Gift: mattan, masculine noun (Strong’s 4976); matt’na, Aramaic feminine noun (Strong’s 4978); mattanah, feminine noun (Strong’s 4979). These come from the verb nattan (natten in Aramaic) (Strong’s 5414/5415) meaning to give.
This year the Jewish celebration of Purim starts on Thursday March 13th, at sundown, and lasts until Friday at sunset. Included in the revelry is the giving of gifts. In Hebrew, a gift is a mattan which comes from the verb nattan, meaning to give. The names Nathan, Nathaniel, Matthew and Matthias have their roots in the Hebrew word for gift. Nathaniel, for example, means My Gift is God or God is my Gift. To read the original posting (tidied up), click below:
Mattan: GIFT
Purim is a reminder that, for centuries upon centuries, the Jewish people have been a target of genocide. I encourage you all to read the scroll of Esther this week to remember that God chose the Hebrew people to bring forth the greatest gift… the Messiah. They are not more important than any other of God’s children, but they had a job to do and they delivered. The consequence for carrying that task was a lot of hatred and hardship thrown their way. The forces of darkness have targeted the Jewish people for the role they have played in God’s salvation plan. The Nazi regime was only one order that was fueled by the God’s Adversary to murder the Jews. The Jews have also been blamed, beaten, and killed by a wide variety of cultures and religions across the ages, including the Egyptians, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Seleucid Empire, the Romans, the Muslims, the Christians, Apartheid South Africa, and Tsarist Russia, to name a few.
Psalm 9:13
Be gracious to me, YHWH; see my oppression from those who hate me, You who lift me up from the gates of death…
חָֽנְנֵ֬נִי יְהוָ֗ה רְאֵ֣ה עָ֭נְיִי מִשֹּׂנְאָ֑י מְ֝רֹומְמִ֗י מִשַּׁ֥עֲרֵי מָֽוֶת
Khan’neni YHWH; r’eh an’yi mi-son’ai m-rohm’mi mi-sha’arey mawet
Although the Esther story is a reminder of what it was like to live under anti-Semitism, it was also a story of victory and joy. The attempted annihilation of the Jews was stopped and the aggressors were punished. In victory the people were called to share share food with their neighbours and give gifts to the needy:
Esther 9:20-22
Then Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, obliging them to celebrate the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same month, annually because on those days the Jews rid themselves of their enemies, and it was a month which was turned for them from grief into joy, and from mourning into a holiday; that they were to make them days of feasting and rejoicing, and sending portions of food to one another, and gifts [u-mattanoht וּמַתָּנ֖וֹת] to the poor.
This week consider sharing a meal with a friend and giving a gift to someone in need, to honour the fact that God will bring the victory. In all your sufferings, YHWH will lift you up and carry you home. Victory is in His hands, and all you’re called to do is live well, as God’s image bearer, and share the love and provisions given to you!
Next week: Knowledge
Hebrew Word Lessons 