“Jerusalem / founded on or for peace…the city which I have chosen me to put my name there…for all the earth is mine.“ (Ezekiel 24:2, I Kings 11:36, Exodus 19:5)
In Hebrew the noun identifying a person, place, or thing is the conversion of the verb describing the actions associated with that entity.
In the word Jeru-salam, (reverting the recent English letter J back to its original Y), we find that
- the forms ירה (yrh) and ירא (yr’) …reflect an exchange of energy from a higher, dispensing level to a lower, receiving level. The form ירה (yrh) mostly describes the sending of the energy while the form ירא (yr’) appears to deal mostly with the receiving of the energy.
- The general meaning of the verb שלם (shalem) is that of wholeness, completeness or “unbrokenness”. It’s opposite is the verb רעע,ra’a)./ broken, used as the definition of evil.
The derivatives of this verb are:
- שלום (shalom), meaning peace (Isaiah 32:17) as a state of completeness and harmony including prosperity (Genesis 43:27), health and safety (Psalm 38:4).
- שלם (shelem) peace offering or a sacrifice for alliance or friendship (Amos 5:22, Exodus 24:5).
- שלם (shalam), being in a covenant of peace (Job 22:21, Isaiah 42:19).
In the Hebrew language it’s quite simple to indicate not only a condition (like shalem), but also the means to get there (to “shalemize”). Wholeness is achieved or restored most often by some kind of restitution. Since in Hebrew the verb ידע, yada’, means know intimately, become one with, even applied to sexual union, the command to “love your enemy” (Matthew 5:44) means understanding his behaviors and motives instead of simply demonizing him. Jesus’ definition of a “peace-maker” (Matthew 5:9) is one who starts by making a relationship with their enemy.
This all makes perfect sense when we recognize that Jerusalem is where YHVH established the means by which Adam’s family / humanity was able to be restored to an unbroken relationship with him through substitutionary atonement – a life for a life.
Continue reading “113) Jeru-salem Is YHVH’s World-Wide Worship Center For Covenantal Monotheism”



