Teaching Team

Letter Codes Reveal Messiah?

The information in this post is for entertainment purposes only. To put it simply, I am employing a method of biblical analysis somewhat akin to the so-called Bible Code. Although the method I am using is more attested in Jewish tradition, it is hardly the type of interpretation one should turn to in order to determine or substantiate core beliefs. Nonetheless, it is fascinating and fun. Please don't mistake this for an attempt at scholarship.

The sages speak of four levels of biblical interpretation: simple (peshat), allusion (remez), homily (derash), and secret (sod). As a divinely inspired document, the Bible contains numerous secrets and mysteries, but it is not fruitful to search them out unless you accept and understand the peshat—the simple explanation of the text as dictated by context and reason.

Nonetheless, mystical interpretations appear frequently throughout the Apostolic Writings, from the genealogy in the book of Matthew to the closing words of the book of Revelation, so we cannot write off mystical ideas altogether.

Acronyms

Let me begin by introducing the concept known in Hebrew as rashei tevot (or in an Ashkenazi pronunciation, roshei teivos). Literally, the phrase means "heads of boxes," coming from the words rosh ("head") and tevah ("box," the Hebrew word used to describe Noah's ark). This is the phrase used in Hebrew to denote an acronym or abbreviation. "USA" could be described as the rashei tevot of "United States of America."

But in the realm of Scripture study, it works kind of in reverse. The task is to look at the first letter of consecutive words in a particular passage to find words or names. When these names are found, many rabbis believe that the verse or phrase in which it is found has relevance to that name.

Ideally, these letters are found in their proper order, but they may also have meaning if the name is found out of order.

Here, let me give you an example in English so you can get the idea. Here is a verse from the King James Bible:

So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure: (2 Thessalonians 1:4)

Notice the name "Patty" encoded in the text as an acronym: Persecutions And Tribulations That Ye. If your name is Patty, I'm sorry.

Now you might say that such occurrences are purely coincidental. In the English King James text, I would have to agree. But in the Hebrew—well, don't spoil it for us. We're having fun.

In complement to rashei tevot, another concept exists that is known as sofei tevot, literally "ends of boxes." There is not really a good name in English for this, so I have just now made up the term final alphabetism. This is like an acronym, except we use the letter at the end of each word rather than the beginning. Were we to use this method to name NASA, for example, it would be called LSEN (nationaL aeronauticS and spacE associatioN).

Knowledge Shall Increase

In the age of the classic Torah commentators, one would likely have to be a savant to find these codes embedded in the text. Nonetheless, Ramban is credited with finding the name of a heretic encoded as the third letter of each word in Deuteronomy 32:26, which reads,

I would have said, "I will cut them to pieces; I will wipe them from human memory."

But in today's information age, any idiot with a $350 Bible program can find them in an instant. I seemed like the perfect candidate, so I tried it this past Hoshana Rabbah.

We know what to look for, of course. We want to find the name "Yeshua" (the Hebrew/Aramaic name of Jesus). In Hebrew, this is spelled yod-shin-vav-ayin (ישוע). I was a little afraid to do this, at first. I would have hated to get something about a wicked man being blotted out. But it actually turned out OK. Better than OK—truly amazing.

The Altar at Bethel

There are six verses in the entire Tanach which contain rashei tevot of the name Yeshua. Remarkably, they collectively describe the mission and life of Yeshua very well.

The first occurrence appears in 1 Kings 13:2:

And the man cried against the altar by the word of the LORD and said, "O altar, altar, thus says the LORD: 'Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, and he shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who make offerings on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.'"

The name Yeshua appears in the phrase יאשיהו שמו וזבח עליך (Yoshiyahu SHemo Vezavach Aleicha), translated above as "Josiah by name, and he shall sacrifice on you."

WOW, already! Here we are talking about a righteous royal son of David, a clear messiah figure. And we have a man prophesying the destruction of a corrupt altar and priesthood—that is, the temple at Bethel instituted by Jeroboam. Likewise, our master Yeshua was of Davidic descent, and prophesied about the destruction of the Temple and the corruption of the Sadducean priesthood.

The Resurrection of a Young Boy

The second occurrence can be found in 1 Kings 17:19:

And he said to her, "Give me your son." And he took him from her arms and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged, and laid him on his own bed.

The name Yeshua appears in the phrase ישב שם וישכבהו על (Yoshev SHam Vayashkivehu Al), translated above as "lodged, and laid him on."

WOW, again! Here we have the charismatic prophet Elijah, whose life and deeds strongly resemble those of our master. Here he can be seen resurrecting a boy from the dead by the power of the Spirit of God. Surely this brings to mind the stories of our master raising the daughter of the synagogue official (Mark 5), the centurion's servant (Matthew 8, Luke 7), and particularly the widow's only son (Luke 7), not to mention his own resurrection.

The Suffering of Job

The third occurrence appears in Job 7:3:

So I am allotted months of emptiness, and nights of misery are apportioned to me.

The name Yeshua appears in the phrase ירחי שוא ולילות עמל (Yarchei SHav Veleilot Amel), translated above as "months of emptiness, and nights of misery."

Here we have Job describing his enduring suffering. The Midrash Rabbah describes Job as a tzaddik (righteous man) on account of whose suffering the Israelites were permitted to cross the Red Sea. The "months of emptiness and nights of misery" seem to parallel the previous verse describing a burdened worker longing for shade (or evening) and not being rewarded for his work. Likewise for our master Yeshua, beyond the suffering of his torturous death, he still endures the suffering of centuries of slander and misrepresentation, and he is yet to receive his full reward. But Isaiah 62:11 prophesies that he will ultimately receive it.

A Second Jeremiah

The fourth occurrence appears in Jeremiah 33:1:

The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still shut up in the court of the guard:

The name Yeshua appears in the phrase ירמיהו שנית והוא עודנו (Yirmeyahu SHenit Vehu Odenu), translated here as "Jeremiah a second time, while he was still." Interestingly, a literal translation of that phrase out of the context of the verse would mean, "Jeremiah a second time, and he still is."

This is one of the most fascinating of them all for me. The parallels between our master Yeshua and Jeremiah are intense. His declarations of the impending destruction of Jerusalem must have reminded the people of the prophet, since some people actually believed that he actually was Jeremiah (Matthew 16:14). For more information on this aspect of our master's mission see my posts Prophet of the Second Exile Part 1 and Part 2.

Clothed in Desolation

The fifth occurrence is Ezekiel 7:27:

The king mourns, the prince is wrapped in despair, and the hands of the people of the land are paralyzed by terror. According to their way I will do to them, and according to their judgments I will judge them, and they shall know that I am the LORD.

The name Yeshua appears in the phrase ילבש שממה וידי עם (Yilbash SHemamah Videi Am), translated here as "wrapped in despair, and the hands of the people." Rather than "wrapped in despair," I think that the King James does well with a more literal translation of "clothed with desolation." The word shemamah is often employed to describe desolated Jerusalem.

Again, we have a message of impending disaster, characteristic of Yeshua's ministry. See, for example Luke 13:5, 35; 17:26-27; 21:6, 20-24; 23:27-31.

But our master did not revel in this destruction. He mourned intensely.

The Day of Destruction

The sixth and final occurrence is in Zephaniah 1:16:

...a day of trumpet blast and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the lofty battlements.

The name Yeshua appears in the phrase יום שופר ותרועה על (Yom SHofar Uteru'ah Al), translated as "a day of trumpet blast and battle cry against." As for its significance, I think you get the picture. This is a prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem. Read from the beginning of the chapter, and you will easily see its context and application.

That's all of them. Well, all of them that appear in their proper order. There is no where else where acronyms (or even final alphabetisms) appear for Yeshua in the entire Tanach.

But I do have one more thing to show you, and it is potentially the most amazing thing of them all.

My Search for Messiah

OK, I had to look for one more thing. What does it say about the messiah? The Hebrew word for messiah is mashiach, spelled mem-shin-yod-cheit (משיח). So I put it in.

Remarkably, I got nothing. There was not a single verse in the entire Tanach with that sequence of initial letters. But I had another idea. I recently heard a rabbi explain that the initial letters describe the beginning of a person's life, but the final letters describe the end. Mashiach is supposed to come at the end, right?

There was only one verse in all of the Hebrew Scriptures that contained the sofei tevot code for mashiach. It contained it as final letters in Psalm 72:5:

May they fear you while the sun endures, and as long as the moon, throughout all generations!

The word mashiach appears as the final letters of the phrase עם שמש ולפני ירח (iM shemeSH velifneI yareaCH), translated here as "while the sun endures, and as long as the moon." However, the Hebrew here is terse, and a literal translation of the phrase would be "with the sun and before the moon."

If you take look at the entire Psalm (and please do), you will see that it is intensely messianic. It is a highly appropriate Psalm to contain the one and only code for mashiach. Since it opens with "to/of Solomon," the last verse seems to indicate that King David wrote it for his son. The Talmud (b.Sanhedrin 98b) directly associates verse 17 of this Psalm with the messiah.

That by itself, is jaw-dropping for me. But then I noticed another detail.

Looking at that exact same phrase, I examined its initial letters.

• עם (Im) - Ayin.


• שמש (SHemesh) - Shin.


• ולפני (Velifnei) - Vav.


• ירח (Yareach) - Yod.

The initials of this phrase are the same letters in the name Yeshua, albeit in a different order. In this case, the letters of his name are rearranged so that "the last is first, and the first is last!"

What do you think?

I'm interested to hear your take on all of this. Do you think we should take this kind of thing seriously? Does this kind of thing strengthen your faith in Yeshua or the Bible? Do you think I should search for more, or leave it alone?

Once more, however, let me underscore that this is not the way to form your basic understanding of God and Torah. Water from the rock is sweet, but it is not necessary until you've already exhausted the river beside you.

Are you ready to learn Hebrew yet?

FFOZ is releasing my brand new beginner's Hebrew course entitled Getting Started in Hebrew. The course consists of 12 video lessons on DVD and workbook, accompanied by a beautiful wall poster and flash cards. Not only will you learn to read Hebrew and gain some basic vocabulary, but you will also be presented with fascinating spiritual insights based on the Hebrew language, although they are more down to earth than this one. Geared for beginners and Messiah-focused, this is a great place for disciples of our master Yeshua to begin Hebrew study.

About the Author: Aaron Eby writes for messiah magazine and other FFOZ publications. He is also the author of the forthcoming Siddur, as well as the recently published Hebrew lesson DVD.