Words You Don’t Find in Hebrew: Retirement

I love studying the Hebrew language. There is a simplicity and genuineness to The Lord’s language that I have not found in any other culture.

One of the concepts in Hebrew that I find fascinating is that when a word does not exist in the language it is not to be a principle for our lives.

For instance, the Hebrew language does not have a word for retirement. What this suggests is that work is to be an integral part of our lives.

Think about it, in the book of Genesis work exists before sin enters the world. God commanded Adam to keep the garden and multiply in it before he ate of the forbidden fruit with his wife, Eve.

“Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭2:15‬ ‭

Therefore, work is not inherently a bad thing but a blessing we are given in order to produce fruit for ourselves and those in our community.

The idea of retirement from work implies that we are done blessing other people with the gifts and talents we have.

If work is no longer something we wish to do then what is our reason to wake up in the morning? Furthermore, what purpose does God have to keep us alive if we are not willing to serve His children through the work we do?