HEBREW WORD STUDY – OPEN AND RECEPTIVE – KAVOD כבד Kap Beth Daleth
I Samuel 2:30: “Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me forever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.”
Just a surface reading of this verse is rather disturbing. God will honor those who honor Him. When I think of being honored I am thinking of receiving praise and adoration. This appears to contradict all the Scripture which encourages us to be humble and give all glory to God. How can you give glory to God when you are receiving honor and praise?
Another thing is that this would suggest that God loves those who honor Him more than those who do not honor Him. Yet, if God’s love is perfect, then he must love everyone the same, no favorites.
I remember when I was a student at Moody Bible Institute we have a man speak at our chapel who was known as the Chaplain of Bourbon Street. He was a former alcoholic who found Jesus and began walking up and down the streets of New Orleans witnessing alcoholics, prostitutes, and drug addicts. He was a large powerfully built man with much charisma, outspoken, bold and seemingly fearless as he regaled us with stories of the amazing miracles that God brought to the downtrodden of New Orleans.
He was the talk of the campus after that chapel. We were all inspired and fired up to grab our Scofield Bibles and begin street preaching like the Chaplain of Bourbon Street. The only problem was that few of us had a personality like the Chaplain, we were not powerfully built, gifted with charisma, outspoken, bold nor fearless. I remember one student pointing his finger at us and saying: “If you pray hard enough and long enough you too can be like the Chaplain.” Surely, the Chaplain was special in God’s eyes, a favorite of God. I mean he won more converts than any of us put together. God surely had a special mansion for him in heaven.
I started thinking about this. It just didn’t seem fear. If God intended the chaplain to be a role model for us, why did God not create us to be powerfully built, giving us charisma and making us bold and outspoken? Was it because we were not praying long enough and hard enough? Or was it that God did not call us to be just like the Chaplain?
He was surely a man that honored God and boy did God honor him with all the praise and glory we students bestowed upon. But wait, Scripture does not say: “He who honors God will receive the honor of man.” It says that he will receive the honor of God. Ok, but we are still seeking to receive honor, is that our motivation to honor God?
The English word honor is defined by Webster as high respect, as for worth, merit, or rank. That right there suggests that if we seek God to honor us, we are seeking for God to show us greater respect and worth than someone else. We are seeking to make ourselves better than the next person. That is surely not God’s ideal. Another definition is to show fairness, integrity in one’s beliefs. At least that is not suggesting some ego trip and placing yourself as better than others. Yet, the verse says that God will honor us in return. He will show us respect and worth? We are back to square one. Does God not have respect or consider every one of the same value as another. Another definition of the English word honor is a ceremony where a reward is given to someone for some special achievement or bestowed with a higher rank above others. I can’t believe that this is the way God operates. When we get to heaven are we going to be forced to attend some ceremony where we watch the gifted and talented receive special honor and praise while most of us, like our lives on earth, have to sit back and watch and applaud. So once again just as on earth in heaven, there are “them (the talented and gifted who get honor and praise) and us (the not so talented and gifted who must attend the ceremony to give applause).
The word for honor that is used in this verse is kavod, which is the word for glory and heaviness. The word also means being serious, being stubborn, and difficult. There is both a positive and negative aspect of the word. It also has the idea of being open and receptive.
As with most words in the Hebrew which have such a diverse range of meanings, we can only decide which rendering to use from the context. For me, the context is not calling for a word that shows one being favored over another or one getting praise for some achievement. I mean it is God who gives us the gifts and talents and ultimately it is He who accomplishes His work through us, so we do not deserve any praise. Thus, I would choose the rendering of being open and receptive.
If we are open and receptive to God, He will be open and receptive to us. I will go with that rendering. However, the common rendering is honor as we understand the word honor in English which is to receive praise and respect.
How can God show us greater respect than someone else, Why should the person with greater gifts, talents, and breaks in life get the big mansion in heaven? Perhaps the word honor is really tied into the word love. God loves everyone equally, but not everyone loves Him. For love to be fully manifested, it must be returned. A one-way love carries few benefits and much heartbreak. Perhaps what God is saying is that the more we love and honor Him the more we will experience His love and honor for us. It is not that he loves us and honors us more than others if we love and honor Him but it is that the degree in which we can experience His love and honor for us is related to how much we love and honor Him.
Such a beautiful understanding you’ve led us to. Thank you, Chaim. Thank you.
I like it, Chaim.
It sheds light that in being open and receptive we are positioning ourselves to be able to operate with understanding that all come from Him. If all come from Him and we go about our dealings with that concept in mind, then we keep the commandments. If we keep the commandments then are we not blessed with more, not being in jeopardy of misuse with that which is His, which He chooses to bless us with so that it is ultimately for His good? The sages teach that the Ten Commandments are to face each other (each tablet), and that in doing so the number on one relates to the one in the same position on the other. Then commandment five would relate to ten. If thats so then to honor our Father God is to not covet. In other words, to honor Him we are to be happy with what He has provided for us in this life, understanding that it is unique and purposeful… we were created for a specific purpose by Him. Just a thought. Thank you for sharing your studies.
This helps in some ways to stem the ever encroaching tide of comparing one to another.
However, there is the subject of position in God’s Kingdom. Which I think (but could be wrong) Paul addresses in I Cor 15:41.
All stars are different but each one is absolutely glorious. I hope this is the case “when we are all changed in the twinkling of an eye.” (That’s my play on words for the day 🤗) Nature seems to prove this out. The reality is we all deal with “there is always someone better than I am.”
For some time, I have been aware that literal translations often fail as there is often not a single word equivalent or even a phrase that correctly communicates. Something important to a people group may have many words of detailed nuances and another group may not even have a single word for that item or idea.
Your exploration of word meaning from cultural context was what interested me in your blog.
A few years ago, I became aware that when people read scripture, they interpret from their personal cultural values (most of which they cannot even articulate). And, I learned that the three major cultures (guilt, shame, & fear), may define and use common words much differently from each other.
I only have limited understanding, but I do know that the Bible is from an Honor/Shame culture, where the patron/client relationship is important. That honor is a limited commodity and so public debates impacted your social standing. That things that brought shame to you and your family, tribe, nation could be resolved by eliminating the source of your shame (Uriah & Jesus).
I would suspect that part of the answer to the honor question is found in the cultural understanding of that relationship. And, could part then relate prophetically to the people of the new covenant being kings and priests.
Or maybe, simply, “Well done, good and faithful servant”
I believe that the honor that we get from our Father is that our reward is being with Him whether here or in heaven.