Enquiry into a Biblical Phrase

Rosanne

I am really calling out to Closrapexa and LRichard, because I cannot post in the Spirituality forum.
You made a comment about the phrase "Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh" in Exodus 3:14
I know that Kabbalists consider this name central to Kabbalist thought, and that there is an esoteric content in there.
I want to know about the Sun at it's Zenith (or nearly so) and it's relationship to the phrase; if you would be good enough to explain it to me.

Because of my schooling in Christianity, I have many copies of the Torah/Bible/Commentaries and I have never heard of this connection.

The Tanakh:.....and they ask me, What is His name? what shall I say to them?
And God said to Moses, "Ehyeh- Asher-Ehyeh. He continued Thus shall you say to the Israealites, Ehyeh sent me to you.

The Septuagint and Philo Judaeus in Greek say "Ego eimi ho on" or "I am the Being"

The Rotterhams Bible is supposed to be an excellent literal translation.....
" I will become whatsoever I please"
The New English Bible says "I am, that is who I am"
and in one way or another they all seem to agree it is Yahuwah, but the Hebrew Bible(Tanakh) says the meaning is uncertain and is variously translated, but concerns the root word 'hayah' meaning 'to be'
Personally I like the the New English that says his name is "I am"

Thank you in advance- hopefully.
~Rosanne
 

Richard

I think that the place where I saw about the Sun phase is in P. F. Case's book The Tarot: A Key to the Wisdom of the Ages, referring to the position of the Sun in the Fool card. I'm about to collapse right now, so I'll continue with this after I take a long snooze. :)

BTW, my favorite non-literal translation of the Bible is the New English. (C. S. Lewis was the stylist for much of the NT.) I think J. R. R. Tolkien was the stylist for the Psalms in the New Jerusalem Bible. The NJ Psalms rival those of the KJ in my opinion. Of course, nothing can beat the KJ for a literal translation of the entire Bible.
 

Zephyros

Here is the quote from A Key to the Ages:

Paul Foster Case said:
Always it faces unknown possibilities of self-expression, transcending any height it might have reached at a given time. On this account the sun behind the traveller is at an angle of forty-five degrees in the eastern heaven, as Swedenborg says the celestial sun remains forever in the spiritual world. The spiritual sun never reaches its zenith, for from the zenith it would have to descend, and the idea here intended is that infinite energy can never reach a point in manifestation whence it must begin to decrease in power. On this account, too, the Fool faces North-West, toward a direction which, for Masonic and other occult reasons, has for millenniums been symbolic of the unknown, and of the state just prior to the initiation of a creative process

Thanks to LRichard who recommended the book.

In previous portions of the chapter, Case speaks more of manifestation, and how it is limited in living organisms, so, in my opinion, it is implied that the only purity of the Life Breath is in the un-manifest.

From the Masonic Dictionary

The Masonic symbolism of the entrance of an initiate from the north, or more practically from the northwest, and advancing toward the position occupied by the Corner-stone in the north-east, forcibly calls to mind the triplet of Homer:

Two marble doors unfold on either side Sacred the South by which the gods descend; But mortals enter on the Northern end.

So in the Mysteries of Dionysos, the gate of entrance for the aspirant was from the north; but when purged from his corruptions, he was termed indifferently new-born or immortal, and the sacred south door was thence accessible to his steps.

http://www.masonicdictionary.com/north.html

Which brings us to Eheye. I can't, of course, offer a single interpretation to one of the most contested verses in history. In addition, the following is probably not what you had in mind, but it is difficult to explain translation without going into interpretation. However, we can look at it in several fashions. Firstly, we basically have in Eheye the phonetic definition of Aleph, the Breath, and beginning. Whatever the word means is probably no less important than the way it sounds. Now, semi-esoterically and simplistically, I see that as a kind of definition of Keter, something eternal and unchangeable, that only is and always will only be. I can't find English sources to support this, only Hebrew, but it appears I'm not the only one who thinks this, although no interpretation, of course, is absolute. One interpretation I found I will try to translate, however, a daunting task if ever there was one. Sorry if the translation is unpolished:

וכך כתוב במשה: אהיה אשר אהיה, ויאמר כה תאמר לבני ישראל, אהיה, שְׁלָחַני אֲליכם. אהיה תחילה, הוא סתום מכל, כתר, שפירושו, אני הוא מי שאני. אח"כ, אשר אהיה, חכמה, שפירושו, אני עתיד להתגלות. אח"כ אהיה האחרון, אהיה שְׁלָחַני אֲליכם, בינה. וזהו כשאמא מתעברת עם זו"ן, ועוד השם סתום. .

"And so it is written in [The Book of] Moses: Eheye asher Eheye (in this context it is "I will be"), and say this to the Children of Israel, Eheye has sent me to you. The first Eheye, is all hidden, Keter, which means I am who I am. Then, asher Eheye ("who I will be"), Chochma, meaning, I am to be revealed. The last Eheye ("Eyehe has sent me") is Binah. (Not sure why, it is very archaic language, but I think it has something to do with a woman giving birth, which makes sense.)

Now, we see certain parallels between the Tetragrammaton and Eheye, as they both tell a similar story. Since Tarot is a good way to illustrate these matters, the Tetragrammaton is Yod/Hermit, the point, the first germ, the first hand of creation etc.; Heh/Emperor, recognition of power and measure, window to knowledge; Vau/Hierophant, the hook connecting above and below and Heh final summing up totality. Eheye tells a similar story, only it perhaps deals in creation rather than existence: Aleph/Fool, the breath of life, neutral and androgynous consciousness, Heh/Emperor fulfilling a similar role to the one in the Tetragrammaton, Yod here brings the whole caboodle to inseminate creation, with another Heh at the end to once again sum it all up.

Another interpretation refers to the name not as we humans see it, simply as something others call us, but as a representation of what someone is (most names in the Bible are allegorical, so this makes sense). When Moses asks God his name, the answer he receives could mystify petty mortals, which is why Moses persists and asks more or less the same question again. However, if you're Everything, you probably won't have a name like Harry or Johnny; your name will describe who and what you are. What God is telling Moses is, in essence, that he is whatever he needs to be, or "I am about to be what I am about to be." In other words, God is Change, the momentum of the universe, the certainty that each second comes after the last. Should that driving force stop, there would be nothing. Quite abstract, yet makes perfect sense. Thanks for inspiring me to (slightly) research this, it's fascinating.

This is part of the reason why Orthodox Jews, when speaking of God, refer to him as "the name," because the name denotes just exactly what it is.

I hope I haven't muddled things too much, and perhaps the thread should be moved to the Kabbalah forum, since it doesn't seem very historical. Also, it's all my own opinion, obviously. :)
 

Richard

Septuagint (LXX): εγο ειμι o ων

εγο ειμι: the personal pronoun with the present indicative of to be: I am

o ων: the article (nom. masc. sing.) with the present participle of to be: (the) being, the one who is, he who is, etc.

My own preferences: I am that which is, or I am the one who is.

The King James translators took into consideration the LXX and various other translations. I suppose they decided that a non literal rendering of the imperfect verb form אהיה was indicated by the context and/or theological considerations. I can't find my copy of the LXX or my LXX concordance. I know they are somewhere in the house. I want to do a semantic field study of the present participle of ειμι.
 

Rosanne

Thanks very much. I am at a neighbours, because my computer crashed (yet again in the forsaken part of the Country)
I will get back to you- thank you the waters are not muddled- it helps.
I did not put it in Kabballah- but have no problem with it there.
See you all as soon as I sort Computer problems out.
~Rosanne
 

Rosanne

We have lift off with this peice of technilogical spoor.(Computer)
In 2005 I attempted to start a set of cards illustrating the Phoenician Abjad.(Presursor to Hebrew) I wish to correct and finish the cards. I feel I have may got something wrong- right at the beginning.
I have been using several books- one is about the closest relation to the abjad.
The Wisdom in the Hebrew Alphabet by Rabbi Michael L. Monk.
Over the years here in the Historical Forum from 2003-2006 there where many discussions about who was Aleph and who Tav. I thought I had decided that Aleph was the Magician and Taw (Tav in Hebrew, Tau in Greek) the Fool.
The letters of 'Truth' Tav/Mem/Aleph (end-middle-beginning)
'Falsehood' is apparently qoph/resh/shin/ or Kuf/Reish/Shin (consecutive)
So I need Aleph to be the Magician Lol.
http://www.tarotforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=6936&d=1131517057
My Bull is breathing out through his Nostrils- not that you can see that.
Yet he is not ' neutral and androgynous consciousness' His stance is comming to a Breathing stop.
In previous portions of the chapter, Case speaks more of manifestation, and how it is limited in living organisms, so, in my opinion, it is implied that the only purity of the Life Breath is in the un-manifest.


"And so it is written in [The Book of] Moses: Eheye asher Eheye (in this context it is "I will be"), and say this to the Children of Israel, Eheye has sent me to you. The first Eheye, is all hidden, Keter, which means I am who I am. Then, asher Eheye ("who I will be"), Chochma, meaning, I am to be revealed. The last Eheye ("Eyehe has sent me") is Binah. (Not sure why, it is very archaic language, but I think it has something to do with a woman giving birth, which makes sense.)........snip.....

Aleph/Fool, the breath of life, neutral and androgynous consciousness, Heh/Emperor fulfilling a similar role to the one in the Tetragrammaton, Yod here brings the whole caboodle to inseminate creation, with another Heh at the end to once again sum it all up.

Another interpretation refers to the name not as we humans see it, simply as something others call us, but as a representation of what someone is (most names in the Bible are allegorical, so this makes sense). When Moses asks God his name, the answer he receives could mystify petty mortals, which is why Moses persists and asks more or less the same question again. However, if you're Everything, you probably won't have a name like Harry or Johnny; your name will describe who and what you are. What God is telling Moses is, in essence, that he is whatever he needs to be, or "I am about to be what I am about to be." In other words, God is Change, the momentum of the universe, the certainty that each second comes after the last. Should that driving force stop, there would be nothing. Quite abstract, yet makes perfect sense. Thanks for inspiring me to (slightly) research this, it's fascinating.

This is part of the reason why Orthodox Jews, when speaking of God, refer to him as "the name," because the name denotes just exactly what it is.


I emboldened the bit that fascinates me. (Makes perfect sense as you say)
Whatcha reckon? about the magician- Aleph versus fool- Aleph?????
Many thanks for your research, I am grateful.
~Rosanne
 

Richard

As a number, 0 comes before 1. It is the number of items in an empty basket. The Fool is a nonentity, nothingness, אין.

The model for the Fool is generally taken to be Parzival before he has any experience of the world. He was raised in isolation by his mother, who was traumatized by the death of Parzifal's father and wished to protect her son from a similar fate. While this is only a model (like the planetary model of electrons in an atom), Parzival the Fool seems somehow inappropriate to represent the completion of the Great Work (Path 32, ת, joining יסוד and מלכות). He attained the Holy Grail only after exchanging his fool's garb for the armour of a knight and acquiring experience in manifested reality.

The Fool does indeed follow the World in the sense of beginning a new cycle, but I really don't think s/he adequately represents the ת Path.

ETA. Another objection to the Fool as Path 32 is that the World would be pushed over to Path 31, ש, the Mother letter representing Fire, which is inappropriate for the World.

ETA. Another thing. While א is the first letter, why is the Magician necessarily the first card? The Hebrew letter attributions of cards are not used as numbers. Otherwise the ת Path would be occupied by card number 400.
 

Yygdrasilian

Full Circle

"Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh" in Exodus 3:14
I know that Kabbalists consider this name central to Kabbalist thought, and that there is an esoteric content in there.

3.14 ≈ π
The circumference of a circle in proportion to its' radius may be viewed as a kind of eternal truth devised by the master builder.
 

Richard

3.14 ≈ π
The circumference of a circle in proportion to its' radius may be viewed as a kind of eternal truth devised by the master builder.
That's interesting, but it implies that the chapter and verse numbers are divinely inspired. Maybe it's just a coincidence.
 

Zephyros

That's interesting, but it implies that the chapter and verse numbers are divinely inspired. Maybe it's just a coincidence.

Well, gematria hinges on finding numerical connections to things which may very well be random (one of the reasons I think it's crock!). On the other hand, the Bible does have many fascinating internal parallels, similar words in different parts meant to form connections, numerical and literary devices used to convey meaning, Kabbalistic references can be inferred, etc. It truly is a fascinating book, and I mean that neither in a populistic "bible code" way or from a religious viewpoint, but from literary, scholarly one. Even the seemingly simplest of verses can contain layers upon layers of meaning and fascinating significance.

Simplistically, pi is an irrational number, so its digits never terminate, and many mathematicians believe it contains every single finite sequence of numbers. Seen from that perspective, it may very be the "godly number" containing within it all creation. Do I think the verse was divinely inspired? Well, to a certain extent all inspiration is divine, even the writing of a dull forum post about pi, so go figure. The ancients certainly knew of pi's importance and significance, so the idea that the holy name and pi are connected isn't completely far-fetched, especially when analyzing what the verse actually says.

On the other hand, 1+1 is also a universal truth, almost anything could be seen through that lens if you're looking for it, so it may very well be a coincidence.

Roseanne said:
Whatcha reckon? about the magician- Aleph versus fool- Aleph?????[/I]

I sometimes feel I ought to burn in Jewish Hell (if such a thing existed) as, although I am steeped in that culture and also live in Israel, I know little to nothing about traditional Jewish Kabbalah, studying the "fun, Britney Spears, colorful, "easy,"" Golden Dawn version. So, I can't really answer your question which I feel, viscerally at least, to be best answered by that. I could see justification for both, but have nothing whatever to base myself on. I'll try to find some sources, give me a few months and I'll know more. I think it is about time I went a bit further afield, and your question is the perfect excuse!