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Idioms of the Hebrew Scriptures

Moses and the prophets used expressions that shaped the language of the New Testament too. When we know them, many familiar verses open up.

In Expressions of the time (idioms) we looked at expressions that Yeshua and the apostles used. Many of them did not begin in the first century. They came from Moses and the prophets, and the people of Yeshua's day heard them every Shabbat when the Scriptures were read.

This section goes back to that source. To "know" someone, to "lift up the head," a "stiff neck," "girded loins," the "face" of God: this is how the Hebrew Scriptures speak, and the New Testament writers kept speaking this way, even when they wrote in Greek.

Translations handle these expressions in different ways. Sometimes the English keeps the Hebrew picture and the Spanish explains it, and sometimes it is the other way around. In the TorahRooted Bible (TRB) we let the Hebrew expression show through, and we note how many Bibles translate it. In each lesson we look at the Hebrew word, follow the expression through the Scriptures, and let the Bible define its own language.

Lessons

  • "To know": knowing by relationship: In Hebrew, to know someone is more than knowing facts about them. It is the knowledge of a relationship, and it explains Yeshua's hard words "I never knew you."
  • "Horn": strength and honor: An animal's horn was its strength, so in Hebrew a horn stands for power, honor and victory. English Bibles usually keep the picture; the Reina-Valera usually explains it.
  • "Cut a covenant": In Hebrew you do not just "make" a covenant; you "cut" one. Genesis 15 and Jeremiah 34 show why.
  • "Lift up the head": To lift up someone's head meant to restore and honor them. In one prison, Joseph used the expression twice, with opposite meanings.
  • "Stiff-necked": A stiff neck is an ox that will not bend to the yoke. Moses and Stephen spoke it as a warning to their own people, and the New Testament gives the same warning to every believer.
  • "Gird up your loins": Long robes had to be tucked into the belt before you could run, work or fight. To gird up your loins means to get ready for action.
  • "The face of God": His presence and favor: In Hebrew, God's face is His presence and His attention. A shining face means favor, a hidden face means favor withdrawn, and "face to face" means closeness.
  • "Heart and kidneys": the whole inner person: The Hebrew Scriptures say God tests the "heart and kidneys." Translations render the pair in different ways, and in Jeremiah 17:10 the NKJV and the Reina-Valera even swap the two words.

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