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1st Timothy 3:16
#1
Andrew Gabriel Roth "Amazing poetry in 1 Timothy 3:16"

Apr-29-2003 at 10:04 AM (GMT3)
?? Last edited by Andrew Gabriel Roth on Apr-29-2003 at 10:15 AM (GMT3)

Quote:Shlama Akhay,

Someone, I think it was Larry, suggested that the poetry in 1 Tim 3:16 would be worth looking at. Boy did I get more than I bargained for! Here is is how I wrote about it in RUACH QADIM (rough draft of course). I also cannot relfect the color coding that is a part of my explanation method here, but I think my point can still be followed. Anyway, here goes. I hope you guys enjoy this one.

Shlama w'burkate
Andrew Gabriel Roth

The Great Poem to Timothy

Let's take a quick look at some brilliant poetry:

And truly great (w'sherirayt rab)
Is this divine mystery of righteousness; (haw arza hela d'kanota)
It is revealed in the flesh, (d'atgli b'besra)
Justified in the Spirit, (w'atzaddaq b'rokh)
Seen by angels, (w'atkhazi l'malaka)
Preached to the Gentiles, (w'atkeraz beyt ammah)
Believed on in the world, (w'athaymin b'almah)
And received up into glory, (w'astalaq b'shubkha).
1 Timothy 3:16

The color codes are simply the most efficient way to highlight the intricate structure of this poem. Going one step at a time, our attention is drawn to the red words. To begin with, there are two words for "righteousness" are used, one in the last word of line 2 (kanota) and the other in the first word of line 4 (atzaddaq).

However kanota is clearly reminiscent of kahna (priest), even though their roots are slightly different (kan and kahn, respectively). Furthermore, the last word of line 1 is rab (great/high), and so the way the text lines up when broken out by phrases is rab kanota/kahna (high priest)!

The other word, atzaddaq, is also deliberately placed in the same manner, since right below it is the word malaka. Now, in this case malaka means "angel, messenger". However, it also is spelled and pronounced almost identically as malak (king). Reverse the words and what we get is:

Malak + atzaddaq = Melchisedec

So here we have deep poetic patterns contrasting the rab kahna (high priests) of the Levites with that of Melchisedec, the priestly line that Messiah is supposed to represent!

As for the purple words, we have this: Atgli b'besra (revealed in the flesh), contains some terrific parallels as well. Not only does the word gali mean "reveal", but it is also a homonym for Galilee, where Messiah was "revealed in the flesh"!

Moving on to the brown words, the rhymes there can hardly be accidental. First, there are four lines ending in "ah" lines in a row:

w'atkhazi l'malaka
w'atkeraz beyt ammah
w'athaymin b'almah
w'astalaq b'shubkha

Other word matches ar equally striking:

Atkhazi (seen)/Atkeraz (preached)
Beyt ammah (house of Gentiles/peoples)/B'almah (in the earth/land)

The last word pair is also particularly noteworthy, because of this prophetic passage:
I am going to take the Israelite people (ammah) from among the nations (Goyim/Gentiles) they have gone to, and gather them from every quarter, and bring them back to their own land (almah). I will make them a single nation (goy) in the land (almah).
Ezekiel 37:21-22

Now granted, there are some dialectical differences between the Tanakh and the Aramaic Peshitta (ammah = am; almah = eretz), but these are still, for all intents and purposes, the exact same words and concepts.

And finally, the last four lines also flow together in an almost melodic fashion, as even a rudimentary attempt to sound them out reveals:

w'atkhazi l'malaka
w'atkeraz beyt ammah
w'athaymin b'almah
w'astalaq b'shubkha

In the end then, we are left with an amazing composition in two parts. The first half of this line shows us that Paul is very capable of packing a great deal of Jewish symbolism and hidden meanings in a handful of words. Once this significant feat is accomplished , then Paul moves on to delivering a masterpiece of rhyme, diction and meter for the remainder of the verse
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