Another meaning of nun is a bar nafli, one who has fallen, or a miscarriage. In the Torah portion entitled Balak, the prophet Bilaam prophesizes the coming of two kings. The first one is King David. The second is King Mashiach, who will rise from David’s descendants in the final days.
The Midrash states that David was originally supposed to have died through a miscarriage. He was able to survive only because Adam (the first man) bequeathed David seventy of his own years. Mashiach, a descendant of David, is called a bar nafli, literally translated as the “son of one who has fallen,” or a miscarriage.
Num 24
15. And he took up his discourse, and said, The speech of Balaam, the son Beor, and the speech of a man whose eyes are open:
16. The speech of one who heard the words of God, and knew the knowledge of the most High, who saw the vision of the Almighty falling down (nofel) but having his eyes open (revealed)
17. I shall see him, but not now; I shall behold him, but not near; there shall come a star out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel, and shall strike the corners of Moab, and destroy all the sons of Seth:
his discourse (parable) = mem shin lamed vav (meshalo)
Check the first words of the Shema in the images above. HIS PARABLE -- Mem Shin Lamed Vav -- is at a skip of three.
there shall come a star out of Jacob
darak kokav miyakov:
There are sounds (of words), and then there are the SIGHTS of words. What's in the vision of Shaddai falling down?
Shaddai: she'dai, shin dalet yud, the hand (yud dalet) of Shaddai, "who is David (14)", falling down (the one who has fallen).
there shall come (darak)... DAVID
Seeing The Voices
The verse immediately following the Ten Commandments states:
And the entire nation saw the voices and the thunder, and the sound of the shofar, and the mountain was consumed with smoke. The people saw and were frightened; therefore they stood at a distance. They said to Moses, "You speak to us and we will hear, but God shall not speak to us lest we die." (Exodus 20:15-16)
Here the Torah tells us that the people saw the sounds, and this frightened them. They ask Moses to speak, in order that they might hear. Moses counters, and tells the people:
"Do not be frightened. God desires to uplift you, that the fear (awe) of God will be upon you, that you will be unable to sin." The people stood from afar, and Moses approached the mist from where God [communicated]. (Exodus 20:17,18)
That the people saw, rather than heard the sounds, is further confirmed by the very next verse:
God said to Moses, "Thus tell the people, "You have seen that from heaven I have spoken with you."" (Exodus 20:18)
And by the words of Rashi:
They saw the sounds; they saw that which is usually heard, that which was impossible to see under different circumstances. [Rashi 20:15)
Again the verb "see" is used instead of "hear," and we get a picture of God speaking in a miraculous way -- it is a communication that the people can see, but cannot hear. And when God invites them to listen, they were so awestruck that they recoil and miss that opportunity.
In the Torah portion entitled Balak, the prophet Bilaam prophesizes the coming of two kings. The first one is King David. The second is King Mashiach, who will rise from David’s descendants in the final days.
I shall see him, but not now; I shall behold him, but not near; there shall come...
Now that's funny.
"Hear" O Israel, filed under "Seventy faces of Torah."