God wants your life. Not one hour a week, not 10% of your income, He wants you.
R.C. Sproul
Author: one_monk
Hebrew Tidbit #7
It was mentioned before that Hebrew has a cursive style of writing. So today I want to share with you what that looks like and the best source I have found is in the following video.
The “written” or “handwriting” form they keep referencing in the video is also called the cursive.
Of course, this video covers more than simply handwriting. If you’ve read the other Hebrew Tidbits, some of this material will seem already familiar.
This concludes the Hebrew Tidbit mini-series. Further Hebrew material will be coming separately.
Covenant
Dictionary.com
noun
- an agreement, usually formal, between two or more persons to do or not do something specified.
- Law. an incidental clause in such an agreement.
- Ecclesiastical. a solemn agreement between the members of a church to act together in harmony with the precepts of the gospel.
verb (used without object)
- to enter into a covenant.
verb (used with object)
- to promise by covenant; pledge.to stipulate.
Etymonline.com
c. 1300, covenaunt, “mutual compact to do or not do something, a contract,” from Old French covenant, convenant “agreement, pact, promise” (12c.), originally present participle of covenir “agree, meet,” from Latin convenire “come together, unite; be suitable, agree,” from com- “together” (see com-) + venire “to come,” from a suffixed form of PIE root *gwa- “to go, come.”
In law, “a promise made by deed” (late 14c.). Applied in Scripture to God’s arrangements with man as a translation of Latin testamentum, Greek diatheke, both rendering Hebrew berith (though testament also is used for the same word in different places). Meaning “solemn agreement between members of a church” is from 1630s; specifically those of the Scottish Presbyterians in 1638 and 1643 (see covenanter).
Discussion/Explanation
The above information is correct. It is a pact or a sort of promise if you will. However, in Old Testament Hebrew tradition, it went even further than that.
In the original Hebrew, the language used for making a covenant involved cutting. You were “cutting a covenant” agreement but the cutting analogy did not end there as it would turn red with blood too. An animal (or more) would be cut in two as a visual representation of the importance and severity that would result to the one who broke the covenant.
We think of covenants today as a sort of contract but in Old Testament times, they were a blood contract that demanded blood if you failed to keep it. This is an important component in Biblical Theology as man repeatedly could not keep the covenants made and paid the price.
Thankfully one day there was one who could keep them perfectly but instead of us paying the price, He did with His life which is why we now turn to Christ for salvation rather than anything/one else.
See more like this post in “ologies & key terms“.
Quote #39 – C.S. Lewis
“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”
― C.S. Lewis
Hebrew Tidbit #6
Hebrew is not a tense-based language.
This can be a difficult component for not only English native speakers to grasp but for most who learned a western language first.
Hebrew is a language of aspect and in order to translate into English which has tenses you have to consider which aspect you are translating from and the context.
So let’s unpack that a little bit.
- Hebrew is an aspect language.
- You have to consider the aspect when translating meaning there are multiple types of aspects in Hebrew. These aspects are focused on the verbs in the language.
- With the above in mind, a single aspect may have more than 1 English translation. In order to know which translation is the correct to use, you must consider the context of the surrounding text you are translating.
The point is that not every language has a 1 to 1 easy translation and that is particularly the case when you compare an aspect language like Hebrew to a tense language like English.
As a side note, Biblical Greek (Koine Greek) is also considered to be aspect driven but it is odd in that it actually does have some tense characteristics like that of English (in other words, it is sort of between Hebrew and English on this topic).
Merry Christmas!
Happy birthday Jesus!
Thank you Lord for sending us your Son!
Merry Christmas everyone!
Enjoy this time with family and friends and remember the reason for this holiday! Jesus Christ is our savior and we remember at this time why it was He came to Earth as a child, to die for our sins that we may live in Him!
Greek Word: αγαπη
Today – agape
In the Greek: αγαπη
Pronunciation (Erasmian): ag-ah’-pay
Definition/approximate English equivalent: love, charitably, dear
Example of its use:
- Romans 5:8 (Tischendorf): συνίστησιν δὲ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἀγάπην εἰς ἡμᾶς ὁ θεὸς ὅτι ἔτι ἁμαρτωλῶν ὄντων ἡμῶν Χριστὸς ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἀπέθανεν:
Quote #38 – Proverbs
A soft answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger.
Proverbs 15:1
A great reminder that it is wise to watch one’s tone of voice!
Hebrew Tidbit #5
One of the things I have craved in studying Hebrew is being able to hear the words I was studying being spoken. However, the dilemma I quickly ran into was that I was actually studying Biblical Hebrew and most sources out there like electronic dictionaries and such are Modern Hebrew.
Why is this a problem?
Well, comparing the two is like comparing a King James version of English to modern English. Sure, there is going to be crossover and things understood but the vocabulary, word frequencies, etc. have changed over time. What’s more, new words have had to be added for things like computers which simply didn’t exist in biblical times.
Strangely, realizing this actually was a comfort to me as I was able to start squaring why I would sometimes find a word in the Bible used in modern Hebrew but other times find the modern using a derivative term or entirely different term for a word I knew in the Bible.
About Me – On Politics
If you don’t know, this is a post that helps you the reader to become more acquainted with where I – the author of this site – stand on various topics and theological points. Keep reading to see where I stand on today’s topic.
Keeping Things Simple
I have agonized over this one as there is so much I could say and so much ground I could cover but I have instead opted to keep this as simple and to the point as possible.
Let me be clear about a few things:
- I am not a Democrat (US).
- I am not a Republican (US).
- I believe loyalty to a political party contributes to factionalism and thereby division in the country – especially as of late in the US.
- I regularly participate in elections despite what you may think after reading 1 – 3.
I may lean one way or another as commonly described to one party or another on an individual issue or another but this can truly be said of anyone.
Even with all that said, I do not place any of my ultimate hope or trust in governmental systems as they have so often erred and followed the ways of personal glorification, power, and general worldliness.
My ultimate hope is in Christ and Him alone!
It is through Christ, through studying God’s Word, through being continually transformed to be more and more like the Son that we can be more like the God-reflecting people we ought to be and thereby the sort of citizens we ultimately ought to be. It all starts with our relationship with God! It all starts with Christ!
I could go on and on about a need for limited government or explain how the separation of church and state is supposed to work or even where I am at on the current political climate – but all these things are part of a system that will one day pass away. Our relationship with the one true God does not pass away whether we are in this life, heaven, or the new world with Christ as king.
I choose to focus on the eternal and simply do the best that I can with the rest, the temporal, knowing full well that God is in control and working all things according to His purposes.
Note: I do these posts not because I think I’m somehow superior in my views or anything absurd like that but out of a desire to be up-front and honest with my readers as to where I stand. Otherwise, you’d be left to figure things out by reading between the lines and/or guessing.
