Hebrew Word Study – Perplexed – Bosh – בוש Beth Vav Shin
Psalms 25:2 “O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me.”
When I see the word “ashamed” I think of being embarrassed. You may be embarrassed about losing a job and feel ashamed as well of what will follow that loss; late payment on bills, falling behind on a mortgage, a car being repossessed, all will make you feel ashamed or embarrassed. Sometimes circumstances in life get so desperate that you really can’t afford the luxury of being ashamed or embarrassed. You reach a point where that no longer matters. You reach a point where your pride begins to take second place to just surviving. You reach a point of no concern.
I find it hard to believe that David is pleading with God to keep him from being embarrassed or humiliated. In the same verse he is pleading with God to prevent his enemies from triumphing over him. If this is typical of David’s style of writing, then enemies triumphing over him is somehow related to being humiliated.
Every translation I have read renders the word bosh as ashamed. Perhaps ashamed would fit bosh, but it is stretching it. The word bosh comes from an old Canaanite word meaning to be disappointed, confused or perplexed. The word is spelled Beth, Vav and Shin. These letters suggest that this confusion flows from the heart being joined and consumed by flames of passion. This passion could be lust, anger, or fear.
Would you like Chaim Bentorah as your personal Hebrew teacher?
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Seven hundred years after the birth of Christ, a group of Jewish scribes known as the Masoretes began inserting vowels into words. Up until that time, words only had consonants. Try pronouncing a word without an a, e, i, o or u. In doing this, they also started developing a more precise grammar. They did follow tradition in how to develop this grammar, but they were not inspired. So even though the Masoretes presented this word as in a cohortative form (permissive using the word let) I, like many rabbis, take issue with their conclusions. To be fair, they followed a traditional interpretation, so the majority felt this was permission, let me not be ashamed. However, there is some dissention and some feel it should be read: “Oh my God, I trust in you therefore I am not consumed by fear.”
As I ponder the grammatical structure of this verse, I find the syntax to be ambiguous (as it usually is in Hebrew). So there are a couple of possible ways to render this. When I look at the word trust I find it is the Hebrew word batach. This is a loan word from Middle Egyptian used for welding. There is Archaeological evidence that the Egyptians developed the art of welding as far back as 1,500 BC. If possible, I would encourage you to talk to a welder, observe a weld taking place, or even examine a good weld. You might have a whole new appreciation for trust. What happens is that two pieces of metal are melted into each other. Parts of each metal are intermixed. A welder will tell you that if you get a good weld, that piece of metal will break in unwelded parts before it ever breaks at the weld. When you trust in God you are welding yourself to Him, you are intermixing with his power and strength.
David does something pretty much out of style in his poetical writing, he attaches a personal pronoun to the word Elohim. What I think David is saying here is: “My trusting God, in you I am not consumed by fear.” Let me explain it this way using a chess board.
The word batach or trust is spelled Beth, Teth and Cheth. The Cheth is telling me that I am joined with God in such a way that I not only trust in Him, but He is trusting in me. I have become a piece in His chess game with the enemy. He will move me where it will best suit His strategy, and although I may be just a chess piece ignorant of His ultimate strategy, God can trust me to not move from my position on my own, but to wait for Him to decide when he can move me. Thus, wherever I move, the enemy will not triumph. After all, God is the chess master. The word triumph in Hebrew is alas, which means to rejoice over an impending victory. If I move on my own, it will mess up God’s strategy in this big chess game and give the enemy an opportunity to rejoice over an impending victory, causing God to have to rework his strategy.
So long as I just remain as a chess piece, be it just a pawn, and let God move me rather than plotting my own strategy to suit myself and not His kingdom, I need never be consumed by the fires of fear, for I am part of an overall strategy, and whatever move God decides to make for me, it will be to help bring His kingdom to ultimate victory.
However, I must remember that it is more than my trusting in God, I must allow God to trust in me to not develop my own strategy and move before He is ready to move me.
Can you imagine what it would be like to play chess and have every one of your pieces screaming at you: “Move me, no move me first, you have to move me right away, there’s a knight and bishop ready to sweep me away.” So you move one of your pawns and your rook says: “Well, so what makes that pawn more important than me, a rook, that you will protect before me, if that is all you care about I will move myself out of the way of that bishop and knight to this nice safe spot over here.” Unfortunately, here happens to be in the direct path of the queen and your non-trusting rook waits out your next move in fear and trembling.
What I feel Psalms 24:2 is telling me is that if I am to trust God or be welded to him, I have to allow God to trust in me and not to work out my own strategy to save my own gizzard and make my own life comfortable. There is a broader picture out there and there are many other players depending on the move God makes in my own life, and I am in this game to make God the victor, not to find a safe little corner on the chess board where I can wait out my existence on this planet. As long as I trust God and He can trust in me, I will be on that chess board confident that he is planning to move me when it fits His strategy, even if I am in the path of the knight or bishop, because he may have a pawn or king covering for me. How embarrassing that would be to be rescued by a pawn? But if you are about to be swept away by a knight or bishop, it won’t matter what station in life someone is who rescues you. Suddenly, your station in life doesn’t really matter in light of the Master chess player who never loses one chess piece on His way to victory.
WE ENJOY AND APPRECIATE ALL COMMENTS. PLEASE LEAVE THEM BELOW. CHAIM DOES NOT SEE EMAIL REPLIED TO FROM THE WORD STUDY. THANK YOU!
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Thanks & Blessings, it means a lot to me!
Yah bless you
It sure seems like the government is playing a chess game with our lives and every move for good is countered with a power grabbing move for evil. So this is excellent to relate to- Do I trust God has the final move or not? If so, I fear not and wait on Him while I live for His Kingdom in this world.
Thank you for this information. May The HolySpirit increase your Knowledge of Elohim, in Jesus Christ’s name, I pray, Amen.
AMEN…WHAT AN AMAZING PLACE TO ABIDE IN…OUR GREAT GOD CAN TRUST ME…SURELY THAT’S WHERE I WANT TO BE
Shalom Brother Chaim, I love your commentary!!!
Greetings from Las Vegas ( I cry because I live here – LOL )
However, The Master Chess player has strategically placed me in this city that advertises Sin to the MAX to share YESHUA :)
Rose & I are wanting to leave, ( been here 20 yrs, this town drains you ) move to Florida – not to sit in a corner, but to love & serve the LORD there!
Can you please keep me in prayer for The Heavenly Father’s perfect placement!
I have a dream of a mobile digital billboard truck (cost about 100k) that drives up and down the Las Vegas strip that advertises the name of KING YESHUA instead of strip clubs and all the other garbage!
It seems without finances, (and of course God’s approval, Yes, & Amen) nothing moves.
Thank you for letting me spew, LOL ( My friends and I have a saying… “Vent and Repent” – HA!
Blessings & Love to you and your family my friend!!!!
DAVID
Thank you, Chaim for your word studies… I really liked this one and the idea that I am “welded” to God; especially, the part that you stated that the welded part doesn’t break as easily since it is bonded together, and the other areas will give out way before the welded part does. I hadn’t played chess since a small child but could relate and like the euphemisms of using this to see God’s point of view and how trustworthy we also must become and not just trusting in God to do his part for he always will, but for us to do ours as well … the waiting part. :)
Thank you so much for your hard word and studies and your obedient part in whatever God has you to do. May the Lord bless you and keep you and shine his face upon you.
bg
I love this. It is exactly what I needed to read. Because I am inbetween jobs and contemplating taking the kind of position that would compromise where I feel I should be right now. Wow. This is an on-time word for me. Thank you!
Oh my word! This was so good. I resolved today to stop asking the Lord for strategy but to align me with His and to reveal to me what I needed to know to partner with Him in His strategy. Thank you for this message. Your daily word studies often realign us, transforming our thinking. I love you man of God. #Relevant
This is very insightful and so very relatable.
There were so many wonderful remarks that stand out to me, if which, the following are a few:
1. Trust – the analogy with the welder. Interesting to know that a metal breaks in the unwelded areas.
2. Not only do I trust in God but HE, the Sovereign Lord trusts me? Wow!
3. Get rid of myopic/selfish views: there is a bigger picture out there and there are many players depending on the move that God makes in our lives, personally.
I treasure this word ~ with all that it means.
So GRATEFUL to our Wonderful Counsellor for leading you to share this Truth, for This Time in my life.
Pertinent, and Precious!
May our Lord be Fully Glorified!
Beautiful words Study! Thank you for putting so much revelation into it!
Thank you Chaim. For the last several years, I’ve been in a holding pattern. I was recently permanently banned from LinkedIn and didn’t realize how much I communicated with my 5,000+ contacts on a business level. That was the only social media I used and my voice was censored. This word study was what I needed to read today. God is the Master strategist, not me. He will use me when it suits Him. I trust in Him. My goal is to bring pleasure to Him and will gladly go where He leads.
Thanks you so much and may God bless you indeed! I love the chess analogy, and waiting for God to move us. I can’t tell you how many times it has happened that I didn’t know what to do in a situation and just by putting off doing anything, circumstances (God) took care of themselves and I didn’t have to move. I remember this when I’m feeling either internal or external pressure to address a situation NOW. It brings me such peace.
I must tell you that I found your website about a week ago. I was in the shower and I received a message to look up the true meaning of Eve.
When searching Google, I strongly wait for the prompting of God to take me to the right place, and he brought me directly to your page, and I am so grateful. I’m truly inspired to learn Hebrew, or at least the alphabet. It’s the only external place to receive answers to some of the questions I’ve been having (other than the Divine within, of course).
Just two days ago, I received another message to look for the Hebrew meaning of “Earth”. I of course came here, but I didn’t see anything about the word Earth. Would you please be so kind to do one on EARTH?
MANY THANKS!
Jennifer
Hello Jennifer
In Chaim’s studies he only gives one or two aspects of each word but there are many more facets to each Hebrew (and Aramaic word). To get the full understanding of a word, it’s best to look at it in its original language for yourself. Biblical Hebrew is like a multi-faceted gemstone and anything but one-dimensional. It has an emotional content that depends both on context and what the Lord is speaking to you specifically. Consider joining us on The All Access Learning Channel where we go into more depth in scripture verses and individual words as well as sharing how you can easily look up a word in depth for yourself. Blessings & Hope to see you there. Here’s the link: https://www.hebrewwordstudy.com