Zayin

“By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, until you return to the ground, because from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”  Genesis 3:19  NASB

Blood, sweat, and tears – In Rabbi Michael L. Munk’s book, The Wisdom in the Hebrew Alphabet, zayin, the seventh letter of the Hebrew alphabet, is described under the categories spirit, sustenance, and struggle.  His book is an exercise in mining the deeper meanings of each of the Hebrew letters, with commentary from the rabbis and the mystics.  When he discussed the letter zayin found in the nineteenth verse of the third chapter of Genesis, he writes:

. . . when Adam was driven from Gan Eden after he had sinned, the sentence imposed upon him was: בְּזֵעַ֤ת אַפֶּ֨יךָ֙ תֹּ֣אכַל לֶ֔חֶם, By the sweat of your brow [after laboring – Rashi] shall you get bread to eat (Genesis 3:19).  No longer could man expect God’s blessing without expending his own efforts—sometimes even risking his life.  Part of his existence depends on every little piece of bread, and he must sweat and struggle to wrest it from nature.

            Man’s life style changed radically after he left Gan Eden, but God’s attribute as the Sustainer of all will never change.  He continues to command the earth—which man now must work—to produce its fruit.  But even in imposing the punishment that man would be forced to expend the sweat of his brow, God softened the affliction with blessing, because man derives great satisfaction from his productive work.[1]

Here is the sentence in Hebrew (with the zayin highlighted).

בְּזֵעַ֤ת אַפֶּ֨יךָ֙ תֹּ֣אכַל לֶ֔חֶם עַ֤ד שֽׁוּבְךָ֙ אֶל־הָ֣אֲדָמָ֔ה כִּ֥י מִמֶּ֖נָּה לֻקָּ֑חְתָּ כִּֽי־עָפָ֣ר אַ֔תָּה וְאֶל־עָפָ֖ר תָּשֽׁוּב

As the first word in the sentence, it occupies the place of emphasis.  The word, zēʿâ, is a hapax legomenon.  The only other occurrence of a second derivative from the assumed root is in Ezekiel 44:18 (yezaʿ).  This means we have to guess at the meaning from the context (which seems to be no problem in this case).  Here zayin is connected to suffering, the inevitable affliction needed to sustain life.  Munk makes another interesting connection.  The name of the letter, zayin, is also the word for weapon.  “But it is no coincidence that the letter zayin is the symbolic representative of both sustenance and armament.  The two concepts are related to each other.”[2]  Sustenance necessitates suffering and arms for protection.  The world now resists on more than the natural level.  Community has also been shattered.

I have little doubt that Job knew the full nature of zayin.  He once relied on God as Sustainer.  Now he experiences the trauma of apparent abandonment (he has been exiled from the Garden).  And his community opposes him.  He needs the last element of zayin, a weapon.  In his case, it may be a weapon of words, but it is just as necessary as one of metal.  The next time you think about Job, remember zayin: sustenance, struggle, weapon.

Oh, yes, there’s one other facet still to explore: spirit.  We will see.

Topical Index:  zayin, zēʿâ, struggle, weapon, Genesis 3:19

[1] Rabbi Michael L. Munk, The Wisdom in the Hebrew Alphabet: The Sacred Letters as a Guide to Jewish Deed and Thought (Mesorah Publications, Ltd., 1983), pp. 106-107.

[2] Ibid., p. 107.