Arag/Ayyal: The PANTING DEER

The PANTING DEER: Arag, verb to pant, (Strong’s 6165). Ayyal, masculine noun deer (Strong’s 354).

Arag, sounds like: aw’rag. Root: עָרַג

Ayyal, sounds like: ah’yawl. Root: אַיָּל

Yesterday I took a lovely trip to visit family in New Brunswick. On my way home I saw three deer grazing in a field. This is not an uncommon sight in New Brunswick. My parents live in St. Andrews New Brunswick, and deer are regularly found on their property. Last time I was there I counted 13 deer in the front yard. My parents are incredible gardeners, and deer are a massive nuisance, making colossal messes in their carefully cultivated gardens. It’s no surprise that my parents have little love for these hungry creatures.

Regardless, most people (who aren’t directly affected by deer interference) have a tranquil view of deer, imagining them wandering gracefully in the forest, or drinking serenely at a stream. The Bible helps us with that image, providing one of the most picturesque poems depicting a deer drinking from a brook.

For the next few weeks we’re going to break down the beginning of the 42nd Psalm, starting with two words- panting deer:

Psalm 42:1

As the deer pants [ta-arog תַּעֲרֹ֥ג] for the water brooks, so my soul pants [ta-arog תַּעֲרֹ֥ג] for You, God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God?

Panting

Arag, the verb to pant, only appears three times in the Bible, twice in Psalm 42, and once in the writings of Joel the Prophet.

Scholars are divided about when Joel prophesied in history. There is no hint given in his writings to indicate a timeline but the writing is, in a way, timeless. It highlighted the continual theme of what life would be like for those who turned their backs on YHWH. Joel provided images of wandering in a wilderness of drought and fire:

Joel 1:17-20

The seeds have dried up under their shovels; the storehouses have become desolate, the grain silos are ruined, because the grain has dried up.

How the animals have groaned! The herds of cattle have wandered aimlessly because there is no pasture for them; even the flocks of sheep have suffered.

To You, YHWH, I cry out; for fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame has burned up all the trees of the field. Even the animals of the field pant [ta-arog תַּעֲר֣וֹג] for You; for the stream beds of water are dried up, and fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

Joel lamented over the Hebrew people. They were desolate, ruined, aimlessly wandering and suffering. Fire devoured the fields and the streams of water dried up; there was no comfort to be had. Even the animals panted for YHWH to save them.

However, Joel did not only pronounce doom and gloom, he also offered hope:

Joel 2:12-14

“Yet even now,” declares YHWH, “Return to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, weeping, and mourning; and tear your heart and not merely your garments.”

Now return to YHWH your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in mercy and relenting of catastrophe. Who knows, He might turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind Him, resulting in a grain offering and a drink offering for YHWH your God.

Those who longed (panted) for YHWH would find the blessing of life-giving water. YHWH, who is gracious, compassionate, and merciful, would quench the thirst of those who sought him with a sincere and seeking heart.

Deer

Psalm 42:1-2

As a deer [k-ayyal כְּאַיָּ֗ל] pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God?

Deer was one of the acceptable (kosher) meat options for the Hebrew people (see Deuteronomy 12:15, 22, Deuteronomy 14:4-5, Deuteronomy 15:22). We know that Solomon, at the height of his kingship had large quantities of deer in his storehouses, thanks to tributes brought to him from neighbouring kingdoms:

1 Kings 4:21-25

Now Solomon was ruling over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt; they brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.

Solomon’s provision for one day was thirty kors of fine flour and sixty kors of meal, ten fat oxen, twenty pasture-fed oxen, and a hundred sheep, besides deer [mey-ayyal מֵֽאַיָּ֤ל], gazelles, roebucks, and fattened geese. For he was ruling over everything west of the Euphrates River, from Tiphsah even to Gaza, over all the kings west of the River; and he had peace on all sides surrounding him. So Judah and Israel lived securely, everyone under his vine and his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.

Solomon’s reign of decadence would not last forever. Within a few generations of his passing the kingdom would split up. They would turn to the gods of other nations. They weakened their borders and weakened their faith. Eventually enemies invaded, including the Assyrians (who desecrated the Northern tribes) and the Babylonians (who destroyed the Southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin, which included Jerusalem). After the destruction of Jerusalem, Jeremiah wrote poems of lament, crying over the loss of Jerusalem:

Lamentations 1:6-7

All of her splendour is gone from the daughter of Zion; her leaders have become like deer [k-ayyalim כְּאַיָּלִים֙] that have found no pasture, and they have fled without strength from the pursuer.

In the days of her affliction and homelessness Jerusalem remembers all her treasures that were hers since the days of old, when her people fell into the hand of the adversary and no one helped her. The adversaries saw her, they laughed at her ruin.

There was no place to stop and re-group; no place to take nourishment; no place to rebuild their strength; no place to hide from the mocking. The people of Jerusalem were like a hunted deer without pasture, unable to stop and take a breath or a drink. Thirsty, exhausted, helpless, starving, and demoralized, the people of exile had hit rock bottom. Only YHWH could save them; only YHWH could provide the living water that they needed to truly live.

In the Song of Solomon the bride compared her lover to a young stag (deer) who was strong and graceful and stood on the mountain of balsam trees. 

Song of Songs 8:14  (See also Song of Songs 2:9, 17)

[The Bride:] “Hurry, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or the young (stag) deer: [ha-ayyalim הָֽאַיָּלִ֔ים] on the mountains of balsam trees!”

These were the final words in the Song of Songs and it seems like a strange way to end this poetry. In the days of the Bible, balm from the balsam tree was used in medicine and perfume. In the Song of Songs we are introduced to the Groom (YHWH) and the Bride (the Church). The poet imagined the Groom, in the end, standing in beauty and health, bringing goodness and healing to His people. He would be the One who would save us:

Isaiah 35:4-6

Say to those with anxious heart, “Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; the retribution of God will come, but He will save you.”

Then the eyes of those who are blind will be opened, and the ears of those who are deaf will be unstopped. Then those who limp will leap like a deer [ka-ayyal כָּֽאַיָּל֙], and the tongue of those who cannot speak will shout for joy. For waters will burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert.”

This was the image… we are all like panting deer, thirsting (longing) for the waters of salvation. Only YHWH can provide the waters in the wilderness. Only He can sustain us; only He can give us the joy that causes us to lay down our troubles and leap like a deer.

The Watery Reflection of YHWH

Yeshua (Jesus) also used this panting-thirst imagery in His teachings:

John 4:7-14

A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” For His disciples had gone away to the city to buy food. 

So the Samaritan woman said to Him, “How is it that You, though You are a Jew, are asking me for a drink, though I am a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) 

Jesus replied to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who is saying to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” 

She said to Him, “Sir, You have no bucket and the well is deep; where then do You get this living water? You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well and drank of it himself, and his sons and his cattle?” 

Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never be thirsty; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.”

Yeshua is the Living Water, the Fountain of Life, the Cure to our spiritual panting and thirst. He satisfies our thirst, but it cannot stop there. We must help others find the stream. Just like water produces a reflection, we are YHWH’s reflection on earth. We are His Image Bearers and we are meant to bring the people to the well and share God’s abundance:

Matthew 25:34-40

[Jesus:] “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, just as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, but the goats on the left.

Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’”

Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You as a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 

And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of Mine, you did it for Me.’

Let us not sit idly by while those around us are thirsty, hungry, uninvited, naked, sick, and imprisoned. We should be panting for the water of Life that YHWH provides, and when we have relieved our thirst we can bring others to the watering hole! The Water of Life is for everyone. Don’t leave anyone behind!

Next week: Brooks/Streams