Exodus 19:5: Now therefore if you will obey my voice indeed and keep my commandments, Then, you will be a peculiar treasure unto me above all the people, for all the earth is mine.”
The Hebrew word for treasure
is segullah
Strongs #5459 segullah:
Possession, treasure, special possession
Original Word:סְגֻלָּה Transliteration:cgullah Pronunciation:seh-goo-LAH Phonetic Spelling: seg-ool-law’ Definition:Possession, treasure, special possession Meaning: wealth derived from an unused root meaning to shut up, implying a special treasure or possession.
Greek #4047 (περιποίησις, peripoiesis): Refers to obtaining or preserving, often used in the New Testament to describe believers as God’s possession (e.g., 1 Peter 2:9).
As the term segullah is used in the Hebrew Bible to denote a treasured possession or a special, valued property; it often refers to the unique relationship between our Heavenly Father and His chosen people, Israel/Yisrael, highlighting their distinct place as His cherished possession among all nations.
In ancient Near Eastern cultures, a king’s segullah, would be his personal treasure, distinct from the wealth of the kingdom. This concept is applied in the Bible to describe Yisrael/Israel’s special status as His chosen people. The idea of being a segullah, emphasizes the covenant relationship between Yhvh and Israel, where Yisrael/Israel is set apart for a unique purpose and destiny.
Yhvh’s valued property, peculiar treasure, which ׳י has chosen (בחר) and taken to himself; always of people of Yisrael/Israel, first. Exodus 19:5 (E; ᵐ5 Greek: λαὸς περιούσιος = Titus 2:14;1 Peter 2:9 λαὸς εἰς περιποίησιν = περιποίησις Ephesians 1:14 compare ׳עַם ס Deuteronomy 7:6; Deuteronomy 14:2; Deuteronomy 26:18; later ׳ס alone, Malachi 3:17; Psalm 135:4.
Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance lists it as:
jewel, peculiar treasure, proper good, special
Feminine passive participle of an unused root meaning to shut up; wealth (as closely shut up) — jewel, peculiar (treasure), proper good, special.
Englishman’s Concordance
sə·ḡul·lāh — 6 Occurrences
Exodus 19:5 HEB: וִהְיִ֨יתֶם לִ֤י סְגֻלָּה֙ מִכָּל־ הָ֣עַמִּ֔ים NAS: My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among KJV: my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: INT: my covenant become possession all the peoples
Malachi 3:17 HEB: אֲנִ֖י עֹשֶׂ֣ה סְגֻלָּ֑ה וְחָמַלְתִּ֣י עֲלֵיהֶ֔ם NAS: that I prepare [My] own possession, and I will spare KJV: when I make up my jewels; and I will spare INT: I prepare possession will spare and
Malachi 3:17 “They will be Mine,” says the LORD of Hosts, “on the day when I prepare My treasured possession. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.
Psalm 135:4 For the LORD has chosen Jacob as His own, Israel as His treasured possession.
Titus 2:14 He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.
1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
It is because we are a
peculiar treasure
to Him, that our Heavenly Father hears our prayers. It is always to the Jew first- Tribes of Israel and Judah, and then to the Greek/heathen/other gentile nations/ goyim; who are grafted into Yisrael/Israel by the grace of Yahweh through the sacrificial death of Messiah Yeshua haMaschiach.
Exodus 19:5: Now therefore if you will obey my voice indeed and keep my commandments, Then, you will be a peculiar treasure unto me above all the people, for all the earth is mine.”
From this verse it is clear that all we have to do is obey His voice and keep His commandments and we become His peculiar treasure. The idea of becoming Yahweh’s treasure should bring us great joy and security, however that word peculiar does sound a little strange and out of the normal descriptions with what Adonai declares to be good.
Usually when we think of treasure, we think of an old pirate’s chest filled with gold coins and fabulous diamonds and precious stones.
Even though being a peculiar treasure sounds good, what does that mean in terms of relationship? A closer look at exactly what a peculiar treasure really is, will help us to understand why our Heavenly Father is so interested in our prayers.
The first thing we need to realize is that the word
peculiar is not in the Biblical text!
This is where studying to show ourselves approved unto the Lord gives us greater insight into some of the words used by the translators. In this instance it was added and became ‘a paraphrase’, by those choosing to translate the words of the scripture for the KJV. They say the Hebrew word
segullah/segal
means a peculiar treasure.
The more correct translation of the Hebrew word in that verse is a treasured possession, and most of the modern translations will render it as such.
That Hebrew word for peculiar treasure –
segullah/segal,
really has the idea of
being a possession.
It is used for something that is highly prized, so from this we can understand that we will be a special possession to our Heavenly Father.
The Hebrew letters (no vowels), for segal are:
samek – gimmel – lamed
The letter S or samek in the word indicates that: this possession is one that is carefully protected and sheltered.
The letter G or gimmel indicates that this is a prized, beloved possession, and
the final letter L or Lamed shows that this is: a possession that He keeps developing and improving or upgrading.
As His peculiar treasure, we are under His protection,
we are beloved and prized and
He keeps developing/maturing us and improving/upgrading us.
As we have studied in previous posts, every Hebrew letter has a numerical value and the numerical value for segal is 93.
Another Hebrew word with a value of 93 is the word for inheritance or heirloom. It has the letters:
Original Word: נַחֲלָה Transliteration: nachalah Pronunciation: nah-khah-LAH Phonetic Spelling: nakh-al-aw’ Definition: Inheritance, possession, heritage, property Meaning: something inherited, occupancy, an heirloom, an estate, patrimony, portion. From nachal (in its usual sense); properly, something inherited, i.e. (abstractly) occupancy, or (concretely) an heirloom; generally an estate, patrimony or portion — heritage, to inherit, inheritance, possession
It is not unusual for us to look at our reflection in the mirror and think that what we see doesn’t look like a very valuable treasure; and in truth we, in our physical bodies, are nothing but dust, formed from the soil, the dirt of the earth. Many individuals are not wealthy or rich in terms of the worlds standards; they are just part of the common everyday people, unknown, uneducated with no recognized accomplishments. However, if anyone obeys the voice of Adonai and His commandments, to Him they are a treasured possesion/heirloom.
To everyone else we may not be worth much of anything but we are a precious possession to Him. The truth is that we are so precious to our Heavenly Father, that He came in the form of His own Son Who died on Calvary’s cross and shed His Blood for what we sometimes perceive as being worthless.
When the enemy is at work with his constant negative whisperings and accusations, we feel we are worthless and of no interest or of value to anyone. That maybe so in the eyes of the world, but our Heavenly Father promises that if we obey His Word and seek His voice; we will be more valuable to Him than any individual who is rated a talented superstar by the worlds standards. If any of the worlds celebrities and elites do not listen and pay attention to Adonai, they will be considered as simply another one of the billions of people that He created and loves, but who don’t listen to or obey His voice. It is truly praise-worthy that those of us who are unknown, and in our own eyes are not worth anything, but we have paid attention to, and listened and obeyed the voice of God; those who have understood ‘shema’, will get His full attention and become His prized, precious possession.
When He was asked what the greatest commandment of the Lord was, Yeshua/Jesus quoted the ve’ahavta portion of the Shema. (שְׁמַע) This is found in Deut. 6:5.
The opening line, “Hear, O Israel,” does not simply mean to let sound waves enter your ears. Here, the word shema means:
to allow the words to sink in, provide understanding, and generate a response — it’s about action.
In Hebrew, hearing and doing are the same thing!
What does it mean to listen/harken or obey the voice of Yahweh? The Hebrew word for voice is qol and means:
to express a thought either out loud or
in some manner to another person.
It seems that not many people hear a kol/voice or hear yahweh’s thoughts out loud these days?
On Mt. Sinai
He did speak out loud
Another instance was at Yeshua’s/Jesus immersion in Matthew 17:5, but in reality, how many of us actually hear the audible voice of Adonai? Since the outpouring of the Fathers Holy Spirit recorded in Acts we have His Spirit abiding within us, this is how we hear His voice. And He has given us His Word, the written Scriptures which also express His thoughts and remembering that Messiah is the Word made flesh. From all that the scriptures reveal to us we are shown that as well as His indwelling Spirit, we must also read His Word, which is to hear His very thoughts; we must read and study His Word to know His thoughts, and by doing that we will know what instructions we are to obey. The full meaning of shema.
For most parents there is nothing they wouldn’t do for their child. They will make sacrifices for their children and if those children listen/harken to their parents voices and godly instructions, they will learn to follow the right path; the narrow Way which leads to a full and successful godly life in Christ/Messiah. Many a mother goes without food herself to make sure her child, her segal, her peculiar treasure, has enough to eat.
Although not all parents provide what our Heavenly Father intended them to be and do and for many reasons; earthly parents are supposed to be His natural illustration of His love for us. When they do not reflect what our Heavenly Father intended it is sometimes hard for us to believe in and trust in the Lord Who we can’t see.
Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” John 20:29.
By faith we should try to believe the fact that He would not hesitate to sacrifice anything for us, even to giving His own Son shows how much of a treasure we are to Him.
Our Heavenly Father listens to our prayers because we are His children, His segal, His peculiar treasure.
In our modern vernacular we say peculiar when we think someone or something is weird, strange and abnormal.
Then we apply this meaning to the verses in scripture when in fact the word peculiar is not there.
This may help us when we read that word in a verse, where it says peculiar… we should remember to read it as:
special treasure, His prized, precious possession…
which we most certainly are!
Shalom aleikhem
chaverim and mishpachah!
Peace to friends and family.
Shavua Tov, Have a blessed week.
Make certain Messiah Jesus/Yeshua is your Redeemer, Savior, Lord and soon returning King and that you have a personal relationship with Him.
It’s all about Life and Relationship, NOT Religion.
You are very precious in His sight.
Not sure ..you can be…
SIMPLY SAY THE FOLLOWING MEANING IT FROM YOUR HEART..don’t delay one more minute,
SAY IT RIGHT NOW…
Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus/Yeshua asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry. I repent of them all and turn away from my past.
I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus/Yeshua is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus/Yeshua rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus/Yeshua. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’/Yeshua’s name.
Exodus 19:5: Now therefore if you will obey my voice indeed and keep my commandments, Then, you will be a peculiar treasure unto me above all the people, for all the earth is mine.”
It is because we are a 
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