New American Standard Bible 1995

Back to Reader

2 Samuel

12

:

3

"But the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb Which he bought and nourished; And it grew up together with him and his children. It would eat of his bread and drink of his cup and lie in his bosom, And was like a daughter to him.

Lexicon

Verse part Definition: Part of speech: Strong's: Hebrew: Transliteration:
"But the poor to be in want or poor Verb H7326 וְלָרָ֣שׁ ve·la·rash
man had nothing nothing, nought Particle H369 אֵֽין־ ein-
except that, for, when Conjunction H3588 כִּי֩ ki
one one Adjective H259 אַחַ֤ת a·chat
Analysis:

One: God

Refers to HaShem (God), Who is One. This number can also refer to unity. The first place the number "one" occurs is in Genesis 1:5. There one reads, "And there was an evening and there was a morning— one day". Later on in this same book of Genesis, it is stated concerning the man and his wife, "And they became one flesh" (Genesis 2:24). It is very significant that in both of these examples there was a multiplicity for the subject. In the first example, the evening and the morning became one day and in the second example, it was Adam and Eve who became one flesh.

One of the most famous passages in the Torah concerning HaShem is Deuteronomy 6:4 which states, "Hear O Israel the Lord your God the Lord is One." The question that a person must ask himself is what is the connection between the use of the Hebrew word אחד "one" which identifies a multiplicity being one and the fact that the Lord God of Israel is One? The answer is that the Hebrew word אחד can relate to the concept for one as in "unification". There is another Hebrew word that would have been possible to be used if the author wanted to refer to an absolute oneness or singleness. This is the Hebrew word יחיד. In fact, there is a well-known prayer in Judaism which states, "אחד ואין יחיד כיחודו". This phrase should be translated as, "(God is) One and there is no singularity as His singularity." The idea that is being expressed in this prayer is that the Lord God of Israel is One; but not an absolute One; rather there is a uniqueness and a complexity to His Oneness.

The number one is frequently employed to express in the Scriptures one object, such as one man or one tabernacle. This usage would be the simple or common purpose that the number one or for that matter any number, would appear in a Biblical text. Often the appearance of a number does not contain any of the significance that Hebrew numerology might offer. Therefore, the reader must always consider when coming across a verse which contains a number, that the number only expresses an amount and no additional significance. 

Because the number one is often associated with God, there is a unique phenomenon in the Scriptures concerning this number. Sometimes the number one is employed to express a unique relationship that the object has to HaShem. For example,

"And it will be one day, it will be known to HaShem..." Zechariah 14:7

In the text above, Zechariah could have stated simply, "And it will be a day…" The fact that the prophet said "one day" is to convey that this day is uniquely related to God. Similarly, it is stated by the prophet Ezekiel in chapter 37, "one King", "one nation" and "one Shepherd" (see Ezekiel 37:22, 24). Each of these objects—King, nation and Shepherd—has a connection to HaShem. The King and Shepherd is Messiah Yeshua, the Son of God and the one nation is Israel, the people of God.

Loveisrael.org - Baruch Korman, Ph.D. - All Rights Reserved - Used with Permission 2016

little small, young, unimportant Adjective H6996 קְטַנָּה֙ ke·tan·nah
ewe lamb ewe lamb Noun H3535 כִּבְשָׂ֨ה kiv·sah
Which who, which, that Particle H834 אֲשֶׁ֣ר a·sher
he bought to get, acquire Verb H7069 קָנָ֔ה ka·nah,
and nourished; to live Verb H2421 וַיְחַיֶּ֕הָ vay·chai·ye·ha
And it grew to grow up, become great Verb H1431 וַתִּגְדַּ֥ל vat·tig·dal
up together together H3164    
with him and his children. son Noun H1121 בָּנָ֖יו ba·nav
It would eat to eat Verb H398 תֹאכַ֜ל to·chal
of his bread fragment, bit, morsel Noun H6595 מִפִּתֹּ֨ו mip·pit·tov
and drink to drink Verb H8354 תִשְׁתֶּה֙ tish·teh
of his cup a cup Noun H3563 וּמִכֹּסֹ֤ו u·mik·ko·sov
and lie to lie down Verb H7901 תִשְׁכָּ֔ב tish·kav,
in his bosom, bosom Noun H2436 וּבְחֵיקֹ֣ו u·ve·chei·kov
And was like a daughter daughter Noun H1323 כְּבַֽת׃ ke·vat.
to him.      

Parallel Verses

Removed text
Added text
New American Standard Bible 1995 "But the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb Which he bought and nourished; And it grew up together with him and his children. It would eat of his bread and drink of his cup and lie in his bosom, And was like a daughter to him.
King James Bible "But But the poor man had nothing except nothing, save one little ewe lamb Which lamb, which he had bought and nourished; And nourished up: and it grew up together with him him, and with his children. It would children; it did eat of his bread own meat, and drink drank of his cup own cup, and lie lay in his bosom, And and was like unto him as a daughter to him.daughter.
Hebrew Greek English "But the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb Which he bought and nourished; And it grew up together with him and his children. It would eat of his bread and drink of his cup and lie in his bosom, And was like a daughter to him.