NazareneSpace Blog

The Ancient Nazarene Sanhedrin and the Talmud
By
James Scott Trimm

We read in the Torah:

Judges and officers shall you make you in all your gates, which YHWH your Elohim gives you, tribe by tribe. And they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.
(Deut. 16:18 HRV)

8 If there arise a matter too hard for you in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke–even matters of controversy within your gates–then shall you arise, and get you up unto the place which YHWH your Elohim shall choose.
9 And you shall come unto the cohanim, the L’vi’im, and unto the judge that shall be in those days, and you shall inquire. And they shall declare unto you the sentence of judgment.
10 And you shall do, according to the tenor of the sentence, which they shall declare unto you from that place which YHWH shall choose, and you shall observe to do according to all that they shall teach you.
11 According to the Torah which they shall teach you, and according to the judgment which they shall tell you, you shall do. You shall not turn aside from the sentence which they shall declare unto you, to the right hand nor to the left.
12 And the man that does presumptuously, in not hearkening unto the cohen, that stands to minister there before YHWH your Elohim, or unto the judge, even that man shall die, and you shall exterminate the evil from Yisra’el.
(Deut. 17:8-12 HRV)

The phrase “According to the Torah” in the Hebrew is על פי התורה which could literally be translated “according to the Oral Torah”. The word על means “about, concerning, according to”; the word פי means “mouth” or “oral”. and the word התורה means “the Torah”. This phrase is the source of the Hebrew phrase תורה שבעל פה “Oral Law” (פי is the construct form of פה). (There are two kinds of Oral Law: Oral Law from Sinai and these Judgments of the Court.)

This sheds light on an event recorded by Matthew:

15 And Yeshua said to them: And you … who say you, that I am?
16 Then answered Shim’on Kefa, saying, You are Messiah, the Son of the Living Elohim.
17 And Yeshua said to him: Happy are you Shim’on Ben Yonah, for this was not revealed to flesh and blood
but to you, when it was revealed to you by My Father which is in heaven.
18 And I tell you, that you are Kefa, and upon this rock I will build My assembly, and the gates of takh’ti will not prevail against you.
19 And to you will I give the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you shall prohibit on earth, shall be prohibited in heaven: and whatever you will permit on earth, has been permitted in heaven.
(Matthew 16:15-19 from DuTillet Hebrew)

The “Assembly” here refers the judges of the Torah court. Kefa is said to be given the “keys” because he is being appointed to the office of Av Beit Din (The Av Beit Din controlled who could enter the court and was said to hold the “keys”) . The Torah courts were headed by two individuals, a Nasi (president) and Av Beit Din (vice-president and sergeant of arms.) The words “prohibit” (אסור) and “permit” (מותר) are literally “bind” and “loose” and are idiomatic expressions in Hebrew used to refer to the authority of the judges to prohibit and permit activities.

We can see that this is the “assembly” to which Yeshua refers, by comparing with Matthew 18:

15 And if your brother sins against you, go and reprove him between you and him alone: and if he will hear you, you have won your brother.
16 But if he will not hear you, take to yourself one witness or two: that at the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word may be established.
17 And if he will not hear them, speak to him in the assembly: but if he neglects to hear in the assembly, let him be to you as a Goy or a transgressor.
18 Truly I tell you, all that you will prohibit on earth has been prohibited in heaven also, and all that you will permit on earth has been permitted in heaven also.
19 Again I tell you: If two of you might be worthy566 on earth567 as touching a thing that they will ask, it will be for them of My Father which is in heaven.
20 For in every place where two or three will assemble in My Name, there am I in the midst of them.
(Matthew 18:15-20 from DuTillet Hebrew)

Here again we see this “assembly” which has the power to “prohibit” (bind) and “permit” (loose). This time we see it in context of an assembly which receives the testimony of which “at the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word may be established.” quoting Deut. 19:15:

15 One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sins. At the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall a matter be established.
16 If an unrighteous witness rise up against any man, to bear perverted witness against him,
17 Then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before YHWH; before the cohanim and the judges that shall be in those days.
18 And the judges shall inquire diligently: and behold, if the witness be a false witness, and has testified falsely against his brother,
(Deut. 19:15-18 HRV)

This is the same “judges that shall be in those days” (Deut. 19:17) that we read about earlier in Deut 17:9 who give rulings that are על פי התורה i.e. תורה שבעל פה “Oral Law”.

In other words, Yeshua as Messiah designated his Emissaries as the “judges that shall be in those days” i.e. a Nazarene Sanhedrin.

We see this body meet, consider and make such a ruling In Acts 15. Here the Emissaries consider a matter of halacha (must gentiles be circumcised to be saved). We see that Ya’akov HaTzadik (James the Just) is presiding as Nasi, and Kefa is acting as Av Beit Din.

Having established that Yeshua transferred the authority to “bind and loose” to the Nazarene Sanhedrin somewhere around 30 C.E. Where do we as Nazarenes draw the line between rulings that we generally accept on the authority of the court prior to that time, verses after that time? This matter is made simple by history.

I have said many times that Yeshua was a teacher of the School of Hillel, and that Yeshua agreed with the school of Hillel in most of his teachings (the matter of cause for divorce being an unusual exception.) Hillel served as Nasi until about 10 CE when his son Shimon became Nasi. Hillel’s son Shimon was almost certainly the Shimon that blessed the infant Yeshua (Luke 2:25-35) Shimon served as Nasi from around 10 CE to about 20 CE when his son Gamaliel became Nasi. (This Pharisaic Sanhedrin should not be connfused by a Political Sanhedrin by the same name, headed by the High Priest, which convicted Yeshua). Interestingly the Rabbinic literature preserves very little information about Shimon, and not one of the rulings of the Sanhedrin under his leadership. This creates a convenient buffer zone for Nazarene Judaism. Rulings of the Torah Courts up thru and including the Court of Hillel are binding (unless they come into direct conflict with a ruling by Yeshua and the Emissaries, in which case we have a case of Horayot (errant rulings) as is the case with the question of legitimate cause for divorce.

However with the Pharisaic and Rabbinic Rulings of the Pharisaic Sanhedrin and Rabbinic Sages beginning with Gamaliel, we should not reject them out of hand, but scrutinize them. Fortunately the Talmuds (which contain the rulings and deliberations of these courts and later Rabbinic sages) lay out the logic of the arguments and preserve the minority opinions, even exploring the logic and nuances of the minority views to their fullest conclusion.

We can then analyze these arguments in light of the methodology Yeshua and the Emissaries used in making halachic determinations. (I have written a detailed analysis of this methodology which you can read by clicking here.)

I am often asked if Nazarenes should “keep the Talmud”. The answer is that the Talmud is not “kept” it is studied. Here we as Nazarenes can certainly follow the admonition of the late Talmud Scholar Adin Steinsaltz:

Voicing doubts is not only legitimate in the Talmud, it is essential to study. To a certain degree, the rule is that any type of query is permissible even desirable; the more the merrier. No inquiry is regarded as unfair or incorrect as long as it pertains to the issue and can cast light on some aspect of it. This is true not only of the Talmud itself but also of the way in which it is studied and perused. After absorbing the basic material, the student is expected to pose questions to himself and to others and to voice doubts and reservations. From this point of view, the Talmud is perhaps the only sacred book in all of world culture that permits and even encourages the student to question it.
(The Essential Talmud by Adin Steinsaltz p. 8)

I need your support to continue this work! Donations are low and expenses are up. If donations don’t pick up very quickly, we are going to find ourselves homeless. I cannot make it any plainer than that. The restoration is upon us! But the Enemy will stop at nothing in his attacks! I am asking for your help, now more than ever.

We need your help to continue the ongoing work, bringing the message of Messiah to the Jewish people, and bringing the message of Torah to the world. We need your help with the ongoing work of Scripture Restoration, as restore the original Hebrew of the “New Testament” books, a project which will bless all mankind, especially the Jewish people of Israel.

In these uncertain times, we need your support more than ever. The time is short, and there is much work to be done. As you might imagine, donations are low. If you can, please donate. This is no time to pull back from the great work in front of us!

As I have said to you many times, I look on this work as a co-operative one with me, and all of you combining our resources together in order to get the job done of helping to teach this great truth to all in the world who will listen. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for your continued support, you are the ones who make it all possible by your contributions and your prayers for our work. I truly appreciate your help in every way.

If you can make a one time donation of $500 or $1,000 dollars to support this work.

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Enoch Was Not The Son of Man in 1Enoch 71:14
By
James Scott Trimm

Near the end of the Book of Parables in the Book of Enoch, a section in which Enoch ascends to heaven and sees many visions involving a figure it calls “The Son of Man” we read:

And he (i.e. the angel) came to me and greeted me with His voice, and said unto me ‘This is the Son of Man who is born unto righteousness, and righteousness abides over him, and the righteousness of the Ancient of Days forsakes him not.
(1Enoch 71:14 Book of Enoch Study Edition by James Scott Trimm)

Why have I translated this passage as I have above?

This verse of 1Enoch has survived only in the Ethiopic version. The phrase “This is the Son of Man” in the Ethiopic of this verse is walda be’si.

This passage has created a great deal of confusion. In Hebrew the phrase “son of man” is an idiomatic expression for a human being. However there is also an important figure called “The Son of Man” spoken of in Dan. 7:13 and through-out the Book of Parables. 

Confusion is created by this passage which has resulted in a variety of English translation options. R.H Charles translates “This is the Son of Man”; Laurance translates “Thou art offspring of man”. Matthew Black translates “You are the Son of Man”; Isaac translates “You, son of man”. 

Isaac has a foot-note stating that if this referred to “The Son of Man” the Ethiopic should be [walda] sab’e “son of people” or eg-wula-’emma heyyaw “son of the mother of the living” which are normally used in Enoch for “The Son of Man” and that the use of be’si in this verse for “man” indicates only the idiom for a human being.

However the same word is used in 46:3; 62:5 and 69:29 for “The Son of Man.”  Certainly Enoch is not the “Son of Man” in these passages because in these passages Enoch sees the Son of Man. 

The misunderstanding of this passage as identifying Enoch as being “The Son of Man” (as in Black’s translation) may have led to the identification of Enoch with “Metatron” who is in the Zohar identified as the “Son of Yah” and the Middle Pillar of the Godhead” and in some ancient sources called the “Lesser YHWH”.  This may also have led to the deification of Enoch in paganism as the false Egyptian god Thoth (as well as Hermes and Mercury). 

I need your support to continue this work! Donations are low and expenses are up. If donations don’t pick up very quickly, we are going to find ourselves homeless. I cannot make it any plainer than that. The restoration is upon us! But the Enemy will stop at nothing in his attacks! I am asking for your help, now more than ever.

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The Zohar Reveals the Key to Understanding:
The Concealed Word is the Son
By
James Scott Trimm

Last night, while studying the Zohar, I found something very interesting in one of it’s opening passages. The passage in question is commenting upon the opening words of the Torah בראשית ברא אלוהים “In the beginning created Elohim…” The Zohar (1:3b) reads:

בראשית (Be-reshit), In the beginning. Rabbi Yudai said, “What is בראשית (Be-reshit)? With Wisdom.

There is a very early tradition that interprets (reshit) as wisdom. Targum Yerushalmi to Gen. 1:1 reads “With wisdom God created…” The Zohar continues:

This is the Wisdom on which the world stands– through which one enters hidden, high mysteries. Here were engraved six vast, supernal dimensions, from which everything emerges, from which issued six springs and streams, flowing into the immense ocean. This is ברא שית (bara shit), created six, created from here. Who created them? The unmentioned, the hidden unknown.

Here Rabbi Yudai is giving a sod level interpretation of בראשית as ברא שית. Or “in the beginning” as “created six”, referring to the six dimensions of space (three dimensions in six opposing directions). (There is much about these three/six dimensions in the Sefer Yetzirah). The Zohar continues:

Rabbi Hiyya and Rabbi Yose were walking on the way. As they reached the site of a certain field, Rabbi Hiyya said to Rabbi Yose, “What you have said– ברא שית (bara shit)– is certainly true, for there are six supernal days in the Torah, not more; the others are concealed. But the Secrets of Creation we have discovered this:

“The holy hidden one engraved an engraving in the innards of a recess, punctuation by a thrust point. He engraved that engraving, hiding it away, like one who locks up everything under a single key, which locks everything within a single palace. Although everything is hidden away within that palace, the essence of everything lies in that key, which closes and opens. Within that palace lie hidden treasures, one greater than the other. Within that palace stand gates built cryptically, fifty of them. Carved into four sides, they were forty-nine.

These forty nine “gates” represent the relationship between each of the seven sefirot as the interact with one another (7*7 = 49). In the Sidur for the counting of the omer for the 49 days between the Firstfruits offering and Shavaot, each day is marked by noting one of these 49 combinations each day. The Zohar continues:

One gate has no side. No one knows whether it is above or below, it is shut. In those gates is one lock and one precise place for inserting the key, marked only by the impress of the key, known only to the key. Concerning this mystery it is written: בראשית ברא אלהים (Be-reshit bara Elohim), In the beginning God created. בראשית (Be-reshit) is the key enclosing all. closing and opening. Six gates are contained in the key that closes and opens.

Up to this point, I have been quoting the Zohar in English from the Pritzker Edition. But there is much to learn from studying the Zohar in the original Aramaic. So as I continue, I will now quote the Aramaic, and provide my own literal translation of the Aramaic:

ושית תרעין כלילן ביה בההוא מפתחא דסגיר ופתח כד סגיר אינון תרעין וכליל לון בגויה כדין ודאי כתיב בראשית מלה גליא בכלל מלה סתימאה ובכל אתר ברא מלא סתימאה איהו סגיר ולא פתח

And six gates are contained in that key that closes and opens. When it closes those gates, enclosing them within itself, then indeed בראשית (Be-reshit) is a revealed Word combined with a concealed Word. The Son (ברא) is always concealed, closing, not opening.

Here I have translated ברא as “The Son”. Ancient Aramaic was written without vowels. One may vocalize ברא as “Creator” or “Create” or in Aramaic as “The Son”. In his book Studies in the Zohar p. 146-152, Jewish Israeli academic Yehudah Liebes argues that the meaning here is “The Son”. The Zohar several times refers to the Son of Yah and to a Divine Son (see my previous blog The Son of Yah in the Zohar) This is the same spelling of the Aramaic word for “Son” used in the Old Syriac and Peshitta. The seventeenth century Rabbi Shlomo Meir Ben Moshe, who came to the conclusion that Yeshua was the Messiah, saw in the word בראשית the phrase בר אשית I will appoint, set up, or place the Son. The Zohar continues:

אמר רבי יוסי ודאי הכי הוא ושמענא לבוצינא קדישא דאמר הכי דמלה סתימאה איהו ברא סגיר ולא פתח ובעוד דהוה סגיר במלה דברא עלמא לא הוי ולא אתקיים והוה חפי על כלא תה”ו שלטא האי תה”ו עלמא לא הוה ולא אתקיים

Rabbi Yose said, Certainly so. I have heard the Holy Lamp [i.e. Rabbi Shimon], say that the concealed Word is the Son, closing and not opening. As long as it was shut by the Word of the Son, the world could not be and not be established. Complete chaos would have prevailed covering all that was. And when chaos prevailed, there would not have been a world, and it would not have been established.

This statement in the Zohar definitely recalls the words of Yochanan as preserved in the Aramaic Old Syriac text of Yochanan 1:1-3

ברשית איתוהי הוא מלתא והו מלתא איתוהי הוא לות אלהא ואלהא איתוהי הוא הו מלתא הנא איתוהי הוא ברשית לות אלהא כלמדם בה הוא ובלעדוהי אף לא חדא הות הו דין מדם דהוא

In the beginning was the Word; and He, the Word, was with Elohim; and He, the Word, was Elohim. This [Word] was in the beginning with Elohim. Everything came to be by him, and apart from him not even one thing came to be.

Then in verse 14

ומלתא פגרא הות ואגנת בן וחנין שובחה איך שובחא דיחידא דמן אבא כד מלא טיבותא ושררא

And the Word became a body and it dwelt among us, and we say his glory as the glory as an only one from the Father full of grace and truth..

Then in verse 18

לאלהא מן מתום אנש לא חזיהי יחידא ברא דמן עובה דאבוהי הו אשתעי לן

Elohim, never has any man seen him; an only one, a Son from the bosom of his Father, he has declared him to us.

(See also my previous blog The Only Begotten Light)

The imagery of forty nine gates and a key that opens and shuts, reminds us of Revelation 1:13 where Yochanon sees a vision in which we read that Yochanon saw the Son in the midst of seven menorahs (Rev. 1:12f). Of course a menorah has seven branches, so this is a total of forty nine lights. In this vision Yochanan is told to write “he that has the keys of David, he that opens, and no man shuts, and shuts and no man opens.” (Rev. 3:7). (Citing Isaiah 22:22).

This key also recalls the key mentioned in our Zohar passage above. The commentators on the Zohar recognize this key as Understanding, which unlocks a lock which represents Wisdom. In the Zohar passage above, this is the Concealed Word which may be identified with “The Son”. And this recalls the words of Luke as preserved in the Aramaic of the Old Syriac text, where Yeshua says:

וי לכון ספרא דטשיתון אקלידא דאידעתא אנתון לא עלתון ולאילין דעלין כליתון

Oy to you scribes, who have concealed the keys of knowledge. You yourselves have not entered and they that are entering you have hindered. (Luke 11:52)

This key is the concealed Word, the Son, who is revealed to us in the Messiah, Yeshua.

Our rent is due in three days, and we do not have it. Our situation is dire. I need your support to continue this work! Donations are low and expenses are up. If donations don’t pick up very quickly, we are going to find ourselves homeless. I cannot make it any plainer than that. The restoration is upon us! But the Enemy will stop at nothing in his attacks! I am asking for your help, now more than ever.

Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org or by Zelle or Go Fund Me.

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Understanding the New Covenant
By
James Scott Trimm

One of the most misunderstood topics in Christendom and even in Messianic Judaism, is that of the “New Covenant”. Many in Messianic Judaism refer to the books of the so-called “New Testament” as the “Brit Chadashah” (New Covenant) which plays into this fallacy. The compilation of books written by Yeshua’s Emissaries, were named the “New Testament” in Christendom, but this collection of books in no way is that which the Scriptures call the “New Covenant” (“Testament” and “Covenant” are the same word in biblical languages). Not only does this detract from a real understanding of what the “New Covenant” in the Scriptures actually is, but it plays into a theology that identifies the Tanak as the “Old Testament” or “Old Covenant”, relegating the Tanak to irrelevance. A better name for the compilation of books known as the “New Testament” is “Ketuvim Netzarim” (Writings of the Nazarenes).

So just what is the “New Covenant” and how was it understood by the original Jewish followers of Yeshua as the Jewish Messiah of Judaism? To answer this question we must look at three sources of material:

1. What is said about the “New Covenant” in the Tanak?

2. What is said about the “New Covenant” in the Ketuvim Netzarim?

3. How was the New Covenant understood by the Essenes in the Dead Sea Scrolls?

4. How is the New Covenant understood in the Rabbinic commentators?

The Tanak on the New Covenant

The “New Covenant” is mentioned by name only once in the Tanak (Jer. 31:30 in Jewish/Hebrew editions and 31:31 in other editions). Jeremiah writes:

30 (31) Behold, the days come, says YHWH, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
31 (32) Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they broke, although I was a husband unto them, says YHWH:
32 (33) But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, says YHWH, I will put my Torah in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their Elohim, and they shall be my people.
33 (34) And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know YHWH: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, says YHWH; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
(Jer. 31 30-33 (31-34)

Now the first thing we should note is that the Hebrew for “new covenant” is ברית חדשה Brit Chadashah which can mean “New Covenant” but can also mean “Renewed Covenant”, as Jewish commentators understand it here.

The phrase “Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt” has a very strong parallel to the Torah phrase “besides the covenant which he made with them in Horev.” (Deut. 28:69 (29:1)) In Deut. 28:69 (29:1) this phrase is used to contrast the Covenant at Mt. Moab, made at the end of the forty years in the wilderness, with the covenant made at Mt. Horev (also known as Mt. Sinai) at the beginning of Israel’s time in the wilderness.

There are many parallels between the covenant at Moab and the “renewed covenant” mentioned by Jeremiah, when we compare this whole section of Jeremiah with this whole section of Deuteronomy:

Jeremiah’s “New Covenant” appears to be synonymous with the Covenant at Moab, a return to Torah.

The New Covenant in the Ketuvim Netzarim

The references to the New Covenant in the Ketuvim Netzarim fall into three categories: The Last Supper (Matt. 26:28; Mk. 14:24; Luke 22:20 and 1Cor. 11:25) ; 2Cor. 3:6; and Hebrews (7:22; 8:8, 13; 9:15-20; 12:24)

In the accounts of the so-called “Last Supper” (Matt. 26:28; Mk. 14:24; Luke 22:20 and 1Cor. 11:25) Yeshua takes the cup of wine and identifies it as “my blood of the New Covenant which is shed for the remission of sins.” (Matthew 26:28).

The Last Supper was actually a Passover seder, and here Yeshua is identifying his blood with the “cup of deliverance”, the blood of the Passover Lamb and the Yayin HaMeshumar.

Of course Yeshua’s blood was the blood of the Lamb that was slain from the foundations of the earth (Rev. 13:8). As such the animal sacrifices were always merely symbolic, pointing forward to the death of Messiah. In this way. Yeshua’s blood was the true blood of the Torah covenant as well as the blood of the Renewed Covenant.

In 2Corinthians 3:4-18 Paul states that Messiah “has made us servants of the New Covenant, not of the letter, but of the spirit”. Paul emphasizes the spiritual nature of Torah renewal, probably to contrast it with the Essene “New Covenant” commitment, which included the “Works of the Law”. a group of purity regulations about which they believed the Pharisees and Sadducees were to lax, and by which they could purify their way to Salvation.

Finally the New Covenant is a primary topic of the Book of Hebrews (7:22; 8:8, 13; 9:15-20; 12:24). Hebrews deals with the inner meaning of the Yom Kippur service with Yeshua’s death being the sacrificial offering of the New Covenant as symbolized by the Yom Kippur service.

The Essenes and the New Covenant

As I have said many times before, the Nazarenes were an unlikely union of Essenes and Pharisees. The very first Nazarenes were people of an Essene background.

The New Covenant was a very important concept to the Essenes. The Damascus Document explains how the Essene Community was born when they went together to Damascus, and there they entered together into their understanding of the “New Covenant” and they considered themselves “members of the Covenant” (Damascus Document 2,2)

The Manual of Discipline, also called “The Community Rule” details the complete ritual by Which Essenes would enter the New Covenant (Manual of Discipline 1,16-2,18; 5, 7-13). The Levites would pronounce a blessing upon the initiates. Then the initiates would say:

נעוינו פשענו חטאנו הרשענו אנו ואבותינו מלפנינו בהלכתנו קרי חוקי אמת וצדק [אלהים] עשה משפטו בנו ובאבותינו ורחמי חסדו גמל עלינו מעולם ועד עולם

We have acted perversely, we have transgressed, we have sinned, we have done wickedly, ourselves and our fathers before us, in that we have gone counter to the truth. [Elohim] has been right to bring His judgment upon us and upon our fathers. Howbeit, always from ancient times He has also bestowed His mercies upon us all, and so will He do for all time to come.

After this pronouncement the Priests would invoke a blessing on all of those who “cast their lot with Elohim”, then the Levites would pronounce a curse for all of those who instead “cast their lot with Belial”.

This reference to casting of lots fits well with the book of Hebrews and it’s association of the New Covenant with the Yom Kippur ceremony, in which two goats are selected and lots are cast, one is appointed for YHWH and the other for Azazel.

Rabbinic Judaism and the New Covenant

Very little is said in the ancient Rabbinic literature about the “New Covenant”. The Targum to Jeremiah 31:30 (31:31) is just a literal Aramaic rendering of the Hebrew. There is no mention of the “New Covenant” in the Talmud, Midrash Rabbah or the Zohar. However, there are some very interesting insights from the classic Jewish commentators.

Speaking of the Covenant at Moab (Deut. 28:69 (29:1) RASHI writes of the words “besides the covenant” saying this refer to “the curses in Leviticus (26:14-39), which were proclaimed on Sinai.” Which reminds us of Paul’s contrast of the “letter of the Torah” and “spirit of the Torah” in relation to the “New Covenant” (2Cor. 3:4-18).

And a very insightful comment is made by RAMBAN (in his commentary to Deuteronomy 30:6). A comment that could almost have been written by a Nazarene:

And YHWH your Elohim will circumcise your heart (Deuteronomy 30:6) It is this which the Rabbis have said, “If someone comes to purify himself, they assist him” [from on High]. The verse assures you that you will return to Him with all your heart and He will help you.

This following subject is very apparent from Scripture: Since the time of Creation, man has had the power to do as he pleased, to be righteous or wicked. This [grant of free will] applies likewise to the entire Torah period, so that people can gain merit upon choosing the good and punishment for preferring evil. But in the days of the Messiah, the choice of their [genuine] good will be natural; the heart will not desire the improper and it will have no craving whatever for it. This is the “circumcision” mentioned here, for lust and desire are the “foreskin” of the heart, and circumcision of the heart means that it will not covet or desire evil.”

Man will return at that time to what he was before the sin of Adam, when by his nature he did what should properly be done, and there were no conflicting desires in his will, as I have explained in Seder Bereshit ( Gen. 2:9).

It is this which Scripture states in [the Book of] Jeremiah 31:30], ‘Behold, the days come,’ says YHWH, ‘that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers ..etc. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Eternal, I will put my Law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it.

This is a reference to the annulment of the evil instinct (yetzer ra) and to the natural performance by the heart of its proper function. Therefore Jeremiah said further, and I will be their Elohim, and they shall be My People; and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying: ‘Know YHWH; ‘for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.’

Now, it is known that the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth and it is necessary to instruct them, but at that time it will not be necessary to instruct them [to avoid evil] for their evil instinct (yetzer ra) will then be completely abolished. And so it is declared by Ezekiel, ‘A new heart will I also give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will cause you to walk in My statutes.’ ” (Ezekiel 36:26)

The new heart alludes to man’s nature, and the [new] spirit to the desire and will. It is this which our Rabbis have said : “And the years draw nigh, when you shall say: I have no pleasure in them; these are the days of the Messiah, as they will offer opportunity neither for merit nor for guilt,” for in the days of the Messiah there will be no [evil] desire in man but he will naturally perform the proper deeds and therefore there will be neither merit nor guilt in them, for merit and guilt are dependent upon desire.”

Here RAMBAN associates the New Covenant with the “days of the Messiah” and a process of overcoming the Yetzer Ra (evil inclination) and a man returning to “what he was before the sin of Adam“. This fits well with Yeshua’s statement concerning the wine representing the blood of the “New Covenant”:

But I say to you I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until the day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s Kingdom. (Matthew 26:29)

This process will not be complete until Messiah returns and the words of Jeremiah concerning the New Covenant will finally be fulfilled:

And they will teach no more every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, Know YHWH: for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, saith YHWH… (Jer. 31:33(34))

And as RAMBAN concludes:

there will be no [evil] desire in man but he will naturally perform the proper deeds and therefore there will be neither merit nor guilt in them, for merit and guilt are dependent upon desire.”

Conclusion

The so-called “New Covenant” is not the books known as the “New Testament” (which are better called the Ketuvim Netzarim, the Writings of the Nazarenes.) nor is it a brand new Christian Covenant. The New Covenant is actually a “Renewed Covenant” identifiable with the Covenant at Moab. In the Second Temple Era the Essenes had a ceremony recalling the Yom Kippur ceremony, whereby they would affirm their renewed commitment to YHWH’s Torah. Yeshua taught us that his blood, symbolized by the Passover wine (and the blood of the Passover Lamb) was the blood of this Renewed Covenant. We can be initiated into this Covenant in the present, however it is a process that will be completed upon the return of Messiah, when he will drink the cup with us in the Messianic Kingdom.

The restoration is upon us! But the Enemy will stop at nothing in his attacks! I am asking for your help, now more than ever. Our situation is dire. I need your support to continue this work! Donations are low and expenses are up. If donations don’t pick up very quickly, we are going to find ourselves homeless. I cannot make it any plainer than that.

Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org or by Zelle or Go Fund Me.

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(Manual of Discipline 5, 7-13)

Cochin Revelation Cannot be the Original Hebrew of Revelation
By
James Scott Trimm

I have spent close to forty years searching for manuscripts of the original Hebrew of books of the “New Testament”. Recently claims Have surfaced claiming that the Cochin Hebrew version of Revelation (Cambridge Hebrew Ms. 00.1.16 and copied in John Ryland’s Gaster Ms 1616) is the original Hebrew of the Book of Revelation.

The same group has also claimed that the Cochin Gospels are the original Hebrew of the Gospels. In my blog two years ago The “Cochin” Hebrew Gospels – Hebrew Translation of the Peshitta I demonstrated that the Cochin Hebrew Gospels are nothing more than Hebrew translations of the Syriac Aramaic Peshitta text.

The Aramaic Peshitta text of the “New Testament” is only a 22 book canon, which lacks 2Peter, 2 & 3 John, Jude and Revelation. Some Syriac manuscripts and Bibles have augmented the Peshitta text with Syriac versions of these extra-Peshitta books. In the case of Revelation this is usually the Harkleian Syriac version or the Crawford Syriac version. So the Cochin Hebrew Revelation cannot be a translation of the non-existent Peshitta version.

I have taken some time and effort to examine the Cochin version of Revelation, and have come to the conclusion that it absolutely cannot be the original Hebrew of this very important book. I have found dozens of evidences for my conclusion, but here I will share five of the most compelling examples, that could be understood even by the layman.

Just one of the many evidences that the Cochin Hebrew manuscripts version of Revelation is not the original Hebrew is the reading of Rev. 2:1. Here the Cochin Text has מהעדה של עפהיזוס “from the assembly of Ephesus” where the Greek reading has the highly unusual reading τω εν Εφεσω εκκλησιας literally “the in Ephesus assembly” which is completely unacceptable Greek, and obviously too literally translated from the same Hebrew construction we see in the Hebrew of Daniel 8:2 were we read בשושן הבירה literally “in Shushan the citadel” so that the original Hebrew clearly read באפסוס הקהל not מהעדה של עפהיזוס

In another example in Rev. 2:22. Here we have another compelling evidence for the original Hebrew of the book, which we can clearly see behind the bad Greek translation. Here the Greek reads ιδου βαλλω αυτην εις κλινην “Behold I am casting her into a bed [and the one’s committing adultery with her]” The use of κλινην “bed” here seems strange indeed until we realize that the Greek translator has mistranslated one of two possible Hebrew words here (מטה or ערש) either of which can mean either “bed” or “bier”. Of course Jezebel would like nothing better than to be thrown into κλινην “bed” with her adulterers, but the clear meaning here is that she is being thrown onto her funeral bier along with her adulterers. This is a place where we can clearly see that the Greek is a bad translation of one of two possible Hebrew words, demonstrating that the Greek was a translation. But when we look at the Cochin Hebrew Revelation, we do not see either of these two possible underlying Hebrew words used, instead the difficult passage is simply omitted. However this passage that is difficult in the Greek was not a gloss in the Greek, it was obviously the result of mistranslation from the ambiguous Hebrew original. Instead the Cochin translator omitted the passage because it did not really make sense in his Greek source.

Revelation 2:27 is quoting Psalm 2:9. However the Greek translator of Rev. 2:27 (as does the Greek Septuagint translator of Psalm 2:9 misread תְּרֹעֵם (“shall break them”) as we see in the Masoretic Text of Psalm 2:9 with the wrong vowels as תִּרְעֵם “shall shepherd them” or in Greek ποιμανει then the Cochin Hebrew translates the Greek ποιμανει into Hebrew as ינהג אותם “shall lead them” when one need only look at the Hebrew of Psalm 2:9 to see the original reading is תְּרֹעֵם “shall break them” and that the Cochin Hebrew is a Hebrew translation of the Greek misreading of the original Hebrew. Even if we accept the Septuagint/Greek Rev. 2:27/Psalm 2:9 reading of תרעם as תִּרְעֵם “shall shepherd them” the reading of the original Hebrew would still not be ינהג אותם .

Furthermore in Rev. 12:10 we find the Hebrew word “Satan” (שטן) for “accuser” However the Greek has κατηγορος in the Alexandrian and Byzantine type texts and κατηγωρ in the Western type manuscripts. It has long been pointed out that κατηγωρ is a Greek transliteration of the Rabbinical Hebrew word קטיגור which certainly is the word which appeared here in the original Hebrew, not שטן.

Another very clear evidence is in Rev. 16:16 In this text, we are told in Cochin that the place of the gathering for the end times battle הנקרא בלשון עברי הרמגדן ” is called in the Hebrew tongue ‘Harmegidon'” The original Hebrew would have no need to explain that “Har Megiddon” is “in the Hebrew tongue”.

The Cochin Hebrew version of Revelation simply cannot be the original Hebrew of Revelation. I wish it were, but it simply cannot be. The original Hebrew may yet be discovered. It may be sitting in a clay jar somewhere waiting to be discovered. However the Cochin Hebrew is not the original Hebrew, it is a Hebrew translation of some Greek, Latin of Syriac version and ultimately owes its ultimate origin to our Greek Revelation.

In the mean time perhaps the original Hebrew can be restored by using the types of criteria presented above, to pull the curtain on the Greek, to peak at the original Hebrew behind it.

We must raise at least $880 by the end of the day tomorrow, or our account will plunge into the negative and start a chain reaction of returned items and fees. Plus we still need to pick up one of my wife’s medications which is just over $400 plus she has a procedure Tuesday and we don’t yet know what our copay is for that. We need your help now more than ever.

As I have said to you many times, I look on this work as a co-operative one with me, and all of you combining our resources together in order to get the job done of helping to teach this great truth to all in the world who will listen. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for your continued support, you are the ones who make it all possible by your contributions and your prayers for our work. I truly appreciate your help in every way.

If you can make a one time donation of $500 or $1,000 dollars to support this work.

Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org or by Zelle or Go Fund Me!

Click HERE to donate

Were the Dead Sea Scrolls Written by Zadokites?
By
James Scott Trimm

In a previous blog I made the case very clearly that the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls were Essenes. In this blog, I want to address a theory circulating in some sectors of the Hebrew Roots Movement that the Dead Sea Scrolls were not written by Essenes at all, but by “The True Zadokite Priests” having been exiled from the Temple.

Zadok was the High Priest at the time of King David. By this time the decedents of Aaron had become so numerous, that the High Priesthood was limited to the descendants of Zadok.

In identifying the Qumran Community as the true Temple priesthood and “Zadokites” in exile from the Temple, these theorists exalt the Qumran Community from being merely a representation of one of three sects of Judaism in the First Century, to being the true faith in exile. This exalted status is then used to exalt the so-called Qumran Solar Calendar as YHWH’s true calendar being kept in exile by the true priesthood in exile.

It is interesting that that these Zadokite theorists cherry pick which Dead Sea Scroll practices to exalt as “YHWH’s truth in exile, preserved by the true Zadokite Priests” while glossing over many others. For example, these theorists don’t propose restoring the Dead Sea Scroll practice of allowing a man to die rather than using a tool to save him on the Sabbath (Damascus Document Col. 11, line 16) because this does not fit with their predetermined narrative the Qumran community were the true Zadokite Temple Priesthood in exile, preserving YHWH’s truth in exile.

But was the Qumran Community the literal descendants of Zadok, David’s High Priest, living in exile? One of the key documents found among the Dead Sea Scrolls is the Damascus Document. A copy of this document had been found in the 19th Century among the documents discovered in the Cairo Geniza . At that time the document had no context, but seemed to refer to the community it described as “Sons of Zadok” and was thus assigned names like “The Zadokite Document”.

But what does this document actually mean when it refer to its community as “son’s of Zadok”? The relevant passage is as follows:

God promised them by Ezekiel them by Ezekiel the prophet, saying “The priests and the Levites and the sons of Zadok who have kept the courses of My sanctuary when the children of Israel strayed from Me, they shall bring Me fat and blood” (Ezekiel 44:15). “The priests”: they are the captives of Israel, who go out of the land of Judah and the Levites are those accompanying them; “and the sons of Zadok:: these are the chosen of “Israel, the ones called by name, who are to appear in the Last Days.”
(Damascus Document Column 3 line 21 thru Column 4 line 2)

Ezekiel 44 is part of a portion of Ezekiel that describes the Millennial Temple and its functioning. This portion of the Damascus Document gives highly allegorical interpretations of various passages of the Tanak, applying them to their community. The Dead Sea Scrolls famously engage in a form of highly metaphorical interpretation known as “Pesher” In this case the author of the Damascus Document is not claiming that the Qumran Community are literal sons of Zadok, but allegorical sons of Zadok, just as his highly allegorical interpretation of “Priests” in the same passage, refers not to literal priests but to “the captives of Israel, who go out of the land of Judah“.

In fact, if one examines this section of the Damascus Document in overall context, one sees the document go on to interpret these “the captives of Israel, who go out of the land of Judah” from this same verse, as the “diggers” that “dug” “the well” “with as rod” in Numbers 21:18 (Col. 6 Lines 1 thru 11) and interprets the “rod” as their Teacher of Righteousness and the “well” as “knowledge”.

Anyone that seriously examines this text can see that the text is no more identifying the Qumran Community as the literal sons of Zadok, than it is identifying the “the captives of Israel, who go out of the land of Judah” as literal priests and the literal “diggers” of the well of Numbers 21:18, or identifying that well as literal knowledge or the rod with which it is dug as a literal rod.

The authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls were not the true Zadokite Temple Priesthood living in exile, they only identified themselves as allegorical Zadokites, not literal Zadokites. They were simply a community of one of three major sects of Judaism in the first century, Essenes. And any Solar Calendar they may have used, or experimented with, was no more significant than their doctrine of letting a man die rather than using a tool to rescue him on the Sabbath. There is no reason to believe that this calendar was a “true calendar” preserved by the literal sons of Zadok as the true Temple Priesthood living in exile.

We must raise at least $270 by the end of the day today, or our account will plunge into the negative and start a chain reaction of returned items and fees.

As I have said to you many times, I look on this work as a co-operative one with me, and all of you combining our resources together in order to get the job done of helping to teach this great truth to all in the world who will listen. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for your continued support, you are the ones who make it all possible by your contributions and your prayers for our work. I truly appreciate your help in every way.

If you can make a one time donation of $500 or $1,000 dollars to support this work.

Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org or by Zelle or Go Fund Me!

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PREFACE

This “Statement of Faith” is meant only as a basic statement of faith and is not intended to be a “creed” or canon. It is not to be viewed as having the authority of Scripture. This statement is given primarily for these reasons:

• To clarify some issues about which we have been misrepresented.

• To answer the many requests we have received for such a statement.

• To set at ease those who have concerns that we stand for certain apostate theologies.

• To create an understanding of common ground to which our affiliates hold.

Above all our beliefs must be:

Big enough to include all the facts, open enough to be tested, and flexible enough to change.

I. YHWH

We believe that YHWH is Echad (one). We believe that YHWH reveals Himself in the K’numeh or Gaunin of Av/Abba (Father/Daddy), the Memra (Word), and the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit).

II. BIBLE

We believe that the Bible, which includes both the Tanakh [Old Testament] and the Ketuvim Netzarim (New Testament) is the divinely inspired, infallible Word of Elohim in its original Hebrew and Aramaic texts and manuscripts.

III. MESSIAH

We believe that Yeshua HaMashiach has come and with great joy we anticipate his return, and even though he may delay, nevertheless we endeavor to think about his return every day. We believe that the Messiah is the Word made flesh. We believe he was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life in accordance with the Torah, performed miracles, was crucified for the atonement of his people in accordance with the Scriptures, was bodily resurrected on the third day. ascended to heaven and currently sits at the right hand of YHWH. He will return at the end of this age to usher in the Kingdom of Elohim on earth and will rule the world from Jerusalem with his people Israel for one thousand years. We also believe that the Messiah Yeshua is the Torah incarnate. Just as the Torah is the way, the truth and the light, the Messiah is also the way, the truth and the light.

IV. SALVATION

We believe that through the death of Messiah, because of his blood covenant with us, we receive salvation by way of inheritance. This salvation comes by faith through grace alone and is not earned by Torah observance.

V. TORAH

The Torah of Truth the Almighty gave to His people, Israel, through Moshe. He will not exchange it nor discard it for another until heaven and earth pass away. We believe that Torah observance is man’s moral obligation and expression of love to YHWH. The Torah is freedom and not bondage. The Torah is the way, the truth and the light and is for all of our generations forever.

VI. THE ONE FAITH

We believe that there is one faith which was once and for all delivered to the set-apart-ones. We believe that Messiah did not come to create a new religion but to be the Messiah of Judaism, the one faith that was once delivered to the set-apart-ones. We believe that Nazarene Judaism is the only expression of the one true faith. We do not accept any other religion as a non-Jewish cultural expression of the one true faith.

The Garza-Trimm Hebrew Matthew and Synoptic Origins
By
James Scott Trimm

Recently, while working on my translation and analysis of the Trimm-Garza Hebrew text of the Synoptic Gospels, I discovered a reading in Matthew 9:25 which demonstrates not only the close relationship the Garza-Trimm text holds to the DuTillet and Munster Hebrew texts of Matthew, but also, their close relationship as a whole, to the original Synoptic Source behind both Matthew and Mark.

The passage in question (Matthew 9:25) has its synoptic parallel in Mark 5:41. The parallel in Mark 5:41 has Yeshua declare in Aramaic “Tl’ita kumi” (in the Greek of Mark, the Aramaic is transliterated, and then translated into Greek) “little girl arise”. However, this declaration is absent from our received text of the parallel in Matthew 9:25.

Interestingly, in the DuTillet Hebrew Matthew 9:25, Yeshua declares, “kumi, kumi” and in the Munster Hebrew Matthew, Yeshua declares “T’lita kumi”. The Garza-Trimm text has a conflation of these two readings, with “T’lita kumi kumi.”. This reading presents us with clear evidence that the Hebrew of the Garza-Trimm text, is directly related to the Hebrew text in the DuTillet and Munster texts, and is part of this same family of Hebrew manuscripts (which have been shown in the past to descend directly from the original Hebrew of Matthew).

What is especially interesting is that this reading “T’lita kumi” agrees with Mark 5:41 against our received text of Matthew 9:25. This agreement tells us that the Hebrew version of Matthew expressed in these three texts (DuTillet, Munster and now Garza-Trimm) is more closely related to the original synoptic source behind Mark (the Gospel according to the Hebrews), than our Greek text of Matthew.

Donations have been low and we must still raise at least $800 by the end of the day tomorrow (3/19/24) or our account will plunge into the negative and create a cascade of returned items and fees! We need your help today!

As you know we have been digging ourselves out of a budget shortfall.  As I have said to you many times, I look on this work as a co-operative one with me, and all of you combining our resources together in order to get the job done of helping to teach this great truth to all in the world who will listen. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for your continued support, you are the ones who make it all possible by your contributions and your prayers for our work. I truly appreciate your help in every way.

If you can make a one time donation of $500 or $1,000 dollars to support this work.

Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org or by Zelle or Go Fund Me.

Click HERE to donate

How do I start a Nazarene Torah study?

* Open your home to a few friends for an evening Scripture study.

* Print and distribute copies of the “Free Bible Quiz” with your address and meeting time written on each copy. Distribute them as widely as you can, put them on doors and under windshield wipers.

* Take 10 to 15 minutes before opening for some get-to-know each other time. (This is only needed in new groups or when there are visitors). Go around the room asking an ice breaking question. Below are a list to work from:

• When did “God” become more than a word to you?
• What was your religious upbringing?
• What is your favorite book of the Bible? (Why?)

* Using the free articles at http://www.nazarenejudaism.com teach the truth of Torah and Messiah to the group.

* Close with prayer

* Fellowship and refreshments.

ATTITUDE: Always welcome everyone. Do not be negative. Maintain Torah as truth and freedom and as a thing to rejoice in. Also, If you do start a group in your home let us know. We are keeping a list of the study groups and will be corresponding with them in particular concerning Nazarene Judaism.

If you have any questions in regards to Nazarene Torah Study Groups, please contact us: Email: cleartruth@yahoo.com

Don’t delay. Get a Nazarene Torah Study Group started in your home. We will help you with the details. And let us know, so we can add your study to our directory!

As I have said to you many times, I look on this work as a co-operative one with me, and all of you combining our resources together in order to get the job done of helping to teach this great truth to all in the world who will listen. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for your continued support, you are the ones who make it all possible by your contributions and your prayers for our work. I truly appreciate your help in every way.

If you can make a one time donation of $500 or $1,000 dollars to support this work.

Now is time to step up to the plate!

Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org or by Zelle or GoFundMe.

Click HERE to donate

Is “Messianic Judaism” or “Nazarene Judaism”
the Scriptural Term?
By
James Trimm

In restoring the ancient sect of Nazarene Judaism, one might ask why not use the term “Messianic Judaism” which many Jewish believers in Messiah commonly use?

There are a few problems with this term. To begin with, so-called “Messianic Judaism” began as an outgrowth of Christianity (I will write a blog on the origins of so-called “Messianic Judaism” in the future) as a missionary effort to bring Jews into a culturally Jewish form of Christianity. By contrast the restoration of Nazarene Judaism is an effort to restore the original sect of Judaism which were the original Jewish followers of Yeshua. There are several issues that arise from the motives and origins of so-called “Messianic Judaism” which are problematic for a true restoration of Nazarene Judaism. (We will discuss some of those in a future blog).

In this blog, I simply want to address the term “Messianic Judaism.” You may be surprised to find out that the original Jewish followers of Yeshua were NOT “Messianic Jews”. As Messianic Jewish leader Daniel Juster writes:

No form of Judaism or Christianity… has used the term “Messianic Judaism” as its appropriate designation.
(Jewish Roots; 1986 edition, p. viii)

The original followers of Yeshua were a sect of Judaism known as “Nazarenes” (as we read in Acts 24:5).

The term “Messianic Judaism” was invented in the late 60’s and it is a human invention. Messianic Jewish leader David Stern wrote in his Messianic Jewish Manifesto:

According to Scripture the word “Christian” does not denote Jewish believers in Yeshua at all. The New Testament calls them followers of “this way” (Acts 9:2, 22:4) and “Nazarenes” (Acts 24:5)… the New Testament does not call Jewish believers “Christians”. According to New Testament usage the term “Christian” is reserved for Gentile believers in the Jewish Messiah Yeshua.

Acts 11:19-26 tells how in Antioch some Jewish believers… did not limit their proclamation of Yeshua as the Messiah to Jews, as had been the norm previously, but broke new ground… Many of these Gentiles came to believe… the other Gentiles in Antioch… coined the word christianoi (Christians),… Thus the term “Christian” was invented by Gentiles to describe Gentiles in a Gentile environment. The New Testament tells us explicitly that “the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.” [Acts 11:26]
(Messianic Jewish Manifesto; David Stern; p. 32)

Now it is important here to note that David Stern himself in his Jewish New Testament and Complete Jewish Bible, translates Acts 11:26 with:

…it was at Antioch that the talmidim for the first time were called “Messianic”. (Acts 11:26 JNT)

In his commentary to this passage in his Jewish New Testament Commentary Stern wrote:

“Messianic,” or “Messianics,” Greek Christianoi, which could be rendered… as in other translations, “Christians.” …the name “Christianoi” was applied to Gentile believers by Gentile nonbelievers. The name nonbelieving Jews gave to Jewish believers was “Natzaratim”… (“Nazarenes”),

Again in his book Messianic Jewish Manifesto Stern wrote:

“Messianic” comes from the Hebrew mashiach, which means “anointed.” “Christian” comes from Greek christos, which is the [Greek] New Testament’s translation of mashiach and means the same thing. …in the New Testament the term “Christian,” which appears only three times, apparently denotes being a Gentile believer in Yeshua, so that scripturally “Jewish Christian” is a contradiction in terms.
(Emphasis and brackets added)
(Messianic Jewish Manifesto; David Stern; p. 20)

Now we can see from David Stern’s own words above:

1. The terms “Christian” and “Messianic” are alternate translations of the Greek word “Christianoi” “and mean the same thing”.
2. The term “Christianoi” or “Christian” is used in the scriptures only to denote a GENTILE believer in Yeshua, so that scripturally the term “Jewish Christian” is “a contradiction in terms”.

Therefore we may conclude that:

• The term “Messianic” is used in the scriptures only to denote a GENTILE believer in Yeshua, so that scripturally the term “Messianic Jew” is a contradiction in terms.
• The logic is inescapable… the term “Messianic Judaism” is scripturally invalid, it is a human invention and a contradiction in terms.

So what were the original Jewish followers of Yeshua called if they were not Messianic Jews? Stern admited:

The New Testament calls them followers of “this way” (Acts 9:2, 22:4) and “Nazarenes” (Acts 24:5)
(Messianic Jewish Manifesto; David Stern; p. 32)

In fact if we quote Stern, but substitute the word “Messianic” for “Christians” (since Stern admits “they are the same”) we read:

According to Scripture the word “MESSIANIC” does not denote Jewish believers in Yeshua at all. The New Testament calls them followers of “this way” (Acts 9:2, 22:4) and “NAZARENES” (Acts 24:5)… the New Testament does not call Jewish believers “MESSIANIC”. According to New Testament usage the term “MESSIANIC” is reserved for Gentile believers in the Jewish Messiah Yeshua.

So the Biblical term for Jewish believers in Messiah is not “Messianic” but “Nazarene”. We should be seeking a restoration of “Nazarene Judaism” not creating “Messianic Judaism” which, being “Christian Judaism” (i.e. “Christianized Judaism”) is a contradiction in terms.

So in this restoration of the ancient sect of Nazarene Judaism, we should definitely prefer the Scriptural term “Nazarene” Judaism to the Unscriptural term “Messianic Judaism”.

The “church father” Jerome (4th Cent.) described these Nazarenes as those “…who accept Messiah in such a way that they do not cease to observe the old Law.” (Jerome; On. Is. 8:14).

Elsewhere he writes:

Today there still exists among the Jews in all the synagogues of the East a heresy which is called that of the Minæans (1), and which is still condemned by the Pharisees; [its followers] are ordinarily called ‘Nazarenes’; they believe that Messiah, the son of God, was born of the Virgin Miriam, and they hold him to be the one who suffered under Pontius Pilate and ascended to heaven, and in whom we also believe.”
(Jerome; Letter 75 Jerome to Augustine)

The fourth century “church father” Epiphanius gives a more detailed description:

But these sectarians… did not call themselves Christians–but “Nazarenes,” … However they are simply complete Jews. They use not only the New Testament but the Old Testament as well, as the Jews do… They have no different ideas, but confess everything exactly as the Law proclaims it and in the Jewish fashion– except for their belief in Messiah, if you please! For they acknowledge both the resurrection of the dead and the divine creation of all things, and declare that G-d is one, and that his son is Yeshua the Messiah. They are trained to a nicety in Hebrew. For among them the entire Law, the Prophets, and the… Writings… are read in Hebrew, as they surely are by the Jews. They are different from the Jews, and different from Christians, only in the following. They disagree with Jews because they have come to faith in Messiah; but since they are still fettered by the Law–circumcision, the Sabbath, and the rest– they are not in accord with Christians…. they are nothing but Jews…. They have the Goodnews according to Matthew in its entirety in Hebrew. For it is clear that they still preserve this, in the Hebrew alphabet, as it was originally written. (Epiphanius; Panarion 29)

(1) “Minæans” apparently Latinized from Hebrew MINIM (singular is MIN) a word which in modern Hebrew means “apostates” but was originally an acronym for a Hebrew phrase meaning “Believers in Yeshua the Nazarene”.

Emergency Alert!  We need your help.  Today I woke up to a huge problem.  Our bank account was over $2,500 in the negative!  I rushed to the bank to find out what was going on.  When my wife was hospitalized for 53 days back in 2018 we defaulted on most of our of our bills.  We reached out to all of our creditors at the time to try to make arrangements, and all but two were willing to work with us.  One of those was a credit card.  This creditor recently got a court order to put a hold on our bank account for $2,543 for the outstanding amount plus interest.  Our bank account is now $2,543 in the negative, and we have until the end of the day March 3rd (Sunday) to satisfy this hold, or items will start being returned, and various fees will start mounting up (and things like our rent will not clear, creating huge problems).  Any amount you can help with towards pulling our account out of the negative will be greatly appreciated.  Any donation will help, and any donation is better than no donation.

As I have said to you many times, I look on this work as a co-operative one with me, and all of you combining our resources together in order to get the job done of helping to teach this great truth to all in the world who will listen. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for your continued support, you are the ones who make it all possible by your contributions and your prayers for our work. I truly appreciate your help in every way.

If you can make a one time donation of $500 or $1,000 dollars to support this work.

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