HEBREW WORD STUDY – WATERS SEA MIY YIM  ימ מי  Yod Mem   Mem Yod

Psalms 93:4: “The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea than the mighty waves of the sea.”

The literal meaning of this verse is clear.  The sea was a place of terror to the landlocked Jewish people.  Fishermen were the iron workers of their day and even they did not venture out into the deeper waters.  There was no Jacques Cousteau to explore the world under the sea and show off it’s beauty.  To early man the sea was awesome, foreboding, a place where the gods duked it out with each other. Every storm was thought to be a major battle between the gods and if you happen to be the poor slob out in a boat in the middle of their battle, well “ahoy.”  (Ahoy,  Heb. ah, expression of grief, oy another expression of grief.  Some of the first pirates were Jews).  Although the Jews rejected any polytheistic mythology, they still knew the stories and when Jesus walked on the waters during a stormy sea, at night and calmed the storm, he was declaring Himself the master God, who welded more power that Zeus or Neptune (Dagon), for not even these phony gods could control the mighty seas.   The writer of this Psalm is declaring in beautiful poetry that the God Jehovah has all of these phony, two bit, penny Annie, wannabe gods beat by many miles. 

The ancients had a far greater terror of the seas than we have today and if our God is mightier than the most terrifying thing on earth, what do we have to fear.   Peter understood this. When he saw Jesus walking on the water, demonstrating more power than the most powerful force known to ancient man, he was ready to jump ship and join forces with Him. 

That is, of course, the literal meaning.  But let’s dive beneath this ocean and see if we can find a deeper message.  “The Lord is mightier than the noise of many waters (Heb. mayim) and mightier than the waves of the sea (yim).  The root words of both water and sea are the rare cases where it is dual and triliteral.  Waters is spelled “mem, yod” and seas is spelled “yod, mem.”  Each has a numerical value of 50.   The numerical value of the word  for “you are mine” is also 50.  When the ancient seaman ventured out onto the seas, he knew his fate belonged to the sea.  The sea was saying: “You are mine.”  Could Peter have been thinking about this when he saw Jesus walking on the water and in the midst of the storm that seemed to be saying; “You are mine”  Jesus was showing that he was overpowering the mighty waters and was saying the terror of the sea can not claim you because “you are mine.”  When Peter asked if he could “come” (Greek – elithe) to Jesus, Jesus said “Come (Greek – elithe).”   The Greek word  “elithe”  is sometimes used in the Septuagint for “halak” which means “come” but it also means “walk” and it the root for “halakah” the righteous walk.  Peter could have been asking, “Let me walk the halakah, the righteous walk to you.”  Jesus responded with “Walk the halakah to me.”   Halak = 50 + 5 (grace).  50 is also the number for faith.  The grace of God (5) without faith (50) is of no value as Peter quickly learned.   Fifty also being the numerical value for “you are mine” might have given Peter more confidence. Peter was attune to the fact that Jesus was his rabbi and a rabbi often speaks to his disciples in hidden messages.  So Peter may also have heard Jesus say: “Come, walk the righteous walk, for by my grace you are mine.”

As I look out over that terror filled sea of life, I grow very fearful to step forward.  But then, like Peter, I can see my Savior walking in the midst of that terror.  That terror is completely in His control.  I can  be confident of Psalms 93:4 that tells me that my God is greater and mightier than any terror in this world.   As Jesus walks through this terror filled world, I can like Peter say: “Jesus can I come to you. “  Jesus answers : “elithe” or “halakah.”  “Come, walk the righteous walk, for by my grace (5) your are mine (50). 

But soft, before I get out of that boat and walk through the terrors of this world I need to remember what Peter forgot,  50 is also the number for faith.  Without faith,  those terrors will pick you up and toss you around like a ping pong ball in a washing machine.