Yoma 2a and Colossians 1:15.

[John D. Brey]

In the Talmud, Yoma 2a, we're told that a man's wife is his home, i.e., his "beit." And the Talmud isn't just whistling Dixie when it points out what to the layman (or the lame men) seems trivial since they consider it merely pilpul to point out what in truth requires some serious study to appreciate.

The Hebrew letter that represents the "home" is the letter "beit." And ironically the letter beit is spelled b-e-i-t. And the word "beit" is actually the Hebrew word for "house." In Hebrew the word for "house," which represents a "wife," looks like this:

בית

To the laymen, pointing out what the word "beit" looks like in Hebrew is insignificant and a belaboring of any point that might be coming down the pike since for the laymen there's no difference between a hieroglyphic and a demotic script. The unspiritual man doesn't distinguish between a spiritual script and a mundane or temporally useful (demotic) script.

Where Yoma 2a and Colossians 1:15 are concerned, this lack of concern for the difference between a hieroglyphic scrip (made of holy glyphs) versus a demotic script, is a real deal killer. Which is to say, the unspiritual man who doesn't know or care about the distinction can't know and won't care about the relationship between Yoma 2a and Colossians 1:15 even though his eternal destiny rests on this relationship in the particular.


John

 

[John D. Brey]

In the Talmud, Yoma 2a, we're told that a man's wife is his home, i.e., his "beit." And the Talmud isn't just whistling Dixie when it points out what to the layman (or the lame men) seems trivial since they consider it merely pilpul to point out what in truth requires some serious study to appreciate.

The Hebrew letter that represents the "home" is the letter "beit." And ironically the letter beit is spelled b-e-i-t. And the word "beit" is actually the Hebrew word for "house." In Hebrew the word for "house," which represents a "wife," looks like this:

בית

To the laymen pointing out what the word "beit" looks like in Hebrew is insignificant and a belaboring of any point that might be coming down the pike since for the laymen there's no difference between a hieroglyphic and a demotic script. The unspiritual man doesn't distinguish between a spiritual script and a mundane or temporally useful (demotic) script.

Where Yoma 2a and Colossians 1:15 are concerned, this lack of concern for the difference between a hieroglyphic scrip (made of holy glyphs) versus a demotic script, is a real deal killer. Which is to say, the unspiritual man who doesn't know or care about the distinction can't know and won't care about the relationship between Yoma 2a and Colossians 1:15 even though his eternal destiny rests on this relationship in the particular.


John

Volumes have been written about the Hebrew letter alef's א symbolic significance. It's the first letter in the Torah and therein represents the "first" manifestation of the distinction between the monotheistic "otherness" of the eternal God, and his knowability in the emanated, and or created, world.

The alef א is the symbol of this chasm-bridging act of emanation whereby the eternal and invisible God is now manifest as the first emanated "thing" in the world of creation. -----The alef א, as the first letter in the sacred (holy) script, represents this logos, or protokos, the "first" emanated thing.

John (1:1) speaks of the letter (logos) that was with God, and is God. That letter is represented by the alef. -----In Colossians 1:15, Paul says that Christ is the "image" (Greek eikon εἰκών), "of the invisible God." -----Paul is clearly stating that the alef א is the first visible sign, or image (εἰκών), of what prior to the alef is eternal and invisible. He next claims that Christ is the "prototokos" (πρωτότοκος ), the "firstborn" of all that is created:

Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature.
​

Woe betides those exegetes and translator/exegetes who miss out on the earth-shattering heaven-storming profundity of what Paul is getting on about. -----Which is to say that in the Torah we learn that the alef is the first symbol in those holy glyphs that represent God's revelation to mankind. And we thus assume the alef is (or represents) the initial "emanation" from the invisible God through which his visible revelation to mankind follows in lock step so that, "everything under the sun is in tune." -----Until, that is, "the sun is eclipsed by the moon" (Pink Floyd)?

Since Jewish symbolism teaches that the moon is feminine while the sun is masculine, Pink Floyd's moan is in tune with the Son in Jewish scripture, since the alef א is eclipsed by the beit ב in the "first" letter of that emanation of God's invisible holiness manifest first in the written Torah.


John

 

[John D. Brey]

Volumes have been written about the Hebrew letter alef's א symbolic significance. It's the first letter in the Torah and therein represents the "first" manifestation of the distinction between the monotheistic "otherness" of the eternal God, and his knowability in the emanated, and or created, world.

The alef א is the symbol of this chasm-bridging act of emanation whereby the eternal and invisible God is now manifest as the first emanated "thing" in the world of creation. -----The alef א, as the first letter in the sacred (holy) script, represents this logos, or protokos, the "first" emanated thing.

John (1:1) speaks of the letter (logos) that was with God, and is God. That letter is represented by the alef. -----In Colossians 1:15, Paul says that Christ is the "image" (Greek eikon εἰκών), "of the invisible God." -----Paul is clearly stating that the alef א is the first visible sign, or image (εἰκών), of what prior to the alef is eternal and invisible. He next claims that Christ is the "prototokos" (πρωτότοκος ), the "firstborn" of all that is created:

Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature.
​

Woe betides those exegetes and translator/exegetes who miss out on the earth-shattering heaven-storming profundity of what Paul is getting on about. -----Which is to say that in the Torah we learn that the alef is the first symbol in those holy glyphs that represent God's revelation to mankind. And we thus assume the alef is (or represents) the initial "emanation" from the invisible God through which his visible revelation to mankind follows in lock step so that, "everything under the sun is in tune." -----Until, that is, "the sun is eclipsed by the moon" (Pink Floyd)?

Since Jewish symbolism teaches that the moon is feminine while the sun is masculine, Pink Floyd's moan is in tune with the Son in Jewish scripture, since the alef א is eclipsed by the beit ב in the "first" letter of that emanation of God's invisible holiness manifest first in the written Torah.


John

If the lengthy prologue can be forgiven, it's a more than substantive fact that in the Torah, the alef isn't the first letter, even though it's not only the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet, but furthermore, the first and last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, i.e. alef-tav את, symbolize the entire Torah. -----That being the case, why isn't the first letter in creation, and the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet, the first letter in the Torah? -----Why is the alef eclipsed by the beit?

Asking that legitimate question segues into Paul's brilliance and the brilliance of Colossians 1:15-18.

According to Paul, the "first," i.e. the "protos" πρῶτος, isn't initially revealed as the "first" or the "protos" πρῶτος. Paul speaks of a Mystery hidden from the foundation of the world. And that Mystery revolves around the fact that the "protos" πρῶτος is hidden in the beginning such that he's revealed not in the beginning, but only through a unique birth, the first of its kind, such that the protos πρῶτος is not revealed except as the prototokos πρωτότοκος, the true "firstborn" of all creation: the first creature born of prelapsarian pedigree.

Paul implies that the protos πρῶτος, hidden in the "beginning," בראשית, will be revealed as the firstborn of the original, prelaspe, created world: the creator, the alef, through whom every other creature gains its prototype, is hidden in the beit, in the "house of the beginning" בראשית until his arrival is victoriously proclaimed by means of a unique birth implicating him as the "firstborn" πρωτότοκος of all creation.

Who is the image [εἰκών ] of the invisible God [i.e., the alef], the firstborn [πρωτότοκος] of every creature . . . And he is the head [ראש] of the body . . .[he] who is the beginning [ἀρχή] , the firstborn [πρωτότοκος] from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

Colossians 1:15-18.​

John

 

[John D. Brey]

If the lengthy prologue can be forgiven, it's a more than substantive fact that in the Torah, the alef isn't the first letter, even though it's not only the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet, but furthermore, the first and last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, i.e. alef-tav את, symbolize the entire Torah. -----That being the case, why isn't the first letter in creation, and the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet, the first letter in the Torah? -----Why is the alef eclipsed by the beit?

Asking that legitimate question segues into Paul's brilliance and the brilliance of Colossians 1:15-18.

According to Paul, the "first," i.e. the "protos" πρῶτος, isn't initially revealed as the "first" or the "protos" πρῶτος. Paul speaks of a Mystery hidden from the foundation of the world. And that Mystery revolves around the fact that the "protos" πρῶτος is hidden in the beginning such that he's revealed not in the beginning, but only through a unique birth, the first of its kind, such that the protos πρῶτος is not revealed except as the prototokos πρωτότοκος, the true "firstborn" of all creation: the first creature born of prelapsarian pedigree.

Paul implies that the protos πρῶτος, hidden in the "beginning," בראשית, will be revealed as the firstborn of the original, prelaspe, created world: the creator, the alef, through whom every other creature gains its prototype, is hidden in the beit, in the "house of the beginning" בראשית until his arrival is victoriously proclaimed by means of a unique birth implicating him as the "firstborn" πρωτότοκος of all creation.

Who is the image [εἰκών ] of the invisible God [i.e., the alef], the firstborn [πρωτότοκος] of every creature . . . And he is the head [ראש] of the body . . .[he] who is the beginning [ἀρχή] , the firstborn [πρωτότοκος] from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

Colossians 1:15-18.​

John

Paul knew precisely what he was doing when he claimed the alef, the protos πρῶτος, was the "firstborn" πρωτότοκος. He knew good and well any thinking person would wonder about how, or why, the protos πρῶτος, if it were first, could or would, be "born"? -------Doesn't "birth" require a mother, who must come before the one she bears? How can the alef be the protos πρῶτος if it's the "firstborn" πρωτότοκος?

Weak exegesis assumes Paul uses the term "firstborn" πρωτότοκος so generally that it doesn't imply birth per se. But that's grist for the sawmill of the lazy, incompetent, and unspiritual mind. -----Paul is writing, filled with the Spirit, such that the use of "firstborn" πρωτότοκος is the key to the message he has for the great Jewish sages of his day (and ours).

Paul, like his invisible Jewish interlocutors, knows the alef א is first. And he knows, like they, that the first letter in the Torah is beit ב, such that the alef א is literally eclipsed by the beit ב. Which segues back to Yoma 2a claiming a man's wife is his beit, his house.

The alef is the first, the protos πρῶτος, even in the Torah text. It's just that as the first, it's unlike any other letter since it must bridge the gap between invisible God and visible creation. That "bridging" process precedes subsequent "creation," and is known as "emanation" (rather than "creation").

The alef א is first. Even in the Torah text. It's just that the mother of the alef (beit) emanates out from the alef א rather than being "created" subsequent to the alef א.

Starting from the alef א the first letters that emanate from the alef are the reish and the shin ר–א–ש spelling the word "first" (rosh). The alef is literally, and visibly, the heart and soul of the word "first" ראש, such that the first letter א is seconded, emanatively, by two letters on the right and left hand of the alef, the letters spelling "first" (rosh), i.e., the reish and the shin. The alef is the heart and soul of "firstness" protos πρῶτος.

The alef is hidden in the very word for "first" (rosh) such that its preeminent originality is veiled by the reish and the shin. Furthermore, the visibility of the pre-emanate nature of the alef is hidden by another veil. There are two. And that veil is the wife of invisible God, the beit בית of God (Yoma 2a).

ב–ראש–ית
ראש
ב––ית

The first word in the Torah text is a picture of the pyramid of emanation. First is the protos πρῶτος, the alef א. Next are the letters surrounding the alef like a veil protecting its nature from unspiritual eyes (the reish and shin of the word "first"). -----Lastly is the ultimate veil, the "mother" of the origin, the beit בית.

Who is the visible image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: for through him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible. . . he is before all things, and by him all things consist. . . He is the head [ראש] of the body [בית] . . . the beginning [בראשית], the firstborn [πρωτότοκος] . . . that in all things he might have preeminence.

Colossians 1:15-16.​

John