Remez

I mentioned remez in as a probable explanation for Matthew 27:46. In considering this explanation, we need to explore what remez actually is. Where else does it appear in the Bible? It seemed worthy of further exploration.

PaRDeS

There are four levels of interpretation in Jewish hermeneutics. Each of these levels deals with different or deeper meanings of the text. They are the peshat פשט, remez רמז, derash דרש, and sod סוד.

Plain Meaning: Peshat means simple or plain, and it is essentially the literal reading of the text. The mishnah משנה is a commentary that contains this simple interpretation of Mosaic law, etc.

Allegorical Meaning: Remez means hint or clue, and it is typically refers to a meaning beyond the literal sense. It is not meant to be interpreted literally, but can be understood correctly through broader knowledge of the statement, like in the case of Matthew 27:46 and Psalm 22. The gemara גמרא contains this commentary.

Metaphorical Meaning: The third method is derash which means to inquire, argue, or seek. This is the level at which we wrestle with riddles and parables to grasp the most correct meaning. It often involves comparative word study, and you will find the commentary for it in the midrash מדרש.

Hidden Meaning: Sod is the last interpretive method and means secret or mystery. In Judaism, kabbalah קבלה is a practice that falls within this level of esoteric, often mystical interpretation of the text. For Christians, I think a close approximation to the purveyors of sod would be found in the authors who publish very specific interpretations to The Revelation.

Remez in the Bible

There is a lot of remez in the Bible. How many times does the text carry meaning beyond the literal phrasing? After thousands of years of analysis, these levels of meaning are often simply known and accepted as part of the meaning of a particular passage.

I’d encourage you to reflect on how many times you find multiple levels of meaning in scripture. How many times does a promise by God carry specific intent, yet also reveal the unchanging nature of God? How many times does the narrative of one person or event link directly to another or reveal something else about them that otherwise goes unstated?

One of the biggest benefits of living in the information age is that we have vast and immediate access to centuries of connections and insights that gifted scholars have drawn from the text. This gives me a huge leg up in my own studies.

Google is a great place to start or confirm your suspicions about the meaning of a section of the text. And, the advent of generative AI is ESPECIALLY awesome for Biblical studies because of its capacity to ingest and review vast swaths of open-source, historical information.

For those who have an annotated or amplified Bible, you will be able to see quickly just how interrelated the text of holy scripture can be. Just how many times a seemingly innocuous statement carries significant meaning.

Biblical Examples

I wrote about Matthew 27:46 already, where Jesus’s question “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” wasn’t actually a statement of abandonment. But, what are some of the other Biblical examples of remez?

1. “Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.” Matthew 3:4 ESV
   • Why would Matthew make a point of including this eccentricity? Who else wore clothes like that? What does it say of John the Baptist? (2 Kings 1:8)
2. Galatians 4:21-31 contains Paul’s remez interpretation of the Genesis narrative of Sarah and Hagar’s sons. As an added bonus, he explicitly states that he’s giving them an allegorical interpretation!
3. The story of the Israelite departure from Egypt is in its entirety a remez that is remarkably apt at describing our liberation from sin. How many Christians, once freed from their own bondage to sin, have longed to return to its pleasures?
4. Christ types abound in the Hebrew scriptures, perhaps most notably the Binding of Isaac in Genesis 22. These are each a remez that hints toward who Christ would be, how he would live, and ultimately how he would die.
5. Matthew 1:22-23 claims that Jesus is the fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14. But the name Immanuel (actually two words–imanu el עמנו אל) is not the name Jesus (yeshua ישוע). Matthew can only make this claim of fulfilled prophecy by using an allegorical interpretation.

If you come across other examples of remez in the text, please share them! I find that understanding these references adds a lot of richness and depth to the text. If you’re interested in reading more on remez, give this article a read.