ARAMAIC WORD STUDY – DELIVER – SHAZAV – שיזב

Daniel 3:16-17: “Shadrach Meshach and Abednego answered and said unto the king,  O’ Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer you in this matter.  If it be so our God is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of thy hand O king. But if not be it known unto thee O king that we will not serve your gods nor worship the golden image which you have set up.”

Ezekiel 37:4: “And he said unto me, Prophesy unto these bones and say: O’ ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.”

I was reading something very interesting in the Midrash Rabbah with regard to Ezekiel. Ezekiel was a priest and prophet during the Babylonian exile. King Nebuchadnezzar had already executed some of the young men from the House of David because they were so handsome and the Babylonian women were falling head over heels after them. So Nebuchadnezzar had them executed and their bodies mutilated and their bones scattered. The Talmud teaches that these were the dry bones of Ezekiel 37:4 and that this was not only a vision but reality as well. God actually instructed Ezekiel to speak to these dry bones and they would come together and live again. Not only was this a prophetic sign but it actually happened. The Talmud goes further to teach that these now resurrected men went on to marry and live out a full life.  

Needless to say, such an event would have established Ezekiel as a prophet of God. In the Midrash it recounts the story of the three Hebrew young men thrown into the fiery furnace and that before they made their decision to defy Nebuchadnezzar, they consulted with Ezekiel. Ezekiel initially said he had no witness that the three Hebrews would escape the furnace if they defied Nebuchadnezzar nor did he have any witness that God would raise them from the dead.   The men, however, decided to defy Nebuchadnezzar without any assurance that Ezekiel could raise them from the dead.  After they left God spoke to Ezekiel and said that they would survive the ordeal, but Ezekiel was not to tell them this, God wanted them to take their stand without this knowledge. 

This may explain the strange statement they made to Nebuchadnezzar that God would delivered them for Nebuchadnezzar‘s hand, but if not they would still not bow down before his idol. Actually, they are not saying God would deliver them out of the furnace, but out of the hand of Nebuchadnezzar.  This passage is written in Aramaic and in verse 17 the word deliver is shazav.  It is the grammar that gets a little confusing.  In Aramaic, the yod before the zayin creates a sere yod rather than a chireq yod which we would have if the zayin came before the yod. This form actually intensifies the word.  What this tells me is that this is intended to be a particle but rendered as a future tense not to show a time element but a sense of certainty. This leads me to believe they are speaking of a prior event and not one that is about to happen. 

The Talmud is not the inspired Word of God, but it may have some historical accuracy and the three Hebrews are really saying: “God is able to deliver us as He has already done with the other Hebrews you executed, If He took their dry bones and breathed life into them, then He can take our ashes and restore them. But if He doesn’t, well your nose we are still not worshipping you gods.”

It is possible the three Hebrew youths went to Ezekiel to get the assurance that he could raise them from the dead like he did their companions who were executed. After all, they were executed for their good looks, while these three Hebrews were facing execution for their faith, surely God would be more inclined to raise them from the dead.  Yet, Ezekiel could not give them that assurance. Nonetheless, they still determined to die rather than bow to the idol, even if God would not raise them from the dead like their companions. 

Maybe the enemy is about to lower the boom on you. You see others getting the miracle you are praying for and the enemy is whispering to you: “See there, what has served God brought you? Where is your God now? No miracle is coming.” Perhaps God is waiting for you to tell the enemy: “Up your nose you old buzzard. Maybe God will send a miracle for me like the others maybe not. But if not, be it known O king of darkness, that I will not serve your god of despair and discouragement.”