|
The
following is a sharing of translation of the weekly Torah study into
understandable English. Words and names have a meaning that is missed
when they are left un-translated unless you understand Hebrew very well.
These studies are for those who are not proficient in the Hebrew
language. It is suggested that when you read these studies that you read
along with a version that is familiar to you. Please share your insight,
ask questions or dispute this translation by replying to channahwolf@gmail.com
Weekly
Torah Study 11-15-2008 (Vayera in Hebrew)
Called
‘Genesis’ in Greek
1:
18:1-14 (14 verses)
2: 18:15-33 (19 verses)
3: 19:1-20 (20 verses)
4: 19:21-21:4 (40 verses)
5: 21:5-21 (17 verses)
6: 21:22-34 (13 verses)
7: 22:1-24 (24 verses)
Haftarah for Ashkenazim: II Kings
4:1 - 4:37
First
Reading
18:1-14
CHAPTER
18
1 ETERNAL
appeared to Father of Nations near the great trees of Strength while he
was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day.
2 Father of
Nations looked up and saw three individuals standing together on the
ground. When seeing them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to
meet them and bowed copiously to the ground.
3 He said,
"My exalted masters, If I have found favor in your eyes, I pray, do
not pass from the presents of your servant.
4 Let a little
water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest beneath
this tree.
5 Let me get you
something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way-- now
that you have come to your servant." "Very well," they
answered, "do as you say."
6 So Father of
Nations hurried into the tent to Noblewoman and said, "Hurry please
to find three measures of fine flour, then knead and bake some flat
bread cakes."
7 He then hurried
to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and committed it to a
servant, who hastened to prepare it.
8 He then brought
some milk and butter and the calf that had been prepared, then presented
all this before them. While they ate, he remained near them beneath the
tree.
9 "Where is
your woman, Noblewoman?" they asked him. "There, in the
tent," he said.
10 Then He said, "I will
surely return to you about this time next year, and Noblewoman, your
woman will have born a son." Now Noblewoman was listening near the
entrance to the tent, which was behind him.
11 Father of Nations and
Noblewoman were already old and well advanced in years, and Noblewoman
was past the age of childbearing.
12 So Noblewoman laughed to
herself as she thought, "After I am worn out and my dear master is
old, yet now will I have this pleasure?"
13 Then ETERNAL said to Father
of Nations, "Why did Noblewoman laugh and say, 'Will I really have
a child, now that I am old?'
14 Is anything too hard for
ETERNAL? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and
Noblewoman will have a son."
Second
reading 18:15-33
Gen
18:15-33
15 Noblewoman was afraid, so
she lied and said, "I did not laugh." But he said, "Yes,
you laughed."
16 When the three individuals
got up to leave, they looked down toward Burning, and Father of Nations
walked along with them to see them on their way.
17 Then ETERNAL said,
"Shall I hide from Father of Nations what I am about to do?
18 Father of Nations will
surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will
be blessed through him.
19 For I have chosen him, so
that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the
way of ETERNAL by doing what is right and just, so that ETERNAL will
bring about for Father of Nations what He has promised him."
20 Then ETERNAL said,
"The outcry against Burning and Submersion is so great and their
sin so grievous
21 that I will go down and see
if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached Me. If
not, I will know."
22 The men turned away and
went toward Burning, but Father of Nations remained standing before
ETERNAL.
23 Then Father of Nations
approached him and said: "Will you sweep away the righteous with
the wicked?
24 What if there are fifty
righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not
spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it?
25 Far be it from you to do
such a thing-- to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the
righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge
of all the earth do right?"
26 ETERNAL said, "If I
find fifty righteous people in the city of
Burning
, I will spare the whole place for their sake."
27 Then Father of Nations
spoke up again: "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to my
Master, though I am nothing but dust and ashes,
28 what if the number of the
righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city
because of five people?" "If I find forty-five there," he
said, "I will not destroy it."
29 Once again he spoke to Him,
"What if only forty are found there?" He said, "For the
sake of forty, I will not do it."
30 Then he said, "May my
Master not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found
there?" He answered, "I will not do it if I find thirty
there."
31 Father of Nations said,
"Now that I have been so bold as to speak to my Master, what if
only twenty can be found there?" He said, "For the sake of
twenty, I will not destroy it."
32 Then he said, "May my
Master not be angry, but let me speak just once more. Suppose only ten
would be found there?" He answered, "For the sake of ten, I
will not destroy it."
33 When ETERNAL had finished
speaking with Father of Nations, He left, and Father of Nations returned
to his place.
Third
Reading
19: 1-20
CHAPTER
19
1 The two
messengers arrived at Burning in the evening, and Covering was sitting
in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and
bowed copiously with his face to the ground.
2 "My
Masters," he said, "please turn aside to your servant's house.
You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early
in the morning." "No," they answered, "we will spend
the night in the square."
3 But he insisted
so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared
a meal for them, baking unleavened bread, and they ate.
4 They had not
yet lain down when all the men from every part of the city of Burning--
both young and old-- surrounded the house.
5 They called to
Covering, "Where are the individuals who came to you tonight? Bring
them out to us so that we can ‘know’ them."
6 Covering went
outside to meet them and shut the door behind him
7 and said,
"No, my brothers. Don't do this wicked thing.
8 Look, I have
two daughters who have never ‘known’ a man. Let me, I pray, bring
them out to you, and you can do what seems good in your eyes with them.
But don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the
protection of my roof."
9 " Out of
our way," they demanded, then countered saying, "This one comes
here as an alien, and now he wants to be the high judge! We'll treat you
worse than them." They kept pushing forward to pressure Covering
even moving forward to break down the door.
10 But the visitors inside
reached out and pulled Covering back into the house and barred the door.
11 Then they struck the men
who were at the door of the house, young and old, with a
kind of blindness so that they grieved bitterly and no longer sought
to find the door.
12 The two visitors said to
Covering, "Do you have anyone else here-- sons-in-law, sons or
daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out
of this place,
13 because we are going to
demolish this place. The outcry to ETERNAL against its people is so
great that he has sent us to destroy it."
14 So Covering went out and
spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He
said, "Hurry and get out of this place, because ETERNAL is about to
annihilate the city!" But his sons-in-law thought he was toying
with them.
15 With the coming of dawn,
the messengers urged Covering, warning, "Hurry! Take your woman and
your two daughters who are here, or you will be snatched away in the
depravity of the city."
16 When he hesitated, the
visitors grasped his hand and the hand of his woman and of his two
daughters and led them safely out of the city, for ETERNAL was merciful
to them.
17 As soon as they had brought
them out, one of them said, "Flee for your lives! Don't look back,
and don't stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will
be snatched away!"
18 But Covering said to them,
"No, my Masters, please!
19 Your servant has found
favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing
my life. But I can't flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake
me, and I'll die.
20 Look, here is a town near
enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it-- it is very small,
isn't it? Then my soul will live."
Fourth
Reading
19:21-21:4
Gen
19:21-38
21
He said to him, "Very well, I will grant this request too; I
will not overthrow the town you speak of.
22
But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you
reach it." (That is why the town was called Insignificance.)
23
By the time Covering reached Insignificance, the sun had risen
over the land.
24
Then ETERNAL rained down fire and sulfur on Burning and
Submersion—this from ETERNAL out of the the heavens.
25
Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including
all those living in the cities-- and also the vegetation in the land.
26
But Covering's woman looked back with favor and she became as set
as salt.
27
Early the next morning Father of Nations got up and returned to
the place where he had stood before ETERNAL.
28
He looked down toward Burning and Submersion, toward all the land
of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke
from a furnace.
29
So when the Mighty destroyed the cities of the plain, he
remembered Father of Nations, and he brought Covering out of the
destruction that overthrew the cities where Covering had lived.
30
Covering and his two daughters left Insignificance and settled in
the mountains, for he was afraid to stay in Insignificance. He and his
two daughters lived in a cave.
31
One day the older daughter said to the younger, "Our father
is old, and there is no man to come to us here, as is the custom all
over the earth.
32
Let's get our father to drink wine and then lie with him and
preserve our family line through our father."
33
That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older
daughter went in and lay with him. He was not aware of it when she lay
down or when she got up.
34
The next day the older daughter said to the younger, "Last
night I lay with my father. Let's get him to drink wine again tonight,
and you go in and lie with him so we can preserve our family line
through our father."
35
So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the
younger daughter went and lay with him. Again he was not aware of it
when she lay down or when she got up.
36
So both of Covering's daughters became pregnant by their father.
37
The older daughter had a son, and she named him Of His Father; he
is the father of the Sons of Incest of today.
38
The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Son of My
People; he is the father of the People of the Tribe of today.
CHAPTER
20
1
Now Father of Nations moved on from there into the region of the
south and lived between Holy and The Wall. For a while he stayed in the Lodging Place
2
and there Father of Nations said of his woman Noblewoman,
"She is my sister." Then ‘My Father is king’ king of The Lodging Place
sent for Noblewoman and took her.
3
But The Mighty came to My Father is King in a dream in the night
and said to him, "You are as good as dead because of the woman you
have laid hold of; she is a married woman."
4
Now My Father is King had not gone near her, so he said,
"Master, will you destroy an innocent nation?
5
Did he not say to me, 'She is my sister,' and didn't she also
say, 'He is my brother'? I have done this with a clear conscience and
clean hands."
6
Then the Mighty said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know you
did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning
against Me. That is why I did not let you touch her.
7
Now return the man's woman, for he is a prophet, and he will pray
for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure
that you and all yours will die."
8
Early the next morning My Father is King summoned all his
officials, and when he told them all that had happened, they were very
much afraid.
9
Then My Father is King called Father of Nations in and said,
"What have you done to us? How have I wronged you that you have
brought such great guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to
me that should not be done."
10
And My Father is King asked Father of Nations, "What was
your reason for doing this?"
11
Father of Nations replied, "I said to myself, 'There is
surely no fear of The Mighty in this place, and they will kill me
because of my woman.'
12
Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father
though not of my mother; and she became my woman.
13
And when the Mighty had me wander from my father's household, I
said to her, 'This is how you can show your love to me: Everywhere we
go, say of me, "He is my brother." '"
14
Then My Father is King brought sheep and cattle and male and
female slaves and gave them to Father of Nations, and he returned
Noblewoman his woman to him.
15
And My Father is King said, "My land is before you; live
wherever you like."
16
To Noblewoman he said, "I am giving your brother a thousand
shekels of silver. This is to cover the offense against you before all
who are with you; you are completely vindicated."
17
Then Father of Nations prayed to the Mighty, and the Mighty
healed My Father is King, his woman and his slave girls so they could
have children again,
18
for ETERNAL had closed up every womb in My Father is King's
household because of Noblewoman, the woman of Father of Nations.
CHAPTER
21
1
Now ETERNAL was attentive to Noblewoman as he had said, and
ETERNAL did for Noblewoman what he had promised.
2
Noblewoman became pregnant and bore a son to Father of Nations in
his old age, at the very time The Mighty had promised him.
3
Father of Nations gave the name Laughter to the son Noblewoman
bore him.
4
When his son Laughter was eight days old, Father of Nations
circumcised him, as the Mighty commanded him.
Fifth
Reading
Gen
21:5-21
5
Father of Nations was a hundred years old when his son Laughter
was born to him.
6
Noblewoman said, "The Mighty has brought me laughter, and
everyone who hears about this will laugh with me."
7
And she added, "Who would have said to Father of Nations
that Noblewoman would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his
old age."
8
The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Laughter was weaned
Father of Nations held a great feast.
9
But Noblewoman saw that the son whom Flight the one from Double
Straits had borne to Father of Nations was displaying much disrespect
for her,
10
and she said to Father of Nations, "Get rid of that slave
woman and her son, for that slave woman's son will never share in the
inheritance with my son Laughter."
11
The matter distressed Father of Nations greatly because it
concerned his son.
12
The Mighty said to him, "Do not be so distressed about the
boy and your maidservant. Listen to whatever Noblewoman tells you,
because it is through Laughter that your offspring will be reckoned.
13
I will make the son of the maidservant into a nation also,
because he is your offspring."
14
Early the next morning Father of Nations took some food and a
skin of water and gave them to Flight. He set them on her shoulders and
then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the
wilderness of Seven Wells or Oath.
15
When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of
the bushes.
16
Then she went off and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for
she thought, "I cannot watch the boy die." And as she sat
there nearby, she began to sob.
17
The Mighty heard the boy crying, and the messenger of The Mighty
called to Flight from the heavens and said to her, "What
troubles you, Flight? Do not be afraid; The Mighty has heard the boy
crying as he lies there.
18
Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him
into a great nation."
19
Then the Mighty opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled
the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
20
The Mighty was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the
wilderness and became proficient with the bow.
21
While he was living in the wilderness of the Caverns, his mother
got a woman for him from Double Straits.
Sixth
Reading
Gen
21:22-34
22
At that time My Father is King and All Mouth the commander of his
forces said to Father of Nations, "The Mighty is with you in
everything you do.
23
Now swear to me here before The Mighty that you will not deal
falsely with me or my children or my descendants. Show to me and the
country where you are living as an alien the same kindness I have shown
to you."
24
Father of Nations said, "I swear it."
25
Then Father of Nations complained to My Father is King about a
well of water that My Father is King's servants had seized.
26
But My Father is King said, "I don't know who has done this.
You did not tell me, and I heard about it only today."
27
So Father of Nations brought sheep and cattle and gave them to My
Father is King, and the two men made a treaty.
28
Father of Nations set apart seven ewe lambs from the flock,
29
and My Father is King asked Father of Nations, "What is the
meaning of these seven ewe lambs you have set apart by themselves?"
30
He replied, "Accept these seven lambs from my hand as a
witness that I dug this well."
31
So that place was called Seven Wells or Oath, because the two men
swore an oath there.
32
After the treaty had been made at Seven Wells or Oath, My Father
is King and All Mouth the commander of his forces returned to the land
of the Land
of
Immigrants.
33
Father of Nations planted a tamarisk tree in Seven Wells or Oath,
and there he called upon the name of ETERNAL, the Eternal The Mighty.
34
And Father of Nations stayed in the land of the Immigrants for a
long time.
Seventh
Reading
22:1-24
Gen
22:1-24
CHAPTER
22
1 Some time later
The Mighty tested Father of Nations. He said to him, "Father of
Nations!" "Here I am," he replied.
2 Then the Mighty
said, "Take your son, your only son, Laughter, whom you love, and
go to the region of Seen of Yah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering
on one of the mountains I will then instruct you."
3 Early the next
morning Father of Nations got up and saddled his donkey. He took with
him two of his servants and his son Laughter. When he had cut enough
wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place The Mighty had
told him about.
4 On the third
day Father of Nations looked up and saw the place in the distance.
5 He said to his
servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over
there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."
6 Father of
Nations took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son
Laughter, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of
them went on together,
7 Laughter spoke
up and said to his father, Father of Nations, "Father?"
"Yes, my son?" Father of Nations replied. "The fire and
wood are here," Laughter said, "but where is the lamb for the
burnt offering?"
8 Father of
Nations answered, "The Mighty himself will provide the lamb for the
burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.
9 When they
reached the place The Mighty had told him about, Father of Nations built
an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Laughter
and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.
10 Then he reached out his
hand and took the knife to slay his son.
11 But the messenger of
ETERNAL called out to him from the heavens, "Father of Nations!
Father of Nations!" "Here I am," he replied.
12 "Do not lay a hand on
the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that
you fear The Mighty, because you have not withheld from me your son,
your only son."
13 Father of Nations looked up
and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over
and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his
son.
14 So Father of Nations called
that place ETERNAL Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On
the mountain
of
ETERNAL,
it will be perceived."
15 The messenger of ETERNAL
called to Father of Nations from the heavens a second time
16 and said, " By myself
I swear, declares ETERNAL, that because you have done this and have not
withheld your son, your only son,
17 I will surely bless you and
make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the
sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the
cities of their enemies,
18 and through your offspring
all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed Me."
19 Then Father of Nations
returned to his servants, and they set off together for Seven Wells or
Oath. And Father of Nations stayed there in Seven Wells or Oath.
20 Some time later Father of
Nations was told, "Queen is also a mother; she has borne sons to
your brother Snort:
21 Woods the firstborn,
Contempt his brother, Raised of Mighty (the father of Fortress),
22 Increase, Vision, Flame of
Fire, Weeping and Mighty Desolation."
23 Mighty Desolation became
the father of Ensnarer. Queen bore these eight sons to Father of
Nations' brother Snort.
24 His concubine, whose name
was Elevated, also had sons: Slaughter, Burning, Oryx and Pierce.
Haftarah:
II
Ki 4:1-37
1 The woman of a
man from the company of the prophets cried out to Mighty is Salvation,
"Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered
Eternal. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his
slaves."
2 Mighty is
Salvation replied to her, "How can I help you? Tell me, what do you
have in your house?" "Your servant has nothing there at
all," she said, "except a little oil."
3 Mighty is
Salvation said, "Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty
jars. Don't ask for just a few.
4 Then go inside
and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars,
and as each is filled, put it to one side."
5 She left him
and afterward shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the
jars to her and she kept pouring.
6 When all the
jars were full, she said to her son, "Bring me another one."
But he replied, "There is not a jar left." Then the oil
stopped flowing.
7 She went and
told the man of the Mighty, and he said, "Go, sell the oil and pay
your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left."
8 One day Mighty
is Salvation went to Quiet Rest. And a well-to-do woman was there, who
urged him to stay for a meal. So whenever he came by, he stopped there
to eat.
9 She said to her
husband, "I know that this man who often comes our way is a holy
man of The Mighty.
10 Let's make a small room on
the roof and put in it a bed and a table, a chair and a lamp for him.
Then he can stay there whenever he comes to us."
11 One day when Mighty is
Salvation came, he went up to his room and lay down there.
12 He said to his
servant
Valley
of Vision, "Call that Woman of Quiet Rest." So he called her,
and she stood before him.
13 Mighty is Salvation said to
his servant, "Tell her, 'You have gone to all this trouble for us.
Now what can be done for you? Can we speak on your behalf to the king or
the commander of the army?'" She replied, "I have a home among
my own people."
14 "What can be done for
her?" Mighty is Salvation asked.
Valley
of
Vision
said, "Well, she has no son and her husband is old."
15 Then Mighty is Salvation
said, "Call her." So he called her, and she stood in the
doorway.
16 "About this time next
year," Mighty is Salvation said, "you will hold a son in your
arms." "No, my lord," she objected. "Don't mislead
your servant, O man of The Mighty!"
17 But the woman became
pregnant, and the next year about that same time she gave birth to a
son, just as Mighty is Salvation had told her.
18 The child grew, and one day
he went out to his father, who was with the reapers.
19 "My head! My
head!" he said to his father. His father told a servant,
"Carry him to his mother."
20 After the servant had
lifted him up and carried him to his mother, the boy sat on her lap
until noon, and then he died.
21 She went up and laid him on
the bed of the man of The Mighty, then shut the door and went out.
22 She called her husband and
said, "Please send me one of the servants and a donkey so I can go
to the man of The Mighty quickly and return."
23 "Why go to him
today?" he asked. "It's not the New Moon or the Sabbath."
"It's all right," she said.
24 She saddled the donkey and
said to her servant, "Lead on; don't slow down for me unless I tell
you."
25 So she set out and came to
the man of The Mighty at the
Mountain
Garden
. When he saw her in the distance, the man of The Mighty said to his
servant
Valley
of Vision, "Look! There's the woman from Quiet Rest!
26 Run to meet her and ask
her, 'Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your child all
right?'" "Everything is all right," she said.
27 When she reached the man of
The Mighty at the mountain, she took hold of his feet.
Valley
of
Vision
came over to push her away, but the man of The Mighty said, "Leave
her alone! She is in bitter distress, but Eternal has hidden it from me
and has not told me why."
28 "Did I ask you for a
son, my master?" she said. "Didn't I tell you, 'Don't raise my
hopes'?"
29 Mighty is Salvation said to
Valley
of
Vision
, "Tuck your cloak into your belt, take my staff in your hand and
depart. If you meet anyone, do not greet him, and if anyone greets you,
do not answer. Lay my staff on the boy's face."
30 But the child's mother
said, "As surely as Eternal lives and as you live, I will not leave
you." So he got up and followed her.
31
Valley
of
Vision
went on ahead and laid the staff on the boy's face, but there was no
sound or response. So
Valley
of
Vision
went back to meet Mighty is Salvation and told him, "The boy has
not awakened."
32 When Mighty is Salvation
reached the house, there was the boy lying dead on his couch.
33 He went in, shut the door
on the two of them and prayed to Eternal.
34 Then he got on the bed and
lay upon the boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. As he
stretched himself out upon him, the boy's body grew warm.
35 Mighty is Salvation turned
away and walked back and forth in the room and then got on the bed and
stretched out upon him once more. The boy sneezed seven times and opened
his eyes.
36 Mighty is Salvation
summoned
Valley
of
Vision
and said, "Call the woman of Quiet Rest." And he did. When she
came, he said, "Take your son."
37 She came in, fell at his
feet and bowed to the ground. Then she took her son and departed.
Torah
Study Index
|