To set free (נתר nātar)

“To set free” (נתר nātar) in Hebrew: in the basic qal conjugation this verb can mean “to spring out / leap”, but in hifil it means “to untie” and “to release”. In today’s liturgy the word appears in the Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 146), which sums up the meaning of the other Readings very well through a list of verbs describing God’s action in the world. One of them is the Psalmist’s statement that “the LORD sets prisoners free” (v. 7). Literally, the verse reads: “the LORD—freeing (מַתִּיר mattîr)—prisoners”. As you can see, the Psalmist uses the hifil participle of the verb נתר (nātar), which may point to an action that is steady and ongoing in time, and can also function like a noun. This liberating action of God, which Israel experienced during the Exodus, is visible both in Isaiah (Isaiah 35), where God transforms reality—the desert becomes a garden—and in Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew 11:2–11), where the Lord Jesus, using Isaiah’s words, speaks of his messianic work: “the blind receive their sight, the lame walk…”. What kind of God am I waiting for in Advent? I am waiting for the God who “keeps faith, secures justice for the oppressed, who feeds, frees (נתר nātar), restores sight, lifts up, loves, watches over, protects, guides.” I am waiting for the God who is my liberator.

נתר [nāṯar]

The Hebrew word נתר [nāṯar] originally means to spring out, break free, and also to untie bonds and to release. In the Bible it describes the saving action of the Lord God, who breaks the chains of slavery and restores a person’s freedom. The Greek biblical equivalent is λύω [lýō] — to loosen, to release.