Tsinor: The Sound of Your WATERFALL

Waterfall/Water tunnel. Tsinor, masculine noun (Strong’s 6794).

Root: צִנּוּר

Sounds like: tsee’nohr

I had a stellar adventure in Iceland this week. It has been considerably exciting as there have been consistent earthquake tremors throughout our stay in Reykjavik. In fact, one occurred while I was typing these words. With all this seismic activity, they expect a volcano to erupt within hours/days!

Although Iceland is known as the land of fire and ice, it really could also be named the land of waterfalls, as I’ve never seen so many in my lifetime… each one of them spectacularly unique and beautiful!

There is only one clear mention of a waterfall in the Bible. It’s from Psalm 42:7, and it is often quoted: 

Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls [tsino’reka צִנּוֹרֶ֑יךָ].

Here is the Psalm in its entirety: 

Psalm 42

For the music director. A Maskil of the sons of Korah.

As the deer pants for the brook water, so my soul pants for You, God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

When shall I come and appear before God?  My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” I remember these things and pour out my soul within me. For I used to go over with the multitude and walk them to the house of God, with a voice of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude celebrating a festival.

Why are you in despair, my soul? And why are you restless within me? Wait for God, for I will again praise Him for the help of His presence, my God.

My soul is in despair within me; therefore I remember You from the land of the Jordan and the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar. Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls [tsino’reka צִנּוֹרֶ֑יךָ]; all Your breakers and Your waves have passed over me. YHWH will send His goodness in the daytime; and His song will be with me in the night, a prayer to the God of my life.

I will say to God my rock, “Why have You forgotten me? Why do I go about mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?” As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”

Why are you in despair, my soul? And why are you restless within me? Wait for God, for I will again praise Him for the help of His presence, my God. 

This poem walks through the emotional life of a follower of YHWH. It is hard to live patiently in this harsh world, knowing there is a better one waiting. Pain, suffering, sadness and despair… these are things we face continually. The Psalmist reminds us that even though we suffer, we must wait for God because good things are coming.  There is great hope in the form of a Saviour who will rescue and redeem us, and bring us home to His Presence. But until that time comes, we have to live in this world to make a difference in this world.

The Sound of the Banias

The largest waterfall in Israel, today, is the Banias Waterfall in the Upper Golan, North Israel. A gorge in Mount Hermon ( the largest mountain in Israel), brought water to Banias (in Yeshua’s time this was called Caesarea Philippi) which produced a great roaring waterfall. This land was, primarily, non-Jewish territory. It was the land of the Canaanites, an area not all that welcoming to the followers of YHWH. To put it bluntly, this was not friendly territory for any Jewish person. With this in mind, the suffering and loneliness of the Psalmist in this poem makes sense. It seems that the Psalmist was familiar with this area, as he remembered God from the peak of Mount Hermon and its neighbouring, smaller mountain, Mount Mizar.

My soul is in despair within me; therefore I remember You from the land of the Jordan and the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar. Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls [tsino’reka צִנּוֹרֶ֑יךָ].

Did the Psalmist write this poem at Banias? We don’t know, but he must have, at some time in his life, visited it to understand the sight and sound produced by the powerful Banias Waterfall.

The Water Tunnel

Although tsinor is only translated as waterfall once in the Hebrew Bible, the word does make one more appearance. This time the word is commonly translated as a water tunnel. This is an interesting passage. Jerusalem was not yet in the hands of the Hebrew people. The Jebusites had control of the land and they taunted David and his ability to capture their city. They were heavily fortified. It was a daunting, almost impossible, task. But David found a way. There was a tsinor (water tunnel) that linked the city centre to the outside water source (the Gihon Spring):

2 Samuel 5:6-10

Now the king [David] and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land; and they said to David, “You shall not come in here, but even those who are blind and those who limp will turn you away,” thinking, “David cannot enter here.”

Nevertheless, David captured the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David. And David said on that day, “Whoever strikes the Jebusites is to reach those who limp and those who are blind, who are hated by David’s soul, through the water tunnel [ba-tsinor בַּצִּנּ֔וֹר].”

For that reason they say, “People who are blind and people who limp shall not come into the house.” So David lived in the stronghold, and called it the city of David. And David built all around from the Millo and inward. David became greater and greater, for YHWH God of armies was with him.

They used the water tunnel (tsinor) to enter the city. That tunnel, deep under the surface of the land, would have had bubbling, moving, water that rushed past them. Bubbling, rushing, water, deep under the earth, isn’t quiet! (Deep comes to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls [tsino’reka צִנּוֹרֶ֑יךָ].

To get an idea of what that sounds like, check out this video which tells the story of David capturing the city at the site of the water shaft: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLcH7T2KVRs

A Voice of Rumbling Waterfalls

The New Testament (B’rit Chadashah) does not give us a clear waterfall image. But in John’s prophetic vision, three times the term “many waters” was associated with a heavenly voice, or voices:

Revelation 14:2

And I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of many waters [Greek: hydaton pollon] and like the sound of loud thunder, and the voice which I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps. 

The scroll of Revelation began by describing the sound of Yeshua’s voice:

Revelation 1:12-19

Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And after turning I saw seven golden lampstands; and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and wrapped around the chest with a golden sash. His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze when it has been heated to a glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters [Greek: hydaton pollon]. In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength.

When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. Therefore write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things.”

Near the end of the scroll, John highlighted the victory of YHWH over His adversaries:

Revelation 19:5-7

And a voice came from the throne, saying, “Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great.” Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters [Greek: hydaton pollon], and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying,

“Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. Let’s rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His bride has prepared herself.” 

Waterfalls are loud and powerful! A voice like “many waters” spoke volumes.

Although tsinor wasn’t used in the following passage, we can envision a waterfall when YHWH spoke through the prophet Amos:

Amos 5:24

[YHWH:] “Let justice roll out like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

Justice, righteousness, goodness, kindness and love are also loud and powerful images of God’s character. As His image-bearers we need to let love and justice flow out of us like a waterfall… nourishing everyone around us with the love of YHWH.

As I viewed countless waterfalls in Iceland, I was awestruck by their beauty, sheer power and the sound of the tumultuous roar that they produce. Water is a God-given life source and it is everywhere: springs, ponds, rivers, lakes, oceans. It drops down in rain and it flows to us in impressive waterfalls. How blessed this earth is with an abundance of water. Let’s do our part to keep it safe and pristine for generations to come!

Next week: Hot Springs