“Salvation is for a man to be saved from all his enemies; for until a man can triumph
over death, he is not saved.”
- Joseph Smith
When reading the Old Testament in the original Hebrew I use
the Mechon-Mamre Hebrew-English Bible, which gives the English translation side-by-side
with the Hebrew block script. (Click on this link to view it on-line.) Besides
comparing the Mechon-Mamre English translation to the original Hebrew, I also evaluate
it against the King James Version. It turns out that the two English
translations often vary in subtle ways. In other instances, they diverge
significantly.
One key to identifying a Hebrew-language connection between
English words that now have divergent meanings is finding cases where two English
terms are translated interchangeably in different passages of scripture. Over
the past few months I’ve come across an example that occurs frequently throughout
the Old Testament. Variants of the Hebrew verb לְהוֹשִׁיעַ (leh-ho-shee-AH) are routinely translated
as “to save, deliver, rescue, preserve from” or alternatively as “to give
victory to”, with the Mechon-Mamre and KJV translations regularly flip-flopping
the uses of “salvation” and “victory” from one passage to the other.
For example, the forms of the verb לְהוֹשִׁיעַ (leh-ho-shee-AH) that appear in
Psalms 98:1-2 read differently depending on which translation you use. I’ve
highlighted the verbal and nominal forms of leh-ho-shee-AH
in each verse.
Hebrew:
מִזְמוֹר, שִׁירוּ לַיהוָה שִׁיר חָדָשׁ כִּי-נִפְלָאוֹת עָשָׂה הוֹשִׁיעָה-לּוֹ
יְמִינוֹ, וּזְרוֹעַ קָדְשׁו
יְשׁוּעָתוֹלְעֵינֵי הַגּוֹיִם גִּלָּה צִדְקָתוֹ הוֹדִיעַ יְהוָה
ֹ1) O
sing unto the Lord a new song; for he hath done marvelous things: his right
hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.
2) The Lord hath made known his salvation: his
righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen.
Mechon-Mamre:
1) O sing unto the LORD a new song; for He hath done marvelous
things; His right hand, and His holy arm, hath wrought salvation for
Him.
2) The LORD hath made known His salvation; His
righteousness hath He revealed in the sight of the nations.
Notice that in this passage the King James Version
translators rendered the Hebrew root word (leh-ho-shee-AH)
as two distinct English terms, using “victory” in the first verse and “salvation”
in the second. You’ll also note that the KJV translation of the first verse
differs significantly from the Mechon-Mamre in word choice, if not in meaning, since the doctrinal concepts of “getting the victory” and “working out one’s
salvation” really aren’t that far removed from one another in English. The fact
that both translations, one using “victory” and the other “salvation”, arrive
at the same general meaning illustrates that these two terms have a
doctrinal-conceptual link rooted in the Hebrew verb leh-ho-shee-AH.
Here’s a second example from the Old Testament (1 Chronicles
18:13) where the Hebrew verb leh-ho-shee-AH
is translated using the two distinct, but conceptually related, English terms:
וַיּוֹשַׁע
יְהוָה אֶת-דָּוִיד, בְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר הָלָךְ
KJV: “Thus the
Lord preserved (i.e., saved, rescued) David whithersoever he went.”
Mechon-Mamre: “And
the LORD gave victory to David whithersoever he went.”
This interchangeability of meaning also exists in the New
Testament, with 1 Corinth 15:57 serving as an example:
“But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory (i.e.,
salvation) through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
This verse leads us to the most important linguistic and
doctrinal connection between “victory” and “salvation” – the name Jesus. This
Latin variation of the Greek Iēsous was adopted from the Hebrew יֵשׁוּעַ (yeh-SHOO-ah). Both יֵשׁוּעַ (yeh-SHOO-ah) and the noun that signifies
“salvation” or “deliverance”, יְשׁוּעָה (yeh-shoo-AH),
come from the verb leh-ho-shee-AH.
The only significant difference in spelling between the two words is the final
silent heh (ה) that appears at the end of “salvation”, יְשׁוּעָה (yeh-shoo-AH). The doctrinal-linguistic link between Jesus’ name and
His role as Savior is so important that the angel who appeared to Joseph prior
to our Lord’s birth specifically told him “…thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21, emphasis
added)
Messianic Jews (believers in Jesus as the Messiah who
continue observing Jewish customs, festivals and holidays), Orthodox Jews, and
secular Jews alike understand the linguistic connection between the name yeh-SHOO-ah and the Hebrew word for “salvation”.
This is why they refer to Jesus in distinct ways, depending on how they regard
Him. To maintain the inherent spiritual significance of the name Jesus (yeh-SHOO-ah), Messianic Jews always
refer to Him by this name, often tagging on the suffixed title “The Messiah” (“The
Anointed”), מָשִׁיחַה יֵשׁוּעַ (yeh-SHOO-ah hah meh-SHEE-akh). On the other hand, Jews and Hebrew
speakers who don’t believe in Jesus as the Messiah call him by a different name,
יֵשׁוּ (YEH-shoo),
a name that’s unrelated to the verb leh-ho-shee-AH.
This practice severs the doctrinal-linguistic thread between Jesus and
redemption, in effect assigning Him a role as a mere historical figure. A
common modified variation of the secular YEH-shoo
is הַנוֹצרִי יֵשׁוּ (YEH-shoo hah nohtz-REE), meaning Jesus the Nazarene or Jesus of
Nazareth.
The link below will take you to a short YouTube documentary about Messianic Jews living in Israel.
The link below will take you to a short YouTube documentary about Messianic Jews living in Israel.
So, the name Jesus
is itself a reference to His role as Savior of the world and the One who gives us
victory over death and sin, through His sufferings and resurrection.
“And thus God breaketh the bands of death, having gained the victory over death;
giving the Son power to make intercession for the children of men; having
ascended into heaven, having the bowels of mercy; being filled with compassion
towards the children of men; standing betwixt them and justice; having broken the bands of death, taken
upon himself their iniquity and their transgressions, having redeemed them, and satisfied the demands of justice.”
(Mosiah 15:8-9, emphasis added)
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