Looking for Job

[JLG]

3)

Please – So far everything about Rahab is just a little strange. It’s almost as if the narrator left out all the nitty-gritty details on purpose. Perhaps the storyteller is crafting this episode so that we, the readers, have to enter into the narrative in order to understand it. That seems to be the case with this tiny addition to the Hebrew text – the particle na.

 

[JLG]

4)

The particle na is often not even translated. It is simply two consonants (Nun-Aleph) attached to a verb, in this case, as a suffix to shava, “to make an oath.” With na attached to the verb, the meaning shifts from a demand to a request, from “Swear an oath” to “Please, swear an oath.” Rather than compelling action, the supplicant invites a response. The reciprocity is left hanging.

 

[JLG]

5)

Na is sometimes attached to verbs expressing God’s actions. Those rare occasions are quite remarkable. But this isn’t the word used for God’s covenant promises. When God makes a covenant, the verb is karat, “to cut” a covenant. The first time the verb shava appears is in the story of Abimelech and Abraham (Genesis 21:22).[1] The first time we find this verb with God as the subject is Genesis 22:16 where God declares His blessing on Abraham following the attempted sacrifice of Isaac. Twenty-five times God swears an oath concerning the inheritance of the land. None include the particle na. None are conditioned upon the acceptance of the other party.

 

[JLG]

6)

But that is not the case here. Rahab’s request for a binding agreement can only take effect if the two spies concur. Rahab asks. She does not demand, even though hesed contains the reciprocal expectation. Hidden in Rahab’s use of na is an indication of humility. Na demonstrates Rahab’s character, the same character we find in other women who are outsiders. Hagar demonstrates incredible obedience by returning to the abusive Sarah. Ruth shows her intense loyalty in her statement to Naomi. The Canaanite woman shows her humility in her reply to Yeshua. Rahab is in good company. She doesn’t barter her deliverance even though she might have called on the hesed protocol. Instead, she begs. This woman who is outside the fold, whose moral character may be suspect, who represents the enemy, beseeches the spies for mercy. We should take note that she does not include herself in her request. She begs for others. She is the intercessor for the life of those she loves. We can only stand in awe of her devotion, courage and faithfulness. Perhaps Rahab, the woman of ill-repute, is a good deal closer to God’s heart than we imagined. Perhaps Rahab teaches us what it means to be humble.

 

[JLG]

7)

Hebrew Word of the Day - Please, I beseech you - נָא


Most Bible translations suffer a degree of distortion due to human shortcomings when translating from Hebrew to another language. The word ‘na’ (please) is one of the victims of these shortcomings, especially with the translation of the New Testament.

 

[JLG]

8)

‘Na,’ please, appears 159 times in the New Testament, but the King James translation for example, completely ignores it 158 times! It looks like other translations ignore this important word as well. If fact, the English word ‘please’ (as the polite request) does not appear in the New Testament even once, despite the 158 times the Hebrew word is ‘na,’ please! What is the issue here? Is this intentional? Does it relate to the Greek culture at the time when ‘please’ might not have been favored culturally? If any one of you has an answer, please forward it us so that we can test it and then share it.

 

[JLG]

9)

But facts remain facts! The expression: “I beseech you’ does appear a few times in the King James New Testament, but the Hebrew words in these verses are mostly ‘I demand!’ or another similar word with this connotation, but never ‘na’.

 

[JLG]

10)

For contrast, ‘na’ appears 447 times in the Old Testament and in almost every single occurrence is translated. [This is the King James-based translation. I use this Bible as the most reliable and authoritative translation (next to the absolute correct origin: Hebrew) as it is accepted in Israel and across the Jewish world today. This Bible is the Hebrew/English Phonetic Bible that you see on the bottom of this page]. Disclaimer: Despite all this, there isn’t a perfect English Bible. We always recommend having some knowledge of Hebrew to people who really care to receive the Bible in its purest way. This relates to the New Testament, as well, because of the authoritative perfection of its two Hebrew versions.

 

[JLG]

11)

Whereas ‘na’ is ignored in the New Testament, when ‘na’ appears in the Old Testament after a verb (such as ‘go,’ ‘come,’ ‘hear’ etc.), it is always translated as: Please, I beseech you, I beg you and so on, but never ignored.

“My son, please, give glory to the Lord God of Israel, and give thanks to him”

Joshua 7:19

 

[JLG]

12)

In some cases, when ‘na’, ‘please’ is not addressed directly to a person or to God (this is easily detected by the absence of a verb connected to it), the Bible translators tend to insert the word ‘now’ instead of ‘please,’ perhaps because of the sound proximity between ‘na’ and ‘now’. Although this is not exact, we can live with this because of a real absence of a better English word for these cases. We’ll continue with this subject tomorrow and will show you that God Himself says ‘please,’ although you are not likely to find it anywhere in your regular English translation. Please, ‘na,’ please don’t miss our Hebrew Word from the Lord tomorrow. You are guaranteed to be deeply moved!

 

[JLG]

13)

- LESSON FROM THE NA STORY!

- IF WE DON’T DO THE JOB, NOBODY WILL DO IT!

- IF WE DON’T DO THE JOB, WE ARE RESPONSIBLE!

- THIS HUMAN SOCIETY IS A FAKE!

-WORLD LEADERS ARE FAKES!

- WHEN WE HEAR WHAT WE HEAR IN DEMOCRACIES KNOWING THAT PEOPLE WON’T BE PROSECUTED, WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DEMOCRACIES AND DICTATORSHIPS?

- WE HEAR PEOPLE AND ESPECIALLY WORLD LEADERS LYING AND NORMAL PEOPLE KEEP BELIEVING IN THEIR LIES, JUST UNBELIEVABLE!

- IF WE WERE NOT LIVING TODAY, HOW WOULD IT BE POSSIBLE TO BELIEVE WHAT WE ARE EXPERIENCING?

- AND IT IS ONLY TODAY!

- THINK ABOUT TOMORROW AND AFTER TOMORROW!

 

[JLG]

14)

- When we speak about Job, we don’t speak about normal people!

- We speak about extreme faithfulness!

- Apparently, it is difficult for normal people to perceive!

- That’s why they criticize it!

- That’s what we should tend to do, extreme faithfulness!

- The problem is that they speak against Yah.weh!

- I wouldn’t be in their place!

- The three individuals spoke against Job and Yah.weh!

- They could only save their lives because of Job!

- But Job is dead and no one can replace him!

- Yes, there was no one like him on earth!

- End of the discussion!

 

[JLG]

15)

- In the Bible, according to the Law of Yah.weh, the Hebrews were supposed to make sacrifices because of their sins!

- Here we are told about a man, Job, who makes sacrifices for his sons because he feared they may have spoken against Yah.weh in their hearts!

- Do you see the difference!

- Unbelievable!

- Just this point should prevent anyone from accusing Job!

- It means they don’t know anything about the Bible!

- There is no excuse for that!

 

[JLG]

16)

- Now we get a man, Job, who is attacked by the devil!

- And the devil uses all possible weapons to destroy him and to take him away from Yah.weh!

- But he can’t do it!

- Job stays faithful to Yah.weh!

- How is it possible to be so blind?

- Unbelievable!

- What a shame!

 

[JLG]

17)

- Now as usual, we get the majority of translations which omit the translation of a small Hebrew word “na!

- Do you see the difference between “listen” and “please, listen”?

- Now if I add that it is not said by a mere man but by Yah.weh himself, does it make a difference?

- The problem is that it happens all the time in the Bible!

- And people keep saying this Bible is the best one, or this one, or this one!

- What a joke!

- Only fake!

- And it started from the beginning!

- Men are ridiculous!

- They are fakes!

- What will happen when Yah.weh destroys this world?

- Do you remember when Jesus said I don’t know you?

 

[JLG]

18)

- The three individuals were condemned by Yah.weh and at the same time saved by Job!

- What can we say about the fourth one?

- Job doesn’t speak to him!

- And Yah.weh ignores him!

- And at the end he blesses Job more than at the beginning of his life!

- And Job gets everything back and more!

- And he can live 140 additional years!

- The conclusion is the best argument against those who criticize Job!

 

[JLG]

Looking for Job

God and Job / Job and God

Job 42:

- Job has changed his attitude!

- He has listened carefully to God!

- Now he can understand he didn’t have all the elements to judge the situation correctly!

- He is not stubborn!

- He also shows that his relationship is always essential for him!

- Now he understands!

- Now he can speak with God!

- And he humbles himself!

- Once again we have a demonstration of how Job is!

- He has just been put to pieces!

- He has been mentally and physically destroyed!

- But he keeps being faithful to Yah.weh!

- Of course, he will need time to recover!

- You can’t live such hard times without side effects!

- Of course, he will use all this experience in his future life!

- Of course, we may think he will be careful in his relationship with others!

 

[JLG]

Looking for Job

God and Job / Job and God

Job 42:

- Here we get God’s decision!

- Here we can know what God thinks!

- His judgment about Job has never changed and will never change!

- May we try to look with God’s eyes and not with human eyes!

- Yah.weh’s decisions are always clear!

- Yah.weh’s judgments are always clear!

- Men’s decisions are always obscure!

- Men’s judgments are always obscure!

 

[JLG]

Looking for Job

God and Job / Job and God

Job 42:

- Yah.weh restored Job’s prosperity!

- Is there anything else to add?

- Maybe we need to think a bit more!

- Maybe we need to think about other biblical examples!

- Maybe we need to think about how we would react in such a situation!

- Maybe all this may help us to prepare for a world situation which gets worse and worse faster and faster!

- And maybe we will understand Job’s attitude!

- We should better do it because the storm is in front of us and it’s a big one!

 

[JLG]

There is no one like him on the earth and a wealthy farmer

Job 1

- First of all, we are told about the man Job!

- Integrity!

- Fear of Yah.weh!

- Going away from badness!

- Simple words or simple expressions!

- And it’s easy to remember!

- And to think about it!

- We have to do our part!

- We can’t stay passive!

- We need action!

- We must demonstrate what we believe!

- And we must do it every day!

- And Job is such an incredible example!