Hebrew-Letters-are-Numbers
-hebraicstudies.net-
Please do NOT visit this site on שַׁבָּת - Shabbat or on the מוֹעֲדִים - Mo’a’dim - Feasts!
Re Tanakh versions:
Throughout this site I may use any of
three versions of the Tanakh: 1. “Jewish Publication Society” (JPS-1917), 2. “Mechon-Mamre.org” (MEC), and 3. “Sefaria.org” (SEF), three brilliant versions, However, the JPS-1917
is my preferred version!
Colour coded details of
our beloved TaNaKh:
1. Torah =
History & Law, 2. Nevi’im = The Prophets. 3. *Ketuvim = all other Writings.
*The Ketuvim - Includes, Poetical books -
Psalms, Proverbs, Job, the Megillot, or
Scrolls - Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations of
Jeremiah, Ecclesiastes, and Esther, prophecy of Daniel, and history
of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles I & II.
Please
Note: Some alterations or (additions)
have been made relating to ‘Names’ and ‘Attributes’ of אֱלֹהִים - Elohim (God),
having been corrected like it once was pre the “Masoretic Text”.
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Remember the
following truth from our beloved Torah!
“Ye
shall NOT ADD
TO THE WORD which I command
you, NEITHER SHALL YE DIMINISH FROM IT,
that ye may keep the commandments of אֱלֹהֵיכֶם יְהוָה - the LORD your Eloleichem, which I command you”. Davarim -
Deuteronomy 4:2. (JPS-1917).
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With Rabbi, Dr. Reuven Ben Avraham-Goossens, PhD.
“He hath remembered His Covenant
forever, the word which He Commanded to a thousand
generations”. Tehillim
- Psalms 105:8. (JPS-1917 version for all verse).
In these
modern days the verse above may seem to be a contradiction. In fact there have
also been those who have used this verse to prove that the Tanakh cannot even
agree with itself! However, to good and faithful Hebrew’s at that time and
today, it makes perfect sense.
What we should
understand is that the words a “thousand years” has everything to do with the
Hebrew alphabet?
Let us look at
just two Hebrew letters:
The truth is
that the letters in the Hebrew alphabet are also a numerical system, for
example the Hebrew letter A = a (Aleph) is number 1. Whilst B
= b (Bet) is number 2! And so it goes on, with the highest number
being 1,000!
Thus we also
need to understand that at the time יָהוָה
אֱלֹהִים-(the
LORD Elohim), blessed be His Sanctified Name, spoke to Yisroel, and He gave
them the highest possible numerical denominator being a 1,000 of course.
Therefore, at the time it was given it was as far as they could possibly count
using their alphabetic, numerical number system! However, blessed be He, this
was followed by another figure, which comes next
Why did אֱלֹהִים - Elohim speak about a “thousand generations”?
Be assured
that יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ - the LORD our Eloheinu did this for a very specific reason at that time!
Now let me ask
a question. Can you comprehend eternity? I am absolutely sure that you are
unable to do so! And so it was for the children of Yisroel. We need to remember
that the vast majority of the Hebrew forefathers were relatively a simple
people, having been slaves and then they became dessert dwellers for a long
forty years.
Therefore the
Almighty gave us a picture of what eternity could possibly be. And that is why
He was saying, ‘add up as far as you can (1,000) and then multiply it by
generations’. We do know in those days, a generation was 40 years.
Being much like the time the Israelites wandered in the wilderness. Therefore
it with this reckoning, it would have seemed to them like an eternity for what
was obviously said, as we would understand today, it spoke about some 40.000
years.
Thus Elohim,
blessed be He, gave them an alphabetic numerical image, a picture in their
minds and showing them what eternity actually might be like. Yet it was beyond
their comprehension at the time, but it was as far as they could count, and
then multiplied it by 40. But believe it or not I have known quite a number of
rabbis who simply could not figure out what I have just revealed! However, I
have asked school children over many years, and believe it or not, they
understood exactly what it meant. Yet many of our so-called fully educated
rabbis could not figure it out. And what does the word ‘rabbi’ really mean? It
simply means “teacher”. And that is what the author was called to do late in
the 1900’ds, for that is what I have been called to
do, for a full quarter of a century now, being 2026 and 81 years old.
In the context of
Psalm 105:8, and the broader narrative of
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1. What It Meant to the Hebrews
in the Wilderness:
An Unbreakable
Anchor of Hope: For a
generation stranded in a harsh desert, facing uncertainty, hunger, and enemy
nations, this verse was a reminder that their journey was not an accident. They
were not defined by their current hardship, but by an eternal promise (Brit)
established long before them.
God
"Remembering" (Zakhar): In Hebrew thought, when אֱלֹהִים - Elohim “remembers” זָכַר, it does not mean He
previously forgot. Rather, it is a covenantal action word meaning He is moving
decisively to fulfill His promise. Just
as אֱלֹהִים
- Elohim “remembered
Noah” during the flood, and He “remembered Avram” when saving
Grounding in
the Patriarchal Promise:
Verses 9-11 immediately linked this covenant back to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
For the Hebrews in the wilderness, it signalled that אֱלֹהִים - Elohim’s obligation
to bring them into the Promised Land was rooted in His oath to their ancestors,
an oath unaffected by their own immediate weaknesses or failures in the desert.
2. The “Sacred Formula" of
“A Thousand Generations”:
I trust that you
rightly picked up on the formulaic nature of “a thousand generations” (le’elef dor - לְאֶלֶף
דּוֹר). This phrase is an
ancient Scriptural idiom, rich in sacred symbolism:
A. Idiom for Infinitude and Completeness.
Symbolism of 1,000:
In Hebrew numerology and poetry, the number 1,000 (10 \times 10 \times 10)
signifies total completeness, vastness, or an unlimited amount (e.g., “God owns
the cattle on a thousand hills” in Psalm 50:10).
Time
Scale: If a
Scriptural generation is 40 years, “1,000 generations” spans it to some 40,000
years, effectively a poetical formula meaning forever and beyond human history.
B. The Contrast Formula (Grace vs. Judgment).
This specific
phrasing directly mirrors the classic covenantal formula as found in Exodus
34:6-7:
“And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed: ‘יְהוָה - the LORD, אֱלֹהִים יְהוָה - the LORD Elohim, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth; keeping mercy unto the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin; and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and unto the fourth generation’”.
And
also in Deuteronomy 7:9.
“Know therefore that יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ - the LORD thy Eloheicha, He is אֱלֹהִים - Elohim; the faithful אֱלֹהִים - Elohim, who keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations”.
The
Sacred Asymmetry: The contrast between 3 or 4 generations (for punishment) and 1,000
generations (for covenantal mercy) is intentional. It illustrates that אֱלֹהִים - Elohim’s covenant
loyalty (Chesed) and grace infinitely outweigh His anger or judgment by a
factor of hundreds to one.
It is not surprising
at all! That perspective is often described as a form of Scripturalism or a
Torah-Purity / adjacent view has a very long and well-documented history within
Hebrew thought.
Throughout history,
many ‘individuals’, ‘groups’, and ‘sects’ have pushed back against
post-Scriptural ‘additions’, ‘advocating for a return to the foundational text
of the Tanakh alone’:
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1. A Long History of Scripturalism:
You are in
historical company with movement currents that questioned post-Schriptural tradition:
The Sadducees
(
The Karaites (Formed in the 8th Century CE): Explicitly
rejected the ‘Talmud’, Rabbinic rulings (Halakha), and the concept of an ‘Oral Law’ given at Horeb,
holding strictly to the text of the actual Tanakh!
There were some
major critiques of the Zohar and Kabbalah, as well as the Talmud and the fake
man made ‘Oral Law’: Even within our mainstream there were prominent historical
figures were against it (just two of these rabbis was the 14th-century scholar
‘Rabbi Judah Aryeh de Modena’, and ‘Rabbi Yiḥyah Qafiḥ in
the 19th/20th century’, who strongly criticized the Zohar and Kabbalistic, etc,
texts, viewing them as foreign, mystical, or non-authentic additions to pure
‘Tanakh’ based monotheism!
2. Returning to the Wilderness Context:
When we peel back
the later layers of commentary and look strictly at the text of the Torah and
Tanakh, the verse from Psalm 105:8 takes on an even simpler,
more direct purity:
“He hath remembered His covenant forever, the word which He commanded to a thousand generations”.
Stripped of later
rabbinic arithmetic or mystical formulas, the message to the wilderness
generation remains pure and unvarnished:
Direct
Divine Commitment:
The covenant (Brit) is a direct bond between God and the people, established by
His spoken word to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Unbreakable Continuity: אֱלֹהִים - Elohim’s promise is anchored directly in the written text of the Covenant itself, requiring no human additions or oral traditions to give it authority!
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Please Note: “hebraicstudies”
links are located down the page!
This site was originally created, for those who desired to return to our blessed and wonderful faith. Thus be wise and work on your faith and pray at least two or three times a day (if possible) and always seek our beloved אֱלֹהִים - Elohim’s guidance, for His love is always with us, especially when we seek Him, blessed be He! However this site has become very much a teaching site with hundreds of studies!
Remember what אֱלֹהִים - Elohim, blessed be
He, said the following through a number of our prophets...
“The More Torah,
the More Life”,
For Elohim is the One who gave us our ... “Life!”
May the שָׁלוֹם - Shalom =
Peace of צְבָאוֹת- יְהוָה= the LORD
of hosts, be with you, and please always uphold our blessed שַׁבָּת - Shabbat,
as well as the מוֹעֲדִים - Mo’a’dim - Feasts, and
continue saying your daily תְּפִלָּה - Tefeelah’s - Prayers and
regular בְּרָכָה - Be’ra’chah’s - blessings before
food and drinks, etc!
שָׁלוֹם
עֲלֵיכֶם - Shalom Aleichem - Peace be with you!
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