The Hebrew verb טהר taher (Strong's #2891) literally means to clean or be clean as seen in Numbers 8:7 - and wash their clothes and cleanse (taher) themselves. Derived from this verb is the noun טהור tahor (Strong's #2889) meaning clean and is often used in the context of "clean gold" - And you shall overlay [the ark] with pure (tahor) gold (Exodus 25:11). Clean gold has had all the impurities (dirtiness) removed from it. This same word is also used in the context of animals - to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean (tahor) and between the living creature that may be eaten and the living creature that may not be eaten (Leviticus 11:47). Many would consider this a "ritualistic" clean but I believe that this is a literal application. Those animals which are not allowed to be eaten (the unclean) have within them some "impurity" in the same manner as impure gold does. For instance, pork, an "unclean" animal, is known to carry trichinosis, an impurity within the meat and the meat of shell fish, also an "unclean" animal, can cause severe allergic reactions in some people.

When a person came into contact with a dead body they were considered "unclean" and were required to wash themselves with the ashes of the red heifer and in seven days they would be considered clean (טהר taher). Is this just a "ritualistic" procedure or a literal cleaning. The procedure for making the ashes of the red heifer is outlined in Numbers chapter 19. The red heifer was burned along with cedarwood (containing an irritant that causes one to vigorously scrub themselves), hysop (containing carvacol, an anti-fungal and anti-bacterial agent) and scarlet stuff (tola'at in Hebrew, literally the Kermes worm and used as a natural anti-bacterial agent). This ash mixture becomes a potent anti-bacterial soap when mixed with water and is clearly a literal cleaning agent to remove the bacteria that can be transmitted by a dead body to the one who touches it.

God's laws were not just a set of rituals with no physical substance, they were actual procedures for the preservation of life (ie: salvation) from injury or disease just as it says in Proverbs 3:1,2;

"My son, do not forget my teaching (תורה torah), but let your heart keep my commandments (מצות mitsvot), for length of days and years of life and abundant welfare (שלום shalom, usually translated as peace but literally meaning whole or complete) will they give you."

The word is actually in the dual, possibly referring to the two Egypts - lower and upper. Mizraim was the brother of Cush (one of descendants of Noah). What did Egypt mean for the Ancient Hebrews? Broadly two things: a place of trouble or difficulty and a place of refuge.

The Lord sent Joseph to Egypt ahead of his family to protect the Hebrew people from famine. However Joseph's many troubles and afflictions prior to his family's arrival are well known, and yet as it says in Acts 7:10 “...the Lord delivered him (Joseph) out of all his afflictions.”

Not only this, but Joseph's trials and troubles were used by God to form and mould Joseph into what He wanted him to be. Because Joseph allowed himself to be formed, he was used as a forerunner of his whole family who were able to join him in Egypt and became a strong nation there.

However, the same place that became the refuge turned into the place of trouble and slavery later on. The Jews see Egypt as serving like a womb where they themselves were formed as a nation in very difficult circumstances. So when they were ready, God could bring them out of Egypt to establish a relationship with Himself and give them Torah.

This applied to a degree also to Jesus whose young life was threatened by Herod. Math 2:13 “...the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream saying “Arise and take the young child and His mother and flee into Egypt and stay there until I bring you word, for Herod will seek the young child to destroy Him.” So Egypt became a place of refuge for Jesus also. And like the Hebrew nation had been called out of Egypt, so also Jesus was. Mathew 2:15 says "...and was there until the death of Herod that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet saying 'Out of Egypt I have called my son'…” So, what does the place of refuge and the place of trouble have to do with the name Egypt? Basically the root means “trouble” or “strait” - a narrow tight place or situation which presses in. The word , from the same root, means “to press,” to form something - like a potter fashioning a pot. Then lastly, the word means “flint” or “rock” often used as a refuge. All three are found in the AHLB under 1411.

Psalm 32:7 says, "You are my hiding place, You will preserve () me from trouble () You will compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah."

Q: I noticed in Deut 28:12 that the word used for LEND (Strong's #3867) is also the same word used for BORROW. How can the same word have two completely opposite meanings?

A: My standard comment about Strong's dictionary is that it is one of the best tools invented for people learning Hebrew but it is also the worst tool invented for people learning Hebrew. Strong's is great for people who do not know Hebrew to get a little exposure to it and learn a little more about the deeper meaning of Hebrew words but on the flip side Strong's has its limitations and if those limitations are not known it can create some problems, such as your question. It is true that the same Hebrew word is used for lending and borrowing but what Strong's cannot show you are the different tenses, prefixes, suffixes, moods and voices of each Hebrew verb. The Hebrew verb in question is lavah which literally means "to join" and is used in the context of borrowing in the sense of joining yourself to another. Where you see the word "borrow" the Hebrew has til'vah which means "you will join/borrow" (but the word preceding this is lo meaning "not" so it would then be translated as "you will not join/borrow." Where you see the word "lend" the Hebrew has vehilviyta which means "and you will cause to join/borrow." The main difference between the two is that the first one, til'vah is in the qal (or simple) form while the second is in the hiphil (or causative) form.

You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. (RSV)

לא (lo)
This word means "no" or "not" and is commonly used to negate the following verb.

תשא (ti-sa)
The base word is נשא (nasa), a verb meaning "to lift up" but can be used in a wide sense. The prefix ת (ti) identifies the subject of the verb as second person, masculine, singular and the tense of the verb as imperfect. Combined, with the previous word לא (lo, meaning not), the translation would be "you will not lift up."

את (et)
This word identifies the following word as the direct object of the verb.

שם (sheym)
This word means "name" but more Hebraic as the character of the individual.

יהוה (YHWH)
This is the name of God.

אלהיך (e-lo-hey-kha)
The base word is אלוה (e-lo-ah) literally meaning "one of power and authority" but usually translated as "God."

לשוא (la-sha-ve))
The base word is שוא (she-va), a noun meaning emptiness in the sense of vanity or falseness. The prefix ל (la) means "to" or "for."

כי (kiy)
This word means "because" or "for."

לא (lo)
Again, this word means "no" or "not" and usually negates the following verb.

ינקה (ye-na-qah)
The base word is נקה (na-qah), a verb meaning "to acquit," to declare one innocent of an offense. The prefix י (ye) identifies the subject of the verb as third person, masculine, singular and the tense of the verb as imperfect.

יהוה (YHWH)
The name of God. This is the subject of the previous verb.

את (eyt)
Again, this word identifies the following word, or in the this case the next two words, as the direct object of the verb.

אשר (a-sher)
A word meaning which, who or what and is closely connected to the following word.

ישא (yi-sa)
The base word is נשא (nasa), a verb meaning "to lift up" but can be used in a wide sense. The prefix י (yi) identifies the subject of the verb as third person, masculine, singular and the tense of the verb as imperfect. Combined, the translation would be "he will lift up." Because of the previous word, asher, these words would be translated as "who lifts up."

את (et)
Again, this word identifies the following word as the direct object of the verb.

שמו (sh-mo)
The base word is שם (shem), a noun meaning "name" but, more Hebraic as "character." The suffix ו (o) means "of him" or "his."

לשוא (la-sha-ve)
Again, the base word is שוא (she-va), a noun meaning emptiness in the sense of vanity or falseness. The prefix ל (la) means "to" or "for."

The following is a literal rendering of this verse from its Hebraic meaning.

You will not [lift up / represent] the character of Yahweh your powerful one of authority [as emptiness / falsely] because Yahweh will not acquit one who [lifts up / represents] his character [for an emptiness / falsely]

In following issues we will continue with this chapter.

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Mechanical Translation Excerpt - Genesis 1:20-31

For details on this new translation see the MTHB web site.

20 and Elohiym said, the waters will swarm, swarmers of beings of life and flyers will fly upon the land upon the face of the sheet of the sky, 21 and Elohiym fattened the magnificent taniyns and all of the beings of the life, the treading ones which swarm the water to their species and all of the flyers of the wing to his species and Elohiym saw that it was functional, 22 and Elohiym respected them saying, reproduce and increase and fill the water in the seas and the flyers increased in the land, 23 and evening existed and morning existed a fifth day, 24 and Elohiym said, the land will bring out beings of life to her species, beasts and treaders and his living ones of the land to her species and he existed so, 25 and Elohiym made living ones of the land to her species and the beast to her species and all of the treaders of the ground to his species and Elohiym saw that it was functional, 26 and Elohiym said, we will make a human in our image like our likeness and he will rule in the swimmers of the seas and in the flyers of the sky and in the beast and in all of the land and in all of the treaders treading upon the land, 27 and Elohiym fattened the human in his image, in the image of Elohiym he fattened him, male and female he fattened them, 28 and Elohiym respected them and Elohiym said to them, reproduce and increase and fill the land and subdue her and rule in the swimmers of the seas and in all the living ones treading upon the land, 29 and Elohiym said, look, I gave to you all of the herbs sowing seed which are upon the face of the land and all of the trees which are in him, produce of the trees sowing seed for you will exist for food, 30 and to all of the living ones of the land and to all of the flyers of the sky and to all of the treading ones upon the land which is in him a being of life, all of the green herbs for food and he existed so, 31 and Elohiym saw all of which he made and look, it is much functional and evening existed and morning existed a sixth day

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AHRC Web Site Excerpt - Names

When we see a name such as "King David" we see the word "King" as a title and "David" as a name. In our western mind a title describes a character trait while a name is simply an identifier. In the Hebrew language there is no such distinction between names and titles. Both words, King and David, are descriptions of character traits, King is "one who reigns" while David is "one who is loved". It is also common to identify the word "Elohiym" (God) as a title and YHWH (Yahweh, the LORD, Jehovah) as a name. What we do not realize is that both of these are character traits, YHWH meaning "the one who exists" and Elohiym is "one who has power and authority". The Hebrew word "shem" more literally means "character". When the Bible speaks of taking God's name to the nations, he is not talking about the name itself but his character. When the command to not take God's name in vain literally means not to represent his character in a false manner. It is similar to our expression of "having a good name" which is not about the name itself but the character of the one with that name.

More vocabulary words can be found on the web site at AHRC Word Studies.

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Donnee's Corner - (Minchah)
By: Donnee

Donnee’s Corner will review a word, its meanings, and usage to verify by research. This column will start by a in-depth look at a featured hebrew word followed by various tools to deepen understanding. As well as e-Sword formatting in order to clip and paste into e-Sword, enabling the mouse-over advantages of e-Sword. These various tools will follow the review in order to assist in your research of Ancient Hebrew.

Bringing a (minchah) the (mem) moves the continuity, the (nun) which is embodied as the (het) and is confirmed by the witness, the (hey). So, the flow, continues, embodied, presence is gathered to be “donated”. Scripture reveals:

Psa 72:10 “The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall render tribute; the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.” (JPS)

Jdg 3:15 “And when the children of Yisra'el cried out to יהוה, יהוה raised up a saviour for them: Ehud son of Gera, a Binyamite, a man impeded in his right hand. And by him the children of Yisra'el sent a present to Eglon sovereign of Mo'ab.” (TS98)

Gen 4:4 “and Hevel too brought from the firstborn of his sheep, including their fat. ADONAI accepted Hevel and his offering"(CJB)

Mal 3:4 Then shall the offering of Yehudah and Yerushalayim be pleasing unto Hashem, as in the yamei olam (days of old), and as in shanim kadmoniyyot (former years). (OJB)

Strong's: H5403 מנחה / mincha^h / min-khaw' - From an unused root meaning to apportion, that is, bestow; a donation; euphemistically tribute; specifically a sacrificial offering (usually bloodless and voluntary): - gift, oblation, (meat) offering, present, sacrifice.

BDB's Definition: 1) gift, tribute, offering, present, oblation, sacrifice, meat offering 1a) gift, present 1b) tribute 1c) offering (to God) 1d) grain offering

Part of Speech: Noun, feminine

Ancient Hebrew Lexicon Definition: (1307-A-h^fl) Gift - What is brought to another. [Hebrew and Aramaic] [freq. 213] |kjv: offering, present, gift, oblation, sacrifice, meat| {str. 4503, 4504}

Total KJV Occurrences: 211

For a list of occurrences for this word Click Here.

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Mila Yomit (Daily Word) - הארץ (Ha'arets)
By: Rabbi Itzchak

The following is Word is from an ongoing Hebrew word by Hebrew word cyber learning journey and is being presented to you here as an introduction. For additional information on the 'MILA YOMIT: The Torah, Word By Word' and its author, Rabbi Itzchak Marmorstein, click here. To receive more of these, please contact Rabbi Itzchak.

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MEANING: The Earth

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OTIOT-Letters

ה HEH (H)- the

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א ALEPH (A)

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ר RESH (R)

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ץ TSADI (TZ) Sofit (Final) - first appearance in Torah, often called 'Tzadik' (Kuf, ק, is the letter following it in Aleph Bet). The letter tzadik that is found here is the final tzadik or 'tzadik sofit', that is used when it appears at the end of a word. צ - this is the regular tzadik. The regular tzadik is shaped more like אa (Aleph) than any other letter and as such is the mate of the Aleph (The twenty two letters are paired into eleven 'form mates', the two letters whose forms most closely resemble one another). The regular Tzadik is "formed as a י (Yud) wedged in the upper right side of a bent-over נ Nun. In general, the yud and the nun represent the two dimensions of form and matter present, simultaneously, in all created reality. The point of the Yud, pure form, shapes the Nun of matter into its intended form. The Tzadik (righteous person) is in touch with the inner pure form of all reality, is able to shape reality according with their will, as is said:
- The tzadik decrees and the Holy One realizes." (Ginsburgh, p. 269)
- The tzadik is hunting in order to redeem and elevate the 288 fallen sparks of the breaking of the vessels (Ginsburgh p. 267)

It's numeric value 90, (represents total consciousness). 11th of 12 elementals. Corresponds to month of Shevat. Zodiac - Deli: the water drawer (Aquarius). Dominant over taste, stomach as soul or body part. צדי (Tzadi) means to hunt. - צדיק (tzaddik) means righteous. Also related to צד (tzad:side).

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WORDS CONTAINED WITHIN

הא HaAleph - The One

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רץ RaTz - Run

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ארץ AReTZ - is derived from the root רץ (Ratz:run) for all people 'run' upon it - from cradle to grave (Lekach Tov). Alludes to the running of the orbiting spheres which circle it (Radak), Perpetual motion

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Also derived from רץץ (Ratzaz) which means 'that which is compressed' (a reference to the earth's density as compared to the atmosphere (Ibn Caspi) [above comments drawn from Artscroll Commentary].

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Also connected to word רץון (Ratzon)- will.

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Also connected to the root of English word 'earth': ea = א aleph; r = ר resh; th = ץ tzadik

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CONCEPTUAL MEANING

"The greatest peleh:wonder is the power of the Creator to enter even into material things" (Sfat Emet). The Divine Mind ראש - Rosh of the One - א creates a material vessel in which the TZADIK has the experience of separate independent life in order to participate in the rectification of existence (and feel worthy of the Garden of Delight). Before we did our own breaking and fixing we somehow didn't feel that we deserve all that God wishes for us. (Big mistake, if you ask me.) Through our efforts, through our challenge of manifesting the highest here on this plane (the work of the TZADIK) we can walk back to 'Etz HaChayim-The Tree Of Life' proud.

As the Torah teaches “Tzedek, tzedek thereof- righteousness, righteousness, pursue.” This ארץ -Aretz-earth is the רצון RaTZon-will of the א ALEPH-The One. We created in the TZelem (another tzadik starting word) Image of the Divine are placed in an earthly vessel, in which we רץ RaTZ':run around projecting our רצון RaTzon:will' on the earth (or at least that part of it that we focus our activities into). Through our רצון -Ratzon-will, we shape much of the ארץ -Aretz-earth.

Will we shape it according to our TZADIK: righteousness nature or according to other less noble (and less life enhancing) priorities? Will we ever get out of this 'ratz' race that has us running frantically? Or...? Kabbalah teaches that the Divine Will manifested this material experience as an opportunity to share love with others, to share consciousness with other total conscious beings (boring talking to only rocks). We, bnei/bnot ADAM-the children of the Human, have been gifted with this consciousness. It offers us an opportunity to be extraordinary vessels of light, and fulfill our destiny as conscious partners with the Creator. Through our will we can damage many things in this earthly frame; or we can effect extraordinary miracles with our actions and pursuits that are an expression of our will.

The literature of Kabbala is extensive on the importance and centrality of רצון RaTZon:will as our primary tool on this planet. It is connected to Keter:Crown sephira as the spark of the soul that is enclothed by thought, emotion and action as its unfolds to its manifestation. In a certain way our will is always being manifested, we often may not be totally conscious of what are inner will truly is. The Tzadik is the one who consciously directs their will to the highest and thus enabling the Divine Will to "shachanti betocham":Dwell within us, here on earth.

To paraphrase Rav Kook: 'The righteous one does not complain about confusion, they add understanding, the righteous does not complain of injustice, they add justice,' or in other words (mine) the righteous do not complain of darkness, they add light.

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HA'ARETZ

This materialized vessel, in which 'will' directs much of what occurs is our playing field for this adventure of consciousness and experience. As part of it, we are invited to manifest the light and love of the ALEPH: The One right here on earth.

Ken Yehee Ratzon: May this be the Will

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Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible: Biblical Archeological Review (Magazine Subscription) Her Hebrew Name in Gold (Necklace) Her Hebrew Name in Silver (Necklace)

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Editorials

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Excellent study!!!!! Thanks for sharing!!!!! Jeff, You have done it again, You have proven that with out an understanding of the Hebraic perspective, the western minds, can not see and understanding the foundation from which the writers of the Scriptures {Both the Old And the New Testaments} was presenting their information from. Thanks for the latest newsletter and fabulous insights. Thank you for researching all of this - it was very eye opening. I sent it to all my friends. My Dear Bro. I liked very your work on God's Road. I am a beggining Hebrew student and I love it. Thank you for your web page. Just a quick note to thank you for the "The Way of Yahweh." Excellent teaching. I enjoyed it and will share it with others. This months E-magazine has tremendously blessed us. We wanted to pass along our thanks for all the hard work you put in so that we might learn more. Since signing up to the magazine we look forward to it each month. Know that the work your doing is bearing much fruit. Enjoyed October magazine so much! Thank you for all your hard work!!! Excellent article!

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