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  • From: Brak <Brak AT neo.rr.com>
  • To: Harold Holmyard <hholmyard AT ont.com>
  • Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] oral Torah
  • Date: Fri, 23 Jun 2006 15:11:12 -0500

Wow! The list has been pretty much silent for some time. Then after George gave the Friday deadline - BOOM - emails are a flooding in!


A major componant of the Oral Torah is the "codes" by which the Torah itself is to be interpreted, and these were passed down from Moses to Joshua and on to the elders, the members of the Great Assembly, and from them to what we now call "rabbis".



HH: Is there anything internal to the Scriptures that would indicate the existence of these codes? I can think of nothing offhand.



Here is a small, and my no means exhaustive list of references to an Oral Law:

*Deuteronomy 12:21* (212) /If the place which the LORD thy God hath chosen to put his name there be too far from thee, then thou shalt kill of thy herd and of thy flock, which the LORD hath given thee, _as I have commanded thee_, and thou shalt eat in thy gates whatsoever thy soul lusteth after./

*Malachi 2:7* (941) /For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts./

*Psalm 44:1* (601)* */To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, Maschil. We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days, in the times of old./

*Psalm 78:1-5* (619) /Maschil of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth. {2} I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old: {3} Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. {4} We will not hide them from their children, showing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done. {5} For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children:/

And for those who are Christian:

*2 Thessalonians 3:6* (1179) /Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us./


Another concept which is valuable is that to debate a topic doesn't equate to contempt or rejection of the topic of debate. Just like many debate the meaning and application of the Bible, this doesn't mean that the parties involve reject the Bible. Just because Jesus debated about the Oral Law does not equate to His rejection of it.

Upon reading the Mishnah/Talmud, one quickly realizes the intensity to which the Pharisees debated among themselves about the Oral Law. These debates can get quite heated. One that comes to mind is the debate between the school of Hillel and Shamia over the recitation of the Shema. The texts records the school of Hillel stating that those who follow the halacha after the school of Shamia will have bad things happen to them! Now mind you that these are all Pharisees who hold to the existence and validity of the Oral Law.

So just because you have Jesus debate with other Pharisees doesn't mean that Jesus rejected the Oral Law, nor does it mean that Jesus wasn't a Pharisee Himself. Also the similarities between Jesus' teachings and Hillel teachings doesn't necessarily mean that Jesus' saying were attributed to Hillel, but rather that maybe Jesus was part of the Hillel flavor of Pharisaism - or rather one of the sub-sect which predominantly followed Hillel over Shamia.
2nd Temple Period Judaism should really be called "Judaisms" because of the richness of the polydoxy of the time. Hence the conflicts between Jesus and the Pharisees doesn't necessarily equate to the traditional understanding that Jesus was an anti-Pharisee, but rather a Pharisee Himself engaged in the type of religious debate which was commonplace to occur amongst the Pharisees themselves.

As I was typing this I had an "hmmm interesting" moment.

Actually the issue of the Oral Law is pertinent to the focus of the forum - let me explain.

The word <#BT> which is usually translated as "Sabbath" according to the Oral Law can also be translated as week. Hence in regards to the placement of Pentecost this becomes an important factor.
Also in Amos 6:3 this word is usually translated as "seat" as in "seat of violence" where the plain translation (and as it is translated in the LXX) is "false Sabbath"

So I guess maybe the topic of the Oral Law and Oral Tradition (both Jewish and Christian) does have an important place in regards to the translation of the text as translations are heavily influenced by both.

Just a thought I thought I would share.

B"H
John Steven









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