Bammerhab: Bible Explainer
Yatsar is what a potter does to clay. Yatsar is also what God did to us. Yatsar is a cognate for another Hebrew which means to squeeze, to push, to pressure and to be distressed.
This is because the image of formation that yatsar evokes is shaping something like a potter shapes a pot. The potter squishes, squeezes, pushes and pressures the clay. I will bet that the clay if it could talk would say it was feeling a bit distressed!
I discuss this with Sandra Lewis, the missionary who created Grace & Peace Community Ministries in Richmond, Virginia to serve families in Richmond’s inner city, with a special focus on those on Raven Street, a division of Mosby Court. This has always been the most violent, dangerous and poor place in all of Richmond. But Sandra went into the neighborhood to show Christ’s love through service. She currently serves 80-100 households surrounding Raven St. in Mosby Court, a public housing community, helping single mothers, kids and others with education, health services, work training, spiritual training and basic needs. Antsy kids love to create stuff with their hands, so Sandra is continually creating art projects and opportunities for them. Yatsar was on her mind because she’s just recently started up a new pottery opportunity for the kids, which came from her study of Diana Glyer’s recent book all about pottery, entitled Clay in the Potter’s Hands.
So Sandra’s mind is on pottery and yatsar And that’s where we will start our conversation with her!
This episode digs deeper into “yatsar” (יָצָֽר - meaning ‘formed’) in Genesis 2:8.
Genesis 2:8 - “Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed.” (NIV)
Mentioned:
Grace & Peace Community Ministries
Grace & Peace Community Ministries Facebook
Clay in the Potter’s Hands - Diana Glyer
The Problem of Pain - C.S. Lewis
The Circle Maker - Mark Batterson
National Community Church - Washington, DC
A Call to Mercy - Mother Teresa
What is a Bammerhab?
“You have not given me into the hands of the enemybut have set my feet in a spacious place.” (Ps. 31:8 - NIV)
The phrase “in a spacious place” is the Hebrew word: Bammerhab.
Thanks to:
• Aaron Woodard for Graphic Design
• Dave Allam of Allam House for podcasting techniques
• Bible Hub for Greek / Hebrew resources