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By
Rabbi Isidore Kalisch of Cleveland
No. I.
The Hebrew לשון קודש,
or Jewish יהודית or
more properly the speech of Canaan or Phoenicia
שפת כנען, in which
the books of the sacred Scriptures are composed,
must be viewed as the original language, both from
its internal structure, since it embraces many words
which are imitations of natural sounds, and because
there are found in nearly all known languages of the
world some words evidently derived from it. To
illustrate this, I will cite here several words.
קבה
(Kubbah) tent, chamber, is the Arabic
alcaba; French, cabinet; English,
cabin.
בר
(Bar) a child; one born; is similar to the
bairn or barn, that which is born, or
child, words in use, according to Ulphilas, among
the Goths about the year 360, C. E. [or the Scottish
bairn.]
הגיד
(Higgid) the Gothic (?) quithan. from
which the English quoth is evidently derived, and is
only not to be recognised through the method of the
pronunciation. In the Sclavonian language there is
nowise the word goddai, to speak; which is
also of Hebrew origin.
ארץ
(A’retz) is the airtha of the
age of Ulphilas, the English earth, [the
German erde]; the Chaldean
ארעא, the Latin
terra, and French terre.
אכר
(Ikkar) farmer, is the German acker,
whence also the English and French acre is
derived.
אנכי
(Ahnochi) I, is the Koptic anok;
אתה (Attah)
is the Sanscrit tua, Egyptian entok,
fem. ento; the Persian tu; the Greek
τύ the Latin tu, the English thou, and
the German du. הוא
(Hoo) is the Greek ο and the English.
עד
(’Ad) until, is the Latin ad.
שש
(Shesh) six, is the Sclavonian
shesh. שבע (Sheva)
is the English seven; the German sieben.
שק
(Sack) is the Greek σάχχος, the Latin
saccus, the English and German sack, the
French sac. תר
(Tore) the turtledove, is the Latin turtur.
קול (Kole)
the voice, is the Greek χαλέω, the Latin calo,
and the English call.
מנע
(Mana’) to withhold, in the Greek
άμύιω. געה (Ga’ah)
to moan, the Greek γοάω.
<<35>>
It
is therefore with reason that we read in Bereshith
Rabbah, chap. viii. “Rabbi Phineas and Rabbi
Hesekiah say in the name of Rabbi Simon, Just as the
law was given in the holy language, so was the world
likewise created in the same;” meaning that it was
the original language of mankind. To prove this it
is shown there, that in all known languages the
word designating the female sex is different from
that denoting the male, which is the case in Hebrew,
since Adam called his wife
אישה ishah,
because she was taken from
איש ish:
whereas in Greek the words are γιυή and άυίς, in
Latin femina and vir, in Chaldean
אתתא and
גברא, &c., [the
English woman from man is more accidental than
designed,] whence it is argued that the Hebrew was
the original language of the first man.
But the most cogent proof is drawn from the fact
that the oldest names of persons, nations, towns,
and countries, are Hebrew, and more especially
since the history of many indicate the causes of
their nomenclature. For instance,
אדם
Adam, man from
אדמה
adamah, the ground;
קין
Kahyin, Cain, from
קניתי
kahneete, I have acquired;
נח Noah, from
ינוחמנו
yenachamaynoo, he will comfort us;
בבל
Babel, from
בלל bahlal, to
mingle, &c., which causes are only applicable, and
to be explained as bawd upon the Hebrew. If we are
now told in Gen. xi. 1, “And all the earth was of
one speech and one species of phrases,” the Hebrew
language only can be meant here. But after the
confusion of tongues at Babel the original
language seems to have sustained itself only among
the Phoenicians and our ancestors, even when the
latter dwelt in Egypt. If it is now highly
interesting to know this first and in consequence
oldest language of the world, in order to trace the
gradual development of the human mind, and I may
say, to discover the secrets and the artificial laws
of language in its primeval laboratory it is for us
Israelites of still higher interest, because not
only the occurrences and the remarkable fortunes of
our forefathers, but also the holiest and most
important doctrines have been communicated to us in
this language; and it is accordingly undeniably
useful to us, if we can read all those things in the
original tongue.
The contents of the first book of Moses are, as is
well known, of an historical character, and it
embraces the narrative of the creation of the world
and the memorable events of the life of our
forefathers, the patriarchs of Israel; although the
learned are divided in opinion respecting the motive
of God in revealing to us the history of the
creation, that is, that part which relates to the
origin sad development of the earth. Rashi
quotes the opinion of his father* that the Bible
which ought to <<36>>have commenced with
החודש הזה לכם,
“This month shall be unto you,” &c, (Exod. xii. 2,)
which is the first precept which was revealed to
Israel, begins with the history of the creation, in
order to justify thereby the occupation of the land
of Canaan by the Israelites; for inasmuch as God
invested all the earth, He could with propriety take
away the country in question from those who had
abused the gift, and bestow it on others, who would
live more piously. Others think, that the belief in
one God should be more firmly established by means
of this narrative; for the idea, that God is the
Creator of heaven and earth, with all imaginable
beings therein contained, is sufficiently
comprehensive to found thereon our system of
religion and to direct thereby our course of
conduct. Others again suppose, and this view is
confirmed by Exod. xx. and xxiii. 12, that the
history of the creation was to give us the reason
why precisely the celebration of the seventh-day
rest was ordained, and this opinion appears to me
the most correct and important, for by adopting this
we have the reason and object of the whole creation.
God, accordingly, is represented to have been moved
to create the world, that the search in the
revelation of his perfections might become the means
for the happiness and salvation of mankind.
Therefore we read in Gen. ii. 2, “And God finished
with the seventh day his work which he had
made,” not, as usually rendered, on the, &c.;
for since on the seventh day nothing additional was
created, it should be said of right, “He finished on
the sixth day;” but as indicated already, the
seventh day itself was the completion of the whole
work; and only then, when we reflect seriously on
God and his creation, and learn to know his wondrous
deeds, and thus enjoy the highest beatitude through
a knowledge of God, can we attain the highest object
of our existence.
The only thing which may seem strange to every deep
thinker is the circumstance, that nowhere in the
Bible is there any argument adduced in favour of the
existence of God. But if we reflect that the Bible
is the revealed word of God, it presupposes the
existence of God, and deems it unnecessary to
establish this by any course of argumentation, [in
the same manner that it would be absurd in a speaker
who addresses an audience to set out with a series
of arguments to prove to them that he really existed
and was not the effect of a wild fancy or heated
imagination;] the more so, since the existence of
God was believed in <<37>> by all nations, however
erroneous their conceptions of Him may have been. It
was accordingly not necessary to prove to man
that God exists, but to show what God is;
and we are therefore taught in innumerable passages
in the Scriptures that God is the Creator and
Preserver of the universe, and the Benefactor of all
beings. The oldest, and I am privileged to say the
patriarchal, appellation of the Deity is
שדי
Shadday, the Preserver. The Septuagint
translate this name either with παντοχτωζ,* the
All-governing, or ίχανός, the Self-sufficient. The
first translation appears to me the most correct,
because the word שדי
shadday is probably derived from
שד shahd the
breast, meaning, that as the child draws its
nourishment from its mother’s breast, thus does the
whole universe obtain its food from the gift of God.
This to my mind is also the reason that of all the
names of God this one, Shadday, is that which is
written in the Mezoozah; as it is intended to
remind us when we go out or come in, that the Lord
is the Sustainer and Provider of the world, and
that we should place our trust in Him alone.
2.
God is designated as אל
Ale, the Almighty; in the earliest
ages, it was combined with the word
שדי, thus
אל שדי
Ale Shadday, the Almighty Preserver of
all things.
3.
אלוה
Eloah, and with a plural termination
אלהים
Elohim. The singular form is only
employed in poetical passages; the plural, however,
is by far the most frequent. The real meaning of
this word is similar to the Arabic Allah: the One to
whom prayers should be offered, wherefore
magistrates also are called Elohim. The
signification of this word is also indicated through
its external form; for the plural, which is
expressed by the final syllable
ים im, is only
employed to denote the fulness of the majesty which
is possessed by this only existing God. But that it
conveys merely a single undivided Being, is proved
without a possibility of doubt, because the verb
which is connected with it, is always found in the
singular; e. g. ברא אלהים,
God has created, not בראו
they have created. So also we find in
Gen. xlii. 30, דבר האיש
אדני הארץ “The man the
lord of the land hath spoken,” literally “the man
the lords,” not אדון
“the lord,” where the plural is employed, on
account of the majesty of the individual spoken of,
just as rulers now-a-days write of themselves, thus,
“We, Frederick William, <<38>>by the grace of
God, King of Prussia, do ordain,” instead of I,
&c.; and precisely this is the case with the
expression אלהים.
4.
אדון (Adone)
Lord, which is however mostly found in the plural
form אדני
Adonay. This also is done to designate
properly the Source of all dignities and glories.
5.
אליון (Elyone)
the Most High, i. e. He who rules the whole
universe.
6.
צבעות (Zebaoth),
which word is always connected with
ה׳ or
אלהי, signifies the
Most Exalted, who is the Lord of all hosts, that is,
of all the various constellations and their
inhabitants.
7.
ה׳ the Everbeing,
the Eternal, Providence. This is the proper name of
God, under which He is to be adored, but is not
pronounced by any Israelite, out of reverence for
its sanctity, but always
אדני, Adonay.
8.
יה (Yah)
God, is probably an abbreviated form of the
preceding appellation, and denotes the Supreme
Ruler, as appears from Isaiah, cxxvi. is
כי ביה ה׳ צור עולמים,
“For in Yah the Eternal is the prop of the world.”
That such a supreme, only, perfect, and eternal
Being exists is often asserted in the Bible, or
predicated on the contemplation of outward nature.
(See Ps. viii., &c.)
Genesis, Chap. I.
V.
1.—“In the beginning God created the heavens and the
earth.” The usual name ה׳
seems to me to have been here omitted and
אלהים substituted,
for the reason, that so long as nothing was created
no Providence was required to be active. Under
השמים the heavens,
the universe must be understood; and it is therefore
mentioned before “the earth,” because the
constellations were created before our solar system,
as also appears from Job xxxviii. 7 “When the stars
of morning praised me together, and all the superior
beings shouted for joy—who shut up the sea with
doors, when it came forth as out of the womb?”
I
shall explain farther down what is to be understood
by שמים “heaven,”
and רקיע “the
firmament” or “expanse.” The reason why the phrase
“in the beginning” is made use of and no period is
given, is owing to the fact that eternity preceded
the creation of our solar system, which is a
necessary accompaniment of the idea of the existence
of God, and the “When,” the “Period,” of the Eternal
Being cannot be given. A period might have been
stated referring to another previously created
solar system; but as such a statement could have no
<<39>>interest for us, (except to gratify mere
curiosity,) it has been omitted.
V.
3.—“And God said, Let there be light, and it was
light,” i. e. a substance which is luminous,
material light.
Light was therefore created first of all, because
without it nothing can come to perfection, it being
in very truth the source of all life. V. 4. “And God
observed the light that it was useful, and he
divided therefore the light from the darkness.”
The usual translation, “And God saw the light that
it was good,” is incorrect; for should not God, the
Omniscient, have already known beforehand that the
light would be good? The phrase “and God divided,”
&c., asserts not that God separated the light from
the darkness, for this would be an absurd
assumption; but it means to say that a rotation of
our solar system around the newly created light
matter was then begun, through which means the
mutations of day and night were produced. And since
we know that day and night originate, because whilst
the earth revolves around her axis, she is either
turned to or away from the sun, which could at that
period not be the case, because the relation of our
earth to the sun was only established on the fourth
day of the creation, the rotation of the earth round
the light matter is proved, especially since we read
in v. 5, “And it was evening and it was morning the
first day.” It is impossible however to determine
whether the period of the rotation of the earth
around her axis then lasted twenty-four hours, or a
hundred, or a thousand, or ten thousand years,
(which latter idea is maintained by naturalists,) by
means of any data within our reach. At all events we
should not render יום
with “day,” but “period,” in which sense it is often
met with in the Bible. יום
אחד does therefore not mean “one day,” or
“the first day,” but the “first period,” the “first
epoch.”
(To be continued.) |
