One in Messiah Congregation
קָּהָל
אֶחָד
בְּמָּשִׁיחַ
Part of the Congregation of Israel
עֲדַת
יִשְׂרָאֵל
Shabbat Shalom שַׁבָּת
שָׁלוֹם
----------------
Let’s pray
--------------------------------
Today we use the
Gregorian calendar from Pope Gregory; from the 1500’s.
Today is 8th
month called August, 3rd day 2013
August -- Augustus Caesar's month
Latin Augustus
"Augustus"
Latin Augustus mensis "month of Augustus"
Latin sextilis mensis "sixth month"
Sextilis had 30 days, until Numa when it had 29 days,
until Julius when it became 31 days long.
Augustus Caesar clarified and completed the
calendar reform of Julius Caesar. In the process, he also renamed this month
after himself.
----------------------------------------------------
Yehovah has His
own calendar
We are now in the
5th month, 25th day (this month has no name)
Judaism calls the
5th month Av which is made up – adding to the Word
Judaism made up the name AV (father?) and they say they
have a civil year and religious year. They say AV is the eleventh month of the civil year, and fifth month of the religious year. Wrong!
Yehovah only has
"ONE CALENDAR".
Deut. 11 [12] A land which Yehovah
thy God careth for: the
eyes of Yehovah thy God are always upon it, from the
beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.
----------------
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Congregation
----------------
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come and give a talk at your congregation, school or home pertaining to the
Hebrew roots of your faith from the Scriptures, not Judaism.
Click here: http://oneinmessiah.net/ScheduleMe.htm
-----------------------------
Recap of the upcoming fall Holy days
4 extra Sabbaths
Remember,
all my dates that I give you, start the evening before!
September
The Memorial of blowing of trumpets, the seventh
month, ha Ethamin is going to be on September 8,
2013 Sunday – 2 Sabbaths in a row.
The Day of Atonement is going to be
the 17th, Tuesday – a Sabbath.
The feast of Tabernacles is going to be the 22nd through the 29th.
The 22 and 29 are both on Sundays. There are 2
Sabbaths in this feast, one at the start and one at the end of the feast.
---------------------------
New moon, 6th month, Elul is coming
Phase of the Moon on 8
August, Thursday night (1st
on Friday): waxing crescent with 3% of the Moon's visible disk
illuminated.
These 2 verses below
indicated to us Elul must be the 6th month
Neh.6
[15] So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul,
לֶ אֱלוּל in fifty and two days.
Neh.7[73] So the priests, and the
Levites, and the porters, and the singers, and some of the people, and the Nethinims, and all Israel, dwelt in their cities; and when the seventh month came, the children of
Israel were in their cities.
---------------------------
Today's Topic:
God is
one
One God
One
father
The
Word was God
Three
are one
-------------------------------
No 2 or 3 Gods
Or
3 persons
------------------------------------
God is a compound/complex entity
beyond our dusty frame, lol
Let’s look a few Hebrew words
אֶחָד ECHAD -- compound unity many times -- יָחִיד YACHID -- only one
Deut.6[ 4] Hear, O Israel: The Yehovah our God is one Yehovah:
שְׁמַע,
יִשְׂרָאֵל: יְהוָה
אֱלֹהֵינוּ , יְהוָה
אֶחָד
Deuteronomy
6:4, known as the SHEMA, has always been
Israel's great confession. It is this verse more than any other that is used to
affirm the fact that God is one and is often used to contradict the concept of
plurality in the Godhead. But is it a valid use of this verse?
Again
please notice that the very words "our God" are in the plural in the
Hebrew text and literally mean "our Gods."
The main
argument lies in the word "one," which is the Hebrew word, ECHAD. A glance through the Hebrew text where the word
is used elsewhere can quickly show that the word echad
does not mean an absolute "one" but a compound "one."
For
instance, in Genesis 1:5 the combination of evening and morning comprise one (echad) day.
In Genesis 2:24 a man and a woman come
together in marriage and the two "shall become one (echad)
flesh."
In Ezra 2:64 we are told that the whole
assembly was as one (echad), though, of course, it
was composed of numerous people.
Ezekiel
37:17 provides a rather striking example where two sticks are combined to
become one (echad).
Thus, use of
the word echad in Scripture shows it to be a compound
and not an absolute unity many times.
There is a
Hebrew word that does mean an absolute unity and that is YACHID , which is found in many Scripture passages,
(Genesis 22:2,12; Judges 11:34; Psalm 22:21: 25:16; Proverbs 4:3; Jeremiah
6:26; Amos 8:10; Zechariah 12:10) the emphasis being on the meaning of
"only."
If Moses intended
to teach God's absolute oneness as over against a compound unity, this would
have been a far more appropriate word.
I n fact,
Maimonides noted the strength of "yachid' and
chose to use that word in his "Thirteen Articles of Faith'' in place of echad.
However,
Deuteronomy 6:4 (the Shema) does not use "yachid" in reference to God.
Gen.22[ 1] And it came to pass after these things, that God
did tempt נִסָּה (
test, prove )
Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.[2]
And he said, Take now thy son , thine only son Isaac , יָחִיד yachid
= only one
* whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; אֶרֶץ
הַמֹּרִיָּה , the Temple site - and offer him there for a
burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. - Moriah = seen, chosen of Yah - the mount on the eastern
edge of Jerusalem on which Solomon built the temple
And so
on…………..many other verses
------------------------
No one has ever seen God in His infinite, omnipotent
form, as John clearly declares unto us in his letters he wrote.
1John.4[12] No man hath seen God at any time.
Then John explains, even though no one has seen God at
any time in His infinite, omnipotent form, the
Word, His Son declares who the father is below:
John.1[18] No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father,
he hath declared him.
Again, No one has ever seen God
in His infinite, omnipotent form
However, God has manifested Himself by His Word
to all.
God’s Word shows many times in Scripture and
He reveals himself too many people.
The phrase, “the word came
saying”, shows up over 120 times in Scripture.
As Moses stated, God said, no one can see me
and live. The next few lines it says Moses saw God face-to-face.
Exod.33[20] And he
said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no
man see me, and live.
Exod.33[11] And Yehovah spake
unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.
Num.12 [7] My servant Moses is
not so, who is faithful in all mine house.[8] With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark
speeches; and the similitude of the Yehovah shall he behold…
There are many other times God reveals Himself
by the word of Yehovah to many different individuals in Scripture.
There’s only one God, with infinite,
omnipotent power beyond our imaginations.
Deut.6[4] Hear, O
Israel: The Yehovah our God is one Yehovah:
Mark.12[29] And Yeshua
answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; Yehovah
our God is one Yehovah:
Gal.3[20] Now a
mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.
Mal.2[10] Have we not all one father? hath
not one God created us?
Mark.12[32] And
the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there
is one God; and there is none other but he:
Rom.3[30] Seeing
it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.
1Cor.8[6] But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are
all things, and we in him; and one Yehovah Yeshua the Messiah, by whom
are all things, and we by him.
Eph.4[6] One
God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
1Tim.2[5] For there
is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Messiah Yeshua;
Jas.2[19] Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well:
the devils also believe, and tremble.
I know the term, son, confuses a lot of
people. They actually think God has a son like they have a son. Remember God is
a spirit, John 4:24 and spirits don’t have
children.
Try to understand that the
word son can be replaced with the word, “Word” in many verses in the Bible, try
it when you read and you’ll see what I mean.
Below,
the Son is the mighty God and the everlasting Father
Isa.9[6] For
unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government
shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of
Peace.
--------------------
The
Word, Yeshua is in the Father? Yes they are one!
John.10
[30] I and my Father are one.
John.10[38] But if
I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and
believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.
John.14[1] Let not
your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
[10] Believest thou not
that I am in the Father, and the Father in me?
the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself:
but the Father that dwelleth
in me, he doeth the works.
[11] Believe me that I am
in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very
works' sake.
[20] At that day ye shall know that I am in my
Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
[30] Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for
the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.
John.14[9] Yeshua
saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known
me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the
Father?
-----------------------------------
Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness:
God was manifest in the flesh
Col.1 [15] Messiah
- Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every
creature:
Phil.2 [4] Look not every man on
his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
[5] Let this mind be in you, which was also in Messiah Yeshua:
[6] Who, being in the form of God, thought
it not robbery to be equal with God:
[7] But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness of men:
[8] And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled
himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
David understood - Pss.138[2] I will worship toward thy holy temple, and
praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy
truth:
for Thou hast magnified Thy Word above all Thy
name
---------------------------------------
1Sam.3
Yehovah revealed himself the Word of the Yehovah
[1] And the child Samuel ministered unto
the Yehovah (he did not know Yehovah yet) before Eli. And the word of the Yehovah was precious in
those days; there was no open vision.
[2] And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his
place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see;[3] And ere
the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Yehovah, where the ark of God
was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep;
[4] That the Yehovah called
Samuel: and he answered, Here am I.
[5] And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called
not; lie down again. And he went and lay down.
[6] And the Yehovah called yet again,
Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here
am I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down
again.
[7] Now Samuel did not yet know the
Yehovah, neither was the word of the Yehovah yet revealed unto him.
[8] And the Yehovah called Samuel again
the third time.
And he arose and went to Eli, and
said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli
perceived that the Yehovah had called the child.
[9] Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie
down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Yehovah;
for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down
in his place.
Yehovah came, and stood, and called
[10] And the Yehovah came, and stood,
and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered,
Speak; for thy servant heareth.
[21] And the Yehovah
appeared again in Shiloh:
for the Yehovah revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh
by the word of the Yehovah.
------------------------
Son =
Word
John.1[1] In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
[10]
He was in the world, and the world was made by him,
[14]
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,
(and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,)
full of grace and truth.
1John.5[7] For
there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the
Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
Dan.3[25] He
answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire,
and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
Pss.2[12]
Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath
is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
---------------------
Again, try to understand that the word “son” can
be replaced with the word, “Word” in many verses in the Bible, try it when you
read and you’ll see what I mean.
Remember, there are no verses that say, “God
the son”, only “God the father”.
As I quoted before, the Word was God - John.1 [1]
--------------------------------
Now I will show even in Jewish circles, the
term,
“The MEMRA”,
the Word of Yehovah was Yehovah
---
Targum study collected from
various sources and studies from the internet
This study should be enough to show you:
John
1 [1] In the beginning was the Word, and
the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Some verses are duplicated
----------
The Teachings of the Targums
- authoritative
Aramaic paraphrases
When the Jews returned
from Babylonian captivity 450 years before the birth of Yeshua, they had
adopted Aramaic as their native language.
Although it is
a dialect of ancient Hebrew, Aramaic is about as different from it as modern
Italian is from its classical Latin ancestor.
Consequently,
during the first and early second centuries A.D., Aramaic translations of the
Hebrew TaNaKh were made.
These
translations, called Targums, were The Living
Bibles of their day, an interpretive paraphrase of Scripture. They help
us see how these first-century Jews understood their TaNaKh.
One of the
striking things these Targums show is that first
century Jews had come to understand the phrase "the Word of God"
as referring to a divine entity as God Himself, yet distinguishable at times
from the infinite, omnipotent Father.
Again, the
word Targum simply means translation or
interpretation, but while any translation might call itself a targum, the word is usually
reserved for ancient Aramaic translations of the Hebrew scriptures.
The Targums were authoritative Aramaic paraphrases of
the books of the TaNaKh which were read in the
synagogues along with the Hebrew of the Torah and Haftorah
readings.
The need for
Aramaic translations of scripture was felt as Hebrew declined in use during the
Second Temple Period.
One tradition (some
say) ascribes the first targum
to Ezra himself. Some say, in the earliest days, targumim
were not written down, but were likely informal translations made 'on
the fly' after the Hebrew Scriptures were read in the synagogues.
Targum fragments found in the
Dead Sea Scrolls indicate that use of written targumim
can be dated to pre-Christian times, and eventually two of these
written Targumim, Targum
Onqelos on the Torah and Targum
Jonathan on the Prophets gained official status, and were specifically
designated for use in synagogue services.
In addition to
these two official Targumim,
there are several targumim covering various books of
the Writing and other, competing Targums to the Torah
that never gained any official status.
Every book but
Ezra-Nehemiah and Daniel (which were partially written
in Aramaic to begin with) has at least one extant Targum.
------------------
THE MEMRA, THE WORD OF Yehovah
Authoritative Aramaic paraphrases
Psalm 33 [6] By the Word of Yehovah were the
heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
The Aramaic
word 'Memra', which means the ‘Word’ or ‘The Word of Yehovah,
is used when physical manifestations of God appear or when God is mentioned
more than once in the same verse.
------------------
Authoritative Aramaic paraphrases
The
Jerusalem Targum of Johathan
ben Uziel renders Bereshit 1:27 as follows: "
Gen.
1
[27] So God created man in his own image, in the image
of God created he him; male and female created he them.
And the Word [Memra] of Yehovah created man in His likeness, in the
likeness of Yehovah, Yehovah created, male and female created He them."
-------------------
The Memra acts as a mediator between the Father and Creation:
And I will establish my covenant between My Word [Memra}
and between you
Targum Onkelos
Gen. 17:7
Gen.
17 [7] And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and
thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a
God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.
--------------------
Gen.
9 [17] And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the
covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the
earth.
And Yehovah said to Noah, "This is the token of the covenant which I have
established between My Word [Memra] and between all flesh that is upon the earth.
Targum Onkelos
Gen. 9:17
---------------------
The Memra is God and is worshiped as such:
Gen.
28: [20] And Jacob
vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that
I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, [21] So that
I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall Yehovah be my God:
And Jacob vowed
a vow, saying, "If the Word [Memra] of Yehovah
will be my support, and will keep me in the way that I go, and will give me
bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father's house
in peace; then shall the Word [Memra] of Yehovah be
my God.
Targum Onkelos
on Gen. 28:20-21
--------------------
Gen.
22:
[14] And Abraham called the name of that place Yehovah-Yireh:
as it is said to this day, In the mount of Yehovah it
shall be seen.
And Abraham
worshipped and prayed in the name of the Word [Memra]
of Yehovah, and said, "You are Yehovah who does see, but You cannot be seen."
Jerusalem Targum Gen. 22:14
---------------------
The Memra is God, yet is a separate personality
from the Father and Holy Spirit:
And the Word [Memra] of Yehovah caused to descend
upon the peoples of Sodom and Gommorah, brimstone and
fire from Yehovah in heaven.
Targum Jonathan on Gen. 19:24
Gen.
19 [24] Then Yehovah
rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Yehovah out of
heaven;
--------------------
And Israel saw the great strong hand of God, what He did to the Egyptians. They
feared God and believed in His Word [Memra] and in
His servant Moses.
Onkeles Targum
on Exodus 14:31
Exodus
14 [31]
And Israel saw that great work which Yehovah did upon the Egyptians: and the
people feared Yehovah, and believed Yehovah, and his servant Moses.
-------------------
Other Targum
verses:
Genesis 1:27 - God created man.
Targum - The Word of Yehovah created man.
---------------
Genesis 6:6-7 -
And it repented Yehovah that He made man on the earth.
Targum - And it repented Yehovah through His word
that He made man on the earth.
---------------
Genesis 9:12 -
And God said, "This sign that I set for the covenant between me and
you."
Targum - And Yehovah said, "This is the sign that
I set for covenant between my Word and you."
---------------
Genesis 15:6 -
And Abraham believed in Yehovah.
Targum - And Abraham believed in the Word of Yehovah.
--------------
Genesis 20:3 -
And God came to Abimelech.
Targum - And the Word from before Yehovah came to Abimelech.
--------------
Genesis
31: 49 - May Yehovah keep watch between you and me.
Targum - May the Word of Yehovah keep watch
between you and me.
---------------
Exodus 14:31 -
And they believed in Yehovah.
Targum - And they believed in the Word of Yehovah.
---------------
Exodus 20: 1-
And Yehovah spoke all these words.
Targum - And the Word of Yehovah spoke all these
words.
--------------
Exodus 25:22 -
And I will meet with you there.
Targum - And I will appoint my Word for you there.
--------------
Leviticus 26:9-
And I will turn to you.
Targum - And I will turn through my Word to do
good to you.
--------------
Numbers 10:35 -
Rise up, O Yehovah!
Targum - Rise up, O Word of Yehovah!
---------------
Numbers 11:23 -
Is the hand of Yehovah shortened?
Targum - Is the Word of Yehovah detained?
---------------
Deuteronomy
1:30 - The Yehovah your God who goes before you, He Himself will fight for you.
Targum - The Yehovah your God who leads before
you, His Word will fight for you.
---------------
Deuteronomy
18:19 - I myself will require it of him.
Targum - My Word will require it of him.
---------------
Deuteronomy
31:3 - The Yehovah your God will pass before you.
Targum - The Yehovah your God, His Word will pass
before you.
---------------
Joshua 1:5 - As
I was with Moses I will be with you.
Targum - As my Word was in support of Moses, so my
Word will be in your support.
--------------
Judges 11:10 -
The Yehovah will be witness between us.
Targum - The Word of Yehovah will be witness
between us.
--------------
Isaiah 45:17 -
Israel will be saved by Yehovah.
Targum - Israel will be saved by the Word of Yehovah.
------------------------------
Jerusalem Targum Gen. 16:3 Hagar prayed int he
name of the Word (Memra).
Onkelos Gen 28:20"then shall the
Word (Memra) of Yehovah be my G-d." (the actual biblical text according to RSV "than God will be my God.)
Onkelos Gen 17:7)I will establish my covenant
between my Word (Memra) and between you."
Jerusalem Targum Ex. 20:1 The Word of Yehovah
is the Torah giver.
psuedo Jonathan
Gen. 49:1) The Word of Yehovah is savior.
Johnathan Is 45:17 Word is savior.
Johnathan Hosea 1:7) I will have mercy upon the house
of Judah, and I will save them by the Word of Yehovah, their God
-------------------------------
The Jerusalem Targum
Exodus 3 [14] And God said unto
Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of
Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
Rabbi Tzvi Nassi cites the Jerusalem
Targum to Shemot (Exodus)
3:14:
And the Word [Memra] of Yehovah said unto Moses: "I am He who said unto the world, ‘Be!’ And it was; and who in the
future shall say to it, ‘Be!’ And it shall be." And He said: "Thus
thou shalt say to the children of Israel;
‘I Am hath
sent me unto you’."4
-----------------
Two Yehovahs in the TaNaK - The Memra
"Whenever the Targums come to passages where Yehovah
is anthropomorphized or seen, or where two or more Yehovahs
are indicated by the text, the Targums will often
substitute "The Word [Memra] of Yehovah"
for Yehovah.
In Gen. 19:4
the Tenach says: And Yehovah rained brimstone and
fire upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah, from Yehovah, from the heavens
The Hebrew
grammar here indicates that one Yehovah rains fire from another Yehovah).
THe Targum Jonathan
substitutes "The Word of Yehovah / Yehovah" for the first of the two Yehovahs as follows:
And the Word of
the Yehovah caused to descend upon the peoples of Sodom and Gommorah,
brimstone and fire from the Yehovah in heaven.
In another
example the Torah, Ex. 24:1 - a (Yehovah is the speaker, see Ex. 20:1-2)
Now He [Yehovah]
said to Moses, "come up to Yehovah... "The Targum Jonathan paraphrases the speaker in Ex. 20:1 with
the substitution "the Word [Memra] of Yehovah"
in place of "Yehovah."
And the Word of
Yehovah spoke all these glorious words ... So it would seem that one of these
entities called "Yehovah" in these Torah passages was actually
understood by the Targumists as being the "Word
of Yehovah."
--------------------
Targum Onkelos:
Gen 22 [14] And Abraham
called the name of that place Yehovah-Yireh: as it is
said to this day, In the mount of Yehovah it shall be
seen.
Gen 22:14 Abraham worships prays
in the name of Word (Memra-Devar)
"You are
the Yehovah who does see, but you cannot be seen." Abraham prays "in
the name of the Word of Yehovah" to the Yehovah who "cannot be
seen."
Here two Yehovah
are very apparent. Abraham is praying in the name of the Word of Yehovah but is
praying to the Yehovah who cannot be seen.
---------------
Jerusalem Targum Ex. 3:14
And the Word [Memra] of Yehovah said to Moses: "I am He who said
unto the world 'Be!' and it was: and who in the future shall say to it 'Be!'
and it shall be."
And He said:
"Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: 'I Am' has sent me to
you."
---------------
The
Fragmentary Targum of the Torah also expresses that the
Word of Yehovah was the Creator:The
first night, when the "Word of Yehovah" was revealed to the world in
order to create it, the world was desolate and void, and darkness spread over
the face of the abyss and the "Word of Yehovah" was bright and
illuminating and He called it the first night.
Fragmentary Targum Ex. 12:42
--------------
That the Word
of Yehovah was the Creator can also be seen in the Tenach
itself: By the Word of Yehovah were the heavens made,
And all the hosts of them by the Spirit of His mouth. (Ps. 33:6)
The Word was
also the covenant maker. For example the Noachdic
covenant was between the Word and all mankind:And Yehovah said to Noah, "This is the token of
the covenant which I have established between My Word [Memra]
and between all flesh that is upon the earth.
Targum Onkelos
Gen. 9:17
---------------
Can't say
enough...
Often when the Targums come to passages where Yehovah is seen, or where
two or more Yehovahs are indicated by the text, the Targums will substitute "The Word [Memra]
of Yehovah" for Yehovah.
In Gen. 19:4
And Yehovah rained brimstone and fire upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah, from Yehovah,
from the heavens. The Hebrew grammar here indicates that one Yehovah rains fire
from another Yehovah)
But Targum Jonathan substitutes "The Word of Yehovah / Yehovah"
for the first of the two Yehovah as follows:
And the Word of
the Yehovah caused to descend upon the peoples of Sodom and Gommorah,
brimstone and fire from the Yehovah in heaven.
--------------------
In Ex. 24:1
- a (Yehovah is the speaker, see Ex. 20:1-2) Now He [Yehovah] said to
Moses, "come up to Yehovah..."
Targum Jonathan paraphrases
the speaker in Ex. 20:1 with the substitution "the Word [Memra] of Yehovah" in place of "Yehovah"
And the Word of
Yehovah spoke all these glorious words...
One of these
entities called "Yehovah" in these Torah passages was actually
understood by the Targumists as being the "Word
of
Yehovah." It was, according to Targum Onkelos, this Word of Yehovah that Abraham trusted in:
And Abraham
trusted in the Word [Memra] of Yehovahand
He counted it to him for righteousness.
Targum Onkelos
Gen. 15:6
--------------------
Moreover
Abraham prayed in the name of the Word of Yehovah: And Abraham worshipped and
prayed in the name of the Word [Memra] of Yehovah,
and said, "You are Yehovah who does see, but You
cannot be seen."
Jerusalem Targum Gen. 22:14
--------------------
Note that here
Abraham prays "in the name of the Word of Yehovah" to the Yehovah who
"cannot be seen."
Here two Yehovah
are very apparent. Abraham is praying in the name of the Word of Yehovah but is
praying to the Yehovah who cannot be seen.
This idea is
reinforced elsewhere as follows: And Hagar praised and prayed in the name of
the Word [Memra] Of Yehovahs
who had revealed Himself to her
Jerusalem Targum Gen. 16:3
--------------------
It was this
Word of Yehovah that Jacob also trusted in: And Jacob vowed a vow, saying,"If the Word [Memra]
of Yehovah will be my support, and will keep me in the way that I go, and will
give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my
father's house in peace; then shall the Word [Memra]of Yehovah be my Elohim.
Targum Onkelos
on Gen. 28:20-21
-----------------------
King David also
urged Israel to trust in the Word of Yah as the Targum
of Psalm 62 reads: Trust in the Word of Yah at all times, O people of the house
of Israel! Pour out before Him the sighings of your
heart; Say, Elohim is our trust forever. (Targum on Psalm 62:9)
This "Word
of YHWH" was, according to Targum Jonathan, the
Creator:
And the Word [Memra] of YHWH created man in his likeness, in the likeness
of Yehovahs, Yehovah created, male and female created
He them.
Targum. Jonathan Gen. 1:27
----------------------
Jerusalem Targum Ex. 3:14
And the Word [Memra] of Yehovah said to Moses: "I am He who said
unto the world 'Be!' and it was: and who in the future shall say to it 'Be!'
and it shall be." And He said: "Thus you shall say to the children of
Israel: 'I Am' has sent me to you."
----------------------
Fragmentary Targum Ex. 12:42 of the Torah also expresses that the Word of Yehovahs was the Creator:
The first
night, when the "Word of Yehovah" was revealed to the world in order
to create it, the world was desolate and void, and darkness spread over the
face of the byss and the "Word of Yehovah"
was bright and illuminating and He called it the first night.
The Word of Yehovah
was the Creator can also be seen in the Tenach
itself:
By the Word of Yehovah
were the heavens made, And all the hosts of them by
the Spirit of His mouth. (Ps. 33:6)
-------------------
The Word was
also the covenant maker. For example the Noachdic
covenant was between the Word and all mankind:
And Yehovahs said to Noah, "This is the token of the
covenant which I have established between My Word [Memra]
and between all flesh that is upon the earth.
Targum Onkelos
Gen. 9:17
-------------------
The Word also
made the Abrahamic covenant as Targum
Onkelos also paraphrases:
And I will
establish my covenant between My Word [Memra] and
between you
Targum Onkelos
Gen. 17:7
----------------------
The Word of Yehovah
was also the giver of the Mosaic Covenant and the Torah as the Jerusalem Targum (as quoted above) makes the Torah giver "the
Word of Yehovah" in Ex. 20:1. It was to the Word that Jacob turned
to for salvation:
Our father
Jacob said: "My soul does not wait for salvation such as that wrought by
Gideon, the son of Joash, for that was but temporal;
neither for a salvation like that of Samson, which was only transitory; but for
that salvation which You have promised to come, through Your Word unto Your
people, the children of Israel; for your salvation my soul hopes."
Targum Jonathan Gen. 49:18
-----------------------
The Word of Yehovah
is the savior is expressed here: But Israel shall be saved by the Word of Yehovah
with an everlasting salvation By the Word of Yehovah shall all the seed of
Israel be justified
Targum Jonathan Is. 45:17, 25
------------------------
But I will have
mercy upon the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Word of Yehovah,
their Elohim.
Targum Jonathan Hosea 1:7
------------------------
We do not follow Kabbalah
or Mysticism
Gerschom Scholem
(December 5, 1897 – February 21, 1982), also known as Gerhard
Scholem, was a Jewish philosopher and
historian raised in Germany.
He is widely
regarded as the modern founder of the scholarly study of Kabbalah,
becoming the first Professor of Jewish Mysticism at the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem.
Scholem is
best known for his collection of lectures, Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism (1941)
and for his biography Sabbatai Zevi,
the Mystical Messiah (1973). His collected speeches and essays, published as
On Kabbalah and its Symbolism (1965), helped to
spread knowledge of Jewish mysticism among non-Jews.
He was
awarded the Israel Prize in
1958 and was elected president of the Israel
Academy of Sciences and Humanities in 1968.
Gershom Scholem
states:
...the memra-- the paraphrase used in the Targumim,
the Aramaic Bible translations, to refer to God's word.
The memra is not merely a linguistic device for overcoming the
problem of biblical anthropomorphisms; it has theological significance in its
own right.
The memra....is.... a world-permeating force, a reality in the
world of matter or mind, the emmanent aspect of Elohim, holding all things under its ominpresent
way.
On the
Mystical Shape of the Godhead: Basic Concepts in the Kabbalah,
by Gershom Scholem pg
181-182:
All of this
sheds much light on Yochanan 1:1 (John 1:1): In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with Elohim,
and the Word was Elohim.
---------------------------------
By The Late Rev. Sam Stern
MOSES AND
MEMRA
Onkeles Targum, which is a translation
of the Bible from Hebrew into Aramaic, uses the word memra
in place of the Hebrew word dabar to denote the Word
of God and also God Himself.
Other
translators, Rabbi Jonathan ben Uzziel and Targum Yerushalmi, also translate the "word of God,"
"God," and "me" and other words as memra;
thereby they indicate that they believe memra to be
not just an ordinary word, but a special name of God.
An early
instance of this usage deals with Moses commanding the going-forward of the ark
in the wilderness and then the resting of the ark, both after he prayed to God:
---------------
And Israel saw
that great work which Yehovah did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared Yehovah,
and believed Yehovah, and his servant Moses [Exodus
14:31].
In the above
verse, Onkeles translates the words "and
believed Yehovah" as "and believed in his memra."
The Hebrew word used for Yehovah in the above verse is Yehovah (yod, hay, vav, hay). Therefore,
in his translation Onkeles equates Yehovah
with memra as follows:
And Israel saw
the great strong hand of God, what He did to the Egyptians. They feared God and
believed in His memra and in His servant Moses.
Jonathan ben Uzziel also says in regard to Exodus 14:31 that Israel believed in the memra of God, although only the words "feared Yehovah"
and "believed Yehovah" appear in the Scripture itself. He translates
this portion almost the same as Onkeles does,
word for word, including "the memra of
God."
-------------------
Later on, as
Moses began to lead the children of Israel through the wilderness toward the
land of Canaan, the Bible relates their journeying with the ark of God:
And it came to
pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise up, Yehovah, [Yehovah],
and let thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee before
thee. And when it rested, he said, Return, O Yehovah [Yehovah], unto the many
thousands of Israel [Numbers 10:35, 36].
Jonathan ben Uzziel uses the word memra in place of God’s name Yehovah in his version of the
above quoted passage to denote the Word of God:
When they took
the ark to move they waited till Moses prayed, and he
asked for mercy from God and said, Reveal through thy memra
the strength of God’s anger, that the enemies of thy people may disperse, and
their enemies may not be able to stand against you.
----------------------
In verse 36,
which tells of the ark stopping, Jonathan ben Uzziel continues to use the same word to mean the Word
of God, or God:
And when the
ark came to a stop the cloud surrounded them and they stood, and they did not
rest until Moses stood in prayer and asked mercy from God and said, Do good to us as the memra of God
with your mercy for thy nation of Israel. And blessed is the shekinah [restings]
among them and have mercy upon thousands of the house of Jacob and ten
thousands of Israel.
Targum Yerushalmi says regarding verse 35
that it is the memra of God who prevails:
When the ark
was taken, Moses stood in prayer and said: Let the memra
of God stand in the strength of thy army and the enemies of thy nation may run
before you.
In the
following, verse 36, Yerushalmi follows this
usage:
When the ark
rested, Moses bent his hands in prayer and said, Go
back as the memra of God from thy anger and do good
in thy mercy, and bless the tens of thousands of Israel.
----------------------
The First
Commandment
Even in the
giving of the law, in the first commandment to worship Yehovah, Jonathan ben Uzziel says that the memra is present. Deuteronomy 6:13 reads as follows in the
Bible itself:
Thou shalt fear
Yehovah [Yehovah], thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.
Although the
actual phrase "word of Yehovah" does not appear in this verse, Jonathan
ben Uzziel indicates
that "by his name" has the same meaning:
Ye shall be
afraid in the presence of Yehovah your God and Him shall ye serve, and in his memra ye shall swear in truth.
----------------------
The Use of Memra in Joshua
Jonathan ben Uzziel also follows this
practice in Joshua 2:12, which deals with the period after Moses died and the
command of bringing the children of Israel into the Promised Land fell to
Joshua. The Bible verse reads:
Now therefore,
I pray you, swear unto me by Yehovah [Yehovah]…
Jonathan ben Uzziel translates:
Now swear unto
me by the memra of God…
Jonathan ben Uzziel’ s translation indicates
that he considers memra to be the same as the most
holy name of God, which Jewish people are too much in awe to utter.
After Joshua
made peace with the Gibeonites, the Israelites came
in contact with them in their journey, but honored their pact and did not smite
them. Joshua 9:19 relates that the princes said to those who murmured against
this agreement that they had sworn by Yehovah GOD [Yehovah Elohai].
Onkeles Targum
translates
as follows:
But all the
princes said to all the congregation, We swore to them
in the memra of God, the God of Israel, and now we
cannot do any harm to them.
-----------------------
Memra Used in I Samuel and Psalms
Further in the
Bible, in I Samuel 20:23, a covenant between Jonathan
and the house of David mentions Yehovah [Yehovah]:
And as touching
the matter which thou and I have spoken of, behold, Yehovah be between thee and
me forever.
Onkeles Targum,
however,
translates I Samuel 20:23 thus: And the thing we spoke of, you and I, this is
the memra of God between thee and me forever.
When David and
Jonathan part, (end of verse 23), they refer to the covenant between them. The
Bible again says: "The Yehovah be between me and thee forever."
However, Targum Onkeles translates:
Said Jonathan to David, Go in peace. We both swore in the name of God to say
God’s memra will be between you and me, between my
sons and your sons forever.
Psalm 62:8
reads as follows: Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart
before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.
Onkeles translates thus,
equating memra with God: Trust in the memra at all times, ye nation of Israel, pour out your
heart. The word of God will protect you forever.
--------------------------
Noah’s Ark
The Bible
records in Genesis 9:17 that God established a covenant with Noah after the ark
landed safely:
And God [Elohim] said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant
which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.
Although the
words Elohim and "me" appear in the Hebrew,
Onkeles translates as follows:
And God said to Noah, This is the sign which I established between my memra and between all flesh which
are on the earth.
Jonathan ben Uzziel, in his comment on
Genesis 9:17, uses the same key word in place of "me": And God said
to Noah, This is the sign between my memra and
between all flesh.
In addition to
his translation of Genesis 9:17,
Onkeles also uses memra in place of "me" in verses 12, 13 and 15 of
the same chapter to mean God. Jonathan ben Uzziel also writes memra
instead of God.
-----------------------
El Gibbor and Abraham
Genesis 17
relates how the Almighty God [El Gibbor] came to
Abraham and told him he would make a covenant with him. Verse 7 reads as
follows:
And I will
establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their
generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed
after thee.
Jonathan ben Uzziel translates: And I will
establish my covenant between my memra and thee..
Jonathan ben Uzziel shows that God’s
covenant with Noah and with Abraham was, in reality, made between them and His
holy name or memra.
Targum Yerushalmi, another ancient
translator of the Bible into Aramaic, lends great strength to this view in
Genesis 49:18 by adding his own comments to explain the meaning of the verse.
Genesis 49:18 appears in a passage where Jacob blesses his sons and reads
simply as follows:
I have waited
for thy salvation, O Yehovah.
Yerushalmi, however, translates
and interprets verse 18 as follows: Our father, Jacob says, My
soul does not wait for the salvation of Gideon the son of Joash,
that was but temporal. And not to the redemption of Samson, which was only
transitory. But for that salvation thou hast said in thy memra,
to bring to the children of Israel thy salvation, my soul is waiting.
-----------------------
Memra Used in Isaiah
Jonathan ben Uzziel uses the word memra in the writings of the greatest Jewish
prophet, Isaiah, in chapters 45 and 46. In translating this prophetic book, Targum Jonathan teaches a central point in
the Jewish religion at that time: that Israel can be saved only by the Word of
God. Isaiah 45, for example, reads in part, as translated from the original
Hebrew:
But Israel
shall be saved in Yehovah [Yehovah] with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not
be ashamed nor confounded world without end [verse 17].
Jonathan ben Uzziel translates as follows:
Israel will be redeemed by the memra of God, an
everlasting redemption. They will not be ashamed forever and ever.
Jonathan ben Uzziel follows the same
practice in Isaiah 45:22. The verse reads in the Bible:
Look unto me,
and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God [El], and there is
none else.
Jonathan ben Uzziel writes: Turn to my memra all dwellers on earth. I am Yehovah, there is no
other.
In the following
verse, 23, Jonathan ben Uzziel
translates "the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness" as
"my memra went out in righteousness;" and
in verse 24, he writes, Only in Yehovah’s memra will be said justice and in the strength of his memra will they come. However, this section reads in the
Bible as follows:
Surely shall
one say, In Yehovah have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men
come;"…
In Isaiah 46:3
the Bible reads: Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob…
Jonathan ben Uzziel translates the word
"me" as memra.
----------------------
Memra in Hoshea
Hosea 1:7,
which deals with God’s mercy and salvation, says:
But I will have
mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by Yehovah their God [Yehovah
Elohaym], and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.
Consistent with
his belief that Israel will be saved by the Word of God,
Jonathan ben Uzziel writes: But I will have
mercy on the house of Judah. I will have mercy on them with the memra of Yehovah their God, not with the bow and the sword,
with horses and carriages..
---------------------
It is clear to
see that these three ancient Bible translators used the Aramaic word memra to mean God, the Word of God [translated from the
Hebrew word dabar. They also translated to memra in regard to God’s covenants.
----
J.W.
Etheridge,
in the introduction to his translations of the Targums
of Onkelos and Jonathan, has given us a number of
examples of this Jewish understanding of the term, "the Word"
(Aramaic: Memra).
In Genesis
18:1,
where the Hebrew Bible says Yehovah appeared to Abraham, the Targum says, "The Word of Yehovah appeared to
Abraham." Further on, where the Hebrew reports "Yehovah rained down
upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Yehovah out of
heaven," the Targum states that "the Word
of Yehovah sent down upon them sulphur and fire from
the presence of Yehovah out of heaven." (Genesis 19:24)
In Genesis
16,
when Hagar sees "the Angel of Yehovah," the Targum
says she saw "the Word of Yehovah." After seeing this
"Word" (Memra) she says, "Here has
been revealed the glory of the Shekineh of Yehovah."
Then, according
to the Jerusalem Targum, "Hagar returned
thanks and prayed in the name of the Word of Yehovah, who had appeared to
her." Thus the Word not only is regard- ed as the presence of deity, but is in some manner
personally distinguishable from Yehovah.
In Genesis
28:20
the Targum of Onkelos
paraphrases Jacob's vow, "If God will be with me... then
Yehovah will be my God" with the words, "If the Word of Yehovah
will be my help... the Word of Yehovah shall be my God." Again, the Angel
of Yehovah who spoke to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:14) is designated
by the Jerusalem Targum as "the Word of Yehovah."
The distinct
personality of this Divine Word is seen pointedly in Jonathan's Targum of Isaiah 63:7-10.
There, where
the Hebrew text speaks of Yehovah being their Savior, the Targum
reads, "the Word (Memra) was their
Redeemer." (vs. 8) When the Israelites continued to disobey, then
"His Word (Memra) became their enemy, and fought
against them" -- an action ascribed to Yehovah in the Hebrew text. Again
in Isaiah 45:22 the Targum of Jonathan exhorts,
"Look unto My Word and be saved."
----------------
We can get into the Greek word LOGOS,
for word
You will find the same meanings
------------------
We
don't believe everything Philo said, however.....
Philo
taught that the logos (Word) was the image of God, as
well as of divine man.
Jewish
writers were already beginning to see that God's Word could in some way be
distinguished from God the Father Himself, yet have all the fullness of God
contained in Him…
STILL ONE GOD!
Shabbat Shalom
----------------------------------------
By the way the Targum is mentioned in Talmud 108 times, look these up if
you have a Talmud, I did…………..
Judaism
believes in One God. However, Judaism has a book called the Zohar.
In
the Zohar there are ten different divine
emanations relating to the various aspects of
the "threefold" nature of Yehovah.
The Zohar asks, How can these three be one?
Then there are the ten Sefirot
in the Zohar to discuss. (not now) - 10 divive emanations that
act as intermediaries or links between the complete spiritual and unknowable
Creator, they say, and the material world.
Metatron? No It’s God in another
form
Still One God
J