Tag: Messiah prophecies

Psalms 22 – Catch 22 of a Crucifixion Prophecy

Posted on by K.B. Vogelman

Psalms 22 – Catch 22 of a Crucifixion Prophecy

 

Psalms 22 is retrospectively viewed by Christians as a foreshadowing or a prophecy consistent with Isaiah’s and Zechariah’s prophecies of a Messiah who is pierced. Some say it is neither, rather a falsehood.[1]

Prophecies are challenging due to many factors. Typically not straightforward nor easy to understand, a prophecy is often not fully or clearly understood until a full realization that it did, in fact, occur. In some cases, it may be clarified by other prophecies.[2]

Crucifixion does not need interpretation – Roman crucifixion had developed into a well-honed process by the end of the BC era. It was designed to extend death as long as possible while inflicting maximum pain and humiliation.

To have prophetic qualities, Psalm 22 would need to predict details about a crucifixion that are precise enough to avoid conjecture. Written at a time when the Roman Empire did not yet exist, the Psalm content appears more prophetic because the Roman-style crucifixion was not yet invented.

Jewish historian Josephus described an occasion where he was traveling with the Roman military when they came upon three of his Jewish acquaintances among many others being crucified along the road to Thecoa, not far from Bethlehem.[3] Struck with compassion, he pleaded personally to Titus Caesar to have mercy on them. Titus commanded them to be take down from their crosses and treated by Roman physicians, but still only one survived.

“I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.  Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet.  I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me.”[4]

Not quoted by a crucifixion victim known by Josephus, nor was it quoted by any other Roman historians who documented Roman crucifixions. The description was written by King David in Psalms 22 centuries earlier, yet the depiction is wholly consistent with that of a Roman crucifixion victim a millennium later.

Rabbi sages do not considered the Psalms as a book of prophecy; yet renowned Jewish sage Rabbi Rashi twice identified Psalms 22 verses as having futuristic implications involving David and the Messiah.

Rashi commented in the second verse, “David recited this prayer for the future” and later for verse 27, the Rabbi commented “The humble shall eat” meaning “at the time of our redemption in the days of our Messiah.”[5] Psalms 22, at least in part in Rashi’s words, is prophetic.

Raising the bar for prophetic difficulty are the very distinct actions in Psalms 22 – quotes and explicit activities. Since persons other than the victim were involved, they could not be replicated by the victim:

PS 22:7-8 All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads:  “He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.”(NIV)

PS 22:18 “They divide my clothes among themselves and throw dice for my garments.” (NIV)

Inflicted extreme suffering, specific actions, and spoken words in Psalms 22 are remarkably similar to the Gospel accounts of the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. A montage of Gospel verses reflects those similarities:

JN19:17-18 “Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha).” Here they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.

MT 27:36 “And sitting down, they kept watch over him there.”

MK15:24 “Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.”

LK 23:35-36 “The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One. The soldiers also came up and mocked him.” (NIV)

A second quote, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” opens the first verse of Psalms 22. These words were also uttered by Jesus when he was dying on the cross:

Ps 22:1 “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (NIV)

MT 27:45-46, MK 15:33-34 “Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’”(NIV)

Answers to two questions are in play:  is Jesus the Messiah and is Psalms 22 prophetic?

By the time Jesus uttered these words, he had already endured severe flogging, exposed raw flesh, severe blood loss, acute dehydration, exposure to the weather, hanging by nails from the cross, labored and painful breathing and in state of shock. In his excruciating misery and naked humiliation, he would have seen and heard the gawking and sneering crowd with their taunts and insults.

Jesus would have to know in advance – before his arrest, trial, and crucifixion with the most unlikely collusion between the Jews and their hated Roman enemies –  this opportunity would present itself in order to perpetrate a Messiah fraud by quoting from Psalms 22. No fraudster could know of this opportunity in advance, meaning having this advance knowledge would be supernatural.

Establishing a false Messiah image would have been fully dependent upon Psalms 22 being prophetic or else a false Messiah could not sell the fraud. Said another way, if the entirety of Psalms 22 was not prophetic, then quoting from it by the Messiah would be a pointless coincidence.

Catch 22

 

Apply the Doctrine of Chances to Psalms 22 containing at least five precise details that had to be met if the Psalm were to be a 100% fulfilled prophecy. All came to pass during the crucifixion of Jesus, according to the Gospels, making Psalms 22 prophetic.

What are the odds Psalms 22 is a Messiah prophecy fulfilled by the crucifixion of Jesus?

Updated June 21, 2024.

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

REFERENCES:

[1] Green, James. Psalm 22: Is it a Prophecy about Christ?” CultoftheLivingGod. n.d.<http://www.cultofthelivinggod.net/islam/Psalm%2022%20-Prophecy%20about%20Christ.htm> Berkovitz, Abraham J. The Torah. ““My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me?” — Jesus or Esther?” 2022. <https://www.thetorah.com/article/my-god-my-god-why-have-you-forsaken-me-jesus-or-esther>
[2] Bugg, Michael. “Types of Prophecy and Prophetic Types.” Hebrew Root. n.d. <http://www.hebrewroot.com/Articles/prophetic_types.htm> Brooks, Carol. “Prophecy.” InPlainSite.org. <http://www.inplainsite.org/html/old_testament_prophecy.html>  “Plaster Miodu. Psalm 22: Na krańce ciemności.” (translated:  “Honeycomb. Psalm 22: To the ends of darkness.”) YouTube. image. 2015. <https://i.ytimg.com/vi/rUjYzzjEHfw/maxresdefault.jpg>
[3] Josephus, Flavius. The Life of Flavius Josephus. #75. The Complete Works of Josephus. 1850.  http://books.google.com/books?id=e0dAAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false>  “Thecoa.” Bible History Online. 2017. <http://www.bible-history.com/geography/ancient-israel/thecoa.html>
[4] Psalms 22:14-17. NIV.
[5] The Complete Jewish Bible – with Rashi Commentary. Online English translation of the Tanakh (Jewish Bible) with Rashi’s commentary. n.d. <https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/16243/showrashi/true

Rabbi Rashi and the Messiah Prophecies

Posted on by K.B. Vogelman

Rabbi Rashi and the Messiah Prophecies

 

Rabbi Rashi is considered by Judaism to be one of the greatest interpreters of the Talmud. He 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, and as a Rabbi, Rashi was renowned for his wisdom and interpretation of the Talmud in simple terms.[2] 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:

like a lion, David would become like a lion when the people made him their king.

The scepter 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

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 blessing prophecy.[6] Consistently, the Rabbi’s commentary says shebet represents “a king who rules dominantly.

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.[5]

Micah 5:1/2 is recognized by Rashi as a prophecy making specific reference to a future ruler of Israel who comes from Bethlehem Ephrathah, the home town of King David. Although opposed by some Jewish authorities, Rashi believed this to be a specific Messiah prophecy.[7]

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, it was unsavory to have a Gentile in a Hebrew lineage.[8]

Ruth was the Moabite daughter-in-law of the Hebrew Naomi, whose inheritance was lost by the deaths of her sons, it was redeemed by marriage to the Hebrew Boaz. As the grandparents of Jesse, they were the great grandparents of King David.

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

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” referring to Psalms 118:22. The Messiah’s divine characteristic, “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 of the Messiah, 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 nor the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem in the royal lineage of the House of David is undisputed in that era by Judaism. Ultimately, the question between Christianity and Judaism remains…what are the odds Jesus of Nazareth was a fulfillment of the Messiah prophecies?

 

Updated August 1, 2024.

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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.;

The Place – Promises at Mt. Sinai

Posted on by K.B. Vogelman

 

The Place – Promises at Mt. Sinai 

 

Promises about the place were made at Mt. Sinai when God gave Moses the 10 Commandments. Building blocks for the Messiah and a key foundation for the Hebrews, these promises could actually be considered as prophecies.

Four new promises built upon upon the previous promise made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as the place for their descendants to possess. Additionally, God promised to establish a kingdom; the permanent place for His Name to dwell; the exclusive place for Israel to observe the Passover; and the Judgement Seat of Israel.[1]

Hebrews did not fully understand what it all meant and God didn’t give a lot of details for the place except it would be in the land promised to Abraham. None of these promises and expectations seemed like the remotest reality to the Hebrews who, after 400 years, had just fled the harsh rule of Pharaoh in Egypt, the only life they had ever known.

Starting from scratch, great faith in these promises was required from the fledgling nation of people. It seemed like an impossibility, especially for a ragtag nation of tens of thousands of former slaves without an army.

Doubts and lack of faith by the Exodus generation would cost them from seeing God’s promised land.[2] Yet, against all odds over the coming centuries, these promises became a reality.

Israel conquered its enemies in the land and each of the 12 tribes of the sons of Israel were allotted their own regions.[3] Formidable and now-experienced, the army of Hebrew warriors protected them even before the establishment of a kingdom.

A king, the most famous in Hebrew history, was born in Bethlehem in the lineage of Judah. It stemmed from the prophetic blessing of royalty from Jacob to his son.

David, the giant-slayer, ruled without a Seat of the Throne until he conquered and occupied the fortified city of Jebus or Salem. Soon thereafter, the city came to be called Jerusalem, also known as Zion.

A permanent place for the Name of God to dwell required a temple. Fundamental to a theocracy, this temple needed to be located near the king’s throne in the nation’s capital to be protected against heathen enemies.

King Solomon, son of David, built the Temple on Mt. Moriah as his father had decided. Known as Solomon’s Temple, the remnants one wall of the Temple is known as the Western Wall, a most holy place in Israel today.[4]

Consecrated and blessed by King Solomon, the first sacrifice was offered at the new Temple on its permanent alter. Miraculously, the sacrifices were ignited by fire sent down from heaven.[5]

According to God’s Law, the Passover was to be celebrated at its appointed time requiring sacrifices to be offered by the priests of God at a central permanent place of worship, in this case, it would at the Temple. Passover was then observed at its appointed time and the sacrifices were offered there by the priests of God.[6]

For a theocratic government, the Judgement Seat also needed to be located in close proximity to both the Throne and its Temple.[7] The most important and most complicated cases of the nation were to be judged in the place God chose.

Jerusalem became the Judgement Seat of Israel under the reign of Solomon where both major civil and criminal cases were decided. In a theocratic government, God’s Law served both as the criminal code and the basis for civil laws.

Civil cases were decided by King Solomon on the porch of his palace, then on the east side of the Temple in the Hall of Judgement.[8] Criminal cases involving the highest level of offenses, including capital death cases, were tried in the Temple Court accessed through the Chamber of Hewn Stone.[9] Built into the northern wall of the Temple, the chamber served as the meeting place for the 70 elders of Israel, eventually known as the Great Sanhedrin.[10]

Nebuchadnezzar destroyed and ransacked Jerusalem and the Temple as punishment because the Hebrews did not honor their Covenant with God as the people had agreed to do at Mt. Sinai. During the Persian Empire, the Temple was rebuilt under decrees by Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes; its gold contents returned, and observance of the annual Passover resumed until Jerusalem was destroyed by Rome in 70 AD.[11]

God’s promises from Mount Sinai laid the ground work for Israel’s future in the place and the foundation of various future Messiah prophecies. Over the coming centuries prophets Isaiah, Zechariah, Jeremiah, Micah and other prophets would give details and expectations about the coming Messiah who would come from the House of David.[12]

All the promises made by God at Mt. Sinai about “the place” came to pass. What are the odds it was all just an extraordinary coincidence?

 

Updated June 11, 2024.

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

REFERENCES:
[1] Deuteronomy 1:6-8, 39; 17:8-10, 14. CR Genesis 17, 22, 35, 49; Exodus 19:6; 23:20; Deuteronomy 1:8, 12:11, 16:2, 17:20.
[2] Deuteronomy 1:34-40; Numbers 13, 14:26-35.  Wood, Bryant G. BibleArchaeol0gy.org. 2009. “The Number of Israelites in the Exodus.” <https://biblearchaeology.org/research/chronological-categories/exodus-era/3943-the-number-of-israelites-in-the-exodus> “How Many Israelites Really Left Egypt?” JewishBelief.com. n.d. <https://jewishbelief.com/how-many-israelites-left-egypt/>
[3] Deuteronomy 3:12-17.  “The Twelve Tribes in Canaan.” Maps Database Source. map. 2020. <https://mapdatabaseinfo.blogspot.com/2018/05/32-map-of-promised-land-joshua.html#
[4] 1 Kings 6; 2 Chronicles 3.
[5] I Chronicles 6; Leviticus 9; Nehemiah 11.
[6] Exodus 12:14-15; Leviticus 23:4-8,; II Chronicles chapters 8, 29, 34-35:19; Ezra 6:16-22. Coulter, Fred R. cbcg.org. The Christian Passover. Chapters 12-13, Part 1. n.d. <https://www.cbcg.org/booklets/the-christian-passover/chapter-twelve-when-and-why-the-temple-sacrifice-of-the-passover-was-instituted-part-one.html>&nbsp
[7] Deuteronomy 17:8-10. CR Exodus 18.
[8] 1 Kings 3, 4, 7:7.  “Solomon’s Porch.” Encyclopedia of the Bible. n.d. <https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/encyclopedia-of-the-bible/Solomons-Porch>  “Solomon’s Porch.” BibleVerseStudy.com. n.d. <https://www.bibleversestudy.com/acts/acts5-solomons-porch.htm>  “Temple of Herod.” JewishEncyclopedia.com. 2011. <https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/14304-temple-of-herod> “Solomon’s Porch.” Bible-History.com. n.d. <https://bible-history.com/backdrops/solomons-porch>
[9] Schoenberg, Shira. “Ancient Jewish History: The Sanhedrin.” 2017. <http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-sanhedrin>   Shachter, J. and Freedman, H. Soncino Babylonian Talmud. Ed. Isidore Epstein Introduction. <https://www.halakhah.com/sanhedrin/>
[10] Exodus 18; Deuteronomy 1, 17; II Chronicles 19:8:4-11.  Shachter and Freedman.  “Introduction to Sanhedrin.”  Soncino Babylonian Talmud. <https://israelect.com/Come-and-Hear/sanhedrin/index.html>  Ariel, Yisrael. “The Chamber of the Hewn Stone.” The Temple Institute. 2014. <https://www.templeinstitute.org/illustrated/hewn_stone_description.htm>  Ariel, Yisrael. “Blueprints for the Holy Temple.”  <http://www.templeinstitute.org/blueprints-for-the-holy-temple.htm>
[11] Isaiah 52-53. Sanhedrin 16a, 17a. Shachter, J. and Freedman, H.  “Sanhedrin.” Josephus.  Antiquities. Book IV, Chapter VIII.14; Book XX, Chapter IX.4. “Ancient Jewish History: The Beit Din.” Jewish Virtual Library. 2017.http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-beit-din>
[12] Isaiah 7, 9; 11; Jeremiah 23, 33; Zechariah 3, 6, 12.