Gordon - The Hebrew Yeshua vs the Greek Jesus

The Hebrew Yeshua vs. the Greek Jesus. New Light on the Seat of Moses from Shem-Tov's Hebrew Matthew. The cover of this book depicts a "Moses' Seat" unearthed by archaeologists at the ancient synagogue of Chorazin, Israel, an excerpt of Greek Matthew from the Codex Sinaiticus, and an excerpt from a manuscript of Shem-Tov's Hebrew Matthew.

 

Неемия Гордон - исследователь свитков Мертвого моря и эксперт по семитским языкам — проводит анализ древнего еврейского текста Евангелия от Матфея из манускриптов, которые долгое время хранились в безызвестности в архивах еврейских книжников.

 

Учения Иешуа, которые, по всеобщему мнению, формируют основы западного христианства, сегодня отфильтрованы двумя тысячелетиями традиций, зародившихся в неведении о земле, языке и культуре Библии. Современные христиане просто не понимают ни сути вопросов, о которых Иешуа вел полемику с фарисеями, ни Его самых важных наставлений, которым следовали люди, называвшие себя Его учениками. 

 

Исследования Гордона показывают, что более «современный» греческий текст Евангелия от Матфея, с которого были переведены западные версии, изображает «другого Иисуса», отличного от Иешуа, представленного в древней еврейской версии Евангелия от Матфея. Гордон разъясняет суть жизненно важного конфликта Иешуа с фарисеями, стремившимися стать правящей элитой иудаизма в первом столетии, и рассматривает этот конфликт под ракурсом, понятным как для еврея, так и для христианина.

 

First Edition, 2005

Preface by Avi Ben Mordechai

Foreword by Keith Johnson

Introduction by Michael Rood

Chapter 1: Whatsoever They Bid You Observe...

Chapter 2. Washing the Hands

Chapter 3. Understanding Phariseeism

Chapter 4. Was Yeshua a Karaite?

Chapter 5. A Contradiction in Greek Matthew?

Chapter 6. Greek or Hebrew?

Chapter 7. Shem-Tov's Hebrew Matthew

Chapter 8. Moses' Seat

Chapter 9. They Talk But They Do Not Do

Chapter 10. You Have Heard It Said

Chapter 11. A New Understanding

Appendix 1. The Testimony of Papias

Appendix 2. The Abomination of Desolation

Appendix 3. Absolute Authority of the Rabbis

Appendix 4. The Text of Matthew 23:2

Appendix 5. A Glossary of Shem-Tov's Hebrew Matthew 23:2-3

Glossary of Terms

Bibliography

 

 

As a Christian Pastor I am encouraged by reading The Hebrew Yeshua versus the Greek Jesus. Unfortunately many people will not get past the fact that the author is a Karaite Jew. I want to take this opportunity to challenge Christians to get past their prejudices about the messenger and focus on the message. By the way, I consider the messenger to be a great man in his own right.

 

When I met Nehemia Gordon in Israel, I was struck by his desire to not only study the Scriptures but more importantly his zeal to apply them to his life. I found out right away that he was not interested in "I think" theology. In other words, he was primarily focused on what was written in the Scriptures and not on how the church or synagogue interpreted them. This was a new concept for me as a seminary-educated pastor. Even though I was trained to "search the scriptures for myself" I soon realized that in many cases the English translation I was searching was not the same as the Hebrew Scriptures. I had to retrain myself to approach the Hebrew Scriptures as authority and not merely as a reference for "Christian living." 

 

When interacting with Nehemia I was pushed to have a scriptural reference rather than a doctrinal or traditional interpretation. He wanted me to understand what was written for myself rather than being dependent on him or any other person. I started to better understand the passage in the book of Acts: 

 

Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they searched the scriptures daily to see if what Paul said was true. (Acts 17:11)

 

Nehemia left his life in American culture and immersed himself in the life and culture of Israel. In the same way, Nehemia's book invites us to walk a similar journey. We have an opportunity to enter into the life, language and culture of Yeshua of Nazareth. Nehemia has presented the church a gift by writing about the message of Yeshua. 

 

The timing of publication could not be better. It was considered by some as radical and unconventional when Mel Gibson decided to make his movie The Passion of the Christ in the "foreign" languages of

Latin, Aramaic, and Hebrew with English subtitles. I could not believe how many "Bible-believing Christians" were caught off guard when they realized that "Jesus" didn't speak English. They were even in shock when they found out his name wasn't Jesus in the First Century. It showed me how far removed the church is from the language and culture of Yeshua of Nazareth. 

 

My prayer is that people of all faiths will take the time to open the gift of this book and read the message that will send us back to the first message from heaven: the Torah!

 

Keith Johnson Charlotte, North Carolina

 

 

Записано в январе 2005 года во время лекционного тура по Соединенным Штатам