Day 12: June 29, 2009
Today was a morning run, meals, and study - even in the evening, so no pictures. However, there is one thing I learned which you may find interesting. As I have mentioned before, we are memorizing the famous Sh'ma passage, Deut 6:4-9 + Lev 19.18. Deuteronomy 6:5 reads, "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul [or "person"], and with all your strength"; note that there is a list of three things with which or because of which we are to love the Lord.
We get three accounts of when Jesus was asked what was the greatest commandment. Deuteronomy 6:5 is included in Matt 22:17, Mark 12:30, and Luke 10:27. There are a number of things worth noting, but I will point out only one. It has to do with the number of items in the list and the treatment of the last item from Deut 6:5 (all accounts read "heart" and "soul" for the first two items).
First, Matthew records Jesus listing three items just like Deut 6:5, but the last one is "with all your mind" instead of "strength." Why?
Second, Mark and Luke record four items in the list: "with all your mind and with all your strength" in Mark and the same to items in reverse order in Luke. So, our teacher asked us (in Hebrew, of course), "Why did Jesus say 'mind' and 'strength'? Didn't he know the Scriptures [tongue in cheek]?"
The solution goes back to the meaning of the Hebrew word translated "strength," m'od. It seems that the word m'od can mean strength either in the sense of physical ability or in the sense of having means, such as material resources. In turn m'od can mean wealth. But wealth can also be used in two senses: (1) money, such as gold, silver, or bronze, or (2) mental ability, such as intelligence or wisdom.
To summarize, the word m'od can mean either physical prowess or mental prowess (either of which can include financial resources or the ability to gain them). Jesus, as recorded in Mark and Luke takes it to mean both. Matthew chooses to mention only the mental prowess side of it (I don't have a Septuagint with me). Jesus very likely used two words to describe the significance of m'od.
Every part of our being belongs to God - will, whole self, resources, and intellect. We should return to him the very best that we have (which he has given to us) in loving him and getting to know him better. That is the greatest commandment.
Brakhot!
Monday, June 29, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Another Friend and an Arab Village
Day 12: June 29, 2009
I would like to introduce you to another friend, Adam Shank. He introduced himself to me last week. He is from Ohio, and has a connection to the university I teach at. Adam is the cousin of Katie, Kendall, and Kalyn Lean, all three of whom graduated or will graduate from Mid-Atlantic Christian University (MACU).
Adam is about to finish at Cedarville University, Cedarville, Ohio. He plans to become a Bible translator with Wycliffe Bible Translators and is beginning his Hebrew studies here at the Ulpan. So many Bible translators and support personnel are needed. I am so pleased that we at MACU have in place a degree in Applied Linguistics, in conjunction with the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics (GIAL), which can put Bible translators on the field 12-18 months faster than not having the major.
Since we went to church on Shabbat, and since Shabbat turned out not to be very restful, we did not go to church today, we studied. I spent most of the day studying on the veranda of the Qabala (Reception Office). Usually the days are hot (mid- to upper 80s), with low humidity. Day there was a nice cool breeze all day. The Veranda is covered. I showed you pictures in an earlier blog: it overlooks a valley eastward to Mevasseret and Jerusalem. There was the chirping of birds, the fluttering of sparrows to gather small scraps of food dropped by people or twigs for nesting. It was very enjoyable.
In the evening, another student named Joshua, Peter, and I decided to walk to a nearby Arab village. The Jews of the Kibbuts and the Arabs of the village get along well and are friendly to tourists. A number of the young Arabs work at the Kibbutz. Often we can hear the Muslim prayers echoing up the valley from the village. We thought we knew the way, but there were many paths. We walked through the Tzuba vineyard. The trail wound around following the terraces of the land. At one point I was able to take a picture of the village. We eventually made our way to the village, but the only way into the city from the grassy path we took was through someone's private property. We did not want to walk through a yard, and decided that we didn't have time to make any sort of visit, without having to walk in unfamiliar territory in the dark. So, we just walked back to the Kibbutz. We will make another trek and actually make it into the village.
The trip was not a waste, however. I took a couple of pictures of the vineyard. The Hebrew for "vineyard" is kerem (accented on the first syllable). You may recall that there is a biblical place name called Beth haKerem, "house of the Vineyard." We saw what was either a fox or a jackal. It saw us too, and I was unable to get my camera out soon enough. We also saw a gazelle (Hebrew: tz'bi). It kept its distance as well, but I did get this photo. The gazelle is in the center. The antlers are different than a deer's, and the way they walk and run is different. It's difficult to describe; perhaps they seem more deliberate in their movements. I'm sorry the photo is no better. We may try again to get evening photos of animals of the area.
Finally, I've mentioned that we are learning Hebrew songs. One of them is Ps 37:5. Using songs to memorize Scripture makes the task quite a bit easier. A literal translation would be, "Roll upon the Lord your way, and trust upon him; and he will act." I was having trouble getting a mental image of the first clause, in Hebrew: Gol `al Adnonai darkeka. I know how to roll something upon the floor, but how do you roll something upon the Lord? Checking Peter's computer Bible revealed that this verb is not usually followed by the preposition `al, "upon." Peter and I observed the teacher commanding students in the Jonah class, Gol eth ha-bakbuk, in English, "Roll the bottle." In Ps 37:5, "your way" is the direct object. Not too difficult, but what does it mean to "roll upon the Lord"? While looking for something else, I came across Jeremiah 11:20. Jeremiah is complaining to the Lord and he says, according to a possible reading of the verse, "For to you (Hebrew preposition 'el) I have rolled my case." That's when I understood. There is much overlap in meaning between the prepositions 'el, "to," and `al, "upon." The psalmist is probably using `al here because he also uses it with the verb "trust." The psalmist is commanding the reader to roll his way to the Lord.
"Way" in Scripture is a common metaphor for life or lifestyle or manner of life (e.g., Ps 1:1). We are not supposed to carry the burdens of life ourselves; instead we are to roll our life to the Lord as we might roll a bottle or a ball to someone. To do this is to turn over the control of our lives, with all its cares and worries, to the Lord. Then he has possession of our life. The second command is to trust upon him. The third clause gives the emphatic result: "And he will act." He will not take the bottle from us; we must roll it to him and trust him. Which would you rather trust: your own human power, or the Lord, the Creator of the universe?
Adonai `immakem! (Boaz greeting his workers, Ruth 2:4)
I would like to introduce you to another friend, Adam Shank. He introduced himself to me last week. He is from Ohio, and has a connection to the university I teach at. Adam is the cousin of Katie, Kendall, and Kalyn Lean, all three of whom graduated or will graduate from Mid-Atlantic Christian University (MACU).
Adam is about to finish at Cedarville University, Cedarville, Ohio. He plans to become a Bible translator with Wycliffe Bible Translators and is beginning his Hebrew studies here at the Ulpan. So many Bible translators and support personnel are needed. I am so pleased that we at MACU have in place a degree in Applied Linguistics, in conjunction with the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics (GIAL), which can put Bible translators on the field 12-18 months faster than not having the major.
Since we went to church on Shabbat, and since Shabbat turned out not to be very restful, we did not go to church today, we studied. I spent most of the day studying on the veranda of the Qabala (Reception Office). Usually the days are hot (mid- to upper 80s), with low humidity. Day there was a nice cool breeze all day. The Veranda is covered. I showed you pictures in an earlier blog: it overlooks a valley eastward to Mevasseret and Jerusalem. There was the chirping of birds, the fluttering of sparrows to gather small scraps of food dropped by people or twigs for nesting. It was very enjoyable.
In the evening, another student named Joshua, Peter, and I decided to walk to a nearby Arab village. The Jews of the Kibbuts and the Arabs of the village get along well and are friendly to tourists. A number of the young Arabs work at the Kibbutz. Often we can hear the Muslim prayers echoing up the valley from the village. We thought we knew the way, but there were many paths. We walked through the Tzuba vineyard. The trail wound around following the terraces of the land. At one point I was able to take a picture of the village. We eventually made our way to the village, but the only way into the city from the grassy path we took was through someone's private property. We did not want to walk through a yard, and decided that we didn't have time to make any sort of visit, without having to walk in unfamiliar territory in the dark. So, we just walked back to the Kibbutz. We will make another trek and actually make it into the village.
The trip was not a waste, however. I took a couple of pictures of the vineyard. The Hebrew for "vineyard" is kerem (accented on the first syllable). You may recall that there is a biblical place name called Beth haKerem, "house of the Vineyard." We saw what was either a fox or a jackal. It saw us too, and I was unable to get my camera out soon enough. We also saw a gazelle (Hebrew: tz'bi). It kept its distance as well, but I did get this photo. The gazelle is in the center. The antlers are different than a deer's, and the way they walk and run is different. It's difficult to describe; perhaps they seem more deliberate in their movements. I'm sorry the photo is no better. We may try again to get evening photos of animals of the area.
Finally, I've mentioned that we are learning Hebrew songs. One of them is Ps 37:5. Using songs to memorize Scripture makes the task quite a bit easier. A literal translation would be, "Roll upon the Lord your way, and trust upon him; and he will act." I was having trouble getting a mental image of the first clause, in Hebrew: Gol `al Adnonai darkeka. I know how to roll something upon the floor, but how do you roll something upon the Lord? Checking Peter's computer Bible revealed that this verb is not usually followed by the preposition `al, "upon." Peter and I observed the teacher commanding students in the Jonah class, Gol eth ha-bakbuk, in English, "Roll the bottle." In Ps 37:5, "your way" is the direct object. Not too difficult, but what does it mean to "roll upon the Lord"? While looking for something else, I came across Jeremiah 11:20. Jeremiah is complaining to the Lord and he says, according to a possible reading of the verse, "For to you (Hebrew preposition 'el) I have rolled my case." That's when I understood. There is much overlap in meaning between the prepositions 'el, "to," and `al, "upon." The psalmist is probably using `al here because he also uses it with the verb "trust." The psalmist is commanding the reader to roll his way to the Lord.
"Way" in Scripture is a common metaphor for life or lifestyle or manner of life (e.g., Ps 1:1). We are not supposed to carry the burdens of life ourselves; instead we are to roll our life to the Lord as we might roll a bottle or a ball to someone. To do this is to turn over the control of our lives, with all its cares and worries, to the Lord. Then he has possession of our life. The second command is to trust upon him. The third clause gives the emphatic result: "And he will act." He will not take the bottle from us; we must roll it to him and trust him. Which would you rather trust: your own human power, or the Lord, the Creator of the universe?
Adonai `immakem! (Boaz greeting his workers, Ruth 2:4)
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Shabbat and the Lord's Day
Days 10-11: June 27-28, 2009
Today was Shabbat, Saturday. Yesterday morning we awoke to fog. Today there was no fog, but clouds formed and dissipated repeatedly. We decided to make it a day of rest: no exercising and (almost) no studying. We also decided to go into Jerusalem for a second time to see a few things.
On Fridays, the Muslims have their quiet day and their businesses are closed. On Saturdays (beginning on Friday night, of course) the Jews close their businesses, which makes public transportation a bit difficult, and the Arabs are open. On Sundays, many Christians close their businesses and the Arabs and Jews have a normal work day. Our schedule at the Ulpan gives us Saturday and Sunday for rest, homework, and exploring.
Our fees include two meals a day (normally breakfast and lunch), seven days a week, at the cafeteria. The food is always excellent. I've explained about what we eat but someone asked me about chocolate cake at lunch (I'm not sure why they asked me about chocolate cake!). There are some sweet things served at breakfast, including rolls, yogurt, etc., but none at lunch. Why? The cafeteria is Kosher. The main thing is not to mix milk and meat. Breakfast includes dairy and eggs and even fish, but no beef or lamb, etc. Sometimes a nice cake is served. Lunch is the meat meal. Since cakes and rolls tend to have milk, they are not served at lunch time. This separation extends to the point of using different pots, pans, and utensils in food preparation. Even the forks we eat with are different: white handled forks forks at breakfast and browns handled forks.
Since Sunday is a normal work day in Israel, a number of Christians meet on Saturday. David and Amanda arranged for a Shrut (I'm not sure of the spelling; it is a large van or a small bus) to take us in to Jerusalem. We filled every seat, 15 or 18 people. We all went to the Bible study led by Randall Buth at the Narkis Street Congregation (www.narkis.org). It was pretty typical of American adult Sunday school classes: Hebrew Bible, Greek Septuagint and Greek NT, plus a couple of Jewish commentators, Ramban and Rashi (Randall translated all into English). One class member, probably a Palestinian Christian in his upper 60s or more, had his Arabic translation.
For our benefit, Randall reviewed last week's lesson was on Num 25 when Phineas killed those who had violated the Lord's worship and was rewarded with a priestly rank. This week's lesson was on Ps 106:28-31, which recalls that incident. In particular, v. 31 says, "And it was credited to him [Phineas] for righteousness." The word translated "and it was credited, hearkens back to Gen 15:6, which is typically translated something like "And he believed in the Lord, and he credited it to him for righteousness." The author leaves us to identify all the pronouns, which is not very difficult. The first word translated "and he believed," however, is of a form in Hebrew that indicates that this action is not a completed event. A better translation would be, "And he was believing ...," an ongoing activity. The "it" that the Lord credited to Abraham for righteousness was his state of believing. This led into a discussion of Paul and James and the ideas of faith and works. It was all very interesting, and of great importance for Christians to understand. None of us has perfect faith. But we must all continue in our faith and continue to grow in it.
After the class, Peter and I headed out into the Old City of Jerusalem again. We entered at the Jaffa Gate, got maps of the old city at the tourism center, walked a long time. The shops are small and packed together. This morning the sidewalks in the Christian (Greek Orthodox and Latin churches), Armenian, and Muslim quarters were very crowded with people, including numerous tourist groups from all over the world.
We went to the wailing wall. Along the way we took this picture, because photography is not allowed at the wall (at least on Shabbat), so as not to disturb the worshippers. To go down to the wall we had to pass through a security checkpoint, where they searched our backpacks and had us walk through a scanner. We actually went down to the wall, which dates back to the time of Herod, and touched it while we prayed.
From there we went to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. This photograph looks directly at the church. We entered through the large open door on the left. It was very crowded and actually quite massive with many things to see. Unfortunately, without guide or guidebook (I left the one I am borrowing in our room), there were many things we did not understand. Armenian, Syrian, Greek and Latin Christians have their sites.
Enclosed within the building are the supposed places of the crucifixion and the burial of Jesus. Some have thought that the Garden tomb is better because it is outside the city walls, but more recent excavations have shown that this tomb was outside the walls in Jesus' day. This tomb is not that of Jesus. However, according to Peter, its excavation is what confirmed the location of the ancient walls. The first photo below is of the entrance. In the second Peter stands just inside to give you perspective of the small size. The third is of two hewn grave sites, which archaeologists call loculi.
We left through the more quiet Jewish quarter. Some Jews were coming from or going to synagogue services. We got a little turned around, trying to orient ourselves to the map. Along the way we passed next to the Cardo Gallery for a second time. Because Jerusalem is so thickly inhabited, very little archaeological work has been done. The Cardo is an area that has been excavated. The columns and pavement date back to the time of Jesus. Note how deeply this period is buried after 2,000 years.
We also visited one of the shops of a Palestinian Christian we had met last Sunday. Peter had known him from before and he was a good friend of Paul and Rhoda (see the blog for day 4). He has a real heart for winning Muslims to Christ. He pointed out the universal truths that the scope is one by one and the method is showing the love of Christ. May the hearts of us American Christians follow these same principles in our culture.
After walking for several hours we decided to go back. We knew buses were not running until the end of Shabbat, but we didn't want to wait five hours for them to start. We had to take a taxi. Not many of them were running where we were. So we left the Old City and walked about two miles on Jaffa Street to the Central Bus Station. We flagged a taxi and rode home.
After all that walking, we decided we really had not had that much rest. We decided to veg out and watch a little TV, which we have very little time for otherwise. You can watch shows in English, French, Russian, and of course Hebrew. Almost all of them have captions in Hebrew, sometimes in English.
Tonight we watched a few episodes of "King of Queens," which is translated into Hebrew as "King of the Neighborhood." This illustrates one of the difficulties of translating. If they had translated "literally," the Hebrew speakers would have completely misunderstood; they would have thought "Queens" meant "queens" instead of a burrough in New York. So it is correctly translated as "neighborhood," but then of course the Hebrew readers miss the pun of "King of Queens."
This is why I repeat the adage that "studying your English Bible is like kissing your date through a screen door," to which I add, "the act is the same, but the sensation is completely different." Our English translations are excellently done. When we read them, we are getting the very message of God. The closer we want to study, though, and the more accurately and precisely we want to understand and proclaim God's message, the more important it is "to kiss without the screen." Wherever we are in our walk, let us encourage one another to do better in our study of Scripture and its languages, for the love of God.
Today was Shabbat, Saturday. Yesterday morning we awoke to fog. Today there was no fog, but clouds formed and dissipated repeatedly. We decided to make it a day of rest: no exercising and (almost) no studying. We also decided to go into Jerusalem for a second time to see a few things.
On Fridays, the Muslims have their quiet day and their businesses are closed. On Saturdays (beginning on Friday night, of course) the Jews close their businesses, which makes public transportation a bit difficult, and the Arabs are open. On Sundays, many Christians close their businesses and the Arabs and Jews have a normal work day. Our schedule at the Ulpan gives us Saturday and Sunday for rest, homework, and exploring.
Our fees include two meals a day (normally breakfast and lunch), seven days a week, at the cafeteria. The food is always excellent. I've explained about what we eat but someone asked me about chocolate cake at lunch (I'm not sure why they asked me about chocolate cake!). There are some sweet things served at breakfast, including rolls, yogurt, etc., but none at lunch. Why? The cafeteria is Kosher. The main thing is not to mix milk and meat. Breakfast includes dairy and eggs and even fish, but no beef or lamb, etc. Sometimes a nice cake is served. Lunch is the meat meal. Since cakes and rolls tend to have milk, they are not served at lunch time. This separation extends to the point of using different pots, pans, and utensils in food preparation. Even the forks we eat with are different: white handled forks forks at breakfast and browns handled forks.
Since Sunday is a normal work day in Israel, a number of Christians meet on Saturday. David and Amanda arranged for a Shrut (I'm not sure of the spelling; it is a large van or a small bus) to take us in to Jerusalem. We filled every seat, 15 or 18 people. We all went to the Bible study led by Randall Buth at the Narkis Street Congregation (www.narkis.org). It was pretty typical of American adult Sunday school classes: Hebrew Bible, Greek Septuagint and Greek NT, plus a couple of Jewish commentators, Ramban and Rashi (Randall translated all into English). One class member, probably a Palestinian Christian in his upper 60s or more, had his Arabic translation.
For our benefit, Randall reviewed last week's lesson was on Num 25 when Phineas killed those who had violated the Lord's worship and was rewarded with a priestly rank. This week's lesson was on Ps 106:28-31, which recalls that incident. In particular, v. 31 says, "And it was credited to him [Phineas] for righteousness." The word translated "and it was credited, hearkens back to Gen 15:6, which is typically translated something like "And he believed in the Lord, and he credited it to him for righteousness." The author leaves us to identify all the pronouns, which is not very difficult. The first word translated "and he believed," however, is of a form in Hebrew that indicates that this action is not a completed event. A better translation would be, "And he was believing ...," an ongoing activity. The "it" that the Lord credited to Abraham for righteousness was his state of believing. This led into a discussion of Paul and James and the ideas of faith and works. It was all very interesting, and of great importance for Christians to understand. None of us has perfect faith. But we must all continue in our faith and continue to grow in it.
After the class, Peter and I headed out into the Old City of Jerusalem again. We entered at the Jaffa Gate, got maps of the old city at the tourism center, walked a long time. The shops are small and packed together. This morning the sidewalks in the Christian (Greek Orthodox and Latin churches), Armenian, and Muslim quarters were very crowded with people, including numerous tourist groups from all over the world.
We went to the wailing wall. Along the way we took this picture, because photography is not allowed at the wall (at least on Shabbat), so as not to disturb the worshippers. To go down to the wall we had to pass through a security checkpoint, where they searched our backpacks and had us walk through a scanner. We actually went down to the wall, which dates back to the time of Herod, and touched it while we prayed.
From there we went to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. This photograph looks directly at the church. We entered through the large open door on the left. It was very crowded and actually quite massive with many things to see. Unfortunately, without guide or guidebook (I left the one I am borrowing in our room), there were many things we did not understand. Armenian, Syrian, Greek and Latin Christians have their sites.
Enclosed within the building are the supposed places of the crucifixion and the burial of Jesus. Some have thought that the Garden tomb is better because it is outside the city walls, but more recent excavations have shown that this tomb was outside the walls in Jesus' day. This tomb is not that of Jesus. However, according to Peter, its excavation is what confirmed the location of the ancient walls. The first photo below is of the entrance. In the second Peter stands just inside to give you perspective of the small size. The third is of two hewn grave sites, which archaeologists call loculi.
We left through the more quiet Jewish quarter. Some Jews were coming from or going to synagogue services. We got a little turned around, trying to orient ourselves to the map. Along the way we passed next to the Cardo Gallery for a second time. Because Jerusalem is so thickly inhabited, very little archaeological work has been done. The Cardo is an area that has been excavated. The columns and pavement date back to the time of Jesus. Note how deeply this period is buried after 2,000 years.
We also visited one of the shops of a Palestinian Christian we had met last Sunday. Peter had known him from before and he was a good friend of Paul and Rhoda (see the blog for day 4). He has a real heart for winning Muslims to Christ. He pointed out the universal truths that the scope is one by one and the method is showing the love of Christ. May the hearts of us American Christians follow these same principles in our culture.
After walking for several hours we decided to go back. We knew buses were not running until the end of Shabbat, but we didn't want to wait five hours for them to start. We had to take a taxi. Not many of them were running where we were. So we left the Old City and walked about two miles on Jaffa Street to the Central Bus Station. We flagged a taxi and rode home.
After all that walking, we decided we really had not had that much rest. We decided to veg out and watch a little TV, which we have very little time for otherwise. You can watch shows in English, French, Russian, and of course Hebrew. Almost all of them have captions in Hebrew, sometimes in English.
Tonight we watched a few episodes of "King of Queens," which is translated into Hebrew as "King of the Neighborhood." This illustrates one of the difficulties of translating. If they had translated "literally," the Hebrew speakers would have completely misunderstood; they would have thought "Queens" meant "queens" instead of a burrough in New York. So it is correctly translated as "neighborhood," but then of course the Hebrew readers miss the pun of "King of Queens."
This is why I repeat the adage that "studying your English Bible is like kissing your date through a screen door," to which I add, "the act is the same, but the sensation is completely different." Our English translations are excellently done. When we read them, we are getting the very message of God. The closer we want to study, though, and the more accurately and precisely we want to understand and proclaim God's message, the more important it is "to kiss without the screen." Wherever we are in our walk, let us encourage one another to do better in our study of Scripture and its languages, for the love of God.
Friday, June 26, 2009
New Friends and Old Ruins
Day 9: June 26, 2009
Today in class our teachers told the story of Ruth 2 and we discussed it - all in Hebrew (you should understand that there are plenty of times when I "listen slowly" and don't get everything in the discussion, but I continually get better). We also discussed passover in Jesus' day and recited a couple of prayers that were probably recited by Jesus and the disciples at the Last Supper. Many of the things seen in the Passover Seder service come from later Judaism (say, after AD 135 and the Bar Kokhba rebellion, or certainly after AD 70, when the Temple was destroyed) when Passover could no longer be celebrated according to the law of Moses, because Jews could not do the Temple sacrifice. In Jesus' day, the Passover was probably a little different. Here is a picture of our classroom building.
We are memorizing Deut 6:4-9, the famous Shema passage, and Lev 19:18. One of the most interesting things we learned is that the exact Hebrew word (ve'ahavta) for "and you shall love" (this is all one word in Hebrew) occurs only four times in the entire law of Moses. In Mark 12:28-31, Jesus answers the question about what is the greatest commandment by naming two commendments, the Shema and Lev 19:18. These are two of the places in which this one Hebrew word, ve'ahavta, is found. It is the occurrence of uncommon expressions in Scripture that got the notice of the Jewish teachers. In fact, this is actually an example of one of the rules of interpretation taught by the rabbis even before Jesus. The rule is called gzerah shava and refers to a linking of same forms. I learned about rabbinic methods of interpretation at Hebrew Union College, but I had not considered that the great day of questions in Jesus
final week provides such a great example. Jesus is using a technique known and used by the Jewish scholars of his day. In the parallel account in Matt 22:34-40, Jesus says, "On these two commands the whole law and the prophets depend." This clever and profound joining of two passages may have combined to cause the scribe to respond, "Well spoken, teacher ..." (Mark 12:32). That teh scribe was sincere seems clear from Jesus' response, "Not far are you from the kingdom of God (Mark 12:34).
New Friends
Now I would like to introduce you to two of my new friends, David and Amanda Bosanquet. They are a delightful Christian couple. Amanda was born in Wales and David in England. They both attended the same medical school in Cardiff, Wales. They married a year ago and now practice medicine there. Amanda is in general practice and David just passed his exams to be a surgeon. Incidentally, in England, before you are a doctor, you are a "mister." Once you become a physician, you are called "doctor." Once you become a surgeon, you earn the prestigious title of "mister." This may seem strange to Americans, but it is taken with no little sense of accomplishment.
Amanda is in the Jonah (beginning) class with little to no prior knowledge of Hebrew, and David is with us in the Ruth (intermediate) class. I asked them why they are studying Hebrew. Their answer was that they wanted to be able to study the Bible directly from the original and know the Bible better.
I find this so refreshing and encouraging. Many of our preachers have little interest in knowing Greek, much less Hebrew. Here are non-clergy Christians who study Hebrew because they love God and the Bible. For years I have been telling students that these are the two best reasons to study biblical languages, hence the name of this blog (Peter Vogt gave me the idea). I say this with a smile on my face, but I think they think I'm joking. I'm actually quite serious. I hope readers of this blog will be so encouraged, whether they are pursuing professional ministry or not.
Old Ruins (and More Friends)
Peter and I ran this morning, but took another walk this evening. This time we went to the third site on the Tzuba road, Tel Tzuba. A tel ("mound") is like a hill, except that it is not a hill made by the earth's own forces, but one made by a city being built, destroyed, and rebuilt on the same site over and again. I took a number of photos. Here are just a few. The first photo is simply the public marker naming the site. It reads right-to-left, of course, and says, "Tel Tzuba."
It turned out that we had quite a group from various classes of the Ulpan ("school") go. On the front row of five, left-to-right, Carlos (Ecuador), Peter (my roommate from Minnesota), Geli (England). Emily (Michigan), Amanda, and Lori (South Carolina); on the back row, David and I. This picture was take atop the highest building of the tel on the very top of the hill.
One of the residents of the Kibbutz, nicknamed Bucky (from being born with two front teeth), volunteered to be our guide. He took the picture. His English and American accent were so good, that when he had to take time to search for a word, it seemed surprising. He led us up the back way, which involved a little climbing - not so easy for girls in skirts. We went down an easier way.
From here is a beautiful view of Jerusalem to the east and various other places in all directions. Down the hill to the west is the Kibbutz Tzuba. The picture shown here looks northward. The city in the center is part of Mevasseret Zion. It is an upper class area that wishes to remain an independent town from Jerusalem. Before Mevasseret you can see the vineyards of the Kibbuts. Bucky said that the weather here, with hot summers and cold winters, allows them to grow grapes with an unusual quality, that allows the Kibbuts to make very good wine.
This is another view from the very top into the courtyard of Tel Tzuba. This would have been a market place. I don't know how old the remains are. They go back at least to the Early Byzantine period (about AD 325-640). There is lots of evidence of rebuilding. The city itself is mentioned in Scripture in 1 Sam 14:47; 2 Sam 8:3, 5, 12; 23:36; 1 Kgs 11:23.
With that I will wish you layla tov ("good night").
Today in class our teachers told the story of Ruth 2 and we discussed it - all in Hebrew (you should understand that there are plenty of times when I "listen slowly" and don't get everything in the discussion, but I continually get better). We also discussed passover in Jesus' day and recited a couple of prayers that were probably recited by Jesus and the disciples at the Last Supper. Many of the things seen in the Passover Seder service come from later Judaism (say, after AD 135 and the Bar Kokhba rebellion, or certainly after AD 70, when the Temple was destroyed) when Passover could no longer be celebrated according to the law of Moses, because Jews could not do the Temple sacrifice. In Jesus' day, the Passover was probably a little different. Here is a picture of our classroom building.
We are memorizing Deut 6:4-9, the famous Shema passage, and Lev 19:18. One of the most interesting things we learned is that the exact Hebrew word (ve'ahavta) for "and you shall love" (this is all one word in Hebrew) occurs only four times in the entire law of Moses. In Mark 12:28-31, Jesus answers the question about what is the greatest commandment by naming two commendments, the Shema and Lev 19:18. These are two of the places in which this one Hebrew word, ve'ahavta, is found. It is the occurrence of uncommon expressions in Scripture that got the notice of the Jewish teachers. In fact, this is actually an example of one of the rules of interpretation taught by the rabbis even before Jesus. The rule is called gzerah shava and refers to a linking of same forms. I learned about rabbinic methods of interpretation at Hebrew Union College, but I had not considered that the great day of questions in Jesus
final week provides such a great example. Jesus is using a technique known and used by the Jewish scholars of his day. In the parallel account in Matt 22:34-40, Jesus says, "On these two commands the whole law and the prophets depend." This clever and profound joining of two passages may have combined to cause the scribe to respond, "Well spoken, teacher ..." (Mark 12:32). That teh scribe was sincere seems clear from Jesus' response, "Not far are you from the kingdom of God (Mark 12:34).
New Friends
Now I would like to introduce you to two of my new friends, David and Amanda Bosanquet. They are a delightful Christian couple. Amanda was born in Wales and David in England. They both attended the same medical school in Cardiff, Wales. They married a year ago and now practice medicine there. Amanda is in general practice and David just passed his exams to be a surgeon. Incidentally, in England, before you are a doctor, you are a "mister." Once you become a physician, you are called "doctor." Once you become a surgeon, you earn the prestigious title of "mister." This may seem strange to Americans, but it is taken with no little sense of accomplishment.
Amanda is in the Jonah (beginning) class with little to no prior knowledge of Hebrew, and David is with us in the Ruth (intermediate) class. I asked them why they are studying Hebrew. Their answer was that they wanted to be able to study the Bible directly from the original and know the Bible better.
I find this so refreshing and encouraging. Many of our preachers have little interest in knowing Greek, much less Hebrew. Here are non-clergy Christians who study Hebrew because they love God and the Bible. For years I have been telling students that these are the two best reasons to study biblical languages, hence the name of this blog (Peter Vogt gave me the idea). I say this with a smile on my face, but I think they think I'm joking. I'm actually quite serious. I hope readers of this blog will be so encouraged, whether they are pursuing professional ministry or not.
Old Ruins (and More Friends)
Peter and I ran this morning, but took another walk this evening. This time we went to the third site on the Tzuba road, Tel Tzuba. A tel ("mound") is like a hill, except that it is not a hill made by the earth's own forces, but one made by a city being built, destroyed, and rebuilt on the same site over and again. I took a number of photos. Here are just a few. The first photo is simply the public marker naming the site. It reads right-to-left, of course, and says, "Tel Tzuba."
It turned out that we had quite a group from various classes of the Ulpan ("school") go. On the front row of five, left-to-right, Carlos (Ecuador), Peter (my roommate from Minnesota), Geli (England). Emily (Michigan), Amanda, and Lori (South Carolina); on the back row, David and I. This picture was take atop the highest building of the tel on the very top of the hill.
One of the residents of the Kibbutz, nicknamed Bucky (from being born with two front teeth), volunteered to be our guide. He took the picture. His English and American accent were so good, that when he had to take time to search for a word, it seemed surprising. He led us up the back way, which involved a little climbing - not so easy for girls in skirts. We went down an easier way.
From here is a beautiful view of Jerusalem to the east and various other places in all directions. Down the hill to the west is the Kibbutz Tzuba. The picture shown here looks northward. The city in the center is part of Mevasseret Zion. It is an upper class area that wishes to remain an independent town from Jerusalem. Before Mevasseret you can see the vineyards of the Kibbuts. Bucky said that the weather here, with hot summers and cold winters, allows them to grow grapes with an unusual quality, that allows the Kibbuts to make very good wine.
This is another view from the very top into the courtyard of Tel Tzuba. This would have been a market place. I don't know how old the remains are. They go back at least to the Early Byzantine period (about AD 325-640). There is lots of evidence of rebuilding. The city itself is mentioned in Scripture in 1 Sam 14:47; 2 Sam 8:3, 5, 12; 23:36; 1 Kgs 11:23.
With that I will wish you layla tov ("good night").
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Trip to the Dead Sea
Day 8: June 25, 2009
Today's class session was special. We took a large van and all went to the Dead Sea. The Hebrew (and biblical) name for the sea is Yam haMelakh, "the Sea of Salt." Our driver was Muslim, and very friendly, and a good driver.
He took us through Jerusalem, which is built on the top of the watershed of the mountain range. That means that on the eastern the air is much hotter and the rain much less. Here is a picture that illustrates why they referred to the area as wilderness.
Jerusalem is 2,500 feet above sea level. There is a large sign in the mountains when you reach sea level and another at 300 feet below. Then you drive still further to get to the Yam haMelakh.
We stopped at one point to see Wadi Qelt. A wadi is a ravine that only has water in it during certain times of the year. "Wadi" is Arabic; Hebrew is nakhal. This wadi was very deep; it's difficult to have a true perspective without being there. In a nearby area, almost visible to us, was a monastery. Travelers do visit, but there had been "incidents" recently, so it was not open for visitors. Our course is built around a study of Ruth, who was a Moabitess. At this sight we read the printed text of the Mesha inscription from our course materials. Mesha was a king of Moab who boasted of defeating the Israelites in revenge and completely wiping them out. The amusing thing for the modern reader is that it is Moab that is no more.
At this sight there were several beduins. They wanted to sell us things. It is interesting that camels are common in this area. Here is a beduin in traditional clothing. I don't know if that was just for the tourists, or if he really preferred it. Most of the beduins dressed in more modern clothes. I suppose he would have let us ride the camel for a fee, but it was about 10:30 a.m., and very hot already (90+?). They also had a donkey. A young beduin boy, about 10 years old, kept asking me to "help a poor beduin boy" by buying a bag made by hand by his mother. He spoke in English. Others wanted to sell jewelry. Most didn't buy anything.
The next stop was a nice gas station for drinks and rest in shade. There was very little air conditioning. We all brought water. I did buy some dates and ate a couple; they were delicious. (Unfortunately I left them on the bus when we got back to Tzuba.)
After a little while we continued on to Yam haMelekh at a location called Kalia on the northern shore of the Sea. This is very near Qumran, but we did not go there, because we are focuing in on locations connected to our text. It had to be over 100 and there was very little breeze, so we were all sweating.
First we found some shade to study Gen 19, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the saving of Lot. The location of Sodom and Gomorrah is debated. Most think it was in the south, because when Lot is fleeing he asks to go to a small village rather than the mountains. He names the village Zoar. There is a small village named Zoar at the southern end of Yam haMelakh. However, in 19:17 the men tell Lot "Do not stop in the region (I don't have an English Bible with me, so I don't know what the translations have)." The word there refers to a circular shaped region. This better describes the place at the norhtern end of the Dead Sea. Therefore a few think that this was the area of hte destruction. We just don't know. The connection with Ruth is that after the destruction, when the daughters of Lot have children, their sons are named Moab and Ben-Ammon. They are the fathers of the Moabites and Ammonites, and Ruth was a Moabitess.
Parts were assigned so that when quoted material occurred in the text there was a different reader. I happened to be the narrator today. We read and asked and answered questions for nearly an hour until about 1:00. Then we were free to experience Yam haMelakh.
Most of us brought suits to wear into the water. There was a changing and showering area. You will notice that they spelled the English "ladies" as they pronounce it, "ledies."
There is a beach here. The sand is pretty hard. On this day it was very hot. I wore suit, shoes, and sunblock. We congregated under a beach umbrella and got into the water. There was a nice pier to go out on, and I did, but it was so hot that it hurt my feet. I stood on the bottem step, which was submerged just under the suface, in order to take a few pictures. In the background you can see the western shore. This would be ancient Moab. To the left beyond the picture, some of the land slopes towards the Sea and actually has some greenness. This is the "Plains/Fields of Moab."
Here is part of our group in the water. The fellow with the young boy is Brian, one of our teachers. His son's name is Boaz. He speaks fluent Modern Hebrew as well as English.
Then of course, I wanted you to see me in the water. Notice the brand new swim trunks and the especially pasty white skin tone - blinding. The water was very warm near the shore and, as is well known, is so salty that you float very much on top. Also, it feels almost oily. Where we were the bottom was mostly sandy and rather uneven. Sometimes you step in mud holes. People often smear this mineral mud on themselves for its healthful benefits. I did not. In fact, the mud is sold commercially, and in other locations on the shore people sell treatments very expensively. When I got out of the water, I walked directly onto the beach to avoid the hot pier and ran to the shaded sand under the umbrella, then on to the shower. I wasn't out long; job #1 was no sunburn!
Lunch was on our own, so I ate a falafel. This was pita bread with fried chickpeas, lettuce, tomatoes, a little onion, and ... a few french fries. It was quite tasty. A little after 2:00 we boarded our bus to return. The air conditioning decided to stop working, so it was a hot ride back. We learned and sang three Hebrew songs and made it back to Tzuba about 3:30. That's when I realized I had left my trunks in the shower!
The afternoon and evening were spent blogging and studying, and now I'm late getting my 8-hour sleep assignment. In the morning, we will run.
Brakhot!
Today's class session was special. We took a large van and all went to the Dead Sea. The Hebrew (and biblical) name for the sea is Yam haMelakh, "the Sea of Salt." Our driver was Muslim, and very friendly, and a good driver.
He took us through Jerusalem, which is built on the top of the watershed of the mountain range. That means that on the eastern the air is much hotter and the rain much less. Here is a picture that illustrates why they referred to the area as wilderness.
Jerusalem is 2,500 feet above sea level. There is a large sign in the mountains when you reach sea level and another at 300 feet below. Then you drive still further to get to the Yam haMelakh.
We stopped at one point to see Wadi Qelt. A wadi is a ravine that only has water in it during certain times of the year. "Wadi" is Arabic; Hebrew is nakhal. This wadi was very deep; it's difficult to have a true perspective without being there. In a nearby area, almost visible to us, was a monastery. Travelers do visit, but there had been "incidents" recently, so it was not open for visitors. Our course is built around a study of Ruth, who was a Moabitess. At this sight we read the printed text of the Mesha inscription from our course materials. Mesha was a king of Moab who boasted of defeating the Israelites in revenge and completely wiping them out. The amusing thing for the modern reader is that it is Moab that is no more.
At this sight there were several beduins. They wanted to sell us things. It is interesting that camels are common in this area. Here is a beduin in traditional clothing. I don't know if that was just for the tourists, or if he really preferred it. Most of the beduins dressed in more modern clothes. I suppose he would have let us ride the camel for a fee, but it was about 10:30 a.m., and very hot already (90+?). They also had a donkey. A young beduin boy, about 10 years old, kept asking me to "help a poor beduin boy" by buying a bag made by hand by his mother. He spoke in English. Others wanted to sell jewelry. Most didn't buy anything.
The next stop was a nice gas station for drinks and rest in shade. There was very little air conditioning. We all brought water. I did buy some dates and ate a couple; they were delicious. (Unfortunately I left them on the bus when we got back to Tzuba.)
After a little while we continued on to Yam haMelekh at a location called Kalia on the northern shore of the Sea. This is very near Qumran, but we did not go there, because we are focuing in on locations connected to our text. It had to be over 100 and there was very little breeze, so we were all sweating.
First we found some shade to study Gen 19, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the saving of Lot. The location of Sodom and Gomorrah is debated. Most think it was in the south, because when Lot is fleeing he asks to go to a small village rather than the mountains. He names the village Zoar. There is a small village named Zoar at the southern end of Yam haMelakh. However, in 19:17 the men tell Lot "Do not stop in the region (I don't have an English Bible with me, so I don't know what the translations have)." The word there refers to a circular shaped region. This better describes the place at the norhtern end of the Dead Sea. Therefore a few think that this was the area of hte destruction. We just don't know. The connection with Ruth is that after the destruction, when the daughters of Lot have children, their sons are named Moab and Ben-Ammon. They are the fathers of the Moabites and Ammonites, and Ruth was a Moabitess.
Parts were assigned so that when quoted material occurred in the text there was a different reader. I happened to be the narrator today. We read and asked and answered questions for nearly an hour until about 1:00. Then we were free to experience Yam haMelakh.
Most of us brought suits to wear into the water. There was a changing and showering area. You will notice that they spelled the English "ladies" as they pronounce it, "ledies."
There is a beach here. The sand is pretty hard. On this day it was very hot. I wore suit, shoes, and sunblock. We congregated under a beach umbrella and got into the water. There was a nice pier to go out on, and I did, but it was so hot that it hurt my feet. I stood on the bottem step, which was submerged just under the suface, in order to take a few pictures. In the background you can see the western shore. This would be ancient Moab. To the left beyond the picture, some of the land slopes towards the Sea and actually has some greenness. This is the "Plains/Fields of Moab."
Here is part of our group in the water. The fellow with the young boy is Brian, one of our teachers. His son's name is Boaz. He speaks fluent Modern Hebrew as well as English.
Then of course, I wanted you to see me in the water. Notice the brand new swim trunks and the especially pasty white skin tone - blinding. The water was very warm near the shore and, as is well known, is so salty that you float very much on top. Also, it feels almost oily. Where we were the bottom was mostly sandy and rather uneven. Sometimes you step in mud holes. People often smear this mineral mud on themselves for its healthful benefits. I did not. In fact, the mud is sold commercially, and in other locations on the shore people sell treatments very expensively. When I got out of the water, I walked directly onto the beach to avoid the hot pier and ran to the shaded sand under the umbrella, then on to the shower. I wasn't out long; job #1 was no sunburn!
Lunch was on our own, so I ate a falafel. This was pita bread with fried chickpeas, lettuce, tomatoes, a little onion, and ... a few french fries. It was quite tasty. A little after 2:00 we boarded our bus to return. The air conditioning decided to stop working, so it was a hot ride back. We learned and sang three Hebrew songs and made it back to Tzuba about 3:30. That's when I realized I had left my trunks in the shower!
The afternoon and evening were spent blogging and studying, and now I'm late getting my 8-hour sleep assignment. In the morning, we will run.
Brakhot!
A Trip to the Mall
Day 7: June 24, 2009
Today is our 30th wedding anniversary. Sorry we are apart, Julie, but happy anniversary anyway.
This morning we walked, instead of running. My body was "getting used to something," so we took it a little easy today. Peter didn't mind.
This morning class time was spent on finishing the first chapter of Ruth. We read the text and the teacher asks questions about it, all in Hebrew. We are free to discuss anything - in biblical Hebrew, of course! We also spend time discussing geography of the land, etc.
At lunch we ate with a woman, Lori, in the Jonah class (beginning level). This picture was actually taken at the mall. She is from South Carolina and runs a greenhouse business with her husband. They had good spring sales, and he knew that she wanted to learn Hebrew, so he told her to come. (I want you to understand: she is not a Bible scholar, but simply a Christian woman who wants to be connected to the Bible directly by learning the language.) She said she happened to end up with no roommate, which was great, but sometimes she wanted someone to do things with. We invited her to go to the mall, in nearby Mevasseret, with us later. So we made plans to leave about 4:30.
After a short nap and studying, we were ready. We walked a little over two miles one way to get there, stopping to read signs along the way. This is a view of the hills toward the east along the way. The highway is a main one and was important during the 1948 War of Independence. It used to go through Tzuba, but now the main highway bypasses the Kibbutz.
We arrived at the mall. This is the front entrance. You may notice the checkstation at the beginning. Everyone who enters passes throguh a scanner and has any bags checked for contents by a security officer. They do not allow close up pictures. The name of the mall is Qinyan Harel; qinyan comes from a Hebrew verb meaning "buy," so I suppose this is the Modern Hebrew equivalent of "mall." You will notice that Modern Hebrew very rarely uses vowel signs. In fact, only a small amount of Hebrew uses vowel signs. Modern printed Bibles do. The vowel signs used today were not written into the Hebrew text until about AD 800-900 by the Masoretes.
The mall is not large, at least by American standards. One of the interesting store is this. This is a Kosher (more correctly Kasher) McDonalds. The word right below teh golden arches says "MacDonalds" and the scond line says "haKasher," giving "The Kasher MacDonalds." The green word is "Discont." It's a lot of fun to read the signs.
Inside the mall I took a couple of pictures. One simply has me in front. The other shows you what it takes to be Kasher: the separation of milk and meat. The meat side is on the left and the dairy side is blue and on the left. They will not share utensils between the two parts.
There was also a bakery with things that looked marvelous (I didn't buy any; I'm trying to be good and drop a few pounds).
There was a large outdoor observation deck with a beautiful view of Jerusalem. Here I am and just one of the photos I took.
All the way to and from the mall we talked, as much in Hebrew as we were able. I'm not as good as I want to be, but I'm getting better.
Brakhot ("Blessings")!
Today is our 30th wedding anniversary. Sorry we are apart, Julie, but happy anniversary anyway.
This morning we walked, instead of running. My body was "getting used to something," so we took it a little easy today. Peter didn't mind.
This morning class time was spent on finishing the first chapter of Ruth. We read the text and the teacher asks questions about it, all in Hebrew. We are free to discuss anything - in biblical Hebrew, of course! We also spend time discussing geography of the land, etc.
At lunch we ate with a woman, Lori, in the Jonah class (beginning level). This picture was actually taken at the mall. She is from South Carolina and runs a greenhouse business with her husband. They had good spring sales, and he knew that she wanted to learn Hebrew, so he told her to come. (I want you to understand: she is not a Bible scholar, but simply a Christian woman who wants to be connected to the Bible directly by learning the language.) She said she happened to end up with no roommate, which was great, but sometimes she wanted someone to do things with. We invited her to go to the mall, in nearby Mevasseret, with us later. So we made plans to leave about 4:30.
After a short nap and studying, we were ready. We walked a little over two miles one way to get there, stopping to read signs along the way. This is a view of the hills toward the east along the way. The highway is a main one and was important during the 1948 War of Independence. It used to go through Tzuba, but now the main highway bypasses the Kibbutz.
We arrived at the mall. This is the front entrance. You may notice the checkstation at the beginning. Everyone who enters passes throguh a scanner and has any bags checked for contents by a security officer. They do not allow close up pictures. The name of the mall is Qinyan Harel; qinyan comes from a Hebrew verb meaning "buy," so I suppose this is the Modern Hebrew equivalent of "mall." You will notice that Modern Hebrew very rarely uses vowel signs. In fact, only a small amount of Hebrew uses vowel signs. Modern printed Bibles do. The vowel signs used today were not written into the Hebrew text until about AD 800-900 by the Masoretes.
The mall is not large, at least by American standards. One of the interesting store is this. This is a Kosher (more correctly Kasher) McDonalds. The word right below teh golden arches says "MacDonalds" and the scond line says "haKasher," giving "The Kasher MacDonalds." The green word is "Discont." It's a lot of fun to read the signs.
Inside the mall I took a couple of pictures. One simply has me in front. The other shows you what it takes to be Kasher: the separation of milk and meat. The meat side is on the left and the dairy side is blue and on the left. They will not share utensils between the two parts.
There was also a bakery with things that looked marvelous (I didn't buy any; I'm trying to be good and drop a few pounds).
There was a large outdoor observation deck with a beautiful view of Jerusalem. Here I am and just one of the photos I took.
All the way to and from the mall we talked, as much in Hebrew as we were able. I'm not as good as I want to be, but I'm getting better.
Brakhot ("Blessings")!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Class and a Lecture
Day 6: June 23, 2009
Today is my mom's birthday, and I wish her a happy one.
Just a short blog today. I slept well and my body is used to things now.
Class was a little more difficult today, but all goes well. I'm getting better!
After studying in the afternoon and a light super, Randall Buth, director of the Biblical Language Center and my CoHeLeT colleague, gave a lecture on the history of the Hebrew language at 7:00. He planned to go 40 minutes with 20 minutes for questions, but lecture and discussion lasted until 9:00. It was held at the reception center on an outdoor veranda that overlooks a great valley and the hills of Jerusalem, which is just on the other side.
The lecture was excellent. I took notes and won't tell you everything, but let me give just one of the valuable lessons. When I was in seminary, NT scholarship taught that the Jews in Israel did not speak Hebrew, but only Aramaic and Greek. Further, the Hebrew of the Mishnah (written about AD 200; Google it, if you want more information) was an artificial language used only by scholars. So, when we read passages in the NT that say someone spoke in "Hebrew," we were taught that they meant Aramaic. This teaching had its origin in a brilliant scholar named Geiger. He was wrong.
Actually, many Jews in Jesus' day were tri-lingual: Greek, Aramaic, and Hebrew. More than that, they new two levels of Hebrew: a spoken language, like the Hebrew of the Mishnah, and a written language like the Hebrew of the Bible in the time after Jeremiah, (about 500 BC). Proof for this is now pretty well established.
For example, Randall pointed out that in Josephus, Jewish Wars, 5.272, Josephus tells how the Jews had lookouts to warn the people when the Romans would hurl large stones. The people would run for cover and were able to resist the Roman "missiles." Josephus, who wrote in Greek, says they yelled, "o uios erkhetai," which means "the son is coming!" Of course at first this doesn't make any sense. However, the Hebrew for "a stone is coming!" is "eben ba'a." If you imagine in the excitement that listeners didn't hear the first and last vowels, the Hebrew expression becomes, "ben ba," which sounds just like a real sentence meaning, "a son is coming!" Trying this in Aramaic does not work at all. The Aramaic equivalent of "a stone is coming!" would be "kepha atha." So, it appears that these warnings were in Hebrew and these warnings were given to all the people, including the commoners, inside the walls of Jerusalem. The language of choice to address all the people was Hebrew, not Aramaic.
This information has been known since about 1988 at least, but many NT scholars are still giving misinformation here. I used to myself! But no more. Incidentally, to counteract the warnings, the Romans began to paint the stones black, which made them harder to see and thus more liable to cause damage. There are many things to learn here.
Blessings!
Today is my mom's birthday, and I wish her a happy one.
Just a short blog today. I slept well and my body is used to things now.
Class was a little more difficult today, but all goes well. I'm getting better!
After studying in the afternoon and a light super, Randall Buth, director of the Biblical Language Center and my CoHeLeT colleague, gave a lecture on the history of the Hebrew language at 7:00. He planned to go 40 minutes with 20 minutes for questions, but lecture and discussion lasted until 9:00. It was held at the reception center on an outdoor veranda that overlooks a great valley and the hills of Jerusalem, which is just on the other side.
The lecture was excellent. I took notes and won't tell you everything, but let me give just one of the valuable lessons. When I was in seminary, NT scholarship taught that the Jews in Israel did not speak Hebrew, but only Aramaic and Greek. Further, the Hebrew of the Mishnah (written about AD 200; Google it, if you want more information) was an artificial language used only by scholars. So, when we read passages in the NT that say someone spoke in "Hebrew," we were taught that they meant Aramaic. This teaching had its origin in a brilliant scholar named Geiger. He was wrong.
Actually, many Jews in Jesus' day were tri-lingual: Greek, Aramaic, and Hebrew. More than that, they new two levels of Hebrew: a spoken language, like the Hebrew of the Mishnah, and a written language like the Hebrew of the Bible in the time after Jeremiah, (about 500 BC). Proof for this is now pretty well established.
For example, Randall pointed out that in Josephus, Jewish Wars, 5.272, Josephus tells how the Jews had lookouts to warn the people when the Romans would hurl large stones. The people would run for cover and were able to resist the Roman "missiles." Josephus, who wrote in Greek, says they yelled, "o uios erkhetai," which means "the son is coming!" Of course at first this doesn't make any sense. However, the Hebrew for "a stone is coming!" is "eben ba'a." If you imagine in the excitement that listeners didn't hear the first and last vowels, the Hebrew expression becomes, "ben ba," which sounds just like a real sentence meaning, "a son is coming!" Trying this in Aramaic does not work at all. The Aramaic equivalent of "a stone is coming!" would be "kepha atha." So, it appears that these warnings were in Hebrew and these warnings were given to all the people, including the commoners, inside the walls of Jerusalem. The language of choice to address all the people was Hebrew, not Aramaic.
This information has been known since about 1988 at least, but many NT scholars are still giving misinformation here. I used to myself! But no more. Incidentally, to counteract the warnings, the Romans began to paint the stones black, which made them harder to see and thus more liable to cause damage. There are many things to learn here.
Blessings!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Class Begins
Day 5: June 22, 2009, Monday
Happy birthday, Julie. I miss you.
After another not-so-good night of sleep (but I did stay in bed; that was the assignment), we got up shortly after 6 and went running. Peter and I did a little better than the last time. We followed a route that has three sites on it that we had learned about on our walk the night before.
The first sight was one we saw Sunday night, Ein Tzuba, "the spring of Tzuba." Of course in Israel these springs have always been very important sources of water. These pictures show the spring and the pool and a map diagramming the underground structure how it's related to the Kibbutz. Unfortunately the glare from my flash makes much of it unreadable. I may try another time to get a better photo.
After breakfast (I ate no fish this morning), class began at 8:30 and lasted until 12:30 with three breaks along the way. Class went well. It is very interactive. The teachers speak in Hebrew and get us to respond either in action or in Hebrew. uring the course we are also memorizing the Shema (Deut 6:4-9). Today we did vv. 4-5. They write the text on the board and we do motions as we recite to help get the word into us.
After lunch and a nap, I studied the rest of the afternoon. We are going through Ruth in these two weeks, plus two chapters from other books that are relevant background to the book. We not only read and act out the story, we actually discuss the story in Hebrew. As a teaching method, the teachers tell the story by paraphrasing it (in Hebrew) as a preview to the next day's lesson. Today in class we did Ruth 1:1-10. Our assignment is to listen to the audio files (repeatedly) and read the text to become as familar with it as we can; to read with understanding.
After a light supper in our room (cereal again; Peter and I are alike in so many ways, and liking cereal anytime is one of them), we went out for another walk. We went on
the same road that we walked last night to see the spring. The road actually forms a circuit. This time we went the opposite direction to see the ancient trees and crusader ruins. The road is paved, but we turn right, toward the inside of the circuit, to follow a windy, rocky dirt path. Soon the path is grassy and we come to the ancient trees. Here are two of them, the second with a sign.
The sign reads (what I can make out without a dictionary; I'll try to update later):
Then we continue on the grassy path, which is still visible, but the surrounding plants almost grow over it. Then we found the ruins. I don't know anything about them. We are amazed that they would come over and build such a structure.
It was getting dark, so we headed home.
A little more studying, and off to bed for a good (?) night's sleep.
Brakhot ("blessings") to all.
Happy birthday, Julie. I miss you.
After another not-so-good night of sleep (but I did stay in bed; that was the assignment), we got up shortly after 6 and went running. Peter and I did a little better than the last time. We followed a route that has three sites on it that we had learned about on our walk the night before.
The first sight was one we saw Sunday night, Ein Tzuba, "the spring of Tzuba." Of course in Israel these springs have always been very important sources of water. These pictures show the spring and the pool and a map diagramming the underground structure how it's related to the Kibbutz. Unfortunately the glare from my flash makes much of it unreadable. I may try another time to get a better photo.
After breakfast (I ate no fish this morning), class began at 8:30 and lasted until 12:30 with three breaks along the way. Class went well. It is very interactive. The teachers speak in Hebrew and get us to respond either in action or in Hebrew. uring the course we are also memorizing the Shema (Deut 6:4-9). Today we did vv. 4-5. They write the text on the board and we do motions as we recite to help get the word into us.
After lunch and a nap, I studied the rest of the afternoon. We are going through Ruth in these two weeks, plus two chapters from other books that are relevant background to the book. We not only read and act out the story, we actually discuss the story in Hebrew. As a teaching method, the teachers tell the story by paraphrasing it (in Hebrew) as a preview to the next day's lesson. Today in class we did Ruth 1:1-10. Our assignment is to listen to the audio files (repeatedly) and read the text to become as familar with it as we can; to read with understanding.
After a light supper in our room (cereal again; Peter and I are alike in so many ways, and liking cereal anytime is one of them), we went out for another walk. We went on
the same road that we walked last night to see the spring. The road actually forms a circuit. This time we went the opposite direction to see the ancient trees and crusader ruins. The road is paved, but we turn right, toward the inside of the circuit, to follow a windy, rocky dirt path. Soon the path is grassy and we come to the ancient trees. Here are two of them, the second with a sign.The sign reads (what I can make out without a dictionary; I'll try to update later):
- Oak of [?]
- This tree is 100 years old and among the largest
- in the mountains of Jerusalem. It was preserved [?] his holiness(?)
- around the tree of [?] of the Muslim mausoleum.
Then we continue on the grassy path, which is still visible, but the surrounding plants almost grow over it. Then we found the ruins. I don't know anything about them. We are amazed that they would come over and build such a structure.
- Peter standing at the bottom of the steps entering a large underground room. Think of it as having four sections with Peter standing in the first. front and on the right, when you stand on the outside looking in at the entrance.
This would be the second section, front and on the left as you look left.- In the left rear chamber, there was a narrow passage leading upward.
We could not see where it went and did not go in, but we suspect that it went up to the ground now. We also suspect that all the surrounding rubble are ruins of a tower. This passage probably led up into the tower. - This photo is of the right rear section.
It was getting dark, so we headed home.
A little more studying, and off to bed for a good (?) night's sleep.
Brakhot ("blessings") to all.
Monday, June 22, 2009
First Time in Jerusalem
Day 4: June 21, 2009
Peter and I are still suffering from jet lag. After going to bed about 10 p.m., we woke up about 2 or 3 a.m. We decided to get up about 4 and read until 6, when we decided to give sleep another try. We dozed until 7:30 showered and went to breakfast - we missed our exercising for the day. Afterwards we shopped at the Tzuba market to have some things in our room for the evneing meal (our tuition covers breakfast and lunch). We were in a bit of a rush, because Peter had arranged to meet two friends he had met 13 years ago in Jerusalem, Paul and Rhoda Carpenter.
There is a bus from Kibbutz Tzuba to Jerusalem for 8.1 shekels (about $2). The picture is of our bus. The Hebrew says "Superbus." We boarded a little after 11 a.m. to meet Paul and Rhoda about noon. We actually didn't go into the station, but waited on the street. The traffic was heavy with aggressive drivers (I was glad I wasn't driving a rental) and there were many people catching numerous buses. The 183 took us to the central bus station, where we were to catch the 60. Within a couple of minutes, the 60 stops and opens the door ... for about 5 seconds! Then it took off without us. We decide to wait for the next one because a walk to the Jaffa Gate is about 2 miles to the Old City. After waiting about half an hour, the 60 arrived and we were ready, or so we thought. The bus double parked a little past the stop, did not open the door, and in at most 5 seconds, took off, leaving us and others without a bus.
By now it was noon and we were late anyway, so we decided to walk. It was a vigorous 45 minute walk that took us to the Jaffa Gate and into the Old City, where we were to meet Paul and Rhoda. We followed street signs directing us to the Old City. Of course we read the Hebrew, not that English!
We made it to the gate (see the picture). Paul and Rhod
a were not there, but we met them at their hotel nearby. Paul is a cardiologist in Sioux Falls, ND. Rhoda is an adjunct professor at Sioux Falls Seminary, formerly North American Baptist Seminary.
We looked for a restaurant, walking through the very narrow streets paved with large tones rubbed smooth with centuries of commercial foot traffic. We went into two shops run by Christians known to Paul and Rhoda. These are places to get fair deals on merchandise. One fellow used to be PLO, but became a Christian. He told us of a Muslim woman who was soon to be baptized and they needed some witnesses, preferably from far away. We may go do that, if arrangements can be made.
Paul and Rhoda bought lunch for us at a sandwich shop there in the Old City. We had a long and enjoyable conversation, and after saying our goodbyes, Paul led us to Jerusal
em University Center, headed by Paul Wright. Paul Wright is a friend of mine from Hebrew Union College days, and I wanted to see him. Also, Carl Rasmussen teaches there and I hoped to get a chance to meet him there. But it was Sunday and they were not there. Here is a picture of the Tower of David. It is near the Jaffa Gate. Of course it doesn't date to the time of David; I don't know how old it is. Perhaps I'll give you an update later. We couldn't stay long, because we had to get back for our orientation to the Biblical Language Center.
We caught a bus back to the Central Bus Station and, after a half hour of walking and searching, we found the stop to wait for the 183 back to Tzuba. So, we made it. There was not a lot of exciting things seen, but this was an exploratory excursion. We'll be back.
We ate some cereal for supper with our new friend Dave, from Ireland. Then in the evening we had our orientation. There were about 15 students for the beginning and intermediate courses. I hope to introduce some to you later. About a third were from the US. Two were from Wales. One fellow was from Ireland, at least three from the UK, one a Wycliffe Bible translator from Honduras, and one from South America.
After orientation we began our first assignments: (1) complete a placement exam, and (2) 8 hours of sleep. Layla Tov!
Peter and I are still suffering from jet lag. After going to bed about 10 p.m., we woke up about 2 or 3 a.m. We decided to get up about 4 and read until 6, when we decided to give sleep another try. We dozed until 7:30 showered and went to breakfast - we missed our exercising for the day. Afterwards we shopped at the Tzuba market to have some things in our room for the evneing meal (our tuition covers breakfast and lunch). We were in a bit of a rush, because Peter had arranged to meet two friends he had met 13 years ago in Jerusalem, Paul and Rhoda Carpenter.
There is a bus from Kibbutz Tzuba to Jerusalem for 8.1 shekels (about $2). The picture is of our bus. The Hebrew says "Superbus." We boarded a little after 11 a.m. to meet Paul and Rhoda about noon. We actually didn't go into the station, but waited on the street. The traffic was heavy with aggressive drivers (I was glad I wasn't driving a rental) and there were many people catching numerous buses. The 183 took us to the central bus station, where we were to catch the 60. Within a couple of minutes, the 60 stops and opens the door ... for about 5 seconds! Then it took off without us. We decide to wait for the next one because a walk to the Jaffa Gate is about 2 miles to the Old City. After waiting about half an hour, the 60 arrived and we were ready, or so we thought. The bus double parked a little past the stop, did not open the door, and in at most 5 seconds, took off, leaving us and others without a bus.
By now it was noon and we were late anyway, so we decided to walk. It was a vigorous 45 minute walk that took us to the Jaffa Gate and into the Old City, where we were to meet Paul and Rhoda. We followed street signs directing us to the Old City. Of course we read the Hebrew, not that English!
We made it to the gate (see the picture). Paul and Rhod
a were not there, but we met them at their hotel nearby. Paul is a cardiologist in Sioux Falls, ND. Rhoda is an adjunct professor at Sioux Falls Seminary, formerly North American Baptist Seminary.We looked for a restaurant, walking through the very narrow streets paved with large tones rubbed smooth with centuries of commercial foot traffic. We went into two shops run by Christians known to Paul and Rhoda. These are places to get fair deals on merchandise. One fellow used to be PLO, but became a Christian. He told us of a Muslim woman who was soon to be baptized and they needed some witnesses, preferably from far away. We may go do that, if arrangements can be made.
Paul and Rhoda bought lunch for us at a sandwich shop there in the Old City. We had a long and enjoyable conversation, and after saying our goodbyes, Paul led us to Jerusal
em University Center, headed by Paul Wright. Paul Wright is a friend of mine from Hebrew Union College days, and I wanted to see him. Also, Carl Rasmussen teaches there and I hoped to get a chance to meet him there. But it was Sunday and they were not there. Here is a picture of the Tower of David. It is near the Jaffa Gate. Of course it doesn't date to the time of David; I don't know how old it is. Perhaps I'll give you an update later. We couldn't stay long, because we had to get back for our orientation to the Biblical Language Center.We caught a bus back to the Central Bus Station and, after a half hour of walking and searching, we found the stop to wait for the 183 back to Tzuba. So, we made it. There was not a lot of exciting things seen, but this was an exploratory excursion. We'll be back.
We ate some cereal for supper with our new friend Dave, from Ireland. Then in the evening we had our orientation. There were about 15 students for the beginning and intermediate courses. I hope to introduce some to you later. About a third were from the US. Two were from Wales. One fellow was from Ireland, at least three from the UK, one a Wycliffe Bible translator from Honduras, and one from South America.
After orientation we began our first assignments: (1) complete a placement exam, and (2) 8 hours of sleep. Layla Tov!
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Resting at Kibbutz Tzuba
Day 3: June 20, 2009
We awoke early this morning. Our apartment has a small balcony. This is the view from it. In the distance are the hills of Jerusalem, which lies on teh other side. I think the town you see of part of the town of Mevasseret. As you can see this side of Israel is very green, even in summer. The building you see is the Qabala, Reception area.
We share a small bedroom with two beds. The beds are small, but comfortable.
This morning Peter and I rose about six and ran together. Since I live near the coast in North Carolina where it is very flat, I knew running would be more difficult in these hills.
We ate breakfast at the Kibbutz cafeteria. The fare is diff
erent than 
is typical in America, though plenty of western type things are available. They serve vegetables and cold fish (smoked salmon, etc.). I had a cereal, boiled eggs, coffee, smoked salmon, smoked other fish (identity unknown), and a vegetable tuna salad (corn, red and green peppers, tuna chunks), and olives. The fish was salty, but all the food was very good. The coffee is Turkish. It is powdery; you put a teaspoon or two in a cup, add hot water, and stir. It is very smooth.
After breakfast we visited the small grocery market. It was fun reading all the labels; some had English, but most did not. I learned how to say strawberry in Hebrew: tot. The small store sells many things in addition to food; it is a bit expensive.
After a morning of reading and getting settled, we had lunch - the main meal at the cafeteria. I ate a large meatball that tasted like meatloaf and a roasted chicken leg, humus, more olives, and some vegetables.
Still recovering from jet lag, I took a two-hour nap in the hot afternoon (about 84 degrees and not a cloud in the sky).
The evening was beautiful. Peter and I took a walk on a trail at the Kibbutz. We followed a map, which was not to scale and a bit tricky to follow, to the spring, Ein Tzuba. Continuing on the circuit, we passed many orchards. There was a parking area with a picnic table. There I spotted a fig tree (te'enah) with ripening fruit and took a picture. It was beginning to get dark, but there is more to see. We will make another trip.
Today was the end of Shabbat. Tomorrow to Jerusalem!
Shalom,
Lee
We awoke early this morning. Our apartment has a small balcony. This is the view from it. In the distance are the hills of Jerusalem, which lies on teh other side. I think the town you see of part of the town of Mevasseret. As you can see this side of Israel is very green, even in summer. The building you see is the Qabala, Reception area.
We share a small bedroom with two beds. The beds are small, but comfortable.
This morning Peter and I rose about six and ran together. Since I live near the coast in North Carolina where it is very flat, I knew running would be more difficult in these hills.
We ate breakfast at the Kibbutz cafeteria. The fare is diff
erent than 
is typical in America, though plenty of western type things are available. They serve vegetables and cold fish (smoked salmon, etc.). I had a cereal, boiled eggs, coffee, smoked salmon, smoked other fish (identity unknown), and a vegetable tuna salad (corn, red and green peppers, tuna chunks), and olives. The fish was salty, but all the food was very good. The coffee is Turkish. It is powdery; you put a teaspoon or two in a cup, add hot water, and stir. It is very smooth.After breakfast we visited the small grocery market. It was fun reading all the labels; some had English, but most did not. I learned how to say strawberry in Hebrew: tot. The small store sells many things in addition to food; it is a bit expensive.
After a morning of reading and getting settled, we had lunch - the main meal at the cafeteria. I ate a large meatball that tasted like meatloaf and a roasted chicken leg, humus, more olives, and some vegetables.
Still recovering from jet lag, I took a two-hour nap in the hot afternoon (about 84 degrees and not a cloud in the sky).
The evening was beautiful. Peter and I took a walk on a trail at the Kibbutz. We followed a map, which was not to scale and a bit tricky to follow, to the spring, Ein Tzuba. Continuing on the circuit, we passed many orchards. There was a parking area with a picnic table. There I spotted a fig tree (te'enah) with ripening fruit and took a picture. It was beginning to get dark, but there is more to see. We will make another trip.
Today was the end of Shabbat. Tomorrow to Jerusalem!
Shalom,
Lee
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