In a recent blog I told you I was working on a project to restore five fragments of an ancient Nazarene Commentary on Isaiah, from five Latin fragments preserved in quotations in Jerome’s Commentary on Isaiah.
Here is the second of the five fragments (On Isaiah 9:1-4) restored to Hebrew with an English translation:
פשרו בא משיח ונבואתו נגה. ארצה זבלון וארצה נפתלי הם היו הראשונים משוחררים מן התועים של הסופרים והפרושים. והוא נער את שכמיהם עול של גזרות חומרות. והאחרון כל נעשה גדול יותר ביד הבשורה של פולוס השליח אשר אחרון השליחים. הפרש הוא הנבואה ירבה. ולקצה הגוים ובדרך כל הים נגה את בשורה המשיח. בכן כל העולם אשר קודם הלך או ישב בחשך ואשר נשבה באסורים אשר לתרפים ולמוות הוא ראה את האור הצלול של בשורה
8:23 (9:1) For is there no gloom to her that was steadfast? Now the former has lightly afflicted the land of Z’vulun, and the land of Naftali, but the latter has dealt a more grievous blow by the way of the sea, beyond the Yarden, in the district of the nations.
9:1 (9:2) The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; they that dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them has the light shined.
9:2 (9:3) You have multiplied the nation [Gentiles], You have increased their joy;
they joy before You according to the joy in harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
9:3 (9:4) For the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder; the rod of his oppressor, You have broken as in the day of Midian.
(Isaiah 8:23-9:3 (9:1-4) HRV)
Its interpretation: Messiah came and his prophecy shined out, the Land of Zebulon and the Land of Naphtali were the first to be freed from the errors of the Scribes and Pharisees. And he shook off from their shoulders, the yoke of heavy decrees. Later everything was made much greater through the goodnews of the emissary Paul, who was last of the emissaries. Its interpretation is that the prophecy multiplied. And to the most distant nations/gentiles and to the way of the whole sea, the goodnews of Messiah shined. Finally, the whole world, which before walked or dwelt in darkness, and which was imprisoned in bonds of idolatry and death, saw the clear light of the goodnews.
— My Comments
There is much we can learn about the Nazarenes from this ancient Nazarene Commentary.
To begin with the verb נער (shaken off) (as I have shown in a recent blog) points to a direct connection to a unique reading found only in DuTillet Hebrew Matthew 11:29.
The author clearly had Matthew 4:13-16 and 11:28-30 in mind, which sheds some light on the overall concept here. The author is not rejecting the idea of halacha in general, but only of the Rabbinic halacha. He does not reject the idea of a yoke, but opposes the “heavy” Rabbinic yoke (halacha), with its “errors” in favor of Yeshua’s “light” yoke (halacha).
Another important thing that we learn is that, unlike the ancient Ebionites, who rejected Paul, the ancient Nazarenes accepted Paul, and even saw his mission in the prophecy of Isaiah 9:1-4. To the ancient Nazarenes Paul’s mission to the “gentiles” multiplication of the Gentiles and increase of their joy in Isaiah 9:1-4.
Another thing we can derive, is that to the Nazarenes, Paul’s “Gentiles” were the “Gentiles” of Isaiah 9:1-4 which were the lost tribes which had become identified as gentiles which Isaiah is speaking on in Isaiah 9:1-4 (Zebulon and Naphtali).
Finally, the 3rd Century Nazarenes saw Paul as the “last” of the Emissaries.
Watch for the next fragment covering Isaiah 29:20-21 coming soon!
tin Bible.
I recently published my restorations of the Nazarene Commentary on Isaiah 8:14 and on Isaiah 8:19-22 .
The rent is due soon, and right now we do not have it. We need your support!
I want to thank all of you supporting this work. I literally could not do it without you!
This work takes hours of my time. As many of you know, my wife is very ill, and I spend most of my time at home as her caretaker. I work at a desk less than six feet from her bed. So I am in a position to dedicate many hours to this important work that I have been directed to do.
But I also realize that it is not the activity of James Trimm alone who is responsible to do this work, it is all of us together who are charged with the responsibility of accomplishing this work. I very much look on the efforts of this restoration work as a cooperative one with each one of you. We are all joint heirs with Messiah and should always be about our Father’s business. I am honored to be able to be partnered with truth seekers as this restoration of Scripture moves forward in fulfillment of prophecy.
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