Faith … at some point after World War II … people noted and adopted into their lives the development of high fidelity audio … now some 70 or more years later these devices now seem primitive … however our modern audio components in every electronic device that uses audio in one way or another delivers the same anticipated quality of sound promised by high fidelity … this original promise of high fidelity represented the duplication and delivery of sound as an accurate copy of the original source with high precision in repeated listening sessions … a musical record is a good example … so way back when … high fidelity technology was incorporated into … movie theaters … color televisions … radios … record players … eventually various types of audio tape players … and … other various types of audio media players that developed over the years … the key term in this definition is … fidelity … the definition of our English noun fidelity can be applied on one level to human relationship … like marriage or personal partnerships or corporate contractual relationships … the term fidelity represents in this context … commitment … that is … the degree of faithfulness to a … person … cause … contract … or … belief … as demonstrated by … commitment … loyalty … and … support … alternatively … the noun … fidelity … can be applied to the definition of … the degree of exactness with which something is copied or reproduced … in terms of … accuracy … precision … exactness … and … correctness … the storage and playing of music from a record is a good example … the English word fidelity originates from the classical Latin verb … FIDES … a well used verb in Roman … literature … performing arts … and … business … with the best literal meaning being … the trust between two or more persons or parties who are in a defined specific relationship … examples include … marriage … other types of personal commitment and/or relationships … and … business contractual relationships … the literal meaning of … FIDES … includes the concept of … privileges … and … responsibility … for all persons or parties in the relationship with the inclusion of a specific reference to the accountability and legal consequences regarding both parties in a business or personal relationship … the Romans also extended the meaning of … FIDES … into their religion … the verb was personified into a noun as the name of a worshiped perceived divinity termed … FIDES … one of the fifteen spirits who together were called … the VIRTUEs … in the great Roman epic poem termed the AENEID … the first two of the ancient Roman Virtues are FIDES and PIETAS are present … in this context … FIDES represents faithfulness … that is sticking to a commitment and seeing it through all circumstance even if there is a bitter end … essentially … not quitting … while … the Virtue PIETAS represents … piety … that is essentially … doing the right thing … our English word … faith … comes from a period of time around 1400 AD with the Middle English noun … FEITH … its best literal meanings include … trust … or … loyalty … we see this primitive noun in our expression … bona fide … and … FEITH came into Middle English from the Old French noun … FEID ( also spelled FOI ) … which originated as both a spoken and a written word in a period of time around 1300 AD … the best literal meanings for FEIDI include … trust … or … confidence … in a person or thing … FEID comes from the Classical Latin verb … FIDES …so … when we encounter our English noun … faith … in an English translation of the Holy Bible … it is a word that came to be spoken and written some where around six or seven hundred years ago … many have a good understanding of their personal faith in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior … and … many have a good understanding of this word’s meaning as we read its use in various English translations of the Holy Bible and/or listen to other folks in dialog … therefore … we thought it both interesting and prudent … in this bible study … for a review and analysis of our understanding of … faith … as it is translated to English from the Greek text of select New Testament scripture verses …

 

Hebrews, chapter 11, vs 1

... faith is the substance of things hoped for … the conviction of things not seen …

 

… depending on the English translation one might be using … both … substance … or … assurance … are very reasonable translations for the Greek word … HUPOSTASIS … Strong# Greek 5287 … the best literal translation for this noun is … a support … because … the literal meaning is something that stands under a structure to support … like the foundation of a bridge or the foundation of a building …

 

… the Greek word translated here as … conviction … is … ELEGCHOS … Strong# Greek 1650 … the best literal meanings include … a legal proof … or … a legal guarantee … like a property deed is the legal proof of land ownership … or … a marriage certificate that is the legal proof of relationship … or … a legal contract between two companies … the root of ELEGCHOS is Greek verb … ELEGCHO … Strong# Greek 1651 … the best literal meanings include … to convince with compelling evidence … or … to persuade …

 

… the English phrase … not seen … is a portmanteau for the translation to the English word … seen … which has as its root Greek verb … BLEPO … Strong# 991 … the best literal meanings include … to look at …. to perceive …  to take heed of … to see … this portmanteau is used only one other time in the Holy Bible or any where else in literature for that matter and again in Hebrews chapter 11 but in verse #3 … by faith the world was created by the Word of God so that what is seen ( the portmanteau ) was made out of things that are not visible … so … back in verse #1 the … not … is Greek adverb … OU … Strong# Greek 3756 … a good literal meaning is … not …

 

… the English phrase … hoped for … is Greek verb … ELPIZO … Strong# Greek 1679 … the best literal meanings include … to hope in someone or something … or … to trust in someone or something … or … to have confidence in someone or something … the root of ELPIZO is Greek noun … ELPIS … Strong# Greek 1680 … the best literal meanings include … a hope or trust or confidence or expectation that someone has in someone or something … 

 

… the English word … faith … is Greek noun … PISTIS … Strong# Greek 4102 … the best literal meanings include … trust … or … confidence … there are many analyses which would find … faith … the best literal meaning however that term did not exist until the 12^th and 13^th century’s in France and England … at the time that the Gospels and other books of the New Testament were written … just about every verse that has the English word … faith … in the New Testament regardless of the translation version … the original Greek word is PISTIS … as an example … Jesus Christ saying in … Luke chapter 18, vs 8b … when the Son of Man comes will He find faith on earth …

 

… when we consider the text of Hebrews 11, vs 1 … faith is the substance of things hoped for - the conviction of things not seen … the text is a definition of faith which contains two provisions that represent the key actions central to that definition … hoped for … and … not seen …

 

… as we read Hebrews 11, vs 1 … the translated English text tells us that the object for action that these two provisions … what is hoped for … and … what is not seen … effect is our English noun … things … the  translation of the English noun … things … for both occasions of PRAGMA that are found in this verse is the translation is for the Greek noun … PRAGMA … Strong# Greek 4229 … the best literal meaning of PRAGMA is a reference to … multiple repetitive actions performed habitually to maintain relationship which are both practiced and practical … note that PRAGMA does not refer to a physical object or a period of time or a person or persons or any other physical tangible but rather to multiple sequences of various actions which are necessary to maintain relationship as exampled in marriage or corporate contracts or legal documents or many other aspects of life … our English word … pragmatic … comes from PRAGMA … the root of PRAGMA is Greek verb … PRASSO … Strong# Greek 4238 … the best literal meanings include … to commit to do something … or … to accomplish … the root of PRASSO is Greek verb … POTEO … Strong# Greek 4160 … the best literal meaning is … to perform practical actions for the manufacture or construction of something … perhaps a good way to look at it is the example of multiple activities which a couple do together repeatedly while maintaining relationship … or … if you prefer … the repetitive activities of legal relationship that two companies will pursue that have a shared contractual relationship … of interest in this analysis when tracing the meaning of this word PRAGMA to its root verb PRASSO … we find additional clarification in that verb’s definition as an action performed repeatedly or habitually ... by extension … an action which is practiced resulting in some level of accomplishment ... and so … the use of this word PRAGMA is not a reference to something or some theoretical action ... but rather to ... practical and repeated activities – that is practiced endeavors - which work well based on mutual agreement - cultural consensus - the situation and common sense … of additional interest is a return to our review of the Roman Latin verb … FIDES … which in general usage would represent the meaning of our English noun … trust … but which has a literal and legal definition of … that trust between two or more persons or parties who are in a defined specific relationship … so … both PRAGMA and FIDES define a concept of both … privileges … and … responsibility … for all persons or parties in a relationship with the inclusion of a specific reference to the accountability and consequences required of both parties in a business or personal relationship … in our analysis … the take away for a best understanding of PRAGMA is …  repetitive practiced actions which are mutually beneficial to each participant sharing the relationship … interesting …

 

Romans chapter 10, vs 17

… faith comes from what is heard and what is heard comes from the Word of God …

 

Luke chapter 8, vs 50                             Jesus Christ speaking

… do not fear … only believe … and … she will be saved …

 

… so here in Luke 8, vs 50 … the English word … believe … is the translation of Greek verb … PISTEUO … Strong# Greek 4100 … the best literal meanings include … to believe … or … to have faith in … or … to trust in … the root of PISTEUO is Greek noun … PISTIS … Strong# Greek 4102 …

 

Romans chapter 5, vs 1 – 5                 select verse segments in sequence

… we are justified by faith … in which … we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ … through Whom … we have obtained access to the grace in which we now stand … and so … we celebrate in our hope of sharing the glory of God forever … God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Spirit of God ( Holy Spirit ) … Who has been given to us …

… the Greek noun translated in Romans 5, vs 1 as … faith … is … PISTIS … Strong# Greek 4102 …

 

John chapter 14, vs 6                              Jesus Christ speaking

… I AM … the way … the truth … and … the life … no one comes to the Father except through Me …

 

John chapter 3, vs 13 – 18                   Jesus Christ speaking

… no one has ascended into heaven but He who descended from heaven … the Son of Man … and … as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness … even so must the Son of Man be lifted up so that everyone who believes in Him will have everlasting life … for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but will have everlasting life … for God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world but that the world might be saved through Him … everyone  who believes in Him is not judged … however … those who does not believe are judged already, because they have not believed in the Name of the only begotten Son of God …

 

Gilgal

 

… archeology in Israel has identified three interesting sites of … similar geographic selection … intentional design … and … consistent construction methodology … at … YAFIT … MASUA … and … ARGAMAN … each of these three locations are on the west side of the Jordan River valley … each is found to have originated from the late bronze age or the very early Iron Age … a little over 3,500 years ago … these and four other similar archeological sites are all found within Israel and are mentioned in multiple biblical references over a significant period of Old Testament history … in which they are termed a … GILGAL … at this time a total of seven Israeli Archeology sites have been identified with this same modeled construction  to which the term Gilgal is applicable … all are from the same period of time … they appeared just after the Hebrew ( Jewish ) people crossed the Jordan River under the leadership of Joshua to enter the Promised Land … these Gilgal sites can be viewed Google Earth … each Gilgal is in the shape of a footprint of a right foot … the toes of each Gilgal face the site of the city ADAM which is the location where the Jabbok river joins the Jordan river … each Gilgal is about the size of a football field in both length and width … each Gilgal is situated at the foot of a large hill or a raising cascade of hills that permitted tens of thousands of spectators to view the proceedings within the Gilgal site with good sound reception for everyone … essentially … each Gilgal site is a natural amphitheater … considering the ancient city … ADAM … the Jordan River backed up from JERICHO to ADAM when Joshua and the Hebrew ( Jewish ) people crossed over into the Promised Land … this is also the area of the city PENIEL ( PENUEL ) … where … 500 years before Joshua’s cross over event … Jacob’s name was changed … by God … to Israel … MASUA is directly across the Jordan River from ADAM … MASUA is in the hills that line the West bank of the Jordan river and ADAM on the East bank … at the time of Joshua’s crossing over … the Jordan river water backed up the Jordan river and vented into the Jabbok River gorge … each Gilgal was an open space with an entrance onto its footpath at the instep of the footprint … at each Gilgal there is a footpath that follows the perimeter of the footprint which has a low wall on the outside and inside of the path … the height of these walls is approximately eighteen inches above the ground … each of these walls has an equally deep foundation made of gathered stone and broken pottery … the pottery in each of the Gilgal foundations is late bronze age Hebrew ( Jewish ) pottery … the Hebrew pottery most often found at the Gilgal sites are fragments of cooking pots … this is because folks traveling at that time would use animal skins for water or wine and plant based sack and basket containers for equipment and dry goods because when traveling there is always a high probability of breakage for pottery … the only clay container needed was for cooking over an open fire … the clay cooking pots would break quite often due to routine use … at that time … more affluent folks would have metal cooking pots which would not be found discarded due to breakage … the Old Testament of the Holy Bible also records the presence of a GILGAL site near JERICHO by Joshua … however … urban expansion of JERICHO over hundreds of years has completely obliterated any physical record or remains of that site … in the Samarian hills there are two other GILGAL sites identified … one at Mount EBAL and the other a little North East of that site at .,, UL UNUCK … also … there is one other GIGLAL site that has been identified in what was once the tribal land Benjamin ... at … RIMONIM … so … six of these seven archeological sites are observable from the air and also on the ground … over the years many of the sites have been used for various ancient and modern uses therefore at this time there are only select remnants of their original construction …

 

… on Google Earth you can see ariel views at …

 

  GILGAL at YAFIT                    32° 03’16”N . 35° 28’04”E

 

GILGAL at MASUA                    32° 06’24”N . 35° 29’37”E

 

GILGAL at ARGAMAN               32° 09’40”N . 35° 30’45”E

 

… moving South to North along the rising ground of the west bank of the Jordan river at the time periods of and after Joshua … we would encounter the Gilgal sites of … JERICHO … YAFIT … MASUA … and … ARGAMAN … in that sequence … built by the Hebrew people … they are pretty much equally spaced along the sixteen miles of river bank between the cities of JERICHO and ADAM … though MASUA is almost directly across from ADAM where the Jabbok river enters the Jordan river and ARGAMAN is just a little bit north of MASUA … this presents an interesting consideration for the Jordan river crossing … at that time the Hebrew nation and the other folks with Joshua numbered somewhere between two and a half million to three and a half million people … even considering the women and children of the tribes of … RUBEN … GAD … and the half-tribe of MANASSAH who would be remaining on the East side of the Jordan river … the shelf on which the Hebrew nation crossed over the Red Sea was perhaps a mile to a mile and a half wide at its narrowest point and they saw the waters of the Red Sea heaped up as walls on each side as they crossed over … the river distance from JERICHO to ADAM is sixteen or seventeen miles depending on how you walk along the river bank … in our analysis … the Hebrew nation crossed over the Jordan river in four separated groups along the Jordan river and these four Gilgal sites were established to reorganize people and their belongings at four separate central points of communication for information and strategic instruction … essentially they built them at predetermined sites when they arrived at them … after that initial use they became centers for the renewal of their faith in God and were also used for other civic purposes … eventually … they degraded into centers for pagan worship … Gilgal sites are a wonderful reminder that YAHWEH is with His people and that their congregation is a meaningful and useful expression of their faith … an important aspect of their relationship with God … draw close to the LORD and He will draw close to you … their faith in YAHWEH was and is dynamic … our faith in Jesus Christ is dynamic … the existence of the Gilgal sites in Israel is very largely the work of many years by a single Archeologist from Israel named Adam Zertal … Israeli Professor of Archaeology at the University of Haifa … we recommend his book … The Footsteps God … ISBN-13:978-0-9996202-9-8 … ISBN-10:0-9996202-9-0 …

 

Zechariah chapter 1, vs 3                    God speaking

1:3 אסף אדם ובהמה אסף עוף-השמים ודגי הים והמכשלות את-הרשעים והכרתי את-האדם מעל פני האדמה נאם-יהוה

… return to Me … and … I will return to you … thus says the LORD …

 

Malachi chapter 3, vs 7                         God speaking

3:7 למימי אבתיכם סרתם מחקי ולא שמרתם שובו אלי ואשובה אליכם אמר יהוה צבאות ואמרתם במה נשוב

… return to Me … and … I will return to you … says the LORD of Hosts ... 

 

Galatians chapter 4, vs 9

4:9  וְעַתָּה אַחֲרֵי אֲשֶׁר־יְדַעְתֶּם אֶת־הָאֱלהִים וְיוֹתֵר שֶׁנּוֹדַעְתֶּם לֵאלׂהִים אֵיךְ תָּשׁוּבוּ אֶל־הַתִּיקּוּנִים הָרָפִים וְהַדַּלִּים הָהֵם אֲשֶׁר תִּרְצוּ לְהִכָּנֵעַ לָהֶם כְּבַתְּחִלָּה

… now that you have come to know God … or rather … to be known by God …

 

James chapter 4, vs 8

4:8  לָכֵן הִכָּנְעוּ לִפְנֵי הָאֱלׂהִים הִתְיַצְּבוּ נֶגֶד הַשָּׂטָן וְיִבְרַח מִפְּנֵיכֶם

… draw near to God … and … He will draw near to you …

 

Isaiah chapter 41, vs 10                        God speaking

41:10 אל-תירא כי עמך-אני אל-תשתע כי-אני אלהיך אמצתיך אף-עזרתיך אף-תמכתיך בימין צדקי

… do not fear … I AM … with you … do not be afraid … for … I AM your God … I will strengthen you … I will help you … I will uphold you with My victorious right hand …

 

Psalm 91

91:1 ישב בסתר עליון בצל שדי יתלונן

91:2 אמר ליהוה מחסי ומצודתי אלהי אבטח-בו

91:3 כי הוא יצילך מפח יקוש מדבר הוות

91:4 באברתו יסך לך ותחת-כנפיו תחסה צנה וסחרה אמתו

91:5 לא-תירא מפחד לילה מחץ יעוף יומם

91:6 מדבר באפל יהלך מקטב ישוד צהרים

91:7 יפל מצדך אלף ורבבה מימינך אליך לא יגש

91:8 רק בעיניך תביט ושלמת רשעים תראה

91:9 כי-אתה יהוה מחסי עליון שמת מעונך

91:10 לא-תאנה אליך רעה ונגע לא-יקרב באהלך

91:11 כי מלאכיו יצוה-לך לשמרך בכל-דרכיך

91:12 על-כפים ישאונך פן-תגף באבן רגלך

91:13 על-שחל ופתן תדרך תרמס כפיר ותנין

91:14 כי בי חשק ואפלטהו אשגבהו כי-ידע שמי

91:15 יקראני ואענהו עמו-אנכי בצרה אחלצהו ואכבדהו

91:16 ארך ימים אשביעהו ואראהו בישועתי

… everyone who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty … let us say to the LORD … You are our refuge and our fortress … You are our God in Whom we trust … for … You deliver us from the snare of those who would trap us and You deliver us from deadly pestilence … You cover us with Your pinions … under Your wings we seek refuge … Your faithfulness is a shield and a bulwark … and so … we will not be afraid of the terror by night … nor … of the arrow that flies by day … we will not be afraid of the pestilence that stalks in darkness … nor … of the destruction that lays waste at noon … though a thousand fall at our side … ten thousand at our right hand … evil will not come near us … we will look with our eyes to see the recompense of the wicked … for … the LORD is our refuge … the Most High is our dwelling place … no evil will befall us … no plague will come near our home … for … the LORD gives His angels charge concerning us … to guard us in all of our ways … they will bear us up in their hands so our feet will not strike a single stone … and … if we were to … tread upon the lion or the viper … the young lion or the serpent … we will trample them down … because … the LORD God Almighty loves us … He delivers us … we are held securely from on high … the LORD God Almighty knows each of our names … He will call to us and we will answer Him … He is with us in a time of trouble … He rescues us … He honors us … and … through Him we will see our salvation … He blesses us in everlasting life with Him forever …

                                                Note the aspect of proximity

Joshua chapter 4, vs 19

4:19  והעם עלו מן-הירדן בעשור לחדש הראשון ויחנו  בגלגל  בקצה מזרח יריחו  

… the Hebrew ( Jewish ) people … came up out of the Jordan river bed on the tenth day of the first month … they camped at GILGAL … on the West bank of the Jordan River … at the Eastern border of JERICHO …

 

… גלגל … GILGAL … Strong# Hebrew 1537 … the literal meaning is … a circle of stones … the root is Strong# Hebrew 1536 … also translated to English as GILGAL … the literal meaning is … a wheel … the construction similarities at all the Gilgal sites with a peripheral pathway indicates that part of the activity at a Gilgal included processions which originally were to honor and praise YAHWEH … the root of Strong# Hebrew 1536 is Strong# Hebrew 1534 … also spelled the same and translated as GILGAL … the best literal meaning is … a whirlwind … the root of Strong# Hebrew 1534 is Strong# Hebrew 1556 …  גָּלַל   … this is Hebrew verb … GALAL … the best literal meanings include … to roll … or … to roll away … in our analysis … the prefix BET for GILGAL in Joshua 4, vs 19 adds the emphasis … at this place … e.g. at the GILGAL … we note also that the numerical equivalent for Strong# Hebrew 1537 is … 66 … interesting for a future numerology study …

 

Genesis chapter 46, vs 26

46:26 כל-הנפש הבאה ליעקב מצרימה יצאי ירכו מלבד נשי בני-יעקב כל-נפש ששים ושש

… there were … sixty-six men of Jacob’s own offspring who went down into Egypt with him … this does not count the wives of his sons …

 

Judges chapter 3, vs 18 - 19

3:18 ויהי כאשר כלה להקריב את-המנחה וישלח את-העם נשאי המנחה

3:19 והוא שב מן-הפסילים אשר את-הגלגל ויאמר דבר-סתר לי אליך המלך ויאמר הס ויצאו מעליו כל-העמדים עליו

… Ehud finished presenting the tribute and he sent the men who had carried the tribute on their way … but … he himself turned back at the sculptured stones near the GILGAL and said to the king … I have a secret message for you … and so … the king said to his attendants … silence - go out from my presence …

 

… in Judges chapter 3, vs 19 … note the … ALEF-TAV … directly associated with the Hebrew word … GILGAL … very interesting considering the context of this action by Ehud … in our analysis of this verse … the prefix … HA … with the Hebrew word … GILGAL … adds the emphasis … this specific GILGAL … additionally … the phrase translated in English as … sculptured stone … is the Hebrew noun … PASIL …  פְּסִילִ֙  … Strong# Hebrew 6456 … the best literal meaning in this context is … a carved idol … the root of PASIL is Hebrew verb … PASAL … פְּסִל … Strong# Hebrew 6458 … best literal meaning … to hew into a shape …

 

1 Thessalonians chapter 5, vs 23

5:23  וֵאלהֵי הַשָּׁלוֹם הוּא יְקַדֵּשׁ אֶתְכֶם בִּקְדֻשָּׁה שְׁלֵמָה וְכָל־רוּחֲכֶם וְנַפְשְׁכֶם וְגוּפְכֶם יִשָּׁמֵר תָּמִים בְּבוֹא אֲדֵינוּ יֵשׁוּעַ הַמָּשִׁיחַ

… the God of peace … Himself … will fully sanctify us … so that … our … spirit … soul … and … body … is kept sound and blameless for the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ … the One Who calls us is faithful and He will do this …

 

2 Samuel chapter 19, vs 39 - 40     

19:38 ישב-נא עבדך ואמת בעירי עם קבר אבי ואמי והנה עבדך כמהם יעבר עם-אדני המלך ועשה-לו את אשר-טוב בעיניך

19:39 ויאמר המלך אתי יעבר כמהם ואני אעשה-לו את-הטוב בעיניך וכל אשר-תבחר עלי אעשה-לך

19:40 ויעבר כל-העם את-הירדן והמלך עבר וישק המלך לברזלי ויברכהו וישב למקמו

19:41 ויעבר המלך הגלגלה וכמהן עבר עמו וכל-עם יהודה ויעברו את-המלך וגם חצי עם ישראל

 

                                Note the ALEF-TAV in vs 38

 

… King David answered … Chimham will cross over with me and I will do for him what is good in your sight … whatever you את  request of me I will do … King David kissed Barzillai and blessed him … then … the people crossed over the Jordan river with the king … and … Barzillai returned to his home … King David went to the GILGAL accompanied on his way by Chimham … people from Judah … and … people from Israel …

 

… so … it is not unusual for the verse numbering of Hebrew Old Testaments and the verse numbering of our English translations to vary in some chapters … this is a good example … the verse … 2 Samuel chapter 19, vs 40 … in our English translations … is actually vs 41 in the original Hebrew … in our analysis of 2 Samuel chapter 19,vs 18 – 41 … the HA as both a prefix and suffix adds the emphasis …  this specific GILGAL …

 

1 Samuel chapter 7, vs 15 - 17

7:15 וישפט שמואל את-ישראל כל ימי חייו

7:16 והלך מדי שנה בשנה וסבב בית-אל והגלגל והמצפה ושפט את-ישראל את כל-המקומות האלה

7:17 ותשבתו הרמתה כי-שם ביתו ושם שפט את-ישראל ויבן-שם מזבח ליהוה

                                Note the ALEF-TAV in vs 16

… Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life … he went on a circuit year by year to … BETHEL … the GILGAL at JERICHO … and … MIZPAH … Samuel judged the people of Israel  את  in all these places … then … he would return to his home at RAMAH … and there … he would also administer justice to the people of Israel … at RAMAH … Samuel also built and alter to the LORD ( YHVH ) …

 

… in verse 18 note there are two prefixes on the noun GILGAL … a VAV and a HA … an interesting combination of prefixes because the VAV indicates … many … and … the HA indicates … this specific one … so … in our analysis and interpretation of this verse the referenced GILGAL’s prefixes define for the reader  … this specific Gilgal of many … interesting …

 

1Samuel chapter 11, vs 14 - 15

11:14 ויאמר שמואל אל-העם לכו ונלכה הגלגל ונחדש שם המלוכה

11:15 וילכו כל-העם הגלגל וימלכו שם את-שאול לפני יהוה בגלגל ויזבחו-שם זבחים שלמים לפני יהוה וישמח שם שאול וכל-אנשי ישראל עד-מאד

 

… note the prefix HA for GILGAL in vs 14 indicating … this specific GILGAL … note for the first occasion of GILGAL in vs 15 the prefix HA repeats … however … for the second occasion of GILGAL in vs 15 the prefix BET in our analysis and interpretation indicates that the action of the statement … that is the renewal of the kingship … will be … in … that specific GILGAL …

 

… Samuel said to the people … come let us go to the GILGAL and renew the kingship … so … all the people went to the GILGAL and there made Saul king before the LORD ( YHVH ) … and … they sacrificed offerings of well being before the LORD ( YHVH ) … and … Saul and all the people of Israel rejoiced greatly …

 

2 Kings chapter 2, vs 1

2:1  ויהי בהעלות יהוה את-אליהו בסערה השמים וילך אליהו ואלישע מן-הגלגל

… when the LORD ( YHVH ) was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind … Elijah and Elisha were on their way from GILGAL …

 

2 Kings chapter 4, vs 38

4:38  ואלישע שב הגלגלה והרעב בארץ ובני הנביאים ישבים לפניו ויאמר לנערו שפת הסיר הגדולה ובשל נזיד לבני הנביאים

… when Elisha returned to … GILGAL … there was a famine in the land … he said to his servant … put the large pot on and make some stew for the company of prophets … for … the company of prophets was sitting before him …

 

Micah chapter 6, vs 5                             God speaking

6:5  עמי זכר-נא מה-יעץ בלק מלך מואב ומה-ענה אתו בלעם בן-בעור מן-השטים עד-הגלגל למען דעת צדקות יהוה

…  My people know the saving acts of the LORD ( YHVH ) their God  … they remember what happened from … SHITTIM … to … GILGAL … they remember what Balak the king of Moab devised … they remember what Balaam the son of Beor answered …

 

… the reference here is to the GILGAL near JERICHO … SHITTIM is an area on the plains of Moab that is to the East directly across the Jordan River from JERICHO … this was the last camp of the Hebrew ( Jewish ) people before they crossed over the Jordan River into the Promised Land with Joshua … this is the camp that Balak and Balaam viewed from the three separate mountain point vantiges …

 

… interestingly … in the camp at SHITTIM … the Hebrew ( Jewish ) people are first enticed into BAAL worship … previously in this bible study we noted that … some years later … at the time of the Judges … EHUD crosses the Jordan River … East to West and then turns back to the City of Palms at the BAAL idol which was standing at the GILGAL near JERICHO … no one lived at the GILGALs … there is no archeological record of … house or building structures … there is no archeological record of … cattle or sheep/goat pens … no archeological record of established long term habitation at any type at any of the GILGAL sites … they were places of assembly … for communication … for the celebrate=ion of festivals … to worship the LORD ( YHVH ) their God … and … unfortunately also … other purposes when the Hebrew ( Jewish ) people forgot Whom the LORD ( YHVH ) their God is …

 

Amos chapter 4, vs 1 – 5                       select verse segments in sequence

4:1 שמעו הדבר הזה פרות הבשן אשר בהר שמרון העשקות דלים הרצצות אביונים האמרת לאדניהם הביאה ונשתה

4:2 נשבע אדני יהוה בקדשו כי הנה ימים באים עליכם ונשא אתכם בצנות ואחריתכן בסירות דוגה

4:3 ופרצים תצאנה אשה נגדה והשלכתנה ההרמונה נאם-יהוה

4:4 באו בית-אל ופשעו הגלגל הרבו לפשע והביאו לבקר זבחיכם לשלשת ימים מעשרתיכם

4:5 וקטר מחמץ תודה וקראו נדבות השמיעו כי כן אהבתם בני ישראל נאם אדני יהוה

… hear this word you cows of Bashan … you who live on mount Samaria … you who oppress the poor … you who crush the needy … the LORD ( YHVH ) God swears by His holiness … there is a time is coming upon you … your enemy will take you away with fish-hooks … you will leave through the breaches in your city walls … you will be flung out of your homes and each of you will walk straight ahead … thus says the LORD ( YHVH ) … so … continue to go to Bethel and transgress against the LORD ( YHVH ) your God … continue to go to the GILGAL and multiply your transgressions with idols … for you … the people of Israel … love to do so … says the LORD ( YHVH ) God …

… in these verses … Amos is speaking to the people of ten northern tribs of Israel at a time when they worshiped a golden calf at Bethel and Dan … there are BAAL stone idols in many places like the GILGALs … this prophesy looks forward to the time of their defeat and the deportation from Israel by Assyria …

 

Hosea chapter 4, vs 15         select verse segments

not necessarily in sequence

4:15  אם-זנה אתה ישראל אל-יאשם יהודה ואל-תבאו הגלגל ואל-תעלו בית און ואל-תשבעו חי-יהוה

… people of Judah do not become guilty as are the people of Israel …for … they play the whore … they swear to one another … as the LORD ( YHVH ) lives … do be like them … do not go up to BETH-AVEN … do not go up to and enter the GILGAL …

 … the prophet Hosea is referring to BETHEL where Jeroboam set up one of his two calf idols … the other was in the North of Israel at the city of DAN … Hosea uses the term BETH-AVEN as a derogatory reference as its literal meaning is … house of nothingness … the GILGALs at this time were centers of Baal worship …

 

Hosea chapter 9, vs 15         select verse segments

not necessarily in sequence

9:16  כל-רעתם בגלגל כי-שם שנאתים על רע מעלליהם מביתי אגרשם לא אוסף אהבתם כל-שריהם סררים

… I can love them no more … all their officials are rebels … I will drive them out of My house … because of the wickedness of their deeds … they embrace every evil at the GILGAL … there I came to abhor them …

 

Hosea chapter 12, vs 11 – 12            select verse segments

not necessarily in sequence

12: 11  ודברתי על-הנביאים ואנכי חזון הרביתי וביד הנביאים אדמה

12:12  אם-גלעד און אך-שוא היו בגלגל שורים זבחו גם מזבחותם כגלים על תלמי שדי

… in the GILGALs there is iniquity for there they sacrifice bulls … those alters will come to nothing and become stone heaps … because … there the people have embraced iniquity …

 

… in our analysis … there are multiple candidates for the GILGAL(s) noted in Hosea … as a good guess we could consider the GILGALs at MASUA or  ARGAMAN which are on the West bank of the Jordan river near ADAM … however … other good candidates include the GILGAL at Mount EBAL or a little North East of that site is .,, UL UNUCK … and … in the tribal land of Benjamin is a GILGAL at RIMONIM … regardless … we have reviewed the use of GILGAL sites as … initially … sites for gathering and strategic communications during the time of Joshua …  congregational sites for worship of the LORD ( YHVH ) … Samuel used these sites to provide judicial services for Israel … Saul’s coronation was at a GILGAL … and also … as the people of Israel and Judah intermittently turned away from the LORD ( YHVH ) to idol worship so unfortunately did the use of these GILGAL sites … we note in the time of the kingships of Josiah and Hezekiah the idols of the people of Israel were purged from the GILGALs and other sites only to reappear again after a period of time … what stays consistent is the image of the footstep or footprint of God … the walls of Jerusalem were gradually expanded over time … David originally rebuilt the walls of the city of David … North and adjacent to the city of David Solomon built the walls of what we now consider to be the old city of Jerusalem which includes the temple mount … Hezekiah at the time of the fall of Israel to Assyria extended the walls to include Mount Zion to the West of the cld city and the city of David in order to house and protect the refugees who came to him from Israel … when Solomon built the walls of the old city of Jerusalem the shape of the wall was the footprint of a right foot with an orientation of the foot to ADAM … essentially the city walls were built in the shape of a GILGAL which even at Solomon’s time were ancient … a lasting representation intentionally designed to remind the Hebrew ( Jewish ) people that YAHWEH their LORD and God is with them …

 

1 Kings chapter 3, vs 1

3:1 ויתחתן שלמה את-פרעה מלך מצרים ויקח את-בת-פרעה ויביאה אל-עיר דוד עד כלתו לבנות את-ביתו ואת-בית יהוה ואת-חומת ירושלם סביב

… Solomon married the daughter of Pharaoh king of Egypt as a marriage alliance … and … he brought her to live in the city of David until he finished building … his own house … the house of the LORD ( YHVH ) … and … the wall around Jerusalem …

 

Behold

 

… a biblical year has 360 days …

 

… about the year 538 BC the angel Gabriel came to the Hebrew prophet Daniel in Jerusalem with a message sent to Daniel by YAHWEH the LORD God of the heavens and the earth … part of that message is …

 

Daniel chapter 9, vs 24 – 26                               Gabriel speaking

9:24 שבעים שבעים נחתך על-עמך ועל-עיר קדשך לכלא הפשע ולחתם חטאות ולכפר עון ולהביא צדק עלמים ולחתם חזון ונביא ולמשח קדש קדשים

9:25 ותדע ותשכל מן-מצא דבר להשיב ולבנות ירושלם עד-משיח נגיד שבעים שבעה ושבעים ששים ושנים תשוב ונבנתה רחוב וחרוץ ובצוק העתים

9:26 ואחרי השבעים ששים ושנים יכרת משיח ואין לו והעיר והקדש ישחית עם נגיד הבא וקצו בשטף ועד קץ מלחמה נחרצת שממות

… seventy weeks have been allocated for your people and your holy city … to finish the transgression … to make an end of sin … to make atonement for iniquity … to bring in everlasting righteousness … to complete vision and prophecy … and … to anoint the most holy place … be aware and know that from the date that the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem is issued … until … the Messiah the Prince is made known to His people … there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks … during that time period … Jerusalem will be built again with a sanctuary and a moat though during times of distress … following the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off … then there is a gap until the last week  … and … following that gap the prince who will destroy the city and the sanctuary will come to the city and sanctuary with his people … then … the end will come like a flood with war and desolations that have been determined …

 

… so … while today we tend to measure time periods in terms of … day week month year decade century and millennium … often in our analyses of time frames in the Holy Bible we find the measure to be … day week year Shamita Jubilee and millennium … in our analysis the unit of time measure being used by the angel Gabriel is the seven year Shamita cycle …

 

... at the beginning of verse 24 we note … שבעים שבעים  …  שבעים … is Hebrew noun … SHIBIYM … Strong# Hebrew 7657 … the best literal meaning is … seventy … some folks interpret the first שבעים    as the Hebrew noun … SHIBAH …  שבע  … Strong# Hebrew 7651 … the best literal meaning is … seven times … though … in our analysis we feel that the intent of the communication is the Hebrew verb … SHABA … with a YOD and MEM suffix … the Hebrew verb … SHABA …  שבע  … is Strong# Hebrew 7650 … the best literal meaning is … to be complete … considering this communication is coming from YAHWEH through the angel Gabriel to Daniel … the suffix YOD makes the action possessive to YAHWEH … e.g. My or Mine … and … the suffix MEM indicates that the action is … out of … or … from … YAHWEH … the Holy Bible delivers from God to humankind His project plan to restore creation to its state at the end of the sixth day of creation … that state as defined in the Holy Bible is - good … and this project plan defines two actions to complete in order to achieve this goal … the first action is the redemption of all humankind to relationship with God which was enabled at the end of the 69 weeks revealed by Gabriel in these verses of scripture … this first action is the … life … death on the cross … and … resurrection from the dead … of Jesus Christ our LORD and Savior … the second action is enabled again by Jesus Christ at the end of the 70^th  week … this is the final solution for evil sin and wickedness … following which the children of God live forever with God in the new heaven and earth … the restoration of the original state of God’s creation … the term week in this passage of scripture actually means a seven year cycle … essentially … seventy Shamita cycles …

 

…  the time period for the sixty-nine Shamita cycles … as stated by Gabriel … does not begin with the first Babylonian decree to rebuild the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem which is chronicled in the book of Ezra the priest … but rather that time period is defined to begin with Gabriel’s statement … from the date that the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem is issued … our focus in this bible study does not include the 70^th Shamita cycle of Gabriel’s prophecy to Daniel nor does it include a consideration of the 2,000 year gap between the end of the sixty-nine Shamita cycles and the 70^th Shamita cycle … the last Shamita cycle before the completion of the second action of YAHWEH’s project plan to retore creation … that gap of 2,000 years is a period of forty Jubilee cycles … each Jubilee cycle being seven Shamita cycles and one additional year … the year of Jubilee … a total of 2,000 years … by Babylonian records … in the year … 445 BC … this date of 445 BC is a date adjusted for our current calendar … King ARTAXARES granted the Hebrew people permission to rebuild the city of Jerusalem and complete the temple construction that had begun under King Cyrus … the Hebrew people also built a moat around Jerusalem that is still there today …

 

Nehemiah chapter 2, vs 1 – 9

2:1 ויהי בחדש ניסן שנת עשרים לארתחשסתא המלך יין לפניו ואשא את-היין ואתנה למלך ולא-הייתי רע לפניו

2:2 ויאמר לי המלך מדוע פניך רעים ואתה אינך חולה אין זה כי-אם רע לב ואירא הרבה מאד

2:3 ואמר למלך המלך לעולם יחיה מדוע לא-ירעו פני אשר העיר בית-קברות אבתי חרבה ושעריה אכלו באש

2:4 ויאמר לי המלך על-מה-זה אתה מבקש ואתפלל אל-אלהי השמים

2:5 ואמר למלך אם-על-המלך טוב ואם-ייטב עבדך לפניך אשר תשלחני אל-יהודה אל-עיר קברות אבתי ואבננה

2:6 ויאמר לי המלך והשגל יושבת אצלו עד-מתי יהיה מהלכך ומתי תשוב וייטב לפני-המלך וישלחני ואתנה לו זמן

2:7 ואומר למלך אם-על-המלך טוב אגרות יתנו-לי על-פחוות עבר הנהר אשר יעבירוני עד אשר-אבוא אל-יהודה

2:8 ואגרת אל-אסף שמר הפרדס אשר למלך אשר יתן-לי עצים לקרות את-שערי הבירה אשר-לבית ולחומת העיר ולבית אשר-אבוא אליו ויתן-לי המלך כיד-אלהי הטובה עלי

2:9 ואבוא אל-פחוות עבר הנהר ואתנה להם את אגרות המלך וישלח עמי המלך שרי חיל ופרשים

                                Note the ALEF-TAV in verse 9

…  in the month Nisan … during the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes … he had asked for wine that I set before him … I took up the wine and gave it to the king …  I had never been sad in his presence previously … so … the king said to me … why is your face sad as though you are sick though you are not sick … this is nothing other but sadness of heart … with some amount of  trepidation  I said to the king … let the king live forever … my face is sad because the city in which lies my father’s tombs lies desolate and the gates have been consumed by fire … then … the king said to me … what is your request … so … I prayed to the God of heaven and I said to the king … if I have found favor with you and it pleases the king …  send me to Judah to the city of my fathers’ tombs so that I may rebuild it … then the king with the queen sitting beside him said to me … how long will your journey be and when will you return … and so … it pleased the king to send me and I gave him a definite time ... additionally I said to the king … if it please the king … let letters be given to me for the governors to the west of the Euphrates River in order that they will allow me to pass through until I come to Judah … and … also a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest so that he may give me timber … to make beams for the gates of the fortress of Jerusalem in which is the temple … for the walls of the city … and … for the house to which I will live in … then … the king granted all this me because the good hand of my God was with me … and so … I came to the governors beyond the River and gave them the king’s  את   letters … and the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen …

 

… when adjusted for our current western calendar …  the decree by King Artaxerxes for the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem … by ancient Babylonian records ... was 445 BC ( BCE ) … again on our calendar …

 

7 Shamita cycles + 62 Shamita cycles   

=  

69 Shamita cycles

 

 

 

69 Shamita cycle   x   7 years each  

=  

483 years

 

 

 

 

483 years   x   360 days per year on Biblical Calendar  

= 

173,880 days on Biblical Calendar

 

 

173,880 days on Biblical Calendar   

( devided by )  

365. 25 days on our Current Calendar Year

=

476.06 years for our Current Calendar

 

 

445 BC on our Current Calendar   +   476.06 years

=

31 AD on our Current Calendar

 

 

31 AD   +   1 year

=

32 AD on our Current Calendar

 

 

… the added year is not a fudge factor … rather … there is no 0 (zero) AD or BC … however there is a time period of one year between 1 BC and 1 AD on our Current Calendar …this prophecy delivered by the angel Gabriel to Daniel around 538 BC defines the 69 Shamita cycles from the order by king Artaxerxes to rebuild the city walls and gates of Jerusalem to the entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday …