Page 270 - Coincidences in the Bible and in Biblical Hebrew

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CHAPTER 19 NON-HEBREW NAMES OF SELF-PROCLAIMED FOES OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL
CHAPTER 19 NON-HEBREW NAMES OF SELF-PROCLAIMED FOES OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL 249
headquarters in exile in Tunisia. The Arab population’s response was a new orga-
nization, founded December 14, 1987, at the beginning of the intifada : Hamas
(Harakat Muqawama Islamiyya—the Islamic Resistance Movement).
The Hamas Covenant was drawn up in 1988, explaining the organization’s

Islamic ideological sources, its ideas on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, its approach
as a Muslim-Palestinian movement, and its attitude toward the PLO . Hamas rec-
ognized the contributions of the PLO in creating the idea of a Palestinian nation
and in leading the political and military struggle against Israel . But Hamas did
not regard the PLO as superior or primary in representing the Palestinian Arabs,
especially regarding Islam. For Hamas, the one true path to liberating the land
is armed struggle (jihad), and negotiations with Israel have no role. The Hamas
Covenant says it plainly: “There is no other solution for the Palestinian problem
other than jihad. All the initiatives and international conferences are a waste of
time and a futile game.”
In the democratic elections that took place in January of 2006, Hamas had

won majority of seats in the parliament, and thus became the dominant faction in
the Palestinian political arena.

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What is the Hebrew meaning of Hamas (Chamas in Hebrew and in Arabic)?

Chamas = act of unjustly seizing somebody else’s property
(plundering, extortion, property seized unjustly)

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The first mentioning of the word chamas in the Bible is at the opening para-
graph describing why God has brought about the deluge (mabul): 4

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“The earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with [chamas ].

And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh

had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said to Noah, The end of all

flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with [chamas] because of them;

and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth” (Gen. 6:11–13).
Further biblical referral to this word and its derivatives always addresses the
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immoral aspects of acts associated with chamas. It recurs abundantly in the
prophets’ reproach for the people of Israel , and in Proverbs and Psalms, where the
injustice of the act of plundering is the focus of the morality assertions.
Some examples: