Study Notes Week 37

Torah Study Notes for Week 37 of the Torah Reading Cycle


Read
Aloud together to hear the Word (Leviticus 23:1-3; Nehemiah 8:1-4; Luke 4:16-17)

  • Torah (T): Bereshiyt (Genesis) 37:1-36
  • Prophets (P): Jeremiah 38:1-13
  • Apostolic (A): Matthew 3:13-17
  • Additional (ADD): Jubilees 34:1-19
Bereshiyt (Genesis) 37:1-36

37:1 Jacob lived in the land of his father's travels, in the land of Canaan. 2 These are the birthings of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives. Joseph brought [their](MTT) evil slander to their father. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a tunic [of many colors].(LXX) 4 His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and they hated him, and couldn't speak peaceably to him. 5 Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him all the more. 6 He said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: 7 for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and behold, your sheaves came around, and bowed down to my sheaf.” 8 His brothers asked him, “Will you indeed reign over us? Will you indeed rule over us?” They hated him all the more for his dreams and for his words. 9 He dreamed yet another dream, and told it [to his father and](LXX) to his brothers, and said, “Behold, I have dreamed yet another dream: and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down to me.” 10 He told it to his father and to his brothers. His father rebuked him, and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Will I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves down to the land before you?” 11 His brothers envied him, but his father guarded the word. 12 His brothers went to feed their father's flock in Shechem. 13 Israel said to Joseph, “Aren't your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them.” He said to him, “Here I am.” 14 He said to him, “Go now, see whether it is well with your brothers, and well with the flock; and bring me word again.” So he sent him out of the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. 15 A certain man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field. The man asked him, “What are you looking for?” 16 He said, “I am looking for my brothers. Tell me, please, where they are feeding the flock.” 17 The man said, “They have left here, for I heard them say, ‘Let's go to Dothan.' ” Joseph went after his brothers, and found them in Dothan. 18 They saw him afar off, and before he came near to them, they [acted craftily with him](LXX) to kill him. 19 They said to one another, “Behold, this dreamer comes. 20 Come now therefore, and let's kill him, and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, ‘An evil animal has devoured him.' We will see what will become of his dreams.” 21 Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hand, and said, “Let's not take his life.” 22 Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him”—that he might deliver him out of their hand, to restore him to his father. 23 When Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic that was on him; 24 and they took him, and threw him into the pit. The pit was empty. There was no water in it. 25 They sat down to eat bread, and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing spices and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt. 26 Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 27 Come, and let's sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not let our hand be on him; for he is our brother, our flesh.” His brothers listened to him. 28 Midianites who were merchants passed by, and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. The merchants brought Joseph into Egypt. 29 Reuben returned to the pit, and saw that Joseph wasn't in the pit; and he tore his clothes. 30 He returned to his brothers, and said, “The child is no more; and I, where will I go?” 31 They took Joseph's tunic, and killed a male goat, and dipped the tunic in the blood. 32 They took the tunic, and they brought it to their father, and said, “We have found this. Examine it, now, and see if it is your son's tunic or not.” 33 He recognized it, and said, “It is my son's tunic. An evil animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces.” 34 Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days. 35 All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. He said, “For I will go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” His father wept for him. 36 The [Midianites](LXX) sold him into Egypt to Potiphar, [the eunuch](LXX)(mss) of Pharaoh, the ruler of the slaughterers.

Torah Portion Summary
Context and coherence (Nehemiah 8:8)

Review of Genesis 36:1-43

  1. Genesis 36:1 These are the birthings of Esau, that is, Edom.
    1. Jubilees 37:24-25 And when Jacob saw that he was (so) evilly disposed towards him with his heart, and with all his soul as to slay him, and that he had come springing like the wild boar which cometh upon the spear that pierceth and killeth it, and recoileth not from it; 25. Then he spake to his own and to his servants that they should attack him and all his companions.
    2. Jubilees 38:1-3 And after that Judah spake to Jacob, his father, and said unto him: “Bend thy bow, father, and send forth thy arrows and cast down the adversary and slay the enemy; and mayest thou have the power, for we will not slay thy brother, for he is such as thou, and he is like thee: let us give him (this) honour.” 2. Then Jacob bent his bow and sent forth the arrow and struck Esau, his brother, (on his right breast) and slew him. 3. And again he sent forth an arrow and struck ‘Adôrân the Aramaean, on the left breast, and drove him backward and slew him.
    3. Jubilees 38:4-9 And then went forth the sons of Jacob, they and their servants, dividing themselves into companies on the four sides of the tower. 5. And Judah went forth in front, and Naphtali and Gad with him and fifty servants with him on the south side of the tower, and they slew all they found before them, and not one individual of them escaped. 6. And Levi and Dan and Asher went forth on the east side of the tower, and fifty (men) with them, and they slew the fighting men of Moab and Ammon. 7. And Reuben and Issachar and Zebulon went forth on the north side of the tower, and fifty men with them, and they slew the fighting men of the Philistines. 8. And Shimon and Benjamin and Enoch, Reuben’s son, went forth on the west side of the tower, and fifty (men) with them, and they slew of Edom and of the Horites four hundred men, stout warriors; and six hundred fled, and four of the sons of Esau fled with them, and left their father lying slain, as he had fallen on the hill which is in ‘Adûrâm. 9. And the sons of Jacob pursued after them to the mountains of Seir. And Jacob buried his brother on the hill which is in ‘Adûrâm, and he returned to his house.
    4. Jubilees 38:10-14 And the sons of Jacob pressed hard upon the sons of Esau in the mountains of Seir, and bowed their necks so that they became servants of the sons of Jacob. 11. And they sent to their father (to inquire) whether they should make peace with them or slay them. 12. And Jacob sent word to his sons that they should make peace, and they made peace with them, and placed the yoke of servitude upon them, so that they paid tribute to Jacob and to his sons always. 13. And they continued to pay tribute to Jacob until the day that he went down into Egypt. 14. And the sons of Edom have not got quit of the yoke of servitude which the twelve sons of Jacob had imposed on them until this day.
  2. Genesis 36:31-43 These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before any king reigned over the sons of Israel. 32 [Balak],(LXX) the son of Beor, reigned in Edom. The name of his city was Dinhabah. 33 [Balak](LXX) died, and Jobab, the son of Zerah of Bozrah, reigned in his place. 34 Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his place. 35 Husham died, and Hadad, the son of Bedad, who struck Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his place. The name of his city was Avith. 36 Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his place. 37 Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth by the river, reigned in his place. 38 Shaul died, and Baal Hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his place. 39 Baal Hanan the son of Achbor died, and [Hadad](LXX) reigned in his place. The name of his city was Pau. His wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab. 40 These are the names of the chiefs who came from Esau, according to their families, after their places, and by their names: chief Timna, chief Alvah, chief Jetheth, 41 chief Oholibamah, chief Elah, chief Pinon, 42 chief Kenaz, chief Teman, chief Mibzar, 43 chief Magdiel, and chief Iram. These are the chiefs of Edom, according to their habitations in the land of their possession. This is Esau, the father of the Edomites.

Genesis 37:1-36

  1. Genesis 37:1 Jacob lived in the land of his father’s travels, in the land of Canaan. 2 These are the birthings of Jacob…
    1. When “birthings” or the generations of a person or people are listed in Genesis, it’s usually done once someone dies. There are multiple metaphorical deaths in this chapter and two real deaths.
  2. Genesis 37:2 …Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. Joseph brought an evil slander of them to their father.
    1. Numbers 13:30-33 Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, “Let’s go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it!” 31 But the men who went up with him said, “We aren’t able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.” 32 They brought up a slander of the land which they had spied out to the sons of Israel, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that eats up its inhabitants; and all the people who we saw in it are men of great measurements. 33 There we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim. We were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.”
  3. Genesis 37:3-4 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a tunic [of many colors].(LXX) 4 His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and they hated him, and couldn’t speak peaceably to him.
  4. Genesis 37:5-8 Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him all the more. 6 He said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: 7 for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and behold, your sheaves came around, and bowed down to my sheaf.” 8 His brothers asked him, “Will you indeed reign over us? Will you indeed rule over us?” They hated him all the more for his dreams and for his words.
  5. Genesis 37:9-11 He dreamed yet another dream, and told it [to his father and](LXX) to his brothers, and said, “Behold, I have dreamed yet another dream: and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down to me.” 10 He told it to his father and to his brothers. His father rebuked him, and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Will I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves down to the land before you?” 11 His brothers envied him, but his father kept this saying in mind.
  6. Jubilees 34:1-9 Between 1947 and 1956 approximately 15 Jubilees scrolls were found in five caves at Qumran, all written in Hebrew. The large number of manuscripts (more than for any biblical books except for Psalms, Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Exodus, and Genesis, in descending order) indicates that Jubilees was widely used at Qumran. A comparison of the Qumran texts with the Ethiopic version, performed by James VanderKam, found that the Ethiopic was in most respects an accurate and literalistic translation. Scholars have dated Jubilees to have been written sometime around 160-150 B.C.
    1. 34:1 And in the sixth year of this week of this forty-fourth jubilee [2148 A.M.] Jacob sent his sons to pasture their sheep, and his servants with them, to the pastures of Shechem. 2. And the seven kings of the Amorites assembled themselves together against them, to slay them, hiding themselves under the trees, and to take their cattle as a prey. 3. And Jacob and Levi and Judah and Joseph were in the house with Isaac their father; for his spirit was sorrowful, and they could not leave him: and Benjamin was the youngest, and for this reason remained with his father. 4. And there came the king[s] of Tâphû, and the king[s] of †’Arêsa,† and the king[s] of Sêragân, and the king[s] of Sêlô, and the king[s] of Gâ’as, and the king of Bêthôrôn, and the king of †Ma’anîsâkîr,† and all those who dwell in these mountains (and) who dwell in the woods in the land of Canaan. 5. And they announced this to Jacob saying: “Behold, the kings of the Amorites have surrounded thy sons, and plundered their herds.” 6. And he arose from his house he and his three sons and all the servants of his father, and his own servants, and he went against them with six thousand men, who carried swords. 7. And he slew them in the pastures of Shechem, and pursued those who fled, and he slew them with the edge of the sword, and he slew †’Arêsa † and Tâphû and Sarêgân and Sêlô and †’Amânîsakîr† and Gâ[gâ]’as, and he recovered his herds. 8. And he prevailed over them, and imposed tribute on them that they should pay him tribute, five fruit products of their land, and he built Rôbêl and Tamnâtârês 9. And he returned in peace, and made peace with them, and they became his servants, until the day that he and his sons went down into Egypt.
      1. Testament of Judah 1:48-54 The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs is  comprised of the dying commands of the twelve sons of Jacob. It is part of the Oskan Armenian Orthodox Bible of 1666. Fragments of similar writings were found at Qumran, but opinions are divided as to whether these are the same texts. The Testament of Judah (a portion of which is shown below) is primarily concerned with courage, monetary greed, and fornication. It begins by portraying Judah as idealistically courageous, involving bravery in front of wild beasts, as well as successful military expeditions, sometimes basing the narrative on acts that the canonical bible attributes to Jacob.1:48 We came upon them, therefore, with wrath, and they all fled; and passing by another way, they fought my father, and he made peace with them. 49 And we did to them no hurt, and they became tributary to us, and we restored to them their spoil. 50 And I built Thamna, and my father built Pabael. 51 I was twenty years old when this war befell. And the Canaanites feared me and my brethren. 52 And I had much cattle, and I had for chief herdsman Iram the Adullamite. 53 And when I went to him I saw Parsaba, king of Adullam; and he spake unto us, and he made us a feast; and when I was heated he gave me his daughter Bathshua to wife. 54 She bare me Er, and Onan and Shelah; and two of them the Lord smote: for Shelah lived, and his children are ye.
    2. Genesis 48:21-22 He blessed them that day, saying, “Israel will bless in you, saying, ‘Elohim make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh’ ” He set Ephraim before Manasseh. 21 Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am dying, but Elohim will be with you, and bring you again to the land of your fathers. 22 Moreover I have given to you one portion (שְׁכֶם shechem) above your brothers, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.”
      1. Presbyterian Minister Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible (1798-1870):  At the point of death Jacob expresses his assurance of the return of his posterity to the land of promise, and bestows on Joseph one share or piece of ground above his brethren, which, says he, I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow. This share is, in the original, שׁכם shekem, Shekem, a shoulder or tract of land. This region included “the parcel of the field where he had spread his tent” Gen 33:19. It refers to the whole territory of Shekem, which was conquered by his sword and his bow, inasmuch as the city itself was sacked, and its inhabitants put to the sword by his sons at the head of his armed retainers, though without his approval Gen. 34. Though he withdrew immediately after to Bethel Gen. 35, yet he neither fled nor relinquished possession of this conquest, as we find his sons feeding his flocks there when he himself was residing at Hebron Gen 37:13. The incidental conquest of such a tract was no more at variance with the subsequent acquisition of the whole country than the purchase of a field by Abraham or a parcel of ground by Jacob himself. In accordance with this gift Joseph’s bones were deposited in Shekem, after the conquest of the whole land by returning Israel. The territory of Shekem was probably not equal in extent to that of Ephraim, but was included within its bounds.
      2. Keil & Delitzsch Commentary Lastly, (Gen 48:21) Israel expressed to Joseph his firm faith in the promise, that God would bring back his descendants after his death into the land of their fathers (Canaan), and assigned to him a double portion in the promised land, the conquest of which passed before his prophetic glance as already accomplished, in order to insure for the future the inheritance of the adopted sons of Joseph. “I give thee one ridge of land above thy brethren” (i.e., above what thy brethren receive, each as a single tribe), “which I take from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and bow” (i.e., by force of arms). As the perfect is used prophetically, transposing the future to the present as being already accomplished, so the words לקחתּי אשׁר must also be understood prophetically, as denoting that Jacob would wrest the land from the Amorites, not in his own person, but in that of his posterity. (Note: There is no force in Kurtz’s objection, that this gift did not apply to Joseph as the father of Ephraim and Manasseh, but to Joseph personally; for it rests upon the erroneous assumption, that Jacob separated Joseph from his sons by their adoption. But there is not a word to that effect in Gen 48:6, and the very opposite in Gen 48:15, viz., that Jacob blessed Joseph in Ephraim and Manasseh. Heim’s conjecture, which Kurtz approves, that by the land given to Joseph we are to understand the high land of Gilead, which Jacob had conquered from the Amorites, needs no refutation, for it is purely imaginary.) The words cannot refer to the purchase of the piece of ground at Shechem (Gen 33:19), for a purchase could not possibly be called a conquest by sword and bow; and still less to the crime committed by the sons of Jacob against the inhabitants of Shechem, when they plundered the town (Gen 34:25.), for Jacob could not possibly have attributed to himself a deed for which he had pronounced a curse upon Shimon and Levi (Gen 49:6-7), not to mention the fact, that the plundering of Shechem was not followed in this instance by the possession of the city, but by the removal of Jacob from the neighbourhood. “Moreover, any conquest of territory would have been entirely at variance with the character of the patriarchal history, which consisted in the renunciation of all reliance upon human power, and a believing, devoted trust in the God of the promises” ( Delitzsch). The land, which the patriarchs desired to obtain in Canaan, they procured not by force of arms, but by legal purchase (cf. Gen 24 and Gen 33:19). It was to be very different in the future, when the iniquity of the Amorites was full (Gen 15:16). But Jacob called the inheritance, which Joseph was to have in excess of his brethren, שׁכם (lit., shoulder, or more properly nape, neck; here figuratively a ridge, or tract of land), as a play upon the word Shechem, because he regarded the piece of land purchased at Shechem as a pledge of the future possession of the whole land. In the piece purchased there, the bones of Joseph were buried, after the conquest of Canaan (Jos 24:32); and this was understood in future times, as though Jacob had presented the piece of ground to Joseph (vid., Joh 4:5).
  7. Genesis 37:12-13 His brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem. 13 Israel said to Joseph, “Aren’t your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them.” He said to him, “Here I am.”
    1. Isaiah 6:1-10 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each one had six wings. With two he covered his face. With two he covered his feet. With two he flew. 3 One called to another, and said, “Holy, holy, holy, is YHWH of Armies! The whole earth is full of his glory!” 4 The foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 Then I said, “Woe is me! For I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the King, YHWH of Armies!” 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar. 7 He touched my mouth with it, and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin forgiven.” 8 I heard the Lord’s voice, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am. Send me!” 9 He said, “Go, and tell this people, ‘You hear indeed, but don’t understand. You see indeed, but don’t perceive.’ 10 Make the heart of this people fat. Make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and turn again, and be healed.”
  8. Genesis 37:14-17 He said to him, “Go now, see whether it is well with your brothers, and well with the flock; and bring me word again.” So he sent him out of the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. 15 A certain man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field. The man asked him, “What are you looking for?” 16 He said, “I am looking for my brothers. Tell me, please, where they are feeding the flock.” 17 The man said, “They have left here, for I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’ ” Joseph went after his brothers, and found them in Dothan.
  9. Genesis 37:18-19 They saw him afar off, and before he came near to them, they [acted craftily with him](MTT) to kill him. 19 They said to one another, “Behold, this dreamer comes. 20 Come now therefore, and let’s kill him, and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, ‘An evil animal has devoured him.’ We will see what will become of his dreams.”
    1. Psalms 105:23-26 Israel also came into Egypt. Jacob lived in the land of Ham. 24 He increased his people greatly, and made them stronger than their adversaries. 25 He turned their heart to hate his people, to conspire (act craftily) against his servants. 26 He sent Moses, his servant, and Aaron, whom he had chosen.
    2. Malachi 1:14 “But the deceiver (the one who acts craftily) is cursed who has in his flock a male, and vows and sacrifices to the Lord a defective thing; for I am a great King,” says YHWH of Armies, “and my name is awesome among the nations.”
  10. Genesis 37:21-22 Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hand, and said, “Let’s not take his life.” 22 Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him”—that he might deliver him out of their hand, to restore him to his father.
  11. Genesis 37:23-24 When Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic that was on him; 24 and they took him, and threw him into the pit. The pit was empty. There was no water in it.
  12. Genesis 37:25-28 They sat down to eat bread, and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing spices and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt. 26 Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 27 Come, and let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not let our hand be on him; for he is our brother, our flesh.” His brothers listened to him. 28 Midianites who were merchants passed by, and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. The merchants brought Joseph into Egypt.
    1. Jubilees 34:10-19 And in the seventh year of this week [2149 A.M.] he sent Joseph to learn about the welfare of his brothers from his house to the land of Shechem, and he found them in the land of Dothan. 11. And they dealt treacherously with him, and formed a plot against him to slay him, but changing their minds, they sold him to Ishmaelite merchants, and they brought him down into Egypt, and they sold him to Potiphar, the eunuch of Pharaoh, the chief of the cooks, priest of the city of ‘Êlêw.
      1. שַׂר הַטַבָּחִים Sar HaTabbachim (H8269 + H2867) literally means “ruler of the slaughterers” and is often translated as “executioner” because a priest slaughters animals for offering to their elohim and also cooks these slaughtered animals for food to be eaten by the priests and their families. According to Jubilees 34:11, Potiphar, the eunuch of Pharaoh, was the “chief of the cooks” and priest of the city of ‘Êlêw, fulfilling the duty and dual purpose of “ruler of the slaughterers.”
  13. Genesis 37:29-35 Reuben returned to the pit, and saw that Joseph wasn’t in the pit; and he tore his clothes. 30 He returned to his brothers, and said, “The child is no more; and I, where will I go?” 31 They took Joseph’s tunic, and killed a male goat, and dipped the tunic in the blood. 32 They took the tunic, and they brought it to their father, and said, “We have found this. Examine it, now, and see if it is your son’s tunic or not.” 33 He recognized it, and said, “It is my son’s tunic. An evil animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces.” 34 Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days. 35 All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. He said, “For I will go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” His father wept for him.
    1. Jubilees 34:12-19 And the sons of Jacob slaughtered a kid, and dipped the coat of Joseph in the blood, and sent (it) to Jacob their father on the tenth of the seventh month. 13. And he mourned all that night, for they had brought it to him in the evening, and he became feverish with mourning for his death, and he said: “An evil beast hath devoured Joseph”; and all the members of his house [mourned with him that day, and they] were grieving and mourning with him all that day. 14. And his sons and his daughter rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted for his son. 15. And on that day Bilhah heard that Joseph had perished, and she died mourning him, and she was living in †Qafrâtêf† and Dinah also, his daughter, died after Joseph had perished. And there came these three mournings upon Israel in one month. 16. And they buried Bilhah over against the tomb of Rachel, and Dinah also, his daughter, they buried there.
    2. Jubilees 34:17 And he mourned for Joseph one year, and did not cease, for he said “Let me go down to the grave mourning for my son.” 18. For this reason it is ordained for the sons of Israel that they should afflict themselves on the tenth of the seventh month–on the day that the news which made him weep for Joseph came to Jacob his father–that they should make atonement for themselves thereon with a young goat on the tenth of the seventh month, once a year, for their sins; for they had grieved the affection of their father regarding Joseph his son. 19. And this day hath been ordained that they should grieve thereon for their sins, and for all their transgressions and for all their errors, so that they might cleanse themselves on that day once a year.
  14. Genesis 37:36 The [Midianites](LXX) sold him into Egypt to Potiphar, [the eunuch](LXX)(mss) of Pharaoh, the ruler of the slaughterers.

Apostolic Summary
Context and coherence (Nehemiah 8:8)

  1. Perhaps no one other than Messiah Himself has more significance to the Gospel than John the Baptist.
    1. The Apostles that recorded scripture, either in the synoptic Gospels or the epistles are without a doubt significant. 
    2. He fulfilled prophecy and provided testimony to Yeshua as Messiah in profound ways. 
  2. Who was John the Baptist, what was his mission, and why did Yeshua describe him as the “greatest born of women” (Luk. 7:28)?

Apostolic Exhortation
Counsel, comfort, and encouragement (Acts 13:14-15)

  1. Before we talk about John the Baptist, I want to look at a foundational principle of salvation, which is repentance. 
    1. We could define salvation as “the forgiveness of sins leading to reconciliation with God so that covenant relationship can be established”.
      1. It is both an event and a process, all enabled by His grace and attained by our faith.

KEY POINT:

Repentance is always a prerequisite of salvation.

  1. A prerequisite is defined as “a thing or condition required beforehand”. 
    1. Literally, “pre” + “required”.
  2. In scripture, the Hebrew word most commonly translated as “repentance” is shub.
    1. H7725. shub – “to turn back”.
      1. Lexicon: Although שׁוּב broadly means “to return,” its inspired use ranges from the simple act of turning back geographically, to the profound realities of repentance, restoration, reversal, and renewal. The verb often carries covenantal weight, signaling either Israel’s turning to or from the LORD, or the LORD’s gracious turning toward His people. Because its 1,056 occurrences span every section of the Old Testament, שׁוּב supplies a unifying thread that weaves through redemptive history.
  3. A key principle established by YHWH in His Torah is that repentance always precedes His deliverance and intervention.
    1. “Return (#7725) to Me, and I will return (#7725) to you” (Mal. 3:7). 
    2. “For thus the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has said, ‘In repentance (#7729) and rest you will be saved, in quietness and trust is your strength. But you were not willing’” (Isa. 30:15).
      1. H7729. shoobah – “repentance; turning”.
        1. Lexicon: Shûbâh encapsulates the spiritual act of “returning,” a decisive withdrawal from self-reliance that re-orients the heart toward YHWH.

KEY POINT:

Sin is the fruit of a will that has yet been turned back to YHWH through repentance.

  1. Repentance before deliverance is something YHWH also decrees on a national level for Israel.
    1. “So it shall be when all of these things have come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind in all nations where the LORD your God has banished you, and you return (#7725) to the LORD your God and obey Him with all your heart and soul according to all that I command you today, you and your sons, then the LORD your God will restore you from captivity, and have compassion on you, and will gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you” (Deut. 30:1-3).
    2. The prophets reinforce the Torah (see Neh. 1:9; Isa. 55:7; Lam. 3:40; Joel 2:12, 13).

KEY POINT:

Because YHWH adheres to His own Torah, He could not send the Messiah to Israel without first ensuring their national repentance.

  1. A major theme in Isaiah is preparation for the arrival of a King and Deliverer for Israel.  
    1. “A voice is calling, ‘Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. Let every valley be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; and let the rough ground become a plain, and the rugged terrain a broad valley; then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken” (Isa. 40:3-5).
      1. “The idea is taken from the practice of Eastern monarchs, who whenever they entered on a journey or an expedition, especially through a barren and unfrequented or inhospitable country, sent harbingers or heralds before them to prepare the way. To do this, it was necessary for them to provide supplies, and make bridges, or find fording places over the streams; to level hills, and construct causeways over valleys, or fill them up; and to make a way through the forest which might lie in their intended line of march. This was necessary, because these contemplated expeditions often involved the necessity of marching through countries where there were no public highways that would afford facilities for the passage of an army (Barnes Commentary).
  2. In addition to making physical preparations for the king’s journey, a forerunner or herald was often sent out ahead of the procession to prepare the people to be ready to receive the official with the proper respect and honor. 

KEY POINT:

External physical provision for the arrival of the coming king was meant to correspond with internal preparation of the heart.

  1. Scripture uses progressive revelation to bring understanding to the telos, or goal.
    1. One of the principles of hermeneutics is “first the natural, then the spiritual”.
      1.  “However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual” (1 Cor. 15:46).
    2. G5056. télos —  “end-goal, purpose”.
      1. Usage: This root (tel-) means “reaching the end (aim).” It is well-illustrated with the old pirate’s telescope, unfolding (extending out) one stage at a time to function at full-strength (capacity effectiveness).
  2. The prophets made it clear that there would be a coming spiritual preparation for Israel. 
    1. “When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you. But the wind will carry all of them up, And a breath will take them away. But he who takes refuge in Me will inherit the land and will possess My holy mountain. And it will be said, ‘Build up, build up, prepare the way, remove every obstacle out of the way of My people’. For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, ‘I dwell on a high and holy place, and also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite” (Isa. 57:13-15).
    2. “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances” Eze. 36:25-27).
  3. This message was a key part of God’s promise in Torah that judgment and exile would preceded deliverance and spiritual renewal.
    1. “The Lord your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will be good to you and make you more numerous than your fathers. Moreover, the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the hearts of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul, so that you may live” (Deut. 30:5-6). 

KEY POINT:

Israel’s hope for physical and spiritual deliverance was deeply linked not just to a coming King but also to the forerunner who would precede Him. 

  1. As the final prophet to Israel, Malachi was the most specific about the coming forerunner.
    1. “Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,’ says the LORD of hosts. ‘Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction” (Mal. 3:1; 4:5).
  2. This prophecy was so explicit and closely connected to the coming of the King that by the 1st– century it had become a central expectation in Israel.
    1. “And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, ‘I am not the Messiah.’ And they asked him, ‘What then? Are you Elijah?’ He said, ‘I am not.’ ‘Are you the Prophet?’ And he answered, ‘No.’ So they said to him, ‘Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?’ He said, ‘I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, “Make straight the way of the Lord,” as the prophet Isaiah said.’ (John 1:19–23).
    2. “And His disciples asked Him, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” (Mat. 17:10). 
  3. This fervent expectation and veneration of Elijah was no doubt also fueled by the fact that Elijah was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind (2 Kings 2:11).
    1. “And about the ninth hour Yeshua cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabaktanei?’ that is, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’ And some of those who were standing there, when they heard it, said, ‘This man is calling for Elijah’ (Mat. 27:46-47).
  4. In modern Rabbinic Judaism, the expectation for the coming of Elijah seems to have only grown in importance since the 1st– century.
    1. “Not only will Elijah will appear in order to herald the coming of Moshiach, but he will also bring peace to the world, inform every Jew to which of the twelve tribes he belongs, and he will rectify Israel’s behavior, causing them to repent and return to G‑d.” (https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1069796/jewish/Elijah-Heralding-the-Redemption.htm). 
  5. As followers of YHWH that accept the testimony of the Apostolic scriptures, we know that John the Baptist was the fulfillment of this prophecy.
    1. “And an angel of the Lord appeared to [Zacharias], standing to the right of the altar of incense. Zacharias was troubled when he saw the angel, and fear gripped him. But the angel said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John. You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, TO TURN THE HEARTS OF THE FATHERS BACK TO THE CHILDREN, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord’” (Luk:1:11-17).
  6. John’s life and ministry fits the context we explored in the Tanakh.
    1. #1 – The prerequisite of salvation for Israel as a nation was repentance.
      1. “John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Mar. 1:4; see also Luk. 3:3).
      2. “At that time Jerusalem was going out to [John], and all Judea and all the region around the Jordan; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.” (Mat. 3:5).
      3. “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance” (Mat. 3:11).
    2. #2 – Preparing the way for the king required external obedience (i.e. water baptism) to open the way for spiritual renewal.
      1. “Therefore, produce fruit consistent with repentance. As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Mat. 3:8,11).
      2. “And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. And he said to them, ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?’ And they said, ‘No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.’ And he said, ‘Into what then were you baptized?’ They said, ‘Into John’s baptism.’ And Paul said, ‘John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.’ On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. There were about twelve men in all” (Act 19:1–7).
    3.  #3 – The forerunner would fulfill the prophecies of Malachi by coming in the pattern of Elijah.
      1.  “He said to them, ‘What kind of man was he who came up to meet you and spoke these words to you? ‘They answered him, ‘He was a hairy man with a leather girdle bound about his loins.” And he said, ‘It is Elijah the Tishbite’” (2 Kin. 1:8).
      2. “Now John himself had a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey” (Mat. 3:4).
  7. John’s life and ministry was of great significance for the arrival of the kingdom of heaven and reign of Messiah.
    1. He was not only a prophet but a fulfillment of prophecy.
      1. “As they went away, Yeshua began to speak to the crowds concerning John: ‘What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses.  What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.” (Mat. 11:7–10).
    2. Because of his significance, rejecting John meant rejecting the will and purpose of YHWH.
      1. “’I say to you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.’ When all the people and the tax collectors heard this, they acknowledged God’s justice (“declared God righteous” YLT), having been baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God’s purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by John” (Luk. 7:28-30).

KEY POINT:

John’s ministry affirmed God’s justice by making repentance the prerequisite for salvation and entrance into His kingdom.

  1. Thus, Yeshua’s baptism by John brought God’s righteousness into its fullness by confirming the word of prophecy and demonstrating that he was in fact the promised forerunner for the King.
  2. A couple of final considerations:
    1. What does it mean that John the Baptist would “turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children and the children to the fathers?”
      1. Yeshua testifies that Elijah (e.g. John) would “restore (#600) all” (Mat. 17:11; Mar. 9:12).
        1. G600. apokathistémi – “to restore, reconstitute (in health, home or organization)”.
      2. Malachi’s prophesy was that the forerunner would foster repentance in the hearts of the people with the goal of preserving a remnant. 
        1. “He will turn (shub) the hearts of the fathers back to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and strike the land with complete destruction” (Mal. 4:6).
      3. Restoration of relationships is another prerequisite for deliverance.
        1. “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Mat. 6:14–15).

“And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So, also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart” (Mat. 18:34–35).


Does anyone have specific questions or need any clarification from what was said during the Summary or Exhortation?


Application & Discussion
Living the Word and following Yeshua (Acts 2:37; Romans 2:13)
Questions, input, and sharpening (Proverbs 27:17; Luke 2:46)

Romans 2:13 For it isn’t the hearers of the Torah who are righteous before Elohim, but the doers of the Torah will be justified.

James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not only hearers, deluding your own selves.

    1. What questions or comments came up during your family’s discussion of this week’s study?
    2. “What other related Scriptures did you find during your study of this week’s portion?”
    3. Have you ever experienced something from this study or something related to it?
    4. “What changes do you need to make in your life to align with what you learned during this week’s Torah Study?”
    5. What are some other ways you understand repentance?
    6. What is the role of repentance and immersion once someone is a Believer?
    7. What is our role in preparing the way of the Lord?
    8. Other questions…?

Additional Notes