The Word “Weightier”
In the Greek the word weightier is “”Barus,” Strong’s No. 926. It’s meaning is heavy in weight (i.e., in substance or consideration), severe, of great(er) moment or importance; the latter being in contrast with, or relative to, other matters.
The word “weightier” appears only once in the Bible, at Matthew 23:23, and reads:
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.
The question we need to ask is does the concept behind the word “weightier,” as used in Matthew 23:23, appear in other parts of the Biblical text? The answer is yes. In fact, even throughout the seven or eight woes found in Chapter 23, most of these mirror the concept to one degree or another. So, just what is the concept?
Concept Behind “Weightier Matters”
The concept behind Yeshua’s comment, “…the weightier matters of the law…,” is one that teaches that Elohim’s laws and commands require obedience (for our own good, and that of advancing the Kingdom on earth), and this is to be in the form of action, not simply intellectual assent. Also, entailed in this concept is the fact that Elohim’s Kingdom is structured in the form of an hierarchy (both in terms of personages and of commands). Related to these, and in support thereof, are the clearly outlined protocols we see in the Biblical text, the existence of PaRDeS (which is explained below), and the fact that throughout the text Natural (physical) realities have often been employed to teach Spiritual principles. Finally, an awareness of the two Logic Systems at play within the Biblical text is important in assisting one to correctly grasp the fullness of the instruction(s) being imparted through the textual writings.
The above, underlined matters will be individually addressed below.
Supporting, Related Concepts
We read of the Shema (to hear and obey) in Deuteronomy 6:1-6, and in 11: 1, and 11:13-21, where we see the command to love the Lord our God and to keep His charge in verse 1, and the conditional statement that if we earnestly obey His commandments there will be blessings.
In Matthew 22:34-40 we read where the Pharisees asked of Yeshua, what was the greatest commandment in the law. His reply, in verses 37-40, reads as follows:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the Prophets.”
From the above quotation, we see the word “hang” used. This is the Greek word “Kremannumi,” Strong’s No. 2910, meaning to be suspended from, or to depend upon. In this context, the word “hang” means that all the Law and Prophets depend on the two overriding (weightier) precepts of love the Lord your God, and love your neighbor as yourself. Thus, we see an hierarchy of legal precepts in Yeshua’s statement to the Pharisees. Think about this: the Torah, the Prophets, and the writings essentially comprise the entirety of the Tanakh. And of course the Apostolic Scriptures cannot be fully understood in the absence of the Tanakh. The ultimate foundation, the weightier matters, as it were, for the entirety of the Bible’s instructions to mankind, hang or are suspended from, the two commandments of love the Lord your God and love your neighbor as yourself (cf. Lev. 19:18). As one famous Rabbi is noted as saying, “…all the rest (of the text) is commentary” on these two weightier precepts.
From Micah 6:8, we read:
“He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”
Note that in the absence of humility (which is accompanied by justice and mercy) there is no genuine worship of Elohim, and thus no true faith (trust). Within the context of Chapter 6 of the Prophet Micah, the leadership of Israel had violated these three virtues of Godly living.
Obedience
See John 14:15-16; 14:21; and 14:23-24. Note in the latter two verses the hierarchy of Father and Son.
Hierarchy
By definition, a hierarchy is comprised of a body of two or more personages or entities having varying levels of authority, these being categorized by the level/extent of authority or rank.
For example:
Matthew 5:19; the least and greatest in Heaven
Matthew 26:39; Your will, not Mine (see also Luke 22:42)
John 14:16-17; and I will pray the Father
Matthew 11:27; all things delivered to Me by My Father
John 14:10; the words that I speak to you
Protocols
By definition, protocol is comprised of a code(s) of conduct from a higher authority. It entails stipulated and proper procedure from on high (in this case, Elohim). The word is derived from the word “proto,” which means first in time, or earliest.
For example:
Leviticus 16:1-5; Day of Atonement
Leviticus 10:1-7; profane fire of Nadab and Abihu
Isaiah 1:2-4,10-15. Specifically, in verse 13 we read, “…I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting (speaking to syncretism)…” This was spoken by the Prophet to the children of Israel as they were mixing pagan practices with Elohim’s appointed feasts.
PaRDeS
PaRDeS is an acronym for the four levels of understanding possible when studying the text of the Torah or Tanakh. This is derived from the ancient Jewish sages, who saw the interpretive (exegetical) methodology as levels of deepening insights. Expressed in the English, it has been vowelized to aid in pronunciation. The four Hebrew words it represents are:
Pashat – meaning the first level of understanding is to be the literal meaning of the text; it is the narrative or instruction as written and understood from the plain words themselves.
Ramez – the next level is the hinted, symbolic or allegorical meaning within the text.
Drash – (also seen as Derash) the next deeper level of understanding is the interpretative, comparative (midrashic), or associative meaning.
Sod – the deepest level of understanding is the secret, hidden, or mystical meaning of the text, said to be given through inspiration or revelation as a result of intensive study.
Note there exists an hierarchy in the PaRDeS interpretive model as well.
The Natural Teaches Spiritual Principles
We read in 1 Corinthians 15:46, the following:
“However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual.”
The Apostle Paul tells us in the preceding verse 44, that the human body is sown as a natural (physical) body, but raised as a spiritual body. Thus, as a single example of many, one of the recurring themes found throughout the Bible’s text is that the natural, physical realities of life are used to instruct on the spiritual principles imparted in the Bible. We humans are wired such that we more readily grasp the physical principles over the spiritual principles, so Elohim has used this reality to instruct in the spiritual principles, which in many instances are “weightier” than the physical/natural.
We will illustrate this with two examples, Circumcision and Mikvah/Baptism.
Circumcision – We read in Genesis 17:10-14 where Abraham is commanded to circumcise all males within his household as a sign (vs. 11) of his covenant made with Elohim. This was a physical sign. In Deuteronomy 10:16, we read that Moses is admonishing the children of Israel to circumcise the foreskin of their hearts, and become stiff-necked no longer. This is early evidence of the spiritual side of man’s physical removal (serving as a reminder) of the foreskin, indicating covenantal commitment. In Roman’s 2:25-26, and 28-29, we read where the Apostle Paul relates an important concept surrounding the physical act of circumcision:
“For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.”
In Genesis chapter 34 we read of the incident where Dinah, the daughter of Jacob and Leah, was defiled by Shechem, the son of Hamor, the Hivite. Subsequently, her brothers Simeon and Levi, in revenge, devise a wicked plan which operates to defile the sign of the Abrahamic Covenant and, ultimately, the covenant itself. To them the physical sign of the covenant had apparently become nothing more than a clan identity symbol, rather than its intended reminder of covenantal commitment. In Genesis 49:5 we read where their father Jacob declared Simeon and Levi as “instruments of cruelty.”
In both of the above examples we learn that the physical has taught the spiritual concept. And, ultimately, we learn that the weightier matter is the spiritual, with the physical act of circumcision being the physical sign of spiritual commitment.
Mikvah/Baptism
The fundamental concept underlying Mikvah/Baptism is a need for cleansing, or an indicator of a change in status or position for an individual in terms of his or her relationship to Elohim. The reasons and methods of accomplishing the act vary widely between Judaism and Christianity. The one common denominator is water. Beyond this, the variations are too voluminous to detail here. Once again, Biblically the act of Mikvah/Baptism is a physical symbol of engaging in a spiritual commitment, and the acknowledgement of the protocols outlined in Elohim’s word in accord therewith. The physical act of Mikvah/Baptism done for its intended reasons and with right motives, is evidence that the spiritual instruction has been understood and the symbology of the physical act has been affirmed. As with circumcision, done for the wrong motives, or in absence of the gravity of the spiritual implications, Mikvah/Baptism becomes a corruption of Elohim’s commands to observe it. Here again, the weightier matter is the spiritual understanding and motivation for the act, not the physical act itself.
The Two Logic Systems
The Biblical text we have been given was written through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit on Jewish writers, being directed mainly to Jewish recipients. The writers penned the inspirations and visions they received through the only window and viewpoint they knew – the cultural, historical, and linguistic context and perspective in which they were raised and daily lived out.
While it is true that by the time of the Apostolic writings there had been significant Greek influences on the cultures of the Eastern Mediterranean Basin, the writers nevertheless held a long continued history of Hebrew culture and language. Thus the books of the Bible were originally written by those of a Hebrew culture and logic system. It is this logic system that is applicable to proper interpretation of the entirety of the Biblical text, including the Tanakh and the Apostolic writings. To attempt to apply a Greco-Roman logic to interpretation of the Bible’s text will result in varying levels of misunderstanding. See the accompanying paper entitled Biblical Interpretation, Logic Systems. This paper provides a more in depth description of the two logic systems that collide in places within the Biblical text, and that become an important interpretative consideration for a full and proper understanding of the text.
Finally, in terms of the subject of weightier matters, we see where the Biblical requirement of two or more witnesses needed to substantiate a matter exists within each of the above outlined topics, even in consideration of the two logic systems. The weightier matter in this latter instance is to apply the Hebrew logic to the text, rather than the Greco-Roman logic. In conclusion, while the term “weightier matters of the law” appears only once in the text, Yeshua’s statement in Matthew 23:23 in terms of its concept, is found in many instances throughout the Biblical record.
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