Partly inspired by my Hebrew studies, I’m writing 12 poems inspired by 12 Hebrew verbs.
So this is the last post in this series! Today’s word is מָלַךְ / malakh which means to reign.
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Category: Poems and prayers
The God who saves (a poem)
Partly inspired by my Hebrew studies, I’m writing 12 poems inspired by 12 Hebrew verbs.
The verb ישׁע / yasha is indirectly familiar to many Christians because it’s the root of names like Joshua and Jesus, both of which mean ‘the LORD saves.’ (Hence Gabriel’s instruction to Joseph: “you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21 NIV)
There are some interesting things I learned here.
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The God who commands (a poem)
Partly inspired by my Hebrew studies, I’m writing 12 poems inspired by 12 Hebrew verbs.
Another busy week, another poem that almost refused to be written.
But no prizes for guessing some of the thoughts behind this one.
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The God who sits (a poem)
Partly inspired by my Hebrew studies, I’m writing 12 poems inspired by 12 Hebrew verbs.
A few weeks ago, I sat down to map out which Hebrew verbs I would write poems on for the remaining weeks of this 12-part series. They had to be words I’d learned over the last year and, obviously, not the same as the verbs I’d already covered. So far, we’ve had poems on stand, provide, shine, build, give voice, create, cease [rest] and form; the remaining weeks were to be: sit, dwell, appoint, reign.
There was, however, a slight flaw in this plan.
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The God who forms (a poem)
Partly inspired by my Hebrew studies, I’m writing 12 poems inspired by 12 Hebrew verbs.
Yes, it’s Monday. It’s also a bank holiday here in the UK and so I decided not to pressure myself into sending out something yesterday.
But if I’m honest, the real reason is that this poem was really hard to write. It’s based on the verb יצר / yatsar, which means to “form” or to “shape.” In many ways it’s a concrete version of the verb ברא / bara which means to “create” and which I wrote a poem about a few weeks ago (available here).
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The God who ceases (a poem)
Partly inspired by my Hebrew studies, I’m writing 12 poems inspired by 12 Hebrew verbs.
I was feeling particularly groggy this weekend (hence this post is late), so I thought I’d look at the verb to rest. It’s an easy one, being שׁבת / shavat, andsharing the same root as the word ‘Sabbath’.
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The God who creates (a poem)
Partly inspired by my Hebrew studies, I’m writing 12 poems inspired by 12 Hebrew verbs.
Today the verb I’m looking at is ברא / bara. It means to create, but unlike other Hebrew words for forming, making or doing, bara is a theological term. The subject is invariably God.
That is, only God creates.
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The God who gives his voice (a poem)
Partly inspired by my Hebrew studies, I’m writing 12 poems inspired by 12 Hebrew verbs.
As you might have guessed, I’ve worked with verbs that I’ve already encountered in my studies. This week, I’m sort-of cheating by using a phrase: he gave his voice. Several reasons for this.
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The God who builds (a poem)
Partly inspired by my Hebrew studies, I’m writing 12 poems inspired by 12 Hebrew verbs.
This week I’ve chosen to write on the Hebrew verb בּנה / banah (the ‘a’ vowels are both long). I became curious about this verb because it reminds me of the Hebrew word for son: בֵּן / bein. It was almost as if there was an association between building up one’s house and having sons.
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The God who shines (a poem)
Partly inspired by my Hebrew studies, I’m writing 12 poems inspired by 12 Hebrew verbs.
Today the verb I’m looking at is אוֹר / or (it’s pronounced just like the English words “or” and “awe”). Depending on the stem, it can mean to be/become light/bright, to be illumined, or to give light.
I first came across this word when I heard a song in Hebrew based on Isaiah 60: arise, shine, your light has come. I learned the words, “Kumi, ori” and I couldn’t help but think of the word ‘orient’ and the sun rising in the East. Ironically, the Latin root of the English word, oriri, isn’t to do with shining but rather rising. (And if you’re joining the dots: yes, kumi is the same word Jesus uses when he raises Jairus’ daughter).
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The God who provides (a poem)
Partly inspired by my Hebrew studies, I’m writing 12 poems inspired by 12 Hebrew verbs.
One of the texts my class looked at as part of our Hebrew module last month was 1 Kings 17. It’s the story of Elijah pronouncing a time of drought over Israel and then fleeing from King Ahab (and his wife Jezebel). In short, it’s a time of political turmoil; Ahab has been thoroughly corrupt, encouraged the worship of Baal and persecuted the prophets of God. And after delivering the bad news about the drought, Elijah flees.
When I was translating this passage, I came across this word: לְכַלְכֶּלְךָ / l’chalkelcha. Or LKLKLK. In Hebrew, the letters L and K can denote two very common prepositions – and indeed the first L is a preposition. I also knew that the last K was a second person singular suffix – in other words, “you” was the object of the verb. But I could not for the life of me figure out what this word was.
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The God who stands (a poem)
I’m back from my break and starting a new series!
Partly inspired by my Hebrew studies, I’m going to write 12 poems inspired by 12 Hebrew verbs.
The first one I’m looking at is עמד a.mad (all the ‘a’ vowels are long). It means ‘to stand’ but can also mean ‘to endure’ and has strong connotations with service and ministry. Essentially, ‘to stand before’ or ‘to stand in the presence of’ was an idiom meaning ‘to serve.’
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This is my body: a poem for Eastertide
For lent 2022, I’m writing six duologues between Samuel and other people in the Bible, all on the theme of living with conflict. The duologues are taking longer than I’d hoped to write, so this week I offer a poem instead.
Last week, I wrote a new poem, “This is my tent.” This week, I’ve written another “This is my body.” It’s a celebration of Jesus’ resurrection.
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This is my tent: a poem for passion week
For lent 2022, I’m writing six duologues between Samuel and other people in the Bible, all on the theme of living with conflict. The duologues are taking longer than I’d hoped to write, so this week I offer a poem instead.
It’s no secret that on Good Friday, Jesus suffered a long and agonising death. I have long struggled with Christian imagery and literature on the passion of Christ. On the one hand it shouldn’t be sanitised, but on the other it’s almost too much to bear thinking about. I’ve also struggled with depictions of Jesus’ suffering that seem to revel in the pain; it makes me wonder whether the artists in question have any comprehension of what torture is like.
And then of course, I come back to the fact that I barely know myself.
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John 1:1–14: Logos Λόγος (a poem)
Today’s reading is John 1:1–14: John reveals the mystery of the incarnation.
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Matthew 2:1–12: The heavenly summons (a poem)
Continuing the poetry series based on the nine lessons from a Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols. Today’s reading is Matthew 2:1–12, the visit of the magi.
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Luke 2:8–16: Shepherd, leave your flock and fold (a poem)
‘But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.’
Micah 5:2 (NIVUK)
Today’s reading is Luke 2:8–16, the story about the shepherds coming to visit Jesus.
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Luke 2:1–7: The Prince of Prayer (a poem)
Today’s reading is Luke 2:1,3–7. It’s the story of Mary and Joseph going to Bethlehem. There, Mary gives birth and famously places Jesus in a manger because there was no room in the ‘inn.’ (My post from Christmas Eve last year has some useful notes on this word.)
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Luke 1:26–38: The Weight of Wings (a poem)
Continuing the series of poems drawing on the scripture readings in a Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols. Strictly speaking, the reading for today is Luke 1:26–35,38.
This is one of those passages that’s so famous, it’s hard to know what more can be said about it.
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Isaiah 11:1–9: The King of Peace (a poem)
Continuing the series of poems drawing on the scripture readings in a Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols. Strictly speaking, the reading for today is Isaiah 11:1–3a;4a;6–9.
When I looked at this passage, the thing that stayed with me most was the concept of a hendiadys. Literally meaning “one from two,” a hendiadys is where a single thought is expressed in two words joined with “and”.
Continue reading Isaiah 11:1–9: The King of Peace (a poem)