What is Remez?
(The Hidden Way Jesus Taught)

We live in a world of paved roads, bright aisles at Target, fridges full of berries in December, and a search bar that finishes our sentences. If we want bread, we buy it—wrapped, sliced, shelf-stable. If we want light, we flip a switch. If we’re unsure about a verse, we Google it and scan the first result.

But the world of the Bible did not run on instant answers and fluorescent convenience. It moved with the sun and the seasons; people baked their own bread, gathered water, and memorized Scripture because books were rare and scrolls were precious. Teaching didn’t sound like bullet points on a screen. It sounded like proverbs, parables, and hints that sent listeners back to earlier passages they knew by heart.

That Eastern way of teaching is called remez—a “hint.” It’s how a rabbi could say a few words and awaken an entire story. Jesus used it all the time.

Scripture in Focus

Let’s watch remez in action in a real moment from Jesus’ life.

Luke 7:18–23 (ESV) The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’” In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

Why this passage? Because it’s a masterclass in remez on both sides—John’s question and Jesus’ answer.

The Historical World Behind the Hint

We’re in early first-century Judea under Rome’s heavy shadow. Taxes are high, soldiers are present, and people are waiting for God to act as He said He would through the prophets. John the Baptist is in prison. From his cell, he hears reports of Jesus. He doesn’t ask, “Are you the Messiah?” He asks, “Are you the Coming One?” That phrase was not random—it hummed with prophecy.

How people learned: Most teaching was oral. You learned by hearing, repeating, and discussing. A rabbi didn’t hand out commentaries. He asked questions, told stories, and—importantly—dropped remezim (hints) that pulled entire passages into the conversation.

Cultural & Rabbinic Context: How Remez Works

In Hebrew, PaRDeS is the word for “orchard.” Hebrew words are built mainly from consonants, and vowels are supplied for pronunciation. So in this acronym, only the consonants P–R–D–S stand for the four levels: Peshat, Remez, Derash, and Sod. The added vowels simply make it pronounceable as a real word, not a separate interpretive level.

In Jewish interpretation, Scripture was read at multiple levels summarized by PaRDeS.

Important: In rabbinic thought, the peshat (plain sense) stands. Remez builds on it; it doesn’t cancel it.
A rabbi could quote one line, and his hearers would “open” the full passage in their minds. That’s remez. It’s not guessing; it’s intertext—Scripture calling back to Scripture.

Jesus’ Remez in Luke 7: The Isaiah Collage

When John asks, “Are you the Coming One?” Jesus replies with a list of deeds: blind see, lame walk, lepers cleansed, deaf hear, dead raised, good news to the poor. To Western ears, that’s a report. To Eastern ears schooled in Isaiah, it’s a signal flare:

• Isaiah 35:5–6 — the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame leap.

• Isaiah 61:1 — good news to the poor, binding up the brokenhearted, liberty to captives.

• Isaiah 29:18; 42:7 — eyes opened, prisoners released.

In the West, this scene is sometimes read as John’s faith faltering. But remember—John had already seen the Spirit descend like a dove and heard the voice from heaven. His question was not doubt about Jesus’ identity so much as about his own future: would he be freed from prison? Strikingly, Jesus strings together Isaiah’s promises but leaves out the line about captives being released. That silence itself is a remez, an unspoken answer to John: Yes, I am the One—but you will not be leaving your cell.

Jesus is not merely listing miracles; He is self-identifying with Isaiah’s promised moment when God returns to restore His people. He answers John’s remez with a remez—and anyone who knows Isaiah can hear the answer: Yes. I am the One who was to come.

Another Remez Moment: Psalm 8 in the Temple Courts (Matthew 21:15–16)

Children shout, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” The leaders are indignant. Jesus answers with a fragment of Psalm 8:

“Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise…”

He quotes only part of the verse. But the rest of Psalm 8:2 says that this praise comes “because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.” The leaders know the whole line. Jesus doesn’t need to spell it out. His hint implies that the children’s praise is right—and that those opposing it align themselves with God’s enemies.

This is remez as surgical truth: one strand of Scripture tugging an entire context into view.

Shepherd of Ezekiel 34: “To Seek and Save the Lost” (Luke 19:10)

With Zacchaeus, Jesus declares, “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” That language is lifted straight from Ezekiel 34 where God Himself promises, “I Myself will search for My sheep… I will seek the lost, bring back the strayed.”

To the people, this is God’s Shepherd arriving. To the leaders, it’s a warning: Ezekiel rebuked failed shepherds. To Zacchaeus, it is mercy: You are the sheep I came for. One line; a world of meaning. That’s remez.

Remez in the Hebrew Bible: Hints Beneath the Surface

Remez is not a Christian invention. It’s a Jewish way of reading woven through the Tanakh itself.

• Proverbs 20:10 — “Differing weights and differing measures are both an abomination to the Lord.” Peshat: Don’t cheat in the market. Remez: All double standards—at work, at home, in church—are detestable. The verse hints at a larger ethic of integrity.

• Genesis 14:14 — Abraham musters 318 trained men. Sages noticed 318 equals the gematria (numeric value) of the name Eliezer, Abraham’s chief servant. Is the text hinting that Eliezer’s faithfulness was equal to an army? Or that Abraham’s victory was never about numbers but God’s deliverance? The number draws you to look beneath the obvious.

• Playful midrash (for flavor): Rabbis loved to show that later figures are “hinted” earlier. They’d point to the Hebrew words of Genesis and say, “Where is Haman hinted in the Torah?” and then smile at the sound-alike phrase in Genesis 3. It’s not the peshat; it’s a wink that trains you to listen for patterns.

Linguistic & Literary Insights: Why Remez Works

Remez works because the Bible is woven with patterns.

• Key Words & Phrases: Repeated vocabulary (“seek,” “light,” “bread,” “shepherd”) ties scenes together across books.
• Structures: Hebrew writing loves parallelism and chiasm (A-B-B’-A’). A surprising center often hides the point.
• Names & Numbers: Names carry meaning; numbers sometimes echo earlier stories.
• Festival Calendar: Feasts (Passover, Shavuot, Sukkot) are living remez—annual rehearsals that later moments (like the Last Supper) allude to.

Scriptural Parallels: Follow the Threads

From Isaiah to Jesus:

• Isaiah 35 → blind see, lame walk
• Isaiah 61 → good news to the poor
• Isaiah 42 → eyes opened, prisoners from darkness

From Ezekiel to Jesus:

• Ezekiel 34 → God the Shepherd seeks the lost
• Jesus (Luke 19) → “seek and save the lost”

From Torah to Ethics:

• Deuteronomy 25:4 → “Don’t muzzle an ox”
• Applied as a remez to human workers’ provision (1 Corinthians 9)

Western vs Eastern: Two Ways of Listening

Western tendency: We like definitions, outlines, and directness. “Say it plainly.” We assume one right meaning locked to one verse.

Eastern/Jewish tendency: They love layers, echoes, stories, and hints. Meaning unfolds as passages talk to each other. The community’s memory participates in interpretation.

Neither is “better.” But if you read an Eastern text with only Western habits, you will miss the music between the notes. Remez trains you to hear harmony, not just the melody.

A Walkthrough: Learning to Hear a Remez (Step by Step, but in Flow)

1. Read the scene. John asks, “Are you the Coming One?”
2. Catch the phrase. “Coming One” sounds like a title. Where from?
3. Scan your memory (or your cross-refs). Prophets promised Someone who would come: Isaiah’s Servant, Zechariah’s King, Malachi’s Lord.
4. Listen to Jesus’ reply. “Blind see… lame walk… good news to the poor.”
5. Follow the echo. Open Isaiah 35 and 61. Read them whole. Note the texture—wilderness blooms, captives free, joy in Zion.
6. Return to Luke 7. Now the reply hums: Jesus is announcing Isaiah’s day has dawned.
7. Receive it. If Isaiah’s promises are opening in Jesus, then our hope is not thin. The King has come; the Kingdom is near.

Misconception Check: “Is Remez Just Making Things Up?”

No. Remez is anchored in the text. It honors the peshat (plain sense) and becomes persuasive because the allusions are real. Jesus wasn’t free-associating. He was weaving canonical threads—Torah, Prophets, and Writings—into His teaching. Remez is not “code breaking.” It’s covenant memory—Scripture interpreting Scripture.

Everyday Examples for Western Readers

• “Bread of Life” (John 6): Not just a food metaphor. It pulls in manna in the wilderness, daily blessings over bread, showbread in the Temple, and the very name Bethlehem (“house of bread”).
• “Light of the World” (John 8): Spoken during the Feast of Tabernacles, when giant candelabra lit Jerusalem. Jesus remezzes Temple light, Torah as light, and Isaiah’s dawn in Galilee.
• “Yoke” (Matthew 11): More than a farm tool image. In rabbinic speech, a “yoke” is a teaching path—a halakhic way to walk (from the Hebrew halakh, “to walk”). Halakhic refers to the practical way God’s commandments are lived out in daily life. A rabbi’s “yoke” was his particular interpretation of how to walk in obedience. Jesus’ yoke is “kind,” not crushing.

The Big Idea

Remez is the Eastern way Scripture hints at Scripture—how Jesus, as a Jewish rabbi, taught by lighting up earlier passages so listeners could see the fuller picture of God’s Kingdom breaking in.

Reflection

• When I read the Bible, do I rush to an answer—or do I slow down to listen for echoes?
• Where have I been content with the surface because it’s fast and familiar?
• Ask the Spirit to make you a listener who notices the hints, not to feel clever, but to love God’s Word more.

✨ SHEMA Lesson: Hear • Believe • Obey

• Hear: Listen to Jesus as His first disciples did—steeped in Torah, hearing echoes of manna, light, and yoke in His words.

• Believe: Trust that His teaching is not random sayings but the thread of one story—God fulfilling promises from Abraham to today.

• Obey: As you read this week, don’t rush past the echoes. When a word or image recalls another Scripture, stop, open it, and walk in it. Let God’s Word shape not just your thoughts but your actions.