CHAPTER 22
1. But Yeshua responded by speaking to them in analogies again, saying,
2. “The Kingdom of the Heavens is c omparable to a man—a king—who arranged a marriage for his son
Marriage: literally, “in-lawing” or “bridegrooming”; Shem-Tov has “wedding canopy”.
3. “and he sent his servants to call those he had invited to the wedding [feast], but they didn’t want to come!
4. “So again he sent other servant, saying, ‘Tell those who were invited, “Look! I have prepared a banquet! I’ve [slaughtered and] cooked my ox and goose. Everything is ready, so come to the wedding!”’
Goose: or swan.
5. “But they didn’t care; they went away, [this] one to his village, and [that] one to his business.
Didn’t care: Trimm, were unresponsive; Shem-Tov, scorned [him].
6. “And the rest seized his servants, robbed them, and killed them!
7. “Now when the king heard it, his anger became heated, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers, and burned their cities with fire.
8. “And then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is indeed ready, but the invitees were not worthy.
9. “‘So [all of] you go out to [where the] roads leave [town] and invite whomever you find to the wedding!’
10. “So his servants went out into the highways and added whomever they found—bad [people] as well as good, and those who sat at the party filled the banquet [hall].
11. “Now the king came to see those who were seated, and he saw there the man who was not dressed in a wedding garment.
12. “So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ But he was dumbfounded.
The garment was typically provided to the guests, so there was no reason he should not have put it on. YHWH made provision through Yeshua for even those who had committed very bad sins (v. 10) to be included in His Kingdom, but if we do not take advantage of the pardon He offers, how can we benefit from it?
13. “So the king told his servants, ‘Tie up his hands and feet and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth!’
Outer darkness: beyond the area illuminated by the lights from the banquet hall. Weeping: because of seeing others enjoying themselves, while one must himself go hungry.
14. “because those who are invited are many, but those who are chosen are few.”
Chosen: or hand-picked. There is still a sorting out of those who have been brought in “off the streets”. (Compare 13:47-50.)
15. Then the P’rushim went and deliberated among themselves about how to capture him because of this thing he said,
Shem-Tov: catch him in [his] words.
16. and they sent their students to him along with some of Herodus’ servants to say, “Rabbi, we know that you are a sincere man and teach the way of Elohim truthfully, and in you there is no subjective interest in any man, because you do not regard men’s faces.
No subjective interest: Trimm translates it, “You are not influenced…” Regard men’s faces: concern yourself with popular opinion or the opinion of those with power.
17. “Therefore tell us how it appears to you: Is it permissible to give tax to Caesar or not?”
How it appears to you: a hebrew idiom for “your opinion”. King Herodus’ servants (v. 16) would be ready to arrest him if he gave an answer they thought was wrong or politically inflammatory.
18. But Yeshua recognized the evil [intentions] in their hearts, and said to them, “[You] hypopcrites! Why do you put me to the test?
19. “Show me a tax coin.” And they brought him one zuz.
20. And he says to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?"
Whose image: or likeness—the same word used in Genesis 1:27. To a Hebrew audience, this would immediately send their minds back to YHWH’s creating Adam in His image/llikeness and giving him dominion over all creation. So what were they doing arguing over a petty thing like taxes? Their priorities were wrong. He told them to look at the image that was causing them so much grief—that of Caesar, money, security. Inscription: an allusion to the high priest’s headpiece that remind all Israel that he (and the nation he represented) belonged “to YHWH”. (Ex. 39:30)
21. They told him, “Caesar’s.” So he told them, “Then give Caesar’s things [back] to Caesar, but give Elohim what belongs to Elohim.”
I.e., if you have YHWH’s image on yourself, give yourself to Him. Since men bear the image of Elohim, he was telling them to give themselves to Elohim rather than to Caesar, who deserved only a token amount of the money he provided them to use as currency, just as YHWH deserves a tithe of the provisions He gives us. Whose images are carved into us? Those of the founding fathers of the nation we live in, or the founding fathers of Israel?
22. When they heard him, they were amazed, and left him and went away.
23. That same day, the Tzadduqim who say that there will not be a resurrection approached him and asked,
The particular sect of Tzadduqim (Sadducees) who denied that YHWH would raise the dead were the Boethusians. The reason was that they could not find it directly in the Torah. Other Tzadduqim did not discount the resurrection, seeing at least hints of it in the prophets.
24. “Rabbi, Moshe told us, ‘If a man dies without having a son, his brother must take the dead man’s wife for himself as a wife, and thus raise up a descendant for his brother.’ [Deut. 25:5-6]
25. “Now, look: among us there were seven brothers. The first one took a wife and died without a descendant, and his brother took his wife as a levirate.
In DuTillet’s version, all this verse says is, “He left his wife to his brother.”
26. “And likewise with the second and third, all the way to the seventh.
27. “And after that the woman died as well.
28. “In the resurrection, who will this woman belong to? Because all seven were her husbands!”
29. And Yeshua answered and said to them, “You are confused, and don’t know the Scriptures or the power of Elohim,
Confused: or, in error. They did not have a large enough perspective to see the big picture as he could. Scriptures: Yeshua actually quotes here from a book often read in his day but not now included in traditional canons of Scripture, making us reconsider whether he might have thought it to be inspired on the same level as the other Scriptures:
30. “because in the resurrection they are neither given in marriage or betrothed, but will be like Elohim’s messengers in the heavens.
1 Enoch 15:4-7 says, “And though ye were holy, spiritual, living the eternal life, you have defiled yourselves with the blood of women, and have begotten children with the blood of flesh, and, as the children of men, have lusted after flesh and blood as those also do who die and perish. Therefore have I given them wives also that they might impregnate them, and beget children by them, that thus nothing might be wanting to them on earth. But you were formerly spiritual, living the eternal life, and immortal for all generations of the world. And therefore I have not appointed wives for you; for as for the spiritual ones of the heaven, in heaven is their dwelling” Again in 1 Enoch 104:4-6, “Be hopeful, and cast not away your hope; for ye shall have great joy as the angels of heaven... ye shall become companions of the hosts of heaven.” He shows that he is more learned about such matters than these “experts” in the Torah.
31. “But in regard to the resurrection of the dead, haven’t you read what was said by Elohim, who told you,
32. “‘I am the Elohim of Avraham’, ‘I am the Elohim of Yitzhaq’, ‘I am the Elohim of Yaaqov’? Indeed, He is not the Elohim of the dead, but the Elohim of the living!”
Without a resurrection, in many cases there would be no justice, for many righteous people have died with “unfinished business”, without yet having received their reward. If in this life alone we look for this closure, we will despair, because as often as not it is lacking. But YHWH is not unjust. The human soul is also built for a much longer lifetime than a mere 70 to 120 years. Often we are beginning to learn our lessons and to know YHWH by that time. (Deut. 3:24)
33. When the crowds heard, they were amazed at his teaching.
Teaching: per duTillet; Shem-Tov has “wisdom”.
34. And P’rushim who heard that he had silenced the Tzadduqim took counsel together,
35. and one of them, who was a teacher of the Torah, tested him by asking him,
36. “Rabbi, which is the greatest commandment in the Torah?”
37. And Yeshua answered him, saying, “‘You must love YHWH your Elohim with all of your resolve, with all of your passion, and with all of your resources.’ [Deut. 6:5]
38. “This is the greatest commandment that is in the whole Torah, and this is the first.
39. “But there is a second similar to it, and that is, ‘You must love your neighbor as yourself.’ [Lev. 19:18]
40. “On these two commandments hang the whole Torah and [all] the prophets.”
I.e., as Hillel, also being tested with the request to encapsulate the entire Torah, put it, “The rest is commentary; go and learn.” All of the other commands are just corollaries or examples of one of these.
41. Now while the P’rushim were assembled, Yeshua asked them,
42. “What is your opinion in regard to the Messiah: whose son is he?” And they answered him, “He is David’s son.”
43. But he said to them, “Then how does David, through the spirit of holiness, call him ‘My master’, saying,
44. “‘YHWH has declared to my master, “Sit at My right hand until I have made your enemies your footstool”’? [Psalm 110:1]
45. “Thus if David calls him, ‘My master’, how can he be his son?”
He does not actually deny that he is David’s descendant, but he wants them to think more deeply about who the Messiah is. By tradition, the Messiah was at least in YHWH’s mind since creation itself, and the Word that was made flesh existed before Yeshua embodied it, but also preceded David in existence. So he wouild therefore outrank one who had come before him, in part because he also did not share the sinful nature David had inherited from Adam, and thus had a more complete connection to YHWH than any since Adam had ever had. In any case, he makes them realize that their perspective is not large or clear enough to be dogmatic about anything or sit in judgment of one who clearly has more understanding of such things:
46. But they were not able to [answer] him back a word, and not a man of them wanted to ask anything more from him from that day onward.
CHAPTER 23
1. At that time Yeshua spoke to the [crowd of] people and to his disciples,
2. saying, “The P’rushim and the sages sit in Moshe’s seat,
Moshe’s seat: a particular place of prominence in the synagogues of that day, but in a broader sense, symbolic of the fact that they were trying to claim the authority of Moshe (as the P’rushim were the predecessors of the rabbis, who through politics took advantage of the Temple’s demise and usurped the position of the Aharonic priesthood and Levitical right to interpret the Scriptures.
3. “so now be diligent to do all that he tells you, but do not act on their enactments or their precedents—in that they say but not one of them carries [them] out.
All that he tells you: This is how the Shem-Tov Hebrew reads, in contrast with the Greek text, which says, “all that they tell you”—appearing to make Y’shua contradict himself, for he is about to go through a list of how they are the “council of the blind” (v. 16) and how wrong they are about so many things. Why would he tell them to unquestioningly obey them? Enactments: rabbinic reforms that actually go against what the Torah says. (The same term is used in Mat. 15:3 and 6.) Precedents: deeds which they set up as examples for others. They say but [do] not…[carry] out: identical to the beginning of a longer phrase, “they do not act according to their prescribed customs or their legal procedures or according to the Torah or the commandment that YHWH gave to the sons of Yaaqov…” (2 Kings 17:34) He is probably alluding to just that passage. (Nehemia Gordon)
4. “They make great demands and place heavy burdens that cannot be carried, but not one of them is willing to himself move [them] with his finger.
5. “And also, they do all their deeds in order to be seen by the sons of Adam, because they make their totafoth wide and enlarge the corners of their garments.
They exaggerate their t’fillin and tzitziyoth, trying to appear “super-religious”.
6. “They also love the prime reclining places at banquets and the principal seats at synagogues,
7. “and to be saluted in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘rabbi’ by men.
To prevent this kind of treatment among those who were actually called by YHWH to a special religious position, Y’hezq’el 44:19 specifies that the priests must put off their garments of service when leaving the sanctuary so that they will not expect special treatment outside their sphere of service.
8. “But as for you, do not [desire to] be called ‘rabbi’, because you have [only] one rabbi [and he is the Messiah], and you are all brothers.
Only Shem-Tov has the phrase about desiring—which would not make it wrong to actually be called “rabbi” if one is not seeking the honor, though Shem-Tov also says that in verse 10, saying “rabbis” where duTillet has “teachers”. Only duTillet (along with the Greek translation) includes the phrase identifying this one rabbi as Messiah. If this is the original rendering, it is permissible to call Yeshua “Rabbi”.
9. “And also don’t be called ‘father’ on earth, because your Father in the heavens is one. [Deut. 6:4]
Shem-Tov, like the Greek translation, says, “Call no man on earth your ‘father’.” While this would not seem to apply to one’s literal parent, it certainly applies figuratively, where some who claim a connection to Yeshua call themselves “priests” and go by the title “father”. Did he anticipate this, or was it already a tradition in his day?
10. “And do not be called ‘teachers’, because one is your teacher, and he is the Messiah.
11. “Whoever is greatest among you is the one who will be your servant.
Servant: literally, the one who ministers.
12. “Whoever raises himself up will be humbled, but the one who lowers himself will be raised higher.
Raises himself up: not to do better than he did previously, but in a bid to be treated better than others, as detailed above.
13. “Woe to you, scribes and P’rushim—hypocrites who close up the Kingdom of the Heavens to the children of humanity, because you neither enter it nor allow those eager to enter [to do so].
Close up: even if only by divcerting their attention elsewhere. Allow: or bring. We must not forget that the modern rabbinic establishment is founded on the principles of the P’rushim, though certainly not all within that framework have the same attitudes.
14. “Woe to you, scribes and P’rushim—hypocrites who devour widows’ households, allegedly for the reason of praying lengthy prayers; therefore for this, you will receive a lengthy sentence.
Who devour…: Shem-Tov has “and divide the wealth of certain widows with lengthy exposition”.
15. “Woe to you, scribes and P’rushim—hypocrites, who traverse all around the sea and the dry land in order to make one proselyte, but when he is made, you make him twice as much the son of the Valley of Hinnom as you are!
Proselyte: Many today sa that Judaism is not a missionary religion, but such has not always been the case. Son of the Valley of Hinnom: worthy of no greater honor than being burned in the fires kept burning there to consume Yerushalayim’s garbage because the place had previously been used for the most heinous type of idolatrous burning of people’s own infant children.
16. “Woe to you, O councils of the blind, who say, ‘The the one who swears by the Temple is not obligated, but he who vows by anything which is consecrated to the structure of the Temple is obligated to pay.’
Councils: literally, sitting places, correlating with and clarifying the meaning of the “seat of Moshe” in verse 2. This is exactly what Yeshua was speaking of in 5:33-37 when he says not to swear falsely by anything.
17. “[You] madmen and blind men! Which is greater, the sanctuary or the thing dedicated to the sanctuary?
18. “Or, ‘Whoever swears by the altar is not obligated but the one who swears to bring an offerinmg is obligated to give it.’
19. “Which is greater, the offering or the altar? The sanctuary or the offering?
20. “Whoever swears by the altar swears [by it] and by everything that is within it.”
Blessed is the One: The phrase itself connotes "welcome to the one...", but it is used also at the festival of Sukkoth in a specific way. On the prophetic calendar, this welcome by some representatives of the House of Yehudah (but not by those in authority) was out of season, like the fig tree he had cursed, but he also could not yet be proclaimed King because the House of Israel was not yet gathered back in, and the twho Houses must do so together. (Y’hezq’el 34: 37:16-25)
21. “And whoever swears by the Temple swears by it and by everything that sits within it.
Sits within it: i.e., the menorah, table of the bread of the faces, altar of incense, and ideally, the Ark of the Covenant and the Torah and Testimony within it, thoughthe latter were not present in the Second Temple.
22. “And what is sworn by Heaven, one swears by the throne of Elohim and by Him who sits thereon.
23. “Woe to you, scribes and P’rushim, hypocrites who tithe mint, rue, and cumin, but have left out those matters within the Torah that are more serious—justice, kindness, and faithfulness. Those you ought [indeed] to have done, but not neglected these.
To you: Shem-Tov, to them. Rue: Shem-Tov, dill. Cumin: Shem-Tov, pomegranate (one letter different in Hebrew). Left out: abandoned or forsaken. Serious: major, weighty, material—things that “matter” more. Kindness: or mercy. Faithfulness: or truthfulness. I.e., he is not saying that careful attention to tithing is unimportant, for it too is part of the Torah, but pales beside the things that are more important to YHWH.
24. “Blind leaders, who strain out a gnat, but swallow the camel!
Leaders: from a term meaning to set a precedent to be followed as a custom. Shem-Tov: Offspring of blind leaders. Strain: or purify with a fine set of obligations; Shem-tov, strictly scrutinize with precise detail.
25. “Woe to you, scribes and P’rushim, hypocrites who clean the outside of the cup or the bowl, inside they are full of embezzlement and impurity!
Embezzlement: or robbery, extortion; Shem-Tov, foolishness.
26. “O blind P’rush, start by cleaning what is within the cup or the bowl, so that the outside may also be pure.
P’rush: their sect’s name, but it comes from the word for separating or making distinctions clear, so his underlying message is that they are not seeing clearly enough to make the right distinctions after all. Again, he does not discount the importance of outward purity aswell, but suggests that this comes as a natural by-product of the inward catharsis.
27. “Woe to you, scribes and P’rushim, hypocrites, because you resemble whitened tombs, which outwardly look nice to the children of Adam, but inside they are filled with dead men’s bones and all kinds of uncleanness.
Whitened: Caves known to have men’s bones in them used to be marked with whitewash prior to each of the pilgrimage festivals so that no one would inadvertently seek shelter or a safe place to sleep in them on their way to Yerushalayim, but then be disqualified from entering the Temple complex because of the ritual impurity they would bring. These men appeared to offer refuge to those seeking spiritual comfort, but they had the wrong motives and therefore could not provide objective guidance to “sheep without a shepherd”. Alt., of bricks with precise right angles—i.e., well-planned and well-built, designed more for appearance than function.
28. “Likewise, you also outwardly appear righteous to the children of Adam, but inwardly you are full of injustice and violence.
29. “Woe to you, scribes and P’rushim, hypocrites, who build monumental tombs [for] the prophets and beautify the tombs of the righteous,
30. “and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have collaborators in [shedding] the blood of the prophets!’
31. “But thereby you are witnesses to your own selves, because you have come [into being] by way of them who killed the prophets, and you are their offspring.
32. “So then, fill up the measure of your ancestors.
Fill up the measure of: Shem-Tov, behave according to the traditions of… I.e., he was predicting that they would continue the same practice by killing him as well.
33. “Serpents and generations of vipers! How will you escape the judgment of the Valley of Hinnom?"
Generations: Heb., seed (see note on v. 34). Vipers: or adders—i.e., venomous snakes. Valley of Hinnom: the corner of which is called the “Valley of Decision” and “Valley of Y’hoshafat (YHWH’s judgment)” (Yo’el 3:2, 12-14), where the final judgment of the Gentiles who did wrong to Israel will take place. So he was saying they would have to be judged along with or as if they were Gentiles—the last thing they wanted to hear!
34. At that time, Yeshua said to the crowds of Judeans, “I tell you, that is the reason for ‘Behold, I am sending prophets and sages and scribes in regard to you, and some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge with whips in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city.
The first phrase is found in the Shem-Tov Hebrew version, but not Greek. It changes the addressees, so that it no longer suggests that the “seed of vipers” (as v. 33 reads in Hebrew, alluding back to Genesis 3:15) are the ones he wants to gather (v. 37), which would seem contradictory. Scribes: i.e., Torah experts. And crucify: not in the Shem-Tov version. What he is quoting from is uncertain. If he is speaking of his own sending, these would be his own followers, who would later be branded “minim” (heretics/sectarians). Persecute: literally, chase or pursue.
35. “Therefore all the righteous blood that has been shed on the earth—from Hevel the righteous to Z’kharyah the son of B’rakhyah, whom you killed between the Temple and the altar--will come upon you!
Son of B’rakhyah: Jerome wrote that the Hebrew copy of Matithyahu that he possessed read “Z’kharyah the son of Y’hoidai” (Trimm, cf. 2 Chron. 24:20-21, Bavli Sanhedrin 96; Yerusahalmi, Ta’anit 69). Come upon you: an idiom for “become your responsibility”.
36. “I tell you, it is established that all of these will come upon this very generation.
37. "O Yerushalayim, Yerushalayim—the [one who] kills off the prophets and stones the ones who are sent to her! How often I desired to gather your children together the way a [mother] bird gathers her young under her wings—but you did not desire it.
Stones: refer back to his parables above. Your children: Not just those who lived in Yerushalayim at that time, but all the many descendants of the scattered Northern Kingdom, whom Yeshua came to gather. (This is an allusion to Yeshayahu 49:18-23; he wished it had been at this time that he could do so, but they delayed the process greatly by their actions, which were tantamount to rejecting the offer.) Mother bird: 4th Ezra 1:30 contains a nearly identical phrase, from which he probably also drew this.
38. "So just look, now—your house is left to you, [but it is] deserted,
Your house: an idiom for the Temple, which he calls theirs, not YHWH’s, at this point and because of this. Deserted: an allusion to Yirm. 22:5-6. The house of Yehudah, also, of which they were a part, would be left to its own whims, but YHWH would withdraw himself from it, but only for a set amount of time (v. 39). But together with verse 37, he is alluding very specifically to 4 Ezra 1:25-33, which is the only known reference to the mother bird gathering her young in the way he uses it.
39. Therefore I tell you, you'll never see Me again until [the time] you [again] say, "Blessed is the One who comes in the Name of YHWH."
CHAPTER 24
1. And as Yeshua set out to leave the Temple, his disciples came up to him and pointed out its [impressive] buildings.
Buildings: They were not impressed without reason. The Temple complex was the largest of its kind in the ancient world. There was a saying to the effect that you had not lived if you had not seen the Temple. (At left is a depiction of how large the buildings were according to Joseph Good's research.) But Yeshua drew attention away from its physical beauty and lamented what would happen to it (cf. Luk. 19:41ff).
2. But Yeshua said to them, "Can't you see all these things [I've been telling you]? It is absolutely certain that by no means will there be a single stone left on top of another, which will not be thrown down.
The Romans under Titus, in 70 C.E., captured the Temple, and actually wanted to leave it intact. But someone inadvertently set it on fire, melting all the gold with which its walls were overlaid, and, in their greed to salvage it, the Roman soldiers actually pried every stone apart. But this is a large-scale fulfillment of the Torah command to completely dismantle a house that still had leprosy after it was inspected and measures were taken to replace the affected stones. (Lev. 14:34-45) This discourse was part of the “inspection” of the “stones” who made up what that House was meant to represent.
3. And [later], when he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, his disciples came to him privately and said, "Tell us, when will all these things be? And what is the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?"
Notice that they recognized that these things go together.
4. And Yeshua answered them, saying, "Make sure no one leads you astray,
5. "for many will come, using My Name, and say, 'I am the Messiah', and they will cause many to wander away.
6. "But you are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars, but—pay attention—do not be disturbed by this, for all of these things must take place, but it's not the end yet.
7. "For nation will be raised up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and plagues and earthquakes, depending on the particular places.
8. "But all of these are just the beginning of the Birthpangs.
Birthpangs: A particular time foretold by the prophets; see notes on Yeshayahu/Isaiah 17:12; 18:2.
9. "Then they will deliver you up to be treated severely, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My sake.
10. "At that time many will be tripped up, and will turn each other over to the corrupt authorities, and will hate each other.
11. "And many false prophets will be raised up, and will cause many to wander away.
12. "And because lawlessness will be multiplied, many people's love will grow cold.
13. "But whoever endures into the end time5, that person will be delivered.
End: Literally, the "goal", i.e., the time at which all of these things have been pointing; v. 14 could read, "Then we will reach what we've been waiting for"; in terms of the Birthpains, the delivery will come! The "Season of our Joy" will have begun!
14. "And this Good News of the kingdom shall be proclaimed everywhere in the world as a testimony to all nations, and then will come the end time.
15. "So when you see the "Abomination of Desolation" (which was spoken of by the prophet Daniel) standing in the Holy Place—let the reader make sure he understands!—
Abomination of desolation: An allusion to Daniel 11:31. This had an initial fulfillment in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, but if that were its only fulfillment, Yeshua would not have warned about it. “What has been is what will be.” (Ekkles. 1:9, a major key to interpreting prophecy.)
16. "then let whoever is in Judea escape up to the mountains,
17. "and whoever is on the housetop must not come down to take anything out of the house,
18. "and whoever is in the open field must not turn back to get any more of his clothing.
19. "But how terrible it will be for expectant and nursing mothers in those days!
20. "And pray that your flight will not take place in winter, nor on a Sabbath,
In winter: It appears that it will occur one month before Passover (see note on Rev. 11:11), which is right after the winter is over. Praise YHWH for His mercy! On a Sabbath: This assumes that we will be concerned about keeping the Sabbath!
21. "For at that time there will be great trouble afflicted upon the earth such as there has never been from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor will ever be afterward.
22. "And unless those days were shortened, no mortal being would be spared, but on account of the ones whom Elohim has selected out of the world, those days will be shortened.
Not that the appointed times can be changed, but rather, perhaps due to one of the many cataclysms of that time, the daylight hours will be shortened, enabling some to escape under cover of night.
23. "At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look! Here is the Messiah! or 'He's over here!', don't believe it!
24. "For counterfeit messiahs and counterfeit prophets will arise, and will demonstrate great signs and wonders, in an attempt to lead astray, if possible, even the ones Elohim has selected.
25. "Notice that I'm telling you this ahead of time!
26. "So if they tell you, 'Look, he's in the desert!', don't go out to see him. If they say, 'Look, he's waiting in the inner chambers', don't believe it!
Such claims are already being made! But considering that the counterfeit Messiah is to be a resurrection of one of the seven past globalist emperors (Rev. 13:3, 12; 17:11), and Osiris (“the Assyrian”) is said to be buried in a sarcophagus in a secret underground chamber near the sphinx and Great Pyramid at Giza, Egypt until he is brought back to life, this may be the kind of claim Yeshua is referring to, because the true Messiah, when he returns a few years later, will be able to be seen by everyone, whether they want to or not (Alexander Lawrence):
27. "For just as the lightning flashes forth from the east and is visible all the way to the western part of the sky, that is exactly how the Son of Man's coming will be.
No one will have to tell you when he arrives; it will be obvious. Every eye will see him. (Rev. 1:7)
28. "For wherever there is carrion, the birds of prey will be gathered.
Compare Iyov 41; Yirm. 12:9; 16:4; Yeshay. 11:4; 34:3, 15; Y’hezq’El 39:17; Luk. 17:34; Rev. 19. Or, wherever there is a corpse, the eagles will gather. When he returns (v. 27), millions who are rebelling against YHWH will be slain by just his word, and the “fowls that fly in mid-heaven” will be summoned to feast on their flesh. (Rev. 19:17, 21)
29. "And immediately after the affliction of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give her light, and the stars will fall down, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
This probably refers to the demise of the demonic powers that have maintained their designated authority over the earth despite their fallen status, since YHWH has had a use for them. The angelic beings are called "morning stars". (Iyov 38:7; compare Yeshayahu 13:10; 24:32; Y’hezq’El 32:7; Yo’el 2:10; 3:4 [2:31]; 4:15 [3:15]) Shaken: see Yeshayahu 34:4; Hagga’i 2:6, 21.
30. "And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the heavens, and then all the tribes of the Land will wail. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Clouds of heaven: See Dani’el 7:13-14. Wail: compare Z’kharyah 12:10 and Revelation 1:7.
31. "And he will send his messengers with a shofar and a loud sound to gather his chosen ones from the four winds from the heights of heaven to its extremities.
Shofar: compare Yeshayahu 27:13. There are two special trumpets used in the Hebraic festivals: one is called the "last trump" (cf. 1 Kor. 15:52) and it is blown at Rosh HaShanah (Yom T’ruah), the "day of the awakening blast" (Num. 29:1). That seems to be fulfilled at the beginning of the time of "great affliction"; the second is called the "great trumpet", and it is blown on the Day of Atonement when the gates to the Temple are about to be closed, symbolizing the end of YHWH's patience with the unrepentant. (Note the reference to doors in v. 33.) This cannot occur until the end of the "time of Yaaqov's trouble".
32. "But study the symbolism seen in the fig tree: When its branch becomes tender, and it puts out leaves, you know that summer is coming.
The fig tree has long been associated in Jewish thought with the Torah, for “as with the fig tree the more one searches it the more figs one finds I it, so ot is with the words of Torah; the more one studies them, the more relish he finds in them.”: (R. Hiyya ben Abba in Midrash Rabbah o the Song of Songs). As the day (see below) approaches, many have been drawn back to the joy of keeping the Torah, after a long period of scarcity. (Compare Mal’akhi 4:5-6) Summer: The 40-day season of repentance ends with Yom T’ruah (Rosh haShanah), the day long associated with the coming of Messiah, his coronation as king, and the resurrection of the dead. (Avi ben Mordechai)
33. "In the same way, when you see all these things, recognize that My appearing is near—right at the very doors!"
34. "I assure you, that this generation will not pass by without all things being accomplished.
Was he mistaken? Or was he referring to his own anchoring the permanent establishment of all that needed to be set in place for the rest to come to fruition much later? Or, he may be saying that the Jewish race would not pass away (despite many attempts to eradicate them) until and including the end of the present age.
35. “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
He may be alluding to Yeshayahu 40:8.
36. "Until that day, and concerning that hour there will be no man that knows, not even the angels in heaven, but only my Father.
This could well be an allusion to Yom T’ruah, the only major “appointment” on YHWH’s calendar which falls on a new moon, for it cannot be known for certain until the time of the sighting whether it will be one day or the next due to variable conditions. There are also many factors that affect when the bridegroom’s father can tell him all things are ready for him to go and get his bride.
37. “As [it was] in the days of Noakh, it will be the same in the days that belong to the Ben Adam.
Many parallel trends have been suggested, including the return of the Nefilim, but Yeshua himself explained the analogy he was drawing, and it is much simpler than that—simply that people are not paying attention to the signs, going about their ordinary business, and the day catches them unawares:
38. “Just as it was in those days that were before the deluge--eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, until the day on which Noakh entered the ark,
Marrying and being given in marriage: Shem-Tov has “being fruitful and multiplying”.
39. “and they were not aware until the deluge came upon them and took them all away—the coming of the Son of Adam will be the same.
40. “At that time, there will be two [people] in the field; one will be taken away and the other left behind.
Shem-Tov adds the details that they will be plowing.
41. “Two will be grinding at one mill; one will be taken away and the other left behind.
Shem-Tov adds, “This will be the case because the messengers at the end of the age will remove the stumblingblocks from the world and will separate the good from the bad.”
42. “Two will be one one couch; one will be taken away and the other left behind.” [Then Yeshua said to his students, “Therefore] remain watchful [with me], because you do not know at what hour your master is coming.
The parts in brackets appear only in Shem-Tov’s version, not duTillet’s.
43. “But recognize this: if the master of the household knew what time the thief would come, he would certainly have been on the alert and not let his house be undermined.
Undermined: as the thief would enter by digging under the wall.
44. “In the same way, you, too, should be prepared, because you do not know at what hour the Son of Adam will come.
45. “Who, then, is a faithful and wise servant whom a master can set over the sons of his household, who will provide food for them in season?
46. “That servant whom the master finds doing just that when he arrives home will be promoted.
47. “I tell you, it is certain that he will indeed set him over all of his possessions.
Possessions: or capital, specifically the possessions that will be profitable.
48. “But if such a servant wickedly says in his heart, ‘My master is late in coming’
49. “and begins to beat the servants who are with him, and eats and drinks with the drunken,
50. “then that servant’s master will come on a day when he is not expecting and at an hour of which he is not aware,
51. “and will burst in on him and assign his share with hypocrites where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth!”
CHAPTER 25
1. [Again Yeshua said to his students,] “Then the Kingdom of the Heavens can be compared to ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went out [with a bride] to meet the bridegroom.
Lamps: or candles; duTillet has “torches”. The context identifies them as oil lamps, which would use wicks like candles but had a reservoir, but, being earthen, could still be hand-held when lit since they would not become too hot as a metal holder would.
2. “Five of them were [lazy] fools, and five of them were [alert and] intelligent.
Intelligent: Shem-Tov, wise. The parts in brackets appear only in Shem-Tov’s version.
3. “The five foolish [women], though they took their lamps, did not take [any] oil with them,
4. “but the intelligent ones took oil in their containers along with their lamps.
5. “But when the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
6. “Now in the middle of the night, there was an outcry: ‘Look! The bridegroom is coming! Go out to meet him!’
7. “Then all these bridesmaids got up and prepared their lamps.
8. “The foolish [ones] said to the intelligent [ones], ‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps have gone out!’
9. “But the intelligent [ones] answered and said to them, ‘We can’t give you [any], or there might not be enough for either us or you. Please go to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.’
10. “And while they went to buy, the bridegroom arrived. Those who were ready went with him to the wedding, and the door was shut.
11. “Then later the rest of the bridesmaids came as well, and said, ‘Master! Master, open up for us!’
12. “But he answered and said to them, ‘I tell you the truth, I don’t know [who] you [are]!’
13. “Therefore you [must remain] watchful, because yo do not know the day or the hour on which the Son of Adam will come.”
Son of Adam: the one Dani’el saw approaching the Ancient of Days (Dan. 7:13), possibly so named because he was the first since Adam himself who bore the unmarred image of Elohim (characteristic of the “Ancient Adam” of Jewish mysticism) and is therefore able to truly have one foot on solid ground to be able to pull other members of the human race out of their predicament and transfer his merit to them, thus effectively initiating a recovery of the position humanity was created for by pulling us into a new “race” of which he is the representative before YHWH as Adam used to be. (Rom. 5:14; 1 Cor. 15) He says he will return to complete the transformation, but he does not recognize those who are not living according to the standards of the new reality (24:49), which outlined in the Torah and made possible through the spiritual empowerment he has made available to us, so there is no excuse to not be ready when he comes back.
14. “because it is like a man who, when he was going to stay in a foreign country, and he called his servants and distributed his possessions to them.
Foreign country: duTillet literally has, a country of [the] sea. Shem-Tov prefaces this sentence with “Again Yeshua told his students another analogy: ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is like…’”
15. “To one he gave five kikkarim, and to one [he gave] two, and to one [he gave] one; he gave to each man according to his ability, and went on his journey right away.
Kikkarim: usually rendered “talents”, and the Greek version is a variation on that word. A talent was a round piece of metal, precursor to a coin, with a particular weight of either gold or silver. It varied according to the culture: a Greek, or Attic talent, weighed 26 kilograms (57 lb), a Roman talent 32.3 kilograms (71 lb), an Egyptian talent 27 kg (60 lb), and a Babylonian talent, 30.3 kg (67 lb). Shem-tov specifies that these were gold pieces. This story is where the word acquired its figurative meaning as a “gifting” of any kind of which one is made a steward and is expected to develop it. Accoridng to his ability: a picture of YHWH’s concern for how much each person is individually able to bear.
16. “Now [the one] who received five kikkarim went and traded with them and acquired another five.
17. “And in the same way, the one who had received two acquired another two,
18. “but [the man] who received the one went and dug [a hole] in the ground and hid [his master’s wealth] in the earth.
19. “And what came about was that after a long time the master came back and made the accontin with them.
20. “Now the one who had received the five kikkarim approached came close again and brought five additional kikkarim, saying, ‘Master, you gave me five kikkarim, and look! I’ve added another five again on top of them!’
He made 100% profit.
21. “And his master said to him, ‘Well done! Since you have been a good servant and faithful in regard to what is small, come and I will put youi in charge of many [things]! Come, enter into your master’s joy!’
22. “The [one] who received the two kikkarim also approached and said, ‘My master, you gave me two kikkarim, and look! I’ve added another two again on top of them!’
23. “And his master said to him, ‘Well done! Since you have been a good servant and faithful in regard to what is small, come and I will put youi in charge of many [things]! Come, enter into your master’s joy!’
24. “The [one] who received the single kikkar also approached and said, ‘My master, I know that you are a severe man and that you reap where you did not sow and gather from where you did not disperse.
25. “‘So I was afraid, and went and hid your kikkar in the ground. Look, here you have what is yours.’
26. “But his master answered and said to him, ‘[You] wicked and lazy servant! You knew that I would reap where I did not sow and gather where I had not scattered.
27. “‘You should have given my money to the bankers, and when I came I could have received it with interest!
28. “‘So therefore take the kikkar from him and give it to the one who has ten kikkarim.’
29. “‘Because to everyone who has it, it will be given to him, and he will have abundance, but whoever does not have it, even what he appears to have will be taken from him.”
30. “‘And the servant [who remained] idle, send him to the outermost darkness, where there will be crying and grinding of teeth!’”
31. [Again Yeshua said to his students,] “Now, when the Son of Adam comes in his authority, and all the messengers with him, then he will sit on the seat of his authority,
For the first instance of “authority”, Shem-Tov has “revelation” or “appearance”.
32. “then he will assemble all nations before himself, then he will separate them, this group from that group, like a shepherd who separates the sheep from the goats.
Assemble: duTillet simply has, “bring”. Nations: or Gentiles. Compare Yirmeyahu/Jer. 3:17.
33. “And he will set the sheep on the right [side], and the goats on the left.
34. “And then the king will say to those who will be on his right, ‘Go, [you who are] blessed [by] my Father, and inherit the Kingdom [of Heaven] prepared for you from the creation of the universe [until now].
Creation: duTillet, beginning; duTillet does not include the portions in brackets.
35. “‘I was hungry, and you gave me [something] to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me [something] to drink; I was a foreigner, and you included me.
Foreigner: or stranger; Shem-Tov has traveler. Included me: literally, gathered me in.
36. “‘I was naked, and you covered me up; I was sick, and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came to me.’
37. “Then the righteous will answer him, saying,’Master, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink?
38. “‘And when did we see you a foreigner, and welcome you, or naked, and cover you?
39. “‘Or when did we see you sick or in prison, and come to you?’
40. “And the king will answer and say to them, ‘I tell you the truth, any time you did these things to one of these, who are like my younger brothers, it was as if you did them to me.’
Younger brothers: compare Romans 8:29.
41. “But then the king will say to those who are to his left, ‘Turn aside from me, you cursed ones! Go to the darkness of hiddennessthat is prepared for the adversary and his messengers.
Turn aside: implies being deported or removed; i.e., get away! Darkness of hiddenness: or, eternal fire; the terms are “esh” and “ashom”, but the way duTillet writes it is between the two—“esho”, and is thus ambiguous. It could read, “his fire”. Adversary: Heb., satan.
42. “‘I was hungry, but you did not give me anything to eat; I was thirsty, but you gave me nothing to drink;
43. “‘I was a foreigner, but you did not take me in; I was naked, but you did not cover me up; I was sick and in prison, but you did not visit me.’
44. “Then they will answer him, saying, ‘Master, how did we see you hungry or thirsty or a foreigner or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’
45. “Then he will answer them, saying, ‘I tell you the truth, whenever you did not do them for one of these little ones, you did not do them for me.’
Notice the practical nature of what he judges us on. He does not punish those who had the wrong theology or could not sort out the apparent discrepancies between one Biblical statement and another, but those who did not follow the Torah’s clear, concrete commands about how to love our neighbors as ourselves, which even the least intelligent could carry out to some extent.
46. “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
CHAPTER 26
1. Now what occurred when Yeshua had finished saying all of these things, he told his students,
2. “Are you aware that after two days, the Pesakh will come, and the Son of Adam will be handed over and tied up, so that he may be crucified?”
Handed over: or betrayed. Shem-Tov ads, “into the hands of the Judeans”, i.e., as opposed to the Galileans, who were more Torah-oriented; the ruling class, many of whom were corrupt because of deals made with the Romans to be able to retain their positions.
3. Then the cohanim and elders of the people were convened to the courtyard of the chief of the cohanim, who was called Qayafah,
4. and deliberated about how to capture Yeshua deceitfully, and kill him.
Deceitfully: or subtly, by trickery; Shem-Tov, craftiness.
5. But they say, “Let’s not do this on the day of the feast, lest there be a big disturbance among the people.
They were afraid that this would involve the Romans, who already held the high priest’s garments in custody to prevent such uprisings, only allowing him access to them on feast days. If there was a riot, he might not be permitted to use them at all, and the Romans would clamp down even more.
6. Now when Yeshua was at a certain [town called] Beyth-Anyah, in the home of Shim’on the jar-maker,
Beyth-Anyah: just over the Mount of Olives, across the Qidron Valley east of Yerushalayim. Jar-maker: similar to the word for “leper”, as usually rendered, but in a Hebrew context it makes no sense that Yeshua would be in the home of one who was required to live outside the city, much less right before a festival when he would want to be in a ritually-clean condition to enter the Temple courts.
7. there approached him a woman in whose hand was a flask of expensive oil, and she poured it on his head while he was seated.
This is the first recorded instance where Yeshua was literally anointed—the meaning of the word “Messiah”. Seated: Shem-Tov, at a banqueting table.
8. And when the students saw it, they became angry and said, “For what purpose is this being destroyed?
Destroyed: or lost; i.e., wasted, but they had a particular kind of loss in mind:
9. “Because this oil could have been sold for a very high price and given to the poor!”
A very high price: literally, great wealth. Mark 14:5 specifies that it could have been sold for 300 denarii—about ten months’ wages.
10. When Yeshua realized [this], he said to them, “Why are you pressuring this woman? Because she has done a good deed for me.
Pressuring: or possibly, molesting; Shem-Tov, accusing. For me: emphasizing the contrast to “for the poor”.
11. “And there will always be poor [people] with you, but I will not always be with you.
This was a one-time opening that she took advantage of, and sometimes that is more important than doing what would normally be a higher priority.
12. “In ‘throwing away’ this oil on my body, she has prepared it for burial.
13. “I tell you the truth: in every place where this good news is proclaimed in the whole world, something of all she has done will be recounted on account of her reputation and her memory.”
14. Then one of his twelve students—the one who was called Yehudah the Cut-throat—went out to the heads of the priests
The Cut-throat: if based on the Latin term Sicarii, based on “dagger”. This was the proper name of a splinter group of the Jewish Zealots who, in the decades preceding Jerusalem's destruction in 70 C.E., heavily opposed the Roman occupation of Judea and attempted to expel them and their sympathizers from the area (Wikipedia). They were what we would call terrorists or “radical/extremist freedom fighters” today. He may have even been named for the group’s founder, Judas of Galilee, who helped foster revolt against direct Roman rule in 6 C.E., when Rome attempted a census of the Jews under the rule of Roman governor Quirinius in Syria, for the purpose of taxation. (This was not the census taken at the time of Yeshua's birth.) This direct rebuke may have been “the last straw” that clinched his decision to act as he did. Yochanan 12:6 tells us that he—the keeper of the money bag—was the one who asked why the oil was wasted, wanting rather to embezzle the funds for himself.
15. and said to them, “What do you want to give me if I inform against him for you?” And they allotted him thirty pieces of silver.
Inform against: or, deliver him. Thirty pieces of silver: a secondary fulfillment of Z’kharyah 11:12.
16. And from then on he was looking for the right moment to hand him over.
17. And on the first day from the Feast of Unleavened Loaves, the students approached Yeshua to say, “Where do you want to eat the Pesakh?”
First day from (duTillet): Trimm interprets this as one day before (see Mark 14:12), which would indeed allow them enough time to make preparations, as the first day of the festival actually begins just after the Passover slaughtering, at which time it would already be being eaten. The Babylonian Talmud, in Sanhedrin 43a, states that “On the even of Passover, Yeshua the Nazarean was hanged.” The Pesakh: the actual slaughtered lamb.
18. And Yeshua said, “Go into the city to a certain [person] and tell him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is getting close. With you I will carry out the Pesakh with my students.”’”
The Teacher: possibly a direct allusion to the Teacher of Righteousness, which the Essenes recognized as their primary head. This is possible because the traditional “upper room” where he ate the Passover is inwhat was the Essene Quarter of the city in that day. Mark 14:13 specifies that they were to know the man by the fact that he was carrying a jar of water—usually women’s work, but many Essenes were unmarried, and therefore a man would have to do the carrying. The Essenes may have been using a different calculation of when to celebrate the Passover than the majority, so that he could celebrate it that evening and still be crucified when the lambs were being killed in the Temple the next day.
19. So the students did as Yeshua had ordered them, and prepared the Pesakh.
20. And when it became evening, he sat down at the table with his twelve students.
21. But as they were eating, he said, “I tell you the truth, that one of you will betray me.”
22. And their anger was kindled to the extreme, and each one began to say, “Am I the one, Master?”
Anger: fury at the thought that anyone would dare to betray the one they honored as teacher. Yet each had to face this most difficult question, since he had given no other indication of which one it was.
23. And he answered and said, “Whoever dips a hand in the bowl, he [is the one who] will betray me.
Assumedly most of them would therefore have been careful to avoid doing this! But one of them had his mind elsewhere ad must have slipped, despite hearing this warning.
24. “And certainly the Son of Adam must go as it is written about him, but woe indeed to the man by whose hand the Son of Adam is betrayed; it would be better for that man if he had never been born!”
25. Then Y’hudah, who would betray him, replied, saying, “Am I the one, Rabbi?” And he said to him, “You said [it].”
26. And as they sat down to eat, Yeshua took bread and invoked a blessing, and broke it. While he was giving it to [his] disciples, he said, “Take [to yourselves], consume this, which is my body.”
27. Afterward, in the same way, he took the cup, invoked a blessing, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink some of it, all of you,
28. “because this is my blood of the renewed covenant, which is shed on behalf of many for the covering up of wrongdoings.
The term for “body” (v. 26) in both Hebrew and Greek can refer to that of either a man or an animal. In Greek it is specifically used of an animal that has been slaughtered. Since those in charge of the Temple—essentially those to whom Rome sold positions because they were the highest bidders—were corrupt, and knowing he would soon be tried by a high priest who had no right to that position, Yeshua, like the Tzadduqim and Essenes, was recognizing that the days of the Temple being usable as a valid expression of dedication to YHWH were numbered at best. In the Dead Sea Scrolls, the groups that had already begun boycotting it recognized the table as the equivalent of the altar when the altar was not accessible—or, in their understanding, impure. The P’rushim (and their successors, the Rabbis) later adopted the same interpretation once the Temple was destroyed. The table is a place of fellowship and oneness, especially in Middle Eastern cultures. The Jews today still say that the main reason the Temple was destroyed was because everyone in that day was more interested in his own interpretations of Scripture, and hated those with other opinions without just cause. This is the root picture—the undercurrent beneath the physical Temple services anyway. YHWH says that ultimately He does not desire sacrificial offerings, but obedience (in which case most offerings would be unnecessary) and love for himself and for one another. When Yithro taught Moshe to build altars, there were no individual sin offerings (Ex. 18:12); there were not meant to be. They only offered ascending offerings and ate bread. These were the ones truly intended, so we could restore the fellowship Adam had broken. This does not negate the literal offerings, but Y’shua set up in advance another way to express the same sentiments during the hiatus when the Temple would not be present because the House was leprous and had to be taken apart for a time. What he is saying here is not the “hocus-pocus” (a corruption of the Latin version of “this is my body”) with which the Roman church has endowed these words, but rather, “As I see it, this is an offering. This is how we can still go to the Temple when there is no Temple to go to.” This is “his” body, “his” blood—his way to keep an “active altar” in our exile. It is, in his eyes, not only as valid, but possibly even more valid than bringing the “bodies and blood” of animals to the altar, because it is what all the Temple services pointed to—a restoration of fellowship with one another as one body, and ultimately with YHWH as well. This is a way we as a people can continue to offer ourselves up to YHWH in the meantime.
29. “And I tell you, from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the day I drink it anew with [all of] you in the Kingdom of my Father, Who is in the Heavens.”
He was taking a Nazirite vow, and in traditional fashion, he specified the time frame for which it would last.
30. And after they had recited a psalm, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Psalm: One of the Hallel psalms which close the Passover seder—though this may not have been a complete Passover meal, but simply a “graduation ceremony” for his students. The Mount of Olives is just across the Qidron Valley from Yerushalayim. To get there, Yeshua would have to cross over this deep valley, which, because the lights from the Temple complex at Sukkoth illumined every part of the city but this, was “Valley of the Shadow of Death” as David did (2 Shmu’el 15:23, described in Psalm 23), as his own impending death loomed large in his mind.
31. Then Yeshua told them, "Tonight you will all be made to stumble on my account, for it has been written, 'I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.'
32. "But after my reawakening I will go on ahead of you into the Galil."
33. But Kefa answered him, "Even if all the rest are made to stumble on Your account, I won't be!"
34. Yeshua told him, "This very night, before the crier calls out, you will deny Me three times."
The crier: the one who awakened the priests in the Temple in the morning to begin their work, and this would be within earshot of where they stood. The Greek text says, “rooster” because the same term is used in Hebrew for that, but Yerushalayim was the only city in Israel from which chickens were banned at that time because they were the only clean animal that in its natural state smells bad, and this would mar the ethos of the holy city’s beauty. (Joseph Good)
35. But Kefa told him, "Even if I have to die for you, there's no way I'll deny you!" And all the other disciples said the same thing.
See note on Yochanan 18:27.
36. Then Yeshua came with them to a parcel of ground called Gath-Shemanim, and he told his disciples, "Stay here while I go a little way off to pray."
Gath-Shemanim: Commonly known by its Greek transliteration Gethsemane, the name means a "press of oils", indicating that different grades of olive oil were made here. The process involved a lever in a wall socket with stones weighing hundreds of pounds on the end, pressing a millstone over several net bags full of olives. Exodus 27:20 specifies that only pure olive oil, crushed "violently", could be used to perpetually light the lights in YHWH's tabernacle. The symbolism is vivid, since below it tells us that Y’shua's spirit was so heavily weighed down that he despaired of life, and the stress caused tiny capillaries near the surface of his skin to burst, a proven medical phenomenon. But by this suffering he produced an acceptable source of light. Joan Taylor points out that there is a cave very close to the modern "garden" of Gethsemane which has all the signs of being hewn out as an olive press. It would have sheltered them on their frequent visits there (Yoch. 18:2). Spring nights in the Judean hills are cold and clammy, and the light garment the young man in Mark. 14:51 would not have been adequate on the night that was cold enough to need a fire for warmth (Yoch. 18:18), but the cave would have been an ideal place to sleep on such a night. It seems likely that the owner, who would not be using the olive press in the spring, would rent it out to festival pilgrims. When the soldiers came, they would have come out into the orchard area, where the bystanders saw Kefa (Yoch. 18:26). In the 6th through 9th centuries, many more evidences of the olive press were evident, but many were worn or taken away by pilgrims. Though Titus had all the trees on the Mt. of Olives cut down when he destroyed the city in 70 C.E., an olive tree's roots stay alive when it is cut down; the trees in this orchard sprouted again, leaving us today with trees almost 2,000 years old. Yeshayahu 53 tells us that Yeshua will see his descendants, though he was "cut off" without an heir.
37. And he took with him Kefa and the two sons of Zavdai, and he began to be nervous and downcast.
Nervous: or sad, grieved, or pained.
38. At that point he told them, “My soul is sorrowful to the point of death. Stay with me, and keep watch with me.”
Sorrowful: He had never experienced separation from YHWH before, and the prospect of that was probably the moist frightening thing for him. Stay: or wait, to comfort and give him moral support. Keep watch: possibly to warn him of the approach of those who would come to arrest him.
39. And he went a little further, and fell down on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible for this cup to pass by me, let it be done! Yet don’t do according to what I want, but according to what You want.”
Possible: based on a word for compromise, settlement, or solution; i.e., “If there is any other arrangement that can be made to lessen the severity of what I must go through…” Cup: Used by David to mean “one’s portion”, the “lot” chosen for him—that which is allotted to one as his life’s calling or inheritance. (Psalm 11:6; 16:5) It is especially used to signify wrath or a punishment one must take. (Psalm 75:8; Yeshayahu/Isa. 51:17, 22; Yirmeyahu/Jer. 25:15-28; 49:12; Y’hezq’El/Ez. 23:31-33; Havaqquq 2:16)
40. When he came [back] to his students, he found them sleeping, and he said to Kefa, “If you couldn’t [even] stay awake with me [for] one hour...
41. “Stay watchful and pray, so that you will not enter into temptation, because the spirit indeed is alert, but the flesh is feeble.”
Temptation: or testing, probably referring to what he had predicted about Kefa in verse 34 and all of them in verse 31.
42. He went again the second time and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cup cannot pass by me, but I have to drink it, let it be as You wish.”
In this garden, by surrendering three times (v. 44) to YHWH’s will and not accepting the offer from the serpent (Phil. 2:5-11), Yeshua undid the damage to the human race and its deed to the earth that had been perpetrated in the ancient Garden.
43. And he came again and found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy.
44. So he left them and went and prayed a third time and said the same prayer he had already said.
45. Then he came to his students and told them, “You have slept now and taken your rest; look, the hour when the Son of Adam will be given into the hand of sinners is getting close!
46. “Get up, and let’s go! Look, my betrayer is getting close!”
47. While he was still speaking, there came Yehudah, one of his twelve students, came, and with him a big, noisy crowd with swords and spears, and they were sent from the chiefs of the cohanim and from the elders of the people.
48. And Yehudah, who had betrayed him, had given the people who came with him a signal, saying, “Whoever I kiss is the one, so seize him.”
49. And right away he approached Yeshua and said, “Shalom, Rabbi!” and kissed him.
50. And Yeshua said to him, “Friend, why have you come?” Then they approached and laid hands on Yeshua and took hold of him.
Friend: literally, loved one.
51. But, lo and behold, one of those who was with Yeshua put out his hand and drew his sword, and struck the servant of the head of the cohanim, cutting off his ear.
52. But Yeshua told him, “Put your sword back in its place, because all who take up the sword will perish on account of the sword!
53. “Don’t you think I could ask from my Father that He would send more than twelve legions of angels on my behalf right now?
Think: Shem-Tov, understand.
54. “But how then would the Scriptures be established which say it must be done in this way?”
Done: He was speaking of an accomplishment far more important than saving his own life. Based on the lack of response to his prayers above, he surmised that there was only one way in which an exchange in the heavenly dimensions could take place, resolving spiritual issues that simple, ordinary day-to-day repentance could not cover adequately.
55. In that same hour, Yeshua said to the crowds, “Do come out to meet me as if I were a robber— to seize me with swords and spears? Every day I would sit right beside you and teach you in the Temple, but you didn’t take hold of me.
56. “But all of this has come about in order to establish what the prophets wrote.” Then all of the students abandoned him and fled,
One prophet, Z’kharyah, wrote (13:7), “Awake, O sword, against My shepherd, and against the man who is My associate, declares YHWH [Master] of Armies; strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.”
57. so they seized Yeshua and made him walk to Qayafah, head of the cohanim, where the scribes and elders were gathered.
58. But Kefa followed him from a distance as far as the courtyard of the head of the cohanim, and came into the house and sat with the menial servants to see how it would end.
House: Trimm takes it as the actual Beyt Din (judgment hall).
59. And the leaders of the cohanim and the whole assembly went looking for false [witnesses] against Yeshua who would denounce him [so he could be condemned] to death,
Denounce: or slander.
60. but they found none, though many false witnesses did come forward. But finally, two false witnesses came and said,
61. “This one said, ‘I can demolish the Temple of El, and in another three days, I can rebuild it.’”
62. The highest of the priests stood up and said to him, “Aren’t you going to respond to anything in the face of the testimony that these people are bringing against you?”
Highest: duTillet Heb., head. It is not phrased in the usual word order for “high priest” in either Hebrew text, possibly to remind the read that the one in the position at that time was not the rightful heir to Aharon’s position, but one of the priests who had made the highest financial bid for the office and was therefore placed there by Rome. Or it may be following the wording of Lev. 21:10: “the priest who is highest among his brothers…”
63. But Yeshua did not answer a word. So the highest of the priests said to him, “I adjure you by the living El, that you tell us whether you are the Messiah, the Son of El.”
Adjure: literally, cause to swear.
64. So Yeshua answered him, “[It is as] you say, but again I say to you [all], you will yet see ben haAdam, the one sitting to the right hand of the power of the El, coming in the clouds of the heavens.”
He quoted Psalm 110:1 and Dani’el 7:13. Psalm 110:5 in pre-Masoretic text said, “YHWH is at Your right hand.” The Masoretes admitted they changed it to “Adoni” (“My Master”), butthis identified the one at YHWH’s right hand as the “lesser YHWH”, as Philo would put it—the Word who fully manifested the Father on earth, yet was distinct from Him. (Ben Mordechai)
65. Then the highest among the priests tore his garments and said, “This one has blessed Elohim! And what need do we have for additional witnesses? And indeed, all of you have heard how he blessed the El!”
It is against Torah (Ex. 28:32) for the high priest to tear his garments. He may not have been wearing his “glorious garments” used to officiate in the Temple. (Ex. 28:2) Alternately, the prohibition, according to some opinions, applied only to the context of mourning. Blessed the El: a tongue-in-cheek way of saying “cursed” or “blasphemed”, as is more overt in the Greek text. According to the Mishnah, "Whosoever hears the cursing of the name [of YHWH] is obliged to rend [his garment]… and he that hears it from an Israelite, both he that hears, and he that hears from the mouth of him that hears, he is obliged to rend…A blasphemer is not guilty, unless he expresses the name [YHWH], says R. Joshua ben Korcha, all the day the witnesses are examined by the surnames; but when the cause is finished, they do not put the witness to death because of the [use of the name as] evidence, but they bring every man out, and ask the chief among them, and say to him, ‘Say expressly what you have heard’, and he says it: then the judges stand upon their feet, ‘and rend their garments’, and do not sew them up again; and then the second and the third say, ‘I have heard the same as he.’” (Sanhedrin 7:5) If Yeshua did not say the name of YHWH overtly, he would not have been accused of blasphemy. Thus “power” may have been substituted by the writer, as it was not common practice at that time to write or say the sacred Name. He knew that if he uttered the divine Name publicly, in the ears of the court, then went on to identify himself as this “son of Adam”, he would be condemned to death, so this was the final act calculated to bring about this outcome, as he knew he had to die to fulfill his calling. (Avi ben Mordechai)
66. “How does it seem to you?” And they answered, “By His life, this one must die!”
67. Then they mocked him to his face and hit him with their fists, while others slapped his face with their hands,
Mocked: literally, imitated. Trimm has “spit”.
68. saying, “Prophesy for us, Messiah! Who is it that will hit you?”
69. While Kefa was siting outside in the courtyard, a maidservant approached him to say, “You were with Yeshua the Galilean too!”
70. But he denied it in the sight of everyone, saying, “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
71. But as he was going out toward the door, another maidservant saw him, and she told those who were there, “This one was also with Yeshua the Natzarene.”
72. And he denied [it] again, [this tiem] with an oath, and said, “I don’t know him!”
73. And a little later, [someone] who was standing there came up to Kefa and said, “You are one of them, too, for sure, because your speech gives you away!”
Speech: literally, tongue; his Galilean accent was obvious. Gives you away: literally, reveals you.
74. Then he began to curse and swear that he did not know him. Then immediately the “rooster” sang.
Rooster: see note on verse 34.
75. Then Kefa remembered Yeshua’s words when he had said: “Before the crier calls out, you will deny me three times.” Then immediately he went out to the outside and wept bitterly.
The last phrase, with its duplicate emphasis on going out, is similar to Yeshua’s statements that in the outer darkness there would be weeping and grinding of teeth. (8:12; 22:13)
CHAPTER 27
1. When morning came, all the heads of the cohanim and the elders of the people assembled together secretly concerning Yeshua [to attempt] to find him guilty of a capital crime.
2. So they bound him and led him away and delivered him to Pontius Pilatus, the official.
Official: Shem-Tov, commander.
3. The Yehudah, the one who betrayed him, saw that he was condemned to death, he was grieved and returned the thirty [pieces of] silver that had been given to him andf gave them to the heads of the cohanim and the elders, and said,
4. “I have been in error in that I betrayed the blood of the righteous [one].” But they said, “What is that to us? You see [to] it.”
5. So he threw the thirty [pieces] of silver into the Temple and hanged himself with a snare.
Snare: Shem-Tov, rope. Lukas informs us in Acts 1:18 that his body also split open and his intestines spilled out. Isho’dad’s commentary on Matithyahu says this was so that no one would come along and save him from the noose or claim Yeshua’s students had killed him, and lest the rope be thought to have been cut by an act of YHWH. (Trimm)
6. And the heads of the cohanim took the silver [coins] and said, “It is not permissible to send them into the offerings [in the Temple], because they are the reward [for] blood.”
7. So they took counsel and bought with these [coins] a portion of the Potter’s Field for the purpose of burying foreign visitors.
Visitors: or converts, by common usage of the term.
8. Therefore the portion is called Heleq Damah to this day.
Heleq Damah: “Portion of Blood”. The Greek transliteration (not here, where it only translates it, but in Acts 1:19) reverses the second and third consonants into “Haqel Damah”, and, possibly based on that, the Shem-Tov version in Hebrew says, “tent of blood” (ohel dam).
9. Thus was fulfilled that which was written by the prophet [Z’kharyah], who said, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the high price that was charged, by which they valued him from among the descendants of Israel,
Z’kharyah: one Hebrew version has this, while another, like the Old Syriac and Aramaic Peshitta, say only “the prophet”; duTillet has “Yirmeyahu”, which Trimm thinks was added by a scribe who confused this passage with another story in Yirmeyahu 18:2; 19:1, 11, and 32:6-9 about a purchase of something else from a potter. Shem-Tov quotes nearly exactly from Z’kharyah 11:12-13, “So I told them, ‘If it is appropriate in your eyes, set the wage for my hire, but if not, let it drop.’ And they weighed out My hire-price: thirty [pieces] of silver. So YHWH told me, ‘Throw it to the potter…’” It only changes one letter to read “multiply” instead of “set”, and leaves out a direct object marker, then adds an explanatory phrase, “This is from the man who forms clay.” The quote here is from duTillet, which is a paraphrase.
10. “and gave them for the potter’s portion; didn’t YHWH admonish me?”
Z’kharyah goes even further and says, “So I took the thirty [pieces of] silver and threw it to the potter in YHWH’s House.” This is not quoted here, but it makes the reference all the more clearly a prophecy of this event, for though it eventually bought the Potter’s Field, it was initially brought into YHWH’s Temple.
11. While Yeshua stood in front of the official, the official asked him, saying, “Are you the king of the Jews?” And Yeshua answered him and said, “You say.”
You say: This could be taken as affirmative, “It is as you say”, or possibly simply, “In your way of speaking” (i.e., your terminology, which does not have an exact term for what I truly am).
12. But when the heads of the cohanim and elders slandered him, he did not respond to them,
Slandered: from the word for “tongue”. They were verbally “sticking out their tongues” or “wagging their tongues” at him.
13. upon which Pilatus said to him, “Don’t you hear the testimony that [these] witnesses are bringing against you?”
14. But he did not answer him at all—not even a single word, so that the official was greatly astounded.
15. Now on the Feast day it was customary for the official to release to the people one prisoner, whomever they wished.
16. At that time they were holding [in custody] a certain prisoner, a vicious, violent man whose name was called “Bar Rabbah”.
Vicious: or wild. Shem-Tov has, “almost mad/crazy”. Bar Rabbah seems to mean, in a combination of Aramaic and Hebrew, “son of increase/multiplication”. The Greek has Bar-Abbas, a Hellenized form of “son of the father”, possibly a hint of his being a picture of the counterfeit Messiah.
17. So when they were assembled, Pilatus said to them, “Whom do you want me to send out to you, Bar Rabbah or Yeshua, who is said [to be] Messiah?”
18. --since he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up.
Envy is direct disobedience to the command not to covet. (Ex. 20:17) They coveted Yeshua’s ability to out-teach them and call their bluff, the fact that he was right, and his better knowledge of Torah. Though the Servant had the hearts of the people and pleased YHWH, he was killed for the sake of political power.
19. And when he had sat down on the judgment seat, his wife sent [word] to him, saying, “Do not concern yourself with that righteous [man], because I have suffered many things today [in a vision] on account of him.”
Judgment seat: Shem-Tov has “throne”; duTillet uses the Hebrew form of the Greek word, bemah, meaning a raised place or tribunal. In modern Hebrew it is still used of the raised pulpit area at the front of the synagogue. (Trimm) Concern yourself: or occupy yourself. Suffered: or been burdened. Vision: per Shem-Tov; Greek, dream; duTillet does not have this phrase.
20. But the heads of the cohanim and elders persuaded the people to ask for Bar Rabbah and to let Yeshua be a casualty.
Persuaded: literally, seduced or opened up naïve people to do something foolish. Casualty: or lost, destroyed. I.e., the "fall guy".
21. But the official answered and said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to send out to you?” And they said, “Bar Rabbah!”
22. So the official said to them, “What, then, should I do with Yeshua, who is called Messiah?” And they all answered and said, “Let him be crucified!”
23. But he official said to them, “But what has he done wrong?” But they came back and called out [again], “Let him be crucified!”
Shem-Tov has them say, “Let him be hung!” three times.
24. And Pilatus saw that he could not succeed [in rescuing him] because a great commotion had arisen. He therefore took the water and washed his hands in front of the people, and said, “I am innocent of this righteous [man]’s blood! You see to it [yourselves]!”
25. Then all the people answered and said, “His blood [be] upon us and upon our children!”
All the people: or, the whole nation, because the leaders who had authority over the whole people at that time, though wrongly, were the ringleaders, though the majority of the Jews did not agree with this verdict. The wrong people were there at the right time, and, sadly, many of their descendants have indeed suffered greatly for this bad decision on the part of a few. It seems the persecutors forgot that Yeshua asked YHWH to forgive those who did him wrong. (Luke 23:34) May the resurgence of Jewish people who, to whatever degree, are favorably disposed toward Yeshua also serve soon to reverse this self-imposed curse!
26. Then he released Bar Rabbah to them, and Yeshua he delivered to them to be tortured with scourge-whips and crucified.
27. Then the official’s soldiers took Yeshua and delivered him to the Court of Judgment and gathered the whole group to him,
Court of Judgment: a particular one. Heb., beyt din (a court of Torah law); Greek, praetorium, the palace at Jerusalem occupied by the Roman governor, or the quarters of the Praetorian guard in Rome. Group: a large group, possibly crowd, but literally a class, so a particular group selected for this purpose, not a random crowd, which might not havce produced the effect they desired.
28. and they stripped him, and surrounded him with a scarlet-crimson robe
Robe: a long garment worn over a tunic by men of rank, including high priests (the same term is used in Ex. 28:4 et al), though theirs was blue. This was to simulate a king’s garment:
29. and encircled his head with thorns to [serve as] a crown, and put a reed in his right hand, and bowed their knees before him and mocked him, saying, “Shalom to you, O king of the Jews!”
Crown (garland or wreath) of thorns: Rabbi David Fohrman cites a commentary by Rashi on why the place of mourning for Yaaqov was called Goren haAtad. (Gen. 50:10) Atad means “a piercing bramble” or “thorn”. He cited a midrash (probably based on Yasher 56:43-44) stating that the Canaanites and Ishmaelites tried to attack the entourage from Egypt but when they saw Yosef’s crown placed on Yaaqov’s coffin, they added their own spiked crowns to it and formed a “crown of thorns” around the coffin, thus allowing the whole entourage to survive. Yeshua’s submitting to such a crown also allowed many others to survive. Mocked: the term suggests doing so like a clown or, better in this context, a court jester.
30. Then they spat on him and took the reed and struck his head [with it].
This, of course, would drive the thorns painfully into his scalp.
31. And after they had ridiculed him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own garments on him, and led him away to be crucified.
This would reopen the wounds caused by the scourging whip, which in Roman usage often had pieces of metal or sharp bone tied into it—wounds which by now would have begun to clot and stiuck to the robe.
32. And as they were going out, they found a Cyrenian man whose name was Shim’on and brought him to pick up his cross-beam.
Cyrenian: from a district west of Egypt on the Mediterranean coast, which together with Crete formed a Roman province. Pick up: Apparently he was stumbling beneath its weight, after having suffered the loss of much blood from the scourging, shock from the beatings and piercing of his scalp, not to mention the emotional weight of what he was going through.
33. And when they had come to the site called “Place of the Skull”,
Place of the Skull: Heb., Gulgol’thah, a hill just north of the city wall at that time (an outer wall was later completed prior to the destruction of the city 40 years after this), on a busy road, where many people would pass by. This practice was to serve as a deterrent to crime, to keep the masses docile.
34. they gave him wine mixed with a sedative, which when he tasted it, he refused to drink.
Sedative: literally, gall, the same as the Hebrew word for “head”, apparently from the part of the plant it was derived from. It is a form of poison, and would serve to dull his pain and possibly put him out of his misery sooner, but he chose to bear the full measure of what he had been called to experience for YHWH’s purpose.
35. And after they had crucified him, they divided his garments [among themselves] and cast lots, to fulfill what was spoken upon the mouth of the prophet who said, “They divided my garments for themselves, and in regard to my clothing they cast lots.” [Psalm 22:19]
36. And they sat down and watched him,
Watched: in the sense of guarding.
37. and they set his sentence above his head, and this is how it was written: “This is Yeshua, King of the Jews.”
Yochanan’s account adds “of Natzereth”, narrowing down his identity, and says it was written in Hebrew, Greek (the lingua franca of the day), and Latin (the language of Rome). (Yochanan 19:19-20)
38. Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.
39. And all who passed by reviled him and shook their heads,
Passed by: on the busy road that ran past this site, near the crossroads with the road that comes from Sh’khem. Reviled: or insulted. Shook their heads: foreshadowed in Psalm 22:8 (7 in English).
40. saying, “Ha! You who would break down the Temple of Elohim and rebuild it in three days, save yourself; if you are the Son of Elohim, come down from the crucifixion stake!”
41. And in the same way the heads of the cohanim along with the scribes and the elders also mocked him, saying,
42. “Did he save others, yet he is unabvle to save himself? If he is the king of Israel, let him come down from this crucifixion stake, and we will believe in him!
Crucifixion stake: Shem-Tov has “tree” or “wood”.
43. “‘He committed himself to Elohim; let Him deliver him! Let Him rescue him, since he delights in him’, because he said, ‘I am the Son of Elohim’!”
Elohim: Psalm 22:9, from which the first two phrases here are a quote, has his actual Name, YHWH.
44. And in the same way even the robbers who were crucified along with him also abused him.
Abused: or shamed, outraged, reproached. Luke 23:39-41 clarifies that it was only one of them who reviled him, while the other rebuked him for putting Yeshua in the same category they were in, since he was innocent.
45. Now from the sixth hour there came to be darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.
Sixth hour: noon; ninth horu: at this time of year, approximately 3:00 p.m., i.e., halfway between noon and sunset, which is the twelfth hour in this form of reckoning. This is too long to have been a solar eclipse, and the Passover is at a full moon, when an eclipse is not possible in any case. (G. Campbell Morgan) Was this to recall the darkness before the death of the firstborn sons in Egypt (Ex. 10:21-22), since YHWH’s own “firstborn” was about to die so that others could go free? The darkness before creation (Gen. 1:2), indicating that a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17) was about to begin for many? The frightening darkness before the covenant with Avraham was cut (Gen. 15:12), because a renewed covenant would be available to both houses of Israel (Yirm. 31:31) because of the event taking place here?
46. Then, at the ninth hour, Yeshua called out with a loud voice, “My El, my El, why have you forsaken me?”
Forsaken: DuTillet has the Aramaic term, but Shem-Tov quotes Psalm 22:2 exactly, adding that he said this “in the holy tongue”. Ninth hour: halfway between noon and sunset, or roughly 3:00. The Passover lamb is to be slaughtered “between the two evening times”(Ex. 12:3), the same time the everyday (tamid) offering normally was offered, and the Mishnah explains that this was done “between 8½ and 9½ hours” (Pesakhim 5, Mishnah 1), “when the evening shadows begin to fall” ((Talmud, Pesakhim 58a), but earlier when the weekly Sabbath approached. If this fell on a Friday, as Christian tradition says, he would have had to die about two hours earlier. (Avi Ben Mordechai)
47. And when they heard it, a few of the people said, “This one is calling for Eliyahu!”
“My El” is “Eli” in Hebrew. To someone vaguely familiar with the culture, but less with the language—possibly one of the Romans, who responded—this could be what it sounded like. What he was actually doing was quoting part of the psalm (22) so that they would recall the rest of the psalm to mind and note the uncanny similarities this situation held to what the psalmist described, showing it to be a prophecy in addition to David’s own sentiments. Interestingly, the misunderstanding led one of them to fulfill another psalm (69:22)! The verse that immediately precedes it may explain why Yeshua died so quickly compared to many who were crucified. (See Markos 15:44.)
48. So right away one of them ran and got the sponge and filled it with vinegar, put it on a reed, and gave it to him to drink.
Yochanan 19:28 also records that he had said he was thirsty, precipitating this but also making the connection with this prophecy (Psalm 69:22) more overt. Reed: the synonym “cane” is a cognate with the Hebrew term, kaneh.
49. But others said, “Wait [a moment] and let’s see if Eliyahu comes to rescue him!”
50. Then again Yeshua called out with a loud voice and returned his spirit.
Returned: duTillet; Shem-Tov has “sent his [higher] soul back to his Father”. The Aramaic has, “gave up his spirit”. The Greek version has “yielded up” or “let go”, “sent away”, “released”, or “discharged”.
51. And, lo and behold, the veil of the Temple was torn into two portions, from top down,
Veil: not the one dividing the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies, but the one visible (v. 54) on the outside of the Temple building, which was nicknamed “Elohim’s Garment”. Thus this Father was vividly portraying the fact that He was mourning the nurder of His firstborn Son.
52. when the earth quaked and the rocks were torn apart, and tombs were opened, and the bodies of many righteous people rose up
Second-century chronicler Phlegon of Tralles said that during the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad (AD 32/33), “a great eclipse of the sun occurred at the sixth hour that excelled every other before it, turning the day into such darkness of night [v. 45] that the stars could be seen in heaven, and the earth moved in Bithynia, toppling many buildings in the city of Nicaea”. A letter from Pontius Pilatus to Tiberius Caesar reported that the darkness had started at the sixth hour, covered the whole world and the subsequent evening, “the full moon resembled blood for the entire night”. Julius Africanus quoted Phlegon’s statement that “during the time of Tiberius Caesar an eclipse of the Sun occurred during the full Moon.” He disagreed because an eclipse is not possible at the time of the full moon (unless caused by something other than the moon), and, we might add, would not last three hours. However, YHWH predicted that He would “cause the sun to go down at noon, and … darken the earth in the clear day”. (Amos 8:9).A similar prophecy is, “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come.” (Joel 2:31)
53. and came out from the graves after his resurrection and entered into the holy city, and were seen by many.
This was an initial, first-fruit fulfillment of the prophecy in Yeshayahu 26:19, “Your dead men will live [again], and together with my dead body, they will arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust…and the earth will let go of its dead!” Indeed, Shem-Tov’s version specifies in v. 52 that “many of those asleep in the dust arose”. (Compare Daniel 12:2.)
54. And the centurions who were with Yeshua to guard him, when they saw the earthquake and what had been brought about, were very afraid and said, “Truly this one was a son of the elohim!”
Centurions: the Hebrew defines the term as “captains of 100”. Son of the elohim: the same term another Gentile used when he saw the fourth personage standing in the fiery furnace with Hananyah, Misha’el, and Azaryah. (Dani’el 3:25)
55. Now many women were there watching from far off, who had followed Yeshua from the Galil to take care of his needs.
Take care of: two different words for “serve” or “minister” are used in the different Hebrew versions, neither being the most common word for “serve” which is related more to slavery.
56. Among them were Miryam Migdalinith, and Miryam [the mother of] Yaaqov, the mother of Yosef, and the mother of [the sons of] Zavdi.
Shem-Tov includes the words in brackets, but duTillet does not.
57. And when it was becoming evening, a certain rich man from the Ramathayim whose name was Yosef came, and he, too, was a student of Yeshua.
Ramathayim: the two heights” or “pair of elevated places”, probably a shortened version of “Ramathayim-Tzofim” (the two heights of the watchers), where the prophet Shmu’el was born and buried. (1 Shm. 1:1; 25:1) It is a few miles northwest of Yeruyshalayim on the road to Lod and Yafo. It is also mentioned in 1 Maccabees 11:34 as the headquarters of a Samaritan toparchy transferred to Judea in 145 B.C.E. (Michael Avi-Yonah) The Septuagint describes it in this Hebrew dual form in 1 Shm. 19:22-24.
58. And he approached Pilatus and requested the body of Yeshua. Then Pilatus gave orders to give [him] the body of Yeshua.
59. So Yosef took Yeshua’s body and wrapped it in a clean sheet
60. and laid it in his own new tomb that he had hewn in a rock, then he rolled the big stone over the entry to the tomb, and left.
61. And Miryam Migdalinith and the other Miryams were there, seated opposite the tomb.
62. Now on the following day, which was after the search for leaven, the heads of the cohanim and the P’rushim were assembled to Pilatus to say,
Search: or inspection—the final removal of leaven before the Passover. Gk: [the day] after the Preparation [Day]. This suggests that it was on the first day of the actual feast. (119 Ministries)
63. “Sir, we remember that this misleader said that “within another three days after my death, I will rise up.’
One of the places he said this was recorded in Yochanan 19:25. Misleader: Shem-Tov has “liar” or “deceiver”.
64. “Therefore give an order to guard the tomb until the third day, lest his students come and steal him away and tell the people that he has risen from [among] the dead, and the later mockery will be worse than the first.”
Mockery: Trimm renders it “error”; Shem-Tov has “perversion”. Because of the way they interpreted things, they could not see the amazing miracle of what YHWH could do for what it was, but thought it was all a fabrication.
65. So Pilatus told them, “Look, you have [been given] a guard [that you can post]; go and guard it as [best] you know [how].”
66. So they went and made the tomb inaccessible with guards, and [finished] the stone [with] a seal.
CHAPTER 28
1. Now just after the Sabbath drew to a close, as it began to draw on into [day] one of the Weeks, Miryam of Migdalah and the other Miryam came to survey the grave.
Just after: or, late in; duTillet Hebrew, at the transition (into the next day). Shem-Tov Hebrew, early in the morning. Day one of the Weeks: i.e, the first day of the seven weeks that lead up to Shavuoth, always beginning the day after the Sabbath that follows Passover. As soon as the Sabbath was over—as soon as they could legitimately go about this kind of work—they rushed to attend to Yeshua’s body, which had been only partially dealt with. Draw on: typically translated “to dawn”, suggesting a time well past the end of the Sabbath; instead, the Greek reflects a Hebrew idiomatic use, common in the Mishnah, of a verb based on “light” that actually signifies “the eve of” or the night before, since the Biblical day begins at sundown and thus the dark part of the day comes first. (Jehoshua Grintz)
2. But, lo and behold, there came a great earthquake, because a messenger of YHWH had come down from the sky and approached and rolled the stone from the entry, and sat down atop it.
3. And his appearance had become like lightning and his garments like snow,
4. and for fear of him the guards were alarmed and became like dead men.
5. And the messenger responded and said to the women, “Don’t [any of] you be afraid! I have become aware that you are looking for Yeshua.
The second “you” uses the masculine form, which would thus include the other students of Yeshua, both male and female, who were not present among this representative group.
6. “He isn’t here, because he has risen up, just as he said. Please come here and see the place in which my master was laid.
7. “Then please go right away and tell his students that he has risen from [among] the dead, and indeed he has gone before you into the Galil, and there you will see him. So mark [my words]; I have informed you!”
8. So they left the tomb quickly with awe and great joy, and they ran to recount [this] to his students.
9. But as they were going to tell his students, lo and behold, Yeshua came and met them, saying, “Shalom to you!” So indeed, they approached and took hold of his feet and bowed down to him.
Took hold of his feet: in a mixture of love and readiness to serve one who had overcome death. Bowed down: honoring the fact that he had obviously accomplished something extraordinary and was clearly able to overpower them as well, as indicated by the fear he aimed to dispel right away:
10. Then Yeshua told them, “Don’t be afraid! Please go now and tell my brothers that they must go to the Galil, because there they will see me.”
My brothers: who had in particular expressed skepticism about his mission and calling. (Yochanan 7:3-5)
11. And when they had gone away, a few of the guards still came into the city and recounted to the heads of the cohanim all that had come about.
12. And when they had assembled the elders, [in consultation] they deliberated, and gave a lot of money to the soldiers, saying,
13. “Say [that it was] because his students came at night and stole him away while you slept!”
If they had been under their regular command, soldiers who slep on the job would have been executed for breach of duty; since they were under special orders, apparently they were granted immunity, but would still bring shame on themselves for their apparent failure, though of course they were not actually asleep when this occurred (v. 4), but the bribe apparently was more valuable to them than their reputation.
14. “And if this should be heard by the official, we will persuade him, and keep you secure.”
Shem-Tov has, “If this should come to the ears of Pilatus, we will speak with him about this matter, and he will leave you alone.”
15. So they took the silver, and did as they had been urged, and to this day this story is being publicized among the Judeans.
Urged: or prodded, trained, taught—i.e., coached on exactly what to say to survive politically. Story: literally, “what was said”. Publicized: Shem-Tov has, “this is the story in the privy councils between…”
16. When his eleven students had walked to the Galil, on a mountain where Yeshua had made an appointment with them,
17. they then saw him and did homage to him, but some had their doubts.
18. So Yeshua approached and spoke to them, to say, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Given: Note that Another, one superior to him, had to confer this authority on him. It was given because he had passed the test the first Adam had not passed (Phil. 2:6-11) and was vouched for by his resurrection from the dead. (Rom. 1:4)
19. “Therefore you yourselves go [and teach all the nations, and immerse them into the Name of the Father and the son, and the spirit of holiness,]
Shem-Tov does not have the part in brackets. Pre-Nicaean writings also reflect only the more commonly-found “immerse them in my name”. For example, Eusebius quotes this verse as “Go forth and disciple all the nations in my name”. If the rest is actually original, the “name of the father and the Son” would still be a single name, YHWH (Zkh. 14:9), though encountered in a greater and lesser form, an early teaching of the Netzerim, the first Jewish followers of Yeshua, who retained a Hebraic perspective long after most believers in Yeshua had abandoned it. (Avi ben Mordechai, who cites the kabbalistic Jewish work, the Zohar, Reya Mehemna, which comments on Deut. 6:4’s use of “YHWH, our Elohim, YHWH is one” by saying that together they make one unity: “How three can be one can only be known by the revelation of the Holy Spirit…”) Yirmeyahu 23:6 tells us that the Messiah will be called by the name “YHWH (is) our Righteousness”—and so will Yerushalayim (Yirm. 33:16), so this is not a “trinity” but a mystical way of expressing different aspects of YHWH’s self-revelation. One’s spirit is not a separate entity from oneself. (Playfair) YHWH says of His messenger that we are to obey him because “My Name is in him”. (Ex. 23:21) No one has seen YHWH, but the “son” has manifested or revealed Him. (Yoch. 1:18) Yeshua asked YHWH to “keep them in Your Name, which You have given me, so that they may be one, even as we are one.” (Yoch. 17:11) Thus the unifying was not meant to stop with Yeshua and the Father, but to include all those who are united to Yeshua as well. Now exalted to having the name above every name (not his own name, but as YHWH’s representative, carrying His authority, per v. 18 and Phil. 2:9-10), the practical aspect of this is that the Second Adam uses this authority to give this order, which he clarifies in the next verse:
20. “that is, teach them to guard all that I have commanded you, [and look! I am with you all the days] until the [completion of the] age.”
All that I have commanded you: Yeshua’s commandments are not different from the ones his Father had given in the Torah. (Yochanan 5:30; 8:28; 15:10; 20:21) DuTillet’s version ends with “Chazaq!” (“Get a firm grip”)—as is commonly said among Jewish congregations upon the completion of reading one of the books of the Torah.
THE MESSIAH’S LIFE
AS RECOUNTED BY
Matithyahu
INTRODUCTION: Mattithyahu ben Chalfai, a Levite, was a tax collector hired by Rome who became Y'shua's disciple very spontaneously. (Markos 2:1-4) His emphasis is on the Messiah's kingship, and he writes to a mainly Jewish audience. Papias, Eusebius, and Jerome quote from a Hebrew version; for centuries, only their quotes were known to be extant, but among Hebrew texts confiscated in Rome by the Inquisitor General in 1553 was found a manuscript of Mattithyahu salvaged by a French priest, Jean du Tillet. Two other Hebrew versions are known, the Munster text, which the publisher claimed was received from the Jews in 1537 with many holes in the manuscript, and the one Shem Tov Ben Yitzhaq Ben Shaprut transcribed into his 1380 apologetic work, Even Bohan.
The Greek manuscripts may have been written separately by Mattithyahu with the additional explanatory notes needed by non-Jewish readers. But some expert scholars believe the Hebrew version underlies the Greek. James Trimm, a Nazarene Jewish scholar, argues that the variations among the Greek Synoptic Gospels (Mattithyahu, Markos, and Luqa) results from different readings of the same Hebrew phrases. He points out that, according to contemporary historian Josephus, Greek, though the lingua franca of the time, was not spoken widely enough in Judea even by the time the Temple was destroyed in A.D. 70, and the Romans had to translate their request for surrender into Hebrew. Thus a Greek version would have been adequate only in the diaspora. Ireneus, Origen, Papias, and other 2nd-4th century "church fathers" all acknowledged that Mattithyahu had written first in Hebrew, and an eighth-century commentary by Isho'dad claims that this was still common knowledge in his day. The book begins c. 2-4 B.C., or 4000 years after creation.
The present translator sitting in "the seat of Moshe" in the synagogue at Kfar Nahum, under which lay the remains of the synagogue that sat at the same site in Yeshua's day.
Stones that were once part of the Temple
Yerushalayim and the Qidron Valley from the place mentioned in verse 36
A Greek talent
Excavation of the courtyard outside Qayafah's house
Inscription at Caesarea Maritima, Pontius Pilatus' headquarters, verifying his historicity
Site of Pilatus' judgment hall, at the gate leading into Herodus' palace, according to Jewish archaeologist Shim'on Gibson.
Fragment of a cricified person's foot bones discovered by archaeologists.
Place of the Skull, the highest point on Mt. Moryah
A tomb with a stone that rolls on a track
