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Matthew 1:1
#1
Shlama Akhay,

Just out of curiosity, I was looking for the first 'thoroughly Jewish' reference in the New Testament (or as some Messianic believers prefer 'The Renewed Covenant' <!-- sSmile --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/smile.gif" alt="Smile" title="Smile" /><!-- sSmile --> ). I was awestruck when I discovered that the first phrase of the first verse of the first book is EXTREMELY JEWISH !!

{QUOTE FROM ADAM CLARKE'S COMMENTARY}
The book of the generation of Jesus Christ - I suppose these words to have been the original title to this Gospel; and that they signify, according to the Hebrew Phraseology, not only the account of the genealogy of Christ, as detailed below, but the history of his birth, acts, sufferings, death, resurrection, and ascension.
The phrase, book of the generation, ספר תולדות sepher toledoth, is frequent in the Jewish writings, and is translated by the Septuagint, βιβλος γενεσεως, as here, by the evangelist; and regularly conveys the meaning given to it above; e.g. This is the book of the generations of Adam, Gen_5:1. That is, the account of the life of Adam and certain of his immediate descendants. Again. These are the generations of Jacob, Gen_37:2. That is, the account or history of Jacob, his son Joseph, and the other remarkable branches of the family. And again. These are the generations of Aaron and Moses, Num_3:1. That is, the history of the life and acts of these persons, and some of their immediate descendants. The same form of expression is also used, Gen_2:4, when giving the history of the creation of heaven and earth.
{END OF QUOTE}
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#2
<!-- s:bigups: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/bigups.gif" alt=":bigups:" title="Big Ups" /><!-- s:bigups: --> While Zorbans will scoff at "Matthew proof" it is still important because it shows that commoners did indeed speaka da language.
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#3
And the very LAST verse of the NT ends in Amen! <!-- sBig Grin --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/happy.gif" alt="Big Grin" title="Happy" /><!-- sBig Grin --> Alpha and omega? Puh-leez... The "Alpha" and the "Omega" of the NT have Aramaic idiom <!-- sWink --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/wink1.gif" alt="Wink" title="Wink" /><!-- sWink -->
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#4
For those of the ???shorter??? canon, Hebrews ends in Amen too???
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#5
peshitta_enthusiast Wrote:And the very LAST verse of the NT ends in Amen! <!-- sBig Grin --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/happy.gif" alt="Big Grin" title="Happy" /><!-- sBig Grin --> Alpha and omega? Puh-leez... The "Alpha" and the "Omega" of the NT have Aramaic idiom <!-- sWink --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/wink1.gif" alt="Wink" title="Wink" /><!-- sWink -->

Shlama Peshitta Enthusiast!

Adam Clarke tries to be bosom buddies with Zorba (our forum epithet for Greek scribe <!-- sSmile --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/smile.gif" alt="Smile" title="Smile" /><!-- sSmile --> ) and Penuel (our forum epithet for Aramean or Jewish scribe <!-- sSmile --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/smile.gif" alt="Smile" title="Smile" /><!-- sSmile --> ). Here's the way it comes out.....

{QUOTE FROM ADAM CLARKE'S COMMENTARY}
Rev 1:8 -
I am Alpha and Omega - I am from eternity to eternity. This mode of speech is borrowed from the Jews, who express the whole compass of things by א aleph and ת tau, the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet; but as St. John was writing in Greek, he accommodates the whole to the Greek alphabet, of which Α alpha and Ω omega are the first and last letters. With the rabbins מא ועד ת meeleph vead tau, “from aleph to tau,” expressed the whole of a matter, from the beginning to the end. So in Yalcut Rubeni, fol. 17, 4: Adam transgressed the whole law from aleph to tau; i.e., from the beginning to the end.
Ibid., fol. 48, 4: Abraham observed the law, from aleph to tau; i.e., he kept it entirely, from beginning to end.
Ibid., fol. 128, 3: When the holy blessed God pronounced a blessing on the Israelites, he did it from aleph to tau; i.e., he did it perfectly.
The beginning and the ending - That is, as aleph or alpha is the beginning of the alphabet, so am I the author and cause of all things; as tau or omega is the end or last letter of the alphabet, so am I the end of all things, the destroyer as well as the establisher of all things. This clause is wanting in almost every MS. and version of importance. It appears to have been added first as an explanatory note, and in process of time crept into the text. Griesbach has left it out of the text. It is worthy of remark, that as the union of א aleph and ת tau in Hebrew make את eth, which the rabbins interpret of the first matter out of which all things were formed, (see on Gen_1:1 (note)); so the union of Α alpha and Ω omega, in Greek, makes the verb αω, I breathe, and may very properly, in such a symbolical book, point out Him in whom we live, and move, and have our being; for, having formed man out of the dust of the earth, he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and he became a living soul; and it is by the inspiration or inbreathing of his Spirit that the souls of men are quickened, made alive from the dead, and fitted for life eternal. He adds also that he is the Almighty, the all-powerful framer of the universe, and the inspirer of men.
{END OF QUOTE}

Akha Larry
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#6
Allow me to also share Adam Clarke's commentary upon Rev. 1:4 because I think it's very relevant to the Rev. 1:8 comments concerning 'Aleph and Tau' versus 'Alpha and Omega.' I'll throw in the comments upon 'the Seven Spirits which are before His throne' just for good measure (if for no other reason than the fact that this is also Jewish to the core). <!-- s:biggrin: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/biggrin.gif" alt=":biggrin:" title="Big Grin" /><!-- s:biggrin: -->

{QUOTE FROM ADAM CLARKE'S COMMENTARY}
From him which is, and which was, and which is to come - This phraseology is purely Jewish, and probably taken from the Tetragrammaton, יהוה Yehovah; which is supposed to include in itself all time, past, present, and future. But they often use the phrase of which the ?? wn kai ?? jn kai ?? ercomenov of the apostle, is a literal translation. So, in Sohar Chadash, fol. 7, 1: “Rabbi Jose said, By the name Tetragrammaton, (i.e. יהוה, Yehovah), the higher and lower regions, the heavens, the earth, and all they contain, were perfected; and they are all before him reputed as nothing; והוא היה והוא הוה והוא יהיה vehu hayah, vehu hoveh, vehu yihyeh; and He Was, and He Is, and He Will Be. So, in Shemoth Rabba, sec. 3, fol. 105, 2: “The holy blessed God said to Moses, tell them: - אני שהייתי ואני הוא עכשיו ואני הוא לעתיד לבוא ani shehayithi, veani hu achshaiu, veani hu laathid labo; I Was, I Now Am, and I Will Be in Future.” In Chasad Shimuel, Rab. Samuel ben David asks: “Why are we commanded to use three hours of prayer? Answer: These hours point out the holy blessed God; שהוא היה הוה ויהיה shehu hayah, hoveh, veyihyeh; he who Was, who Is, and who Shall Be. The Morning prayer points out him who Was before the foundation of the world; the Noonday prayer points out him who Is; and the Evening prayer points out him who Is to Come.” This phraseology is exceedingly appropriate, and strongly expresses the eternity of God; for we have no other idea of time than as past, or now existing, or yet to exist; nor have we any idea of eternity but as that duration called by some aeternitas a parte ante, the eternity that was before time, and aeternitas a parte post, the endless duration that shall be when time is no more. That which Was, is the eternity before time; that which Is, is time itself; and that which Is to Come, is the eternity which shall be when time is no more.

The seven Spirits - before his throne - The ancient Jews, who represented the throne of God as the throne of an eastern monarch, supposed that there were seven ministering angels before this throne, as there were seven ministers attendant on the throne of a Persian monarch. We have an ample proof of this, Tobit 12:15: I am Raphael, one of the Seven Holy Angels which present the prayers of the saints, and which go in and out before the glory of the Holy One. And in Jonathan ben Uzziel’s Targum, on Gen_11:7 : God said to the Seven Angels which stand before him, Come now, etc.
In Pirkey Eliezer, iv. and vii: “The angels which were first created minister before him without the veil.” Sometimes they represent them as seven cohorts or troops of angels, under whom are thirty inferior orders.That seven Angels are here meant, and not the Holy Spirit, is most evident from the place, the number, and the tradition. Those who imagine the Holy Ghost to be intended suppose the number seven is used to denote his manifold gifts and graces. That these seven spirits are angels, see Rev_3:1; Rev_4:5; and particularly Rev_5:6, where they are called the seven spirits of God Sent Forth into All the Earth.
{END OF QUOTE}

Here's a shocker for you concerning the sources that Revelation draws from. When I saw quite a number of verses in Revelation that borrowed from the New and Old Testaments, I was not overly shocked but pretty impressed. But what really caught me off-guard was the amount of verses or phrases from the Apocryphal and Pseudepigraphical writings that read exactly word-for-word, nearly word-for-word, or show very clear signs of borrowing with regard to concepts, beliefs held, prophecies, etc., etc. Anybody that says they love the book of Revelation but thinks that every word of the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha is spurious and of no account would be quite taken aback if they ever found out that Revelation draws from four sources
and not just two, i.e., the O. T. and N. T. They would have to 'eat crow' and from my experience 'crow' doesn't taste too good. <!-- s:biggrin: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/biggrin.gif" alt=":biggrin:" title="Big Grin" /><!-- s:biggrin: -->

Shlama w'Burkate, Larry Kelsey
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