TODAH: Revisiting Thanks!

This weekend, in Canada, we celebrate Thanksgiving… a beautiful, food-filled, celebration of gratitude.  At my place of employment I’m responsible for producing our weekly internal newsletter. This week I wrote on the etymology of the English word THANKS which I thought I’d share with you. Although this blog is all about Hebrew words, it’s also good to know the root of our English words. Here’s what I wrote:

The work “thanks” actually comes from the Latin word tongēre which means “to think”. Yes, think and thank are related. Originally it expressed the idea of thinking with fondness about what someone has done for you or fondly thinking of your good circumstances. By thinking this way our thoughts turn into thanking.

In Proto Germanic it was the word thanka, which evolved into the modern German word danke. In Old English it was þanc (the runic letter þ was pronounced ‘th’) which evolved into the modern English word THANK. 

The Italian and Spanish words for thanks came from a different Latin root. The Latin phrase gratias agere meant to express gratitude and that’s where the Spanish word gracias and the Italian word grazie came from. It is also the root for the English word gracious which is synonymous with the word thankful (filled with gracious thinking).

As a child of God, are you filled with gracious thinking? When you think of the life you’ve been given, are you thankful?

Thankfulness was a core component of the Jewish lifestyle. We know that early Jewish celebrations had Hymns of Thanksgiving (Nehemiah 12:27) and Sacrifices of Thanksgiving (Leviticus 22:29-30, Amos 4:4-5). 

In one of Asaph’s Psalms God spoke plainly to His people:

Psalm 50:23

“He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving [todah תּוֹדָ֗ה] honours Me; and to him who sets his way properly I will show the salvation of God.”

This was exactly what David did. He took God’s words to heart; he praised YHWH, followed God’s path, continually offered thanksgiving, and saw God’s salvation play out in his life, time and time again. He was the perfect choice to be the ancestor of the Messiah, not because he, himself, was perfect, but because he embodied what it meant to be a child of YHWH… one who praises and thanks God with a gracious and humble heart.

Psalm 69 has been attributed to David. This week I encourage you to learn verse 30, as it makes for a simple, yet profound, prayer of thankfulness: 

Psalm 69:30

[David:] I will praise the name of God with song, and exalt Him with thanksgiving [v-todah].

A’hallah shem Elohim b-shir, wa-a’gad’lenu v-todah

אֲהַֽלְלָ֣ה שֵׁם־אֱלֹהִ֣ים בְּשִׁ֑יר וַאֲגַדְּלֶ֥נּוּ בְתֹודָֽה׃

To read the original Hebrew Word Lesson posting on being THANKFUL, click below:

TODAH

Next week: THIRST (Psalm 42)