Mistranslation as per the Jews

[Balzer]

What exactly do Mormons make of the Jewish position that Christians' belief in Christ as the Messiah is born of mistranslations of the Hebrew Bible?

Respectfully,

Balzer

[Tribunal]

That is an interesting statement. Could you be more specific?

[Balzer]

That is an interesting statement. Could you be more specific?

"MISTRANSLATED VERSES "REFERRING" TO JESUS

Biblical verses can only be understood by studying the original Hebrew text

[elguanteloko]

Here's a response that might be relevant:

[maklelan]

"MISTRANSLATED VERSES "REFERRING" TO JESUS

Biblical verses can only be understood by studying the original Hebrew text

[Bill Hamblin]

I have a couple of general observations related to this OP that apply to much of what happens on MADB and the web in general.

1- Never trust Internet sources. Anyone can say anything on the Internet, and they always do.

2- Never turn to anti-X sources for information about X. Jewish anti-Christians will not fully inform you of the issues any more than Christian anti-Semites will properly inform you about Judaism.

3- Try to gain an in-depth understanding about an issue before drawing a conclusion. Conclusions based on superficial knowledge and evidence are inevitably going to be made for the wrong reasons, even if you happen to guess correctly in any given instance. Knowing the right answer means understanding why an answer is right, not knowing a correct fact by happenstance--like guessing on a true-false question on a test.

That said, let's turn to example 1.

The Christian idea of a virgin birth is derived from the verse in Isaiah 7:14 describing an 'alma' as giving birth. The word "alma" has always meant a young woman, but Christian theologians came centuries later and translated it as 'virgin.' This accords Jesus

[Bill Hamblin]

As an addendum, if you want to understand how Isaiah was interpreted in the time of Jesus, read J. Blenkinsopp, Opening the Sealed Book: Interpretations of the Book of Isaiah in Late Antiquity (2006).

It is important to note that contemporary Orthodox Jewish interpretation of the Hebrew Bible is not the only Jewish interpretation, and has been strongly influenced by medieval Jewish commentaries, and often by overtly anti-Christian readings of the Bible (just as medieval Christians indulged in overtly anti-Jewish readings). Thus, you cannot turn to Rabbinic interpretations of the Bible to gain an understanding of how the text was read by first century Jews. There were many different schools of thought in first century Judaism, each with its own interpretation of the Hebrew Bible. The Christian NT interpretation is a very Jewish interpretation, even though it sometimes differs radically from how later Rabbinic Jews understood the text.

[volgadon]

The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (dating in its final form to around the Muslim conquest of Palestine) clearly identifies the servant of Isaiah 52-53 as a messiah.

[Balzer]

Although I truly do apprecite the informed and detailed responses, I really was just commenting on the phenomenon that a religion might attempt to attack another religion based on alleged mistranslations or misinterpretations of the Bible. It would seem that more than one can play this game.

Respectfully,

Balzer

[volgadon]

It would seem that more than one can play this game.

So in other words, you had zero interest in sincere response to your question, which was little more than an attempt to play gotcha.

[Mola Ram Suda Ram]

So in other words, you had zero interest in sincere response to your question, which was little more than an attempt to play gotcha.

So some one was just trying to troll for a response and was not really interested in the actual question they asked. I am really hurt by this.

[Balzer]

So in other words, you had zero interest in sincere response to your question, which was little more than an attempt to play gotcha.

No, I had every interest in sincere responses, I guess I just didn't state the question, or phrase the issue, clearly enough, which I tried to do with my subsequent post. I also remind you that I am a believer, and wasn't therefore going for a gotcha. Once again, Mormons will often defend their faith by saying others have mistranslated or misinterpreted the Bible. I thought it was interesting that at least some Jews do the same thing to question the Savior.

Respectfully,

Balzer

[Balzer]

So some one was just trying to troll for a response and was not really interested in the actual question they asked. I am really hurt by this.

Please see above post. All better now?

Respectfully,

Balzer

[volgadon]

No, I had every interest in sincere responses, I guess I just didn't state the question, or phrase the issue, clearly enough, which I tried to do with my subsequent post. I also remind you that I am a believer, and wasn't therefore going for a gotcha. Once again, Mormons will often defend their faith by saying others have mistranslated or misinterpreted the Bible. I thought it was interesting that at least some Jews do the same thing to question the Savior.

Respectfully,

Balzer

Or that plenty of evangelicals do the same to LDS, you seem to have forgotten that.

[Mola Ram Suda Ram]

No, I had every interest in sincere responses, I guess I just didn't state the question, or phrase the issue, clearly enough, which I tried to do with my subsequent post. I also remind you that I am a believer, and wasn't therefore going for a gotcha. Once again, Mormons will often defend their faith by saying others have mistranslated or misinterpreted the Bible. I thought it was interesting that at least some Jews do the same thing to question the Savior.

Respectfully,

Balzer

Sorry but that is not anagalous in any way. The LDS say that there has been some mis-translations in the bible. I am not aware of very many arguments that we use the mis-tranlation thing when defending our doctrine. And the times we use it it is very well justified. BTW we don't questions the savoir when we bring up mis-translations.