Jeff A. Benner | The Way of Yahweh (Part 2 of 5) @ancienthebreworg | Uploaded May 2010 | Updated October 2024, 2 hours ago.
The first verse we will be looking at is Genesis 18:19, which in the Hebrew reads, "כי ידעתיו למען אשר יצוה את בניו ואת ביתו אחריו ושמרו דרך יהוה לעשות צדקה ומשפט "
The KJV of the Bible translates this verse as, "For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment."
We will be examining many of the words within this verse to provide their Hebraic understanding and in turn learn the concrete meanings of each of them.
Know
The first word we are going to examine is the word "know."
If we have met another person we would say "I know him." But the Hebrew word translated as "know" is not a casual knowledge of another, but an intimate knowledge.
This is the verb ידע in its ancient pictographic script. When we look at the use of this word in Genesis 4:1 we can understand the depth of intimacy this word implies. "And the man 'knew' his wife Eve and she conceived."
The parent root of this verb is דע. The first letter is a picture of a door and the second letter is a picture of an eye. Together these letters mean "the door of the eye."
Only someone you intimately know can you get close to and look into their eyes, the door into their soul.
A more precise meaning of this word is "to intimately and completely know."
Command
The Hebrew word behind "command" is the verb צוה. The first letter in this word is the tsade and is a picture of a trail, our first glimpse of the concrete nature of this word.
Instead of seeing the definition of the verb צוה as the abstract "command," a more concrete Hebraic definition is to "provide directions for the trail" as we can see in the following verse. And we journeyed from Horeb... Just as Yahweh our God directed us (Deuteronomy 1:19).
A very common noun derived out of the verb צוהis מצוה, often translated as "commandment," but would more Hebraicly be defined as "direction for the trail." And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to follow all these directions in front of Yahweh our God (Devariym 6:25).
Keep
We often equate the word "keep" with "obey" such as when we find this word in Deut 29:9, "Keep the words of this covenant." In contrast, we see the word "break" to mean "disobey," such as in Deut 31:16, "and they will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them."
The Hebrew verb פרר, does mean "break," but in a more concrete sense of trampling underfoot. " The verb שמר, often translated as "keep," means "to preserve, guard, protect."
In regards to the covenant, these words are not about obedience or disobedience, but ones actions toward the covenant. Will we take the covenant and throw it on the ground and trample on it, or will we hold it close and protect it. When we look at the word שמר from a concrete perspective in relation to a trail, it is about preserving or maintaining the trail.
Once a trail is established, how is it maintained? By walking in it. A trail that is constantly used will be preserved, while a trail in disuse will eventually disappear.
How do we maintain the directions of Yahweh? By walking in them and we can see this concrete imagery clearly in the KJV translation of Exodus 18:20, "And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do."
The first verse we will be looking at is Genesis 18:19, which in the Hebrew reads, "כי ידעתיו למען אשר יצוה את בניו ואת ביתו אחריו ושמרו דרך יהוה לעשות צדקה ומשפט "
The KJV of the Bible translates this verse as, "For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment."
We will be examining many of the words within this verse to provide their Hebraic understanding and in turn learn the concrete meanings of each of them.
Know
The first word we are going to examine is the word "know."
If we have met another person we would say "I know him." But the Hebrew word translated as "know" is not a casual knowledge of another, but an intimate knowledge.
This is the verb ידע in its ancient pictographic script. When we look at the use of this word in Genesis 4:1 we can understand the depth of intimacy this word implies. "And the man 'knew' his wife Eve and she conceived."
The parent root of this verb is דע. The first letter is a picture of a door and the second letter is a picture of an eye. Together these letters mean "the door of the eye."
Only someone you intimately know can you get close to and look into their eyes, the door into their soul.
A more precise meaning of this word is "to intimately and completely know."
Command
The Hebrew word behind "command" is the verb צוה. The first letter in this word is the tsade and is a picture of a trail, our first glimpse of the concrete nature of this word.
Instead of seeing the definition of the verb צוה as the abstract "command," a more concrete Hebraic definition is to "provide directions for the trail" as we can see in the following verse. And we journeyed from Horeb... Just as Yahweh our God directed us (Deuteronomy 1:19).
A very common noun derived out of the verb צוהis מצוה, often translated as "commandment," but would more Hebraicly be defined as "direction for the trail." And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to follow all these directions in front of Yahweh our God (Devariym 6:25).
Keep
We often equate the word "keep" with "obey" such as when we find this word in Deut 29:9, "Keep the words of this covenant." In contrast, we see the word "break" to mean "disobey," such as in Deut 31:16, "and they will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them."
The Hebrew verb פרר, does mean "break," but in a more concrete sense of trampling underfoot. " The verb שמר, often translated as "keep," means "to preserve, guard, protect."
In regards to the covenant, these words are not about obedience or disobedience, but ones actions toward the covenant. Will we take the covenant and throw it on the ground and trample on it, or will we hold it close and protect it. When we look at the word שמר from a concrete perspective in relation to a trail, it is about preserving or maintaining the trail.
Once a trail is established, how is it maintained? By walking in it. A trail that is constantly used will be preserved, while a trail in disuse will eventually disappear.
How do we maintain the directions of Yahweh? By walking in them and we can see this concrete imagery clearly in the KJV translation of Exodus 18:20, "And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do."
