Ezekiel 37, OJB; David, the deceased Moshiach (anointed) prince-forever
Guide:
CJB New Testament emphasis in bold (CJB online) or OJB
Old Testament, text I emphasize in green; NIV
in magenta; footnotes to CJB in superscript sky blue and OJB;
Nomads* discussion in yellow; and my comments in gray. I may use endnotes to cite outside literature or
extensive comment.
*Participative
Sunday-school-class at UBC led by Ken Tipton. Ken seems to consider answers in
a continuous search for ineluctable truth. My evolving statement about Genesis
1:26-28, now from OJB, is at the end of this post.
This April 13, 2025, Nomads’ discussion opened my imagination to the psychological competition that developed from Sumer, 5500 years ago, through Judeo-Christianity and Protestantism, until today. UBC children could know by age 13 or 17.
Chief concerns and possible insights:
1.
Polytheism
suggested humankind is responsible to constrain evil on earth.
a.
Sun-worship
lessened when physics informed of other galaxies.
b.
Human-sacrifice
to bargain with gods has almost ceased.
2.
Monotheism
among Semitic-speaking peoples and others is competitive.
a.
Zoroaster (d. 599 BCE) taught goodness in thoughts, words, and deeds.
b.
Mesopotamian
religious movements considered Zoroaster’s ideas; https://www.theosophical.org/publications/quest-magazine/zoroastrianism-history-beliefs-and-practices
.
3.
Jacob’s
ancestors, including Judah and Joseph, developed Elohim.
a.
Joshua
was high priest after Moses.
b.
Later,
David was priest and king, like the ancient, Melchizedek.
c.
Yeshua was a descendant
of David through both Yosef and Miryam.
4.
Modern
Israel hopes for an anointed king to inspire obedience to Elohim.
5.
A
small Jewish faction projected Yeshua’s civic influence as anointed one.
a.
Proponents
developed Yeshua-miracles to compete with tradition.
b.
Paul
oppressed obedience in life to favor reward in the afterdeath.
c.
Gospel
writers wrote after Pauline letters gained favor.
d.
Messianic
movements surround Yeshua; https://www.jewishvoice.org/read/blog/history-messianic-judaism
e.
Yeshua
informed gods facing death to choose perfection in life.
6.
People
and associations may and can accept the power, authority, and responsibility to
pursue necessary goodness, implied in Genesis 1:26-28.
a.
Humankind
alone is responsible to constrain injustice on earth.
b.
Constitutional
republics may and can pursue statutory justice.
c.
Humankind
cannot force The God to usurp human being (the practice).
7.
Nomads
and UBC may and can accept without objections the mysteries of The God, Jesus,
and Christ, yet pursue Yeshua’s civic influence and thereby lead humankind’s
reform.
8.
UBC adults
may and can help youth consider this and more by age 13 – 17 and choose humility
both to The God and to Yeshua’s influence.
a.
It is
unnecessary to discover at age 81 joy that existed at age 10.
b.
Every
child is a god facing death (John 10:34 re Psalm 82:6-7).
c.
I
could not have discovered The God and Yeshua without UBC, especially Nomads
Sunday school.
Chief concerns and possible
insights:
1.
V1-10
present’s the writer’s imaginative metaphor to express Israel’s 3-way divided
predicament and hope for the future.
2.
Some
interesting implications:
a. V3. “Son of man” means descendant of Adam,
and “Adonoi Hashem” is interpreted “Sovereign Lord” in NIV or Adonai Elohim in CJB.
b. V4. “Prophesy” claims authority to speak as Elohim.
c. There’s a nest of topper miracle-stories:
resurrection of dry bones, vs 4-day old corps, vs cold body, vs breathing
stopped.
3.
David
is anointed king to Israel forever: Israel holy forever.
4.
King David’s
death provided opportunity to:
a. Project Yeshua’s civic influence onto Hebrew
promises
b. Impose Davidic priesthood and kinship onto
Yeshua-believers, excluding Israel if they persist.
c. Bemuse humankind with Pauline salvation of
souls rather than lives.
d. Paul’s “Jesus” and “Christ” suppress
Yeshua’s civic influence. Paul’s church
i.
Prevents
Yeshua’s church.
ii.
Keeps
humankind from practicing Genesis 1:26-28: order life.
Working
considerations:
1.
V1. Three
debates: Yad Hashem vs the Lord; “in” vs “by” the spirit; and spirit vs perhaps
inspiration or curiosity.
a. Unborn Yeshua does not compete,
b. nor does Jesus nor Christ.
c. The Septuagint cites Ἰησοῖ, Joshua (Joshua
1:1), which gets transliterated Ἰησοῦς in the (Greek) New Testament.
i.
That is to say, I think “Yeshua” does not appear in the
Septuagint.
2.
V2.
Internet wanted to “correct” “hinei” (certainly) to “hineni”, which means “Here
I am”.
3.
V3.
“Ben Adam” means of Adam, and NIV interestingly translates it “Son of man”,
which capital “S” and low case “m”.
4.
V3
“Adonoi Hashem” is interpreted “Sovereign Lord” in NIV.
a. It’s Adonai Elohim
in CJB.
b. Merriam-Webster defines sovereignty: one possessing or held
to possess supreme political power.
5.
V4. “Prophesy” claims authority to speak as Elohim.
a. When a NT person says
Yeshua is a prophet, are they claiming Yeshua speaks as The God?
b. Hebrews 9 seems to
claim The God is Yeshua’s blood, resurrected and ascended.
6.
V5-6. Adonoi Hashem equipping bones to manage breath-activation seems a
miracle that tops each:
a. Yeshua raising Lazarus’s corpse after 4
days (John 11:38).
b. Elisha used his body-warmth to revive a
cold body (2 Kings 4:34).
c. Elijah used his body to revive someone who
stopped breathing (1 Kings 17:17-22).
7.
V9-10. It seems “slain” are victims of war, “vast
army”, perhaps men only.
a. The
enemy seems to be family and the foreigners with whom they associated.
8.
V11-21. The speaker discloses the metaphor.
a. The
people of Israel feel separated, by tribe and by location
b. Adonoi
Hashem will restore them.
c. The
descendants of Judah will reunite with the descendants of Joseph.
9.
V22-23. Rather than split, there will be one
king and one kingdom.
a. Idol
worship due to foreign associations will cease.
b. The
unmodified “Elohim” seems to identify The God.
10. V24.
David his servant will be king.
a. One
shepherd; one law; one prophesy.
b. Moshiach,
a anointed human; the Jewish Messiah .
. . not Christian.
ii.
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1121893/jewish/Who-Is-Moshiach-the-Jewish-Messiah.htm
11. V25-28. Promises to Israel
a. They live-in [not necessarily own] land
given to Jacob
b. David prince forever
c. Covenant of peace with them; everlasting;
sanctuary, home
d. Israel holy forever.
[Two
outcomes: 1) Israel did not obey the decrees and 2) like Joshua, David did not
live forever. The outcomes empowered the projection of Yeshua’s civic influence
on to Old Testament prophecy.]
Ezekiel
37, OJB
37:1 The Yad
Hashem the Lord
was upon me, and carried me out in the Ruach [Hakodesh] of Hashem by the Spirit of the Lord, and
set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of atzmot bones,
2 And
caused me to pass by them round about; and, hinei [behold, certainly], there were rabbot me’od in
the open valley; and, hinei, they were very dry.
3 And He
said unto me, Ben Adam Son
of man [Here, CJB
had “human being”, which obfuscates the interpretation of “Ben Adam” as “Son of
man”. Perhaps choosing to read OJB rather than CJB for Old Testament scripture
is preferred for “orthodox” comprehension.], can these atzmot live? And
I answered, Adonoi Hashem, Thou knowest. “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”
4 Again He
said unto me, Prophesy [Some
scholars interpret this “speak
on God’s behalf”.] upon
these atzmot, and say unto them, O ye atzmot hayeveshot, hear the Devar Hashem.
5 Thus
saith Adonoi Hashem unto these atzmot: Hinei, I will cause ruach breath to enter into
you, and ye shall live;
6 And I
will lay gidim (sinews, tendons) upon you, and will bring up basar flesh upon you, and
cover you with ohr (skin), and put ruach in you, and ye shall live; and ye
shall have da’as that I am Hashem the Lord. [CJB
has Adonai here, which leaves “Sovereign” in V3
disconnected, as in NIV.]
7 So I
prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and
hinei a rattling, and the atzmot came together, etzem to its etzem.
8 And when
I beheld, hinei, the gidim and the basar came up upon them, and the ohr covered
them above; but there was no ruach in them.
9 Then
said He unto me, Prophesy unto the ruach; prophesy, Ben Adam, and say to the
ruach, Thus saith Adonoi Hashem: Come from the arba ruchot four winds, O ruach,
and breathe upon these slain
[“Slain” refers to Judean victims
of heathens. Heathens includes enemies, called Edomites, including Israelites
who chose to disobey the covenant with Yahweh, divided as Ephramites starting
in V15. This seems to be an awkward, perhaps evasive reference to the division
of Israel: covenant-observers vs other Jews; descendants of Joseph vs
descendants of Judah; northern tribes vs southern tribes, the “mountain” of
which is Judah.], that they may live.
10 So I
prophesied as He commanded me, and the ruach came into them, and they lived,
and stood up upon their raglayim feet, a chayil gadol me’od me’od vast army. [It seems this was not simply a killing field with women
and children slain, but a battlefield.]
11 Then He
said unto me, Ben Adam, these atzmot are the kol Bais Yisroel the people of Israel.
Hinei, they say, Our atzmot are dried up, and tikvateinu (our hope) is gone;
nigzarnu lanu (we are cut off). [V11 seems to delineate the story as a metaphor. If so, everything in
V1-10 was an idea to construct the metaphor. In particular, “the spirit of God”
was the writer’s imagination to support his intentions.]
12 Therefore
prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith Adonoi Hashem: Hinei, O My people, I
will open your keverot graves,
and cause you to come up out of your keverot, and bring you into Admat Yisroel
(the Land of Israel).
13 And ye
shall know that I am Hashem, when I have opened your keverot, O My people, and
brought you up out of your keverot,
14 And
shall put My Ruach in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own
land; then shall ye know that I Hashem have spoken it, and performed it, saith
Hashem.
15 The
Devar Hashem the word of
the Lord came again unto me, saying,
16 Moreover,
thou ben adam [why no
capital letters?], take thee Etz Echad a stick of wood, and write upon it, For
Yehudah, and for the Bnei Yisroel his chaverim Judah and the Israelites associated with him; then
take another Etz Echad, and write upon it, For Yosef, the Etz Ephrayim and for
kol Bais Yisroel his chaverim Joseph (that is, to Ephraim)
and all the Israelites associated with him;
17 And join
them one to another into Etz Echad; and they shall become achadim (one) in
thine yad hand.
18 And when
the Bnei Amecha your people speak
unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not show us what thou meanest by these?
19 Say unto
them, Thus saith Adonoi Hashem: Hinei, I will take the Etz Yosef, which is in
the Yad Ephrayim, and the Shivtei Yisroel his chaverim, and will put them with
him, even with the Etz Yehudah, and make them Etz Echad, and they shall be Echad
in Mine Yad.
20 And the
Etzim whereon thou writest shall be in thine yad before their eyes.
21 And say
unto them, Thus saith Adonoi Hashem: Hinei, I will take the Bnei Yisroel Israelites from among
the Goyim the nations,
whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into
their own land;
22 And I
will make them Goy Echad one
nation in the land upon the mountains of Yisroel; and Melech Echad one king shall be
Melech king to
them all; and they shall be no more two Goyim, neither shall they be divided
into two Mamlachot kingdoms
any more at all.
23 Neither
shall they make themselves tameh defiled any more with their gillulim idols, nor with their shikkutzim filth, nor with any of
their peysha’im rebellion;
but I will save them out of all their moshavot colonies wherein they have sinned, and will make
them tahor obedient;
so shall they be My people, and I will be their Elohim God. [This seems an incidental definition of God as Elohim.]
24 And Avdi
my servant Dovid [Moshiach] shall be Melech
[king] over them;
and they all shall have Ro’eh Echad; they shall also walk in My mishpatim laws, and observe My
chukkot decrees,
and do them.
25 And they
shall dwell in HaAretz the
land that I have given unto Avdi Ya’akov servant Jacob, wherein your Avot ancestors have dwelt;
and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their banim children, and their
bnei banim ad olam forever;
and Dovid Avdi [Moshiach] shall be their Nasi prince l’olam.
26 Moreover
I will make a Brit Shalom covenant
of peace with them; it shall be a Brit Olam everlasting with them; and I will
establish them, and multiply them, and will set My Mikdash sanctuary in the midst
of them l’olam forever.
27 My
Mishkan dwelling place
also shall be with them; yes, I will be their Elohim God, and they shall be My people.
28 And the
Goyim nations
shall know that I Hashem the
Lord set apart as kodesh holiness Yisroel, when My Mikdash sanctuary shall be in the midst of them l’olam
(forever).
[Genesis
1:26-28, changing to OJB:
I
read to consider and apply perhaps 5500 year old Sumerian political philosophy,
religiously referenced by Semite scribes of 3900 years ago, in Genesis 1:26-28;
in my paraphrase:
Female-and-male-human-being may and can
choose to practice the power, authority, and responsibility
to pursue necessary goodness and constrain evil. Civic citizens may
and can use the rule of law to develop statutory justice.
Political
and religious philosopher Yeshua affirmed Genesis 1:26-28, contributing ideas
in each Matthew 18:18 (no peace-power above humankind), Matthew 19:3-8 (mutual
spousal loyalty), Matthew 5:48 (pursue your personal perfection, which also
affirms Deuteronomy 18:13), 19:4-6 (don’t divide/lessen goodness), John
10:34-36 (non-evil humans are gods facing death as in Psalm 82:6), and in other
direct dialogue, such as “go and sin no more”.
Discussion
I think Genesis 1:26-28 informs humankind to flourish in
necessary goodness rather than accommodate badness and allow evil.
Quoting OJB below,
And
G-d said, Let Us make man in Our tzelem, after Our demut: and let them have
dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the
cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth
upon ha’aretz (the earth).
27 So
G-d created humankind in His own tzelem, in the tzelem Elohim (image of G-d)
created He him; zachar (male) and nekevah (female) created He them.
28 And
G-d blessed them, and G-d said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill
the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over
the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. See note, below.
Accepting
the power, authority, and responsibility to rule on earth is human
being (verb). Reliable human-beings pursue necessary goodness to actual
reality.
Note: OJB uses “Elohim” in Genesis 1 and 2,
excepting “G-d” in 1:24-31. Septuagint uses “ὁ θεὸς”, or God.
Since monotheism is a human
construct, I use the phrase, “The God, whatever it may be”, to express
objection to any doctrinal God yet reserve humility to ineluctable evidence and
remaining unknowns.]
No comments:
Post a Comment