The Shema‘
– the First Testament declaration of faith (2)
André H. Roosma
21 February 2012
(Dutch version: 31 Jan. 2012)
In the
previous edition we observed that in the faith experience of Israel,
the שׁמע -
Shema‘, starting with a passage from
Deuteronomy 6, played a big role.
There I paid attention to the most important word in these lines
– the glorious Name of God.1
Now the first word: שׁמע - Shema‘
is worth a closer look.
Anyone who ever made any study of Hebrew knows that this word is related to
the Hebrew word for name: שׁם
- shem.
Behind it is a letter ע -
ayin.
Originally this was the pictographic symbol  -
ainu - eye, to see, vision.2
שׁמע -
Shema‘ can therefore also be translated as
‘seeing the Name (i.e. God’s presence’!
That the glorious Name of God then appears twice in the line that follows,
is not a coincidence!
Almost all of God’s instructions start with a reminder about that
most significant Name, proclaming God’s presence with us.
How could we ever bring about something good without His presence?
And we can dig a bit deeper still.
The entire word שׁמע
was originally written like this:   . These symbols stand for:
- breast(s), source; - water, abundance; - eye, vision, to see.
In its entirity this can be interpreted as: ‘to see the Source
of water/abundance’. Who is that Source of life giving water and
abundance?
Only the God of the Bible and His Son Jesus Christ!
Focussing your eye on the Source of living water; the Source of abundance
– a very splendid start of this creed!
It reminds me of the words of John (Jahu-chanan) the Baptist: „See, (or: Behold!) the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the
world.” (John 1: 29).
Hallelu YaH !
| 1 |
Concerning the glorious Name of God, see:
André H. Roosma, ‘The magnificent and most lovely Name of the God
Who was there, Who is there, and Who will be there’  ,
extensive Accede! / Hallelu-YaH! study, July 2009. |
| 2 |
The word explanations given here are based in part on
an extensive study of the oldest pictographic Bible script. See: André
H. Roosma, ‘The Written
Language of Abraham, Moses and David – A study of the pictographic
roots and basic notions in the underlying fabric of the earliest Biblical
script’ , Hallelu-YaH Draft
Research Report, 1st English version: 18 April 2011
(1st Dutch original: January
2011). |
This is a sequel to: The Shema‘ – the First Testament declaration of faith (1).
Next article: Part (3).
|
