WORD STUDY – WEARY : APHAH עפיה
Jeremiah 31:25: “I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.”
God will refresh the weary? Big deal. I get home from work I am weary. I love that feeling of weariness after a hard day of work and I love those little rituals, having dinner, taking a shower and spending a few hours of study which refreshes me. Quite frankly I don’t mind being weary because it is so easy to refresh myself. The weariness in Jeremiah 31:25 is something more. The word for weary is ‘aphah which comes from the root word ‘ayeph. This could also mean thirsty. It is a word used by desert dwellers. As we rarely experience a life threatening thirst we just have one word for thirsty. People living in the desert are always thirsty so they have two words. The normal every day thirst in Hebrew is tsama’ but when you are really thirsty, ready to faint from thirst that is ‘aphah. In fact ‘aphah is a play on the word da’avah used at the end of the verse meaning to faint. How do you satisfy someone who is fainting? Give them what they need, either plenty of air or water.
You see when you reach the point of total collapse from anxiety or distress, God will fill you with whatever is lacking that is causing your distress.
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