Lexical Summary seder: Order, arrangement Original Word: סֶדֶר Strong's Exhaustive Concordance order From an unused root meaning to arrange; order -- order. NAS Exhaustive Concordance Word Originfrom an unused word Definition arrangement, order NASB Translation order (1). Brown-Driver-Briggs [סֵ֫דֶר] noun [masculine] arrangement, order (on vocalization compare Assyrian sidru, sidirtu, and BaNB § 77 c); - only plural לֹא סְדָרִים Job 10:22 = disorder, confusion, of the dark underworld. Topical Lexicon Definition and Occurrence סֶדֶר appears a single time in the Old Testament (Job 10:22). The term conveys the idea of arrangement, alignment, or orderly structure, and by implication highlights the absence of such order when joined with the particle of negation, “without order.” Literary Context in the Book of Job Job 10:21–22 records Job’s lament about descending to “the land of darkness and deep shadow … a land of utter darkness and disorder, where even the light is like darkness.” In this poetic picture, “without any order” (לֹא סֵדֶר) intensifies the dread of Sheol. Job perceives death as the reversal of the pattern God established at creation—an existence void of arrangement, purpose, or light. The contrast implicitly magnifies the sovereignty of the Creator who originally imposed order upon chaos (Genesis 1:2–3). Order versus Chaos in the Canon 1. Creation is brought forth “in order” (compare the sequential “and God said … and it was so” pattern of Genesis 1). Historical and Cultural Insights Later Judaism used the noun seder for the arranged sequence of Scripture readings and, most notably, the Passover Seder. Although these post-biblical uses are distinct, they illustrate the enduring association of the root with purposeful arrangement. In the ancient Near East, kings boasted of putting lands “in order” after conquest; Scripture applies that prerogative uniquely to the Lord. Doctrinal Reflections • God’s nature: He is “not a God of disorder but of peace” (1 Corinthians 14:33). Ministry and Discipleship Implications 1. Preaching: Job 10:22 warns against romanticizing death as neutral; apart from God’s redeeming work it is a realm stripped of order and light. Christological and Eschatological Dimensions Jesus Christ, “the light of the world” (John 8:12), invades the darkness Job dreaded. His resurrection secures a future where disorder is banished. The new creation described in Revelation restores perfect סֶדֶר—no night, no chaos, but “the glory of God” illuminating all (Revelation 21:23–25). Key Scripture References Genesis 1:1–3; Job 10:22; Psalm 104:24; Jeremiah 4:23-26; 1 Corinthians 14:33, 40; Colossians 1:17-20; Revelation 21:5, 23-25. Forms and Transliterations סְדָרִ֗ים סדרים sə·ḏā·rîm sedaRim səḏārîmLinks Interlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel TextsEnglishman's Concordance Job 10:22 HEB: צַ֭לְמָוֶת וְלֹ֥א סְדָרִ֗ים וַתֹּ֥פַע כְּמוֹ־ NAS: without order, And which shines KJV: [itself; and] of the shadow of death, without any order, and [where] the light INT: deep without order shines according to 1 Occurrence |
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