Hebrew Word Study – Reservoir   –  Qavah –  Qop Beth Hei

Qavah קָוָה (kaw-vaw’)

Psalms 71:5: “ For thou [art] my hope, O Lord GOD: [thou art] my trust from my youth.”

Rabbi Samson Hirsch once said that Scripture does not use obscure language but describes most things in words that clearly indicate them. Therefore you must delve into the literal meaning of a word to get a full understanding of what is actually meant.  Thus, we need to look closely at this word that we render in English as hope. 

Our modern word hope does not, at least to me, imply a certainty. To say God is my hope does not express my idea of faith.   The word used in this verse for hope is tiqevathi which comes from a Semitic root qavah which is a place of collecting, a reservoir. In the ancient Middle East, water was very precious and it would be collected in a reservoir so that one would readily have it available when you needed it.  Without it you would die so water became one of your primary concerns and when collected in a reservoir it was that reservoir that you had confidence and peace of mind that there would be water when you needed it. 

In the Akkadian language qavah (hope)  is a word used for a measuring cord. I noticed one of Chicago’s finest the other day pull out a little measuring tape and measure the curb to the tire of a car that was parked. In some of our Chicago streets, every extra inch provides added hope that you will make it through that street without taking out a side view mirror. That measuring tape was a qavah it added certainty and assurance that there was enough room to drive a bus through. A measuring line gives a person certainty and assurance that you have the exact proportion measured out and that the end result of whatever you are building, designing, or making will come out as expected.  Embedded in this word qavah is the idea of a certainty in the outcome. It is the idea that the fix is in and you are a winner.  

However, qavah (hope, certainty) is meaningless if you cannot imagine the outcome.  In extra-Biblical literature, I have found that qavah is used to express the idea of imagination.  There are really two words in Hebrew for imagination.  One word is zamam which has the idea of plotting evil, it is used to express a negative imagination as one imagines the evil he will do before doing it. The other word for imagination is qavah which is imagining a positive outcome, it is a positive imagination.  Faith is the substance of your qavah (also in Aramaic) positive imagination (Hebrews 11:1).  God created the world using His imagination.  He imagined it and it came to be.  Just as a designer imagines a dress or a car before it is even made or built.  That dress or car is literally created through the designer’s imagination. Skilled workers just follow the imagination of the creator using exact measurements to make the dress or build the car. 

Hope may not be the best 21st-century English word for qavah in our study verse.  David says that God is using His measuring stick that make sure everything is the way it should be.  Just as that police officer makes sure I have enough room to get my bus down that street, yet it is still up to me to navigate that beast down that street. I have all the confidence in the world that our police officer has made sure I have enough room to get that bus down the street, it is my ability to navigate it down that street without taking out a side view mirror that worries me. 

I am qavah, confident that God has made the way for me, my only concern is that I navigate that way to fit God’s measurements.

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