by Ptr. Art Calaguas
Shalom.
Last week I mentioned in my reflection about the great acrostic Psalm 119:105 which has the author declaring that the Word of the LORD is a lamp to his feet and a light to his path and pointed out the clear resonance of this Psalm’s use of light with our Lord Jesus as the Word who became flesh and tabernacled with men saying that “I AM” the light of the world. However, I did not explain what an “acrostic” means. I will now address this omission.
A Hebrew acrostic is perhaps best exemplified by this Psalm 119. There are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet. In Psalm 119, the author structured the Psalm to have 22 stanzas following the Hebrew alphabet and 8 verses each per stanza. Our English Bibles of course cannot show this. In stanza 1, all the first letters of each verse starts with the first letter of their alphabet, א (“aleph”). So imagine all 8 verses of this stanza beginning with the “aleph.” The next stanza has all of its 8 verses start with the letter ב (“beth”); and so on. In my example of Psalm 119:105, we are actually in the 14th letter already, נ (“nun”). The actual 8 Hebrew verses of Psalm 119:105-112 are shown below:
נֵר־לְרַגְלִ֥י דְבָרֶ֑ךָ וְ֝אֹ֗ור לִנְתִיבָתִֽי׃
נִשְׁבַּ֥עְתִּי וָאֲקַיֵּ֑מָה לִ֝שְׁמֹ֗ר מִשְׁפְּטֵ֥י צִדְקֶֽךָ׃
נַעֲנֵ֥יתִי עַד־מְאֹ֑ד יְ֝הוָ֗ה חַיֵּ֥נִי כִדְבָרֶֽךָ׃
נִדְבֹ֣ות פִּ֭י רְצֵה־נָ֣א יְהוָ֑ה וּֽמִשְׁפָּטֶ֥יךָ לַמְּדֵֽנִי׃
נַפְשִׁ֣י בְכַפִּ֣י תָמִ֑יד וְ֝תֹֽורָתְךָ֗ לֹ֣א שָׁכָֽחְתִּי׃
נָתְנ֬וּ רְשָׁעִ֣ים פַּ֣ח לִ֑י וּ֝מִפִּקּוּדֶ֗יךָ לֹ֣א תָעִֽיתִי׃
נָחַ֣לְתִּי עֵדְוֹתֶ֣יךָ לְעֹולָ֑ם כִּֽי־שְׂשֹׂ֖ון לִבִּ֣י הֵֽמָּה׃
נָטִ֣יתִי לִ֭בִּי לַעֲשֹׂ֥ות חֻקֶּ֗יךָ לְעֹולָ֥ם עֵֽקֶב׃
Reading the Hebrew poetic lines from right to left, then top-down, it will be plain to see that all the 8 verses start with the very same letter נ (“nun”)! Verse 105 is literally translated as “a lamp to my feet (is) your word, and a light to my path.” It does not take a mighty imagination to realize the masterpiece the author has created in Psalm 119. But loads of wonder and admiration will help.
My NIV Study Bible comments that the author structures the Psalm around the use of 8 different Hebrew words in each stanza. These Hebrew words (or their plural derivatives) are the following: חֹק (“choq” meaning decree); תּוֹרָה (“torah” meaning law/instruction/teaching); מִצְוָה (“mitzvah” meaning commandment); עֵדוּת (“eduth” meaning testimony); פִקּוּד (“piqqud” meaning precept/statute); מִשְׁפָט (“mishpat” meaning judgment/ordinance) אִמְרָה (“imrah” meaning utterance/word/promise); and דָבָר (“dabar” meaning word). Each stanza will feature a minimum of 6 of these words; some feature 8! I would also add דֶּרֶךְ (“derek” meaning way) as it is used also in the different stanzas. These terms reflect what my ESV Global Study Bible refer to as the “covenant revelation” of the LORD to his people. The ESV Global Study Bible further states that Psalm 119 is not only the longest psalm; it is also the most carefully structured chapter in the Bible.
One may ask if the Hebrew Old Testament (OT) books that feature the same starting letter in a successive structure would be called “acrostic.” Not necessarily. An example that most people would readily recognize is in the Book of Ecclesiastes, specifically the oft-quoted Chapter 3 that speaks about seasons and time for everything under heaven.
The Hebrew version of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 is given below:
לַכֹּ֖ל זְמָ֑ן וְעֵ֥ת לְכָל־חֵ֖פֶץ תַּ֥חַת הַשָּׁמָֽיִם׃
עֵ֥ת לָלֶ֖דֶת וְעֵ֣ת לָמ֑וּת עֵ֣ת לָטַ֔עַת וְעֵ֖ת לַעֲקֹ֥ור נָטֽוּעַ׃
עֵ֤ת לַהֲרֹוג֙ וְעֵ֣ת לִרְפֹּ֔וא עֵ֥ת לִפְרֹ֖וץ וְעֵ֥ת לִבְנֹֽות׃
עֵ֤ת לִבְכֹּות֙ וְעֵ֣ת לִשְׂחֹ֔וק עֵ֥ת סְפֹ֖וד וְעֵ֥ת רְקֹֽוד׃
עֵ֚ת לְהַשְׁלִ֣יךְ אֲבָנִ֔ים וְעֵ֖ת כְּנֹ֣וס אֲבָנִ֑ים עֵ֣ת לַחֲבֹ֔וק וְעֵ֖ת לִרְחֹ֥ק מֵחַבֵּֽק׃
עֵ֤ת לְבַקֵּשׁ֙ וְעֵ֣ת לְאַבֵּ֔ד עֵ֥ת לִשְׁמֹ֖ור וְעֵ֥ת לְהַשְׁלִֽיךְ׃
עֵ֤ת לִקְרֹ֙ועַ֙ וְעֵ֣ת לִתְפֹּ֔ור עֵ֥ת לַחֲשֹׁ֖ות וְעֵ֥ת לְדַבֵּֽר׃
עֵ֤ת לֶֽאֱהֹב֙ וְעֵ֣ת לִשְׂנֹ֔א עֵ֥ת מִלְחָמָ֖ה וְעֵ֥ת שָׁלֹֽום׃
Reading from right-left, top-down, we see that other than Verse 1 all the other verses start with the same word עֵ֤ת (“et” meaning time). Verse 8 would be translated as “A time to love and a time to hate, a time of war and a time of peace.” In English, verses 2-8 all start with “A time.” But these verses do not reflect an acrostic structure.
To close out the references to light in the OT as underpinnings for John 8:12, we can note that Ecclesiastes itself makes use of the word “light” in 3 verses: 2:13; 11:7; and 12:2. We will take up only the first one which serves as part of the “meaningless” backdrop which segues into Ecclesiastes 3.
In Ecclesiastes 2:13, Qoheleth/Solomon recognizes that wisdom is an advantage/excellent/better choice than folly/foolishness, as light is better than darkness. Note that the Hebrew noun יִתְרוֹן (“yithron” meaning advantage/profit) is found only in the Book of Ecclesiastes (10 occurrences). Even if Qoheleth/Solomon concluded that it was “all meaningless,” it does not change the fact that it is much better to have wisdom rather than folly as it is to choose light over darkness. And little did he know that the ultimate light of the world would come later on as his descendant and show to all that indeed, it is much better to choose light and that choice can never be meaningless to the ultimate question of humankind’s destiny!
We shall continue next week with the other “I AM” declarations of our Lord Jesus in Chapter 8 of the Gospel of John.
God bless us all.