Some Thoughts on Numbers 25:8

NWT 2013: "Then he went after the man of Israel into the tent and pierced both of them through, the man of Israel and the woman through her genital parts. At that the scourge on the Israelites was halted."

NET Bible: "and went after the Israelite man into the tent^[a] and thrust through the Israelite man and into the woman’s abdomen.^[b] So the plague was stopped from the Israelites."

Douay-Rheims: "Went in after the Israelite into the brothel house, and thrust both of them through together, to wit, the man and the woman in the genital parts. And the scourge ceased from the children of Israel"

ESV: "and went after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly. Thus the plague on the people of Israel was stopped."

Jacob Milgrom (Numbers):


See https://www.academia.edu/42236411/Stefan_C._Reif_What_Enraged_Phinehas_A_Study_of_Num._25_8_Journal_of_Biblical_Literature_vol._90_no._2_June_1971_200-206

Brief Review of the Ten Commandments (A Book Written by Mark Rooker)

Rooker, Mark. The Ten Commandments: Ethics for the Twenty-First Century. B & H Academic, 2010. 234 pp.

This book is academic and scholarly, but accessible. It elucidates each of the Ten Commandments (the Decalogue) and discusses the Decalogue's ancient context while showing its practical application for today. I have derived much benefit from perusing this work. Rooker is thorough and writes coherently, but knowledge of some Hebrew is required.

Now I want to deal with particular commands that the book analyzes: we'll review issues like God's name and blasphemy, the Sabbath, killing/murder, and covetousness.

1) Treating God's name in a worthless manner (Exodus 20:7):

The third command of the Decalogue prohibits using God's name in a worthless way. Rooker illustrates how this command was given within the context of pagan invocations to Egyptian deities as an example. One Egyptian prayer demonstrates the seriousness of lightly uttering Ptah's name; similarly, the third commandment enjoins Israel not to "misuse" God's name (the name of YHWH).

Just what is meant by God's name though? Rooker argues that "name" denotes the deity (God) himself or his essence/character. That is the meaning which name commonly had in the Ancient Near East: Adam names the animals under God's direction and Isaac gives the wells that he reopens, the same names his father had given them (Genesis 26:18). See also Genesis 17:5; 17:15; 32:28-31; 2 Kings 24:17. The Hebrew word shem may signify the “fame, honor, power, or reputation” of a person or persons (Rooker); additionally, we are told that the name of God refers to his nature, being, person, and teaching. After considering these aspects of the divine name, Rooker then discusses the personal name of God (YHWH/Jehovah).

Like many scholars working in OT studies, Rooker uses Yahweh as a reconstructed pronunciation for the Tetragrammaton: he points out that the root for the name is hwh. Since the divine name appears within the context of Exodus 3:14, it apparently means "He causes to be" or "He brings into existence" (Rooker). While God's name is peerless and holy, Rooker insists that shem refers to more than a label or moniker for God: his name (shem) signifies his reputation, characteristics, his being, divine righteousness and God's hesed, but I would contend that it might denote his personal name too. See Psalm 143:11-12; Isaiah 42:8; 1 Kings 8:41-42; Psalm 83:18; 145:21; Jeremiah 23:27.

I conducted an electronic search for "Jehovah" in Rooker's study, and the name evidently does not appear in the book: he opts for Yahweh instead. However, just what does it mean to take God's name in a worthless way? Is pronouncing the name enough to be charged with blasphemy in God's eyes?

"Any invocation of the Lord or calling on His name that is insincere or needless is simply perfunctory and constitutes taking God’s name in vain" (Rooker).

That is probably only a brief description of what it means to treat God's name worthlessly; Rooker shows this to be the case later in his book. He thinks Exodus 20:7 forbids employing God's nomen "in a magical incantation, false swearing, or a general inappropriate use."

2) The Sabbath Law in Exodus 20:11-12

Rooker argues that the Sabbath is no longer binding on God's people/Christians today, but we can still gain benefit from the principles undergirding that day.

Defining Torah

My contention is that "Torah" can be translated as "law," teaching or instruction. Either translation is acceptable.

One translation of Maimonides states: "The Torah" refers to the Written Law; "the mitzvah," to its explanation. [God] commanded us to fulfill "the Torah" according to [the instructions of] "the mitzvah."5 "The mitzvah" is called the Oral Law.

See http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/901656/jewish/Introduction-to-Mishneh-Torah.htm

In an article for Jewish Bible Quarterly, Jacob Chinitz provides this information:

This article will attempt to answer two questions: What is the meaning, or what are the meanings, of the word "Torah" when it occurs in the Torah? Is the Torah aware of itself as a book? There are 32 appearances of the word torah, or ha-torah, in the Pentateuch. In 11 of these, it is a common noun meaning "law" or "rule" in general, without specific reference to the Torah. In the other 21 appearances, the word refers to the Torah; once in Exodus and 20 times in Deuteronomy. In the first meaning, the word is used twice for law in general and nine times for a rule for a particular situation. In the second meaning, the word is used 10 times for the contents of the Torah, and 11 times for the material scroll of the Sefer Torah.

See "The Word 'Torah' in the Torah" by Chinitz.

Jewish Encyclopedia of 1906: The Torah receives its title from its contents, the name itself connoting "doctrine." The Hellenistic Jews, however, translated it by νόμος = "law" (e.g., LXX., prologue to Ecclus. [Sirach], Philo, Josephus, and the New Testament), whence came the term "law-book"; this gave rise to the erroneous impression that the Jewish religion is purely nomistic, so that it is still frequently designated as the religion of law. In reality, however, the Torah contains teachings as well as laws, even the latter being given in ethical form and contained in historical narratives of an ethical character.

Jewish Virtual Library.org: The Torah, or Jewish Written Law, consists of the five books of the Hebrew Bible - known more commonly to non-Jews as the "Old Testament" - that were given by G-d to Moses on Mount Sinai and include within them all of the biblical laws of Judaism. The Torah is also known as the Chumash, Pentateuch or Five Books of Moses.

The word "Torah" has multiple meanings including: A scroll made from kosher animal parchment, with the entire text of the Five Books of Moses written on it; the text of the Five Books of Moses, written in any format; and, the term "Torah" can mean the entire corpus of Jewish law. This includes the Written and the Oral Law.

From Oxford Bibliographies:

Law” or “Torah” (Hebrew) normally refers to instruction given by God to Moses at Sinai and preserved in the Pentateuch (Genesis through Deuteronomy), but can occasionally be used more broadly, even to refer to the Psalms, as in John 10:34. This article focuses on the former meaning and thus on works that deal with how New Testament writers (and also the historical Jesus) view the Law. Research on the latter has been greatly influenced by the way scholars have understood how Judaism at the time of Jesus and the early Christian movement viewed the Law. Stereotypical conflicts between Protestants and Catholics contributed to stereotypical views of Judaism and Law in much of the literature up to the mid-20th century, so that, at worst, Judaism was depicted as a religion where one earned status before God by meticulous observance of the Law, seen as burdensome, and had no real hope of forgiveness.

See https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195393361/obo-9780195393361-0037.xml

NABRE Footnote for Exodus 12:49: One law: the first appearance of the word torah, traditionally translated as “law,” though it can have the broader meaning of “teaching” or “instruction.” Elsewhere, too, it is said that the “alien” is to be accorded the same treatment as the Israelite (e.g., Lv 19:34).

Catholic Encyclopedia: Torah, [Image] (cf. Hiph. of [Image]), signifies first "direction, instruction", as, for instance, the instruction of parents (Proverbs 1:8), or of the wise (Proverbs 3:1). It is used chiefly in reference to the Divine instruction, especially through the revelation to Moses, the "Law", and to the teaching of the Prophets concerning the will of God. In the sense of law "Torah" refers only to the Divine laws. "Torah" is applied to the books containing the teaching of the Mosaic revelation and the Law, that is, the Pentateuch.

Brian Neil Peterson, Genesis as Torah, 21-22 of the electronic edition:

What is torah? Broadly defined torah means law or instruction (Gen 26:5;  Exod 12:49; 13:9; 18:16 etc.). When assessing the Pentateuch, torah can be  more narrowly defined as instruction in the ways and commands of YHWH  (Exod 16:4; cf. 24:12).² Frank Crüsemann adds that “it comprises legal, moral,  cultic, religious, theological and historical statements.”³ When most scholars speak of torah, it is quite clear that Genesis does not immediately come to mind.⁴ Instead they generally turn their focus to the obvious portions of the Pentateuch⁵ that engender the concept of law, namely, the Book of the  Covenant (Exod 20:22—23:33); the Holiness Code of Leviticus 17–26; the Deuteronomic Law (Deut 12–26); or the Decalogue of Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5.⁶ A fine example of this is the approach used by Albrecht Alt  (1883–1956), who when discussing the origins of the law in Israel only mentions Genesis in one passing footnote.

It is obvious that scholars struggle with using the term torah in its strictest  sense when classifying the book of Genesis. Characteristic of this line of  thought is Terence Fretheim’s definition of torah. He states, “The Hebrew  word torah can be more properly used if it is broadly defined as instruction, and hence could include both law and narrative. But, given the usual meanings of the word ‘law,’ it should not be used as a shorthand reference to the  Pentateuch in its entirety” (italics original).⁸ While I can appreciate what  Fretheim is trying to say, I disagree with his conclusion that the word “law”  should not encapsulate the whole of the Pentateuch. Not only are such definitions too narrow, they also fail to give proper weight to the torah instruction found in narratives throughout Genesis in particular. Moreover, these narrow definitions go against Jewish tradition, which identifies Genesis not only as  part of the Torah, but as its very introduction!  At the same time, care must be taken not to diminish the juridical force of  the law in favor of its value as “religious instruction.”⁹ While using the term “instruction” in a general sense may help alleviate the tension, Genesis can also rightly be termed “law” or “case law” in a variety of situations where God in fact brought forth judgment (see next section below).¹⁰ Therefore, focusing  mainly on the overt legal portions of the Torah as the primary legal  instruction¹¹ within the Pentateuch is in fact to miss the importance of the implicit legal instruction present within the narratives of Genesis.¹² And, as just  noted, such designations fail to take seriously the longstanding Jewish practice of labeling the entirety of the first five books of the Hebrew canon as Torah.