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Introduction

Some signs of the Redactor's Handiwork.

Broken Intertextualities

Many preachers take a synchronic view between today’s interconnection between the Old Testament and the New Testament.

However, upon closer examination of the original Biblical sources in Hebrew and Greek discord is often seen. (GB, p. 107).

An example follows.

Notice the first phrase in the verse from the Old Testament as compared to the New Testament.

Isayah 25:8a—

He will make away with death in truthfulness.

1^st Corinthians 15:54—

Death is entirely gulped in a conquest the act of defeating by force.

Differences in Translations Done at Different Points in Time

Let us compare a phrase in 1^st Chronicles 28:9 from the Septuagint with the Hebrew Old Testament.

1^st Supplements 28:9—

If you seek him, he will let you find him, but if you abandon him, he will abandon you completely.

1^st Chronicles 28:9—

If you follow this plan: the wisdom will come forth existing of Yahweh to appear; but if you loosen this plan: Yahweh will push your wisdom aside perpetually.

And comparing the KJV and the N.E.T.S. we see.

KJV Old Testament, Genesis 4:7—

If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

From N.E.T.S , Genesis 7:7—

If you offer correctly but do not divide correctly, have you not sinner? Be still; his recourse is to you, and you will rule over him.

Terminology Related to Redactions

Related information (GB, p. 110)

pericope = A defined selection or passage from a larger literary work. In form criticism, a pericope is considered to have been passed down as a unit within the oral tradition prior to the "redaction" (compilation and editing) of the complete written biblical book.

redaction criticism = Type of biblical criticism which attempts to determine the process whereby various source documents were edited, or "redacted" to bring the biblical text to its final form.

• redactor = An editor; according to the Documentary Hypothesis, various source materials were combined, rearranged, and woven together to get the "final form" of the biblical text; this process is called redaction.

More Related Information (GB, p. 111)

source criticism = Biblical study methodology that focuses on the supposed "sources" or precursor documents thought to be "redacted" into the "final form" that came to be regarded as Scripture. Julius Wellhausen (1844-1918) is

well-known as one of the founders of source criticism. Discussions of JEDP are source-critical discussions. Similarly, New Testament scholars hypothesize a source document called "Q" for the gospels.

The Acts of the Redactors

Priestly Redactors of the Book of Numbers (GB, p. 169)

NUMBERS

The Fourth Book of Moses

Hebrew Title: Bamidebar ("In the Wilderness")

(The Book of Numbers (from Greek Arithmoi; Hebrew: Bemidbar, "In the Wilderness" or "In the Desert") is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible, and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah. The book has a long and complex history, but its final form is probably due to a Priestly redaction (i.e., editing) of a Yahwistic source made some time in the early Persian period (5th century BC). The name of the book comes

from the two censuses taken of the Israelites.

Numbers begins at Mount Sinai, where the Israelites have received their laws and covenant from God and God has taken up residence among them in the sanctuary. The task before them is to take possession of the Promised Land. The people are counted and preparations are made for resuming their march. The Israelites begin the journey, but they "murmur" at the hardships along the way, and about the authority of Moses and Aaron. For these acts, God punishes them through various means. They arrive at the borders of Canaan and send spies into the land. Upon hearing the spies' fearful report concerning the conditions in Canaan, the Israelites refuse to take possession of it. God condemns them to death in the wilderness until a new generation can grow up and carry out the task. The book ends with the new generation of Israelites in the Plain of Moab ready for the crossing of the Jordan River.)

The Major Deuteronomistic Redaction of the Book of Judges (GB, p.201)

THE BOOK OF JUDGES

Hebrew Title: Sefer Shofetim

Estimated Range of Dating: c. 7th–6th century B.C.

(The Book of Judges (Sefer Shofetim) is the seventh book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. In the narrative of the Hebrew Bible, it covers the time between the conquest described in the Book of Joshua and the establishment of a kingdom in the Books of Samuel, during which Biblical judges served as temporary leaders. The stories follow a consistent pattern: the people are unfaithful to Yahweh and he therefore delivers them into the hands of their enemies; the people repent and entreat Yahweh for mercy, which he sends in the form of a leader or champion (a "judge"; see shophet); the judge delivers the Israelites from oppression and they prosper, but soon they fall again into nfaithfulness and the cycle is repeated. Scholars consider many of the stories in Judges to be the oldest in the Deuteronomistic history, with their major redaction dated to the 8th century BC and with materials such as the Song of Deborah dating from much earlier.

The Redaction of Esther by the Great Assembly (GB, p.348)

THE SCROLL OF ESTHER

Hebrew title: Megilath Esther

Estimated Range of Dating: 4th century B.C.

(The Scroll of Esther is a book in the third section (Ketuvim, "Writings") of the Jewish Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible) and in the Christian Old Testament. It is one of the five Scrolls (Megillot) in the Hebrew Bible. The Megillat Esther (Scroll of Esther) became the last of the 24 books of the Tanakh to be canonised by the Sages of the "Great Assembly" **. According to the Talmud, it was a redaction by the Great Assembly of an original text by Mordecai. It is usually dated to the 4^th century BC.

A Hebrew-Greek Redaction Indicators for Jeremiah and Baruch (GB, p. 424)

THE BOOK OF BARUCH THE SON OF NERIAS or The Book of Bsaruch or 1 Baruch

Estimated Range of Dating: 200-100 B.C.

Book of Baruch and Book of Jeremiah: The evident variation among early Christian divines as to whether a particular reading is to be cited from 'Baruch' or 'Jeremiah' is generally regarded as relating to the very different texts of the Book of Jeremiah that are found respectively in manuscripts of the Greek and Hebrew Bibles. The version of Jeremiah in the Greek Septuagint texts (Vaticanus, Alexandrinus) is a seventh shorter than that in the Hebrew Masoretic Text or the Latin Vulgate; and the ordering of the chapters is very different, with sections from the middle of the book in the Septuagint version (the Oracles against the Nations) found at the end of the book in the Masoretic text and Vulgate. As Hebrew fragments have been found in the Dead Sea Scrolls corresponding to both the Septuagint and Masoretic orders, it is commonly accepted that the two versions derive from two distinct Hebrew traditions, and that the Septuagint form of the text is likely the older. Benedictine scholar Pierre-Maurice Bogaert suggests that, if the Book of Baruch is appended to the Septuagint version of Jeremiah, it follows on as a plausible continuation of the Septuagint narrative (Chapter

51: 31–35 in the Septuagint, corresponding to the truncated Chapter 45 in the Masoretic text). A similar conclusion is proposed by Emanuel Tov, who notes characteristics of a consistent redactional revision of the Septuagint text of Jeremiah from Chapter 29 onwards (correcting readings towards the Hebrew), a revision that is then carried over into the Greek text of Baruch 1:1 to 3:8, suggesting that these once formed a continuous text. Bogaert consequently proposes that the gathering of sections from the end of Septuagint Jeremiah into a distinct book of 'Baruch' was an innovation of Christian biblical practice in the Greek church from around the 3rd century onwards; but that the version of Jeremiah in the Old Latin Bible preceded this practice, and hence did not designate the Book of Baruch as a distinct work of scripture, but included its text within the Book of Jeremiah.

The text of Old Latin Jeremiah nowhere survives in sufficient form for this speculation to be confirmed.

The Evidence of Redaction of Susanna (GB, p. 427)

SUSANNNA also called Susanna and the Elders or (1st) Addition to Daniel (Hebrew Title: Shoshana) Etimated Range of Dating: 2nd century B.C. (In Judaism, all three items are separate and belong to the Deuterocanon, the Second Canon. In the Christian Bible, the Story of Susanna and the Elders, like Song of the Three Holy Children, and Bel and the Dragon, belong to the "Additions to Daniel." The Greek text survives in two versions. The received version is due to Theodotion; this has superseded the original Septuagint version, which now survives only in Syriac translation, in Papyrus 967 (3rd century), and exceptionally in a single medieval manuscript, known as Codex Chisianus 88.

Susanna (Hebrew: Shoshana, meaning "lily"), also called Susanna and the Elders, is a narrative included in the Book of Daniel (as chapter 13) by the Catholic and Orthodox churches. It is one of the additions to Daniel, considered apocryphal by Protestants. It is listed in Article VI of the 39 Articles of the Church of England among the books which are read "for example of life and instruction of manners", but not for the formation of doctrine. It is not included in the Jewish Tanakh and is not mentioned in early Jewish literature, although the text does appear to have been part of the original Septuagint

from the 2nd century BC, and was revised by Theodotion, a Hellenistic Jewish redactor of the Septuagint text (c. 150 AD). The Greek puns in the texts have been cited by some as proof that the text never existed in Hebrew or Aramaic, but other researchers have suggested pairs of words for trees and cutting that sound similar enough to suppose that they could have been used in an original. The Anchor Bible uses "yew" and "hew" and "clove" and "cleave" to get this effect in English. Sextus Julius Africanus did not regard the story as canonical. Jerome (347–420), while translating the Vulgate, treated this section as a non-canonical fable. In his introduction, he indicated that Susanna was an apocryphal addition because it was not present in the Hebrew text of Daniel. Origen received the story as part of the 'divine books' and censured 'wicked presbyters' who did not recognize its authenticity (Hom Lev 1.3.), remarking that the story was commonly read in the early Church (Letter to Africanus); he also noted the story's absence in the Hebrew text, observing (in Epistola ad Africanum) that it was "hidden" by the Jews in some fashion. Origen's claim is reminiscent of Justin Martyr's charge that Jewish scribes 'removed' certain verses from their Scriptures (Dialogue with Trypho: C.71-3). There are no known early Jewish references to the Susanna story.

The Editorial Composition of First Enoch (GB, p. 466)

THE FIRST BOOK OF ENOCH

The Ethiopian Book Of Enoch or 1 Enoch

Translation: Robert Henry Charles, 1911

Estimated Range of Dating: 300-100 BC.

(The Book of Enoch (also 1 Enoch; Ge'ez: Mashafa Henok) is an ancient Hebrew apocalyptic religious text, ascribed by tradition to Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah. Enoch contains unique material on the origins of demons and Nephilim, why some angels fell from heaven, an explanation of why the Genesis flood was morally necessary, and prophetic exposition of the thousand-year reign of the Messiah. The older sections (mainly in the Book of the Watchers) of the text are estimated to date from about 300–200 BC, and the latest part (Book of Parables) probably to 100 BC. The most complete Book of Enoch comes from Ethiopic manuscripts, written in Ge'ez*; which was brought to Europe by James Bruce in the late 18th century and was translated into English in the 19th century.

[* Ge'ez or Geëz or Geez, and sometimes referred to in scholarly literature as Classical Ethiopic, is an ancient South Semitic language of the Ethio-Semitic branch language. The language originates from what is now northern Ethiopia and Eritrea in East Africa. Today, Ge?ez is used only as the main liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the Ethiopian Catholic Church and Eritrean Catholic Church, and the Beta Israel Jewish community. The closest living languages to Ge'ez are Tigre and Tigrinya with lexical similarity at 71% and 68%, respectively. Most linguists do not believe that Ge?ez constitutes a common ancestor of modern Ethio-Semitic languages, but that Ge?ez became a separate language early on from another hypothetical unattested common language.]

Various Aramaic fragments found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as Koine Greek and Latin fragments, are proof that the Book of Enoch was known by citizens of the Roman Empire, Roman Jews and Roman "Pauline Christians". This book was also quoted by some 1st and 2nd century authors as in the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs. Authors of the New Testament were also familiar with some content of the story. A short section of 1 Enoch (1:9) is cited in the New Testament Epistle of Jude, Jude 1:14–15, and is attributed there to "Enoch the Seventh from Adam" (1 En 60:8), although this section of 1 Enoch is a midrash on Deuteronomy 33:2. Several copies of the earlier sections of 1 Enoch were preserved among the Dead Sea Scrolls which shows that it was also known by members of the ancient Messianic Movement who fought in the Roman-Jewish War 66-73 AD.

It is not part of the biblical canon used by Roman [Rabbinic] Jews or Roman Christians. Other Christian groups regard it as non-canonical or non-inspired, but may accept it as having some historical or theological interest. Interesting is that Ethiopian Jews [Beta Israel] as well as the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church consider the Book of Enoch as canonical; both groups in Ethiopia and Eritrea have often the same opinion when it comes to canonicity of scripture.

The Book of Enoch is today wholly extant only in the Ethiopian Ge'ez language, with earlier Aramaic fragments from the Dead Sea Scrolls and a few Greek and Latin fragments. For this and other reasons, the traditional Ethiopian belief is that the original language of the work was Ge'ez, whereas modern scholars argue that it was first written in either Aramaic or Hebrew, the languages first used for Judeo-Christian texts; Ephraim Isaac suggests that the Book of Enoch, like the Book of Daniel, was composed partially in Aramaic and partially in Hebrew. No Hebrew version is known to have survived. It is asserted in the book itself that its author was Enoch, before the biblical flood.

The first part of the Book of Enoch describes the fall of the Watchers, the angels who fathered the angel-human hybrids called Nephilim. The remainder of the book describes Enoch's visits to heaven in the form of travels, visions and dreams, and his revelations.

The book consists of five quite distinct major sections (see each section for details):

1. The Book of the Watchers (1 Enoch 1–36)

2. The Book of Parables of Enoch (1 Enoch 37–71) (also

called the Similitudes of Enoch)

3. The Astronomical Book (1 Enoch 72–82) (also called the

Book of the Heavenly Luminaries or Book of Luminaries)

4. The Book of Dream Visions (1 Enoch 83–90) (also called the Book of Dreams)

5. The Epistle of Enoch (1 Enoch 91–108)

Most scholars believe that these five sections were originally independent works (with different dates of composition), themselves a product of much editorial arrangement, and were only later redacted into what is now called 1 Enoch.

Christian Scribe’s Redaction of The Ascension of Isaiah (GB, p. 512)

THE ASCENSION OF ISAIAH

Original language: Ethiopic, Script: Ge'ez

Translation: Robert Henry Charles, 1900

Estimated Range of Dating: 100-150 A.D.

It is generally believed that the text is composed of three different sections written at different times, by different authors. The earliest section, regarding chapters 3:13-4:22, was composed at about the end of the first century AD or perhaps early second century and is believed to be a text of Jewish origins which was later on redacted by Christian scribes. Therefore the Ascension reflects a proto-Trinitarian perspective, such as when the inhabitants of the sixth heaven sing praises to "the primal Father and his Beloved Christ, and the Holy Spirit". Before that time, Christians only talked about Christ and God his father.

Redactions Understood by the Discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran

THE QUMRAN LIBRARY, PART 1

or The Dead Sea Scrolls of Qumran

Translation: Geza Vermes, 1962

Estimated Range of Dating: 200 BC - 68 AD

(In the early Spring 1947, Bedouin shepherds made an incredible discovery: in caves over the western shore of the Dead Sea they found thousands of written fragments that once have been stored in large sealed terracotta jars. Between 1947 and 1956, a team of archeologists then unearthed the manuscript fragments in a series of eleven caves around the site known as Wadi Qumran near the Dead Sea in the West Bank (of the Jordan River). The caves are located about one mile (1.6 kilometers) west of the northwest shore of the Dead Sea, whence they derive their name. Scholarly consensus dates the Qumran Caves Scrolls from the last three centuries BC and the mid-first century AD.

In February 2017, Hebrew University archaeologists announced the discovery of a new, 12th cave. There was one blank parchment found in a jar; however, broken and empty scroll jars and pickaxes suggest that the cave was looted in the 1950s. Caves 4–10 are clustered in an area lying in relative proximity 160 yards (ca. 150 metres) from Khirbet Qumran, while caves 1, 2, 3 and 11 are located 1 mile (1–2 kilometers) North, with Cave 3 being the most remote.

The Hellenistic period settlement was constructed during the reign of John Hyrcanus (134–104 BC.) or somewhat later, and was occupied most of the time until it was destroyed by the Romans in 68 AD. or shortly after. It is best known as the settlement nearest to the Qumran Caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were hidden, caves in the sheer desert cliffs and beneath, in the marl terrace. The principal excavations at Qumran were conducted by Roland de Vaux in the 1950s, though several later unearthings at the site have since been carried out.

From the discovery of the first Qumran Scrolls hope and fear ran high. Hope that the scrolls would reveal eye-witness accounts of Jesus' life. Fear that they would undermine the fundamental beliefs of Judaism and Christianity. The hopes of Christians (and consequently the Muslims due to the many accounts on Jesus in the Koran) were utterly smashed. Besides the rare mentionings of some messianic movements that awaited an aggressive leader like King David who would lead the Jews to military victory against the Greek and Roman occupiers of the Holy Land, there are no Christian writings or references to Jesus at all. The name Jesus (or rather the original form Joshua, Yoshua or Yehoshua) does not appear

in the Qumran scrolls at all, neither do any sort of references to Jesus or other characters from the New Testament literature. There are no writings from the Christians or about the Christians. This fact ought to make us think. Archaeologists have long associated the scrolls with the ancient Jewish sect called the Essenes, although some recent interpretations have challenged this connection and argue that priests in Jerusalem, or Zadokites, zealots, secari or other unknown Jewish groups wrote the scrolls. Today we know that each cave was used by a different religious group.

What these groups had in common was their fanatic fundamentalism, which could only be described as rigid, radical, militant and uncompromising, pretty much like modern Jihadist or Islamic terrorist groups. And this is the reason why the Roman Army was particularly uncompromising towards them. Between 66 and 73 AD., the Romans killed all of them, they erased the entire Messianic movement and their Judaist fundamentalism from the face of the Earth. This is the reason why nobody returned and the Qumran Scrolls came to us like a time capsule talking about warfare, religious fervour, fanatism and a capable military leader, a victorious messiah, the writers craved for.

Flavius Josephus wrote that some Jews escaped through underground tunnels from the Roman massacre in Jerusalem in 70 AD. Archaeologist have recently discovered them: the tunnels actually were the sewer system of the city.

The Qumran Scrolls, according to the most recent Roman coin found at Qumran, were hidden in the caves in about 68 AD., shortly before the arrival of the Roman Army that killed or deported all inhabitants.

Up to now, around one thousand manuscripts have been found at Qumran. They are primarily in two separate formats: as scrolls and as (ten thousands of) fragments of previous scrolls and texts. About 80% of the texts use Hebrew, with a handful written in Aramaic (for example the Son of God text; in different regional dialects, including Nabataean), and around 20 manuscripts are in Greek. Around 30% of those texts belong to the so-called inter-testamental writings. Most of them were unknown to us before their discovery.

The intertestamental period is the Christian term for the gap of time between the period covered by the Hebrew Bible and the period covered by the Christian New Testament. By historians it is considered roughly the time between the conquests of Alexander the Great and the Roman conquest of General Titus Flavius. By Christians, however, it is considered the time from the ministry of Malachi (c. 420 BC) to the end of the Second Temple period (530 BC to 70 AD) in 70 AD when the Roman Army destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem. Here a line of events that makes understand what happened:

• Last writings of the Old Testament, Malachi c. 420 BC.

• Alexander the Great c. 336 BC. Hellenisation and translation of the Jewish scriptures into Greek

• Establishment of the synagogue

• Greek and Aramaic become the common languages of the Jewish people

• Hasmonean dynasty (the Maccabees) in Judaea 167-37 BC.

• Herod the Great in Judaea, 37 BC– c. 4 BC

• Julio-Claudian dynasty in Rome 27 BC, until AD 68

• Province of Roman Judea created in 6 AD

• Revolt of the Messianic movement in Roman Judaea by the brothers Simon and Jacob in 46–48 AD.

• First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 AD), led by Eleazar ben Simon, Yohanan of Gush Halav (POW), Flavius Josephus, John of Gischala and Simon bar Giora

• Production of Dead Sea Scrolls of Qumran, c, 300 BC. - 68 AD. James the brother of Jesus killed, 62 or 68 AD.

• Flavian dynasty in Rome from 69 AD to 96 AD. Flavius Josephus becomes chief censor of the empire. The four canonical Gospels composed

• Titus Flavius Clemens becomes Pope Clement (from 88-99 AD)

Details of the documents found:

Owing to the poor condition of some of the scrolls, scholars have not identified all of their texts. The identified texts fall into three general groups:

1. About 40% are copies of texts from the Hebrew Scriptures (The Old Testament).

2. Approximately another 30% are texts from the Second Temple Period which ultimately were not canonised in the Hebrew Bible, like the Book of Enoch, the Book of Jubilees, the Book of Tobit, the Wisdom of Sirach, Psalms 152–155, etc.

3. The remainder (roughly 30%) are sectarian manuscripts of previously unknown documents that shed light on the rules and beliefs of a particular group (sect) or groups within greater Judaism, like the Community Rule, the War Scroll, the Pesher on Habakkuk, and The Rule of the Blessing.

Biblical books found:

There are 225 Biblical texts included in the Dead Sea Scroll documents, or around 22% of the total, and with deuterocanonical books the number increases to 235. The Dead Sea Scrolls contain parts of all but one of the books of the Tanakh or the Hebrew Bible. They also include four of the

deuterocanonical books (that were later included in Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Bibles): Tobit, Ben Sirach, Baruch 6 (also known as the Letter or Epistle of Jeremiah), and Psalm 151. We will not reproduce these books here for all these manuscripts are basically identical to those texts we use in our Bibles today. Only the language style differs slightly in some cases, and the spelling of words is more old-fashioned. The Book of Esther has not yet been found.

Non-biblical (inter-testamental) books

The majority of the texts found among the Dead Sea Scrolls are non-biblical in nature and were thought to be insignificant for understanding the composition or canonization of the Biblical books, but a different consensus has emerged which sees many of these works as being collected by the Essene community instead of being composed by them.

Scholars now recognize that some of these works were composed earlier than the Essene period, when some of the Biblical books were still being written or redacted into their final form. Most of these fragments belong to various Messianic and radical fundamentalistic movements and had been translated into English by Geza Vermes

The scrolls and fragments were given a kind of number code as name. A name such as 1QS.9.11 means "1st Cave Qumran, Serek document, 9th column, 11th line".

Indications of Missing Portions of The Epistle of First John

THE FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

The First Letter of John, or First John, or just 1 John,

Translation: King James Version

Estimated Range of Dating: 90-120 A.D.

(This epistle was probably written in Ephesus and is attributed to either John the Evangelist (John, son of Zebedee) or to John the Presbyter. The relationship of 1 John to the fourth gospel has been the subject of much scholarly debate.

They have a certain similarity in style, tone, and thought that seems to indicate they and the gospel seem to have been written by the very same author. But a closer examination reveals a poverty of style in the first letter compared to the gospel - the author quite frequently repeats a few favorite constructions, and his vocabulary is more limited than that of the gospel - and some real differences in thought. Some indications suggest that the gospel has been redacted from an original text with no future parousia hope or concern for the sacraments, and that such a hope and concern were introduced into the gospel by the author of the first letter. If this is the case (and it is all very tentative), the main text of the gospel is by one author and the first letter by another.

There are at least two grammatical arguments for the view that the epistle and the gospel were written by different authors. The first is that the epistle often uses a demonstrative pronoun at the beginning of a sentence, then a particle or conjunction, followed by an explanation or definition of the demonstrative at the end of the sentence, a stylistic technique which is not used in the gospel. The second is that the author of the epistle uses the conditional sentence in a variety of rhetorical figures which are unknown to the gospel.)

The Composition of the Jewish Mishnah (Oral Torah Teachings)

THE MISHNAH SANHEDRIN

Source: Talmud

Translation: Anonymus

Estimated Range of Dating 150-250 AD.

(The Mishnah the first written compendium of Rabbinic Judaism's Oral Law. According to Jewish tradition, God presented Moses with an oral law, known as the Oral Torah, as a complement to the written Torah (the Five Books of Moses). These kinds of laws often were described being "delivered by God", this is also the case for the Koran. In reality, those laws have a far older source as origin and date back to the written Law Code of Ur-Nammu (c. 2100 BC.) and the extant Law Code of Hammurabi (c.1760 BC.).

The text of the Mishnah describes the first written account of the early Jewish oral tradition in greater detail and the earliest significant work of Rabbinic Judaism. Without this tradition, it would be impossible to fully understand the written Torah. In some cases, the Oral Torah overturns the literal meaning of verses in the written Torah (one famous example being "an eye for an eye" of Exodus 21:23-25). At the time when Roman persecution of The Jews threatened the chain of tradition, in the first and second centuries AD.,

Rabbi Yehudah the Nassi (president of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Supreme Court) made the bold and controversial decision to have the oral tradition written down. To this end, he assembled the notes of various rabbinical scholars and redacted them into a cohesive system. This redaction is what we know as the Mishnah.

As a written authority it is second only to the Bible text and can be used as a source of authority for making judgements.

The Mishnah is divided into six orders (Shisha Sedarim) and over the next six centuries, along with further commentaries, came to form the Talmud. The major part of the text of the

Mishnah is written in Hebrew and reflects the debates which took place in the first and second centuries AD by a group of Rabbinic thinkers known as the Tannaim. It teaches by drawing on examples of specific judgments along with debates by notable Rabbis, and discusses problems from all areas of human existence.)

The Composition of the Didache

DIDACHE

The teaching of the Lord to the Nations

or: The Lord's Teaching Through the

Twelve Apostles to the Nations

Translation: Charles H. Hoole, 1885

Estimated range of dating: 90-150 AD

(The Didache (Greek: Didakhe, lit. "Teaching"), also known as "The Lord's Teaching Through the Twelve Apostles to the Nations", is a brief anonymous early Christian treatise written in Greek. Lost for centuries, a Greek manuscript of

the Didache was rediscovered in Constantinople [Istanbul] in 1873 by Philotheos Bryennios, the Metropolitan of Nicomedia. He found it in the Codex Hierosolymitanus. A Latin version of the first five chapters was discovered in 1900 by J. Schlecht. The Codex Hierosolymitanus (also called the Bryennios manuscript or the Jerusalem Codex, often designated simply "H" in scholarly discourse) is an 11thcentury Greek manuscript, written by an otherwise unknown scribe named Leo, who dated it 1056. The codex contained also the Epistle of Barnabas, the First Epistle of Clement and the Second Epistle of Clement, the long version of the letters of Ignatius of Antioch and a list of books of the Bible following the order of John Chrysostom. Hitchcock and Brown produced the first English translation in March 1884.

Adolf von Harnack produced the first German translation in 1884, and Paul Sabatier produced the first French translation and commentary in 1885.

The first line of this treatise is "The teaching of the Lord to the Gentiles (or Nations) by the twelve apostles". The text, parts of which constitute the oldest extant written catechism, has three main sections dealing with Christian ethics, rituals such as baptism and Eucharist, and Church organisation. A catechism, from Ancient Greek katecheo, "to teach orally", is a summary of Christian doctrine and serves as a doctrinal manual – often in the form of questions followed by answers to be memorized.

The Didache is a relatively short text with only some 2,300 words. The contents may be divided into four parts, which most scholars agree were combined from separate sources by a later redactor: the first is the Two Ways, the Way of Life and the Way of Death (chapters 1–6); the second part is a ritual dealing with baptism, fasting, and Communion (chapters 7–10); the third speaks of the ministry and how to treat apostles, prophets, bishops, and deacons (chapters 11–15); and the final section (chapter 16) is a prophecy of the Antichrist and the Second Coming. The opening chapters describe the virtuous Way of Life and the wicked Way of Death. The Lord's Prayer is included in full. Baptism is by immersion or by affusion if immersion is not practical. Fasting is ordered for Wednesdays and Fridays. Two Eucharistic prayers are given. Church organization was at an early stage of development. Itinerant apostles and prophets are important, serving as "chief priests". Meanwhile, local bishops and deacons also have authority and seem to be taking the place of the itinerant ministry. The Didache is considered the first example of the genre of Church Orders. The Didache reveals how Jewish Christians saw themselves and how they adapted their practice for Gentile Christians. The Didache is similar in several ways to the Gospel of Matthew, either because it was considered the first gospel or the other gospels were not written yet. The opening chapters, which also appear in other early Christian texts, are likely derived from an earlier Jewish source.

The Didache is considered part of the group of secondgeneration Christian writings known as the "Apostolic Fathers". The work was considered by some Church Fathers to be a part of the New Testament, while being rejected by others as spurious or non-canonical, In the end, it was not accepted into the New Testament canon. However, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church "broader canon" includes the Didascalia, a work which draws on the Didache.

The Didache was most likely written in the first half of the second century AD. The document is a composite work, and the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, with its Manual of Discipline, has provided evidence of development over a considerable period of time, developing from a Jewish catechetical work into a church manual. The teaching is anonymous, a pastoral manual which reveals more about how Jewish-Christians saw themselves and how they adapted their Judaism for gentiles than any other book in the Christian Scriptures. The Two Ways section is likely based on an earlier Jewish source. The community that produced the Didache could have been based in Syria, as it addressed the Gentiles but from a Judaic perspective, at some remove from Jerusalem, and shows no evidence of Pauline influence. Alan Garrow claims that its earliest layer may have originated in the decree issued by the Apostolic council of AD 49–50, that is by the Jerusalem assembly under James the Just [the brother of Jesus].)

The Formation of World Religion

The Addition of the Old Testament to Christianity

Marcion, a critic and therefore heretic of Roman Christianity, was clearly opposed to include the Hebrew Bible into the Christian canon. And he had very good reasons. His teaching made a radical distinction between the God of the Old Testament (the Creator, a wrathful and punishing god) and the Father of Jesus on the one side, and Jesus (the son of God, the Saviour and Christ) as the God of Love on the other side. According to Marcion, that distinction had been obscured at the very earliest stages of the Christian movement, and, among the Apostles, only Paul had understood it.

Because the corruptions that had consequently been introduced into the life and message of the church and into the very text of the New Testament had to be expunged, Marcion edited his own versions of the biblical books. His collection of those books that he regarded as authoritative: the Gospel of Matthew and five letters of Paul. His actions led to a battle inside the Roman Church that lasted for 150 years and was finally solved in 325 AD at the Council of Nicaea by accepting the Hebrew Bible also as Christian Scripture.

The Roman Empire’s Burning of Inspired and Troublesome Writings

Some Christian scholars talk about an Old Testamental Period, an Inter-Testamental Period (c. 500 years between c. 420 BC and c. 70 AD, in which was written nothing), and a New Testamental Period. The Inter-Testamental Period was actually created by the Romans as they have destroyed most Jewish texts created between c. 200 BC and 68 AD. These texts have been found again in 1947 when archaeologists rescued the Dead Sea Scrolls from the Qumran caves. The texts contained a lot of anti-Roman propaganda of the ancient Jewish Messianic Movement that led to the catastrophic Roman-Jewish war (66-73 AD). They show clearly what the fight was all about: a clash of two civilizations that had a fundamental difference in law: The (Jewish) Law of God, also called "the Covenant of Moses", and the (Roman) Law of Man.

Incorporating Ancient Traditions into Mosheh’s Writings

The Covenant of Moses is most likely based on the 100 "Instructions of Shuruppak" from Mesopotamia and the Maxims of Ptah-Hotep from Egypt. A Covenant - and the Covenant of Moses especially so - is a binding promise of far-reaching importance in the relations between individuals, groups, and nations. It has social, legal, religious, and other aspects. This discussion is concerned primarily with the term in its special religious sense and especially with its role in Judaism and Christianity; and to some extant in Islam as it devolved from descendants of the Messianic Movement (the authors of the Messianic texts such as the War Scroll, the Messianic Scroll, the Community Rule, found in the Dead Sea Scrolls of Qumran).

Finishing the Jewish Torah

(The final Torah is widely seen as a product of the Persian period 450–350 BC. A minority of scholars would place the final formation of the Pentateuch somewhat later, in the Hellenistic (333–164 BC) or even Hasmonean (140–37 BC) periods. The finalization of the Torah in Hellenistic times seems to be a possibility. The Elephantine papyri, the records of a Hebrew colony in Egypt dating from the last quarter of the 5th century BC, make no reference to a written Torah, the Exodus, or to any other biblical event.

The Talmud holds that the Torah was written by Moses, with the exception of the last eight verses of Deuteronomy, describing his death and burial, being written by Joshua. By contrast, modern scholars are certain that the Torah has multiple authors and that its composition took place over centuries. The precise process by which the Torah was composed, the number of authors involved, and the date of each author remain debated.

Composing of the Old Testament

The Torah had been made out of probably four distinct manuscripts that were re-arranged into five books later. In the mid-18th century, some scholars started a critical study of doublets (parallel accounts of the same incidents), inconsistencies, and changes in style and vocabulary in the Torah. Text analyses by German-speaking scientists result in the "documentary hypothesis" (DH). They identified 4 independent sources, which were later compiled together according to topic. The sources are named: J [the Jahwist source], E [the Elohist source], P [the Priestly source], and D [the Deuteronomist source]. The earliest of these sources, J, would have been composed in the late 7th or the 6th century BC, with the latest source, P, being composed around the 5^th century BC. These source names are based what is actually written in the Torah texts.

1. The 'Jahwist source' (J) is so named because of its characteristic use of the term Yahweh (German: Jahwe) for God.

2. The 'Elohist source' (E) is so named because of its pervasive use of the word Elohim to refer to the Israelite god.

3. The 'Priestly source' (P) is both stylistically and theologically distinct from other material in the Torah, and includes a set of claims that are contradicted by non-Priestly passages and therefore uniquely characteristic: no sacrifice before the institution is ordained by Yahweh (God) at Sinai, the exalted status of Aaron and the priesthood, and the use of the divine title El Shaddai before God reveals his name to Moses, to name a few. In general, the Priestly source is concerned with priestly matters – religious law, the origins of shrines and rituals, and genealogies – all expressed in a formal, repetitive style. It stresses the rules and rituals of worship, and the crucial role of priests, expanding considerably on the role given to Aaron (all Levites are priests, but according to P only the descendants of Aaron were to be allowed to officiate in the inner sanctuary).

Changes by the Conflicting Jewish Priesthoods

The history of Judah is little known when we look at the time its elite was taken captive to Babylonia. We also do not know much of the time after their return. A summary of current theories can be made as follows:

• Religion in monarchic Judah centred around ritual sacrifice in the Temple. There, worship was in the hands of priests known as Zadokites (meaning that they traced their descent from an ancestor called Zadok, who, according to the Hebrew Bible, was the high priest appointed by Samuel.)

There was also a lower order of religious officials called Levites, who were not permitted to perform sacrifices and were restricted to menial functions.

• While the Zadokites* were the only priests in Jerusalem, there were other priests at other centres. One of the most important of these was a temple at Bethel, north of Jerusalem.

Bethel, the centre of the "golden calf" cult, was one of the main religious centres of the northern kingdom of Israel and had royal support until Israel was destroyed by the Assyrians in 721. Aaron was in some way associated with Bethel.

(* 'Saducees', a Greek word corruption of the Hebrew word 'Z-D-K' by transliteration, which in turn came back to the Aramaic speaking Jews as 'Sedukim'. Z-D-K means "the just" or "the righteous" one, as in "James the Just", who was the brother of Jesus and is refered to as "the Teacher of Righteousness" in the Dead Sea Scrolls from Qumran)

• In 587 the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem and took most of the Zadokite priesthood into exile, leaving behind the Levites, who were too poor and marginalized to represent a threat to their interests. The temple at Bethel now assumed a major role in the religious life of the inhabitants of Judah, and the non-Zadokite priests, under the influence of the Aaronite priests of Bethel, began calling themselves "sons of Aaron" to distinguish themselves from the "sons of Zadok"

The Zadokite Priests Put the Rebellion of Korah in the Mouth of Mosheh

When the Zadokite priests returned from exile after c. 538 and began re-establishing the temple in Jerusalem they came into conflict with the Levite priests. The Zadokites won the conflict but adopted the Aaronite name, whether as part of a compromise or in order to out-flank their opponents by coopting their ancestor.

• The Zadokites simultaneously found themselves in conflict with the Levites, who objected to their subordinate position. The priests also won this battle, writing into the Priestly document stories such as the rebellion of Korah, which paints the challenge to priestly prerogative as unholy and unforgivable. This conflict grew to a full-scale civil war envolving several messianic movements (Zealots, Sadusees,

Pharisees, etc.) and Jihadist terror organizations such as the Sicarii. In 66 AD, this civil war culminated to the Roman-Jewish War that engulfed the entire eastern half of the Roman Empire. Titus Flavius Vespasianus had no other option but wiping out all messianic movements, distroying the "Temple of Jerusalem", killing the Messianic Army that brought 60.000 soldiers onto the battlefields. Titus Flavius Josephus, the adopted son of Titus Flavius Vespasianus, reported later these event in great detail in his book The Jewish War and gave a total death toll of 1.1 million. Vespasianus was hailed as the "Saviour" or "Messiah" of the Roman Empire.

Putting Deuteronomy into the Mouth of Mosheh in Babylon

The 'Deuteronomist source' (D) may refer either to the source document underlying the core chapters (12-26) of the Book of Deuteronomy, or to the broader "school" that produced all of Deuteronomy as well as the Deuteronomistic history of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings and also the book of Jeremiah. In general, the Deuteronomist source is concerned with Civil Law and rules for the daily life. This kind of law is commonly referred to as "The Law of Moses" but might better be called "The Law of God" as it refers to the tablets with their 10 Commandments. Those Deuteronomist Commandmends have in turn their origin in the tablets of the 100 "Instructions of Shuruppak" from Mesopotamia (c.2600–2500 BC). Even the title is the very same, because "Torah" means "Instruction".

The "School of Deuteronomism" is usually described in a narrative such as follows:

• Following the destruction of Israel (the northern kingdom) by Assyria in 721 BC, refugees came south to Judah, bringing with them traditions, notably the concept of Yahweh as the only god who should be served, which had not previously been known. Among those influenced by these new ideas were the landowning aristocrats (called "people of the land" in the Bible) who provided the administrative elite in Jerusalem.

• In 640 BC there was a crisis in Judah when king Amon was murdered. The aristocrats suppressed the attempted coup, putting the ringleaders to death and placing Amon's eightyear-old son, Josiah, on the throne.

• Judah at this time was a vassal of Assyria, but Assyria now began a rapid and unexpected decline in power, leading to a resurgence of nationalism in Jerusalem. In 622 BC Josiah launched his reform program, based on an early form of Deuteronomy 5–26, framed as a covenant (treaty) between Judah and Yahweh in which Yahweh replaced the Assyrian king.

• By the end of the 7th century BC Assyria had been replaced by a new imperial power, Babylon. The trauma of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 BC, and the exile which followed, led to much theological reflection on the meaning of the tragedy, and the Deuteronomistic history was written as an explanation: Israel had been unfaithful to Yahweh, and the exile was God's punishment.

• By about 540 BC Babylon was also in rapid decline as the next rising power, the Achaemenid Empire, steadily ate away at it. With the end of the Babylonian oppression becoming ever more probable, Deuteronomy was given a new introduction and attached to the history books as an overall theological introduction.

• The final stage was the addition of a few extra laws following the Fall of Babylon to the Persians in 539 BC and the return of some (in practice only a small fraction) of the exiles to Jerusalem.)

Redactions Due to Historical Context

The Tanakh and Old Testament

In Judaism the Hebrew Bible (The Tanakh) is not only the primary text of instruction for a moral life but also the historical record of God's promise, first articulated in his covenant with Abraham (who came from "Erech", the Mesopotamian City of Ur[uk]), to consider the Jews as Israel, his chosen people. That Abraham came from Uruk or Ur in Sumer is in so far important as it explains why we find so many texts from Mesopotamia (Sumer, Babylonia, Akkad: the Instructions of Shuruppak, the Gilgamesh Epic, the Flood Story, the Code of Hammurabi etc.) in the Old Testament.

The New Testament

(The New Testament is about a character that is known as 'Jesus Christ', 'Jesus of Nazareth', or, according to most original Greek texts 'Jesus the Nazorean' (meaning: "Keeper of Moses' Law"). The character of Jesus is based on a collection of texts which are called The New Testament. The New Testament is the centre piece of sacred Christian scripture.

The history, or better historicity, of Christianity and Jesus in shrouded in obscurity. There are not many records that exist outside the Christian communities. This brings some people to the supposition that Jesus never existed. All evidence indicate that Christianity, as we know it, is a Roman invention. With the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947 and the codices of the Nag Hammadi Library in 1945, there are indications that Jesus existed. However, Jesus, his biography, his teachings, his history, was probably very different from that what we know as official Church doctrine.

It is very important what records of ancient historians say, but it is equally important what they fail to say! Christian officials claim that Jesus lived between around 4 BC and 33 AD. The fact that Philo of Alexandria, one of the most diligent writers on matters of Judaism and the Holy land, did not record anything about either Jesus or a movement that could be identified as Christian leaves us with at least four possibilities: (1st) Jesus did not exist; (2nd) Jesus was not regarded as important in any way; (3rd) Jesus was active after the time of Philo (who died between 40 and 50 AD); and (4th) The Roman 'Propaganda Minister' deliberately destroyed all records that referred to Jesus, which was a common practice of Roman authorities at that time.

Although we have no archaeological or historical evidence, the scriptures of the New Testament as well as "The Jewish War", published by Titus Flavius Josephus in about 75 AD, could suggest that we might set the activities of Jesus around 1 or 2 decades later than previously believed.

When we examine the actual history of Jesus and Christianity, many of the answers provided by the Church and Christian scholars do not hold up to rigorous scrutiny. They actually leave us with more questions than we had before.

Here are the most important ones:

• Who was Jesus?

• Was he a historical character?

• Who wrote the Gospels?

• Why are the gospels written in Greek?

• Why did the gospels have a pro-Roman perspective?

• Why have the Romans approved of Christianity in the first place?

• Why was Christianity head-quartered in Rome?

• What did Jesus do in the 20 years between his adolescence and his ministry?

• Why did Judas Iscariot hand Jesus over?

• Who was "Judas Iscariot"?

• What does this name really mean?

• Did Jesus die from crucifixion?

• Why could Mary of Magdala take care of his dead body?

• Why has the Pauline Church written Jesus' family out of history?

• Who was John the Baptist?

• Why was not Peter but James the first leader of the Christian Movement?

• Why are the first Christian saints from the Flavian family?

• Who was the first historical Pope of Rome?

• Who really was Titus Flavius Josephus? (Is it a pen name?)

• Why are so many names in the Gospels dualistic?

• Why does Jesus look like the god Mithras?

• Why are Maria & Christ so similar to Maia & Krishna?

• Why do the teachings of Jesus have a Buddhist touch?

• Who persecuted whom?

Important Missing Writings

Lee Strobel interviewed[1] Craig L. Blomberg, Ph.D., who recently has been professor of New Testament at the highly respected Denver Seminary.

During the interview Craig shared the following information regarding the authorship of the Book of Matthew: Irenaeus, circa 180 c.e., said[2], “Matthew published his own Gospel among the Hebrews in their own tongue.”

Lee asked him, “If you isolate just the material from Q (Quelle, “source”), what kind of picture of Jesus do you get?” Graig replied[3], “Well, you have to keep in mind that Q was a collection of sayings, and therefore it didn’t have the narrative material that would have given us a more fully orbed picture of Jesus.” (So where is th0e scroll for Q today?)

The Roman Empire’s Acts of Persecutions

As the Saints were executed, their scrolls (books) were also burnt. History records the persecutions, for example during the reigns of Nero and Domitian.

Edicts of Domitian

Domitian had people put to death on the charge of “atheism,” which in fact meant the acceptance of Jewish customs. The accusation of atheism was leveled against both Jews and Christians because they refused to share in the official heathen cult[4]. Domitian[5] was a rabid opponent of Oriental cults, and combated Judaism and Christianity, the latter then being considered a Jewish sect by the Romans. In 95 he had his cousin Flavius Clemens sentenced to death and the latter’s wife, Flavia Domitilla, exiled, after having ensured their conviction for atheism on account of their adherence to Judaism (or Christianity). He stringently enforced the prohibition against conversion to Judaism and is said to have ordered the execution of all persons claiming to be descendants of the House of David. Suetonius (ibid.) himself relates that he was present when a 90-year-old man was subjected to an examination in public, in order to see if he was circumcised.

Edicts of Diocletian

Diocletian showed a certain tolerance toward the Jews, one of the reasons probably being that Judaism – unlike Christianity – had been declared a religio licita by the Romans. Thus, when he imposed a tax to provide sacrifices to the gods – a fact explicitly mentioned in the Talmud (TJ, Av. Zar. 5:4, 44a) – he excluded the Jews, but not the Samaritans, from this impost[6].

Christians rejected public festivals, refused to take part in the imperial cult, avoided public office, and publicly criticized ancient traditions[7]. Christians refused to observe the practices of traditional Roman religion[8].

During Diocletian’s persecution his first edict was issued Feb. 23, 303. Diocletian ordered that the newly built Christian church at Nicomedia be razed, its scriptures burned, and its treasures seized. February 23 was the feast of the Terminalia, for Terminus, the god of boundaries. It was the day they would terminate Christianity. The next day, Diocletian's first "Edict against the Christians" was published. The key targets of this piece of legislation were senior Christian clerics and Christians' property, just as they had been during Valerian's persecution. The edict prohibited Christians from assembling for worship and ordered the destruction of their scriptures, liturgical books, and places of worship across the empire[9].

Editor’s Epilogue

Revelation 9:20—

And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands…

Do we need a way back to the Truth?

The Hebrew Sources

When we examine the totality of the evidence herein presented is becomes very apparent that the prophet Yeremyah was making reference to the works which today we call the Old Testament.

Yeremyah 16:19—

O Yahweh, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles will come to You from the ends of the earth, and will say: Surely our fathers have acquired testimonies of a lying witness of a thing that is not what is appears to be, emptiness; and things of no value .

(Literal Translation of the Hebrew Bible)

The Greek Sources

Moreover, the evidence presented also attests that what we today call the New Testament has likewise suffered from corruption. They should remind Bible readers of the verse.

2^nd Corinthians 11:14—

And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. (KJV)

We need a way back to the Truth.

There is a way to restore the Truth.

(continued on next page…)

The Way of the Faith

The way is fully expounded in the book Spiritual Break-through, exclusively available on the web:

Spiritual Break-through (Book Details)

(those following Mashiach, i.e. Messiah).

https://zadokitebooks.com/
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FTD7HNPV/

For the Reader’s Notes

[1] Page 21, A Case for Christ, Lee Strobel, 1998.

[2] Page 24, Supra.

[3] Page 26, Supra.

[4] DIO CASSIUS (c. 160–230 C.E.), author of a Roman history, written in Greek, p.672-673, vol. 5, ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition

[5] DOMITIAN (Titus Flavius Domitianus), Roman emperor, 81–96 C.E. Son of *Vespasian and brother of *Titus, vol. 5, p. 746, ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition

[6] DIOCLETIAN, CAIUS VALERIANUS, Roman emperor 284–305 C.E., vol. 5, p. 673, ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition

[7] Christianity, Empire, and the Making of Religion in Late Antiquity, Jeremy M. Schott

[8] Citing Castelli, 38; Gaddis, 30–31, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diocletianic_Persecution

[9] Diocletianic persecution, great persecution, first edict, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diocletianic_Persecution.

The Acts of the Redactors

Broken Intertextualities

Differences in Translations Done at Different Points in Time

The Tanakh and Old Testament

The New Testament

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