BIBLE PASSAGES WE WOULD HAVE UNDERSTOOD IF WE WERE JEWISH
Interpreting New Testament passages through Jewish eyes.
Various Texts
Introduction
Illustration: What Children Say About The Bible
· In the first book of the Bible, Guinness’s, God got tired of creating the world, so He took the Sabbath off. Adam and Eve were created from an apple tree. Noah’s wife was called Joan of Ark. Noah built an ark, which the animals came on to in pears. Lot’s wife was a pillar of salt by day, but a ball of fire by night.
· Samson was a strongman who let himself be led astray by a Jezebel like Delilah. Samson slayed the Philistines with the axe of the apostles.
· Moses led the Hebrews to the Red Sea, where they made unleavened bread, which is bread made without any ingredients. The Egyptians were all drowned in the dessert. Afterwards, Moses went up on Mount Cyanide to get the Ten Amendments. The First Commandment was when Eve told Adam to eat the apple. The Fifth Commandment is to humor thy father and mother. The seventh Commandment is thou shalt not admit adultery.
· Moses died before he ever reached Canada. Then Joshua led the Hebrews in the battle of Geritol. The greatest miracle in the Bible is when Joshua told his son to stand still and he obeyed him.
· David was a Hebrew king skilled at playing the liar. He fought with the Finklesteins, a race of people who lived in Biblical times. Solomon, one of David’s sons, had 300 wives and 700 porcupines.
· St. Paul cavorted to Christianity. He preached holy acrimony, which is another name for marriage. A Christian should have only one wife. This is called monotony.
· A ten-year old, under the tutelage of her grandmother, was becoming quite knowledgeable about the Bible. Then, one day, she floored her grandmother by asking, “Which Virgin was the mother of Jesus? The Virgin Mary or the King James Virgin.”
SOURCE: Collected from various sources
One of the keys to understanding the Bible is knowing the culture at the time it was written. In this message we will discover some insights into the text of the New Testament by learning some Jewish idioms that reveal the context behind the text.
(The primary source for these examples is the book Yeshua: A Guide to the Real Jesus and the Original Church, by Dr. Ron Moseley, Messianic Jewish Publishers, 1996
I. THE TZITZIT
Pronounced zeet-zeet (http://theloveofgod.proboards3.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=observant&thread=1084129247&page=2) or
TSI-tsit (http://jewsforjesus.org/publications/newsletter/1993_13/tallit)
Matthew 9:20-21
20 And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment. 21 For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well."
A. The Tassels
1. Having learned that Jesus was near, this woman determined to touch the hem of His garment so that she would be healed.
2. Touching the hem of the garment is very important from a Jewish standpoint.
3. The English word hem is a translation of the Greek word kraspedon, meaning “a tassel of twisted wool.
4. The Jews attached tassels (tzitzit) to the corners of their prayer shawl.
5. The woman was actually reaching for the tassels on Jesus’ prayer shawl.
How Are The Tzitzit Tied?
Source: Ahuva.com, http://www.tallit.com/Categories/Tallit-Guide.aspx
1. Tying Tzitzit is a Jewish art, a form of macramé.
2. A hole is carefully made and reinforced in each corner of the tallit.
3. Through each hole, four strands are inserted: three short strands and one long strand.
4. The longer strand is called the shammash and this is the one that is used for winding around the others.
5. To tie the Tzitzit, line up the four stands so that the three of equal length are doubled evenly, and the fourth strand is lined up at one end with the other seven ends.
6. With four strands in one hand, and the other four in the other, make a double knot at the edge of the fabric.
7. Then take the shammash and wind it around the other seven strands seven times in a spiral motion.
8. Make a second double knot, with four strands in one hand and four strands in the other.
9. Then wind the shammash around the seven strands eight times and make another double knot.
10. Wind the shammash around eleven times and make a double knot.
11. Finally, wind the shammash thirteen times around the remaining seven strands and make one final double knot.
12. When done correctly, the Tzitzit will have 7-8-11-13 winds between the double knots.
What does the 7-8-11-13 winding pattern mean?
Source: Rabbi Scheinerman’s Judaism website, http://scheinerman.net/judaism/tallit/index.html
1. One interpretation is that each set of windings corresponds to one of the four letters in God’s name. (YHWH).
2. Another employs Gematria, Jewish numerology, which assigns to each Hebrew letter a numeric value.
a. The first three numbers are the numeric equivalent of God’s name.
b. 7 + 8 = 15, which in Hebrew is written yod-hay, the first two letters of God’s name.
c. 11 = vav+hay, the third and fourth letters of God’s name.
d. Hence, the first three windings “spell” God’s name.
e. 13 is equivalent in value to the word “echad” which means “one.”
f. Thus, all four windings can be interpreted to say, “God is one.”
3. Another interpretation holds that with the first three numbers being the numeric equivalent of God’s name, the 13 reflects the 13 attributes of God.
4. Another interpretation explains that the numeric value of the word tzitzit is 600.
a. To this we add the 8 strands plus the 5 knots for a total of 613.
b. There are 613 commandments in the Torah.
c. Just looking at the tallit with its tzitzit reminds us that we are to keep the commandments.
B. The Corners
Numbers 15:37-41
37 Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 38 "Speak to the children of Israel: Tell them to make tassels [tzitzit] on the corners [wings] of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue thread in the tassels [tzitzit] of the corners. 39 And you shall have the tassel [tzitzit], that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them, and that you may not follow the harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined, 40 and that you may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy for your God. 41 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord your God."
1. In Numbers 15:38 the word translated border or corner is a word that also means wings, and is translated as such 76 times in the biblical text.
2. For this reason, the corners of the prayer shawl are often called wings.
C. The Tallit
Pronounced tah-LEET (http://jewsforjesus.org/publications/newsletter/1993_13/tallit)
1. In Jesus’ day, Jewish men wore a simple tunic called a halluq, both at home and at work.
2. When they went out in public, they would cover their halluq with a large rectangular cloth, called a tallit, which draped over the shoulders and fell to the ankles.
3. The tallit served as protection from the cold and rain.
4. Hanging from the end of each of its four corners (wings) was a tzitzit in obedience to the biblical command.
5. During times of persecution, the Jews were forbidden to wear the tzitzit on the outside of their garments, so they would wear a small four-cornered tallit under their garments.
D. The Wings
1. During the 1st century there were several traditions associated with the tzitzit.
a. One was that these tassels possessed healing powers.
b. Another was that the tzitzit served as a sort of Jewish talisman or amulet (a good luck charm to ward off evil).
c. Both of these traditions probably had their roots in Malachi 4:2.
Malachi 4:2
2 But to you who fear My name
The Sun of Righteousness shall arise
With healing in His wings;
And you shall go out
And grow fat like stall-fed calves.
d. The same word used for corner in Numbers 15:38 is translated wings in Malachi 4:2, which refers to the coming of the Messiah.
e. This would explain why the woman wanted to touch the hem or tassels of His garment.
2. With this understanding in mind, an ancient Jew, under the prayer shawl, could be said to be dwelling “in the secret place of the Most High and under His wings.”
Psalms 91:1-4
91 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust."
3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler
And from the perilous pestilence.
4 He shall cover you with His feathers,
And under His wings you shall take refuge;
His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
a. This explains why the woman was instantly healed.
b. She was expressing her faith in Jesus as the Sun of Righteousness who comes with healing in His wings, and declaring her faith in God’s prophetic Word.
II. THE KAL-VE-CHOMER
Matthew 5:29-30
29 If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.
A. “Light and Heavy”
1. The obvious absurdity of this verse leads us to conclude that this illustration is a figure of speech known as hyperbole, or extreme exaggeration, and not to be taken literally.
a. Hyperbole is used for emphasis, intended to evoke strong emotions or to create a strong impression.
b. “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse” is an example of hyperbole.
2. In the context of Jewish culture, however, it is a clear example of one of the most common Jewish teaching methods of Jesus’ day, a method known as kal-ve-chomer, or “light and heavy.”
B. Two Stages of Sin
1. This method was used on other occasions by Jesus to contrast the two stages of sin, the first stage being the lighter, and the second stage the heavier.
Matthew 23:23
23 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.
2. The purpose behind this was to teach the principle that if we nip a sin in the bud while it is still in the light stage, or as Jesus says, “pluck it out or cut it off,” it can be prevented from ever reaching the far more destructive heavy stage.
3. Wording similar to that used by Jesus can be found frequently in ancient Jewish literature, where a phrase such as, “The hand that promotes self-abuse among men, let it be cut off,” simply refers to stopping the act at an early or light stage, not the actual cutting off of a hand.
III. SECONDARY BURIAL
Matthew 8:21-22
21 Then another of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."
22 But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead."
A. Our Perspective
1. The Jews did not embalm a dead body, so it had to be buried quickly.
2. There was also a required mourning period of 7 days as a final act of devotion.
3. If this man’s father had just died, he would be taking care of the burial and would not have been with Jesus.
4. This young man’s father is not dead yet!
Illustration: Bury My Father
A few years ago a missionary asked a rich young Turkish man to go with him on a trip to Europe, during which time the missionary hoped to disciple the man. When the young man replied that he must bury his father, the missionary offered his sympathy and expressed surprise that the father had died. The man explained, however, that his father was alive and healthy and that the expression "bury my father" simply meant staying at home and fulfilling his family responsibilities until his father died and he received his share of the inheritance.
Since a man’s inheritance was customarily lost or reduced if he did not fulfill his expected responsibilities to the family, the phrase "I must bury my father" was frequently equivalent to "I want to wait until I receive my inheritance."
(From The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, (c) Moody Press and John MacArthur, Jr., 1983-2002)
a. He wants to follow Christ, but not until he inherits his portion when his father dies.
b. He did not want to risk losing his inheritance.
c. His focus was not upon Christ, but upon possessions.
d. He wanted to follow Jesus on his own terms.
5. “Let the dead bury their own dead” was a figure of speech.
a. It meant, “Let the world take care of the things of the world.”
b. The spiritually dead can take care of their own things.
B. The Jewish Perspective
1. From the Jewish perspective this rebuke by Jesus was not aimed at the man’s care of his father.
a. Jesus was rebuking a Jewish tradition about burial that violated Scripture.
b. Tradition required that the body of the decease be placed in the ground on the day of his death.
c. This was the first burial.
2. After the burial, the family observes a seven day mourning period called shivah.
a. They mustn’t do any form of work, apart from cooking and cleaning the house.
b. They mustn’t wear leather shoes.
c. They mustn’t have intercourse during the shivah.
d. They are not allowed to learn Torah, apart from learning mourning rules, reciting Psalms or reading the books of Job and Lamentations.
e. They mustn’t greet anyone “hello” or “goodbye”, but after the first three days they may answer if someone else has asked them for their well being.
f. They may not wash their clothes, iron them, or wear clean clothes.
g. They may only sit on cushions and mattresses, or on stools that are less than 30 cm high.
h. They mustn’t leave the house, apart from going to the synagogue on Sabbath and going to their homes at night (if they have trouble sleeping where the shivah is held).
i. They are not allowed to attend joyful events for 30 days, and if they are mourning the loss of one of their parents, they are not allowed to do so for 12 months. However, they are allowed to attend a wedding or a Brit Milah (circumcision) of their own child even during the shivah itself.
Source: Judaica-guide.com, http://www.judaica-guide.com/sitting_shivah/.
3. After the body was placed in the burial chamber, it was left to decompose.
a. The Jerusalem Talmud says, “When the flesh had wasted away, the bones were collected and placed in small chests called ossuaries. After the flesh had gone from the bones, and the bones were placed in the ossuaries, the son stopped mourning.”
b. This transfer of bones to the ossuary was known as the second burial.
c. The second burial was done by the oldest son, who took the bones either to the holy city of Jerusalem or to a family burial cave, where they were placed near the bones of their ancestors.
4. This practice had a concept behind it that Jesus did not approve of.
a. It was believed that the decomposition of the flesh between the first and second burials atoned for the sins of the dead person.
b. At the second burial the son could rejoice as his fathers bones were laid with his ancestors, because only after the sinful flesh was off the bone were the sins atoned for.
5. Jesus was not hindering the son in his responsibilities to his family.
a. He was condemning the unscriptural teaching that something other than the Messiah could deliver a person from sin.
b. In all probability, the first burial had taken place more than a year earlier; otherwise the man would have been in mourning and not with Jesus.
c. Some have suggested that this incident took place just prior to the Feast of Tabernacles since Jesus and his followers were headed toward Jerusalem.
d. If that were the case, the man would have seen this as a convenient time to transport his father’s bones to the holy city.
IV. SOUNDING THE TRUMPET
Matthew 6:1-4
1 "Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 3 But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.
1. Ancient Jews believed that the three virtues of prayer, charity, and repentance were the evidences of a heart which had truly turned from sin.
2. In the women’s court of the Temple, during the first century, there were thirteen collection boxes for alms.
3. They were wide at the bottom and narrow at the top and resembled trumpets.
4. These boxes made a very recognizable sound as the coins were dropped into them.
5. Often those Pharisees who wished to boast would drop a large number of coins in at once.
6. This was called sounding the trumpet.
7. It was this practice of letting everyone know how much they were giving that Jesus opposed.
V. THE GOOD EYE
Matthew 6:22-23
22 "The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
Note: Today, there are still those who see Jesus as an ancient guru leading his disciples in techniques similar to other Eastern methods of mystic meditation. These groups rely on the New Testament quotation found in Matt 6:22 as their proof text. The phrase "If your eye be single" is said to point to an ancient non-Jewish meditation technique known as the third eye or the single eye. According to esoteric psychology, this single eye technique designates a place in the center of the forehead as the spot which is the center of our spiritual being. When focusing on that spot, an individual is believed to become spiritually illuminated. (From Yeshua, Introduction, Copyright © 1996 by Ronald Wayne Moseley. All rights reserved.)
A. Generous or Stingy
1. In first-century Judaism the term good or single (aiyin tovah) meant that a person was generous.
2. The bad or evil eye (aiyin ra’ah) meant he was stingy.
3. A rabbi would say, “If a person gives a gift, let him give it with a good eye.”
4. During the first century, the rabbis in the school of Hillel taught that an individual who gave one-fortieth of his income had a good eye, but a person who gave only one-sixtieth of his income had a bad eye.
5. Everyone, of course, was expected to pay tithes.
B. Context!
1. Matthew 6:19-21
19 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
a. Don’t lay up treasures on earth.
b. Lay up treasures in heaven.
c. Your heart follows your treasure.
d. It’s all about our attitude toward money.
2. Matthew 6:24
24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
a. You can’t serve two masters.
b. You can’t love God and money.
c. It’s all about our attitude toward money.
C. Scriptural Support (Matthew 20:1-16)
Matthew 20:15
15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?’
1. This is the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard.
2. The workers started at different times, but all received the same pay.
3. The ones who had worked the longest complained because they thought they should have gotten more.
4. The owner responded with the remark about the evil eye.
5. He was pointing out that while he was generous (he had a good eye), the others were stingy (they had an evil eye) because they did not recognize the grace by which the others had been treated.
6. They begrudged the generosity of the owner because they were not the recipients.
7. Their problem was their attitude toward money.
