al Roshem  על רשאם  Ayin Lamed   Resh Shin Aleph Mem

Why Is Joy Placed Upon Our Heads? 

Isaiah 35:10:  “And the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”

Oh, the wonders of our modern age.  I can download the entire 52 volumes of the Babylonian Talmud into a Kindle and carry it with me wherever I go. The first volume I downloaded was the Sanhedrin as this is my favorite and full of surprises.

Clearly, Isaiah 35:10 is a reference to the return of the Jews from Babylon. I was reading a reference to this passage in Sanhedrin 110b which indicated that this event is also a reference to the world to come.  The entrance to this world to come will be preceded by the sound of a great trumpet which shall be blown drawing all the people out of land of Assyria and Egypt to Jerusalem to worship God.  Possibly the Apostle Paul was alluding to this in I Corinthians 15:52, “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”  

That raises the question, just what is this world to come?  Is it referring to the physical world or the spiritual world? That was hard to determine from reading this tractate in the Talmud but my assumption is that when the Sages referred to the future world they were referring both to the return of the Jews who are living to Israel as to those who have died to life in the heavenly realm. 

The word redeemed in Hebrew is padah which means to ransom and comes from an old Assyrian or Akkadian word padu which is used for purchasing property which includes the purchase of slaves. Slaves were more indentured servants who had to pay off a debt.  The word ransom is really an ideal English word to use here for we often use the word ransom in a kidnapping where a relative is forced to make a payment to the kidnappers for the release of a loved one held in captivity.  The purchase of slaves was not purchasing property or a human, it was redeeming this person from a debt. 

The word padah is such a beautiful word to use in this context.  It creates the picture of being held in slavery or captivity for a debt that is owed and then having someone that loves us make a sacrifice and/or payment to purchase us out of slavery.  As a Christian, I clearly see this as Messianic, a reference to Jesus who paid that price, the highest prices possible, His very life to purchase us, deliver us from slavery or the captivity of the enemy.  As a result, we will return.  This word in Hebrew for return is shuv. This word is sometimes rendered as repent. Sometimes it is used in reference to the spiritual world or the physical world. It has the idea of restoration. However, when used with padah a more appropriate rendering of shuv would be to relinquish. When Jesus pays the ransom we are not returned for we were born into sin, we were born into a world that was owned by the enemy.  So when Jesus pays the ransom the enemy must relinquish us. Shuv is also used to describe a turning away from something and facing toward something new and different. As Jesus has paid the ransom for our souls that do not automatically release us from the control of the enemy, we must willingly turn away from the enemy and face Jesus our redeemer.  You see Jesus has given us the freedom to choose and we must make that choice like the Apostle Paul to become a bondservant to Jesus and to voluntarily give our freedom to Him. Salvation is still an act of our will, it is not automatic, we must shuv turn our backs on the enemy and face Jesus.

I find this line interesting, an everlasting joy upon their heads. The word used here for joy is simchah.  This is a joy that you experience during a celebration, a party, or a festival.  People like going to parties and festivals to escape from the cares and pressures of the day. During a party or celebration, you don’t think about that bill hanging over your head, the problems at work, the concern of future layoffs, or even your health concerns. For the moment during the celebration all that is laid aside and with family and friends you just rejoice over the event that is being celebrated.  Yet simchah is modified with the word ‘olam which means eternal, forever, everlasting.   This is our new world that we have to look forward to, a place where we will always be in a state of joy and celebration. 

What does it mean that it will be upon our heads?  This is a direct reference to a cultural norm. Before a celebration, the guest is anointed with Frankincense on their foreheads.  Frankincense was a prized oil in those days as it was a sort of a sedative and when applied to the head one begins to feel a sense of joy and peace.  It would be used to help the guest enter into the joy of the event that was being celebrated.  The writer is saying that God will continually anoint us with this joy and peace in the new world.  

Then is says that we will obtain joy and gladness.  The word obtain is nasag which means to reach out and take hold of.  God will anoint us with joy but we need to also reach out and take hold of simchah or joy.  When we enter that banquet hall of God through salvation Jesus will anoint us with joy, but then when we enter that banquet hall we will find many things in that hall that can bring us joy and gladness, the food, the wine, the music, and the fellowship. It is there for us, for our taking, but many Christians refuse to reach out and take it, they prefer to crawl under yon rock and dwell on their cares and concerns. Jesus approaches and says, “Come, join the party, let us rejoice together, but we say, “No, I’d rather sit here under yon rock and sulk.”  All Jesus can say is, “Well, ok for you, but the caterers have just arrived and that gefilte fish looks awfully good.”  But you just sit back and stare at that lox and bagels and think, I am just too worried about those layoffs to eat and enjoy the food.  But if you reach out for the joys of your salvation and grab hold of it.  If you decided to join in on the worship service and maybe dance and clap you may find that your sorrow and sighing will as the Hebrew says noos, that is take flight, depart, disappear, and flee away. 

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