Chaim Bentorah > Quotes

“Preface WITH THE ADVENT OF multiple modern English translations of the Bible being published over the last fifty years, Christians have come to realize that there can be a wide range of meanings and renderings of various words from the Bible in the original language. As a Hebrew teacher and student of ancient languages one of the most common questions I get is, “What is the best translation?” This is usually followed by the question, “Which translation is the closest to the original Biblical language?” The answer I give to both questions is, “All of them.” With few exceptions, every translation and paraphrase of the Bible is done with much scholarship and prayer by the translators. Every translator is convinced that he or she has presented the best renderings for each word and firmly believes they have given the rendering that is closest to the original language. So we now ask the question as to why there are”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher Finds Rest in the Heart of God

“As God shares His passion with us, He has made Himself vulnerable to us, He has given us the ability to deeply wound His heart when we betray His love for other Gods.”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: Beyond The Lexicon

“All he saw were shadows of these dangers, and like the little child, he boldly approached these shadows as harmless, yet God was there to protect him from the reality of those shadows.”
― Chaim Bentorah, A Hebrew Teacher Explores Psalm 23: Discovering Life's Journey

“INSPIRATION – DEVARORCHA”
― Chaim Bentorah, Aramaic Word Study II: Discover God's Heart In The Language Of The New Testament

“of which are totally lost today. Jesus spoke Aramaic and preached in Aramaic to the simple and poor people who could understand Him. Latin was spoken by Roman officials and Jews who were attached to the court of the Roman Government. Greek was understood by a few cultured businessmen and merchants. But the masses spoke Aramaic. Hebrew was only spoken in the synagogues and used as a ceremonial language. Even the Hebrew Scriptures were interpreted by the priest and Pharisees in Aramaic.”
― Chaim Bentorah, Aramaic Word Study: Exploring The Language Of The New Testament

“being confined and not allowed total expression. The second root word is kalah, which means to be destroyed. The word for compassion is racham, which is a very romantic word and not only means love but to “love tenderly”. No Elvis Presley did not coin that term. A tender love is a ministering love. It is like a mother’s love, which kisses the hurt to make it better. This is a love, which cannot be confined but must be allowed a total expression and on top of that, it can never be destroyed. This is the love that Paul spoke about in Romans 8. Nothing can separate us from the Love of God, which is in Christ Jesus. If we are not experiencing this tender love, His racham, then there is only one reason left as to why we don’t and that reason lies within ourselves, within the amount of our own hearts that we are unwilling to share with God. Jeremiah is telling us in these two verses that God has opened his whole heart up to us. There is nothing to separate us from His complete and total love. The only separation lies in the”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher Finds Rest in the Heart of God

“Sabbath rest God will share the secrets of His heart with you as His bride. Shin Beth—Ayin—Shava’: To become satisfied, fulfilled. After a time of sharing love, intimacy, and the secrets of each other’s hearts you as bride will feel this great, overwhelming sense of satisfaction and fulfillment. Shin Beth—Sade—Shavats: To weave or intermingle together to create something beautiful. During this time of intimacy, God and you as His bride will intermingle together, weave together to create something beautiful in your relationship. Shin Beth—Resh—Shavar: To examine in order to make pure. As the Sabbath concludes, God will do a final examination of His bride and declare that you are indeed pure and holy before Him. So, as you conclude your celebration of the next Sabbath, perhaps you can wander through Hebrew alphabet and let God tell you what you mean to Him and you tell Him what He means to you.”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher Finds Rest in the Heart of God

“has a numerical value of 702 and means to bond. This time of resting is meant to bond with God. You don’t bond with God by worrying or fretting over the pressures and problems of the past week. You bond with God by wandering through the Alphabet. The word shabat is spelled “Shin, Beth, and Taw.” In Hebrew, every word is built upon a three-letter root word. Some words are interrelated when they share the same first two letters. In this case, the first two letters of Shabat are Shin, Beth. All the other words that start with Shin and Beth will in some way related to the Shin Beth Taw or rest. Twelve other words in Hebrew begin with Shin Beth. In other words, we are to take one day a week and rest or cease from our normal activity to do twelve things. When you celebrate the Sabbath next Sunday or Saturday or whichever day you celebrate the Sabbath, remember the twelve other Shin Beth words which tell you what you are to do or what God wishes to accomplish on this seventh day that you cease from your normal activity.”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher Finds Rest in the Heart of God

“that carries a Mem and a final mem. The Mem represents the revealed Word of God and the final Mem represents the hidden knowledge of God. When we enter God’s heart through His mercies that will never end we enter a revelation of His revealed Word and His hidden knowledge that will never end, we will spend eternity learning deeper and deeper things about God and never reach the bottom of that well. We see in the Book of Revelations that the angels are singing “Holy, Holy, Holy, to the Lord”. They have done it for millions of years and never grow bored because they too are continually learning and experiencing something new about God. We only limit ourselves to God’s revelation through our own experience with God. Is it any wonder that Jeremiah wrote in verse 23: “They are new every morning…” The word new is chadash, which has a dual meaning of either brand new or renewed. As you journey through the heart of God, there is something new every morning and something within us is”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher Finds Rest in the Heart of God

“The Hei also warns that this still small voice is not that easy to distinguish between the voice of God and self-deception.”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: Beyond The Lexicon

“Shin Beth—Teth—Shavat: To measure. Once in the bridal chamber God measures you. He will examine you as a husband would examine and measure the beauty of his bride. Shin Beth—Kap—Shavak: To mingle, interweave, have intercourse. After a time of just enjoying the beauty of His bride, God will then share an intimacy with you as His bride. Shin Beth—Lamed—Shaval: To grow. During this time of intimacy God and you as His bride will grow closer together, more in love, more passionate with each other. Shin Beth—Nun—Shavan: To be tender, to be delicate. During this time of intimacy, it will be time when God speaks tenderly to you as His bride. He will speak of love. He will call you His dearest, sweetheart and other delicate names. Shin Beth—Mem—Shavam: To share hidden secrets, hidden knowledge. When two lovers are being intimate together, speaking lovingly to each other, they cannot help but share their deepest secrets, sharing things that they would share with no one else. Thus during this”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher Finds Rest in the Heart of God

“being renewed or restored. I have met many Christians who love Jesus with all their hearts, but they say they have grown bored with worship, they just don’t feel the same sense of the presence of God they once did. Perhaps the problem is that God has called them to something new and yet they cling to something old. He is an infinite God and there are infinite ways to worship Him. We try reading books, or listening to CD’s of other people’s experience with God and try to duplicate that in our own lives. Yet, God may be trying to do something different in your own life. He may be trying to do something that is special for you and you alone. Maybe He is trying to make a Word that you, only you and you alone will hear within your own heart. God’s Word is only limited by the amount of your heart that you are willing to share with Him. We also learn that His compassions do not fail. The word fail has two possible roots, which could both be applicable to this verse. The first root word is kala’, which carries the idea of”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher Finds Rest in the Heart of God

“The Kap is the first letter in kabod which means the glory of God. It is the glory of God that fills this empty vessel. It is the hunger for the glory of God that the mouth of the Kap is open”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: Beyond The Lexicon

“marriage born out of love so was the forbidden fruit in the garden forbidden outside the intimacy and love with relationship with God. You see, Adam and Eve were permitted to possess everything in the Garden of Eden except the fruit of one tree. Oral tradition teaches that this forbidden fruit wasn’t off limits to man, but only to Adam or Eve without the intimate presence and love with a relationship with God. This fruit was designed by God to be the bedroom so to speak with God and shared personally between two people, God and His beloved. Just as a husband and wife will share the fruits of their intimacy in a bedroom totally alone with no one around watching or listening, so God created this tree with its fruits to be shared with Himself and Adam alone or Eve alone. Sin did not occur until Eve shared the fruit with Adam, then she was sharing the one thing she was not allowed to share with her husband, that fruit that was meant for her and God alone. The penalty for Eve and her female descendants was that her “desire will be for her husband but he will rule over her. (Genesis 3:16).” This is another study in Hebrew but basically what it means is that a woman will try to gain from her husband that special love that only God can give. If she turns to her husband for it she will become frustrated and perhaps angry with her husband because He will be unable to give her what she deeply desires, something only God can give. Her husband will “rule over her”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher Finds Rest in the Heart of God

“the word desirable. Of course, we learn later just how seductive that can be. Early rabbinic literature showed a sexual connotation to chamed as chamdam, using it as a reference to a lustful person. Chimmud is even blunter as a reference to a sexual appetite. As a verb chamed means to be excited or hot. Hebrew Jewish grammarian David Kimhi (Radak) states that it is no coincidence that the word cham (hot), makes up two thirds of the root. He points out that lechem chamudot is taken by some to mean fresh, hot tasty bread. So what I am drawing from this? Is Solomon’s beloved saying she is sitting under the apple tree with one hot number? Well, there is much more to my research on this verse that I cannot put into a short study, so I am leaving open a number of gaps, but let me just share my conclusion on Song of Solomon 2:3. The young lover is making a very distinct play on the word chamed by bringing it into association with the apple tree among the trees of the woods. This is a direct reference to the forbidden fruit of the Garden of Eden. She sits under her beloved’s shadow with covertness or chamed eating this forbidden fruit. You see the word chamed ultimately has the idea of intimacy or totally possessing and consuming something. This fruit is not forbidden so long as she consumes it within the bounds of intimacy born out of love with her beloved. Just as a sexual relationship is forbidden outside”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher Finds Rest in the Heart of God

“The English rendering for the word shabat as “rest” can be a little misleading. It is not to rest to regain your strength, it is to “cease” from your activity or to interrupt your normal activity to accomplish something. What are you to accomplish on the Sabbath? Used here in Exodus you have a sort of play the word yashev that means to dwell, or sit down. Shabot has a numerical value of 702. The word macoreth also has a numerical value of 702 and means to bond.”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher Finds Rest in the Heart of God

“Psalms 23, when he says that his cup overflows he is saying that he is overflowing with thoughts of God, His redemption and overflowing with an abundance of protection and knowing the mysteries of God.”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: Beyond The Lexicon

“Whom I Desired (Chimadeti) SONG OF SOLOMON 2:3: “As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.” As I was reading this passage in my Hebrew Bible I was struck by the word chimadeti (great delight). That word was strangely out of place in this sweet romantic verse. I was intrigued as to how our English translators had handled this word. I first went to your friend and mine, the King James Version which rendered it as “great delight.” This seemed to be the good cowardly way out. Other modern translations said the same. Some simply rendered it as “delight.” One translation was a little braver and said “with whom I desired”. But the version with the most guts rendered this word as have I raptured. What caught my attention in the use of the word chimadeti is that it is used only once in the Song of Solomon and its rooted in the same word that is used in Exodus 20:17: “Thou shalt not covet.” If you ever go to a synagogue and glance at the Ten Commandments above the ark and scroll down to the 10th commandment you will see in Hebrew Script the words “Lo”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher Finds Rest in the Heart of God

“some many differences in each translation of the Bible. The answer to that can be anything from a translator reading his own theological persuasion, bias or prejudice into his translations to the purpose and/or intention behind the translation. By this I mean is the translator going for a literal word of word translation, attempting to put his translation into modern thought, trying to put his translation into a cultural context, trying to present a paraphrase, a commentary or any number of different purposes and/or intentions for working on a new translation. Ultimately, the answer as to why there are so many different translations lies in something that happened almost two thousand and five hundred years ago. From 597 BC to 538 BC the Jewish nation was taken into captivity. During this captivity time the language of Jewish people, which was Hebrew, assimilated into the Babylonian culture and Hebrew became a dead language, preserved only for ceremonial purposes. A dead language means that it is no longer a language used for”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher Finds Rest in the Heart of God

“The English language is a very difficult language to understand and learn with all our many idioms and colloquialisms.”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: Beyond The Lexicon

“WEAKNESS - KORAH”
― Chaim Bentorah, Aramaic Word Study II: Discover God's Heart In The Language Of The New Testament

“idea of safety, security, and good health. To understand the context of this verse, you must realize that the Jews put a very heavy weight upon a blessing. When someone gave a blessing, they were actually imparting what they were offering. If you walk into a household that is chaotic and you say: “Peace be to this house.” Peace will actually descend. To offer a blessing is”
― Chaim Bentorah, Aramaic Word Study II: Discover God's Heart In The Language Of The New Testament

“every day conversation. When this happens the meanings behind many words become lost and its original intent may never be positively identified. It is left to scholars and linguist to offer their best educated guess. Rarely is there one hundred percent agreement on every rendering, although a majority opinion can exist for many words and we can be relatively certain of their renderings. But for every such word there are words whose renderings are hotly debated among scholars. After Hebrew died, Aramaic became the common language of the people and was the common language spoken in Israel at the time of Christ. Jesus came from Galilee which was located in the Northern territory of Israel where they spoke a Northern or Old Galilean dialect of Hebrew which was more idiomatic and colloquial than the Southern dialect spoken in Judea where the Pharisees and other religious leaders lived. Up until just a few years ago it was believed that the Old Galilean Aramaic dialect was also a dead language until it was discovered”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher Finds Rest in the Heart of God

“Shin Beth—Aleph—Shava’: God’s passion. The first letter of the alphabet is Aleph and represents God. Shin Beth Aleph refers to God’s passionate love. The first thing you are to do on this day of rest is to just sit back and let God love you, and enjoy His passionate love. Shin Beth—Beth—Shavav: Kindle a fire. The next thing you are to do on the Sabbath is Shavav, which is to allow God’s passionate love to kindle a fire of love and affection for Him in return. Shin Beth—Hei—Shavah: To take as captive, to be taken away as a bride. When you and God love each other he will take you as his personal captive, take you away as a bride to His bridal chamber to be intimate with you. Shin Beth—Chet—Shavach: To sooth, calm, relax, and calm you nerves. When He takes you away as His bride and loves on you, you will become Shavach, the pressures and stresses of the prior six days will settle down, be soothed and you will find your frayed nerves calming down.”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher Finds Rest in the Heart of God

“amount of our hearts that we do not give to Him. We may desire to give Him our whole hearts, but the amount of our hearts that we give Him depends upon the amount of trust we have in Him. If we have total and complete trust in His faithfulness, we can give Him our hearts totally and completely. This may be why Jeremiah said: “Great is thy faithfulness”. He knew God’s faithfulness was great and thus he was able to give God his whole heart. The word faithfulness is from Hebrew root word amen. This word in its primitive meaning has the idea of a mother nursing a child. The total devotion of the mother giving herself to that child and the child’s total dependence upon the mother is the picture being drawn for the word faithfulness. I was reading in Jewish literature how the Bible does not speak of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but speaks of the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Each had to find their own place in God. They could not take the place of their fathers. They had to find”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher Finds Rest in the Heart of God

“or he will become frustrated because he cannot provide this special intimacy with her. Only God can fill this gap in the relationship. He is still a personal God and although He allows us to share everything about our relationship with Him with others in the deepest koinonia (communion by intimate participation); there is still a special intimacy that He has reserved for us and us alone where our love for Him and His for us is consummated. No one can share in the fruit of that for that belongs to God and no one else. He is, after all, a jealous God, who longs for a special, intimate time with each one of us that is shared with no one else, just as a husband and wife share an intimacy with each other that no one else in the world will share. We enter into this intimacy with God through the blood of Jesus Christ and it is through His blood that we can eat of this forbidden fruit because only through the complete cleansing of the blood of Jesus are we worthy to partake in this most intimate fruit to be shared with God alone and no one else. There is a Biblical expression that I found also uses the word “chamed” which is appropriate to end this study; “Va-yelekh belo chemdah” I will take my leave without anyone regretting my departure.”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: A Hebrew Teacher Finds Rest in the Heart of God

“In English, the word wisdom is always positive. Hence you have to do a lot of spinning and twisting to make this square peg fit a round hole. However, in the Semitic mind, wisdom can have either a positive or negative connotation. Sometimes the word wisdom which in Aramaic is khekmtha, can idiomatically mean stupidity, just the opposite of what we think of when we hear the word wisdom. Like in English, some still say something like “That movie was bad,” but he really means it was great. In this passage, Jesus is using a similar idiom in the Aramaic and says: “Since your arguments are so inconsistent, it is a clear indication of your stupidity.” Or, to put his words in less formal English, Jesus would have said, “You guys are so off the wall. Like that has got to be the most stupid argument I have ever heard yet.”
― Chaim Bentorah, Aramaic Word Study II: Discover God's Heart In The Language Of The New Testament

“The Hei comes with a shadow. As the broken letter, the Hei warns us of getting stuck in our brokenness. Broken hearts, like broken bones can cripple you.”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: Beyond The Lexicon

“So why am I writing a book using the Aramaic or Peshitta as a source? We must keep in mind that all translations of ancient texts are speculative in some manner. This is not to say they are not inspired; it is to just affirm that our translators and historians are not inspired. It behooves us to seek out whatever sources are available to us from the Greek and Aramaic to allow the Holy Spirit to guide us into an understanding of how the original text really read. Even if we had the original manuscripts, would we be able to really understand all the nuances and colloquial expressions that were prevalent in that day? Expressions such as Son of God and Son of Man need a first-century understanding. Even Nicodemus did not understand what Jesus meant by “you must be born again.” When Jesus and his disciples journeyed to the southern portion of Israel, their accents and use of idioms and colloquial expressions were quite pronounced. Nicodemus had a problem when Jesus said: mitheelidh min dresh (born again). The Southern dialect, which Nicodemus spoke, would have taken this literally as a physical birth. However, the Northern dialect would have expressed more of a broader range of meaning to include a spiritual rebirth. Ultimately, the Holy Spirit is our guide and teacher as we study the Word of God.”
― Chaim Bentorah, Aramaic Word Study: Exploring The Language Of The New Testament

“So where does the common sense that God put into us leave off and where do the great ideas that God puts into our hearts come in? Is it true what the commentators say that every good idea we have comes from God and the bad ideas is our own fault?”
― Chaim Bentorah, Hebrew Word Study: Beyond The Lexicon