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Examples of Kabbalist interpretations of the Bible
Following are some of the terms and phrases redefined in Kabbalistic
literature.
Kabbalah teaches that the Old Testament has for meanings:
-
Peshat = Contextual literal
meaning
-
What it says in
context. The plain meaning.
-
Remez = Allegorical meaning
-
Representation by
abstraction, i.e., John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress
which is an allegorical work full of symbols.
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Derash = Moral or homiletic
meaning
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A sermon or message
intended to build up the listener morally.
-
Sod = Mystical or anagogic meaning
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Hidden
meanings and ideas, i.e., The Ten Commandments are
"spiritual light" reflecting divine consciousness
working on our plane of reality.
The
problem is that the contextual meaning very often contradicts the
allegorical and mystical meanings.
|
Topic |
Bible |
Kabbalah |
|
Adam |
The first created
man. Mankind's first representative. |
Adam
was more than a mere man because he was able to dwell beyond our
physical realm and his essence is comprised of all the souls who
have lived, are living, and will live. |
Adam
knew
Eve |
It means to have sexual relations. |
"If
one applies his wisdom, and understanding, he will obtain much
knowledge. And as mentioned above, in relation to the sefirot,
this knowledge is what connects the wisdom and understanding to
the other 7 sefirot (also known as the children), it leads to
the actions. The correct actions. This is what the Torah means
when it says...
And Adam Knew Eve." |
|
First born Son |
A
title of preeminence and that is transferable. Of Ephraim
and Mannasah, Mannasah is first born in Gen. 41:51-52 and
Ephraim is first-born in Jer. 31:9. Jesus is the first
born from the dead, the first to have a glorified body (Col.
1:15). |
"Exodus 4:22: 'Israel is my first born son.' Here, as
previously, the lower divine Face or enthroned form is the one
associated with human transformation into the divine son, and is
sharply differentiated from an original, and thus older, divine
source." |
| God |
A
trinity. The one supreme deity, personal, and involved in
human affairs. |
God
is neither matter or spirit. "Its
central thesis is that God is a source of infinite pure
spiritual light, with every human having sparks of divinity
within, and our goal being to come closer to the divine source.
In addition, humans have a unique purpose to fulfill, for when God created the world,
the vessels into which God poured some of His creative energy broke,
scattering the divine light and allowing imperfection to form. It is the
human task to help God to restore the Universe to its original harmony
by rescuing the broken shards through a life of holiness.
|
|
Isaiah 5:18 |
"Woe
to those who drag iniquity with the cords of falsehood, and sin
as if with cart ropes" |
"Iniquity is the male. Who is sin? The female. He hauls the one
called iniquity with those chords of falsehood, and then send as
with a cart will, that female called sin, who is empowered there
to fly and kill human beings." |
|
Jacob's wrestling with the angel |
Gen.
32:24-32. The angel is referred to as an angel in Hos.
12:4 and God in Gen. 32:28, 30; Ho 12:5. |
"Jacob accomplishes psychologically the same transcendence of
his animal nature that is ritually accomplished through animal
sacrifice. it is only after the sacrifice of his lower
self, that his name is angelically change...he has "prevailed,"
achieved a transcending endurance. |
|
Human Sacrifice |
The
sacrifice of Christ on the cross is the means by which God has
redeemed his people |
"...it is rather the use of human sacrifice that represents a
degradation from the true purpose of such rights, the
transformation of the human into the divine and redemptive
sacrifice of that which is animal." |
| Jesus |
The Messiah, God in flesh (John
1:1,14) |
"Jesus, who consistently referred
to himself as the "Son of Man" and rejected the title of
Messiah, was clearly influenced by the patriarchal strand of
earlier Jewish mysticism we have been tracing." |
|
Resurrection |
The
raising and changing on our physical bodies of weakness and
despair into physical bodies of life, no sickness,
deathlessness; hence, glorified bodies. |
"resurrection is the heralding of a new era, a transformation
into a consciousness previously unknown in which reality
undergoes a profound change....resurrection represents the
culmination of the rectification of holy sparks that have fallen
and have been returned to the original source," |
|
The Son of Man |
Has a
variety of meanings. It is used by Jesus in reference to
himself (Matt. 24:44). It is used in Num. 23:19 of a
sinner, Psalm 8:4 of the future Messiah, etc. |
"the
essential meaning of Ezekiel's vision, then, is that the son of
man, the human son of God, is he who has achieved the mystical
capacity to see the divine nature of his own higher self."
|
As you can see, Kabbalist literature
often interprets biblical concepts in strange and mystical manners.
It is a shame that the plain meaning of scripture is so often
reinterpreted to unbiblical and anti-biblical meanings by Kabbalist
methods.
____________________
References
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foreveryjew.com, on
Adam and Eve
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Times, The; United Kingdom, Dec 04, 2004 Features,
Faith, pg. 80, on God
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Leet, Leonora.,
The Secret Doctrine of the Kabbalah. Rochester Vermont:
Inner Traditions, 1999, on first born (p. 61), Jacob's wrestling (p.
51), human sacrifice (pp. 31-32), Jesus (p. 40), Son of Man (p. 36)
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www.sup.org/zohar. Isaiah 5:18 (p. 28)
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Cooper, David A., God is a Verb.
New York, New York: Riverhead Brooks, 1997, on Resurrection (p. 294)
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