Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Peter Kirk <peter AT qaya.org>]

On 30/08/2006 03:29, Shoshanna Walker wrote:
> There IS NO Greek equivalent of Mashiach.
>
>   
The LXX translators did not agree with you when for example in Psalm 2:2 
they translated Mashiach as Christos. The same word is used in the 
quotation in Acts 4:26, tending to confirm that this is a per-Christian 
usage. I strongly suspect that Christos is used for the Messiah in 
certainly pre-Christian Greek works e.g. at Qumran, but I don't have the 
proof at hand.

> They don't attribute the same meaning to the concept that we do.
>
> They don't understand OUR concept of Mashiach.
>
>   
Who are the "they" you are referring to here? This may be true of some 
Christians, but don't assume it is true of all. I would hope that 
Christians aim to understand the Jewish concept of the Messiah as 
clearly as possible. We do hold that Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled that 
role. That does not, or should not, imply that we read the entire 
Christian doctrine of Christ back into the Jewish concept of the 
Messiah. Nor of course would we take later Rabbinical interpretations as 
authoritative. But it would be wrong to read Christian understandings 
back into the Hebrew Bible concept of the Messiah.

--
Peter Kirk
E-mail:  peter AT qaya.org
Blog:    http://speakertruth.blogspot.com/
Website: http://www.qaya.org/