From: Dr. James Trimm
To: "heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org
Subject: MEMRA: The Word of YHVH

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NOTE FROM EDDIE:

This should help to clarify some confusion in the area of
understanding the SHEMA that YHVH is Echad. In the scriptures, "God
the Father" is given the title of YHVH. Also, the WORD of YHVH (the
Messiah) is also given the title of YHVH. How / Why? Because they are
echad (a compound unity) and not Yachid (exclusively singular of each
other). So, in scripture we sometimes see multiple YHVH's in the
text. Below are some examples.

END OF NOTE

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The Targums were authoritative Aramaic paraphrases of the books of the
Tenach which were read in the synagogues along with the Hebrew of the Torah
and Haftorah readings. Often when the Targums come to passages where YHWH
is anthropomorphisised or seen, or where two or more YHWHs are indicated by
the text, the Targums will substitute "The Word [Memra] of YHWH" for YHWH.

For example in Gen. 19:4 the Tenach has:

And YHVH rained brimstone and fire
upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah,
from YHVH,
from the heavens.
(Original Bible Project preliminary edition)

The Hebrew grammar here indicates that one YHWH rains fire from another
YHWH) But Targum Jonathan substitutes "The Word of YHWH/the L-RD" for the
first of the two YHWHs as follows:

And the Word of the YHWH
caused to descend upon the peoples
of Sodom and Gommorah,
brimstone and fire from the YHWH in heaven.

In another example the Torah has:

Ex. 24:1a (YHWH is the speaker, see Ex. 20:1-2)
Now He [YHWH] said to Moses,
"come up to YHWH..."

But Targum Jonathan paraphrases the speaker in Ex. 20:1 with the
substitution "the Word [Memra] of YHWH" in place of "YHWH."

And the Word of the Lord
spoke all these glorious words...

So it would seem that one of these entities called "YHWH" in these Torah
passages was actually understood by the Targumists as being the "Word of
YHWH." It was, according to Targum Onkelos, this Word of YHWH that Abraham
trusted in:

And Abraham trusted in
the Word [Memra] of YHWH,
and He counted it to him for righteousness.
(Targum Onkelos Gen. 15:6)

Moreover Abraham prayed in the name of the Word of YHWH:

And Abraham worshipped and prayed
in the name of the Word [Memra] of YHWH,
and said, "You are YHWH who does see,
but You cannot be seen."
(Jerusalem Targum Gen. 22:14)

Note that here Abraham prays "in the name of the Word of YHWH" to the YHWH
who "cannot be seen." Here two YHWHs are very apparent. Abraham is praying
in the name of the Word of YHWH but is praying to the YHWH who cannot be
seen. This idea is reinforced elsewhere as follows:

And Hagar praised and prayed in the name of
the Word [Memra] Of YHWH
who had revealed Himself to herS
(Jerusalem Targum Gen. 16:3)

It was this Word of YHWH that Jacob also trusted in:

And Jacob vowed a vow, saying,
"If the Word [Memra] of YHWH
will be my support, and will keep me
in the way that I go, and will give me
bread to eat, and raiment to put on,
so that I come again to my father's house in peace;
then shall the Word [Memra]of YHWH
be my Elohim.
(Targum Onkelos on Gen. 28:20-21)

King David also urged Israel to trust in the Word of Yah as the Targum of
Psalm 62 reads:

Trust in the Word of Yah at all times,
O people of the house of Israel!
Pour out before Him the sighings of your heart;
Say, Elohim is our trust forever.
(Targum on Psalm 62:9)

This "Word of YHWH" was, according to Targum Jonathan, the Creator:

And the Word [Memra] of YHWH
created man in his likeness,
in the likeness of YHWH,
YHWH created,
male and female created He them.
(Targ. Jonathan Gen. 1:27)

This idea is also put forward in the Jerusalem Targum:

And the Word [Memra] of YHWH
said to Moses: "I am He who said
unto the world 'Be!' and it was:
and who in the future shall say to it 'Be!'
and it shall be." And He said:
"Thus you shall say to the children of Israel:
'I Am' has sent me to you."
(Jerusalem Targum Ex. 3:14)

The Fragmentary Targum of the Torah also expresses that the Word of YHWH
was the Creator:

The first night, when the "Word of YHWH"
was revealed to the world in order to create it,
the world was desolate and void,
and darkness spread over the face of the abyss
and the "Word of the Lord" was bright and
illuminating and He called it the first night.
(Fragmentary Targum Ex. 12:42)

That the Word of YHWH was the Creator can also be seen in the Tenach itself:

By the Word of YHWH
were the heavens made,
And all the hosts of them
by the Spirit of His mouth.
(Ps. 33:6)

The Word was also the covenant maker. For example the Noachdic covenant was
between the Word and all mankind:

And YHWH said to Noah,
"This is the token of the covenant
which I have established between
My Word [Memra] and between all flesh
that is upon the earth.
(Targum Onkelos Gen. 9:17)

The Word also made the Abrahamic covenant as Targum Onkelos also
paraphrases:

And I will establish my covenant
between My Word [Memra]
and between youS
(Targum Onkelos Gen. 17:7)

The Word of YHWH was also the giver of the Mosaic Covenant and the Torah as
the Jerusalem Targum (as quoted above) makes the Torah giver "the Word of
YHWH" in Ex. 20:1. It was to the Word that Jacob turned to for salvation:

Our father Jacob said:
"My soul does not wait for salvation
such as that wrought by Gideon, the son of Joash,
for that was but temporal;
neither for a salvation like that of Samson,
which was only transitory;
but for that salvation which
You have promised to come,
through Your Word unto Your people,
the children of Israel;
for your salvation my soul hopes."
(Targum Jonathan Gen. 49:18)

That the Word of YHWH is the savior is expressed elsewhere:

But Israel shall be saved
by the Word of YHWH
with an everlasting salvationS
By the Word of YHWH
shall all the seed of Israel be justifiedS
(Targum Jonathan Is. 45:17, 25)

But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah,
and I will save them
by the Word of YHWH, their Elohim.
(Targum Jonathan Hosea 1:7)

Speaking of the Memra Gershom Scholem states:

...the memra-- the paraphrase used in the
Targumim, the Aramaic Bible translations,
to refer to God's word. The memra is not
merely a linguistic device for overcoming
the problem of biblical anthropomorphisms;
it has theological significance in its own right.
The memra....is.... a world-permeating force,
a reality in the world of matter or mind, the
emmanent aspect of Elohim, holding all things
under its ominpresent sway.
On the Mystical Shape of the Godhead:
Basic Concepts in the Kabbalah, by Gershom
Scholem pg 181-182:

All of this sheds much light on Yochanan 1:1 (John 1:1):

In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with Elohim,
and the Word was Elohim.

NEW MESSIANIC TRANSLATION:
THE HEBRAIC ROOTS VERSION
http://www.nazarene.net/hrv

SANJ: http://www.nazarene.net/

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