We will be looking at the deeper meaning of Isaiah 40:5 from the Septuagint and how it ties in with John 1 with YESHUA; then discuss the real meaning of the word “The Word” in John 1 from the Aramaic language and discover a true treasure contained within it; and it’s something that no one including those who doubt the divinity of YESHUA will NOT want to miss.
One thing that I believe strongly in is etymology of the original words used and reading from translations that are closest to the original as we can get. We must dig for treasure because its not laying on the surface, but when you find it you will shout for joy.
Mathew 13:44
“Again, the reign of the heavens is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man having found it, hid, and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”
This is the feeling that comes over me when I see treasure contained within older translations that helps to restore the true meaning of what YAHWEH wanted us to know and I would like to discuss the treasure of what is said of YESHUA. Although, we already know YESHUA is the Son of YAHWEH and was here from the beginning, it is still beautiful to see it written in ancient texts. Firstly, lets read Isaiah 40:3-5 in the Masoretic text and then compare it to the Septuagint.
Isaiah 40:3-5 (Masoretic)
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of YAHWEH; make straight in the desert a highway for our ELOHIM. Let every valley be raised, and every mountain and hill made low. And the steep ground shall become level, and the rough places smooth. And the esteem of YAHWEH shall be revealed, and all flesh together shall see it. For the mouth of YAHWEH has spoken.”
Isaiah 40:3-5 (Septuagint)
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of YAHWEH, make straight the paths of our ELOHIM. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be brought low: and all the crooked ways shall become straight and the rough places plains. And the esteem of YAHWEH shall APPEAR and all flesh shall see THE SALVATION OF YAHWEH: for YAHWEH has spoken it.”
The words “Appear” and “Salvation of YAHWEH” that is included in the Septuagint has more impact and I’ll explain why. Let’s break this prophecy down:
Verse 3-4 ““The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of YAHWEH, make straight the paths of our ELOHIM. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be brought low: and all the crooked ways shall become straight and the rough places plains.”
This is a prophecy of Yochanan The Immerser (John The Baptist) preparing the way for YESHUA and the following scriptures match this prophecy.
John 1:20-23
“And he (John the Baptist) confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, I am not The Messiah.” And they asked him, “Who then, are you Elijah?” So he said, “I am not.” Are you the Prophet? And he answered, “No.” Therefore they said to him, “Who are you, so that we give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself? He said, I AM A VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, “MAKE STRAIGHT THE WAY OF YAHWEH,” as the prophet Isaiah said.” Which we just quoted from Isaiah 40:3
Luke 1:76
“And you (John), child, shall be called prophet of the Most High, for you shall go before the face of YAHWEH to prepare His ways…”
Acts 19:4
“And Paul said, “John indeed immersed with an immersion of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe in the One who is coming AFTER HIM, that is, in Messiah YESHUA.”
This is why John said in John 1:15 “John bore witness of Him and cried out saying, “This was He of whom I said, “He who comes after me has become before me, because He was before me.”
So John prepared the way for YESHUA to come with immersion to turn from sins to ELOHIM and to believe in YESHUA who came after him, although YESHUA was before him, meaning that YESHUA was here from the very beginning. I will go into greater detail when we discuss the Aramaic etymology of John 1. But now, lets look at verse 5 from Isaiah.
Isaiah 40:5
“And the esteem of YAHWEH shall APPEAR and all flesh shall see THE SALVATION OF YAHWEH: for YAHWEH has spoken it.”
Titus 2:11
“For the saving Gift of YAHWEH has appeared to ALL MEN…”
This is beautifully written in the Septuagint because the part about seeing the “Salvation of YAHWEH” is missing in the Masoretic text. This important because the esteem of YAHWEH did physically appear in the flesh when YESHUA walked the earth taking on the form of a Man being without sin and dying for our sins .Then the part that says we shall see the Salvation of YAHWEH ties in with YESHUA’s Name because His Name literally means “YAHWEH is Salvation”. The prophecy makes more sense and makes an easier connection to the events that took place from the scriptures above.
Testament of Judah 24:1-6 (12 Patriarchs)
“And after these things will a star arise to you from Jacob in peace, and a man will arise, like the sun of righteousness, WALKING WITH THE SONS OF MEN in humility and righteousness. And NO SIN WILL BE FOUND IN HIM. The heavens will be open to him, to pour out the spirit, even the blessing of the Holy Father. And He will pour out the spirit of favor upon you. And you will be sons to Him in truth, and you will walk in His commands first and last. Then the scepter of my kingdom will shine forth; and from your root will arise a stem. And from it will grow a rod of righteousness to the nations to judge and to save all that call upon YAHWEH.”
The prophecy written by Isaiah in the Septuagint saying that the esteem of YAHWEH shall appear meaning that the One who appeared was here from the beginning and is ELOHIM in the flesh and the image of YAHWEH the Father who is invisible. So let’s now examine what the Aramaic Peshitta has to say about John 1. Aramaic is what many scholars believe to be the language that the New Testament was written in and is the language that YESHUA and His disciples spoke. So looking at the etymology of the word that John in the Besorah (Gospels/message/report) we can get a deeper understanding of the message he was delivering to his audience. But first I want to cite two quote’s one from the head of the Holy Apostolic Church of the East and one from a website concerning Aramaic:
“With reference to…the originality of the Peshitta text, as the Patriarch and Head of the Holy Apostolic Church of the East, we wish to state, that the Church of the East received the scriptures from the hands of the blessed Apostles themselves in the ARAMAIC ORIGINAL. The language spoken by our Master YESHUA HA’MASHIACH Himself, and that the Peshitta is the text of the Church of the East which has come down from the Biblical times without any change or revision.” (Patriarch Mar Eshai Shimun, April 5, 1957).
Also, alephtavscriptures.com adds this:
The Aramaic language is a tongue whose origin is lost in the mists of antiquity. It appears early on in the book of Genesis (Genesis 31:47, in the words of Laban: Yegar Sahadutha – Aramaic for "Heap of Witness.) and is used again in several other places throughout the Hebrew Scriptures. Particularly, we see that parts of the books of Ezra ( Ezra 4:8-22; 5:1-6, 12; 7:12-26.) and Daniel (Daniel 2:4 - 7:28) are actually written in the Aramaic language. I would like to add that Enoch has some Aramaic contained in it as well, I include this to show that Aramaic is not foreign to the text of scripture.
(Article continued) “Of all tongues, it is the most similar to Hebrew. In fact, the two languages not only share the exact same alphabet, but they also use many of the same vocabulary words, and have scores of cognates between them. A careful reading of the Scriptures in Hebrew sees repeated instances where the Holy Tongue borrows an Aramaic word here or there – evidence of the close affinity shared by the languages due to the cultural exchange of that time. In this consonance of the languages, the Aramaic of the New Covenant text of the Peshitta provides the reader with transitions from the Hebrew Scriptures that are beautiful and near-flawless in execution. One reading the Hebrew text, and then moving to the Aramaic, will find that the same Spirit is truly at work in the composition of the source-texts. Unlike the Greek, in reading from the Aramaic Peshitta one cannot help but feel the natural, fluid continuation of the Hebrew Bible: the reader is introduced to the את Aleph-Tav in bodily form in the Aramaic texts (words) of the Peshitta in the linguistics that so powerfully mirror the Hebrew. Historically, Aramaic was known to some extent by the Israelites during the period of the kings, but it was not until the exile to Babylon and the long captivity in those eastern lands that Aramaic began to have a more dominant role in the lives of Abraham’s descendants – as evidenced by the use of it in the two aforementioned books written during Israel’s captivity in the east. By the time of the return of many Israelites to the promised land, it had transitioned to become the common language of the people7 – so much so that the Torah / Law was in need of being translated into the Aramaic tongue during the times when it was read publicly from the Hebrew Scrolls.”
John 1:1-3 (Aramaic Peshitta Etheridge translation, 1846) Parenthesis Mine!
“In the beginning was the Word (The Miltha), and the Word (Miltha) HIMSELF was with ELOHIM, and ELOHIM was the Word Himself. This was in the beginning with ELOHIM. Everything by HIS hand was made; and without Him also was not one thing made that was made.”
As you can see the Aramaic version completely removes the doubt of those who say YESHUA was not here from the beginning and that the Word was “spoken words” by YAHWEH and not literally YESHUA!
Revelation 19:13
“And having been dressed in a robe dipped in blood-and His Name is called: The WORD OF YAHWEH.”
Cleary, the Word is YESHUA and always was from the very beginning. However, there is still more treasure to uncover about the word “WORD” in the Aramaic. The word used for WORD in Aramaic is “Miltha” which has a way more deeper meaning than and there is no English equivalent for it. Miltha means PHYSICAL MANIFESTATION OF ELOHIM, THE SUBSTANCE OF ELOHIM and THE WORD OF ELOHIM. Which is why I was making the connection from Isaiah 40:5 with YAHWEH saying that His esteem would literally APPEAR because YESHUA is the Physical Manifestation of the Invisible ELOHIM and Paul agrees with this:
Colossians 1:13-17 (Aramaic Peshitta Etheridge translation, 1846)
“Who has delivered us from the authority of darkness and transferred us into the reign of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, who is the LIKENESS OF THE INVLISBLE ELOHIM (PHYSIFAL MANIFESTATION) The First-Born of all creation. And BY HIM was everything created that is in heaven and in earth; all that is seen, and all that is unseen, whether thrones or dominions or princes or powers; all things by HIS hand and through Him were created; and He is BEFORE ALL and everything by Him all hold together.”
Paul agrees with John that YESHUA was here from the beginning and created the heavens and the earth at the pleasure of His Father YAHWEH and that He is the physical manifestation, the image of the invisible YAHWEH! This is truly beautiful when reading the scriptures the way that our ancestors read and understood it especially the original churches in the East before the scriptures became westernized.
Peshitta.org adds this:
Other than the sacred words of the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4), no other words in the Hebrew Tenakh are more moving to any Jew as Exodus 3:14. There, ELOHIM gives Moshe His Real Name, and He says: EHYEH ASHER EYHEH (a title), which can be translated as I AM THAT I AM or, I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE. The fact is, both Hebrew tenses of past and future are inherent in the phrase, leading many sages to refer to ELOHIM simply as The Eternal, or the Pre-Existent One. Continuing then, the next line then ELOHIM says, "You shall tell the Egyptians that I AM has sent you to them." As a result I AM (EHYEH) became a sacred title, and the ACTUAL NAME became revealed as YHWH, which is derived from EHYEH (is) and HWA (was).
Now in Aramaic, the word "I" is rendered as ENA, and 99.9% of the time the equivalent phrase of AM (NA) is implied. However, it is also correct to say ENA-NA, but most would not dare to utter that phrase. The reason for their reticence is because ENA-NA is the Aramaic equivalent of EHYEH. Or, to put it another way, humans can be ENA, but to say ENA-NA is to refer solely to the eternal aspect and existence of YHWH. But, when YESHUA speaks of himself, guess what? He says ENA-NA. Therefore, it was not just because YESHUA claimed to have been before Abraham that caused his opponents to pick up stones against him. No, YESHUA went a step further. By saying ENA-NA, YESHUA was saying that he is eternal and PRE-CREATION…”
Revelation 3:14 (Aramaic Peshitta Etheridge translation, 1846)
“And to the angel of the church which is Laodicea write: These saith the men, the Witness, the faithful, the true, the HEAD OF THE CREATION OF ELOHIM.”
John 1:3 (Aramaic Peshitta Etheridge translation, 1846)
“Every thing by His hand was made; and without Him also was not one thing made that was made.”
YESHUA being the Head of the Creation of YAHWEH agrees with John 1, Colossians 1, and Hebrews 1; and further proves that YESHUA would have to have been present from the very beginning of time in order to create the heavens and earth. I pray this clears up the confusion of those who are denying who YESHUA is because without Him no one can be saved.
Enoch 48:2-6
“And at that hour the Son of Man was named in the presence of the Master of Spirits, and His Name before the Head of Days. Yes, BEFORE the sun and the signs were created, BEFORE the stars of the heaven were made, His Name was named before the Master of Spirits. He will be a staff to the righteous on which to steady themselves and not fall, and He will be the light of the Nations, and the hope of those who are troubled of heart. All who dwell on earth shall fall down and worship before Him, and will praise and bless and celebrate the Master of Spirits with song. And for this reason He has been chosen and hidden before Him, BEFORE the creation of the world and forevermore.”
As always may our Father YAHWEH bless you all in YESHUA’s Name!