comments:
The washing with fists reminds me of the hand washing ritual that's still done today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hB1m7F_2Otk I don't do that or any of the other traditions. If you watch it, you can see how the hand will resemble a fist. Not exactly a tight fist for fighting, but a fist nonetheless. I don't know Hebrew either. Just the basic words and grammar structure. If you use the interlinear dictionary like with the BLB app or something like that, you'll eventually remember the words just from familiarity. That's how I do it. I've taken a few Hebrew classes at the Messianic Synagogues I've been to but the way that it was taught wasn't conducive to the way I learn. I found this to be the easiest: https://www.amazon.com/Learn-Read-Hebrew-6-Weeks/dp/0997867507/ref=sr_1_16?sr=8-16 I don't concern myself with speaking it, just reading it. I feel that eventually I'll know what the word I just read means just from familiarity, like English. I'm also a Gen X'er and I feel that I still need English lessons with how today's English is. I mean, if that's even still English... I like to use the translations feature on the BLB app and see how the different translations will translate a verse. I've found that some verses are better translated than others, but there's no translation that is better with every single verse than another. Personally, I like having a verse as literal as possible, like the YLT or something like that. I like how some verses will appear crazy. The crazier it appears, the more I will want to research that verse for myself. NET is good, as is the BBE and some others. Whatever version helps you understand the bible is what I say. Even if that means consulting more than 1. This may be a hot take, but I've found that modern Christianity (or Churchianity as I call it) resembles very much concept of the Talmud and Pharisaic Judaism. At the time Jesus was born, there was Messianic fever in the air. They were all familiar with the prophecies. He didn't resemble their interpretations enough to spark a nationwide revival, but only a remnant believed. Judaism had been around some 2,000 years by then. 2,000 years of Judaism can't possibly be wrong. After Jesus, 2,000 years of Christianity can't possibly be wrong. Well, sure it can. Pharisees passed on their traditions with the Talmud, Christians with the Church Fathers and their commentaries, seminaries. I can go on - the similarities are uncanny. I'm only saying that there's nothing new under the sun - the dangers of tradition is just as dangerous then as it is now. When I read the NT, I substitute Pharisees/Sadducees with "religious authorities" to get a feel for the impact how we let traditions alter the meaning the bible, sometimes so much that it can have a negative impact on the soul. I know that one day my judgment day will come. I want to do everything I can to say that I worked out my faith with fear and trembling, that I didn't outsource it to commentaries, people, etc. I'm not saying they are bad, but it's easy to not realize the impact that it can have.