MIST: Sky Stuff Pt.2

Sky-Stuff pt2 MIST: eyd אֵד (Strong’s 108); anan עָנָ֖ן (Strong’s 6051); n’si’im נְשִׂאִ֖ים (Strong’s 5387b); hevel הֶ֥בֶל (Strong’s 1892).

In our second part of “Sky Stuff” we’re going to take a look at mist. There are four Hebrew words that get translated as mist. The one that probably hits the mark the most is ed (pronounced eyd). Ed plays a part in the early creation narrative:

Genesis 2:4-8

This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that YHWH God made earth and heaven. Now no shrub of the field was yet on the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for YHWH God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground. But a mist [w-eyd וְאֵ֖ד] used to rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground. Then YHWH God formed the man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living person. YHWH God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed.

Before the rain came down, water, in the form of mist, gave moisture to the earth. This earth-bound moisture came just before YHWH created humans and before He planted a garden. 

Life, including both plant and heart-beating creatures, has always relied on water. It is essential in God’s blueprint for creation. The only other time the root word eyd shows up is in Elihu’s speech to Job. Elihu was the mysterious “fourth friend” who gave insightful speeches about God’s sovereignty: 

Job 36:24-28

[Elihu to Job:] “Remember that you are to exalt His work, of which people have sung. All people have seen it; mankind looks at it from afar.

Behold, God is exalted, and we do not know Him; the number of His years is unsearchable. For He draws up the drops of water; they distill rain from its celestial stream mist [l-eydow לְאֵדֽוֹ], which clouds pour down; they drip upon mankind abundantly.

This gives us an idea of how the early Hebrew people understood the science of rain. YHWH drew up the drops of water from the mist and formed clouds. When the clouds (drawn up from YHWH’s hands) were ready, the rain would fall abundantly. Elihu’s speech continued:

Job 36:29-33a

Can anyone understand the spreading of the clouds, the thundering of His pavilion?

Behold, He spreads His lightning about Him, and He covers the depths of the sea. For by them He judges peoples; He gives food in abundance. He covers His hands with the lightning, and commands it to strike the target. Its thundering voice declares His presence…”

Mist clouds

This image of mist turning into clouds helps us understand why translators have used the Hebrew word anan, commonly translated as “cloud”, to also describe mist:

Isaiah 44:22-23a

[YHWH:] “I have wiped out your wrongdoings like a thick cloud [ka-av] and your sins like a heavy mist [w-ke-anan וְכֶעָנָ֖ן]. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.”

Shout for joy, you heavens, for YHWH has done it!

There are two main words for cloud (which we will revisit next week): av and anan. In this verse Isaiah talked about an av (thick is a translator’s embellishment) and an anan (heavy is also an added word to distinguish from the earlier “cloud”). Most translations have opted to present anan, in this verse, as a mist. 

In the eye of the ancient Hebrew reader, what was the difference between av and anan? We don’t know. This is where translators have to make interesting decisions. Isaiah’s message was that sins and wrongdoings were like thick clouds and heavy mists that carried a lot of weight but would ultimately disappear and fade away with God’s loving and active forgiveness. We get the gist from thick cloud and heavy mist, which makes the translators job a success. If we were to go only with what we know, the verse would say, “I have wiped out your wrongdoings like a cloud and your sins like a (slightly different) cloud”. It works but it’s doesn’t paint a robust picture. 

Rising Mist

Another Hebrew word that occasionally gets translated as mist or vapour is n’si’im. This word more frequently means leader/ruler/prince, but in a few instances the word gets translated as cloud/mist/vapour:

Jeremiah 10:11-16 (repeated almost verbatim in Jeremiah 51:15-18)

This is what you shall say to them [Israel]: “The gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under these heavens.”

It is He [YHWH] who made the earth by His power, who established the world by His wisdom; and by His understanding He has stretched out the heavens.

When He utters His voice, there is a roar of waters in the heavens, and He makes the clouds [mist/vapours: n’si’im נְשִׂאִ֖ים] ascend from the end of the earth; He makes lightning for the rain, and brings out the wind from His storehouses.

Every person is stupid, devoid of knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols, for his cast metal images are deceitful, and there is no breath in them. They are worthless, a work of mockery; at the time of their punishment they will perish.

The Portion of Jacob is not like these; for He is the Maker of everything, and Israel is the tribe of His inheritance; YHWH of armies is His name.

Jeremiah was eluding to the creation narrative where mist rose up/ascended from the earth and was the catalyst for rain. It was a reminder that YHWH was the God of Life, the Maker of everything, and the lifeless idols that Israel had started to worship were of no worth. 

Mist and rain were a reminder of an actively creating God who put life into everything He did.

The gift of mist and clouds is the rain water that they deliver. Without it, mist is just a puff of air with no substance. This image was used in the book of Proverbs:

Proverbs 25:14

Like clouds/mist [n’si’im נְשִׂיאִ֣ים] and wind without rain is a person who boasts of his gifts falsely.

Life is Like Fleeting Mist

The final word, which was occasionally translated as mist, is hevel הֶ֥בֶל. According to the Proverbs, wealth sometimes faded away like mist or vapour:

Proverbs 21:6-7

The acquisition of treasures by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapour [hevel הֶ֥בֶל], the pursuit of death. The violence of the wicked will sweep them away, because they refuse to act with justice.

More commonly, hevel meant vanities or meaninglessness (found frequently in the scroll of Ecclesiastes). But the idea was the same… an image of a life that dissipates into nothingness, like mist. For Solomon, life was futile and purposeless, like a vapour that disappeared into thin air. He may have found that idea in his father’s poetry:

Psalm 39:5b

[David:]  “YHWH, let me know my end, and what is the extent of my days; let me know how transient I am. Behold, You have made my days like hand widths, and my lifetime as nothing in Your sight; certainly all mankind standing is a mere mist/vapour/breath [hevel הֶ֥בֶל]. Selah

Certainly every person walks around as a fleeting shadow; they certainly make an uproar for nothing; He amasses riches and does not know who will gather them.

And now, Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in You.”

To David life was short and fleeting, but he had great hope that God was there, in the end, waiting for him. Solomon, in his declining years, molded the concept into a more fatalistic image. To Solomon, life wasn’t just short, it had lost its purpose. Life was an exercise leading to nothingness:

Ecclesiastes 1:2

“Vanity of vanities, all is vanities”

… OR “Vapour of vapour, all is vapour”

... OR “Mist of mist, all is mist”.

(Havel havalim ha-kol havel)

According to Solomon, life would just fade away… so what was the point of it all?

In the New Testament (B’rit Chadashah), the Epistle of James picked up on the life-is-like-a-mist theme:

James 4:13-15

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. For you are just a mist [Greek: atmis ἀτμὶς] that appears for a little while, and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.”

James wasn’t gloomily contemplating our meaningless lives. He held onto the hope that there was something better to come:

James 5:7-11

Therefore be patient, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. Do not complain, brothers and sisters, against one another, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door. As an example, brothers and sisters, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.

Job suffered like no other, and yet, at the end of the day, he was rewarded with a doubly blessed life. The same goes for all who trust in YHWH.

Our life may be a short and misty blip in the story of the Universe, but we are here for a purpose. We are to bear God’s image on this broken world… sharing love and compassion, sharing our treasures and our time, to make this world a kinder, gentler, place. In his hometown of Nazareth, Yeshua announced His mission. He was here to “bring good news to the poor, proclaim release to the captives, recover sight to the blind (including the spiritually blind), and set free ALL who are oppressed” (Luke 4:18-19). In our short little lives, this is also our mission. In all ways, let’s walk in the way that Yeshua taught us.

Next week: Sky Stuff pt.3 (Revisiting Clouds)