Y'shayahu / Isaiah 59:15 - 16 says: "And truth is lacking, and he who turns away from evil is considered mad, and the L-rd saw and was displeased for there is no justice. And He saw that there was no man, and He was astounded for there was no intercessor, and His arm וַתּ֤וֹשַֽׁע / supported / helped (saved for) Him, and His righteousness, that supported Him." Isaiah is speaking of G-d (specifically the arm of G-d) saving the Jewish people. Isaiah has used this motif before, in Y'shayahu / Isaiah 52:10: "The L-rd has revealed His holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our G-d." Interesting enough, Y'shayahu / Isaiah 52:10 is not on the list of 365 prophecies supposedly fulfilled by Jesus. The Hebrew translated as "salvation" means "rescue" -- as in physical lives being rescued from danger. It has nothing to do with souls being "saved" -- a concept foreign to the bible and Judaism. Our souls do not need to be saved -- whenever the verb to save as used in the T'nach it refers to rescue from an attacker. Normally the usage has to do with engaging in physical combat with whoever is attacking the person being “saved”. Jesus never rescued anyone. There are two Hebrew words that can be translated as "salvation" - יְשׁוּעָה y'shu'AH and תְּשׁוּעָה t'shu'AH. Nouns in Hebrew are either feminine or masculine -- and both y'shu'AH and תְּשׁוּעָה t'shu'AH are feminine nouns. Neither of those words is found in Y'shayahu / Isaiah 59:16. Here are the instances of the various forms of the word יְשׁוּעָה: יְשׁוּעָה Y'shayahu / Isaiah 26:1 Y'shayahu / Isaiah 49:8 Y'shayahu / Isaiah 52:7 Y'shayahu / Isaiah 59:17 Y'shayahu / Isaiah 60:18 Chavakuk / Habakuk 3:18 T'hillim / Psalms 119:15 וִישׁוּעָה T'hillim / Psalms 118:15 הַיְשׁוּעָה Y'shayahu / Isaiah 12:3 T'hillim / Psalms 3:9 בִּישׁוּעָה T'hillim / Psalms 149:4 לִישׁוּעָה Sh'mot / Exodus 15:2 Shmuel Beit / II Samuel 10:11 Y'shayahu / Isaiah 12:2 Y'shayahu / Isaiah 59:11 T'hillim / Psalms 118:14 T'hillim / Psalms 118:21 Iyov / Job 13:16 יְשׁוּעַת Shmot / Exodus 14:13 Y'shayahu / Isaiah 52:10 T'hillim / Psalms 14:7 T'hillim / Psalms 98:3 Divrei Hayamim Beit / 2 Chronicles 20:17 יְשׁוּעָתִי Y'shayahu / Isaiah 12:2 Y'shayahu / Isaiah 56:1 T'hillim / Psalms 62:2 T'hillim / Psalms 79:2 T'hillim / Psalms 88:2 T'hillim / Psalms 89:27 T'hillim / Psalms 140:8 Iyov / Job 30:14 וִישׁוּעָתִי Y'shayahu / Isaiah 51:6 Y'shayahu / Isaiah 51:8 T'hillim / Psalms 62:3 T'hillim / Psalms 62:7 בִּישׁוּעָתִי T'hillim / Psalms 91:16 מִישׁוּעָתִי T'hillim / Psalms 22:2 יְשׁוּעָתְךָ T'hillim / Psalms 69:30 יְשׁוּעָתֶךָ T'hillim / Psalms 67:3 T'hillim / Psalms 70:5 בִּישׁוּעָתֶךָ Shmuel Alef / I Samuel 2:1 T'hillim / Psalms 9:15 T'hillim / Psalms 13:6 T'hillim / Psalms 20:6 T'hillim / Psalms 21:6 T'hillim / Psalms 106:4 וּבִישׁוּעָתְךָ Psalms 21:2 לִישׁוּעָתְךָ B'reshit / Genesis 49:18 T'hillim / Psalms 119:166 T'hillim / Psalms 119:174 לִישׁוּעָתֶךָ T'hillim / Psalms 119:123 יְשֻׁעָתֵךְ T'hillim / Psalms 35:3 יְשֻׁעָתוֹ D'varim / Deuteronomy 32:15 T'hillim / Psalms 96:2 T'hillim / Psalms 98:2 Divrei Hayamim Alef / I Chronicles 16:23 בִּישׁוּעָתוֹ Y'shayahu / Isaiah 25:9 T'hillim / Psalms 35:9 T'hillim / Psalms 78:22 וִישׁוּעָתָהּ Y'shayahu / Isaiah 62:1 יְשׁוּעָתֵנוּ Y'shayahu / Isaiah 33:2 T'hillim / Psalms 68:20 יְשׁוּעֹת Y'shayahu / Isaiah 26:18 Y'shayahu / Isaiah Isaiah 33:6 T'hillim / Psalms 74:12 T'hillim / Psalms 116:13 יְשׁוּעוֹת Shmuel Beit / II Samuel 22:51 T'hillim / Psalms 18:51 T'hillim / Psalms 28:8 T'hillim / Psalms 42:6 T'hillim / Psalms 42:12 T'hillim / Psalms 43:5 T'hillim / Psalms 44:5 T'hillim / Psalms 53:7 יְשׁוּעָתָה Yonah / Jonah 2:10 T'hillim / Psalms 3:3 לִישֻׁעָתָה T'hillim / Psalms 80:3 The word תְּשׁוּעָה t'shu'ah, is a variant found in T'hillim / Psalm 144:10 T'hillim / Psalms 146:3). Salvation = rescuing and is speaking of physical lives. When people turn to G-d and His Torah there will be peace on earth, no more killing, etc. It has nothing to do with the Christian concept that humans need to be "saved" because of some sin in the Garden of Eden (original sin does not exist), or some other thinking that without belief in Jesus a person is damned. These concepts are unbiblical and are heresy in that they minimize G-d and cast aspersions on His creation -- mankind. In the T'nach always refers to our physical lives being saved from danger. Our immortal souls do not need saving. The meaning of יְשׁוּעָה in the Scriptures is very different from the way it is misused in by Christian missionaries. In Hebrew, it simply means being “rescued” from danger—typically by the rescuer engaging in physical combat (fighting) with an assailant who is attacking the person being “saved”. In the T'nach, “saving” is almost always associated with “fighting” or “waging war”.... I refer you to any or all of the following examples: • “Just stand still and you’ll see HaShem’s salvation that He is going to do for your today....” (Sh'mot / Exodus 14:13) • “HaShem saved Israel from Egypt’s power that day....” (Sh'mot / Exodus 14:30) • “HaShem set up a savior for Israel—Otniyél ben K'naz, Kalév’s younger brother....” (Shoftim / Judges 3:9) • “HaShem set up a savior for them—Éhud ben Géra the Bin-y'mini, who had a deformed right hand....” (Shoftim / Judges 3:15) • “....and he, too, saved Israel....” (Shoftim / Judges 3:31) • “If You will save Israel through my hand, as You have spoken....” (Shoftim / Judges 6:36) • “....you didn’t save me from them....and, when I saw that you hadn’t saved me....” (Shoftim / Judges 12:2-3) • “HaShem saved Israel that day....” (Shmuel 1 / 1 Samuel 14:23) • “....so David saved the inhabitants of K'ilah....” (Shmuel 1 / 1 Samuel 23:5) Every time the concept of salvation is mentioned in the T'nach (bible) it always refers to physical lives being rescued from danger. The Christian concept that the soul is damaged and needs saving is not biblical (T'nach). The concept is Christian, not Jewish. Christianity teaches that sin has separated man from G-d, and the consequence of sin is death (Romans 6:23). The Christian bible goes so far as to say that only G-d can remove sin and deliver man from sin’s penalty (hell) (2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 3:5). In the Jewish bible the term "salvation" only refers to being rescued from physical danger. Salvation has nothing to do with our immortal souls. We are not separated from G-d -- indeed He is close to all who call upon Him. In D'varim / Deuteronomy 33:29 Moses said we are “a nation that has been saved by HaShem”) and Yeshayahu / Isaiah 45:17 says the Jewish nation “has been saved by HaShem”, adding that “this is an eternal salvation”). Note that, in both verses, the words used were “has been saved” or "continually being saved" -- but again this is speaking of our physical existence -- not our immortal souls which are perfect and do not need to be saved. Yet again the list maker has lifted a sentence out of context (the passage speaks of Isaiah's role as G-d's messenger to spread the word that G-d is our salvation) and claimed, with zero proof, that it is about Jesus. Y'shayahu / Isaiah 59:15 - 16 simply tells the people of his generation that they need to stop ignoring G-d, stop their ways or they will be exiled -- only G-d can save them from that fate, but only if they turn to him? Orthodox Union on Y'shayahu / Isaiah 59: "Isaiah tells us that G-d’s “hand” is not incapable of saving us, nor is His “ear” incapable of hearing us. It is our sins that keep Him from doing so! The people’s hands are full of sin and their mouths speak falsehoods. Prayers are insincere, court judgments are biased and injustices multiply. Isaiah likens things to poisonous vipers’ eggs – if you eat one, it’s poison. If it hatches, it’s a viper. No good can possibly come of this.
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