OutSyed The Box

Old Testament, Torah, Hebrew, Aramaic, Moses, Jesus & The Quran

Posted: 03 May 2012 01:26 AM PDT

Different topic today. Something about "religion".

Once in a while we come across a really good book from which we derive much information, which can transform into useful knowledge. Here is an interesting book (available at Borders) which I am reading now. It is Peter Watson's nearly 1000 page "The German Genius". Watson, a Briton, is a fan of all things German.

The book covers a wide range of subjects to do with the German renaissance and the German intellect that dominated the world for about two centuries and even does until today.

An important focus was on religion and how the German intellectuals overcame religion. I read the following on page 66.

"The Bible also came under more systematic criticism when it was shown that the original Old Testament had been written not in Hebrew but in Aramaic, meaning the scriptures could not have been dictated to Moses by God : the Old Testament was not "inspired."

So the scholars say (not me ok, jangan marah saya) the Old Testament, including the Pentateuch aka the Torah (ie the first five books of the Old Testament) were originally written in Aramaic.

The same scholars say Moses was a Hebrew, who would have spoken Hebrew. Hence the Torah (or Pentateuch) could not have been dictated to Moses because the Torah was dictated in the Aramaic language, not in Hebrew. So they say (not me ok).

For the religious scholars (and for the Christian and Jewish religions) this simple statement is actually bigger than Pearl Harbour and colour TV combined. It means the Torah was not revealed or dictated to Moses.

To the Muslim and non Muslim reader, hang on, there is more to this from the Quran as well.

From the Arab Spring going on now, we have learnt that there is an 18,000 strong Aramaic community in a place called Malula in modern Syria. They still speak Aramaic as their mother tongue. And they include both Muslims and Christians. However modern Jews in modern Israel do not claim these Aramaic speaking people as "Jews" or being of Jewish origin. Interesting isnt it? Meaning these Aramaic people are not "Jews" ?

But Jesus too was believed to be an Aramaic speaker (again I am referencing what the scholars say). So was Jesus a Jew?

Perhaps to balance out this "anomaly" of an Aramaic speaking Jesus, in modern Christian scholarship, there is some dispute now if Jesus spoke Aramaic or Hebrew as his mother tongue. The "new" view is that Jesus spoke Hebrew but this view is derived, meaning it is an argument. And the argument is derived from the grammatical structure of the Greek Bible!! Fuiyyo.

For those who are interested, in the Quran there seems to be a difference between the Yahood (which is generally translated as Jews) and the Bani Israel. Bani Israel means 'the Children of Israel'.

The arabic word ya-hood is rooted in huda which means guidance. Literally ya-hood will be 'guided'. In the Quran, both Moses and Jesus were sent to the Bani Israel or the Children of Israel. It does not say that they were sent to the Ya-hood.

Strictly from a Quranic view, the connection between the Bani Israel and Yahood is therefore also derived.

Now going back to what I read in the book above : "original Old Testament had been written not in Hebrew but in Aramaic, meaning the scriptures could not have been dictated to Moses by God"

well folks, the Quran also never says that the Torah was taught to Moses. There is not one verse in the Quran which says the Torah was taught to Moss.

In fact, the Quran says that the Torah was taught to Jesus. Here are the verses:

[61:6] Recall that Jesus, son of Mary, said, "O Children of Israel, I am GOD's messenger to you, confirming the Torah

3:47 - 48 She (Mary) said, "My Lord, how can I have a son, when no man has touched me?" He said, "GOD thus creates whatever He wills. To have anything done, He simply says to it, `Be,' and it is. He will teach him the scripture, wisdom, the Torah, and the Evangel."

[5:110] GOD will say, "O Jesus, son of Mary, remember My blessings upon you and your mother. ... I taught you the scripture, wisdom, the Torah, and the Evangel.

[5:46] Subsequent to them, we sent Jesus, the son of Mary, confirming the previous scripture, the Torah. We gave him the Evangel, containing guidance and light

The Quran mentions in a few places that Moses was given a Book for example in 17:2 it mentions the kitab and the suhuf in 87:19. There is no mention of Torah.

The argument that the Torah was revealed to Moses cannot be supported directly by any verse in the Quran. It is therefore another derived argument. This is a point of accuracy only ok. No need for any suicide bombers. Chill.

This is a huge statement - because it pushes Jesus back by about 1000 years. This also does not contradict the statement by Christian scholars that Jesus spoke Aramaic or their saying that the Old Testament was also revealed in Aramaic.

As I said, this is bigger than Pearl Harbour and colour tv combined. Just something to ruffle your thoughts.

p.s. Dont bother asking your ustad what all this means.

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OutSyed The Box

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