I like to pay close attention to the way things are worded.
When giving the Word of Wisdom, the Lord chose the phrase "[they] shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones"(D&C 89:18). I don't really understand the reason why these two body parts were chosen to indicate our total health. What significance does the navel have, and the marrow?
This isn't really that crucial of a question.. but i wanted to kick things off here and that was the most recent thing to stump me.
Also-- if you don't already use it, scriptures.byu.edu will help you find modern apostolic references to specific verses. It's neat.
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I don't really know entirely or scripturally what this could mean but my thoughts on the subject are as follow:
ReplyDeleteThe navel is a reminder of our spiritual connection to God. We were spiritually born of Him. As our navel was the place of our connection to our mothers and in reality the way we receive nourishment from her when we were developing, I believe it has the same significance spiritually. It reminds us to keep the connection open in order to develop.
The marrow of the bone is what produces blood cells. Those cells are protect us from diseases, deliver oxygen, etc. Because we are humans and we still require blood it is the most basic indicator of physical health.
From my point of view when God promises health in the navel & marrow in the bones, He is promising us spiritual and physical health for obedience to the Word of Wisdom.
It seems that we see this saying much earlier than in the Word of Wisdom. Proverbs 3:8 states:
ReplyDelete"It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones."
I'm interested in other translations from the original Hebrew, even if some are too modern for some ldsaints' tastes.
New American:
"It will be healing to your body And refreshment to your bones."
Young's Literal:
"Healing it is to thy navel, And moistening to thy bones"
Also some interesting description of the lexicon:
It shall be health
riph'uwth (rif-ooth')
a cure -- health.
to thy navel
shor (shore)
a string, i.e. (specifically) the umbilical cord (also figuratively, as the centre of strength) -- navel.
and marrow
shiqquwy (shik-koo'-ee)
a beverage; moisture, i.e. (figuratively) refreshment -- drink, marrow.
to thy bones
`etsem (eh'tsem)
a bone (as strong); by extension, the body; figuratively, the substance, i.e. (as pron.) selfsame -- body, bone, life, (self-)same, strength, very.
Anyway, I have to think that Brittany has something in her answer. The navel does seem to be representative of the whole body (which is why that one is used to represent total health. See! I'm TRYING to answer your question!) as well as the connection to our divine heritage.
Honestly, before I said it in Albanian, I never even put much thought into the literal meaning of it. I think, however, that this is a divine physical blessing above all else.
The other one, bones, if the navel represented the (whole) cellular (or tissue) part of the body, then the bones would represent the actual structure. This metaphor of structure and organization could, of course, be elaborated furthermore if you wanted, but this is the point where I just laugh at myself for trying to stretch something further than necessary for my salvation.
Am I doing this right?