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MAN The following is an excerpt from the book The Living Words. Previously we discussed the word אדם adam [H:120], which I have translated as "human," whereas most translations use the word "man." The reason I chose "human" over "man" is because there is another Hebrew word meaning "man" and that is the word איש iysh [H:376]. The word iysh is derived from the root אנש anash [H:605], meaning weak and frail. When the writer of the text wishes to refer to "man" from the perspective of "humankind," in the sense of being related by blood, he chooses the word adam because of its roots being in the word דם dam [H:1818] meaning blood. On the other hand, if he wishes to refer to "man" and his mortality, then he would chose iysh because of its roots being in the word anash meaning weak and frail (mortal). In the previous section, we read Genesis 2:23, which states that the human (adam) called her woman "because" she was taken from man (iysh). Just as the English word "woman" contains the word "man" within it, the Hebrew word for woman, אישה iyshah [H:802], contains the Hebrew word iysh "because" she was taken out of iysh. MATURE The following is an excerpt from the book The Living Words. I begin this study with a comparison of two people, Jacob and Job. And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents. Genesis 25:27 (KJV) There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one Job 1:1 (KJV) From these two verses, we could conclude that Jacob was plain, just an ordinary person, nothing special, but Job, on the other hand, was rather extraordinary as he was "perfect." What you might find interesting is the word "perfect" in Job 1:1 is a translation of the Hebrew word תם tam [H:8535] but so is the word "plain" in Genesis 25:27. So why isn’t Jacob considered "perfect" by the translations just as they did with Job? This is another case of translators relying on the Greek Septuagint for their translation rather than the Hebrew text itself. The Greek uses the word amemptoj amemptos [G:273], meaning "blameless," for Job and the word aplouj haplous [G:573], meaning "simple," for Jacob. The word תם tam [H:8535] can be best defined as "mature in thought and action" and is the parent root of the verb תמם tamam [H:8552] meaning to be whole, finished or completed. From this verb comes the word תמים tamiym [H:8549]. Thou shalt be perfect (tamiym) with the LORD thy God. Deuteronomy 18:13 (KJV) Can one be perfect? From a Greek perspective, no, because everyone has his faults, but in Hebraic thought there is no concept of "perfect." A better translation of the verse above is; You will be complete (tamiym) with Yahweh your Elohiym MESSENGER The following is an excerpt from the book The Living Words. What has always perplexed me is why the translators of the Bible see the need to translate one Hebrew word with two or more different English words when there is no grammatical or contextual need to do so. Note the different translations of the Hebrew word מל אך malak [H:4397] in the following passage. And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God's host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim. And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom. Genesis 32:1-3 (KJV) According to the translation above, Jacob came upon a camp of "supernatural beings" of God and then sent his own "men" to his brother Esau. But according to the Hebrew text, these events should be interpreted slightly different as the word "angels" and "messengers" are the very same Hebrew word—malak. Either Jacob came upon a camp of men who were messengers of God and sent them to his brother Esau, or he came upon a camp of "supernatural beings" of God and he sent them to his brother Esau. In the verse above, the first use of the word malak, translated as angels in the King James Version, is translated in the Septuagint with the Greek word aggelos [G:32]. The second use of the word malak, translated as messengers in the King James Version, is translated in the Septuagint with the Greek word apostolos [G:652]. It is clear the King James and most modern translators were using the Septuagint rather than the Hebrew for their translation of the text. Another example of the translator’s use of the Septuagint over the Hebrew can be found with the word "Manna," the bread from heaven. The Hebrew for this word is simply מן man [H:4478], but the Septuagint uses manna [G:3131]. Because of this, we call it manna, from the Greek, rather than man, from the Hebrew. Why do the translators "trust" the Greek more than the Hebrew? Why use a translation to make a translation when the original Hebrew is available? Because the translators, and their readers, are Greek thinkers and are more comfortable with the Greek than the Hebrew. Getting back to the Hebrew word in the text above, what is a malak? Literally, the word means "one who is sent by another to do his business." It is related to another Hebrew word, מל אכה melakah [H:4399], meaning business. And on the seventh day Elohiym finished his business (melakah)... Genesis 2:2 Are the malak of God, who perform the business of God men or supernatural beings or both? Technically speaking, anyone doing the business of God is a malak. This can include men, Then Haggai, the messenger (malak) of the LORD, spoke to the people with the LORD's message, "I am with you, says the LORD. Haggai 1:13 (RSV) As well as God himself, ...The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has led me all my life long to this day, the angel (malak) who has redeemed me from all evil... Genesis 48:15,16 (RSV) The following is an excerpt from the book His Name is One. The word מל אך (mela'ak) is formed by adding a "m" (m) in front of the child root ל אך (la'ak). The child root ל אך is derived from the parent root ל ך (lak) or in the ancient pictographic script. The (l), is a staff, while the (k) is a picture of the palm of the hand. The parent root has an original Hebraic meaning of "staff in the palm" or "to walk", as a staff was a common tool carried by the traveler. Two other child roots formed from ל ך, הל ך (halak) and יל ך (yalak) mean "to walk" as well. The word מל אך (mela'ak) is "one who walks for another", a "messenger". This can be one who walks for another man, and translated as "messenger" as seen in the first verse above. This word can also be one who walks for God, and translated as "angel" as seen in the second verse. MIGHTY.ONE The following is an excerpt from the Ancient Hebrew Research Center Website. There are two Hebrew words commonly translated as God, el and elo'ah. When reading the Bible it is better to have an Ancient Hebrew perception of God rather than our modern western view. The word el was originally written with two pictographic letters, one being an ox head and the other a shepherd staff. The ox represented strength and the staff of the shepherd represented authority. First, the Ancient Hebrews saw God as the strong one of authority. The shepherd staff was also understood as a staff on the shoulders, a yoke. Secondly, the Ancient Hebrews saw God as the ox in the yoke. When plowing a field two oxen were placed in a yoke, one was the older and more experienced and the other the younger and less experienced and the younger would learn from the older. The Hebrews saw God as the older experienced ox and they as the younger who learns from him. The plural form of elo'ah is elohiym and is often translated as God. While English plurals only identify quantity, as in more than one, the Hebrew plural can identify quantity as well as quality. Something that is of great size or stature can be written in the plural form and in this case, God, as the great strength and authority is frequently written in the plural form elohiym. The two letters in these Hebrew words are the ox head representing strength and the shepherd staff representing authority. Combined they mean "the strong authority" as well as "the ox with a staff" (a yoke is understood as a staff on the shoulders). The following is an excerpt from the book The Living Words. If the thief be not found, then the master of the house shall be brought unto the judges, to see whether he have put his hand unto his neighbour's goods.Exodus 22:8 (KJV) A judge is one who possesses great "power" and "authority." The Hebrew word behind the word "judges" in the passage above is אל הים elohiym [H:430], the plural form of the word אל וה elo’ah [H:433]. You may notice the first two letters of this word is the word אל el [H:410], meaning "mighty one," which we discussed in the last section. Because the word elo’ah is derived from el, they are very similar in meaning. The word elo’ah, "one of power and authority," can also be applied to God or any other god. Oh that I might have my request; and that God (elo’ah) would grant me the thing that I long for! Job 6:8 (KJV) Then shall he sweep by as a wind, and shall pass over, and be guilty, even he whose might is his god (elo’ah). Habakkuk 1:11 (ASV) The word אל הים elohiym [H:430], the plural form of אל וה elo’ah [H:433], is frequently used as a proper name for Yahweh, the creator of heaven and earth. These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth in their filling, in the day that Yahweh Elohiym made the earth and the heavens.Genesis 2:4 The "power and authority" of Yahweh can be, and is, passed on to others as we see in the following verse. And Yahweh said unto Moses, "See, I have given you Elohiym for Pharaoh: and Aaron your brother will be your prophet." Exodus 7:1 What does Yahweh mean by "See I have given you"? Is there something physical about Moses that Yahweh gave to him which could have been "seen" showing his "power and authority"? In our discussion of the word אל el [H:410], we learned this word represented horns of power and the staff of authority. Did Moses also have these symbols? And Yahweh said to [Moses], "What is this in your hand?" And he said, "A staff." And he said, "Cast it down to the ground" and he cast it down to the ground and it became a serpent and Moses fled from before it. Exodus 4:2,3 Yahweh took an ordinary staff of a shepherd, turned it into an instrument of power and authority and gave it to Moses to do great miracles. We do know Moses did carry a staff representing his authority, but what about the horns? And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of the testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses knew not that the skin of his face shone by reason of his speaking with him. And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him.Exodus 34:29,30 (ASV) In this verse, we find there was a physical change in Moses which created fear in the people. Was it just a light coming off him that generated this fear? No—as we shall see, the above translation "skin of his face shone," is a poor translation of the Hebrew. The Hebrew word translated as "shone" is קרן qaran [7160], which literally means "to have horns." Interestingly, many paintings and sculptures of Moses depict him with horns such as in Michelangelo’s sculpture of Moses. It has been speculated the "horns" on Moses’ face are "rays" of light that shone from his face, hence the translation we read in all English Bibles. However, there are other Hebrew words meaning "to shine" and if that was what the author had intended, he would have used one of those. Instead, he deliberately chose to use the word qaran to show Moses was indeed one of power and authority. This is an example of my reasons for desiring a "mechanical" and "literal" translation of the Hebrew Bible, so the reader can read the text without the translators’ bias being interjected into the text. In my book His Name is One I go into detail about the different names of God. In the next section, I am taking an excerpt from that book. The following is an excerpt from the book Ancient Hebrew Dictionary. When reading the Bible it is better to have an Ancient Hebrew perception of Elohiym rather than our modern western view. The word el was originally written with two pictographic letters, one being an ox head and the other a shepherd staff. The ox represented strength and the staff of the shepherd represented authority. First, the Ancient Hebrews saw Elohiym as the strong one of authority. The shepherd staff was also understood as a staff on the shoulders, a yoke. Secondly, the Ancient Hebrews saw Elohiym as the ox in the yoke. When plowing a field two oxen were placed in a yoke, one was the older more experienced one, and the other was the younger and less experienced. The younger would then learn from the older. The Hebrews saw Elohiym as the older experienced ox and they as the younger that learns from him. The following is an excerpt from the book Ancient Hebrew Language and Alphabet. The Hebrew word translated as "God" is el and is a Parent Root word. The Ancient pictographs for this root are . The first picture (remember Hebrew is read from right to left) is an ox head representative of power because of his great strength. The second is a shepherd's staff and is representative of authority as well as a yoke. A team of oxen yoked together pulled a cart or plow. To train the younger oxen, an older more experienced ox as the leader was yoked to the younger. The Hebraic meaning of is a "powerful leader". The Ancient Hebrews saw themselves yoked to God who taught them how to walk a proper life. The following is an excerpt from the book His Name is One. To uncover the original meaning of the Hebrew word אל (el) we will begin by looking at the original pictograph form, .The first picture is the head of an ox, while the second is a shepherd staff. Ancient Hebrews were an agricultural people raising livestock such as oxen, sheep and goats. The strongest and most valuable of these is the ox. Because of its strength, it was used to pull large loads in wagons as well as to plow the fields. The letter represents the concrete idea of "muscle" and "strength". A shepherd always carried his staff. It was a sign of his authority and was used to lead the sheep by pushing or pulling them in the correct direction as well as to fight off predators. Since the yoke is also a staff that is used to direct the oxen, the yoke is seen as a staff on the shoulders (see Isaiah 9:4). The letter represents the concrete view of a yoke as well as leadership from the shepherd who leads his flock with the staff. When the two letters are combined, the parent root (el) is formed with the meaning of an "ox in the yoke" as well as a "strong authority". It was common to place two oxen in the yoke when pulling a plow. An older, more experienced ox was matched with a younger inexperienced one so that the younger would learn the task of plowing from the older. This older "ox in the yoke" is the "strong leader" of the pair and was the ancient Hebrews concrete understanding of "God". God is the older ox who teaches his people, the young ox, how to work. The word (el) is frequently translated as God, the "strong authority" of Israel (See Genesis 14:9). When the reader of the Bible sees the English word "God" (beginning with the upper case "g"), it is always applied to the Creator of the heavens and the earth. The Hebrew word (el) can refer to this same God, but as the concrete understanding of the word "la" is a "strong and mighty one", this same Hebrew word can be applied to anyone or anything that functions with the same characteristics as can be seen in Genesis 31:29, Job 41:25, Psalms 80:10, Psalms 36:6 and Exodus 34:14. The imagery of the ox and shepherd staff were common symbols of strength, leadership and authority in ancient times. Chiefs and kings commonly wore the horns of a bull on their head as a sign of their strength and carried a staff representing their authority over their flock, the kingdom. Both of these symbols have been carried through the centuries to the modern day where kings and queens carry scepters and wear crowns. The Hebrew word "qeren", meaning horn, is the origin of the word "crown". MOTHER The following is an excerpt from the book The Living Words. The Hebrew word for mother is אם eym [H:517]. In the original pictographic script this word was written as . The first letter, the , is a picture of an ox head representing strength. The second letter, the , is a representation of water. The two letters give us the meaning of "strong water." Ancient peoples would boil animal skins in water and as the skin broke down a sticky thick liquid formed at the surface of the water. They would remove this thick liquid and use it as a binding agent—glue or strong water." The mother is the one who "binds" the family together. The following is an excerpt from the book Ancient Hebrew Dictionary. In the original pictographic script, the first letter is a picture of an ox. As the ox is strong, the letter also has the meaning of strong. The second letter represents water. The two letters give us the meaning of "strong water." The Hebrews made glue by boiling animal skins in water. As the skin broke down, a sticky thick liquid formed at the surface of the water. This thick liquid was removed and used as a binding agent-"strong water". This is the Hebrew word meaning "mother", the one who "binds" the family together. The following is an excerpt from the book Ancient Hebrew Language and Alphabet. The word begins with the picture of an ox, meaning "strong". The second letter is a picture of water. The two letters give us the meaning of "strong water". The Hebrews made glue by boiling animal skins in water. As the skin broke down a sticky thick liquid formed at the surface of the water. This thick liquid was removed and used as a binding agent - "strong water". Combined, these letters mean "one who glues/binds the family together."