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Mattaniah … , the son of Asaph, was the principal to begin the thanksgiving in prayer
[who at the beginning was the leader of praise at prayer].…”
Finally,
may represent deeds which are worthy of “praise,” or deeds for
which the doer deserves “praise and glory.” This meaning is in the word’s first biblical
appearance: “Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious
in holiness, fearful in praises [in praiseworthy deeds], doing wonders [miracles]?” (Exod.
15:11).
Two other related nouns are
and
$ ! "
occurs once (Prov.
27:21) and denotes the degree of “praise” or its lack.
B $
, which occurs twice, means
“festal jubilation” in the fourth year at harvest time (Lev. 19:24,
RSV
; Judg. 9:27,
NASB
),
(
$
, 8426), “thanksgiving.” This important noun form, found some 30
times in the Old Testament, is used there in the sense of “thanksgiving.” The word is
preserved in modern Hebrew as the regular word for “thanks.” In the Hebrew text
is used to indicate “thanksgiving” in songs of worship (Ps. 26:7; 42:4). Sometimes the
word is used to refer to the thanksgiving choir or procession (Neh. 12:31, 38). One of the
peace offerings, or “sacrings,” was designated the thanksgiving offering (Lev. 7:12).
TO PRAY
A. Verb.
(
#
, 6419), “to pray, intervene, mediate, judge.” Found in both biblical and
modern Hebrew, this word occurs 84 times in the Hebrew Old Testament. The word is
used 4 times in the intensive verbal form; the remaining 80 times are found in the
reflexive or reciprocal form, in which the action generally points back to the subject. In
the intensive form
expresses the idea of “to mediate, to come between two parties,”
always between human beings. Thus, “if a man sins against a man, God will mediate for
him …” (1 Sam. 2:25,
RSV
). “To mediate” requires “making a judgment,” as in Ezek.
16:52: “Thou also, which hast judged thy sisters.…” In the remaining 2 references in
which the intensive form is used,
expresses “making a judgment” in Gen. 48:11 and
“coming between” in Ps. 106:30.
The first occurrence of
in the Old Testament is in Gen. 20:7, where the reflexive
or reciprocal form of the verb expresses the idea of “interceding for, prayer in behalf of”:
“… He shall pray for thee.…” Such intercessory praying is frequent in the Old
Testament: Moses “prays” for the people’s deliverance from the fiery serpents (Num.
21:7); he “prays” for Aaron (Deut. 9:20); and Samuel “intercedes” continually for Israel
(1 Sam. 12:23). Prayer is directed not only toward Yahweh but toward pagan idols as
well (Isa. 44:17). Sometimes prayer is made to Yahweh that He would act against an
enemy: “That which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have
heard” (2 Kings 19:20).
Just why this verb form is used to express the act of praying is not completely clear.
Since this verb form points back to the subject, in a reflexive sense, perhaps it
emphasizes the part which the person praying has in his prayers. Also, since the verb
form can have a reciprocal meaning between subject and object, it may emphasize the