Hebrew Word Study – Be Focused – Chazak – Cheth Zayin Kap

Joshua 1:9: “Have not I commanded thee?  Be strong and of good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord they God is with thee withersoever thou goest..”

The nation of Israel has now completed its forty years of chastisement and a new generation from that of the generation that left Egypt will enter the land, led by Joshua one of the two spies who earlier declared: “I don’t care about giants, I don’t care about getting my head lopped off, God gave us the land let’s go get it.”  Now forty years later God is granting his desire.  

Joshua is 71 years old and about to pull a Colonel Sanders (who started KFC at age 65) and embark on a new career as a commanding general to replace Moses.  It is curious that this man who showed great courage in the face of overwhelming odds should be commanded to be strong and of good courage. As I sit here examining the issues of my own life I find I was sort of hoping God would automatically infuse me with the good courage but reading this in our English translation it appears that I am not only commanded to be of good courage but it seems I must work it up myself. And what is this good courage?  Is there such a thing as bad courage?

Perhaps this “be strong and good courage” business loses a little something in the translation, so let’s take a closer look at it.  Webster defines courage as a choice or willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, and/or uncertainty. Another word is bravery. The word strong in Hebrew is chazak, which is in a simple Qal imperative form and means strength of purpose or resolve.  It is being steadfast and focused.  In this context, God is commanding Joshua to be totally focused on Him, His direction, and His guidance.

Joshua is also being told to be of good courage.  Actually, this is just another word for strength which is ‘amas in Hebrew.  The word itself means to restore or renew. This is a physical strength that comes after a period of rest and relaxation.  At this point, like many Jewish teachers, I am taking issue with the vowel pointings of the Masoretes here.   The Masoretes were not considered inspired, and on top of that, they did not add these vowel pointings until seven hundred years after the birth of Christ. In other words, there were no vowels in the written Hebrew language until around 700 AD. Here the vowel pointings were added because the Jews were scattered throughout the world, and it was feared that if they did not make the written language more precise, i.e., add indications of vowels, the preciseness and the language which depended upon tradition would be lost. As such many orthodox Jews will routinely take issue with the Masoretes in how and where they added the vowels. In its context, I would be more inclined to put a Pathah  (a line under a letter for the vowel a) under the Aleph and not a chireq (a dot under the letter for the vowel i). In doing this, you would then render this as “you will be rejuvenated.”   In other words, “Just keep the faith you have, and you will be restored to the strength that you had forty years ago when you were ready to enter the Promised Land.

This command to ‘amas that is rendered as to be of good courage actually means to be restored. It is directed not at Joshua to acquire this restoration or rejuvenation through his own might, but the command was God calling out to the body of Joshua to create a miracle to restore Joshua’s strength to that of a thirty-one-year-old.   By changing the little dot to a little line, you are now talking about a major miracle, literally a fountain of youth.   God is not about to throw away Joshua’s 71 years of experience in walking the walk and talking the talk. He was not going to take this 71 years of walking in faith and putting it out to pasture. God was going to give this old cowboy the assignment of a lifetime where all those years of faith walk would come into play, and on top of that, God would restore his strength to that of a 31-year-old man. His only command to Joshua was to remain firm and focused on his faith, as he had done for 71 years.

Now, amazingly, we run into a rare use of the lo and el negative.  In my 50 years of Hebrew study, I have run across this only two other times.    The Lord said: “Had I not commanded you.”  The word not here is lo. Yet when he says: “Be not afraid” and “be not dismayed.”  The not there is el. There is a God element to this negative.   The word afraid in Hebrew is ’arts which is to be terrified.   Obviously, if you are terrified, you will be dismayed.  The word for dismay is nachath which means to descend.   The Masoretes, in adding their vowel pointings, limited our options. Within the original ancient Hebrew, you could use one of three possible roots or all three.  This could also be the root thavach which means under or beneath.  You could also use the root word chathath, which means to be broken, confused, and in terror, or you could use nachath, which means to descend. This is really more than mere disappointment; it is to be so discouraged and fearful that you cannot even think clearly.

Here is the good news.  These last two words, afraid and dismayed, are not in an imperative form. It is in a simple Qal imperfect form. This is where the Masoretes and I dovetail. The use of the word el for the negative is really saying: “Gideon, if you stay focused on your faith, God will not allow you to become terror-stricken or filled with such fear that you cannot think clearly.”

God is not commanding us to not be fearful but is telling us that if we stand steadfast in our faith, He will see to it that we do not become terror-stricken or confused to the point that we cannot think clearly. Yes, we will feel fear. Fear can be very useful to cause us to pause and think before we leap.

This verse could be rendered: “Had I not commanded you to stand firm in your faith?  If you do you will be rejuvenated (your youth will be restored), and you will not be terrified or so fearful that you cannot even think clearly.” So let’s say the boss calls in and hands you a layoff notice. You don’t have to try to make yourself courageous or try not to be fearful, all you have to do is keep the faith you have been standing on. The reason you can do that is found in the last part of this verse: “For the Lord thy God is with thee, whithersoever thou goest.”

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