Category Archives: Bible, General

Was the NT Originally Written in Hebrew?

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For more information on evidence that much of the NT was originally written in Hebrew, do an internet search of Dr. Miles R. Jones. I have watched many of his videos, and am intensely intrigued by his scholarship and discoveries.

 

The Book of Psalms—Introduction, Overview and List of Topics

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Introduction to the Psalms

Name of the Book

The Hebrew name for Psalms is Sepher Tehillim meaning “Book of Praises.” The word psalm is the Hebrew word mizmor meaning “melody” and derives from a word to mean “to sing, sing praise, make music.” The English word psalm derives from the Greek word psalmos meaning “a song sung to harp music.”

The Nature of the Book

The Book of Psalms is a collection of devotional materials including prayers, poems, and hymns some of which were set to music. Worship and praise of Elohim through music is a unifying aspect of this book. The psalms include songs of thanksgiving, hymns of praise, psalms of repentance and confession, psalms which invoke curses upon one’s enemies, psalms sung by pilgrims en route to Jerusalem, and messianic psalms.

Authors of the Psalms

This book contains psalms by at least six authors. David wrote 73 psalms (according to the titles of the psalms) and two others are ascribed to him in the Testimony of Yeshua (Ps 2, see Acts 4:25 and Ps 95, see Heb 4:7). Asaph either wrote or was responsible for preserving 12 psalms (Pss 50 and 73 through 83). The sons of Korah wrote 11 psalms (Pss 42, 44 through 49). Solomon composed two psalms (Pss72 and 127), while Etham wrote Psalm 89, Moses authored Psalm 90 (and possibly Ps 91), and Heman (Ps 88). Several Psalms have no designated author.

Categories of Psalms

  • The psalms can be group into five categories.
  • Didactic and wisdom psalms that give instruction (e.g., Ps 119).
  • The Messianic psalms containing prophecies relating to the Messiah (e.g., Ps 22).
  • The imprecatory psalms where the servant of Elohim pleads his case before the Almighty pleading for justice for the righteous and punishment upon the wicked (e.g. Ps 109).
  • Penitential psalms expressing the feelings of the repentant heart but also the desire for spiritual cleansing (Pss 32; 38; 51;102; 130; 143).
  • Psalms of praise, worship and thanksgiving.
  • Other classifications of Psalms include
  • Psalms of degrees or ascent (i.e., Pss 120–134). These are psalms that were sung on special occasions as the priests were ascending the steps of the temple, or that were sung as the Israelites were going up to Jerusalem to celebrate the yearly biblical pilgrimage feasts (i.e. Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, the Feast of Tabernacles).
  • The miktam (or michtam) psalms (Pss 16; 56–60). Though the meaning of the term michtam is unclear, it seems to refer toa psalm that is considered as precious as stamped gold.

The Five Books Within the Psalms

According to Jewish tradition, the Book of Psalms can be divided into five smaller books or sections. They are,

  • Book One: Pss 1–41
  • Book Two: Pss 42–72
  • Book Three: Pss 73–89
  • Book Four: Pss 90–106
  • Book Five: Pss 107–150

Scholars aren’t sure why Psalms is so sub-divided. One theory is that the five sections correspond to the five books of the Torah (or Pentateuch). Or they may simply be individual collections of psalms that were eventually combined to form the larger book we now have. 

The first three books end with the word, “Amein and amein” (the only places in the Scriptures where this double-amein phrase occurs. The last two books end with the phrase, “Praise YHVH.”

A Topical Index to Key Subjects in the Psalms (and elsewhere)

  • Afterlife, The— Job 14:14–15; 19:25–27; Pss 6:5; 42:2; 50:4; 73:24; 17:15; 71:20; 90:10; Prov 14:32; Eccl 3:21; 12:7
  • God Bubble— Pss 91:1; 119:114
  • Fear of YHVH— Ps 34:9; Prov 1:7
  • Healing— Pss 41:3; 103:3
  • Hunger, Spiritual— Pss 42:1; 63:1
  • Leanness of Soul— Pss 106:15; 107:9
  • Lifter of My Head— Pss 3:3; 27:6; 110:7
  • Name of YHVH— Ps 20:1
  • Pit, The— Pss 28:1; 40:1; 69:1ff
  • Prayer, Answered— Pss 3:4; 4:3; 6:9; 9:12; 20:6; 34:4, 6, 15, 17; 55:17; 65:2; 66:19; 69:33; 86:12; 99:6; 109:7; 118:5; 145:18, 19; Prov 15:29; Isa 55:8; Jas 5:16;  
  • Prayer, Unanswered— Pss 66:18; 35:13; 99:6–8; 109:7; Prov 15:8, 29; 28:9; Isa 1:15; 1 Pet 3:12
  • Repentance— Job 42:6; Ps 51:38
  • Resurrection of the Saints, The— Job 14:15; 19:26–27; Pss 16:10; 17:15; 50:4–5; 71:20; 73:24; 102:17; 118:5; Dan 12:2; 1 John 3:1–2
  • Revelation, Divine— Pss 13:3; 25:14; 36:1; 63:2; 77:13; Prov 3:32; 4:18; 20:27;
  • Sacrifice, Higher— Pss 4:5; 20:6; 27:6; 35:8–15; 51:17; 107:22; 116:17; 119:108; Prov 15:8; 21:3; Jer 17:26; 33:11; Hos 6:6; 14:2; Jon 2:9; Mal 1:11; Matt 9:13; 12:7; Rom 12:2; Eph 5:2; Phil 2:17; 4:18; Heb 9:26; 13:15; 1 Pet 2:4 cp. Ps 113:11; 141:2; Rev 5:8; 8:3
  • Sacrifice of Praise— Ps 27:6
  • Tabernacle Holy of Holies/Throne Room of Elohim— Ps 77:13
  • Waiting on YHVH— Pss 25:3, 5; 27:14; 37:7, 34; 39:7; 59:9; 52:9; 62:5; 69:3, 6; 104:27; 106:13; 123:2; 130:5; 145:15; Prov 20:22; Isa 8:15; 40:31; Lam 3:25; Hos 12:6; Mic 7:7; Hab 2:3; Zeph 3:8
  • Warfare, Spiritual— Deut 1:30; 20:1; Pss 91:1ff; Ps 3:1–8; 18:29
  • Woman, A Contentious—Prov 19:3; 21:19; 24:24; 27:15
  • YHVH, The Name— Ps 20:1
  • Yeshua (a list of where the Hebrew word Yeshua appears in the OT)— Gen 49:18; Exod 14:13; 15:2; Deut 3:15; 1 Sam 2:1; 14:45; 2 Sam 10:11; 22: 51; 1 Chron 16:23; 2 Chron 20:17; Job 13:16; 30:15; Pss 3:2, 8; 9:14; 13:5; 14:7; 18:50; 20:5; 21:1, 5; 22:1; 28:8; 35:3, 9; 42:5, 11; 44:4; 53:6; 61:1, 2; 67:2; 68:19; 69:29; 70:4; 74:12; 78:22; 80:2; 88:1; 89:26; 91;16; 96:2; 98:2, 3; 106:4; 116; 13; 118:14, 15, 21; 119:123, 155, 166, 174; 140:7; 149:4; Isa 12:2, 3; 25:9; 26:1, 18; 33:2, 6; 49:6, 8; 51:6, 8; 52:7, 10; 56:1; 59:11, 17; 60:18; 62:1; Jon 2:9; Hab 3:8 (The word Yeshua occurs 78 times in the OT. Mathematically, this is 7 and 8 signifying perfection and new beginnings or eternity, or 7 x 70 + 8 signifying perfect law and order plus new beginnings or eternity.) 
  • YHVH Hates— Pss 5:5; 11:5
  • YHVH, The Voice of— Ps 29:3

Hebrew Words of Praise Found in the Psalms

  • Barak means “to bless YHVH as an act of adoration by kneeling (literally means ‘breaking the knee’).”
  • Basar means “to be cheerful, to announce glad news.”
  • Halal means “to be boastful, to shine, to make a show, to be thunderously foolish, to rave, to celebrate; denotes a tremendous explosion of enthusiasm in praising YHVH.”
  • Nagad means “to declare, stand boldly, to announce.”
  • Qara means “to cry out, to proclaim, to cry out to YHVH, to proclaim YHVH’s name.”
  • Ruah means “to split the ear with sound, shout for joy, to make a joyful noise, to sound the victory.”
  • Rum means “to extol, to lift up, to celebrate, to honor, to exalt.”
  • Shabach means “to address in a loud voice, to shout, to glorify, to give praise to YHVH with a loud voice or shout.”
  • Tehillah means “a laudation or hymn.” From the root of hallal.
  • Todah means “adoration, giving thanks, giving thanks, a choir of worshippers.” From yaddah meaning “an extension of the hands.”
  • Yadah means “to hold out the hands, to revere or worship with extended hands. The root of yad means “an open hand.”
  • Zaman means “to touch the strings or parts of a musical instrument, to make music accompanied by the voice; that is, to celebrate with songs and music; to give praise, to sing forth praises and psalms.”
 

Was the New Testament Originally Written in Aramaic? NO!

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In this discussion, Nehemia Gordon gives proof that the Aramaic Peshitta New Testament was translated from the Greek, not the other way around. For the video version of Nehemia Gordon’s discussion with Michael Rood, go to:

Hebrew Voices #130 – Was the New Testament Originally Written in Aramaic

The following is the transcript of this discussion between Nehemia Gordon and Michael Rood:

Michael: And then I was talking to him about the Peshitta, he said, “We don’t use the Peshitta. The Peshitta, Aramaic text…”

Nehemia: Let me stop you. This is the head scholar of the Aramaic…

Michael: Syrian Orthodox…

Nehemia: Aramaic-speaking church in Jerusalem.

Michael: And the head scholar of the Syrian Orthodox Church.

Nehemia: In Jerusalem.

Michael: In Jerusalem.

Nehemia: Wow.

Michael: He is the top of the entire school, okay? He is an old man, he’s in his 80s. And he said, “We don’t use the Peshitta. The Peshitta is a later Aramaic translation from the Greek.

Nehemia: Look, I’ve spoken to scholars about this. In fact, I sat down with a scholar at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and I told him, “You know, people have suggested that this Aramaic Peshitta is the original Aramaic that Jesus, that Yeshua, spoke and taught, and the Greek is a translation from the Aramaic,” and this guy was an Aramaic scholar, specifically of Syriac-Aramaic, which the Peshitta’s written in. Actually, when I walked into his office, he was looking at this giant… it was like this big, this dictionary of Peshitta Aramaic. And I asked him for some proof, so I said, “Well, how can we know? You’re telling me…” I mean, look, people will tell you that this Hebrew Matthew, that this isn’t the original Matthew, it was written in Greek, so why would I believe you when you tell me that the Aramaic isn’t the original? The Greek is the Aramaic? I said, “I need some proof. I can’t trust your word for it.”

And this was just for me, I don’t think I’ve ever even shared this. I really just wanted to know for myself. And so, he started off, he told me a bunch of linguistic things about how the Aramaic that Yeshua spoke was completely different than the Aramaic that the Peshitta is written in. It’s a completely different dialect of Aramaic. He said, “It would be like the difference between German and Dutch.” Dutch is the language they speak in Holland. I don’t speak either of those languages, I read a little German. German is called in their language, “Deutsch”, and you have “Dutch”, which is the language of Holland. Originally, they were obviously a single language, but now they’re incomprehensible to one another, unless you’re from the border area there. But the German people can’t understand Dutch. But they’re that similar. The Aramaic that Yeshua spoke and the Aramaic the Peshitta is written in are similar, but they’re also different enough to be, essentially, he said if it was any other language, they’d be called two different languages. But for Aramaic, we consider all these different, very vastly different dialects, one language.

And he gave me specific examples I won’t go into, but you could look up at any Peshitta grammar, it’ll tell you what those differences are. They’re profound differences. But then he gave me some really powerful examples. I’m like, “This is it, it’s the end of the story. We’re done.” I wanted to know, and he answered me. Here’s an example of one of the things he showed me.

So, the Hebrew word for “covenant” is “brit”. Now, in American Jewish-speak we call it a “bris”, and that’s because the Hebrew letter Tav when it has a dot in it, it’s a tuh. When it doesn’t have a dot, it’s a thuh or in some dialects, suh. So, “brit, bris, brees.” It’s the same word, different pronunciations of Hebrew. So, the word is “brit” or “bris”, like I had my “bris” on the eighth day, the covenant, the circumcision, in that case.

Genesis 6:18 says, “I will establish My covenant with you.” The word is “diatheke”. “Diatheke” is the Greek word for “covenant”. Aramaic has a perfectly good word for covenant. The Aramaic word for covenant is “kiyam”. It comes from the Hebrew word, the Semitic root, “lakum, lehakim”, “to establish”. That word also appears, a form of that, in the Hebrew connected to covenant, but the actual word for covenant is “brit”, and you say, “lehakim brit”. And so, Aramaic takes that and it’s “kyam”, that’s the word for “covenant”.

So let’s look in the Targum, that’s the ancient Jewish translation of the Tanakh. And there, in the very same verse, Genesis 6:18 it says, “Ve’akeim yatkiami,” “And I established My kiyam,” “My brit, My covenant”. If you looked in the Peshitta, if it was the original Aramaic, you would expect the word “kiyam” to be used all over the place as the word for “covenant.”

Michael: Yeah, look in the…

Nehemia: In the New Testament.

Michael: Right, the New Testament, in Matthew, etc.

Nehemia: Right. So Matthew 26:28, I’m just choosing a verse here that has the word “covenant”. It says, Yeshua says here, “For this is My blood of the covenant.” Okay, so in the Greek, it has for covenant, “diatheke”, same word as when it translated “brit” in the Tanakh. So, we have Hebrew, “brit”, Aramaic, “kyam”, Greek, “diatheke”. What do you think you have in the Peshitta? The Peshitta’s Aramaic. Some people say it’s the original Aramaic that Yeshua spoke. Surely, you have the word “kiyam”, the Aramaic word for “brit”. And that would be a great word, because also, you get from that the word “lakum”, which means “to rise up”.

So, if the word “covenant” were connected to “rise up”, and Yeshua’s saying, “This is the blood of My rising up, of My covenant,” that would be a powerful message. But in the Peshitta, you don’t have “kiyam”, you have “diatheke”.

Michael: It’s Greek.

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The Biblical Feasts and Yeshua’s Wedding Prophesied in the Tabernacle of Moses

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Welcome to the World of the Tabernacle of Moses

If you were the Creator of the universe, what means would you use to communicate with those that you had created through love in your likeness and image? In a remote way, it’s like a human standing over an anthill trying to communicate with the ants. How do you do it? Similarly, how does an all powerful, Spirit Being, loving Father in heaven relate to his mortal children who are but mere specks of dust without vaporizing them with his raw power? The difficulty is compounded when fearful humans don’t want to hear the voice of Elohim, which is what happened when YHVH Elohim’s voice thundered from Mount Sinai. The children of Israel begged him not to talk to them, lest they die. They asked the Almighty One to speak to them instead through Moses (Exod 20:19).

When man sinned at the tree of knowledge, and YHVH kicked them out of the Garden of Eden, direct communications between man and his Maker were hampered, if not all but cut off. However, Elohim had a plan to restore the loving relationship he had with man before the rebellion. But if men refuse to hear you when you speak, what are you do?

To be certain, the Almighty doesn’t lack for ways to communicate with men. Man is without excuse when it comes to hearing Elohim, for even the heaven’s declare the glory of the Creator and the plans he has for mankind. The visible things of this creation shout loudly about the spiritual mysteries heaven desires to reveal to its earthly subjects. Furthermore, from time to time over the millennia, Elohim has chosen to speak directly to some select servants through dreams, visions, signs, wonders, angels, and even once through a donkey! But how does he speak to a whole nation, if that nation is plugging its ears and refusing to hear its Master’s voice?

Enter into the picture the Tabernacle of Moses, which was literally a three-dimensional gospel message tract. It is the visual demonstration of the whole message of the Bible in a building  —  the blueprint of the plan of redemption of wayward man. It was a functioning masterpiece of artwork demonstrating the Father’s love for his people, of his desire to commune and to communicate with Israel  —  his treasured possession, those he had hand picked and called out from the 70 nations of the world. Not only did the tabernacle involve the sense of sight, but the other four senses as well: sound, smell, touch, and taste. It also engaged and even challenged the heart, emotions, mind and spirit of man. The Tabernacle of Moses was a vehicle for the Creator of the universe to communicate with man using a panoply of communicative devices all of which pointed to the coming Messiah, the Redeemer of mankind who would die for the sins of the world to restore man into a loving relationship with his ever-loving, gracious, and longsuffering Father in heaven.

This is the story of the tabernacle, which, in every way, resembles a theatrical play, even a pageant, containing costumed actors each performing his carefully choreographed role on cue. Even a child can comprehend the message of this play, yet it contains mysteries and truths so deep that only in eternity itself will they be revealed to those who have been initiated into higher spiritual levels through the tabernacle’s spiritual paradigms of which its rites and ceremonies were mere prophetic shadows of things to come. To understand it, is to understand the message of the whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation.

Let’s now enter into this world of the Tabernacle of Moses. Welcome!

The Seven Steps in the Tabernacle & the Biblical Feasts

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Natan’s Commentary on 1 Samuel 21 to 29

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1 Samuel 21

1 Samuel 21:6, Showbread.David likely had not eaten food for the better part of four days (three days hiding from Saul in the wilderness and the fourth day fleeing to Nob, 1 Sam 20:19 cp. 1 Sam 21:1), and so he was famished. Yeshua makes reference to this incident in Matthew 12:3 when justifying his picking grain and eating it on the Sabbath. Harvesting grain on the Sabbath is forbidden in the Torah, even as eating of the showbread was forbidden for anyone other than the priests (Exod 25:30; Lev 24:5–9). Yet, Yeshua demonstrated that, even as the Torah allows an ox to be pulled out of a ditch on the Sabbath to save the ox’s life, so it was allowable for him to “harvest” grain on the Sabbath to stave off hunger, even as David ate the showbread when he was famished. (See note at Matthew 12:1–14 for a full discussion of this subject.)

1 Samuel 24

1 Samuel 24:4, Corner of Saul’s robe. Corner in Hebrew is kanaph meaning “wing, extremity, edge, border, corner of a garment.” The kanaph was the same part of a garment to which YHVH instructed the children of Israel to attache the tzitzit or blue tassel (Num 15:37–41). Thus, in can be deduced that if Saul were Torah-obedient, then a tzitzit would have been attached to the corner of Saul’s garment. This tzitzit that David cut off was symbolic of Saul’s covenantal relationship and devotion to YHVH.

1 Samuel 24:6, 10, YHVH’s anointed. Interestingly, David was also YHVH’s anointed—as much so as Saul. However, Saul occupied the throne at the time, and David didn’t, so he respected Saul’s position until such time as YHVH removed him from the kingship. David wasn’t one to presume, rush things or to usurp any authority not given him. He was patient to wait for YHVH’s timing, including the time when the throne would his according to Samuel’s prophecy.

1 Samuel 24:16–21 (also 26:25), You are more righteous than I. Here King Saul prophesies that David will succeed him as king over Israel, and that he will do go great things and prevail. There were other instances of Saul coming under a spirit of prophecy (e.g., 1 Sam 10:10–11; 19:23–24). Saul was capable of hearing the voice of Elohim, but because of unrestrained carnality, a spirit of rebellion (15:23), and his inability to submit to the will of Elohim, he was spiritually conflicted. Clearly, YHVH was not in his heart (1 Sam 15:15, 21, 30). Within him was a constant struggle between doing the will of Elohim and his own will. The latter usually won out, because he had not unconditionally surrendered his will to YHVH (15:23, 26). Saul was swayed more by popular opinion than by the Word of Elohim (1 Sam 1 Sam 15:24, 30). Saul was able to worship Elohim (15:31), but was spiritually weak and not able to obey the Word of Elohim (15:23, 26). It is impossible to love and worship Elohim without obeying his Word. Let’s be honest. Most of us are at least a little if not a lot like Saul in these areas.

Yeshua declared that those who love him will obey his commandments or his Word (John 14:15). James wrote that the demons even tremble before Elohim (Jas 2:19), even though they are in rebellion against the Word of Elohim. Faith, works and obedience must accompany the worship and fear of Elohim (Jas 2:14–26). Though Saul paid lip service to YHVH, his heart was far from him. He obeyed when it was convenient and expedient to him. Isaiah similarly spoke of the rebellious Israelites who drew near to YHVH with their lips, but in reality, their hearts were far from him (Isa 29:13). Yeshua quoted and applied this verse to the hypocritical and rebellious religious leaders of his day (Matt 15:6–7).

In a certain sense, Saul is spiritual type of Christianity, which teaches and obeys the Torah-Word of Elohim only in part, and otherwise follows their own anti-Torah belief systems. 

1 Samuel 25

1 Samuel 25:1, Samuel died. Samuel was able to die in peace, since his ultimate mission was now complete. David’s kingship was safe, since Saul had just ceased pursuing David and admitted that David would be king. 

 1 Samuel 27

1 Samuel 27:3, So David dwelt with Achish. Why would the Philistines now accept David into their midst after he had fought against and killed so many of them as a general in Saul’s army? They accepted David because he was now an enemy of Saul. It was a political move on their part. This is a classic case example of the saying, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

1 Samuel 28

1 Samuel 28:15, 19 Samuel. Was this actually Samuel, and does this scripture passage prove that Samuel’s soul was immortal, as many in the mainstream Christian church teach, thus proving the doctrine of the immortality of the soul?

In this passage of Scripture, the witch of Endor is acting as a spiritist or medium—a necromancer. A demon is speaking and is posing as the dead Samuel. Yes, this demon looked and sounded like Samuel, but it wasn’t. Even though Scripture calls this demonic impersonator Samuel, this was written from the human perspective, as many Scriptures are, since the Bible is often quoting humans who are speaking and writing from their own perspective based on their limited knowledge, and not necessarily stating truth in the full sense of the word. This is where the astute and Spirit-led Bible student will rightly divide the Word of Elohim, so that they don’t make it say things that are contrary to spiritual truth or contradict other scriptural truths. Moreover, do you not think that the sovereign, all powerful Elohim can’t use anyone or anything to communicate to anyone in any way he chooses—in this case to King Saul? After all, he used a donkey to speak to Balaam. Yeshua said that Elohim could raise up rocks to praise him. Elohim used lying spirits to prophesy lies to King Ahab through the mouths of his false prophets (1 Kgs 22:19–23). Know ye not that even Satan can transform himself transforms himself into an angel of light. (2 Cor 11:14)?

In verse 19, the demon posing as Samuel declares that Saul and his sons will be with him. If one believes this is Samuel speaking, and believes that the soul is immortal and goes to heaven when a saint dies, then it would be logical to assume that Saul and his sons would be going to heaven. However, if this is a demon speaking, where is he speaking from? Yes, the demon is saying that Saul and his sons will be with the him wherever he happens to be—probably in what the Bible refers in several place to as the pit, abyss or, in the Greek, tartaroos (2 Pet 2:4)—the place where the demons are being held in prison awaiting the final judgment.

1 Samuel 28:24, Calf in the house. In ancient times, in the average Israelite home, animals lived in the house with the people.

1 Samuel 29

1 Samuel 29:6, As YHVH lives. Here Achish the Philistine is invoking the name of YHVH. Why would a heathen whose people worship Dagon (the wheat harvest or fish god of fertility)call on the name of YHVH, the Deity of the Hebrews? Ancient history shows that the people of Canaan in biblical times worshipped a pantheon of deities including Ba’al, Asherahm, Berith, Chemosh, Dagon, El, Elyon, Moloch, YHVH and many others, whereas the Israelites worshipped only YHVH Elohim. The biblical record reveals that at one time, the inhabitants of the earth knew the name of YHVH, and called on him (Gen 4:26). This doesn’t mean, however, that they remained faithful to the truth he had revealed to them through his servants (e.g., Adam, Enoch, Noah, or Shem) even though the use of the name YHVH continued. In our day, the use of the names God, Jesus, Christ can mean many things to different people, and their use may have little or no relevance to what the Scriptures reveal about the Godhead or what he requires in the way of obedience.