HEBREW WORD STUDY – A SONG OF VICTORY – ZAMAR   זמר  

Psalms 118:14: “The Lord is my strength and song and is become my salvation.”

It is the word song that really captures my attention in this verse.  There are many words for song in Hebrew but the word used for song in this passage is zamar. This word zamar means a pruning hook.  I discovered that the meaning of this word gradually evolved to mean a song because the pruning hook is shaped like a scythe.  This curved blade was mounted on a pole and used to cut away the dead wood and branches of a tree.  Even today you will find our pruning instruments are little changed from ancient times; they have a curved blade attached to a pole. Eventually, the pruning hook became a weapon used by Persian soldiers to pull another soldier off his horse. This is a weapon that was continually used by other warriors up through the Middle Ages.

So what does that have to do with song?  A skilled farmer would swing his pruning instrument back and forth from branches to branches and it would make sort of a whistling, rhythmic noise.  As the object of pruning is to cut away the bad and leave the good, this word was used to express a song of triumph, victory, and salvation from one’s foes.   Thus, the Lord is my strength and my song of victory.  It is a song that declares that the Lord has removed all the bad things from our lives and left only that which is good or in harmony with Him and brings us to victory.

When we sing this song or this zamar we are singing a song that surrounds us with the knowledge of God.  When we see only Him we throw off all that keeps us from him through repentance and this song cuts all that stands in opposition to God and prunes us leaving only our love for God. 

The word zamar is spelled Zayin Mem Resh. The numerical value of the word zamar is 247.  Zayin equals 7, the Mem equals 40 and the Resh equals 200.  There is another word in the Hebrew that equals 247.  I discover that the Hebrew word mazaqaq also has a numerical value of 247.  The sages teach if two Hebrew words have the same numerical value the Spirit of God may show you a relationship between these two words that will be of significant spiritual value. Mazaqaq means to refine. When we sing or listen to a zamar which is often a song of praise and worship,  the Lord is performing a refining process in us, stripping or pruning away all that dross, those things that separate me from Him and in our praise and worship of our zamar we are left with only Him.