Untitled Sermon (8)

Genesis 6:11 NKJV

The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.

Isaiah 63:1 NKJV

Who is this who comes from Edom, With dyed garments from Bozrah, This One who is glorious in His apparel, Traveling in the greatness of His strength?— “I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.”

Hamas is an Arabic acronym for “Harakat al-Muqawamah al-Islamiyya,” which means “The Islamic Resistance Movement.” But “hamas” is also an Arabic word that means “zeal.”

Although Arabic and Hebrew are sister languages, the Hebrew meaning of “chamas” is “violence,” according to the Hebrew-English volume of Reuben Alcalay’s Hebrew-English, English-Hebrew dictionary. “Cruelty” and “injustice” are additional definitions, but not “zeal.”

Truth is thus stranger than fiction. For Israel and for Jews everywhere, chamas indeed means violence, in its terrorist form.

2555. חָמָס‎ ḥāmās: A masculine noun meaning violence, wrong. It implies cruelty, damage, and injustice. Abraham’s cohabiting with Hagar is described as a wrong done to Sarah (Gen. 16:5). In relation to physical violence, cruelty is implied (Judg. 9:24). When coupled with the term instrument or weapon, it becomes an attributive noun describing weapons or instruments of violence (Ps. 58:2[3]). When it describes a person, it can mean an oppressor or a violent man (Prov. 3:31).

Now compare with H2556:

2556. חָמֵץ‎ ḥāmēṣ: A verb meaning to be sour, to be leavened. The verb occurs four times in the Hebrew Bible. In connection with the Exodus from Egypt, the Israelites were told not to leaven the bread before their departure (Ex. 12:34, 39). In Hosea 7:4, the prophet used the image of a baker kneading dough until it was leavened. This verb was also used metaphorically to refer to the heart being soured or embittered (Ps. 73:21).

Another root, spelled exactly the same, is listed under this entry by Strong. It occurs in Isaiah 63:1 and means to be stained red.