Words · Hebrew Words · Lesson 4, word 5 of 5
דָּבָרdabar
A word, a matter, a thing, speech that does things.
Why this word is here. 'The word of the LORD came...' opens prophecy throughout the Old Testament, and Psalm 119:105 is this word; Greek logos translates it in the Septuagint.
What it means
The lexicon range: speech, word, speaking, thing. A saying or utterance; words; and by extension a business, matter, case, or thing. Dabar is a word with content and effect: a promise, a command, a report, an event spoken of.
God's dabar creates (Genesis 1), comes to prophets, accomplishes its purpose (Isaiah 55:11), and can be tested by whether the thing spoken happens (Deuteronomy 18).
Where you meet it
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
Genesis 1:3 (BSB)
'And God said (dabar's verb form), "Let there be light."' The Bible's God speaks, and reality answers.
He humbled you, and in your hunger He gave you manna to eat, which neither you nor your fathers had known, so that you might understand that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.
Deuteronomy 8:3 (BSB)
'Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word (dabar) that comes from the mouth of the LORD.' Jesus quotes this in the wilderness.
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
Psalm 119:105 (KJV)
'Your word (dabar) is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.' Contend Academy's own tagline verse.
so My word that proceeds from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please, and it will prosper where I send it.
Isaiah 55:11 (BSB)
Anchor verse 'My word (dabar)... will not return to Me empty, but will accomplish what I please.' God's speech is presented as effective, not decorative.
Why it matters
Dabar is the Hebrew root of the Bible's confidence about Scripture: God's word is not information that might work but speech that acts, judges, heals and creates. John's 'In the beginning was the Word (logos)' gathers this whole history into a person.
Watch out
Avoid turning dabar into a magic formula: 'since dabar means word-and-thing, speaking words creates reality for believers too.' The lexicon's 'thing, matter, case' range is ordinary usage (a dabar can be a legal case or a piece of business), and the creative power in the texts belongs to God's word, not to the syllables. The name-it-and-claim-it sermon reads the word backwards.
In this lesson
- goel (from ga'al) (גֹּאֵל): The kinsman-redeemer who buys back and defends his own.
- mashiach (מָשִׁיחַ): An anointed one, king, priest, or the promised Messiah.
- nefesh (נֶפֶשׁ): A living being, the self, one's whole life.
- lev / levav (לֵב): The inner person: mind, will and conscience, not only feelings.
Sources
- Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon (BDB, 1906)
- Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible / STEP Hebrew data
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