Tuesday, December 20, 2011

התורה יהוה -- The Journey of Jehovah



Just this morning I came across a fascinating series of videos on Youtube called A History of Hebrew, by Jeff A. Benner.
Since 1996, [Jeff Benner has] researched the Ancient Hebrew alphabet, language and culture of the Tenach (Old Testament) to uncover the original and sometimes startling, Hebraic meanings of the Hebrew text that lay hidden behind thousands of years of translations, interpretations and misunderstandings. [He has] authored several books related to the Ancient Hebrew language including the Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible and A Mechanical Translation of the Book of Genesis.
In November 1999, Jeff and his wife began The Ancient Hebrew Research Center "for the purpose of promoting and teaching the Ancient Biblical Hebrew langauge, alphabet and culture to bring about proper interpretation of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and the B'rit HaHhadashah (New Testament)."

And it certainly does that! Although Benner isn't a Greek scholar, his wonderful reading of the Tanach through the lens of Ancient Hebrew symbolism brings out metaphors which seamlessly conform to those in the Greek New Testament. Here's an example of this from Part 14 of
A History of Hebrew:
The Hebrew word תורה [Torah] is usually translated as "law", but is more literally translated as "journey".

The Hebrew word מצוה [Mitzvah] is usually translated as "command", but is more literally translated as "the direction to take on the journey".

The Hebrew word צדיק [Tzedyk] is usually translated as "righteous", but is more literally translated as "traveling on the path".

The Hebrew word רשע [Rasha] is usually translated as "wicked", but is more literally translated as "lost from the path".
I immediately thought of the Lord announcing that He was "not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Mat 15:24) to tell them all to follow Him because He is the only way to the Father—the only path on the Journey of Jehovah!



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