Deuteronomy 10:20: “You shall fear the Lord your God; you shall serve Him and cling to Him, and you shall swear by His name.”

Since I began my Hebraic studies over forty years I was always convinced that there were different roles that men and women play, but I never, ever believed that it meant that men were superior to women. From my start of the studies of Biblical languages in Bible College and then on into seminary I have always been troubled by the way our translators translated passages of Scripture that dealt with women and the hint that they were in some way inferior to men to were to hold inferior roles. It seems Bible translation always had a powerful male influence and after forty years I am convinced our modern English translations are slanted against women. I am not saying these are mistranslations, I am only saying that there are alternatives which rarely make it into an English translation.

I have been in churches where a woman in the pulpit would be unthinkable and never would a woman be allowed in a position of leadership over men.  I have been in churches where a single woman was told she must consider the pastor her male head and surrogate husband and any decisions they made, down to purchasing a car they had to clear with their male headship.

The fact that I believe such beliefs are cultural and not Biblical is, of course, my own beliefs and I will not condemn those who follow other beliefs, they have just as much right to their interpretation of the Bible as I do.  What I do find disturbing is that these beliefs of the superiority of men and the domination they have over women carries over into their understanding of God.

What I am referring to is the extreme that male dominance is carried to such that it actually influences how we translate certain passages of Scripture.  Again everyone has a right to translate Scripture as they feel right in their spirit I only demand that we see the alternatives before blindly accepting a translation from people, mostly men, that we have never met nor are we even given the opportunity to review their credentials and their personal bias and prejudices.

What I am referring to is how words such as sod (secrets), racham (tender gentle love), ahav (love), yara’ (fear) and devekut (cling) are rendered.  If the male is seen as the macho, domineering, fearful, warrior, who must not show any deep emotion or even cry lest he be considered less than a male, then we find that we will translate emotionally charged words with the least amount of emotion when they are associated with God. We will translate sod not as sharing the secrets of one’s heart, but as simply confiding in someone, much more masculine, would you not say?  Oh my, we would never translate racham associated with a male God as tenderness, caring, nurturing, gentle love.  No we would never associate such feminine characteristics with such a Father figure as God.  We will say He shows pity and compassion. We would never translate fearing God as a fear of breaking God’s heart, or wounding His heart.  Why He is the Mighty, All Powerful Male figure of a God who would not suffer a broken or wounded heart.  No sir and He is a just disciplinarian and you had better watch your step for look out when Daddy comes home he will not have the tender heart of your mother, you must be afraid of Him. Then, of course we will never say that devekut means giving God a hug.  My, my, why God is man, a man’s man, he does not need a hug. Only a lady God would demand a hug.

Jesus said clearly in Luke 20:34-36 that there is neither male nor female in heaven, and Paul endorses that belief in Galatians 3:28.  The Shekinah Glory is in a Hebraic feminine form and the very name YHWH is in a Hebraic feminine form. If we insist on gender is should be female. However, God is neither male nor female, in my many years of studying Hebrew from a Jewish perspective I find he carries feminine qualities as well as masculine.

And come on, does a man not experience a broken heart?  Does he not feel mercy and tenderness for his children?  Does he not desire a mate that he can share the secrets of his heart with?  And does not a man desire a hug? Our culture has bred such a machoism that it denies the very needs a male has. That has, thankfully, changed greatly over the last fifties years.  Women are now serving in combat rules, women are now serving in executives roles and that of CEO’s who have leadership over men. The church, as usual, has been slow to catch up.

Ok, alright, keep your extreme roles if you so desire, it’s a free country after all, but at least hear me out when I offer a secondary rendering to certain verses and the one I am pointing to today is Deuteronomy 10:20 where we are commanded to fear God.  Suppose we do the unthinkable and render that as we must fear breaking God’s heart or wounding His heart. I have addressed this on numerous occasions.  We are told to serve God.  The word in the Hebrew for serve is ‘aved. The word ‘aved fits very nicely with a husband seeking to do the things which will bring his wife pleasure.  He will bring her flowers, take her to dinner, spend time with her, whatever it is that she takes pleasure in her husband will seek to ‘aved (serve?) to bring this about.  I prefer to call it sacrificing one’s own pleasure for the sake of the one you love. To serve ‘aved God is the same as this husband, laying aside our own desires to pursue what is pleasing to God.

But now the command to cling to Him. We think of cling as hanging on tight lest you get swept away by some danger.  The Jews see something a little different in cling or devekut. Devekut in modern Hebrew is used for the word glue. Devekut is gluing yourself to God, adhering to Him. In a Devekut ancient Jews sought to disassociate themselves from all worldly and fleshly concerns and become one with God.  This can occur during prayer or during the study of Torah.   Sometimes it is just a call to silence. Rabbinic literature teaches that Devekut is a high and deep stage of spiritual development where the seeker attaches himself or herself to God and exchanges individuality for a profound partnership with God. The force behind a Devekut is the love of God and desire for intimacy or closeness with God.

I have another rendering for the word, it is giving God a hug.  How do you hug God? Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”  For many many years I have studied this word hope in the Aramaic. It is the word savra.  I am not saying Paul wrote this in Aramaic, but his native tongue was Aramaic and I believe he had this word in mind, After many years of study I believe savra means a positive imagination. Imagination sets us apart from the animal kingdom as we are the only creatures with an imagination. Faith is the substance of your positive imagination something you cannot see. Believing in a God you cannot see.

Call me strange, call me weird, but I believe God likes to get a hug now and then and I render Deuteronomy 10:20 as “You shall fear the Lord your God; you shall serve Him and give Him a hug.  Since I have already declared my weirdness I will tell you more. This is how I give God a hug.  I imagine, I picture in my mind Jesus hugging me and I am hugging Him and sometimes I go to sleep and Jesus and I are hugging each other. Sometimes I can spend hours hugging Him.  Creepy? Well, ok, but don’t call the paramedics yet, I am harmless.