Unfamiliar

Listen, my people, to my instruction; incline your ears to the words of my mouth.  Psalm 78:1  NASB

Instruction – If you had to guess what Hebrew word is translated “instruction” you might be inclined to choose תּוֹרָה(tôrâ).  Not knowledge, not understanding, but teaching.  That’s correct.  It’s tôrâ.  But what you might not know is that torah comes from the verb yārâ which means (in the normal tense) “to throw, to cast, to shoot” and only in the Hiphil tense (causative) “to teach.”  We don’t often think about the real verbal connection because we are so familiar with the noun derivative.  Consider this:

The basic idea of the root yārâ is “to throw” or “to cast” with the strong sense of control by the subject. Lots were cast in regards to dividing the land among the various tribes (Josh 18:6). God cast the Egyptian army into the Red Sea (Ex 15:4; cf. Job 30:19). With stones it has the idea of placing them in a certain place; God laid the cornerstone of the world (Job 38:6) and Laban set up a heap of stones and a pillar as a witness between Jacob and himself to their covenant of peace (Gen 31:51f.). The three most frequent uses of this root deal with shooting arrows, sending rain and teaching.^[1]

Our familiarity with the last of these three uses (law, teaching) probably means we don’t recognize the implication of the verbal root.  Torah is something sent by deliberate action.  Arrows are sent by the archer.  Rain is sent by God.  And instruction is sent by the teacher, whether human or divine.  But because the active party is on the originating side of this process, the receiving party (the target, the earth, or us) must choose what to do with the arriving package.  In a sense, the archer can send the arrow but the target must receive and accept it.  God can send the rain but the earth must receive and accept it.  And instruction can be sent by the teacher but the student must receive and accept it.  This relationship is not the same as the Greek idea of instruction.  In Greek thought it is the responsibility of the teacher to ensure the student gets the message.  In our modern view of education, we adopt this Greek idea.  But in Hebrew thought, it is the responsibility of the student to receive and accept the message.  The teacher delivers.  The student needs to respond.  Teaching doesn’t occur until the response happens.

The word tôrâ means basically “teaching” whether it is the wise man instructing his son or God instructing Israel. The wise give insight into all aspects of life so that the young may know how to conduct themselves and to live a long blessed life (Prov 3:1f.). So too God, motivated by love, reveals to man basic insight into how to live with each other and how to approach God. Through the law God shows his interest in all aspects of man’s life which is to be lived under his direction and care.^[2]

When Asaph says “Listen” (ʾāzan, a parallel to šāmaʿ), he places the responsibility on the reader.  He will send the message.  We must do something with it.  The maskîl (insight) will be lost if we don’t respond.  Asaph will have fulfilled his obligation to send the teaching, but we will have failed to receive.  In Hebrew, communication is always interactive and relational.

Now we’ll see what Asaph has to deliver to us, but unless we act upon it, it will just be arrows fallen to the ground or rain that doesn’t nourish.

Topical Index: yārâ, throw, cast, send, instruction, tôrâ, torah, Psalm 78:1

^[1] Hartley, J. E. (1999). 910 יָרָה. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 403). Chicago: Moody Press.

^[2] Ibid.