Hebrew Word Study – Reward – Shillumath  שלומת Shin Lamed Vav Mem Taw

Psalms 91:8: “Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.”

Leave it to the KJV to come up with a word which in the twenty-first century sounds like an absurdity.  The wicked are going to get a reward.  Today the word reward is a reference to something good and valuable.  Obviously, that is not what the Psalmist meant. Unless he was brought sarcastic but that type of sarcasm expresses the opposite of what the word means is not really found in the ancient languages. From the context we know that the word reward is not used in a literal sense, that is that wicked will get something nice for being wicked. So why do we translate this a reward?

A common question I get is that over the 450 English translations of the Bible, which translation is the most accurate?  Well, that all depends upon how you view certain words in English.  The Hebrew word gives us an idea, a picture and it is up to us to determine which English word best fits that picture for our own understanding. Some people are so used to throwing that word reward around for someone getting the comeuppance that reward is probably the best word for them and translators use that word because it is so obvious that no one will take it literally. However, there are those who want a literal translation, and if you say reward you are not giving a literal translation.  Still, there are those who have a more literal mindset and would probably wonder why the wicked should be given good things.  To them, the word punishment might be a better fit.  To some who are less formal the word comeuppance, or just desserts has a special meaning. 

In the Hebrew, the word rendered as reward in English is shillumath which actually comes from the same root as shalom. I am sure you recognize that word, it means peace.  So how is a word which means peace supposed to be spun around to mean something bad? Actually, in its Semitic root, it simply means a completion.  Peace is the feeling of completion, that everything has now come together, all is as it should be.  Interesting that the Psalmist does not speak of the punishment of the wicked, or the destruction of the wicked but expresses the idea that in the end, all will be as it should be.  What happens to the wicked is shillumath what it should be.  I am sure we can imagine all sorts of things we would like to see happen to the wicked, but ultimately the wicked are not being punished, whipped, or spanked.  They are simply living out the natural course and end results of their wickedness.  The final result of the wicked is to spend eternity in hell. But we have no concept of hell in the natural.  We think of an eternal place of fire and brimstone but only satisfies our natural understanding.  The spiritual world where the souls of the wicked will end up is a place we have absolutely no concept of what it is like. We just know it is nothing good or desirable so the Psalmist is not describing the final state of the wicked, just that they will suffer the natural consequences of their wicked whatever that may be.

I drove a young woman on my disability bus the other day.  She is disabled with a back and leg injury from an auto accident.  Her disability is considered permanent and she lives with chronic pain.  The accident was not her fault.  Her husband was driving her to the store to get some milk for their baby while her mother watched the child. You know just an excuse to have a little mommy and daddy time alone together. They were waiting for a light when a car comes speeding in the opposite direction and slams into their vehicle.  The driver quickly drove off but fortunately, a police officer was nearby and caught the driver. The driver was DUI and left the scene of the accident.  He only had $25,000 in liability insurance for both bodily injury and property damage and which did not begin to cover the medical cost or the cost of the car that he totaled out.   

This woman and her husband had to pay the $500 deductible on their car, she has continuing medical expenses with a high deductible and co-pays on her health insurance, plus she will live the rest of her life in pain.  The drunk driver was an illegal immigrant but because we live in a sanctuary city he was not deported and was given only probation. He was even allowed to keep his drivers license and he is still driving and they cannot get one cent from him because he has no job or money and is living on disability payments from the government because he is an alcoholic.  He lived two houses from them and has been coming around almost daily and mocking them from her back yard, laughing at her pain, laughing at them because they can’t do anything to, and mockingly shouting that he is getting away from it all and he is getting away with it all. He dares them to try and do something.  They call the police but the only thing they can do is file a restraining order, but he is wise enough to just mock, laugh at run.  He makes of them, he calls this country a stupid, idiotic and whatever foul word he can use, country because they pay him money for being an alcoholic and he can do whatever he wants without being imprisoned and they will let him get away with it all   As soon as they replaced their car this, shall we call him a rasha’ wicked man, scratched the entire car with a key.  They saw him do it, reported it but could not prove he did it and he just came back again and laughed at them because he was getting away with it.  They finally were forced to move out of town just to get away from the guy. 

There is more but I think it is enough to describe a wicked rasha’ man. At least to me it sounds like a rasha’ wicked man. Can you believe God actually loves a man like this? That is the type of person Psalms 91:8 tells us will get a reward?  

The word in Hebrew in this verse for wicked is rasha’ which is someone who is morally wrong, ungodly, does wrong, and even the lexicon says “a bad person.”  It comes from an old Aramaic word meaning to be disjointed with loss of limbs.  The idea is that it is someone who is not normal.  

I asked this young woman if she was bitter.  She replied that she could not help but be bitter, especially when he is not only getting away with it all but laughing at them about it. I quoted Psalms 91:8.  The word see is used two times in this verse.  The first time it is the word ayin which means to see with physical eyes.  The second time it is the word ra’ah which is to see both with physical and spiritual eyes.  Ra’ah, however, is commonly a reference to spiritual sight. 

I told her that one day she will see the completion of this wicked person. If not in this physical world, then definitely in the world to come or the spiritual world.  His drunkenness, his drug addiction, and his hatred for this country and this world will have a natural result, conclusion, and completion.  God does not have to punish him. Unless he repents and turns from his wicked way, his wickedness will eventually come to a completion and it won’t be pretty and all those who were victims of his wickedness will see the completion of his wickedness. God is a just God. Being a just God means he will give this man a chance to repent but if he fails to do so he will get his shillumath.  We don’t know what it will be exactly but it will be just.

You know in the Western world we think of shalom – peace as something wonderful and positive. Yet in the Semitic eyes, peace can have both a positive and negative side.  My study partner pointed when this man’s wickedness is completed all who suffered from his wickedness will eventually find peace.  

There are only two possible outcomes from this situation with this young woman who is struggling with bitterness. Either this man will repent and seek forgiveness from her out of which she will have to forgive him and thus she will find peace.  If this man never repents, she will still have peace as her physical or spiritual eyes will behold the completion of rasha’s wickedness.

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