Torah 101-Ekev Portion I.

ANSWERS TO LAST WEEKS STUDY QUESTIONS (from Vaetchanan)

1) Question for Deuteronomy 3:22-4:49: This part of the parsha contains a command not to add to the words that are being spoken. How do we reconcile this command with the fact that there are 34 other Tanakh books and 27 more NT books that will add words to this Scripture, in addition to about 30 more chapters of added words in Deuteronomy? LO TOSIFU AL-HA-DAVAR (4:2) = Do not add to the Word. This shows that Torah is the foundation for the rest of the Scripture. We cannot add a word ourselves to these commands, but all that happens from this point through prophets, sages, kings and Mashiyach himself is ultimately because of a precept rooted here in the first Five Books. For example, Genesis 3:15, the seed of the woman who will crush the serpents head is revealed through the mechanism of the virgin birth in Yeshayahu 7:14 which is further revealed in the person of Yshua in Matthew and Luke. 2) Question for Deuteronomy 5: What is the difference between Abba YHWH being jealous and the human variety of that emotion? KI YAHWEH ELOHEYCHA ESH OCHLA HU EL KANA (4:24) = For Yahweh your Elohim is an all-consuming fire, Who is a jealous El. I put jealous in quotes because its not the same as human jealousy which often stems from sin. Abba YHWHs jealousy is rather a call to exclusive worship that befits His status as sole Creator Deity. Its sort of like the old saying, Its not boasting if you can back it up. Since there is no other Creator, it is only proper He have exclusive worship, especially since He commands it. But when a human gets jealousa cheating spouse is the exceptionit is often from a mistaken belief that he/she is entitled to something exclusively that another person wrongfully gets in their eyes. It is hard to cover all cases in the human experience of course, but generally speaking it is from coveting and/or from a lack of generosity, i.e. maybe Abba YHWH allowed your rival to get a raise at work because he had a greater need for it in His judgment that you yourself are not aware of!

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3) Question for Deuteronomy 6:1-7:11: What Hebrew phrase here does Yshua repeat nearly verbatim in his Aramaic language? LO TENASU ET-YAHWAY ELOHEYCHEM (6:16) = do not test YHWH your Elohim. This is VERBATIM quote from Yshua in the Aramaic of Matthew 4:7, LA TENASEH LMAR-YAH ELAHACH (which we are reading this week)! Thats as close as Aramaic gets to replicating Hebrew word for word! The Aramaic says LA rather than LO for do not and does not have ET as direct object pointer like Hebrew does, but uses the L proclitic (towards, so literally, do not throw temptation towards Yahweh). MARYAH is Master YHWH and the verb for your is changed only because Yshua is addressing a singular entitySATANrather than YHWH addressing all Israel here. 4) Haftorah Question of the Week: Isaiah 40:1-26 What Hebrew phrase here is replicated by another NT figure in their Aramaic dialect and who is that person? KOL KORE BAMIDBAR PANU DERECH YAHWEH YASHRU BARAVAH MESILAH LELOHEYNU (40:3) = the very words of Yochanan the Immerser! A voice is heard crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of Yahweh, make smooth in the desert a highway for our Elohim! The Immerser actually says in Matthew 3:3

QALA (voice) DQAREH (that cries) BCHORBA (in wilderness) TIVAW (make straight) AWRKHA (the path) DMAR-YAH (of Master Yah). Note the similarity between KOL KORE and QALA DQARA on the Aramaic side, as it is exactly the same phrase. The word for wilderness in Aramaic, or CHORBA, along with the rest of the line, are perfect cognates for the Hebrew.

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II.

QUESTIONS FOR THIS TORAH PORTION (Ekev) Please NOTE:

For clarity and time constraints, if I elect to not read the whole parsha (which is the case this week) I may still ask questions relating to the portions I did not read! 5) Question for Deuteronomy 7:12-8:20: Why does Moshe insist that the current generation, who never signed up for the covenant when it was offeredthey werent born thenand who never witnessed any miracles to free them from Egypt, are just as honor bound to the covenant as the previous generation? 6) Question for Deuteronomy 9-10: What is one detail about Moshes immediate family that was not directly mentioned at the time an incident happened but is clarified in his first person account here? 7) Question for Deuteronomy 11:1-25: How does one detail in this chapter help answer the question: Did Yshua really wear tzit-tzit (tassels on the corners of his garments)? 8) Haftorah Question of the Week: Isaiah 49:14-51:3 If Yshua had really meant that he was being forsaken on the execution stake by His Father (he certainly did NOT, but thats another story), he could have quoted what line in this Haftorah portion rather than Psalm 22? 9) Renewed Covenant Commentary: Luke 4:1-13 (Reproducing last weeks notes since it is about the same event this week as well!) Matthew 4:4 37) Y'shua declares that he himself, along with all of mankind, is required to live by the "Words" of YHWH, and that the Commandments Y'shua teaches are in fact YHWH's Commandments from Torah. However, Greek/English translators inserted the title Kurios/Lord, for both YHWH and Y'shua, rather than using original Names. Christian theologians then began teaching the fallacy that their "New Testaments" were the "new" Word, or new 3|Page

"Commandments of Y'shua" that replaced the original Word of YHWH, which is Torah. See Joh_8:36 (Joh_8:47); Joh_12:48-50; Joh_13:34; Joh_14:10-21; 1Jn_2:3-8; 2Jn_1:5-6. 38) Deu_8:3 Matthew 4:5 39) Khabouris has Akelqarza as one word (as does Mat_8:11) whereas 1905 uses the separated spelling Akel Qarza. There is no difference in meaning; the 1905 spelling convention is preferred. This is the general rule that will be followed, including Mat_4:19 where 1905 combines benayanash whereas Khabouris separates them. Mat_6:1 reverses these choices on this phrase proving either form interchangeable. 40) A dark foreshadowing of the martyrdom of Ya'akov HaTsaddiq (James the Just) brother of Y'shua. Ya'akov, who routinely prayed at the Temple to ask YHWH's forgiveness for the sins of his people, was highly regarded for his meekness, devotion and service to the Jewish people. It was said that Ya'akov had camel's knees because he very often prayed while on his knees. He was ultimately thrown off the top of the Temple by demonized religious fanatics because of his allegiance to Y'shua Mashiyach. Ya'akov taught that Y'shua is the Arm of YHWH revealed, and he refused to renounce his belief in Y'shua Mashiyach. Origen criticized Josephus for attributing the fall of Jerusalem to the martyrdom of Ya'akov, rather than to Y'shua. Luke 4:12 40) Not test/tempt in the sense of YHWH being forced to consider changing his mind, because this is impossible. Rather, Aramaic here means something closer to, "don't attempt to force YHWH to pass one of your man made tests." (See Deu_6:16.)

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