The Wrong Word?
“I love You, O Lord, my strength.” Psalm 18:1 (English version) NASB
Love – You would never notice in English, but in Hebrew, this certainly appears to be the wrong word. We would expect ‘ahav, used in Deuteronomy 6:5 and throughout the Tanakh in both commands and descriptions. In fact, ‘ahav is used in all the verbal forms for all kinds of “love,” including the love between human beings, the love of concrete and abstract things (loving good food and loving Israel), the love of salvation, and even the love of evil. With this wide range, we anticipate that David will use ‘ahav in his expression of love for YHVH. But he doesn’t!
The word David chooses is raham. This is very odd indeed. In fact, this is the only verse in the Tanakh where this verb is used in the Qal. That means the action is taken by the subject (in this case “I”, that is, David himself) and it is a simple expression directly executed by the subject. It is neither reflexive nor causal. This is remarkable. David initiates a simple declaration of his intense feelings toward YHVH. His feelings are not caused by anything or anyone else. They are simply what he experiences at this moment. As for the verb itself, it “refers to deep love (usually of a ‘superior’ for an ‘inferior’) rooted in some ‘natural’ bond.”[1] That makes sense when the verb expresses the love of a parent for a child or a woman for her unborn fetus. But does it make sense when David expresses his love for YHVH? Who is the “superior” in that relationship? David? Hardly! Nothing about the choice of this verb seems to be correct, but there it is, conveniently disguised by the English translation.
What does David mean by choosing such an unusual verb? Perhaps we can gain some appreciation for David’s choice if we elucidate the components of this verb. First, it suggests some kind of natural bond. For David this means that YHVH belongs to him. David is not expressing a connection to “God.” That would be far too nominal. David’s expression is intensely personal. David is speaking about a god who is His God, not just some cosmic deity above the stars. The verb makes the strongest possible personal connection (note the verbal use for the connection between a mother and the fetus). This is much more than the love of ice cream or a good book or even Torah. This is a love that envelopes all of the subject, a sense of belonging together that makes separation impossible.
Secondly, this verb expresses unconditional bonding. A pregnant woman cannot divorce herself from her unborn child. Abortion is no exception. It is only denial. For David, this verb expresses the deepest possible emotional tie. He cannot imagine himself apart from YHVH, just as a pregnant woman experiences life within no matter what she tells herself to justify some other outcome. David experiences YHVH within. He knows what it is to carry His God inside him. Furthermore, the verb is closely associated with mercy and forgiveness. And since David expresses this song after deliverance from Saul, he has every reason to use raham rather than ‘avah. David has been born anew from the God that belongs to him.
What a travesty that English translations are hamstrung with the single word “love.” All the intimacy, bonding, deliverance, rebirth and emotion of David’s choice disappears in this unfortunate translation. But now you know, and now you can ask yourself, “Is my relationship characterized by raham or ‘ahav?” There is a world of difference, isn’t there?
Topical Index: Psalm 18:1, raham, ‘ahav, love
[1] Coppes, L. J. (1999). 2146 רָחַם. 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.) (841). Chicago: Moody Press.
In other words, the Ruach of YHWH inside David is experienced by him as his unborn child.
What a profound loss an abortion must then be for a woman (and the father)?
“David experiences YHVH within. He knows what it is to carry his God inside him.”
Col 1:27,28 “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: Whom we preach warning every man , and preaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.”
What does it mean to have God in us? Does it mean that we have become God? Does it mean that God has overcome and replaced us? Does it mean that we enjoy Him as an artifact; a PROOF of some sort on a shelf?
Hmm, let’s look at lovers. Here goes: what does it mean when a lover says of the beloved that they are lost without their beloved? Why do they look deep into their beloved’s eyes? Is it not to find themselves again? When lovers say “we will never be apart” What are they talking about? What does it mean in the marriage vows when two people pledge to become one? Is this like replacement humanology, where I become you and you become me, or is it about becoming fully who I am only in the context of you? Is a lover an acquisition, where I am defined by what I own, or is it where I am now defined by someone else; my very identity wrapped up in who they are; where I say “My beloved is mine, and I am his” (Song of Songs 2:16)? Isn’t it where the motivation for my will now comes from someone else – where I am now motivated by what would make them happy, instead of what would make me happy? A lover seeks to become lost in the beloved; where they now seek outside of themselves for themselves. The greatest fear of a lover is to be trapped within themselves, and their greatest desire is to be lost within another. Lovers know the truth.
What is love? It is where my identity is fully realized in another, and also where I get to be me when they get to be themselves in my realization and experience of them. God could have chosen to retain His full Self; Lover and Beloved, and the Love in between, but when He made us in His image, something changed. When you want someone to share love with you, like He has, what He says now is that His glory; His identity, is to be found in another. That would now include us. We have somehow been added to the tribe; the family; the royal line. We have been adopted as sons. Does this make us God? Does a co-heir with Christ mean that we are now divine? (Um, that would be that replacement humanology stuff, where someone in their identity gets REPLACED with another.) Or does it mean that now I am fully who I am in my identity only when I belong fully to Him, and, vice versa, where somehow He needs me to complete Who He is, for somehow He made me to complete Him? Some part of Who He is was intended to be manifested only in me. If I am not in the Kingdom, something essential to the identities of everyone else is missing. Somehow, in this tribe – this Kingdom – I need you for me to be who I am, but also somehow God needs me to reflect Himself to everyone and everything else. This is indeed a “mystery among the Gentiles”. It is sure a mystery to me! But then, nothing about love can be truly grasped in the head, for love does not reside there, now does it?
Amen 🙂
The Kotzker Rebbe (1787–1859) said it this way:
“If I am I because I am I, and you are you because you are you, then I am I and you are you. But if I am I because you are you and you are you because I am I, then I am not I and you are not you!”
Number One
~ *You* shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might ~ (Deuteronomy 6.5)
May I? Who is *you? Are *you talking to *me? Am *I to love the LORD *my God with ALL *my heart-soul-strength? Was this very first command for *them (then) or is it for *us (now)?
May I? May I *personalize the Scriptures? Who are these ten commandments (they are not suggestions btw) for? *Them or *us?
Friend, *anything I love more than God is an idol – whatever that *thing may be! He is to have and to hold not a prominent place, but the preeminent place in my heart. God is to be *Number One at all times and in all places, *I am to love the LORD *my God..
I am a man. (hello). What is, according to the Scriptures, —the whole duty of man? It is to “fear God and to keep His commandments” – What does Solomon (the second wisest man who ever lived) have to say?
~ Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind.~ (Ecclesiastes 12.13)
Solomon, – may I inquire? To keep the commandments of the One I love and to do His will, would this be – duty, drudgery or delight?
According to Him, who of God is made unto unto wisdom and righteousness, and sanctification and redemption, —*I delight to Your will, O *my God.. and it pleases *me to please Him.
These are the words of our Savior to His disciples – Are we also His disciples?
~ In that day *you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in *you. “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose (reveal) Myself to him.” ~ (John 14.20,21)
Is Christ, the hope of glory in *you? (Colossians 1.27)
Yes!
Wonderful
Beautiful
Glorious
Matchless in every way.
Undone!
Here in Your Presence
I wonder if the difference between raham and ahav is possibly the result of struggle and dependence on YHVH for survival. When people go through difficult times, sometimes an incredible bond of love can be formed. There is a level of intimacy, emotion, and trust that forms between people in times like this. Sometimes it may be mutual, but I think it can be one-sided as well. I hope my love for YHVH is comparable to that of David’s. You are right, sometimes the English language has its limits. It’s a shame we miss so much in the Hebrew because we just don’t know it. Even if we look, we may still miss out if the concordance or lexicon is abridged.
“David has been born anew from the God that belongs to him.”
That is the most wonderful expression of love! We are born anew from experiencing His love for us first, His grace, His mercies and His chesed/loving kindness, has so touched our lives.
We, like David, so desire to have that tender affection/ racham Him from the innermost depths of our being, IF we consider Him the center of our lives, IF we are thankful for all He has saved us from- yetzer hara, untruthfulness, deceptive, crafty, unrighteousness, not bearing true testimony, and still completing the work He has started to make us whole, to be human again. HalleluYah!
My Beloved is mine, and I am His! Thank You, ABBA for Your love to me/us. Open our eyes to see, to understand Your ways, Your truths, and the wonder of Your Word; Your richest blessings upon Skip, and his household, and upon the community in this blog. Amein!