What Did Evil Mean to Jesus?

 

In my last email, What Did Good Mean to Jesus, I used Psalm 34:13-14 as a context to understand what “good” meant. In the Psalm below, I use transliterations of three key Hebrew words that are very important in the teachings of Jesus. Their English translations are in ^superscript.      

 

Keep your tongue from RAH ^evil,

and your lips from speaking deceit ^MIRMAH.

Depart from RAH ^evil and do TOV ^good;

seek SHALOM ^peace and pursue it.

 

In order to accurately understand the movement and teachings of the Jewish Jesus of history (Yeshua), a “Kingdom of Heaven Vocabulary” is a prerequisite. It gives you not only “meanings of words;” it also gives you the ability to “recognize actions that reflect them” in the teachings of Jesus. Below is what “good” (TOV) to Jesus:

 

Thinking about, talking about, and doing things

that protect lives, preserve lives, make lives more functional,

and increase the quality of life.

 

In my previous email I pointed out that “good” is part of a standard we are taught as young children – “good / bad.” The meaning of “bad” is dependent upon the meaning of “good.” In the ancient Hebrew language of the Jewish Scriptures and the teachings of Jesus, the opposite of TOV (good) is RAH which is translated “evil.” Therefore, for Jesus, this is the meaning of “evil” (RAH):

 

Thinking about, talking about, and doing things

that destroy lives, harm lives, make lives less functional,

and decrease the quality of life.

 

Now let’s use this information to update our translation of Psalm 34:13-14.

 

Keep your tongue from talking about things that destroy lives,

harm lives, make lives less functional, and decrease the quality of life,

and your lips from speaking deceit.

 

Depart from things that destroy lives, harm lives,

make lives less functional, and decrease the quality of life.

 

Do things that protect lives, preserve lives,

make lives more functional, and increase the quality of life.

 

Seek SHALOM ^peace and pursue it.

 

I will discuss the meaning of “SHALOM” in my next email.

 

Thank you for Exploring with me,

Jim Myers

 

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What Did Good Mean to Jesus?

 

As a person with a Christian Biblical Heritage, the words of Jesus have always been very important to me. But I didn’t know that the Hebrew words he spoke were buried beneath many layers of English translations of Greek words from ancient manuscripts of Matthew, Mark and Luke. I was reading Greek words written by scribes translated by English translators, instead of the Hebrew words of Jesus translated into English.

 

Yeshua, the Jewish Jesus of history, was a very knowledgeable teacher of the Hebrew scrolls of Jewish Scriptures. He used a style of teaching, in which he often “hinted at” things recorded in those scrolls, gave a “commentary” about them, and ended with ways to apply that information in life experiences.

 

Without an awareness of “those hints,” however, we are unable to “hear his teachings.” But, thanks to the hard work of many scholars from multiple disciplines over the past 150 years, we can now “hear the teachings of Yeshua, the Jewish Jesus of history” again.

 

A scroll that was very important to Yeshua contained Psalm 34; he “hinted at” sections of it many times. Below are verses 13 and 14.

 

Keep your tongue from RAH ^evil,

and your lips from speaking deceit ^MIRMAH.

Depart from RAH ^evil and do TOV ^good;

seek SHALOM ^peace and pursue it.

 

“TOV” is the Hebrew word translated “good” -- one of the most important words in the English language. “Good” is part of a standard we were taught as very young children – “good / bad.” The meaning of “bad” is dependent upon the meaning of “good.” It is a fact that people subconsciously move towards “good” and away from “bad.” This is what “do good” meant to Yeshua:

 

Think about, talk about, and do things

that protect lives, preserve lives, make lives more functional,

and increase the quality of life.

 

● If people did those “good” things, would life in America be better or worse?

 

● Would life in your town be better or worse?

 

● Would life in your family be better or worse?

 

● Would your life be better or worse if just you did “good”?

 

WWJD? He would do good.

 

Shalom,

Jim Myers

 

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