Image result for katniss

Nehemiahn1:5: “And said, I beseech thee O Lord, God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenants and mercy for them that love Him and observes His commandments.”

I grew up with the King James Version, most the Scripture I have memorized has been in the King James Version, I really do love the King James Version, but at times it is very difficult to keep from expressing my frustration over some of the archaic language  that seems to flow throughout this translation.   The KJV was not called the King James Version for no reason.  This was a translation ordered by King James who was, after all, a king and it was translated by Oxford scholars, whose jobs, after all, depended upon their loyalty to the King and Church.  The Church in that day, as it is in many churches today, was into power and control and the King was very anxious to share in this power.  So you cannot blame the Oxford translators for showing a little bias.  The idea of a personal God was not popular with the Church of England during this time. George Whitfield found that out and was not allowed a pastorate because he preached a personal relationship with God. So he went to America where he started the Great Awakening. So the idea of a personal God did get a little watered down in the translation.  I mean if you had a God that was too loving then how would you maintain control over the people in the church. You had to put a little of, what they called, the fear of God in the people.

As a result we have a verse in Nehemiah where God is a terrible God and one to be feared.  They never bothered to explain what this terrible or fear meant, they just sort of let the chips fall where they may, which is usually on a God you don’t want to cross up by not attending mass and not paying your tithe.  Oh, and also to respect your clergy and believe everything they tell you, particularly when it comes to interpreting Scripture. Webster defines terrible as extremely bad, horrible and distressing.  So there you have it, according to the KJV version God is a bad and horrible God.  To be fair to the Oxford scholars, the word terrible in the 16th Century was not as terrible as it is today.

I have heard atheist interviewed on the radio who come up with all the old tire and worn out alleged contradictions in the Bible.  I can blast these arguments out of the water by citing some translation problems.  However, I keep waiting for the biggest contradiction of them all but have yet to hear it.  How can a God who is perfect in love make such demands on his children that they live in absolute terror of making some mistake and ending up in the fires of hell.    Does not Scripture say: “Perfect love cast out all fear. (I John 4:18), and yet millions of people perform rituals that are meaningless to them, pay their tithe, and tote the narrow line out of fear that they will make God angry and that this God in perfect love will send them to eternity in fires.  Don’t get me wrong, the Bible teaches a hell but God does not send one to hell, people send themselves to hell. It is our decision not God’s.

Yet, can you imagine the power a church would have if people had no access to the Word of God and all they had was what the Church leaders told them?   “Join our Crusade and if you die in battle you automatically get eternal life.”  Even in the time of King James, the church was not ready to give up that power and unfortunately, that stands true in many circles today.

Thus, a word like yara’ is rendered as terrible. It is the same word which is usually rendered as fear.  You can say it means fearful or terrible but in the sense that a husband who really loves his wife will not cheat on her, not because he fears her wrath, but because he fears could not live with himself if he hurt her in any way.  I do not like the rendering of yara as fear or terrible because fear suggest one’s concern for one’s own gizzard.  Yara’ could really be another word for love.  This is love built on concern for someone else’s gizzard rather than your own.  It is interesting that this word in this verse is in a Niphal form.  This could easily be rendered as “a great and the love of my life God.”

Another word is used in this verse for love and that is the word chasad. This is a God who keeps His promises and has mercy chasad on those that love Him and keeps his commandments.  The word for mercy is chasad and is also the word for kindness. It is also the word for a stork.  I  saw a movie the other day about the Stork. Well, it was a children’s animated movie but it did show clearly the legend of the stock delivering babies which is rooted in the ancient belief that among all the animals, the stork is the most loving to its young. It is believed that if a young chick dies, the stork will resurrect it with her own blood.  If it does not have enough food the stork will feed the chick with her own blood. The stork has been known to raise and care for chicks that are not even her own even of another species. Thus, chasad is more than mere kindness, it is a loving kindness extended to all mankind reflecting a Messiah who will shed His own blood to save His children.

Since we are talking movies, how about that big hit over the last few years: Hunger Games.  Remember how Katness had an encounter with the President of Panem.  She hated the guy but showed him kindness in the interview because she had to, but certainly not out of love.  However, in the story she also showed kindness to Peeta who fought with her in the Hunger Games.  In fact in the second book when she and Peeta are again forced to play in the Hunger Games she seeks to show him the greatest kindness of all and that is to die protecting his life.  That kindness is a perfect example of  chasad a Loving kindness. Then remember how Peeta turned against her and tried to kill her. That is a perfect example of what we do with God’s chasad.   Chasad is a kindness built on such love that you forget about your own welfare for the sake of another’s.

To read this in the KJV I cannot call it an error in translation nor even an attempt to mistranslate.  All I am saying is we need to examine the depth of the words they translated.  If you just remove one more layer of depth in the words terrible (yara’) and mercy (chasad) you find a relationship with God built not on fear of punishment but on a sacrificial love.

Subscribe to our free Daily Hebrew Word Study for in-depth commentary using Biblical Hebrew!

* indicates required