Shem, Salem, or Moriah?
(20 September, 2018, 11 Tishrei, 5778)
Contents:
1. Pre-Amble and the Importance of Jerusalem
2. Query by Michael Greenwood concerning the Name Shem and Brit-Am Answer
3. Shem Began the Lineage of Blessings to Israel!
4. Query by Michael Greenwood concerning the Original Names of Jerusalem and Brit-Am Reply.
5. The Name Jerusalem and the Binding of Isaac
6. Mount Moriah
7. Names Received as Historical Remembrances or as Existing Characteristics that Later Became Apparent?
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1. Pre-Amble and the Importance of Jerusalem
Jerusalem was the capital of Israel and Judah when they were a united nation. The temple was built in Jerusalem. Jerusalem has a special qulaity about it that enhances spiritual uplifting and inspiration. Jerusalem is destined to be the capital of ALL Israel. This includes both Judah and the Ten Tribes when they return. In the Messianic Age the Messiah will rule over all the world from Jerusalem. Understanding something about Jerusalem is important both for understanding the Bible in general as well as the future role of Judah and the Ten Tribes.
Here is a selection of Biblical Verses concerning Jerusalem:
Source:
100 Bible Verses aboutJerusalem
https://www.openbible.info/topics/jerusalem
Zechariah 12:9 ESV:
And on that day I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
Psalm 122:3-5 ESV:
Jerusalem, built as a city that is bound firmly together, to which the Tribes go up, the Tribes of the LORD, as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the LORD. There thrones for judgment were set, the thrones of the house of David.
Psalm 125:2 ESV
As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds his people, from this time forth and forevermore.
Jeremiah 3:17 ESV
At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the LORD, and all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of the LORD in Jerusalem, and they shall no more stubbornly follow their own evil heart.
Psalm 122:6 ESV
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! May they be secure who love you!
Isaiah 62:1 ESV
For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not be quiet, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch.
Zechariah 8:3 ESV
Thus says the LORD: I have returned to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the LORD of hosts, the holy mountain.
Isaiah 62:3 ESV
You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
Psalm 122:1-9 ESV
A Song of Ascents. Of David. I was glad when they said to me, 'Let us go to the house of the LORD!' Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem! Jerusalem, built as a city that is bound firmly together, to which the Tribes go up, the Tribes of the LORD, as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the LORD. There thrones for judgment were set, the thrones of the house of David. ...
Joel 3:2 ESV
I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have divided up my land.
Joel 3:20 ESV
But Judah shall be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem to all generations.
Jeremiah 30:17 ESV
For I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal, declares the LORD, because they have called you an outcast: 'It is Zion, for whom no one cares!'
Lamentations 1:7 ESV
Jerusalem remembers in the days of her affliction and wandering all the precious things that were hers from days of old. When her people fell into the hand of the foe, and there was none to help her, her foes gloated over her; they mocked at her downfall.
Isaiah 11:12 ESV
He will raise a signal for the nations and will assemble the banished of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
2 Chronicles 6:6 ESV
But I have chosen Jerusalem that my name may be there, and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.
Isaiah 62:1-12 ESV
For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not be quiet, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch. The nations shall see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory, and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will give. You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be married. For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you. ...
Joel 3:21 ESV
I will avenge their blood, blood I have not avenged, for the LORD dwells in Zion.
Micah 4:2 ESV
And many nations shall come, and say: 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORDd, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.' For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
Isaiah 62:6 ESV
On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent. You who put the LORD in remembrance, take no rest.
Zechariah 2:2-5 ESV
Then I said, 'Where are you going?' And he said to me, 'To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.' And behold, the angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him and said to him, 'Run, say to that young man, "Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of people and livestock in it. And I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the LORD, and I will be the glory in her midst."'
Jeremiah 33:16 ESV
In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: 'The LORD is our righteousness.'
Psalm 48:2 ESV
Beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth, Mount Zion, in the far north, the city of the great King.
Joel 3:1-2 ESV
For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have divided up my land.
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Where does the name Jerusalem come from? What does it mean? Was the name originally "Salem" i.e. Shalom?
Before being "Salem" was the name "Shem" in honor of Shem the son of Noach?
These were questions that were asked us. We cannot give unequivocal answers but we have explored the issue and shown some of the possibilities.
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2. Query by Michael Greenwood concerning the Name Shem and Brit-Am Answer
Michael Greenwood wrote:
YAIR what is the Hebrew translation of Shem?
Shalom, Mike
Brit-Am Answer:
Shem was one of the three sons of Noah.
Shem literally means "NAME." According to tradition (Rashi on Genesis 14:18). Shem and Malchizedek were one and the same person.
Genesis (NIV) 14:
18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High,
19 and he blessed Abram, saying,
Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth.
20 And praise be to God Most High,
who delivered your enemies into your hand.
Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
Psalm (NIV) 110:
4 The LORD has sworn
and will not change his mind:
You are a priest forever,
in the order of Melchizedek.
5 The LORD is at your right hand;
he will crush kings on the day of his wrath.
6 He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead
and crushing the rulers of the whole earth.
7 He will drink from a brook along the way,
and so he will lift his head high.
Shem was an ancestor of Abraham who at first was named Abram:
Genesis (NIV) 10:
21 Sons were also born to Shem, whose older brother was Japheth; Shem was the ancestor of all the sons of Eber.
22 The sons of Shem:
Elam, Ashur, Arphaxad, Lud and Aram.
23 The sons of Aram:
Uz, Hul, Gether and Meshek.
24 Arphaxad was the father of Shelah,
and Shelah the father of Eber.
25 Two sons were born to Eber:
One was named Peleg, because in his time the earth was divided; his brother was named Joktan.
Genesis 11: 10-26 traces the lineage from Shem (as above) to Arphaxad to Shelah to Eber to Peleg to Reu to Serug to Nahor to Terah to Abrahm i.e. Abraham.
Genesis 11:
26 After Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran.
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3. Shem Began the Lineage of Blessings to Israel!
Shem had been blessed by Noah:
Genesis (NIV) 9:
24 When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, he said,
Cursed be Canaan!
The lowest of slaves
will he be to his brothers.
26 He also said,
Praise be to the LORD, the God of Shem!
May Canaan be the slave of Shem.
27 May God extend Japheth's territory;
may Japheth live in the tents of Shem,
and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth.
When Malchizedek (i.e. Shem or representating Shem) blessed Abraham he was in fact affirming that the blessing to Shem would be passed to Abraham.
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4. Query by Michael Greenwood concerning the Original Names of Jerusalem and Brit-Am Reply.
Michael Greenwood wrote:
Is it also your understanding that Shalem (Salem) was the city of peace which the was named after Shem the 1st son of Noah? And then after Abraham came it was then renamed Yerushalem? All my studies mostly lead me to seeing that cities were named after people back in the day. So modern Jerusalem is a version of Shem and Abraham?
Thx
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Brit-Am Reply:
Michael Shalom, You understand that originally Jerusalem was named after Shem and that Shem was also named Salem i.e. Shalom. This is a possibility that could make sense with the source below. Do you have another source for this suggestion?
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Names of Jerusalem
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_Jerusalem
Jerusalem is called either Urusalim (URU u-ru-sa-lim) or Uru-salim (URU u-ru-sa10-lim) in the Amarna letters of Abdi-Heba (1330s BCE).[5] Also in the Amarna letters, it is called Beth-Shalem, the house of Shalem.[6]
In Genesis Rabbah 56:10, the name is interpreted as a combination of yir'eh, "He will see [to it]," and Shalem, the city of King Melchizedek (based on Genesis 14:18). A similar theory is offered by Philo in his discussion of the term "God's city." [19] Other midrashim say that Jerusalem means "City of Peace".[20]
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That the name Salem [i.e. Shalom] refers to Jerusalem is evidenced by Psalm 76:2 which uses "Salem" as a parallel for "Zion", the citadel of Jerusalem. The same identification is made by Josephus and the Aramaic translations of the Bible.
cf. Psalm (NIV) 76:
1 God is renowned in Judah;
in Israel his name is great.
2 His tent is in Salem,
his dwelling place in Zion.
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We see from above that Salem (i.e. Shalom) was an alternate name for Jerusalem.
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5. The Name Jerusalem and the Binding of Isaac
The name Jerusalem is indicated in the affair of Abraham going to sacrifice his son Isaac. In Hebrew this incident is known as the 'AKEDA" which means "binding." Isaac was bound to the Altar.
To remind you of what happened:
In Isaac was born to Abraham and Sarah in a miraculous fashion after they had both grown old and Sarah had ceased to function as a fertile woman. Sarah then tells Abraham to send Ishmael away. Ishmael was the son of Abraham by Hagar the Egyptian maidservant, Abraham was loathe to do this but God tells him to do as his wife said. Abraham was upset at having to send Ishmael away but God told him not to worry. Ishmael would also become a great nation. Nevertheless the Blessing of the Fiorefather would pass to Isaac:
Genesis 21:
12 ... it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.
Then in Genesis ch. 22 Abraham is tested.
He is told to take Isaac to the region of Moriah and offer Isaac up as a sacrifice.
Genesis 22:
2 Then God said, 'Take your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.'
Abraham and Isaac went to the Mountain of Moriah. Abraham bound isaac to the altar, and then raised the knife to slaughter Isaac. An Angel of God at the last minute prevent Abraham from harming Isaac. Abraham was shown a ram caught by its horns tin a thicket and the ram was offered up in place of Isaac.
Genesis (JPS Tanakh 1917) 22:
14 And Abraham called the name of that place Adonai-jireh; as it is said to this day: 'In the mount where the LORD is seen.'
God them blessed Isaac with an UNCONDITIONAL blessing.
Genesis (JPS Tanakh 1917) 22:
15 And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham a second time out of heaven, 16 and said: 'By Myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, 17 that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; 18 and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast hearkened to My voice.'
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6. Mount Moriah
Getting back to the above verse of Genesis 22:14 And Abraham called the name of that place Adonai-jireh; as it is said to this day: 'In the mount where the LORD is seen.'
The term rendered as "Adonai-jireh" could actually be translated as the LORD Sees. The verse could therefore be rendered as saying,
"And Abraham called the name of that place the "LORD Sees"; as it is said to this day: 'In the Mount where the LORD makes HIMSELF Seen.'
Other translations (e.g. ESV etc) render the words we translate as "sees" and "makes HIMSELF Seen" as "provide" and "will provide."
Our version however is more in line with the Hebrew.
We also noted that the event took place on "Mount Moriah" (Genesis 22:2).
We have here a play on words.
The Hebrew verb "YiReh" (see) and "Yoreh" (teach, instruct) are similar in sound. Both verbs may be part of the construct noun "Moriah."
Mount Moriah could therefore be understood to have a name connoting both "Will be seen" and "will teach."
Mount Moriah later became the Temple Mount.
The Temple Mount was to fulfill both functions. It was to be a place of sacrifice where the Presence of God would make Itself felt.
It was ALSO to become a place of instruction, of TORAH (from the same word root) through the Sanhedrin whose chief legislative body was located by the Temple grounds.
The two connotations of the name "Moriah" are also present in the name "Yerushalayim."
The name Yerushalayim in Hebrew can mean both "Shalem, where God is to be Seen" and "Shalem, whence Torah-teaching will go Forth."
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7. Names Received as Historical Remembrances or as Existing Characteristics that Later Became Apparent?
Does the explanation above mean that Jerusalem had its name changed from "Shalom" to "Yerushalayim" due to the Akeda?
Not necessarily.
We find in the Bible that a name may already have been given to a place before an event happens yet the Bible says that the name foreshadowed the event.
For example,
Beer Sheba has a name that may mean either "Well of the Seven" or "Well of the Oath."
Abraham made an oath with Abimelech, king of the Philistines.
Genesis (NASB) 21:
27 Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them made a covenant. 28 Then Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. 29 Abimelech said to Abraham, 'What do these seven ewe lambs mean, which you have set by themselves?' 30 He said, 'You shall take these seven ewe lambs from my hand so that it may be a witness to me, that I dug this well.' 31 Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because there the two of them took an oath.
We see how Abraham took seven lambs as witness to the oath since the Hebrew words for seven (sheva) and for oath (sheva) sound the same.
The place was named "Beer-Sheba" because of this.
Later Isaac also made an oath or covenant with Abimelech (or his son of the same name) and on that day they found water and dug a well.It says the place called Beer Sheba because of this but we have already seen that it had been given this name in the time of Abraham.
This is how the verse is translated:
Genesis (NASB) 26:
32 Now it came about on the same day, that Isaac's servants came in and told him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, 'We have found water.'
33 So he called it Shibah; therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.
The last few words could also be rendered:
"FOR THEREFORE the name of the city WAS Beersheba to this day."
The name of the city related something about its essential character. This came to expression in the oaths and covenants that were sworn in that region.