In this article the author explains his view that the output of cheap, pseudo-scholarship has driven legitimate, serious scholarly information from the marketplace of ideas.
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The Nature of Jesus’ Task
Christians read their Bibles through a lens of historical hindsight to illuminate certain features of Jesus’ teaching. Jews living in the first century did not have this benefit, and even one as saintly as John the Baptist struggled with aspects of Jesus’ messianic conduct.
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“He Shall Be Called a Nazarene”
One of the titles given to Jesus was “Nazarene.” Where did the title come from, and did it have any special significance? Ray Pritz traces the title’s origins.
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Hebrew Nuggets, Lesson 24: Messiah (Part 2)
Athough the concept of Messiah is importance both in Judaism and Christianity, the Hebrew word מָשִׁיחַ (maSHIaḥ, messiah) was not often used in Jesus’ day.
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Hebrew Nuggets, Lesson 23: Messiah (Part 1)
The word “messiah” arouses great emotion in the hearts of Jews and Christians alike. In Hebrew Nuggets, Lesson 23, we examine the background of this Hebrew word. There is only one new letter for us to learn in the word מָשִׁיחַ (ma·SHI·aḥ, messiah). This is the letter ח (ḥet), the last letter of the word. ח (ḥet) is the eighth letter of the Hebrew alphabet. As already mentioned, Hebrew letters also serve as numbers. Being the eighth letter of the alphabet, the numerical value of ḥet is 8.
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“Son of Man”: Jesus’ Most Important Title
There is a common thread uniting the views of those who think that Jesus signaled Daniel 7 by using the Aramaic bar enash in the middle of Hebrew speech. Anyone who holds this view must assume that Jesus spoke or taught in Hebrew much of the time. That Jesus used Hebrew a significant amount of the time is a sociolinguistic conclusion that has a growing number of supporters in New Testament scholarship, but one that is still a minority opinion.
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“Prophet” as a Messianic Title
There can be little doubt that Jesus viewed himself as a prophet, and that many of his contemporaries concurred.
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Semitic Background to the Nain Story
The short account of the resurrection of the widow’s son in Nain has a very Semitic feeling. If the Nain story was written originally in Greek, it is a very semitically flavored Greek. Several linguistic features of this story suggest that it may have been written originally in Hebrew.
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Hebrew Nuggets, Lesson 1: Jesus’ Hebrew Name (Part 1)
In my view, Hebrew is the key to understanding the Jewish background to Jesus’ words. Jerusalem Perspective, therefore, features a serialized Hebrew course for beginners. Each issue will include a bite-sized Hebrew lesson. —David Bivin
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