09-28-2019, 07:06 AM
Thank you, that does make quite a bit of sense. I asked a local person, who's knowledge I trust, and he pointed out that the parallel Aramaic response says shemeh rabba, "His great name." Which seems to match the idea.
If you wouldn't mind another question, this reminds me of a conversation I had not long ago about Daniel 10:13, how most english translations interpret "מִֽיכָאֵ֗ל אַחַ֛ד הַשָּׂרִ֥ים הָֽרִאשֹׁנִ֖ים" as "Michael one of the chief princes" specifically suggesting he's just a random one of many. Given the weight of the statements in chapter 12, it seems more appropriate to say he's "uniquely the first captain" (contextually, of heaven's angelic army).
Likewise, would we interpret haShem being "one" as not just numerically "there's one of him" but also that he's first, the highest. I assume all here would agree with that statement, but do you think it's a stretch to say that's what the shema is declaring? Or am I reading too much into it, and it should be taken as only meaning that he's our God and we're to have no others?
If you wouldn't mind another question, this reminds me of a conversation I had not long ago about Daniel 10:13, how most english translations interpret "מִֽיכָאֵ֗ל אַחַ֛ד הַשָּׂרִ֥ים הָֽרִאשֹׁנִ֖ים" as "Michael one of the chief princes" specifically suggesting he's just a random one of many. Given the weight of the statements in chapter 12, it seems more appropriate to say he's "uniquely the first captain" (contextually, of heaven's angelic army).
Likewise, would we interpret haShem being "one" as not just numerically "there's one of him" but also that he's first, the highest. I assume all here would agree with that statement, but do you think it's a stretch to say that's what the shema is declaring? Or am I reading too much into it, and it should be taken as only meaning that he's our God and we're to have no others?