SAYING “PEACE, PEACE,” WHEN THERE IS NO PEACE
(Monday, October 7)
“They dress the wound/hurt of my people
as though it were not serious.
‘Peace, peace,’ (Shalom, shalom, שָׁל֣וֹם שָׁל֣וֹם) they say,
when there is no peace.” (Jer 8:11)
The phrase, “Peace, peace, when there is no peace,” which occurs five times in the Bible in slightly different variants, warns that in certain cases the word “peace” does not actually mean peace at all, no matter how many times certain people repeat it. I’m thinking about it this October 7, which marks one year since the genocidal, terrorist attack on the people of Israel, slaughtering more than 1250 and taking hostage 251. Of those hostages, 97 remain (alive or dead) in Hamas captivity, and missiles continue to be launched onto Israel, along with demands for “peace, peace.”
In the above-quoted passage from the Prophet Jeremiah, note the connection made between not taking seriously or taking “slightly” ( נְקַלָּ֔ה neqallah) the wound/hurt of God’s people and empty pronouncements of “peace, peace.” In this case, the word “peace” is a symbol not of true peace, in the biblical sense; it rather serves the perpetuation of an injustice, of “the wound/hurt of My people,” and is being articulated not in the service of God, but in the service of those who are indifferent to “the wound/hurt” of His people.
What does true peace or “shalom” mean in the Bible? The root of the word “shalom,” sh-l-m, encompasses several meanings, not only “peace” in our usual sense of that word, i.e., in our sense of tranquillity, not-war, ceasefire, quiet, etc. In the biblical sense, the word “peace” or shalom means: wholeness/soundness, well-being, justice, and security. In the absence of these, in the absence of wholeness/soundness, well-being, justice, and security, there is no peace, in the biblical sense. It is a false “peace,” if it is not dedicated to, or serving the purposes of the wholeness/soundness, well-being, justice, and security of the people to whom it is proposed.
This October 7, I pray for true peace, for all the “wounded/hurt” people of God, compelled to defend themselves against terrorist neighbors, both in Israel and in Ukraine. May their loved ones be delivered from captivity, and may wholeness, well-being, justice and security be restored to their homes. Amen!