As noted, these Blogs are not to teach anyone a certain doctrine or belief. The purpose, as has been the purpose of the entire website, is to get people to read and study Scripture, to investigate for themselves. I am not interested in stirring up a “debate.” I only raise what I find in my investigation to stimulate the reader to investigate. The desire is to bring people closer together rather than divide, which is an ever-increasing problem. Please hear this. I am NOT asking for a tirade of statements from this believer’s doctrine or that believer’s doctrine, a divisive discussion. What I am asking is (as has been noted from the beginning of the website) one set aside her/his “assumptive reasoning” and read what is presented at face value, and then pray, meditate on it. Let our Holy One speak to you personally, which can only be done when your own spirit is calm and quiet, and not when your ire is aroused.
I recently read a fairly succinct article on the Chabad website, called: 14 Facts About Jews and Judaism That Every Person Should Know
By Menachem Posner
Sounded like I should know these facts since I consider myself a person. If you want to read the entire article, the link is here:
At my first reading, this particular item on the list caught my attention:
“Fact Number 3.” There Is Just One G‑d
Judaism believes in the one invisible Creator of Heaven and Earth. He has no children and needs no helpers. Nor does anything have independent power (even Satan is just an angel with a unique job description). G‑d does, however, go by several names, which are so sacred that Jews generally refer to Him as Hashem, which is Hebrew for “The Name.”
As is most often the case with this writer (me), I simply let this statement percolate for a while, giving that inner voice a chance to speak to me. And having done so, it seemed a good statement to use to do some investigation of my own. Hopefully anytime you, as a reader, come across general statements like this, it would encourage you to do as is noted of the Jews in Berea, in Acts 17:11, “with all eagerness examining the Scriptures daily.” [Note, the “Scriptures” in that verse refers to the Hebrew Scriptures which were the only Scriptures at that time.] The primary thought that struck me was “He has no children,” which made me consider the term “son of God” in Scripture, and that will be the focus of this blog. However, there is more there than “He has no children,” thus a few other comments will be made before plunging into the son of God discussion.
First, the title of “Fact Number 3,” There Is Just One God” is confirmed by Yeshua in Mark 12:29 as the most important commandment, quoting Deuteronomy 6:4, “Hear, Israel, YHWH our Elohim, YHWH is one.”
The second thought brought about was trying to understand the word “need” in the phrase “needs no helpers.” Clearly YHWH / HaShem is omnipotent by all descriptions, as the Creator of all that is. Therefore, if we use the most common Hebrew word for “need,” h2637. חָסֵר ḥāsēr, indicating, “to be lacking” or “being without,” this is an undeniable statement, by the nature of who God is. However, it does not mean that He doesn’t use helpers. Sometimes His helpers are people, sometimes “angels” (messengers), including Satan, sometimes a “council.” I’ll not copy and paste all the references that I looked up, but will list them here. Please investigate for yourself, and you may well know many more examples. These are simply the ones that quickly came to mind:
Cyrus, “anointed” (4899. מָשִׁיחַ mâšiyaḥ) Is 45:1, “my shepherd, fulfilling my purpose” Is 44:28
Nebuchadnezzar, “my servant” Jr 25:9, 27:6, 43:10
The “host of heaven” standing beside YHWH as “council” in 1K 22:19-28 and 2Ch 18:18-27
“Council” of God, Job 15:8 and Jr 23:18, some would include Gn 1:26 and 3:27
“Commander of the army of YHWH” Josh 5:13-15
The “adversary” in Nm 22:22-35
“My angel” in Ex 23:23 and 32:34
“The Angel of YHWH” Gn 16:7, 9, 10, 11, 22:11, 15; Ex 3:2; Jg 2:14, 13:8; etc.
One could say that one of the first, and arguably the best prophesy of a messiah (4899. מָשִׁיחַ mâšiyaḥ), anointed one, occurs in Balaam’s final oracle Nm 24:18-24.
One more comment, from our modern world, which ascribes a meaning of “angels” that would indicate how God uses “helpers.” https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=y_4Xfj2LRSA
This is a 1993 song from the group Alabama, entitled, “Angels Among Us.”
No, the Father, our Elohim, “needs” nothing or no-one, but has chosen to use others as servants, leaders, and messengers, perhaps because of our hardness of heart or our stiff necks. Or because of His compassionate nature.
I refer back to an earlier writing on the website to note that there is absolutely no disrespect of our brothers Yehuda nor of God intended in using the the Tetragrammaton, YHWH. As always, the goal is to remain true to Scripture here.
I also refer the reader to the page, “Site Vision” to indicate to you that the purpose of the website is not to convince or convert anyone to believe anything, except perhaps that Scripture is the Word of God and is a Revelation of life and should be read and thoroughly understood and put into practice in our everyday lives. Some readers here will (as noted in the Site Vision) consider Yeshua as a wise man, some as a righteous man, some as Messiah, and some as God. It is not the intention here to exclude any reader for his/her personal beliefs. The intent is to listen to God as you read and let your heart be touched as God intends. Let Scripture speak for itself, with your heart in a state of faith.
Now we get to the primary topic of this particular blog post, “son of God.” This, of course comes from the oblique reference in the Chabad “fact 3” that HaShem has no children. It got me puzzling, as you will know that the term “son of God” is used numerous times in the Greek Scriptures (GS) and it is this writer’s opinion that everything in the GS refer back to the Hebrew Scriptures (HS) which were the only existing Scriptures in first century CE. So, is the term “son of God” or “sons of God” used in the HS, and if so, in what way is it used, that might bring enlightenment as to what the GS writers were referring to, and what Yeshua spoke? That is the question that arose to this writer, in reading the commentary from Chabad.
I’ve listed occurrences that I could find of the phrase “son/sons of God,” and encourage the reader, as always, to look at the context. As well, I have listed the Hebrew of the phrase, so one can see that the modern translations sometimes leave out or add in points that might be important. For example, the first occurrence in Gn 6:2, and others, list בְנֵי־הָֽאֱלֹהִים֙, which is actually “sons of the God” (or possibly sons of the gods) rather than “the sons of God” as pasted here. I believe that these are the only occurrences in the HS of the phrase, but am not trying to deceive anyone. I always welcome corrections, because it means you actually took the advice to dig into Scripture.
//N.B. It is the nature of Hebrew that the noun used in a construct phrase (“___ of___”.) with a noun that is a proper name or that has the definitive article could be considered also to have the definitive article, so בְנֵי־הָֽאֱלֹהִים֙ in that case would be “the sons of the God/gods.” … A further comment is that a proper noun does not itself have the definitive article, but is assumed when looking at the construct noun (“sons of”) which means that אֱלֹהִים֙ (in this example) is a “job description” not a name. The name (HaShem) of our God is YHWH, which is presented to Moshe at the burning bush (Gn 3:15-18:10) … And, note further, that there are places in Scripture where there is a reference to YHWH treating us as his children (sons) (Dt. 8:5; Pr 3:12; Heb 12:5-6; 2S 7:14; Ho 10); Re 3:19, I have looked thoroughly and can find only one reference that states “son(s) of YHWH. Nevertheless, as indicated above, please correct me if you know otherwise.
Deuteronomy 14:1 (ESV)
1 “You are the sons of YHWH your God. You shall not cut yourselves or make any baldness on your foreheads for the dead.
The GS, of course reference YHWH as Lord, which is also used for many other purposes. Nevertheless, I see no instance of Yeshua being called “son of YHWH/Lord.//
Son(s) of God
- Genesis 6:2
2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose.
בְנֵי־הָֽאֱלֹהִים֙
- Genesis 6:4
4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.
בְּנֵ֤י הָֽאֱלֹהִים֙
- Job 1:6
6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before YHWH, and Satan also came among them.
בְּנֵ֣י הָאֱלֹהִ֔ים
- Job 2:1
1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before YHWH, and Satan also came among them to present himself before YHWH.
בְּנֵ֣י הָֽאֱלֹהִ֔ים
- Job 38:7
7 when the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
כָּל־בְּנֵ֥י אֱלֹהִֽים
- Psalms 82:6
6 I said, “You are gods,
sons of the Most High, all of you;
- Psalms 82:6
6 אֲֽנִי־אָ֭מַרְתִּי אֱלֹהִ֣ים אַתֶּ֑ם וּבְנֵ֖י עֶלְיֹ֣ון כֻּלְּכֶֽם׃
See John 10:34 below…
Those who have read previously here know I have been spending a good bit of time in the Hebrew Gospel of Matthew (HM) by George Howard (see “Partial Bibliography” page). It helps this writer, and hopefully you as readers, understand what may have been the Hebrew wording of that Gospel as originally written. We check to see where there are similarities and where differences. One thing to note is that a typical spelling of Elohim in newer Classical Hebrew is with a qoph אלקים rather than a hey, אלהים . PLEASE read context.
- HM 4:3 son of God
בן אלקים
- HM 4:6 “If you are God, …” (NOT as in our translations, “the son of God”)
אלקים
- HM 14:33 son of the God
בן האלקים
- HM 16:16 son of living God
בן אלקים חיים
- HM 26:63 & 64 both – son of the God/mighty one
בן האל
- HM 27:40 son of the God /mighty one
בן האל
- HM 27:43 son of the God
בן האלקים
- HM 27:54 son of the God
בן האלוק
Because we had listed Psalm 82:6 as one of our pertinent verses, and there was a specific reference to Psalm 82:6 by Yeshua in the Gospel of John (Yochanan), we have listed the John pericope here, as well as the entire Psalm 82.
- John 10:25-36
25 Yeshua/Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. 32 Yeshua answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” 33 The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.” 34 Yeshua answered them, “Is it not written in your Torah, ‘I said, you are gods’? 35 If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken— 36 do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?
- Psalm 82
A Psalm of Asaph.
1 God has taken his place in the divine council;
in the midst of (the) gods he holds judgment:
2 “How long will you judge unjustly
and show partiality to the wicked? Selah
3 Give justice to the weak and the fatherless;
maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.
4 Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
5 They have neither knowledge nor understanding,
they walk about in darkness;
all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6 I said, “You are gods,
sons of the Most High, all of you;
7 nevertheless, like men you shall die,
and fall like any prince.”
8 Arise, O God, judge the earth;
for you shall inherit all the nations!
- Psalms 82:1
1 מִזְמֹ֗ור לְאָ֫סָ֥ף אֱֽלֹהִ֗ים נִצָּ֥ב בַּעֲדַת־אֵ֑ל בְּקֶ֖רֶב אֱלֹהִ֣ים יִשְׁפֹּֽט׃
- Psalms 82:8
8 קוּמָ֣ה אֱ֭לֹהִים שָׁפְטָ֣ה הָאָ֑רֶץ כִּֽי־אַתָּ֥ה תִ֝נְחַ֗ל בְּכָל־הַגּוֹיִֽם׃
The website LogAndSpeck is not going to give you an answer to what Yeshua meant, what the GS meant, in using that term. You can look up all the other times that “son of God” is used in the GS. (There was no attempt to be inclusive of uses of the phrase in the GS, only in the HS.) And you can pray, meditate over what has been written here. The questions to ask yourself are just what exactly does Scripture say; how would you interpret it? The earliest uses in the HS appear to mean “angels” or “messengers” in using the phrase “sons of the God.” In what direction does that take your thinking, and how does that relate to the statement by the wise rebbe Menachem Posner at Chabad? And to the uses in the GS? Again, no answers here, simply food for thought.
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