As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about His people from this time forth and forever. Psalm 125:2 AMP
Now therefore, if you will obey My voice in truth and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own peculiar possession and treasure from among and above all peoples; for all the earth is Mine. Exodus 19:5 AMP
‘Y’varekh’kha Adonai v’yishmerekha. [May Adonai bless you and keep you.] Ya’er Adonai panav eleikha vichunekka. [May Adonai make his face shine on you and show you his favor.] Yissa Adonai panav eleikha v’yasem l’kha shalom. [May Adonai lift up his face toward you and give you peace.]’ Numbers 6:24-26 CJB
In our quest to gain insight in the dialect of the authors of the Bible, we’ve surrounded our minds with a lot of Hebrew words. As I have written in my previous posts, Hebrew was originally a picture language. Thus, for one to fully comprehend a word in Hebrew, that fellow should at least know the meaning of the individual letters, which are ‘words within words’. The main purpose of these series of posts is to give a ‘layman’ the foundations to comprehend the deeper meaning of words in Hebrew. So far, we’ve discussed the first fourteen letters and they are: aleph א, bet ב, gimmel ג, dalet ד, hey ה, vav ו, zayin ז, chet ח, tet ט, yod י, khaf (kaf) כ/ך, lamed ל, my personal favourite mem מ/ם, and nun נ/ן. This week, we’ll discuss the 15th letter of the alephbets, samekh ס.
As we have studied in previous posts, four basic ways of gleaning the true meaning of the alephbets are:
- The shape (pictogram) of the letter.
- The name of the letter.
- The numerical value (Gematria) of the letter.
- The first time the letter appears in the Torah as the root of a word.
The letter samekh is the 15th letter of the Hebrew alephbets. The pictogram of the letter samekh is a circle, and it indicates the actions of surrounding and protecting. The word for ‘surround’ and ‘encircle’ is סבב and it transliterates as ‘savav’. This word begins with the letter samekh. The word סכך (transliterates as sochech) means a protective shield and it begins with the letter samekh. The letter Samekh has a numerical value of 60. The letter samekh in full is spelt סמך (samekh-mem-khaf), and it also spells the word which is transliterated as samakh which means ‘to sustain’, ‘to uphold’, ‘to rely upon’ and ‘to strengthen’.
According to the Jewish (Mystical) Sages, the letter Samekh represents the Ein Sof אין סוף. The word ein sof literally means ‘without end’. Like a circle, God’s power and presence is without end and it spirals infinitely. The term Ein Sof is used to represent the Infinite light of God.
The letter samekh as mentioned above denotes surrounding and protecting. The only means we can receive protection from the fiery darts of the enemy is to take refuge in the LORD and believe in our hearts that He is faithful. The Psalmist sang in Psalm 118:8 that “it is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.” As talmidim of the Messiah, Paul wrote that we are in Him, even as He is in us:
So that we who first hoped in Christ [who first put our confidence in Him have been destined and appointed to] live for the praise of His glory! In Him you also who have heard the Word of Truth, the glad tidings (Gospel) of your salvation, and have believed in and adhered to and relied on Him, were stamped with the seal of the long-promised Holy Spirit. That [Spirit] is the guarantee of our inheritance [the firstfruits, the pledge and foretaste, the down payment on our heritage], in anticipation of its full redemption and our acquiring [complete] possession of it — to the praise of His glory; I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me; To whom God was pleased to make known how great for the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ within and among you, the Hope of [realizing the] glory. Once we remain in Him and rely on Him as the source of our strength, we are guaranteed protection: For You, Lord, will bless the [uncompromisingly] righteous [him who is upright and in right standing with You]; as with a shield You will surround him with goodwill (pleasure and favor). Psalm 5:12; You are a hiding place for me; You, Lord, preserve me from trouble, You surround me with songs and shouts of deliverance. Psalm 32:7; As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about His people from this time forth and forever. Psalm 125:2 AMP.
In the Book of Numbers (in Hebrew ספר במדבר transliterated as Sefer B’Midbar which literally means ‘In the Wilderness’), the LORD instructed Moses on how Aaron and his sons, the priests, are to bless the Israelites. In English, it reads: The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. Numbers 6:24-26 KJV. This is known as the Priestly Blessing or Birkat Kohanim. In Hebrew, it reads: יברכך יהוה וישמרך
יאר יהוה פניו אליך ויחנך
ישא יהוה פניו אליך וישם לך שלום, and this is transliterated as Y’varekh’kha Adonai v’yishmerekha. Ya’er Adonai panav eleikha vichunekka. Yissa Adonai panav eleikha v’yasem l’kha shalom. It is fascinating to know that there are exactly sixty letters in the Priestly Blessing. It is more fascinating to know that the Birkat Kohanim has exactly fifteen words. Samekh has a numerical value of 60 and it is the 15th letter of Hebrew. The Rabbis teach that whenever the priests bless the congregation with these words, sixty warriors (angels) are assigned to each member of the congregation for protection, as it is written in Song Of Songs: [Someone answered] Behold, it is the traveling litter (the bridal car) of Solomon. Sixty mighty men are around it, of the mighty men of Israel. Song of Songs 3:7AMP. It gets even more fascinating to know that the numerical value of the word סמך Samekh is 120, and that is sixty multiplied by two. This represents a double portion of blessing from the Old Covenant and the Renewed Covenant. In one Rabbinical commentary, the Priestly Blessing reads: “The Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make His face to shine upon thee, and gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and grant thee peace. The Lord bless thee in all thy business, and keep thee from demons of the night, and things that cause terror, and from demons of the noon and of the morning, and from malignant spirits and phantoms. The Lord make His face to shine upon thee, when occupied in the law, and reveal to thee its secrets, and be merciful unto thee. The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee in thy prayer, and grant thee peace in thy end.” Targum Jonathan on Numbers 6:24-26. For more on the Priestly Blessing, read my post on THE SPOCK MYSTERY (LIVE LONG & PROSPER!!!).
In the year 2448 from creation, that is 1313 BCE, at Mount Sinai, the LORD commanded Moses to tell the Sons of Israel, “Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.” Exodus 19:5-6 KJV. The Hebrew word for ‘peculiar treasure’ is the word סגלה which transliterates as ‘segullah’, and it means ‘a treasured, special possession’ of a supreme authority. When we ‘accepted the Lord Jesus’, into our hearts, we declared in our hearts like the Israelites did verbally at Sinai, נעשה ונשמה which transliterates “na’aseh v’nishmah” and it means “we will do and we will obey (hear)”. By means of this simple act, we have been called עם סגלה (transliterates as ‘am segullah’) and it means a special (peculiar), treasured nation: “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.” 1 Peter 2:9-10 NKJV.
As a circle, the letter Samekh reminds us of the institution of marriage. In traditional Jewish weddings, the bride symbolizes her support to the man by circling him seven times under the chuppah. The groom’s commitment is expressed by the giving of a ring, which is circular. From this we learn that just as the ring (circle) has no beginning nor an end, a couple is supposed to support and encircle each other eternally (maybe till death do them part); their commitment to each other will be constant without beginning nor an end.
The letter samech also represents joy:
The 15th day of Av (the fifth month on the Jewish calendar) is one of the most joyful days of the year. Tu B’Av as it is known, is said to be a day of ‘love and rebirth’. The Talmud states: “There were never greater days of joy for the Jewish people than the fifteenth of Av.” On this day, under the full moon, single ladies in Israel go out in the field and dance in a circle singing, “Boys, pick up your eyes and look and find yourself a wife.”
Exactly two months after Tu B’Av is the last feast of the LORD, known as סוכות Sukkot and it means Booths or Tabernacles in English: “‘But on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered the produce of the land, you are to observe the festival of Adonai seven days; the first day is to be a complete rest and the eighth day is to be a complete rest. 40 On the first day you are to take choice fruit, palm fronds, thick branches and river-willows, and celebrate in the presence of Adonai your God for seven days. 41 You are to observe it as a feast to Adonai seven days in the year; it is a permanent regulation, generation after generation; keep it in the seventh month. 42 You are to live in sukkot for seven days; every citizen of Isra’el is to live in a sukkah, 43 so that generation after generation of you will know that I made the people of Isra’el live in sukkot when I brought them out of the land of Egypt; I am Adonai your God.’” Leviticus 23:39-43 CJB. The word Sukkot begins with the letter Samekh. Of all the seven feasts of the Lord, Sukkot is known to be the most joyful of them. Interestingly, it begins on the fifteenth day of the seventh month. After the series on the alephbets, we’ll discuss the feasts of the LORD in detail (from Orthodox and Messianic perspectives).
Friends, I believe you have been blessed by this short article on the 15th letter of the Hebrew alephbets. We’ll learn more about ‘eyes’ in the next post on the 16th letter of L’shon HaKodesh, ayin. Kindly leave your comments, suggestions and questions in the Comments Section below.
חזק חזק ונתחזק
Chazak chazak v’nitchazek
Be strong, be strong and your will be strengthened
Live long and prosper!!!
שלום!!!!
Shalom!!!!
Mayim Chayim מים חיים 