The Meaning of Biblical Exile

 

Revelation Through Removal

Throughout the Bible, the prophets of ancient Israel repeat the same message to the people: stop sinning, or God will punish you by allowing a foreign army to destroy the Land of Israel and exile you to a distant land. The original Hebrew word for “exile” is galut גלות, from the root GLH גלה, meaning “to remove”. The same root can also mean “to uncover the eyes or the ears” – in other words, “to reveal the truth.” 

The message of the prophets

The doomsday message of the prophets is thus more complex than what appears at first glance. The exile of the people will be painful, but it will also allow the truth to be laid bare for all to see. After the punishment of dispersion has ended, the people will be able to return to the Land of Israel with pure hearts. 

Hebrew is the Key to Unlocking the Scriptures

After 2000 years of exile, the people of Israel are back in the Land of Israel, speaking the language of Israel: Hebrew. The complex meaning of exile is only seen when you can read the Bible in the original Hebrew.

A mysterious Hebrew code

Prophetic Language?

Take for instance this verse from the story of the Flood, “the land was filled with violence.” The Hebrew word for “violence” here is Hamas (חמאס)! Today, Hamas is the name of a terrorist organization that indeed fills our land with violence. But who could have known it at that time? And yet, here it is, right before our eyes – the word that meant “violence” long before the violent Hamas came into existence.

Virus or Plague?

Another example is connected directly to today’s reality. Coronavirus in Hebrew is Negif Korona - negif (נגיף) meaning “virus”. The word negif is of course the main word we hear on the news these days. If you know Biblical Hebrew, however, you would recognize a very frightening root in this word: negef, or magefa (מגפה) – the Biblical words that mean “plague, pestilence”. Why do the words “virus” and “plague” have the same root in Hebrew?

Discover the Hebrew connection

In Modern Hebrew, many new words were derived from existing biblical roots. For some (prophetic?) reason, the word “virus” was derived from the word “plague” – although, at that time, nobody thought of a virus as a deadly plague. Today, the connection between these words is obvious.