Torah 101-BaHar-Bechukkotai Parsha

Special Note:
This week I will be treating this double parsha differently than usual, as I have elected to
run the two together as if they were two separate teachings done back to back. So this is a
DOUBLE FEATURE Torah 101!
ANSWERS TO LAST WEEKS STUDY QUESTIONS (from Emor)

I.

1) Question for Leviticus 21-22:

How does one word in Leviticus 21:6 help us resolve a conflict between Genesis
4:26 and rabbinic tradition?
HALAL (21:6) = profane or pollute. This word is used by the rabbis to justify the
ban on the Name of YHWH. Their idea is that this word sort of suggests to make
common for usage of that which is sacred. But the other meaning of HALAL is
that of to make desolate through substitution, like SHAV in the third
commandment. Also to use another Name for Him that He did not sanction is to
pollute/profane His purpose.
The line in Genesis 4:26 is a perfect case in point. Almost all translations render
HALAL as the verb began, viz: At that time men BEGAN to call upon the
Name of Yahweh. However the rabbis use the PROFANE meaning for HALAL
here and Stone suggests something close to, At that time, name of Yahweh
profaned . The thing is, the context of the Hebrew more demands BEGIN rather
than profane and Stone for example uses both meanings of HALAL at the same
time to make the verse make sense in English as At that time the name of
YHWH BEGAN (halal) to be PROFANED (also halal)which makes no sense.
If you must choose one meaning at a time here for that word in a sentence, the
BEGAN meaning allows for perfect syntactical flow whereas the PROFANE
meaning does not.
That is why, to the credit of JPS, the 1917, 1985 and 1999 and Bible.ort.org all
use BEGAN for HALAL. This is again because of the literal Hebrew:
ENOSH (men) AZ (at that time) HOCHAL (halalbegan) LQARA (to
proclaim/call, literally towards calling) BSHEM (in/by the Name) Yahweh.
Finally, the Aramaic Tanakh uses the word SHRI in place of HOCHAL and SHRI
almost always means to begin but sometimes also to loosen. Either way it
supports the idea that they were calling on Yahweh because if they loosened
their inhibition, they then began calling the Name. Or, to put it another way, if
you let loose the flood waters you are also saying let the flood begin. See
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Mathew 11:20 where Yshua SHRI (began) to revile the cities.

2) Question for Leviticus 23:
What does this chapter tell us about calendar secrets?
In this portion we are told that YHWH says to Moshe, These are the moedim
that YOU shall proclaim. As a Levite and with his brother Aaron as high priest,
this tells us that Moshe and Aaron are supposed to proclaim the feasts and
therefore keep the calendar secrets. It is also a fitting preview to the most
important calendar-secret chapter in the entire TanakhJoshua chapter 4. Five
circles: Upon the deep/Universe (Proverbs 8:27), crown of stars/seal on stars
(Revelation 12:1, Job 9:9), circle of earth (Isaiah 40:22), circle of stones/Gilgal
(Joshua 4), circle covenant in flesh/circumcision (also Joshua 4).
3) Question for Leviticus 24:
Where in this chapter do we see a clear confirmation of Exodus 12:40?
VAYETSE BEN-ISHAH ISRAELIT VEHU BEN-ISH MITSRI BETOCH
BENEY YISRAEL VAYINATSU BA-MACHANEH BEN HA-ISRAELIT
VE-ISH HA-ISREALI (24:10) = the son of an Israelite woman and an
Egyptian man went out among the Israelites and the Israelite womans son
had an argument with an Israelite man in the camp. According to Rashi, this
Egyptian man was the same one who killed an Israelite and then took his
wife. However, I have never understood this position from Rashi since
Exodus 2:12 says Moshe killed that Egyptian man right on the spot!
However, what this clearly demonstrates is a mixed multitude went up out of
Egypt just as Exodus 12:40 says, including a fair number of Egyptians
themselves.
4) Haftorah Question of the Week: Ezekiel 44:15-21
How does the description of the priests in Ezekiel 44:15 help point to Yshua ha
Mashiyach?
KOHENIM HA LVIYIM (44:15) = LEVITICAL PRIESTS, as if there were any
other kind serving in Tabernacle? A hint that there is another lineage of priests,
like Melchizedek, whom Yshua is compared to as serving in heavenly
Temple/Tabernacle.

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II.

QUESTIONS FOR THIS TORAH PORTION (BaHar)

Please NOTE:
For clarity and time constraints, if I elect to not read the whole parsha (which
is the case this week) I may still ask questions relating to the portions I did not
read!

5) Jubilee Question #1:

Why is the Jubilee such an effective metaphor for the Second Coming of
Messiah? Hint: It is NOT mentioned in the NT readings or their footnotes for this
week.
6) Jubilee Question #2:
How is the Jubilee-related rules part of a beautiful astronomical and mathematical
timepiece built by Abba YHWH? Hint: You might want to look at the extensive
notes in the Scroll to Scroll version to answer this question.
7) Jubilee Question #3:
How does the Jubilee relate the rules on releasing a servant?
8) Haftorah Question of the Week: Jeremiah 32:6-27
How is a warning in Leviticus fulfilled in Jeremiah?
9) Renewed Covenant Commentary: Luke 4:16-21; Galatians 5:1-13
Also, explain the importance of DEROR in Isaiah 61:1 in HEBREW!
Luke 4:18

42) Aramaic literally reads, "free those who are oppressed by the power of forgiveness",
but that could leave the wrong impression that the power of forgiveness is oppressing
them! Instead, the verse says, "free those who are oppressedhave their oppression
endbecause of the power of forgiveness. This is a great example of how a "word for
word" translation could potentially result in an unintentional meaning.
Luke 4:19
43) This language is specific to either a Land Sabbath (shemittah) or a Jubilee (yovel)
year according to Torah, when the land is required to rest. The occasion that Yshua is
referring to here, is him freeing the captives in Sheol after his death (Isa_58:6; Isa_61:12). Yshuas burial and resurrection occurred in the year 30 CE, during a Land Sabbath.
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New Extra Note!

SHUBKHANA also means forgiveness along with release, so both concepts are
clearly meant at the same time, i.e. they are released through forgiveness. Same root of
this word is related to return/repentance and to SHBAQTHANI, which Yshua uttered on
the torture stake, My El, My El, why are you sparing (SHBAQ) me?
Galatians 5:2
60) If a person is immersed (baptized) or circumcised to please the status quo, it profits
them nothing. Paul is referring to traditional, religious, Pharisaical, peer group
circumcisions that are required before acceptance into status quo religious organizations.
Christians who have been baptized into the name of a denomination can likely relate to
this as well. Many Christians choose to be re-baptized after realizing their former
baptism was into a denominational religion, rather than into the Kingdom of Elohim.
Galatians 5:3
61) The word tob has multiple meanings; the root means "to return" and this covers
several related ideas. Semitic thought has always viewed morality as a straight path
(Isa_40:3, Mat_3:3). An evil person is one who is lost or has taken a crooked path, but if
he repents he is said to have "turned back." That is why a variant on this word, teshuvah
means "to repent." In this case, Rav Shaul is literally "returning" to his main point.
Galatians 5:4
62) Some seek "justification" through observance of Torah, others seek it by not
observing Torah; both pursuits are based on man's religion. The answer is to observe
Torah in YHWH and His Mashiyach and live righteously as Y'shua did. Put trust and
Faith in YHWH, not in works or religion, but as co-laborers with Mashiyach!
Galatians 5:6
63) This can also mean "perfected."

Galatians 5:10
64) Maran, always refers to Y'shua as "our Master" and is a common narrative term
throughout the NT.
Galatians 5:11
65) In other words, if he went back and preached salvation through physical circumcision
in the context of tradition, rather than Torah. Rav Shaul clearly indicates that religious
tradition, which overruled Torah, was the majority view within the religious welter of his
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day. Therefore, if he preached the "party line" he would no longer be persecuted. But
persecution came about because he exposed religious tradition and taught that Torah
requires understanding and a circumcised heart before physical circumcision.
66) The upright "stake" brings to mind the "pole" which YHWH instructed Moshe to
hold up in Num_21:8. A brass serpent was put upon the pole and when the people looked
upon it, they were healed from the bite of the snake. So it is, that when people are bitten
by the "serpent" (Gen_3:15), they must look to Mashiyach for healing and deliverance.
The cross was introduced by pagans; it was formerly a symbol of the Babylonian sun god
as cruciforms indicate. Later, Julius Caesar and his heirs struck coins with symbols of
the cross (solar wheel) to commemorate the sun god. The Roman Emperor Constantine
was a sun worshipper who became a Christo-Pagan and advanced Hellenized
Christianity, making his "version of Christianity" the official religion of the Roman
Empire. The Greek "stauros" also denotes an upright stake; the verb stauroo means to
drive stakes. The Greek "xulon" denotes a timber or a log or any piece of dead wood.
Bullinger's Companion Bible notes that, "Our English word "cross" is the translation of
the Latin crux; but the Greek stauros no more means a crux than the word "stick" means
a "crutch." See Pole, The Standard, in Appendix.
Galatians 5:12
67) Or, literally "cut off" which, given the subject matter, has an ironic and almost dark
humorous twist.

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Torah 101-BeChukkotai Parsha

III.

ANSWERS TO LAST WEEKS STUDY QUESTIONS (from BaHar)

10) Jubilee Question #1:

Why is the Jubilee such an effective metaphor for the Second Coming of
Messiah? Hint: It is NOT mentioned in the NT readings or their footnotes for this
week.
Because when the Jubilee year arrives the land reverts to its original ownerin
this case Abba YHWH Himself. Messiah returns to claim the world for His Father
and, like the Jubilee itself, restores the truth that was forgotten.
In a related idea which I did mention briefly last week, Yshua releases captives
in Sheol, but this is not tied to the Jubilee directly as servants are released in the
7th year from when they began service, not having anything to do with when the
Land rests.
11) Jubilee Question #2:
How is the Jubilee-related rules part of a beautiful astronomical and mathematical
timepiece built by Abba YHWH? Hint: You might want to look at the extensive
notes in the Scroll to Scroll version to answer this question.
These notes are admittedly massive, but the gist of what I was going for is
something along these lines:
At the end of 49 complete solar years, the time elapsed will be just 32 hours
longer than 606 complete lunar months. This means that the day you started
counting from 1 Abib, Year 1 (say March 15th) will have its solar anniversary (in
whole days) right in between the Dark Moon and Waxing Crescent moon phases
at the beginning of the next Jubilee year. You will literally be blowing the shofar
in between them.
Furthermore, if the start of the clock is an Abib New Moon that hits on the first
day of spring, your 600th lunar month will be the Tishri month in year 49, the one
that announces the next spring is Jubilee. 600 solar years is 50 x 12, or one Jubilee
per tribe of Israel.
Similarly, 50 Hebrew months is a kind of mini-Jubilee that when multiplied by
12 gets you to the very month the 50 year Jubilee is announced!
12) Jubilee Question #3:
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How does the Jubilee relate the rules on releasing a servant?

Answer: Trick question! They dont relate at all except that both use 7 year
intervals. A servant though is not released according to when the Land Sabbath
hits but when he has completed 6 years of service from the time he was brought
into a household. Although Jeremiah does however record one instance where
Israelites as a group collectively freed their servants (it was long overdue) at the
time of the Land Shabbat, but this is the sole exception and it came about because
of their long standing negligencenot the way the system was originally set up.
13) Haftorah Question of the Week: Jeremiah 32:6-27
How is a warning in Leviticus fulfilled in Jeremiah?
Leviticus 26:34 warned that all the time the land remains desolate it will take its
Sabbaths back that it did not get in the right times. Jeremiah then said Judah will
be in captivity 70 years, one for each Land Sabbath that was not done properly.

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IV.

QUESTIONS FOR THIS TORAH PORTION (BeChukkotai)

Please NOTE:
For clarity and time constraints, if I elect to not read the whole parsha (which
is the case this week) I may still ask questions relating to the portions I did not
read!

Only one question this week:

What can we learn about the chronological details of Joshuas life that lead to a
surprising conclusion about Israels spiritual state and the Jubilee?
14) Renewed Covenant Commentary: Ephesians 2:11-19
Ephesians 2:11
18) This pertains to physical circumcision alone, without Torah context/teaching. See
footnote on Gal_6:13 and Jer_9:1-26.
Ephesians 2:12
19) "Devarim" is the Hebrew cognate for the Aramaic "duboree" which literally
means "words". Devarim is the Hebrew name for the fifth book of Torah, also called
Deuteronomy. "These are the words which Moses spoke unto all Israel" (Deu_1:1).
It is these words that form the basis of the Kedoshim "Set Apart" believers in the
household of Elohim. Clearly, "fellow-citizens" of Israel (The Israel of Elohim) are
called to have YHWH's Set Apart (Holy) "words" (Torah) written upon our hearts
according to Jer_31:33. See also Rom_11:16-36.
20) Greek reads "strangers to the Commonwealth of Israel". Aramaic reads
"strangers to the duboree of Israel and to the covenant of the promise." YHWH
identifies Israel according to their obedience to Covenant, rather than after the flesh.
The Renewed Covenant in Jer_31:31-34/Heb_8:8 is first made with Israel and Judah
and then offered to others from the nations who choose to live in obedience to the
Covenant. Furthermore, in a very interesting admission, translator John Wesley
Etheridge translates duboree d'Aisrayl here as "polity of Israel" but adds in his
footnotes regarding this phrase, "the manners, or regulations, of Israel." In other
words, he is looking at the nations' divorcement from the intricate rules of Israel and
not some obscure moral distillation of Torah, as a bad thing! This reading might even
go beyond my own rendering of "citizenship of Israel" but the point is the same. If
the Ephesians are citizens of Israel, then they are subject to her "words" and
"regulations" as well!
Ephesians 2:14
21) Aramaic for wall is syaga. Ironically, this exact term was picked up by the
Talmudic rabbis in Pirkei Avot (Sayings of the Fathers) 1:1 that commanded, "make a
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fence around the Torah." Y'shua specifically warned against this activity in Matthew
15, rebuking the Pharisees in the process. Later on, Y'shua said he was the
"door/gate" using a synonym for syaga, known as taarea, which is a homonym
"torah" and "teachers," meaning the Pharisees. So while the Pharisees are busy
erecting their fence, Y'shua is pulling it down, allowing everyone access!

Ephesians 2:15
22) The grammatical structure here fully guarantees that namusa is referring to
"customs" as in the traditions of the Pharisees, not Torah itself. Mashiyach abolishes
the "enmity" (hatred or animosity) that has been brought against YHWH by religious
tradition and false interpretations of Torah, which was a heavy burden that people
could not bear. Christian theologians, however, twist this verse and teach that it was
YHWH's Torah that brought the hatred and that Mashiyach did away with Torah,
which is a very reckless and evil theology. Mashiyach sent the Ruach haKodesh to
write YHWH's Torah upon the hearts of his people, not abolish it. See Eighteen New
Testament Misconceptions #11: Commandments Nailed to the Torture Stake in
Appendix.
23) Qnoma can mean "core substance" or "occurrence." Although Greek reads "self"
Aramaic does not; "self" leads to assumptions of "personhood" which breeds idolatry.

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