Relation or Possession

You shall have no other gods before me. Exodus 20:3 NASB

Shall have – In May of 2014 we looked at the important difference between Greek thought and Hebrew thought in this verse. Usually translated “you shall not have,” the Hebrew verb plus negative, lo-yihye’, reveals an important characteristic of Hebrew thought. The translation, “shall have,” actually comes from a verb that means “to occur, to happen, to be, to become, to come to pass.” The translation reflects Western philosophic ideas of possession. But Hebrew’s dynamic language uses the verb haya in a different sense. As TWOT notes, haya is almost never used to denote simple existence or identification. As a copula (like “is”) it is strikingly absent. This is why words like “is” are often added to the translated text. In this case, it seems unlikely that haya has an original sense of possession. With the pictograph we notice that the connection is to deeds and work, not to ownership. By extension, we could say that “have” means “to make with your own hands, to reveal something of your own work.” The symbol of the hand (Yod) employed twice could suggest that this is entirely a human effort. Perhaps the better translation given the original audience and the prevailing culture would be, “You shall not make any gods.” Aaron’s action with the golden calf certainly fits this.

Nahum Sarna comments, “Hebrew does not feature a verb ‘to have’ but expresses possession by h-y-h le-, literally ‘to be to.’ Since the idea of possession necessarily involves relationship, the same term is used for entering into the marriage bed and for establishing the covenant between God and Israel.”[1]

Abraham Heschel makes a remark that reveals implications of this Hebrew construction.

“Faith is not something that we acquire once and for all. Faith is an insight that must be acquired at every single moment.”[2] In other words, unlike our Greek Western cultural ideas, faith is not something I can ever possess. Rather, it is the dynamic of being in a relationship, a relationship that exists only insofar as it is actively occurred. What this means is that I do not own salvation. It is not something I acquire. It is not a certificate that I carry until needed. It is not a ticket or a gate pass. When I say, “I’m saved,” I do not mean that I have achieved a permanent status called “saved” that is now part of my assets. What I mean is that right now I am participating in a dynamic interaction with YHVH, that the personal connection between us is active, communal, reciprocal and deliberate. Faith is a verb. As soon as I stop acting on the basis of the relationship, I start removing myself from “being saved.” Of course, the relationship is two-sided. YHVH is also party to this interaction. He does not withdraw even if I step away. That is the lesson of the prophets. But never presume that your salvation is a noun, a thing that you can possess without the requisite dynamic. Faith must be continually renewed, continually engaged, continually shared if it is to be Hebraic.

Topical Index: Heschel, Sarna, haya, to have, salvation, Exodus 20:3

[1] Nahum Sarna, The JPS Torah Commentary: Exodus, p. 109.

[2] Abraham Heschel, Man’s Quest for God, p. 89.