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This month in the mailbox, we have one who figures Jesus was a Pharisee, one with a translation question, and one with a question about G–d.
Yeah, my volume of mail has gone down a lot now that I’ve threatened to post everything. Which was the idea. Not that I want less feedback, but I want responsible feedback.
And perhaps the folks who emailed, will appreciate how my emails back aren’t gonna go on for pages and pages. I do tend to get long-winded. But enough about me.
Jesus was a Pharisee.
According to Paquid Yirmeyahu ben David, he made a reconstruction of the gospel of Matthew in Hebrew, scientifically proving what Ribi Yehoshua [Rabbi Jesus] taught and didn’t teach. One of his conclusions is Yehoshua was a Perushi [Pharisee] because he was called a Ribi and only the Perushim had Ribis.
—Francis Kunhelm
Yes, Jesus was a Pharisee. He was a rabbi; he taught in synagogue. The debates he had with “the Pharisees” were, like the debates he had with “the Jews” in John’s gospel, debates between fellow members of the same group. In other words, family arguments.
No, Jesus isn’t called a Pharisee in the gospels. And many Christians firmly believe he wasn’t one—partly because of how they equate “Pharisee” with “hypocrite,” and partly because Jesus taught so many things which go against Pharisee traditions. But of the Jewish denominations in existence in Jesus’s day, he chose to spend his time among Pharisees, teaching and correcting and discipling them. He was in their camp.
As for “scientifically proving” what Jesus did and didn’t teach… well, that phrase tends to make me skeptical. Science means you had a hypothesis, you did experiments to confirm your hypothesis, and anyone else can duplicate your results. People like to throw the word “scientific” around because it gets people to automatically trust their results—but science isn’t the word to use when it comes to bible. Historical evidence and linguistic evidence are the proper terms. That might be what Mr. ben David meant, but I haven’t read his stuff, so I don’t know.
As to what Jesus did and didn’t teach, and how people come to their conclusions about that, see my recent article on Historical Jesus.
On righteous versus right-minded.
Short note: Why did you translate tsaddiq as “right-minded” instead of “righteous” or “righteous one”?
—David Foreman
Mostly ’cause I’m trying to translate the bible into present-day American English instead of Christianese.
Unfortunately, among Christians, “righteous” doesn’t always mean “right-minded,” which was the original idea the bible’s authors had of a lifestyle which reflects God’s standards. “Righteous,” as the evangelists like to say, means a right standing with God—he’s favored us, he’s forgiven us, he’s washed our sins away, he’s poured out his grace, even though our lives don’t necessarily reflect God’s standards. Well, that’s not what tsaddiq means. God makes us righteous in his eyes, yet he expects us to be right-minded.
On using dashes in G–d’s name.
Why do you refer to God as G–d, with the dash instead of the O?
—Carol Vaughn
I don’t. I spell out God and the LORD. I don’t always spell out Yahweh (i.e. YHVH) because I got in the habit in school, and am trying to get out of the habit. Scholars aren’t 100 percent certain about the vowels in the LORD’s name, so some of us only spell it with the consonants, though nearly all of us pronounce it Yahweh. I spell it out more often than not.
The habit of using dashes to spell God and LORD came from conservative and orthodox Jews. (And some Jewish followers of Jesus do likewise—as well as certain Christians who want to act more Jewish, which is why you see Christians sometimes do it.) They really don’t want to violate the command against using the LORD’s name in vain. So they use dashes. That way, technically, they didn’t use those words; therefore they couldn’t be said to use them in vain.
For two reasons, I find this behavior silly. Firstly, we already call him God (his species) and the LORD (his title) because, out of custom and respect, we don’t want to casually use the sacred names Jehovah or Yahweh. Christians often call Jesus “Lord” and “Christ” instead of “Jesus” for the very same reason. So we already don’t use his name.
Secondly, God doesn’t judge us on technicalities. If you write, “I swear to G–d” instead of “I swear to God,” it’s still an oath to God, and he still holds you to it. Use all the dashes you want: Blasphemy or lies are still blasphemy and lies.
But, like the way Christians use LORD, for a lot of people it’s a custom and a habit. So don’t knock ’em for it. But feel free to make fun of any Christians who suddenly start to do it ’cause they want to be more Jewish.
And now, a special bonus video. But don’t watch it if you’re sensitive about the name Jehovah.
Thanks for the emails, folks—and the Disqus comments too, of course. The good kind of feedback is always appreciated.