Idioms of Nothingness

In labor there is profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty. Proverbs 14:23

Mere Talk – In Hebrew, nothing is real.  Okay, that’s a bit confusing.  What I mean is that the concept of “nothing” also has a certain reality.  Nothing isn’t no-thing.  It’s not the kind of empty, non-existent thing that we associate with “nothing.”  In Hebrew, “nothing” is real.

In Greek Platonic thought, “nothing” does not exist.  It isn’t a real thing.  It is a non-thing.  Nothing is non-being.  This concept of nothing is very much like the mathematical idea of zero.  Zero isn’t something.  It’s a “place-holder.”  The Babylonians first invented zero as a place-holder in the 3^rd Century BC.  It eventually found its way into our number system in the 12^th Century AD.  Our view of the world is based in this division between something and nothing, between being and non-being, between real and not-real.  In this view of the world, nothing is tied to non-being which is tied to not-real.

But the Hebrew view is different.  The fundamental building block of reality for Hebrew is not the “thing,” but the “word.”  Dabar “comprises all Hebraic realities:  word, deed and concrete object.  Non-being, nothing (no-thing), is signified correspondingly by ‘not-word’, lo-dahbar.”[1] With this shift in fundamentals, the Hebrew idea of nothing takes on a practical application.  The ‘not-word’ (lo-dahbar) is the equivalent of a lie.  It is not the truth of something spoken, a deed or an object.  It is real because it exists as a lie, but it is not real because it does not represent true reality.  The difference between Greek and Hebrew thought on this subject is immense.  Greek thought is concerned with non-being.  Hebrew thought is concerned with not-true.

Look at this verse in Proverbs.  The words translated “mere talk” are really davar-s’fatayim, literally “words of the lips.”  Notice that these are real words, but they have no truth in them.  They are profitless because they do not produce a deed, an object or a declaration that aligns with God’s reality.  They are lies.  They may not be lies because they are deliberately deceptive but they are lies nonetheless because they are not a reflection of God’s order of the world.  In this sense, from a Hebrew perspective, they are nothing.

Notice that the principle concern of the idea of nothing in Hebrew is a concern with the application of God’s truth to the world.  When something is “nothing,” it is nothing because it is not true to God’s character, not because it has no real existence.  Ancient Hebrews clearly knew when their hands were empty, when they had zero to grasp.  But they distinguished this concept of zero existence from the concept of nothing.  For the Hebrew, nothing is misalignment, not zero.  “Nothing” has a moral character.

Now apply this to our world.  How much of the activities of life in our Greek-based culture are really “nothing” from a biblical perspective?  How much of what we do is out of alignment?  How much of what we say is not true to God’s character?  How many of the things we prize, possess or pursue are “nothing” because they are not reflections of His order?

The Greek metaphysics convinces us that our concern must be focused on being or not being.  “To be or not to be, that is the question.”  But that isn’t the question.  The question is all about “nothing.”  The question is whether or not my life is dabar or lo-dabar, whether it is an expression of something or of nothing.  In the end, all lo-dabar will certainly come to nothing.

Topical Index:  nothing, lo-dabar, Boman, Proverbs 14:23, mere words

NOTE:  For the community

One of our community, John Thorman, has asked for the special need for his wife, Tara.  Please click this link to read about John’s heartfelt request.