The Hebrew Exclamation Point

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!” Psalm 133:1

Behold – Stand up. Raise your hands to heaven and shout, “Yes, God!” Now you get the idea. David puts this Hebrew word, hinneh, right at the beginning of his thought because he wants to emphasize and intensify what follows. This is the Hebrew equivalent of an exclamation point. It’s not just another word. It is like writing an emotion right across the whole sentence.
We could look at many verses that employ this emotional intensity (for example, Genesis 12:19, Exodus 3:4, Isaiah 52:6 or Amos 7:1). There are hundreds of occurrences. Now you will know that every time you see this word, the author is writing in bold. Don’t miss it! This is amazing, wonderful, surprising, incredible.

What does it mean for me, this funny little word? First, it helps me see what the author was thinking. It helps me get into his emotional space so that I can engage in the world he wants to portray.

Secondly, it shows me where the Biblical writers want me to really pay attention. When they use hinneh, I get a little clue about what matters to God. You can think of it as God’s red letter edition in Hebrew.

But most importantly, hinneh is there to wake me up. It’s the sound of the trumpet, calling me to see something deep, something important, something that God put a point behind. The text is no longer a long, almost boring history of people from the distant past. Hinneh is one of the ways that the Word comes to life. Whenever I see it, I need to stand up, raise my hands to heaven and shout, “YES, GOD!”
That will change the way you read this book, I guarantee it!