Did you know that the word Hamas is in the Bible? I did not!

This weekend, I read an article by a Jewish Rabbi/Theologian named Shmuel Klatzkin.

The Hebrew word ḥāmas (חָמָס, meaning “violence,” “wrongdoing,” or “injustice”) is the antithesis of a more familiar word for Christians and Jews: šālôm (שָׁלוֹם, meaning “peace,” “wholeness,” or “well-being”).

I did some research and found out that:

Ḥāmas (חָמָס) occurs about 60 times in the Old Testament, often denoting violence, injustice, or oppression (e.g., Genesis 6:11, Habakkuk 1:2).

Šālôm (שָׁלוֹם) appears over 230 times, typically meaning peace, wholeness, or well-being (e.g., Numbers 6:26, Psalm 29:11). Its New Testament equivalent is “Eirene,” which appears around 90 times, conveying a similar sense of peace, wholeness, and well-being.

Then I looked up to see where Hamas, the terrorist group that rules Gaza, got its name:

The name “Hamas” is an acronym for the Arabic phrase “Ḥarakat al-Muqāwama al-Islāmiyya” (حركةالمقاومة الإسلامية), which translates to “Islamic Resistance Movement” in English. Additionally, “Hamas” (حماس) is an Arabic word meaning “zeal” or “enthusiasm,” which aligns with the group’s ideological fervor.

Obviously, the Arabic use of the word differed from the Hebrew word. But they both derive from the same Semitic root: h-m-s.

In the case of Hebrew, the root ḥ-m-s often conveys the meaning of violence, oppression, or wrongdoing, while in Arabic, the root ḥ-m-s gives the sense of zeal, strength, or passion.

The terrorist Islamist Hamas organization, whose charter calls for the removal of Israel and all Jews “from the river to the sea,” wanted to distinguish itself from the tepid secular Palestinian Authority that wanted to dialogue with Israel to work out a two-state solution to their conflict.

In reflection on this, Hamas chose the Arabic meaning of the word: zeal, strength, or passion to carry out the antithesis of the Biblical Shalom, that is, the Hebrew word Hamas, to carry out violence, oppression, and wrongdoing as expressed on October 7, 2023, and continues to these days.

While the Palestinians and Jews share the same humanity as the imago Dei, and they are both descendants of the sons of Abraham, the Jihadists and the Jews have two different ideologies and two different views of human life.

Osama bin Laden, the founder of al-Qaeda, was quoted as saying: “We love death. The U.S. loves life. That is the big difference between us.”

British Writer Douglas Murray: “Israel tries to use the IDF to protect its citizenry. Hamas uses the citizenry to protect Hamas.”

Prime Minister Golda Meir stated, “We can forgive the Arabs for killing our children. We cannot forgive them for forcing us to kill their children. We will only have peace with the Arabs when they love their children more than they hate us.”

Some people are looking for a two-state solution to the Israeli and Palestinian conflict. Because of these two radically differing concepts of the word “Hamas” and views of human life, there is likely to be only a one-state solution, all of one or the other.

Pray for the Shalom of Jerusalem.

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