G'zerah Gezerah Shavah, Second Rule of Hillel, Hillel, Paul, Remez,...http://www.haderek.ca/articles/way/gzerahshavah2.htm1 of 1314/03/2009 3:00 PM
The
G'zerah Shavah
(Part II)
InPart I, we began a two-part series on the “Second Rule of Hillel,” therabbinic interpretative principle known as the
g’zerah shavah
. We explainedthat the
shaliach
[apostle] Sha’ul was educated in the rabbinic School ofHillel and was taught directly by Gamaliel, the grandson of the famousTalmudic rabbi Hillel. As such, he was well versed in the oral traditionshanded down by the sages, particularly with respect to the proper methodsfor correctly interpreting Scripture. There is little doubt that he had theserules in mind when he wrote to his talmid [student] Timothy, “Study to shewthyself approved unto Elohim, a workman [labourer] that needeth not to beashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). In other words,there are right ways to approach or study the words of Scripture. Clearly, ifthere are right ways, there must be wrong ways; and we need to learn thedifference between the two.In review, what is a
g’zerah shavah
? A
g’zerah shavah
is a word associationwherein similar words from different verses are associated with each otherin order to draw a conclusion by analogy. When we do this correctly, themeaning and related context from one verse is imported into the otherverse. In the previous article, we looked at two examples of how one woulduse the
g’zerah shavah
to rightly divide the word of truth. The first exampledemonstrated how the
g’zerah shavah
can be used to show us thatShemu’el ha-Navi [Samuel the prophet] and Yochanan ha-Matbil [John theBaptist] were both Nazarites, even though the Scriptures do not directly callthem that. In the second example, we showed how the
g’zerah shavah
helpsus to understand the important symbolism in placing tsitsit on the fourcorners of our garments.In Part II, we will continue our investigation by showing how the
sh’lichim
[apostles] Kefa [Peter] and Sha’ul [Paul] utilized the
g’zerah shavah
toillustrate important points about Moshiach.
The Three Stones
What do Yesha’yahu/Isaiah 8:14, 28:16, and Tehillim/Psalms 118:22 havein common? Let us read them to see what we can see.“And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for arock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snareto the inhabitants of Yerushalayim” (Yesha’yahu/Isaiah 8:14).“Therefore thus saith Adonai YHVH, Behold, I lay in Zion for afoundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a surefoundation: he that believeth shall not make haste”(Yesha’yahu/Isaiah 28:16).“The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone ofthe corner” (Tehillim/Psalms 118:22).Clearly, each of these verses mentions a stone—in the first, a stumbling
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