Posted by Eli Dahan on July 1, 2009 under Bible, Biblical Hebrew | 
introduction
Jeremiah the prophet is probably what we are calling today between the Devil and the deep blue sea. Though that The Lord has chosen him before he was even born to be a prophet, Jeremiah was a prophet from the village (Anatot), not from the mainstream; his prophecies was in most of the time evil things that supposed to come to the people of Israel-a divine punishment from the almighty. Therefore, Jeremiah is called by a lot of commentators the prophet of the confrontation .Today we are going to speak about the beginning of his journey as a prophet, approximately in 627 B.C.E.
The revelation of The Lord to Jeremiah
As we mentioned before, Jeremiah was chosen to be a prophet before he was born , as written in the scriptures (Jeremiah 1:5)
“בְּטֶרֶם אֶצָּרְךָ בַבֶּטֶן יְדַעְתִּיךָ, וּבְטֶרֶם תֵּצֵא מֵרֶחֶם הִקְדַּשְׁתִּיךָ: נָבִיא לַגּוֹיִם, נְתַתִּיךָ”
“Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee, and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee; I have appointed thee a prophet unto the nations”
After Jeremiah hesitated and said that he is only a child that can’t speak and he should not be a prophet, The Lord touched his mouth in his hand and gave him the power to speak and be a prophet as written:
“וַיִּשְׁלַח יְהוָה אֶת-יָדוֹ, וַיַּגַּע עַל-פִּי; וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֵלַי, הִנֵּה נָתַתִּי דְבָרַי בְּפִיךָ”
“Then the LORD put forth His hand, and touched my mouth; and the LORD said unto me: Behold, I have put My words in thy mouth”
The first sight and the importance of Hebrew
When Jeremiah accepted The Lord missions, The Almighty showed him a tree, and the miracle is that Jeremiah figured out that this is a rod of an almond tree. Then The Lord said to him that he saw the sight and then explained that he is going to see what The Lord Is going to The People of Israel. The amazing thing that happened in the Hebrew words disappeared in the English translation.
Let us see the Hebrew words for this sight as written in the scriptures:
“ וַיְהִי דְבַר-יְהוָה אֵלַי לֵאמֹר, מָה-אַתָּה רֹאֶה יִרְמְיָהוּ; וָאֹמַר, מַקֵּל שָׁקֵד אֲנִי רֹאֶה.
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֵלַי, הֵיטַבְתָּ לִרְאוֹת: כִּי-שֹׁקֵד אֲנִי עַל-דְּבָרִי, לַעֲשֹׂתוֹ”
” Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying: ‘Jeremiah, what seest thou?’ And I said: ‘I see a rod of an almond-tree.’ Then said the LORD unto me: ‘Thou hast well seen; for I watch over My word to perform it.”
The English reader can not see the relationship between the almond tree (šāqēd) to the performance of The Lord (šoqēd). This is not just a relationship between the sounds or what we are calling alliteration – this is one more reason to learn the biblical Hebrew and understand precisely the words of The Lord to us, his believers!!!
main phrases of the post + transcription + translation
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Hebrew
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Transcription
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Translation
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שָׁקֵד
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šāqēd
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Almond
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יִרְמְיָה
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yirməyāh
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Jeremiah
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רֶחֶם
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rehem
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Womb
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הִתְגַּלּוּת
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hitgālût
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Revelation
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מַאֲמִין
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M’ămîn
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Believer
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בֵּין הַפַּטִּישׁ וְהַסַּדָּן
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Bên hapatîš wəssaddān
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Between the Devil and the deep blue sea
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Eli@eteachergroup.com
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Posted by Bronwen Manning on April 1, 2009 under History |
“Blessed is the man [whose]…delight is in the law of the Lord” Psalm 1
Part Two: Israelite Law
Religion is Law
Essentially Israelite religion is following a set of codes. The legal precedent is set at Mount Sinai with Moses and the laws given by God, then we begin to learn the legal parameters of life in the Israelite camp as they live with the tabernacle, and we see the growth and establishment of judges as they settle in the Promised Land, and finally we see responsibility given to the Kings of Israel to uphold and establish law in their kingdoms. Ultimately though through the legal laws seen in narratives, wisdom literature and poetry it is the God of Israel who is the highest judge and protector of the Israelites. In fact in Psalm 82 the God of Israel is pictured in a divine council ruling and showing his ultimate authority even over the other “gods” that the world believed in.
Abusing the weak is Abusing God
Since the God of Israel is the watchman for the poor- anyone who abuses the poor is acting against God himself for he is the one who “maintains the widow’s boundaries” when others would use her poverty and weakness to encroach (Prov 15:25). In the same vein of thought those who choose to help and be a friend to the friendless are blessing and maintaining the Kingdom of God- those who give bread to the hungry will be blessed (Prov 22:7) and those who lend to the poor will be repaid (Prov 19:17); God himself is the guarantor of these promises.
The Plan Gone Wrong
A story is recounted in the times of King Zedekiah of Judah and the prophet 
Jeremiah when the land came under a great threat and the people of Jerusalem were besieged within their own city. After much time the food ran out and those who had slaves released them from their service. It was done in such a way that it looked like everyone was following the commandments of the Lord- following the law of Liberty that says after a specific time you must release your slave from service. But why did Zedekiah cause for all the slaves of Jerusalem to be released at the same time? The simplest answer is that it was in the best interests of the Masters; by releasing the slaves they no longer had the heavy responsibility to feed and protect them in that terrible time of siege. The prophet Jeremiah records this event in Jeremiah 34- he initially commends the initiative to release slaves, because it seems to follow the law- but then he realizes evil was at the root of the action when the Masters take back their servants into slavery when the siege is lifted. Through the mouth of Jeremiah God says, “You have not obeyed me by proclaiming Liberty” but rather by using the law in an abusive way they had transgressed the covenant that God made with them when he rescued a nation of slaves from Egypt (Jeremiah 34:17).
The law is the foundation code to life but this story illustrates that even the law can be used as an evil tool when applied against the spirit of the law. Releasing all the slaves in Jerusalem in a time of siege is not an act of charity, it is a death sentence. Those who proclaimed "Liberty" knew that it was really death and not life that they set into motion- and as Proverbs recalls true law brings only light and life (Proverbs 6: 23)
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Posted by Bronwen Manning on January 7, 2009 under Archaeology |
1. Seal Impression of Jeremiah’s Attempted Killer
It is rather outrageous to directly assume that the Minister Gedaliah Ben Pashur of the Bible who attempted to kill the Jerusalem prophet, is the same man mentioned on the 2,600 year old seal impression. However taking into consideration that this Biblical character was entangled in this ugly affair with another Minister, namely Yehuchal Ben Shelemayahu (Jer 38:1), and that this second man’s name was also found in the same excavation seems enough material evidence to suppose these bullae refer to true biblical-period men in the courts of King Zedekiah of Judah.
2. Roman Gold and Jewels in the City of David
In two separate incidents in the excavations of the Israel Antiquities Authority (that are digging in what used to be a large car park opposite the road from Elat Mazar’s dig in the what is commonly known as the ‘City of David’ dig) – a treasure of 264 gold coins depicting the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Emperor Heraclius, were found; along with a magnificent example of Roman jewellery. The coins were exposed with the collapse of a wall and date to around 1,300 years ago while the single Roman earring found with pearls and emeralds dates to 2,000 years ago.
3. ‘Oldest Hebrew Inscription’ found?
Yossi Garfinkel’s excavation at Khirbet Qeiyafa has revealed a pottery fragment that has five lines of what he claims to be, the oldest attested Hebrew script known today dated to 1000- 975 BCE. His claim has naturally been contested since the break from proto-Canaanite script with its descendants, only one of which is Hebrew, is miry and be-fuddled waters. One cannot with certainty declare the script Hebrew without justifying why in the same breath it cannot represent classic proto-Canaanite script. Garfinkel makes his case- noting that a word exists on the sherd that is a typical Hebrew word. If his case holds, then we will have found in this year the oldest Hebrew Inscription!
4. Half-Shekel Temple Tax coin found in the Rubbish
The full shekel and the half-shekel were well known to have been the prescribed coin with which all the young Israeli men could pay the yearly Temple Tax. The commandment stems from the Lord’s dialogue with Moses (Exodus 30:12-15) and is well documented in the story of Jesus and Peter (Matthew 17:24–27). This year is not the first year that a half-shekel coin has been found, although they are rare, but rather it is the first half-shekel coin that has come from the Temple itself! This coin represents one man’s modest contribution to Temple maintenance and would go straight to the Temple treasury. In a small way it is an exciting find, not so much for the item itself, but from where it came from, and what it paid for.
5. The Messianic Stone
An inscription known as “Gabriel’s Vision” was published this year- the text was written in ink onto a stone sometime in the last first century B.C. and early first century A.D. and due to its Messianic content has come to wide attention. This pre-Christian Jewish text is said to relate to two different concepts of the Messiah. So the text is difficult to read in some places it describes how there will be a militant Messiah of David who will be involved in some king of military victory, while Ephraim, otherwise known as the Messiah son of Joseph will be involved in suffering and death. There is a debate if the inscription also describes how the Messiah son of Joseph will rise from the grave “in three days, live!”
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Posted by Bronwen Manning on August 26, 2008 under History, Jerusalem |
Photo: Gabi Laron, Institute of Archeology, The Hebrew University. Courtesy of Dr. Eilat Mazar
Another biblical personality was unearthed this month in the City of David’s on-going excavation in Jerusalem. This time, it was a Minister by the name of Gedaliah Ben Pashur. His name appears along with three other Ministers in Jeremiah 38:1 (Shephatiah, Pashhur and Yehuchal). Amazingly enough, Gedaliah’s name is not the first to be confirmed through the archaeological record from this verse. Already in 2005, the bulla for Minister Yehuchal Ben Shelemayahu (Jer 38:1) was found, confirming him also as a flesh and blood personality in the first quarter of the sixth Century BCE.
The Ministers
These four men were officials in the court of Zedekiah (597-586 BCE) and are mentioned specifically due to their request that Jeremiah the prophet be put to death. It was as a consequence of their intrusion that Jeremiah was cast into a deep miry pit and left to die (Jer 38:5).
A Brave Eunuch
And thus the story of Jeremiah’s prophetic activity would have ended had it not been for the intervention of the king’s eunuch, an Ethiopian by the name of Eved-Melech. He went before Zedekiah and said, “My Lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon; and he is like to die for hunger in the place where he is: for there is no more bread in the city”. (Jer 38:9)
Jeremiah Continues
Jeremiah’s life was spared, but he lived in constant danger from these four Ministers (Jer 38:1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 27). Shortly after he was rescued from their evil machinations, he was able to deliver to Zedekiah a clear message from God concerning the present woe that beset the besieged city- “Go over to the Babylonians and save yourself and the city; fight them and your family will be lost and this city will be burnt”.
The Last remaining Ministers
It will be interesting to see whether two more bullae will be found in the burnt remains of Zedekiah’s Jerusalem, with the names “Shephatiah ben Mattan” and “Phashur ben Malkiah” (Jer 38:1) – the officials who failed to kill the voice of God.
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