Musings on biblical studies, politics, religion, ethics, human nature, tidbits from science
This post follows on from A Suffering Messiah Before Christianity? — the other side of the question. This series sets out the leading arguments (per Morna Hooker and H. H. Rowley) against the claims of some scholars that there existed among pre-Christian Jews a belief that a messiah was to suffer and/or die. So if you liked … Continue reading “Questioning the Claim of a Pre-Christian Suffering Messiah”
Last month I posted an eight part series based on Joachim Jeremias’s 1957 book The Servant of God arguing for a pre-Christian notion among Second Temple Jews of a messiah who was expected to suffer and/or die. This view is not the prevailing one among New Testament scholars today so I want to set out some of … Continue reading “A Suffering Messiah Before Christianity? — the other side of the question”
Matthew Ferguson once again has an interesting post that serves as an apt sequel to my previous post on the meaning of martyrdom among pre-Christian era Judaeans: The Rationalization Hypothesis: Is a Vision of Jesus Necessary for the Rise of the Resurrection Belief?. It is a guest post written by Kris Komarnitsky, author of Doubting Jesus’ Resurrection. … Continue reading “Further on Origins of Belief in a Dying and Resurrected Messiah”
This post is a response to a question in the comments section. The indented colour-coded section are Bart Ehrman’s claims; all links are to other Vridar posts where I have discussed topics more fully and presented evidence for the statements made here. The earliest followers of Jesus were convinced that he was the messiah. How … Continue reading “On Bart Ehrman’s Claim Jews “Would Not Make Up” a Crucified Messiah”
To sum up: (1) messianic interpretation of the Deutero-Isaianic servant in Palestinian Judaism was limited to Isa. 42.1 ff.,332 43.10;333 49.1 f., 6 f.,334 and 52.13 ff.,335; with this New Testament data agree.336 (2) For Isa. 42.1 ff. and 52.13 ff. messianic interpretation is constant from pre-Christian times. Isa. 52.13 ff. is in this connexion … Continue reading “Summing Up a Case for Pre-Christian Exegesis of Dying and Suffering Messiahs by J. Jeremias (8)”
This post cites the tenth and final witness called by Joachim Jeremias in a 1957 book, The Servant of God. Thanks to helpful comments left by some readers I can say that the testimony of this particular #10 witness is disputed by scholars who argue that the rabbis of “Late Antiquity” responsible for interpreting Isaiah 53 … Continue reading “The 10th Testimony for a Dying Messiah Before Christianity (7)”
Before addressing some of the modern criticisms of Joachin Jeremias’s arguments we are attempting to set out JJ’s case as fairly as possible. In this post we look at Jeremias’s case for an early rabbinic preservation and development of the tradition of interpreting the suffering passages Isaiah 53 as applying to the messiah. Before we … Continue reading “Rabbinic Traditions that the Messiah was to Suffer? (6)”
So far we have presented the following seven witnesses to a Jewish, pre-Christian, belief in a Suffering Messiah: Ecclesiasticus, Interpreted the Servant Songs in Isaiah as references to a new coming of Elijah as the messiah. the Testament of Benjamin, Attributed to a messiah from the tribe of Joseph the atoning death found in Isaiah’s … Continue reading “Jewish Pre-Christian Prophecies of Suffering Servant Messiah (5)”
The witnesses to a Jewish, pre-Christian, belief in a Suffering Messiah that we have heard from so far: Ecclesiasticus, Interpreted the Servant Songs in Isaiah as references to a new coming of Elijah as the messiah. the Testament of Benjamin, Attributed to a messiah from the tribe of Joseph the atoning death found in Isaiah’s … Continue reading “Jewish Understandings of a Suffering Messiah before the Christian Era (4)”
I am currently sharing the evidence for a pre-Christian Jewish beliefs in a suffering servant, even dying, messiah set out by Joachim Jeremias, but in response to a reader’s comment I would like to list here some contemporary scholars who have presented similar or related arguments. I can only list the few whose works I have … Continue reading “Modern Scholars on Pre-Christian Jewish Beliefs in Suffering Messiahs and Atoning Deaths”
So far we have seen evidence for a pre-Christian belief that the “suffering servant” passages in the Book of Isaiah spoke of a future Messiah in three sources: Ecclesiasticus, Interpreted the Servant Songs in Isaiah as references to a new coming of Elijah as the messiah. the Testament of Benjamin, Attributed to a messiah from … Continue reading “Evidence for Belief in a Suffering Messiah Before Christianity (3)”
In the previous post we saw the first two items of evidence for a belief among pre-Christian Jews in a suffering messiah to come. This post looks at a third item, the Parables of Enoch. Follow up posts will address several more. I begin by presenting Jeremias’s argument in his own words but in the … Continue reading “A Pre-Christian Jewish Suffering Messiah (2)”
When I recently posted Further Evidence of a Pre-Christian Concept of a Suffering Davidic Messiah I was patiently waiting for a certain book to be collected from an off-site library stack. I had two reasons for wanting to read that particular work. The first was from a Mormon scholar, hence slightly dubious, but nonetheless I was curious … Continue reading “Evidence of a Suffering Messiah Concept before Christianity (1)”
It is commonly recognized that the Gospels depict Jesus’ crucifixion as an ironic royal enthronement. We know the evidence for this statement: the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem; the riddle of Psalm 110 over the messiah being David’s Lord; the parable of the pounds; the dressing up of Jesus in royal garb; the … Continue reading “Further Evidence of a Pre-Christian Concept of a Suffering Davidic Messiah”