The 10 Biddings of God

[Bismarck]

My blood is Germanic -- German, Norse, and English. As such, I like Germanic rooted words, over against the Greek and Latin loan words that make up over half of the English tongue today (thanks to the Papal crusade against the then-Orthodox "Heretic England" fought by "William the Conqueror" in 1066). I find that true English words make clearer the meaning for me. So, to this end, I thought I would try to write the "10 Biddings of God" (that is, the 10 Commandments) using only true English words. I found the trial worth the time.

First of all, in the Hebrew, the first word you always read is the word for "No". That is, in the Hebrew, you do not read, "Thou shalt not...", but rather, "No shalt thee..." This makes the meaning bolder and more emphatic. It is what you would say when scolding a young child, perhaps, when you really want to grab their attention before they do ought else. So, if I might myself be so bold, I have tried to put some [inappropriate description deleted] into the '10 Biddings of GOD' (no less!).

And next, in Bidding 2, "Don't take God's Name in vain...", I was unclear what the (Latin-rooted) word 'vain' meant. So, I looked it up in 'Strong's Concordance', and it has Strong's Number 07723, and has the sense of 'emptiness'. So, to take the Lord's Name in vain does not really mean merely cursing, but rather more like making an oath in God's Name... and then never following through! That is, you call upon no less than Almighty God as your witness to your will to do X... but then you never do X... and you thereby make both yourself and Almighty God look bad in the eyes of the mortal men around you. Or, likewise, if Almighty God clearly bids you to do X, or forbids you to do Y, and you heed not those Biddings of the Almighty, you have also made the Name of God to look empty and weak before the eyes of mankind.

Lastly, I struggled with the Latin-rooted word "honor" in the 5th Bidding, "Honor thy mothers and fathers..." So I looked up the word in 'Strong's Concordance', and the 'Authorized Version' word 'Honour' has Strong's Number 03513, and carries the sense of "Heavy" and "Weighty". Thus, the true meaning is, "Give WEIGHT to your mothers and fathers..." For behold, ye dost not 'Honour' someone when you take them LIGHTLY and heed not what they say!

And so we have...

[ March 16, 2006, 10:33 AM: Message edited by: Phillip ]

 

[Bismarck]

THE 10 BIDDINGS OF ALMIGHTY GOD:
-------------------------------------

I AM GOD YOUR GOD! NEVER PUT OTHERS BEFORE ME!

NEVER SHALL YOU BOW TO LIKENESSES!

NEVER SHALL YOU BRING THE NAME OF GOD YOUR GOD TO NAUGHT!

MIND YE THE DAY OF REST TO KEEP IT HOLY!

GIVE WEIGHT TO YOUR MOTHERS AND FATHERS!

NEVER SHALL YOU MURDER!

NEVER SHALL YOU BREACH WEDLOCK!

NEVER SHALL YOU STEAL!

NEVER SHALL YOU BEAR WRONG WITNESS AGAINST YOUR NEIGHBOR!

NEVER SHALL YOU BEGRUDGE YOUR NEIGHBOR HIS HOUSE, HIS WIFE, THOSE OF HIS HOUSEHOLD, OR ANYTHING THAT BELONGS TO YOUR NEIGHBOR!

 

[rbell]

GIVE WEIGHT TO YOUR MOTHERS AND FATHERS!

hmmm...this might not be a popular wording...most mothers & fathers I know are trying to "give weight away" themselves.

 

[Helen]

I like that, Bismark. Very thoughtfully done. Thank you.

 

[genesis12]

You did well, Bismarck. I'd be interested in what you would do with "Lead us not into temptation."

 

[Calvibaptist]

Helen, I like what you've done here. At least the part that is still up. Allow me to make a few comments.

1) Hebrew is a very picturesque language. The reason the word "No" is first is to emphasize the negative aspect of the command. The word "you" that is usually found in the English is part of the second word in Hebrew, which is "to be, to come to pass." That is why most translations translate it "You shall have no"

The literal (word-for-word positional) translation would be "No you shall have gods other over my face." You see how bad this sounds in English? Therefore, "You shall have no other gods before me."

2) You are right with your understanding of vain meaning empty. This means much more than just using God's name as a curse-word. It has to do with claiming Him as your God and you as His child. Don't do that and not live like it. That is the sense of the command.

3) The word translated honor is the Hebrew word kavod. It literally means "heavy" and is very closely related (probably the root) to the word kavowd (both pronounced the same) that is usually translated "glory". In other words, God is a weighty God. Parents are to have weight. Neither of them are to be taken lightly.

 

[Helen]

Ummm, I didn't do it. Bismark did.

I guess God predestined him to...

 

[Bismarck]

Originally posted by genesis12:
You did well, Bismarck. I'd be interested in what you would do with "Lead us not into temptation."

THIS TURNED OUT TO BE WAY HARDER THAN I THOUGHT. I HOPE YOU DON'T MIND A LONG RESPONSE.


TEMPTATION in Matthew 6:13, as you quoted, has 'Strong's Number' 3986, and means roughly "lure / entice / tempt [for the purpose of testing / proving the thing's worth]". Here we see a clear link to the concept of SATAN as "ADVERSARY" who, as in the Book of Job, wittingly inflicts us with pain and suffering to see if, amidst the steel hail of enemy fire and the thundrous din of enemy artillery, we still steadfastly hold the line, or buckle and tap out, begging the Dark Side to let us serve it in order to stop the pain.

Strong's 3986 comes from 3985, which has pretty much the same meaning.

3985 comes in turn from 3984, which means "a trial [to get to know something by experience]". So again, we're in the same ballpark, which is why the strong's numbers are close and consecutive (3984 - 86).

3984 comes in turn from 4008, which means "beyond, the other side" from sense of "piercing", which I take to mean "punching through from one side of a barrier to the other". Here, we clearly have the sense of going from the Straight & Narrow (Light Side) through the barrier of aversion to sin and plopping down in the Dark Side (of the 'Queer &\ Wide'?).

Now, I don't know how to reconcile Matthew 6:13 here with JAMES 1:13, which clearly states, roughly, that "no man should think, when he is tempted, that he is tempted by God, for God is GOOD and does not evil". The SIMPLEST "theology" to my mind is that GOD is GOOD, the snake is evil, God calls you to do good and guard yourself by doing His will, while the crafty snake whips out every trick in his book to beguile you into sin, which sin weakens you and makes you VULNERABLE to punishment. In some sense, GOD is your SHIELD (Psalm 7:10; 18:2,30), and the snake tries to trick you into DROPPING YOUR GUARD so that he can slit your throat in your sleep.

So, since I am doing this INFORMAL rendering, in deference to James 1:13 and what makes sense to MY OWN MIND... I choose to render the phrase, "Lead us not into temptation" as something like "Don't let us be brought out from Rightwiseness" (Piecewise, Likewise, Cross-wise, Right-wise = Righteous w/o the Latinized ending).


Also, "Lead" is Strong's Number 1533, and usually means "Bring" (5 of 7 times).

And "deliver" is 4506, which means "draw one towards you", which here means "draw [us] to God".


Lastly, "Evil" is 4190. It means "to burden with toil and hardships". It is crucial to see that this links clearly to "Beginnings" (Genesis) 3:17-19, where Adam's failure (to hold the line and keep God's Bidding not to eat of the fruit the Evil mingled with Good) curses him to toil in the dust of his brow in the fields.

Furthermore, the Jewish Babylonian Talmud, which functions as a commentary on the OT, allegedly claims that the phrase "beasts of the field" refers to the peons forced into agricultural work by the ancient Babylonian and Sumerian (and Egyptian) police-states. Apparently, the phrase "the SNAKE (serpent) was smarter than all the beasts of the field" is somehow a reference to, as it were, how Nimrod kept all his captives in bondage beneath him because he was smarter than they were.

And some early "gnostic" Christians called Satan the "Demiurge". If you keep in mind that "D" and "T", as well as "G" and "K", are very similar sounds, you can easily see the Germanic cognate for "DEMI - URGE" = "TAME - WORK(er)". That is, Satan is not just evil for some random purpose... Satan has a METHOD to his madness... The SNAKE's goal is to BREAK YOU like an ANIMAL HANDLER would BREAK IN a horse... The SNAKE is that thing which is trying to TAME ALL MANKIND, to CRUSH MEN DOWN until they WORK FOR HIM, mindlessly pulling the levers of his house-of-cards like BIPEDAL COWS, setting Fred against Sally, Sally against Bill, and Bill against Bob, in an endless hierarchy of pain, suffering, and control, with the Snake sitting at the top drinking his long cold glass of lemonade and laughing at his handiwork.

So, all of these ALLUSIONS are present in the Greek word 4190 rendered in the '1611 Authorized Version' as merely 'Evil' or 'The Evil One'. The Evil One is he who burdens, harrasses, imposes labor and toil, he who in a sense has OWNED fallen mankind since he rustled Adam out from God's grasp back in the Garden of Eden. And, now, see the connection back to the word 3986/85/84/4008 for "temptation" as a "piercing" that takes you "over, beyond, to the other side"? The SNAKE snuck into the Garden of Eden, and by guileful lies and trickery suckered Adam & Eve out of the Garden of God... and into toil on the farm fields of Satan, his "beasts of the field".

So, I was looking for a word that means "Burdener" (Germanic), "Griever" (Latin), "one who heaps upon you hardships and heavy work loads". And, after some effort, I came across the word "Harrow". It comes from the FARM TOOL called a "Harrow" used to reap crops for harvest (not the root, "har", which means something like "gather, pluck"; harvest = "gathering time"). And, as a verb, it also means to "distress, harass, torment", nearly exactly what 4190 means. And, it also alludes to the Christian "Harrowing of Hell", which seems appropriate -- compared to the Godly Life in the Garden of Eden, toiling beneath the whips and in the chains of your master Nimrod as he looks down upon you burning in the hot son amidst the fields sprawled out before his palace windows IS hell.

So, I render 4190 as "the Harrower".


"Kingdom" is 932 which should actually be "Kingship" because it means "Royal Authority to Rule".

"Power" (1411) comes from Latin POTENT meaning "to be able", which is exactly what "Might" means, coming from "May", as in "I may do such and such" = "I am able to do such and such". Indeed, 1411 is not infrequently rendered "might".

1391 "glory" means "esteem, high reputation, honor, majesty, magnificence, stature, grandeur". Technically, 'worship' fits here, from 'worth-ship', meaning something "worthy" of respect and honor. But so would "Standing", which is equivalent to "stature" (someone of high stature stands tall). But from "grandeur" we get "loftiness, height". And I like 'loftiness', because it shows how Almighty God is the true "Heavenly Sky Father", as it were, compared to HUMBLE Adamic mankind, formed from the EARTH. (Note: Humble just means "grounded", as in "well grounded", as opposed to having "lofty" opinions of yourself like a neurotic. HOMO sapiens means "EARTHLING thinker", Homo, humus, humble, earth/ground -- the Latin preserves the Biblical sense of Adam is an EARTHLING formed from Mother Earth.)


And lastly lastly, 165, Greek 'eon', "for ever" or "to the age", is rendered "forever" in the AV-1611, but elsewhere as "for ever and ever", so it seems to need a little more on the gas pedal, so I say, "for ever more".

In total, we have:


Matthew 6:13
------------
And let us not be brought out from Rightwiseness,*
But draw us back from the Harrower.
For Thine is the Kingship,
and the Might,
and the Loftiness,
for ever more.
Amen.

*NOTE EXPLICITLY, LEST I BE ACCUSED OF PUTTING WORDS IN GOD'S MOUTH, THAT I HAVE TAKEN LIBERTIES WITH THE FIRST LINE, ON NTHER AUTHORITY BUT MY OWN REASON, AND UNDERSTANDING OF JAMES 1:13

 

[Bismarck]

Originally posted by rbell:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />GIVE WEIGHT TO YOUR MOTHERS AND FATHERS!

hmmm...this might not be a popular wording...most mothers & fathers I know are trying to "give weight away" themselves.

</font>[/QUOTE]Well, you know, "Give WEIGHTS to your mothers & fathers"....

 

[Bismarck]

Originally posted by Helen:
I like that, Bismark. Very thoughtfully done. Thank you.

My forebears didn't drive William the Conquistador back into the sea.

I at least want to drive his Graeco-Latin-French out of my Angle and Saxon tongue.

FYI, "Language" comes from "langue" which just exactly literally means "tongue". So, when you choose the ooh-la-la Norman Francais "Language" over the good old Angle-Saxon "tongue", you're just saying "tongue" in French...

which, historically, in point of objective fact -- plainly visible before the eyes of knowledgeable men, not even to mention Almighty God (I would guess, anyway) -- is the language of those who bested, beat, and slaughtered my forebears.

Willy the Conquistador waged a PAPAL CRUSADE on behalf of Pope Alexander 2...

against HERETIC ENGLAND...

(which was then ORTHODOX and marginally aligned with the Greeks, but Rome had broken with the Eastern Orthodox in the "Great Schism" of 1054)

and according to his own DOOMSDAY Book (note the name)...

he killed off 20% of the English population, which is estimated to have been about 1,000,000 at the time.

So, Willy the Conquistador slaughtered 200,000 Angles, Saxons, and Jutes ON THE POPE's ORDERS.

It took that kind of MASS MURDER to subdue the "Anglish"...

but subdued they were.

Please see the 1964 movie BECKET for some good visuals on just exactly what the normans did.

In point of fact, the Romans IMPERIALIZED the English 1000 years ago. And it shows. The English tongue is today mostly FRENCH, GREEK and LATIN rooted words...

and in SCIENCE (Latin), like PHYSICS (Latin), the ESTEEMED PROFESSORS (Latin x2) only speak in Latin (FORCE, MASS, ACCELERATION) because using good Saxon words like DRIVE, HEFT, and QUICKENING (respectively), which mean the very same, aren't good enough for today's LONG IMPERIALIZED Saxons, who actually IDENTIFY pleasurably with the very NORMAN FRENCH that they should, in truth, acknowledge as their SHAME.

Nobody likes the truth.

It's not my fault.

The truth only sucks because NOBODY DOES JACK ABOUT IT.

It makes me EXTREMELY ANGRY.

I claim I have not even BEGUN to scratch the SURFACE of what Willy the Conquistador did for his "Pope", which means father, and now please read Matthew 23:9.

I will stop now before I really lose it.

Thank you for your words.

"We can make our German ravens sing as sweetly as any Roman nightingale" -- Martin Luther (who did spearhead the whole show, thanks Marty!)