A Jewish response: Three Old Testament Biblical Passages Misinterpreted as Referencing Jesus

Recently, PJ Media published a piece purporting to demonstrate that three Biblical passages refer to the crucifixion of the Messiah. The piece erroneously refers to all three of these passages as “prophecies,” and wrenches them out of context in the attempt to make the point. I have been asked to offer a response indicating what these passages really mean.

The first, which is not a “prophecy,” is Psalms XXII, 16-18. The salient passage is actually at the end of verse 17, which the author renders as follows: “They have pierced my hands and my feet.” On the basis of this reading, he concludes that “the Psalmist” (who is unambiguously identified in verse 2 of the Psalm as King David; we need no vague “ascription” in either Jewish or Christian tradition since it is part of the text) is predicting an event said to have occurred some 900 years in the future from his time.

The problem is that the original text says nothing of the sort. This is how verse 17 reads in the original (in transliteration, for those who don’t read Hebrew): Ki sevavuni kelavim, ‘adath mera‘im heqifuni, ka’ari yadai veraglai. An accurate English translation is: “For dogs have surrounded me, a community of evil-doers has hemmed me in, like a lion, my hands and feet.”

The verb “pierce” doesn’t occur anywhere in the passage; the reader will also note the verb tense, which is perfective, referring to a situation which has already occurred and is a current fact.

Putting this into the context of the rest of the Psalm, it is a lament by King David who feels G-d-forsaken and abandoned, beset by his enemies on all sides -- E-li E-li lamma ‘azavtani (“My G-d, my G-d, why have you abandoned me?”) -- and goes on to discuss his trials. He then prays: Ve’atta Ha-Shem al tirchaq eyaluthi le‘ezrathi chisha. Hatzila mecherev nafshi, miyad kelev yechidathi. Hoshi‘eni mipi arye, umiqarnei remim ‘anithani (“And You, Ha-Shem, my strength, be not distant, hasten to my aid. Rescue from the sword my life, from the hand of a dog my soul. Save me from the mouth of the lion, You have answered me from the horns of remim” [the rem was a large, horned beast, now extinct, which was apparently still around in David’s day].) It goes on in this vein until the end.

We can’t know for certain, but this Psalm was probably composed about the time King Sha’ul was hunting David down, or perhaps during the revolt of his son Avshalom, when he was also being pursued. In this vein, it is similar to other Psalms which David composed at times of great stress, when it seemed his prayers weren’t being answered; see Psalms CXVIII, 10-12: Kol goyim sevavuni, beshem Ha-Shem ki amilam. Sabbuni gam sevavuni, beshem Ha-Shem ki amilam. Sabbuni kidvorim do‘achu ke’esh qotzim, beshem Ha-Shem ki amilam (“All nations have surrounded me, for in the name of Ha-Shem I will destroy them. They enveloped me, also surrounded me, for in the name of Ha-Shem I will destroy them. They enveloped me like bees, thorns stung like fire, in the name of Ha-Shem I will destroy them.”)

One of the main problems is the Christian concept of prophecy is making predictions about the future while the Jewish concept is a kind of ecstatic union with God. A Jewish prophet sometimes loses himself completely and speaks in God’s voice.

This explains why Daniel is included in the Writings (Ktuvim) rather than the Prophets (Navi’im). In the book that bears his name, he saw visions and dreams without losing himself.

Isaiah in the voice of God reproaches the nations, reminding them of their mistreatment of Jews, and that most of them will repent and feel extreme remorse for inflicting pain on God’s servant Israel.

Isaiah 45: 21-25

21 Declare and present, let them even take counsel together; who announced this from before, [who] declared it from then? Is it not I, the Lord, and there are no other gods besides Me, a just and saving God there is not besides Me.

22 Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is no other.

23 By Myself I swore, righteousness emanated from My mouth, a word, and it shall not be retracted, that to Me shall every knee kneel, every tongue shall swear."

24 But to me did He say by the Lord righteousness and strength, to Him shall come and be ashamed all who are incensed against Him.

25 Through the Lord shall all the seed of Israel find righteousness and boast.

From: https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/15976

Note that in this Orthodox (Chabad is an offshoot of Orthodox Judaism) Jewish translation of this Jewish Prophet in 45:21, there is no mention of a "Savior." Just: "...there are no other gods besides Me, a just and saving God there is not besides Me." IOW, there is God, and us, and no one else in between. You want salvation, follow God, and ask Him for forgiveness when you stumble in some way (well, Him and any people that you might have adversely affected in the process). That has always been the Jewish position - before Jesus and up to the present day. What I honestly don't understand is how people whose faith is based in (and dependent upon) the Jewish Bible can adhere to beliefs that are directly contrary to those expressed in it.

You (and anyone else) are certainly free to disagree and believe differently. So long as you act in a decent manner toward your fellow human beings, including but most certainly NOT limited to Jews, then how (or if) you pray is not my business. Peace, health, happiness and long life to you and yours.

How do you know that it isn’t Bar Kochba - he at least fought foreign armies successfully to make Israel free and unite the Jewish people. There is also some evidence that he was starting to build the 3rd Temple. He was also Jewish, and descended on his father’s line from King Solomon. That’s quite a bit more, according to Jewish scripture, than Jesus ever did. So why can’t it be him... because he’s dead?

Well, yes, actually that's why it CAN'T be him. This Bar Kochba IS dead but Jesus of Nazareth is NOT dead. He arose from the dead as attested to by hundreds of eye witnesses as well most of whom were willing to go to their deaths rather than deny what they saw with their own eyes.

Naysayers can twist or deny a few passages of Scripture but there are over 300 of them! After a while it starts to look feeble and desperate.

This, indeed, has something to do with a messiah, but not the final Mashiach ben David. Israel’s final redemption will, in fact, come in two stages, because there are two royal houses in Israel: one from Efrayim ben Yosef, the royal house which ruled in the northern kingdom of Israel, and one from the house of David, who ruled first in the united kingdom and subsequently in the southern kingdom of Yehuda. This verse concerns Mashiach ben Yosef, who will lead the ingathering of the exiles and conduct the final war of which Zechariah speaks so eloquently. He will not survive, but will pave the way for reign of Mashiach ben David, who will reign at the end of history (cf. Metzudath David on the passage beginning with verse 8, Rashi and Malbim ad loc.).

The author fails to consider the once Messiah and future Messiah aspect of Jesus Christ. His paternal and maternal lines were... what? The Second Coming is not for us, it's for the Jews. We were only grafted in because Jesus was rejected by the Jews.

He's to be forgiven, he's one of God's chosen people who have been blinded until the time of the end.

there are two royal houses in Israel: one from Efrayim ben Yosef, the royal house which ruled in the northern kingdom of Israel, and one from the house of David, who ruled first in the united kingdom and subsequently in the southern kingdom of Yehuda.

Everyone has a mother and a father. It's how family trees are united. There's a paradigm shift coming. It's all about simple meanings. Five year olds will leave scholars in the dust. How shocking for all sides. It's the plan to make everyone get along finally.

Now you take the verb l'asot (לעשות, "to do, make"), for instance. Esav is intrinsic to the process. He's the do-er of the family, as that is the meaning of his name, and a person's name is his essence.

It'll be Esav who is going to show by example how to do a proper mitzvah. "To do" like Esav. Talk about a flipped over story. How many folks are really prepared to accept something radical (offensive) like that?

No crowds over here in this corner. L'asot: Esav is contained within a tav and lamed = 430 (ת"ל) = nefesh, the soul level associated with the world of action (doing), and the [red] life blood (אדום, אדמוני).

People who are busy arguing and doubling down on established wisdom (all sides) are missing out on the good stuff.

Esav - David - Mashiach (עד"מ)

A Song of Ascent, of David - Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity.

Ex 25

18. And you shall make two kerubim of gold, of hammered workmanship shall you make them, in the two ends of the cover:
19. And make one kerub on one end, and the other kerub on the other end; of the cover shall you make the kerubim on its two ends:
20. And the kerubim shall stretch out their wings on high, covering the cover with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another (his brother); toward the cover shall the faces of the kerubim be:

There's a reason it is called the Galut of Edom.

And everybody is going to start over from scratch and learn how to play nice and love each other, just watch! There's not enough popcorn for this Yechida miracle..

Genesis 27:22 And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.

The stuff that just sits there.

“His paternal and maternal lines were... what?”

Short answer: nothing that would prove him eligible to be the Jewish Messiah.

Longer answer: there are two genealogies in the New Testament for Jesus. In Matthew, it is claimed that Joseph was a descendent of King Jeconiah, who in the Hebrew Bible was cursed to never have a descendent “sitting on the throne of David and ruling any more in Judah” (Jeremiah 22:30). Plus, if Jesus is actually descended from the human being Joseph, he would be a descendant of someone whom God said would never have a descendant sitting on the throne of Israel. In Luke, there is a different genealogy, which many Christian Scholars claim is through Mary. Putting aside for the moment the fact that under Jewish law one can inherit no status other than that of being Jewish from one’s mother, Mary herself is descended from Nathan, the brother of King Solomon, and not King Solomon himself. This would also disqualify him, again assuming that he could inherit some kind of status as a king through his mother, which is utterly forbidden under Jewish law.

Of course, there is also the argument that has been made buy some Christians that the genealogy simply did not matter, since he was the “son of God.”. Well, if the genealogy wasn’t important, why are there two separate genealogies for Jesus in two separate books in the New Testament? What would be the point? That is in addition to the problem caused by having a non-human parent (which sounds an awful lot like pagan theology to me): Jewish laws very specific that the Messiah will be a human being, descended from other human beings. There is no provision whatsoever in Jewish law or theology for the physical mixing of the Divine and human beings. God is God, and human beings are human beings. There is no combination of the two.

So what was it that you wanted to discuss regarding his genealogy?

There is no provision whatsoever in Jewish law or theology for the physical mixing of the Divine and human beings.

Genesis begs to differ.

Isaiah also begs to differ:

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this. (Isaiah 9:6,7)

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