Aramaic Word Study – Paradise – Paradesia פרדיטא Pei Resh Daleth Yod Teth Aleph
II Corinthians 12:3-4: And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. (4) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
I remember reading a story about an American executive for Ford Motors who went to the old Soviet Union during the Stalin regime as a consultant and got caught in the political crisis of that ear. It was before World War II and through circumstances pretty common during that time this American’s son was sentenced to the Gulag. After his release he was forced to remain in Siberia as he tried to find a way back to the United States. During this time he married a Russian woman and they had a daughter that they tried to raise in Siberia in the abject poverty of that time. At nights when the little family huddled around a fire to try and stay warm and after eating a scanty meal the daughter would ask her father to tell her about American. The father tried to describe the abundance of food, the warmth in their homes and many of the other marvels of that day. The daughter who was only about six years old and never knew anything but the poverty and bitter cold of Siberia kept asking what it was like to live in America. The father tried many ways to describe it to her but she could not comprehend until one day she said: “Daddy, does it mean that if you live in American you get to eat two potatoes for dinner instead of one?” The father realizing that this was the only way her daughter could understand life in America said; “Yes, living in America means you get to eat two potatoes for dinner instead of one.” Her eyes just beamed as she consider this unusual luxury.
I think of this story often, especially now that I am entering my latter years and try to imagine what heaven is like. But I also think about it when I hear someone tell a story of their visit to heaven either in the body or out of the body. Unlike Paul who says he cannot explain what he saw, many of these people appear on television, radio, podcast and write best selling books to explain what heaven is like. Those who do try to explain what heaven is like simply picture something like it is here on earth only more beautiful.
I tend to think many these stories are simply one’s imagination or just a hoax to get their 15 minute of fame because if you could describe heaven, I think Paul would have done it. The stories that I do believe and have merit are those from people who say like Paul: “I can’t describe it. To make you understand I would have to compare it to something in the natural and there is nothing in the natural to compare it to.”
I am convinced that the best description would be no more accurate than that little girl’s understanding of America, a place where you get two potatoes for dinner and not just one. Any other description would be beyond her comprehension.
Would you like Chaim Bentorah as your personal Hebrew teacher?
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The word paradise in Greek is paradeison which is really a loan word from the ancient Persian meaning “enclosure, garden or a park.” The Aramaic word is pardaisa which is the same as the Greek meaning a walled garden. The Persian root is pard which means to separate or flee. It is a root word used in modern Semitic languages for atomic particles which separate to form matter. More to the ancient language it would be a word for apeiron which in first century scientific thought was the primal principle of all matter. It was an attempt by ancient scientist who rejected the supernatural and sought to find an origin of matter. With the education that Paul had he would have been exposed to the Greek principle of apeiron and probably used the word pardaisa to explain a place where all things of the physical world originated.
This letter by Paul was written to Corinth. The people of Corinth and many of the church of Corinth that was established by Paul were classically educated. Originally a Greek city it was soon conquered by Julius Caesar 100 BC to 46 BC. When the Romans took over it was ruled by a people of fine education who created a cultural center of sorts. It would make sense that Paul would appeal to their classical education which would include the science of that day and the knowledge of apeiron to speak about heaven, only he would use the word paradeison which would be recognized by this scientific people
He heard unspeakable words. In the Aramaic this is melatha la which literally means no words. He heard no words. The word for unlawful is shalat which literally means given or to handle power or authority. The emphasis is on the word handle and would read to handle authority or power but with the word la it would literally read too much power to handle. In Aramaic it would read that he heard no words which were not too powerful to handle. Literally, what he saw and heard was beyond his ability to handle or communicate.
The Talmud teaches that you can describe the taste of meat to a man who has never tasted meat but you can never really help him understand what meat taste like until he actually tastes it. Until we actually cross over to heaven there is not book, no sermon nor testimony that will help us understand what heaven is really like. The best we can understand is that heaven is like having two potatoes instead of one. But just between you and me, you know and I know heaven is no small potatoes.
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Thanks & Blessings, it means a lot to me!
I hope and pray that Chaim is doing alright, as this was your last Daily Hebrew study and it’s the 13th. Best wishes!
I find it amazing how Paul said it wasn’t lawful for a man to utter the words of what the third heaven was like ? If I’m reading that scripture correctly.
I read that too. In my experience, though, when I’ve had tiny visits and saw things both here and there, what I did see and hear were sometimes too much for others. I have to be careful with whom I share certain things. I guess it’s the “throwing pearls to swine or giving dogs a china doll.” Not that people are pigs or dogs, it’s just in the nature of some to misunderstand the truth and value. Some things are just secrets between us and God, until it is a lawful time for us to reveal what we have been given. Timing and obedience is crucial. :)
Thanks again for as always you teach many wonderful things and I highly admire you and respect you .
I have a hard time however believing that Paul is talking about himself in this passage even though all commentaries say that he is . In the book of Acts it states that he was knocked to the ground when he was surrounded by the Light and heard the voice of Jesus . Others with him heard the sound , but couldn’t understand it. There is nothing about Him being lifted up . Do you think that Paul would be so evasive if he were the one lift up ? In Corinthians 2 he says that he is not inferior to the ” Super Apostles” so could it be that he was referring to a Super Apostle that was lifted up ? I’m sorry but I can’t shake this idea .
Still if it was Paul that was lifted up remember that he was blinded by the Light and therefore wouldn’t have been able to see heaven and perhaps this was the reason for the blindness .
May God help us to see more clearly and with greater depth . May God Bless you all With love !
Still if it was
Do you remember in Hebrews Paul called the Tabernacle and all its furnishings shadows of the realities of Heaven? Think about a shadow. When the sun shines on an object it casts a shadow on the ground. It is a flat, two-dimensional, black outline of the object itself. By looking at only the shadow it would be very hard to imagine the reality of the three dimensional object that was its source. The reality of the depth and colors and life of this three dimensional world would be impossible to describe to one who lived only in the shadow world where everything is flat, two-dimensional, and merely a black outline of the true realities. How do you wrap the heavenly realities in two dimensional shadow words? How can you use words to express the inexpressible? Beyond that the Bible says that creation, the things we can see, clearly reveal what is known of God. Think about that. God has revealed Himself to us through the things that He has created and the things we can see and experience, but not all of Himself. (Romans 1) The reality of God is so large (again an inadequate word) that sometimes I just sit and marvel at who this God is??????? My mind cannot lay hold of it…….. Beyond the physical realm it says in Hebrews 1 that God not only created the reaches of space, but also the ages of time – the end from the beginning (Ephesians 1). How great is our God???? He is beyond knowing, at least in this life. “But then shall I know, even as I am known.”
Heavenly tourism is fraudulent. All except Paul are fakes!
Many years ago when I was a soldier in Vietnam, one of our Vietnamese
interpreters whom I had the privilege of ministering to in many ways, invited me to his mud hut for “dinner”. The meal was consisting of a lot of meat, which was quite unusual as meat was hard to come by and very expensive. The meal was delicious and to this day I even enjoy it in my memory of it as it was done in love from their hearts. After the meal was over I discover that they had given me “the best” they had to offer by killing and incorporating their dog in that meal. You see, that dog was a form of “warning system” . It would lay at its “post” right in the doorway of that mud hut and alert the family of three if any cobras or potential enemies were approaching their humble home. Pets were not just objects of amusement as in the USA, they had a distinct purpose as money was so scarce it was always spent with doing some perpetual use for the family as a whole. Since then I have had the pleasure of experiencing the same type of love in various parts of Africa I have been privileged to minister Adonai’s word in….Mud huts of true believers are my favorite “pulpits of ministry” and as my old age of 74 and the lack of funds precludes me from enjoying such pleasures once again, I must then “feast” on the memories of those who had the least, always seem to give the most….that taste of roasted dog will always find a spot in my memory for all eternity… Thanks for your comments of today…I am blessed to have found your writings so relevant to my life’s experiences, we shall have some good times when we reach those “distant shores of eternity”. Shalom Aleichem
You might want to check the posts for spelling and grammar errors.
Wow I have no words since I have began reading these teachings
Love this! (And Ray Bradbury was one of my faves as a little girl–“All Summer in a Day” specifically.) And potatoes are my favorite veggie! Heaven is amazing!