Micah5v2 - Tumblr Posts
Multiple Allusions to Christ in the Dead Sea Scrolls
Researched by Eli of Kittim
The translation is derived from The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered by Robert H. Eisenman and Michael Owen Wise (1992, Element Books).
The Messianic Apocalypse (4Q521) (Plate 1)
Fragment 1
Column 2 (1)[… The Hea]vens and the earth will obey His Messiah, (2) [… and all th]at is in them. He will not turn aside from the Commandments of the Holy Ones. (3) Take strength in His service, (you) who seek the Lord. (4) Shall you not find the Lord in this, all you who wait patiently in your hearts? (5) For the Lord will visit the Pious Ones (Hassidim) and the Righteous (Zaddikim) will He call by name. (6) Over the Meek will His Spirit hover, and the Faithful will He restore by His power. (7) He shall glorify the Pious Ones (Hassidim) on the Throne of the Eternal Kingdom. (8) He shall release the captives, make the blind see, raise up the do[wntrodden.] (9) For[ev]er will I cling [to Him …], and [I will trust] in His Piety (Hesed, also ‘Grace’), (10) and [His] Goo[dness…] of Holiness will not delay … (11) And as for the wonders that are not the work of the Lord, when He … (12) then He will heal the sick, resurrect the dead, and to the Meek announce glad tidings. (13) … He will lead the [Holly Ones; He will shepherd [th]em; He will do (14) … and all of it …
Fragment l
Column 3 (1) and the Law will be pursued. I will free them … (2) Among men the fathers are honored above the sons … (3) I will sing (?) the blessing of the Lord with his favor … (4) The 1[an]d went into exile (possibly, rejoiced) every-wh[ere…] (5) And all Israel in exil[e (possibly ‘rejoicing’) …] (6) … (7) …
The Son Of God Text (4Q246) (Plate 4)
Column 2
(1) He will be called the son of God; they will call him son of the Most High. Like the shooting stars (2) that you saw, thus will be their Kingdom. They will rule for a given period of year[s] upon (3) the earth, and crush everyone. People will crush people, and nation (will crush) nation, (4) until the people of God arises and causes everyone to rest from the sword. (5) His Kingdom will be an Eternal Kingdom, and he will be Righteous in all his Ways. He [will jud]ge (6) the earth in Righteousness, and everyone will make peace. The sword shall cease from the earth, (7) and every nation will bow down to him. As for the Great God, with His help (8) he will make war, and He will give all the peoples into his power; all of them (9) He will throw down before him. His rule will be an Eternal rule, and all the boundaries …
The God-Messiah of the Old Testament
By Author Eli Kittim 🎓
In the original Hebrew text, Isaiah 9:6 paints a divine picture of the Messiah, unlike the one erroniously drawn by traditional Judaism of a mere human being. In particular, Isaiah 9:6 claims that the “son” (בֵּ֚ן ben) that is given to us is called “mighty” (גִּבּ֔וֹר gibbor) “God” (אֵ֣ל el). This is reminiscent of Leviticus 26:12 in which God **literally** promises to become **incarnated** as a human being:
I will also walk among you and be your
God.
What is more, in Isaiah 9:6 the Messiah is called “the Prince” (שַׂר־ sar), “the everlasting” (Hb. עַד “ad,” derived from “adah,” which means “perpetuity,” “continually,” or “eternally”). In other words, this “son” that “is given” to us is from everlasting. As a supplemental observation, compare the similarities of Micah 5:2 (NASB) regarding the Messiah:
His times of coming forth are from long ago,
From the days of eternity.
In other words, he is **uncreated**! The Septuagint (LXX), an early Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, confirms this interpretation by also stating that this upcoming (messianic) ruler is from all **eternity.** In Micah 5:2 of the Septuagint (which is technically Micah 5:1 in the LXX), the prophecy is as follows:
ΚΑΙ σύ, Βηθλεέμ, οἶκος τοῦ ᾿Εφραθά,
ὀλιγοστὸς εἶ τοῦ εἶναι ἐν χιλιάσιν ᾿Ιούδα· ἐκ
σοῦ μοι ἐξελεύσεται τοῦ εἶναι εἰς ἄρχοντα
ἐν τῷ ᾿Ισραήλ, καὶ αἱ ἔξοδοι αὐτοῦ ἀπ᾿
ἀρχῆς ἐξ ἡμερῶν αἰῶνος.
English translation by L.C.L. Brenton:
And thou, Bethleem, house of Ephratha, art
few in number to be [reckoned] among the
thousands of Juda; [yet] out of thee shall
one come forth to me, to be a ruler of Israel;
and his goings forth were from the
beginning, [even] from eternity.
So we have compelling evidence from the very early Septuagint translation that the messiah to come is actually **uncreated,** and that he has existed from all **eternity.** This suggests that the “mighty God” of Isaiah 9:6, “the everlasting,” who is promised to become incarnated in Leviticus 26:12, is the same forthcoming messianic ruler that is mentioned in Micah 5:2 (Micah 5:1 LXX), whose “goings forth were from the beginning, [even] from eternity.”
Conclusion
Keep in mind that all this is coming from the Old Testament. We haven’t even touched the New Testament yet. Nevertheless, we find in the Old Testament numerous references to the messiah as an eternal, mighty, and incarnate God! And we haven’t even mentioned the deity of Jesus Christ in the New Testament:
In Jn 1:1 (‘the word was God’); Col. 2:9 (‘in
him the whole fullness of the godhead
[θεότητος] dwells bodily’); Heb. 1:3 (‘The
Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the
exact imprint of his being’); Tit. 2:13 (‘our
great God and Savior Jesus Christ’); ‘being
in very nature God’ (Phil. 2:6); ‘The Son is
the image of the invisible God’ (Col. 1:15);
‘our God and Savior Jesus Christ’ (2 Pet.
1:1); & in Jn 1:3 and Heb. 1:2 Jesus is the
creator and the ‘heir of all things, through
whom he [God] also created the worlds’; Jn
1:3: ‘All things came into being through him
[Jesus], and without him not one thing
came into being.’
Therefore, the eternal, timeless, uncreated, everlasting, almighty God (Rev. 1:8), who has always existed from all eternity, is the very same Creator-God who is promised to be born among us (Isa. 9:6; Mic. 5:2), and to “walk [וְהִתְהַלַּכְתִּי֙] among [בְּת֣וֹכְכֶ֔ם]” us (Lev. 26:12) “and be” our God!
The LXX was initially translated back in the 3rd century BC. This is clear evidence from the earliest sources that the messiah would be divine! The Micah 5:2 version of the LXX essentially confirms the DIVINE origin of the prophesied Messiah:
ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς ἐξ ἡμερῶν αἰῶνος.
It means that his origins are “from the beginning of days.” In other words, the messiah is the “Ancient of Days” (Aramaic: עַתִּיק יֹומִין, ʿatīq yōmīn; παλαιὸς ἡμερῶν, palaiòs hēmerôn), which is another name for God in Daniel 7:9!