Yet again the list maker is taking a biblical comment about G-d and claiming it is a prophecy about Jesus. This claim is based on mistranslation as well as claiming a passage about G-d is really about Jesus. The Book of Y'shayahu / Isaiah -- from chapters 40 - 66 -- discuss how G-d comforts the Jews who He is sending into exile --but the message of these chapters is one of hope of eventual return to the land of Israel and forgiveness. Isaiah 40 through 66 speaks time and time again about Israel as G-d's servant who suffers, but who is later exalted. Read the first line of chapter 44: "And now, hearken, Jacob My servant, and Israel whom I have chosen." Jacob (Israel, the Jewish people). . . G-d's servant, who He has chosen. Y'shayahu / Isaiah 44:1 -3 states clearly that G-d formed the Jewish people, He will rescue us from our long exile. As He gives water to the thirsty He will pour His spirit onto the living offspring of the Jewish people. G-d. Not the messiah. The list maker is lifting a passage out of context and thus misapplying what the bible actually says. Here is a translation of Y'shayahu / Isaiah 44:1 - 3 from the Judaica Press translation: "And now, hearken, Jacob My servant, and Israel whom I have chosen. So said the L-rd your Maker, and He Who formed you from the womb shall aid you. Fear not, My servant Jacob, and Jeshurun (a poetic name for the Jewish nation) whom I have chosen. As I will pour water on the thirsty and running water on dry land, I will pour רוּחִי֙ / ru'ah / My spirit on זַרְעֶ֔ךָ / zar’aCHA / your seed (includes all of the people who come from a parent) and My blessing on your offspring."
These people are apparently ignorant of basic Hebrew. זֶֽרַע / zera (translated as "seed" or "living offspring of the physical parent") is never used figuratively. It is always, always, always literal. In Hebrew when you combine a verb with the compound noun (like זֶֽרַע / zera), whatever its application may be, the reference is always to physical offspring. Want examples? "And God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation, seed yielding herbs and fruit trees producing fruit according to its kind in which its seed is found, on the earth," and it was so." מַזְרִ֣יעַ זֶ֔רַע / Mazri'a zera means yielding seed, (B'reshit / Genesis 1:11); and "So Judah said to Onan, "Come to your brother's wife and perform the rite of the levirate, and raise up progeny for your brother." וְהָקֵ֥ם זֶ֖רַע / Vehaqeim zera, means [you] establish offspring, (B'reshit / Genesis 38:8); and "And He shall give the rain of your seed, with which you shall sow the soil, and bread of the grain of the soil, and it shall be plenteous and fat; your livestock shall graze, [each one becoming] on that day a fattened lamb." זַרְעֲךָ֜ אֲשֶׁר־תִּזְרַ֣ע / Zar'acha asher tizra means your seed that you will sow (Y'shayahu / Isaiah 30:23). The Hebrew noun זֶֽרַע / zera has feminine and masculine iterations, as well as singular and plural uses in a manner similar to words like "hair" or "chicken" in English -- words which can be singular or plural based on usage. In Hebrew זֶֽרַע / zera are used in the following way in the T'nach (Jewish bible):
While only one example is given of each type of use in the bible there are multiple examples. Notice that in all five uses the word means PHYSICAL things. The word cannot mean followers or spiritual children (followers) -- thus this passage does not apply to Christians. Isaiah is telling us in Y'shayahu / Isaiah 44:3 from the Judaica Press translation: "I have chosen. As I will pour water on the thirsty and running water on dry land, I will pour רוּחִי֙ / ru'ah / My spirit on זַרְעֶ֔ךָ / zar’aCHA / your seed (includes all of the people who come from a parent) and My blessing on your offspring." G-d's spirit (wind) will be with the Jews throughout the ages. This is not a prophecy about Jesus or Christianity. What of רוּחִי֙ / ru'ah , translated as G-d's spirit? John 16:7 speaks of the holy ghost / spirit: "I will send Him (the Holy Spirit) to you [to be in close fellowship with you]." John 16:13 - 15 also speaks of the so-called holy ghost / spirit "But when He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth [full and complete truth]. For He will not speak on His own initiative, but He will speak whatever He hears [from the Father—the message regarding the Son], and He will disclose to you what is to come [in the future]. 14 He will glorify and honor Me, because He (the Holy Spirit) will take from what is Mine and will disclose it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Because of this I said that He [the Spirit] will take from what is Mine and will reveal it to you." G-d is one. He is not broken up into parts including the concept of a holy spirit or ghost. There is no such concept in Judaism or the T'nach. רוּחַ / ru'ah is a "spirit", and can also be also translated as "wind." G-d breathed a spirit into man (B'reshit / Genesis 2:7).. The missionary most likely picked Y'shayahu / Isaiah 44:3 as being about the su-called holy ghost because the translation speaks of G-d's spirit (wind) -- and many Christians probably assume this means the third part of the trinity -- the "holy ghost" (or holy spirit)(. There is no "holy spirit" or "holy ghost" in the sense of an entity -- a part of a trinity god. There is only one G-d (D’varim / Deuteronomy 6:4). The term "holy spirit" (in which "holy" is an adjective) never appears in the T'nach even once. The term does appear in Rabbinical writings -- but it is nothing like the Christian concept. Judaism, relying on the T'nach, holds that G-d is One and Unique. The notion of a dual or triune godhead is totally rejected. G-d is not a spirit. G-d is not a physical entity (He has not physical form, He is not a man). The Hebrew word (רֽוּחַ) / ruaḥ, which Christians almost invariably translate as “spirit”, in fact nearly always means something else. It usually means a “wind” (as in “north wind” or “east wind”), but it can mean a “mood” or a “fit”; and it can also refer to G-d’s “presence”. It would seem that this Christian “holy ghost” (“holy spirit” of the trinity) is based on a misuse of the Hebrew term Ruach HaKodesh (mistranslated as holy spirit) But Ruach HaKodesh doesn't mean "the holy spirit.” “Holy Spirit” would be הָרוּחַ הַקָּדוֹשׁ ha-ru'ah ha-kadosh (ha meaning “the”) or perhaps הָרוּחַ הַקְּדוֹשָׁה ha-ru'ah ha-k'doshah (because רוּחַ ruach can be both masculine & feminine – all nouns in Hebrew must be either male or female). קוֹדֶשׁ (kadosh) is a noun ("holiness" or "sanctity") and literally means to be separate. The term רוּחַ literally means “wind” and is the lowest level of the soul – the life force. רוּחַ הַקֹּדֶש / Ruach HaKodesh should be translated as "a spirit of [the] holiness" or "a spirit of [the] sanctity". Meaning it is a state of holiness in a human being, NOT a mythical G-d of spirit. Let me repeat that – it is a state of holiness in a human being, NOT a mythical spirit of G-d. So what of the phrase "holy spirit?" As mentioned it does not appear in the T'nach (Jewish bible, not even once). The phrase often mistranslated as "holy spirit" is רֽוּחַ הַקֹֽדֶשׁ / ruaḥ hakodesh. רֽוּחַ הַקֹֽדֶשׁ ruaḥ hakodesh can’t mean “holy spirit” because קֹֽדֶשׁ kodesh isn’t an adjective, but is actually a noun meaning “holiness” or “sanctity”; the Hebrew words for the adjective “holy” are קָדוֹשׁ kadosh (masc.) and קְדוֹשָׁה k'doshah (fem.)—the corresponding plural forms being קְדוֹשִׁים k'doshim and קְדוֹשׁוֹת k'doshot. The correct translation of רֽוּחַ הַקֹֽדֶשׁ ruaḥ hakodesh is therefore “presence of [the] holiness.” The idea of a holy ghost / spirit as part of the Christian triune god is pagan, not Jewish. G-d is not a man and He is not a wind (spirit).
1 Comment
Kenneth Brownsher
3/8/2023 05:21:23 pm
53:10 has always been the stumbling block for Christians. Plus Israel is called G`ds Servant at least 9 times in Isaiah.
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