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)
In numerous instances this phrase and others resembling it are peppered throughout the holy text, and each time it is used the objective is the same; to identify the key organizing steps of belief for a devotee, so that he and his house may begin to properly grasp the weight of THE FATHER’s commandments in order to be able to HEAR so that he and his may HEARKEN appropriately. Every part of SHMOT 20:2 lists a series of steps towards belief. Here in Part 2 we will look at the second part of the verse:
אלהיך
“Thy God” = Eloheykha = “Your Power Source!”
The origins of the English word “god” links back to the indo-aryan language (same origins as the word “holy”) from a term kuta/guta meaning “to be sacrificed”. In terms of world history and the civilizational timeline of families of the earth, it is of a fairly recent usage made popular in modernity, in the English language, to allude to the invoking of an object of religious worship. When originally used by the Anglo Saxons it DID NOT refer exclusively to the deity of the Hebrew people. However, later, when English people began to convert to Christianity (as they understood it) they used the term with a capital G (“God”) to differentiate themselves from the people of other religious faiths. Their usage of the term, and of course their understanding of the concept of the Elohiym of YisraEL was informed by their limited knowledge and understanding of Greco-Roman mythology which was of itself realized through their experiences interacting with other neighboring European people.
For reasons previously explained in Part 1, we know that it is not ever in the nature of the Eternal One to ever identify in such a way. Consider how preposterous it would be for the entity solely responsible for creating the very notion of existence itself to compare its full manifestation to something that is not. What will man’s brain ever compare a non-entity to? Note how HE responded when Mosheh inquired after HIS name during his encounter with the fiery bush. HE said “I will be that which I am”. No, he was not being difficult, as most people misreading it would assume. He was actually effectively and quite accurately expressing that even if HE desired to, there was no thing, even in existence (which he created) that HE could compare himself to.
What is meant by the phrase “Eloheykha” (“Your Elohey”)?
Firstly, the usage of “your” speaks to the multitudes. It speaks to a family of men, a tribe that are one people. In the phrase The Eternal is speaking to an entire people group – but HE is speaking to them in the singular – because of their unifying according to the tenets implied by the statement. No matter the differences amongst the people their character and their actions are in alignment. They are as one man. Secondly the “your” speaks to a certain type of possession. By THE ETERNAL declaring who HE is, then declaring that HE is “our” ELOH, HE is making a statement of ownership. In fact, its being declared that HE, the sovereign of all, is intimately connected to that which HE owns. Since HE is referring here exclusively to the People of YisraEL the declaration is that HE is our specific clan deity should be interpreted that he is the ONE that empowers our family of tribes to subdue and exercise dominion. HIS ways and instructions are the keys that we who are HIS use to unlock the gateway to dominion. If we are using some other thing or some other ways in our quest for power - we are not truly being powerful no matter how things may appear before our eyes - or the eyes of others.
"ELOHEY" (from whence the term Elohiym is derived) refers to a power source if not power itself. When pertaining to THE MOST HIGH, it pertains to true power; power that has been, is, and will be undefeated, power that answers to nothing else, and a type of power that empowers anything else with any semblance of power, including man. It is all encompassing.. Hence, to borrow from Shaul, when we hear him say HE is ELOHEYKHA– it’s being declared that HE (Yod Heh Wav Heh) is The One by which those that are HIS, “live, move, and have their beingness (in) through”. In other words, without HIM a man is literally NO THING.
Although all living beings (even those that cannot claim HIM as their own personal, clan, or tribal deity) owe their lives to YAH, men are the minority in acknowledging that YAH owns them, and their failure to acknowledge that source which has created them and filled them with the breath of life prevents them from truly living life. Because a man refuses to acknowledge IT does not mean that IT does not exist. This only means that he will never benefit from ITs offerings because IT (even in all ITs might) has been diminished in his eyes. As IT is above in the mind, so shall IT be below in the world one sees and imagines. To take it a step further – I would posit that by not acknowledging HIS ownership you are not in that moment HIS, for if you were HIS he would be ELOHEYKHA (Your Power Source). Consequently, by turning your back on The Creator you render yourself unable to receive what HE by nature pours out for those that are HIS. The People of YisraEL are the example and the vessel by which the world will come into a true understanding of who Yod Heh Wav Heh is!
If the creator of all is not your power source, then what is? Any response to this question that does not equate to YOD HEH WAV HEH, is in the eyes of an Israelite man, a rejection of the true power source. By acknowledging and moving accordingly to the understanding that YAH is not only OUR sole power source, but simultaneously THE sole power source of all, allows for endless possibilities.
In Part Three we’ll explore the next phase of the preamble to the commandments; how a specific part of the passage alludes to real undeniable history, and also a brief glimpse into why the citation was necessary and why it still remains significant in even today’s times - several millennia later.
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 .
Beautiful. HalayluYAH