hebrew culture Archives - 10/40 Window Mission Network

The Nomadic Hebrews – Part 3 of 3

10-40 Admin — Sun, 29 Jan 2023 19:39:50 +0000

Jeff Benner

The culture and lifestyle of the Hebrew nomads have a direct relationship to their language, the same language used in the Bible. Understanding this nomadic lifestyle assists the reader of the Bible to better interpret the text.

The post The Nomadic Hebrews – Part 3 of 3 appeared first on 10/40 Window Mission Network.

The Aaronic Blessing from a Hebrew Perspective

10-40 Admin — Wed, 11 Jan 2023 13:04:43 +0000

By Jeff A. Benner

Once we have a basic understanding of the Hebrew alphabet, vocabulary, language and philosophy, we can now begin to interpret the Bible from an Ancient Hebrew perspective rather than from a Western one.

Most people are familiar with the English translation of the Aaronic blessing.

The LORD bless you and keep you: The LORD make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you: The LORD lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace. (Numbers 6:24-26 RSV)

Notice that many of the words in this translation are abstract words, including; bless, keep, gracious, countenance and peace. Each of the Hebrew words behind the English in this passage, is filled with images that are lost when translated into the English language. When we examine each of these words from their original cultural and linguistic perspectives, the message in this passage comes alive.

Bless

Camels kneeling down

The Hebrew verb ברך (Barakh, Strong’s #1288) means to kneel as seen in Genesis 24:11. However, when written in the piel form, such as it is in Aaronic blessing, it means to show respect (usually translated as bless). However, as “respect” is an abstract word, we need to uncover its original concrete meaning, which we can do by examining other words related to this verb. One such related word is the noun ברך (berekh, Strong’s #1288) meaning “knee.” Another related Hebrew word is ברכה (berakhah, Strong’s #1293) meaning a gift or present. From this we can see the concrete meaning behind the piel form of the verb barak. It is to bring a gift to another while kneeling out of respect. The extended meaning of this word is to do or give something of value to another. Elohiym “respects” us by providing for our needs and we in turn “respect” Elohiym by giving him of ourselves as his servants.

Keep

Thorns

The Hebrews were a nomadic people raising livestock. It would not be uncommon for a shepherd to be out with his flock, away from the camp, over the night. In order to protect the flock, the shepherd would construct a corral of thorn bushes. The shepherd would then guard over the flock and the corral would be a hedge of protection around them. The Hebrew word for a thorn is שמיר (shamiyr, Strong’s #8068) and derived from the verb שמר (shamar, Strong’s #8104), which literally means to guard and protect and is the word used in the Aaronic blessing.

Face

Norman Rockwell’s painting of a girl’s expression

In the painting above you can “read” the faces of each of the people within the painting. The face reflects the many different moods, emotions, and thoughts of the person. The Hebrew word פנים (paniym, Strong’s #6440), means “face,” but is always written in the plural form (the ים suffix identifies this word as plural), reflecting this idea of multiple faces of each person. This word can also mean “presence” or the “wholeness of being” of an individual.

Shine

Light brings order to chaos

The word אור (or, Strong’s #215), as a noun means “light” and as a verb, as it is used here, means to “give light” or “shine” and is equated with bringing about order as light illuminates or reveals what has been dark.

Gracious

A nomadic camp

Most theologians will define “grace” as “unmerited favor,” but notice the abstractness of these words. The Hebrew verb translated as gracious in the Aaronic blessing is the verb חנן (hhanan, Strong’s #2603) and is often paralleled with other Hebrew words meaning healing, help, being lifted up, finding refuge, strength and rescue. From a concrete Hebraic perspective this verb means to “provide protection.” Where does one run to for protection? The camp, which in Hebrew is חנה (hanah, Strong’s #2583), a word related to חנן (hhanan).

Grant

A meal that is set and arranged

The Hebrew verb שים (siym, Strong’s #7760), literally means to “set down in a fixed and arranged place.”

Peace

A windmill that is “not complete.”

When we hear the word peace, we usually associate this to mean an absence of war or strife. However, the Hebrew word שלום (shalom, Strong’s #7965) has a very different meaning. The root of this word is שלם (shalam, Strong’s #7999) and is usually used in the context of making restitution. When a person has caused another to become deficient in some way, such as a loss of livestock, it is the responsibility of the person who created the deficiency to restore what has been taken, lost or stolen. The verb shalam literally means to make whole or complete. The noun shalom has the more literal meaning of being in a state of wholeness, or being without deficiency.

A Hebraic interpretation of the Aaronic Blessing

With the Hebraic understanding of each of these Hebrew words, we can better understand the true meaning of the Aaronic blessing as it was understood by the Ancient Hebrews.

YHWH will kneel before you^[1] presenting gifts and will guard you with a hedge of protection.

YHWH will illuminate the wholeness of his being toward you bringing order and he will give you comfort and sustenance.

YHWH will lift up his wholeness of being and look upon you and he will set in place all you need to be whole and complete.

1. Many people have contacted me concerned about the phrase “kneel before you” as they cannot perceive of God kneeling before us. We too often see God as the judge and ruler who sits high above us. But I see more of a familial type relationship with God, rather than a government type relationship. God is the father of us all, agreed? Well, if my young son came to me with a request, would I tower over him looking down upon him? Or would I get down on his level by “kneeling” down and getting eye to eye with him and say, “What is it my son, what can I do for you?” Let me add that this is not a literal kneeling down, but a figurative one; the common Hebrew way of expressing an abstract thought through concrete means.

Taken from: https://www.ancient-hebrew.org/studies-interpretation/aaronic-blessing-from-a-hebrew-perspective.htm

The post The Aaronic Blessing from a Hebrew Perspective appeared first on 10/40 Window Mission Network.

Covenants from a Hebrew Perspective

10-40 Admin — Wed, 04 Jan 2023 19:43:12 +0000

By Jeff A. Benner

They said, “We see plainly that the Lord has been with you. So we said, let there be a sworn pact between us, between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you.” (Genesis 26:28, ESV)

We will begin this study with the Hebrew word for a “covenant,” which is ברית (b’riyt, Strong’s #1285). This noun is derived from the verb ברה (B.R.H, Strong’s #1262), which means “to select the best.”

He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me.” (1 Samuel 17:8, ESV)

In this passage the Hebrew verb ברה is used for the choosing of the best man to fight Goliath. This word can also mean to eat, in the sense of selecting, such as we see in the following verse.

So Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill. And when the king came to see him, Amnon said to the king, “Please let my sister Tamar come and make a couple of cakes in my sight, that I may eat from her hand.” (2 Samuel 13:6, ESV)

The Hebrew language is a root-oriented language, meaning that every Hebrew word is derived from a root word and that root word is the foundation to other Hebrew words. Each word derived from one root will be closely related in meaning to all the other words derived from the same root. In the case of the word ברית (b’riyt) we found that it was derived from the root verb ברה (B.R.H), but also derived from this verbal root are the nouns ברות (barut, Strong’s #1267) meaning “choice meat” and בריה (bir’yah, Strong’s #1274) meaning “fattened.” Livestock that will be slaughtered are fed special grains to make them fat and thereby making the meat of the fattened livestock the choicest.

So how is fattened choice meat related to the word for “covenant?” The phrase “make a covenant,” such as we saw in the verse that began this study, appears eighty times in the Hebrew Bible and in every instance, it is the Hebrew phrase כרת ברית (karat b’riyt), which literally means “cut a covenant.”

A covenant was instituted by the two parties of the covenant who would take a fattened animal, the best of the flock or herd, and “cut” it into two pieces. Then the two parties of the covenant would pass through the pieces symbolizing their dedication to the covenant and by this action are saying, “If I do not hold to the agreements of this covenant, you can do to me what we did to this animal.” This methodology of “making” a covenant is clearly recorded in Jeremiah 34:18-20.

18 And the men who transgressed my covenant and did not keep the terms of the covenant that they made before me, I will make them like[a] the calf that they cut in two and passed between its parts— 19 the officials of Judah, the officials of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf. 20 And I will give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their lives. Their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth. (ESV)

With this understanding of a covenant, we can better understand what is going on in Genesis chapter 15.

9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. (Genesis 15:9-10, ESV)

17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 On that day the LORD made (Hebrew – karat) a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates,” (Genesis 15:17-18, ESV)

Yahweh is cutting a covenant with Abram. However, Abram does not pass through the pieces, only the pot and torch, representations of Yahweh himself, pass through the pieces. Because Abram did not pass through the pieces, the actions of Abram, or his descendants, are not a condition of the covenant. The only person responsible for the fulfilling of this covenant is Yahweh and Yahweh alone.

Besides this covenant, Yahweh has made several other covenants with his people, such as the one he made with Noah and his descendants (Genesis 6:18, Genesis 9:9) and the one he made with the Israelites at Mount Sinai.

And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made (Hebrew – karat) with you in accordance with all these words.” (Exodus 24:8, ESV)

Unlike the unconditional covenants that Yahweh made with Noah and Abram, this covenant will be upheld only on the condition that Israel obeys the words of Yahweh.

14 But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments, 15 if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant, 16 then I will do this to you: I will visit you with panic, with wasting disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the heart ache. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. 17 I will set my face against you, and you shall be struck down before your enemies. Those who hate you shall rule over you, and you shall flee when none pursues you. 18 And if in spite of this you will not listen to me, then I will discipline you again sevenfold for your sins, 19 and I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze. 20 And your strength shall be spent in vain, for your land shall not yield its increase, and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit. (Leviticus 26:14-20, ESV)

And in Deuteronomy 31 Yahweh foretells of the day when Israel will break this covenant by following after other gods.

For when I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to give to their fathers, and they have eaten and are full and grown fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them, and despise me and break my covenant. (Deuteronomy 31:20, ESV)

It is interesting to note that when Israel does break this covenant, Yahweh “cuts” Israel into “two” nations, Israel and Judah. But Yahweh promises that he will make a new covenant with the children of Israel and he will unite these two nations into one nation again.

And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. And one king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms. (Ezekiel 37:22, ESV)

31 Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (Jereimaih 31:31-33, ESV)

Taken from: https://www.ancient-hebrew.org/studies-interpretation/covenants-from-a-hebrew-perspective.htm

The post Covenants from a Hebrew Perspective appeared first on 10/40 Window Mission Network.

What’s so bad about pork now that we have health regulations?

10-40 Admin — Sun, 01 Jan 2023 20:11:36 +0000

What’s so bad about pork now that we have health regulations? Guest host Chaim Goldman and co-host Scott Laird answer the question “What’s so bad about pork now that we have health regulations?” on the March 14, 2014 episode of Shabbat Night Live.

00:00:17:02 – 00:00:27:05
Speaker 1
What’s so bad about pork? Now that we have modern health regulations, you know, is essentially he’s saying, does the Torah still stand now that things are different now?

00:00:27:06 – 00:00:47:09
Speaker 2
Well, you know, that question is very it’s complex, obviously, because people we have a couple of different things that people say about eating pork. First of all, we go back and say and in some Bible says, you know, you should has declared all foods clean and. Yes, and and we have Peter’s dream. And so theologically, people refer back to that.

00:00:47:16 – 00:01:08:06
Speaker 2
Then we move into this modern era where supposedly, you know, pork is now this other white meat, that it’s a clean meat. There are even some who are into natural health who claim claim like free range pigs, you know, as long as they’re not eating garbage, you know, they’re out there free range, free range pigs. And that pork can actually be a healthy meat.

00:01:08:06 – 00:01:20:16
Speaker 2
So. So I think we need to take this from two angles. One is theological and what does the Torah still stand? And the second is even this argument that if you even if you don’t believe in Torah, can we actually consider this to be clean? So which angle should we go?

00:01:21:16 – 00:01:24:05
Speaker 1
I’m interested to hear your angle on the Torah. First, let’s.

00:01:24:05 – 00:01:43:20
Speaker 2
Go there from the Torah. Yes, it’s. It stands ready to say anything else? Well, I said, is that eating pork? I mean, it’s it’s an important, by the way, pigs, very lovely animals. They were created for a purpose of course. In fact, they’re created to help clean up the world. They’re one of the garbage collectors of the world.

00:01:44:02 – 00:02:05:09
Speaker 2
And but we’re just not supposed to put them in our bodies. And in fact, it’s referred to eating a pig as an abomination with funny the same language is used to refer to homosexuality. And yet the Christians are all over the abomination of homosexuality. And then while they’re eating pork chops and spam and bacon and all kinds of other stuff.

00:02:05:09 – 00:02:20:24
Speaker 2
So we want to read the words. We want to put things on an equal footing, but also we go back and look. What about Peter’s dream? Well, we’ve talked about this on the program. It’s very clearly talking about men. You sure didn’t come to cleanse pigs. He came to clean men. The sheet came down three times. It was three men.

00:02:21:00 – 00:02:37:27
Speaker 2
Peter was wrestling. Lord, what can this mean? I’ve never eaten these animals 20, 30 years since Yeshua ascended. Never eaten these animals. He is going back and forth over it. Men show up at his house, he walks. He’s even wrestling with it all the way to the house. And right before he gets to the Gentiles house he goes, Aha.

00:02:37:27 – 00:02:54:28
Speaker 2
I’m clearly being shown that this dream was about men and not calling men unclean, because if they want to hear about your show and they want to come into the kingdom, they are welcome. And I’m not to judge any man Jew, gentile, nothing to do with food. Peter knew it had nothing to do with food. But then we move into, you know, the modern age, right?

00:02:54:28 – 00:03:02:21
Speaker 2
That’s really the heart of the question. What do we know about pork with all the antibiotics and everything? Is this the clean, the chicken noses, worms just go away?

00:03:02:21 – 00:03:09:21
Speaker 1
Is it even like like you imagine if you had a free range pig, which I don’t it seems like such a ridiculous term because a pig will eat anything, right?

00:03:09:22 – 00:03:20:21
Speaker 2
Actually, it would be safer to put a pig in a pan and control its food choices left to its own. Cows will not eat GMO corn, right? They will eat grass and other things. And so but when.

00:03:21:11 – 00:03:37:05
Speaker 1
You see some of this I get from my dad, my dad was he was involved in the food industry for 27 years. He told me no matter how clean a pig is, you’ve it’s always got worms. Every single pig has worms. He told me, don’t even gamble. I mean, it’s not even a question. And here’s some more information.

00:03:37:13 – 00:03:39:00
Speaker 2
Your father is not an Orthodox Jew.

00:03:39:04 – 00:03:40:06
Speaker 1
No, no, no.

00:03:41:18 – 00:03:43:19
Speaker 2
No bias of that coming. No. Okay.

00:03:43:24 – 00:03:58:04
Speaker 1
Now, this this information we have, here comes from national news.com, which we highly respect that that website, good stuff on there. They mentioned that the digestive system of a pig is unique and metabolizes food very quickly in about 4 hours because of that not ruminant.

00:03:58:04 – 00:03:58:16
Speaker 2
It doesn’t it’s.

00:03:58:16 – 00:04:07:27
Speaker 1
Not ruminant what’s right. And so the toxins are carried to the fat cells because it’s not fully digested.

00:04:08:08 – 00:04:11:16
Speaker 2
So it’s like in and right into the right, into the meat, right.

00:04:11:16 – 00:04:23:06
Speaker 1
And the toxins go right into the meat because it isn’t fully digested, doesn’t go through the digestive system. And so when we consume pigmeat, we get all of these pathogenic microorganisms into our system.

00:04:23:06 – 00:04:39:24
Speaker 2
Pigs don’t even sweat. Right? Right. They don’t even sweat. So they can’t even if we, you know, ever, ever get around someone who stinks, you know, that’s toxins going out through your sweat glands, right? The pigs don’t even have the ability. How efficient? I mean, it’s like when the garbage truck comes down the street, do you ever have where it leaves and it’s drip that smelly one?

00:04:39:24 – 00:04:45:02
Speaker 2
Yeah. We don’t want garbage trucks that have any leaks. The pigs are amazing. They have no way for the toxins.

00:04:45:03 – 00:05:05:08
Speaker 1
To get out. Here’s the here’s the interesting thing. People say, well, yeah, that’s fine. But if you cook the pig all the way through, then it’s fine. Well, really. Okay, get this. High heat. Cooking methods produce a chemical in the meat that damages much of the essential fat, which then become highly carcinogenic.

00:05:05:08 – 00:05:27:12
Speaker 2
Okay, so. So we have cooked carcinogens that are in there already and anything that might have been healthy in the pig turns into a carcinogen. Right. It’s a toxic animal. It was created to be so. But I want to bring these two worlds together right now, because people bring these two arguments together as one, you sure said or were allow God revealed that pigs are now clean to eat because of Yeshua somehow magical way.

00:05:27:18 – 00:05:44:26
Speaker 2
And in this modern age, pigs are clean. But here’s the thing. If you sure sanctify the pigs, wouldn’t they have been clean 2000 years ago? Very good. But there were no antibiotics, refrigeration and all those things 2000 years ago. So these arguments need to stay separate because when you combine them, they’re just a it’s a fallacy. They can’t work.

00:05:45:04 – 00:06:12:11
Speaker 2
He didn’t come to clean pigs and pig was not made clean. 12 years ago. And today, if you put enough antibiotics in a pig to kill all the bad stuff, let’s say you could if you want to eat that anyway, filled with antibiotic.

The post What’s so bad about pork now that we have health regulations? appeared first on 10/40 Window Mission Network.

The Nomadic Hebrews – Part 2 of 3

10-40 Admin — Mon, 10 Oct 2022 19:30:00 +0000

The post The Nomadic Hebrews – Part 2 of 3 appeared first on 10/40 Window Mission Network.

The Nomadic Hebrews – Part 1 of 3

10-40 Admin — Mon, 10 Oct 2022 19:27:48 +0000

Jeff Benner

The post The Nomadic Hebrews – Part 1 of 3 appeared first on 10/40 Window Mission Network.

The Philosophy of the Hebrew Language

10-40 Admin — Wed, 14 Sep 2022 13:10:00 +0000

By Jeff A. Benner

East and West

Ancient philosophers, Plato (left) and Confucius (right)

Throughout the world, past and present, there are two major divisions of thought or philosophy; Western and Eastern. Western Philosophy has its beginnings in the sixth century B.C. in Greece with such philosophers as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Eastern Philosophy has its roots in the ancient past and was the philosophy of all ancient cultures of the Far East (including China and Japan), Middle East (Including India and Babylon) and Near East (including Egypt and Israel). As the Greek culture spread, so did Western philosophy to the point that Western philosophy has become the predominant philosophy throughout the world.

The Hebrews of the Bible wrote the Bible from the perspective of Eastern philosophy, but today’s readers are interpreting these writings with Western philosophy, the results being misinterpretations and mistranslations of the text. For this reason, it is essential that we learn the philosophy of the Ancient Hebrews in order to better understand the text we are reading.

The language of the Hebrews is a concrete language, meaning that it uses words that express something that can be seen, touched, smelled, tasted or heard and all five of the senses are used when speaking, hearing, writing and reading the Hebrew language. An example of this can be found in Psalms 1:3; “He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season, and whose leaf does not wither”.

In contrast to the Eastern philosophy of a concrete language, Western philosophy uses an abstract language to express itself. An abstract word is an expression that cannot be seen, touched, smelled, tasted or heard. Examples of Abstract thought can be found in Psalms 103:8; “The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love”. The words compassion, grace, anger and love are all abstract words, ideas that cannot be experienced by the senses. Why do we find these abstract words in a passage of concrete thinking Hebrews? Actually, these are abstract English words used to translate the original Hebrew concrete words. The translators often translate this way because the original Hebrew makes no sense when literally translated for Western thinkers.

Concrete and Abstract Thought

While there are many differences between the Western and Eastern schools of thought, one of the major differences is the use of abstracts and concretes.
Concrete (left) and abstract (right) art

Just as artwork may be created in the concrete or the abstract, words can also be created in the concrete or the abstract. A concrete word, idea or concept is something that can be perceived by the five senses. It can be seen, heard, smelled, tasted or touched. An abstract is something that cannot be perceived by the five senses.

As the Bible was written from an Eastern philosophical perspective, it is important that we recognize that we cannot interpret it through our own Western philosophy. To do so, would place a meaning and interpretation that may not be that of the original authors.

Thorleif Boman’s monumental work, Hebrew thought compared with Greek, states; “The thinking of the Old Testament is primitive and hence can be compared only with the thinking of other primitive peoples and not with thinking as advanced as Plato’s or Bergson’s.”

Victor H. Matthews explains how the culture of the Hebrews can be studied in his book, Manners and Customs of the Bible.” One of the joys of studying the Bible is attempting to reconstruct the manners and customs of the peoples of ancient times. The gulf of thousands of years can be bridged, at least in part, by insights into their everyday life. These can be garnered through the close examination of the biblical narratives and through the use of comparative written and physical remains from other ancient civilizations.”

In his books The Hebrew Genius as Exhibited in the Old Testament, George Adam Smith said; “…the Hebrews were mainly a doing and feeling people. Thus, their language has few abstract terms. Rather, “Hebrew may be called primarily a language of the senses. The words originally expressed concrete or material things and movements or actions which struck the senses or started the emotions. Only secondarily and in metaphor could they be used to denote abstract or metaphysical ideas.”

These same Concrete concepts of Eastern thought can also be found in Primitive cultures that exist today who have not been influenced by our Modern Western culture. The linguist Dan Everett, presented during his Endangered Languages and Lost Knowledge seminar, his discovery through his research that the primitive Pirahã tribe in the Amazon did not use abstract perspectives, but instead concrete ones. As an example, the Pirahã tribe call themselves the “straight heads” and outsiders are “crooked heads.” Interestingly, the Ancient Hebrew language uses this same style of speech. A literal translation of Proverbs 14:2 reads, “One who makes his walk straight will revere Yahweh, but the one who makes his path crooked is worthless.”

Everett also found that they had no concept of “left” and “right” (abstract terms of direction), but instead gave direction in relation to the surrounding topography, as in “toward the river,” or “toward the jungle.” Again, this is strikingly similar to the Ancient Hebrews’ perspectives of direction. Exodus 38:9-13 describes the direction of the court in relationship to the four sides of the Tabernacle. The Hebrew words used for these four directions are;

נגב (negev) – meaning “The desert region” (south)
צפון (tzafon) – meaning “The unknown region” (north)
ים (yam) – meaning “The Mediterranean Sea” (west)
קדם (qedem) – meaning “the region of the rising sun” (east)

Step Logic vs. Block Logic

While the Modern Western person thinks and arranges events chronologically (Step Logic), the Ancient Hebrews thought and arranged events according to action and purpose (Block Logic). Let me demonstrate with the following paragraph from a western step logic perspective.

“I got up and ate breakfast and read the newspaper. I then drove to work. While at work I read yesterday’s reports. At noon I walked across the street for lunch. While there I read a magazine. Back at work I read my emails. After work I drove home and had dinner.“

Now let me rearrange this paragraph in block form, the way the Hebrews would have conveyed this same story.

“I drove to work and walked across the street and I drove home. I ate breakfast and I ate lunch and I ate dinner. I read the newspaper and I read the reports and I read a magazine and I read my emails.“

To a person who is steeped in Western step logic, this paragraph would seem illogical as there is no way to make any chronological sense out of this narrative. However, this narrative would make much more sense to a person who is steeped in block logic as they can easily see my actions being grouped together. It is very important when reading the Bible to ignore the philosophy that has been ingrained in you and instead learn a completely new form of philosophy and logic.

Western readers of the Bible, who are reading the Bible from a linear perspective, read the creation account in Genesis as if it was written in chronological order, but this was not how the narrative was written; the different events of the creation account are recorded in blocks of related events.

The first three days of creation are related to separation.

Day 1 – Separating light from darkness
Day 2 – Separating the water from the sky
Day 3 – Separating the land from the water

The next three days of creation are related to the filling of the creation.

Day 4 – Filling the light with the sun and the dark with the moon
Day 5 – Filling the water fish and the sky with birds
Day 6 – Filling the land with animals and man

The record of events for the first six days of creation, are written in blocks of parallels, a form of Hebrew poetry, and can be written like this;

1 – Separating light from darkness

2 – Separating the water from the sky

3 – Separating the land from the water

4 – Filling the light with the sun and the dark with the moon

5 – Filling up the water with fish and the sky with birds

6 – Filling up the land with animals

Days 1 and 4 are paralleled with each other and are recording the same event as we can see from the following verses.

And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. (ESV, Genesis 1:4)

And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night … and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.” (ESV, Genesis 1:14a, 18b)

Verse 4 occurs on the first day and is describing the action of God separating light and darkness, but in verse 14, which is day four, we have God again separating light and darkness. There are only two possible explanations for this. Either the separation of light and darkness on the first day disappeared and had to be separated again on the fourth day, or the first and fourth days are recording the same event. In addition, days 2 and 5 are recording the same event, as are days 3 and 6.

Hebrew Descriptions

An oak tree and a ram

In our minds we would never relate an oak tree to a ram or view them as the same. The reason being is that we relate to features and appearances. However, the Hebrews relate to the function and in the case of the oak and the ram, they function in the same way. An oak tree is a very hard wood and the horns and skull of a ram are equally as hard. For this reason, the Hebrew word איל (ayil) is used for a ram (see Genesis 22:13) and an oak (see Isaiah 1:29).

This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. (Genesis 6:15)

From our Modern Western mindset, we assume that this passage is describing the “appearance” of the ark. But this is not so, the dimensions are not given to tell us what it “looked like,” but instead to tell us that it is very large as it is going to hold a large number of animals.

Another example of differing cultural perspectives is how different cultures perceive time. In our modern Western world, we view the past as behind us and the future as ahead of us. In Biblical Hebrew, the word for “yesterday” (the past) is תמול (temol), which comes from the root מול (mul) meaning “in front.” The Biblical Hebrew word for “tomorrow” (the future) is מחר (mahher), which comes from the root אחר (ahher) meaning “in back.” Therefore, from a Biblical Hebrew perspective, the past is in front and the future is behind. We see time from the perspective of passing through it. As we have walked through the past, we see it as behind us and the future, which we have not yet walked in, is in front of us. The Hebrews saw time from the perspective of observance. The past is known and therefore can be seen (in front of the observer), but the future is not known and therefore cannot be seen (behind the observer).

Another major difference between the modern Western view and the ancient Eastern one is how something is described. A westerner would describe a pencil in relationship to its appearance, such as long and yellow. An ancient easterner on the other hand, would describe it by its function, such as “you write with it.” Notice that the western description uses adjectives, but the eastern description uses verbs. Biblical Hebrew rarely uses adjectives; instead, it much more prefers to use verbs.

Static vs. Dynamic

In our Modern western language verbs express action (dynamic) while nouns express inanimate (static) objects. In Hebrew all things are in motion (dynamic) including verbs and nouns. In Hebrew sentences the verbs identify the action of an object while nouns identify an object of action. The verb מלך (malak) is “the reign of the king” while the noun מלך (melek) is the “the king who reigns”. A mountain top is not a static object but the “head lifting up out of the hill”. A good example of action in what appears to be a static passage is the command to “have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). In Hebrew thought this passage is saying “not to bring another one of power in front of my face”.

Hebrew Psychology

Different cultures view the same picture differently

If you were to ask a Westerner, such as from the Americas or Europe, what they see in the picture above, they would probably say “a deer.” However, if you were to ask an Easterner, such as from Japan or China, what they see, they will probably say “a grove.” The difference is that the Western thinker focuses in on one point, while the Eastern thinker looks at the whole of the image.

An experiment demonstrating the different between Western and Eastern thought

In an extensive study on these different forms of philosophy, a wide range of people from America, Canada and Europe were asked if they thought the boy in the middle of the picture on the left was happy or sad, they all said “happy.” They were then asked if they thought the boy in the middle of the picture on the right was happy or sad, they all said “happy.” Then a wide range of people from Asia, including Japan and China, were asked the same questions. When asked if the boy on the left was happy or sad, they all said “happy.” When they were asked if the boy on the right was happy or sad, they all said “sad.”

Again, Western thinkers focus on one point, the boy in the middle. Eastern thinkers on the other hand focus on the picture as a whole and because the majority of the children in the picture on the right were sad, their answer was “sad,” regardless of the smile on the boy in the middle.

The Psychology of the Ancient Hebrews is very different from our own and when we read the Bible, we must learn to read it from the Hebrew’s perspective rather than our own.

When we use a word like “name,” we focus in on how it is written and pronounced.

I will tell of thy name to my brethren; in the midst of the congregation I will praise thee. (Psalm 22:23)

What does it mean to “tell someone about another’s name?” Does it mean to tell others how to write or pronounce the name? From a Western perspective yes, but from a Hebraic perspective a name is much more than its pronunciation; it is the character of the individual, his ethics, workmanship, attitude, dependability, resourcefulness, compassion, honor, etc. When the Bible teaches us to “tell others the name of Yahweh,” it isn’t telling us to teach others how to write or pronounce it correctly; it is telling us to teach Yahweh’s character.

Taken from : https://www.ancient-hebrew.org/language/philosophy-of-the-hebrew-language.htm

The post The Philosophy of the Hebrew Language appeared first on 10/40 Window Mission Network.