Since the chosen people are celebrating Purim this week, I figured that now is a good time to bring up the topic of literary devices.
Some of the most interesting and profound hermeneutics are those associated with the learning of the Jews. To the authors of holy writ, truth exists on many levels, such as literal, allegorical, metaphorical, mystical and etc. These authors constructed their messages accordingly, hiding information within the texts themselves using a sophisticated system of hermeneutics.
The book of Esther is unique to all of the other books in the Tenak* for at least two reasons.
One, it is the first time that the term Yehudim or "Jews" is used in the scriptures.
Second, it is the only book of Tenak where the name, of the Lord is suspiciously absent from the text.
In Hebrew, the name of the Lord is unpronounceable** and consists of four letters, yod, hay vav, hay, (Hebrew text is read right to left).
In the book of Esther chapter eight, verse sixteen, the author wrote,
"The Jews had light..."
By skipping the first letter, and continuing to skip every other letter, (right to left) in the words, "had light," the name of the Lord is revealed.
This kind of exegesis is commonly called equidistant letter sequencing, (ELS), a new term for an ancient hermeneutic form of notarikon. The author of Esther utilized this principle to conceal the name of the Lord within the very text which it appeared that He had been excluded from. In other words, even though He was never mentioned by name, the Lord was with the Jews all along.
* The body of scriptures ignorantly referred to by Christians as the Old Testament. The word Tenak, is derived from a Hebraic literary device called notarikon, a kind of acronym. There are no vowels in Hebrew, therefore, the three letters TNK comprise the word which is acronymous for:
Torah - The five books of Moses
Nevaiim - The Prophets
Kethuvim - Other holy writings
** The name of the Lord is commonly mis-pronounced as Yaweh, and Jehovah, however, the true name is known only to the High Priest who enters the the Holy of Holies one day a year, on Yom Kipur, the Day of Atonement.
Some of the most interesting and profound hermeneutics are those associated with the learning of the Jews. To the authors of holy writ, truth exists on many levels, such as literal, allegorical, metaphorical, mystical and etc. These authors constructed their messages accordingly, hiding information within the texts themselves using a sophisticated system of hermeneutics.
The book of Esther is unique to all of the other books in the Tenak* for at least two reasons.
One, it is the first time that the term Yehudim or "Jews" is used in the scriptures.
Second, it is the only book of Tenak where the name, of the Lord is suspiciously absent from the text.
In Hebrew, the name of the Lord is unpronounceable** and consists of four letters, yod, hay vav, hay, (Hebrew text is read right to left).
In the book of Esther chapter eight, verse sixteen, the author wrote,"The Jews had light..."
By skipping the first letter, and continuing to skip every other letter, (right to left) in the words, "had light," the name of the Lord is revealed.
* The body of scriptures ignorantly referred to by Christians as the Old Testament. The word Tenak, is derived from a Hebraic literary device called notarikon, a kind of acronym. There are no vowels in Hebrew, therefore, the three letters TNK comprise the word which is acronymous for:
Torah - The five books of Moses
Nevaiim - The Prophets
Kethuvim - Other holy writings
** The name of the Lord is commonly mis-pronounced as Yaweh, and Jehovah, however, the true name is known only to the High Priest who enters the the Holy of Holies one day a year, on Yom Kipur, the Day of Atonement.
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