Poor In Spirit

In Matthew 5, Jesus spoke the first “beatitude”:

3 ​​“Blessed are the poor in spirit,

​​For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

The term “poor” has carried a negative connotation in the past but I knew that there was a better understanding below the surface.  Additionally, Jesus spoke in Matthew chapter 11:

29 “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Lowly or humble and gentle describes Jesus as the Lamb of GOD, not the Lion of Judah.  The Jews were looking for the Lion thus they did not recognize the Lamb and His preeminent ministry.  The first Beatitude reveals the mystery of the Lamb’s ministry.

My beloved brother Alan provides the Hebrew understanding and clarification:

Noah was told, in Gen. 9:13 that God would ‘set’ his bow in the cloud.  The word for cloud here is ‘ah-nan’, and is from the same root that we get ‘ah-nah’; to answer.  ‘ah-nan’ can be seen as ‘ah-nah’, in plural form.  Several times, this word ‘ah-nah’, which we normally think of as ‘answer’, is translated as ‘afflict’, ‘deal harshly’, and in Gen. 34:2 is translated as ‘defiled her’.  In other words, sometimes the answer we receive is a harsh or punishing response.  However, God told Noah, in Genesis 9:13 – 16, that He would set His “…bow in the cloud”.  The word bow can be considered synonymous with ‘covenant’.  And the word ‘ah-nan’ is also synonymous with answer, though sometimes translated as cloud.  From this I believe that if we substitute the understanding of ‘bow’ as also being ‘covenant’, and the word ‘ah-nan’ as being cloud or answer, God is revealing that His covenant is revealed in His answer.  Does God respond to sincere inquiries with harshness and cruelty?  I don’t think so.  Jesus never responded with harshness or cruelty.

I refer back to this because the word you are searching,  עָנָו and more ideally recognized by the Hebrew fonts wn[   pronounced in this format as ‘ah-nahv’, or ‘ah-nau’ or ‘an-nuh’ in some instances, and which originates from the primary root ‘ah-nan’ (Strong’s #6051) and in Hebrew is written as !n[.  Without belaboring a lot of Hebrew ‘stuff’ you’re most likely not interested in, the root verb ‘ah-nan’ (#6051) has a basic meaning of “…receiving a response or input or supply of information based on what we are discerning, or experiencing, through our natural senses; ie, touch, taste, smell, hear, see, etc.  All of these words,  ‘ah-nuh’ (Strong’s #6035), ‘ah-niy (Strong’s #6040) and ‘ah-nah’ (#6034), are different expressions of the root #6051.  The first letter of the word ‘ah-nan’ is the ‘ay-yin’, which is symbolized by the human eye, and is expressive of what information you detect or glean through your natural senses; frankly, input from the soulish realm as distinguished from Spiritual discernment.  That description, in of itself, is very valuable information.  Most believers, yours truly included, are initially and primarily impacted by what we experience from our surroundings through our natural senses.  And yet Our Father encourages us to not be dictated to, nor dominated by, what our natural senses tell us, but rather to “…try the spirit”. 

We are encouraged to trust the Holy Spirit of Truth in Love for the proper understanding of any and all sensory input.  Rarely, and probably never, is whole or reliable truth revealed in what we detect by our natural senses.  The majority of the history of ‘christianity’ is a tragedy about believers having their ‘christianity’ established and founded on what our soulish senses reveal to us.  We tend to think of the Spiritual Kingdom of Our Father in terms of natural events, experiences and symbols.  And yet Yashua confirmed to us that His Kingdom is not of this natural world realm.  When will we believe Him?

All of the words that derive from the root !n[ (ah-nan) retain the characteristics of ‘ah-nan’.  Whether the word being expressed is ‘ah-nah’, ‘ah-nav/ah-nau’, or

‘ah-niy’, these are all expressing an ‘answer’ or ‘input’ based upon being influenced by what our natural senses reveal to us.  Again, rarely is this ‘natural sense realm input’ totally reliable, and we usually interpret in a negative mentality. 

A good example is ‘beyt ah-niy’, “…house of the poor”.  You probably recognize this word as Bethany.  You may even know someone that resides there.  ‘beyt ah-niy’ is often referred to as “…the house of the poor”, because ‘ah-niy’ is often associated with, or translated directly, as ‘poor’.  We like to quote the following: “Blessed are the ‘poor’ in spirit”.  But, why are they ‘poor’ in spirit?  Is it because they have no ‘spirit presence’ with which to identify, or turn to?  Not at all, I say.  They are called ‘poor’ because the ‘afflictions’ (ah-nuh) of life have kept them from being arrogant, and filled with soulish pride.  The ‘poor’ (ah-niy) in spirit are those that are not filled with soulish pride, and carnal arrogance.  ‘ah-niy’ is also translated several times as ‘afflictions’;  Gen. 16:11, Psalm 22:24 and Isaiah 48:10 are some good examples of expressing ‘ah-niy and ‘ah-nah’ as ‘afflictions’.  Gen. 15:13 is also a valid expression.   Numbers 12:3:  ‘meek’ is from the Hebrew ‘ah-nav’ (wn[), one whose ‘afflictions’ or ‘answers’ from life has kept them from being inflated with pride or arrogance.  Psalm 147:7 translates ‘ah-nav’ as “Sing”, as a form of an answer to Him.

I realize this is a very broad and ‘generic’ overview, but I hope this will give you a feel for what you are seeking.  Sometimes the answer we seek must first be recognized in the ‘afflictions’ and ‘poor’ experiences of our existence, to propel us further to find Our Father.  When the ‘afflictions’ of this life no longer dictate who we are, we are getting much closer to the character and nature of our Elder Brother.

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