The First Three Letters of the Bible

 

In Genesis 1:1, the first word of the Bible, in Hebrew, is בְּרֵאשִׁית which is transliterated as bare sit or b'rei-sheeth.  The first letter is ב (bet), the second letter is ר (resh), and the third letter is א (alef). The English-language name of the book is Genesis, from its Greek name, Γένεσις. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, Bereshit, “in beginning.”

Some Christian commentators have noticed and commented on this as a statement of the Trinity in the first word of the Bible. Others see it as merely an interesting coincidence.

            בן         Ben (son)

            רִיחַ       Ruach (spirit, breath, wind)

            אֱלֹהִ֑ים    Elohim (God, a name in plural form)

            Religious Jews reject this understanding as heretical, believing that the very essence of their religion is monotheistic; God is one, not plural. They understand the plural name of God, Elohim, as expressing the majesty of God, as in the phrase "holy, holy, holy," with each "holy" adding to the emphasis or strength of the word.

            An objection to the idea of Jesus or the Trinity being mentioned in the Old Testament is seen here:  https://gsgriffin.com/2017/07/29/the-bereshit-jesus-in-genesis-argument-has-no-merit/#:~:text=Both%20assert%20the%20following%20meanings,covenant%2C%20mark%2C%20cross)

by writer Garrett S. Griffin. Griffin is a Democratic Socialist activist and political writer.

UN4GIVN

A post from this blog's past: https://saintsontheloose.blogspot.com/2015/06/car-tags.html  was about licensed "vanity"car tags with unusual readings which the driver may use for an extra fee above the required standard registration fee.

In the parking deck where I work, I recently saw a new tag which intrigued me: UN4GIVN. Using the English language letters and numbers this would transliterate as "unforgiven." What in the world could this mean?

After considering multiple possibilities, including a reference to a movie title or that the driver was a defiantly unrepentant philanderer, I decided that the most likely meaning was as a sarcastic insult to Christians, who often describe themselves as forgiven sinners.

Repost, With Additions, of "Amazing Grace in the Cree Language"

Someone recently recently viewed my post of the hymn “Amazing Grace” being sung in the Cree language.  I realized that I had provided no information about the Cree themselves.

The Nehiyaw tribe is commonly known in English as the Cree tribe.  They are one of the Native North American tribes. Their traditional language is part of the Algonquian group (see below at the # sign) of languages.  Here is a photograph of a young Cree man taken in 1903.

You may notice that the English transliteration of the language is inconsistent.  The same word is represnted as "kihci" and as "kitchi." This is quite common in the transliteration process.  The Chinese language, for example, was represented by at least twelve different transliteration systems before the adoption of the modern Pinyin system. 

#: The Algonquian group includes Arapaho, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Menominee, Ojibwe (Chippewa),  Shawnee, Potawatomi, Massachusett,  Miqmaq (Mi’kmaq), Mahican, Narragansett, and others.

Hebrew for Christians

The ministry of John Parsons is the presentation to the ἐκκλησία of basic information on the Hebrew language, based on a Messianic understanding.  His aim is to promote Jewish literacy in the ἐκκλησία.  
The website is www.Hebrew4Christians.com and includes glossaries, alphabets, discussions of Hebrew grammar, articles, and many other features.  Several books and DVDs are offered for purchase, including transliterated Hebrew and Greek Bibles.  (Transliteration into English is a phonetic rendering of the Hebrew and Greek texts into a format which can be read aloud phonetically by a reader who is unfamiliar with the original language(s).)

Parsons states that "The hermeneutical primacy of the Hebrew text should be evident to all who study the Scriptures seriously." (Hermeneutics is the study of the theory and practice of Biblical interpretation.)