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is not used of God’s initial creative act, but only of His using what already
exists to accomplish His purposes, such as His causing water to “come out” of the rock
(Deut. 8:15). Because
can mean “to bring forth,” it is often used of “divine
deliverance,” as the One who “bringeth me forth from mine enemies” (2 Sam. 22:49)
“into a large place” (2 Sam. 22:20). One of the most important formulas in the Old
Testament uses the verb
&
“the Lord [who] brought [Israel] out of [Egypt]”; He
brought them from slavery into freedom (Exod. 13:3).
B. Nouns.
(
, 4161), “place of going forth; that which comes forth; going forth.”
The word occurs 23 times.
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is a word for “east” (cf. Ps. 19:6), where the sun rises
(“goes forth”). The word also represents the “place of departure” or “exit” from the
temple in Ezekiel’s vision (Ezek. 42:11), and the “starting point” of a journey (Num.
33:2).
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may also refer to that which “comes forth,” for example, an “utterance”
(Num. 30:13), and the “going forth” of the morning and evening, the dawn and dusk (Ps.
65:8). Finally, the word can represent the “actual going forth” itself. So Hosea says that
the Lord’s “going forth” to redeem His people is as certain as the sunrise (6:3).
(
, 8444), “departure; place of departure.” The word
can
connote both the source or place of “departure” (Prov. 4:23) and the actual “departure”
itself (“escape,” Ps. 68:20). However, the word may also represent the extremity of a
territory or its “border”—the place where one departs a given territory (Josh. 15:7).
GOAT-DEMONS
(
*
, 8163), “goat-demons; goat-idols.” This word occurs 4 times in biblical
Hebrew. In its first biblical appearance, the word represents “goat-demons” (some
scholars translate it “goat-idols”): “And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto
devils [
NASB
, “goat demons”], after whom they have gone a whoring” (Lev. 17:7). This
passage demonstrates that the word represents beings that were objects of pagan worship.
Worship of these “demons” persisted long in the history of Israel, appearing under
Jeroboam I (929-909 B.C.), who “… ordained him priests for the high places, and for the
devils [
RSV
, “satyrs”], and for the calves which he had made” (2 Chron. 11:15). In this
instance,
represents idols that Jeroboam had manufactured. Josiah’s revival probably
involved the breaking down of the high places of the goat-demons (2 Kings 23:8).
GOD
( , 410), “god.” This term was the most common general designation of deity in
the ancient Near East. While it frequently occurred alone, was also combined with
other words to constitute a compound term for deity, or to identify the nature and
functions of the “god” in some manner. Thus the expression “God, the God of Israel”
(Gen. 33:20) identified the specific activities of Israel’s God.
In the ancient world, knowledge of a person’s name was believed to give one power
over that person. A knowledge of the character and attributes of pagan “gods” was
thought to enable the worshipers to manipulate or influence the deities in a more effective
way than they could have if the deity’s name remained unknown. To that extent, the