The Old Testament language, originally paleo Hebrew, fascinates me. Paleo Hebrew is a picture language possibly developed from the ancient Phoenician script. The alphabet of paleo Hebrew has 22 picture letters, each letter a picture  conveying an idea the meaning of which is derived from the context. Paleo Hebrew words were usually made up of two pictures, called the parent root, to which more pictures were added to expand its meaning.

The ancient Hebrews were essentially tactile people. They thought, spoke and wrote in  concrete terms, not in abstract ideas. To understand their language and usage, we must distance ourselves from Western abstract expression and view life from their experience of the physical world. In other words, they thought function, not form, that is, what did an object do rather than what did an object look like.

The word, God, for example, was two letters, e and l, “El”. Read from right to left, these two letters, aleph…an ox head, and lamed… a shepherd’s staff, imply strength and authority, hence God was the one who had strength and authority.

I will use this concept to help us understand the meaning of prayer in the Old Covenant.

To cut a very long story short, one of the words for prayer, p, meaning ” mouth”, and l, meaning “a shepherd’s staff”, is “palal”, which implies speaking to the one who has authority.

“This word “palal” also means judgment. In Old Testament times the major judicial decisions were made at the gates and entrance to the city, one reason being it was a broad area and easy for people to gather there. If anyone had a grievance, they would go and “speak to authority” to obtain the justice they were looking for. The ancient Hebrew concept of a “judge” is one who restores life. The goal of one that judges or rules is to bring a pleasant and righteous life to the people….”
https://www.ancient-hebrew.org
article: Ancient Hebrew Words for Prayer

Implied in this word, “palal”, is the idea of “falling down in desperation to address the one who has authority.”

“Another word from the PL root is “pala”. Added to this root is the letter “aleph” which in its original picture form is an ox head meaning “strength”. This word  means “perform” i.e. a great work (performed) as an act of intercession (out of a judgement). It is translated “wonder”, “marvellous”, and “extraordinary” . “Pala” is used primarily with God as its subject, expressing actions that “.. and in our eyes it is amazing! ” Psalm 118:23…

“This certainly lifts our faith to new heights of trust in God for awesome things when we pray.”
https://www.ancient-hebrew.org
article: Ancient Hebrew Words for Prayer

When we put “palal” and “pala” into the context of a sentence, prayer means “to fall down in desperation before the one who has the authority, to entreat the judge for a judgment. He will take action through a “wonderwork” to restore the pray-er to a life that is pleasant and righteous. This will result in wonder and admiration, “and in our eyes it is amazing! ” Psalm 118:23…

The judge’s verdict had to go on to an action which carried out the judgment determined by the pleading. This would result in justice for the one who brought the plea. The judge had the power to do a miracle or wonderwork, something extraordinary that would restore the person to a pleasant and righteous life. This will cause the one who prayed to marvel at the judge.

Now let’s look at the way Jesus used this concept of prayer in a story.

Luke 18:1-5 NLT
[1] “One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. [2] “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. [3] A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ [4] The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, [5] but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’”

The disciples would have understood the parable because the principles of Old Covenant prayer are clear in this story. Jesus drew a contrast between the reluctance of the judge to give the widow a judgment and to act on it and God’s attitude towards His children. He will always respond with a judgment and an action.

Luke 18:6-7 NLT
[6] “Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. [7] Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?”

The third word for prayer, “tefillah”, the most commonly-used word for prayer, adds another dimension to the original parent root. Tefillah is derived from the letters in the parent root, p and l as in  “palal” and “pala”.

To put these words together, prayer (palal) is the act of falling down to plead with the one who had the authority to make a judgment, and who will take action (pala) to ensure that the judgment is carried out to restore the pleasant and righteous life of the pray-er so that he/she moves him towards “tefillah” which is the ultimate purpose for “palal” and “pala”, admiration (worship) of the Judge.

Concealed in the parent root, “pal”, and its child roots “palal” and “pala”, and encapsulated in the noun, “tefillah”, we have a rich and amazing picture of prayer which is a far cry from our impoverished Western philosophical understanding of what prayer is about. Prayer, in its essence, is much more than talking to God. It’s about moving towards God in deep heart communion.

In our next study, we shall put  these concepts of prayer in the Old Covenant into our understanding of New Covenant prayer, enriched with the additions of grace, mercy, and salvation. We must push on until we reach an understanding of how profound prayer in the New Covenant really is.

To be continued…