[First posted December 2013. We are resurrecting this topic for the benefit of one Sinaite who had dropped out of our community in 2014 for medical reasons and became home-bound, unable to attend our Shabbat meetings. Not a computer-user, she had no access to updated articles on the continuing series of teachings in our website. We realized that she might not have completely absorbed, if not understood the main reason we broke away from our Christian roots; strange, for she was part of the original “apostates.” But to her credit, still hungry for biblical truth, her only recourse was to watch what was available on televised religious programs, dominated mainly by various Christian sects which have discovered the far-reaching influence of what used to be called the “idiot box”. She contacted us after being shaken by a Christian tele-evangelist who explained that Isaiah 9:6 is PROOF that Jesus Christ was foretold in the Hebrew Scriptures.
Here’s the answer given to her (by phone), a timely reminder for those who might also be confused by Christian re-interpretation of the Hebrew Bible. Remember that the “Old Testament”–the first part of the Christian Bible and the so-called ‘Messianic Jewish Bible’–is intentionally reconstructed to be forward-looking and therefore, is often mistranslated whether consciously or unconsciously, by Christian translators. Just as bad or wrong translations could lead to trouble and misunderstanding in simple conversation, all the more MISTRANSLATED FOUNDATIONAL VERSES lead to WRONG THEOLOGY!
Best to resort to the original Hebrew Bible, the TNK (Tanach, Tanakh), translated by Jews who read IN CONTEXT, understand Biblical Hebrew, and who have no religious agenda other than to faithfully record and pass on the original instructions of the God Who gave Israel His Torah. Where to go? We’ve ‘been-there-done-that’ so we recommend the specific translations we use here: The ArtScroll Stone Edition Tanach; Everett Fox and Robert Alter’s individual translations with the same title: The Five Books of Moses; both have ongoing projects translating the whole TNK.
We asked the same question (on our title) back in 2010 when we started checking out Christian “prooftexts”. Indeed, what did we know then? We were on the TNK-ignorant level, confused by the Christian Old Testament of our 2-part Bible which was the only bible we had at the beginning of our re-direction toward the Sinai Revelation. We were unfamiliar with Part I of our Christian Bible, except for memorizing those “prooftexts” constantly cited by Christian teachers/pastors. Really and truly, who cared to read the “Old” Testament that the apostle Paul himself referred to as passe and obsolete, and that Christian bible teachers cite as “for Jews”, just like the Sabbath, just like “OT Law”? No wonder, hardly any sincere Truth-seeking Christian ventures back to the so-called “foundational scriptures” on which the “new” was based! It’s “OLD” you see?
How far have we progressed since! But looking back which is always good to do on any pilgrimage, in hindsight our first recourse was the correct recourse which was and continues to be: consult Jewish scholars when you can’t figure it out for yourself. And that is why we listed the Jewish links we first consulted, which helped us to get going on our own fresh reading of YHWH’s TORAH, and the Jew’s Sacred Scriptures, rightly called TNK or the Hebrew Scriptures. Do you know that Jews do not read the “Old Testament” (what???!!!); what they read is the TNK.
Sorry for our “kilometric introductions” in this website but we do have a lot of ground to cover for some topics we revisit. Finally, hereunder was the answer of Rabbi M. Younger, of Ask the Rabbi at Aish.com to the Question on our title. For other Q&A’s submitted to Ask the Rabbi, check this out:
http://sinai6000.net/resource-sharing/ask-the-rabbi/––
—Admin1].
—————————-
Question: Who is the Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace of Isaiah 9:6? Is it Jesus?
Image from heavenawaits.wordpress.com
Shalom –
Thank you for your question.
The proper translation is,
“For a child has been born to us,
a son has been given to us
and the dominion will rest on his shoulder;
the Wondrous-Adviser- Mighty-G-d- Eternal-Father,
called his name Prince of Peace.”
(Isaiah 9:5)
Taken in context, it is clear who the verse is referring to – King Hezekiah.
We mustn’t forget that Isaiah lived in the days of Hezekiah and many of these prophecies are directed to him or to the Jews who lived at that time.
In other words, ” the Wondrous-Adviser- Mighty-G-d-Eternal-Father ” is G-d! And He called Hezekiah the “Prince of Peace.”
To learn more, read the sixth chapter of the book “Their Hollow Inheritance” by Michael Drazin. You can read this book for free at www.drazin.com.
To read an excellent translation of the Bible, by the “Artscroll Stone Tanach” published by Artscroll. You can purchase it at www.artscroll.com.
With blessings from Jerusalem,
Rabbi M. Younger
Aish.com
Reader Comments