There is no prophecy that the messiah will come, fail to fulfill even one of the true messianic prophecies (e.g. build the final Temple - Y'chezkel / Ezekiel 37:26-28, return all the Jews back to the Land of Israel - Y'shayahu / Isaiah 43:5-6, bring world peace, end prejudice, hatred, oppression, suffering and disease, bring universal knowledge of G-d to the world - Zechariah 14:9, and so on), be killed and be resurrected. Indeed, if the messiah fulfills 99.9% of the messianic prophecies but fails to fulfill all of them he is not the messiah. Thus the concept that Jesus can fail, be murdered, resurrect and promise to do it "next time" (second coming) is totally unbiblical. Psalms are not prophecy. They are poems, prayers written primarily by King David while inspired by G-d. While most of the psalms were composed by David he often incorporated the work of ten “elders” (Adam, the King of Salem, Abraham, Moses, Heyman, Yedusun, Asaf and the three sons of Korach). T'hillim / Psalm 49 is taken from the sons of Korach and is a song. This world, we are told, is a temporary place. Whether we are rich or poor we all age, grow ill and die. All of our wealth will not give us one more day than that allotted to us by G-d. Focus on being a righteous person, because those who focus only on becoming wealthy do not "take it with them." Their souls wither away, while the soul of the righteous man triumphs, rising to the light. If we waste our time in this world distracted by the material we do not fulfill our life's mission. The psalm's first death knell to Christianity is line 8 "-a brother cannot redeem a man, he cannot give his ransom to G-d." Jesus cannot die for your sins. Line 16, the one claimed to prophesy that Jesus will be resurrected, says "But G-d will redeem my נַ֭פְשִׁי / nafshi / life from the hand of the grave, for He will take me, Selah!" The Hebrew word נַ֭פְשִׁי / life force is usually translated as "soul" so the list maker takes this to mean that someone died and their soul "rose from the grave" (resurrection). The word here is נַ֭פְשִׁי / nafshi translates to life force, not immortal soul. Yet most missionaries think that this line is speaking of the immortal “soul” since most translations translate it as "soul." This misleads innocent readers into thinking that this line is about the immortal soul, when in reality it is for about the "soul" (e.g. blood coursing) through your veins -- your life-force. נַפְשׁוֹת nafshot (plural) or נֶֽפֶשׁ nefesh (singular) always refers to life force. Look up נַפְשׁוֹת in a translator (like Google Translate) and it is translated as "people." When you read the T'nach you'll see that even plants and animals possess a נֶֽפֶשׁ nefesh -- see B'reshit / Genesis 1:30 and 6:17 -- this is NOT the immortal soul. The immortal soul is from the ru'ah that G-d breathed into man (B'reshit / Genesis 2:7). Some translate נֶֽפֶשׁ nefesh as "the soul of the FLESH" -- meaning not the immortal soul, but (yet again) the "life force." David is speaking of a life not being killed -- not a soul which died and was resurrected. Ergo this passage is not about someone dying and being resurrected (their soul being raised from the grave) -- it is about someone's LIFE being saved so that they don't die at all and wind up being buried in a grave. . . This has nothing to do with resurrection, or the messiah. Note the word סֶֽלָה sĕlah which also appears in the verse. Line 16 says "But G-d will redeem my נַ֭פְשִׁי / nafshi / life from the hand of the grave, for He will take me, סֶֽלָה / sĕlah!" Some translations have סֶֽלָה sĕlah as “forever” (e.g. the Judaica Press translation). The Artscroll Stone Edition leaves it as "selah" which seems more accurate as there is no connection to this word and the concept of "forever" (or eternity). Sĕlah as "continually" can be found in drash (homily -- not a literal meaning) such as Eruvin 54a. Some opine that sĕlah is similar to סֹֽלּוּ sōlū which means “cheer!” or “shout [for joy]!” Whether it means "forever" or "shout for joy" it has nothing to do with resurrection of anyone, let alone the resurrection of the messiah. What of the three "proof" texts offered by the list maker? Mark 16:6 may say that Jesus is "risen" (resurrected) -- but this is not proof of a messianic prophecy. In the T'nach the prophets Elijah and Elisha both resurrect others, and neither was the messiah. . . The image depicts the prophet Elijah / Eliyahu being taken bodily into heaven (and as mentioned, no he was not the messiah). . . Even if Jesus had risen it is not proof of him being the messiah. Acts 2:27 says "because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, you will not let your holy one see decay." This is parroted in Acts 13:35 "You will not let your holy one see decay." The psalm says nothing about the body's decay. T'hillim / Psalm 49:16 says "But G-d will redeem my soul from the hand of the grave, for He will take me, Selah (oh joy!)" The text which supposedly "proves" the list maker's contention does not even mention it. Yet again the list maker makes a claim that the biblical passage does not support. David is speaking of his life being saved -- not of dying and being resurrected.
1 Comment
Malachi Ariel
3/23/2016 03:38:37 am
Just to make a correction, the quote of Act 2:27 is actually supposed to be from Psa 16.
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