What is in the Hebrew Bible but lost in the Old Testament

[asoul]

Is it right to study ancient works only translated in the other (non original) languages? How much hidden information may be lost in this case? Ancient authors had custom to use complex crypto codes for writing. For example one secret from the Hebrew Bible what is not present in its English translation...

Probably you heard about 72 Names of the G-d. Each of these Names consists of three letters. The sum -- 216. In the Hebrew Bible each verse of the Exodus 14:19-21 consists of ... 72 letters! (3*72=216) Together all letters of these verses form 72 Names of the G-d. An ancient mystical secret. Is one in the Old Testament in English also? No, it is lost.

[Ryan002]

If you are referring to Kabbalistic methods, there are actually two approaches, but you seem to be looking primarily at Geamatria.

In that case, the entire notion is hopelessly flawed in English. In Hebrew, letters and numbers are sometimes interchangeable, being that a letter can symbolize a number (such as the Aleph). Once translated to English, the entire numerological mess becomes a hodge podge of wishful guesswork. There is, after all, no definitive English translation of the Bible. You need to do it in the original language.

Note that 72 names needs to be taken with a pinch of salt; branches of numerology are notoriously fickle, and the intrusion (and subsequent dilution) of Kabbalah has been going on since the Elizabethan era. Anywhere from 3, 7, 72, 99, right up to "infinite" have been given for the existing permutations of the Tetragrammaton. I'd point out that in the root interpretations, all that was said of the permutations was that there is "more than one".

"More than one" does not mean infinite, nor does it mean any of the other specified numbers.

Also, note that in many languages numbers connote concepts and are not to be taken at face value. Mandarin's "Wan" or 10,000 for example, refers to "everything" or "in all". So the 10,000 nations refers to "all the nations" and is not a literal figure. The same goes for the 1001 Nights, where 1001 is the equivalent of the phrase "Forever and a Day", because 999 is incomplete and 1000 indicates completion. The writers of the Hebrew Bible used numbers the same way, as literary devices, thus rendering most numerological practices moot.

[asoul]

I am glad, Ryan002, to meet here a person who has very good knowledge of the Kabbalah and numerology. Do you know PaRDeS also?

(PaRDeS is the other kabbalistic secret method for writing. It is widely used in the Hebrew ancient works.)

[michal]

Anyone who has read the bible in Hebrew and then in English will tell you that the words lose a lot of their meaning. It is natural, I suppose. English is a rich and wide language - as big as the ocean. Hebrew has less words, so each carries more meaning and choosing between synonyms has its own multi-level significances.

[Doc Wilson]

excellent metaphor, michael. I took koine greek in college in preparation for study of the NT. It is as you say, the ancients spoke with few words and many shades of meaning. Most of the important cultural referents have been woefully misinterpreted over the ages. A well known example is the "eye of the needle" pronouncement about the rich man's chances of making it to heaven.

[asoul]

English is a rich and wide language - as big as the ocean. Hebrew has less words, so each carries more meaning and choosing between synonyms has its own multi-level significances.

You are right about multi-level significances. It is possible between the lines to find few ideas what are going through all Bible in Hebrew as parallel text. Text is logical. So probably it was planned thousands years ago. And although English is a rich and wide language those ancient thoughts are lost in the Old Testament.

[asoul]

By the way, fully English word British may be considered as sum of two Hebrew words. Brit in Hebrew means covenant. Ish means a man. Maybe British has Hebrew roots? What language is older?

And else... The Hebrew Name for G-d -- Elohim. And lo in Hebrew means him. E + lo + him. Casualness or hidden hint?

[Cowboy]

If I have to know Algebra to be a Christian, then I am in trouble!

[asoul]

If I have to know Algebra to be a Christian, then I am in trouble!

I am in trouble when I think that it is necessary to apply complex codes of Gematria to the Bible. It is very difficult work.

[terebinthe]

Okay, this MIGHT sound weird, but you seem to be mistaken... Hebrew is a so-called semitic language, which is similar to arabic. it consists nearly only of consonants, the vocals are signified by dots and other signs. the language actually originated somewhat 2000 years b.c., so i guess it is WAY older than actual english or your definition as it being british.... besides you should know that there are so called language families, which are defined by their basic language, for example all the romanic languages, such as french, italian, spanish, romanian, they all come from latin.
you show a lot of creativity by defining british as a covenant of men, but actually the people of israel would define themselves as israelites, which means that god strives...
and furthermore your definition of Elohim is - Sorry about that - completely wrong.... Elohim is a plural word that can mean either Gods (yes, more than one) because in the pantheon there was one high god called El, a weather god from babylon. or you could say that elohim is the word for the deity itself, so as we would say God, and in the hebrew bible you might find both descriptions, they call their god either elohim or jahwe... and as it is forbidden for pious jews to actually say god´s name aloud, they say either elohim, adonai (which means lord) or ha shem (which means the name).
So, before you are trying to propagate wrong definitions, read a good book about religion first.