Peace, Perfection, and Payment

Although these three nouns don’t necessarily have an obvious connection in the English language, in Biblical Hebrew they’re linked both linguistically and conceptually. Many scriptural passages either hint at or directly reference the theological connections between peace, payment, and perfection. Before providing examples, I’ll give some background information on their linguistic associations.

In October of 2014 I wrote a blog post that included information about the expanded meaning of the Hebrew noun shalom (שָׁלוֹם). To briefly recap, instead of shalom just meaning “peace”, the most common English translation, it also signifies perfection in the sense of something being in a complete, whole, or finished state. The author of 1 Kings 6:7 gives us an example where the adjectival feminine form of shalom (she-leh-MAH) signifies “completion” and “perfection”. Here the writer uses the phrase EH-behn sheh-leh-MAH (שלמה אבן), literally “stones made complete”, to describe blocks used in the construction of Solomon’s Temple that were “finished” at the quarry instead of being hauled as rough slabs to the building site to be chiseled and smoothed there. Also, you’ll notice that the Hebrew words for “perfection” מוּשׁלָמוּת) moosh-lah-MOOT) and “perfect, completed” (מוּשׁלָם moosh-LAHM) contain the same 3-letter consonant root (SH-L-M) that makes up the core of shalom, supporting the dual linguistic and ideological connections. 

What's more, the Hebrew language itself seems fixated on the notion that unless people and things are in a daily, orderly progression towards a state of final completion (ultimate shalom), it isn’t possible to have peace (daily shalom). Two of the most common greetings used in Modern Hebrew are: Mah shlohm-KHAH? (Literally, “How is your peace?”) and Hah kohl beh-SEH-dehr? (“Is everything in order?”). The ideas of “peace” and “ordered completeness” (i.e., perfection) are inseparably connected in Biblical Hebrew. Interestingly, in the LDS Standard Works Topical Guide, the word Peace is followed by the parenthetical note “see also Order” (p. 360, Topical Guide). The two ideas are again intertwined in the following Old Testament verse:

“Mark (notice) the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.” (Psalms 37:37, emphasis added)

So how does the third word, payment, tie in linguistically to peace and perfection in Hebrew? The verb that’s used most often in Hebrew for “to pay, to settle an account or debt” is לְשַׁלֵם (leh-shah-LEHM). Again, the same root consonants found in shalom (SH-L-M) resurface in this verb. This imagery works since an unsettled or unpaid account is one that’s not finished, complete or satisfied. The borrower can’t be fully at peace as the owner of an unreconciled debt since his lender has a legitimate claim on his freedom or property; on the other hand, the lender can’t enjoy complete peace while there’s still a possibility of default. Payment bridges this gap so that the transactional relationship becomes perfect, or whole.

Extending this linkage theologically, in order for us to enjoy the connected conditions of perfection (i.e., being completed or finished) and peace, there must be an actual payment, settling of accounts, purchase, or redemption in our collective and individual behalf; the collective part being redemption from physical death, with the individualized piece being salvation from personal sin.

"For by one offering (i.e., payment) he hath perfected them that are sanctified." (Hebrews 10:14)

So not only is Christ the Prince of Peace in the sense of being the future Establisher of geopolitical peace once He returns to begin His millennial reign, but perhaps even more significantly, He offers personal peace through His payment that makes the perfection (completion) of our souls possible.

(For additional scriptural references on the topic, see Romans 3:24, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Doctrine and Covenants 76:69, and Mormon 9:13)