Hebrew Word Study – Remember – Zachar      Zayin, Cheth, Resh

Leviticus 26:42: “Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land.”

Literally and using a proper Hebrew syntax, this would read: “Then will I remember my Jacob covenant, and my Isaac covenant, and remember my Abraham(ic) covenant, and remember the land.” It is a little easier to spot the discrepancy in this verse with the literal translation. Do you notice it?

God is saying He will remember the covenant He made with Jacob, He will remember the covenant made with Abraham, and the covenant with the land.  It does not say He will remember the covenant with Jacob. Why will He not remember the covenant with Jacob? 

Actually, the word with is not in the text. Jacob and Abraham are used as adjectives to covenant.  There is an ‘eth before the word covenant which clearly indicates that covenant is the direct object to the verb zacar, which means to remember. However, this verb is in an imperfect form so it has the idea of bringing forth to remember or to invoke. In other words, this is suggesting that this is something that will not be easily remembered.  I mean how many really know God had a covenant with Jacob or really remember the mission given to Abraham behind the covenant?  We all know the goodies behind the Abrahamic covenant but do we really know what the purpose of the covenant was for? 

Also, note that in order of covenants God starts with Jacob and not Abraham. Logically you expect God to start with Abraham.  For one thing, the covenant was the same for all three Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  It involved the land of Israel as their inheritance. There were times among Jacob and Isaac when they had to leave this Promised Land due to famine. But God still remembered His promise to Abraham which passed on through the generations. However, each had a distinct way of fulfilling the conditions of the covenant according to Jewish teaching.

We start with Jacob because that expresses the most important condition of the covenant and that is something that the average person does not remember or even know about Jacob. When we think of Jacob, we think of a man who cheated his brother out of his birthright. Most people find little redeeming value in Jacob from the Sunday School stories we hear. Yet, what we Christians fail to remember or even realize is that Jacob was the first Biblical scholar. His brother was always off hunting and visiting foreign lands.  Yet, Jacob stayed at home. I have heard preachers call him a momma’s boy.  That is a bit degrading for this Patriarch. It is true he was a sort of momma’s boy but not in the degrading sense. It was momma who trained him in the ways of God. It was momma who taught him the Torah which at that time was not written. It was not given until the time of Moses on Mt. Sinai, however, it was written in the hearts of God’s people who passed this knowledge on from generation to generation. It is taught by Jewish scholars and the Midrash that it was momma who passed this knowledge on to her son.  Isaac was ready to split the inheritance between Esau and Jacob with Esau getting the material blessing, the farm so to speak, all the livestock, and the rest of the Isaac empire.  Jacob would receive the spiritual blessing the covenant blessing or the promise of the land and his descendants would carry out the mission of the chosen people to spread the knowledge of God to the world. 

Rebecca, Isaac’s wife, and  Jacob’s mother, however, realized that only one son was to receive both the material and spiritual blessing, you could not split that blessing and Esau was not devoted to God and the knowledge of God like his brother Jacob and was therefore not worthy of receiving this spiritual blessing and as you could not have one without the other she plotted to make sure the more spiritual son, the one who grew to love God and the one who could pass the knowledge of God to the next generation was the one to receive the entire blessing. Yes, Jacob was a deeply spiritual man, a rascal maybe, but then show me a perfect believer. His heart was right and this is what we do not remember about Jacob he was the first Torah scholar or Biblical scholar who preserved the knowledge of God to carry out the mission of the Jews. Most Christians don’t remember or even know this about Jacob, but God does.

Abraham is mentioned last not because his role was least important but because it was of equal importance. He was the one who left his home to go to a strange new land to spread the knowledge of God. He was the first evangelist, the first missionary.  He opened up a sort of hostel in the land of Canaan.  It is said his tent had no walls, just a roof so it would always be open to anyone who traveled by. He would offer a comfortable bed and a meal as a respite to any traveler.  When they would thank him, Abraham would stop them in the midst of their thanks and say; “No, thank YHWH for he provided the food and shelter for you.  Did you know that about Abraham? Most don’t remember this about him or even know it. But God remembers it. He carried out the role of the chosen people the people chosen to share His knowledge with the world. 

Then there is Isaac. What all remember him and his faithfulness to God fulfilling the purpose of the covenant?  We instantly think of his willingness to be sacrificed by his father Isaac.  He did not resist. God finally had to send an angel to prevent Abraham from carrying out the sacrifice.  Throughout the ages, we know of the Jewish willingness to sacrifice themselves rather than submit to the pagan gods. The first war in recorded history was fought for an ideological reason, the Maccabean War where the Jews fought to maintain their right to worship the One True God refusing to submit to worship of the idolatrous gods of the world. We all know that Isaac was a willing sacrifice, we remember that. 

This is why the word remembers is not used with Isaac but is used with Jacob and Abraham. It is a reminder to us that maybe we are not the Isaacs whose service to God will not be remembered. In a few years, old Chaim Bentorah will be in heaven and the people of this world have no memory of his work. Maybe the 25 people who listen to his podcast might remember him, and maybe the few who read his books might remember but he will not be remembered like people such as Billy Graham who will be remembered for generations to come.  But like Jacob and Abraham God will remember his service if others do not. The world may not remember you and your humble contribution to God’s kingdom; that Sunday School class you taught, that witness you left on your job, or the countless other contributions which will never become history but God will remember and that is what is important. 

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