{"id":82037,"date":"2020-10-25T12:44:09","date_gmt":"2020-10-25T10:44:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=82037"},"modified":"2020-10-25T12:44:09","modified_gmt":"2020-10-25T10:44:09","slug":"letting-the-sack-out-of-the-bag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/letting-the-sack-out-of-the-bag\/","title":{"rendered":"Letting The Sack Out Of The Bag"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"82037","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":64450,"related_cahpter":"597","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"It\u2019s not called sackcloth for nothing\r\n\r\n","content":"

In Psalm 30, the psalmist is thanking God for redemption from crisis. He was ailing, close to death, and God healed him and prevented him from dying.<\/span><\/p>\n

The final verses explain that the salvation was so he could write psalms just like this one:<\/span><\/p>\n

You turned my lament into dancing, you undid my sackcloth and girded me with joy, that [my] whole being might sing hymns to You endlessly; O LORD my God, I will praise You forever.\u201d (Psalms 30:12-13)<\/span><\/p>\n

I would like to focus on one particular word in the verses above: sackcloth. The Hebrew word for \u201csackcloth\u201d is <\/span>sak<\/span><\/em>, and that is not a coincidence. The word <\/span>sak\u00a0<\/span><\/em>has two meanings in Hebrew. It can mean either \u201csackcloth\u201d (as in our verse) or \u201ca large cloth bag\u201d \u2013 i.e. a \u201csack.\u201d This word was found in many Semitic languages, and from one of them was borrowed into Greek as <\/span>sakkos<\/span><\/em>, then Latin as <\/span>saccus<\/span><\/em>, and eventually it became the English \u201csack.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Both meanings are found in the story of Joseph. In Genesis 37:34, after the brothers show Jacob Joseph\u2019s bloody coat, the Torah tells us: \u201cJacob rent his clothes, put sackcloth <\/span>sak\u00a0<\/span><\/em>on his loins, and observed mourning for his son many days.\u201d Sackcloth was a coarsely woven fabric, often made of goat\u2019s hair, and was worn at times of mourning or social protest.<\/span><\/p>\n

And later, when the brothers came down to Egypt, and were preparing to return to Canaan, Joseph ordered that their money be returned to them: \u201cThen Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, return each one\u2019s money to his sack <\/span>sak<\/span><\/em>, and give them provisions for the journey…\u201d (Genesis 42:25)\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But which meaning came first \u2013 the cloth or the bag?<\/span><\/p>\n

As you might have guessed, there are two opinions. Some say that <\/span>sak<\/span><\/em>\u00a0first meant a bag, and then later it was extended to any fabric made of that same material. Others say that it first meant the material, and since bags were commonly made from it, the bag was called <\/span>sak<\/span><\/em>\u00a0as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

In any case, the psalmist wasn\u2019t wearing a sack. He had been wearing sackcloth, and was rejoicing for the mourning period being over, and being released from this unpleasant situation.<\/span><\/p>\n

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