Bethlehem: The Messiah's Birthplace?

Messiah truth

I. Introduction

The Christian apologetic and missionary claim that Bethlehem is the birthplace of the Messiah was briefly considered in another essay^¹[1]. A more detailed analysis of the claim will be the focus of the present essay.

In the opening verse of the second chapter in the Gospel of Matthew, the author declares that Bethlehem was the birthplace of Jesus:

Matthew 2:1(KJV) – Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, …

The author then claims this event to be a "fulfillment" of a prophecy found in the Hebrew Bible, which he states as follows:

Matthew 2:5-6(KJV) – (5) And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, (6) And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.

According to Christian apologists and missionaries, Matthew 2:6 points to Micah 5:2 in their Old Testament; in the Hebrew Bible this is Micah 5:1. Micah 5:1[2]^²[2] has thus become a popular Christian "proof-text" in the apologist and missionary's portfolio.

A careful analysis of the Hebrew text in Micah 5:1 demonstrates that the false application by the Greek rendition of this verse in the New Testament, and its subsequent mistranslation in the King James Version (KJV) Old Testament (and in other Christian Bibles), are inconsistent with the teachings of the Hebrew Bible. Moreover, the KJV Old Testament's rendition of a key phrase in the verse is also inconsistent with other instances of the same phrase elsewhere in the King James Version Bible.

II. Comparison of Jewish and Christian Translations, and the New Testament Application

Table II-1 provides a side-by-side comparison between the verse from the KJV New Testament, the KJV Old Testament rendition of the verse, and a Jewish translation of the original verse. For reference, the corresponding verse from the Hebrew Bible is also displayed in the table. As was already pointed out above, note that the KJV Old Testament verse number is different from the verse number as it appears in the Hebrew Bible. The highlighted phrase in both the Jewish and KJV translations corresponds to the highlighted phrase shown in the Hebrew text.

Table II-1 – Comparing Matthew 2:6 with Micah 5:1[2]

Hebrew Text

King James Version New Testament	King James Version "Old Testament"		Jewish Translation from the Hebrew
Matthew 2:6	Micah 5
And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.	v.2	But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.	v.1	And you, Bethlehem Ephratah - you should have been the lowest amongst the clans of Judah – from you [he] shall emerge for Me, to be a ruler over Israel; and his origin is from old, from ancient days.

Aside from the fact that Matthew 2:6 leaves out the last phrase of the source verse and is, at best, a paraphrase of the quoted portion, there are a number of problems with the Micah 5:2 rendition in the KJV. These problems, as well as the truncated rendition of the verse in the New Testament, will be explained in the analysis.

III. Analysis of the Passage

To help facilitate the analysis, the correct translation of Micah 5:1 is separated into two segments:

Segment A

Micah 5:1A – And you, Bethlehem Ephratah - you should have been the lowest amongst the clans of Judah – from you [he] shall emerge for Me, to be a ruler over Israel;

Segment B

Micah 5:1B – and his origin is from old, from ancient days.

Segment A and Segment B will now be separately analyzed.

Analysis of Segment A

Micah 5:1A – And you, Bethlehem Ephratah - you should have been the lowest amongst the clans of Judah – from you [he] shall emerge for Me, to be a ruler over Israel;

The name Bethlehem, in the original Hebrew is (beit-lehem), which literally means House of Lehem [(lehem) means bread, or (generic) food]. Therefore, the title (beit-lehem) may refer either to the town or to a clan with the name (lehem). In the case of Micah 5:1, the reference is to a clan. How can one determine this?

The first clue is found in the opening phrase of the verse, where the Hebrew is (v^eatah beit-lehem ephratah). The term (v^eatah) has the components (v^e), the preposition and, and (atah), the pronoun you for the 2^nd-person, singular, masculine gender. Thus, (v^eatah) translates as and you, using the 2^nd-person, singular, masculine gender pronoun (the KJV has but you in Micah 5:2; note, however, how the KJV translators correctly render this phrase as And thou in Mt 2:6!). The rest of the phrase in Segment A is also cast in a 2^nd-person, singular, masculine gender conjugation. Following this term (v^eatah) is the phrase (beit-lehem ephratah), where (ephratah) or, alternatively, (ephrat), is an alternate name for the town of Bethlehem in Judah in the Hebrew Bible, as seen from the following example:

Genesis 35:19(KJV) - And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrat (ephrat), which is Bethlehem (beit-lehem).

In the Hebrew Bible, singular pronouns, such as (atah), you, are often used interchangeably in both the singular and plural context. In the case of Micah 5:1, (atah) is a singular compound entity, a specific clan, so that the context is the [plural, masculine] you. Though the singular usage is the most common one, the plural application occurs as well (e.g., Exod 33:3, Deut 9:6). Therefore, the one being addressed here in Micah 5:1 is (beit-lehem), which is the name of a family, or clan, residing in the town of (ephratah), Ephratah, i.e., in the town of Bethlehem. According to this analysis, perhaps a more accurate version of Segment A (and, thus, Micah 5:1) would be:

Micah 5:1A – And you, House of Lehem [from] Ephratah - you should have been the lowest amongst the clans of Judah – from you [he] shall emerge for Me, to be a ruler over Israel;

In the expression (b^ealphei y^ehudah), amongst the clans of Judah, contains a plural possessive construct of the Hebrew term (eleph), (alphei), which is used in the context of clans of …. The most common application of (eleph) in the Hebrew Bible is a thousand, which is its general meaning. However, there are instances in the Hebrew Bible where (eleph) is used in reference to a portion of a tribe, i.e., a clan or family. Micah 5:1 is one of these cases, and others are found at Numbers 31:5, Deuteronomy 33:17, Joshua 22:14, Judges 6:15, and 1 Samuel 10:19, 23:23. It is interesting to note that most translators (both Jewish and Christian) are consistent in their (mis)translation of this word in all but one of these instances, the one at Judges 6:15, where the term (alpi) [1^st-person, singular conjugation of the noun (eleph)] is correctly translated as my family. Although, in general, it is not a serious contextual discrepancy when using a thousand in place of a clan in the above mentioned places, the correct context in Micah 5:1 is that the reference is to a [particular] clan from the town of Bethlehem. This case is further supported by the fact that members of a clan are frequently referred to by the name of the clan, often derived from the name of its progenitor, as is seen from the following example:

Numbers 3:27 - And of Kohath, the Amramite family, and the Izharite family, and the Hebronite family, and the Uzzielite family; these are the Kohathite families.

Regarding someone from the Bethlehemite clan [(beit-ha'lahmi)], the Hebrew Bible has passages such as the following:

1 Samuel 16:1 - And the L-rd said to Samuel, "Until when will you mourn for Saul, that I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go, I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite [(beit-ha'lahmi)], for I have found among his sons a king for Me.

Another reference in the Hebrew Bible is even more explicit:

1 Samuel 17:12 - And David was the son of this man from Ephrat [(ephrati)] of the House of Lehem [(mi'beit-lehem)] in Judah, whose name was Jesse, and he had eight sons; and the man, who was elderly in Saul's time, was among the [respected] men.

In the Hebrew language, which has no neuter gender, i.e., a separate Hebrew word for it does not exist, cities and towns are assigned the feminine gender. So, if it were the town of Bethlehem being addressed in Micah 5:1, the opening term would have been (v^eat), such as in Jeremiah 50:24 and elsewhere, the components of which are (v^e), the preposition and, and (at), the Biblical form of the pronoun you for the 2^nd-person, singular, feminine gender. Consequently, (v^eat) translates as and you, with the 2^nd-person, singular, feminine gender pronoun. Understanding this difference is essential for the correct reading of this verse!

The KJV translators, lacking the required level of proficiency of the Hebrew language, did not recognize that a certain clan, the House of Lehem, is being addressed in Micah 5:1[2]. Rather, from the sources they used, one of which was most likely the Christian LXX (that which Christians mistakenly call the Septuagint), it appeared to them that the town of Bethlehem is being addressed here. Consequently, they characterize Bethlehem as a small and insignificant town from the territory of Judah, in an introductory phrase to the prophecy. Namely, that in spite of its insignificance, the town will be the birthplace of the promised Messiah.

However, since it is the clan, the House of Lehem, and not the town, that is being addressed here by Micah, it does not matter in which town the Messiah will be born; rather, it is the clan, the family, that is significant! The phrase in Segment B, "and his origin is from old", simply means the Messiah will come from a family with a long lineage.

How can one learn more about the particular clan to which this verse refers? The ancestry of the known members of the clan is a good place from which to start the investigation, and it leads to a woman named Ruth, a Moabitess, who is among the ancestors of King David. Ruth was married to one of the two sons Elimelech and Naomi, a family that hailed from Bethlehem.

A famine in Judah forced Elimelech to take his family to a place that had food, and they wound up in the Land of Moab. Originally, Elimelech and Naomi’s plan was to go to Moab just to wait out the famine, but they then decided to remain there, a decision that eventually led to tragic consequences. Elimelech and Naomi's two sons, Killion and Mahlon (Ephrathites from House of Lehem [Ruth 1:2]), married Gentile women, Orpah and Ruth, respectively. Elimelech and his two sons died while the family was in Moab, leaving the three women, Naomi, Orpah, and Ruth, as widows. Naomi made plans to return alone to her home in the Kingdom of Judah, and she instructed her two daughters-in-law to go back to their people, the Moabites. Orpah approached her mother-in-law, kissed her goodbye and left. Ruth came over to Naomi, held on to her and did not let go. Ruth informed Naomi that she was coming with her; and even though Naomi attempted to dissuade her from returning to the famine in Judah, Ruth insisted and said to her:

Ruth 1:16-17 – (16) … Do not entreat me to leave you, or to desist from following you; for wherever you go, I will go; and where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your G-d is my G-d; (17) Wherever you die, will I die, and there will I be buried; the L-rd may do so to me, and so may He continue, for [only] death will separate me from you.

From Ruth's declaration of her intentions to Naomi when she says, “…For where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people are my people, and your G-d is my G-d;…”, it is understood that she converted to Judaism. But Ruth, a person of outstanding character, had a problematic ancestry – she was a Moabite woman. This is what the Torah instructs the Israelites about a Moabite:

Deuteronomy 23:4 - An Ammonite [(ammoni)] and a Moabite [(mo'avi)] shall not enter into the congregation of the L-rd; even the tenth generation shall never enter into the congregation of the L-rd.

In other words, Ammonites and Moabites were prohibited from ever converting to Judaism. Note, however, that in the Hebrew text, the terms (ammoni) and (mo'avi) are used, terms that translate as an Ammonite (male) and a Moabite (male), respectively. The corresponding terms for a female, as used in the Hebrew Bible are, (ammonit) and (mo'avit) [or (mo'avi'yah)].

The reason for the prohibition is stated immediately following it:

Deuteronomy 23:5-6 – (5) Because they did not greet you with bread and water on the way, when you left Egypt, and because he [Moab] hired Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor in Aram Naharaim against you, to curse you. (6) But the L-rd, your G-d, did not want to listen to Balaam. So the L-rd, your G-d, transformed the curse into a blessing for you, because the L-rd, your G-d, loves you.

And this is repeated at a much later time by Nehemiah:

Nehemiah 13:1-2 – (1) On that day the Book of Moses was read to be heard by the people; and it was found written therein that an Ammonite [(ammoni)] and a Moabite [(mo'avi)] may not enter into the congregation of G-d forever; (2) Because they did not come to meet the people of Israel with bread and with water, and [instead] hired Balaam against them, to curse them; and our G-d turned the curse into a blessing.

Considering this prohibition, how was Ruth the Moabitess able to "… enter into the congregation of the L-rd…"? How could she become the ancestor of the greatest king of the Jewish people, King David? The Sages explain in the Babylonian Talmud (Tractate Yevamot, 76b; Tractate Ketubot, 7b) that this prohibition applies only to Ammonite and Moabite men, and not to women. This is because only a man was expected to leave his house and bring food and drink to the traveler; a woman was not expected to do that for obvious reasons. Thus, the interpretation of the law (Deut 23:4), which had to be rendered by ten elders, that the prohibition on becoming one of the assembly of the L-rd, i.e., to be admitted into the community of Israel, applied only to Ammonite and Moabite men and not to Ammonite and Moabite women. This clarified the law, and enabled Boaz to marry Ruth the Moabitess. So, the (beit-lehem) clan, with a history marred by Ruth's ancestry of a nation that was excluded from Judaism, is characterized by the phrase, "you SHOULD HAVE BEEN the LOWEST amongst the CLANS of Judah", in Segment A. This phrase reflects the uneasiness people may have had even with King David, whose great-grandmother was a Moabitess. Yet, the fact is that out of this clan rose the greatest king of Israel, and the promise is made that the Messiah will also come from it.

This passage is all about King David's ancestry, with the Messiah being but a "by-product" of it. This fact is even confirmed by the rendition in The New Jerusalem Bible (a Christian translation), whose translators state the following in a footnote to this verse (Micah 5:2; only the relevant portion of the footnote is being quoted here):

“Micah is thinking of the ancient origin of the dynasty of David, Rt 4:11,17,18-22; 1 S 17:12. The evangelists later interpreted this passage as a prophecy of Christ’s birthplace.”

In other words, while this passage does not rule out the town of Bethlehem as being the Messiah's birthplace, as could be any other place, the notion that it is his birthplace was introduced later, in the New Testament, as an interpretation by the Gospel writers.

B. Segment B

Micah 5:1B – and his origin is from old, from ancient days.

The fact that Segment A of Micah 5:1 voids the positive identification of Bethlehem as the Messiah's birthplace, creates a serious problem for the Church. This problem is compounded by the closing phrase in the Hebrew text in Segment B, (mi'y'mei olam), from ancient days.

Micah, who was a contemporary of the prophets Amos, Hosea, and Isaiah, and of King Hezekiah (around 730 B.C.E.), states something special here, namely, that the origin of the Messiah would be from Bethlehem, from the long ago past, from ancient days. However, this statement conflicts with Christian theology, since Jesus is considered as having been around since the beginning of time, since before the Creation, and the expression from ancient days does not satisfy this condition. To "rectify" this problem, many Christian translators simply replace ancient days with days of eternity, or everlasting, or days of time indefinite (see, e.g., KJV, NAS, NWT). How can one determine who is telling the truth?

The Hebrew expression (y^emei olam), ancient days, is used in Micah 5:1 with the preposition (mi-), from, as (mi'y'mei olam), from ancient days. Table III.B-1 shows all six instances in the Hebrew Bible of the expression (y^emei olam), ancient days, including its combinations with various prepositions. Also shown in the table are the respective renditions of these expressions in the KJV.

Table III.B-1 – KJV renditions of the expression (y^emei olam) in the Hebrew Bible

Hebrew	Pronunciation	#	Reference	Correct Translation	KJV Rendition
	y^e-ME-i o-LAM	2	Isaiah 63:9,11	the days of old	the days of old
	kiy-ME-i o-LAM	3	Amos 9:11; Micah 7:14; Malachi 3:4	as in days of old	as in the days of old
	miy-ME-i o-LAM	1	Micah 5:1[2]	from ancient days	from everlasting

Note that the expression is correctly translated in the KJV in five out of the six cases as days of old, which is synonymous with ancient days, yet at Micah 5:2 it is rendered as from everlasting. What could have motivated the KJV translators to render the same expression correctly in all but one place, the one exception being at Micah 5:2, which speaks of the Messiah? Could it be that replacing from ancient days with from everlasting in this passage would "harmonize" this Old Testament prophecy with Christian theology? Did the KJV translators engage here in an act of "pious fraud"?

For the sake of completeness and fairness, it should be noted that, in contrast to the KJV (and several other Christian Bibles), some Christian translators have correctly rendered this phrase, e.g., NAB, NIV, NRSV, RSV, The New Jerusalem Bible, among others.

Matthew 2:6

As was demonstrated above, the phrase from ancient days brings the reader back to King David and his ancestors, which created a serious theological problem for Christianity. It was also shown how the KJV translators attempted to "solve" this problem in their rendition of Micah 5:2. The author of the Gospel of Matthew apparently recognized this problem as he was attempting to construct a cohesive scenario, and his creative way of dealing with the true context of Micah 5:1[2] was to simply restates this verse:

Matthew 2:6(KJV) – And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.

Upon comparing Matthew 2:6 with even the KJV rendition of Micah 5:1[2], the following changes are evident in the part that corresponds to the passage in the KJV equivalent of Segment A:

U The name of the place, Ephratah, is absent from the verse.

U A subtle change in context takes place, from "though thou be little among the thousands of Judah", in the KJV Old Testament, to "thou … art not the least among the princes of Juda", in the KJV New Testament.

U The generic title of ruler in the KJV Old Testament is replaced with the specific position of Governor In the KJV New Testament.

As was already noted earlier, the author of the Gospel of Matthew uses a truncated version of Micah 5:1[2] in Matthew 2:6. Thus, the obvious change is:

U Segment B of the original verse was deleted

Clearly, Segment A, being a rather straight forward passage that could refer to the Messiah hailing from Bethlehem, required just a minor amount of editing to get it to "line up" with the rest of his story.

Regarding Segment B, which is disastrous to Christian theology, the author of the Gospel of Matthew does something interesting, as he also does in other places as well (e.g., Mt 2:13). He deletes the problematic part (Segment B) of Micah 5:1[2] so that it is absent from Matthew 2:6; he only applied an edited version of Segment A to what he wrote in Matthew 2:6. The problematic part would have drawn the reader to the origin of the Messiah, some 200-300 years behind Micah on the historical time scale, to King David himself.

The author of the Gospel of Matthew refused to accept the words of the Prophet Micah, because they describe Bethlehem as the least significant of the clans and communities of Judah. How can that be, if the Messiah is to be born there? The Messiah cannot be born in the insignificant place that is the lowest on the totem pole. This action demonstrates that the author of the Gospel of Matthew knew and understood very little of the Hebrew Bible, and that he did not understand that the reference here was to Ruth. So, in order to tailor this passage to fit his paradigm, he not only applied a portion of the verse out-of-context by dropping the problematic part of it, but he also changed the context of that which is written in the Hebrew Bible by reversing the you are to read you are not.

In contrast to the author of the Gospel of Matthew, the author of the Gospel of Luke was somewhat more careful. While he insists that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, he makes the correct connection, that it was the city of David (Lk 2:4,11). There are other instances where the author of the Gospel of Matthew, allegedly a Jew, made a mistake, while the author of the Gospel of Luke, allegedly a Gentile, used much more care in dealing with the same subject. One notable example is the application of Zechariah 9:9-10 in the Gospels. As dealt with in Matthew 21:1-7, the passage has Jesus coming into Jerusalem on two animals, while in Luke 19:29-35, Jesus is said to be coming on one animal.

IV. Summary

Is Micah 5:1[2] a prophecy that the (Jewish) Messiah will be born in Bethlehem? The Christian claim is that Jesus fulfilled this prophecy by being born in Bethlehem. As was demonstrated in the analysis, the town of Bethlehem was the place from which King David's family originated, and this prophecy speaks of Bethlehem as the Messiah's place of origin, though not necessarily his place of birth. The Hebrew text clearly states that the Messiah's ancestors came from Bethlehem.

Since the KJV translation of the Hebrew Bible came many centuries after the Gospel of Matthew was written, the only option available to Christian translators for "harmonizing" Micah 5:2 with Christian theology and Matthew 2:6 was to suitably alter the context of the source verse. Since Christians generally study the New Testament first, their theological ideas are well established by the time they proceed to the Old Testament to look for the "pointers". So that the discrepancies between Matthew 2:6 and Micah 5:2 are not likely to even be noticed.

Using the logic of the Christian claim, and considering the many thousands of people having come from Bethlehem during its history, how is it possible to identify which one of them was the Messiah? It is also worth noting that, relative to the important messianic attributes spelled out by the Jewish prophets in the Hebrew Bible, which Jesus did not fulfill, being born in Bethlehem is inconsequential, even if it were true.

Addressing Micah 5:2

Jim Lippard

A second claimed birth prophecy is that Jesus would be born in the city of Bethlehem, cited in Matthew (2:1-6), Luke (2:4-7), and John's (7:42) gospels. Of these, Matthew and John specifically refer to prophecy in the Hebrew scriptures. The passage referred to is Micah 5:2, which reads: "But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you one will go forth for me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity." "Ephrathah" is the ancient name of Bethlehem (Genesis 35:19, Ruth 4:11) but, to confuse matters, "Bethlehem Ephrathah" is also the name of a person: Bethlehem the son (or grandson) of Ephrathah (1 Chronicles 4:4, 2:50-51). This prophecy could therefore refer to either a native of the town or to a descendent of the person. If the latter, Jesus does not qualify since neither of his alleged genealogies (more on these below) list either Bethlehem or Ephrathah. If the former (more likely since Bethlehem was the birthplace of King David, from whom the Messiah is supposed to be descended), then Jesus qualifies by birthplace[4] but fails to meet the condition of being "ruler in Israel." Christians claim that this is a prophecy which will be fulfilled at the Second Coming.

There are various alleged genealogical prophecies about the ancestry of the Messiah. It is claimed that Genesis 22:18 and 12:2-3 are prophecies that the Messiah will be a descendent of Abraham, but these verses say nothing about the Messiah. They say simply that the descendents of Abraham will be blessed. Other claimed prophecies about the Messiah's ancestry are that he will be of the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10, Micah 5:2, of the family line of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1, 10, and of the house of David (Jeremiah 23:5, 2 Samuel 7:12-16, and Psalms 132:11). Some of these do appear to be genuine messianic prophecies, but others simply seem to refer to future kings. All of these verses refer to kings--and thus none have been fulfilled by Jesus.

But the problems for these prophecies run even deeper. Is Jesus actually of the tribe of Judah, the family line of Jesse, and the house of David? The sole evidence for this is two sets of genealogies for Jesus, in Matthew 1:1-17 and Luke 3:23-38. Both of these trace Jesus' lineage through his father, Joseph. If the virgin birth story is taken seriously, then Jesus lacks the proper ancestry. On the other hand, if the genealogy in Matthew is taken seriously, then Jesus has as an ancestor Jeconiah (Matthew 1:12), of whom the prophet Jeremiah said, "Write this man down as childless, a man who will not prosper in his days, for no man of his descendants will prosper sitting on the throne of David or ruling again in Judah." (Jeremiah 22:30) The genealogy in Luke suffers from the same problem, since it includes Shealtiel and Zerubbabel, both of whom were descendents of Jeconiah.

Source: http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/jim_lippard/fabulous-prophecies.html

Feel free to contact me at b_zawadi@hotmail.com

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2^[2] The notation Micah 5:1[2] shows the verse number from the Hebrew Bible first, followed by the corresponding verse number from the Christian Old Testament shown in brackets

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True Messiah - Properly Anointed;

False Messiah - Smeared with Ointment

Messiah truth

I. Introduction

The ninth chapter in the Book of Daniel has been a popular component in the portfolio of Christian apologists and missionaries. The passage that is commonly extracted from this chapter as an example of a definitive "messianic prophecy" is Daniel 9:24-27 because, according to most Christian translations, it contains two direct references to the Messiah (Dan 9:25-26), which are claimed to be references to Jesus. With the help of mistranslations and some mathematical hocus-pocus, they transform this passage into a prophecy that allegedly foretells the coming of Jesus and his crucifixion.

The analysis presented in this essay demonstrates that these claims concerning Daniel 9:25-26 are inconsistent with the teachings of the Hebrew Bible. Moreover, since these claims also include references to being anointed, the anointing process, as defined and applied in the Hebrew Bible, is cast into a template against which the "anointing" of Jesus, as described in the New Testament, is compared in order to test its validity.

II. Christian and Jewish Translations of Daniel 9:25-26

Table II-1 shows side-by-side English renditions and the Hebrew text of the passage Daniel 9:25-26. The Hebrew term (mashia'h) and its respective renditions in the two translations are shown in highlighted form.

Table II-1 – Daniel 9:25-26

King James Version Translation		Jewish Translation from the Hebrew		Hebrew Text
Daniel 9
25	Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.		And you should know and understand that, from the emergence of the word to restore and build Jerusalem until an anointed ruler, [shall be] seven weeks; and [in] sixty-two weeks it will be restored and be built, street and moat, but in troubled times.
26	And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.		And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one will be cut off, and [he] will be no more; and the city and the Sanctuary will be destroyed by people of the coming ruler, and his end will come about like a flood; and by end of the war, there will be desolation.

A significant disagreement exists between the two translations in their respective renditions of the noun . A study of the applications of this term in the Hebrew Bible helps resolve this issue.

III. Review of Hebrew Terminology

According to the Hebrew Bible, the men who were selected to fill the positions of the high priest [(ha'kohen ha'gadol)] and king [(melech)] had to go through a ritual anointing ceremony. The Hebrew root verb (mashah), [to] anoint, appears in the Hebrew Bible 70 times in various conjugations. This verb is used on 63 occasions to describe an act of anointing, i.e., applying a specially prepared oil or compound to someone or something for the purpose of sanctification or consecration; and on the seven remaining occasions, it is used in the context of covering something with paint or oil for various other purposes.

Someone who went through the process of anointing was referred to as (mashi'ah), an anointed one, in the Hebrew Bible. The noun derives from the root verb , [to] anoint, and it appears in various conjugations and forms in the Hebrew Bible on 39 occasions. The salient fact about the noun is that not one of these 39 instances refers to the Messiah. The reason is that the usage of the noun as the present Hebrew term for Messiah is a product of the first century B.C.E., which is interesting information that emerged from research done on the Dead Sea Scrolls. Around that time, the Jewish messianic vision experienced a significant paradigm shift from the expectation of an era (i.e., “End of Days”) to an expectation of a Jewish leader who will deliver Israel ("Redeemer"). This fact alone defeats the claim by Christian apologists and missionaries concerning references to the Messiah in Daniel 9:25-26.

IV. Application of the Noun in the Hebrew Bible

An analysis of the 39 applications of the noun in the Hebrew Bible, and how these are rendered in most Christian Bibles, provides the Biblical evidence that refutes the claims concerning its occurrences in Daniel 9:25-26. Table IV-1 shows the 39 applications of the noun in the Hebrew Bible. Each form of the noun is shown separately along with the frequency of occurrence, a pronunciation guide (CAPS identify the accented syllable), the respective Scriptural citations, the correct English translation, and the respective KJV rendition. References indicate chapter and verse numbers in the Hebrew Bible; verse numbers in Christian Bibles, if different from the Hebrew Bible, are shown in brackets.

Table IV-1 – The term in the Hebrew Bible and its KJV renditions

Hebrew Term	#	Pronunciation	References	Correct Translation	KJV Rendition
	3	mah-SHEE-ah	2 Sam 1:21	an anointed	anointed
			Dan 9:25	an anointed	The Messiah
			Dan 9:26	an anointed	Messiah
	4	ha'mah-SHEE-ah	Lev 4:3,5,16,6:15[22]	the anointed	[the priest] that is anointed
	8	m^e-SHEE-ah	1 Sam 24:6,10, 26:16; 2 Sam 1:14,16, 19:22[21], 23:1; Lam 4:20	anointed [of]	anointed [of]
	3	bim-SHEE-ah	1 Sam 26:9,11,23	against the anointed of -	against [the LORD's] anointed
	1	lim-SHEE-ah	1 Sam 24:7	to the anointed of -	to [the LORD's] anointed
	1	m^e-shee-HEE	1 Sam 2:35	my anointed	mine anointed
	1	lim-shee-HEE	Ps 132:17	for/to my anointed	for mine anointed
	6	me-shee-HEH-cha	Hab 3:13; Ps 84:10[9], 89:39[38],52[51], 132:10; 2 Chron 6:42	your anointed	thine anointed
	7	me-shee-HO	1 Sam 2:10, 12:3,5, 16:6; Ps 2:2, 20:7[6], 28:8	his anointed	his anointed, *[the LORD's] anointed
	3	lim-shee-HO	2 Sam 22:51; Is 45:1; Ps 18:51[50]	to his anointed	to his anointed
	2	bim-shee-HAI	Ps 105:15; 1 Chron 16:22	at/upon my anointed	[touch not] mine anointed

The KJV rendition of the term differs from the generic an anointed one in only two cases out of the 39 applications, with both instances occurring in Daniel 9:25-26. The question is: "What motivated the KJV translators to cast the term as a reference to the Messiah in Daniel 9:25-26, particularly in view of the historical fact that this association of the two terms came much later than the Book of Daniel?"

A related issue arises from the way some other Christian Bibles render the noun in Daniel 9:25-26, as shown in Table IV-2.

Table IV-2 – The term as rendered in other Christian Bibles

Source	Verse	Source Translation	Correct Translation
Amplified Bible (AMP)	Daniel 9:25	the Anointed One	an anointed one
	Daniel 9:26
New International Version (NIV)	Daniel 9:25	the Anointed One	an anointed one
	Daniel 9:26
New Living Translation (NLT)	Daniel 9:25	the Anointed One	an anointed one
	Daniel 9:26
World English Bible (WEB)	Daniel 9:25	the Anointed One	an anointed one
	Daniel 9:26

The translation of as the Anointed One, although closer to the correct an anointed one, still contains Christological bias, though it is more subtle. The use of the definite article, the, and the capitalization of the terms in the expression, Anointed One, is a design that implicitly points to Jesus.

For the sake of fairness, it should be noted, however, that not all Christian Bibles have mistranslated in Daniel 9:25-26. Among the Christian Bibles that translate the term correctly are: Basic Bible in English (BBE), Revised Standard Version (RSV), and New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).

V. Anointing According to the Hebrew Bible

The process of anointing

According to the Hebrew Bible, the substance used and the ritual performed are the two significant components of the anointing process.

1. The substance

In order to be considered properly anointed, a king (or high priest) had to be sprinkled with a special substance that was stored in a special container, and which was prepared from pure olive oil, according to the following formula:

Exodus 30:22-25 – (22) And the L-rd spoke to Moses, saying, (23) "And you, take for yourself spices of the finest sort - of pure myrrh five hundred [shekel weights]; of fragrant cinnamon half of it, two hundred and fifty [shekel weights]; of fragrant cane two hundred and fifty [shekel weights], (24) and of cassia five hundred [shekel weights] according to the sacred shekel, and one hin of olive oil. (25) And you shall make it onto an oil of sacred anointment [(shemen mish'hat-qodesh)] a perfumed compound according to the art of the perfumer; it shall be an oil of sacred anointment [(shemen mish'hat-qodesh)]."

No other substance is acceptable for anointing and, being a holy substance, this anointing oil had to be stored in the (portable) Tabernacle while the Israelites were in the wilderness, and in the Temple in Jerusalem later on.

2. The ritual

Moses was commanded to anoint his brother Aaron as the first high priest:

Exodus 29:7 – And then you shall take the anointing oil, and pour [it] upon his head, and anoint him.

The Hebrew Bible contains several accounts of the anointing of royalty in Israel.

a. King Saul

Saul was anointed as King of Israel when the prophet Samuel poured the special oil on his head:

1 Samuel 10:1 - And Samuel took the vial of oil, and poured it on his [Saul's] head, and kissed him. And he [Samuel] said, "Indeed, the L-rd has anointed you to be a ruler over His inheritance."

b. King David

David, the son of Jesse, was anointed as King of Israel when the prophet Samuel poured the special oil on his head:

1 Samuel 16:13 - And Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him [David] in the midst of his brothers. And a spirit of the L-rd passed over David from that day forth, and Samuel arose and went to Ramah.

c. King Solomon

This is who anointed Solomon to be King of Israel, and how it was done:

1 Kings 1:34,39,45 - (34) And Zadok the [high] priest and Nathan the prophet shall anoint him [Solomon] there as king over Israel, and blow the horn and say, "[Long] live King Solomon."
(39) And Zadok the [High] Priest took the horn of oil from the Tabernacle [the Sanctuary] and anointed Solomon, and they blew the shofar [ram's horn], and all the people said, "Long live king Solomon."
(45) And Zadok the [high] priest and Nathan the prophet anointed him [Solomon] king in Gihon, and they came up from there rejoicing, and (therefore) the city was in an uproar; that is the noise you were hearing.

A template for the anointing of kings

The Biblical accounts of the anointing of the first three kings of Israel, Saul, David, and Solomon, contain the necessary elements for the construction of a template for the process of anointing royalty of Israel, one of which will be the promised Jewish Messiah. According to the Hebrew Bible, these elements are:

[1] A special preparation from pure olive oil was used as the oil of anointing.

[2] Being sacred, the anointing oil was stored in the Temple.

[3] A universally recognized prophet performed the ritual of anointing a king.

[4] The prophets used the vial of oil, or the horn of oil, to anoint the new king, not merely a vial of oil or a horn of oil.^¹[1]

[5] The oil of anointing was poured only on the head.

[6] Anointing was tantamount to crowning a king (or appointing a high priest).^²[2]

I. Anointing According to the New Testament

This template for the anointing process can now be used to test the validity of the anointing of Jesus, as deduced from the accounts in the New Testament.

The process of anointing

1. The substance

The four Gospel authors describe the substance used on Jesus as follows:

Matthew 26:7-9(KJV) – (7) There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat. (8) But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste? (9) For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.

Mark 14:3-5(KJV) – (3) And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head. (4) And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made? (5) For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her.

Luke 7:37(KJV) - And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,

John 12:3-5(KJV) – (3) Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. (4) Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him, (5) Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?

1. The ritual

All four Gospel authors describe the manner in which Jesus was anointed:

Matthew 26:7(KJV) - There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat.

Mark 14:3(KJV) - And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head.

Luke 7:37-38,46(KJV) – (37) And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, (38) And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.

(46) My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.

John 11:2(KJV) - (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.)

John 12:3(KJV) - Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.

Moreover, Jesus himself allegedly states the purpose of his anointing:

Matthew 26:12(KJV) - For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial.

Mark 14:8(KJV) - She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying.

Elements of the ritual of anointing Jesus

The accounts quoted from the Gospels contain the elements of the process that was described as the anointing of Jesus, and these are listed in the order of the elements in the template for the anointing process developed above:

[1] The substance used to anoint Jesus was an ointment of spikenard.^³[3]

[1] It is unknown from where the costly ointment of spikenard came. It clearly was not a sacred substance, since people complained about having wasted it by pouring it on Jesus rather than selling it and giving the money to the poor.

[2] Jesus was anointed by a woman (Mary of Bethany, described as a sinner).

[3] The ointment used on Jesus was contained in an alabaster box.^⁴[4]

[4] There are conflicting accounts in the New Testament about where on his body the anointing substance was applied to Jesus. The accounts in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark say it was applied to his head; while the accounts in the Gospels of Luke and John state it was applied to his feet only.

[5] Jesus declared that his anointing was a preparation for burial, i.e., for death, and not for kingship.^⁵[5]

II. The Anointing of Jesus Contrasted with the Requirements in the Hebrew Bible

Table VII-1 contains an element-by-element comparison of the components of the anointing process in the template against the accounts described in the Gospels. For each element, a yes/no score indicates whether the respective component from the Gospel accounts meets the specification set forth in the Hebrew Bible.

Table VII-1 – Hebrew Bible specifications versus New Testament accounts of anointing

Item	Hebrew Bible Specifications	According to the New Testament	Comments	Valid?
[1]	The oil of anointing was a special mixture of spices and pure olive oil.	The substance used to anoint Jesus was an ointment of spikenard.	Ointment of spikenard, no matter how costly, cannot substitute for the sacred special oil.	NO
[2]	Being sacred, the oil of anointing had to be stored in the Temple.	The spikenard was not sacred, and its source is unknown.	Sacred items were kept in the Temple, and were not offered for sale.	NO
[3]	A recognized prophet had to anoint a king.	A woman named Mary anointed Jesus.	Did a recognized prophet anoint Jesus?	NO
[4]	A special vial, or special horn, of the special anointing oil had to be used in anointing a king.	The spikenard ointment used on Jesus came from an alabaster box.	The Hebrew Bible never speaks of alabaster containers used for holding the oil of anointing.	NO
[5]	The oil of anointing was poured on the head only.	2 accounts - head only; 2 accounts - feet only.	Which version of the account is the true one?	NO
[6]	The anointing was a preparation for kingship (or high priesthood).	Jesus declared his anointing was to prepare him for burial.	Jesus never reigned as the monarch over any kingdom.	NO

This comparison demonstrates that the anointing of Jesus, as described in the New Testament, violates all the specifications for a valid anointing of royalty in Israel as provided in the Hebrew Bible.

Conclusion: Jesus was smeared with ointment and not properly anointed and,

for that reason alone, he was a false Messiah.

III. Summary

Two important and interconnected issues were addressed. The first question concerned the Hebrew noun as it appears in Daniel 9:25-26:

¤ What is the correct translation of the Hebrew noun , which appears twice in the passage Daniel 9:25-26?

According to most Christian translations, the term points to Jesus either by being translated as [the] Messiah or the Anointed One. A word study on all 39 occurrences in the Hebrew Bible of the noun in its various forms demonstrated that the correct translation is an anointed one, a "generic" reference to two different individuals who were to appear on the scene at some future time, neither of whom had any connection to the Jewish Messiah.

The question concerned the validity of the "anointing" of Jesus, which arose from the translation of the term in some Christian Bibles as the Anointed One:

¤ Did the "anointing" of Jesus, as described in the New Testament, conform to the specifications given in the Hebrew Bible?

To help determine the validity of the "anointing" process which the accounts in the New Testament describe, a template for the anointing process of kings and high priests of Israel was constructed from the specifications detailed in the Hebrew Bible. The relevant elements of information were then extracted from the accounts in the New Testament which describe the "anointing" of Jesus, and these were compared, on an element-by-element basis against the template. The analysis demonstrated that Jesus was not anointed according to the specifications described in the Hebrew Bible.

Therefore, since Jesus was never properly anointed according to the specifications contained in the Hebrew Bible, the Scripture in force during his lifetime, neither of the two applications of the term in Daniel 9:25-26 can possibly point to him.

Source: www.messiahtruth.com/anointed.html

Feel free to contact me at b_zawadi@hotmail.com

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1^[1] King David and his royal descendants were anointed with the sacred oil poured from the horn. According to the Jewish Sages, this indicated the superiority of the Davidic kings over the non-Davidic kings of Israel (e.g., Saul), who were anointed using the vial.

2^[2] Saul, David, and Solomon all sat on the throne as kings soon after being anointed. They successfully fought those nations that were enemies of Israel. They commanded entire governments, complete with soldiers, spies, tax collectors, foreign ambassadors, treasuries, palace servants and courts.

3^[3] The American Heritage Dictionary (Second College Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, Publishers [1991]), describes spikenard as: "1. An aromatic plant, Nardostachys jatamansi, of India, having rose-purple flowers. 2. A costly ointment of antiquity, probably prepared from the spikenard."

4^[4] The authors of the New Testament refer to Jesus as the "son of David", implying that he is from the royal line of King David: Matthew 1:1(KJV) - The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. If, as claimed in the New Testament, Jesus were a bona fide king of the Davidic dynasty, why was the anointing substance taken from an alabaster box and not from that special vessel called the horn?

5^[5] The New Testament is silent on whether Jesus sat on the throne of David during his lifetime, and whether he led a Jewish army in any battles against Israel's enemies and defeated them. Likewise, there is no mention in the New Testament of Jesus being in command of an entire political government.

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A Piercing Look at A False Claim

[Zechariah 12:10]

Messiah Truth

I. Introduction

Zechariah 12:10 is a verse used by Christian apologists and missionaries as a so-called "proof text" to support their claim that the crucifixion of Jesus was foretold in the Hebrew Bible. Although the passage is problematic even in its mistranslated forms that appear in most Christian Bibles (as will be shown below), just a slight modification in the way it is applied in one of the Gospels supposedly "fixes" the problem. However, a closer examination of this passage reveals that the imputed Christological relevance is absurd.

II. The Hebrew Text and Several Christian and Jewish Translations

Table II-1 displays the Hebrew text of Zechariah 12:10, along with five Jewish translations and seven Christian translations. The New American Standard Bible (NASB) shows Zechariah 12:10 pointing to two passages in the New Testament and these, in turn, cross-reference Zechariah 12:10. These passages, as quoted from the KJV, are shown below Table II-1. some words and phrases are emboldened, highlighted, or underlined in the Hebrew text, with the corresponding words and phrases marked likewise in the various translations, and these will all be addressed in the analysis that follows.

Table II-1 – The Hebrew Text of Zechariah 12:10 with Christian and Jewish Translations

Hebrew Text of Zechariah 12:10 -

Jewish Translations of Zechariah 12:10
Jewish Publication Society Bible (1917)	And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they shall look unto Me because they have thrust him through; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born.
Judaica Press NACH Series; translation by R' A. J. Rosenberg	And I will pour out upon the House of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem with a spirit of grace and supplications. And they shall look to me because of those who have been thrust through [with swords], and they shall mourn over it as one mourns over an only son and shall be in bitterness, therefore, as one is embittered over a firstborn son.
The Jerusalem Bible, Koren Publishing	But I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Yerushalayim the spirit of grace and of supplication: and they shall look towards me, regarding those whom the nations have thrust through. And they shall mourn for him (that is slain) as one mourns for an only son, and shall be in bitterness over him, as one that is in bitterness for a firstborn.
Soncino Books of the Bible; edited by R' Dr. A. Cohen	And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they shall look unto Me, because they have thrust him through; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born.
ArtScroll Stone Edition Tanach; ArtScroll/Mesorah	I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplications. They will look toward Me because of those whom they have stabbed, they will mourn over him as one mourns over an only [child], and be embittered over him like the embitterment over a [deceased] firstborn.
Christian Translations of Zechariah 12:10⁽¹⁾
Darby Translation	And I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplications; and they shall look on me whom they pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for an only [son], and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for [his] firstborn.
King James Version (KJV)	And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
New American Standard Bible (NASB)	I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.
New International Version (NIV)	And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.
New Living Translation (NLT)	Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the family of David and on all the people of Jerusalem. They will look on me whom they have pierced and mourn for him as for an only son. They will grieve bitterly for him as for a firstborn son who has died.
Revised Standard Version (RSV)	And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of compassion and supplication, so that, when they look on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a first-born.
Young's Literal Translation (YLT)	And I have poured on the house of David, And on the inhabitant of Jerusalem, A spirit of grace and supplications, And they have looked unto Me whom they pierced, And they have mourned over it, Like a mourning over the only one, And they have been in bitterness for it, Like a bitterness over the first-born.

1. New Testament passages cross-referenced (in the NASB) with Zechariah 12:10:

John 19:37(KJV) - And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they

pierced.

Revelation 1:7(KJV) - Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and

they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail

because of him. Even so, Amen.

It is interesting to note that, in general, the Jewish translations and the Christian translations, separately, are internally consistent. However, these two groups of translations show significant differences relative to each other in their renditions of the verse, and these details will be examined below.

III. Overview of Christian and Jewish Interpretations

A. Overview of the Christian Perspective

This verse is perceived by Christians as foretelling the crucifixion of Jesus and the grief that followed, a notion that is reinforced in New Testament narratives. The author of the Gospel of John quotes almost verbatim the specific phrase of the verse that allegedly foretells the crucifixion and ensuing mourning, albeit with the help of some revision of the text that appears in the Hebrew:

John 19:37(KJV) - And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced.

Then, with some help from the Book of Revelation (believed to have the same author as the Gospel of John), the connection with Zechariah 12:10 is reinforced:

Revelation 1:7(KJV) - Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

The passage in the Gospel of John which precedes the verse that allegedly refers to Zechariah 12:10 sheds some light on the Christian scenario:

John 19:31-36(KJV) – (31) The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. (32) Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. (33) But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: (34) But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. (35) And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe. (36) For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken.

Crucifixion was a horrible way to die. On the cross, without having the feet supported in some manner, suspension from the hands or wrists nailed to the crossbeam would cause the body's weight to collapse the chest cavity and result in death by asphyxiation – a faster process. However, when the feet were supported, either with a small wooden pedestal underneath or by being nailed to the central-beam of the cross, a person could stay alive for as much as several days.

Jewish Law, however, required a prompt burial following a person's death:

Deuteronomy 21:22-23 – (22) And if a man were to commit a sin deserving death, and he were to be put to death, and you hanged him on a tree. (23) His body shall not remain upon the tree overnight, rather you shall surely bury him on that [same] day, for a hanged one is a cursed of G-d; and you shall not defile your land, which the L-rd your G-d gives you as an inheritance.

Thus, during the era of the Roman occupation, it was customary for the Jews to plead with the Romans to break the leg bones of Jewish people who were crucified, in order to quicken their death and, thereby, enable their burial within the required amount of time.

According to the account in the Gospel of John, there was no need to break the legs of Jesus. The Roman soldiers who approached Jesus perceived that he was already dead, and then they stabbed his side with a sword to confirm that he had expired. This act was depicted as yet another prophecy fulfilled some 2000 years ago, and which also identified Jesus with the Passover Lamb in the New Testament (e.g., 1 Cor 5:7), since the requirements spelled out in the Torah included the prohibition against breaking any of it's bones:

Exodus 12:46 - In one house it shall be eaten; you shall not bring from the house any of the meat outdoors; neither shall you break any bone of it.

More detailed verse-by-verse Christian interpretations of Zechariah 12:10, which are beyond the scope of this essay, may be found in the standard Christian sources, such as commentaries by Matthew Henry and Jamieson, Fausset, & Brown.

B. The Jewish Perspective

From the Jewish perspective, two general Jewish interpretations of the passage that contains Zechariah 12:10 are plausible. One view has it as an historic Biblical event from the prophet's own era, while the other considers it a prophecy of an event that will take place at some time near the commencement of the messianic era.

1. Historic Event

The predominant perspective on Zechariah 12:10 among the Jewish commentators is that it describes the mourning over those Jews who were slain while defending the Kingdom of Judah and Jerusalem. Those who fell in the battle were the ones described as having been thrust through with the swords and spears of soldiers from the attacking nations. In other words, this verse describes a historical event from the Biblical times around which this was written. Even S. R. Driver, the noted Christian commentator, is at variance with many of his colleagues since he views Zechariah 12:10 as follows:

"The context points plainly to some historical event in the prophet's own time, for which the people would eventually feel that sorrow here described."

Driver apparently recognized that the passage describes an historical event from Zechariah's era.

2. Messianic Prophecy

The other perspective on this passage, which originates in the Talmud, actually shares with the Christian view the fact that it is a messianic prophecy, except that, according to the traditional Jewish concept of the Messiah, this prophecy has not yet been fulfilled.

Since there is an ambiguity in the Hebrew text in terms of whether the subject (i.e., the "victim") here is an individual or a group – the particular pronouns used here are applied in both ways in the Hebrew Bible – there are two ways to interpret this passage within this messianic perspective. Both interpretations are consistent with the Hebrew text as well as with Jewish tradition.

The "singular pronoun scenario" depicts a great hero who will fall in the battle of the nations against Jerusalem that was described earlier in the chapter (Zech 12:3). Because this person will be one of towering stature among the Jewish people, the mourning for him will be great and widespread; the entire nation and all of Jerusalem are described as being in a state of great mourning (Zech 12:12). But, this crying and mourning will lead people to repent and return to observance of Torah, as had happened in previous times:

Numbers 14:39-40 – (39) And Moses spoke these words to all the Children of Israel; and the people mourned greatly. (40) And they arose early in the morning, and they ascended to the top of the mountain, saying; "Behold, we are here, and we will go up to the place of which the L-rd has spoken, for we have sinned."

This particular scenario fits well with the Rabbinic "two Messiahs" paradigm. According to this Talmudic tradition, the first "Messiah", (mashi'ah ben Yosef), Messiah son of Joseph, will be a hero out of either the Tribe of Ephraim or the Tribe of Menasheh (recall that Joseph's sons were Ephraim and Menasheh). He will fight, and be killed in the Great War, an event that will be the catalyst for all of Israel to turn to G-d and repent. After that, (mashi'ah ben David), Messiah son of David, the Davidic Messiah, will appear and usher in the messianic era with its promised redemption of Israel. The intensity of the sadness is quantified in Zechariah 12:11 by comparing the mourning in Jerusalem with the mourning in the valley of Megiddo. This reference points to the death of King Josiah, the last of the great and righteous kings of Judah (2 Kgs 23:25), who was killed in a battle with Pharaoh Necho, King of Egypt:

2 Kings 23:29-30 – (29) In his [Josiah's] days, Pharaoh Necho, King of Egypt, went up against the King of Assyria by the Euphrates River; and King Josiah went against him, and he [Pharaoh Necho] killed him [Josiah] at Megiddo, when he saw him. (30) And his servants transported him dead from Megiddo, and [they] brought him to Jerusalem, and [they] buried him in his grave; and the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father’s stead.

2 Chronicles 35:22-24 – (22) Nevertheless, Josiah did not turn his face from him [Pharao Necho], but disguised himself in order to fight with him, and he did not pay heed to the words of Necho [which came] from the mouth of G-d; and he came to fight in the valley of Megiddo. (23) And the archers shot at King Josiah; and the king said to his servants, "Take me away, for I am badly wounded." (24) And his servants took him from that chariot, and put him in the second chariot that he had, and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died, and he was buried among the graves of his forefathers; and all of Judah and Jerusalem were mourning for Josiah.

Following Josiah's death, the mourning throughout the Kingdom of Judah and in Jerusalem was immense. In the Hebrew Bible, this is alluded to by Jeremiah, and recorded in the historical books:

Lamentations 4:20 - The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the L-rd, was captured in their pits, of whom we said, "In his shadow we shall live among the nations."

2 Chronicles 35:24-25 - (24) And his servants took him from that chariot, and put him in the second chariot that he had, and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died, and he was buried among the graves of his forefathers; and all of Judah and Jerusalem were mourning for Josiah. (25) And Jeremiah lamented Josiah; and all the singing men and the singing women had spoken of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them a statute upon Israel; and behold, they are written in the lamentations.

According to the Jewish Sages, these descriptions also characterize the magnitude of the grief that will prevail among Jews over the falling of (mashi'ah ben Yosef), Messiah son of Joseph.

In the "plural pronoun scenario", the singular pronoun is applied to a group of Jewish people, a usage that is common in the Hebrew Bible (e.g., Hosea 11:1 has the Jewish people described via the same singular pronoun, him). In Zechariah 12:10, the new spirit that G-d will pour unto the Jewish people will motivate them to look toward Him concerning the Jewish martyrs who fell in the battle over Jerusalem before His divine intervention on their behalf. Here, as was the case in the previous scenario, the intensity of the mourning over those who will fall in the Great War of the future is still reflected in the historical references that appear in Zechariah 12:11.

In summary, the Jewish perspective on Zechariah 12:10 is that it may be viewed as either an historical event that occurred in the prophet's time or, alternatively, as a messianic prophecy that is yet to be fulfilled. Neither of these interpretations agrees with, nor can accommodate, the Christian view that it is a messianic prophecy that was historically fulfilled with the death of Jesus.

IV. Pronouns and Context: A Closer Look at the Verse

As noted above, the Christian interpretation of this passage as foretelling the crucifixion of Jesus is problematic. An analysis of the KJV rendition, which represents a typical Christian translation of Zechariah 12:10, will help illustrate some of the salient issues.

Zechariah 12:10(KJV) - And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

To facilitate the analysis, the KJV rendition is divided into two segments:

Zechariah 12:10A(KJV) - And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon

the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications:

Zechariah 12:10B(KJV) - and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

The segment Zechariah 12:10A(KJV) has two noteworthy aspects:

Variations among virtually all translations, Jewish and Christian, are insignificant – they all agree on context and content.
From all translations, Jewish and Christian, it is clear that the one speaking here is G-d (… I [G-d] will pour …)

The segment Zechariah 12:10B(KJV) requires a detailed analysis.

A. Who is "me" and who is "him"?

A paraphrase of Zechariah 12:10B(KJV) will illustrate the way a Christian might read it, which will also bring to light some of its inherent problems:

And they [the Jews {or the Romans}] shall look upon me [Jesus] whom they [the Romans] have pierced; and they [the Jews] shall mourn for him [Jesus] as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him [Jesus] as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

Given that G-d is the speaker, and that most Christians regard Jesus as an integral part of the godhead (the Trinity), can the pronouns me and him, as they appear in this passage, refer to the same person, namely, Jesus? It should be clear that the prophet is speaking here of not one, but of two distinct entities. These pronouns, me and him, cannot refer to the same entity simultaneously! Moreover, there is still the issue of the pronoun I as used in Zechariah 12:10A. How does G-d's speaking in the 1^st-person in Zechariah 12:10A fit in with the rest of the verse, Zechariah 12:10B?

B. The New Testament to the Rescue?

Evidently, the author of the Gospel of John was familiar with this passage from the Book of Zechariah, and he understood its problematic nature relative to the new religion. To interpret this passage as saying that, at some future time, the Jewish people shall look unto Jesus whom the Romans had pierced, did not appear to him to be what Zechariah had in mind. So he decided to "rectify" this problem by revising and abridging the passage, and "quotes" it in this way:

John 19:37(KJV) - And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced.

The RSV translators utilized this version in the New Testament to revise the context of Zechariah's own words in their Old Testament version of Zechariah 12:10 (The Living Bible has a similar rendition):

Zechariah 12:10(RSV) - And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of compassion and supplication, so that, when they look on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a first-born.

Although this appears to solve the problem created by the use of two distinct pronouns, it does not resolve the identity issue between the two segments of this verse, Zechariah 12:10A&B. Moreover, the RSV rendition is a deliberate revision of the Prophet's original words designed to "harmonizing" this passage with the Christian paradigm. The evidence for this allegation is presented Table IV.B-1, which shows the Hebrew text, a Jewish translation, and the RSV rendition of Zechariah 12:10B broken into three components, with respective terms highlighted.

Table IV.B-1 – Comparing RSV translation with Hebrew text and Jewish translation

Revised Standard Version Translation		Jewish Translation from the Hebrew	Hebrew Text
Zechariah 12:10B
i	so that, when they look on him whom they have pierced,	and they shall look toward me because of him who they pierced
ii	they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child,	and they shall mourn over him as one mourns over an only son,
iii	and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a first-born.	and be embittered over him as one is embittered over a firstborn son.

The significant Hebrew pronouns in the respective phrases that comprise Zechariah 12:10B are as follows:

 Zechariah 12:10B(i) has (elai), to me or toward me.

 Zechariah 12:10B(ii) has (alav), over him or upon him or for him.

 Zechariah 12:10B(iii) has (alav), over him or upon him or for him.

The combination of the two terms, (elai) and (alav), in the same verse is found elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible, e.g., at Genesis 44:21, which the RSV correctly renders as:

Genesis 44:21(RSV) - Then you said to your servants, "Bring him down to me [(elai)], that I may set my eyes upon him [(alav)]."

Is there any doubt that the RSV rendition of Zechariah 12:10B(i) is based on John 19:37 in the New Testament rather than on the Hebrew text?

It is also interesting to note that, according to the Gospel of John, the prophecy was fulfilled at the time when the Roman soldiers pierced the side of Jesus. Yet, neither in the New Testament nor in recorded history is described the prophesied event that all the inhabitants of Jerusalem would mourn for Jesus. In fact, the New Testament portrays Jews; who were the overwhelming majority of Jerusalem's population, as anything but compassionate and mournful over the death of Jesus. This prophecy was not fulfilled when Jesus died!

C. How Well Did Christian Translators Know the Hebrew Language?

There is yet another serious problem with the Christian renditions of this verse, one that stems from a lack of knowledge and understanding of the Hebrew language. Specifically, the problem concerns the mistranslation of the Hebrew expression (et asher-daqaru) found in Zechariah 12:10B(i), which reads: because of him who they pierced [or because of the ones who they pierced], when correctly translated.

The Hebrew words (et) and (asher) are ubiquitous in the Hebrew Bible. (et) is a preposition that serves as the marker of a definite direct object of a verb. In its root form, it is similar to the definite article the in English. However, unlike the case of the English language, (et) can be conjugated, and thereby it becomes the objective case of the respective pronoun, such as (oti), me (1^st-person, singular, masculine or feminine pronoun; as in "He taught me."), (ot'cha), you (2^nd-person, singular, masculine pronoun; as in "He taught you."), etc. The word (et) may also serve as the preposition with, and it can be conjugated in that context as well, albeit differently, such as, (itti), with me, (it'cha), with you, etc. The Hebrew word (asher) is a conjunction, a part of speech that connects other words or phrases. (asher) can mean because or for, that or which, who or whom, and it may take on various other meanings when combined with prepositions.

When (et) and (asher) occur together as a phrase, and in the particular grammatical structure, such as is found in Zechariah 12:10B(i), the phrase (et asher) must be read as, because of or concerning or regarding [something] or simply because or that which, but not simply as whom or the one, which are common in Christian translations. The particular translation depends on the context of the specific passage. The following example demonstrates this in another passage which has a grammatical structure similar to Zechariah 12:10B(i):

1 Samuel 30:23 – And David said, "You will not do so, my brothers, concerning that which [(et asher)] the L-rd has given us, and He watched over us, and delivered the troop that came against us into our hand.

The KJV has a correct translation of that passage:

1 Samuel 30:23(KJV) – Then said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the LORD hath given us, who hath preserved us, and delivered the company that came against us into our hand.

The special application of this combination, (et asher) appears to have been better understood by the writers of the Christian Septuagint (LXX), in which appears the following rendition of Zechariah 12:10B(i):

Zechariah 12:10B(i)(LXX) - and they shall look upon me, because they have mocked me,

Although still badly mistranslated and inaccurate, the LXX rendition does not at all resemble the common Christian translations, and it has the (et asher) at least partially right.

D. Zechariah 12:10 in Context

Once the pronouns in this verse are properly understood, it becomes evident that the Christian renditions of Zechariah 12:10 are incompatible with the grammatical structure of the verse as well as with context of the rest of the chapter.

The passage Zechariah 12:8-14, when read in the original Hebrew text or in a correct translation thereof, clearly shows that the Prophet could not possibly have spoken of Jesus. The 12^th Chapter in the Book of Zechariah speaks of a war and does not describe the event of the crucifixion. In Zechariah 12:7-8 the following promise is made

Zechariah 12:7-8 – (7) And the L-rd will save the tents of Judah first, so that the splendor of the House of David and the splendor of the inhabitants of Jerusalem should not overwhelm Judah. (8) On that day, the L-rd shall protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and it shall come to pass on that day that even the weakest among them shall be like David; and the House of David shall be as angels, like an angel of the L-rd before them.

Jerusalem and its people will be protected. Yet, we know from the historical record that, less than 40 years after Jesus died, Jerusalem was torched and destroyed by the Romans, and the inhabitants were expelled and exiled. Another prophecy not fulfilled by Jesus. Zechariah 12:9 foretells of nations being destroyed:

Zechariah 12:9 – And it shall come to pass on that day, [that] I will seek to destroy all the nations that have come upon Jerusalem.

Yet, according to the historical record, no nations were destroyed during the lifetime of Jesus, so that this, too, remains a prophecy not yet fulfilled.

Finally, the only son and firstborn in Zechariah 12:10 are mentioned in the context of a deceased only son and a deceased firstborn, i.e., any only son and any firstborn who has died. How could this possibly refer to Jesus? Was he an only son or a firstborn? Was there such intense mourning for him throughout Jerusalem and Judah when he died? Though Zechariah uses the definite article (ha), the, in both cases, (ha'yahid), the only son, and [also ] (ha'b^echor), the firstborn, there is no name identified anywhere in the surrounding text regarding any specific individual(s) to whom this might apply, which is a common practice in the Hebrew Bible, as can be seen from the following example:

Deuteronomy 21:15-16 – (15) If a man has two wives, one beloved and another despised, and they have born him sons, the beloved and the despised one; and if the firstborn son [(ha'ben ha'b^echor)] is hers who was hated; (16) and it will be on the day he [the husband] bequeaths his property to his sons, that he will not be able to give the son of the beloved one the birthright over the son of the despised one, the [real] firstborn[(ha'b^echor)].

Whenever the same expression, (ha'b^echor), is used in reference to a specific individual, the name of that person is found nearby:

Genesis 41:51 - And Joseph called the name of the firstborn [(ha'b^echor)] Manasseh; because "G-d has made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house."

Zechariah's intent in using these generic phrases here, albeit inclusive of the definite article, was to describe the intensity of the mourning in Jerusalem and throughout the land, that it would be like the grief over a deceased only son or firstborn.

It should now be clear that the Christian renditions of Zechariah 12:10 are problematic relative to the Hebrew text. Although the Jewish translations of this passage also show some differences, they are consistent on the overall context, the proper application of the respective pronouns, and the correct understanding of the Hebrew expressions.

V. Summary

Christian apologists and missionaries make the claim that a single verse lifted out of the 12^th Chapter in the Book of Zechariah, Zechariah 12:10, prophesies the crucifixion of Jesus.

The piercing look that was taken at this verse, in the form of a detailed analysis of this verse using the Hebrew grammar and contextual consistency, demonstrated that its common Christian interpretation is incompatible with both grammatical structure and correct context, and cannot be supported from within the Hebrew Bible. It was shown that the primary reason for this is that Christian interpretations are based on mistranslated and altered texts from both parts of the Christian Bible, and which has created irreconcilable problems vis-à-vis both the Hebrew text and the historical record.

zec1210.html

Zechariah 12:10

"And on that day I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem."
Zechariah 12:9 (RSV)

Messiah Truth

One of the most dramatic scenes in the New Testament is Jesus' crucifixion. It seems so tragic, yet the story tells us it was all a fulfillment of prophecy:

John 19:33 But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: [34] But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. [35] And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe. [36] For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken. [37] And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced. (KJV)

This passage would indicate that the piercing of Jesus was prophesied in the Jewish Scriptures. Such a bold claim must surely be verified.

Zechariah 12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. (KJV)

The Christian claim is that John 19:33 is the fulfillment of this prophecy in Zechariah. The problems with this claim are with context and translation.

Context

Zechariah 12:1 The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. [2] Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. (KJV)

These two verses set up the background. At some future date, the nations of the world will be gathered against the Jewish people, and will besiege the Jerusalem.

Zechariah 12:3 And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. [4] In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness. [5] And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the LORD of hosts their God. [6] In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem. (KJV)

This siege is part of a tremendous war, the war of Gog and Magog. The Jews shall fight back against the enemy nations, and they shall be victorious.

Zechariah 12:7 The LORD also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah. [8] In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the LORD before them. [9] And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

Of course, the real source of the victory will be from Heaven.

Zechariah 12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. [11] In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. [12] And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; [13] The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart; [14] All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.

The concluding verses speak of someone who is pierced and dies. His death will so shock the nation that the people will be moved to repentance and mourning, an intense mourning of this person who is killed that it would be as if they were mourning for a firstborn son. Verse 11 paints a rather dramatic picture of how widespread the mourning will be by comparing this mourning to the mourning the people did over the death of King Josiah, who was killed in battle against the Egyptians, as told in 2 Kings 23:29-30. 2 Chronicles 35:22-25 tells that all of Judah mourning for him.

Does Jesus fit this picture? Three points prevent this:

1) This scenario of war against the nations of the world didn't take place in Jesus' time.

2) The Jews (meaning the whole people) didn't mourn over Jesus' death according to the New Testament account.

3) This proof, like nearly all of Christianity's proofs, requires one to assume the conclusion, that Jesus is the Messiah and that he's special enough that the prophets would have written about him. If you approach the verse without believing in Jesus, there's really no reason to think that the verse refers to him.

Translation

The translation of this verse is rather awkward. Let's give it a closer look.

Zechariah 12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. (KJV)

The speaker in this verse is the Lord, yet in this translation, it appear that the Lord Himself is pierced. (Hence, the Christian connection, because they believe that Jesus is G-d in the flesh.) However, the rest of the verse would indicate that the Lord was speaking of someone else. "For him" they shall mourn. "For him" there shall be bitterness.

The author of the Gospel of John apparently didn't see our verse from Zechariah the same way that the King James Bible translated it.

John 19:37 And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced.

Note that in our verse from Zechariah, it reads "upon Me whom they have pierced." In this verse from John, it's now "on him whom they pierced." If G-d is the speaker, and He is the one being pierced (as if such a thing were possible), then it is reasonable to think that the rest of the verse would be consistent with this. John's quote is consistent, although taken out of context. John never saw the verse as the Lord being pierced, because John clearly believed that Jesus and G-d were two separate entities, as seen by the following:

John 14:28 Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come [again] unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I. (KJV)

The context of the King James translation leads one to think that this is a mistranslation. Examining the Hebrew text of the verse will confirm this.

Source: http://www.messiahtruth.com/zech12.html

Zechariah 12:10

Biblical Unitarian

First of all, there are problems with the transmission of the Hebrew text such that the original meaning is not clear. Thus there are versions such as the NIV above that make the sentence refer back to God and these versions usually supply the word “me” or some equivalent. On the other hand, there are other translators that see the “one whom they have pierced” as referring to someone other than God, and those versions usually supply the word “him.” An example of this is the Revised Standard Version.

Zechariah 12:10 (RSV)
And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of compassion and supplication, so that, when they look on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a first-born.

Translators and commentators who believe that the word “pierced” should refer back to the pronoun “him” cite textual variants that more clearly read “him,” as well as the flow of the sentence which continues with the word “him” in the phrase “they shall mourn for him” and “grieve bitterly for him.” The Jewish understanding of this verse has always been that the one pierced was one in an intimate relationship with God, but there is no record of any early Jewish commentator understanding Zechariah 12:10 to be saying that somehow Yahweh Himself would come into the flesh and be pierced in the literal sense of the word. It is apparent to us that the Revised Standard Version has a good translation of the verse and that Zechariah 12:10 is a prophecy of the piercing of the promised Messiah.

Another important point to make is that Zechariah 12:10 is quoted in John 19:37 after the Roman soldier thrust his spear into Christ’s side. John 19:37 reads: “and, as another scripture says, ‘They will look on the one they have pierced.” The King James Version translates John 19:37 as follows: “And again another scripture saith, ‘They shall look on him whom they pierced.’”

The different versions may disagree on the Hebrew text of Zechariah 12:10, but none of them disagree on the translation of the way it is quoted in the New Testament. None of the versions have the word “me,” and most of them supply the word “him” as does the KJV, NASB and RSV. If the original reading of Zechariah 12:10 was “me, whom they have pierced,” we can think of no reason that it would not be quoted that way in the New Testament. On the other hand, if the reading of Zechariah 12:10 in the RSV and other versions is correct, then it makes perfect sense that the verse would be quoted in the New Testament the way it is. We contend that the New Testament quotation of Zechariah 12:10 gives us the proper interpretation of the verse.

Not only is Zechariah 12:10 quoted in John, but also it is alluded to in Revelation. Revelation 1:7 says, “Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen.” Commentators freely admit that this verse alludes back to Zechariah, and it uses the word “him,” not “me.” Thus we conclude that the internal evidence of Scripture is conclusive that the one pierced in Zechariah is not God but one in an intimate relation with God, the Messiah.

The third point I would make is that although we do not believe that “me” is properly supplied in many versions of Zechariah 12:10, it certainly is the case that God was “pierced” when the Messiah was tortured and put to death. When Simeon met Joseph and Mary in the Temple when they came to consecrate Jesus, he said to Mary, “A sword will pierce your own soul too” (Luke 2:35). Commentators freely admit that this statement is not referring to the physical piercing of Mary in any way, but rather is referring to the grief that Mary will endure as she watched her son be tortured and killed. Thus Scripture gives us evidence that, if Zechariah said, “they will look on [or “unto”] me who they have pierced,” then he was saying that God’s heart would be pierced. If “me” is the true reading in Zechariah 12:10, then the Bible tells us that both the hearts of God the Father of the Messiah and Mary the mother of the Messiah were pierced when Jesus their Son was tortured and killed.

Source: http://www.biblicalunitarian.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=157

Feel free to contact me at b_zawadi@hotmail.com

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Will the Real "New Covenant" Please Stand Up!

by

messiah truth

I. Introduction

The passage Jeremiah 31:30-36 [31-37] ^¹[1] is an important so-called proof-text in the portfolio of Christian apologists and missionaries. One of the unique attributes of this passage in the Hebrew Bible is the occurrence of the phrase (brit hadashah), a new covenant, the only such instance in the entire Hebrew Bible. Consequently, Christian apologists and missionaries point at this passage as one that foretells the replacement of what they call the Old Covenant, which is Judaism's Torah, with their New Covenant, more commonly known as the New Testament.

Jeremiah 31:30-36[31-37] is a messianic passage to both Christians and Jews, albeit for different reasons. A careful analysis of the Hebrew text of this passage within its proper context, along with other relevant passages from the Hebrew Bible, demonstrates how this messianic passage is irrelevant to the Christian New Testament and to the Christian messiah.

II. Christian and Jewish Translations of Jeremiah 31:30-36[31-37]

Table II-1 shows the Hebrew text and side-by-side English renditions of the passage Jeremiah 31:30-36[31-37]; the King James Version (KJV) translation in the left column and a Jewish translation in the middle column next to the Hebrew text. [Note: In some Jewish editions the passage is numbered as Jeremiah 31:31-37, as it appears in all Christian Bibles, where Chapter 31 starts with the verse that is normally the last verse in Chapter 30 - Jeremiah 30:25]. The KJV rendition also points to cross-referenced passages in the New Testament, references that were taken from the New American Standard Bible (NASB).

Table II-1 – Jeremiah 31:30-36[31-37]

King James Version Translation		Jewish Translation from the Hebrew		The Hebrew Text
Jeremiah 31
31	Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:^{(1) (2)}	30	"Behold, days are coming," says the L-rd, "when I will form with the House of Israel and with the House of Judah a new covenant.
32	Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:⁽¹⁾	31	Not like the covenant that I formed with their forefathers on the day I held them by the hand to take them out of the land of Egypt, for they broke My covenant, although I was a husband unto them," says the L-rd.
33	But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.^{(1) (3)}	32	"For this is the covenant that I shall form with the House of Israel after those days," says the L-rd; "I will place My Torah within them, and I will inscribe it upon their heart; and I will be their G-d and they shall be a people for Me.
34	And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.⁽⁴⁾	33	And no longer they shall teach, a man his neighbor, and a man his brother, saying, 'know the L-rd,' for they shall all know Me, from their smallest to their greatest," says the L-rd, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will no longer remember."
35	Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name:	34	So said the L-rd, Who gives the sun to illuminate by day, the laws of the moon and the stars to illuminate at night, Who stirs up the sea to make its waves roar, the L-rd of Hosts is His name:
36	If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.	35	"If these laws could depart from before Me," says the L-rd, "so will the seed of Israel cease being a nation before Me for all time."
37	Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.	36	So said the L-rd, "if the heavens above will be measured and the foundations of the earth below will be fathomed, so too will I reject all the seed of Israel because of all they did," says the L-rd.

(1) Hebrews 8:8-12(KJV) – See Section III.A

(2) Luke 22:20(KJV) - Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new

testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

2 Corinthians 3:6(KJV) - Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament;

not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit

giveth life.

(3) Hebrews 10:16(KJV) - This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days,

saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their

minds will I write them;

2 Corinthians 3:3(KJV) - Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of

Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of

the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the

heart.

(4) 1 Thessalonians 4:9(KJV) - But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto

you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one

another.

John 6:45(KJV) - It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every

man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh

unto me.

Romans 11:27(KJV) - For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their

sins.

Hebrews 10:17(KJV) - And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.

Overall, the two translations are remarkably similar; there are no major issues of mistranslation to be resolved.

As noted, this passage is referenced in the New Testament on a number of occasions and, when "quoted" in Chapter 8 of the Letter to the Hebrews, it is subjected to some rather serious manipulation, as will be demonstrated.

III. Overview of Christian and Jewish Interpretations

A. The Christian Perspective

The Christian position concerning Jeremiah's new covenant is contained in the eighth chapter of the Letter to the Hebrews in the New Testament. The author first states the rationale:

Hebrews 8:6-8(KJV) – (6) But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. (7) For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. (8) For finding fault with them, he saith, …

Following the opening phrase of Hebrews 8:8, the author proceeds to cite a carefully edited version of the first four verses from the passage in Jeremiah, Jeremiah 31:30-33[31-34]:

Hebrews 8:8-12(KJV) (8)… Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: (9) Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. (10) For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: (11) And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. (12) For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.

Sidebar Note: It interesting to compare the phrase "… and I regarded them not …" in Hebrews 8:9 above with the (corresponding) phrases in Jeremiah 31:31[32] found in both the Jewish and KJV renditions shown in Table II-1, "… although I was a husband unto them …", and, "… although I was an husband unto them …", respectively. How does being a husband transform into not regarding? This will be addressed later in the analysis.

The author of the Letter to the Hebrews then concludes his discussion by explaining the status of the New Covenant as compared with the Old Covenant:

Hebrews 8:13(KJV) - In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.

Thus, the overall message here is that Jeremiah's (brit hadashah), a new covenant, is the covenant of the cross, fulfilled some 2,000 years ago when, according to Christian theology, the blood of Jesus was shed for the sins of mankind. In other words, the author of the Letter to the Hebrews proclaims that the covenant G-d made with Israel at Mount Sinai had expired. And, therefore, the Jewish people need no longer keep the commandments of the Torah since salvation now comes with the belief in Jesus as high priest, sacrifice, lord, and messiah:

Matthew 26:28(KJV) - For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Christian theology holds that the New Covenant has replaced the existing covenant, the Torah, which was deemed old and flawed. Thus, it is claimed that Jeremiah's (brit hadashah), a new covenant, is a prophecy fulfilled with the death of Jesus on the cross, an event that led to the writing of the New Testament of Christianity (the Greek noun διαθήκη (diatheke) means a covenant or a testament), the one that replaced the (Mosaic) Law, i.e., the Torah.

B. The Jewish Perspective

A correct reading and understanding of the Hebrew text shows unequivocally that Jeremiah 31:30-36 is not a prophecy that was fulfilled during the first century C.E., or at any other time in the past. Rather, it is a prophecy that is yet to be fulfilled, one that will be fulfilled in the messianic era. This passage contains two significant messianic agenda items, i.e., messianic prophecies, which are yet to be fulfilled: the ingathering and restoration of the Jewish People to the Land of Israel, and the existence of a state of the universal knowledge of G-d. Here is a closer look at these:

1. Ingathering and Restoration of the Jewish People

The passage begins with the prophet addressing both the House of Israel and the House of Judah, which clearly indicates that Jeremiah is addressing an ingathered Jewish people. This was not the existing situation at the time those words were written, and it certainly was not the case when Jesus was allegedly crucified. To the contrary, during the first century C.E. the House of Israel no longer existed as a people because Assyria had exiled the Northern Kingdom of Israel well over 700 years earlier, during the days of Ahaz King of Judah. Moreover, in the first century C.E. the Jewish people were dispersed throughout the Roman Empire and beyond. Thus, not even the House of Judah was all present in the Holy Land at that time - the Jews were exiled into the Diaspora and were spread around much more than during their previous exile in Babylon following the destruction of the First (Solomon's) Temple.

The fact that the era of which Jeremiah is speaking has not yet arrived - a future messianic age when all the Jewish people, both House of Judah and House of Israel, will be restored together in their rightful place, the land of Israel - is addressed elsewhere by the Prophet:

Jeremiah 16:15 - But, As the L-rd lives, Who brought the people of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands where He had driven them; and I will bring them back to their land that I gave to their forefathers.

This is also confirmed by some of Jeremiah's fellow prophets:

Isaiah 11:12 - And He shall carry a banner for the nations, and He shall collect the lost of Israel, and the dispersed one of Judah He shall gather from the four corners of the earth.

Ezekiel 37:21-22 – (21) And say to them, Thus says the L-rd G-d: "Behold, I will take the Children of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them on every side, and I will bring them into their land; (22) And I will make them into one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be king to them all; and they shall no longer be two nations, and neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more.

Zechariah 10:6 - And I will strengthen the House of Judah, and the House of Joseph I will save, and I will get them settled for I have mercy on them, and they shall be as though I had not neglected them; for I am the L-rd their G-d, and will respond to them.

Note how, in Jeremiah 31:30[31], the Prophet starts out by speaking of "… days are coming …" where he speaks of both Houses, the House of Israel and the House of Judah. Then, in Jeremiah 31:32[33], he mentions only the House of Israel when he talks about an era "… after those days …", i.e., the days after the scattered Jewish people are repatriated to the Land of Israel and are united under a single kingdom called Israel.

The message in these Scriptures is unambiguous – the dispersed Jewish people will be returned to the Land of Israel and will be united once again as one nation lead by the promised Jewish Messiah/King.

2. Universal Knowledge of G-d

A verse in this passage that is often overlooked or ignored by Christian apologists and missionaries is Jeremiah 31:33[34]. This verse has two interesting attributes. First, in the Hebrew text, the verse starts with the preposition (v^e), and, which means that Jeremiah 31:30-36[31-37] is not a two-prophecy passage. Rather, the presence of the preposition, (v^e), and, at the beginning of Jeremiah 31:33[34] connects it with the previous verse, Jeremiah 31:32[33], which makes it a continuation of the earlier prophecy and not the start of another, separate prophecy.

Jeremiah 31:33[34] – "And no longer shall they teach, a man his neighbor, and a man his brother, saying, 'Know the L-rd', for they shall all know Me, from their smallest to their greatest," says the L-rd, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will no longer remember."

This verse speaks of a time when the knowledge of G-d will be universal. Ask yourself: "Is there a universal knowledge of G-d in the world today?" If that were the case, then why are Christian missionaries still spread all over the globe, spending many millions of dollars annually, trying to teach everyone to "know the (Christian) lord"? Is this not in complete contradiction to the words of the Prophet in Jeremiah 31:33[34]? The existence of Christian missionaries is a de-facto admission by evangelical Christians that this prophecy has not yet been fulfilled! What does that do to the Christian "New Covenant"?

The message found in Jeremiah 31:33[34], of a universal knowledge of G-d in the messianic era, is also echoed by other prophets:

Isaiah 11:9 - They shall neither harm nor destroy on My entire Holy Mountain; for the earth shall be full of knowledge of the L-rd, as the waters of the sea cover up [the sea floor].

Zechariah 14:9 - And the L-rd shall be King over all the earth; on that day shall the L-rd be One, and His Name One.

As the Jewish perspective correctly demonstrates, the prophecy of Jeremiah's (brit hadashah), a new covenant, has not yet come to pass; its fulfillment is coupled with Israel being united again in the Promised Land and with a universal knowledge of G-d prevailing.

IV. Does This Passage Foretell the (Christian) New Testament?

A comparison of the Christian and Jewish perspectives indicates that they cannot both be valid. Though the Jewish perspective clearly demonstrates how this messianic passage has not yet been realized, there still remains the issue of the nature of Jeremiah's (brit hadashah), a new covenant, first mentioned in Jeremiah 31:30[31], and then alluded to throughout the rest of the passage. A detailed look at the passage will help resolve this issue.

An Attempt to Reverse the Prophetic Message

In his deliberate revision of the original text of Jeremiah 31:31[32], the author of the Letter to the Hebrews had intended to solve a serious theological problem for Christianity – the prophesied eternity of the Jewish people and the Torah – he tried to reverse the Prophet's original message.

Hebrews 8:9 appears to be "quoting" Jeremiah 31:31[32]. However, checking the Hebrew text and translations of Jeremiah 31:31[32], one discovers that the phrase, , is translated in both Jewish and KJV renditions as, "for they broke my covenant, although I was a(n) husband unto them", but is rendered in Hebrews 8:9 as, "because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not". The highlighted phrases are obviously not congruent in their context.

The Hebrew term for the English phrase I was a husband is (ba’alti). The same conjugated verb appears once again in the Book of Jeremiah, and in the same context, at Jeremiah 3:14. The Hebrew root verb (ba'al) is most commonly applied throughout the Hebrew Bible in the context of being espoused. Of its 16 occurrences, in 11 cases (ba'al) refers to espousal, in one case it is used in a metaphorical sense, and in the remaining four cases it is used in the context of being a master over someone or something. A Hebrew noun derived from this verb is (ba'al), which can mean a husband (either married or betrothed) or a master and, in various combinations with other terms, it is used to describe someone who possesses certain attributes, qualities, or skills. As it concerns the verb (ba'al) in the context of espousal or mastership, it should be rather obvious that disregarding someone, as Hebrews 8:9 has it, is the antithesis of being a husband or master of someone, as Jeremiah 31:31[32] has it.

Another interesting aspect of the attempt at Hebrew Bible revisionism by the author of the Letter to the Hebrews is that he actually ends up contradicting one of the main messages conveyed in the Gospels – that Jesus did not come to change The Law but to fulfill it:

Matthew 5:17-19(KJV) – (17) Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. (18) For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. (19) Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Perhaps the editing by the author of the Letter to the Hebrews was not done as carefully as initially stated.

Is the New Covenant A New Torah/Law?

What is a covenant anyway? The American Heritage Dictionary, p. 334, Second College Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company (1991), defines covenant (the noun) as follows:

covenant n. 1. A binding agreement made between two or more persons or parties; compact. 2. Law. a. A formal sealed agreement or contract. b. A suit to recover damages for violation of such a contract.

In other words, a covenant is a contractual agreement between two parties. Concerning the case in point here, the covenant is merely the agreement made by the Children of Israel to accept and obey the Torah in return for the promises made by G-d.

The opening promise to Israel is made just before the revelation at Mount Sinai:

Exodus 19:5 - And now, if you will obey Me and keep My covenant, you shall be to Me a treasure out of all peoples, for Mine is the entire earth.

The terms of the contract consist of blessings (rewards) that would accrue by obedience and warnings and curses (consequences) that would result from disobedience. Detailed blessings in the wake of obedience are found in Leviticus 26:3-13, in Deuteronomy 11:13-25, and in Deuteronomy 28:1-14. The wages of disobedience are detailed in Leviticus 26:14-39, and again in Deuteronomy 28:15-68.

Exodus 24:3-4,7 – (3) And Moses came and told the people all the words of the L-rd and all the ordinances, and all the people answered in unison and said, "All the words that the L-rd has spoken we will do." (4) And Moses wrote all the words of the L-rd, and he arose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and twelve monuments for the twelve tribes of Israel.

(7) And he [Moses] took the Book of the Covenant [(sefer ha'brit)] and read it for the people to hear, and they said, "All that the L-rd spoke we will do and we will hear."

It is important to recognize that the covenant is the contractual agreement to obey the Torah and is not the Torah itself. The Torah contains the commandments that are to be obeyed, and that is why it is referred to as (sefer ha'brit), Book of the Covenant. Thus, breaking the agreement by Israel does not change or invalidate the Torah! This is an important point to remember.

The fact that this (brit hadashah), a new covenant, will not replace the Torah is emphasized by Jeremiah himself:

Jeremiah 31:32 – "For this is the covenant that I shall form with the House of Israel after those days," says the L-rd, "I will place My Torah [(torati)] within them, and I will inscribe it upon their heart; and I will be their G-d and they shall be a people for Me."

The Hebrew term (torah) is used in the Hebrew Bible in two general contexts. First, it could refer to rules, doctrines, or other instructions for behavior, i.e., laws, statutes, and ordinances. Second, it could refer to the Mosaic Law, which is commonly referred to as the Torah.

The context of the Hebrew term (torati), My Torah, is unambiguous – it refers to the Torah. This is supported by the way Jeremiah uses the root noun (torah) throughout his Book, in which the noun appears on 11 occasions in various forms. The remaining ten instances of (torah) in the Book of Jeremiah are at Jeremiah 2:8, 6:19, 8:8, 9:12/[13], 16:11, 18:18, 26:4, 32:23, 44:10,23. In all ten cases the application is in the context of the Torah, as is the case in point, at Jeremiah 31:32[33]. It is interesting to note that even the KJV translators render all 11 instances as the/my/his law, as appropriate in the individual passages, clearly indicating this is The Law, a term commonly applied by New Testament authors as a reference to the Mosaic Law, i.e., the Torah.

Sidebar note: Jeremiah 31:32[33] would have been the ideal place for G-d to let us know, through the Prophet, that this new covenant will be a new Torah. All that would have had to be said is (torah hadashah), a new Torah, or (torati ha'hadashah), My new Torah, instead of (torati), My Torah, and the deed would have been accomplished.

The New Covenant vs. the Original Sinai Covenant

In Jeremiah 31:31[32], the Prophet declares the new covenant to be:

Not like the covenant that I formed with their forefathers on the day I took them by the hand to take them out of the land of Egypt, for they broke My covenant,…

How will this new covenant differ from the original Sinai covenant? The only difference between the two covenants is in where (sefer ha'brit), the Book of the Covenant resides. In the original Sinai covenant, it was placed in the mouths of the Israelites:

Exodus 13:9 - And it shall be to you for a sign upon your hand, and for a memorial between your eyes, in order that the Torah of the L-rd shall be in your mouth; for with a mighty hand has the L-rd brought you out of Egypt.

And the contract was verbally agreed to, as was seen from Exodus 24:3,7. On the other hand, according to Jeremiah 31:32[33], G-d says, "… I will place My Torah within them and I will inscribe it upon their heart …"; the new covenant will be placed within the people. In other words, this new covenant will simply be an integral part of the people of Israel and, thus, will become just part of the Jewish way of life.

The Everlasting Sinai Covenant

Christian apologists and missionaries often use the phrase, "… for they broke My covenant ...", found in Jeremiah 31:32[33], to support their claim that the original Sinai covenant is no longer in force. After all, they claim, it is stated very clearly here that Israel broke the contract, and thus, the New Testament is the new covenant prophesied by Jeremiah, and it replaces the "Old Covenant/Testament". Is this claim valid?

Evidently, those who make that claim do not understand the difference between the covenant and the Book of the Covenant, as was explained in Sec. IV.B&C above. The Hebrew Bible teaches that, although the people of Israel often fell short of fulfilling their end of the agreement made at Mount Sinai and, in effect, broke the covenant, G-d has stated on many occasions that He will not break His covenant with Israel:

Leviticus 26:44-45 – (44) And despite all this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not despise them nor will I reject them to annihilate them, thereby breaking My covenant with them; for I am the L-rd their G-d. (45) And I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt before the eyes of the nations, to be a G-d to them; I am the L-rd.

Judges 2:1 - And an angel of the L-rd came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said [in G-d's name], "I will bring you up from Egypt, and I have brought you to the land which I swore to your forefathers, and I said, 'I will never break My covenant with you.'"

Ezekiel 16:59-60 – (59) For thus said the L-rd G-d [to Jerusalem]: "I have done with you in accordance to that which you have done, that you have despised an oath in breaking a covenant. (60) Nevertheless I will remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish with you an everlasting covenant.

Psalms 105:8-10 – (8) He has remembered His covenant forever, the word which He commanded to a thousand generations. (9) That which He had made with Abraham, and His oath to Isaac; (10) And He established it for Jacob as a law, and for Israel as an everlasting covenant;

There is no argument about the fact that Israel has strayed from the path many times since the promise was made at Mount Sinai, and for which Israel has suffered the consequences. Yet, the Hebrew Bible clearly shows that G-d will neither break that covenant nor replace the Torah - The Torah is eternal.

Given the evidence presented from the Hebrew Bible, the response to the question asked in the title of this section, "Does This Passage Foretell the (Christian) New Testament?", is that the claim made by Christian apologists and missionaries cannot be supported with any other Scriptures from within the Hebrew Bible. Quite to the contrary, the Hebrew Bible establishes the eternity of both the covenant and the Torah.

V. Summary

The analysis presented in this essay demonstrates how to correctly read and interpret the passage Jeremiah 31:30-36[31-37]. The effort by an author of the New Testament to revise the prophetic message of Jeremiah about the eternity of the Jewish people and the Torah and turn it into a prophecy about the coming of the Christian New Testament has been exposed.

The Jewish prophets foretell that, in the messianic era, the Jewish people will observe the commandments of the Torah:

Isaiah 2:3 - And many people shall go and say, "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the L-rd, to the House of the G-d of Jacob, and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths;" for out of Zion shall Torah emerge, and the word of the L-rd from Jerusalem.

Ezekiel 37:24 - And My servant David shall be king over them, and one shepherd shall shall be for them all; and they shall follow My ordinances, and observe My statutes, and perform them.

Malachi 3:22/[4:4] - Remember the Torah of Moses My servant; that which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, statutes and ordinances.

It is evident that Jeremiah's use of the term (brit hadashah), a new covenant, does not involve the replacement of the Torah, which is eternal. Rather, it signals a renewal of the original Sinai covenant, which was declared to be everlasting, through its placement within us along with the (sefer ha'brit), the Book of the Covenant, to make them an inseparable part of the Jewish way of life. The term (brit hadashah), a new covenant, would be meaningless in any context other than one that describes the revitalized original Sinai covenant, along with the Torah, which cannot be replaced, superseded, or rescinded.

Source: http://www.messiahtruth.com/jer31.html

Has God Divorced Israel? What is the Meaning of the 'New Covenant' Promised in Jeremiah?

Out Reach Judaism

Question:

Rabbi,

How do you explain the divorce in Jeremiah? How do you explain that the Jewish people are divorced from God by His own word? How do we as Jews get back to God under the Law which prohibits us from coming back? I am not saying that we are no longer God's Chosen -- I am saying that for us to be reconciled to God, it cannot happen under the Law. Would God have to bring a "new covenant" in to bring us back to Him? You may post this question.

Thank you.

Answer:

When you ask about the "divorce in Jeremiah," I am sure that you are referring to the parable in the opening verse of the third chapter of Jeremiah, where the prophet uses a harsh allegory to illustrate God's displeasure with His wayward nation. For the readers of our website who are unfamiliar with this subject, I will briefly explain your series of questions.

Using a jarring metaphor, Jeremiah compares Israel's spiritual disloyalty to an adulterous woman who has been put away by her husband whom she betrayed. The prophet then asks a biting question, "After she leaves him and marries another man, may he return to her again?" (Jeremiah 3:1) The unspoken answer is that he cannot. Deuteronomy 24:1-4 states that the original husband may never come back to his twice-divorced wife.

Your question therefore is how can Israel ever return to its rightful place as God's priestly nation? The prophet seems to indicate that she (Israel) has married another, namely, the gods of the heathen nations, and she is therefore unable to return as God's "firstborn son" (Exodus 4:22). How can Israel ever hope to restore herself with the Almighty when the Law of Moses seems to indicate that she cannot? How can the nation of Israel look to the commandments of the Torah for her salvation when, according to Jeremiah's metaphor, it is those very commandments that prevent her from returning?

The reason you have had difficulty understanding Jeremiah 3:1 is that you made two mistakes while reading the parable of Israel as the divorced wife. Your first error is you attempted to interpret a parable in a hyper-literal fashion. I find it puzzling that Christians, who should be quite familiar with the use of parables, have such difficulty understanding how Jeremiah is using the parable of the "divorced wife." Your second mistake is you read only half the parable. In fact, the answer to your question is embedded in the final clause of the very same verse. Let's first examine this parable more closely.

Jeremiah's purpose in using this parable is two-fold. First, the prophet wishes to vividly illustrate Israel's spiritual disloyalty to its Creator. Second, and most importantly, unlike the twice-estranged wife whose original husband cannot return to her, the prophet appeals to the Jewish people to repent and proclaims that it is their covenantal purpose to be restored as God's chosen people. What is impossible with the forsaken woman is the destiny for the children of Israel. Let's look at the entire verse in context.

They say, "If a man divorces his wife, and she goes from him and becomes another man's, may he return to her again?" Would not that land be greatly polluted? But you have played the harlot with many lovers; "Yet return to Me," says the Lord. (Jeremiah 3:1)

The central feature of the prophet's exhortation that you overlooked appears at the very end of the verse, " 'Yet return to Me', says the Lord." Jeremiah makes this plea five times throughout the chapter. The message of the prophet is clear: The mercy and compassion of the Almighty is far beyond the scope of man's comprehension. Whereas normally the betrayed husband would never take back his adulterous wife, our merciful God will forgive His wayward nation. While the transgressed husband would never part with his burning wrath against his estranged wife, Jeremiah points the way to forgiveness, reconciliation, and salvation with the Almighty. In contrast to the enraged husband who would never take back his unfaithful wife, God will, upon repentance, compassionately receive his disobedient people. What must Israel do to win the affection of its Maker?

Just cry out to Me, "My Father, you are the Master of my youth!" (Jeremiah 3:4)

Yet how can this be? Will God's wrath not be kindled forever against His nation? Jeremiah responds with a rhetorical question.

Will He remain angry forever? Will He keep it to eternity? (Jeremiah 3:5)

The Almighty's answer follows with a comforting oath promising Israel an eternal destiny and permanent union with the Almighty.

"Return, O backsliding children," says the Lord, "for I am married to you. I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion." (Jeremiah 3:14)

The central message of the third chapter remains: The fate of disloyal Israel stands in stark contrast to an unfaithful wife. Whereas the adulterous woman may never return to her former husband, Jeremiah beckons the Jewish people back to the Almighty, and assures them of their eternal destiny to be forever married to their Maker.

Yet, by what means can the Jewish people return to God? A few chapters later, Jeremiah answers this question as he outlines for his disobedient nation how they are to end their persistent backsliding. In his seventh chapter, the prophet warns his people not to place their hopes on blood sacrifices or look to The Temple of the Lord to save them. Jeremiah proclaims that these institutions cannot deliver them from their brazen sins. Rather, they must turn away from idolatry and return to God by keeping the commandments. Please take a moment and study Jeremiah's remarkable message on atonement.

So said the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, "Improve your ways and your deeds, I then will allow you to dwell in this place. Do not rely on false words, saying, 'The Temple of the Lord, The Temple of the Lord, The Temple of the Lord are they.' If you improve your ways and your deeds, if you perform judgment between one man and his fellow man, you do not oppress the stranger, an orphan, or a widow, and you do not shed innocent blood in this place, and you do not follow other gods for your detriment. I will then allow you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave your forefathers from days of yore to eternity . . . . So says the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, "Add your burnt offerings upon your sacrifices and eat flesh; for neither did I speak with your forefathers nor did I command them on the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt concerning a burnt offering or a sacrifice. This thing did I command them saying, 'Listen to Me so that I am your God and you are My people, you walk in all the ways that I command you . . . .' " (Jeremiah 7:3-7, 21-23)

The above chapter stands as a reverberating indictment against the church's most fundamental creeds. For example, according to Christian doctrine, man cannot merit salvation through his own repentance. Atonement comes only through the shedding of innocent blood. Throughout the seventh chapter of Jeremiah, however, the prophet proclaims the very opposite message on atonement. Over and over again, Jeremiah loudly declares that God does not want blood sacrifices but rather repentance alone for man's grievous sins.

Finally, as we study the words of Jeremiah, attention also must be paid to what the prophet does not say. Because Jeremiah's silence on missionary teachings is deafening, this chapter presents a serious theological problem for evangelical Christians. Why isn't there one word throughout the prophet's admonishment about believing in Jesus for salvation? Bear in mind that the purpose of this prophecy is to guide Jewish people who have lost their way into a sanctified relationship with the Almighty. Why didn't Jeremiah, as he points his wayward nation in the direction of Godliness, direct the Jewish people to Jesus' atoning death on the cross? Why did Jeremiah instead prophesy that the day will come when the Jewish people will be restored to their land as a result of their heartfelt repentance? (Jeremiah 3:14-18) According to Christian doctrine, repentance alone cannot save man from damnation. He can weep and wax forth with humble words of remorse from dawn until dusk, but without the blood of the cross, missionaries argue, there can be no forgiveness of sin. Why didn't the prophet ever mention this foundational creed in his sermon on forgiveness or declare that the Jewish people will eventually be restored because they believed in Jesus as their Lord and Savior?

Moreover, why would Jeremiah prophesy that in this act of penitence, you will one day "call Me 'My Father,' and not turn away from Me"? (3:4) Why is there no mention in Jeremiah's prophecy of the Jewish people calling out to the Son or the Holy Spirit in repentance? In short, why is there not a word mentioned throughout Jeremiah's prophetic sermon on atonement regarding the foundational claims of Christendom? It is not only what the prophet does say, but also what he doesn't say that draws our attention.

Your next question insists that Jews can only find salvation through a "new covenant" or New Testament (the Greek word diatheke means both a "covenant" and a "testament"). This "new covenant," missionaries argue, is the covenant of the cross that was fulfilled nearly 2,000 years ago when the blood of Jesus was shed for the sins of mankind. Moreover, Christians insist, this new covenant was prophesied in Jeremiah 31:31-34, which states,

"Behold, days are coming," declares the Lord, "when I will make a new covenant (bris) with the House of Israel and with the House of Judah. Not like the covenant (bris) which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the Lord. "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the Lord, "I will put My law within them, and on their hearts I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," says the Lord, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."

This "new covenant," missionaries maintain, is the New Testament which speaks of salvation by believing in the atoning death of Jesus as proclaimed in Matthew 26:28,

. . . for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

What of the Sinaitic covenant founded on the keeping of the Torah's commandments? Commenting on Jeremiah 31:31, the author of the Book of Hebrews relegates the Torah's life-giving commandments to obsolescence and concludes that,

In that He says, "A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. (Hebrews 8:13)

In short, the New Testament writer pronounces that the covenant God made with the Jewish people has expired. The Jewish people no longer have to keep the commandments of the Torah. Salvation comes by believing in Jesus as high priest, sacrifice, and messiah. It is therefore not difficult to understand how the Calvinist author Arthur W. Pink in his An Exposition of Hebrews writes,

It is exceedingly difficult, if not quite impossible, for us to form any adequate conception of the serious obstacles presented to the mind of a pious Jew, when any one sought to persuade him that Judaism had been set aside by God and that he must turn his own back upon it. 1

Some of our readers will undoubtedly be offended by Pink's conclusion, but, in fact, this Reformed author is a rationalist. He is simply drawing the conclusion that the Book of Hebrews is conveying. Essentially, the Book of Hebrews is a multifaceted polemic against the church's older rival: Judaism.

In order to answer your question regarding Jeremiah's prophecy of a "new covenant," you must first understand how the New Testament has misapplied and altered Jeremiah 31:31-34, and then grasp the prophet's message in these four well-known verses.

As mentioned above, missionaries argue that Jeremiah 31:31-34 is a prophecy of an event that occurred nearly 2,000 years ago with Jesus' death on the cross. They insist that this is the new covenant that replaced the old and decaying Mosaic covenant made with Israel.

This Christian rendering of Jeremiah's prophecy of a "new covenant," however, is an extraordinary reconstruction of the prophet's own words. Jeremiah 31:31-34 is not a prophecy that occurred 2,000 years ago, or any time in the past. Rather, it is a prophecy that will be fulfilled in the future messianic age.

The fact that Jeremiah 31:31-34 begins with the prophet addressing both the "House of Israel and the House of Judah" clearly indicates that Jeremiah is speaking to a restored and fully ingathered Jewish people. This, however, was not at all the case at the time when Christians claim the new covenant was fulfilled in Jesus' death . . . quite the contrary. During the Christian century there was no House of Israel in existence because Assyria had exiled the Kingdom of Israel more than 700 years earlier (approx. 732 B.C.E.). Moreover, in the first century the Jewish people were spread throughout the Roman Empire and beyond. Thus, even the "House of Judah" was not all in the Promised Land during the Christian century.

In short, the era of the new covenant has not yet arrived. Rather, Jeremiah's prophecy addresses a future messianic age when the entire Jewish people -- both Judah and Israel -- will be restored together in their rightful place, the land of Israel (Ezekiel 37:15-22). In contrast, there had been no time in history when the Jewish people were more fractured and dispersed than during the Christian century when, according to the author of Hebrews, Jeremiah's prophecy of a new covenant was supposedly fulfilled.

Moreover, a cursory reading of verse 31:34 further confirms that Jeremiah's prophecy is not speaking of a Christian cross 2,000 years ago but rather a restored Jewish people in the future messianic era. Missionaries often overlook verse 34 and emphasize only 31:31-33 when quoting Jeremiah's declaration of a new covenant. This oversight has proved to be devastating to their understanding of this prophecy because verse 31:34 sheds much light on this new covenant era. Jeremiah 31:34 reads,

No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, "Know the Lord," for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.

The above verse reveals that the age of the new covenant will be realized during an epoch of the universal knowledge of God. It will occur when no one will have to teach his neighbor about God, "for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them . . . ." Did this occur at the time of the Christian century nearly 2,000 years ago, or at any time since? Does every human being "know the Lord"? This is hardly the case. The church is spending many hundreds of millions of dollars annually in order to convert masses worldwide to Christianity. There are roughly one billion Moslems and Hindus in the world today who, according to Christian teachings, do not know the Lord; and there are an untold number of atheists throughout the globe who certainly do not know the Lord. Has Jeremiah's prophecy of a "new covenant" yet been fulfilled by anyone's standards? Are we living in a time when each and every person "knows the Lord"? Certainly not.

The Hebrew word bris (covenant) in Jeremiah 31:31 does not mean a Bible or refer to a new salvation program or Torah. The word bris always refers to a promise or a contract. This covenant was made with the Jewish people while they were still in the desert before they were brought into the Promised Land.

In the 28th and 29th chapters of Deuteronomy, Moses told the children of Israel that if they remained faithful to God in the land they were about to enter then the Almighty would bestow upon them manifold blessings and they would flourish in the Holy Land. On the other hand, if they backslid and turned away from the Lord, they would be driven out of Israel into a bitter exile in the land of their enemies. We are all familiar with the events that followed when the Jewish people broke their side of the covenant and they were sent into diaspora.

These four verses in Jeremiah 31:31-34 are part of an ongoing theme repeated throughout the Book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah's unique literary motif is to contrast the redemption of the children of Israel from Egypt with their final redemption in the messianic age -- always vividly illustrating how the latter will far outshine the former. In Jeremiah 23:7-8, the prophet makes this clear when he proclaims,

Therefore, behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when men shall no longer say, "As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt," but, "as the Lord lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where He had driven them." Then they shall dwell in their own land.

In the 31st chapter of the Book of Jeremiah, the prophet continues to contrast the exodus from Egypt with the messianic age. He therefore foretells that unlike the exodus from Egypt when the Jewish people were brought into the land of Israel only to be exiled centuries later because they broke their original covenant as a result of their faithlessness, in the messianic age, the Jewish people will enter into a "new covenant" when they will be permanently restored to their land, never to be exiled again.

As was declared by every prophet, the covenant that God has with the Jewish people is eternal. No words in the Christian Bible or interpolation of the Jewish scriptures can ever change this eternal oath. The prophet Isaiah proclaimed this vow more than 2,700 years ago,

"With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you," says the Lord, your Redeemer. "This is like the waters of Noah to Me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you. The mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace be removed," says the Lord, Who has mercy on you. (Isaiah 54:8-10)

Remarkably, the contorted manner in which Hebrews rendered Jeremiah's prophecy promulgates the precise opposite message of the prophet's original intent. Hebrews misconstrued Jeremiah's prophecy to be understood that God had somehow disregarded His covenant with Israel, when, in fact, the prophet's message is that God's unique covenantal relationship with the Jewish people will never be destroyed.

Moreover, in the next two verses the prophet determinedly proclaims this, pointing to the natural phenomena of the world as a witness to His eternal relationship with the children of Israel. Jeremiah 31:35-36 reads,

Thus says the Lord, Who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar-- the Lord of hosts is His name: If this fixed order were ever to cease from My presence, says the Lord, then also the offspring of Israel would cease to be a nation before Me forever. Thus says the Lord: If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can be explored, then I will reject all the offspring of Israel because of all they have done.

Because Jeremiah's prophecy of an eternal Jewish people presents the church with a serious theological problem, the New Testament went to great lengths to undermine it. In fact, the author of Hebrews deliberately changed the words of Jeremiah in order to reverse the prophet's original message.

In Hebrews 8:9, while quoting Jeremiah 31:32, the author changed a most crucial word in the verse. The last clause of Jeremiah 31:32 reads,

. . . My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them.

Hebrews misquoted Jeremiah's words and instead wrote,

. . . because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord."

The Hebrew word "ba'altee," means a "husband," not "to disregard." This is a stunning alteration of the words of Jeremiah; to be a "husband" is the precise opposite of "disregarding" someone. How can the author of Hebrews change the word of God in order to demonstrate the superiority of Christianity over its older rival Judaism? When New Testament authors wantonly tamper with the Jewish scriptures, do they not convey the very opposite message?

Furthermore, in contrast to the message of Hebrews 8:13, the life-giving commandments of the Torah have no expiration date. Moses declared that these commandments are forever and ever.

The secret things belong unto the Lord our God; but the things that are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. (Deuteronomy 29:28 [29:29])

The works of his hands are verity and judgment; all his commandments are sure. They stand fast forever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness. (Psalm 111:7-8)

Moreover, the prophets foretold that the Jewish people will observe the commandments of the Torah after the messiah arrives. In fact, the Jewish scriptures prominently testify that the faithful observance of the Torah will be the emblematic feature of the messianic era.

And I shall give them one heart, and shall put a new spirit within them. And I shall take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances, and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God. (Ezekiel 11:19-20)

My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees. (Ezekiel 37:24)

And many peoples shall come, and say: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths," for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. (Isaiah 2:3)

So let's ask ourselves this question: Do Hebrew-Christians who insist that the messiah has already come keep the commandments of God? Do members of Messianic congregations actually keep the mitzvoth of Shabbat and Kashruth clearly outlined in the Jewish scriptures? For example, do those Jews who have converted to Christianity make sure never to kindle a fire and refrain from carrying any object on the Sabbath day as the Bible decrees? (Exodus 35:3; Jeremiah 17:19-20) The answer is that they do not. Yet, why don't they if they believe the messiah has already come? Who are those people who diligently and joyfully adhere to these life-giving commandments? The faithful remnant of the Jewish people who loudly reject the teachings of Christianity.

Paradoxically, Hebrew-Christians misguidedly point to Jeremiah's new covenant to explain away their continued indifference to the commandments of the Torah, when in fact the central messianic prophecy in the Bible declares that the Children of Israel will diligently keep the commandments as a result of the coming of the messiah.

Finally, let's consider which grievous sin the Jewish people committed that brought down the wrath of God upon them in the first place. In which iniquity did Israel indulge that brought about Jeremiah's bitter reproach? The appalling sin of idolatry; they had violated the first of the Ten Commandments. The Jewish people worshiped gods that their fathers had not known. They indulged in idol worship and heathen practices of the surrounding gentile nations. Let us consider whether a pious Jew ever read the third chapter of Jeremiah and as a result was somehow moved to convert to Christianity.

More than 3,300 years ago the Torah warned the Jewish people that they would one day serve gods that their fathers didn't know (Deuteronomy 28:36). When a Jew becomes a Hebrew-Christian, whether he then calls himself Messianic or Baptist, did this occur as a result of the teachings of his grandfather or great grandfather? Did he come to this theological conclusion by fervently studying the Torah in a yeshiva? Did he find the doctrine of the Trinity in the Book of Jeremiah, or by any other prophet in Tanach? This is certainly never the case. Hebrew-Christians learn and adopt their spiritual craft from the gentiles who evangelized them. Just as in the Bible.

Sincerely yours,

Rabbi Tovia Singer

As a postscript, our readers should be excited to know that the author of this letter, who has spent many years of his life as a Hebrew-Christian, has returned to the truth and beauty of the Jewish faith.

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! His mercy endures forever. Psalm 136:1

Footnote:

Click on the footnote to return to the article

1: Pink, Arthur W., An Exposition of Hebrews, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI; 1984: pp. 1065.

Source: http://www.outreachjudaism.org/jeremiah31.html

Feel free to contact me at b_zawadi@hotmail.com

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Debunking "Proof Texts" from the Psalms

Part 5 - Psalms 69

Messiah truth

I. Introduction

This is the fifth in a series of essays in which claims by Christian apologists and missionaries of "messianic prophecies" in the Psalms are investigated. The first four essays^¹[1]^,^²[2]^,^³[3]^,^⁴[4] covered the 33 claimed "messianic prophecies" in Psalms 8, 16, 18, 27, 31, 35, 38, 40, 41, 45, 55, 68, 78, 80, and 89. The major Christian "messianic prophecies" from the Psalms (Psalms 2, 22, and 110) were separately examined and effectively refuted^⁵[5]^,^⁶[6]^,^⁷[7], and will not be repeated in this series. For additional introductory remarks, refer to the first essay (see footnote 1).

The Internet abounds with sources where Christian "messianic prophecies" are listed along with the alleged accounts of their "fulfillment" in the New Testament, and which are described in terms such as "over 300 prophecies fulfilled by Jesus". Most of these lists are duplicates, therefore, only one such list^⁸[8], to be called the reference list, will be used in these essays as the source for the Christian "messianic prophecies" that will be studied.

II. "Messianic Prophecy": Comparing Christian and Jewish Perspectives

Refer to the Section II in the first essay of this series (see footnote 1).

III. Analysis of Claimed "Messianic Prophecies" and their "Fulfillments"

To say that a prophecy has been fulfilled means that the foretold event, condition, or situation has happened, and that one needs no longer await its completion or fulfillment. On the other hand, a prophecy that has not yet happened, or is yet to be completed, remains a prophecy not fulfilled.

The items typically claimed by Christians to be "messianic prophecy" often consist of a short passage, a single verse, or even a portion of a verse, from the Christian "Old Testament", and the same is true of the respective texts in the New Testament that are claimed to be accounts of "fulfillment". Christians also take it for granted that Jesus was of King David's lineage^⁹[9]. The "messianic prophecies" claimed to be present in a given psalm and the respective accounts of their "fulfillment" from the New Testament are addressed in the following subsections. The analysis will help to determine whether these pairs of passages in the Christian "Old Testament" and New Testament qualify as "messianic prophecy" and its "fulfillment", respectively.

A. Psalms 69

The reference list indicates that Psalms 69 contains 11 "messianic prophecies" that are "fulfilled" according to the New Testament, as shown in Table III.A-1.

Table III.A-1 – Claimed "Messianic Prophecies" and their "Fulfillments"

Statement	Citations^¹⁰^[10]
Statement	"Prophecy"	"Fulfillment"
The Messiah would be hated by many without cause	Psalms 69:5[4]	Luke 23:13-22
The Messiah would bear reproach, for God's sake	Psalms 69:8[7]	Matthew 26:65-67
The Messiah would be rejected by the Jews	Psalms 69:9a[8a]	John 1:11
The Messiah's brothers would disbelieve him	Psalms 69:9b[8b]	John 7:3-5
The Messiah would be angered by disrespect toward the temple	Psalms 69:10a[9a]	John 2:13-17
The Messiah would bear reproach, for God's sake	Psalms 69:10b[9b]	Romans 15:3
The Messiah's heart would be broken	Psalms 69:21a[20a]	John 19:34
The Messiah's disciples would fail him in his time of need	Psalms 69:21b[20b]	Mark 14:33-41
The Messiah would be offered gall and vinegar	Psalms 69:22a[21a]	Matthew 27:34
The Messiah would thirst	Psalms 69:22b[21b]	John 19:28
The potter's field would be uninhabited	Psalms 69:26[25]	Acts 1:16-20

1. Overview

Following is a summary description of this psalm to help put its context into perspective.

PRAYER OF THE PERSECUTED: A deeply pathetic human document is presented by this Psalm. A devout servant of G-d is undergoing cruel treatment and fells that his sufferings are due to his religious loyalty. He pleads with G-d for relief and, in burning indignation, begs that retribution come upon his persecutors. His faith remains firm through the ordeal and he looks to the future with confidence. There are several passages in the Psalm which point to the fact that it was written as a prophetic vision that that foretold of the era when Israel would be in captivity. Indeed, the Midrash understands the Psalm as relating to the Babylonian exile. In collective singular, the downtrodden outcasts describe their woeful sufferings, while, at the same time, begging for the mercy of G-d. In the closing verses they affirm their faith in Him by triumphantly proclaiming His praises in a sincere song of devotion. The parallels between this Psalm and the book of Jeremiah are frequent and striking.^¹¹^[11]

The superscription identifies King David as the author of this psalm. The psalm, written entirely in the first person, can be interpreted as being either about himself or, prophetically, about Israel in exile, portraying their plight during those long and bitter times, and pleads for their speedy deliverance.

2. Investigating claimed "Messianic Prophecies" [and "Fulfillments"]

a. The Messiah would be hated by many without cause

The relevant texts from the KJV "Old Testament" and New Testament, and the corresponding Jewish translation for reference purposes, are shown in Table III.A.2.a-1.

Table III.A.2.a-1 – Psalms 69:5[4] and Luke 23:13-22

"Messianic Prophecy"	"Fulfillment"
King James Version Translation	King James Version Translation from the Greek	Jewish Translation from the Hebrew
Psalms 69:4	Luke 23:13-22	Psalms 69:5
They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away.	13. And Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, 14. Said unto them, Ye have brought this man unto me, as one that perverteth the people: and, behold, I, having examined him before you, have found no fault in this man touching those things whereof ye accuse him: 15. No, nor yet Herod: for I sent you to him; and, lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto him. 16. I will therefore chastise him, and release him. 17. (For of necessity he must release one unto them at the feast.) 18. And they cried out all at once, saying, Away with this man, and release unto us Barabbas: 19. (Who for a certain sedition made in the city, and for murder, was cast into prison.) 20. Pilate therefore, willing to release Jesus, spake again to them. 21. But they cried, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. 22. And he said unto them the third time, Why, what evil hath he done? I have found no cause of death in him: I will therefore chastise him, and let him go.	Those who hate me for nothing are more numerous than the hairs of my head; mighty are those who would cut me off, who are my enemies because of lies; what I did not steal, should I return?.

This verse can be seen either as pertaining to King David's own life, or as being prophetic about events that would occur to the Jewish people during their various exiles. As it relates to King David, and as was learned from similar scenarios in several of the psalms previously investigated, he had many enemies and was the target and victim of many slander campaigns. In this case, as in Psalms 35, King David wondered if he should restore that which his false accusers charged he had taken. In the case of Israel's exile, the historical record is witness to the many times that trumped up charges were leveled against the Jews (e.g., blood libels, poisoning of wells, etc.) just as a ploy to dispossess them of their wealth.

The "fulfillment" text is taken from a passage that describes Pontius Pilate discussing the release of Jesus with the spiritual and political leaders of the Jews. They allegedly demanded that he be crucified, and Pilate said that he found no reason to put him to death, and that he wanted to punish him and then release him before the Passover.

The match-up of this "messianic prophecy"-"fulfillment" pair is not obvious. King David is complaining about the exactions made upon him or, prophetically, upon Israel in exile, by oppressors on the false pretext that they were executing justice. The author of the Gospel of Luke provides an account of the Roman leader wanting to release Jesus while the leaders of the Jews accuse Jesus of various offenses and demand that he be executed. The problem is that the outcomes of the two situations were quite different, as was noted in several previous instances. King David survived all these plots, while Jesus wound up being crucified.

Another problem is created by ascribing King David's problems to Jesus. Namely, it forces the next verse in the psalm to apply to Jesus as well:

Psalms 89:6[5] - O G-d, You know my folly, and my guilty deeds are not concealed from You.

King David admitted that he sinned; in fact, he committed sins with intent [the noun (asham), intentional sin, is used here]. His trials were, at least in part, punishment for the sins he committed. Thus, by implication, this makes Jesus a sinner, one who sinned with intent, which contradicts Christian doctrine.

A related problem is created by the following account when King David's words are put into the mouth of Jesus:

Psalms 69:12[11] - And I made sackcloth my raiment, and I became a byword to them.

King David lamented about how his enemies made him the subject of derision when he donned sackcloth, the common garb during times of repentance (and mourning). The Hebrew Bible describes an occasion when King David was in sackcloth following his sinful act of conducting a census of Israel^¹²[12] (1 Chron 21:16). Prophetically, this could be his vision of the treatment of exiled Israel by the nations. Once again, this alludes to King David's actions to obtain the atonement for his sins, or, prophetically, for collective Israel doing this in exile. The New Testament contains no accounts of Jesus in sackcloth. These last two issues apply to the remaining "messianic prophecies" in this psalm.

Conclusion: Psalms 69:5[4] is not a valid "messianic prophecy".

b. The Messiah would bear reproach, for God's sake

The relevant texts from the KJV "Old Testament" and New Testament, and the corresponding Jewish translation for reference purposes, are shown in Table III.A.2.b-1.

Table III.A.2.b-1 – Psalms 69:8[7] and Matthew 26:65-67

"Messianic Prophecy"	"Fulfillment"
King James Version Translation	King James Version Translation from the Greek	Jewish Translation from the Hebrew
Psalms 69:7	Matthew 26:65-67	Psalms 69:8
Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face.	65. Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy. 66. What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death. 67. Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands,	For I have borne humiliation because of You; disgrace has covered my face.

King David tells of how he has suffered in G-d's cause. A similar sentiment was expressed later by the prophet Jeremiah:

Jeremiah 15:15 - You know, O L-rd, remember me and think of me, and avenge me of my pursuers. Take me not to Your long suffering, know, I bore disgrace for Your sake.

Prophetically, this would be speaking of Israel in exile among the Gentile nations, suffering humiliation and disgrace because the Jewish people chose not to accept the other faiths. Psalms 44, which parallels Isaiah 53 in several places, is a prophetic psalm about the distress Israel will suffer in exile yet will not turn away from G-d and follow other gods:

Psalms 44:10-23 – (10) Even if You have forsaken us and put us to shame, and You do not go out in our hosts; (11) You make us retreat from the adversary, and our enemies plunder for themselves; (12) You deliver us as sheep to be eaten, and You scatter us among the nations. (13) You sell Your people without gain, and You did not increase their price; (14) You make us a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and a derision to those around us; (15) You make us a byword among the nations, a [cause for] shaking the head among the kingdoms. (16) All day long, my disgrace is before me, and the shame of my face has covered me. (17) From the voice of the one who taunts and blasphemes, because of an enemy and an avenger. (18) All this has befallen us and we have not forgotten You, neither have we betrayed Your covenant. (19) Our heart has not turned back, nor have our steps turned away from Your path, (20) Even when You crushed us in a place of serpents, and You covered us with darkness. (21) If we forgot the name of our G-d and spread out our palms to a strange god, (22) Will G-d not search this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart. (23) For it is for Your sake that we are killed all the time, [that] we are considered as sheep for the slaughter.

Clearly, v. 8[7] is either about King David or about Israel.

The "fulfillment" text describes the scene after Jesus spoke in front of the Sanhedrin, headed by the High Priest Caiphas, who reacted by rending his clothes and accusing Jesus of blasphemy. The fact that the author of the Gospel of Matthew (also the author of the Gospel of Mark [Mk 14:63]) recorded such an episode demonstrates an ignorance of the Mosaic Law:

Leviticus 21:10 - And the priest who is elevated above his brothers [the High Priest], upon whose head the anointment oil has been poured or who has been inaugurated to wear the garments, he shall not leave his hair unshorn or rend his garments.

According to the Torah, the High Priest was not allowed to rend his clothes for any reason (rending of clothes was often done as a symbol of mourning). Thus, it must be asked: How valid are the Gospel accounts about Jesus? Can these accounts be trusted as being accurate?

Conclusion: Psalms 69:8[7] is not a valid "messianic prophecy".

c. The Messiah would be rejected by the Jews

The relevant texts from the KJV "Old Testament" and New Testament, and the corresponding Jewish translation for reference purposes, are shown in Table III.A.2.c-1.

Table III.A.2.c-1 – Psalms 69:9a[8a] and John 1:11

"Messianic Prophecy"	"Fulfillment"
King James Version Translation	King James Version Translation from the Greek	Jewish Translation from the Hebrew
Psalms 69:8a	John 1:11	Psalms 69:9a
I am become a stranger unto my brethren, [and an alien unto my mother's children.]	He came unto his own, and his own received him not.	I was a stranger to my brothers, [and a foreigner to the sons of my mother.]

King David laments about his kinfolk mistreating him, as if he were a stranger, and ignoring the relationship between them. His older brothers may have resented the fact that he, the youngest, was chosen to become the king of Israel. Alternatively, this could be speaking prophetically of the descendants of Ishmael (Isaac's paternal brother^¹³[13]) and of Esau (the "full" brother of Jacob/Israel), and how they betrayed and mistreated the Jewish people (the children of Israel).

The "fulfillment" text is taken from a passage that describes the "witness of John the Baptist" concerning the coming of Jesus and his mission, and how some (allegedly the Jews) rejected this revelation, while others received him.^¹⁴[14] Once again, the issue of identifying King David with Jesus creates a conflict for Christian theology. According to v. 6[5], King David confessed to having intentionally transgressed, thereby admitting his sinful nature, which must then also be applied to Jesus.

Conclusion: Psalms 69:9a[8a] is not a valid "messianic prophecy".

d. The Messiah's brothers would disbelieve him

The relevant texts from the King James Version (KJV) "Old Testament" and New Testament, and the corresponding Jewish translation for reference purposes, are shown in Table III.A.2.d-1.

Table III.A.2.d-1 – Psalms 69:9b[8b] and John 7:3-5

"Messianic Prophecy"	"Fulfillment"
King James Version Translation	King James Version Translation from the Greek	Jewish Translation from the Hebrew
Psalms 69:8b	John 7:3-5	Psalms 69:9b
I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother's children.	3. His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest. 4. For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, shew thyself to the world. 5. For neither did his brethren believe in him.	I was a stranger to my brothers, and a foreigner to the sons of my mother.

The explanation of this portion of the verse was included in the prceding subsection.

The "fulfillment" text is drawn from a passage that describes Jesus being urged by his brothers to go up to Jerusalem, in spite of the risk of being killed, to teach at the Feast of Tabernacles so that he can be in the public eye and become known. The brothers, apparently skeptical of who Jesus claimed to be, dared him to make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, regardless of the danger in it, and demonstrate his "miracles" in public rather than hide out. Neither James nor Jude, two brothers of Jesus who have books in the New Testament bearing their respective names, became "believers" only after Jesus was crucified and allegedly "resurrected". The question that comes to mind here is: If a person's own brothers do not believe him, how can he expect the rest of the world to do so?

Conclusion: Psalms 69:9b[8b] is not a valid "messianic prophecy".

e. The Messiah would be angered by disrespect toward the temple

The relevant texts from the King James Version (KJV) "Old Testament" and New Testament, and the corresponding Jewish translation for reference purposes, are shown in Table III.A.2.e-1.

Table III.A.2.e-1 – Psalms 69:10a[9a] and John 2:13-17

"Messianic Prophecy"	"Fulfillment"
King James Version Translation	King James Version Translation from the Greek	Jewish Translation from the Hebrew
Psalms 69:9a	John 2:13-17	Psalms 69:10a
For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; [and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.]	13. And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 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; 16. And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise. 17. And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.	For the envy of Your house has consumed me, [and the humiliations of those who blaspheme You have fallen upon me.]

King David was being consumed by his vision of how the envy by the Gentiles of the future Temple and Israel's special status would manifest itself as hatred.

The "fulfillment" text is from a passage that describes Jesus going into the Temple just before the Passover and, being infuriated with what he saw, he violently drove out the animal traders. In the last verse, the author of the Gospel of John "quotes" v. 10a[9a], but inverted the original context with a slight change in the meaning of a word. The Hebrew term (qin'ah) is applied in the Hebrew Bible three different meanings: as envy [as in wanting what someone else has] (e.g., Eccl 4:4), as jealousy [as in anger over suspicion of unfaithfulness] (e.g., Num 5:14), and as zeal [as in extreme anger or extreme devotion] (e.g., Ezek 36:6). By using another meaning of the term, the author of the Gospel of John effects a change in context. The envy of the Gentiles and its consequences to the Jewish people consumed King David, whereas, according to the "fulfillment" text, Jesus was consumed by his zeal to cleanse the Temple.

Conclusion: Psalms 69:10a[9a] is not a valid "messianic prophecy".

f. The Messiah would bear reproach, for God's sake

The relevant texts from the KJV "Old Testament" and New Testament, and the corresponding Jewish translation for reference purposes, are shown in Table III.A.2.f-1.

Table III.A.2.f-1 – Psalms 69:10b[9b] and Romans 15:3

"Messianic Prophecy"	"Fulfillment"
King James Version Translation	King James Version Translation from the Greek	Jewish Translation from the Hebrew
Psalms 69:9b	Romans 15:3	Psalm 69:10b
For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.	For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.	For the envy of Your house has consumed me, and the humiliations of those who blaspheme You have fallen upon me.

Those who scoff at G-d direct their scorn at the one who believes in Him, which is what has happened to the prophets:

Jeremiah 20:7-10 – (7) You enticed me, O L-rd, and I was enticed, You overcame me and You prevailed. I have become a laughing-stock; everyone mocks me. (8) For whenever I speak, I cry out; I call out violence and spoil, for the word of the L-rd has been scorn and mockery for me all day long. (9) Should I say; I will not mention Him, and I will no longer speak in His name, it would be in my heart like a burning fire, confined in my bones, and I wearied to contain it but was unable. (10) For I heard the slander of many, a gathering around; tell and let us tell about him: everyone who was friendly with me awaits my destruction. Perhaps he will be enticed and we will prevail against him, and we will wreak vengeance upon him.

The historical record is witness to the fact that the Jewish people have been treated this way for many centuries just because they refused to accept the gods of the Gentile nations.

The "fulfillment" text, which includes a "quote" of v. 10b[9b], is taken from a passage where Paul preaches about the self-denial of Jesus on behalf of others. According to the New Testament, Jesus was very popular throughout his life except for the day on which he appeared before the Sanhedrin, when he was allegedly struck and humiliated. Unlike G-d's servants who were mistreated and humiliated for promoting G-d, Jesus was trying to promote himself and not G-d.

Conclusion: Psalms 69:10b[9b] is not a valid "messianic prophecy".

g. The Messiah's heart would be broken

The relevant texts from the KJV "Old Testament" and New Testament, and the corresponding Jewish translation for reference purposes, are shown in Table III.A.2.g-1.

Table III.A.2.g-1 – Psalms 69:21a[20a] and John 19:34

"Messianic Prophecy"	"Fulfillment"
King James Version Translation	King James Version Translation from the Greek	Jewish Translation from the Hebrew
Psalms 69:20a	John 19:34	Psalms 69:21a
Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: [and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.]	But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.	Humiliation has broken my heart and I have become ill; [I hoped for sympathy but there was none, and for comforters but I found none.]

King David expressed emotional anguish; his heart was broken, from either the personal humiliation he suffered at the hands of persecutors, or when he foresaw what would happen to his people, Israel, in exile.

The "fulfillment" text, taken from the passage that describes the aftermath of the crucifixion of Jesus, seems to imply that the Roman soldiers, who pierced the side of the body on the cross to see whether he was expired, injured (broke) his heart. How can one realistically compare the emotional broken heart of King David with an alleged physically injured heart of the dead Jesus on the cross? No such scenario with the (mashi'ah) is ever described in the Hebrew Bible. Of course, as a human being, one would expect the (mashi'ah) to have emotions and react to situations in different ways – with joy when things a good, and perhaps with a broken heart when things go bad; but this is not "messianic prophecy".

Conclusion: Psalms 69:21a[20a] is not a valid "messianic prophecy".

h. The Messiah's disciples would fail him in his time of need

The relevant texts from the KJV "Old Testament" and New Testament, and the corresponding Jewish translation for reference purposes, are shown in Table III.A.2.h-1.

Table III.A.2.h-1 – Psalms 69:21b[20b] and Mark 14:33-41

"Messianic Prophecy"	"Fulfillment"
King James Version Translation	King James Version Translation from the Greek	Jewish Translation from the Hebrew
Psalms 69:20b	Mark 14:33-41	Psalms 69:21b
Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.	33. And he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy; 34. And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch. 35. And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 36. And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt. 37. And he cometh, and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? couldest not thou watch one hour? 38. Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak. 39. And again he went away, and prayed, and spake the same words. 40. And when he returned, he found them asleep again, (for their eyes were heavy,) neither wist they what to answer him. 41. And he cometh the third time, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: it is enough, the hour is come; behold, the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.	Humiliation has broken my heart and I have become ill; I hoped for sympathy but there was none, and for comforters but I found none.

King David, abandoned by human friends who would come to comfort him, is left solitary, with only G-d as his source of comfort. Prophetically, King David would be describing Israel in exile, despised and rejected by the Gentile nations, with only G-d on whom they can rely.

The "fulfillment" text describes the scene of Jesus in Gethsemane, shortly after the "last supper". He already said at the supper that one of his disciples would betray him. At Gethsemane, he asked those disciples who accompanied him to wait and keep watch while he went to pray. Upon his return, he found them asleep, chided them, went back to pray. He found them asleep again and not keeping watch over him when he returned. The scenario described in the "fulfillment" text has no relationship to what King David described in v. 21b[20b] and, of course, the eventual outcomes were different as well.

Conclusion: Psalms 69:21b[20b] is not a valid "messianic prophecy".

i. The Messiah would be offered gall and vinegar

The relevant texts from the KJV "Old Testament" and New Testament, and the corresponding Jewish translation for reference purposes, are shown in Table III.A.2.i-1.

Table III.A.2.i-1 – Psalms 69:22a[21a] and Matthew 27:34

"Messianic Prophecy"	"Fulfillment"
King James Version Translation	King James Version Translation from the Greek	Jewish Translation from the Hebrew
Psalms 69:21a	Matthew 27:34	Psalms 69:22a
They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.	They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.	They put poison into my food and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

Building on the previous verse, King David described the cruelty of those who persecuted him. Not only did they not offer him comfort, they aggravated his hard lot. They brought him food that was laced with poison and vinegar to quench his thirst. This is figurative language. King David is conveying the message that they "added salt to his wounds". Prophetically, this could describe how he envisioned Israel being treated in exile.

The "fulfillment" text comes from the crucifixion narrative. Not only are the outcomes of the scenarios different – Jesus died and King David survived, but the Gospel accounts of this particular scene are different. The "fulfillment" text, taken out of the Gospel of Matthew, describes Jesus being offered a drink made of vinegar mixed with gall; according to the Gospel of Mark, Jesus was offered wine mixed with myrrh (Mk 15:23); and according to the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of John, Jesus was offered vinegar only (Lk 23:36; Jo 19:29-30). Which of them has it right?

Conclusion: Psalms 69:22a[21a] is not a valid "messianic prophecy".

j. The Messiah would thirst

The relevant texts from the KJV "Old Testament" and New Testament, and the corresponding Jewish translation for reference purposes, are shown in Table III.A.2.j -1.

Table III.A.2.j-1 – Psalms 69:22b[21b] and John 19:28

"Messianic Prophecy"	"Fulfillment"
King James Version Translation	King James Version Translation from the Greek	Jewish Translation from the Hebrew
Psalms 69:21b	John 19:28	Psalms 69:22b
They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.	After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.	They put poison into my food and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

All living things - plants, animals, and people - become thirsty. This is not something that will only happen to the (mashi'ah). This "messianic prophecy"-"fulfillment" pair is truly an act of desperation.

Conclusion: Psalms 69:22b[21b] is not a valid "messianic prophecy".

k. The potter's field would be uninhabited

The relevant texts from the KJV "Old Testament" and New Testament, and the corresponding Jewish translation for reference purposes, are shown in Table III.A.2.k-1.

Table III.A.2.k-1 – Psalms 69:26[25] and Acts 1:16-20

"Messianic Prophecy"	"Fulfillment"
King James Version Translation	King James Version Translation from the Greek	Jewish Translation from the Hebrew
Psalms 89: 69:25	Acts 1:16-20	Psalms 69:26
Let their habitation be desolate; and let none dwell in their tents.	16. Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus. 17. For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry. 18. Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out. 19. And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch as that field is called in their proper tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood. 20. For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take.	May their palace be desolate; in their tents let there be no dweller.

The despicable behavior of his enemies and his unjust suffering at their hands cause King David to "lose his cool", as he passionately begged G-d not to let them go unpunished (vs. 23-39[22-28]). In a prophetic sense, this could apply as well to King David as he envisioned the fate of Israel in exile and the suffering they would endure. In v. 26[25] he asked that their dwellings of his enemies remain desolate and uninhabited.

The "fulfillment" text consists of the disciple Peter's words to a crowd that gathered to pray following the alleged "resurrection" of Jesus. Peter connected the words of King David, v. 26[25], with the "Potter's Field", also known as the "Field of Blood" (Mt 27:7-8). According to the Gospel accounts, this parcel of land was purchased by the chief priests with the 30 pieces of silver which they originally gave Judas in return for leading them to Jesus (Mt 26:15), and which he eventually returned to them (Mt 27:3-5). Apparently, the chief priests did not feel this "blood money" belonged back in the treasury of the Temple, so they purchased the "Potter's field" and designated it as a place for burying unknown individuals (Mt 27:6-10).

The Easton's Bible Dictionary^¹⁵[15] lists the following definition for the term Aceldama (Ac 1:19):

Aceldama [N] [H] [S]

the name which the Jews gave in their proper tongue, i.e., in Aramaic, to the field which was purchased with the money which had been given to the betrayer of our Lord. The word means "field of blood." It was previously called "the potter's field" (Matthew 27:7,8; Acts 1:19), and was appropriated as the burial-place for strangers. It lies on a narrow level terrace on the south face of the valley of Hinnom. Its modern name is Hak ed-damm.

[N] indicates this entry was also found in Nave's Topical Bible

[H] indicates this entry was also found in Hitchcock's Bible Names

[S] indicates this entry was also found in Smith's Bible Dictionary

This parcel of land has been identified as being part of the "Valley of Hinnom", also referred to as "Gehenna", an area that is located southwest of the city of Jerusalem. If the "fulfillment" text were actually accurate, the area in question would be desolate today. However, anyone who visited Jerusalem and its vicinity, and who saw the place, knows that the opposite is true – the "Valley of Hinnom" has turned into a garden.^¹⁶[16]

Conclusion: Psalms 69:26[25] is not a valid "messianic prophecy".

IV. Summary

In this fifth in a series of essays on so-called "proof texts" in the Psalms, 11 such texts from Psalms 69, which are claimed to be Christian "messianic prophecies", along with their respective "fulfillment" texts from the New Testament, were investigated. The analysis addressed content, context, and correspondence between each pair of texts, in order to assess the validity of the claims. Cumulative results of all "messianic prophecy"-'fulfillment" pairs investigated thus far are summarized in Table IV-1. [Note: Past results are shown in highlight, and current results are shown in plain form.]

Table IV-1 – Claimed "messianic prophecies" in Psalms 8, 16, 18, 27, 31, 34, 35, 38, 40, 41, 45, 55, 68, 69, 78, 80, and 89, and their "fulfillments"

Statement	Citations		Valid?^¹⁷^[17]
Statement	"Prophecy"	"Fulfillment"	Valid?^¹⁷^[17]
Infants would give praise to the Messiah	Psalms 8:3[2]*	Matthew 21:16	NO
The Messiah would be given authority over all things	Psalms 8:7[6]	Matthew 28:18	NO
The Messiah would be resurrected	Psalms 16:8-10a	Matthew 28:6	NO
The Messiah's body would not be subject to decay	Psalms 16:8-10b	Acts 13:35-37	NO
The Messiah would be exalted to the presence of G-d	Psalms 16:11	Acts 2:25-33	NO
The Messiah would come for all people	Psalms 18:50[49]	Ephesians 3:4-6	NO
The Messiah's enemies would stumble and fall when they came for him	Psalms 27:2	John 18:3-6	NO
The Messiah would be accused by false witnesses	Psalms 27:12	Matthew 26:59-61	NO
None of the Messiah's bones would be broken	Psalms 34:21[20]	John 19:32-33	NO
There would be plots to kill the Messiah	Psalms 31:14[13]	Matthew 27:1	NO
There would be plots to kill the Messiah	Psalms 31:14[13]	Matthew 27:1	NO
The Messiah would be accused by false witnesses	Psalms 35:11	Mark 14:55-59	NO
The Messiah would be hated by many without cause	Psalms 35:19	John 18:19-23	NO
The Messiah would be silent before his accusers	Psalms 38:14-15[13-14]	Matthew 26:62-63	NO
The Messiah's offering of himself would replace all sacrifices	Psalms 40:7-9a[6-8a]	Hebrews 10:10-13	NO
The Messiah would say the scriptures were written of him	Psalms 40:7-9b[6-8b]	Luke 24:44	NO
The Messiah would come to do God's will	Psalms 40:8-9[7-8]	John 5:30	NO
The Messiah would not conceal his mission from the congregation	Psalms 40:10-11[9-10]	Luke 4:16-21	NO
The Messiah's betrayer would be a friend whom he broke bread with	Psalms 41:10[9]	Mark 14:17-18	NO
The Messiah would speak with a message of grace	Psalms 45:3[2]	Luke 4:22	?	NO
The Messiah's throne would be everlasting	Psalms 45:7-8a[6-7a]	Luke 1:31-33	?	NO
The Messiah would be God	Psalms 45:7-8b[6-7b]	Hebrews 1:8-9	NO
The Messiah would act with righteousness	Psalms 45:7-8c[6-7c]	John 5:30	?	NO
The Messiah would be betrayed by a friend	Psalms 55:13-15[12-14]	Luke 22:47-48	NO
The Messiah would ascend into heaven	Psalms 68:19a[18a]	Luke 24:51	NO
The Messiah would give gifts to men	Psalms 68:19b[18b]	Matthew 10:1	NO
The Messiah would be hated by many without cause	Psalms 69:5[4]	Luke 23:13-22	NO
The Messiah would bear reproach, for God's sake	Psalms 69:8[7]	Matthew 26:65-67	NO
The Messiah would be rejected by the Jews	Psalms 69:9a[8a]	John 1:11	NO
The Messiah's brothers would disbelieve him	Psalms 69:9b[8b]	John 7:3-5	NO
The Messiah would be angered by disrespect toward the temple	Psalms 69:10a[9a]	John 2:13-17	NO
The Messiah would bear reproach, for God's sake	Psalms 69:10b[9b]	Romans 15:3	NO
The Messiah's heart would be broken	Psalms 69:21a[20a]	John 19:34	NO
The Messiah's disciples would fail him in his time of need	Psalms 69:21b[20b]	Mark 14:33-41	NO
The Messiah would be offered gall and vinegar	Psalms 69:22a[21a]	Matthew 27:34	NO
The Messiah would thirst	Psalms 69:22b[21b]	John 19:28	NO
The potter's field would be uninhabited	Psalms 69:26[25]	Acts 1:16-20	NO
The Messiah would speak in parables	Psalms 78:2	Matthew 13:34-35	NO
The Messiah would be at the right hand of God	Psalms 80:18[17]	Acts 5:31	NO
The Messiah would be a descendant of David	Psalms 89:4-5[3-4]	Matthew 1:1	?	NO
The Messiah would call God his Father	Psalms 89:27[26]	Matthew 11:27	NO
The Messiah would be God's "firstborn."	Psalms 89:28[27]	Mark 16:6	?	NO
The Messiah would be a descendant of David	Psalms 89:30[29]	Matthew 1:1	?	NO
The Messiah would be a descendant of David	Psalms 89:36-37[35-36]	Matthew 1:1	?	NO

As the sample of claimed Christian "messianic prophecies"-"fulfillment" pairs increases, there are now 44 such pairs, the previously noted pattern becomes even better defined - they focus on Jesus, the central figure in the Christian messianic vision, not on the conditions that will prevail in the world due to his accomplishments.

Source: http://www.messiahtruth.com/psalms5.html

Feel free to contact me at b_zawadi@hotmail.com

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1^[1] Debunking "Proof Texts" from the Psalms, Part 1 - Psalms 8, 16, 18 - http://www.messiahtruth.com/psalms1.html

2^[2] Debunking "Proof Texts" from the Psalms, Part 2 – Psalms 27, 31, 34, 35, 38 - http://www.messiahtruth.com/psalms2.html

3^[3] Debunking "Proof Texts" from the Psalms, Part 3 – Psalms 40, 41, 45 - http://www.messiahtruth.com/psalms3.html

4^[4] Debunking "Proof Texts" from the Psalms, Part 4 – Psalms 55, 68, 78, 80, and 89 –

http://www.messiahtruth.com/psalms4.html

5^[5] Psalms 2: "Kiss the Son"? Where Is that Son of A Gun? - http://www.messiahtruth.com/psal2.html

6^[6] Psalms 22: Nailing An Alleged Crucifixion Scenario - http://www.messiahtruth.com/psa22.html

7^[7] Psalms 110: To not Know "the L-rd" from "my master" Can End in Disaster - http://www.messiahtruth.com/ps110.html

8^[8] 300⁺ Messianic Prophecies: Prophecies From the Old Testament that Reveal that Jesus is the Messiah - http://www.gotell.gracenet.org/gbn12.htm

9^[9] This is a false premise. See the essay at - http://www.messiahtruth.com/throne.html

10^[10] In cases where verse numbers differ between the Hebrew Bible and the Christian "Old Testament", the citation shows the verse number in the Hebrew Bible followed by the verse number in the Christian "Old Testament" in brackets. Example: Psalms 69:5[4].

11^[11] Soncino Books of the Bible – The Psalms, Rev. Dr. A. Cohen, Editor, p. 216, The Soncino Press (1992)

12^[12] According to Jewish Law, which is based is Exodus 30:11-16, counting individuals directly is prohibited.

13^[13] Paternal brothers share a common father, but have different mothers. Uterine brothers share a common mother, but have different fathers. "Full" brothers share both parents.

14^[14] There are different interpretations among Christian clergy, some of which do not vilify the Jews. For example, Pastor Jon Courson (http://www.joncourson.com), based on the Greek grammatical syntax, explains it this way: "The first time the Greek word for `his own' is used in this verse, it is in a neuter form, referring to creation. The second time, it is masculine, referring to humanity. In other words, Jesus came into this world, and all of creation acknowledged Him. The winds obeyed Him. The water supported Him. The rocks were ready to cry out to Him. But there was one segment of creation which received Him not: man. Human nature is the only part of nature which refuses to worship God."

(http://www.blueletterbible.org/tmp_dir/c/1090681675-6011.html)

15^[15] M.G. Easton M.A., D.D., Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, published by Thomas Nelson, 1897. Public Domain - http://bible.crosswalk.com/Dictionaries/EastonBibleDictionary/ebd.cgi?number=T63

16^[16] Examples: "Photos of Hell" - http://what-the-hell-is-hell.com/HellPhotos/; "The valley of Gehenna" - http://www.photosbytammy.com/galleries/galleries.asp?class=places&cat1=israel&cat2=valleyofgehenna

17^[17] A single entry indicates that the same answer applies to both "Prophecy" and "Fulfillment" claims. Two entries signify different answers for the "Prophecy" and "Fulfillment", respectively.

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False Prophets, Farmhands, and Lovers

[Zechariah 13:1-6]

Messiah Truth

I. Introduction

A single verse in the 13^th chapter in the Book of Zechariah, Zechariah 13:6, has long been a favorite so-called "proof text" in the standard portfolio of Christian apologists and missionaries. As part of this portfolio being used to support the claim that the advent of Christianity is foretold in the Hebrew Bible, this verse has been promoted as a passage that prophetically foretells the crucifixion of Jesus.

A careful analysis of the verse, in its proper context, refutes this claim and, in fact, turns this passage into a powerful "counter proof text".

II. Comparison of Christian and Jewish English Translations

The Hebrew text and side-by-side English renditions of the short 13^th chapter in the Book of Zechariah 13 are displayed in Table II-1. The King James Version (KJV) translation in the left column, a Jewish translation in the middle column, and the Hebrew text appears in the right column. The KJV rendition also contains several references to key passages in the New Testament, where the respective portions of Zechariah 13 are cross-referenced. The information on these New Testament/"Old Testament" cross-references in the Christian Bible was taken from the New American Standard Bible (NASB). The highlighted words and phrases will be discussed later as part of the analysis.

Table II-1 – Zechariah 13

King James Version Translation

Jewish Translation from the Hebrew

The Hebrew Text

Zechariah 13

In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.

On that day, a spring shall be opened for the House of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for [purification of] sin and [for cleansing of] uncleanness.

And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.

And it shall come to pass on that day, says the L-rd of Hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols from the earth, and they shall no more be remembered; and also the prophets and the unclean spirit I will remove from the earth.

And it shall come to pass, that when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of the LORD: and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth.

And it shall come to pass, if a man still prophesies, then his father and his mother, who bore him, shall say to him, "You shall not live; for you have spoken falsely in the name of the L-rd;" and his father and his mother, who bore him, shall thrust him through while he prophesies.

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he hath prophesied; neither shall they wear a rough garment to deceive.⁽¹⁾

And it shall come to pass on that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed, each one of his vision when he has prophesies; and they will not wear a hairy mantle in order to deceive;

But he shall say, I am no prophet, I am an husbandman; for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth.

And he shall say, "I am not a prophet; I am a tiller of the soil, for a man entrusted me with his cattle from my youth."

And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.

And someone will say to him, "What are these wounds between your hands?" And he shall say, "Because I was beaten in the house of those who love me."

Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones.⁽²⁾

O sword, awaken against My shepherd, and against the man who is associated with Me! says the L-rd of Hosts. Smite the shepherd, and the flock shall scatter, and I will return my hand upon the lower ones.

And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.

And it shall come to pass throughout all the land, says the L-rd, two parts shall be cut off and will die; and the third shall remain therein.

And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.

And I will bring the third through the fire, and I will refine them as one refines silver, and I will test them as tests gold; they shall call on My name, and I will respond to them; I will say, "They are My people;" and they shall say, "The L-rd is my G-d".

1. Matthew 3:4(KJV) - And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about

his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.

2. Matthew 26:31(KJV) - Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this

night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock

shall be scattered abroad.

Mark 14:27(KJV) - And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for

it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.

With one notable exception, the two translations are reasonably consistent. Even the portions that are cross-referenced in the New Testament do not contain any gross mistranslation by the KJV translators. The exception is in Zechariah 13:6, where the KJV, among a small number of other Christian translations, falsely translates the Hebrew word (bein), between, as in, thereby effecting a contextual change in the question from, " … What are these wounds between thine hands? … ", to, " What are these wounds in thine hands? … ". The result of this mistranslation is that a rather obvious Christological significance has been infused into the entire verse. It is interesting to note that most other Christian translations have retained the more general concept of someone with contusions on his upper body – chest, back - which is consistent with the context of the Hebrew text.

III. Overview of Christian and Jewish Interpretations

A. Overview of the Christian Perspective

According to the Christian view, Chapter 13 of Zechariah is fertile with Christological innuendo. The foretelling of the remission of sins and the silencing of false prophets point to the initial Christian "messianic era", i.e., the first century C.E. This idea is further amplified with a claim of the prophetic suffering of Jesus and the dispersion of his disciples, of the destruction of the greater (unbelieving) part of the Jewish nation not long thereafter, and of the purifying of a (believing) remnant of them, a distinctive group of people to G-d.

The New Testament reference passages quoted below Table II-1 appear to be invoking phrases found in various verses in the chapter. In Matthew 3:4, the "raiment of camel's hair" worn by John the Baptist alludes to a garment traditionally worn by Jewish prophets, mentioned in Zechariah 13:4. Matthew 26:31 and Mark 14:27 contain the phrases, "I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad" and "I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered ", respectively. These allegedly represent the fulfillment of a prophecy concerning the suffering of Jesus and the dispersal of his followers, found in a similar phrase in Zechariah 13:7, "Smite the shepherd, and the flock shall scatter".

It is interesting to note that Zechariah 13:6, the one verse from this chapter most often applied by Christian apologists and missionaries as a so-called "proof text", was not invoked or alluded to in the New Testament by any of the authors. From their silence on this contemporary Christian missionary "proof text", it appears that the authors of the New Testament did not perceive it as having any Christological significance.

More detailed commentary may be found in the standard Christian commentaries such as, Matthew Henry and Jamieson, Fausset, & Brown.

The Jewish Perspective

The 13^th chapter in the Book of Zechariah includes a collection of messianic prophecies and, in that respect, the Christian and Jewish perspectives are consistent. The major gap between the two views concerns the identity of the Messiah.

The era in which the events described in this chapter will take place is identified in Zechariah 13:1 as being the messianic era. The description of the spring of living water that will be flowing in Jerusalem, something that has never been there before, is an allusion to the messianic era. A reference to this spring is found again in the next chapter:

Zechariah 14:8 - And it shall be on that day, that living water shall go out from Jerusalem - half of it toward the eastern sea, and half of it toward the western sea; in summer and in winter it shall be.

Ezekiel also speaks of this flowing water in his description of the Third Temple:

Ezekiel 47:1 - And he brought me back to the door of the house and, behold, water flowed from under the threshold of the house eastward, for the front of the house faced to the east; and the water came down from beneath, from the right side of the house, from south of the altar.

The first six verses in this chapter deal with the removal of impurity from Judah. The Prophet speaks of a false prophet whose parents thrust him through for his deceitful activities. He also describes the lamenting by the false prophets about being farm hands and shepherds from their youth, and having been assaulted and beaten up in familiar surroundings.

The last three verses in the chapter describe the punishment of (a sword turned against) the enemies of Israel. The leaders of the (Gentile) nations were the shepherds, G-d’s colleagues, to whom He entrusted the fate of His people Israel (the flock). When they harm instead of help, G-d will unleash the sword against them. Then, the flock will be free to escape, and G-d will turn His vengeance even against the subordinates who helped molest Israel.

IV. A Closer Look at the Passage Zechariah 13:6

The Traditional Approach: The False Prophet and Foolish Shepherd

As noted above, Zechariah 13:6 is used by Christian apologists and missionaries as a "proof text" that foretells the crucifixion of Jesus:

Zechariah 13:6 - And someone will say to him, "What are these wounds between your hands?" And he shall say, "Because I was beaten in the house of those who love me."

Zechariah 13:6(KJV) - And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.

When this verse is read alone, without the rest of the verses around it, it could leave the (false) impression of an allusion to the suffering that Jesus endured around the time of his crucifixion. However, when the verse is read in context, a rather different picture emerges about this wounded individual. The backdrop for the scenario is set up two preceding verses:

Zechariah 13:4-5 – (4) And it shall come to pass on that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed, each one of his vision when he prophesies; and they will not wear a hairy mantle in order to deceive. (5) And he shall say, "I am not a prophet; I am a tiller of the soil, for a man entrusted me with his cattle from my youth."

This individual in Zechariah 13:6, the one with the contusions from being beaten, turns out to be a false prophet, even though he wore the hairy mantle, which was a distinctive garment worn by prophets of Israel (see, e.g., 1 Kgs 19:13,19; 2 Kgs 2:8,13,14). These false prophets will disown their "calling" and claim to belong to the humblest working class. A similar declaration, though reversed – a true prophet declaring he does not profit from his prophecies, i.e., unlike a false prophet who is remunerated for prophesying – is found in the Book of Amos:

Amos 7:14 - And Amos replied and said to Amaziah, "I am neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet; but I am a cattle herder and an examiner of sycamores."

Zechariah 13:7 is also a verse that is important to the context, particularly as it applies to the claims made by Christian missionaries:

Zechariah 13:7 - "O sword, awaken against My shepherd, and against the man who is associated with Me!" says the L-rd of Hosts. "Smite the shepherd, and the flock shall scatter, and I will return My hand upon the lower ones."

This shepherd is also the one previously described as foolish and worthless:

Zechariah 11:15-17 – (15) And the L-rd said to me, "Take for yourself yet another thing, the instrument of a foolish shepherd. (16) For, behold! I am setting up a shepherd in the land, he will not remember [to count] those who are missing, nor will he seek the young ones, nor heal the broken one; nor will he feed the one which stands still, but he will eat the meat of the healthy ones, and break their hoofs into pieces. (17) Woe to My worthless shepherd who abandons the flock; may a sword strike his arm and his right eye; his arm shall surely wither, and his right eye will go completely blind.

The fate of this foolish and worthless shepherd a certainty; he will be smitten.

Does Zechariah 13:6 still "point" to Jesus when read in context? It is not likely that Christians will agree to characterize Jesus, their lord and savior, as being a false prophet and a foolish and worthless shepherd.

An Alternate Approach: The False Prophet and Promiscuous Farmhand

Another way of reading the passage, especially Zechariah 13:4-6, gives an interesting twist to this prophecy. The stage is set in the opening verse of the chapter, which implies that sins, such as idolatry and other abominations, will be rampant in the land. Zechariah prophesies that, when the day comes, parents will turn against their own sons, who acted as false prophets and perverted the Word of G-d, and slay them (Zech 13:3). The Prophet adds that all false prophets, when they see that their visions did not materialize, will be ashamed of all they did to deceive the people and will discard their special garb (Zech 13:4).

The conventional translation for Zechariah 13:5 reads:

Zechariah 13:5 - And he shall say, "I am not a prophet; I am a tiller of the soil, for a man entrusted me with his cattle from my youth."

However, the term (hiqnani), commonly translated as [he] entrusted me with his cattle, also has another meaning. (hiqnani) derives from the root (qanah), [to] buy, and is conjugated here in the hiph'il stem in the past tense, which is an active verb construct that renders this term as, [he] who has made [others] buy me. When combined with the reference to the subject's youth, this could easily mean that these people, in addition to being farmhands, were also hired out for some other purpose.

For what purpose might these youthful tillers of the land have been hired out? The next verse, Zechariah 13:6, has the key to the answer. The conventional translation of this verse is:

Zechariah 13:6 - And someone will say to him, "What are these wounds between your hands?" And he shall say, "Because I was beaten in the house of those who love me."

However, the term (m^eahavai), commonly translated as those who love me, or my friends, also has another meaning that is lost in the common renditions. This word (m^eahavai) means my lovers, or my paramours, i.e., those who desire me [sexually]. The term (m^eahavai) is the conjugation of the plural form of the singular masculine noun (m^eahev), lover [in the romantic context; the plural is (m^eahavim), could be applied in either the masculine or the generic context], in the 1^st-person singular, masculine (and feminine) gender, my [male] lovers. The noun (m^eahev), lover, is derived from the root verb (ahav), [to] love, conjugated in the pi'el stem, which is a causative and denominative verb form. There are 16 applications of this noun, in various conjugations, in the Hebrew Bible, where in all cases it is used with the romantic connotation that goes along with sexual desire or lust. Table IV.B-1 shows these 16 instances of the noun along with the common English translations in both Jewish and Christian renditions of the respective passages..

Table IV.B-1 – Applications of the Hebrew noun (m^eahev), lover, in the Hebrew Bible

Hebrew Term	#	Pronunciation	Noun Conjugation	Citation	Typical translations (KJV/ArtScroll Stone Tanach)
	7	m^ea-ha-VA-yich	2^nd-person, singular, feminine	Jeremiah 22:20,22, 30:14; Ezekiel 16:33,36,37, 23:22	thy lovers/your paramours
	5	m^ea-ha-VE-ha	3^rd-person, singular, feminine	Ezekiel 23:5,9; *Hosea 2:9,12,15	her lovers/her paramours
	4	m^ea-ha-VA-i	1^st-person, singular, masculine/feminine	*Hosea 2:7,14; Lamentations 1:19	my lovers/my paramours
	4	m^ea-ha-VA-i	1^st-person, singular, masculine/feminine	Zechariah 13:6	my friends/those who loved me

*The verses Hosea 2:7,9,12,14,15 correspond to Hosea 2:5,7,10,12,13 in Christian Bibles

The proper term to be used in describing those who love someone, not necessarily in the romantic sense, and conjugated in the 1^st-person, singular, masculine or feminine gender, is (ohava'i), those who love me. This noun also derives from the root verb (ahav), [to] love, except that it is conjugated in the pa'al/qal stem, the basic Hebrew verb form. This application is used on 20 occasions, in various conjugations, in the Hebrew Bible, and in five cases in this specific conjugation – at: Exodus 20:6**, Deuteronomy 5:10**, Psalms 38:12, Proverbs 8:17,21 [** - includes the preposition (l^e), to or for].

Sidebar note: Who were the (true) prophets and prophetesses of Israel? What distinguished them from the others? While the gift of prophecy included an ability to foretell the future, a prophet was far more than a person with that capability. A prophet was a spokesperson for G-d, a person ostensibly "chosen" by Him to speak to people on His behalf and convey a message or teaching. [True] prophets were role models of holiness, scholarship, and closeness to G-d, setting the standards for the entire community. Moreover, the primary job of a prophet was not to foretell the future, but to arouse the people and the government to repentance and observance. In the process of executing their primary mission, the prophets often resorted to the description of future events - some in the near future, some in the intermediate future, and some in the distant (messianic era) future.

Considering the conditions of rampant idolatry and other abominations that will prevail in the land just prior to the day when the prophecies in the 13^th chapter in the Book of Zechariah come to pass, it would make one wonder in what kind of activities these individuals – those who were identified as false prophets – were engaging. While it is a fact that tilling the land can cause wounds on hands and arms, perhaps even on legs and feet; from where would wounds "between the hands", i.e., across the chest and perhaps on one's back, come? In what type of activities did these youthful shepherds, farmhands, and false prophets engage when they were not tilling the land and watching the herds?

Under these circumstances, could Zechariah 13:6 still apply to Jesus? Surely, Christians will not want to have a false prophet and a youthful farmhand hired out to engage in acts of abomination as a "type and shadow" of their lord, savior, and messiah Jesus.

These two perspectives on Zechariah 13:6 in context, should serve as sobering "food for thought" to all who attempt to use this verse as a prophecy of Jesus' death.

V. Summary

The analysis of the 13^th chapter in the Book of Zechariah demonstrates the importance of reading and understanding a verse or passage in its proper context.

The claims made by Christian apologists and missionaries concerning Zechariah 13:6 have been refuted, and this verse, when read in context, turns out to be an excellent "counter proof text". Moreover, it is noteworthy that the authors of the New Testament, in their silence on this verse, found no Christological significance in it. This would indicate that the use of this verse by Christian apologists and missionaries is a much more recent development. Perhaps these are some of the reasons that many legitimate Christian apologists no longer use it as a "proof text".

Source: http://www.messiahtruth.com/zec13.html

Feel free to contact me at b_zawadi@hotmail.com

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Debunking "Proof Texts" from the Psalms

Part 7 – The "Big Picture"

Messiah Truth

I. Introduction

In a series of six essays^¹[1]^,^²[2]^,^³[3]^,^⁴[4]^,^⁵[5]^,^⁶[6], 55 claims of Christian "messianic prophecies" in the Psalms and their respective "fulfillments" in the New Testament were investigated, analyzed in detail, and refuted. Literally hundreds of so-called "proof texts" have been identified by Christian apologists and missionaries as representing alleged prophecies in the Christian "Old Testament", which are claimed to have been "fulfilled" by Jesus, the Messiah of Christianity, as recorded in the New Testament. These passages are often also called "messianic prophecies" in Christian sources, a characterization that, likewise, is used in Judaism to identify specific items on the "messianic agenda" that appears in the Hebrew Bible.

The set of "messianic prophecies" identified by Christians in the Christian "Old Testament" is not congruent with the set of "messianic agenda items" that was developed by the Jewish prophets in the Hebrew Bible. At last count, the reference list^⁷[7] that was used in the investigation of the Christian "proof texts" in the Psalms, identified 312 pairs of "messianic prophecy"-"fulfillment" citations, each of which includes a statement of the "messianic prophecy" claimed to have been fulfilled by Jesus. While the Internet abounds with references to these long lists of Christian "proof texts", the equivalent plethora of messianic prophetic texts for the Jewish messianic paradigm does not exist.

This essay presents an overview and an analytical comparison of the Jewish and Christian messianic paradigms.

II. Judaism's Messianic Vision

The Jewish messianic vision is an original concept at the heart of traditional Judaism, and the dream of an eventual redemption is one of its foundations. The Hebrew phrase often associated with a future blissful era, known in Judaism as the messianic era, (aharit ha'yamim), the end of days, appears in the Hebrew Bible as early as Genesis 49:1, where Jacob summons his sons to bestow his blessings upon them. This chapter, and the blessing of Judah in particular, can be considered as the cornerstone of the Jewish messianic paradigm. The full picture of the Jewish messianic vision was developed primarily through the writings of the prophets.

The messianic paradigm of traditional Judaism consists of two main components:

 The central figure, (mashi'ah), who will be in the leadership role, and whose actions will result in major changes to world conditions.

 The "messianic agenda", which consists of the "action items" (the "messianic prophecies" of Judaism) expected to be executed and completed for the messianic era to be a reality.

The following sections provide a closer view at each of these two items.

(mashi'ah)

The (mashi'ah), the anointed one, is the individual whom the Jewish people are awaiting. Although he is the central figure in it, the Jewish messianic vision is not focused him; rather, it addresses his accomplishments. The actions of the (mashi'ah) will induce changes in the real world that will transform it into the picture envisioned by the prophets.

Although he is the central figure in the Jewish messianic vision, few details are recorded in the Hebrew Bible about the (mashi'ah) in terms of specific descriptions of his physical characteristics and attributes. In fact, in its 39 applications in the Hebrew Bible, the term (mashi'ah) is never used in connection with the promised future leader of Israel. One possible reason for this is that, starting in the first century B.C.E., the Jewish messianic paradigm experienced a significant transformation. It shifted away from the idea of a future blissful era, (aharit ha'yamim), the end of days, and evolved into the notion of future mortal leader who will redeem Israel from the oppression the people had been suffering in exile and from enemies who occupied the Holy Land. It was during this time frame that the modern title of (mashi'ah) was adopted as the common reference to this individual, who was expected to be the next occupant of the throne of King David. An interesting by-product of this phenomenon has been that, once this concept took hold, various individuals have appeared and proclaimed themselves, or were proclaimed by others, to be this awaited redeemer.

The information available in the Hebrew Bible spells out the requirements which a legitimate candidate for the "job" of (mashi'ah) must satisfy:

 He must be a biological descendant, the (zera), seed, of King David (Is 11:1; Ezek 37:24-25)

 His lineage to King David must go through King Solomon (2 Sam 7:12-16; 1 Kgs 8:18-20)

 He must be a Jew and Jewish (Deut 17:15,18-20).

It follows from the above requirements that the (mashi'ah) must be born of two human parents – his biological father will transmit to him the lineage to King David, and his biological mother will provide him with his identity as a Jew.

There are bound to be scores of individuals who satisfy these requirements, but this does not guarantee that any one of them will be the (mashi'ah) – they are merely qualified candidates for the "job". In order to be identified and declared as the (mashi'ah), a qualified candidate will have to execute and complete the "messianic agenda" as part of his sovereignty.

The "Messianic Agenda"

The messianic vision of Judaism, which was developed primarily through the writings of the prophets, has as its centerpiece a "messianic agenda". This "messianic agenda" consists of prophetic statements which describe, at various level of detail, the conditions that will prevail in the messianic era. The items on the "messianic agenda" comprise the collection of "messianic prophecies" in traditional Judaism. Table II.B-1 shows a list of the most significant "messianic prophecies" of Judaism found in the Hebrew Bible.^⁸[8]

Table II.B-1 – "Messianic prophecies" of Judaism

#	Statement	Sample Citations^⁹^[9]	Fulfilled?^¹⁰^[10]
1	The appearance of Elijah the prophet will herald the arrival of the (mashi'ah)	Mal 3:23-24[4:5-6]	NO
2	There will prevail a universal knowledge and recognition of G-d	Is 11:9; Zech 14:9	NO
3	There will be a peaceful coexistence of all nations in the world	Is 2:4; Mic 4:3-4	NO
4	All weapons will be destroyed	Ezek 39:9,12	NO
5	There will be an end to evil	Zeph 3:13; Mal 3:19	NO
6	There will be an end to disease and death	Is 25:8, 35:5-6	NO
7	The will be no more famine	Ezek 36:29-30	NO
8	Predatory animals will no longer seek prey	Is 11:6-7, 65:25	NO
9	Part (the outlet) of the Nile River in Egypt will run dry	Is 11:15	NO
10	All exiled Jewish people (12 Tribes) will be repatriated to Israel	Is 11:11-12; Jer 23:7-8	NO
11	"Judah" and "Israel" will be reunited into one people	Is 11:13; Ezek 37:16-22	NO
12	The Third Temple will be built in Jerusalem	Is 33:20; Ezek 37:26-28	NO
13	All Temple worship rituals, including sacrifices, will resume	Ezekiel Chapters 40-48	NO
14	The dead will be resurrected	Is 26:19; Ezek 37:12-13	NO
15	Prophecy will return	Joel 3:1; Mal 3:23[4:5]	NO
16	The Davidic dynasty will be revitalized with the (mashi'ah) and his sons	Ezek 46:16-17; Dan 7:13-14	NO
17	Each Tribe of Israel will receive and settle its inherited land	Ezek 47:13-14, 48:1-70	NO
18	Jewish Law will be the Law of the Land in Israel	Is 11:2-5; Jer 33:15	NO
19	Israel will be the center of all world (political) governments	Is 11:10, 42:6; 60:3	NO
20	Israel will be the spiritual center of the world	Is 2:2-3; Zech 8:23	NO
21	The Gentile nations will recognize they have been wrong	Is 53:1-8; Mic 7:15-16	NO
22	The Gentile nations will help the Jewish people	Is 60:5-6,10-12	NO
23	The Gentile nations will come to Jerusalem to celebrate Sukkot (Festival of Tabernacles)	Zech 14:16	NO
24	The trees of Israel will yield their fruits on a monthly basis	Ezek 47:12	NO

As is evident from this collection of "messianic prophecies", they generally describe the conditions that will prevail during some future period known as the messianic era – they represent the output from a nation that was longing for a better life in a better world. When all the "messianic prophecies" of Judaism are considered, are found to be exhaustive and exclusive, which means that when they are fulfilled, it will not require "faith" to experience the impact of their presence – everyone will know it.

III. Christianity's Messianic Vision

Although Christianity has adopted Judaism's idea that the Messiah will be a descendant of King David, the Christian messianic paradigm is inconsistent with its Jewish counterpart in all other aspects, as will be demonstrated in Section IV.

The common messianic paradigm of Christianity consists of two main components:

 The central figure, Messiah, already came once in fulfillment of prophetic statements in the Christian "Old Testament", and who will return at a future time.

 The "messianic prophecies" fulfilled by the Messiah in his "First Coming".

The following sections provide a closer view at each of these two items.

A. Messiah

The central figure of the Christian messianic vision is the Messiah. The most striking feature of the Christian messianic paradigm is that, by design and unlike Judaism, it is entirely focused on the central figure, Jesus, who is referred to in the Greek Testament by the title Ιησούς Χριστός (Iesous Christos), or Jesus Christ (Jesus the Messiah) – the Anglicized version of the Greek name and title..

According to Christian theology, the nature and mission of the Messiah is that he is both Lord and Savior:

 Jesus is divine since he has always existed as part of the divine godhead^¹¹^[11] (Jo 1:1-2).

 Jesus was "sent to earth" in the form of a man (G-d manifest in the flesh) via the "Virgin Birth", thus making him the son of G-d (Mt 1:23; Mk 1:1).

 Jesus came as the Messiah in order to redeem (or save) humanity by removing the stain of the "Original Sin" through his sacrificial death on the cross (2 Tim 1:9-10; 1 Jo 4:14).

 In his "Second Coming", Jesus will reign over the Kingdom of Heaven (Mt 5:19, 7:21; Heb 9:28).

In his role as Lord and Savrior, Jesus is said to have fulfilled all the prophecies about him in the Christian "Old Testament".

B. The "Messianic Prophecies"

According to Christian theology, the Messiah fulfilled all the prophecies in the Christian "Old Testament" which were spoken about him. These "messianic prophecies" consist of passages, single verses, or even portions of a verse in the Christian "Old Testament", and the same is true of their respective "fulfillment texts" in the New Testament. The list of the 55 "messianic prophecy"-"fulfillment" pairs investigated in the previous six essays typifies the contents of the complete reference list (see footnote 7). For reference, the results of the analysis are reproduced in Table III.B-1 (sequence numbers were added for clarification).

Table III.B-1 – The "messianic prophecies" of Christianity in Psalms 8, 16, 18, 27, 31, 34, 35, 38, 40, 41, 45, 55, 68, 69 78, 80, 89, 102, 109, 118, and 132, and their "fulfillments"

#	Statement	Citations		Valid?^¹²^[12]
#	Statement	"Prophecy"	"Fulfillment"	Valid?^¹²^[12]
1	Infants would give praise to the Messiah	Psalms 8:3[2]	Matthew 21:16	NO
2	The Messiah would be given authority over all things	Psalms 8:7[6]	Matthew 28:18	NO
3	The Messiah would be resurrected	Psalms 16:8-10a	Matthew 28:6	NO
4	The Messiah's body would not be subject to decay	Psalms 16:8-10b	Acts 13:35-37	NO
5	The Messiah would be exalted to the presence of G-d	Psalms 16:11	Acts 2:25-33	NO
6	The Messiah would come for all people	Psalms 18:50[49]	Ephesians 3:4-6	NO
7	The Messiah's enemies would stumble and fall when they came for him	Psalms 27:2	John 18:3-6	NO
8	The Messiah would be accused by false witnesses	Psalms 27:12	Matthew 26:59-61	NO
9	None of the Messiah's bones would be broken	Psalms 34:21[20]	John 19:32-33	NO
10	There would be plots to kill the Messiah	Psalms 31:14[13]	Matthew 27:1	NO
11	There would be plots to kill the Messiah	Psalms 31:14[13]	Matthew 27:1	NO
12	The Messiah would be accused by false witnesses	Psalms 35:11	Mark 14:55-59	NO
13	The Messiah would be hated by many without cause	Psalms 35:19	John 18:19-23	NO
14	The Messiah would be silent before his accusers	Psalms 38:14-15[13-14]	Matthew 26:62-63	NO
15	The Messiah's offering of himself would replace all sacrifices	Psalms 40:7-9a[6-8a]	Hebrews 10:10-13	NO
16	The Messiah would say the scriptures were written of him	Psalms 40:7-9b[6-8b]	Luke 24:44	NO
17	The Messiah would come to do God's will	Psalms 40:8-9[7-8]	John 5:30	NO
18	The Messiah would not conceal his mission from the congregation	Psalms 40:10-11[9-10]	Luke 4:16-21	NO
19	The Messiah's betrayer would be a friend whom he broke bread with	Psalms 41:10[9]	Mark 14:17-18	NO
20	The Messiah would speak with a message of grace	Psalms 45:3[2]	Luke 4:22	?		NO
21	The Messiah's throne would be everlasting	Psalms 45:7-8a[6-7a]	Luke 1:31-33	?		NO
22	The Messiah would be God	Psalms 45:7-8b[6-7b]	Hebrews 1:8-9	NO
23	The Messiah would act with righteousness	Psalms 45:7-8c[6-7c]	John 5:30	?		NO
24	The Messiah would be betrayed by a friend	Psalms 55:13-15[12-14]	Luke 22:47-48	NO
25	The Messiah would ascend into heaven	Psalms 68:19a[18a]	Luke 24:51	NO
26	The Messiah would give gifts to men	Psalms 68:19b[18b]	Matthew 10:1	NO
27	The Messiah would be hated by many without cause	Psalms 69:5[4]	Luke 23:13-22	NO
28	The Messiah would bear reproach, for God's sake	Psalms 69:8[7]	Matthew 26:65-67	NO
29	The Messiah would be rejected by the Jews	Psalms 69:9a[8a]	John 1:11	NO
30	The Messiah's brothers would disbelieve him	Psalms 69:9b[8b]	John 7:3-5	NO
31	The Messiah would be angered by disrespect toward the temple	Psalms 69:10a[9a]	John 2:13-17	NO
32	The Messiah would bear reproach, for God's sake	Psalms 69:10b[9b]	Romans 15:3	NO
33	The Messiah's heart would be broken	Psalms 69:21a[20a]	John 19:34	NO
34	The Messiah's disciples would fail him in his time of need	Psalms 69:21b[20b]	Mark 14:33-41	NO
35	The Messiah would be offered gall and vinegar	Psalms 69:22a[21a]	Matthew 27:34	NO
36	The Messiah would thirst	Psalms 69:22b[21b]	John 19:28	NO
37	The potter's field would be uninhabited	Psalms 69:26[25]	Acts 1:16-20	NO
38	The Messiah would speak in parables	Psalms 78:2	Matthew 13:34-35	NO
39	The Messiah would be at the right hand of God	Psalms 80:18[17]	Acts 5:31	NO
40	The Messiah would be a descendant of David	Psalms 89:4-5[3-4]	Matthew 1:1	?		NO
41	The Messiah would call God his Father	Psalms 89:27[26]	Matthew 11:27	NO
42	The Messiah would be God's "firstborn."	Psalms 89:28[27]	Mark 16:6	?		NO
43	The Messiah would be a descendant of David	Psalms 89:30[29]	Matthew 1:1	?		NO
44	The Messiah would be a descendant of David	Psalms 89:36-37[35-36]	Matthew 1:1	?		NO
45	The Messiah would be eternal	Psalms 102:26-28a[25-27a]	Colossians 1:17	NO
46	The Messiah would be the creator of all	Psalms 102:26-28b[25-27b]	John 1:3	NO
47	The Messiah would be accused by false witnesses	Psalms 109:2	John 18:29-30	NO
48	The Messiah would pray for his enemies	Psalms 109:4	Luke 23:34	NO
49	The Messiah's betrayer would have a short life	Psalms 109:8a	Acts 1:16-18	NO
50	The Messiah's betrayer would be replaced	Psalms 109:8b	Acts 1:20-26	NO
51	The Messiah would be mocked by people shaking their heads	Psalms 109:25	Mark 15:29-30	NO
52	The Messiah would be the "stone" rejected by the Jews	Psalms 118:22	Matthew 21:42-43	NO
53	The Messiah would come in the name of the Lord	Psalms 118:26	Matthew 21:9	NO
54	The Messiah would be a descendant of David	Psalms 132:11	Matthew 1:1	?	NO
55	The Messiah would be a descendant of David	Psalms 132:17	Matthew 1:1	?	NO

As is evident from the above list, the "messianic prophecies" of Christianity are Messiah-centric, i.e., they deal with the Messiah's origin, his attributes, his personal life's ordeals, and his death and resurrection. This is likely to be a result of the belief by Christians that G-d, via His direct intervention in human history, made His will and purpose known to mankind when He sent His "son", Jesus, to fulfill these "messianic prophecies". Thus, for Christians, the concept of "messianic prophecy" is the product of a "new revelation", and that the last word on the meaning of specific "messianic prophecies" in the Christian "Old Testament", accordingly, is found in the New Testament and in Jesus himself. For Christians, the Messiah already came and fulfilled all these "messianic prophecies", and they are now awaiting his "Second Coming".

IV. The Two Messianic Visions: How Do They Compare?

Each of the two major components from the two messianic paradigms are compared respectively by contrasting several elements that characterize significant attributes and function. The tabular forms of these comparisons will show how they compare against each other, and how they compare against the accounts found the Hebrew Bible.

(mashi'ah) versus Jesus

Items that characterize the respective central figures of the Jewish and Christian messianic visions are compared in Table IV.A-1.

Table IV.A-1 – Comparing the central figures

Item	Judaism's () (mashi'ah)	Christianity's () Messiah	Compatible with…
			Each Other	Hebrew Bible
			Each Other		
Pedigree	Will be a bloodline descendant of King David, born of earthly parents	Was born of a virgin who conceived from the Holy Spirit	NO	YES*	NO
Birthplace	Not specified	Bethlehem	NO	YES"	NO
Nature	Will be a mortal human	Is the divine son of G-d	NO	YES*	NO
Function	Will be a righteous king who will redeem and restore Israel	Served as a sin sacrifice to atone for the sins of mankind	NO	YES*	NO
Reign	Earthly kingdom	Non (1^st advent). Kingdom of heaven (2^nd advent)	NO	YES*	NO
Family Status	Will marry and have children	Was not married and did not father children	NO	YES*	NO
Advent	Will make one appearance, which is still being awaited	Came once, died, resurrected, and will come again	NO	YES*	NO

* By default

This comparison demonstrates that the central figure of Judaism's messianic vision, (mashi'ah), is incompatible with Jesus, the central figure of Christianity's messianic vision. This comparison also shows that Jesus does not fit the few descriptions of attributes of (mashi'ah) in the Hebrew Bible.

The "Messianic Agenda" versus the "Messianic Prophecies"

Items that characterize the respective prophetic components of the Jewish and Christian messianic visions are compared in Table IV.B-1.

Table IV.B-1 – Comparing the prophetic components

Item	Judaism's () "Messianic Agenda"	Christianity's () "Messianic Prophecies"	Compatible with…
			Each Other	Hebrew Bible
			Each Other		
Number	Between two- and three-dozen	Over three hundred	NO	YES*	NO
Function	To describe the conditions that will prevail in the messianic era	To describe Jesus, his life's ordeals, and to glorify him	NO	YES*	NO
Status	Unfulfilled. To be executed and completed by (mashi'ah).	Fulfilled by Jesus in his "First Coming"	NO	YES*	NO
Validation	Upon completion, the resultant changes in the world will be real – perceptible, tangible, and "measurable"	Their fulfillment and resultant changes must be accepted on faith	NO	YES*	NO

* By default

This comparison demonstrates that Judaism's "messianic agenda" and Christianity's "messianic prophecies" are incompatible. This comparison also shows that the prophetic component of the Christian messianic vision is incompatible with accounts contained in the Hebrew Bible.

General Observations

Beyond the results obtained from these detailed comparisons, several additional points of interest concerning the two messianic paradigms are worth noting:

 The "certainty of the end" is, at least conceptually, a common idea in both Judaism and Christianity. However, a major difference that sets apart the two messianic visions is that, in Judaism, history moves toward the coming of (mashi'ah), whereas, in Christianity, the belief is that the Messiah has already come and the doctrinal focus is on the fundamental belief rather on the Messiah's return.

 The term "Messiah" has different definitions as used in Judaism and in Christianity. (mashi'ah) and its application is original to Judaism, whereas Messiah as applied in Christianity has its origin in pagan beliefs.

 The Davidic lineage of (mashi'ah) is a biblical requirement in Judaism, whereas, in Christianity, the relationship of the Messiah to King David is viewed as messianic prophecy.

 The significant disparity in the number of Judaism's "messianic agenda" items and Christianity's "(fulfilled) messianic prophecies" is due, in part, to the method of enumeration. In Judaism's messianic vision, all occasions in the Hebrew Bible where the same "messianic agenda" item is referenced are counted as one item. In Christianity's messianic vision, each reference in the Christian "Old Testament" to the same "messianic prophecy" is counted as a separate item. For example, 15 cited references to Jesus being G-d's son (including "firstborn") are counted as 15 "messianic prophecies", 13 cited references to Jesus being a descendant of King David are counted as 13 "messianic prophecies", 12 cited references to Jesus bearing the sins of man are counted as 12 "messianic prophecies, etc. This is artificial "inflation"!

 The invention of a "Second Coming" and adding it to Christianity's messianic paradigm is a de facto concession by Christians that their Messiah failed to bring about the blissful era that is foretold in the Hebrew Bible. It is unbiblical!

 The Christian messianic vision relies heavily on the "art of circular reasoning". In other words, Jesus can be positively identified as the subject of these "messianic prophecies" (i.e., "proof texts") only if one believes in him in the first place (i.e., in what is written about him in the New Testament). This is not at all a "proof"!

These issues reinforce the fact that, although superficially the two messianic paradigms may bear some structural resemblance, a close examination of their respective components demonstrates their differences and incompatibility.

V. Summary

The results obtained from investigating the validity of 55 claimed Christian "messianic prophecies" in a collection of Psalms and their respective "fulfillments" in the New Testament revealed a significant disparity in the Jewish and Christian perspectives on "messianic prophecy". The purpose of the analysis presented in this essay was to get at the root of this disparity by examining the general framework of the respective messianic visions of Judaism and Christianity.

A comparison of the basic elements within each of the two main components that comprise the Judaism's and Christianity's messianic paradigms – the central figure and the prophetic texts – helped illustrate how they are inconsistent and incompatible with each other. Moreover, since Judaism's messianic paradigm is based on the Hebrew Bible, it follows that Christianity's messianic paradigm, being incompatible with that of Judaism, is incongruous with the Hebrew Bible as well. It is, therefore, reasonable to posit that the incongruity of the two views on "messianic prophecy" is related to their respective genesis.

Judaism's messianic paradigm evolved within the Hebrew Bible and it focused, via prophetic statements, on a future era of happiness and joy for Israel in a better world, not on the central figure who will lead Israel at that time, and whose specific identity was never disclosed. On the other hand, Christianity's messianic paradigm was designed and recorded in the New Testament ex post facto, i.e., after the fact – long after the canon of the Hebrew Bible was sealed and at least a decade after the advent of Jesus. So that, with its central figure identified as Jesus, it was and easy task for the authors of the New Testament to complete the picture. They hunted through the Christian "Old Testament" for passages that could be construed, often with the help some editorial liberties, as "prophecies" that related to Jesus – knowing the "outcome" makes it easy to look for and, if needed, invent statements that "predict" it. The purpose of this large quantity of these "messianic prophecies" and their respective "fulfillments" was to help convince people that they were true.

Although these lists of over 300 "messianic prophecies"-"fulfillments" pairs are invoked with pride and reverence by Christian apologists and missionaries as "evidence" of the absolute truth of their beliefs, the first six essays in this series demonstrated that, under scrutiny, they fall apart and invalidate the Christian messianic vision, which claims that it is rooted in the Hebrew Bible.

Source: www.messiahtruth.com/psalms7.html

Feel free to contact me at b_zawadi@hotmail.com

Return to Refuting Alleged Old Testament Prophecies Pointing to Jesus

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1^[1] Debunking "Proof Texts" from the Psalms, Part 1 - Psalms 8, 16, 18 - http://www.messiahtruth.com/psalms1.html

2^[2] Debunking "Proof Texts" from the Psalms, Part 2 – Psalms 27, 31, 34, 35, 38 - http://www.messiahtruth.com/psalms2.html

3^[3] Debunking "Proof Texts" from the Psalms, Part 3 – Psalms 40, 41, 45 - http://www.messiahtruth.com/psalms3.html

4^[4] Debunking "Proof Texts" from the Psalms, Part 4 – Psalms 55, 68, 78, 80, and 89 –

http://www.messiahtruth.com/psalms4.html

5^[5] Debunking "Proof Texts" from the Psalms, Part 5 – Psalms 69 –

http://www.messiahtruth.com/psalms5.html

6^[6] Debunking "Proof Texts" from the Psalms, Part 6 – Psalms 102, 109, 118, and 132 –

http://www.messiahtruth.com/psalms6.html

7^[7] 300⁺ Messianic Prophecies: Prophecies From the Old Testament that Reveal that Jesus is the Messiah - http://www.gotell.gracenet.org/gbn12.htm

8^[8] This list is not exhaustive. It contains those items on which there is relatively uniform consensus within traditional Judaism.

9^[9] In most cases, there are multiple sources of which only a sample is cited. Where verse numbers differ between the Hebrew Bible and the Christian "Old Testament", the citation shows the (chapter and) verse number in the Hebrew Bible first, followed by the (chapter and) verse number in the Christian "Old Testament" in brackets. Example: Mal 3:23-24[4:5-6].

10^[10] A prophecy has been fulfilled when the foretold event or condition has been realized, and that one needs no longer await its completion or fulfillment. On the other hand, a prophecy where the foretold event or condition has not yet occurred, or has not been completed, remains a prophecy not fulfilled.

11^[11] The overwhelming majority of Christians adhere to the doctrine of the Trinity, though some denominations do not accept the notion of a triune godhead.

12^[12] A single entry indicates that the same answer applies to both "Prophecy" and "Fulfillment" claims. Two entries signify different answers for the "Prophecy" and "Fulfillment", respectively.

سيف الإسلام للرد على الشبهات

السبت، 27 يونيو 2020

المزامير ودانيال 9 و ارميا وزكريا

I. Introduction

B. Segment B

IV. Summary

Addressing Micah 5:2

I. Introduction

I. Introduction

II. The Hebrew Text and Several Christian and Jewish Translations

III. Overview of Christian and Jewish Interpretations

Source: http://www.messiahtruth.com/zec1210.html

Zechariah 12:10

I. Introduction

II. Christian and Jewish Translations of Jeremiah 31:30-36[31-37]

III. Overview of Christian and Jewish Interpretations

I. Introduction

II. Comparison of Christian and Jewish English Translations

III. Overview of Christian and Jewish Interpretations

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