Chapter 11 - Father You Yahweh, are our Father, our redeemer, forever is your name
Isaiah 63:16 The Hebrew word for father is “ba” (abh), a parent root, and written as “ba” in the ancient pictographic script. As we have previously discussed, the first letter is an ox head representing strength and the second is the tent representing the family that resides within the tent. They have the combined meaning of the “strength of the tent,” the poles which stand tall and firm supporting the tent itself. The father is also the one who stands tall and firm supporting the family.
Action words This brings us to another difference between the ancient Hebrew Eastern culture and our modern Western culture. In Western languages, a noun simply identifies a person place or thing, while the verb describes the action of a noun. The noun itself is void of any action. As an example, the nouns “knee” and “gift,” in a Western culture, are inanimate objects void of any action in themselves. The ancient Hebrews were an active and passionate people who saw action in all things and their vocabulary reflects this lifestyle. In the Hebrew language, just as in most ancient languages, very little distinction was made between nouns and verbs as all words were related to action. The Hebrew verb “$rb” (barak) means “to bend the knee,” the noun “$rb” (berek) means “a knee that bends.” Notice that both words are spelled exactly the same in Hebrew, with the only difference being the vowels that are supplied to them. When a word is used as a verb it is used to describe the action of something, while when used as a noun, it describes something that has action. The verb “$rb” is usually translated as “bless,” but as this is an abstract word, the more Hebraic concrete meaning is “to come with a bent knee.” This can be literal or figurative as seen in the following two verses.
“Come worship and bow down and bend the knee (literal) before Yahweh our maker.”
Psalms 95:6 “Yahweh will give strength to his people, Yahweh will bend his knee (figurative) with peace to his people.”
Psalms 29:11 When this word is understood in its original Hebraic meaning, the passages in the Bible come more alive. Such as we can see with our Hebraic definition of father, the one who stands firm supporting the family.
Son
Too often we see our relationship with God by looking at him as a lofty King that sits on a throne while we are the subjects far below. God designed the family structure in order to teach us the true relationship between God and his children. The Hebrew word for son is “!b” (ben) or in the ancient script “nb.” This word is Hebraicly understood as “the tent continues.” The “b” as a representation of the tent and the “n” as a representation of the seed that continues with the next generation. This word can also mean, “the household continues.” The Hebrew mind saw the “tent” and the “sons” as the same thing as they both function in the same manner. The tent was constructed of woven goat hair. Over time the sun bleaches and weakens the goat hair necessitating its continual replacement. Each year a new panel, approximately 3 feet wide and the length of the tent, is made by the women. The old panel is removed and the new strip is added to the tent. In the same manner, the family is continually renewed by the birth of sons, also “made” by the women. As the family grows through the birth of more sons, the tent is required to be made larger and additional panels are added. This is the imagery found in Isaiah 54:2 which is speaking about women who have born no children (Isaiah 54:1):
Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.
Isaiah 54:2 (NIV)
Just as the panels of the tent turn white by the sun and are replaced, the hair of the elderly members of the family turn white. They are removed through death and replaced by new members, the sons. To identify the age of an individual we say, “he is fifty years old.” The Hebrew idiom for this is to say “he is a son of fifty years.” This could also be translated as “he is fifty panel changes” as one’s age can be calculated by the number of panels changed during his lifespan. The child root “hnb” (banah) derived from the parent root “!b” (ben), literally means “to build a house.” The house (tent) is built with panels (!b) while the household is built with sons (!b).
“And Jacob left Succoth and he built (hnb) a house.”
Genesis 33:17 “And she [Rachel] said, here is my maidservant Bilhah, come to her and she will bear a child over my knee and I will also build (hnb) from her.”
Genesis 30:3 The father builds his family through his sons who will one day replace him. It is the responsibility of the father to teach and instruct his sons in family matters so that when the time comes for them to lead the family, they will do so according to the will of their father. A Hebrew word meaning “to instruct” is “!yb” (beyn), another child root from the parent root “!b (ben). The father builds his house by raising and instructing sons. As the sons of God, it is our responsibility to listen and learn from our father who is in heaven so that we can grow to follow in his will.
“My desire is to do your will my God, and your teaching is within my heart.”
Psalms 40:8 In the above passage, the “teaching” of God is paralleled with his “will.” This brings us to another Biblical word, “hrwt” (torah) that is commonly misunderstood. The Teachings The Hebrew word “hrwt” (torah), while usually translated as “law,” is not “law” but “teaching as can be seen in the following verses.
“Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.”
Proverbs 1:8 (NIV) “My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart.”
Proverbs 3:1 (NIV) To fully understand the Hebraic meaning of the word “hrwt” (torah) we will begin with the parent root, “ry / ri” (yar). The letter “i” (Y) is a hand and the letter “r” (R) is a man. These two letters form the parent root meaning the “hand of man” or “to throw.” The child root “hry” (yarah) is the throwing of an object such as a stone, arrow or the finger that is thrown in a direction one is to walk, to point. This latter meaning of “to point” can either be a literal pointing toward a physical direction, or a figurative pointing to a teaching that is to be followed. From this child root “hry (yarah), two Biblical words are derived, “hrwm” (moreh) and “hrwt” (torah). The Hebrew word “hrwm” (moreh) is “one who throws.” This can be a teacher (or father) who throws (points) his finger in a direction the student (or son) is to take. It can also be an archer who throws an arrow at a target. The Hebrew word “ajx” (chata) means “to miss the mark,” as when the archer misses his target. This word is also used when the student, or son, misses his target or direction. In this last case, the word “ajx” (chata) is translated as “sin.” Sin is to miss the target, which our heavenly father has pointed out to us. The second word derived from “hry” (yarah) is “hrwt” (torah) meaning “what is thrown by the thrower (moreh).” This can be the arrow of the archer, or the direction pointed by the teacher or father. To translate the Hebrew word “hrwt” (torah) as “law” would be the same as translating the word “father” as “disciplinarian.” While a father is a disciplinarian, it is not all that the father is. In the same way, there is law within the torah but that is not all that torah is. Law is a “static set of rules and regulations established by a government to a people where violations are punished.”
Torah is a “dynamic set of instructions established by the father to his children where disobedience is disciplined through correction and punishment, but obedience is praised.” A father teaches his children how to live a life that is right, healthy and prosperous. God is the father who instructs his children with the same teachings.
“Blessed is the mighty man who you discipline, Yahweh, and from the torah you teach us.”
Psalms 94:12
Love “You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your resources.”
Deuteronomy 6:5 When reading the word “love” our mind usually equates this with an emotional feeling. To understand the Hebrew concept of love, “bha” (ahabh) in Hebrew, we will examine the parent root as well as its derivatives. The parent root is “bh” (habh) written as “be” in the ancient pictographic script. The “e” is a man holding his arms out as if saying, “look at that.” The “b” is the outline of the Hebrew nomadic tent. Based on the pictographs of the parent root we have the meaning of “look at the house.” Derived from the parent root are two child roots. The first is “bhy” (yahabh) meaning “to give as a gift or a privilege.”
“And Jacob said to Laban, give my wife to me.”
Genesis 29:21 “Rachel saw that she bore no children for Jacob and Rachel was jealous of her sister and she said to Jacob, give me children so that I will not die.”
Genesis 30:1 “Give to Yahweh, sons of gods (mighty ones) give to Yahweh glory and strength.”
Psalms 29:1 The family into which one is born is seen as a privilege given as a gift. The children born to the parents are seen in the same manner; the wife as well is given as a privilege to the husband as marriages were usually arranged within the ancient cultures. The second child root is the word “bha” (ahabh). While usually translated as love, the Hebraic meaning is “the care of the gift.” It is the family members responsibility to teach, provide, cherish and protect the other members of the family.
“And Isaac brought her to the tent of his mother Sarah and he took Rebecca to be his wife and he loved her.”
Genesis 24:67 “And Jacob loved Rachel.”
Genesis 29:18 As we can see “bha” (ahabh) is not an emotion, but an action, a responsibility. One that you did not choose but were given as a privilege to be a part of. The father sees his wife and children as the gifts of God, which he is responsible to care for. The wife and children were also given the father as a gift and their responsibility is to care for him as well. With this frame of mind, the family becomes “dxa” (ehhad - one). When we read that we are to “love God,” it is not an emotion but a responsibility to listen and learn from him and walk in the teachings that he has given to us, we then become “dxa” (ehhad - one) with our heavenly father.
“Listen Israel, Yahweh is our God, Yahweh is One.
You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your mind, and all your resources.”
Deuteronomy 6:4; Deuteronomy 6:3
