Basic
Worldview:
104
Why Christianity?
Rabbinical
Judaism Accepts
Christian Interpretations (Part 3)
Judaism
and Christianity Introduction and History
History
of Judaism Continued
Scholarly
Objections and Historicity of Daniel (P. 1)
Historicity
of Daniel (P. 2) & Judeo-Christian Syncretism
A
Few Words on Gnosticism
Christianity
- A Sect of Judaism (P. 1)
Christianity
- A Sect of Judaism (P. 2) & Prophecy in Judaism
Is
Jesus the Jewish Messiah? (P. 1)
Is
Jesus the Jewish Messiah? (P. 2)
List
of Messianic Qualifications & the Resurrection of Jesus
(P. 1)
The
Resurrection of Jesus (Part 2)
Study
Conclusions and Overall Comparisons
Additional
Material
The
Sufferings of Eyewitnesses
Comparison
of Mystical Religions to Judeo-Christianity
Rabbinical
Judaism Accepts Christian Interpretations (P. 1)
Rabbinical
Judaism Accepts Christian Interpretations (P. 2)
Rabbinical
Judaism Accepts Christian Interpretations (P. 3)
Rabbinical
Judaism Accepts Christian Interpretations (P. 4)
Rabbinical
Judaism Accepts Christian Interpretations (P. 5)
Rabbinical
Judaism Accepts Christian Interpretations (P. 6)
Introduction | Section 1
| Section 2 | Section
3
(Continued)
5.
On a Miracle Working Messiah –
Typical
Perception of Traditional Judaism:
The
Messiah will not be known by working miracles.
Actual
Interpretations of Talmudic (or Rabbinic) Judaism:
Many
saintly sages of the past were able to work miracles and the
Messiah and the Messianic Age will be accompanied by miracles.
7.
Similar descriptions of the miracles of the Messianic age
(whether performed by God himself or his Messiah) are also
found in the Talmudic literature (see, e.g., b. Sukkah 52a,
where Messiah ben David raises Messiah ben Joseph from the
dead), and a special token of divine favor believed to accompany
some of the most saintly Talmudic sages was their miracle-working
ability (in particular Honi the Circle Drawer and Hanina ben
Dosa). 65 – Brown, Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus,
Volume 1, Historical Objections, p. 100
Footnote
65: For a discussion of Yeshua’s miracles in the context of
other contemporaneous miracle workers in Judaism, cf. Geza
Vermes, Jesus the Jew (Philadelphia: Fortress,k 1973),
especially 69-80. According to Vermes, “It is necessary to
remember that from the time of the prophet Elijah Jews believed
that holy men were able to exert their will on natural phenomena.”
6.
Descriptions of God –
Typical
Perception of Traditional Judaism:
God
(YHWH) is one. He is not three persons.
Actual
Interpretations of Talmudic (or Rabbinic) Judaism:
God
is one, but God’s oneness is as a man and his body or a tree
and its branches. The limbs are many, but the man is one.
God is a mystery of three. The Word (or Greek “Logos” or Aramaic
“Memra) of God is used in the Old Testament to describe the
figure who interacted with man throughout the Old Testament,
is the God of Jacob, is savior, is mediator between God and
man, led Israel out of Egypt, gave Israel the Law, and created
Adam in his own image. The Word of God is the same as the
angel (messenger) of the LORD (YHWH) who is himself God (YHWH)
(who led Israel out of Egypt under Moses). The Holy Spirit
or Spirit of God (YHWH) is a person. He acts as a counsel
for the defense, he rebukes, cries out, and tells of things
to come.
8.
– Brown, Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus, Volume
2, Theological Objections, p. 100
Perhaps
it would help if, for just one moment, we stopped thinking
about what Christians believe – since not everything labeled
“Christian” is truly Christian or biblical – and pictured
instead an old Jewish rabbi unfolding the mysteries of God.
Listen to him as he strokes his long gray beard and says,
“I don’t talk to everyone about this. These things are really
quite deep. But you seem sincere, so I’ll open up some mystical
concepts to you.” And so he begins to tell you the story of
the ten Sefirot, the so-called divine emanations that act
as “intermediaries or graded links between the completely
spiritual and unknowable Creator and the material sub-lunar
world.” When you say, “But doesn’t that contradict our belief
in the unity of God?” he replies, “God is an organic whole
but with different manifestations of power – just as the life
of the soul is one, though manifested variously in the eyes,
hands, and other limbs. God and his Sefirot are just like
a man and his body: His limbs are many but He is one. Or,
to put it another way, think of a tree which has a central
trunk and yet many branches. There is unity and there is multiplicity
in the tree, in the human body, and in God too. Do you understand?”
14 – Brown, Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus,
Volume 2, Theological Objections, p. 8
Footnote
14: These quotes are taken almost verbatim from Simon Herman,
“Sefirot,” in the Encyclopedia of Hasidism, ed. Tzvi
M. Rabinowicz (Northvale, N.J.: Aronson, 1996), 437-37. According
to Breslauer, however, “The great heresy feared by the mystics…is
‘cutting off the roots,’ separating these attributes from
the hidden divine source and giving them an independent status.
Their divine aspect lies in their identification with God’s
secret unity, not in their clear distinctive and individual
manifestations….Jews, emphasizing the paradox of monotheism,
have refused to give independent status to God’s attributes
of Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. They find in Christian
claims of a Trinity just the ‘cutting off of the roots’ which
Judaism defines as heresy” (God: Jewish View,” 74, 76). A
better way to understand Christian views of the Trinity, however,
would be to speak of the total interrelatedness and essential
oneness – with clear distinctions – of the tree (including
its roots, trunk, and branches). As expressed by Christian
theologian Jack Cotrell, “The traditional Trinitarian view
is that God is one in nature/essence/being/ substance.” As
to God being three in one, Cottrell explains, “when we say
that God is three persons in one essence, we are saying that
he is three centers of consciousness sharing one divine essence”
(God the Redeemer, 154, 159). For a useful study, see
Millard J. Erickson, God in Three Persons (Grand Rapids:
baker, 1995).
9.
And what if this rabbi began to touch on other mystical concepts
of God such as “the mystery of the three” (Aramaic, raza’
di-telatha), explaining that in the Zohar there are five different
expressions relating to various aspects of the threefold nature
of the Lord? What would you make of the references to “three
heads, three spirits, three forms of revelation, three names,
and three shades of interpretation” that relate to the divine
nature? The Zohar even asks, “How can these three be one?
Are they one only because we call them one? How they are one
we can only know by the urging of the Holy Spirit and then
even with closed eyes.” 15 – Brown, Answering Jewish Objections
to Jesus, Volume 2, Theological Objections, p. 8
Footnote
15: Quotes in Risto Santala, The Messiah in the Old Testament
in the Light of the Rabbinical Writings, trans. William
Kinnaird (Jerusalem: Keren Ahvah Meshihit, 1992), 121.
10.
The rabbis took this one step further. Since God was often
perceived as somehow “untouchable,” it was necessary to provide
some kind of link between the Lord and his earthly creation.
One of the important links in Rabbinic thought was “the Word,”
called memra’ in Aramaic (from the Hebrew and Aramaic root,
“to say” [‘mr], the root used throughout the creation
account in Genesis 1, when God said and the material
world came into existence). We find this memra’ concept hundreds
of times in the Aramaic Targums, the translations, and paraphrases
of the Hebrew Scriptures that were read in the synagogues
before, during, and after the time of Jesus. These Targums
arose because, in some locations, many of the Jewish people
no longer understood Hebrew. Instead, they grew up speaking
and reading Aramaic, so they could follow the public reading
of the Scriptures only with Aramaic translation. – Brown,
Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus, Volume 2, Theological
Objections, p. 19
11.
To use Genesis 3:8 as an example, most of the people who were
listening to the public reading of the Scriptures would not
have understood the Hebrew, which said, “And they heard the
sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden.” Rather,
they would have understood the Targum, which said, “And they
heard the sound of the Word of the LORD God
walking in the midst of the garden.” What a difference and
extra “word” makes! To speak of the Lord walking in the garden
seemed too familiar, too down to earth. So the Targum made
an adjustment: It was not the Lord who was walking in the
garden, it was the Memra’ (the Word) of the Lord! This Word
was not just an “it”; this Word was a him. 30 – Brown, Answering
Jewish Objections to Jesus, Volume 2, Theological Objections,
p. 19
Footnote
30: Robert Hayward, Divine Name and Presence: The Memra
(Totowa, N.J.: Allanheld, Osmun, 1981), 147, 149, states
that, “Memra is God’s ‘HYH [i.e., “I am,” based
on Exod. 3:14], His name for himself expounded in terms of
His past and future presence in Creation and Redemption,”
observing that Memra “was surely one of the most profound
and wonderful of the scribal meditations on the Name of the
God of Israel.” For critical interaction with some of Hayward’s
work, cf. the works of Bruce Chilton, cited below, n.34.
11.
Now, I want you to look carefully at the following verses.
The translation of the Hebrew text is followed immediately
by the translation of the Aramaic Targum. Keeping in mind
when reading that these Targums were the official translations
used in the synagogues. Therefore, the Targums took
on great significance in the religious life of the people,
just as English versions of the Bible take on great significance
for English speakers today. Here are several examples: – Brown,
Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus, Volume 2, Theological
Objections, p. 19-20
|
Genesis
1:27
|
God
created man.
|
The
Word of the Lord created man. (Targum Pseudo-Jonathan)
|
|
Genesis
6:6-7
|
And
it repented the Lord that he made man on the earth.
|
And
it repented the Lord through his Word that he made man
on the earth.
|
|
Genesis
9:12
|
And
God said, “This is the sign that I set for the covenant
between me and you.”
|
And
the Lord said, “This is the sign that I set for the
covenant between my Word and you.”
|
|
Genesis
15:6
|
And
Abraham believed in the Lord.
|
And
Abraham believed in the Word of the Lord.
|
|
Genesis
20:3
|
And
God came to Abimelech.
|
And
the Word from before the Lord came to Abimelech.
|
|
Genesis
31:49
|
May
the Lord keep watch between you and me.
|
May
the Word of the Lord keep watch between you and me.
|
|
Exodus
14:31
|
And
they believed in the Lord.
|
And
they believed in the Word of the Lord.
|
|
Exodux
20:1
|
And
the Lord spoke all these words.
|
And
the Word of the Lord spoke all these words.
|
|
Exodux
25:22
|
And
I will meet with you there.
|
And
I will appoint my Word for you there. 31
|
|
Leviticus
26:9
|
And
I will turn to you.
|
And
I will turn through my Word to do good to you.
|
|
Numbers
10:35
|
Rise
up, O Lord!
|
Rise
up, O Word of the Lord!
|
|
Numbers
10:36
|
Return,
O Lord!
|
Return,
O Word of the Lord!
|
|
Numbers
11:23
|
Is
the hand of the Lord shortened?
|
Is
the Word of the Lord detained?
|
|
Numbers
14:35
|
I
the Lord have spoken.
|
I
the Lord decreed through my Word.
|
|
Deuteronomy
1:30
|
The
Lord your God who goes before you, he himself will fight
for you.
|
The
Lord your God who leads before you, his Word will fight
for you.
|
|
Deuteronomy
18:19
|
I
myself will require it of him.
|
My
Word will require it of him.
|
|
Deuteronomy
31:3
|
The
Lord your God will pass before you.
|
The
Lord your God, his Word will pass before you.
|
|
Joshua
1:5
|
As
I was with Moses I will be with you.
|
As
my Word was in support of Moses, so my Word will be
in your support.
|
|
Judges
11:10
|
The
Lord will be witness between us.
|
The
Word of the Lord will be witness between us.
|
|
Isaiah
45:17
|
Israel
will be saved by the Lord.
|
Israel
will be saved by the Word of the Lord.
|
Footnote
31: CF. Yeyn HaTob, 1:351, which simply notes here
(as it does elsewhere in similar contexts), “to remove personification
[hagshamah],” i.e., of the Deity; cf. the discussion
of Ezra Zion Melammed, Bible Commentators (Jerusalem:
Magnes, 1978), cited below, n. 42.
12.
As if these examples aren’t enough (and there are many more),
just consider Genesis 28:20-21, Jacob’s vow. In Hebrew, it
reads, “If God will be with me and will watch over
me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat
and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father’s
house, then the Lord will be my God.” The Targum
says, “If the Word of the Lord will be with me…then
the Word of the Lord will be my God.” The Word of the
Lord will be Jacob’s God! And this was read in the synagogues
for decades, if not centuries. Week in and week out, the people
heard about this walking, talking, creating, saving, delivering
Word, this Word who was Jacob’s God. – Brown, Answering
Jewish Objections to Jesus, Volume 2, Theological Objections,
p. 21
13.
Risto Santala, A Finnish Christian scholar fluent in Hebrew
and Rabbinic sources, summarizes the combined evidence from
the Targums: “‘The LORD’s Memra will be my God’; ‘I will save
them through their God, the LORD’s Memra’; Abraham was justified
through the Memra; the Memra gave Israel the Law; Moses prayed
to the Memra; Israel was justified through the Memra’s instrumentality
and the Memra even created the world.” 32 – Brown, Answering
Jewish Objections to Jesus, Volume 2, Theological Objections,
p. 21
Footnote
32: Santala, Messiah in the Old Testament, 90-91 (with
the spelling normalized from “Mimra” to “Memra”); I have used
his examples as given on 89-90; see futher Hayward, Divine
Name and Presence, and cf. the lengthy discussion below,
n. 34.
14.
In fact, according to Targum Neofiti, representing important,
early traditions, man was created in the image of the Memra’
of the Lord! Consider also Targum Pseudo-Jonathan – a Targum
printed in all Rabbinic Bibles (called Mikra’ot Gedolot).
Deuteronomy 4:7 in the Hebrew reads, “What other nations is
so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD
our God is near us whenever we pray to him?” The Targum instead
says, “The Memra of Yahweh sits upon his throne high and lifted
up and hears our prayer whenever we pray before him and make
our petitions.” That is just some of the Targumic concept
of “the Word.” – Brown, Answering Jewish Objections to
Jesus, Volume 2, Theological Objections, p. 21
15.
Interestingly, Philo of Alexandria, the greatest Jewish philosopher
of the day and a man who was, roughly speaking, a contemporary
of Jesus, had much to say about the logos. As explained in
the Oxford Dictionary of Jewish Religion:
Although
in a sense an aspect of the Divine, the Logos often appears
as a separate entity, namely a half-personal emanation of
God. The concept was appropriated by Philo in order to bridge
the gap between the transcendent God of Judaism and the divine
principle experienced by human beings. This view of the Logos
as a mediating principle between God and material creation
could link up with biblical references to the creative “Word
of God,” by which the heavens were made (Ps. 33:6) and witht
eh concept of meimra (Aram.; “word”) in Targum literature
(especially as it appears in Targum Onkelos). 33 – Brown,
Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus, Volume 2, Theological
Objections, p. 21-22
Footnote
33: “Logog,” in R. J. Werblowsky and G. Wigoder, eds., the
Oxford Dictionary of Jewish Religion (New York: Oxford,
1997; henceforth cited as ODJR), 423.
16.
Although Philo spoke of the logos more than fourteen
hundred times in his writings, there are a few examples that
are especially important. To quote New Testament scholar Larry
Hurtado:
Philo
calls the Logos “the second god” (ton deuteron theon)
and states that the “God” in whose image Adam was created
in Gen 1:27 is actually the Logos, which the rational part
of the soul resembles. It is impossible (according to Philo)
to think of anything earthly being a direct image of God himself…[and]
Philo also calls the Logos “mediator” (mesites). 34
– Brown, Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus, Volume
2, Theological Objections, p. 22
17.
Philo also refers to the logos as “firstborn” (protogonon),
“archangel,” “Name of God,” and “governor and administrator
of all things,” stating that the “divine Word” (theios
logos) is the “chief” of God’s powers. 35 – Brown, Answering
Jewish Objections to Jesus, Volume 2, Theological Objections,
p. 22
Footnote
35: Hurtado, One God, One Lord, 45.
18.
According to a story in the Talmud (b. Sanhedrin 38b), a man
identified as a schismatic – here a clear reference to a Jewish
follower of Jesus – was talking to a rabbi about Exodus 24:1,
the beginning of the passage we are looking at, in which God
said to Moses, “come up to the LORD [Hebrew, YHWH].” It seems
that they were having a discussion similar to our own! The
Jewish believer was trying to argue that it seemed odd that
God said to Moses, “Come up to YHWH,” rather than, “come up
to me.” Didn’t this seem to indicate more than one divine
Person? (It was as if I said to you in a conversation, “You
should call Mike Brown,” Instead of, “You should call me.”)
Now, the rabbi could have simply replied, “Such usage is not
that unusual in the Hebrew Bible.” Instead, because he too
sense that there were some theological issues to be addressed,
the rabbi answered that God was not speaking here of himself
but rather of Metatron, the most powerful angel in Rabbinic
literature, “whose name is as his Master.” In other words,
when God said, “Come upon to YHWH,” he did not mean, “Come
up to me” but “come up to Metatron whose name is YHWH.” So
according to this Talmudic interpretation, Metatron was called
YHWH! Talk about going to all kinds of lengths to avoid the
obvious. 43 – Brown, Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus,
Volume 2, Theological Objections, p. 26
Footnote
43: See further Barker, The Great Angel. On a more
popular level, see also Robert Leo Odom, Israel’s Angel
Extraordinary (Bronx, N.Y.: Israelite Heritage Institute,
1985).
19.
According to the Jewish biblical scholar Nahum Sarna, “From
several texts it is clear that the demarcation between God
and his angel is often blurred [citing examples from Gen.
16:7-9, 11; 22:11-12, 15-18; Exod. 3:2, 4; Judg. 6:11-23].
At the Exodus from Egypt it is now God (Exod. 13:21), now
his angel (14:9) who goes ahead of the Israelite camp.” 45
– Brown, Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus, Volume
2, Theological Objections, p. 27
Footnote
45: Nahum Sarna, Genesis, The JPS Torah Commentary
(Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1989), 383 (Excursus
10, Angelology).
20.
And how does Sarna account for the doctrine of angels (called
angelology) in ancient Israel? He offers three scholarly views.
One view is to see Israelite angelology as borrowing from
Near Eastern mythology, hardly a compelling view for Bible
believers. “Another view regards the angel as the personified
extension of God’s will, or the personification of his self-manifestation.
A third theory sees the angel as a conceptual device to avoid
anthropomorphisim [i.e., speaking of God in human terms].
He serves as a mediator between the transcendent God and His
mundane world.” 46 – Brown, Answering Jewish Objections
to Jesus, Volume 2, Theological Objections, p. 28
Footnote
46: Ibid., 383-84.
21.
Look again at the Rabbinic explanations:
In
Exodus 25:8, God says that he will dwell in Israel’s midst.
The Targum translates this to mean his Shekhina will
dwell among them.
Exodus
24:9-11 states that Moses and a select group of Israelites
saw God, who did not strike them down. The Targum says that
they saw the glory of God.
According
to Exodus 24:1, God said to Moses, “come up to the LORD.”
The Talmud states that “the LORD” here refers to the angel
Metatron, whose name is as his Master.
Jacob,
who wrestled with the angel of the LORD, said that he had
seen God face to face (Gen. 32:30). The Targum changed this
to, “I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face.”
The exact same change is made in Judges 13:22.
In
Exodus 3:1-6, the angel of the Lord, equated with the Lord
himself in the text, appeared to Moses in flaming fire in
a bush, and Moses looked away because he was afraid to look
at God. The Targum says that he was afraid to look near the
glory of the LORD.
–
Brown, Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus,
Volume 2, Theological Objections, p. 29-30
22.
At the end of Genesis 17, we read how Abraham and his entire
household were circumcised in obedience to the command of
the Lord. Genesis 18:1-2 says, “The LORD [Hebrew, YHWH] appeared
to him by the terebinths of Mamre; he was sitting at the entrance
of the tent as the day grew hot. Looking up, he saw three
men standing near him” (NJPSV). According to the Talmud (b.
Bava Mesia 86b), God himself was paying Abraham a personal
sick call, checking on him after the ordeal of circumcision.
Here is the expanded translation of Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
(the actual words of the Talmud are in bold). We read that
Abraham went out
And
saw the Holy One, blessed be He, standing at the door of
his tent, as the verse says, “And the Lord appeared to him
by the terebinths of Mamre.” This is what the verse is
referring to when it says (Gen 18:3): “and he said,
‘O Lord, if now I have found favor in Your sight, do not,
I pray you, pass by Your servant.’” In this verse
Abraham was speaking to God Himself (and so addressed Him
as Lord and referred to himself as His servant). When God
saw that Abraham was busy tying and untying
the bandages of his circumcision, He said to
Himself, “It is not fitting that I stay here while
Abraham is taking care of His would.” He was about to remove
His presence when Abraham pleaded with Him to stay a little
longer. And this is also what the verse refers
to when it says (Genesis 18:2): “And he raised
his eyes and looked, and, behold, three men stood by
him; and when he saw them, he ran to meet them.” 48 –
Brown, Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus, Volume
2, Theological Objections, p. 31-32
Footnote
48: Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, The Talmud: The Steinsaltz Edition,
vol. 6, Tractate Bava Metzia, Part VI (New York:
Random House, 1992), 159.
23.
Now, you will remember our discussion about the Shekhina (above
3.1), what the Israeli scholar Ephraim Urbach calls “the Presence
of God in the World.” The Shekhina was one of the most important
Rabbinic ways of explaining how the infinite and transcendent
God could really be with his people in this world.
52 We explained previously how the rabbis believed that “at
the time of the destruction of the Temple (mishkan),
the Shekhinah went into exile, as it were, and was thought
to accompany the Jewish people in their wanderings – sharing
their sufferings and longing with them to be reunited once
more with the Holy Land.” 53 – Brown, Answering Jewish
Objections to Jesus, Volume 2, Theological Objections,
p. 37
Footnote
52: See n. 24, above, for references.
Footnote
53: rabinowicz, Encyclopedia of Hasidism, 454.
27.
Interestingly, there are several references in the Rabbinic
literature to the Holy Spirit speaking, announcing, crying
out, rebuking, and even serving as the counsel for the defense.
77 For example:
The
Talmud (m. Sotah 9:6; b. Sotah 46a) states that when the elders
performed the rite of the red heifer (Deut. 21:1-9), “they
did not have to say, ‘And the blood shall be forgiven them’
[Deut. 21:8], instead the Holy Spirit announces to them, ‘Whenever
you do this, the blood shall be forgiven you.’”
Comenting
on Exodus 1:12, “but the more they [i.e., the Israelites]
were oppressed [by the Egyptians], the more they multiplied
and spread,” the Talmud states (b. Pesahim 117a) that the
Holy Spirit announced to them, “So will he [Israel] increase
and spread out!” This is explained by Rashi and other major
Jewish commentators to mean that the Holy Spirit said to the
Egyptians, “Just as you seek to oppress them more, the more
so will they increase and spread out! 78
In
Pirkei D.’Rabbi Eliezer 31, as Ishmael (Abraham’s son) and
Eliezer (his steward) argue about who will be Abrahma’s heir
– seeing that they are going together with Abraham to sacrifice
Isaac to the Lord (Genesis 22) – the Holy Spirit answers them
and says, “Neither this one nore this one will inherit.”
In
a later madras cited in Yalkut Reubeni (9d) to Genesis 1:26,
after Ben Sira shared secret, mystical teachings with his
son Uzziah and his grandson Joseph, the Holy Spirit called
out, “Who is it that revealed My secrets to mankind?” Ben
Sira replied, “I Buzi, the son of Buzi.” The Holy Spirit said
to him, “Enough!” 79
Lamentations
Rabbah 3:60, 9 relates that after the Roman emperor Hadrian
indiscriminately executed two Jews, the Holy Spirit kept crying
out, “You have seen, O LORD, the wrong done to me. Uphold
my cause! You have seen the depth of their vengeance, all
their plots against me” (Lam. 3:59-60) This provides and example
of the Spirit making intercession. 80
According
to Leviticus Rabbah 6:1, the Holy Spirit is a defense counsel
who speaks to Israel on behalf o the Lord and then speaks
to the Lord on behalf of Israel. To Israel the Spirit says,
“Do not testify against your neighbor without cause” (Prov.
24:28), and to the Lord the Spirit, “Do not say, ‘I’ll do
to him as he has done to me’” (Prov. 24:29). 81
In
all these citations, which can be easily multiplied (see,
e.g., Genesis Rabbah 84:11; Song of Songs Rabbah 8:16; Lamentations
Rabbah 1:48), there can be no question that we are dealing
with a “who” and not just with a “what,” with a person dimension
of God and not just with an impersonal power, with God himself
and yet with a “separate” entity who can mediate between God
and man. 82 And these citations closely parallel some of the
New Testament descriptions of the Holy Spirit, although virtually
all the Rabbinic texts cited were written many years later.
83 – Brown, Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus, Volume
2, Theological Objections, p. 55-56
Footnote
81: The Aramaic word used here for “defense counsel” is borrowed
from the Greek synegoros. In the New Testament, the
Holy Spirit is called the Counselor, from the Greek parakletos.
These concepts are closely related, although the Rabbinic
images here go beyond anything found in the New Testament
as far as making the Holy Spirit into a separate, personal
entity.
Footnote
82: As noted above, n. 77, in the well-known eighth- and ninth-century
midrash, Pesikta Rabbati 12a, God is depicted as speaking
to the Holy Spirit.
(Continued...)
