Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site ulysses.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!floyd!harpo!ulysses!smb From: smb@ulysses.UUCP (Steven Bellovin) Newsgroups: net.religion.jewish Subject: Re: Acceptance of Isaiah Message-ID: <804@ulysses.UUCP> Date: Wed, 21-Mar-84 20:21:04 EST Article-I.D.: ulysses.804 Posted: Wed Mar 21 20:21:04 1984 Date-Received: Thu, 22-Mar-84 04:01:22 EST References: <559@dadla-b.UUCP> Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill Lines: 30 From: russ@dadla-b.UUCP Newsgroups: net.religion.jewish Subject: Acceptance of Isaiah Message-ID: <559@dadla-b.UUCP> Date: Mon, 5-Mar-84 20:00:41 EST I would like someone in the Jewish community to confirm something about the Jewish acceptance of the Old Testament. I have heard that the Jews do not accept the Book of Isaiah because it is too difficult to explain the many references to Christ. Is this true? Is it just a portion of the Jews? Russell Anderson tektronix!dadla-a!russ No, this is not true at all. Isaiah is indeed Messianic in tone, but to describe it as Christological is to overassume. For many passages, it's simply the interpretation that differs; the text is unclear. In some other cases, it's a question of translation. For example, the most famous reference (Isaiah 7:14) refers to either a "virgin" bearing a child (the Christian interpretation) or to a "young woman" (the Jewish translation). Choosing between variant translations is a task few are competent to perform; even to experts, the meaning of some phrases is at best unclear. One other point: if -- as Jews believe -- Jesus was not the Messiah, the possibility exists that the stories told of him were deliberately cast in the mold of (more or less) vague Biblical prophecies; anyone who did not match those descriptions would not be accepted by the Jews of that time. For example, the Messiah, according to tradition, must be of the House of David -- and Jesus' ancestry is so described (but through Joseph, not Mary....).