Page 125 - Coincidences in the Bible and in Biblical Hebrew

COINCIDENCES IN THE BIBLE AND IN BIBLICAL HEBREW
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104 COINCIDENCES IN THE BIBLE AND IN BIBLICAL HEBREW
ducing something new that was not there before. Creation on Shabbat is not
allowed, since on the seventh day of creation, God “ceased all his work that God
had created to do” (Gen. 2:3; author’s translation).
The classification of all sorts of forbidden “work”s into thirty-nine basic

categories originates in the description of the construction of the tabernacle by

Bezaleel , as the story is being narrated, in great detail, in Exodus, chapters 35–
39. Postbiblical eras have seen an explosion in the number of derivative “work”s
not allowed on Shabbat by religious authorities. However, all these “work”s
originate—some quite straightforwardly, others less so—in this common source:
the description of the construction of the tabernacle while the children of Israel
wandered in the Sinai desert on their way from Egypt to the Promised Land .

6.2.2 Malach (Angel, Messenger)
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Malach, in Hebrew, has two meanings that seem far apart. On the one hand,
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malach means “a messenger”—namely, one who carries messages from one place
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to another. Occurrences of malach abound in the Bible.
Examples:

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• “Then Izevel sent a messenger [malach ] to Elijah” (1 Kings 19:2).
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• “But there came a messenger [malach ] to Saul, saying, Make haste and
come, for the Philistines are raiding the land” (1 Samuel 23:27).
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• “And there came a messenger [malach ] to Job and said …” (Job 1:14).
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A second meaning of malach, a more common usage in modern Hebrew, is
“an angel.”
Examples:

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• “And an angel [malach ] of the Lord called him out of heaven and said,
Abraham , Abraham: and he said, Here I am” (Gen. 22:11).
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• “The angel [malach ] who redeems me from all evil, bless the lads;”
(Gen. 48:16).
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• “And God sent an angel [malach ] to Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he
was about to destroy, the Lord beheld …” (1 Chron. 21:15).