Pearls of the Word

(Back to Index)

To add drunkenness to thirst

by Jean-Louis Coraboeuf

"And it would happen, when he hears the words of this curse, that he blesses himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of my heart to add drunkenness [raveh] to thirst [tsame]" (Deuteronomy 29:19 One New Man).

The Hebrew word raveh means 'watered' as in, "You shall be like a watered garden" (Isaiah 58:11); raveh represents what is right. And the Hebrew word tsame means 'dry' as in, "For I will pour water on the dry ground..." (Isaiah 44:3); tsame represents what is evil, sin.

Moses warns the people of Israel against the fact of appearing just externally, but sinning in his heart by secretly worshipping idols. That is why this verse could have been written as, "And it would happen... saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of my heart to add the dry (which is sin) to the watered (which is right)".