Posted on 07/10/2013 7:57:27 AM PDT by Zionist Conspirator
In Israel you might hear a youngster protesting to his mother in Hebrew, Zeh Loh Fair. The first two words mean "This is not..." The third word means exactly what it says in English - fair. The juvenile is saying that his mother is unfair. You see, there is no word in Hebrew for the concept of fair. He had no choice other than using the English.
This is because "fair" is a false concept with no reality. What does fair actually mean? That everyone should have the same housing, talent, looks, and destiny? No two people even have identical opportunity. The word means nothing at all.
Generally, English words for which there are no Hebrew equivalents are unreal concepts detached from reality.
Here are two of them:
Adolescent: Permission for an adult to behave like a child while claiming the benefits due an adult. There's no word for adolescent in Hebrew. You are either a child or an adult.
Coincidence: Demeaning Divine messages and camouflaging cosmic connection. There's no word for coincidence in Hebrew. Why ignore synchronicity and live bereft of the significance of subtle suggestion?
For millennia, Hebrew has had an unbroken history of effectively conveying both verbal and written information. Its power lies not only in what you can communicate in Hebrew but also in what you can't.
The most surprising word for which no Hebrew equivalent exists is - Religion. Nowhere in the entire Tanach, the Hebrew Scriptures, does the word religion appear.
Where does the English word, "religion" come from? One theory is that it derives from the Latin "relegere" which means to do something repeatedly. Others guess that it comes from the Latin "religare" which means to tie up or bind.
Recalling the Hebrew origins of Latin reveals the three root letters for the word behind both those theories-R, L, and G.
Let's now glance quickly at Metathesis, the key to understanding languages and their evolution. Metathesis means that as language changes, people occasionally rearrange root letters. For instance, an early Scriptural garment, Joseph's coat is called in Hebrew C-T-N. From this, English describes the material for making clothing-CoTToN, and by metathesis, an early Roman garment made of cotton, a TuNiC.
Similarly, the Hebrew for young goat KDI (or GDI) leading, by metathesis, to English KID. Also, the Hebrew for WORD is DaVaR. In early German, through metathesis of the Hebrew source, that became VORD or later WORT. (The German V is pronounced F and the W is pronounced V) English soon adapted it to WORD. (T and D are both sibilants and often indistinguishable.)
We can see how the linguistic origin of religion is the Hebrew, ReGeL, which means both a leg and anything ReGuLar like the three annual Biblical pilgrimage festivals, known as ReGaLim. What is the connection? In order to move our lives forward and experience our "march of progress" we need to move our legs regularly, one after the other.
Through the Hebrew source, we see that both Latin theories are linked. By repeating an action it becomes a habit and we become habituated or bound to that action.
Why no word in Hebrew for religion? Because it is not a separate part of life like working, cooking, or reproduction. Religion is not just something we do on Saturday or Sunday as we might do bowling on Monday and Little League on Wednesday. No, our relationship with God is part of how we approach every moment of our lives. It cannot be limited to a single word. Totally integrating our lives with our Creator unleashes our own creativity.
One effective tool for helping to bring about that integration with God so that 'religion' is not an external adjunct to our life but an inseparable element of it is through Bible study. We recommend our 2 CD audio training program Tower of Power-Decoding the Secrets of Babel.
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Hebrew, the Divine language, corresponds with objective reality in a way no other language does. Note also the descent of all languages from Hebrew.
Ping.
How does this square with the Biblical parable of the Workers in the Vineyard?
Jesus was obviously trying to deal with the fact that most contemporary Jews would have found it unfair that the workers who went to the vineyard late in the day would receive the same pay as those who started at dawn. Would they not have had to have some concept of “fairness” if Christ felt a need to try and overcome it?
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Note also the descent of all languages from Hebrew.
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Thanks for posting, and for the hit.
Here we go....
The Jews of Christ’s time were also influenced by the Greeks.
Jesus was obviously trying to deal with the fact that most contemporary Jews would have found it unfair that the workers who went to the vineyard late in the day would receive the same pay as those who started at dawn. Would they not have had to have some concept of “fairness” if Christ felt a need to try and overcome it?
What the "new testament" says is not of the slightest interest or concern to me.
You chrstians who are daily cutting each other to shreds and disproving each other's beliefs would be much better off (and in tune with Truth) if you put it in file 13 along with the "book of mormon" so many of you constantly trash.
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“Generally, English words for which there are no Hebrew equivalents are unreal concepts detached from reality.”
That statement needs some proving.
“Generally” is the weasel word here. What’s the Hebrew equivalent for “generally”? What’s the Hebrew equivalent for “weasel”?
Bikhlal is the Hebrew expression for "in general."
As for "weasel," according to the Hebrew Wikipedia article for that animal it is sammur. My Hebrew/English dictionary (whose type is so small I can barely read it any more) has three other words: chamos, nokhel (which probably refers to a sneaky person), and one I can't make out.
At any rate there is certainly a Hebrew word for weasel. It was named by Adam and present on the Teva', wasn't it?
Fascinating that “adolescent” isn’t in the lexicon. The entire concept of adolescence is pretty modern and I wonder if it isn’t one indication of cultural decadence. Probably more later on that in another thread - no hijacking today.
I have heard a very interesting talk by a Rabbi explaining how words like “adolescence” and “retirement” do not exist in Hebrew. And how the word for “face” is always plural.
I still don’t understand though how a first-century Jew like Jesus Christ would be concerned enough to relate that parable if they had no word for(and, I presume, no concept of) “fairness”.
Cool. There are a ton of examples (of course I’m drawing a blank...) Explicit ones like “Cherubic” in English, an exact transliteration from the Hebrew. Or babbel...of course from the famous tower of confusion (B-A-V-E-L)
Your obsession about the "first century" is causing you to completely miss the points Rabbi Lapin is trying to make.
Employer/employee relations, including wages, are governed by Torah Law. Perhaps that is the concept you are trying to find.
If God wants you to work the vineyard, He decides your wages.
As a Christian, if I was saved at 8 years old and worked all my life for the Glory of God, why would I be upset that some criminal confessed Jesus right before he died and goes to Heaven? If my Father receives a larger Harvest, I rejoice for Him, for He the One to deserve the Glory. He earned it all on the cross.
Hebrew uses the word “shilem” (same root as “shalom” peace, indicating completion) for “pay back”. So there is an analogous concept if it is not exact.
“You chrstians who are daily cutting each other to shreds and disproving each other’s beliefs”
Don’t worry I can take the time to do it to you too.
Yes. We knew that the Canaanites would arrive once again to dispute as to whether they or Hebrews invented the early, pictographic language (Canaanites, also known as the Phoenicians, who once, very long ago, skedaddled in their ships northward, clinging to the coast, to a big island to prostrate themselves throughout pre-World-to-Come history to emulating previous idolatrous empires).
But the recurring arguments from the Canaanites miss the point, you know. The much earlier Hebrew in various songs sung loyally and in true detail by the various tribes for so long was much more important. Thanks to Rabbi Lapin for a great article from great meditation (focus). It shines for we few in the nations who take an appropriately humble look.
[PS Metaphors and allegories are okay sometimes, but other times, they often reek of of sanguineous decay.]
“You chrstians who are daily cutting each other to shreds and disproving each other’s beliefs”
Don’t worry I can take the time to do it to you too.
Without invoking the "new testament?" Or without assuming it's true? I'm pretty sure you're gonna eventually say "Isaiah means thus and such because THE WORD OF GOD in Paul's epistle to so-and-so says so." What if you can't do that?
Plus I think you're missing the point that all forms of chrstianity have done nothing but disprove one another from day one (including yours). And since all criticisms are valid, no form can be true.
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