Putting the Hebrew words first in the title is meant to illustrate how these two well-known phrases appear in the Hebrew text of the Old Testament. As many of you who read this post will know, Hebrew writing goes from right to left, which means that אבן העזר is the Hebrew phrase translated as ‘stone of help’ and is pronounced ‘Ebenezer.’ It appears that William Tyndale may have chosen to transliterate, rather than to translate, the Hebrew phrase, as evidenced in the text of the 1599 Geneva Bible, by drawing on the example of Martin Luther’s German translation. However, the second Hebrew phrase was not translated as a transliteration; and for that reason, perhaps, the Hebrew phrase ‘Ebenezer’ came to hold greater spiritual significance, almost as a buzzword for a life-altering event marking God’s intervention in one’s life. In fact, it would seem that it has been conflated with the ‘stones of remembrance’ to be understood as one and the same thing. This interpretation will be examined below.

A second remark to be made regarding the title is the decision to render LORD (הוה’) as Yahwah rather than the accepted form Yahweh; the reason being, the overwhelming majority of the name הוה’ that I have read in the Hebrew Bible is represented with a qametz (‘a’ as in ‘father’) under the waw rather than a seghol (‘e’ as in ‘get’). So, I beg to differ with the scholars.

The topic of this post is the Ebenezer (אבן עזר) of Moses in I Samuel 7 and the ‘Stones of Remembrance’ (אבן זכרה) of Joshua in Joshua 4 by taking a look at these words in the original Hebrew and Greek; as far as the Greek, by specifically connecting the root of the Greek word connoting ‘memory’/’remember’ with our English words ‘remember’ and ‘mind.’ And for fun, also by looking at how our English words are connected to Russian via Greek.

This past week, on October 6, in the year 1536, English Biblical scholar William Tyndale was martyred – after being tied to the stake, he was first strangled and then burned. He had been declared a heretic for translating the Greek New Testament into English, which was a first. He had also begun translating the Old Testament into Hebrew. There are three excellent biographies of Tyndale¹, all of which cite a letter that he wrote to the magistrate in charge of the prison where he would be held for the 18 months prior to his execution. In his letter, he asked for warmer clothes to replace his threadbare ones, a candle to provide light in his otherwise pitch-black cell, and above all, his Hebrew scriptures, Hebrew lexicon, and Hebrew grammar so that he could continue his translation of the Old Testament. Whether his translations would ever see the light of day or not, it was important to him that he continue to apply himself to the study of God’s Word in the original languages.

It is the opinion of biblical scholars that William Tyndale’s translations represent 83% of the King James Version New Testament and 76% of the portion of the Old before he was executed.

You will remember that Yahwah commanded Joshua to set up stones of remembrance after the children of Israel had crossed over the Jordan River as a reminder to succeeding generations that Yahwah had acted on their behalf by separating the waters of the Jordan so they could cross over on dry land. The stones themselves represented the actual place where the priests had stood while bearing the Ark of the Covenant, which in turn was the representation of Yahwah’s intervention.

As for the stone of help, in I Samuel 7:12, we read that he had put a stone between Mitspah and Shen, which are either actual locations or possibly topographical markers, in which case the stone was put between the watch tower and the sharp cliff. Either way, the stone was to commemorate and remember Yahwah’s intervention when He confused the Philistines, who had gathered to attack Israel, with loud thunder so that the Israelites were able to drive them away. Samuel dedicated the setting of the stone by saying, “Thus far the Yahwah has helped us.”

As far as the word Ebenezer goes, there’s not much that can be said linguistically except that in Hebrew it is actually three words – eben ha | ezer = the noun ‘stone,’ the definite article ‘the,’ and the noun ‘help.’ Literally, the translation is ‘stone of the help,’ so the Septuagint and the modern Greek translation translate the phrase as ‘stone of the Helper.’

However, ‘stone of remembrance’ is a different story linguistically when we consider the significance carried by the Greek word for ‘remembrance’ in the Septuagint mnimosynon/μνημοσυνον and the English word ‘remembrance.’ Another way we talk about remembering something is ‘to bring to mind.’ If you look up the word ‘mind’ in your trusty Webster’s dictionary, it may surprise you to see that the first entry is ‘memory,’ ‘recollection,’ ‘remembrance.’ So, let’s break this down linguistically. The Greek root having to do with memory, remember, etc., is ‘mn’/μν, thus we have the Septuagint’s ‘mnimosynon,’ translated in modern Greek ‘ypomnisi’/υπομνηση, and the Koine (New Testament Greek) ‘anamnisis’/αναμνησις. So, Webster is correct that the English word ‘mind’ first of all has to do with memory – notice the m-i-n-d juxtaposition! As for ‘remembrance’ – think ‘remind’ or ‘reminisce’ – the underlying form is *remen-brance, but for the sake of ease of pronunciation, the dental ‘n’ becomes the bilabial ‘m’ to assimilate withwith the bilabial ‘b.’

I said earlier that just for fun we’d look at the Russian words for remembrance, memory, etc. Believe it or not, there’s more of a connection between Russian and English than the word ‘sputnik,’ which of course we borrowed from the Russian. The connection comes by way of the Greek language, not the Slavic. I will write the words in Cyrillic in order to give credit to Kirill – in English, Cyril – and Methodius, brothers of Greek descent who developed the Cyrillic alphabet (@ 860 A.D.) after being called to take the Gospel to the Slavic peoples. Since Greek was their native language, where the Slavic sounds mirrored those in Greek, they used Greek letters and developed different symbols for those that did not.

So, the Russian word for remembrance is воспоминание/vospominaniye and equates to ‘anamnisis’/αναμνησις. Notice once again the root ‘mn’ represented, as it is in the word for ‘memory,’ no longer in vogue, помин, which, not by chance, resembles our word ‘mind.’

Part of the spiritual impact of stones of remembrance is that they serve as a witness to others as we are given the opportunity to share what Yahwah has done for us. In Joshua chapter 24, we are told that Joshua placed a large stone under the terebinth, i.e., oak tree, to serve as a witness to the Israelites of all that Yahwah had communicated to them so that they would have no excuse if they were to deny HIM in the future. Nehemiah’s rebuilding of the stone wall around Jerusalem served as a witness to the surrounding nations that “the work had been done by Yahwah.” (Neh. 6:15-16) Oh by the way eben/stone is the noun derived from the verb b-n-h (banah) meaning ‘to build,’ from which the noun ‘b(e)n’ meaning ‘son’ or more broadly ‘child’ is also formed. So, sons/children build one’s progeny, which, we pray, will be a witness to Yahwah’s covenant relationship with His people.

Now, let’s consider 1 Corinthians 11:24 where Paul, regarding the sacrament of communion, quotes Jesus “This do in remembrance of Me.” It can also be translated as ‘to My memory.’ The New Testament Greek word is ‘anamnisiς’ as we mentioned earlier. It has been a profound discovery for me to realize that perhaps the most important use of the mind Yahwah has given us is to remember, recall to mind how He has acted on our behalf by setting up not only in our minds but in our hearts, stones of remembrance. And of these, what can be of greater significance than that of our salvation?

One final observation: I Peter 2:4+ introduces a dramatic new interpretation whereby we, who once had a heart of stone, were called and regenerated by the Holy Spirit, and coming to Christ, the “Living Stone,” have been paradoxically transformed into “living stones” that are being built into a spiritual house, which itself is a witness, signifying Yahwah’s acting on behalf of His people under the New Covenant just as He did on behalf of Israel under the Old Covenant.

And regarding being transformed, one of my life verses is Romans 12:1-2 where Paul writes: “I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God (Θεος/אלהים), that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God – your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewal of the mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, the good and acceptable and perfect.” To a large degree, the renewal of the mind is to focus on those ‘stones of remembrance’ by which God has shown Himself to have acted on our behalf, all of which are good, acceptable, and perfect. Romans 8:28 tells us that these acts are a testimony that God the Father through the agency of the Holy Spirit does indeed “work all things for the good together with those who love God and are called according to His purpose.” We are to actively remember these things rather than those activities or relationships that we engaged in before God saved us.

I would suggest that there is a co-dependent relationship between the stone of help and stones of remembrance. In fact, I see the stones of remembrance to be the flip side of the stone of help, which itself represents multiple times when God has helped us. By conflating them, we see one overarching activity whereby God provides ‘helps’ which, in turn, lead to the life-changing experiences that we call ‘stones of remembrance.’

So, I see a paradigm in which the stone of help – but let’s see it as more than one, let’s call it stepping stones, that is, the stones on which the priests were able to stand firm while holding the Ark of the Covenant – being the horizontal base, while the stones of remembrance form an upright monument, witnessing to God’s intervention in our lives.

In spiritual terms, what are the helps that make up this firm foundation of stepping stones that in turn produce the stones of remembrance rising up in a pillar of witness?

Above all, is the recognition that the Bible, in its original languages of primarily Hebrew in the Old Testament, and Greek in the New Testament, is indeed the inspired Word of God, and as such, both inerrant, i.e., not a single error was made in its transmission by the Holy Spirit through the conduit of man, and therefore infallible, meaning that the Word of God contains nothing that is not true. And as such, it must be our only guide for faith and practice, sola scriptura – only Scripture.

Secondly, being convinced that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone (and that not of ourselves, it is the grace of God) in Christ alone.

Third, by applying a hermeneutic – a method of interpreting the Bible – that is consistent in the way in which it interprets the overall message of the Bible. Personally, over time, I have become convinced that Calvinism is the method of interpretation that meets this criterion par excellence, with the acronym T-U-L-I-P serving as a quick reference to its overall thrust: the Total depravity of man – Unconditional election – Limited atonement – Irresistible grace – Perseverance of the saints.

Lastly, by coupling with the hermeneutic engaging in corporate worship, Bible study and application of Scripture, prayer, fellowship, and the sacraments, i.e., the Means of Grace. In this connection, I would like to share other scriptures that are especially meaningful to me in addition to Romans 12:1-2 >>

I Corinthians 6:19-20 “…Or don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit in you, Whom you have from God; and you are not your own, for you have been bought with a price; therefore, glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are of God.”

I Corinthians 9:24-26 “Don’t you know that those running in the stadium, while they all run, only one receives the prize; therefore, run in order to win. Indeed everyone who competes exercises self-control in every way; while these, in order to win a perishable crown, we an imperishable. So I run in such a way as not without a goal, I box as one not beating the air; but I punish my body (υπωπιαζω to become black & blue under the eye from punches while boxing) and bring it under subjection, lest having preached to others, I myself be disqualified.”

Galatians 2:20b “I have been crucified with Christ; indeed, no longer I, but Christ lives in me; indeed, the one I now live in the flesh, I live by faith that of the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Let us transform our minds by actively remembering those stones of remembrance, firmly grounded on the multiple stones of help found in the Means of Grace when God has intervened in our lives for our good and for His glory.

1. https://the-dragon-is-slain.com/2022/07/01/book-review-william-tyndale/; https://the-dragon-is-slain.com/2022/05/24/book-review-william-tyndale-a-biography/comment-page-1/; https://the-dragon-is-slain.com/2022/04/06/book-review-of-gods-bestseller-william-tyndale-thomas-more-and-the-writing-of-the-english-bible-a-story-of-martyrdom-and-betrayal/comment-page-1/