Skip to main content

Words that Transform Our Understanding of Jesus and His Movement

 


“The Jesus Movement” was the original group of Jews that followed Yeshua, the Jewish Jesus of history, in the early first century CE. His movement can only be understood through the meanings of a handful of Hebrew words that were the foundation of his message. Once the Greek translations of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke began to circulate among Gentile churches, the message of Jesus changed.

 

In my previous email I discussed three things people who participate in our Bible studies bring to the meeting with them -- beliefs about the Bible, an English vocabulary, and life experiences. People reading the Greek Gospels brought with them -- beliefs about the Gospels, a Greek vocabulary, and life experiences from a variety of Gentile cultures. For over 1,800 years Christians did not have access to the Hebrew message of Jesus.

 

Science changed everything, beginning with archaeology. At the end of the 19th century CE, there were only about 20 ancient Greek manuscripts of books in the New Testament. Today, as the result of the work of archaeologists, we have access to over 6,000 Greek manuscripts. Science-based linguistic models were not part of the translating process before the 20th century. Until then, authority of religious institutions determined how words were translated. Reconstructing the Hebrew words behind the Greek words was unknow to church members until the late 20th century – and with that many things began to change.

 

There are a few Hebrew words that cannot be translated by using one English word. The way to solve this problem is to use transliterations of those Hebrew words and memorize their definitions. Add those transliterations to your vocabulary. Doing this with three key Hebrew words Jesus used many times in his teachings will transform your vision of him and his movement. Today I demonstrate the impact three words can have on a Bible study. Our study today focusing on three blessings in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5).

 

1. SHALOM – A social environment in which lives are complete, healthy, wholesome; relationships are harmonious and mutually beneficial; homes are safe; places are secure and restful; members are loyal and committed to each other and the community.

 

2. TOV (toe-v) – Acts that protect lives, preserve lives, make lives more functional, and increase the quality of life.

 

3. TZEDAQAH (tzeh-doc-kah) – Acts that are TOV and restore the SHALOM of a community by eliminating things that are breaking the SHALOM.

 

If I left out the transliterations in the definition of TZEDAQAH and included their meanings, this is how I would have to translate it!

_________________________________

 

“Acts that protect lives, preserve lives, make lives more functional, and increase the quality of life; restore the social environment in which lives are complete, healthy, wholesome; relationships are harmonious and mutually beneficial; homes are safe; places are secure and restful; members are loyal and committed to each other and the community.

 

Acts that eliminate things that make lives incomplete, unhealthy, unwholesome; things that create conflicts in relationships and benefit only one person at the expense of the others; make homes unsafe; make places insecure and chaotic; cause members to be unfaithful and uncommitted to each other and the community.”

_________________________________

 

When Jesus said “TZEDAQAH;” he meant all of those things! So, what English word do we find in our Bibles instead of TZEDAQAH? It is the translation of a Greek word that is translated either “righteous” or “righteousness.” Do those words mean what Jesus taught? Apply the information about to the blessings Jesus opened the Sermon on the Mount with.

 

5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for acts of TZEDAQAH.
They shall be filled.

 

What are those people thirsting for? Read the long definition of TZEDAQAH above. The people blessed here are not only “hungry and thirsty for food and water;” they are hungering and thirsty “for the people doing acts of TZEDAQAH to come forward.” They are the poor and oppressed, but they were also Jews who knew about TZEDAQAH and SHALOM. This blessing was a promise from Jesus to them and a call to action for his followers.

 

5:10 Blessed are those who pursue opportunities to do acts of TZEDAQAH.
They are the Kingdom of God.

 

This blessing sums up what Jesus and his movement were about. His vision was masses of people bursting forth and becoming actively engaged in pursuing opportunities to do acts of TZEDAQAH. Wow! What a powerful vision!

 

5:9 Blessed are the SHALOM Makers,
They shall be called Sons of God.

                                                                                                           

SHALOM Makers are actively engaged in guarding and restoring the SHALOM of the community. This is a team effort! Now, take another look at the blessings, and then consider the answers for the questions below:

 

1. Do they describe what Christians what are taught to do today?

 

2. What would societies be like if groups of people were constantly engaged in doing those things?

 

My next email will be about what Jesus taught about salvation and the afterlife.

 

May you increase SHALOM,

Jim Myers 

Helping People Examine Their Beliefs

● Adopt Shared Morals & Values ● Network to Make SHALOM

● Donate ● Subscribe ● “Like” on Facebook ● Visit our Bookstore


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It’s a Yod -- NOT a Jot and Tittle!

Not only did Yeshua read and speak Hebrew, so did his followers and disciples! Two very well known, but not accurately understood words in the Gospel of Matthew prove it – jot and tittle . For some reason jot and tittle stick in the minds of Christian Bible readers. But when you ask them what jot or tittle mean, you get a lot of conflicting and some really weird answers. Today, you are going to get the facts about what Yeshua originally said and how they ended up in English translations of the Bible as jot and tittle . Let’s begin by reading Matthew 5:18 from the King James translation: For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. If you have not read the article “ From Yeshua to Jesus ” in Yeshua’s Kingdom Handbook please take a moment to read it online by clicking here before you continue. In it you will see how we began with the name “ Jesus ” and traced it through Lati...
Post a Comment
Read more

Do Not Say RAQA! - Yeshua on Anger (Part 2)

In the last blog, we covered the first part of Yeshua’s lesson on Anger -- An Angry Person Should be Tried in Court like a Murderer – keep in mind that “anger” is the focus of Yeshua’s lesson. “Whoever says to a brother, ‘ RAKA ,’ shall be answerable to the Sanhedrin.” [i] Yeshua reveals that the seriousness of the offense has become greater by elevating the crime to the next highest court – the Sanhedrin . It is the highest court in the nation and would be the equivalent of our Supreme Court. What makes this offense more serious than murder, to keep things in the context established by Yeshua? It is because of what the angry person said out of anger – “ RAKA !” RAKA is the English transliteration of the Greek word found in the ancient manuscripts of Matthew. Interestingly, the Greek word is also a transliteration of a Hebrew word into Greek. Keep in mind that when a translator working on a translation of a Greek manuscript transliterates a Greek word, he only finds ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Prayer Yeshua Prayed Twice Every Day

One of Jesus’s earliest memories was no doubt watching and listening to his family when they gathered to pray the Shema at sunrise before the day’s work began and after the working work day was over at sunset . He also heard and participated in praying the Shema at their synagogue. He was surrounded by neighbors who also prayed the same prayer in their homes every day. The Hebrew word for prayer is tefilah . It is derived from the root Pe-Lamed-Lamed and the word l'hitpalel, meaning “ to judge oneself .” This surprising word origin provides insight into the purpose of Jewish prayer. The most important part of any Jewish prayer, whether it be a prayer of petition, of thanksgiving, of praise of God, or of confession, is the introspection it provides, the moment that we spend looking inside ourselves, seeing our role in the universe and our relationship to God. [1] Most of Jewish prayers are expressed in the first person plural, "us" instead of "me," an...
Post a Comment
Read more