Conundrum
By Hillel ben David (Greg Killian)
In this study I would like to examine a couple of issues that are often perceived as conundrums. The dictionary defines a conundrum as:
Conundrum: A paradoxical, insoluble, or difficult problem; a dilemma:
The first conundrum that I would like to address is in the form of a question that I received by email:
Shalom,
I have a Jewish friend. He
believes that Yeshua must be the Messiah because it matches prophesy, but does not
believe that He is God, only a good man that HaShem
uses and will use to deliver His people. He tells me there is scripture that
says man cannot be "God", therefore, since Yeshua was a man, he could
not be God. I always thought that the "trinity" theory was what made
it difficult for Jews to accept Messiah because the
Torah teaches that there is only one God. This is a new angle to me, but I
doubt it is to you. Thank you for your help.
To put it succinctly, there are three parts to this question:
The conundrum of this question stems from one of the thirteen articles of Jewish faith, as stated by Maimonides:
1.
Belief in the existence of the Creator, be He Blessed, who is
perfect in every manner of existence and is the Primary Cause of all that
exists.
2.
The belief in HaShem's absolute and unparalleled unity.
3.
The
belief in HaShem's non-corporeality, nor that He will be affected by any physical occurrences, such as movement, or rest, or dwelling.
4.
The belief in HaShem's eternity.
5.
The imperative to worship Him exclusively and no foreign false
gods.
6.
The belief that HaShem communicates with man through prophecy.
7.
The belief that the prophecy of Moses our teacher
has priority.
8.
The belief in the divine origin of the Torah.
9.
The belief in the immutability of the Torah.
10.
The belief in divine omniscience and providence.
11.
The belief in divine reward and retribution.
12.
The belief in the arrival of the Messiah and the messianic era.
13.
The belief in the resurrection of the
dead.
The conundrum faced by Christians is that they believe that Yeshua is HaShem (The yod hey vav hey, The Eternal One), yet the third article of our faith states that HaShem is non-corporeal. Yeshua was corporeal, He was “The Word made flesh”.
Keep in mind that the English word “God” is ambiguous and is used to translate both Elohim and HaShem in the Nazarean Codicil. One has to use contextual clues to distinguish ehich word is meant. The Jews during Temple times had no difficulty with men being Elohim, and they knew that men could NOT be HaShem.
Now the
problem we have is: How do we prove, from the Nazarean Codicil[1], that Yeshua is NOT HaShem? We
have to use the Nazarean Codicil because there is no direct mention of Yeshua,
by name, in the Tanach[2]. I’d suggest that we start with
John chapter 10:
Yochanan (John) 10:30-36 I and my Father are one. 31 Then
the Jews took up stones again to stone him. 32 Yeshua
answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of
those works do ye stone me? 33 The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work
we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man,
makest thyself God. 34 Yeshua answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods (Theos)? 35 If he called
them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world,
Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?
How could Yeshua possibly tell these Jews that they are all Gods? If Yeshua said it, then it must be true! Thus it is that all the Children of Israel are called by HaShem to be Gods, i.e. Torah Judges. Torah Judges are called Rabbi by the Ashkenaz Jews and Hakham by Sefardi Jews.
For
those who do not realize it, Yeshua is quoting Psalm 82:6:
Tehillim (Psalm) 82:1
<<A Psalm of Asaph.>> God standeth in the congregation of the
mighty; he judgeth among the gods. 2 How long will ye judge unjustly, and
accept the persons of the wicked? Selah. 3 Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to
the afflicted and needy. 4 Deliver the
poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked. 5 They know not, neither will they understand;
they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course. 6
I have said, Ye are gods
(Elohim); and all of you are children of the most High. 7 But ye shall die like men, and fall like one
of the princes. 8 Arise, O God, judge
the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.
In the above passage, the Septuagint translates Elohim as Theos! This demonstrates that our Sages understood that the Greek Theos is an accurate translation of the Hebrew Elohim. Here, as well as in other places in the Tanakh, HaShem calls all male Israelites to become Torah Judges and their name as Torah Judges, is Elohim. Torah Judges are better known as Rabbis or Hakhamim.
The
Greek word is Theos. Thus in John 1:1 "The Word is God (Theos)":
Yochanan (John) 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God (Theos).
Elohim
is translated as God in Bereshit 1:1.
Bereshit (Genesis) 1:1 In the beginning God created the
heaven and the earth.
This
suggests that in Yochanan 1:1, God = Theos = Elohim. With this in
mind, lets retranslate Yochanan 1:1:
Yochanan 1:1 In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with Elohim and
the Word was Elohim.
Thus in Yochanan
1:1, The Word (Yeshua) is Elohim. Yeshua is God (Elohim).
Additionally, we can see that HaShem is also Elohim in this passage.
Thus we
see that HaShem is God (Elohim), certain Jews are God (Elohim), and that Yeshua is God (Elohim). How can this be? Once this is resolved we will clearly
understand the answer to our conundrum.
Tehillim
82, quoted in Yochanan 10:34, shows us that the Hebrew
word for God is Elohim. Additionally, from the construction of John 1:1,
we can clearly see a connection with Bereshit
(Genesis) chapter 1. This gives us an enormous clue as to the Hebrew word
underlying the word God in John chapter one. Thus we see that Yeshua, in
John chapter 10, is calling these Jews, Elohim.
HaShem
also called Moses, God:
Shemot (Exodus) 7:1 And HaShem said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a God (Elohim) to
Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.
In this
next passage, Samuel is called Elohim:
I Shmuel (Samuel) 28:11 Then said the woman, Whom shall
I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel. 12 And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with
a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me?
for thou art Saul. 13 And the king said
unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I
saw Gods (Elohim) ascending out of the earth. 14 And he said unto her, What form is he of? And
she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul
perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and
bowed himself.
In this next passage we see an explicit use of the Hebrew Elohim as referring to Hakhamim[3] or
Rabbis (judges):
Shemot (exodus) 22:7 If a man shall deliver unto his neighbour money or stuff to keep, and
it be stolen out of the man’s house; if the thief be found, let him pay double.
8 If the thief be not found, then the
master of the house shall be brought unto the judges (Elohim), to see whether
he have put his hand unto his neighbour’s goods.9 For all manner of trespass, whether it be for
ox, for ass, for sheep, for raiment, or for any
manner of lost thing, which another challengeth to be his, the cause of both
parties shall come before the judges; and whom the judges (Elohim) shall
condemn, he shall pay double unto his neighbour.
The Midrash also derives this point from Shemot 22:28:
Shemot (Exodus) 22:28 Thou shalt not revile the Gods (Elohim), nor curse the ruler of thy
people.
Midrash Rabbah - Exodus XXXI:16. THOU SHALT NOT REVILE ELOHIM
(XXII, 27). R. Meir said: Above all did the Holy One, blessed be He, exhort Israel concerning their judges who teach them justice
and concerning their ruler, for it says, THOU SHALT NOT REVILE ELOHIM, NOR
CURSE A RULER OF THY PEOPLE. You will thus find that Korah
and his congregation were smitten only because they stretched out their hands
against Moses and Aaron.
Most of
the passages in the Tanach which use the word Elohim, refer to the
Eternal One, Blessed is He.
Chazal,
our Sages, teach us that Elohim is a name used by HaShem
when He acts with justice, it is a name given to His Mashiach
when He judges, and it is also a name given to men when they are judges, that
is Hakhamim or Rabbis.
Lets examine the comments of a few of our Sages.
Rashi, commenting on Bereshit 6:2, says that B’ne Elohim are the sons of the rulers, i.e. the sons of the princes and judges, for Elohim always implies rulership, as in Shemot (Exodus) 4:16 ‘and you shall be his master’
All of our commentators who follow the Targum, they all translate Elohim as ‘judge’ or ‘judges’. This is also the position of the Ramban and the Midrash.
Rabbi
Abraham Ibn Ezra wrote that the judges (Hakhamim or Rabbis) are called Elohim
because they uphold the laws of Elohim (The
Eternal One) on earth.
S’forno wrote that human judges are referred to as Elohim because they judge in the image of HaShem.
So,
what is it that connects HaShem, Mashiach, and certain men, that they should
all be called Elohim? A careful study of Torah will show that Elohim
is the name given to those who provide justice in the
Many have asked me to prove that Yeshua is YHVH (HaShem). The YHVH - יהוה name is called HaShem by many pious Jews. I will be using HaShem instead of YHVH - יהוה throughout this paper.
To begin my answer lets look at a very familiar passage and analyze it. As you read, remember that the English word “God” is ambiguous and is used to translate both HaShem and Elohim:
Yochanan
(John)1:1 In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
In this passage, Yeshua is referred to as The Word. A word is a collection of sounds uttered by a speaker. The words of a speaker are distinct from the speaker. Who is the speaker in this passage? We can gain understanding from noting the similarity between the words and the content of our passage, with the words and the content of Bereshit (Genesis) 1:3:
Bereshit
(Genesis) 1:3 And Elohim (God)
said, Let there be light: and there was light.
Thus we see the speaker in Yochanan 1:1 is Elohim. This seems simple till we note what was spoken through Yeshayahu (Isaiah):
Yeshayahu
(Isaiah) 45:5-8 I [am] HaShem, and
[there is] none else, [there is] no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou
hast not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that [there is] none beside me.
I [am] HaShem, and [there is] none else. I form the light, and create darkness:
I make peace, and create evil: I HaShem do all these [things]. Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down
righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness
spring up together; I HaShem have created it.
In this passage we learn that HaShem created everything. So who created the world, Elohim or HaShem? Are these two different names for the same entity?
The answer, of course, is that these are two names for HaShem. Elohim is used when judging and creating and HaShem is used when HaShem is exercising the attribute of loving kindness. As simple as this answer is, we have a problem:
Yochanan
(John) 1:3 All things were made by
him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
In this passage it says that The Word created everything.
So, what is the answer? I will make it clear. Here is what happened: HaShem exercising the attribute of justice
(using the name Elohim), spoke. The Word came
out of His mouth and created that which HaShem commanded. In this way we see
That HaShem created everything by His Word. The Word created that which HaShem
commanded. This shows that HaShem and The Word are related, but, The Word is
not the Speaker, HaShem
is the speaker and The Word is that which HaShem spoke.
Conclusion: HaShem is different from The Word. HaShem is The Speaker who spoke The Word.
Taken
together, the arguments presented in this paper prove conclusively that Yeshua
is NOT HaShem (yod hey vav hey). Additionally, we can clearly see that Yeshua
is Elohim.
So,
let us return to our original questions:
B’ne Elohim - The Sons of God
HaShem wanted to
have a family with which to have fellowship. Several different entities have
been called the son of God throughout
scripture:
1. Judges or
angels:
Iyov (Job) 2:1
Again there was a day when the sons of God [B'ne Elohim] came to present
themselves before HaShem, and Satan came also among them to present himself
before HaShem.
2. Adam:
Luqas (Luke) 3:38 Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the
son of Adam, which was the son of God.
3. The nation of
Hoshea 11:1
When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and
called my son out of Egypt.
4. Yeshua:
Marqos (Mark) 9:7 And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of
the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.
5. Followers in
the footsteps of Yeshua:
Yochanan (John) 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons
of God, even to them that believe on his name:
There are ten individual classes of
angels in Sefer Yetzirah: Chayot Hakodesh, Ofanim, Erelim,
Chashmalim, Seraphim, Malachim, Elohim,
B'ne Elohim, the Cherubim, and the
Ishim.Each level of angel has a different name. The highest level consists of
the Holy Chayot, then come the Ophanim, the Erelim, the Chashmalim, the Seraphim,
the Malachim, the Elokim, the Keruvim and the
The Jewish Encyclopedia tells us who the B’ne Elohim are:
“The
"sons of God" are mentioned in Genesis, in a chapter (vi. 2) which
reflects pre-prophetic, mythological, and polytheistic conceptions. They are
represented as taking, at their fancy, wives from among the daughters of men.
For the interpretations given to this statement, and Flood in Rabbinical
Literature. As there stated, the later Jewish and Christian interpreters
endeavored to remove the objectionable implications from the passage by taking
the term "B'ne ha-Elohim"
in the sense of "sons of judges" or "sons of magistrates."
In the introduction to the Book of Job (i. 6, ii. 1) the "B’ne ha-Elohim" are mentioned as assembling
at stated periods, Satan being one of them. Some Assyria-Babylonian
mythological conception is held by the critical school to underlie this
description of the gathering of the "sons of God" to present
themselves before YHVH. Another conception, taken from sidereal religion, seems
to underlie the use of the phrase in Job xxxv:7.”[5]
* * *
His Eminence,
What is the difference between ELOHIM and B’NE ELOHIM?
Well if I may put it this way, it is like the difference between HAKHAM (a judge and teacher) AND TALMID HAKHAM (a student), which are often in Rabbinical literature used to denote the same person. For all Hakhamim have been Talmidim of some Hakham at one point in their lives.
But more precisely speaking, Hakham refers to the earlier Sages of the Sanhedrin, whilst Talmid Hakham refers to our present Rabbis. The same with Elohim. Precisely speaking Adonai (HaShem) is Elohim par excellance, He is the ultimate judge. And we judges are B'ne Elohim. On the other hand the terms are used interchangeably to denote the same thing JUDGE or JUDGES, irrespective of whether it is HaShem or His delegated agents.
* * *
Now that we have some understanding of Mashiach’s names, it is worth looking a bit more at the names that are shared by HaShem and men.
One of the things that I have learned from Chazal is that EVERY name that is one of HaShem’s names, is also a a name shared by men EXCEPT HaShem (יהוה).
With this in mind, I would like to explore an enigmatic pasuk that is often misunderstood. This is how this pasuk is rendered by the JPS translation:
Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 9:5 For a child is born unto us, a son is given unto us;
and the government is upon his shoulder; and his name is called Pele-
joez-el-gibbor-Abi-ad-sar-shalom; {That is, Wonderful
in counsel is God the Mighty, the everlasting Father, the Ruler of peace.} 6 That the government may be increased, and of peace
there be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to establish
it, and to uphold it through justice and through righteousness from henceforth
even for ever. The zeal of HaShem of hosts doth perform this.
The JPS translation shows us what Jews understand this passage to be saying. It also shows that the child’s birth is miraculous enough to be a sign to King Ahaz, yet it is not a virgin birth, but rather an unexpected birth.
This child that is born is to be a sign to King Ahaz.
Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 7:10 And HaShem spoke again unto Ahaz, saying: 11 ‘Ask thee a sign of HaShem thy God: ask it
either in the depth, or in the height above.’ 12 But Ahaz said: ‘I will not ask, neither will I
try HaShem.’ 13 And he said: ‘Hear ye
now, O house of David: Is it a small thing for you to weary men, that ye will
weary my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord
Himself shall give you a sign: behold, the young woman shall conceive, and bear
a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. {That
is, God is with us.} 15 Curd and
honey shall he eat, when he knoweth to refuse the evil, and choose the good. 16
Yea, before the child shall know to
refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land whose two
kings thou hast a horror of shall be forsaken.
This child is the child that is born in v9:5 as a sign to King Ahaz. This suggests that if the child that was born to King Ahaz, was born normally, then the same would apply to Mashiach’s birth. To put it another way, if Mashiach was born of a virgin, then so also was the child born as a sign to King Ahaz.
This analogy goes even further, however. If this passage is used to demonstrate that Mashiach is Diety, then we must conclude that the child born as a sign to King Ahaz was also Diety. This posses many problems.
Because of the duality of these pasukim, we must conclude that the child born as a sign to King Ahaz was not a virgin birth, nor was the child, Diety. Additionally, we must conclude that Mashiach was not born of a virgin, nor is He Diety.
* * *
This study was
written by Hillel ben David
(Greg Killian).
Comments may be
submitted to:
Greg Killian
7104 Inlay St SE
Lacey, WA 98513
Internet
address: gkilli@aol.com
Web page: http://www.betemunah.org/
(360) 584-9352
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