Shamar
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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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““Shamar - Keep it”
“And אֱלֹהִים יְהוָה - the LORD Elohim took the man and put
him into the Garden
of Eden to tend and keep it”..
Welcome to what will be, I trust a most
revealing study as we look at a rather interesting verse
in Bereshit - Genesis 2:15. At first what actually appears seems to
be two rather simple words in this verse, but as we explore in what is really being
said it suddenly becomes something ‘very beautiful’ and ‘special’ when we apply
the fullness of the original understanding of the Ivrit - Hebrew to
its actual and original meaning, although sadly it is generally lost by many.
You will soon note that this study is based
on two very important words in the Torah and these are the words; 1, “tend” which
in Hebrew is עָבְדָ - “Avad” and 2, the more vital one
being “keep” which is Hebrew שָׁמַר - “shamar.” Be assured that both words contain very
special and valuable lessons for us all!
Let me commence with the first word “tend
- Avad,” which also means to be a
“servant,” thus Adam was to be a servant to the garden, one who would lovingly
take great care and work in the garden that Elohim had given him! Later
I will return how this word could also applies to all of us, but it is closely
tied together with the second word “keep,” being “Shamar” in Ivrit and
believe me this word is far more powerful as I will soon reveal!
The Word “Keep -
Shamar” in Bereshit- Genesis 2:15 contains something that has in
general not been fully understood even by most rabbis throughout history and
the vast majority of us Jews to this day have little to no knowledge of the
powerful meaning and the powerful teaching that is contained within this one
word! I feel saddened that we over centuries have never heard of this teaching
that I am about to share! But the truth is sadly no one was really looking for
it, as most rabbis have been far too busy adding new laws to where they had no
business adding anything, for Elohim, blessed be He very clearly stated in
His Torah;
“Ye shall not add unto the word which I
command you, neither shall ye diminish from it, that ye may keep the
Commandments of יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם - the LORD your Eloheichem which
I command you” Devarim - Deuteronomy 4:2 (JPS).
“Ye shall observe to do therefore as יְהוָה
אֱלֹהֵיכֶם - the LORD your Eloheichem hath commanded you; ye shall not turn
aside to the right hand or to the left. Ye shall walk in all the way
which יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם - the LORD your
Eloheichem hath commanded you, that ye may live, and
that it may be well with you,” Devarim - Deuteronomy 5:28-29 (JPS).
The truth is this, if you just read the verse
in English, sadly any of the translations will not provide the meaning of what
the Almighty was saying at all, for only the original Ivrit - Hebrew
contains the fullness of its actual meaning and sadly many Hebrews do even
understand it, and give or take around within the last 2,000 years the Christian translators
had little to no understanding of Hebrew, especially of “Hebraic thought,”
which would have been very important … I will explain this later! Therefore no
matter the language in their ‘Bibles’ translations are generally filled with
countless errors, in fact the King James version has over 100,00 errors in it,
and they are huge! Their “Old Testament” simply does not capture the sheer
beauty of what was originally written in the Tanakh.
However, praise be to יְהוָה Elohim they can
and will never erase the truth of the Word for there is always a backup,
for Elohim ensured this throughout His Word, both in the Old and the
New Covenants especially when it was written in Hebrew!
Keep - Shamar:
Let me
now quote two verses from Shemos - Exodus
31.
“Wherefore the children
of
For complete understanding of this Word, let
us turn to another Scripture where this word “keep” is used.
“And 
Elohim
took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to KEEP
(שָׁמְרוּ - Shamru) it” Bereshit - Genesis 2:15 (JPS).
Adam was to “dress” or to “tend”, “serve” or “work” the
garden, but he was also to “KEEP” it. However, it is quite
obvious that tending to the garden did not require any watering for the Torah
makes it very clear that our beloved Heavenly Father provided “the dew of
heaven.” In fact Adam did not even have to weed the garden, why? Very
simple, there was no such thing as any weeds in
But let us stop here and contemplate on the
real meaning of that rather unusual Hebrew word … שָׁמַר - Shamar and
“Shamru” both translates as “keep.”
The traditional phrase “keep it” does
not convey the full meaning of this very precious word, for having been
translated the Hebrew word somehow lost its value and its actual meaning and
message that is no longer available to many today! However,
in Ivrit – Hebrew for those who have a long memory, there may well be
a wonderful story recalled that is related to this wonderful and very special
word, and I pray that you will be blessed as you discover the full meaning
of “Shamar - Keep”!
So many who teach the Word sadly do not
really understand the full and wonderful meaning of this Word had given
us! The important thing we need to understand is that the Hebrew root of
the word “Shamar,” which I know has a meaning and an
association of great responsibility. The truth is that it only came to me many,
many years ago.
But it was many years back, this
word hit me with a greater force whilst I was reading Bereshit -
Genesis chapter two, for suddenly the word “Shamar” made a
huge impact on me. Although I had known about this word, what was different
this time? The fact was that I was reminded, and I felt that Elohim,
blessed be He, somehow reminded me of something. For I had forgotten that back
in 1908 in
This was a group of men who became the “Watchmen” or
the “Guardians”, “Protectors” and “Defenders” of Hebrew settlements
living in
You may ask;
“Why would Elohim command Adam to ‘protect and defend’ the
Garden of Eden, from what?”
Well, Adam was to protect,
guard and keep the garden from possibly, that that
voice in that tree, they were forbidden to eat from it!
We should understand that right from the
beginning Adam knew the difference between good and evil.
I know this is not what many people really ever think of, or are even taught,
but many tend to think that the Garden of Eden was all heaven on Earth, and it
was all roses, etc. But believe me, they knew about right and wrong,
or why else did Elohim, blessed be He, give them certain do’s and dont’s? Adam had been clearly commanded by Elohim,
that he and Chavah - Eve were not
to eat from “the tree of the knowledge and of good and evil”
and to do so would be a grievous sin against Elohim and it would mean
their death!
This Torah reveals to us very clearly
that Adam failed in his duties “guarding and protecting” not
only the garden, but also in protecting his wife Chavah.
Had he been a good “Shamar,” a good “protector” and “guardian,” that evil
voice would never have been able to reach Eve! But I am well aware all this is
now hindsight.
However, I pray that husbands will learn from
this powerful message that is contained herein, for you are according to the
Word the head of the household and the Husband has a responsibility to be the “Shamar’s” - the “guardian, keeper and protector” of the
household and family!
Thus, what does all this mean to us today? Indeed we are commanded to be ‘Keepers’, ‘Guardians’, ‘Defenders’ and ‘Protectors’. We are to ‘Treasure’ and to ‘Keep’ the purity of our blessed Hebrew faith - But more-so we are commanded to guard the ‘Purity of יְהוָה Elohim’s blessed Torah’ and the whole of the Tanakh with our lives if necessary, but sadly our rabbis, who were our leaders so long ago failed us in that task in so many ways, for sadly they purposely altered certain parts of our blessed scriptures, as well as removing Elohim’s blessed Name, even though Elohim clearly said that it was forbidden! Thankfully we have some ancient scrolls to work from!
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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,
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regular בְּרָכָה - Be’ra’chah’s - blessings before
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שָׁלוֹם
עֲלֵיכֶם - Shalom Aleichem - Peace be with you!
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