The Book of Am-Tuat (short form)


The Book of Am-Tuat
adapted by David Prashker
from the writings of
E. A. Wallis Budge
[original composition 1905)


This book is an Ancient Egyptian cosmological treatise which describes the Tuat, the "underworld" that the boat of the Sun God, Ra, traverses during the night hours, in order to get back from his very bloody sunset-death on the western horizon, to be reborn through the equally bloody sunrise-thighs of the sky-goddess Nut, on the eastern horizon the following morning. Each chapter deals with one of the twelve hours of the night. A hallucinogenic travelogue of the netherworld, this extensively illustrated book depicts hundreds of gods and goddesses that appear nowhere else in the literature.

Before reading, register that these gods are merely metaphors, anthropomorphic allegories of the stars and planets, the elements of physics, chemistry and biology. Ra speaking to a god is simply the voice of Nature, working to make the algae form, the trees fruit, the egg hatch, the sun rise. The same is true of the Biblical Logos - "Let there be light, and there was light". The Word of the god is the activity of Nature, articulated. The E which we regard as MC2, they regarded as Elohim, the life-forces of the Cosmos, or in the case of the Egyptians, as Ra, Hor, Eshet, Set and Osher.

The "long form" of this book is presented on a separate page. Budge also provides this "short form" version, and it is worth reading first, to give yourself a general idea of the language, form and tone of the whole work; but you need to read the whole work to understand the concepts that are at the base of the Biblical, the Homeric, the Christian ideas of Hell and the Afterlife, and a great deal more of the mythological science of the ancient world.

It is also only in the full text that you will be able to see the dozens of illustrations that accompany the hieroglyphs on the sarcophagi where these words were first scored.

There are also differences, of which the most interesting seems to me to be that, in the short version, Ra travels through the Earth, descending into the Underworld like Orpheus or Dante, emerging on dry land only after the twelve hours have elapsed, where in the full text he clearly travels through the northern sky, bleeding to death on the western horizon at dusk, emerging through the bloody uterus of Nut on the eastern horizon at dawn.









THE SHORT FORM
OF THE
BOOK OF AM-TUAT


THE SUMMARY OF THE BOOK OF
“WHAT IS IN THE UNDERWORLD”


THE BEGINNING OF THE HORN OF AMENTET,
WHICH IS THE UTTERMOST POINT OF THE DEEPEST DARKNESS.


THE FIRST HOUR


The god enters into the Earth through the Hall of the Horizon of Amentet. There are one hundred and twenty Atru to journey over in this Hall before a man arrives at the gods of the Tuat.


The name of the first Field of the Tuat is Net-Ra. He - Ra, the Sun-god - allots tasks to the gods who are in his train, and he begins to send out words to them [words being the divine impulses that drive Creation, the articulation of the forms of Physics, Chemistry and Biology] and to work out the plans for the divine beings of the Tuat in respect of this Field.

Whoever shall be made according to the image and likeness which is in Ament of the Tuat, and whoever shall have knowledge of the manifestations of this image and likeness, which are the manifestations of this great god himself, they shall act as magical protectors for him upon Earth regularly and unfailingly, and they shall act as magical protectors for him in the Great Tuat.

Ushemet-Hatu-Khefti-Ra is the name of the first hour of the night which guides this great god through this Hall.


********

THE SECOND HOUR


This great god now takes up his place in Ur-Nest, which is three hundred and nine Atru in length, and one hundred and twenty Atru in width. The name of the gods who are in this Field is the Baiu-Tuati. Whoever knows their names shall have his existence alongside them, and to him shall this great god allot fields in the place where they dwell, in the Field of Urnes. He shall stand up with the "Gods Who Stand Up" (the Ahau). He shall travel in the train of this great god. He shall enter into the Earth. He shall force a way through the Tuat. He shall cleave a passage through the tresses of the gods with flowing hair (the Henksu). He shall travel on by the one known as "The Eater of the Ass" (Am-Aa), after the lands have been made empty. He shall eat bread-cakes in the Boat of the Earth, and there the fore-part of Tatuba shall be given to him.

Whoever shall have made in writing, or in drawing, similitudes of the Baiu-Tuati, the Souls of the Tuat, in the forms in which they are in Ament of the Tuat - the beginning of all such representations must be from Amentet - and whoever shall make offerings to them on Earth in their names, these things, I say, shall act as magical protectors to that person upon Earth, regularly and unfailingly.

And whoever shall know the words which the gods of the Tuat speak to this god, and the words which are said by him to them when he is approaching the gods of the Tuat, these words, I say, shall act as magical protectors to he who knows them on Earth, regularly and unfailingly.

Shesat-Maket-Neb-S is the name of the hour of the night which guides this great god through this Field.


********

THE THIRD HOUR

This great god next takes up his position in the Fields of the Peru-gods, "the Fighters", and this great god paddles his way over the Stream of Osher (Net-Asar) in order to sail up this Field, which is three hundred and nine Atru long, and one hundred and twenty Atru wide. This great god utters words to those who are in the train of Osher as he heads towards this City, and he allots to each of them estates which are situated in this Field.

BAIU-SHETAIU, "Hidden Souls", is the name of the gods who are in this Field, and whoever knows their names on Earth shall be able to approach the place where Osher is, and there he shall receive water for his Field.

Net-Neb-Ua-Kheper-Auatu is the name of this Field. Whoever knows these hidden images and likenesses of the Hidden Souls, in the correct forms in which they are depicted in Ament of the Tuat - and the beginning of such representations should always be from Amentet - these figures, I say, shall act as magical protectors to that man upon Earth, and in Neter-khert, regularly and unfailingly.

Whoever knows these, when he is making his journey past them, shall escape from their roarings, and he shall not fall down into their pits or furnaces.

Whoever knows this, when he is keeping guard over his place, his bread-cake shall be with Ra.

And whoever knows this, being soul and spirit, shall have the mastery over his legs, and shall never enter into the place of destruction, but he shall emerge with his attributes, and shall breathe the air for his hour.

Thentent-Baiu is the name of the hour of the night which guides this great god through this Field.


********

THE FOURTH HOUR


The majesty of this great god, having been towed along, next takes up his position in the secret Circle of Amentet, where, by means of his voice, he performs the affairs of the gods of the Tuat who inhabit this Circle; but he does not see them.

Ankh-Kheperu is the name of the gate of this Circle.

Ament-Sethau is the name of this Circle.

Whoever knows this representation of the hidden roads of Re-Statet, and the holy paths of the Ammehet, and the secret doors which are in the Land of Seker, the god who lives upon his sand, shall be in the same condition as he who eats the bread-cakes which are made for the mouth of the Living gods in the Temple of Tem.

Whoever knows this shall be in the same condition as he who is Maat on the way, and he shall journey over the roads of Re-Sethau, and he shall see the representations of the Ammehet.

URT-EM-SEKHEMU-SET is the name of the hour of the night which guides this great god.


********


THE FIFTH HOUR


This great god is towed along over the ways of Maat of the Tuat, through the upper half of this secret Circle of the god Seker, who lives upon his sand, and he neither looks upon nor gazes at the secret figure of the Earth which contains the flesh of this god. The gods who are in the train of this god hear the words of Ra, who calls to them from where this god is.

Aha-Neteru is the name of the door of this City.

Ament is the name of the Circle of this god, and in it are the secret path of Amentet, and the doors of the hidden palace, and the holy place of the Land of Seker, with his flesh, and his members, and his body, in the divine form which they had at first.

Baiu-Amu-Tuat is the name of the gods who are in this Circle. Their forms (Aru), which are in their hour, and their secret shapes (Kheperu) neither know, nor look upon, nor see this likeness of Seker, "the hawk" himself.

Whoever shall make these representations according to the image which is carved in the hidden places of the Tuat, at the south of the Hidden Palace, and whoever shall know them shall be at peace, and his soul shall unite itself to the offerings of Seker, and the goddess Khemit shall not hack his body in pieces, and he shall go on his way towards her in peace. Whosoever shall make offerings to these gods upon the Earth, these offerings, I say, shall act as magical protectors to that man upon the Earth, and in Neter-Khert, regularly and unfailingly.

Sem-Her-Ab-Uaa-S is the name of the hour of the night which guides this great god through this Field.

******** 

THE SIXTH HOUR


The majesty of this great god take up his position in the stream of Nebt-Mu-Tuatiu, the Lord of the Waters of the gods of the Tuat, and he issues instructions to the gods who inhabit it, commanding them to ensure that they have mastery over their divine offerings in this City. He makes his way through this Field, being provided with his Boat, and he sets apart by his words the estates which are to produce their offerings in this City. So he gives them water for their lakes, and he travels through the Tuat every day.

Sept-Metu is the name of the door of this City.

The secret roads of Amentet, and the manner by which this great god is being rowed along, over its waters, in his boat, to expedite the plans of the gods of the Tuat, the gathering of them together by their names, the manifestations of their shapes and forms, and their secret hours, these are the things of which the secret representation of the Tuat is not known to men and women.

Whoever makes a copy of this carved image, according to the representation of it which is among the hidden things of the Tuat, at the south of the Hidden Palace, and whoever shall know them, shall be in the condition of one who makes offerings in abundance in the Tuat, and he shall be united with the offerings of the gods who are in the train of Osher, and his kinfolk shall make the offerings which are obligatory on the Earth.

The majesty of this great god issues instructions, and makes divine offerings to the gods of the Tuat, and he stand up beside them where they can see him. So they have dominion over their Fields, and over the gifts made to them, and they effect their transformations by means of the words which this great god has spoken to them.

Metchet-Nebt-Tuatiu is the name of this Field, which is the road of the Boat of Ra.

Mesperit-Ar-Maat is the name of the hour of the night which guides this great god through this country.

********

THE SEVENTH HOUR


The majesty of this great god takes up his position in the secret place of Osher, and the majesty of this great god transmits words into this place, to the gods who live there. This god turns himself into other forms for this hidden place, in order to drive out of his path the serpent-fiend Apep by means of the words of power of Eshet, and the words of power of Semsu.

Ruti-Asar is the name of the gate of this City through which this god passes.

Tephet-Sheta is the name of this City.

This great god makes his way over the road of Ament in the holy boat, and he passes in it over this waterless road, not needing to be towed along. He makes his way by means of the words of power of Eshet, and by means of the words of power of Semsu, and the utterances of this great god himself act as magical protectors, and carry out the slaughters of Apep in the Tuat, in this Circle, during his meanderous journeys through the sky.

Whoever makes a copy of these images, exactly according to the copies which are written at the northern side of the Hidden Palace in the Tuat, they shall act as magical protectors for he who makes them, both in the heavens and on Earth. Whoever knows them shall be stand soul to soul with Ra. Whoever is able to recite the words of power of Eshet, and the words of power of Semsu, shall compel the Apep of Ra in Amentet to be driven back. Whoever shall do this in the Hidden Palace of the Tuat, and whoever shall do this on Earth, the result will be the same. Whoever knows this shall have a place in the Boat of Ra, both in the heavens and on Earth. But he who has no knowledge of these images shall not know how to drive back Neha-Hra, the Stinking-Face.

Now the ridge of earth of Neha-Hra in the Tuat is four hundred and fifty cubits (arm-lengths) in length, and he fills it with the undulations of his body. The regions which belong to him are kept for him, and the great god does not trample on him when he makes him turn aside to let him pass out of the secret place of Osher, when this god makes his way through this city in the form of the serpent Mehen. Whoever knows this upon the Earth, the serpent Neha-Hra shall not drink his water, and the soul of he who knows this shall not be evilly entreated by the gods who are in this Circle. Likewise, whoever knows it, the crocodile Ab-Shau shall not devour his soul.

Khesef-Hai-Heseq-Neha-Hra is the name of the hour of the night which guides this great god through this Circle.

********


THE EIGHTH HOUR


When the majesty of this great god has taken up his position in the secret Circles of those who live on their sand, he sends instructions to them from out of his Boat, and the gods tow along he who is in the holy embrace of the serpent Mehen.

Aha-An-UrtT-F is the name of the gate of this City.

Tebat-Neteru-Set is the name of this City.

As for the secret Circle of Amentet, this great god makes his way over it in his Boat, by means of the towing of the gods who are in the Tuat.

Whoever makes a copy of these things according to the likeness which is carved on the north wall of the Hidden Palace in the Tuat, and whoever knows them by their names, he shall be in the condition of one who is fully provided with swathing on the Earth, and he shall never be repulsed at the secret gates, and he shall have abundant offerings in the great funeral hall regularly and unfailingly for millions of years.

Nebt-Usha is the name of the hour of the night which guides this great god.

********

THE NINTH HOUR


When His Majesty, this great god, has taken up his position in this Circle, he sends out words from his Boat to the gods who dwell in it, and the sailors join the Boat of this great god in this City.

Saa-Keb is the name of the gate of this City through which this great god passes to take up his position on the stream which is in this City.

Bes-Aru is the name of this City, which is the secret Circle of Amentet, in which this great god and his sailors take up their positions in the Tuat.

Whoever makes a copy of these things in their names according to the likenesses which are carved on the east wall of the Hidden Palace of the Tuat, and whoever knows their names on Earth, and knows their habitations in Amentet, shall rest in his habitation in the Tuat, and he shall stand up among the Lord Provisioners of the gods, and his voice shall be Maat before the Tchatcha beings on the day of the reckoning of Pharaoh in the thrice great house. And these things shall act as magical protectors to he who knows them on the Earth.

Mak-Neb-S is the name of the hour of the night which guides this great god in this Circle.


********


THE TENTH HOUR


His Majesty, this great god, takes up his position in this Circle, and he sends out instructions to the gods who are in it.

Aa-Kheperu-Mes-Aru is the name of the gate of this City through which this great god passes.

Metch-Qa-Utebu is the name of this City. This is the secret Circle of Amentet in which Khepera unites himself with Ra, and the gods, and the spirits; and the dead cry out from it over the secret images of Akert.

Whoever makes a copy of these likenesses, according to the figures which are depicted on the east wall of Ament, and whoever knows them by their names, shall journey all around the Tuat, and across it, and he shall not be driven back; rather, he shall flourish with Ra.

Tentenit-Hesq-Khakabu is the name of the hour of the night which guides this great god through the secret ways of this City.


********


THE ELEVENTH HOUR


His Majesty, this great god, takes up his position in this Circle, and he issues instructions to the gods who inhabit it.

Sekhen-Tuatiu is the name of the gate of this City through which this great god passes.

Re-En-Qerert-Apt-Khat is the name of this City. This is the secret Circle of the Tuat into which this great god passes on his journey, and he emerges at the eastern mountain of the sky, the Eater of Eternity. Its form is the visage of the serpent Petra, which inhabits this City, and they, the gods, place themselves in the train of Ra when the birth of Kheper is about to take place on the Earth.

Whoever makes a copy of these likenesses, according to the images which are depicted on the east wall of the palace of Ament, in the hidden places of the Tuat, and whoever knows them, shall be in the position of he who divides his offering, and of he who is a spirit who is suitably equipped to travel both in the heavens and on the Earth, regularly and unceasingly.

Sebit-Neb-Uaa-Khesef-Sebiu-Em-Pert-F is the name of the hour of the night which guides this great god in this Circle.

********

THE TWELFTH HOUR


His Majesty, this great god, takes up his position in this Circle at the limits of the thick darkness, and this great god is born under the form of Khepera in this Circle. The gods Nu and Ammui, and Heh and Hehut are in this Circle at the birth of this great god, when he makes his appearance from the Tuat, and takes up his place in the Matet Boat, and rises from between the thighs of the goddess Nut.

Thenen-Neteru is the name of the gate of this City.

Kheper-Kekui-Kha-Mesti is the name of this City. This is the secret Circle of the Tuat, in which this great god is born, when he makes his appearance in Nu, and takes up his place in the body of Nut.

Whoever shall make a copy of these likenesses, according to the images which are depicted on the east wall of the palace of Ament of the Tuat, they shall be magical protectors for he who knows them upon the Earth, both in the heavens and on the Earth.


********


At this point the light begins to come, and it is the end of the thick darkness which Ra travels through in Amentet, and of the secret matters which this great god performed there. He who has no knowledge of the whole, or part, of the secret representations of the Tuat, shall be condemned to destruction. Whoever shall make a copy of these likenesses, according to this copy, of what is in the Ament of the Tuat, which cannot be looked at or seen, and whoever shall know these secret images, shall be in the condition of the spirit who is equipped for journeying, and shall emerge from, and shall descend into the Tuat, and shall converse with the men and women who live there regularly and unfailingly, millions of times.
********


An alternate translation (no longer the only one, as it claims) of the short form, can be found by clicking here. Absolutely gorgeous it is too - and worth looking at just because it presents the original hieroglyphs, as well as its translation. It also moves back and forth between the two best-known versions, the one on the sarcophagus at Seti, which is at the Sir John Soane Museum in London, and the Leyden edition (Papyrus T. 71) - click here for a listing of the other known texts.









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The Argaman Press



Zechar-Yah 6:1-15

SurfTheSite
Zechariah 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14


6:1 VA ASHUV VA ES'A EYNAI VA ER'EH VE HINEH ARB'A MARKAVOT YOTS'OT MI BEYN SHENEY HE HARIM VE HE HARIM HAREY NECHOSHET

וָאָשֻׁב וָאֶשָּׂא עֵינַי וָאֶרְאֶה וְהִנֵּה אַרְבַּע מַרְכָּבוֹת יֹצְאוֹת מִבֵּין שְׁנֵי הֶהָרִים וְהֶהָרִים הָרֵי נְחֹשֶׁת

KJ (King James translation): And I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass.

BN (BibleNet translation): Then I lifted my eyes again, and looked, and, behold, four chariots came out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass.


ARB'A MARKAVOT: As previously there were four CHARASHIM (Zechariah 2:3). As this continues, the chariots will fail to be rementioned, but the horses pulling them will become central - are these the same horses that we met at 1:8? They certainly come in the same colorations (see verse 2, below). And yes, verse 7 will confirm that they are.

Chariots are not common in Yisra-Eli tales - Eli-Yahu ascending to the heavens in 2 Kings 2:11 is the only one that comes immediately to mind, unless you wish to count No'ach's Ark as a kind of chariot; which it would be, in the equivalent Greek world of Phaeton and Helios, and in the equivalent Egyptian of Ra (in the Am Tuat and in The Book of Gates), where that chariot crossing the heavens is always a depiction of the journey of the sun-god - but this isn't, and there are four of them, so no point our looking in those directions for an answer.

Perhaps, given that we have already had allusions to it earlier, Zechar-Yah is thinking of Exodus 14:6, where Pharaoh prepares his chariot to pursue the Mosaic Habiru across the desert, to prevent their flight... but then, if it is that, then any military attack could be inferred, and no shortage of those in Yisra-Eli history.

I cannot comment on this vision of Zechar-Yah's without having the full text of Ezekiel 1 open in front of me, because, in truth, that chapter is all the commentary that is needed. Too long to quote in full here, click at either of the links - the one above is an English translation, the link here is Yehudit and English. As the opening verse tells us, Yechezke-El had that vision, in captivity in Bavel (Babylon), on the 5th of Tammuz, 592 BCE (the first group of exiles went with King Yeho-Yachin in 597, the destruction of the Temple was in 586 BCE). It is highly unlikely that the listeners to Zerach-Yah would have been unfamiliar with the Yechezke-El, even if they did not have it in written form.

Yechezke-El's four "horses" are really KERUVIM, mythological beasts made up of four distinct creatures. The "Four Riders of the Apocalypse" who will appear in St John's "Book of Revelations" (6:2-8) some half a millennium later will be based on these rather more normal horses, and will indeed bear the same description - "conquest, a white horse; war, a red horse; famine, a black horse; and plague, a pale horse!" - worth having that text open as well as we go through this one: click here for plain English, or in the bracket above if you want the Greek original as well as the English. One question arises from the John: his naming of the four as "conquest", "war", "famine" and "plague" is not in the Zechar-Yah, or at least not there explicitly - was John simply offering his own "vision", or had these "attributes" become "implicit" in people's understanding of the Zechar-Yah? We cannot know, but it is a useful thought to keep in mind as we try to unravel the symbolisms.

NECHOSHET: No question that the NECHOSHET belongs to YECHEZKE-EL, the "radiance like brass" of 1:4 which, by the way, is also the source of the modern Ivrit word for "electricity" - and presumably the "lightning" that Yechezke-El saw was striking the same holy mountain that Zechar-Yah is seeing now; but Yechezke-El's was itself a double allusion, because Nechushta was the name of King Yeho-Yachin's mother, and then there is Nechushtan, Mosheh's "brass serpent", carried as a banner through the wilderness, at the vanguard of the people (whence my picking up Pharaoh's chariots as a possible allusion, above).

So, in fact, we can pretty much follow the Mosaic journey from Sinai to the borders of the Promised Land, through the allusions that Zechar-Yah has been elaborating verse by verse, and we can watch him paralleling the Exodus from Egypt, which reached its apogee with the building of the Solomonic Temple, with the Exodus from Babylon, which still has miles of "brass mountain" left to climb. And we can also go back to the gold and silver and lead talents of the previous chapter, because NECHASH in Chaldean, the language of the Babylonian conquerors, like "brass" today in English slang, meant "money".


6:2 BA MERCHAVAH HA RI'SHONAH SUSIM ADUMIM U VA MERKAVAH HE SHENIT SUSIM SHECHORIM

בַּמֶּרְכָּבָה הָרִאשֹׁנָה סוּסִים אֲדֻמִּים וּבַמֶּרְכָּבָה הַשֵּׁנִית סוּסִים שְׁחֹרִים

KJ: In the first chariot were red horses; and in the second chariot black horses;

BN: The first chariot had red horses, and the second chariot black horses.


ADUMIM...SHECHORIM: There will no doubt prove to be symbolic significance to these colours; we shall have to wait and see - the rider in 1:8 was on a red horse, and the others were red, "speckled" (sorrel or probably skewbald) and white. But "red horses" is rather generalist, and rare in the breed. Equestrians today reckon that most horses are "chestnut" in colour, which is certainly a shade of red - interesting at this link that it divides the basic horse-colours into "grey, black, bay, and chestnut", which coincides precisely with both Zechar-Yah and John of Patmos.


6:3 U VA MERKAVAH HA SHELISHIT SUSIM LEVANIM U VA MERKAVAH HE REVI'IT SUSIM BERUDIM

וּבַמֶּרְכָּבָה הַשְּׁלִשִׁית סוּסִים לְבָנִים וּבַמֶּרְכָּבָה הָרְבִעִית סוּסִים בְּרֻדִּים אֲמֻצִּים

KJ: And in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot grisled and bay horses.

BN: And the third chariot had white horses, and the fourth chariot skewbald horses.


BERUDIM: I am hearing Ya'akov in this verse but need to check - Lavan's sheep were definitely white, because Lavan means "white" and that was part of the word-game running throughout that story (Le'ah means "cow" and Rachel "sheep). But were Ya'akov's "speckled sheep" BERUDIM?

To which the answer is: well, yes and no and sort of. But first: no, they were not. In Genesis 30:32 we are told that they were "NAKOD VE TALU - נָקֹד וְטָלוּא" in the case of the sheep, and "TALU VE NAKOD", in the case of the goats. Nor does the root BARAD, in any form, come up anywhere in that chapter - so we can dismiss that option. Except that we can't. Because, in 31:10, when Lavan chases Ya'akov and catches up with him, he describes what has happened to his sheep, and he calls them AKUDIM and NEKUDIM, just as Ya'akov did, but he adds VERUDIM, our word, which Ya'akov didn't. Hummm!

BARAD does indeed mean "speckled", from a root whose base meaning is "cut up" or "spread" or "sprinkled", but it is used primarily for "hail", which is likely to happen alongside the lightning when it strikes the "brass mountain", though of course it was also one of the ten plagues (cf Exodus 9:18).

Worth looking at my page on BERED, which is mentioned as a place near Be'er Sheva in the tale of Hagar (Genesis 16:7 and 14), but also, more importantly... see the notes, but note that they end with the statement "The equivalent word in Syriac is used for that spotted cat the leopard, whence Latin pardus, as in Shakespeare's 'bearded as the pard' in 'As You Like It'."

SUSIM: I am conscious that I wrote about this at 1:8, but need to review the matter in the light of what we have read since (I suggested then that I was only speculating, and would review). And because Zechar-Yah has now got me assuming that every word is a mot juste chosen for a symbolic purpose, I shall recheck the spelling of SUSA, the Persian capital, the place to which Zeru-Bavel and co need to make petition if they are going to get the suspension revoked and the Temple completed. And no, Susa is Shushan (שׁוּשַׁ֥ן - cf Esther 1:2), with a Sheen, so it cannot be connected... except that, wait a moment, how strange, just like the Ayin-Aleph games in the previous chapter. Sus with two samechs (סוס) is the horse that we have here, but it is also used to mean "joy" (except that Gesenius, who gives me this information, cannot provide the supporting evidence of a textual reference), from the idea that horses prance when they are feeling that way; and then there is also Sus with two Seens (שוש), and it means... "to rejoice" - cf Deuteronomy 28:63, Isaiah 35:1 and 65:19, et al... This is going to need still further review at some later stage, I suspect.


6:6: VA A'AN VA OMAR EL HA MAL'ACH HA DOVER BI MAH ELEH ADONI

וָאַעַן וָאֹמַר אֶל הַמַּלְאָךְ הַדֹּבֵר בִּי מָה אֵלֶּה אֲדֹנִי

KJ: Then I answered and said unto the angel that talked with me, What are these, my lord?

BN: Then I answered, saying to the messenger who was speaking inside me, "What are these, my Lord?".


So many times has he used this technique already, we now expect it! Set up a piece of symbolism, and then pretend you don't know what it means either, so you can explain it; but it turns out to be full of inner and deeper symbolisms, which then require further explanation...


6:5 VA YA'AN HA MAL'ACH VA YO'MER ELAI ELEH ARB'A RUCHOT HA SHAMAYIM YOTS'OT ME HITYATSEV AL ADON KOL HA ARETS

וַיַּעַן הַמַּלְאָךְ וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָי אֵלֶּה אַרְבַּע רֻחוֹת הַשָּׁמַיִם יוֹצְאוֹת מֵהִתְיַצֵּב עַל אֲדוֹן כָּל הָאָרֶץ

KJ: And the angel answered and said unto me, These are the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth.

BN: And the messenger answered, saying to me, "These are the four winds of the heavens, which have ceased standing before the Lord of all the Earth, and have gone out...


ARB'A RUCHOT: In 5:7 we were told of a KIKAR, which turned out to be a lead coin, and I explained that the root is any globe or circle (Exodus 29:23). As so often, and as per my very last note, Zechar-Yah plays with symbols within symbols, alternating them, interchanging them, throughout. In the ancient world of the Yehudim, the Cosmos was perceived as a circle, and drawn in the form of a mandala, divided into four quarters, with various other parts and aspects... but best go to the link, where this is explained much more eloquently than I can do. The point is: each of those four quarters had its own governing spirit (RU'ACH), and the Prophet Yirme-Yah famously prophesied the Exile when he said (Jeremiah 49:36) that "I will bring the four winds against Eylam from the four corners of the heavens, and I will scatter them to all these winds. There will not be a nation to which Eylam's exiles will not go." Eylam was the ancient name for Persia.

YOTS'OT ME HITYATSEV: Option a), the root, YATS'A, simply means "to go out", and has been used repeatedly in these verses in the simple, Po'al, form. But here it also appears to be being used in the Hitpa'el, reflexive, form, for which no obvious, intrinsic meaning is deducible - yes, I know I am wrong; bear with me; we are an aural audience, we moderns, we are hearing YOTS'OT and HITYATSEV, and we are drawing false assumptions; we are assuming that Zechar-Yah is doing what writers so love to do, neologising words to suit his purposes, using correct grammatical forms, in this case correct grammatical roots as well, to create what he needs to create but lacks vocabulary for.

But no, option b), there is YOTS'OT from the root YATS'A, and then there is HITYATSEV, from the completely different root YATSAV - that final Vet should have been obvious, but it could just as well have been a Vav for a 3rd person pronoun. YATSAV then, "to set", "to put", "to place", especially "to take a stand"; but here in the Hitpa'el, reflexive form, which we saw at the very start of the Mosheh story, in Exodus 2:4, Mir-Yam "standing far off" to make herself available when Pharaoh's daughter took Mosheh in his crib out of the bulrushes; and again in Exodus 19:17, when "Mosheh brought the people out of the camp to meet Ha Elohim; and they stood at the rear part of the mount"; and again in Exodus 34:5, where "YHVH descended in the cloud, and stood with him there."

So the translation remains unchanged, but the tone needs to be understood very differently: 

"These four spirits have been [idling away their days], standing before the Lord of the Cosmos, [but doing nothing, when there are things that need doing], and now they have [finally got their act together and] gone out...


6:6 ASHER BAH HA SUSIM HA SHECHORIM YOTS'IM EL ERETS TSAPHON VE HA LEVANIM YATS'U EL ACHAREYHEM VE HA BERUDIM YATS'U EL ERETS HA TEYMAN

אֲשֶׁר בָּהּ הַסּוּסִים הַשְּׁחֹרִים יֹצְאִים אֶל אֶרֶץ צָפוֹן וְהַלְּבָנִים יָצְאוּ אֶל אַחֲרֵיהֶם וְהַבְּרֻדִּים יָצְאוּ אֶל אֶרֶץ הַתֵּימָן

KJ: The black horses which are therein go forth into the north country; and the white go forth after them; and the grisled go forth toward the south country.

BN: "The chariot that is being drawn by the black horses is heading for the north country; and the white ones have gone after them, and the skewbald have set out for the south country."


ASHER BAH: Grammatically continues the previous sentence, but the meaning does not. There must be a missing but inferred pronoun, but it is not the SUSIM, as KJ translates it, because they are plural where BAH is singular, and anyway it is the plural YOTS'IM which provides their verb. The singular noun is the chariot.

YOTS'IM is the present tense, YATS'U the past tense.

Do these routes in any way connect to the tribal map? Yisaschar for example is in the north and some scholars think he should be Yah Shachur, the Black Madonna, which would tie in neatly with the black horses.


6:7 VE HA AMUTSIM YATS'U VA YEVAKSHU LALECHET LEHITHALECH BA ARETS VA YO'MER LECHU HITHALCHU VA ARETS VA TITHALACHNAH BA ARETS

וְהָאֲמֻצִּים יָצְאוּ וַיְבַקְשׁוּ לָלֶכֶת לְהִתְהַלֵּך בָּאָרֶץ וַיֹּאמֶר לְכוּ הִתְהַלְּכוּ בָאָרֶץ וַתִּתְהַלַּכְנָה בָּאָרֶץ

KJ: And the bay went forth, and sought to go that they might walk to and fro through the earth: and he said, Get you hence, walk to and fro through the earth. So they walked to and fro through the earth.

BN: Then the red set out, and sought a route that would allow them to roam to and fro across the Earth. And he said, "Go, roam across the Earth." And so they roamed across the Earth.


HA AMUTSIM: "The bay" in KJ, describing its colour, though we weren't given that colour previously - is this simply another way of saying "chestnut"? "The strong" in the Sar Shalom translation, which is much more likely the literal meaning, based on multiple usages of the word with that meaning throughout the Tanach, but which also suggests that the Prophet has just moved on from the colour of the horses to a completely different analogy - and there is no evidence of this in the text. "Strong red" seems to me the more likely intention, and therefore "bay".

LALECHET... LEHITALECH: See my note to YATSAV above - endorsement of my conviction that it was word-play there, just as it clearly is here. But now go back to 1:10, when "the man standing among the myrtle trees explained, 'They are the ones YHVH has sent to patrol the Earth"; which is clearly what they are doing here, now; confirmation here that they are the same horses described there.


6:8 VA YAZ'EK OTI VA YEDABER ELAI LE'MOR RE'EH HA YOTS'IM EL ERETS TSAPHON HENIYCHU ET RUCHI BE ERETS TSAPHON

וַיַּזְעֵק אֹתִי וַיְדַבֵּר אֵלַי לֵאמֹר רְאֵה הַיּוֹצְאִים אֶל אֶרֶץ צָפוֹן הֵנִיחוּ אֶת רוּחִי בְּאֶרֶץ צָפוֹן

KJ: Then cried he upon me, and spake unto me, saying, Behold, these that go toward the north country have quieted my spirit in the north country.

BN: Then he called out to me, and spoke to me, saying, "Behold, the ones that are going towards the north country have quieted my spirit in the north country."

samech break


6:9 VA YEHI DEVAR YHVH ELAI LE'MOR

וַיְהִי דְבַר יְהוָה אֵלַי לֵאמֹר

KJ: And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

BN: Then the word of YHVH came to me, saying...


Not a messenger speaking inside him this time, but direct communication.


6:10 LAKO'ACH ME ET HA GOLAH ME CHELDAI U ME ET TOVI-YAH U ME ET YED'A-YAH U VA'TA ATAH BA YOM HA HU U VA'TA BEYT YOSHI-YAH VEN TSEPHAN-YAH ASHER BA'U MI BAVEL

לָקוֹחַ מֵאֵת הַגּוֹלָה מֵחֶלְדַּי וּמֵאֵת טוֹבִיָּה וּמֵאֵת יְדַעְיָה וּבָאתָ אַתָּה בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא וּבָאתָ בֵּית יֹאשִׁיָּה בֶן צְפַנְיָה אֲשֶׁר בָּאוּ מִבָּבֶל

KJ: Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah, which are come from Babylon, and come thou the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah;

BN: "Take from those of the captivity who came from Bavel, even from Cheldai, from Tovi-Yah, and from Yed'a-Yah; and come yourself on the same day, and go into the house of Yoshi-Yah ben Tsephan-Yah...


LAKO'ACH: Unfamiliar form; the vocative in the Pu'al is KACH, but here the infinitive is being used; and in the next verse, the past tense. But take what? Nothing is specified - does he mean people from those areas of captivity, and deploy them? The following verse calls for cash donations, so some commentators assume that he wants offerings in this verse; but the goal is to make the clothing of the Kohen Gadol, so he needs tailors and jewelsmiths, not barbecued goats.

ET: Why is it ET HA GOLAH and ET TOVI-YAH and ET YED'A-YAH, but not ET CHELDAI? ET is the standard indicator of an accusative noun, so it applies in every instance.

CHELDAI: Why these people - or are they places? Some commentators assume (from the last words in the verse) that a new group has just arrived to join the returnees, and that Zechar-Yah is calling on the leadership to approach them for donations; or perhaps the king has added to their store, and so they are bringing the necessary with them. But again there is no evidence in the text for any of this. CHELDAI is not very common as a person's name, but there was one other who bore it, Cheldai the Netophati in 1 Chronicles 27:15.

TOVI-YAH: See Strong et al for details on this name. Where Cheldai could be the name of a place, Tovi-Yah is definitely the name of a person - see verse 14.

YEDA-YAH: The same applies to this name.

YOSHI-YAH BEN TSEPHAN-YAH: The Nekudot allow this to be either Yoshi-Yah or Yoshiyah, the one reflecting the name of the mother-goddess, the other not. Tsephan-Yah, by contrast, like most of the Yah names, is unquestionably in that former group. But who are these people? From the next verse they are at the very least wealthy men, and probably the next tier of leadership after Zeru-Bavel.

ASHER BA'U MI BAVEL: Adding some confusion by coming at the end of the verse in the Yehudit text; but logically it has to be placed much earlier in the sentence. The key is BA'U, which is plural; if it referred to Yoshi-Yah alone it would be BAH, in the singular. If a new group of returnees had arrived, surely there would have been a note of such an exceptional event in either Ezra's or Nechem-Yah's narrative.


6:11 VE LAKACHTA CHESEPH VE ZAHAV VE ASIYTA ATAROT VE SAMTA BE ROSH YEHOSHU'A BEN YEHO-TSADAK HA KOHEN HA GADOL

וְלָקַחְתָּ כֶסֶף וְזָהָב וְעָשִׂיתָ עֲטָרוֹת וְשַׂמְתָּ בְּרֹאשׁ יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן יְהוֹצָדָק הַכֹּהֵן הַגָּדוֹל

KJ: Then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest;

BN: "And take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them on the head of Yehoshu'a ben Yeho-Tsadak, the High Priest...


ATAROT: These are not regal crowns, but the mitres of the Kohen ha Gadol and senior priests.

YEHO-TSADAK: Note the continuation of the name of Tsadok in the title of the Kohen Gadol, the High Priest. Before King David conquered Yeru-Shala'im, the high priest of the cult of Moloch had the name in his title - we witness it when Av-Ram comes to Shalem and meets Malki-Tsedek (Genesis 14), as well as finding it as the name as the king of Shalem at the time of Yehoshu'a's conquest (Joshua 10:1). Tsadok means "right", in the sense of "Justice", and would be recognised by most Jews through its use as Tsedakah, the giving of charity. It is from the name Tsadok - albeit a somewhat later one (see Ezekiel 40:46) - that the name Sadducees is formed, they being the "followers of Tsadok", the ones who wanted to keep Temple practice under the Kohanim and Leviyim at the centre of Yisra-Eli life, while the Hellenistic-influenced, and later Bavel-influenced Pharisees believed that the era of sacrifical worship was over and needed to be replaced by a more humanistic personal discipline, devoid of corporeal superstitions, rooted in morals and behaviours - precisely the ideology that would prevail when the Temple was destroyed in 70 CE and Talmudic Judaism established.


6:12 VE AMARTA ELAV LE'MOR KOH AMAR YHVH LE'MOR HINEH ISH TSEMACH SHEMO U MI TACHTAV YITSMACH U VANAH ET HEYCHAL YHVH

וְאָמַרְתָּ אֵלָיו לֵאמֹר כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת לֵאמֹר הִנֵּה אִישׁ צֶמַח שְׁמוֹ וּמִתַּחְתָּיו יִצְמָח וּבָנָה אֶת הֵיכַל יְהוָה

KJ: And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:

BN: "And speak to him, saying: Thus says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens, saying: Behold the man who is called 'The Sapling'. He shall leave the place where he grew up, and he shall build the Temple of YHVH...


TSEMACH: I am not going to apologise, before or after, but I am going to upset many persons of Christian faith, both clerics and lay-people, with this explanation. Because "The Branch" is, quite obviously, the Messiah, Jesus himself, prophecied right here. Or would be, if TSEMACH meant "branch", which alas it doesn't. A "branch" in Yehudit is usually a NETSER, which may well be the "root" of the word NOTSRI, which is "Christian" in Yehudit; though a branch could just as well be a ZEMORAH; and we can follow these distinctions through to the sources of the Zechar-Yah.

Yechezke-El uses ZEMORAH at Ezekiel 8:17 and 15:2, as does Yesha-Yahu at Isaiah 17:10, and we can also find it at Numbers 13:23 and in Nachum 2:3 (2:2 in some versions); all three of these words have the sense of something growing out of a piece of vegetation, as in a twig, a branch, a shoot, but ZEMORAH comes from the same root that gives us KLEY ZEMER, the plucked instruments of Klezmer music, so something that is pruned or plucked, and thence probably light vegetation or vines.

TSEMACH is the very element of growth itself, anything sprouting (Genesis 2:5, 41:6), even hair in Leviticus 13:37. Yesha-Yahu in Isaiah 42:9, 43:19 and 58:8 endorses my use of the word "element", the sprouting being Creation itself, at any point in time or place in Nature.

Look up the Biblical branch on the Internet, and you will likely be taken to Ezekiel 17:22, the branch as an image of the Mashiyach - but Yechezke-El uses yet a fourth word there, TSAMERET, and TSAMERET is the foliage that grows on the branches, not the branches themselves.

Yesha-Yahu is the one who uses NETSER, at 11:1 and 14:19 and again at 60:21, at least for the positive side of his Messianic vision; interestingly the broken or infertile branch is used by him far more often, as a description of what will ensue if piety is not the norm (4:2, 16:8 - yet a fifth word, SHELUCHOTEYCHA; probably "shoots" - and 18:5 - where there is yet a sixth word, NETIYSHOT, which are probably "sprigs").

As noted above, NETSER has provided the source for the Yehudit name for Christians, HA NOTSRIM, which Christians generally think has to do with his birthplace in Nazareth or his having been a Nazirite for a brief period. Nor does NETSER really mean a branch - it too suggests the foliage rather more than the twig, and even more than that the greenish colour, the verdancy, though the root has nothing to do with any of this - the root means "to watch" or "to keep" and is used for a "watchtower" in 2 Kings 17:9, and for the deity watching humankind protectively in Deuteronomy 32:10 and Psalm 31:24. Isaiah 49:6 may be the most significant here, because he speaks of the NETSUREY YISRA-EL (or possibly NETSIYREY, scholars question the Masoretic pointing here), the ones who survived, with thanks to the deity, the journey to captivity in Babylon - the very people who started our investigation of this word in the first place!

Lastly, Deuteronomy 33:9 uses it to mean "keeping the divine commandments", as does Psalm 105:45 and a famous phrase in the liturgy, citing Exodus 34:7, notes one of the Thirteen Attributes of the deity as NOTSER CHESED LA ALAPHIM - "ensuring the devotion of thousands upon thousands" - probably these latter are why the early Judeo-Christians called themselves NOTSRIM.

But the text here has nothing whatsoever to do with Jesus or future Christianity. As noted previously, KJ places this in upper case, because Christianity regards it as a prophesy of Jesus as their Messiah, when the text is very clear that Zeru-Bavel, the governor who brought the exiles back from Babylon, is the intention. See, for example... the very next verse.

The point being that certain specifically named leaders of the community at that time are being picked out (the finest sprouts of the community, so to speak; branches of the great families), some to undertake the philanthropy, some to design the adornments, some to take the official roles. This is happening in the now of Zechar-Yah's prophesy, not in some imaginary future.


6:13 "VE HU YIVNEH ET HEYCHAL YHVH VE HU YIS'A HOD VA YASHAV U MASHAL AL KIS'O VE HAYAH CHOHEN AL KIS'O VA ATSAT SHALOM TIHEYEH BEYN SHENEYHEM

וְהוּא יִבְנֶה אֶת הֵיכַל יְהוָה וְהוּא יִשָּׂא הוֹד וְיָשַׁב וּמָשַׁל עַל כִּסְאוֹ וְהָיָה כֹהֵן עַל כִּסְאוֹ וַעֲצַת שָׁלוֹם תִּהְיֶה בֵּין שְׁנֵיהֶם

KJ: Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.

BN: "He it is who will build the Temple of YHVH, and he who will earn the glory of sitting, of ruling from that throne. And a priest will also serve that throne, and the counsel of peace shall rest on both their shoulders...


CHOHEN: It is not that Zeru-Bavel will himself have priestly duties; rather, like Shemu-El (Samuel) with Sha'ul, like Merlin with Arthur, like the Archbishop of Canterbury with the British monarch, the two will function side-by-side, one heading the secular-political realm, the other the spiritual. The Kohen in question here self-evidently the Kohen Gadol himself.


6:14 VE HA ATAROT TIHEYEH LE CHELEM U LE TOVI-YAH VE LIYD'A-YAH U LE CHEN BEN TSEPHAN-YAH LE ZIKARON BE HEYCHAL YHVH

וְהָעֲטָרֹת תִּהְיֶה לְחֵלֶם וּלְטוֹבִיָּה וְלִידַעְיָה וּלְחֵן בֶּן צְפַנְיָה לְזִכָּרוֹן בְּהֵיכַל יְהוָה

KJ: And the crowns shall be to Helem, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and to Hen the son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in the temple of the LORD.

BN: "And the crowns shall be for Chelem, and for Tovi-Yah, and for Yed'a-Yah, and for Chen ben Tsephan-Yah, for a memorial in the temple of YHVH.


ATAROT: Crowns?

CHELEMVerse 10 had different a name. (Given one's personal experience of Jewish philanthropy, can we assume that this part of the vision was presented a week or two later, after one or two of the named donors failed to come up with their pledges?) Most translators assume that Chelem is simply an error for Cheldai, but there is no logic to this; and again the evidence lies in Jewish philanthropy: either dad gives the donation, but his son gets the honour of the call-up, or dad may have already died, and the son is giving the donation in his honour. Given that the context is a "memorial" in the Temple, which probably just means a plaque to acknowledge the donation, this is the more likely explanation.

CHEN: As with Chelem, the name in verse 10 was Yoshi-Yah ben Tsephan-Yah, and the difference gets the same explanation.

ZIKARON: I presume the intention here is to put up an Honour Roll board, with the names of the donors in gold lettering, just as they do in Jewish schools and shuls today.

As per my final note to verse 12, the coming of Jesus coincided (give or take forty years) with the destruction of the Temple, not its construction.


6:15 U RECHOKIM YAVO'U U VANU BE HEYCHAL YHVH VIYDA'TEM KI YHVH TSEVA'OT SHELACHANI ALEYCHEM VE HAYAH IM SHAMO'A TISHME'UN BE KOL YHVH ELOHEYCHEM

וּרְחוֹקִים יָבֹאוּ וּבָנוּ בְּהֵיכַל יְהוָה וִידַעְתֶּם כִּי יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת שְׁלָחַנִי אֲלֵיכֶם וְהָיָה אִם שָׁמוֹעַ תִּשְׁמְעוּן בְּקוֹל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם

KJ: And they that are far off shall come and build in the temple of the LORD, and ye shall know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you. And this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God.

BN: "'And they who live far away shall come and assist in the building of the Temple of YHVH, and you shall know that YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens, has sent me to you. And this shall come to pass, if you will obey the voice of YHVH your god with diligence."


At this point the visions come to an end and the elements of fasting come under scrutiny and discussion.



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