אנכי יהוה אלהיך אשר הוצאתיך מארץ מצרים מבית עבדים
“I am The LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.”
-Shmot/Exodus 20:2 (KJV)
The House Of Bondage
מבית עבדים
“….out of the house of bondage” = MiBeYTH AVauDiYM
When the people of YisraÉL refer to a “house” (bayith) we are referring more to a generational familial-unit lineage than to a physical place that houses a single family at just one point in time. The term is heavy. It encompasses all pertaining to a family’s heritage, including but not limited to our deity (YOD HEH WAV HEH – as the original creator of that lineage); our fathers (all aspects of our ancestral heritage including those in the immediate family delegated by that father); our customs, our rituals; our potential & capacity, our allies, and even those poor souls that would dare to consider us as their enemies.
Fixed within the concept of the “bayith” is an assumption that The Creator is in fact lord over all. HE allows a man to rule over a house and to be recognized as its chief. Then the said house takes on that man’s name. The house is indicative of all that have served and will serve under his umbrella, including his wives, his sons, his daughters, or his bondmen (bondwomen). Their success is the house’s success. And the success of the house is their success. The two are intertwined. Those that are (past/present/future) of the house are under the head’s guidance, helping to build it, and are recognized, acknowledged, and understood as vital members of that house. The “He" here never represents just the individual alone – even when alluding to the father of the house - for he was also brought forth at some point in time. Rather, it serves as a place marker – a citation, if you will, of something greater and more ancient. In our culture an individual is never truly an individual. He is always imagined as moving with an ancestral entourage.
Of particular relevance here is the fact that the chief father’s (the man that found the House) occupation and title tended to be the livelihood that those of the house carried forth over generations. If he was a welder – those of his house over time tended to operate in the field of welding. All members of that house worked to support their family’s generational mastery of that profession. The members of the house would carry on that professional skillset – not necessarily being confided to only welding – but expanding into fields connected to the welding profession. Maybe over time family members would specialize in general metallurgy, tool making, structural engineering, etc… In any case, the bayith serves as both a flagpole and a boundary line. It is never to be displaced.
So now that we’ve taken a look into the cultural concept of the house, we should be prepared to ask about the precise meaning of the phrase “The House of Bondage”; namely what it actually meant to be considered the progeny from said house, and ultimately who the entity is that that a person of the house is expected to be in bondage to?
Firstly, the word "avadiym" in most English biblical translations is equated with the word “bondage" but a correct rendering of “avadiym” is "servants". When translated to English, the phrase “Mibeyth Avaudiym” actually equates to “out of, or from, the House of Servants”. Essentially, what’s being expressed here is a statement from YOD HEH WAV HEH to HIS people about Mitzrayim’s attempt to mold YisraÉL into a shape and form conducive to its own interests. When rendered properly – “mibeyth avaudiym” becomes a cautionary statement. The usage of this idiom within this context suggests that if this program of molding that Mitzrayim desired for YisraÉL was successful, the people of YOD HEH WAV HEH would no longer exist for the purpose that they were created, for a people identified as hailing from a “house of servants” is a people who have accepted a servant as its deity and ancestral heritage. YOD HEH WAV HEH bends the knee to no one, and by his extension, those that are his, of the nation of YisraEL, were not created to bend the knee to any other nation.
From what’s stated above one may be left to wonder about the actual purpose behind the experience of one that is a member in the House of Servants. Was it a punishment or some type of test for our people? If we recall, in the book of B’reshiyth (Genesis) one of the first tasks given to Adam (mankind) was to “till” or “serve”. This agricultural trope was symbolic of the ongoing relationship a man was to have with the environment that he was placed in. The better he was at tilling/serving the more his maturation developed. A major piece of this lesson of keeping and tilling the “land” was his recognition and understanding of boundaries. Remember, he was told what to keep/protect and also what he did not have access to (tree of knowledge of good & evil). In an interesting type of way the people of YisraÉL’s next stage of development into a man (one people) required our being assigned as an apprentice in the House of Servants. Our forefathers being placed in Mitzrayim were provided an opportunity to learn how to serve. But this was not intended to be perpetual. Our assignment was designed to prepare us for eventual rulership. This was only a step towards that goal.
If we can equate the experiences of our fathers with the experiences of modernity the carry-over is clear. We are what we are named and our destiny is embedded in our names. If we begin our history with the times that we were held captive and forced into dependency – then nothing that that we or our progeny ever accomplishes will be conceptualized as manifesting anything beyond that limitation. Everything we do will be measured up to but never surpass those borders. If we accept classification as perpetual servants we also accept the limitation that comes with such a label.
Our houses are named for our fathers. And who we are is directly linked to the House that we come from. In Mitzrayim, we labored for just enough time. We went through just enough challenges; placed in the furnace of refinery just long enough to be cooked thoroughly and prepared for the next stage of our becoming a people. While in the furnace we were tried and tested. We had to learn the lesson of perseverance.
Those of us that accept that YOD HEH WAV HEH (1)is sovereign, (2) is our power source, (3) knows us intimately, and (4) has already successfully delivered us from the most powerful configuration of men in world history, will also have to understand that (5) we must be prepared to meet challenges and commit to learning by doing - tilling our environments along the way. We will have to go through stages of development, just as any human being progressing from a child to an adult. Our people must seriously consider the situations that we will encounter with environments, nations, and non-believers, then internalize each challenge as different boards in the game of life that we must conquer before reaching the next level. We must always remember that the more we skip the more we stunt our own development. Understanding the necessity of endurance is vital. The struggle is long and protracted. The Preamble to the Commandments encoded in Shmot 20:2 provides us with a meditative affirmation that if internalized correctly will permit us to properly ascertain the true weight of our Creator's words so that in turn we may not only hear his commandments – but do them.
Peace be to you. Peace be to your house. And peace be unto all that is yours! Shalom Shalom!
Bn Shmû ÉL is a loyal son, a committed father, and the founder of HaDBR Media, Chief Editor at Bn Shmû ÉL Publishing House, and author of The Land Of Milk and Honey: The Heart Of The World. https://www.bn-shmu-el.com/shop .
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