Poetic License
They go from strength to strength, Every one of them appears before God in Zion. Psalm 84:7 NASB
Every one of them – I hope that this phrase, “every one of them,” is in italics in your Bible. Why? Because it does not appear in the Hebrew text. The text simply reads, “They go from strength to strength ye-ra’e ‘elohim.” The Hebrew verb is ra’a, to see. Here it is in the niphal form, which means it is simple action passive. That means the subjects (“they”) are not the actors. They are the recipients of the action. But this complicates the idea. “They go from strength to strength” is a simple active verb. The action is performed by the ones going. But then David suggests that these same actors are acted upon in appearing before God. What does this mean? If we read the phrase by itself, it would mean something like, “God seeing them before Zion.” Because it is a passive verb, “they” are acted upon. God is the subject. He does the acting. But the prepositions suggest God is the subject of the connective “before.” This makes the translation complicated, so the NASB adds “every one of them” in order to clear up the confusion. I’m not sure it helps.
We need to back up and look at the context. Who is “they”? Actually, the question should be “What does ‘they’ refer to?” And the answer is “highways,” not people. From verse five we learn that it is the highways that go from strength to strength. Perhaps David’s idea is more like this, “The highways [pathways of God’s instruction] go from power [strength, virtue, force, might] to strength, seen by God before Zion.” In other words, every instruction of Torah, the way of righteousness, is regarded, understood and revealed before God. He is the actor because He creates the highways. They all reflect Him and His purposes. They reveal their Creator and in this sense, they appear.
David’s poetry can be complicated. But all poetry pushes linguistic limits. That’s why it’s poetry. It bends language to cause us to think differently about ordinary experiences. We know Torah is God’s way of living, but perhaps we didn’t think of Torah as highways revealing the character of the Creator. Now we do.
Are you a traveler on God’s highway? If you are, you will notice that each signpost reveals something about Him and blesses you in the process. You will notice that every step along the path brings strength to persevere and that you discover yourself in the journey. You will discover that there are many detours, many intersections, but the highway is the only road to Zion. And as you walk it, you realize that this highway is looked after by God Himself.
Enjoy the journey.
Topical Index: every one of them, appearing, ye-ra’e ‘elohim, Psalm 84:7
Shalom Skip, I thank and praise Yeshua for causing you to receive the insight to break down the text in this way. It inspires me to take the time to learn and understand in a similar way, depth and degree.
Adrian
Awesome text today.
YES–life is a journey and the signposts matter! Over and over we see demonstrated thru God’s word that our individual choices matter a lot.
I absolutely love the imagery today.
Hope your day is a blessed one.
That revelation of emet in the Hebrew really spoke to me today. It is beautiful. I praise YHVH and thank thank Him for the emunah he has given you Skip in helping us with understanding His Word. May YHVH continue to bless you and heal you.
Great read! Thanks Skip. These days anything that reminds me it’s about the journey is a helpful.
“They go from strength to strength and appear before God in Tziyon”
Psalm 84:7 CJB (David H Stern)
It does seem to make more sense to me from reading the passage in the Complete Jewish Bible that this would be referring to the highways in the man’s heart leading to Jerusalem.
The preceding verse 5 “Happy is the man whose strength is in you, in whose heart are [pilgrim] highways.” I cannot vouch for the actual Hebrew grammar here but to me it is obvious that man is singular and highways plural and that highways is the subject intended.
Verse 6 is also referring to the highways: “Passing through the [dry] Baka Valley they make it a place of springs and the early rain clothes it with blessings.
Verse 7 still referring to the Highways “They go from strength to strength and appear before God in Tzyion”.
This is a progressive journey for each one of us. May YHWH strengthen and clear the highways of our hearts that we may reach the ultimate destination of His glory.