Biblical Sabbath Laws: Did Jesus break The Sabbath and Does God Work on The Sabbath?
I uploaded a video in 2016 in which I claimed that Jesus broke the Sabbath. Six years later my views have not changed. I still believe Jesus and his Disciples broke Sabbath Laws, not just according to Talmudic Traditions but also from the Prophets. The incident at the Pool of Bethsaida in John Ch. 5 and the Disciples picking grain on Sabbath, Luke Ch.6, are just two examples.
This year (2022), I revisited my Sabbath studies and collected some excellent information from George Foot Moore’s Works on Judaism. I’ve decided to add the information to my video as a new article. After studying George Foot Moore’s writings, I was made aware that in 2016, I missed some crucial information from the Prophets about the Sabbath.
In this article I will touch on Midrash and Judaism’s Primary and Secondary systems of Sabbath Laws. I will also mention what I missed in my 2016 video from Jeremiah and Amos on Sabbath and what I believe Jesus was demonstrating at the Pool of Bethsaida. I will conclude with whether or not God works on Sabbath.
Even in Jesus’s day Midrash was influential among the Pharisees, Sadducees, and the Essenes. Let me briefly mention what Midrash is. In his book Questions and Answers, Intellectual Foundations of Judaism, Jacob Neusner describes Midrash as follows: Midrash supplies interpretation and meanings to the text. There are mainly two forms of Midrash, Halakah for Legal purposes and Aggadah for narrative and theology. In short, Midrash means interpretation.
In Judaism, Midrash has been assigned to the Rabba’s and Talmud, although, I do believe Midrash can also be found in the TaNaKh. And, yes, I can prove that! But why even mention the Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, or Midrash for that matter? Because it shows that the vast majority of TaNaKh (Old Testament) Laws were open to interpretation. If a Primary Law lacked clarity, it needed a Secondary Law. Otherwise, the people wouldn’t know what they were supposed to do.
This is the predicament I believe the Jewish scholars found themselves in. The Biblical Laws can sometimes be vague and fragmented, hence the need for Midrash (Interpretation). “You shall not work on the Sabbath in ploughing time or harvest.” Work (ploughing) needed defining in this case. Especially for an agrarian community whose very survival depended on working. But the problem with interpretation is, how much interpretation is enough? There seems to be no end to Midrash.
If the truth be known, the Jewish sects of the 1st Century AD, not only disagreed on the Primary Laws but also on the Secondary Laws. According to Moore, three hundred disagreements between the Pharisees and the Sadducees are recorded in the Talmud. Although, at one point a voice spoke from Heaven at the Council of Yavneh. The voice told them both Schools had the Words of the Living God, but Hillel’s (Pharisees) Halakah Laws are to be followed. It must’ve been a huge relief for the Pharisees and Johanan ben Zakkai who was reforming the Council at that time.
In the end the Pharisees became the dominant force in Judaism. We know from history that the Essenes died out shortly after the destruction of the Second Temple. The Sadducees hung around a bit longer, but with no Temple and a Great Bet Din (Sanhedrin) that became infiltrated by wealthy Pharisees, they also faced becoming redundant. The final nail in the coffin for the Sadducees was when the doctrine of The Resurrection of the Dead became finalized.
The Sadducees did not believe in the Resurrection of the Dead and were considered heretics by the Pharisees. Heretics had no place in the world to come according to the Pharisees and with that the Sadducees perished. If there was only one example of Midrash, the doctrine of The Resurrection of the Dead would be it in a nutshell. Because it allowed an expansion of the very fleeting mention in only a couple of Scriptures to exclude a whole religious sect as heretics.
I hope by now you appreciate that I am endeavouring to point out that the Laws in the TaNaKh (Old Testament) were sometimes fragmented and vague. And even those who claimed to have God’s Word, disagreed on what exactly God’s Word was. It is my opinion that Old Testament Sabbath Laws were challenging and because of that so much clarification was needed. A whole Tractate in Talmud is devoted to just the Sabbath.
There are, however, Sabbath Laws which are somewhat clearer in Jeremiah and Amos. They do relate back to my video from 2016 but back then when I made the video, I wasn’t aware of ‘Carrying Laws’ in Jeremiah. Neither did I fully understand the issue with the Disciples picking grain on the Sabbath. But thanks to George Foot Moore, I now do.
In Jeremiah Ch.17:21-22, the Prophet is very specific about bearing burdens. He says, “Bear no burdens”, “Nor carry a burden out of your house on the Sabbath Day.” One can assume then that carrying inside the house is perfectly fine. Since Jeremiah, Carrying Laws have taken on so many more Secondary Laws, such as carrying in alley ways or whether the alley ways have open or closed ends. It’s in the video.
If we are to accept that Jeremiah instituted those ‘Carrying Laws’, then I can understand why the religious authorities had a problem with Jesus telling the man to take up his bed and walk. We have a similar incident with the Disciples picking grain on Sabbath (Matthew 12:1-21; Mark 2:23; Luke 6:1-11) and the Sabbath Laws in Amos. Amos expounds Sabbath Laws from Exodus. Exodus 34:21 says, “You shall not work on the Sabbath in ploughing time or harvest.” Amos in Ch.8:5, adds trading grains and making profits on the Sabbath to ploughing and harvest as things forbidden.
But what has agricultural ploughing and selling grains have to do with the Disciples picking grain on the Sabbath? Well, it’s all in the definition of what ploughing means or how it was interpreted. The definition of the Primary Law of Exodus 34:21 has Secondary Laws which includes, planting, plucking, reaping, picking food and grinding. A total of thirty-nine laws have been derived from “You shall not work on the Sabbath in ploughing time or harvest”. And it was the picking and the grinding (rubbing) of the hands together (Luke 6:1) to separate the wheat from the husks that was in violation of Secondary Sabbath Laws.
Technically it was perceived as “Work.” Jesus justified their actions by saying, “Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath.” In other words, the day should never take precedence over a human being, the needs of the Disciples to eat was greater than observing a rule. There is one other thing that Jesus said, which is often overlooked in disputes about whether he declared his Deity or not. In these Sabbath interactions with the Pharisees, Jesus said, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:8).
To the average person this might not mean much, but if ever there was a claim to his Deity this was it. Jewish literature and myths references “God of the Sabbath” and ‘Lord of the Sabbath”. The Pharisees would’ve known exactly what he meant. For me it is reminiscent of what the Apostle John said, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.”, “All things were made through him and without him nothing was made. (John 1:1-3). That includes Sabbath.
Perhaps it is with this mindset that Jesus approached the incident at the Pool of Bethsaida. Since he was Lord of the Sabbath and that he was the one who instituted Sabbath in the first place. It was an outrageous claim to make, and the Pharisees rightfully saw it as making himself equal with God. Let’s look again at the events as they unfolded on that Sabbath Day. There was a man who sat patiently at the Pool of Bethsaida hoping to receive a healing miracle, he’d been disabled for thirty-eight years.
Of all the days, the Sabbath was chosen for the waters of the Pool to be supernaturally stirred. At which point, people jumped into the Pool and received their healing. Due to his disability the man was unable to lower himself into the Pool. And, personally, I think the Carrying Laws would’ve stifled any hope of others carrying him into the water. As I understand it, Jesus healed him where he was sitting and there was no need for him to be lowered into the water. But the breach occurred when Jesus asked him to take up his bed and walk, which meant breaking what Jeremiah said in Ch.17:21-22.
I can’t help thinking this was intentional on Jesus’s part, to show that mercy should out way rules. It was merciful to not let that man wait any longer and all things considered, his chances of getting into the Pool were pretty limited. Which brings me to another highly controversial topic in this whole scenario. Jesus said, “My Father has been Working until now and I have been Working” (John 5:17). It is clear that even John believed that an Angel stirred the waters (John 5:4). But my understanding is that the Father, stirred the waters, prompting Jesus to say, “My Father is Working.” What does that say about Genesis Ch.2:2 (God’s rest) was it a one-off? And does God in fact Work on the Sabbath?
If we are to take Jesus’s statement about the Father Working on Sabbath at face value, then God’s rest in Genesis 2:2 was not for his benefit but for our benefit. “The Sabbath was made for man.” It’s clear from all other Scriptures that God never tires, slumbers, or sleeps. So, it seems ironic to me that after creation, God got tired and needed a rest. Instead, what God did, was create a day, which he blessed to create a separation from labour. Jesus never denied a day of rest, but for him it was about getting our priorities right. Whether we believe God stirred the waters or an Angel stirred the waters is irrelevant. Even if the Angel stirred the waters, then God instructed the Angel to Work on Sabbath.
On this whole question on whether God Works on the Sabbath, there is a passage in Talmud which suggests a minim challenged the Rabbi’s on this very topic. Why does God not keep Sabbath? Since the incident occurred in 95 AD, it’s not likely a Christian minim although that cannot be ruled out. But it is my understanding that Philo first raised the issue about God working on Sabbath. According to the Rabbi’s God does Work on Sabbath. Since the heavens and the earth are his dominion, he can move about freely and work just like humans can move about in their homes on Sabbath. Make of that what you will.
In concluding, if there is any one creed that epitomizes Judaism, it is the Sabbath. The Sabbath is an Eternal Covenant between God and the Jews! I tend to agree that it is only for the Jews, because of the complexities that have surrounded it. Jubilees and Talmud state that Sabbath is for the Jews and the concept of Rest was created for them and not for Gentiles. Although Jesus did say, the Sabbath was given to man in general, which for me means all peoples. But as a day of rest and reflection, not as a day of rules and regulations.
“My Father has been Working until now and I have been Working” (John 5:17). Is what Jesus said, despite us having a preconceived notion that God observed Sabbath from Genesis 2:2. The idea that God does work on Sabbath was explained away by 1st Century AD Rabbi’s as God working in his own house which happened to be Heaven and Earth. While on this earth, Jesus, and his Disciples didn’t always obey Sabbath rules. Not all of the rules they disobeyed were from the Rabba’s or Talmud, some were also from the Prophets like Jeremiah. Jeremiah defined Carrying Laws but since then these laws have grown enormously. This is because of Midrash and the need to clarify and expound on Biblical Laws.
Biblical Sabbath in my opinion is part of the Mosaic and Talmudic Law. As a Christian, I cannot keep Sabbath as a Law. If I kept it as a Law, then I would also have to accept the punishment for breaking it. The punishment for not keeping Biblical Sabbath as a Law is Capital Punishment, death by stoning (Exodus 31:12-18; Numbers 15:32-36), Rest or Die! I’m not sure about you, but I am not at liberty to go around killing people for picking up a few sticks to light a fire.
Since Messianic Judaism (which is an oxymoron by the way, there is no such thing) arrived on the scene, Christians have been caught up in many Jewish practices, and keeping Sabbath is just one of those practices. They light candles which is from a Talmud they’ve never read, and they sing Sabbath songs to the Queen of Heaven. Yet Jesus tells us that his yoke is easy, and his burden is light. The greatest burden you can bear is the burden of guilt and shame for not following a myriad of Sabbath rules and regulations. And the only burden you need to bear as a Christian is to share the Gospel with a lost world.
Cheryl Mason
Bibliography
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Bible.ca. 2019. Early Christians always met on the First day (Sunday) and never kept the sabbath! [online] Available at: <http://www.bible.ca/H-sunday.htm> [Accessed 12 July 2019].
Chabad.org. 2016. Judaism, Torah and Jewish Info – Chabad Lubavitch. [online] Available at: <http://chabad.org> [Accessed 14 October 2016].
Chevallier, R. and Whittingham A.M., W., 1834. A Translation of The Epistles of Clement Of Rome, Polycarp And Ignatius, And of The First Apology Of Justin Martyr. New York: The New York Protestant Episcopal Press.
Crafts, W., n.d. The Sabbath for man: a study of the origin, obligation, history, advantages and present state of Sabbath obsevance.
Jefford, C., 2012. Reading the Apostolic Fathers. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.
Lightfoot Moore, G., 1997. Judaism In the First Centuries of the Christian Era: The Age of Tannaim Volumes 1,2 & 3. 1st ed. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers.
Neusner, J., 2005. Questions and Answers Intellectual Foundations of Judaism. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., pp.41-44.
Neusner, J., 2005. The Babylonian Talmud. Peabody, Mass: Hendrickson Publishers.
O’Loughlin, T., 2010. The Didache. London: SPCK.
Patzia, A., 2011. Making of the New Testament. Downers Grove, Ill.: Intervarsity Press.
Pritchard, J., 1969. Ancient Near Eastern texts relating to the Old Testament. Edited by James B. Pritchard. Third edition with supplement. Princeton: Princeton University Press, pp.286,287.
Sayce, A., 2004. The Early History of the Hebrews. [Whitefish, Mont.]: Kessinger Publishing.
Schauss, H. and Schauss, H., 1996. The Jewish festivals. New York: Schocken Books.
Youngblood, R., Bruce, F. and Harrison, R., 1995. Nelson’s new illustrated Bible dictionary. Nashville: T. Nelson.
My 2016 video on Jesus Broke The Sabbath.
My Breast Cancer Diagnosis and Subsequent Recovery:
In August (2022) I was diagnosed with Invasive Lobular Breast Cancer. Like all the stories in my life, it is filled with gratitude for God, thankfulness to a great medical team, a wonderful family, and supportive friends. It was a fluke that they found it so early and that was a miracle in itself. In the words of Albert Einstein, “You can live your life as if everything is a miracle or nothing is a miracle.” For me, everything about this episode of my life to date has been a miracle and I hope it will continue to be that way.
I did question God as to why he sent this disease my way and if there was a lesson for me to learn. I now realize, not everything is from God or the Devil, sometimes things just happen and I’m certain this is just one of those things. In the past I received a considerable amount of radiation and HRT which could’ve been the main reason for these tumours. Whatever the cause, it was quite miraculously discovered, removed by a great surgical team and I recovered almost immediately. I didn’t even need one pain killer since coming home from the hospital and after I have some treatment, I should be able to continue as normal. For all this I thank God, and everyone who helped and prayed for me. I live in a great country and have an amazing group of family and friends. I feel truly blessed!
This is what I learnt during my experience:
- I always believed Jesus walked beside me, now I know He walks in front of me and prepares the way ahead. Every little detail was prepared, before the first prayer even went up and before I even knew I had breast cancer.
- Sometimes in life’s journey, we find ourselves facing a spiritual detour. It’s not dissimilar to facing a physical detour, the signs point us in another direction and often we haven’t got a clue where we are heading. But we trust the signs…the detour is not always a bad thing, it delays us, causes us some anxiety, but what a relief when we find ourselves back on familiar ground. We experience new things while on a detour, we see new things and get to go places we’ve never gone before. Detours are an unavoidable aspect of life, so enjoy the ride!
- I had no fear during the whole experience, and that is because I do not fear death. But like detours, death is also an unavoidable aspect of life. We will all die sometime but when and how is the question. As someone who takes her direction from the teachings of Jesus, I know he has gone before me to prepare a place for me and when it is ready, he will take me to be with him. At the time I was contemplating Jesus’s teachings, I looked across at a beautiful house that was being built. I thought to myself, what if when the builder calls his client and says, “Your house is ready, here are the keys”, and the client says, “No thanks, I’ll stay in my rental.” For me, when my place is ready, it is ready, I am taking those keys and will not choose to remain on this earth one minute longer. This earth is only our temporary housing, our next destination is eternal.
Cheryl Mason.
Chosen: A Biblical Perspective, Predestination, and the Purpose of being Chosen.
In this article, I will consider the following: Firstly, I will explore what it means to be Chosen from a biblical perspective. Secondly, I will examine the concept of being Chosen and Predestination through the eyes of the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures. Thirdly, I will address whether there is a cost to being Chosen? Lastly, I will give you my understanding of God’s Purpose behind the Chosen concept in the Bible. We need to ponder this last aspect carefully because misunderstanding it can lead to pride, a sense of entitlement and unnecessary suffering for those we consider Unchosen.
What does it mean to be Chosen?
The concept of being chosen in a physical and spiritual sense is throughout the Bible. But what does it mean to be chosen? After reading many dictionary definitions of what chosen means, I arrived at this standard explanation. Chosen means that a group or individuals were handpicked or selected not necessarily because they were the best but because they were the most appropriate for the task ahead. What task you may ask? According to the Bible, the task to advance God’s Kingdom and be A Light to the Nations. That is the task ─ it is the thread that runs from the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) through to the Christian New Testament.
From the Hebrew Scriptures we know that Ancient Israel accepted their Covenant at Mount Sinai and thus became the Chosen People. Apart from the national (corporate) choosing many individuals were also chosen for specific tasks. Moses and Aron were chosen, David, Solomon, Ezekiel, Elijah, and the list goes on and on. Others were chosen at the expense of still others being Unchosen, Jacob and Esau for example. Although with Jacob and Esau, we have the choosing but Jacob still had to wrestle with God to get his blessing. Which for me is reminiscent of what Jesus said, “Many are Called but few are Chosen.” (Matthew 22:14).
Being chosen requires some effort on our part. Action or a commission always follows a choosing. Action needs obedience, and there lies God’s Justification (Justice) for choosing. God chooses and commissions, if we obey, we stay chosen, if we don’t, we are rejected. As harsh as that sounds, it is the only way for God to remain fair and just to all humankind.
Chosen ─ A Jewish and Christian perspective.
The term Chosen/Chosen Ones is highly favoured by the biblical authors and therefore is an essential element in both religions. Although, the term may be more significant to Jewish people than it is to Christians. Being The Chosen People is undoubtedly the most essential element in Judaism, it is a core tenet. Being chosen, covenant, promises, purpose are the key elements of their Mount Sinai experience.
Jewish literature affirms that everything including creation was for the Chosen People. Louis Ginzberg in Legends of the Jews informs us that the other nations became curious as to why God had chosen the Israelites. To which God replied, “Bring me the records” … and in doing so God was able to prove that Ancient Israel was pure and without blemish. The Nations applauded and the Torah was then handed to Israel.
We also need to include the biblical commentary of such a significant calling, and who better to quote than the Israelite Prophets. The Prophets were never very flattering with their assessments on anything, and it’s no wonder people called Elijah “The Troubler of Israel.” (1 Kings 18:17). It is so much better to appreciate the specialness of being chosen, rather than be faced with the brutal honesty of the Prophet Ezekiel. Ezekiel, in the most offensive language to any Israelite tells them your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. That they were like an unwanted child, whose cord wasn’t cut, nor were they cleansed after their birth. There was no one to wrap them in swaddling garments, they were loathed and thrown into an open field to die.
Here were a people rejected, so, God took compassion on them and said to them, “Live, yes, I said to you Live!” And with that, Israel the people of God lived and still live today as a testament to God’s mercy (Ezekiel Ch.16). But no Covenant is ever one sided, it takes Two to Tango and two to Cut Covenant. Israel’s response to being Chosen was firstly to obey God’s voice (Exodus 19:5) and accept the Commandments (Exodus 19:8), “All that the Lord has spoken WE WILL DO.” There were consequences if they did not obey.
Transitioning from the Hebrew Scriptures to the Christian Scriptures we see a clear change in focus as the word Chosen is used to describe Christians. For Christians however, the focus of being A Chosen People is not a high priority. We are aware of the New Testament passages, but in all fairness most Christians are still caught up with the Jews being the Chosen People. That aside, for the Christian, being chosen should be all about Purpose. Christians are Called and Chosen for the single Purpose of Proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom of Heaven to every Tongue and Nation. Something the majority of them Do NOT DO. Recent statistics show that six out of every ten Christians do not share their faith and worse still do not know how to share their faith. Christians who do not share their faith are in direct disobedience to God’s Commission.
Here are some examples in the New Testament that call the followers of Jesus Christ, The Chosen Ones:
1 Peter 2: 9-10.
“Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God.” There is no doubt Peter is referring to the followers of Jesus Christ.
“But you are a CHOSEN people, a royal priesthood, a holy NATION, God’s special possession, that you may declare (The Great Commission) the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” This cannot mean the Jewish people because the entire premise of Judaism from the very beginning is that they were ‘A People’ (One People!). Christians however were not ‘A People’, we come from the four corners of the earth and are formed into ‘A People’, a Spiritual National Entity for God’s Kingdom.
Ephesians 1:1-5, Paul is writing to the saints at Ephesus, would you agree?
“Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus”:
“Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.
“Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.”
I’m going to deviate here a little and say that I find it fascinating that Paul uses almost the exact inference as Louis Ginzberg, that “Choosing” originated at the very beginning with creation. Those Christians who believe in Predestination have relied heavily on this verse of scripture. Unfortunately, many Christian Denominations are led astray by taking one passage of scripture out of context. Predestination is no different. Paul believed that the followers of Jesus Christ were chosen, but he added it was set up at the very beginning of creation. Which in my opinion was part of his personal worldview because Jesus and Peter never said any such thing. Jesus and Peter emphasised the purpose of being Chosen, which was to proclaim the Gospel and be the Light of this world.
The problem with Predestination is that God states, he wishes no one perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). Or that Christ died for all, not some, but all! That the Kingdom of Heaven is something that can be sought out, and he asked his followers to go into the highways and byways and compel people to come into the Kingdom. This contrasts with the Pharisees. Josephus mentions the Pharisees and the Essenes believed in the soul being Chosen at creation (Predestination), the Sadducees did not share their views.
Geza Vermes and David Flusser have a lot to say about the Essenes and their practices. From their writings on Second Temple Judaism and the Dead Sea Scrolls, I pieced together the following: The Qumran Community believed everything was complete at creation, including being chosen. That creation was not the beginning of work but a completed work. That everything will execute itself at the right time according to God’s plan. That several of Paul’s quotes were directly linked to the Essenes. Josephus mentioned a couple of them but word for word Paul’s writings can be directly linked to the Manual of Discipline. And that the Essenes view on Predestination was known to outsiders.
In Thessalonians, Paul says, 2 Thessalonians 2:13 — Give thanks brethren beloved by the Lord because God has Chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. Another favourite scripture of the Predestination people. To put these verses in their proper perspective, nothing and no one is so special in God’s eyes that they cannot be cut-off or replaced. Paul himself said this when he used the Olive Tree as a metaphor. The lesson we can learn from the Olive Tree is that dead branches were cut off and others were grafted in. Does that speak of permanency to you? It doesn’t to me. If we are chosen at creation, we would never be able to be cut-off. I covered a lot of ground in tracing Predestination in Jewish literature, and I can categorically say it is from the Talmud and steeped in the Kabbalah aspect of the pre-existence of souls. And that it was a deeply held belief of the Essenes, the first-century sect of Judaism.
What is the cost of being Chosen?
There is no end to wars and rumours of wars these days, and every time there is a war, people suffer, children suffer, and animals suffer. I grieve every day for those suffering and do my best to help in anyway I can. It seems social media sites recognize those who help others and I find myself inundated with help requests in my Newsfeeds. The other day, I was deeply moved by a request to help lions trapped in a Zoo in war-torn Yemen. The lions were starving, and they desperately needed food, how could I refuse? I gave whatever I could and felt a deep sense of satisfaction.
As I sat back in my armchair, and I thought about the lions chomping away on their dinner, I thought about the other poor animals I had just sentenced to death. I chose that day for one animal to live and another to die, and that’s what choosing is. With that knowledge came a deep revelation and appreciation about being Chosen. If we are somehow Chosen, it is nothing to be proud of because it is offered to us at the cost and sacrifice of others.
What I just tried to illustrate with my lions in Yemen story is being chosen comes with a cost, a cost to the giver and cost to the receiver. The story of Joseph comes to mind, Joseph really suffered because his brothers knew he was chosen. I have much to say about Joseph in my series on The Good Shepherd. Being Chosen also makes one a target. It’s no wonder there is a belief amongst the Jews that they are The Suffering Servant referred to in Isaiah Ch.53. According to Rabbi Stuart Federow, the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 53 is the Jewish people, because they have suffered a great deal. He tells in his book Judaism and Christianity: A Contrast (which I would highly recommend) that in Judaism there is no such thing as a Suffering Messiah (Chapter 14) and since Messiah cannot suffer, the Jewish people fulfil that role instead.
Before I address this further, I always recommend his book because in some obscure way him and me bat for the same team. Like Federow, I have also made it my life’s mission to stamp out the lies peddled by the Judaizers, the apostate Jews who work tirelessly trying to turn Christianity into some pseudo religion that is neither Judaism nor Christianity. Scholars or experts who truly understand Judaism and Christianity will never say they are the same, like Jacob Neusner, “Christianity and Judaism: Two Faiths Talking About Different Things.”
For the Christian suffering is part and parcel of our existence. There is a constant stream of murders, imprisonment and punishments dished out to us. For example, every two hours a Christian is killed in Nigeria alone. I’m certain no other religious group are being killed at that rate. Nevertheless, we do not see ourselves as The Suffering Servant of Isaiah Ch.53. We see that entity (singular) as Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Jesus ticks all the boxes if you like. Jesus is called Chosen and Faithful in Revelation, but most importantly he will declare Judgement to the Gentiles. Judgement is an important aspect of his. I will say more about the Judgement of Messiah in the next segment.
Quoting from Isaiah Ch.53, “He shall not strive, nor cry aloud, neither shall his voice be heard in the streets. A bruised reed shall he not break, a smoking flax shall he not quench, till he sends forth judgement into victory. And his name shall be great amongst the Gentiles” And that it is ─ Jesus is great amongst the Gentiles. Apart from everything else, the strongest sign for me that Isaiah Ch.53 speaks about Jesus Christ is that it mentions judgement. Judgement, justice and justify. This must be one of the strongest indications that this is a reference to the Kingdom of God. In my Fruits of the Kingdom message, I pick Judgement as being the single most aspect of the Heavenly Kingdom and that The Rod, The Stem of Jesse is Jesus Christ.
“He will not Judge by what he sees with his eyes or decide by what he hears with his ears: but with righteousness he will Judge the needy, with Justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips, he will slay the wicked.” Isaiah Ch.11.
What is the Purpose for being Chosen?
People are Chosen for a purpose, not because they are something special, or someone that others should respect or look up to. That is not God’s way of doing things. God calls and chooses people to perform his tasks on this earth. We have freewill to reject his calling and commissions. If freewill is removed from the equation, then we are just robots. As with the Ancient Israelites, the call went out and they collectively responded, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” The purpose behind their calling was to be Lights to the Nations.
Rabbi Stuart Federow has this to say about what being a Light to the Nations mean. “As a Jew one has been Chosen by God, to act as God’s advertising agent in the world. An advertisement draws attention to the subject, stands out from amongst the rest…If you look at a Jew you should see God. His existence, his morals, ethics.” That is a clear definition of the expectation that went with the Commission at Mount Sinai. And this is my point, that being Chosen has a very definite purpose, and it does not involve specialness or favouritism.
In the New Testament, Christians are also called by Jesus to be Lights to the World as he is the Light of this World (John 8:12; Matthew 5:14). And for the followers of the New Testament, what Rabbi Federow said about the Jews can apply equally for them also. Although, being a Light is more about how the people of God should conduct themselves, having God’s Righteous Judgement is the way that we prove being Lights to the Nations. But what is Righteous Judgement and how do we decide what is right?
I must say for me it was not easy to define God’s Judgement, but I will try. My first conclusion of having God’s Righteous Judgement would be to be a ‘Holy People’, but only as defined by the God of the Bible. The term ‘Holy People’ is used in the Old and New Testament respectively (Deuteronomy 7:6 & 1 Peter 2:9). If you are not Holy then you cannot transmit God’s Judgement, because his Light and Judgement must emanate from you. It works two ways, from God to the Individual and from the individual to the world. George Foot Moore states that the Hebrew word sedekwhich is interpretedas Righteousness in English is the Quality of Righteousness in relation to God in his Judgements.
George Foot Moore goes on to say, that Justice (remember the same word was used repeatedly in Isaiah 11 and Isiah 53 for Judgement) in a broad sense is a fundamental virtue on which human society is based. It is no less fundamental in the idea of God, and in the definition of what God needs from men.” So, it’s not just Holiness and Righteousness (Judgement) we are talking about here, but it is a Holiness and Righteousness that is defined by the God of the Bible. If we relate this back to being Chosen, to claim that God ‘Chooses’ people irrelevant of their spiritual standings is nothing more than ridiculous. God will never choose a sinner over someone who is in a committed walk with Him!
Christians and Jews use different means by which they believe they live out their call to be Lights to the Nations according to God’s Righteous Judgement. In more recent times, it’s become a priority for Christians to become involved in politics. This is a very American thing and to date Christians have become highly successful in lobbying governments to bring about change. I personally believe it has gone too far and rather than fulfil our role as Chosen for the purpose of preaching the Gospel, we chose to force others to believe what we believe through legislation. I thought long and hard about what true Justice means for the Christian, and for me it came down to The Good Samaritan. Will you help a person, beaten and naked on the side of the road? Once that person becomes unrecognizable by cuts and bruises and cannot be identified because he is naked, will you still help him?
For the Jews, Judgement is carried out through legal means, by adhering to Law Codes. The Sanhedrin, or Council of Hewn Stone, administer Judgement. The Council has remained somewhat inactive since it was demolished after the Temple was destroyed in 70 AD. It reconvened briefly at Jamnia and set itself up as a High Court of Moral and Religious Authority. It needs to be told that the Judgements of The Council are not based purely on Biblical principles but also on the Rabbi’s as well. Like the time Rabbi Akiba puzzled Moses who sat in the last row of his class. After nearly two thousand years The Council merges again from the ashes and will sit again in Judgement of Jews and Non-Jews alike. If the Jewish people believe they are the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53, then that Suffering Servant must execute Judgement by seeing the labour of his soul and justify many (verse 11). But how this Judgement will be carried out is left to be seen. At the end of the day if any aspect of the Mosaic Law is to be enacted, it will carry with it the death penalty for thirty-six crimes.
Conclusion:
In concluding I discovered that there are two requirements to being The Chosen People, they are, being Lights to the Nations and a Holy People. The Hebrew word sedek is often translated in the English Bible as Righteousness but, it should be Judgement. And not just any Judgement, but rather the quality of Judgement and God’s Judgement at that. For the Christian it means being like The Good Samaritan, if a person is so bloodied and naked and you have no way of knowing their status in life, will you still help them? For the Jews it is about legal precedents and enacting the Mosaic and Talmudic Law via the Council of Hewn Stone (Sanhedrin).
Being Chosen is about Purpose and should not be viewed as favouritism. The Prophet Ezekiel tells us why God chose Israel, because He had compassion on her (Ezekiel 16:6). There is also an element of suffering associated with being Chosen and we see this throughout the Scriptures. Joseph for instance suffered a lot of rejection because he was Chosen. The Jewish people relate to this suffering by seeing themselves in the writings of Isaiah Chs 11&53, which speaks of the Suffering Servant. Christians see this entity as Jesus Christ, but also experience a significant amount of suffering and are the most persecuted religious group in the world today.
I also covered the concept of Predestination, which has become a Doctrine in some Christian circles. Predestination in relation to being Chosen for me is Paul’s personal worldview. Paul’s Pharisaic background meant that he would’ve believed in Predestination. Predestination was also a deeply held view of the Qumran Community. Paul shared many worldviews with this community, including his views on women and celibacy. Paul quoted from the Qumran texts, and there is no disputing that. The Essenes idea of Predestination, which Paul also believed, meant that before the foundation of the world, souls were already preselected too either walk the path of light or walk the path of darkness. It also meant the Unchosen were destined to an eternity of suffering and torment without any freewill. Personally, I cannot accept that God created human souls with that intent.
From a biblical perspective being Chosen is to be selected for the task to being a Light to the Nations. This common theme runs through from the Hebrew Scriptures into the Christian Scriptures. In the Hebrew Scriptures, God Chose Ancient Israel at Mount Sinai to be a Holy People set apart for his divine purpose. Choosing was always followed by a commission to obey. For the Christian the calling is consistent with the identical words and themes to also be Light to the Nations and a Holy People. Christians have been given the task to take the Gospel of the Kingdom to every Nation and People. Something most of them do not do, and that has been confirmed by recent statistics. If being Lights to the Nations and a Holy People is what God intended for his Chosen, then I’m convinced both Jews and Christians have failed miserably in their mission.
Cheryl Mason.
Bibliography:
Cohen, A., 2008. Everyman’s Talmud the Major Teachings of the Rabbinic Sages. BN Publishing.
Federow, R., 2012. Judaism And Christianity A Contrast. Bloomington: iUniverse, Inc.
Flusser, D. and Yadin, A., 2009. Judaism of the Second Temple Period. Grand Rapids (Mich.): Eerdmans.
Foot Moore, G., 1997. Judaism In the First Centuries of the Christian Era: The Age of Tannaim Volumes 2&3. Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers.
1954. KJV- Amplified Holy Bible. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan.
Louis, G., n.d. Legends of the Jews. The Library of Alexandria.
Neusner, J., 2011. The Babylonian Talmud. Peabody, Mass: Hendrickson Publishers.
Neusner, J., 2005. Questions and Answers Intellectual Foundations of Judaism. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers.
Raphael Patai., 1983. On Jewish Folklore. Detroit: Wayne State University Press.
Schwartz, H. and Loebel-Fried, C., n.d. Tree of souls The Mythology of Judaism.
Vermès, G., n.d. The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English. Penguin Classics.
Links:
The Council of Hewn Stone:
Sanhedrin which, according to the Mishnah,1234 held their meetings in the Temple; the second, or intermediate Court of Appeal, being in the ‘Court of the Priests’ (probably close to the Nicanor Gate); and the highest, that of the Great Sanhedrin, at one time in the ‘Hall of Hewn Square Stones’ (Lishkath ha-Gazith.)
Every two hours a Christian is killed in Nigeria:
Source: Open Doors USA Please Google this source as I cannot post the link.
Predestination in Judaism:
https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12338-predestination
6 out of every 10 Christians do not share the Gospel and do not know how to share their faith:
All links were accessed in June 2022.
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved, you and your household.” Yes, or No? Acts 16:31
In this article I will be exploring the idea of individual and collective salvation. I will be addressing the concept of salvation from a Christian perspective and will be answering this question: When one family member gets saved does the entire household also get saved? By saved, I mean an acceptance of Jesus Christ as Saviour and becoming a recipient of eternal life with Him. Opinion is divided in the Christian community about this belief with many Christians using Noah as a perfect example of an entire family being saved. Others see the concept of salvation as only for the individual and no one else.
Examples such as Noah, Abraham and to some extent Job indicate that there is hope for eternal life for extended family members in God’s overall plan. And Paul’s words to the prison keeper in Acts 16:31, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household” supports that argument. But so much of the Bible does not support Acts 16:31. And, since we are called to rightfully divide the Word of Truth, we need to look wider and deeper to see if this concept can be substantiated across the entire biblical text.
Most of our beliefs about the entire household being saved stems from examples in our Hebrew Scriptures (Christian Old Testament). Of which Noah and his family are the most prominent. We must keep in mind though Noah’s family’s salvation was physical and not spiritual and what Paul was referring to in Acts 16:31 was spiritual. Although I agree that as a metaphor Noah’s Ark can also have a spiritual significance, Noah’s family were saved only in a physical, earthly sense. It is the same scenario with Abraham and others in the Bible.
Abraham pleaded for his family and for Sodom. He kept bargaining with God for mercy for the righteous souls of Sodom, if there were any righteous souls that is (Genesis 18:20). In this instance also, God in His infinite mercy saved Lot and his family for Abraham’s sake. But it would be purely a physical salvation, because as we know from the story, Lot’s daughters left Sodom, but Sodom never left them. Even physical salvation has its limitations, as in the case of Noah’s son, Ham after being saved departed from the Lord and who can forget the treachery of Lot’s daughters. Another example is the tragedy experienced by Job’s family.
It is without doubt that we are all familiar with the most classical of all biblical stories, the story of Job. Job enjoyed many earthly blessings bestowed upon him by the Almighty. His ten children were amongst the most precious of those blessings. Job was aware his children chose a lifestyle of partying rather than worship, so he took it upon himself to offer sacrifices on their behalf (Job 1:4-5). Job’s intercession for his family, could not save them in this earthly realm forever and despite his efforts his children perished. Like Job ancient fathers viewed their families as one whole unit. And not just families but whole communities viewed themselves as collectivist societies. Entire tribes had only one identity and only one name. This is evident with the twelve tribes of Israel, each tribe took on the identity and the name of its tribal elder.
It is because of this belief the ancients stood so confidently in the gap for their family members. Abraham stood in the gap for his nephew Lot, and Job stood in the gap for his children. The High Priest stood in the gap for the children of Israel in the Tabernacle and the Temple. There is no better example of collective salvation than in the Passover story of Exodus. It was a Lamb for a Household (Exodus 12:3). But everyone of those examples only offered temporary salvation and every one of those examples did not guarantee eternal salvation, or did it? I am often reminded of what the Apostle Paul said, “All Israel shall be saved!”
People read Paul’s, “All Israel shall be saved,” (Romans 11:26) as a statement when it is a question. Paul was asking the question; Will all Israel be saved? Since I believe, he was clearly referring to a remnant, the answer is emphatically, “No.” There is nowhere in the Hebrew Scriptures that guarantees corporate or collective salvation for entire nations, tribes, groups or even families. Ezekiel said, “The soul that sins shall die.” Ezekiel Ch.18:20. That is the soul and not the body.
The body is a different issue as I pointed out, while family members remain on this earth, prayer, intercession can be offered up, and they can be saved in a physical sense. Once the soul has rejected God and has passed from this earth all bets are off. That soul has chosen separation from God and cannot be saved anymore. Which pretty much makes offering Masses and prayers for the dead an exercise in futility. It does nothing for the departed soul, it only benefits the churches financially and offers comfort for the ones left behind.
For those who are adamant that “All Israel shall be saved,” because Paul said so, have you checked the cross-reference to that passage in the Old Testament? The cross-reference is Isaiah Ch. 59: 20-21, which simply states, “A Redeemer shall come out of Zion, and to those who TURN from their transgression in Jacob. The operative words there, being ‘Redeemer’ and ‘Turn.’ If they do not accept the Redeemer or TURN (Repent) then they cannot be saved. That is why I can say an emphatic, “No” to “All Israel being saved.”
Turning as in repenting from one’s sins is one of the oldest concepts in Jewish literature. What most Christians do not realize is that when Jewish literature speaks of salvation, it is speaking predominantly about the Resurrection of the Dead. A theory made famous by the Maccabees and book of Daniel. In Jewish thought the idea of salvation is a return to Eden and the manifestation of heaven here on earth, rather than leaving this earth and going to heaven like Christians believe. The phase of death then is a long deep sleep used sixty-six times in seventeen books of the Bible. The individual sleeps in a state of rest until resurrection. It’s where we get RIP from. For a full explanation of what “All Israel shall be saved” means please check out my article in the link below.
I will return now to the original passage I quoted in Acts 16:31, where Paul offers the entire jailers family salvation. It is no doubt that Paul offered them eternal salvation and not just some physical deliverance. There is a couple of things to consider here, firstly, that the jailer would have been the head of the household. And it is understood if he decided to follow Christ his family would have also do so. And secondly, it was a miraculous event that preceded his conversion. In these types of circumstances, it is common to see even whole communities come to Christ. But everything hinged on the family believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, there were no exceptions.
Although Paul goes one step further in 1 Corinthians 7:14 by stating that an unbeliever is made ‘holy’ or ‘sanctified’ by their believing partner. For me, this passage does not line up with the rest of the Bible. No adult can be made ‘Holy’ by another adult under the New Covenant. Only The Holy Spirit can make someone, Holy. I would agree though, that children, perhaps up until the age of reason can be sanctified by a believing parent. The age varies, Jews like many other ancient cultures believe this age to be thirteen, while in others it is eighteen or even twenty-one. Personally, it is dangerous to give anyone the green light for eternal salvation and every soul no matter how young should receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour.
The Apostle Peter says in 1 Peter 4:18, “If the Righteous are barely saved…” my point exactly! Ezekiel also says, even if Noah, Daniel, or Job were present they could only save themselves and nobody else (Ezekiel 14:14). Which leaves us where exactly? The example that Christians use to justify salvation for whole families does not apply for spiritual salvation. Although, God in His mercy, hears and answers prayers to save and deliver loved ones here on earth. There is no mention of collective or corporate salvation anywhere in the Scriptures. Although, from texts such as Maccabees and Daniel a belief in collective salvation evolved in ancient Israel. But this was steeped in the doctrine of the Resurrection of the Dead.
Jews and Christians have vastly different theories of life after death and eternal life. One is here on earth and return to Eden and the other is in Glory land in the Heavens. By all accounts we can barely save ourselves let alone another person who is a sinner. Jesus often spoke of the difficulty in entering eternal life, for some, it is like passing through the eye of a needle. Albeit there is hope, plenty of hope for the believer. The believer, just like the jailer in Acts 16:31 opens the door for the whole family to receive salvation. Honestly, it is a privilege, and we need to start seeing it that way. Unfortunately, in many instances we as Christians cut ourselves off from family in a physical sense when we join a church. This should not be the case, stay close to your families, pray for them, and share the Gospel with them.
I was so blessed recently to have watched a video of a Pastor Thomas Niditauae from Vanuatu, in a Near Death Experience he believed the Lord gave him two warning. We should listen to this man. The second warning had four parts to it and consisted mainly of bringing loved ones into the family of God. The link is below, please watch it sometime. I will leave with the words of Jesus to Zacchaeus the Tax Collector (Luke 19:1-10), “Today salvation has come to this house.” The day you received Jesus Christ into your life and became a Christian, salvation entered your house, and you became the gateway by which the other members could also be saved. May God Bless you in your mission to save your family!
Cheryl Mason.
All Israel shall be saved? My article:
Pastor Thomas Niditauae video:
Scriptural References: n.d. The Holy Bible Authorized King James Version. Nashville: Collins World.
End Times Update – February 2022.
Please click on the link below:
Apostle Paul’s ‘Ethos’ for the First-Century Christian Woman: “As says the Law.” But which Law?
Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 14:34-37; 1 Timothy 2:11-15 & 1 Peter 3:1-6
It is evident that Paul’s letters to Corinth relate to specific problems within that Christian Community. We know for sure that he was answering questions (1 Corinthians 7:1). But without knowing the questions we are at a disadvantage to fully appreciate the answers. His letters to Timothy are different, as they are of a personal nature. As a father would admonish his son, Paul wrote to Timothy and perhaps the letters were never intended for public reading. Peter wrote to confirm Paul and emphasise the virtues of a Christian woman.
Whatever the reasons behind these letters to Corinth, Ephesus, Galatia, in them the Apostles made some serious assertions about women. Apostles or not, the ‘Ethos’ for the First-Century Christian woman must be addressed. And I pray that I do it respectfully and honestly.
In this article I will present my dilemma with trying to make sense of Paul’s comments on women. If you follow my blogs, you will know, I like studying various laws; ancient and religious. But to fully appreciate where Paul was going with his ‘Women must be silent, as states the Law,’ comment (1 Corinthians 14:34), I had to delve into new sets of Laws, Roman Law and Natural Law. These laws were new to me, and I had to do a lot of reading so that I did not arrive at any false conclusions.
Question:
When Paul mentioned, women should remain in silence according to ‘The Law,’ which Law was he referring to? Moses’s Law, Jewish Talmudic Law, Roman Law, Natural Law, which Law?
Scripture Reference: 1 Corinthians 14:34-37
In his letters to the Corinthians, Paul addresses the chaos that was occurring during their church meetings. It appears from his comments that some females were contributing much to this chaos. His solution to the problem was that all the women be silent and not speak, because that is what the Law says. Which left me wondering, which Law was he referring to? Because of the obscurity of this passage, I will begin with a process of elimination. The first Law I am going to eliminate is Talmudic Law. Even though Talmudic Law applies to Paul’s other comment about women ‘learning’ in silence. I covered that in my article on Timothy. Deuteronomy 4:10 says, “Gather the people (not gender specific) and let them hear my words, that they may ‘learn’ (instruction, if you received instruction, you could give instruction) from me.” That puts paid to the Talmud’s position on “Men come to learn, women come to hear.”
According to Deuteronomy everyone came to hear and to learn. Women were equals in hearing and learning (receiving instruction). If you are like me, you would have enjoyed watching the 1983 movie, Yentl. The movie was about a young woman’s desire to learn. In the movie, Barbara Streisand had to essentially pretend to be a boy to learn Talmud in Eastern Europe. Perhaps she should have just quoted Deuteronomy 4:10 to her teachers.
There is another reference in Talmud to the woman’s voice being too provocative which I will also eliminate in this instance, as I do not consider it relevant. I do not think Paul would have meant for women to be silent because of their enticing voices. Not all women have such voices. I know many a man who would prefer deafness rather than hear his wife’s nagging voice 😊 I am also going to rule out Moses’s Law because there is nothing said in there that forbids a woman to speak or to remain in silence. There are too many high-profile women in the Hebrew Scriptures to even contemplate such a thing. It is possible however, that it was implied in a cultural sense, but it was not written down.
With the Talmudic and Mosaic Law out of the way, I will now deal with Natural Law. I was surprised to find Natural Law written into Roman Law. And to be perfectly honest with you, I never took it seriously as a ‘thing’ but apparently it is. Wikipedia summarises ius naturale lex naturalis (Natural Law) as Laws relating to Nature and they also relate to religious morality. But here lies the problem, how humans perceive what is natural/nature is vastly different and, in many instances, it is a cultural phenomenon. Women in some cultures go topless, it is natural for them. In other cultures, being natural is for the woman to cover her breasts with more than one layer of clothing.
To understand Paul, we must understand him in a first-century Roman context. On more than one occasion he wrote about this Natural Law. And now that you are made aware of it, you will see it all over the place. He referred to Jews as being ‘Jews by nature,’ the natural olive tree and the wild grafted branches. In 1 Corinthians 11:14, he says, “Does not nature itself teach you?” To which I always replied, “What do you mean?” That was until now. Now I understand it as sets of laws that were established in ancient times, simply by observing nature. It is a difficult concept to grasp in modern times because as I mentioned earlier, cultures perceive what is and is not natural in diverse ways.
Violating Natural Law also brought about shame. It was a shame for a man to have long hair, or a woman to go with her head uncovered. It was a shame for a man to cover his head. It was about what was normal and what was considered abnormal. Yet for Samson, his hair was his anointing, different time, distinct cultural expectation. And as we know from the Hebrew Scriptures, it was considered very sacred for everyone to cover their heads. And the High Priest was commanded by God to cover his head with a turban (Exodus 28:4).
But under Roman Law, if a woman was seen with her head uncovered, it meant she was caught in adultery and being publicly shamed. As we can see Paul used the Natural aspects of Roman Law to teach Christians how to function. And it did not always agree with the Hebrew text as in Samson and the High Priest. There is one other aspect of Roman Law I would like to mention and that is, that women were considered the weaker of the sexes, and Peter mentioned this in 1 Peter 3:7 which I will deal with a little later. Peter like Paul was very much about keeping the Church safe and not rocking the Roman boat.
A lot of what Paul and even Peter referred to in their comments was Roman Law with elements of Natural Law. I found the book, Roman Wives Roman Widows by Bruce W. Winter so beneficial. Please get yourself a copy, it will assist greatly in understanding what the first-century Christian woman experienced under Roman rule. The Romans were big on regulating female morality and conduct by legislating for them. And every one of the commands mentioned in Paul’s ethos for women can be attributed to Roman Law. From how a woman dressed, wore her hair, her submission to her husband, and her responsibility as a child bearer. It was all Roman Law.
I will quickly list the favourable and not so favourable attributes of a Roman woman. If she was a submissive wife, a child bearer, covered her head, wore modest apparel, and had a gentle, quiet spirit she was favourable. If she wore revealing and costly clothing, braided her hair, wore gold, pearls, purple and went unveiled she was considered not so favourable. Much of these outward appearances related to whether a woman was a virgin, a wife, or a prostitute. But not altogether, because as historians discovered, this period also gave rise to the ‘New Woman.’ The New Woman cared little about what people thought of her. She enjoyed many freedoms, and her sexuality was just one of them. She wore makeup, had high brows and rosy, red cheeks. She flaunted her beauty and her wealth everywhere she went.
We see a typical example of the New Woman in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, where a young man was caught in adultery with his father’s wife (1 Corinthians 5:1-5). According to Roman Scholars this New Woman preferred younger men and younger men preferred her. Prompting the likes of Plutarch to warn men if they did not lift their game and be a bit more cheerful, that their wives would simply find pleasures elsewhere. Bang smack in the middle of this feminine revolution was Corinth, the la-de-da city of affluence and influence. It is no wonder that it was there that Paul experienced the full extent of the ‘New Woman’ revolution.
There is so much more in Roman Law that relates to what the Apostles wrote. Many laws were passed to ensure women got married and had children. There were incentives for families who did the right thing by the authorities and penalties for those who did not. If a woman did not conduct herself well in public, her male (head or handler) could be fined, as he was responsible for her. We might cringe at the fact that every Roman woman had to have a male head who was answerable for her. But consider a twenty-first century wedding, where the celebrant asks, “Who gives this woman to this man?” And with that just like a chattel, she is transferred from one man to another.
Lastly, I want to deal with Peter’s comment, which really threw a spanner in the works for me. I hold Peter in extremely high esteem, higher than Paul. So, what did Peter say that threw me? He essentially quoted Roman Law but reverted it back to Old Testament Scriptures by referring to Sarah, Abraham’s wife. In 1 Peter 3:1-6, Peter essentially confirmed Paul’s ethos of a first-century Christian woman by saying, “Hey, yeah sure, Paul is quoting Roman Law, which we all have to abide by, but we have examples of the likes of Sarah and other Holy woman in the Scriptures, Holy women’s examples that we should follow.”
Peter called for the conduct of a Christian woman in such a way that by her behaviour she would draw others to God. He also mentioned the hair arranging, jewellery and fancy clothes. We could be fooled for thinking he is reading from a Roman script, but he mentioned Holy woman of old, such as Sarah. I personally would not go as far as calling any man, Lord. And it was only that one time that Sarah did this (Genesis 18:12), and in all honesty we know little else about Sarah. Perhaps, Peter knew more from folklore and tradition. However, it is clear to me that the Apostles likened Roman Law to aspects of God’s Law as set out in the Hebrew Scriptures.
In concluding, based on the studies I conducted to find out which Law Paul was referring to, when he stated, ‘Women should be silent according to the Law,’ he was predominantly referring to Roman Law. I discovered that the Roman’s were prolific legislators especially when it came to the behaviour of their women. The Empire had reached a crisis with crippling birth rates and the rise of the New Woman who decided she could stand alone and needed no man. Introduced Roman Laws were meant to keep society decent, marriages intact and a steady birth rate. There were incentives for those who complied and fines for those who did not. The Apostles, Paul and Peter used Roman Law to keep the churches safe, and the Christians from drawing unnecessary attention to themselves, especially the women. It was Peter in the end that made the connection that this was not just Roman Law, but it was compatible with Hebrew women of old. Peter used Sarah as an example.
The word ‘silent’ is really an unfortunate one and contradicts Paul’s other writings where women were free to pray, sing and prophesy. Peter used the word, quietness instead, and this is more suited to the situation in Corinth. Romans preferred the women to ask their male heads at home if they needed clarification on something and not cause a ruckus in a public place. Quietness does not mean silence. In Roman terms quietness was understood as not being loud, disruptive, and boisterous. Quietness together with gentleness were seen as good virtues for a every woman to possess. I will leave you with a quote from Roman Wives Roman Widows (p.86), “Most of these practices (known from ancient times) are also forbidden by our laws. But ours contain an additional proviso that such offenders shall be punished by the supervisors of the woman.” Plutarch. In light of the punishment imposed by Roman authorities, we can better appreciate Paul and Peter’s ethos for the first-century Christian woman.
Author
Cheryl Mason.
Bibliography:
En.wikipedia.org. n.d. Natural law – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_law> [Accessed 15 February 2022].
Grubbs, J., 2005. Women and the law in the Roman Empire. London: Routledge.
Neusner, J., 2005. The Babylonian Talmud. Peabody, Mass: Hendrickson Publishers.
n.d. The Holy Bible Authorized King James Version. Nashville: Collins World.
Shelton, J., 1998. As the Romans did. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press.
Winter, B., 2003. Roman wives, Roman widows. Grand Rapids, Mich. [u.a.]: Eerdmans.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yentl_(film)
Click to hear the message on YouTube, thanks 🙏🏽
The Pastoral Epistle to Timothy and Paul’s ‘Silence’ of Women.
1 Timothy 2:11-15 KJV
“Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.
But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.
For Adam was first formed, then Eve.
And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.
Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.”
The Apostle Paul wrote his Epistles to Timothy during the last phase of his life. At that time, he was imprisoned in Rome and facing execution. It appears all but a few had abandoned him, which left Paul clinging to the hope that the young Timothy would carry out his vision for the fledgling Christian Church. I spent a lot of time reading and re-reading Paul’s Epistles to Timothy, and I got a sense of the deep anguish he was experiencing at that time.
Paul had run the race and finished the course, he was satisfied to have completed his mission; and while he looked forward to his rewards, his words were sorrowful. Paul knew he was leaving behind a Church in the grips of Gnosticism. Although the real second-century Gnosticism did not eventuate until after Paul’s Epistles to Timothy, Paul seemed aware of its potential dangers. The Gnosticism Paul was referring to was home grown and mystic. I intend to write more about the types of Gnosticism that confronted the early church at another time.
Paul lacked an heir, which made it more important that his prodigy Timothy, knew how to manage this imminent threat of Gnosticism. Reading from his other comments, this new form of ‘knowledge’ may have become rooted in church members with too much time on their hands. I was left with no doubt that Paul believed women were more open to these deceptions than men were. Besides Paul’s tattling, prattling, busy-bodying and women being gullible comments he also provided Timothy with some solid guidelines to manage the unruly and troublesome members of his congregation.
The ‘I’ should be emphasized in Paul’s admonition to Timothy. ‘I,’ “do not permit a woman to teach,” We could assume then, it was his preference or the way he did things. Also, it would be okay to assume that others did not share his views. And certainly, today, unless you belong to a Baptist Church, or similar, most Christian Churches do not follow Paul’s instruction. Yet very few openly express their disagreement with Paul’s views.
Paul stands alone in his views on women in the New Testament, and yet he stated, let everything be established in the mouth of two or three witnesses. Something that was very much part of his Hebrew tradition. Speaking of his Hebrew Tradition, his instruction for Timothy’s “Apt to teach” comment is directly from the Traditions (Pirke Avot). In Talmudic Tradition also, “The men came to learn, the women came to hear.” Something that is still practiced today in most Synagogues, women are mere spectators, and the men are the participators. The word ‘learn’ is loaded in this instance, inferring that women are incapable of receiving instruction. Therefore, it is more appropriate for them to ‘hear.’
Despite, the Christian Church today practicing an openness for all members to participate, some diehards still adhere to what Paul said in a literal sense. I respect these are personal convictions and should an individual wish to follow Paul’s instructions word for word, it should be their prerogative. And I will not try to convince them otherwise. Nevertheless, I will state my views on why this passage is vague and disjointed. And for me, it lacks logic and coherency. The reasons Paul gives for his beliefs, just do not make sense to me, and that is why I have a problem with 1 Timothy 2:11-15.
Paul refers to Genesis Ch. 2 which states that the male was created first, and since he (Adam) could not find companionship amongst the animals, God made the female. But we are to assume, that male and female already existed in the animal kingdom. My preference is to believe it was always God’s intention to make male and female (Human, as in Genesis Ch. 1) and that the woman was never some afterthought, like Genesis Ch.2 suggests. My preference is also to believe that the ‘Yahwist’s’ took licence in Genesis Ch. 2, to offer some exegesis which emphasised the Jewishness of Adam, the dominance of the male, the significance of Sabbath and the Tree of Life.
Paul’s second reason for silencing women, also stems from the Garden of Eden. As if being a second creation is not enough to bear, he places the woes of the world squarely on Eve’s shoulders. If I am to interpret his comments correctly, Paul is implying that, because Eve was deceived first, the ability to be easily deceived is inherent in the character of all women. As punishment for the original deception, all women everywhere, for all time should learn in silence. This type of attitude does not acknowledge Adam’s role in the deception and that both parties repented and together produced Seth, the righteous seed. I accept there can be no remission of sin for repeat offenders, but in this case, it was Eve’s first violation of God’s command, therefore I do not accept that the stigma of the sin is permanent or that all women should be judged accordingly. I do accept there were consequences for the original sin, but I cannot see how not being allowed to speak has anything to do with that. The Genesis text does not suggest that a consequence was silence.
There appears to be some consolation from Paul’s perspective; and that is that women will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, charity, holiness, and sobriety. No mention of ‘silence,’ because of the two reasons for ‘learning in silence’ he gave earlier. The reasons Paul gave were that women were created after Adam as in Genesis Ch.2 and that they tended to be easily deceived. Both reasons lack logic and do not provide any conclusive evidence as to why women should learn in silence.
My testimony of when I was told to be silent:
As someone who came to Christ in a Baptist Church I was taught from my earliest days about my low status as a woman in the Church. However, God had other plans for me.
God supernaturally opened the heavens and poured out His Holy Spirit on me, and from then on, I was filled with boldness and no Baptist Pastor was ever going to shut me up!
Certain men made it their business to educate me in Paul’s teaching in 1 Timothy 2:11-15. I decided for the sake of my youth and keeping the peace, I would be obedient to their wishes.
But God disapproved of my silence, he gave me a dream, and someone had placed a huge black toilet plunger over my mouth. The suction had sealed my mouth completely and, in the dream, it felt the same as me restricting God’s Holy Spirit from speaking through me. I knew I had to remove this dreadful object. So, I stuck my finger in-between the plunger and my skin and released it. And I was free again.
Although that was not enough for me, I needed more confirmation that I was not in violation of God’s commands. I heard there was a Prophet holding a meeting a couple of hours away. I prayed and told God, I will go before him and tell him my problem and whatever he tells me to do I will do. When I arrived at the meeting and saw the Prophet up close and personal, I got cold feet. I could not bring myself to tell him anything. I just stood there quietly in the congregation.
Then the man of God called me up to the front and prophesied everything that I came to see him about. I had never seen that man or anyone in that meeting before. And I never told anyone about my inward struggles or why I was there. I still have that prophesy and listen to it from time to time. Concisely, God’s message to me that night was noticeably clear, “Whatever I command you to say, you must say it.” There was much more, which I keep to myself. The fire of God touched my mouth, like the hot coals from the very throne of God that night and I never questioned my calling again.
Ironically, I still get challenged about writing, speaking, and teaching as a Christian woman. And my answer to my critics is this … “I would rather be judged as a woman that does too much than a man who does too little.” Thank God for the witness of the Christian women who reach millions with the teachings of Jesus Christ.
Cheryl Mason.
Announcement
First, I would like to wish you all A Very Blessed Reformation Day!
I am also excited to inform you that this Blog has performed extremely well in 2021. Apart from the Amazon, Greenland, and a couple of very remote places in Africa, I have had readers from every country on the planet.
Why stop there? I have decided to also resurrect my old Domain www.cherylmason.com and use it to post micro-articles. Short snippets as the Lord leads; insights from my daily readings, devotions, and prayers. Because I want to keep articles short on the new Blog, I can post more frequently.
The Blog you are on now will continue to exist and I will continue to post and link to it.
www.cherylmason.com is now up and running.
God Bless and Be Safe.
Cheryl Mason.
The Book of Jasher – Part Two: The Life & Times of Abraham the Star! Chs. 8-26
Please read Part One for my Introduction to this series on The Book of Jasher.
Abraham’s Star:
In Part Two of this series, I will be discussing the life and times of Abraham according to Jasher. We already know quite a lot about Abraham’s life from the Bible. But I promise you lots of new information and many surprises along the way. Curious? Then read on …
Jasher makes it quite clear that the birth of Abram/Abraham was a significant event in the history of the world. “And they saw and behold one very large star came from the east and ran in the heavens and swallowed up the four stars from the four sides of heaven.” Then they prophesied over the child. “And, they said to each other, this only betokens to the child that has been born to Terah this night. Who will grow up and be fruitful and multiply and possess all the earth, he, and his children, forever. And he and his seed will slay great kings and inherit their lands.” (Charles, 1887)
The men observing the stars on the night Abraham was born, knew instinctively the future promises to him. The Promises being: he would be ‘fruitful and multiply’, ‘possess all the earth’, ‘forever’ and that ‘his seed will inherit the land of great kings’. In Jasher, the same words are repeated several times over as an indication of God’s Covenant ─ like any good Suzerain Vassal Treaty. The prophesy to Abraham in Genesis Chapter 12 is identical, except that in Genesis it originated from God and not from those present at his birth. The blessing in Genesis also consisted of seed, land (all the earth in Jasher and river to river in Genesis) forever.
The significance of being born under A Star:
I have studied the importance of being born under a Star for some time. What I discovered was, it was not just superstition in Abraham’s day. The relevance of being born under a star is emphasized in Matthew’s Gospel even in the Christian era. The story of the Three Wise Men who followed the star 2000 years ago is no doubt a Christmas favourite. Throughout the Ancient Near East, ‘Watchers’, watched the night sky for signs, one such sign was a bright Star. Any child born during the phenomenon of the bright Star was destined to change the world in an extraordinary way. Matthew alluded to it in his Gospel. He stated the Three Wise Men (Jewish sages) sought out the baby Jesus, when they saw the Star in the East (Matthew 2:9-10).
There is a good reason to accept that Matthew’s celestial event happened. Astronomers believe Jupiter stood still in the night sky on December 25, 2 BC. Quoting from Pursiful’s Bible & Faith Blog, “Amazingly, one possible answer is that the visit of the Magi took place on December 25, 2 BC. On that date, Jupiter stopped in its path and began its yearly retrogression through the heavens. Remember: It was Jupiter that, in the previous year, highlighted the star Regulus by in effect tracing a crown above it, likely alerting the Magi to the birth of the King. According to Matthew 2, when the Magi left Herod, the star they were following “stood still” over the place where Jesus was to be found (Mt 2:9)”.
“Astronomical calculations reveal that in the predawn hours of December 25, 2 BC, Jupiter indeed stood still in the sky. Observed from Jerusalem, it did this at 68 degrees above the southern horizon, directly over the city of Bethlehem. This date may have been memorable even to those unfamiliar with the astronomical observations because, by Roman reckoning, it fell on the exact date of the winter solstice. (When Julius Caesar instituted the new Julian calendar in the first century BC, the winter solstice festival was celebrated on December 25. This date continued to be observed for many years.)” (Pursiful, 2021). The reason Matthew mentioned the Star in the East was because of a long-expected belief in Messiah’s Star.
Messiah’s Star:
The basis for the belief in Messiah’s Star in Judaism and Christianity stems from the passage in Numbers. “A Star will shoot forth from Jacob” (Numbers 24:17). The same scripture was applied to the leadership of Shimon bar Kochba by Rabbi Akiva. Rabbi Akiva believed Kochba was the promised messiah. In the end Kochba’s star faded and he was referred to as Bar Koziba, the son of a lie. His ‘messiahship’ ended abruptly with the death of hundreds of thousands of Jews. It was an incredibly sad time in the history of the Jewish people (Bar Kochba, 2021). Throughout the whole episode of Kochba, we got a glimpse of the early Christian understanding of being born under a star.
Justin Martyr (Apol.i.31) mentioned that early Christians were severely punished for not accepting Bar Koshba’s Star. When Rabbi Akiba referred to the prophesy in Numbers as being fulfilled in Bar Kochba (Taanith IV.8, p.68d) the Christians simply replied… “Thou art in error, Jesus of Nazareth and no other is the true Son of a Star.” Although Christians accepted the Star had manifested in Jesus Christ, most Jewish people did not. Hence, the quest for Messiah’s Star continued in some sects of Judaism. The Messianic idea is different in Judaism than it is in Christianity. Abraham, Joseph, Moses, they were all messianic, because they led their people in victories over their enemies. There is still one more Messiah to come according to Judaism. My reason for writing more on Abraham’s Star was to show that Jasher had a very clear plan when he mentioned the importance of Abraham’s Star. And, that the early Christians still believed humans could be guided by the stars.
When was Abraham born?
Abraham’s life is very well documented in many religious texts. Texts that are fundamental to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Jasher being one such text. And despite Jasher providing intimate details of Abraham’s life, loves and wars he leaves us clueless about when Abraham was born. Because there is no actual dating for Abraham, we must use specific biblical passages as a guide to gauge when he was born. Extra-biblical sources such as the Amarna Letters, Mari and Nuzi documents also assist by comparing events in Abraham’s life with external cultural contexts. But as I discovered, this was no easy task and all we can do is get a rough estimate at best.
From the Hebrew Scriptures Abraham is dated as follows:
1 Kings Ch.6:1 says the ancient Israelites were 480 years in the land before Solomon’s Temple.
Exodus Ch.12 says the ancient Israelites spent 430 years in Egypt.
Solomon’s temple was built in approximately, 960 BC.
By adding the dates 960+480+430, scholars conclude that Abraham was on the move in approximately 1870 BC. However, because some scholars support an early Exodus and others a late Exodus (1450 BC/1250 BC), Abraham’s timeline changes accordingly. When dating Abraham using extra-biblical sources there is evidence of considerable movement of people in the region during his lifetime. Scholars refer to the period Abraham was on the move in Canaan as the Amorite Hypothesis.
The Amorite Hypothesis:
The Amorite Hypothesis is a hypothesis that originated in the 1930’s by William Albright, archaeologist, and historian. According to Albright’s theory, it is conceivable that Abraham left Ur of the Chaldees and travelled to the land Canaan, on a popular trade route. Although most modern-day scholars reject Albright’s Hypothesis. Professor Cline, states that scholars who do not accept Albright’s Amorite Hypothesis, do so based on the genealogy and the chronology not adding up and because the average life span was around 40 years. It appears the Hebrews lived two, three or four times longer than the average person. Some lived hundreds of years more than the average person. Therefore, according to Cline, an accurate date for Abraham is not possible (Cline, 2006).
Despite varying views on Abraham, Jews, Christians, and Muslims tend to agree by faith, that Abraham was a real person. And that in obedience to God, he made the journey from Ur of the Chaldees to the land of Canaan. Apart from God telling Abraham to go to Canaan, Jasher alludes to some trouble that made Abraham make the journey. Jasher states that, Anuki (Nimrod’s servant) insighted Nimrod to kill Abraham. So, Abraham left Ur of the Chaldees and went to Canaan. Jasher also states that Abraham was in the land of Canaan three years when God Cut the Covenant with him (Charles, 1887). Whereas the Bible says, God Cut the Covenant with him while calling him out of Ur of the Chaldees (Genesis Ch.12).
From other ancient sources we also learn that the Elamites, the Nanna Moon Cult, could possibly be another reason for Abraham leaving Ur of the Chaldees. “Those who believe in the Hebrew Bible as history have long sought the background to the tale of Abraham and his family, their trek around the arc of the Fertile Crescent, from Ur of the Chaldees in Sumer to Haran in the north, and from there westward to the land of Cana’an, in the years following the collapse of Ur’s empire. Perhaps, they suggest, Terah took his family from Ur because of the Elamite onslaught and the consequent move of the moon cult from the conquered southern city to safer Haran in the north.” (Kriwaczek, 2010).
If Abraham was on the move in 1870 BC, then it is conceivable he visited Salem (Jerusalem) around 2000 BC where he had his encounter with Melchizedek. I will deal with the mystery man, Melchizedek later. I will attempt to answer whether Melchizedek was Jesus Christ or if he was Shem as Jewish literature concedes. After all the Bible does say that Shem lived a long time, to 600 years of age (Genesis 11:10). Even though Shem (the Name) is a bit of a riddle in Jewish literature, he is still fundamental to Judaism. Jasher states that Adoni Zedek (Melchizedek) was Shem. In Jasher, Shem is a guiding force in the life of Abraham. On more than one occasion Abraham lived with Shem. In fact, Jasher states that Abraham learned The Law from Noah and Shem. Which Law they are referring to remains uncertain, since according to the Hebrew Scriptures the ‘Law’ originated with Moses, some 500 years after Abraham.
Abraham’s Life Events:
I found the Book of Jasher to be far more detailed than the Biblical text. Especially, with the life of Abraham. As most of my readers are already familiar with the scriptural version of Abraham’s life, I will not bore you with the same stories again. Instead, I will do a dot-point summary of details found in Jasher that have been left out of the Biblical text.
1. As mentioned earlier Abraham was born under a Star which meant he had enemies and his life was always in danger. Which fits nicely into the Talmudic belief that Abraham was so blessed because he was alone and needed extra protection. From the get-go, Nimrod tried to kill him. He took refuge with Noah and Shem for thirty-nine years and it was there that he studied The Law. Which Law, we do not know. He also hid in Caves and was ministered to by the Angel Gabriel. The whole episode of the cave experience was reminiscent of the Islamic story of Mohammed.
2. Despite Abraham’s schooling with Noah and Shem, he is shown as being a polytheistic worshiper of the Sun, Moon and Stars. At the same time Jasher says, Abraham followed the Lord since he was three years of age. Later, Abraham did become monotheistic and followed the One True God. Evidence of this is when he smashed all his father’s (Terah’s) idols. Terah tried to kill his son but again Abraham escaped. Reading between the lines, I glean that this revelation of Abraham’s relates more to The Unity of God, which is the same in Judaism and Islam. Christians have a different understanding of The Unity of God.
3. In another instance Abraham finds himself facing the Fiery Furnace with words that are like the book of Daniel. Abraham also walked about in the furnace, while those that came near died. “And Abram said to the king, The God of heaven and earth in whom I trust and who has all in his power, he delivered me from the fire into which thou didst cast me.” (Charles, 1887).
4. Another interesting aspect to Jasher is the story of Ishmael. First, I must mention that Hagar, together with Eliezer were gifts to Abraham from Pharoah. Hagar was the daughter of Pharoah, by a concubine. In the Hebrew Scriptures, Hagar and Ishmael were cast out, and we heard very little about them. Except that Ishmael made a brief appearance at the funeral of Abraham. Jasher on the other hand, portrays a very different story. Ishmael, threatened Sarah’s life, so had to leave the family home. But Abraham never lost touch with Ishmael, he visited him on a regular basis and instructed him in the Ways of the Lord. “And Ishmael and his children dwelt with Abraham many days in the land, and Abraham dwelt in the land of the Philistines a long time.” (Charles, 1887). Jasher also states that Ishmael was very much present at the Binding of Isaac. Which is explained in the text as a human sacrifice, a Burnt Offering.
5. Sarah the mother of Isaac was both Abraham’s half-sister and his niece. Niece was a preferred choice, because of Leviticus laws concerning incest. Sarah had trouble conceiving, hence the intrusion of Hagar and Ishmael into Abraham’s life. Abraham and Sarah eventually had Isaac, when Isaac was forty years old, he married Rebecca who was ten years old (ouch). Isaac was sixty when Rebecca gave birth to Jacob and Esau. Isaac the child of Promise was the biggest blessing and the biggest test for Abraham and Sarah. Abraham was tempted to offer up Isaac as a human sacrifice. What we do not read in the Genesis version is that Satan enticed God to test Abraham. The similarities to Satan enticing God to test Job for me were undeniable. As with Job, Satan wanders to and fro on the earth and spots Abraham and decided he needed some testing (See Job Ch.1 & Jasher Ch.22).
6. The Binding of Isaac in Jasher, leaves no doubt that it was “A Burnt Offering to the Lord as he commanded.” Sarah was devastated as she said her goodbyes to Isaac. Ishmael was also present. Like the perfect son, in total obedience to his parents, Isaac said to his father … “Bind me securely and place me upon the alter lest I should turn and move and break loose from the force of the knife upon my flesh, and therefore prepare the burnt offering, and Abraham did so.”. In the end, Isaac lived, much to the disappointment of Satan. If Satan solicited the temptation of Abraham just like he did with Job, then that would add another dimension to his existence in the Scriptures. Often his existence is denied in the Abrahamic faiths.
7. I left Melchizedek until last because I have a few things to say about him. The encounter between Abraham and Melchizedek in Genesis Ch.14 is shrouded in mystery. And as always Jews and Christians have very different viewpoints of what occurred. It is my job to tell you what those viewpoints are. Both are rather complicated, and both require a great deal of faith to believe. Josephus had the simplest understanding of Melchizedek in Antiquities of The Jews, he believed Melchizedek was a peaceful king, a real person who ruled in Salem before it was called Jerusalem. If only we could all believe that, but we do not! For the simple reason there are too many loose ends, and since speculation surrounds Melchizedek we must explore all the options. So, here we go …
First, I need to stipulate that Salem is Jerusalem (Jerushlaim). Salem means peace, therefore any king of Salem would automatically be associated with peace. Later either Jerush (possession) or Jarah (foundation) were added to create the word, Jerusalem. But originally it was called Salem and it was called that before King David. Genesis Ch.12 is not the only reference to Melchizedek in Jerusalem in the Hebrew Scriptures. There is also a mention of him in Joshua Ch.10:1-4 and it is a very similar battle. In Joshua Melchizedek keeps his Hebrew name, Adoni Zedek rather than being changed to Melchizedek. Both titles are similar, although Adoni Zedek is Lordship whereas Melchizedek is more about Kingship. I will explain further.
Adoni Zedek means Lord (Adoni) Righteous (Zedek), or my Lord is Righteous. In past times Zedek has meant Jupiter, but the meaning has changed over time. Adoni Zedek has been left as Adoni Zedek in Joshua in his battle, but in Genesis 14, Psalm 110 and in Hebrew Chs. 3;15-17 the title is written as Melchizedek. It appears from both Jewish and English understanding of this name that Melchizedek was not just some ordinary person. The mention of a Adoni Zedek in Joshua is somehow overlooked, and all the focus is placed on Genesis 14, where Adoni Zedek (Melchizedek) met with Abraham and shared a sacrament of peace. Unlike Josephus’s simple understanding of who Melchizedek was, Christians have interpreted him as none other than Jesus Christ.
There is no doubt this is due to the writer of the Book of Hebrews in the New Testament. The author of Hebrews (presumably Paul) uses various Psalms to establish the Kingship and Priesthood of Jesus Christ. Paul uses Psalm 110 as a prophecy about Jesus Christ. “The Lord said to my Lord.” There is mention of Zion, which is Jerusalem (Psalm 76:2) and finally, “You are a priest forever after the Order of Melchizedek.” (Psalm 110). From a Christian perspective of the Lordship, Rule (Kingship) and Priesthood of Jesus, Genesis Ch.14 ticks all the boxes. Yet as I discovered the idea of a coming King/Priest was not original to the writer of Hebrews. He expounded on it, but it was not his. The sect of Qumran lived in expectation of two Messiah’s, a Priest like Aaron, and a Royal like David (Merrill, 1996). Since Christians also believe the Hebrew Scriptures are Types and Shadows of the New Testament, some Christians hold the view that Melchizedek was not Christ himself but a type of Christ.
As I mentioned earlier you will need faith to believe both the Christian and Jewish versions of who Melchizedek was/is. Because they are both steeped in spiritual symbolism. If you thought the Christian version was complicated, then stay tuned for the Jewish one. The Book of Jasher states, Melchizedek was Shem. As far as I understand in Talmudic literature, R. Zacharia said on R. Ishmael’s authority that Adoni Zedek in Genesis was Shem (Dennis, n.d.). Also, from my understanding, Shem is the father of Israel. His name Shem (Name) is like Ha Shem (The Name of God). Since it is considered disrespectful to mention God’s name, Jewish people use Ha Shem (the Name) or Adoni (Lord) instead. The exchange between Adoni Zedek and Abraham was perceived in some Jewish circles as a transference of power or an ordination into the Priesthood (Graves and Patai, 2014). Adoni Zedek anointed Abraham and made him a Priest after the Order of Melchizedek, and they broke bread and drank wine.
Shem has a lot of significance in Judaism, more in some sects than others. He lived a long time, 600 years. The 600 then is symbolic, 6 being the number of man and the zeros divine (hidden). Numbers are coded in the Bible. I appreciate Christians having trouble accepting this but trust me they are. Jasher is full of 600’s, and the Bible has that number as well. For example, Noah entered the Ark at 600 years of age, another divine (hidden) number. Then there is the prophesy of Shem, about Japheth dwelling in the tents of Shem (Genesis (:27). From that we can gather that Shem carried messianic expectations, based on his prophesy. If that prophesy is yet to be fulfilled, then Shem is till here in spirit at least. In yet other sects of Judaism Shem is the divine presence, the Shekinah, and the all-encompassing name of God. Shem Hamphorash (YHVH) is 42 letters of the name of God in Kabbalah. It encapsulates the entirety of God’s name in the four-letter tetragrammaton.
Most Christians nowadays also use YHVH to address the God of the Israelites. Yet the inclusion of YHVH in the English Bibles is a recent addition. That appears a little strange to me, since in the Jewish texts, it was being removed and replaced with Adoni. YHVH (Yahweh) existed some 6828 times in the Hebrew Scriptures, it was removed because the scribes could not determine its correct pronunciation. But why take my word for it? Maimonides, the great Hebrew scholar, stated in Guide for the Perplexed, “The letters yod, he, vau, he, is applied exclusively to God, and is on that account called Shem ha-Meforash, the nomen propium.” Maimonides, explained why, when, and how YHVH was removed from circulation, but insisted it was still the 42 letters of God’s name (Moses Maimonides A Guide for the Perplexed, 2013).
Since I am mentioning numbers and their significance in the Hebrew Scriptures. I discovered that the authors of the JPS Torah, discovered some unusual aspects of Genesis Ch.14. For instance, they noted, “Uncommon divine titles, such as God Most High” and “Creator of Heaven and Earth”. Phrases that were not common in other books of the Hebrew Scriptures. Numbers were also repeated, Adam was mentioned 7 times and Melchizedek’s two blessing each contained seven words. In total according to the authors, 11% of the text occupies unique words and phrases (Sarna and Potok, 1989). By all accounts, whether from Jasher, the Hebrew Scriptures, the Book of Hebrews, from a Jewish perspective or a Christian perspective, Abraham’s encounter with Adoni Zedek (Melchizedek) will always be mysterious.
Conclusion:
In Part Two of my series on The Book of Jasher, I emphasized that according to the text, Abraham was born under a Star. And at his birth he received blessings which were again pronounced on him by God in Genesis Ch.12. Being born under a Star also meant Abraham was a threat to kings and rulers, hence his life was in danger. Jasher states that Abraham was schooled by Noah and Shem in the Law. Most aspects of Abraham’s life from the Jasher text aligned with the biblical version. I mentioned a few aspects that were different. Such as his relationship with Ishmael, his walking in the midst of the fire, and Satan enticing God to test him, were new to me. I delved a bit deeper into Abraham’s encounter with Melchizedek than perhaps I needed to. But my view always has been that the meeting in Jerusalem between Abraham and Melchizedek had layers of meanings. And for me in that instance, Abraham had arrived, he went from being a scared man hiding in caves to a warrior in the company of Canaanite Kings.
To be continued …
Author: Cheryl Mason.
References:
2020. Midrash Sefer Ha Yasher the Book of The Correct Record. 1st ed. YBS, p.30.
Charles, R., 1887. The Book of Jasher. Salt Lake City: J.H. Parry & Company, pp.10,26,32,35,36,58,59,64,67,72, 78.
Cline, P., 2006. The History of Ancient Israel and The Patriarchs.
Daodu, F., n.d. God’s Name is Not Yahweh or Jehovah? The Gentile Church Dilemma.
Dennis, G., n.d. The Encyclopedia of Jewish Myth, Magic & Mysticism. 2nd ed. Woodbury, Minnesota: Llewellyn Publications. Cited on locations, 13639, 12570,18977 on e-book
Farbridge, M., 1923. Studies in Biblical and Semitic Symbolism. New York: Kegan Paul, Trench, Turner & Co Ltd.
Graves, R. and Patai, R., 2014. Hebrew Myths the Book of Genesis. Rosetta Books LLC, p.147.
Hogarth, D., 1915. The Ancient East. 1st ed. New York: H. Holt.
Kitto, J., n.d. The History of Ancient and Modern Jerusalem. Kessinger Publishing LLC, p.21.Jewish History | We Bring Jewish History to Life. 2021. Bar Kochba. [online] Available at: <https://www.jewishhistory.org/bar-kochba/> [Accessed 20 July 2021].
Kriwaczek, P., 2010. Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization. London WC1N312: Atlantic Books, p.163.
Merrill, E., 1996. Kingdom of Priests A History of Old Testament Israel. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids MI: Baker Academics, pp.263-265.
Moses Maimonides A Guide for the Perplexed, 2013. New York: Veritatis Splendor Publications, pp.169-200.
n.d. The Holy Bible Authorized King James Version. Nashville: Collins World.
n.d. Ur: The History and Legacy of the Ancient Sumerian Capital. Charles River Editors, n.d.
Pursiful, D., 2021. When Was Jesus Born? Clement of Alexandria. [online] Dr. Platypus. Available at: <https://pursiful.com/2006/12/19/when-was-jesus-born-clement-of-alexandria/> [Accessed 21 July 2021].
Sacred Texts. 2021. The Book of Jubilees. [online] Available at: <https://www.sacred-texts.com/index.htm> [Accessed 16 July 2021].
Sarna, N. and Potok, C., 1989. The JPS Torah Commentary Genesis. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society, p.102.
Sayce, R., n.d. Patriarchal Palestine. New York: The Tract Committee, p.8.
Schwartz, H., 2004. Tree of Souls the Mythology of Judaism. New York, New York: Oxford University Press, p.437.
The End:
The Book of Jasher ─ Part One: Adam to Nimrod the Mighty Hunter.
There are several references in the Bible to other texts that were not included in the Canon of Scripture. These texts are often referred to as the Non-Canonical Books or the Lost Books of the Bible. Whatever we choose to call them, we cannot deny that they continue to be of great interest to the curious bible scholar. One such text is the Book of Jasher. In the Bible, the Book of Jasher is cited in Joshua 10:12-13; 2 Samuel 1:18-27 and 2 Timothy 3:8 (as in Jannes and Jambres). In Hebrew, Jasher is referred to as the Sefer ha Yashar (Book of the Correct Record). In the LXX, Jasher is called the “Book of the Upright One.” And, in The Latin Vulgate, Jasher is called the “Book of the Just Ones.”
Anyone seeking information on Jasher will soon discover there are many opinions about the text. The consensus is that there is a genuine copy out there, but the forgeries are more prevalent. Others believe that the original copy of Jasher did exist at some point in time, but it was destroyed and whatever information was contained in it has been lost forever. Despite our fascination with the non-canonical books, we continue to harbour niggling doubts about their authenticity. We are acutely aware they have a flare for exaggeration, mysticism, and drama which most of us find difficult to understand. Perhaps, that is why they were excluded from the Holy Bible.
After much searching and reading reviews and the like about Jasher, I settled on a copy by R.H Charles from a reputable publisher and the Midrash Sefer ha Yashar or the ‘Book of the Correct Record.” I mean seriously, how could I click past such a claim? Besides that, it was accompanied with a nice story of how the text was supernaturally preserved. Call me gullible but I am a sucker when it comes to a good story. I would have liked to have also read a Kabbalistic interpretation for this study but reading two Jasher’s was all the violence I could handle. If I can spare someone else the goriness of Jasher, then I will. Winners are grinners and the Hebrews of Jasher’s world plundered their way through some of the most significant people groups in the Ancient Near East one scalp at a time.
To make this article a little easier to read I will summarize chapters and individuals under the various headings. And where necessary I will compare the R.H. Charles version with “The Correct Record” and The Bible.
Adam and The Creation Story: Chs. 1-5.
The creation story in Jasher is the same as Genesis Ch. 2. Immediately, for me that meant the text was written by a Yahwist. Confused? Then check out my Exegesis on Genesis Chs. 1-2, I explain it all in there.
In Jasher Adam and Eve have two sons and three daughters; daughters that are not mentioned in the biblical text. The daughters of Adam and Eve are further mentioned in other texts, such as Jubilees. And according to the other texts Adam’s sons’ wives were their sisters. Cain married Awan his sister and Seth married Azura. Christians are often challenged with this question: “Where did Cain get his wife from?” Equally, where did Seth get his wife from?
If we go down the path of accepting what Jasher and Jubilees says, then Christians must admit that the first family were incestuous. Something God considers wrong in other parts of the Bible (Leviticus 18:8-10). But was incest wrong for our benefit or for God’s benefit? In my opinion every Commandment of God for humans is for our benefit and incest is just one of them. Theoretically, the first family had to reproduce somehow and until God revealed his precise plan for humans, they were not in any violation of His Laws. God was right, and most cultures now avoid incest because the offspring can be susceptible to genetic disorders. I am by no means qualified to comment on the genetic makeup of Adam and Eve, but according to Genesis Ch.2 they were two separate creations.
Moving on from the first family. Jasher quite early on used two names we are all familiar with, Enoch and Enosh. Enoch, it says was a descendant of Cain and Enosh was the son of Seth. As we know Seth was a replacement child for Abel the first Shepherd who was slain by his brother, Cain. As with the biblical version, sin consumed humans and they were full of debauchery, like avoiding having children. As always when humans reached that point, it was time for a righteous person to appear on the scene and turn things around.
Another Enoch makes an appearance in the line of Cainan and Jared. And, according to Jasher, he was the Enoch that walked with God! He was a pious, holy man who shunned human company in favour of God’s presence. He was full of wisdom and lived to 366 years of age before God took him up in horses, a whirlwind, and chariots of fire. Just like Elijah the Prophet. Ironically, the “The Correct Record” states that Enoch had a son called Elisha. Both men did not experience physical death, one had a son called Elisha and the other passed his mantle to Elisha (2 Kings 2:2,4,6). It is clear in Jasher that as God prepared for Judgement, the righteous were removed (they all died). In the end only righteous Noah and his family were left, their preservation reliant on Noah’s obedience to build an Ark. If that is a pattern, then God will do the same again. If Judgment is upon us, the righteous will be removed first and still others will ride the storm in the Ark of God’s divine protection.
Noah to Nimrod: Chs.5-7.
Noah the righteous man deliberately did not marry or have any children because he was aware that the world as he knew it was about to end. Despite his hesitation, God told him he must marry and have children. Bear in mind we already have a date for Noah entering the Ark and it is recorded in the biblical text as being in the six-hundredth year of his life (Genesis 7:6). According to Jasher, Noah married Namaah the daughter of Enoch when he was 498 years old, and she was 580 years old. She bore him three sons, Ham, Shem, and Japheth. The rest of the Noah story pretty much aligns with the biblical text. Except for Ham’s sin against his father, Noah.
Namaah was the daughter of Enoch, she was eighty-two years older than Noah at the time of their marriage. She shared the same name as another interesting character in Jewish folklore. Namaah means pleasant and lovely, but she is also the fourth sea-demon who has a ravenous sexual appetite. She is blamed for men remaining unsatisfied even after sex and for teaming up with Lilith and seducing Adam to breed demon spawn. Okay, enough of that…Hopefully Noah’s Namaah was Namaah in name only and nothing like the folklore demon.
However, Namaah did give birth to Ham, and it appears he was no good. Gossip abounds as to the reasons why Noah cursed Ham’s offspring. I have heard that Ham violated his father sexually and that is what is meant by, “Uncovering Noah’s nakedness.” (Genesis Ch.9). Others are shocked that something as innocent as seeing your father naked would warrant such a harsh curse upon Ham. But I think, the story goes a lot deeper when we read from the non-canonical books. According to Jasher, a family heirloom of Adam and Eve’s which held supernatural powers was in Noah’s possession and Ham unlawfully stole it and passed it to Nimrod his descendant.
The stolen ‘garments’ of Adam and Eve is throughout Jewish literature. And so is Nimrod who benefited greatly from the stolen garment. Jasher states that Nimrod was even at the birth of Abram celebrating with Terah. There was also concern about Nimrod being a threat to Abram’s life, simply because Abram was born under a Star. I will cover that in the next section. Jasher states that Nimrod lived in Babel, and people called him, Amraphel. However, most scholars now agree that Amraphel was in fact, the Hammurabi and not Nimrod. Also, since Jasher states that Nimrod died prematurely at 215 years of age because Esau chopped off his head. And why did Esau set his mind on chopping off Nimrod’s head? To take possession of the garments. I used a text called Tree of Souls to find out what these garments were. It did not suffice to just call them ‘garments’, and I could not determine what their significance was in the first reading.
Tree of Souls states that Adam and Eve were originally clothed in garments of light. Like Clouds of Glory and that makes perfect sense to me. Rather than being naked, they must have looked magnificent in their spiritual covering. When they sinned, the Lord had to substitute the covering with covering of skin (Genesis 3:21). The Lord made these garments, hence the supernatural relevance ascribed to them. I discovered in Tree of Souls that even the second earthly garments had a description. It states, they were made of a “Hornlike substance, smooth as a fingernail and beautiful as a jewel.” (Tree of Souls, p.437). Since Jasher states that Esau eventually cut off Nimrod’s head, it was Esau who inherited the garments. On the day Isaac granted Jacob the Blessing, Esau left his garment at home. Rebecca stole it and placed it on Jacob and Jacob became the recipient of the garment’s supernatural powers (Genesis 27:15).
As we have seen in Jasher there is a transition of power passed down through the Righteous Ones from Adam and Eve. An outward expression of this power consisted of a mantle (garment of animal skin) worn by Adam and Eve. I believe in Jasher, Noah still got drunk and while he was in that state Ham stole his mantle (his covering). This in fact is what made Noah so angry, and it all makes perfect sense to me now. Ham was the father of Cush and as we see later Cush and Moses contended for power. But the real benefactor of the stolen mantle of power was Nimrod. The power behind Nimrod, the first settler of Shinar (Babylon) was never intended for him and because of that Babylon will always remain an enigma for God’s Chosen People. As night follows day in the annuals of the Abrahamic religions, it was time for the Almighty to raise up another righteous soul to combat the evil brought about by Nimrod.
To be continued…
Author: Cheryl Mason
Image © Getty Images
Bibliography
2020. Midrash Sefer Ha Yasher the Book of The Correct Record. 1st ed. YBS, p.30.
Charles, R.H., 1887. The Book of Jasher. Salt Lake City: J.H. Parry & Company, pp.10, 26, 78,
Dennis, G., n.d. The Encyclopedia of Jewish Myth, Magic & Mysticism. 2nd ed. Woodbury, Minnesota: Llewellyn Publications.
n.d. The Holy Bible Authorized King James Version. Nashville: Collins World.
Sacred Texts. 2021. The Book of Jubilees. [online] Available at: <https://www.sacred-texts.com/index.htm> [Accessed 16 July 2021].
Schwartz, H., 2004. Tree of Souls the Mythology of Judaism. New York, New York: Oxford University Press, p.437.
Update: Am I okay?
For those inquiring if I am okay because I have not posted for a while — yes, I am okay! I have been working on several articles and they ended up becoming far more time consuming then I originally thought. Because I do a considerable amount of reading for each article, and books are becoming ridiculously expensive, it all takes time.
Although, I can afford to spend a bit more time on my articles now, because this year my readership online has gone gangbusters and taken on a life of its own. For example, more than 90% of my traffic is now from search engines, others posting links and pingbacks. Whereas before most of it came from social media sites. I have always maintained that people searching for you is far better than SMS’s for the simple reason, if a person is searching for you then they are more likely to read what you wrote. Besides social media is dying a slow death anyhow.
With COVID, a world in chaos and restrictions on the internet, I have found myself interacting more and more with real people in the real world and I am enjoying it. Sharing the Gospel on a face to face basis is what it is all about and the internet will never replace that. Although the internet has a place for sharing Christ with others, it is limited in a sense that we cannot truly judge human emotions and responses.
This year I discovered that for the average Christian life is tough. And a little care and some comforting words carry far more weight than some big doctrinal dispute. The early church practiced the simple aspects of the Christian faith and kept doctrines at bay. Having an opinion is okay but enforcing that opinion on others is not. Deliberately causing strife and descent amongst people and especially amongst believers is not okay.
Causing emotional suffering to people is a result of being distanced from that individual on the internet, which goes back to what I was saying earlier. In face to face contact we see the real person, and we can judge to what extent we are harming that person by the things we are saying and doing. And from now on the internet will only consume some of my time and not all of it.
I will be back posting on my blogs again soon, but differently. God has called me to finish my mission here on earth and to forget the rest for now. Stay safe, stay well and may our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ rule in our hearts and our lives always.
Cheryl Mason.
Zechariah Chapter 14 & Revelation Chapters 19─20: A Comparison.
Zechariah Ch.14
Verse 2: All Nations shall go against Jerusalem in battle. And the city shall be taken. Half of the people shall be taken into captivity and a residue shall remain. Residue? Yether ─ 14x as remnant and 8x as residue. In other words, a remnant will be left in the city that have not been taken captive by the enemy nations of Jerusalem. Agree?
Verse 3: The LORD arrives on the scene. “His feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives. Christians believe this to be Jesus Christ but who is this LORD who has feet in Judaism? The Jewish God is not anthropomorphic and yet this LORD has feet and stands.
Verse 5: “And, the LORD my God shall come, and all his SAINTS with thee.” But wait a minute, people are fleeing from this LORD. “And ‘ye’ shall flee to the valley of the mountains.” “Like ye fled before in the days of Uzziah King of Judah.” Are these the remnant left after the captivity of Jerusalem, who are fleeing from the LORD and His Saints?
Verse 8: Living Waters shall go out of Jerusalem, the Heavenly Jerusalem no doubt. “And the LORD shall be King over all the earth.” Revelation Ch.22:1-2 describes this River that flows from the Throne of God in the New Jerusalem.
Verse 12: God’s Judgement is against those who came against Jerusalem.
This is where it gets a bit weird, sorry, but I cannot help calling it that.
Verse 14: Judah fights in Jerusalem. Has Judah been released from captivity and returned or the remnant who fled to the mountains returned? Judah seems to appear out of nowhere. Whenever gold and silver are mentioned in the Bible it is reminiscent of taking booty. It remains unclear to me why after God passes Judgement on the enemies of Jerusalem, Judah must fight.
Verse 16,18,19: The Feast of Tabernacles is mentioned (three times). Those left from every nation who came up against Jerusalem (the heathen) will have to attend Feast of Tabernacles (once a year) or they will get no rain.
The Noachides represented by the Seventy Nations will solemnly make an appearance in Jerusalem every year or else they will get no rain. That’s what verses 16,18,19 mean.
Verse 20: Upon the bells of horses, “Holiness Unto the LORD.”
Verse 21: Mentioned again, “Holiness unto the LORD of hosts.” There will also be a return of sacrifice and NO MORE Canaanites in the house of the LORD of hosts.
I will now compare Zechariah Ch.14 with the same event in the
New Testament:
Matthew 26:64 “Hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven.”
Acts 1:11─12 “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall also come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”
“And they returned unto Jerusalem from the Mount Olivet.”
Jesus is coming back the same way and at the same place as he left. That part is confirmed in Zechariah Ch 14:3.
Revelation Ch.19 11-16
John sees the heavens open and Jesus on a white horse, ‘Faithful and True.’ His name is the Word of God. And he is accompanied with the armies of heaven (The Saints) as mentioned in Zechariah Ch.14:5. Horses are also mentioned in Zechariah Ch.14:20.
Revelation Ch.20 1-6
Firstly, Satan is bound. There will never be PEACE if Satan can roam. He is bound for 1000 years. He will be released for a short period of time after that. I prayed about why this can happen. I feel firstly, it is because God is a Just and Fair God and secondly, Satan needs to know that he is the instigator of war and terror among humans. Without Satan, humans can potentially live in peace.
Secondly, the Saints will reign with Christ for 1000 years. But only those who have been beheaded for Christ. This is the First Resurrection ─ those who partake of this will not see a second death. But there will be those who will receive the Mark, they will not rule and reign with Christ for 1000 years and will most likely face a second death.
There you have it ─ Two totally different scenarios. One in the Hebrew Scriptures and one in the Christian Scriptures.
I also did a breakdown of Zechariah Ch.14 & Revelation Chs.19-20:
They both confirm that the event will occur in Jerusalem.
Both involve a return of the LORD; Christians believe this to be Jesus Christ. Personally, I think the anthropomorphism of this figure mentioned in Zechariah Ch.14 conflicts with Judaism’s own teachings. Unless of course Judaism teaches it is a metaphor. However, can a metaphor defeat Jerusalem’s enemy?
The LORD who stands on the Mount of Olives is accompanied with ‘Saints’. Saints has been interpreted from the Hebrew word, Kadosh (Holy).
There is a ‘fleeing’ a running away from the presence of God. Zechariah Ch.14:4 “As you fled in the days of Uzziah King of Judah.” Most likely referring to the terrible earthquake that occurred in Jerusalem during the reign of King Uzziah. Note when the Sixth Seal is opened in Revelation 6:12 there is also a great earthquake. But what did the great and rich men do? They fled to the dens and the rocks in the mountains.
Judgement is passed against the enemies of Jerusalem. Revelation Ch.19-11 mentions He that is ‘Faithful and True’ makes Judgement and War. But in Zechariah Ch.14-I4, it mentions Judah makes war. Revelation Ch. 5:5 states that only one prevailed to open the Seals: The Lion of the Tribe of Judah. Could Zechariah Ch.14 mean that Jesus is ‘Judah’ that will Judge and make War? Because remember, the city was captured, half of its inhabitants were taken into captivity, and the others fled.
Zechariah proceeds with confirming the Messianic expectations of the Jewish people. I already mentioned the booty ─ gold and silver. You get booty from physical wars. I cannot help but wonder if Jews and some Christians see this as a physical war between God and humans. I do not see it that way. Although, armies are mentioned and Jesus has a Sword, His Sword has always been His Word. The enemies will be destroyed by His Word, the Word that proceeds from His mouth (Revelation 19:15). There is also a mention of the enemies being destroyed by Angels in Revelation.
Also confirming Messianic expectations, Zechariah mentions the Feast of Tabernacles, there is no mention of The Feasts of Tabernacles in Revelation or no rain for those who do not attend the annual event. Paramount to Messianic expectations is the Temple and the return to the Sacrifice. In Revelation Ch.21:22 “There is NO Temple within, because the LORD GOD and the Lamb are the Temple within.” Revelation does not mention a return to Sacrifice and lastly there is no rejection of Canaanites in Revelation.
“There is neither Jew nor Greek” Galatians 3:28.
In Zechariah, the Jews are victorious and in Revelation Ch.5:10 Christians are victorious.
What they both agree on is that the LORD is coming and will arrive on the Mount of Olives when humans have reached a point of no return.
All Scripture is quoted from the KJV.
Author: Cheryl Mason 17/7/2020
The End:
The Letter ‘J’ and the name Jesus: Part Two.
As I mentioned in Part One of this series, I embarked on this study because of a Meme that has been making its way around the Internet.
The Meme says, “Did you know? That the letter J is only 600 years old, so how could Jesus who lived 2000 years ago be named Jesus?”
In Part One of this series, I noted that even though this Meme was plain silly, I did encounter people who believed it. So, I took it upon myself to find out the history of the letter ‘J’ and how it ended up in the name Jesus.
This is the link to Part One: https://cherylmasonblogs.com/2020/05/30/the-letter-j-and-the-name-jesus-part-one/
In Part One I provided a brief history of the English language. I also provided a brief history of the Bible and the origin of the letter ‘J’ in the English language and the Bible. I mentioned that the ‘J’ sound was in existence for some time prior to it being a letter in our alphabet. The ‘J’ sound was written as ‘I’. Eventually, ‘J’ broke away from the ‘I’ and got its own sound and ‘I’ became a vowel. All this happened in approximately the fourteenth century.
In Part Two I will be briefly discussing the following:
- The influence of vowels on the Hebrew language and its subsequent influence on the English Bible translations.
- I will also briefly discuss the letter ‘Y’ and the ineffable name of the Hebrew God ─ YHVH. The Hebrew Roots Movement and Messianics insist on calling God ─YHVH and Jesus ─ Yeshua. Due to Part Two being rather lengthy, I will discuss the name Yeshua in Part Three.
Let us begin…
Vowels transformed the Hebrew Scriptures:
Vowels have played an important role in the evolution of language, but they were not always present in the alphabet. Ancient languages, for example, had no vowels. Ancient Hebrew, also known as Biblical Hebrew, had no vowels, they were added later. It was the Greeks who gave us vowels, they also gave us the written form of the English alphabet. In approximately 800 B.C. the Greeks, changed the Phoenician alphabet in the shapes that we recognise today as the English alphabet.
Vowels in the form of dots and dashes were added to the Hebrew Scriptures sometime between the sixth century and the tenth century. A group of Jewish scholars called the Masoretes (meaning the traditionalists) produced The Masoretic Text. The Masoretes translators added the dots and dashes to assist Jewish readers pronounce Hebrew words correctly and to give vocalization to the text.
Without vowels, boat could be written as BT, it could be boat, but it could also be boot, bout, beet or beat. How would we know the difference? Using the wrong vowel can change the meaning of a word completely. And, in fact, this has been the number one accusation laid against the Masoretic Text. Did the Masoretes get every vowel and every word correct?
I will not bore you with too many details, but I will give you just one example from Washington Gladden’s epic work on the Bible. He quotes Jerome, the Early Church Father who left us numerous examples like the Hebrew word zkr-memory in Isaiah Ch. 26:14. ZKR which consists of three consonants could be zeker (memory) Strong’s H2142 or zakar (male person) Strong’s 2145 as in Genesis Ch. 1:27.
Using zkr as an example, Jerome questioned whether Saul’s judgement in 1 Samuel Chapter 15 was correct. Did Saul wipe the memorial/vestige (zeker) of the Amalekites or did he kill all the males (zakar)? Jerome was not the only early church father to raise these types of questions. The early church father’s writings are overly critical of perceived corruptions within the texts from which our Old Testament was copied. Of course, we can all sigh and go tut-tut but Jeremiah the Prophet accused the Scribes (Sopherim) in his day of having a lying pen which deceived the people (Jeremiah Ch. 8:8).
I am deviating here for a minute, see if you can read this little brain teaser. It has vowels but reading the ancient languages without vowels would have been remarkably like reading this meme.Your mind must work overtime to read between the lines and draw out its true meaning.
I have been told by Jewish scholars that just as you were able to read the meme, they also inherently knew what vowels to add to the Masoretic Text. I have no reason to doubt them except that the making of the Masoretic Text was not all smooth sailing.
The Masoretic Text was constructed in Palestine and Babylon between 500 ─ 1000 A.D. About the same time as the Babylonian Talmud. This period not only experienced a reconstruction of the TaNaKh but also a regeneration of the Hebrew language itself. Hebrew was officially a dead language even during the time of Christ. When Hebrew is mentioned during the time of Christ it means Aramaic. Aramaic and before that Greek were the official languages of the Jews.
There were two main groups adding vocalization and meaning to the Masoretic Text. The two groups, Western and Eastern interpreted the text differently. They represented two families, the Ben Asher family, and the Ben Naphtali family. We know from the Talmud that Rabbis were also involved in the Masora, they were called Sopherim (scribes, counters). Thanks to the Dictionary of Rabbis by Jacob Neusner, we can learn about these Rabbis. Like, who they were, when they lived, what they stood for and their contribution to modern day Judaism.
In the end the Ben Asher version became more authoritative and was later sanctioned by Maimonides. It was Ben Asher’s punctuation that has influenced our Old Testament, or at least that is what I think. Personally, I believe it would have been better if we used the unvocalized and unaccentuated Hebrew and worked out the translation ourselves. The benefits to Christians in my opinion would have been fewer denominations and a cleaner more fluid text. After all God had placed on this earth outstanding people like John Wycliffe, Martin Luther, and William Tyndale to translate for us.
The argument in favour of the Masoretic manuscripts until recently has been that the Dead Sea Scrolls confirm that it was transmitted without any alterations. And that was true until the DSS themselves have come under some scrutiny in recent times. It is my opinion there are major differences between The Masoretic Text and the DSS. I was aware of this even before I discovered that some DSS fragments have proven to be fraudulent. I will leave you with this quote and link from The Biblical Archaeology Society. “Nevertheless, there are differences (some quite significant) between the scrolls and the Masoretic text. Furthermore, these differences have made scholars rethink variant readings found in other ancient manuscripts. How should scholars treat these variants with relationship to the Masoretic text?”
Please do not get me wrong, I am eternally grateful to the Jews for sharing with the world their Hebrew Scriptures. I am a person of deep faith, but I also present facts. And, for too long Christians have been dumbed down due to an absence of facts. By faith I believe the Hebrew Scriptures has everything that leads us to Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Therefore, there are no excuses. But I am also intelligent and educated enough to know that throughout the process man has had a big part in the way the text has been transmitted to us. And to say that the Masoretic manuscripts are flawless is nothing short of ridiculous.
Here are some ‘pointers’ (pardon the pun) about the Masoretic Text:
- That it came into existence some 600 years after Christ. Or Christianity was 600 years old when it was being edited. And that the editing continued into the time of The Crusades.
- That it came into existence some 600 years after the destruction of the Temple by the Romans. The Jewish dream of returning to the land and rebuilding the Temple would have been relatively strong.
- That the Masoretic Text and the Talmud were being compiled about the same time and in some instances by the same Rabbis.
- That one of the Masoretic Texts and the Talmud were both compiled in Babylon, the other in Palestine.
- That there were different versions of the Masoretic Text, until one was chosen to be the authoritative text. Which puts paid to the theory that its authors inherently knew which vowel went where. And, depending on who you believe the groups were diametrically opposed to each other or worked amiably together.
- That the relationship between the Jews and Christians were at their lowest point.
- That the religion of Islam was being birthed across the globe.
- That the MT was compiled by the Jews and for Jews. It is their history, they are the heroes, it is their book! And there is nothing wrong with that.
- That Christians must fish out and take what is applicable to them as confirmed by Jesus and His Apostles. Jesus never confirmed everything in the Hebrew Scriptures, even aspects of Moses’s Law. Jesus Himself saying … “It has been said of old, but I say to you.” Therefore, for the Christian the words of Jesus are more authoritative.
- That with the Masoretic Text even the simplest vowel placement can significantly alter the meaning of the text.
- That the oldest Hebrew manuscripts (Leningradensia Codex) is composed from the Masoretic Text and was only completed in 1008 ─ 1010 A.D. And that the colophon states it has only one author, Samuel ben Jacob who edited it and pointed it.
- That the earliest New Testament manuscripts pre-date the Masoretic Text by 200 years.
The Meme in question, YHVH and the name Yeshua:
The Meme at the beginning of this article drove me to get a much better appreciation of the history of language. Never did I realize that language was so dynamic. Changing letters, making new sounds, and adding vowels is not some rare phenomenon that occurred only with the letter J and I. Instead, it occurred repeatedly in the history of language in general but also the English language. Language is constantly evolving, and its history is fascinating.
Take the letter ‘Y’ for instance, it is a complex letter. The shape ‘Y’ is present in proto-Canaanite script and is said to be Akkadian in origin. The Romans adopted it around 100 A.D. and it found a home in the English alphabet during the Old English period. It remains unclear to me if the Hebrew script adopted it from the Romans or from the Canaanites. Since one of the Hebrew scripts is incredibly old: the one used by the Samaritans, I would say the Hebrew ‘Y’ is Canaanite in origin. The other Hebrew script is referred to as Modern Hebrew and has its origins in Aramaic. Both scripts ultimately have their roots in Phoenician.
Since the ‘Y’ shape is ancient, it should not come as a surprise that the ancient Israelites adopted it in the name of their God YHVH. There is no shortage of information out there about the meaning of YHVH. I have mainly used Jewish sources to follow this trail of the ineffable name. I must mention here, the NAME comes with its own caveat. In the Talmud, Tractate Sanhedrin, we read there is a death penalty for those uttering the name (Sanhedrin 56a). With that in mind, I will proceed.
This is what I discovered about the name YHVH:
- That Maimonides states that YHVH is the only name of God that has God doing nothing ─ it is a non-action name.
- That in the Zohar, YHVH is the forty-two letters ─ Shem Hamphorah.
- That in the Bahir the Book of Illumination, YHVH is number forty-five, which corresponds to the six Sefirot that are reflected in Adam Kadmon.
- That the magical pronunciation of YHVH created Adam Kadmon, the archetypal man rather than YHVH creating him.
- That the proper pronunciation of YHVH has been used to create a Golemthat can assist the Jewish people in times of crisis.
- That YHVH appears on some decks of Tarot Cards and is used in occult practices.
- That in the Toledoth Yeshu, Jesus is accused of discovering the magical powers of YHVH and engraving them under the flesh in his thigh. Discovering the secret gave him supernatural powers.
- That just like Jehovah was created from YHVH by adding vowels, the pronunciation of YHVH was created by adding vowels ‘a’ and ‘e’. The Masoretes added Adonai and Elohim and created Yahweh.
- That because the pronunciation of YHVH is so obscure Jews stopped using possibly during the Babylonian Exile but certainly before 200 A.D.
- That YHVH appeared nearly 7000 times in ancient manuscripts but was replaced by Adonai and Ha Shem (The Name) in most instances.
- That the name of God has been lost to the Jews during the various exiles. Since the ‘Name’ was pronounced by the High Priest either once a year or once every seven years, it got lost with lack of use. Rather than mispronounce God’s name, Jews out of respect use Ha Shem (The Name).
- That in Canaan YHVH was always accompanied by his cohort and wife Asherah. In Canaanite culture YHVH was a Canaanite God.
- That the Septuagint translated the ineffable name as Kyrios (LORD).
- That the name YHVH does not appear anywhere in the new Testament.
- That Jesus never addressed the Father as YHVH, neither did the Apostles. Instead Jesus referred to the Father as Father, thus restoring the Fatherhood of God. You do not normally call your earthly father by his name, do you? Instead, you use endearing terms such as father, daddy, or papa, out of respect.
- That the name YHVH does not appear in the over 60,000 manuscripts and early church writings that Christians have in their possession. Some dating back to the fourth century.
- That none of the Early Church Fathers called God, YHVH.
- That the Hebrew Roots Movement and Messianics are in violation of Talmudic Law by calling the Jewish God ─Yahweh.
A word of warning:
I find it strange that for nearly 2000 years Christianity has survived by recognizing God as Father and Jesus as Jesus. If we consider the hundreds of Revivals that have occurred over that period and Yeshua was never heard of in any of them. Also, there are hundreds of You Tube videos about people from every corner of the globe who experienced Jesus supernaturally. There is not one video where He refers to Himself as Yeshua. To Muslims and Hindus alike, He says, “I am Jesus the God of the Christians.”
Sure, Jesus is called different names in different languages, but never in the history of Christianity has there been such a contrived effort to change the name of the Christian God across the globe. Personally, I believe many races have adopted this because of their rejection of Western Civilization. And a genuine belief that God must have Jewish names. Except it is questionable that these names even have any meaning in the Hebrew dialect. Why do we suddenly have to call Jesus new names or names in other languages? Hebrew is not my language neither is it the language of some person living in a village in Papua New Guinea or Africa.
What concerns me even more is that the Jews themselves have abandoned the use of YHVH in favour of Adonai or HaShem. They have lost the original vocalization of the name. If there are doubts concerning YHVH amongst Jews, then gentiles cannot be certain they are addressing God by the correct name. If YHVH remains in doubt how can we be certain of Yeshua? We cannot ─ As I will show you in Part Three, Yeshua is an off shoot of YHVH. As for Ha Shem (The Name), it is what you call God when you do not know His name anymore.
In Part Three I will also explain how problems can arise when trying to understand Ancient Near East names with a modern mindset. Every ANE name had a function, modern names do not necessarily have a function. Finally, I will give you my understanding of Names and Titles from the Biblical perspective.
I will leave you with Exodus 23:13 “And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect; and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.” Christians be careful what names you use when referring to God.
Author: Cheryl Mason.
Please feel free to comment or discuss further, thanks!
Bibliography:
Aune, D., 2003. The Westminster Dictionary of New Testament and Early Christian Literature and Rhetoric. Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press.
Benner, J., 2015. [online] Ancienthebrew.org. Available at: <http://www.ancient-hebrew.org> [Accessed 22 May 2015].
Biblehub.com. 2015. Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages. [online] Available at: <http://biblehub.com/> [Accessed 6 March 2015].
Brake, D., 2008. A Visual History of The English Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.
Cohen, K., 2014. Where English Came From: What Every American Speaker Should Know.
Comfort, P., 2005. Encountering the Manuscripts an Introduction to New Testament Palaeography & Textual Criticism. Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
Dennis, G., 2016. The Encyclopedia of Jewish Myth, Magic and Mysticism. 2nd ed. Woodbury, Minnesota.: Llewellyn Worldwide, LTD. Kindle Edition.
Diringer, D. and Minns, E., 1948. The Alphabet A Key to The History of Mankind. New York: Philosophical Library.
DOWNEY, A., 2019. MAIMONIDESS YAHWEH. EUGENE: WIPF & STOCK PUBLISHERS.
Drout, M., 2006. History of English.
Edersheim, A., 1886. The Life and Times of Jesus The Messiah. Oxford.
Evans, M., 2013. The History of Christian Zionism. Phoenix AZ 85046: Time Worthy Books.
Gladden, W., 2015. Who Wrote the Bible? A Book for The People. (Classic Reprint).
Greenlee, J. and Greenlee, J., 2008. The Text of The New Testament. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers.
Kaplan, A., 1979. The Bahir Translation, Introduction and Commentary. 1st ed. York Beach, Maine: Samuel Weiser, Inc.
Kraemer, J., 2008. Maimonides. New York: Doubleday.
MacMullen, R., 1984. Christianising The Roman Empire. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Marcolino, N., 2014. THE JESUS OF THE JEWS: The Most Amazing Discovery of The Name of Jesus As the Nazarene Messiah in The Old Testament (TANAKH). Nivaldo Marcolino de Carvalho.
Moseley, D., 1996. Yeshua A Guide to The Real Jesus And the Original Church. Maryland: Messianic Jewish Publishers.
Mulder, M. and Sysling, H., 2004. MIKRA Text, Translations, Reading & Interpretation of The Hebrew Bible in Ancient Judaism & Early Christianity. 1st ed. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc, pp.39-86; 116-133.
Naveh, J., 1982. Early History of The Alphabet. Jerusalem: Magnes Press, Hebrew University.
Opeoluna Daodu, F., n.d. God’s Name Is Not Yahweh Or Jehovah?
Patai, R., 1979. The Messiah Texts Jewish Legends of Three Thousand Years. 1st ed. Detroit: Wayne State University Press.
Patzia, A., 2011. The Making of The New Testament. Downers Grove, Ill.: IVP Academic.
Plant, I., 2012. Myth in The Ancient World. [Place of publication not identified]: Palgrave Macmillan.
Pranaitis, R., n.d. The Talmud Unmasked the Secret Rabbinical Teaching Concerning Christians.
Rambsel, Y., 1996. Yeshua. Nashville: Word Pub.
Robinson, A., 2007. The Story of Writing. London: Thames & Hudson.
Roger, S., 2012. Jehovah, Yahweh, Jesus Or Yeshua. Texas: All Nations Publications.
Rosen, M., n.d. Alphabetical.
Sacks, D., 2004. Letter Perfect. New York: Broadway Books.
Sáenz-Badillos, A., 2006. A History of The Hebrew Language. Cambridge [u.a.]: Cambridge Univ. Press.
Sawyer, J., 2009. A Concise Dictionary of The Bible and Its Reception. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press.
Schäfer, P., 2007. Jesus In the Talmud. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
Scholem, G., 1971. The Messianic Idea in Judaism. New York: Schocken Books Inc.
Shay, S., 2008. The History of English. San Francisco: Wardja Press.
Shelly, R., 1999. The Name of Jesus. Louisiana: Howard Publishing Co., Inc.
Spiers, N., 2014. 1000 Names, Titles and Attributes of Him Who Is Lord of All. Word of Power Ministries USA.
Strong, J. and Strong, J., 1990. The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of The Bible. Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers.
The Holy Bible, New King James Version, 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson., Inc.
Waugh, G., 2014. The Lion of Judah The Titles of Jesus. CreateSpace, Charleston, SC, USA.
Wikipedia. n.d. Y. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y> [Accessed 21 July 2015].
Wilkinson, R., 2015. Tetragrammaton. Leiden: BRILL.
Wurthwein, E., 1995. The Text of The Old Testament. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, p.17.
The End:
The Letter ‘J’ and the name Jesus: Part One
I conducted this study because of a Meme that was making its way around the Internet.
The Meme says … “Did you know? That the letter J is only 600 years old, so how could Jesus who lived 2000 years ago be named Jesus?”
Most sensible people would regard this Meme as plain silly, but unfortunately there are people who believe what it says. The reason why they believe it is because it contains an element of truth. In other words, it is a half-truth.
The part that is true is that the letter ‘J’ is approximately 600 years old. However, it is not true that Jesus cannot be called Jesus because of it. After all there are many English words that start with the letter ‘J’, like Jerusalem, Judah and Jews. If it is impossible for Jesus to have the letter ‘J’ in his name, then it is impossible for Jerusalem to be called Jerusalem.
In my opinion there is a more sinister reason behind this Meme and its aim is not that the author has a issue with the letter ‘J’ per se: but that it is constructed in such a way that it attacks the name of Jesus. The purpose of the Meme is to encourage people to use an Aramaic name ‘Yeshua’ instead of Jesus. Which is part and parcel of the Hebrew Roots Movement. Hebrew Roots is a Christian Movement that is pro-Zionist and supports the Zionist agenda of Land, Language (Hebrew), Sabbath and other Jewish markers.
Half-truths are always more difficult to disprove than out-and-out lies, so I had to read a lot of books to get to the bottom of this subject. I also completed a course by Professor Michael Drout who is a leading expert on the English language. I feel I have done this topic justice by reading so widely. What I am presenting here in this Three-Part series on The Letter ‘J’ and the name Jesus are my conclusions.
Let us begin…
We need to appreciate first and foremost that the English language has an exceptionally long and complex history. And secondly that English has been influenced by many other languages. It is by no means a pure language, and to be completely honest, there is no such thing as a pure language that fell from the sky, and that includes languages like Hebrew and Arabic.
Despite its lengthy history, the English language developed in four distinct phases. They are: Old English, Middle English, Early Modern English and Modern English. The English language has predominantly been influenced by Latin, German, French, Greek and Romance (a group of Roman languages).
Old English was influenced by German, German was influenced by Latin. Latin was the official language of Christianity and it was also the Legal language in its day.
Understanding the origins of the English language is paramount to this study because it affects the way in which we understand and read the Bible.
Ultimately our goal is to find out how the letter ‘J’ ended up in the name Jesus. Because of this, we need to take a quick look at the history of the English Bible before we proceed.
The first Bible was translated from the Hebrew and Greek manuscripts into Latin, by Jerome, an Early Church Father, in 382 A.D. It was called The Latin Vulgate, Vulgate because Vulgar was the common Latin of the day. Jerome, was a Greek scholar, learnt Hebrew and was prolific in Vulgar Latin.
The next major translation was done in the German language by Martin Luther. Luther completed the German translation of the Bible, the New Testament in 1522 A.D. And the Old Testament in 1534 A.D.
William Tyndale wrote the Tyndale Bible in English, the New Testament in 1525 A.D. And the Old Testament in 1531 A.D. He introduced some new words and phrases in the Bible, like Jehovah (for the name of God) and we are going to see why he did that soon. You might also be surprised to learn that he was the first person to use the word Passover and Scapegoat. And phrases like, My brother’s keeper, Salt of the Earth etc. Tyndale was tried for heresy and burned at the stake in 1535 A.D. He had a falling out with King Henry VIII over divorce.
I have not added any information for the Wycliffe Bible, because it is not relevant to this study. But Wycliffe’s biblical manuscripts predated Tyndale by two-hundred years approximately.
This is what English looked like in Tyndale’s day, as you can see it is a little different to the English we read today.
Even though Tyndale’s Bible was not the first English Bible, it was the first to use the letter ‘J’ in the history of Bible translations. As far as I can tell that is, unless someone can prove otherwise.
Something to note is that Tyndale was influenced by Martin Luther, who was German.
German words beginning with ‘H’ and ‘J’ sounded like ‘Y’ in German and vice versa. Coincidently, it was about this time that we begin to see the ‘J’ used for the ‘Y’ sound in the Bible. ‘Y’ sound is the Hebraic sound, YHWH, Yehoshua, Yehuda etc. They were translated into ‘J’ words in the Tyndale Bible. Although Luther himself never used Jehovah which is a rendering of YHVH, he used LORD instead in his translation.
Just in case you did not know, JeHoVaH is YHVH with vowels in the Tyndale Bible. Suspicious, if you ask me, considering the proper pronunciation of YHVH which was only used by the Hebrew priest in Temple services once a year is lost. However, Tyndale took it upon himself to pronounce YHVH as JeHoVaH.
Although, Tyndale introduced us to the letter ‘J’ but not the ‘J’ sound. The ‘J’ sound was already in the English language.
The letter ‘J’ was incorporated into the English alphabet sometime in the fourteenth century.
Prior to that the letter ‘I’ had the ‘J’ sound. It is not that the English language did not have a ‘J’ sound, it did have a ‘J’ sound, it is just that it was represented by an ‘I’. So, ‘J’ evolved from ‘I’, kept its own sound and ‘I’ became a vowel and got a new sound.
That part of the Meme is a lie!
By the eleventh century (Middle English period) the Norman’s conquered England, and the French language influenced the English language. By then most people were bilingual.
The French speakers emphasised the ‘J’ sound in the French accent and that sound was then adopted by the English speakers. ‘J’ was a variant of ‘I’ and was used interchangeably with ‘I’.
It is estimated that in the Middle English period 10,000 French words were added to the English language. Now, that is a lot of English words that are of French origin.
Even though the early translations of the English Bible were written during the Middle English period they were still highly influenced by the Old English, which was influenced by German, which was influenced by Latin.
And, this was still apparent in the next major English translation, which was the Authorised King James Version in 1611 A.D. The AKJV is an Old English Bible, even though it was written in the Middle English period.
By the way, 80% of The Authorised King James Version is the same as the Tyndale Bible.
In the fifteenth and sixteenth century the English language entered its Early Modern phase and the language transformed yet again. Latin continued to influence the language, but Greek and Romance also played a part in this transformation. It is estimated that 30,000 new Latin, Greek and Romance words were added during this period.
The other major change that was taking place was the emphasis on vowels. Vowels became longer and more pronounced.
I would suggest you listen to a series of lectures by Professor Michael Drout who is a world leading expert on the English language and how it evolved.
Professor Drout says, that in the 1400’s, the Black Death gave rise to a new middle class in Britain. About half of the British population died because of this plague and this new middle class emerged, with new ways of speaking English, this is one of his theories, anyway. It did not happen all at once; he thinks perhaps it might have happened over 50 years or so. Scholars refer to this as “The Great Vowel Shift”.
The fifteenth century also gave rise to the printing press in Guttenberg in Germany, which pretty much revolutionised the English language. There is plenty more to write about in the next session, but for now I hope I have given you some idea as to how the English language evolved.
Before I move on to next session I just want to say this…”Yes, the letter ‘J’ was a late addition to the English language, but prior to it being a letter ‘J’ it existed as a sound and was written as the letter ‘I’.
Then the letters ‘J’ and ‘I’ were used interchangeably. Eventually they would split ‘J’ would become a consonant and ‘I’ would become a vowel.
That is why I call the Meme a half-truth which was made with the intension to deceive people!
Author: Cheryl Mason.
Bibliography
Aune, D., 2003. The Westminster Dictionary of New Testament And Early Christian Literature And Rhetoric. Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press.
Benner, J., 2015. [online] Ancienthebrew.org. Available at: <http://www.ancient-hebrew.org> [Accessed 22 May 2015].
Biblehub.com. 2015. Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible In Many Languages. [online] Available at: <http://biblehub.com/> [Accessed 6 March 2015].
Cohen, K., 2014. Where English Came From: What Every American Speaker Should Know.
Comfort, P., 2005. Encountering the Manuscripts An Introduction To New Testament Paleography & Textual Criticism. Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
Diringer, D. and Minns, E., 1948. The Alphabet A Key To The History Of Mankind. New York: Philosophical Library.
Drout, M., 2006. History Of English.
Ederstsheim, A., 1886. The Life And Times Of Jesus The Messiah. Oxford.
Evans, M., 2013. The History Of Christian Zionism. Phoenix AZ 85046: Time Worthy Books.
Greenlee, J. and Greenlee, J., 2008. The Text Of The New Testament. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers.
Jan Mulder, M. and Sysling, H. ed., 2004. Mikra Text, Translation, Reading & Interpretation Of The Hebrew Bible In Ancient Judaism & Early Christianity. 1st ed. Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.
Kraemer, J., 2008. Maimonides. New York: Doubleday.
MacMullen, R., 1984. Christianizing The Roman Empire. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Marcolino, N., 2014. THE JESUS OF THE JEWS: The Most Amazing Discovery Of The Name Of Jesus As The Nazarene Messiah In The Old Testament (TANAKH). Nivaldo Marcolino de Carvalho.
Moseley, D., 1996. Yeshua A Guide To The Real Jesus And The Original Church. Maryland: Messanic Jewish Publishers.
Naveh, J., 1982. Early History Of The Alphabet. Jerusalem: Magnes Press, Hebrew University.
Opeoluna Daodu, F., n.d. God’s Name Is Not Yahweh Or Jehovah?
Patai, R., 1979. The Messiah Texts Jewish Legends Of Three Thousand Years. 1st ed. Detroit: Wayne State University Press.
Patzia, A., 2011. The Making Of The New Testament. Downers Grove, Ill.: IVP Academic.
Plant, I., 2012. Myth In The Ancient World. [Place of publication not identified]: Palgrave Macmillan.
Pranaitis, R., n.d. The Talmud Unmasked The Secret Rabbinical Teaching Concerning Christians.
Rambsel, Y., 1996. Yeshua. Nashville: Word Pub.
Robinson, A., 2007. The Story Of Writing. London: Thames & Hudson.
Roger, S., 2012. Jehovah, Yahweh, Jesus Or Yeshua. Texas: All Nations Publications.
Rosen, M., n.d. Alphabetical.
Sacks, D., 2004. Letter Perfect. New York: Broadway Books.
Sáenz-Badillos, A., 2006. A History Of The Hebrew Language. Cambridge [u.a.]: Cambridge Univ. Press.
Sawyer, J., 2009. A Concise Dictionary Of The Bible And Its Reception. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press.
Schäfer, P., 2007. Jesus In The Talmud. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
Scholem, G., 1971. The Messianic Idea In Judaism. New York: Schocken Books Inc.
Shay, S., 2008. The History Of English. San Francisco: Wardja Press.
Shelly, R., 1999. The Name Of Jesus. Louisiana: Howard Publishing Co., Inc.
Spiers, N., 2014. 1000 Names, Titles And Attributes Of Him Who Is Lord Of All. Word of Power Ministries USA.
Strong, J. and Strong, J., 1990. The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance Of The Bible. Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers.
The Holy Bible, New King James Version, 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson., Inc.
Waugh, G., 2014. The Lion Of Judah The Titles Of Jesus. CreateSpace, Charleston, SC, USA.
Wikipedia. n.d. Y. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y> [Accessed 21 July 2015].
Wilkinson, R., 2015. Tetragrammaton. Leiden: BRILL.
The End.
Esau is Edom: But who is Esau?
In this article I will discuss Esau, the twin brother of Jacob. Esau is identified in the Bible as Edom (Genesis 36:8). To understand the complexity of the Esau and Jacob story: I will firstly explore the Biblical text in a literal sense. I will then explore the Midrash in extra-biblical texts. The Midrashic texts delve deep into the history and animosity between the brothers and their descendants. Based on my understanding of the Ancient Near East concept of collectivism, an individual is both an individual and a collective entity. Based on that theory, Jacob and Esau never truly died, they simply continue to exist as long as their offspring exist.
Lastly, I will identify Esau in the context of current world events. Esau’s identity is different in all three of the Abrahamic religions. Which can be confusing, and yet his identity is clear in the religious texts I will be citing. If Jewish literature is anything to go by, then God and Jacob are still not finished with Esau. And even though Esau has migrated far beyond the realms of the Middle East he is facing an unfavourable end.
In 2017 I wrote another article about Esau/Edom. In that article I attempted to explain away why I thought God hated Esau. I found the idea of God hating a human or a family of humans quite challenging. I justified the passage by saying that God loved Esau less than Jacob. And that the word ‘hate’ was not the best translation of the original Hebrew. I also said that God hated Esau because he gave up his birthright so easily. Although even that doesn’t make sense now.
“Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? saith the Lord: yet I loved Jacob and hated Esau; and I laid his mountains and his heritage waste, for the dragons of the wilderness.” Malachi Ch.1 KJV
After all the Bible is supposed to be all about free will and the path we travel is of our own choosing. Hate is contrary to the nature of God and God cannot be seen possessing attributes he forbids in humans. “Don’t do as I do, do as I say” is hypocritical to say the least. Furthermore, God instructed the Israelites not to hate Esau (Deuteronomy 23:7). Since my Jacob/Esau article in 2017 I’ve done a considerable amount of reading on Esau/Edom. I discovered that to understand this apparent hate for Esau one must read outside of the biblical text. Because inside the biblical text we have very little to justify hate, disappointment maybe, but not hate.
There’s no denying there were issues with the twin brothers but they made up in the end. Esau did extremely well for himself, despite being cast out to wander in the desert and his heritage laid waste for dragons etc. And when it was all said and done the brothers reunited to bury Isaac their father. If that was the final outcome of their relationship, then why did the hate persist? As I discovered, even after their reunions, their descendants carried on a grudge for thousands of years.
The Biblical Esau/Edom:
The Bible says that Jacob and Esau were twins, who struggled in Rebecca’s womb. I’m not sure if that’s even possible, but the passage establishes a reason for conflict from the get-go. These were no ordinary babies in their mother’s uterus, they were two nations jostling for power and domination. I guess you can call them super-babies with super-strong ambitions. Esau was born first, and holding onto Esau’s heel was Jacob. (Genesis Ch.25). Buried deep within the text is the Jewish notion of the transmigration of souls. Early Church Fathers alluded to this in their writings. Origen of Alexandria for example believed that without a belief in the transmigration of souls, it would be difficult to believe a child in the womb possessed opinions about the future. As the boys grew, Esau proved himself to be a skilful hunter, whereas Jacob preferred the quieter sheep-herding lifestyle. Which reflects their blessings, one would end up a man of the sword and the other would be a peaceful man.
One day, Esau returned from a hunting trip, he was tired and hungry and asked his twin for some lentil stew. As strange as it seems, rather than share his food, Jacob required Esau’s birthright in exchange for lentil stew. There was no brotherly love in that instance, just an opportunity to exploit the situation and gain an advantage over the other. I’m guessing if your twin was hungry, you would share your food, and not ask for payment. The birthright by the way was two-thirds of the Promised Land. Jacob sold Esau bread and lentils and in doing so Esau gave up his birthright according to the text. It’s interesting to note that even a Promise in the Hebrew Scriptures required negotiations. Is that enough reason for God to hate Esau though? Esau made a decision in haste, should he be punished forever? But there’s more to this sordid mess.
Next came a total blindside for Esau. His mother and brother deliberately deceived him and his dying father. Somehow God gives this a nod of approval and Isaac appears oblivious to the lentil stew incident. Which theoretically means the lentil stew incident meant nothing. Esau’s blindside also involved food, but this time it was venison. Isaac’s deathbed wish was to eat his eldest son Esau’s best venison dish. Rebecca overheard his request, jumped into action and Jacob ended up serving Isaac venison, he pretended to be Esau. It’s telling that Jacob had to cover himself in animal hide, like some beastly character.
A dying Isaac is deceived:
The dying Isaac eats the wrong venison and hands over the blessings to the wrong son. Or the right son depending on your perspective. Esau returns with his venison but it was all over by then, Esau had to settle for the lesser blessing. No doubt it left him angry, and he vowed to kill his younger brother. Jacob had to run away because he was afraid of his brother. After about twenty years, Jacob had to cross over Esau’s territory and was forced to make peace with his brother who was by then residing in Mount Seir. The brothers made peace. Why is that not the end of the matter? Genesis 32:3-5. But for some reason the hatred continued. The Prophet Hosea called out Jacob for being deceptive (Hosea 12:3-13). Lies are forbidden, yet it seems God honoured this lie.
Evil Esau in extra-biblical texts:
“Others say that Samael (the Hebrew term for Satan) helped Esau in this pre-natal struggle; and Michael, Jacob; but that God intervened on Jacob’s behalf, saving him from death. Nevertheless, Esau so cruelly tore Rebekah’s womb that she could never conceive again. Otherwise Isaac might have been blessed with as many sons as Jacob. Jacob was born circumcised—as were only twelve other saints, namely Adam, Seth, Enoch, Noah, Shem, Terah, Joseph, Moses, Samuel, David, Isaiah and Jeremiah; though some add Job, Balaam and Zerubbabel. Isaac circumcised Esau at the age of eight days; but in later years, he subjected himself to a painful operation which made him look as though he had never been circumcised.” (Hebrew Myths, Robert Graves & Raphael Patai).
As we can see Esau was a bad dude from the very start and with stories like the one above circling around, it’s no wonder he was despised. The case against Esau keeps building, after all the readers are supposed to hate him. The idea of circumcision reversal is a very Greek thing, which is a good indication of when it was written. Because the Greeks were prone to nudity, especially during sporting events, it became popular to perform circumcision reversal surgery. Ironically many Jews opted for the same procedure during the Greek occupation.
Extra-biblical texts help us to understand the myths that surround Esau story. I appreciate that myths and legends are not everyone’s cup of tea. But trust me, they give us a much clearer idea of what the Biblical writers are trying to convey. For example the myth of Rebekah experiencing the struggle in her womb could very well be the following struggle that she sought the Lord about. “Whenever Rebekah passed a Canaanite shrine during her pregnancy, Esau struggled to get out; whenever she passed a house of righteous prayer, Jacob did likewise.” (Hebrew Myths, Robert Graves & Raphael Patai). Even the same word struggle is used, as is quite often the case. As someone who reads a lot of extra-biblical material, I find, same words and phrases a dead giveaway. This type of exergesis allows me to identify the original sources.
For he had addressed Esau in the womb: ‘The world of flesh, my brother, is not the world of spirit. Here is eating and drinking, marriage and procreation; there, none of these are found. Let us divide the worlds between us. Take which you prefer!’ Esau hastily chose the world of flesh” Ouch! (Hebrew Myths, Robert Graves & Raphael Patai). The Bahir and other religious texts also favour Jacob also use derogatory language for Esau, and call for his destruction in no uncertain terms. Ironically, this is poignant moment for me as a Christian, wasn’t this so similar to the Temptation of Jesus by Satan. Did not Satan tempt Jesus, with food and power also? Sometimes I think the Bible is a microcosm of a much greater scenario that’s being played out in the Universe.
A breakdown of passages from Isaiah 24;21 and Obadiah 1:6-21. Sanhedrin 29a. Samael (Satan) was punished and cursed, he became a serpent. Samael was given charge over Esau and made his Guardian Angel. Edom was to oppress Israel for centuries. Messiah “The avenger of blood must destroy this murderer, Elijah will slay him, spattering God’s garment with Esau’s blood” (Hebrew Myths, p. 232) Yikes! Esau is such an evil creature from extra-biblical sources. This no doubt has been transferred into the biblical text, hence God hates Esau for all time. In my opinion, there is nothing in the biblical text about Esau that warrants God’s hate. As I have stated repeatedly, the Old Testament contains Midrash.
Mount Seir – Esau’s territory:
Esau/Edom (Esau is Edom Genesis 36:6-8) and resided in Mount Seir. North of Mount Seir and South towards the wilderness, Deuteronomy tells us that Edom took their land from the Horims (Deut 2:12) and historically this is accurate. The Edomites were Canaanite in language and culture. A precise location for Edom is difficult to attain because they were a pastoral Bronze Age people. Charles River Editors cite (Kitchen 2003) and say that Edom did not always wander but instead adopted a more sedentary life in the late Bronze Age. It’s incorrect then for people to claim that Esau was some wild hairy creature roaming the deserts and fighting dragons.
Fast forward to the Exodus, the mid 13th Century BCE and during the Exodus the children of Israel (descendants of Jacob) had to cross over Edom (Esau’s) territory. By now both Jacob and Esau were dead, but the animosity between their descendants had not eased. Or so the Bible would have us believe. Numbers and Deuteronomy both give accounts of Moses’s interaction with Esau’s descendants. The accounts appear to contradict themselves if you don’t understand the context. “Thou shalt not pass.” Numbers 20:17-20.
Scholars say that initially the Hebrews tried crossing from the West. Deuteronomy says God instructed them to approach from the North Deut 2:1-8. Edom was by now a large landmass with several Edomite Kings. Scholars suggest the Northern Edomite King may have been more accepting of the Israelites than the Western Edomite King. Without this understanding of West and North and their Kings, the Bible would appear to contradict itself. The Israelites were allowed to pass. In my opinion it was another opportunity to bury the hatchet, but again, that was not the case. God hates Esau apparently, so more and more reasons to hate had to be invented.
Was YHVH the God of Esau?
YHVH came from Edom, from Mount Seir. In The Splintered Divine by Spencer Allen, the author states that YHVH “epithets were attributed as the first name of several Near Eastern Deities. In other words there were many YHVH’s depending on location. Eg. YHVH of Teman or YHVH of Samaria and his Asherah. “Martin Rose entertains the possibility that Yahweh was previously an Edomite deity, and he claims that there was “religious cohesion” of the Israelites, Judahites, and Edomites. “Beyond the cohesion claims, a handful of ancient texts and biblical verses do suggest that Yahweh’s origins can be traced to somewhere southeast of ancient Israel in the Arabah.”
“Yahweh, when you came out from Seir, when you marched out from the field of Edom, the earth shook, the heavens dripped, and the clouds dripped water. The mountains quaked before Yahweh-of-Sinai, before Yahweh//God-of-Israel. (Judges 5:4–5)”
Who was Qos?
Some scholars suggest that “Qōs might possibly have been a title for Yahweh, rather than a name.[20] A further point connecting Yahweh with Qōs, aside from their common origin in that territory, is that the Edomite cult of the latter shared characteristics of the former. Thus, we find that Doeg the Edomite has no problem in worshiping Yahweh, he is shown to be at home in Jewish sanctuaries. Circumcision, an essential Jewish rite, was practiced in Edom.[2]” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qos_(deity)
Below is an interesting article on YHVH which is paid content, sorry. “The following observations corroborate this hypothesis: (1) Yahweh was worshiped by the Edomites, and especially by the Kenites, a small tribe regarded as the Canaanite smelters; (2) the Israelite cult of Yahweh was associated with copper and with a bronze serpent, a typical symbol of metallurgy; (3) the melting of copper is considered in Exodus 4 as the specific sign of Yahweh; (4) a parallel exists between Yahweh and the god of metallurgy worshiped in Egypt (Ptah), Mesopotamia (Ea/Enki) and Elam (Napir), all of them being a mysterious lonely deity; (5) fighting the (other) gods is common to Yahwism and to ancient metallurgical traditions. These data suggest that, before becoming publicly worshipped in Israel, Yahweh was formerly the god of the Canaanite guild of metallurgists.”
From all other accounts YHVH was a Canaanite Storm God who was always accompanied by his wife Asherah. “I will bless you by Yahweh-of-Samaria and by his Asherah (Meshel 3:1:1-2). That is 100% documented proof, YHVH is a War God, a Man of War and he likes to fight. In my opinion gods were summoned or evoked to carry out certain tasks. Ishtar of Nineveh was publicly praised by Sennacherib, when he was successful in battle. Gods were not only evoked to fight battles and destroy enemies but also heal diseases, assist with pregnancy and childbirth etc. Many names were given to El the God of the Israelites. El Shaddai, God Almighty, El Elyon, Lord of Heaven and Earth. Then there are names that describe His attributes, or characteristics. Like Jehovah Jireh, God of provision or JeHoVaH Rapha the God who heals.
Likewise it appears to me that Yahweh was evoked when the ancient Israelites left Egypt and suddenly found themselves faced with hostile conditions and cruel neighbours. Yahweh was evoked as a God of War! Like Ishtar of Nineveh was to Sennacherib. Elohim Was the God of creation, when Yahweh was added, as in Yahweh Elohim, Elohim then took on a totally new identity, he became Warrior God. Whether this is a true characteristic of God I don’t know, and it’s something I struggle with daily.
As a Christian I follow the teaching of Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ never portrayed God as a fighter but a Father. I cannot ever envisage summoning Jesus to enable me to kill my enemies. That would be in total contradiction to everything Jesus taught. I have to ask this question; did Jesus Christ reveal to us the true character of God? If you believe he did, then the God that Jesus portrayed is in direct opposition to Yahweh. God to me is the great Shepherd-King and Father, Yahweh is, I don’t know who. The same God who led the Israelites into battle also told them time and time again in the Hebrew text (if is to be believed) that he would indeed go before and clear the way before them. Which one is it? Did God fight for them or did they have to fight for themselves?
Jesus never referred to God by any other name except Father! He taught us how to pray, “Our Father”. For us as Christians Jesus restored the fatherhood of God. Jesus called God, “Father”, over 130 times in the New Testament. God is called, “Father” 15 times in the Old Testament and God is not called YHVH in the New Testament. It is my opinion then, that when we enter into a relationship with God, we become His child and He our Father. And for me, that relationship works fine, I don’t need to call Him by any name. My heart cries out…”ABBA Father.”
A bit of Edom’s history:
I already provided a section on Edom’s geographical location, so I won’t bore you with that again. Other than that there is little to no mention of any ongoing conflict between Jacob and Esau outside of the biblical text. Inside the biblical text, Esau’s lot were smitten, smitten and smitten again. They were smitten by Saul, by David, Amaziah King of Judah slew Edom, in the Valley of Salt above all places. Eventually, they succumbed to Judah the Hammer, Maccabee. And I’ll go there when I address Esau’s Roman connection in Rabbinical Tradition. For now I want to mention Esau in recorded history outside of the biblical text. For that I use The Edomites: The History and Legacy of the Kingdom of Edom in the Ancient Near East by Charles River Editors. The frenemy (sometimes friends, sometimes enemies) status of the ancient Israelites with their Edomite counterparts, fails to acknowledge the mentions of extra-biblical sources. These sources don’t view them in the same way, and describe them as just another Canaanite group who occupied the Levant. All of Esau’s wives were Canaanite, Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, Anah the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite and Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter.
The Egyptians, Assyrians, Akkadians, Babylonians all mention the Edomites. Edom was not just one King or one Kingdom but rather it had several Kings and several Kingdoms within one Kingdom. What is clear is that when the opportunity arose, the Edomites didn’t hesitate to assist the enemies of Israel to hasten their destruction. In The Jewish Almanac for instance, it states that during the time of King Nebuchadnezzar the Edomites assisted Babylon in plundering Jerusalem and the slaughter of the Jews. In the end both Israel and Edom fell to the succession of invaders in the Levant and endured a similar fate. And yet they both lived to fight another day.
Will the real Edom please stand up!
The Christian, Islamic and Jewish perspective:
Over the years I have spoken with hundreds of Christians about who they believe Esau/Edom is. They all say that Esau is the Arab races. They believe this for several reasons, two of which being, that Esau married into Ishmael’s family. And because of Christian eschatology that places Esau/Edom in direct conflict with Jacob (Israel). I then ask them if they believe God hates Muslims. The literalists believe this to be the case, others are not sure. Whatever their reasoning my aim is to make them think, something that is of a rarity amongst religious folks. Religion has a reputation for dumbing down people. Below is a typical Christian view of who Esau/Edom is:
“Nevertheless, all of these different peoples—Edom, Ishmael, Amalek, Moab, Ammon, Philistia, Tyre, and Assyria—are among the major players in the Middle East today. These are peoples from whom the Jihadists and the Islamic fundamentalists hail, making up what is known as the “Arab” or “Muslim world.” Today, these people inhabit the nations of Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, Libya, Sudan, Morocco, Tunisia, etc., and the pseudo-nation of Palestine.” https://www.bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Topical.show/RTD/CGG/ID/7407/Muslims.htm
“Esau is a figure in Biblical history who is of great importance in understanding what the Hebrew prophets have to say about the fate of the Arab Muslim world, that is Esau, the twin of Jacob and son-in-law of Ishmael. Esau’s remaining physical and spiritual descendants have a large role in the Last days scenario. We have already stated how Islam identifies with the grievance of Ishmael and has nourished the “everlasting hatred” of Isaac and Jacob as a result of it. Even so does Islam identify with the disenfranchisement of Esau, envying the Jews whom they see as interlopers upon their inheritance.” https://billrandles.wordpress.com/2012/07/07/in-the-character-of-esau-islam-in-prophecy-pt-3/
From an Islamic perspective, Esau is not mentioned in the Quran, but he is mentioned in Islamic commentaries. And from my understanding of Islam, Islam relates to Abraham and Ishmael more than any other Biblical figure. They believe that Ishmael is the progenitor to Abraham’s blessings and not Isaac. Therefore I find it hard to believe they would identify with Isaac’s family tree. Also, there is evidence that Jewish Rabbi’s do not believe that Esau/Edom are the Arab races.
I will provide two such sources. From the Zohar (II,19a) “The Turkish Empire is called the Kingdom of the Ismaelites which they do not wish to destroy.” That refers to the prophesied destruction of Esau/Edom in the last days. And from The Talmud Unmasked we have several references to what the Rabbi’s have said about Esau/Edom, and again, it’s not the Arabs. “The Turks are always called “Ismaelites,” never idolaters.” The unity between Muslims and Jews resides in the belief of a One God. Both the Shema and Shahada are the same in my opinion. Christians are perceived as idolatrous because of their belief in Jesus Christ.
Who then is Esau/Edom? And why is he facing a bloody end? For this I will just provide references, based on my debates about who Esau is I feel it’s the safest thing to do.
“Edom—Edomites. Rabbi Aben Ezra, when he speaks about the Emperor Constantine who changed his religion and placed the image of him who was hanged on his banner, adds: “Rome therefore is called the Kingdom of the Edomites.” And Rabbi Bechai, in his Kad Hakkemach (fol. 20a, on Isaiah, ch. LXVI, 17) writes: “They are called Edomites who move their fingers ‘here and here’ ” (who make the sign of the cross). Likewise Rabbi Bechai, commenting on the words of Isaiah (loc. cit.), “those who eat the flesh of swine” adds: “These are the Edomites.” Rabbi Kimchi, however, calls them “Christians.” And Rabbi Abarbinel, in his work Maschima Ieschua (36d) says: “The Nazarenes are Romans, the sons of Edom.” The Talmud Unmasked.
“The most important codifications of the Messianic idea in later Judaism are the writings of Isaac Abravanel (ca. 1500) and The Victory of Israel by the “High Rabbi Loew,” Judah Loew ben Bezalel of Prague (1599).” “Messiah will not come until the tears of Esau have been exhausted” The Zohar.
“Edom shall oppress Israel for centuries, Messiah “The avenger of blood must destroy this murderer, Elijah will slay him, spattering God’s garment with Esau’s blood” Hebrew Myths p.232. Passages such as Isaiah 34:6 and others are believed to be the final judgement of God on Esau/Edom. According to them Esau/Edom is Rome. There are literally dozens of quotes I can provide here, but I’ll finish with one from The Jewish Encyclopedia.
“The name “Edom” is used by the Talmudists for the Roman empire, and they applied to Rome every passage of the Bible referring to Edom or to Esau. In Leviticus Rabbah (xiii.) Rome, under the name of “Edom,” is compared to a boar, and the symbolic name “Seir” was used by the poets of the Middle Ages not only for Rome (comp. Ecclus. 1. 26, Hebr.), but also for Christianity (Zunz, “Literaturgesch.” p. 620). On this account the word “Edom” was often expunged by the censor and another name substituted (Popper, “Censorship of Hebrew Books,” p. 58). In place of “Edom,” the word “Ḥazir” (swine) was occasionally used, perhaps as a mere term of reproach (but see Epstein, “Beiträge zur Jüd. Alterthumskunde,” p. 35). In Midrash Tanḥuma Bereshit, Hadrian is called “the King of Edom.” The Talmudists, however, made an exception in favor of Antoninus Pius, whom they assured would attain paradise, because he had not acted in the manner of Esau (‘Ab. Zarah 10b). ‘Abodah Zarah 10a, however, explaining Obadiah, verse 2, says that Edom had neither written nor spoken language. This is inconsistent with its application to Rome.” Also See Teman.
EDOX, IDUMEA – JewishEncyclopedia.com
In concluding, there’s a great emphasis in the Abrahamic faiths on Malachi 1:3 where it says that God hates Esau. Part of the reason for this study was to determine whether or not this was the case. The question I asked myself was; Does God hate Esau or does Jacob hate Esau? My conclusion from sifting through many ancient texts is that Jacob hates Esau. In the Hebrew Scriptures, the Christian Old Testament, there is no reason for God to hate Esau, as God has given people free will, Esau exercised his free will when he sold his birthright. However, in the Midrashic texts, there is a plethora of reasons why God and Jacob should hate Esau. When condensed tall the hate, it amounted to one thing and one thing only. Esau assisted the enemies of Israel, and that is according to Ginsberg too. All of the descendants of Esau are also bad guys, Amalek, Haman, Moab, the list goes on.
What Christians should consider when they decide Esau is, is that Esau is irrelevant. Because Malachi 1:11 says there’s a third group, not Jacob and not Esau. It is this group that will make God’s name great amongst the nations, the only name that is great amongst all the nations and amongst the Gentiles is the name of Jesus Christ. Nobody even knows what the name of the Allah is and nobody knows the name of the Jewish God, he is simply HaShem (The name). Further to my conclusion, Christians will still continue to believe that Esau is Islam and Islam will be oblivious to who they think Esau is. And Jewish Rabbi’s will continue to preach covertly that Esau/Edom is the Roman Empire, because it was Rome that destroyed the Temple in 70 A.D. sending them into exile for two thousand years. In their eyes, Esau’s humble beginnings in Mount Seir morphed into one of the greatest civilisations this world has ever seem and with its success it became a religious force to be reckoned with. And in the end the Jewish Messiah will not come until the tears of Esau have been exhausted.
“THE ROMANS CAME FROM ESAU, WHO IS EDOM; AND ITALY IS THE IDUMEA, ROME THE BOZRAH, OF THE HEBREW PROPHETS.”
The Roman Empire The Empire Of The Edomite, William Beeston.
Thank you for reading and God Bless.
Author: Cheryl Mason
Images generated by AI
All links were live on 14/11/25.
27 Main Road, Royapuram
There is the adage, “Every journey begins with a single step”, and I took my first step into this life and into this world on November 26. This was the day that I was born at 27 Main Road Royapuram in the city of Madras (now Chennai) in India. There were no obstetricians or gynaecologists present; Mum delivered me in a homebirth with the help of a midwife. She gave birth to all her children this way, I was her youngest.
I’d like to think my birth was a happy event for the family, however, that was not the case. Mum had been sick for months and suffered from stomach problems. Suffice it to say she was probably being discrete about an ailment such as diarrhoea or dysentery. In our family you simply, said your stomach was “paining” and you had “loose motions”. It was always a good idea to keep track of your “motions” by the way, in case you visited the doctor. One of the first questions they asked you was, “How are your motions?” Mum’s motions were apparently not good when I was born.
My dad encountered problems of his own: He was unable to find work in Madras city so he took the only job he could as a storeman with Tarapore & Co. Tarapore & Co was a construction company that carried out large-scale projects such as dams, bridges, etc., in areas, where the Bengal tigers roamed. My parents were experiencing post-Colonial India which was not kind to people like us because we were the remnants of the British Raj – the Anglo-Indians.
During the Raj, the Anglo-Indians enjoyed the best of Britain, the best jobs, the best houses, the best delectable delights, all canned and shipped from the motherland. But that was then and by the time I was born, the Anglos had to take whatever they could get. And, Dad’s new job took him to a site over a thousand kilometres away from his family. He only returned home once a year for his annual holidays. Subsequently, he was not present at my birth and only saw me for the first time when I was three months old.
My Mum and Dad on the day of their Engagement
My brother Noel, who was the eldest, was initially excited about my birth because he wanted a baby brother. But after hearing the news that I was a girl, he gave up in despair and went to bed early that night. Who can blame him? He’d been waiting long enough, there were considerable age differences between my siblings and me. Noel, for instance, was eighteen years older than me. My sisters were sixteen, fourteen and six years, respectively.
My mum was 42 years old, and my dad was 52 years old when I was born, hence my nickname ‘the last drop’. They were rather old to be having a home birth, or any birth, for that matter. Even with today’s medical technology, pregnancy at their age would be considered risky. I’ve tried to calculate the odds of my parents having a child through natural conception, in a once-a-year sexual encounter, without miscarriage, or other severe birth defects, in a home birth environment, with no medical intervention. I think the chances of survival were slim. So, it seems that from the very beginning I liked to defy the odds, with the help of God, that is. I am truly grateful that I was not born with any severe abnormality, but I do believe I was born with a damaged cell or two.
There is not much else to report on my birth except the usual, like how I got my name. Apparently, it was a tossup between Patience, Prudence and Cheryl. Lord…you’d think they could’ve been a bit more imaginative than patience and prudence! Still, I guess that’s one of the perks of having children: you get to call them whatever you want. In the end they settled for a name which in Hebrew means — beloved, having grace and favour, in the vineyard of God. And that’s pretty much been the story of my life.
Me in my backyard in what also looks like a shoe graveyard
Not long after I was born, I had my first introduction to sickness and disease. I was struck down with whooping cough when I was three months old, and the cough lasted several months. Many a time I’ve heard stories of how I drove the family mad with my continual coughing. My sisters took turns with Mum caring for me day and night. I eventually recovered from the whooping cough, but it seemed that disease and death were never too far away.
By the time I was born, all but one of my mum’s ten brothers and sisters had died, most of them from a hereditary kidney disease called Hereditary Nephritis. My grandparents on both my mum and dad’s side had also died. So many funerals, I cannot imagine how my parents coped with it all. And we were about to witness another death that would devastate our family forever, but before that we enjoyed some family time together.
I was a little over two years old when we first began to travel. The whole family left Madras city and travelled to Idwani in North India, where my dad was working, and we lived there for a while. There were no other children around, no education facilities, no toys. I remember playing with whatever I could find, bits of timber, an assortment of tools and tins of paint. I liked rolling the tins of paint from one end of the room to the other.
One day while enthusiastically rolling paint tins in various directions, the lid from one of the tins blew off and paint spilled all over the warehouse floor. This was the first time I saw my dad get angry. He rarely got angry; he was such a patient man. As a matter of fact, I made him angry only twice in his lifetime. The other time was when I spilled ink from his fountain pen onto a letter he had just written. He was so meticulous about everything he did; I’ve never met a neater and tidier person. After the paint incident, he banished us from the storerooms and I for one had to find new ways to amuse myself.
The only toys left were my sisters’ dresses, shoes, jewellery and my favourite towel, which I wore around my head to imitate my sister Barbara’s long flowing hair. She had the most beautiful hair I’d ever seen, jet black and perfectly straight and whichever way she wore it, it just looked so amazing. After dressing up and putting on my towel to look like Barbara, I would knock on the front door and introduce myself to Mum as one of her neighbours. She would then invite me in for a cup of tea and a chat. I chatted while she cooked, and she listened to my stories about my imaginary life: my supposed drunken husband, and any other gossip I’d heard from my adult siblings. Whenever I had her ear, I never hesitated to rat on “the others” for all the times they bullied me.
The beautiful Bengal Tiger
Our stay in Idwani was abruptly ended by a violent assault on one on my older sisters. After this incident we returned to Madras, leaving Dad behind. He continued to work in Idwani briefly before moving to a new location. Several months had passed and by now my brother Noel and two of my sisters were in their late teens and early twenties. I remember Noel as a loving, handsome, perfect older brother who watched over us girls. Some days he used to sit on a chair with me on his lap. One of the last times I sat on his lap, an ice cream cart went past the house, and he withdrew a few coins from his pocket and bought me an ice cream. I also remember something else about him, something so terrible that even now as I write about it, tears well up inside me and my heart aches at the thought of experiencing something so tragic at such a young age.
Noel was just twenty-two years old when he was struck down with Hereditary Nephritis the same kidney disease that had plagued our family for generations and took the lives of most of my Mum’s siblings. Noel was experiencing one of the main symptoms of this disease – haematuria which is loss of blood in the urine. Then his kidneys began shrinking until they were not able to function anymore, resulting in his death. Noel went into hospital briefly when he was in the last stages of this disease, and the next time I saw him, he was dead.
His body arrived home on a bullock cart. I remember my mum and sisters screaming inconsolably. Our only brother and my parents’ eldest son had gone, irreplaceable, and we as a family would never be the same again. Our time with him was so brief, but it was better to have had him for such a short time than not to have had him at all. Mum told me that Noel died young because he was too good to live on this earth. I think she was right. Between my dad and Noel, the benchmark had been set, by which all men in my life would be judged. And they all fall short.
Our handsome brother Noel Joseph Oliver
The family washed and dressed Noel’s handsome body and laid him out in the sitting room. They packed ice around and underneath him. All day and into the night the family waited with him, kissing him, holding his hand, praying…then I remember smelling something. It was the first time I had smelled something so unusual. It smelt pleasant but distinctive. I didn’t know what it was. Many years later I smelt it again, my senses heightened, so I inquired as to what it was. I was told it was Eau de Cologne. The memory of Noel’s dead body came rushing back to me and I ran out of the room as fast as I could. I’ve avoided that smell ever since. In India Eau de Cologne was used on dead bodies to stop them smelling before burial.
As a child, I was not protected from the more macabre aspects of life and death, and I found myself reliving these tragedies again and again. I cannot help but feel sympathy for the thousands of children around the world, especially in war-torn countries, who experience similar ordeals daily. No matter who they are, or how mature and grown up they may appear on the outside, they are only children, and exposure to death and trauma will scar them for life. Images that take seconds to experience in childhood last a lifetime; this I know for a fact.
Noel’s death was a tragedy, but I did not need to see and touch his dead body at the tender age of four. For me the memory of sitting on his lap and eating an ice cream would have sufficed. But that was India, and that’s the way they done things and still do.
After Noel’s death my dad still worked away to support the family. He moved to a new location, in the State of Bengal to a place called Duhlian. The rest of us continued to live at 27 Main Road, Royapuram, the home where I was born.
Royapuram was central to the city of Madras (now Chennai) and its name means the town of St. Peter in the Tamil language. Ironically, it was St. Peter’s presence in the form of a statue that first made me spiritually aware. The impressive golden key which he held indicated the possibility of a door that opened into another realm, a realm that lay beyond this world. I felt intrigued by the prospect of a better place than the miserable one I was living in. My home stood directly opposite the church that housed his statue. A dirty, freakishly busy road separated us.
Our home at number 27 Main Road was a poorly constructed, dilapidated old building, where our family (the Olivers) and four other Anglo-Indian families resided. There were the Castellases, the Kennedys, the Fletchers and the Reynolds. Crammed like sardines in a tin can, we shared common front and back areas and one temperamental water faucet that worked some days and didn’t on others. If it was going to work on any given day, it usually did so between the hours of 4 and 6 p.m. When the water flowed, all the occupants rushed to fill their forty-four-gallon drums and empty buckets, as we were always uncertain when it might flow again. Collectively, we also shared one tree and several thin walls that allowed plenty of eavesdropping and gossip to be exchanged between the families.
While most people in India live amicably with little personal space, it didn’t suit us Anglo-Indians to live this way. As a child I witnessed many adult fights, especially among the women. Name calling, cursing, hair pulling and face scratching were not uncommon. We were a feisty bunch! But come Sunday, we dressed in our Sunday best, covered our heads with virtuous veils and made our way to our respective parishes, as all good Catholics do!
In our corner of the building, we had two very large, elongated rooms, for sitting, dining, sleeping, and cooking, and one smaller room we used as a bathroom. Our decor was minimalistic, to coin a modern phrase, with the odd hand-me-down piece from a previous generation. I recall the meat safe as being one of these pieces, it stored some perishable items. The sitting area had a couple of chairs, a coffee table and the all-important family grotto, which was a standard feature in almost all Anglo-Indian homes. In amongst the statues of various patron saints lay a collection of prayers and novenas. Last year’s Easter Sunday Palms fanned out over the altar and contributed nicely to the overall effect. And then there were the photos of all the deceased family members.
It was not uncommon to see Uncle Freddy, amongst the photos, a totally dead person sitting up in a chair or bed, surrounded by living family members: the dead and the living together, posing for what would be the last earthly reminder of their joint existence. If you didn’t look too closely, you could mistake the slouching of the dead body for a drunken or a severely physically impaired relative, perhaps. But every effort was made to prop the body up to look as natural and alive as possible. If only it could smile, it would have been a perfect shot.
Our sleeping arrangements were also a little odd. Even though we all had our own beds, they were laid out in a row, dormitory style. The married couples slept in a curtained-off section of the same room. Beds were not the only thing in rows; the bathroom also consisted of a row of chamber pots or commodes, a row of forty-four-gallon drums with water for bathing, and cakes of Lifebuoy soap. The commodes were emptied daily by an untouchable person. Scavengers, we used to call them, they were those unfortunate human beings who found themselves, through no fault of their own, being born into the lowest caste in India. Because of their lowly status they had to perform the tasks that others would not or could not perform, such as emptying chamber pots into an open sewer that was highly susceptible to blockages.
I cannot believe that I ever lived under such a system of hierarchy, and I have promised myself that if I ever meet an untouchable person, anywhere, anytime, under any circumstances, I will hug them. Even if they were covered in shit! For, the untouchables there was never a prospect of a better life, nor could they afford to dream. All they had was an enforced religious ideology that burdened them to perform their menial tasks with subservience of heart and mind. If they did this well, there was the prospect of a better reincarnation in the afterlife. One must ask the question, a better reincarnation into what? Perhaps to return as a higher caste person so they can also emulate their oppressors and discriminate against others also? Would this be the ultimate justice for them? Somehow, I don’t think so.
For now, as in previous times, they just exist in this horrid situation, and the practice continues to gain momentum in India. I don’t think it’s possible to have a more exploitive system, where the rich use religion in such a devious manner. Not that we were exactly rich; like 90% or more of the then-Indian population, we also struggled to survive, but in theory at least we were richer than the untouchables. For us and others in India, there was hope; we could improve ourselves and dream of better things. Hope for the untouchables was subject to death; until then they had to live out their meagre existence in total humility.
Although we Anglo-Indians did little to help these misfortunate people, perhaps it was because we had our own issues to deal with. The trickle of “white blood” that flowed through our veins didn’t always work in our favour. We were also discriminated against and looked down upon because we were neither black nor white. In that aspect we were no different from the untouchables, but unlike the untouchables our lives were not all bad. We at least had some good days.
A good day for us was when the grinding stone worked profusely in the kitchen, grinding fresh spices, chilies and coconut. When there was money to go to the market and buy fresh meat, fish, vegetables and rice. When the little kerosene-infused wick burned brightly on the stove, and Mum sang her favourite hymns, in sync with the clamour of pots and pans, while she did what she loved doing the most, which was cooking. A good day for us was when we dreamed of a better future but were content to see a loaf of bread and a small pot of jam sitting in the middle of the dining table. All was well with the world, and it was a good day.
EXODUS – The Bare Bones
Exodus begins with naming the Twelve Tribes of Israel.
The 12 Tribes of Israel are:
Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad and Asher. It mentions Joseph later on and states he was already in Egypt.
Seventy Souls entered Egypt according to Exodus 1:5 and the time spent in Egypt was 430 years.
Several million Israelites left Egypt (The Exodus). There were 600,000 men on foot, add women and children and the mixed multitude (outsiders or sojourners) Exodus Ch.12:37-38. The number that left Egypt according to scholars vary from 3 million to 6 million. With them went their flocks, herds and cattle (Exodus Ch.12:38).
During their time in Egypt, the Israelites grew exponentially, therefore they became a threat to Pharaoh (Exodus 1:9). The estimated population of Egypt in the ancient world, just for a comparison…
“Karl Butzer estimates a generally steady growth from just under 1 million inhabitants in the Predynastic era ( 6000-3100 BCE) to over 5 million in Roman/Byzantine times (c.30 BCE -640 CE).[3] During the New Kingdom (c. 1550-1069 B.C.E.), this leads to a population total of approximately 2.5 – 3 million.”
https://www.thetorah.com/article/ancient-egypt-population-estimates-slaves-and-citizens
Because of the Israelites sheer size, Pharaoh intensified their slavery and tried to kill their firstborn. They had only two midwives even though they were rapidly multiplying and there were several thousand women giving birth. The midwives were instructed to kill the Hebrew children at birth (Exodus 4:23).
Now for some logistics:
The following is from ancient-hebrews.org it deals with some of the logistical issues of moving so many people around.
“RSV Exodus 12:37 And the people of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children.
According to this passage 600,000 men descended from Yaacov left Egypt. If each man is married with an average of 5 children, this brings the entire population of Israel to 6,000,000. Equally puzzling is the fear the Israelites felt at entering the Promised Land where each city probably contained no more than 5,000 warriors compared to their 600,000.”
“Another problem is the simple logistics to supply feed, water and move such a large number. According to the Quartermaster General in the army, it would take 1,500 tons of food, 4,000 tons of wood as fuel and 11,000,000 gallons of water each day to supply the basic needs of this group. Another problem is the location of the Latrine.”
“RSV Deuteronomy 23:12,13 “You shall have a place outside the camp and you shall go out to it; and you shall have a stick with your weapons; and when you sit down outside, you shall dig a hole with it, and turn back and cover up your excrement.
A camp of this size would be approximately five miles by five miles square assuming only 1,000 square feet per family. One located in the center of the camp would require a hike of 2.5 miles to use the restroom.”
https://www.ancient-hebrew.org/studies-interpretation/how-many-came-out-of-the-exodus-of-egypt.htm
Regarding the numbers in Exodus this is something to think about:
I was tagged on the Facebook Page, Biblical Archaeology Review with the comment below:
“Ezra 2:64-65 – “The entire congregation together was forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty. Besides their slaves and their bondwomen; these were seven thousand three hundred thirty-seven, and they had two hundred male and female singers.”
These numbers are either exaggerated, or more possibly – a result of incorrect translation. The Hebrew ‘elef’ is traditionally translated to English as ‘thousand’, but this gives impossible numbers elsewhere in the Bible, for ex. Exodus 12/37-38.
According to Rabbi Michael-Shelomo Bar-Ron, elef in its original meaning, when used for enumerating of people, refers to chief, clan or family. So if we translate elef in Ezra 2:64-65 as “family”, then 42,360 becomes “42 families [consisting of] 360 people”, which sounds very reasonable.” It seems even scholarly Jews don’t believe the exaggerated numbers in Exodus. Rabbi Michael-Shelomo Bar-Ron is an author of Noachide Laws for non-Jews.
In Exodus Ch.2 Moses arrived on the scene as a DELIVERER:
Baby Moses was hid for three months. He was then taken in by Pharaoh’s daughter and raised as an Egyptian. You already know the rest, so I won’t bore you with the details.
When Moses was older he saw a Hebrew slave being mistreated by an Egyptian so he killed the Egyptian (Exodus 2:12).
Moses then had to flee Egypt and was taken in by a Midianite Priest (Exodus 2:15).
The Midianite Priest’s name was Reuel and he had 7 daughters. The descendants of Abraham and his third wife, Keturah, are believed to have resided in the northern and central parts of the Arabia (Midian) and had close contact with the descendants of Ishmael. Moses married Zipporah one of Reuel’s daughters. Together they had two sons, at this point in time only one is mentioned, Gershom. Note Reuel has the EL at the end of his name, denoting there is a connection to the Hebrew God. Strong’s Concordance interprets his name as ‘Friend of God.’ But which God? Generic Elohim or the God of the Hebrews?
It’s common that Hebrew names end in EL but also Arab names who claim Ishmael as their ancestor. Was Reuel a descendant of Esau by his wife Bashemath, the sister of Ishmael? Genesis 36:4;10. That would’ve caused some embarrassment for the Hebrew scribes. Therefore it is my opinion that Jethro was introduced to us later on as Moses’s father-in-law. The other possibility is that Moses was written as God and this individual was written as Friend of God or Friend of Moses. Remember Moses was as a God (Elohim) to Pharaoh (Exodus 7:1).
Here are some other considerations for the different names of Moses’s father-in-law and I’m going to throw in Hobab into the mix:
Reuel, Jethro or Hobab?
- The Reuel, Jethro thing is a scribal error or scribal edit.
- Was it a purposeful disassociation with Esau – Did Moses have his children with Esau’s descendant, Reuel? Therefore Reuel’s name was changed to Jethro?
- JPS Torah Commentary states that some Rabbi’s taught that Reuel was the grandfather of the girls, rather than the father. His name was a title and meant ‘Friend of God’. If that’s the case then Esau’s son (Reuel) was also a Friend of God.
- Then there was Hobab, who was the son of Reuel the Midianite (Numbers 10:29). Judges 4:11 states Hobab is the father-in-law thus making him Jethro also. This I believe is a scribal error, and Judges should read ‘the brother-in-law of Moses and not the father-in-law of Moses.
- The Bible doesn’t say what type of Priest Jethro was or which God he worshipped. But note in Exodus 18:12 he sacrificed, and ate bread with Moses and Aaron. They must’ve already been in Sinai and built an alter in order for this to occur.
The question remains in my mind whether all names relate to the same person or to different people.
This is how Reuel came to be The Chief of Edom: Abraham & Sarah had Isaac, Isaac had Esau & Jacob, Esau married Basemath and had Reuel who was the Chief of Edom.
God heard the cries of his people!
Moses and the Bush that Burned:
In Exodus Ch.3 we read about Moses on Mount Horeb. The Angel appeared to him, God is quite often referred to as an Angel in a theophany and then afterwards the Lord speaks. The theophany of Abraham with the Three Men is similar. In Judaism the anthropomorphism of God is a touchy subject, so often Angel is used to suggest that it was a heavenly being but not necessarily God. It was obvious in this instance, it was the Lord, as in God was there, because if an Angel said, “I AM” that would be even more blasphemous. “When Moses turned to see, God called out to him, from the burning bush. He replied, “Here am I” This is followed by a common theme among the Prophets, “Hey, you know what God, thanks for considering me, but please send someone else.”
The Promise of Canaan:
The promise of Canaan, the land flowing with milk and honey was the land of the Canaanites, Hittite’s, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, Jebusites (Exodus 3:8). Six nations, compare that with Genesis and the promise to Abraham which was Ten Nations (Genesis 15:18-21).
Moses’s Mission was to take the children of Israel out of Egypt and lead them to the land of Canaan.
Exodus 3:14 I AM THAT I AM —- I AM hath sent me to you.
The message to Pharaoh was “The LORD God of the Hebrews hath met with us: and now let us go, we beseech thee, three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.” Exodus 3:18 take Spoils (borrow?) they had no intension of coming back. The Spoils were jewels, silver and gold (Exodus 3:22).
There were miracles with The Staff which Moses possessed: As a Christian I often refer to this as I think it’s a great pearl of wisdom. God asks Moses, “What is in thy hand?” I ask myself regularly, “What is in my hand?” Whatever tools we have available to us God will use if we allow him. Even if you only have the most basic thing available to you, use it, because God will hold you accountable. Exodus Ch. 4:3 outlines the miracles performed with the Staff.
In Exodus 4:20 Moses leaves Jethro and Midian to return to Egypt. He takes his wife and sons with him. Moses’s father-in-law is now called Jethro.
There is an interjection in Moses’s journey back to Egypt, where a circumcision takes place. Zipporah circumcised her Son and threw the foreskin at Moses’s feet. Interesting that a gentile woman performed this circumcision on a young boy rather than an eight day old baby.
Pharaoh knuckles down and when Moses cried “Let my people go.” Pharaoh increased their workload.
God has a new name and identity:
Exodus 6:3 Abraham, Isaac and Jacob knew God by the name God Almighty, but by the name JeHoVaH I was not known to them.
God said “I appeared to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” As El (generic) Sadday (most powerful, the almighty of God). Here we have God introducing himself with a new character. In ancient thought your name (Shem) was your character. The Patriarchs did not know God by this name, how come? YHVH has always caused issues when it comes to defining God’s character.
Maimonides is quoted as saying…“It is well known that all the names of God in Scripture are derived from his actions, except one, namely the Tetragrammaton.” (Maimonides’s Yahweh, Amy Karen Downey).
Yahweh as the name of the Jewish national God is not used due to a time lapse. Rather than misinterpret the name because of a lost pronunciation, Adoni (Lord) is used instead.
The only character we can derive from this name YHVH is that he was summoned as a War God. “Yahweh was a man of War” (Exodus 15:3). A stark contrast to the teachings of Jesus who said, “My Kingdom is not of this world, if it were my followers would fight.” (John 18:36). I guess at this point the reassurance by God of a peaceful infiltration into Canaan went out the window. Awfully sad 😞
Jesus never referred to God by any other name except Father! For us as Christians Jesus restored the Fatherhood of God. Jesus called God, Father over 130 times in the New Testament. God is called, Father a mere 15 in the entire Old Testament. No where in the New Testament is God referred to as YHVH. It is my opinion then, that when we enter into a relationship with God, we become His child and He our Father. And for me, that relationship works fine, I don’t need to call Him by a name. My heart cries out…”ABBA Father.”
“Indications are that the Southern regions of Canaan were the first to accept JHVH as their God and attributed this to Him moving to them from Edom, i.e., from the south, into Canaan. The biblical account tells us that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob only knew God as God Almighty ‘El Shaddai’ (Exodus 6:3) and the Jewish priests claimed that it was only initially to Moses that God revealed Himself as JHVH (Exodus 3:14-15). We have shown, however, that JHVH was only generally accepted by Southern Israelites during the time of the Judges, c. 1,125 BC. We see this reflected in the Song of Deborah where they were under the impression that JHVH came to them from Edom and the Israelites embraced Him as their God, with 5:8 stating that they chose new gods, viz. Judges 5” (The Beginnings, Ernest Austin Adams).
God was either first introduced to Moses as Yahweh or Yahweh first made an appearance in the book of Judges and originated from Edom, Esau’s territory.
Moses and Aaron came from the Tribe of Levi. Gershon, Kobath, Merari. Kohath bore Amram, Izhar, Hebron, Uzziel. Amram married Jochebed his father’s sister, and they were the parents of Moses and Aaron. Exodus 6:20. Aaron took Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Naashon to wife. His sons were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazer and Ithamar (Exodus 6:23). Exodus Ch.7:7 says that Moses was 40 years old and Aaron was 43 years old at the time of the Exodus.
Moses as a God (Elohim) “Look, I have set you as a God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your Prophet.” (Exodus 7:1).“And it will be, he (Aaron)will be to you as a mouth, and you will be to him as a God ”(Exodus 4:16).
The Plagues of Exodus Ch.7 & 8:
Water turned to blood Exodus Ch.7:25; Frogs covered the land Ch.8:1; Insects (lice) Ch.8:16; Flies Ch.8:24; Cattle die Ch.9:3; Boils Ch.9:9; Hail Ch.9:23; Locusts Ch.10: 14; Darkness Ch.10:21; Firstborn are killed Ch.11:5. I must mention here that I find it ironic that Christians celebrate the death of babies in Exodus while at the same time they protest outside abortion clinics.
The first Passover was celebrated in Exodus Ch.12, it’s for all generations; Genesis 17:9-14; Exodus 12:1-13. Followed by The Feast of Unleavened Bread:
Pharaoh gives permission for them to leave Ch.12:31.
The Exodus begins:
Ramses to Succoth, they camped in Etham. Led by the Pillar of Cloud and Pillar of Fire (Exodus 13:20-22).
“Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baalzephon: before it shall ye encamp by the sea” (Exodus 14:2).
They crossed the Red Sea.
Wilderness of Shur (there was no water to drink) Exodus Ch. 15:22 Marah bitter water
Elim There were twelve wells of water, palm tress they camped there (Exodus Ch.15:27).
Wilderness of Sin – between Elim and Sinai. Fifteenth day of 2nd month. Exodus Ch.16:1. They experienced hunger and were fed Manna from Heaven. They gathered it for 6 days, and stored it for Sabbath. They were observing the Sabbath before the Law (Exodus 16:22). They had Manna in the morning and Quail in the evenings. Manna lasted 40 years (Exodus 16:35).
In the wilderness they saw The Glory of God in the Cloud. Wow! I know what they saw (Exodus 16:10). Such a wonderful metaphor for God’s goodness and grace, it’s when we are in the wilderness we often experience the best that God has to offer.
“And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will ye refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? (Exodus Ch.16:28). God has an issue with continued disobedience.
When they arrived at Rephidim there was NO WATER for them to drink! They had to strike the Rock of Horeb. Massah & Meribah Exodus Ch.17:7
It was on the third month of their journey that Moses has an encounter with the God of the Mountain. After that the people had an encounter with God (Exodus Ch.19). The month of Abib (first month in Jewish calendar) Exodus 13:4.
In passing I want to mention that Slavery is in the Old Testament. Servants as in slaves who were bought with money and circumcised could partake of the Passover Exodus Ch.12:44. But not a foreigner (tosab) sojourner or stranger (Exodus Ch.12:45). The Hebrews practiced slavery in antiquity, they owned and traded slaves, just like the nations around them.
I have heard people quote this ‘One Law for all’ passage in the wrong context. “One law shall be to him that is home born, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.” It’s Conditional! If they are bought with a price, as in slavery (chattels) or they have been circumcised. In other words they have converted to Judaism, only then could they partake of the Passover. Exodus Ch.12:49. Otherwise it is definitely Two Laws, Moses’s Law for the Jews and Noachide Laws for the non-Jews.
The Way of the Wilderness Exodus 13:18 not the Way of the Philistines Exodus 13:17.
Let’s talk about AMALEK: Genesis 14:7; Numbers 13:29;14:25.
Amalek fought with Israel (Exodus 17:8) therefore is cursed apparently forever.
The curse of Amalek:
“And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovahnissi: For he said, Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.” (Exodus Ch.17:14-16). It’s these kinds of verses that cause much confusion amongst Christians. Jesus Christ gave his life for all and God loves all mankind. To carry hate and vindictiveness in your heart from generation to generation is wrong in every sense of the word. I cannot accept that it’s God’s intention to make us carry such a burden.
In Exodus 4:20 Moses left Jethro and Midian and returned to Egypt. He took his wife and sons with him. Later Jethro returned Zipporah and the boys back to Moses, who apparently had sent her away (divorced) her. Their sons names were Gershom and Eliezer. Even though both left with her and Moses, Eliezer’s name meant, “Delivered from the sword of Pharaoh” (Exodus 18:4). Moses only had two sons by the way with Zipporah (Exodus 18:6). Before leaving Jethro gave Moses advice on sharing responsibilities (Exodus Ch.18:21).
Mount Sinai:
Moses and The Ten Commandments, much of Exodus covers The Ten Commandments, so it’s best to read my full article on it.
Exodus Chapters 23:20-23:
“Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him. But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries. For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off.”
Personally I have no issues with the migration from an ancient near east context. People groups moved around all the time. I have two articles on the book of Jasher and it appears to me that the promise of land preceded The Hebrew Scriptures. Jasher, says it was prophesied over Abraham when he was born because he was born under a star. Either way a group of people moving about the ANE is no big deal, wherever they happen to be going. Some ancients were permanent nomads, like the Bedouin. It’s not like millions of people crammed into these cities, there would’ve been a couple of hundred thousand at most. The ancient Israelites were not welcome in Egypt anymore for whatever reason, so they went in search of a new home. For me it’s more a case of whether their journey was violent or peaceful.
It’s clear to me that God intended to take the Children of Israel on a journey to The Promised Land. Ten ancient people groups occupied that land already. “The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaims, the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites (Genesis 15:18-21). What is also clear is that God intended it to be a peaceful infiltration into these lands rather than a violent one, “I will cut them off”, “Little by little.” And for the most part scholars believe that it was a peaceful infiltration. As circumstances changes and opportunities arose, the Israelites expanded their territory.
Although, from reading the Scriptures that does not seem to be the case and a group of humble slaves in Egypt suddenly became warriors and armies. If the numbers allotted to the Israelites are correct and they were in armies, then why didn’t they defeat the Egyptians who were apparently smaller in number? Chapter 12:51.The Lord brought them out of Egypt in their armies (?) Were they slaves or were they armies?
Exodus 25-31 consists of the instructions for The Tabernacle:
This is a good video to provide the basics instructions for The Tabernacle.
It’s important to note that the colours used in the Tabernacle are Blue, Purple and Scarlet. Blue for the Heavenly realm, Purple for Royalty and Scarlet for redemption through the blood. In Jesus after we have received eternal life through his death and resurrection the Scarlet turns to Green for life. Under the New Covenant our colours are Blue, Purple and Green.
The Journey for the Israelites resumed with an additional promise of the Angel going out before them to drive out Canaanites etc. (Exodus 33:2). Although this was conditional, “Observe Thou that I command thee this day.” Exodus 34:11
The Tabernacle was erected, sacrifice and worship commenced and the Tabernacle was covered with the Cloud, the Glory of the Lord.
Exodus 14:14 Stand Still, Fear Not, The Lord will Fight for You.! If only we would listen.
My conclusion on Exodus is that I do believe in the Exodus of the ancient Israelites. The reason being is that there is too much extra-biblical evidence for their existence in the Levant later on. They obviously came from somewhere, so why not Egypt? Exodus is their written history and I am in no position to question it. The fire by night, the cloud by day, the water from the rock, the manner from heaven, the Glory of God all ring true to me. The Tabernacle in the Wilderness is a stunning example of a Christian’s journey in Christ. The process is so significant for the whole body of Christ.
The difficulties I have with Exodus are no different to the difficulties I have with the Hebrew Scriptures in general. Numbers are either symbolic or exaggerated, that the texts are heavily edited and anyone with a keen eye will see that immediately. A person who is a seasoned reader will spot the change in authorship in every single instance. I stand by my claim that Midrash (Jewish interpretation) is very much present in the Hebrew Scriptures. The word Lord is used interchangeably with God speaking and the authoritative voice of someone like Moses.
All Scripture is KJV
Images are from iStock and AI
All links were live October 23, 2024
Cheryl Mason
The End:
Ten Commandments of Moses or Two Commandments of Jesus?
According to Exodus Ch.20 and Deuteronomy Ch.5 the first two Commandments of Moses’s Law are as follows:
- You shall have no other gods before me.
- You shall not make yourself idols.
Yet when Jesus was asked what was the Greatest Commandment as in the First Commandment:
“Master, which is the GREAT COMMANDMENT in the Law”? (Moses’s Law) Matthew Ch.22
Jesus replied:
“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” Pretty much your entire being. Physically, emotionally and mentally must be devoted to God, there are no shortcuts. This is the FIRST and GREAT Commandment.
And the second is, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” The number one thing that comes to mind when I think about loving myself is that I take care of myself. According to Jesus, the same level of care I give to myself I should extend to my neighbour. That is whoever happens to be next to me at that time.
On these TWO Commandments hang ALL the LAW and the PROPHETS.
(Matthew 22:37-40).
Both these Commandments that Jesus mentioned originate from the Hebrew Scriptures, the Christian Old Testament. But as I will point out in the Hebrew Scriptures they have a different meaning, and they are intended to do so.
Deuteronomy 6:5 “And thou shalt love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and with all your might. Deuteronomy 6:5 follows Deuteronomy 6:4, “Hear O Israel, the Lord your God is One Lord.” Loving God from a Hebrew context is conditional to believing in the ‘Oneness’ of God. Believing in Jesus Christ as God, Son of God or as a Divine Being is idolatry according to Jewish interpretation.
The Second Commandment according to Jesus, “Thou shalt love your neighbour as yourself” is also different in the Hebrew Scriptures. Leviticus 19:18 “Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, I am the Lord.” There you have it! Your neighbour is your own people, your own kin. Go outside of that and you have the parable of The Good Samaritan, told to us by Jesus Christ. The Good Samaritan stops to help irrelevant of who the person is. This is where Christians fail to understand the subtleties of the Hebrew Scriptures because they don’t know Judaism.
How is “You shall have no other Gods before me”, different to “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.”?
They can be interpreted differently, that’s what’s different about them. In Judaism and Islam, for instance, Jesus is neither God nor the Son of God. In Judaism Jesus was an imposter and a blasphemer. In Islam, Jesus is considered a Prophet. That makes Christians who believe that Jesus is God or the Son of God guilty of breaking the Second Commandment which is, “Don’t make yourself an idol.” Christians are considered Idolatrous in both Judaism and Islam.
Now consider what Jesus said was The First and Greatest Commandment: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.”
You can be dedicated to your god but not love your god, right? A slave can be dedicated to his master but inwardly hate his master. It can be a false devotion that has no feelings or emotions attached to it. Your faith can become a ritual, a routine that has no meaning anymore. But if you love God emotionally as in having a relationship with him, then you are committed to him in your heart.
A good example of this can be a marriage, a marriage can have all the outward trimmings of a healthy marriage but internally it could be dead. You can remain dedicated and faithful to your partner and yet not love your partner. Saying, you don’t cheat on your partner because of the consequences or saying you don’t cheat on your partner because you love your partner deeply are two different things.
If you love God then the Second Commandment according to Jesus is, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” That is whoever is next to you at that time. In fact loving one’s neighbour is a flow on effect to loving God. Because without loving God and without God’s love in us we cannot love our neighbour. What Jesus was advocating was rather than have another eight different Commandments for various sinful acts, if you love your neighbour as yourself you will not steal from them, kill them, envy them and so on. Instead you would be happy for their successes and help them in their failures. Envy is covered in the word Covet, wanting what your neighbour has, as in material things, such as your neighbours partner, car, land or house.
Does your religious ‘love’ have boundaries? In the Old Testament (Hebrew Scriptures) it says, both, “Show mercy” (Micah 6:8) and “Show no mercy.” (Deut 7:2 & 1 Samuel 15:3). How can this be? Isn’t it a contradiction? It is, until you understand that the ‘mercy’ shown sometimes extends only to your own kind, and ‘show no mercy’ is for your enemies. As I pointed out earlier from the Hebrew Scriptures, Leviticus 19:18 “Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, I am the Lord.” I found a similar teaching from The Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson, “He also acknowledged that his intention was to do so, and to make people aware that ahavat Yisrael, love of one’s fellow, is not just one mitzvah among many mitzvot, but that it supersedes all others.” (The Life and teachings of Menachem.M.Schneerson, Joseph Telushkin).
In Christianity we are not allowed to hate our enemies and we are to treat everyone we encounter with the same love and respect. Not just ‘one’s fellow’. There is a vast difference between ‘thy people’ and ‘all people’. That is what Jesus Christ taught. Jesus was a brilliant teacher, in his rendition of The Good Samaritan he explained this principle perfectly. If an unrecognizable human lay on the side of the road, bloodied and battered would you help him? Irrelevant of who he was? Or would you look to see, if he was rich or poor, black or white, friend or foe before you helped him? That was the crux of the story of the Good Samaritan.
So, according to Jesus Christ of Nazareth if you are obedient to only Two Commandments, to love God and love your neighbour as yourself, you are fulfilling every Commandment of God.
All Scripture is the KJV
Images AI generated.
Cheryl Mason.
My article on The Ten Commandments:
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The Ten Commandments – Three versions: Which version did God give Moses?
A few years ago, I discovered aspects about the Ten Commandments that deeply concerned me. I’m finally putting pen to paper with my concerns and in the process hoping to make sense of it all.
In this article I will discuss Moses’s encounter with the God of the Mountain, where he was handed a Moral Code. As a Christian I used to believe it was a Moral Code for all of humanity but soon discovered that to the ancient Israelites it was a comprehensive Law Code which was specifically for them. Judaism teaches that it was at that precise moment that God handed Moses not only written Laws but a huge compilation of Oral Laws which make up the Torah/Talmud. Judaism and Christianity part ways almost immediately at this point, as Christians do not accept that the Talmud (Oral Traditions) were handed down to Moses on Mount Sinai.
I am astounded that with all the experience and knowledge acquired by Christians over the last 2000 years, they still haven’t raised the issue about the variances in the Ten Commandments. I will explain these variances in detail in this article. Jews and Christians have totally different concepts of the Ten Commandments. I will conclude with what I believe are the most important Commandments for Christians to follow, from a New Testament perspctive.
A Jewish Perspective on the Ten Commandments:
“The Ten are so closely interwoven, that the breaking of one leads to the breaking of another.”
“The first commandment: “I am the Lord, thy God,” corresponds to the sixth: “Thou shalt not kill,” for the murderer slays the image of God. The second: “Thou shalt have no strange gods before me,” corresponds to the seventh: “Thou shalt not commit adultery,” for conjugal faithlessness is as grave a sin as idolatry, which is faithlessness to God.” Ginzberg, Louis. The Legends of the Jews (Complete). Book Masters. Kindle Edition.
Please read my comment about the “Thou shalt not kill” Commandment further down in this article. In my opinion Jews view this as only killing their own, that is fellow-Jews, this Commandment does not apply to outsiders.
A Jewish Mystical Perspective of the Ten Commandments:
Ten Commandments:” (twrbdh trç/Eseret ha-Dibrot). The two tablets on which God inscribed the commandments were first carved from the Foundation Stone (Tanh. Kedoshim 10). When Moses shattered the first tablets, the letters flew back up to heaven (Avot 5:6; AdRN 2:11; Shab. 146a; Eruv. 54a; Deut. R. 15:17). God required Moses to make the second tablets with mortal hands, so the second stones did not have the same potent power, though the second stones were actually sapphire (PdRE 44).
“Surprisingly, while the Ten Commandments are a frequently cited text, they are rarely used in Jewish rituals of power.”
Dennis, Geoffrey W. The Encyclopaedia of Jewish Myth, Magic & Mysticism (p. 416). Llewellyn Worldwide, LTD. Kindle Edition.
“Again, the first six letters of the book of Genesis, BRAShIT, Berasit, translated “In the beginning,” but more properly “In wisdom,” are the initials of the words BRAShIT RAH ALHIM ShYQBLU IShRAL TURH, read “Berasit rauah Elohim shyequebelu Israel torah,” which mean “In the beginning, God saw that Israel would accept the Law.”
“Two old conceits were that the Tenth wave of the sea is always larger than others; and that birds laid the 10th egg of a larger size than the others. The word Ten was used by the Hebrews, instead of “a large number,” so that care must be exercised in translating this; thus, Nehemiah interprets “ten generations” of Deuteronomy xxiii. v. 3 to mean “for ever.” Nehemiah xiii. 1. The Kabbalists called 5, 6 and 10 circular numbers, because when squared, the result shows the same number in the unit figure, thus: 5 times 5 are 25 and 5 times 25 are 125 6 times 6 are 36 6 times 36 are 216 10 times 10 are 100 10 times 100 are 1000.” William Wynn Westcott. Numbers, Their Occult Power and Mystic Virtues (pp. 27, 94). Global Grey. Kindle Edition.
Never underestimate Kabbalah’s influence in modern-day Judaism, it is significant.
What is Kabbalah? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabbalah
A Christian Perspective of the Ten Commandments:
Albert Edersheim in Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah believed that for the Christian the Ten Beatitudes mentioned in Matthew Ch. 5 were given as a substitution for the Ten Commandments under the New Covenant.
“In the first part of the Sermon on the Mount the Kingdom of God is delineated generally, first positively, and then negatively, marking especially how its righteousness goes deeper than the mere letter of even the Old Testament Law. It opens with Ten Beatitudes, which are the New Testament counterpart to the Ten Commandments. These present to us, not the observance of the Law written on stone, but the realisation of that Law which, by the Spirit, is written on the fleshly tables of the heart.” Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah – Enhanced Version (p. 529). Christian Classics Ethereal Library.
In some texts the Ten Commandments have been edited to make them flow:
“The Samaritan Pentateuch harmonises the different wording of the Ten Commandments in the Masoretic text of Exod. 20 and Deut. 5.”
“It counts these commandments as nine and adds a tenth: “And it shall come to pass when the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land of the Canaanites whither thou goest to take possession of it, thou shalt erect unto thee large stones, and thou shalt cover them with lime, and thou shalt write upon the stones all the words of this Law, and it shall come to pass when ye cross the Jordan, ye shall erect these stones which I command thee upon Mount Garizim.”
“And thou shalt build there an altar unto the Lord thy God, an altar of stones, and thou shalt not lift up upon them iron; of perfect stones shalt thou build thine altar, and thou shalt bring up upon it burnt offerings to the Lord thy God, and thou shalt sacrifice peace offerings, and thou shalt eat there and rejoice before the Lord thy God.” Scott, J. Julius, Jr.; Scott, Julius J… Jewish Backgrounds of the New Testament. Baker Book Group – A. Kindle Edition.
Let’s hear from some experts about the Ten Commandments or the Ten Words in Judaism:
“The concept of Torah-law is the fourth essential area of the Hebrew faith. The biblical books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy contain 613 written laws or instructions to direct every facet of the life of the Hebrews. These laws include injunctions and directives in several broad areas. Later writers (mostly Christian) divided the Old Testament law into ceremonial (religious ritual), civil, and moral (including the Ten Commandments). Such a division may be helpful in identifying the areas covered by the Old Testament instructions, but it can also be misleading. To the Hebrews the law was one, and all parts were of equal importance.” Scott, J. Julius, Jr.; Scott, Julius J… Jewish Backgrounds of the New Testament. Baker Book Group.
If I’m understanding Scott, the Pentateuch contains the 613 Laws of Judaism. Although, what I discovered is contrary to that. The 613 Laws of Judaism or 613 letters are not throughout the Pentateuch they are in the Ten Commandments. Judaism teaches the number 10 is symbolic for much greater numbers, 613 for instance and 620 which I will explain later. Again, Christians totally misunderstand numbers in the Hebrew Scriptures. They take everything in a literal sense when in fact it is not.
The entire Hebrew Scriptures consists of numbers and symbols, they are books of symbolic numbers and not just words. You have to be able to read the numbers, not just the words.
“In these Ten are included the 613 Commandments. If you count the letters in the Ten Commandments, you will find that there are 613 letters. They contain all 22 letters except Tet, which is missing in them. What is the reason for this? This teaches us that Tet is the belly — and it is not included among the Sefirot.” Kaplan, Aryeh. The Bahir (p. 47). Red Wheel Weiser. The Bahir also mention 620 laws within the Ten, the 7 additional laws are mostly associated with The Noachides. In my opinion The Noachides will be required to obey 620 laws and the followers of Judaism 613. The Ten Commandments are irrelevant if this is the case as the only numbers that matter are 613 and 620.
Also, this from Louis Ginsberg: “The Ten Commandments, which God first revealed on Mount Sinai, correspond in their character to the ten words of which He had made use at the creation of the world. The first commandment: “I am the Lord, thy God,” corresponds to the first word at the creation: “Let there be light,” for God is the eternal light. The second commandment: “Thou shalt have no strange gods before me,” corresponds to the second word: “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” Ginzberg, Louis. The Legends of the Jews (Complete). Book Masters. Kindle Edition.
As we can see the number 10 is very significant in Hebrew literature:
Did Moses write the Ten Commandments?
It appears Moses’s delivery of the Ten/613 Commandments are set in concrete. But outside of the religious texts, what evidence do we have that Moses wrote the Ten Commandments or wrote anything for that matter? It goes without saying that archaeologists have dug up the entire Middle East looking for anything that would remotely confirm Moses. Sadly, nothing has been found to verify that he ever existed. Yet both the Hebrew Scriptures (Christian Old Testament) and the New Testament bear witness of his existence. Personally, I believe Moses existed but I’m rather suspicious about some of the things written about him in the religious texts. Or should I say the things he wrote about himself, like he was a very humble man and about his own death. So, what did Moses write?
The Maximalists all agree Moses wrote The Pentateuch, the Minimalists argue Moses wrote nothing, the in-between people believe he wrote only the Ten Commandments. “Moses is supposed to have lived about 1400 B.C.; these writings, say the destructive critics, were first produced in part about 730 B.C., but were mainly written after the Exile (about 444 B.C.), almost a thousand years after the death of Moses. “Strict and impartial investigation has shown,” says Dr Knappert, “that … nothing in the whole Law really comes from Moses himself except the Ten Commandments. And even these were not delivered by him in the same form as we find them now.” Gladden, Washington. WHO WROTE THE BIBLE? (non-illustrated) (p. 26).
Proof that the books attributed to Moses were written a long time after his death is very strong. Places, people groups and events written in past tense were clearly not written by him and occurred hundreds of years after his death. And that’s pretty much the truth about Moses.
What we find intwined in Moses’s Law is other ancient Laws that existed at that time, such as Hammurabi’s Law. These Laws still exist in stone for real, unlike Moses’s Law which tells us it was written in stone. I don’t understand why believers freak out at the thought of Universal Laws being incorporated into religious texts. It’s just life that Laws would be inherited into our everyday lives, whether religious or otherwise. The question we have to ask ourselves is this: Do we still have to follow Inherited Laws? The answer is empathically, “No.” If they are brutal, cruel, barbaric and belong in the era they were created and not in any modern day society.
Interjections of Hammurabi’s Law into Moses’s Law, although some scholars believe similar laws may have existed hundreds of years even before Hammurabi.
https://youtu.be/_rC5V5vEprs?si=dISCpE5dMdQPaFQs
The versions of the Ten Commandments:
Exodus Ch.19:3. “And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel.” Exodus Ch.19:20. “And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.”
Exodus Ch.20 Moses is given the Ten Commandments:
- You shall have no other Gods before me.
- You shall not make for yourself any image in heaven, earth, under the earth, to bow down to them or serve them.
- Not take the Name of the Lord in vain.
- Keep the Sabbath Day Holy.
- Honor your father and your mother.
- You shall not murder.
- You shall not commit adultery.
- You shall not steal.
- You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.
- You shall not covet.
Directly after the Ten Commandments were given, we find ourselves faced with slavery, sex with servent girls. An aul through the ear confirming ownership of another human being (Exodus 21:6). Under Hammurabi’s Law code the ear was cut off.
There is also a clear advantages to being a male. After God stating that “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” The male is given permission to take another wife, provided he continues to provide food to the first.” Which in essence is polygamy (Exodus 21:10).
“Thou shalt not kill” takes on a whole meaning when precedence’s were established to do just that, kill people.
- Death for injury causing death Exodus 21:12
- Death for stealing Exodus 21:16
- Death for injuring father or Mother Exodus 21:15
- Death for cursing father or Mother Exodus 21:17
- “Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, foot for foot.”
- Death for a witch Exodus 22:18
- Death for Bestiality Exodus 22:19
- Death for sacrificing to other gods, worshipping other gods Exodus 22:20
- Death for breaking the Sabbath even if you light a fire Exodus 35:2
Now go back and read the First Commandment, “Thou shalt have no other Gods before me” and consider this, that in Judaism and Islam, Christians are considered Idolaterers for believing Jesus is God, or the Son of God.
I’ve heard that Murder/Killing is supposed to be different words, but are they? Of course not, it is a lie to justify killing. The KJV says ‘Kill’ modern translations say ‘Murder.’
The word ‘murder’ is carefully selected in modern translations, but it is used interchangeably with ‘kill’ throughout the Tanakh (Old Testament).
“Strong’s Definitions: øÈöÇç râtsach, raw-tsakh’; a primitive root; properly, to dash in pieces, i.e. kill (a human being), especially to murder: —put to death, kill, (man-) slay(-er), murder(-er).”
Exodus Ch.21 is very much an interjection of Hammurabi’s Babylonian Law, or Inherited Law, the Law of the land at that time which clearly demanded ‘Revenge’. Revenge is completely contrary to the teaching of Jesus Christ. Revenge cannot be a good thing because it will eventually lead to destroying your enemies and yourself in the process.
Hammurabi ‘s Law: 300-400 years approx. before Moses.
I think you get the idea by now that none of the Ten Commandments were taken seriously then or now. Which makes it laughable that Christians in the United States are trying to have them displayed in Public Schools. We all know Trump keeps the Ten Commandments, right?
Comparison of the Ten Commandments God gave to Moses:
Exodus Ch.19: Exodus Ch.24 and Exodus Ch.31.
In Exodus Ch.19:3 Moses went up to the mountain. Then in Exodus Ch.20 Moses received 10 Commandments. Exodus Ch.32 While Moses was on the mountain, Aaron and the people make the Golden Calf.
Exodus Ch.34:1-2 Moses broke the first set of Commandments. This is very significant, because look what happens next. Talmudic Judaism (Ginsberg) gets written into the text. Even though Moses was punished for his temper tantrum, God says, “Hey, don’t fret, because now you have the opportunity to collect a whole lot of new laws.” Yippee!
This is what Louis Ginsberg said, “Then God said to him: (Moses) “Grieve not for the loss of the first two tables, which contained only the Ten Commandments.”Ginzberg, Louis. The Legends of the Jews (Complete). Book Masters. Kindle Edition. It appears to me that the breaking of the original commandments was a good thing in hindsight, because it provided an opportunity for ancient Israel to obtain the entire new Torah, which includes Talmud and according to Ginsberg even Midrash. Christians freak out when I say the Old Testament contains Midrash. It does and it is most obvious in the Ten Commandments, and I will prove it to you.
The whole smashing the tablets thing is a little confusing to say the least. Personally, I get Moses went up the mountain and communed with God. That while he was away the people worshipped the Golden Calf. I get that Moses was horrified at what was going on and smashed the tablets in a fit of rage. I mean, which one of us hasn’t thrown something at some point? However, this incident of the smashing of the tablets led to the receiving of a much bigger volume of laws, the compilation of Talmudic Law. Which had to be a good thing for the Israelites, I guess, if you like lots and lots of laws.
In Deuteronomy Ch.9:10,11,17. Moses admits he broke the first lot of tablets.
Now I don’t know about you but unless God suffers from amnesia or something, if He gave Moses Ten Commandments and Moses broke them and if God says…” Come back up the mountain and I will re-write them.” God should remember what He wrote the first instance. That’s sounds logical to me, although, that’s not what happened.
Then God said to him: (Moses) “Grieve not for the loss of the first two tables (tablets), which contained only the Ten Commandments. The second tables (tablets) that I am now ready to give thee, shall contain Halakhoth, Midrash, and Haggadot.” At the new moon of the month Elul, Moses had the trumpet sounded throughout the camp, announcing to the people that he would once more betake himself to God for forty days to receive the second tables from Him, so that they might be alarmed by his absence; and he stayed in heaven until the tenth day of Tishri, on which day he returned with the Torah and delivered it to Israel. Ginzberg, Louis. The Legends of the Jews (Complete). Book Masters. Kindle Edition.
Please note people that Torah is Halakhoth, Midrash, Haggadot, Talmud and everything that pertains to Jewish Law.
Deuteronomy Ch.10:4 says, “And he wrote on the tables (tablets) according to the First Writing, the Ten Commandments, which the LORD Spake unto you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly: and the LORD gave them unto me.” We can clearly see that this is not the case. Because in the Hebrew Scriptures the Christian Old Testament we are presented with a completely new set of commandments. In this instance Ginzberg is right and the new set of Commandments contained Midrash.
A whole new set of Commandments! Here’s the twist…These are the 7 Laws for Noachides. Remember I told you 613 for the Jews 620 for the Noachides. Noachides will be strictly judged on Idolatry (which includes a belief in Jesus Christ). And they will be required to keep the Feasts.
- No other Gods
- No molten Gods (Idols)
- Keep theFeast of Unleavend Bread on the month of Abib
- First born is mine (humans, cattle, finance).
- Keep the Sabbath
- Keep the Feast of Weeks
- Keep the Passover
That’s it! Is this in fact an abrogation of the original Ten Commandments given by God, re-written by a Jewish Rabbi/Scribe? “Exodus 34:28 And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables (tablets) the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.” (“4. The Ten Commandments Are a ‘Covenant’ Document”)
Exodus Ch.34:28 says they are the Ten Commandments, despite there being only Seven Commandments. Even if you can count Ten, they are a total different set of Commandments that replaced the original.
Exodus Ch. 24 MOSES AND JOSHUA GO UP TO THE MOUNTAIN (40 DAYS)
In Exodus Ch.19:3 Moses goes up alone and in Exodus Ch.24:12-13 Moses went up with Joshua. Exodus Ch.19:3. “And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel.” But in Ch.24, Moses went up the mountain with Joshua. Exodus Ch.24:12-13. “Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you tablets of stone, and the Law and Commandments which I have written, that you may teach them.” (This is where the Oral Traditions were written into the text). So Moses arose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up to the mountain of God.” Forty days and forty nights.
There Moses and Joshua are given the design and requirements for The Tabernacle in the Wilderness.
Exodus Chapter 31:18 “And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.” In Exodus Ch.24 the emphasis is on Moses and Joshua going up to the mountain and being up there forty days and forty nights. The instructions given to them on two tablets of stone, written with the finger of God was the instructions for The Tabernacle in the Wilderness. The only mention of anything to do with the Ten Commandments written in Exodus Ch.20 is The Sabbath (Exodus Ch.31:13-17).
Was the Ten Commandments or the instructions for The Tabernacle written on stone?
6) cf. Rabbi Levi in Berakhoth, fol. 5a; Rabbi Iochanan in Megillah, f.19b.(7) To prove this they appeal to Exodus Ch. XXIV, 12: “And the Lord God said to Moses, come up to me into the mountain, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them.” They assert that in this passage the words “tables of stone” mean the ten commandments, that “a law” means the Pentateuch, “commandments” mean the Mischnah; “which I have written” the Prophets and the Hagiographers; and “that thou mayest teach them” the Gemarah. cf. Berakhoth, fol. 5a. The Talmud Unmasked.
Exodus Ch.32 While Moses is on the mountain, Aaron and the people make the Golden Calf. Except Aaron is also on the mountain, right? Exodus Ch.24:1. “And he said unto Moses, Come up unto the LORD, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar off.”
Exodus Ch.33:11a “And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.
In Exodus Ch.33:20 “And he said, Thou cannot not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.”
And in Exodus Ch.24:7 “And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient.”
Moses was reading and writing in books in 1500 B.C. and God was still writing on stone? ☹️ Exodus 24:4-7 Moses had a book “The Book of the Covenant.” Exodus Ch.34:1 “And the LORD said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest.”
In all fairness to the text: Moses’s Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy Ch.5:7-22 are the same as Exodus 20.
- Thou shalt have none other gods before me.
- No graven images
- Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord they God in vain.
- Keep the Sabbath Holy
- Honor thy father and they mother.
- Thou shalt not kill.
- Thou shalt not commit adultery.
- Thou shalt not steal.
- Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
- Thou shalt not covert thy neighbour’s wife, goods, servants etc.
“These words the LORD spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables (tablets) of stone and delivered them unto me.”
In the mouth of two or three witnesses, so it is my opinion that Exodus Ch.34 and Leviticus Ch.19 are incorrect and Exodus Ch.20 and Deuteronomy Ch.5 are correct.
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS IN LEVITICUS Ch.19:2-18
In Leviticus the Ten Commandments are woven into the entire chapter.
- Be Holy
- Respect your parents
- Do not worship idols and images
- Offer peace offerings
- Reap in your own vineyard
- Do not steal
- Do not take the name of the Lord in vain
- Do not cheat and steal from your neighbour
- Do not put a stumbling block before your neighbour, before the blind or curse the deaf.
- In righteousness you shall judge your neighbour
- Do not be a talebearer or take vengeance
- You shall love your neighbour as yourself
- You shall keep My Sabbaths.
37 ‘Therefore, you shall observe all My statutes and all My judgments and perform them: I am the LORD.’” This is what I mean when I say the Tanakh, the Christian Old Testament contains Midrash.
What is Midrash? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midrash
The New Testament Laws from Jesus Christ:
Matthew Ch.5:38-39.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.”
It is my opinion that God never intended his followers to kill, murder, maim, disfigure or pluck people’s eyes out. Yet the same God who said, “Love your neighbour as yourself.” Suddenly became revengeful in the Old Testament.
When God created Adam and Eve, He gave them One Commandment and that was not to eat of the forbidden fruit. Eating of the fruit (which was both physical and spiritual) opened their eyes to Good and Evil. It was NOT God’s intention for them to have knowledge of Good and Evil. He wanted them to only know Good and for them to walk with Him in the Garden of Eden, which was a type of Heaven on Earth. Which he created especially for them.
Adam and Eve broke the One Commandment and from then on, they were faced with a choice between Two Ways or Paths. The Good Way and the Evil Way. Because we are the descendants of Adam and Eve and they are our human ancestors, we have inherited that choice. Daily, hourly, minute by minute we must choose between Good and Evil.
People think this is an outrageous claim to make, but just look back on your own family history, how one decision your ancestors made determined your destiny. Or you may have a wayward child, you tell them, “Don’t do that, don’t go with that person, he could lead you down the wrong path.” But they don’t listen, they go ahead anyway, and there’s a tragedy, and the entire family are affected for generations.
There was One Commandment for Adam and Eve. Just One Commandment, don’t eat of the forbidden fruit.
There were Ten Commandments for the Ancient Israelites which was given by Moses on Mount Sinai. They expounded the Ten Commandments to 613 Laws in Judaism. From the Ten Commandments they also extracted 620 Noachide Laws. They did this using a form of interpretation called Midrash.
For the New Testament Believers, the followers of Jesus.
It’s back to One Commandment “The Greatest Commandment” Galatians 5:14
For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” Galatians 5:14.
Jesus said, a New Commandment I give unto you: John 13:34-35
The Greatest Commandment: Matthew 22:36-40
Matthew 11:30 My Yoke is Easy and my Burden Light
Since I mentioned Albert Eldersheim and his statement that for Christians, the Beatitudes in Matthew Ch.5 are the Ten Commandments, I will now go ahead and finish with The Beatitudes, the Commandments of Jesus Christ to His followers.
- Blessed are the poor in Spirit
- Blessed are those who mourn
- Blessed are the meek
- Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness
- Blessed are the merciful
- Blessed are the pure in heart
- Blessed are the peacemakers
- Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake
- Blessed are you when people revile you
- Blessed are you when people persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake
Blessings for those who choose to follow this path, no more curses. Each one of the Beatitudes comes with its own reward. I would highly recommend that at some point in your spiritual journey you read The Life and Times of Jesus Christ by Albert Eldersheim.
In concluding, I stated that Christians have new laws in the New Testament which condense into one Law, “Love your neighbour as yourself.” I quoted Albert Eldersheim, author of The Life and Times of Jesus Christ who taught that The Beatitudes were a replacement of the Ten Commandments. I stated there are three versions of the Ten Commandments in the Tanach (Christian Old Testament). This can only mean that the original version was interpreted and expounded on, using Midrash. The number 10, like many other numbers are used symbolically throughout the Bible. It could mean 10 or a large number, when the large number is unknown. In order to understand how these numbers influence the text, you must read Jewish literature, extensively.
Personally, I doubt the broken tablets of stone theory, and believe it was invented to justify new Laws being added to the text. There was also a lot of toing and froing for my liking, up and down the mountain, with Aaron, with Joshua, with the Seventy Elders. Which unnecessarily confuses the text and exposes weaknesses. Deuteronomy Ch. 5 and Exodus 20 have the same Ten Commandments. Exodus Ch. 34 and Leviticus Ch. 19, suggest that different items were written on the tablets. Much of Moses’s Law Codes are very similar to those that existed at the time. Hammurabi’s Laws for instance, and even his laws appear to have existed previously. I quoted experts on the Jewish concepts of Moses’s Law and quotes from Jewish mysticism. The reason for this study was to satisfy my own concerns and curiosity about the Ten Commandments.
All Scripture used is from the KJV of the Bible.
Author: Cheryl Mason.
The Book of Esther: Is Esther really Judith from The Apocrypha?
The Storyline:
The Book of Esther reads like a modern-day movie script. It’s a Babylonian tale of King Ahasuerus who reigned over a hundred and twenty-seven provinces. He is depicted as a rich, powerful, party-loving King. And like all rich, party-loving Kings enjoyed the most extravagant of lifestyles. His carousing, somewhat orgiastic feasts always culminated in showing-off his Queen’s beauty. As noted in the text, at the last feast, his Queen (Vashti) refused to show-up and dance before his drunken officials. Her refusal ultimately led to her downfall and the search for a virgin replacement Queen began in earnest, ‘Bring out your virgins!’
Enter Mordecai, a fourth generation exiled, disgruntled Israelite. Mordecai was looking for an opportunity to free his people from oppression. Aren’t we all? 😊 He learned of the Opening for a new Queen and immediately thought of his niece, Esther. Esther (Hadassha/Myrtle) like her name suggests, had that rare combination of being plain and beautiful at the same time. The Myrtle, her tree, is associated with love, good luck, and subliminal beauty. It’s striking star shaped flowers, burst into bloom at ‘Such a time as this’. In Spring, actually, after the long winter of captivity and oppression.
It’s no doubt, Esther is the Hero of her own story. But a movie script wouldn’t be a movie script with just a Hero. You need a Villain and a Plot. The Villain in Esther’s story is Haman. Haman is busy working behind the scenes, plotting, plotting to kill the Jews. King Ahasuerus is either complicit or unaware of Haman’s evil plan but will hear about it soon enough. That’s because Mordecai is always listening at The Gates (Gates=Sanhedrin), yes, Mordecai also happened to be Sanhedrin. His rightful seat was Haman’s seat.
The uncle and niece team worked their magic until the King was mollified by Esther’s beauty. One full years’ worth of portions and lotions did the trick. Six months’ worth of dedicated contraceptive myrrh in anticipation of sex with the King. Life became good again for this pair when Haman’s evil plot was uncovered. The Villain was publicly shamed and hung on the gallows. Lots and lots of other people also died, why, I do not know. Finally, the alienated Jews of Shushan slept easy, knowing that they were victorious yet again, and all their enemies were dead.
Is Esther really Judith from The Apocrypha?
I’m quoting from Jewish author Hayyim Schauss who says that it is doubtful Esther’s story is real. That the text has its origins in Babylon and was considered Jewish folklore.
Hayyim Schauss in his book on Jewish Festivals, says.
“It’s the same story as Judith, in Bathula, rich widow Judith, after saying her prayers, dressed herself and with the help of her slave made her way to the camp of the enemy. Holofernes invited her to a feast and when he was drunk, she beheaded him and carried his head through the city streets. Many people were killed that day and Judith was hailed as the hero to her people.”
“Esther is folklore — the Talmudic Rabbi’s tell us it’s a Jewish dream of destroying their enemies the Amalekites.”
Okay, I agree, Esther didn’t chop off King Ahasuerus’s head, nor did she carry it through the city. Although she may as well have, because she took half his Kingdom. Compare the wording in Esther Ch.1:9 “Queen Vashti also made a feast for the women in the royal palace which belonged to King Ahasuerus.” And then compare later chapters and verses of Esther’s ownership of the Kings Palace. Esther climbed the ranks very quickly and is portrayed as running the Palace as her own.
It’s not just Talmudic Rabbi’s that considered the book of Esther as a fable, the Essenes and the Sadducees rejected it as well. I kind of have a soft spot for the Essenes, they were more spiritual than people give them credit for. For some reason the gore and gouge of Esther appealed to the Christians. Christians kept it in their Canon and if Judith and Esther are the same then the Catholics have the story twice. But how would they know? They wouldn’t, because not many Catholics read their Bibles. Ouch!
Let’s begin to compare Judith and Esther. Both are single beautiful Jewish women, one a widow and the other an orphan. Although, rumor has it that Mordecai and Esther had a little thing going on, that juicy tidbit is for later. The assumption has something to do with the Hebrew grammar that describes her single status. Judith and Esther both reference Nebuchadnezzar, either directly or indirectly by referencing the Babylonian Captivity. They both live in cities with powerful Kings. And both their sworn enemies are the King’s right-hand men whether it be Haman or Holofernes. Their enemies want to destroy their people.
In Esther, Haman’s plot is to kill the Jews, in Judith, Holofernes issues a threat of death if Jews did not worship the King (Nebuchadnezzar). Of course, this was also the case with Esther. Haman started the whole ‘hatred of the Jews’ by not bowing down to the King’s statue in the first place. Both call on their fellow Jews to fast, pray, mourn, sackcloth and ashes and so forth. In Judith the spirituality extends to naming the High Priest (Joachim) and including a prayer. No such prayer exists in Esther, however the long version of Esther in the Septuagint does contain a prayer. Personally, I believe if the prayer was in Esther also, the similarities would be too obvious. Both women slept with the uncircumcised kings to achieve their end goals and in both cases many, many people were killed.
The differences between Judith and Esther are that according to the texts, Judith came before Esther. The characters are similar and play very similar roles, but their names are different. Judith is more historically correct, and Esther is not. Holofernes was a real person and there was a real revolt against Persia and the Jews took part in that revolt https://historica.fandom.com/wiki/Holofernes. One other point raised by author Hayyim Schauss is that the historian, Herodotus left us his writings on the Persian Dynasty. Herodotus mentions that a Persian General’s daughter, Amestris, as being the Queen at the same time as Esther was supposed to be Queen. And that Royal wives were specially chosen from aristocratic families and never outsiders.
The problem for me with stories like this, whether Esther or Judith, is that the Hebrew Scriptures (the Christian Old Testament) repeatedly mentions periods of peace following the destruction of one’s enemies. Is this sustainable though? Can we rid ourselves of all our enemies and truly have peace? For me, the short answer is, NO! This is absolute nonsense and attempting to destroy our enemies through wars only creates more wars and more enemies. That’s what history has shown us. In the Jewish Torah for instance, they destroyed their enemies time and time again, and yet they still had enemies.
In concluding, the story of Esther from the Torah then is a tale of war with unrealistic expectations. And I find it rather odd that Esther is considered a hero. The similarity to Judith is something that cannot be ignored. Even most Rabbi’s considered Esther folklore and agree that it was imbued with the Jewish dream of destroying their enemies. The storyline is, Mordecai hears of a plot to destroy the Jews, so he sends his niece Esther to seduce the King. Bear in mind that this is purely hearsay and could only be a rumor for all we know. The King listened to Esther, the perpetrator (Haman) is ousted and hung, and the entire population of Shushan, Persia, 75,811 people are slaughtered (ironically modern-day Iran, only much smaller). Collective punishment, death by association, kill or be killed is the motto of Esther’s story.
Next time it’s Mordecai and Esther in Myth and Legend: Their redemptive qualities.
Cheryl Mason.
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