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: