Could Jesus have risen in either a completely different material body or in an immaterial body possessing the properties of an angelic being which ...

Physical or spiritual body? What does the New Testament claim happened to the corpse of Jesus? Jesus is said to have been resurrected, to have ent...

(Psalms 16:9-10) My flesh dwells in safety The Masoretic text of Psalms 16:9-10 reads: Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; my fl...

(Psalms 2:12) “Do homage in purity” In Psalms 2:12 it is stated: “Do homage in purity [nash-ku bar], lest He be angry, and you perish in the way.”

Psalms 2:7 The concept of physical sonship with God the Father is not found in biblical theology or in first century Judaism.

The Masoretic text has a qamatz (vowel sound) under the kaph in ka-’ari, this results from an assimilated definite article. Thus, the literal trans...

(Zechariah 12:10) Christians have argued that the prophet Zechariah is speaking of Jesus when he declares: “And they shall look to Me whom they ...

The prophet Zechariah declares: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, your king is coming to you, he is jus...

Micah 5:1 states: “But you, Bethlehem Ephratah, who are little to be among the thousands of Judah, out of you shall one come forth to Me that is to...

Continued from Chapter 4 (Genesis 3:15, 17:8) God made two significant promises to Abraham concerning the everlasting possession of ’Eretz Yi...

(Hosea 11:1-2) Hosea 11:1-2: When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son. The more they [the prophets] called th...

(Hosea 5:15) The prophet Hosea declares: “I will go and return to My place until they feel guilt and seek My face; in their trouble they will ea...

(Hosea 1:7) Some Christians contend that two divine personalities appear in Hosea 1:7: “But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will ...

Continued from Chapter 6 (Genesis 18:30) The word,’adon, “lord” (plural, ’adonai ), may be used in the singular or the plural to refer to a d...

(Jeremiah 31:31-34) Jeremiah declares: Behold, the days come, says the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with ...

53:12: “because he had poured out his soul to death” Many have poured out their soul to death “Because he has poured out (‘arah) his soul to de...

53:12: “I will divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the mighty” There is a great divide between truth (Isaiah...

Banim The word bein (literally “son”) may figuratively mean “disciples” (2 Kings 2:3, 5, 7, 15). Zer‘a (“seed”) is never used in this sense.

Bloodshed and vicarious suffering: The Torah view The blood shed is all-important in the symbolic ritual of animal sacrifice done in the Temple, b...

53:10: “If he would offer himself as a guilt-offering” The suffering servant as a guilt-offering Following the initial declaration that it was ...

Salvation was reserved for the select few Jesus claimed that he revealed the meaning of his esoteric declarations (the parables) only to his disci...

53:9: “neither was there any deceit in his mouth” A Parable on Deceit Once upon a time, in a far off city a man entered the city’s largest chur...

53:9: “although he had done no violence” The violent side of Jesus The Gospels record a number of instances where Jesus did commit acts of viol...

Isaiah 53:7: “as a sheep that before her shearers is dumb; and opened not his mouth” The silence that was a bit too loud Was Jesus humble and sile...

53:6: “the Lord has visited upon him the iniquity of us all” The pre-Gospel church and its developing christology The pre-Gospel church develop...

Not by blood loss Presuming Jesus was nailed to the cross, did blood oozing from the nail wounds cause his death? The Roman method of execution by...

The rest of the story John’s claim that Jesus was “scourged” during the trial before Pilate (John 19:1) leaves open the extent of injury incurred ...

53:5: “The chastisement of our [the nations] welfare was upon him [Israel], and with his wounds we were healed.” The scourging mystery “[W]ith ...

53:5: “But he [Israel] was wounded as a result of our [the nations of the world] transgressions, he was crushed as a result of our iniquities.” ...

Was Jesus abandoned by everyone in his last hours? The Synoptic Gospels maintain that at the crucifixion “many women were there looking on from a ...