Thursday, January 27, 2011

Just Relax!

I think we all have times in our lives when we seriously just need to relax... just let things rest in the hands of God and relax.

I don't necessarily claim to know how to do this very well but there have definitely been times in my life when I've needed to relax and, no doubt, there will continue to. I was reminded of this a few weeks ago as I have continued to read through the Psalms in the LXX. I was reading through Psalm 46 that day and ran into the famous phrase from verse 10. Most translations have the phrase, "Be still, and know that I am God."

However, the New English Translation of the Septuagint translated this verse as "Relax, and know that I am God!" Relax!

It's amazing how just a slightly different phrasing can catch your attention, isn't it? Of course, before I wanted to meditate too much on the thought of relaxing in God I wanted to know if this was a trustworthy way of translating this word:

The LXX uses the word, "sxolasate" (scholasate). This word means "to have time or leisure for" or to "be unoccupied, stand empty" (BDAG).

This word is relatively rare in the NT. It is used in 1 Cor. 7:5 as the word "devote" (in most translations) in the phrase "devote yourselves to prayer." In other words, make the time for prayer. It is also used in Mt. 12:44 in the other sense of "emptiness" or "unoccupied."

So, for the most part, I think this word could very well be translated as "relax" based on this word... but what about the original Hebrew? Is sxolasate a fair translation of the original Hebrew word?

Well, apparently the Hebrew word is "raphah" which means "to sink, relax, sink down, let drop..." It sounds like there's probably something to this!

So while we might all still think in terms of "Be still" maybe we can let this idea of relaxing in who God is shape how we view what being still actually looks like.

In what ways do you "relax and know" that He is God?
How well do you do that? Why?

Take a few moments and relax!

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