Shalom - Peace in Hebrew

We have considered this word ‘peace’ and yet I do not think that I understand it as it is fully intended. In looking into this word and the concepts around it, I am struck by the fact that peace is not a passive thing. Perhaps that is why I have settled on ‘seeking peace’ for this year. There is much about peace that must get us out of our complacency and out of our seats to reach this sense of peace, the seeking is an action, an activity. Peace is something to strive for, work toward, and even once obtained is not settled in with a forever guarantee; it must still be worked over, with each new thing in our lives that may unsettle that peace.

Hebrew Shalom

The Hebrew ‘Shalom’ has a larger sense than the mere absence of war, much as we said initially this month. There is apparently a sense of wholeness or completeness that is conveyed with the word. It does also include the peace[shalom] of no war, such as the peace established with the Gibeonites in Joshua 9. And there is the peace with God as a covenant in Isaiah 54:10 ‘Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.’ It is also found in Numbers 25:12, as God decrees a covenant of peace with the priesthood through Phinehas.

Shalom: health or well-being

What is interesting is that the term has a sense of well-being: Joseph is sent by his father to see ‘if it is well[shalom]’ with his brothers (Gen 37:14). Ironic that from there on, Joseph’s story is not very peaceful at all, starting with his own enslavement. The word is again used when Joseph asks his brothers about their aging father and the reply was that he is alive ‘and in good health [shalom]’. David too asks after the well-being [shalom] of the soldiers when he summons Uriah after having violated Uriah’s wife (2 Sam 11:7). (More irony?) Lest we consider only the juxtaposition of the use of the word in the well-being sense, there is also the story of Jacob who journeys to take a wife from the family of his mother. As he nears the land of Laban, he encounters shepherds and asks if they know Laban and ‘is he well[shalom]? (Gen 29:6)’ So, it seems this sense of peace/well-being is extended to how others fare. Shalom is about the people, their health and well-being, even when in situations of actual war.

Shalom: contentment

There is also a sense of satisfaction or contentment in this word ‘shalom’. When Moses can no longer sustain the workload of addressing the grievances that the people have, his father-in-law suggests the assigning of judges and says that ‘the people will go home satisfied[shalom]’ with a new system (Ex 18:23).

Shalom: friendship

Shalom is also a peace which goes beyond the settlement of dispute or war; brotherhood or alliance and friendship is in this word ‘shalom’. From Obadiah 7, we see that the ‘those who eat your bread’ are called ‘shalom’ or friends.

Hebrew and Greek Meanings of Peace

I wanted to study the Hebrew word that we have all heard ‘Shalom.’ And it occurred to me that Jesus likely spoke in Hebrew, but his words were recorded in Greek. ‘My peace I give you’ Jesus says to us in John 14:27. Is the meaning carried from one language to the other? It does seem so in looking at concordances, though there is less of the sense of well-being in the Greek context.

So, it seems that Shalom is a sense of well-being or wholeness and it is certain that others impact this personal peace. Since friendship and contentment are included within peace, we will consider these.