For years and years the phrase "I AM..." has been what I call the "phrase of creation." To me it is the phrase that is the "abracadabra" of life. Abracadabra is a Hebrew word. It means - in a very loose translation - I create what I speak. "I am" followed by whatever we say is an internal command to our body, our thing that we have god-like command over, our second estate.
This body obeys what I tell it to do. It obeys my emotions, those things to which I most deeply attune. It obeys my words when I truly believe the things I say. "I am tired...I am fat...I am lonely...I am...." My body and my life obey that which I speak into existence.
These thoughts have all come as a result of studying the idea that God, when announcing Himself to the children of Israel through Moses, told Moses to tell them "I AM hath sent me."
For the next six months, I've decided I'm going to dedicate 35 days of study to each of the first five of the ten commandments. It has been a fascinating beginning to my journey. Imagine my surprise in reading the first commandment in Hebrew to find out that the first word has nothing to do with the phrase "I AM". Nothing.
My first three days were days of real stretching emotionally and spiritually as I struggled with the implications of such a completely incorrect translation of this first declaration that is supposedly from God. I read it again and again and again. In English I read it in Exodus, in Deuteronomy, and in Mosiah. Then I went back to the Hebrew in both Exodus and Deuteronomy.
They just didn't match. The Old Testament and the Book of Mormon both translated it the exact same way. The rabbinical translations into English were similar, although much less poetic than the English. But still, all of them began with "I am the Lord your God." Or in Hebrew, "I am HASHEM* you God."
The Hebrew has literally three words for this first declaration. There is this first word followed by Jehovah Elohim**. (For those of you reading this to whom these names are sacred, I hope you will not be offended by my writing these names. I do not see another way to explain without writing them down. But I use these names with the greatest deference and respect.)
The first word, literally translated, is "vertical." In modern Hebrew it has a very negative connotation. This is the word they use to describe someone who is selfish, self-centered, and egotistical. Which is interesting to me because as I've studied more, many people think of God as someone who is just those things. But it is because we ascribe our personal definitions and motives to His actions instead of finding out His motives and definitions.
The word has four letters. In ancient Hebrew this word carried with it a meaning of power and majesty - the first and the highest. Not necessarily in an egotistical way, but in a factual way. The number "1" is the first whole number. The ceiling is higher than the floor. These are statements to which we do not add emotional meaning.
So as we begin, we will go letter by letter for each of the succeeding posts. I am going to try to express what I have learned about this word over the last week. It is hard to put into words because my understanding comes from years of studying and to understand it the way I do today, I have pulled from thousands of hours of reading scriptures, rabbinical texts, and commentary in many different religions and traditions. And even more hours of praying and learning things for myself and not from other's interpretations. We will see how I do at putting all of this into words.
*It is considered blasphemous to say the name "׳הוה" for Jews. So instead they use the word, "HASHEM" which means, "the Name". This is all in reference to the commandment to not use the name of God in vain. In Hebrew this word "יְהֹוָה" is the name "Jehovah" in English. So you will see the word Lord written out with all capitol letters (LORD) in the Old Testament in English wherever HASHEM appears in Hebrew.
** In Hebrew the word אֱלֹהִים is literally "Elohim." Reading the Old Testament in English, every time you see the word "God" you would see the word "Elohim" if you were reading in Hebrew. Elohim is the masculine and feminine plural of "God."
This body obeys what I tell it to do. It obeys my emotions, those things to which I most deeply attune. It obeys my words when I truly believe the things I say. "I am tired...I am fat...I am lonely...I am...." My body and my life obey that which I speak into existence.
These thoughts have all come as a result of studying the idea that God, when announcing Himself to the children of Israel through Moses, told Moses to tell them "I AM hath sent me."
For the next six months, I've decided I'm going to dedicate 35 days of study to each of the first five of the ten commandments. It has been a fascinating beginning to my journey. Imagine my surprise in reading the first commandment in Hebrew to find out that the first word has nothing to do with the phrase "I AM". Nothing.
My first three days were days of real stretching emotionally and spiritually as I struggled with the implications of such a completely incorrect translation of this first declaration that is supposedly from God. I read it again and again and again. In English I read it in Exodus, in Deuteronomy, and in Mosiah. Then I went back to the Hebrew in both Exodus and Deuteronomy.
They just didn't match. The Old Testament and the Book of Mormon both translated it the exact same way. The rabbinical translations into English were similar, although much less poetic than the English. But still, all of them began with "I am the Lord your God." Or in Hebrew, "I am HASHEM* you God."
The Hebrew has literally three words for this first declaration. There is this first word followed by Jehovah Elohim**. (For those of you reading this to whom these names are sacred, I hope you will not be offended by my writing these names. I do not see another way to explain without writing them down. But I use these names with the greatest deference and respect.)
The first word, literally translated, is "vertical." In modern Hebrew it has a very negative connotation. This is the word they use to describe someone who is selfish, self-centered, and egotistical. Which is interesting to me because as I've studied more, many people think of God as someone who is just those things. But it is because we ascribe our personal definitions and motives to His actions instead of finding out His motives and definitions.
The word has four letters. In ancient Hebrew this word carried with it a meaning of power and majesty - the first and the highest. Not necessarily in an egotistical way, but in a factual way. The number "1" is the first whole number. The ceiling is higher than the floor. These are statements to which we do not add emotional meaning.
So as we begin, we will go letter by letter for each of the succeeding posts. I am going to try to express what I have learned about this word over the last week. It is hard to put into words because my understanding comes from years of studying and to understand it the way I do today, I have pulled from thousands of hours of reading scriptures, rabbinical texts, and commentary in many different religions and traditions. And even more hours of praying and learning things for myself and not from other's interpretations. We will see how I do at putting all of this into words.
*It is considered blasphemous to say the name "׳הוה" for Jews. So instead they use the word, "HASHEM" which means, "the Name". This is all in reference to the commandment to not use the name of God in vain. In Hebrew this word "יְהֹוָה" is the name "Jehovah" in English. So you will see the word Lord written out with all capitol letters (LORD) in the Old Testament in English wherever HASHEM appears in Hebrew.
** In Hebrew the word אֱלֹהִים is literally "Elohim." Reading the Old Testament in English, every time you see the word "God" you would see the word "Elohim" if you were reading in Hebrew. Elohim is the masculine and feminine plural of "God."
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