Why Read The Bible In Hebrew?
Let's do a thread on Noah's Ark, unpacking this important @elonmusk tweet.
A thread (for non-Hebrew readers too!) 🧵 1
Let's do a thread on Noah's Ark, unpacking this important @elonmusk tweet.
A thread (for non-Hebrew readers too!) 🧵 1
@elonmusk Everyone knows the story:
God brings a mighty flood to punish humanity's corruption. He then recreates the world through Noah, whose family God preserved—along with all the animals—by having them ride out the flood on a massive ark. 2
God brings a mighty flood to punish humanity's corruption. He then recreates the world through Noah, whose family God preserved—along with all the animals—by having them ride out the flood on a massive ark. 2
@elonmusk I actually did my very first Bible In Hebrew thread on what exactly humanity's sin was!
But this time let's ask a different question: what did God instruct Noah to build?
Seems simple enough to answer: "Make yourself an ark of cypress wood" (Gen 6:14). 3
But this time let's ask a different question: what did God instruct Noah to build?
Seems simple enough to answer: "Make yourself an ark of cypress wood" (Gen 6:14). 3
@elonmusk But here's where things get interesting. So you know that word, "ark"? Have you ever wondered what that word is in Biblical Hebrew?
Spoiler alert: a really weird one!
It's "teivah". Why is this weird, you ask? 4
Spoiler alert: a really weird one!
It's "teivah". Why is this weird, you ask? 4
@elonmusk Well, the Bible already has a standard word for "ship" (oniyah). As in: "The Lord will bring you back in ships (oniyot) to Egypt..." (28:68).
But instead, the Bible chooses to use "teivah"... A word so odd that, in the entire Bible, this story is the only place it appears! 5
But instead, the Bible chooses to use "teivah"... A word so odd that, in the entire Bible, this story is the only place it appears! 5
@elonmusk That is...with one exception!
But, if anything, that exception just makes things more difficult. What's the exception? Let's take a look at the story of Moses's birth.
To set the stage: Just before Moses was born, Pharaoh had ordered the killing of every Israelite baby boy. 6
But, if anything, that exception just makes things more difficult. What's the exception? Let's take a look at the story of Moses's birth.
To set the stage: Just before Moses was born, Pharaoh had ordered the killing of every Israelite baby boy. 6
@elonmusk When baby Moses was born, his mother Jochebed tried to hide him from Pharaoh's agents. But when she could hide him no longer, the Book of Exodus tells us: "she got a papyrus basket for him and...put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river" (2:3). 7
@elonmusk Setting her child afloat in the reeds of the Nile—a desperate mother's last attempt to keep her child alive.
Thankfully her gambit works. Pharaoh's daughter finds the child and raises him as her own.
Okay, but why am I telling you this story?... 8
Thankfully her gambit works. Pharaoh's daughter finds the child and raises him as her own.
Okay, but why am I telling you this story?... 8
@elonmusk Well, remember what Moses's mother puts him in? "A papyrus basket".
Know what word the Bible uses for "basket"?
...You guessed it: "teivah"!
I repeat: the Bible uses the same *exact* word for Noah's ark and Moses's basket. How is this possible?!?! 9
Know what word the Bible uses for "basket"?
...You guessed it: "teivah"!
I repeat: the Bible uses the same *exact* word for Noah's ark and Moses's basket. How is this possible?!?! 9
@elonmusk My friend @thedanlux pointed me to a brilliant answer in Michael Hattin's @korenpublishers commentary to the Book of Joshua: amazon.com
You know what Noah's ark and Moses's basket have in common? Unlike a ship, neither an ark nor a basket can be steered. 10
You know what Noah's ark and Moses's basket have in common? Unlike a ship, neither an ark nor a basket can be steered. 10
@elonmusk @thedanlux @korenpublishers Whether they reached safety depended entirely upon God.
So both in Genesis and Exodus a person is sent upon a perilous journey. In each case the salvation of a people depended upon their survival. And, to be sure, both the ark and the basket were products of human ingenuity. 11
So both in Genesis and Exodus a person is sent upon a perilous journey. In each case the salvation of a people depended upon their survival. And, to be sure, both the ark and the basket were products of human ingenuity. 11
@elonmusk @thedanlux @korenpublishers But whether we rely upon an ark on the eve of a flood—or a tiny basket floating in the Nile—we delude ourselves if we think that our successes, or our salvation, are due solely to our own strengths.
Ultimately, we are each in an un-steerable "teivah", reliant upon God. 12
Ultimately, we are each in an un-steerable "teivah", reliant upon God. 12
@elonmusk @thedanlux @korenpublishers The "teivah"—both the ark and the basket—remind human beings to couple their ingenuity and determination with humility—with an understanding that, in the end, God is the author of their salvation.
This is the true power behind Elon Musk's deployment of Noah's Ark imagery. 13
This is the true power behind Elon Musk's deployment of Noah's Ark imagery. 13
@elonmusk @thedanlux @korenpublishers In fact, were @elonmusk to fulfill the promise of this imagery, he would stand in a worthy American tradition of acknowledging the Book of Genesis's key role in inspiring space exploration.
Consider the triumph of Apollo 8, the first human spaceflight to reach the Moon. 14
Consider the triumph of Apollo 8, the first human spaceflight to reach the Moon. 14
@elonmusk @thedanlux @korenpublishers When the astronauts of Apollo 8 first reached the moon, they broadcast back to earth the only words fitting for the enormity of that occasion.
“And God said, Let there be light: and there was light” (Genesis 1:3) . 15 en.wikipedia.org
“And God said, Let there be light: and there was light” (Genesis 1:3) . 15 en.wikipedia.org
@elonmusk @thedanlux @korenpublishers The apex of American technological achievement once induced in its primary agents a feeling of wonder at Creation's vastness, and humility at their own role—in the words of Genesis itself—in "subduing it" (Gen 1:28).
I'm optimistic that the same can be true once again! /end
I'm optimistic that the same can be true once again! /end
@elonmusk @thedanlux @korenpublishers P.S. If you liked this, I bet you'll enjoy my podcast @gfaitheffort! We talk about this kinda stuff every week!
On the latest episode we talk with historian Brian Ogren about mysticism's influence during the Renaissance and later at the American Founding. podcasts.apple.com
On the latest episode we talk with historian Brian Ogren about mysticism's influence during the Renaissance and later at the American Founding. podcasts.apple.com
@elonmusk @thedanlux @korenpublishers @gfaitheffort P.P.S. Shouts to the brilliant @IlanBlock for the artwork in tweet #12 of this thread. Give him a follow and check out his other stuff, he's absolutely awesome!
(Here's the piece again! So good...)
(Here's the piece again! So good...)
@elonmusk @thedanlux @korenpublishers @gfaitheffort @IlanBlock And finally: Thank you so much to the @CatherineProj and the indestructibly awesome @zenahitz for inspiring me to do these!
@common_mission @elonmusk @thedanlux @korenpublishers @gfaitheffort @IlanBlock @CatherineProj @zenahitz But when Jonah is in the belly of the beast? That *is* an ark of sorts, I think!
Loading suggestions...