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The Resting spot for the Ark - Mt. Ararat, Turkey
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Nugget 211: The Babel at Babel
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This week's Torah portion contains two major events on the earth: the great flood of Noah in chapters 6-9 and the building of the tower of Babel and the subsequent division of the languages by God in chapters 10-11. I love to study both events, but can only choose one so today we will look at Babel. What was the original language of the earth? Read the nugget for more information!
Shalom,
Jacki Powell, Light for Israel
P.S. I apologize for this Nugget being sent out one day late as the Torah portion was actually for yesterday - Nov. 5th.
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Torah Portion 2 - Noach
Download the new Light for Israel Torah Portions reading schedule. [ Work in progress.]
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"And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech...
And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
" Genesis 11:1,4-5
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The Babel at Babel
Genesis chapter 10 is the famous "Table of Nations". Dr. William Albright, the "father" of Biblical archaeology and longtime Director of the American School of Oriental Research in Jerusalem in the 1920s and 1930s, said of this passage, "It stands absolutely alone in ancient literature, without a remote parallel, even among the Greeks ... The Table of Nations remains an astonishingly accurate document." This amazing 'Table of Nations' is where Babel (Hebrew:
בָּבֶל - bah-vel) is first mentioned as being built by Nimrod grandson of Ham: "And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. ... And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar." (Genesis 10:8, 10) The name 'Nimrod' (Hebrew: נִמְרֹד ) carries the meaning of 'rebellion' or 'to rebel' and since Nimrod built the kingdom of Babel, we know these seeds of rebellion were in its founder. This rebellion against God culminated in the actual 'tower of Babel' spoken of in Genesis 11.
A foundational truth is laid down in Genesis 11:1: "And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech." The English word, 'language' is from the Hebrew: safa (שָׂפָ֣ה ) [Strong's #8193] ) and literally means 'lip', but also 'language' and is translated as 'language' seven (7) times in the T'nakh. The inhabitants of the city of Babel, under Nimrod's leadership, decided to build the city and tower. (Gen. 11:4) However, God had commanded Noah and his sons in Genesis 9:1, "
Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth." This is normally interpreted as a command not only to repopulate the earth, but as children were born and the population increased, to spread out and to fill up the earth. The inhabitants of Babel, however, were building this city and remaining in this one place AND being ruled by one man - Nimrod. Nimrod was the first dictator. God wanted mankind to be free to develop as individuals rather than under the control of one man. In order to cause the people to scatter throughout the earth as He originally commanded, God confused the languages of the people of earth at Babel: "Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city." (Gen. 11:7-8)
So the big question is, what ONE language did all the earth speak prior to the tower of Babel? It was obviously the same language that the antediluvians (those who lived before the Flood) spoke. Like all sciences, linguistics (the scientific study of human languages) has been affected by evolutionary teaching. Like all other sciences, if we want the truth, we must learn to identify and filter out the evolutionary influence upon our thinking. Language was not something that 'evolved'. It is a gift to mankind. God created Adam and Eve and spoke to them and they spoke to each other immediately. Before Darwin published his theory of evolution in 1881, all conservative writers, both Christian and Jewish, would say that Hebrew was the original language. I still believe this is correct. Modern linguists, influenced by evolutionary theory, do not believe this and they mock the Tower of Babel account in the Word of God. I will always stand with God's Word and not man's so called theories!
Some people go to the opposite extreme and that is also dangerous. Isaac Mozeson proposes his Edenics theory that all words in all modern languages of today derive from modern Hebrew words. This simply cannot be true and is not what I mean by Hebrew being the original language.
The New Testament records a somewhat "reverse Babel effect" in the book of Acts chapter 2 when Jewish pilgrims from all over the Roman empire were in Jerusalem for the feast of Sukkot (Pentecost) and heard the apostle Peter preaching his first sermon - each one in their own language: "
And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.
Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language." (Acts 2:5-6)
God Himself is the greatest of all communicator's as evidenced by the apostle John's words in John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God
." He gave mankind the gift of language. God showed both at Babel and at Pentecost that He is in control of human language! Miscommunication among people, like at Babel, can cause great division. Miscommunication with God, however, can lead to disaster and death. God wants to communicate with us (through His Word) and He wants us to communicate with Him through prayer! Let's keep the lines of communication with Heaven open so that the Lord is free to communicate His plans to us! "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." - Jeremiah 29:11
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Ancient Hebrew Papyri Discovered from Time of Solomon's Temple
Just last month, an ancient Papyri with Hebrew writing was seized by
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A Rare Document Mentioning the Name of Jerusalem from the Time of the First Temple |
the Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA) from antiquities robbers who had illegally taken it from the Judean desert caves. The
papyrus is the earliest extra-Biblical document, written in ancient Hebrew script, that includes the earliest reference to Jerusalem.
A paleographic examination of the letters and a C
14
analysis determined that the artifact should be dated to the end of the First Temple period. Most of the letters are clearly legible, and the proposed reading of the text appears as follows:
מא מת. המלך. מנערתה. נבלים. יין. ירשלמה.
Translation: From the king's maidservant, from Naarat, jars of wine, to Jerusalem
Archaeologists believe the papyrus is a rare and original shipping document from the time of the First Temple, indicating the payment of taxes or transfer of goods to storehouses in Jerusalem which was the capital city of the kingdom of Israel at the time.
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The Bible and the Medal of Honor
From Museum of the Bible's SoundCloud
Listen
Army medic Desmond Doss single-handedly brought 75 wounded
troops to safety while under constant fire on Okinawa on May 5, 1945. President Truman awarded him the Medal of Honor on October 12, 1945. Doss, a strong Christian, said that he became a medic so that he could save lives, not take them. His inspiration - the Ten Commandments and especially #6 - "Thou shalt not kill." - Exodus 20:13
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Both Hebrew and Bible students are welcome to join Eli Dahan's Course on the role of the Matriarchs every
Thursday at 8pm Eastern. Watch a short
video about the BibleEli course on
theLearnia. Connect to Eli's
Facebook live
page to hear a reading of a few verses from this week's Torah portion.
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Hebrew Nuggets
Copyright Light for Israel
Light for Israel Core Values: Dedicated to the distribution of free and accurate copies of the Hebrew Scriptures to Jewish people while standing in solidarity with Israel. (Since 2001) "The entrance of thy words giveth light." - Psalm 119:130
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NEW! Hebrew Nugget Bookmark: If you would like one, (or several to give out), simply send a self addressed and stamped envelope to the address below and I will put them in the mail. Thanks to Jeremy Jones at crossmediaonline.org for the great design!
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Contact Details:
Jacki Powell
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