We began learning last time about the levels of Jewish interpretation of Scripture. There are four levels and each level has a name, they have collectively been given a name which is an acronym of the four.
Pardes is a Hebrew word that is really an acronym.
P – Peshat – this is the plain, literal or ‘simple’ meaning of the text
R – Remez – this is a ‘hint’ that there’s an allegorical or symbolic meaning of the text
D – Derash – this is to interpret or discover an ethical or moral lesson in the meaning of the text
S – Sod – this is a secret or esoteric, mystical meaning of the text, usually by Kabbalists
We’ve looked at Peshat already, it’s the plain, obvious meaning of the text, studied in its context and cultural, historical setting and this is the most important means of interpretation.
The really important thing about all levels of Jewish interpretation is that they must ALL honour and confirm Peshat, the plain, surface obvious meaning of the text. No matter what the other levels may conclude, if they undermine the plain meaning of the text, they must be rejected.
The next level is Remez, and that’s what we’re going to look at in this program.
Remez means that the text is hinting at something more within it. It’s as though the Holy Spirit is communicating something that the original writers or speakers were not themselves aware of. A really good example of a Remez is found in Isaiah.
Isaiah 7:10-14, ‘Then the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying, “Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; make it deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!” Then he said, “Listen now, O house of David! Is it too slight a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God as well? Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she’ll call His name Immanuel.”
The verse goes on, but it would be easy to see that Isaiah probably had no idea at the time he spoke those words under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that He was prophesying the virgin birth of the Messiah, because he had been instructed by God to ask Ahaz to name the supernatural sign…Isaiah wasn’t even thinking about the Messiah in his communication with king Ahaz. However, his words were a promise that the Messiah would come through Divine conception in the body of a young virgin.
Matthew 1:22-23, ‘Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet (Isaiah): “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.”’
Isaiah was a prophet, a man who was used to hearing and speaking the words of God, but he was also just a man, I imagine that he spoke many things God revealed to him and there’s a really good chance that much of it, he didn’t understand, but he obediently communicated the message anyway.
Peshat is not compromised at all, it remains intact in the plain meaning of the text. Here’s another interesting example of Remez.
Hosea 11:1, ‘When Israel was a youth I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son.’
Remember the account of Jacob and his family when Israel entered the land of Egypt because of the famine in Canaan? They entered as a family but after 400+ years they grew to be a nation of people, but they were a young nation, only hundreds of years old, not thousands. When Israel, the nation, was in its youth when they finally escaped slavery in Egypt. God inspired the prophet Hosea to speak the words that Israel was a youth and God called His son – Israel – out of Egypt. Hosea was looking back to that historical account of the Hebrews being delivered – called out – of Egypt by God.
But what Hosea probably wasn’t aware of, was the fact that this verse was also pointing to something very special in the future of the nation of Israel.
Matthew 2:13-15, ‘Now when they’d gone, (the Magi), behold, an angel of the Lord appeared o Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.” So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt. He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet (Hosea)? “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”’
Was the first time this word was given wrong? No, God did call His son Israel, out of Egypt. But, the deeper hint, the ‘Remez’ in this instance is that it was also a prophet pointer to a future event where God’s Only Begotten Son would be in Egypt for a time, and then when the danger was passed, God called Him out of Egypt to return to Israel.
Does the fulfillment in Matthew undermined, weaken or diminish the original Peshat meaning in Hosea? Not in the slightest. Peshat remains intact and remez reveals Jesus the Messiah.
In our next program, we’ll learn about the third level of Jewish interpretation of Scripture, Derash.
Shalom
Mandy
