Torah Portion Summary

The eighteenth reading from the Torah is named Mishpatim (מִּשְׁפָּטִים) which means "judgments." The title comes from the first words of the first verse of the reading, which could be literally translated to say, "And these are the judgments which you will place before them" (Exodus 21:1). The first three chapters of this Torah portion deliver a legal code of laws and commandments that form a nucleus for the Torah's laws. The last chapter tells the story of how the people of Israel consented to keep these laws and entered into a covenant relationship with God through a series of rituals conducted by Moses.

Haftarh Portion Summary

The Haftarah from the prophet Jeremiah (יִרְמְיָהוּ הַנָּבִיא) provides a stark contrast with this week's parashah. Mishpatim opens with commandments about releasing slaves, but the reading from Jeremiah reports how the people of Judah betrayed the Hebrew slaves of their day.

King Zedekiah (הַמֶּלֶךְ צִדְקִיָּהוּ) had earlier made a covenant with the people to free all Hebrew slaves (according to the seven year cycle of permissible slavery mentioned in Exodus 21:2-6), hoping that by doing so, God would be merciful and spare Judah from a Babylonian invasion. After awhile it appeared that the Babylonians were not going to attack Jerusalem, and the crisis seemed to pass. Treacherously, however, the former slave owners reneged on their covenant and took back their slaves. The word of the LORD (דְּבַר־יְהוָה) then came to Jeremiah. God rebuked the people for their perfidy and pronounced judgment upon them. Instead of withdrawing from Judah, the LORD will now bring the Babylonians back and they will raze Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah entirely:

Therefore, thus says the LORD: You have not obeyed me by proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother and to his neighbor; behold, I proclaim to you liberty to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine, declares the LORD. I will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.... And the men who transgressed my covenant and did not keep the terms of the covenant that they made before me... will I give into the hand of their enemies... Their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth. And Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials I will give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their lives, into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon which has withdrawn from you. Behold, I will command, declares the LORD, and will bring them back to this city. And they will fight against it and take it and burn it with fire. I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without inhabitant.

Note that the last two verses of the Haftarah (Jer. 33:25-26) were added by the sages to soften the message and to provide hope. Ki yesh tikvah (for there is hope), always, for Israel, since God's sovereign purposes are fixed according to counsel of His own good pleasure.

B'rit Chadashah Portion Summary

In Matthew 5:38-42, Yeshua transcends the sages interpretation of an "eye for eye, tooth for tooth" (עַיִן תַּחַת עַיִן שֵׁן תַּחַת שֵׁן) by teaching that we are to overcome evil by means of love. Yeshua's ethic of love trumps the exact demands required by the canons of justice. Note that Yeshua not only teaches as if He had authority such as Moses, but abrogates Moses' teachings themselves, therefore implying His full authority and deity.

The passage from Matthew 17:1-11 further indicates how Yeshua was greater than Moses (who, incidentally, finally did make it into the Promised Land). Moses gave the Torah from Mount Sinai as a mediator between the people and the LORD; but Yeshua stood upon the Mount of Transfiguration with both Moses and the Elijah the prophet (אֵלִיָּהוּ הַנָּבִיא) at his side. When Peter wanted to show honor to all three, the Voice of the Father was heard from the Cloud, saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him." When Peter and the other two disciples heard the voice, they fell down terrified. Yeshua then came and touched them, saying, "Rise, and have no fear." And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Yeshua only.

All Portions this week (LINK)
Torah Haftarah B'rit Chadashah
Exodus 21-24 Jeremiah 34:8-22, 33:25-26 Matthew 5:8-20
Isaiah 66:1-24
COMMENTARY
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Ardelle -1 Tim Hegg -1 Torah Table Talk
Ardelle -2 Tim Hegg -2 Shabbat Shekalim
Ardelle -3 Tim Hegg -3 The Oral Law
Ardelle -4 Torah of the Stranger
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Mishpatim