Victor Alexander's Translation of Genesis 1: 1, the Apostasy of Western Christianity (and maybe Judaism, too), and My Effort to Fix the World
Western theology diverges from biblical theology from the first verse of the Bible. From the first word, actually. And it never gets back. It is hard to imagine anyone not knowing the first verse of the Bible, Genesis 1: 1, according to the authorized King James Version: "In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth." The Jewish Publication Society says exactly the same thing (give or take a couple of capitals), while the Stone Tanach states, "In the beginning of God's creating the heavens and the earth, . . . " indicating that God's creative action is ongoing. I propose that this verse is the beginning of the Western apostasy and the source of aberrant Jewish and Christian theologies. We get the Bible wrong from the get-go, from the very beginning! Because this is not what Moses said, nor is it what he meant.
It is my belief that in Genesis 1: 1 Moses restated God's startling revelation of Exodus 3: 14, "Ahiyeh Ashur hiyeh" (Victor Alexander's translation from the Ancient Aramaic; see his footnotes http://www.v-a.com/bible/supporters/exodus_1-4.html). This was to Moses not idle chit-chat. From these words' meaning is the springing forth of the universe, of life, and of all history: "all its evolution." Encapsulated in the words is the purpose for all creation. No more important words existed in the universe for Moses, so from the very beginning of his writings he explained their conception as the basis for all that he would write. And we got them all wrong -- and their conception, completely wrong. Yeah, "Oops."
We can start fixing our understanding by considering the nature of the God who spoke to Moses and whom is mentioned in Genesis 1: 1. (By the way, there is a big to-do about the name of God. Forget about it. God does not have a name; he has a nature. All the titles of God are references to his nature. "Thou shalt call upon the nature of Jehovah." That is much broader than any one word can express. I mean, really, any one word is going to encapsulate all the nature of God? Get over it.) It is important for us to understand the nature of the God who said, "Ahiyeh" -- "I come." I say "nature" purposefully. His one nature contains sub-natures or "aspects" which can be very confusing and misleading for us, for any aspect sub-nature -- consciousness, power, or wisdom (or for that matter, ignorance) -- may speak for itself, or, because it is all one, for the whole of the ineffable Being. The ineffable Being is the key here, for that "Ineffable" who has aspects and sub-natures is one being. It is especially confusing for us because they all are called God and they all are God. There not being division between them drives us nuts. But that IS our problem(!), because we are part of the aspects!
Yes, getting too deep.
In my studies I came across Jewish concepts of the Ineffable, the most high form of God who is the Source of all existence. "It" is beyond form or substance. It is beyond all concepts of thing-ness. It is beyond force and energy, beyond mind, thought, consciousness, and beyond even the endlessness of this dimension and all other dimensions. It has no movement, for It has no thing-ness. And yet . . . It acted. THAT was, and is, a really good trick -- having no thing and yet still acting. My contention is that It "acted" by imagining. What else could It do? Its intelligence in imagining has the power to become what it imagines.
Here is the thing: I believe that the Ineffable's imagining aspect is Its "Son," the child of Proverbs 8 and elsewhere. We cannot know the Ineffable, but we can know Its imagining, because that is what we are. We are here because It imagined us imagining, and we imagined that we are here. We have really fooled ourselves. But I am getting off track again.
Among the Jewish concepts of the Ineffable I learned is their proposed ancient form of Genesis 1: 1: "With a beginning, [It] created God, the heavens and the earth" (Cooper, Rabbi David A. 1997. God is a Verb: Kabbalah and the Practice of Mystical Judaism. New York: Riverhead Books, p. 66.) The Ineffable imagined, and that imagining was the creation of Its Son (rather, Its imagining IS Its Son) -- "God," and by Its Son It created (i.e., by imagining) the heavens and the earth. That is good, but it is still not what the verse says.
As I understand, it is Victor Alexander's contention that the very ancient Aramaic language was the very ancient Hebrew language. They were at one time the same language. Over time and space they diverged, but always the ancient Aramaic has been the scribal language of the "Hebrew" scriptures (talk to Vic about it). The first Aramaic word in the Bible is brasheeth: before the beginning (emphasis mine). This is the word by which everything in Western systematic theology goes to pot. It is not a reference to time. For before the beginning there was nothing but the Ineffable. Brasheeth is a reference to Him -- the Him who in Exodus 3: 14 said to Moses, "Ahiyeh Ashur hiyeh." That Ineffable being who is coming by imagining is that which was "Before the Beginning."
The Ineffable's Son, Its action of imagining, is that by which It is coming into this dimension. The Son and the Ineffable are one, so AS the Beginning (i.e., the imagining of the Ineffable being the Ineffable), the "Son of God" (in Alexander's translation -- the imagining of the Ineffable being the intelligence which is power) -- creates the heavens and the earth. Or, as Alexander translates Genesis 1: 1: "As the beginning, the Son of God creates the heavens and the earth." The Son of God is the beginning, imagining as the Ineffable who is from before the beginning, which he is, which ongoingly creates the world we are in. 'Ashur' is the name of the Creator God, this aspect of the Ineffable -- nature of the Imagining of the Ineffable.
The third word in Exodus 3: 14 is 'hiyeh'. This is the most interesting word, because it is THIRD person. Kind of blows the translation "I AM THAT I AM" right out of the water. Sorry to burst your confessing bubble, but the priests changed it because they either did not like or could not handle the theology of the original wording: "His becoming." Let's look again at God's revelation of Himself:
'Ahiyeh' -- I Come -- this is the Ineffable.
'Ashur' -- the Creator God -- this is the Son of God, the imagining of the Ineffable by which He comes.
'Hiyeh' -- his becoming -- this is the manifestation of the Ineffable, which is ongoing and developing.
Ashur is the imagining of the Ineffable . . . and IS the Ineffable. There is not anything else in the universe or anywhere else except the Ineffable. There is nothing but Him. The Godhead is not divided: He is the one thing. As the Ineffable, the imagination of the Ineffable is creating the heavens and the earth. "And the earth was for Him and by Him" (Genesis 1: 2, Alexander). For and by whom? For the Manifestation of the Ineffable, and by the Manifestation of the Ineffable. This where we come in.
"And the darkness was (became) over the face of infinite space" (Genesis 1: 2, Alexander, parenthesis mine). We are aspects of the Imagining of the Ineffable. Its manifestation is by us and for us. Imagining that we are humans, we completely and absolutely moved into the amnesia of forgetting . . . that we are God! We make ourselves ignorant of the fact and honestly see ourselves as humans. Our purpose here is to manifest the Ineffable.
We take on the complete ignorance of what we are in order to enjoy this realm, this sphere of forgetting -- "death" -- so that we may progress to becoming more like the Ineffable in freedom. Cast here in ignorance, something in our lives tells us of the existence and goodness of God. I believe that is the 'Jethro' Moses was contemplating when God revealed Himself to him. Jethro means "His jutting over" and "His excellence." It is the excellence of God, his goodness towards us which draws us to seeking him. Jethro was the question in Moses' mind when he sought God. And God answered: "Jethro? Ahiyeh Ashur hiyeh" -- "I MYSELF, ASHUR, AM HIS, JETHRO'S, BECOMING. That is my nature forever!"
Be noble, and be loving. You have some big shoes to fill. Give up to Him, and He will fill your shoes. For WE are to be Jethro. Take on the nature.
It is my belief that in Genesis 1: 1 Moses restated God's startling revelation of Exodus 3: 14, "Ahiyeh Ashur hiyeh" (Victor Alexander's translation from the Ancient Aramaic; see his footnotes http://www.v-a.com/bible/supporters/exodus_1-4.html). This was to Moses not idle chit-chat. From these words' meaning is the springing forth of the universe, of life, and of all history: "all its evolution." Encapsulated in the words is the purpose for all creation. No more important words existed in the universe for Moses, so from the very beginning of his writings he explained their conception as the basis for all that he would write. And we got them all wrong -- and their conception, completely wrong. Yeah, "Oops."
We can start fixing our understanding by considering the nature of the God who spoke to Moses and whom is mentioned in Genesis 1: 1. (By the way, there is a big to-do about the name of God. Forget about it. God does not have a name; he has a nature. All the titles of God are references to his nature. "Thou shalt call upon the nature of Jehovah." That is much broader than any one word can express. I mean, really, any one word is going to encapsulate all the nature of God? Get over it.) It is important for us to understand the nature of the God who said, "Ahiyeh" -- "I come." I say "nature" purposefully. His one nature contains sub-natures or "aspects" which can be very confusing and misleading for us, for any aspect sub-nature -- consciousness, power, or wisdom (or for that matter, ignorance) -- may speak for itself, or, because it is all one, for the whole of the ineffable Being. The ineffable Being is the key here, for that "Ineffable" who has aspects and sub-natures is one being. It is especially confusing for us because they all are called God and they all are God. There not being division between them drives us nuts. But that IS our problem(!), because we are part of the aspects!
Yes, getting too deep.
In my studies I came across Jewish concepts of the Ineffable, the most high form of God who is the Source of all existence. "It" is beyond form or substance. It is beyond all concepts of thing-ness. It is beyond force and energy, beyond mind, thought, consciousness, and beyond even the endlessness of this dimension and all other dimensions. It has no movement, for It has no thing-ness. And yet . . . It acted. THAT was, and is, a really good trick -- having no thing and yet still acting. My contention is that It "acted" by imagining. What else could It do? Its intelligence in imagining has the power to become what it imagines.
Here is the thing: I believe that the Ineffable's imagining aspect is Its "Son," the child of Proverbs 8 and elsewhere. We cannot know the Ineffable, but we can know Its imagining, because that is what we are. We are here because It imagined us imagining, and we imagined that we are here. We have really fooled ourselves. But I am getting off track again.
Among the Jewish concepts of the Ineffable I learned is their proposed ancient form of Genesis 1: 1: "With a beginning, [It] created God, the heavens and the earth" (Cooper, Rabbi David A. 1997. God is a Verb: Kabbalah and the Practice of Mystical Judaism. New York: Riverhead Books, p. 66.) The Ineffable imagined, and that imagining was the creation of Its Son (rather, Its imagining IS Its Son) -- "God," and by Its Son It created (i.e., by imagining) the heavens and the earth. That is good, but it is still not what the verse says.
As I understand, it is Victor Alexander's contention that the very ancient Aramaic language was the very ancient Hebrew language. They were at one time the same language. Over time and space they diverged, but always the ancient Aramaic has been the scribal language of the "Hebrew" scriptures (talk to Vic about it). The first Aramaic word in the Bible is brasheeth: before the beginning (emphasis mine). This is the word by which everything in Western systematic theology goes to pot. It is not a reference to time. For before the beginning there was nothing but the Ineffable. Brasheeth is a reference to Him -- the Him who in Exodus 3: 14 said to Moses, "Ahiyeh Ashur hiyeh." That Ineffable being who is coming by imagining is that which was "Before the Beginning."
The Ineffable's Son, Its action of imagining, is that by which It is coming into this dimension. The Son and the Ineffable are one, so AS the Beginning (i.e., the imagining of the Ineffable being the Ineffable), the "Son of God" (in Alexander's translation -- the imagining of the Ineffable being the intelligence which is power) -- creates the heavens and the earth. Or, as Alexander translates Genesis 1: 1: "As the beginning, the Son of God creates the heavens and the earth." The Son of God is the beginning, imagining as the Ineffable who is from before the beginning, which he is, which ongoingly creates the world we are in. 'Ashur' is the name of the Creator God, this aspect of the Ineffable -- nature of the Imagining of the Ineffable.
The third word in Exodus 3: 14 is 'hiyeh'. This is the most interesting word, because it is THIRD person. Kind of blows the translation "I AM THAT I AM" right out of the water. Sorry to burst your confessing bubble, but the priests changed it because they either did not like or could not handle the theology of the original wording: "His becoming." Let's look again at God's revelation of Himself:
'Ahiyeh' -- I Come -- this is the Ineffable.
'Ashur' -- the Creator God -- this is the Son of God, the imagining of the Ineffable by which He comes.
'Hiyeh' -- his becoming -- this is the manifestation of the Ineffable, which is ongoing and developing.
Ashur is the imagining of the Ineffable . . . and IS the Ineffable. There is not anything else in the universe or anywhere else except the Ineffable. There is nothing but Him. The Godhead is not divided: He is the one thing. As the Ineffable, the imagination of the Ineffable is creating the heavens and the earth. "And the earth was for Him and by Him" (Genesis 1: 2, Alexander). For and by whom? For the Manifestation of the Ineffable, and by the Manifestation of the Ineffable. This where we come in.
"And the darkness was (became) over the face of infinite space" (Genesis 1: 2, Alexander, parenthesis mine). We are aspects of the Imagining of the Ineffable. Its manifestation is by us and for us. Imagining that we are humans, we completely and absolutely moved into the amnesia of forgetting . . . that we are God! We make ourselves ignorant of the fact and honestly see ourselves as humans. Our purpose here is to manifest the Ineffable.
We take on the complete ignorance of what we are in order to enjoy this realm, this sphere of forgetting -- "death" -- so that we may progress to becoming more like the Ineffable in freedom. Cast here in ignorance, something in our lives tells us of the existence and goodness of God. I believe that is the 'Jethro' Moses was contemplating when God revealed Himself to him. Jethro means "His jutting over" and "His excellence." It is the excellence of God, his goodness towards us which draws us to seeking him. Jethro was the question in Moses' mind when he sought God. And God answered: "Jethro? Ahiyeh Ashur hiyeh" -- "I MYSELF, ASHUR, AM HIS, JETHRO'S, BECOMING. That is my nature forever!"
Be noble, and be loving. You have some big shoes to fill. Give up to Him, and He will fill your shoes. For WE are to be Jethro. Take on the nature.
posted by Daniel C. Branham-Steele at
3:22 AM
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