Hebraic Analysis of Luke 5:27-32

Hebraic Analysis of Luke 5:27-32 Rabbi Rev. Dr. Michael Harvey Koplitz @2024. Copyright Rabbi Rev. Dr. Michael H. Koplitz, D.Min., Ph.D. All rights reserved. 2 Introduction When a person is baptized as an infant and grows up in the church, different paradigms become a part of their religious DNA. The church has a message to give about Jesus Christ and His importance. Very few people study the theology and doctrines of the church to determine for themselves the accuracy of the church. The Proto-Orthodox church, which survived the pressures of the Roman Empire, decided to oppose any expression of Christianity that did not fit its dogma in its infancy. In addition, the ProtoOrthodox church would permanently destroy any writings that the rival Christians had developed. The Gnostic Christians of Northern Egypt viewed the life of Jesus of Nazareth in a completely different way than the Proto-Orthodox church did. They saw the message about the Kingdom of Heaven as the vital purpose of Jesus. His birth, death, and resurrection are not mentioned in the Gnostic Gospels. However, did the ProtoOrthodox church destroy the Gnostic Gospels when they crushed said movement? The answer is yes and no. Yes, they destroyed what they got their hands on. No, because in 1948, copies of the Gnostic religious books were discovered in Alexandria, Egypt. Once these documents were translated, the world learned what the Gnostic Christians believed. It is fascinatingly different than what the Proto-Orthodox said about these followers of Christ. Why is this understanding critical? Much research points to a different situation in the early years than what the church espouses. A lot of this information is available to anyone today. However, the Seminaries and churches will not openly discuss these 3 other writings about Jesus and His disciples. The scholars teaching in most Seminaries have learned their lessons from the church and closed-minded mentors who refuse to look at other possibilities. This is because the Western European world took Christianity and changed it from a Near Eastern religion to Western religion. There is a theory that Paul converted Mithras House Churches into Jesus House Churches. This is clear from the connection between the Mithras' and Christianity's rituals. For example, baptism was the initiation ritual of Mithras. Communion did not originate with Jesus. This ritual was a part of Mithras, where the followers would share his flesh (bread) and drink his blood (wine). There are many more rituals that Christianity picked up from Mithras. A good reference is "Christianity's Need for Mithras," which the author wrote. Did Paul create the churches in the letters he sent, which comprise the New Testament, and if so, they must have been Jewish groups who became Jewish Christians? They would have continued with their Hebraic rituals and saw Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah that the prophets of old had promised. They would have adopted many of Jesus' teachings and tried to live by them. The letters in the New Testament are written in Greek. However, most Jews in the Roman Empire did not speak Greek; instead, they spoke Aramaic and Hebrew. These congregations would not have understood a Greek letter from Paul. Therefore, the letters in the New Testament must have been written in Aramaic and then transliterated into Greek. The same can be said for the Gospels, all of them. The church, over the centuries, decided who wrote the Gospels and their intent. The only 4 Gospel we can assign to a writer is Luke. The other three are up in the air about who wrote them. While in Seminary, the author was taught that the entire New Testament was originally written in Koine Greek. However, that raised the question, "Did Jesus speak Greek?" The Seminary instructors said, "no, Jesus did not speak Greek." Then the New Testament, especially the Gospels, must have been written in Aramaic. After all, Jesus spoke Aramaic and Hebrew. We know this because He was a poor tekton (a stonemason or carpenter) from an impoverished city named Nazareth. Being born to a Jewish family in Galilee, he would have learned the traditions of His people and trade. He would have learned to speak Aramaic, the language of the area. He would have learned Hebrew because that was the language of the synagogue and the Temple in Jerusalem. In other words, Hebrew was the language of God, and Jewish males learned the language. Suppose you are ready to toss this manuscript into the nearest trash can or delete it off your electronic device at this point in the introduction. In that case, the writer has your attention. This is the reaction when the writer has spoken with persons who had been indoctrinated into the church's position since birth. The author did not come into the church environment until he was 35. Therefore, the church's paradigms, dogma, and doctrine were not a part of his DNA. Instead, he questioned a lot. He found many inconsistencies between the Bible and the doctrines of the church. Seminary was an experience to learn what the church had evolved into two-thousand years after the death of Jesus. 5 There are more parts to the premise that the New Testament was originally written in Aramaic and will be explored. For the reader to grasp the subsequent phases of the proof, an open mind is critical. 6 Culture and Language Let us continue in the journey of examining the New Testament to determine its original language. Nothing in stone tells us that Aramaic is the Original Language of the New Testament. However, nothing says that Koine Greek was the original language of the New Testament either. Therefore, we have two theories about the original language of the New Testament. The author admits that the Seminary he attended drove home the belief that the Old Testament was written in Hebrew, except for a few spots. The New Testament was initially written in Koine Greek. The writers' research has been searching for the original meaning of Scripture for many years. The methodology for this work is called "Ancient Bible Study Methods." The method was developed by Dr. Anne Davis of the Bible Learning University in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The author studied this method with Dr. Davis as his mentor. It became clear that the search for the original meaning of the Scriptures requires that the culture and language be examined. So, the author's methodology is Dr. Davis' work, plus his Ph.D. studies combining the method, culture, and language. The language examination is easy for the Old Testament because it was written in Hebrew, and about one-half of Daniel is in Aramaic. It does not take long to realize that idioms and figures of speech in the Hebrew of the Old Testament revealed a lot about the people and situation of the day when the scrolls were written. The Targums were a valuable resource because they are the Aramaic translations the rabbis did for the people living outside of Judea. The rabbis added commentary to the Targums 7 because they knew that some of the idioms and speech used in the Near East would not translate well into the different areas where the Jews lived. The culture of the Near East has been essentially the same in many aspects since the days of Jesus. Many practices of Jesus' day are still in use today. The culture of the Jews of the Near East is built into the language. Often an Aramaic or Hebrew word has a deep meaning that is only fully understood by natives living in that culture. The Old Testament is filled with cultural items that do not need to be spelled out because the people knew their culture in the author's time. Suppose the New Testament in Koine Greek is a transliteration of the Aramaic. The culture, figures of speech, and idioms will be easily identified when examining the Peshitta (the Aramaic version of the New Testament). Indeed many of the so-called difficult words of Jesus are not tricky when examined in the light of the culture of Jesus' day. An example is "faith to move a mountain," Jesus said these words to His disciples. The church determined that this meant complete faith in Jesus. From the western European Greek point of view, that makes sense. What else could it possibly mean? "Faith to move a mountain" is an Aramaic idiomatic expression. What Jesus said to His followers when he said this is that his disciples needed to be faithful so that they could change the "government's view through their words." The governing body for Judaism resided on the top of a mountain. Jerusalem, with its Temple, was built on the top of Mount Zion, a very tall mountain. This idiom survived because the Aramaic Gospels were transliterated into Koine Greek. Numerous other examples support this position. 8 Suppose the culture and language idioms of Jesus' day can be found in the Koine Greek because it was transliterated. In that case, it supports the theory of the Aramaic versions being the original language of the Gospels and possibly even more. 9 The Aramaic Version of the New Testament The Peshitta is the accepted Aramaic translation of the New Testament for many churches of the East. Peshitta means "simple, true, direct, and original." It is a collection of scrolls that were compiled in 150 CE. There were some revisions to the Peshitta in the fifth and sixth centuries. The Greek version of the New Testament is a transliteration of the Peshitta.1 For centuries, the Catholic church has used the Latin version of the Bible, the Vulgate, and still uses it. The Vulgate was developed around 350 CE by Jerome by order of the Pope at that time. Erasmus (1466 – 1536) was the person who put together the Greek New Testament for the Catholic church. "The New Testament, brought to light in the original Greek tongue, was compiled and made available for humanity to study and learn. Although working under and deeply associated with the Roman Catholic Church, the learned scholar declared his disagreement with those who wanted to keep the Scriptures from the common people. He said, "If only the farmer would sing something from them at his plow, the weaver moves his shuttle to their tune, the traveler lighten the boredom of his journey with Scriptural stories!" Little did he know that the work he was about to produce would change the world forever. This Greek New Testament, in printed form, would become the standard of the New Testament, launching the translations of Martin Luther and William Tyndale into the world. Thus, fulfilling his dream that all men would read the 1 Rocco A. Errico and George M. Lamsa, Aramaic Light on Galatians through Hebrews: A Commentary Based on Aramaic, the Language of Jesus, and Ancient near Eastern Customs (Smyma, GA: Noohra Foundation, 2005). 10 Bible for themselves in their common language. His new "study Bible" had two main parts, the Greek text, and a revised Latin edition, which was more elegant and accurate than the traditional translation of Jerome's Latin Vulgate. Erasmus prefaced this monumental work of scholarship with an exhortation to Bible study. He proclaimed that the New Testament contains the "philosophy of Christ," simple and accessible teaching with the power to transform lives."2 The church recognized Erasmus' Greek New Testament in 1515 CE. The church in the Near East has been using the Peshitta as the original language of the New Testament since 150 CE. If the Greek New Testament was important to the church as an original language, then why did it adopt the Vulgate in 350 CE? The church should have adopted the Greek New Testament at the beginning. The Peshitta, translated into English, is used to examine Paul's letters. The rest of the methodology that the author developed for Ancient Bible Study Methods is the framework of this research. 2 “Erasmus Greek New Testament,” Insight of the King, accessed February 18, 2022, https://www.insightoftheking.com/erasmus-greek-new-testament.html. 11 The Messianic Tradition Change One problem for Peter and the Disciples was that they claimed Yeshua to be the Messiah that the prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures spoke. However, Yeshua did not do what these traditions said. The main tradition was that the Messiah would destroy oppressive Romans and reinstate the Kingdom of Israel. Yeshua would then be declared the king and sit on David's throne in Jerusalem. That did not occur. None of the messianic traditions of the day worked. So, what was the new movement going to do? They turned to the prophets and discovered Isaiah 50-53. These chapters are referred to as the Suffering Servant chapters. The Yeshua movement decided that the Suffering Servant was Yeshua. The portrayal of Yeshua's life does fit the Suffering Servant chapters. However, rabbinical interpretation then and now sees the Suffering Servant as the nation of Israel. Indeed, these chapters do describe the history of Israel. Nations have wanted to destroy the Jewish people since the time of Abraham. The diaspora from the Babylonia Exile and the Assyrian invasions looked to squelch the Jewish people. The LORD promised that a remnant of the people would always survive. That is true throughout the 4,000-year history of the Jewish people. Many nations tried to destroy them, and the LORD intervened to ensure that a remnant of the people survived. Paul must have been convinced in his encounter with Yeshua on the Damascus road that Yeshua was the Suffering Servant. It is clear from Paul's writings that he did believe this. For Paul, the Messiah was the Spiritual Messiah that the Kabbalah spoke. The 12 Kabbalah says that there will be two Messiahs. This theology is based on Zachariah 9:9. The first Messiah is Messiah ben Joseph. This Messiah was to restore the Kingdom of Heaven, a spiritual Kingdom. The second Messiah will be Messiah ben David. This Messiah was to restore the Kingdom of Israel. The Midrash from the Kabbalah did not state that the Messiah was two different souls. 13 The Kabbalah There is a large amount of material in print about the Kabbalah. The Kabbalah referred to is Moses's Secret Work from Mount Sinai. Legends say Moses received three items on Mount Sinai when he met the LORD. The first is the written law. The written law is called the Torah. The second is the oral law. The oral law was put into a written form around 200 CE called the Mishnah. The third is the secret law called the Kabbalah. The secrets of the Kabbalah are based on the Torah and were written down around 200 CE. The main books of the Kabbalah are the Zohar and the Book of Creation. Many of Yeshua's statements have Kabbalah undertones. Yeshua would have known the Kabbalah. Paul would have known the basics, at least, of the Kabbalah because of his religious education and training. There are Kabbalistic ideas in the Gospels and Paul's letters. Kabbalistic verses will be highlighted in the chapters of the letters. 14 Methodology The methodology employed is to use "Ancient Bible Study Methods" integrated with Jesus's day's customs and culture to examine the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures, thus gathering a more in-depth understanding by learning the Scriptures in the way the people of Jesus's day did. I have titled the methodology of analyzing a passage of Scripture in a Hebraic manner the "Process of Discovery." The author developed this methodology, which combines various linguistic and cultural understanding areas. There are several sections to the process, and not all the parts apply to every passage of Scripture. The overall result of developing this process is to give the reader a framework for studying the Word in more depth. The "Process of Discovery" starts with a Scripture passage. An examination of the linguistic structure of the passage is next. The linguistic structure includes parallelism, chiastic structures, and repetition. Formatting the passage in its linguistic form allows the reader to visualize what the first-century CE listener was hearing. Their corresponding sections label the chiasms, for example, A, B, C, B', A.' Not all passages of the Scriptures have a poetic form. The next step is to "question the narrative." The narrative process of questioning the narrative assumes the reader knows nothing about the passage. Therefore, the questions go from simple to complex. The next task is to identify any linguistic patterns. Linguistic patterns include, but are not limited to, irony, simile, metaphor, symbolism, idioms, hyperbole, figurative language, personification, and allegory. 15 A review of any translation inconsistencies discovered between the English NAU version and Hebrew or Greek versions is done. Sometimes, a Hebrew or Greek word is translated in more than one way. Inconsistencies also can be created by the translation committee, which may have decided to use traditional language instead of the actual translation. The decision of the translation committee is in the Preface or Introduction to the Bible. Perhaps some of the inconsistencies were intentionally added to convey some deeper meaning. An examination of every discrepancy is done. The passage is analyzed for any echoes of the Hebrew Scriptures in the Christian Scriptures. An echo occurs using a passage from the Hebrew Scriptures in the Christian Scriptures.3 Also, echoes are found when Torah (Genesis through Deuteronomy) passages are used in other Hebrew Bible books. Cross-references in the Scripture are references from one verse to another verse, which can help the reader understand the verse. The names of persons mentioned in the passage are listed. Many Hebrew names have meaning and may be associated with places or actions. Jewish parents used to name their children based on what they felt God had in store for their children. An example is Abraham, whose original name was Abram and was changed to mean eternal father (God changed Abram's name to Abraham, indicating a function he was to perform). When the Hebrew Bible gives names, many occurrences mean something unique. The same importance can occur for the names of places. The time it takes to travel between locations can supply insight into the event. 3 Mitzvot are the 613 commandments found in the Torah that please God. There are positive and negative commandments. The list was first development by Maimonides. The full list can be found at: ttp://www.jewfaq.org/613.htm. 16 Keyphrases are identified in verses when they are essential to understanding that passage. There are no rules for selecting the keywords. Searching for other occurrences of the keywords in Scripture in concordance is necessary to understand the Word's usage; this must be done in either Hebrew or Greek, not in English. A classic Hebraic approach is to find the usage of a word in the Scripture by finding other verses that contain the Word. The usage of a word in its original language is discovered by searching the Scripture in the language of the Word. Verses that contain the Word are identified, and a pattern for the usage of the Word is discovered. Each verse is examined to see what the usage of the Word is, which may reveal a model for the Word's usage. The first usage of the Word in the Scripture, primarily if used in the Torah, is essential for Hebrew words. The Christian Scriptures are used for Greek words to determine the Word usage in the Scripture. Sometimes, finding the equivalent Greek Word in the Septuagint can be beneficial as analyzing its Hebrew usage. The Rules of Hillel are used when applicable. Hillel was a Torah scholar who lived shortly before Jesus' day. Hillel developed several rules for Torah students to interpret the Scriptures, which refer to halachic Midrash. In several cases, these rules are helpful in the analysis of the Scripture. The cultural implications from the writing period are done after the linguistic analysis is completed. The culture is crucial because it is not explicitly referenced in the biblical narratives, as indicated earlier. From the linguistic analysis and the cultural understanding, it is possible to obtain a deeper meaning of the Scripture beyond the plain text's literal meaning. That is what the listeners of Jesus's time were doing. They put linguistics and culture together without even having to contemplate it. 17 The analysis will lead to findings explaining the passage's meaning in Jesus's day. Most of the time, the Hebraic analysis leads to the desire for more in-depth analysis to fully understand what Jesus was talking about or what was happening to Him. Whatever the result, a new, more in-depth understanding of the Scripture is obtained. The components of the Process of Discovery are: Language Process of Discovery Linguistics Section Linguistic Structure Discussion Questioning the Passage Verse Comparison of citations or proof text Translation Inconsistencies Biblical Personalities Biblical Locations Phrase Study 18 Linguistic Echoes Rules of Hillel Culture Section Discussion Questioning the passage Cultural Echoes Culture and Linguistics Section Discussion Thoughts Only the applicable sections are included in this document. 19 Luke 5:27-32 Language Peshitta New American Standard 1995 27 And after these things, Jesus went out Luke 5:27 and saw a publican, named Levi, sitting among the publicans; and he said to him: Come after me. 28 And he left every thing, and arose, and went after him. 29 And Levi made a great entertainment for him at his house; and there was a numerous company of publicans and others who reclined with them. 30 And the Scribes and Pharisees murmured, and said to his disciples: Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners? 31 And Jesus answered and said to them: A physician is not sought after for the well, but for those very sick. 32 I came not to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance. 20 After that He went out and noticed a tax collector named 1bLevi sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow Me.” 28 And he aleft everything behind, and got up and began to follow Him. a Luke 5:29 And aLevi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a great crowd of btax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them. 30 aThe Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and 1sinners?” 31 And Jesus answered and said to them, “aIt is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. 32 “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” References to the New American Standard 1995 Luke 5:27 1Also called Matthew aLuke 5:27-39: Matt 9:9-17; Mark 2:14-22 bMatt 9:9 Luke 5:28 aLuke 5:11 Luke 5:29 aMatt 9:9 bLuke 15:1 Luke 5:30 1I.e. irreligious Jews aMark 2:16; Luke 15:2; Acts 23:9 Luke 5:31 aMatt 9:12, 13; Mark 2:17 21 Koine Greek uke 5:27 Καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἐξῆλθεν, καὶ ἐθεάσατο τελώνην, ὀνόματι Λευϊ ́ν, καθήμενον ἐπὶ τὸ τελώνιον, καὶ εἰπεν ͂ αὐτῷ, Ἀκολούθει μοι. 28 Καὶ καταλιπὼν ἁ ́παντα, ἀναστὰς ἠκολούθησεν αὐτῷ. 29 Καὶ ἐποίησεν δοχὴν μεγάλην Λευϊ ̀ς αὐτῷ ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ αὐτοῦ· καὶ ἠν͂ ὀ ́χλος τελωνῶν πολύς, καὶ ἀ ́λλων οἱ ̀ ἠσαν ͂ μετ’ αὐτῶν κατακείμενοι. 30 Καὶ ἐγόγγυζον οἱ γραμματεῖς αὐτῶν καὶ οἱ Φαρισαῖοι πρὸς τοὺς μαθητὰς αὐτοῦ, λέγοντες, Διὰ τί μετὰ ˹ τῶν ˺ τελωνῶν καὶ ἁμαρτωλῶν ἐσθίετε καὶ πίνετε; 31 Καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἰπεν ͂ πρὸς αὐτούς, Οὐ χρείαν ἐ ́χουσιν οἱ ὑγιαίνοντες ἰατροῦ, ἀλλ’ οἱ κακῶς ἐ ́χοντες. 32 Οὐκ ἐλήλυθα καλέσαι δικαίους, ἀλλὰ ἁμαρτωλοὺς εἰς μετάνοιαν. 22 Language Process of Discovery Linguistics Section Linguistic Structure After that He went out and noticed a tax collector named 1bLevi sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow Me.” 28 And he aleft everything behind, and got up and began to follow Him. A 27 a B 29 And aLevi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a great crowd of btax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them. B’ 30 aThe Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and 1sinners?” A’ 31 And Jesus answered and said to them, “aIt is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. 32 “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” Discussion This is the calling of Levi. Questioning the Passage 1. Why did Levi hold a dinner for Yeshua and other tax collectors? Yeshua’s message was so overwhelming that Levi that he wanted to tell his fellow tax collectors and friends about Yeshua. This is the first story of a disciple of Yeshua evangelizing. Biblical Personalities 1. Levi – an apostle of Yeshua. He was a tax collector before becoming an apostle. He left his lucrative career to learn from Yeshua. 23 Culture Section Discussion Tax collectors in Jesus’ day in Judea were generally disliked and viewed as traitors. They were Jews who collected taxes from their fellow Jews for the Roman Empire, which was occupying and oppressing the Jews at the time. The Romans formed “joint-stock companies” where they would buy certain Jewish provinces for periods of five years. These Roman businessmen would employ local Jewish men to collect the taxes from these territories. The tax collectors would then tax imports, exports, bridge-tolls, road-money, town-dues, and much more. The highest bidder would win the territory, and consequently, the tax collectors would skim money off the top for themselves. The methods of the tax collectors were unethical. They would harass people wherever they could, and they would tax them on the spot. They would also place an inflated and “fictitious value on property or income” in order to get a higher percentage of tax. Furthermore, they would give loans to people who couldn’t pay the tax, and then charge high interest on this "private debt". The Jewish people had no options. These tax collectors were backed by the authority of the Roman Empire, and they were accompanied by Roman soldiers. Even if a Jewish person wanted to appeal to a judge for unjust tax collecting, this was of no use, because the judges "were the direct beneficiaries by the revenue". The only recourse that the Jewish people had was to ostracize these tax collectors. The Babylonian Talmud placed tax collectors alongside "murderers and robbers". The rabbis taught that tax collectors were disqualified witnesses in court, societal outcasts, and utter disgraces to their own family. The rabbis excommunicated tax collectors from the synagogue. Tax collectors were not allowed to exchange their 24 money at the Temple treasury. The rabbis even considered it lawful to lie in almost any conceivable way to avoid paying tax collectors.4 Thoughts Yeshua’s answer to the scribes and Pharisees is the key to Levi’s calling. God’s Messiah came to save the wicked and sinners. The righteous people were already getting into heaven. One of the things Yeshua did not say which is true today is there are not very many of us that are already righteous enough not to need some instruction. For the reader of the gospel, it now is clear that in order to become righteous in the eyes of God that one has to live the way. 4 1. Evidence unseen, accessed July 2, 2024, https://www.evidenceunseen.com/theology/historical-theology/taxcollectors/. 25