The Song Remains the Same…Literally - Following a Master

 

The Song Remains the Same…Literally

The Hebrew word for “disciple” is TALMID (plural is TALMIDIM).  It appears 0 times in the
Hebrew Bible because the concept did not emerge in Judaism until the Rabbinic Era.  TALMID is a cousin word to one everyone’s probably familiar with: TALMUD.  The TALMUD is a collection of writings of Jewish sages which expound on law and tradition, compiled between the third and sixth centuries AD.  TALMUD means “learning”.

Both words come from the Hebrew word for “learn”, which is also used occasionally for “teach” and “train” in our English Bibles: LAMAD (לָמַד).  The word occurs 86 times in the Hebrew Bible.  For example, in Deuteronomy 5:31:

“But you, stand here by me, and I will tell you all the commandment and the statutes and the ordinances which you SHALL TEACH them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess.” (RSV)

Its final use in the Hebrew Text is Micah 4:3:

“He shall judge between many peoples, and shall decide for strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they LEARN war any more.”

TALMID and TALMIDIM do not appear in the Hebrew Bible because they are terms that derived more fully from so-called Rabbinic Judaism during the Second Temple era, with the Men of the Great Assembly.  With Judasim’s emphasis on teaching and interpreting TORAH, Teachers (called RABBI, which means “my great one”) gathered students in order to pass on this learning.

What is fascinating about a RABBI and his TALMIDM is the devotion of the latter to the former.  In Jesus’ day, TALMIDM desired to follow their RABBI so closely that they would be covered in his dust, literally and figuratively.  A TALMID does not just want to know what his RABBI knows.  He wants to do what his RABBI does.  A TALMID wants to imitate his RABBI so closely that it is hard to tell them apart in terms of character and behavior. 

Obviously, this has many deeply profound implications for followers of the RABBI known as YESHUA/JESUS.  For instance, you cannot become a true TALMID of YESHUA if you are not following in His steps.  Certainly, that would entail immersing yourself in His life every day by reading and studying the Gospels.  It probably also means reading and knowing the Bible He read and knew: the Hebrew Text.

The idea of imitation, and the obsession it requires from a TALMID, is brought vividly home by a new documentary film, Mr. Jimmy, about a Japanese guitarist who wants to be Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page.  A good summary of the film can be found here.

People call his consuming passion a particularly Japanese obsession.  But I think it is not.  I think it sounds very Jewish in a way.  How many followers of Jesus obsessively try to imitate their Great Master the way “Mr. Jimmy” tries to imitate his master?