Torah Portions – Week 37 – Shlach – שְׁלַח “Send For Yourself” Numbers 13:1 – 15:42 FYTube

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1. An example of the Aligner method
   At Acts 2/31 the King James Version of 1611 has Peter say of Jesus 'his soul was not left in hell. This suggests Jesus somehow became detached from his dead body and a weird part of him went into a mythical region of eternal and tormenting flames. Is this translation right? How can we gain understanding about it? The first reaction of gaining meaning and understanding is to question the translations of the key words 'hell' and 'soul'. Are these the correct rendering of the Greek words in the manuscripts from which they were translated?

   The word which King James translators rendered as 'hell' is ᾍδης (=hades). In Greek mythology Hades was an underworld. But Peter's use of ᾍδης (=hades) at Acts 2/31 is in the context of resurrection, for the next verse says: 'This Jesus God raised up, of which we are all witnesses' (Acts 2/32). Peter was citing and commenting on Psalm 16/10 of David – and he was proclaiming Jesus' resurrection from the grave. The KJV renders that part of Psalm 16/10 as 'For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell.' The word it translates as 'hell' is שְׁאוֹל (=sheol)

   In Peter's citing of Psalm 16/10 he used the word ᾍδης (=hades) as the equivalent of David's Hebrew word שְׁאוֹל (=sheol). So, in order to understand the Greek word ᾍδης (=hades), we first have to interpret the Hebrew word שְׁאוֹל (=sheol). When we go to the first mention of this Hebrew word שְׁאוֹל (=sheol) we find a passage concerning Jacob: 'And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted, and he said, "For I will go down to my son mourning to the grave [שְׁאוֹל (=sheol)]" ' (Genesis 37/35). What could be more obvious? How stupid and unlearned it would be to translate שְׁאוֹל (=sheol) here as 'hell'. Even the sloppy King James Version has 'grave'. As if Jacob thought he would suffer eternal torments in an (imaginary) underworld of punishing fire just because he lost his son! Any translation other than words meaning 'grave' or a place of burial of the dead would be an abomination. In that case, the Hebrew word שְׁאוֹל (=sheol) means 'grave'. If we look at every occurrence of שְׁאוֹל (=sheol) we find that it is always linked with death and is used in the context of death and sometimes also of resurrection. It has no connotation of 'hell'. Nor, indeed, does any word from the Books of God have any connotation at all of any place called 'hell'.
   So, we can make this ecstatic deduction: 1. שְׁאוֹל (sheol) = grave (Genesis 37/35); 2. שְׁאוֹל (sheol) = ᾍδης (hades), (Psalm 16/10 with Acts 2/31);

   3. hence, as שְׁאוֹל is 'grave', then ᾍδης = grave.

   If we look at every occurrence of ᾍδης (=hades) we find that, like שְׁאוֹל (=sheol), it too is always linked with death and is used in the context of death and resurrection. For example, in Paul's great passage about the resurrection he cites the prophet Hosea:

   Where, oh death, is your sting?
   Where, oh grave, is your victory? ~1 Cor. 15/55

   Once again, in the Hebrew of Hosea 13/4, from where Paul's citation comes, the word 'grave' is שְׁאוֹל (=sheol), and in the Greek of Paul the word 'grave' is ᾍδης (=hades), so that שְׁאוֹל (=sheol) and ᾍδης (=hades) are shown to be interchangeable.

   The word ᾍδης (=hades) occurs 11 times between Matthew and Revelation: Matthew 11/23, 16/18, Luke 10/15, 16/23, Acts 2/27, 2/31, 1 Corinthians 15/55, Revelation 1/18, 6/8, 20/13-14. Now, at every occurrence we have an unmovable principle for translating it, and we will not be writing idiotic renderings such as 'hell'.

   I say that ᾍδης (=hades) always means 'grave'. There is, though, one exception, and that is at Luke 16/23 (rendered Hades). In that context it is different and certainly represents the belief in an underworld. In Jesus' satirical story about Dives and Lazarus, Jesus was mocking the Pharisees' foolish adoption of Greek mythology into their system of theology, which nullified the commandment of God (Mathew 15/7). This satirical story deliberately mocks mythology. Jesus ended his satirical story by speaking of resurrection: 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, not even if somebody should rise from among the dead will they be persuaded' (Luke 16/31). Jesus then straightaway told his disciples his opinions of those who teach such mythologies as truth: 'He said to the disciples, "It's inevitable but that snares should come, but woe to him through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone turned by a donkey were hanged around his neck and he should be thrown into the sea, rather than that he should be a cause of stumbling to one of these lowly people" ' (Luke 17/1-2).

   The Pharisees' teaching about death and the after-life was false and a snare and a cause of stumbling to others. In the context of the use of the Greek word ᾍδης (=hades), Jesus deliberately used it to represent an horrific difference between his teaching and that of Greek mythology mingled with religion. God's Books are not books of mythology: they stand hard in opposition to myths.

   So, the passage we began with, Acts 2/31, is falsely rendered with 'hell' in the King James Version. That the Greek word ψυχή (=psuché) and it's Hebrew counterpart נֶפֶשׁ (=nephesh) do not mean 'soul', as rendered in the KJV, and that ψυχή (=psuché) in Acts 2/31 as 'dead body', other verses as 'living being', 'life', 'self', 'person'.

   The Hebrew word נֶפֶשׁ (nephesh) has to mean 'dead body' or 'corpse' at Leviticus 19/28, 22/4, Numbers 5/2, 6/6, 6/11, 9/10, 19/11. The Greek word ψυχή (psuché) has to mean 'corpes' or 'dead body' at Revelation 6/9

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2. Can you please tell me what bible are you reading from… ABBA YAHWEH Bless and Keep You And Your Family Always, Hikari 🍃🌸🍃🕊💞🙏💞🕊🍃🌸🍃

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