Yeshua & PaRDeS פרד"ס The Garden of Rabbinical Interpretation

PaRDeS is implicit in Scripture. Both Messiah and His disciples employ it.

When thinking of the ministry of Messiah Yeshua in the first century C.E. we often neglect to consider His religious practice and the probability that He, being the Author of all things, saw no problem in rightly applying the interpretive method of His rabbinical peers, utilizing it as a vehicle for conveying the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.
 
Contrary to the esoteric claims of many modern Christian scholars Yeshua wasn’t born into time and space as a universal archetype of no specific ethnicity. He was born a Jew, of the tribe of Judah in the Roman occupied Judean town of Bethlehem. As He grew He learned to value the practice of first century Biblical Judaism as it pertained to His redemptive work. This is evident in the Gospel accounts where He's seen to pray ברכות brachot (Jewish religious blessings), attend synagogue on שבת Shabbat “as was His custom”, and according to the commandments of God to בני ישראל B’nai Yisrael (The Children of Israel) observe the רגעלים Regalim (עליות Aliyot, Going Up Festivals) of Israel.
 
Therefore, it would be foolish of us to presume that Yeshua didn’t utilize, at least on some occasions, the traditional rabbinical method of biblical interpretation.
 
Pardes פרדס (Garden) is first mentioned in a legend about four rabbis of the Mishnaic (1st century) period. While sources differ on the finer details of the legend the account in its simplest form reads as follows:
 
“Four entered the orchard (Pardes, Garden of esoteric Torah knowledge): Ben Azzay, Ben Zoma, Acher (Elisha Ben Avuyah), and Rav Akiva. One looked and died. One looked and was harmed. One looked and cut down the trees. And one went up in peace and went down in peace.”
 
-Talmud Bavliy, Tosefta Hagigah 2.2
 
This legend teaches that to look upon revealed Scripture and fail to recognise it as God’s inerrant Word leads to death. To look upon revealed Scripture with a view to critique or stand in judgement of it leads to misinterpretation and great spiritual harm. To look upon תורה Torah and cut down its pillars of morality is to leave one devoid of the clean air purchased by its directives. But, to enter the garden of interpretation with humility means coming and going in the peace of reconciliation to God. One could say that this legend teaches the truth of Rav Shaul’s (Paul the Apostle) letter to the Romans 10:4, “Messiah is the Goal of the Torah unto salvation for all who believe, trust, affirm, have faith.”
 
While extra-biblical evidence of PaRDeS post-dates the first century, there is evidence for its practice within Scripture.
 
Before examining the biblical support for PaRDeS, let’s take a look at its form and practical application:

Firstly, פרד"ס PaRDeS (Garden) is an acronym that describes the traditional rabbinical method of interpretation. פ P = פְּשָׁט P’shat (Surface: Plain meaning), ר R = רֶמֶז‎ Remez (Hint), ד D = דְּרַשׁ‎ D’rash (Inquire: Comparative), ס S = סוֹד Sod (Secret: Mystery). All subsequent interpretations are subject to the פְּשָׁט P’shat, plain meaning.

The word פרדס Pardes, as explained, means Orchard or Garden and is a metaphorical reference to גַן עֶדֶן Gan Eden (Paradise).

Secondly, there’s no explicit biblical instruction that gives a schematic for Bible interpretation. Those who claim therefore that Christianity’s Greco-Roman Schematic detailing exegesis, hermeneutics, and the flawed ideal of eisegesis etc. as the most reliable methodology but resist the rabbinical schematic PaRDeS, are being intellectually dishonest at best, and at worst foolish. It’s equally ignorant to claim that post-modern textual criticism is more trustworthy than the traditional rabbinical method. It’s the Torah that critiques us and not the other way around.

So, where do we find implicit support for PaRDeS within Scripture?

The פְּשָׁט P’shat or plain meaning is self-explanatory. There’s no need to explain to a reader that the book means what it says. Therefore, there’s no need to show evidence from the Bible that God intends for us to take it at face value relative to context, figurative, poetic and metaphorical language.

The first mention of the practice of examining the Scriptures in an exegetical way is in the book of Ezra the scribe.

"For Ezra had set his heart לִדְרוֹשׁ lid’rosh to inquire of the תּוֹרַת Torah of Adonay, to observe and to teach its statues and ordinances in Israel.”
 
–Ezra 7:10

Here the root “דרש darash (d’rash)” is used specifically in relation to the Torah and therefore describes a practice of interpretation and an intention to walk according to that interpretation and teach it to others. This is the perfect example of what it means to make a דְּרַשׁ d’rash, or comparative teaching.

In addition to examples from the TaNaKh (OT), as followers of Yeshua, we should look to Him and His disciples for evidence of the use of rabbinical interpretive method. If He doesn’t teach using the PaRDeS method, then why would we?

Let’s take a look at just a few of the many New Testament examples of פרד"ס PaRDeS found in the book of Matthew.
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As stated earlier, every part of Scripture has a plain meaning, therefore פְּשָׁט P’shat is the basis for the subsequent methods of interpretation.

Examples of the use of PaRDeS in the הברית החדשה HaBrit HaChadashah (NT):

Remez (Hint): Matthew 2:15 "Out of Egypt I called my son." This is a quote from Hosea 11:1 and is being applied to Yeshua by Matthew. If we read it to refer to the פְּשָׁט p’shat (plain meaning) of Hosea 11:1, we must interpret it to refer to ancient Israel’s collective escape from Egypt. However, Matthew, the disciple of Yeshua, divinely inspired by God, interprets it as a רֶמֶז remez (hint) which is alluding to the Messianic King as God’s Son. This is just one of many examples of Matthew’s use of רֶמֶז remez.

D'rash (Inquire): Matthew 18:18 "... Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." This verse taken literally and out of context is often used by Christians to demand that spiritual powers submit to them. However, within the context of Matthew 18:14-18 the פְּשָׁט p’shat (plain meaning) refers to the practical application of principals concerning those who are sinning within the body of believers. Thus the plain meaning indicates a דְּרַשׁ d'rash (comparative teaching) concerning the binding and loosing of our actions according to הֲלָכָה Halakhah “the way we walk” (Yet another rabbinical principle that Yeshua and His disciples applied to daily life).

Sod (Mystery): Matthew 26:28 "Then He took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them saying, ‘Drink from it all of you, This is My blood’..." If the figurative language here were taken literally it would not only violate the Torah commandment against consuming blood, but along with other verses concerning the eating of Yeshua's flesh (John 6:51-56), could be understood as teaching cannibalism. Yeshua explains to His disciples that it is the Spirit that produces the deeper understanding (John 6:63), and that His words are spirit and life. This is evidence of a סוֹד sod (mystery) that cannot be gleaned from the פְּשָׁט p’shat (plain meaning) of the text. A concept that is illuminated through spiritual revelation alone and by no other means. This particular סוֹד sod (Mystery) would be fully revealed following His death and resurrection.

So what can we conclude?
1. There’s no explicit schematic for Bible interpretation within Scripture.
2. PaRDeS is implicit in Scripture. Both Messiah and His disciples employ it.
3. It’s arrogant and even misleading to use Greco-Roman techniques and post enlightenment textual criticism as tools for Scriptural interpretation while excluding the rabbinical interpretive tradition based on the hypocritical assumption that it’s not divinely appointed.
 
Copyright 2024 Yaakov Ben Yehoshua