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Old Yesterday, 06:13 PM
 
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What do you make of Genesis 19:24 which states.......


Then the LORD caused to rain upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;.....
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Old Yesterday, 06:54 PM
 
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Why is this question just for Jews?
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Old Yesterday, 07:21 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tzaphkiel View Post
Why is this question just for Jews?
I'm interested in their understanding of what the Scripture is saying here.
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Old Yesterday, 07:22 PM
 
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per Ibn Ezra commentary: "FROM THE LORD. This is a poetic way of saying from Himself. *The verse reads: Then the Lord caused to rain upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven. The second from the Lord is redundant. The line should have read: then the Lord caused rain…from Himself out of heaven. Ibn Ezra points out that it is poetic to repeat “the Lord” twice. The term Ibn Ezra uses for poetic is tzachot (elegant). Weiser interprets it to mean, in our context, precise. The Bible wanted to be precise."

That is one of 91 commentaries available on Genesis 19:24 at Sefaria here. The commentary is from rabbinic sources through the centuries. Not all 91 commentaries are in English, most are in Hebrew, but many are in English.

Rashi commentary is that "Wherever it is said 'וה “And the Lord”, it means He and His Celestial Court."

The Rashbam commentary is that "the first mention refers to the angel Gavriel, and the second mention refers to G'd personally"

Last edited by Tzaphkiel; Yesterday at 07:34 PM..
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Old Yesterday, 07:50 PM
 
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Commentary from Rabbeinu Bahya, "We find three divergent opinions amongst our sages as to the meaning of the words in this verse. [The basic difficulty is the repeated mention of the name of G’d] Rabbi Yehudah bar Seymon understands the angel Gavriel as being the subject of the [first mention]. The second expression he understands as referring to G’d personally; Rabbi Eliezer said that wherever the name of ה' is introduced with the prefix ו [first mention] it refers to “G’d with His celestial court.”

Rabbi Eliezer feels that the verse testifies that both G’d Himself and His celestial court agreed to this form of punishment, but that it emanated from G’d directly. As pointed out previously, every time the prefix ו appears before the name of G’d it is an allusion to the angel who at that particular time acts on behalf of G’d.


source, same Sefaria link as above
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Old Yesterday, 07:57 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tzaphkiel View Post
per Ibn Ezra commentary: "FROM THE LORD. This is a poetic way of saying from Himself. *The verse reads: Then the Lord caused to rain upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven. The second from the Lord is redundant. The line should have read: then the Lord caused rain…from Himself out of heaven. Ibn Ezra points out that it is poetic to repeat “the Lord” twice. The term Ibn Ezra uses for poetic is tzachot (elegant). Weiser interprets it to mean, in our context, precise. The Bible wanted to be precise."

That is one of 91 commentaries available on Genesis 19:24 at Sefaria here. The commentary is from rabbinic sources through the centuries. Not all 91 commentaries are in English, most are in Hebrew, but many are in English.

Rashi commentary is that "Wherever it is said 'וה “And the Lord”, it means He and His Celestial Court."

The Rashbam commentary is that "the first mention refers to the angel Gavriel, and the second mention refers to G'd personally"

I just read your edit. I was going to say from Rashi's commentary, we could deduce "His Celestial Court" would be referring to the two angels. And Rashbam's commentary would say one of those angels was Gabriel.


I can see this reasoning. I can also see this as being potential poetry, although even though I'm not an expert on the poetry of Scripture, I know the Psalms and Proverbs usually write poetry with two separate statements that says the same thing. Genesis 19:24 seems to be one statement with two mentions of the divine name. Thanks for the response.
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Old Yesterday, 08:39 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Heavenese View Post
Here is some evidence from the OT showing God as more than One Individual. Genesis 19:24 says concerning the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.......
regarding the post above, on the same topic and relevant to this thread,
in Judaism, G'd is never more than one.
G'd has a celestial court for instance angels that do His bidding, such as Gavriel in the earlier example.
But G'd is only ever one.

The Shema prayer which we say several times daily as Jews, states just that
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד׃
Hear, O Israel, the L-rd is our G‑d, the L-rd is One.


typically that is the prayer we sing to our children as a lullaby at bedtime. and for many it is the last thing we say upon deathbed.

full text of the Shema prayer here
https://www.chabad.org/library/artic...nd-English.htm

Last edited by Tzaphkiel; Yesterday at 08:53 PM..
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Old Today, 06:50 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tzaphkiel View Post
regarding the post above, on the same topic and relevant to this thread,
in Judaism, G'd is never more than one.
G'd has a celestial court for instance angels that do His bidding, such as Gavriel in the earlier example.
But G'd is only ever one.

The Shema prayer which we say several times daily as Jews, states just that
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד׃
Hear, O Israel, the L-rd is our G‑d, the L-rd is One.


typically that is the prayer we sing to our children as a lullaby at bedtime. and for many it is the last thing we say upon deathbed.

full text of the Shema prayer here
https://www.chabad.org/library/artic...nd-English.htm

Thanks Tzaphkiel I have a better understanding from Judaism on these things. I also appreciate the resources you've given me to look at. Sefaria.org is easy to navigate when looking for commentaries from historical rabbis.

From the Christian perspective, Jesus is our rabbi we listen to. Our New Testament is like our commentaries (Which contains the teachings and sayings of Jesus) concerning what the TaNaK says and the teachings found there. When we look at verses like Genesis 19:24, we would say this is a reference to the Trinity. The Shema prayer, we would say it represents the unified principle of who the L-RD is. For instance we see the same Hebrew word אֶחָֽד (eḥāḏ) in 1 Samuel 11:7, where Saul and Samuel gathered the people together to battle against Nahash the Ammonite.....



And he took a yoke of oxen, and cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the borders of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying: 'Whosoever cometh not forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done unto his oxen.' And the dread of the L-RD fell on the people, and they came out as one man......


So in G-d's sight, Israel was one man because they were all of the same heart and one with each other. We do a similar take concerning Adam and Eve, and the idea that a man and woman who are married, become one flesh. This is how we see the Shema from the Trinity perspective. Again I thank you for your responses and the resources you've given me. I will use it for more insight and comparison concerning our beliefs.
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