Language Studies

Difficult Sayings

Do and Obey
Exodus 24:7

"Then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, 'All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!'" (Exodus 24:7).

Admittedly the article was not endorsing a permanent state of blind obedience but rather pointing to the thought that in Judaism understanding can follow obedience. True, Abraham was called to "Go" and even to "slay" his son before understanding dawned, but had an angel not stayed his hand would he have carried out an action so against God's ethics based upon obedience alone? For, over Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham had the audacity to query the divine intention (Genesis 18:23). Moses, Elijah, David, and, Jeremiah, were renowned questioners of God. They saw no contradiction in wanting to understand before obeying. God did not judge them for it and sometimes revealed more as a result, though not always. With Job he drew the line and declared himself the creator God who is ultimately beyond question by the mere creation.

In this day and age of sects and cults and leaders demanding unquestioning obedience it could be dangerous if this were the only path to true spiritual understanding. Jesus encouraged questioning, prompted learning and study (Matthew 9:13; 11:29; 24:32), required understanding (Matthew 13:51; Mark 7:14), and illuminated the disciples' minds (Luke 24:45).

So how does the verse in Exodus 24:7 endorse or refute the ideas above? The Hebrew phrase at the end of the verse is נַאֲשֶׂהוְנִשְׁמָא na`aseh venishmâ` (Strong's #6213 and #8085), literally "we will do and we will hear" (the n- is the "we will" prefix), however the latter verb שָׁמַא shâma` can mean "to hear, heed, understand" and "to obey". In one sense the verb embraces all three or four terms simultaneously for the Hebrew idea behind "hearing" includes the resultant thought and action. Similarly, "to see" in Hebrew can mean, "to provide" and "to speak" can mean, "to act". Hebrew is not contemplative but concrete. If we know this then we can leave the verb in its simplest translation as "hear" on most occasions.

For English readers, however, there are occasions when either context or parallel verb placement dictate a translation by one of shâma`'s more specific renderings. In the Authorised Version it is translated by 'hear' x785, 'hearken' x196, 'obey' x81, 'obedient' x8, 'understand' x9, and another 30-40 miscellaneous terms. In Exodus 24:7 the AV, NKJV, and the majority of other versions including the Jewish Publication Society, use "obey" or "be obedient". What is their justification for this? In part it is context but it is also based upon the pair of verbs used whereby the range of the verb shâma` is limited by its logical proximity to `âsâh "to do". The closest parallel meaning of shâma` to that is "to obey". So the translators are not compromising the text.

In some instances Hebrew will use two similar verbs such as "speak" and "proclaim" for emphasis of the one action. Occasionally, it will even use the same verb twice modifying the one idea with the concept of diligence, consistency, or perfection. This happens seven times with shâma` in Exodus and Deuteronomy, e.g., Exodus 15:26, "diligently heed/hearken/listen". The JPS Bible, quite reasonably, renders even Exodus 24:7, as "we will faithfully do".

Historically, a number of rabbis have wondered about the two verbs and come to various conclusions, some more mystical than linguistic. Some suggested that the first "to do" was for the written Law and the second "to hear" was for the as yet future oral Law and additions. Along similar lines Rabbi Yitzchak Abarbanel (15th century Portugal and Spain) thought of the "and we will hear" as a commitment to "do now" and "go on hearing" in the future or more that day on Sinai. Others thought that the verbs were identical in meaning but related to the positive and the negative commandments. Another, via a parable, suggested that the first "to do" was broken with the worship of the golden calf and that Israel should be more careful in keeping to her second promise "to hear/heed".

Later rabbis, such as the 19th century Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk, emphasised the Israelites' acceptance of the commandments before reaching a full understanding of them.

Rabbi Aha b. R. Ze'ira in a Song of Songs midrash made a horticultural comparison:

"Israel in Egypt declared their faith before they heard the message, as it says, 'And the people believed; and they heard that the Lord had remembered' (Exodus 4:31) ... Just as the apple-tree brings out its blossom before its leaves, so Israel at Sinai put 'doing, before 'hearing'".^F1

A similar midrash on Numbers regards the commitment as "undertaking the study of the Torah as well as its performance".^F2

An interesting Talmudic passage^F3 compares the people's response with that of the angels in which they also "do and hear" (Psalm 103:20). This is regarded as being the secret to angelic service, doing before hearing, i.e., instantaneously.

A curious section of the Talmud^F4 combines a number of Jewish interpretations of Israel's words. It even suggests that as Israel was "at the foot of", literally "under", Mount Sinai God was holding the mountain over their heads as a threat so that they were blackmailed into obedience before understanding!

And they stood under the mount: R. Abdimi b. Hama b. Hasa said: This teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, overturned the mountain upon them like an [inverted] cask, and said to them,'If ye accept the Torah, 'tis well; if not, there shall be your burial.' R. Aha b. Jacob observed: This furnishes a strong protest against the Torah. ...

R. Simla lectured: When the Israelites gave precedence to 'we will do' over 'we will hearken,' six hundred thousand ministering angels came and set two crowns upon each man of Israel, one as a reward for 'we will do,' and the other as a reward for 'we will hearken'. ...

R. Eleazar said: When the Israelites gave precedence to 'we will do' over 'we will hearken,' a Heavenly Voice went forth and exclaimed to them, Who revealed to My children this secret, which is employed by the Ministering Angels, as it is written, Bless the Lord, ye angels of his. Ye mighty in strength, that fulfil his word, That hearken unto the voice of his word: first they fulfil and then they hearken?

R. Hama son of R. Hanina said: What is meant by, As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, [So is my beloved among the sons]: why were the Israelites compared to an apple tree? To teach you: just as the fruit of the apple tree precedes its leaves, so did the Israelites give precedence to 'we will do' over 'we will hearken'.

Even if there is special historical and to a lesser extent theological significance in the verb order in Exodus 24:7 there are other verses combining the same two verbs in the context of obedience to God.

For instance, in Deuteronomy 4:1 the same two Hebrew verbs occur in the reverse order:

"Now, O Israel, listen (shâma`) to the statutes and the judgments which I teach you to observe (`âsâh), that you may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers is giving you."

Here, pardon the aural pun, hearing/listening comes before the observing/doing.

Later in the same book we read that:

"You go near and hear (shâma`) all that the LORD our God may say, and tell us all that the LORD our God says to you, and we will hear (shâma`) and do (`âsâh) it." (Deuteronomy 5:27)

"Therefore hear (shâma`), O Israel, and be careful to observe (`âsâh) it, that it may be well with you, and that you may multiply greatly as the LORD God of your fathers has promised you-'a land flowing with milk and honey.'" (Deuteronomy 6:3)

"Then it shall come to pass, because you listen (shâma`) to these judgments, and keep and do (`âsâh) them, that the LORD your God will keep with you the covenant and the mercy which He swore to your fathers." (Deuteronomy 7:12)

Deuteronomy 13:18; 15:5; 26:14; 27:10; 28:1,13,15; 30:8,12,13; all say pretty much the same thing, again, in the order "hear" and "obey".

In Leviticus 26:14-15 God himself calls on the Israelites to hear and then do, so God's order is good enough for me, but even here there is evidence of Hebrew parallelism - saying the same thing twice in different wording:

And if you do not hear Me	/	and do not do all these commandments
And if you despise My statutes	/	and if your soul abhors My judgments
So that you do not do all My commandments	/	and break My covenant

Curiously, Hebrew uses the same two verbs to condemn to death the man who acts presumptuously by "doing" and not "hearing" (Deuteronomy 17:12)

Deuteronomy 31:12 actually inserts a third verb before the "doing", thus:

"Gather the people together, men and women and little ones, and the stranger who is within your gates, that they may hear (shâma`) and that they may learn (lâmad, Strong's #3925) to fear the LORD your God and carefully do (`âsâh) all the words of this law."

In the New Testament we are taught that faith comes by hearing and that faith in turn will lead on to understanding. Nowhere is doing before hearing elevated nor understanding deprecated.

"Then faith [is] of hearing (understanding and obeying), and hearing by the Word of God." (Romans 10.17)

"Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." (Hebrews 11.3)

So, in conclusion, whilst the rabbis and some modern teachers might make something of the curiosity in the word order of Exodus 24:7 the overwhelming testimony particularly of Deuteronomy and an understanding of Hebrew usage dictate that hearing and doing are either a logical progression or occasionally synonymous terms for obedience. God would rather we obeyed than worry about the order we did it in!

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FOOTNOTES:
F1: Midrash Song of Songs Rabbah; 2:10-11
F2: Midrash Numbers Rabbah; 14:10
F3: Meshech Chochma to 32:19, quoted in Zornberg, The Particulars of Rapture - Reflections on Exodus, (USA: Doubleday, 2001), pp.302-303. Also cf. Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat, 88a
F4: Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat, 88a

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KJ Went has taught biblical Hebrew, hermeneutics and Jewish background to early Christianity. The "Biblical Hebrew made easy" course can be found at www.biblicalhebrew.com.

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