The language of ivrit ( עברית ) Genesis 34, Post #4
Welcome to my Hebrew reading & language series.
Genesis 34:18-24 *source* https://www.revelationmedia.com/graphics/pb/image_catalogue/image322.jpeg
Today is the day that an entire city goes under the knife. What a wretched request. What a painful proposal we saw last week.
So now, Shechem is giving the hard sell to all the men of the city. I guess they are being asked to put some skin in the game - pun intended.
In reality, God always said that
one could be circumcised if he ***wanted*** to live among the Jews or sojourn with them. Essentially, one could convert by accepting the surgery required and then they would have all the rights and requirements under the law, though they could never become Levites (Levi-yim) or priests.
Since Jacob had set up camp and bought the land next to Shechem, the city was not really sojourning with Israel. I think that is why Genesis says that the brothers dealt deceitfully with Shechem.
The passage for today is a bit longer than I usually make it, but it covers the sales pitch, pros and cons, and the act itself. I guess they all agreed because they went through with the deed. This entire chapter is difficult to imagine in real life and it is also difficult to accept what comes next...
Today's reading
*English*
Their words pleased Hamor and Hamor's son Shechem. And the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he delighted in Jacob's daughter. Now he was the most honored of all his father's house. So Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city, saying, "These men are at peace with us; let them dwell in the land and trade in it, for behold, the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters as wives, and let us give them our daughters. Only on this condition will the men agree to dwell with us to become one people— when every male among us is circumcised as they are circumcised. Will not their livestock, their property and all their beasts be ours? Only let us agree with them, and they will dwell with us." And all who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.
*Hebrew*
***The story continues next week with a shift to war...***
**Info on each letter starting at the beginning**
*If you are just starting, my lessons are all here starting at Alef, adding vowels (the dots and lines) as we go. I explain the meaning of each letter and its numerical value. Just go to my blog and scroll to the bottom or* *click here* https://hive.blog/test/@hebrew/test
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Shabbat Shalom
The language of ivrit ( עברית ) Genesis 34, Post #3
Welcome to my Hebrew reading & language series.
Genesis 34:13-17
*source* https://pxhere.com/en/photo/1235242
What is your word worth? I ask that because I saw the context of the conversation, Jacob's boys to Shechem, where it says they dealt with Shechem **deceitfully**. If I lie when dealing with people, my reputation suffers. I might win one battle, but the entire business may go under for a lack of another sucker. Word gets out when people fail to keep promises. I am not saying what will happen. I am saying that the lead up to the rest of the story has spoken of deceit.
The entire reading today is a condition under which Shechem could marry Dinah and a promise that they would be able to intermarry and live in peace. All males would need to undergo a procedure. I do not like the idea of *injuring* all of the men in an entire city. Then again, the first move was made by Shechem.
Today's reading
*English*
The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully, because he had defiled their sister Dinah. They said to them, "We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a disgrace to us. Only on this condition will we agree with you — that you will become as we are by every male among you being circumcised. Then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to ourselves, and we will dwell with you and become one people. But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter, and we will be gone."
*Hebrew*
**Info on each letter starting at the beginning**
*If you are just starting, my lessons are all here starting at Alef, adding vowels (the dots and lines) as we go. I explain the meaning of each letter and its numerical value. Just go to my blog and scroll to the bottom or* *click here* https://hive.blog/test/@hebrew/test
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Shabbat Shalom
The language of ivrit ( עברית ) Genesis 34, Post #2
Welcome to my Hebrew reading & language series.
Genesis 34:7-12
One line stands out in the next passage we are reading.
"For such a thing must not be done."
We left off with the rape of Dinah, Jacob's daughter. We pick back up with the story as her brothers get wind of what has happened to her, and they are angry.
Get milk, then buy the cow. *source* https://pxhere.com/en/photo/854525
The perpetrator happens to be the Prince and his father speaks first, ignoring the fact that his son took the milk without permission and now wants to buy the cow. He comes up with the brilliant idea of hanging out together and allowing all young ones to fall in love and get married. "Go grab a few of our daughters and take them for a test drive." is a loose translation. In my opinion, that would only throw gasoline on the flames of their anger.
Then the Prince himself speaks up, saying he would pay any price to have her as his wife. The Hebrew has the Prince saying, "What you say, I will give. Increase the bride price and gift exceedingly on me and I will give what you say."
I look at Shechem's offer with contempt. He likely has no money of his own and has grown up paying any price for anything he wants because he has never had to earn any of it. Pork roast cannot be served at a Jewish wedding nor burgers brought to a vegan dinner, but it would be fine as long as you bring enough for everyone. Does that makes sense?
We now have an emergency adjustment to the cultural norms coming.
The price will be great and the learning curve steep!
Today's reading
*English*
The sons of Jacob had come in from the field as soon as they heard of it, and the men were indignant and very angry, because he had done an outrageous thing in Israel by lying with Jacob's daughter, for such a thing must not be done.
But Hamor spoke with them, saying, "The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him to be his wife. Make marriages with us. Give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. You shall dwell with us, and the land shall be open to you. Dwell and trade in it, and get property in it." Shechem also said to her father and to her brothers, "Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give. Ask me for as great a bride price and gift as you will, and I will give whatever you say to me. Only give me the young woman to be my wife."
*Hebrew*
***The story continues next week as they name the price...***
**Info on each letter starting at the beginning**
*If you are just starting, my lessons are all here starting at Alef, adding vowels (the dots and lines) as we go. I explain the meaning of each letter and its numerical value. Just go to my blog and scroll to the bottom or* *click here* https://hive.blog/test/@hebrew/test
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Shabbat Shalom
The language of ivrit ( עברית ) Genesis 34, Post #1
Welcome to my Hebrew reading & language series.
Genesis 34:1-6
Most love stories start out with a couple meeting, falling in love, and then getting intimate, which leads to having a family. Apparently, the sons of Hamor were a backwards crowd. They do things differently. You see, Dinah went out to see what the neighbors were like. She was seeking female friends but found the prince instead.
*source* https://cdn.images.express.co.uk/img/dynamic/78/674x400/Rape-705389.jpg
Shechem, the prince, "seized her and lay with her" says our passage today. In other words, he raped her. So she had been out looking for friends and got raped in the process. It says that Shechem then fell in love with her and treated her "tenderly". He then went to his father and wanted him the get this same girl to be his wife.
We have a potentially explosive situation as Dinah's father finds
out about the rape and Shechem's father heads out to talk to Jacob about plans for marriage - post humiliation. In those days, a man would approach a girl's father (before having sex with her) and offer a certain amount of wealth in a contract, showing interest in his daughter. Then he would prepare living quarters for the him and his new wife. Only when the living quarters were acceptable, then he could go get his wife to be.
Yes, today's events are quite opposite from what was the norm in those days. The reading for today says that Jacob's sons did not know about what had happened to Dinah, but that will change next week.
Today's reading
*English*
Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the women of the land. And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, he seized her and lay with her and humiliated her. And his soul was drawn to Dinah the daughter of Jacob. He loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her. So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, "Get me this girl for my wife."
Now Jacob heard that he had defiled his daughter Dinah. But his sons were with his livestock in the field, so Jacob held his peace until they came. And Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him.
*Hebrew*
***The story continues next week as her brothers find out...***
Info on each letter starting at the beginning
*If you are just starting, my lessons are all here starting at Alef, adding vowels (the dots and lines) as we go. I explain the meaning of each letter and its numerical value. Just go to my blog and scroll to the bottom or* *click here* https://hive.blog/test/@hebrew/test
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Shabbat Shalom
The language of ivrit ( עברית ) Genesis 33 , Post #4
Welcome to my Hebrew reading & language series.
Genesis 33:16-20
Present day Shechem *source* https://bleon1.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/shechem_dsc03784.png
We are finishing another chapter today. Congrats if you are still with me.!
We saw Jacob reunited with his brother last week. He chose to stay behind and move at his own pace after receiving a welcome from Esau. Then he went to Shechem instead of Seir where Esau went.
He seems to be settling down by buying a piece of land just outside Shechem. The place is called Succoth, as defined by today's passage, and it means "**booths**", referring to the booths he made for his livestock.
In modern times, we have an ***appointed time*** called Sukkot, Sucot, or Succoth. The spelling in English makes no real difference. There is only one spelling in Hebrew.
Sukkot is one of many "Moedim" (appointed times) required by God to be kept. Some call them Jewish holidays but they are really appointments with God. **Sukkot starts as the sun sets on October 9, exactly a month from today**, and will last for seven days. People who follow the instructions of God will build booths outside of their home, and live in their booths for seven days.
Many people still go inside to use their shower, bathrooms, and to get things from the refrigerator during these days, but they spend most of their time in their booths.
Lastly, the reading for today closes with Jacob building an alter on his new land, and he called it El Elohe Israel (God, God of Israel). What a nice way to accept and start using his new name!
Today's reading
*English*
So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir. But Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built himself a house and made booths for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth. And Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, on his way from Paddan- aram, and he camped before the city. And from the sons of Hamor, Shechem's father, he bought for a hundred pieces of money the piece of land on which he had pitched his tent. There he erected an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.
*Hebrew*
***The story continues with a sister's humiliation...***
Info on each letter starting at the beginning
*If you are just starting, my lessons are all here starting at Alef, adding vowels (the dots and lines) as we go. I explain the meaning of each letter and its numerical value. Just go to my blog and scroll to the bottom or* *click here* https://hive.blog/test/@hebrew/test
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Shabbat Shalom
The language of ivrit ( עברית ) Genesis 33, Post #3
Welcome to my Hebrew reading & language series.
Genesis 33:12-15
*source* https://pxhere.com/en/photo/973463
We saw Jacob meeting up with his brother last week and all seems to be fine. Esau asked that they follow him, but Jacob chooses to stay in one place and rest, then follow along at a slower pace for the children and nursing lambs. So as soon as they are together again, they are to be separated and Esau does not even know the names of his sisters in law or their children yet. I think Jacob just wanted to establish that the anger of his brother is gone.
Esau also offers to leave some of his servants with Jacob, but Jacob says there is no need for that either. If I were Esau, I would want to stay and meet some of my nieces and nephews (at least). They could have easily shared a meal and talked a bit. Then again, these brothers were competing since they were in their mother's womb. Why push their luck and risk another rift.
We are back to the point when the verse numbers align correctly in both Hebrew and English. The interpretation is always spot on, it is just confusing to find things when given a verse number and then it does not match.
Today's reading
*English*
Then Esau said, "Let us journey on our way, and I will go ahead of you." But Jacob said to him, "My lord knows that the children are frail, and that the nursing flocks and herds are a care to me. If they are driven hard for one day, all the flocks will die. Let my lord pass on ahead of his servant, and I will lead on slowly, at the pace of the livestock that are ahead of me and at the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir." So Esau said, "Let me leave with you some of the people who are with me." But he said, "What need is there? Let me find favor in the sight of my lord."
*Hebrew*
***The story continues next week as Jacob goes to Succoth...***
Info on each letter starting at the beginning
*If you are just starting, my lessons are all here starting at Alef, adding vowels (the dots and lines) as we go. I explain the meaning of each letter and its numerical value. Just go to my blog and scroll to the bottom or* *click here* https://hive.blog/test/@hebrew/test
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Shabbat Shalom
The language of ivrit ( עברית ) Genesis 33, Post #2
Welcome to my Hebrew reading & language series.
Genesis 33:6:11
*source* https://pxhere.com/en/photo/264884
So Esau finally gets to see his long lost brother. The topic for this reading is **presents**.
You know, when you try to give someone something and they refuse. Then you argue a bit, then a bit more. In my family, sometimes it even gets heated. "Just take it! I won't take 'no' for an answer." and one party breaks down and accepts the gift so as not to have a rupture in family relationships.
That is what happens in the Hebrew reading for today. It is still a very happy event, especially now that Jacob (Israel) knows that his brother is not intent on killing him.
Besides the presents, we have Jacob pouring it on with the talk of "...my lord." and "...seeing you is like looking at the face of God." I do not see anyone asking Jacob what happened to his hip but then again, there will be more dialogue coming next week as Jacob is allowed to stay in the land of his forefathers.
Today's reading
*English*
Then the servants drew near, they and their children, and bowed down. Leah likewise and her children drew near and bowed down. And last Joseph and Rachel drew near, and they bowed down. Esau said, "What do you mean by all this company that I met?" Jacob answered, "To find favor in the sight of my lord." But Esau said, "I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself." Jacob said, "No, please, if I have found favor in your sight, then accept my present from my hand. For I have seen your face, which is like seeing the face of God, and you have accepted me. Please accept my blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough." Thus he urged him, and he took it.
*Hebrew*
***The story continues next week as Esau invites them over...***
**Info on each letter starting at the beginning**
*If you are just starting, my lessons are all here starting at Alef, adding vowels (the dots and lines) as we go. I explain the meaning of each letter and its numerical value. Just go to my blog and scroll to the bottom or* *click here* https://hive.blog/test/@hebrew/test
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Shabbat Shalom
The language of ivrit ( עברית ) Genesis 33, Post #1
Welcome to my Hebrew reading & language series.
Genesis 33:1-5
*source* https://www.firstpreswh.org/wp-content/uploads/Dana13-300x196.jpg
We saw Jacob's fear of his brother last week as he had sent droves of presents ahead of him to meet his brother. Then we saw how he wrestled with God and prevailed.
Now the moment of truth comes. He looks up and sees his brother coming with hundreds of men. He continues to build one drove after another, ending with his wives and children in groups. Jacob walks just ahead of his precious family and bows every so often with his face to the ground, getting closer and closer to his brother and the band of men who are with him. When Esau got close enough, he ran and fell down and kissed Jacob's neck. It turns out that he was not angry at all. He is thrilled to meet his sisters-in-law, his nieces and nephews.
The last time Jacob saw Esau, Esau had threatened to kill him. His parents had held them apart until Jacob could be sent far away to look for a wife. There was no way of knowing if Esau's threat was still good or not. Jacob was doing everything he could to cool his brother's temper. This could have been the end of the tribe of Israel and only days after it was born. It is a good thing that family is always family, valued more as time goes on between siblings.
I think God knew that Esau had cooled down. That might also be the reason God injured Jacob's sciatic nerve. If not, then Jacob may have run, but in his weakened state, no chance of that now.
Today's reading
*English*
And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two female servants. And he put the servants with their children in front, then Leah with her children, and Rachel and Joseph last of all. He himself went on before them, bowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.
But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. And when Esau lifted up his eyes and saw the women and children, he said, "Who are these with you?" Jacob said, "The children whom God has graciously given your servant."
*Hebrew*
***The story continues next week as Jacob explains the droves...***
**Info on each letter starting at the beginning**
*If you are just starting, my lessons are all here starting at Alef, adding vowels (the dots and lines) as we go. I explain the meaning of each letter and its numerical value. Just go to my blog and scroll to the bottom or* *click here* https://hive.blog/test/@hebrew/test
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Shabbat Shalom
The language of ivrit ( עברית ) Genesis 32, Post #6
Welcome to my Hebrew reading & language series.
Genesis 32:26-33
*source* https://tse4.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.ig6IlhfVHhkH7NX4u-nN2QHaDt
More than a quarter of a century has passed from Abraham to Jacob, all leading up to the birth of Israel. He spent more than twenty years obtaining wives and having children with them and today's reading introduces us to Israel. He was Jacob before and now he is Israel.
Israel means to " *struggle with God* " as seen below, although he
did struggle with God and with men throughout his life even inserting himself where he maybe should not have. See the time when he dressed up like his brother and got his father's blessing. For that reason, he was here today with his family and servants going ahead of him in droves in the hopes of calming his brother's anger.
He was alone and a stranger shows up. We know that the stranger was God himself because the name suggests that and Jacob's own words confirm the identity of the ***man*** that injured his hip.
Above, we have the words of the "man" that struggled with Jacob. The pink lines highlight the letters referring to the word *struggle* and the letters above the blue lines are "El" which is short for God. The difference in vowel markings denote *yee-se-ra* (he struggled) in the word *Israel* and *sah-ree* (part of sa-ree-tah - you have struggled).
On that same note, those reading will find that he mentions the name of the place being Penuel which is *penu*, which must match the plural masculine word for God's title "elohim" - together they mean "the face of God" or God's face. The other word you may notice is Peniel which gives more of a sense of him saying 'my face' plus 'God' or "God saw my face."
Today's reading
*English*
When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, "Let me go, for the day has broken." But Jacob said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." And he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." Then he said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed." Then Jacob asked him, "Please tell
me your name." But he said, "Why is it that you ask my name?" And there he blessed him.
So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, 'saying, "For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered." The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. Therefore to this day the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the sciatic nerve at the thigh that is on the hip socket, because he touched the socket of Jacob's hip on the sinew of the sciatic nerve.
*Hebrew*
***The story continues next week as Israel bows to Esau...***
**Info on each letter starting at the beginning**
*If you are just starting, my lessons are all here starting at Alef, adding vowels (the dots and lines) as we go. I explain the meaning of each letter and its numerical value. Just go to my blog and scroll to the bottom or* *click here* https://hive.blog/test/@hebrew/test
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Shabbat Shalom
The language of ivrit ( עברית ) Genesis 32, Post #5
Welcome to my Hebrew reading & language series.
Genesis 32:20-25
Movie *source* at 11:13:39 https://www.actvid.com/watch-movie/watch-jacob-full-64849.5493250
There was only this line animals and servants moving ahead to meet Esau in the movie portrayal of this story. In the Tanakh, however, there were droves of gifts sent ahead to meet Jacob's brother. Our text describes how each drove is to say that Jacob is coming up right behind them. After so many waves of presents, he hopes to be accepted (not killed) by his brother.
It says he had sent the rest that night and he stayed alone. But somehow, " *a man wrestled with him until daybreak.* " How is that possible? He had been alone after everyone had left. Many believe this " ***man*** " was a pre-incarnate appearance of the Mashiach Yeshua. Christians call these events *Christophanies* or Christ-manifestations. The reason is that just up ahead, we will see a quote from this same *Christophany* saying, "you have wrestled with God and prevailed."
Elsewhere in the writings we see that **no man can look upon God and live**, including Mosheh (Moses) who was only allowed to see the trail of God's glory passing by as he hid in the rocks. So the assumption is made that there is no way for a man to wrestle with God, unless it be the Son of Man who appeared many times, including that time when Abraham gave him a tenth of everything he had much earlier in Genesis. A deep topic this is, which is worth writing about and also worth further study.
Today's reading
*English*
He likewise instructed the second and the third and all who followed the droves, "You shall say the same thing to Esau when you find him, and you shall say, 'Moreover, your servant Jacob is behind us.' " For he thought, "I may appease him' with the present that goes ahead of me, and afterward I shall see his face. Perhaps he will accept me." So the present passed on ahead of him, and he himself stayed that night in the camp.
Jacob Wrestles with God
The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had. And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.
*Hebrew*
***The story continues next week as Israel is born...***
**Info on each letter starting at the beginning**
*If you are just starting, my lessons are all here starting at Alef, adding vowels (the dots and lines) as we go. I explain the meaning of each letter and its numerical value. Just go to my blog and scroll to the bottom or* *click here* https://hive.blog/test/@hebrew/test
***Get your Hebrew Bible now!***
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Shabbat Shalom
The language of ivrit ( עברית ) Genesis 32, Post #4
Welcome to my Hebrew reading & language series.
Genesis 32:14-19
*image source* https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PwMQpi1SE8w/WWEcn7TBNII/AAAAAAAASXI/5d40uyJjVKgthZTKtTIcSXVPEvLhQIORACLcBGAs/s1600/Story12.PNG
We saw Jacob praying last week because he was afraid of what will happen when he meets his burly sibling again. There is so much more to lose now than when he had left. Back then, he could have been killed by an angry brother but now, his wives and kids were all at risk.
So this week, he is sending presents ahead in **droves**. If you
use the word 'droves' today, it is likely because people read that word in The Bible before you were born. Each drove was to meet Esau and tell him about Jacob who will come to him soon. Each one brought gifts and each was separated by some time so that Esau would be appeased by the presents. Jacob's strategy also put only his servants at risk. Will it work?
This is a long chapter and for good reason.
I have a bit of trouble making my series flow when the numbers are off. I keep telling myself to follow the number written on the Hebrew which is what I read. So this post ends before verse twenty in Hebrew but is stopping before verse nineteen in the English interpretation. Other than that, the ESV is doing justice to the Hebrew except for the word Lord, which is neither respectful nor His actual Name. I prefer *Ha Shem*, if you cannot say the name. At least *Ha Shem* is better than a word that also represents *husband* or worse *Ba'al*, who was a false god.
Today's reading
*English*
So he stayed there that night, and from what he had with him he took a present for his brother Esau, two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, thirty milking camels and their calves, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. These he handed over to his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, "Pass on ahead of me and put a space between drove and drove." He instructed the first, "When Esau my brother meets you and asks you, 'To whom do you belong? Where are you going? And whose are these ahead of you?' then you shall say, 'They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a present sent to my lord Esau. And moreover, he is behind us.'"
*Hebrew*
***The story continues next week as droves continue...***
***Info on each letter starting at the beginning***
*If you are just starting, my lessons are all here starting at Alef, adding vowels (the dots and lines) as we go. I explain the meaning of each letter and its numerical value. Just go to my blog and scroll to the bottom or* *click here* https://hive.blog/test/@hebrew/test
***Get your Hebrew Bible now!***
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Shabbat Shalom
Note: I used the words *chosen people* last week and someone got lost and could not read further. Some of the things that they people were chosen for are not elegant, privileged, or in any way desirable. A father disciplined his child and not the children of his neighbors. The Jews have been enslaved, banished, exiled, and even gassed due to their having been chosen. They did, however, produce a lowly but faithful woman who mothered God in flesh.
He will be back for every person of the human race and his adversary is already back, accepting every member of the same race, forking it if you will. Whose chosen are you?
The language of ivrit ( עברית ) Genesis 32, Post #3
Welcome to my Hebrew reading & language series.
Genesis 32:10-14
Movie capture *source* at 1:16 https://www.actvid.com/watch-movie/watch-jacob-full-64849.3921736
Jacob is at a very tense time in his life. He is returning near the place of his upbringing and is very worried about his brother taking revenge against him for the birthright incident. He has separated his camp into two so that if one is attacked, the other will survive.
Now he goes off to pray to the Creator, which is what we are reading today. He recounts what G-d had promised. He also asks to be delivered from the hand of his brother Esau.
These very same children that travel with him today will one day mistreat their little brother and live with that very real crime for many years. Then they will also have to confront their brother who will then be the prime minister of Egypt during a famine. This same theme seems to haunt the sons of Abraham down through the generations. Then again, maybe it haunts all imperfect men as they regret wrong deeds of their past, even into our present day men and brothers - women and sisters.
Today's reading
*English*
And Jacob said, "O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, YHVH who said to me, 'Return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good,' I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children. But you said, 'I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.' "
*Hebrew*
***The story continues next week as Jacob prepares gifts for Esau...***
***Info on each letter starting at the beginning***
*If you are just starting, my lessons are all here starting at Alef, adding vowels (the dots and lines) as we go. I explain the meaning of each letter and its numerical value. Just go to my blog and scroll to the bottom or* *click here* https://hive.blog/test/@hebrew/test
***Get your Hebrew Bible now!***
Click here to obtain the book we are using. It is a free download or browser usable. https://archive.org/stream/ESVInterlinearOT/ESV%20Interlinear%20OT#page/n3/mode/2up
Thanks for reading.
Shabbat Shalom
The language of ivrit ( עברית ) Genesis 32, Post #2
Welcome to my Hebrew reading & language series.
Genesis 32:6-9
Movie *source* at 1:14 https://www.actvid.com/watch-movie/watch-jacob-full-64849.3921736
Last week, Jacob sent a messenger out to find his brother Esau. The messenger was to tell him that the gifts are for him and that Jacob is on his way.
This week the messenger returned saying that Esau is on his way and there are four hundred men with him. The text does not say if the messenger had delivered the message or not. It only says that Jacob was fearful and he divided his family and possessions into two camps so that if Esau attacks one group, the other might possibly escape.
It is very sad that they had had this problem as young men and now, them both being grown men with riches and servants, they meet with arms and possession in a war like stance. But Esau is the least of Jacob's worries because he is about to wrestle with God himself.
As a side note, this is a good point at which to note that Hebrew and English verse numbers do not always match as you read the texts. That happens a lot in the Psalms because one verse is instructional at the beginning of each. But this exact thing is happening at this point in our reading. Next week will start at verse 9 in the English and Verse 10 in the Hebrew. For that reason, there may be some overlapping in the verses in one language or the other.
Today's reading
*English*
And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, "We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and there are four hundred men with him." Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. He divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two camps, thinking, "If Esau comes to the one camp and attacks it, then the camp that is left will escape."
*Hebrew*
***The story continues next week as Jacob prays...***
Info on each letter starting at the beginning
*If you are just starting, my lessons are all here starting at Alef, adding vowels (the dots and lines) as we go. I explain the meaning of each letter and its numerical value. Just go to my blog and scroll to the bottom or* *click here* https://hive.blog/test/@hebrew/test
*Get your Hebrew Bible now!*
Click here to obtain the book we are using. It is a free download or browser usable. https://archive.org/stream/ESVInterlinearOT/ESV%20Interlinear%20OT#page/n3/mode/2up
Thanks for reading.
Shabbat Shalom
The language of ivrit ( עברית ) Genesis 32, Post #1
Welcome to my Hebrew reading & language series.
Genesis 32:1-5
Movie *source* at 1:13:00 https://www.actvid.com/watch-movie/watch-jacob-full-64849.5493250
We are still following the events in Jacob's life and we start a new chapter today. Leban has gone home and Jacob heads off to his own hometown.
Angels met Jacob as he advances, so of course, Jacob names that place Mahanaim, which means "**two camps**." I assume he named it that because he was between the camp where he was living and the one where he will be living.
God's angels in one form or another have been meeting with Abraham, Isaac and now Jacob all throughout the lives of these patriarchs. I suppose that kind of thing comes with the blessing of the most powerful being in the universe.
He is a bit nervous about meeting his brother because the last time they saw one another, Esau threatened Jacob's life. Jacob wants to send a messenger and many gifts of servants and livestock ahead to see what his brother's attitude might be. This will be a tense chapter!
Today's reading
*English*
Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. And when Jacob saw them he said, "This is God's camp!" So he called the name of that place Mahanaim. And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom, instructing them, "Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob, 'I have sojourned with Laban and stayed until now. I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants. I have sent to tell my lord, in order that I may find favor in your sight.' "
*Hebrew*
***The story continues next week as the messenger returns...***
Info on each letter starting at the beginning
*If you are just starting, my lessons are all here starting at Alef, adding vowels (the dots and lines) as we go. I explain the meaning of each letter and its numerical value. Just go to my blog and scroll to the bottom or* *click here* https://hive.blog/test/@hebrew/test
*Get your Hebrew Bible now!*
Click here to obtain the book we are using. It is a free download or browser usable. https://archive.org/stream/ESVInterlinearOT/ESV%20Interlinear%20OT#page/n3/mode/2up
Thanks for reading.
Shabbat Shalom
The language of ivrit ( עברית ) Genesis 31, Post #10
Welcome to my Hebrew reading & language series.
Genesis 31:51-54
*source* https://www.1st-art-gallery.com/thumbnail/277000/277812/remarketing_800x/Balestra/The-Meeting-Between-Laban-And-Jacob.jpg?ts=1505655060
We have finished a very long and very important chapter in Genesis today. Jacob's twenty-plus year struggle to obtain his wife and earn livestock to get him started as a shepherd.
They agreed that any animosity will end here and now. They made a heap of rocks as a reminder (witness) between the parties to keep things peaceful. Then Jacob made an offering to God and all sat and ate. The chapter ends with Laban waking the next day and kissing his daughters and grandchildren before departing for home.
Next week starts a new chapter with the idea that Esau will need to be dealt with. The last time we saw him, he was ready to kill Jacob. I also wonder what Rachel will do with the gods she stole from her father?
Today's reading
*English*
Then Laban said to Jacob, "See this heap and the pillar, which I have set between you and me. This heap is a witness, and the pillar is a witness, that I will not pass over this heap to you, and you will not pass over this heap and this pillar to me, to do harm. The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us." So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac, and Jacob offered a sacrifice in the hill country and called his kinsmen to eat bread. They ate bread and spent the night in the hill country.
Early in the morning Laban arose and kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned home.
*Hebrew*
***The story continues next week as Esau comes to mind...***
Info on each letter starting at the beginning
*If you are just starting, my lessons are all here starting at Alef, adding vowels (the dots and lines) as we go. I explain the meaning of each letter and its numerical value. Just go to my blog and scroll to the bottom or* *click here* https://hive.blog/test/@hebrew/test
*Get your Hebrew Bible now!*
Click here to obtain the book we are using. It is a free download or browser usable. https://archive.org/stream/ESVInterlinearOT/ESV%20Interlinear%20OT#page/n3/mode/2up
*Thanks for reading.*
Shabbat Shalom
The language of ivrit ( עברית ) Genesis 31, Post #9
Welcome to my Hebrew reading & language series.
Genesis 31:45-50
*source* https://jaymack.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Genesis-Hs-So-Jacob-Took-a-Stone-and-Set-It-up-as-a-Pillar-and-He-Called-It-Galeed.jpeg
Leban and Jacob met last week and Jacob's camp was searched as they looked for Laban's missing gods. Tempers cooled and they decided to make a covenant.
Pillars, alters, or piles of rocks were used back then. They would put hands on the heap and swear promises between parties. In today's reading, we see them referring to these rocks as "**a heap**" (***gal*** in Hebrew) and the name the place is Geleed and Mizpah.
Gal-eed means *heap of stones* - *witness*
Mizpah means *watch tower*
Using a Galeed, over which each promises not to cross this Mizpah with intent to harm the other, they are about to sweare their covenant. We will be seeing the terminology of the covenant and what each one promises as we finish chapter 31 next week.
Today's reading
*English*
So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. And Jacob said to his kinsmen, "Gather stones." And they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there by the heap. Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha,' but Jacob called it Galeed. Laban said, "This heap is a witness between you and me today." Therefore he named it Galeed, and Mizpah, for he said, "YHVH watch between you and me, when we are out of one another's sight. If you oppress my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no one is with us, see, God is witness between you and me."
*Hebrew*
***The story continues next week as we finish the chapter...***
Info on each letter starting at the beginning
*If you are just starting, my lessons are all here starting at Alef, adding vowels (the dots and lines) as we go. I explain the meaning of each letter and its numerical value. Just go to my blog and scroll to the bottom or* *click here* https://hive.blog/test/@hebrew/test
*Get your Hebrew Bible now!*
Click here to obtain the book we are using. It is a free download or browser usable. https://archive.org/stream/ESVInterlinearOT/ESV%20Interlinear%20OT#page/n3/mode/2up
Thanks for reading.
Shabbat Shalom
Hebrew Nuggets #6
Then there is the other part...
*or they will tear apart my soul like a lion...* photo: pxhere.com https://pxhere.com/en/photo/1362463
What do I mean by the other part? It is like driving home in that new car (the part). Then months later being sick of the payment book and how many coupons there are left to go (the other part)...
Similarly, there are many teachings of God that are closely linked. Take, for example, the prayer that Yeshua gave us, the one that starts with 'Our Father'. It clearly tells us to ask to be forgiven in the same way that we forgive others who wrong us. The prayer finishes and the King clarifies the part that he knows we will misconstrue, "For if you do not forgive others, your Father in heaven will not forgive you!" **Ouch!**
He had always gone around saying, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
He knew we would glaze over the things that were difficult as if we did not hear them. He know that we would pick out the cool part and let the rest fade in our minds as if we had not heard it.
***The other part*** as I said, is that second clarification that cannot be ignored when you stop the prayer with "...and deliver us from evil, amen." You can always choose to stop there as if the other words were not taught or spoken. But they are still there.
I was prompted to write this nugget as I read through Psalms seven. I read it on Shabbat, but my Tanakh stayed open at that page because I am hoping to memorize the start of it. You see, many times when I am sitting down to read or pray, I am pulled to do something else or distracted, inundated actually. I get calls, texts, knocks at the door, or thoughts of many other things that need doing.
When I resist the distractions and finally sit down for time with God, I get sneezing fits, yawns (the kind that put tears in your eyes), coughing fits -though I do not smoke - or maybe an itchy eye that cannot be ignored. They are so timely that I feel they are intentional. Attacks by something in the spiritual realm. Maybe it is something trying to tear at my soul.
Psalms 7 Starts
**YHVH my God. I take refuge in you. Save me from all of my pursuers. Deliver me or they will tear apart my soul like a lion tears and there is not one to deliver me.**
*The pursuers are not seeking to tear his head off. It is the soul they are after.*
Psalms seven would be, for me, a plea for refuge from pursuers or attackers, specifically the ones that would tear apart my soul. It reads beautifully and poetically in Hebrew and contains a variant of the verb that means **to save** in the first line. Pronounced - ho-she-ay-nee meaning **save me**.
Hosanna
You likely know that people yelled ho-she-anna or **save us please** when He rode in on a donkey foal. That was not His name as some sing "Hosanna in the highest." It was a plea to save them by taking his earthly kingship by force and defeating the Roman empire that was very oppressive to them.
His Name
You may have read a post I made on the name Yeshua. It was the messenger who was instructing Miriam on what to do. "*...and you shall call him* ***Salvation because he will save his people.***" In Hebrew, "**Yeshua key yo-she-ah amo.**"
The other part
Like the prayer on forgiveness, there is another part to it.
It would be great to ask for a place of refuge in God and to be saved from attackers. But as usual, David knew how God operates, yes the same today as back then.
So in the other part he prays, "If I have done this, if there is wrong in my hands, if I have repaid my friend with evil or plundered my enemy without cause, let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it, and let him trample my life to the ground and lay my glory in the dust."
I say "Wow." David said "***Selah***"
There is more to it. You can read it for yourself. More requests and more promises of being good and living righteously.
God hears all requests as a father hears his own children. He responds like a father does with his kids. When the older brother sets a prank for the younger, will the father, a man here on earth, simply say, "Don't do that again." after the younger was injured or disgraced in front of his friends?
**I think not.**
The older son is not removed from the father's will. He is still a son. But he will be punished for what he has done to his brother. Personally, I hate it when my children fight or are angry with one another. I am not angry or vengeful toward them, but I am greatly saddened that they would hurt one another. I was also made in the image of the Creator, so I assume He feels the same way.
I will likely still memorize the first line of Psalm seven. I know He will count it as the entire Psalm, just as we count the entirety of Psalm Twenty Two when we hear the words, "My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me."
That is all for this one. It is after all just a nugget.
***Do with this as you will.***
Erev Tov
The language of ivrit ( עברית ) Genesis 31, Post #8
Welcome to my Hebrew reading & language series.
Genesis 31:42-44
*Movie source - at 1:11:40* https://www.actvid.com/watch-movie/watch-jacob-full-64849.3921736
Jacob and Laban have been arguing for several posts. They finally met after Jacob took his family and left. The argument is now calming down now that each one stated their grievances (last week). Now Jacob reminds his father-in-law that God had rebuked him last night because of how he had afflicted Jacob. Laban also states that he already misses his daughters and grand kids. Then the suggestion comes. A covenant!
Covenants were common but only used when there was an important impasse between parties. In cities they would make a big deal and get the public's attention so that everyone sees the deal being made and they are all witnesses to the treaty or land deal. In this story about Jacob and Laban, everyone is from the same family but still they are at odds. So they made a pillar of rocks that will be a 'witness' between the two parties. Each will swear not to cross to the other's side of that marker with intent to do harm. That is for next week.
Today's reading
*English*
If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty- handed. God saw my affliction and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night."
Then Laban answered and said to Jacob, "The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine. But what can I do this day for these my daughters or for their children whom they have borne? Come now, let us make a covenant, you and I. And let it be a witness between you and me."
*Hebrew*
***The story continues next week as each swears an oath...***
Info on each letter starting at the beginning
*If you are just starting, my lessons are all here starting at Alef, adding vowels (the dots and lines) as we go. I explain the meaning of each letter and its numerical value. Just go to my blog and scroll to the bottom or* *click here* https://hive.blog/test/@hebrew/test
*Get your Hebrew Bible now!*
Click here to obtain the book we are using. It is a free download or browser usable. https://archive.org/stream/ESVInterlinearOT/ESV%20Interlinear%20OT#page/n3/mode/2up
Thanks for reading.
Shabbat Shalom
The language of ivrit ( עברית ) Genesis 31, Post #7
Welcome to my Hebrew reading & language series.
Genesis 31:36-41
*Movie source - at 1:11:00* https://www.actvid.com/watch-movie/watch-jacob-full-64849.3921736
This is a long chapter, and we are in a very long explanation of grievances listed by Jacob. The back and forth dialogue between these two men needs to be hashed out for the sake of the family members that will end up attending the future weddings and funerals of all concerned.
Today we find out exactly how long Jacob had worked for Laban, twenty years, and how many times Laban had changed his pay rate without notice. As of yet, neither of the men knows that Rachel is the one who has stolen the idols from her father, but she is still alive due to the excuse she used to get out of being searched while seated on her camel (last week's post).
I used to post snippets from a movie when I was still producing video readings every week. I was looking for an image that would depict Jacob and Laban at this crucial moment. I ended up finding another movie about Jacob - linked under the cover image for this post. I recommend several layers of ad-blockers if you go there to watch this great movie about our hero Jacob. When my computer becomes stable enough to edit videos again, I will start reading for you again and add clips to help the stories come alive.
Have a look at the passage from our bilingual Tanakh PDF.
Today's reading
*English*
Then Jacob became angry and berated Laban. Jacob said to Laban, "What is my offense? What is my sin, that you have hotly pursued me? For you have felt through all my goods; what have you found of all your household goods? Set it here before my kinsmen and your kinsmen, that they may decide between us two. These twenty years I have been with you. Your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams of your flocks. What was torn by wild beasts I did not bring to you. I bore the loss of it myself. From my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night.
There I was: by day the heat consumed me, and the cold by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes. These twenty years I have been in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times."
*Hebrew*
***The story continues next week as Jacob continues...***
Info on each letter starting at the beginning
*If you are just starting, my lessons are all here starting at Alef, adding vowels (the dots and lines) as we go. I explain the meaning of each letter and its numerical value. Just go to my blog and scroll to the bottom or* *click here* https://hive.blog/test/@hebrew/test
*Get your Hebrew Bible now!*
Click here to obtain the book we are using. It is a free download or browser usable. https://archive.org/stream/ESVInterlinearOT/ESV%20Interlinear%20OT#page/n3/mode/2up
Thanks for reading.
Shabbat Shalom
The language of ivrit ( עברית ) Genesis 31, Post #6
Welcome to my Hebrew reading & language series.
Genesis 31:30-35
*source* https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EEQkHSrq1qw/VmwvAwe-QZI/AAAAAAAAcXw/5kHt_PiyAJo/s400/masks.jpg
Jacob has left the land of Laban with his wives after serving him for twenty years. He had sensed friction with Laban and his sons due to many blessings from God. His escape was not noticed for three days at which time Laban pursued him. He caught up to Jacob last week and Laban spoke of the warning he got from YHVH - not to say anything "either good or bad" to Jacob. Laban talked about Jacob tricking him.
We pick up that conversation today with Laban speaking to Jacob about the way he left and some missing idols called 'household gods'.
Laban starts our nice saying he understands that Jacob missed his homeland, then added, "but why did you steal my household gods.?" Jacob knows that he did not do it then adds a ***furthermore***, anyone that has your gods is dead!
It seems that Rachel, his love, is always just out of reach, unable to have children, or on the brink of death... Jacob had no idea what she had done.
This is a long chapter and a pivotal time in the foundations of Israel. Let us see what can be done in order to make both parties whole again.
Today's reading
*English*
And now you have gone away because you longed greatly for your father's house, but why did you steal my gods?" Jacob answered and said to Laban, "Because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force. Anyone with whom you find your gods shall not live. In the presence of our kinsmen point out what I have that is yours, and take it." Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.
So Laban went into Jacob's tent and into Leah's tent and into the tent of the two female servants, but he did not find them. And he went out of Leah's tent and entered Rachel's.
Now Rachel had taken the house- hold gods and put them in the camel's saddle and sat on them. Laban felt all about the tent, but did not find them.
And she said to her father, "Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise before you, for the way of women is upon me." So he searched but did not find the household gods.
*Hebrew*
***The story continues next week as Jacob responds...***
Info on each letter starting at the beginning
*If you are just starting, my lessons are all here starting at Alef, adding vowels (the dots and lines) as we go. I explain the meaning of each letter and its numerical value. Just go to my blog and scroll to the bottom or* *click here* https://hive.blog/test/@hebrew/test
*Get your Hebrew Bible now!*
Click here to obtain the book we are using. It is a free download or browser usable. https://archive.org/stream/ESVInterlinearOT/ESV%20Interlinear%20OT#page/n3/mode/2up
Thanks for reading.
Shabbat Shalom
The language of ivrit ( עברית ) Genesis 31, Post #5
Welcome to my Hebrew reading & language series.
Genesis 31:25-29
*source* https://st-takla.org/Gallery/var/albums/Bible/Illustrations/sm/01-Genesis/www-st-takla-org--sweet-bible-Ge_31_02b.jpg?m=1554946389
We saw God speaking to Laban last week as he pursued Jacob into the hill country of Gilead. He was warned not to say anything good or bad to Jacob and if there is one thing Laban knows, it would be that God blesses him. He cannot win against Jacob.
So Laban plays the victim in all of this saying, "Why did you trick me?" He tells Jacob that he would have thrown a party with music and dancing. He is upset that he had not been able to kiss his grandchildren before they left. Then he says, "It is in my power to do you harm."
**That almost sounds like a threat.**
Laban then mentions the visit from God warning him not to do anything rash. This has been the battle of the tricksters and the sooner it ends, the better.
Today's reading
*English*
And Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban with his kinsmen pitched tents in the hill country of Gilead. And Laban said to Jacob, "What have you done, that you have tricked me and driven away my daughters like captives of the sword?"
"Why did you flee secretly and trick me, and did not tell me, so that I might have sent you away with mirth and songs, with tambourine and lyre? And why did you not permit me to kiss my sons and my daughters farewell? Now you have done foolishly. It is in my power to do you harm. But the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, 'Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.' "
*Hebrew*
***The story continues next week - the missing gods...***
Info on each letter starting at the beginning
*If you are just starting, my lessons are all here starting at Alef, adding vowels (the dots and lines) as we go. I explain the meaning of each letter and its numerical value. Just go to my blog and scroll to the bottom or* *click here* https://hive.blog/test/@hebrew/test
*Get your Hebrew Bible now!*
Click here to obtain the book we are using. It is a free download or browser usable. https://archive.org/stream/ESVInterlinearOT/ESV%20Interlinear%20OT#page/n3/mode/2up
Thanks for reading.
Shabbat Shalom
The language of ivrit ( עברית ) Genesis 31, Post #4
Welcome to my Hebrew reading & language series.
Genesis 31:17-24
Euphrates River https://www.flickr.com/photos/jetblasts2k/68457317
After huddling with his wives last week, Jacob (AKA Israel) packs up everything he owns and heads for home. His father-in-law Laban was out sheering his sheep and would not know that they were leaving.
There is a nugget in this passage that says, "Jacob tricked Laban the Aramean, by not telling him that he intended to flee." Many think that they have not lied by simply omitting information; that may be true but it says right here that he tricked Laban in *not telling him* of his intention. Have you ever left something out, thinking that you have not lied? I know I have.
Another thing that I would like to mention here is that God spoke to Laban. This is a man who had **household gods** in his home! That is forbidden by God, yet he still spoke to this man. I imagine a fairly threatening tone when he spoke, "Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad."
I am of the opinion that God can speak to people, even leaders of powerful countries, and tell them to go into another country where biological weapons are being produced, children are treated like casino chips, and infants are killed for their stem cells. The God I know, wants all that to stop right away. What do you think? Whose flag are you waving?
Today's reading
*English*
So Jacob arose and set his sons and his wives on camels. He drove away all his livestock, all his property that he had gained, the livestock in his possession that he had acquired in Paddan-aram, to go to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac. Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole her father's household gods. And Jacob tricked Laban the Aramean, by not telling him that he intended to flee. He fled with all that he had and arose and crossed the Euphrates, and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead.
When it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled, he took his kinsmen with him and pursued him for seven days and followed close after him into the hill country of Gilead. But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night and said to him, "Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad."
*Hebrew*
***The story continues next week as Laban asks why...***
Info on each letter starting at the beginning
*If you are just starting, my lessons are all here starting at Alef, adding vowels (the dots and lines) as we go. I explain the meaning of each letter and its numerical value. Just go to my blog and scroll to the bottom or* *click here* https://hive.blog/test/@hebrew/test
*Get your Hebrew Bible now!*
Click here to obtain the book we are using. It is a free download or browser usable. https://archive.org/stream/ESVInterlinearOT/ESV%20Interlinear%20OT#page/n3/mode/2up
Thanks for reading.
Shabbat Shalom
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The language of ivrit ( עברית ) Genesis 31, Post #3
Welcome to my Hebrew reading & language series.
Genesis 31:13-16
*source* http://www.womeninthescriptures.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/16RAFFAELLOJACOBSENCOUNTERWITHRACHEL.jpg
We rejoin our story today with Jacob telling his wives all that happened in his dealings with their father and how God came to him in a dream. We return to that conversation as Jacob tells them what God told him to do.
The women mulled it over and reasoned that their father had sold them, is treating them as foreigners, and is not planning to leave them anything as an inheritance. So they told Jacob to do all that God has instructed him to do.
The man has spent over twenty years dealing with Laban who has deceived him in every imaginable way. The beautiful thing about this part of the story is that God took notice saying, "I have seen all that Laban is doing to you..." and God took action to frustrate Laban's efforts to keep the lion's share, so to speak, of the flocks. I think Jacob now knows what it is like to be on the receiving end of deception and he might be ready to face his brother again.
I think we will also see the affects of the children growing up in a cheating atmosphere later in the story of the twelve tribes, that is, these same children of Jacob.
Today's reading
*English*
" 'I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now arise, go out from this land and return to the land of your kindred.' " Then Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, "Is there any portion or inheritance left to us in our father's house? Are we not regarded by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and he has indeed devoured our money. All the wealth that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children. Now then, whatever God has said to you, do."
*Hebrew*
***The story continues next week as they leave with gods...***
Info on each letter starting at the beginning
*If you are just starting, my lessons are all here starting at Alef, adding vowels (the dots and lines) as we go. I explain the meaning of each letter and its numerical value. Just go to my blog and scroll to the bottom or* *click here* https://hive.blog/test/@hebrew/test
*Get your Hebrew Bible now!*
Click here to obtain the book we are using. It is a free download or browser usable. https://archive.org/stream/ESVInterlinearOT/ESV%20Interlinear%20OT#page/n3/mode/2up
Thanks for reading.
Shabbat Shalom
I also post on steemit.com, hive.blog and blurt.blog. https://steemit.com/hebrew/@hebrew/the-language-of-ivrit-genesis-31-post-3 https://hive.blog/hebrew/@hebrew/the-language-of-ivrit-genesis-31-post-3 https://blurt.blog/blurthebrew/@hebrew/the-language-of-ivrit-genesis-31-post-3
The language of ivrit ( עברית ) Genesis 31, Post #2
Welcome to my Hebrew reading & language series.
Genesis 31:6-12
*source* https://www.istockphoto.com/es/foto/lindos-ni%C3%B1os-en-la-isla-de-palmaria-cerca-de-portovenere-gm1305663782-396479414
We have been reading of Jacob's decade-plus struggle to reason with and deal with Laban his father in law. Lately Jacob has been hearing of angry plots against him being hatched by Laban and his sons. Last week Jacob started talking to his wives to explain the situation to them. We continue that conversation today.
He starts off by saying he has worked his tail off for their father. Then he goes into how their father cheated him and we get more information on the changing deals over time. Then how God frustrated Laban's attempt to give him the smaller portion of the flock over and over again. He then begins to relay how God spoke to him in a dream and told him that he is aware of the situation and controlling the breeding outcomes because he has seen what Laban is doing to him.
As a side note, Jacob messed with his own brother and it seems that God allowed someone else to cheat Jacob because of Jacob's cheating. That is my own speculation but if this story was written and published in a worldly context, people of today would clearly see *karma* at work.
You can give God a new name like Lord, Karma, or Alla as many have done but YHVH ***is always*** the ultimate equalizer.
Today's reading
*English*
You know that I have served your father with all my strength, yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times. But God did not permit him to harm me. If he said, 'The spotted shall be your wages,' then all the flock bore spotted; and if he said, 'The striped shall be your wages,' then all the flock bore striped. Thus God has taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me. In the breeding season of the flock I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream that the goats that mated with the flock were striped, spotted, and mottled.
Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, 'Jacob,' and I said, 'Here I am!' And he said, 'Lift up your eyes and see, all the goats that mate with the flock are striped, spotted, and mottled, for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you.
*Hebrew*
***The story continues the dream next week...***
Info on each letter starting at the beginning
*If you are just starting, my lessons are all here starting at Alef, adding vowels (the dots and lines) as we go. I explain the meaning of each letter and its numerical value. Just go to my blog and scroll to the bottom or* *click here* https://hive.blog/test/@hebrew/test
*Get your Hebrew Bible now!*
Click here to obtain the book we are using. It is a free download or browser usable. https://archive.org/stream/ESVInterlinearOT/ESV%20Interlinear%20OT#page/n3/mode/2up
Thanks for reading.
Shabbat Shalom
I also post on steemit.com, hive.blog and blurt.blog. https://steemit.com/hebrew/@hebrew/the-language-of-ivrit-genesis-31-post-2 https://hive.blog/hebrew/@hebrew/the-language-of-ivrit-genesis-31-post-2 https://blurt.blog/blurthebrew/@hebrew/the-language-of-ivrit-genesis-31-post-2
The language of ivrit ( עברית ) Genesis 31, Post #1
Welcome to my Hebrew reading & language series.
Genesis 31:1-5
*source* https://media.swncdn.com/via/10997-jacob-rachel-wiki.jpg
We start a new chapter this week with Jacob calling his wives to speak with them. He has spent the better part of twenty years serving their father in order to marry them and deception from Laban occurred in every deal. Yet, God blessed Jacob every time he got the short end of the stick. Laban knows of God's blessings showered on Jacob and his plans to leave with the agreed flocks, but there are rumblings from Laban's other kids.
Jacob heard Laban's sons talking about him and accusing him of stealing flocks from Laban. So God spoke to Jacob saying he would be with him and told him to return to the land of his father.
Next Jacob will be telling his wives the whole story of their agreement for solid and striped sheep and goats. This lesson ends with him telling the ladies how their father does not treat him well as he used to do. Then he confides in them that he is acting at the direction of God.
Today's reading
*English*
Now Jacob heard that the sons of Laban were saying, "Jacob has taken all that was our father's, and from what was our father's he has gained all this wealth." And Jacob saw that Laban did not regard him with favor as before. Then the YHVH said to Jacob, "Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you."
So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah into the field where his flock was and said to them, "I see that your father does not regard me with favor as he did before. But the God of my father has been with me...
*Hebrew*
***The story continues as Jacob explains cheating to his wives...***
Info on each letter starting at the beginning
*If you are just starting, my lessons are all here starting at Alef, adding vowels (the dots and lines) as we go. I explain the meaning of each letter and its numerical value. Just go to my blog and scroll to the bottom or* *click here* https://hive.blog/test/@hebrew/test
*Get your Hebrew Bible now!*
Click here to obtain the book we are using. It is a free download or browser usable. https://archive.org/stream/ESVInterlinearOT/ESV%20Interlinear%20OT#page/n3/mode/2up
Thanks for reading.
Shabbat Shalom
I also post on steemit.com, hive.blog and blurt.blog. https://steemit.com/hebrew/@hebrew/the-language-of-ivrit-genesis-31-post-1 https://hive.blog/hebrew/@hebrew/the-language-of-ivrit-genesis-31-post-1 https://blurt.blog/blurthebrew/@hebrew/the-language-of-ivrit-genesis-31-post-1
The language of ivrit ( עברית ) Genesis 30, Post #8
Welcome to my Hebrew reading & language series.
Genesis 30:40-43
*source* https://pxhere.com/en/photo/1187772
We are finishing chapter thirty today. Congratulations if you are still with me. This post is coming out a day early because today is a shabbat as well as tomorrow. There is no work permitted for the first two days of the feast of unleavened bread and non permitted for the last two days. The feast ends at sunset on Saturday.
We continue our study with Jacob placing bits of striped poplar in the water while the flock breeds. That is supposed to create striped
or spotted offspring and it must have worked because "*The man increased greatly and had large flocks*" as well as servants donkeys and camels.
It was explained earlier that Laban had removed all of the multi-colored animals, the ones that Jacob would own, after making the agreement with Jacob for those very animals. He will be moving away with his wives and children. Yet this tactic of breading spotted and striped animals by letting them see striped wood floating in their watering troughs was used to create for himself a nest egg of flocks to shepherd when he leaves.
Next week, we will hear Jacob being told to get out of dodge due to the anger and jealousy from Laban.
Today's reading
*English*
And Jacob separated the lambs and set the faces of the flocks toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban. He put his own droves apart and did not put them with Laban's flock. Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding, Jacob would lay the sticks in the troughs before the eyes of the flock, that they might breed among the sticks, but for the feebler of the flock he would not lay them there. So the feebler would be Laban's, and the stronger Jacob's. Thus the man increased greatly and had large flocks, female servants and male servants, and camels and donkeys.
*Hebrew*
***The story continues as Jacob skips town next week...***
Info on each letter starting at the beginning
*If you are just starting, my lessons are all here starting at Alef, adding vowels (the dots and lines) as we go. I explain the meaning of each letter and its numerical value. Just go to my blog and scroll to the bottom or* *click here* https://hive.blog/test/@hebrew/test
*Get your Hebrew Bible now!*
Click here to obtain the book we are using. It is a free download or browser usable. https://archive.org/stream/ESVInterlinearOT/ESV%20Interlinear%20OT#page/n3/mode/2up
Thanks for reading.
Shabbat Shalom
I also post on steemit.com, hive.blog and blurt.blog. https://steemit.com/hebrew/@hebrew/the-language-of-ivrit-genesis-30-post-8 https://hive.blog/hebrew/@hebrew/6yybzj-the-language-of-ivrit-genesis-30-post-7 https://blurt.blog/blurthebrew/@hebrew/the-language-of-ivrit-genesis-30-post-8
The language of ivrit ( עברית ) Genesis 30, Post #7
Welcome to my Hebrew reading & language series.
Genesis 30:35-39
*source* https://tse4.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.tMDE60w4o_CiKEEQ1dNXBwAAAA
Last week, we saw Laban responding favorably to Jacob's idea of earning a flock the same way he had earned his wives.
This week begins the start of "cheater wars" where each of the two deceptive men sets their sites on the other to come out ahead. Laban takes most of the flock that Jacob wanted, the striped and spotted ones, and sends them far away to be cared for by his sons.
Then Jacob starts putting striped poplar branches near the flock when they breed in order to produce striped lambs. Laban had already admitted that Jacob was prosperous because God favored him. Jacob's trick will only prove what Laban already knows. But will this cause strife between them now that Jacob can keep the striped and spotted animals that they both agreed upon?
Today's reading
*English*
But that day Laban removed the male goats that were striped and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white on it, and every lamb that was black, and put them in the charge of his sons. And he set a distance of three days' journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob pastured the rest of Laban's flock.
Then Jacob took fresh sticks of poplar and almond and plane trees, and peeled white streaks in them, exposing the white of the sticks. He set the sticks that he had peeled in front of the flocks in the troughs, that is, the watering places, where the flocks came to drink. And since they bred when they came to drink, the flocks bred in front of the sticks and so the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted.
*Hebrew*
***The story continues next week as Jacob's flocks grow in number...***
Info on each letter starting at the beginning
*If you are just starting, my lessons are all here starting at Alef, adding vowels (the dots and lines) as we go. I explain the meaning of each letter and its numerical value. Just go to my blog and scroll to the bottom or* *click here* https://hive.blog/test/@hebrew/test
*Get your Hebrew Bible now!*
Click here to obtain the book we are using. It is a free download or browser usable. https://archive.org/stream/ESVInterlinearOT/ESV%20Interlinear%20OT#page/n3/mode/2up
Thanks for reading.
Shabbat Shalom
I also post on steemit.com, hive.blog and blurt.blog. https://steemit.com/hebrew/@hebrew/the-language-of-ivrit-genesis-30-post-7 https://hive.blog/hebrew/@hebrew/the-language-of-ivrit-genesis-30-post-7 https://blurt.blog/blurthebrew/@hebrew/the-language-of-ivrit-genesis-30-post-7
Hebrew Nuggets #6
Chag Sameach.
I have been busy getting ready for Pesach (Passover) this week and the work is certainly not finished by any stretch of the imagination. I just sat down to plan what I will do for Friday's article that will need to be completed well before Shabbat starts, and a thought came to mind. Let's call this a Nugget.
I was looking at the days and the upcoming week with much preparation, and cooking to be done and I was reminded of many conversations that I had with friends when I was in school. These are things that only a kid would be able to see like why priests are called **father** when the leader of the church said not to call anyone father except **The Father** in heaven. That was a good one.
Another one that always got them was how Mashiach claimed he would be in the ground for three days and three nights, like Jonah, then rise again. But everyone was fine with him dying on Friday evening, being put in the ground hastily before sunset, and rising after only one day and two nights in the ground.
I think that is called a *conundrum*
If he died on Friday and rose on Sunday morning, then he was lying about what he would do.
If he meant what he said but people have been going to church on the wrong days for so many years, then the church would be no better than the religious Jews of that that time who were heavily criticized by Yeshua for misleading the people.
I am not going to say which it is or is not. Some will fail at common sense conclusions no matter how much the answer leans to one side. As a present day example, many have been getting their polio tests several times per month so they know when to buy crutches.
Anyway...
I have been cleaning and getting rid of anything in the house that has Chametz in it and sweeping any areas that could have seen crumbs over the last year. That is the command (Mitsvah) for preparing for Pesach and when I looked at the calendar, I ended up counting the days and nights until Sunday morning as I had done as a kid - I had faced many classroom and lunchroom debates as a youngster. My conclusion, if we are trusting the math, is that the Son of Man would have been meeting with his followers and breaking bread with them last night - two millennia ago during the preparation phase of Pesach.
This evening more than two thousand years ago however, he would be on the cross after undergoing several audiences with rulers, many cruel punishments, and a final death sentence. He would be dying right about now and though he had wanted to eat the Passover with his friends, he would not be able to.
There is little doubt that he rose on First Fruits as much of his prophetic actions took place on the appointed days (Moedim) of YHVH. When you add that into the mix and reconcile the facts, the room was in preparation when he met with them and created the memorial that most churches practice.
No Hebrew to read today, just a bit of common sense and simple counting skills to practice as we head into this prophetic time of being ready to go!
Eat fast with your shoes on and your car keys in your hand!
***The Kingdom of God is at hand.***
Chag Sameach!
The language of ivrit ( עברית ) Genesis 30, Post #6
Welcome to my Hebrew reading & language series.
Genesis 30:31-34
*source* https://www.israel365news.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/jacobs-sheep-4.jpg
Jacob and his father-in-law talked about how Jacob could be on his own last week. Jacob asked how he will be able to care for his own family. Wages were mentioned again.
When asked what he wanted, Jacob replied that he only wants to tend the flocks and take the odd ones with markings as his own wages. Later on, Laban will know that Jacob is honest because he will have no animals that are of solid color. Laban agreed to the idea.
We are now learning though, that Laban is a worse cheater than Jacob. I wonder what the next deception will be.
Today's reading
*English*
He said, "What shall I give you?" Jacob said, "You shall not give me anything. If you will do this for me, I will again pasture your flock and keep it: let me pass through all your flock today, removing from it every speckled and spotted sheep and every black lamb, and the spotted and speckled among the goats, and they shall be my wages. So my honesty will answer for me later, when you come to look into my wages with you. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the lambs, if found with me, shall be counted stolen." Laban said, "Good! Let it be as you have said."
*Hebrew*
***The story continues next week as Laban tests Jacob's blessing...***
Info on each letter starting at the beginning
*If you are just starting, my lessons are all here starting at Alef, adding vowels (the dots and lines) as we go. I explain the meaning of each letter and its numerical value. Just go to my blog and scroll to the bottom or* *click here* https://hive.blog/test/@hebrew/test
*Get your Hebrew Bible now!*
Click here to obtain the book we are using. It is a free download or browser usable. https://archive.org/stream/ESVInterlinearOT/ESV%20Interlinear%20OT#page/n3/mode/2up
Thanks for reading.
Shabbat Shalom
I also post on steemit.com, hive.blog and blurt.blog. https://steemit.com/hebrew/@hebrew/the-language-of-ivrit-genesis-30-post-6 https://hive.blog/hebrew/@hebrew/the-language-of-ivrit-genesis-30-post-6 https://blurt.blog/blurtrhebrew/@hebrew/the-language-of-ivrit-genesis-30-post-6
The language of ivrit ( עברית ) Genesis 30, Post #5
Welcome to my Hebrew reading & language series.
Genesis 30:25-30
*image* *source* https://www.ospreyobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Heroic-Woman-Leah-Jacob-Rachel.jpg
Enough Servitude
Jacob is referencing the fourteen years that he served and asking that he be able to go with his wives and children in the passage for this week.
He notes that everything he touches prospers, and Laban has noticed that as well. So he asks Jacob to ***name his price*** in order to keep him there and working.
Jacob leads with his goal of taking his family and leaving, then continues with "when will ***I*** (be allowed to) provide for my own household?"
We leave it there as I sense another ***deal*** of sorts coming on. He has worked to earn one wife, then put in more years for Rachel, the on he loved at first sight, and now I sense he wants some things of value so that he can be the provider for his own family and children.
Today's reading
*English*
As soon as Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, "Send me away, that I may go to my own home and country. Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, that I may go, for you know the service that I have given you." But Laban said to him, "If I have found favor in your sight, I have learned by divination that YHVH has blessed me because of you. Name your wages, and 1 will give it." Jacob said to him, "You yourself know how I have served you, and how your livestock has fared with me. For you had little before I came, and it has increased abundantly, and YHVH has blessed you wherever I turned. But now when shall I provide for my own household also?"
*Hebrew*
***The story continues next week as they separate the sheep...***
Info on each letter starting at the beginning
*If you are just starting, my lessons are all here starting at Alef, adding vowels (the dots and lines) as we go. I explain the meaning of each letter and its numerical value. Just go to my blog and scroll to the bottom or* *click here* https://hive.blog/test/@hebrew/test
*Get your Hebrew Bible now!*
Click here to obtain the book we are using. It is a free download or browser usable. https://archive.org/stream/ESVInterlinearOT/ESV%20Interlinear%20OT#page/n3/mode/2up
Thanks for reading.
Shabbat Shalom
I also post on steemit.com, hive.blog and blurt.blog for now. https://steemit.com/hebrew/@hebrew/the-language-of-ivrit-genesis-30-post-5 https://hive.blog/hebrew/@hebrew/the-language-of-ivrit-genesis-30-post-5 https://blurt.blog/blurthebrew/@hebrew/the-language-of-ivrit-genesis-30-post-5
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