107Wages

sakar / opsonion — Hebrew / Greek

Wages are the pay earned and owed — the due rendered for what one has done, whether the reward of the faithful or the payoff of sin. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23) is precise legal accounting: death is the earned pay, the due owed for the work of sin. Opsonion is a soldier’s pay; sakar is hire, wage. Wages are not arbitrary; they are what the labor earned, rendered according to the record. This is why sin’s wage is death — not an arbitrary penalty but the due the work incurs. Wages are owed, calculated, and paid: the exact return on what one has done, good or ill.

The Root

sakar (H7939) — hire, wages, the pay for labor. Paired with opsonion (G3800) — a soldier’s pay, wages.

Shares a Root With

sakar (H7939) — 108. Reward

The same wage-word covers the pay earned by labor (Wages) and the due paid to the faithful (Reward).

The Courtroom Word

A due-payment term — the pay earned and owed for what one has done.

Its Role in the Court

Labor earns a due, and wages are its payment — rendered according to the record, good or ill. ‘The wages of sin is death’: death is the earned pay for sin’s work, precise accounting, not arbitrary penalty. Opsonion and sakar are the pay owed for service. Wages are calculated and paid: the exact return on what one has done. What sin earns, it is paid; what faithfulness earns is the reward.

Proof Texts

Romans 6:23 “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of Elohim is eternal life.” The earned pay contrasted with the free gift.

Leviticus 19:13 “The wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night.” The wage owed and due promptly.

James 5:4 “The hire of the labourers... which is of you kept back by fraud.” The wage owed for labor.

Jeremiah 22:13 “That useth his neighbour’s service without wages.” The due unjustly withheld.

In Plain Terms

Wages are the pay earned and owed — the due rendered for what you have done. ‘The wages of sin is death’ is exact accounting: death is the pay sin’s work earns, not an arbitrary penalty. Wages are calculated and owed, the return on the labor. What sin earns, it is paid; the faithful, by contrast, receive the reward.

Bring It Home

Wages are what your work earns — the pay owed, rendered by the record. ‘The wages of sin is death’: death is not an arbitrary sentence but the pay sin’s labor earns. And the sharp contrast in that verse is the point: sin pays a wage, but eternal life is a gift, not a wage — unearned.

Courtroom Roles

The worker (the paid) receives the wage his labor earned, good or ill.
Yahuah (the Judge, the Paymaster) renders the due according to the record.
The wage (the due) the exact pay owed for the work done.

Where It Sits

IThere Is a Court

IIThe Court Runs on One Code

IIIYou Are Named on the Docket

IVThe Acquittal

VYour Life Is the Testing

VIIt Is All Entered as Evidence

VIIThe Bench Convenes

Movement VII — The Bench Convenes. The ruling is read, and each party is paid exactly what the record assigns.