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 Recently,
I read one of those articles that really set my mental gears in motion.
As soon as I finished it I went straight to my library and
grabbed an armful of lexicons and biblical texts, both in Greek and
Hebrew. The article - Hesed
-- Mercy or Loyalty? - was written by Rabbi Harold M. Kamsler who
lives in Ra'anana, Israel. It
was published in The Jewish Bible Quarterly, Vol. XXVII:3.
Rabbi
Kamsler opens his article with a reference to Psalm 136:1,
a Psalm that is very familiar to both Jews and Christians:
"Oh
give thanks unto the LORD; For He is good;
For his mercy endures forever."
Now,
let's take another look the verse, but this time it will be in an
interlinear format. Don't
forget that Hebrew is read from right to left:
The
word that interests the rabbi is number seven - ADs.x; (root form = HESED). He points out that the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible,
the Septuagint, has influenced the way translators have translated the
Hebrew text for centuries. The
Septuagint was translated in Alexandria, Egypt about 250 BCE.
Below is Psalm 136:1 from the Septuagint (Greek is read from left
to right like English):
By
the way, Psalm 136 is Psalm 135 in the Septuagint. You may have noticed that the word endures appears in
many English translations and that it is in italics. Take another look at the Hebrew and Greek texts above.
It is not in the original texts, but was added by the translators
in order to make a smoother English.
Does
Mercy Fit the Context?
The
meaning of the Greek word ELEOS is either "mercy" or
"compassion." Are
these meanings of HESED also? The
translation of HESED as "mercy" sounds great in many of the
verses of Psalm 136.
2
Oh give thanks unto the God of gods. . .
3
Oh give thanks unto the Lord of lords. . .
4
To him who alone does great wonders. . .
16
To him that led his people through the wilderness. . .
23
Who remembered us in our low estate. . .
24
And has delivered us from our adversaries. . .
25
Who gives food to all flesh. . .
26
Oh give thanks unto the God of heaven. . .
However,
"mercy" doesn't sound like the right word in other verses of
Psalm 136. It simply
doesn't fit the contexts.
10
To him that smote Egypt in their first-born. . .
15
But overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea. . .
17
To him that smote great kings. . .
18
And slew famous kings. . .
21
And gave their land for a heritage. . .
I
don't think that "mercy" reflects the ideas associated with
the words "smote," "overthrew," and "slew"
- especially if you happen to be on the receiving end.
Common sense reveals the presence of a translation problem.
However, the problem is with the translation of ELEOS, not HESED.
We must not forget that the original Psalm contained the word
HESED. So, maybe there wouldn't be a problem if we used the
translation of HESED instead of ELEOS.
The
Hebrew Meaning of HESED
Let's
begin our search for the correct translation with Rabbi Kamsler's
comments.
"These
translations use HESED as a single, one-way rather than reciprocal
relationship. HESED,
however, describes a mutual relationship between man and between
God. Translating it as
`mercy,' `compassion,' or `love' destroys the concept of mutuality.
(For a complete discussion see, Nelson Glueck, Hesed in the Bible
[Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press, 1967])."
The
key to unlocking the full meaning of HESED is identifying the parties
involved in the "reciprocal relationship," and discovering the
relationship exist in the first place.
Next we must determine why either party would be required to take
a reciprocal action.
The
first place we will look for answers to our questions is the Brown,
Driver, Briggs Hebrew Lexicon.
(1)
HESED of
man - kindness of men towards men, in
doing favors and benefits; kindness extended to the lowly, needy and
miserable; mercy. (rarely) affection or love of Israel to God,
piety; lovely appearance.
(2) HESED of God - redemption
from enemies and troubles; in preservation of life from death; in
quickening of spiritual life; in redemption from sin; in keeping the
covenants, with Abraham; with Moses and Israel.
Now it's your turn to put on your
"translator's hat" and come up with an English translation for
HESED. When HESED is used
with man it describes the following actions:
(1) doing favors and benefits for
men;
(2) kindness extended to the
needy;
(3) affection or love of Israel
to God;
(4) lovely appearance
Notice the difference when HESED
is used to describe the actions of God:
(1) redemption of Israel from its
enemies and troubles;
(2) preservation of life from
death;
(3) quickening of spiritual
life;
(4) redemption from sin;
(5) keeping the covenants
It's not always easy to find a
word in another language to use as a translation.
Rabbi
Kamsler suggests that the best English
word to use as a translation for HESED would be "loyalty."
A clear example of the greater
accuracy of translating HESED as `loyalty' is evident in 1 Samuel 20:8:
`Therefore you shall with your servant with HESED;
for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the LORD with you.
If there be any iniquity in me, then kill me yourself, for why
should you bring me to your father?'
David
asks Jonathan to make excuses for him when he absents himself from the
Rosh Hodesh observance, for he knows that King Saul is plotting to
destroy him. Jonathan turns
to David and asks that David reciprocate and remember him, and asks for
HESED in verse 14:
`And
you shall not only while yet I live show me the HESED of the LORD that I
die not, but also you shall not cut off your HESED from my house
forever.'"
Rabbi
Kamsler continues to shed more light on the subject.
"A
further very early biblical indication that man may call upon God for
His HESED when a mutual relationship has been established is found in
the story of Abraham and his servant, whom he sends to Haran to find a
wife for Isaac. As the
servant nears the entrance to the city he prays (Genesis 24:12):
`O
LORD God of my master Abraham,
send me good speed this day and show HESED to my master Abraham.'
"We use HESED very appropriately when currently we
give the title of Hasidim to those who are loyal to the covenant
with God."
Why
Greek Instead of Hebrew Meaning?
Again,
we will turn to Rabbi Kamsler's article.
His very interesting comments will help us understand how a Greek
meaning replaced the Hebrew meaning of HESED.
"This
interpretation (mercy) of the noun HESED appears as early as the
Septuagint translation of the second century BCE, where the Hebrew word
HESED becomes the Greek e;leoj (ELEOS) that has in turn been translated
into English as `mercy.'"
Why
would the English translations of a Hebrew word be governed by the
meaning of the Greek word found in the Septuagint?
The answer may be linked to the growth of Christianity.
The Jesus Movement, along with other Jewish sects, moved beyond
the borders of Judea after the Temple was destroyed in 70 CE.
The very popular Greek Septuagint replaced the Hebrew Bible as
"the Scriptures" in many of the communities.
One reason is probably obvious - the non-Jewish world was much
more familiar with the Greek language.
Therefore, the preference of Greek over Hebrew isn't any wonder.
In many ways we see the same thing in our world today.
However, instead of Greek, the language of choice is English.
Even though millions of Christians and Jews know that their
Scriptures were written in either Hebrew or Greek, or both - there
hasn't been a mad rush to learn those languages.
HESED
Becomes ELEOS
The
dominance of the Septuagint and its use of ELEOS continued for
centuries. It not only
became the Bible of many communities, but it also became the
"source document" for translators.
This is seen in many very famous translations.
One of the first is the Latin Vulgate (5th century CE)
in which we find "mercy" - "quoniam in aeternum
misercordia ejus." By
the time Jerome produced his translation it had been over 700 years
since the Septuagint translated HESED as "mercy."
Jerome,
however, wasn't the last to use the ELEOS translation.
The meaning had traveled from Alexandria to Rome, but it didn't
stop in Rome. Over 1200
years later it pops up again in Germany.
This time it is through the pen of Martin Luther as he writes his
translation - "denn seine Guete wahret ewiglich."
The trend continued.
You
would think that Jewish translators would surely not use the meaning
connected to ELEOS, wouldn't you? A
German-Hebrew Prayer Book printed in Berlin in 1866 reflects the same
understanding of Psalm 136 as that of Luther - "denn ewig wahrt
Gnade." The French
Jews follow the same path with their translation - "car sa grace
est eternelle" - and also the Italians - "che la Sua
misericordia e eterna." Even
the Jewish Publication Society of America followed the same path with
their English translation - "His steadfast love endureth
forever."
As
in many other cases, "tradition" seems to have been the
prevailing force in the minds of translators.
Instead of searching for the most accurate meaning for the words
of the Bible, they allowed tradition to limit their field of vision. One of the important benefits of making our Linguistic Method
the Standard for translating the Bible is that neither tradition nor
theology dominates the translator's work.
Psalm
136 - Corrected Version
I
bet you are ready to see what Psalm 136 looks like when we incorporate
the "reciprocal understanding" of the Hebrew word HESED.
A few other correction have been made, but because of space
limitations I will not be able to comment on them at this time.
1
Give thanks to YAHWEH; For he is beautiful; Because forever is His
loyalty.
2
Give thanks to the ELOHIM of the ELOHIM; Because forever is His loyalty.
3
Give thanks to the MASTER of the MASTERS; Because forever is His
loyalty:
4
To Him who alone does great wonders; Because forever is His loyalty:
5
To Him that by understanding made the skies; Because forever is His
loyalty:
6
To Him that spread the land above the waters; Because forever is His
loyalty:
7
To Him that made great lights; Because forever is His loyalty:
8
The sun to rule by day; Because forever is His loyalty;
9
The moon and stars to rule by night; Because forever is His loyalty:
10
To Him who smote Egypt in their first-born; Because forever is His
loyalty;
11
And brought Israel out from among them; Because forever is His loyalty;
12
With a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm; Because forever is His
loyalty:
13
To Him that divided the Red Sea in sunder; Because forever is His
loyalty;
14
And made Israel to pass through the midst of it; Because forever is His
loyalty;
15
But overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea; Because forever is
His loyalty:
16
To Him that led his people through the wilderness; Because forever is
His loyalty:
17
To Him that smote great kings; Because forever is His loyalty;
18
And slew famous kings; Because forever is His loyalty:
19
Sihon king of the Amorites; Because forever is His loyalty;
20
And Og king of Bashan; Because forever is His loyalty;
21
And gave their land for a heritage; Because forever is His loyalty;
22
Even a heritage unto Israel His servant; Because forever is His loyalty:
23
Who remembered us in our low estate; Because forever is His loyalty;
24
And has delivered us from our adversaries; Because forever is His
loyalty:
25
Who gives food to all flesh; Because forever is His loyalty.
26
Give thanks to EL of the Skies; Because forever is His loyalty.
Doesn't
that not only sound better, but also make more sense?
ELEOS
& Jesus
If the meaning of HESED could
make such a big difference in the Hebrew words of the Tanakh, could it
also make a tremendous difference in the words of a very famous Hebrew
speaking person named Jesus? I
have written articles for many years about the Hebrewisms of his
language. What if the translators made the same mistake with Jesus'
words as they did when they translated HESED as ELEOS in the Septuagint?
Let's take a few examples of how returning to the meaning of
HESED would affect the teachings of Jesus.
Matthew
9:9-13
And
as Jesus passed by from there, he saw a man, called Matthew, sitting at
the tax collection place. And
he said unto him, "Follow me."
And he arose, and followed him.
And
it came to pass, as he sat to eat in the house, behold, many
tax-collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his
disciples. And when the
Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, "Why does your
Teacher eat with the tax-collectors and sinners?"
But
when he heard it, he said, "They that are well have no need of a
physician, but they that are sick.
But go and learn what this is:
I desire loyalty (ELEOS), and not sacrifice, for I came not to
call the righteous, but sinners."
When
Jesus said "I desire loyalty, and not sacrifice," he was
quoting the first part of Hosea 6:6:
For
I desire HESED, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than
burnt-offerings.
Most English translations use the word
"mercy" in both Hosea and Matthew.
What happens when we replace it with "loyalty?"
Does it make a difference?
Matthew
12:1-9
At
that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the grainfields; and his
disciples were hungry and began to pluck ears and to eat.
But the Pharisees, when they saw it, said unto him, "Behold,
your disciples do that which it is not lawful to do upon the sabbath."
But
he said unto them, "Haven't you read what David did, when he was
hungry, as were those that were with him?
He entered into the House of God and ate the consecrated bread,
which it was not lawful for him to eat, neither (was it lawful) for them
that were with him (to eat it), but (it was) only for the priests.
Or have you not read in the Torah, that on the sabbath day the
priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are innocent?
But
I say unto you, that one greater than the temple is here.
But if you had known what this means - I desire loyalty (ELEOS),
and not sacrifice - you would not have condemned the innocent; because a
person is master of the sabbath. And he departed there and went into their synagogue.
This is a very good example of
the difference between the values of Jesus and the Pharisees.
They believed that the reason that God gave them the Torah
(Bible) was so that they would strive to keep every word, down to the
last letter. Their primary
goal in life was to "do exactly what their Bible said."
They valued their Bible more than anything or anyone.
On the other hand, Jesus taught
that something was of far greater value than just blindly keeping the
words of their Bible - the preservation of life!
Did God want David and his men to starve when there were twelve
huge loaves of bread just sitting in the Temple?
Obviously, Jesus believed that David was engaged in an act of
righteousness, a mitvah not a sin.
The punch line of Jesus' lesson
came in verse 8, another verse that has been mutilated by generations of
translators. Your Bible
probably reads something like this:
For the Son of man is Lord even
of the Sabbath Day.
This translation has been used by
many Christian denominations as justification for not observing the
Sabbath Day (sundown Friday to sundown Saturday).
A much better translation would be:
Every man is master of his own
life and responsible for his actions, even on the Sabbath.
Then, as if his teachings weren't
enough for them - "he
went to their synagogue."
Matthew 23:23-24
Woe
unto you, scribes and Pharisees - actors!
You tithe mint, anise, and cummin, but have left undone the
heavier matters of the Torah - judgment
(KRISIN), loyalty (ELEOS), and faithfulness (PISTIN).
These you ought to have done, and not to have left the other
undone. You blind guides -
you strain out the gnat, and then swallow the camel!
You
can almost see Jesus' message develop as he wrestles with the more
"orthodox" members of his society.
I am sure that after discussions like the one discussed in the
previous section there were those who accused him of wanting to do away
with the Torah. This is
revealed by Jesus' words above as he discussed the tithe.
But first before we
deal with the tithe, I want to look at the Greek word that the
translators decided NOT to translate for some reason - u`pokritai,.
Every
translator has three choices as he or she works on a translation:
(1)
Translate - bring the meaning from one language to the other.
(2)
Transliterate - bring the sound from on language to the other.
(3)
Completely ignore the word and write nothing.
In
this case, they decided to transliterate u`pokritai,, instead of
translating it. I think
using the translation is much more powerful - Woe unto you, scribes
and Pharisees - actors!
Probably in response to the words of those who
misunderstood his position on "keeping the Torah," this time
he makes it very clear. He
has not been teaching his followers that they should not follow the
teachings of the Torah. This
can be clearly seen in his words - "You tithe mint, anise, and
cumin . . . These you ought to have done. . . ."
The point Jesus makes this time is that within the
Bible there are instructions that have a much higher priority - "weightier
matters" - things that should take a much higher priority in their
lives - "judgment, loyalty, and faithfulness."
By
the way, did you notice that they were tithing "things," not
money?
The
Power of Tradition
Matthew
23:24 has a very interesting history in the history of English
translations of the Bible, especially the King James Translation:
Ye
blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
The
word "at" was a printer's typo that was made in the
early copies of the KJV. By
the time came for the printers to correct their mistake the verse had
become so well known that officials decided to leave it alone -
tradition prevailed over fact. The
correct translation is:
You
blind guides, that strain out the gnat, and swallow the camel!
As you can now see, Jesus made
his point very clear - wake up and deal with the most important matters
first instead of ignoring them to deal with minor issues!
Do you know any GNAT SWALLOWERS?
Well, we are out of space so I am
going to ask you to look up the other four verses in which ELEOS is
found in the Synoptic Gospels - Luke 1:50, 58, 72; and 10:37. Write or e-mail and let me know what you think about using
"loyalty" instead of "mercy." |
