WFT- domiciliary

14 June 2009

The Merriam-Webster Word of the day for May 17th was domiciliary.  Their definition was the following:

of, relating to, or constituting a domicile: as a : provided or taking place in  the home b : providing care and living space (as for disabled veterans)

This is the etymology M-W provided:

"Domiciliary" can be traced back through French "domiciliaire" and Medieval  Latin "domiciliarius" to the earlier Latin word "domicilium" ("domicile").  "Domicilium" comes from the Latin "domus" ("home"), which is at the heart of a  number of other English words, including "domestic" and "domicile." It is even  the source of the English word "dome." In Medieval Latin, "domus"came to mean  "church," and was borrowed by French for the word "dome" ("dome" or "cathedral")  and by Italian for "duomo"("cathedral"). In the 1500s, English drew on these  words for "dome," a word which originally referred not to a vaulted roof or  ceiling but to a mansion or a stately building.

That brought to mind this passage from Ecclesiastes:

Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near when you will say, "I have no delight in them"; before the sun and the light, the moon and the stars are darkened, and clouds return after the rain; in the day that the watchmen of the house tremble, and mighty men stoop, the grinding ones stand idle because they are few, and those who look through windows grow dim; and the doors on the street are shut as the sound of the grinding mill is low, and one will arise at the sound of the bird, and all the daughters of song will sing softly.  Furthermore, men are afraid of a high place and of terrors on the road; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags himself along, and the caperberry is ineffective. For man goes to his eternal home while mourners go about in the street. Remember Him before the silver cord is broken and the golden bowl is crushed, the pitcher by the well is shattered and the wheel at the cistern is crushed; then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.  "Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher, "all is vanity!"  (Ecclesiastes 12:1-8)

There is a great disconnect between Jewish thought and Christian thought in regards to what happens when a person dies.  Do they immediately go into the presence of G-d?  Jewish thought says no, that a person temporarily goes to Gehinnom (also known as Gehenom, or Gehenna) to be purged/refined from, or atone for their sins. 

Some sects of Christianity teach there is a place of purging (i.e. "purgatory" as in Catholicism) while others teach that a soul is judged at death and immediately goes to heaven or hell (i.e. most Protestant denominations).  Some (such as the Seventh-Day Adventists, Christadelphians, and Jehovah's Witnesses) teach that there is such a thing as "soul sleep" where the souls of the dead "sleep" until the resurrection whereupon they are judged and then sent to their final destination.

Because this is a matter of some confusion, I hope to study this further and see what Scripture says about Heaven and Hell in order to separate Scriptural fact from popular fiction.  More to come when that study is completed.

 

Torah Portion

unknown

 

 

or view this week's triennial cycle reading.

Today is

Yom Shabbat, 12 Nisan, 5784

Saturday, April 20, 2024

 

Learn more about this date in history.