Hebrew Understanding and Thinking

Contents

Collectives, Totalities, Reason, First-fruit

The Hebrews thought in totalities. God said to Pharaoh in Exodus 4:22-23 “and thou hast said unto Pharaoh, Thus said Yehovah, My son, My first-born is Israel, and I say unto thee, Send away My son, and he doth serve Me; and – thou dost refuse to send him away – lo, I am slaying thy son, thy first-born.” The many Israelites were seen as a collective totality of one. It was said of Jesus “Out of Egypt I called my son” but this also applied to Israel. Hosea 11:1 says “Because Israel is a youth, and I love him, Out of Egypt I have called for My Son“. The one was many and the many were one. If a lion attacked their flocks, it didn’t matter whether it was one lion or many for it was “the lion” that attacked. The Hebrews saw “the righteous” as a corporate totality or body of those who did what was right, and “the wicked” as a corporate totality of those who did evil. What applied to one also applied to many. Ruth the Moabite would have been seen as a corporate representative and totality of Lot, his character and history and as such could have been looked upon with horror by the Israelites who knew of her lineage. However, Hebraically she did not behave like Lot and in this respect she was not his daughter and therefore did not share in his corporate identity, not being part of his totality. The Hebrews did not think analytically and did not break things down into their component parts and then put them back together possibly in a different way. Sentences were seen as totalities. In Deuteronomy 32:3-4 it is written “For the Name of Yehovah I proclaim, Ascribe ye greatness to our God, perfect is his work, For all his ways are just; God of steadfastness, and without iniquity: Righteous and upright is He“. This was not analysed or deconstructed but was seen in totality. This could be better translated Hebraically as a complete whole: “God the steadfast Rock of faithfulness and uprightness and justice and righteousness of completeness and no wrong doing“. The Hebrews did not reason analytically with premise upon premise. They did not follow a logical progression from idea to idea, they reasoned with pictures of totality which they grasped with their hearts or whole being. Amos 3:3-6 says “Do two walk together if they have not met? Roar doth a lion in a forest and prey he hath none? Give out doth a young lion his voice from his habitation, If he hath not caught? Doth a bird fall into a snare of the earth, And there is no gin for it? Doth a snare go up from the ground, And prey it captureth not? Is a trumpet blown in a city, And do people not tremble? Is there affliction in a city, And Yehovah hath not done it?” Each of these sentences asks a question that answers “no“. Each successive question builds the “no” to emphasize the “no” of the last question resulting in a heartfelt response in the heart of the listener. The Hebrews thought with their hearts (heart logic) or whole being rather than reasoning analytically in their minds (head logic). In the Psalms, so often questions are raised but they are not answered with logical reasoning. It says in Psalm 2:1-3 “Why have nations tumultuously assembled? And do peoples meditate vanity? Station themselves do kings of the earth, And princes have been united together, Against Yehovah, and against his Messiah: ‘Let us draw off Their cords, And cast from us Their thick bands.’” This is not answered with a reasoned logical answer. Instead the Psalmist responds in Psalm 2:4 “He who is sitting in the heavens doth laugh, The Lord doth mock at them“. Totality can also be seen in the concept of the first-fruit. The first-fruit of Adam’s sin was to blame Eve and also God. Whist this can be seen as almost comical it is actually very serious because it was the beginnings of the root of hatred and bitterness towards women and also towards God. The first- fruit or first-born son of Adam was the self-worshipping Cain who in pride murdered his brother and Cain’s house or descendants were completely destroyed in the Flood because of their ever-increasing wickedness which grieved the heart of God. When Isaac was weaned, Ishmael mocked his brother, this was the first-fruit of jealousy, the fruit of the tree of hatred and murder. Within the first-fruit was the totality of the whole. Jesus is the first-born or first-fruit of many brothers, all of whom behave just like him, having the same Father and therefore the same life’s breath or character or behaviour or name. The one is many and the many are one because they were included in the totality of the whole. Often within scripture the words “first and last” and “going in and coming out” are used to indicate the totality of the whole of everything in-between. Psalm 121:8 Yehovah preserveth [guards, protects, saves, rescues] thy going out and thy coming in, From henceforth even unto the age! From an ancient Hebraic cultural perspective, the first-love mentioned in Revelation 2 is also seen as part of the totality of the whole. To the Church of Ephesus Jesus said in Revelation 2:4-5 “But I have against thee: That thy first love thou didst leave! [send away, forget, go away] remember, then, whence thou hast fallen, and reform, and the first works do; and if not, I come to thee quickly, and will remove thy lamp-stand from its place – if thou mayest not reform [repent].” God is love and the Ephesians were meant to be filled with the breath of God’s fatherhood, brothers of Jesus, being inspired to behave like him and bear the name “the son of God” by living and walking in love. They were no longer doing the works or words or “first-works” of love and were in danger of losing their part within the totality or whole of the corporate “son of God“. They were longer filled with God and no longer being the visible images of the invisible God by shining in love as a lamp-stand for the whole world to see how good God really is.

Totality in Hebrew Verse

The totality of the Hebrew thinking is shown quite well in their verse. They used what is now called parallelism to make themselves understood. They would use repeated phrases to say the same thing in a different way (synonymous), say the same thing but add to it the second time (synthetic), say something and then the opposite (antithetic) or say something and add to this over and over again (climatic). Each phrase was seen in totality, the successive phrases built upon what was said to bring a greater understanding into the heart of the listener. The purpose was to bring about a heartfelt response and not a reasoned logical argument. Communication was about understanding, and understanding was about behaviour. If what they heard didn’t change the way they behaved they were not listening. So in the Proverbs it says: Prov 10:7 The remembrance of the righteous is for a blessing, And the name of the wicked doth rot. Hebraically this was intended to focus people’s hearts on righteousness because God remembered to bless the righteous. However the name or character or behaviour of the wicked resulted in them becoming rotten or decayed and eaten by worms like King Herod when he was delighted that the people proclaimed that he was a god. It says in Isaiah 66:23-24 “And it hath been from month to month, And from sabbath to sabbath, Come do all flesh to bow themselves before Me, Said Yehovah. And they have gone forth, And looked on the carcases of the men Who are transgressing against me, For their worm dieth not, And their fire is not quenched, And they have been an abhorrence to all flesh!”

Totality of Israel

God treated the Israelites as a totality of one. In Joshua 7 the whole nation of Israel was defeated in battle at Ai because of the sin of one man, Achan the son of Carmi. This one man broke the covenant that Yehovah had made with Israel by stealing cursed plunder and brought the whole nation under the curse of God’s judgement. It says in Joshua 7:10-12 “And Yehovah saith unto Joshua, ‘Rise for thee, why is this? – thou art falling on thy face? Israel hath sinned, and also they have transgressed My covenant which I commanded them, and also taken of the devoted thing, and also stolen, and also deceived, and also put it among their vessels, and the sons of Israel have not been able to stand before their enemies.” The culprit had to be identified, the cursed items that he had stolen removed, and he and his whole family and his flocks were stoned to death by the people and all of his possessions burnt. Achan and his family and all of his possessions were considered to be a totality of one and had to be destroyed out of Israel to turn aside God’s wrath and allow the Israelites victory against their enemies. In 1 Chronicles 21, Satan provoked David to step outside of trusting in Yehovah by carry out a census of the nation of Israel to find out how big his army was. This angered Yehovah who punished the whole nation because of David’s rebellious unbelief in disobeying Exodus 30:12. That is why it says in 1 Chronicles 21:7 “And it is evil in the eyes of God concerning this thing, and he smiteth Israel.” Levi and Simeon cruelly murdered all of the men of Shechem because of the sin of Shechem the son of Hamor against their sister. King Saul broke the covenant that Joshua had wrongly made with the Gibeonites and again Yehovah punished the whole nation with famine. The Law of Moses was given to Israel as whole or totality in order to save the nation from sinners and maintain the whole nation with some kind of national identity and semblance of righteousness that would enable the Prophet or Messiah (from the Latin “Messias”) promised by Moses in Deuteronomy 18 to come. Those who sinned and broke the law of Moses were cut off from amongst the people because they had broken their covenant with God and were therefore no longer part of the totality of Israel. Israel had a corporate identity and a corporate blessing and those who did not break the covenant shared in that blessing. God considered the faithful within Israel as his firstborn son whom he blessed with the blessing of their father Abraham seen in the circumcision of their hearts and ears, their obedience to the righteous requirements of the law of love.

Writing and Thinking

The writing within ancient Hebrew culture was not exactly the same script that is seen on scrolls within Synagogues today because this was adapted and stylized by the scribes during their exile in Babylon. Ancient Hebrew script is called Paleo-Hebrew script and can be seen on some of the Qumran scrolls, on various pieces of broken pottery and ancient inscriptions on things like the Moabite Stone and the Samaritan Pentateuch. Ancient Hebrew script was based upon what is called the Phoenician Alphabet and was made up of 22 or more tiny pictures or pictograms representing common objects such as hands and feet, heads, tent pegs, crossed sticks, baskets, thorns, seeds or fish and the like. Each letter was a consonant and had a small range of obvious meanings. Words were put together using common sense and an understanding of the function of these simple objects. For instance the Hebrew letter Bet is a picture of a tent and the meanings of this letter are house, tent, dwelling, family as well as in, with, inside or within as the family resides within the house or tent. In Hebrew the word for house was “Bayith” and was two made up of two pictographs, a house, and two crossed sticks meaning a sign or mark. The house of a father was his family, the father lived on within his house or home, and the mark or sign of the house was the way his sons or descendants behaved. The way they behaved was the name of their father if they carried their father’s blessing. Jesus built a house for God to dwell in within his own body, and his body bears the name of God as his Father. His brothers behave like or bear the sign or witness or mark (in Hebrew Taw) of his Father by being inspired by the indwelling presence of his Father within his house or dwelling or sons to behave like Jesus. Just as an acorn is the house or son of the oak and behaves like it’s father oak as it grows, those who are led by the breath or inspiration or indwelling presence of their Father are the sons of God.

Form and Function

In our culture we are particularly interested in how things look and the form they take. A noun is a thing. The ancient Hebrews were much more concerned about how things functioned. They wanted to know how things worked. How things work or act are verbs. A verb is a “doing” word. Many Hebrew words have a circle of meaning that to us seems incomprehensible. The Hebrew word “ayil” is related to a yoked bull and could mean anything strong. It could mean a ram (a strong sheep), a chief (a strong person and leader), an oak tree (one of the strongest trees), one of the kings mighty men (strong in the army), a lintel in a door frame or a post in the ground. Exodus 15:15 says “Then have chiefs of Edom been troubled: Mighty ones [“ayil”] of Moab – Trembling doth seize them! Melted have all inhabitants of Canaan!” Isaiah 1:29 says “For men are ashamed because of the oaks [“ayil”] That ye have desired, And ye are confounded because of the gardens That ye have chosen.” Ezekiel 40:14 says “And he maketh the posts [“ayil”] of sixty cubits, even unto the post of the court, the gate all round about.” Only by looking at the context can the word be understood. Obviously a ram looks nothing like an oak tree but it’s “doing” or function is the same, denoting chief strength. The ram is chief in the flock, the oak is chief in the forest, the elders or leaders are chief amongst the people and kings’ mighty men were chief within the army. Another example is the word “barak” commonly translated by the word “bless“. It meant to bend the knee and fill the palm. The word also means to congratulate, salute, kneel but also curse, blaspheme and insult. Because the meaning of the word was based upon function and not form, the context of the word in the sentence determined its meaning. So what to us seems completely incomprehensible (how can a blessing be a curse?) for them it made complete sense. Another example is the word “natah” which means to stretch or bend away. It was used for the pitching of tents, to stretch a bow, carry away, extend, intend, lay, spread out the hands whilst making an offer, prolong, take aside, wrest away. The word was related to the squashing of fruit for it to be spread out and dried. So an understanding of the function of words explains why so many words in Hebrew seem to have a range or circle of meaning that seems to us a nonsense.

Speaking

In Hebrew, the word used for speak meant literally a chain of individual words blended together by breath to form a sentence. Just as natural words are blended together and spoken with natural breath in order to communicate, God spoke creation into being by speaking words with his divine breath that dwells within him. In Latin the word “author” is from “augeo” which means to increase or cause, God is the author of life. He is in effect the author or Father of life who spoke the word of creation into existence by his almighty breath. Prov 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those loving it eat its fruit.

Word

In Hebrew, the word used for word meant literally something ordered or carefully arranged. It related to actual things and not just words. We can say “I think, therefore I am”, the Hebrew would say “I am therefore I do and then I think about what I have done and understand it“. The Hebrews were primarily “doers” and not “thinkers“. The purpose of thinking was in order to do and it was only when they had done something that they could fully understand it. A thought without an action was considered “empty” or vain or meaningless. A man who had thoughts and desires (good intentions) but did not do them was considered to have weak or empty breath or name or spirit that lacked the inner strength of character or heart required to carry them out. Such people were called worthless fools or “nameless men” or sons of Belial (unteachable, rebellious). Job 30:8 Sons of folly [“nabal”, fools] – even sons without name [sons of Belial, characterless], They have been smitten from the land. The same was true of “speaking“. For the Hebrews, their “word” was not just something said, but something done. What they actually did or achieved was their “word” and by their life’s breath they were in effect the father of those words. King Solomon’s words were his notable deeds. 2 Chronicles 9:29 states “And the rest of the matters [words, acts] of Solomon, the first and the last, are they not written beside the matters of Nathan the prophet, and beside the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and with the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam son of Nebat?” A notable deed was a deed of name which brought fame or renown. Thinking about something, doing it and talking about it afterwards were all considered to be the same thing, their “word“. If it wasn’t done, it was considered to be an empty or “lip” word. 2 Kings 18:20 states “Thou hast said: Only a word of the lips! counsel and might are for battle; now, on whom hast thou trusted that thou hast rebelled against me?” God by his almighty breath sends forth his word and people are healed. God’s word does not return to him empty but accomplishes that for which his word was sent. God’s word is what God does, and God says what he does and does what he says. Isaiah 55:10-11 states “For, as come down doth the shower, And the snow from the heavens, And thither returneth not, But hath watered the earth, And hath caused it to yield, and to spring up, And hath given seed to the sower, and bread to the eater, So is My word that goeth out of My mouth, It turneth not back unto Me empty, But hath done that which I desired, And prosperously effected that for which I sent it.” For the Hebrews a lie was not so much an untrue fact but a broken promise – something not done, an empty worthless nothingness, like being a hearer but not a doer of the word. That is why it says in James 1:22-24 “And become ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves, because, if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, this one hath been like to a man viewing his natural face in a mirror, for he did view himself, and hath gone away, and immediately he did forget of what kind he was.” Hebraically being a hearer is being a doer because those who do not hear by doing were deceived into not bothering to properly listen. Clouds without rain and springs without water were considered to be lying, empty and worthless or vain. Peter describes the behaviour of empty false teachers and prophets. He states in 2 Peter 2:17-19 “These are wells without water, and clouds by a tempest driven, to whom the thick gloom of the darkness to the age hath been kept; for over swellings of vanity speaking, they do entice in desires of the flesh – lasciviousness’s, those who had truly escaped from those conducting themselves in error, liberty to them promising, themselves being servants of the corruption, for by whom any one hath been overcome, to this one also he hath been brought to servitude.” Idols were considered foolish, empty, worthless and lying because they never did anything to really help those who served them. False gods were considered false because they were not who they claimed to be and didn’t keep their word. In Hebrew the word “word” also meant to guide flocks to pasture, to follow behind, to lay snares, to plot, to destroy, to command, to subdue, to speak, to do, to achieve, to perform, to promise and to offer counsel. Psalm 22:1 states “A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? Far from my salvation, The words of my roaring?” The words “roaring” here was inner turmoil of heart and the behaviour or words or waves of someone in great distress. The Hebrews saw things in totality and for them something said was an act of the tongue which involved breath, and something done was an act of the hands or feet that also involved breath. Both were seen as an expression of the whole personality, soul or name. Hebraically the Acts of the Apostles could be translated the Words of the Apostles because their word is what they were inspired to do by God’s indwelling of those words by his breath or Holy Spirit following Pentecost. Jesus said in Matthew 10:32-33 “Everyone, therefore, who shall confess in me before men, I also will confess in him before my Father who is in the heavens; and whoever shall deny me before men, I also will deny him before my Father who is in the heavens.” The word confess in Greek is “homologeo” which means to say the same word. Hebraically this means to do like Jesus did. Wisdom speaks in Proverbs 1 and says in Proverbs 1:23 “Turn back at my reproof, lo, I pour forth to you my spirit [breath], I make known my words with you.” This is synonymous parallelism because Hebraically the breath or spirit that brings about action or activity and words or actions brought about by that breath are in effect the same thing.

Soul

In Hebrew, the word often translated soul was actually the word “nephesh” and meant literally a “breathing-being“. There are a number of related words in the Hebrew that all mean basically the same thing and are related to words for blowing, puffing, breathing and breath. They are also related to words for name and life. Adam was created by the combination of God’s word and God’s breath. God made Adam’s body from the pulverized dust of the earth, personally breathed into his nostrils God’s breath of life and he became a living “breathing-being“. Gen 2:7 And Yehovah God formeth the man – dust from the ground, and breatheth [“naphach”] into his nostrils breath [“neshemah”] of life, and the man becometh a living creature [soul, breathing-being, personality]. Hebraically God did not breathe into Adam a “spirit” but life. His breath was his life and he originally breathed the breath of the words that proceeded from the mouth of God. In Hebrew the word for breath in the expression “breath of life” is “neshemah” and was related to the word for name (“shem”). When God destroyed the world in the Flood, he destroyed everything that had in their nostrils the “neshemah ruach” or puff and breath or winds or breathings of life. That is why it says in Genesis 7:22 “all in whose nostrils is breath [“neshemah ruach”] of a living spirit [stomach, life] – of all that is in the dry land – have died.” The Hebrews did not see the body, soul and spirit as separate entities. They did not divide the soul up into components such as mind, will and emotions. They saw things in totality. In Isaiah it is clear that God himself has a soul or life’s breathings. So it says in Isaiah 1:14 “Your new moons and your set seasons hath My soul hated, They have been upon me for a burden, I have been weary of bearing”, and in Isaiah 42:1-2 “Lo, My servant, I take hold on him, My chosen one – My soul hath accepted [delight], I have put My Spirit upon him, Judgment to nations he bringeth forth. He doth not cry, nor lift up, Nor cause his voice to be heard, in the street.” For the Hebrews the soul was everything that was expressed by a man’s life’s breathings. David said in Psalm 103:1 “Bless, O my soul, Yehovah, And all my inward parts – His Holy Name.” The soul was the body, will, emotions, character and personality and even included family and possessions and name. In English the word “animal” is from the Latin “anima” which means to breathe and is the root of the word “animate“. When Mary met Elizabeth she said in Luke 1:46-47 “And Mary said, ‘My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit was glad on God my Saviour.” The Hebrews understood that the first thing that a baby did when it was born was to breathe in. That natural breath was the breath of natural life and it was equated with power or strength to live. When they died they believed that death was the weakest form of life possible because it had no breath. They stayed in their bodies when they died but gasped out the breath or power (or spirit) of life. They became weak because they lost their breath or strength and as such wanted a son or sons to bury them and lay them to rest, ideally with their own fathers. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were all buried in the cave of Machpelah in the land of promise and they rested together waiting for their son and heir Jesus to die and rise again by being reunited with his life’s breath so they could rise with him. God said to Daniel in Daniel 12:13 “And thou, go on to the end, then thou dost rest, and dost stand in thy lot at the end of the days.” For Daniel this was the inheritance of sonship within the kingdom of the corporate son of God by being reunited with God’s breath or Holy Spirit, the breath of the Holy One.

Spirit

In the Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible, the Greek “pneuma” and Hebrew “ruach” were translated “spiritus” meaning breath or wind. In English the word spirit came directly from the Latin “spiritus” and meant literally a breathing of respiration, and of the wind, or the breath of a god and could also mean inspiration, breath of life, disposition, character, high spirit and things like courage, pride and arrogance. The use of the word spirit to describe a strong alcoholic liquor originated from the volatility of the distillate and its ability to evaporate into the air and be smelled upon the breath. The word spirit was also related to the word “spirare” in Latin meaning to breathe. In Hebrew, the word “ruach” was actually the word for breath or wind. Hosea 13:15 says “Though he among brethren produceth fruit, Come in doth an east wind, a wind [“ruach”, spirit, breath] of Yehovah, From a wilderness it is coming up, And it drieth up his fountain, And become dry doth his spring, It – it spoileth a treasure – every desirable vessel.” It originally meant literally an “outside man” and represents the invisible part or life force or breath of life of a man that cannot be seen but is reflected in the way a man behaves. Wind cannot be seen directly but it’s power and effect can be seen and felt. In Genesis 1 it says literally that the breath of God that moved upon the face of the waters – Genesis 1:1-3 “In the beginning of God’s preparing the heavens and the earth – the earth hath existed waste and void, and darkness is on the face of the deep, and the Spirit [“ruach”, breath, winds] of God fluttering on the face of the waters, and God saith, ‘Let light be;’ and light is.” God spoke “Let there be light”, the words came from within Him as did his almighty breath, and God spoke light into existence. God was the author or father of the words that he spoke with his breath. Like the movement of a clock, the Spirit of God is everything that moves within Him – feelings, thoughts, memories, desires, will, emotions – everything that blew upon his heart and motivated Him to feel and move or act. Like a clock without its movement, a man without his breath or spirit was in effect dead. It was the spirit or breath or wind within a man that inspired or stirred or moved him to act and to do – what the man did was the expression of his person or life or spirit or breathings or character within him. Both people and animals have breath or spirit. It says in Ecclesiastes 3:20-21 “The whole are going unto one place, the whole have been from the dust, and the whole are turning back unto the dust. Who knoweth the spirit [“ruach”, breath] of the sons of man that is going up on high, and the spirit [“ruach”, breath] of the beast that is going down below to the earth?” The word “ruach” meant things like wind, breath, air, vain emptiness, animation or vigour, courage, temper or anger, patience or impatience, being troubled or bitter, discontent or content, being gifted, desire, sorrow, trouble, thinking, moral character or lack of it, and energy of life. In Psalm 51:9-12 David prayed “Hide Thy face from my sin. And all mine iniquities blot out. A clean heart prepare for me, O God, And a right spirit [breath] renew within me. Cast me not forth from Thy presence, And Thy Holy Spirit [breath of the Holy One] take not from me. Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation, And a willing spirit [breath, breathings] doth sustain me.” He prayed that Yehovah would create within him a clean heart and renew a right breath (spirit), character and behaviour within him, and restore to him the joy of Yehovah’s salvation. In ancient Hebrew culture, the joy of salvation was the joy of being saved from one’s enemies here and now, not after death by going to heaven. In 1 Kings 22-23 God commanded a lying breath into the mouths of the false prophets because of King Ahab’s wickedness “And now, lo, Yehovah hath put a spirit of falsehood in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and Yehovah hath spoken concerning thee – evil.” It says in the Proverbs 25:28 “A city broken down without walls, Is a man without restraint over his spirit [life’s breath]!” Proverbs 16:2 states “All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, And Yehovah is pondering [weighing in a balance] the spirits.” Job said in Job 27:3-4 “For all the while my breath [“neshemah”, puff] is in me, And the spirit [“ruach”, breath] of God in my nostrils. My lips do not speak perverseness, And my tongue doth not utter deceit.” When Jesus rose from the dead as the son of Man (Adam), he was eternally reunited with the breath of God’s life and he breathed God’s breath into his disciples and said “Receive the breath of the Holy One“. That is why it says in John 20:21-22 “Jesus, therefore, said to them again, ‘Peace to you; according as the Father hath sent me, I also send you;’ and this having said, he breathed on them, and saith to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.” John 1:4 states “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” Within Adam they had been created by Him as the word of God, and Jesus reunited them with the life of the breath of God that he had originally breathed into them when he as God created them. In Greek the word Jesus used for breath meant to puff into, and was the same word used in the Septuagint for when God created Adam and breathed into him the breath of life, when Elijah breathed life into the widow of Zarephath’s dead son, and when Ezekiel prophesied and spoke God’s word “live” in the valley of the dry bones. Ezekiel 37:9 states “And he saith unto me: ‘Prophesy unto the Spirit, prophesy, son of Man, and thou hast said unto the Spirit: Thus said the Lord Yehovah: From the four winds come in, O Spirit [“ruach”, breath], and breathe on these slain, and they do live.’” The Hebrews equated flesh with weakness because death was simply a body that had gasped out the breath or strength (or spirit) of life. Those who were strong in breath were able to do and achieve great words. Those who were weak in breath were flesh and not breath or strength or spirit. In Genesis 1, the breath of the Holy One hovered over the waters of chaos. Nothing happened until God spoke the living word because God’s breath (or spirit) without God’s word is God’s presence without the release of God’s power. The incredible power of God was released when God’s word and God’s breath were united and he spoke to bring creation into being.

Soul Full of Spirit

The breathing-being (or soul) had desires of its heart and when these desires were satisfied this brought fullness of soul. Hunger or thirst or misfortune could cause the soul to become empty, to be restless, shake or quake, become miserable or melted and weak, vacillating and indecisive and unable to act. The soul could be restored by the blessing of God and good fortune, the restoration of health or a loved one, or a good harvest or good news or even food or drink depending upon what the problem was. In 1 Samuel King David found a man who was dying in the desert, he gave him food and drink and his strength of soul or breath of life returned, so 1 Samuel 30:11-12 says “and they find a man, an Egyptian, in the field, and take him unto David, and give to him bread, and he eateth, and they cause him to drink water, and give to him a piece of a bunch of dried figs, and two bunches of raisins, and he eateth, and his spirit [life’s breath or strength] returneth unto him, for he hath not eaten bread nor drunk water three days and three nights.” The soul or breath of life could also be tied or bound to the life or breathings of another soul. Jacob had a strong soul tie to his son Benjamin which was mentioned in Genesis 44 and any misfortune that Benjamin experienced would have affected his father’s life in a similar way, Genesis 44:30-31 “And now, at my coming in unto thy servant my father, and the youth not with us (and his soul is bound [tied, knit, joined] up in his soul), then it hath come to pass when he seeth that the youth is not, that he hath died, and thy servants have brought down the grey hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to sheol.” To be full of breath or spirit was to be full of the strength or ability to act and do and achieve the desires of the heart. Those whose desires of the heart were fulfilled had a full or blessed or happy soul. The breath or Spirit of God upon people does not mean like a bird sitting on a perch or the branch of a tree. The word upon is related to the word for yoke or work and it means literally to “see the yoke” or “experience the staff of authority“. Practically it is like the sails of a boat experiencing and responding to the power of a sudden gust of wind filling the sails and moving the boat forward. Like the force of a catapult it was the dynamic response within the whole being to the powerful movement of God’s breath or Holy Spirit filling the personality and character with his personality or name causing the recipient to move and behave and walk in his ways by doing or becoming his word. Haggai 1:14 states “And Yehovah doth stir up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people, and they come in, and do work in the house of Yehovah of Hosts their God.” In Exodus, Bezaleel was filled with the breath or Holy Spirit of Yehovah and this gifted him with all manner of skills to work on the Tabernacle, Exodus 35:30-33 “And Moses saith unto the sons of Israel, ‘See, Yehovah hath called by name Bezaleel, son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and he doth fill him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all work, even to devise devices to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in graving of stones for settings, and in graving of wood to work in any work of design.” Jesus said to his disciples in Acts 1:8″ …. ye shall receive power at the coming of the Holy Spirit upon you, and ye shall be witnesses to me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and unto the end of the earth.” Hebraically the word “power” and the words “coming upon” means the continual experience of the personal breath or very presence or power of Yehovah as a father moving into and dwelling within and upon his son or sons in order for them to bear witness to Jesus or becoming his reflection by being inspired by his indwelling breath or Holy Spirit to behave like him.

Oaths

Oaths were an integral part of ancient Hebrew culture and it was taken for granted that the gods or God was a witness to what was promised or declared. It was also taken for granted that the speaker of the oath would bring a curse upon their own head, if the words that they spoke were not true, even if the curse was not specifically included in the oath. The oath formula often included statements such as “As Yehovah lives”, and often the listener as well “….and as you yourself live. “. 1 Samuel 20:3 states “And David sweareth again, and saith, ‘Thy father hath certainly known that I have found grace in thine eyes, and he saith, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved; and yet, Yehovah liveth, and thy soul liveth, but – as a step between me and death.’” The oath focussed the mind of the listener upon what was spoken and emphasised the truth of what was said. Within ancient Hebrew culture the breaking of oaths was a serious thing and brought a curse down upon the head of the oath-breaker. Ruth 1:16-17 states “And Ruth saith, ‘Urge me not to leave thee – to turn back from after thee; for whither thou goest I go, and where thou lodgest I lodge; thy people is my people, and thy God my God. Where thou diest I die, and there I am buried; thus doth Yehovah to me, and thus doth he add – for death itself doth part between me and thee.’” Oaths were an integral part of the justice system within ancient culture and for the Hebrews an oath spoken was the same as a deed done, because their words and what they actually did were the same thing. Oaths were often made with uplifted hands. God swore with uplifted hands to Abraham that he would give the land of promise as an inheritance to his son or seed that was poured out upon all flesh at Pentecost. In Exodus 6:7-8 God said “and have taken you to Me for a people, and I have been to you for God, and ye have known that I am Yehovah your God, who is bringing you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians; and I have brought you in unto the land which I have lifted up My hand to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and have given it to you – a possession; I am Yehovah.’” In Hebrew the word for oath was related to the word for seven, and it meant seven declarations or something complete. In Jeremiah 5:2,5 it says “And if they say, ‘Yehovah liveth,’ Surely to a falsehood they swear….And if ye do not hear these words, By myself I have sworn – an affirmation of Yehovah, That this house is for a desolation.” Jesus called Judas a “son of desolation“. The Pharisees taught that only some oaths were binding depending upon what was sworn upon, but Jesus challenged their hypocrisy and emphasised the need for honesty in everything that was said. The expression in English “by Jove” is a mild poetical oath sworn to the Roman God Jupiter and the expression “Blimey” is “God blind me if this isn’t true“. In Hebrew the word for vow meant literally to “scatter the head” and was related to the sowing of grain or scattering or winnowing or giving something. It says in Ecclesiastes 5:4 that “When thou vowest a vow to God, delay not to complete it, for there is no pleasure in fools; that which thou vowest – complete.” God does not delight in fools (literally loin-thinkers) who vow to Him but do not complete or “shalom” their vow.

See

To see in Hebrew meant to fully realize or to be completely acquainted with something. In our culture we can say “We will see“. When we say that we mean much more than just see. For the Hebrew, to “see death” meant to actually die, to “see life” to live. In Genesis 5 Enoch did not see death, God took him away. In Psalm 34:8 it says “Taste ye and see that Yehovah is good, O the happiness of the man who trusteth in Him.” Hebraically to look at food was not really seeing it, tasting food and eating it really meant to see it because they saw things with their whole being or heart and not just with their eyes. The Prodigal Son had lived with his father for many years but he only truly “saw” his father when he came home. Then he could really say “I have seen my father“. Simeon the prophet who “saw” the baby Jesus in the temple “saw” more than a baby. That is why he said in Luke 2:29-32 “‘Now Thou dost send away Thy servant, Lord [Yehovah], according to Thy word, in peace, because mine eyes did see Thy salvation, Luke 2:31 which Thou didst prepare before the face of all the peoples, a light to the uncovering of nations, and the glory of Thy people Israel.’” He was rescued and saved from the hand or slavery to sinning by the encounter and he was ready to depart in “shalom” – God’s word to him had been fulfilled. Jesus said “those who have seen me have seen the Father“. The word “see” here means to have encountered and fully know all the Jesus came to bring. He was not talking about those who passed him in the street. When Adam and Eve sinned and ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, their eyes were opened and could see. The fruit was good for food but poisoned, deceptive and addictive and they saw that they didn’t really need God, they could fend for themselves by finding or seeing another or different source of supply. This alternative to God was what the serpent always offers, it is made to look good but always left people hungry and eventually went bad. The “alternative to God” Hebraically has the same function as “anti-Christ” or “instead of the Anointed One“. The word for deceive in Hebrew is related to the word for debt because the deception results in a loss and the gnashing of teeth. In John 19 when Jesus was on the cross, he said in John 19:26-27 “Jesus, therefore, having seen his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he was loving, he saith to his mother, ‘Woman, lo [see], thy son;’ afterward he saith to the disciple, ‘Lo [see], thy mother;’ and from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.” He meant more than just see because from that day, John took Mary into his household or home and she became part of his house. In English the expression “see to it” is part of the meaning of “see” in Hebrew as it means much more than just seeing something. It means to do it or make it happen.

Know

For the Hebrew to know something was to experience it. For them, understanding followed doing and to truly know something one had to experience it first. From their perspective, a man can never “know” childbirth even if he is present at the birth of his child. Someone who is not married cannot “know” marriage. It is said of Mary that before Jesus was born, she had not “known” a man. Hebraically to see and know were related. John said in John 1:18 “God no one hath ever seen; the only begotten Son, who is on the bosom of the Father – he did declare [make known].” He meant “No one has ever completely and totally comprehended and understood and experienced God in his totality” but that the man Yehoshua (Jesus), who is actually Yehovah God in person (Immanuel), as the son of David has made him known by revealing God’s fatherhood, character and name through all he ever did. This included his teaching, healings, miracles, signs, wonders, death, resurrection, ascension and Pentecost. These things are salvation, the fruit of knowing sonship and become food and drink to the sons of God. Hebraically these things are all God’s “word” because God’s word is what God does. God does his “word” by his “breath” or Holy Spirit. When God told Abraham in Genesis 15 that he was going to inherit the promised land, Abraham asked how he could actually “know” it. God didn’t say “I’ve just told you”, instead he made a covenant with Abraham, so that Abraham could really “know” it. It meant much more than simply being told something.

Listen and Understand

To listen in Hebrew meant to obey. If they didn’t obey they were not listening and they did not understand what they were hearing. To understand something meant to be a good listener. A good listener in Hebrew culture was someone who could listen to find out what needed to be done and then do it. The word “listen” in Hebrew actually means “to see the name“. Haggai 1:12 states “And Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and Joshua son of Josedech, the high priest, and all the remnant of the people, do hearken [listened, heard, obeyed] to the voice of Yehovah their God, and unto the words of Haggai the prophet, as Yehovah their God had sent him, and the people are afraid [feared, honoured] of the face [presence] of Yehovah.” When someone sees and obeys a police officer, they are actually “seeing the name“. They are seeing the name of the law or authority represented by the badge. Hebraically it also means to “fear” the name, not in a cowering sense, but in the sense of being aware of the consequences of not doing so. This is the beginning of wisdom. Drivers commonly “fear” traffic lights by obeying them. They are aware of the consequences of “running a red light“. They are actually listening to and fearing the “name” of the traffic lights and what they represent. Jesus said “My sheep hear my voice”, Hebraically this means “My sheep see and realize and fully understand and experience and know my name and because of that have no difficulty in obeying my command to love and that is what they gladly and habitually do“. Jesus said to the Pharisees in John 8:47 “….he who is of God, the sayings of God he doth hear; because of this ye do not hear, because of God ye are not.’” The Pharisees were not physically deaf but they did not hear the words of God by establishing and obeying them because they did not belong to God. Those who belong to God delight in obedience because the breath of God dwells within the words that God speaks into the hearts of his son.

Wisdom and Counsel

In Hebrew culture wisdom was the ability to succeed, to achieve, and in particular to do what is good or right. Counsel was to offer wise advice that would result in this achievement and success. A successful farmer or builder or soldier would be considered “wise” and able to counsel others to help them to succeed too. Noah was a wise man because he heard the word of God telling him to build the ark. He received within his heart the breath of God giving him the strength and ability and understanding to build the ark, and then he built it. When Eve looked at the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil she saw that it could bring wisdom. It meant literally an understanding of new ways of behaving in order to achieve or bring that what she thought would bring success. “How to live outside of God’s provision, protection, purpose and presence” was what the fruit actually brought. The Proverbs are full of practical wisdom which brings counsel which leads to success for those who actually establish (Hebraically, faith or believe or truth) such wisdom by doing it. Wisdom loves those that love wisdom and doing that which is wise brings an inheritance of weightiness and the super-abundance of life that Jesus describes in John 10. It says in Ezekiel 44:28 “And it hath been to them [the priests of the Levites] for an inheritance; I [Yehovah] am their inheritance: and a possession ye do not give to them in Israel; I [Yehovah] am their possession.” Those who love the wisdom of doing what is good, honourable or praiseworthy love their own lives and receive the favour of God, but those who twist away and spurn the wisdom of doing what is good gasp out life and embrace death. In Proverbs 8:17-21 wisdom itself speaks and declares “I love those loving me, And those seeking me earnestly do find me. Wealth and honour are with me, Lasting substance and righteousness. Better is my fruit than gold, even fine gold, And mine increase than choice silver. In a path of righteousness I cause to walk, In midst of paths of judgment, To cause my lovers to inherit substance, Yea, their treasures I fill.” The wise walk in the ways of doing what is right and good and just and those that love to live like this inherit something worth having and have treasuries that are full. The Shunamite woman in 2 Kings 5 was following wise counsel when she made a small room with a bed, table, chair and a lamp on the roof of her house for Elisha the Prophet to dwell in when he visited her, 2 Kings 4:9-10 “and she saith unto her husband, ‘Lo, I pray thee, I have known that a holy man of God he is, passing over by us continually let us make, I pray thee, a little upper chamber of the wall, and we set for him there a bed, and a table, and a high seat, and a candlestick; and it hath been, in his coming in unto us, he doth turn aside thither.’” When the storm of the death of her son struck her house it didn’t collapse, she lay the body of her dead son on Elisha’s bed and Elisha came and rose her son from the dead. She had blessed Elisha and Elisha and his God blessed her in return.

Foolishness

In English the word fool comes from the Latin “follis” meaning bellows or windbag or to blow or swell up or swelled cheeks. In Hebrew culture a fool was someone who gambled everything on an uncertainty or someone who thought with their loins, flouted authority, rebelled or broke the rules. Fools were losers and failures, those whose strength on their journey or pathway of life or behaviour or name would one day fail and their life would flow away. We would say someone who was “playing with fire“. Fools were not intellectually but morally inferior. That is why it states in Hosea 9:7 “Come in have the days of inspection, Come in have the days of recompense, Israel doth know! a fool is the prophet, Mad is the man of the Spirit, Because of the abundance of thine iniquity, And great is the hatred.” Their loins were the seat of their confidence and believed they had something when they had nothing worth having, just like an idol. They were people that in effect confidently “waved a red flag in the face of a bull“. Fools are those who sow to the flesh and believe that they will not reap what they sow because of misplaced religious conviction or beliefs. They are mocking God. God cannot be mocked and so they are fools. In Proverbs 7 there was a young man who proved that he lacked wisdom by skipping down the street to the house of the harlot at twilight when her husband was away from home, Prov 7:6-8 “For, at a window of my house, Through my casement I have looked out, And I do see among the simple ones, I discern among the sons, A young man lacking understanding, Passing on in the street, near her corner, And the way to her house he doth step.” The harlot declared that she was now right with God because she had offered sacrifices and honoured her vows. She had ritually purified her bed and she was now ready for her foolish lover. This deceived and foolish young man was actually described as lacking “heart” and was unfortunately following a pathway to a premature grave from which no-one had ever returned. Esau was a fool because he went on the same pathway by taking Canaanite women as wives without seeking the blessing of his father even though he knew that his mother was not a Canaanite and why. It says in Hosea 12:7 “Canaan! in his hand are balances of deceit! To oppress he hath loved.” God had spoken to Abraham and told him that one day the Canaanites (or Amorites) would be judged because of their increasing wickedness and Abraham did not want an inheritance within a cursed partly-Canaanite house. Fathers arranged marriages for their sons because the sons would become their inheritance and be given an inheritance by their father in order for them to establish their father’s house. Abraham obtained Rebekah for Isaac from his own family because he was wise. Judah was foolish to marry a Canaanite woman and his first two sons by her were struck down dead by God for their wickedness.

Touch

Because the Hebrews saw things in totality, for them to touch something meant a great deal more than in our culture. To touch another man’s wife meant to commit adultery which was obviously far more than just “a touch“. There was quite a lot of touching going on. To touch meant something like handle, fondle, stroke and embrace repeatedly. God said “Touch no unclean thing and I will be with you“. Isaiah 52:11-12 states “Turn aside, turn aside, go out thence, The unclean touch not, go out from her midst, Be ye pure, who are bearing the weapons of Yehovah. For not in haste do ye go out, Yea, with flight ye go not on, For going before you is Yehovah, And gathering you is the God of Israel!” When Jesus touched lepers the touch was seen as much more than just a touch. When Jesus rose from the dead, Mary Magdalene encountered him at the tomb. In John 20:17 it says “Jesus saith to her, ‘Be not touching [attaching to] me, for I have not yet ascended unto my Father; and be going on to my brethren, and say to them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father, and to my God, and to your God.’” He probably meant “Don’t keep on embracing me…..” because she wouldn’t let him go. He needed to show Mary that because of his resurrection and coming ascension his relationship with his disciples was now different – he could walk through walls and closed doors and appear and disappear at will.

Faith and Truth

In English the word truth originally meant something faithful, trustworthy, honest, steady, firm, established and solid. This is the meaning of the word faith in Hebrew. Faith in Hebrew culture was not a religious belief. It was not a conceptual, abstract, philosophical tenet, intellectual or theoretical agreement to some form of dogma or creed. It was something sure, something real and tangible. The circle of meaning in Hebrew was based upon the function of the word faith. Faith meant to build, establish, pillar, support, foster or nurse a child, to be firm or faithful, steadfast and sure, permanent, morally true, right-hand strength and turn to the right. Moses said to Yehovah in Numbers 11:12 “I – have I conceived all this people? I – have I begotten it, that Thou sayest unto me, Carry it in thy bosom as the nursing [faith, establish, believe, truth] father beareth the suckling, unto the ground which Thou hast sworn to its fathers?” The purpose of faith was to establish and achieve, to get things done. Abraham established the promises of God made to him personally by receiving the inspiring breath of God that dwelt within the promises and leaving his father’s house and his people and going to the land that God promised to show him. He established God’s promise through life-long obedience and walking with God. It was the promise of blessing and the breath of God that dwelt within the promise within the life of Abraham and the life-breathings of his soul that enabled him to do it. James 2:20-23 says “And dost thou wish to know, O vain man, that the faith apart from the works is dead? Abraham our father – was not he declared righteous out of works, having brought up Isaac his son upon the altar? dost thou see that the faith was working with his works, and out of the works the faith was perfected? and fulfilled was the Writing that is saying, ‘And Abraham did believe God, and it was reckoned to him – to righteousness;’ and, ‘Friend of God’ he was called.” Hebraically, true faith is establishing by God’s inspiring breath or Holy Spirit what is hoped for, and making certain of that which has been promised by God personally but cannot be seen. Jesus often began speaking by saying “Truly, truly I say to you“. The word he used was “amen” the Hebrew word for faith or established or truth. It says in Isaiah 53:1 “Who hath given credence [believed, established] to that which we heard? And the arm of Yehovah, On whom hath it been revealed?” Hebraically believe means establish, and the arm of Yehovah is the action of his strength. Isaiah actually means “who has received the revelation and strength of Yehovah to respond to appropriately and establish what we have said through being changed by the inflow of God’s breath contained within his word or promise in the way they behave within the breathings of their life“. In John 12:37-38 it says “yet he having done so many signs before them, they were not believing in him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he said, ‘Lord, who gave credence to our report? and the arm of the Lord [Yehovah] – to whom was it revealed?’” The Scribes, Pharisees and Teachers of the Law would not believe or establish what Isaiah had said about Yehoshua because the lying words of arrogant self-importance and murderous pride had already been established or made true within their hearts through their sin. The words that Jesus spoke were the breath of life, but they didn’t receive or establish the breath of those words by establishing them through their obedience. And again it says in John 5:43-44 “‘I have come in the name of my Father, and ye do not receive me; if another may come in his own name, him ye will receive; how are ye able – ye – to believe [establish within your hearts Jesus’ words of life], glory from one another receiving, and the glory that is from God alone ye seek not?” In Mark 11 Jesus said that whatever you ask for in prayer if you believe that you have received it, it will be yours. Hebraically believe is “established” and what he meant was, if what you ask for in prayer is established by God’s inspiring breath within your heart by you knowing it is done, it will be yours.

Heart

The Hebrews lived from their hearts and not from their heads. The heart was literally the “staff in the house” and was the centre of their being. It expressed itself in their thoughts, feelings or emotions and will resulting in how they behaved. Their hearts could be hardened, melted, lifted up, full or empty, hot, faint, turned away or departed, circumcised to enable them to love, glad and sincere, inclined to hear, blessed, searched, comforted and merry, grieved, rejoicing, trembling, arrogant and so forth. In Ezekiel God promised to put a new heart within them and take away their hearts of stone and give them feeling hearts of flesh. So it says in Ezekiel 36:26-27 “And I have given to you a new heart, And a new spirit I give in your midst, And I have turned aside the heart of stone out of your flesh, And I have given to you a heart of flesh. And My Spirit I give in your midst, And I have done this, so that in My statutes ye walk, And My judgments ye keep, and have done them.” He promised to put new breath (or spirit or strength of heart) in them and his breath within them to move and motivate them to walk with him and keep his commandments. This was the blessing of Abraham. The breath was the motivating force or power or inner strength that worked upon the heart to bring life. The heart was like the rudder of a ship which brought direction, and the breath or spirit or wind was the power that motivated or blew upon the sails of the ship to bring movement. David said in Psalm 37:1-4 “By David. Do not fret because of evil doers, Be not envious against doers of iniquity, For as grass speedily they are cut off, And as the greenness of the tender grass do fade. Trust in Yehovah, and do good, Dwell in the land, and enjoy faithfulness, And delight thyself on Yehovah, And He giveth to thee the petitions of thy heart.”

Name

In the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, there is a character called Jack Dawkins. Jack was a thief and a pickpocket, the leader of a gang of child criminals who was better known as the “Artful Dodger“. Hebraically, he could have been named “the son of Dodger” because his dodging was how he behaved which came from the original “Artful Dodger” Adam who blamed Eve and God for his sin. In Hebrew culture a person’s breath or spirit was their life, and the expression of this breath was a person’s character or personality. A person’s character was an expression of the inspiration (from the Latin “inspirare”, in-breathe) of their spirit or breath displayed by what they did (their words). Their words collectively were called their “ways” and their ways were an expression of their “name“. A man of “name” or substance was a great achiever. A great achiever had a great character or strength of spirit and did great things (achieved great words) and as a result they had and developed a great “name” which resulted in fame or renown. God promised to make Abraham’s name great – he would do great things (do great words) and his name (the breath of his character) and his family or house or descendants which were part of his name would become great. Genesis 12:1-3 says “And Yehovah saith unto Abram, ‘Go for thyself, from thy land, and from thy kindred, and from the house of thy father, unto the land which I shew thee. And I make thee become a great nation, and bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing. And I bless those blessing thee, and him who is disesteeming thee I curse, and blessed in thee have been all families of the ground.’” Someone’s name is who they really are and it is expressed or known by what they do. Someone who never does anything cannot have a great name. A name is not an identifier or appellation or label but it is something real. It was said of Moses that God knew him by name – meaning that God was in a personal relationship with him and knew in practice who he really was. In Genesis, Eve named her firstborn son Cain which means “acquired, got” as she probably imagined that Cain would crush the head of the serpent and get her back into Eden. His brother she named Abel which means “emptiness, vanity, nothingness“. For her, Cain had a purpose and a name, but Abel was pointless and so that is what she called him. In 2 Samuel 18, Ahimaaz (brother of uprightness) the son of Zadok (uprightness, righteousness) was seen running with a message for King David. So it says in 2 Samuel 18:27 “And the watchman saith, ‘I see the running of the first as the running of Ahimaaz son of Zadok.’ And the king saith, ‘This is a good man, and with good tidings he cometh.’” The Hebrews saw things in totality and for them a good name, good character, right behaviour and bringer of good news went together. Jesus himself was good news, and when Jesus turned up and was received in a town or village there was great rejoicing because his name is “Yehovah is my salvation” and he showed them the love of his Father by saving them practically from everything that was distressing them. The same is true of all of the true sons of God.

People’s Names

In ancient Hebrew culture, children were usually named on the basis of their function or hoped-for purpose. The first child that was born in Genesis was Cain and the word means “got“. Eve said that she had got a man by Yehovah and she called him “Got” (Cain). Then she bore Abel, she said nothing about him because she had no idea why he was born. Abel means empty nothingness. Cain murdered Abel, and Eve bore another son to put in the place of Abel and he was called “Placed” (Seth). The parents of Noah (meaning comfort) were hoping that “Comfort” (Noah) would bring comfort and that is what they called him. Divided (Peleg) was named divided because in his day the nations were divided and his name commemorated that significant event. The name Jacob means “tripper” and when he was born he grabbed his brother’s heel. This was seen as significant and his first act could have set a pattern for his life. God however changed his name from “Tripper” to Israel (Prince of God) because he behaved differently and had power with God and men and prevailed as a powerful prince. Hosea 12:3-4 states “In the womb he took his brother by the heel, And by his strength he was a prince with God, Yea, he is a prince unto the Messenger, And he overcometh by weeping, And he maketh supplication to Him, At Bethel he doth find him, And there he doth speak with us.” Jacob’s sons were named by his wives Leah and Rachael as they bickered amongst themselves for their husband’s love. Each son was to function as a help and strength in the battle between the sisters. Leah said of Reuben “See a son (Reuben), my husband will love me now“. His function was to bring his mother his father’s love. When Benjamin was born, Rachael died and she named him Benoni (son of my sorrow), however Jacob changed his name to Benjamin (son of my right hand). Saul’s son Ish-Baal (man of possession) was renamed by the people Ish-Bosheth (man of shame) when his father was defeated and killed by the Philistines. King David and his men protected Nabal’s flocks and asked for some food in return. Nabal refused and accused David of breaking away from Saul in rebellion. Nabal’s wife Abigail spoke to David to pacify his anger. In 1 Sam 25:25-26 she said “‘Let not, I pray thee, my lord set his heart to this man of worthlessness [Belial], on Nabal [stupid, wicked, foolish], for as his name is so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him; and I, thine handmaid, did not see the young men of my lord whom thou didst send; and now, my lord, Yehovah liveth, and thy soul liveth, in that Yehovah hath withheld thee from coming in with blood, and to save thy hand to thee – now let thine enemies be as Nabal, even those seeking evil unto my lord.” People also included the name of God in their children’s names in the hope that they would bring something of God into their lives. There were over 150 different names of God given to people in the Old Testament. In the Northern Kingdom of Israel the people tended to use the name of God “El” in their names. So Eleazor (Lazarus) means, God is my helper. Elisha means God is my treasure. Abiel means fathered by God. Uriel means flame of God. In the Southern Kingdom of Judah the people tended to use Yah. Yah was actually better because it was more specific. There were many so called gods (El) but only one Yehovah. Eliyah (Elijah) means my God is Yah. Obadyah means Yah is my worship. Neryah means Yah is my light. The expression and character or nature of God that is revealed in these names is all-encompassing. Their names declared that Yah or “He Who Is” is my – ornament, protector, giver, deliverer, redeemer, king, possessor, comforter, lifter, rock, gatherer, ransomer, friend, healer, light, eye-opener, hope, mercy-shower, defender, bosom-carrier, helper, creator, builder, blesser, strengthener, hearer, sustainer, establisher, enlightener, greatness, lover the list goes on and on. It was the blessing of Abraham or the anointing of Kings that enabled these “labels” that identified individual people to become actual “names” that expressed a change of character, behaviour and destiny. The name Jezebel (queen of King Ahab) in Hebrew means literally “where is Baal?” because Baal was often seen as a dying and rising god and this name was called in worship ceremonies to resurrect him from the darkness of the underworld.

Place Names

Places were usually named by their function, and were personally named by people for whom that place was significant. On the way to obtain a wife from Laban, Jacob had a dream in which he saw a stairway to heaven and God called out to him and promised to give him the land. So he named that place Beth-El and gate of heaven, the house of God. God dwelt in that place but Jacob had not known it until he had the dream. Years later when he wrestled with the angel at the ford of Jabbok his name was changed to Israel. He called that place Pen-El which means the face of God because he saw or wrestled with God face to face and his life was preserved. People would often return to places that they had named and where they had encountered God to re-establish God’s promises or to hope to encounter Him once again.

Dreams

For the Hebrews thoughts and desires of the heart were made real through action. Extremely vivid and significant dreams were taken very seriously because they arose from the very depths of the heart and being. For instance Joseph dreamed that his brothers and mother and even his father would one day bow down to him. His father rebuked him for this dream because it seemed to reveal that Joseph was incredibly arrogant and foolish in heart. So it says in Genesis 37:10-11 “And he recounteth unto his father, and unto his brethren; and his father pusheth against him, and saith to him, ‘What is this dream which thou hast dreamt? do we certainly come – I, and thy mother, and thy brethren – to bow ourselves to thee, to the earth?’ and his brethren are zealous against him, and his father hath watched [guarded, protected] the matter [word].” However, this dream was from God which created a reality within the heart of Joseph. It revealed that he actually had the heart of a king (Hebraically a reigning one). Through the blessing of the God of his father Abraham, Joseph was able to receive the inner strength of heart and character or name to make this dream come true.

Tokens and Marks, Signs and Wonders

Signs, marks or tokens were considered to be real in the same way that significant dreams were. Rahab the prostitute saved the spies sent by Joshua into Jericho by allowing them to climb out of her window on a scarlet rope. She asked the spies to have mercy upon her father’s house when Jericho was destroyed and to give her a “true” token or sign. She was told to tie the scarlet rope which the spies used to climb out of her window in the city walls of Jericho in her window. When the Israelites attacked the city she was spared because of the token. Within that token was her salvation. It says in Joshua 2:12-13 “‘And now, swear ye, I pray you, to me by Yehovah – because I have done with you kindness – that ye have done, even ye, kindness with the house of my father, and have given to me a true token, and have kept alive my father, and my mother, and my brothers, and my sisters, and all that they have, and have delivered our souls from death.’” The word she used for “true” was the same as the word for faith and means something established or firm. The true token was a true sign, the mark of authenticity that the Israelites could see. They saw the “signature” or seal of the token and knew that what was inside was true. Isaiah was told by God to walk barefoot as a sign that the Israelites were to be carried off into exile. In that sign was the exile because it was real and it did happen. They were not just pointers, the reality of what was promised dwelt within the sign or token. In Hebrew the word for token is related to the word for plough and mark and meant to plough towards the mark so as to arrive. In Hebrew the word used for signs, was token or mark, and the word used for wonders was the word used for something beautiful, wonderous or amazing. The Israelites saw the marks, tokens, signs, wonders and beauty of Yehovah when they came out of Egypt and saw first-hand these miracles, but they did not establish what God had shown them by being of circumcised of heart as the Patriarchs had been, and did not enter the land of promise through their obedience. Instead because of the rebellious unbelief or disobedience they died in the wilderness.

Nazarite

Similar to tokens was the hair of the Nazarite of God. Samson was a Nazarite of God who had great strength. No razor ever touched his hair and he drank no wine or ate unclean food. The word Nazarite is related to the word for dedicate or crown. Upon Samson’s head was the crown or sign or seal of dedication. Everywhere he went, he knew that he was different, dedicated and set apart because he could feel it upon his head. It was the token or sign or seal or mark of authenticity. He belonged to God. He drew his strength and sense of identity from his hair because this was the sign of dedication. He was so strong that he was able to possess the gates of Gaza by carrying them away, literally leaving the town defenseless. Delilah nagged him into revealing the source of his strength. So it says in Judges 16:16-17 “And it cometh to pass, because she distressed him with her words all the days, and doth urge him, and his soul is grieved to death,
that he declareth to her all his heart, and saith to her, ‘A razor hath not gone up on my head, for a Nazarite to God I am from the womb of my mother; if I have been shaven, then hath my power turned aside from me, and I have been weak, and have been as any of the human race.’” The knowledge of the true token upon his head filled and gave strength to his heart. Once his head was shaved the sign or seal was broken, he was no longer authentic or dedicated to God and his strength was gone. He had nothing to draw on and was blinded by the Philistines. However, in the temple of Dagon his hair again grew. He prayed and asked for God to renew his strength. God remembered him by answering his prayer and Samson was able to draw his great strength from the sign or token seen in his hair. He destroyed the temple of Dagon together with the Lords of the Philistines and won a great victory. He fulfilled his destiny in God and was laid to rest with his fathers.

Standing and Falling

In Hebrew the word for fall was literally the edge of the staff and it meant something inferior or rotten, rubbish or garbage that is thrown out, cast down or worthless. It was synonymous with the word for topple, ruin or stumbling block. In Isaiah 3 Jerusalem was described as having been ruined and had fallen because their words and actions provoked Yehovah to his face, Isaiah 3:8-9 “For stumbled hath Jerusalem, and Judah hath fallen, For their tongue and their doings are against Yehovah, To provoke the eyes of his glory.
The appearance of their faces witnessed against them, And their sin, as Sodom, they declared, They have not hidden! Woe to their soul, For they have done to themselves evil.” The word for stand was an eye and waters and meant literally to stand with or see the people. A pillar or support, raise, to set in place, establish, appoint, endure, remain, withstand or continue. It was used as the word for resurrection in Daniel 12.

Eyes, Hands, Arms and Feet

The eye was the fountain of the heart, a spring was the eye or fountain of the ground and eye was related to words for watch, habitation as a watched place or home, affliction as in a furrowed brow watching for relief, sight, outward appearance, clouds as in watching the weather, gentleness as in careful watching, and an owl as in a bird that watches. The ear was something broad in picking up sounds, hearing or showing, an audience of listeners, to displease, a mattock as in a broad tool, harvest as in seeds spread abroad, whoredom as in being spread abroad, weights and balances as in listening to determine weight, and food as in harvested with a broad tool. An open hand meant direction, ability, grab, kill, heal, destroy, make, confess by raising the hands, thanksgiving and praise with the lifting of the hands, throwing as the work of the hands. So, it says in Isaiah 59:1 “Lo, the hand of Yehovah Hath not been shortened from saving, Nor heavy his ear from hearing.” An open palm meant something hollow or curved, spoon, handful, part, branch, cloud, palm branch, bow, press, tame or pacify or a back bending under a weight or yoke of slavery. An arm meant the strength of the arm, power, shoulder, mighty, strength. A foot signified walking, trampling, to spy by trampling in a foreign land, to slander by trampling on someone with the tongue, a festival or journey on foot and a polite way of referring to the loins.

Blessing and Curse

In Hebrew blessing meant a gift brought upon bended knee. Blessing could be seen as a gift that gives inner strength (or breath or spirit) of the soul (breathing-being) to be successful and the happiness it creates. Everyone wanted blessing and in that culture it was obvious who had the blessing. The blessing brought greatness and families and communities gathered around and thrived in the light and prosperity of the blessed. The blessing preceded righteousness and righteousness was maintained by the blessing. Abigail, the wife of the foolish Nabal who cursed David, was blessed by Yehovah and persuaded David not to kill him. 1 Samuel 25:32-33 says “And David saith to Abigail, ‘Blessed is Yehovah, God of Israel, who hath sent thee this day to meet me, and blessed is thy discretion, and blessed art thou in that thou hast restrained me this day from coming in with blood, and to restrain my hand to myself’.” The most significant blessings came from the Hebrew fathers upon their sons. To inherit a blessing brought great strength of heart, wisdom and success in life. Curse in Hebrew is related to the word for spit and it meant something like disrespect and to treat lightly or neglect or overlook. It was the lack of inner strength of soul to achieve and the misery that it caused. Curse brought confusion of heart, indecisiveness, vacillation and failure. The people feared curse and did everything that they could to avoid it. Sinning was the expression of a rotten, dishonourable and twisted or cursed heart. Curse was charged within the sinner and is the dissolving of the soul and poison and decay and paralysis that is contagious. The cursed failed at everything they did, they were rootless and full of fears and emptiness. It was a soul emptied of everything that was fundamental for life, for honour and name and blessing had vanished. Sin bred curse and curse bred sin, but curse could be passed on. Someone who was insulted, or robbed, or violated in any way could experience the power of curse seeking to destroy their life and bring them into the ruin and destruction of the grave. Only a greater blessing could set them free. So it says in Psalm 107:17-22 “Fools, by means of their transgression, And by their iniquities, afflict themselves. All food doth their soul abominate, And they come nigh unto the gates of death, And cry unto Yehovah in their adversity, From their distresses he saveth them, he sendeth his word and healeth them, And delivereth from their destructions.They confess to Yehovah his kindness, And his wonders to the sons of men, And they sacrifice sacrifices of thanksgiving, And recount his works with singing.” Curses acted against the natural blessing that existed in everyone and debased the honour and brought the instability of heart that took away the enjoyment of blessing. Curse could be strengthened if someone was wronged and the wrong upheld by injustice. A heart lacking in blessing could sin in reaction to a sin and intensify the curse. The blessing of God could break the curse on the good man through the inspiration of love and forgiveness and leave enough blessing left for his family and friends. A cursed man became a curse to the surroundings and was fit to be killed and his body hung on a tree to lift his body from the earth to stop the land of blessing from being defiled.

Righteousness and Sin

In English the word for iniquity is from the Latin “iniquitas” meaning uneven, unequal, unfair or unjust. The word trespass (trans-passer) originally meant “to go or pass beyond”, step out of line, infringe or violate. In English the word righteous originally meant “right-wise” or “right-way” and it meant to rule straight or upright, put right, or behave in a just, good, fair and proper way. It came from the Latin “rectus” meaning straight or right. In Hebrew the word righteous meant exactly the same thing. The roots of ancient words from different languages often have the same meanings, but as civilizations develop, meanings change. In Genesis 6 it states that Noah was a righteous and just man who was perfect or complete within his generations and that he walked with God. Noah’s right behaviour was not a figment of God’s imagination. Noah found mercy and blessing within the eyes of Yehovah and this blessing resulted in a way of behaving that pleased God. In Hebrew the word for happy was literally the word for straight. Wholeheartedly doing right from a blessed upright heart was a house built upon the rock of what is steadfast. So it says in Psalm 84:11-12 “For a sun and a shield is Yehovah God, Grace and honour doth Yehovah give. He withholdeth not good to those walking in uprightness. Yehovah of Hosts! O the happiness of a man trusting in Thee.” The blessing was upon the righteous and resulted in their right or true or firm behaviour and this maintained the blessing. Righteousness and sin were opposites, but just as light is the opposite of darkness, it is not a mirror image. Light shines, darkness does not, darkness is the absence of light, just as curse is the absence of blessing. The curse was upon the wicked because of their treacherous, unstable and deceitful behaviour. It says in Proverbs 3:32-35 “For an abomination to Yehovah is the perverted, And with the upright is his secret counsel. The curse of Yehovah is in the house of the wicked. And the habitation of the righteous he blesseth. If the scorners he doth scorn, Yet to the humble he doth give grace. Honour do the wise inherit, And fools are bearing away shame!” Within the wilderness of sin there was no firm foundation of life – only falsehood, deceit and trickery, betrayal, thefts, confusion and failure, hatred and murder. Kindness was healthy and brought success and strength. Sin was the opposite of righteousness, but not it’s equal. It was an empty shadow. It was not being strong or wholehearted or firm, but filled with confusion and chaos, uncleanness and weakness. Sin is like a house built without a sure foundation. It is tottering on the brink of destruction. It could collapse at any time, although it may not.

Holy and Unclean

The Hebrews did not have specialist words with a particular religious or philosophical meaning. All the words they used were practical and had real meanings. If something wasn’t real it wasn’t right. The word holy in Hebrew culture originally meant different or special. Yehovah was a “holy” or different God from all of the other gods or powers that were worshipped by ancient peoples. Yehovah called the people of Israel to be “holy” or different to all of the other nations, because he was their God and was “different“. As such he called them to be different by them keeping the righteous requirements of the Law and not behaving like the other nations. It says in Ezekiel 22:26 “Its priests have wronged My law, And they pollute My holy things, Between holy and common they have not made separation, And between the unclean and the clean they have not made known, And from my sabbaths they have hidden their eyes, And I am pierced [profaned, blasphemed] in their midst.” The anointing oil applied to the priest by Moses in the Pentateuch was “holy” because it was different to all of the other oil used and couldn’t be used for any other purpose than the anointing of the priests. When Moses encountered Yehovah at the burning bush, the ground that he stood on was “holy” or different from all of the other ground that Moses had walked on and he had to take off his sandals and therefore behave differently. The cult prostitutes in the pagan temples were “holy” because they were set apart or dedicated for a particular purpose and were different from other people. Something unholy or defiled or blasphemed was something pierced or punctured and no longer different and was not fit for its intended purpose. Something clean was something contained as if it was in a basket or box to be kept safe. Something unclean was something that needed to be washed in a bowl of water. The unclean could be washed but the unholy had to be destroyed.

Glory

In Hebrew one of the words translated as glory means heaviness or weightiness and in context often implied value or worth or significance. It was often ascribed to God but sometimes it was applied to people and often to oneself as applying to their own soul. Jacob said of Levi and Simeon in Genesis 49:6 “Into their secret, come not, O my soul! Unto their assembly be not united, O mine honour [heaviness, glory]; For in their anger they slew a man, And in their self-will eradicated a prince.” The same word was also used to describe something heavy or weighty in a bad sense, because the word related to function and not form. The sins of Sodom were called “grievous” but the word used was actually “heavy“. Seriously bad news or any kind of heavy affliction was described with the same word in Hebrew but for us it would have a completely different and opposite meaning. For us the word significant or noteworthy could probably apply equally to something weighty in a good or bad sense.

Baal and Baalim

In Hebrew the word “baal” means ruler or master or possessor and the word means literally to see the yoke which binds the master to his servant. Abraham was the “baal” or master or possessor of Sarah his wife. The owner of an ox was its “baal” or master. The “baals” of a town were the elders. It was commonly used for any form of possession. In the realm of nature the Canaanites believed that all things were possessed by their own particular “baal” or master which governed its life force. Like rivers, trees, flowers, animals, high places and towns all had their own possessors or masters that were collectively known as the “baalim“. For example, the “baal” of a vine ruled the vine and made it grow so that it produced a crop of grapes and not figs. A flowing river had a “baal” which made the water flow or live. In the pagan culture of Canaan these “baalim” were considered to be gods. Strangers in the land attempted to discover quickly the baalim or possessors of the land so as to worship them and receive from them a blessing rather than a curse. The land belonged to the baalim. The term “baal” was also applied to the major astral deities, “The Baal” was seen by the Canaanites as the master or possessor of the whole world. He was worshipped as the bull or the storm god of thunder and lightning and the “baalim” were ultimately ruled by him. Whilst the worship of the baalim of nature was pagan idolatry, Hebraically to honour the baalim was a good thing. The righteous man was kind to the “baal” or life force of his donkey. Job said regarding his fields in Job 31:39-40 “If its strength I consumed without money, And the life of its possessors [baalim], I have caused to breathe [“nephesh”, soul, breathings] out, Instead of wheat let a thorn go forth, And instead of barley a useless weed!”

Heaven

For the Hebrews, the heavens were a fixed canopy, like a huge tent or canvas that God had stretched across the sky. It was the throne upon which God sat clothed with glory and splendour. Within the canopy God fixed the sun, moon and stars to bring the blessing of light and to govern the seasons and bring seasonal blessing to daily life. Above the canopy were great chambers containing rain, hail and snow. The canopy was fixed to the great mountains whose roots plunged into the depths of the watery abyss that existed below the earth. So it says in Psalm 104:1-6 “Bless, O my soul, Yehovah! Yehovah, my God, Thou hast been very great, Honour and majesty Thou hast put on. Covering himself with light as a garment, Stretching out the heavens as a curtain, Who is laying the beam of his upper chambers in the waters, Who is making thick clouds his chariot, Who is walking on wings of wind, Making his messengers – the winds, his ministers – the flaming fire. he hath founded earth on its bases, It is not moved to the age and forever. The abyss! as with clothing Thou hast covered it, Above hills do waters stand.” The earth was like a raft that floated upon the waters. Far below the earth was the pit or grave or “sheol”, the realm of the dead.

Rich and Poor

For us the words rich and poor are usually associated with financial wealth. For the Hebrews it was different. The word for poor meant someone thin or lean, weak or needy with a dangling head or someone with a furrowed brow looking intently or continually focusing their attention on something. The poor were ashamed and preoccupied with whatever they were lacking. It says in Psalm 34:3-6 “Ascribe ye greatness to Yehovah with me, And we exalt his name together. I sought Yehovah, and he answered me, And from all my fears did deliver me. They looked expectantly unto Him, And they became bright, And their faces are not ashamed. This poor one called, and Yehovah heard, And from all his distresses saved [“yasha”] him.” The rich were building or accumulating, upright or straight, reaching out or attaining, taking hold of something. The rich were care-free because they had everything that they needed to make them happy. Proverbs 14:24 states “The crown of the wise is their wealth, The folly of fools is folly.” In Hebrew culture the father was the strength of the house and the fathers blessed their sons with provision, protection, presence and purpose. Good fathers that themselves had been blessed were able to bless their sons and this made their sons rich. For Abraham, God was in effect his father because God gave Abraham a father’s blessing. Abraham’s riches were not just financial wealth. Hebraically, as long as Sarah his wife was barren, he was a poor man because he had no son or heir. However over time God’s blessing enriched Abraham in every way, including Isaac the son of promise.

North, South, East, West and Time

In ancient Hebrew culture, the east was the place of the rising sun and was considered to be at the top of the four compass points similar to our north. The word was related to the word for face and the word for “Adam” or man, blood and red because the word meant to face a man and at sunrise sky was often red like blood. For the Hebrews, the past was in front of them because they could face it and could see it, and the future was behind them. As such the word east was often used to indicate great antiquity or something ancient, and was probably related to Eden. So it says in Genesis 2:8 “And Yehovah God planteth a garden in Eden, at the east, and he setteth there the man whom he hath formed.” The word for north was related to the word for watch and the north star, which was watched to determine direction, and words for hidden and dark. The word for south meant parched like a desert. The word for west meant to roar like the sea and was related to words for terror and day because the sun sets in the west over the roaring Mediterranean sea and the day began in the evening. The ancient Hebrews feared the ocean because they did not know what lurked within its depths and they were not a seafaring people.

Seasons, Rain, Sowing and Reaping

Within ancient Israel there were really only two seasons, summer and winter. Winter lasted from November to May and was quite cold and wet, people struggled to keep warm and travel and activities outside of the house were kept to a minimum. Summer was very hot and rainless, people were able to live on the roofs of their houses or in booths within their fields and vineyards. Rain fell largely in the mountains and the water filled the rivers and springs that flowed into the valleys. The end of the summer brought forth the “former rains” which softened the ground and this was the time for sowing. The end of winter brought forth the “latter rains” which ripened the crops ready for the harvest and reaping. The latter rains in particular were vital and were seen as the blessing of Yehovah – without his blessing of these latter rains all of the hard work and hope of a good harvest would be lost, resulting in famine. It says in Deuteronomy 11:13-15 “‘And it hath been – if thou hearken diligently unto My commands which I am commanding you to-day, to love Yehovah your God, and to serve Him with all your heart, and with all your soul – that I have given the rain of your land in its season – sprinkling and gathered – and thou hast gathered thy corn, and thy new wine, and thine oil, and I have given herbs in thy field for thy cattle, and thou hast eaten, and been satisfied.” It was a divine law that whatever was sown would also be reaped in its proper season. Sowing good seed in the fields but injustice and disobedience in the community would not reap the benefits of a good harvest but rather the judgement of Yehovah. Reaping crops that someone else had sown was usually seen as being unjust. However it could also be seen as God’s judgement upon the sinning sower and his blessing of the righteous reaper. God’s blessing of Abraham was God Himself sowing (in Hebrew, seed or son) the gift of God’s breath (Holy Spirit, breath of the Holy One) into Abraham and it was a divine law that the sowing of this good seed and the rains of blessing changed Abraham’s nature and brought forth the reaping or harvest of goodness and righteousness. This sowing changed the heart or name of Abraham seen in the reaping of the fruit of the way he behaved. Those who sowed blessing upon Abraham reaped blessing from Yehovah, those who sowed curse upon him reaped curse from Abraham’s God.

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