Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Dave Washburn <dwashbur AT nyx.net>]

On Sunday 29 August 2004 23:44, Yigal Levin wrote:
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Peter Kirk" <peterkirk AT qaya.org>
>
> > How about Daniel 9:25,26? This is a passage whose interpretation is very
> > controversial among Christians, and I would be rather interested to hear
> > what Jews make of it as well.
> >
> > And then there are passages like Psalm 2:2, 132:10,17, 1 Samuel 2:10
> > which refer primarily to the anointed king of Israel but are taken by
> > many to have a secondary reference to the Messiah.
>
> Daniel 9:25,26 is probably the closest the Tanakh gets in using the term
> Ma$iax to describe the FUTURE king of Israel (however note that there, no
> reference is made to his being descended from David - he may very well have
> had a Priest in mind). Considering the very late date of the composition of
> Daniel - probably the latest book which made it into the Tanakh, that goes
> to prove my point - that the term Ma$iax only came to be used for a future
> savior during the Second Temple period.

Um, this amounts to assuming facts not in evidence, since the date of Daniel 
is still hotly disputed.  And that doesn't even get into the question of the 
date of sources it may have used, which could place the passage much earlier. 
 
The late-date hypothesis is an easy way to write off such questions, but it 
is just that: a hypothesis, and scarcely to be taken as established fact.

> As far as the rest of the passages that you cited, as you said,
> understanding them as referring to a future Messiah is a matter of
> secondary interpretation.

But again, it's being assumed that such "secondary interpretation" is going 
to 
be wrong.  Again, that has not been established.  And since we were 
discussing the question of Jewish understanding of the Messiah figure, and 
since it has been mainly Jewish expositors who have applied those passages 
accordingly, it is legitimate to present them in response to your question.

-- 
Dave Washburn
http://www.nyx.net/~dwashbur
"No good.  Hit on head."   -Gronk