Thirst: Tsame, verb (Strong’s 6770); Tsame, adjective (Strong’s 6771); Tsama, masculine noun (Strong’s 6772); Tsima, feminine noun (Strong’s 6773); Tsimmaon (thirsty ground), masculine mount (Strong’s 6774).
Root: צָמֵא
Sounds like: tsaw-meh
Psalm 42:1-2
As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, God. My soul thirsts [tsam’ah צָמְאָ֬ה] for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God?
A few weeks back we started breaking down the words in Psalm 42:1-2. We’ve looked at the panting deer and brooks/streams. In the next few weeks we will look at two phrases: the “living God” and appearing “before God”, but today we’re going to look at the word “thirst”, tsama.
After Moses led the people out of Egypt and into the wilderness, they soon realized that they were in a precarious state. There was no food to eat and no water to drink. They were overwhelmed with thirst:
Exodus 17:1-4
Then all the congregation of the sons of Israel journeyed by stages from the wilderness of Sin, according to the command of YHWH, and camped at Rephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink. So the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water so that we may drink!” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test YHWH?” But the people were thirsty [wai-ts’ma] for water there; and they grumbled against Moses and said, “Why is it that you have you brought us up from Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst [ba-tsama בַּצָּמָֽא]?” So Moses cried out to YHWH, saying, “What am I to do with this people? A little more and they will stone me!”
So YHWH provided water from a rock so the people could quench their thirst. This miracle was pivotal to the redemption story. Water is essential to life; every creature on the planet needs it. There is a physical thirst that needs quenching, but there is also a spiritual thirst that needs to be satisfied.
The physical thirst that was relieved in the above wilderness wandering story was so impactful that future Biblical writers brought it up to remind the readers of God’s lovingkindness and generosity:
Deuteronomy 8:11, 15
“Be careful that you do not forget YHWH your God by failing to keep His commandments, His ordinances, and His statutes which I am commanding you today… He who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions, and its thirsty ground [w-tsima’own וְצִמָּא֖וֹן] where there was no water; He who brought water for you out of the rock of flint.”
Isaiah reminded the people that the Babylonians (Chaldeans) had no power over the redeemed people of YHWH. God had the power to bring water out of stone. What could the Chaldeans do to His people?
Isaiah 48:20-21
Go out from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! Declare with the sound of joyful shouting, proclaim this, send it out to the end of the earth; say, “YHWH has redeemed His servant Jacob.”
They did not thirst [w-lo tsam’u וְלֹ֣א צָמְא֗וּ] when He led them through the deserts. He made the water flow out of the rock for them; He split the rock and the water gushed out.
YHWH would take care of His people. He would guide them to water. He would not let them go thirsty:
Isaiah 49:10
“They will not hunger or thirst [w-lo yi-ts’mau וְלֹ֣א יִצְמָ֔אוּ], nor will the scorching heat or sun strike them down; for He who has compassion on them will lead them, and He will guide them to springs of water.”
However, the Hebrew people were eventually overcome by the Bablyonians and they went into exile. But they did not stay in Babylon. Seventy years after their exile they were able to return to Jerusalem. Nehemiah was Jewish and he was assigned to be the governor of Persian controlled Judah. Under his guidance Jerusalem was rebuilt. The priests of Levi recited the following prayer:
Nehemiah 9:15, 19-21
“You provided bread from heaven for them for their hunger, You brought out water from a rock for them for their thirst [li-ts’ma’am לִצְמָאָ֑ם], and You told them to enter in order to take possession of the land which You swore to give them…
…You, in Your great compassion, did not abandon them in the wilderness; the pillar of cloud did not leave them by day, to guide them on their way, nor the pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way in which they were to go. Instead, You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them, You did not withhold Your manna from their mouth, and You gave them water for their thirst [li-ts’ma’am לִצְמָאָֽם]. Indeed, for forty years You provided for them in the wilderness and they were not lacking; their clothes did not wear out, nor did their feet swell up.”
The people celebrated God’s saving hand and it’s not surprising that one of the Psalmists recalled God’s rescue in their poem:
Psalm 107:4-6, 33-35
They wandered in the wilderness in a desert region; they did not find a way to an inhabited city. They were hungry and thirsty [ts’meyim צְמֵאִ֑ים]; their souls felt weak within them. Then they cried out to YHWH in their trouble; He saved them from their distresses…
…He turns rivers into a wilderness, and springs of water into a thirsty ground [l-tsima’own לְצִמָּאֽוֹן]; and a fruitful land into a salt waste, because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it. He turns a wilderness into a pool of water, and a dry land into springs of water.
Do Not Let People Go Thirsty
Throughout the Hebrew Bible the followers of YHWH were called to care for the needy, the widows, the orphans, the poor and the foreigners. They were not to let people go hungry or thirsty. The people we even commanded to give water to their enemies:
Proverbs 25:21-22
If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; and if he is thirsty [tsamey צָ֝מֵ֗א], give him water to drink; for you will heap burning coals on his head, and YHWH will reward you.
Boaz remembered YHWH’s commandment to care for the foreigners, even those who come from enemy territories lands. Ruth was a Moabite. Her and her mother-in-law, Naomi, were poor and desolate when they arrived in Bethlehem. But Boaz showed kindness and generosity to them:
Ruth 2:8-10
Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen carefully, my daughter. Do not go to glean in another field; furthermore, do not go on from this one, but join my young women here. Keep your eyes on the field which they reap, and go after them. Indeed, I have ordered the servants not to touch you. And when you are thirsty [w-tsamit וְצָמִ֗ת], go to the water jars and drink from what the servants draw.”
Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favour in your sight that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?”
The Prophet Isaiah expressed the wicked actions of fools:
Isaiah 32:6
For a fool speaks nonsense, and his heart inclines toward wickedness: to practice ungodliness and to speak error against YHWH, to keep the hungry person unsatisfied and to withhold drink from the thirsty [tsamey צָמֵ֖א].
The planet earth is filled with good land and good water. We are meant to share it and care for it. We are to protect it and responsibly ensure that everyone has access to clean drinking water. Sadly, we are far from completing this task.
Spiritual Thirst: Thirsting for God
Physical thirst is painful, and it tears down your body quickly and violently. But the Bible maintains that there is another thirst more detrimental to the soul. We should be always thirsting for God:
Psalm 63:1-5
[David:] God, You are my God; I shall be watching for You; my soul thirsts [tsam’ah צָמְאָ֬ה] for You, my flesh yearns for You, in a dry and exhausted land where there is no water. So have I seen You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and glory.
Because Your favour is better than life, my lips will praise You. So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. My soul is satisfied as with fat and fatness, and my mouth offers praises with joyful lips.
When the Hebrew people turned away from God, and did not thirst for Him, they turned to paths of foreign nations and foreign gods. In that state they did not thirst spiritually so instead they became physically thirsty:
Deuteronomy 28:47-48a
“Since you did not serve YHWH your God with joy and a cheerful heart, in gratitude for the abundance of all things, you will serve your enemies whom YHWH will send against you, in hunger, and in thirst [u-v-tsama וּבְצָמָ֛א], and in nakedness, and devoid of all things….”
Rebelling against YHWH was a death sentence. When they put their faith in other gods they reaped the rewards of those gods, and those gods had nothing to offer. There was no sustenance and no fulfillment.
Isaiah 5:13-14
Therefore My people go into exile for their lack of knowledge; and their nobles are famished, and their multitude is parched with thirst [tsama צָמָֽא].
Therefore Sheol has enlarged its throat and opened its mouth beyond measure; and Jerusalem’s splendour, her multitude, her noise of revelry, and the jubilant within her, descend into it.
Following foreign gods meant following death. Thirsty Sheol drank down the multitudes of Jerusalem’s rebellious people and it was satisfied.
So, those who join in alliance with God’s enemies will become parched and thirsty. In fact, according to the Bible, those who wage war against Jerusalem (Ariel/Mount Zion) will be very thirsty and remain unsatisfied:
Isaiah 29:7-8 (see also Isaiah 65:13-15)
And the multitude of all the nations who wage war against Ariel, even all who wage war against her and her stronghold, and who distress her, will be like a dream, a vision of the night. It will be as when the hungry person dreams— and behold, he is eating; but when he awakens, his hunger is not satisfied, or as when the thirsty (person) [ha-tsamey הַצָּמֵא֙] dreams— and behold, he is drinking, but when he awakens, behold, he is faint and his soul is not quenched. So will the multitude of all the nations be who wage war against Mount Zion.
Spiritual Thirst Satisfied
Psalm 42:1-2
[David:] As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, God. My soul thirsts [tsam’ah צָמְאָ֬ה] for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God?
YHWH promised that those who spiritually thirst for Him will be satisfied:
Isaiah 41:17-18
“The poor and needy are seeking water, but there is none, and their tongues are parched with thirst [ba-tsama בַּצָּמָ֣א]. I, YHWH, will answer them Myself; as the God of Israel I will not abandon them. I will open rivers on the bare heights, and springs in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land fountains of water.”
There was hope for those who suffered physically; there would be a spiritual redemption available to everyone who called on YHWH. He would send a redeemer to save His people… a saviour to satisfy their spiritual thirst.
But this would not happen before a new famine would take place:
Amos 8:11
“Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord YHWH, “When I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, not a thirst [w-lo tsama וְלֹֽא־צָמָ֣א] for water, but rather for hearing the words of YHWH.”
A famine of hearing YHWH’s words is an interesting statement. There are a couple ways to look at this. This could be a famine of people choosing not to hear God’s words. This could also be a famine of the word of God taking a hiatus.
Although God is always watching and actively caring for His people, He would go silent for a time. We know this as the Inter-testamental period… the time between the writing of the Tanakh (Old Testament) and the writings of the B’rit Chadashah (New Testament). This four-hundred year gap occurred after the writing of Malachi. At the end of this period, God would speak again, this time through His Son, Yeshua.
Yeshua and Thirst
Yeshua (Jesus) embraced the analogy of thirst and spiritual fulfillment, and the Gospel writer John emphasised that in his account of Yeshua’s ministry:
Matthew 5:6
[Jesus:] “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst [Greek: dipsontes] for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
Yeshua most famously fleshed out this analogy when he spoke to the woman at the well:
John 4:13-14
Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty [Greek: dipsesei] again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never be thirsty [Greek: ou me dipsesei]; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.”
Later in His ministry, during the autumn Festival of Sukkot, Yeshua spoke to the massive crowds attending the festival:
John 7:37-39 (see also John 6:35)
Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty [Greek: dipsa], let him come to Me and drink. The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” But this He said in reference to the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Yeshua had a scriptural basis for His announcement tying “Living Water” to the Spirit:
Isaiah 44:1-4
“But now listen, Jacob, My servant, and Israel, whom I have chosen: This is what YHWH says, He who made you and formed you from the womb, who will help you:
‘Do not fear, Jacob My servant, and Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. For I will pour water on him who is thirsty [tsamey צָמֵ֔א] and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring, and My blessing on your descendants; and they will spring up among the grass like poplars by streams of water.’”
God would pour out His Spirit like He poured out water to the thirsty, and Yeshua would call on YHWH to do this:
John 14:16-17
“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, so that He may be with you forever; the Helper is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him; but you know Him because He remains with you and will be in you.”
Yeshua, the spiritual water-source of life, would, in his final moments, also be thirsty:
John 19:25-30
Now beside the cross of Jesus stood His mother, His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. So when Jesus saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own household.
After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, in order that the Scripture would be fulfilled, said, “I am thirsty [Greek: dipso].” A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth. Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.
Yeshua announced His thirst in order to fulfill Scripture. What Scripture was He fulfilling? Psalm 69 was attributed to King David, and David was the anointed one (meshiach) who would foreshadow his descendant, YHWH’s chosen Anointed One and the Redeemer of humanity. For this reason, many of David’s Psalms point towards the tragic, and victorious, end of God’s Anointed One. Psalm 69 is no exception:
Psalm 69:20-21
Disgrace has broken my heart, and I am so sick. And I waited for sympathy, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. They also gave me a bitter herb in my food, and for my thirst [w-li-ts’mai וְ֝לִצְמָאִ֗י] they gave me vinegar to drink.
It is no coincidence that Yeshua was offered vinegar as he hung alone on the cross, without sympathy or comfort. But Yeshua’s death was not the end of the story. John’s dream (or revelation) recorded the triumphant end to the human story:
Revelation 7:16-17
“They will no longer hunger nor thirst [Greek: oude dipsesousin], nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”
Here is the final message in the book of the Revelation:
Revelation 22:17 (see also Revelation 21:6)
The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty [Greek: dipson] come; let the one who desires, take the water of life without cost.
The water of life is free to anyone who wants it. There is no cost to be paid because Yeshua already paid the cost with His life. If you will drink of the Spirit; you will live and you will be satisfied.
Isaiah 55:1-3
“You there! Everyone who thirsts [tsamey צָמֵא֙], come to the waters; and you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and delight yourself in abundance. Incline your ear and come to Me.
Listen, that you may live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, according to the faithful mercies shown to David.”
Listen, so that you may live. The water of life is available to you, for free; you need not thirst any longer. Drink deep and be satisfied.
Next week: The Living God
Hebrew Word Lessons 