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Todays Parsha #17: Yitro (Jethro)

STUDY QUESTIONS FROM THE PREVIOUS PORTION (Beshallach)
1) In addition to not being able to deal with the shame of the slaves leaving Egypt, what
other hint in the last part of chapter 13 is there to explain why Pharaoh changes his
mind?
(Exo 13:18) So Elohim led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Sea of
Reeds. And the children of Yisral went up armed from the land of Mitsrayim.
3218

[ 3219] (Hebrew) (page 332) (Strong 2571).

adj.pl. in battle array,

alw. this form, Ex 13:18 (E), Jos 1:14, 4:12 (both D), Ju 7:11 + Nu 32:17 (JE), v.

So, even before the encounter in the Sea of Reeds, where Josephus tells us the Israelites
armed themselves from the corpses of drowned Egyptians, it is clear here that the slaves
were armed as they left. The text in another place tells us Thus they STRIPPED the
Egyptians, which may mean they got weapons from them or somewhere along the way
as they are gathering precious metals. It is clear the Israelites did NOT have time to
manufacture weapons on their own from scratch, so they had to come from somewhere.
If this is the case, it is possible the Pharaoh feared the same thing that his ancestors did:
That the Israelites would join to Egypts enemies and take the Pharaoh and his dynasty
out of power. The Hyksos may have been gone by this point, but the Israelite army
could have easily sent a delegation down the Nile for example to Nubia, who has
consistently been a thorn in Egypts side, or simply marched past Canaan and into Hittite
territory, another rival who would like nothing better than 600,000 Hebrew soldiers to
join with them and vanquish Pharaoh.
Therefore, Pharaoh may have reasoned that it was only while they were on the road with
their women and children in tow that Israel was vulnerable and that perhaps if Pharaoh
could somehow take a bunch of these people prisoner (if getting all of them back failed)
he might have leverage over Moshe or at least the other leadership that will be
constantly opposing Moshe.
But if Pharaoh hesitates, and waits for Israel to get settled and strike back from a
position of strength, or where they are well dug in defensively, his window of
opportunity will close quickly and not present itself again. They are already armed
Pharaoh knows he shouldnt make it worse by having his enemies armed AND aided by
his enemies AND settled in a position of strength.
2) How is the Israelites choice of one of the first places they go to an insult on their
part to the Egyptians?
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PI HACHIROT (14:2) = Pihahiroth, which in Hebrew may mean mouth of

freedom or Freedom Bay. The Talmud says this is probably near the city of
Tanis. The location would be tributary off of the delta, perhaps referenced in
Egyptian records as Per Chet Cher. Per Cheru also designates a temple dedicated to
the false god Horus. It was Horus, in turn, who was said to dwell in the body of
Pharaoh making that man a living god!
As a result, the Israelites camping right at Horuss temple may have been Abba
YHWHs way of showing the Egyptians that Horus in the nest, a title for Pharaoh,
proved the Egyptian gods were impotent and/or that this Pharaoh did not have the
blessing of their gods as his ancestors might have, that of course being from the
Egyptian point of view.
3) Where do we see evidence that the regular Egyptians understand things better than
Pharaoh does?
24

In the morning watch, Yahweh looked down on the army of the Egyptians from
the pillar of fire and cloud and threw the Egyptian army into confusion. 25 He so
clogged their chariot wheels that they drove on only with difficulty, which made the
Egyptians say, 'Let us flee from Israel, for Yahweh is fighting on their side against
the Egyptians!' (Exodus 14:24-25 NJB)
Yesthe Hebrew text actually has the Egyptians proclaiming YAHWEH by NAME. So
whereas He had said that Pharaoh would know Him, now apparently the Egyptian army does
and recognizes the futility of fighting against Him.

4) How is a minor inconvenience in this portion revisited and made far worse later on
in another book?
23

When they reached Marah, they could not drink the Marah water because it
was bitter; this is why the place was named Marah. 24 The people
complained to Moses saying, 'What are we to drink?' 25 Moses appealed to
Yahweh for help, and Yahweh showed him a piece of wood. When Moses
threw it into the water, the water became sweet. There he laid down a statute
and law for them and there he put them to the test. Then he said, 26 'If you
listen carefully to the voice of Yahweh your God and do what he regards as
right, if you pay attention to his commandments and keep all his laws, I shall
never inflict on you any of the diseases that I inflicted on the Egyptians, for I
am Yahweh your Healer.' (Exodus 15:23-26 NJB)
10

The third angel blew his trumpet, and a huge star fell from the sky, burning
like a ball of fire, and it fell on a third of all rivers and on the springs of
water; 11 this was the star called Wormwood, and a third of all water turned
to wormwood, so that many people died; the water had become so bitter. 12
The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun and a third of the
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moon and a third of the stars were blasted, so that the light went out of a third
of them and the day lost a third of its illumination, and likewise the night. 13
In my vision, I heard an eagle, calling aloud as it flew high overhead,
'Disaster, disaster, disaster, on all the people on earth at the sound of the other
three trumpets which the three angels have yet to blow!' (Revelation 8:10-13
NJB)
5) If you know the answer to #4 then tell me: How does a detail given just after the
Tanakh quote I gave in #4 also tie in to another part of the same later book? Hint: If
you have found the Tanakh quote asked for in #4, the extra detail is the line just after
that quote.
27

So they came to Elim where there were twelve springs and seventy palm
trees; and there they pitched camp beside the water. (Exodus 15:27 NJB)
Now notice the imagery of what happens to trees and waters here
(Rev 22:1) And he showed me a river of living water, transparent (as)
crystal, which proceeded from the throne of Elohim and the Lamb. (Rev
22:2) And in the middle of its broad avenue and near the river, on this side
and on that, (was) the tree of life; which bore twelve (sorts of) fruits yielding
one of its fruits each month: and the leaves of the tree (were) for the healing
of the nations. (AENT)
1) Meaning of this weeks Torah portion and summary of contents.
It is very significant that this parsha is named Jethro and not The Ten Words or
Commandments that it contains. In a sense the advice that Jethro gives Moshe is
just as important as the Ten Commandments because it shows YHWHs plan.
First Moshe needs to keep himself from getting exhausted. Then he needs to set the
leaders of the nation of Israel on the right course, and encourage discussion
between them and the people. And finally, the people need to understand that when
Abba YHWH says Dont go there or you will die that He means business! Only
then, with every one playing their appropriate part and in the right frame of mind,
can the Commandments be given.
2) Parsha (English-Exodus 18:1-20:23; to verse 26 in Christian versions). This
week we will read the entire portion.
3) Play by Play commentary where appropriate.

Vayishma Yitro cohen Midyan choten Moshe et kol-asher asah

Elohim le-Moshe ule-Yisra'el amo ki-hotsi Yahweh et-Yisra'el
miMitsrayim.
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Vayikach Yitro choten Moshe et-Tsiporah eshet Moshe achar

shilucheyha.
4) Point out key Hebrew words/terms. Color Commentary:
YITRO COHEN MIDYAN CHOTEN MOSHE (18:1) = Jethro, priest of Midian, father
in law of Moshe. Even though the words priest and father in law (cohen vs. chothen) are
not spelled the same their sound is similar and one may be a sonic word play on the
other, viz. the priest Moshes father in law is also a priest. Technically of course Moshe
is a Levite and not a cohen as his brother Aaron is, but on the other hand even as a socalled plain Levite, it is clear Moshe is in charge and has Abba YHWHs favor, not
Aaron. In fact, Aaron only gets his position, in adding to being Moshes brother, because
Moshe himself wanted to back off from his responsibilities (Exodus 4:10-16)!
It is also interesting to note that Jethro is called in Aramaic kumrea ( )which is a
specialized term for designating a priest who is not a son of Aaron; Hebrew makes no
such distinction, even when talking about priests who are dedicated to paganism.
However, the usage of this Aramaic term here is the second earliest occurrence of the
word in context of a righteous non-Hebrew person dedicated to Father Yahs service.
The first person with this title was, not surprisingly Malki-Tzedek mentioned in Genesis
14. From there, since Psalm 110 was interpreted as applying to Yshua, it is not
surprising that when Paul wrote the Epistle to the Hebrews he co-opted this Aramaic
word kumrea to apply to Yshua who was priest forever after Malki-Tzedek in addition
to literally being our Righteous King, which is was Malki-Tzedek literally means.
And finally, I think this is a great line of evidence pointing to Aramaic original
composition for the book of Hebrews itself. If the original language of the epistle was
Hebrew, I think Paul or some later translator would have carried over Kohen into the
Aramaic cognate of kahna to in effect play fair with the original utterance. Instead, this
use of kumrea which only happens in Hebrews make best sense in the context of original
composition in Aramaic and original intentions by the writer to communicate this very
specific and rarified theological context.
The same factors I believe also militate against Greek original composition of the Epistle
to the Hebrews as follows the same rules as Kohen in Hebrew, a catch all term for
all priests. The fact that Paul is going out of his way to demonstrate that Yshua is a
completely superior and different form of priest only makes sense from an Aramaic
original compositional mindset, since only Aramaic allows this distinction to be made at
the word-root level, whereas these other languages would have needed to have inserted
clarifying information to make the same point and they did not.
VAYICKACH YITRO CHOTEN MOSHE ET-TZIPORA ESHET MOSHE ACHAR
SHILUCHEYCHA (18:2) = And Jethro, Moshes father in law, brought Tziporrah, the
wife of Moshe, who had left earlier. While Tziporrah had apparently decided she wanted
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to go along (Exodus 4:20), many rabbis think the argument they had over circumcising
Moshes younger son (Exodus 4:24-26) resulted in her turning back after they had
reached the first (unknown) stop from Midian where they lodged for a short time. As a
result, Tzipporah by this account did NOT complete the trip to Egypt initially with
Moshe. She was angry and returned home. But after Moshe got out of Egypt, Jethro
brought her to Mount Sinai to reunite with her husband. I am inclined at this time to
believe this explanation is probably accurate.
GERSHOM (18:3) = Stranger from there. The name of Moshes son is derived from two
Hebrew words: GER (stranger) and SHAM (from there) or literally, I am a stranger
from over there (where I am living now). Others deny the Hebrew word SHAM is there
and say it is Coptic SHEM for a strange land but this has not gained widespread
acceptance in the Jewish or Christian scholarly community and I personally disagree
with it. So for me the only place stranger in a strange land is validly referenced is in a
science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein.
HA-MIDBAR ASHER-HU CHONEH SHAM HAR HA-ELOHIM (18:5) = the
wilderness where Moshe was staying near the Mountain of Elohim. Once again Sinai
(aka Horeb and aka Mountain of Elohim) is in the wilderness. Not in Midian proper,
but in nomadic pasture lands outside of that country. In context though, if we look at all
of Exodus 18 and transition to 19:1-2, it does seem that the Israelites went from place A
(the Mountain of Elohim) to place B (Mount Sinai, in the wilderness of Sinai), leaving
open the possibility that these are two different mountains. It is POSSIBLE (I have not
made a firm decision yet) that the Mountain of Elohim is Ghorabi (Horeb) where the
Rock of Horeb is or perhaps near (17:1) and Mount Saniya (Sinai) is two miles away. In
between the two mountains is a turquoise mine and a shrine to Hathor, who gives birth
to a golden calf every sunrise. As the centuries passed, I can see how all three names
would be conflated into referring to a single peak.
TELEAH (18:8) = This rich word means hardship, frustration and weariness. I
believe all three meanings are intended simultaneously in this passage.
MITACHAT YAD-MITZRAYIM (18:10) = from under the hand of Egypt. YHWHs
Mighty Hand over powers the hand of Pharaoh who is also supposed to be a god but of
course is not. TACHAT is a word that is used to denote being subject to, under
authority of.
ATAH YADATI KI GADOL YAHWEH MI-KOL HA-ELOHIM (18:11) = Now I know
that YHWH is the greatest of all the deities. It seems that Jethro is a follower of Abba
YHWH up until now, but he has not necessarily been convicted of absolute monotheism.
He may have been simply a person who is dedicated to Abba YHWH but tolerated
others being dedicated to pagan deities around him and whereas before he might have
viewed all such worship as equally valid, now at least he knows that his worship is of the
true and Almighty Elohim. Or he may have viewed Abba YHWH as a kind of storm god
that only had power in Sinai and finding out that His power extended beyond those
borders perhaps convinced Jethro that Abba YHWH was both a Creator and a Universal
Deity.
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This makes sense from the context of 18:1 that Jethro had heard of all the miracles Abba
YHWH did in Egypt and 18:10 where he composes a prayer to Abba YHWH praising
Him for that deliverance. If so, Jethro wont be the last person in Scripture to believe
initially in a limited jurisdiction for Abba YHWHthe prophet Jonah will make a
similar mistake about 600 years later.
HAAM LIDROSH ELOHIM (18:15) = the people come to seek Elohim. The word
DRASH/DROSH means to learn from and it means seek in the sense that learn Abba
YHWHs will is to seek Him out.
KABED (18:17) = heavy. Jethros rebuke of Moshe seems to have a bit of a double
edged sword. The word KAVED here probably indicates the primary meaning is the
task is TOO MUCH or TOO HEAVY for you which goes well with Jethros concern
earlier in the line, You will wear yourself out. However, KAVED can also mean
honorable or glorious and in that sense Jethro might also mean This task is too
glorious for you, which would be a very ironic rebuke considering how humble Moshe
is. If this is what Jethro intends also, it may be that Moshes humility has in a sense
gotten him in trouble in the sense that his need to serve outweighed his better judgment
that Israel will not do well with him if he is exhausted.
ETAH SHEMA BQOLI AYATZAKAH (18:19) = Now listen to my voice and I will
give you counsel. In yet another possible indication of the dual nature of Jethros
message to Moshe, the word for counsel here is YAATZ and it can mean either to
exhort/encourage or to admonish. I believe it is quite possible Jethros intentions are to
do both at the same time.
DABAR (18:19) = literally word but here used to indicate disputes which can be of
several varieties such as GADOL (major/great, 18:22), QATON (small/minor, 18:22), or
QASHEH (hard/severe, 18:26).
ANASH CHAYIL (18:21) = competent men. However, the literal Hebrew reads
powerful men. I found this interesting when used with another word SAR, or leader
over groups as small as 50 and large as 1,000.
The same words are used with respect to the Hyksos Pharaoh (Khyan) who commands
Joseph to recruit powerful men and SAR to rule over his livestock. However, read in
a different light it seems it could also mean set up princes, which might have meant
that Joseph gave his father Jacob a princely rankand there is archaeological proof to
back this up.
VAYELECH LO EL-ARTSO (18:27) = and he went away to his home country. This is a
very important detail about where Mount Sinai is or as the notes for 18:5 suggested,
possibly Mount Horeb/Mountain of Elohim that would only be a few miles away but in
the same area. It is established I believe quite firmly two essential facts: 1) Jethro is from
Midian and 2) Midian is in Saudi Arabia. That being said, Mount Sinai is never said to
be in Midian but always in the wilderness which a settled city like Midian is clearly
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not.
The association however with Mount Sinai being linked geographically with Midian
arises from Exodus 3:1, where we are told that Moshe is pasturing Jethros flock at the
base of that mountain. As we talked about recently, pasturing ones flock can often be
hundreds of miles away from the owners home base, such as the famous cattle drives
that started in Texas and ended in Kansas in the 19th and 20th centuries. And such is the
case here, where a powerful man like Jethro has grazing lanes that extend also for
hundreds of miles from his Midian home.
However, when the phrase his own land (
) appears (Numbers 21:24-26,3435; Deuteronomy 2:24,31; 3:2; 4:47; 11:3; 29:2; 33:13; 34:11; Joshua 8:1; 1 Kings
22:36; 2 Kings 18:33; Nehemiah 9:10; Proverbs 8:31; Isaiah 2:6-8; 13:13-14; 18:1-2, 7;
36:18; 37:6-7; Jeremiah 2:15; 27:1-7; 50:18; Daniel 11:15-19; 27-28) it always refers to
the entire region or city or kingdom, not to personal real estate, although granted if the
person is a king he does technically own the country, but the point is the Hebrew
phrase simply does not allow someone like Jethro to be referring to a few acres or a
homestead, or even very large tracts of land within a city.
As a result, when Jethro is AT Mount Sinai AND says he needs to go back home to
Midian, it must be the case that Mount Sinai is not in Midian; although it is part of his
grazing zone beyond the borders of that city, which explains why Jethro is a sheikh and
a priest of both Midian and Mount Sinai. I find this Scripture evidence extremely strong,
and encourage anyone interested in the topic to check out the passages I referenced or to
do their own independent search of the Hebrew or his own land.
Again, Midian is Jethros HQ, but his sphere of influence extends well beyond his
hometown and into the no-mans land of the wilderness.
BACHODESH HA-SHLISHI LETSET BENEY-YISRAEL MEERETZ MITZRAYIM
BAYOM HAZEH (19:1) = on the new moon (first day) of the third month from when
the sons of Israel left the land of Egypt, on that very day. This would be 1 Sivan, or
Tuesday, May 7th, 1447 BCE (Gregorian time). Please also note, from last week, that the
Israelites got water out of the Rock of Horeb and this is BEFORE they got here, to the
base of Mount Sinai.
VAYISU ME-RPHIDIM VAYAVOU MIDBAR SINAY VAYACHANU
BAMIDBAR VAYICHAN SHAM YISRAEL NEGED HA-HAR (19:2) = when they set
out for Rephidim, they came to the wilderness of Sinai and camped in front of the
mountain. As we saw last week wilderness of Sinai seems to have a double usage. One
is a broader form, what we might term the entire Sinai Peninsula which is often just
called the wilderness. The other is the area right near the mountain itself.
In 17:1 the general wilderness term included that of Sin and Elim. In 18:5 ha midbar
or the wilderness was applied to the Mountain of Elohim, which in context is either a
mountain very near Sinai or a third name for Sinai. If it happens to be a separate
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mountain, in my Serabit el-Khadim scenario this fits very well, as Mount Saniya (Sinai)
is very near Ghorabi (Mount Horeb) and if the two peaks are part of the same overall
areawithin 2 miles of each otherthis more than explains why the two names go
together so often. At this location also, both mountains would have the Hathor Shrine in
the center between them, which is where they worshipped the Golden Calf. Also see
Exodus 3:1 where we have the title Horeb, the Mountain of Elohim.
Finally this may be why the Israelites were commanded not to approach Mount Sinai
(Exodus 19:11-12) but were apparently assembled nearer to Mount Horeb (Deuteronomy
4:10). It is possible they were facing Sinai and Horeb to their sides or rear. Then they
settled nearer to Horeb because Sinai was off limits to all but Moshe and sometimes
Aaron and the elders. That may also be why the Golden Calf worship was said to be
centered in Horeb (Psalm 106:19) while Moshe came down from Mount Sinai
(Exodus 31:18-32:35).
UMOSHE ALAH AL HA ELOHIM VAYIKRA ELAV YAHWEH MIN HAHAR
(19:3) = Moshe went up to Elohim and (Elohim) called to him from the mountain. While
it says Moshe went up to Elohim Abba YHWH is still calling DOWN to him FROM
the mountain. Some rabbis like Abarbanel suggest this is because Moshe went up to
Elohim through spiritual means, such as deep prayer or meditation.
KOH TOMAR LE-VEYT YAAKOV VE-TAGEYD LIVNEY YISRAEL (19:3) = this
is what you must say to the family of Jacob and to the sons of Israel. I think, because a
mixed racial multitude came out of Egypt (Exodus 12:40), there was some form of
hierarchy set up where the Hebrew leaders taught the foreigners. 19:7 seems to indicate
that family of Jacob and the elders are referring to one and the same group.
SEGULAH MIKOL HAAMIM (19:5) = My special treasure among the nations. This
is not just because Israel is treasured by Abba YHWH for their specific role in
teaching the nations Torah, but it also means that Israel herself is supposed to totally
belong to Abba YHWH in return. Jeremiah 31:31-34 will compare this relationship to
that which exists between husband and wife.
MAMELECHET KOHANIM VEGOY KADOSH (19:6) = a kingdom of priests and a
Set-Apart nation. Compare this to the next stage of the process that after they were
supposed to show Torah to the Gentiles that the Gentiles themselves would do Torah and
become part of that kingdom of priests (Isaiah 66:21, 1 Peter 2:9, Revelation 1:6).
VAYOMER YAHWEH EL MOSHE LECH HA-AM VA-KIDASHTAM HA-YOM
UMACHAR VE-CHIBESU SIMLOTAM (19:10) = and said Yahweh to Moshe: Go to
the people and sanctify them today and tomorrow and let them mikveh their clothing.
The Hebrew here technically says wash and not mikveh or immerse. However, the
rabbis believe and I agree with them that when it comes to legal procedures and
washingwhich this iswashing literally means to mikveh or to immerse.
VEHAYU NECHONIM LAYOM HASHLISHI KI BAYOM HASHLISHI YERED
YAHWEH LEEYNEY CHO-HAAM AL HAR SINAY (19:11) = They will then be
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ready for the third day, for on the third day, Yahweh will descend on to Mount Sinai in
the sight of all the people. The Torah was actually given exactly on Shavuot or 6th of
Sivan, or Sunday, May 12th, 1447 BCE.
I believe that the Ten Commandments absolutely HAD to be given on a Sunday, because
a bunch of other rules were also given that day as well (Exodus 21:1-24:15), and then
the next verse 24:16 says that the cloud covered the mountain for 6 days but on the 7th
Abba YHWH called Moshe to meet him in the cloud, and I take this to be the 7th day of
the week. It makes sense this would be on Shabbat, and 6 days earlier was Sunday.
Furthermore, it is certain the 3rd day of the 3rd month was also an incredibly important
moment in Israels history. This is when Israel first gets to see Abba YHWH in His
high place. In 7 BCE, the first of three conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn in the
constellation of Pisces also takes place on May 29th when the Magi would have seen it in
the evening skyand May 29th was also the 3rd of Sivan. Therefore, we have a
symmetry that on this date Abba YHWH reveals His heart of Israel, first His Torah and
second His Son.
BIMSHOCH HAYOVEL (19:13) = the sounding of the Yovel, yovel meaning rams
horn, shofar in this verse. However it is also the word for Jubilee, the once every half
century when debts are forgiven and land reverts to its original owner. In a sense, the
year of the Exodus was MEANT to be a Jubilee in that Israel was supposed to take
possession of Canaan. It was only after worshipping the Golden Calf and the bad
incident of sending out the spies in Numbers that a 40 year wandering sentence was
imposed on them, thus delaying the Jubilee that was supposed to happen now until much
later. Every time land changes ownerseven this first cycle that counts from 0 to 50is
in a sense a 50th year as well as the 0 year.
SHOFAR (19:18) = Rams horn. The same horn referenced in 19:13 as a YOVEL is
here clarified to be an actual shofar. This may be because the first blasts of the horn were
meant to proclaim a kind of Jubilee referenced above but, once proclaimed, the next
series of blasts was more meant as a cry to gather Israel to witness the wonders of Abba
YHWH.
KIBSHAN (19:18) = furnace/lime kiln. The smoke of Mount Sinai was literally like the
hottest thing the Israelites could have safely experienced, which is to say the heat and
smoke from a lime kiln. Ironically the same image and word is used in Genesis 19:18 to
describe the destructive smoke that engulfed Sodom and Gomorrah. It is a very
interesting parallel that in the first lime kiln there is eternal destruction and in the
second lime kiln there is the giving of the Torah whose observance leads to eternal
life!
VAYOMER YAHWEH EL-MOSHE RED HA-ED BA-AM (19:21) = And Yahweh
said to Moshe: Go and warn the people. Although this is the intended meaning, the
Hebrew literally says here Go and bear witness to the people rather than warn. It
raises an interesting possibility. With a warn meaning one can argue this is a proactive
command issued to avoid a problem, and so it probably is. However, the literal reading
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could also suggest bear witness is a BACKWARDS statement to not repeat a mistake,
perhaps because someone already trespassed and was killed. However, the next several
following lines make warn the better reading.
The Ten Commandments with Hebrew/English Commentary:
20:1: VAYEDABER ELOHIM ET-KOL HA-DEVARIM HA-ELEH LEMOR
And spoke Elohim [towards] all the Words [these], saying
This sentence seems very formally structured like we would expect from an address
from a King to His subjects. It is also interesting how the Hebrew grammatical-literal
reading here highlights that Elohim spoke TOWARDS all the words, suggesting an
image of His breath or force going TOWARDS the words as if to create them for the
first time.
20:2: ANOCHI YAHWEH ELOHEYCHA ASHER HOTSEITICHA MEERETZ
MITZRAYIM MIBEYT AVADIM
I am Yahweh your Elohim Who brought you out from Egypt from the house of slavery.
Note: ANOCHI is an expanded form of I am. A normal I am would be ANI
whereas ANOCHI was understood as a more formal address. In later times, ANOCHI
would only be applied to YHWH. In the Aramaic NT, the Aramaic cognate of
ANOCHI, a formalized I am exclusive to Abba YHWH, is ENA NA. When Yshua
used ENA-NA (rather than the expected ENA), often the result entailed folks picking up
stones to kill him.
20:3: LO YIHYEH LECHA ELOHIM ACHERIM AL PANAY
Do not have other gods before My Face
In other words, do not put a pagan false-god face on the Set-Apart Face of the one true
Elohim. This is a total ban to depict Abba YHWHs essence in physical form through
which one venerates Him in worship. This is the most personal or intimate form of
language that Abba YHWH uses in phrasing the Ten Commandments and it goes a long
way to explaining His rage at the Golden Calf, even after Aaron tried to make it right
by proclaiming a festival to Abba YHWH on the day of the pagan rituals with the
Egyptian Apis bull.
Actually, to be technically correct, the Apis Bull was only a symptom, not the disease.
The real problem was worshipping the goddess Hathor, who was said to give birth to a
Golden Calf (Apis) every morning. I think this is one of the clues about where Mount
Sinai isat or near a place of Hathor worship.
20:4: LO TAASEH LECH FESEL VECHOL TEMUNAH ASHER BASHAMAYIM
MIMAAL VAASHER BAERETZ MITACHAT VAASHER BAMAYIM
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Do not represent such gods in any carved statue or picture of anything in the heaven
above, on the earth below, or in the water below the land.
20:5: LO-TISHTACHAVEH LAHEM VELO TAOVDEM KI ANOCHI YAHWEH
ELOHEYCHA EL KANA POKED AVON AVOT AL-BANIM AL-SHILESHIM
VEAL-REBIIM LESONAY.
Do not bow down to such gods or worship then. I am your Elohim, an El Who demands
exclusive worship. Where My enemies are concerned, I keep in mind the sin of the
father for their descendants, to the third and fourth generation.
20:6: VEOSEH CHESED LAALAFIM LEOHAVAY ULESHOMREY
MITZVOTAY.
But for those who love me and keep My Mitzvot, to show love to the thousandth
generation.
20:7: LO TISA ET-SHEM-YAHWEH ELOHEYCHA LASHAV KI LO YENAKEH
YAHWEH ET-ASHER-YISA ET-SHMO LASHAV.
You shall not lift up the Name of Yahweh your Elohim in desolate substitution, for
Yahweh will not allow the one who substitutes His Name to go unpunished.
Note: the word SHAV is usually translated as VAIN, however the root means
desolation, emptiness. The only way that YHWHs name can be empty is if it is not
used or substituted. In Exodus 23:1 uses the word SHAV to mean a false report which
in itself is a DESOLATE SUBSTITUTE for the TRUE report that should have been
given.
20:8: ZACHOR ET YOM HASHABAT LEKADSHO.
Remember the Shabbat, to keep it Set Apart.
Note: Here the command is to REMEMBER the Shabbat, whereas in Deuteronomy the
command is to OBSERVE the Shabbat. Remembering is considered a positive command
and observing a negative one. The remembering is keyed to YHWHs resting on that
day, which strongly implies the Shabbat was understood as Set-Apart and therefore
required for all the righteous people before Moshe. Although the manna incident
strongly suggests that the Israelites upon gaining their freedom needed a bit of
retraining in resting on the seventh day, that doesnt mean they didnt know it from
before. Rather, their lives as slaves, toiling every day, made them forget. YHWH
though helped them remember though by freeing them on the Shabbat, Friday night, on
March 22-23, 1447 BCE.
20:9: SHESHET YAMIN TAAVOD VEASITA CHO MELECHTECHA
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You can work during the other six days and do all your tasks.
20:10: VEYOM HASHVII SHABBAT LYAHWEH ELOHEYCHA LO TAASEH
CHOL MELACHAH ATAH UVINCHA-UVITECHA AVDECHA VAAMATCHA
UVEHEMTECHA VEGERCHA ASHER BISHAREYCHA.
But the seventh day is the Shabbat to Yahweh your Elohim. Do not do any work,
including your son, your daughter, your slave, your maid, your animal and the foreigner
in your gates.
20:11: KI-SHESHET-YAMIM ASAH YAHWEH ET-HASHAMAYIM VEET HAERETZ ET-HAYAM VEET KOL ASHER-BAM VAYANACH BAYOM HASHVII
AL KEN BERACH YAHWEH ET-YOM HASHABBAT VAYEKADESHEHU.
For in six days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in
them, but He rested (or ceased) on the seventh day. Yahweh therefore blessed the
Shabbat day and made it Set-Apart.
20:12: KAVED ET-AVICHA VEET IMECHA LEMAAN YAARICHUM
YAMEYCHA AL HAADAMAH ASHER YAHWEH ELOHEYCHA NOTEN LACH.
Honor (or give weight, give/pay attention to greatly) your father and your mother that
you may live long in the land that Yahweh your Elohim is giving to you.
20:13: LO TIRTSACH. LO TINAF. LO TIGNOV. LO TAANEH VEREACHA ED
SHAKER.
Do not commit murder. Do not steal. Do not testify falsely against your neighbor.
20:14: LO TACHMOD BEYT REECHA. LO TACHMOD ESHET REECHA
VEAVDO VEAMATO, VESHORO, VACHOMORO VECHOL ASHER
LEREECHA.
Do not covet anything of your neighbors house. Do not covet your neighbors wife, his
slave, his maid, his ox, his donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
VECHOL HAAM ROIM ET-HAKALOT (20:15) = and all the people SAW the
sounds. This seems to be another miracle but one seldom spoken of, that the Israelites
could actually SEE sounds without the intervention of artificial chemical stimuli. It has
often been said that certain drugs, like LSD, scramble signals in the brain by amping up
certain chemicals, like dopamine. In this case of course, the Israelites have this happen
to them by Abba YHWHs own design and without such drugs.
VAYOMER YAHWEH EL-MOSHE LEMOR KOH TO-MAR BENEY YISRAEL ATTEM REI-TEM MIN KI HASH-SHA-MAYIM DIB-BAR-TI IM-MA-CHEM (20:19)
= And said Yahweh to Moshe: Thus you will say to the children of Israel. You have seen
that I have spoken to you from heaven. Because Abba YHWH spoke directly to Israel
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and had no intermediary, this is understood as one reason why we are not to seek
talismans and other symbols of the divine, a fact which the next sentence confirms by
restating the ban on worshipping graven images.
The appearance of Abba YHWH and His Voice here in effect lays down halacha on the
general ban and to only shape things He has directly commanded for His purposes, such
as the cherubim above the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant. Basically, when
Elohim wishes to show His presence, He will do so through blessings or revelations, but
not through anything made by human hands.
Torah Question of the Week:
What part of this Torah portion goes directly against the rabbinic ban on the Name
of YHWH OTHER than the giving of the 3rd commandment itself?

END PART 1

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PART 2: THE HAFTORAH

Torah Question of the Week:
What part of this Torah portion goes directly against the rabbinic ban on the Name
of YHWH OTHER than the giving of the 3rd commandment itself?
BECHOL HAMAKOM ASHER AZKIR ET-SHMI (20:21) = In EVERY
PLACE I allow My Name to be remembered. The Rabbis argue that this only
relates to the exception of saying the Name of YHWH in the Temple. But the
Hebrew says BECHOL HA MAKOM (in all the places), proving that YHWH is
to be known throughout the whole earth, because the whole earth remembers His
Mighty deeds, at least if they have the Scripture around them they do.
Bonus Teaching: Take Up Your WHAT and Follow Me?
This is a conventional reading is almost every Bible translation of Matthew:
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny
himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. (Matthew 16:24 KJV)
It is something millions read every day without a single thought, as to take up ones
cross is a phrase completely ingrained in our culture. The only problem is, none of the
original Greek or Aramaic versions of Matthew and the various other places where
similar phrases appear refer to a cross at all!
In Matthew 10:38, 16:24, 27:32,40, 42; Mark 8:34, 15:21, 30, 32; Luke 9:23, 14:27,
23:26; John 19:17, 19, 25, 31; 1 Corinthians 1:17-18; Galatians 5:11, 6:12, 14;
Ephesians 2:16; Philippians 2:8, 3:18; Colossians 1:20, 2:14 and Hebrews 12:2, the
Greek word stauros and the Aramaic word zqapa do not refer to a specific shape of
wood, except as a pole or an upright stake. The Gospels are merely describing Roman
execution of Jews by nailing them on to any of a variety of configurations, any one of
which would completely produce the same wounds Messiah suffered.
In the book of Acts (2:23, 5:30, 10:39, 13:29) and in 1 Peter 2:24 another word is used.
In Greek it is xulon which simply means wood or tree and this is the most common
translation from the Hebrew word for treeetzthat occurs in the Greek OT. Various
Aramaic words have the same exact meaning as the Greek does here, and so there is no
cross to be had in the Aramaic traditions either, so where did the cross come from?
Before answering that question, I should attempt to explain what Messiah actually meant
by deny himself, take up his ___ and follow me. We need to understand the stark
reality of Roman persecution of first century Jews, the very same people who became
the apostles and writers of the New Testament. For them, the Roman crossfor this is a
Latin word which we will get to shortlywas hardly a symbol of hope and comfort but
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rather, one of abject terror. More than one million Jews were believed to have been
crucified in the first century alone by Rome and for the Romans themselves, crucifixion
was designed to instill anything but comfort in the hearts of those who witnessed its
extreme gore and brutality.
Now to be sure, part of being a follower of Yshua was to endure hardship and if need be
die for ones beliefs. This is why Yshua said:
He who desires to save his life, will lose it. And he who loses his life for my
sake, will find it. For what does it profit a man if he gains all the world, and
loses his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? (Matthew
16:25-26 AENT)
This in fact Messiah says right after take up your ___, and I do believe it was the
image of this Roman torture that was used as a way to strengthen believers, but not quite
in the way the Church has taught it over the years.
So, as far as I can determine, every ancient witness I have read has Yshua literally mean
something like, Take up your stake as if it is your staff. In other words, the possibility
that you may face death for your beliefs, while terrifying, is also part and parcel of what
it means to be a leader of the faithful. Therefore, as leaders, it is your burden to risk your
life for the sake of others, not necessarily to seek out horrible death. If however, you do
die, you find eternal life. But if the desires of this world choke you and lessen your faith,
you will die in your sins.
Also in a Jewish context, the worst thing that could happen was to be executed as a
criminal by being impaled on a tree, which is why Psalm 22:16 talks about dogs
surrounding the wicked and they have pierced my hands and my feet.
1
Deuteronomy 21:23 essentially says: Cursed is he who is hung on a tree and in the
Greek version there and dozens of other places the word tree is xulon, the very same
word that is being put into cross centuries later. And in keeping with that indignity, the
Son of the Living Yah humbled himself to be hung on a tree, the final shape of which,
cross-like or not, being completely irrelevant to the writers of the New Testament.
Still, if the innovation is merely to say pick up your torture stake rather than cross is
that truly a radical revision to what has traditionally been taught down the centuries? By
itself alone I would probably say no, but I also believe Yshua is doing far more than just
telling people to pick up an instrument of torture and death, whether cross or otherwise.
Instead, Yshua is also going back into Jewish culture, into the deepest recesses of the
Bible in fact, to recall that great Hebrew leaders like Moses and David carried staffs and
rods with their names and the names of their tribes on them as signs of power and
authority. These same brave men, staffs in hand, often also faced down what seemed
certain prospects for death and suffering in the process.

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It was one of these staffs with Aarons name on it in Numbers 17 for example, which
budded and let rebellious Israel know that he was their true priestly leader. It was also
Judahs staff and cordthe signs of his leadership status and prestigewhich were
inadvertently given to Tamar and which would have created much embarrassment and
scandal if she did not give them back in Genesis 38. And Moses brandishing his staff
before Pharaoh who would otherwise have the former prince of Egypt be dead need
hardly be mentioned.
To take up ones staff then means to rise to the occasion and call of leadership in spite of
direct threats to ones life, since as Yshua also said of his apostles:
"Truly I say to you, that you who have come to follow me in this world, when the
Son of man sits new upon the throne of his glory, you will also sit upon twelve
seats, and you will judge the twelve tribes of Israel. (Matthew 19:28 AENT)
So if the apostles are the new leaders of Israel, wouldnt it make sense that they take up
their staffs of individual responsibility, triumph and tragedy, hardship and even death,
just as their forebears in the Old Testament did? Since the translation from stauros as
stake is unavoidable as is the lexical relationship between stake, pole, staff as well
as owing to the fact that at least two Hebrew words for staff (mitteh, shevet) also refer
to tribes or tribal leadership, the metaphor that is intended by Messiah emerges clearly
from first century historical context: Take up your torture stake (fear of death) as if it
were your staff (of responsibility and leadership) and walk with it!
From here though, once again, it seems a long way to get to cross, so where did that
reading come from if it was not in Greek, Aramaic or the Biblical culture at large? The
answer is simple: It came from Rome.
In the early second century, no one knows the precise year, some extremely early copies
of Greek New Testament books which we no longer have were translated into Latin.
Today scholars call the surviving translations which are highly varied in quality and
style the Old Latin and most would date the earliest manuscripts of this collection to
about 200 CE.
In any case, when the Greek books were translated into Latin, the word stauros which
really only meant an upright stake was rendered as crucem or crux and it is from these
words that we in turn get cross. However, the cross had already figured prominently in
various pagan traditions that the Romans were aware of.
In 30 BCE for example they conquered Egypt and came into contact with that religion
which used an ankh (a cross with a loop at its top) to mean life and resurrection.
There was even an Egyptian story that talked about Pharaoh as the son of a god with the
spirit of that god living inside him. Another Egyptian cross motifthis one extremely
similar to the Roman designformed a hieroglyphic word that meant to guard or
protect, and still a third Egyptian cross design that looked like a standing cross on a
mound or hill symbolized perfection, beauty.
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The ancient Babylonians also used the cross motif for worshipping the god Tammuz,
who was actually the son of Nimrod of the Bible. It was based on the shape and design
of the Aramaic letter taw. Once again the story was told in this instance of a man
becoming a deity2.
In making this point however, I do not wish to imply that I personally do not believe in
the virgin birth, life, death and resurrection of Messiah because I earnestly do believe
these things with all my heart. Rather, I am talking about how symbols from other
cultures were used to communicate this message. The cross found no analogues or
parallels in Jewish culture whatsoever, except as a form of Roman execution, so using
symbols along those lines to convey hope had to come from outside of the Hebraic
mindset from which the Gospels sprang.
Instead, all of these cross-traditions and more made their way to Rome. It was common
in pre-Christian times also for pagans from all over the Empire to simply add the cult of
the Roman Emperor to their long list of deities to make obeisance to. The Emperor
Augustus was proclaimed a deity with a working temple and priesthood after his death
while Emperor Caligula simply took the next logical step and in madness proclaimed
himself a deity while still alive and made his horse a fully invested member of the
Roman Senate in the bargain. This was the way divine business was done in Rome and it
was far from free of those influences in only a century or so after Messiah was
resurrected.
However, because what passed for the Catholic Church back in those days was an
illegal, underground and persecuted religion punishable by death, the Christians in Rome
had no choice but to be immersed in the predominant paganism that permeated every
layer and aspect of their society.
That said, the earliest possible example of the cross as even an isolated symbol attached
to Christian worship comes from a place named Herculaneum which, while not
mentioned in the New Testament, did have a community of believers founded by the
Apostle Paul only a few miles away, at a place called Puteoli, according to Acts 28:1113. Data in Acts suggests the Puteoli assembly was established around 60 CE, about two
decades before Herculaneum was wiped off the face of the earth.
The island of Pompeii, where Herculaneum was, became annhilated by Mount Vesuvius
in 79 CE, but not apparently before one closet Christian had hung a cross that was
hidden by a wall now petrified by volcanic ash. The cross itself was gone but the
indentation of its shape remained embedded in the wall. However, we know absolutely
nothing else about this Christian or any assembly there and no such repetition of a cross
motif has been found anywhere else during the first century. If this person, whoever he
was, was among the first believers to use a cross in this manner, his example was not
widely emulated for more than a century elsewhere. The image below was taken by
archaeologists in the 1930s:

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And yet, even when a few authorities from this early time do mention cross they still
describe it this way:
He was standing before Pilate, yet was sitting before the Father. He was nailed
upon the tree yet was upholding everything...who was betrayed by Judas, who
was laid hold on by the priests, who was condemned by Pilate, who was
transfixed in the flesh, who was hanged upon the tree...He on whose account the
earth quaked, he that suspended the earth was hanged up. He that fixed the
heavens was fixed with nails. He that supported the earth was supported
upon a tree.-Melito of Sardis (169 CE), Apology to Marcus Aurelius, as
recorded by William Cureton in Spicilegium Syriacum, p. 53-55.
However, in terms of religious institutionalization of the cross on a large scale which is
fully recognized, we need to turn to the biography of a man named Tertullian (c. 155240 CE) who has rightly been called the Father of Latin Christianity. Much of what the
Roman Catholic faith eventually became was based on Tertullians writings and
examples.
Raised in Carthage, modern-day Tunisia, tradition tells us Tertullian joined low and
ascended high through the ranks of the Roman army, became a centurion and then later a
lawyer and a Christian priest. Remarkably also, Eusebius also tells us Tertullian even
became a military pro-consul, probably the first believer in Yshua to hold such an
exalted rank3.
Tertullians conversion to Christianity is believed to have happened around 198 CE
when he also married a Christian woman. Shortly after that, it was Tertullian who
decided to call his fellow Christians for the first time devotees of the cross. This was
also the case with the larger pagan Roman population, as they imagined the Messiah as a
man with the head of a donkey hanging on what would later become a traditional
Catholic style crucifix4. Here is from about 200 CE, believe it or not, the earliest attempt

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to depict Messiah in picture form and the Latin text reads below as: Alexamenos5
worships his god:

As for Tertullian himself, he wrote the following template for cross-worship in his own
book which was circulating at the exact time that the Old Latin Gospels were taking
stauros and turning it into crucem and crux:
At every forward step and movement, at every going in and out, when we put on
our clothes and shoes, when we bathe, when we sit at table, when we light the
lamps, on couch, on seat, in all the ordinary actions of daily life, we trace upon
the forehead the sign (of the cross).- Tertullian, De Corona (of the Crown),
chapter 3
From that time, cross-veneration became increasingly important in Roman worship, until
the Emperor Constantine, through his biographer Eusebius, circulated a story about how
he had seen a cross in the heavens just before a battle and heard a voice say from
heaven: By this sign, conquer. After his victory, Constantine claimed conversion as
the first Roman-Christian Emperor, and the pattern he set for cross-worship has been
with us ever since.
However, what may seem a bit shocking to some is that we have no accurate physical
evidence of the method of Roman crucifixions, especially at the time of Yshua. To date
all that has been found is a foot with a Roman iron nail through it, nothing that would
show how the victims overall body was actually positioned. As a result, there is just as
much likelihood that actual crucifixion which used trees in the Jerusalem area really
looked like something closer to this image, from Justus Lipsiuss La Cruce:

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In literary terms however, the most specific eyewitness reference to the Roman method
of crucifixion that I have ever found was written around 30 CEthe very year Messiah
himself was crucifiedby the Jewish historian Philo, who says:
84

But this man did not order men who had already perished on crosses to be
taken down, but he commanded living men to be crucified (), men to
whom the very time itself gave, if not entire forgiveness, still, at all events, a
brief and temporary respite from punishment; and he did this after they had been
beaten by scourging in the middle of the theater; and after he had tortured them
with fire and sword; 85 and the spectacle of their sufferings was divided; for the
first part of the exhibition lasted from the morning to the third or fourth hour, in
which the Jews were scourged, were hung up, were tortured on the wheel,
were condemned, and were dragged to execution through the middle of the
orchestra; and after this beautiful exhibition came the dancers, and the buffoons,
and the flute-players, and all the other diversions of the theatrical contests.
(Philo, Flaccus, 1:84-85)
While the translator C.D. Yonge says crucified, the literal reading in Philos Greek is
simply to die upon a stauros/stake, and this is clarified with the phrase or to
hang upon, suspend from. It is also interesting that Philo references the practice of
scourging the victims first, as was also done in the case of Messiah.
However, most revealing of all perhaps is the fact that Philo in his work On Joseph,
1:96-98, also applies the term stauros to the execution of the baker in Genesis. In that
case, the original Hebrew text clearly indicates the man was hung from a tree or perhaps
a pole (Genesis 40:19, 22) but certainly never put on a two-tiered cross as we might
otherwise imagine it.
In any case, my purpose here is neither to offensively shock anyone nor to suggest one
crucifixion configuration had to have been used definitively over another as the actual
form of Messiahs execution.
Instead, what I am trying to demonstrate is that for Christians who have been unfamiliar
with this history who find it painful to look at and hard to endure, the level of discomfort
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felt is in direct proportion to the influence of the Roman Emperor Constantine who set
up our own iconoclastic assumptions about what Christianity was supposed to look like,
as opposed to what it actually was like.

5) Haftorah portions (English-Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 6:1-7:14; 9:5-6), and discuss

common themes with Torah portion. Read entire portion first.

Bishnat-mot hamelech Uziyahu va'er'eh et-Yahweh yoshev alkise ram venisa veshulav mele'im et-hahechal.
Srafim omdim mima'al lo shesh kenafayim shesh kenafayim
le'echad bishtayim yechaseh fanav uvishtayim yechaseh raglav
uvishtayim ye'ofef.
Vekara zeh el-zeh ve'amar kadosh kadosh kadosh Yahweh
Tseva'ot melo chol-ha'arets kevodo.
6) Our linguistic commentary
Special Note: Isaiah 6:1 is one of the 134 places where YHWH was swapped out
for ADONAI. Here is that full list:
Ge 18:3,27,30,31,32; 19:18; 20:4; Ex 4:10,13; 5:22; 15:17; 34:9,9;Nu 14:17; Jos
7:8; Jg 6:15; 13:8; 1 Ki 3:10,15; 22:6; 2 Ki 7:6; 19:23;Ezr 10:3; Ne 1:11; 4:14;
Job 28:28; Ps 2:4; 16:2; 22:30; 30:8; 35:17,22,23; 37:13; 38:9,15.22; 39:7; 40:17;
44:23; 51:15; 54:4; 55:9; 57:9; 59:11; 62:12; 66:18; 68:11,17,19,22,26,32; 73:20;
77:2,7; 78:65; 79:12; 86:3,4,5,8,9,12,15; 89:49,50; 90:1,17; 110:5; 130:2,3,6; Isa
3:17,18; 4:4; 6:1,8,11; 7:14,20; 8:7; 9:8,17; 10:12; 11:11; 21:6,8,16; 28:2; 29:13;
30:20; 37:24; 38:14,16; 49:14; La 1:14,15,15; 2:1,2,5,7,18,19,20; 3:31,36,37,58;
Eze 18:25,29; 21:9; 33:17,20;Da 1:2; 9:3,4,7,9,15,16,17,19,19,19; Am 5:16;
7:7,8; 9;1; Mic 1:2; Zec 9:4; Mal 1:12,14.
VAERA ET-YAHWEH (Adonay put here later) YOSHEV AL-KISE RAM (6:1) =
I saw YHWH sitting upon a high and exalted throne. Whats interesting about the
substitution here with ADONAY is that opens up the passage to having a possible
reference to Yshua here!
SRAPHIM (6:2) = seraphs. From a root that means to burn, be on fire, either
physically or emotionally, these are special angels that minister to YHWH.
Unfortunately that same burning root can apply to demons, and rabbis teach the
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demons are referenced as seraphim through serpent imagery, referring to the

burning of the venom of the snake.
KI-ET HAMELECH YAHWEH TZAVAOT RAU EYNAY (6:5) = for to the
King, Yahweh of Hosts, I have seen with my eyes. Depending on how we interpret
several passages of Scripture, either nobody has seen YHWH face to face or
perhaps a select few like Jacob and Moshe have had this honor. Yshua clarifies
and says that no one has seen the true nature of the Father, in pure Unseen Form,
except for the Son who came down from highest heaven as the Word made flesh.
Clearly then Isaiah may have THOUGHT he saw this form of Abba YHWH but
was merely given the image of Abba YHWH he could handle, or else he would
have been killed. Same thing applied also to Moshe seeing Him from the back and
Jacob wrestling with an angel that was Abba YHWH. They did not see Him per
se in true deadly form, but to them what of Him they did see was His face, which
is why Moshe could be said to have known YHWH intimately (panim al panim-face
to face) as a friend.
VEOD BAH ASIRYAH BESHAVAH VEHAYETAH LEVAER KAELAH
VECHAALON ASHER BESHALECHET MATZEVET BAM ZERA KODESH
MTZAVTAH (6:13) = and if one tenth remain in it, it will be destroyed again; but
it will be like a terebinth or an oak, whose stump remains when it is felled, so the
Set-Apart seed will be its stump.
7) Renewed Covenant portion: (English).1 Timothy 3:1-14 (all the way through with
applicable footnotes.)
Highlight common themes in Aramaic (terms in footnotes which I will
read):
MAHAYMNA HI MILTHA (3:1) = it is a faithful sayingliterally
faithful speech (mahaymna = emuna), saying or parable. But MILTHA
is also used in John 1:1 to great spiritual effectiveness, and it also means
In the beginning there was the Word/Emanation/Manifestation/Frequency
and several other meanings which were all intended simultaneously (I
believe) by Yochanan.
Pauls usage of this particular phrase seems to be proof that he was
familiar with Yochanans early writingsperhaps rough draftsor that he
may have heard Yochanan preach in his hometown of Ephesus certain
themes that became dominant in his writings later. The reason Ephesus
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would have been on Pauls mind is also evident: Timothy had done a very
successful mission in that city and was highly praised by Paul for his
talents (1Timothy 1:1-2, 18, 6:20). According to many scholarssuch as
Charles Ryrie [Ryrie Study Bible, p. 377]Timothy was not only an
inspirational servant at Ephesus but also a talented leader of that assembly
and others in that part of Asia Minor. I actually concur with Dr. Ryries
assessment on that point.
Eastern and western tradition is nearly unanimous on the idea that after
Yochanan left Jerusalem (ca. 55 CE) he took Maryam, Yshuas mother,
with him to settle in Ephesus, where he remained until persecuted by the
Roman Emperor ca. 96 CE.
At that point, according to Revelation 1, Yochanan left Ephesus but only
went a few miles out to sea to settle on a small island off the Ephesian
coast, otherwise known as Patmos.
Therefore, at the time that Paul is writing Ephesians (about 61 CE),
Yochanan had been in Ephesus for a number of years and it is possible
that even Yshuas mother Maryam was still alive and living with him
there.
DEN ANASH RAEG QASHISHOTA AIVEDEH TAVEH RAEG (3:1)
= that he who desires ELDERSHIP desires a good work. eldership
versus leadershipbig difference.
1 Timothy 3:5
6) Leadership starts in the home; it is the fruits of marriage and family life at home that
demonstrate the ability, quality and character of every elder or leader. Yet, religious
people willfully negate Scriptural qualifications of leadership in order to be entertained
or inspired by a popular dynamic leader or speaker. It is a modern and fashionable thing
to compromise on leadership qualifications for someone who has attained wealth or a
degree of fame, because everybody wants to be successful like them. It is because of
the wholesale compromise of Scriptural qualifications of leadership that there is
unprecedented spiritual abuse, wickedness and divisions within the Body of Mashiyach.
There is no greater ego trip for the carnal man than to become a religious leader and get
paid to speak over the spiritual lives of others. Religious leadership is haSatans most
effective tool to keep people from entering into the Kingdom of Heaven, and the job
pays extremely well for what a religious leader has to do. There is a world of conartists, thieves and frauds who know how to get religious and talk the talk so as to
be accepted into the beloved and stand before the congregation as a spiritual
authority. On local, regional, national and international levels false spiritual leaders
consolidate their power and authority and create wicked confederacies against the Unity
of the Body for personal gain and fame. The remedy of false religion is to turn to
YHWH, implement Torah, walk in humility, live in Set Apart simplicity and come out
of all false religion. Please see footnotes on Mat_7:16, Joh_10:16, Heb_13:7, and
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2Th_3:10.
SAHADUTHA SHAPIRATA (3:7) = good testimony is sahdutha
shapiratasahdutha being the same word in Genesis 31:47 for
witnessthe only Aramaic line in the Hebrew Torah! Shapirata, is
actually beautiful in Aramaic. Rav Shaul uses it frequently to describe
pure and moral behavior. But its not just good testimony but gorgeous
morality that is being extolled here.
3:9-ARAZA DHAYMANUTHA = mystery of the faith. This seems to be a very
special phrase used by Yshua in Matthew 13:11 where he says to his disciples, to you
it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of heaven, but it is not given to them,
meaning the uninitiated. Therefore mystery of the faith is a synonym that means (or at
least, leads) to the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. It may also be a related concept
to the mystery of the Good News given in Ephesians 6:19.
3:12-DKHAD ANTATHA = of one wife. I have encountered several assemblies where
leadership has determined this means a divorced person cannot be a leader. However, if
that is so then neither can a widower be a leader either. Paul is not addressing HOW a
man came by a second wife, which makes this interpretation very harsh and limiting, as
it also suggests that even if a wife cheats on her husband, runs away and divorces him
that he could still be held back from spiritual leadership for something that may have
little to do with him. It is for these reasons, and a fair number of Aramaic grammatical
ones, that lead me to believe the text means one wife at a time, i.e. the person who
tries to be an assembly leader cannot be a bigamist. The one wife at a time reading
certainly allows for tragedies in marriage that are not the husbands fault to not preclude
him from leadership. This is why Lamsa translated this phrase as not be polygamous
which is the intent of the Aramaic here.
8) Apply these themes/issues to modern issues in the Netzari faith. (The underlying
responsibility for both leaders and followers is the same: Put your authority on the
Word and not only the teachers or rabbis! All approved teachers in the faith will act as
Rav Shaul did in Acts 17, and subject themselves to inquiries based in Scripture. That is
why it is called ELDERSHIP rather than leadershipmaturity is required!)
9) Relate to all or part of an Appendix portion of AENT or footnotes from a portion (How
Much Torah Do Christians Keep? p. 845-864).
STUDY QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED NEXT WEEK
1) Where is the pattern of Jethros advice repeated in the NT?
2) If you know the answer to #1, how is the leadership aspect of Jethros advice
mirrored in the NT?

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3) What do the most ancient translations of part of this Haftorah portion tell us that later
Rabbinic versions deny?
4) If you know the answer to #3, what is one example from Genesis that disproves the
Rabbinic theory?
5) Using the Renewed Covenant portion as a guide, name one religious leader who fits
most closely as much criteria on how NOT to lead as possible. There are MANY
possible right answers, but the key is to line up the instructions with a real life
example.
Torah Thought for the Week:
Jethro: A Quiet Kind of Humility
The Torah clearly says that Moshe was the most humble man in the world. However, he
is not the only man of surpassing grace and humility who is indispensable in the Exodus
drama. Behind the scenes, there is another, a man so wise and thoughtful that his efforts
to transform the way Israel deals with Torah at a root infrastructure level are accepted
without question.
I am speaking of course about Jethro, Moshes father in law. Here we are at the central
part of the greatest redemptive drama save Yshuas resurrection, and yet, without Jethro
and the small quiet role he plays, the Big Show might not have happened at all, or if it
did it could have met with disaster or not had long lasting benefit.
Many of you know that the Rabbis have basically named each Torah portion after a
word or phrase that appears in its first sentence, so the phrase in the beginning
becomes the name for Bereshit and so on. But I have also found it intriguing that in
this critical portion we should find it named after Jethro, rather than re-arranging the
readings so that the giving of the Ten Words or Commandments takes center stage as the
start of the parsha. Instead, its at the END of this parsha.
I think the Rabbis did this in part to acknowledge Jethros important but quiet role, and
that first Jethro must help Moshe before Moshe can help all of Israel. This is because, for
all the grand majestic ideals and high drama we are about to see with the Ten
Commandments, everything starts with one man telling another not to drop dead from
exhaustion
13

On the following day, Moses took his seat to administer justice for the people,
and the people were standing round him from morning till evening. 14 Seeing all
he did for the people, Moses' father-in-law said to him, 'Why do you do this for
the people, why sit here alone with the people standing round you from morning
till evening?' 15 Moses replied to his father-in-law, 'Because the people come to
me to consult God. 16 When they have a problem they come to me, and I give a
ruling between the one and the other and make God's statutes and laws known to
them.'
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17

Moses' father-in-law then said to him, 'What you are doing is not right. 18 You
will only tire yourself out, and the people with you too, for the work is too heavy
for you. You cannot do it all yourself. 19 Now listen to the advice I am going to
give you, and God be with you! Your task is to represent the people to God, to
lay their cases before God, 20 and to teach them the statutes and laws, and show
them the way they ought to follow and how they ought to behave.
21

At the same time, from the people at large choose capable and God-fearing
men, men who are trustworthy and incorruptible, and put them in charge of them
as heads of thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens, 22 and make them the people's
permanent judges. They will refer all important matters to you, but all minor
matters they will decide themselves, so making things easier for you by sharing
the burden with you. 23 If you do this -- and may God so command you -- you
will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.'
(Exodus 18:13-23 NJB)
Jethro understands the unique role Moshe has been given. He is fine with not being the
star of the show as it were, but then again so would Moshe be, as he turned down
YHWHs job about half a dozen times. But Jethro also knows that without Moshe, Abba
YHWH would have to spend more time to pick someone else to accomplish his will and,
at this point, not even the noble Joshua is ready for that task yet.
So for the entire point of the Exodus to be accomplished in Abba YHWHs timing,
Moshe cannot be allowed to bear a burden that could over time weaken or kill him. A
lesser man might have asked Moshe to simply hand over power to himself so he
wouldnt have to worry about it, but he doesnt.
Or if Jethro was deceitfully ambitious he might have hand-picked the judges for
Moshe after gaining his trust. He doesnt do that eitherinstead as we just read he begs
Moshe to pick the men on his own. And Jethros instructions are clear, simple and brief,
so there is no way to exploit these either for Jethros own benefit.
On the other hand, you might say, sure, Jethro is already rich and powerful. He has
everything a man could ever want as it isso of course he doesnt need to be greedy
here too. And in that you would be right of course, but it also strengthens my point and
admiration for Jethro, because, as we just saw, Jethro doesnt NEED to leave his tents at
all! Or he could have simply returned to them with Tzipporah and his grandsons.
Why then bother making the trip to see Moshe directly in the first place? And the
answer must be, because Jethro is only thinking about what is best for his son-in-law and
perhaps also for Moshes people by extension. It might even be, as priest of Mount
Sinai, He wants to honor the will of the Elohim he serves, but theres more than one way
to do that too. It would have been customary, for example, to just send a bunch of gifts
and gold Moshes way to ensure goodwill.
But instead, and fortunately for Moshe and the rest of us now, Jethro gave him
something much more precious: The clarity of common sense that eluded Moshe,
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ironically because of HIS OWN HUMILITY and desire to be a servant. But that desire
should not extend to working oneself to death, and because Jethro saw that and acted as
compassionately as he did, he is just as much a key factor to bringing the Ten
Commandments into the world as Moshe was. Todah rabba Jethro! And finally, lets
close with a small pop culture reference6 I call
Jethros Rules
1) Your wife, your lead, so I brought her back to you.
2) When the jobs done ruling on Torah cases, walk away and go home.
3) Theres no such thing as a coincidence, especially when Abba YHWH warns you
its coming in advance.
4) When a task is too heavy for you to do alone, learn to delegate it to your team.
Im Andrew Gabriel Roth and thats your Torah thought for the Week!
Next week we will be exploring Mishpatim, or Exodus 21:1-24:18. Our Haftorah portion
will be Yiremeyahu (Jeremiah) 34:8-22 and our Renewed Covenant portion will be
1
Hebrews 9:15-22. Stay tuned!
1

The final form of the Hebrew Masoretic Text tries to downplay this by changing the vowel pointing to
read like a lion, they are at my hands and my feet but the Dead Sea Scrolls, Septuagint and the Aramaic
Peshitta Tanakh all have the original reading the Masoretes edited out: They have pierced my hands and
my feet. Further, in the times of Yshua and the apostles, there was no question whatsoever that Psalm
22:16 read this way and was thought analogous to the Roman execution method of crucifixion, which is
the only known method that pierces both hands and feet of the victim at the same time.
2
Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, "Cross, Crucify". See, also, Abram Herbert
Lewis, Paganism surviving in Christianity, G.P. Putnam's sons, 1892, pp 237, 238.
3
Eusebius, Church History, II, ii, 4 and Jerome, On Famous Men, chapter 53.
4
While some details are sketchy and lost to history, it does seem that some Romans believed the Jews
worshipped a donkey as their principal god. Subsequently, when word reached Rome through the
writings of historians like Tacitus and Suetonius in the early second century that a Jew named Christus or
Chrestus was instigating trouble either from Jewish followers of him or from Jewish leaders against him
protesting his ideas, an unknown artist lampooned a Roman bishop (Alexamenos) in the catacombs
below the city by saying he worshipped a Jew as a god and therefore the god had the body of a naked
man and the head of a donkey. The origin of this idea of Jewish donkey worship has not sufficiently been
ascertained in the surviving records; we seem to be approaching the thought as if in the middle of a
discussion whose beginning did not endure. Interestingly enough though the early Christians apparently
had a form of literary revenge as not far from the Roman graffiti was an inscription that read Alexamenos
fidelis or Alexamenos is faithful.
5

Alexamenos is apparently the man depicted on the left worshipping his god who is a crucified man

with the head of a donkey. The attitude of the Romans to this faith was perhaps best summed up by the
nd

2 century historian Tacitus who wrote in part the following in Annals, 15:44: "Consequently, to get rid
of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their

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abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered
the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus,
and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Juda,
the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of
the world find their centre and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded
guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of
firing the city, as of hatred against mankind".-A.J. Church and W.J. Brodribb translation (1876).
6

For those who may be wondering though I will not speak this on camera, this is a reference to the
television show NCIS and the lead character, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, who always has rules for proper
behavior of all his agents. It just so happens that the characters first name, Leroy means the king in
French, but no one dares call him that to his face.

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