In Search Of: Original Author Intent

By Bob Palumbo

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth...true...but He also spoke all things into existence. His Word is powerful; and the words of instruction that He gave to mankind were clear and direct; and not to be altered or tampered with. 

But over the centuries, men have translated His divine utterances into different languages. All fine and good, provided they maintained "original author intent."   

                                     Meanings matter...to God..and to us!

However, many times, the words we see in our Bibles today do not convey the same messages as the words He spoke through His chosen messengers in their original languages; and in a very different time.

In this eye-opening sixth release from best-selling author, Bob Palumbo, we go back in time...restoring many of the key names, places, events, and biblical concepts back to their original meanings.

You, the reader, will come to see God, Jesus, and the miraculous stories of both the Old and New Testaments in new and powerful ways; and your faith will be deepened by the beauty and clarity of these words...as God intended them. 

His Word is perfect, timeless, and unchanging. May it even be so, Lord!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bob Palumbo
• Release date: Dec 26, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215653821

Book preview

PREFACE

A Tale of Two Lives

The steps of a man are established by the LORD,

And He delights in his way." [Psalm 37:23 NASB]

You may have heard of " A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way…

(…and I always worry that sometimes my sentences are too long.)

Mr. Dickens certainly had a flair for making the case that two very opposite things can be true of the same situation, even at the same time. Chew on that for a moment.

Can something truly be good and bad at the same time; sad and joyful; fully alive and yet gradually dying? I have my answer, but I will let you ponder yours as we proceed here.

In similar fashion, in this book, it is my intent to connect two distinct storylines; the life God gave me (the one I am living) and the life God planned for me. By doing so, I hope to reveal the steppingstones that led me down the road of life, so to speak, bringing me to where I am today; physically, emotionally, and spiritually; and continuing to lead me towards our eternal destination for as long as the Lord of all allows me to tarry here on Earth.

The underlying theme of this book will be, as the title implies, to reveal what has been a passion for most of life; to discover the Original Author Intent of the words we find in our Bibles today; and to show how God Almighty has directed my steps and guided my life (even before I was born) with that purpose in mind.

For some reason, I cannot say why, seeking truth has been a fire that burns within my heart; especially since the day I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior back in November 1979. That was when I first began to read and study the Bible, at the ripe old age of twenty-five.

It was at that time that I began to realize what I had been taught about God, and Jesus, was not biblically accurate; and it was shortly thereafter that I began to learn of issues with translation, and to understand who was involved and what their agenda was (more on that later).

Since then, whenever the subject of the accuracy and reliability of the Scriptures comes up, this has been my patent response: I truly love the Word of God with all my heart, mind, and strength; but the work of the translators…not so much.

Now, just what do you mean by that, you may ask?

I tend to agree with the Apostle Paul who wrote these words to his disciple, Timothy: All Scripture is God-breathed… Our Father made His instructions and teachings clear to the ones whom He chose to record them. No human interpreter or translator was needed.

Those who received these heavenly downloads were inspired by the Holy Spirit to speak or write exactly as they were directed. The sacred words from God’s own lips were written down very carefully and precisely protected as such throughout many generations.

This is what is known among biblical scholars as the inspired text. When it came to making copies of original manuscripts (and there are many), great pains were taken to make sure every jot and tittle (every pen stroke and marking) was represented just as it had been received. No improvements or corrections were necessary, for as the Bible states in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, Do not add to or take away from these words. Plain and simple.

Even if one letter, or one tiny marking, was copied wrongly or accidentally, it was noted, generally in the margin, that an inadvertent mistake had been made…and the proper correction suggested (for future copyists to apply, since we could not erase the ink on a scroll and White Out had not been invented yet).

However, when it came to translating those divinely-inspired writings (very different from copying), there were some who were putting pressure on the translators to tweak certain words, names, or phrases in such a way as to reflect their own religious or political agendas…or to make them more inline with the society or culture of the day (or shall I say the powers that be).

I don’t know about you, but even today, when I hear of people wanting to bring our US Constitution more inline with the societal views of our day, my spirit screams (to borrow from comedian Flip Wilson), The devil is making you want to do this. Both the US Constitution and the Word of God were intended to "well endure the passage of time."

There is nothing man can do to improve on God’s Word, in my opinion; we can only water it down (and boy…have we ever).

In other words, keeping the integrity of God’s words was not always the top priority, so to speak; and that opened the door to false teachings, just as Jesus prophesied would happen.

Does that mean our modern Bibles are tainted to the point that we cannot trust what we are reading? No. I would say that our modern Bibles, for the most part, accurately portray who God was, is, and ever shall be…and Jesus Christ, as well.

Make no mistake about it; the Good News is still great news for those who put their trust in Him! May that never be minimized or forgotten.

Rest assured! The following words, written by the Apostle John as led by the Holy Spirit, are as true today as the day they were first penned:

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. [John 3:16]

Thanks be to God, and to His Son who willingly gave His life for us!

But John also revealed a great mystery in the first few verses of His Gospel. Not only was Jesus sent to become our atonement…He was also empowered to be our example. He was, the Word of God who became flesh and dwelt among us.

And that is why I have felt the need to write this book. Not unlike God Himself, His Word is eternal…without beginning and without end. And not unlike God Himself, His Word changes not. It is not something to be tampered with or modernized generation after generation. From before the foundations of this world, His Word was and is…perfect.

The two cannot be separated: God and His Word. If you think about it, the same is true for you and me. I am a person; a living soul or living being as it says in Genesis 2:7, depending on your translation. What I look like, what I say, what I do, and what I think; that is who I am, as a whole; and I would also equate that to God, as a whole…the Godhead.

My thoughts and my words are an extension of who I am. They are every bit as much me as my physical body. It is impossible to separate the person that I am from my thoughts or the words that I speak…or even the things that I do. They are extensions of me, and I would also equate that to Jesus, the Son of God. As the Apostle John wrote, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word with God, and the Word was God…" and Jesus was (and is) an extension of God Himself, just as the Holy Spirit is…for they are, all three persons, one God.

The Apostle Paul also chimed in, in the first chapter of Colossians, when he wrote, He (Christ) is the fullness of the Godhead in bodily form. Jesus came in the full power and authority of His Father, just as He said, If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.

Jesus and the Father are One…period. God’s Word is an extension of God, just as your words are an extension of who you are. The only difference is that, at some point, the Father chose to clothe His Word in human flesh to be our example of how to "honor God and love others."

Side note: Did you know that in Greek, the word son (uih-os) can also be defined as an epistle or a letter? If you write a letter to someone, are you not, to some degree, expressing who you are? So, in essence, Jesus was a love letter written by the Father to His children. I hope that brings a smile to your face, as it did mine while I was typing it.

My underlying goal here, in this book, is to reveal key words, names, phrases, and teachings that were not translated with maintaining the original meaning as the top priority (in my opinion); but rather with the intent to twist, or blur, the truth of God for the self-serving purposes of those overseeing these translations.

Also, for the record, while it may seem I am talking about myself and my life quite a bit in this book, the book is not about me…per se. I am merely using my story to illustrate what is true of all of us; and to shed light on how these subtle, but dangerous, changes affect us as believers.

So, there is the life God gave to each of us, while at the same time granting us free will (the ability to make our own decisions and choose our own path); and there is the life God planned for each of us (while it is His desire that we choose to live our lives in a way that brings Him glory and points others towards Him, as well).

And as we shall see, the two do not always mirror one another (with the obvious exception of Jesus Christ of course). But, if we make some right choices along the way, we will ultimately end up right where He desires us to be; forever abiding with Him in His eternal Kingdom (a kingdom, by the way, that will not have the trials and tribulations of this world because God’s chief opponent will not be present as tempter-in-chief). Hallelujah!

AND THE STORY BEGINS

So…I guess a good place to start would be the same way both Moses and the Apostle John chose to open their own writings: In the beginning…

I was born on June 12th, 1954, in Cleveland, Ohio, the oldest child of Bob and Edna Palumbo. Although I was born and baptized into Catholicism as a baby, my mother was raised Protestant. I suspect you know where this is headed.

Right from the womb, my life was on a course that would lead to many questions and very few answers regarding God, religion, the Bible, and all the religious trappings that go with them. But wait, it gets even better.

As so often was the case in those days, my mother converted to the faith of my father, and they were married in the Catholic Church; even though my father (who was also raised Catholic) rarely attended church. Nevertheless, my mother was faithful. She made a habit of going to church on Sundays, and she made sure we did too. Yes, it was largely because of her faithfulness, and the prayers of others, that I believed in the existence of God from an early age.

I used the word existence because that is about all it was at that point in my life. I knew very little about God. I just believed He existed because my father taught me that thunder was just the angels in Heaven bowling. So, yes, you could say my understanding of biblical theology got off to a shaky start, to say the least.

As I am writing these words, my mind hearkens back to the words of the prophet Jeremiah:

Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; Before you were born, I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations. [Jeremiah 1:4-5 NKJV]

Before I was conceived in my mother’s womb, God Almighty knew me (as He knew each of us…I was no exception). And according to the Scriptures, not only did He know my beginning, He knows my end…and everything that will happen in between. He is omniscient. He knows all things, even before they occur, and is not bound by the constraints of physical space or time.

I have no doubt He knew me intimately before I took my first breath and He knew all the struggles I would face in my life, the decisions I would make, and the consequences of my decisions…good and bad. His eyes are upon us all.

Mind-boggling, is it not? Scholars have scratched their heads bald for centuries, trying to make sense of this reality. God Almighty knew it all before the universe was formed, even though many things remain a mystery to us, in the present and beyond. We do not have eyes that can see the future, but we do have minds that can remember the past to some degree (and hopefully that should prove quite helpful to me as I try to complete the writing of this book).

As the saying goes, If anyone knows how to take life’s lemons and make lemonade, the Lord God Almighty most certainly does. He already conceived the necessary corrections for my missteps before I made them (look no further than the Cross of Christ…which was no afterthought); and He somehow manages to cause all things to work together for my (ultimate) good.

I added the word ultimate to put it into proper context because there are times when it may not seem that He is allowing things to happen in our lives for our own good. But we should always remember that our ultimate good may not be realized fully until we enter His eternal kingdom; and I have no doubt that will be worth waiting for.

We should also try to remember that along with everything else God created, He perfected something we now call tough love. As the Bible says, For whom the Lord loves, He disciplines. [Hebrews 12:6 NASB]

And that has certainly been the case in my life. At the time of this writing, in my sixty-eight years on this planet, I have endured countless trials, tribulations, and the after-effects of bad decisions on my part, as I am sure we all have. But, when I look back on these things, I see God’s providential and protective hands at work each and every time. Thanks be to Him.

That is what this book is all about. It is my intent that this will be, in a sense, a spiritual biography. I will be telling the story of my physical life, yes, but more importantly I want to show how God’s plans for me have unfolded and are still unfolding. For just as you may have heard others say, God is not finished with me yet. Not by a long shot. There is still much work to be done in this ol’ heart of mine.

The plan I have in mind for our time together, here, is to stay somewhat tethered to what I believe has been a lifelong journey to discover the truth of God’s Word. And for as long as I live, I will continue to seek the original intent of those divine instructions from a loving Father to His beloved children.

NOTE TO THE READER: From time to time, as we move forward, I will be digging into the original Hebrew and Greek versions of key words and phrases for the express purpose of getting back to the original author intent. I believe, as you will see, there is much to be learned from doing so.

So, step into the time machine that is my life, if you will; and fasten your seatbelt.

Our journey begins now!

INTRODUCTION

The Name Game

Throughout this book, as I mentioned earlier, you will notice that I often share the original Greek or Hebrew version of a word, name, or phrase; and you may be thinking, "Why is that important? "

Surely, and I agree, as new tribes and nations surfaced throughout history (especially following the Tower of Babel, where the Lord scattered the peoples to the four corners of the earth and confused their languages), it is only logical to expect new dialects and manners of speaking to develop from generation to generation, right?

I would answer, Yes, of course, but I would hope that during the translation process, great care and attention would be applied to make sure that nothing is ‘lost in translation; and by that I mean…one would assume that preserving the original author intent would remain the central goal.

Allow me to give you an example; to set the tone for what is to follow:

It is common knowledge to those who have studied the Bible and its origins that the Old Testament, for the most part, was penned in Hebrew. It is believed by many that Hebrew was the language given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai. Prior to that, information was conveyed orally or with pictographs, not through an alpha-numeric system of writing and recording words and thoughts.

With that in mind, I would like to look at the first five books of the Bible, commonly known as the Torah (Hebrew) or the Pentateuch (Greek). Today, we know the names of these books to be…Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

While I might suspect that most people, from a logical standpoint, would not be surprised to find out that over time, these five names have evolved. But what you might not realize is that during the process of translation over the centuries, the meanings of the original names have been lost.

I think that is a big deal because as I have learned over the years, when God speaks or inspires others to speak on His behalf, or to write things down, every letter and every word matters. Plus, there is often more than one meaning and more than one interpretation; and it is the role of the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth to those who seek it.

So, especially with names of people, places, and things, if someone changes the letters and creates new names, have the original meanings been retained? We shall see.

To answer this question, it is important to point out that the Hebrew language is made up of twenty-two letters…all consonants. The vowel sounds are added to words with small dots or symbols below or above the letter (or jots and tittles, as Jesus said).

Plus, each consonant has its own meaning and numerical value, which is how we can come to understand the original meaning of Hebrew words. Let me give you and example…the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet is aleph (pronounced ah-lef) and it means strength. The second letter is beyt (pronounced like bait) and it means house or tent.

And when we put the two letters together, we get the word av (like abba) which means father. The letters mean strength and house; so the word father in Hebrew means strength of the house. Makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?

Now, since the first five books of the Bible were penned in Hebrew, as you might expect, they were originally given Hebrew names. But what if I were to tell you that, in Hebrew, the name of each book was derived from a key word, taken from the first sentence of the book? And what if I were to tell you that if you string those five words together in order, it makes a sentence…and a hidden message is revealed?

Would it concern you, then, to learn that by changing the names of the books, that sacred message was lost?

Here are the five names in English, in the original Hebrew version, and the original meanings:

1. Genesis (Greek) = B’resheet (Hebrew) means In the Beginning.

2. Exodus (Greek) = Shemot (Hebrew) means Names.

3. Leviticus (Greek) = Vayikra (Hebrew) means And He Called

4. Numbers (English) = B’midbar (Hebrew) means In the Wilderness

5. Deuteronomy (Greek) = Devarim (Hebrew) means Words

Now let’s put it together into a sentence:

In the beginning, these are the names of those He called in the wilderness to receive His words (instructions)

Well, what do you know? Biblical history tells us that in the early days, God called His people, by name (Israel), out of Egypt and into the wilderness, and to Mount Sinai, where they received His divine words of instruction.

I find that to be truly amazing. What a shame it is that through the process of translation over many years, that hidden gem of a message has been swept under the rug. And truth be told, there are countless examples of this throughout the Bible, especially in the Old Testament which was originally penned in Hebrew.

My goal here is to do my best to discover and share these hidden gems; not for the sake of tarnishing the sanctity of Scripture (may it never be), but hopefully to reveal the deeper revelations found in the original author intent of the divine writings we call The Holy Bible.

And to cap it off, did you know the word Bible is not found a single time in the Old Testament. That is because it is derived from the Greek word biblios, which means book.

So, just as with the names of the first five books of our Bible, a Greek word has been used as the title for an entire collection of sacred writings…of which a large majority were penned in Hebrew. Do you find that strange? I do.

Oh, and for the record, I have decided to name the five parts of this book after the original Hebrew name of the five books of Moses because, as you will see, their meanings tie in quite well with what we will be talking about in each section.

CHAPTER ONE

Before the Beginning?

In thinking about God’s Creation Week, which is actually referred to as the beginning in the opening sentence of the Book of Genesis, it should be noted that for centuries, there have been a handful of questions and alternate theories raised concerning how and when this world came into existence.

One theory focuses on what we find in the very next passage, Genesis 1:2

The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. [Genesis 1:2 NKJV]

The phrases The earth was… and darkness was… cause some folks to point to the possibility that Planet Earth existed before God began His creative work, as mentioned in Genesis 1:1. And those two phrases are also responsible for other alternative theories:

Although the Creation Story account and the genealogies recorded in Scripture seem to support a mere six-thousand year history of mankind, the universe, and the third rock from the Sun (to quote Joe Diffie), others say it all may have been in existence for millions of earth years before God said, Let there be light in Genesis 1:3. One is called The Gap Theory; but I doubt