His Name is One: An Ancient Hebrew Perspective on the Names of God - Softcover

Benner, Jeff A

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1589394577 ISBN 13: 9781589394575

Publisher: Virtualbookworm.com Publishing, 2003

Synopsis

When we read an English translation of the Bible we define the words within it according to our modern vocabulary allowing our culture and language to influence how we read and interpret the Bible. The Bible was written by ancient Hebrews whose culture and language was very different from our own and must be read and interpreted through their eyes. When we define the names of God using our culture and language we lose the Hebraic meanings behind the original Hebrew names of God. Consequently the true nature and character of God is hidden behind the veil of time and culture. By understanding the various names of God through the vocabulary and language of the ancient Hebrews, the nature and character of God is revealed to us in a new light. The prophet Zechariah described the character of God with the words "sh'mo ehhad" translated as His Name is One (Zechariah 14:9). This phrase beautifully describes the character of God from a Hebraic perspective that is lost to us through translation and unfamiliarity with ancient Hebrew culture.

About this title

From the Author

I wrote this book as a result of the many requests for the meanings of the various names of God in the Bible. This book details how the ancient Hebrews understood God from their cultural perspective. What is a name? In our modern western culture a name is simply an identifier but to the Hebrews, a name contained the whole of the individual. Probably the most common name of God in Hebrew is Elohiym and from an ancient Hebraic perspective this word means "The mighty one who yokes himself to his people".

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Biblical Names

In our modern culture a name is nothing more than an identifier, usually chosen by our parents because they like the sound of the name or it is the name of a favorite relative or ancestor. This is not true of the ancient cultures, such as the Hebrews, where a name was a representation of whom the individual was, based on his character and function.

One of the major differences between our Western culture and the Eastern culture of the ancient Hebrews is how someone or something is described. The Hebrew was not so concerned with the appearance of someone or something, as he was with its function. A Western mind would describe a common pencil according to its appearance, something like; "it is yellow and about eight inches long". An Eastern mind describes the same pencil according to its function, something like; "I write and erase words with it". Notice that the Eastern description uses the verbs "write" and "erase", while the Western description uses the adjectives "yellow" and "long". Because of Hebrew’s form of functional descriptions, verbs are used much more frequently than adjectives in the Bible.

A good example of the Hebrew language's functional descriptions can be found in the word lya (ayil). This word, depending on the translation, is shown as an oak tree, ram, mighty men or a post as can be seen in the following verses from the King James Version.

"And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son."
Genesis 22:13 (KJV)

"He made also posts of three-score cubits, even unto the post of the court round about the gate."
Ezekiel 40:14 (KJV)

"For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen."
Isaiah 1:29 (KJV)

"Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed; the mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them; all the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away."
Exodus 15:15 (KJV)

The original meaning of the word lya (ayil) is a "strong leader". An oak tree is the hardest and strongest of the woods in the forest, the ram is the strong leader among the flock. A post is the strong upright pillar that supports the structure. The mighty men are the strong leaders of the community. The translators have taken the above passages, originally written from an Eastern perspective, and altered the original meaning in order for the text to make sense to a Western reader. Because of the many different ways the Eastern texts can be translated, differences in translations often occur. Psalms 29:9 includes the Hebrew word hlya (ayalah), the feminine form of lya (ayil), and is translated two different ways in two common translations.

"The voice of the LORD makes the deer to calve". (NASB)

"The voice of the LORD twists the oaks". (NIV)

While our Western mind sees no similarity between a deer and an oak, and would never describe them in the same way, the Hebrew's Eastern mind sees them as identical, both being functionally the same as "strong leaders". A more literal rendering of this verse in Hebrew thought would be:

"The voice of the LORD makes the strong leaders twist".

When reading the Bible, the reader will become more aware of the meaning of a text if he remembers to look for the function of a particular object or the role of an individual, rather than its appearance. To illustrate this important aspect, let us look at the "ark" of Noah and its description as found in Genesis 6:15.

"And this is how you are to make the ark, three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high".

Our Western mind immediately begins to paint a picture of what the ark looks like based on the dimensions provided in the passage. If this was the author’s intention, he did a poor job, as the description provided simply describes a long box and does not inform the reader of what the ark "looks" like. When we remember that the Hebrew author is attempting to describe the "function" of the ark we find that he is informing the reader of its immense size, as the "function" of the ark is to hold a very large number of animals.

Hebrew names have meanings that are lost when translated into English. The Hebrew word ~da (adam) means "man" and is also the name of the first man, Adam.

"The LORD God formed the man (~da) from the dust of the ground".
Genesis 2.7

English translations completely erase the Hebraic connection between the "man" and his origin. When we place the original Hebrew words back into the text, we can see the connection between the words in the verse.

"And the LORD formed the adam from the dust of adamah (ground)".

Below are a few other examples of the relationship between an individual's name and his function or role.

"And she bore Cain and she said I have cain (acquired) a man".
Genesis 4:1

"And she bore a son and called his name Seth because God seth (placed) a seed to replace Abel".
Genesis 4:25

"And he called his name Noah saying he will noah (comfort) us".
Genesis 5:29

"And to Eber were born two sons, the name of one is Peleg because in his days the land was peleg (divided)". Genesis 10.25

Edition details

• Publisher: Virtualbookworm.com Publishing
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1589394577
• ISBN 13: 9781589394575
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 132