John Wrote Five Bible Books?

Did the apostle John write the Gospel of John (the 4^th gospel, 4G), the letters 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Revelation…the five Johánnine books so-called?  All four New Testament (NT) gospels are written anonymously.  This topic focuses on the 4^th gospel’s author, and the other NT books attributed to him.

The apostle John (Yochanán) and his older brother James (Jacob) were two of Jesus’ original 12 disciples.  They were also His 1^st cousins.  These two (and their partner Simon Peter, Lk.5:10) were the closest to Jesus.  ref Mt.17:1, 26:37, Mk.5:37, 9:2, 14:33, Lk.8:51, 9:28.

James & John were the sons of Jesus’ aunt Salóme and uncle Zébedee.  The three other women with Jesus’ Mary at His cross were: #1 Mary Magdalene; #2 another Mary who was the wife of Clopás and mother of James the Less & Josés; #3 Mt.27:56 the mother of the sons of Zebedee, Mk.15:40 Salome, Jn.19:25 Jesus’ mother’s sister (biological sisters wouldn’t both be named Mary).  Jesus’ Mary and Salome were two daughters of Eli/Heli (Lk.3:23).  also see the topic “Jesus’ Genealogy”.

Easton Bible Dictionary: Salome “The wife of Zebedee and mother of James & John, and probably the sister of Mary, the mother of our Lord.”  Gill Exposition Jn.1:1 “The author of this Gospel is John, the son of Zebedee and Salome, the brother of James the Greater; he outlived the rest of the disciples.”

James & John wanted their mother, Jesus’ aunt Salome, to convey to Him their desire to sit immediately to His left and His right in His future kingdom glory (Mt.20:20-24, Mk.10:35-41).  Salome had known her nephew Jesus from His childhood.  Maybe she was His favorite aunt?  So she had boldness to make such a request.  Jesus called his cousins James & John the “sons of thunder”, Mk.3:17. (cf. Lk.9:54.)

Ac.12:1-2 Herod Agríppa had John’s brother James put to death by the sword, ca 43 AD.  Perhaps this “son of thunder” was quite outspoken!?  However, tradition says brother John lived a long life.

The three gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke are called the synoptic gospels.  In the three synoptics, the names James (Strongs g2385, Greek) and John (g2491) occur together in 17 verses.  But never in 4G, the 4^th gospel!  Jn.21:2 does call the sons of Zebedee “disciples”, but doesn’t give their names.  John doesn’t refer to his mother Salome by name, but refers to her as Jesus’ mother’s sister in Jn.19:25.

Moreover, in 4G the name John occurs only when John the Baptizer is meant, never John the disciple/apostle!  The name John doesn’t occur in any of the three epistles of John.  Inspecting all five Johannine writings, the name John (when John the Baptizer isn’t meant) occurs only in Revelation – Re.1:1, 4, 9, 21:2, 22:8.

Jn.1:14 “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory.”  This verse indicates the writer of 4G was in the group of close disciples who personally saw & knew Jesus the Word.

Of Jesus’ original 12 disciples/apostles, 4G mentions 9 of them.  Simon Peter, Peter’s brother Andrew, Philip, Nathaniel (Bartholomew), Thomas (Dídymus Judas), Jude (Thaddeus/Lebbaeus), Judas Iscariót, the sons of Zebedee (Jn.21:2).  also see the topic “Jesus’ Twelve Apostles”.

Not referred to at all in 4G are the 3 disciples Matthew, Simon Zealotés, James the Less (of Alphaeus).

The apostle who Jesus loved, the ‘Beloved Disciple’ so-called, is seen in Jn.13:23, 19:26, 20:2, 21:7, 20-24.  Most Bible commentaries think this person was John himself (one of the two sons of Zebedee).  At Jesus’ Last Supper, Jn.13:23 “One of the disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was sitting next to Jesus”.  He was “leaning against Jesus’ breast”, WEB translation.  Barnes Notes “This was doubtless John himself.”  JFB Commentary “Thus modestly does our Evangelist denote himself.”  Meyer NT Commentary “He [John] was Jesus’ nearest table companion.”  Cambridge Bible “John was on our Lord’s right.”  Bengel’s Gnomen “John avoids with great care express mention of himself.”  Most readers think Jesus’ beloved disciple was John (Jesus’ 1^st cousin).

Irenáeus (130-202 AD) Against Heresies 3:1:1 “John, the disciple of the Lord, who had leaned upon His breast, did himself publish a Gospel during his residence at Ephesus.”  Wikipedia: Authorship of the Johannine Works “The phrase ‘the disciple who Jesus loved’ or, in John 20:2, ‘the disciple beloved of Jesus’ is used six times in the Gospel of John, but in no other New Testament accounts of Jesus. John 21:24 states that the Gospel of John is based on the written testimony of this disciple.”

Jn.19:25-27 Jesus gave this beloved disciple, His cousin John, responsibility of caring for Mary.  She would’ve first been the responsibility of a living: husband (Joseph), then her son (Jesus), then a brother.  Joseph likely was deceased, Jesus is dying on the cross, and Mary had no (living) biological brother.  Her sister Salome’s sons James & John were in line for the care of Mary.

In Jn.21:2, 4G referred to 7 of the 12 disciples. “There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee [James & John], and two other of His disciples.”  These other two were probably Peter’s brother Andrew, and Philip their close associate.  Gill Exposition Jn.21:2 “Two other of his disciples; are thought to be Andrew and Philip; which is very likely, since they were both of Bethsaidá.”  Bethsaida was a Galilean fishing village.

The synoptic gospels list the first 4 disciples called by Jesus as…Peter & Andrew, James & John.  Next listed are Philip and Bartholomew.  Mt.10:2-4, Mk.3:16-19, Lk.6:13-16.  also ref Mt.4:18-22, Mk.1:16-20, Lk.5:3, 10 (Andrew fished in Peter’s boat), Ac.1:13, Mk.13:3.  But in the 4G Jn.1:35-50, the earliest disciples named are Andrew, Peter, Philip, Nathaniel.  (4G doesn’t refer to Nathaniel as Bar-Tholomew, the son of Tholmai, unlike the synoptics.)  4G omits specifically naming James & John as disciples.  What an omission!  Likewise, 4G omits naming the two sons of Zebedee.  It seems John humbly didn’t want to draw attention to himself.  Furthermore, “James” doesn’t occur in any of the five Johannines!

Let’s now examine internal vocabular evidence of authorship within the five Johannine books.

Most readers think the three Johannine books of 1Jn, 2Jn, 3Jn were written by the same person/Elder (at an advanced age).  2Jn.1:1 “The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love [g25] in the truth [g225].”  3Jn.1:1 “The elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth.”  1Jn.3:18 “My little children, let us not love merely in word or in tongue, but in action and in truth.”  Notice the similarity.

The closing wording, “having many things to write to you” with “I hope to see you face to face”, occurs at the end of both 2Jn and 3Jn; 2Jn.1:12 and 3Jn.1:13-14.  In no other NT book.

The phrase “that you have heard [g191] from the beginning [g746]” occurs only in John’s epistles; 1Jn.2:7, 24, 3:11, 2Jn.1:6.  Nowhere else in the NT.  The three letters were written by the same person.

In the NT, the phrase “Jesus Christ is come in the flesh” occurs in 1Jn.4:2-3, 2Jn.1:7.  Nowhere else.

The Greek term antíchristos (g500), antichrist, occurs only in 1Jn.2:18, 22, 4:3, 2Jn.1:7.  Nowhere else.

The Elder who wrote John’s epistles seems to assume that the readers of his epistles also know 4G.

Now let’s link John’s epistles to 4G, the 4^th gospel, the Gospel of John.

The NT expression “new commandment” (g2537 g1785) occurs only in John’s writings; 1Jn.2:7-8, 2Jn.1:5.  Also Jn.13:34, “A new (g2537) commandment (g1785) I give unto you.”  This expression ties John’s epistles to 4G, but doesn’t occur in any non-Johannine book.

The phrase “that your/our joy [g5479] may be full [g4137]” is seen only in 1Jn.1:4, 2Jn.1:12, Jn.15:11, 16:24.  Nowhere but in John’s writings.

The expression “take away sins” (g142 g266) occurs only in 1Jn.3:5, Jn.1:29.  In no other NT writings.

The expression “walk/s [g4043] in darkness” occurs in 1Jn.1:6, 2:11, Jn.8:12, 12:35.  Nowhere else.

The expression “the world hates you” (g2889 g3404 g5209) occurs only in 1Jn.3:13, Jn.15:18-19.

The expression, God’s “only begotten Son” (g3439 g5207) occurs only in 1Jn.4:9, Jn.3:16, 18.

The following four verses relate to men having “seen” (g3708) or discerned Father God’s or Jesus’ divine character/nature.  (It didn’t mean seen visibly with physical eyes).  1Jn.3:6 “Whoever sins has not seen Him, neither known Him.”  3Jn.1:11 “He that does evil has not seen God.”  Jn.14:7 Jesus said to His disciples, “You know Him and have seen Him.”  Jn.14: 9 “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.”  However, no non-Johannine book uses the expression “seen God/Him” in the same verse.

3Jn.1:12 “We also bear witness [g3140], and you know that our testimony is true [g227].”  Jn.19:35 “The one having seen bears witness, and his testimony is true.”  Jn.21:24 “This is the disciple bearing witness, and we know that his testimony is true.”  This language only occurs in John’s writings.  also ref Jn.5:31-32, 8:13-14.

The above passages link John’s three epistles to 4G.  Now we’ll link Revelation to other Johannine books.

Re.1:1, 4, 9 “I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation…was on the island of Pátmos on account of the word of God and my testimony about Jesus.”  In Revelation, the writer John includes his own name.  Wikipedia: Patmos “Early Christian tradition identified this writer John of Patmos as John the Apostle.”  Pulpit Commentary Re.1:9 “St. John’s ‘coming to be in Patmos’ was caused by suffering for the Word of God.”  Vincent’s Word Studies “Persecution for Christ’s sake.”

Jesus as the Word/Lógos (g3056) occurs only in Johannine books!  Jn.1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.”  v.14 “The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, we beheld His glory.”  1Jn.1:1 “What we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and our hands handled, concerning the Word of Life.”  Re.19:13 “He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called the Word of God.”  No other NT writer clearly refers to Jesus as “the Word”!

Barnes Notes Lk.1:2 “The term ‘word’ here means the ‘gospel’. Luke never uses it, as John does, to denote the second Person of the Trinity.”  Ti.1:3 “God…in due time manifested His word through preaching.”  Cambridge Bible Ti.1:2-3 “In understanding this directly of Christ ‘manifested His Word’; such usage has no proper support in Paul.”  Paul never refers to Christ as the Word/Logos.

He.4:12 “The word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword.”  Young’s Literal Translation has “The reckoning of God.”  Meyers NT Commentary He.4:12 “The majority understand ‘the word of God’ as proclaimed and as preserved in Scripture.”  Of all the other NT writers, perhaps Peter (1Pe.1:23 & 1Pe.2:8) comes nearest to referring to Christ’s Person as the Word/Logos.

The Greek term rendered “pierced” (g1574) occurs in Jn.19:37 and Re.1:7.  Nowhere else in the NT.

The admonition to “keep My/His word/sayings” (g5083 g3056) occurs only in Johannine books; Jn.8:51-52, 55, 14:23-24, 15:20, 17:6, 1Jn.2:5, Re.3:8, 10, 22:7, 9.  In no non-Johannine book.

The invitation to observe for yourself, to “Come and see” (g2064 g2532 g1492/g991), occurs only in Jn.1:39, 46, 11:34, Re.6:1-7.  These invitations are given in two Johannine books, but nowhere else in the NT!  (Php.1:27 means to come & visit, else remain absent, CEV “Whether I visit you or not”.)

The two Greek terms rendered “come” (g2064) and “quickly” (g5035) both occur in the same verse in Re.2:5, 16, 3:11, 11:14, 22:7, 12, 20…“Come quickly”.  In no other NT book, except Jn.11:29, “She heard, rises up quickly, and doth come to Him”. (Young’s Literal Translation)

So we’ve seen from all the above citations that there are expressions/terms which occur together in 4G, 1Jn, 2Jn, 3Jn, Revelation…but in no other NT books.  This shows the Johannines have the same author.

However, Bible linguists recognize the Greek language quality of Revelation is less than that of the other four Johannines.  If the author is the same, why was Revelation written in a lesser quality Greek?

John’s native language was Aramaic (ref Aramaic words imbedded in 4G).  He also knew Greek, but was less fluent in it.  Ac.4:13 Peter & John were unlearned and ordinary men.  They weren’t educated as were Jewish scribes.  Perhaps an amanuénsis (copyist) was available to help John write 4G in a better quality Greek?  ref Jn.21:24 “the disciple” (John) is in 3^rd person, yet “we” is 1^st person.  “We” includes John’s secretary?  4G wasn’t written during John’s exile on Patmos, where Revelation was written.

When John was exiled to Patmos (Re.1:9), where he wrote Revelation in Greek, apparently there was no ‘literary secretary’ made available for John to dictate his vision to.  cf. Ro.16:22 Tértius served as Paul’s amanuensis or secretary in writing the book of Romans.  Whereas Paul wrote Galatians with his “own hand” (Ga.6:11).  John wrote Revelation, seemingly with his own hand, without a secretary.

Wikipedia: John the Evangelist “John the Evangelist is the name traditionally given to the author of the Gospel of John [4G]….John the Apostle….the ‘Beloved Disciple’ in the Gospel of John.”  But some scholars disagree that ‘John the Evangelist’ is the apostle John.  Was the apostle John an evangelist?

In Ac.5:40-42, Jesus’ apostles “preached the gospel” (euaggelízo g2097); they evangelized.  John, Peter, and the others were gospel preachers too.  Ellicott Commentary Ac.5:42 “The word for ‘preach’ is literally to ‘evangelize.”  In so doing, John was an evangelist.  Ac.8:14, 25, Peter and John evangelized (g2097) in Samaria, on their way back to Jerusalem.  JFB Commentary Ac.8:25 “And they’ – Peter and John.”  Ac.14:7 the apostles Paul & Barnábas evangelized in Galatian cities.  Ep.4:11 some are apostles, other saints are prophets, evangelists, shepherds, teachers.  Yet an apostle may perform other (lesser) functions too, as John did.  So John may also accurately be called ‘John the Evangelist’.

The Aramaic-speaking Church in the East, the Syriac church, is considered by many to have precedence over the (later) Latin-speaking Roman Catholic Church.  The 2^nd century Syriac version of the NT indicates Revelation was written ca 67 AD.  Its preface to Revelation reads, “The Revelation which was made by God to John the Evangelist in the island of Patmos to which he was banished by Nero the Emperor”.  The apostle John was also known as ‘John the Evangelist’.  JFB Jn.13:23 “Modestly does our Evangelist denote himself, as reclining next to Jesus at the table.”

John, the Beloved Disciple, himself had much to say about “love”.  Of the 7,958 total verses in the NT, the five Johannines contain 1,416 of them.  That’s only 18%.  The Greek verb for love is agapáo g25.  The Greek noun for love is agápe g26.  These two terms occur 258 times in the NT.  Of these 258 occurrences, 105 are in the five Johannines…a remarkable 40%!  (also see “Love – Godly Love”.)

Conclusion: Evidence indicates that the disciple/apostle/evangelist John, the brother of James, was the author of all five Johannine books.  Not only in the view of Bible commentaries and traditional writings (which hasn’t been my focus here), but even more significant is…the large amount of internal vocabular evidence.  The language within the five books is too similar to be merely coincidental!

Holy Spirit’s Identity

The identity of the Holy Spirit remains somewhat of a mystery to many Bible readers.  This topic is a composite of material excerpted from my previous topics relating to the Godhead: “Tri-unity of God”, “Godhead in Prehistory”, “Holy Spirit Personification”, “Holy Spirit versus Mariolatry”, “Names/Titles of God in the Old Testament”.

In the English language, the word “God” is customarily used for Deity.  Only the true God is Divine.

The Bible indicates there are 3 “Persons” in the Godhead, the Godkind or God Family: Father, Holy Spirit, Jesus the Son/Word.  They are identical in essence, fully divine, a tri-unity of subsistences having self-awareness.  The God Family is uni-plural, as “one” (echad, Hebrew Strongs h259) in nature.

The tripartite Godhead is revealed to us by Jesus the Son’s coming in the flesh and His words in the New Testament (NT), by other scriptures, and by the Holy Spirit (HS) indwelling us as Christians.  It’s been said in analogy that the Father is the wall outlet, the HS is the cord, Jesus is the lamp (Re.21:23).

Father God is in heaven.  God has operated through the HS and Jesus.  Ac.2:34 Jesus ascended into heaven and now sits there at Father’s right hand (and Jesus lives mystically in Christians, Jn.17:21-23 & Col.1:27).  The human Jesus wasn’t omnipresent.  The HS is on earth…omnipresent.  David wrote in Ps.139:7-10, “Where can I go from Your Spirit, where can I flee from Your Presence?”  Not anywhere.

The Father sent Jesus.  Jn.12:49 Jesus said, “The Father who sent Me has given Me commandment.”  The two are distinct.  The Father also sends the HS. Jn.14:26 “The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send.”  Jesus too sends the HS (Jn.16:7).  So all three are distinct!  But neither Jesus nor the HS sends the Father!  They differ in order and subordination.  The human Jesus wasn’t omniscient.  Mt.24:36 “Of that day and hour no one knows, not the Son, the Father only.” (see “Jesus Is God…Jesus Has A God”.)

The HS belongs to and was part of Father God, has personality, but isn’t the totality of God.  God is a triad: 2Co.13:14 “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the HS be with you all.”  2Co.1:21-22 “He who establishes us in Christ and anointed us is God, who also gave us the Spirit.”  Ep.4:4-6 “There is one Spirit, one Lord, one God and Father of all.”  (That’s three!)  Ac.7:55 “Being full of the HS, Stephen saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God.”  He.9:14 “Christ, who through the eternal Spirit, offered Himself without blemish to God.”  1Co.12:4-6 “The same Spirit…the same Lord…the same God.”  (Again, that’s three.)  1Pe.1:2 “Elect according to a foreknowledge of God the Father, sanctified by the Spirit, sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ.”

The triune God is thrice holy: One Spirit…one Lord…one Father (Ep.4:4-6).  Is.6:3 “Holy, Holy, Holy is YHVH of hosts.”  A three-in-one Godhead.  The heavenly worshipers in Re.4:8 “Do not cease to say, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God, the Almighty”.

The terms for God as “Father” and “Holy Spirit” rarely occur as such in the Old Testament (OT).

The Holy Spirit in the OT: Is.48:16 “The Lord God and His Spirit have sent Me.”  Job.33:4 “The Spirit of God has made me.”  Pr.1:20-23 “Wisdom lifts her voice, ‘I will pour out My Spirit on you.”

Every human has a spirit within.  Jb.32:8 “There is a spirit in man.”  Our human spirit gives biological life to our body of flesh (Ge.2:7).  Ja.2:26 “The body without the spirit is dead.”  Without our human spirit, we’re just a clod.  Our spirit in God’s image imparts self-awareness and intellect to our brain.  It’s a non-physical component which differentiates human mind from animal brain instinct.  Our spirit gives us a moral sense of conscience, based mostly upon the self and cultural customs & laws.  The HS will join with our human spirit (1Co.6:17); we become linked to God, able to obey God’s morality.

The Holy Spirit, ministering spirits (angels), our human spirits…aren’t an impersonal Star Wars type force!  Our human spirit is me, is you, within our flesh ‘suit’.  (see “Spirits – Made by God in Light”.)

Ontology is the study of being.  God, angels, humans are called personal beings.  But God’s Being isn’t finite or limited, as we are limited.  Scripture doesn’t define ‘person’ (the term we use in modern English), and doesn’t apply that term to the triune God.  The Latin persona was a ‘face’ worn by Greek/Roman dramatic actors.  Church fathers applied the Greek term hypostases (entities) to God.

The HS speaks in 1^st Person as “Me” and “I” in Ac.13:2. “The Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work which I have called them to.”  Also ref Ac.11:12, Jn.16:13, Mk.13:11, which indicate the HS is personal and speaks.  2Sm.23:2-3 “The Spirit of YHVH spoke by me. The God of Israel.”  The HS is God/YHVH.  But who was/is this Holy Spirit of God?

Theóphilus, the 6^th bishop of Antioch (born approximately 20 years after the apostle John died), was the first to use the term trinity/triad.  In 175 AD he wrote To Autolýcus, 2:10. “God, having His own Word internal within His own bowels, begat Him, emitting Him along with His own Wisdom before all things.”  Theophilus’ triad was “The Trinity of [Father] God, His Word, and His Wisdom.” (Autolycus 2:15)

Wikipedia: Theophilus of Antioch “Theophilus’s apology is most notable for being the earliest extant Christian work to use the word ‘Trinity’ (Greek: τριάς trias), although it does not use the common formula of ‘the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit’ to describe the Trinity. Rather, Theophilus himself puts it as ‘God, his Word (Logos) and his Wisdom (Sophía)’ [To Autolycus 2:15], perhaps following the early Christian practice of identifying the Holy Spirit as the Wisdom of God [Autolycus 1:7].”

“This is also expressed in the works of his contemporary, Irenáeus of Lyons, who writes [Ps.33:6], ‘By the word of the Lord were the heavens established, and by his spirit all their power. Since then the Word establishes, gives body and grants the reality of being, and the Spirit gives order and form to the diversity of the powers; rightly and fittingly is the Word called the Son, and the Spirit the Wisdom of God’. [Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching] ‘In like manner also the 3 days which were before the luminaries, are types of the Trinity, of God, and His Word, and His wisdom. And the 4^th is the type of man, who needs light, that so there may be God, the Word, wisdom, man.’ [To Autolycus 2:15]”

Irenaeus is called the most important theologian of his time.  He lived from 130–200 AD, having been taught by Polycarp (in Smyrna), who was a disciple of the apostle John.  

Residing in Lyons, France, Irenaeus wrote in Against Heresies. “The Son is rightly and properly called Word, while the Spirit is called the Wisdom [Sophia] of God”.  Ibid 4.7.4 “The Son and the Holy Spirit, the Word and Wisdom [Sophia], whom all the angels serve.”  4:20:3 “God tells us through the mouth of Solomon that Sophia is the Spirit.”  Sophia (Strongs g4678) is the Greek term for Wisdom.

Christian historian Robert Grant Greek Apologists of the 2^nd Century, p.169 “Theophilus and almost every early Christian theologian agreed the Logos (like Sophia/Wisdom) was originally in God”.

Jesus referred to the apocryphal Wisdom of Solomon (WSol).  cf. Mt.27:43 & WSol.2:13, 18; Lk.11:31 & WSol.8:1.  (The apostle Paul referred to WSol too.  cf. WSol.13:5, 8 & Ro.1:19-20 KJV “Godhead”.)

Jesus said the Queen of Sheba “Came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon” (Mt.12:42, 1Ki.10:1-4).  Jesus also referred to the apocryphal Wisdom of Sirach (WSir)/Ecclesiasticus.  cf. Mt.6:14 & WSir 28:2.  WSol was written ca 20 BC; WSir was written ca 180 BC in Hebrew.

WSol.7:22, 25 “In herself, wisdom is a spirit that is understanding, Holy. She is the breath of the power of God, and the emanation of the pure glory of the Almighty.”  Wisdom is the Holy Spirit, split-off or spirated or emanated through God’s breath/mouth.  WSol.8:3-4 “She glorifies her noble birth by living with God, and the Master of all loves her.”  Pr.8:30 “I [wisdom] was daily His delight.”

WSol and WSir reflect how Jews believed and interpreted Proverbs & Wisdom in latter BC times.  Wisdom is sophia (g4678) in Greek, and chokmáh (h2451) in Hebrew.  Orthodox Bible “The Holy Spirit receives eternal existence only from the Father.”  Wisdom says in Pr.8:25 LXX, “He begets [gennáo g1080] Me”.  Philo On Flight and Finding (p.325) “Wisdom, even if it be most ancient of all other things, still has only second place to that Omnipotent Being.”  Father God is the Most High God.

Solomon’s prayer of WSol.9:4, 10, 17, “Give me the wisdom that sits by Your throne…Send her forth from Your holy heavens…Send Your Holy Spirit from on high.”  Wisdom the HS sat beside God’s throne in the heavens, as a Queen beside the King’s throne.  The real ‘Queen of Heaven’ isn’t Ishtar, or other pagan goddesses (cf. Je.44:17)…rather, She’s the feminine HS.

In Lk.7:35, Jesus indicated His Mother is Wisdom, the HS.  Connecting in order the following seven verses will identify the (feminine) HS: Jl.2:28a, Pr.1:20, 23, De.34:9a, Nu.27:18, Mt.1:18b, Lk.7:35.

The Works of Philo, p.85, 331, 405 “The Word [Logos, Greek] has received wholly pure parents…God being the Father and husband of wisdom, the mother of the Word….the Divine Logos flows forth from Wisdom.”  Creation reflects/teaches that it’s impossible to have a father without having a mother!

In our various languages, we use terms which correspond to the ancient Hebrew & Greek terms chosen by the Bible writers to identify and describe the ‘Persons’ of the God Family.  Jewish and Christian theology usually refers to God in male language and images, yet agrees it doesn’t adequately express all that the Divine is.  The Godhead possesses all the masculine and feminine attributes.  God is so great!

Wisdom is a personified hypostasis (a Greek term used in early Christian writings) or entity of God’s divine essence.

God reflects masculine roles: Ps.103:13 Father.  Ho.2:16 husband.  Ps.98:6 king.  Ex.15:3 warrior.

God reflects feminine roles: Is.66:13 Mother.  Is.42:14 pregnant.  Ps.22:9 midwife.  Ps.123:2 mistress.

Again, Wisdom is the Holy Spirit.  WSol.1:4-5 “Wisdom won’t enter the soul that plots evil. For a holy spirit of discipline flees from deceit.”  Again, WSol.9:17 “Unless You have given him wisdom and sent Your Holy Spirit from on high.”  Nu.27:18 “Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit.”  De.34:9 “Joshua the son of Nun was filled with the Spirit of wisdom.”  Omnipresent, at God’s throne in heaven, and within Joshua, was the HS Wisdom.  And Wisdom is “Her”.

Jesus was conceived in the virgin Mary by the HS (Lk.1:35 the HS came upon Mary); and John the Baptizer was filled with the HS in his mother’s womb (Lk.1:15).  Speaking of Himself and John, Jesus said in Lk.7:33-35, “Wisdom is justified by her children”.  Jesus, the Child conceived by Wisdom the HS, speaks of Wisdom as “her”!  (As did Proverbs, etc.)  Jesus’ words are authoritative and truth!

The Hebrew grammatical gender of Bible nouns has significance.  But this doesn’t mean God the HS is literally a woman!  Yet the HS is grammatically and figuratively “she/her”.

In OT scripture, the ancient Hebrew (Heb) language attached gender to Spirit essence.  The Heb term for spirit (rúach h7307, and Aramaic rúach h7308) is feminine (fem).  The Heb term for wisdom (chokmah h2451) is fem.  In the OT Septúagint/LXX and NT both, the Greek (Gr) term for wisdom is sophia g4678.  Solomon wrote in Pr.7:4, “Call wisdom your sister”.  Sisters are of course feminine, not masculine (masc).  In Pr.9:1-3, wisdom is “she/her”.  WSir.4:11 “Wisdom exalts her children.”  WSir.24:18 of Wisdom, “I AM the mother of love that is beautiful. I therefore, being eternal, am given to all My children who are picked by Him.”  (Father God picks His elect: Ep.1:3-5, 17, Jn.6:44.)  And Jesus knew Himself to be a Child of Wisdom/Sophia/“her” in Lk.7:35.

Elóah h433 is a Heb term for God, occurring 55 times in the OT (mostly in Job and poetic passages).  Jb.27:3 “The spirit of God [Eloah h433] is in my nostrils.”  The –ah ending is indicative of fem singular.  The most common OT Heb term for God is Elohím h430.  Elohim is a masc plural ending –im (Father and Son), combined with the fem singular root Eloah (HS/Wisdom) or possibly El.  Three.

Also the modern Heb fem term ‘shekínah’ represents the Divine Presence, the OT fire-cloud of glory.

Heb grammar too uses masc pronouns for God.  Heb & Aramaic has no neuter (no “it”); all nouns are masc or fem.  Again, the Heb term for spirit (ruach) is fem.  But unlike Heb, the Greek term for spirit (pneúma) is neuter.  The Latin term for spirit (spirítus) is masc.  Noun gender varies in languages.  In translated languages, gender doesn’t have the significance as in the original inspired Hebrew scripture.

In English, translators render pronouns with the Gr pneuma/spirit (neuter) as he masc, e.g. Jn.14:26. (or it neuter, Ro.8:26 KJV.)  Some of this is revisionism.  This practice subconsciously makes men seem more like God than do women.  Yet in 2Co.6:18, Paul wrote that God said, “You shall be sons and daughters to Me”.  In Jn.14:26, the Gr masc term paráclete is translated Comforter/Helper, and refers to the Gr neuter term Spirit.  Here translators chose to use the pronoun He.  But since God has both masc and fem characteristics (Is.42:13-14, Ps.123:2), Heb personal noun gender is more meaningful.  Later languages such as Greek, Latin, English don’t maintain the original Heb gender in translation.

The most ancient of the rare Old Syriac copies, the Siniatic Palimpsest (300s–400s AD), was found in 1892 in the Covenant of St. Catherine by Syriac Professor R.L. Bensly (Cambridge Univ).  Jesus’ words in Jn.14:26 read: “But She—the Spirit-the Paraclete whom He will send to you-my Father in my name —She will teach you everything; She will remind you of that which I told you.”  The Spirit is feminine to the Syriac church (as the ancient Aramaic ruach/spirit was fem), unlike Greek and Latin grammar.

J.J. Hurtak: “The Spirit is not called ‘it’ despite the fact that pneuma [spirit] in Greek is a neuter noun. Church doctrine regards the Holy Spirit as a person, not a force like magnetism. In the Eastern Church, Spirit was always considered to have a feminine nature. She was the life-bearer of the faith.”

The Westminster Leningrad Codex (1008 AD) is the oldest complete Heb manuscript.  In its ultra-literal interlinear English translation online: Is.11:2 “And she rests on him, spirit of YHVH.”  Ps.143:10 “Good spirit of you Elohim, she shall guide me.”  Nu.11:26 “The spirit, she is resting on them.”  Ezk.37:1 “She becomes hand of YHVH on me in spirit of YHVH.”  Jb.33:4 “Spirit of El, she made me; breath of Who-Suffices, she is keeping me alive.”  (Ec.12:1 “Remember Ones creating you.”…“Us” in Ge.1:26.)

From our Is.11:2. “The Spirit of the Lord shall rest on Him [Messiah], the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.”  The LXX adds “godliness”.  Seven attributes!  And they’re all fem nouns!  Wisdom is primary (Pr.4:7).

In Pr.8:12-14, Wisdom speaks in 1^st Person. “I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, I find knowledge and discretion. The fear of the Lord. Counsel is mine. I AM understanding, strength is mine.”  These attributes are all fem!  Philo AI1 p.29…On Flight and Finding, p.325 “He called that Divine & heavenly Wisdom by many names….Indeed all the virtues bear the names of women.”  It’s not just coincidence.

Oswald Chambers’ Christian devotional, My Utmost For His Highest, is one of the most popular religious books ever written.  In it he wrote, “I am the Almighty God’ – El-Shaddaí, the Father-Mother God. The one thing for which we are all being disciplined is to know that God is real.”  God is both Father and Mother.  El Shaddai (h7706) has been described or defined as the ‘mighty breasted One’.

We may say the Father is the Source, Possessor, Director, Planner.  The Son is the Spokesman, the Executor, Mediator, Ruler.  The HS is Wisdom, the Omnipresence, the Comforter…and the Glory!

Father God is Jesus’ Father, and Jesus referred to Himself as the Child of Wisdom (Lk.7:35), His Mother.  In the NT, Jesus never called Mary, “mother”!  He referred to the surrogate Mary as “woman”.  Jn.2:4 “Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what have I to do with you?”  Jn.19:26 “When Jesus saw His mother and the disciple He loved nearby, He said to His mother, ‘Woman, behold your son!”

Jesus was fully God in the flesh…both His Father and Mother are God!  The womb of Mary, the “woman” as Jesus lovingly called her, served to form Him in the flesh to become the God-Man.  The 300s AD Apostles Creed reads, “I believe in Jesus Christ, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary”.  Mary birthed Jesus.  Ga.4:4 “God sent forth His Son, born of a woman.”  Lk.1:35 “The angel said, ‘The Holy Spirit will come, and the power of The Highest will overshadow you [Mary]; therefore the Holy One to be born shall be called Son of God.”  Orthodox Study Bible Lk.1:35 “Note the revelation of the Holy Trinity: The Father (The Highest), the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”  The Father overshadowed the HS upon Mary, and God’s Son Jesus was conceived.

Chinese preacher Witness Lee was part of the Christian work started by Watchman Nee.  Lee’s Living With and In the Divine Trinity”, p.39 “Lk.1:35 shows the Holy Spirit coming upon Mary…the Most High, God the Father, overshadowing Mary…and the birth of the holy thing, the Son of God. Thus the entire Divine Trinity was involved in the conception.”  The Son was conceived into Mary by His divine Parents, who are both God.

Father God didn’t somehow have sexual relations with Mary, who was engaged to the man Joseph (Mt.1:18).  It was adultery to have sex with a woman married or betrothed to another.  De.22:23-27 God’s penalty for such adultery was death.  Surely, Father God wasn’t an (figurative) adulterer!

Furthermore, Mary was of a different kind…she was the human kind, not the Godkind.  God’s principle of biogenesis reflects each creation reproducing only according to its kind (ref Ge.1:11-12, 21, 24-25, 6:19-20, Mt.7:16, 1Co.15:38-39).  Father God is Spirit, not flesh, Jn.4:23-24.  The term incubus pertains to a spirit having sex with a human woman.  Heathen gods, such as Zeus/Jupiter, supposedly had sex with mortal women and produced offspring.

Philo Judaeus (25 BC–50 AD), The Works of Philo, AI2:14:49 “The mother of all things…the wisdom of God.”  Again, Jesus indicated He was the Child of her, Wisdom/Sophia, Mt.11:19 KJV.  Pr.1:20-23 “Wisdom lifts her voice, ‘I will pour out My Spirit upon you.” (cf. Jl.2:28a)  She is the Holy Spirit.

Early church writings in various countries attest to the feminine HS.  The fragmentary Gospel to the Hebrews was written in Greek (probably at Alexandria) in the early 100s AD, for Jewish Christians.  The HS is Jesus’ Divine Mother in its Christology.  In one quotation Jesus declared, “My mother, the Holy Spirit took Me, and conveyed Me to the great mount Tabor”.  (cf. Lk.7:35 regarding Jesus’ mother.)

Áphrahat (280–345 AD) wrote in Syriac in Persia. Demonstrations VI “The Spirit, She opens the heavens and descends, and hovers over the waters; and those who are baptized put Her on.”  From Aphrahat’s Demonstration X, “As long as a man hasn’t taken a wife, he loves and reveres God his Father and the Holy Spirit his Mother.”  (Re.19:7-9 is Jesus’ metaphorical marriage to Christians.)

Éphrem the Syrian (306–373 AD) was perhaps the most significant of all the Syriac language fathers, called ‘the greatest poet of the patristic age’.  His Hymnen de Ecclesia identifies the Spirit as feminine.

Robert Murray Symbols of Church and Kingdom, p.25 “The Syriac Fathers, as is well known, attributed female gender to the Holy Spirit in the first centuries after Christ; seeing the Holy Spirit especially as ‘Mother.”  The early Eastern Church originally believed the HS was She/Her.

But after some time, the Syriac church lost or suppressed the original OT & apocryphal Jewish concept of the fem HS or shekinah.  By the 500s AD, a masc HS was becoming more the norm.  Possibly this was due to Western influence, and because some heretical groups misused the feminine imagery.

Over the centuries, the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) has made Mary a counterfeit or substitute for the scriptural person of Wisdom/Sophia/Mother.  Yet a counterfeit presumes a prior genuine!  It was Wisdom who sat beside God’s throne as Queen (WSol.9:4).  She was beside YHVH at the beginning (Pr.8:22, 30).  The original Queen of Heaven (cf. Je.7:18) wasn’t a counterfeit Astarte or Isis…or Mary!

The surrogate Mary carried and birthed Jesus the Son of God.  She’s a godly woman.  But not a co-redemptrix or mediatrix; not due near-goddess status!  The RCC believes Mary was always sinless.  However, Mary herself indicated that she too needs a Savior!  Lk.1:46-47 Mary exulted, “My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior”.  Mary knew she was a sinner needing a Savior, as does all of humanity.

The early Syriac writers didn’t present the HS as a literal woman.  But by the 500s AD she’d become masculine.  It seems the concept of a fem HS became dangerous to the structure of the church.  Even by the time the HS had become a confirmed member of the trinity (Council of Constantinople in 381 AD), the HS was described as masc, despite having nurturing fem qualities!  But Ge.1:2, 26-27 females too embody God’s image!  Male and female both are created in the image (masc) and likeness (fem) of God.  Martin Luther reportedly was ‘not ashamed of speaking of the HS in feminine terms’.

Count Zinzendorf (1700–1760) was leader of the Moravian church in Czechoslovakia and America.  To Zinzendorf, the HS was feminine, the Creator (Ge.1:2, 26 “Us”) and Mother.  He wrote, “She has created the world with the Savior and now is remaking every child until it is a new creation, and becomes one in the spirit with him; She nurses and watches until it is grown.”

Again, in the NT Jesus never referred to Mary as His mother (or to Joseph as His father).  By the early 300s AD, the church was embroiled in the Arian controversies.  Many didn’t want Jesus begotten before time began.  But in the 300s AD, many did want women suppressed.  A quandary existed.  So they hushed scriptures which related to Wisdom/Sophía the HS too having been “brought forth” in past eternity…though Wisdom herself says in Pr.8:25b LXX, “He begets [gennao g1080] Me”.

Over the centuries AD, Mother Wisdom/Sophia became assimilated into the cult of the virgin Mary.  It elevated Mary, the counterfeit or replacement for Wisdom the HS.  Mariolatry ensued in the RCC.

For more details relating to the divine God Family, see my other topics: “Tri-unity of God”, “Godhead in Prehistory”, “Holy Spirit Personification”, “Holy Spirit versus Mariolatry”, “Names/Titles of God in the Old Testament”, “Jesus is God…Jesus Has a God”, “Jesus Was the Old Testament God”, “Jesus Is the Messiah”, “Jesus’ Virgin Birth”, “Savior’s Name in Bible Languages”.

Jesus’ Twelve Apostles

Jesus’ original twelve apostles and their work are evident throughout the New Testament (NT).  There are different names associated with His apostles.  My main purpose here is to identify who they were.

An apostle is one sent out, an envoy or an ambassador.  Jesus commissioned His disciples (followers or devotees) as apostles and authorized them to act as His representatives.  Mt.10:1 “He gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and sickness.”

They were eyewitnesses of His resurrection (Lk.24:33-43, Jn.20:26-28).  He instructed them to go out to the world, preach the gospel, teach the nations, and baptize believers (Mt.28:19, Mk.16:15-16).  Jesus told them in Ac.1:8, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”.  His apostles and prophets are the foundation of God’s church, with Christ Himself the Chief Cornerstone (Ep.2:19-20).

The twelve apostles are listed in Mt.10:2-4, Mk.3:14-19, Lk.6:13-16.  After Jesus’ ascension, eleven of them are seen in the upper room of Ac.1:13.  All twelve were Jews.

Mt.10:2-4 “The names of the twelve are these: Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James (the son) of Zebedée, and John his brother; Philip and Bar-tholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James (the son) of Alpháeus, and Thaddáeus [Lebbáeus]; Simon the Cananéan [zealot], and Judas Iscariót who betrayed Him.”  (Mk.3:14-19 shows the same twelve names.)

In the above, Matthew included surnames or nicknames and names of relatives to further identify and distinguish apostles from one another.  I’ll refer to Simon the Cananean/zealot as Simon, and to Simon Peter as Peter.  Jn.1:42 “Jesus looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon the son of Joannes, you shall be called Cephás (which is translated Peter).”  The English name Peter is from the Greek pétros (Strongs g4074, Greek), which means stone.  Cephas (g2786) is the Aramaic equivalent for stone.  Paul referred to Simon Peter as Cephas (1Co.1:12, 15:5, Ga.2:9, e.g.).

The name James in English comes from the Hebrew name Jacob.  I’ll use the name James, not Jacob.

The Aramaic “Bar-tholomew” means “son of Tholmai”.  In Aramaic, “bar” means “son”.  And the Greek name for his father “Tholmai” is Ptolemy.  What was the name of this apostle who was the son of Tholmai/Ptolemy?  Most think Tholmai’s son is the Nathanael of Jn.1:45-49 & 21:2.  John never mentions a Bar-tholomew.  Whereas in Matthew, Mark and Luke we don’t see the name Nathanael.  He is the Bar-tholomew of Mt.10:3, Mk.3:18, Lk.6:14, Ac.1:13.  Tholmai’s son the apostle was Nathanael.

All twelve were from Galilee, except probably Judas Iscariot.  Keriót was a town in Judea (Jsh.15:25).  Judas Iscariot was the traitor who betrayed Jesus (Lk.22:3-6, 47-48), and then hung himself (Mt.27:1-5).

The first six disciples called by Jesus were: the brothers Andrew & Peter, the brothers James & John, Philip, Nathanael/Bar-tholomew (Mat.4:18-22, Jn.1:37-51).  Andrew had been a disciple of John the Baptizer (Jn.1:40).  Andrew and Philip are Greek names…Andréas and Phílippos.  Andrew and Philip were Hellenists, Greek-speaking Jews from “Galilee of the gentiles”, Mt.4:15.  (The first Jewish Christian martyr was the Hellenist Stephen in Jerusalem, Ac.6:1-5.)  Jn.12:20-22 “Certain Greeks said to Philip, ‘Sir, we would like to see Jesus.’ Philip told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip told Jesus.”  They could speak Greek.

James & John, the sons of Zebedee, were called the “Sons of Thunder” by Jesus (Mk.3:17).  James & John were the sons of Salóme.  Identifying her at the crucifixion: Mt.27:56 the mother of the sons of Zebedee; Mk.15:40 (and 16:1) Salome; Jn.19:25 Jesus’ mother’s sister.  Regarding Salome’s identity, see Meyer NT Commentary, Cambridge Bible Note, Ellicott Commentary, Expositor’s Greek Testament, Pulpit Commentary, for Jn.19:25.  Salome was the sister of Jesus’ mother Mary.  (Biological sisters wouldn’t both be named “Mary”.)  Salome was Jesus’ aunt, making Zebedee His uncle.  Zebedee’s sons, James & John, were Jesus’ first cousins.  Salome, being Jesus’ aunt, was bold to request that her two sons receive preferential treatment in the Kingdom (Mt.20:20-24).  Jesus was closest to James & John, and Peter (ref Mt.17:1-9 Transfiguration, Mt.26:37, Mk.5:37).

In Mt.10:2-4, the first seven apostles were probably fishermen: the brothers Peter & Andrew, the brothers James & John, Philip, Bar-tholomew/Nathanael, Thomas.  Jn.21:2 “There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Dídymus, and Nathanael of Caná in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of His disciples.”  The other two were probably Peter’s brother Andrew and their close associate Philip.  Jn.1:44 “Philip was from Bethsaidá, the town of Andrew and Peter.”  Gill Exposition Jn.21:2 “Two other of his disciples; are thought to be Andrew and Philip; which is very likely, since they were both of Bethsaida.”  Bethsaida was a fishing village near the shore of the Sea of Galilee.

In Jn.2:1-12, the groom of the wedding at Cana in Galilee is thought to have been either Nathanael or Simon the Cananean/zealot.  The Greek term is zelotés (g2208).  Jacobus de Voragine The Golden Legend “Zelotes is the equivalent of Cana, because cana means zeal.”  St. Athanasius Orthodox Church literature: “According to tradition, Simon the Zealot was born in Cana of Galilee, just like Nathanael (Jn.21:2), and was the bridegroom at the wedding feast at Cana. Mary’s prominence at his wedding suggests that they may have been distantly related.”  The New Theological Movement “St. Simon, ‘the Canaanite’ not from Canaan and ‘the Zealot’ who was no Zealot [1st century Jewish Nationalist political party]. Indeed, the name ‘Canaanite’ is closely related to the Hebrew word for ‘zealous.”  The so-called ‘commandment of Mary’ spoken in Jn.2:3-5 indicates that Jesus’ mother Mary and the groom could have been related.

It is assumed the apostle Thomas was from Galilee.  The Aramaic name Taumá/Thomas means “twin”.  Its counterpart in Greek is Didymus, meaning “twin”.  Jn.11:16 RSV “Thomas, called the Twin [Didymus g1324], said to his fellow disciples….”  The identity of Thomas’ twin is uncertain.

Eusebius (265–340 AD), church historian and bishop of Caesárea, “After the ascension of Jesus, Judas, who is also called Thomas, sent to him Thaddaeus, an apostle”.  Eusebius said that Thomas was a man named Judas, who was called Thomas/Didymus/twin.  The non-canonical Gospel of Thomas (of 200 AD?) begins with, “These are the secret sayings which the living Jesus spoke, and which Didymus Judas Thomas wrote down”.  If Eusebius and Syriac tradition are correct, this apostle’s name was Judas, and his surname or nickname was Thomas/Didymus (twin).  see “Jesus Wasn’t Thomas’ Twin”.

Matthew was a tax collector in Capernaúm (cf. Mt.4:13, 9:1, 9), located on the NW shore of the Sea of Galilee.  He was the “Levi, sitting in the tax office”.  cf. Mk.2:14 & Mt.9:9, Lk.5:27-29.  Since he was called Levi, it is thought Matthew was a Levite.  Descendants of Aaron among the Levites were priests.  So Matthew may have even been of priestly lineage.  He was (the son) of Alphaeus.  Tax collectors or customs agents were wealthy.  Customs and road tolls were collected at his customs post.  Tax collectors were often dishonest and disliked by the populace (e.g. Mt.21:31, Lk.19:1-8).  In his position, Matthew would have spoken both Aramaic and Greek.  The book of Matthew often quotes from the Old Greek version (became the Septúagint/LXX) of the Old Testament.

From Mt.10:2-4, there are two more apostles to identify.  They are James (the son) of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus/Lebbaeus.  It is uncertain whether or not Mathew/Levi and this James were sons of the same Alphaeus.  To distinguish this James from the James & John who were sons of Zebedee, this James is often identified as James (the son) of Alphaeus (in Mt.10:3, Mk.3:18, Lk.6:15, Ac.1:13).  At the cross, Mark also refers to this James as “James the Less” in Mk.15:40. “There were also women looking on from a distance among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the Less and Josés, and Salome.”  In Mk.16:1, the same three women brought spices to Jesus’ tomb.  Matthew refers to the mother of James (the son) of Alphaeus, James the Less, as the “other Mary” in Mt.27:61 & 28:1.  (No gospel writer shows Jesus’ mother Mary at His tomb.)  James of Alphaeus is James the Less.

Thaddaeus/Lebbaeus is named in Mt.10:3 and Mk.3:18.  However, Luke doesn’t include Thaddaeus among the apostles in Lk.6:13-16 or Ac.1:13.  Instead, Luke includes Judas of James.  In Lk.6:14-16, Luke lists “Simon Peter & Andrew, James & John, Philip, Bar-tholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James of Alphaeus, Simon the zealot, Judas of James, Judas Iscariot.  Luke lists the same names in Ac.1:13. “Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bar-tholomew, Matthew, James (the son) of Alphaeus, Simon the zealot, Judas of James.”  (Missing is Judas Iscariot, who’d committed suicide.)

Comparing Mt.10:2-4, Mk.3:14-19, Lk.6:13-16, Ac.1:13…it appears that Thaddaeus/Lebbaeus (means ‘large-hearted’) and Judas of James are the same apostle.  Judas/Thaddaeus was the brother (or son) of James of Alphaeus/James the Less.  Pulpit Commentary Lk.6:16 “There is no doubt that Lebbaeus and Thaddaeus were surnames by which James’s Jude, or Judas, was known generally in the Church.”  Matthew Poole Commentary Lk.6:13 “Judas the brother of James, by Luke; (this was the penman of the Epistle of Jude).”

In Jn.14:22, John referred to this Judas as “Judas (not Iscariot)”.  Barnes Notes Jn.14:22 “This was the same as Lebbeus or Thaddeus. See Mat 10:3. He was the brother of James, and the author of the Epistle of Jude.”  Pulpit Commentary Jn.14:22 “The Lebbaeus, or Thaddaeus, of Mk.3:18 and Mt.10:3; the Judas brother of James of Lk.6:16 and Ac.1:13.”  (John refers to Thomas as Thomas.)

So there were three apostles named Judas.  Thaddaeus the brother of James, Thomas, Iscariot.  Ac.1:13 & Lk.6:14-16 show that Thomas and Judas/Thaddeus and Judas Iscariot were three different people.  Traditionally, Thomas and Judas/Thaddeus and Judas Iscariot died in three different countries.  All occurrences of the name “Judas” in the NT are Strongs g2455.  All occurrences of “James” are g2385.

Jude 1:1 “Jude [Judas g2455], a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James.”  Jude/Judas identifies himself as the brother of James.  Gill Exposition Jude 1:1 “Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ….The author of this epistle is the same who is elsewhere called Judas, Lk.6:16, who was one of the twelve apostles of Christ, whose name was also Lebbaeus, and whose surname was Thaddaeus. Brother of James; not the son of Zebedee, but of Alphaeus, Mt.10:2.”  JFB Commentary Jude 1:1 “Jude. He was also called Lebbaeus and Thaddaeus (Mt.10:3), probably to distinguish him from Judas Iscariot.”

Let’s look more closely at this James, the brother of Jude/Judas (not Iscariot).  He can be traced by the order seen in Luke’s gospel & Acts.  In Lk.5:10, Luke first mentions a James, and links him with John as the sons of Zebedee.  In Lk.6:14-16, Luke again mentions James & John, and then a James of Alphaeus (and a Judas of James, distinguished from Judas Iscariot).  So James of Alphaeus is a second James.  In Lk.8:51, 9:28, 54 we see the brothers James & John again.  In Lk.24:10, Luke mentions Mary (the mother) of James, but there’s no John here.  So this Mary relates to the James who Luke identified as James of Alphaeus, not John’s brother James.  Continuing with Luke’s book of Acts….

In Ac.1:13, Luke distinguishes James & John from James of Alphaeus.  So far, Luke’s writings have identified only two apostles named James.  Then in Ac.12:2, Herod had James the brother of John killed.  Several verses later, in Ac.12:17, Peter said, “Go show these things to James and the brethren”.  In v.17, Peter isn’t referring to James the brother of John…that James had died back in v.2.  The only other James identified by Luke in his gospel and Acts is…James of Alphaeus.  So Luke just calls him “James” from Ac.12:17 on.  This James was very well-known.  Ac.15:13 “After they held their peace, James answered.”  James of Alphaeus remains.  Ac.21:18 “Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present.”  James of Alphaeus.  Luke identified only two named James, not three.

This James of Alphaeus (James the Less) was related to…the apostle “Judas of James” (Lk.6:16, Ac.1:13, Jude 1:1), a brother Joses/Joseph (Mt.27:56, Mk.15:40, 47), his mother Mary of James/Mary of Clopás (Lk.24:10, Jn.19:25).  She’s the “other Mary” (Mt.27:61, 28:1).  Pulpit Commentary Mk.15:40 “The mother of our Lord had been there until the time when, having with St. John crept as near the cross of Jesus as she might venture, she was consigned by our Lord to St. John’s care, and taken away by him.”  (Again, Jesus’ mother Mary wasn’t at His tomb.)  This esteemed James was related to the Judas who wrote the epistle of Jude 1:1. “Jude, brother of James.”  Ellicott Commentary Jude 1:1 “James the Just…first bishop of Jerusalem.”    

Hippólytus (170–235 AD) On the Twelve Apostles of Christ “And James the son of Alphaeus, when preaching in Jerusalem was stoned to death by the Jews, and was buried there beside the temple.”

Papias of Hierópolis (70–160 AD) Exposition of the Sayings of the Lord, Fragment X “(1) Mary the mother of the Lord; (2) Mary the wife of Cleophas or Alphaeus, who was the mother of James the bishop and apostle, and of Simon and Thaddeus [Judas/Jude], and of one Joses; (3) ….Salome, wife of Zebedee, mother of John & James; (4) Mary Magdalene. These four are found in the Gospel.”

The sons of Zebedee/Salome, James & John, were Jesus’ cousins.  Mark and Matthew made reference to other of Jesus’ relatives.  Mk.6:3 “James and Joses and Judas and Simon.”  Mt.13:55-56 James, Joseph, Simon, Judas.  Joses/Joseph is also linked to James the Less in Mk.15:40, 47.  And it’s more than coincidental that three of Jesus’ twelve apostles were: James (the Less, of Alphaeus), Judas (of James, called Thaddaeus), Simon (the Cananean/zealot)!

Jacobus de Voragine op. cit. “Simon the Cananean and Jude, also called Thaddeus, were brothers of James the Less and sons of Mary of Cleopas, who was married to Alpheus.”  Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America “Some say that James was a nephew of Joseph, and the son of his brother Cleopas, who was also called Alphaeus and Mary his wife….But he was still called, according to the idiom of the scriptures, the Lord’s brother because of their kinship.”  (Cleopas & Mary in Lk.24:13-30?)  Eusebius Church History 3:11 “Hegésippus records that Clopas was a brother of Joseph.”  Gill Exposition Lk.24:18 “Cleophas or Alphaeus, for it is the same name; he was one of the 70 disciples, and father of the Apostles James and Jude, and brother to Joseph, the husband of Mary, the mother of Christ.”  In that case, the “other Mary”, Mary of Alphaeus/Clopas, was sister-in-law to Jesus’ mother Mary.

It’s speculated that Alphaeus or Clopas was the deceased brother of Jesus’ (legal) father Joseph.  That Joseph had levirate married Alphaeus’ widow, the “other Mary”, to provide legacy & support (De.25:5-6).  If so, then James the Less, Judas, Simon, Joses…were Jesus’ cousins and step-brothers both.

Lastly, in Ac.1:21-26, two men were nominated to replace Judas Iscariot as an apostolic eyewitness of Jesus’ resurrection.  Matthías was chosen by lot.  The name of the other nominee was Joseph.  Matthew Poole Commentary Ac.1:23 “Joseph, or Joses, the same name called.”  Barnes Notes Ac.1:23 “Lightfoot supposes that he [Joseph] was the son of Alpheus and brother of James the Less.”  Joses the relative?

After the replacement of Judas Iscariot in Ac.1:26, the twelve apostles were: Simon Peter & Andrew, James & John (sons of Zebedee), Philip, Bar-tholomew/Nathanael, Thomas/Didymus/(Judas), Matthew/Levi, James of Alphaeus called James the Less or just James, Thaddaeus/Lebbaeus/Judas of James, Simon the Cananean/zealot, Matthias.  Their witness?  It is true…the Lord Jesus lives (Re.1:18)!

Jesus’ Genealogy

Jesus’ divine genealogy was seen in “Godhead in Prehistory” and “Jesus’ Virgin Birth”.  Here we’ll look at Jesus’ human genealogy from the Davidic covenant, and study the so-called ‘curse of Jeconiáh’.

God freed ancient Israel from Egypt.  He was Israel’s invisible Ruler; later they would have a human king (De.17:14-15, Jg.8:23, 1Sm.8:5-7, 12:12).  Ending the period of the judges, the last judge Samuel anointed Saul as the first king of Israel (1Sm.9:15-17).  But Saul was disobedient, so the Lord rejected him from being king (1Sm.15:23-28).  God replaced Saul with David (1Sm.16:12-13).  2Sm.2:4 at first David was king over the tribe of Judah only (for 7 years).  But God had promised David he would be king over all Israel, not just Judah (2Sm.3:9-10).  2Sm.5:12 David became king of Israel (2Sm.12:7).  1Ki.2:11-12 after David died, his son Solomon sat on David’s throne as king over Israel (1Ki.4:1).

Saul, David, Solomon…these three were the only kings who ruled over the 12 tribes of Israel.

After God had rejected Saul, God promised David that his throne and kingdom would last forever.  We read of the Davidic covenant and the dynasty God promised him in the following passages: 2Sm.7:12-19 is the initial dynastic promise to David. “Your throne will be established forever.”  Matthew Poole Commentary 2Sm.7:13 “This is meant immediately of Solomon.”  Benson Commentary “Forever’ is not meant of Solomon, but of David’s posterity in general.”  1Ch.3:1-9 David had many sons besides Solomon, including Nathan.  Ps.132:11-12 “The Lord has sworn to David, ‘If your sons keep My covenant, their sons also shall sit upon your throne forever.”  If…it’s partly conditional!  1Ki.2:1-4 before he died, David also told Solomon it was conditional to David’s sons.  1Ki.8:22-26 in prayer, Solomon reiterates to God the conditional promise.  1Ki.9:1-7 God heard Solomon’s prayer, and told him the Davidic dynasty on the throne of Israel would continue through Solomon, if Solomon was obedient.  (2Ch.6:16 clarifies 1Ch.22:9-10 as to the conditional nature of the covenant through Solomon’s line.)

But Solomon didn’t remain obedient to the Lord, thus breaking the conditional part of the covenant.  1Ki.11:11 “The Lord said to Solomon, ‘Because you have not kept My covenant which I commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant.”  (1Ki.11:26 Jeroboám was one of Solomon’s official servants.)  Ne.13:26 Solomon had been king over all Israel.

After Solomon, the monarchy was divided into…the kingdom of Israel in the north (1Ki.11:30-32 under Jeroboam, who wasn’t of the Davidic line)…the kingdom of Judah in the south (under Solomon’s son Rehoboám).  None of the kings of Israel in the north were from the house of David!  e.g. 2Ki.10:30 the Lord told Jehú his line (non-Davidic) would succeed him on the throne of Israel in the north for four generations.  2Ki.17:1, 6 Hoshéa was the last king of Israel.  The kingdom of Judah in the south had Davidic kings (e.g. Aház, Hezekiah, Josiah).  But the kings of Judah didn’t rule over Israel.  Judah’s last two kings were Jeconiah/Coniah and Zedekiáh.  (see “Israelite Deportations by Assyria”.)

Yet part of the Davidic covenant is unconditional.  Ps.89:34-37 “My covenant I will not break. I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David. His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before Me.”  Also Je.33:19-26 “Thus says the Lord, ‘If My covenant for day and night stand not, then I would reject the seed of Jacob and David My servant, not taking from his seed rulers.”  Unconditional.

1Ch.17:11-15 “I will set up one of your seed after you, who shall be of your sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build for Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father, and he will be My Son. I will set him in My house and in My kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever.”  This passage begins with David’s son Solomon in mind.  But it ends with God’s eternal Son established on His throne in God’s kingdom forever.

The promise of David’s dynasty is forevermore.  It began with a promise that David’s son Solomon would build God’s temple and rule.  Yet it’s the Davidic covenant, not the Solomonic covenant.  The throne of Israel is referred to prophetically as the “throne of David”, not the “throne of Solomon”.  It’s not unconditionally through Solomon forever.  If David’s descendants sin, they’ll be punished or made captive; the dynastic rule suspended temporarily.  The monarchy could be broken, but not the line of descendants from David.  Within David’s descendants was the unconditional promise of a restored everlasting kingdom.  Another Son of David would rule forever as a lasting house over Israel.  Ho.3:5 “The children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God and David their king in the latter days.”

That refers to the Messiah, the Son of David.  Je.23:5-6 “Declares the Lord, ‘I will raise up for David a righteous Branch. He will reign as King. This is The Name by which He will be called, ‘YHVH our righteousness.”  Jeremiah prophesied that the Branch, King Messiah (ref Targum Jonathán), would be a descendant of David…and YHVH/God!  David’s line and the official genealogical record wouldn’t end before the Branch/Messiah appeared.  He came before the 70 AD destruction of Jerusalem and priesthood.

Is.9:6-7 the Child, the Wonderful, the Mighty God, would sit on the throne of David forever.

Lk.1:30-33 the angel Gabriel told Mary that Jesus, the Son of the Most High, would be given David’s throne.  “He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”  (Ge.32:28 God had changed Jacob’s name to Israel.)  Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the city of David (Lk.2:3-7, 1Sa.20:6).  Joseph & Mary must travel to Joseph’s ancestral city to register for the census, because, “he was from the house of David”.  Jesus is called the son of David (Lk.18:38, Mt.21:9).  Nathanaél said to Jesus in Jn.1:49, “You are the Son of God, the King of Israel”.  As the Lord said in Je.23:5-6, King Messiah would be God and a son of David.  Jesus is called the King of Israel (Jn.12:12-13, Mk.15:32).

The kings of Israel & Judah had secretaries, recorders, historiographers, who maintained public records and genealogies (e.g. 1Ki.4:3).  1Ch.9:1 “All Israel was reckoned by genealogies; they’re written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah, with the names of those who were carried away to Babylon.”  Individuals were registered according to their family and tribe.  Ezr.8:1 “These are the heads of their fathers’ households and the genealogical records of those who went up with me from Babylon in the reign of King Artaxérxes.”  They’re returning exiles, companions of Ezra.  Nehemiah later wrote in the 400s BC in Ne.7:5-7, “God put it into my heart to enroll the people by genealogies. Then I found the book of the genealogy of those who were first to return….who came with Zerubabbél.”  Those had returned in an earlier wave (Ezr.2:1-2-ff), prior to Ezra’s group.  (see “Temple of Zerubbabel”.)

Genealogical records were necessary!  Smith’s Bible Dictionary: “When Zerubbabel brought back the captivity from Babylon, one of his first cares seems to have been to take a census of those that returned, and to settle them according to their genealogies. Passing on to the time of the birth of Christ, we have a striking incidental proof of the continuance of the Jewish genealogical economy, that when Augustus ordered the census of the empire to be taken, the Jews immediately went each one to his own city. The Jewish genealogical records continued to be kept till near the destruction of Jerusalem.”

Now we’ll look at Jesus’ human lineage, through Joseph and Mary.  Mt.1:1-18 is Joseph’s lineage; Lk.3:22-38 is considered Mary’s lineage.  Possible levirate marriages within their lines, and (Jewish) ancestors who may have been known by two names, won’t be guessed at here.

Lk.3:23 “Jesus being supposedly the son of Joseph, the son of Elí [Helí].”  Joseph was Jesus’ legal father (but not His biological father).  Jn.1:45 “Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”  Genealogists indicate Mary was Eli/Heli’s daughter.  geni.com Heli ben Matat “Father of Maria.”  Mary’s husband Joseph was Eli’s son-in-law.  (There was no Greek word for ‘son-in-law’.)  Some disbelieving Jews hated the memory of Mary.  Did Talmudists think Mary was Heli’s daughter?  John Lightfoot (1602-1675) From the Talmud and Hebraica, Luke 3:23 “He saw Mary the daughter of Heli amongst the shades, hanging by the fibers of her breasts; the great bar of hell’s gate hung at her ear.”  Lightfoot’s footnoted source was Hieros. Chagigah 77.4.  (since expunged, veiled in Sanhedrin 6.6 “Onion-leaf”?)

Many rabbis spoke of two Messiahs.  Messiah ben David is the ‘Conquering King’, whereas Messiah ben Joseph is the ‘Suffering Servant’.  Interestingly, Jesus is the son (“ben” in Hebrew) of both…He’s the son of David via Mary’s ancestry (Lk.1:30-32), and legally the son of Joseph her husband!

David is in the lines of both Joseph (Mt.1:6), and Mary/Miriám (Lk.3:31).  But after David, we see that Joseph descended from David’s son Solomon, whereas Mary descended from David’s son Nathan.  Both Solomon and Nathan were sons of Bathsheba (1Ch.3:5), David’s best-known wife.  Solomon is in Joseph’s line of Jesus’ legal descent, but Solomon isn’t in Mary’s line of Jesus’ physical descent.

Nathan is in Mary’s line.  Her line reflects the “seed of the woman”, Ge.3:15.  The prophetic passage of Zec.12:10-12 has genealogical significance. “I will pour out on the house of David the Spirit of grace. They will look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only Son. The family of the house of David and their wives; the family of the house of Nathan and their wives.”  The wives of the branch of Nathan will mourn.  At Jesus’ crucifixion, Mary looked upon Jesus (Jn.19:26), who was pierced with a spear (Jn.19:34).  Mary, one of the wives from the house of Nathan.

After David, the lines of Joseph and Mary became separate via Solomon and Nathan.  Between David and Jesus, the only names common to the genealogies of both Joseph and Mary are Shealtiel (Salathiel in Greek) and his son Zerubabbel: Mt.1:12, Lk.3:27, Ezr.3:2, 3:8, 5:2, Hag.1:1, 12, 14, 2:2, 23.  Ne.12:1 “Zerubabbel the son of Shealtiel.”  Seemingly at odds with those 11 verses is 1Ch.3:16-19, which says Zerubabbel was the son of Pedaiáh.  However, LXX Nets 1Ch.3:19 Zerubabbel was the son of Salathiel.  Perhaps Pedaiah died childless and his brother Shealtiel married Pedaiah’s widow as levirate and had Zerubabbel.  Less likely, the Zerubabbel & Shealtiel in Lk.3:27 differ from the pair in Mt.1:12.

Now let’s examine the ‘curse of Jeconiah’, so-called.  Preceding the Babylonian captivity, the son of King Josiah of Judah was Jehoaház/Shallúm; he ruled for 3 months.  Then Jehoiákim/Eliakím, brother of Jehoahaz, ruled for 11 years (608-597 BC).  The son of Jehoiakim was Jehoiachín/Jeconiah/Coniah; he ruled for 100 days.  ref 2Ch.36:1-11, 1Ch.3:15-18, 2Ki.24:5-12, Est.2:6.  These were all kings of Judah, not Israel.  Nebuchadnézzar deported Coniah to Babylon, where he died 37 years later (560 BC), after being given favor & honor, Je.52:30-34!  Jeconiah’s uncle Zedekiah/Mattaniah (brother to Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim) became the final king of Judah, ruling 11 years (597-586 BC).  Je.52:1-2, 10-11 all Zedekiah’s sons were killed.  He died childless in Babylon.  Zedekiah’s line was terminated.

Je.21:1-14 Jeremiah told Zedekiah that the Lord would destroy Jerusalem.  In Je.22:1-10, Zedekiah is warned to change his ways.  v.11-28 Zedekiah is reminded of the fate of his three predecessors, Shallum/Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, and Jeconiah/Coniah.  (Jehoiakim was the worst of Zedekiah’s three predecessors.  He burned Jeremiah’s scroll, and his dead body later rotted under the sun without burial, Je.36:22-32.)

Je.22.29-30 has been called the ‘curse of Jeconiah’.  But was Jeremiah here still referring to Coniah the preceding king, or now to Zedekiah the current king?  KJV Je.22:29-30 “O earth, earth, earth, Hear the word of the Lord! ‘Write you this man childless, a man who shall not prosper in his days; for no man of his seed shall prosper sitting upon the throne of David or ruling any more in Judah.”

LXX Je.22:30 “Write you this man an outcast; for there shall none of his seed at all grow up to sit on the throne of David a prince (Strongs g758, Greek) in Judah.”  LXX Nets Je.22:30 “Record this man as a banished person, because none of his offspring shall grow up to sit on the throne of David as ruler again in Judah.”  Was Jeconiah/Coniah/Jehoiachin meant…or was Zedekiah?

Coniah wasn’t literally “childless”.  He had at least six sons (1Ch.3:17-18).  Whereas Zedekiah died childless.  His sons were slaughtered (Je.52:10-11).  TSK Je.22:30 “Zedekiah was taken prisoner, his sons slain before his eyes; and his eyes being put out, he was carried to Babylon.”  Therefore King Zedekiah doesn’t appear in the genealogy of either Joseph or Mary.  Jesus isn’t of Zedekiah’s descent.

The Lord declared that no seed of Zedekiah (or Coniah?) would sit on David’s throne or rule Judah.  Jeconiah and his children were taken to Babylon and died in captivity.  But his grandson Zerubabbel returned in the 530s BC…as governor in Judea, Hag.1:1!  In Je.22:24, Jeremiah had said to Zedekiah, “Declares the Lord, ‘Even though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were a signet ring (h2368, Hebrew) on My right hand, yet I would pull it off.”  A signet ring or seal was held by the sovereign or legal authority.  Hag.2:23 “Declares the Lord, ‘I will take you Zerubabbel, son of Shealtiel, and make you like a signet ring (h2368), for I have chosen you.”  Barnes Notes Hag.2:23 “Cyrus entrusted him with the return of his people, and made him (who would have been the successor to the throne of Judah, had the throne been re-established) his governor over the people.”  Pulpit Commentary “Zerubbabel is set at the head of the nation in the place of his grandfather Jeconiah.”  Although Zerubabbel wasn’t made king, he was as a signet ring, as was Coniah.  Zerubabbel or Sheshbazzár, as it is thought he was also known, was the ruling “prince of Judah” cf. Ezr.1:8-11 (LXX g758), 2:1-2, 3:8, 5:14-16.  It doesn’t seem that Coniah’s grandson Zerubabbel was indicative of, or the recipient of, a curse.

Je.24:1-2, 5 Jeconiah and the other captives in Babylon were portrayed by the good figs.  (2Ch.36:9 although he too did evil during his short 100-day reign, he lived for 37 years afterwards.)  v.8-10 but Zedekiah was a curse, portrayed by the bad/evil figs.  Also Zedekiah and the remaining dwellers in Jerusalem would be a curse in Je.29:1-2, 16-19. “Thus says the Lord to the king who sits on the throne of David and concerning all the people who dwell in this city. I will make them a curse and reproach.”  Cambridge Bible Je.29:16 “The king, Zedekiah.”  Gill Exposition “That is, King Zedekiah.”  So a case can be made that the Je.22:29-30 ‘curse of Jeconiah’ was more aptly the ‘curse of Zedekiah’.

Mt.1:1-18 omits some generations of Joseph’s line, ending with Jesus.  But Jeconiah and Zerubabbel are included (v.12).  It seems Matthew wasn’t concerned with any ongoing ‘curse of Jeconiah’.  Rabbi A. J. Rosenberg on Je.22:24 “In the prophecy Hag.2:23, God says, ‘On that day I will take you, Zerubbabel, and I will make you like a signet,’ for the King Messiah will be like a signet ring on God’s right hand. Coniah will be the signet on My right hand, for the Messiah will spring from his seed.”  That rabbi didn’t think a ‘curse of Jeconiah’ would prevent Messiah from inheriting David’s throne!

Some think Jeconiah was cursed by God, but repented in captivity.  So God removed the curse.  Jewish Encyclopedia “Jehoiachin’s sad experiences changed his nature entirely, and as he repented of the sins he committed as king, he was pardoned by God, who revoked the decree to the effect that none of his descendants should ever become king: he even became the ancestor of the Messiah.” (Tan., Toledot, 20).

Joseph wasn’t Jesus’ biological father.  In a sense, Joseph adopted Jesus as the firstborn son of Mary and himself.  Thus Jesus became a legal heir of the line that went through David, Solomon, Zerubabbel, Jacob, Joseph.  And Jesus was seed heir of the line that went through David, Nathan, Zerubabbel, Eli, Mary.  Even if it was Jeconiah who God cursed (Je.22:29-30)…Jesus isn’t in the seed line of Jeconiah!  Any curse on Jeconiah’s seed wouldn’t apply to Jesus!

Mary had a sister named Salóme.  cf. Mk.15:40, Mt.27:56, Jn.19:25.  (Biological sisters wouldn’t both be named Mary.)  But no brothers.  Joseph was probably deceased.  Jn.19:25-27 Jesus gave His cousin John the responsibility of caring for Mary (she’d first be the responsibility of her: husband, son, brother).  Jn.19:25 Bengel’s Gnomen “No brother of Mary is mentioned. She herself was heir of her father, and was therefore transmitting to Jesus the right to the kingdom of David.”  All inheritances went through the males.  But a daughter with no brothers could inherit her father’s possessions/rights, if she married within her father’s tribe, Nu.27:8 & 36:7-10.  Except Levite women could freely intermarry, because Levites had no land inheritance to preserve, De.18:1-2.  Eli (Mary’s father) and Joseph (Mary’s husband) were both from the tribe of Judah.  In that sense, Joseph became Eli’s heir through marriage.

{Sidelight: Lk.1:5-7 Zacharías and Elizabeth were Levites descended from Aaron (their fathers were priests).  They were elderly when she became pregnant with John the Baptizer (v.24).  Elizabeth was probably young Mary’s aunt (v.36).  Perhaps Mary’s father Eli of the tribe of Judah (Lk.3:23) had wed Elizabeth’s Aaronide sister.  Though Eli’s daughters Mary & Salome were of Judah, their mother was a “daughter of Aaron” (priestly lineage).  Mary wed Jacob’s son Joseph of Judah (Mt.1:16).  Salome married Zebedee (cf. Mk.15:40, Mt.27:56, Jn.19:25), a well-to-do Galilean fisherman (Mk.1:19-20), who was of Aaron or Judah.  Salome was Jesus’ aunt.  Zebedee’s sons, James & John, were Jesus’ first cousins.  Jesus was closest to James & John, and Peter (e.g. Mt.17:1-9 Transfiguration, Mt.26:37).}

Jesus, the “Branch” of David, was completely obedient.  (see “Jesus Obeyed God’s Written Laws”.)  Jesus didn’t break covenant, unlike the last four kings of Judah prior to the captivity, to which Jeremiah referred in Je.22.  They were kings of Judah only.  Jesus, Messiah ben David, inherits the throne of David as King of Israel (Jn.1:41, 49).

At creation in Ge.1:26-28, God gave dominion on earth to mankind.  Jesus came in the flesh as a man, the “seed of the woman”.  He never sinned (He.4:15, 1Pe.2:21-22).  Jesus is fully qualified to rule over the earth, including all Israel.  Ps.47:6-8 “Sing praises to our King. For God is the King of all the earth. God reigns over the nations.”  Re.19:16 “He has a name written, ‘KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.”  Jesus/Yeshúa is the Emperor in the Kingdom of God.  Praise the Lord!

Jesus’ Virgin Birth

There are some who teach the New Testament (NT), but don’t fully believe a basic gospel truth…the virgin birth of Jesus Christ.  That includes some who have knowledge of Bible Hebrew and Greek.

There was uncertainty about Jesus’ birth in 1^st century Judaism.  The Jews said to Jesus/Yeshúa in Jn.8:41, 48 “We weren’t born from sexual immorality. You’re a Samaritan and have a demon.”  Those disbelieving Jews implied that Jesus was racially variant and demented.  There was hostility between Jews and the mongrel Samaritan people.  Samaritans resembled Jews but were considered imposters.  v.42-44 Jesus’ reply was, He came from God and the father of those Jews was the devil.

In 178 AD, the Greek philosopher Célsus spread the false Jewish story that a Roman soldier called Pantéra (‘panther’) had an affair with Mary, and was Jesus’ biological father.  Rabbinic writings of the Middle Ages called Jesus/Yeshua, ‘Yeshu ben Pantera’.  Let’s see what the Bible says about Jesus’ birth.

The supposed parents of Jesus, Joseph and Mary, were Galileans betrothed.  But they hadn’t yet come together.  God sent the angel Gabriel to inform Mary in Lk.1:26-34. “You will bear a Son, and you shall name Him Jesus [Yeshua]. He will be the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.’ Mary replied, ‘How can this occur, since I’m a virgin?”  Mary hadn’t had sexual relations with Joseph or any other man.

Mary went to visit her pregnant aunt Elizabeth for 3 months, 75 miles to the south (Lk.1:36-56).  When Mary returns to Galilee, Joseph sees she is 3–4 months pregnant.  What?!  Mt.1:18-19 “She was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit [HS]. Joseph, being a just man, didn’t want to disgrace her publically, so he intended to divorce her privately.”  Divorce annulled a betrothal.  If a betrothed woman has sexual relations with another man, it was adultery (De.22:13-14, 20-27).  Although stoning for adultery was a neglected law, Joseph could have thrown the first stone (De.17:7).  Or Joseph could put Mary away privately by giving her a writ of divorce (De.24:1), and paying the legal cost.

Before Joseph could divorce her, an angel came to him in a dream.  Mt.1:20-21 “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the One conceived in her is by the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son and you shall name Him Jesus [Yeshua], for He will save His people from their sins.”  Joseph knew then that Mary hadn’t been impregnated by another man.  And Mary knew she hadn’t.

Gabriel had also informed Mary 3–4 months earlier in Lk.1:35. “The angel [Gabriel] said, ‘The Holy Spirit will come, and the power of The Highest will overshadow you [Mary]; therefore the Holy One to be born shall be called Son of God.”  Orthodox Study Bible Lk.1:35 “Note the revelation of the Holy Trinity: The Father (The Highest), the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”  The Father overshadows the HS upon Mary, and God’s Son Jesus is conceived.  Chinese preacher Witness Lee was part of the Christian work started by Watchman Nee.  Lee’s Living With and In the Divine Trinity, p.39 “Lk.1:35 shows the Holy Spirit coming upon Mary…the Most High, God the Father, overshadows Mary…and the birth of the holy thing, the Son of God. Thus the entire Divine Trinity was involved in the conception.”  The Son was conceived into Mary by His Parents, who are God!  (See the topics “Holy Spirit versus Mariolatry”, “Holy Spirit Personification”, and “Holy Spirit’s Identity”.)

Jesus was Fathered by God Most High.  Jesus said in Jn.16:28, “I came forth from the Father”.  Mary gave birth to Jesus, and her husband Joseph became Jesus’ legal father.  Lk.3:23 “Jesus, supposedly the son of Joseph.”  Joseph wasn’t Jesus’ biological father.  Mary & Joseph both knew that Joseph didn’t father Jesus.  Mt.1:24-25 Joseph married her and “kept her a virgin until she gave birth to Jesus”.  Jesus was carried and birthed by a virgin, Mary/Miriam.

Father God is Jesus’ Father.  Jesus referred to Himself as the Child of Wisdom (Lk.7:35), His Mother.  In the NT, nowhere did Jesus call Mary, “mother”!  Jesus referred to the surrogate Mary tenderly as “woman”.  Jn.2:4 “Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what have I to do with you?”  Jn.19:26 “When Jesus saw His mother and the disciple He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, ‘Woman, behold your son!”  John and other writers customarily referred to Joseph & Mary as Jesus’ father & mother, his parents.  But Jesus didn’t.  Jesus indicated His Mother is Wisdom, the HS.  (Connect in order seven verses to identify the HS: Jl.2:28a, Pr.1:20, 23, De.34:9a, Nu.27:18, Mt.1:18b, Lk.7:35.)

Father God didn’t somehow have sexual relations with Mary, who was engaged to the man Joseph (Mt.1:18).  It would’ve been adultery to have relations with a married or betrothed woman.  De.22:23-27 God’s penalty for such adultery was severe!  Needless to say, Father God (or the HS) didn’t commit adultery!  Furthermore, Mary was of a different kind…she was of the human kind, not the Godkind.  Father God is Spirit, not flesh (Jn.4:23-24).  The term incubus pertains to a spirit having sex with a human woman.  Heathen mythological gods, such as Zeus/Jupiter, had sex with mortal women and produced offspring.  Le.20:15-16 the penalty for beastiality (sex with a different kind) was death!

Jesus was fully God in the flesh…both His Father and Mother are God!  The womb of Mary, the “woman” as Jesus called her, served to form Him in the flesh to become the God–Man.  The 300s AD Apostles Creed has it: “I believe in Jesus Christ, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary.”  Mary birthed Jesus.  Paul knew of the virgin birth, writing in Ga.4:4, “God sent forth His Son, born of a woman”.  We already read where Matthew and Luke knew.

In Mk.6:3, Mark calls Jesus the “son of Mary”.  A matrilineal reckoning isn’t the usual practice seen in scripture.  So it seems Mark also knew of the virgin birth.  Jesus in the flesh most often referred to Himself as the Son of Man/humanity/ánthropos (Strongs g444, Greek)…not the Son of Male/áner (g435).

The first Bible prophecy is Ge.3:15, where God told the serpent, “I will put hostility between your seed and her seed”.  Her seed, not the male Adam’s.  Yet Bible genealogies are almost always patrilineal, not through females.  (e.g. Ac.16:1-3 Timothy hadn’t been circumcised because his father was Greek.)

The prophecy of Is.7:14 foretold the Lord’s virgin birth. “The Lord Himself will give you a sign. Behold! The virgin shall be with child and she will call His name Emmanuel.”  The “Lord Himself” would be the sign!  (also ref Ge.22:8, “God Himself the lamb”.)  And a pregnant virgin would be so remarkable…something to “behold”!  Whereas a non-virgin who is with child is commonplace; it happens every day in every city.  It seems Is.7:14 cannot refer to King Hezekiah.  When Isaiah visited King Aház (Is.7:3-14-ff) and spoke of the future virgin birth of the Child, Hezekiah was already 8 years old or so (when Ahaz was age 20–21).  cf. 2Ki.16:2, 18:2.

The Greek term translated as “virgin” in the Septúagint/LXX Is.7:14 is parthénos (g3933).  In Greek, this term meant virgin.  The temple shrine of the mythological Greek virgin goddess Athena in Athens was called the Parthenon.  LXX Ge.24:16 of Rebekah, “She was a virgin [parthenos], no man had known her”.  LXX Jg.21:12 “Young virgins [parthenos] who had not known a man by lying with him.”

Matthew quoted the old Greek in his Mt.1:22-23 passage about Mary’s virgin pregnancy. “This was done to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, ‘Behold! The virgin [parthenos LXX] shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, meaning “God (is) with us.”  Yeshua/Jesus is God.  (see “Jesus Is God…Jesus Has A God”.)

Another prophecy about Jesus is Je.23:5-6. “Declares the Lord, ‘I will raise up for David a righteous Branch. He will reign as King. This is The Name by which He will be called, “YHVH our righteousness.”  Jeremiah indicated the Branch/Messiah will be both a descendant of David and…YHVH/God!  Je.30:9 “They will serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.”  The Messiah was referred to as David or the son of David (e.g. Lk.18:38).

Also Is.9:6-7, “A Child will be born to us. His name will be called Wonderful, Mighty God…on the throne of David forevermore.”  As Is.7 & Je.23, the Child to rule as ‘God with us’, on David’s throne.

Note: Other subjects connected to the virgin birth are the Davidic covenant (it’s not the Solomonic), the so-called curse of Jeconiah (some think Zedekiah is meant), Jesus’ genealogy.  see “Jesus’ Genealogy”.

Fathers name their own sons.  Mt.1:21 God chose the name Yeshua/Iesoús/Jesus for the Son of God.  The name wasn’t of Joseph or Mary’s own choosing.  The Greek name Iesous/Jesus is from the Hebrew Yehoshúa/Joshua (h3091), meaning ‘salvation’.  “He will save His people from their sins.”  Nu.13:16 “Moses called Hoshéa the son of Nun, Yehoshua [h3091 Joshua].”  The name Yeshua/(Iesous/Jesus) is the shortened form of the name of Moses’ successor in the Old Testament (OT), Yehoshua/Joshua.  They had the same name.  And phonetically, Jesus the Savior also was a ‘son of Nun/none’, since He wasn’t the son of human parents in the normal sense!

We see in Zec.6:11-13 another OT type who had the same name as Jesus. “Make an ornate crown and set it on the head of Jehoshua [Joshua, LXX Iesous/Jesus] the high priest. Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Behold a man whose name is the Branch.”  Around 520 BC, God raised up a high priest whose name was the same name the Branch/Messiah would have (ref Je.23:5).  God had predetermined to name the Son of God…Yeshua/Jesus!  (See the topic “Savior’s Name in Bible Languages”.)

1Jn.4:9 “God has sent His only begotten Son into the world.”  Jesus is the monogenés (g3439) Son, the unique one-of-a-kind Son of the Most High.  He had heavenly genes, if you will.  Jesus is Deity!  He.1:8 “Of the Son, ‘Thy throne, O God, is forever.”  Jn.20:28 “Thomas said to Him [Jesus], “My Lord and my God.”  Jesus was the Lord God of ancient Israel.  see “Jesus Was The Old Testament God”.

There is another very significant purpose for Jesus to have been born from a virgin!  It pertains to His DNA (the self-replicating material that contains genetic characteristics), and His blood.  Blood has great significance throughout the Bible!  Le.17:11 the life or soul is in the blood.  De.12:23 the blood is the soul/life.  Ge.9:4 the soul/life is the blood.  It was prophesied in Is.53:12, “He [Jesus] poured out His life unto death”.  The Lord God Jesus poured out His soul/lifeblood for our sins!

1Pe.1:18-19 “You weren’t redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold, but with the precious [g5093] blood of Christ.”  Silver & gold are closer to being incorruptible than are other substances.  Yet even they are corruptible.  Ellicott Commentary 1Pe.1:18 “By contrast, the blood of Christ is implied to be not corruptible.”  Pulpit Commentary 1Pe.1:19 “As opposed to the corruptible things of v.18; it is precious, because it is the blood of Christ. Christ’s holy body saw not corruption; the precious blood in its virtue and efficacy abides evermore.”  Bengel’s Gnomen “The blood of Christ is incorruptible.”  Ac.13:37 “He [Jesus] whom God raised saw no corruption.”  Pr.3:15 LXX “Wisdom is more precious [g5093] than precious stones.”  Lk.7:35 Jesus is Wisdom’s Child.  She and His blood are so precious!

As the God-Man, Jesus was flesh and blood (He.2:14).  The life is in the blood.  For Jesus, that life was the eternal Life of God in His blood!  Jesus’ blood speaks better things than that of Abel (He.12:24).  We’re saved by Jesus’ transcendent blood.  And His blood figuratively never loses its effectiveness.

Jesus said in Jn.6:54, “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal Life”.  v.66 but after Jesus uttered those figurative words, many quit on Him.  His wasn’t just a man’s blood…Jesus’ perfect Life was in His blood!  Ac.20:28 “The church of God which He purchased with His own blood.”  God’s own blood!  Ellicott Commentary “The ‘blood of God’, which this passage suggests.”  Benson Commentary “How precious it is! Here the blood of Christ is termed the blood of God.”  Matthew Poole Commentary “The blood of Christ, called truly the blood of God.”  Jesus’ blood is incomparable!

There are those who even say that the ascended Jesus as High Priest sprinkled some of His shed blood on the mercy seat of the ark in heaven (as they interpret He.9:11-12, 23-24, 12:24, Re.11:19), where it remains forever.  JFB Commentary He.12:24 “He entered the heavenly holiest place ‘by His own blood’, carrying it separately from his body.”  Bengel’s Gnomen “This Priest Himself carried into the sanctuary His own blood separately.”

Geneticists understand that the DNA of the father and mother is passed on to the fetus, half from each.  Geneticists say that very little, if any, of a surrogate mother’s DNA is absorbed by the fetus (and vice versa).  None of the surrogate’s characteristics significantly affect the fetus.  (ref e.g., Dr. Julie Granka Does A Surrogate Mom Contribute DNA to the Child?.)  An expectant mother’s cells and the blood circulating in her body cannot penetrate the placenta screen or reach her unborn baby.  The baby’s own blood is formed in its little body.  However, nutrients do pass to the unborn through the placenta.

Mt.1:18-20 since Jesus’ Father is Father God, and the HS is Jesus’ Mother…there was divine DNA, so to speak, in Jesus’ blood (or soul or life)!  He received mitochondria DNA from His divine Parents.  Perhaps God miraculously placed the zygote of Jesus within Mary?  (I’m not a biogeneticist.)  Jesus said in He.10:5, “A body you [God] have prepared Me”.  And Jn.5:26 “As the Father has life in Himself, so He gave to the Son to have life in Himself.”  Eternal Life (zoé g2222) was within the Son Jesus!  That point is missed by people who don’t believe the great miracle of the virgin birth.  So Jesus, having divine DNA, didn’t reproduce while on earth.  A woman, having human DNA, would’ve been a different kind.  And any offspring they had would be a hybrid, with DNA part God and part human!

The life is in the blood (Le.17:11, De.12:23), and all men have sinned (Ro.3:23).  Jesus wasn’t a man with corruptible human blood/life as we, yet was somehow able to obediently live a sinless life and become the Savior of mankind.  His blood/Life was unequaled, having no corrupted sin nature!  Mary contributed nutrients, but no blood, cells, or DNA to Jesus.  Paul referred to Jesus as the last Adam (1Co.15:45).  The first Adam didn’t receive DNA from a human mother either!  If Jesus was only a good man/martyr who obeyed God fully, then others (with the HS) could too!  We wouldn’t need a Savior.  But we’ve sinned and do so need the Savior…Yeshua/Jesus!

Jesus wasn’t solely man in the flesh.  He was also Deity.  Col.2:9 “In Him [Christ] all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form.”  Both of His Parents are God.  Jesus was the fullness of Deity in a human body (as was glimpsed in Je.23:5-6).  He was Emmanuel, “God (is) with us”.  Jesus’ deity was veiled with flesh (He.10:19-20).  The primordial Word of God was fully God (Jn.1:1-3, 14), and was the Son of God by the Father/HS/blood/birth.  Thereby, Christ didn’t inherit a sin nature.  (Yet He wasn’t a docétic phantom.  Jesus’ fleshly body had nerve endings; He experienced pain/suffering on the cross.)

So Jesus’ virgin birth affirms that divinity was in His precious blood; which enabled only Him, of all men, to obey God completely.  His divine nature wouldn’t allow Him to submit to sin.  Though Jesus looked like other men, He (and His blood) was unlike any other person born of woman.

The virgin birth is crucial to the salvation of mankind!  As the song goes, Nothing But The Blood Of Jesus.  Ac.4:12 “There is no other name under heaven, by which we must be saved.”  Yeshua/Jesus is His name.  Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift (2Co.9:15)!

Holy Spirit versus Mariolatry

This topic further discusses the Holy Spirit (HS), and links & contrasts the HS to the virgin Mary who bore Jesus.  My other topics about the Godhead or God Family are: “Holy Spirit Personification”, Holy Spirit’s Identity”, “Godhead in Prehistory”, “Tri-unity of God”, “Jesus Was the Old Testament God”, “Jesus Is God…Jesus Has a God”.

Jesus said of Himself in Lk.7:35, “Wisdom is justified by her children”.  Jesus indicated He is the Child of Wisdom…“her”.  (Pr.7:4 wisdom is sister, not brother.)  The New Testament (NT) and the Old Testament (OT) Septúagint/LXX Greek term for Wisdom is sophía (Strongs g4678).  Nowhere in the NT did Jesus call Mary His ‘mother’ (or call Joseph His ‘father’)!

The gospel writers naturally refer to Mary & Joseph as Jesus’ mother & father, His parents.  Lk.2:27 “The parents brought in the child Jesus.”  Mt.13:55 “Is not this the carpenter’s son, and His mother called Mary?”  Jn.6:42 “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?”  Mary even refers to Joseph as Jesus’ father.  After finding Jesus at the temple, Lk.2:48 “His mother said to Him, ‘Son, Your father and I have been anxiously looking for you”.  But Jesus replied to her in v.49, “Didn’t you realize that I must be in My Father’s affairs?”  Jesus was Fathered by God.

Jesus said in Jn.16:28, “I came forth from the Father”.  Mary gave birth to Jesus, and her husband Joseph was Jesus’ legal father.  Lk.3:23 “Jesus, being supposedly the son of Joseph.”  Joseph wasn’t Jesus’ biological father.  Mt.1:18 “When His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with Child by the Holy Spirit.”  Jesus’ virgin birth!  Mary & Joseph knew that Joseph didn’t father Jesus/Yeshúa.  (also see the topic, “Jesus’ Virgin Birth”.)

Father God is Jesus’ Father, and Jesus referred to Himself as the Child of Wisdom (Lk.7:35), His Mother.  Rather than calling Mary, ‘mother’, Jesus referred to the surrogate Mary as “woman”.  Jn.2:4 “Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what have I to do with you?”  Jn.19:26 “When Jesus saw His mother and the disciple He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, ‘Woman, behold your son!”

Jesus was completely God in the flesh…both His Father and Mother are God!  The womb of Mary, the “woman” as Jesus lovingly called her, served to form Him in the flesh to become the God-Man.  The 300s AD Apostles Creed, “I believe in Jesus Christ, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary”.  Mary birthed Jesus.  Ga.4:4 “God sent forth His Son, born of a woman.”

Lk.1:35 “The angel said, ‘The Holy Spirit will come, and the power of The Highest will overshadow you [Mary]; therefore the Holy One to be born shall be called Son of God.”  Orthodox Study Bible Lk.1:35 “Note the revelation of the Holy Trinity: The Father (The Highest), the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”  The Father overshadowed the HS upon Mary, and God’s Son Jesus was conceived.

Chinese preacher Witness Lee was part of the Christian work started by Watchman Nee.  Lee’s Living With and In the Divine Trinity”, p.39 “Lk.1:35 shows the Holy Spirit coming upon Mary…the Most High, God the Father, overshadowing Mary…and the birth of the holy thing, the Son of God. Thus the entire Divine Trinity was involved in the conception.”  The Son was conceived into Mary by His Parents, who are both God.

So Jesus is also God!  His blood factors, so to speak, were only Divine.  As Jesus grew in Mary’s womb, Mary’s own blood didn’t penetrate her fetal wall.  In 1Pe.1:19, Peter wrote of “The precious blood of Christ”.  God’s “own blood” (Ac.20:27-28)…formed from the Father and the HS!

Father God didn’t somehow have sex with Mary, who was engaged to the man Joseph (Mt.1:18).  It would’ve been adultery to have sex with a married or betrothed woman.  De.22:23-27 God’s penalty for such adultery was severe.  Surely, Father God wasn’t an adulterer!

Furthermore, Mary was of a different kind…she was the human kind, not the Godkind.  God’s principle of biogenesis reflects each creation reproducing only according to its kind (ref Ge.1:11-12, 21, 24-25, 6:19-21, Mt.7:16, 1Co.15:38-39).  Father God is Spirit, not flesh, Jn.4:23-24.  The term incubus pertains to a spirit having sex with a human woman.  Heathen gods, such as Zeus/Jupiter, supposedly had sex with mortal women and produced offspring.

Jesus wasn’t some Nephílim type of offspring (Ge.6:1-4, 1Enoch 6:1-4, Jude 6-7)!  see “Watchers and Gen. 6 ‘Sons of God”.  Father God didn’t go after strange flesh of another kind (Mary) and commit sin.  Ge.19:4-5, 24 God destroyed the Sodomites who desired perverse sex with the two angels who visited Lot.  Le.20:15-16 God’s penalty for beastiality (sex with a different kind) was severe!

Let’s look at the early church understanding of the feminine prototype in God…before the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) became dominant.

But first, Philo Judaeus (25 BC–50 AD), The Works of Philo, AI2:14:49 “The mother of all things…the wisdom of God”.  Again, Jesus indicated He was the Child of her, Wisdom/Sophia (Mt.11:19 KJV).  Pr.1:20-23 “Wisdom lifts her voice, ‘I will pour out My Spirit upon you.”  She is the Holy Spirit.

Early church writings in various countries attest to the feminine (fem) HS.  The fragmentary Gospel to the Hebrews was written in Greek (probably at Alexandria) in the early 100s AD for Jewish Christians.  The HS is Jesus’ Divine Mother in its Christology.  In one quotation Jesus declared, “My mother, the Holy Spirit took Me, and conveyed Me to the great mount Tabor”.

Odes of Solomon, the earliest Christian hymnbook (probably written in Aramaic Syriac, pre-125 AD), translated by James H. Charlesworth, p.33-34 Introduction “Among Christians who worshiped in Aramaic and Syriac, the Holy Spirit was perceived to be feminine. The Odist may serve us well in recovering the feminine in our lives and worship”.  Two sample Odes:  Ode 28 “And from that (Life) is the Spirit that is within Me. And it cannot die because She is life.”  Ode 36 “I rested on the Spirit of the Lord, and She raised me up to heaven. And She caused me to stand on my feet in the Lord’s high place. [Christ speaks now] For according to the greatness of the Most High, so She made Me.”

Hippólytus of Rome (170–235 AD), in a fragment written in Greek, depicted “Isaac as an image of God the Father, wife Rebecca an image of the Holy Spirit, son Jacob an image of the church and of Christ”.

Marius Victórinus of Rome (360 AD) Advérsus Áruim 1:58 (Latin) said the Spirit was Jesus’ Mother.

Robert Murray Symbols of Church and Kingdom, p.25 “The Syriac Fathers, as is well known, attributed female gender to the Holy Spirit in the first centuries after Christ; seeing the Holy Spirit especially as ‘Mother.”  Following are writings reflecting the fem HS from a few ‘fathers’ of the Eastern Church:

Áphrahat (280–345 AD) wrote in Syriac in Persia. Demonstrations VI “The Spirit, She opens the heavens and descends, and hovers over the waters; and those who are baptized put Her on.”

Éphrem the Syrian (306–373 AD) was perhaps the most significant of all the Syriac language fathers, called the “greatest poet of the patristic age”.  In Hymnén de Ecclésia, he identified the Spirit as feminine.

Macarían Homilies (late 300s) were written in Greek at Edessa in Turkey. “Instead of an earthly father you are seeking the heavenly Father, and instead of a mother who is subject to corruption, you have as Mother the excellent Spirit of God, and the heavenly Jerusalem.” (ref Ga.4:26)

Martyríus Sáhdona (630 AD) Book of Perfection 1:3:13.  This Syrian theologian writes of the person “Who has been held worthy of the hovering of the all-holy Spirit [Ge.1:2], who, like a mother, hovers over us as she gives sanctification; and through her hovering over us, we are made worthy of sonship”.

John of Dályatha (700s) wrote in east Syria, calling the Spirit the mother and begetter (Letters 51:11).

Moses bar Képha (813–903), celebrated bishop near the Tigris River, wrote in a Syriac homily, “The Holy Spirit hovered over John the Baptist, and brought him up like a compassionate mother”.

The early Eastern Church originally believed the HS was She/Her.  But after some time, the Syriac church lost or suppressed the original OT & apocryphal Jewish concept of the fem HS or shekínah.  By the 500s AD, a masculine (masc) HS was becoming more the norm.  Possibly this was due to Western influence, and because some heretical groups misused the feminine imagery.

Russian Orthodox author Sergei Búlgakov (1891–1944) Sophia The Wisdom of God, p.1. “The church of St. Sophia in Constantinople. The grace, lightness, wonderful symmetry of the structure; an ocean of light pours in from above and dominates the whole space below…is artistic proof of Her existence.”  p.5-6 “The time has come for us to sweep away the dust of the ages and to decipher the sacred script. The theme of Sophia never had any place in Western theology. Protestantism showed itself particularly barren in this sphere. Unfortunately, the sophialógical barrenness of Western theology influenced Eastern theology also in a negative direction…a divergence from the true wisdom of the church.”

Unlike the Eastern Church, the RCC claims, “At no time has the Church referred to the Holy Spirit as ‘She’ when speaking of the person of the Holy Spirit”. (The Catholic Exchange 2006)  The RCC insists the HS be referred to as ‘He’.

Instead of a fem HS…the RCC developed excessive veneration of the virgin Mary.  Their Mariology is quasi-idolatry/Mariolatry.  They greatly reverence Mary, say she never sinned, and some pray to her.

Official Mary veneration is seen from the 430 AD Council of Ephesus, when Mary was given the title Theotókos/“God-bearer”, or Mother of God.  (Yet nowhere in the NT did Jesus call Mary, ‘mother’.)

Earlier, Irenaeus (130–200 AD) of France had called Mary the new/second Eve.  In his analogy, the pregnant Mary and Jesus the 2^nd Adam (1Co.15:45) were of the same body…as Eve & Adam were of the same body, before Eve was separated (Advérsus Háereses 3).  But Irenaeus’ comparison doesn’t overly venerate Mary.  (Irenaeus also wrote, “The Son is rightly called Word, the Spirit is called the Wisdom”.)

Peter Damian (1007–1073) was an Italian cardinal.  He connected Mary with Wisdom/Sophia as the omnipotent Throne of Wisdom. “The blessed virgin can do whatever she pleases, both in heaven and on earth. All power is given to thee [Mary]…nothing is impossible to thee.” (Serm.1 de Nat. B. Virg.)

Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153) was a French abbot.  To Bernard, Mary is the mother of humankind!  “At the command of Mary, all obey, even God.” (De Excel Virg, cap 12)  “Mary is our Mediatrix.”  (Second Sermon for the Feast of the Assumption) “Let us cast ourselves at the feet of this good Mother.”

St. Bonaventure (1221–1274) was an Italian of the Franciscan order.  To him, Mary is Co-Redemptrix (Psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary). “The Virgin Mary, the Queen of Heaven.”  “The Holy Spirit intends Solomon’s words about Wisdom [in Proverbs, Wisdom of Solomon] to be understood of the most excellent Virgin Mary.”  Bonaventure transposed Jesus’ real Mother, Wisdom (the HS)…to Mary!  Bonaventure also wrote, “That woman (namely Eve), drove us out of Paradise and sold us; but this one (Mary) brought us back again and bought us”. (de don. Sp. 6; 14 Bonaventure)

As a child, the Beatles’ Paul McCartney was baptized a Roman Catholic.  Later, in 1970 even he sang, “In my hour of darkness, mother Mary comes to me; speaking words of wisdom…Let It Be”.

Over the centuries, the RCC has made Mary/Mariolatry a counterfeit or substitute for the scriptural position of Wisdom/Sophia/Mother.  Yet a counterfeit presumes a prior genuine!  It was Wisdom who sat beside God’s throne as Queen. Wisdom of Solomon 9:4 “Wisdom that sits by Your throne.”  She was beside YHVH at the beginning. Pr.8:22, 30 “I [Wisdom] was beside Him, daily His delight.”  The real Queen of Heaven (Je.7:18) wasn’t a counterfeit Astárte…not Deméter…not Isis…not Mary!

The surrogate Mary carried and birthed Jesus the Son of God.  She’s a godly woman.  But not a co-redemptrix or mediatrix, not due near-goddess status!  The RCC believes Mary was always sinless.  However, Mary herself indicated that she too needs a Savior!  Lk.1:46-47 Mary exulted, “My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior”.  Mary knew she was a sinner needing a Savior, just like all of humanity.

Christians believe we are born-again (“from above”).  But most today give little thought to the Mother such birth implies.  John saw in Re.12:1, 5, 14 “In heaven a Woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet. She gave birth to a Son to rule all nations. And two wings of a great eagle were given to the woman, that she might fly.”  (God said in Ps.2:7, “You are My Son, Today I have begotten Thee. I will give the nations as Your inheritance.”)  Re.12:17 “The dragon made war the with the rest of Her offspring.”  The Woman isn’t Mary.  Re.12 reflects the begetting HS and Spirit-filled church/offspring.

Is.66:7 “Before she travailed, she brought forth a man child.”  v.13 “As one who his Mother comforts, so I will comfort you.”  The HS is the Comforter/Helper.  Jesus said in Jn.14:26, “The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, who the Father will send in My name”.  In the Old Syriac Jn.14:26, the Comforter/HS is “She” (as YHVH is as Mother in Is.66:13).  Also Ac.9:31 “In the comfort of the Holy Spirit, the church multiplied.”

The early Syriac writers quoted above didn’t present the HS as a literal woman.  But by the 500s AD she became masculine.  It seems the concept of a fem HS became dangerous to the structure of the church.  By the time the HS became a confirmed member of the trinity (Council of Constantinople in 381 AD), the HS was described as masc, despite having nurturing fem qualities!  But Ge.1:2, 26-27 females too embody God’s image!  Male and female both are created in the image and likeness of God.

Martin Luther was reportedly “not ashamed of speaking of the Holy Spirit in feminine terms”.

Count Zínzendorf (1700–1760), leader of the Moravian church, wrote of himself: “I have during my lifetime not eaten of the foods which were formerly forbidden them; I have employed the Sabbath for rest many years already, and our Sunday for the proclamation of the gospel – that I have done without design, and in simplicity of heart.” (Budingsche Sammlung, Leipzig, 1742, sec. 8, 224, letter written in 1738.)  To Zinzendorf, the HS was Creator (Ge.1:2, 26 “Us”) and Mother. “She has created the world with the Savior and now is remaking every child until it is a new creation, and becomes one in the spirit with him; She nurses and watches until it is grown.”

God said of Jesus in Lk.3:22, “You are My beloved Son”.  The apostle Paul quoted Ge.2:24 regarding Adam & Eve in Ep.5:23-33.  Paul midrashed that Christ will marry the HS-filled church.  v.30-32 “For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to His wife. This mystery is great, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”  The ascended and betrothed Jesus leaves His Father and Mother (HS/Wisdom) to marry the church/Bride!  And Adam had left God, with Eve (Ge.2:24-25, 3:23).

From Aphrahat’s Demonstration X, “As long as a man hasn’t taken a wife, he loves and reveres God his Father and the Holy Spirit his Mother”.  Re.19:7-9 is Jesus’ metaphorical marriage to Christians.

As part of the collective future “Bride” of Christ, male Christians may feel uncomfortable singing love songs of praise to Jesus.  Eventually we’ll be with Him, together forever.  Re.22:17 “The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come.”  We can be Jesus’ Bride because we’re all begotten by the fem (Mother) Spirit.  In Jn.3:3-8, Jesus said you must be born again of the Spirit.  The “offspring” of the HS (again Re.12:17).

Ro.8:29 Jesus the Son of God is the “firstborn of many brothers and sisters”.  Jesus is also the brother of all who are children of God via the HS.  v.11 “He who raised Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”  v.15 “You have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, we cry out ‘Abbá, Father.”  Christians are adopted children of Father God and Mother HS.  Jesus is our elder Brother.  2Co.6:18 “You shall be sons and daughters to Me’, says the Lord Almighty.”  (That’s not to say that Christians become God as the Creator God is God.)

Jesus said in Jn.5:19, “The Son can do nothing of Himself”.  Yet Jesus the Son personified the virtues & attributes of Father God and Mother HS/Wisdom.  (see “Holy Spirit Personification”.)  Paul saw the Spirit-filled Jesus too as wisdom.  Col.2:2-3 “Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”  Jesus is the Son and emissary of Wisdom the HS.  Paul wrote in 1Co.1:24, “Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God”.  Wisdom originally was “brought forth” a she in Proverbs (8:1, 24).  And in Lk.7:35, Jesus said He’s the Child of Wisdom/“her”.  Lk.4:14 “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit.”  Jn.3:34 “God gives Him [Jesus] the Spirit without limit.”

Though Jesus could do nothing of Himself, His power & wisdom came from His Divine DNA, so to speak, from His Parents.  Mt.13:54 “Coming to His home town they were amazed and said, ‘Where did this man get this wisdom, and these wondrous powers?”  Jesus the Son as God inherited wisdom & power from God!  (Lk.13:34 Jesus isn’t effeminate, yet the HS in Him could even empathize as a mother hen.)

God is one/echád (De.6:4, Jn.10:30).  The Father, HS, Son are one…all three of the God kind & Family.

In the NT, Jesus never referred to Mary as His mother (or Joseph as His father).  By the early 300s AD, the church was embroiled in the Arian controversies.  Many didn’t want Jesus begotten before time began.  But in the 300s AD, many did want women suppressed.  A quandary existed.  So they hushed scriptures which related to Wisdom/sophia the HS having been “brought forth” in past eternity…though Wisdom herself says in Pr.8:25 LXX, “He begets [gennáo g1080] Me”. (see “Godhead in Prehistory”.)

Over the centuries AD, Mother Wisdom/Sophia became assimilated into the cult of the virgin Mary.  Mary, the counterfeit or replacement for Wisdom, was elevated.  Mariolatry ensued in the RCC.

 

Holy Spirit Personification

The Godhead tri-unity consists of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (HS)…the Godkind.  Before reading this, you might read “Godhead in Prehistory” and “Tri-unity of God”.  Much of the background material and scriptures referenced in those topics about the Godhead won’t be repeated or re-quoted here.

The Holy Spirit is God!  There are several verses in the Bible which attest to this.  e.g. 1Co.3:16, 2:10-11, Ac.5:3-4, 2Sm.23:2-3. (ref “Tri-unity of God”.)  Lk.3:21-22 reflects three ‘Persons’ or entities!

Male and female characteristics of humans embody the image and likeness of God (Ge.1:26-27).  Male and female are both necessary to represent God.  Humans are given God’s attributes in miniature.  Jesus said in Jn.14:9, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father”.

Jesus was a man, an image of His heavenly Father.  Ezk.1:26-28 “Above the expanse was a figure with the likeness of a man. Such was the appearance of…YHVH.”  The Lord Christ appeared in the likeness of a human to Ezekiel and others.  (also see the topic, “Jesus Was The Old Testament God”.)

Personification is giving something human characteristics, or anthropomórphism.  In divinity, there may not be gender as we know it.  But the three ‘Persons’ do have characteristic functions.  Within the God Family of Father, HS, and Son…exists both masculine and feminine characteristics.

God reflects masculine roles: Ps.103:13 Father.  Ho.2:16 husband.  Ps.98:6 king.  Ex.15:3 warrior.

God reflects feminine roles: Is.66:13 Mother.  Is.42:14 pregnant.  Ps.123:2 mistress.  Ps.22:9 midwife.     

Jesus the Son of God came as a man, and revealed His Father.  Fathers and sons are masculine.  We refer to God/Deity customarily or conveniently as ‘He’, using masculine (masc) pronouns.

Yet the Godhead has feminine traits too!  Ro.8:20-23, 26 “The whole creation groans and suffers pains of childbirth. We having the Spirit groan, waiting for the redemption of our body.”  The Jewish apostle Paul portrayed the HS as a midwife, helping creation and humanity towards re-creation.

Pastor Mahesh Chavda wrote in The Hidden Power of a Woman, “In Judaism, unlike Christianity, God has never been viewed as exclusively male or masculine”.  Many Jewish scholars think Adam was created with dual gender. (see “Godhead in Prehistory”.)

Our use of non-personal imagery for God doesn’t carry the risk of falling into polytheism as much as Father-Mother language does.  Non-personal imagery for the HS: wind, cloud, fire, living water, dove.

Yet personal imagery for the HS/Wisdom is seen too…in Proverbs, Ecclesiásticus or Wisdom of Sirach (WSir), Wisdom of Solomon (WSol).  Pr.1:20 “Wisdom lifts her voice.”  “Her” is a feminine pronoun.

Wisdom’s quotes in 1^st Person, where Wisdom speaks, are found in: Pr.1:22-33 “I will pour out My Spirit on you [v.23].”  Pr.8:4-36 “When there was no depths I was brought forth [v.24].”  “I was at His [YHVH’s] side forming all things; daily His delight [v.30].”  Also ref Pr.9:4-6, 16-17.  WSir.24:3-22 “I [Wisdom] came forth from the mouth of the Most High and covered the earth like a mist. My throne was in the pillar of cloud [v.3-4].”  cf. the HS in Ge.1:2b, 2:6, and Ex.13:21 the shekínah glory cloud.

Wisdom is the Holy Spirit.  WSol.1:4-5 “Wisdom won’t enter the soul that plots evil. For a holy spirit of discipline flees from deceit.”  WSol.9:4 “Give me the wisdom that sits by Your throne.”  v.10 “Send Her forth from Your holy heavens, from Your glorious throne.”  v.17 “Unless You have given him wisdom and sent Your Holy Spirit from on high.”  Nu.27:18 “Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit.”  De.34:9 “Joshua the son of Nun was filled with the Spirit of wisdom.”  Omnipresent at God’s throne in heaven, and within Joshua, is the HS Wisdom…“Her”.

Jesus was conceived in the virgin Mary by the HS (Lk.1:35 the HS came upon Mary).  And John the Baptizer was filled with the HS in his mother’s womb (Lk.1:15).  Speaking of Himself and John, Jesus said in Lk.7:33-35, “Wisdom is justified by her children”.  Jesus, the Child conceived by Wisdom the HS, speaks of Wisdom as “her”!  (As did Proverbs, etc.)  Jesus’ words are authoritative and truth!

Wisdom is a personified entity or hypostásis (a Greek term used in early Christian writings) of God’s divine essence.

The Hebrew grammatical gender of Bible nouns has significance.  But this doesn’t mean God the HS is literally a woman!  Yet the HS grammatically and figuratively is a ‘she/her’.

In Old Testament (OT) scripture, the ancient Hebrew (Heb) language attached gender to Spirit essence.  The Heb term for spirit (rúach Strongs h7307, and Aramaic rúach h7308) is feminine (fem).  The Heb term for wisdom (chokmáh h2451) is fem.  In the OT Septúagint/LXX and New Testament (NT), the Greek (Gr) term for wisdom is sophía g4678.  Pr.7:4 “Call wisdom your sister.”  Sisters are of course feminine, not masculine.  In Pr.9:1-3, wisdom is “she/her”.  WSir.4:11 “Wisdom exalts her children.”  WSir.24:18 of Wisdom, “I AM the mother of love that is beautiful. I therefore, being eternal, am given to all My children who are picked by Him”.  (Father God picks His elect; Ep.1:3-5, 17, Jn.6:44.)  And Jesus knew Himself to be a Child of Wisdom/Sophia/”her” in Lk.7:35.

The dove is the most frequent symbol for the HS in early Christian art.  The Heb term for dove (yonáw h3123) is fem (e.g. Ge.8:11, SS.6:9).  The Heb term for breath (neshamáh h5397) is fem.  (e.g. Ge.2:7; Jb.32:8 “The breath of the Almighty gives man understanding.”)  Ex.25:31-37 the seven–branched holy lampstand with its oil was a symbol of the HS and tree of life.  Wisdom is symbolically the central branch.  Pr.4:7 “Wisdom is supreme.”  The Heb term for lampstand (menoráh h4501) is also fem.  Pr.3:18 “She [Wisdom] is a tree of life.”  Pulpit Commentary “Wisdom becomes equally life giving.”

Elóah h433 is a Heb term for God, occurring 55 times in the OT (mostly in Job and poetic passages).  Jb.27:3 “The spirit of God [Eloah h433] is in my nostrils.”  The -ah ending is indicative of fem singular.  The most common OT Heb term for God is Elohím h430.  Elohim is a masc plural ending -im (Father and Son), combined with the fem singular root Eloah (HS/Wisdom) or possibly El.  Also the modern Heb fem term ‘shekinah’ represents the Divine Presence, the fire-cloud of glory in the OT.

Heb grammar too uses masc pronouns for God.  Heb & Aramaic has no neuter (no ‘it’); all nouns are masc or fem.  Again, the Heb term for spirit (ruach) is fem.  But unlike Heb, the Greek term for spirit (pneúma) is neuter.  The Latin term for spirit (spirítus) is masc.  Noun gender varies in languages.  In translated languages, gender doesn’t have the significance as in the earlier inspired Hebrew scripture.

In English, translators render pronouns with the Gr pneuma/spirit (neuter) as he masc, e.g. Jn.14:26. (or it neuter, Ro.8:26 KJV.)  Some of this is revisionism.  This practice subconsciously makes men seem more like God than do women.  Yet in 2Co.6:18, Paul wrote that God said, “You shall be sons and daughters to Me”.  In Jn.14:26, the Gr masc term páraclete is translated Comforter/Helper, and refers to the Gr neuter term Spirit.  Here translators chose to use the pronoun He.  But since God has both masc and fem characteristics (Is.42:13-14, Ps.123:2), Heb personal noun gender is more meaningful.  Later languages such as Greek, Latin, English didn’t maintain the earlier Heb gender in translations.

The most ancient of the rare Old Syriac copies, the Siniatic Pálimpsest (300s–400s AD), was found in the Covenant of St. Catherine and transcribed by Syriac Professor R.L. Bensly of Cambridge University in 1892.  Jesus’ words in Jn.14:26 read: “But She—the Spirit-the Paraclete whom He will send to you-my Father in my name—She will teach you everything; She will remind you of that which I told you.”  The Spirit is feminine to the Syriac church (as the ancient Aramaic ruach/spirit was fem), unlike Greek and Latin grammar.

J.J. Hurtak: “The Spirit is not called ‘it’ despite the fact that pneuma in Greek is a neuter noun. Church doctrine regards the Holy Spirit as a person, not a force like magnetism. In the Eastern Church, Spirit was always considered to have a feminine nature. She was the life-bearer of the faith.”

The Westminster Leningrad Codex (1008 AD) is the oldest complete Heb manuscript.  In its ultra-literal interlinear English translation online: Is.11:2 “And she rests on him, spirit of YHVH.”  Ps.143:10 “Good spirit of you Elohim, she shall guide me.”  Nu.11:26 “The spirit, she is resting on them.”  Ezk.37:1 “She becomes hand of YHVH on me in spirit of YHVH.”  Jb.33:4 “Spirit of El, she made me; breath of Who-Suffices, she is keeping me alive.”  (Ec.12:1 “Remember Ones creating you.”…“Us” in Ge.1:26.)

Pronouns in this ultra-literal translation do grammatically reflect the ancient Heb language gender.  The “she” pronoun agrees with our translations of Prov, WSol, WSir…where Wisdom is “she”.  Also, in this online Codex Jb.28:12-ff, Wisdom is “she”.  However, most of our translations attach the pronoun “it” to wisdom in Job 28.  This inconsistency may be a translational bias in Job 28…especially when we consider that wisdom is fem to Jesus in Lk.7:35 & Mt.11:19 (as well as “she” in Provs, WSol, WSir)!

From our Is.11:2, “The Spirit of the Lord shall rest on Him [Messiah], the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord”.  The LXX adds “godliness”.  Seven attributes!  And they’re all fem nouns!  Wisdom is primary (Pr.4:7).

In Pr.8:12-14, Wisdom speaks in 1^st Person. “I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, I find knowledge and discretion. The fear of the Lord. Counsel is Mine. I AM understanding, strength is mine.”  These attributes are all fem!  Philo AI1 p.29…On Flight and Finding, p.325 “He called that Divine and heavenly Wisdom by many names….Indeed all the virtues bear the names of women.”  It’s not just coincidence.

Pr.9:1-2 “Wisdom has built her house. She has hewn her seven pillars.”  As wisdom was the principal branch of the seven-branched menorah (fem) in God’s tabernacle Holy Place.  cf. Re.5:6 “The seven Spirits/sevenfold Spirit of God, sent into all the earth.”  Barnes Notes “The seven Spirits of God, the manifold operations of the one Divine Spirit.”  Pulpit Commentary Re.5:6 “The Holy Ghost, proceeding from the Father and the Son.”  The HS is sent, Jn.14:26 & 15:26.  Zec.4:10 “These seven are the eyes of the Lord which range throughout the earth.” (also the Zec.3:9 prophecy.)  Ps.139:7-10 rhetorically, “Where can I go from Your Spirit [ruach fem]”.  God’s (sevenfold) HS is omnipresent.

Following are the various Names/Titles of the HS in the OT.  The Spirit of: Wisdom/Understanding etc. (the seven in Is.11:2 & Pr.8:12-14), Life, Truth, YHVH, Elohim, Eloah, El.  (But not the Spirit of: adonaí/lord h136 or adówn/master h113.)  Also in the OT God calls the HS, “My Spirit”.  In the NT the HS is called the Spirit of God (Théos g2316), the Spirit of the Lord (Kúrios g2962), “The Spirit”, and the Comforter/Helper.

The Father is Lord, e.g. Mt.11:25.  Jesus is Lord, e.g. Jn.13:13.  But I don’t know of any Bible verse which specifically says the HS herself is Lord/master/ruler.  Jesus didn’t refer to the HS as “Father”.

In the NT the HS is submissive, subservient, faceless, humble…not worshiped or prayed to directly.  She’s identified by titles (e.g. “God”) from the Father, not of herself.  The HS testifies of and glorifies Jesus, not herself (Jn.15:26, 16:13-14).  HS Presence may arrive noticeably, but silently departs.

The dove is a symbol of the HS.  The dove is said to be a very affectionate bird, harmless, very gentle.  A dove doesn’t retaliate against enemies, but will retreat.  Solomon wrote of his beloved in SS.5:2, “My love, my dove, my undefiled”.  Ro.15:30 speaks of “the love of the Spirit”.  WSol.1:6-7 “Wisdom is a Spirit that loves mankind. The Spirit of the Lord fills the world.”  Philo Who is the Heir of Divine Things, 25:127 “Divine wisdom, God’s possession she is, symbolically called a turtledove.”

More verses together showing the HS Wisdom is God:  Jesus says in Jn.14:21, “He who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will love him”.  Likewise the HS Wisdom says in Pr.8:17a, “I love those who love Me”.  Jesus and Wisdom (and the Father) love those who love Jesus and Wisdom.  Analogous.

The Lord says in Je.29:13, “You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart”.  Likewise the HS Wisdom says in Pr.8:17b, “Those who diligently seek Me will find Me”.  We humans will find the Lord and Wisdom when we wholeheartedly seek the Lord and Wisdom…again analogous.

Jesus says in Jn.15:16, “You should bear fruit and your fruit should remain”.  The HS Wisdom says in Pr.8:19, “My fruit is better than gold”.  And in Ga.5:22 Paul wrote of “the fruit of the Spirit”.  The fruit & attributes of the HS (within humans) are better than gold!

The Word Jesus says in Jn.14:6, “I AM the life [zoáy g2222]”.  1Jn.1:1-2 “Concerning the Word of Life [g2222]. The eternal life [g2222] that was with the Father.”  Likewise the HS Wisdom says in Pr.8:35 LXX, “Those who find Me find life [g2222]”.  The HS too is eternal life/zoay!  In Ga.6:8, Paul wrote of those who “from the Spirit reap eternal life [g2222]”.  Re.2:7 the Paradise “tree of life” (g2222).

In Ex.34, Moses’ face shined from being in the presence of God on the mountain.  Ex.34:30 “So when the Israelites saw Moses’ face, they were afraid to come near him.”  1Ki.3:28 “Israel feared the king [Solomon], for they saw the wisdom of God was in him to do justice.”  Solomon wrote in Ec.8:1, “A man’s wisdom makes his face to shine”.  The HS Wisdom enlightens the countenance of man.

Oswald Chambers’ Christian devotional, My Utmost For His Highest, is one of the most popular religious books ever written.  In it he wrote, “I am the Almighty God’ – El-Shaddái, the Father-Mother God. The one thing for which we are all being disciplined is to know that God is real.”  God is both Father and Mother.  El Shaddai (h7706) has been described or defined as the ‘mighty breasted One’.

Again, Jesus indicated His Mother is Wisdom, the HS.  Connecting in order the following seven verses will identify the feminine HS: Jl.2:28a, Pr.1:20, 23, De.34:9a, Nu.27:18, Mt.1:18b, Lk.7:35.

Yet the church in general for much of its history has wrongly suppressed females or considered them inferior.  (Having gone beyond the apostle Paul’s instructions regarding women in church assembly.)

Jewish physicist Albert Einstein said that “Israel wouldn’t experience salvation until it returned to feminine divinity”. (quoted in Patricia Taylor’s The Holy Spirit: The Feminine Nature of God.)  In Jewish thought, the fem Shekinah is the Divine Presence which can be sensed within human souls.  Jewish wisdom theology/sophiálogy in BC times (also in Philo) saw God’s Presence dwelling with Israel via the Shekinah.  ref Ex.40:34-35 the Shekinah glory cloud!

Wisdom/Sophía/Chokmáh wasn’t a fertility goddess, like Inánna in Mesopotamia or Deméter in Greece.  Mariólatry is a later Roman Catholic Church counterfeit as a substitute for Wisdom or Shekinah…the RCC’s Mary is near to goddess status, such as Ísis. (see “Holy Spirit versus Mariolatry”.)

The Jewish concept of Shekinah, along with Philo’s writings (re the Lógos/Word and Wisdom), pose continuing problems for strict Jewish monotheism!  There are three ‘Persons’ within the one Godkind.

We may say the Father is the Source, Possessor, Director or Planner.  The Son is the Spokesman, the Executor, Mediator, Ruler.  The HS is Wisdom, the Omnipresence, the Comforter…and the Glory!

Jesus Obeyed God’s Written Laws

In the Old Testament (OT), the Hebrew term which is usually translated “law” in our Bibles is toráh (Strongs h8451).  It occurs 220 times.  Torah is instructive teaching with a wide range of meaning.  The BC Jewish translators of the OT into Greek (now become the Septúagint/LXX) translated torah as nómos (g3551), which means ‘law’.  Nomos occurs 240 times in the LXX, and 200 times in the New Testament (NT) where it usually refers to a body of law or the first five books (Péntateuch) of the OT.

God’s OT written word includes: laws, the Lord’s Testimony (edúth h5715) Decalogue on Mt Sinai, commandments (mitzváh h4687), judgments/legal decisions (mishpát h4941), ceremonial statutes or ordinances & civil decrees (choq h2706 & chuqqáh h2708).  Ne.9:13 the Lord God “Came down on Mt Sinai and spoke to them from heaven; and gave them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments”.  In De.4:8, “this whole law” includes all the above. However, by NT times most of God’s precepts were generally called commandments (entoláy g1785, Greek).

According to Jewish rabbinic tradition, there are 613 laws or commandments in the Pentateuch.  Of these, 248 are positive ‘do’s’ and 365 are negative ‘don’ts’.  Rámbam (1138-1204 AD) listed 613.  That number is disputed.  Wikipedia: 613 Commandments “Some rabbis declared…that it was not logically possible to come up with a systematic count. A number of authorities denied that it was normative.”

Theologians have divided God’s laws into three broad categories: moral, civil or judicial, ceremonial.  There’s some overlap.  Did Jesus disobey any of the Lord’s written injunctions, His requirements?

God’s foundational moral code was the Testimony of Ex.20 & De.5, the ‘10 Commandments’ so-called.  Actually, the expression ‘10 Commandments/10 Mitzvót’ (h4687) never occurs in the Hebrew Masoretic text!  The Decalogue was the ‘10 Words’ (dabár h1697) or ’10 Sayings’.  ref De.4:13.

From the Decalogue the Lord gave to Israel…Jesus affirmed in Mt.19:18-19 that you shouldn’t commit murder or adultery, you shouldn’t steal or bear false witness; and honor your father & mother.

Jesus honored His heavenly Father.  Jn.8:29 “I do always those things which please Him.”  Lk.2:49-51 Jesus said He must be about His heavenly Father’s house/affairs/business.  Yet Jesus continued to be in subjection to Mary & Joseph, His earthly parents.  Jn.19:26-27 while hanging on the cross, Jesus entrusted the care of Mary to His cousin the apostle John.

Jesus didn’t commit murder or adultery.  Jesus didn’t steal.  Lk.19:30-35 Jesus needed a colt.  Without objecting, the colt’s owners let two of Jesus’ disciples take the colt.  It wasn’t a criminal act.

Jesus didn’t lie.  Jn.7:8-10 although Jesus delayed leaving for the Feast right then with them, He did go to it.  Gill Exposition Jn.7:10 “The Ethiopic version reads, ‘He went up that day’; which is very likely, Jn.7:14 though He didn’t go to the temple to teach till the middle of the feast.”  He is the truth, Jn.14:6.

Neither did Jesus wrongly covet/desire.  Ex.20:17 “You shall not covet.”  Jn.6:15 Jesus even withdrew from the multitude who wanted to make Him a temporal King Messiah then.

It doesn’t appear that Jesus disobeyed any of God’s Testimony, the 10 Words, the 10 Commandments!

Some may think that Jesus neglected to perform all the applicable ceremonial or sacrificial aspects of God’s written word given to Moses/Israel.  Most Christians aren’t knowledgeable about details of ancient Israel’s ritualistic practices, though we do see references & glimpses of them in the NT.

Jesus Christ wasn’t remiss in ceremonial aspects of the Mosaic Law.  Christ Himself, as the Word of God (Jn.1:1, 14) and Rock of Israel (De.32:18 & 1Co.10:4), had sanctioned it for Israel!  (see the topic “Jesus Was the Old Testament God”.)  There’s no scriptural evidence which indicates that Jesus sinned or violated this aspect of His written Law or torah.

What is sin?  Scriptural ‘definitions’ of sin:  Ro.14:23 “Whatever is not of faith is sin [hamartía g266].”  Ja.4:17 “The person who knows the right thing to do, and does it not, to him it is sin.”  1Jn.5:17 “All unrighteousness is sin.”  And 1Jn.3:4, “Sin is the transgression of the Law [or lawlessness].”  That’s four NT descriptions of sin.  Also Pr.24:9 “The thought of foolishness is sin [chattáh h2403].”

Did Jesus the Christ commit any sins?  The Jewish NT writers said Jesus didn’t sin in any manner!  The apostle Peter wrote in 1Pe.2:22, “Christ did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth”.  John wrote in 1Jn.3:5, “In Him is no sin”.  He.4:15 “Jesus was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”  That’s the assertion coming down to us from three Jewish Christian writers!  Jesus didn’t transgress the Lord’s written Law/torah.

And well Jesus should have obeyed written torah.  Mary/Miriám, the young woman who bore Him, was a Jewess from the Israelite tribe of Judah.  He.7:14 “It is evident that our Lord [Jesus] sprang from Judah.”  In Jn.4:22, Jesus Himself indicated He was a Jew. “We worship that which we know, for salvation is of the Jews.”  God’s written laws were for Israelites, including the Jewish Mary and Jesus.

Jesus/Yeshúa must obey the laws for male non-Levites, that is.  Laws which applied only to females, or to the service of Levites and priests, didn’t apply to Jesus.  Jesus wasn’t a priest from the tribe of Levi.

Let’s examine the gospel narratives in some detail, and in so doing compare Jesus’ words & actions with other laws of God which were given to Moses/Israel.  The following is from the scriptural record:

Beginning with the family of the infant Jesus before His human birth, His Uncle Zacharias and Aunt Elizabeth were blameless (Lk.1:5-6).  Mary was favored by God, and she believed the amazing words of the angel Gabriel spoken to her about her Son (Lk.1:30-38)!  Her husband Joseph, Jesus’ Jewish legal father, was a just man (Mt.1:18-19).  These relatives weren’t habitual breakers of written torah.

After Jesus was born, Joseph & Mary had Him physically circumcised on the 8^th day (Lk.2:21).  This was in obedience to the command given to Moses in Le.12:3 for Israelite male newborns. “On the 8^th day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.”

Lk.2:22 after the male birth, Mary was away from the temple during her required days of purification, in obedience to Le.12:4.  Then appearing at the temple, in Lk.2:23-24 they offered a required sacrifice to obey Le.12:8. “She shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons.”  Jesus the firstborn son was presented to the Lord (Lk.2:22) in accordance with Ex.13:2. “Sanctify to Me every firstborn among the sons of Israel.”  Written torah was closely adhered to by them.

Then during Jesus’ childhood, Lk.2:41-42 “His parents used to go to Jerusalem every year for the Passover”.  This in obedience to De.16:5-6. “You are not allowed to sacrifice the Passover in any of your towns; but at the place where the Lord chooses to establish His name.”  Later as an adult, Jesus’ disciples made preparation in Mk.14:12 to eat the sacrificial Passover with Him as commanded. “When the Passover was being sacrificed.”  In Jerusalem, not in Galilee.  Another ceremonial observance was reflected in Jn.7:2, 10-14 where Jesus was attending the Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkót at Jerusalem.  In obedience to De.16:16, “All your males shall appear” at the one singular place of the Lord’s choice.

Some Bible readers regard God’s dietary laws as a mixture of moral and ceremonial directives.  It’s not loving one’s neighbor to feed them unclean parasitic or carcinogenic creatures.  (see the topic “Unclean versus Clean Food”.)  Jesus said in His parable of Mt.13:47-48 that they gathered-in the good fish but cast away the bad fish.  Pulpit Commentary Mt.13:48 “This included the legally unclean.”  Obeying the Lord’s guidelines of Le.11:9-10 which defined clean & unclean, “All [sea creatures] that have fins and scales you may eat”.

In Mt.17:24-27, Jesus paid the poll/temple tax for Peter (and Himself).  Ex.30:13-14 had required this tax.  And in Mt.23:23, Jesus told Jewish Pharisees they should pay tithes stipulated by written torah, even on their garden crops…tithes holy to God (Le.27:30).

What about sacrifices?  Some OT sacrifices were voluntary options, others were commanded.  In Mk.7:11-13, Jesus reprimanded scribes & Pharisees for their having chosen to do voluntary sacrifice (korbán, Hebrew, e.g. Le.1:2) to God, instead of responsibly honoring their aging parents (Ex.20:12).  Individual burnt offerings were voluntary (Le.1).  Many grain offerings were voluntary (Le.2).  Many peace offerings were voluntary (Le.3).  Three types of peace offerings are identified in Le.7:11-ff; thank, votive, freewill.  (also see “Passover and Peace Offerings”.)

As to whether or not Jesus brought such individual offerings…is a non-issue.  Because…those offerings were voluntary, not commanded.  (That is, unless some incidental matter such as a Nazarite vow was involved, of which there’s no NT account of Jesus ever taking such a vow.)

The individual sacrifices of Le.4-6 for sin & guilt weren’t voluntary or optional in the sense other types were.  These were offered by the offending Israelite for atonement and forgiveness, e.g. Le.6:1-7!  (see “Day of Atonement”.)  Although sin & guilt offerings were expiatory for forgiveness, they too were a personal non-issue for the person who hadn’t sinned.  And the NT writers said Jesus never sinned.

In Nu.15:37-39, the Lord commanded Israelite men to wear fringe or tassels (g2899 LXX) on their garment hem.  (ref De.22:12, Zec.8:23.)  This was to help them remember His commandments/mitzvot.  Mt.23:5 scribes & Pharisees pridefully lengthened their tassels (g2899), perhaps to show their supposed ‘rank’.  In Mt.9:20-22, a woman diseased with an issue of blood touched the tassels (g2899) on Jesus’ garment.  Jesus didn’t disobey this ceremonial tassels requirement.  And He healed the woman.  (cf. Lk.8:44, Mt.14:36, Mk.6:56.)

If Jesus had close physical contact with someone He healed from an issue of blood, then perhaps He became ritually unclean…until He washed at evening (Le.15:25-27).  But such ritual uncleanness wasn’t sin.  Becoming ritually unclean could even be mandatory!  A man must properly attend to his father’s dead body, for example.  Even priests did so (Le.21:1-3).  A corpse is unclean (Nu.19:11).  Attending to a close relative’s corpse reflects compassion and honor for the deceased…which isn’t sin.

In Mk.1:40-44, Jesus healed a leper and told the healed leper to “Go show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded”.  This was to obey that which God had instructed Moses in Le.13:1-2, 17. “If the infection has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him clean”.

Leprosy was infectious and lepers were to be quarantined (ref Le.13:44-46, 5:3).  The priest was a type of ‘health inspector’.  However, I know of no written torah which clearly forbad touching a leper.  Again, it wasn’t always a violation to touch an unclean person.  Doing so could just make you unclean until you went through the proper ceremonial procedure and the required time elapsed.

In the OT, only two individuals are named who were healed of leprosy…Miriam the Israelitess (Nu.12:10-15) and the gentile Naamán, general of the opposing Syrian army (2Ki.5:1-14).  But not one Israelite man!  (Moses’ brief ordeal was a sign, Ex.4:5-7.)  Bible historians say 1^st century Jews therefore came to believe that only the Messiah could heal an Israelite man from leprosy.  Jesus did so!

Also 1^st century Jews believed only the Messiah could heal a man blind from birth.  In Jn.9:1-7 there was a man blind from birth.  Jesus’ disciples thought the man was born blind because he’d sinned in a prior life, or else his parents had sinned.  But Jesus said this blindness was so the works of God would be displayed in him.  Perhaps the man had blind faith…the Son of God healed him!  Praise God!

But it is understood that Jesus didn’t observe all the Jews’ oral law traditions.  And in Mk.7:7-9, Jesus castigated scribes & Pharisees for favoring the traditions of men above the written commands of God!

Returning to the account of the man born blind…out of love and compassion, Jesus gave him sight, applying clay & spittle.  But after questioning the man who now could see, Pharisees said in Jn.9:13-16, “This man [Jesus] is not from God, because He doesn’t keep the Sabbath”.  Because Jesus had “made” clay on the sabbath (v.6, 14), those Pharisees viewed His act as a breach of rabbinic sabbath laws.  T. Hieros Sabbat 14.4 “It is forbidden to put fasting spittle even on the eyelid on a sabbath day.”

Historians say the Jews had 39 categories of burdensome man-made sabbath laws (with even further detail)!  But those were merely the commandments of men.  Jesus’ action didn’t violate the written law of God.  And even the famous 1^st century rabbinic schools of Hillél and Shammái differed over points of traditional observance.  (Ti.1:14 Paul too warned about Jewish “commandments of men”.)

Jesus healed a man with a withered hand in the synagogue on the Sabbath.  Jesus asked those who would accuse Him in Mk.3:1-5, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?’ But they kept silent.”  They failed to give Jesus a good answer.  Matthew Henry Commentary Jn.9:16 “On the sabbath…works of necessity and mercy are allowed.”

Jesus customarily went to synagogue on the sabbath day.  Le.23:3 “On the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation.”  Jesus obeyed God’s Decalogue sabbath command.  And of Jesus’ commitment in Lk.4:16, “As was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read”.  Jesus regularly attended synagogue on the 7^th day sabbath.

It’s not that all traditional observances are wrong.  Most every culture has some good traditions.  In Jn.10:22-23 e.g., Jesus is seen in Jerusalem at the temple during the man-made festival of Hánukkah.  This “Feast of Dedication” or ‘Festival of Lights’ was ordained by the Jews in the 160s BC to commemorate the re-dedication of the temple.  Hanukkah is a tradition which doesn’t contradict God’s written word.  So Jesus the “Light of the World” (Jn.8:12) was at the ‘Festival of Lights’.

To conclude…I find nothing in the Bible that clearly indicates Jesus ever sinned by violating God’s written word or torah/Law.  And Jesus Himself said in Jn.15:10, “I have kept My Father’s commandments, and abide in His love”.

Previously I quoted Jewish NT writers who said Jesus never sinned.  Also Paul wrote in 2Co.5:21 that God…“Made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin for us”.  Jesus knew no sin.  So Christ became that which He did not know…sin!  He became a sin offering.  Jesus became sin and the offering for sin…both.  For our sake.  In the OT type, the substitute animal sacrifice was regarded as sin-bearing.

OT sacrifices have ended (He.10:5).  They, and ceremonial rituals of the Mosaic law, are unnecessary for Christians!  Without a physical temple, it’s no longer possible to perform most rituals correctly.

The Bible indicates Jesus didn’t break any of God’s written laws!  Jesus affirmed them.  Jesus didn’t disobey God’s written torah or Father God.  The fact that Jesus never sinned is crucial to our salvation!  If Jesus had transgressed God’s law and sinned, we’d have no Savior.  But we have a legitimate Savior!  The sinless Christ died for the sins of the Israelites, and for the sins of all mankind.  Thanks be to God for His Son!

Christmas and Jesus’ Birth Month

Christmas is the USA’s most popular holiday, annually celebrated by more than 90% of the populace.  Yet some people who believe in Jesus as Savior don’t feel they should celebrate His birthday, or not at the generally accepted season.  Maybe they don’t think December 25 was really His human birth date.  Maybe they disapprove of the ungodly heathen or wrong trappings which became attached to the celebration.  Or they don’t see the celebration commanded by God in the Bible.  And ‘Christmas Break’ is now called ‘Winter Break’.  This topic examines these issues, and offers a reasonable conclusion.

Many myths and legends began with an element of real truth or fact…where there’s smoke there’s fire.  That’s the case with Christmas traditions.  That Jesus was born and lived as a human is truth/fact.  The historians Josephus, Tacitus, Pliny refer to Him, all writing prior to 120 AD.  But then…questionable or objectionable customs and embellishments were added over the centuries.  e.g. Santa Claus, holly & mistletoe, wass-ale-ing, party spirit, xmas ham, excess materialism or greed.

Before Christ, religious sects in Israel also attached ritual customs to the Lord’s holydays.  And religious activity such as prayer, immersion in water, waving tree/palm branches, e.g…were customs of pagans too!  Should Christians avoid these practices just because the heathen did them for their gods?  The observance of Jesus’ birth spread among countries & cultures which attached pagan elements to His birth.  But did these early Christians remain heathens at heart?

The Bible also reflects occasions which were added, not commanded by God.  ref Est.9:19 Purim; Jg.11:39-40; Zec.8:19.  Hánukkah was attended by Jesus (Jn.10:22-23).  It commemorated the defeat of Antíochus Epíphanes in the 160s BC, rededicating the altar and cleansing the temple.  1Mac.4:52-59 & 2Mac.10:5-9 the Jewish people (not God) ordained Hanukkah by common statute (2Mac.10:8).  This man-ordained occasion begins on Kíslev 25 (in our Nov-Dec)!  Perhaps Jesus was born or conceived during Hanukkah, the eight-day ‘Festival of Lights’.  Let’s closely examine His time of birth.

The supposed old Jewish tradition of ‘integral age’ said a great prophet was born or conceived and died on the same date.  Jesus died during Passover week, around Apr 1.

Historically, Jesus’ human birth was set at: May 20, Apr 17, Mar 28, and Jan 6 (‘12 days of Christmas’ after Dec 25?) in the early Eastern church, Armenian, Coptic, Russian Orthodox.

Some think Jesus was born near a Sep 25 Rosh Hashánah, His conception being the previous Dec 25 Hanukkah.  But Rosh Hashanah was still the time of grape and fig processing, and for regional dates and pomegranates.  Agriculture provided tax revenues to Rome!  It seems unlikely that Rome would purposely antagonize Jews by requiring an agricultural society to travel to their old ancestral locales for a census (Lk.2:1-6) at this busy season.  The slow period for plowing, sowing, reaping was Dec–Feb.

Following is a capsule review of Jesus’ Nativity, tying together the accounts of Luke and Matthew.  Lk.1:5-25 the angel Gabriel appeared to Zacharias, who was serving in the temple.  He tells Zacharias that his elderly wife Elizabeth will bear a son named John.  Zacharias was of the priestly course of Abijáh.  1Ch.24:1, 5, 7, 10 Jehoiaríb’s was the 1^st weekly course, Abijáh’s the 8^th; each was sabbath-to-sabbath.  If Zacharias saw Gabriel in June, then that could place the birth of John the Baptizer near Passover (customarily set a plate for Elijah), with Jesus’ birth 6 months later near September 25.  But if he saw Gabriel October 1, then John was born 9 months later near July 1, and Jesus near January 1.

Lk.1:26-60 Gabriel’s Annunciation to Mary.  Mary becomes pregnant with Jesus and travels 75 miles south from Nazareth of Galilee to visit her elderly aunt Elizabeth, who is 6 months pregnant with John (near Bethlehem or Hebrón in Judea).  Mary stays with Elizabeth for 3 months and John is born.  Upon Mary’s return to Galilee, her fiancée Joseph now sees she is 3-4 months pregnant.  What?!  Mt.1:18-25 in a dream an angel tells Joseph of the forthcoming miraculous virgin birth, and Joseph will wed Mary.

Lk.2:1-8 just before Mary goes into labor, she and Joseph travel 4 days south to Bethlehem, which is 6 miles south of Jerusalem.  They must go to this rather distant town of Joseph’s ancestors to register for Augustus’ census.  v.3 “All were proceeding to register for the census, everyone to his own city.”

{Sidelight: This most likely wasn’t Feast of Tabernacles (FOT) time.  At FOT time, Joseph, their male relatives (and the shepherds too, Lk.2:8) would’ve gone to Jerusalem as commanded by God…not to Bethlehem or other original Israelite tribal areas/towns for census purposes.  ref De.16:11, 16, 12:11, 14:23-25; Je.7:12; 1Ki.14:21; Lk.2:41.  From the days of Solomon, the only location where God authorized pilgrim feasts be kept is Jerusalem, where the central sanctuary was…and never at two or more locations simultaneously! (see “Feasts of the Lord and the Jews”.)  Ellicott Commentary Lk.2:7 “There was no room for them at the inn’. The town was crowded with persons who had come to be registered.”}

Lk.2:9-38 as Jesus is born, the shepherds witness His glorious Birth-day celebration in the heavens!  v.13-14 “Suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men.”  Then while staying at a (relative’s?) house in Bethlehem, Jesus’ ‘parents’ bring Him to the temple for circumcision, and then for Mary’s purification 40 days after giving birth (Lk.2:21-24, ref Le.12:1-8).

Probably the wise men/mági haven’t arrived yet with their expensive gifts, since Mary could only afford to offer two turtledoves (Lk.2:24), not a more expensive lamb.  Anna and witnesses begin to make knowledge of Jesus public.  (Lk.2:39 Luke’s account skips the magi visit and the holy family’s soon-coming flight to Egypt before returning home to Galilee.)

Mt.2:1-11 perhaps very soon after the purification offering, wise men or magi arrive at the Bethlehem house, bringing expensive gifts.  They came from Arabia (ref Is.60:6 gold & frankincense), or Babylon (ref Da.5:11 the Jewish prophet Daniel had been appointed chief of the wise men in Babylon) or Persia.  Joseph likely was needing to return to his Nazareth business…supposedly he’s of modest means.

Opinions vary about what the ‘Star of Bethlehem’ was…a great comet, supernova, visible conjunction of heavenly bodies, an angel, the shekínah glory returning after 500 years to conceive Jesus, or something else supernatural?  ref Nu.24:17, Is.9:1-2, Ezk.11:23.  Maybe the wise men saw the “star” 10 months previously, or maybe only 41 days previously?  It is thought that a small camel caravan could travel 15–20 miles a day, each carrying 200–300 lbs.  At that rate, a 700-mile journey could take 35–45 days.

After giving gifts, the magi depart.  Mary will treasure in her heart (Lk.2:19) the circumstances surrounding Jesus’ miraculous birth…the shepherd’s vision (Lk.2:8-20), the magi visit and their account of seeing the star, etc.  Mary will pass it on to Jesus’ disciples and others.  (see “Jesus’ Virgin Birth”.)

Mt.2:12-18 upon the magi’s departure, the family will leave Bethlehem.  But in a dream an angel warns Joseph not to travel 75 miles north to Nazareth…but instead take a (200-mile?) detour WSW to Egypt, to avoid Herod the Great.  Very soon Herod will murder all Bethlehem infants who are in their second year or under…7 to 20 infants, based upon population estimates.  Having just received valuable gifts from the wise men, the family now has the wherewithal to afford the sojourn in Egypt (whereas they could only afford to sacrifice two turtledoves on the 40^th day of purification, Lk.2:22-24).

Mt.2:19-23 an angel in another dream tells Joseph of Herod’s death.  (Josephs had significant dreams, cf. Ge.37:5-ff!)  The family returns home to Nazareth…perhaps via the Way of the Sea, to avoid ethnarch Archeláus in Judea.

In what calendar month was Jesus born?  Early Christians ‘fathers’ wrote:

Justin Mártyr (100–165 AD) said Jesus was born at Bethlehem, “As you can ascertain also from the registers of the taxing made under [Quirínius] your first procurator in Judea”. (First Apology, 34)

Tertullian (160–250 AD) “His [Joseph’s] enrollment in the census of Augustus, that most faithful witness of the Lord’s nativity, kept in the archives at Rome.” (Against Marcion 4:7:7)  The census of Lk.2:1-5 was documented.

Hippólytus (165–236 AD) “The first advent of our Lord in the flesh, born in Bethlehem eight days before the kalends [1^st] of January.” (Commentary on Daniel 4:23:3)  That was inclusively Dec 25.

Cyril of Jerusalem (348–386 AD) reportedly asked Julius, bishop of Rome, to assign the true date of Jesus’ birth “from census documents brought by Titus to Rome”.  Julius assigned Dec 25.  That would place Jesus’ conception near the previous Passover (which corresponds to ‘integral age’ tradition).

Wikipedia: Christmas “A traditional Jewish belief [was] that great men were born and died on the same day. Jesus was therefore considered to have been conceived on March 25, as He died on March 25 [Tertullian].  In 221 AD, Sextus Julius Africánus gave March 25 as the day of…the conception of Jesus in his universal history.  St Ephráim [306-373 AD] taught that the date of the conception of Jesus Christ fell on 10 Nisán of the Hebrew calendar, the day in which the passover lamb was selected according to Exodus 12. Some years 10 Nisan falls on March 25 [Apr 6 old Julian calendar].”

Chrýsostom (347–407 AD) said a Dec 25 date was verified by actual census/tax records of Joseph registering in Bethlehem.  Chrysostom taught that John the Baptizer’s father Zacharias was serving on the Day of Atonement (late Sep/early Oct) when Gabriel appeared to him.  Lk.1:10 a “multitude” at the temple indicates it was a sabbath or a feast day.  That would place the birth of John the Baptizer around July 1 (and Jesus’ birth six months later, around Jan 1).

In 70 AD Sunday Aug 5 (the 9^th of Av) the temple was destroyed.  The 1^st priestly course of Jehoiarib was serving then (ref Talmud Olam Rabbah and Alfred Edersheim).  If the priestly service order had remained unbroken for decades, 70 years earlier was Zacharias’ service course of Abijah in early Oct?

The Jewish Christian historian Alfred Edersheim wrote in The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, p.131, There are temple flocks (at Bethlehem) that “remain in the open alike in the hottest days and the rainy season, i.e. all year round”.  Winter temperatures there are similar to those in Houston, TX.

Shepherds witnessed the heavenly Birth-day celebration!  Wise men gave gifts to the infant King Jesus (birthdays of kings were celebrated).  Christ’s spirit is within Christians via the Holy Spirit.  Col.1:27 “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”  Many Christians celebrate Christmas by exchanging gifts.

However, an eternal Santa Claus (with hair white like wool, like snow, cf. Re.1:14) annually bringing gifts is a lie and counterfeits the glorified Jesus Christ.  Commercialism obscures and detracts from the proclaimed ‘reason for the season’.  Purchasers suffer too much credit card debt, sometimes the result of trying to outdo others in gift-giving.  And those old census records no longer survive.  Nevertheless….

If it wasn’t for Christ’s life…there would be no Christmas bearing His title!  Mal.4:2 the Sun/Son of Righteousness so far outshines former sun-gods, those pagan gods don’t even come to the minds of Christians who annually celebrate Christmas!  The origin of a custom doesn’t always determine its present meaning.  Celebrating Jesus’ birth is not only for the Roman Catholic Christ-mass (the mass began 1000 AD).  A Chicago suburban “Calvary Church” isn’t accused of worshiping a skull and the goddess Círce!  1Co.3:5 Apollos, in spite of his heathen god name, was the Lord’s servant.

Obsolete meanings don’t apply.  Our worshiping God/Christ on Saturday or Sunday or Monday doesn’t make us Saturn or Sun or Moon worshipers!  ref Ralph Woodrow’s Christmas Reconsidered (recommended reading).  He notes that it would be futile to spend our lives trying to eradicate pagan terms which permeate all of society!  e.g. the term “janitor” is from the god Jánus.  Ezk.8:14 Támmuz was anciently a pagan god.  Yet the month of Tammuz is Jun-Jul on the present Jewish calendar.  It’s from the Babylonian exile (cf. the month Nisan occurs Mar-Apr).

The designations BC/AD and BCE/CE, relating to our calendar, pivot around Christ’s birth!  Truth be told…He was born sometime, praise God…although we don’t know exactly when!

What about the Christmas tree custom?  Je.10:3-5 “They cut down a tree. The work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool. They beautify it with silver and gold. They fasten it, it does not stumble. Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field (upright as a palm tree), they cannot speak, they cannot walk.”  This is about idol worship, not a Christmas tree!  A scarecrow is a man’s image, not a tree’s image.  A scarecrow scares away birds, whereas a tree attracts birds…the opposite!  Gill Exposition Je.10:3 “A tree cut down with an axe, planed with a plane and formed into the image of a man or some creature.”  Life Application Bible Note “Those who put their trust in a chunk of wood, even though it is carved well and clothed beautifully, are foolish.”  Scarecrows and metal-plated gods can’t talk or walk.

Compare the Epistle of Jeremiah 1:70 “Like a scarecrow in a cucumber garden, guarding nothing, so are their wooden gods, plated with silver and gold.”  v.7-10 “These gods of silver, gold and wood with clothing like humans, but they cannot preserve themselves.”  The book of Jeremiah and the epistle of Jeremiah both refer to the same idols.

Is.44:13 “Another shapes wood, works it with planes, and makes it like the form of a man.” (also Is.40:19-20)  Ps.115:4-7 “Their idols are silver and gold, the work of man’s hands. They have mouths but they cannot speak; eyes but they cannot see; ears but they cannot hear, feet but they cannot walk.” (Je.10:5 is in the center margin xref!)  cf. De.4:28.  Such graven images were figurines or teraphím household gods (Ge.31:19, 34-35; 1Sm.19:13)…idols in human shape.  They weren’t Christmas trees.

Who today really worships a Christmas tree anyway?  Some few.  Yet it has symbolic meaning.

Re.22:1-2 “The tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit.”  An ever-green Christmas tree became symbolic of the tree of life, which was traditionally decorated with fruits & nuts.  (see the topic, “Tree Symbolism in Scripture”.)  The USA began the tree custom after 1830 AD.  Churches that put up a tree, with lights and a figurative Star of Bethlehem at the top…they and other organizations may also feed or give gifts to the needy then!  The magi gave gifts; and Hanukkah too is a time of gift-giving.

Many, if not most, customs aren’t evil.  Some secular radio stations play hymns only in December at Christmas time…and the Name of Jesus spreads!  Praise the Lord!  Many Christmas carols are inspiring.  Php.1:15-18 Paul rejoiced because Christ is preached, even when their motives were questionable!  The old Jimmy Stewart Christmas movie, It’s A Wonderful Life, is a heartwarming story.

The Bible account of Christ’s birth isn’t pagan.  Matthew was Jewish, possibly Luke too.  Jesus’ birth-date observance isn’t a salvation issue.  Family relatives may keep it in faith.  Romans 14 indicates we shouldn’t judge other Christians in regards to non-essentials (e.g. the market where meat came from), thereby avoiding needless strife & division.  By honoring Christmas, Christian sabbathkeepers too can distinguish themselves from disbelieving Jews who also may keep a weekly sabbath.

It seems there wasn’t much question about the general season of Jesus’ birth in the early Eastern church (though its calendar differed a little).  The date/season is being challenged in recent years.  And since the early Christians didn’t customarily celebrate birthdays, early documentation is rather scant.

Christian families can annually honor their Savior’s birth, praising the Lord with uplifting Christmas carols & hymns…without doing the heathen customs of Santa Claus, holly & mistletoe, wassailing, party spirit, xmas ham, or engaging in excessive materialism.  Just throw out the bath water, not the Baby!  Omit wrongs stemming from carnality & paganism which can be divisive.

This concludes my apology (and ‘semi-polemic’) for celebrating Jesus’ birth, Christmas.

We don’t know for sure the date of Jesus’ human birth.  Yet from scriptural accounts and early writings, the weight of evidence seems to indicate December or early January.  Perhaps Jesus, the “Light of the World” (Jn.8:12), did come into this world during the traditional ‘Festival of Lights’…Hanukkah, Kislev 25!  And in 2016, Hanukkah (Kislev 25) again begins on December 25 of our calendar.