HEBREW WORD STUDY – SPEAK TO SAY    DEBAR  LA’AMAR    

Leviticus 23:1  “And the LORD said unto Moses saying…”

I looked at 26 Modern English translations of the Bible and only 16 of the 26 really translated this passage word for word.  Many translations just take the repeating of the word “speak” or say as redundant in the English and render it as “And the Lord said unto Moses..”  rather than “And the LORD said unto Moses saying…”

Big deal you say.  Well to the Jewish sages it is a big deal.  To them (as well as myself) every word in the Torah is given by God and bears an important message.  For one thing, I find it hard to believe a translator would drop that second word for speaking or saying because it is an entirely different word.  “And the LORD said (debar) unto Moses saying (‘amar)…”

Most translators look upon debar and ‘amar as mere synonyms but most Jewish scholars argue that there are no synonyms in the Biblical Hebrew.  There are words with similar meanings but they still bear a difference in nuance.  Sure both debar and ‘amar means to speak, to say, saying, etc.  but there is a difference in this speech.  Debar has been recognized as a more direct, clear, and forceful speech. Some have even equated it with the Greek word rhema.  It is speaking more sincerely or from the heart.  ‘Amar is merely an everyday conversation.

In English, it would appear redundant to say that the Lord spoke unto Moses saying…   But suppose we render this as; “The Lord spoke from his heart and (then) said…”  What you have something very subtle here which I believe is important.  In Leviticus 21:1 it simply says: “The Lord spoke (‘amar) unto Moses.”  But in 22:1 as in 23:1, it says: “And the LORD said (debar) unto Moses saying (‘amar)…”

That is called a Remez among the sages or a hint that God is telling us something much deeper. There is a little treasure buried in that statement and you need to dig it out.   There are some teachers that will say that when God debars to Moses then he must tell the people word for word what God said.  When God simply ‘amars Moses then Moses is permitted to paraphrase what God said.   But there is more, this is also telling us something about the way God speaks to us.

Jesus mentioned this in John 10:27: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:” That word to know in the Greek is ginosko which is the same word used when Mary said that she was going to have a child but she knew no man.   It is an intimate knowing.   Let me read Leviticus 23:1 this way: “And the LORD said (my beloved) unto Moses saying (this is what I want you to say)…”

Let me us a husband and wife as an example.  The husband and wife are traveling and the wife is giving directions. She will say, “Ok, turn to the left at the next stoplight.”   But if they are engaging in a personal conversation she may snuggle up to her husband, take his arm and say: “Honey (dear, sweetheart, sweetums) let’s stop at that restaurant we always like.”

There are times God simply ‘amar’s to us: “Don’t watch that movie.”  Then there are times God will snuggle up to us and debar “My beloved,” and then ‘amar  “Let’s go over that passage of Scripture I pointed out to you this morning.”

Like an old married couple, they can easily sense when their mate is coming on to them and they respond accordingly.  So too with God, we need to grow in our relationship with Him to be like Moses where we can tell when God is either seeking intimately with us or  He is just wanting to guide us or both.

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