What’s in a word?

The beautiful Mary Alessi

I’ve always been a bit of a word geek; in fact a perfect evening for me would be a Scrabblathon with a hefty serving of chocolate on the side…

But what fascinates me most is the way we may think we understand a word for decades and then realise it might actually mean the complete opposite.

One example of this is the word “shadow” or, more specifically, “overshadow”. These words have always spoken of darkness, danger and domination to me.

And I believed the Bible backed up this view:

• 1 Chronicles 29:15b and Job 8:9: “Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.”
• Psalm 11:2: “The wicked bend their bows; they set their arrows against the strings to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart.”
• Isaiah 59:9b: “We look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.
• Psalm 23:4 speaks of “the valley of the shadow of death”, while Job 16:16 talks about “dark shadows” around the afflicted man’s eyes and James 1:17 says that God is not changeable like “shifting shadows”.

So shadows are bad, right?

Well actually, I was overwhelmed by the number of positive references I found:

• Isaiah 32:2: “Each one will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land.” Isaiah makes several references to being hidden/covered in the shadow of God’s hand.
• Acts 5:15: “As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by.”
• And of course there are many references to being hidden in the shadow of God’s wings in Psalms.

Okay, so “shadow” is a little hazy (excuse the pun), but “overshadow” can’t possibly be positive – can it? This is how the dictionary defines it: “To cast a shadow over; darken or obscure” and “to make insignificant by comparison; dominate”. Case closed, then.

Well, that’s not the way the Bible uses the word. American songwriter and worship leader Mary Alessi points out that the two key instances of the word – just prior to Jesus’ conception and at His transfiguration – are incredibly positive:

• Luke 1:35: “The angel replied [to Mary]: ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.’”
• Mark 9:7: “And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is my beloved Son: hear him.’”

 I also found the following great usages of the word, and I’m sure there are others (please feel free to add these in the comments below):

• 1 Kings 8:7: “The cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and overshadowed the ark and its carrying poles.”
• Ezekiel 31:3: “Consider Assyria, once a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches overshadowing the forest; it towered on high, its top above the thick foliage.”

As Mary Alessi explains, it is the source of the shadow that makes the difference. If our ‘source’ is in or of the world, we are likely to end up feeling insignificant and defeated when we are overshadowed. But God’s overshadowing represents his presence, his protection and the pleasure he takes in our growth and success.

  

Read more from Joy in the upcoming issue of Liberti magazine.