August 2022 - NazareneSpace Blog

Greek Hebrews was Translated from Aramaic

Greek Hebrews was Translated from Aramaic
By
James Scott Trimm

The point of this blog its simply to demonstrate that our Greek version of the Letter to the Hebrews, it a translation from Aramaic, not to prove that Aramaic was the original (a Hebrew original version probably was behind the Aramaic).

Recently, while doing research for my two part blog After the Order of Melchizedek (Part 1 and Part 2) I noticed something very interesting.

In the Hebrew of Psalm 110:4 this phrase is עַל־דִּ֝בְרָתִ֗י מַלְכִּי־צֶֽדֶק literally “upon the word of Melchizedek”. The Aramaic Peshitta of Psalm 110:4 has “in the likeness (בדמותה) of Melchezidek” and the Greek Septuagint has “after the arrangement of (κατὰ τὴν τάξιν) Melchizedek”.

It should come as no surprise that where this phrase is used in the Letter to the Hebrews (Heb. 5:6, 10; 6:20; 7:11, 17, 21) the Aramaic Peshitta version of Hebrews agrees with the Aramaic Peshitta version of Psalm 110:4 and the Greek version of Hebrews agrees with the Greek Septuagint version of Psalm 110:4.

However, one very interesting exception occurs in Hebrews 7:15 (which was not included in the list above):

And it is yet far more evident: for that after the likeness of Melchizedek there arises another priest,
(Hebrews 7:15)

Here the Greek has κατὰ τὴν ὁμοιότητα (after the likeness of) Melchizedek, in agreement with the Aramaic Peshitta text of this verse of Hebrews, which is itself taken from the Aramaic Peshitta version of Psalm 110:4.

This reading could only occur in Greek Hebrews, if it had been translated from the Aramaic, not vice-versa.

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After the Order of Melchizedek (Part 2)

After the Order of Melchizedek (Part 2)
By
James Scott Trimm

There have a lot of creative interpretations of just what a “Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek” is. In part one we discussed the Pashat and Remez, the literal and implied meaning of the verses in question. In part 2 we are going to go much deeper, into the Drash and Sod (allegorical/homiletic and and hidden/mystical meaning of these verses.

As in part one, to get a good idea of what this phrase really means, lets begin by looking at it in the original Hebrew. Where the KJV has “after the order of Melchizedek” the actual Hebrew is:

עַל־דִּ֝בְרָתִ֗י מַלְכִּי־צֶֽדֶק

This phrase עַל־דִּ֝בְרָתִ֗י is a compound of two words על which is a preposition meaning “about, concerning, upon” and דברתי “word, speech, cause”.

A different Rabbinic interpretation appears in the Targum to the Psalms, which applies Psalm 110 to King David rather than Avraham. It has:

The Lord has sworn and will not turn aside, that you [King David] are appointed leader in the age to come, because of the merit that you were a righteous king. (Targum Psalm 110:4)

קַיָם יְיָ וְלָא יְתוּב דְאַנְתְּ מִתְמַנֵי לְרַבָּא לְעַלְמָא דְאָתֵי בְּגִין זְכוּתָא דַהֲוֵיתָא מְלַךְ זַכַּי:

The Midrash Tehillim (Midrash on Psalms) identifies the “My Adon” of Psalm 110:1 as Messiah. According to the Midrash Tehillim:

The Lord said to my Lord, Sit you at My right hand. To the Messiah it will also be said, and in mercy the throne be established;
(Midrash Tehillim on Ps. 110:1)

According to the Zohar in this verse one aspect of the Godhead is speaking to another aspect of the Godhead:

Rabbi Simeon further gave an exposition of the verse: The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand Until I make your enemies your footstool (Ps. 110:1) “The Lord says unto my Lord”: to wit, the upper grade [of the Godhead], said to the lower [grade of the Godhead], “sit at My right hand”,…
(Zohar 1:50b)

However the Zohar goes even deeper than this. The passage in question involves a “lost” reading of the Zohar recovered from actual manuscripts, which has not appeared (until recently) in any printed editions of the Zohar in Aramaic, or any other language.

A footnote (footnote 36 to Vol. 12 p. 307 to the Pritzker edition says “Here begins a lengthy and fascinating narrative, extending to p. 363 at n. 228. The version translated her represents the full text in its correct sequence (which has never appeared before as such in any printed version, either Aramaic or English). I [Daniel C. Matt] was able to reconstruct this full version based on several manuscripts…”)

The reading is discussing the word “You” in the phrase “You are my Elohim…” (Isaiah 25:1) and says:

You are priest forever; on My Word, Melchizedek (Psalm 110:4).

“What is meant by My Word, Melchizedek? Well, this supernal Priest is the one poised on the Word, since the Word endures only through the right. And who is that Word? Melchizedek is its name. As for his saying My Word– because it is linked with David, and all his words of praise reach that Word, so My Word. And therefore, You— the Priest. We have already established that there ore three places, each of which is called You.

“I will exalt You— all as one.

(The Zohar; Pritzker Edition; Volume 9 p. 309)

I have edited the above only in capitalizing the word “Word” and in bold facing for emphasis. (the original had selective italics which were lost when the whole was italicized as a quote).

Here the Zohar is saying that the “You” who is “Elohim” in Isaiah 25:1 is the same as the “You” who is a priest forever in Psalm 110:4, and that the phrase עַל־דִּ֝בְרָתִ֗י means “upon my Word” because this priesthood is being bestowed “upon My Word” because it relates to David (who, in the Zohar represents the Sefira of Tifret, which is the focal point of the Middle Pillar of the Godhead, which the Zohar elsewhere calls the “Son of Yah”. (For more on the one known as the “Word” in the Zohar, see my recent blog The Word Revealed in the Zohar )

This idea parallels the Melchizadek Document (11Q13) found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, which speaks of a redemptive Melchizedek figure, which it identifies as “El” and Elohim” and even quotes Isaiah 61:2 substituting “Melchizedek” for YHWH. (See my blog The Melchizedek Document (11Q13) Unveiled.)

It also finds its parallel in s statement by the first Century Jewish writer, Philo of Alexandria:

XXVI. (82) But Melchisedek shall bring forward wine instead of water, and shall give your souls to drink, and shall cheer them with unmixed wine, in order that they may be wholly occupied with a divine intoxication, more sober than sobriety itself. For the Word is a priest, having, as its inheritance the true God, and entertaining lofty and sublime and magnificent ideas about him, “for he is the priest of the most high God.”{38}{Genesis 14:18.} Not that there is any other God who is not the most high; for God being one, is in the heaven above, and in the earth beneath, and there is no other besides Him.”{39}{Deuteronomy 4:39.} But he sets in motion the notion of the Most High, from his conceiving of God not in a low and grovelling spirit, but in one of exceeding greatness, and exceeding sublimity, apart from any conceptions of matter. (“De Allegoriis Legum,” iii. 26).

All of this helps us understand Paul’s statements about “Melchizedek” (Hebrews 5:6, 10; 6:20; 7:11-21)

In part one we learned that Am-Yisreal was made a priest forever according to the words of Melchizedek to Avraham, making the people of Israel a “nation of Priests” and in part two we learned that by an even deeper meaning, this same passage is telling us that Messiah is a “Priest forever” because that Priesthood is “upon My Word” (and Messiah is the Word made flesh (John 1:1-14)).

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The Messiah is the Zohar

The Messiah is the Zohar
By
James Scott Trimm

We read in the Book of Hebrews:

1 Elohim, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past to the fathers by the prophets,
2 Has in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
(Heb. 1:1-3)

The word for “brightness” above, in our Hebrew manuscripts of Hebrews, is “zohar”. Of course many know that there is a book known as the Zohar, but fewer know the original significance of the term. The Hebrew word ZOHAR appears only twice in the Tanak. One of these is in the Book of Daniel:

And they that are wise, shall shine as the brightness [Zohar] of the firmament, and they that turn the many to righteousness, as the stars; forever and ever.
(Dan. 12:3)

The other is in the Book of Ezekiel as part of Ezekiel’s description of the “Likeness” of Elohim:

Then I beheld, and behold, a likeness as the appearance of fire. From the appearance of his loins and downward, fire: and from his loins and upward, as the appearance of brightness (Zohar), as the color of electrum.
(Ezekiel 8:2)

This brings us to Ezekiel’s vision of the Merkavah (Divine Throne-Chariot):

22 And over the heads of the living creatures there was the likeness of a firmament; like the color of the terrible ice, stretched forth over their heads above.
23 And under the firmament were their wings conformable, the one to the other. This one of them had two which covered, and that one of them had two which covered, their bodies.
24 And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings like the noise of great waters; like the voice of Shaddai–a noise of tumult like the noise of a host. When they stood, they let down their wings.
25 For, when there was a voice above the firmament that was over their heads, as they stood, they let down their wings.
26 And above the firmament that was over their heads, was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone. And upon the likeness of the throne was a likeness as the appearance of a man, upon it; above.
27 And I saw as the color of electrum, as the appearance of fire round about enclosing it, from the appearance of his loins and upward. And from the appearance of his loins and downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness round about him.
28 As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of YHWH. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spoke.
(Ezekiel 1:22-28)

The “firmament” mentioned by Daniel is that which is above the four living creatures in Ezekiel 1:22. The Zohar is the brightness of the likeness seated on the Merkavah (Throne-Chariot).

It is this brightness which is the namesake of the book known as the Zohar. This is what the book called the Zohar says about the ZOHAR:

It is written: And they that are wise, shall shine as the brightness [Zohar] of the firmament, and they that turn the many to righteousness, as the stars; forever and ever (Dan. 12:3). There was indeed a “brightness” (Zohar). The Most Mysterious struck its void, and caused this point to shine. This “beginning” then extended, and made for itself a palace for its honor and glory. There it sowed a sacred seed which was to generate for the benefit of the universe, and to which may be applied the Scriptural words “the holy seed is the stock thereof” (Is. 6:13). Again there was Zohar, in that it sowed a seed for its glory, just as the silkworm encloses itself, as it were, in a palace of its own production which is both useful and beautiful. Thus by means of this “beginning” the Mysterious Unknown made this palace. This palace is called Elohim, and this doctrine is contained in the words, “By means of a beginning (he) created Elohim.”

The Zohar is that from which were created all the creative utterances through the extension of the point of this mysterious brightness. Nor need we be surprised at the use of the word “created” in this connection, seeing that we read further on, “And God created man in his image” (Gen. 1:27).

A further esoteric interpretation of the word Bereshith is as follows. The name of the starting-point of all is Ehyeh (I shall be). The holy name when inscribed at its side is Elohim, but when inscribed by circumscription [i.e. between the two Ehyeh’s. v. Ex. 3:4.] is Asher, the hidden and recondite temple, the source of that which is mystically called Reshith. The word Asher (i.e. the letters, Aleph, Shin, Resh from the word Bereshith) is anagrammatically Rosh (head), the beginning which issues from Reshith. So when [15b] the point and the temple were firmly established together, then Bereshit combined the supernal Beginning with Wisdom. Afterwards the character of that temple was changed, and it was called “house” (beit). The combination of this with the supernal point which is called rosh gives Bereshith, which is the name used so long as the house was uninhabited. When, however, it was sown with seed to make it habitable, it was called Elohim, hidden and mysterious. The Zohar was hidden and withdrawn so long as the building was within and yet to bring forth, and the house was extended only so far as to find room for the holy seed. Before it had conceived and had extended sufficiently to be habitable, it was not called Elohim, but all was still included in the term Bereshith. After it had acquired the name of Elohim, it brought forth offspring from the seed that had been implanted in it.
(Zohar 1:15a-15b)

In the book called the Zohar the Zohar is likened to a “seed” which is elsewhere called the “Son of Yah”. The Zohar says that the Most Mysterious (the Infinite One) created a palace for himself called Elohim into which he placed his Zohar (brightness) like a seed sowed of himself, in much the same way that a silkworm encloses itself in a cocoon. The “seed” is elsewhere known as the “Son of Yah”. The book called the Zohar also says of the Zohar that he “is that from which were created all the creative utterances”.

Now we can better understand what Hebrews means when it says:

1 Elohim, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past to the fathers by the prophets,
2 Has in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
3 Who being the brightness (zohar) of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
(Heb. 1:1-3)

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After the Order of Melchizedek (Part 1)

After the Order of Melchizedek (Part 1)
By
James Scott Trimm

There have a lot of creative interpretations of just what a “Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek” is. But to get a good idea of what this phrase really means, lets begin by looking at it in the original Hebrew. Where the KJV has “after the order of Melchizedek” the actual Hebrew is:

עַל־דִּ֝בְרָתִ֗י מַלְכִּי־צֶֽדֶק

This phrase עַל־דִּ֝בְרָתִ֗י is a compound of two words על which is a preposition meaning “about, concerning, upon” and דברתי “word, speech, cause”.

What does this phrase mean?

According to the primary Jewish tradition, the “you” in Psalm 104:4 who is told “you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek” (Ps. 110:4) is Avraham, and the event refers to Gen. 14:18-20

Rashi comments on Ps. 110:4

you are a priest forever because of the speech of Malchizedek: From you will emerge the priesthood and the kingship that your children will inherit from Shem your progenitor, the priesthood and the kingship, which were given to him. דִבְרָתִי מלכי-צדק. The “yud” is superfluous, like (Lam. 1: 1): “the city that was once so populous (רבתי).” Because of the speech of Malchizedek, because of the command of Malchizedek. You are a priest, Heb. כהן. The word כהן bears the connotation of priesthood and rulership, as (II Sam. 8:18) : “and David’s sons were chief officers.”

This agrees with a tradition in the Midrash Rabbah:

AND SAID UNTO HIM: ABRAHAM; AND HE SAID: HERE AM I (ib.). R. Joshua said: On two occasions Moses compared himself to Abraham, and God answered him, Glorify not thyself in the presence of the king, and stand not in the place of great men (Prov. XXV, 6). Now Abraham said, HERE AM I-ready for priesthood, ready for kingship, and he attained priesthood and kingship. He attained priesthood, as it says, The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent: Thou art a priest for ever after the manner of Melchizedek (Ps. CX, 4); kingship: Thou art a mighty prince among us (Gen. XXIII, 5). (Midrash Rabbah Genesis 55:6)

R. Ishmael said: Abraham was a High Priest, as it says, The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent: Thou art a priest for ever after the manner of Melchizedek (Ps. CX, 4). (Midrash Rabbah Genesis 46:5)

And the Talmud:

R. Zechariah said on R. Ishmael’s authority: The Holy One, blessed be He, intended to bring forth the priesthood from Shem, as it is written, And he [sc. Melchizedek] was the priest of the most high God.(Gen. 14:18) But because he gave precedence in his blessing to Abraham over God, He brought it forth from Abraham; as it is written, And he blessed him and said. Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth, and blessed be the most high God. (Gen. 14:19f) Said Abraham to him, ‘Is the blessing of a servant to be given precedence over that of his master?’ Straightway it [the priesthood] was given to Abraham, as it is written, The Lord said unto my Lord (i.e. Abraham see Ber. 7b), Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool; (Ps. 110:1) which is followed by, The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedek,’(Ps. 110:4) meaning, ‘because of the words of Melchizedek.’ Hence it is written, And he was a priest of the most High God, [implying that] he was a priest, but not his seed. (b.Nedarim 32b)

According to this tradition the priesthood diverted from Shem’s direct line, to Avraham because of Melchizedek’s words. The Talmud going so far as to indicate this was a penalty for Melchizedek’s words in Gen. 14:18-19.

Rabbi Abraham ben Meir Ibn Ezra (Hebrew: אַבְרָהָם אִבְּן עֶזְרָא or ראב”ע‎‎‎, also known as Abenezra or Aben Ezra, 1089–1167) was one of the most distinguished Jewish biblical commentators and philosophers of the Middle Ages. His is one of the classic commentators included in the Miqrat Gedolot. He writes in his commentary on Exodus. 19:6:

A Kingdom of Priests. In my opinion, “priest” in the Bible means “one who serves,” just as the verbal form is taken in 28:41 to mean “serve me as priests.” Jethro is the “priest of Midian” (18:1) because he served God, as did Melchizedek of Salem, the “priest of God Most High” (Gen. 14:18). The same is true when David’s sons are called “priests” in 2Sam. 8:18. There would be no point in telling us that they were “princes,” for we know that a king’s sons possess high rank; this verse informs us that they served God. So telling Israel that they will be “a kingdom of priests” means, “By means of you, My kingdom shall appear, when you are serving Me.” But others understand it to mean “There is no kingship other than serving Me.”

He seems to identify the priesthood “after the order of Melchizedek” with the general priesthood of the Assembly of Israel as a “kingdom of priests”:

And you shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak unto the children of Israel.
(Ex. 19:6)

But you shall be named the Priests of YHWH: men shall call you the Ministers of our Elohim: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall you boast yourselves.
(Isaiah 61:6)

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that you should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:
(1Kefa 2:9)

Following this interpretation, then, Abraham, and by extension, the Assembly of Israel are called a Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, and then Psalms 110 can be applied as midrash to Messiah, because the Messiah and Israel have an allegorical relationship. (See my blog Out of Egypt I have Called My Son for a full understanding of this relationship).

In Part 2 I will dig even deeper into the SOD meaning of Psalm 110:4.

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The Deity of Messiah in the Scriptures

The Deity of Messiah in the Scriptures
By
James Scott Trimm

The Deity of Messiah is Scriptural

The deity of Messiah is very easy to show from the Scriptures. The simplest way to show the deity of Messiah in the Scriptures is to point to instances where the “New Testament” quotes passages from the Tanak (“Old Testament”) and applies them to the Messiah.

For example in John 19:37, Zech. 12:10 is quoted:

But when they came to Yeshua, they saw that he was dead already
and did not break his legs.
But one of the soldiers stuck him in his side with a spear
and immediately blood and water came forth,…
For these things happened that the scripture might be fulfilled
which said, A bone of him will not be broken.(Ps. 34:21(20))
And again another scripture that said, They will look at him
whom they pierced. (Zech 12:10)

But now let us look at Zechariah 12:10 in context:

The burden of the word of YHWH concerning Israel.
The saying of YHWH, who stretched forth the heavens,
And laid the foundation of the earth,
And formed the spirit of man within him…
I will pour out upon the house of David,
And upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
The spirit of grace and supplication;
And they shall look at Me whom they pierced;
And they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only son….
(Zech. 12:1, 10)

The one being pierced in Jn. 19:37 is clearly Yeshua but the one being pierced in Zech. 12:10 is clearly YHWH. (For more on this passage see my blog They Shall Look Toward Me Whom They Have Pierced)

Lets now look at the quotation of Is. 8:14 in Rom. 9:32:

Because it was not from faith but from “Works of the Law”,
for they stumbled at the stumbling stone.
(Rom. 9:32)

Now Paul is clearly referring here it Messiah, but lets now look at Is. 8:14 in context:

YHWH of hosts, Him shall you sanctify; and let Him be your
fear, and let Him be your dread. And He shall be for a sanctuary;
but for a stumbling stone and for a rock of offense
to both the houses of Israel…
(Is. 8:13-14)

Here it is clearly YHWH who is the “stumbling stone”.

OK now lets look at Phil. 2:10-11:

That at the name of Yeshua every knee will bow
that is in heaven or on earth and that is under the earth,
and every tongue will confess that Yeshua the Messiah is YHWH,
to the glory of Eloah the Father.

Here Paul clearly refer to Is. 45:23:

Thus says YHWH…
That unto Me every knee shall bow,
and every tongue shall swear.
(Is. 45:1, 23)

Clearly Paul applies a Tanak passage which clearly speaks of YHWH to the Messiah.

Now lets look at Rom. 10:9, 13:

And if you confess with your mouth our Adon Yeshua,
And you believe in your heart that Eloah raised him from the dead,
you will be saved. …
For all who will call on the name of YHWH will be saved.
(Rom. 10:9, 13)

Here Paul clearly quotes Joel 3:5 (2:32) but applies the passage to Yeshua despite the fact that Joel is clearly here speaking of YHWH.

There are several other examples:

James 5:7 clearly speaks of the coming of Messiah as likened to the “former and latter rain” while in Hosea 6:3 this is clearly the coming of YHWH.

Likewise Jude 1:14 & 1 Thes. 3:13 refer to the coming of Messiah yet quote 1Enoch 1:9 & Zech. 14:5 which clearly refer to the coming of YHWH.

Finally in Mt. 22:41-46 Yeshua himself identifies himself with the “YHWH” at the right hand of “YHWH” in Ps. 110:1-2, 5. (See my blog The Lord said to My Lord – Psalm 110 and the Messiah)

In all of these passages we can clearly see that the Nazarene authors of the Ketuvim, believed in the deity of Messiah and did not hesitate to cite passages from the Tanak that were clearly speaking of YHWH to apply them to the Messiah.

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John Darby and the Pre-Tribulation Rapture

John Darby and the Pre-Tribulation Rapture
By
James Scott Trimm

This was originally a post I made in the “HebRoots” Discussion group in the late 1990’s:

It was John Darby founder of the Plymouth Brethren and creator of
Dispensationalism that greatly popularized the Pre-Trib rapture of the
Church.

During the 1820’s and 1830’s Darby developed a new systematic theology
called “Dispensationalism.” Dispensationalism has since become very
popular in Christendom. It is a fact that Dispenstionalism did not
exist until the nineteenth century. It has no roots in Judaism whatsoever
and did not even exist in Christianity until the 19th century.

Like most 19th century theologians John Darby was an anti-nomian, he
believed that the Law of Moses had passed away at the cross. Darby was
disturbed however with certain problems created by that theology. Darby
noticed that during the seven years of Daniel’s final week the offerings
are being made at the Temple. Since the Law of Moses was clearly being
kept during this seven year tribulation, Darby concluded that the Law comes
back into effect at the beginning of the tribulation. This train of
thought caused Darby to segregate biblical and prophetic history into
compartmentalized ages. Darby theorized an age of Law that ended at the
cross and an age of grace or church age that began at the cross. Then at
the seven year tribulation the age of Law kicks back in and the church age
of grace ends. This created a problem for Darby’s theory. How can the age
of Law return if the Church is still here? Darby saw the age of Law as an
age in which God dealt with Israel and the tribulation as a return to God
dealing with Isarel. So what happens to the Church? Surely the Church
will not leave Grace and come under the Law of Moses. As a result Darby
adopted the idea of a pre-trib rapture. This idea had the Church leave the
earth at the beginning of the tribulation, leaving Israel behind to enter
the tribulation and the age of law’s return. Darby now had another
problem. If the Church is raptured leaving Israel behind, then what about
so-called “Jewish Christians.” Do they get raptured with the Church, or
stay behind with Israel. Darby proposed yet another solution:
Church/Israel dichotomy. This theory taught that a Jew who becomes a
believer in Messiah becomes part of the Church and is no longer part of
Israel. As a result no one can be both a part of the Church and Israel.
Jewish believers, according to this theory, stop being Jews and become part
of the Church of God, which he taught contained people that are not Jews or
gentiles.

Thus the three pillars of Dispensationalism are:

1) The Law is not for today

2) The pre-trib rapture

3) Church Israel dichotomy

Now Messianic Jews cannot accept that the Law is not for today or Church
Israel Dichotomy. The Pre-Trib rapture was only needed because of a belief
that the Law is not for today. The PreTrib rapture does not work without
Church/Israel Dichotomy which was created to solve problems created by a
Pre-Trib rapture. Two of the three pillars which must be present to
support Dispensationalism are noncompatible with Messianic Judaism.
Moreover the only remaining pillar cannot stand alone, it only exists to
solve a problem created by the Law not for today theory, and it cannot
stand without Church/Israel dichotomy. When examined in light of the
truths that Messianic Judaism has, the whole structure of Dispensationalism
comes crashing down. It is a late 19th century invention of Christendom
with NO roots in first century Judaism at all.

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Did Messiah “Become Sin” (2Cor. 5:21)?

Did Messiah “Become Sin” (2Cor. 5:21)?
By
James Scott Trimm

The King James Version of 2Cor. 5:21 reads:

For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

But is this true? Did Messiah become sin?

The truth is that Messiah did not become sin. That very idea runs contrary to who and what the Messiah is. The problem is that the KJV translators were translating from the Greek text of 2Corinthians, which wrongly says that Messiah became “sin” due to the fact that the Greek translator misunderstood the original Hebrew or Aramaic text of this passage.

The Hebrew word for “sin” is חטאת (as in Ex. 28:9; Is. 6:27) however the same word can also refer to a “sin offering” (as in Lev. 6:18, 23) (the same ambiguity exists in Aramaic).

The Greek translator misunderstood this word to mean “sin” rather than “sin offering” and thus wrongly translated the passage, as we read in the KJV and many other versions translated from the Greek, to mean that Messiah “became sin” when the original Hebrew/Aramaic of this verse was actually saying that the Messiah became a “sin offering” for us!

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