Another wonderful word we have elected to use in the text of the Eth Cepher is the word yachiyd יחיד which in its use declares tremendous meaning.
Before we begin with its usage in the Eth Cepher, let’s take a look at some comparison Scriptures:
Genesis 22:2 Wycliffe Bible (WYC)
God said to him, Take thine one begotten son, whom thou lovest, Isaac; and go into the land of vision, and offer thou him there into burnt sacrifice on one of the hills which I shall show to thee. (And God said to him, Take Isaac, thy only son, whom thou lovest, and go into the land of Moriah; and there thou shalt offer him as a burnt sacrifice on one of the hills which I shall show to thee.)
Genesis 22:2 New International Version (NIV)
Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”
Genesis 22:2 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.”
Genesis 22:2 New King James Version (NKJV)
Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
Here is the Septuagint:
Genesis 22:2
And he said, Take thy son, the beloved one, whom thou hast loved—Isaac, and go into the high land, and offer him there for a whole-burnt-offering on one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
Now, let’s take a look at the underlying Hebrew:
Genesis 22:2 ויאמר (V’amer) קח (laqach) נא (nah) את (eth) בנך (ben) את (eth) יחידך (yachiyd) אשׁר (asher) אהבת (ahavath) את (eth) יצחק (Yitschaq) ולך (halaq) לך אל (lan EL) ארץ (erets) המריה (ha’moriyah) והעלהו (v’halah) שׁם (shem) לעלה (l’olah) על (al) אחד (echad) ההרים (ha’hariym) אשׁר (asher) אמר (amer) אליך (ELYON)
In the Eth Cepher, we use the Hebrew word which is found here for its first use in this verse:
Bere’shiyth (Genesis) 22:2
And he said: Take now את eth-your son, your את eth-yachiyd את eth-Yitschaq, whom you love, and get you into the land of Moriyah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell you of.
Yitschaq was not the firstborn, nor the only begotten son of Avraham. You might recall his firstborn son, Yishma`el. (Bere’shiyth/Genesis 16:15). While he was not the son of Sarah, he most certainly was the son of Avraham, and blessed in his twelve sons as well. (Bere’shiyth/Genesis 17:20). Therefore, the interpretation as found in the following editions is, in a word, inaccurate:
KJ21
American Standard
Amplified
Common English
Complete Jewish
Contemporary English
Darby
Douay Rheims 1899
English Standard
Geneva 1560 / 1599
KJV (B. Blaney ed.)
KJV 1611
New American Standard (NASB)
New International Readers
New International (NIV)
New King James (NKJV)
(Compare with Orthodox Jewish Bible (OJB)): And He said, Take now thy son, thine ben yachid (only son) Yitzchak, whom thou lovest, and get thee into eretz Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.)
Although Yitschaq was not the first born, nor the only begotten son, he was nonetheless the yachiyd - the beloved one. The word yachiyd is not just reserved for describing sons, however, but also daughters. In Shofetiym 11:34, it is written:
Shofetiym (Judges) 11:34
And Yiphtach came to Mitspah to his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances. And she was his yachiydah; beside her he had neither son nor daughter.
The yachiyd is then better understood as the beloved child, not necessarily the only begotten. Consider the comments of Shalomah, who said in Mishlei as follows:
Mishlei (Proverbs) 4:3
For I was my father's son, tender and only yachiyd in the sight of my mother.
However, there are three passages which cannot be ignored where the word yachiyd is applicable. It is these passages which gave rise to our editorial decision to include the word yachiyd in these passages.
Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 6:26
O daughter of my people, gird you with sackcloth, and wallow yourself in ashes: make you mourning, as for a yachiyd, most bitter lamentation: for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us.
Amoc (Amos) 8:10
And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of a yachiyd, and the end thereof as a bitter day.
Zakaryahu (Zechariah) 12:10
And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Yerushalayim, the RUACH of Grace and of Supplications. And they shall look upon me את eth whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for his yachiyd, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
So it is with these considerations that we have made the following change:
Yahuchanon (John) 3:16
For YAH so loved the world, that he gave his את eth-yachiyd, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
On the word "yachad"
Consider also our use of another term, similar in nature to this term yachiyd, but carrying with it additional meaning. This word we have elected to use is the term by which the Essenes called themselves, namely yachad. This word in its application means to be one, or to become one; to join or to unite. Yet, it appears to be the joining of the word YAH and the word echad (one). Yachad then means to be joined or to be united with YAH. Therefore, we made the following change:
Yahuchanon (John) 17:20-22
Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; 21 That they all may be yachad; as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be yachad in us: that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 And the glory which you gave me I have given them; that they may be yachad, even as we are yachad.