WORD STUDY – YADIYAD ידוד Beloved Friend
Genesis 28:16: “And Jacob awoke out of his sleep and he said: ‘Surely the Lord is in this place and I knew it not.”
The Hebrew word for “I knew” is yada’. This means more than just knowing, it is an intimate knowing. When we read a passage that says a man “knew” his wife and she conceived a child, this is the word used for “knew.” It is a word used for sexual intercourse, the most intimate relationship that a human can experience. It is made up of the word yad which means hand. Modern Hebrew has an expression: “Yadvyad” which literally means hand in hand and is translated as beloved friend. The ancients believed your heart was in the palm of your right hand and thus a handshake meant something much more than it does today, it meant a sharing of two hearts
To the ancient mind sitting at the right hand of God meant sharing God’s heart.
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