How can you be so positive in your assessment of the Pharisees? Remember that Jesus was pleased with the kneeling prayer of the tax collector and rebuked the prideful prayer of the Pharisee (Luke 18:10-14). He also told us not to address anyone as “Rabbi”; we have only one teacher. And finally, Jesus consistently called the Pharisees a “brood of vipers” (Matt 12:34; 23:23) and said that “they have already received their reward” (Matt 6:2, 5, 16).

Without reading the Scriptures carefully, and without a familiarity with Second Temple-period extra-biblical sources, a simple reader of the New Testament might assume that a majority of the Pharisees were hypocrites and that the Pharisees as a movement were indeed a “brood of vipers.” As a result of this common Christian assumption, the word “Pharisee” has become a synonym for “hypocrite” in the English language.

However, this widespread Christian misreading of the New Testament is a terrible mistake, which, in the course of the last two millennia, often has resulted in appalling consequences for the Jewish community.

Who did Jesus say were sitting on Moses’ seat (Matt 23:2)? Answer: the Pharisees and their scribes. Jesus said: “The scribes and Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and keep everything they say to you (in Hebrew, כל מה שהם אומרים לכם, meaning, “Observe their rulings, commandments). The verb λέγειν (say) can be a Hebraism for “rule” or “command.” The Greek verbs ποιεῖν (do) and τηρεῖν (keep) are a parallelism and both refer to observing the biblical commandments as interpreted by the Pharisees (their Oral Torah).

Jesus himself observed the Oral Torah of the Pharisees. For example, not only was it his custom to say a blessing after eating, as commanded in the Torah (Dt 8:10), but he also said a blessing before eating, an innovation of the Pharisees. (See David Bivin, “Jesus and the Oral Torah: Blessing.”)

Shmuel Safrai commented:

In other areas of daily life the rulings of the Pharisees also were practiced, and although there were bitter controversies, eventually the Pharisaic halachah prevailed even in the major areas of Temple worship. Josephus states that “all prayers and sacred rites of divine worship are performed according to their [the Pharisees’] exposition” (Antiquities 18:15), and that the Sadducees “submit to the formulas of the Pharisees, since otherwise the masses would not tolerate them” (Antiquities 18:17). (“Safrai’s ‘Sabbath Breakers’ Article”)

Who was it that warned Jesus about Herod’s intention to kill him? Answer: the Pharisees (Luke 13:31).

Who was it that saved the lives of Jesus’ disciples by urging tolerance in the Sanhedrin when Peter and the other apostles were brought before it (Acts 5:33-39)? Answer: a Pharisee name Gamaliel, none other than Rabban Gamaliel the Elder.

Who was it that sided with Paul against the Sadducees in the Sanhedrin, saying, “We find nothing wrong with this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”(Acts 23:6-9)? Answer: the Sanhedrin’s Pharisees. (Read Shmuel Safrai’s “Insulting God’s High Priest.”)

Josephus reports that, after James was lynched by the conniving Sadducean high priest Hanan (Annas), the Pharisees protested to the Roman governor. David Flusser writes:

A similar clash between the Pharisees and Annas the Younger, probably the brother-in-law of Caiaphas, took place in the year 62 C.E. Annas the Younger “convened the Sanhedrin of judges and brought before them a man named James, the brother of Jesus who was called Christ, and certain others [probably Christians]. He accused them of having transgressed the Torah and delivered them to be stoned” (Antiq. 20:200-203). The Pharisees, who Josephus describes as the “inhabitants of the city who were considered the most tolerant and were strict in the observance of the commandments,” managed to have the high priest Annas the Younger deposed from his position as a result of the illegal execution of James. (David Flusser, “…To Bury Caiaphas, Not to Praise Him”)

Flusser also writes:

In contrast to what we know about Caiaphas and his faction, especially from John 11:47-53, the Pharisees of his time did not launch persecutions of Jewish prophetic movements. This is attested by Jesus himself (Mt. 23:29-31), according to whom the Pharisees of his day used to say, “If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.” Indeed, when one reads the gospels critically, one becomes aware that the Pharisees did not play a decisive role in Jesus’ arrest, interrogation and crucifixion. The Pharisees are not even mentioned by name in the context of Jesus’ trial as recounted in the first three gospels, with the exception of the story about the guard at Jesus’ tomb (Mt. 27:62). (Flusser, “…To Bury Caiaphas, Not to Praise Him”)

The Pharisees were acutely aware of the dangers of hypocrisy. Their self-criticism was even more biting than that of Jesus. They even caricatured themselves saying that there were seven classes of Pharisees (j. Ber. 14b, chap. 9, halachah 7; j. Sot. 20c, chap. 5, halachah 7):

The “shoulder Pharisee”, who packs his good works on his shoulder (to be seen of men); the “wait-a-bit” Pharisee, who (when someone has business with him) says, Wait a little; I must do a good work; the “reckoning” Pharisee, who when he commits a fault and does a good work crosses off one with the other; the “economising” Pharisee, who asks, What economy can I practise to spare a little to do a good work? the “show me my fault” Pharisee, who says, show me what sin I have committed, and I will do an equivalent good work (implying that he had no fault); the Pharisee of fear, like Job; the Pharisee of love, like Abraham. The last is the only kind that is dear (to God). (English translation by George Foot Moore, Judaism in the First Centuries of the Christian Era: The Age of the Tannaim [2 vols.; Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1927], 2:193)

Only one of the seven classes of Pharisees is righteous and acceptable to God: the Pharisee who serves God from love. Compare the saying of Antigonus of Socho, a sage who lived at the beginning of the second century B.C.: “Do not be like slaves who serve their master [i.e., God] in order to receive a reward; rather be like slaves who do not serve their master in order to receive a reward” (m. Avot 1:3). To the saying of Antigonus, cf. the phrase found in Derech Eretz Rabbah 2:13 (ed. Higger, 284): עושין מאהבה (those who do [i.e., perform good deeds] out of love).

“They preach, but they do not practice” (Matt 23:3). The Pharisees were the conservatives of their day, the Bible teachers and preachers of Jesus’ society. The Pharisees knew that their greatest danger was the sin of hypocrisy, just as today’s conservative Christians understand that hypocrisy is their greatest danger. We sincere and devout followers of Jesus are the hypocrites of our day. There cannot be hypocrites where there are no beliefs and standards to which one is accountable to God.

Notice that Jesus did not criticize the Pharisees for tithing of their garden herbs (Matt 23:23), a commandment of the Oral Torah, but for neglecting weightier matters. Jesus’ criticism of the Pharisees appears to be “in-house” criticism, constructive criticism driven by love and respect. The Pharisees, in contrast to the Sadducees, held beliefs that were similar to Jesus’.

The expression “brood of vipers” appears four times in the New Testament, three times in Matthew’s Gospel and one time in Luke’s. (There are no parallels to any of these four sayings in Mark’s account.) According to Luke’s Gospel (Luke 3:7), the expression is the address of John the Baptist to the “crowds” who came to him at the Jordan River. However, according to Matthew, John the Baptist’s stinging rebuke was addressed to “Pharisees and Sadducees” (Matt 3:7). Apparently, this detail was added for color by the author of Matthew, who then put it in the mouth of Jesus twice more. Luke’s Gospel along with Mark's provide evidence that this strong expression was used by the fiery John the Baptist, and not by Jesus.

Jesus’ words, ἀπέχουσιν τὸν μισθὸν αὐτῶν (“they are getting their reward/pay”) is a refrain that is repeated three times (Matt 6:2, 5, 16). The implication is that such hypocrites will not receive a reward in the World to Come -- perhaps will not even be in the World to Come! Rather than being a condemnation of the Pharisees, this threesome proves that Jesus’ theology was similar, or identical, to that of the Pharisees.

The three most important commandments in the eyes of the Pharisees were almsgiving, prayer and fasting, in that order, the most important being צדקה (tsedakah; almsgiving). Jesus gives this trio in his Sermon on the Mount. Although Jesus’ point is that one should not be ostentatious when giving to the poor, when praying, and when fasting, in passing, we learn something about Jesus’ theology: Jesus stressed the same three commandments that were so important to the Pharisees. Notice that the centurion, Cornelius, was a God-fearer (Acts 10:2, 22). He gave alms and prayed much (Acts 10:2, 4) and fasted (Acts 10:30).

Regarding Jesus’ command to his disciples not to be called “rabbi” (my teacher), see the FAQ, “What did Jesus mean by ‘Call no man your father on earth’ (Matt 23:9)?”

For further reading, see Shmuel Safrai, “Jesus and the Hasidim”; Shmuel Safrai, “Sabbath Breakers”; David Flusser, “…To Bury Caiaphas, Not to Praise Him”; and David Bivin, “Rabbinic Literature: A Spiritual Treasure.”

Good news! Jerusalem Perspective.com has published several exciting new articles. Never before available on the Internet, and exclusively available to Premium Content subscribers, these articles are among the most important we have published.

The two most significant new articles, 21,633 words and 7,230 words in length, respectively, were penned by Shmuel Safrai, the legendary Hebrew University scholar. These articles are monumental in scope, and from a scholarly standpoint, revolutionary.

Professor Safrai’s conclusions will come as a shock to most New Testament scholars. For example, the prevailing opinion among today’s scholars is that first-century Galilee was culturally and spiritually deprived, and that, therefore, Jesus came from an underdeveloped and backward Jewish region of the land of Israel. In “The Jewish Cultural Nature of Galilee in the First Century,” Safrai shows that Galilee was the Jewish cultural center in the time of Jesus; that almost all famous rabbis of the first century hailed from the Galilee, not Judea; and that the level of Torah study in Galilee surpassed all other regions of the land. [The article originally appeared in the journal Immanuel 24/25 (1990), 147-186. Jerusalem Perspective graciously received permission to publish the article in electronic format.]

In “The Value of Rabbinic Literature as an Historical Source,” Safrai destroys the notion that because rabbinic sources were only put in writing after 200 A.D., they are not reliable historical witnesses to events that took place in the first century A.D., and before.

Another intriguing new article (3,329 words in length), “From Melchizedek to Jesus: The Higher Eternal Priest in Jewish Second Temple Literature,” was written by Dr. Moshe Navon. Navon discusses one of the most fascinating Dead Sea Scrolls. Known as “Pesher Melchizedek,” the scroll focuses on a biblical figure mentioned only twice in the Hebrew Scriptures (Gen. 14:18; Ps. 110:4). In this amazing scroll, Melchizedek combines the roles of kingly messiah, priestly messiah, messiah of the spirit, end-time judge, and even God. Pesher Melchizedek is extremely exciting for New Testament readers because the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews makes an equation between Melchizedek and Jesus (Heb. 5-7).

David Bivin contributed two new articles, of 8,916 words and 14,241 words in length, respectively. “Jesus and the Enigmatic ‘Green Tree’” is a study of Jesus’ saying, “For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?” (Lk. 23:31). If it is true that during a moment of intense mental anguish and physical pain, Jesus employed the “green tree” motif to stress his messiahship, then it cannot be true that by this time in his life he had already realized his messianic pretentions had come to nothing. We can assume that Jesus viewed his death as an integral part of his messianic mission. Jesus had not been disillusioned by his arrest, scourging, and the prospect of a cruel death, but marched to Golgotha confident of his divinely ordained task.

*Note: Each article added to the site means Premium Content subscribers receive greater value for their subscription price: $60, $45 or $20. (These prices have remained unchanged from the beginning.)

*Note: Links to our 7 newest articles can be found at the top of the Jerusalem Perspective front page.

*Note: To read the above articles, there is no need to become a subscriber! You can purchase any, or all, of the articles individually in downloadable PDF format for as little as $.99.

Of course, I do have to spend a few dozen hours a week maintaining the website, and a few dozen more researching and writing articles. In addition, at my age, one shouldn’t forget that regular aerobic and strength conditioning is important. With so little to occupy my time (smile), I decided to devote several hours a week to learning to speak Koine Greek, the Greek that was spoken in the Mediterranean world at the time Jesus lived.

Following the lead of my colleague, fellow Jerusalem School of Synoptic Research member and JerusalemPerspective.com author, Randall Buth, I began trying to internalize ancient Greek by speaking it and hearing it spoken, rather than just passively reading the text of the New Testament.

Why would anyone want to do that?! Why would anyone in his or her right mind want to speak a “dead” language, a language that no one speaks? (Modern Greek speakers cannot understand their ancient tongue.) The answer: Because only by speaking a language does one internalize it, and it was high time, Randall and I felt, having tasted fluency in Hebrew, that we should gain an active knowledge of one of the other two biblical language. When we started this endeavor, Randall and I had been studying and reading Greek for approximately thirty years; however, we still didn’t have the active command of the language that a New Testament scholar should be expected to have, so that if someone were to have asked us to tell in Greek what we were doing last week we wouldn’t have been able to do it. That situation, although not uncommon among New Testament scholars, is intolerable.

Randall explains all this on his website. See his article at http://www.biblicalulpan.org/ that explains how he determined the Greek pronunciation used in the first century, which we’d later use as our pronunciation. He’s created textbooks (the series is titled Living Biblical Greek) and recordings (already 48 hours of Greek listening!). View a sample lesson from his Koine Greek course. His Biblical Language Center offers summer and spring-break Greek programs here in Israel.

Randall, I and a few other similarly “mad” students meet each week to read and discuss Koine Greek texts. Over the last eight months we’ve read The Shepherd of Hermas (a work of the Church Fathers) and we’ve just completed (end of May) reading The Testament of Abraham, a book belonging to the Pseudepigrapha.

Since January, we've held three- and four-day retreats every five to six weeks at Beit Bracha in Migdal, overlooking the Sea of Galilee. During these mini-retreats we allow ourselves to communicate only in Koine Greek. Last summer, Randall, I and three other students spent two weeks on the Greek island of Cos (see Acts 21:1) listening to and speaking only Greek.

We make slower progress than we would were we learning to speak a modern language, because, for one thing, we lack native informants. We have no one to ask, “How do you say this or that word in Greek?" but, thanks be to our Heavenly Father, we’re slowly becoming στωμύλοι (fluent). In fact, our improving ability to “read between the lines” of the New Testament is very exciting! Almost every week we notice points in the text that had escaped our attention during previous years of study.

For example, when Paul arrives back in Jerusalem (Acts 21:17) at the end of his third evangelistic journey, the very next morning he reports on his work among the Gentiles to James (the brother of Jesus) and the other elders (Acts 21:18-19). According to the NIV, the Jerusalem elders say to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law.” However, the Greek text doesn’t read “thousands [χίλιοι],” but “tens of thousands [μυριάδες]” — Greek, like Hebrew, has a special word for “10,000.” The NIV is not alone in rendering μυριάδες as “thousands.” Most English versions of the New Testament, including KJV, ASV, RSV, NLT, NRSV, NAB, NASB, REB, TEV, AMP, ESP, GWORD and NET, translate “tens of thousands” as “thousands.” The NKJV and YNG translate with the word “myriads,” while the MESSAGE renders “thousands upon thousands.” Only CEV and CJB render μυριάδες literally as “tens of thousands.” While μυριάδες, like the English “myriads,” can sometimes be rendered “innumerable,” the English reader is unaware that the Greek text literally reads “tens of thousands.” (Notice that translators render μυριάδες literally in Acts 19:19: “five tens of thousands.”)

Suffice it to say, there’s a great difference between 7,000-8,000 and 70,000-80,000 Jewish believers in an estimated mid-first-century Jerusalem population of 250,000! Could one out of every four or five people on the streets of first-century Jerusalem have been a follower of Jesus? Translators of the New Testament have decided for us that Greek myriads couldn’t possibly be understood literally — there couldn’t have been that many Jewish followers of Jesus at that time. Without a note from the translators indicating they’re not translating the literal meaning of the word, the English-speaking reader is oblivious to other translation possibilities.

Is learning to speak Koine Greek worth it? Yes! For someone of my age? Yes! Τοῦ θεοῦ θέλοντος (Lord willing), my improved understanding of the Greek text of the New Testament will be apparent in my interpretations of the living words of Yeshua.

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Modern Hebrew is being anglicized. A close friend and I, both native Americans and fluent in Hebrew, often bemoan the erosion of Hebrew by English. The ultimate insult came two weeks ago, a few days before Israel’s Independence Day, which fell this year on April 29th. On the side of an Egged (public) bus passing through Jerusalem my friend saw an ad for packaged meat. (Israelis do a huge amount of barbecuing on Independence Day — in forests and national parks, in private courtyards and on patios.) The bus ad used the word לברבק (levarbek; to barbecue). Being somewhat Hebrew-language purists, and loathing to see the language of the prophets defiled in this way, we were aghast. Hebrew speakers had done it again! They had created a new verb from the English word “barbecue”!

English speakers who live in Israel are reminded regularly of the inroads English is making in Hebrew. Witnessing Modern Hebrew’s rapid absorption of English words allows us to better understand the presence of large numbers of Greek words in first-century Hebrew. The lingua franca of Jesus’ day, Koine Greek, strongly impacted Rabbinic Hebrew, also referred to as Middle Hebrew. Of course, a linguist would not be surprised by this phenomenon, since it is the completely natural outcome of two languages rubbing shoulders. The language borrowing is especially great when one of the languages is the international language of the day.

WORDS MODERN HEBREW HAS BORROWED FROM ENGLISH
Here are a few examples of Modern Hebrew words that are derived from English (examples taken from Ruvik Rosenthal, Dictionary of Israeli Slang [Jerusalem: Keter Books; 2005], 394, 419]):

Leisure and Entertainment
הפנינג (hepeneeng) a happening
פארטי (partee) party
רייב (rayve) rave
מועדון נייט (mo’adon nait) nightclub
סולד אאוט (soled aout) sold out
פול האוס (ful haus) full house
פרפורמנס (performens) performance
פרפורמר (performer) performer
שואו ביזנס (sho biznes) show business
טייק (teyk) a take
טריילר (trayler) trailer

Communications, News and Advertising
אייטם (aitem) item
גימיק (geemeek) gimmick
טאלנט (tahlent) talent
טיזר (teezer) teaser
טראפיק (trahfeek) traffic
לופ (lup) loop
נון איוונט (non eevent) non-event
סיטקום (seetkom) sitcom
סלוגן (slowgahn) slogan
פיילוט (pailot) pilot (as in “pilot project”)
פילר (feeler) filler
פרומו (promo) promo
פריים טיים (praim taim) prime time
ריאליטי (reeahleetee) reality (as in “reality program”)
רייטינג (rayteeng) rating

English words are borrowed by Hebrew speakers for various reasons, such as the lack of a particular nuance of meaning in Hebrew, or the lack of a term needed in the world of the 21st century (cf. détente, which English speakers borrowed from French around 1908). The Hebrew of the 3rd century B.C. to 3rd century A.D. absorbed thousands of Greek words. These words were, of course, written in Hebrew letters, and often pronounced slightly differently by Hebrew speakers — Hebrew did not have all the sounds found in the Greek language (and vice versa). “Even indispensable terms of daily life are loanwords, such as ‘air,’ ‘sandal,’ ‘tome,’ ‘collar,’ ‘sum,’ ‘salary,’ ‘mint,’ ‘nausea,’ ‘diarrhea,’ ‘character,’ ‘person,’ ‘type,’ et al....alongside basic religious terms: Sanhedrin, bimah, afikoman, ‘angel’ (Targum), kairos, ‘mystery,’ ‘blasphemy,’ et al.” (Encyclopaedia Judaica [Jerusalem: Keter, 1972], 7:886).

WORDS MIDDLE HEBREW BORROWED FROM GREEK
Here are a handful of examples from the thousands of rabbinic Hebrew words that were borrowed from Greek in the first centuries B.C.-A.D. when Greek influence was so pervasive among Hebrew speakers living in the Land:

בלני (balane) — βαλανεῖον (valaneion; bathhouse)
טריקלין (t’reekleen) — τρίκλινος (triklinos; dinning room)
קברניט (kaverneet) — κυβερνήτης (kyvernetes; helmsman, pilot, captain)
פטרה (petra) — πέτρα (petra; bedrock; craig)
פטרוס (petros) — πέτρος (petros; stone, rock)
מורוס (moros) — μωρός (moros; fool)
אנגריה (angaryah) — ἀνάγκη (ananke; forced labor)
איפופודין (eepopodeen) — ὑποπόδιον (hypopodion; footstool)
פינקס (peenahks) — πίναξ (pinahks; tablet, especially the folded writing tablet)
אגרונימוס (agroneemos) — ἀγοράνομος (ahgorahnomos; market commissioner)
אפיטרופוס (apeetropos) — ἐπίτροπος (epitropos; court-appointed administrator or guardian)
פולמוס (pulmus) — πόλεμος (polemos; war)
פוליפוס (poleepos) — πολύπους (polypous; nasal tumor; polyp)
בולבטס (bulvetes) — βουλευτής (voulevtes; council member)
בולי (bule) — βουλή (voule; senate; city council)
קטיגור (kategor) — κατήγορος (kategoros; accuser; public prosecutor)
סניגור (sanegor) — συνήγορος (synegoros; advocate; defense attorney)
אפימליטיס (apeemeletes) — ἐπιμελητής (epimeletes; manager; commissioner)
אוקיינוס (ohkyanos) — ὠκεανός (okeanos; ocean)
אגורה (ahgorah) — ἀγορά (agora; marketplace)
אויר (ahveer) — ἀήρ (aer; air)
אתליטיס (atletes) — ἀθλητής (athletes; athlete)
אפותיקי (ahpoteke) — ἀποθήκη (apotheke; storehouse; barn)
תמליון or תמליוס (t’melyon or t’melyos) — θεμέλιος or θεμέλιον (themelion; foundation)
ערבון (eyrahvon) — ἀρραβών (arravon; pledge, ernest, security)
אסתר (ester) — ἀστήρ (aster; bright star)
אסטרולוגוס (astrologos) — ἀστρολόγος (astrologos; astronomer; astrologer)

CONCLUSION
What’s happening to the Holy Language today? The same thing that was happening to it in the time of Jesus — night and day it is absorbing words from the world’s dominant international language of communication.

We New Testament scholars and Greek professors are often embarrassed by our level of Greek fluency, even after, as in my case, 35 years of studying this ancient biblical language. A lack of true fluency in Greek, active knowledge of the language as opposed to passive, is the scourge of our professions. Finding ourselves in this situation, our disappointment is real, but it is kept hidden from the general public.

If a layperson were to approach one of us after a public lecture, and say,

I’ve always wanted to meet a Greek scholar. Could you please tell me how you say in Greek, “Stand up. Go over to the door. Open it. Step outside, and shut the door”?

we probably wouldn’t be able to answer immediately. Or, if we could manage the answer,

Ἀνάστηθι. Ἐλθὲ πρὸς τὴν θύραν. Ἄνοιξον αὐτήν. Ἐκπορεύθητι ἔξω, καὶ κλεῖσον τὴν θύραν,

we probably wouldn’t be able to answer the follow-up question:

Thank you. Now, could you please tell me in Greek what you just did?

The conversation would probably end at this point. This more complicated task would require us to transpose all the verbs of our answer into the past tense, like this:

Ἀνέστην, ἦλθον πρὸς τὴν θύραν, ἤνοιξα αὐτήν, ἐξεπορεύθην ἔξω, καὶ ἔκλεισα τὴν θύραν.

And if, in the unlikely event that we, the assumed Greek experts, managed to spit out this second answer, would we be able to respond to the questioner’s final challenge?

Thank you very much! Now, could you please put your last answer in better Greek, the Greek of an ancient native speaker of Greek, who would, of course, have sprinkled his or her speech with participles?

Our response should be:

Ἀναστὰς καὶ ἐλθὼν πρὸς τὴν θύραν, ἤνοιξα αὐτήν. Ἐκπορευθεὶς ἔξω, ἔκλεισα τὴν θύραν.

Is there a way out of this intolerable situation? Yes, the obvious solution is for Greek students, as in past centuries, to learn the language actively, by speaking it and listening to others speak it. One should not attempt to learn the ancient Greek language by discussing and analyzing (in English, or some other modern language!) its grammatical and syntactical features, gaining speed only in dissecting and decoding Greek sentences. To internalize a language, that learning method is the embodiment of futility. One only internalizes a language, ancient or modern, when one learns to speak it. The way to fluency in Greek is to try to speak it.

Sitting at the Feet
of Rabbi Jesus

How the Jewishness of Jesus
Can Transform Your Faith

by Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg
© Zondervan, 2009
Format: Hardcover, jacketed, 272 pages
ISBN: 0310284228,  ISBN-13: 9780310284222

Price $21.99  Introductory Offer -  $17.99
Order from the JP Bookstore

Dear JP readers,

Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus has just appeared, and I cannot recommend it highly enough. Please read this book, and then tell your friends about it. Spangler and Tverberg's book is the best entry-level introduction to the subject of "Jewish Roots" that has been written. By the way, Dr. Tverberg was co-editor (with Bruce Okkema) of my book, New Light on the Difficult Words of Jesus.

David Bivin 

Below is more information about the book, and an excerpt:

A rare chance to know Jesus as his first disciples knew him.

What would it be like to journey back to the first century and sit at the feet of Rabbi Jesus as one of his Jewish disciples? How would your understanding of the gospel have been shaped by the customs, beliefs, and traditions of the Jewish culture in which you lived?

Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus takes you on a fascinating tour of the Jewish world of Jesus, offering inspirational insights that can transform your faith. Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg paint powerful scenes from Jesus’ ministry, immersing you in the prayers, feasts, history, culture, and customs that shaped Jesus and those who followed him.

You will hear the parables as they must have sounded to first-century Jews, powerful and surprising. You will join the conversations that were already going on among the rabbis of his day. You will watch with new understanding as the events of his life unfold. And you will emerge with new excitement about the roots of your own Christian faith.

By looking at the Jewishness of Jesus, Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg take you on a captivating journey into the heart of Judaism, one that is both balanced and insightful, helping you to better understand and appreciate your own faith.

Book excerpt:

Chapter 12

Jesus and the Torah

       As dawn spreads over the Sea of Galilee, the grey-blue silhouette of the surrounding mountain ridge grows distinct against the brightening sky. All is quiet except for the soft thumping of waves lapping against the wooden hulls of boats moored close to shore, and the squawk of birds flitting about in the rustling reeds along the rocky edge. Linen nets are laid out to dry on the beach, their delicate layers carefully disentangled from the night’s catch of fish. Just up the bank lies Capernaum, a quaint fishing village, rising to greet another day.
       This is the Cove of the Sower, a rounded inlet on the western edge of the lake. Matthew’s Gospel tells us that this was the setting for Jesus’ parable about the farmer casting seeds in different types of soil. It is also the setting for the world’s most famous sermon—the Sermon on the Mount. If you hike to the top of the hill above the cove, you will find the Church of the Beatitudes, marking the traditional site. As you stand, facing the Sea of Galilee, you realize what that hillside must have looked like two thousand years ago when Jesus was preaching—a great multi-colored quilt of people packed together and listening intently. You wonder what it would have been like to have been part of that crowd, to have heard that most extraordinary of rabbis.

        His preaching seems effortless, his words so clear, as though he is speaking directly to you.
       But how is it possible that Jesus could have been heard by thousands of people without a megaphone to amplify his voice? A few years ago, a biblical scholar by the name of B. Cobbey Crisler discovered the answer in the land itself. He found that the hillside near this rounded shoreline forms a natural amphitheater.  Because of the acoustical properties of the surrounding land, a person could stand at the bottom of the hill or sit in a boat just off shore, and be heard by someone far up the side of the hill. So good are the acoustics that the speaker could talk in a normal voice and be heard. Crisler estimates that eight to ten thousand people could have sat within listening distance of Jesus. ¹
          Knowing about the acoustics of the land solves one mystery about Jesus’ preaching. But others linger, especially questions about the sermon itself, which contains some of his most challenging words. 
        Imagine yourself as a first-century resident of Capernaum. You have heard Jesus speak and seen him heal people, but you have also heard a lot of criticism. Some have accused him of being soft on the Law, saying that his teaching is undermining the Torah and leading people astray. So, now, as you sit on the hillside with thousands of others, you listen carefully to what Jesus is telling the crowd:

       Instead of loosening things up, Jesus seems to be tightening the screw. Rather than merely repeating the stricture against adultery, for instance, he is telling you that a mere lustful glance makes one guilty of adultery. And he links anger to the sin of murder. Ouch!
       Modern Christians cherish the notion that Jesus came to free us from the unbearable burden of laws we cannot keep, but here Jesus seems to be saying the exact opposite. So is the good news really as good as we think it is? Realizing that Jesus set the bar higher and not lower is good news, once you understand what he was saying.
       Perhaps listening to this famous sermon once again, this time with the ears of a first-century Jew, will help us grasp the true brilliance of his message. Perhaps it will also help unravel some of the “knots” in Matthew 5-7, the passage that contains the Sermon on the Mount.

Catching Jesus’ Drift

        The first thing you notice is that Jesus wastes no time putting the crowd on the alert. He makes it clear that he has no intention of weakening the Torah, the Law that has shaped and guided the Jewish people for many centuries:

       As a first-century Jew, you pick up the rabbinic lingo immediately. When Jesus speaks about “the least stroke of a pen” (“one jot and tittle” in the King James version), you recognize that this is an idiom meaning “to the most microscopic detail.” 
       The yod is the smallest Hebrew letter, and it looks like a large apostrophe. Calligraphers embellish it with a tiny hook, or a “thorn” called a kots. Remarkably, this Hebrew idiom is still in use today. Former Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mufaz declared that he would hold the Palestinian leadership accountable for fighting terror al kotso shel yod, “to the thorn of a yod.” ²
          Jesus was using this idiom to emphatically declare that not one word or letter would be removed from God’s Torah. Even the decorations on the letters would last forever. What an incredible statement from the One who has himself come to be known as the Alpha and Omega, or the A to Z!
        You recognize another Jewish idiom concerning “abolishing” and “fulfilling” the law. To “fulfill” a law could simply mean doing what it says. But when Jesus contrasts “fulfilling” with “abolishing” the law, you know he is employing a rabbinic idiom. In this case, to “fulfill the Law” means to properly interpret the Torah. In contrast, the phrase, “abolish the Law” means the opposite—to cancel or nullify the Torah by misinterpreting it. Both of these idioms arise from the assigned task of every rabbi—to interpret just how the Torah applies to daily life. When rabbis disagreed, they would accuse each other of “nullifying” the Torah. ³
       Imagine, for a moment, that a new pastor comes to town with shockingly innovative sermons. One week he preaches that underestimating your income on your taxes is fine, if it allows you to give more to the church. The next week he says that watching adult videos is perfectly OK, as long as you don’t have an affair. The pastor’s interpretation of the laws against lying and adultery undermine your ability to live by God’s Word. He has “abolished” God’s laws by misinterpreting them.
       Jesus leveled this charge against the Pharisees, accusing them of nullifying the law to honor one’s mother and father by saying that possessions declared corban (dedicated to God) could not be released to support one’s elderly parents (Mark 7:11). 
        But the religious leaders made the same accusation against him, saying that his teaching was undermining the Torah. Jesus responded in the Sermon on the Mount by saying that he was not misinterpreting the Law, but bringing it to its best understanding. Furthermore, he said, if any of his disciples twisted or misinterpreted its least command, they would be considered “least” in his kingdom. Jesus’ entire ministry as a rabbi was devoted to getting to the heart of God’s Torah through what he said and how he lived.
        Certainly Jesus fulfilled the law by obeying it perfectly. But as a rabbi, he also “fulfilled” it by clarifying its meaning and enlightening people about how God truly wanted them to live.

Contra Kilmon: Hebrew was a living language in first-century Israel, part of a multilingual environment (Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek). Jewish teachers of that period (first-century tannaim from both Galilee and Judea) ordinarily passed on their teachings in Hebrew. For example, parables were preserved in Hebrew. Shmuel Safrai writes, “The parable was one of the most common tools of rabbinic instruction from the second century B.C.E. until the close of the amoraic period at the end of the fifth century C.E. Thousands of parables have been preserved in complete or fragmentary form, and are found in all types of literary compositions of the rabbinic period, both halachic and aggadic, early and late. All of the parables are in Hebrew. Amoraic literature often contains stories in Aramaic, and a parable may be woven into the story; however the parable itself is always in Hebrew (b. Baba Qam. 60b; or b. Sotah 40a). There are instances of popular sayings in Aramaic, but every single parable is in Hebrew” (“Spoken and Literary Languages in the Time of Jesus,” in Jesus’ Last Week: Jerusalem Studies in the Synoptic Gospels, Vol. 1 [ed. R. S. Notley, M. Turnage and B. Becker; Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2005], 238; see also Randall Buth and Brian Kvasnica, “Temple Authorities and Tithe Evasion: The Linguistic Background and Impact of the Parable of the Vineyard, the Tenants and the Son,” in Jesus’ Last Week, 58, n. 17).

Hebrew also was typically chosen for written accounts of Jewish religious significance, as evidenced by post-biblical writings such as Ben Sira, 1 Maccabees (according to consensus), by the Qumran texts and tannaic Hebrew texts. On the significant lack of Aramaic targum at Qumran, see Randall Buth, “Where Is the Aramaic Bible at Qumran? Scripture Use in the Land of Israel”.

The Second Temple period epigraphic material is more frequently Hebrew than Aramaic. Just last month Israeli archaeologists unearthed part of a first-century limestone sarcophagus cover with the Hebrew inscription “son of the High Priest” (ben hacohen hagadol).

If it is likely that the literary language of Jews in the time of Jesus was Hebrew, and the ordinary language of teaching was Hebrew, what was the primary spoken language of the Jewish residents of the Land? It appears that it too was Hebrew.

Randall Buth has pointed out to me a fascinating indication that Hebrew was the spoken language in the first century. The Jewish historian Josephus describes an incident that took place during the siege of Jerusalem (War 5:269-272). Josephus relates that watchmen were posted on the towers of the city walls to warn residents of incoming stones fired from Roman ballistae. Whenever a stone was on its way, the spotters would shout “in their native tongue, ‘The son is coming!’” (War 5:272). The meaning the watchmen communicated to the people was: Ha-even ba’ah (the stone is coming). However, because of the urgency of the situation, these words were clipped, being abbreviated to ben ba (son comes). (This well-known Hebrew wordplay is attested in the New Testament: “God is able from these avanim [stones] to raise up banim [sons] to Abraham” [Matt 3:9 = Luke 3:8].)

The wordplay (and pun) that Josephus preserves is unambiguously Hebrew. This wordplay does not work in Aramaic: kefa ate (the stone is coming), or the more literary avna ata, when spoken rapidly, do not sound like bara ate (the son is coming). Another Aramaic word for “stone,” aven, which is related to Hebrew, changes the gender of the verb and, in any case, does not work with “son.”

Certainly, a warning about an incoming missile needs to be as brief as possible (and, of course, shouted in the language of speech). How many words would an English-speaking soldier use to warn his unit of an incoming artillery shell? The Hebrew-speaking spotters on the walls of the besieged city of Jerusalem needed only two, and these they abbreviated to one syllable each.

First, I would like to thank Brian Kvasnica, HaKesher and the Narkis Street Congregation for making the 2008 Lindsey Lectures a reality. I also want to thank you on behalf of the Jerusalem School of Synoptic Research.

Let me briefly report on what has been done to preserve or keep alive Lindsey's memory, and to contribute to his legacy:

Robert Lindsey, the late Professor David Flusser, and their colleague, the late Professor Shmuel Safrai, worked closely together to create a new school of Synoptic research. In 1985 the Jerusalem School became a legal entity (an Amutah) in Israel, and has now joined the Oxford School, the Tübingen School, and others, as a center of Synoptic research.

In 1987 Jerusalem Perspective magazine was founded, becoming a repository of articles written by Lindsey, Flusser, Safrai, and their students. In 1993 and 1994, a reconstruction and commentary on the "Rich Young Ruler" pericope was published in five issues of Jerusalem Perspective magazine (Issue 38, 39, 42, 43 and 44). This commentary was the result of seventeen seminars led by Lindsey, Flusser and Safrai in 1986 and 1987.

After Lindsey's death in 1995, the October-December 1995 issue of Jerusalem Perspective memorialized Lindsey and contained personal tributes to Lindsey written by David Flusser, Halvor Ronning, Steven Notley, Brad Young, Joseph Frankovic, Ken Mullican, Dwight Pryor and David Bivin. In the issue are also many photos of Lindsey and Flusser working together and, even, for instance, a photo of Bob with Zalman Shazar, Israel's third president.

In 1990 Lindsey's Jesus Rabbi & Lord appeared. Unfortunately, the book has now been out of print for eight years. I'm happy to announce that in the next few weeks this book will be published in electronic format by Jerusalem Perspective, and will again be available.

Since Lindsey's death Jerusalem School scholars have presented more than one hundred scholarly papers at meetings of the Society of Biblical Literature. Additional papers have already been accepted for this fall's meeting in Boston.

Between 1997 and 2001 three editions of Flusser's Jesus were published by Magnes Press. Now, under the title The Sage from Galilee: Rediscovering Jesus' Genius, the fourth edition has been published in paperback by Eerdmans. In the next few weeks, at the initiative of Serge Ruzer, Flusser's student, Magnes Press will bring out for Hebrew readers a Hebrew translation of Flusser's biography of Jesus.

In 2005, Lindsey's biography appeared. Written by Loren Turnage and Ken Mullican, Bob's son-in-law, One Foot in Heaven: The Story of Bob Lindsey in Jerusalem is a book you won't be able to put down.

In June 2006 a conference celebrating the memory of Lindsey, Flusser and Safrai took place in Jerusalem. Organized by Jerusalem Perspective, lectures were given by students of these three scholarly giants. The fifteen conference lectures are preserved on eight DVDs.

Also in 2006, Jerusalem Studies in the Synoptic Gospels: Jesus' Last Week was published by Brill in Leiden. (Brill is one of the world's most prestigious academic publishers.) This is the first volume of a four-volume series of studies by Jerusalem School scholars under contract with Brill.

Jerusalem School member, Serge Ruzer, put together a collection of Flusser's Hebrew articles. This collection was published in two volumes by Magnes Press in 2002. Later, readers of JerusalemPerspective.com donated the money to have these essays translated to English. In November, the first English volume, Judaism of the Second Temple Period: Qumran and Apocalypticism, was co-published by Eerdmans, Jerusalem Perspective and Magnes Press. (The first volume, twenty-three essays, will soon be available on line at JerusalemPerspective.com.)

Lastly, this summer, with the help of Linda Pattillo, other unpublished Lindsey articles and books are being prepared for online publication by Jerusalem Perspective.

This is some of what has been done and is being done to perpetuate the memory of Robert Lindsey, and, of course, the memory of his close co-workers in synoptic research, David Flusser and Shmuel Safrai.

The Program: The 2008 Lindsey Lectures

We will pay tribute to the life of Rev. Robert L. Lindsey, Ph.D. (Aug. 16, 1917- May 31, 1995) with the following lectures and discussions that demonstrate academic rigor connected to Second Temple Judaism or the study of Jesus, coupled with lives of faith that apply their learning in life.

This year, the third year of the Lindsey Lectures, we will congregate around the above two themes "The Spiritual Life of the Ancient Israelite" and "Postmissionary Messianic Judaism," the latter a theme close to many of Lindsey's own publications, such as his PhD dissertation entitled Israel in Christendom: The Problem of Jewish Identity and his 1972 article, "Salvation and the Jews," International Review of Mission (1972): 20-37.

We hope that these two lectures and extended discussions will honor the memory of Bob Lindsey and will stimulate Christian and Jew alike to further study and deeds of loving-kindness.

Monday, 30 June 7:30-9:30 p.m.
Welcome and Greetings: Rev. Charles Kopp (Senior Pastor, Narkis Street Congregation)

Remembering Lindsey: David Bivin, (JerusalemPerspective.com)

Prof. Jacob Milgrom, "The Spiritual Life of the Ancient Israelite: Dealing with Sin and Guilt"

Response and Discussion: Niek Arentsen (Christ Church), Dr. Stephen and Claire Pfann (University of the Holy Land) and the Narkis Parashah Fellowship

Tuesday 1 July 7:30-9:30 p.m.
Welcome and Greetings: Rev. David Pileggi (Rector, Christ Church)

Remembering Lindsey: Dr. Halvor Ronning (Home for Bible Translators)

Dr. Mark Kinzer, "Postmissionary Messianic Judaism Three Years Later: Reflections on a Conversation Just Begun"

Responses: Dr. Randall Buth (Biblical Language Center), "Reflections on a Long-Awaited Book"

Dr. Gershon Nerel (Jerusalem Bible Academy), "Between Two Concepts: 'Postmission' and 'Messianic Judaism': Semantics and Reality"

Discussion Panel including: Seth Ben-Haim (Nashuvah), Dr. Akiva Cohen and David Stern

Children are especially susceptible to heatstroke during a Sirocco. If a small child is outside in the sun during a Sirocco without a good hat, and without drinking lots of water, the child is in serious danger. In Israel each year at this time several children die of heatstroke.

Apparently, a Sirocco was what caused the death of the widow’s miracle-son that Elisha raised from the dead. “The child grew. One day, he went out to his father among the reapers. Suddenly he cried to his father, ‘Oh, my head, my head!’ His father told a servant, ‘Carry him to his mother.’ The servant picked him up and brought him to his mother. The boy sat on her lap till noon, and then he died” (2 Kgs 4:18-20). Notice that this event occurred during the harvest season (April-May), and that the young boy was in an unshaded grain field.

Announcing...

David and Josa Bivin's 27th Annual Speaking Tour

For twenty-seven years David and Josa have traveled annually from Israel to Europe, Canada and the United States to teach Hebrew, give lectures and conduct workshops for fellow disciples of Jesus. This year's tour will feature workshops in England and the United States:

Shrewley, Warwick, England (September 14-15, 2007)

Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.A. (September 21-22, 2007)

Akron, Ohio, U.S.A. (September 28-29, 2007)

Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.A. (October 12-13, 2007)

Houston, Texas, U.S.A. (October 26-27, 2007)

Grants Pass, Oregon, U.S.A. (November 2-3, 2007)

Garden Grove, California, U.S.A. (November 9-10, 2007)

The intensive, two-day program will focus on a Biblical subject that is of tremendous interest and importance to Christians. Plan now to attend and be personally challenged by the Scriptures studied.

Workshop instructor: David Bivin. Fluent in Hebrew, Bivin, a specialist in the Semitic and Jewish background of the Gospels, has lived in Israel for forty-three years. He distills his years of study into two days (fourteen class hours) of interactive study. No previous preparation is required. The workshop is designed for ordinary followers of Jesus.

Workshop theme: "Keeping the Commandments in the Eyes of Jesus and the Leaders of the Early Church — for Jews and Gentiles"

Topics to be discussed: To what extent was Jesus an observant Jew? Did He keep the Oral Law? Did He require His disciples to observe the commandments of the Law? Did He suggest any additional commandments for Jews or Gentiles? After His resurrection, did Jesus' apostles and disciples (including Paul and James) expect believers to keep the Torah? What about the Gentile believers? What Torah commandments, if any, applied to them? Did the early church's leaders mandate any additional commandments for Jewish or Gentile followers of Jesus? How does all this apply to Christians today?

Tuition: $300 (£175) for the two-day (8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.), fourteen class-hour workshop. Until 28 days before the beginning of the workshop, participants may register for only $200 (£120). Participants may ensure a place in the workshop by payment of a $50 (£30) deposit (non-refundable), which will be applied to the tuition fee when full payment is made.

Please register directly with the local contact person(s). For contact information, see the Calendar of Events. Upon a participant's registration and full payment of the tuition fee, he or she will receive a free six-month subscription to Jerusalem Perspective Online's . The membership of a registrant who is already a PC member will be extended by six months. Friends of Jerusalem Perspective will receive a 40% discount on tuition.

Register now so that you can participate in this unique learning experience. Find the location, dates and contact person(s) of the workshop nearest you in the Calendar of Events. To reserve a place in one of the workshops, be sure to register early.

What's Hot at Jerusalem Perspective Online?

	1. David Bivin's latest book, New Light on the Difficult Words of Jesus. Dwight A. Pryor, President of the Center for Judaic-Christian Studies, says about the book: "David Bivin will be your personal tour guide through the multi-hued Jewish landscape that frames the words of our Lord. Few guides are better equipped to show you these exciting vistas."
	2. Ken Mullican and Loren Turnage's compelling new biography of "Bob" Lindsey, One Foot in Heaven. Dr. Robert Lindsey lived in Israel for four decades, beginning in 1939. He was the mentor of many of the Christian scholars affiliated with the Jerusalem School of Synoptic Research. A must read!
	3. Now available! An eight-DVD set containing fourteen addresses given at the "Jerusalem Perspective 2006" Conference held in Israel on June 19-21, 2006. These lectures, delivered by internationally recognized authorities on archaeology, language and the Jewish culture of Jesus' day, place Jesus and his sayings in their first-century Jewish context. The conference addresses are also available in MP3 format.
You Can Take Part!
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