On to Gimel

Deal generously with Your servant, that I may live and keep Your word.  Psalm 119:17  NASB

Deal generously – Here’s the next section in Hebrew.  Notice that each line begins with Gimel.

גְּמֹ֖ל עַל־עַבְדְּךָ֥ אֶֽחְיֶ֗ה וְאֶשְׁמְרָ֥ה דְבָרֶֽךָ

גַּל־עֵינַ֥י וְאַבִּ֑יטָה נִ֜פְלָא֗וֹת מִתּֽוֹרָתֶֽךָ

גֵּ֣ר אָנֹכִ֣י בָאָ֑רֶץ אַל־תַּסְתֵּ֥ר מִ֜מֶּ֗נִּי מִצְו‍ֹתֶֽיךָ

גָּֽרְסָ֣ה נַפְשִׁ֣י לְתַֽאֲבָ֑ה אֶל־מִשְׁפָּטֶ֥יךָ בְכָל־עֵֽת

גָּעַרְתָּ זֵדִ֣ים אֲרוּרִ֑ים הַ֜שֹּׁגִ֗ים מִמִּצְו‍ֹתֶֽיךָ

גַּ֣ל מֵֽ֖עָלַי חֶרְפָּ֣ה וָב֑וּז כִּ֖י עֵֽדֹתֶ֣יךָ נָצָֽרְתִּי

גַּ֚ם יָֽשְׁב֣וּ שָׂ֖רִים בִּ֣י נִדְבָּ֑רוּ עַ֜בְדְּךָ֗ יָשִׂ֥יחַ בְּחֻקֶּֽיךָ

גַּם־עֵֽ֖דֹתֶיךָ שַֽׁעֲשֻׁעַ֗י אַנְשֵׁ֥י עֲצָתִֽי

We’ve reached the third letter.  Perhaps we should reflect a bit on the esoteric aspects of this consonant before we look at the first verse beginning with Gimel.  First, some remarks from kabbalistic teaching:

Gimel Hebrew Meaning – 3rd Letter of the Hebrew Alphabet

After Beith establishes the existence of two opposites, Ghimel is the 3rd principle which arises to resolve and harmonize these opposites. Ghimel links and balances between the Aleph and Beith. It is a dynamic balance between opposing powers, so Ghimel is a letter of constant transformation, change and motion, and translates literally as camel, an animal we associate with motion and travel between faraway places. Ghimel includes the opposites of both giving and receiving, and reward and punishment, creating balance and motion between these opposites.

Ghimel resolves the giver and receiver (Aleph and Beith), so it represents giving and receiving. It represents kindness and cultivation, the organic nurturance that causes things to grow (Hebrew Gamol גמול means nourish until ripe, גמילה – wean child, ripen fruit ). גמול also means giving and the leg of the Ghimel is said to represent the rich man running to give charity to the poor (represented by the 4th letter דלת). It signifies the Creator’s eternal benevolence to all creation, manifested with abundant life and prosperity.

The Ghimel also represents reward and punishment. The word גמול represents the giving of both reward and punishment. The laws of the created world are based on the rule of judgment – blessings are able to flow to those who do good, while wrongdoing blocks the receipt of goodness and abundance. Thus both kindness and justice are maintained in balance.[1]

You can also read this discussion, “The mysteries of Gimmel,” by CLICKING HERE.

Now we have some appreciation for the resolution of opposition found in Gimel.  Do we find any of this idea in the meaning of this opening verse?  Consider the opening verb, gāmal (“deal generously, treat bountifully”).  What’s the assumption behind this petition?  Would I need to ask to be treated graciously if there were no possibility of being treated harshly?  Would I need to plea for bounty if it were impossible to be poor?  The implied opposite is that God will judge me unfit and bring punishment rather than blessing.  In fact, kabbalistic thought actually includes these opposites: reward and punishment.  But notice that the expected religious logic is reversed.  We expect to read, “I live and keep Your word, therefore, deal graciously with me,” but instead we read “Deal graciously with me so that I will live and keep Your word.”  Obedience follows God’s grace, not grace following from obedience.  Perhaps our notion of spiritual cause and effect is actually backwards.  Perhaps the reason we obey is because God is first gracious.  We don’t earn the blessed reward.  We have only responded to His goodness when He does not treat us as we might deserve.  Doesn’t John imply the same reversed logic when he writes, “We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19)?  Perhaps John’s summation is just a restatement of this Jewish poet’s plea.  Grace comes before obedience.  Do you suppose that we are expected to show the same pattern in our interactions with others?  Or did you think that forgiveness requires first a proof of worthiness?  How many of us would survive that logic before God, and yet we often apply the requirement of proof before forgiveness when we are wronged by another?

Since the verb (gāmal) may mean either “to reward” or “to recompense in the bad sense,” we have to decide how to apply it.  The text provides context making it easier to understand, but the real application is in our lives.  What logic governs your actions?  Proof first, then forgiveness or grace with the hope of proof?

Oh, yes . . . and once more we see that the poet asks for grace in order that he may live and keep God’s word.  There’s not a shred of earned reward here.  It’s all benevolence and response.

Topical Index: gāmal, deal bountifully, recompense, reward, Psalm 119:17

[1] https://www.walkingkabbalah.com/hebrew-alphabet-letter-meanings/