The Prophet Elijah and the Voice of the Spirit of Yahweh
by Ed Nelson
In 1 Kings 19:9-18 is the account of Yahweh’s appearing to Elijah in a cave at Mt. Horeb (Mt. Sinai), the desert mountain of Yahweh where the prophet spent an eventful, life-turning night. In verse 12 is a mysterious Hebrew phrase to which the whole narrative turns—qol demamah daqqa. What does it mean?
First, we will consider the events that led to this awesome, hidden revelation of the Spirit of Yahweh to Elijah.
Mt. Horeb, also known as Mt. Sinai, is the same place Yahweh met Moses several generations earlier. Here, after the fledgling nation’s exodus from Egypt, Yahweh covenanted with Israel and, by his angels, gave the Torah to Moses. The word Torah means “instruction, direction.”
Under threat of life, the prophet Elijah fled to the desert, running in fear for his life. Without angelic intervention he would have died there (cf. 1 Kings 19:3-9). With renewed strength from the bread and water provided by the angel, he walked for forty days and nights to the mountain.
The prophet Elijah fled to the mountain of God in desperation, running in fear for his life, needing instruction, hoping for divine direction. At this same mountain where God gave direction to Israel by giving the Torah through Moses, Elijah has fled to find Torah, i.e., direction for his life. He has to hear from Yahweh like Moses. He is hoping that Yahweh will reveal Himself again.
With his retreat to the mountain of God, we discover a dynamic link in the biblical narrative that connects Elijah to Moses, and Moses to Elijah. The correspondence between these two prophets has been hinted at all along in the biblical narrative. But here in 1 Kings 19 the spiritual connection between Elijah and his predecessor, Moses, was firmly grounded.
Background Summary
At an earlier stage in Elijah’s life, the prophet decreed a three year famine to come upon Northern Israel for its idolatry. No place was more severely stricken than the capital city of Samaria where the wicked King Ahab and his evil wife, Queen Jezebel, held court. Their animosity for the prophet only increased as the days of famine increased.
At the end of these dreadful three years, Elijah announced to the wicked king that the famine was ended and to prepare for a rainy season. With this announcement he asked the king for a summit on Mount Carmel. Four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and four hundred prophets of the Asherah represented King Ahab and Queen Jezebel.
Elijah’s famous encounter with the pagan prophets of Northern Israel revolved around offering a sacrifice on two altars, one to Baal and the other to Yahweh. Both sacrifices were to put their faith to the test. The offerings were to be made without the benefit of fire. In mutual agreement, it was established that the true God of Israel would answer by fire and consume the appropriate sacrifice. If Baal answered by fire, he was the true deity of Israel. If Yahweh answered by fire, He was the God of Israel. The true God of Israel would be declared. Whichever deity—Yahweh or Baal—answered the challenge by sending fire from heaven would be worshiped, and Him alone.
The political overtones of this for the royal family of Northern Israel were enormous. King Ahab and his wife Jezebel had led the nation into idol worship. If Baal, the deity of the royal family, failed to answer by fire, the king’s throne may be challenged as being inauthentic. If Yahweh answered by fire, not only would the king and his court be perceived as inauthentic, they would also be seen as evil.
The many prophets of Baal and Asherah prayed for fire to fall on their dry altar to no avail. Meanwhile, Elijah taunted the false prophets as he prepared his altar. He dug a trench around his altar to Yahweh to hold water he would later pour upon it. Then Elijah ordered twelve large jars of water to be poured on his sacrifice, one for each tribe of Israel. This audacious move challenged the authenticity and right of the King Ahab and his wife Jezebel to rule over a divided Israel. Israel was to be a unit of twelve tribes, not ten under Ahab and Jezebel with two tribes under the rightful king in Jerusalem. Elijah’s act reminded the onlookers and the nation of Israel that the people of God were a unity. Twelve jars of water for twelve tribes of Israel.
Elijah instructed that the water be poured atop his sacrifice. The stone altar, and the wood beneath it, was drenched. The freshly dug trench around the altar filled with water.
Then the prophet prayed to Yahweh, and Yahweh answered by fire. Flames fell upon the water-soaked altar and consumed the sacrifice, leaving nothing.
The next event was dreadful and bleak for the crown of Northern Israel. Elijah, relying on the Torah for his instruction, ordered the crowd to seize the pagan prophets and slay them for being false prophets.
When Queen Jezebel heard of the slaughter of her prophets, she was enraged. Her reaction was swift. She placed a death sentence on Elijah. She urged the followers of her kingdom to put Elijah to death by noon the next day. It didn’t happen, of course.
In fear and bewilderment, Elijah fled from Northern Israel through the South, all the way to the Sinai Desert. For forty days and nights he journeyed to Mt. Horeb, also known as Mt. Sinai. Arriving at the mountain, he found a cave, a cleft in the rock. In this shadowy, hard-rock place the Bible says “the Word of Yahweh came to him” (19:9). Yahweh asked him a question: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (19:9).
In reply, he described his great zeal for Yahweh, God of hosts. He described the reports of martyrdom of God’s prophets at the order of Ahab and Jezebel, and spoke of his fear as a result of the queen’s call for his death (19:10).
Elijah Linked to Moses
Though generations apart, Moses and Elijah are linked together in several parallel ways.
• Elijah, like Moses, fled to the desert to escape death after killing someone as a wanted man by pagan government leaders
• Elijah’s exile of forty days and nights in the desert before meeting Yahweh at Mt. Horeb (Mt. Sinai_ subtly parallels Moses exile of forty years in the desert before meeting Yahweh at the same mountain
• An angel led and directed both Moses and Elijah in the same desert (cf. Exodus 14:19 et al; 1 Kings 19:5-7)
• On the mountain, Elijah, like Moses, spoke to Yahweh out of deep frustration and desperation for speaking on his behalf to Israel (cf. Exodus 33)
• Elijah, like Moses, sought refuge inside a cave (or cleft) in the side of the mountain (cf. Exodus 33:21-23; 1 Kings 18:9)
• Elijah, like Moses, was called by Yahweh to see Yahweh pass by (cf. Exodus 33:19, 22; 1 Kings 19:11)
• Elijah, like Moses, experienced a fierce wind, an earthquake and fire on the mountain, but Yahweh’s voice was not in any of them (cf. Exodus 19:16-19; 1 Kings 19:11-12)
Moses and Elijah Linked to Messiah Jesus (Yeshua)
Near the end of Messiah Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) life on earth, He ascended a mountain in northern Galilee.
Already much speculation surrounded his identity and role. Some thought He was John the Baptist (the Immerser) returned from the dead. Others thought He was Elijah returning, or Jeremiah who died a horrific death, or was one of the prophets of old. Some thought, accurately so, that He was the Prophet spoken of by Moses (cf. Deuteronomy 18:15).
By divine revelation, the apostle Peter confessed his identity and role as the true Messiah.
With this admission, the countdown had begun. Soon Jesus (Yeshua) would face death by crucifixion. Time had entered a critical phase for Him. Though some saw Him connected to Moses and others to Elijah, the link to each of them was clearly revealed on the mountain.
Six days later Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his
brother and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. And
He was transfigured before them. And his face shone like the sun,
and his garments became as white as light. And behold, Moses
and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. (Matthew 17:1-3)
These two personages of the past, one who died a mysterious death and the other who did not see death, ministered to Him in preparation for his journey to Jerusalem where He would be put to death. Both Moses and Elijah had unforgettable mountain experiences with Yahweh. Now they would minister to the Son of God Himself atop a mountain where Messiah’s destiny lay ahead Him.
For many reasons, Moses and Elijah are linked to the Messiah Jesus (Yeshua). With his direct, in-person connection to these two prophets of Israel, the revelation and destiny of the Messiah became even more clear and certain to those who put their faith in Him throughout the ages.
The Word of Yahweh Speaks to Elijah Inside the Cave
Upon approaching and climbing the mountain, Elijah entered a cave. The text of 1 Kings 19:9-11 details the conversation with “the word of Yahweh”:
Then he came there to a cave and lodged there. And behold, the
word of Yahweh came to him, and He said to him, “What are
you doing here, Elijah?”
He said, “I have been very zealous for Yahweh, the God of
hosts. For the sons of Israel have forsaken your covenant, torn
down your altars and killed your prophets with the sword. And
I alone am left. And they seek my life, to take it away.”
So He [the word of Yahweh] said, “Go forth and stand on
the mountain before Yahweh.”
“The word of Yahweh” first appears in the Bible in Genesis 15:1 when “the Word of Yahweh” appeared to Abram. Historically, Hebrew and Aramaic scholarship saw this as a reference to the Messiah. A study on this is available at www.ed-nelson.com under the title: “Yeshua in the Torah: Genesis 1:1 - Memra: Conclusions of Ancient Biblical Hermeneutics”.
A distinction is obviously made by the writer of this Scripture between “the Word of Yahweh” inside the cave and “Yahweh” passing by outside the cave.
How is this possible? Are there two Yahwehs? Of course not! Then how is Yahweh who is One (Deuteronomy 6:4 - echad) revealing Himself to Elijah in two ways at the same time? What is going on?
Yahweh Speaks to Elijah Outside the Cave
The story continues in verses 11-16.
And behold, Yahweh was passing by! And a great and strong
wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the
rocks before Yahweh. But Yahweh was not in the wind. And
after the wind an earthquake. But Yahweh was not in the
earthquake. After the earthquake a fire. But Yahweh was not
in the fire. And after the fire a sound of silence muted [qol
demamah daqqa].
When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went
out and stood in the entrance of the cave.
And behold, a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing
here, Elijah?”
Then he said, “I have been very zealous for Yahweh, the God of
hosts. For the sons of Israel have forsaken your covenant, torn
down your altars and killed your prophets with the sword. And I
alone am left. And they seek my life, to take it away.”
Yahweh said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness
of Damascus. And when you have arrived, you shall anoint
Hazael king over Aram. And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall
anoint king over Israel. And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-
meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place . . .”
A solution lies in understanding the revelation of Yahweh to Moses on Mt. Sinai (the same mountain) when Yahweh declared his Name to Moses as “Yahweh, Yahweh El” (Exodus 34:5-6). Yahweh presented Himself to Elijah in a similar way that He did to Moses.
We know, of course, that Messiah Yeshua is the Word of Yahweh in flesh. The belief that “the Word of Yahweh” was a distinctly separate and simultaneous manifestation of the One and Only Yahweh, God of hosts (Elohei Tzeva’oth), is well attested in ancient Jewish thought before the time of Messiah Yeshua as the study on the Aramaic word Memra shows (cf. www.ed-nelson.com).
In this holy hint (remez) of a distinctly, but simultaneous revelation of Yahweh, Elijah is linked not only to Moses at Mt. Sinai, but also to the coming Messiah Jesus (Yeshua) who revealed Himself as “the Word of Yahweh” in flesh.
Elijah is told by “the Word of Yahweh” to stand outside the cave on the mountain like Moses did in his own desperation when Yahweh passed by him (cf. Exodus 33). Again, the dynamic tie to Moses is reinforced.
This tie between Moses and Elijah remains throughout the Scriptures, including Mt. Transfiguration when both of these prophetic figures visited Yeshua (Jesus) to comfort Him before his ignoble death on a cross (cf. Matthew 17:1-13).
The Question of Yahweh Almighty on the Mountain
Upon hearing this silent voice, Elijah exited the cave and stood on the mountain to witness Yahweh, God of hosts (Elohei Tzeva’oth), passing by.
Yahweh spoke to him outside the cave, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” Interestingly, this is the same question “the Word of Yahweh” spoke to Elijah inside the cave (cf. 19:9). Now it is repeated by Yahweh in 19:13 as if it were not asked before—“What are you doing here, Elijah?”
Elijah replied to Yahweh outside the cave with the same words he used to answer the same question asked by “the Word of Yahweh” inside the cave. Again, he declared that he had great zeal for Yahweh Almighty, that he knows the reports of martyrdom of other prophets, and that he fears his life due to Jezebel’s call for his death.
Then Yahweh commanded him to go back the way he came with specific instructions to anoint two kings, one over Aram, another over Israel and to anoint Elisha as his successor (19:15-17).
The Incredible Third “Sound of Muted Speechlessness”
We’ve established that inside the cave Yahweh spoke to Elijah as “the Word of Yahweh” (cf. 1 Kings 19:9, 11). Outside the cave we learn that God spoke as Yahweh (19:15). These two instances are straight-forward to understand.
Now to say “the Word of Yahweh” or “Yahweh” spoke to you is an amazingly personal experience of God. But there is more, a third way Yahweh spoke to Elijah.
Do you see three different ways that Yahweh spoke to Elijah? First “the Word of Yahweh” spoke to him plainly in the cave. Then another voice—the voice of Yahweh—a voice of awesome silence spoke to him.
While Elijah was in the cave preparing to exit, these physical phenomena occurred outside the cave, but were felt within it. The mountain was shaking, rocks shattering, fire engulfing, and wind storming down upon the site. Yahweh, meanwhile, was passing by on the outside.
Inside the mountain cave something incredible happens to Elijah beyond his hearing “the Word of Yahweh.” A series of three circumstances occur on the mountain involving (1) a powerful wind, (2) an earthquake and (3) a fierce fire.
Do you see a parallel between these three phenomena to the experience of Moses on the same mountain generations earlier? Manifestations of a powerful wind, an earthquake and a fierce fire occurred also when Moses stood before Yahweh. The parallel is unmistakable.
Beyond these violent noises of wind, earth and fire in which Elijah failed to hear from God, we find Elijah inside the cleft in the rock, just as Yahweh had instructed Moses to hide his face from his passing by. For Elijah, while he is safely hidden in the cave, he hears a voice so incredibly difficult to explain that the Hebrew language of the Bible, though accurate in its description, puzzles the translator of the Hebrew phrase.
Who can describe or understand it? Nowhere else in biblical Hebrew do we find this peculiar description of how the voice of God sounds, or, as we shall see, how his voice doesn’t sound.
The voice of God is depicted as being silent, yet so penetrating to the soul that its impact is greater than if the voice of God was heard audibly. The voice of Yahweh penetrated the depth of Elijah’s innermost being where a surgeon’s knife cannot go. Upon hearing God speak in utter silence, he then stepped out of the cave and stood at the mouth of the cave to see Yahweh pass by.
What is said in this awesomely silent voice of Yahweh is not found in the biblical narrative. We have what “the Word of Yahweh said” inside the cave written down for us. And we have what Yahweh said outside the cave written in the biblical text. But when Yahweh spoke to Elijah in the cave with this awesomely silent voice, we do not know what was said. It is not recorded, but whatever it was, it was highly significant in the life of Elijah.
How do we understand this voice he heard so deep within his psyche, and what, if anything, did it sound like?
We are not told whether the sound of utter speechlessness Elijah heard came from within the cave from “the Word of Yahweh” or from outside the cave from “Yahweh passing by.” Regardless, the voice was from the Spirit of Yahweh.
In this case the Spirit of Yahweh spoke to Elijah as, the New International Version translates the Hebrew phrase (qol demamah daqqa), in “a gentle whisper,” or as the King James Version has it, with “a still, small voice.”
But are these translations correct?
As we shall see, how to translate the Hebrew phrase, qol (voice) demamah (silence, speechless) daqqa (muted, emptied out) leaves many questions. How can you mute what is already silenced? A muted silence is an oxymoron. What is silent is already muted, and what is muted is already silent.
How can what is a “muted silence”—an exponentially intense silence—be heard as a voice or sound? Why do translators often tend to raise the speechless sound to the level of a whisper or blowing sound when the Hebrew phrase plainly goes the opposite direction—the absolute, utter removal of any sound or movement or sound pattern whatsoever?
It’s not only a conundrum for translators to figure out who want to translate the phrase into another language, like English, it’s a puzzle for Hebrew readers who read the biblical language! On the surface it doesn’t make sense. What does this voice or sound of awesome, speechless, emptied out, muted silence mean?
In the famous English translation of the Hebrew phrase, qol demamah daqqa, as “a still, small voice,” we fail to grasp the sense of the oxymoron in the original phrase, smoothing it out. Various English versions render (or mostly fail to render) the oxymoron as:
• “a still, small voice” (King James Version, Revised Standard Version)
• “a light murmuring sound” (New Jerusalem Bible)
• “a soft murmuring sound” (JPS Tanakh)
• “a sound of a gentle blowing” (New American Standard Version)
• “a soft whisper” (New English Translation)
• “a sound of a gentle whisper” (New International Version)
• “a quiet, subdued voice” (Complete Jewish Bible)
• “a sound of sheer silence” (New Revised Standard Version)
Of all these, only the NRSV renders it as a true oxymoron—“a sound of sheer silence.” Isn’t the sound of silence the same? How, then, can it be “sheer silence”?
As an oxymoron, the phrase is quite difficult to render.
• The word qol means “voice,” or “sound.”
• The word demamah is the general word in ancient Hebrew that means “silence.” It is derived from the verb damah which means “to be dumb,” “to be speechless.” Because the process of thinking is a silent activity, demamah can be used to express the idea of imagination or thinking, that which is unknown, unhearable and unseeable. But the word does not mean “whisper” which in biblical Hebrew is the word shemetz.
• The word daqqa means “thin,” “shrunk,” “withered,” “depleted” or “sheer.”
Literally, the phrase means “a sound of silence shrunk” or “a voice of muted silence.”
Silence has no sound, so to call it a voice, or sound of silence seems strange.
Further, to say that silence can become more silent by shrinking it, by thinning silence out even more, is difficult to comprehend.
Since the word demamah can also refer to imagination or the process of thinking, i.e., pure thought, an alternative rendering of the phrase could be “a voice of sheer thought.”
But it is not Elijah’s thought, but God’s thought that is heard by Elijah. The idea of hearing God’s thoughts escalates our understanding of this passage.
What we should understand is that this voice of God spoken to Elijah in the cave is both “a voice of silence” and “a vacuumed out silence”—silence taken to a greater, absolute level of silence. The physical creation is removed from it—“a voice of silence muted infinitely.”
To wit, it is “a sound of silence where all silence is vacuumed out of it to an infinite and perfect degree.” Such concepts are beyond our understanding. This silent voice of God taken to exponential and perfect silence, then, is God’s pure and holy thought. It is the thought of his Spirit.
Hearing God’s Thoughts—the Condition of Absolute Silence
Though the concept of hearing the thought of the Holy Spirit of God is beyond our understanding, yet it is not an unusual concept to the Bible.
The apostle Paul [Sha’ul] taught that we who receive the Holy Spirit of God through faith in the Messiah Yeshua have “the mind of Messiah” (1 Corinthians 2:16).
Listen to how Paul explains this incredible relationship with God by his Spirit whereby we may know his thoughts:
But we speak God's wisdom in a mystery [sod], the hidden wisdom
which God predestined before the ages to our glory. . . For to us
God revealed it through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things,
even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts
of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the
thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit
who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to
us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by
human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining
spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural
man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are
foolishness to him. And he cannot understand them, because they
are spiritually appraised. (1 Corinthians 2:7-14)
What Elijah hears is God’s “voice of an intensely muted silence,” an extraordinary kind of silence that is absolutely intensive, like a sucking sound of absolute silence that draws us into its vacuum.
He hears the Spirit of God speaking to his human spirit.
Silence has a way of drawing us in, of attracting attention beyond ordinary auditory and visual stimuli to help us hear what we’ve never heard before. Out of this extraordinarily “muted silence” taken to its highest intensity God got Elijah’s undivided attention to speak to him in a different way from the other ways Yahweh spoke to him. Spiritual was speaking to spiritual.
When adults are working with children one of the techniques to get their attention above the din of the moment is to speak at a lower tone to the group than the noise level. This causes them to incline their ears to the adult speaker and even to hush others who are talking. The lower volume of voice draws the children’s attention.
In a similar way, when God speaks by his Spirit to man He does not speak above the noise, as in a windstorm, or an earthquake, or a fierce fire, but well below these awesome sounds—absolutely below it to draw us in to Him at an intensely spiritual level of relationship.
To hear Him speak by his Spirit all other sounds must be drowned out. Our intense focus should be to lean forward to hear his silent voice speaking below all distractions. We must allow ourselves to be drawn in by his “voice of muted silence.” Yahweh speaks in his absolute breath without inhaling or exhaling, without any human sensory perception of sound or sound wave movement.
We are reminded that God’s breath does not need perceptual sound to accompany it when He voices his Word to us by his Breath (Spirit). “Breath” in Hebrew is the word ruach, which also means “spirit.” When the Spirit of God speaks no perceptual sound waves are required.
Bear in mind that sound travels by sound waves. These waves move along changing frequencies. The frequencies are measured in units of time. When God speaks, because He is timeless, He does not need the convention of sound waves to speak to us. He speaks out of eternity by his Holy Spirit. Sound waves need not exist for the Spirit of God to speak to our human spirits in our world of time frequencies. He put eternity in our hearts to hear Him.
In the last book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation, the Messiah speaks to the leaders of his churches admonishing them to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to the churches (2:1-3:22). God has not ceased speaking by his Spirit. We should become so receptive to the Messiah Yeshua that his Spirit quickens us inwardly to be receptive to all He is speaking to us today. Every generation is called to listen to what the Spirit says to the churches above the din of our world. In this way we remain a truly contemporary church on the cutting edge of what God is doing in our world.
The Peculiar Hebrew Phrase is a Cryptic Chiasm
Bible narratives in their original Hebrew form comply with Hebraic styles and structures of writing. Generally these are in some poetic form, though not necessarily. Such styles and structures feature literary devices that highlight the main and sub-main points of a text and aid proper interpretation.
The cryptic and fascinating Hebrew phrase in question is qol demamah daqqa. This phrase, as we’ve learned, describes the way the Spirit of Yahweh spoke to Elijah’s mind and spirit according to the Spirit’s silent, muted voice of divine thought.
A unique feature of the phrase—qol demamah daqqa—is that it conforms to a Hebrew poetic style known among scholars as chiasm, a common form of reverse symmetry.
A chiasm takes the general format such as the following: ABCDD¹C¹B¹A¹. In a series of poetic lines, line A and A¹ correspond to each other some way—often as parallel or antithetical statements. The same goes for B and B¹, C and C¹ and D and D¹. D and D¹ form the double center. The shortest form of a chiasm is ABB¹A¹. When a poetic style has corresponding lines where there is a double center, it is referred to as a chiasm.
In the case of this cryptic phrase that describes the voice of the Spirit of Yahweh as God’s thought spoken to the mind of the prophet, we do not have lines of poetry, but letters instead. The chiasm is found in the first letter of each syllable:
qol demamah daqqa
Remove the vowels (which didn’t exist in Hebrew at the time) and the letters lamed—l—and hey—h—at the end of the syllables and we have:
q d m m¹ d¹ q¹
Another conventional way to show the chiasm is as follows:
A ..... q
B .......... d
C ............... m
C¹............... m
B¹.......... d
A¹.... q
Because this chiasm is made of Hebrew letters instead of clearly worded, line-by-line statements, discerning at first glance what is meant or implied by the order of letters appears difficult.
Was this chiasm an accident or coincidence? Hardly may this be the case when the rest of the Bible amply provides a huge variety of deliberate symmetrical and asymmetrical statements and phrases for the purpose of rightly understanding and interpreting the passages.
A classic chiasm is found in Genesis 9:6 that illustrates well the interpretive principles in this type of structure. The chiasm may be written as ABCC’B’A’ or as follows:
A ….. Shophek (Whoever sheds)
B………. dam (blood)
C …………… ha’adam (the man)
C¹................... be’adam (by man)
B¹............ damo (his blood)
A¹..... yishaphek (will be shed)
As is true in reverse symmetry, all lines have a corresponding line in the reverse position. Thus, shophek (whoever sheds) corresponds to yishaphek (will be shed), dam (blood) corresponds to damo (his blood), and ha’adam (the man) corresponds to be’adam (by man).
Because this is a chiasm, the emphasis of the text is placed on the corresponding edges (AA¹). These words are, respectively, shophek and yishaphek, both from the verb (shaphak). The emphasis, therefore, is on “whoever sheds … will be shed.” It is Yahweh’s call for justice (by man) regarding the shedding of human lifeblood. To wit, the call is “lifeblood for lifeblood.”
This call of “lifeblood for lifeblood” is the main point. It becomes law in the Second World era (after the Flood), but not before. The question why after and not before should be asked and answered. But this is not the purpose of this discussion.
As you readily see, detecting Hebraic literary styles underlying our English Bible translations is important to understanding the correct emphasis of a passage and, hence, its interpretation.
When we look at the chiastic symmetry of the descriptive phrase of the voice of the Spirit of Yahweh in the cave where Elijah stood, we should ask about the main emphasis of the chiasm of letters—the first and last letters of quf—the letter q.
What is the obvious thing we know when we see a chiasm? The double center works to bounce the main thought back to the first and letter letters A and A¹ which are held in tandem to present the main point. Since A and A¹ is the Hebrew letter quf—the English letter q—we struggle to make any sense of it unless we examine the origin of letters in paleo-Hebrew.
Each paleo-Hebrew letter is actually a pictograph. In the case of quf—the letter written as q— it was originally a pictograph of the rising and setting sun. It meant either “to expand (as a rising sun) or contract (as a setting sun).”
In this case, the first letter q emphasizes an expansion of the voice (qol) of the Spirit of Yahweh. The last letter q emphasizes the total contraction as found in the word daqqa—the voice, though silent and inaudible, is absolutely shrunk from any semblance of sound.
The double center mm serves by literary custom to reflect the meaning of the first and last letters—the letters qq¹. This parallelism iterates a core truth in the first q and reiterates the same core truth in the second q.
The double dd¹ letters is also in parallel, adding movement from the first edge to the center letters mm, then back to the parallel core truth in qq through the parallelism of dd¹.
What is the Spirit of Yahweh Showing Us in this Cryptic Chiasm?
The way the Spirit of Yahweh spoke to Elijah according to this written description of three Hebrew words with a total of six syllables is not only oxymoronic, but is cryptic in its sub-structure.
Just like the three words qol demamah daqqa describe an intense, sub-level of absolute, vacuumed out silence worthy of the depth and heighth and breadth of God’s thought, so the literary chiasm amplifies the subtleties of this unique phrase.
We have already considered the meaning of the letter quf according to its ancient pictographic form of writing as the rising and/or setting of the sun—the expansion and contraction of the voice of the Spirit.
Let’s take a closer look at the other letters—the letters daleth (d) and mem (m).
The double daleth (dd¹). When we consider the double dd¹ (daleth-daleth), the fourth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, we find that it is a pictograph of a “door, gate or tent flap.” It swings back and forth like a curtain for the entrance of a tent. Therefore, the letter daleth has the meaning of “back and forth,” or “into and out of.” It is a picture of action to and fro, leading into a place and reversing direction from it.
After all, isn't this exactly what the chiasm does with the double d? The first letter leads us to the double center of the chiasm and the second letter d leads us out to the last letter q.
Because this fourth letter of the Hebrew alphabet represented originally in Paleo-Hebrew a “curtain” or tent flap for the door of a tent, the double dd causes us to think of two curtains.
What may these two curtains represent?
Two curtains are found in the Tent of Meeting. The first veil was a daleth, or curtain that covered the main entrance to the Holy Place. The second curtain was also a daleth, or curtain that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. The last curtain in the Tent of Meeting was the last entry point to the Presence of God.
Is there a cryptic reference to the two curtains in the Tent of Meeting in the double d symmetry? Does it suggest passage into the Holy Place and then into the Holy of Holies? Maybe this was to be implied. We can’t know for sure, but we can’t dismiss the possibility either.
What we know is that the second letter d takes us to the quintessential meaning of silence. It takes us to an absolute silence in awe of Yahweh’s presence.
The double mem (mm¹). In the center of this cryptic oxymoron we see a double mem—literally, the combination of the Hebrew letters mem plus mem. When understood as a double pictogram of ripples of water, it means intensely “turbulent,” “chaotic,” and “mighty,” as in “mighty waters.” This allusion to waters that are turbulent, chaotic, mighty and awesome, divinely have “a soundless sound” as we’ve seen in the oxymoronic phrase qol demamah daqqa.
Is there a hint (remez) in the double mem having to do with a doubling of waters? Such waters are distinguished as living waters because they are flowing waters, moving along powerfully.
We recall in Psalm 105:41 what happened for Moses and Israel at Mt. Sinai: “He opened the rock and water flowed out. It ran in the dry places like a river.” From the side of the mountain a river flowed. Is this another link between Moses and Elijah as well as with the Messiah whose Spirit is living water for all who are thirsty to drink the fullness of life and salvation?
Do we find a hint (remez) that where the Spirit of God is there are “rivers of living water gushing forth” (cf. John 7:37-39).
If so, then at the double center of the chiasm is a revelation of the living water of the Holy Spirit. He needs no sound waves to be heard by those whose spirits are quietly drawn to his holy voice. He gives living water to all who ask, waters that gush forth from our innermost being when we are filled with the Holy Spirit.
Earth, air, fire and water. Consider that the Hebrew worldview at the time considered the basic structural elements of the world to be earth, air, fire and water. In the narrative in 1 Kings 19 Elijah saw wind, earth (earthquake) and fire. These three conditions were violent and noisy.
Though the four elements of the world as understood at the time—earth, air, fire and water—seem to be in play in the story, another understanding seems to be also in play.
Two Hidden Words out of the Three Words
We know that the Hebrew phrase qol demamah daqqa in 1 Kings 19:12 is an oxymoron: “voice-silence-shrunk’” or “voice of silence muted.” Ordinarily it doesn’t make sense and presents difficulties in translation.
Earlier we showed that the phrase was written in Hebrew in a poetic style known as chiasm, i.e., it is a phrase where each syllable is found to be in reverse symmetry with a double center. Leaving only the first letter of each syllable in the phrase qol demamah daqqa, we have:
q-d-m-m¹-d¹-q¹
This may be expressed in the following way:
A ..... q
B .......... d
C ............... m
C¹............... m
B¹.......... d
A¹.... q
What happens if we take the six lead letters of each of the six syllables and read them as two words?
We get the Hebrew words q-d-m and m-d-q (both without vowels customary to ancient Hebrew) which make up the first and last movements within the chiasm.
q-d-m
m-d-q
Is this a legitimate methodology in interpretation? Certainly of the four basic methods of ancient Jewish interpretation, it does not fit the first and third methods.
The four methods are listed as follows:
1. pashat (the plain meaning)
2. remez (a hint or allusion in the text to something else)
3. d’rosh (the homiletical application of the text)
4. sod (the hidden or secret revelation usually in reference to the Messiah)
Out of this list, the second and fourth methods—remez and sod— support looking deeper at the text in this way.
With this settled, what does this forward spelling of q-d-m mean?
And, in reverse, what does m-d-m mean?
Can these two words, if they are words, give us a hint (remez) or a hidden disclosure (sod) about what the voice of the Spirit of Yahweh is like?
The Hebrew word q-d-m. Without adding prefixes or suffixes, two words are spelled out using the three consonants q-d-m. They are:
qadam – vb. to come (first); be in front; to meet (as in confront); be foremost
qedem – n. m. front; east (front of the sun’s rising); aforetime (before time); ancient time (foremost before time) (cf. Deuteronomy 33:15); behind and before (cf. Psalm 139:5); from of old; from antiquity (cf. Micah 5:1); from before the beginning (cf. Proverbs 8:22, 23).
By adding the suffix h, another noun is derived from q-d-m, namely qadmah which again means “antiquity, beginning, before time.”
We can easily see the meaning of q-d-m as referring to the Holy One who is before time, before the beginning, one known as the Ancient of Days who is behind all things and before all things.
What about the reverse—the letters m-d-q?
The Hebrew word m-d-q. Only one word is found that has meaning as spelled with the three remaining consonants. The word is madeq, derived from the verb daqaq.
To define the word madeq, first consider the verb form from which it is derived. The verb daqaq means “to crush,” pound,” “pulverize,” or “to make powder.” The idea is to make something very fine, i.e., very thin, usually by crushing or pounding it.
The word madeq defined the method of crushing spices to make incense for offering to Yahweh at the altar of incense in the Tent of Meeting (cf. Exodus 30:36).
The same word also describes how Moses crushed the golden calf idol into the finest, tiniest particles of gold, reducing it to gold dust (cf. Deuteronomy 9:21).
A related verb is deqaq, which means “to grind” as with the jaw teeth.
A related word to the verb daqaq is the noun doq which means a “thin veil,” or “spread out curtain.” Veils, or curtains, are not ground or pounded to be made thin. They are unfolded and spread out, making them thin. The result is the same. Whatever force or method is applied, the direct object of the verb daqaq is “thinned out,” “pulverized,” or “made fine” as powder. It is reduced to its smallest parts or thinnest appearance. In Isaiah 40:22 we read of Him “who spreads out, like a veil [doq], the heavens.”
Similarly, the adjective daq means “thin, small, fine, shrunk, withered, shriveled, depleted.”
What then do we make of the word madeq?
First, it is a noun formed by adding the prefix mem (the letter m) to the verb daqaq. The last letter drops off, i.e., it acquiesces as the prefix mem (letter m) is added, resulting in madeq.
When the prefix mem is added to a verb, the noun keeps the root meaning of the verb in reference to the role of a person or of a place where the action of the verb occurs.
For example, for the verb “to teach” to become the noun “teacher,” the prefix mem is added to the verb. The word “teacher” in Hebrew is moreh.
In like manner, in order for the verb daqaq (“to crush” or “to make fine”) to become a noun to describe the role of a person, or of a place where the action of the verb occurs, the mem is added as a prefix. The result is madeq, meaning “crusher, pulverizer, grinder, thinner, one who makes fine, refiner.”
Again refer to Isaiah 40:22 where Yahweh is the Creator who creates as a “thinner,” or “refiner,” spreading out, “like a veil [doq], the heavens.”
Putting the two words together. By reading the two words formed by the chiasm—qedem madeq—we get a kind of “He is” statement based on the Holy Spirit testifying of the Yahweh, God of hosts (Elohei Tzeva’oth).
Remember that the Spirit of God does not draw attention to Himself, but to the Father and Son. If the statement were made by the Father or Son it would imply the words, “I AM.”
God’s awesome “voice of silence muted exponentially”—qol demamah daqqa—is the voice of the Holy Spirit who testifies of the Father and the Son as One. He declared to Elijah in the two hidden, embedded words—qedem madeq: “Before the beginning of time, [He is] the Refiner!” or “[He is] the Ancient of Days and the Finisher!” or, “[He is] the First and the Last!” or, “Before all things were made and after all things are destroyed, [He is].”
Intriguing paraphrases and implications of the six letters forming the two words q-d-m and m-d-q may be illustrated as follows:
q-d-m + m-d-q
Before (all things) + Refiner (of all things)
Ancient (of Days) + Finisher (of Days)
Author (of creation) + Finisher (of creation)
First (Word) + Last Word)
Creator + Judge
Perhaps this strains the text too much for those uncomfortable working beyond the plain meaning (pashat) and the homiletical application (d’rosh). But what if this method of ancient interpretation doesn’t strain the text at all, but reveals its deeper level of hidden revelation.
What if these hints and allusions (remez) were embedded in the text to be found, that this is the true hidden revelation (sod) secretly tucked away in this phrase by the Holy Spirit—the Spirit bearing witness that Yahweh began all things and ends all things.
It’s worth a serious hearing based on the ancient interpretation methods of remez (hint, allusion in text) and sod (hidden, secret revelation usually in reference to the Messiah).
Summary. What is the voice of the Spirit of God like? This is at the heart of the phrase qol demamah daqqa. It is the Spirit that bears witness with our spirit who testifies of the Father and the Son that HE IS.
With this overview we turn our attention to what Yahweh said to Elijah and continues to speak to the readers of this story in 1 Kings 19. Yahweh still speaks to us today from the Holy Scriptures by his Spirit. We hear Him in both the story that is told, and equally in the fascinating details of the style and structure of biblical Hebrew.
Our prayer is that we will have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the Body of Messiah throughout the world where Jesus (Yeshua) is confessed to be Lord. We may still hear his voice speak to us in absolute silence as He gives us the mind of the Messiah Jesus (Yeshua).
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