Saturday, January 14, 2012

Notes on Genesis 28

Verse 3

Almighty = שדי (Shaddai). See The Father, Mother and the Son.


Luz = לוז (Luz) = almond

The Meaning of Trees by Fred Hagender

"Almond

"From the beginning of civilization, the white blossoming almond heralded spring and provided an emblem of the archetypal White Goddess. Its archaic Semitic name, amygdala, can be traced back to the Sumerian ama ga, which means the Great Mother...

"Among the tribes of Israel, the almond was originally conceived as a Tree of Life. Moses' (and Aarons's) staff was of almond (Numbers 17:8) and was described as the 'rod of God' (Exodus 17:9). It was said to have been handed down from Adam via Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to Joseph who took it to Egypt where Moses obtained it. That Moses should bear the almond of the Great Mother is ironic, because in the Old Testament he is instructed to destroy the ancient cult of the Goddess (Exodus 22:1 and 34:13). However, his staff became the sceptre of the kings of Israel for many generations...

"Jacob slept at Luz, an almond sanctuary in Canaan, where the Lord appeared to him (Genesis 28:11-19), In Judaism, the divine light that shines mystically from the almond came to be celebrated in the Tree of Light. In ritual, this is the menorah, the candlestick which has a light for each of the seven planets. The menorah in Solomon's Temple at Jerusalem had almond shaped sconces to represent Aaron's rod when it broke out in buds."

Verse 21


Lord be my God = והיה יהוה לי לאלהים (hayah Yahweh li Elohim)

Hayah (היה) = to exist, that is, be or become, come to pass

Compare with:

Chavah (חוה), Eve = "to live", "lifegiver"

Possible word play?

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