Israel

Geshem – Drinking rain from Heaven

Lois Tverberg

by Lois Tverberg

The land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven. It is a land the LORD your God cares for; the eyes of the LORD your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end. (Deuteronomy 11:11-12)

During our five weeks in Israel in late June and July, not once did it rain. In fact, almost 6 months go by each year without any rain, between May and October. In all of the Middle East, water is precious, like oil is nowadays. In ancient times, countries that had water in abundance became superpowers, and the countries with little barely survived. Egypt received almost no rain at all, but had abundant water from the flooding of the Nile. That was why when regional famine came, people went there to purchase food, like Abraham and later Joseph’s family. The water available from the Nile each year was 30,000 times more plentiful than the yearly rainful to Israel – an enormous difference indeed! It is therefore interesting that God saw the water of Israel as superior to that of Egypt. In Deuteronomy 11:10 – 12 it says,

The land you are entering to take over is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you planted your seed and irrigated it by foot as in a vegetable garden. But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven. It is a land the LORD your God cares for; the eyes of the LORD your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end.

waters of Dan

The difference between Egypt and Canaan was that in Egypt the crops were irrigated by the labor of hand-watering, while in Canaan the land was entirely watered by rain, geshem in Hebrew. In the ancient Middle East, that had profound spiritual implications, because rain was understood to be a gift straight from God, whereas water drawn by hand was a seen to be human self-reliance without regard to God. Egypt and Canaan, therefore, were a contrast of security of human effort compared to dependence on God.

This was a spiritual lesson for the Israelites when they left the land of Egypt for the promised land of Canaan — that when God chose a land for his people, he didn’t choose a place where they could have security because of their own efforts, he chose a land where they would be far more dependent on him and would need his presence watching over them to send them the living water of rain, geshem.

Many of us have seen God do the same thing in our own lives, when we step out to follow him and he takes us from security in our own efforts and brings us to a point of dependence on him, which doesn’t always include prosperity as the world sees it. God often desires dependence for his people rather than abundance, contrary to what “prosperity gospel” teachers may tell us. While we may not have the material wealth as if we lived in “Egypt,” we know that God’s eyes are on us from the beginning of the year to the end.

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Further reading:

See Listening to the Language of the Bible, by Lois Tverberg and Bruce Okkema, En-Gedi Resource Center, 2004. This is a collection of devotional essays that mediate on the meaning of biblical words and phrases in their original setting.

For a friendly, bite-sized Bible study of five flavorful Hebrew words, see 5 Hebrew Words that Every Christian Should Know, by Lois Tverberg, OurRabbiJesus.com, 2014 (ebook).

Metzudah – God is Our Refuge

Bruce Okkema

by Bruce Okkema

In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame. Rescue me and deliver me in your righteousness; turn your ear to me and save me. Be my rock of refuge, to which I can always go; give the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress. – Psalm 71:1-3

Masada stands as a huge outcropping of rock jutting 1,440 feet above the desert floor on the western shore of the Dead Sea. It is located fourteen miles north of the southern end of the sea and eleven miles south of En-gedi. Masada remains today one of the Jewish people’s greatest symbols, and except for Jerusalem, it is the most popular destination of people visiting Israel.

MasadaIts history as a desert fortress goes back far into the past. David moved throughout this region of the southern Judean desert as he was hiding from Saul, and quite likely spent time on this mountain. Although Masada is not mentioned by name in the Bible, we see glimpses of it in several places where God is called a “rock of refuge,” or “my fortress.” Metzudah means “refuge” or “fortress” in Hebrew. (In addition to our text above, see also 1 Sam 22:4-5, 23:14, 24:22, and Psalms 18:2, 31, and 144:2.)

The remains that we we see today are from the time of Herod, who not only increased the fortifications, but built magnificent garden palaces on either end of the mountain. It almost never rains here, yet Herod built an elaborate water system to divert water that originated in the Judean mountains into cisterns at Masada. Servants carried water from there to upper reservoirs servicing the palaces, to an Olympic size swimming pool!

The reason Masada is one of the Jewish people’s greatest symbols is for what occurred there during the Jewish revolt against Rome during 66 – 72AD. A group of Zealots took Masada and it became a place of refuge for other Jews fleeing the Roman terrorism. For three years they were able to fend off the Romans and worship the Living God while enduring the rigors of desert life. Finally, faced with certain capture and torture, the group of 960 chose to take their own lives, rather than become slaves of Rome. “The valor of the Jewish zealots residing on Masada during the Roman siege is celebrated as the supreme example of self-sacrifice for the preservation of the nation of Israel. Today, when the recruits of the Israel Armored Corps take their oath of allegiance, they do so on Masada to remind each generation of the price their forefathers paid for their nation. They cry: “Masada shall not fall again!” (1)

Masada

A view of the snake path from the top of Masada

To climb the arduous snake path in the 120° sun, to imagine looking down helplessly from above on your fellow countrymen enslaved to build a siege ramp against you, to stand at the precipice thinking across history about all the many who have served the Lord at the cost of their lives is to wonder if I will have the courage to stand that test for my Lord one day.

Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. – Psalm 2:10-12

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Further reading:

See Listening to the Language of the Bible, by Lois Tverberg and Bruce Okkema, En-Gedi Resource Center, 2004. This is a collection of devotional essays that mediate on the meaning of biblical words and phrases in their original setting.

For a friendly, bite-sized Bible study of five flavorful Hebrew words, see 5 Hebrew Words that Every Christian Should Know, by Lois Tverberg, OurRabbiJesus.com, 2014 (ebook).

Tzel – The Necessity of Shade

Lois Tverberg

by Lois Tverberg

The LORD is your keeper; The LORD is your shade on your right hand. The sun will not smite you by day, nor the moon by night. – Psalm 121:5-6 NASB

Many times in the Psalms, God is referred to as “shade,” tzel in Hebrew, and the Bible speaks of us under the “shadow of his wings” (Psalm 63:7). This image didn’t speak to me powerfully until I experienced the heat and sun of the land of Israel myself, especially in the mountains near Jerusalem.

Many days reached nearly 100° F, and near the Dead Sea, it was over 120° F. Clouds are extremely rare in the summer, so nothing protects a person from the power of the sun’s rays. When we stood in the sunshine we could quickly feel our skin burning, but under a tree, the breeze made us quite comfortable. We also sensed the sun’s heat as the temperature rose each day from below 60° F at dawn to almost 100° F by afternoon.

Qumran ScriptoriumIt is interesting to see how in Psalm 121, it speaks of the sun “smiting” us, the same word also translated as “to hit, attack, or strike down.” In ancient times, it was thought that just as the sun was the source of heat that “attacks” us by day, the moon is the source of cold that “attacks” us by night. So when God led his people in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, God was sheltering them from the ever-present enemies of cold and heat in the desert .

We can also see why the image of “shade” is often used to mean protection. For instance, in Numbers 14:9, Joshua reassures the people that the Canaanites will not be able to win against them because their protection (shade, tzel, literally) has been removed from them. Without shade, it is impossible to survive in that land, and if their shade has been removed, they are defenseless.

Now that we have a better understanding of the great need for the cool of shade, which was a picture of protection by God, we can better appreciate the following psalm, among many others:

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow (tzel) of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” – Psalm 91:1-2

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Further reading:

See Listening to the Language of the Bible, by Lois Tverberg and Bruce Okkema, En-Gedi Resource Center, 2004. This is a collection of devotional essays that mediate on the meaning of biblical words and phrases in their original setting.

For a friendly, bite-sized Bible study of five flavorful Hebrew words, see 5 Hebrew Words that Every Christian Should Know, by Lois Tverberg, OurRabbiJesus.com, 2014 (ebook).

Tal – The Dew of Unity

Lois Tverberg

by Lois Tverberg

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, coming down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard, coming down upon the edge of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon coming down upon the mountains of Zion; – Psalm 133:1-3

In the dry land of Israel, rain doesn’t fall for six months between May and October. Between that time dew, tal, is just as essential as rain, coming nightly in the summer as the fruit is growing. Without it, the fruit will shrivel and not mature.

Because water was so important to the livelihood of the country, abundant rains were understood to be a sign of prosperity and blessing, like a good paying job with nice benefits would be today. But just like our lives, people could plan that part of the year would be bountiful with rain, and part of the year would be parched and dry. In the same way, we can count on some times of blessing and some times of want in our lives.

With those things in mind, Psalm 133:1-3 has been very meaningful to me. This verse speaks about the dew of Mt. Hermon falling on the mountains of Jerusalem. Mt. Hermon, in the north, receives enormous amounts of dew from the Mediterranean during much of the year — plants are drenched every night. Jerusalem is in the south and receives much less. But in a year that it receives a lot of dew, the fruit grows extremely well — it’s like a super-powered fertilizer has been poured on the land.

I find it fascinating that this image of abundant dew producing a bumper-crop of fruit is used to describe the effect of unity. In our individualistic culture, we tend to emphasize individual acheivement rather than learning to submit ourselves and work along side of others to acheive a greater goal. It seems that the only time we tend to do that is when we are under pressure because of lack of resources, like when the summer is very dry. But it is during this time that fruit is maturing, and when we learn to mutually submit and come together in true unity, that is when God is most able to produce an amazing bumper crop.

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Further reading:

See Listening to the Language of the Bible, by Lois Tverberg and Bruce Okkema, En-Gedi Resource Center, 2004. This is a collection of devotional essays that mediate on the meaning of biblical words and phrases in their original setting.

For a friendly, bite-sized Bible study of five flavorful Hebrew words, see 5 Hebrew Words that Every Christian Should Know, by Lois Tverberg, OurRabbiJesus.com, 2014 (ebook).

Ahf – When Anger Burns

Lois Tverberg

by Lois Tverberg

So Moses took the rod from before the LORD, just as He had commanded him; and Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly before the rock. And he said to them, “Listen now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?” Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts drank. But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” – Numbers 20:9-12 (NAS)

Hebrew has a very interesting word for anger, which is ahf. It is also the word for “nose” or “nostril,” and when someone is very angry, his anger is said to “burn,” harah (ha-RAH). It’s a picture of a person so furious that his face is flushed and his nostrils get hot.

In the Scriptures there is an interesting lesson we can learn about anger. Jewish commentaries discuss why God decided after Moses struck the rock not to allow Moses to enter the Promised Land. They suggest that perhaps the reason was not the simple fact that Moses disobeyed God by hitting the rock instead of speaking to it. Rather, could it be that instead of speaking calmly and honoring God by showing that he would provide water, Moses let his rage at the people so overwhelm him that he forgot to honor God and struck the rock out of fury? The commentators imaginatively suggest that after many long years with this obstinate people, Moses had finally reached his limit, and his anger simply overwhelmed him. At that point God decided that another leader must be raised up to complete the mission of entering the land.

Interestingly, this happened in the life of Elijah as well. He struggled for years against the apostasy of Israel in Baal worship. Even after he had won the great victory on Mt. Hermon, he fled for his life, exhausted, and ran all the way down to Mt. Horeb (Sinai). There he poured out his anger against the people, saying,

I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.

With him too, anger had taken its toll, leaving him profoundly discouraged. God told him to find Elisha and train him up to take his place. Even though Elijah had every reason for anger, when it was too much, God saw that someone else would need to take over for him.

These two stories show us how even the wisest can get worn down by frustrations over the years. One rabbinic comment is that, “When a wise man lets his anger overcome him, he loses all his wisdom.” We need to seek relief from our anger before it costs us our ability to lead. Certainly this is all the more true in marriage — uncontrolled anger and contempt is often what brings them to an end.

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Further reading:

See Listening to the Language of the Bible, by Lois Tverberg and Bruce Okkema, En-Gedi Resource Center, 2004. This is a collection of devotional essays that mediate on the meaning of biblical words and phrases in their original setting.

For a friendly, bite-sized Bible study of five flavorful Hebrew words, see 5 Hebrew Words that Every Christian Should Know, by Lois Tverberg, OurRabbiJesus.com, 2014 (ebook).

Amen and Amen!

Lois Tverberg

by Lois Tverberg

Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting even to everlasting. And let all the people say, “Amen.” Psalms 106:48

It is interesting to note that the most widely known word on all the earth, across the most languages, is the word Amen, a Hebrew word. Jews, Christians and Muslims all use this word in prayer, and it generally moves unchanged from language to language. Even in the Greek of the New Testament, the word was written literally as “amen” rather than a Greek translation being used.

The word amen is related to the Hebrew words emunah (faith, belief, trust) and emet (truth). It means something like, “This I affirm,” or “Let it be so.” It was used throughout the Old Testament as a response, as when blessings or curses were read as part of a covenant, and all the people said “Amen.” When psalms were sung, the people would respond, “Amen.” The leader didn’t say it — it was a way of the people to proclaim their agreement with the liturgy they heard (see the above verse). In Jewish prayer today, this is still done. After the leader recites the prayer, the audience follows with “Amen,” in effect saying, “I affirm this prayer also, let it be so for me too.”

Some scholars believe that there has been confusion in our understanding of Jesus’ use of amen. He often began speaking with an amen, which has been thought to be a way to emphasize his own words. In the King James, it is translated “verily” and modern translations remove it altogether, and substitute “I tell you the truth.”

Robert Lindsay, a scholar of the first century Jewish context of Jesus, believes that Jesus actually used amen as it was used by the rest of his society — as a response of affirmation of something else that precedes his words. For instance, when the centurion tells him that by just saying the word, Jesus can heal from afar, Jesus says, “Amen! I tell you, I have not seen such great faith in Israel.” (Matthew 8:10) The beginning amen is an exclamation of enthusiasm in reaction to hearing the man’s statement of faith. Jesus responded to the people and situations around him with a loud amen sometimes, and didn’t just underline his own teachings with that word.

“Amen” isn’t just the natural end of a prayer, it is a way of saying “I most certainly agree!” Whether we say it at the end of our own prayers, or use it to agree with the prayer of another, may all our prayers reflect this wholehearted agreement with the words we have prayed, and our response of faith to God’s answers.

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Further reading:

See Listening to the Language of the Bible, by Lois Tverberg and Bruce Okkema, En-Gedi Resource Center, 2004. This is a collection of devotional essays that mediate on the meaning of biblical words and phrases in their original setting.

For a friendly, bite-sized Bible study of five flavorful Hebrew words, see 5 Hebrew Words that Every Christian Should Know, by Lois Tverberg, OurRabbiJesus.com, 2014 (ebook).

Noseh Avon – Carrying Guilt

Lois Tverberg

by Lois Tverberg

The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. – Exodus 34:6-7

The verse above is God’s own revelation about Himself, when he passed by Moses on Mt. Sinai and showed him his glory. It was God’s answer to Moses’ request: “And now, if I have found favor in your sight, show me your way, that I may know you, that I may continue to find favor in your sight!” (Exodus 32:13). This phrase is called by Jews the “Thirteen Attributes of God,” counting thirteen ways God’s mercy is described. This is a very important text about God, quoted eight other times in the Bible and often used as part of Jewish liturgy.

An interesting thing in Hebrew in this passage is that the words that describe God’s “forgiving wickedness” are literally “to lift or carry guilt,” and in fact, many other places is actually translated as “bear iniquity” or “to bear guilt.” The same phrase noseh avon is used in many passages, including the following:

[The sin offering] is most holy, and He gave it to you to bear the guilt of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the LORD. (Leviticus 10:17)

The goat shall bear their iniquities to a solitary land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness. (Leviticus 16:22)

Interestingly, the same phrase that is applied to God in terms of forgiving sins is also applied to the atonement sacrifices which bore the sins of the people. There is another word for forgiving sin, selach, that could have been used, but bearing guilt is what God speaks of here. It sounds as if God’s answer to Moses’ request that he “show him his way” is to say that he would bear his people’s guilt!

In the light of this, one more place where noseh avon is used is very significant in relation to the suffering of the Christ — Isaiah’s prophecy of God’s servant who would redeem Israel by paying for their sins:

Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. (Isaiah 53:10-11)

It appears that when Moses asked the Lord to reveal his glory and to show him his plan, that the Lord answered by hinting even then of his future plans. Already he had determined that he himself would bear our wickedness, transgression and sin.

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Further reading:

See Listening to the Language of the Bible, by Lois Tverberg and Bruce Okkema, En-Gedi Resource Center, 2004. This is a collection of devotional essays that mediate on the meaning of biblical words and phrases in their original setting.

For a friendly, bite-sized Bible study of five flavorful Hebrew words, see 5 Hebrew Words that Every Christian Should Know, by Lois Tverberg, OurRabbiJesus.com, 2014 (ebook).

Ben – Son

Lois Tverberg

by Lois Tverberg

But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. – Matthew 5:44-45

The word for son in Hebrew, ben, is used for a wide variety of purposes in the Bible, and it carries some assumptions and cultural understandings. Along with its literal use to mean the son of a father or mother, it is commonly used for later descendants as well. Often this helps us understand that in genealogies, generations can be left out and only significant ancestors reported. This isn’t because of error, it is because it was acceptable to speak of a descendant as a “son.”

An assumption behind the word “son” is that descendants share the characteristics of their forefathers. Usually, the children took on their family’s profession and worshipped the family’s gods. They assumed that children would take on their father’s personality — if your father was wise, you would be wise, if he was warlike, you were warlike. For instance, Ishmael was a “wild donkey of a man” and it was assumed that his descendants, the Ishmaelites, will be like that too. Or, when Jesus is described as the “Son of David,” it tells that he is a descendant in the line of David, and like David he is a powerful king. So, to explain who was part of each family is very important to understanding the society. This is why there are so many stories in Genesis about the ancestors of tribes of Israel and other nations.

Another use of the word son is to describe a disciple. The rabbi-disciple relationship was understood to be like that between a father and a son, and indeed, the disciple was supposed to have as much love for his rabbi as for his own father. Just like son emulated his fathers ways, a disciple was to emulate his rabbi’s ways and become like him in character.

We can see now how Jesus uses the term “son” in today’s Bible passage. Just as a son wants to grow up to be like his father, we should aim to be like our Father in heaven. Because he is loving toward people who hate him, and merciful to those who don’t deserve it, we should be so too.

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Further reading:

See Listening to the Language of the Bible, by Lois Tverberg and Bruce Okkema, En-Gedi Resource Center, 2004. This is a collection of devotional essays that mediate on the meaning of biblical words and phrases in their original setting.

For a friendly, bite-sized Bible study of five flavorful Hebrew words, see 5 Hebrew Words that Every Christian Should Know, by Lois Tverberg, OurRabbiJesus.com, 2014 (ebook).

Lechem – Bread

David Bivin

by Josa Bivin

For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world. (John 6:33)

When Richard and Lucinda (our volunteer workers) first came to Israel, they noticed plastic sacks containing pieces of bread hanging from the sides of the trash containers along the street where we live. When they asked me about this, I couldn’t give an answer, but later remembered that people here do not throw away their leftover bread. I had heard that Jews consider it a sin to throw bread away, but never knew why.

I went to David’s library, pulled out the Encyclopaedia Judaica volume with the entry “Bread” and read that since biblical times, providing bread for the poor was regarded as a great religious duty (Isa. 58:7; Prov. 22:9); the withholding of it from the hungry, a sin (Job 22:7). The importance of sharing one’s bread with the poor has remained in the Jewish consciousness until today. Instead of dumping their bread along with the rest of their garbage into the garbage carts parked along the streets, they save the bread in plastic sacks and hang it from the metal projections on the sides of the carts. That way, the bread is potentially available to the poor. Not all Jews in Israel follow this custom, but lots do, especially here in our neighborhood of Maoz Zion.

It is not unusual to see hunks of bread or part of a roll lying on a curb, or on top of a wall. One day I noticed a young, poorly dressed man walking along the sidewalk. Suddenly, he turned around and proceeded to walk in the opposite direction. Without slowing his walk or turning his head, he raised his right arm and grabbed a piece of bread that had been lying on the ledge of the wall. This was the first time I had ever seen this happen and I realized that this poor man was truly hungry.

Bread has a special, almost sacred, connotation in Jewish life. Whenever bread is eaten, even a piece the size of an olive, a blessing must be said. Jesus referred to “bread” many times in his teachings, and he taught his disciples to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” “As bread cast upon the waters will return after many days” (Eccles. 11:1), so, “He that has a generous [lit., good] eye will be blessed; for he gives his bread to the poor” (Prov. 22:9). Let us think twice before we toss our leftover bread into the trash.

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Further reading:

See Listening to the Language of the Bible, by Lois Tverberg and Bruce Okkema, En-Gedi Resource Center, 2004. This is a collection of devotional essays that mediate on the meaning of biblical words and phrases in their original setting.

For a friendly, bite-sized Bible study of five flavorful Hebrew words, see 5 Hebrew Words that Every Christian Should Know, by Lois Tverberg, OurRabbiJesus.com, 2014 (ebook).

Shalom – Peace

Lois Tverberg 1 Comment

by Lois Tverberg

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. (John 14:27)

Like many Hebrew words, the word we commonly translate as peace, shalom, has a wider latitude of meaning than the English word. We tend to understand it as the absence of war or as calmness of spirit. But along with these ideas, the Hebrew word shalom also carries a greater connotation of well-being, health, safety, prosperity, wholeness, and completeness.

In modern Hebrew, the common greeting is, “Mah shalomkah?” Meaning, how is your shalom? How is your well-being? In the Aaronic benediction, when it is said “May the Lord look upon you with favor and give you his peace,” it is a much broader, wider blessing that we may think, talking about God supplying our physical and material needs as well as our emotional needs.

Knowing these broader meanings helps in our Bible study. For instance, God says to Abraham, “As for you, you shall go to your fathers in shalom; you will be buried at a good old age” (Genesis. 15:15). It doesn’t just mean that Abraham will not be at war, or even that he will have a calm spirit, but also that his life would end in well-being and completeness.

One important concept that has to do with shalom, peace, is that it also speaks about having a covenantal relationship with God. When the covenant was first enacted between God and Israel, some of the sacrifices were peace, shelem, offerings, to celebrate the relationship between the people and God. This is the Hebraic understanding of salvation, not just that we will go to heaven when we die, but that we have an unbroken, loving relationship with God here on earth.

Most sacrificial offerings were given entirely to God, but the peace (or fellowship) offering was different. Part of it is eaten by the worshipper, as if he is sharing a meal with God, the ultimate picture of friendship. The Passover meal was a type of peace offering, because it was a sacrifice that the people ate from. When Jesus held up the bread and wine as a new covenant, he was using this as a peace offering to show their new relationship with God. Through atonement by his blood, God offers all of us shalom, in all the many senses of that word.

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Further reading:

See Listening to the Language of the Bible, by Lois Tverberg and Bruce Okkema, En-Gedi Resource Center, 2004. This is a collection of devotional essays that mediate on the meaning of biblical words and phrases in their original setting.

For a friendly, bite-sized Bible study of five flavorful Hebrew words, see 5 Hebrew Words that Every Christian Should Know, by Lois Tverberg, OurRabbiJesus.com, 2014 (ebook).