Patriarchinity Chapter 9: Required Prerequisites for the Gospel of Yochanan-- Pronouns, Populations, and Proxy II

Patriarchinity Chapter 9
Required Prerequisites for the Gospel of Yochanan-- Pronouns, Populations, and Proxy II
by Chris Jacob (Yaacov) Schaefer ©2009

Before going to chapter 10 , we’ll need some additional study of types, to see how they function.

Some precedent of how pronouns are used Hebraically: even in modern times, in a Hebrew classroom where there are both boys and girls, either will be referred to as the default equivalent of “he” regardless of his or her gender. Now Let’s go to the Torah take a look at the Nazarite vow for both men and women in Bemidbar/Numbers 6. Even though the passage is talking about both genders of people, the masculine pronoun is used.

Bemidbar/Numbers 6:1-3And YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying,
2 “Speak to the children of Yisrael, and say to them, When
either man, or woman shall separate themselves to vow a
vow of a Nazirite, to separate themselves to YHWH:
3 He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink,
and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong
drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat
moist grapes, or dried.”

YHWH is talking about both males and females, but the default pronoun “he” is used.

Devarim/Deuteronomy 7:2-4 (ISRV) [The HRV also has “he.”]
“And when YHWH your Elohim gives them over to you, you shall smite them and put them under the ban completely. Make no covenant with them, and show them no favour.
And do not intermarry with them—you do not give your daughter to his son, and you do not take his daughter for your son,
For he turns your sons away from following Me, to serve other mighty ones. Then the displeasure of YHWH whall burn against you and promptly destroy you.

From the context it is obviously not talking about homosexuality, but rather the unequal yoking of Yisrelites with pagan unbelievers. Yet the pronoun “he” is still used to describe both the male pagans and female pagans. Apparently, the Hebraic default of using male pronouns when alternating between talking about males and females, is an accepted norm because the gender is understood via common sense. So while it might seem sloppy to our Western ears, it is we who need to adjust and put on our thinking caps.

So what does that mean for our understanding of Elohim? Sometimes the default pronouns of “He” or “Him” may be used even if the object of the pronoun is not necesarilly masculine. Don’t miss this: if the pronoun of He is used of the Ruach HaQodesh when the Ruach HaQodesh occurs in the same sentence as the Abba or the Son, the pronoun He does not negate the Ruach HaQodesh’s femininity.

Next, in Hebraic thought, how does the process of counting a population work-- especailly in the context of the family unit?

Mattityahu/Matthew 14:21
21 And they that had eaten were about five thousand men,
beside women and children.

Yochanan 6:10-11
10 And Yehoshua said, “Make the men
sit down.” Now there
was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in
number about five thousand.
11 And Yehoshua took the loaves; and when He had said the
blessing, He distributed to the disciples, and the disciples
to them that were sitting down;

The men were numbered and fed, while the women and children were assumed to exist and assumed to have also eaten the meal even though they were not numbered. In the Yochanan passage it becomes even clearer. If Yehoshua had only the men sit down while the women and children continued to mill about, disorder would have certainly prevailed. So common sense tells us that if the men sat down, then the women and children did likewise even though no mention whatsoever is made of them doing so.

This method is also seen in the Tanakh.

Shemoth/Exodus 12:37
37 And the children of Yisrael journeyed from Raamses
to Sukkot, about six hundred thousand on foot that were
men, beside children.

The women weren’t even mentioned, but simply understood to be integral with their husbands-- especially in light of the fact that the children (not numbered) were with the men. Also, in light of the fact that some men would have had more than 1 wife, counting of each would have proven to be more complicated. So to keep things simple, each man represented his immediate family including wife/wives.

So what does that mean for our understanding of Elohim?
When YHWH, the Patriarchial head, is mentioned, those who are under his authority (Son and Ruach HaQodesh) are understood to be potentially with Him even if not mentioned in a particular verse. Also, it can be seen that the mere mention of a child (a.k.a. Son) necessitates a Mother.

Lastly let’s look at the concept of proxy, particularly how it functions when giving credit for works within a royal system.

Melechim Aleph/1st Kings 6 (entire chapter)-7:8, 7:46-51
And it came to pass in the four hundred eightieth year
after the children of Yisrael were come out of the land of
Egypt, in the fourth year of Shlomo's reign over
Yisrael, in the month Ziv, which is the second month, that
he began to build the House of YHWH.
2 And the House which king Shlomo built for YHWH, the
length was sixty cubits, and the width twenty cubits, and
the height thirty cubits.
3 And the porch before the Temple of the House, twenty
cubits was the length, according to the width of the House;
and ten cubits was the width in front of the House.
4 And for the House he made windows with narrow
frames.
5 And against the wall of the House he built rooms all
around, against the walls of the House all around, both of
the Temple and of the Speaking Place: and he made rooms
all around:
6 The lowest room was five cubits wide, and the middle
was six cubits wide, and the third was seven cubits wide:
for outside in the wall of the House he made narrow ledges
all around, so that the beams should not be fastened in the
walls of the House.
7 And the House, when it was being built, was built of
finished stone made ready before it was brought there: so
that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of
iron heard in the House, while it was being built.
8 The door for the middle room was on the right side of
the House: and they went up with winding stairs into the
middle side rooms, and out of the middle into the third.
9 So he built the House, and finished it; and paneled the
House with beams and boards of cedar.
10 And then he built side rooms against all the House, five
cubits high: and they rested on the House with cedar
beams.
11 And the word of YHWH came to Shlomo, saying,
12 “Concerning this House which you are building, if you
will have your halacha in My chukim, and execute My
right rulings, and keep all My commands to have your
halacha in them, then will I perform My word with you,
which I spoke to Dawid your abba:
13 And I will dwell among the children of Yisrael, and
will not forsake My people Yisrael.”
14 So Shlomo built the House, and finished it.
15 And he built the walls of the House within with boards
of cedar, both the floor of the House, and the walls to the
ceiling: and he paneled them on the inside with wood, and
he paneled the floor of the House with planks of cypress.
16 And he built twenty cubits at the rear of the House,
from the floor to the walls with boards of cedar: he even
built it inside the partition to be the Most-Kadosh-Place.
17 And the House, that is, the Temple before it, was forty
cubits long.
18 And the cedar of the House within was carved with
ornaments and open flowers: all was cedar; there was no
stone seen.
19 And the Speaking Place he prepared in the House
within, to put there the Ark of the Testimony of YHWH.
20 And the Speaking Place in the front was twenty cubits
in length, and twenty cubits in width, and twenty cubits in
the height: and he overlaid it with pure gold; and so
covered the altar which was of cedar.
21 So Shlomo overlaid the House within with pure gold:
and he made a partition by the chains of gold before the
Speaking Place; and he overlaid it with gold.
22 And the whole House he overlaid with gold, until he
had finished all the House: also the whole altar that was by
the Speaking Place he overlaid with gold.
23 And within the Speaking Place he made two cheruvim
from olive tree,
each ten cubits high.
24 And five cubits was the one wing of the cheruv, and
five cubits the other wing of the cheruv: from the
uttermost part of the one wing to the uttermost part of the
other were ten cubits.
25 And the other cheruv was ten cubits: both the
cheruvim were of one measure and one size.
26 The height of the one cheruv was ten cubits, as was the
other cheruv.
27 And he set the cheruvim inside the inner House: and
they stretched out the wings of the cheruvim, so that the
wing of the one touched one wall, and the wing of the
other cheruv touched the other wall; and their wings
touched one another in the midst in the middle of the
room.
28 And he overlaid the cheruvim with gold.
29 And he carved all the walls of the House all around
with carved figures of cheruvim and palm trees and
open flowers, inside and outside.
30 And the floor of the House he overlaid with gold, inside
and outside.
31 And for the entrance of the Speaking Place he made
doors of olive tree:
the lintel and side posts were a fifth
part of the wall.
32 The two doors also were of olive tree; and he carved
upon them carvings of cheruvim and palm trees and
open flowers, and overlaid them with gold,
and spread
gold upon the cheruvim, and upon the palm trees.
33 So also he made for the door of the Temple posts of
olive tree,
a fourth part of the wall.
34 And the two doors were of cypress tree: the two
leaves of the one door folded, and the two leaves of the
other door were folded.
35 And he carved on them cheruvim and palm trees and
open flowers: and covered them with gold laid upon the
carved work.
36 And he built the inner court with three rows of cut
stone, and a row of cedar beams.
37 In the fourth year was the foundation of the House of
YHWH laid, in the month Ziv:
38 And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is
the eighth month, was the House finished in all its details,
and according to all its plans. So he took seven years to
build it.
Chaper 7
And Shlomo was building his own House for thirteen
years, and he finished his House.
2 He built also the House of the forest of Levanon; the
length was a hundred cubits, and the width fifty cubits,
and the height thirty cubits, with four rows of cedar
pillars, with cedar beams on the pillars.
3 And it was paneled with cedar above the beams that
were on forty-five pillars, fifteen in a row.
4 And there were windows in three rows, and window
was opposite window in three tiers.
5 And all the doors and doorposts had square frames, and
window was opposite window three times.
6 And he made the porch of pillars; the length was fifty
cubits, and the width thirty cubits: and the porch was in
front of them: and the other pillars and the roof was in
front of them.
7 Then he made a hall for the throne where he might
judge, even the hall of judgment: and it was paneled with
cedar from one side of the floor to the other.
8 And his House where he lived had another courtyard
within the hall, which was of like work. Shlomo also
made a House for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had taken
as his wife, just like his...

46 In the plain of the Yarden did the king cast them, in
the clay ground between Sukkot and Tzarthan.
47 And Shlomo left all the vessels unweighed, because
they were too many: neither was the weight of the brass
sought for.
48 And Shlomo made all the vessels that pertained to the
House of YHWH: the altar of gold, and the table of gold,
on which the ShowBread was,
49 And the menorot of pure gold, five on the right side,
and five on the left, before the Speaking Place, with the
flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs of gold,
50 And the bowls, and the saucers, and the basins, and the
spoons, and the censers of pure gold; and the hinges of
gold, both for the doors of the inner House, the Most-
Kadosh-Place, and for the doors of the House of the Temple.
51 So was finished all the work that melech Shlomo made
for the House of YHWH. And Shlomo brought in the things
which Dawid his abba had dedicated; even the silver, and
the gold, and the vessels, did he put in the treasury of the
House of YHWH.

Wow, how was one man able to run a nation, sexually service all his wives and concubines, write scripture, do a host of other things, and build a temple and palaces all by himself?

Melechem Aleph/1st Kings7:13-45
13 And king Shlomo sent and fetched Chiram out of
Tzor.
14 He was a widow's son of the tribe of Naphtali, and his
abba was a man of Tzor, a worker in brass: and he was
filled with wisdom, and understanding, and skilled to work all
works in brass. And he came to melech Shlomo, and did
all his work.
15 For he cast two pillars of brass, of eighteen cubits high
apiece:
and a line of twelve cubits measured the circumference of each one.
16 And he made two capitals of cast brass, to set upon the
tops of the pillars: the height of the one capital was five
cubits, and the height of the other capital was five cubits:
17 And a network of carved ornaments and wreaths of
chain work, for the capitals that were on the top of the
pillars; seven for the one capital, and seven for the other
capital.
18 And he made the pillars, and two rows all around
above the one network, to cover the capitals that were at
the top, with pomegranates: and he did also the same for
the other capital.
19 And the capitals that were upon the top of the pillars
were of bulging work shaped like lilies in the hall, four
cubits.
20 And the capitals upon the two pillars had
pomegranates also above, by the bulge next to the
network: and the pomegranates were two hundred in rows
all around on each of the capitals.
21 And he set up the pillars in the porch of the Temple: and
he set up the right pillar, and called the name of it
Yahchin: and he set up the left pillar, and he called the
name of it Boaz.
22 And upon the top of the pillars was lily work: so the
work of the pillars was finished.
23 And he made a cast basin, ten cubits from the one brim
to the other: it was circular all around, and the height was
five cubits: and a line of thirty cubits measured around it.
24 And under the brim of it all around there were
ornaments compassing it, ten in a cubit, all around the
basin: the ornaments were cast in two rows,
when it was cast.
25 It stood upon twelve oxen,
three looking toward the
north, and three looking toward the west, and three
looking toward the south, and three looking toward the
east: and the basin was set above upon them, and all their
back parts were inward.
26 And it was a handbreadth thick, and its brim was made
like the brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies: it contained
two thousand gallons of water.
27 And he made ten stands of brass; four cubits was the
length of one base, and four cubits the width, and three
cubits the height of it.
28 And the work of the stands was like this: they had side
panels, and the side panels were between the frames:
29 And on the side panels that were between the frames
were lions, oxen, and cheruvim: and upon the frames
there was a pedestal above: and beneath the lions and
oxen were certain additions made of thin work.
30 And every base had four bronze wheels, and plates of
brass: and the four feet had support; under the laver were
cast supports, at the side of every addition.
31 And the opening of it within the capital above was a
cubit: but the opening was round after the work of the
base, a cubit and a half: and also on the opening of it were
engravings with their panels, foursquare, not round.
32 And under the side panels were four wheels; and the
axle pins of the wheels were joined to the base: and the
height of a wheel was a cubit and a half a cubit.
33 And the work of the wheels was like the work of a
chariot wheel: their axle pins, and their rims, and their
hubs, and their spokes, were all cast.
34 And there were four supports to the four corners of
one base: and the supports were of the very base itself.
35 And at the top of the base was there a round compass
of half a cubit high: and on the top of the base the ledges
and the side panels were the same.
36 For on the plates of the ledges, and on the side panels,
he engraved cheruvim, lions, and palm trees, according
to the proportion of every one, and additions all around.
37 After this manner he made the ten stands: all of them
had one casting, one measure, and one size.
38 Then he made ten basins of brass: one laver contained
forty gallons: and every laver was four cubits: and upon
every one of the ten stands one laver.
39 And he put five stands on the right side of the House,
and five on the left side of the House: and he set the basin
on the right side of the House eastward facing south.
40 And Chiram made the basins, and the shovels, and the
bowls. So Chiram made an end of doing all the work that
he made for king Shlomo for the House of YHWH:
41 The two pillars, and the two bowls of the capitals that
were on the top of the two pillars; and the two networks,
to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were upon
the top of the pillars;
42 And four hundred pomegranates for the two networks,
two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the
two bowls of the capitals that were on top of the pillars;
43 And the ten stands, and ten basins on the stands;
44 And one basin, and twelve oxen under the basin;
45 And the pots, and the shovels, and the bowls: and all
these vessels, which Chiram made for melech Shlomo for
the House of YHWH, were of polished brass.

Oh now it makes sense, this Chiram did everything by himself. Well, not quite...

Melechim Aleph/1st Kings 5:6-18
6 [Shlomo speaking] “So now command that they cut me cedar trees out of
Levanon; and my servants shall be with your servants, and
to you will I pay wages for your servants according to all
that you shall appoint. For you know that there is not
among us any that has the skill to cut timber like the
Tzidonians.”
7 And it came to pass, when Chiram heard the words of
Shlomo, that he had great joy, and said, “Blessed be YHWH
this day, who has given to Dawid a wise son over this
great people.”
8 And Chiram sent to Shlomo, saying, “I have considered
the message that you sent to me: and I will do all your
desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning the
cypress logs
9 My servants shall bring them down from Levanon to the
sea: and I will convey them by sea in floats to the place
that you shall appoint me, and will cause them to be
unloaded there, and you shall receive them: and you shall
accomplish my desire, by giving food for my household.
10 So Chiram gave Shlomo cedar trees and cypress logs
according to all his desire.
11 And Shlomo gave Chiram twenty thousand measures
of wheat for food to his household, and twenty measures
of pure oil: this Shlomo gave to Chiram every year.
12 And YHWH gave Shlomo wisdom, as He promised
him: and there was shalom between Chiram and Shlomo,
and the two made a covenant together.
13 And king Shlomo raised compulsory labor out of
all Yisrael; and the compulsory labor was thirty thousand
men.
14 And he sent them to Levanon ten thousand a month in
turns: a month they were in Levanon, and two months at
home: and Adoniram was over the compulsory labor.
15 And Shlomo had seventy thousand that bore burdens,
and eighty thousand stonecutters in the mountains:
16 Beside the chief of Shlomo's officers who were over
the work, three thousand three hundred, who ruled over
the people that labored in the work.
17 And the king commanded, and they brought great
stones, costly stones, and cut stones, to lay the foundation
of the House.
18 And Shlomo's builders and Chiram's builders did cut
them, and the stonemasons: so they prepared timber and
stones to build the House.

Oh, so they had a little bit of help. It was a monarchy. King Shlomo delegated the direction of the work to Chiram and Adoniram, and to Shlomo’s 3,300 officers, who directed the work of 30,000; 70,000; 80,000 and Chiram’s builders as well. Quite a different picture than if we read chapter 6 as woodenly as possible, which at first glance says that King Shlomo did everything. But here’s the idea, and don’t miss this: in Scripture, in any kind of hierarchy or monarchy, the head gets the credit even if others do the actual work. This would also be true of a patriarchy which is hierarchical in structure.

At this point the reader is probably wondering: “Why did he do such a huge section of Scripture-- wouldn’t a few verses have been sufficient?” The answer is this. The section that gives all credit to Shlomo for all the work in the majority of the text. In fact Chapter 6 entirely portrays (in a wooden literal sense) Shlomo as having done all the work himself. Only when the complete accounts of the building of the temple (and palaces) are taken as a unified whole, can any sense be made of who actually did what.

So what does that imply for our understanding of Elohim?
Regarding the building of the temple, if just taking a whole chapter by itself will result in misunderstanding, how much more so will there be misunderstandings of Elohim when the Scriptures are not taken as a unified Whole. So regarding Elohim, to properly understand Who does what, the Scriptures must be viewed as a unified Whole. According to the Scriptural pattern, when Yehoshua or the Ruach HaQodesh does the will of Father YHWH, all credit and glory ultimately goes to Father YHWH!

Comment by Lev/Christopher on January 7, 2009 at 12:48am: An excellent study!

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