Holy Hormones Bible Study: Teaching — not Entertainment
DOES GOD SAY, “PLEASE”?
A polite Lie from the pits of Hell!
Brace yourself! This is more of a teaching blog than an entertaining one. It may not be an easy read because there is more here than a normal, well adjusted person would generally want to know. But the time will be well spent. The detail which makes me a boring person brings the Bible alive for me. If, however, you happen to like what you read, there’s more to be found here.
[NOTE: Important words analysed below are identified with Hebrew/Greek transliterations into English and Strong’s Numbers so that whoever wants to can check them out — the recommendation is that you do. I use the Blue Letter Bible (https://www.blueletterbible.org/ BLB)]
SHORT ANSWER: No He doesn’t. When God said, “Let the earth sprout grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth;” did the earth have a choice? Obviously not. The phrase after that is, “And it was so.”
More importantly, if ever He was to “ask,” He would instantly extinguish SIN because non-compliance could not be regarded as disobedience.
Consequently, when a (small ‘p’)preacher says, “What God is asking . . . ,” (s)he is contradicting God’s Word. You must decide if (s)he can be trusted.
LONG ANSWER: FOR THOSE WITH MORE INTEREST (AND ENDURANCE)
[This is not a trivial issue so some repetition will be encountered in order to try and explain. I hope it works but you won’t know until you get to the end. So sad.]
An important question. What is infinity?
The American Christian man of the Mighty God, A.W. Tozer, wrote something along the lines, “God is the only Infinite Anything.” For a Theologian he had a good grasp of Physics. When I was failing Physics in days of yore, some concepts of Natural Creation where difficult to understand but the Infinite God is surprisingly easy just by looking at any of His Attributes.
IF HE COULD LOVE YOU ANY MORE, HE IS NOT YET GOD. IF HE COULD LOVE YOU ANY LESS, HE WOULD NO LONGER BE GOD.
What are His attributes?
The list of God’s attributes have been established over the ages. One of those is, “God is Omnipotent — He Is All Powerful.”
But the Holy Spirit is a gentleman
It would be surprising if you haven’t heard a preacher say something along the lines, “The Holy Spirit is a gentleman. What God is asking . . .” Even a skim over the list of His attributes indicates that Yehovah would have no self-esteem problems. 162 times in the OT (NKJV) He proclaims, “I am Yehovah.” That is the end of any discussion. In addition, 19 times He declares there is No Other like Him in comparison to other gods.
The third Book of the Torah, Leviticus, is transliterated Vayikra from the Hebrew, ויקרא. (The ו = “and.”) The loose translation being, “And He called.” It is Yehovah’s instruction book on Holiness. Vayikra occurs nine times in the Book.
My Sabra (a person whose Mother Tongue is Hebrew) adviser on Hebrew tells me that Hebrew is a language which is open to word-play where combinations of words roll easily off the tongue when changing just one letter. He gives the example:-
יקרא = he will call, and יקרה = it will happen.
יקרא יקרה = He will call, it will happen. Matter of fact! No asking. You take Yehovah frivolously at your peril.
Taking a deeper look into Genesis 1:11 used in the Short Answer.
Genesis 1:11 || And God said, “Let the earth sprout (H1876/G985) grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth; And it was so.”
A quick lesson in Greek Grammar is necessary before going further
Even though the verse is in Hebrew, the Greek Grammar of the Septuagint (LXX) explains things more clearly. If you don’t understand the explanation you will have to take a quick course in Greek Grammar. I can recommend a good one if you are interested. 10 hours and $100; good value for time and money spent.
When a Greek verb is in the Imperative Mood (a command) and Aorist Tense (completed action) it carries the flavour of the Regimental Sergeant Major on parade for the Trooping of the Colour at Buckingham Palace. (No one does Pomp like the Poms.) He barks the order, the Troops respond instantly, doing exactly what he orders.
Quick explanation of Genesis 1:11
The verb of interest is sprout G985 — blastanō in the Greek LXX. It means to sprout, bud, put forth new leaves.
The key Grammar labels:-
Tense: Aorist (Completed action)
Mood: Imperative (Command)
Voice: Active
These labels fit the pattern for Elohim being the Sergeant Major barking the order and the earth snapping to it. (A poor analogy of יקרא יקרה.)
The equivalent Hebrew verb, H1876 — dāšā’, carries the same message but is not as crisp. More on the Hebrew Grammar is offered below.
The whole tone of both the OT and NT is that no one trifles with God. He doesn’t ask.
Except, perhaps, this once . . . perhaps
In the account of the Akedah (Offering of Isaac, Genesis 22:2–12), the Hebrew translation presented in the Orthodox leaning Jewish website, Chebad.org,[1] Genesis 22:2 || And He said, “Please (H4994 נא ) take your son, your only one, whom you love, yea, Isaac, and go away to the land of Moriah and bring him up there for a burnt offering on one of the mountains, of which I will tell you.”
While the Christian (NKJV) rendition is Genesis 22:2 || Then He said, “Take now (H4994 נא ) your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
It is obvious that the Hebrew word, נא (nā’) [Strong’s Number H4994], is translated, “Please,” in the Jewish Bible, and, “Now,” in the Christian. There is one Christian version, International Standard Version (ISV) which also uses, “Please.” The other 63 in Bible Gateway use, “Now.”
The difference is significant because reliable interpretation ← depends on reliable Exegesis← depends on reliable translation. The default position is that Judaism would be correct because Hebrew is the language of the Torah but this does not fit the pattern of the One Who created Creation by the Word of His mouth; as already seen above.
Some Fact Checking is urgently required.
- First Fact Check: Is the original Bible Hebrew the same in both the Judaism and Christian cases?
Yes. For reasons not discussed here, the Westminster Leningrad Codex of the Masoretic Hebrew Text is used for both; as seen here.
Genesis 22:2
- Second Check: Which translation is logical?
Figure 1: Frequency of meanings for נָא in the KJV
Figure 1 shows that H4994 is translated in the “please” mode about 2/3 of the occurrences in the KJV but this statistic proves nothing with regard to God because the word is not used exclusively for when He speaks. In cases where the word is used by mere mortals, requests would legitimately require a “please” when addressing both God and other mortals. (It would be a more pleasant world if mortals were more polite.) Logically, however, if “please” is the correct translation in this case it extinguishes any notion of SIN because it implies a request. A request, by definition, can be denied with no concern about any consequences for disobedience because no criteria for non-compliance has been set. Even a superficial perusal of Genesis 1 shows that Elohim is not a Person Whom one contradicts.
Making adjustments for Hebrew sentence construction, it is written in Genesis 1:11 || Then God said, “Let-bring -forth(H1876 — dāšā’) the earth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so (H1961 — hāyâ).
H1876 — dāšā’ is a Hebrew jussive verb [2]which is a command with the result being H1961 — hāyâ, “it was so.” The English grammatical equivalent of hāyâ is “the verb to be” or “verb of existence.” [“I AM,” in another well known episode.]
Obviously, the whole flavour of the Creation Poem is that Creation was not offered a choice.
The Rabbinical, Chabad, translation contradicts the flavour established in the opening sentence of the Bible, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” A bold, confident statement with no preamble — inviting no room for negotiation.
Logically, therefore, “please” fails the Pub Test.[3]
- Third Check: Grammatical analysis
Parsing of Hebrew
More detailed parsing in the BLB shows;
H4994 — nā’ means, I/we pray, please, now; used in entreaty or exhortation
Part of Speech: Particle Particle Type: Exhortation. That is, a demonstrative particle which functions to direct the attention of a listener or reader. An extensive English definition of exhort from the Noah Webster’s[4] dictionary is that it is from the Latin root, exhortor; ex = out of, and hortor = to encourage, to embolden, to cheer, to advise.
The primary sense seems to be to excite or to give strength, spirit or courage; to incite by words or advice; to animate or urge by arguments to a good deed or to any laudable conduct or course of action.
This goes part of the way to answer the “please” question but does not yet address the Attribute of God that He is the Creator Who is not obliged to beg from His Creatures — as exemplified in Genesis 1:11 above. The Septuagint closes the apparent gap.
Parsing Greek
The corresponding Greek word is G2983 — lambanō meaning “take”
Speech: Verb — in this case Abraham is to take Isaac to a designated place for a specified task.
Person: 2nd Person — in this case, Abraham being spoken to by God.
Tense: Aorist — in this case, a single, an action completed by Abraham.
Mood: Imperative — in this case, God is commanding Abraham to complete the action.
Voice: Active — in this case, Abraham is the one to do the action.
As explained earlier, Greek Imperative Mood (a command) coupled with Aorist Tense (completed action) implies a, “Snap to it!” command.
Abraham was offered no opportunity to argue.
Who is speaking?
Of course, this is when God speaks. When mere mortals speak they should have the manners to say, “Please.”
So what does this mean?
How can salt lose its saltiness? (Matthew 5:13)
Salt (NaCl) is a simple compound. Inclusion of another element means it is no longer salt. How could it lose its saltiness? Dilution. Dilution with the purist rain water or raw sewerage are the polar extremes — each having a different effect on the palate but having the same result. Sewerage from the pulpit is less dangerous than pure rain water because it is instantly recognised and spat out before doing irreparable damage. The pleasantly diluted Word sneaks up on the Pews. An analogy of the rain water is the frog in the pot of water on the stove.
The Adversary has contaminated the word “truth” with “niceness” in order to produce a powder-puff elohim. A nice chap who doesn’t demand much from anyone, so don’t bother too much about what He says. After all, doesn’t He say He is Love?
THIS IS A LIE FROM THE PITS OF HELL
Is this attitude describing the God Who created the preacher, or the god who the preacher has created in his/her own image?
Someone has made the observation, “The church has become a nice organisation where nice people gather in a nice building listening to a nice pastor telling them how to become nicer before going to have some nice coffee and a nice chat.” (Not all Churches, of course. God always has His Remnant.)
Reflect on the sentence about “inclusion” above. It has more than one facet of meaning.
Conclusions
Combining the flavours of the two languages, God is commanding Abraham to do this action concerning Isaac but it is done in an encouraging manner.
The “please” translation is not viable. God NEVER says, “please,” but is not a heartless person. He always has our best interests at Heart.
The forgoing evidence has not been presented to convince any reader but to allow a personal decision to be made. There is much more to know about this subject. Perhaps you’ll pay another visit, sometime.
[1] Chebad.org https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/63255/jewish/The-Bible-with-Rashi.htm
[2] For those interested, these terms can be easily tracked down on the Blue Letter Bible (BLB) website at https://www.blueletterbible.org/
[3] Australian colloquialism concerning common sense logic.
[4] dictionary https://webstersdictionary1828.com/Dictionary/Exhort
All Glory to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
(We all have a plank in our eye. It’s bigger than we think.)
