Know your Messiah by Jerry Ingerman COPYRIGHT © 2004 Jerry Ingerman 2 Know your Messiah* *all Scripture (unless otherwise stated) is taken from A Hebrew - English Bible According to the Masoretic Text and the Jewish Publication Society 1917 Edition Judaism counter-arguments to those raised in this document are contained within Single-lined boxes . God uses a seed to bring redemption into the world. This concept of a seed runs throughout the Scriptures like a thread, starting in Genesis: Genesis 3:15 , , 15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; they : , shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise their ." ! , heel. The seed continues through Abraham and Isaac: Genesis 21:12 ,&-'! & '( $!% 12 And God said unto Abraham: 'Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and -' -' ! -' because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah saith '! $ ! ')-- !$ unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall seed be called to thee. ,"+, ) :'" $ ,* . ' - . Through Jacob and Judah: Genesis 28:14 , ,.! ) 14 And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to 3 ;1! , $0" / the east, and to the north, and to the south. And in .! ,$0 +4 $ -') thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Through David: 2 Samuel 7:12-13 3 - ! 3 ,$! '$ ) 12 When thy days are fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after - ! $" , ! thee, that shall proceed out of thy body, and I will ;!/$ , ! ,!+ establish his kingdom. .53'$$- ! , 3 3 ;$ ' , -! 13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. .&'5-0 ,53'$$ 6) - ! This prophecy is spoken regarding David. He shall be called Immanuel: Isaiah 7:14 --&3!' , 0 3' 14 Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign: behold, the young woman shall conceive, and bear a 0!'! ,$' : 5 son, and shall call his name Immanuel. .' / ,5$ " , This child is mentioned again further into Isaiah: Isaiah 9:5 ,'- ,'-078 0'!!-) 5 For a child is born unto us, a son is given unto us; and the government is upon his shoulder; and " % ;5$3 -' ,* / his name is called Pele-joez-el-gibbor-Abi-ad-sar- ,0- ,5 9 ' ,.5 '!4! 5$ shalom; .&5' -* One could say that a young woman bearing a child is a rather common occurrence. However, this verse coupled with Isaiah 7:14, certainly ‘elevates’ the birth of this child to being a ‘sign’ from God. Consider: Genesis 21:7 ,&' '7$ $ ,$! 7 And she said: 'Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should give children suck? for I have borne 0'-) :* ,& " him a son in his old age.' ."8' , This is the miracle of the conception of Sarah. There is supernatural intervention involved as Sarah was 90 years old when Isaac was conceived. 4 Getting back to Isaiah 9:5. Breaking this verse down: " % 5$ ,0- ,5 9 ' ,.5 '!4! .&5' -* shall be called " % his name 5$ Wonderful '!4! Counsellor .5 The Mighty 5 9 God ' Everlasting Father 0- Prince of Peace &5' -* The rabbis, in Sanhedrin 94a, state this verse to say “called his name”, rather than “shall be called”. Rashi (also see Abaranel) states that these are God’s names, and that “the Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, everlasting Father” called Hezekiah “Prince of Peace”. Images taken from The Stone Edition Tanach, Artscroll Series, Mesorah Publications, Brooklyn, N.Y. 5 Sanhedrin 94a 6 Some of the relevant parts of Sanhedrin 94a and a portion of Sanhedrin 99a (The Babylonian Talmud) in English: VOLUME VIII. (XVI.)--TRACT SANHEDRIN. PART II.--(HAGGADA.) THE HAGGADIC PART ABOUT RESURRECTION; SHARES IN THE WORLD TO COME; AND ABOUT THE MESSIAH, ETC. p. 265 CHAPTER XI. p. 285 It reads [Is. ix. 6]: "For promoting the increase of the government, and for peace without end," etc. Said R. Tan'hun: Bar khapara lectured in Ciporias about this verse thus: Why is the first word of this verse distinguished? In all other words if a "mem" happens to be among its letters, if at the beginning or in the middle, it is an open one $ {Hebrew M}. Here, however, the "mem," which is the second letter of this word, is closed & {Hebrew M}, which is usually only at the end of a word? It is because the Holy One, blessed be He, was about to make Hiskiah the Messiah, and Sanherib who declared war against him as a substitute for Gog and Magog the future nations who will declare war against the Messiah. Said the divine attribute of justice for Him: Lord of the Universe, David, the king of Israel, who recited before Thee so many songs and praises, Thou madest him not a Messiah; Hiskiah to whom Thou hast done so many miracles, and he recited neither songs nor praises--shouldst Thou make him a Messiah? And therefore the "mem" was closed (as a hint to this). The earth, however, opened her mouth and said: Lord of the Universe, I will recite songs before Thee instead of this upright, and Thou, I pray Thee, make him a Messiah. And she did so immediately, as it reads [ibid. xxiv. 16]: "From the edge of the earth have we heard songs 'Glory be to the righteous.'" And the governor of the world also said before Him: O Lord of the Universe, do, I pray Thee, the desire of this upright. Then a heavenly voice was heard saying: "It is my secret, it is my secret! To which the prophet exclaimed: Woe is me! Tell what time will it be postponed? And the heavenly voice answered: "Till the treacherous will have dealt treacherously." And Rabha, and according . to others, R. Itz'hak, explained this: Until disgrace after disgrace will have come upon Israel. It reads [ibid. xxi. 11]: "The prophecy concerning Dumah. Unto me one calleth out of Le'ir, Watchman, what of the night? p. 286 It reads [Isa. x. 15]: "Therefore will the Lord, the Eternal of hosts, send forth among his 'bmashmanov' (fat ones) leanness." What is meant by the term "bmashmanov"? (in Hebrew shamuno means eight). The Lord said: Hiskiah who has eight names shall take revenge on Sanherib who also has eight names. Hiskia's eight names are enumerated in [Isa. ix. 5]: "For a child is born unto us, a son hath been given unto us, and the government is placed on his shoulders and his name is pele, yaez, el gibaur, abbi, ad, sar, shalaum." And concerning Sanherib 7 it reads [II Kings, xv. 9]: "Thiglash pilesser" [ibid., ibid. 19]: "Pul" [II Chron. xxviii. 20]: "Pilnesser" [II Kings, xvii. 3]: "Shalmanesser" [Isa. xx. i]: "Sargon" and [Ezra, iv. 70]: "Assnapper, rabha, v'yaqira." The name Hiskia is not counted, for he was named so because God strengthened him. And the name Sanherib is also not counted, for he was named so because he said vile words against Heaven. p. 311 (Sanhedrin 99a) ---------------- R. Simlai lectured: It reads [Amos, v. 18]: "Woe unto you that long for the day of the Lord! for what do you wish the day of the Lord? It is (one of) darkness and not of light." It is similar to a cock and a bat who were waiting for light. The cock said to the bat, I look out for the light, because the light is mine (I see it), but for what purpose do you wait for it? And this is what a Min said to R. Abushu: When will your Messiah appear? When your people will be surrounded with darkness. Rejoined the Min: Do you caution me? And he answered: No, but [Isa. Ix. 2] reads: "For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and a gross darkness the people; but over thee will shine forth the Lord, and his glory will be seen over thee." ---------------- There is a Boraitha: R. Eliezar said: Forty years will be the days of the Messiah. As it reads [Ps. xcv. 10]: "Forty years long did I feel loathing on this generation." R. Elazar b. Azaryah said: Seventy years, as [Isa. xxiii. 15]: "Seventy years like the days of one king." By "one king" the Messiah is meant. Rabbi, however, said: It will continue three generations, as [Ps. lxxii. 5]: "They shall fear thee, as long as the sun shineth, and in the presence of the moon throughout all generations." R. Hillel, however, said: There is no more any Messiah for Israel, as they have consumed him already in the days of Hiskia. Said R. Joseph: May the Lord forgive R. Hillel! Hiskia was at the time of the first Temple, and Zacharyah prophesied at the time of the second Temple, and said [Zech. ix. 9]: "Be greatly glad, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, thy king will come unto thee, righteous and victorious is he lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of a she-ass. 8 However, although Hezekiah was a good king, his reign was not intended to be forever (see Isaiah 9:6 below). His son, Manasseh, was an evil king. “The Holy Scriptures, Masoretic text”, Sinai Publishers, Tel Aviv Israel also renders Isaiah 9:5 as “his name is called”. Sanhedrin 94a states that God wished to make King Hezekiah the Messiah but since he had not praised the Almighty with a song after the miraculous recovery from his illness, he did not deserve to be the Messiah.