The beginning of this series can be found here.

I don’t have a great way to present the Hebrew letters here, but that’s probably okay because most people who would bother to read my blog aren’t reading from right to left. So rather than presenting the Hebrew, I start with the NRSV and NRSVue instances of “perfect” and its derivatives to go to the Hebrew text and discover the semantic domain that lead to the translation. For those who want to dive in, I’ll also be proving the scripture references with a hint of how I make sense of the semantic domain for each instance.

I hope it’s not a surprise that the Hebrew scriptures present a multivalent understanding of perfection. One idea of perfect comes when talking about God. A second idea of prefect applies when talking about things or places. A third idea of perfect comes when talking about people (and is not good, but more on that later).

A Hebrew Perfect God

The idea of perfect when used to talk about God in the Hebrew scriptures comes closest to today's popular idea of perfection. However, this idea of perfect is more about being complete, finished, sound, or moral than some kind of legalism—even if it is God's Law. This does makes sense. God is the one who made the Law, so God’s perfection must be greater than the perfection of the Law.

Psalm 119:96 drives home the idea that God’s perfection is greater than the law. The psalmist claims to have “seen a limit to all perfection,” and then notes that God’s “commandment is exceedingly broad.” This could be read to say that God’s commandment covers a lot of topics, but given the effusive manner in which Psalm 119 continues to talk about God’s commandment, word, and law, it makes more sense to understand the psalmist as recognizing how far beyond the perfection of God’s Law is God’s own perfection. God is more complete than God's Law. God is more moral than God's Law. God is more than the Law that God gives.

Instances and Transliterated Hebrew Lemma Form
Of God’s works - Deuteronomy 32:4 (tmm)
Of God’s ways - 2 Samuel 22:31 (tmm), Psalm 18:30 (tmm)
Of God’s knowledge - Job 37:16 (tmm)
Of God’s Law - Psalm 19:7 (tmm)
Of the limit of perfection - Psalm 119:96 (klh)
tmm sematic domain: complete, finished
khl semantic domain: morality

Aesthetic Beauty

The second idea of perfection in the Hebrew scriptures is used when talking about things or places and turns to the aesthetic with a focus on physical beauty. The animal offered up for a free will offering in Leviticus 22:21 should be perfect, which is explained as having “no blemish in it.” Talk of Jerusalem, the Temple, and Tyre, all focus on the beauty of the buildings rather than some metaphor for the people who live there. This idea of perfection seems easily set aside from further consideration, but the way Ezekiel uses the idea of perfection in prophecies against Jerusalem and Tyre should give us reason to pause and wonder.

Instances and Transliterated Hebrew Lemma Form
Of animals for the freewill offering - Leviticus 22:21 (tmm)
Of the Temple in Jerusalem - 1 Kings 6:22 (tmm)
Of Jerusalem/Zion - Psalm 50:2 (kll), Ezekiel 16:14 (kll), Lamentations 2:15 (kll)
Of Tyre - Ezekiel 27:3 (kll), Ezekiel 27:11 (kll), Ezekiel 28:12 (kll)
tmm sematic domain: complete, finished, without blemish
kll semantic domain: finished

Wholly Negative Examples

The third idea of perfection in the Hebrew scriptures is used when talking about people. The beloved is called perfect twice in Song of Songs, but that this is love letter tells you that whether the beloved is a particular person or God’s people this idea of perfect is blinded by love. When you are head over heals in love though, the one you love is indeed complete and without flaw or blemish. There are, however, two other instances of “perfect” that are particular enough to deserve mention because they are both negative examples.

Elihu’s Knowledge

The first special instance of human perfection when is in Job 36:4 as Elihu, the fourth supposed friend of Job, starts his fourth chapter of monologuing at Job. Elihu begins this part of his monologue by saying he is going to talk for God. Elihu doubles down on this in verse 4 when he says, “one who is perfect in knowledge is with you.” Elihu uses same word for perfect a little later in Job 37:16 when talking about God’s knowledge. Since Elihu says he is speaking for God, Elihu means his knowledge is perfect. Elihu’s claim of knowing God’s perfect knowledge is presumptuous and proven wrong when God shows up.

David’s Hatred

Psalm 139 is a deeply meditative psalm attributed to King David. It starts with an awareness of God’s omniscience, moves into the hope of God’s omnipresence, and then reflects on how much God cares for the individual. The call in verse 19 to kill the wicked comes as a bit of a shock, but makes ironic sense. The irony should not be lost on us that David cries to God to remove the bloodthirsty while David was not allowed to build the Temple because his hands had so much blood on them. When the hatred of David is described as “perfect,” it does make sense. The Hebrew, however, challenges this translation reflecting something more like “completely” or “to the end.” This verse expresses a kind of zealotry to be close to God that desires violent expression as a way point to why God kept David from building the temple. The psalmist, intentionally or not, it pointing to a flawed perfection.

Instances and Transliterated Hebrew Lemma Form
Of Elihu’s knowledge - Job 36:4 (tmm)
Of David’s hatred for those who hate God - Psalm 139:22 (klh)
Of the beloved - Song of Songs 5:2 (tmm), Song of Songs 6:9 (tmm)
tmm sematic domain: complete, finished, without blemish
klh semantic domain: complete

Limited Human Perfection

All three ways of this perfect talk appear rarely in the Hebrew Scriptures with only nineteen instances. Yet there is some clue here as to how Jesus’ Heavenly Father is perfect—in what God does, how God lives, and what God knows. The instances of perfect used when talking about people, however, either provide a warning against claiming perfection or turn to romantic love, which I don’t think was Jesus’ point. It seems that human perfection is not a goal in the Hebrew scriptures because there is a limit to all perfection. So where did Jesus come up with this idea?

Next up, the intertestamental period.