Hebrew Highlights 004 - Rejoice

Shalom, this is Yuval Shomron, coming to you live from Jerusalem.

One of my favorite scripture passages is ISA 61:10 I will rejoice greatly in the Lord, My soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

In Hebrew the first half of this verse sounds like this: Sos, asis baAdonai, tagel nafshi b’Elohai. Ki hilbishani bigdei yesha…

The first exciting revelation in the Hebrew I would like to address is the word for clothed: “hilbishani”. Though most of you probably do not have the service of a private valet, who helps you dress in the morning, you may have seen some scene in a movie, where a king or some other important individual stretch out their arms while their willing servant helps them don their heavy robes.

This is exactly the picture of the word “hilbishani”. We stretch out our arms towards God, and he actually puts the splendid robes of salvation and righteousness on us himself. Carefully checking that everything fits properly and that we are ready to face the public.

The next exciting phrase is our response: “I will rejoice greatly in the Lord, My soul will exult in my God”. Again, in Hebrew, “Sos, asis baAdonai, tagel nafshi b’Elohai”.

In my nearly twenty-five years in Israel, I have learned that the people of Israel really know how to rejoice!! There are 7 very descriptive words in Hebrew for rejoicing. I have never understood why they are not translated more literally. Perhaps we English speakers are just a little to stifled in showing our affection for our Heavenly Father.

Two of these wonderful words are used in this passage. First we have “sos asis”, two words based on the same root used in partnership. The Hebrew Bible is actually full of plays on words.

If I order a carbonated drink or sparkling wine in Israel, it may say “tosses” on the label. Have you lately been rejoicing in the Lord so much that you feel like you are going to bubble over? Great, you have the right idea. Now, although this definition is based on the phonetic pronunciation of this root, and not the actual letters, it is viable, since the Bible was at first handed down by rote, and there are no other good explanations for this seldom used root word.

The next words “tagel nafshi” mean quite literally, “my soul will spin around”!!

Now, lets retranslate this phrase, and be Israeli about it: “Sparkle, bubble over in the Lord, my soul spins around and around in my God. For He has personally put salvation clothes on me and given me a coat of righteousness.”

Now many of you experienced this joy when you first gave your heart to Yeshua, and hopefully remember it on a daily basis. But, unfortunately, we sometimes let our bottles set half opened in the fridge, losing our sparkling quality.

Have you become uncarbonated!? Are your bubbles all gone!?

PSA 40:16 says “Let all who seek Thee sparkle, bubble over, and be glad in Thee; Let those who love Thy salvation say continually, "The Lord be magnified!"

Since the mercies of the Lord are new every morning. Let’s open a fresh bottle of carbonated joy every morning and thank Him.

Shalom, Shalom from the heart of Jerusalem!