HEBREW WORD STUDY – STILL SPEAKING – YEDAVER – ידבר  Yod Daleth Beth Resh

Deuteronomy 4:12: “And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire, you heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude, only you heard a voice.”

I don’t know about you but sometimes I can make more sense out of a passage of Scripture by reading it in the Hebrew than in the English. Seriously, does a translator honestly think that the average person will know what a similitude is?  I don’t know what a similitude is and I have a Ph.D. and am a former college teacher. Commentaries are worse, I have to have a Webster dictionary handy when reading a commentary. I am almost ready to believe that there is a conspiracy in the church to keep people in the dark as to what Scripture is saying so only their elite and educated can understand what the Bible is saying and we need to depend upon them to explain things like what a similitude is and how it applies to this verse. 

We clearly speak of depending upon the Holy Spirit to reveal all truth to us, yet rather than take the time to look up these elitist words and dig into the Word of God ourselves, spend time in meditation and prayer on the Word of God we go to a human teacher or pastor to explain something to us and tell us what the truth is. After all that is what you pay a pastor for, is it not?  

As I journey to the heart of God in my Hebraic studies I am learning just how regimented our English translations of the Bible really are and as a result, how some important knowledge can be hidden from us simply because our English translations lack the flexibility that is inherent in the Hebrew Language. Deuteronomy 4:12 is one such example.

We have the passage: “And the Lord spoke unto you out of the midst of the fire.” The word in Hebrew for fire is ha’ash. This is the standard word for fire with a definite article attached and a Bible translator will never give it a second thought. That is, unless, that translator is really searching for the heart of God and seeking to hear His voice. You see ha’ash can also be an interrogative or an adverb. Ok now I know the English syntax would not call for an interrogative or an adverb and my former Hebrew professors would throw salt in the air over such a suggestion, but I met some good orthodox rabbis who would ponder this anomaly and find some spiritual value. 

If I were to do such an Unchristian but Jewish thing I would have: “And the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of what is it?” Or I could say: “And the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of there is it exist.” I know it sounds awkward in English, but it is really very poetic in Hebrew. Let’s put this in context with the rest of the verse. “You heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude, only you heard a voice.” 

There’s that nasty word “similitude” Webster makes it simple it means a quality of comparing something or being similar to something. Surely a translator could have found an easier word to use for mavan which is rendered as a similitude. The word mavan means to form or fashion. I am not sure how similar fits in that. Well, to be fair most of your modern translations do use words for better understanding. For instance, the NIV says; “You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice.” Now that is plain English. Specifically, mavan is speaking of something substantial or natural. Moses could not see God but he felt God, she even saw the words of God but not God Himself. 

Take a close look at this phrase: the “voice of the words.” The word voice is qol and words is devar. Qol can be a voice, a sound, or even a sound vibration, and devar is a reference to words spoken from the heart. “You heard the voice of words from the heart of God and you did not even see Him.”  

Then the passage says something very strange thing: “only you heard a voice.” That makes sense that you hear a voice only the word in Hebrew for hear is not shema as you would expect but is the word ra’ah which is the word for seeing both physically and spiritually. How can you see a sound? 

Here is the thing that gets me. The word spake at the beginning of this verse is devar.  The power of God’s words from His heart was so great that Moses actually saw it.  Words are sounds and create vibrations and if those vibrations are strong enough you will see it. It could make plants shake, leaves move, and could even break the glass. Moses did see physical evidence of God speaking to Him. But here is the amazing thing, this word devar is in an imperfect form and should be rendered: “The powerful words from the heart of God is continually flowing. Translators just put it in a perfect infliction because it would make no sense as a continuing action. I mean once spoken that is it, it is over with. 

However, scientists tell us that every word that is ever spoken is still out there in the universe somewhere. If you had a computer powerful enough you could gather these soundwaves together and playback something you said when you were a child. You could even playback the Gettysburg address. 

I believe this is what God is telling Moses. The words I spoke to you from my heart, my promises, my vows, my laws were in the form of sound waves. You could not seem but you could feel my words and they are still out there and will be for eternity. No taking them back. We all have words from God’s heart given to us, perhaps years ago. Those words are still out there, those promises are still floating around the universe, God cannot take them back as He told Moses. Maybe you cannot see God but you can see the power of His Words as they will continually come back to you to remind you of His promises. It will shake your personal world, as it did with Moses. 

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