[open]Yeshua the Aleph - Tav

Tishri1 · Sep 28, 2006

This subject came up in another thread and I brought it here so it woudnt highjack that thread....Lets search out this interesting subject and put all our info here ok :wave:

Tishri1 · Sep 28, 2006

this is from the other thread...

Tishri1 said:
Jesus is the Direct Object

Interestingly, Aleph and Tav form a unique word that functions as a “direct object marker” in the both Biblical and modern Hebrew:

As it is written in Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God (ALEPH/TAV) created the heavens and the earth."

http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Gr...nd_the_Aleph-Bet/jesus_and_the_aleph-bet.html

Considered this way, Jesus is the Direct Object of the Universe, the End (sof) of all of creation. And not only is Jesus the End of all creation, but He is the “Beginning of the Creation of God,” the Creator and Sustainer of all things: "For by him were all things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him and for him: And he is before all things and by him all things consist." (Colossians 1:16-17)

Thus says the Amen, the faithful and true witness,

the beginning of the creation of God (Rev. 3:14).

Ko amar ha’amein ‘ed ha’emet v’hatsedek
v’reishit b’riat ha’elohim

Jesus is the Strong Sign
Finally, using the ancient pictographs, we can see that Jesus is the “Strong Sign” from Adonai:

He is the One who comes in humble, silent strength (Aleph) bearing the Sign of the true Covenant of God (Tav).

If I'm not mistaken you may be interested in the Hebrew "Direct Object"-"ET" Aleph-Tav .
It has been said that Aleph -Tav appears often in scripture with out any noun to point to and in those cases it means Yeshua was there...(((hugs)))

and here is one....
http://www.torah-study.com/main.php?id=aleph_tav

Strong's #853 says that the grouping of aleph tav ta is generally used to point out more definition, the object of a verb. Then it says something very interesting in parenthesis. [As such unrepresented in English.] This means that it cannot be translated into an English word. The Rabbi's explain that this is an untranslatable name of G-d. The Rabbi's are correct, but, guess what, we who believe in Yeshua as the Messiah have a translation and a definition of Aleph Tav ta [et].

"And He [Yeshua} said to me, "I am Aleph a and I am Tav t, the beginning and the end." [HRV; Revelation 21:6]

Most of our translations have the first Greek letter Alpha and the last Greek letter Omega. Since Yeshua was Jewish and speaking to John who is Jewish He was speaking Hebrew or Aramaic. The first letter in both languages is aleph and the last letter is tav. So, this shows us that Yeshua was in the plan of G-d since the beginning and brings us to a verse in John chapter 1.

" All things came to be through Him [aleph and tav] and without Him [aleph and tav] nothing made had being." [John 1:3]

"Him" as we know is Yeshua, and Yeshua explained to us that He was the Aleph and the Tav in Revelation. Therefore, the question is; were all things created through the Hebrew letters? Absolutely!

this one too was very interesting

The fourth word: Aleph-Tav. The fourth word in the sentence is Aleph-Tav. It is not really a word at all, but a combination of the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. When this fourth word is encountered by a Bible translator, especially in English, it is omitted. So in all English versions of the Bible, unless we can read the Hebrew Bible, we don’t even know this combination of two Hebrew letters is missing from our Bible. Our Bible translators did not translate or refer to these two letters because normally they function in combination as a marker in the biblical text to point to the direct object. But ancient Hebrew sages saw the Aleph-Tav in this particular case to be more than a marker to point to the direct object. Instead, they saw a message hidden in the two-letter combination that pointed to a hidden Person yet to be revealed, not a direct object. They concluded this Person was the Messiah.
You will recall that the Bible writers saw in the meaning of the first word of the Bible—bereishit (“in-the-beginning-of&#8221—a hidden Wisdom that they believed was the personification of the Messiah. The number one was attached to the Messiah as not only the Wisdom of God, but also the true eternal Light revealed in the first day of creation. John makes this connection of Messiah to the first day of creation when writes in the second paragraph of his Gospel:
Through him all things were made;
without him nothing was made.
In him was life,
and that life was the light of all men.
The light shines in darkness,
but the darkness has not understood it.
(John 1:3-5)
Now, in the fourth word of the first sentence, we find again the view that here is another personification of the Messiah, the letters Aleph-Tav.
The first letter aleph is the initiator, or author, and the last letter tav is the finisher. Does this call to remembrance a Scripture? In Hebrews 12:2, the writer of Hebrews says that Yeshua is the author and finisher, the author and perfecter of our faith. What this means Hebraically is that Yeshua is the Aleph and the Tav, the First and the Last. The writer of Hebrews describes Yeshua to be the fourth word in Genesis 1:1—the hidden Person to be revealed who is called Aleph-Tav.
Clearly we recall the words of Messiah Yeshua [Jesus] in Revelation 1:8 where He identifies Himself as the personification of the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet—the Aleph-Tav. Our English Bibles use the Greek translation of the Hebrew, having Yeshua to say in Greek, “I am the Alpha and the Omega.” In the Hebrew and Aramaic languages of Yeshua, of course, He said, “I am the Aleph and the Tav.”

http://www.ed-nelson.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=21

JoelParks · Sep 28, 2006

Ah, a subject I've loved to study. I'll add some when I can...

debi b · Sep 29, 2006

Revelation
1:1 The Revelation of Yeshua Messiah (Jesus Christ)

1:8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," says the Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."

1:12 Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. 14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; 15 His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; 16 He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. 17 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, "Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. 18 I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.

Daniel 7
9 "I watched till thrones were put in place,
And the Ancient of Days was seated;
His garment was white as snow,
And the hair of His head was like pure wool.
His throne was a fiery flame,
Its wheels a burning fire;
10 A fiery stream issued
And came forth from before Him.
A thousand thousands ministered to Him;
Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him.
The court was seated,
And the books were opened.

John 5
"For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son,

Rev 11
17 "We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty,
The One who is and who was and who is to come

That is kinda a mouthful

Tishri1 · Sep 29, 2006

yeh but a good mouthful!

ChavaK · Sep 29, 2006

Tishri1 said:
this is from the other thread...

and here is one....
http://www.torah-study.com/main.php?id=aleph_tav

this one too was very interestinghttp://www.ed-nelson.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=21

I dunno, to me it seems kind of a stretch to take et-
which is used to indicate the direct object a verb is
acting on- and give it any more meaning that what it's
original purpose is.....do you have examples of places
in the Torah where et is used, not in conjunction with
a direct object? It would be interesting to see the
context...

JoelParks · Sep 29, 2006

These are links to images I've either created or gathered.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c364/JP888/Hebrew/Hebrew Letters/AlephTau-Genesis1.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c364/JP888/Hebrew/Hebrew Letters/AlephTau-Isaiah53.jpg

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c364/JP888/Hebrew/Hebrew Letters/AlephTau-Zechariah12.gif

JoelParks · Sep 29, 2006

JoelParks · Oct 5, 2006

The Message in Jesus Name

In Hebrew, there is only one way of communication be it mathematical, written codification or symbolic; its through the Hebrew Aleph-Biet. Every Hebrew letter has at least three meanings. Each symbol has a pronunciation. They also have a word meaning. Finally, each letter has a numeric value. These values are written on the chart below:

Letter Name Meaning Numeric
a Aleph Ox 1
b Biet House 2
g Gimel Camel 3
d Dalet Open Door 4
h Heh Window
(or closed door) 5
w Vav Nail 6
z Zayin Sword 7
t Cheth Fence 8
j Tet Serpent 9
y Yod Hand 10
k Kaph Palm of the Hand 20
l Lamed Ox-Goad 30
m Mem Water 40
n Nun Fish 50
s Samech Stool
or Support 60
[ Ayin Eye 70
p Pe Mouth 80
c Tsaddi Fish-Hook 90
Q Qoph Back of the Head 100
r Resh Head or Face 200
V Shin Tooth or
El Shaddai * 300
T Tau T-cross 400

Now lets examine Jesus name. In Hebrew, His name is Yshua and is spelled
Yod-Shin-Vav-Ayin.

Yod = Hand Shin = El Shaddai Vav = Nail Ayin = Eye

The word meanings also have a verb action applied to them (i.e. Aleph = OX [or plow], Biet = HOUSE [or build], Resh = head [or lead], or Ayin = EYE [or see]). With that in mind, consider the sentence made with Yshuas name, if read left to right:

See the nail in El Shaddais Hand.

This is yet another allusion to the deity of the Messiah, Yshua. Jesus is indeed the God who is more than enough! (read it right to left like in Hebrew, it says: The Hand of El Shaddai has nails, see! if you allow nail to be pluralized).

____________________
another interesting thing -- in Genesis 1:1, there are 7 words in Hebrew. the middle word is the Aleph-Tav... which has no translation. THe aleph-tav makes Genesis 1:1 into a Menorah, and all the branches of creation are supported by the aleph-tav. The center candle of the Menorah is called "The Servant Candle" and it stands in the middle of the branches.

The aleph-tav is found throughout the Torah, and until the late first century, even the Scholars of old did not know what (or who) the aleph-tav was... Solomon pondered this (and the question of the Red Heifer) and had no solution.

Yet we get to the book of Revelation, and Y'shua says to John "I AM the alpha-omega (which is a greek substitution for the aleph-tav)..." He was the servant candle standing in the Middle of Creation, for all things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made..."(John 1:3)

Now look up at the top -- the meaning of the aleph-tav is "The OX on the Cross"... the crucified Ox. The word translated "OX" in Hebrew is the word "Showr"... which is what was offered for a sin offering. Jesus died on the cross to be our sin offering! HalleluYah!!

One last aspect of the 'Ox on the Cross', consider this verse from Exodus 21:32

"If the ox gores a male or female servant, he shall give to their
master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned."

The price of the ox that 'offends' is 30 pieces of silver. This is the same price prophesied by Zecheriah "And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD." (Zech 11:12-13)

This was the price paid Judas for betraying the LORD "Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, and said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him." (Matthew 26:14-16)

God speaks on so many different levels, and in so many different ways, so that none would perish! HalleluYah!
_________________________________________
* The reason 'Shin' means 'El Shaddai' is because Shin is the first letter in 'Shaddai', and is used as the symbol for God's name in Judaica. The front of a mezuzah will have the 'shin' prominantly displayed.

JoelParks · Oct 5, 2006

In Ancient Hebrew.... the Aleph had the pictogram of an Ox head.
The Tau, that of a Cross.

If Christ spoke of Himself as the Alpha & Omega, naturally, He is the First and the Last, the Beginning and the Ending, the A and the Z, the Aleph and the Tau - the Ox on the Cross.

Just as He is portrayed as the Lion, the Lamb, the Man, and God... He was also the servant-like Ox.

JoelParks · Oct 5, 2006

As mentioned earlier... the very first occurance of aleph-tav (alpha-omega) in the Word of God is Genesis 1:1.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c364/JP888/Hebrew/Hebrew Letters/AlephTau-Genesis1.jpg

And it's interesting, since the first sentence structure in Genesis forms a menorah (a set of seven).

A 'torah menorah' is a stand with seven candlesticks, so-to-speak. There are three to the left, one center candle, and three off to the right.

The center candle was always referred to as the Sh'mash Candle. That is, the 'Servant' candle... for from it, all the other candles derived their source of light.

If you've also ever looked a true 'torah menorah' - they were likeened to resemble trees. In fact, it is my theory the original Menorah was designed intentionally to remind one of the Tree of Life (and Light).

But anyhoo, back to the original post.... it's interesting that the first occurrence of 'aleph-tav' in the word of God is in the center of a so-called 'menorah' of the text of Genesis 1:1.

It is showing, in effect, that Aleph-Tav is serving as the Servant Candle position. (a position which is linked to Christ, for several apparent reasons) - indeed, an entire study could be conducted on showing how Christ is that Sh'mash candle position throughout scripture.... and many "menorah" patterns which produce themself all throughout the Word.

Both of these are very interesting study.

stone · Oct 5, 2006

good read

Tishri1 · Oct 5, 2006

yes I love study of Torah on all these different levels :clap:

visionary · Oct 5, 2006

excellent insights JoelParks

debi b · Oct 9, 2006

You might find this interesting.

Rev 1:8 NKJV
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

Aramaic Peshitta

The Aramaic word that is highlighted in this verse will be the first highlighted word in the following Hebrew translations.

This Hebrew translation is from the Peshitta, Edited by The Aramaic Scriptures Research Society in Israel. The Bible Society, Jerusalem, 1986

This Hebrew translation comes from Diglot Hebrew/English (NKJV) published by Bible Society in Israel 1996

This New Testament was translated from Greek into Hebrew. Printed in Great Britian at the University Press, Oxford. Published by the Trinitarian Bible Society in London.

The one Aramaic and three Hebrew translations are all Rev 1:8. Are you catching what they have translated Lord as? YHVH.

The phrase who was, who is and the one coming (or who will be) in this verse is pretty significant as well.

From the blessings of the Torah, pg xxv, The Stone Edition Tanach

Hadassah · Oct 10, 2006

Et / Ot את

Number in Gematria: 401 (4+1 = 5)

Strong's Number: H852, H853, H854, H855

Can also be spelt: (Out / Ot) אות (a sign/mark)

Number in Gematria: 407 (4+7 = 11) 1+1 =2

Strongs Number: H225 and H226:

Below are some things I have gathered here and there with the help of friends and commentary as well as my own research.

This is just one example of many instances of the Aleph Tav occurance.

There are 2 repetitions in Genesis 1:1 of ET (Aleph Tav)

The first WORD Et (Alef Tav) is next to G-d (El-him), the next standing in between heaven and earth !

Revelation 10:1 And I saw another strong angel coming down out of Heaven, wrapped in a cloud; and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire;
Revelation 10:2 and he had in his hand a little scroll having been opened. And he set his right foot upon the sea and his left upon the land;
Revelation 10:3 and he cried out with a great voice, as a lion roars..

Also, Aleph Tav means The Ox on the Cross literally in Hebrew by its Gematria, and the old Paleo-Hebrew.

"...rabbinic Judaism believes that the Creation took place, not so much by G-d's actions, but by His words, more specifically, the letters used in those words. Rabbis say evidence of this is supplied in Genesis 1:1 by the presence of the word "et". This word is found twice in this scripture, once alone, and once preceded by the conjunction "vav", (interpreted "and"). What makes the word, "et", so special is that it is not translated. The purpose of this word is to serve as a sign of a direct object. For instance, the first time it appears in Genesis 1:1, it comes before the word, "hashamayim", being interpreted, "the heavens". Therefore, the word "et" serves as the sign of the direct object, "the heavens". It also appears before the word, "ha aretz" (which is interpreted "the earth"), becoming the sign for the direct object, "the earth". Because it is not interpreted, and because it is considered a sign, Rabbis interpret the word's presence as proof that the Hebrew letters themselves formed the universe.

Why would this small word indicate such a phenomenal feat? Because, this word is formed by the first letter in the alef-bet, "alef", and the last, "tav", thus symbolizing the entire alef-bet, and by implication the WORD OF G-D!

In Revelation 1:11, Yshua told John, "I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last." This passage was translated from Greek, hence, the terms "alpha", the first Greek letter and "omega", the last Greek letter. If Yshua spoke to John in his native tongue, Hebrew, he would have said, "Ani ha'alef ve'hatav", "I AM the alef and the tav". He was the WORD OF G-D, the Creator of the universe. It was John who wrote, "In the Beginning (B'reshiyt) was the Word, and the Word was with G-d, and the Word was G-d."

Notice that this word, et, stands alone before the word, "the heavens", but joins with the letter "vav" when it appears between "the heavens" and "the earth". What makes this significant is theat the letter "vav", joined with the word "et", is the only "vav" that appears in this phrase. Chassidut teaches that the vav's form represents a column. Therefore, because this is the only time the letter"vav" is used in Genesis 1:1, it is called the "column of Creation." Creation is always moving toward the future, in other words, time does not stand still. All of the hopes of mankind lie in the future, and "rest" upon the future Mashiach. Therefore, the "vav" in Genesis 1:1, represents the Mashiach, who is the "column of Creation", all of Creation is dependent upon him.

The numerical value of the letter "vav" is six; six being the value of man in his fallen state. What we can conclude from this is that the Mashiach would be a man (represented by the value six), but because it is coupled with the word, "et", he would have special qualities. It is our opinion that the use of the phrase "v'et" points to the fact that the Word of G-d (alef-tav) would take on the form of man (vav) and assume the role of mashiach in order to unite heaven and earth. It was Yshua, the Word of G-d, the alef-tav of Creation, who became a channel joining G-d to man. "And the Word (alef-tav) became flesh (vav) and dwelt among us."

According to some rabbinic thought: Aleph Tav is the actual name of G-d. To translate it would run the risk of taking His name in vain, and for Jews, that is one of the worst sins that can possibly happen.

Isaiah 53:6

All we like sheep have gone astray; everyone has turned to his own way; and YHVH has laid on him (ALEF-TAV) ; (the Ox on the Cross) the iniquity of us all.

Hadassah · Oct 10, 2006

A note from my dear departed friend and mentor, Rabbi Cornette:

The Aleph-Tav doesn't appear by itself every time.. but when it does... it is 5 out of 5 on the freak-out meter...

Take the word before, and the word after the Aleph-Tav... and it is amazing... sometimes, you have to examine roots, but.. oy...

A portion from Jeremiah 38:16 the Living LORD (CHY-YHVH) - which makes, who makes
41:9 God will hear (Ishmael) - the dead, the corpse
41:11 the armies, the forces - evil, distress, unpleasantness
41:16 with, along side of, near - the remnant, those who remain
43:1 these - words43:5 the armies, the forces - the remnant
44:2 see, understand, perceive - evil, distress, unpleasantness
44:4 making - the abominable words, the evil words
49:39 returning in the last days - the captives, the captivity
51:12 making - declaration, speech, words
51:24 the mud breakers (Chaldeans) - distress, evil, unpleasantness
51:60 one - command, speech, word
52:33 changing, exchanging - prison garments
Lamentations2:2 having compassion - habitation, people, land (i.e. Israel

)Think about the last days armies that arise against the LORD and His people... and with One Word, Y'shua will deliver Israel from the armies that have arisen to destroy them, and have compassion on H'Eretz (the Land of Israel)

...Just a quick note... it goes further than that. "The OX on the cross". Remember the price paid for Jesus, the money of betrayal for Him to be brought to the Sanhedrim:

Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, and said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him.
Matthew 26:14-16

This very price was prophesied just a few verses before the second text you cited above:

And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD.
Zechariah 11:12-13

The Ox on the Cross is the word understanding of Aleph-Tav. Jesus was sold for His death, at a price of 30 shekels of silver. Now, consider this obscure verse, which contains "The Law of the Offending Ox":

If the ox shall push a manservant or a maidservant; he shall give unto their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.
Exodus 21:32

If an Ox offends by goring someone, the one who leads him to the slaughter shall be given 30 shekels of silver. How is that for a total freakout. The law of first mention, regarding 30 shekels of sliver, points to an Ox being slaughtered... and Jesus is the Ox on the Cross. HalleluYAH! God has placed His fingerprint on so many layers of depth in the Word.

Just one more little freebie...: The Hebrew word "Push" is spelled Nun-Gimel-Chet... and has a numeric value of 61... which is the same value as: a. Nothing and b. His Blood.

What can wash away my sin? Nothing but His Blood! HalleluYAH!

Now, look at the value of "stoned" as found there in Exodus. it will lead you to "Golgotha" and "It is Finished" (in Greek)

Hadassah · Oct 10, 2006

From Rabbi Akiva:

There are several brief but enticing references to the special status of the alephtav in the Babylonian Talmud.

In Hebrew, the use of the [aleph tav] to mark the accusative case is never ambiguous because it is empty of meaning. It stands only as a mark of the grammatical relation between verb and object. Despite this ciphered silence, or perhaps because of it, many rabbis of the Talmud, especially Rabbis Simeon and Akiva, have viewed the [aleph tav]as a sign of, an invitation to, amplification. And in Talmudic episteme, wherever there is room for amplification there is an invitation to see the sign of a divine intention for some other, secret or unwritten meaning.

Akiva's teacher was Rabbi Nahum of Gimzo, who attempted to explain every occurrence of [aleph tav]in the Torah (see Hagigah 12b). Akiva builds on his work, suggesting that every occurrence of the [aleph tav] is meant to indicate the presence of the Divine Hand. Here, Simeon refrains from expanding or expounding on the [aleph tav] because in the command to have awe for G-d, any expansion would be heretical, or at least superfluous. Akiva slyly suggests that amplification is indeed possible, though it is in the form of a grace note: here, since the [aleph tav] directly defines G-d, then it is also scholars who are to be included.
Akiva's idea is that [aleph tav] is the secret sign of G-d, the silent cipher that embraces all the other words of the Torah, and indeed of all creation.

The most resonant of these discussions of the [aleph tav] occurs in the Talmudic debate over the very first sentence of the Torah: "In the beginning, G-d created [aleph tav] the Heaven and [aleph tav] the Earth." The debate between Akiva and another great rabbi, his contemporary of the early second century, Rabbi Ishmael, begins when Ishmael asks Akiva, "Seeing that you have studied twenty-two years under Nahum of Gimzo, who taught that ... [aleph tav] is always an amplification, how do you explain the [aleph tav] in this verse?"
Akiva replies: "Had Scripture written 'In the beginning G-d created Heaven and Earth' and omitted the [aleph tav], we might have thought that Heaven and Earth were also deities."
"You do not know how to interpret Scripture!" Rabbi Ishmael returns insultingly. "This is the meaning: [aleph tav] hashamayin (alephtav the sky) is meant to include the sun and the moon, the stars and the planets. And v'[aleph tav] ha'aretz (and alephtav the earth) means to include trees and plants and the Garden of Eden."
Ishmael tries to trap Akiva into using [aleph tav] to amplify a verse that needs no amplification. He cleverly begins by reminding him of his duty to follow the teachings of his mentor, Nahum of Gimzo, who used every [aleph tav] to amplify the meaning of a verse. It is clear that Akiva is fond of quoting Nahum of Gimzo, since he has gone on to apotheosize the amplification of [aleph tav]by associating it with the hidden presence of G-d. But in this instance, Akiva refuses. In fact, he takes an opposite tack. The [aleph tav]here is not an amplification - a hidden reference to G-d's presence - but a contraction: it serves to emphasize the objectivity, the factual limitation of the sky and earth and warn us away from idolatry.
Ishmael catches Akiva out in his contradiction; he flings the contradiction back in Akiva's face.
[Even by your own rules] you do not know how to interpret the Torah! See here, even I can use your to amplify the verse: it means the sky including the stars and planets; it means the earth including the plants and Garden of Eden!
So what explains Akiva's hesitation? Why does he use the to constrict rather than expand the meaning of the very first line of the Torah?
Lurking in the background of this debate is the larger religious context of the time. Centuries of occupation, first by Persians and then by Greeks, had left Judaism on the defensive. Even the interregnum of Jewish Kings - the Hasmonean Dynasty (4th-1st centuries BCE) - required constant vigilance by Jewish leaders against Greek influences, especially among the members of the increasingly cosmopolitan royal family. Hellenism meant not only intermarriage and political and social subjugation but also the ever-recurring temptation to multiply gods.
Eventually, the Romans replaced the Greeks. They installed the wickedly inspired Herod, who was the last of the Hasmoneans. He was eager to promote Roman values and he inflicted humiliating cruelty on the [Hebrews], including substituting religious symbols in the Temple. When Herod died, Israel fell into a chaos of competing factions. The uprising against Rome by Jewish zealots in 66 CE finally stung the Romans into action. They smashed the rebellion and destroyed the Temple. The following period in "Palestine," humiliatingly renamed by the Romans for Israel's inveterate enemies, the Philistines, saw the emergence of numerous sects and cults, including Gnosticism and the early seeds of Christianity. One of the common Gnostic principles was that divine forces worked within individual phenomena of Nature. While the Jewish tradition saw a continuity of the Divine Force (Schechina) everywhere in the universe, it insisted on the unity and singularity of G-d.
Though abstract, this Gnostic multiplication of divine entities would echo uncomfortably the many cults and idol-worshipping beliefs that challenged the [Hebrews] for fifteen hundred years, going back to the time of the Canaanites: worship of animals, trees, the sky, the sun, the moon ... Rabbi Ishmael is trying to trap Akiva into a Gnostic heresy. Akiva resists, seeing the trap, and in fact reveals the very trap by turning the interpretation of the [aleph tav]into a reaffirmation of monotheism. Rabbi Ishmael one-ups Akiva: You could have stayed true to your principle of amplifying the [aleph tav]and still avoided the Gnostic heresy by amplifying it in this way, see?
Rabbi Akiva later becomes one of the rabbis martyred by the Romans for supporting the Bar Kochba rebellion in 135 CE.

alilsa · Oct 10, 2006

You lost me, in Genesis 1:1, is Elohim plural or one? is he 3 persons or 1 or is there another name for G-d there? or was it just talking about the Father G-d? or is it the Trinity? or was He El Shadaih there?

JoelParks · Oct 10, 2006

can we please not turn this into a debate about the trinity, please?

Good posts, antsy!

[open]Yeshua the Aleph - Tav

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להיות טוב ולעשות טוב

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Your God is my God... Ruth said, so say I.

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