Thanking people for their contributions to our lives is good, but thanking God, from whom all blessings flow, is indispensable. And that is the part that we neglect.
By Mark D, Harris
The word “thanks” is found 73 times in 71 verses in the King James Version of the Bible. In Hebrew, four words (two same stems) are used to describe it:[1]
- הֻיְּדוֹת (huyyᵊḏôṯ) – thanksgiving
- יֶדָא (yeḏā’) – thank, give thanks
- יָדָה (yāḏâ) – praise, give thanks, confess, thank, make confession, thanksgiving, cast, cast out, shoot, thankful
- תּוֹדָה (tôḏâ) – thanksgiving, praise, thanks, thank offerings, confession
The Greeks, on the other hand, used five words (two same stems):
- ἀνθομολογέομαι (anthomologeomai ) – give thanks
- εὐχαριστέω (eucharisteō) – give thanks, thank, be thankful
- εὐχαριστία (eucharistia) – thanksgiving, giving of thanks, thanks, thankfulness
- ὁμολογέω (homologeō) – confess, profess, promise, give thanks, confession is made, acknowledgeth
- χάρις (charis) – grace, favour, thanks, thank, thank, pleasure
In every instance of the use of one of those words, the context refers to giving thanks to the God, the Lord of all.