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Q5: Does not "Echad" imply the unity of parts?

Hypothesis: What does 'echad' mean?

Introduction: There is a huge debate what "echad" means ....'solitarily one'....or 'united as one'.

The way to tell the difference is to see if there is a context of only a single entity, or if there is a picture of many parts coming together as a single entity.

Those in the "solitary one" camp, could easily say one is making the context into the sum of its parts. Perhaps this could be done. Maybe we need to look at all the contexts where echad is used and see which is best. Some scholars suggest echad meant unity originally but later evolved into meaning one. That may be possible and explain the confusion when languages change, especially when Greek thinking impacted Hebrew thought. And sadly even Hebrew changed from what God planned with His language, the effect of sinning by man did cause many changes to the original Hebrew language.

Method: See selected passages, arguments and debates shown to the reader.

Discussion: The study of "echad" begins...

Strong's 259

From Jeff Benner's Lexicon book

Ancient Hebrew reads "Strong outside door", "echad" (dxa)

The Hebrew word echad means to unite, as from the many parts of a whole. In his books Jeff explains the word echad has come to mean also "one" over time, but this was not the original meaning. Those wanting more proof the word echad means "unity of parts" can click here.

The meaning of Ancient Hebrew can be confusing unless we understand why they chose certain letters, and we ascertain this by looking at the meaning of other words similar with letters chosen.

Job 3:6 As for that night, let darkness seize upon it; let it not be joined "chadah" (hdx) unto the days of the year, let it not come into the number of the months.

Here we see a similar word for echad in a very old book, showing the word comes from,the idea to unite the many parts of a whole. In this case the nights and days into months of the year.

Eze 33:30 � Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people still are talking against thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one "chad" (dx) to another "echad" (dxa), every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the LORD.

Here you can see the " Strong outside door" is a reference to a brothers, standing outside the doors of their home, with a similar word to "echad". The Hebrew word "chad" is used only once here, next to "echad". The context is referring to a groups of brothers, who come, as the next verse says, "And they come unto thee as the people..."

Pr 5:4 But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp "chad" (dx) as a twoedged sword.

Here you can see the two side of a blade coming together as a single united point, which a similar word to "echad". Notice the Bible says the sword has two edges that come together, the join into a single united point.

Many thanks to Jeff Benner for unravelling the numerous examples of "echad" and showing through related words, like "chad" and "chadah" that "echad" means the joining of parts into a unit.


Ge 1:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the day "echad" one. Time is created here by joining two parts, daylight time and nightlight time.

Ge 1:9 � And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one day "echad" place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. Here two categories of matter are joined together, one above the earth, one on the earth. (sky/land)

Ge 2:21 � And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one "echad" of his ribs,...(and) made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. Here we see TWO personalities coming from the single flesh of man as a kind.

Ge 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one "echad" flesh. Here we see two personalities of love become united in marriage.

Ex 1:15 � And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one "echad" was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah: Here we see two midwives united in functional delivery of child.

Nu 7:84 This was the dedication of the altar, in the day when it was anointed, by the princes of Israel: ... 85 Each "echad" charger of silver weighing an hundred and thirty shekels, each bowl seventy: Here are 12 tribal leaders making many offerings united to dedicate the sanctuary.

Job 31:15 Did not he that made me in the belly "beten" make him? and did not one "echad" fashion us in the womb "rechem"? The belly and the womb are seen as functional parts joined to demonstrate something being made.

Ps 34:20 He keepeth all his bones: not one "echad" of them is broken. Our many bones are united in a human skeletal system.

Ec 3:19 For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; ... 20 All go unto one "echad" place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. 21 Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth? This is speaking of breath that goes upward or downwards at death?

Ec 4:9 Two are better than one "echad" ; because they have a good reward for their labour. 10 For if they fall, the one "echad" will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone "echad" when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Two working together in unity is stronger than one alone.

Isa 6:2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one "echad" had six wings; Special angels with many wings united together.

For studies: Looking at all context of "Echad" in Genesis click here.


"I have theorized in the Ancient Hebrew language there was another word to represent the ordinal number �one� and the word ehhad was solely used for a unit that exists within a unity. But over time, the original Hebrew word for �one� went into disuse and the word ehhad was used for a unit as well as the number �one.� This would not be a unique occurrence, as languages are constantly evolving, words are dropped and added, and definitions and usages change over time. However, there are some textual evidences to support this theory.

The number twelve is written in Hebrew as rse yns sheney asar, literally translated as �two ten.� We would then expect eleven to be written as rse dxa ehhad asar and we do find that in some verses, but we also find rse ytse ashtey asar such as in the following verse."

The Living Words ~ Volume 1 105

And on the third day eleven bullocks...Numbers 29:20 (KJV)

"The word ytse ashtey [H:6249] means �one� but is only used in the context of �eleven.� It would appear ashtey was the original word for �one� but was replaced by ehhad." From 'Living Words I' by Jeff Benner.

A: "So what do you think of Jeff Benner's research ?

P: "Is he implying the Jews deleted the word ashtey from the Hebrew text and replaced it with ehhad? If so, it is slander unless he has facts to back it up. I highly doubt this theory."

(1) Ge 1:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning was day one "echad".

A: " Most if not all translations reverse the Hebrew order of words "evening and morning was the first day" is incorrect, because time only started here, and "first" compares a day to another day, but this was time zero to the day one. Morning and Evening is a unity of parts of time, and the total of these parts became day one.

P: " It is relatively easy to find parts in any single thing. For example, I could take one single baseball and call it a unity because it is made up of several parts; a core, a cover, thread, etc. I don�t buy it. It is one baseball. Gen 1:5 shows �one� day.

(2) Ge 1:9 � And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one "echad" place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

A: "Land and water is a unity of parts, the world is the whole, the waters gather in one part of the whole.

P: "One place, not two places.

(3) Ge 2:11 The name of the first "echad" is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;

A: "There are four heads of rivers, the whole river came from Eden, the title of one of those parts is Pison.

P: "One river is called Pison.

(4) Ge 2:21 � And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one "echad" of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;

A: "There are many rib bones , the whole is the chest, God took only one from many parts.

P: "In the other examples, you had several parts forming one thing. In this example, you have several things forming one part? This verse shows one single rib.

(5) Ge 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one "echad" flesh.

A: "Man and woman are two entities, the whole is human, they become a unit of flesh.

P: "Not two flesh, but one.

(6) Ge 3:22 � And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one "echad" of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

A: "Good and evil are contrasts, the whole is wisdom, the man has become a unit like us (knowing unfortunately both aspects of wisdom)

P: "You are reading things into the text. This refers to one being within the unit of �us�.

(7) Ge 4:19 � And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one "echad" was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.

A: "Two titles of women, the whole is marriage, the title of one of those women was Adah.

P: "Now you�re really stretching it.

(8) Ge 8:5 And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first "echad" day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.

A: "two moon times, the whole is a month, in the tenth new moon in the unit to the new moon.

P: "This refers to the cardinal number one of the month, nothing more.

(9) Ge 8:13 � And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first "echad" day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry.

A: "many days, the whole is month, the first unit till the new moon.

P: "Same as above.

(10) Ge 10:25 And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one "echad" was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name was Joktan.

A: "two sons, the whole is family, the title of one of two sons was Peleg.

P: "Same as Gen 4:19

(11) Ge 11:1 � And the whole earth was of one "echad" language, and of one "echad" speech.

A: "two or more words, the whole is speech, the land existed as one lip and units of words.

P: "Another big stretch to make echad fit your definition. This refers to one single language.

(12) Ge 11:6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one "echad", and they have all one "echad" language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

A: "many persons, the whole is people, the people are a unit and one lip

P: "Here we have many individuals joined together to form one people. In the Shema, we are not told two or more become one, but that one being is one. The Shema does not say two Yahwehs became one.

(13) Ge 19:9 And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one "echad" fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon

A: "the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door.

  • many people, the whole is a crowd, the one fellow came to sojourn

    P: "One man".

    (14) Ge 21:15 And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs.

    A: "branch and leaves, the whole is a shrub(s), she cast the child under a unit of shrubs

    P: "One shrub, not two. It is a cardinal number used to single out one thing.

    (15) Ge 22:2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one "echad" of the mountains which I will tell thee of.'

    A: "many hills, the whole is mountain, upon one of the hills

    P: "Same as above.

    (16) Ge 26:10 And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one "echad" of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us.

    A: "many persons, the whole is people, one of the people might have laid down with your woman

    P: "Cardinal one

    (17) Ge 27:38 And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one "echad" blessing, my father? bless me, even me also, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice, and wept.

    A: "many promises, the whole is a blessing

    P: "One as opposed to more than one.

    (18) Ge 27:44 And tarry with him a few "echad" days, until thy brother's fury turn away;

    A: "This is the first case where Echad is not singular, but plural in it's concept (a few days). If singular means "ONE" than plural in Hebrew implies "MANY". Would this not also apply to El, which means "ONE" and Elohiym means "MANY".

  • one day and another day, the whole is a few days, tarry with him a unit of [some] days...

    P: "If you force it to concerning the only true Elohim.

    (19) Ge 27:45 Until thy brother's anger turn away from thee, and he forget that which thou hast done to him: then I will send, and fetch thee from thence: why should I be deprived also of you both in one "echad" day?

    A: "two children, the whole is twins, should I be childless of the two of you of one day ?

    P: " Twins has nothing to do with this. It is referring to a cardinal number of days, one.

    (20) Ge 48:22 Moreover I have given to thee one "echad" portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.

    A: "twelve shoulders, the whole is a clan, gave you one shoulder in addition to your brothers.

    P: " Another cardinal number.

    (21) Ge 49:16 Dan shall judge his people, as one "echad" of the tribes of Israel.

    A: "twelve tribes, the whole is Israel, as one of the tribes of Israel

    P: " Another cardinal number.

    A: "In studying all occurrences of "echad" in Genesis we see the term "echad" applies mostly to the unity of parts, and in some cases means "ONE" of those parts.

    P: "I don�t see that. I see you forcing your definition into a word meaning the cardinal number one.


    A: "Take the colours of roses, all different yet there are not hundreds of varieties and types, there is in fact one rose kind, yet they all have a compound unity of expression and yet each has a different personality of expression.

    P: " The fact remains that a rose I hold in my hand is �one� rose, not a compound unity of roses.

    A: " I do not see Elohim any different�.the Hebrew does not see Elohim separate beings, only as the expression of personality are they separate. When I married my wife, we are one. What she does with decisions is the same as what I would have done as well. Her mind is my mind, her thinking, my thinking�in a real sense we are cardinally one. Sure we have different expressions of personality and this makes our singularity interesting and fun.

    P: "There is no such thing as the Elohim kind. It is simply a title applied to men, angels and the Father. If your view is correct, then the Father is the same �kind� as men and angels.

    Nowhere does Scripture say GOD made angels (Cherub or Seraphim)as the order of ELOHIM. Nowhere does Scripture say GOD made mankind (adam)as the order of ELOHIM. This statement is pure science fiction.

    The verse translated correct in Hebrew says "Ps 8:5 For ELOHIM hast made MANKND a little lower than the ELOHIM", Says that GOD make man a little lower than Elohim.

    Joh 10:33 The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself ELOHIM.

    The Jews consider stoning Jesus because as of mankind, he is making Himself of Elohim in heaven.

    Ps 82:6 � I have said, Ye are Elohim; and all of you are children of the most High (Father).

  • Joh 10:34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
  • 35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
  • 36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?

    Does Psalms really say in Ps 82:6 that human beings are of heavenly Elohim, or that humans beings are similar to the heavenly Elohim as a kind? Human beings are similes of the heavenly Elohim as a kind, but we are not exactly the same. We lack creative power to engineer things from seemingly nothing for example. Jesus want avoiding His own stoning, because He was saying He was a Son of the Heavenly Elohim, as well as part of the earthly elohim, He came to represent and thus atone for mankind's sinning.

    P: "As far as I know, every occurrence of echad means the cardinal number one. Sometimes we are told that two or more things become one thing, but if we are not told that, then we need to accept that it means the cardinal one and not assume it is a compound unity, especially concerning the Shema.

    Pr 5:4 But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp "chad" (dx) as a two-edged sword Actually this closely related Hebrew word says the two edges become united as a sharp point.

    This single verse proves the theory of faith regarding "Echad" meaning "cardinal one" is false. Like the previous study of Elohim, scholars assume the many contexts favour one theory over another, rather than look at all contexts, and even allowing a few minor cases to sway the meaning of the Hebrew word.

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