Week 138

• Torah (T): Devarim (Deuteronomy) 16:13-22
• Prophets (P): Micah 6:1-16
• Apostolic (A): John 7:1-52
• Additional (ADD): Sirach 4:1-31

RELATED SCRIPTURES

• Exodus 23:14-17; Exodus 34:22-24; 1 Samuel 1:1-5; 2 Chronicles 8:12-13 (T)
• Leviticus 23:33-44 (T)
• Ezekiel 45:25 (T)
• Nehemiah 8:1-18 (T)
• Zechariah 14:16-19 (T)
• 2 Chronicles 19:4-7 (T)
• Exodus 23:7-9; Leviticus 19:15; Deuteronomy 1:12-18; Proverbs 18:5; Proverbs 24:23-25; Hebrews 13:5-6 (T)
• 1 Timothy 6:3-11 (T)
• Ya’aqov (James) 2:1-13 (T)
• 1 Samuel 8:1-5 (T)
• Exodus 20:4-6; Leviticus 26:1; Deuteronomy 5:8-10; Psalms 97:7 (T)
• Hosea 3:1-5 (T)

RELATED ADDITIONAL REA.D.INGS

• Jubilees 16:16-31 (T)
• The Sage to the “Children of Dawn” 4Q298 (P)
• Deuteronomy 16:13-22 from the Jerusalem Targum aka Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (T)
• Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus 3.10.4; 4.8.12-15 (T)

Note: (T) means the verse relates to that week’s Torah portion. (P) means the verse relates to that week’s Prophets portion. (A) means the verse relates to that week’s Apostolic portion. (ADD) means the verse relates to that week’s Additional portion.

Torah Portion (T)

Devarim (Deuteronomy) 16:13-22

16:13 You will do the feast of booths seven days, after you have gathered in from your threshing floor and from your wine press. 14 You will rejoice in your feast, you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your maid, the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are within your gates. 15 You will celebrate to YHWH your Elohim seven days in the place which YHWH [your Elohim]^(LXX)(SP) chooses, because YHWH your Elohim will bless you in all your increase and in all the work of your hands, and you will be altogether joyful. 16 Three times in a year all of your males will appear before YHWH your Elohim in the place which he chooses: in the feast of unleavened bread, in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of booths. They will not appear before YHWH empty. 17 Each man according to the gift of his hand, according to YHWH your Elohim’s blessing which he has given you. 18 You will make judges and officers in all your gates, which YHWH your Elohim gives you, according to your tribes; and they will judge the people with righteous judgment. 19 You will not pervert justice. You will not show partiality. You will not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous. 20 You will pursue complete righteousness so that you may live and inherit the land which YHWH your Elohim gives you. 21 You will not plant for yourselves an Asherah of any kind of tree beside YHWH your Elohim’s altar, which you will make for yourselves. 22 Neither will you set yourself up a sacred stone which YHWH your Elohim hates.

Prophets Portion (P)

Micah 6:1-16

6:1 Listen now to what YHWH says: “Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear what you have to say. 2 Hear, you mountains, YHWH’s indictment, and you enduring foundations of the land; for YHWH has a case against his people, and he will contend with Israel. 3 My people, what have I done to you? How have I burdened you? Answer me! 4 For I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage. I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. 5 My people, remember now what Balak king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of YHWH.” 6 How will I come before YHWH, and bow myself before the Elohe Marom? Will I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? 7 Will YHWH be pleased with thousands of rams? With tens of thousands of rivers of oil? Will I give my firstborn for my disobedience? The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 8 He has shown you, O man, what is good. What does YHWH require of you, but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your Elohim? 9 the voice of YHWH calls to the city— and wisdom fears your name— “Listen to the rod, and he who appointed it. 10 Are there yet treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and a short ephah that is accursed? 11 Will I tolerate dishonest scales, and a bag of deceitful weights? 12 Her rich men are full of violence, her inhabitants speak lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their speech. 13 Therefore I also have struck you with a grievous wound. I have made you desolate because of your sins. 14 You will eat, but not be satisfied. Your hunger will be within you. You will store up, but not save, and that which you save I will give up to the sword. 15 You will sow, but won’t reap. You will tread the olives, but won’t anoint yourself with oil; and crush grapes, but won’t drink the wine. 16 For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of Ahab’s house. You walk in their counsels, that I may make you a ruin, and your inhabitants a hissing. You will bear the reproach of my people [the nations].”^(LXX)

Apostolic Portion (A)

John 7:1-52

7:1 After these things, Yeshua was walking in Galilee, for he wouldn’t walk in Judea, because the Judeans sought to kill him. 2 Now the Jewish festival, the Festival of Booths, was at hand. 3 His brothers therefore said to him, “Depart from here and go into Judea, that your disciples also may see your works which you do. 4 For no one does anything in secret while he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, reveal yourself to the world.” 5 For even his brothers didn’t believe in him (cf. Psalms 69:8). 6 Yeshua therefore said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready. 7 The world can’t hate you, but it hates me, because I testify about it, that its works are evil. 8 You go up to the feast. I am not yet going up to this feast, because my time is not yet fulfilled.” 9 Having said these things to them, he stayed in Galilee. 10 But when his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly, but as it were in secret. 11 The Judeans therefore sought him at the feast, and said, “Where is he?” 12 There was much murmuring among the multitudes concerning him. Some said, “He is a good man.” Others said, “Not so, but he leads the multitude astray.” 13 Yet no one spoke openly of him for fear of the Judeans. 14 But when it was now the middle of the feast, Yeshua went up into the temple and taught. 15 The Judeans therefore marveled, saying, “How does this man know letters, having never been educated?” 16 Yeshua therefore answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. 17 If anyone desires to do his will, he will know about the teaching, whether it is from Elohim or if I am speaking from myself. 18 He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory, but he who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and no unrighteousness is in him. 19 Didn’t Moses give you the Torah, and yet none of you keeps the Torah? Why do you seek to kill me?” 20 The multitude answered, “You have a demon! Who seeks to kill you?” 21 Yeshua answered them, “I did one work and you all marvel because of it. 22 Moses has given you circumcision, not that it is of Moses, but of the fathers, and on the Sabbath you circumcise a boy. 23 If a boy receives circumcision on the Sabbath, that the Torah of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because I made a man completely healthy on the Sabbath? 24 Don’t judge according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” 25 Therefore some of them of Jerusalem said, “Isn’t this he whom they seek to kill? 26 Behold, he speaks openly, and they say nothing to him. Can it be that the rulers indeed know that this is the Messiah? 27 However, we know where this man comes from, but when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he comes from.” 28 Yeshua therefore cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, “You both know me, and know where I am from. I have not come of myself, but he who sent me is true, whom you don’t know. 29 I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.” 30 They sought therefore to take him; but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. 31 But of the multitude, many believed in him. They said, “When the Messiah comes, he won’t do more signs than those which this man has done, will he?” 32 The Pharisees heard the multitude murmuring these things concerning him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to arrest him. 33 Then Yeshua said, “I will be with you a little while longer, then I go to him who sent me. 34 You will seek me and won’t find me. You can’t come where I am.” 35 The Judeans therefore said among themselves, “Where will this man go that we won’t find him? Will he go to the Diaspora among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? 36 What is this word that he said, ‘You will seek me, and won’t find me;’ and ‘Where I am, you can’t come’?” 37 Now on the last day, the great one of feast, Yeshua stood and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink! 38 He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, from within him will flow rivers of living water.” 39 But he said this about the Spirit, which those believing in him were to receive. For the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Yeshua wasn’t yet glorified. 40 [Some]^(mss) of the multitude therefore, when they heard [these]^(mss) words, said, “This is truly the Prophet.” (cf. Deuteronomy 18:15; Acts 3:22) 41 Others said, “This is the Messiah.” But some said, “What, does the Messiah come out of Galilee? (cf. Isaiah 9:1-2; Matthew 4:13-16) 42 Hasn’t the Scripture said that the Messiah comes of the seed of David, (cf. 2 Samuel 7:12) and from Bethlehem, (cf. Micah 5:2) the village where David was?” 43 So a division arose in the multitude because of him. 44 Some of them would have arrested him, but no one laid hands on him. 45 The officers therefore came to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said to them, “Why didn’t you bring him?” 46 The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this man!” 47 The Pharisees therefore answered them, “You aren’t also led astray, are you? 48 Have any of the rulers or any of the Pharisees believed in him? 49 But this multitude that doesn’t know the law is cursed.” 50 Nicodemus, he who came to him [before],^(mss) being one of them, said to them, 51 “Does our law judge a man unless it first hears from him personally and knows what he does?” 52 They answered him, “Are you also from Galilee? Search and see that no prophet has arisen out of Galilee.” (cf. Jonah of 2 Kings 14:25;* Isaiah 9:1; Matthew 4:13-16)

*Jonah was from Gath-hepher which is located in the Galilee region of Israel, on a hilltop near the Arab village of Mashhad.

Additional Portion (ADD)

Sirach 4:1-31

Sirach, or Wisdom of Sirach, and also known as the Book of Ecclesiasticus (abbreviated Ecclus.) or Ben Sira, is a work of ethical teachings, from approximately 200 to 175 B.C., written by the Jewish scribe Ben Sira of Jerusalem, on the inspiration of his father Joshua son of Sirach, sometimes called Jesus son of Sirach or Yeshua ben Eliezer ben Sira. The Sirach was almost completely uncovered in Hebrew in the Dead Sea Scrolls, at Masada, and the Cairo Geniza. The multiplicity of manuscript fragments uncovered in the Cairo Genizah evidence its authoritative status among Egyptian Jewry until the Middle Ages. Quotes from Sirach can be found in Rabbinic literature in multiple places  including the Talmud in Bava Kamma 92b:13 and Hagigah 13a:2. Additionally, the Gospels and other Apostolic Scriptures quote from the Book of Sirach including the Song of Miriam in Luke 1:52 (cf. Sirach 10:14); the description of the seed in Mark 4:5, 16–17 (cf. Sirach 40:15); the statement by Yeshua in Matthew 7:16,20 (cf. Sirach 27:6); and Ya’aqov (James) 1:19 (cf. Sirach 5:11).

4:1 My son, don’t deprive the poor of his living. Don’t make the needy eyes wait long. 2 Don’t make a hungry soul sorrowful, or provoke a man in his distress. 3 Don’t add more trouble to a heart that is provoked. Don’t put off giving to him who is in need. 4 Don’t reject a suppliant in his affliction. Don’t turn your face away from a poor man. 5 Don’t turn your eye away from one who asks. Give no occasion to a man to curse you. 6 For if he curses you in the bitterness of his soul, he who made him will hear his supplication. 7 Endear yourself to the assembly. Bow your head to a great man. 8 Incline your ear to a poor man. Answer him with peaceful words in humility. 9 Deliver him who is wronged from the hand of him that wrongs him; Don’t be faint-hearted in giving judgment. 10 Be as a father to the fatherless, and like a husband to their mother. So you will be as a son of the Most High, and he will love you more than your mother does. 11 Wisdom exalts her sons, and takes hold of those who seek her. 12 He who loves her loves life. Those who seek her early will be filled with gladness. 13 He who holds her fast will inherit glory. Where she enters, the Lord will bless. 14 Those who serve her minister to the Holy One. The Lord loves those who love her. 15 He who listens to her will judge the nations. He who heeds her will dwell securely. 16 If he trusts her, he will inherit her, and his generations will possess her. 17 For at the first she will walk with him in crooked ways, and will bring fear and dread upon him, and torment him with her discipline, until she may trust his soul, and try him by her judgments. 18 Then she will return him again to the straight way, and will gladden him, and reveal to him her secrets. 19 If he goes astray, she will forsake him, and hand him over to his fall. 20 Observe the opportunity, and beware of evil. Don’t be ashamed of your soul. 21 For there is a shame that brings sin, and there is a shame that is glory and grace. 22 Don’t show partiality against your soul. Don’t revere any man to your falling. 23 Don’t refrain from speaking when it is for safety. 24 For wisdom will be known by speech, and instruction by the word of the tongue. 25 Don’t speak against the truth and be shamed for your ignorance. 26 Don’t be ashamed to confess your sins. Don’t fight the river’s current. 27 Don’t lay yourself down for a fool to tread upon. Don’t be partial to one who is mighty. 28 Strive for the truth to death, and the Lord Elohim will fight for you. 29 Don’t be hasty with your tongue, or slack and negligent in your deeds. 30 Don’t be like a lion in your house, or suspicious of your servants. 31 Don’t let your hand be stretched out to receive, and closed when you should repay.

Related Scriptures

Exodus 23:14-17; Exodus 34:22-24; 1 Samuel 1:1-5; 2 Chronicles 8:12-13 (T)

Exodus 23:14 You will guard a feast to me three times a year. 15 You will guard the feast of unleavened bread. Seven days you will eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the new moon Aviv, for in it you came out of Egypt, and no one will appear before me empty. 16 And the feast of harvest, the first fruits of your labors, which you sow in the field; and the feast of ingathering, at the end of the year, when you gather in your labors out of the field. 17 Three times in the year all your males will appear before the Lord YHWH.

Exodus 34:22 You will guard the feast of weeks with the first fruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of harvest at the year’s end. 23 Three times in the year all your males will appear before the Lord YHWH, the Elohim of Israel. 24 For I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither will any man desire your land when you go up to appear before YHWH, your Elohim, three times in the year.

1 Samuel 1:1 Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the hill country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. 2 He had two wives. The name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had sons, but Hannah had no sons. 3 This man went up out of his city from year to year to worship and to slaughter to YHWH of Armies in Shiloh. The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, priests to YHWH, were there. 4 When the day came that Elkanah slaughtered, he gave portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and her daughters; 5 but he gave a double portion to Hannah, for he loved Hannah, but YHWH had shut up her womb.

2 Chronicles 8:12 Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to YHWH on the altar of YHWH which he had built before the porch, 13 even as the duty of every day required, offering according to the commandment of Moses on the Sabbaths, on the new moons, and on the set feasts, three times per year, during the feast of unleavened bread, during the feast of weeks, and during the feast of booths.

Leviticus 23:33-44 (T)

23:33 YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, 34 “Speak to the sons of Israel, and say, ‘On the fifteenth day of this seventh new moon is the festival of booths for seven days to YHWH. 35 On the first day will be a holy convocation. You will do no work of service. 36 Seven days you will bring an offering made by fire to YHWH. On the eighth day will be a holy convocation to you. You will bring an offering made by fire to YHWH. It is a closing assembly; you will do no work of service. 37 These are the appointed times of YHWH which you will proclaim to be holy convocations, to bring an offering made by fire to YHWH, a burnt offering, a grain offering, a slaughter, and libation offerings, each on its own day— 38 besides the Sabbaths of YHWH, and besides your gifts, and besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings, which you give to YHWH. 39 So on the fifteenth day of the seventh new moon, when you have gathered in the fruits of the land, you will celebrate the festival of YHWH seven days. On the first day will be a rest, and on the eighth day will be a rest. 40 You will take on the first day the fruit of majestic trees, branches of palm trees, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and you will rejoice before YHWH your Elohim seven days. 41 You will keep it as a festival to YHWH seven days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your generations. You will keep it in the seventh new moon. 42 You will dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native in Israel will dwell in booths, 43 that your generations may know that I made the sons of Israel to dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am YHWH your Elohim.’ ” 44 So Moses spoke to the sons of Israel the appointed times of YHWH.

Ezekiel 45:25 (T)

45:25 In the seventh new moon, on the fifteenth day of the new moon, during the feast, he will do like that for seven days. He will make the same provision for sin offering, the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the oil.

Nehemiah 8:1-18 (T)

8:1 All the people gathered themselves together as one man into the wide place that was in front of the water gate; and they spoke to Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the Torah of Moses, which YHWH had commanded to Israel. 2 Ezra the priest brought the Torah before the assembly, both men and women, and all who could hear with understanding, on the first day of the seventh new moon. 3 He read from it before the wide place that was in front of the water gate from early morning until the middle of the day, in the face of the men and the women, and of those who could understand. The ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the Torah. 4 Ezra the scribe stood on a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose; and beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, on his right hand; and on his left hand, Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam. 5 Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and when he opened it, all the people stood up. 6 Then Ezra blessed YHWH, the great Elohim. All the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” with the lifting up of their hands. They bowed their heads, and did bow down to YHWH with their faces to the ground. 7 Also Yeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, caused the people to understand the Torah; and the people stayed in their place. 8 They read in the book, in the Torah of Elohim, distinctly; and they gave the sense, so that they understood the convocation. 9 Nehemiah, who was the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “Today is holy to YHWH your Elohim. Don’t mourn, nor weep.” For all the people wept when they heard the words of the Torah. 10 Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared, for today is holy to our Lord. Don’t be grieved, for the joy of YHWH is your strength.” 11 So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Hold your peace, for the day is holy. Don’t be grieved.” 12 All the people went their way to eat, to drink, to send portions, and to celebrate, because they had understood the words that were declared to them. 13 On the second day, the heads of fathers’ households of all the people, the priests, and the Levites were gathered together to Ezra the scribe, to study the words of the Torah. 14 They found written in the Torah how YHWH had commanded by Moses that the sons of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh new moon; 15 and that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities and in Jerusalem, saying, “Go out to the mountain, and get olive branches, branches of wild olive, myrtle branches, palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written.” 16 So the people went out and brought them, and made themselves booths, everyone on the roof of his house, in their courts, in the courts of Elohim’s house, in the wide place of the water gate, and in the wide place of Ephraim’s gate. 17 All the assembly of those who had come back out of the captivity made booths and lived in the booths, for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun to that day the sons of Israel had not done so. There was very great gladness. 18 Also day by day, from the first day to the last day, he read in the book of the Torah of Elohim. They kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day was a closing assembly, according to the judgment.

Zechariah 14:16-19 (T)

14:16 It will happen that everyone who is left of all the nations that came against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, YHWH of Armies, and to guard the festival of booths. 17 It will be that whoever of all the families of the land doesn’t go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, YHWH of Armies, on them there will be no rain. 18 If the family of Egypt doesn’t go up and doesn’t come, neither will it rain on them. This will be the plague with which YHWH will strike the nations that don’t go up to the festival, the festival of booths. 19 This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that don’t go up to the festival, the festival of booths.

2 Chronicles 19:4-7 (T)

19:4 Jehoshaphat lived at Jerusalem; and he went out again among the people from Be’ersheba to the hill country of Ephraim, and brought them back to YHWH, the Elohim of their fathers. 5 He set judges in the land throughout all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city, 6 and said to the judges, “Consider what you do, for you don’t judge for man, but for YHWH; and he is with you in the judgment. 7 Now therefore let the fear of YHWH be on you. Take heed and do it; for there is no iniquity with YHWH our Elohim, nor respect of persons, nor taking of bribes.”

Exodus 23:7-9; Leviticus 19:15; Deuteronomy 1:12-18; Proverbs 18:5; Proverbs 24:23-25; Hebrews 13:5-6 (T)

Exodus 23:7 Keep far from a false charge, and don’t kill the innocent and righteous; for I will not justify the wicked. 8 “You will take no bribe, for a bribe blinds those who have sight and perverts the words of the righteous. 9 “Do not oppress a sojourner, for you know the heart of a sojourner, since you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

Leviticus 19:15 You will do no injustice in judgment. Do not lift up the face of the helpless and do not give honor to the face of the great one; but you will judge your fellow in righteousness.

Deuteronomy 1:12 How can I myself alone bear your problems, your burdens, and your strife? 13 Take wise men of understanding who are respected among your tribes, and I will make them heads over you.” 14 You answered me, and said, “The thing which you have spoken is good to do.” 15 So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and respected men, and made them heads over you, captains of thousands, captains of hundreds, captains of fifties, captains of tens, and officers, according to your tribes. 16 I commanded your judges at that time, saying, “Hear cases between your brothers and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and the sojourner who is living with him. 17 Do not show partiality in judgment; you will hear the small and the great alike. Do not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is Elohim’s. The case that is too hard for you, you will bring to me, and I will hear it.” 18 I commanded you at that time all the things which you should do.

Proverbs 18:5 To be partial to the faces of the wicked is not good, nor to deprive the innocent of justice.

Proverbs 24:23 These also are sayings of the wise: To show partiality in judgment is not good. 24 He who says to the wicked, “You are righteous,” peoples will curse him, and nations will abhor him— 25 but it will go well with those who convict the guilty, and a rich blessing will come on them.

Hebrews 13:5 Be free from the love of money, content with such things as you have, for he has said, “I will in no way leave you, neither will I in any way forsake you.” (cf. Deuteronomy 31:6) 6 So that with good courage we say, “The Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me?” (cf. Psalms 118:6-7)

1 Timothy 6:3-11 (T)

6:3 If anyone teaches a different doctrine and doesn’t consent to sound words, the words of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness, 4 he is conceited, knowing nothing, but obsessed with arguments, disputes, and word battles, from which come envy, strife, insulting, evil suspicions, 5 constant friction of people of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. Withdraw yourself from such.^(NU-Text) 6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we certainly can’t carry anything out. 8 But having food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 But those who are determined to be rich fall into a trial, a snare, and many foolish and harmful coveting, such as drown men in ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some have been led astray from the faith in their greed, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 11 But you, man of Elohim, flee these things, and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.

Ya’aqov (James) 2:1-13 (T)

2:1 My brothers, don’t hold the faith of our glorious Lord Yeshua the Messiah with partiality. 2 For if a man with a gold ring, in fine clothing, comes into your synagogue, and a poor man in filthy clothing also comes in, 3 and you pay special attention to him who wears the fine clothing and say, “Sit here in a good place;” and you tell the poor man, “Stand there,” or “Sit by my footstool” 4 haven’t you shown discrimination among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my beloved brothers. Didn’t Elohim choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the Reign which he promised to those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Don’t the rich oppress you and personally drag you before the courts? 7 Don’t they blaspheme the honorable name by which you are called? 8 However, if you fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You will love your neighbor as yourself,” (cf. Leviticus 19:18) you do well. 9 But if you show partiality, you commit sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law, and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. 11 For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” (cf. Exodus 20:14; Deuteronomy 5:18) also said, “Do not commit murder.” (cf. Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17) Now if you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so do as men who are to be judged by the law of freedom. 13 For judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

1 Samuel 8:1-5 (T)

8:1 When Samuel was old, he made his sons judges over Israel. 2 Now the name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah. They were judges in Be’ersheba. 3 His sons didn’t walk in his ways, but turned away after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice. 4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together and came to Samuel to Ramah. 5 They said to him, “Behold, you are old, and your sons don’t walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.”

Exodus 20:4-6; Leviticus 26:1; Deuteronomy 5:8-10; Psalms 97:7 (T)

Exodus 20:4 You will not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the land beneath, or that is in the water under the land: 5 you will not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, YHWH your Elohim, am a zealous Elohim, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the sons, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and guard my commandments.

Leviticus 26:1 You will make for yourselves no worthless ones, and do not raise up a carved image or a pillar, and do not place any figured stone in your land, to bow down to it; for I am YHWH your Elohim.

Deuteronomy 5:8 Do not make a carved image for yourself—[or]^(DSS) any likeness of what is in the heavens above, or what is in the land beneath, or that is in the water under the land. 9 Do not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, YHWH your Elohim, am a zealous Elohim, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the sons and on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me 10 and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and guard my commandments.

Psalms 97:7 Let all them be shamed who serve engraved images, who boast in their idols. Worship him, all you elohim!

Hosea 3:1-5 (T)

3:1 YHWH said to me, “Go again, love a woman loved by another, and an adulteress, even as YHWH loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other elohim, and love cakes of raisins.” 2 So I bought her for myself for fifteen pieces of silver and a homer and a half of barley. 3 I said to her, “You will stay with me many days. You will not whore, and you will not be with any other man. I will also be so toward you.” 4 For the sons of Israel will live many days without king, without prince, without slaughter, without sacred stone, and without ephod or idols. 5 Afterward the sons of Israel will return and seek YHWH their Elohim, and David their king, and will come with trembling to YHWH and to his blessings in the last days.

Related Additional Readings​

16:16 And we returned in the seventh new moon, and found Sarah with child before us] and we blessed him, and we announced to him all the things which had been decreed concerning him, that he should not die till he should beget six sons more, and should see (them) before he died; but (that) in Isaac should his name and seed be called: 17. And (that) all the seed of his sons should be Nations, and be reckoned with the Nations; but from the sons of Isaac one should become a holy seed, and should not be reckoned among the Nations. 18. For he should become the portion of the Most High, and all his seed had fallen into the possession of Elohim, that it should be unto the Lord a people for (His) possession above all nations and that it should become a reign and priests and a holy nation. 19. And we went our way, and we announced to Sarah all that we had told him, and they both rejoiced with exceeding great joy. 20. And he built there an altar to the Lord who had delivered him, and who was making him rejoice in the land of his sojourning, and he celebrated a festival of joy in this new moon seven days, near the altar which he had built at the Well of the Oath. 21. And he built booths for himself and for his servants on this festival, and he was the first to celebrate the feast of tabernacles on the land. 22. And during these seven days he brought each day to the altar a burnt-offering to the Lord, two oxen, two rams, seven sheep, one he-goat, for a sin-offering, that he might atone thereby for himself and for his seed. 23. And, as a thank-offering, seven rams, seven kids, seven sheep, and seven he-goats, and their fruit-offerings and their drink-offerings; and he burnt all the fat thereof on the altar, a chosen offering unto the Lord for a sweet smelling savour. 24. And morning and evening he burnt fragrant substances, frankincense and galbanum, and stacte, and nard, and myrrh, and spice, and costum; all these seven he offered, crushed, mixed together in equal parts (and) pure. 25. And he celebrated this feast during seven days, rejoicing with all his heart and with all his soul, he and all those who were in his house; and there was no stranger with him, nor any that was uncircumcised. 26. And he blessed his Creator who had created him in his generation, for He had created him according to His good pleasure; for He knew and perceived that from him would arise the plant of righteousness for the eternal generations, and from him a holy seed, so that it should become like Him who had made all things. 27. And he blessed and rejoiced, and he called the name of this festival the festival of the Lord, a joy acceptable to the Most High Elohim. 28. And we blessed him for ever, and all his seed after him throughout all the generations of the land, because he celebrated this festival in its season, according to the witness of the heavenly tables. 29. For this reason it is ordained on the heavenly tables concerning Israel, that they will celebrate the feast of tabernacles seven days with joy, in the seventh new moon, acceptable before the Lord–a statute for ever throughout their generations every year. 30. And to this there is no limit of days; for it is ordained for ever regarding Israel that they should celebrate it and dwell in booths, and set wreaths upon their heads, and take leafy boughs, and willows from the brook. 31. And Abraham took branches of palm trees, and the fruit of goodly trees, and every day going round the altar with the branches seven times [a day] in the morning, he praised and gave thanks to his Elohim for all things in joy.

The Sage to the “Children of Dawn” 4Q298 (P)

Col. 3 […] and the number of its boundaries […] that his heart may not be lifted up [above his brothers…] lofty dwelling. And now heark[en …] and those of you who know, listen! And men of understanding [ ] and those who require justice, walk humbly [… he who has clean hands] grows stronger and stronger, and men of truth […] and love kindness, increase humility and […] predestined trials (?) which interpret (?) […] that you might understand at the end of the eternal ages and look in the ancient things, to know […”]

Deuteronomy 16:13-22 from the Jerusalem Targum aka Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (T)

Composed in Talmudic Israel (c.150 – c.250 AD). Targum Pseudo-Jonathan is a western targum (translation) of the Torah (Pentateuch) from the land of Israel (as opposed to the eastern Babylonian Targum Onkelos). Its correct title was originally Targum Yerushalmi (Jerusalem Targum), which is how it was known in medieval times. But because of a printer’s mistake it was later labeled Targum Jonathan, in reference to Jonathan ben Uzziel. Some editions of the Pentateuch continue to call it Targum Jonathan to this day. Most scholars refer to the text as Targum Pseudo-Jonathan. This targum is more than a mere translation. It includes much Aggadic material collected from various sources as late as the Midrash Rabbah as well as earlier material from the Talmud. It is effectively a combination of a commentary and a translation. In the portions where it is pure translation, it often agrees with the Targum Onkelos. The date of its composition is disputed. It cannot have been completed before the Arabic conquest as it refers to Mohammad’s wife Fatimah, but might have been initially composed in the 4th Century AD. However, some scholars date it in the 14th Century.

Chapter 16 …The Feast of Tabernacles you shall make to you seven days, when you will have completed to gather in the corn from your threshing floors, and the wine from your presses. And you shall rejoice in the joy of your feasts with the clarinet and flute, you and your sons and daughters, your handmaids, the Levite, the stranger, the orphan, and the widow, who are in your cities. Seven days you shall keep the feast before the Lord your Elohim in the place which the Lord will choose, because the Lord your Elohim will have blessed you in all your provision, and in all the work of your hands, and so shall you be joyful in prosperity.

Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord your Elohim in the place that He will choose; at the Feast of the Unleavened, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Tabernacles; nor must you appear before the Lord your Elohim empty of any of the requirements; every one after the measure of the gifts of his hands, according to the blessing, which the Lord your Elohim hath bestowed upon you.

Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus 3.10.4; 4.8.12-15 (T)

Josephus was born Joseph ben Mattathias in 37 AD in Jerusalem of a priestly and royal family. He excelled in his studies of Jewish law and studied with the Sadducees, Pharisees, and the Essenes, eventually aligning himself with the Pharisees. In 62 AD he went to Rome to free some imprisoned priests. After accomplishing this mission through the intercession of Nero’s wife, Poppaea, he returned to Jerusalem in 65 AD to find the country in revolt against Rome. Josephus shrewdly reinterpreted the Messianic prophecies. He predicted that Vespasian would become the ruler of the ‘entire world’. His prophecy became true in 68 AD when Nero committed suicide and Vespasian became Ceasar. As a result, Josephus was freed; he moved to Rome and became a Roman citizen, taking the Vespasian family name Flavius. Vespasian commissioned Josephus to write a history of the war, which he finished in 78 AD, the Jewish War. His second major work, the Antiquities of the Jews, was completed in 93 AD. The extant manuscripts of the book Antiquities of the Jews contain two references to Yeshua of Nazareth (18.3.3. and 20.9.1.) and one reference to the imprisonment and death of John the Baptist (18.5.2.).

3.10.4. Upon the fifteenth day of the same new moon, when the season of the year is changing for winter, the law enjoins us to pitch tabernacles in every one of our houses, so that we preserve ourselves from the cold of that time of the year; as also that when we should arrive at our own country, and come to that city which we should have then for our metropolis, because of the temple therein to be built, and keep a festival for eight days, and offer burnt-offerings, and slaughter thank-offerings, that we should then carry in our hands a branch of myrtle, and willow, and a bough of the palm-tree, with the addition of the pome citron: That the burnt-offering on the first of those days was to be a slaughter of thirteen bulls, and fourteen lambs, and fifteen rams, with the addition of a kid of the goats, as an expiation for sins; and on the following days the same number of lambs, and of rams, with the kids of the goats; but abating one of the bulls every day till they amounted to seven only. On the eighth day all work was laid aside, and then, as we said before, they slaughtered to Elohim a bullock, a ram, and seven lambs, with a kid of the goats, for an expiation of sins. And this is the accustomed solemnity of the Hebrews, when they pitch their tabernacles.

4.8.12. When the multitude are assembled together unto the holy city for slaughtering every seventh year, at the feast of tabernacles, let the high priest stand upon a high desk, whence he may be heard, and let him read the laws to all the people; and let neither the women nor the children be hindered from hearing, no, nor the servants neither; for it is a good thing that those laws should be engraven in their souls, and preserved in their memories, that so it may not be possible to blot them out; for by this means they will not be guilty of sin, when they cannot plead ignorance of what the laws have enjoined them. The laws also will have a greater authority among them, as foretelling what they will suffer if they break them; and imprinting in their souls by this hearing what they command them to do, that so there may always be within their minds that intention of the laws which they have despised and broken, and have thereby been the causes of their own mischief. Let the children also learn the laws, as the first thing they are taught, which will be the best thing they can be taught, and will be the cause of their future felicity.

4.8.13. Let every one commemorate before Elohim the benefits which he bestowed upon them at their deliverance out of the land of Egypt, and this twice every day, both when the day begins and when the hour of sleep comes on, gratitude being in its own nature a just thing, and serving not only by way of return for past, but also by way of invitation of future favors. They are also to inscribe the principal blessings they have received from Elohim upon their doors, and show the same remembrance of them upon their arms; as also they are to bear on their forehead and their arm those wonders which declare the power of Elohim, and his good-will towards them, that Elohim’s readiness to bless them may appear every where conspicuous about them.

4.8.14. Let there be seven men to judge in every city, and these such as have been before most zealous in the exercise of virtue and righteousness. Let every judge have two officers allotted him out of the tribe of Levi. Let those that are chosen to judge in the several cities be had in great honor; and let none be permitted to revile any others when these are present, nor to carry themselves in an insolent manner to them; it being natural that reverence towards those in high offices among men should procure men’s fear and reverence towards Elohim. Let those that judge be permitted to determine according as they think to be right, unless any one can show that they have taken bribes, to the perversion of justice, or can allege any other accusation against them, whereby it may appear that they have passed an unjust sentence; for it is not fit that causes should be openly determined out of regard to gain, or to the dignity of the suitors, but that the judges should esteem what is right before all other things, otherwise Elohim will by that means be despised, and esteemed inferior to those, the dread of whose power has occasioned the unjust sentence; for justice is the power of Elohim. He therefore that gratifies those in great dignity, supposes them more potent than Elohim himself. But if these judges be unable to give a just sentence about the causes that come before them, (which case is not infrequent in human affairs,) let them send the cause undetermined to the holy city, and there let the high priest, the prophet, and the sanhedrim, determine as it will seem good to them.

4.8.15. But let not a single witness be credited, but three, or two at the least, and those such whose witness is confirmed by their good lives. But let not the witness of women be admitted, on account of the levity and boldness of their sex. Nor let servants be admitted to give witness, on account of the ignobility of their soul; since it is probable that they may not speak truth, either out of hope of gain, or fear of punishment. But if any one be believed to have borne false witness, let him, when he is convicted, suffer all the very same punishments which he against whom he bore witness was to have suffered.