Beneath Egypt

“You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.” Exodus 20:4 NASB

Earth – The Hebrew word mitahat combines the preposition min with the adverb tahat.   This combination produces the pictograph “Water/Massive/Chaos + Seal/Sign/Covenant + Fence/Separate/Surround + Seal/Sign/Covenant.” Translated in the phrase “or on the earth beneath,” the Hebrew disguises the fact that there are two words in the concept “beneath.” Both min and tahat contribute to the single translation “beneath.” Min means “away from, out of, from” and tahat means “(what is located) underneath, below, in place of.” In its pictographic representation, tahat employs two symbols for covenant. The first is the seal over chaos (water). The second is the seal of the fence of separation. At first this might seem quite strange since the object of the phrase is not water, but earth. But perhaps it wasn’t quite so strange to the first audience.

Use of this pictograph displays symbolically what Egyptian religion practiced explicitly, namely, the covenant of power separating creation from chaos. YHWH says to Israel, “In spite of the fact that you have experienced a culture that worships powers that separated the earth from chaos, you will not worship any such god or anything associated with the power attributed to this god.” Nothing “beneath” may be used to represent the true Creator. If this accurately represents the context of the commandment, then it makes perfect sense that the creation account in Genesis begins as a counterpoint to this Egyptian mythology. The Genesis account does not stand alone, but it is unique. It stands as an alternative to the competing mythologies of surrounding cultures. This commandment is formulated in direct response to those competing mythologies.

Perhaps it is worth adding that the description of water above and beneath the earth is definitely an Egyptian representation. We must emphasize again that chaos symbolized by water was a vital part of the Egyptian view of the universe. This commandment addresses that idea.

“under the earth”.   In Paleo-Hebrew,

The final pictograph of this verse uses the consonants that form the word la-arets. In translation, the preposition le is merged into the preposition mitahat. Technically the verse reads “the water under under earth,” but it is translated with only a single preposition. Nevertheless, the consonant lamed is attached to the noun arets and must be accounted for as part of the pictograph. The full pictograph produces: Control/Authority/Tongue + Leader/Strength/First + Person/Head/Highest + Catch/Desire/Need.

“Earth” is seen as imagery that combines strength (first, leader) with person and desire/need. As we have already mentioned, the idea of “earth” in ancient script is related to the opening story of Man’s creation. The earth is the product of Man’s desire/need and strength. It is not the chaos of uncontrollable forces or the place of formlessness and void. The earth is ordered because Man exercises authority granted by God to bring about that order. In comparison to Egyptian thinking, YHWH prohibits worship of anything that could be imagined to exist as a god from sources under the earth. To a tribe recently removed from Egypt, this commandment would bring to mind all those dark and powerful gods who reside in the underworld. Egyptian religion provided several:[1] Anubis, god of the afterlife, Osiris, god of the dead, Sokar, another god of the underworld and Ra who traveled to the underworld. These gods dominated the culture’s perspective about dying and death. YHWH prohibits any worship of any of these gods. For the children of Israel, this commandment had very specific application.

Topical Index: under, earth, mitahat, arets, min, Exodus 20:4, Paleo-Hebrew

Find this insightful, interesting, illuminating? Come to the conference in Phoenix in July for a full explanation of the Ten Commandments in Paleo-Hebrew.

[1] https://www.google.com/search?q=Egyptian+religion+gods+of+the+underworld&client=safari&rls=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=XUN7U6r3OoSeqAaxyoDwBA&ved=0CEoQsAQ&biw=1474&bih=1066