Depth from the Jews

TIME magazine recently published an article titled “Ten Ideas That Are Changing The World.” In that article, the tenth idea is “Re-Judaizing Jesus.” This is what Marvin R. Wilson calls the Hebraic Wave.

Many scholars, professors, pastors, and even Sunday school teachers are beginning to see the desperate need for Christians to recognize the Jewishness of Jesus. In the TIME magazine article, New Testament scholar Amy-Jill Levine is quoted to say, “If you get the [Jewish] context wrong, you will certainly get Jesus wrong.”

In a previous article I wrote, “I believe that going back into the history of first-century Palestine will help the church deliver a clearer message and erase centuries of misunderstandings… As long as we rely on the intellectual Western mindset rather than the practical wisdom of the Eastern mind we face the danger of misinterpretation. As more research is done, and more study of first-century Jewish culture is undertaken, we are learning that the influence of Greek thought has sometimes clouded, or even twisted, the Christian message.”

Reading the ancient Jewish thoughts on the Tanakh (what Christians call the Old Testament) opens new windows into the world of Jesus. When those Jewish and Hebraic perspectives are absent, much is lost in the way of understanding the depth of the Scriptures.

Let’s look at one passage from the Jewish perspective, which will at least give us a clearer view of the text. Genesis 6:2 has always been a passage that is surrounded by mystery and many opinions. Usually, the sons of God and the daughters of men are thought to be angels (or angelic beings) and women (your average female variety of the human species). Or they are thought to be the men of God (the faithful) and the pagan women (those who didn’t follow God).

Now, let’s look at this passage from the ancient Jewish view from the 12th-century Jewish rabbi, physician, and philosopher, Moses Maimonides, also known as Rambam. According to Maimonides, the Jewish word adam has many meanings. Among them is the name of the first man who is created from adamah (earth), ”mankind” (which includes females), “the multitude,” or “lower-classes” (bene adam), which is in contrast to the high or distinguished classes (bene ish).

“It is in this third signification that it occurs in the verses, ‘The sons of the higher order (Elohim) saw the daughters of the lower order (adam)’” (Moses Maimonides the guide for the perplexed, 25). Here Maimonides couples the passage with Psalm 82, where people are referred to as “‘gods’; sons of the Most High.” By using scripture to confirm scripture, and with this Jewish understanding, it is very likely that the writer of Genesis interpreted the sons of God and the daughters of men to be the children of God and the pagans of the world.

Although there is much to be valued in non-Jewish biblical commentaries, I am in agreement with Professor Levine, and would have to say that if you get the Jewish context wrong, you will surely be missing out on the depth of biblical truths.

In His dust,
Johnny

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