by Ptr. Art Calaguas<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shalom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last week I mentioned in my reflection about the great acrostic Psalm 119:105 which has the author declaring that the Word of the LORD is a lamp to his feet and a light to his path and pointed out the clear resonance of this Psalm\u2019s use of light with our Lord Jesus as the Word who became flesh and tabernacled with men saying that \u201cI AM\u201d the light of the world. However, I did not explain what an \u201cacrostic\u201d means. I will now address this omission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Hebrew acrostic is perhaps best exemplified by this Psalm 119. There are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet. In Psalm 119, the author structured the Psalm to have 22 stanzas following the Hebrew alphabet and 8 verses each per stanza. Our English Bibles of course cannot show this. In stanza 1, all the first letters of each verse starts with the first letter of their alphabet, \u05d0 (\u201caleph\u201d). So imagine all 8 verses of this stanza beginning with the \u201caleph.\u201d The next stanza has all of its 8 verses start with the letter \u05d1 (\u201cbeth\u201d); and so on. In my example of Psalm 119:105, we are actually in the 14th<\/sup> letter already, \u05e0 (\u201cnun\u201d). The actual 8 Hebrew verses of Psalm 119:105-112 are shown below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u05e0\u05b5\u05e8\u05be\u05dc\u05b0\u05e8\u05b7\u05d2\u05b0\u05dc\u05b4\u05a5\u05d9 \u05d3\u05b0\u05d1\u05b8\u05e8\u05b6\u0591\u05da\u05b8 \u05d5\u05b0\u059d\u05d0\u05b9\u0597\u05d5\u05e8 \u05dc\u05b4\u05e0\u05b0\u05ea\u05b4\u05d9\u05d1\u05b8\u05ea\u05b4\u05bd\u05d9\u05c3<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u05e0\u05b4\u05e9\u05b0\u05c1\u05d1\u05b7\u05bc\u05a5\u05e2\u05b0\u05ea\u05b4\u05bc\u05d9 \u05d5\u05b8\u05d0\u05b2\u05e7\u05b7\u05d9\u05b5\u05bc\u0591\u05de\u05b8\u05d4 \u05dc\u05b4\u059d\u05e9\u05b0\u05c1\u05de\u05b9\u0597\u05e8 \u05de\u05b4\u05e9\u05b0\u05c1\u05e4\u05b0\u05bc\u05d8\u05b5\u05a5\u05d9 \u05e6\u05b4\u05d3\u05b0\u05e7\u05b6\u05bd\u05da\u05b8\u05c3<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u05e0\u05b7\u05e2\u05b2\u05e0\u05b5\u05a5\u05d9\u05ea\u05b4\u05d9 \u05e2\u05b7\u05d3\u05be\u05de\u05b0\u05d0\u05b9\u0591\u05d3 \u05d9\u05b0\u059d\u05d4\u05d5\u05b8\u0597\u05d4 \u05d7\u05b7\u05d9\u05b5\u05bc\u05a5\u05e0\u05b4\u05d9 \u05db\u05b4\u05d3\u05b0\u05d1\u05b8\u05e8\u05b6\u05bd\u05da\u05b8\u05c3<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u05e0\u05b4\u05d3\u05b0\u05d1\u05b9\u05a3\u05d5\u05ea \u05e4\u05b4\u05bc\u05ad\u05d9 \u05e8\u05b0\u05e6\u05b5\u05d4\u05be\u05e0\u05b8\u05a3\u05d0 \u05d9\u05b0\u05d4\u05d5\u05b8\u0591\u05d4 \u05d5\u05bc\u05bd\u05de\u05b4\u05e9\u05b0\u05c1\u05e4\u05b8\u05bc\u05d8\u05b6\u05a5\u05d9\u05da\u05b8 \u05dc\u05b7\u05de\u05b0\u05bc\u05d3\u05b5\u05bd\u05e0\u05b4\u05d9\u05c3<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u05e0\u05b7\u05e4\u05b0\u05e9\u05b4\u05c1\u05a3\u05d9 \u05d1\u05b0\u05db\u05b7\u05e4\u05b4\u05bc\u05a3\u05d9 \u05ea\u05b8\u05de\u05b4\u0591\u05d9\u05d3 \u05d5\u05b0\u059d\u05ea\u05b9\u05bd\u05d5\u05e8\u05b8\u05ea\u05b0\u05da\u05b8\u0597 \u05dc\u05b9\u05a3\u05d0 \u05e9\u05b8\u05c1\u05db\u05b8\u05bd\u05d7\u05b0\u05ea\u05b4\u05bc\u05d9\u05c3<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u05e0\u05b8\u05ea\u05b0\u05e0\u05ac\u05d5\u05bc \u05e8\u05b0\u05e9\u05b8\u05c1\u05e2\u05b4\u05a3\u05d9\u05dd \u05e4\u05b7\u05bc\u05a3\u05d7 \u05dc\u05b4\u0591\u05d9 \u05d5\u05bc\u059d\u05de\u05b4\u05e4\u05b4\u05bc\u05e7\u05bc\u05d5\u05bc\u05d3\u05b6\u0597\u05d9\u05da\u05b8 \u05dc\u05b9\u05a3\u05d0 \u05ea\u05b8\u05e2\u05b4\u05bd\u05d9\u05ea\u05b4\u05d9\u05c3<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u05e0\u05b8\u05d7\u05b7\u05a3\u05dc\u05b0\u05ea\u05b4\u05bc\u05d9 \u05e2\u05b5\u05d3\u05b0\u05d5\u05b9\u05ea\u05b6\u05a3\u05d9\u05da\u05b8 \u05dc\u05b0\u05e2\u05b9\u05d5\u05dc\u05b8\u0591\u05dd \u05db\u05b4\u05bc\u05bd\u05d9\u05be\u05e9\u05b0\u05c2\u05e9\u05b9\u05c2\u0596\u05d5\u05df \u05dc\u05b4\u05d1\u05b4\u05bc\u05a3\u05d9 \u05d4\u05b5\u05bd\u05de\u05b8\u05bc\u05d4\u05c3<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u05e0\u05b8\u05d8\u05b4\u05a3\u05d9\u05ea\u05b4\u05d9 \u05dc\u05b4\u05ad\u05d1\u05b4\u05bc\u05d9 \u05dc\u05b7\u05e2\u05b2\u05e9\u05b9\u05c2\u05a5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d7\u05bb\u05e7\u05b6\u05bc\u0597\u05d9\u05da\u05b8 \u05dc\u05b0\u05e2\u05b9\u05d5\u05dc\u05b8\u05a5\u05dd \u05e2\u05b5\u05bd\u05e7\u05b6\u05d1\u05c3<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reading the Hebrew poetic lines from right to left, then top-down, it will be plain to see that all the 8 verses start with the very same letter \u05e0 (\u201cnun\u201d)! Verse 105 is literally translated as \u201ca lamp to my feet (is) your word, and a light to my path.\u201d It does not take a mighty imagination to realize the masterpiece the author has created in Psalm 119. But loads of wonder and admiration will help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My NIV Study Bible comments that the author structures the Psalm around the use of 8 different Hebrew words in each stanza. These Hebrew words (or their plural derivatives) are the following: \u05d7\u05b9\u05e7 (\u201cchoq\u201d meaning decree); \u05ea\u05bc\u05d5\u05b9\u05e8\u05b8\u05d4 (\u201ctorah\u201d meaning law\/instruction\/teaching); \u05de\u05b4\u05e6\u05b0\u05d5\u05b8\u05d4 (\u201cmitzvah\u201d meaning commandment); \u05e2\u05b5\u05d3\u05d5\u05bc\u05ea (\u201ceduth\u201d meaning testimony); \u05e4\u05b4\u05e7\u05bc\u05d5\u05bc\u05d3 (\u201cpiqqud\u201d meaning precept\/statute); \u05de\u05b4\u05e9\u05b0\u05c1\u05e4\u05b8\u05d8 (\u201cmishpat\u201d meaning judgment\/ordinance) \u05d0\u05b4\u05de\u05b0\u05e8\u05b8\u05d4 (\u201cimrah\u201d meaning utterance\/word\/promise); and \u05d3\u05b8\u05d1\u05b8\u05e8 (“dabar\u201d meaning word). Each stanza will feature a minimum of 6 of these words; some feature 8! I would also add \u05d3\u05b6\u05bc\u05e8\u05b6\u05da\u05b0 (\u201cderek\u201d meaning way) as it is used also in the different stanzas. These terms reflect what my ESV Global Study Bible refer to as the \u201ccovenant revelation\u201d of the LORD to his people. The ESV Global Study Bible further states that Psalm 119 is not only the longest psalm; it is also the most carefully structured chapter in the Bible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One may ask if the Hebrew Old Testament (OT) books that feature the same starting letter in a successive structure would be called \u201cacrostic.\u201d Not necessarily. An example that most people would readily recognize is in the Book of Ecclesiastes, specifically the oft-quoted Chapter 3 that speaks about seasons and time for everything under heaven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Hebrew version of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 is given below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u05dc\u05b7\u05db\u05b9\u05bc\u0596\u05dc \u05d6\u05b0\u05de\u05b8\u0591\u05df \u05d5\u05b0\u05e2\u05b5\u05a5\u05ea \u05dc\u05b0\u05db\u05b8\u05dc\u05be\u05d7\u05b5\u0596\u05e4\u05b6\u05e5 \u05ea\u05b7\u05bc\u05a5\u05d7\u05b7\u05ea \u05d4\u05b7\u05e9\u05b8\u05bc\u05c1\u05de\u05b8\u05bd\u05d9\u05b4\u05dd\u05c3<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u05e2\u05b5\u05a5\u05ea \u05dc\u05b8\u05dc\u05b6\u0596\u05d3\u05b6\u05ea \u05d5\u05b0\u05e2\u05b5\u05a3\u05ea \u05dc\u05b8\u05de\u0591\u05d5\u05bc\u05ea \u05e2\u05b5\u05a3\u05ea \u05dc\u05b8\u05d8\u05b7\u0594\u05e2\u05b7\u05ea \u05d5\u05b0\u05e2\u05b5\u0596\u05ea \u05dc\u05b7\u05e2\u05b2\u05e7\u05b9\u05a5\u05d5\u05e8 \u05e0\u05b8\u05d8\u05bd\u05d5\u05bc\u05e2\u05b7\u05c3<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u05e2\u05b5\u05a4\u05ea \u05dc\u05b7\u05d4\u05b2\u05e8\u05b9\u05d5\u05d2\u0599 \u05d5\u05b0\u05e2\u05b5\u05a3\u05ea \u05dc\u05b4\u05e8\u05b0\u05e4\u05b9\u05bc\u0594\u05d5\u05d0 \u05e2\u05b5\u05a5\u05ea \u05dc\u05b4\u05e4\u05b0\u05e8\u05b9\u0596\u05d5\u05e5 \u05d5\u05b0\u05e2\u05b5\u05a5\u05ea \u05dc\u05b4\u05d1\u05b0\u05e0\u05b9\u05bd\u05d5\u05ea\u05c3<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u05e2\u05b5\u05a4\u05ea \u05dc\u05b4\u05d1\u05b0\u05db\u05b9\u05bc\u05d5\u05ea\u0599 \u05d5\u05b0\u05e2\u05b5\u05a3\u05ea \u05dc\u05b4\u05e9\u05b0\u05c2\u05d7\u05b9\u0594\u05d5\u05e7 \u05e2\u05b5\u05a5\u05ea \u05e1\u05b0\u05e4\u05b9\u0596\u05d5\u05d3 \u05d5\u05b0\u05e2\u05b5\u05a5\u05ea \u05e8\u05b0\u05e7\u05b9\u05bd\u05d5\u05d3\u05c3<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u05e2\u05b5\u059a\u05ea \u05dc\u05b0\u05d4\u05b7\u05e9\u05b0\u05c1\u05dc\u05b4\u05a3\u05d9\u05da\u05b0 \u05d0\u05b2\u05d1\u05b8\u05e0\u05b4\u0594\u05d9\u05dd \u05d5\u05b0\u05e2\u05b5\u0596\u05ea \u05db\u05b0\u05bc\u05e0\u05b9\u05a3\u05d5\u05e1 \u05d0\u05b2\u05d1\u05b8\u05e0\u05b4\u0591\u05d9\u05dd \u05e2\u05b5\u05a3\u05ea \u05dc\u05b7\u05d7\u05b2\u05d1\u05b9\u0594\u05d5\u05e7 \u05d5\u05b0\u05e2\u05b5\u0596\u05ea \u05dc\u05b4\u05e8\u05b0\u05d7\u05b9\u05a5\u05e7 \u05de\u05b5\u05d7\u05b7\u05d1\u05b5\u05bc\u05bd\u05e7\u05c3<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u05e2\u05b5\u05a4\u05ea \u05dc\u05b0\u05d1\u05b7\u05e7\u05b5\u05bc\u05e9\u05c1\u0599 \u05d5\u05b0\u05e2\u05b5\u05a3\u05ea \u05dc\u05b0\u05d0\u05b7\u05d1\u05b5\u05bc\u0594\u05d3 \u05e2\u05b5\u05a5\u05ea \u05dc\u05b4\u05e9\u05b0\u05c1\u05de\u05b9\u0596\u05d5\u05e8 \u05d5\u05b0\u05e2\u05b5\u05a5\u05ea \u05dc\u05b0\u05d4\u05b7\u05e9\u05b0\u05c1\u05dc\u05b4\u05bd\u05d9\u05da\u05b0\u05c3<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u05e2\u05b5\u05a4\u05ea \u05dc\u05b4\u05e7\u05b0\u05e8\u05b9\u0599\u05d5\u05e2\u05b7\u0599 \u05d5\u05b0\u05e2\u05b5\u05a3\u05ea \u05dc\u05b4\u05ea\u05b0\u05e4\u05b9\u05bc\u0594\u05d5\u05e8 \u05e2\u05b5\u05a5\u05ea \u05dc\u05b7\u05d7\u05b2\u05e9\u05b9\u05c1\u0596\u05d5\u05ea \u05d5\u05b0\u05e2\u05b5\u05a5\u05ea \u05dc\u05b0\u05d3\u05b7\u05d1\u05b5\u05bc\u05bd\u05e8\u05c3<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u05e2\u05b5\u05a4\u05ea \u05dc\u05b6\u05bd\u05d0\u05b1\u05d4\u05b9\u05d1\u0599 \u05d5\u05b0\u05e2\u05b5\u05a3\u05ea \u05dc\u05b4\u05e9\u05b0\u05c2\u05e0\u05b9\u0594\u05d0 \u05e2\u05b5\u05a5\u05ea \u05de\u05b4\u05dc\u05b0\u05d7\u05b8\u05de\u05b8\u0596\u05d4 \u05d5\u05b0\u05e2\u05b5\u05a5\u05ea \u05e9\u05b8\u05c1\u05dc\u05b9\u05bd\u05d5\u05dd\u05c3<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reading from right-left, top-down, we see that other than Verse 1 all the other verses start with the same word \u05e2\u05b5\u05a4\u05ea (\u201cet\u201d meaning time). Verse 8 would be translated as \u201cA time to love and a time to hate, a time of war and a time of peace.\u201d In English, verses 2-8 all start with \u201cA time.\u201d But these verses do not reflect an acrostic structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To close out the references to light in the OT as underpinnings for John 8:12, we can note that Ecclesiastes itself makes use of the word \u201clight\u201d in 3 verses: 2:13; 11:7; and 12:2. We will take up only the first one which serves as part of the \u201cmeaningless\u201d backdrop which segues into Ecclesiastes 3. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In Ecclesiastes 2:13, Qoheleth\/Solomon recognizes that wisdom is an advantage\/excellent\/better choice than folly\/foolishness, as light is better than darkness. Note that the Hebrew noun <\/strong>\u05d9\u05b4\u05ea\u05b0\u05e8\u05d5\u05b9\u05df (\u201cyithron\u201d meaning advantage\/profit) is found only in the Book of Ecclesiastes (10 occurrences). Even if Qoheleth\/Solomon concluded that it was \u201call meaningless,\u201d it does not change the fact that it is much better to have wisdom rather than folly as it is to choose light over darkness. And little did he know that the ultimate light of the world would come later on as his descendant and show to all that indeed, it is much better to choose light and that choice can never be meaningless to the ultimate question of humankind\u2019s destiny!<\/p>\n\n\n\n We shall continue next week with the other \u201cI AM\u201d declarations of our Lord Jesus in Chapter 8 of the Gospel of John.<\/p>\n\n\n\n God bless us all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Ptr. Art Calaguas Shalom. Last week I mentioned in my reflection about the great acrostic Psalm 119:105 which has the author declaring that the Word of the LORD is a lamp to his feet and a light to his path and pointed out the clear resonance of this Psalm\u2019s use of light with our…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[6,7,9,8,5],"class_list":["post-148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ptr-art-calaguas","tag-church-of-the-risen-lord","tag-crl","tag-spiritual-refreshment-of-the-day","tag-upcemi","tag-upcrl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":149,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148\/revisions\/149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}