The
Suffering Servant In Isaiah 53 [Part A]
"And
he said to me,'You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be
glorified.'"
Isaiah 49:3
(NRS)
By
Messiah Truth
The
one prooftext in the Christian arsenal that they are most confident
will turn any Jew to Christianity is the 53rd chapter of Isaiah. The
prophet speaks of someone called the Lord’s "servant,"
one who is characterized as one who suffers.
The reality is
that this passage can indeed be construed as messianic, but it does
not speak of the Messiah, as Christians want it to be. Indeed, if you
go into Christian chat rooms, you’ll find people with handles like
"Servant" and "Isaiah53." This chapter is
speaking about the nation of Israel. The fact of the matter is, some
Christians agree with the Jews about the subject of Isaiah 53, as we
shall see in Part III.
Did
Isaiah Identify the Servant?
Numerous
times throughout the Book of Isaiah the servant is called by name.
The following is a sampling:
Isaiah 41:8 But
thou, Israel, [art] my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the
seed of Abraham my friend. [9] [Thou] whom I have taken from the ends
of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said
unto thee, Thou [art] my servant; I have
chosen thee, and not cast thee away. (KJV)
[44:1] Yet
now hear, O Jacob my servant; and
Israel, whom I have chosen: [2] Thus saith the LORD that made thee,
and formed thee from the womb, [which] will help thee; Fear not, O
Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen.
(KJV)
[44:21] Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for
thou [art] my servant: I have formed thee; thou
[art] my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me.
(KJV)
[45:4] For Jacob my
servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee
by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.
(KJV)
[49:3] And said unto me, Thou
[art] my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified. (KJV)
So,
we see that the identity of G-d’s servant is plainly evident.
The
chapter divisions did not exist until about four hundred years ago.
Therefore, it’s important to examine this chapter in its context,
and not just cut off the page, all by itself.
Isaiah 52:1
Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion;
put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for
henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and
the unclean. [2] Shake thyself from the dust; arise, [and] sit down,
O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O
captive daughter of Zion. [3] For thus saith the LORD, Ye
have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without
money. [4] For thus saith the Lord G-D, My people went down aforetime
into Egypt to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without
cause. [5] Now therefore, what have I here, saith the LORD, that my
people is taken away for nought? they that rule over them make them
to howl, saith the LORD; and my name continually every day [is]
blasphemed. [6] Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore
[they shall know] in that day that I [am] he that doth speak: behold,
[it is] I. [7] How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him
that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good
tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion,
Thy G-d reigneth! [8] Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the
voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when
the LORD shall bring again Zion. [9] Break forth into joy, sing
together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the LORD hath comforted
his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. [10] The LORD hath made bare
his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the
earth shall see the salvation of our G-d. [11] Depart ye, depart ye,
go ye out from thence, touch no unclean [thing]; go ye out of the
midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD. [12]
For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD
will go before you; and the G-d of Israel [will be] your reward. [13]
Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and
extolled, and be very high. [14] As many were astonied at thee; his
visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the
sons of men: [15] So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall
shut their mouths at him: for [that] which had not been told them
shall they see; and [that] which they had not heard shall they
consider. (KJV)
Take
this chapter all by itself, and it's fairly obvious that it speaks of
Zion, of the nation of Israel. This portion of scripture sets the
stage for chapter 53.
Isaiah 53:1
Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD
revealed? [2] For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and
as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and
when we shall see him, [there is] no beauty that we should desire
him. [3] He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and
acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were [our] faces from him; he
was despised, and we esteemed him not. [4] Surely he hath borne our
griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of G-d, and afflicted. [5] But he [was] wounded for our
transgressions, [he was] bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement
of our peace [was] upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. [6]
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his
own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. [7] He
was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he
is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her
shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. [8] He was taken from
prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for
he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression
of my people was he stricken. [9] And he made his grave with the
wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no
violence, neither [was any] deceit in his mouth. [10] Yet it pleased
the LORD to bruise him; he hath put [him] to grief: when thou shalt
make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see [his] seed, he shall
prolong [his] days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his
hand. [11] He shall see of the travail of his soul, [and] shall be
satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many;
for he shall bear their iniquities. [12] Therefore will I divide him
[a portion] with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the
strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was
numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and
made intercession for the transgressors. (KJV)
Now,
according to Christians, the topic of Isaiah 52 is temporarily
suspended from the nation of Israel to then speak exclusively about
the Messiah. Before we get into the in-depth issues of
mistranslation, there are a couple of things that need to be
addressed.
This
chapter of Isaiah makes no mention of the Messiah himself. We know
how to identify the future king, because he's called the king, the
branch of Jesse, or is referred to as David himself. The reason why
Christians cling to this chapter so dearly as proof that the Messiah
is to suffer is because it is one of those very few places where
they can attempt to do so. The actual breadth of Messianic prophecy
is quite exhaustive, and you don't find the notion of a king
suffering in them, but you have this chapter, which can be twisted
to that end.
2) There is a great deal of circular reasoning
involved here. People start with Jesus being the Messiah, Jesus
suffered, Isaiah 53 is about one who suffers, so Isaiah 53 must be
about the Messiah!
Isaiah
53: Comparing Jewish and Christian Translations [Part B]
"So
he shall startle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because
of him; for that which had not been told them they shall see, and
that which they had not heard they shall contemplate."
Isaiah
52:15 (NRS)
By
Messiah Truth
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King
James Version (KJV)
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[52:13]
Behold, My servant will succeed; he will be exalted and become
high and exceedingly lofty. [14] Just as multitudes were
astonished over you, [saying,] ‘His appearance is too marred to
be a man’s, and his visage to be human,’ [15] so will
the many nations exclaim about him, and kings will shut their
mouths [in amazement], for they will see that which had never been
told to them, and will perceive things they had never heard.
[53:1] Who would believe what we have heard! For whom has the
arm of HASHEM been revealed! [2] Formerly he grew like a
sapling or like a root from arid ground; he had neither form nor
grandeur; we saw him, but without such visage that we could
desire. [3] He was despised and isolated from men, a man of
pains and accustomed to illness. As one from whom we would hide
our faces; he was despised, and we had no regard for him. [4]
But in truth, it was our ills that he bore, and our pains that
he carried – but we had regarded him diseased, stricken by G-d,
and afflicted! [5] He was pained because of our rebellious
sins and oppressed through our iniquities; the chastisement upon
him was for our benefit, and through his wounds, we were healed.
[6] We have all strayed like sheep, each of us turning his
own way, and HASHEM inflicted upon him the iniquity of us all. [7]
He was persecuted and afflicted, but he did not open his
mouth; like a sheep being led to the slaughter or a ewe that is
silent before her shearers, he did not open his mouth. [8]
Now that he had been released from captivity and judgment, who
could have imagined such a generation? For he had been removed
from the land of the living, an affliction upon them that was my
people’s sin. [9] He submitted himself to his grave like
wicked men; and the wealthy [submitted] to his executions, for
committing no crime and with no deceit in his mouth. [10]
HASHEM desired to oppress him and afflicted him; if his soul would
acknowledge guilt, he would see offspring and live long days and
the desire of HASHEM would succeed in his hand. [11] He
would see [the purpose] and be satisfied with his soul’s
distress. With his knowledge My servant will vindicate the
Righteous One to multitudes; it is their iniquities that he will
carry. [12] Therefore, I will assign him a portion from the
multitudes and he will divide the mighty as spoils – in return
for having poured out his soul for death and being counted among
the wicked for he bore the sin of the multitudes and prayed for
the wicked.
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[52:13]
Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and
extolled, and be very high. [14] As many were astonied at
thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form
more than the sons of men: [15] So shall he sprinkle many
nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for [that]
which had not been told them shall they see; and [that] which they
had not heard shall they consider.[53:1] Who hath believed
our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? [2]
For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root
out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we
shall see him, [there is] no beauty that we should desire him.
[3] He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and
acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were [our] faces from him;
he was despised, and we esteemed him not. [4] Surely
he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did
esteem him stricken, smitten of G-d, and afflicted. [5] But
he [was] wounded for our transgressions, [he was] bruised for our
iniquities: the chastisement of our peace [was] upon him; and with
his stripes we are healed. [6] All we like sheep have
gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD
hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. [7] He was
oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he
is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her
shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. [8] He
was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his
generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for
the transgression of my people was he stricken. [9] And he
made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death;
because he had done no violence, neither [was any] deceit in his
mouth. [10] Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath
put [him] to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for
sin, he shall see [his] seed, he shall prolong [his] days, and the
pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. [11]
He shall see of the travail of his soul, [and] shall be satisfied:
by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he
shall bear their iniquities. [12] Therefore will I divide
him [a portion] with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with
the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he
was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of
many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
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It’s
always interesting when we compare translations side by side, which
is why Christian publishers have put ont he market Bibles that
include four translations side by side in one volume.
The
first thing that must be established when examining this portion of
scripture is the identity of the narrator. If we don't know who is
speaking, then this chapter can be twisted by anyone for any reason.
For this reason, we cannot begin to analyze this portion with the
first verse of chapter 53, but with the last portion of chapter 52.
Isaiah 52:15 So
shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings
shall shut their mouths at him: for [that] which had not
been told them shall they see; and [that] which they had not heard
shall they consider. (KJV)
This
is the last verse of chapter 52, and sets the stage for chapter 53.
The kings of the gentile nations collectively, are the narrators of
chapter 53. Chapter 53 is about gentile nations exclaiming their
shock over how they had treated G-d's servant, Israel. Who else could
it be? Christians would have me believe that it is the Jews who are
proclaiming shock. However, this does not ring true. While the shock
of the gentiles is a common theme in scripture that foretells the
future, the Jews admitting that we are wrong in the end of days is
not found anywhere in the Bible. Scripture tells us quite the
opposite.
Zechariah 8:23
Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days [it shall come to pass],
that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations,
even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a
Jew, saying, We will go with you: for
we have heard [that] G-d [is] with you. (KJV)
This
verse always throws Christians for a loop. They always struggle to
find some way to make it fit within Christology, but there's no way
to do it.
Let
us now break down each verse of the chapter:
Isaiah
53:1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is
the arm of the LORD revealed?
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This verse
introduces the narrative of the shock that the gentile kings of
nations will be proclaiming at the dawn of the Messianic era, when
the Jewish people are vindicated.
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Isaiah
53:2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender
plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor
comeliness; and when we shall see him, [there is] no beauty that
we should desire him.
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This
translation does not make sense. Isaiah 52:15 makes it perfectly
clear that this chapter is being spoken from a past-tense
perspective from the End of Days. Thus, the translation of this
narrative should reflect that.
The
King James Bible and other Christian translations do not render it
in the past tense, however, because the intent of their
translations is specifically to lead the reader to believe in
Jesus. Translations like this one from Artscroll’s Tanach is
correct, and thus makes much more sense based on context (not to
mention the Hebrew text itself) because it is in the past tense:
“Formerly
he grew like a sapling or like a root from arid ground; he had
neither form nor grandeur; we saw him, but without such visage
that we could desire.”
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Isaiah
53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of
sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were [our]
faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
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Again,
here we have the same problem of changed tenses that we saw with
our previous verse.
It
is puzzling how this change would help an evangelical in slanting
the passage towards Jesus. "He IS despised?" According
to the New Testament, Jesus was quite popular, as a number of
verses quoted below will show.
Also,
notice how the tense changed in KJV’s rendering from "he IS
despised" to "we HID," in the past tense. The
errors in this translation plainly give themselves away.
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Was
Jesus really despised?
Luke 4:14 And
Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there
went out a fame of him through all the region round about.
[15] And he taught in their synagogues, being
glorified of all.
Luke
8:19 Then came to him [his] mother and his brethren, and could
not come at him for the press.
Luke
8:45 And Jesus said, Who touched me? When all denied, Peter and
they that were with him said, Master, the
multitude throng thee and press [thee], and sayest thou,
Who touched me? (KJV)
This
is but a small sampling of a long list. The servant is characterized
as one who is despised. Jesus is not one who fits that bill.
However, when you take a look at the history of Jews, you’ll find
that the Jewish people fit into that description seamlessly.
Isaiah
53:4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried
our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of G-d, and
afflicted.
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Christians
interpret this verse as a foreshadowing of Jesus’ atoning death
on the cross. However, the verse does not explicitly mention such
a concept, which is completely foreign to the Torah (Exodus
32:33), which tell us that a man cannot make atonement for others.
Moses attempted to do so when the Israelites committed the sin of
the golden calf. G-d wouldn’t accept Moses’ plea. When you get
right down to it, the only reason to think
that Jesus atoned for your sins is because the Christian Bible
says so. There’s really no other reason
to think so. There are numerous ways in which Jesus could not have
possibly been a sin sacrifice, which we explore here,
and in countless ways the New Testament has shown itself to be
dishonest and unreliable, as we have shown in our other online
articles.
Throughout the last two thousand years of the
Jews' exile from their homeland, a startling pattern emerges.
Whenever the people of a gentile country weren't doing well,
whether politically or economically, the non-Jews sought to put
blame on someone for their ills. Inevitably, that someone was
oftentimes the Jews. From the perspective of the gentile kings
speaking in this narrative, "he hath borne our griefs, and
carried our sorrows" refers to blaming the Jews for
everything from economic failure to the Black Death. The
easily-used excuse made by the Christians and the Muslims was that
the Jews were rejected of G-d. This is the view of the gentile
kings being expressed by the second half of our verse.
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Isaiah
53:5 But he [was] wounded for our transgressions,
[he was] bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace
[was] upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
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There are a
couple of problems with this verse. Firstly, saying that the
servant is wounded "for our transgressions" can be a
little misleading, unless you truly understand the meaning. For
this reason, Artscroll’s translation is more accurate in saying,
"because of our rebellious sins." One must keep in mind
that it is not biblical sound to say that one man can atone for
another’s sins. The Torah takes and completely destroys this
concept.
Secondly, there is a problem with the end of the
verse, "with his stripes we are healed." This is another
changing of tense to lead someone away from the true meaning of
the chapter, the motive being that the Christian evangelists want
you to think the healing is a continuous atonement, when in fact
the healing is the end of the sickness of anti-Semitism that the
nations will experience when they have this enormous revelation
about the Jews at the End of Days.
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Isaiah
53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have
turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the
iniquity of us all.
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This verse
doesn’t fit with Jesus, because one man is incapable of atoning
for the sins of many. This verse is talking about how the
gentile nations had laid their problems on the Jewish people. i.e.
inciting violence against the Jews with blood libels, ficticious
literature like the Protocols
of the Elders of Zion, etc.
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Isaiah
53:7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he
opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his
mouth.
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Does this
apply to Jesus? Was Jesus silent and mute before his tormentors?
Matthew 26:39 has Jesus praying to G-d to help him avoid his fate
(which for some reason doesn’t give Trinitarians pause). While
on the cross, Jesus cries out "why have you forsaken me?"
(Which is not what "lama sabachtani" means, as we
explore in the essay entitled Christian
Misinterpretation of Psalms.)
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Isaiah
53:8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and
who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off; out of the
land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he
stricken.
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How does this
apply to Jesus?
"We," being the gentile
narrators, are telling how they had killed Jews over time, and
burdened the Jews with the sins of the gentiles. Then we come into
the first major issue of mistranslation in Christian renderings of
Isaiah 53. The word which KJV translated in the second half of the
verse in the singular is the Hebrew word "lamo." In
numerous places throughout the Bible, and in Isaiah in particular,
you find "lamo" translated as "them." See
Isaiah 15:4 ("be thou a covert to them."), 23:1
("from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them."),
44:7 ("let them show unto them."), and 48:21 ("He
caused waters to flow out of the rock for them.") A
much more accurate rendering of the last half of that verse is
Artscroll’s "an affliction upon them that was my people’s
sin." It is a rendering that makes much more sense given the
context and based on the text itself.
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Isaiah
53:9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with
the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither
[was any] deceit in his mouth.
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Firstly, we
have another matter of mistranslation. The word rendered here as
"death" should actually read "deaths." The
Hebrew word here is "b’motav," which is a conjugated
plural word.
See Artscroll’s "He
submitted himself to his grave like wicked men; and the wealthy
[submitted] to his executions, for committing no crime and with no
deceit in his mouth."
Secondly, the
servant in this verse is characterized as one who had done no
violence, and spoken no deceit. This clearly does not fit with
the Jesus we see in the Gospels.
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Was
Jesus Non-Violent?
Matthew 10:34
Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I
came not to send peace, but a sword.
John
2:14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and
doves, and the changers of money sitting: [15] And when
he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the
temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the
changers' money, and overthrew the tables;
Luke
22:36 Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let
him take [it], and likewise [his] scrip: and he that hath no sword,
let him sell his garment, and buy one. (KJV)
Isaiah
53:10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath
put [him] to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for
sin, he shall see [his] seed, he shall prolong [his] days, and the
pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
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"His soul
an offering for sin" is a lot different than his body. I was
under the impression that Jesus’ blood was to be the final blood
sacrifice. It’s his body that’s the offering, not his
soul. Also, a tweaking of words took place here. It says in KJV,
"when thou shalt make his soul," and there are two
mistranslations that take place here. This rendering makes
absolutely no sense when you remember who the narrator is! Keeping
in mind who is speaking is vital for understanding this chapter!
A proper rendering (and they exist in Christian translations) is
"if his soul makes restitution." If he would make
restitution, he would see his seed? If Jesus is G-d, is this
G-d making a deal with Himself? Jesus had disciples, but no
physical seed, and the Hebrew word "zera" can only refer
to physical children. The word for "son" can be
metaphorical, and if that’s what the prophet meant when he
penned this, the word for "son" would have been used.
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Isaiah
53:11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, [and]
shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant
justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
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By his
knowledge the servant shall justify many? Again, this is an
instance of word-mangling with the intent of furthering
Christianity, leaving enough of a trail to be caught. Where in the
New Testament is it told that Jesus’ knowledge vindicated
anybody? In all of Paul’s writings, we are told over and over
again that it is Jesus' blood that justifies us.
Here the
narrator changes from the gentile kings to the Lord Himself. From
this point on, the chapter is foretelling the reward the Lord will
grant Israel for enduring the exile and never losing faith in the
Lord.
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Isaiah
53:12 Therefore will I divide him [a portion] with
the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because
he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with
the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made
intercession for the transgressors.
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The servant is
finally vindicated, and will divide the mighty as spoils for his
suffering. The righteous of Israel will be exalted in the end.
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Isaiah
53: A Summary of Christian Deception [Part C]
“Keep
far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent and those in
the right, for I will not acquit the guilty.”
Exodus
23:7 (NRS)
By
Messiah Truth
The
Veil of Lies
Now
that you’ve seen the analysis and breakdown of what Isaiah 53 was
truly about, let's see how Christians respond to this. Not all
Christians will tell these tall tales, and I think I need to make
that disclaimer from the beginning. However, the evangelical
community still clings to this portion of scripture for dear life and
is willing to tell some rather offensive lies to protect it.
Israel?
Didn’t You Hear About How Rashi Made That One Up?
This
is a rather well-worn argument is that the Jewish view of Isaiah 53
had always been about the Messiah in particular, but Rashi
(Rabbi Shlomo ben Yitzchak, the greatest Medieval Torah and Talmud
commentator), who was completely opposed to Christian interpretations
of the Bible, created a new interpretation of Isaiah 53. This is
believed to have been fabricated by an apologist of the nineteenth
century. Jews had never interpreted Isaiah 53 as being about a
suffering Messiah. If it was, then Christians must think Peter was a
foolish fellow, since he obviously must have not been learned the
Tanach when he displayed astonishment after Jesus foretold that he
would die.
Who
tells this lie? Evangelical Christians tell this lie. Jews for Jesus
tells this lie. The Chosen People Ministries tells this lie. All it
takes is one lie of this nature for you to be proven untrustworthy.
They tell these lies in spades. Numerous tall tales of this sort are
told, trying to create the picture that Jesus was in the beliefs of
the rabbis, and then a large quantity of quotes, sometimes taken out
of context, other times fabricated, are presented, and the evangelist
will say, "Don’t you see? The rabbis were saying this all
along!" These are the same evangelicals who will also denounce
the views of the rabbis when they prove an inconvenience. There
wasn’t exactly a huge movement among Jews to jump into baptism
pools in the first millenium of the Common Era. One would think that
if it was made up by Rashi, then this would not have been the case.
Instead, any examination of a history text will show that Christians
persecuted Jews during the first thousand years of Christianity (and
afterward!), and that the Jews resisted Christianity, even at the
expense of their lives.
The
fact of the matter is that this lie can be proven such by relying on
Christian texts. In the third century, the early church father Origen
wrote a volume entitled Contra Celsum,
a criticism of a pagan scholar who spoke against Christianity. Origen
told of a time when he had approached a group of Jews, and tried
using Isaiah 53 as a tool aimed at evengelizing them. "Those
whom the Jews regarded as learned" explained to Origen the
Jewish interpretation of the fourth Servant Song, and it took place
nearly a thousand years before Rashi lived. For proof, see
this Catholic website, with Contra
Celsum translated online, chapters 54 and 55.
There
are also other references, such as the Talmud, which explain the
Jewish interpretation of Isaiah 53, which date back long before Rashi
as well, but you need only present one proof in this case to prove
that Christian missionaries lie about this, and the irrational
lengths to which they will go to defend their untenable views.
Don’t
You Know They’re Hiding it from the Haftarah?
First,
let us establish what the Haftarah
is. Every Sabbath the Jews read from the Torah. Less than two hundred
years prior to the beginning of the Common Era, the Greeks ruled over
the Jews, and had forbidden the reading of Torah. To the Jews, whose
lives revolve around the sacred Law, this presented a terrible
dilemma. However, they made due by reading portions from the
Prophets, which either had a message that was similar in tone with
the week’s normal Torah reading, or had the tone of a current
annual holiday. An important point is that the Jews do not read the
entire Bible on a yearly schedule. Only the Torah is completely read
each year. The Haftarah makes up less than 10% of the entire Bible.
Isaiah 53 was not chosen to be part of the Haftarah because it lacked
a theme that matched a holiday or weekly Torah reading. After the
Torah was allowed to be read once again, the Jews continued the
Haftarah reading, and it remains a tradition to this day. Most
compelling in arguing that the Jews are hiding Isaiah 53 from the
Haftarah is that the Haftarah is mentioned in the New Testament!
Acts 13:15 And
after the reading of the law and the
prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them,
saying, [Ye] men [and] brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation
for the people, say on. (KJV)
After
reading "the law and the prophets." The law is the Torah,
and the prophets make up the Haftarah. What is the claim made by
evangelicals that the Jews are hiding something in excluding Isaiah
53 from the Haftarah? It’s a lie.
Here’s
a New Concept!
So,
after these three short analyses, one must ask the question: how soon
until the evangelical community sees that the world is not flat?
Isaiah
53: Did Jesus Have Long Life?
By
Out
Reach Judaism
Question:
My
question pertains to an objection you raised in your tape series
regarding the christological reading of Isaiah 53, specifically verse
10. This verse says that the Servant's days will be prolonged.
Jesus, however, died young. However, if we were to believe in
the resurrection, that Jesus rose in the flesh, why can we not say
that his life has been prolonged? The human side of him would
now be about 2,000 years old. One would think that this could
be called having a prolonged life. Is there a fault in this
reasoning?
Answer:
Before
answering your question, we should begin with a brief overview of the
53rd chapter of Isaiah 1
for our readers who are unfamiliar with this section of the
Bible.
The
53rd chapter of Isaiah is the last song of the four celebrated
"ServantSongs" 2
at the end of the Book of Isaiah. These four
"Servant
Songs," which are found in Isaiah 41-53, are so called because
throughout these soothing chapters, the prophet foretells
the
glorious redemption of the righteous remnant of Israel who is
repeatedly identified as God's servant. Isaiah 53 is the
culmination of Isaiah's narrative which describes the Almighty's
servant-nation who, after a brutal and seemingly endless exile, is
elevated and redeemed in the eyes of her former oppressors -- the
gentile nations.
The
53rd chapter of Isaiah begins with an extraordinary biblical text in
which the prophet vividly describes the surprised reaction of the
gentile kings of nations at the end of days as they finally behold
the righteous remnant of the Jewish people raised up and glorified.
The astonished reaction of the gentiles to the messianic age is a
common theme in the prophets and is emphasized in this chapter.
What has caused these leaders of the world's nations to be so
startled? Why are they so amazed? Everything that they
have ever heard or considered is in stark contrast to what they are
finally witnessing in the messianic age. They will place their
hands over their mouths in numbed bewilderment as they behold the
glory of the remnant of the Jewish people, finally vindicated and
redeemed by the arm of the Lord. Let's examine Isaiah
52:15-53:1, which are the introductory verses to Isaiah 53.
So
shall he startle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because
of him; for that which has not been told them they shall see, and
that which they have not heard they shall understand. Who has
believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the
Lord been revealed?
In
verses two through eight, the kings of nations continue to speak as
they sorrowfully express their heartfelt confession. They
finally understand that as a result of the sins of their peoples, the
nation of Israel had suffered brutally throughout their long and
bitter exile. In the past, these world leaders surmised that
because the Jewish people stubbornly refused to embrace the ways of
their nations the Jews were stricken and smitten by God. But
now, as they bear witness to the glorious messianic redemption, they
finally understand that Israel suffered as a result of the
destructive arrogance and devastating recklessness of their own
peoples.
By
Isaiah 53:9, however, the speakers are no longer the gentile kings,
but rather the Almighty Himself. In 53:10, the verse about
which you were asking, God is enumerating the blessings that are
bestowed on those who have chosen the path of devotion and
"have
made their souls a restitution." These manifold blessings
mirror the promised blessings to the faithful at the end of the Book
of Deuteronomy. In these last chapters of the Pentateuch,
the Almighty promises prolonged life and children to those who are
devoted to the life-giving teachings of the Torah.
And
now we come to your question. In an effort to support their
christological position, missionaries often try to argue that Isaiah
53 is speaking about Jesus. In fact, Isaiah 53 stands out as
the biblical text most used by missionaries. There are,
however, countless ways to prove from this chapter and the chapters
that surround it that Isaiah 53 is referring to the faithful remnant
of Israel and not to the Christian messiah.
In Isaiah
53:10, the verse about which you were asking, the servant is promised
long life and seed. Let's read Isaiah 53:10.
And
the Lord wished to crush him, He made him ill; if his soul makes
itself restitution, he shall see seed, He shall prolong his days, and
God's purpose shall prosper in his hand.
For
the church, this verse presents numerous problems. To begin
with, Jesus did not have any biological children. The Hebrew
word zerah
(seed) used in Isaiah 53:10 can only refer to biological offspring
when used in connection with a person's children, never metaphoric
children, such as disciples. The Hebrew word that can refer to
metaphoric children is ben.
Moreover, according to church teachings, Jesus died when he was
approximately 30-40 years old, only about half the lifespan of a man
as declared by King David in Psalm 90:10. Obviously, neither
the blessing of seed, nor the blessing of long life has been
fulfilled in Jesus' case.
Missionaries attempt to ameliorate
this serious problem by explaining that Jesus had long life in the
resurrection where he lives forever. Therefore, they would
argue, as you have pointed out, that Jesus indeed lived a very long
life.
This response, however, does little to relieve
their problem. To begin with, the Hebrew words ya'arich
yamim (long
life) in this verse do not mean or refer to an eternal life which has
no end, but rather a lengthening of days which eventually come to an
end. These Hebrew words are therefore never applied in Tanach
to anyone who is to live forever. In fact, the words ya'arich
yamim appear
in a number of places throughout Jewish scriptures, including
Deuteronomy 17:20, Deuteronomy 25:15, Proverbs 28:16, and
Ecclesiastes 8:13. In each and every verse where this phrase
appears, these words refer to an extended mortal life, not an eternal
one. When the Jewish scriptures speak of an eternal resurrected
life, as in Daniel 12:2, the Hebrew words used are l'chayai
olam.
There
are other serious problems with which missionaries have to contend
regarding this verse. Bear in mind that virtually all
missionaries zealously defend and espouse the doctrine of the
Trinity. This tenet holds that Jesus was not just a man, but
actually God manifested in the flesh and the second person in the
triune godhead. This is no small matter in Christian theology.
I have met many Hebrew-Christians who were asked to leave a Messianic
conference or denied membership in a Messianic congregation
because
they called into question this fervently held Christian
teaching.
In order to have a better understanding of
this doctrine, we need to go back to the Council of Nicea where it
all began. This council, put together by the Emperor
Constantine in 325 C.E., was the most important one in church history
with regard to both its scope and focus. Luther called it "the
most sacred of all councils."3
At the Council of Nicea it was declared that Jesus was of the same
substance (Greek: homousios)
as the Father. In essence, according to this Christian belief,
Jesus shared one being with the Father and in full deity. This
doctrine does not hold that Jesus was half God and half man.
Rather, in the original language of this foundational Christian
creed, he is "God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God .
. . ."
Bearing all this in mind, how can God be promised
long life? Even if missionaries would argue that this blessing
in Isaiah 53:10 is referring to that time after Jesus' supposed
resurrection, how can God promise Himself, or give Himself anything
for that matter? Moreover, how can God be promised longevity
when He is eternal? The promise of long life is never bestowed
on a divine being anywhere in the Jewish scriptures, only on a
mortal. Furthermore, why is God talking to Himself?
Finally,
it is essential for those interested in possessing a clear
understanding of Isaiah 53 to carefully read the surrounding
chapters. The context of Isaiah 53 immediately reveals that the
prophet is speaking of the nation of Israel in the singular. It
is unfortunate that few missionaries are as familiar with the 52nd
and 54th chapters of Isaiah as they are with the 53rd. The
consequences of this sort of unbalanced knowledge are great.
Isaiah
52 and 54 both serve as an indictment against the Christianization of
Isaiah 53. The continuous relationship between Isaiah 52
through 54 is evident because the theme, poetic structure, and motif
of Isaiah 53 closely mimics the illustrative language of Isaiah 52
and 54. As in Isaiah 53, Isaiah 52 and 54 clearly identify
Israel in the singular, suffering innocently as a result of the vile
wickedness of the gentile nations. In addition, all three of
these exhilarating chapters vividly describe the glorious redemption
of Israel in full view of the gentiles, her former persecutors.
For
example, in Isaiah 52:4 the prophet recounts that "Assyria
oppressed him
[Israel] without cause." This concept, in Isaiah 52, that
the nation of Israel innocently suffered as a single individual at
the hands of the gentiles, is precisely the same underlying theme of
Isaiah 53. In Isaiah 54, the prophet recounts how Israel, in
the singular, is "despised," "forsaken," and
"afflicted." These are the identical descriptions of
the nation of Israel found in the previous chapter, Isaiah 53.
In fact, it is so manifestly evident from these chapters that Isaiah
53 is speaking of the righteous remnant of Israel, that a great many
Christian commentators unhesitatingly agree that this chapter speaks
of no one else but the Almighty's Chosen People. If
Hebrew-Christians would pore over the entire Book of Isaiah with the
same zeal as they do Isaiah 53, few of them would have abandoned the
faith of their ancestors.
Over the years, so many
Hebrew-Christians have turned to me and pondered aloud as they
finally decided to leave the church, "Why weren't you there with
the answers 11 years ago when I first got involved?" My
response is always the same, "The answers to your questions were
always there. I just teach the Bible."
Sincerely
yours,
Rabbi
Tovia Singer
Footnotes:
Click
on the footnote to return to the article
1:
Although this text is most commonly referred to as Isaiah 53, in
actuality it refers to the 15 verses beginning with Isaiah 52:13 and
ending with 53:12.The chapter break at the end of 52:15 is
artificial.
2: These verses in the Servant Songs include:
Isaiah
41:8-9
But
thou, Israel,
art My servant,
Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham My friend. Whom I
grasped from the ends of the earth, and from it nobles I called you,
and I said to you, "You
are My servant"; I chose you and I did not despise you.
Isaiah
44:1-2
Yet
hear now, O
Jacob My servant and Israel, whom I have chosen.
So said the Lord your Maker, and He who formed you from the womb
shall aid you. Fear not, My
servant Jacob,
and Jeshurun whom I have chosen.
Isaiah
44:21
Remember
these, O
Jacob and Israel, for thou art My servant;
I have formed thee; thou
art My
servant,
O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of Me.
Isaiah
45:4
For
the sake of My
servant Jacob, and Israel My chosen one,
and I called to you by your name . . . .
Isaiah
48:20
Leave
Babylon, flee from the Chaldeans; with a voice of singing declare,
tell this, publicize it to the end of the earth; say, "The Lord
has redeemed His
servant Jacob."
Isaiah
49:3
And
said to me, thou
art My servant, O Israel
in whom I will be glorified!
3:
Gordon Rupp, Luther's
Progress to the Diet of Worms
(New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1964), pp. 66.
The
Suffering Servant
By
Theodore
M. Drange
Among
the alleged messianic prophecies are ones contained within the
description of the "suffering servant" of Isaiah 53. And
some of the alleged prophecies contained within that chapter claimed
to have been fulfilled by Jesus are the following [with verse numbers
indicated]:
(1)
The Messiah's message would not be believed, supposedly fulfilled by
Jesus at John 12:37-38.
(3)
The Messiah would be despised and rejected, supposedly fulfilled by
Jesus in that his own people did not believe in him, according to
John 1:11, 7:5.
(5)
The Messiah would be wounded, supposedly fulfilled by the scourging
of Jesus at Mt 27:26.
(7)
The Messiah would be silent before his accusers, supposedly fulfilled
by Jesus at Mt 27:12 (and Ac 8:32-35).
(9)
The Messiah would have a grave provided for him by a rich man,
supposedly fulfilled for Jesus by Joseph of Arimathea at Mt 27:57-60.
(12)
The Messiah would be arrested as a criminal (which is perhaps Jesus'
own interpretation at Lu 22:37) or perhaps that the Messiah would be
crucified with criminals, supposedly fulfilled by Jesus at Mt 27:38
and Mk 15:27 (with Mk 15:28 inserted later) and Lu 23:32.
(12)
The Messiah would make intercession for his persecutors, supposedly
fulfilled by Jesus at Lu 23:34.
But
there are many problems with taking Isa 53 in such a way, among which
are the following.
(1)
According to Isa 53:3 in the Tanakh, the suffering servant was
"despised [and] shunned by men". It seems doubtful that
that is fulfilled by Jesus just in virtue of the fact that his own
people did not accept him, for he apparently was widely accepted by
the common people elsewhere. According to Lu 4:15, he taught in the
synagogue and everyone praised him. And later, huge crowds supposedly
followed him, and he was described as making a "Triumphal Entry"
into Jerusalem (Mt 21:8-11; John 12:12-13,17-19).
(2)
Verse 3 in the Tanakh also declares that the suffering servant
was "familiar with disease", and verse 4 says that he was
"stricken by God", where the Hebrew word for "stricken"
is one that is used in the Hebrew Scriptures to stand only for
leprosy (as at Le 13:3,9,20 and 2Ki 15:5). But Jesus is not known to
have suffered from leprosy or any other disease, so those verses are
not applicable to him. It may even be part of some forms of Christian
doctrine that Jesus needed to be perfectly healthy in order to
adequately play the role of "sacrificial lamb" (which by
law needed to be "without blemish"). It is clear that the
suffering servant of Isa 53 could not adequately play such a role.
(3)
As for Jesus being silent before his accusers (thereby satisfying
verse 7), that seems not to work either. Verse 7 says (twice): "He
did not open his mouth." But according to John 18:33-37, 19:11,
Jesus said much to Pontius Pilate. In each of the four gospels
Jesus opened his mouth and said something before his accusers. Hence,
Jesus did not actually fulfill that part of the prophecy.
(4)
In verse 9 it says of the suffering servant "his grave was set
among the wicked, and with the rich, in his death." It is
unclear how that applies to Jesus, for there were no other bodies in
the tomb in which Jesus' body was placed. The verse definitely does
not say that the servant would have a grave provided for him by a
rich man, so that part of the alleged prophecy is sheer invention.
(5)
According to verse 10, "the Lord chose to crush him by disease,
that if he made himself an offering for guilt, he might see offspring
and have long life, ..." That seems totally inapplicable to
Jesus, for Jesus was not crushed by disease, nor did he see any
offspring, nor did he have a long life.
(6)
Isaiah 53 does not actually mention the Messiah. In fact, when we
look closely at the chapter, it is hard to find anything in it that
is applicable to either the (Jewish) Messiah or to Jesus.
Verse 1 does not actually say that the servant's message would not be
believed, but merely asks, "Who can believe what we have heard?"
There seems to be no prophecy there at all. Nor is there any
indication that the servant would be arrested as a criminal or
scourged or crucified with criminals or make intercession for his
persecutors. None of that is in there. Verse 6 does say, "the
Lord visited upon him the guilt of us all," but there are other
interpretations of that than the Christian one.
(7)
There is a Judaic interpretation of Isa 53 that seems plausible. The
suffering servant is the nation of Israel which is represented by
King Uzziah, who was its king in Isaiah's time and who died of
leprosy. According to Shmuel Golding, Isaiah's message may have been:
"Here is your leprous king, who is in type suffering under God's
hand for you the backslidden servant nation of Israel" (which
explains verse 6). Uzziah was taken away from the royal palace
because of his affliction as a leper and spent his remaining years in
isolation, which fits verse 8. Golding says the following:
Israel is portrayed
as a suffering servant on account of its anointed leader being
stricken with leprosy. Israel, like the leper, is a suffering servant
of God. Both have suffered humiliation at the hand of their
fellowmen: the leper because of his unsightly appearance; Israel
through its defeat at the hands of the Babylonians. The gist of the
message is that Israel like the leper has suffered, but nevertheless
will retain its identity in the form of the exiled Jewish people and
that they will prosper in this form. [5]
This
interpretation of Isaiah 53 seems preferable to the Christian one
because it does not suffer from drawbacks (1)-(6) mentioned above. It
would also better explain the many changes of tense that occur in the
chapter. And Israel is indeed referred to as "God's servant"
(e.g., at Isa 49:3). However, the given interpretation does not make
the chapter into a prophecy so much as an explanation of Israel's
situation at around the time of Isaiah. At the very least, it shows,
I think, that Isaiah 53 is not a clear example of a fulfilled
prophecy (or set of fulfilled prophecies) in the Bible. So it is not
any good support for premise (1) of the Argument from the Bible.
The
Haftorah and Isaiah 53
By
Judaism
Answer
CLAIM:
The Rabbis read Isaiah 52 and 54 in the Haftorah but they purposely
skip Isaiah 53 because it would show that Jesus is the Messiah.
Why,
among all the Haftorahs read during the whole year, Isaiah 53 is not
included, is one of the issues that comes up from time to time. Some
actually make the claim that the Rabbis ‘skipped’ it on purpose
by reading Isaiah 52 and then jumping to Isaiah 54. All of this is
just based on a weak knowledge of the reasons for Jewish customs and
a deep-seated hatred for Judaism and the Rabbis. The answer to this
question is easily found when one looks into the history, purpose and
application of the custom with regards to the Haftorah.
Why
do we read the Haftorah? The Rabbis teach us[1]
that at one time[2]
an occupying king made a decree that the Jewish people could not
publicly read from the Torah scroll. In order that the people should
not forget about the readings from the Torah, a reading from the
prophets was instituted. This selection of the prophets mentioned
something related to the weekly Torah portion that was to be read.
From this everyone could know what the portion was, and the main
subject of it. When the decree was rescinded, this custom
remained.[3]
This
custom is attested from the ancient times. Two ancient Midrashim,
Pesikta D’Rav Kahana, and Pesikta Rabbosei D’Rav Kahana have a
number of ‘sermons’ for these Haftorahs. In fact in the New
Testament book of Acts[4]
we read: "After the reading of the Law (Torah) and the
Prophets…" This is understood as referring to this customary
reading. We see that the Haftorah was a well-known custom even in
those days.
If
we look at all the Haftorahs read over a full year they only
represent a very small portion of the books of the prophets. We find
that Isaiah 9:5-6, an important Christian messianic text, is included
as one of the Haftorahs. Likewise, since we read all of the Torah
portions, with none of it skipped, including Christian proof texts,
it would seem absurd to claim that just this was excluded.
To
understand the issue better we need to look into what texts from the
prophets were selected. The Haftorahs are divided into 3 groups. The
first part, the majority of the Haftorahs, are those that are
associated with the weekly Torah readings. If we look at the first 5
readings we see:
Bereishis
– Isaiah 42:5-43:10. Bereishis deals with the creation of the
world, and this Haftorah starts off with the words: ‘Thus says,
the G-d, HaShem Creator of Heaven…’
Noach
– Isaiah 54:1-55:5. Noach talks about Noah and the flood, and
verse 54:9 mentions the ‘waters of Noach.’
Lech
Lecha – Isaiah 40:27-41:16. This talks about Avraham his wars with
the kings and other events. The Rabbis found a hint at this in
41:2-3.
VaYeira
– 2 Kings 4:1-37. Here we learn of the promise and the birth of
Yitzchok and the Haftorah talks about the prophet Elisha and how he
promised that someone would give birth to a son.
Chayah
Sarah – 1 Kings 1:1-31. This talks about the aging and death of
Avraham, and the Haftorah talks of the same with regards to King
David.
And
so it continues for all of the weeks except those special ones, which
I will shortly explain. However since none of the weekly readings
deals with the subject of Isaiah 53 in any manner, we cannot say that
it has been excluded, as there is no reason to include it.
The
second part, are those Haftorahs that are read on the Shabbos of a
one of the Jewish festivals, or one of the ‘special’ Shabboses.
Here are a few examples:
Yom
Kippur there are two Haftorahs. In the morning we read Isaiah
57:14-58:14, and in the afternoon we read the book of Jonah, both of
which relate to the theme of tshuva.
First
day of Sukkos we read Zechariah 14:1-21 which mentions the festival
of Sukkos.
First
day of Passover we read Joshua 3:5-7, 5:2-16, 6:,27, which mentions
the celebration of the festival of Passover.
First
day of Shevous we read Ezekiel 1:1-28, 3:12 which deals with the
revelation that the prophet had which is similar to the experience
of the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai.
The
final part, are the Haftorahs read during the 10 weeks before Rosh
HaShanah. They are divided into two parts. The first are three
Haftorahs read before the fast day of the 9th of Av. This
is a period of mourning leading up to that fast day. Then the seven
Haftorahs read from the Shabbos following the 9th of Av,
until the Shabbos before Rosh HaShanah. These are portions dealing
with the consolation of the Jewish people, for the destruction.
Portions were chosen for INCLUSION, based on a criteria, and not
excluded. It is interesting to note that all of them are taken from
the book of Isaiah and specifically from after chapter 40.
The
first three Haftorahs, before the 9th of Av, deal with
warnings of punishments and are a prelude to the 9th of Av
the day that commemorates the destruction of the Holy Temple in
Jerusalem.
Jeremiah
1:1-2:3
Jeremiah
2:4-28, 3:4
Isaiah
1:1-27
Following
this seven Haftorahs of consolation are read:
Isaiah
40:1-26
Isaiah
49:14-51:3
Isaiah
54:11-55:5
Isaiah
51:12-52:12
Isaiah
54:1-10
Isaiah
60:1-22
Isaiah
61:10-63:9
If
we look at these seven Haftorahs of consolation, they all are taken
from the last part of Isaiah, but none of them follow directly any
other one. Also the third week is the only one out of numerical
order.
The
missionaries make the claim that between the fourth and fifth week,
Isaiah 53 is purposely left out. But there are a few problems with
this proposition. First, we see many of the chapters in this part of
Isaiah are skipped. For example all of chapters 42-48 and 55-59 are
left out. Second an examination of these passages we see that they
give messages of comfort for the Jewish people in exile. However, no
matter what the interpretation of Isaiah 53 one takes, there are no
words of comfort for the Jewish people.
There
appears to be support for the view of the Rabbis, from the Dead Sea
Scrolls, that Isaiah 53 does not relate to any consolations for the
Jewish People. This is from the documents 4Q176, which is referred to
as 4QTanhumin[5].
Scholars see this fragment as a collection of verses consoling
Israel. What is interesting is to notice what passages from Isaiah
are included and the order of these passages.
Isaiah
40:1-5, Isaiah 41:8-9, Isaiah 49:7, 13-17[6]
-
-
-
Isaiah
52:1-3, 54:4-10[10]
Of
the first five of the Haftorahs of consolation, all are represented
here. And interestingly, there is the same skip of Isaiah 53 in the
Dead Sea Scrolls, which predate Christianity!! It is not logical to
claim that the compilers of the Dead Sea Scrolls were part of the
‘Rabbinic Conspiracy.’
From
this we see that the Rabbis specifically chose the Haftorahs, and did
not skip or exclude any to fool people, or hide some errors they
‘knew’ in their own religion.
1:
This is in the Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 284 in the name of the
Avudraham and the Lavush. It is found in the Bach and Taz.
2:
Most like Antiochus in the 2nd century BCE.
3:
There are other customs, like the wording of ‘keser’ in the musaf
prayer that have remained as reminder of decreees that were repealed.
4:
13:15
5:
Tanhumin means comforting.
7:
Fragment 3
8:
Fragment 4+5
9:
Fragment 6 + 7
10:
Fragment 8-11. It is interesting to note that these two chapters
appear contiguously in the fragments.
Does
the Targum say Isaiah 53 is about the Messiah?
By
Judaism
Answer
CLAIM:
The oldest Jewish commentary on Isaiah, the Targum Jonathan teaches
that the suffering servant of Isaiah 53 is the Messiah.
In
almost every missionary book or article that brings Rabbinic sources
to try and prove their arguments, the Targum of Yonason Ben Uzziel is
mentioned as a ‘proof’ that the ancient Rabbis believed that the
suffering servant of Isaiah 53 was the Moshiach Ben Dovid, the King
Messiah. Most sources just quote a single verse from it. Here is an
example from an Internet article by Victor Buksbazen:
‘
From
the earliest days, Isaiah 53 was interpreted by Jews as applying to
the Messiah. Thus, Jonathan ben Uziel of the first century, in his
Targum (an Aramaic translation of the Hebrew Bible) paraphrases
Isaiah 53: "My servant, the Messiah, will be great, who was
bruised for our sins."’[1]
It
should be noted that the author has fabricated part of this passage.
The words: “who was bruised for our sins" do not appear in the
original Targum in any place as we can see from the translation that
will be discussed in detail below.
There
are few sources that deal with the Targum in full. Those that do,
while they claim that this Targum is a support for the idea that
Isaiah 53’s suffering servant is the Messiah, they will at the same
time attack the author of the Targum for ‘completely twisting’
the text, or making a ’virtual rewrite’. If the issue were not so
serious, it would be laughable.
Here
are some quotes from Dr. Michael Brown’s latest work that shows
what I mean:[2]
“
So,
for example the Targum interprets the passage with reference to the
Messiah – as warring, victorious king, even to the point of
completely twisting
the meaning of key verses”[3]
“
Targum
Jonathan interprets Isaiah 52:13-53:12 (which for simplicity in this
discussion, we will simply call Isaiah 53) with reference to the
Messiah, despite the fact that the Targum virtually
rewrites the entire passage, changing
the verses that speak clearly of the servant’s sufferings so that
they speak instead of the suffering of
the nations.”[4]
It
should be noted that the second quote above has an error. The
suffering (as we shall see) is not “of the nations” but of a
single nation. It is the suffering of the Jewish people in exile. In
another of his works we find:[5]
“
Note
that the Targum Jonathan, the Targum to the prophetic books, applied
this section directly to the Messiah (“my servant the Messiah”)
but changed the text in a number of key points, thereby effectively
removing all references to the Messiah’s suffering. How odd it is
that the Targum recognized that the servant of the Lord spoken of in
Isaiah 52:13-53:12 was actually the Messiah – a fundamental
position of the New Testament – and yet found it necessary to
radically alter the meaning of the text to make it into a statement
of the Messiah’s military prowess and his victory over the
nations. It would have been more logical to attempt to argue
that the text did not refer to the Messiah at all!”
[6]
Why
do they have to go through such contortions? Why not just accept that
the Targum has another opinion? Why not just admit that the Targum
does not help their cause? The reason is simple. The traditional
church believed in a theology of Replacement of Israel by the church.
This was not a good tactic to convince Jews to willingly convert. It
failed for hundreds of years. Over the last few decades, the
missionaries ‘got it.’ The overwhelming majority of Jews don’t
want to stop being Jews. So the missionaries needed to say that the
church does NOT replace the Jewish people.
This
creates a problem. Historical Christianity and Historical Judaism are
NOT the same, or even similar on many fundamental theological
points. They need to show that the Jews weren’t so wrong, and
that we can find ‘roots’ for Christianity in ancient Judaism. If
they are there, then they can claim the Rabbis just made a wrong turn
along the way.
But
for that to work, there still needs to be some leftover traces of the
‘true’ theology by the Rabbis, in addition to their new
mistakes. The further back, the closer to the truth. Rashi,
Maimonides and all the later Rabbis got rid of the ancient beliefs.
So the Targum and other sources have to have ‘hints’ showing that
the ancient Jews, before the Rabbis ruined it, had beliefs that were
consistent with Christianity. Whether it is with regards to Isaiah
53, or the Unity of G-d, or many of the other critical theological
issues. Rabbinic works need to be examined to find indicators of the
existence of this pre-Rabbinic ‘Biblical’ Judaism that believed
similarly to the early Christians. THEN, they can claim that someone
of Jewish background can become a Christian, and still be a Jew,
since he has not abandoned the ancient Jewish beliefs. It was the
RABBIS who have abandoned the ancient Jewish beliefs.
This
explains the anger and exasperation that we see in the words of Dr.,
Brown and others when they discuss the full text of the Targum. We
shall see that, in fact, the theology that comes out of the Targum is
EXACTLY what later Rabbis, like Rashi, and Maimonides would write
with regards to the Messiah and the subject of Isaiah 53.
The
first issue we need to examine is what type of a commentary this
Targum is. We shall see that this is a key issue to understanding the
Targum, and also Jewish eschatology. Targum literal means
‘translation’, but not all Targums are the same. In my article
'What
is Midrash?'
I discuss the nature and content of
Midrashic commentary. There I brought some sources that explain this
method of interpretation. Dr. Michael Brown in his work ‘Answering
Jewish Objections to Jesus’[7]
states:
“Talmudic
citations are not meant to be precise interpretations of the biblical
text but are often based on free association and wordplays.”
In
his “Introduction to the Talmud” by
Moses Mielziner[8]
he states:
“Where
the Midrash does not concern legal enactments and provisions, but
merely inquires into the meaning and significance of the laws or
where it only uses the words of Scripture as a vehicle to
convey a moral teaching or a religious instruction and
consolation, it is called a ‘Midrash Agadah’ Interpretation of
the Agadah, homiletical interpretation.”
In
essence a Midrash is NOT a translation or literal commentary, but a
pedagogical style of teaching theological concepts that is not
strictly dependant on the text it is using.
The
well-known scholarly translation of the Targumic Messianic texts, by
Samson H. Levey,
‘The Messiah: An Aramaic Interpretation; The Messianic Exegesis of
the Targum” says with regards to the Targum on Isaiah 53:[9]
“This
is an excellent example of Targumic paraphrase at its best. It is not
a translation, nor is it loose meaningless commentary, but a
reworking of the text to yield what the Targumist desires it to give
forth.”
This
is almost exactly what appears in the quote from Mielziner above.
From this we see that the Targum is a Midrashic commentary, and not a
literal one. The Targum is not strictly telling us what the verses
say, but what Judaism teaches. It is painting for us a picture of the
end-times and Jewish eschatology.
This
is something that the more knowledgeable missionaries KNOW, even if
they are reluctant to admit it in a clear way in their books. This
actually came up in an email dialogue with Dr. Michael Brown that
involved a number of subjects including the Targum to Isaiah 53. In
an email sent to me Sunday, October 20, 2002 he responded to some
remarks I made with regards to this issue. I had made the following
comment about the Targum on Isaiah 53: “1. It is a Midrashic
commentary and not a translation. It is conveying ideas and theology,
not exegesis. “ To which he responded: ”I
take for granted your point 1 on the Targum to Isaiah” That
the Targum to Isaiah 53 is Midrashic and theology, and NOT a literal
translation is not even an issue open to debate.[10]
Now
that we recognize that this is a Midrashic comment, we need to try
and understand what the Targum is trying to teach us. In it we see a
picture painted for us. It is of the end-times. (See my article 'Who
is Moshiach ben Yosef?' for some
texts dealing with this period, especially the passage of Isaiah 11
which gives some background on the Targumic references to the
Messiah.) The Christian missionary scholar Dr. Louis Goldberg in his
pamphlet ‘A Jewish Christian response’[11]
summarizes what appears in the Targum.[12]
He states that 'all the verses which relate to exaltation were
applied to a (sic) personal Messiah, while the remainder of the
passage relating to suffering was applied to the nation'. So the
Targum is teaching us two points: The Messiah will be an exalted
character, and the Jewish people suffered in exile. Sounds pretty
much like what we find in traditional Jewish commentaries.
Let’s
look at the Targum and compare it to a translation of the original
passage. It will be easy to notice that this is not a translation at
all. It is not a simple explanation of the verses. It is a Midrash,
in the style we have just explored. The translation from the JPS is
bold letters. The translation of the Targum is by Driver and
Neubauer[13]
as that is the one that is usually quoted from by the missionaries.
52:13
Behold, My servant shall prosper, he shall be exalted and lifted up,
and shall be very high.
52:13.
Behold my servant Messiah shall prosper; he shall be high, and
increase, and be exceeding strong:
52:14
According as many were appalled at thee—so marred was his visage
unlike that of a man, and his form unlike that of the sons of men—
52:14.
as the house of Israel looked to him during many days, because their
countenance was darkened among the peoples, and their complexion
beyond the sons of men,
52:15
So shall he startle many nations, kings shall shut their mouths
because of him; for that which had not been told them shall they see,
and that which they had not heard shall they perceive.
52:15.
so will he scatter many peoples; at him kings shall be silent, and
put their hands upon their mouth, because that which was not told
them have they seen, and that which they had not heard they have
observed.
53:1
‘Who would have believed our report? And to whom hath the arm of
the LORD been revealed?
53:1.
Who hath believed this our glad tidings? and the strength of the
mighty arm of the Lord, upon whom as thus hath it been revealed?
53:2
For he shot up right forth as a sapling, and as a root out of a dry
ground; he had no form nor comeliness, that we should look upon him,
nor beauty that we should delight in him.
53:2.
The righteous will grow up before him, yeah, like blooming shoots,
and like a tree which sends forth its roots to streams of water will
they increase - a holy generation in the land that was in need of
him; his countenance no profane countenance, and the terror at him
not the terror at an ordinary man; his complexion shall be a holy
complexion, and all who see him will look wistfully upon him.
53:3
He was despised, and forsaken of men, a man of pains, and acquainted
with disease, and as one from whom men hide their face: he was
despised, and we esteemed him not.
53:3.
Then he will become despised, and will cut off the glory of all the
kingdoms; they will be prostrate and mourning, like a man of pains
and like one destined for sicknesses; and as though the presence of
the Shekhinah had been withdrawn from us, they will be despised, and
esteemed not.
53:4
Surely our diseases he did bear, and our pains he carried; whereas we
did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
53:4.
Then for our sins he will pray, and our iniquities will for his sake
be forgiven, although we were accounted stricken, smitten from before
the Lord, and afflicted.
53:5
But he was wounded because of our transgressions, he was crushed
because of our iniquities: the chastisement of our welfare was upon
him, and with his stripes we were healed.
53:5.
But he will build up the Holy Place, which has been polluted for our
sins, and delivered to the enemy for our iniquities; and by his
instruction peace shall be increased upon us, and by devotion to his
words, our sins will be forgiven us.
53:6
All we like sheep did go astray, we turned every one to his own way;
and the LORD hath made to light on him the iniquity of us all.
53:6.
All we like sheep had been scattered, we had each wandered off on his
own way; but it was the Lord's good pleasure to forgive the sins of
all of us for his sake.
53:7
He was oppressed, though he humbled himself and opened not his mouth;
as a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before
her shearers is dumb; yea, he opened not his mouth.
53:7.
He prayed, and he was answered, and ere even he had opened his mouth
he was accepted; the mighty of the peoples he will deliver up like a
sheep to the slaughter and like a lamb dumb before her shearers;
there shall be none before him opening his mouth or saying a word
53:8
By oppression and judgment he was taken away, and with his generation
who did reason? for he was cut off out of the land of the living, for
the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due.
53:8.
Out of chastisements and punishment he will bring our captives near;
the wondrous things done to us in his days who shall be able to tell?
For he will cause the dominion of the Gentiles to pass away from the
land of Israel and transfer to them the sins which my people have
committed.
53:9
And they made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich his tomb;
although he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his
mouth.’
53:9.
He will deliver the wicked into Gehinnom, and those that are rich in
possessions into the death of utter destruction, in order that those
who commit sin may not be established, nor speak deceits with their
mouth.
53:10
Yet it pleased the LORD to crush him by disease; to see if his soul
would offer itself in restitution, that he might see his seed,
prolong his days, and that the purpose of the LORD might prosper by
his hand:
53:10.
But it is the Lord's good pleasure to try and to purify the remnant
of his people, so as to cleanse their souls from sin; these shall
look on the Kingdom of their Messiah, their sons and their daughters
shall be multiplied, they shall prolong their days, and those who
perform the Law of the Lord shall prosper in his good pleasure.
53:11
Of the travail of his soul he shall see to the full, even My servant,
who by his knowledge did justify the Righteous One to the many, and
their iniquities he did bear.
53:11.
From the subjection of the nations he will deliver their souls, they
shall look upon the punishment of those that hate them, and be
satisfied with the spoil of their kings; by his wisdom he will hold
the guiltless free from guilt, in order to bring many into subjection
to the law; and for their sins he will intercede.
53:12
Therefore will I divide him a portion among the great, and he shall
divide the spoil with the mighty; because he bared his soul unto
death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin
of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
53:12.
Then will I divide for him the spoil of many peoples, and the
possessions of strong cities shall he divide as prey, because he
delivered up his soul to death, and made the rebellious subject to
the Law: he shall intercede for many sins, and the rebellious for his
sake shall be forgiven
We
can see clearly from the above that the Targum is not a translation,
nor can it be called ‘commentary’ in the usual sense of the word.
If we look in the commentaries of the Rambam (Maimonides) where he
discusses the Messiah, his time, and his role we see most if not all
of what appears in this Targum about the Messiah.
In
his commentary to the Mishnah Sanhedrin 10:1 he states:
“The
twelfth principle… We believe the Messiah will be greater than any
other king or ruler who has ever lived.”
“The
Messiah will be a very great king, whose government will be in Zion.
He will achieve great fame, and his reputation among the nations will
be even greater than that of King Solomon. His great righteousness
and the wonders that he will bring about will cause all peoples to
make peace with him and all the lands will serve him. Whoever rises
up against him will be destroyed by G-d and given over into his
hand.”
“The
main benefit of the Messianic Age will be that we will no longer be
under the subjugation of foreign governments who prevent us from
keeping all the commandments.”
In
his Mishnah Torah in the Laws of Kings Chapter 11 we have more:
11:1.
“The Messiah will be a king who will restore the kingdom of David
to its original state. He will rebuild the Temple and gather together
all Jews, no matter where they were scattered.”
11:4.
We may assume that a person is the Messiah if he fulfills the
following conditions: He must be a ruler, from the house of David,
immersed in Torah and its commandments like David his ancestor. He
must also follow both the written and the Oral Torah, lead all Jews
back to the Torah, strengthen the observance of its laws, and fight
G-d’s battles. If one fulfills these conditions then we may assume
he is the Messiah. If he does this successfully, and then rebuilds
the Temple on its original site and gathers all the dispersed Jews,
then we may be certain that he is the Messiah. He will then perfect
the entire world and bring all men to serve G-d in unity.”
There
is nothing especially surprising here for anyone familiar with the
beliefs of Historical Judaism. What is interesting is that so much of
the Jewish beliefs are explicitly mentioned in the Targum to Isaiah
53. (I would also note that some of the Biblical quotes from my
article on Moshiach
ben Yosef indicate many of the
things that the Rambam says.)
I
want to examine text of the Targum and explain what he is saying and
point out where the Targum’s words agree with the Rambam about the
messianic period. This will be in stark contrast to Christian
theology about the Messiah, which is conspicuously absent from the
Targum. I will be discussing each sentence of the Targum. I
have made a few modifications of the translation based on the
translation of Levey, and the wording of the original where the text
used above gives a nuance that is not there in the original.
52:13
Behold, My servant shall prosper, he shall be exalted and lifted up,
and shall be very high.
52:13.
Behold my servant Messiah shall prosper; he shall be high, and
increase, and be exceeding strong:
Here
the servant is the Messiah. The Targum is almost the exact same
wording as the Hebrew, except that he mentions the Messiah. We see
that the Messiah will be of an exalted character, something that the
Rambam emphasizes in his commentary to the Mishnah. “The
Messiah will be a very great king, whose government will be in Zion.
He will achieve great fame, and his reputation among the nations will
be even greater than that of King Solomon.”
52:14
According as many were appalled at thee—so marred was his visage
unlike that of a man, and his form unlike that of the sons of men—
52:14.
as the house of Israel looked to him during many days, because their
countenance was darkened among the peoples, and their complexion
(darkened) beyond the sons of men,
Here
the servant is Israel. We see how Israel suffered abuse in their
exile while waiting for the Messiah to come.
52:15
So shall he startle many nations, kings shall shut their mouths
because of him; for that which had not been told them shall they see,
and that which they had not heard shall they perceive.
52:15.
so will he scatter many peoples; at him kings shall be silent, and
put their hands upon their mouth, because that which was not told
them have they seen, and that which they had not heard they have
observed.
The
servant is the Messiah again. We see how the Messiah will be
victorious in war against all enemies. This reflects what the Rambam
wrote in his commentary to the Mishnah: “Whoever
rises up against him will be destroyed by G-d and given over into his
hand.”
53:1
‘Who would have believed our report? And to whom hath the arm of
the LORD been revealed?
53:1.
Who hath believed this our glad tidings? and the strength of the
mighty arm of HaShem, upon whom hath it been revealed?
This
seems to be similar to what the Rambam stated: “His
great righteousness and the wonders that he will bring about will
cause all peoples to make peace with him and all the lands will serve
him.”
53:2
For he shot up right forth as a sapling, and as a root out of a dry
ground; he had no form nor comeliness, that we should look upon him,
nor beauty that we should delight in him.
53:2.
The righteous will grow up before him, yeah, like blooming shoots,
and like a tree which sends forth its roots to streams of water; will
they increase - a holy generations (lit. holy children) in the land
that was in need of him; his countenance no profane countenance, and
the terror at him not the terror of a simple person; his complexion
shall be a holy complexion, and all who see him will look
(stare) upon him.
The
servant in this verse is the righteous of Israel. It appears that
this verse is the source for Rashi saying that the servant is the
righteous of Israel, and not just all of Israel. We see that not just
the Messiah, as mentioned in 52:13, but all the righteous of Israel
will be exalted in that time.
53:3
He was despised, and forsaken of men, a man of pains, and acquainted
with disease, and as one from whom men hide their face: he was
despised, and we esteemed him not.
53:3.
Then he will despise, and will cut off the glory of all the kingdoms;
they will be weakened and mourning, like a man of pains and like one
prepared for sicknesses; and as though the presence of the Shekhinah
had been withdrawn, they will be despised, and esteemed not.
It
seems that the servant here is the NATIONS, an interesting twist in
his interpretation. This seems to be a continuation of 52:15 where we
see that the nations who have caused the suffering to Israel will be
subjugated.
53:4
Surely our diseases he did bear, and our pains he carried; whereas we
did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
53:4.
Then for our sins he will pray, and our iniquities will for his sake
be silenced, and we were accounted stricken, smitten from before
HaShem, and afflicted.
The
servant’s role here is applied to BOTH the Messiah and Israel. In
Mishnah Torah Kings 11:4 the Rambam says: “lead
all Jews back to the Torah, strengthen the observance of its laws”
This is what the Messiah is doing here. The Targum also discusses the
suffering in exile of Israel, and what the nations said about them.
53:5
But he was wounded because of our transgressions, he was crushed
because of our iniquities: the chastisement of our welfare was upon
him, and with his stripes we were healed.
53:5.
But he will build up the Holy Place, which has been polluted for our
sins, and delivered (to the enemy) for our iniquities; and by his
instruction peace shall be increased upon us, and by devotion to his
words, our sins will be forsaken[14].
The
servant here is the Messiah. We see described the ‘job’ of the
Messiah. It is almost exactly what the Rambam has stated: Book of
Kings 11:4. We may assume that a person is the Messiah if
he fulfills the following conditions: He must be a ruler, from the
house of David, immersed in Torah and its commandments like David his
ancestor. He must also follow both the written and the Oral Torah,
lead all Jews back to the Torah, strengthen the observance of its
laws, and fight G-d’s battles. If one fulfills these conditions
then we may assume he is the Messiah. If he does this successfully,
and then rebuilds the Temple on its original site and gathers all the
dispersed Jews, then we may be certain that he is the Messiah. He
will then perfect the entire world and bring all men to serve G-d in
unity.”
53:6
All we like sheep did go astray, we turned every one to his own way;
and the LORD hath made to light on him the iniquity of us all.
53:6.
All we like sheep had been scattered, we were exiled, each wandered
off on his own way; but it was HaShem’s will to forsake the sins of
all of us for his sake.
Here
we see Israel’s position in exile and Israel’s sins being
forgiven. (In the next few verses we see what the Messiah does to
cause this: prayer and teaching Torah to the people.)
53:7
He was oppressed, though he humbled himself and opened not his mouth;
as a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before
her shearers is dumb; yea, he opened not his mouth.
53:7.
He prayed, and he was answered, and ere even he had opened his mouth
he was accepted; the mighty of the peoples he will deliver up like a
sheep to the slaughter and like a lamb dumb before her shearers;
there shall be none before him opening his mouth or saying a word
The
servant here is again the nations. As to the role of the Messiah in
this verse the Rambam says: “Whoever
rises up against him will be destroyed by G-d and given over into his
hand.”
53:8
By oppression and judgment he was taken away, and with his generation
who did reason? for he was cut off out of the land of the living, for
the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due.
53:8.
Out of suffering and punishment he will bring our exiles; the
wondrous things done to us in his days who shall be able to tell? For
he will cause the dominion of the Gentiles to pass away from the land
of Israel and transfer to them the sins which my people have
committed.
The
servant here is Israel. The suffering of Israel in the exile will be
ended. As to the Messiah what it says here follows what the Rambam
says in the book of Kings 11:1. “The Messiah will be a
king who will restore the kingdom of David to its original state. He
will rebuild the Temple and gather together all Jews, no matter where
they were scattered.” Also in
his commentary on the Mishnah: “The main benefit of the
Messianic Age will be that we will no longer be under the subjugation
of foreign governments who prevent us from keeping all the
commandments.”
53:9
And they made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich his tomb;
although he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his
mouth.’
53:9.
He will deliver the wicked into Gehinnom, and those that are rich in
possessions, that were forced from us, into the death of utter
destruction, in order that those who commit sin may not prevail, nor
speak deceits with their mouth.
The
servant here is the nations. This is a continuation of the previous
verse of the victory over the gentiles.
53:10
Yet it pleased the LORD to crush him by disease; to see if his soul
would offer itself in restitution, that he might see his seed,
prolong his days, and that the purpose of the LORD might prosper by
his hand:
53:10.
But it is HaShem's will to purify and to cause suffering to the
remnant of his people, so as to cleanse their souls from sin; these
shall look on the Kingdom of their Messiah, their sons and their
daughters shall be multiplied, they shall prolong their days, and
those who perform the Law of HaShem shall prosper by His Will.
The
servant here is Israel. We see that the suffering in exile was for
the good of Israel and they shall merit to have many children, and
those who keep the Torah (the righteous) will prosper.
53:11
Of the travail of his soul he shall see to the full, even My servant,
who by his knowledge did justify the Righteous One to the many, and
their iniquities he did bear.
53:11.
From the subjection of the nations he will deliver their souls, they
shall look upon the punishment of those that hate them, and be
satisfied with the spoil of their kings; by his wisdom he will hold
cause merit to the meritorious, in order to bring many into service
to the law; and for their sins he will intercede.
The
servant here is both Israel and the Messiah. He repeats here the
successful end to the enemies of Israel, and that Israel will divide
the spoils from these enemies.
53:12
Therefore will I divide him a portion among the great, and he shall
divide the spoil with the mighty; because he bared his soul unto
death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin
of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
53:12.
Then will I divide for him the spoil of many peoples, and the
possessions of strong cities shall he divide as spoils, because he
was willing to suffer martyrdom, and made the rebellious subject to
the Law: he shall intercede for the sins of many, and the sins of the
rebellious for his sake shall be forsaken
The
servant here is the Messiah. A repetition of what was said above in
53:5 and 53:11.
The
best expression of the claim of the missionaries is in a recent work
by Dr. Brown. Here is what Dr. Brown says:
“
Interestingly,
the national interpretation is not found once in the Talmuds, the
Targums, or the midrashim (in other words, not once in all the
classical, foundational, authoritative Jewish writings). [15]
We
have seen that this is just not true. In the Targum numerous
references are made to a ‘national interpretation’ of the
suffering servant of Isaiah 53. Verses like 52:14, 53:4,8 and 10 all
discuss the suffering of Israel in exile where the verse in the
original discusses the suffering of the ‘servant’. There are even
places where the suffering of the servant is applied to the
punishments that will befall the nations in the end of days.
But
there is a problem. As we have said, this is a Midrashic commentary.
It is theology and not exegesis. We see that the theology of the
Targum and that of Historical Judaism are in agreement. The question
is can we discern who the Targum believes is the subject of Isaiah
53? I think that we can. I think that we have a few pieces of
information that tells us that in the time of the Targum they
understood the simple meaning of Isaiah 53 is that the suffering
servant is referring to Israel, or the Righteous of Israel.
The
first fact is based on a simple question: Why is Moshiach ben Yosef
not mentioned in this passage of the Targum? In a few others
places[16]
the Targum mentions Moshiach ben Yosef. Had the Targum wanted to
indicate that Isaiah 53 related to the idea of a suffering Messiah
figure, then it would have been natural for him to include mention of
Moshiach ben Yosef. By excluding mention of Moshiach ben Yosef in
Isaiah 53 the Targum shows that he excludes the idea of a single
person for the subject of the suffering servant of Isaiah 53,
especially the Messiah.
Secondly,
all sources, Christian and Jewish; acknowledge that the subject of
Isaiah 53 is a servant who suffers. As we saw from Dr. Goldberg, and
from our examination of the Targum itself, the person suffering is
ISRAEL. The inclusion of discussion about what the Messiah would be
like and what he would do does not change anything with regards to
that fact. This is, after all, a Midrash that is trying to teach
something theological about the end-times period. It tells us many
things, all of which Judaism accepts and acknowledges to the present
day. And one point it makes quite clearly is that Israel has suffered
in the exile.
These
two points give us strong proof and confidence that, just like the
theology the Targum teaches with regards to Isaiah 53 is what
Historical Judaism believes, so the identification of the servant as
Israel or the righteous of Israel, which Historical Judaism believes,
is the same as the Targum. The Targum DOES NOT teach that the
suffering servant of Isaiah 53 is the Messiah. There is nothing in
the Targum that even remotely is connected with the Christian
theology about a Messiah who dies for the sins of the world. No
person reading the Targum objectively, from beginning to end, would
make such a contention.
The
Zohar on Isaiah 53
CLAIM:
The Zohar says that Isaiah 53 is about the Messiah.[1]
There
seems to be a trend in Missionary literature to make appeals to
things that are written in Kabbalistic works. The obvious reason is
that there are few people who have any idea what appears in them, and
what they mean. This makes it easy to make whatever claim the
missionary wants to make. The Zohar has become an especial favorite
because it’s obtuse and allegorical language makes it easy to take
a sentence or two out of context, and make it appear to say whatever
the missionary wants even if this claim contradicts what the Zohar
says explicitly in other places.
According
to Jewish tradition the author of the Zohar was Rabbi Shimon bar
Yochai, who lived in the 2nd
Century CE.[2]
The Zohar is made up of various books. We can talk about them as if
they were only three. (Although there is more then that.) The First
is the Holy Zohar itself. That is a three-volume Kabbalistic
Midrashic commentary on the Torah. (First 5 books of the Tenach.) It
has a few sub-divisions in it, some more esoteric then others. Some
appear no different then a standard Midrash, but most of it is
esoteric in nature. The second book is called Tekunei HaZohar. (The
Rectifications of the Zohar.) This is VERY esoteric and involves
Kabbalistic discussions and understandings of many of the Biblical
commandments. It is based on discussions of the first word in the
Torah. It has 70 chapters, or Tikkunim, of varied length, followed by
a few additions in the back. The third section is called the Zohar
Chadash. It is like the Zohar, but smaller. It also has Midrashic
material on 3 of the 5 Magillas (Ruth, Song of Songs, Lamentations)
and it’s own Tikkunim.
Within
this collection of around 1000 pages there are a few passages where
verses from Isaiah 53 are mentioned. Who is referred to at the time
is not always the same. What I will do is bring all the references
that, for some obvious reasons, are NOT mentioned by the
missionaries, and then we can discuss the one that is mentioned.
In
discussion of Kabbalistic concepts we have 4 references in Isaiah:
52:13
in Zohar Volume III 246b.
53:1
in Tekunei HaZohar page 28a; Zohar Volume I 253a.
53:5
in Zohar Chadash page 91a
53:7
in Zohar Volume I 137b.
Verse
53:10 is applied to the soul in the Zohar Volume II page 168a.
There
are numerous individuals that the Zohar applies Isaiah 53 to:
52:13-14
is applied to the Angel Metatron in Zohar Volume I 182a.
53:5
is applied to Elijah the prophet in Zohar Volume II 115b.
53:5
is applied to Moshiach ben Yosef in Zohar Volume III 276b.
Then
we have the following eight references to Moses:
52:13
in Zohar Volume III page 153b.
52:13,
53:2,5 in Zohar Volume III 280a.
53:1
in Tekunei HaZohar page 43a.
53:5
in Tekunei HaZohar page 54b and 112a.
53:5,9
in Zohar Volume III 125b.
53:5,6,9
in Zohar Volume III 282b.
53:12
in Zohar Chadash page 15a
There
one reference to Israel based on Isaiah 53:7 in Zohar Volume II 29b.
There
are 7 references to the Righteous of Israel:
52:13
in Zohar Volume I 181a.
53:5
in Zohar Volume III 218a, 231a, 247b
53:10
in Zohar Volume I 140a; Volume II 244b; Volume III 57b
To
summarize: Five of the occurrences deal with Kabbalistic subjects and
do not refer to people at all. The most common subject of Isaiah 53
in the Zohar is the righteous of Israel (7) and one more referring to
Israel following the view of the Jewish commentators. The next
in order of occurrences is Moses (8). The four of the other
five occurrences are one each for the Messiah the son of Joseph (a
descendant of Jeroboam the son of Nevat), the angel Metatron, Elijah
the prophet and the soul. I think this alone shows that to make a
claim that ‘the Zohar teaches that Isaiah 53 refers to X’ is just
not true.
The
fact is that this should be enough to end discussion on this issue.
However, I wish to deal with that passage used by missionaries, and
discuss what it is really about. It teaches us some very important
theological issues, and gives us an understanding of many things that
are found in other Rabbinic works.
The
passage appears in the Zohar Volume II 212a and references the verses
Isaiah 53:4,5.[3]
This passage is quoted many times as a ‘proof’ that according to
the Zohar the suffering servant of Isaiah 53 is the Messiah. Let’s
look at the English version that is most often used:[4]
“There
is in the Garden of Eden a palace named the Palace of the Sons of
Sickness. This palace the Messiah enters, and He summons every
pain and every chastisement of Israel. All of these come and
rest upon Him. And had He not thus lightened them upon Himself,
there had been no man able to bear Israel's chastisements for the
transgressions of the law; as it is written, "Surely our
sicknesses he has carried."
Before
discussing this passage we need to know that it is abridged, and much
of the important context is lost because of that.[5]
In order to fully understand this passage I need to explain another
Rabbinic text that is also quoted to prove that the Rabbis agree that
the suffering servant of Isaiah 53 is the Messiah. This is the musaf
prayer for Yom Kippur.[6]
Here is the text as usually quoted:
“
Our
righteous anointed is departed from us: horror hath seized us, and we
have none to justify us. He hath borne the yoke of our
iniquities, and our transgression, and is wounded because of our
transgression. He beareth our sins on his shoulder, that he may
find pardon for our iniquities. We shall be healed by his
wound, at the time that the Eternal will create him (the Messiah) as
a new creature. O bring him up from the circle of the earth.
Raise him up from Seir, to assemble us the second time on Mount
Lebanon, by the hand of Yinnon.”[7]
In
order to understand this passage I need to give a little historical
background. The author of this payyut (religious poem) is Rabbi
Eluzer HaKalir. He was a Kabbalist, and some believe he was the son
of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, although others place him around the 9th
century CE. This above passage is only a small part of the
payyut that is called 'Az MeLifnei Beraishis' (Then before the world
was created). It is made up of four parts and is said in the middle
of the Kedusha for the Musuf prayer of Yom Kippur in a number of
Jewish communities.
Let
me here translate the whole section in which that above passage
appears:
Then
before Creation;
The
Holy Temple and Yanin were prepared;
An
exalted place of prayer from the beginning;
was
prepared before there was any people or language.
It
was strong for the Shechina to rest there;
Unintentional
sinners were shown the upright way;
The
wicked whose sins that were red;
were
washed and purified to be as they were before.
If
He was angry with an anger causing fear;
Holy
One do not bring all your anger;
Even
if we have continued to steal until this time;
Our
Rock will not bring a plague on us.
Our
righteous Moshiach has been removed from us;
We
are beaten and none is here to stand for our righteousness;
Our
sins and the yoke of our rebellion are upon him;
He
is wounded from our rebellion.
From
the earth raise him,
From
Seir rise up;
To
gather us on Mount Lebanon,[8]
again
by the hand of Yanin.
The
simple meaning of this prayer is that we had a Holy Temple for
atonement, and now we are in exile, and when Moshiach comes he shall
return us to the Holy Temple. (Mount Lebanon) When looking at this
passage in full it is somewhat difficult to see what the missionaries
are trying to say. Certainly seeing this passage in the context of
those before and after, it is hard to see the point they are making.
This
payyut is based on the teaching in the Midrash Tanchuma parshas Nasa
11, page 506 in the standard Hebrew edition. There it says:
"
'Teach us, our Rabbi, how many things were created before the
Creation of the world?' 'Thus taught our rabbis, "Seven things
were created before the world was created. They are: (1) the throne
of glory (2) the Torah (3) the Temple (4) the Patriarchs (Abraham
Isaac and Jacob) (5) The people Israel (6) the name of the Messiah
(7) repentance." '"
When
we look at the payyut we see that each section of it mentions some of
these things. The first part: The Torah and the Throne of Glory.
The second: The Patriarchs and Israel. The third: Messiah and the
Temple. The fourth: repentance. The whole history of the Jewish
people is woven into this Midrash.
I
would like to point out a few things that are interesting and
important in this Midrash and also in the payyut that come up in
discussions about the beliefs of the rabbis. These relate directly to
our understanding of what the meaning of this payyut is.
1.
These 7 things were considered necessary for the world to be able to
exist, and achieve the purpose for which the world was created.
2.
Notice that in the Midrash only the NAME of the Messiah is
preexistent not the Messiah himself (However with regards to the
patriarchs, and Israel, they are considered preexistent.)
3.
In the Midrash the proof of this preexistent name is based on the
rabbinic interpretation of Psalms 72:17 which literally says: "His
name should last forever, may his name last as long as the sun",
which they interpret as meaning "His
name shall forever endure, before the sun (was made) Yanin was his
name." As I have
mentioned the Rabbis many times took verses out of context to teach
spiritual lessons, this is an example of that. This in fact appears
in the passage from the payyut.
4.
Each part of the payyut relates to part of the Kedusha prayer.
a.
The first part that talks of how G-d's glory fills the world and it
is related to the Torah and the Throne of Glory that are examples of
G-d's presence.
b.
The second which deals with the proclaiming of G-d's oneness relates
to the Patriarchs and Israel who sanctify G-d's name and proclaim his
oneness.
c.
The third, which talks of how we shall be taken from exile, mentions
the Temple and the Messiah.
d.
The final portion proclaiming G-d's kingship is associated with
repentance, which is to accept G-d as king and follow his commands.
5.
Repentance appears alone in the last section of the payyut. If you
read that section you see that repentance is the most important of
the seven things.
6.
Significantly, the third and fourth parts talk about sin, with the
difference that the third discusses sin in relation to the exile and
a return to the temple, while the fourth discusses it with regards to
individual repentance. They are taken as separate issues.
With
these points in mind let's consider one important principle that is
taught in the Tenach, but is often missed. It is one that in Judaism
has an important place in both theology and in our prayers. That is
'sin'. But not just simply sin, but the idea of communal sin. The
concept of "we and our fathers have sinned'. (Jer. 3:25)
The concept of communal sin is that the community as a whole is
responsible and punishable for the sins of members of the community,
both now and in the past. This idea is seen most clearly in the book
of Joshua where the people were punished for the sin of one person,
Achan. There are numerous examples of this.
One
principle is clear in the Tenach and that is: if a person sins he
will be punished unless he repents of his sins. Let’s look at
Ezekiel 3:
18
When I say unto the wicked: Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest
him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way,
to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but
his blood will I require at thy hand.
19
Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor
from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast
delivered thy soul.
20
Again, when a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and
commit iniquity, I will lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall
die; because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his
sin, and his righteous deeds which he hath done shall not be
remembered; but his blood will I require at thy hand.
21
Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin
not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he took
warning; and thou hast delivered thy soul.’
Now
33:11-20:
11
Say unto them: As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in
the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and
live; turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O
house of Israel? 12 And thou, son of man, say unto the children of
thy people: The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him
in the day of his transgression; and as for the wickedness of the
wicked, he shall not stumble thereby in the day that he turneth from
his wickedness; neither shall he that is righteous be able to live
thereby in the day that he sinneth.
13
When I say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust
to his righteousness, and commit iniquity, none of his righteous
deeds shall be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath
committed, for it shall he die.
14
Again, when I say unto the wicked: Thou shalt surely die; if he turn
from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right;
15
if the wicked restore the pledge, give back that which he had taken
by robbery, walk in the statutes of life, committing no iniquity; he
shall surely live, he shall not die.
16
None of his sins that he hath committed shall be remembered against
him; he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely
live.
17
Yet the children of thy people say: The way of the Lord is not equal;
but as for them, their way is not equal.
18
When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth
iniquity, he shall even die thereby.
19
And when the wicked turneth from his wickedness, and doeth that which
is lawful and right, he shall live thereby.
20
Yet ye say: The way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, I
will judge you every one after his ways.’
We
see from these passages that the wicked die from their sins. It
is clear that this death is the cutting off of the soul, the
spiritual death of Numbers 15:30-31.
30
But the soul that doeth aught with a high hand, whether he be
home-born or a stranger, the same blasphemeth the LORD; and that soul
shall be cut off from among his people.
31
Because he hath despised the word of the LORD, and hath broken His
commandment; that soul shall utterly be cut off, his iniquity shall
be upon him.
There
is also a clear promise of punishments in THIS world for sins. This
is found in many places in the Torah like Deut. 28:15-68. From this
we see that sin has TWO aspects. There is a spiritual punishment in
the future, and a punishment of suffering in this world. But these
punishments are for different things. We shall see exile and
punishment in this world is primarily for the sins of the
people, and the punishment for the world to come is ONLY for
individual sins.
The
question is: Can someone die or suffer in this world in order to
bring atonement for the sinner so that the sinner will not suffer
spiritual death, or any other Biblical punishment for the individual?
The answer is no. There is no example in the Tenach of a person
sinning and another person either being punished for this
individual's sin, or being able to accept the punishment and atoning
for the person's sin. The Torah says clearly that 'a
father shall not die for the sin of the son'.
This is even more clearly stated in
Ezekiel
18 where the prophet discusses this in depth and clearly states in
G-d's name that the sins of fathers (and hence any other person) do
not effect the son.
What
about sacrifices? Are they not an example of another (the
animal) dying and the person being atoned for? The answer is
not really. For the sacrifice to be valid the person had to
confess, as it says in Lev. 5:5
“and
it shall be, when he shall be guilty in one of these things, that he
shall confess that wherein he hath sinned;” He
must repent, and
have a change of heart. If not he could not bring the sacrifice. You
could not be a ‘sinner’ and bring a sacrifice and expect it to be
accepted. That is the message of the prophet Isaiah in the first
chapter:
11
To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me? saith
the LORD; I am full of the burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of
fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs,
or of he-goats.
12
When ye come to appear before Me, who hath required this at your
hand, to trample My courts?
13
Bring no more vain oblations; it is an offering of abomination unto
Me; new moon and sabbath, the holding of convocations —I cannot
endure iniquity along with the solemn assembly.
14
Your new moons and your appointed seasons My soul hateth; they are a
burden unto Me; I am weary to bear them.
15
And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide Mine eyes from you;
yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear; your hands are full
of blood.
16
Wash you, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings from
before Mine eyes, cease to do evil;
17
Learn to do well; seek justice, relieve the oppressed, judge the
fatherless, plead for the widow.
18
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD; though your
sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be
red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
19
If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land;
20
But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword; for
the mouth of the LORD hath spoken.
Without
the repentance of the individual the sacrifice was of no use.
And
more importantly there is absolutely no examples showing that Reuven
could sin and Shimon could bring a sacrifice and that would work for
Reuven. Reuven is ALWAYS responsible for his own sin. If he
does not repent, then he suffers spiritual death and not just a
physical one.
This
is nothing really new. However, the question of whether the whole
Jewish people can be punished in this world for the sins of a few is
another matter. If we look at Joshua 7, we see that a single
individual, Achan, had sinned and did not follow the command of G-d,
but the whole people is blamed.
1
But the children of Israel committed a trespass concerning the
devoted thing; for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son
of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the devoted thing; and the
anger of the LORD was kindled against the children of Israel.
The
Jewish people went up to war, and they did not succeed. There were a
number of Jews killed. After which G-d states in verses 11-12:
11
Israel hath sinned; yea, they have even transgressed My covenant
which I commanded them; yea, they have even taken of the devoted
thing; and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have even
put it among their own stuff.
12
Therefore the children of Israel cannot stand before their enemies,
they turn their backs before their enemies, because they are become
accursed; I will not be with you any more, except ye destroy the
accursed from among you.
BUT
only one person had sinned.
Here
we see a clear example of the community punished for the sins of the
few. In fact this is clearly discussed in Deuteronomy 28, where they
are told that punishment and exile will be the result for not
following the commands of G-d. In the Tenach we see that the first
exile to Babylonia was caused by the sins of Menashah, as it says
2
Kings 23:26 Notwithstanding the LORD turned not from the fierceness
of His great wrath, wherewith His anger was kindled against Judah,
because of all the provocations wherewith Manasseh had provoked Him.
Jer.
15:1 Then said the LORD unto me: ‘Though Moses and Samuel stood
before Me, yet My mind could not be toward this people; cast them out
of My sight, and let them go forth.
2
And it shall come to pass, when they say unto thee: Whither shall we
go forth? then thou shall tell them: Thus saith the LORD: Such as are
for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and
such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for
captivity, to captivity.
3
And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the LORD: the sword to
slay, and the dogs to drag, and the fowls of the heaven, and the
beasts of the earth, to devour and to destroy.
4
And I will cause them to be a horror among all the kingdoms of the
earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for
that which he did in Jerusalem.
The
exile as a collective punishment was caused by the sins of a few.
Communal punishment CAN be caused by sins other then those by the
individuals.
No
individual can die or suffer so that another individual will have
atonement, but the whole community could suffer death and exile in
this world due to the sins of individuals. That is the effect of the
sin of the individual on the Jewish people as a whole.
What
about the opposite case? Can the death of a single person have an
effect on the community and bring atonement for the communal sin? The
answer is clearly no. There are no examples in the Tenach of
the opposite. No righteous person dies and that causes the community
to be forgiven of their sins.
In
fact in one instance in the Torah we see that someone tried and that
G-d said it could not happen. When Israel sinned with the Golden
Calf, Moses goes up to make atonement for them. Moses asked that he
be removed from G-d's book (i.e. his soul should be destroyed), and
Israel should not be punished for their sin. But G-d tells him no,
the one who sinned will be blotted out.
30
And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people:
‘Ye have sinned a great sin; and now I will go up unto the LORD,
peradventure I shall make atonement for your sin.’
31
And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said: ‘Oh, this people have
sinned a great sin, and have made them a god of gold.
32
Yet now, if Thou wilt forgive their sin—; and if not, blot me, I
pray Thee, out of Thy book which Thou hast written.’
33
And the LORD said unto Moses: ‘Whosoever hath sinned against Me,
him will I blot out of My book.
Those
who sinned will be punished; an individual cannot make atonement for
them!!!
There
is however a value in the death or suffering of the righteous that
DOES effect the community. There are times G-d will take away
the righteous from the world in order that the people left over will
repent of their evil deeds. This is clearly stated in the prophet
Isaiah 57:1, where we see that the righteous are taken from the world
and the prophet complains that G-d has done this and no one has
understood the message. They act as if they were themselves
righteous, which they weren’t, and they should have repented.
1
The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart, and godly men
are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away
from the evil to come.
2
He entereth into peace, they rest in their beds, each one that
walketh in his uprightness.
It
is clear in Rabbinic literature that the reason why the righteous
suffer even when they have not sinned is so that those who see their
suffering should repent of their sins. This is the message of Isaiah
57. This is similar to the reason why a sacrifice is brought for an
unintentional sin. He should look at the innocent animal and say that
I should be that sacrifice and repent of his sins. This is clearly
stated in the Zohar (III 57b):
"All
those who are pained by the suffering of the righteous their sins are
removed from the world... all those that are pained from those
righteous who have died, or who sheds tears for them, G-d proclaims
over him, 'Your sins are remove, your iniquities removed.' Not just
that, but his children will not die in his days as it says, 'He will
see seed, and lengthen his days.' (Is 53:10)"
The
suffering is to effect repentance and hence atonement of sin.
Suffering does not atone. The repentance that one does because of the
death or suffering of the righteous atones.
This
repentance is not related to the sins of one person alone but to the
sins of the community as the Zohar states (III 118b):
"If
the sins multiply in the world, then all the righteous suffer in
order to cure (bring to repentance) the generation. But when they are
not so much, then one righteous person suffers and the rest are left
in peace because the world does not need their sufferings. If the
people are cured (they repent) then the righteous are cured. There
are times that righteous men suffer their whole lives to protect the
generation. When the sins get very great, the righteous die,
and that causes them to be cured, and they are forgiven"
Here
we see three ideas with regards to the suffering of the righteous.
1.
Their suffering makes it so that the rest of the generation need not
suffer for communal sins.
2.
The suffering comes so that the generation will see and get cured
from their sins by repentance.
3.
The number of righteous who must suffer depends on the sinfulness of
the generation.
We
have almost all the pieces to understand the payyut, except the
relationship to the Messiah. What kind of suffering can someone who
has never come to this world have? There is in fact a source
that is the basis for this payyut, but to understand it we need to
look at a famous passage in the Talmud Sanhedrin 98a. Here we see
that Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi has a number of meetings with Elijah the
prophet. (None of which appear to be in this world, but deal with
either visitations through visions or the like, as he is described as
meeting him at the gates of Gan Eden [heaven] and similar spots):
“Rabbi
Yehoshua ben Levi asked Elijah, " 'When will the Messiah come?'
He
(Elijah) answered 'Go ask him'.
Rabbi
Yehoshua ben Levi asked 'Where does he sit?'
'By
the gates of Rome'
'How
will I recognize him?'
'He
sits with the poor who suffer sicknesses. They take off all their
bandages at once, while he takes off one at a time so that should it
be time for him to come he will not be held back'
Rabbi
Yehoshua ben Levi went to him and said 'Peace to you my master and
teacher'
The
Messiah responded 'Peace to you, son of Levi'
'When
will the master come?'
'Today.'
Rabbi
Yehoshua ben Levi went back to Elijah.
Elijah
asked him, 'What did he say?'
'Peace
to you, son of Levi'.
'That
means that he has assured both you and your father that you will have
a place in the world to come'
'He
lied to me. He said he would come today and he did not!'
'This
is what he said, "Today if you will listen to My (G-d) voice
(Psalms 95:7)"' "
To
understand this we must remember one point from Jewish theology. That
is that the souls have an independent existence that precedes that of
the person, this includes the soul of the Messiah that exists even
before his body does. The Talmud even states that the Messiah will
not come until all those souls have entered this world.
We
see this concept very clearly laid out in a famous teaching in the
work of Rabbi Chaim ben Attar, the Holy Or HaChaim. In
Deuteronomy 15:7, the verse says, “If
there will be with you a poor man from among your brothers…”
he explains it as a Remez for some concepts dealing with the Messiah.
Here is what he says:
“And
in the method of Remez, it is to be a remez to us, in order to
inspire us greatly with regards to one person, that special person
among the people for whom we are anxiously waiting for the time when
he will come. This is The King of Israel, our Moshiach who is a poor
man. He has already been compared to a poor person as it says ‘A
poor man riding on a donkey.’ (Zechariah 9:9) And the remez is that
because of us he is made poor.
And
it says, ‘with you’. This means because of you. Our sins have
caused the lengthening of the time until the ‘end’. Also the word
‘with you’ is a remez that the poor man is with us. He strongly
desires for the time to come when he can redeem us from exile. You
should go and learn this from what our Rabbis have taught with
regards to the story of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi. When the King
Moshiach saw him he asked him how the Jewish people were doing in the
world. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi answered him that they were sitting
and waiting for him to come. When he heard this the pious one started
to cry greatly because of his great desire to come and redeem them
from exile.”
From
these two sources, one based on the Talmud and the other Kabbalah, we
see that the soul of Messiah suffers because he wants to come into
this world and he is waiting to enter the world. This relates to the
end of the exile, which comes when all will repent bringing an end to
the Messiah's suffering.
Now
we can look at the passage that is used by the missionaries and
relaters to the payyut that deals with the Messiah. It is in the
Zohar (II 212a), where it says:
"After
that they (i.e. these souls) journey and look upon those who are
pained and sick and who have suffered for the Unity of their Master.
They then return and tell this to the Messiah. When they tell to the
Messiah about the suffering of Israel in exile and of the wicked ones
who are among them who do not try to know their Master, he raises his
voice and weeps because of the wicked ones among them, as it says.
“He was pained because of our rebellion and oppressed because if
our sins.” Then the souls return to their place.
“In
Gan Eden (heaven) there is one hall; it is called the 'hall of the
sick' (ill). When the Messiah goes into this hall, he calls all
the sicknesses, all the pains, and all the sufferings of Israel that
they should come upon him. If he wouldn't take them off Israel and
put them on himself no man would be able to bear the sufferings of
Israel, as it say 'our sicknesses he bore'. And just like that is
Rabbi Eluzer in the Land. Because there is no measure to the
sufferings that come upon a man every day, and they all came to the
world when the Torah was given. When Israel was in the Holy
Land those services and the sacrifices that they did took up from
them all the sicknesses and sufferings of the world. Now
Messiah takes them from the world, until a man leaves the world and
receives his punishments. As it says 'if his sins are more he is
taken to Gehennim (hell) to the lowest of the levels and he receives
there many punishments because of the greatness of the 'filth' that
is on his soul. Then they light the fire greater to burn this
'filth'."
From
here we see a few points:
1.
There are holy people in this world who suffer for G-d’s sake.
2.
There is nothing there about a servant dying as Christian theology
would demand.
3.
The sufferings from the Messiah are to remove two types of
sufferings:
a.
Those for the communal sins, while the individual sins do not
disappear but wait for their punishment when he dies.
b.
The suffering of the Holy ones in this world, who suffer for G-d’s
sake without sin.
4.
It is associated with the sacrifices (just as in the payyut).
5.
There is no difference between the suffering of the Messiah's soul
waiting to enter this world and any other righteous person. Both
fulfill the same function with this respect.
So
the Zohar is teaching us the purpose of the suffering of the
righteous, including the Messiah’s soul awaiting his entry to this
world. The payyut is to said to remind the people, on this holiest of
days, that the exile and the loss of the temple is only because they
have not done the proper repentance for their sins and the sins of
their fathers. But should they do it on this day, the Messiah
will come, and the Temple be restored. This is in fact what the
Prophet says in Hoshea 3:4-5:
4
For the children of Israel shall sit solitary many days without king,
and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without pillar, and
without ephod or teraphim;
5
afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD
their God, and David their king; and shall come trembling unto the
LORD and to His goodness in the end of days.
What
does lamo mean in Isaiah 53:8?
Answer:
In Isaiah 53:8, the Gentile spokesperson continues to acknowledge the
fault of the nations for the trials and tribulations suffered by the
servant, Israel, during his passage through history (cf. Isaiah 52:1,
15-53:1-2). Thus, he states: "As a result of the transgression
of my people [the Gentile nations] he [Israel] has been afflicted."
The literal translation of' this verse is: "From the
transgression of' my people there has been affliction to him [or "to
them"]." The poetic form of lahem, lamo, "to them,"
is used in this verse in reference to a collective noun (cf. Genesis
9:26). Lamo is rendered "to him" as it refers to the
collective noun, "suffering servant of the Lord," that is,
the Jewish people. In such an instance, lamo can be translated in the
singular although it must always be understood to be in the plural in
relation to what numerically constitutes the entity given the
appellative "suffering servant of the Lord."
The
proper rendering of lamo is sometimes unclear. For example, there
appears to be a question on how to render lamo in the verse, "Then
a man uses it [a tree] for fuel: and he takes it, and warms himself;
he kindles it and bakes bread; he makes a god, and worships it; he
makes it a carved image, and falls down lamo ["to them,"
alternately suggested "to it,"]" ( Isaiah 44:15).
Since the noun, "god," is in the singular it would seem to
show that lamo can mean "to it" as an actual singular and
not just when used as a collective noun. This is not the case.
Although the prophet's words are in the singular he uses the poetic
form lamo, "to them," to show that the content of his
message is to be understood as being in the plural. The translator of
the Hebrew, into the Greek Septuagint, understood this and rendered
the verse accordingly: "That it might be for men to burn: and
having taken part of it he warms himself; and they burn part of it;
and bake loaves thereon; and the rest they make for themselves gods,
and they worship them."
The
plural nature of the poetic form lamo is supported by the fifty four
places it is used in the Hebrew Scriptures. That the plural lamo, in
verse 8, refers to the suffering servant of the Lord as a collective
noun excludes any possibility that it pertains to an individual. As a
result, it cannot refer to Jesus. The suffering servant of the Lord
is a collective noun and, as such, does not refer to a specific
Israelite.
Moshe
Ibn Crispin on Isaiah 53
By
Judaism
Answer
There
may be no other Jewish interpreter of Isaiah 53 cited by missionaries
as often as ‘Rabbi’ Moshe Kohen Ibn Crispin is.[1]
When missionaries discuss what the Rabbis say about Isaiah 53,
invariably the Ibn Crispin name appears as one of the many Rabbis
agreeing to their view. However, in all these citations there is
nothing mentioned about who this person is, except for the century in
which he lived.
According
to the missionaries, he and his commentary rate with the ‘great’
Rabbis. One missionary website says[2]:
“very much in line with what many great Rabbis (Rambam, Saadyah Ibn
Danan, Moshe Kohen Ibn Crispin of Cordova Spain and many others) have
said in the past.” Another source lists Ibn Crispin with two
Rabbis, Ramban (Nachmanides) and Moshe AlSheich, who were the
greatest Rabbis of their times![3]
When this same author is discussing Isaiah 53, he says, “Some
traditional Jewish commentators have not been far behind. Just look
at what Rabbi Moshe Ibn Crispin (fourteenth century) wrote…”[4]
By the number of times he is cited, he seems to be considered a
‘significant commentator’[5]
by all missionaries. This is in stark contrast to his non-existence
in Rabbinic literature, of his time or later generations.
Before
discussing what Ibn Crispin says in his commentary, we need to
clarify who he is and if we really care what he says? This is
significant, as the issue is what are the authentic teachings about
the meaning of Isaiah 53 of Rabbinic Judaism. If someone does not
present the view of Rabbinic Judaism, his words are meaningless for
the argument. In missionary literature, they do not seem to take into
account whether or not that author is someone with standing for
Rabbinic Judaism. There are many significant examples of this.
One
example of someone quoted who is without standing is Yaphet ben Ali
who appears in a significant number of missionary sources on Isaiah
53. Many of them leave out that Yaphet ben Ali was not a Rabbi. He
was an opponent of Rabbinic Judaism. He was a Karaite, a heretical
sect that opposed Rabbinic Judaism and has almost totally
disappeared. This would be like quoting a Mormon as an authority to a
Baptist in a disputation. Rabbinic Judaism does not even care what he
says.
Another
‘Rabbi’ often mentioned[6]
is Herz Homberg, a member of the Radical Reform of the late 18th
century.[7]
His many activities after leaving Germany to spread his ideas to
Austrian Jews included, setting up a system of schools that were
devoid of the teaching of Judaism, he was a censor of Jewish books,
and tried to have all the yeshivos closed. His four sons converted to
Christianity. In his book on his beliefs, ‘Benei Zion’ he denied
belief in a Messiah, denied all traditional Jewish customs, and
argued that Judaism and Christianity were essentially the same. To
missionaries this person is an authoritative voice of Judaism!
The
point is that if we are going to discuss what the ‘Rabbis’
believe, we need to know that these sources quoted are really Rabbis,
or respected mainstream Orthodox religious scholars. Not heretics or
people who are ignorant of what the Rabbis really teach. Just being
born Jewish does not make one an expert in what Judaism teaches, nor
does it make what the person writes ‘Judaism.’ Let us now start
our examination of Moshe Ibn Crispin.
The
missionaries get the majority of their Rabbinic quotes on Isaiah 53
from a work called ‘The 53rd
Chapter of Isaiah according to the Jewish interpreters’ by Driver
and Neubauer.[8]
In their introduction, they give short overview paragraphs with
information about the particular author who they are translating.
Concerning Moshe Ibn Crispin there is an interesting thing. There are
two citations for ‘Rabbi Moses Kohen’. There seems to have been
some confusion in their mind about authorship.[9]
Here is what they say in the Preface: [10]
24A. The commentary
of R. Mosheh Kohen ‘Ibn Crispin of Cordova, afterwards of Toledo,
also at one period of his life a resident of Valencia, where he
composed an answer to a casuistical question. He also wrote notes on
the ‘Gate of Heaven’ by R. Yizhaq Israeli. It is possible that
these were his earliest work.
24B. The
forty-second chapter of the ‘Aid to Faith’ of R. Mosheh of
Otor-Sillas (Torresillas) in the kingdom of Leon, and afterwards of
Avila, composed in the year 1375, after a disputation held by him
with two of his compatriots who had deserted Judaism, and who by
permission of the king assembled the Jews together for the purpose of
controversy. He cites the ‘Wars of the Lord’, though without
mentioning the author’s name, and the Moreh Zedeq of Abner.[11]
His own book he dedicates to the celebrated Don David ‘Ibn Ya’ish
of Toledo. I at first was of the opinion the two recensions A and B
were by the same hand, and classified them accordingly under one
head; but I now feel hesitation upon this point, though the question
cannot yet be regarded as definitely settled. Three manuscripts have
been collated, viz. Bodl. 599 (‘B.), Mich. 147 (‘M.’), and Opp.
Add. Quo. 74 (‘O.’) [12]
From
this description, we can see a number of differences between the two
Rabbi Moshes. The origin and purpose of the Ibn Crispin commentary is
obscure, but that of the second Rabbi Moshe is associated with a
disputation and the publication of what occurred. It will be
instructive to investigate the life and character of Rabbi Moshe of
Tordesillas, and then compare him to Moshe Ibn Crispin.
We
are fortunate that in 1972 Yehuda Shamir published a book[13]
dealing with Rabbi Moshe of Tordesillas. In it, we learn quite a bit
about this person. In describing the nature of Rabbi Moshe’s book,
Ezer ha-Emunah, Shamir says:
“Jewish and
Christian ideologies of the period are presented as reflected through
the eyes of a member of the Jewish rabbinic intelligentsia in Spain
on the eve of the mass conversion of 1391.”
[14]
“It gives the
scholar a detailed map of the scholarly education of Moses of
Tordesillas. Sefer Ezer Ha-Emunah includes thousands of references to
the Bible… The Talmudic section indicates not only of the Talmud,
but also a familiarity with Midrashic literature… Moses ha-Kohen
was familiar with the Palestinian as well as the Babylonian Talmud.
He was familiar with mystical writings and well read in philosophical
works such as Moreh Nebukim[15],
Sefer Hegyon Ha-Nefesh[16],
and Emunah ve-De’ot[17]
in a paraphrased form… He was versed in the Biblical commentaries,
such as Rashi and Ibn Ezra. Moses developed a taste for grammar and
had varied interests in Rabbinic literature related to law (Mishnah
Torah[18]),
Messianic speculations (Megilat ha-Megaleh[19]),
and Gaonic writings.”[20]
Shamir’s
work has the following biographical information:
“… it is clear
that Rabbi Moses ha-Kohen led a peaceful life in Tordesillas, a small
town southwest of Valladolid, where he was respected and in his own
words ‘blessed by G-d in all things.’ During the civil war[21],
near its end by 1369 when Enrique II de Trastamara became king that
situation changed. Moses ha-Kohen was tortured, apparently because of
his position as a learned member and, perhaps, leader of his
community, with the object of converting him… It was a bitter
experience, but it earned him great respect in Jewish circles. He was
robbed of all his possessions and changed into a beaten and silent
man, unable to give guidance (tokehot), which is perhaps an
indication the he formerly held high rank in the community. He
underwent many trials until, as other scholars, he was settled in a
new place and sustained by the leaders of Avila.”[22]
Here
we see a leader of Spanish Jews (albeit a minor one) taking the
position that many great Rabbis of that time were forced to do, and
engaged in a disputation forced upon him by the church. Shamir points
out[23]
his work was strongly influenced by Jacob ben Reuben’s, Milhamot
ha-Shem, which Rabbi Moshe elaborated and enlarged to counter the
polemical attacks on it by the apostate Abner. In fact as
Shamir states, “Moses ha-Kohen of Tordesillas wrote the first
exhaustive response to the followers of Alphonso of Valladolid,
better known as Abner of Burgos.”[24]
Shamir lists the following books and Rabbis influenced by Ezer
ha-Emunah:[25]
Eben Bohan of Shemtob ben Isaac Ibn Shaprut; Chizak Emunah of Isaac
Troki; Bitul Ikkarei HaNotzrim of Hasdei Crescas; Yosef Albo -
Tortosa Disputation of 1413-1414. The historians Baer[26],
Chazan,[27]
and Graetz[28]
mention him and his work in their books.
“If one takes into
account the impression Ezer ha-Emunah made in Avila and Toledo, the
number of manuscripts which are known to have existed, and the above
indications of influence, the conclusion must be that the book
enjoyed some circulation and the ideas of the author were familiar to
the thinkers and leaders of Spanish Jewry, especially personalities
like Albo and Crescas. This conclusion is reinforced by the fact that
we have three manuscripts of anthologies falsely attributed to Moses
ha-Kohen of Tordesillas, and entitled Ezer ha-Emunah (even dated back
to that period)…. Ascribing a book to a certain author and even
giving it a title of one of this writer’s works is an indication
that this will appeal to the readers for whom those names mean
something.”[29]
Clearly,
Rabbi Moshe of Tordesillas was a mainstream Rabbi of importance in
his time, thoroughly Orthodox, and accepted by the Rabbinic
leadership of his time and afterwards. There is no question of his
acceptability. What then was his view on Isaiah 53? It applies to
Israel! Let me quote a few passages: “LII 13 My servant. This
is said of each individual among the just…. LIII 3 All Israel were
continually smitten and afflicted among the gentiles….”
Let
us now turn to Moshe Ibn Crispin who appears to be a contemporary of
Rabbi Moshe of Tordesillas, and compare their relationship to the
Rabbinic leadership and community. The information on Ibn Crispin in
English is sparse and not encouraging.
As
noted above he wrote a commentary on a work by Yitzchok Israeli. Who
was this? “To the Christian scholastics of mediaeval Europe he is
known as the Jewish physician and philosopher next in importance to
Maimonides… For his intrinsic merits as a philosopher, and
particularly as a Jewish philosopher, do not by any means entitle him
to be coupled with Maimonides.”[30]
“Israeli’s importance lies primarily in the fact that he was the
first medieval Jewish ‘philosopher’, although his influence on
later Jewish philosophers was limited.”[31]
Israeli was an unimportant and obscure philosopher.
In
the two classical works of Jewish philosophy, I quoted from above,
one ignores Ibn Crispin and the second mentions him twice. The first
instance[32]
only mentions “the works of Moshe Cohen Ibn Crispin of Toledo”
without any more information. The second may not be him at all.
With reference to Jewish interpretations of Isaiah 53, she mentions
that “of Moshe Cohen Ibn Crispin of Tordesillas, in 1375.”[33]
It is not possible to know for certain whom she means. She may
be referring to the more well known work of Rabbi Moshe of
Tordesillas, and calling him Ibn Crispin by mistake.
The
only other references in English I was able to find were from
Encyclopedias. In an article on Judeo-Arabic Literature[34]
in the Encyclopedia Judaica, we find:
“In Judeo-Arabic
literature, in both Spain and the Middle East, the 13th century marks
a division between what preceded it and what followed…. In the
field of theology, Moses Ibn Crispin Cohen, who in 1336 left his
native Cordoba to settle in Toledo, composed a tract on providence
and the afterlife.”[35]
In
an article from the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy on Jewish
Averroism, we find:
“There were a
large number of other thinkers whose work is largely based upon
Averroes but who have not been discussed here in detail. The work of
Joseph ibn Waqar and Moses ibn Crispin, for example, provides
evidence of considerable discussion on Averroistic themes within the
Jewish community.”[36]
From
the above it appears that he was an obscure Averroistic philosopher
from 14th century
Spain. It seems that Ibn Crispin’s only claim to fame is his
obscure commentary on an obscure philosopher of little importance. In
English, this is all we have. However, there is an article by Georges
Vajda, written in French, which discusses one of Ibn Crispin’s
philosophic works.[37]
There he gives all the historical information that we have about Ibn
Crispin.
“The
little that we know on our author seems to be put together by M.
STEINSCHNEIDER Die arabische Litteratur der Juden, § 127, p. 166.
It appears that he issued from a Jewish family who had among
its members many notables from the 13th
to the 15th
centuries. We note in 1283-1286 an almoxarife[38]
from Toledo, named Moses Ibn Crispin. In a document of Toledo, of
June 23, 1351, appears a Moses, son of Solomon ben Crespin (perhaps
our figure.) I owe this information, taken from FRITZ BAER
Die Juden im christlichen Spanien,
II, 72 et 247, a work that is inaccessible to me, to the friendly
kindness of Professor J. M. Millâs VaIlicrosa. A Joseph Cohen
Ibn Crispin was a reputable rabbi in Toledo in the XV century.”[39]
There
is little known biographical information about him. He appears to be
from the courtier class who were in service to the kings.
In
explaining why he has chosen this obscure figure Vajda states:
“This time, we
would want to illustrate the penetration of Averroism into Jewish
thought by making known an author of lesser caliber, coming from the
same milieu, whose speculations, without great interest if we measure
them to scale against vast doctrinal syntheses, we will get closer,
believe me, all the more to the cultural level of the intellectuals
who left nothing to posterity.” [40]
His
value as a philosopher is quite small; it is only because of the
existence of a manuscript of his work that appears typical of
Averroistic Jewish philosophers that he is of value to study.
Concerning
this particular manuscript of Ibn Crispin that is examined he states:
“There is one
though (in the folios 35-44, written in rather poor Arabic) that is
not altogether worthy of neglect, in that it is a good specimen of
the overall mentality of which we have spoken. This piece does not
have an explicit title, but the subject matter is clearly stated from
the very first lines: it treats the subjects of destiny and
providence, and in passing on the problem of the immortality of the
soul.”[41]
Therefore,
we see that he is typical of this group of philosophers in his time.
As
we examined Rabbi Moshe of Tordesillas and his place and status with
the great Rabbis of Spain, we now need to look at Moshe Ibn Crispin.
We cannot call him a ‘Rabbi’ as there is no evidence that he held
any position of religious authority. All we know of his status in
Spanish society is that he was an Averroistic philosopher. As Vajda
notes, his views were those typical of those people, so we need to
see what place these philosophers had in Spanish society, and
specifically among the religious leadership.
Unfortunately,
the situation is not a positive one.
“The moralists of
the period and the anti-Maimonideans, as well as well as Crescas’
‘Or HaShem’, and modern scholars such as Baer, stress that the
Averroist atmosphere was largely responsible for the destruction of
the Jewish community, for it weakened first the leaders, and others
then quickly followed them in conversion.” [42]
As
Baer notes:
“The Averroist
philosophy was a major cause of communal disaster. When R. Hasdai
Crescas dedicated his magnum opus to a polemical attack on ‘the
Greek (Aristotle) who has dimmed the eyes of Israel in these times,’
he was indulging in no mere rhetorical flourish.” [43]
Ibn
Crispin appears on the opposite side of Rabbi Moshe of Tordesillas.
The former is opposed by Crescas, and the latter’s works were used
by Crescas.
We
find a great deal of similarity between the fights great Rabbis, like
the Chasam Sofer, had against the German Reformers, like Homberg, and
the fights of the great Rabbis of Spain against the Averroist
philosophers who were bringing disaster to Spanish Jewry. Not only
Crescas, who has already been mentioned, but also the Rashba, the
Rosh,[44]
the Akedas Yitzchok[45]
and many other Rabbis, greater and lesser were in open opposition to
them. The similarity to the German Reform does not end there. Just as
we saw that assimilation and apostasy followed Homberg, so it was
with the Averroists.
“The Averroistic
outlook, in fact, exercised a marked influence in several areas of
the social and religious life of the Jews in Spain, and proved
decisive in the fateful hours of their history. The descendants of
these highly cultured aristocrats were to betray both their faith and
their people during the period of great trial which lasted from 1391
through 1415.”[46]
Baer
relates about a particular philosopher, Moses Faquim.
“Moses Faquim, son
of Jucef Faquim, was a confirmed Averroist and a political
talebearer. In January 1391, shortly before the massacres, the Jews
themselves informed the king that Moses Faquim blasphemed against all
religions. He would go to Christian churches on the pretense of
wishing to embrace Christianity and comport himself accordingly.
Then, on coming out he would boast to the Jews of what he had done.
At the very time when he was drawing closer to the Christians and
their religion, he was seen walking barefoot on the Ninth Day of Ab
as if mourning the destruction of the Temple like any other Jew. He
drank the wine of the Christians and ate pork, transacted business on
Shabbos and resorted to Christian courts. In order to hold up both
Judaism and Christianity to ridicule, he would play at being a Moslem
by holding Moslem religious services for his Moslem slaves in his
magnificent residence in the Jewish quarter, and jest with them about
the Jewish and Christian religions. This Moses Faquim was several
times involved in acts of denunciation against Jews, and even
slandered his own father during the latter’s lifetime by accusing
him of a deed that rendered him liable to the death penalty.
Men of Moses Faquim’s stamp were to be found in all the large
Jewish communities of Spain, so that his behavior must not be
interpreted as indicating that the Jews of Majorca were especially
degenerate.”[47]
While
Ibn Crispin may not have been as extreme as this fellow had been, (we
really have no proof either way, he could have converted also,) we do
see that he shows an arrogance and disdain for the great Rabbis in a
way that is consistent with the general attitude of the Averroists
(and later German Reformers.) He refers to them as commenting
“rashly”, “inclining after the stubbornness of their own
hearts”, and having ‘far-fetched interpretations”.[48]
The
contrast in character and religiosity between Averroists like Ibn
Crispin and the rest of the Jews is summed up by Baer:
“Those individuals
who habitually looked down upon the simple masses who scrupulously
observed all the commandments and were not afraid, even in the time
of national and religious emergency, to proclaim their faith –
these same men, when the test came, lacked the spiritual fortitude to
prefer death to apostasy. In much the same spirit as they had
previously denied the authority of biblical law, they now accepted
the rites and ceremonies of an alien religion; ultimately they
remained faithful to their ‘religion of the intellect’, the
crowning article of faith for all Averroists, whether Jewish or
Christian.”[49]
In
Summary, what did ‘Rabbi’ Moshe Ibn Crispin have to say? As an
Orthodox Jew, I must say that he was not a Rabbi nor is there any
evidence that he could have been one. Whatever he said on any
subject, is of no value because he was in rebellion against the
Rabbis of his time. Whatever he said does not reflect ‘Judaism’.
He is irrelevant to any discussions on what the Rabbis, or Rabbinic
Judaism teaches.
