SUNBURNT WORD OF THE DAY

It might be time to open up a holy tanning salon.  Shazaph is the Hebrew word meaning to tan.  It also doubles as the x-ray vision word of the day when used figuratively to mean “to scan with a piercing ray,” not unlike the way in which God sees into the hearts of all people. It seems to refer specifically to uncovering those things which have been hidden or are intentionally unseen. In the Song of Songs, shazaph refers to the darkened skin of a vineyard worker scorned by her brothers – her tan is a sign of her shame and yet it is one of the qualities admired by the author. What a provocative discussion for a study group!

OT7805 shazaph: a primitive root