Hebrew Word Study – Carefully Observe – Zarith  – זֵרִ֑יתָ  Zayin Resh Yod Taw

Psalms 139:3 “You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.”

I fled Him down the nights and down the days
I fled Him down the arches of the years
I fled Him down the labyrinthine ways
Of my own mind, and in the midst of tears – Francis Thompson – The Hound of Heaven

Practically every modern English translation of the Bible will have a different rendering for the word zarah (search).  Sees me (Living Bible), Know my ways (Aramaic Bible), Observes me (Holman), Scrutinize my life (ISV), Compassest me (KJV), Search me (ESV), Understood me (Douay), Carefully observes me (NET), Discerns me (NIV) and Girded me (Jubilee).  

Glory be so many English words for one little Hebrew word.  Who is right?  What is the correct rendering?  How do we really know just what it is that David is saying in this verse? Can one little ancient word, zarah, mean so many different things?  Is there only one rendering and all the other renderings are mistranslations?

I believe very firmly that there is no such thing as a mistranslation. With few exceptions, every modern translation we have has been done by men and women who possessed strong knowledge and skills of the ancient languages and have prayerfully considered each rendering.  I am foolish enough to believe that God allowed all these different renderings to show us the depth of His Word and open us up to a greater understanding of the message He wanted to impart to us.  In other words, all the renderings are correct. Classical Hebrew has only about 7,500 words compared to a half million words in English, so one Classical Hebrew word can go a long way. 

In fact, I believe there is also a built-in commentary on each word found in the letters of each word.  The word zarah is spelled Zayin, Resh, Hei.  The Zayin represents and even looks like a sword that cuts something open to expose the inner layers.  The Resh is bent over to the left; some of the ancient Jewish sages tell us that it is a sign of humility or shame. When God cuts through us and reveals what is inside of us it brings us to shame and humility.  Then the last letter is the Hei which represents the presence of God. Once God has opened us up and revealed all the shameful things in our lives, he cleans it up so it is worthy to carry His presence.  

As Francis Thompson describes in his poem The Hound of Heaven God is going to keep hounding us chasing after us until He can open us up, and clean us up so that He can then dwell inside of us as He created us in the first place. 

Notice the rest of the verse, God doesn’t miss a trick.  He will zarah (search) us in our lying down. The word for laying down is rava’.  This word comes from an old Akkadian word RV which has the idea of laying down to copulate. In our modern terms God is even watching us in our bedrooms, during our most private moments, He is right there taking notes, looking for anything that may hinder his presence in our lives, and when finding it he becomes that Hound of Heaven chasing after us until we confess anything less than pure motives and intent which could block Him from being everything He longs to be in our lives.

This sort of leaves me with kind of a bad taste in my mouth.  I mean it sounds like God has jumped the gun on the NSA and is already intruding on our private lives.  However, I believe the next phrase tends to tone this down a bit. He is acquainted with all our ways.  Well, isn’t that a little redundant?  I mean if he is observing paths and our most intimate moments, He is obviously acquainted with all our ways.  Actually, the word acquaint in Hebrew is katan which is used in a Hiphal form.  The word katan has its origins in an ancient Phoenician word which developed from examining a wound so you can best determine how to care for it.  It is a diagnostic search or familiarization.  When used in a Hiphal form you get the picture of God not observing all your ways and intimacies to take notes and grade you on your performance, but to determine and understand the best way to correct and heal whatever wounds have been left when He fills you with His presence.  

You know, like David, there are many things in our lives that we are ashamed of and although God has forgiven us we still have wounds left that remind us of our past sins.  Even though God has cleaned us up, we still have these wounds from our past sins that must be healed.  What David is saying here is that God searches us out even in our most intimate moments to clean us up and forgive every single sin, no matter how secret it is so He can enter our lives and fill us with His presence.  Not only that, he will also closely examine all our wounds to determine the best treatment to heal those wounds so we can rest totally in His presence without the hindrance of guilt.

Still, like Francis Thompson, we keep fleeing from the Hound of Heaven because we really do not want to be cleaned up, we like our petty little sins, and we are comfortable with our wounds.  But God will keep chasing after us until we allow him to catch up with us, clean us up, and heal those wounds. It is then that we discover something a whole lot better than our petty little sins. We discover the joy of His unhindered presence and an intimacy (katan) with Him.

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