Jewish symbolism and hidden meanings in a handful of words: A brilliant explanation of Messiah Yeshua in from the Aramaic viewpoint!

1 Timothy 3:

1. It is a faithful saying that if a man desires the eldership, he desires a good work. 2. And an elder should be such that no blame can be found in him; and he should be the husband of one wife, with a vigilant mind and sober and reliable (in his behaviors), and affectionate to strangers, and instructive, 3. and not a transgressor in regard to wine, and whose hand is not swift to strike; but he should be humble and not contentious, nor a lover of money; 4. and one that guides well his own house and holds his children in subjection with all purity. 5. For if he knows not how to guide his own house well, how can he guide the assembly of Elohim? 6. Neither let him be of recent discipleship, or else he be uplifted and fall into the condemnation of Satan.

7. And there should be good testimony of him from those without; or else he fall into reproach and the snare of Satan. 8. And so also the assembly servants should be pure and not speak double, nor incline to much wine, nor love base gains; 9. but should hold the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. 10. And let them be first tried and then let them serve if they are without blame. 11. So also should the wives be chaste and of vigilant minds; and they should be faithful in all things; and they should not be slanderers. 12. Let the assembly servants be such as have each one wife and guide well their children and households.

13. For they who serve well (as assembly servants), procure for themselves a good degree and much boldness in the faith of Y’shua the Mashiyach. 14. These things I write to you while hoping soon to come to you; 15. but if I should delay that you may know how you should to conduct yourself in the house of Elohim which is the assembly of the living Elohim. The pillar and the foundation of the truth, 16. and truly great, is this mystery of righteousness which was revealed in the flesh and righteous in the spirit, and seen by Messengers, and proclaimed among the Gentiles, and believed on in the world, and received up into glory. [*] (AENT)

*FOOTNOTE: Note the brilliant poetry here: (1) And truly great (w’sherirayt rab) (2) Is this divine mystery of righteousness (haw arza hela d’kanota); (3) It is revealed in the flesh (d’atgli b’besra), (4) being Righteous in the Spirit (w’atzaddaq b’rokh), (5) Seen by messengers (w’atkhazi l’malaka), (6) Preached to the Gentiles (w’atkeraz beyt ammah), (7) Believed on in the world (w’athaymin b’almah), (8) And received up into glory (w’astalaq b’shubkha). Note the bold italicized words in 1, 2, 4 and 5. To begin with, 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 “messenger” (angel). However, it is almost identical to malak (king). Reverse the words and we get: Malak + atzaddaq = Melchisedec.

Here are deep poetic patterns contrasting the rab kahna (high priests) of the Levites with that of Melchisedec, the priestly line that Mashiyach represents! In line 3, 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 Galeela where Mashiyach was “revealed in the flesh”!

Italicized words in lines 5, 6, 7 and 8, carry rhymes which are not by accident or coincidence. First, there are four lines in a row that end in “ah”: w’atkhazi l’malaka w’atkeraz beyt amah w’athaymin b’almah w’astalaq b’shubkha. Other word matches are equally striking: Atkhazi (seen)/Atkeraz (preached); Beyt ammah (house of Gentiles/peoples)/B’almah (in the earth/land).

The last word pair is also 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.

Granted, there are some dialectical differences between the Tanakh and the Aramaic Peshitta (ammah = am; almah = eretz), but 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 amah w’athaymin b’almah w’astalaq b’shubkha.

In the end, 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, he moves onto delivering a Masterpiece of rhyme, diction and meter for the remainder of the verse.