I Stand at the Door and Knock

You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, Exodus 20:5 NASB

Exodus in Revelationpaqad, the Hebrew word for “visiting,” has always given translators fits. “There is probably no other Hebrew verb that has caused translators as much trouble as pqd” (Speiser, BASOR 149:21).[1] “Speiser considers the root meaning to be ‘attend to with care’ or ‘take note.’ It is impossible to prove whether this is the actual origin, but the fact that at least half of the occurrences involve positive action by a superior in relation to his subordinates strongly suggests that such action is a vital part of the meaning of the word, an idea that is supported by the fact that the LXX most frequently translates it by episkeptō or a similar word.”[2] “When translated ‘visit,’ as fifty-seven times in the KJV, . . . this word almost always has the sense, now largely obsolete, of ‘making a visitation’ and points to action that produces a great change in the position of a subordinate either for good or for ill.”[3]

Perhaps we can clear up some of these translation difficulties by looking at the Paleo-Hebrew imagery. The three consonant symbols represent “Word/Speech/Mouth + Behind/Last/Least + Pathway/to Enter.” Remembering that in the Hebrew worldview what is behind the head is the future, the picture might be “a word in the future enters.” In other words, paqad represents the expectation of a future encounter. God visits. He personally involves Himself in the life activity of His children. He is not the deist’s god of transcendent separation from human affairs. In fact, coupled with qanna’ (jealous), this pictograph tells us that we should expect God’s visitation just as He expects us to be prepared for His coming. He comes as the superior calling on His inferiors both for good or ill.

In other words, in contrast to the gods of Egypt who reigned in disconnected, dispassionate self-preoccupation, YHVH is intimately involved in the processes of both reward and punishment. The gods of Egypt viewed men as not much more than useful slaves, created to provide the gods with lives of remote luxury. But YHVH gives a completely different picture. He enters into the pathway of men, personally involving Himself as the anticipated and expected visitor about to arrive at any moment. He commits Himself to future manifestation for the purpose of examination and intervention. His jealousy prohibits any hint of withdrawal into the heavens. He guards His chosen ones by His promised participation. He is not like the gods of Egypt. He does not need to be appeased in order to pay attention to His children. The very fact that He is Father entails His constant care and concern. And the Koof of paqad ensures that this care will continue into the future. His word, the Hebraic representation of His character, enters into the lives of the children and the children’s children. It comes in the future as a pathway, a door, perhaps of conviction, or atonement, or relief. But paqad does not bring judgment. A door or pathway implies walking, entering, continuing, not the end of the line. Perhaps Yeshua had this idea in mind when He said, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me” (Revelation 3:20 NIV). Imagine how differently we would read Yeshua’s words if we thought of them from the perspective of Moses’ Paleo-Hebrew.

Topical Index: paqad, qanna’, visiting, jealous, Exodus 20:5

 

[1] Coppes, L. J. (1999). 2038 קָנָא. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer, Jr. & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer, Jr. & B. K. Waltke, Ed.) (electronic ed.) (802). Chicago: Moody Press.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

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Kevin Rogers

Hi Skip,
I’m afraid I may have missed the point. I guess it is the “iniquities of fathers on the children …. ” that has me flummoxed me, and how this ties into what you have said?

Kevin Rogers

Gotcha. That makes a massive difference.
Thank you 🙂

Pam

And so as God’s representative image bearers who are called by His name we are compelled to do as He does. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm

Jas 1:27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

carl roberts

One LORD – One Way

God is both intricately and intimately involved in the everyday details of every creature that draws breath. Yeshua stands at the door- (amazingly, -waiting for us to invite Him, to “enter in”) and is the Door- or our “access”- to the Father.

And again, His words- not mine- …~ All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. ~ I Am the door/sheepgate; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I AM come that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

And for those who will still listen to His words:

(He) answered, ~ I AM the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one (no, not one) comes to the Father except through Me ~

Thomas Elsinger

For too long people have wrongly perceived the God of the Old Testament as being harsh, demanding, and vindictive. He is contrasted with Jesus, the forgiving and benevolent Son. This message today shows why such thinking is wrong. We have completely misinterpreted what “visiting” means. Thank you, Skip, for poking holes in yet another misconception.

Jordan D.

Two questions for Skip:

1. How would you re-translate this verse to more accurately represent the reinterpretation of pqd?

2. I have read your analysis of the idea of “looking back” and how in Hebrew it is viewed more like turning your head while rowing a boat to see where you are going, as opposed to walking forward and turning to see where you have already been. I think that this makes much more sense, however, in light of this new perspective, how do I interpret the events involving Lot’s wife becoming a pillar of salt? The traditional teaching is that as they fled she turned to look back longingly at the fleshly life she was leaving and she was punished. What did she really turn from and look to? Thanks.

cbcb

I am trying to understand this ,can you explain more or is there more TW that refer to this ? ….how does lots wife looking back try to control her future ,I was taught when i or lots wife looked back it robbed her future by staying stuck with all that was behind ..

Jordan D.

Sorry – by “this verse” I meant Exodus 20:5.

Michael

nice 🙂

Suzanne

I relate this passage to Ex 34:6-7 where paqad is also used in the same context.

I wonder if the idea of oversight here is one of YHVH watching out for the sons, of limiting a human inclination to inflict more than God says is necessary for correction. That seems to me to be more consistent with the tenor of the rest of this thought in Ex 34: 6-7 that describes the chesed of God, i.e., merciful and gracious, slow to anger, great in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, not leaving entirely unpunished but overseeing the punishment of iniquity (discipline) of the fathers upon sons, and sons of sons to the third and fourth generation.

This suggests to me that God puts limits on the punishment that might be inflicted on subsequent generations by parents, but that He is not forbidding disciplinary action that might be needed to turn the sons from unrighteousness. If God is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, etc., — is it not reasonable to find that He would expect the same restraint of fathers toward their sons as they are guided on the path of righteousness? A measured amount of punishment is effective to goad the child to correct behavior, but when unrestrained there might well be an inclination to “beat it out” of the child, which would in present day be termed child abuse.

Pam

Excellent point Suzanne. It fits nicely with the future of the children of the rebellious generation who would not walk in His ways. The fathers all died in the wilderness, but YHVH carefully oversaw their children and disciplining them in Torah obedience while waiting for that generation to pass away. He then fulfilled His promise to Abraham by bringing those same children (who were eye witnesses to the destruction of Egypt and the Exodus and the wilderness wandering) into the land that He had promised to their fathers.

Laurita Hayes

Ester, I like what you had to say. It is a comfort. My fathers to the third and fourth generation sinned a lot, and the sins of my parents resulted in dire conditions and disastrous mindsets for their children. These curses, for what else can they be called, afflicted us mightily, but the one thing that they did do was make clear to us children what the sins of the parents were, and left us with such a bad taste in the mouth for them, we have done everything we could get our hands on to not repeat them.

It is a sad fact of human behavior, I think I have seen, anyway, that people tend to hate the damage to others that came through them, or that they are responsible for. It is that hatred, though, that drives them to abuse the victims. You hate those you have hurt. And we wonder why parents abuse their own. Is it not that they can trace the evidence of their unloving ways in their children, and merely wish to eradicate the evidence instead of confess the crime?

I think that it is to this extent that you will find rebellion in the children towards the ‘correction’ coming from parents that would have better turned to their Father in heaven to correct the beam in their own eye before trying to remove the mote they see in their children. I think children have an extreme sensitivity for hypocrisy because they are so often made the victims of it. My unfailing rule when it comes to the children is that it is NEVER their fault (and I am not talking about teaching and correcting normal childish behavior). So many times I think the child would be far better served, as a form of modeling, to witness the contrition and repentance of their parents toward God for the serious faults and failings, and yes, even the diseases and mental torments, that show up in the child. If only parents would take responsibility before their Father for all that they can see in their children!