Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Lewis Reich" <LBR AT sprynet.com>]

On 25 Dec 98, at 12:07, Greg Stafford wrote:


> Why is it unlikely that the narrator had a record of the events?

Because there is no indication that written records were kept, or that any 
but 
a very few individuals were present. 

> Of course, the Jewish religious leaders who opposed Jesus hardly needed an 
> explicit statement in their law to condemn Jesus, after all, what law did 
> they have to justify their intention of killing Lazarus? (John 12:10) 

At this point, I believe, we are going beyond the purview of this list.  I 
will 
point out gain that you  are assuming that biblical accounts can be treated 
as 
if they are the functional equivalent of modern histories.

> Also, it is not at all far-fetched to think that a claim to the office of 
> Messiah, by a man whom they perceived to be demonized, would be considered 
> blasphemous. 

Given first-century Jewish concepts of Messiahship, it is rather far-fetched. 
 
It would not be blasphemous to claim that office, if indeed Jesus did so.  
And 
if it were blasphemous, then Jesus could have been punished under Jewish law, 
while Jesus suffered a Roman execution for a violation of Roman law.  There 
were others who claimed to be Messiahs in the first century.  An analogy - if 
someone today were to claim to be the Pope, would that be blasphemy?

Lewis Reich
LBR AT sprynet.com