 |
Web Hosting by Netfirms | Free Domain Names by Netfirms |
|
|
|
Needless to say if you have read articles from Bet Emet Ministries for any length of time you have found that the Christian Bibles when compared with the parent texts in the Hebrew Scriptures don't read the same. We have found over and over they reasons for these irregularities and contrived forgeries to be a "theological agenda;" first by the by the Essenes of Alexandria, Egypt, which corrupted the Hebrew Scriptures when translated into Greek in order to write within them their concept of the "Angel-Messiah" and later by the early Gentile Church which would transform this solar Angel-Messiah even more in what later would be become recognized as the Christian Old and New Testaments.
The topic of this article deals with more alterations of the Hebrew texts; in particular dealing with the passage in Daniel chapter 9 concerning the 70 Weeks of Daniel and the possibility that it's fulfillment could be connected with Jesus. First we need to look at the text in the KJV Christian Bible.
Dan 9:24-27 24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. 25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. 26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. 27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. (KJV)
Now we need to look at the same passage as taken from the Hebrew Tanakh:
24 Seventy weeks are decreed upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sin, and to forgive iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal vision and prophet, and to anoint the most holy place. 25 Know therefore and discern, that from the going forth of the word to restore and to build Jerusalem unto one anointed, a prince, shall be seven weeks; and for threescore and two weeks, it shall be built again, with broad place and moat, but in troublous times. 26 And after the threescore and two weeks shall an anointed one be cut off, and be no more; and the people of a prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; but his end shall be with a flood; and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. 27 And he shall make a firm covenant with many for one week; and for half of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease; and upon the wing of detestable things shall be that which causeth appalment; and that until the extermination wholly determined be poured out upon that which causeth appalment.'
On a superficial reading and comparison of the two different texts one might think that they are basically the same. But they are not. As one who has studied this passage in detail and compared the differences between not only the texts but the different theological interpretations between the Jewish people and their scholars and the Christians and their scholars it pains me to say that by using a few mistranslations and misplaced commas the Christian Bible ends up with an amazing, though very clever, misinterpretation of this passage as originally written in the Hebrew Bible.
The Artaxerxes of Nehemiah 2:1 rose to power in 465 B.C., and so, according to Nehemiah 2:1, the commandment to restore Jerusalem began 20 years later, i.e., 445 B.C. Now, since Christian scholars claim that a Biblical year had 360 days, they multiply 360 by 483 (69 weeks equals 69 periods of seven years-69 X 7 = 483 years). This equals 173,880 days. To change from Biblical years to our solar years, they divide 173,880 days by 365¼; this equals 476 years. Now if you add 476 years to 445 B.C. and you will get 31 A.D. Actually, they add a few days, and it ends up around 32 A.D., which is just when they claim that Jesus was crucified. Thus, according to the Christian interpretation, Daniel 9:25, when discussing the Messiah, is referring to Jesus, saying that he will be "cut off" i.e., crucified.
Answer for yourself: Is Jesus the fulfillment of Daniel 9:24-27 as the Christians attest?
There are really many difficulties with this interpretation, which is why the Jews were never impressed with it.
The first problem is that the Christians mistranslated the main verse, verse 25. The way they read it is that after seven weeks and sixty two weeks, the Messiah will come; i.e., after 69 weeks, the Messiah will come.
Answer for yourself: The obvious question is put forth: "Why didn't Daniel simply write 69 weeks, instead of writing 7 plus 62?
The answer is that they mistranslated the verse. If you translate it correctly, that question disappears. Here is the correct translation as taken from the Hebrew Tanakh:
Know and discern that from the going forth of the word to restore and build Jerusalem unto one anointed, a prince, shall be seven weeks; and for sixty two weeks shall it be built again with streets and moats, but in troublesome times.
Note the main difference...not that it will take 69 weeks before the "anointed one" will come, but rather a mere 7 weeks. If you study this in the original Hebrew, this should be quite clear. Thus, the translation by itself answers the above question of why not simply write 69, instead of 7 plus 62. According to the correct translation, the anointed one will come after 7 week (49 years from the decree to build and restore Jerusalem), the city will remain built for 62 weeks, and after the 62 weeks, (verse 26) it will be destroyed. The Christian translation cannot explain why Daniel had to mention the first seven weeks, and in fact it is a mistranslation. Thus, if a Christian goes to his Bible to refer to this passage as being fulfilled by Jesus then open the JPS Tanakh or the Stone Edition Tanakh (the Jews should know how to interpret their own Bibles) and compare both the Christian and the Hebrew versions he can see the difference in these time periods as determined by the differences in the punctuation between the Hebrew and the English Bibles. The difference is between a "comma" and a "semicolon." The "comma" in the Christian Bibles means that the time period runs consecutively while the Hebrew interpretation is that the time period is divided as indicated by a "semicolon." In the Hebrew texts we find that the prophecy refers to an "anointed one" appearing 49 after the decree to restore and build Jerusalem and then another "anointed one" appearing after 62 more consecutive weeks (434 years). The difference is easy to see if you stop and look closely. The original Hebrew refers to "an anointed" or a "messiah" first coming after 49 years following the decree and not some 483 years later as the Christian interpretation of these same Hebrew texts leads up to believe. The Hebrew texts also refer that 62 weeks or 434 years following this first "anointed one" a second "anointed" will be cut off.
Another major difficulty is that according to the simple, untwisted translation of verse 26, two events were to occur after the 62 weeks:
We must stop and notice that again the grammar is very important for Hebrew translation we find a "comma" used connecting two events in the same time period: the cutting off of an anointed at the same time the sanctuary is destroyed.
As you know, Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D., which is 38 years after the death of Jesus which is more than five "weeks" off [over 38 years late]. The death of Jesus and the destruction of the Temple were not a the same time period and passage as you can see cannot refer to Jesus as the fulfillment. Besides that Jesus did not come 49 years following the decree to restore and build Jerusalem. So on both counts so far Jesus cannot be the fulfillment of the Hebrew Scriptures according to the Hebrew Scriptures.
There is no acceptable answer for these missing five weeks according to the Christian interpretation and this other event of an anointed being cut off as applying to Jesus cannot possibly be the fulfillment at it happened 38 years too early!
Another difficulty is that the Jewish year is not really 360 days long. While the months are based on the lunar patterns, the years must coincide with the solar system. You only need consult Maimonides, Laws of Kiddush HaChodesh 1:1, 2 to see this, or simply study the Jewish calendar. You will see that since the solar year exceeds the lunar year by around 11 days, there will be an extra month added around every three years. Thus 445 B.C. plus 483 years (69 X 7) ends up 38 A.D., and by then everyone admits that Jesus was already dead.
Another difficulty is that the Christians, for lack of a better answer, claim that the 70th week will take place when Jesus returns in his second coming as a king. The problem was caused because Daniel mentioned a total of 70 weeks, and then he specified 7 plus 62, leaving one remaining. The traditional Christian interpretation says that the first 69 weeks were consecutive, then there is at least a 1900 year gap, and sooner or later the 70th week will occur. This is obviously a very forced explanation, born of desperation. Again not only the grammar and punctuation of the Hebrew Scriptures reveal no break in the sequence of time here as it did before with the use of a "semicolon." The time runs consecutively according to Hebrew exegesis.
There is one other point that should be made and that is the historical context of these verses. On examining the other books of the Bible and their order in the Hebrew Bible it becomes quite apparent that Daniel is referring to Cyrus, of Persia, and not Jesus, whom is the "anointed" who is to appear after seven weeks following "the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem." In Jeremiah 25:1 1, 12, the word of God clearly states that the Babylonian exile will last for only 70 years. In Ezra 1:1, it says that "Now in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom. . .saying Whosoever there is among you of all His people, let him go to Jerusalem, and build the house of the Lord. . ."
Answer for yourself: Do you remember Daniel referring to a "word" going forth to "build and restore Jerusalem."
Answer for yourself: Where do we find that actual "word" in the Hebrew Scriptures from which to start our count of the 70 weeks? We find that word in Jer. 20:10:
10 For thus saith the LORD: After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will remember you, and perform My good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.
We find that 49 years following this decree or "word" to return Cyrus will be the conqueror of Babylon and will release the Jewish captives to return to their homeland and help them rebuild their Temple.
In Isaiah 45:1, it says, "Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus. . ." Thus, Isaiah, in the name of God, calls Cyrus an anointed one (Messiah), and Ezra discusses how Cyrus fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah. Since Daniel lived after Isaiah and Jeremiah but before the period of Ezra, it is most reasonable and probable to affirm that the anointed one that he referred to in Daniel 9:25 is Cyrus, and not Jesus.
The reason why a Christian would have difficulty understanding this is because the compiler of the King James Bible was a shrewd person. In the original Hebrew, both Daniel 9:25 and Isaiah 45:1 use the exact same word-..."moshiach." However, in the Christian version of the Old Testament, the word, "moshiach," is translated in Isaiah 45:1 as "anointed." whereas in Daniel 9:25, the same Hebrew word is translated not only as "the Messiah" but it is also CAPITALIZED on purpose to lead you to a "theological agenda!" Let not forget that "Messiah" is the Anglicized version of "Moshiach"; the pure translation of "Moshiach" is "an anointed one" and NOT CAPITALIZED MESSIAH WHICH CARRIES A CHRISTIAN CONNOTATION THAT THE MESSIAH IS GOD OR JESUS WHEN THE JEWISH MESSIAH WAS ALWAYS A MAN! This deceptive translating makes it virtually impossible for the innocent reader who does not know Hebrew to discern the truth.
In addition, the compiler of the Christian Bible did one other clever maneuver by altering the order of the books as found in the Hebrew Bible. The sequence of the various books of the Bible are arranged in the Christian Bible in a rather peculiar manner: the Pentateuch, Samuel, Chronicles, then Ezra, and then Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecciesiastes, Song of Songs, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and then Daniel. In the Jewish Bible, Ezra follows all of the above. The reason for placing Ezra in the Christian Bible before Isaiah, and before Psalms, Proverbs, etc., even though Ezra lived long after those books were written is presumably to fool the reader of the Christian Bible. Had the reader read Ezra immediately after Daniel [where it is found in the Hebrew Bible] which is the correct chronological location, the reader would immediately recognize that the "anointed one" mentioned in Daniel 9:25 is identified in the first verse of the next book as found in Ezra 1:1 as Cyrus. But Isaiah has already told us that in his book. So we sadly see that what we have been taught by our Gentile Christian church and the forging of Daniel in our Christian Bibles and it's creative punctuations is incorrect; Jesus is not the "anointed one" of Daniel 9 who was to come nor the one who was to be "cut off."
Answer for yourself: Who is this "anointed" who is to be "cut off" in 70 A.D.?
Answer for yourself: When the Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. what else ceased?
Well it should not be that hard to figure out when you realize that only 3 things were anointed by the L-rd in the Old Testament times:
Answer for yourself: So since Israel did not any longer have a King and since according to the Rabbis the Spirit of Prophecy has ceased in Israel then what remains as the only possible thing that was "anointed"? The priesthood ceased at the same time as the destruction of the Temple. There you have the complete understanding of the "anointed" which was "cut off" in 70 A.D.
In closing let us look at the Hebrew word of "cut off":
If we look at the Strongs' Lexicon we find:
3772 karath (kaw-rath'); a primitive root; to cut (off, down or asunder); by implication, to destroy or consume; specifically, to covenant (i.e. make an alliance or bargain, originally by cutting flesh and passing between the pieces): KJV-- be chewed, be con- [feder-] ate, covenant, cut (down, off), destroy, fail, feller, be freed, hew (down), make a league ([covenant]), X lose, perish, X utterly, X want.
Answer for yourself: What do you see in this word study? You should see two basic ideas:
No where in this word is the idea of murder or killing of an individual that can be applied to a person but instead we find the idea of the destruction of a covenant.
Answer for yourself: Did the Priesthood have their own special covenant with God? They sure did and it goes all the way back to the Levites and their refusal to worship the golden calf and God separated them out for His very own ever since. And following 70 A.D. the Sadducees (the Priests) ceased to exist as did their function in Israel since the Temple was destroyed. Since Priests were anointed then we clearly see how these "anointed ones" were destroyed along with the Temple and both events happened at the same time as the Hebrew prophecies said they would. To make this refer to Jesus again makes such fulfillment occur some 35 years or so too late! The Priesthood vanished along with the Temple and the prophecy of Daniel 9 was fulfilled: first with Cyrus in 49 years and the Priesthood being destroyed much later.
Answer for yourself: But what of the last 7 years period?
Well this is where you need to know Biblical history in order to understand this part of the prophecy. Roman and Jewish history records for us that 7 years before the 2nd Temple was destroyed Rome, who was occupying Palestine, agreed to allow the Jewish people and priests to maintain the sacrificial system and services. Joseph records that Nero wanted to stop these sacrifices and the sages of Israel pleaded with Nero that they be allowed to continue the sacrifices. Nero relents and allows Israel and the priesthood to continue the sacrificial system. Then 3 1/2 years later, in the middle of the Hebrew week of years, Rome broke that covenant and agreement that they had made with Israel and the priesthood.
27 And he shall make a firm covenant with many for one week; and for half of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease; and upon the wing of detestable things shall be that which causeth appalment; and that until the extermination wholly determined be poured out upon that which causeth appalment.
What we find here is that again this prophecy was fulfilled when Rome violated their agreement or covenant if you wish with the priests of Israel. "He" refers in this passage to the picture of Rome in the use of a singular pronoun which is not uncommon in Hebrew. It is recorded that the Jews often traded with the Romans for lambs so that they could continue the sacrifices but as the soon as the lambs ran out the only animal that they had was pigs and the sacrifices was stopped. This [only having pigs to offer as sacrifices] refers to the "destestable things shall be that causeth appalment" to the sad condition to which Israel and the Temple had fallen. But this was not the end. The "extermination wholly determined" upon Israel had yet to be played out and this further degradation of the Temple and Israel causes "appalment." Hadrian would erect upon the site where the Temple had stood and idol worship would not take place on the very spot where God's Shekinah had once resided.
Now you know the truth about Daniel 9. I plan on doing a comprehensive exposition of Daniel 9 where we deal with it in detail in the near future.
Please share this article as well as our other articles with your friends and Pastors as it is way past time to find out about the corruption of the Hebrew Bibles in it's translation and the forgeries and doctored versions we have today that force "fulfilled prophecies" and apply them to Jesus when they never referred to or were fulfilled by him in the first place. Let us both desire to want to know the truth about Jesus, the true Messianic prophecies, and why they were not fulfilled by Jesus or anyone else for that matter and what implications that holds for Jesus as the possible Messiah in waiting....waiting for us to merit the Kingdom of God and Israel's King.
Shalom
