May theme: Focus on the Good
3. Hebrews 13:5 – God is always with us:
Within our theme verse this week is a quote from Deuteronomy 31:6, 8 and Joshua 1:5, where God said this to Israel three times.
One commentator noted God said it three times because He knew how easy it would be for Israel to forget and give up when things got difficult for them in claiming the Promised Land.
But then another commentator pointed out there was a triple negative in the Hebrews 13:5 quote. We heard on a sermon this past Christmas about how the Wise Men “rejoiced with exceedingly great joy” was a triple construction. I decided, therefore, to look at the different original texts to see what was going on with that.
Original Hebrew text – word-for-word translation
…the Lord your God goes with you;
He will never leave you
nor forsake you.”
= two single negatives
In the Septuagint (LXX) Greek text, the official translation from the Hebrew, the translators felt it took a double negative in Greek to communicate the same meaning in Hebrew, which by the way does not mean a positive, it’s a way of adding emphasis.
Not never will I leave you;
Nor never will I forsake you.
= two double negatives.
In the New Testament Greek quote in Hebrews 13:5 it says:
I will not never leave you,
nor not never forsake you.
= a double negative plus a triple negative.
In other words, there is a LOT of emphasis being made here about God not forsaking us. Paraphrasing the OT commentator, we could say the writer of Hebrews uses the triple negative, “no not never” because we as Christians also need that kind of emphasis to keep from forgetting and give up, especially when things become difficult. So what exactly is it we can be triple sure God WILL NOT do?
Forsake = Greek verb egkataleipó. From en-and -kataleipo; to leave behind in some place or let remain over (in a good sense), or (in a bad sense) to abandon, to desert, to forsake, to leave behind.
In the Septuagint, this Greek verb is used to translate the Hebrew terms for “abandon” especially about the covenant faithfulness of God to Israel. That concept is carried into the New Testament to describe God’s irrevocable loyalty to us as His people.
There are ten occurrences of this Greek word for abandonment in the NT. Here are some of the key verses:
2. Peter uses the word twice in his sermon in Acts 2 where he cites Psalm 16:10 as a prophecy about Jesus NOT being abandoned by God after the crucifixion.
To summarize these verses about Jesus and abandonment:
So that we could be saved at the cross.
His death was not a defeat, it was a victory!
What a tremendous promise to think about this week!
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