Torah Made Flesh - Deut. 30, Baruch and Romans 10

Torah Made Flesh - Deut. 30, Baruch and Romans 10
Part 1
By
James Scott Trimm


Let us begin with Romans 10:4. This is a passage which is so
misunderstood. It appears in the KJV to say that "Christ is the end
of the law". The Aramaic word used for "end" here is SAKA. Back in
1893 when James Murdock S.T.D. (A Christian) translated the Aramaic
Peshitta into English for the first time, he translated this word as
"aim". He noted the original Aramaic word in the margin and further
defined it "end, scope, summary". This Aramaic word is used in the
Rabbinic literature to mean "number" "sum" or "total". In the
Babylonian Talmud this word is used as follows "…the SUM of pupils for
a teacher in the primary class is twenty five" (b.Bat. 21a) The root
verb for this Aramaic noun means "to calculate, count, sum up" or "to
look out for, to hope for".

With this Aramaic word, Paul is saying, not that the Messiah is the
TERMINATION of the Torah, but that Messiah is the aim, goal, scope,
summary, number, total and sum of the Torah! Paul is saying that the
Messiah *IS* the Torah. Messiah is the SUM of the Torah.

Rom 10:5 then continues with:

"For Moses thus wrote of the righteousness that is by the Torah that
`he who does these will live by them.'(Lev. 18:5)"

Remember now, Paul has just said that the Messiah is the sum of the
Torah, and now he is quoting the Torah to prove that "life" comes from
the Torah.

Then in Rom. 10:6-8 Paul continues:

"And of the righteousness that is by trust, he thus says: `Do not say
in your heart: who has ascended to heaven' (Deut. 30:12) and brought
down the Messiah? `And who has descended' to the depth of She'ol `and
brought up' (Deut. 13:13) the Messiah from among the dead? But what
does it say? `The answer is near to you, to your mouth and to your
heart,' (Deut. 30:14) which is the word of trust that we proclaim"

Now Christian commentators have taken Paul to be contrasting "the
righteousness that is by the Torah" (Rom. 10:5) with "the
righteousness that is by faith" (Rom. 10:6) to prove that Messiah is
the "end"/"termination" of the Law as stated in Rom. 10:4.

There are several problems with this interpretation.

To begin with, we have already shown that Paul's point in Rom. 10:4 is
not that Messiah is the termination of the law, but that Messiah is
the goal and sum of the Torah.

Secondly Rom. 10:5 and Rom 10:6f both quote passages from the Torah to
prove their points.

Thirdly, these commentators totally mangle the point Paul is making in
Rom. 10:6-8.

When Paul was teaching the Bereans in Acts 17, we are told that they
checked "the Scriptures" to see if what Paul said could be found
there, and Paul said they were more noble than others he had toaght,
for doing this. Now the only Scriptures they had at the time were
those of the Tanak ("Old Testament") so Paul would look to the
passages he cites from the Tanak to see that we are applying his words
accurately as they are in the Tanak.

So lets be good Bereans and look at the portion of Torah Paul actually
quotes in Rom. 10:6-8, see what it actually says in context, and see
how Paul is using it. Paul is quoting from Deut. 30:12-14. To get
some context we will begin in verse 9 and take the quote through verse 16:

9 And YHWH your Elohim will make you over-abundant in all the work of
your hand, in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your cattle,
and in the fruit of your land, for good; for YHWH will again rejoice
over you for good, as He rejoiced over your fathers,
10 If you shall hearken to the voice of YHWH your Elohim, to keep His
commandments and His statutes which are written in this Book of the
Torah; if you turn unto HYWH your Elohim with all your heart, and with
all your soul.
11 For this commandment which I command you this day, it is not too
hard for you, neither is it far off.
12 It is not in heaven, that you should say: `Who shall go up for us
to heaven, and bring it unto us, and make us to hear it, that we may
do it?'
13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should says: `Who shall go
over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, and make us to hear it,
that we may do it?'
14 But the word if very near unto you, in your mouth, and in your
heart, that you may do it.
15 See, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil,
16 In that I command you this day to love YHWH your Elohim, to walk in
His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statues and His
ordinances; then you shall live and multiply, and YHWH your Elohim
shall bless you in the land where you go in to possess it.
(Deut. 30:9-16)


Now the first and most important point is that in Deut. 30:12-13 it is
the Torah that we do not have to have brought down to us, but in
Paul's citations in Rom. 10:6-7 it is the "Messiah" who does not have
to be brought down to us. Paul is applying his logic that Messiah is
the sum of the Torah from Rom. 10:4 (thus reaffirming that we are
correct in our understanding of SAKA in Rom. 10:4).

Paul here is being influenced by the Apocryphal book of Baruch which paraphrases Deut. 30:12-13 saying:

29 Who has gone up into heaven, and taken her [wisdom]
and brought her down from the clouds?
30 Who has gone over the sea, and found her,
and will buy her for pure gold?
(Baruch 3:29-30)

Then a few lines later Baruch writes:

37 Afterward she appeared upon earth and lived among men.
4:1 She is the book of the commandments of Elohim,
and the Torah that endures forever.
All who hold fast will live,
and those who forsake her fast will die.
(Baruch 3:29-30)

In Baruch that which is brought down from heaven in Deut. 30:12-13 is personified Wisdom (compare 1Cor. 1:24 ) which is identified with an incarnation of the Torah itself having come down to earth to dwell with men.

Moreover, when Paul says "the answer is near to you, to your mouth,
and to your heart, which is the word of trust that we proclaim" (Rom.
10:8) Deut. Says "But the WORD is very near unto you, in your mouth
and in your heart, that you may do it" (Deut. 30:14). So the "answer"
and the "word of trust/faith" in Rom. 10:8 is the "word" in Deut.
30:14, but in Deut. 30:14 that "word" is CLEARLY the Torah! In other
words Rom. 10:8 might be understood "the TORAH is near to you, to your
mouth, and to your heart, which is the TORAH of trust/faith that we
proclaim".

Fourth, we find that Deut. 30:15-16 parallel the meaning of Lev. 18:5
so that we can see that Paul is citing these two passages together,
not because he is contrasting them, but because they teach the same
thing!

Finally if we look back to Rom. 10:6 which is quoting Deut. 30:12 and
we look closely at the phrase Paul quotes "who shall go up for us to
heaven" in the original Hebrew of Deut. 30:12, and if we take the
first letter of each word to from a new word (this is a technique
known as "Notarikon") then we spell the Hebrew word MILAH (which can
mean "word" or "circumcision") and if we take the last letter of each
word we find the name YHWH, so hidden and imbedded in this Hebrew
phrase is the phrase "Word of YHWH". Paul's point is that both the
Messiah and the Torah are the "Word of YHWH".

Now as Romans continues we read:

(Rom. 10:9-13)

9 And if you confess with your mouth our Adon Yeshua, and you believe
in your heart that Eloah raised him from the dead, you will have life.
10 For the heart that believes in him is made righteousness, and the
mouth that confesses him has life.
11 For the scripture has said that anyone who believes in him will not
be humiliated (Is. 28:16).
12 And in this it does not discriminate, either against Jews or
against Aramaeans, for YHWH of all of them is one who is rich with all
who call on him.
13 For all who will call on the name of YHWH have life (Joel 3:5 (2:32)).

Note the progression of thought:

Point 1: The Messiah is the sum of the Torah (Rom. 10:4)

Point 2: The Torah brings life. (Rom. 10:5-8

"For Moses thus wrote of the righteousness that is by the Torah that
`he who does these will LIVE by them.'(Lev. 18:5)" (Rom. 10:5)

"…I have set before you this day LIFE and good… in that I have
commanded you this day to love YHWH your Elohim, to walk in His ways,
and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His ordinances: then
you shall LIVE…" (Deut. 30:15-16) (pointed to in that Rom. 10:6-8
quotes Deut. 30:12-14)

Point 3: The Messiah brings life (Rom. 10:9-10)

9 And if you confess with your mouth our Adon Yeshua, and you believe
in your heart that Eloah raised him from the dead, you will have LIFE.
10 For the heart that believes in him is made righteousness, and the
mouth that confesses him has LIFE.
(Rom. 10:9-10)

Point 4: The "name of YHWH" brings life (Rom. 10:13)

13 For all who will call on the name of YHWH have LIFE (Joel 3:5 (2:32)).
(Rom. 10:13)

(At this point I should add that Paul is clearly writing this letter
in Aramaic. In Aramaic "life" and "salvation" are the same ambiguous
word, but in both Hebrew and Greek "life" and "salvation" are
different words.)

Here there is a clear equivalence being made between:

The Torah and:

"The Word"

"our Adon Yeshua"

"the name of YHWH"


According to the Tanak, the Torah is the "Word of YHWH" (Is. 1:10;
2:3) and according to Yochanan Messiah is the Word of YHWH (Jn. 1:1-3,
14-18; Rev. 19:13).

Jewish tradition teaches that the entire Torah, from the first letter
to the last letter, is one of the names of YHWH.

The Targums were authoritative Aramaic paraphrases of the books of the
Tanak which were read in the synagogues along with the Hebrew of the Torah
and Haftorah readings. Often when the Targums come to passages where YHWH
is anthropomorphisised or seen, or where two or more YHWHs are
indicated by
the text, the Targums will substitute "The Word [Memra] of YHWH" for YHWH.

For example in Gen. 19:24 the Tanak has:

And YHVH rained brimstone and fire
upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah,
from YHVH, from the heavens.

The Hebrew grammar here indicates that one YHWH rains fire from another
YHWH) But Targum Jonathan substitutes "The Word of YHWH/the L-RD" for the
first of the two YHWHs as follows:

And the Word of the YHWH
caused to descend upon the peoples
of Sodom and Gommorah,
brimstone and fire from the YHWH in heaven.

In another example the Torah has:

Ex. 24:1a (YHWH is the speaker, see Ex. 20:1-2)
Now He [YHWH] said to Moses,
"come up to YHWH..."

But Targum Jonathan paraphrases the speaker in Ex. 20:1 with the
substitution "the Word [Memra] of YHWH" in place of "YHWH."

And the Word of the Lord
spoke all these glorious words...

So it would seem that one of these entities called "YHWH" in these Torah
passages was actually understood by the Targumists as being the "Word of
YHWH." It was, according to Targum Onkelos, this Word of YHWH that Abraham
trusted in:

And Abraham trusted in
the Word [Memra] of YHWH,
and He counted it to him for righteousness.
(Targum Onkelos Gen. 15:6)

Moreover Abraham prayed in the name of the Word of YHWH:

And Abraham worshipped and prayed
in the name of the Word [Memra] of YHWH,
and said, "You are YHWH who does see,
but You cannot be seen."
(Jerusalem Targum Gen. 22:14)

Note that here Abraham prays "in the name of the Word of YHWH" to the YHWH
who "cannot be seen." Here two YHWHs are very apparent. Abraham is praying
in the name of the Word of YHWH but is praying to the YHWH who cannot be
seen. This idea is reinforced elsewhere as follows:

And Hagar praised and prayed in the name of
the Word [Memra] Of YHWH
who had revealed Himself to herS
(Jerusalem Targum Gen. 16:3)

It was this Word of YHWH that Jacob also trusted in:

And Jacob vowed a vow, saying,
"If the Word [Memra] of YHWH
will be my support, and will keep me
in the way that I go, and will give me
bread to eat, and raiment to put on,
so that I come again to my father's house in peace;
then shall the Word [Memra]of YHWH
be my Elohim.
(Targum Onkelos on Gen. 28:20-21)

King David also urged Israel to trust in the Word of Yah as the Targum of
Psalm 62 reads:

Trust in the Word of Yah at all times,
O people of the house of Israel!
Pour out before Him the sighings of your heart;
Say, Elohim is our trust forever.
(Targum on Psalm 62:9)

This "Word of YHWH" was, according to Targum Jonathan, the Creator:

And the Word [Memra] of YHWH
created man in his likeness,
in the likeness of YHWH,
YHWH created,
male and female created He them.
(Targ. Jonathan Gen. 1:27)

This idea is also put forward in the Jerusalem Targum:

And the Word [Memra] of YHWH
said to Moses: "I am He who said
unto the world 'Be!' and it was:
and who in the future shall say to it 'Be!'
and it shall be." And He said:
"Thus you shall say to the children of Israel:
'I Am' has sent me to you."
(Jerusalem Targum Ex. 3:14)

The Fragmentary Targum of the Torah also expresses that the Word of YHWH
was the Creator:

The first night, when the "Word of YHWH"
was revealed to the world in order to create it,
the world was desolate and void,
and darkness spread over the face of the abyss
and the "Word of the Lord" was bright and
illuminating and He called it the first night.
(Fragmentary Targum Ex. 12:42)

That the Word of YHWH was the Creator can also be seen in the Tenach
itself:

By the Word of YHWH
were the heavens made,
And all the hosts of them
by the Spirit of His mouth.
(Ps. 33:6)

The Word was also the covenant maker. For example the Noachdic
covenant was
between the Word and all mankind:

And YHWH said to Noah,
"This is the token of the covenant
which I have established between
My Word [Memra] and between all flesh
that is upon the earth.
(Targum Onkelos Gen. 9:17)

The Word also made the Abrahamic covenant as Targum Onkelos also
paraphrases:

And I will establish my covenant
between My Word [Memra]
and between youS
(Targum Onkelos Gen. 17:7)

The Word of YHWH was also the giver of the Mosaic Covenant and the
Torah as
the Jerusalem Targum (as quoted above) makes the Torah giver "the Word of
YHWH" in Ex. 20:1. It was to the Word that Jacob turned to for salvation:

Our father Jacob said:
"My soul does not wait for salvation
such as that wrought by Gideon, the son of Joash,
for that was but temporal;
neither for a salvation like that of Samson,
which was only transitory;
but for that salvation which
You have promised to come,
through Your Word unto Your people,
the children of Israel;
for your salvation my soul hopes."
(Targum Jonathan Gen. 49:18)

That the Word of YHWH is the savior is expressed elsewhere:

But Israel shall be saved
by the Word of YHWH
with an everlasting salvationS
By the Word of YHWH
shall all the seed of Israel be justifiedS
(Targum Jonathan Is. 45:17, 25)

But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah,
and I will save them
by the Word of YHWH, their Elohim.
(Targum Jonathan Hosea 1:7)


All of this is in keeping with the argument Paul is making in Romans
chapter 10:

1. The Messiah is the sum of the Torah
2. The Torah gives life
3. The Messiah gives life/salvation
4. The name of YHWH gives life/salvation

The true teaching of Romans 10 is that Messiah is the Word of YHWH,
the living Torah incarnate, and as such is the source of
life/salvation (not apart from the Torah, but through his role as the
Torah) and is therefore the very "name of YHWH" which saves us when we
call upon it.

(To be continued)

Torah Made Flesh - Deut. 30, Baruch and Romans 10
Part 2
By
James Scott Trimm

OK so back to Deut. 30:12-14

12 It is not in heaven, that you should say: `Who shall go up for us
to heaven, and bring it unto us, and make us to hear it, that we may
do it?'
13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should says: `Who shall go
over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, and make us to hear it,
that we may do it?'
14 But the word is very near unto you, in your mouth, and in your
heart, that you may do it.

(Deut. 30:12-14 HRV)

In Part 1 we discovered that this passage refers to the Torah.  We also learned that Baruch alludes to this passage as speaking of the Torah becoming incarnate and dwelling among us and that Paul quotes this passage of Torah in reference to Messiah (Rom. 10:7) as the incarnate Torah.

Now the first century Jew Philo commented on this passage as follows:

(84) And Moses is very indignant with such people as these, and curses them, saying, "Cursed is he that removeth his neighbour's Landmark."{Deut. 27:17.} And what he means by one's neighbours, and that which is near to a man, is the good. "For it is not good," says he, "to depart to the heave, nor to go beyond the Sea,"{Deut. 30:12.} in the search after what is good; for that stand near to, and close by, each individual. (85) And he divides the good by a threefold division, speaking most strictly in accordance with natural philosophy. "For it is," says he, "in thy mouth, and in thy heart, and in they hands;" that is to say, in thy words, and in thy intentions, and in thy actions; for these are the component parts of the good, of which it is naturally compounded.

(Philo- The Posterity and Exile of Cain, XXIV, 84-85)

Philo identifies that which is spoken of in the phrase “who shall go up for us to heaven…”  as “the good” which he says “has a threefold division”.  Philo, who was a Greek speaking Jew and who lived in Alexandria Egypt, derives the threefold division from verse 14 which reads in the Greek LXX:

14 The word is very near unto you, in your mouth, and in your
heart, and in your hands, that you may do it.

From this Philo identifies this “good” as “The Word” and as being part of a threefold division.

This brings to mind a passage from the Zohar:

Then Elohim said, “Let thee be light; and there was light.

And Elohim saw that the light was good…

Why, it may be asked, was it necessary to repeat the word “light” in this verse? The answer is that the first “light” refers to the primordial light which is of the Right Hand, and it is destined for the “end of days”; while the second “light” refers to the Left Hand, which issues from the Right.

The next words, “And God saw the light that it was good” (Gen. 1:4), refer to the pillar which, standing midway between them, unites both sides, and therefore when the unity of the three, right, left, and middle, was complete, “it was good”, since there could be no completion until the third had appeared to remove the strife between Right and Left, as it is written, “And God separated between the light and between the darkness.”…

This is the Middle Pillar: Ki Tov (that it was good) threw light above and below and on all other sides, in virtue of YHWH, the name which embraces all sides.

(Zohar 1:16b)

Both passages refer to “the good” as part of a threefold division.  The Zohar refers to the Good as the Middle Pillar of three pillars. 

According to the Zohar, the Middle Pillar of the Godhead is also known as the “Son of Yah”:

Better is a neighbor that is near, than a brother far off.

This neighbor is the Middle Pillar in the godhead,

which is the Son of Yah.

(Zohar 2:115)

This brings us to a passage in the Gospel of Matthew where a man says to Yeshua:

Good Rabbi, and what good thing shall I do that I may acquire the life of the world to come? 

(Matt. 19:16)

To which Yeshua replied:

… “Why ask me concerning what is good? 

There is none good but one, there is a good and that is El.”

(Matt. 19:16-17)

In saying this, Yeshua was identifying himself with “the good” that is the incarnate Torah that dwells among us.

The ancients were well aware that Deut. 30:12-14 had imbedded within it the prophecy that the incarnate Word, the Torah itself would come down and dwell among us.   As Yochanan writes:

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with Eloah, and the Word was

Eloah.

2 This was in the beginning, with Eloah.

3 Everything existed through Him, and without Him, not even one thing existed of

that which existed....

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt with us, and we saw His glory: as the

glory of the only begotten who is from the father, who is full of grace and truth.

(John 1:1-3, 14 HRV)