Avodah Zarah
Translated (and the bad thing about translations you have to believe the translator got it right with no bias) literally translated”idol worship” or “strange worship” or “foreign worship”.
Let me pause here for a second! When you are translating Hebrew into English it will not be a word for word translation, sadly I use to read the translations from Young’s translation. A little confusing as it did not make much sense sometimes. The same word had different meanings depending on what book they were translating. A virgin in Isaiah 53 was translated from a Hebrew word that would be translated as young woman, maiden.
So I guess you could take your pick as to which English translation you would like to use. Foreign worship makes it sound like it is some kind of weird worship. Idol worship can be offensive to other religions especially Christianity. So for the gospel according to me, I will translate it is strange worship.
This makes it a lot easier for me personally to communicate without offending people, and then they tell me what they believe. I can respond with “well that sounds strange”
One thing have learned with my interaction with Jewish people is that the Creator is also unbounded, infinite and not easily understood.
Imagination is one of the easiest ways to get into the native commandment of strange worship. So I imagine now if you will, (this is haSatan speaking now) * just kidding I was just reminded of a young rabbi, speaking to a crowd of younger Jewish men about idol worship.
Jewish men repeat a prayer over and over, stating that God is one. When they say one, they do not mean like the number one, it is more like if you use your imagination “carefully” it is more like the oneness of everything. A solitary creator, which empowers the creation, which you are part of.
If you I have left you questioning my interpretation, or have left you confused, please respond below.