Marching through the center of the city calling on everyone (including our own government) to love instead of violence in the name of the Prince of Peace. I will be uniting with many other Christians tomorrow for this very purpose. Click here to read an article about the upcoming event in the Pasadena Star.
My passion for biblical, Christian, Judaic, and Ancient Near Eastern studies has gotten out of hand. I am purchasing six or seven books for every one I am able to read… And the books of my interest seem to be getting ever more and more specialized and expensive… When they end up prying the Torah from my dead hands, perhaps someone will understand…
Although this Digest is fairly recent, I just wanted to mark the first year anniversary of my blogging activity, which began in earnest on Saturday, March 18, 2006 at Deus Creator Omnium. Many of those posts have been retrofitted into my Digest here (since this was originally meant to be my blogging site).
First Book. For its relation to the other books of the Pentateuch as well as to the Hebrew Canon of O.T., see Ap.1.
Book. See Ap. 47.
Moses. Ascribed to him, Mark.10.2-8 &c.; see Ap. 2.
Genesis. No part of Hebrew Title, which is simply Bereshith, in [the] beginning
, because the book of all beginnings. Genesis is Greek = generation, creation. For its being complementary to the Apocalypse, see Ap. 3.
1. THE WORLD THAT THEN WAS
(2Peter.3.5, 6). See Structure, p. 1. Creation in eternity past, to which all Fossils and Remains
belongs.
God. Hebrew Elohim, pl. First occurrence connects it with creation, and denotes, by usage, the Creator in relation to His creatures. See Ap. 4. The Heb. accent Athnach places the emphasis, and gives pause, on God
as being Himself the great worker, separating the Worker from His work.
created (sing.). Occurs 6 times in this Introduction. Other acts 46 times. See Ap. 5. Perfection implied. Deut.32.4. 2Sam.22.31. Job38.7. Ps.111; 147.3-5. Prov.3.19. Ecc.3.11-14. [Even the Greek Cosmos = ornament. Ex.33.4-6. Isa.49.18. Jer.4.30. Eze.7.20. 1Pet.3.3]
the heaven and the earth. With Heb. Particle ’eth before each, emphasizing the Article the
, and thus distinguishing both from 2.1. Heavens
in Heb. always in pl. See note on Deut.4.26.
2- And. Note the Fig. Polysyndeton (See Ap. 6), by which, in the 34 verses of this Introduction, each one of 102 separate acts are emphasized; and the important word God
in v. 1 is carried like a lamp through the whole of this Introduction (1.1-2.3).
the earth. Fig. Anadiplosis. See Ap. 6.
was = became. See Gen.2.7; 4.3; 9.15; 19.26. Ex.32.1. Deut.27.9. 2Sam.7.24, &c. Also rendered came to pass, Gen.4.14; 22.1; 23.1; 27.1. Josh.4.1; 5.1. 1Kings.13.32. Isa.14.24, &c. Also rendered be (in the sense of become), v. 3, &c, and where the verb to be
is not in italic type. Hence, Ex.3.1, kept=became keeper, quit = become men, &c. See Ap. 7.
without form = waste. Heb. tohu va bohu. Fig. Paronomasia. See Ap. 6. Not created tohu (Isa.45.18), but became tohu (Gen.1.2. 2Pet.3.5, 6). An enemy hath done this
(Matt.13.25, 28, 39. Cp. 1Cor.14.33). See Ap. 8.
was. This is in italic type, because no verb to be
in Heb. (see Ap. 7). In like manner man became a ruin (Gen.3. Ps.14.1-3; 51.5; 53.1-3. Ecc.7.20. Rom.7.18).
face. Fig. Pleonasm. See Ap. 6.
1.-2-31 (A, p.1) THE HEAVENS AND EARTH WHICH ARE NOW
(Extended Alternation).
A | a | 2-5. Darkness and Light. Night and Day. 1st Day.
.. | b | 6-8. Waters. Division between them. 2nd Day.
.. | c | 9-13. Earth. Fruit from it. 3rd Day.
.. | a | 14-19. Day and Night. Sun and Moon. 4th Day.
.. | b | 20-23. Waters. Life from them. 5th Day.
-2 the Spirit of God moved (see Ap. 9) = The beginning of the heavens and the earth which are now
(2Pet.3.7). It is even so in the New Creation. The Spirit moves (John.3.3-8. Rom.8.5, 9, 14. Gal.4.29. 2Cor.5.17, 18).
3 God said (occurs 10 times in Introduction). This begins each day: 3rd day twice; 6th day four times. The second act is also of God (1Pet.1.23-25). Ap.5.
be light = become light (as in v. 2), not the verb to be
. Light not located till 4th day.
was = became, as in v. 2. It is even so in the New Creation: His word enters and gives light (Ps.119.130. 2Cor.4.6).
4 saw. Occurs 7 times in Introduction. Ap. 5.
good = beautiful (Ecc.3.11).
divided. Occurs twice. Ap. 5. Each day’s work called good
, except the 2nd, because nothing created on that day: only division made.
5 called. Occurs 5 times. Ap. 5.
evening…morning. Fig. Synecdoche (of the Part), Ap. 6. Put for a full day. The beginning and end of anything is put for the whole of it. Cp. Ecc.3.11; 10.13; 11.6. Ps.92.2. Isa.41.2; 44.6; 48.12. Rev.1.8, 17; 2.8; 21.6; 22.13.
first. For spiritual significance see Ap. 10.
first day = day one. The word day
may refer to a prolonged period when used without any qualifying words. But when qualified with a numeral (cardinal or ordinal) it is defined and limited by it to a day of 24 hours. It is further limited here by its boundaries evening and morning
, as well as by the 7th day. Cp. Ex.20.9, 11. See Ap. 11.
6 firmament = expanse. Something spread out.
7 made. Occurs 7 times. Ap. 5.
8 Heaven = Heb. high, lofty.
11 after his kind. Occurs 10 times (vv. 11, 12, 12, 21, 21, 24, 24, 25, 25). See Ap. 10. Evolution has no answer to this.
seed is in itself. Heb. seeding seed. Fig. Polyptoton, Ap. 6. First the herb, then seed. First tree, then fruit.
13 third day = day three.
14 lights. Heb. m’aor = lightholders or luminaries (Ex.25.6; 27.20; 35.14, &c. Cp. v. 3).
signs. Heb. ‘oth = things to come (Jer.10.2).
seasons. Heb. mo’ed, appointed times (from y’ed, to appoint). Occurs only 3 more times in Gen. See 17.27; 18.14; 21.2.
16 two = the two.
the stars also. See Ap. 12.
19 fourth day = day four. See note on v. 5.
20 life = soul. Heb. nephesh, as in vv. 21, 24, 30; 2.7, 19; 9.4, 5, 5, 10, 12, 15, 16. Lev.11.46, &c. See Ap. 18.
21 whales = great sea-creatures.
creature = soul. Heb. nephesh. Cp. v. 20 and Ap. 13.
22 blessed. See on v. 1. Note the threefold blessing at Creation (1.22, 28; 2.3).
23 evening…morning. See on v. 5.
fifth. The No. of grace (Ap. 10). No blessing till the 5th day, when there was living soul to bless.
fifth day, or day five
. See note on v. 5.
24 creature = soul. Heb. nephesh. See Ap. 13.
26 Let us. The Divine purpose is here stated. The Divine act not described till 2.7, 21-24.
man. Heb. ’adam (no Art.) = mankind.
image…likeness. Fig. Hendiadys. Ap. 6. One thing, not two = In the likeness of our image
, viz. of Elohim (not Jehovah), the 2nd person, who had taken creature form in order to create (Col.1.15. Heb.1.3. Rev.3.14; cp. Prov.8.22-31, and 1Cor.11.8-11). Refers only to outward form, not to attributes. So He afterward took human form in order to redeem (John.1.14). Cp. Rev.4.11 with 5.9. In any case the image and likeness
is physical, not moral. Man fell and is a moral ruin, but some physical likeness to ’elohim still remains. Cp. Gen.9 & 1 Cor.11.7. Jas.8.9. No indication that that similitude was ever lost. Gen.5.3. See note on 3.7.
and. Note Fig. Polysyndeton (Ap. 6) here, and throughout the Introduction (see v. 2), emphasising the Divine purpose.
27 God. The Heb. accent (Pasek places the emphasis on God, the Carrier-out of His purpose).
created: i.e., when He did create. The description of the act postponed till 2.7, 21-24. See note on v. 26. The Tosephta (contemporary with the Mishna, about A.D. 200) translate Sanhedrin, viii. 7: Why was man created last? That the heretics might not say there was a companion with Him in the work
: i.e. lest man should have claimed a share in it.
man. Here the Heb. ’adam has the art., and the demonstrative Heb. ’eth, to indicate that the man Adam created in 2.7 was the man
here purposed.
own. Wrongly supplied by A.V. AND R.V.
image. Fig. Anadiplosis (Ap. 6) for emph.
him. Emphasized by Heb. accent (Athnach).
them. Emph. Here, in purpose. But, in Gen.2.7, 21-24, in historical act and fact.
28 them. Emph. Fig. Prolepsis (Ap. 6). The actual building of Eve not till 2.20-23.
replenish = fill, as 1.22 and nearly every occurrence.
have dominion. Cp. Ps.8. Heb.2.6-8. But now…not yet.
29 bearing seed…yielding seed. Heb. seeding seed.
Fig. Polyptoton (Ap. 6) for emph.
for meat. Not flesh till after the Flood (9.8).
30 life = soul. Heb. nephesh. Cp. V. 20; 2.7 and Ap. 13.
I have given. Fig. Ellipsis (Ap. 6. iii. a) correctly supplied from v. 29.
31 the sixth day. Here, with Art. the
; unlike the other five days. Six, the No. of man. See Ap. 10.
Although it probably won’t happen, the re-established Sanhedrin is preparing to slaughter a passover lamb on the Temple Mount for Passover if they can get away with it. They have three days on which to accomplish it according to Torah, either the day itself, the day before, or a month after. But one thing is for sure…if they actually do it, more than the blood of a lamb will flow. See the news bit here.
The question of where and when the use of Adonai replaced YHWH in Jewish literature and liturgy has always interested me, but I never gave it much thought. And then today when I read this, my jaw literally dropped.
The rabbis taught: The year when Simeon the Upright had to die, he told the sages:
Children, know ye that this year I am going to die.They asked him:How dost thou know?He said:Every year when I entered and left the Holy of Holies, I was accompanied by one old man, dressed in white and enveloped in white; but this year it was an old man attired in black and in a black turban, and he entered with me but did not go out with me.And after the festivals, he got sick, and died. And thenceforth priests ceased to bless Israel with the name of Jehovah, but usedAdonai.Babylonian Talmud, Seder Mo’ed, Tractate Yoma, Chapter IV
If this can be taken as at least semi-historical, it indicates that the blessings were changed at about the time that Alexander the Great and Hellenism conquered the world. Judaism was fundamentally and forever changed by this new era in almost every respect. It makes sense to think that the one people (literally the only people) in the entire Greek world who in their best moments would have nothing to do with the Greek gods even if it meant the destruction of their entire nation, might do something to at least present their non-Greek god in a light that could be more readily understood and favored by the Greeks who surrounded them and constantly looked on with suspicion or distrust. It seems more than mere coincidence that the name Adonai, which is not only very Greek-sounding, but almost the same as the name of the Greek god, Adonis, one of Aphrodite’s lovers, and who’s child was the ancient land of Lebanon at the outskirts of Israel, would come into use at that time.
When thou goest, it shall lead thee;
When thou sleepest, it shall keep thee;
And when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.Proverbs 6.22
THE COMPANION BIBLE is a new Edition of the English Bible. Published originally in six Parts, it is now presented in one Volume, and the description which follows shows that the Work is a self-explanatory Bible designed for general use of all English readers throughout the world.
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Contain a large amount of information bearing on the various questions raised by the phenomena of the Sacred Text.
Those issued with each of the four volumes pertain principally to such volumes. But in the complete Bible they will all be placed together at the end.
The order of the Appendixes is determined for the most part by the order in which the subjects are raised in the Text of the Bible.
REFERENCES. Where there is no name of a book in the margin, the reference is always to the same book, and all the References in the margin are to The Companion Bible, not to any Edition of the, A.V., or R.V.
SUPERIOR FIGURES, in the Text, always refer to the verse, so numbered, in the same chapter.
The repetition of the same subject in a note is sometimes indicated by its initial (capital) letter.
The figures in the left-hand margin relate to two separate matters. Those in brackets, with a “p”, refer to the number of the page on which the corresponding letter and member will be found. The number of the page so indicated holds good until another page number is given.
The other figures refer to the B.C. and A.D. dates.
WITH the aid of the following Table, any English reader who knows the Hebrew alphabet can put back the English letters into the Hebrew characters, by noting the exact equivalents:-
CONSONANTS
b = ב (Beth).*
d = ד (Daleth).*
g = ג (Gimel).*
h = ה (He).
h = ח (Cheth), sometimes ch.
k = כ (Kaph).* Final = ך.
k = ק (Koph).
l = ל (Lamed).
m = מ (Mem). Final = ם.
n = נ (Nun). Final = ן.
p = פ (Pe).
ph = פ ,, Final = ף
r = ר (Resh).
s = ס (Samech).
s = ֹש (Sin).
s = שֹ (Shin).
t = ט (Teth).
t = ת (Tau).*
th = ת ,,
v = וְ (Vau or Vav).
w = ו ,,
y = י (Yod or ’Jot’).
z = ז (Zayin).
z = צ (Zaddi). Final = ץ.
VOWELS
’ = א (Aleph).
’ = ע (Ayin).
a = ַ(Pathah).
’a = אַ ; ’a = עַ.
a = ֲ (Hateph pathah). ’a = אֲ ; ’a = עֲ.
a = ָ (Kamez). ’a = אָ ; ’a = עָ.
e = ֶ (Segol). ’e = אֶ ; ’e = עֶ.
e = ֱ (Hateph Segol). ’e = אֱ ; ’e = עֱ.
e = ֵ (Zere). ’e = אֵ ; ’e = עֵ.
e = ְ (Shevah).
i = ִ (Hirek). ’i = אִ ; ’i = עִ.
i = יִ (Hirek) long. ’i = איִ ; ’i = עיִ.
o = ֹ (Holem). ’o = א ; ’o = ע.
o = ֳ (Hateph kamez). ’o = אֳ ; ’o = עֳ.
o = ו (Holem) long.
u = ֻ (Kibbuz). ’u = אֻ ; ’u = עֻ.
u = וּ (Shurek).
The six consonants marked with an asterisk (*) have a dot (Dagesh) within them, when placed at the beginning of a word; but not when they are situated in any other part of the word (except when the letter in question is to be doubled, in which case it is doubled in the English).
As an example of the application of the above principles, the following is the first verse in the Hebrew Bible, the Hebrew being read from right to left:-
Bere’shith bara elohim eth hashshamayim veeth haarez.
:בְרֵאשִית בָרָא אֱלׂהִים אֵת הַשָמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ
All Hebrew words are given, not in the Inflection which occurs in the Text, but in the root-form which will be looked for in the Lexicon.
the, when emphatic.
Jonabove). Date about third century B.C. in Babylonia.
1This is the first time that these have been presented in connection with the Authorized Version.
2These were inaccessible to the past generation of Commentators and Translators.
3By copying out the A.V., and substituting these amended renderings, the student may make his own new Revised Version.
4It is this repetition which has made possible the system of Bible-marking known by some as “Railways.”
Some time last summer, I met a man who was trying to take the hardcopy of Bullinger’s Companion Bible and turn it into an electronic format that could be copied and used in all sorts of applications, from web pages to bible software. Since he was a programmer and I was an interested party with scribal tendencies, I offered to transcribe the work if he would code it. Although we got off to a reasonable start, he seemed to lose interest and I have not heard back.
In order that the work I have already done should not go to waste, I will offer it here in pieces for others to read and use. I will begin with Bullinger’s Preface. After that, I will provide as many of Bullinger’s notes, chapter by chapter, as I have completed them. My transcriptions and coding will be freely available to all for any purpose (provided they remain free always and forever). If you use any of this to put The Companion Bible into an electronic format (or if you wish to do so), please let me know.
I’m no scholar…I’m no epigrapher…I’m no expert of any kind except, perhaps, my own ignorance… But when I look at the inscription, what I see are two different layers of markings… An older, finer, lighter one, and then markings over the top of the first, which are deeper, longer, and more caustic. Indeed, it appears to my untrained eye that the two markings have been read one on top of the other like two sheets of film placed over each other and that, therefore, the letters in “Jesus son of Joseph” belong to different or combined parts of inscriptions/markings. Below is a graphic indicating what appears to me to be the major parts of the second, deeper inscription/marking…unrelated to the first (and thereby destroying any mention of “Jesus” and possibly “Joseph” in the finer inscription).
If there is good reason to doubt my ability to comprehend ossuary inscriptions in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek (there is), my conclusion does make better sense of at least two questions… If the deep/caustic strokes are part of the light/fine strokes, then 1. why should the hand of the inscriber suddenly change style so radically in the middle of a character and 2. why should that hand have made such bold and unnecessary strokes branching away from the characters themselves which are no part of their form? Not only does my hypothesis answer these questions better, but it makes sense in light of typical ossuary usage in which a single ossuary was many times used to store the bones of more than one person (multiple inscriptions/markings for multiple occupants).
Problems: I do not know what the name(s) would thereafter be if we separated this deeper/caustic layer from the other… Neither do I know if the deeper/caustic layer actually says anything. Perhaps the big X mark (partially in picture on far right) should be included in this layer? What do you think about the idea that scholars may actually be reading two different marking layers as if they were one and ignoring the bits that don’t fit?
Throughout the Old Testament and Hebrew literature, parallelism is used as a means of identifying the purpose and meaning of a story. John 14 contains a lot of parallelism typical of ancient Jewish narrative.
Just as the Father dwells in Yeshua (14:10), so the Spirit will dwell in you (14:26). Just as the Father is in Yeshua/Yeshua is in the Father (14:10, 11), so the Spirit will be in you/you will be in the Spirit (14:17). Just as by going to the Father, Yeshua will be in you, so by the coming of the Spirit, you will be in Yeshua (14:2, 20). Therefore, where Yeshua is, there you will be also (14:3). And so his works will be your works (14:12). In that way, Yeshua will be manifest to you (14:21). And since Yeshua’s works are the Father’s works (14:10), your works will be the Father’s.
Such talk serves to highlight the point that both Yeshua’s going and the Spirit’s coming are a part of the manifestation or habitation of God among his people as pointed out in the beginning of the chapter as well as 14:23 (we will come to him and make our dwelling-place with him
). Yeshua tells them this so that when all these things take place (Yeshua’s going from them, his resurrection, the manifestation of signs, and Yeshua’s works among them), they will know it is truly the way of Yahweh and his life(14:6). All this paralleled interplay is thus meant to ask us to examine historical events and see if they bear witness (15:26) to Yeshua’s message, and if so, to believe that message (14:29), which is, by definition, believing in Yeshua—and thus believing in Yahweh (14:1).
Chapter 14 comes together in such a way as to create this holistic picture and aim (which itself has a place in the larger picture of the gospel). As it is readily apparent, nothing in this has as its purpose or intent a pronouncement or definition of the divine nature of Yeshua’s personal being as commonly interpreted by Trinitarians. Yeshua is not, here, a Greek philosopher proclaiming universal truths about the makeup of his essence. Such would be an atomistic separation of verses from the structure and form in which they consist to support an ideology foreign to the message conveyed by the narrative. It does not speak of the existence and structure of the messenger, but of the detail and result of the message. Here is not an appeal to understand Yeshua as God in his essence, but to follow/obey/love Yeshua in order to be in Yahweh and receive from him that which is his (such as salvation).