Subject: Hebraic Roots Glossary - Part 5
Date: Wed, 4 Feb 1998 22:56:31 +0000
To: "Hebraic Heritage Newsgroup"<heb_roots_chr@geocities.com>

 

From:          JOHANVR <johanvr@srvnac3.nac.ac.za>
Subject:       Comprehensive Glossary of Hebraic Terms - Part 5
To:            heb_roots_chr@geocities.com
Reply-to:      JOHANVR@NAC.AC.ZA

Expository Glossary
of Terms Used in
Messianic Teaching         (Part 5)

Copyright February 1998

Expository Glossary of Terms used in Messianic Teaching

Order this Glossary from:

Johann van Rooyen
PO Box 5276
HELDERBERG
7135
SOUTH AFRICA

Size:		 A4 pages
Price:		R60.00 (postage included) (South Africa Currency)

Please send ______ copies of Glossary of Terms used in Messianic
Teaching, to:

Name:	(Prof / Dr / Mr / Ms /
Pastor)	__________________________________

Address:	_________________________________________________________

  _________________________________________________________

Postal code:		______________

Amount included:	______________


Please send ______ copies of Glossary of Terms used in Messianic
Teaching, to:

Name:	(Prof / Dr / Mr / Ms /
Pastor)	__________________________________

Address:	_________________________________________________________

  _________________________________________________________

Postal code:		______________

Amount included:	______________

Preface

This Expository Glossary of Terms used in Messianic Teaching was
developed for a Messianic study group that has been meeting in the
Helderberg area of South Africa since mid-1995.  We plan to publish
three studies on the Messiah, entitled:

 	King Messiah

                  The Coming of King Messiah

                  The Festivals of King Messiah.

The Expository Glossary of Terms used in Messianic Teaching explains
unfamiliar terms that talmidim (students) will encounter in their
studies.

Students are requested to notify us (in writing) of all difficult
terms used in the three monographs listed above, which have been left
out, ore are not adequately explained, in the Glossary.

Key

Entries followed by the symbol [G] are Greek terms.

Entries followed by the symbol [L] are Latin terms.

Entries followed by the symbol [A] are Aramaic terms.

Almost all other foreign-language entries are Hebrew.

                                         (Part 5)

Church Fathers
The (Gentile) Christian scholars and leaders who preached and wrote
between approximately 135 to 450 CE  Besides the good things they did,
they were also responsible for the de-Judaising of Christianity, and
the imposition of alien philosophical schemes such as Neo-Platonism,
on exegesis.  With the wisdom of hindsight, we can say that they were
tragically ignorant of the communication principle of Hermeneutics,
which tells us that we should understand historical communication in
the historical-conceptual framework in which the communication took
place originally.

Confirmation
Ceremony marking the completion of the religious school course of
study, often held on Shavuot.

Consecration
Ceremony marking the beginning of a child's formal education in Torah,
often held on Simchat Torah.

Counting the Days
This is a period of time specified in Leviticus 23, falling between
Pesach and Shavuot.

Covenantal Nomism
The Judaism of the time of Yahushua's ministry in Israel is
characterized by a unitary "pattern of religion" namely covenantal
nomism.  The pattern or structure of covenantal nomism is this:  

(1) YHWH has chosen Israel and 
(2) given the Torah.  The Torah implies both 
(3) YHWH's promise to maintain the election and 
(4) the requirement to obey. 
(5) YHWH rewards obedience and punishes transgression. 
(6) The Torah provides for means of atonement, and atonement results in 
(7) maintenance or re-establishment of the covenantal relationship.  
(8) All those who are maintained in the covenant by obedience, 
      atonement and YHWH's mercy belong to the group
      which will be saved.  An important interpretation of the first and
      last points is that election and ultimately salvation are considered
      to be by YHWH's mercy rather than human achievement.

Passage after passage from Tannaitic literature, the Qumran documents,
and intertestamental literature may be cited to prove conclusively
that the perception of late Second Temple Period Judaism (or some
branch thereof) as a religion of legalistic works-righteousness,
wherein YHWH's approbation must be earned by good works in a system of
strict justice, is completely wrong.

Jewish religion in the time period under discussion views the whole
question of obedience and disobedience on the basis of YHWH's
unfathomable mercy in choosing Israel and of his merciful provision of
means of restoration for sinners.  In fact, this is probably the
constant perspective of Judaism in whatever period.  Perhaps no one
has succeeded in conveying the centrality of this perspective in
traditional Judaism more eloquently than Solomon Schechter in Aspects
of Rabbinic Theology.  A careful and unbiased reading of Jewish
literature from any stratum, whether it be Old Testament, Talmud,
apocalyptic, wisdom literature, or modern Judaism, should be adequate
to warn against thinking of Judaism as a religion of strict justice in
which YHWH's lovingkindness and mercy is obscured by the severity of
the Law.

Da'at
Knowledge.

Inherited semi-pagan traditions, an excess of moralistic, sentimental,
shallow preaching, and the unscholarly "spirit of the age" have caused
the level of da'at of emet (knowledge of the truth) among large
sections of believers to become dangerously low.  "My people perish
because of a lack of da'at."  Those who stand for nothing often fall
for anything.

Dammesek
Damascus.

Darash
To tread or frequent; usually to follow (for pursuit or search); by
implication to seek or ask; inquire; question, require, search, seek.

Day of the LORD
See Yom UYUW.

Dayenu
"Literally: It would have been enough for us;" name of a popular
Pesach Seder song.

Days of Awe
See: Yamim Nora'im.

Defilement
See: Tamei.
Ritual impurity.

DevarDavar
The Word of UYUW.  The sages taught that the Devar should be thought
of as proceeding from the Sh'khinah, which dwelt where the gaze of the
two keruvim met in the expanse above the kapporet (seat of atonement)
of the Ark of the Testimony in the Kodesh HaKodeshim.  The Ark of the
Testimony had the shape of Yechezk'el's vision of the throne of UYUW,
which was made of lapis lazuli.  This interpretation follows from a
midrashic linking of Numbers 7:89 and Yechezk'el 10:1.  All of the
Devar teaches about the Messiah.  The Messiah is the Devar, the Torah,
who became flesh to make His dwelling amongst us.  Devar, Torah and
Ruach are closely related concepts-speaking of instruction, guidance,
movement, life-giving person-in-action.

Devar of Chokhmah
Word of Wisdom.  An unquestionably true answer to a seemingly
impossibly difficult ethical question.  A manifestation of the Ruach
HaKodesh.

Devar of Da'at
Word of Knowledge.  Speaking forth a truth that is supernaturally
revealed to you by the Ruach HaKodesh.  A manifestation of the Ruach
HaKodesh.

Devar Torah
Literally: a word of Torah; follows the Torah reading in a worship
service, taking the form of a sermon, talk, explication, story,
discussion, or program.

Devorah
Deborah.  Bee; congregation.  See Lappidoth.

Diaspora
Jewish communities outside of Israel.

Din
Judgenent.  To strive in judgement.

Dispensationalism
An approach to understanding Scripture that divides the Almighty's
dealings with mankind into 8 distinct "dispensations." 
Dispensationalism has served a purpose in showing people the truth of
the eschatological restoration of Israel and teaching us to understand
prophecy literally.  However, classical dispensationalism stands in
urgent need of being brought into line with the results of a rigorous
exegesis of Scripture and a much more careful use of terminology.  The
teachings of the antinomian, no-law branch of Dispensationalism is
particularly deplorable.

Divorce
Yahushua's halakha on Divorce is reported in Mattatiyahu 5:31-32;
19:3-9; Mark 10:2-9 and Luke 16:18 and is based on the Torah
commandment:

Devarim 24:1

When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds
no favor in his eyes because he has found some unclean matter in her,
and he writes her a bill of divorcement, puts it in her hand, and
sends her out of his house,.

Sha'ul's halakhah on the matter of divorce is reported in Romans 7:2-3
and 1 Corinthians 7:10-17.

We begin by quoting the material as it appears in the Greek NT text. 
Then we shall suggest modifications based on the Semitic versions of
the NT.

To begin with, we examine

Mattatiyahu 5:31-32:

Furthermore it has been said, Whoever divorces his wife, let him give
her a bill of divorcement. (Devarim 24:1).  But I say to you: that
whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality
causes her to commit adultry, and whoever marries a woman who is
divorced commits adultry.

The Hebrew and Aramaic text of this passage is ambiguous and is
misrendered into Greek as "causes her to commit adultry."  The Semitic
text is better translated "does to her adultry."  That it is the man
not the wife who commits the adultry is clear from the parallel
passages in Mattatiyahu 19:9; Mark 10:11 and Luke 16:18.

Yahushua presents his case for these precepts in more detail in
Mattatiyahu 19:3-9, which parallels Mark 10:2-9 and Luke 16:18.  Here
Yahushua shows how these precepts are drawn from a Yalemmedenu
Homiletic Midrash on Genesis 2:24 and Deuteronomy 24:1. The keywords
for the midrash are: "man"; "put away" and "wife."  The Midrash takes
the following format:

Question/dialog:

3The Pharisees also came to him, testing him, and saying to him: "Is
it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?"

Initial passages:

4And he answered and said to them: "Have you not read that he who made
them at the beginning, 'made them male and female' (Genesis 1:27).

5And said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother
and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'
(Genesis 2:24)

Exposition:

6So then, they are no longer two but one flesh.  Therefore what Elohim
has joined together let no man seperate."

Further question/second text:

7They said to him, "Why then did Moses command to give a certificate
of divorce, and to put her away?"

Exposition:

8He said to them, "Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts,
permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not
so.

9And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual
immorality, and marries another, commits adultry, and whoever marries
her who is divorced commits adultry.

Yahushua's midrash is very relevant to first century Jewish halachic
debate on this issue.  Yahushua's use of Genesis 1:27 to prove his
halakhic position is paralled in the Dead Sea Scrolls:

.they are caught in two traps: fornication, by taking two wives in
their lifetimes although the principle of creation is: "male and
female He created them."

(Dam. Doc. Col. 4 line 20 thru Col. 5 line 1)

Even more significant is Yahushua's interpretation of Deuteronomy
24:1.  In the first century a major debate was ongoing as to the
meaning of the words for "uncleaen matter" in this text.  The debate
is recorded in the Mishnah as follows:

Mishnah, Order Nashim, Tractate Gittin 9:10

The School of Shammai say, "A man should divorce his wife only because
he has found grounds for it in unchastity, since it is said, "Because
he has found in her an unclean matter in anything" (Devarim 24:1).

And the School of Hillel say, "Even if she spoiled his dish, since it
is said, 'Because he has found in her an unclean matter in anything'"
(Devarim 24:1).

Rabbi Akiba says, "Even if he found someone else prettier than she,
since it is said, 'And it shall be if she find no favor in his eyes'
(Devarim 24:1)"

The controversy surrounded the ambiguity of the phrase "matter of
uncleanness."  This phrase in Hebrew can be taken literally, or can be
taken as an idiomatic expresion for fornication.  Yahushua, who is
usually a Hillelian teacher, here agrees with the strict
interpretation of the school of Shamai.  The looser interpretation of
Hillel prevailed in Rabbinic Judaism.

Let us examine Yahushua's position closer.  Yahushua uses Genesis 1:27
& 2:24 to argue for the stricter interpretation of "unclean matter" in
Deuteronomy 24:1.  In Mattatiyahu 19:8, Yahushua makes an important
observation: Deuteronomy 24:1 is not presented in the Torah as being
in the perfect will of YHWH.  A carefull reading of Deuteronomy 24:1-4
shows that 24:1 is an incidental statement in a larger Law which deals
with remarraige of the divorced.  However 24:1 says:

When a man takes a wife.and it happens that she find no favor in his
eyes.

Deuteronomy 24:1 simply says matter of factly, "when [divorce]
happens" and then discusses the issue of the Torah on remarraige. 
Yahushua points out that this is YHWH's recognition of man's will on
the subject and not the Almighty's will itself, which he finds in
Genesis 1:27 & 2:24.  All of this he uses to argue for the strictest
interpretation of "unclean matter" in Deuteronomy 24:1.

Now Yahushua draws two halakhot (rules on how to walk) from his
midrash reported in Mattatiyahu 19:9:

 Whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries
 another, commits adultry.

 Whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultry.

The second of these is mistranslated in the Greek of Mark 10:12 to say
"and if a woman divorces her husband."  The Aramaic should read "and
if a woman is divorced by her husband."  Under the halakhah of the
first century, a woman could not divorce her husband for any reason
(see Josephus, Antiquities 15:7:10 as well as Romans 7:2;
1 Corinthians 7:10, 39).

It is noteworthy that the Shem Tov text of Mattatiyahu 5:32 reads very
differently:

And I say to you that everyone who leaves his wife is to give her a
bill of divorcement.  But concerning adultry, he is the one who
commits adultry and he who takes her commits adultry.

Divre HaYamim
"The events of the days."  Hebrew name of the book Chronicles
(Annals).

Divri
Literally: "my word."  Leviticus 24:10-23 paints a vivid Torah-picture
which prophetically foreshadows the blaspheming False messiah of the
endtimes.  His mother's name was Shelomit, the daughter of Divri the
Danite.  The names Shelomit and Divri are very significant: Shelomit
means "peaceful," while Divri means "my word."  We know that the False
messiah will present himself as a herald of world peace (cf. the white
horse of Revelation 6), and that he will speak many great, pompous,
blasphemous words (cf. Dani'el 7).  Historical Egypt is a picture of
the revived Roman Empire of the endtimes.  Note that the blasphemer is
the son of an Egyptian father and an Israelite woman from the tribe of
Dan.  Dani'el 9:24-27 teaches that the Antichrist will be European,
and will rule the revived Roman Empire.  Ancient Jewish sages taught
that the evil world leader of the last days would be European and
would initially rule from Rome.  He was expected to come from the
tribe of Dan-cf. Genesis 49:17.

Dodi
My beloved.  The term by which the two loved ones addresses each other
in Shir HaShirim.

Ebionites
By the second century, the faction of Jewish believers in Yahushua who
came from the School of Shammai, was called the Ebionites.  In the
course of time, they were increasingly rejected by the increasingly
gentilised Christianity.

Eh-yeh
When Mosheh asks the Almighty His Name, He answered, "Eh-yeh asher
Eh-yeh."  Indicates past, present and future existence, with the
emphasis very strongly on the future.  The repetition indicates
intensity, so that the best rendering is not "I will be who I will
be," (which conveys ) but rather "I will be."  Often inaccurately
translated as "I am" in Exodus 3:14.

Eidut
Testimony; a sealed scroll handed to the kings of Yahudah and Israel
at the coronation ceremony.  See 2Kings 11:12, 2 Chronicles 23:11 and
Revelation 5.  Based on this, Revelation 4-5 may be interpreted as a
vision of the coronation of King Messiah in heaven.

El Elyon
El Most High.

El Erech Apa'im
A prayer mentioning the thirteen Attributes of the Almighty.

El Malei Rachamim
Literally: El, full of compassion; a prayer of remembrance.

Eloah Mahozim
The mighty one of fortified strongholds.  Dani'el 11:21-12:13
intimates that the False messiah of the latter days will be of the
same spirit as Antiochus IV "Epiphanes."  The events are reported with
an almost direct transition between the reign of Antiochus IV
"Epiphanes" the endtime reign of the Antichrist, with Dani'el 11:35
serving as the transition verse between historical time and the
eschaton.  Dani'el 11:38 states that this evil figure will not honour
the Elohim of his avot-the Mighty One whom his fathers worshipped-but
will honour Eloah Mahozim.  In The Coming of King Messiah, we have
linked this name with the religious system which developed from the
apostasy in ancient Babylon, a few generations after the Flood during
the days of Noach.  We saw that there is a chilling link between the
nature of that ancient pagan religious system, and the apostate
Rome-based paganised Christianity of today.  Putting it all together,
one comes to the conclusion that the Antichrist will be a European
Jewish man from the tribe of Dan, an apostate and traitor of his
people, who will arise from within paganised Christianity, with the
full backing of the leader of that system (the False prophet).

Elohim
Mighty one before whom one trembles in awe.  Used of YHWH the Father,
and also of the Son, as a plural of intensity and majesty.  Used of
idols and judges as a normal plural noun.  Elohim is not the personal
name of the Almighty, but a relational term.  In Tehillim 45:7, the
relationship between the prophetic poet and the Messiah is that the
Messiah is the Elohim of the human poet, while YHWH the Father is the
Elohim of His anointed Son.  Throughout Scripture, the Messiah is, in
His presence, YHWH Elohim manifest; yet in His service, He is the
servant of YHWH His Elohim, calling the Father "my Elohim" and "the
only true Elohim."

El Shaddai
The All-Sufficient and Almighty One.  Until the time of Mosheh, the
Almighty made Himself known to the patriarchs in the character
expressed by the name El Shaddai.  Ever since Mosheh, He has also
revealed Himself in the character expressed by the name
YHWH-everlasting, escalating, manifest existence expressed in loyal
covenantal love.

Emunah
Faith; the reinforcing triangular interaction between (1) knowledge
(da'at) of the truth (emet), (2) trust in this revealed truth, and (3)
obedience.  The term emunah is very rich and also contains the
concepts of love toward the Almighty, steadfastness, uprightness and
faithfulness.  We are saved by the loyal love of the Father and the
faithfulness of Yahushua the Messiah.  We accept this grace when we
heed the call of the Ruach of the Almighty and put our trust in the
fundamental truth of Scripture: vicarious atonement through the
Messiah.  Subsequently, we walk in emunah.  Note that we are not saved
by our faith, but by the grace of the Father and the faithfulness of
the Son-truths which are sowed in our heart by the Ruach HaKodesh. 
Scripture teaches covenantal nomism-YHWH draws us into the covenant by
unmerited grace.  Once saved, we have covenantal obligations, to which
we should be faithful with our entire being, not by external ritual
alone.

When many Gentiles accepted the Messiah, there was a problem with
communicating Scriptural truth to them in their language-languages
which were not the original vehicle for the Devar, and which contained
concepts which hindered the correct communication of the Devar.  The
Greek word pistes is somewhat poorer than the Hebraic concept of
emunah.  So the Almighty chose and sent chokhamim-Messianic Jewish
sages-to the Gentiles, to communicate the fulness of the Devar to them
in their own language, to fill out the pleroma (fulness) of the
Hebraic concepts in the Greek language.  We have the essence of the
inspired teachings of these chokhamim in the epistles of the
Sh'liachim.

Emunah is a glowing fire in the heart, not an intellectual confession
of doctrine; it is caught, not taught; it is a work of the Ruach
HaKodesh.

Enthronement festival
Scholar Sigmund Mowinckel identified Rosh HaShanah is the enthronement
festival major and Sukkot is the enthronement festival minor-refer to
the articles Day of the Lord and Sukkot in Encyclopedia Judaica.  The
major enthronement psalms in Scripture are Psalms 47, 93 and 96-99. 
Also study 2Samuel 6-7, Psalm 132 and 1Kings 8.

The eschatological model set forward in our study material on the
Messiah, # parrallel between David Chevron 7 years Yerushalayim
balance of kingship.

Ephrayim
Literally: "fruitfulness."
A tribe of Israel.

Episkopos [G]
A superintendent, bishop, overseer.

Episunagoge
A complete collection; a meeting (for worship).  Assembling
(gathering) together.

Eretz Yisrael
The Land Israel.

Erev Shabbat
Late Friday afternoon, just before Shabbat begins.  Eschatologically,
we are living in Erev Shabbat, i.e. at the end of the Olam HaZeh and
at the very threshold of Yom YHWH.

Erev
Dusk.  The day before, the eve of.

Erusha
A betrothed virgin.

Erusin
The betrothal ceremony.  The bridegroom paid a price-the mohar-for the
bride.  The bride accepted the bridegroom's betrothal offer by
drinking a cup of wine.  In ancient times, the formal betrothal
ceremony, constituting the first phase of marriage.

Yahushua the Messiah laid down his own life for us to buy us as His
bride, because our sinfulness is incompatible with the kadosh-ness of
the Almighty; without the Messiah our righteousness is as filthy rags
and we remain under the penalty of death.  His mohar (bride-price) was
his own life; the currency was his own blood, his broken body.  This
is the gate through which the righteous shall enter; there is no other
gate (cf. Tehillim 118).  The cup of wine that we drink, and the bread
that we eat during the meal dedicated to YHWH, is a symbol,
remembrance (zekher) and seal of our covenant status as a betrothed
bride who awaits the coming of our Bridegroom to take us to His
Father's house.

Esheth ish
A married woman.

Eved
Servant.  In the four prophetic songs about the Eved of YHWH in
Yesha'yahu 42-53, the Messiah is announced to be the Talmid (student)
of YHWH, the rejected and tortured One who will be resurrected from
the dead.  By His vicarious death, healing and salvation came to us. 
He is Yisra'el personified.  Whereas the nation Yisra'el failed as the
elect covenant partner of YHWH, the Eved of YHWH is the empowered One
who will not fail, will become the representative Head of the
redeemed, in whom the represented many receive salvation.

Etrog
Citron fruit; with the lulav, it is the symbol of Sukkot.  Citron
fruit taken as one of the four species on the Feast of Tabernacles. 
Based on a coded message in a specific Psalm, the sages taught that
Adam and Chavah trespassed in Gan Eden by eating an etrog.

Eytz Chayim
Tree of life.
YHWH wants to restore Chayim Olam to mankind, but only to those who
will do teshuvah (return to Him).  Because He knew that the nature of
mankind would be evil after eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge
of good and evil, YHWH prevented us from eating of Eytz Chayim (the
tree of life) by driving us out of Gan Eden.  Eating of that tree
would have locked us up in a state of sinfulness.

Eusebes [G]
Well-revered, i.e. pious and devout.

Even Shetiyah
The Foundation Stone in the Mikdash.

Ezra, ibn
Abraham ibn Ezra (1092-1164), poet, mathematician, astronomer,
grammarian, and Bible commentator, emerged as a philosopher through
his major work, Sefer Yesod Mora Ve-Sod HaTorah (Treatise on the
Foundation of Awe and the Secret of the Torah), in which he explains
the commandments found in the Bible. Sefer Yesod Mora is also one of
the first philosophical treatises to be written in Hebrew.

Rabbi ibn Ezra opens the Yesod Mora with an evaluation of the various
branches of knowledge, noting that man's rational soul separates human
beings from the rest of the animal kingdom.  He then analyses the role
of traditional learning in the development of the soul.  Ibn Ezra
addresses the importance of the knowledge of grammar, stating that one
cannot fully understand the text of the Torah without it. He also
discusses the study of the Bible and the Talmud, arguing that one
cannot properly comprehend the Talmud if one does not know the
sciences, for there are many passages in the Torah and the Talmud that
are either incomprehensible or given to misinterpretation by one who
has no prior knowledge of the sciences.

Rabbi Ibn Ezra believed that there is a reason for all the
commandments of the Torah and that all mitzvot possess a coherent
structure.  He maintains that an individual is obligated to observe
all the commandments, even if he does not understand their purpose or
function. He also explains that the mitzvot are divided into positive
and negative commandments, noting that the commandments are observed
through belief, speech, and action.

Sefer Yesod Mora greatly influenced Maimonides and many of the
concepts found in his Guide for the Perplexed, and traces of the Yesod
Mora can even be found in Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi's Tanya.

Ezrat Nashim
The Hall of the Women in the Temple compound; the outer Courtyard.

Ezrath Yisra'el
The Hall of Israel in the Temple compound.

Fasting
Why do Jews fast on Yom Kippur?  ViYikrah (Leviticus) 23 and BaMidbar
(Numbers) 29 both make it clear that Jews are to "afflict" or "deny"
their beings on Yom HaKippurim.  This has been interpreted to mean,
amongst other things, obstaining from food. bathing, sexual contact
and other kinds of pleasurable activity. This is most solemn day.

But how does fasting in particular accomplish afflicting your being? 
Fasting in the Torah is done on certain occasions only, and permitted
by the Rabbis for short periods only, usually not for more than 25
hours for various events like the anniversary of the death of someone,
a communal catastrophe, when tefillin or Torah books are dropped, and
on feast days like Yom Kippur and minor fast days like Purim Katan,
Tisha B'av and two or three others.

Denying yourself food, from a Jewish point of view, is a mechanism of
remembrance which reminds us that YHWH alone is sovereign over all,
and only He is to be served and worshipped, instead of our own needs.
It also instructs us that all things come from the Set-Apart One of
Israel, blessed be He, and not from our own efforts-Devarim 8, as our
pride would invariably dictate.

Fasting can be thought of as sending a message to YHWH that we
recognize His Kingship and provision which He has already blessed, but
was never meant to be a method through which we coerce the Almighty
into doing what we want, or invoke His presence, or into Him listening
to us, as if He does not hear us to begin with.  Those who practice
fasting to achieve these things are really practicing a form a
shamanism.  Fasting in the Tanakh, in fact, is not for YHWH or even
about YHWH.  It is about us, and our relationship to YHWH.  Fasting
never has as its goal (as in paganism) to reach the gods and please
them by denying the physical needs of the body.  It is not a mechanism
of guilt-removal to cleanse the conscience nor is this concept found
in Torah.  Except for personal grief or sorrow, Scriptural fasting is
almost always communal, not individual, in the Tanakh.

Thus we afflict our souls, by going against the grain of our natural
thoughts and perceptions.  It is in essense a "reality check" to help
up get back on track, that the prayer of Psalmist might come to pass.

Tehilim 51:10

Lev tahor barah li Elohim, v'ruach nachon chadesh ba-kirbi.

Create in me a pure heart, O Elohim, and renew a correct spirit within
me.

Yesha'yahu 58 deals with fasting; unfortunately this passage is almost
universally misunderstood and misapplied within contemporary
Christianity; it deals with communal fasting on Yom Kippur and is, in
fact, the Haftarah Scripture reading for Yom Kippur.

Fox
An inferior person.  One of low moral and intellectual stature, of
inferior pedigree.  Opposite: Lion.

Gal
Circle; wheel; heaven.  Names like Galil and Gilgal contain this
grammatical root.

Galil
The Galilee.

Galut
The Diasporah or dispersion of Israel.

Gan Eden
Literally: Garden of delight.  The Garden of Eden.  Paradise.


Order this Glossary from:

Johann van Rooyen
PO Box 5276
HELDERBERG
7135
SOUTH AFRICA

E-Mail:  JOHANVR@NAC.AC.ZA

                                        End of Part 5

**********************************************************************

1