SHALOM - the Meaning of True PeaceShembull

Here we find the word Peace mentioned for the first time in scripture. At first glance, it seems like a passive word; it looks nice, and it works with sentence structure and overall context. The word came up first in relation to the passing of this life and crossing over to the next.

The word peace in this text is the famous Hebrew word "Shalom," a noun that means safe, well, and happy. It is the normal greeting and salutation of the Jewish people, and as such, like most things in life, the more we hear it and make it part of our daily lives, the more tendency we have on taking it for granted. One deeper look at the word in Hebrew and suddenly it comes to life and gives it a new perspective!

Shalom comes from the root word Shalam (Strong H7999), and it means more specific to be/make safe, to be/make friendly, to be complete/whole, to be repaid, to requited and rewarded. Wow! And here I thought it meant tranquility! I have learned that tranquility is the effect of peace, but it is not peace itself. Peace is what happens when you are requited, rewarded, and placed in a place of safety and fellowship again.

As we move on to the next few days, we will analyze this a bit further and see what this means and how does it pertain to us as believers.