Praise God we are very excited in offering you what we hope honors the LORD, His Son Yeshua, and educates, equips, and encourages you! How?
Directly from the incredibly rich, deep, and unmatched Hebrew and often Hebraic & Jewish Koine “Common” Greek Bible text!
As well as including for you the historical & cultural setting and the context of the Text. This is always extremely “key” for both properly understanding and applying the Text to those around us – and our own lives!
In short, in Romans 15:20 (a verse I’ve always tried to keep in mind in teaching), Paul writes the Romans from Corinth (in Greece, south of Athens). Paul hoped to pass through Rome on his way west to Spain. Paul would not stop in Rome to proclaim the Good News of Yeshua, since other Jewish brothers were already doing so!
Speaking of brothers; did you know there are 370 uses in Greek of forms of adelphoi/adelphos “brothers” (including of course sisters); yet only three uses of Xristianos “Christians”? Did you know Paul uses forms of brothers or sisters between 125 and 150 times? Did you know Paul never uses “Xristianos” – period? Never calls himself that nor anyone else. (Paul also never uses in Greek, “tithe”, “doctrine”, or “convert/conversion”).
Would I (your Jewish brother Jacob) really benefit you, if I merely teach you about the same things already taught; and especially as the majority of good-hearted Bible teachers do, who teach from English – rather than Hebrew or Greek?
By learning together from the original languages, we learn uniquely deep insights and truth – and the most accurate and authentic Message given to us! Plus – as I hope you’ll learn below, learning from the Bible’s original languages of Hebrew & Koine Greek (with a few chapters in Hebrew’s very close sister language Aramaic), clears up many many misunderstandings – and thus misapplications – of Scripture!
We’d be remiss if we didn’t point out quickly that the Koine Greek of the Renewed Covenant Scriptures – a much more accurate name than “New Testament”, as we explain in our teaching – is different than that of the classics and Greek philosophers’ Attic Greek.
Koine Greek frequently contains Hebraic thought expressed in KG (my shorthand for Koine Greek), Hebraic type expressions, and Jewish thinking and expression. Most especially so in Yochanon’s writings and Revelation, and the Gospels; as well as Paul. Hebraic and very Jewish understanding, thinking, and expression is naturally found throughout the words and teaching of our wonderful Yeshua!
Speaking the truth in love, the expression “it loses something in the translation” is never more true than when it comes to the Hebrew of the Bible!
Although done with the best of intentions, the Bible is far far far too often taught as though the Bible was actually originally given to us in English.
This results in everyone in the Bible – most especially perhaps Yeshua – coming across as though English was their native language and they lived in the 19th-century American Bible Belt. This is no more accurate – or authentic (!) – than portraying William Shakespeare as an Orthodox Jew who lived in Jerusalem, and wrote Hamlet in Hebrew!
Teaching and learning from the original languages – and including the historical cultural context of Scripture also (!), would prevent disagreements that result in splintering the Body of Yeshua!
A Very Key Reason Why Teaching from the Original Languages is So Very Important
One very key way is that using the KG (again, my shorthand for Koine Greek) text shows us that 63% of the uses of “you” are plural. A KG concordance shows us there are 778 more uses of “you” plural – than “you” singular. Did you know that? Have you ever heard that?
This demonstrates – as do the 865 uses of “we us our” in KG – that the actual Biblical message is a “we” message – not the typically taught “me” message! Did you know that? Have you been taught that?
A Greek concordance also shows us that 9 of the 10 uses of God (as) Savior are Savior of we/us.
In short; while followers of Yeshua are overwhelmingly taught a “me” message, the original languages very clearly show us that Yeshua’s model – and that of the Bible as a whole – is really a “we” model!
Why You Need to Learn the Bible from the Hebrew & Often Hebraic/Jewish Greek Text
The most misunderstood verse of all of Scripture is Ex. 21:24, typically translated ‘…an eye for an eye’….
The Hebrew though does not say ‘for’. It is literally the Hebrew word ‘under’, used a number of times and translated ‘instead’ or ‘instead of’. That is, something ‘in place of’ of something. For example, in Gen.22:13 it says Avraham took the ram caught in a thicket. What is translated is that Avraham took the ram ‘instead of’ his son. Avraham brought the ram before the LORD in place of his son Yitzchak (‘Laughter’ ‘Isaac’).
The Hebrew is the exact same Hebrew word used later in Ex. 21:24 but translated ‘… an eye for an eye’. ‘For’ makes it seem as though it’s about vengeance, when the Torah’s Hebrew is not – at all – talking about ‘vengeance’, but rather justice. It’s an eye ‘in place of’ an eye. (To open this up, unfortunately, is a bit too long for our purpose here). Given that Ex. 21 follows what are known in Hebrew as ‘Ten of the Words’, which the world calls ‘The Ten Commandments’, in Ex. 20, contextually dear one, does it make any sense to follow the ‘Ten Commandments’ with a chapter on ‘… an eye for an eye’? Of course not!
Learning from the original languages tells us whether something we are to do is given as a summary, a one-time action or, something that we are to be or do habitually. In Eph. 4:32 in Greek, Paul expresses ‘forgive’ in 2 different ways. The first regarding our forgiving one another, is a description of it being a continuous process towards one another. The second use is expressed as a summary of the action of God’s forgiveness of us – through Yeshua of course.
What Paul writes – in Greek – then, is not that we are only to forgive others once and God continuously forgives us; rather just the opposite! Cf. also Yeshua telling Peter to forgive 7 times 70, those numbers being significant in Hebrew.
Another example is in Rev. 12:9. In Koine Greek we learn – very critically – that the Enemy did not deceive the inhabited world as a one-time action.
Rather, from the Greek text we learn that he deceives the inhabited world, as a continuous action that has become an habitual practice. Thus – we learn that we need to be fully aware that the Enemy continuously deceives the world.
This is particularly significant following October 7 in Israel, in which there is a worldly media onslaught against what Israel needs to do in Azza (‘Stronghold’ ‘Gaza’), and what the actual facts on the ground are! Regarding Israel, in Rev. 12 we see Israel symbolically portrayed – and Yeshua being born from Israel. Rev. 12 tells us that the Enemy literally seeks to eat the child – Yeshua.
Thus, we learn that the Enemy comes against the Jewish People because Yeshua came through them. What’s really going on in the world is, the Enemy as a continuous practice turns the world against the Jewish People, because the Savior of the World came through them!
Further; the Greek text of Rev. 12:9 also repeatedly specifically identifies the Enemy. He is not described in terms of being a ‘concept’; but rather again, is specifically identified. In the same way the Greek text of Revelation specifically identifies Heaven as the ‘renewed/new in quality’ Jerusalem. The Greek text does not allow for allegorizing Jerusalem as ‘the Institutional Gentile Assembly on Earth’.
In Revelation 5:5 in Greek we learn that Yeshua – in Heaven – is ‘out from within’ and ‘part of the whole of the tribe of Judah’ and ‘the root David’. Yeshua is not once – but twice – specifically identified with – not ‘separated off from’ – the Jewish People.
In Greek whenever Yeshua is identified as being ‘from’ the Jewish People, it is never apo, ‘separated off from the outside’. Rather, it is always ek, ‘out from within’. In the same way in Yochanon (‘God is gracious’, ‘John’s original Hebrew name) 4:22, Yeshua in speaking of salvation to a Samaritan woman, identifies himself as ‘part of the whole of the Jewish People’.
Dear one – your salvation is not through anything – anything – whatsoever Gentile! Your Savior Yeshua, through whom your salvation comes, see himself, as Yochanon renders Yochanon 4:22 as ‘part of the whole of the Jewish People’. Does Yeshua say to the Samaritan – or anyone else – that ‘your salvation is through the Gentile ‘Church’?
Dear one; absolutely not! Though this idea is indirectly – sometimes even directly instilled in Christians, that their salvation comes from or one must belong to a ‘Building’ ‘ or you ‘endanger your if you leave’ absolutely nowhere is this taught in Scripture – period!
We point out in our teaching that the Greek word ekklesia means and should be translated ‘assembly’; not ‘Church/church’. The Jewish Brothers Yeshua personally chose, did not use the Greek word synagogue comes from, simply because in their time the synagogue began as a place of study before it also became a place of prayer.
They thus used the Greek ekklesia because it was the closest to the Hebrew ‘assembly’, which more deeply in Hebrew means ‘assemble for a single higher spiritual purpose’.
The Jewish Brothers no more thought of the post-Biblical Gentile idea of a de-Hebraized de-Judaized Greek/Greek philosophy, Latin, English-based ‘Church/church’, than William Shakespeare thought of Romeo as ‘Rubin’!
This is very very different than what Christians have been instilled with or very incorrectly taught to them; that somehow Yeshua is no longer (God forbid!) a Jew or part of the Jewish People.
Another Very Key Example
As we point out in our teaching; Luke’s Greek text rendering of Yeshua’s Hebraic original at the Last Passover Seder Lk.22:19-20, is not that Yeshua made a ‘New Testament’. But rather Luke uses a form of kainos ‘renewed/new in quality’. Luke does not use a form of neos ‘new in time’, i.e. ‘brand new’.
This results in a major major change in how one should see and understand what Yeshua did. Yeshua didn’t make a ‘New Testament’ Yeshua made a renewed/new in quality covenant.
A Final Key Example for Here of Why Learn the Bible from Hebrew & Greek
Gen. 12:3 is typically translated that the LORD said to Avraham, “And I will bless those that bless you and curse those that curse you”. Hebrew however uses two different words for curse, neither one of which mean what people typically think of the word curse from English. The first word curse in Hebrew more deeply means ‘to take lightly, to run past quickly, to be a material reduction to’.
The second word comes from a word which means ‘isolate and bring to ruin, weaken internally; a state of lifelessness’. Furthermore, in Hebrew we see that the LORD anticipates that more people will bless those from Avraham than curse, because bless is plural and curse is singular. Unfortunately, historically that has not been the case… But with the LORD restoring your Jewish Brothers (followers of Yeshua) to you today, you have an opportunity to bless that hasn’t been available in 1600 years!
In Closing Dear One
We hope the essay and teaching above is honoring to the LORD and has been enlightening and encouraging for you. We hope you have been enlightened and encouraged to seek to be taught God’s a wonderful Word, from its original languages.
All our teaching for you is taken directly from the original languages of the Bible. As the LORD has directed you to our site we of course hope you will utilize it; that’s what we’re here for!
However dear one if you don’t – for your sake – please seek out those who do teach from the original languages. Preferably a Jewish Brother (follower of Yeshua) who can very competently teach you from both Hebrew and the often Hebraic/Jewish Koine Greek Bible text. In my (Jacob’s) experience of 33+ years of following Yeshua, 30 years in ministry, Gentiles – with very few exceptions – learn and understand Hebrew from the ‘outside in’, rather than from the ‘inside out’.
It’s one thing to learn a language; dear one it’s entirely different when one ‘lives’ a language. Further my experience has been that even some of the finest evangelical scholars – men that I respect and admire – still too often miss Hebrew or Jewish connections or backgrounds about Yeshua or the Renewed Covenant Scriptures (a much more publicly accurate term than ‘New Testament’, as we explain in our teaching).
May our wonderful LORD richly bless your study of His wonderful Word, in the name of his Son Yeshua!
We (my very dear Christian ‘Philippian’ brother John, without whom there wouldn’t be this site) and I are here to help you study your Bible more deeply – and walk it out!
Praise God, further down back on our Home page – after our other Featured Teaching – we have 8 unique Windows, with hundreds of original audio & written teaching. Our Windows include podcasts, blogs, and our Learning & Conversation, as well as a Devotional Window, and a Window specifically designed to help and encourage those who’ve struggled with the Religious System. We have a real heart for you!
Our first Window though is very much focused on our wonderful Mashiach Yeshua! Everything flows from understanding and applying what he illuminates and lived out.
There can be no true, authentic Hebrew & Jewish ‘Roots’, in which he – along with the Father – are not preeminent! Yeshua is not the basis for my dear Christian brethren to pursue Hebrew & Jewish ‘Roots’, as most often typically taught today
Yeshua and his teaching – and what he and the Bible actually emphasize – must must must be front and center. Not, other things that Yeshua actually does not teach or emphasize
We must honor Yeshua to honor the Father Yochanon 5:19-26. With God’s help that’s what we try to help you dear one, be & do!