From today, I’m going to be writing a series of articles dealing with language and styles of thinking.
This information is going to be key to grasping how the Lord speaks to us through the Bible, especially concerning the RELATIONSHIPS between “sin & uncleanness” and “holiness & uncleanness”.
Also, given where we’re at in Leviticus at the moment, the timing is perfect to introduce this information.
The first issue I need to tackle and one that always brings up much debate concerns the original Bible languages.
The common assumption is that Old Testament was first penned in Hebrew while the New Testament was originally written in Greek.
On a simplistic level, I would say that is a fairly accurate assumption.
But you should also know there are quite a few scholars out there who are pretty confident that even the New Testament was originally written in Hebrew or Aramaic, but soon afterwards was translated into Greek which was the lingua franca of the day.
I’m not going to be exploring that issue, but wanted you to be aware that this is what some scholars believe.
For purposes of our discussion, I’m going to be sticking with the common assumption that Hebrew was the original Old Testament language and Greek was the original New Testament language.
Now having said that, the first most important point I need to make is this:
THE HEBREWS WROTE THE ENTIRE BIBLE!
And when I say the “entire Bible”, I mean BOTH the Old AND the New Testament.
The possible exception to this may be the Gospel of Luke, but I would say even that is debatable.
Either way, even if Luke was a gentile, he represents such a small part of the total Biblical record.
And Luke’s works were basically a putting together of the personal accounts of the Hebrews who had encountered the Messiah anyway.
So before we even go one step further, I need to make it crystal clear that the ENTIRE BIBLE was written by Hebrews.
This is a fact that has never come up against any serious challenge.
Why is this important?
It’s important because both the Old and New Testament reflect a Hebrew-style of thinking.
Just because the New Testament was written in Greek does NOT, and I repeat, DOES NOT mean it reflects Greek gentile linear thinking.
Even the New Testament is a Hebrew book through and through.
In order to properly understand both the Old and the New Testament, you have to think like a Hebrew.
The first message the Word of God said to me in the early morning hours of October of 2008 is,
THIS IS THE WORD OF GOD.
Days later the Word of God spoke to me in the early morning hours and said,
HAVE FAITH AND BELIEVE IN THE WORD OF GOD.
In the beginning days of November of 2008 the Word of God spoke to me in the early morning hours and said,
I AM THE LORD THY GOD,
I AM THE WORD OF GOD,
I AM THE JUST JUDGE.
Days later the Word of God spoke to me in the early morning hours and said,
NEVER LOOSE FAITH IN THE WORD OF GOD.
Amen!
As the people of eber (cross over later people of the book ) are descendants of Noah situated in Canaan and the names of thier gods are Hebrew names then this means that language and its belief have always been situated in that are and was one of the original Canaanite languages . According to certain researches of the early twentieth century.
Thanks for sharing Roy.
I’ve watched a few of Rabbi Tovia Singer’s videos and he reckons that one should ignore the NT ands it is not to be considered the Word of God. He even gives and s’n example of how the book if Hebrews changes the words of Jeremiah. As someone who seeks for truth this is worrying how could Paul make such and such a mistake?
I will probably make enemies but it must be pointed out. Jesus had His enemies and they were well aware of what His claims were and what impact they would have. Their efforts to quell the spread of Jesus’ words are well known. Later, during the spread of Christianity, the Masoretes Canonized what they wanted to be recognized a “Scripturaly Holy”. The Masoretic Text was the one most used to translate the Bible
into English. It was excepted until the 1930s when the Dead Sea Scrolls were found.
What they found were redactions in the Masoretic text and several in the books of
the prophets. The sayings of Isaiah were shown to be more “Messianic” in the Scrolls than in the Masoretic text. Since the scrolls were older, they were the best gauge and indicators of what the actual texts that were available to Jesus and what He learned from. The Torah probably wasn’t misquoted by the Hebrew author (whoever he may be. I personally think it sounds like Paul’s logic but others still debate it). Don’t let it trouble you, we see in the Bible in both Old and New testaments just what lengths Jewish Rabbis were willing to go to preserve their status as lawgivers. “The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible” is an excellent resource and placed next to the modern translations (including the King James) the tones and meanings of the separate scripts are readily discernible. It’s too easy to see and too obvious that someone was trying to hide something. The Scrolls were even more clear about the nature of the coming of the Messiah. The scrolls better establish the roll of Yeshua.
Here’s the conclusion that I’ve reached – that I am persuaded of…not only was the entire Bible written by Hebrews (and I believe that Luke was a convert or “grafted in”)…but that the Bible was written by Spirit- filled men – each and every one. In other words – they were all sons of YHVH (and they will all be in the first resurrection).
There is one consistent Spirit at work from Genesis to Revelation – I believe this is undeniable.
Thanks for sharing Doug. I 100% agree with your comment. Shalom.