Shaliah
As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. John 17:18 NASB
Sent – The Jewish law of agency, known as shaliah, is crucial for understanding the idea of an apostle. In fact, the verb itself, apostéllō, used here to speak of the mission of Yeshua and the mission of his disciples, cannot be correctly interpreted without a full appreciation of this law. TDNT recognizes how critical this is:
“apostéllō is a strengthening compound of stéllō and is common in Greek for ‘to send forth,’ differing from pémpō, which stresses the fact of sending, by its relating of sender and sent and its consequent implication of a commission, especially in Hellenistic Greek. It thus carries the further thought of authorization, e.g., in the case of official envoys, but also divinely sent teachers.”[1]
The translation of the Hebrew terms in the LXX indicate “the sending of a special messenger with emphasis on the sender (cf. Is. 6:8), so that the messenger is a kind of plenipotentiary. The message and the one sent are of interest only as they embody the sender, no matter who the sender or the sent may be. Even those who are sent realize that the stress is on the sender (cf. Gen. 24:1ff.).”[2]
“The LXX pursues this thought consistently, even using apostéllō for šlḥ contrary to the literal sense in order to bring out the authoritative element in the action and the position of the one who acts.”[3]
If we apply this correct view to Yeshua’s remark in John’s gospel, we discover two very important facts. The first is thate Yeshua is the fully-authorized emissary of YHVH under this law of agency. Therefore, anything and everything he does is as if YHVH had done it. Yeshua confirms this over and over. What this means is that Yeshua acts as if he were God. His decisions, his actions, his teaching, and his character are to be viewed as if they were the decisions, actions, teaching, and character of God Himself. In other words, under shaliah Yeshua is “God” without being God. If we miss this point, we will draw a different conclusion from the text. We will conclude that Yeshua cannot act as he does without being God. But shaliah makes this conclusion unnecessary. “The result is that the agent can not only carry out divine functions but also be depicted in divine language . . .”[4]
The second, a perhaps more important point is that we also operate under shaliah. Notice that John’s text says that Yeshua empowers us as his fully authorized representatives, in the same way that he acted as the fully authorized representative of the Father. Under shaliah this means that we do not present ourselves as individuals distinct from the sender. We are the sender. We are in the world as if he is in the world. Shaliah creates a chain of command so that Yeshua is the manifestation of YHVH and we are the manifestation of Yeshua. None of this requires either that Yeshua be YHVH or for us to be Yeshua. All that is required in a true understanding of shaliah.
Try reading the gospel accounts in this way. See what you find. Notice in particular Yeshua’s interaction with the Centurion. Shaliah is everywhere a common understanding of the culture. Apparently we missed that somewhere along the way. Then ask yourself, “Am I living shaliah today? Will others see him or see me?”
Topical Index: shaliah, apostéllō, send forth, authorized, John 17:18
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[1] Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1985). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (67–68). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid., p.324.
Shalom friends
I need help understanding a term from a Christian friend. “Progressive Revalation”……..actually i understand the definition but would like to know if this ia a Jewish concept?
Hi Trish If I recall correct Arthur Licursi wrote about the principle but referred to it as dispensational ages. Arthur also uses a lot of biblical references to support his view. Then a lot of his discussions centre around the different church eras mentioned in Revelations while using mainly the letters of Paul to reveal the eras.
If this may help…
The law of sheliah is good, for it gives authorization to be sent as a representative, but that authority may not be enough, if with the authorization one does not also receive the empowerment to fulfill the mission for which one is sent.
We must understand that we need sheliah not only to give us authorization to be sent to represent, but also authorization to receive power from on high to do rightly represent and to do what we are sent for.
Consider the difference in outcome of the ministry of Shaul as compared to the sons of Sceva who tried to charge others by invoking the name of Yeshua. They were subdued, overpowered, and fled naked and wounded. While Paul was doing extraordinary miracles, healing people who were sick, diseased and with evil spirits. [Act 19:11-16]
We must be immersed in the Ruach Ha-Kodesh and fire.
“Yeshua said to them again, ‘Shalom aleichem! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.’ And after He said this, He breathed on them. And He said to them, ‘Receive the Ruach ha-Kodesh!'” [Joh 20:21-22]
Sorry. Shaliah, not sheliah. The latter is a name, I guess.
Here’s my observation on this. If it is true that Yeshua, as shaliah, agent of God, is “‘God’ without being God”, to the extent that he can be depicted in divine language, then wouldn’t it follow that Yeshua’s appointed Apostles would be ‘Jesus without being Jesus’, and, further, ‘”God” without being God’? In other words, couldn’t we say the same thing about the Apostles with respect to God, that is, that Jesus’ appointed Apostles are “‘God” without being God’? Piggy-backing from yesterday’s TW, if my observation holds, could we call Matthew/Levi, e.g., “the First and the Last”?
Another picture of this agency is depicted in the passage concerning Moses, Aaron and Pharaoh. It says that Moses will be god (Elohim) and speak to Aaron and Aaron is to speak to Pharaoh. (Ex. 4:13-17) Is this what the Messiah meant when quoting the psalm that says, “ye are gods”? Perhaps it’s our misunderstanding of that term which creates the confusion.
Robert! I thought of the EXACT depiction as per the recent Parsha reading!!! CHAZAK!
Yes Ma’am, and that’s why we need to keep reading those things, it sets our hearts and minds with a form true to the “biblical” format.
Is there any wonder why someone might misunderstand Messiah’s identity or misinterpret the Biblical text given this information?
Daniel, I understand the whole Bible to be a code hidden in plain sight, even though the book itself gives us the keys to unlock the code. There is only one ‘initiation’ in that whole book though, and it is found encapsulated in John 7:17. Only those who are doing the will of God will know the rest. Outsiders to that will need not inquire. If we are not within that will, no gnosis, secret or overt, will produce anything BUT “misunderstanding” or “misinterpreting”. This is why I think I have had zero success presenting Bible verses to the world to convince them of the truths contained in them. The only thing that has ever worked is to show them by example how those truth operate in my life. Witness. His identity can only be revealed in me. Is that the essence of “shaliah”? I guess I just learned the word for that!
The burden IS on the sender, as Skip says. If we keep the focus on that Sender, we will understand the Sent.
Mysteriously, however, the Sent came to show us the Sender, and we must rely on the Sent for that revelation. I see that this presents a conundrum in that you find the revelation of either to be dependent upon the other. I find that this presents both as equal; at least from our point of view. This equality can incorporate the idea of agency, but is not limited by the ordinance (order of subordination). Yeshua can be limited to wielding ONLY what a human has the ability for, but that does not ‘prove’ that He is only human; it only proves that He is operating under that particular limitation. I don’t see why this is not recognized and addressed to date. I am inviting someone to lay out a truth table or submit a formal argument as to why the limits Yeshua operated under constitute the totality of His existence, when there are so many verses that state that He is limited. The obvious being that those statements contain within them the admission that there was a ‘greater’ out of which that limitation occurred.
Laurita, thank you for verbalizing this point. I’ve been waiting for someone to bring it up. It’s a crucial point and I hope it doesn’t get overlooked.
P.S. I took part in Mark Hyman’s pre-screening premiere in October. Good info there?? Cool to see your recommendation. Neurology is a little hobby of mine.
Cerainly the idea of ‘shaliah’ helps to clarify Paul’s language when he refers to the ‘church’/ecclesia as the ‘body’ of messiah, Yeshua being the ‘Head’. Thanks, Skip!
Attention, all BRAIN DISORDER sufferers
Y’all, I am so excited! This is off topic but relates to the topic of the nephesh, which is the whole person paradigm. There is a new series (which, if you watch each day’s offering within 24 hrs, is free) put out by Dr. Mark Hyman, one of the leading functional medicine practitioners in brain medicine. He has put out an astounding new approach to understanding how to fix even serious problems of the brain using the understanding of the entire nephesh to explain and to cure the true causes for disease. This series outlines the strategies and understandings anyone can learn to use to address what conventional medicine is limited (by their outdated and unscientific assumption of the concept of ‘separate body systems’ approach) to addressing by single bullet treatments.
The first episode will be up for a few hours more and can be found at https ://brokenbrain dot com/01b-epidemic/, but you can sign on for the rest of them. If you have problems, you can email me and I will be happy to forward the links to you (and continue to forward them too, if need be). My email is lauritahayes at gmail dot com.
P.S. if you miss it, I could send you study notes.
Thanks for the tip Laurita, I have watched the first two and highly recommend it.
The second episode gets into specifics. The first one is an introduction and one can skip it if you don’t have an hour for it.
You can watch a 3-minute intro and sign up for free at
brokenbrain dot com/trailer/
For me, the main reason Yeshua is God’s agent is because the Father is invisible. Not just for us in the here and now but He always has been and always will be. Not because He is “hiding” but because it is impossible for us to see the Being “out of whom all things (the entire universe) came” 1Cor 8:6. God did NOT create “ex nihilo” but OUT OF Himself. How are we ever to see a Being like that? So, He begot an Image we can see and hear. Exactly how YHWH, the Word, the Son, the Alpha and Omega, the Everlasting Father, etc. all relate to each other, I am not sure, but these verses make it clear to me we will never see the Father except in Jesus Christ. (And what more would you be looking for, Philip?)
Joh 1:18 No one has seen God at any time; the Only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
Joh 5:37 And He sending Me, the Father Himself, has borne witness of Me. Neither have you heard His voice at any time nor seen His shape.
1Jn 4:12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwells in us, and His love is perfected in us.
1Ti 1:17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
1Ti 6:16 who alone has immortality, dwelling in light which CANNOT BE APPROACHED, whom no one of men have seen, NOR CAN SEE; to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen.
Col 1:15 who is the image of the invisible God, the First-born of all creation.
Heb 11:27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.
Hey Daniel. I hear what you’re saying and agree, at least in part. But I’ve got some questions that have been bouncing around in my mind. Pick one, if you want:
– Can we adequately “see” the Father without a physical agent (Messiah) or do we need a physical agent we can see to “see” the Father”, and if so, why?
– Did Messiah need a physical agent?
– Moshe didn’t, did he? Heb. 11:27 you quoted, says his experience was as though he did see Him. Was that not enough?
– Does everyone need a physical agent?
– I think there’s more reasons Yeshua became flesh and “dwelt among us” than just so that we could “see” the Father, right? What are there other reasons?
– Was Yeshua’s coming in the first place necessary for everyone? If so, why?
– Was his coming necessary for those who preceded His coming?
Check out this verse:
“And Isaiah is so bold as to say, ‘I was found by those who did not seek Me; I became visible to those who did not ask for Me.” [Rom 10:20]
What is so bold about him saying that? Through Isaiah YHVH says He was found, He became visible. How so?
And now what is the problem per se, with whomever, about asking Daniel these questions for learning of his ideas? This website is all about asking questions to share ideas. These questions are genuine and not rhetorical. Are questions now offensive, threatening, divisive, violating some rule here, or what? Please identify yourself and explain your disagreement or disapproval.
I’m not sure whether anyone needs to see the father, but it would seem that God desires it. One can walk in obedience, without seeing that example, but I’m glad that Yeshua demonstrated what the Father would look like were He to have flesh and bones. As to what the other reasons are, there’s any number of them we could state but, conquering death and the grave and thereby making deliverance and life available to all men is a good start.
Hello Jerry & Lisa,
I’m sure there are multiple reasons Yeshua became flesh besides, just so that we could see the Father. Primarily, I suppose, is so that He could die and be resurrected and therefore enable us to follow after Him into a new super abundant Life, but as you hint, there are many more.
One of the not so subtle consequences of all those verses stating that God the Father is invisible and inaudible is that, because YHWH Elohim WAS visible and audible right from Adam and Eve, therefore YHWH CANNOT be God the Father. Isn’t that straightforward reasoning? Or if not, how does one explain away all those verses?
Because of shaliah, Messiah says this: “Amen, amen I tell you, he who puts his trust in Me, the works that I do he will do; and greater than these he will do, because I am going to the Father.” [Joh 14:12]
Questions:
What are the greater works that those who put their trust in Him will do?
Does anyone witness any of His contemporary disciples doing those greater works?
If they are not being done, why not?
How important or imperative is it that we be doing them?
Is it possible for everyone who puts their trust in Him to be doing those greater works?
What does it mean if we are not doing them?
As Leslie had mentioned earlier going through the readings , this term comes up frequently . allowing the call understanding to flow continually between …(.Old and new ) covenants …..if you will accept this useage for now.
Can you recommend a book that helps me to understand the Bible? Thank you!
Try my Recommended Reading list on the home page of the web site – for starters 🙂
First question why do we so easily use these scriptures as applying to us today…
Second question was the sending not teach them to do…
Third question is there a reference to call and send apostles?
Or is this a mindset based on what he was given to establish implying he provided the apostles the authority to teach as well as establish a sustainable sect of apostles?
Or is this a view formed around the great commissioning in Matthews…