Lineage of Jesus, The Odds, Page 3

Rabbi Rashi and the Messiah Prophecies

Rabbi Rashi, considered one of Judaism’s greatest interpreters of the Talmud, emerged at a time when the Dark Ages were transitioning from rule by barbarian tribes like the Huns, Goths and Franks into the feudal era when kings, queens, knights & lords ruled Europe.^[1] In the year 1040, Shlomoh Yitzha was born in Troyes, France.^[2]

As a Rabbi, Rashi was renowned for his wisdom and interpretation of the Talmud in simple terms. Jewish academies widely accepted and valued his commentaries mostly captured and documented by his students.^[3]

Commentaries of Rashi include some prophecies foretelling the arrival of the Messiah recognized as such by Christian authorities. One of the earliest is found in Jacob’s blessing of his son, Judah:

^{Gen 49:8-10} “Judah, [as for] you, your brothers will acknowledge you. Your hand will be at the nape of your enemies, [and] your father’s sons will prostrate themselves to you. A cub [and] a grown lion is Judah. From the prey, my son, you withdrew. He crouched, rested like a lion, and like a lion, who will rouse him? The scepter [shebet] shall not depart from Judah, nor the student of the law from between his feet, until Shiloh comes, and to him will be a gathering of peoples.” _{(The Complete Jewish Bible with Rashi Commentary)}

Rashi’s interpretation of Jacob’s prophecy included three prophetic aspects. Judah like a lion foreshadowed David who would become like a lion when the people made him their king.

The scepter, the Rabbi said, represents the royal lineage of “David and thereafter.” Shiloh refers specifically to “King Messiah, to whom the kingdom belongs.”^[4]

Another Messiah prophecy involved Moabite King Balak who realized his army could not defeat the Hebrew’s. His strategy, instead, was to press the prophet Balaam to place a curse on the approaching Hebrew nation, but Balaam’s response was a prophecy doing just the opposite:

^{Num 24:17} “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near; A star shall come forth from Jacob, A scepter [shebet] shall rise from Israel, And shall crush through the forehead of Moab, And tear down all the sons of Sheth.” _NASB

Hebrew text translations vary slightly between Christian and Jewish Bibles where a word in Hebrew text must be deciphered by translators. Christian Bible translations typically read “I see him, but not now;” Jewish Bible translations read “I see it, but not now” although the context inferred by the remainder of the prophecy is about a king, a male.^[5]

Rashi commented the opening phrase refers to the “greatness of Jacob” at a future time. Hebrew word shebet is translated in the Jewish version as “staff” whereas the same word is earlier translated as “scepter” in Jacob’s prophecy.^[6] Consistently, the Rabbi’s commentary says shebet represents “a king who rules dominantly.”

Micah 5:1/2 is a prophecy making specific reference to a future ruler of Israel and Bethlehem Ephrathah, the home town of King David. Micah’s prophecy is understood by Rashi, though opposed by some Jewish authorities, to mean the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem Ephrathah in the royal lineage of King David.^[7] His phrase-by-phrase breakdown with commentary:

^{Mich 5:1 (or v.2)} “And you, Bethlehem Ephrathah – you should have been the lowest of the clans of Judah-from you [he] shall emerge for Me, to be a ruler over Israel; and his origin is from of old, from days of yore.” – The Complete Jewish Bible with Rashi Commentary

“And you, Bethlehem Ephrathah”: [Rashi] “whence David emanated, as it is stated (I Sam. 17:58): “The son of your bondsman, Jesse the Bethlehemite.” And Bethlehem is called Ephrath, as it is said (Gen. 48:7): “On the road to Ephrath, that is Bethlehem.”

“you should have been the lowest of the clans of Judah”: [Rashi] You should have been the lowest of the clans of Judah because of the stigma of Ruth the Moabitess in you.

“from you shall emerge for Me”: [Rashi] the Messiah, son of David, and so Scripture says (Ps. 118:22): “The stone the builders had rejected became a cornerstone.”

“and his origin is from of old”: [Rashi] “Before the sun his name is Yinnon” (Ps. 72:17).

Commenting on “the stigma of Ruth the Moabitess,” Rashi said it is the reason Bethlehem is called “the lowest of the clans of Judah.” Expressing his distaste of Ruth, a Gentile, Rashi viewed the prophecy as defining her in the lineage of the Messiah, unsavory to have a Gentile in a Hebrew lineage.^[8]

Ruth was the Moabite daughter-in-law of the Hebrew Naomi, whose inheritance lost by the deaths of male family members, was redeemed by marriage to the Hebrew Boaz. Grandparents of Jesse, the couple were the great grandparents of King David.

Boaz himself was the son of Salmon who had married Rahab, a Gentile prostitute.^[9] Rahab was the hero who hid two Hebrew spies being sought by the Jericho King’s posse, then helped them escape.^[10] As a reward, Rahab was spared by the Hebrews when they destroyed Jericho.

Leaving no doubt his interpretation of Micah 5:1/2 is a Messiah prophecy, Rashi explicitly said the future ruler of Israel would be “the Messiah, Son of David” citing Psalms 118:22 as another messianic prophecy. The Messiah’s divine characteristic, “and his origin is from of old,” is called Yinnon by Rashi, a Hebrew epithet meaning “be continued.”^[11]

Zechariah 12:10 is a prophecy foretelling the Messiah’s manner of death, according to Rashi. Taking a side in the split view of Talmud contributors in Talmud Sukkah 52, he commented, “And our Sages expounded this in tractate Sukkah (52a) as referring to the Messiah, son of Joseph, who was slain.”^[12]

Christianity’s agreement with Rashi on the Messiah prophecies of Jacob, Balaam, Micah and Zechariah, part company on another prophecy, Isaiah 7:14.^[13] Isaiah’s prophecy, Rashi taught, was not about a virgin birth, rather it referred to Manoah’s wife, mother of Sampson, the Biblical strongman.^[14]

As a Rabbi, Rashi obviously did not believe Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah primarily due to a particular disqualifying reason. Specifically it was the circumstances of his death, according to JewishEncyclopedia.com citing Rashi – Jesus was hanged:

“The very form of his punishment would disprove those claims in Jewish eyes. No Messiah that Jews could recognize could suffer such a death; for “He that is hanged is accursed of God” (Deut. xxi. 23), ‘an insult to God’ (Targum, Rashi).”^[15] – Jewish Encyclopedia

Crucifixion of Jesus as a historical fact is undisputed by Judaism nor the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem in the royal lineage of the House of David. Ultimately, the question between Christianity and Judaism remains…what are the odds Jesus of Nazareth was a fulfillment of the Messiah prophecies?

Updated December 21, 2023.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

REFERENCES:

[1] “Dark Ages.” New World Encyclopedia. 2013. <http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Dark_Ages> “Middle Ages,” “Feudalism,” & “Renaissance.” Encyclopædia Britannica. 2017. <https://www.britannica.com/event/Middle-Ages> <https://www.britannica.com/topic/feudalism> <https://www.britannica.com/event/Renaissance> “feudal system.” Vocabulary.com. n.d. <https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/feudal%20system>
[2] “Rashi (Solomon Bar Isaac).” Jewish Encyclopedia. 2011. <http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12585-rashi-solomon-bar-isaac> “Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi).” Chabad.org. 2017. <http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/rabbi-shlomo-yitzchaki-rashi> Segal, Eliezer. “Rashi’s Commentary on the Talmud.” University of Calgary. n.d. <http://people.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/TalmudMap/Rashi.html> “RASHI – רש״י.” Geni. photo. 2022. <https://www.geni.com/people/RASHI-%D7%A8%D7%A9-%D7%99/6000000006709501378>
[3] “Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi).” Chabad.org.
[4] Rashi. The Compete Jewish Bible – with Rashi Commentary. Gensis 49. <http://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/9952#showrashi=true> “Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki).” Jewish Virtual Library. 2017. Mindel, Nissan. “Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi).” Chabad.org.
[5] Net.bible.org. Hebrew text. <http://classic.net.bible.org/bible.php>
[6] Net.bible.org. Hebrew text shebet <07626> Numbers 24:17. Rashi. The Complete Jewish Bible with Rashi Commentary Commentary.
[7] “Jesus of Bethlehem.” MessianicJewishTruth.com. n.d. Archive.org. 2013. <http://web.archive.org/web/20131103080951/http://www.messianicjewishtruth.com/Jesusbethlehem.html> “Who will emerge from Bethlehem.” Teshuvas HaMinim. 2011. Archive.org. 2012. <http://web.archive.org/web/20120902023316/http://www.teshuvashaminim.com/michah51.html>
[8] Mendel. “Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki).”
[9] Joshua 2.
[10] Joshua 6:25; I Chronicles 2:11; Matthew 1:5.
[11] Yinon (Yinnon).” eTeacherHebrew.com. 2016. <http://eteacherhebrew.com/Hebrew-Names/yinon-yinnon> Interlinear Bible. Psalms 72:17. BibleHub.com. 2014. <http://biblehub.com/interlinear>
[12] The Compete Jewish Bible – with Rashi Commentary. Zechariah 12:10 <http://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/63255/jewish/The-Bible-with-Rashi.htm> Soncino Babylonian Talmud. Sukkah 52a. <http://www.halakhah.com/rst/moed/16b%20-%20Succah%20-%2029b-56b.pdf>
[13] The Complete Jewish Bible with Rashi Commentary. Isaiah , Chapter 7. “Who is the Almah’s son?” Teshuvas HaMinim. 2011. Archive.org. 2012. <http://web.archive.org/web/20120425022737/http://www.teshuvashaminim.com/isaiah714.html> Robinson, B.A. “Isaiah 7:14 “Behold, a virgin shall conceive…”” Religious Tolerance. 2007. <http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_proi.htm> Gill, John. John Gill’s Exposition of the Whole Bible. Isaiah 7:14. 2017. https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/geb.html>
[14] The Compete Jewish Bible- with Rashi Commentary. Isaiah 7:14. CR Judges Chapter 13.
[15] “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jewish Encyclopedia. 2011.;

Abraham – Patriarch of Jews, Muslims and Christians

One of the biggest, if not the biggest, irony of all the major world religions is that Jews, Muslims and Christians have a common religious patriarch – Abraham. Muslims trace their lineage back to Ishmael, son of Abraham.^[1] Jews trace their ancestry back to King David, Jacob, and Isaac, son of Abraham. Similarly, Christians trace the lineage of Jesus through the line of David all the way back to Abraham.^[2]

As a Chaldean born in Ur of the Chaldees, a future region of Babylon, Abram moved with his father, Terah, and their entire family to Haran in the land of Canaan.^[3] Decades later as a 75-year old man, God told Abram to move his own family to an unnamed destination promising “…and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”^[4]

Faithfully, Abram eventually resettled not far from the mounts of Moriah near a city named Salem. Abram eventually questioned God … how would His blessing be honored since he and his wife, Sarai, were childless and very old?

“The Wanderings And Life of Abraham The Patriarch.” Ortelius – 1592

Second guessing God’s promise, the couple agreed that Abram would produce a child through Sarai’s maid servant, Hagar, their son named Ishmael. At age 13, Ishmael and his mother parted company with Abram with Ishmael going on to father the Arab nation.

When Abram was 99 years old, God changed Abram’s name to Abraham, Sarai to Sarah God and promised she would miraculously have a son at her old age of 90, the newborn to be named Isaac.^[5]

God’s blessing also included a promise that Abraham’s descendants would produce nations and kings, a seemingly difficult concept for a man who had no nation to call his own:

^{Gen. 17:5-6} “And your name shall no longer be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. And I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings will emerge from you.” _{(Complete Jewish Bible)}

After Isaac was older, God tested Abraham’s faith once again. He instructed Abraham to sacrifice his only son without whom the promise of a royal legacy would also die.^[6]

Human sacrifices were not uncommon in that era such as to the pagan gods Baal and Moloch. On the sacrificial alter, Isaac was spared at the last moment by the Angel of the Lord and was redeemed with a substitute sacrificial of a ram entangled in a thicket.^[7]

Isaac went on to marry Rebekah, a story in its own right. To them was born a set of paternal twin boys, Esau and Jacob, with completely opposite personalities.

Eventually Jacob, the second born, would deceive his blind father and steal Esau’s firstborn blessing.^[8] Isaac unwittingly passed along to Jacob his inheritance blessing that he received from his own father Abraham.

Enraged by the stolen blessing, Esau planned to kill his twin brother, but Rebekah tipped off Jacob who fled the country. Over the next 20 years in exile, Jacob fathered 10 sons through his first wife, Leah, and one to his second wife, Rachel. Jacob decided to risk returning to his homeland with all his family and possessions still believing Esau might want to kill him.^[9]

Ratcheting up the fear factor, the night before entering his homeland Jacob received word that Esau was coming to meet him with a band of 400 men – certainly not the appearance of a friendly welcome home party. In a dream that night, God changed Jacob’s name to Israel.^[10] The next day, Israel entered the land of Abraham and much to his relief, Esau welcomed him with open arms.^[11]

Rachel would die during the childbirth of Israel’s last and 12^th son, Benjamin. She was buried near Ephrath, in the district of Bethlehem, a very short distance from Salem, one day to be called Jerusalem.^[12] Israel’s sons would live to become known as the fathers of the 12 tribes of the Children of Israel.^[13]

Years later, Israel still often called Jacob, and his sons were forced to flee their enemies. Returning with his clan to the site of Bethel, he offered a sacrifice at the place where God had changed his name to Israel. God reappeared to Jacob and blessed him saying:

^{Gen 35:11} …”I am the Almighty God; be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a multitude of nations shall come into existence from you, and kings shall come forth from your loins. _(CJB)^[14]

A severe famine in the land of Canaan compelled Israel to send his sons to Egypt in search of food as his grandfather Abraham had once done. The second most powerful man in Egypt turned out to be their long lost brother, Joseph, whom the jealous brothers had sold into slavery years earlier and lied to their father he had been killed by a wild animal.^[15]

Returning home to get their father and families, eventually all would be joyfully reunited in Egypt with Joseph where they lived out their lives under his protection. Before Israel died, he gave a blessing to each of his sons. For only one son, Judah, did he provide a blessing of power and royalty describing him as a lion:

^{Gen 49:8-10} “Judah, [as for] you, your brothers will acknowledge you. Your hand will be at the nape of your enemies, [and] your father’s sons will prostrate themselves to you. A cub [and] a grown lion is Judah. From the prey, my son, you withdrew. He crouched, rested like a lion, and like a lion, who will rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the student of the law from between his feet, until Shiloh comes, and to him will be a gathering of peoples.” _(CJB)

Rabbi Rashi, one of Judaism’s most revered scriptural interpreters, identified Shiloh as the “King Messiah, to whom the kingdom belongs” and the scepter refers to the royal lineage of David and thereafter.”^[16] According to Rashi, the prophetic blessing of Judah was a pretext to the establishment of the kingdom of David.

Jesus of Nazareth is a direct descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, all of whom were blessed by God to produce a kingdom – was it merely by chance that Jesus was born in this lineage, one prophesied for the Messiah?

Updated August 29, 2023.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

REFERENCES:

[1] Qur’an Surah 2:127-128, 133; 3:68, 84. CR Surah 3:65; 4:163; 6:84; 19:47-52; 29:27; 33:7; 38:45-47.
[2] I Chronicles chapter 1. Matthew 1. Luke 3. Qur’an Surah 3:33; 19:58.
[3] Genesis 11- 12.
[4] Genesis 12:3; 15:4. NASB, NKJV, NRSV.
[5] Genesis 15, 17, 21. Qur’an Surah 11:69-73; 14:39; 21:72; 37:109-112. Ortelius, Abraham. Kestenbaum & Company. “Abraham Ortelius.” map. 1592. <https://www.kestenbaum.net/auction/lot/Auction-77/077-107> <https://i.pinimg.com/originals/61/17/5e/61175ea5254a4cb8979365ada64d42ea.jpg>
[6] “Human Sacrifices.” Bible-history.com. n.d. <http://www.bible-history.com/backd2/human_sacrifice.html> Hefner, Alan G. “Baal.” Encyclopedia Mythica. 2004. <http://www.pantheon.org/articles/b/baal.html> “Sacrifice.” Jewish Encyclopedia. 2011.
[7] Genesis 22.
[8] Genesis 25, 27, 29.
[9] Genesis 29-30.
[10] Genesis 32, 35.
[11] Genesis 33.
[12] Genesis 35.
[13] Genesis 35; I Chronicles 2. Qur’an cites the “Children of Israel” 41 times – Trans. Abdullah Yusuf Ali.
[14] Cross reference Qur’an Surah 19:6; 21:71
[15] Genesis chapters 37; 39-47. Qur’an 12:4-102, 111.
[16] Rashi. The Compete Jewish Bible – with Rashi Commentary. Commentary on Gensis 49:10. “Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki).” Jewish Virtual Library. 2017. Mindel, Nissan. “Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki – Rashi.” Chabad.org. 2017. <http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/111831/jewish/Rabbi-Shlomo-Yitzchaki-Rashi.htm>