Post by alon on Jan 14, 2019 22:28:16 GMT -8
This week’s readings:
Date of reading- 19 January, 2019/ 13 Shevat, 5779
Name of Par’shah- B’shellach, After He Had Let Go
Par’shah- Ex 13:17 – 17:16
Haftara- Judges 4:4-5:31
Brit Chadashah- Luke 2:22-24; John 6:25-35;, 19:31-37; 1 Cor 10:1-13; 2 Cor 8:1-15; Rev 15:1-4
D’rash:
1 Corinthians 10:1-2 (ESV) For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,
“Into Moses” is not a mistranslation here. Hebrew is a very physical language, and to be baptized (undergo tevilah) “into” someone was to become immersed in their teachings, or to come under their authority. Or you could become immersed into a new way of life: conversion to Judaism, joining a different sect, taking vows. The same when changing state from tahara to tumah- you are immersed into a state of ritual purity; into a set apart condition.
Even in the Greek, though usually mistranslated, the best translation is “into” whenever we see the term “eis/es,” as in:
Matthew 3:11a (ESV) “I baptize youwith into water for repentance,
Mark 1:4 (ESV) John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of (which is correct here) repentancefor into the forgiveness of sins.
Thayer’s Greek Lexicon STRONGS NT 1519: eis εἰς, a preposition governing the accusative, and denoting entrance into, or direction and limit: into, to, toward, for, among.
Being “baptized” into repentance, or more pointedly into forgiveness makes much more sense than “for” repentance or forgiveness. Repentance is a requirement for forgiveness. Baptism is not a requirement for either, yet that is how most English translations present this here.
The ancient sages equated water and
, and thus with God Himself; a theme which repeats in our readings this week. Time and again, water shows up as God reveals His glory. Nowhere is this so well illustrated as in the story of the Parting of the Sea:
Exodus 13:19-20, 24 (ESV) Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night. … And in the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic,
This never really struck me before, but it was at night that the Hebrews crossed the seabed. Think about it: even with the path lit by the fiery column, those people were still walking into and through a dark place. God will illuminate the way, but we must follow it in trusting obedience. There was no “Oh, look at the fishes” or “Look, the far shore is near.” They were immersed not only in the midst of the waters, but when there is danger everywhere the night can be a very physical thing. And passing through those waters was quite literally a baptism into the faith and understanding and leadership of Moshe, and an absolute trust in his, and their God:
Exodus 14:31 (ESV) Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.
This was quite literally a “journey into faith.”
But there is another type of tevilah pictured here; one unto hardness of heart, of following the wrong leader, and thus being “baptized” into death:
Exodus 14:26-28 (ESV) Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.” So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the Lord threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained.
Now with that in mind, think about this: any of the Hebrews could have balked, refusing to enter between those waters and walk into and through the darkness ahead:
Exodus 13:22 (ESV) The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.
God will not depart from us if we are walking in His will. However it is a biblical principle that He will never interfere with free will. This means that every Hebrew had to choose whether to follow in obedience toward a great and apparently dangerous unknown, or to stay and throw themselves on the mercy of the army of Mitzrayim.
“Wow, I wish God would make my choices that simple; sure they went, the Egyptians wanted to KILL them!” Remember, until just recently these people had been slaves; their spirits crushed, their will beat out of them with the lash. The night held only peril and abuses for them. That could not have been an easy choice for these people to make, as they went into this mikvah and their new walk with their God, and with His representative, His shaliach Moshe.
Mekorot: Scripture for All Interlinear; Thayer’s Greek Lexicon; Rav S, my Dad and others
Date of reading- 19 January, 2019/ 13 Shevat, 5779
Name of Par’shah- B’shellach, After He Had Let Go
Par’shah- Ex 13:17 – 17:16
Haftara- Judges 4:4-5:31
Brit Chadashah- Luke 2:22-24; John 6:25-35;, 19:31-37; 1 Cor 10:1-13; 2 Cor 8:1-15; Rev 15:1-4
D’rash:
1 Corinthians 10:1-2 (ESV) For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,
“Into Moses” is not a mistranslation here. Hebrew is a very physical language, and to be baptized (undergo tevilah) “into” someone was to become immersed in their teachings, or to come under their authority. Or you could become immersed into a new way of life: conversion to Judaism, joining a different sect, taking vows. The same when changing state from tahara to tumah- you are immersed into a state of ritual purity; into a set apart condition.
Even in the Greek, though usually mistranslated, the best translation is “into” whenever we see the term “eis/es,” as in:
Matthew 3:11a (ESV) “I baptize you
Mark 1:4 (ESV) John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of (which is correct here) repentance
Thayer’s Greek Lexicon STRONGS NT 1519: eis εἰς, a preposition governing the accusative, and denoting entrance into, or direction and limit: into, to, toward, for, among.
Being “baptized” into repentance, or more pointedly into forgiveness makes much more sense than “for” repentance or forgiveness. Repentance is a requirement for forgiveness. Baptism is not a requirement for either, yet that is how most English translations present this here.
The ancient sages equated water and
, and thus with God Himself; a theme which repeats in our readings this week. Time and again, water shows up as God reveals His glory. Nowhere is this so well illustrated as in the story of the Parting of the Sea:Exodus 13:19-20, 24 (ESV) Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night. … And in the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic,
This never really struck me before, but it was at night that the Hebrews crossed the seabed. Think about it: even with the path lit by the fiery column, those people were still walking into and through a dark place. God will illuminate the way, but we must follow it in trusting obedience. There was no “Oh, look at the fishes” or “Look, the far shore is near.” They were immersed not only in the midst of the waters, but when there is danger everywhere the night can be a very physical thing. And passing through those waters was quite literally a baptism into the faith and understanding and leadership of Moshe, and an absolute trust in his, and their God:
Exodus 14:31 (ESV) Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.
This was quite literally a “journey into faith.”
But there is another type of tevilah pictured here; one unto hardness of heart, of following the wrong leader, and thus being “baptized” into death:
Exodus 14:26-28 (ESV) Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.” So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the Lord threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained.
Now with that in mind, think about this: any of the Hebrews could have balked, refusing to enter between those waters and walk into and through the darkness ahead:
Exodus 13:22 (ESV) The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.
God will not depart from us if we are walking in His will. However it is a biblical principle that He will never interfere with free will. This means that every Hebrew had to choose whether to follow in obedience toward a great and apparently dangerous unknown, or to stay and throw themselves on the mercy of the army of Mitzrayim.
“Wow, I wish God would make my choices that simple; sure they went, the Egyptians wanted to KILL them!” Remember, until just recently these people had been slaves; their spirits crushed, their will beat out of them with the lash. The night held only peril and abuses for them. That could not have been an easy choice for these people to make, as they went into this mikvah and their new walk with their God, and with His representative, His shaliach Moshe.
Mekorot: Scripture for All Interlinear; Thayer’s Greek Lexicon; Rav S, my Dad and others
Attachments:
