Sunday, October 8, 2023

Meaning of Hamas in Hebrew

Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence (חָמָס). (Genesis 6:11 NIV)

On the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, 2023-10-07, Hamas attacked Israel. What is the meaning of Hamas in Hebrew and Arabic? According to this website 'Hebrew Word of the Day - robbery, evil-doing, Hamas - חָמָס', Hamas means 'heroism' in Arabic and 'violence' in Hebrew. Below is the quote from that website:

QUOTE
First, the transliteration 'cha' is the correct sound for the phonetic expression written in English as 'ha' such as in the name 'hamas'. It should be pronounced: 'chamas'.

It is amazing how one of the most derogatory words in the Hebrew Bible became the name of choice of the radical political religious movement that has ruled Gaza since 2007. It is both the abbreviation of the name Charakat al-Muqāwamah al-ʾIslāmiyyah (Islamic Resistance Movement) and an Arabic word that means 'enthusiasm' and 'heroism'. It's amazing that two languages that belong to the same family produce such conflicting meaning to the same name. The horrible word 'hamas' which appears 66 times in the Old Testament, makes one wonder whether Jews and Muslims really worship the same God? This ruthless organization has been involved in a vicious war against the people of Israel since its establishment in 1987. It hails the value of death over life and educates every infant it reaches to strive to become a suicide bomber. Pathetically, the main reward that is promised to every suicide bomber is purity, but in abundance - 70 virgins in heaven upon arrival as a martyr who kills Jews during a suicide mission!
UNQUOTE

No longer will violence (חָמָס) be heard in your land, nor ruin or destruction within your borders, but you will call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise. (Isaiah 60:18 NIV)

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