H

Half — Humbled, to Be; Afflicted

Half

A. Noun.

Chêtsı̂y (חֲצִי, Strong’s #2677), “half; halfway; middle.” This word appears about 123 times and in all periods of biblical Hebrew. First, the word is used to indicate “half” of anything. This meaning first occurs in Exodus 24:6: “And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basins; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.” Second, chêtsı̂y can mean “middle,” as it does in its first biblical appearance: “And it came to pass, that at midnight [literally, “the middle of the night”] the Lord smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt …” (Exodus 12:29). In Exodus 27:5, the word means “halfway”: “And thou shalt put it under the compass of the altar beneath, that the net may be even to the midst [i.e., up to the middle] of the altar.”

B. Verb.

Châtsâh (חָצָה, Strong’s #2673), “to divide, reach unto.” This verb appears about 15 times in biblical Hebrew and has cognates in Phoenician, Moabite, and Arabic. The word most commonly means “to divide,” as in Exodus 21:35: “… Then they shall sell the live ox, and divide the money of it.…”

Hand

Yâd (יָד, Strong’s #3027), “hand; side; border; alongside; hand-measure; portion; arm (rest); monument; manhood (male sex organ); power; rule.” This word has cognates in most of the other Semitic languages. Biblical Hebrew attests it about 1,618 times and in every period. The primary sense of this word is “hand”: “And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life …” (Genesis 3:22—the first biblical occurrence). Sometimes the word is used in conjunction with an object that can be grasped by the “hand”: “And if he smite him with throwing a stone [literally, “hand stone”] …” (Numbers 35:17). In a similar usage the word means “human”: “… He shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand [i.e., human agency]” (Daniel 8:25; cf. Job 34:20).

In Isaiah 49:2, “hand” is used of God; God tells Moses that He will put His “hand” over the mouth of the cave and protect him. This is a figure of speech, an anthropomorphism, by which God promises His protection. God’s “hand” is another term for God’s “power” (cf. Jeremiah 16:21). The phrase “between your hands” may mean “upon your chest”: “And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands [upon your chest]?” (Zechariah 13:6).

Yâd is employed in several other noteworthy phrases. The “lifting of the hand” may be involved in “taking an oath” (Genesis 14:22). “Shaking” [literally, “giving one’s hand”] is another oath-taking gesture (cf. Proverbs 11:21). For “one’s hands to be on another” (Genesis 37:27) or “laid upon another” (Exodus 7:4) is to do harm to someone. “Placing one’s hands with” signifies “making common cause with someone” (Exodus 23:1). If one’s hand does not “reach” something, he is “unable to pay” for it (Leviticus 5:7, RSV). When one’s countryman is “unable to stretch out his hand to you,” he is not able to support himself (Leviticus 25:35).

“Putting one’s hand on one’s mouth” is a gesture of silence (Proverbs 30:32). “Placing one’s hands under someone” means submitting to him (1 Chronicles 29:24). “Giving something into one’s hand” is entrusting it to him (Genesis 42:37).

A second major group of passages uses yâd to represent the location and uses of the hand. First, the word can mean “side,” where the hand is located: “And Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate …” (2 Samuel 15:2). In 2 Chronicles 21:16, the word means “border”: “Moreover the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines, and of the Arabians, that were near [literally, “by the hand of”] the Ethiopians.” A similar use in Exodus 25 applies this word to the “banks” of the Nile River: “And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river, and her maidens walked along by the [Nile].…” In this sense, yâd can represent “length and breadth.” In Genesis 34:21 we read that the land was (literally) “broad of hands”: “These men are peaceable with us; therefore let them dwell in the land, and trade therein; for the land, behold, it is large enough for them.…”

Second, since the hand can receive only a part or fraction of something, the word can signify a “part” or “fraction”: “And he took and sent [portions] unto them from before him: but Benjamin’s [portion] was five times so much as any of theirs” (Genesis 43:34).

Third, yâd comes to mean that which upholds something, a “support” (1 Kings 7:35ff.) or an “arm rest” (1 Kings 10:19).

Fourth, since a hand may be held up as a “sign,” yâd can signify a “monument” or “stele”: “… Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place [monument], and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal” (1 Samuel 15:12).

Fifth, yâd sometimes represents the “male sex organ”: “… And art gone up; thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made thee a covenant with them; thou lovedst their bed where thou sawest it [you have looked on their manhood]” (Isaiah 57:8; cf. v. 10; 6:2; 7:20).

In several passages, yâd is used in the sense of “power” or “rule”: “And David smote Hadarezer king of Zobah unto Hamath, as he went to stablish his dominion by the river Euphrates” (1 Chronicles 18:3). “To be delivered into one’s hands” means to be “given into one’s power”: “God hath delivered him into mine hand; for he is shut in, by entering into a town that hath gates and bars” (1 Samuel 23:7; cf. Proverbs 18:21).

“To fill someone’s hand” may be a technical term for “installing him” in office: “And thou shalt put them upon Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him; and shalt anoint them, and consecrate them [literally, “fill their hands”], and sanctify them, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office” (Exodus 28:41). Yâd is frequently joined to the preposition |beand other prepositions as an extension; there is no change in meaning, only a longer form: “For what have I done? or what evil is in mine hand?” (1 Samuel 26:18).

Hasten, Make Haste

Mâhar (מָהַר, Strong’s #4116), “to hasten, make haste.” This verb and various derivatives are common to both ancient and modern Hebrew. Mâhar occurs approximately 70 times in the Hebrew Bible; it appears twice in the first verse in which it is found: “And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal …” (Genesis 18:6). Mâhar often has an adverbial use when it appears with another verb, such as in Genesis 18:7: “… hasted to dress it” (or “quickly prepared it”).

Hate

A. Verb.

Śânê’ (שָׂנֵא, Strong’s #8130), “to hate, set against.” This verb appears in Ugaritic, Moabite, Aramaic, and Arabic. It appears in all periods of Hebrew and about 145 times in the Bible.

Śânê’ represents an emotion ranging from intense “hatred” to the much weaker “set against” and is used of persons and things (including ideas, words, inanimate objects).

The strong sense of the word typifies the emotion of jealousy; and therefore, śânê’ is the feeling Joseph’s brothers experienced because their father preferred him (Genesis 37:4; cf. v. 11). This “hatred” increased when Joseph reported his dreams (Genesis 37:8). Obviously, the word covers emotion ranging from “bitter disdain” to outright “hatred,” for in Genesis 37:18ff. the brothers plotted Joseph’s death and achieved his removal.

This emphasis can be further heightened by a double use of the root. Delilah’s father told Samson: “I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her [literally, “hating, you hated her”] …” (Judges 15:2).

One special use of śânê’ is ingressive, indicating the initiation of the emotion. So “Amnon hated [literally, “began to hate”] her exceedingly; so that the hatred wherewith he hated [“began to hate”] her was greater than the love wherewith he had loved her” (2 Samuel 13:15). This emphasis appears again in Jeremiah 12:8: “Mine heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest; it crieth out against me: therefore have I [come to hate] it” (also cf. Hosea 9:15).

In a weaker sense, śânê’ signifies “being set against” something. Jethro advised Moses to select men who hated [“were set against”] covetousness to be secondary judges over Israel (Exodus 18:21). A very frequent but special use of the verb means “to be unloved.” For example, śânê’ may indicate that someone is “untrustworthy,” therefore an enemy to be ejected from one’s territory. This sense is found in an early biblical occurrence, in which Isaac said to Abimelech and his army: “Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you?” (Genesis 26:27). The word may mean “unloved” in the sense of deteriorating marital relations: “And the damsel’s father shall say unto the elders, I gave my daughter unto this man to wife, and he hateth [i.e., turned against] her” (Deuteronomy 22:16). This nuance is especially clear in Ezekiel 23:28, where the verb is in synonymous parallelism to “alienated”: “Behold, I will deliver thee into the hand of them whom thou hatest, into the hand of them from whom thy mind is alienated.” In the case of two wives in a family, in which one was preferred over the other, it may be said that one was loved and the other “hated” (Deuteronomy 21:15). This emphasis is found in Genesis 29:31: “And when the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb; but Rachel was barren.” The word, used as a passive participle, represents a spurned woman: “… An odious [unloved] woman when she is married …” (Proverbs 30:23).

B. Noun.

Śin’âh (שִׂנְאָה, Strong’s #8135), “hatred.” This noun occurs 17 times in the Old Testament. Numbers 35:20 is one occurrence: “And if he stabbed him from hatred, or hurled at him, lying in wait …” (RSV).

Head

A. Nouns.

Rô’sh (רֹאשׁ, Strong’s #7218), “head; top; first; sum.” Cognates of rô’sh appear in Ugaritic, Akkadian, Phoenician, biblical Aramaic, Arabic, and Ethiopic. Rô’sh and its alternate form re’sh appear about 596 times in biblical Hebrew.

This word often represents a “head,” a bodily part (Genesis 40:20). Rô’sh is also used of a decapitated “head” (2 Samuel 4:8), an animal “head” (Genesis 3:15), and a statue “head” (Daniel 2:32). In Daniel 7:9, where God is pictured in human form, His “head” is crowned with hair like pure wool (i.e., white).

To “lift up one’s own head” may be a sign of declaring one’s innocence: “If I be wicked, woe unto me; and if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head. I am full of confusion; therefore see thou mine affliction” (Job 10:15). This same figure of speech may indicate an intention to begin a war, the most violent form of selfassertion: “For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head” (Psalms 83:2). With a negation, this phrase may symbolize submission to another power: “Thus was Midian subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted up their heads no more” (Judges 8:28). Used transitively (i.e., to l