This is another odd claim -- because Jesus is never thought to be cursed by G-d in the Christian bible, nope, not even in Matthew 27:41 - 43. Those passages supposedly have those condemning Jesus saying "He saved others,” they said, “In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him.but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in G-d. Let G-d rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of G-d.’” In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him." Matthew 27:41 - 43. Nary a word about being cursed by G-d. Funny enough there is a verse in the Christian bible that the list maker could have chosen which might tie to Y'shayahu / Isaiah 53:4, and that is Galatians 3:13 "(Jesus) redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole." The Christian bibles I checked don't tie Galatians to Y'shayahu / Isaiah 53:4. The quote in Galatians may be the Christian bible's way of trying to "tie" Jesus' crucifixion to Judaism. Crucifixion was a Roman form of punishment, not a Jewish one. The Romans crucified at least 200,000 Jews. Josephus: Antiquities of the Jews 12: Chapter 5 Describing Antiochus Epiphanies invasion of Palestine “they were whipped with rods, and their bodies were torn to pieces, and were crucified, while they were still alive, and breathed.” Jewish persons condemned to execution were not crucified or hung -- neither were the ascribed methods of execution.
D’varim / Deuteronomy 21:22-23 is being mistranslated and misunderstood by the author of Galatians. It says:“When a man is legally sentenced to death and executed, you must then hang him on a gallows. However, you may not allow his body to remain on the gallows overnight, but you must bury it on the same day. Since a person who has been hanged is a curse to G-d (The word אלהים in D'varim / Deuteronomy 21:23, translated here as "G-d" could refer to human judges, not G-d. When a person was executed by a Jewish court of law (either 23 or 71 judges) the body was hung on a tree during the day of the execution the dead person was hung up by his hands. He is hung up just before sunset and immediately taken down again (Yad, Sanhedrin 15:7). The gallows consisted of a pole sunk into the ground, with a beam projecting from its side (Sanhedrin 47a,b)..
Execution was extremely rare in ancient Judah / Israel. The legal power of the Sanhedrin to pass a death penalty was taken away by the Romans when Archelous was banished in 6 CE. In year 6 of the common era (CE) the Sanhedrin lost the ability to try death penalty cases -- that power was given to the puppet Roman procurator. See Josephus, Wars of the Jews, Book 2, chapter 8, quote "Judea was reduced into a province, and Caponius, one of the Equestrian order of the Romans, was sent as a procurator, having the power of life and death put into his hands by Caesar!" Even when Jews had the death penalty it was very rare that one was carried out. Execution so rare that more than one execution in 70 years was unusual -- and the court was called a "bloody Sanhedrin." Thus by the time of Jesus execution the power of life and death was given to the Roman procurator (in this case Pontius Pilate) – the Jews had no power to pass a death sentence. Although the Christian bible portrays Pilate in a good light (as if he did not want to execute Jesus) history paints a very different picture of Pilate. In Josephus' "War of the Jews" (2.175-177), written in the first century of the common era, we learn that Pilate had soldiers, dressed as civilians, enter a crowd of Jews and kill many of them. ידידיה הכהן / Yedidia HaKohen (Jedediah the Priest) also known as Philo wrote of Pilate: "his venality, his violence, his thefts, his assaults, his abusive behavior, his frequent executions of untried prisoners, and his endless savage ferocity” (Gaium 302, circa 40 CE). Philo also wrote of Pilate that he "was a man of inflexible, stubborn, and cruel disposition." (Embassy 38:299-305 (Smallwood translation) circa 40 CE). Ergo the Christian bible version of Pilate is at great variance with the actual historical reality. Pilate was more than willing to attack and kill Jews with little to no pity. His behavior was so horrid that Pilate was recalled by Rome after he was said to have slaughtered thousands of Samaritan pilgrims. "The law" is Christian-speak for Torah. Torah means instruction, not law. Torah is a blessing, not a curse. “(Torah) is a tree of life to those who take hold of it, and those who support it are fortunate' Mishlei / Proverbs 3:18. The mitzvot (commandments) are not a curse, they are a blessing. The mitzvot do not restrict our lives – they enhance them, allowing us to live on a holier life, closer to G-d. Galatians seems to view the commandments of the Torah as something we just have to do in order to get our just reward in the World to Come. Thus Jesus came and took away the “curse.” The focus of Judaism and of Torah is that it is an instruction book on how to live a better life -- of doing what is right and avoiding what is wrong. G-d gave us the so that we could enjoy עוֹלָם הַזֶּ֗ה / olam hazeh, this world. :5 says, “Keep My decrees and laws so that a person may do them and live by them.” Jesus could not have taken away the joy of the mitzvot, because the T’nach tells us that they are eternal – and that we will observe them in the time of the true messiah. “And I shall give them one heart, and shall put a new spirit within them. And I shall take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances, and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their HaShem.” (Y'chezkel / Ezekiel 11:19-20). and “My servant David (the messiah) will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees.” (Y'chezkel / Ezekiel 37:24). The commentaries on Vayikra / Leviticus 18 ask, what does "וָחַי בָּהֶם" / “vachai bahem” mean – that a person shall do the commandments and “live by them”? It means that the Torah was given to us to enable us to live optimally in this world and to derive the maximum joy out of it. The mitzvot are not only about what is right and wrong, and receiving reward in the World to Come. Rather, G-d structured the world in such a way that through the mitzvot we can enjoy this world to the fullest. So Torah is not a curse, and Jesus did not "free" anyone from the eternal mitzvot of Torah. Returning to the missionary claim in the title: was Jesus cursed or considered cursed by those in the Christian bible? No. But, even if Jesus had been considered cursed "so what"? Lots of people have been perceived cursed. The true question is "does Jesus fit the description of the servant said to be cursed in Y'shayahu / Isaiah 53:4? No. "But in truth it was our ills that he bore, and our pains that he carried -- but we had regarded him diseased, stricken by G-d and afflicted!" Y'shayahu / Isaiah 53:4. The verse does not say anything about the servant being cursed. The servant bears the ills of the gentile nations. The servant bears the pain caused by the gentile nations. The nations regarded the servant as diseased, stricken by G-d and afflicted (but "cursed" is not mentioned). If Jesus is part of a 3-fold god why would anyone consider him to be cursed (by himself?). Today's claim that Y'shayahu / Isaiah 53:4 says that the servant was cursed by G-d is false and unbiblical. The verse reads: "But in truth it was our ills that he bore, and our pains that he carried -- but we had regarded him diseased, stricken by G-d and afflicted!" Here is a translation along with the Artscroll Stone Edition footnotes at the bottom of each response to aid in your understanding of the passage. Y'shayahu / Isaiah 52:13 Behold, My servant will succeed; he will be exalted and become high and exceedingly lofty. 14 Just as multitudes were astonished over you (saying) "His appearance is too marred to be a man's, and his visage to be human, 15 so will the many nations exclaim about him, and kings will shut their mouths (in amazement) for they will see that which had never been told to them, and will perceive things they had never heard. 53:1 Who would believe what we have heard! For whom has the arm of HaShem been revealed? 2 In the past he grew like a sapling or like the root from dry ground; he had neither form nor beauty. We saw him, but without a desirable appearance. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of pains and accustomed to being sick. As one from whom we would hide our faces; he was despised and we had no regard for him. 4 But in truth it was our ills and he carried our pains -- but we had regarded him diseased, stricken by G-d and afflicted! 5 He was wounded as a result (because of) our rebellious transgressions, and oppressed as a result our iniquities. The chastisement upon him was for our benefit, and through his wounds we were healed. 6 We have all strayed like sheep each of us turning his own way and HaShem inflicted upon him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was persecuted and afflicted but did not open his mouth; like a sheep being led to the slaughter or a ewe that is silent before her shearers, he did not open his mouth. 8 he was removed far away from the land where they lived and a plague came upon them (לָֽמוֹ / lamo) through the transgression of my people (the gentile nations). He submitted to the grave with the wicked and joined with the wealthy in his executions (בְּמֹתָ֑יו / b'motav) 9 He submitted himself to his grave like evil men; and the wealthy (submitted) to his executions for committing no crime and with no deceit in his mouth. 10 HaShem desired to oppress him and He afflicted him; if his physical being would acknowledge guilt he would see offspring and live long days and the desire or HaShem would succeed in his hand. 11. He (he servant) would see (the purpose) and be satisfied with his life's (not immortal soul) distress. With his knowledge My servant will cause the multitudes to be righteous; it is their וַעֲוֹנתָם / iniquities (for impulsive, lustful wrongdoings) that he will carry. 12. Therefore, I will assign him a portion in public and he will divide the mighty as spoils -- in return for having poured out his life for death and being counted among the wicked, for he bore the sin of the many, and prayed for the wicked. Footnotes from Artscroll Stone Edition: Isaiah 52:13 i.e. G-d's servant the people of Israel (Rashi) 52:15 Just as Israel had once been astonishingly degraded, so it will astonish the nations by its exaltedness when the time of redemption arrives. 53:1-3 this is the prophecy foretelling what the nations and their kings will exclaim when they witness Israel's rejuvenation. The nations will contrast their former scornful attitude toward the Jews (vv. 1-3) with their new realization of Israel's grandeur (vv 4-7). 53:5 we brought suffering upon Israel for our own selfish purposes; it was not, as we had claimed, that G-d was punishing Israel for its own evil behavior. 53:6 We sinned by inflicting punishment upon Israel. Such oppression is often described as "Hashem's punishment" (see 10:5, Habakkuk 1:12), for He decreed that it should happen (Abarbanel). 53:8 When Israel's exile is finally ended the nations will marvel that such a generation could have survived the expulsion from "the land of the living, i.e. Israel, that the nations had sinfully inflicted upon it. 53:9 Ordinary Jews chose to die like common criminals, rather than renounce their faith; and wealthy Jews were killed for no reason other than to enable their wicked conquerors to confiscate their riches (Radak). 53:10 That is, Israel. G-d replies to the nations that Israel's suffering was a punishment for its own sins; and when the people realize this and repent, they will be redeemed and rewarded. 53:11 Israel will teach the nations of G-d's righteousness.
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