The Shadow of Death
“Give glory to the LORD your GOD, before He cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, He turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness.” Jeremiah 13:16 KJV
This morning as I was reading in Jeremiah 13, I came across a verse similar to that of Psalm 23. The phrase, “Shadow of Death” was used again. I decided to run down the meaning by looking further into the Hebrew. Right here, I want to state that I do not claim to be a Biblical or Hebrew scholar. In my own personal digging, I found what felt like a treasure and I wanted to share it with you.
In the Hebrew, the word for “Shadow of Death” comes from the word, “Tsalemaveth” which means “Deep Darkness”. It is believed that during translation, the word was broken down into two parts, “Tsal” where we get the word, “Shadow” and “Maveth” which was translated, “Death”.
From The Alephbet:
When you look at the Hebrew alephbet, the word “Tsalemaveth” is comprised of 5 characters: Tav, Vav, Mem, Lamed and Tav. (I’ve included my notes in the picture below for reference.)
The first character, Tav, is represented by crossed sticks, forming a “cross” symbol. It means, “to mark”. Next, we see Vav. It is the image of a “Y”, a picture representing a peg. It means, “to add, secure, hook.” After that, we see the letter Mem, which is a picture of large waves representing water, and further meaning, “chaos, mighty, blood”. Next, is Lamed. It is represented by the image of a reversed “J” and it is a picture of a “Shepherd’s staff”. It means, “to teach, yoke, bind”. The idea of the Shepherd’s staff is that it is used to direct sheep but also to defend them against predators. Last of all, we see the letter Tav again, which is represented by the “cross” image.
Tav:
As we begin to explore the characters of this word, I believe, the picture we see hidden within the word, “Tsalemaveth” or “Shadow of Death”, is actually a picture representation of the crucifixion of Christ. Tsalemaveth starts with a cross and it ends with a cross. The Bible says in Revelation 13:8, “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship Him (Jesus), whose names are not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world”. I believe this may be what the first cross (Tav) represents.
Vav:
Next, after the first cross, we see a peg is listed which I believe could represent Jesus being “secured” in that marked time and place, to His cross. In Psalm 22:14-19 KJV, we see a Prophetic picture of Jesus on the Cross, a foretelling of what was to come: “I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint: My heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of My bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and My tongue cleaveth to My jaws; and Thou has brought Me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed Me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed Me: they pierced My hands and My feet. I may tell all My bones: they look and stare upon Me. They part My garments among them, and cast lots upon My vesture. But be not Thou far from Me, O LORD: O My strength, haste Thee to help Me.” This is exactly what is written of Jesus in the Gospel accounts of His crucifixion.
Mem:
We see in the third image, that of waves, which represent both water and blood. Both of those were seen and accounted of when Jesus was crucified. In John 19:33-37 KJV it says, “But when they came to Jesus, and saw that He was dead already, they broke not His legs: But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe. For these things were done, and that the Scripture should be fulfilled, ‘A bone of Him shall not be broken.’ And again another Scripture saith, ‘They shall look on Him Whom they pierced.'”
Lamed:
In the fourth picture we see the image of the Shepherd’s staff, which we see in Psalm 23:1 when David says, “The LORD is my Shepherd.” Again, Jesus says in John 10:11 KJV, “I am the good Shepherd: the good Shepherd giveth His life for the Sheep.”
Tav:
Last of all, we see the image of the cross, again. I believe it represents the completed work. When Jesus was on His cross, He spoke the words, “It is finished.“ John 19:30 KJV. This was foretold in the writings of the Prophets and we see eye witness accounts recorded in the Gospels. I believe that may be the final Tav seen in the word Tsalemaveth.
A final thought:
The Psalmist David wrote, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me.” Psalm 23:4 KJV. I believe that in spite of the darkness he was facing in that moment in his life, David realized the LORD knew where he was and how to bring him through.
May we each have that same revelation, too.
