Isaiah 53:9 - Buried in a Rich Man's Tomb

 THE CLAIM

The claim by many Christians is that Isaiah 53 prophesied that the messiah would be killed (Matthew 57:50) and then buried in a rich man’s tomb. This is based on Matthew 27:57-60 which reads (KJV):

And when the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus’ disciple;

He went to Pilate and begged the body of Jesus. The Pilate commanded the body to be delivered.

And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth,

And laid it in his own tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed.

There are those who claim that this fulfilled a prophecy in Isaiah 53:9, which says none of this, at least in the Greek and the Hebrew versions (Masoretic and Dead Sea Scroll versions).

ISAHAI 53:9

First, here is the KJV version:

“And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was there any deceit in his mouth.”

The latter half after “BECAUSE” doesn’t make a lot of sense. He was killed and buried because he was non-violent and honest?

Now let’s look at the Greek Version, translated from the Lexham English Septuagint:

“And I will give the wicked in place of his tomb, and the wealthy in place of death, because he committed no lawlessness, and there was no deceit in his mouth.

This makes more sense, that the wicked and the wealth were being killed instead of the protagonist because he, not they, was innocent to be given such a fate.

Now let’s move onto the Hebrew. There is one difference (other than the errors in writing the text) in that the scribe originally wrote “wealthy” in the plural form, and then the pluralization suffix was scrapped away to adjust it to the normal singular. Although, traditionally, even though it is singular, we read it as if it is plural. It’s a small difference. To see images of the scribal problems for this verse, click on this link where I show screen prints of the different issues, none of which are dramatic.

So, here’s a correct translation of the Hebrew (mine):

“And he cast the wicked and the wealthy into his burying place with its dead ones, because he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.”

(Note, I give a 5 minute explanation of why my translation is accurate at this YouTube link).

So, this is definitely not what Matthew is describing at all. There is vengeance by [someone/Someone] against the bad people who, unlike the protagonist, deserved death.

COMMENTARY

There are no capital letters in Hebrew, so “he” or “He” and “his” or “His” don’t indicate if this is a person, a people, or God killing these people, nor do we know if “his grave” refers to the mass grave with all of its dead ones means it belonged to a person, a people, or God (the latter might make it a euphemism for Sheol, the realm of the dead, which is often a biblical euphemism for “being killed”.

But in any case, Matthew does not fulfill the retributional verse of Isaiah 53:9, which is referring to Babylon before it gets decimated (something mentioned by Isaiah and other prophets). And the killing of the wealthy is likely the source for later one, when God tells the protagonist that he gets a share in the physical booty looted.

So, no, the claim that “buried in the tomb of a rich man” is a prophecy and that it was fulfilled is blatantly false.

Here’s the meme used.

 

Psalm 22:16 - Stared Upon

General Overview

Psalm 22 belongs to a category of more than 3 dozen psalms known as “Psalms of Lament”. This type of psalm has 5 elements: addressing God, complaining, asking for help, making a vow of trust, making praises (which often includes demanding that others do so as well). Another important element is that the protagonist doesn’t die, but glorifies God for having heard and being a protector.

I describe more about this and the superscription that many Christian translations leave out (at this link that explains why “piercing” is an ideological force).

The Claim and the Verse

The claim that Jesus was stared at can be found in Luke 23:35 (I will cite the KJV), where it states that Jesus was still alive for a short time after being crucified on the cross, and before he can have a conversation with two other men who were hanging on either side of him we read:

“And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God.”

Notice that, like so many other supposed “fulfilled prophecies”, there’s nothing in the text itself to call this a fulfillment, and so calling it a “prophecy” appears to be a much later forced interpretation. There is a lack of agreement among the classical Christian commentators about those who derided, since it could have been just the Jewish leadership (the Sanhedrin) or the Jews as a whole.

Here’s the verse from Psalm 22:17 that is cited (or 22:18 in the Jewish version, since the superscription isn’t counted as a separate verse within Christian texts):

“I will count all of my bones; they look at me with disdain.”

The expression “I will count my bones” is unclear and there is no universal agreement among classical Jewish commentators as to it’s meaning. One such example is that “Bones” could refer to the protagonist being emaciated and being mocked for that. Others claim that the enemies made his bones become disjointed and was looking at them in his agony (see Ibn Ezra and the Radak).

The Hebrew expression that I translated as “with disdain” implies that the people seeing this are elated at what they are seeing, which is his suffering that is going to be replaced with joy in a couple of later verses as he praises God as the One who will save him from his condition. There’s a similar use of “look at him” in Ezekiel 25:17.

Now, it’s important that we compare the verse from Psalms within its context as opposed to that from Luke.

And unlike the verse from Luke, we see that:

·        The people mocking are not Jews but enemies of the Jews.

·        There are no leaders mentioned.

·        “I will count my bones” has no counterpart in Luke.

·        The protagonist isn’t being killed.

·        The protagonist sees himself surviving this, typical of lamentation songs.

Verdict

Given that Luke never calls “looking at him” the fulfillment of a prophecy, and that it doesn’t address the verse in Psalms in its entirety, and that the people doing the looking are the enemies of the Jews rather than Jews, and because the other four points that I have already mentioned, one cannot call Luke 23:35 a fulfillment of Psalm 22:16/17 without forcing it into an impossible fit.

Yes, Psalm 22:17 has the protagonist being made fun of for having suffered at the hands of the enemy, but how the protagonist in Psalms is suffering and who is doing the seeing and mocking, is completely different than what we see in Luke 23:35.

And here is the meme used:

Psalm 109:25 - People Shook their Heads

There’s a claim that Psalm 109:25 is a prophecy that was fulfilled in Matthew 27:39, when Jesus, already crucified upon his cross, watched his detractors shake their heads at him. Hence the claim: “People shook their heads”.

If this psalm number seems familiar to you, it should, since it was used in a previous claim, that declared that it was a prophecy about Jesus falling beneath a cross that he was carrying, even though there’s no cross, execution, or a condemned man leaving his trial to walk to his final end.

So apparently, one is able to use one “prophecy” to fulfill a number of claims.

And like the previous one, this one too is forced. It is forced so much that an Olympic gymnast would be required to match its contortions to fit the preconceived view.

The text in Matthew 27:39-40 says:

“And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads. And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself if though be the son of God, come down from the cross.”

Let’s look at Psalm 109:25:

“And as for me, I have become a person of disgrace for them, and when they saw me, they shook their head.”

And, as in the earlier claim, this person is not on a cross, is not a criminal, is not going to be executed, is not a messiah. Rather, he is a poor man, impoverished, weak from hunger and his struggles, and is ignored, crying out to God for help (next verse). He represents the downtrodden who is being ignored by others.

Keep in mind, as I have mentioned before, in ancient times it was believed that all misfortune was a chastisement from God, and therefore deserved. And the lack of empathy from such a view should not be surprising. And this Psalm is incorporating that view concerning the poor (the “ahni”) by those who remain indifferent, and declaring that God will be such a person’s salvation.

But it’s not about a crucified messiah where people are basically saying “Where’s your God now?!” In fact, the people in the psalm aren’t saying anything. They notice the poor man, shake their heads, and move on, avoiding him, ending the psalm with:

“Because He stands at the right hand of the needy, and will save him from they who judge him.”

In short, Matthew 27:39 doesn’t fulfill anything in psalm 109:25, which proclaims that God will defend those who are judged by others for His afflictions, a possible reference to “He will afflict they who judge the afflicted.”

Definitely not referring to the crucifixion!

Here's the meme used:

Psalm 38:11 - Friends Stood Afar Off

There is a claim that, in Luke 23:49, where it says:

“And all his acquaintance, and the women who followed him from Galilee, stood afar off, beholding these things.”

Now, what they beheld was the death of Jesus.

There is a claim that this fulfills a Psalm (38:11), where the protagonist’s friends are avoiding him because of his disease.

To understand this, you have to first know how the ancient people viewed disease.

In the Babylonian Talmud (7^th century text), there is an emphasis that all disease and affliction come from sin and that “if not for sin, man wouldn’t die”. Sin was biblically held as the cause of all of one’s pains and suffering.

Psalm 38 is the first of the group of 4 psalms (38-41) where the protagonist admits being a sinner and is seeking forgiveness to relieve himself of disease and affliction. He repeatedly tells God that He knows of his sins and he regrets them, wanting relief from the suffering that He put there to cause the man to repent.

And because of this view of sin causing illness, people keeping their distance is expected. Not simply because you are diseased, but because you deserve what you got, and suffering of the body is a form of repentance.

4. “…nor is there health in my bones due to my sin.”
5. “…for my iniquities are gone over my head…they are too heavy a burden for me.”
6. “My wounds are noisome, they fester, because of my foolishness.”
19. “For I do declare my iniquity, I am full of care because of my sin.”

In short, this is about a person riddled with disease because of his sins, and wants his suffering to go away and is willing to repent.

So, if someone cites psalms 38-41 as being a prophecy of anything doing with Jesus, you can immediately discount that claim as utter nonsense.

Here’s the meme used.

Psalm 69:5 - Hated Without a Cause

The Claim Referring to John

The claim is that John 15:25 fulfilled a prophecy written in Psalm 69:4. In order to understand how problematic this claim is, let’s first look at the KJV text of John 15:24-35:

“If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin, but now they have both seen and hated both me and my Father.

But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.”

It should be noted that “they” is referring to the Jews. The Gospel of John refers to the religious Jews negatively more than any other Gospel. To him, they are a hateful people who are to be replaced, and, therefore, their hat fulfills a tiny segment of a song that is about Jews, collectively in Babylon, complaining about their life there, narrated in the first-person, and how the people who hate them call them thieves and mock them, and hate them.

The verse in Psalm 69.

Remember, there is no verse anywhere in the Tanach that says that the Jews will hate the messiah and seek to annihilate him. That is solely the view of the writers of the New Testament. Think about it rationally: what would be the point in writing such a song and then maintaining it for centuries when the core message of the prophets was that the Jews will desire and yearn for them messiah who will get them out of their mess?

Now, many psalms begin with what is known as a “superscription”, which often contains an idea of the theme of the song. Many Cristian translations will either drop the superscription in some cases, or will join them to the second verse, thus causing the numbering to differ from the traditional Hebrew versions. So in the Christian numbering, the verse 69:4 is being referenced, but maps back to verse 69:5 in the Hebrew text.

Now the superscription “To He who grants victory concerning roses” (or some “for the conductor, about roses”), has a lot of room for interpretation. Many imply that “roses” are reflected in the verse in that they are desirable, want to be plucked, and have an inherent protection (thorns) that can make it difficult. However you want to interpret it, the idea does seem to be a positive implication.

And here is the verse in question about those hateful Jews that John was referring to:

“Those who hate me for no reason outnumber the hairs on my head: it is they who would annihilate me, being my lying enemies, claiming I robbed and I should return what I stole.”

Nowhere in John 15 is the wrongful claim made by the Jews that Jesus was a robber and must return what he stole. That is, of course, the verse that is being referred to, a verse that has the nation who are holding the Jews captive, saying this about the Jews, and not the Jews saying this about a messiah that they are yearning for to get them out of that exile.

In fact, the very next line, after “they have me and lie about me” has the person admit that he has sinned, and that his sins are not hidden from God.

So, again, this does not refer to the sinless and innocent Jesus being mentioned by John.

Conclusion

John’s claim that the hateful Jews hating their messiah was foretold in song is a forced claim that takes two Hebrew words out of 14 to make it seem so, until one actually reads the rest of the words, and considers the context.

So, was the Jews hating a messiah a fulfilled prophecy?

No according to the Tanach. So, it’s a failed “prophecy”.

And here’s the meme used.

 

 

 

 

 

Isaiah 53:3 - Rejected by his own Countrymen

 The claim is based on two verses from John. Here are the KJV versions:

 John 7:5 - "For neither did his brethren believe in him."

 John 7:48 - "Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him?"

Now, the claim is that this was a fulfillment of Isaiah 53:3. Here is the KJV version:

"He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

There are two problems with this association.

The first is the assumption that the Pharisees are the ones voicing their views, when we read later (verse 12) that the protagonist was one and the same with the pesha'im (Jews who ignored or rebelled against the prophets).

The second is that it's based on a very bad translation.

Here's mine:

"He was despised and abandoned by men, a man of pains who was no stranger to sickness; and like one who hides one's face from us, he was despised and worthless."

Here's the Dead Sea Scrolls version:

"He was despised and abandoned by men, and a man of pains who was no stranger to sickness; and like one who is caused to hide one's face from us, they were despised and worthless."

This one is interesting in that it makes the protagonist as representing the exiled Jews as a whole. But still, they are hiding their face, not the faces being hidden from them.

Finally, the Greek version, from "The Lexham English Septuagint":

"Instead his appearance was dishonored and was coming to an end among the sons of humans, a human who is in misfortune and knows how to bear sickness, for his face had been turned back; he was dishonored and not esteemed."

 So, the belief that Jesus being rejected by some in the Gospel stories was predicted in Isaiah 53:3 was a forced view dependent upon bad (or ideologically driven) translations.

We have seen this before. And we'll see it again.

Here's the meme used:

 

 

Isaiah 53:12 - Made Intercession for his Persecutors

Introduction

Note: Half of this post appears in a different blog post concerning the supposed prophecy about being crucified between a pair of thieves. That means that about half of this post is unique and new.

This blog post has a focus on a portion of Isaiah 53:12, and as a result, a lot of detail concerning this song is going to be omitted for the sake of brevity. When writing about Isaiah 53 in general, it took me 43 pages in MS-Word to describe the history and language to my satisfaction, and that won’t work in a short blog post. So, to be brief, let’s begin looking at Isaiah 53:12.

Quick Overview of Isaiah 53

The book of Isaiah is generally broken down into three sections, which we will call “Proto Isaiah”, “Deutero-Isaiah”, and “Trito-Isaiah”.

Isaiah 53 is near the end of “Deutero-Isaiah”, which consists of chapters 40-55. The entirety of Deutero-Isaiah covers the period when the Jewish people were in exile in Babylon, and will sometimes backward reference for the reason for that exile. Chapter 53 is in the style of a Biblical song, a narrative with rhyme, metaphor, and cadence, and, being near the end of Deutero-Isaiah is recapping what came before and celebrating the end of the exile.

There is a general theme that runs through many of the books of the prophets and writings (referred to as “Nach”) which is that the Jews got what they deserved, and that their exile to Babylon will have a fixed duration, that God (or His servant leading an army) will wipe out Babylon, killing all of the evil people and the wealthy, turn Babylon into a wasteland, and the Jews will gather up the booty from the dead rich Babylonians and rush to Jerusalem where they will return to God (literally and metaphorically), and a return to glory.

And chapter 53, being close to the end of that timeline celebrates the end, and so I call it Isaiah’s “Song of Salvation”, where “salvation” means the redemption from forced exile.

There are, generally, two ways that this song is read. The first, as I stated, was it being messianic in the way that there will be freedom and a reestablishment of Jewish dominance in the land. The other way, which is how Christians hold it, is that it’s messiah-centric, and that it’s not about how the Jews suffered, but how the messiah, many centuries after the fall of Babylon, would suffer.

And that brings us to the last verse in what is near the end of the Babylonian period narrative texts, which Christians see as referring to Jesus’ last day on earth, as they do with most of Isaiah 53, which requires some interesting mental gymnastics in order to make that work.

The Claim

There is one claim that says that Luke 23:34, a verse that describes Jesus as asking God to forgive the people who harmed him, fulfills a prophecy in Isaiah 53:12. Amazingly enough, Jesus didn’t have to die for God to forgive the sins of mankind.

Here is Luke 23:34 (KJV):

“Then said Jesus, Father forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment and cast lots.”

It should be noted that Isaiah 53:12 does not have the protagonist telling God to forgive anyone, saying that his abusers didn’t know what they were doing, nor does it contain any word referring to “intercession”.

As we have already seen in the many posts that I have already written about the subject, in order to get a prophecy to “work”, the verse being assigned as a “fulfillment” is typically chopped up with some of it ignored entirely, especially when it is contrary to the claim. In this case, selecting 3 Hebrew words out of a verse composed of 22 words to make a case for a “fulfillment”.

So here is the KJV version of Isaiah 53:12, with me highlighting in bold the supposed “intercession prophecy”:

               Therefore, I will divide him a portion with the great,
               and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because
               he hath poured out his soul unto death;
               and he was numbered with the transgressors;
               and he bare the sin of the many,
               and made intercession for the transgressors.

But let’s look at the version based on the Hebrew text. I will put in brackets any variance that is found in the Dead Sea Scroll that contains this same verse.

               Therefore, I will divide him a portion with the many,
               and a plunder of great ones he will share, because
               he had publicly exposed himself to death;
               And he had been one with the pesha’im,
               and he tolerated the sin[s] of many,
               it was due to [her] pesha’im that he was harmed.

As you can see, there’s no intercession. And it says that the protagonist was one of the pesha’im, and it was his association with them (rebelling against the prophet) that caused him to be harmed by being in exile with them.

Pesha’im

What were these pesha’im?

The Hebrew word used is “פשע” (“pesha” - the singular form), or “פשעים” (“pesha’im” - the plural form).  The prophets use this term of a personal condemnation of the Jews who were being disobedient to the prophets and, by extension, to YHVH. In Isaiah, as we will see below, when it is speaking of people, pesha’im only refers to the exiled Israelites as a whole who were in exile specifically because they didn’t listen and obey the prophets of YHVH. When it is speaking of actions, it is referring to the rebellious actions of the Jewish people, of disobeying the prophet. And when one goes against a prophet, one goes against YHVH.

Turning away from pesha is to obey the prophet. Being cast out because of your pesha is to ignore the prophet. And YHVH wiping away one’s pesha with is a statement of being forgiven through the prophet. So, translating pesha as a sin as if it is the same as a cheit is inadequate to the task. Therw is always a disobedience and rebellion against a prophet being referred to, and YHVH always takes that personally.

We see this throughout Isaiah as in:

1:2 – “…they [Israel] have pesha (פשע) against Me!”
1:28 – “But the pesha’mi and the sinners shall be crushed…”
24:20 – “…her pesha shall weigh her down…”
43:25 – “But it is I, I, for My own sake, wipe away your pesha’im…
43:27 – “Your first patriarchs sinned against Me, and your advocates pesha against me.”
44:22 –“I wipe away you peshaim like a cloud…”
46:8 – “Keep this in mind and stand firm, take this to heart you pesha’im.”
48:8 – “…you were called a pesha while in the womb.”
50:1 – “…for your pesha I have sold you off…”
53:5 – “But he was harmed because of our pesha…”
53:12 “…and he was one of the pesha’im (disobedient)…
53:12 – “…and it was due to pesha’im he was harmed.”
53:8 – “…through the pesha of my people he was afflicted.”
59:20 – “[YHVH] will come as the redeemer to Zion, to those in Jacob who torn away from pesha.”
57:4 – “…you are children of a pesha, the seed of a lie.”
58:1 “…declare to My people their pesha”
59:12 – “For you many pesha’im are before you…we know well your pesha’im.”
59:13 – “pesha and faithlessness in YHVH and turning away from our God…”
66:24 – “They shall go out and gaze upon the corpses of those who rebelled (pesha) against Me…”

Summary

Isaiah 53:12 does not say that the messiah will intercede on behalf of his abusers. In fact, the protagonist’s abusers are all killed off in verse 9.

Also, this verse begins by the Prophet promising that YHVH is going to give the loot, the booty that belonged to the wealthy ones who were killed in the defeating of Babylon in verse 9, as well as the abusers of the protagonist. The protagonist is reminded that he too is one of the pesha’im who deserved what he got for not listening to the prophets, but since he endured his punishment without complaint, he will benefit.

Here is the meme used:

Isaiah 53:12 - Crucified with Thieves

Introduction

This blog post has a focus on a portion of Isaiah 53:12, and as a result, a lot of detail concerning this song is going to be omitted for the sake of brevity. When writing about Isaiah 53 in general, it took me 43 pages in MS-Word to describe the history and language to my satisfaction, and that won’t work in a short blog post. So, to be brief, let’s begin looking at Isaiah 53:12.

Quick Overview of Isaiah 53

The book of Isaiah is generally broken down into three sections, which we will call “Proto Isaiah”, “Deutero-Isaiah”, and “Trito-Isaiah”.

Isaiah 53 is near the end of “Deutero-Isaiah”, which consists of chapters 40-55. The entirety of Deutero-Isaiah covers the period when the Jewish people were in exile in Babylon, and will sometimes backward reference for the reason for that exile. Chapter 53 is in the style of a Biblical song, a narrative with rhyme, metaphor, and cadence, and, being near the end of Deutero-Isaiah is recapping what came before and celebrating the end of the exile.

There is a general theme that runs through many of the books of the prophets and writings (referred to as “Nach”) which is that the Jews got what they deserved, and that their exile to Babylon will have a fixed duration, that God (or His servant leading an army) will wipe out Babylon, killing all of the evil people and the wealthy, turn Babylon into a wasteland, and the Jews will gather up the booty from the dead rich Babylonians and rush to Jerusalem where they will return to God (literally and metaphorically), and a return to glory.

And chapter 53, being close to the end of that timeline celebrates the end, and so I call it Isaiah’s “Song of Salvation”, where “salvation” means the redemption from forced exile.

There are, generally, two ways that this song is read. The first, as I stated, was it being messianic in the way that there will be freedom and a reestablishment of Jewish dominance in the land. The other way, which is how Christians hold it, is that it’s messiah-centric, and that it’s not about how the Jews suffered, but how the messiah, many centuries after the fall of Babylon, would suffer.

And that brings us to the last verse in what is near the end of the Babylonian period narrative texts, which Christians see as referring to Jesus’ last day on earth, as they do with most of Isaiah 53, which requires some interesting mental gymnastics in order to make that work.

The Claim

There is one claim that says that Matthew 27:38, a verse that describes Jesus being crucified between two thieves, fulfills a prophecy in Isaiah 53:12.

Here is Matthew 27:38 (KJV):

“Then there were two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand and the other on the left.”

It should be noted that Isaiah 53:12 does not contain the words “two”, “thieves”, “crucified”, “right hand”, or “left hand”. There is a mention of a number of “transgressors” and that the protagonist was counted as one of them, and everyone who suffered deserved what they got, but now, at the end of this song, they would receive financial restitution.

As we have already seen in the many posts that I have already written about the subject, in order to get a prophecy to “work”, the verse being assigned as a “fulfillment” is typically chopped up with some of it ignored entirely, especially when it is contrary to the claim. In this case, selecting 3 Hebrew words out of a verse composed of 22 words to make a case for a “fulfillment”.

The prior verse ended with acknowledging that the protagonist suffered at the hands of his tormentors, which leads us into verse 12. I will use the KJV translation for now and will emphasize wit bold what was translated from the three Hebrew words. I will also italicize to portion often ignored:

               Therefore, I will divide him a portion with the great,
               and he shall divide the spoil with the strong;

               because…

                              he hath poured out his soul unto death;
                              and he was numbered with the transgressors;
                              and he bare the sin of the many,
                              and made intercession for the transgressors.

The verse is broken in half, where the first half is “here is your reward” followed by the second half which is “this is why you are being rewarded”.

It should be noted that there is no “intercession” in the actual Hebrew, which I will address in another post dealing with that claim.

If you look in the italicized portion, you will see the KJV used “spoil”. The Hebrew is שלל, which means the “booty” or “plunder” taken, usually in a military operation. Remember, this is YHVH talking and in a present tense speaking of what he is going to do, which is to take the plunder from the killing of the wealthy and defeating of the people that we read in verse 53:9 “And he cast the evil-doers and the wealthy into his grave with all of its dead ones…”. And while Christian translations have the protagonist being killed instead, it’s clear that YHVH is talking to a live protagonist and promising him and his people their share in the booty that was looted several verses earlier. It certainly isn’t speaking about a dead messiah who will one day come back and then get his share in the booty from the Babylonians.

Now what about the bold type 3-word segment?

Being Numbered

The Hebrew word נמנה means to belong to, to be part of, to be one of a collective. In other words, rather than “he was numbered with the transgressors”, a better reading would be “he was one of the transgressors.” Don’t read this as if he was an innocent and was literally “hanging” out with criminals, but that he acted and was treated as one because he was one.

Transgressors

We don’t know how many transgressors are being referred to here. With a Babylonian timeline, we are talking about all of the Israelites in exile, so many thousands, who, according to the prophets, deserved their fate for their crime of lacking faith and disobedience.

This seems to be supported by the view of the scribe of the DSS version of the text who speaks of “her transgressors”, rather than just “transgressors”, where “her” is often used to refer to Jerusalem and Israel as a whole.

But what were these transgressors?

The Hebrew word used is “פשע” (“pesha” - the singular form), or “פשעים” (“pesha’im” - the plural form).  The prophets use this term of a personal condemnation of the Jews who were being disobedient them, and therefore, by extension, to YHVH. In Isaiah, as we will see below, when it is speaking of people, it only refers to the exiled Israelites as a whole. When it is speaking of actions, it is referring to the rebellious actions of the Jewish people, of disobeying the prophet. And when one goes against a prophet, on goes against YHVH.

Turning away from pesha is to obey the prophet. Being cast out because of your pesha is to ignore the prophet. And YHVH wiping away one’s pesha with is a statement of being forgiven through the prophet. So, translating pesha as a sin as if it is the same as a cheit is inadequate to the task. Therw is always a disobedience and rebellion against a prophet being referred to, and YHVH always takes that personally.

We see this throughout Isaiah as in:

1:2 – “…they [Israel] have pesha (פשע) against Me!”
1:28 – “But the pesha’mi and the sinners shall be crushed…”
24:20 – “…her pesha shall weigh her down…”
43:25 – “But it is I, I, for My own sake, wipe away your pesha’im…
43:27 – “Your first patriarchs sinned against Me, and your advocates pesha against me.”
44:22 –“I wipe away you peshaim like a cloud…”
46:8 – “Keep this in mind and stand firm, take this to heart you pesha’im.”
48:8 – “…you were called a pesha while in the womb.”
50:1 – “…for your pesha I have sold you off…”
53:5 – “But he was harmed because of our pesha…”
53:12 “…and he was one of the pesha’im (disobedient)…
53:12 – “…and it was due to pesha’im he was harmed.”
53:8 – “…through the pesha of my people he was afflicted.”
59:20 – “[YHVH] will come as the redeemer to Zion, to those in Jacob who torn away from pesha.”
57:4 – “…you are children of a pesha, the seed of a lie.”
58:1 “…declare to My people their pesha”
59:12 – “For you many pesha’im are before you…we know well your pesha’im.”
59:13 – “pesha and faithlessness in YHVH and turning away from our God…”
66:24 – “They shall go out and gaze upon the corpses of those who rebelled (pesha) against Me…”

Summary

Isaiah 53:12 does not say that the messiah will be hung between two thieves, one to his left, and one to his right. In fact, it doesn’t mention thievery, but the Jews as a who were in rebellion against YHVH, through not obeying His prophets, which is why they were exiled to Babylon in the first place. It doesn’t speak of a pair of thieves, since a thievery is a cheit, not a pesha. And pesha in Isaiah never is talking about two, but a very large amount, whether it is singular or plural. (Note: the style of Isaiah is to often use singular where it means plural and plural where it means singular. It’s the style of the text.)

Also, this verse begins by the Prophet promising that YHVH is going to give the loot, the booty that the wealthy ones who were killed in the defeating of Babylon in verse 9. So obviously he didn’t die on a cross between two thieves. In fact, the protagonist is reminded that he too is one of the pesha’im who deserved what he got for not listening to the prophets, but since he endured his punishment without complaint, he will benefit.

Here is the meme used: 

Psalm 22:16 - Hands and Feet Pierced

General Overview

Psalm 22 belongs to a category of more than 3 dozen psalms known as “Psalms of Lament”. This type of psalm has 5 elements: addressing God, complaining, asking for help, making a vow of trust, making praises (which often includes demanding that others do so as well). Another important element is that the protagonist doesn’t die, but glorifies God for having heard and being a protector.

Superscriptions

A great many psalms begin with a superscription, a sentence that is often an introduction or a simple idea. In Jewish versions, this superscription is treated as a separate verse, and so is always treated as “verse 1”, with the song that follows is considered to be “verse 2”. In Christian translations of the text, the superscription is treated as an extension of the song, and so the superscription as well as the first verse are jointly specified as “verse 1”, which results in Jewish and Christian versions of many Psalms often being off by a count of 1.

Psalm 22, however, is different because a great many Christian versions of the text that drop the superscription for this psalm altogether, which is odd. This is true of the ESV, the KJV, NASB, NIV, NLT, NRS, and many others. Later versions of some translations (e.g., the NKJV) sometimes include the superscription.

The Tone of this Song

Our superscription begins with “למנצח” which is often translated as “For the conductor, leader, chief musician, choirmaster, overseer”. The Hebrew can also refer to a “champion, victor, winner”.

The next word “על” means “concerning, about”.

And the next expression describes the song in general: “אילת השחר”, pronounced “ayelet hashachar”. Now, “hashachar” means “the dawn”, as in the end of darkness and coming into a new day, with the emanation of light beginning to show. The modifier “ayalelt” is used elsewhere as an expression of beauty and glory. And there is no lack of interpretations as to what it may refer to. There’s a kabbalistic commentary on “Song of Songs” called “ayelet ahavim (“ahavim” is “love”, in the plural form)”.

Since there’s no absolute certainty what the exact intent of applying “ayelet” to “dawn”, we will just accept that it’s a positive application that inspires someone who sees it, and leave it at that (it is never used in a negative sense).

 I bring this up because this title of “a dawn of ayelet” represents the entirety of Psalm 22 perfectly, since it begins with an utter darkness (“My God, why have you deserted me?!”), and after a few verses there’s a small glimmer of hope. Eventually, the singer declares “He [God] has heard [me]!” and the lightness of the song gets stronger, with the last third of the song full of praises.

So, if you go into this song with the understanding that it’s a “Song of Lament” which ends with the protagonist praising God, it takes on a different color than holding that someone’s going to die in it.

Is This a Messianic Song?

The short answer is: “Yes”.

But not in the way that many Christians hold it as such.

There are a number of songs, such as this one, which echo the cries of the Jews who were in exile in Babylon. Look at Psalms 14 and 53 that begins with “… God isn’t here!”, echoing the frustration and disappointment that Psalm 22 also begins with: “Why have you abandoned me?!” And like those songs, the realization that God has not abandoned those claims otherwise dawns upon them who wait for His salvation and redemption from the heart of enemy territory.

Piercing

In Psalm 22:16 (or 22:17 in the Hebrew version), there’s a sentence that Christian translations will generally say something like “My enemies are piercing my hands and feet.” And the general view by Christians is that this refers to being crucified.

Several problems with this view are:

             Crucifixion wasn’t known to the singer, who was likely a resident of Babylon.

The Masoretic Text (MT) uses “like a lion” instead of “pierced”. That version is a bit grammatically clumsy, but then, there is no lack of clumsy verses. Some hold that the last letter was in error, and there are many examples where the letter “yud” and the letter “vav” are incorrectly used, using a “yud” where it should be a “vav” and visa verse.

               The Greek version of the text (LXX) uses a verb meaning “to dig into the dirt” or “to excavate from the dirt”, and not “pierce. It is used in the Torah several times when there is well digging going on. One example is Genesis 26:32 which uses ὤρυξαν just as Psalm 22 does. However, many have incorrectly interpreted this as “piercing the ground” so “piercing the hands and feet” because of a forced ambiguity.

               The Dead Sea Scroll (DSS) version puts that ambiguity to rest, because it used a Hebrew word that can only mean “to dig/excavate the earth” everywhere it is used. And so, “A company of evil-doers encompass me, my hands and feet are digging out of the earth”. This fits with the previous verse where the protagonist has been case into “the dust of the dead”, and he is now digging his way out.

I took the image of the scrap found, upscaled it as best I could, adjusted the contrast and brightness, played with the colors, and was able to see what was written there. (See the images at the end of this post.) The scribe wasn’t the best, poor penmanship and application of ink, and he even made a typo, having it as “HER hands and feet”, but it is interesting to see that “hands and feed digging into/out-from the earth” which seems to indicate that this DSS scrap was using the same/similar vorlage as the LXX.

So, the only place where we find “pierced” is in the Christian translations, in a text that was ignorant of crucifixions and where the protagonist isn’t killed, as is the case of all Lamentation Songs.

Did Jesus get thrown into the dust of the dead, a grave? And did he claw his way out?

Not according to the Gospels.

Does Psalm 22 contain the word “pierced”?

No.

Conclusion

I could, of course, go into greater detail and even write a book-length explanation to point out a lot of things that I didn’t include here for the sake of brevity. But I won’t, and hopefully what I did type was useful. If there is something that needs more explanation in your opinion, let me know and I will make minor updates to this post.

But, suffice to say, Psalm 22 is about hope and delight as the oppressed in Babylon came from their world of darkness, to a dawn of a new day, where light shone on their hopeful faces.

Here is the meme used:

 Here is the enhanced DSS image. Keep in mind that this scrap is about the size of a thumb. The lighter colored letters are "best guess" letters as compared to the bright white letters. Even though I originally wrote "dug into the ground", a better use would be "dug the ground" which could infer digging in or out. The verb כרו always implies "ground", which is why I include "ground" in the translation.

"and feet" is in brackets because that part of the leather is missing as is most of the song.

 

 

 

 

 

Psalm 109:24-25 - Fell Under the Cross

The claim is that John 19:17 fulfills what was written in Psalm 109:24-25. 

That is, until, one reads these different verses.

First, the KJV version of John 19:17:

"And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha;

So, to summarize, Jesus is carrying a cross, and going to his death. There's no indication if he is weak or hungry.

And now, Psalm 109:24-25:

"My knees are weak through fasting, and my flesh is lean and without any fat. And I have become a target of abuse from them, and when they see me they shake their head."

In context, if you go back to verse 22, the protagonist defines himself as a poor person, bereft of sustenance, and in need, but is ignored. Here, it says he is weak from hunger, gaunt. He is not carrying anything, nor is he going to his death, with the final verse praising God who will provide for the needy.

These are two different narratives that have no relationship to one another.

Jesus wasn't poor and starving and lacking anything, based on the stories. And the protagonist wasn't carrying a cross and going to the "place of a skull", and to his death.

No.

Trying to associate one to the other is nothing more than forced apologetics.

So Jesus failed to "fulfill" the verses that have nothing to do with a messiah, nor an execution.

Here's the associated meme:

Psalm 22:7-8 - Mocked

 There is this claim that the mocking that takes place in Matthew 27:29 directly fulfills a prophecy noted in Psalm 22:7-8 (Christian numbering, or 8-9 for Masoretic numbering).

So let's look at Matthew 27:29 (KJV):

"And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews."

And lets compare that to the two verses in Psalm 22:

"And all who see me deride me, their words slip out by the lip, shoot it out from the lip, their head shake, [saying]: 'Let him commit himself to YHVH, let [YHVH] rescue him! Let [YHVH] deliver him, seeing that [YHVH] delights in him!'"

Now note the differences:

1. The NT has a crown of thorns made and pressed into Jesus' head, but not in Psalm 22.
2. The NT has a fake scepter put into his head, where this doesn't occur in Psalm 22.
3. The NT has the mockers on bended knee and bowing, which doesn't occur in Psalm 22.
4. The NT has the mockers calling Jesus "King of the Jews", but not in Psalm 22.
5. Psalm 22 has the mockers basically saying "Where's your God now?!" but not in the NT.

And while the NT version is certainly a type of schoolyard mockery, playacting their view that the man was a fool who saw himself as king, and pretending to exalt him. In contrast, the version in Psalms is derisive, where it has nothing to do with him believing that he is a king, but that he believes that God will save him, which is not an idea found in the NT.

So, in short, there is no apples-to-apples comparison between the two verses in Psalm 22 and the one verse in Matthew. The details, the context, and the very tenor of the verses make them non-equivalent.

Trying to connect the two diverse narrations is an apologetical force.

So, no, Jesus and his enemies did not "fulfill" the song of Babylonian exile, which is Psalm 22.

Here's the meme:

 

Isaiah 50:6 - Smitten and Spit Upon

ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

In Matthew 26:67, we are told that before Jesus went to see Pilate, he stood before the High Priest and was condemned by him and the audience shouted to have Jesus executed. And (KJV):

“Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands”

So, they spat at him, pounded him with their fists, or with the flat of their hands.

This is before he goes to Pilate and then gets whipped.

ACCORDING TO ISAIAH

The claim here is that the spitting and whacking fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah 50:6 which says:

“I offer my back to the floggers, and my cheeks to those who tore out my [facial] hair, I did not hide my face from insult and spittle.”

To say that the story in Matthew matches this one is to be creative in one’s interpretation that Matthew was talking about flogging and beard tearing. OK, we do have being spat at and insulted.

ANALYSIS

But the verse in Isaiah is not about a protagonist who is purely passive about this.

In the verses leading up to this we have:

               1-3: God saying that he had never abandoned him (contrary to Matthew 27:46)
               4-5: The protagonist declaring how he will trust God in all things even when…
               6: “I offer my back to the floggers…”
               7-10: God will help me out of all of this. Always trust Him.
              

But it is the final verse of this which is the clincher. It is the protagonist that anyone who has tried to harm him, that person is going to be killed in a painful way, by the protagonists’ own hand. As if to say “Yeah, I trust God, and I will expose myself to their abuses. But you know what? Their mockery will be short lived because I AM GOING TO KILL THEM, PAINFULLY, BY MY OWN HAND!” (verse 11).

CONCLUSION

No, this verse is not about a prophecy of being spat at. It’s a promise of retaliating with deadly force against any who have the temerity to do so.

Definitely not about Jesus.

Meme used:

 

Isaiah 53:5 - Wounded and Bruised

ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

In Matthew 27:26, we are told that Jesus was flogged and then sent off to eventually be crucified and there is a claim that this was prophesied in Isaiah 53:5.

The verse in question will vary, depending on which translation that you see. Some tweak the verse in Isaiah to reflect the Jesus story in Matthew a lot better.

KJV: “But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities, upon him was a chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes, we are healed.

Words not found in the Hebrew text: “wounded”, “for our”, “stripes”, “brought us”.

Some versions, such as the NIV, NLT, NASB, and so forth will replace “wounded” with “pierced”, which also isn’t in the Hebrew text. In fact, as I respond to many of the claims which cite a piercing for other Tanach verses, I see this one word misapplied almost more than any other.

Greek: “But he was weakened by abuse because of our sins, and he became weakened because of our lawless acts. The discipline of our peace was upon him. By his bruise we were healed.”

Now, the Greek version doesn’t even try to identify the two types of harm, but simply translates both as “weakened”, which isn’t bad, but also weakens the text. It does reflect the Masoretic text (MT) by using “bruise” and using the singular form. It also correctly reflects the MT by writing “abuse” in the singular.

The important difference from the English is that it correctly used “because of”, in reference to the sinful behavior. The punishment was not to cleanse away the sins, as is part of the Christian ideology, by it was the sinful behavior, the attacking and harming, which was causing the suffering. While I am not excited by the interpretive translation overall, it is certainly much better than the English ones.

The Dead Sea Scroll (DSS) version has a few differences from the MT, which are interesting. It pluralizes “bruise” and “wrongdoing” and inserts an “and” in a couple of places to aid in the flow of the text:

“But he was harmed through our wrongdoings and emotionally crushed through our wicked behaviors and his mussar was our peace and with his bruises is was a healing for us.”

Now, before I can explain about the Biblical Hebrew word “mussar”, let’s look at the Biblical view of suffering altogether.

BELIEF ABOUT SUFFERING

There are a number of views on the idea of suffering, and many of these are based on Leviticus 26:14-41, which lists all of the curses by God to those who don’t follow every one of his commandments. And out of that, there’s a Talmudic debate (Shabbat 56a) that says that if it were not for sinning, one would never get sick or die, that both of those experiences are a result of sin. And the application of God harming others who sin is often associated with the verb “מוסר”, which I will explain below. It is worth noting that whenever someone in the Tanach is killed by God, apologists will explain why he must have deserved it even though the text is silent as to why, which is reflecting this view of God giving mussar to the sinful, to turn them back. And it is from this view that the Rabbis created a blessing that a religious Jew recites upon seeing a deformed person or hearing news about a death, calling God “the true Judge”, meaning, “He must have had His reasons, and the person deserved it.”

Keep in mind that Isaiah was not written with chapter and verse numbers. While there are indicators for where a new though begins, which is often, but not necessarily, where a chapter will start (Isaiah 53 has such an indicator, even in the DSS), verse breaks aren’t so easily noticed and Isaiah 53 has almost no gaps, and we can clearly see that in the Great Isaiah Scroll from the Dead Sea archives.

I bring this up because in order to gain a better understanding of Isaiah 53:5 which most translations begin with “BUT”, it’s important to look at the second half of verse 4 which explains the use of the “BUT” (which is really a “ו” and could also be “And”, “Or”, “Furthermore”, etc.

ISAIAH 53:4b

“We accounted that his having been infected, beaten, and abused, was from God”

Prior to this verse (verse 1), the name “YHVH” was used and, in context, referred to a redeeming God. In this verse we see that the name “Elohim” is being used. Very often, when this type of name change takes place, especially in songs, it is referring to a more hardened nature of the Deity in His role as Divine Judge. It isn’t perfectly clear who the “We” are at the beginning of this second segment of verse 4, but whoever they are, they understood that if the person had been sick and was suffering from inflicted pains, then all of these things were from God, and so obviously the protagonist deserved it.

The style of this segment makes it appear that this has been going on for some time, and this “we” is the same “we” in the next verse, then it’s not just mussar from God, but He had help.

CONTINUING INTO ISAIAH 53:5a

And this is where Isaiah 53:5 begins with a single letter as a continuation. I will paraphrase for simplification, but will translate more exactly later on:

“But it wasn’t just God who harmed him, but we did that through our evil actions. And it wasn’t just God who caused him emotional distress, but our sinful actions against him did that.”

So, this verse isn’t about “He will be tortured”, but, rather:

“The sinful protagonist was stricken by God. And God permitted the evil people to commit their own sinful acts against the sick and hurting individual. Those evil actions that will be repaid in verse 9 where it says “and He will cast the evil doers and the wealthy into his grave with all of its dead ones…”.

WOUNDED OR PIERCED?

Now it should be noted that I never said that he had been “wounded” or “pierced”. That’s because the word for “wounded” or “pierced” isn’t in the Hebrew or Greek editions of this verse, even though “wounded” and “pierced” is in a number of translations. The verb used in the Hebrew text is מחולל and this verb isn’t used elsewhere. There is a noun with the same root “חלל” used in Deuteronomy 21:1 where it speaks of the slain person discovered between two communities and nobody knows how he got there or who did it.

So, it “could” mean “assassinated” as Ibn Ezra holds or my choice, “grievous harm”. “Wounded” implies an injury of no specific strength and is easily applied to generically. And “pierced” is just pushing a verb into the verse to make it work with the Jesus story

CRUSHED

The Hebrew word דכא has two types of meanings. “Crushed” as used in Psalm 143:3 “he has crushed my life” and Psalm 72:4 “may he crush the oppressor”. But another use of the term is as a synonym for “contrite”, which works well here for the idea of one being punished for his sins being emotionally crushed and feeling remorse. We see this in Isaiah 57:15 where it means “contrite and humble” and Psalm 90:3 “a contrite man turns”.

So, I chose “emotionally crushed” out of preference because it seems to fit much better than simply “crushed”.

As we move past the first half of this verse, it’s important that I explain another Biblical Hebrew word, “mussar”.

WHAT IS MUSSAR

Mussar (מוסר) in the Tanach is the act of providing corporal punishment in order to change someone’s undesirable (sinful) behavior, to send them a message (מסר) to shape up. The first appearance is in Deuteronomy 11:2 when Moses explains how God gave mussar to those in Egypt with His mighty hand and outstretched arm by way of the plagues that afflicted them. It appears 51 times in the Tanach, and more than half of those in Proverbs. It carries a connotation of Torah-based ethical instructions (as indicated in Leviticus 26:14-41) of having been violated.

There was this belief by the ancient sages that if someone was suffering of, say, a painful illness, that it was God’s mussar, and before praying for a healing, they would ask the person if he was getting any benefit from the mussar, and, if not, would he like it to go away?

We read a view of this in Proverbs 3:11 where it says:

“Do not reject the mussar of YHVH, my son. Do not abhor His affliction/punishment.

In other words, accept the pain given to you by God and make changes to your life to stop it. There are cases where mussar is applied by a father, representing God, to his son. In Proverbs 13:24 we read:

[A father] who withholds his switch [for striking], hates his son. And [a father] who loves his does mussar early (meaning, uses the switch to strike).

Mussar is painful experiences inflicted to cause one to change one’s ways, to become more observant and fearful of Divine (or parental) retribution, in order to turn away from sin.

Other equally valid translations are: Corrective punishment, disciplinary action, moral correction, behavioral correction, restorative punishment.

It’s clear from Isaiah 53:4-5, that the protagonist is not only suffering from God, but by the will of God, as a form of mussar to correct his behavior. The word is in the Hebrew text, but what it implies is watered down with terms like “chastisement” and “disciplined” which doesn’t really cry out “because God decreed that he deserved it” like “mussar” does.

PARALLELISMS

The last segment is a difficult read because it doesn’t really flow well.

That’s because it is listing two pairs of opposites to end the verse to give the differences between the protagonist and his God-approved abusers. You have mussar opposing shalom, and bruise[s] (where one needs a healing) as compared to “a healing for us”. It’s a poetic use that also includes a repetition of the sound “nu” in each segment.

There are those who want to interpret this part of the song as cause and effect, as in “the painful chastisement of the sinner causes peace, and his bruise[s] or contusion[s] causes a healing. While forced, I have seen this appear a lot by both Christian and Jewish commentators. It pushes meaning into the song, which ignores that it’s a song.

CONCLUSION

The person suffering is not an innocent, but has sinned and God has caused his past illnesses and pains while He permits the evil-doers to add to that with their own application of harming.

Isaiah 53:5 is not talking about Jesus, unless you want to referred to a verse in Matthew where Jesus is purging his own personal sins. And the wording indicates that this had been going on for more than a single day, not that it was over a few hours.

Calling Isaiah 53:5 a description of the trial and whipping of Jesus is a forced interpretation with a lot of bad translations.

To finish, here’s a nice and honest translation of Isaiah 53:4b-5

“We accounted that his having been infected, beaten, and abused, was from God.

And he was grievously harmed by our wrongdoing[s] against him,
emotionally crushed from our wicked behaviors against him,
his punishment from God (mussar), our peace,
and with his bruise[s], for us a healing.

  Meme used: