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word to the conditions in Judah under King Rehoboam, after he humbled himself before
God: “… Things went well.”
often qualifies a common object or activity. When the word is used in this sense,
no ethical overtones are intended. In 1 Sam. 19:4,
describes the way Jonathan spoke
about David: “And Jonathan spake good of David unto Saul his father, and said unto him,
Let not the king sin against his servant, against David; because he hath not sinned against
thee, and because his works have been [toward thee] very good.” First Samuel 25:15
characterizes a people as “friendly” or “useful”: “But the men were very good unto us,
and we were not hurt, neither missed we any thing, as long as we were conversant with
them, when we were in the fields.…” Often this word bears an even stronger emphasis, as
in 1 Kings 12:7, where the “good word” is not only friendly but eases the life of one’s
servants. God’s “good word” promises life in the face of oppression and uncertainty: “…
There hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of
Moses his servant” (1 Kings 8:56).
often characterizes a statement as an important
assertion for salvation and prosperity (real or imagined): “Is not this the word that we did
tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been
for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness” (Exod.
14:12). God judged that man’s circumstance without a wife or helpmeet was not “good”
(Gen. 2:18). Elsewhere
is applied to an evaluation of one’s well-being or of the
wellbeing of a situation or thing: “And God saw the light, that it was good: and God
divided the light from the darkness” (Gen. 1:4—the first occurrence).
is used to describe land and agriculture: “And I am come down to deliver them
out of the [power] of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good
[fertile] land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey …” (Exod. 3:8). This
suggests its potential of supporting life (Deut. 11:17). Thus the expression “the good
land” is a comment about not only its existing, but its potential, productivity. In such
contexts the land is viewed as one aspect of the blessings of salvation promised by God;
thus the Lord did not permit Moses to cross the Jordan and enter the land which His
people were to inherit (Deut. 3:26-28). This aspect of the “good land” includes overtones
of its fruitfulness and “pleasantness”: “And he will take your fields, and your vineyards,
and your oliveyards, even the best of them …” (1 Sam. 8:14).
is used to describe men or women. Sometimes it is used of an “elite corps” of
people: “And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest
young men, and your asses …” (1 Sam. 8:16). In 2 Sam. 18:27, Ahimaaz is described as a
“good” man because he comes with “good” military news. In 1 Sam. 15:28, the word has
ethical overtones: “The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath
given it to a neighbor of thine, that is better than thou” (cf. 1 Kings 2:32). In other
passages,
describes physical appearance: “And the damsel was very fair to look upon
[literally, “good of appearance”] …” (Gen. 24:16). When applied to one’s heart, the word
describes “well-being” rather than ethical status. Therefore, the parallel idea is “joyous
and happy”: “… And they … went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the
goodness that the Lord had done for David …” (1 Kings 8:66). Dying “at a good old age”