KNIFE: ma’akelet, feminine noun (Strong’s 3979)
Original Spelling: מַאֲכֶלֶת from root akal אָכַל (meaning to eat, consume or devour)
Sounds like: mah’ahkelet
This week I went “under the knife” and had a trapeziectomy with suspensionplasty in my left hand. I had the same procedure (removing a bone in my hand to eliminate arthritis pain) in January 2024 on my right hand. Essentially they just evened me out so I’m no longer lop-sided. I say that like it’s no big deal, but it is a rather invasive and painful procedure. I am thankful for pain-killers!
The most common Biblical Hebrew word for knife is ma’akelet and it never stands for a good thing. Abraham took a ma’akelet to kill Abraham, until God stopped him (Genesis 22:6-13). There’s also that horrific story in Judges 19 where the man seized his concubine, cut her up into 12 pieces (with a ma’akelet) and sent her body parts around the nation (Judges 19:29).
Proverbs gives us an image of a knife that is like teeth that devour:
Proverbs 30:14
There is a kind of person whose teeth are like swords and his jaw teeth like knives [u-ma’akeloht וּֽמַאֲכָל֪וֹת], to devour the poor from the earth and the needy from among mankind.
This Proverb captures the root of ma’akelet which is akal (אָכַל). Akal means to eat, devour, consume. This is the violence of a knife… a consumer, a devourer, a destroyer. Throughout history knives have been used in many nepharious ways, in particular, to tear people down and gain power for one’s self at the expense of others. Just think of how many times in history that people killed (literally) to be king. Violence has always been a tool for power, and knives have often been the top choice of tool for violence.
There are other Biblical Hebrew words identified as a knife or a cutting utensil, such as:
- sakkin שַׂכִּ֣ין (Strong’s 7915) which means an edge (see Proverbs 231-3)
- mazmerah מַזְמֵרָה (Strong’s 4211) which is a pruning knife (see Isaiah 2:4, 18:5, Micah 4:3, Joel 3:10)
- ma’khalaf מַחֲלָף (Strong’s 4252), a sacrificial knife (see Ezra 1:9)
- tsor צֹ֗ר (Strong’s 6864), a flint or sharp stone used as a knife (see Exodus 4:24-25)
- ta’ar תַּעַר (Strong’s 8593), a razor or scribe’s knife (see Jer 36:23, Psalm 52:2, Isaiah 7:20)
- kherev חֶרֶב (Strong’s 2719), sword (see Gen 3:24, occurs over 400 times in the Hebrew Bible)
The prophets imagined God’s world without violent knives and swords. They envisioned a world where we stopped using knives for violence and instead used them as tools for pruning.
Isaiah 2:2-4 (see also Isaiah 18:5, Micah 4:3, Joel 3:10)
Now it will come about that in the last days the mountain of the house of YHWH will be established as the chief of the mountains, and will be raised above the hills; and all the nations will stream to it.
And many peoples will come and say, “Come, let’s go up to the mountain of YHWH, to the house of the God of Jacob; so that He may teach us about His ways, and that we may walk in His paths.”
For the law will go out from Zion and the word of YHWH from Jerusalem. And He will judge between the nations, and will mediate for many peoples; and they will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning knives [l-maz’meroht לְמַזְמֵר֔וֹת]. Nation will not lift up a sword against nation, and never again will they learn war.
As humans, we have been commissioned to help the world grow and flourish, and that means pruning and nourishing every aspect of creation for its betterment, so that it can thrive. Jesus came to fulfill YHWH’s Kingdom on earth, teaching us to show love and kindness to everyone and everything. The result of that love is a flourishing world as God intended it to be… filled with beauty, glory and peace.
When Yeshua was arrested and Peter cut off the ear of the High Priest’s servant, Yeshua made sure the world would know that he would not condone human violence:
Luke 22:51-53
But Jesus responded and said, “Stop! No more of this.” And He touched his ear and healed him.
And Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders who had come against Him, “Have you come out with swords and clubs as you would against a man inciting a revolt? While I was with you daily in the temple, you did not lay hands on Me; but this hour and the power of darkness are yours.”
Yeshua would not condone the violence, but He knew that He was about to be subjected to one of the most savage forms of execution. The power of the Roman empire was all about swords and violence, but Yeshua taught a new kind of Kingdom where there would be no more war and no more terror. His Kingdom would be a place of life, like a well tended garden, pruned, watered and flourishing.
Knives can be violent tools, but they can also be helpful tools. With the pain I’m experiencing it almost feels like both, but cutting away damage (like a good pruning) is a good thing and I know this is a healing that needs to happen.
As I take the time to mend and be restored, I’m not sure what I’ll have for you next week. However, I will check in on Sunday non-the-less. God bless you all,
Sarah
Hebrew Word Lessons 