|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I am the Aleph and the Tav, the beginning and the end, the first and the last (Rev. 22:13).
|
|
|
|
Anokhi aleph v'tav rishon v'acharon rosh vasof
|
|
|
|
When Yeshua said this, he was making a direct reference to Isaiah 41:4, 44:6, and 48:12, where Adonai Himself says that He is the First and the Last -- and explicitly declared that there is no other "god" beside Him.
Please get ahold of the implication here: Jesus of Nazareth was claiming that He was the one to whom the references in Isaiah pertain. He is the "Direct Object" of the universe - the divine Agent of the Scriptures (see below about the role of the direct object marker).
|
|
|
Yeshua is the Truth...
|
|
|
Yeshua also said He was the Truth of God Himself:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I am the way and the truth and the life; no man comes to the Father apart from me (John 14:6).
|
|
|
|
Anokhi ha-derekh ve'ha'emet ve'ha-chayim ve'ish lo-yavo el-ha'av bilti al-yadi
|
|
|
|
Notice that the Hebrew word for truth (i.e., emet: ×ֱמֶת) contains the first letter Aleph (×), the middle letter Mem (מ), and the last letter Tav (ת) of the Hebrew alphabet, which the Jewish sages say implies that the truth contains everything from Aleph to Tav:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
What is Truth?
|
|
|
The Hebrew word emet has a more concrete meaning than the English word for "truth" (the English word derives from the Greek/Western view of truth as a form of correspondence between language and reality, but invariably languished over epistemological questions that led, ultimately, to skepticism). In the Hebraic mindset, the person who acts in emet is one who can be trusted (Gen. 24:49; 42:16; 47:26; Josh. 2:14). Actions, speech, reports, or judgment are emet because they are reliable (Deut. 13:14; 22:20; 1 Kings 10:6; 22:16; Prov. 12:19; Zech. 8:16). If a seed is a seed of emet, its quality is trustworthy (Jer. 2:21).
In the Tanakh, emet is often coupled with chesed, covenant faithfulness, which designates God's loyalty in fulfilling his promises and his covenant. For example, God's emet and chesed were majestically revealed in giving the covenant at Sinai (Ex. 34:6).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth (Exodus 34:6).
|
|
|
|
Adonai Adonai El rachum ve'chanun erekh apayim ve'rav-chesed ve'emet
|
|
|
|
Indeed, Pilate's question, "What is truth?" is a category mistake, since truth is not about "what" but about "Who." That is, truth is not something objective and static, a thing to be known and studied from a distance. No. Truth is essentially personal. It is personal disclosure of the character of the subject. Understood in this way, truth is a way of living, a mode of existence, a relational truth.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
He is the true Light who lights every man that comes into the world (John 1:9).
|
|
|
|
hu ohr emet asher ba la'olam le'ha'ir le'khol-adam
|
|
|
|
Yeshua the Divine Direct Object...
|
|
|
Interestingly, Aleph and Tav form a unique word that functions as a "direct object marker" in the both Biblical and modern Hebrew:
As it is written in Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God (ALEPH/TAV) created the heavens and the earth."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Considered this way, Jesus is the Direct Object of the Universe, the End (sof) of all of creation. And not only is Jesus the End of all creation, but He is the "Beginning of the Creation of God," the Creator and Sustainer of all things: "For by him were all things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him and for him: And he is before all things and by him all things consist." (Colossians 1:16-17)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Thus says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God (Rev. 3:14).
|
|
|
|
ko amar ha'amein ed ha'emet ve'hatzedek ve'reishit beriat ha'elohim
|
|
|
|
Yeshua is the Strong Sign Finally, using the ancient pictographs, we can see that Jesus is the "Strong Sign" from Adonai:
He is the One who comes in humble, silent strength (Aleph) bearing the Sign of the true Covenant of God (Tav).
|
|
|
Mysteries of the Hebrew Alphabet
|
|
|
This brief article is incomplete and (IY"H) will be revised later. Presently additional information about Jesus and the Hebrew alphabet may be found on each page of the individual Hebrew consonants (e.g., Aleph).
|
|
|
|
Return to Unit One
|
|
|
Hebrew for Christians Copyright © John J. Parsons All rights reserved.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|