out every year, with all our references, with the Watchtowers going back to 1950. The Insight book
came out some years ago and serves us like the Hastings or Imperial
Bible Dictionaries do for Protestants. I have those and others and I
can tell you ours is much more reliable.Notice the Jewish work
says, "This suggests that the general prohibition...",
and our editors concur. The Insight books are not online for you to
see what we know about the Hebrew language, but they're available in
the library of every Kingdom Hall. My own reasoning holds: "It
seems strange to me that the Creator of languages (Gen 11:7-9) would
use an 'inferior' one to give instructions to his people."
That's based on the language's long history and its use for the three
religions that are made up of People of the Book.
I can't agree
with a couple of your statements. "had to do with superstitions
surrounding the mixing of just about anything... and many weren't
laws but strong suggestions. "Jehovah's laws then and now are
not based on superstition, and the Law states its authority at almost
every paragraph. Example: In Leviticus 18 and 19 you'll find various
items explained ending with the statement "I am Jehovah."
Just because. Now that's magisterial, if not Magisterium.
As to the superstition, a prime example is the changing (not
translating) of Jehovah's name. The superstition- and it's called
that by many commentators- is on the part of the wayward Israelites.
That can be seen clearly at Ruth 2:4, KJV. "And, behold, Boaz
came from Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers, The LORD be with you.
And they answered him, The LORD bless thee." The introduction to
most Bibles says that LORD is a substitution for the name. (In my JPS
Tanakh it's often written ha'Shem- The Name.) So, substituting
backward, we see Boaz and his workers using the name itself,
respectfully, in casual conversation, and no lightning bolts or seven
days of cleansing. That's why our Bible and too few others read, '
"Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and said to the
harvesters: "Jehovah be with you." And they replied: "Jehovah
bless you." '
For an illustration of how important this has been and will be, see Exodus 9:16 and Ezekiel 6:14
Something about the copy/paste where I am shortens the lines, and I don't have the time to fix it. Sorry.