Aramaic in the Bible (2) – New Testament

This Part 2 is the continuation and conclusion to “Aramaic in the Bible (1) – Old Testament”.  Material covered in (1) won’t be repeated here in (2); I suggest you read Part 1 first.

Prior to being taken captive by Assyria (721 BC) and Babylon (586 BC), Israelites & Jews had spoken Old Hebrew or Judahite (Jehudíth Strongs h3066) in the Land of Canáan.  But when Jews returned to the Land from captivity in the days of Zerubabbél (530s BC), and with Ezra & Nehemiah (c 450 BC), they spoke the Aramáic language.  They’d learned it in the East, during the time of the Neo-Assyrian, Neo-Babylonian (Chaldéan), and Persian empires.  Aramaic was the língua fránca of those empires.

Most Israelites & Jews no longer spoke Judahite ‘Hebrew’, the old “lip of Canaan”.  Ne.13:24 “As for their children…none of them was able to speak in the language of Judah [Jehudith h3066].”  Benson Commentary Ne.13:24 “The language which the [common] Jews then spoke was Cháldee; this language they learned in their captivity, and after their return never assumed their ancient Hebrew tongue.” 

The returnees and their descendants spoke Aramaic.  Some of the later chapters in the Old Testament (OT) timeline were written in Aramaic: Da.2:4b–7:28, Ezr.4:8–6:18, 7:12-26.  see Part 1.

Then Greek became the language of commerce for the Grecian and Roman empires.  Most historians say that at the New Testament (NT) time of Jesus/Yeshúa, Aramaic (also called Chaldee and Sýriac) was still the language spoken by the majority of common Jews in Judea.  In most Judean synagogues, the OT scriptures were read from Hebrew scrolls, and interpreters (meturganim) translated them into Aramaic for the hearers.  cf. Ne.8:8.  But there was no Aramaic text of the entire OT (there was an old Greek text).  So the Aramaic Tárgums were written. 

The Targums are OT paraphrases.  They were written in Aramaic, beginning in the 1^st century AD.  With them, Aramaic-speaking people could understand the OT text.  The Targum of Ónkelos (the Law) and the Targum of Jonathán (the Prophets) were composed prior to 200 AD.  They are official.  Another Targum of the Law/Torah/Péntateuch is the Jerusalem Targum (also known as the Targum Pseudo-Jonathan).  There’s also the Targum Neofití, for the Pentateuch.  And a few others.

Perhaps the Aramaic Targums wouldn’t have been necessary if most Jews still knew Hebrew.  But most no longer knew Hebrew.  They spoke Aramaic or Greek.  Bruce Metzger The Jewish Targums “Such versions were needed when Hebrew ceased to be the normal medium of communication among Jews.”

Whenever the Targums came to passages where YHVH was anthropomorphized or seen (appearing human), or where plural YHVHs are indicated…Targums substituted the “Word of YHVH” for “YHVH”!  The Aramaic term for “Word” is Mémra.  In Greek, “Word” is Lógos g3056, e.g. Jn.1:1.  The Targum Neofiti was written in Palestine before 200 AD.  Targ Neofiti Ge.1:1 “From the beginning with Wisdom the Memra [Word] of the Lord created and perfected the heavens and the earth.”  (Of note also is Targ Jonathan Is.52:13, “Behold My Servant the Messiah…!”  Disbelieving medieval rabbis claim “My Servant” here was the nation of Israel…but this earlier Targum indicated Is.52–53 refers to the Messiah an individual.) 

Again, a few chapters of the OT were written in Aramaic.  Ezr.5 is in Aramaic.  Ezr.5:2 “Yeshúa the son of Jozadák.”  Yeshua (a common male name) is also Messiah Jesus’ name in Aramaic.

The gospel writers record Jesus speaking Aramaic in red-letter text of our Bible, and they record places in Judea with Aramaic names.  Following are some of the Aramaic words in the NT:

Jesus called the brothers in Mk.3:17, “Boanergés, that is, ‘Sons of Thunder”.  Expositor’s Greek Testament “As pronounced by Galileans, in Syrian.”  Jesus said to the dead girl in Mk.5:41, “Taleetháh koómee (which translated means ‘Little girl, arise!’)”.  JFB Commentary “The words are Aramaic, or Syro-Chaldáic, the then language of Palestine.”  Jesus said to the deaf man in Mk.7:34, “Éffathah!’, that is, ‘Be opened!”  Cambridge Bible “The actual Aramaic word used by our Lord.”  Jesus prayed in Mk.14:36, “Abbáh! Father!”  Geneva Study Bible “The word Abba is a Syrian word.”  (The Hebrew word for Father is Awb h1, the Aramaic is Ab h2, also Abbah g5.)  Abbah is also seen in Ro.8:15 and Ga.4:6 of Paul’s epistles.  The above verses reflect (Western) Aramaic words.

Luke wrote, Ac.1:19 “In their own language that field was called Hakeldamáh, the Field of Blood.”  Luke recorded the Aramaic name of the field at Jerusalem purchased by Judas…“in their language”!  Poole Commentary Ac.1:19 “The Syriac language then in use after the Babylonish captivity.”

The Jewish historian Josephus (37-100 AD) was a priest born in Jerusalem.  His language was Aramaic.  Wikipedia: Language of Jesus “Josephus differentiated Hebrew from his language and that of 1^st century Israel. Josephus refers to Hebrew words as belonging to ‘the Hebrew tongue’ but refers to Aramaic words as belonging to ‘our tongue’ or ‘our language’ or ‘the language of our country.”

John recorded places at Jerusalem with Aramaic/Syriac names.  Jn.5:2 Bethesdáh.  Ellicott Commentary “Bethesda means ‘house of mercy’. The ‘Hebrew tongue’ is…what we ordinarily call Aramaic, or Syro-Chaldaic.”  Jn.19:13 ESV “A place called the Stone Pavement, which in Aramaic [Hebraistí g1447 adverb] is Gabbatháh.”  Gill Exposition “The Jews, who at this time spoke Syriac.”  Jn.19:17 CSB “The Place of the Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotháh.”  The NASB center margin notes the (bold) above terms as “Jewish Aramaic”…not Hebrew.  Strong’s Dictionary of terms, and the commentaries quoted above, say these NT words are Aramaic/Syriac/Chaldaic…not Hebrew.

Wikipedia: Aramaic “The Christian New Testament uses the Koine Greek phrase Ἑβραϊστί Hebraïstí to denote ‘Aramaic’, as Aramaic was at that time the language commonly spoken by the Jews.”

Jesus said to Peter, “Blessed are you Simon BarJonáh” (Mt.16:17).  Bar-Jonah means ‘son of Jonah’.  Cambridge Bible “Bar is Aramaic for ‘son.”  bar h1247.  But the Hebrew term for “son” is ben h1121.  So here Matthew records Jesus speaking Aramaic, not Hebrew.  The Aramaic BarAbbás = son of Abbáh (Mt.27:16).  Wikipedia op. cit. “Barabbas is a Hellenization of the Aramaic Bar Abba, literally ‘son of the father.”  Also: BarTholomew = son of Tolmai/Ptolemy (Lk.6:14); BarTimaeus = son of Timaeus (Mk.10:46); BarSabas = son of Sabas (Ac.1:23 & 15:22 – two men); Barnabas = son of encouragement (Ac.4:36); Barjesus = son of Yeshua (Ac.13:6).  Wikipedia ibid “The most prominent feature in Aramaic names is bar, meaning ‘son of’. Its Hebrew equivalent, ben, is conspicuous by its absence.”  Those NT personal names are strong internal evidence that Aramaic language use was predominant!

Aramaic too is a language used by God!  Stephen Missick The Language of Jesus, p.60 “Jesus is God incarnate and He spoke Aramaic.”  The hand from God wrote in Aramaic the “handwriting on the wall” in 539 BC…‘MÉNE, MÉNE, TÉKEL, UPHÁRSIN’ (Da.5:24-28)!

{Sidelight: We don’t know what language Jesus wrote at the scene of the woman taken in adultery, writing on the ground with His finger (Jn.8:6).  Jesus could’ve written in the common Aramaic, or perhaps He quoted the OT Hebrew or old Greek version.  Jn.8:6 “Jesus with His finger wrote on the ground.”  Maybe Jesus quoted or referred to Je.17:13 as He wrote the names of her accusers?  Je.17:13 “Those who depart from Me shall be written in the dirt.”}

Jesus and 11 of His 12 disciples were from Galilee (Judas Iscariót likely was from Keriot in Judea).  Galileans had a noticeable accent in their Aramaic dialect.  ccaugusta.org “Jesus principally spoke a Galilean dialect of Aramaic.”  A dialect of regional Western Aramaic.  aramaicnt.com “Early Galilean Aramaic, the mother tongue of Jesus.”  Ac.2:7 “Are not all these which speak Galileans?”  Pulpit Commentary Ac.2:7 “The Galilean accent was peculiar and well known.”  It is thought that their accent was more guttural or the gutterals (throat articulations) were blurred.  One of the bystanders said to Peter in Mt.26:73 NET, “You really are one of them; even your accent gives you away”.  Meyer NT Commentary Mt.26:73 “The natives were unable to distinguish especially the gutterals properly.”

Jn.11:1 the NT name Lázarus was Eleázar in Hebrew and Alázar in Aramaic.  The ‘A’ was dropped and the Latin declension ‘us’ was added, resulting in Lazarus in our NT.  Comparably, Englishmen today pronounce ‘Henry’ as ‘Enry’ (dropping the ‘H’).  An older occasion of pronunciation difference in Israel is in Jg.12:6, where the Ephraimites said sibbóleth, but couldn’t say shibbóleth (with the ‘h’).

Aramaic is called a metallic-sounding language.  The Lord’s Prayer in Aramaic (Mt.6:9-13):

“Abwoon d’Bwashmaya, Neet Kah Schmaakh

Teh Teh Malkutah, Neyweh Tzevyanah Aikhanah,

d’Bwashmayah Aph Buh Arh Ah Howlahn Lakhmah d’Soonkhanan Yaow Manah,

Wash Boh Klahn Kaow Behn, Wahktahehn,

Aikhanah Daph Knanahn Soobwoh-Khan Lahkhai Ah-Ben                                   

Welah Tahlah Le Nesyunah, Elah Patzan Min Bishah                                                 

Metohl Delakhih Malkutah, Whyallah Wateshbuktah, Lah-Allam, Allmin.”

It is said that Jesus’ red-letter words in the gospel accounts are powerful when they’re retroverted from Greek manuscripts into Aramaic!  But that they don’t back-translate as well into Hebrew.  John’s gospel is thought to have the strongest Aramaic flavor or substratum (underlying layer) of any gospel account, especially Jesus’ sayings.

In the gospel quotes above, Jesus spoke Aramaic words.  Also He likely spoke Greek in “Galilee of the gentiles” (Mt.4:15), and with Greek-speaking business clients there.  In the Nazareth synagogue (Lk.4:16-21), Jesus read from the scroll of Isaiah, either from the Hebrew OT or the old Greek version.  

Ac.21:40-ff Paul, in making his own defense, chose to address the crowd of Jews in Jerusalem in Aramaic (not Greek).  The NASB center margin notes the language Paul spoke here as “Jewish Aramaic” (Hebraís g1446 noun).  Robertson’s NT Word Pictures Ac.21:40 “The Araméan which the people in Jerusalem knew better than the Greek.”  

Interestingly, the OT never refers to the ancient language of the Israelites or Jews as the ‘Hebrew language’!  Rather, in the OT their tongue was called the “language of Canaan” (Is.19:18) or Judahite (Jehudíth: 2Ki.18:26-28, Is.36:11-13, 2Ch.32:18, Ne.13:24).  see Part 1.

Wikipedia op. cit. “A small minority believes that most of the New Testament was originally written in Aramaic.”  The Aramaic Primacy view.  At this point, that is speculation.

The Tálmud of rabbinic Judaism was written in Aramaic (200–500 AD).  Yehuda Shurpin Why is the Talmud in Aramaic? “The Western Aramaic languages were used largely in the area that was under Roman (and later Byzantine) rule. The Jerusalem Talmud, composed in Israel, is written in a Western Aramaic dialect. The Eastern Aramaic languages flourished in the Persian Empire, and as a result the Babylonian Talmud, written in Persian-dominated Babylon, is in Eastern Aramaic. The Talmud was written in Aramaic, the language of the masses, so that it would be accessible to all. ”

Aside from the sectarian Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) religious community, to date most surviving inscriptions of Jesus’ period on artifacts, tombs (Caiáphas’ tomb too), ossuáries/bone boxes, etc. in the Holy Land…are in Aramaic or Greek.  Some are in Hebrew.  Pieter van der Horst Jewish Funerary Inscriptions “In Jerusalem itself about 40 percent of the Jewish inscriptions from the first-century period (before 70 CE) are in Greek.”  (cf. Ac.6:1-5 Stephen was a Greek-speaking Jew in Jerusalem.)

Breakdown of DSS text scripts: Old/Paleo Hebrew 1%, Hebrew/Áshuri square 78%, Aramaic square 17%, Greek 3%, other 1%.  Historians say that some Hebrew language usage was redeveloping in Christ’s day in pocket areas (e.g. the DSS at Qumrán).  Some was known by the educated and priests.  Shurpin op. cit. “Hebrew was used for ‘holy’ matters, such as prayer, and not for ordinary activities.”      

Wikipedia: Language of Jesus “According to DSS archaeologist Yigael Yadin, Aramaic was the language of Hebrews until Simon Bar-Kókhba’s revolt [132-135 AD in Judea]. Yadin noticed the shift from Aramaic to Hebrew in the documents which had been written during the time of the revolt. Yadin said, ‘It seems that this change came as a result of the order that was given by Bar Kokhba, who wanted to revive the Hebrew language and make it the official language of the state’. Yadin points out that Aramaic was the lingua franca [common language] at the time.” 

Both Aramaic and Hebrew are classed as NW Semític Áfro-Asiátic languages; Hebrew is sub-classed a Canaanite language.  Much later, c 800 AD, vowel points were added to the Hebrew language.

Prior to 1948, (Ashkenázi) Yíddish was the language of most Jews.  The national language in modern Israel today is called ‘Hebrew’.  It’d been near 2,500 years since Judahite/Hebrew was the language of common people (am-harétz) in the Land!  But Modern Hebrew (Ivrít) has been influenced by Yiddish.  Yiddish is classed a Germanic Indo-European language, not a Semitic.  The tongue spoken today in Israel isn’t the ancient Canaanite/Hebrew “language of Canaan” (Is.19:18).  Amir Zeldes wrote, “Modern Hebrew is a hybrid language. Modern Hebrew never was exactly Biblical Hebrew, and in many ways it has been a very different language for as long as it has existed.”  Jewish Agency Jewish Languages “Only a minority of the Jewish people today can speak Hebrew…It is more common to use English.”

Aramaic was gradually superceded by the Semitic sister language Arabic during the Moslem conquest (c 700–1300 AD).  Arabic is the liturgical language of Íslam. 

Very few Aramaic dialects are spoken today.  It is an endangered language.  Some Christian groups in areas of Iraq, Syria, Iran, SE Turkey, speak an Aramaic dialect called Syriac.  Churches in the East still use Aramaic as their liturgical language.  Some refer to themselves as Assyrians or Chaldeans.

The prophecy of Zep.3:9 NASB, “I will give to the peoples purified lips [h8193], that all of them may call on the name of the Lord. From beyond the rivers.”  Including heathens too, outside the Holy Land.  Ge.11:9 the penalty for the sin at Babel was the confusion of the language/lip/shore (h8193).  But eventually there’ll be no more ‘idol’ tongues speaking idolatry.  Zec.14:9 “The Lord will be King over all the earth in that day.”  

In the tongues miracle of Ac.2:1-11, pilgrim visitors at Jerusalem heard them speaking in their own languages.  In many dialects.  v.11 “We hear them speaking the mighty deeds of God.”  In a sense, this heals the breach which occurred back in Ge.11!  The penalty is removed.  Words may be spoken from a pure heart/lips in any language.  Ps.22:27 “All the ends of the earth will turn to the Lord. All the kindreds of the nations will worship before Thee.”  Praise the Lord!  

 

Temple of Zerubbabel (1) – the Building

From the history of ancient Israel…the Tabernacle of Moses, Temple of Solomon, and Herod’s Temple are familiar topics to many Bible students.  But it seems the Temple of Zerubbabel, also called the 2^nd Temple or Ezra’s Temple, is comparatively less lauded.  This is about the building of the 2^nd temple.

The Temple of Solomon (Israel’s 1^st temple) stood on Mt. Moriáh (2Ch.3:1) in Jerusalem for 400 years; from circa (c) 990 BC until it was destroyed by King Nebuchadnézzar of Babylon in 586 BC (2Ki.25:8-15).  He had taken Judah captive in 597 BC, exiling Jews to Babylon (2Ki.24:10-18).

Then c 572 BC, the exiled prophet Ezekiel envisioned a new temple in Jerusalem rebuilt (Ezk.40–48).  The dream of a future temple house for the Lord remained in the hearts of the Jewish people.  (This isn’t to say the Temple of Zerubbabél is the ‘fulfillment’ of that vision.)

In 539 BC Babylon fell to Cyrus II, the Great, of Persia.  Isaiah had prophesied about Cyrus (Is.44:28-45:1) some 150 years earlier.  Ezr.1:1-7 the Lord inspired King Cyrus to decree that exiled Jews could return to the Holy Land; c 538 BC (cf. Je.29:10).  Ezr.1:3 they were to build a 2^nd temple in Jerusalem.

Ezr.2:1-2-ff the first wave of Jewish returnees were led by Zerubbabel, who became governor of Judah (Hag.1:1-2).  He was the grandson of Judah’s penultimate King Jehoiachín/Jeconiáh (1Ch.3:17-19).

Hag.2:23 “Declares the Lord, ‘I will take you Zerubabbel, son of Shealtiél, and make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you.”  A signet ring or seal was held by the sovereign or the legal authority.  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.”  Though Zerubabbel wasn’t made king, he was as a signet ring, as Jeconiah had been (Je.22:24).  Joseph, Mary, and Jesus would descend from Zerubbabel (Mt.1:12, 16; Lk.3:23, 27)!

The first returnees numbered nearly 50,000 (Ezr.2:64-65), coming back in 538 BC or soon afterwards.

I’ll trace the history from the book of Ezra.  Zerubbabel and Yeshúa the high priest initially erected an altar in Jerusalem for regular burnt offerings; they then kept the Feast of Booths there (Ezr.3:1-6).

Ezr.3:7-13 it took two years to lay the foundation for the temple.  v.10-11 “The priests stood to praise the Lord…because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.”

Who was prince Sheshbazzár (Ezr.1:8-11, 5:14-16)?  Most commentators think he was Zerubbabel (‘sown in Babel’).  JFB Commentary Ezr.1:8 “Zerubbabel, that is, stranger or exile in Babylon. Shesh-bazzar, signifying ‘fire-worshipper’, was the name given him at court, as other names were given to Daniel and his friends [Da.1:6-7].”  cf. Ezr.3:8-10, 5:16.  Or, Sheshbazzar was Zerubbabel’s uncle Shenazzár (1Ch.3:17-19); possibly he began the work on the temple and Zerubbabel finished it.

Samaritans living in the Holy Land were descendants of peoples brought in when Israel’s northern kingdom of Samaria was deported by Assyria, many in 721 BC (2Ki.17:24).  Those peoples brought in gradually assimilated with remaining Israelites, and became known as Samaritans.  The Samaritan mixed peoples now wanted to join in building the temple.

Ezr.4:1-3 however, the Jews viewed them as adversaries and rejected them, c 535 BC.  v.4-5 as a result, the Samaritans instead opposed the build.  The Jews feared to continue.  Temple construction was frustrated and halted.  It wouldn’t resume (v.5) “until the reign of Darius king of Persia [522–486 BC]”.

The timing of Ezr.4:6-23 in history is debated by Bible commentators.  I’ll postpone discussion of that passage for now…until Part 2 of this topic, “Temple of Zerubbabel (2) – the Period”.

We pick up the account again with Ezr.4:24. “Work on the house of God in Jerusalem ceased, and it was stopped until the 2^nd year [520 BC] of the reign of Darius king of Persia.”  Darius I the Great.

Ezr.5:1-2 the prophets Haggai and Zechariah encouraged Zerubbabel & Yeshua to resume construction.

Ezr.5:3-17 Persian officials came to the Judah province to view the building project, and inquired of King Darius about its legitimacy.

Ezr.6:1-5 King Darius found in the archives Cyrus’ prior decree authorizing the Jews to rebuild the temple.  v.6-13 Darius then issued his own decree for temple construction to be resumed/carried out.

In those days, Haggai and Zechariah prophesied the temple would be finished.  Hag.2:4 “Take courage, Zerubbabel’, declares the Lord; ‘Take courage, Yehoshúa, the high priest, and all you people of the Land take courage, and work; for I Am with you’, says the Lord of hosts.”  Zechariah wrote in Zec.4:8-9. “The word of the Lord came to me saying, ‘The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house [temple], and his hands will finish it.”

The Lord’s Spirit would see to it.  Zec.4:6 “The word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit.”  And Hag.2:5 “My Spirit is abiding in your midst; fear not.”  Again, the Lord had declared this temple was His will, way back in the days of Isaiah.  Is.44:28 “It is I who says of Cyrus, he is My shepherd, he will perform all My desire; who says of Jerusalem, ‘She will be built’, and of the temple, ‘Your foundation will be laid.”  The foundation was laid before Cyrus died in 530 BC.

Ezr.6:14-18 the prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah came to pass.  After 20 years, the temple was completed.  v.15 “In the 6^th year of King Darius [516 BC].”  The Jews celebrated the event with much joy and offerings.  v.19-22 they ate the Passover.  (There’s no record of the Passover lawfully being eaten in exile, with no temple or central sanctuary existing outside the Holy Land.)

The temple was built on Mt Moriah.  (Not on Mt Zion; also see the topic “Zion in the Bible”.)  Wikipedia: Zion “Mount Moriah, better known as the Temple Mount, upon which the Temple of Solomon [2Ch.3:1] and the Second Temple were built.”

The restored Temple of Zerubbabel (the 2^nd) would stand for 500 years (until 20 BC)!  What is known about the appearance of and articles in this Second Temple?

My Jewish Learning: Building the Second Temple “While there is no complete description of the Temple built by Zerubbabel, considerable detail can be gleaned from various sources. Vessels from the First Temple [of Solomon], recovered by the Persians from the Babylonians whom they had conquered, were returned to the Jews.”  The returnees brought those vessels back to the Holy Land in c 538 BC.  A list of those temple articles is in Ezr.1:7-11, 5:14.  They were used in sacrificing.

Kevin J. Conner The Temple of Solomon, p. 210 “Very few details are provided concerning the restored Temple. Zerubbabel’s Temple was 60 cubits high and 60 cubits broad and 100 cubits long (Ezr.6:3). It stood on its original site [Mt.Moriah] and seemed to follow much of Solomon’s Temple and some of Ezekiel’s visionary Temple in parts.”  A few newer translations render “60 cubits” as “90 feet”.

My Jewish Learning op. cit. “It [2^nd Temple] had two courtyards [1Mac.4:48]. Various chambers surrounded the Temple in both courtyards…and were used for the storage of tithes, equipment, and vessels [and priestly garments]. Certain high officials apparently merited private chambers within the Temple precincts. The Temple building was of hewn stone, with wooden beams reinforcing the walls from within.”

Zerubbabel’s Temple had both a Holy Place and a Holy of Holies innermost room, separated by a veil (1Mac.1:22), as Solomon’s Temple had.  Plural veils (probably two) are indicated in 1Mac.4:51.

Sacred divine fire originally sent from heaven to burn continually on God’s altar was also eventually present in Zerubbabel’s Temple (ref Le.9:24 & 6:12-13, 2Ch.7:1).  After Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem from Persia ca 444 BC, miracle fire (from naphtha) once again burned sacrifices on the altar.  ref 2Mac.1:18-35.  A wood offering was mandated for Jewish returnees, to keep that altar fire burning, Ne.10:34.  (see the topic “Fire From Heaven!”.)

Costly materials weren’t available for this 2^nd temple; it wasn’t as ornate as Solomon’s Temple.  Hag.2:3 “Who is left among you who saw this house [Solomon’s Temple] in her former glory? And how do you see it now? It seems like nothing in comparison.”  The 1^st Temple was beautiful!

Got Questions: What Was Zerubbabel’s Temple? “Zerubbabel’s temple was built on a smaller scale and with much fewer resources.”  Wikipedia: Second Temple “The Second Temple was originally a rather modest structure.”

1Mac.4:44-51 Zerubbabel’s Temple had an altar of stone (not bronze, cf. 2Ch.4:1) in the outer court for sacrifices.  It had only one candlestick, one table for showbread, and one incense altar.  Whereas the Temple of Solomon had: 10 candlesticks of gold (lampstands burning oil, 2Ch.4:7, 20), 10 tables (2Ch.4:8, 19), one golden incense altar (1Ki.7:48).

Yet Zerubbabel’s (lesser) Temple was still the Lord’s doing.  Zec.4:10 “Who has despised the day of small things? These seven eyes of the Lord (cf. Re.1:4, 5:6), which scan the whole earth, will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.”

{Sidelight: God’s church today will succeed not by human might nor power nor solely by our own resources…but by the empowerment of His Spirit (Zec.4:6).  God does great things, and He does small things, according to His will.  The Lord spoke in a still, small voice in instructing Elijah regarding His will, 1Ki.19:12-ff.  God’s growing Kingdom is like a mustard seed, smaller than other seeds, Mt.13:31-32.  Jesus affirms in Mt.19:26, “With God, all things are possible”.}

Significantly, there were 4 components missing from Zerubbabel’s Temple (according to various sources, including the Babylonian Talmud Yoma 22b), which Solomon’s 1^st Temple had:

#1) Ark of the Testimony/Covenant.  Conner op. cit. “No Temple since Solomon’s has had the Ark of God in it.”  cf. 2Ch.5:7.  (see the topic “Ark of the Testimony – Journeys”.)  With no Ark or mercy seat upon which to sprinkle blood on the annual Day of Atonement, they placed a ‘stone of foundation’ upon which the high priest put his censer on that day.

#2) Shekínah glory Presence of the Lord was missing.  There was no Ark for the Presence to rest upon.

#3) Urím & Thummím stones of judgment, which had been on the breastplate of high priests (cf. Ex.28:29-30), weren’t among the 2^nd temple articles.

#4) Holy Spirit didn’t inspire prophets then.  After Malachi (c 425 BC), the traditional ‘400 Silent Years’ ensued when there was no prophetic revelatory voice.  Only the Apocryphal books were written.

Nonetheless, the Temple of Zerubbabel became the main place of religious gathering and perpetuation of Israelite culture.  Conner op. cit., p.211 “The Divine purpose in allowing the Temple to be restored was to hold the nation in the Land until the coming of John [the Baptizer] and the Messiah [Jesus], even though these 4 things were missing from the nation’s central religious point.”

This topic is continued and concluded in “Temple of Zerubbabel (2) – the Period”.

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)!

Living Water Produces Spiritual Fruit

In the Bible there are several natural symbols for the Holy Spirit (HS).  e.g. dove, oil, fire, wind, cloud, (“living”) water.  Here we’ll focus on the water of the Spirit.  (Symbolism will build as we proceed.)

God wants to fellowship with humanity and His saints through the HS.  And God wants us to deeply desire or “thirst” for His ways and for fellowship in/with His Presence.  Jesus said in Mt.5:6, “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied”.

Ge.2:15 at the beginning, God placed the first human Adám in the garden of Eden to cultivate it.  Ge.2:9-10 “A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden.”  This river watered the trees of Eden.  Ge.3:8 the Presence of the Lord God was there in the garden with Adam & Eve.

Ge.2:16-17, 3:6 but they sinned, and hid from God!  (see “Tree Symbolism in Scripture”.)  The Lord is holy and wouldn’t fellowship with sin.  Ge.3:24 so God cast mankind out of the garden, away from His Presence.  But He had a plan…humanity wouldn’t forever be separated from God!  Skipping ahead….

800s BC Joel prophesied that God’s Spirit would be poured out, eventually becoming available to all.  Jl.2:28-29 “I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind.”  Again, water is symbolic of the HS.  Also Is.44:2-5 “I will pour out water on him who is thirsty; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring.”

Fulfillment began around 30 AD.  In Jn.16:7, Jesus said it was necessary for Him to depart, so the Helper, the HS, could be sent to His disciples.  Jn.19:34 “One of the soldiers pierced His [Jesus’] side and out came blood and water.”  Symbolic availability of the water of the Spirit.  Reappearing after His crucifixion death, Jesus is with His disciples in Jn.20:22. “He breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.”  The disciples inhaled Jesus’ breath into their lungs.  Jesus gave them a pledge or foretaste of the HS, soon to be sent. (cf. Ge.2:7, Job 32:8 the breath of life and human spirit were given.)

We read of the miracle sending approximately 50 days later in Ac.2:4. “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other tongues.”  v.13-18 “But others mocked saying, ‘They’re full of new wine’. Peter declared, ‘These men aren’t drunk; this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel.”  Those newly full of the HS weren’t drunk with wine. (see the topic “Spiritual Gifts and ‘Tongues”.)

Prior to Ac.2, other of Jesus’ encounters prefigured this outpouring of the HS.  In Jn.7, Jesus was at the Jews’ annual Feast of Booths in Jerusalem.  A traditional water-pouring libation ceremony was part of this October festival.  Priests would draw a pitcher of water at the pool of Siloám, then in procession enter the Temple’s south Watergate, and pour the water at the base of the altar.  It reminded them of God’s promise in Jl.2:23. “Rejoice, sons of Zión, He has poured down for you the early [Nov-Dec] and the latter [Apr] rain. The threshing floors will be full of new grain and the vats of new wine.”

Jesus’ Hebrew name is Yeshúa (Strongs h3442 masc), shortened from Yehoshúa (h3091), meaning ‘YHVH saves/is salvation’.  (see “Savior’s Name in Bible Languages”.)  He figuratively linked their water libation to the soon-coming HS.  Jesus said there in Jn.7:37-39, “If any man thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water. This spoke He of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him would receive.”

The scripture to which Jesus/Yeshua referred is Is.55:1. “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters.”  Also Is.12:2-3 “Behold, God is my salvation [yeshúah h3444 fem]. Therefore you will joyously draw water from the springs of salvation [yeshuah h3444].”  Is.12:3 was sung annually at the Feast water-pouring ceremony!  Is.25:9 regarding Yeshua/Jesus, “Behold this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us. Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation [yeshuah h3444].”  Amen…Jesus/Yeshua is God and Savior!  Believers receive the living water of the HS.

An earlier encounter was Jn.4:5-7. “He came to a city of Samaria called Sychár. Jesus sat by Jacob’s Well.”  A woman of Samaria came to draw water from it.  v.10-15 “Jesus said to her, ‘You would have asked [Me/Jesus], and He would have given you living water. The water that I shall give will become a well of water springing up to eternal life.”  Jesus is the giver of living water, the HS.  The name of that town, Sychar, meant ‘intoxicating drink’!  And when the HS was sent, in Ac.2:13 some wrongly said Jesus’ disciples were full of new wine!  (But the HS is the Spirit of a sound mind, 2Ti.1:7.)

1Co.12:13 the apostle Paul wrote, “We were all made to drink of one Spirit”.  And Ep.5:18 “Don’t get drunk wi th wine, which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit.”  The apóthegm ‘Holy Ghost wine’ (Ac.2:4, 13 KJV) is intoxicating drink, but in a spiritual sense only!  Ac.2:15 they weren’t inebriated!  Although Paul advised a little wine therapy for Timothy (1Ti.5:23), drunkenness is sin (Ro.13:13).

Jacob’s Well is thought to be at the site of ancient Shechém, where Jacob lived upon his return from N. Mesopotamia.  ref Ge.33:18-20.  To water their herds, Bible patriarchs’ servants laboriously dug wells, sometimes through limestone.  Ge.26:15-19 Isaac re-dug the wells of his father Abraham.  From this, there’s a lesson in perseverance.  If the flow of the HS has been hindered, we can ‘re-dig the ancient wells’ by worship and prayerfully pressing-in.  I’ve heard the admonition preached, “When you appear before God without worship, you’re like a well without water; you dry up”.

Jesus said living water would flow from believers (Jn.7:38).  Paul calls believers the temple of the HS.  1Co.3:16 “You are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you.”  Christians are the temple!

Ezk.47:1-7 was an inspiring allegory of the future ‘temple’ with water increasingly flowing from it.  v.12 “By the river on both sides will grow all kinds of trees. Their leaves won’t wither and their fruit won’t fail. They will bear every month because the water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing.”  Trees with fruit and healing leaves on the banks of the “river”.

Je.17:7-8 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord. He will be like a tree planted by the water. Its leaves will be green, and it won’t cease to yield fruit.”  Also Ps.1:1-3 “Blessed is the man who delights in the law of the Lord. He will be like a tree planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in its season.”  Men symbolically as a tree which bears fruit from the living water of the HS; it won’t wither.  (Interestingly, Mk.8:24 the blind man Jesus healed initially saw men who looked like trees walking.)

Jn.15:16 Jesus said, “You should bear fruit and your fruit should remain”.  Pr.8:19 the HS Wisdom said in 1^st Person, “My fruit is better than gold”.  Wisdom of Sirach 1:14-18 Orthodox Bible (ref KJV 1611 Edition) “The gratification of Wisdom is the fear of the Lord, and she intoxicates them with her fruits; sprouting peace and well-being for healing.”  (It’s not drunkenness.)  And in Ga.5:22 Paul writes of “the fruit of the Spirit”.  The fruit & attributes of the HS (within the saints) are better than gold!

Ezekiel’s river reappears in the final book of the Bible.  Re.22:1-2 “He showed me a river of the water of Life, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb. On either side of the river was the Tree of Life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the Tree were for the healing of the nations.”  From the beginning in Genesis, there was also a river and the Tree of Life (Ge.2:9-10).  In Revelation, twelve kinds of fruit are produced from the living water of the Spirit.  (And there’s twelve months in a year.)  Let’s look at the twelve kinds of fruit which heal the nations:

Ga.5:22-23 “The fruit [g2590, Greek] of the Spirit [g4151] is love [g26], joy [g5479], peace [g1515], patience [g3115], kindness [g5544], goodness [g19], faith [g4102], meekness [g4236], self-control [g1466]; against such there is no law.”  This one passage reflects nine kinds of fruit.  There’s more….

Ep.5:9 KJV “The fruit [g2590] of the Spirit [g4151 pneúma] is in all goodness [g19], righteousness [g1343] and truth [g225].”  Barnes Notes “The fruit of the Spirit; that is, since the Holy Spirit through the gospel produces goodness, righteousness, and truth, see that you exhibit these in your lives.”  Gill Exposition Ep.5:9 “Where the Spirit of God, and the work of grace are, there will be more or less an appearance of these fruits.”  Meyer NT Commentary “The fruit of the Spirit is also the fruit of the light.”  So two more here, righteousness and truth, bring to eleven the subtotal of healing kinds of fruit/co-product of the HS.  (Goodness [g19] was counted among the nine in Ga.5:22 previously.)

Ro.6:22 “Having been freed from sin…you have your fruit [g2590 karpós] unto holiness [g38 hagiasmós, sanctification], and the end everlasting life.”  Gill Exposition Ro.6:22 “Holiness is a fruit of freedom from the bondage of sin, begun in regeneration. It is a fruit of the Spirit.”  Holiness has been called the ‘ultimate fruit of the Spirit’.  (Others might say that “love” is.)  This brings the total seen in Paul’s epistles to twelve kinds of fruit, as Re.22:2 also indicates!  Praise the Lord!

For emphasis, here’s two more verses which associate some of the twelve fruit with the HS.  2Th.2:13 “God has from the beginning chosen you for salvation, through sanctification [g38] in the Spirit and faith [g4102] in the truth [g225].”  Ro.14:17 “The Kingdom of God is righteousness [g1343] and peace [g1515] and joy [g5479] in the Holy Spirit.”  Both of those verses reflect three (different) fruit.

Recounting…the twelve fruit/co-product that heal the nations are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control, righteousness, truth, holiness (sanctification).  As we bear these positive attitudes/traits which the HS produces in our lives, we and others experience spiritual healing.  And the mustard seed grows (Mt.13:31-32)…and Ezekiel’s symbolic river becomes deeper, and deeper!

The Odes of Solomon, the earliest Christian hymnbook, was probably written in Aramaic Sýriac pre-125 AD.  The following is from Ode 6:7-13 (translated by James H. Charlesworth): “Our spirits praise His Holy Spirit. For there went forth a stream and it became a river great and broad; indeed it carried away everything, and it shattered, and brought it to the temple. And the restraints of men were not able to restrain it. For it spread over the face of all the earth, and filled everything. Then all the thirsty upon the earth drank, and thirst was relieved and quenched; for from the Most High the drink was given. Blessed therefore, are the ministers of that drink, who have been entrusted with His water. Because everyone recognized them as the Lord’s, and lived by the living water of eternity. Hallelujah.”  In this inspiring Ode, we see glimpses of Ezk.47, Jn.4:10-15 and Jn.7:37-38.

Also Re.7:17 “The Lamb in the center of the throne shall be their Shepherd and guide them to springs of the water of life; and God shall wipe every tear from their eyes.”  Re.21:6 “And He said to me, ‘It is done. I Am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.”  This Giver is Jesus (Re.22:13, 16).

Conclusion: In Genesis, mankind began in the garden of Eden with a cosmic river and the Tree of Life.  They sinned, and humanity wasn’t allowed access to the Tree of Life.  Millennia later, after Jesus died and rose again, the symbolic Spirit of the water of Life was given in Acts 2.  Our Bible canon ends in the paradise of Re.22 with the river of the HS issuing from the throne (cf. Ezk.47), nourishing trees of life which bear twelve fruit of the Spirit month after month.

Re.22:17 “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come’. And let the one who hears say, ‘Come’. And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of Life without cost.”  Come to salvation’s living waters!  It’s a wonderful spiritual future, available for us…in eternal Life!  To God be 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!

Savior’s Name in Bible Languages

God’s Divine Name is spelled YHVH or YHWH (Strongs h3068, Hebrew).  This four-letter théonym is known as the Tetragrámmaton.  In Wars of the Jews 5:5:7, the 1^st century Jewish historian Josephus said of the Divine Name, “it consists of four vowels”.  The letters are yod–hey–vav–hey (read from right to left).  These ancient Hebrew letters have also been called semi-vowels.

Today the exact pronunciation of God’s Divine Name is uncertain.  The most common transliteration is Yáhweh, also Yáhuah and Yehuah.  Phonetically, perhaps the Name sounded something like…ee-áh-oo-aye (pronounced rapidly).  also see the topic, “God’s Name & Titles in Scripture”.

My topic here is specifically the Name of the Savior.  What’s in a name?  The meaning of the Savior’s Name in Hebrew also provides etymológical evidence that Jesus of Nazaréth is the Savior.

Mt.1:20-21 in our English Bibles, an angel of the Lord told Joseph in a dream that he & Mary/Miriám were to call the name of the Child she was carrying…Jesus.  And in v.25, “He called His name Jesus”.

Throughout the New Testament (NT), the spelling J-e-s-u-s is used in modern English for the koine Greek name Iesóus (g2424 masc noun), pronounced Yay-sóos.

Why didn’t Father God want His Son to be named Aaron or Abe or Sam or…?  After all, Abraham and Samuel were good Hebrews!  Why call the Son Jesus?  This study of names should provide the answer.

According to the Greek Dictionary of the New Testament, the Greek Iesous g2424 represents the Old Testament (OT) Hebrew name Yehoshúa (h3091 masc noun).  The name Yehoshua is rendered Joshua in most English Bibles.  For example Ex.17:9, “Moses said to Joshua [Yehoshua h3091]”.

This Joshua/Yehoshua was the son of Nun.  But we read in Nu.13:8, “From the tribe of Ephráim, Hoshéa [h1954 masc ‘salvation’] the son of Nῡn”.  (A later Hosea h1954 wrote the first of the 12 so-called ‘minor’ prophet books.)  Yet in Nu.13:16, “Moses called Hoshea [h1954] the son of Nun, Joshua [Yehoshua h3091]”.  Hebrew names in the Bible have meaning.  Moses altered the son of Nun’s name from Hoshea or ‘he saves’ to Joshua/Yehoshua or ‘YHVH saves’ (or ‘YHVH is salvation’).

And later in the Greek Septúagint/LXX: Ex.17:9, Nu.13:16, throughout the Pentateuch, in the books of Joshua & Judges, Haggai & Zechariah, etc…the Greek name for Joshua/Yehoshua is Iesous (g2424)!  In ancient Bible language, Joshua the son of Nun was given the same name as Jesus of Nazareth!

Moses prophesied to Israel in De.18:15. “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you.”  Moses’ successor was Joshua (Iesous in Greek) the son of Nun.  But the ultimate fulfillment of Moses’ prophecy is Jesus of Nazareth.  Jews were saying in the 1^st century AD, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee” (Mt.21:11).  In Ac.3:20-23, Peter identified this Jesus as that prophet Moses had said would be like Moses himself.  One similarity…while Moses and Jesus were infants, their respective rulers (Pharaoh and Herod) wanted them put to death (Ex.1:22 and Mt.2:16).  Another similarity, Moses and Jesus both fasted for 40 days (Ex.34:28 and Mt.4:2).

Again, the transliterated Greek name of Moses’ OT successor Joshua and the Savior Jesus of Nazareth is…Iesous (g2424).

In Ac.7:44-45 of the NT, Stephen the Greek-speaking Jew recounted that God had directed Moses to make the ancient tabernacle, and then “our fathers brought it in with Iesous” (in NT Greek).  In v.45, many English Bibles rightly identify this Iesous as “Joshua” who followed Moses.  But a few Bibles (including the KJV) have translated the NT Greek Iesous as “Jesus” in this verse.  Although they both had the same name in Greek, the Bibles which read “Jesus” here give the wrong impression of who Stephen had in mind.  Stephen was referring to the OT Joshua.

A similar situation occurs in He.4:8, where the Greek name again is Iesous and Moses’ immediate successor Joshua is meant.  Although many English Bibles here render the Greek Iesous as “Joshua”, a few Bibles (e.g. KJV) render Iesous as “Jesus” (giving the wrong impression of who the writer of Hebrews had in mind).  Since they both had the same name, the context reveals which one is meant.

The Jewish translators of the Old Greek version (which became the LXX) used this same name Iesous for the title of the book of Joshua!  And interestingly, Moses’ successor Joshua and our Savior Jesus of Nazareth were the son of Nun or none (when we pronounce ‘Nun’ and ‘none’ similarly in modern English)!  Mary’s husband Joseph was Jesus’ legal father, but not His biological father.  The Savior Jesus of Nazareth had no human father in a biological sense.  (see the topic, “Jesus’ Virgin Birth”.)

Again, the counterpart of the Greek Iesous in ancient Paleo-Hebrew was Yehoshua, ‘YHVH saves’.  Mary’s husband Joseph was commanded to name the baby “Iesous”/Jesus because…her baby Jesus was the Word of God who is also very God/YHVH (Jn.1:1, 14).  And prior to Jesus’ human birth, Joseph was told in Mt.1:21, “It is He who will save His people from their sins”.  So we see that Jesus’ given Name even meant ‘Savior’!  God delivered ancient Israel from their enemies through Joshua the son of Nun, and God delivers us from the ultimate consequences of sin through Jesus of Nazareth’s sacrifice.

In the 1^st century AD, by what name did Jesus’ disciples and others call this Son of Joseph and Mary?  According to most Bible historians, (Western) Aramaic had become the common tongue in the Holy Land.  But many people would have spoken Greek in “Galilee of the Gentiles” (Mt.4:15), where the family and His disciples lived.  In that area, Joseph and Jesus perhaps had business clients who were Greek-speakers.  Stephen was a Hellenist Jew even living in Jerusalem (Ac.6:1-8).  Of note, when the NT writers quoted the OT, their quotes most often were from the Old Greek version which became the LXX (not from the more recent Hebrew Masorétic text)!

But prior to Aramaic becoming the language of the common people, the ancient Paleo-Hebrew of the Toráh had undergone changes.  Languages and dialects change over the centuries.  The Hebrew name Yehoshua h3091 had become obsolete as such.  The Divine Name was embedded in the name Yehoshua.  (A theophóric embeds or contains the name of God.)  The Jews had begun to consider it blasphemy to pronounce the name of God, even within a personal name!

By the time the books of Ezra and Nehemiah were written, the Hebrew name Yehoshua had been shortened to Yeshúa (h3442 masc noun).  The theophoric was removed.  The Divine Name isn’t embedded in the form “Yeshua”, although the names Yehoshua and Yeshua both mean to save/deliver.  Ne.8:17 “From the days of Joshua [Yeshua h3442] the son of Nun.”  In Nehemiah, the name of Moses’ successor is Yeshua, shortened from Yehoshua h3091 (cf. Ex.17:9).  Ne.12:26 and Ezr.3:2 are two other examples where the abbreviated Hebrew form Yeshua was used, instead of Yehoshua.  In the OT, this name Yeshua h3442 occurs 29 times; only in Ezra, Nehemiah and Chronicles!  Conversely, the name Yehoshua h3091 never appears in the books of Ezra or Nehemiah (it does appear in 1Ch.7:27).

After the Babylonian captivity, Aramaic (not Hebrew) became spoken by the Jewish common people.  This occurred prior to the emergence of the Grecian Empire.  Correspondingly, there are a few chapters of the OT which were originally written in Aramaic, not Hebrew.  (see “Aramaic in the Bible”.)

Ezra 4:8–6:18 was written in Aramaic.  Ezr.5:2 “Then Zerubbabél the son of Shealtiél and Yeshúa [h3443 masc noun] the son of Jozadák arose and began to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem.”  In this verse, the name Yeshua is in Aramaic (its only OT occurrence in Aramaic).  The Aramaic equivalent Yeshua h3443 was pronounced almost identical to the Hebrew Yeshua h3442.

Again, when Jesus of Nazareth walked the earth, a dialect of Aramaic remained the language most often spoken in the Holy Land.  Yeshua was a popular Aramaic name for babies.  It’s been quipped…‘the Aramaic name on Jesus’ drivers license would have been Yeshua bar Yosef’ (Yeshua the son of Joseph)!  The Savior’s spoken name was Yeshua or Iesous (Greek), in the languages of His day.

In the OT there are 245 total occurrences of the: Hebrew names Yehoshua h3091 & Yeshua h3442, Aramaic Yeshua h3443.  In the Greek LXX, all these 245 occurrences are rendered Iesous g2424!

Approximately 200 years before Messiah Jesus’ human birth, how did the translators of the Jewish Old Greek version get from Ye–sh–u–a in the Hebrew/Aramaic scriptures to Ie–s–ou–s in the Greek scriptures?  Greek was the commercial language of the empire at the time.  (Again, in the LXX this same Greek name Iesous was used by the Jewish translators for the title of the book of Joshua.)

Translating the OT Hebrew into Greek enabled the Greek-speaking Jews in the diáspora (dispersion) who no longer knew Hebrew to understand the scriptures.  But the koine Greek language didn’t contain the same sounds as the ancient Hebrew language, so the transliteration of names wasn’t easy.  Following is the step-by-step transliteration of the name Yeshua into Greek:

The yod or ‘Ye’ of Ye-sh-u-a was transliterated iota-eta or ‘Ie’ in the koine Greek dialect.  The shin or ‘sh’ in Ye-sh-u-a couldn’t be sounded in Greek, because there was no ‘sh’ sound in the middle of Greek words.  So the Jewish translators just used a sigma ‘s’ to represent the Hebrew ‘sh’.  For the vav or ‘u’ in Ye-sh-u-a, they used omicron-upsilon or ‘ou’ in Greek.  Concerning the áyin or ‘a’ in Ye-sh-u-a, Greek grammar rules required this sound be dropped.  Then to distinguish a name in Greek as masculine, it was necessary to place a final sigma ‘s’ at the end of the name.  (For example Mt.27:21, Barabbá(s) was an Aramaic name transliterated into Greek with an ‘s’ added at the end to indicate masculine.)  Thus Ye-sh-u-a in Hebrew/Aramaic became Ie-s-ou-s in koine Greek.

Then how did the Greek “Iesous” become “Jesus” in modern English?  (It’s also “Jesus” in today’s Spanish, pronounced Hay–sóus.)

The Greek Iesous was rendered “Iesus” in Latin, yet still retaining the Yay-sóos pronunciation as the Greek.  The Old English then used the Latin form Iesus, pronouncing it Ye-sus.  Later the English form came to be spelled with a beginning ‘J’, but that ‘J’ was still sounded like a ‘Y’.  After that, the ‘J’ began to take on a harder sound…and His Name became pronounced “Jesus” (Jée-zus), as today.

So we see that the ancient Hebrew name has gone through a reasonable and common-sense transliteration process over the centuries, as languages developed and changed.

There are a relatively few who erroneously think the name “Jesus” derives from heathendom.  Although names and syllables may have phonetic similarities across dialects, the modern form “Jesus” wasn’t derived from the name of a pagan god such as Zeus!

Regardless of the exact spelling or pronunciation of Savior Jesus’ name throughout the languages and cultures of the world, His is the only Name by which we’re saved!  As Peter said in Ac.4:10-12, “Jesus Christ [Iesous Christós] the Nazarene….there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name by which we must be saved.”  Praise the God who saves!

Furthermore, the name of King Messiah (in the order of Melchisedek) was prophesied in the book of Zechariah to be…Iesous/Yeshua (the shortened form of Yehoshua).

Returning once more to Mt.1:20-ff (Matthew quoted much from the Old Greek), Mary’s husband Joseph was told the given name of Isaiah’s prophesied Emmanuél was to be Iesous (Jesus)/Yeshua.  In Zec.3:8, circa 500 BC a Jewish high priest named Iesous (LXX)/Yehoshua h3091 is identified as a symbol for the Messiah or “Branch” (ref Je.23:5-6).  Zec.6:11-13 that high priest’s name Iesous (or Jesus)/Yehoshua will also be the name of the Branch/Messiah!  v.12 “Behold, a man whose name is the Branch.”  And He will occupy the two offices of priest and king in the order of Melchisedek (cf. Ge.14:18).  This is amazing…500 years before Iesous (NT Greek)/Jesus/Yeshua was born in Bethlehem, Zechariah prophesied the given name of the Branch/Messiah would specifically be Iesous (Jesus)/Yehoshua (Yeshua)!  His name wouldn’t be Aaron, Abe or Sam!  Zechariah’s prophecy came to pass…God knew the end from the beginning!  (also see “Jesus Is the Messiah”.)

Lastly, God/YHVH identified Himself to Moses as the eternal I Am/He Is.  The Lord said in Ex.3:14-15, “I AM who I AM”…or “I will become what I will become.”  The Septuagint/LXX reads, “I AM The Being”.  God/YHVH the Self-Existent, Ever-Living Being!  He Is the Name above all names!  Jesus said in Jn.8:56-59, “Before Abraham was, I AM”.  And in Jn.18:4-8, even Jesus’ antagonists understood His divine I AM implication, and they fell to the ground (v.6)!

Our Savior’s name Yeshua/Iesous/Jesus, given by God, links back to the Divine Name theonym of Father God.  (Again, cf. Ex.17:9, Ne.8:17, Ezr.5:2 Aramaic, LXX & NT Iesous.)  Jesus said in Jn.5:43, “I have come in My Father’s name”.  A Son bears His Father’s family Name.

 

Synagogue Influence on the Church

Many concepts and functions extant in Christian churches today are adapted from 1^st century Jewish sýnagogues.  Early Christianity was viewed as part of Jewish sectarianism.  The beginnings of conversion to Christianity outside the synagogue aren’t clearly visible from scripture.  No New Testament writer describes any mass conversion of gentiles (or God-fearers) outside the synagogue!

The word synagogue (Strongs g4864) is actually a Greek term, not a Hebrew term.  It occurs 57 times in the New Testament (NT).  Eight synagogues are named in the NT where Paul is at synagogue.  Initially a synagogue was an assembly or congregation of people.

Later it came to mean a building or meeting place, as did the word church.  The Greek term which is rendered church in English is ekklésia (g1577), occurring 118 times in the NT.  Initially an ekklesia was a gathering of citizens (not a church building).

In the Old Testament (OT), the general Hebrew term for an assembly, company, or organized body of people is qahál (h6951).  It occurs 123 times.  The BC Jewish translators of the old Greek version that became the Septúagint/LXX rendered qahal as ekklesia 87 times, and as synagogue 36 times.  For example, De.5:22 LXX “These words the Lord spoke to all the assembly [synagogue] of you in the mountain.”  The Greek terms synagogue and ekklesia were somewhat synonymous.

In modern parlance, a synagogue has come to mean a place of worship and study for Jews, whereas a church usually means a place of worship for Christians.

The synagogue system began sometime after the period of Babylonian captivity, but is unmentioned as such in the KJV OT.  Anciently the city gates were public meeting places and the site of judicial courts (ref Ru.4:1-2).  City gates and prayer houses were perhaps the forerunners of synagogues.  (Also later there were judicial courts within synagogues.)

Two main reasons why synagogues were set up: 1) To teach the people the Lord’s Toráh/Law, in hopes they wouldn’t ignorantly disobey Him and again be sent into captivity.  2) The Greek king Antíochus Epíphanes in 175 BC replaced the priest of Zadók with his own high priest (Jason), breaking the commanded family line of Aaronic succession.  High priests then would no longer serve for life, but were appointed and dismissed at the whims of the ruling power.  These priests usually supported the ruling power, instead of having allegiance to God and the Jewish people.  Priests controlled the temple.  With the temple priesthood viewed as corrupt by many, synagogues started cropping up.

Unlike the priesthood, the synagogue was mostly an unpaid lay institution, in the hands of elders (zakén h2205, Hebrew).  It required 10 men (a minyán) to form a synagogue (cf. Ru.4:2).

It is estimated that 20% of 1^st century Jews regularly attended synagogue.  According to the Talmud, there were around 400 synagogues in Jerusalem in the 1^st century.  Mt.23:1, 6 Jesus said the scribes & Pharisees loved the chief seats in the synagogues.  (Also see the topic “Jewish Sects of the 1^st Century”.)

Many synagogues were rectangular buildings with a women’s gallery at the north end of the structure.  The Court of the Women in the temple precinct was the prototype for this gallery.  Also some synagogues were in houses.

The synagogue pattern of service resembled the temple service, but there were no sacrifices.  Prayer, blessings, reading from the Torah & Prophets (rarely the Writings), homily teaching (sermon deráhsha) were components of the service.  The favorite teaching mode was a charúz (h2737, SSol.1:10), described as the stringing together of scriptures or passages as ‘pearls’ in a form of chain reference.

We also see these components of services present in Christian churches.  (It is said the temple itself even had a pneumatic organ, and Jewish priests wearing robes would chant.)

Jesus taught in synagogues (and at the temple precinct), e.g. Jn.18:20.  ref Lk.4:15-16, 20-21 Jesus was teaching in the synagogues.  Scripture readers in synagogues would customarily stand up to read.

In Ac.13:14-16, 27 the Law and the Prophets of the OT were read in the synagogue at Pisidían Antioch on the sabbath (the reading preceded Paul’s discourse).  Ac.15:21 the Law portion which Christ had given to Moses (the Péntateuch in the old Greek and LXX) was read in synagogues of cities outside the Holy Land too.  Paul admonished Timothy in Ephesus in 1Ti.4:13-16. “Give attention to the [public] reading of scripture and to your teaching.”

At that time, the ‘scriptures’ known by the early church were primarily the OT.  This practice of reading scripture and teaching was carried over into the NT church.  Charles Bell writes, “Christians maintained with little change this same liturgy; the places were almost indistinguishable”.  (also see the topics “Church Meetings of the Apostolic Age” and “Church Structure and Member Functions”.)

Each synagogue elected (for life sometimes) its chief administrator or ordained nási/ruler (ar-kee-syn-ág-o-gos, g752).  Jesus’ relative James/Jacob is said to have been an esteemed ruler in Jerusalem.  Sometimes a nasi was a regular teacher.  Lk.8:41 Jáirus was an archisynagogos/ruler.  (Jesus raised-up his daughter, who had just died.)

Other synagogue functions/positions were (there may be some overlap): A shaliách was an emissary sent forth (cf. h7971), like an apostle or migratory evangelist.  A maggíd was a preacher or teacher.  These maggid attracted a following of disciples/pupils/devoted learners/talmidim (h8527, 1Ch.25:8) who desired to become completely like their rábbi or prophetic teacher in understanding and ethical conduct.  Jesus’ disciples called Him “Rabbi”/Master (Jn.1:38).  Jesus was a maggid too.  A man said to Jesus in Mt.8:19, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go”.  Usually students chose a maggid, but Jesus did the choosing of His 12 disciples, e.g. Mk.2:14.  A meturgan or language interpreter stood near the readers & teachers; these spoke the scriptures or message ‘in his ear’. (cf. Mt.10:27, Ne.8:8.)

At least three synagogue párnasin or álmoners, knowledgeable in scripture, cared for the poor and distributed alms.  Collections for the poor were put in the poor box or taken up.  ref 1Co.16:1-2 where collections were made on Sunday (not on the 7^th day sabbath).  In addition to meeting on the sabbath, some synagogues had more than one weekly service.

The first seven were called the ‘seven good men of the city’ (from the Talmud).  Ac.6:1-6 “Select seven men of good reputation.”  JFB Commentary “The parnasin of the synagogue, like the ancient ‘deacon’ of the church, took care of the poor.”  This was a common Jewish appointment, and a prototype for deacons.  Later, Paul gave instructions about deacons serving in the Christian church, 1Ti.3:8-10.

So much of what is commonly thought of as new for the church in the NT…wasn’t new!  Excavations indicate some synagogues had banquet or eating areas.  For Jewish Christians and the church, the synagogue custom of communal meals on a weekly or monthly basis (with the Lord’s Supper added) became the NT love feasts.  ref Jude 12 “love feasts”, and 1Co.11:26, 33 bread & wine with eating.  (see the topics “Bread and Wine in the Church” and “Wine or Grape Juice in Jesus’ Cup?”.)

Synagogue judicial courts exercised authority in some matters, limited by the Roman ruling power.  But only Roman authority could condemn Jesus.  (Since Jesus was a Galilean, the Jerusalem synagogue court authority in Judea couldn’t condemn Him to death.)

According to Dr. Ron Moseley, “In the synagogue structure three leaders would join together to form a tribunal for judging cases concerning money, theft, immorality, admission of proselytes, laying on of hands (etc.)”.  This judicial practice is seen in Mt.18:15-20, and in 1Co.6:1-5 for the church.

Ac.18:1, 4, 8, 17 Críspus and Sosthénes had been synagogue rulers/nasi in Corinth.  1Co.1:1, 14 they both became Jewish Christians (Messianic Jews).  They’d known the synagogue tribunal process (e.g. 1Co.5:12-13).  Timothy, a church planter, also was involved in church judicial decisions (1Ti.5:19-20).

Only zaken/elders voted in the synagogue.  Each local elder had one vote (two brothers who were both elders shared one vote).

In Lk.21:12 & Jn.9:22, Jesus said Jewish Christians would eventually be brought before synagogue courts, and put out of synagogues.  Ac.26:11 Paul (when he was Saul) had been a persecutor of Jews who believed Yeshúa/Jesus is the Messiah.  Paul later became a leader of the believing “sect of the Nazarénes” (Ac.24:5).  Again, early Christianity was considered a Jewish sect.

Jewish Christians and some God-fearers were able to continue attending synagogue for a while, as well as meeting among themselves.  As persecution in synagogues increased, they left.  Believers kept meeting together (He.10:25), often in houses.  (also see “Sabbath Day Became Sunday in Rome”.)

Some Jewish Christians called their own assemblies “synagogues”.  In Ja.2:2, James used the Greek term synagogue for the meeting of believers. “If a man comes into your assembly [synagogue g4864]….”  (Originally a “synagogue” was an assembly, not a building.)

It’s important to understand that the New Covenant is made “with the house of Israel and the house of Judah” (Je.31:31, He.8:8).  We gentiles are “grafted-in”, according to Paul in Ro.11:17.

Other synagogue-type traditions were given by the Holy Spirit to saints in cities of the gentiles.  Zaken were unpaid elders/overseers/shepherds, usually age 40 and over.  Ti.1:5-9 Paul instructed Titus to appoint elders in all cities.  (See 1Ti.3:1-7 for qualifications of overseers.)  It is said these zaken/elders could be paid to teach (e.g. synagogue schools), but not to shepherd.  Perhaps 1Ti.5:17-18 indicates there were some exceptions, or functions were not clearly defined throughout all churches in the Roman Empire.  Generally, elders and pastors in the early church were not a paid professional clergy!

The chazán (presbyter & public minister) prayed and spoke behind a wooden pulpit.  In Ne.8:1-5, we read of a lengthy service in the days of Ezra.  (This has served as a prototype for some churches.)  The chazan customarily assigned Torah readings, etc.  Traditionally he selected seven readers each sabbath – one priest, one Levite, five common Israelites (a literate competent woman also may be allowed to read).  In the 1^st century, usually the chazan wasn’t a paid clergyman, whereas the cántor today is paid.

The chazan stood by to oversee the scripture reading (cf. Lk.4:17, 20).  Some historians think the common usage of the terms for overseer, minister, messenger/angel (malák) may tie back to the chazan.  Re.1:20, 2:1, 8, 12, 18,  3:1, 7, 14 “To the angel [messenger] of the church at….”  Benson Commentary Re.2:1 “To the pastor, presiding elder, or bishop, called an angel because he was God’s messenger to the people.”  Poole Commentary Re.1:20 “To interpret the term ‘angels’ by nature, seems not agreeable. Christ would never have ordered John to charge them [supernatural angels]…to be faithful unto death [Re.2:1, 10].  Cambridge Bible Re.2:1 “Likelier he would be one appointed by Timothy [at Ephesus 1Ti.1:3, 2Ti.4:9-13].”  Vincent Word Studies Re.1:20 “The officials known as angels or messengers of the synagogue, transferred to the Christian church.”

But perhaps the nasi/ruler is meant by “angel” (or messenger) in Re.2, not the chazan.  Again, historians see some position duties as overlapping.  Timothy was to be reading & teaching in Ephesus (1Ti.4:13-16), not long before Paul’s death.  Ac.18:19 previously Paul himself had probably seen this practice being done at an Ephesus synagogue.

Dr. Moseley notes in The Jewish Background of Christian Baptism that the church owes to its Jewish beginnings “such items as Messiah, Scripture, canon, liturgy, altar, pulpit, church offices, songs, offerings, the Lord’s Supper, as well as baptism.”

To conclude: Early synagogues were controlled by the laity.  But through the centuries, the Christian church clergy transformed these member functions of expertise & authority into large salaried hierarchies (sometimes abusive).

The early church was hierarchical only as it was familial.  1Ti.5:1-3 reflects fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters as the church family.  Respect, authority, and order are necessary for the well-being of the household of saints, just as for a family.  And a family household also is a lay institution.  Christian churches are local and are family – all are brothers & sisters in the Lord through the Holy Spirit.

The apostolic era New Testament practices and customs given to the (Jewish) saints by the Holy Spirit is our scriptural model for the church.

Jesus Is the Messiah

There have been 50 false Messiahs in Jewish history.  Jesus warned in Mt.24:5, “Many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many”.  None of them fulfilled more than a few prophecies.  Yet there are more than two dozen Old Testament (OT) prophecies about the real Messiah!

The Hebrew term Mashíach (Strongs h4899) is rendered “Messiah” in English (Messías g3323, Greek).  An ‘anointed one’, a ‘Chosen one’, ‘Savior’ or liberator.  A Greek counterpart term is Chrístos g5547, “Christ” in English.  In the OT…the offices of high priest, king, prophet were anointed positions.

Some Jews believed in two coming Messiahs.  Messiah ben/son David, the ruler; Messiah ben Joseph, the sufferer (Is.53).  Jewish anti-missionaries don’t believe Yeshúa/Jesus is the prophesied Messiah.  Ac.28:23 Paul tried to persuade those at Rome “concerning Jesus from both the Law and the Prophets”.  Here I’ll focus on just a few OT prophecies about the Messiah; they show that Jesus is the Christ.

#1) Jesus’ virgin birth.  Is.7:14 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive”!  A virgin conceiving would surely be something to behold, something so remarkable!  Whereas it is commonplace for young women to conceive naturally.  In the old Greek version (translated by Jews, now our Septúagint/LXX), the term rendered/meaning virgin was parthénos g3933.  In Nashville, TN there’s a replica of the Parthenon, so named because it represents the ancient temple shrine in Athens of the supposed virgin goddess Athena.  The Is.7:14 prophecy cannot be about King Hezekiah.  Hezekiah was at least 9 years old (cf. 2Ki.16:2, 20, 18:2) when Isaiah visited Hezekiah’s father King Aház (Is.7:3) and foretold the future (miraculous) birth of the Child!  Lk.1:31-35 Luke recorded Mary affirming to the angel Gabriel that she is a virgin (parthenos g3933).  Mary will give birth to Jesus/Yeshua.  (see the topic, “Jesus’ Virgin Birth”.)

#2) Messiah was to be both a descendant of David…and YHVH.  Je.23:5-6 “Behold”…This is another astounding thing God would do!  God will “raise up for David a righteous Branch”, the Name/shem (Hebrew) of Whom will be “Yahweh our righteousness”!  (This wonder will be accomplished via the virgin birth.)  The Targum Jonathán says this Branch is the Messiah.  Also the Talmud Lam Rab.1:51 indicates the Branch is Messiah.  Barnes Notes Je.23:6 “Messiah is here called Yahweh.”  God said in Ps.2:7, “You are my Son, I have begotten You”.  God begat the Son.  Ps.2:7 doesn’t refer to David; Jesse (not God) begat David.  Jesus is YHVH since His Father God begat Him.  God begets God, as kind begets kind (ref Ge.1).  Yet Jesus is also a fleshly descendant of David, since Mary bore Jesus.  Lk.3:23, 31-34 shows Jesus’ genealogy as a descendant of David.  (see “Jesus’ Genealogy”.)  The Messiah Jesus didn’t come through the line of Solomonic kings.  Rather, Mary & Jesus descended from the branch of Nathan, Solomon’s brother.  Zec.12:10-12 it was prophesied that wives (e.g. Mary) and family who descended from Nathan would mourn when Jesus was pierced (Jn.19:34-37)!

#3) Messiah to be born in Bethlehem.  Mic.5:2 anciently Bethlehem of Judah was called Éphrathah.  Although there was also a Bethlehem of Zebulún in Israel (Jsh.19:15-16), more anciently the Bethlehem in Judah was called Ephrathah, Ge.48:7.  (also Ru.1:2, 4:11, 1Sm.17:12.)  The prophet Micah identified the specific Bethlehem.  Rachel’s tomb is there.  Targum Jonathan says Mi.5:2 refers to the Messiah coming from Bethlehem.  Also the Jerusalem Talmud Berakoth 5a. “The King Messiah, from whence does He come forth? From the royal city of Bethlehem in Judah.”  1Sm.20:6 Bethlehem in Judah was the city of David and his family clan.  Lk.2:4-7 & Mt.2:1 Bethlehem of Judah was also the birthplace of Jesus, the son of David!

{Sidelight: A brief aside…Bethlehem today has a population of 25,000.  Most are Muslims.  But it also has one of the largest Palestinian Christian communities.  However, before Israel became a state in 1948, Bethlehem was 85% Christian!  But Arab Christians have been departing due to growing Israeli settlements and military checkpoints, terrorism, and the proliferation of Islam.  Land that has been owned by families for generations is being confiscated.  Today Bethlehem is less than 20% Christian.}

#4) Jesus is in the order of Melchisedek.  Ge.14:18-20 Melchisedek was both king and priest.  In Ps.110:1-5, David prophesied about two Lords/YHVHs and the order of Melchisedek.  Jesus is YHVH, and He is ruler/king and priest, as Melchisedek.  He.7:1-4 Melchisedek had neither beginning of days nor end of life; no genealogy.  (Noah’s son Shem had genealogy, Ge.5:32 & 10:22.)  He.7:14-17 the Lord Jesus’ office is in the order of Melchisedek.  He.4:14 Jesus is Priest (cf. 1Ti.2:5).  Jn.18:37 Jesus is King.  Is.9:6-7 Isaiah, who prophesied of the virgin birth, also wrote that the Child will be the righteous King on the throne of David in the Kingdom government.  see “Melchisedek Order Priesthood”.

#5) The name of the Melchisedekian king Messiah would be…Yeshua.  Mt.1:20-23 the given name of Isaiah’s prophesied Emmanuél (“God with us”) is Yeshua/Jesus.  Zec.3:8 before 500 BC, a Jewish high priest named Yeshua (“Jesus” as transliterated from the LXX) was as a symbol for the Messiah/Branch (ref Je.23:5).  Zec.6:11-13 “Yeshua…Behold, a man whose name is the Branch.”  That high priest’s name, Yeshua/Jesus, would also be the name of the Branch/Messiah!  And He will occupy the two offices of priest and king in the order of Melchisedek.  How amazing this is!  More than 500 years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, it was prophesied by Zechariah that the given name of the Branch/Messiah would specifically be Yeshua/Jesus!  God knows the end from the beginning.

There are many more OT Messianic prophecies which Jesus fulfilled.  He is the ‘anointed one’, the “Chosen One” (Lk.23:35, Is.42:1).  Jesus is High Priest (He.4:14), King (Jn.18:37), Prophet (De.18:18, Mt.21:11, Lk.7:16).  Simon Peter’s brother Andrew said in Jn.1:41-42, “We have found the Messiah [g3323]”.  He found Jesus the Christ.  Have you found Him, or, has He found you yet (Lk.19:10)?

1Jn.2:22 “Who is a liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ [g5547].”  The Jewish anti-missionary view is erroneous.  The above scriptures about Jesus as YHVH/God and Messiah also reveal and confirm the efficacy of our salvation.  He’s the Savior.  Jn.11:49-53 before they crucified Jesus, the Jewish high priest Caiáphas prophesied, saying one had to die for the people.  Contrary to his prophecy, Middle Ages rabbis claim (human) sacrifice isn’t needed!  2Sm.12:13-14, 18a David’s innocent infant son died, so David didn’t die in his own capital sins.  That’s a type of substitutionary human sacrifice.  Jn.8:23-24 believe Jesus is I AM/God, or else one dies in his own sins!  No longer is there a central sanctuary for sin/guilt offerings to expiate sins, as done in Le.4-6.  Besides, without the general availability of the Holy Spirit in ancient Israel, man’s proclivity to sin still remained dominant even after sacrifices for sin were offered on Yom Kíppur.  (see “Day of Atonement (1)”.)

As YHVH Lord (Je.23:6, Ac.20:28), the lifeblood Jesus shed is worth more than enough to pay the price for the sins of all mankind!  God’s justice is thus served!  Ancient Jewish thought believed the unified God included the Word/Logos/Mémra (who is Messiah, cf. Jn.1:1) in the one/echád Godhead.

1Jn.1:7-9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive our sins.”  Father God forgives our sins and views us as just/righteous in His sight.  1Co.6:9-11 such sinners were we…but now we’re justified, reconciled, and in right standing with God, due to Jesus’ sacrifice.  1Ti.2:3-6 God wants all to be saved.  High Priest Jesus, as Son of God/Son of Man, serves as mediator between the Godhead and mankind.  Our propensity to sin no longer rules us; we’re like a new person.  1Jn.5:10-13 he who believes in the Son of God and His sacrifice has eternal life.  God has done this for us through Jesus the Messiah!