Devotional: Luke 1:32

Good Morning Yamon Ki Yesepar and Nevim Arith Hayomim:
Luke 1:32: “He shall be great and He shall be called the son of the highest, and the Lord shall give him the throne of his father David.”
Ok, it is Christmas and I am compelled to study the Christmas story.  This year I decided to read the story from the Peshitta or the Aramaic Bible.  No new revelation, it pretty much says the same thing as the KJV would say. Yet, when reading something in the original you tend to be more sensitive to words and phrases that you would not be to a story you have heard over and over all your life.
What caught my attention this morning were the words: “He shall be great and He shall be called the son of the highest.”   What first struck me were the words “hala’ nahava’ reb” (he shall be great).  This is almost identical to the Hebrew and can be rendered as we have always understood: “he shall be great.”  Nahava is an imperfect verb which means “will be.”  This is followed by the word “reb” which means master, learned one, great one, and the chief.   Even today the father or patriarch of a family is known as the “reb” and is expressed as a title, like Mr (for instance Reb Sanders).  It is where we get the word for rabbi.   Yet, this is a relationship word and in the Hebrew there are two Beths which represent a joining of hearts.  The rabbi loves and respects his people and they love and respect him in return.  A reb is not a tyrant or slave master, but a humble person who welds great power over his people.  Gandhi would fit the definition of a “reb” as a peaceful man who taught love and respect for all people, yet was feared by the King of England and other powerful men because of the influence and control he had over the lives of the millions who followed him.  A reb is one who receives his power because people love him and not because they fear him.  A reb is one who has nothing to offer anyone in the way of material things and natural power, but he is one who is a link to God.  Hence Jesus was born to be “great” or a “rev” a humble man who would have great power over people, not through the offering of material things, or natural power, but of offering a direct link to God Himself.  People would follow him, not because He could make them rich, powerful, or famous, but because they love him.
There is one curious thing about this in the Aramaic Bible that I do not see in the Greek or our English translations.  There is no pronoun in the Aramaic Bible; instead the word “hala’” is used.  The word “hala’” literally means to move beyond.  In other words He will not be just a rabbi, a Gandhi; He will move beyond that, He will be greater than anyone before, during and after Him.
This is followed by a seemingly confusing expression: “He will be called the Son of the Highest.”  Why does Luke say “he will be called” and not “He is?”  The word call in Greek is “kaleo” which is very similar to the word used here in Aramaic “tamar” and means “to summon.”  In other words He will be called upon as the son of the Most Highest.   The idea here is not one of the relationship between God and Jesus but one of the authority that Jesus will have.  The son of a king has the same power as the king.  This phrase serves two purposes. To show He will have the same authority and power of God but to distinguish Him from earthly rulers.  Persian, Greek, Roman and Egyptian emperors were worshiped as gods and they were all married and bore sons who took over the throne after their death.  To one raised in the Eastern culture to say that a male child who is to be born is the son of the highest would be to say that God is married. By saying that he will “be called” the son of the highest would, in the Semitic mind then suggest not the product of a marriage, but one who is a spiritual son. That would be to say one who is both a part of and inclusive in the entire being of God Himself.
Hence calling this child to be born as one who is beyond greatness and the Son of the Most High is to really say that this child is the very God of the Universe who has taken on the form of a human child.  To stand before this child is to stand before God Jehovah.