Hoh’reni, Lamm’deni, Hoh’dieni: TEACH ME, Learn me, Knowledge me up!

We are in the midst of Rosh Hashanah… the head of a new year. It’s a good time for new beginnings! Last week I began something new. I went back to school!. I’m now a doctoral student in Biblical Studies at the Colorado Theological Seminary. It’s been a long time coming. I completed my Master’s degree 25 years ago, so it’s a bit daunting to jump back into academic research a quarter of a century later.

Truth be told, though, I never truly left academic research. It’s in my bones and it’s one of the reasons I started this blog six years ago. It’s also helped by the fact that I work at an academic library (at UPEI) surrounded by researchers, from students to professors. I’ve always surrounded myself with academia, and it just feels natural to pick up the books once again and add to the compendium of Biblical research that is out there.

In order to celebrate my renewed status as student, I thought we could visit the phrase “teach me”. Although I do have a doctoral advisor and a whole slew of courses I must take, my chief instructor is YHWH. As we will see, over and over again, those who called out the words “teach me” in the Bible were directing those words to YHWH and to no one else.

There are three Hebrew words that our English translations usually render as “teach me”:

• hoh’reni (ה֤וֹרֵ֥נִי) …pronounced hoe-reynee
• lamm’deni (לַמְּדֵֽנִי) …pronounced lawm-deynee
• hoh’dieni (הוֹדִ֘יעֵ֤נִי) …pronounced hoe-dee’eynee

Notice they all end with ‘i’ (the Hebrew letter yod), which, in Hebrew, is pronounced ‘ee’. When the letter yod is at the end of a word (a suffix) and it is attached to a verb it indicates a ‘me’ moment (teach ME). When the yod suffix is attached to a noun, it indicates a ‘my’ moment, such as libbi (lee-bee) meaning MY heart (see Jeremiah 4:19, Psalm 28:7). Although these three words can be rendered as teach me, all come from different root words. 

Hoh’reni

Let’s start with the  Hebrew word hoh’reni, which comes from the verb yarah, meaning to “to teach, to instruct, to direct, to hit the mark”. 

Job went through terrible suffering and he turned to God to answer his burning questions. He wanted to be taught the reason why this was happening to him and what he did to deserve all this suffering?

Job 6:24

[Job to YHWH:] Teach me [hoh’runi], and I will be silent. Help me understand how I have erred.

David, on the other hand, had a more simplistic request. He wanted to be taught simple navigation. He wanted YHWH to teach him the Way:

Psalm 27:11a

[David:] Teach me [hoh’reni] Your way, YHWH, and lead me on a level path.

Psalm 86:11-13

[David:] Teach me [hoh’reni] Your way, YHWH; I will walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name. I will give thanks to You, Lord my God, with all my heart, And I will glorify Your name forever. For Your graciousness toward me is great, and You have saved my soul from the depths of Sheol.

Lamm’deni

Lamm’deni comes from the verb lamad, meaning “to learn”. A disciple (a learner/a taught one) was called a limmud. As for lamm’deni, although it is terrible English, a more literal rendering would be “learn me”. This is the word used throughout most of the acrostic poem of Psalm 119:

Psalm 119

:12 Blessed are You, YHWH; teach me [lamm’deni] Your statutes.

:26 I have told of my ways, and You have answered me; teach me [lamm’deni] Your statutes.

:33 Teach me [hoh’reni], the way of Your statutes, YHWH, and I shall comply with it to the end.

:64 The earth is full of Your goodness, YHWH; teach me [lamm’deni] Your statutes. 

:66 Teach me [lamm’deni] good discernment and knowledge, for I believe in Your commandments.

:68 You are good and You do good; teach me [lamm’deni] Your statutes.

:108 Be pleased to accept the voluntary offerings of my mouth, YHWH; teach me [lamm’deni] Your judgments.

:124 Deal with Your servant according to Your graciousness; teach me [lamm’deni] Your statutes.

:135 Make Your face shine upon Your servant, and teach me [w-lamm’deni] Your statutes.

:171 Let my lips pour out praise, for You teach me [t-lamm’deni] Your statutes.

Hoh’dieni

Hoh’dieni comes from the verb yada , meaning to know. Using this word the author was saying to YHWH, make me know, or knowledge me up!

Of course we know because we’ve been taught, and with YHWH as our teacher we can learn the most amazing things, including the character of the Teacher Himself! Moses revelled in this:

Exodus 33:12-14

Then Moses said to YHWH, “See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people!’ But You Yourself have not let me know whom You will send with me. Moreover, You have said, ‘I have known you by name, and you have also found favour in My sight.’ Now then, if I have found favour in Your sight in any way, please make me know [hoh’dieni na] Your ways so that I may know You, in order that I may find favour in Your sight. Consider too, that this nation is Your people.”

And He said, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.”

Job, as we saw earlier, couldn’t understand his long-suffering predicament. He wanted God to teach him (or give him the knowledge for) the reason why his life was overcome by such heavy burdens:

Job 10:1-2

“I am disgusted with my own life; I will express my complaint freely; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me; let me know (teach me) [hoh’dieni] why You contend with me.”

Job 13:23-24

“How many are my guilty deeds and sins? Make known to me (teach me) [hohdieni] my wrongdoing and my sin. Why do You hide Your face and consider me Your enemy?”

Job wasn’t really trying to learn here, instead he was taking God to court. Why do you contend with me? Why do you hide Your face from me? This was less about learning and more about blaming. Job was blaming God for his pain and suffering, without knowing what was going on. He asked God why He considered Job an enemy. Of course we are given the backstory when we read the book of Job. Unlike us, Job doesn’t see what’s going on. He has no idea that it is the-Satan (the Adversary) that is causing the pain, not YHWH. Eventually Job gets it and he says the following:

Job 42:3b

I have declared that which I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I do not know.

Regardless of Job’s accusatory knowledge-seeking, most people who turned to YHWH for teaching asked one of two things of Him: teach me Your ways or teach me Your statutes/laws. But in one instance, David asked to know something very unique:

Psalm 39:4

[David:] “YHWH, let me know [hoh’dieni] my end, and what is the extent of my days; let me know how transient I am.”

This would have been a better question for Job to have asked (instead of his leading accusatory questions).  Had Job asked to see his end, he would have found out that YHWH would bless him abundantly after he walked through his suffering. He would have a good end.

In Psalm 143 David returned to a more typical learning request: knowledge of the Way and a teaching lesson on following the will of God:

Psalm 143:7-12

[David:] Answer me quickly, YHWH, my spirit fails; do not hide Your face from me, or I will be the same as those who go down to the pit.

Let me hear Your faithfulness in the morning, for I trust in You; teach me (give me knowledge of) [hoh’dieni] the way in which I should walk; for to You I lift up my soul.

Save me, YHWH, from my enemies; I take refuge in You. Teach me [lamm’deni] to do Your will, for You are my God; let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground. For the sake of Your name, YHWH, revive me.

In Your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble. And in Your faithfulness, destroy my enemies, and eliminate all those who attack my soul, for I am Your servant.

Yeshua (Jesus) was a rabbi… a wandering teacher to His disciples. But like a good student, He gave credit to His own Teacher:

John 7:14-18

But when it was now the middle of the feast [Feast of Tabernacles], Jesus went up into the temple area, and began to teach. The Jews then were astonished, saying, “How has this man become learned, not having been educated?”

So Jesus answered them and said, “My teaching is not My own, but His who sent Me. If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know about the teaching, whether it is of God, or I am speaking from Myself. The one who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.”

You don’t need a fancy degree to learn God’s will and God’s way. Seek YHWH! Learn from His word. Pray for clarity and discernment. Be a passionate and humble student. Learn all that you can, but do not hoard what you have learned. Share your knowledge with others and always remind yourself that your teaching is not your own. Do not seek your own glory (or promote your own agenda) because that does not come from God. Knowledge should be shared in truth and righteousness because knowledge without truth or righteousness is not worth knowing:

Psalm 25:4-5, 8-10

Make me know [hoh’dieni] Your ways, YHWH; teach me  [lamm’deni] Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me [w-lamm’deni], for You are the God of my salvation; for You I wait all the day…

…YHWH is good and upright; therefore He instructs [yoh’reh] sinners in the way. He leads the humble in justice, and He teaches [wi-lammed] the humble His way. All the paths of YHWH are faithfulness and truth to those who comply with His covenant and His testimonies.

This week, when you open your Bibles, you may want to start with a simple prayer: YHWH, teach me, instruct me, knowledge me up! Set aside your preconceived notions and be open to what the Spirit reveals to you. This is my prayer for my own educational path.

Scripture is a life-long learning adventure, and the Spirit of YHWH is your Guide. It might not always be smooth sailing, but sometimes the bumps in the road make it more fun!  Stay on the path and enjoy the ride!

Next week: the panting deer