One of many reasons we are trying to understand messiah somewhat more is because there is much difference of opinion about the concept, even within Judaism. Look at this Wikipedia article, and especially at the section “Contemporary Jewish Views.”
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messiah_in_Judaism
Where we left off last time, we were looking at an AlHaTorah Search on the word צרינו“our enemies,” where it appears, and its relationship to the messiah/separate concept. These four verses were remaining, and you can see how they all have nearby appropriate words to make the connection.
⦁ Psalms 60:9-12(11-14H) NKJV
9 Who will bring me to the strong city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
10 Is it not You, O God, who cast us off?
And You, O God, who did not go out with our armies?
11 Give us help from trouble,
For the help of man is useless.
12 Through God we will do valiantly,
For it is He who shall tread down our enemies.
- (from עשׂה p.194 make; create;; limit/expand activity (A24)
Also, in this passage you may see a hint as to why some Israelites anticipated a “warlike” leader to come to free them of their trials. But, indeed David was a warrior, and because of his “bloodguilt” דמים was unable to build “a house” for the LORD. Our perspectives, the points of view from which we come, our “worldview,” affects our thinking, our communication, our writing, our judgment. (The focus of Matthew 7:1-5.⁜) As we go through our investigation of משיח, we will see many different sides to the “way” of messiah, being separate. (( ⁜ in that passage, the Greek g3358. μέτρον metron is how we measure. This translates to “seahs” [from h5429. סְאָה se’â] in Genesis 18:6, plural סְאִים֙, which is a משיח cognate. Sarah “judged” these three and scoffed/laughed, but see Abraham’s hospitality. A reference to this passage is in Hebrews 13:2 – please read. And looking for סאים in the same form, we are referred to 1 Samuel 25:18 – see Abigail’s hospitality and compare with her husband “נבל fool.” ))
⦁ Psalms 108:10-13(11-14H) NKJV
10 Who will bring me into the strong city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
11 Is it not You, O God, who cast us off?
And You, O God, who did not go out with our armies?
12 Give us help from trouble,
For the help of man is useless.
13 Through God we will do valiantly,
For it is He who shall tread down our enemies.
⦁ Psalms 136:21-25 NKJV
21 And gave their land as a heritage,
For His mercy endures forever;
22 A heritage to Israel His servant,
For His mercy endures forever.
23 Who remembered us in our lowly state,
For His mercy endures forever;
24 And rescued us from our enemies,
For His mercy endures forever;
25 Who gives food to all flesh,
For His mercy endures forever.
- See these many phrases that have within them the cognate permutations of משח/נסה.
⦁ Nehemiah 4:10-14 NKJV
10 Then Judah said, “The strength of the laborers is failing, and there is so much rubbish that we are not able to build the wall.”11 And our adversaries said, “They will neither know nor see anything, till we come into their midst and kill them and cause the work to cease.”
12 So it was, when the Jews who dwelt near them came, that they told us ten times, “From whatever place you turn, they will be upon us.”
13 Therefore I positioned men behind the lower parts of the wall, at the openings; and I set the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. 14 And I looked, and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”
In the process of this investigation, it dawned on me that a repeated quotation from the Teacher was to love our enemies, a challenge to many. It is not new, as is true in general of what the Teacher taught, just presented in a somewhat different light from what was seen before in What Is Written (in TaNaKH). First, two places in the TaNaKH the idea is presented:
⦁ Exodus 23:4-5
4 “If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again. 5 If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying under its burden, and you would refrain from helping it, you shall surely help him with it.
⦁ Proverbs 25:21-22
21 If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat;
And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;
22 For so you will heap coals of fire on his head,
And the LORD will reward you.
Then, the three places in the Greek Scriptures were that is quoted.
⦁ Matthew 5:43-45
43 “You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
⦁ Luke 6:27-29
27 “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. 29 To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either.
⦁ Luke 6:32-35
32 “But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. 35 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.
Before we go farther I must point out that there are different words in TaNaKH for “enemy.” One is the word we looked at with our enemies above, צר or צרר, which is from the variant family bringing us מצרים, Egypt. One is איב from the root meaning to show enmity, and one is שׂנא, the root to reject and distance; hate. We will try to follow through with all three of these in our messiah understanding. Before that I will take you one step deeper into the water, and then we proceed. Realize, just logically-speaking, it is more challenging to find a four-letter word in these techniques than a three-letter word, thus to search for the noun משיח messiah/anointed/separate is less likely to show up in a search than משח. So we move to the challenge to find the actual word משיח in cognate permutations, which I did just above in the purple. We go to a very important passage in the lives of God’s people, from Deuteronomy. First, the New King James Version:
⦁ Deuteronomy 4:32-40 NKJV
32 “For ask now concerning the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether any great thing like this has happened, or anything like it has been heard. 33 Did any people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live? 34 Or did God ever try to go and take for Himself a nation from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35 To you it was shown, that you might know that the LORD Himself is God; there is none other besides Him. 36 Out of heaven He let you hear His voice, that He might instruct you; on earth He showed you His great fire, and you heard His words out of the midst of the fire. 37 And because He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their descendants after them; and He brought you out of Egypt with His Presence, with His mighty power, 38 driving out from before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land as an inheritance, as it is this day. 39 Therefore know this day, and consider it in your heart, that the LORD Himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. 40 You shall therefore keep His statutes and His commandments which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which the LORD your God is giving you for all time.”
- Then, a more literal interpretation from the Hebrew using mostly Brown-Driver-Briggs definitions with just a few that we have derived, like כל and לפני, looking at משיח cognate permutations.
- An interesting couple of words back-to-back in verse 36 containing משיחcognate permutations, the heavens he causes you to hear. 😳
OK, so we want to look for possible משיח connections in our “enemy”words to see if it is more than just some sort of “coincidence,” what we saw with “our enemies” earlier.
❶ Let’s look at the easiest/most straightforward first, which is שׂנא, to hate. In Solomon’s writing from Proverbs, we see:
⦁ Proverbs 25:21-22
21 If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat;
And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;
22 For so you will heap coals of fire on his head,
And the LORD will reward you.
Proverbs 25:21-22
21 אִם־רָעֵ֣ב שֹׂ֭נַאֲךָ הַאֲכִלֵ֣הוּ לָ֑חֶם וְאִם־צָ֝מֵ֗א הַשְׁקֵ֥הוּ מָֽיִם׃
22 כִּ֤י גֶֽחָלִ֗ים אַ֭תָּה חֹתֶ֣ה עַל־רֹאשֹׁ֑ו וַֽ֝יהוָ֗ה יְשַׁלֶּם־לָֽךְ׃
Please see that with Hirsch techniques of homorganic consonants, using
מ ↔︎ נ, and rearranging as a permutation, שׂנאך your hated (one) ↔︎ משיחmessiah/anointed/separate.
- Using the BHS with Critical Apparatus and Westminster Morphology in the software I use, I can search for שׂנא “in this form.” There is only one other occurrence (leave it to Solomon to have found it and highlighted it):
- The Exodus passage is precisely the passage we showed above, but in the second of the two verses, translated as “one who hates you.” If there is one who hates you, treat them well. It might just possibly change their attitude. It is a messiah-like thing to do. Let’s look at one of the most famous “hated” passages, this time in the King James Version (it has been changed to more politically correct terminology in some or the more modern translations, like “unloved,” so it might be overlooked.
⦁ Genesis 29:31-33 KJV
31 And when the LORD saw that Leah (was) hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel (was) barren. 32 And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben: for she said, Surely the LORD hath looked upon my affliction; now therefore my husband will love me. 33 And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Because the LORD hath heard that I (was) hated, he hath therefore given me this (son) also: and she called his name Simeon.
⦁ Genesis 29:31-33
31 וַיַּ֤רְא יְהוָה֙ כִּֽי־שְׂנוּאָ֣ה לֵאָ֔ה וַיִּפְתַּ֖ח אֶת־רַחְמָ֑הּ וְרָחֵ֖ל עֲקָרָֽה׃
32 וַתַּ֤הַר לֵאָה֙ וַתֵּ֣לֶד בֵּ֔ן וַתִּקְרָ֥א שְׁמֹ֖ו רְאוּבֵ֑ן כִּ֣י אָֽמְרָ֗ה כִּֽי־רָאָ֤ה יְהוָה֙ בְּעָנְיִ֔י כִּ֥י עַתָּ֖ה יֶאֱהָבַ֥נִי אִישִֽׁי׃
33 וַתַּ֣הַר עוֹד֮ וַתֵּ֣לֶד בֵּן֒ וַתֹּ֗אמֶר כִּֽי־שָׁמַ֤ע יְהוָה֙ כִּֽי־שְׂנוּאָ֣ה אָנֹ֔כִי וַיִּתֶּן־לִ֖י גַּם־אֶת־זֶ֑ה וַתִּקְרָ֥א שְׁמֹ֖ו שִׁמְעֹֽון׃
- The more literal arrangement would be “that-hated Leah” and “that-hated I.” In כי–שנואה do you see the משיח cognate permutation?
❷ The second I want to approach a bit more is the one we already looked at with “our enemies.” We saw it worked for “our enemies,” but if we are being very strict in wording, the Teacher says “your enemies.” So, I looked in TaNaKH for some occurrences of that phrase.
⦁ Genesis 14:18-202)
18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. 19 And he blessed him and said:
“Blessed be Abram of God Most High,
Possessor of heaven and earth;
20 And blessed be God Most High,
Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.”
And he gave him a tithe of all.
⦁ Genesis 14:20
20 וּבָרוּךְ֙ אֵ֣ל עֶלְיֹ֔ון אֲשֶׁר־מִגֵּ֥ן צָרֶ֖יךָ בְּיָדֶ֑ךָ וַיִּתֶּן־לֹ֥ו מַעֲשֵׂ֖ר מִכֹּֽל׃
- Searching “in this form,” there are a total o six.
⦁ 2 Samuel 24:13-14
13 So Gad came to David and told him; and he said to him, “Shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or shall you flee three months before your enemies, while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ plague in your land? Now consider and see what answer I should take back to Him who sent me.”
14 And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Please let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”
⦁ 2 Samuel 24:13
13 וַיָּבֹא־גָ֥ד אֶל־דָּוִ֖ד וַיַּגֶּד־לֹ֑ו וַיֹּ֣אמֶר לֹ֡ו הֲתָבֹ֣וא לְךָ֣ שֶֽׁבַע שָׁנִ֣ים ׀ רָעָ֣ב ׀ בְּאַרְצֶ֡ךָ אִם־שְׁלֹשָׁ֣ה חֳ֠דָשִׁים נֻסְךָ֙לִפְנֵֽי־צָרֶ֜יךָ וְה֣וּא רֹדְפֶ֗ךָ וְאִם־הֱ֠יוֹת שְׁלֹ֨שֶׁת יָמִ֥ים דֶּ֨בֶר֙ בְּאַרְצֶ֔ךָ עַתָּה֙ דַּ֣ע וּרְאֵ֔ה מָה־אָשִׁ֥יב שֹׁלְחִ֖י דָּבָֽר׃ ס
⦁ Isaiah 26:11
11 LORD, (when) Your hand is lifted up, they will not see.
But they will see and be ashamed
For (their) envy of people;
Yes, the fire of Your enemies shall devour them.
⦁ Isaiah 26:11
11 יְהוָ֛ה רָ֥מָה יָדְךָ֖ בַּל־יֶחֱזָי֑וּן יֶחֱז֤וּ וְיֵבֹ֨שׁוּ֙ קִנְאַת־עָ֔ם אַף־אֵ֖שׁ צָרֶ֥יךָ תֹאכְלֵֽם׃ ס
⦁ Isaiah 64:2
2 As fire burns brushwood,
As fire causes water to boil—
To make known Your name to Your adversaries,
That the nations may tremble at Your presence!
⦁ Isaiah 64:1
1 כִּקְדֹ֧חַ אֵ֣שׁ הֲמָסִ֗ים מַ֚יִם תִּבְעֶה־אֵ֔שׁ לְהוֹדִ֥יעַ שִׁמְךָ֖ לְצָרֶ֑יךָ מִפָּנֶ֖יךָ גּוֹיִ֥ם יִרְגָּֽזוּ׃
⦁ Micah 5:9
9 Your hand shall be lifted against your adversaries,
And all your enemies shall be cut off.
⦁ Micah 5:8
8 תָּרֹ֥ם יָדְךָ֖ עַל־צָרֶ֑יךָ וְכָל־אֹיְבֶ֖יךָ יִכָּרֵֽתוּ׃ פ
⦁ 1 Chronicles 21:11-12
11 So Gad came to David and said to him, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Choose for yourself, 12 either three years of famine, or three months to be defeated by your foes with the sword of your enemies overtaking you, or else for three days the sword of the LORD—the plague in the land, with the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.’ Now consider what answer I should take back to Him who sent me.”
⦁ 1 Chronicles 21:12
12 אִם־שָׁלֹ֨ושׁ שָׁנִ֜ים רָעָ֗ב וְאִם־שְׁלֹשָׁ֨ה חֳדָשִׁ֜ים נִסְפֶּ֥ה מִפְּנֵי־צָרֶיךָ֮ וְחֶ֣רֶב אוֹיְבֶ֣ךָ ׀ לְמַשֶּׂגֶת֒ וְאִם־שְׁלֹ֣שֶׁת יָ֠מִיםחֶ֣רֶב יְהוָ֤ה וְדֶ֨בֶר֙ בָּאָ֔רֶץ וּמַלְאַ֣ךְ יְהוָ֔ה מַשְׁחִ֖ית בְּכָל־גְּב֣וּל יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וְעַתָּ֣ה רְאֵ֔ה מָֽה־אָשִׁ֥יב אֶת־שֹׁלְחִ֖י דָּבָֽר׃ פ
- The idea here is that messiah may be in “your enemies,” and in “our enemies,” which makes sense because of the cognate meaning of the words in the מ ↔︎ נ associated roots, “move in opposition” (D81).
❸ The 1Chronicles 21:12 verse just above leads us to the third – איב, since both are in that passage:
⦁ 1 Chronicles 21:11-12
11 So Gad came to David and said to him, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Choose for yourself, 12 either three years of famine, or three months to be defeated by your foes with the sword of your enemies overtaking you, or else for three days the sword of the LORD—the plague in the land, with the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.’ Now consider what answer I should take back to Him who sent me.”
⦁ 1 Chronicles 21:12
12 אִם־שָׁלֹ֨ושׁ שָׁנִ֜ים רָעָ֗ב וְאִם־שְׁלֹשָׁ֨ה חֳדָשִׁ֜ים נִסְפֶּ֥ה מִפְּנֵי־צָרֶיךָ֮ וְחֶ֣רֶב אוֹיְבֶ֣ךָ ׀ לְמַשֶּׂגֶת֒ וְאִם־שְׁלֹ֣שֶׁתיָ֠מִים חֶ֣רֶב יְהוָ֤ה וְדֶ֨בֶר֙ בָּאָ֔רֶץ וּמַלְאַ֣ךְ יְהוָ֔ה מַשְׁחִ֖ית בְּכָל־גְּב֣וּל יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וְעַתָּ֣ה רְאֵ֔ה מָֽה־אָשִׁ֥יב אֶת־שֹׁלְחִ֖ידָּבָֽר׃ פ
- Looking for “in this form” for אויבך “your enemies” occurs 275 times. We surely will not look at all, but I will give a couple of examples, and then I will wind up with a conundrum over which to puzzle/ponder. Realize this one needs both a consonant for both מ and for ש, so a harder one to piece together.
⦁ Genesis 49:8
8 “Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise;
Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
Bow down before you the children of your father.
⦁ Genesis 49:8
8 יְהוּדָ֗ה אַתָּה֙ יוֹד֣וּךָ אַחֶ֔יךָ יָדְךָ֖ בְּעֹ֣רֶף אֹיְבֶ֑יךָ יִשְׁתַּחֲוּ֥וּ לְךָ֖ בְּנֵ֥י אָבִֽיךָ׃
⦁ Exodus 15:6-9
6 “Your right hand, LORD, has become glorious in power;
Your right hand, LORD, has dashed the enemy in pieces.
7 And in the greatness of Your excellence
You have overthrown those who rose against You;
You sent forth Your wrath;
It consumed them like stubble.
8 And with the blast of Your nostrils
The waters were gathered together;
The floods stood upright like a heap;
The depths congealed in the heart of the sea.
9 The enemy said, ‘I will pursue,
I will overtake,
I will divide the spoil;
My desire shall be satisfied on them.
I will draw my sword,
My hand shall destroy them.’
⦁ Exodus 15:6-9
6 יְמִֽינְךָ֣ יְהוָ֔ה נֶאְדָּרִ֖י בַּכֹּ֑חַ יְמִֽינְךָ֥ יְהוָ֖ה תִּרְעַ֥ץ אוֹיֵֽב׃
7 וּבְרֹ֥ב גְּאוֹנְךָ֖ תַּהֲרֹ֣ס קָמֶ֑יךָ תְּשַׁלַּח֙ חֲרֹ֣נְךָ֔ יֹאכְלֵ֖מוֹ כַּקַּֽשׁ׃
8 וּבְר֤וּחַ אַפֶּ֨יךָ֙ נֶ֣עֶרְמוּ מַ֔יִם נִצְּב֥וּ כְמוֹ־נֵ֖ד נֹזְלִ֑ים קָֽפְא֥וּ תְהֹמֹ֖ת בְּלֶב־יָֽם׃
9 אָמַ֥ר אוֹיֵ֛ב אֶרְדֹּ֥ף אַשִּׂ֖יג אֲחַלֵּ֣ק שָׁלָ֑ל תִּמְלָאֵ֣מוֹ נַפְשִׁ֔י אָרִ֣יק חַרְבִּ֔י תּוֹרִישֵׁ֖מוֹ יָדִֽי׃
There are many times the phrase “your enemies” occurs – I have definitely not searched them all, but hopefully given you sufficient witnesses. (Gn14:20, 49:8; Ex23:27; Lv26:7, 26:8, 26:16, 26:17, 26:32, 26:34, 26:37, 26:38, 26:39; Nm10:9, 10:35, 14:42; Dt1:42, 6:19, 20:1, 20:3, 20:4, 21:10, 23:9, 23:14, 25:19, 28:7, 28:25, 28:31, 28:48, 28:68, 30:7, 33:39; Josh10:19, 10:25,22:8; Jg3:8, 5:31, 11:36 and on and on.)
- And in the LORD’s self-description to Moses/Moshe, this root of messiah/separate is seen:
There was some challenge in interpreting exactly what was meant as written by Moses, which we have discussed before, the clarification coming in the “sour grapes” discussion in Ezekiel 18. (Also referred to in Jeremiah 31.)
See the cognate meaning of “move in opposition.” The bolded word נשׂא:
Trying to get some clarification, and recalling the מ ↔︎ נ idea, we must look at a pair of words, מסה, a noun which is cognate with משח, and the root נסה from which it is derived. (These are in the Appendix.)
▸ h4531. מַסָּה masâ; from h5254. נָסָה nâsâ; a testing, of men (judicial) or of God (querulous): — temptation, trial.
AV (5) – temptation 4, trial 1;
despair, test
despair
testing, proving, trial
▸ h5254. נָסָה nâsâ; a primitive root; to test; by implication, to attempt: — adventure, assay, prove, tempt, try.
AV (36) – prove 20, tempt 12, assay 2, adventure 1, try 1;
to test, try, prove, tempt, assay, put to the proof or test
(Piel)
to test, try
to attempt, assay, try
to test, try, prove, tempt
- We will look at the נ-group in more detail at another time. There is much to be seen.
- So, if we try to clarify a bit the LORD’s self-description in Exodus 34:6-7, we can use the four-letter word משיח messiah instead of the three-letter root משח/נסה, and we get, which to me is clearer:
- And this made me think of these passages from the Teacher –
⦁ Matthew 9:10-13
10 Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
12 When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
⦁ Mark 2:15-17
15 Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi’s house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him. 16 And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, “How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?”
17 When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
⦁ Luke 5:29-32
29 Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house. And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them. 30 And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, “Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
31 Jesus answered and said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
- “The free” would be the ones righteous.
- Though there is much more to go, we will stop here for now, for time to reflect.
If you remember nothing else from this entry, remember the Hebrews 13:2 passage I asked you to read, and how we tend to set ourselves up as judges. The measure we use will be measured to us. סאים And how Solomon’s two lines in Proverbs 25:21-22 pick up on that, the phrase “your enemy, feed him” picks up on that. Don’t be a scoffer. Be an Abigail אביגיל – my father, rejoice! The measure of what is “the way of messiah.”
Ⓒ Copyright LogAndSpeck June 2023. Please cite if copying.