Strong’s numbers 234, 2143, and 2146, all of which derive from 2142 (Hebrew dictionary). Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament numbers are in parens after the Strong’s number.
Memorial, memory, record, remembrance, scent.
Notes:
- Being remembered by future generations was a big deal in that culture, perhaps not as much now.
- Memory is parallel with name (essential quality).
- Holidays were for remembering.
- Events were recorded for remembering.
- Objects from notable events were strategically placed as memory aids.
- Certain rituals were to cause God to remember Israel
- The handful of grain from a grain offering was to cause the consumer of the major portion to remember the purpose of the offering.
Discussion Questions
- Our culture does not place as much emphasis on memorials. Is this better or worse?
- What do we use to stimulate our memories of what God has done?
- How do we bring the memory of the faithful before God?
2143 (551) The mental act of remembering
Hosea 14:7 “Those who dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall be revived like grain, and grow like a vine. Their scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon.” Those who return from idolatry will be remembered like Lebanese wine.
Hosea 12:5 “The Lord [Jehovah, Yahweh, I AM] is His memorable name.” God’s name (I AM) is to be remembered.
Isaiah 26:14 “They are dead, they will not live; therefore You have punished and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.” The wicked will not be remembered.
Isaiah 26:8 “Yes, in the way of Your judgments, O Lord, we have waited for you; the desire of our soul is for your name and for the remembrance of You.” The desire of the righteous is to remember God.
Proverbs 10:7 “The memory of the righteous is blessed, but the name of the wicked will rot.” Memory is parallel with name.
Psalm 145:7 “They shall utter the memory of Your great goodness, and shall sing of your righteousness.”
Psalm 135:13 “Your name, O Lord, endures forever, your fame, O Lord, throughout all generations.” Fame is remembrance or memorial.
Psalm 112:6 “Surely he will never be shaken; the righteous will be an everlasting remembrance.”
Psalm 109:15 “Let them [the sins of the wicked] be continually before the Lord, that He may cut off the memory of them from the earth.”
Psalm 102:12 “But you, O Lord, shall endure forever, and the remembrance of your name to all generations.”
Psalm 97:12 “Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.”
Psalm 34:16 “The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.”
Psalm 30:4 “Sing praise to the Lord, you saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.”
Psalm 9:6 “O enemy, destructions are finished forever! And you have destroyed cities; even their memory has perished.”
Psalm 6:5 “For in death there is no remembrance of You; in the grave, who will thank you?”
Ecclesiastes 9:5 “For the living know that they will die; but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten.” Eventually, people forget those who have died, so don’t bank on being remembered.
Job 18:17 “The memory of him perishes from the earth, and he has no name among the renowned.”
Esther 9:28 “…that these days should be remembered…” Resulting in Hanukkah.
Deuteronomy 32:26 “I will make the memory of them cease from among men.”
Deuteronomy 25:19 “You will blot out the remembrance of Amalek.”
Exodus 17:14 “I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.”
Exodus 3:15 “This is My name [Jehovah, Yahweh, I AM] forever and this is My memorial to all generations.”
2146 (551b) An object or act which brings something else to mind.
Malachi 3:16 “A book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on His name.” Recording an event for future reference, when God raises up the righteous in Israel.
Zechariah 6:14 “Now the elaborate crown shall be for a memorial in the temple of the Lord…” Recording a gift from returning exiles as a new crown for the High Priest.
Isaiah 57:8 “Also behind the doors and their posts you have set up your remembrance, for you have uncovered yourself to those other than Me and gone up to them.” Israel had set up idols in their homes to remember other gods.
Ecclesiastes 2:16 “For there is no more remembrance of the wise that of the fool forever, since all that now is will be forgotten in the days to come.” Same as above.
Ecclesiastes 1:11 “There is not remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come by those who come after.” Same as above.
Esther 6:1 “That night the king could not sleep. So one was commanded to bring the book of the records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king.”
Nehemiah 2:20 “So I answered and said to them, ‘The God of heaven Himself will prosper us; therefore, we His servants will arise and build, but you have no heritage or right or memorial in Jerusalem.’”
Joshua 4:7 “And these stones shall be a memorial to the children of Israel forever.” After the crossing of the Jordan.
Numbers 31:54 “And Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold [spoils of war after defeating Midian] from the captains of thousands and of hundreds and brought it into the tabernacle of meeting as a memorial for the children of Israel before the Lord.”
Numbers 16:40 “[The bronze censers burned with the followers of Korah which were hammered out into a sheet and used as a covering for the bronze altar] to be a memorial to the children of Israel that no outsider who is not a descendant of Aaron should come near to offer incense before the Lord, that he might not become like Korah and his companions.”
Numbers 10:10 “In the day of your gladness, in your appointed feasts, and at the beginning of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be a memorial for you before your God.”
Numbers 5:18 and 5:15 “[In the ceremony for testing a woman accused of unfaithfulness] Then the priest shall stand the woman before the Lord, uncover the woman’s head, and put the offering of remembrance in her hands, which is the grain offering of jealousy.”
Leviticus 23:24 “In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.”
Exodus 39:7 “He put them on the shoulders of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel.”
Exodus 30:16 “You shall take the atonement money [the half-shekel tax] of the children of Israel, and you shall appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of meeting, that it may be a memorial for the children of Israel.”
Exodus 28:28 “So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel on the breastplate of judgment over his heart, when he goes into the holy place, as a memorial before the Lord continually.” Also 28:12
Exodus 17:14 “Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of Joshua…”
Exodus 13:9 “[of the bread in the Feast of Unleavened Bread] it shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the Lord’s law may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt.”
Exodus 12:14 “And this day [Passover] shall be to you a memorial.”
234 (551d) That portion of a cereal offering which was burned as God’s share
Numbers 5:26 “And the priest shall take a handful of the offering [for the accused unfaithful wife] as its memorial portion, burn it on the altar, and afterward make the woman drink the water.”
Leviticus 24:7 “You shall put pure frankincense on each row [of bread on the table of showbread] that it may be on the bread for a memorial, an offering made by fire to the Lord.”
Leviticus 6:15 “He shall take from it his handful of the fine flour of the grain offering, with its oil, and all the frankincense which is on the grain offering and shall burn it on the altar for a sweet aroma as a memorial to the Lord.”
Leviticus 5:12 “And the priest shall take a handful of it as a memorial portion and burn it on the altar according to the offerings made by fire to the Lord.” Also 2:16 and 2:9 and 2:2.