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torresD
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 Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 7:18 pm Post subject: Ancient text sheds light on Jewish-Christian links |
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http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3567430,00.html
Ancient text sheds light on Jewish-Christian links
Historian says message written on stone tablet
dating back to first century BC shows idea of
a messiah being resurrected three days after
his death was rooted in Jewish writings from
before time of Jesus' birth
Reuters
Published: 07.13.08, 16:53/Israel Jewish Scene
An ancient stone tablet discussed
at a conference in Jerusalem last
week may shed light on the links
between Judaism and Christianity,
experts say.
Israeli historian Israel Knohl said
a message written on the tablet,
which dates from the first century BC,
showed the idea of a messiah being
resurrected three days after his death
was rooted in Jewish writings from
before the time of Jesus' birth.
Knohl's analysis of the tablet,
discovered more than a decade ago,
is seen as supporting a theory
believed by many religious scholars,
that the idea of resurrection predated
Christianity and can be found in
Jewish writings.
"This sheds new light on the
messianic activity of Jesus,"
Knohl, a professor of biblical
studies at Jerusalem's Hebrew
University,
said of the ancient Hebrew text,
much of which is missing or indecipherable.
"It proves that the concept of the
messiah was already there before Jesus,"
added Knohl,
who published his theory in the
Chicago-based Journal of Religion
in April.
The tablet,
about one meter long with 87 lines of writing in ink,
is known as the "Gabriel Revelation" because of the
passages that convey a message from the Angel Gabriel.
Knohl told Reuters a key piece in his theory
was based on a word in line 80 that,
before he read it last August,
was believed to be unintelligible.
"It was written awkwardly with
two letters unclear," Knohl said.
Using other examples from that period,
he deciphered the word "haye",
which meant "you will live".
The complete sentence read:
"In three days you will live,
I, Gabriel, command you."
'Suffering messiah'
L. Michael White, a professor
of classics and Christian origins
at the University of Texas in Austin,
said religious scholars had long known
that the idea of resurrection existed
in Judaism before the Gabriel Revelation.
"But what was interesting was
the notion of three days," White said.
He added that the three-day time
period may have been rooted in the
view held in ancient medicine that
the body did not begin to decompose
until the end of three days.
Knohl said that,
together with other references
in the script to a "suffering messiah",
this was a clear reference to the
return to life after three days,
later depicted in the New Testament
with Jesus' resurrection.
"This is evidence that the
idea of a suffering messiah,
put to death and coming back
to life after three days was
known to at least a group of Jews,"
Knohl told the gathering of
scholars at the Israel Museum
in Jerusalem.
Other researchers insisted the
exact meaning of the text remained
open to interpretation.
Devorah Diamant,
a professor at Haifa University,
said the script was not sufficient
proof of Knohl's theory because some
passages he referred to could be
connected to other figures from
the Bible and not necessarily the messiah.
"What he suggested is fanciful," Diamant said.
The conference marked 60 years since
the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls,
some of the world's oldest texts which
were found on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea.
The Swiss owner of the tablet,
David Jeselsohn, said it was believed
to have been discovered about 15 years
ago near the eastern shore of the sea.
Knohl said the tablet was not linked to
the Dead Sea Scrolls because it was found
in a different place and had unique word usage. |
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torresD
Guest
|
| Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 7:19 pm Post subject: Ancient text sheds light on Jewish-Christian links |
|
|
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3567430,00.html
Ancient text sheds light on Jewish-Christian links
Historian says message written on stone tablet
dating back to first century BC shows idea of
a messiah being resurrected three days after
his death was rooted in Jewish writings from
before time of Jesus' birth
Reuters
Published: 07.13.08, 16:53/Israel Jewish Scene
An ancient stone tablet discussed
at a conference in Jerusalem last
week may shed light on the links
between Judaism and Christianity,
experts say.
Israeli historian Israel Knohl said
a message written on the tablet,
which dates from the first century BC,
showed the idea of a messiah being
resurrected three days after his death
was rooted in Jewish writings from
before the time of Jesus' birth.
Knohl's analysis of the tablet,
discovered more than a decade ago,
is seen as supporting a theory
believed by many religious scholars,
that the idea of resurrection predated
Christianity and can be found in
Jewish writings.
"This sheds new light on the
messianic activity of Jesus,"
Knohl, a professor of biblical
studies at Jerusalem's Hebrew
University,
said of the ancient Hebrew text,
much of which is missing or indecipherable.
"It proves that the concept of the
messiah was already there before Jesus,"
added Knohl,
who published his theory in the
Chicago-based Journal of Religion
in April.
The tablet,
about one meter long with 87 lines of writing in ink,
is known as the "Gabriel Revelation" because of the
passages that convey a message from the Angel Gabriel.
Knohl told Reuters a key piece in his theory
was based on a word in line 80 that,
before he read it last August,
was believed to be unintelligible.
"It was written awkwardly with
two letters unclear," Knohl said.
Using other examples from that period,
he deciphered the word "haye",
which meant "you will live".
The complete sentence read:
"In three days you will live,
I, Gabriel, command you."
'Suffering messiah'
L. Michael White, a professor
of classics and Christian origins
at the University of Texas in Austin,
said religious scholars had long known
that the idea of resurrection existed
in Judaism before the Gabriel Revelation.
"But what was interesting was
the notion of three days," White said.
He added that the three-day time
period may have been rooted in the
view held in ancient medicine that
the body did not begin to decompose
until the end of three days.
Knohl said that,
together with other references
in the script to a "suffering messiah",
this was a clear reference to the
return to life after three days,
later depicted in the New Testament
with Jesus' resurrection.
"This is evidence that the
idea of a suffering messiah,
put to death and coming back
to life after three days was
known to at least a group of Jews,"
Knohl told the gathering of
scholars at the Israel Museum
in Jerusalem.
Other researchers insisted the
exact meaning of the text remained
open to interpretation.
Devorah Diamant,
a professor at Haifa University,
said the script was not sufficient
proof of Knohl's theory because some
passages he referred to could be
connected to other figures from
the Bible and not necessarily the messiah.
"What he suggested is fanciful," Diamant said.
The conference marked 60 years since
the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls,
some of the world's oldest texts which
were found on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea.
The Swiss owner of the tablet,
David Jeselsohn, said it was believed
to have been discovered about 15 years
ago near the eastern shore of the sea.
Knohl said the tablet was not linked to
the Dead Sea Scrolls because it was found
in a different place and had unique word usage. |
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