Hebrew Studies - Lesson #3  ALEF-TAV

 Our third Hebrew study is a continuance of our consideration of ALEF-TAV - we encountered this interesting and wonderful revelation of Jesus Christ, in the Old Testament, during our first Hebrew study.

 The 611 ALEF-TAV occurrences, in the Old Testament, are a direct reference which Jesus Christ makes on more than several occasions in the New Testament book of Revelation; you should consider that when Jesus is talking to John, in the Book of Revelation, that are both Jews - so they, during the original event, would have been speaking Hebrew to each other. The Book of Revelation is recorded in Greek so the ALPHA-OMEGA which we translate into our various English versions of the Bible were actually ALEF-TAV in the dialog, of Jesus and John, which the Book of Revelation documents:

·         Rev 1:8  "I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end ...  the Lord ... who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."

·         Rev 1:17  "And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead ... he laid his right hand upon me ... saying ... Fear not; I am the first and the last"

·         Rev 21:6  "he said to me ... it is done ... I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end ... I will give him who thirsts ... the fountain of the water of life freely."

·         Rev 22:13 "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last."

These references, in Revelation, which Jesus makes regarding Him being the beginning and the end are also found in two verses of the Old Testament book of Isaiah:

Isaiah chapter 44, verse 6: “This is what the Lord says … I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.”

Isaiah chapter 48, verses 12-13: ““... I am he; I am the first and I am the last. My own hand laid the foundations of the earth ... my right hand spread out the heavens …”

The reference is that He (Jesus Christ) is the ALEF and TAV: את

In both modern and ancient Hebrew, the stand alone or perhaps better stated as "unbound" (e.g. to other Hebrew letters in a word) את is an unspoken syntax object. The Hebrew name for this unspoken syntax object is "eet" or "et" or "ate" or eth" depending upon the source that you may be reading. This unspoken and un-translated syntax object, "eet", is termed a "direct object marker", the purpose is to provide sub-text reference. In English, we use the position of a noun in a sentence to define it's relationship to the verb of that sentence - for example: "Jack went to visit Jill" - here the position of Jack in the sentence defines which noun performed the action - the meaning is quite different from the same words in an alternate sentence: "Jill went to visit Jack". The eet is a grammatical symbol which performs this function in both ancient and modern Hebrew - it defines the noun of accusative case, that is the noun which is directly related to the main verb of a statement. We see these occurrences of "eet", in the original Hebrew text of the Old Testament, as direct references to Jesus Christ. The occurrences of "eet" are not common, there are only a total 611 (perhaps 613) such occasions in the Old Testament, and they are a wonderful revelation when this name for Jesus Christ is present. Altogether there are over 7,000 occurrences of the letter combination את in the Old Testament when you consider this letter combination also within words. This is by far the highest number of any two letters in sequential combination within the Old Testament in ancient Hebrew. One of the great Jewish scholars of the first and second century, Rabbi Akiva, in the Talmud commentary termed the "Babylonian Talmud" found his studies brought him to the belief that the unbound ALEF-TAV occurrences found in the Torah and Prophets represent the presence of God, in his term: "the Divine Hand". He felt that the unbound ALEF-TAV occurrences are the actual "secret" sign of God which embrace all the words of the Torah and again in his words: "all of creation". Not too far from the Gospel of John, chapter 1. Rabbi Akiva was a remarkable person, originally a shepherd who became one of the great scholars and spiritual leaders of his time. He was not a Christian however he was true to the covenant of Moses to his best efforts, helped to define that covenant in modern Judaism as a relationship with God who requires obedience however a covenant with God who also extends mercy to His people. Rabbi Akiva was martyred during the reign of Hadrian because he continued to practice his faith, Judaism, when it was outlawed by the Roman empire.

ALEF-TAV is not every where in the Old Testament, nor is it necessarily in every key verse in which a Christian might expect to see a direct link to Jesus Christ. For example, ALEF-TAV is not found in Numbers 6: 22-27: “The Lord said to Moses, Tell Aaron and his sons, This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;  the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.” A beautiful prayer and blessing however no את .

We feel God has something wonderful for us to find in this study. Our first goal is to be focused on a study of the Hebrew alphabet, word structure and syntax however with our “discovery” of ALEF-TAV this segment of our Hebrew studies project also promises to be a nice study of Old Testament revelations of Jesus Christ. In this third Hebrew study, we have selected some Old Testament verses which contain ALEF-TAV and have been, for many years, scriptures which we feel are revelations of Jesus Christ. Our intent is to review the scripture, review the Hebrew text with the ALEF-TAV and also make any other New Testament comments which seem appropriate. This may take us awhile so our apology if you review some of the verses and we’re not quite complete with either the Hebrew transliteration or the New Testament references.

Genesis chapter 1, verse 1

Note scripture verse Genesis, chapter 1, verse 1: "In the beginning God את created the heavens and the earth.

This is Jesus Christ defined as God creating the heavens and the earth in the very first verse of the Old Testament.

Note in the epistle of Paul to the Colossians, chapter 1, verses 16-17:

" For by Him (Jesus Christ) all things were created that are in heaven and earth ... all things were created by Him and for Him"

The Gosple of John states the same truth in chapter 1, verse1: "... all things were made through Him and without Him nothing was made ..."

	דﬡﬢיוּ	וּﬡﬨ	ﬣשמﬦ	ﬡﬨ	ﬡלדיﬦ	כﬢﬡ	כﬢﬡשיﬨ
	the earth	and	the heavens		God (Eloheim)	created	In the begining

Genesis chapter 28, verse 15

verse 16 us key - thread 10 - 22 //  Jacob's Ladder //  Surley the Lord is in this place and I did not know it

Numbers chapter 21, verse 6

There is an Alef-Tav occurrence in the Old Testament book that is titled Numbers surrounding the account of the bronze snake which God had Moses make to deliver the people of Israel from venomous snakes. The setting is just after a great victory they had against people who attacked them. The people of Israel then began to speak against God saying “why did we leave Egypt, we do not like this Manna, etc.”. The snakes had always been there however the people of Israel removed themselves from the protection of God and then the snakes began to be a problem. Moses made the bronze snake and placed it on a pole to remind the people of Israel of that their protection was from God, if they were bitten they could look at the bronze snake to remember God’s protection and they would be saved. This bronze snake left a lasting impression on the people of Israel because it was preserved over centuries until the time of King Hezekiah of Judah. Hezekiah was a good king, in the eyes of God, who tried to return the hearts and minds of the people of Israel to the one true God. He removed the high places where the Israelites had started to worship idols, he smashed their sacred stones to these idols, cut down Asherah poles which were also sites of idol worship and he broke into pieces the bronze snake which Moses had made. The bronze snake was broken because the people of Israel had, by that time, named it Nehushtan and were burning incense to it as an idol.

Note the reference, by Jesus, in the Gospel of John, to himself and the bronze snake which had been made by Moses; this account comes in His dialog with Nicodemus the Pharisee: “ Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council.  He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.” Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.  You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You^[ must be born again.’  The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked. “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony.  I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.  This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.  Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.  But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.”

 The account of the bronze snake, made by Moses, is found in the Old Testament book titled Numbers, chapter six, verses 4 through 9: “… they traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way;  they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in this wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!” Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died.  The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.”  So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived. The segment of scripture “ venomous snakes among them; they bit the people” is the text we’ll focus on to note the Alef-Tav which is present in Numbers, chapter 21, verse 6.

Deuteronomy chapter 18, verse 18

I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him.

Psalm 83

Some students of the Old and New Testament consider the scripture of Psalm 83 as a prophecy for a conflict that is to occur in Israel prior to the Rapture and prior to the more famous conflict which is detailed in the Old Testament book of Ezekiel, chapters 38 + 39. The Ezekiel conflict comes just at the beginning of the seven year time of Tribulation and includes a host of Israel's neighbors as well as perhaps Russia or at least southern Russia which was the land of Gog at the time of Ezekiel. To many, the conflict of Psalm 83 appears to fall before the Tribulation and thus before the Rapture - though who really knows except the Lord. Our prayers are always for the reconciliation of these very different ethnic groups and peace in their region both with reference to Psalm 83 and the famous prophecies of Ezekiel 38 + 39. Perhaps the conflict of Psalm 83 is part of Israel's ancient past however, regardless of the actual reference, it holds an interesting occasion of ALEF-TAV. Our purpose in looking at Psalm 83 is this occurrence of an ALEF-TAV in a fairly short psalm of which we'll print the whole text into our study. So far, in our studies of the free standing AlEF-TAVs, regardless of how you consider them - e.g. a direct object marker defining the noun related to the primary verb of a statement or, as we see it, Jesus Christ present among the Old Testament scriptures which look forward to His redemptive work on Earth for our salvation - this is an ALEF-TAV  that is a little different. In the examples we have explored, the ALEF-TAV sits between the primary verb of a statement and its noun which so far has been a mix which includes all of creation, the people of Israel, the people of the nations who will be called to God through God's wonderful grace, truth and faith (that's us Christians) - however - in Psalm 83, verse 13, we find the ALEF-TAV between the primary verb and the actual land (pastureland) of Israel. This supports a recurring theme we find in the Old Testament - that is - the Promised Land itself, the actual land of Israel, as defined quite a few times in the Old Testament, is very important to the Lord along with His love and concern for the people of Israel to whom He gave this land as an inheritance for all their coming generations.

Searching scripture a little more we fine, related to our study of ALEF-TAV, some Old Testament scriptures which compliment the prophesy of Psalm 83

Obadiah chapter1, verses 15 +18-19 - ¹⁵ For the day of the Lord is near against all the nations. As you have done, it shall be done to you; your deeds shall return on your own head. ¹⁸ The house of Jacob shall be a fire, the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau stubble; they shall burn them and consume them, and there shall be no survivor of the house of Esau; for the Lord has spoken. ¹⁹ Those of the Negeb shall possess Mount Esau, and those of the Shephelah the land of the Philistines; they shall possess the land of Ephraim and the land of Samaria, and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.

Joel chapter 3, verse 19 - ¹⁹ Egypt shall become a desolation and Edom a desolate wilderness, because of the violence done to the people of Judah, in whose land they have shed innocent blood.

Zephaniah chapter 1, verse 14 and chapter 2, verses 8-9 - ¹⁴ Therefore you shall give parting gifts to Moresheth-gath; the houses of Achzib shall be a deception to the kings of Israel. ⁸ I have heard the taunts of Moab and the revilings of the Ammonites, how they have taunted my people and made boasts against their territory. ⁹ Therefore, as I live, says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Moab shall become like Sodom and the Ammonites like Gomorrah, a land possessed by nettles and salt pits, and a waste forever. The remnant of my people shall plunder them, and the survivors of my nation shall possess them.

Isaiah chapter 34, verse 5 + varses 9-10 - ⁵ When my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens, lo, it will descend upon Edom, upon the people I have doomed to judgment. ⁹ And the streams of Edom^[b] shall be turned into pitch, and her soil into sulfur; her land shall become burning pitch. ¹⁰ Night and day it shall not be quenched; its smoke shall go up forever. From generation to generation it shall lie waste; no one shall pass through it forever and ever.

While the revelation of Psalm 83 and these related passages is sobering when one considers the image which is being projected in prophecy, we feel that perhaps the role of the Christian is to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, to pray for the safety, health and welfare of all the peoples of this region regardless of the orientation of their faith in God. It is interesting to note that ALEF-TAV is found in Obadiah Chapter 1, verse 17, again in Zephaniah Chapter 1, verse 18 and in Zephaniah Chapter 2, verse 11. In the current time frame we'll move on to other examples of ALEF-TAV and perhaps return to this cluster at another time.

Isaiah chapter 52, verses 6-15

In the range of verses 10 and 11 of this chapter in Isaiah there is an ALEF-TAV. It seems important to consider the major points in this revelation between verses 6 and 15 - so - we'll detail that scripture, with a  bold/underline, that we'll also transliterate to highlight the ALEF-TAV. "My people shall know My Name ... they shall know ... that ... I AM He who speaks ... Behold it is I ... Who proclaims peace ... Who brings glad tidings ... Who proclaims salvation ... Who tells you ... Your God Reigns ... Break forth into joy ... Sing together ... For the Lord will comfort His people ... He will redeem them ... The Lord will bare His holy arm ... In the eyes of all nations ... and ... the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God ... you who bear the vessel of  Lord ... will not go out with haste ... nor ... go by flight ... for ... the Lord will go before you ... and ... be your rear guard ... Behold my Servant ... He will sprinkle many nations ... for what has not been told ... they will see ... and what they have not heard ... they will consider."

Isaiah chapter 52, verses 5 - 8

This prophecy of Jesus Christ has an Alef-Tav in the sixth verse of Isaiah chapter 52; we have bolded the section of this scripture which has the Alef-Tav: "He was wounded for our transgressions ... He was bruised for our iniquity ... The chastisement for our peace was upon Him ... And by His stripes we are healed ... We all, like sheep, have gone astray ... We have turned everyone to his own way ... And the Lord laid upon Him the iniquity of us all ... He was oppressed and afflicted ... Yet He did not open His mouth ... He was led as a lamb to the slaughter ... For He was cut off from the land of the living ... For the transgressions of My people, He was stricken ..."

Isaiah chapter 66, verses 18 +19

And I ... am about to come and gather the people of all nations and tongues, and they will come and see my glory. I will set a sign among them ...

 Zachariah 12: 10

“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on Me, the one they ehave pierced, and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only son, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son." This is one of the Old Testament scriptures which John quotes as he remembers Jesus at the cross in the Gospel of John, chapter 19, verse 37: "They shall look on him whom they pierce."

Micha chapter 5 verses 2-5