Hebrew Word Study – May Be Consumed – Tammu – תַּ֤מּוּ Taw Mem Vav
Psalm 104:35: “Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless thou the LORD, O my soul. Praise ye the LORD.”
I Corinthians 14:34-35: “Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but [they are commanded] to be under obedience, as also saith the law. (35) And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.
There is an interesting passage from the Talmud Berakoth 10a. There were once some highwaymen (thieves) in the neighborhood of Rabbi Meir who caused him much trouble. Rabbi Meir then prayed that they should die. However, his wife Valeria (Beruria in Aramaic meaning pureness, clearness, brightness, and innocence) said to her husband: “How do you reason that God would permit such a prayer?” Rabbi Meir replied to his wife that it is written “Let the sinners (chatta’im) come to an end.” Chatta’im is an adjective rightly rendered as sinners. This is the way it is written in the Masoretic text. However, his wife responded “In the Torah scrolls, the word is chot’im and is a present participle. If you look at the context you find at the end it says ‘Let the wicked be no more.’ Since all sin will cease, there will be no more wicked. So, you should rather pray for them and pray that they repent.”
What struck me as strange is that the husband, a rabbi, did not rebuke his wife and say: “Who are you to tell me what the Torah Scrolls are saying, you are just a woman and not a scholar like me.” Yet, he did not rebuke her but changed his prayer as she suggested and prayed that God not kill these men but bring them to repentance. Yet, this woman obviously was well versed in the Hebrew grammar and studied the Torah Scrolls as well as the Masoretic text, possibly more than her husband, a rabbi.
Would you like Chaim Bentorah as your personal Hebrew teacher?
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For two thousand years the church taught that women are to keep silent in the church and are not to teach men. Yet, Judaism clearly teaches in the Talmud that a woman can instruct her husband in the Torah and examples are given when she does as Berakoth 10a. That would mean we either interpret Paul wrongly or there might be a little difference in nuance in the translations.
Valeria’s rendering of Psalms 104:35 was right of course. In the Christian world, the Masoretic text is almost considered inspired. Actually, the Masoretic text was not developed until 700 years after the birth of Christan. The Masoretic text is not the inspired Word of God and it is not always correct in their final conclusion many rabbis do not trust or revere the Masoretic text like we Christians do.
Thus, we should look at Psalms 104:35 not as an instruction to pray that our enemies be consumed, killed,k or in the Hebrew tammu which means to come to an end or vanish. Instead, like Valarie said, we should pray for our enemies that they repent. I mean did not Jesus teach the same thing in Luke 6:28? “Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.”
So what about this business of women keeping silent in the church and only learning from their husbands? We will consider that in our class tonight. Join us or listen to the discussion recording at www.hebrewwordstudy.com.
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Thanks & Blessings, it means a lot to me!
1 Corinthians 7 : 16
How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?
1 Corinthians 7 : 14
For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.
niv bible
Both husband & wife must be humble enough to receive God’s Word from each other …
God’s Word regardless through whom it is transmitted is more than able to:
“Sanctify them (us) by the truth; your word is truth.” John 17:17
Has God spoken through Joel the prophet that:
Joel 2 : 28
“And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.
I believe God is no respector of gender when it comes to how mankind shares His Word among themselves.
Since Godly leadership from husbands today is a rarity, most wives have to depend upon other religious leaders for answers. Sadly, over the years, has become more prevalent. I believe the lack of hungering and thirsting for the heart of God on the husband’s part has caused great damage to how God established marriage. Oh how sad this is! How sad!
I believe from my growing up in the older Episcopal church that it is a matter of structure just as in a family, the man is to be the head and responsible before God. Women are equal and a man should listen to her before making decisions but I’ve seen feminism take it too far the other way. Women have been used in the Bible by God many times. Sin always gets God plans out of balance but if applied in a Godly manner, men and women take their roles humbly , not forcing their ways but regarding Gods instruction. To this day I will not go to a church with a woman as head pastor/priest for I feel their motive is to try to be above man , not be submissive to God.
I witnessed the change in the Episcopal church and once women were given authority , all the other liberal changes started to escalate because it got away from God’s intended hierarchy to keep order . Like in marriage, equal in all ways but the man must answer to God and the woman would willingly respect her husband.
Thank you for this very good lesson!
God told Abraham to listen to his wife Sarah and he did. Women have suffered greatly because of the fact that the people copied the laws of the false gods that they worshipped and when they returned to the One True God they still brought many false ideas with them. I believe that God has given us our freedom because without freedom we would be nothing but robots or puppets. We have freedom to make mistakes and to correct them.
There was a man that was a poet and much more that stood up for women’s rights. He had the most beautiful soul. One of the books he wrote caused such an uproar that his book was burned,he was exiled from his homeland and excommunicated from the Catholic church because of what he wrote. He loved Jesus. He died about one hundred years ago and I have a copy of that books. I love what this man has written! I believe he told the truth!
1 Timothy helps us understand … Yet in Acts … The evangelist had 4 daughters who were prophetess ‘ … Holy Spirit controls everything… Or supposed to, male and female he created them ( elohim )