True Monotheism
Introduction
Multi-Manifestations of the One God
Jewish Consciousness from the World of Atzilut
The Jewish Three that are One
The Consciousness of Atzilut Appreciates the Paradox of Proverbs
God's Spirit in the Verses from Isaiah
The Seven Manifestations of "I"
Mystical Insights
Seven Eyes and Seven "I"s
Positional Values Reveal More Sevens
God's Spirit in the Verses from Isaiah
We shall now study a verse from Isaiah that is often misinterpreted in order to create a misrepresentation with regard to God's absolute Unity. When the text is studied with its traditional translation to Aramaic, Targum Yonatan, and the traditional commentaries of Rashi, Ibn Ezra, and Radak, its true meaning is clear.
In Isaiah (48:12-16) we read:
Listen to Me, O Jacob, and Israel whom I have called.
I am He, I am the First, I am also the Last.My hand has also laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand has spanned the heavens.
When I call them, they stand up together.All of you: assemble yourselves and hear, which among them has declared these things?
He whom the Lord loves, he will do His pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Kasdim.
I, even I, have spoken; indeed, I have called him.
I have brought him, and he shall succeed in his way.Come near to Me, hear this: I have not spoken in secret from the beginning.
From the time that it was, there have I been.
And now the Lord God and His spirit have sent me.
The above verses in Isaiah form an integral portion in the text. In the Masoretic Bible text, they appear as a separate unit (parashah).
Unlike its false interpretation, there is no appearance here of three divine entities. Let us begin to analyze these verses.
First we must note that the grammatical division of almost every verse in the Bible is into two distinct sentences. This phenomenon is marked by the strongest cantillation note, the etnachta.
The second sentence of the last verse reads, "And now the L-rd God has sent me and His spirit." The Targum and Rashi explain that this final sentence is a change of subject. Up until this point, the last word of the previous sentence reads, "There am I." This concludes the words of God which make up the entire portion until this point. The final sentence presents the words of the prophet. Obviously the prophet is not identified as God. Like every Jewish soul, he is a son of God. This is the most basic difference between Judaism and any other misconception of religion.
This sentence literally reads "And now, the L-rd God has sent me, and His spirit." The Radak explains that the prophet sometimes hears a direct voice spoken by God, and sometimes he may experience the vision of an angel sent to speak with him. According to this, "His spirit" means the angel sent to speak with him. The meaning of the verse is thus: "God has sent me, together with the angel who I saw in my prophecy, who was sent by God, to speak with me and to send me."
Another reading of the word "His spirit" is "the spirit within me." The prophet relates that he became inspired. This is the explanation of Rav Sa'adiah Gaon. The vav in the word v'rucho ("and His spirit") translates as "with His spirit." The meaning of the verse according to this reading is: "God has aroused His spirit within me, and with the power of that spirit has sent me to prophesize to the people. It is obvious that there are not three different divinities, God forbid, expressing themselves in these verses.
