Written by Mustafa Ahmed
The Lost
Torah
This article is a refutation to those who claim the Torah has
not been tampered with. This bold claim Christians make, that the Torah is exactly
the same “word for word” from the time of Moses will be analysed. Let’s start
off with what the Jewish sources have to say before we completely destroys this
nonsense made by Christians.
The Midrash (Devarim Rabba 9:9) tells us:
Before his death, Moses wrote 13 Torah Scrolls. Twelve of
these were distributed to each of the 12 Tribes. The 13th was placed in the Ark
of the Covenant (along with the Tablets). If anyone would come and attempt to
rewrite or falsify the Torah, the one in the Ark would "testify"
against him.
Similarly, an authentic "proof text" was always
kept in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, against which all other scrolls were
checked. Following the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, the Sages
would periodically perform global checks to guard against any scribal errors.
“Take this Book of the Law and place it beside
the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God. There it
will remain as a witness against you. 27 For
I know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If you have been
rebellious against the Lord while
I am still alive and with you, how much more will you rebel after I die!28 Assemble
before me all the elders of your tribes and all your officials, so that I can
speak these words in their hearing and call the heavens and the earth to
testify against them. 29 For
I know that after my death you are sure to become utterly corrupt and to
turn from the way I have commanded you. (Deuteronomy 31:26-29)
From the above statements we read that, Moses not
only wrote “13 scrolls” he also had one put in the Ark of the Covenant. The
“Torah scroll” which was put in the Ark of the Covenant, was a proof test that
would verify if the Torah which was in the hand of that individual was the
exact same as the one put in the “Ark of the Covenant”.
Here’s the problem, where is the Ark of the
Covenant now? How is one supposed to verify if he has the original Torah which
Moses commanded to be placed in the “Ark of the Covenant” What about those
other “12 scrolls” given to the 12 tribes of Israel, where are they? Why was the “Torah scrolls” placed in the Ark
of the Covenant in the first place, so they can be protected from any
tampering. What was the point of placing the Torah Scrolls in the Ark of the
Covenant when the object itself is missing, how absurd!
Isn’t it interesting how Moses said, after he
leaves, the Jews would turn to corruption and disobey all which he has commanded
them. “For I know that after my death you are sure to become utterly
corrupt and to turn from the way I have commanded you.” If Moses is a
Prophet of God, then surely his saying about the Jews would come to terms.
That’s a sign of a false Prophet according to the same “Torah” in dispute.
"When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the
thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the LORD has
not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid
of him. (Deuteronomy 18:22)
There’s also another problem added to this mess. According
Exodus 25:16, the Two Tablets with the 10 commandments were placed in the Ark
of the Covenant. Again how does one verify the 10 commandments which is written
in Exodus 20 is the same as written on the “Two Tablets” placed in the Ark of
the Covenant, when the Ark itself is missing? The idea that the Torah which is
read by millions of Jews and Christian as being the same as what was written by
Moses is totally absurd.
It’s ludicrous to make such a bold claim when you have no
manuscripts which go back to the time of Moses. If Moses supposed to have
written those “Torah scrolls” roughly around 3500 years ago, and the earliest
of manuscripts which we have under our possession dates to around 200BC, (that
is the “DSS scrolls”) how many years gap is there between the time of Moses and
the DSS scrolls? Nearly 1200 years! So
you now have a 1200 year missing gap between the time of Moses and the earliest
manuscripts, how then could you claim you have the original Torah which Moses
had written?
The tradition of preserving the Torah could not have been
possible with the Jews, since history tells us during their exile they had
nothing at hand. We also have many versions of the Torah at our hands, such as
the DSS, Samaritan Torah, Masoretic Torah, Septuagint Torah (copied from Hebrew
manuscripts into Greek). All of those versions differ each other one way or
another. Here’s a small sample of what I mean by differ.
He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers."(Genesis 16:12 Masoretic text)
Compare this to the Samaritan Torah
He will be a FRUITFUL MAN; his hand will be with
everyone and everyone's hand will be with him, and he will live among all
his brothers."(Genesis 16:12 Samaritan
text)
Notice the Significant difference between the two, especially
when it comes to the nature of Ismael Pbuh. The Masoretic Torah seems to make a
derogatory statement towards the Prophet of God Ishmael Pbuh. Whereas the
Samaritan Torah gives us a more honest and accurate image of Ishmael Pbuh,
which also fits with the promise God made about him in the Book of Genesis.
And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee:
Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him
exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.
(Genesis 17:20)
Ask
yourself this question, did the scribes of the Masorectic text make such
changes in order to conceal the true identity and nature of Ishmael Pbuh?
Unless the Masoretes who received the Hebrew mancripts were already corrupted?
But what did the Masoretes
themselves believe? Did they believe they were perfectly preserving the
ancient text? Did they even think they had received a
perfect text to begin with?
History says “no” . . .
Early rabbinic
sources, from around 200 CE, mention several passages of Scripture in which the
conclusion is inevitable that the ancient reading must have differed from that
of the present text. . . . Rabbi Simon ben Pazzi (3rd century) calls these
readings “emendations of the Scribes” (tikkune Soferim; Midrash Genesis Rabbah
xlix. 7), assuming that the Scribes actually made the changes. This view was
adopted by the later Midrash and by the majority of Masoretes.
Note that the matter of changing texts was known even in the time of the
Talmud. Therefore, according to the Halacha, what is to be done when we do not
know the precise text of the Torah?
In Tractate Soferim 6:4 it is said: “Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: Three
scrolls of the Torah were found in the Temple court: The Maon [instead
ofMaonah] scroll, the Zaatutei [instead of Naarei]
scroll, and the He [instead ofHoo] scroll…so they retained the reading
of the two [i.e., the majority] and abandoned that of the one [i.e. the
exception].” The decision was according to the majority of the scrolls, based
on “after the multitude to sway” (Exodus 23:2).
With no surprise the Masoretic text, written
around the (10th or 11th) century the first full codex is
taken from corrupted sources imagine that. There are many more such differences
throughout the individual versions of the Torah. I’ll add a few more so you can
see for yourself the Torah has been tampered with just as predicted in
Deuteronomy 31.
(How Old was Lamech when he had his son?)
When Lamech had lived 182 years, he had a son.
(Genesis 5:28 Masoretic Torah)
When Lamech had lived 188 years, he had a son.
(Genesis 5:28 Septuagint Torah)
When Lamech had lived 53 years, he had a son.
(Genesis 5:28 Samaritan Torah)
----------------------------
(How
long did Lamech live?)
Altogether, Lamech lived a total of 777 years, and then he died.
(Genesis 5:31 Masoretic text)
Altogether, Lamech lived a total of 753 years, and then he died.
(Genesis 5:31 Septuagint Torah)
Altogether, Lamech lived a total of 653 years, and then he died.
(Genesis 5:31 Samaritan text)
-------------------------------------
And when you have crossed the Jordan, set up these stones on MOUNT
GERIZIM, as I command you today, and coat them with plaster........
(Deuteronomy 27:4 Samaritan text)
Compare to
And when you have crossed the Jordan, set up these stones on MOUNT EBAL,
as I command you today, and coat them with plaster. (Deuteronomy 27:4
Masoretic text)
--------------------------------------
But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son's foreskin and
touched Moses' feet with it. "Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to
me," she said. (Exodus 4:25 Masoretic Torah )
Compare to
But seeboorah took a flint, and she CIRCUMCISED HER
BLOCKED HEART and she brought herself to his feet and she said you are
a bridegroom of blood to me," (Exodus 4:25 Samaritan Torah )
-----------------------------------------
Below we see Direct commandments have been added and
subtracted
"You shall not covet your
neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male or
female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your
neighbor."( Exodus 20:17 Masoretic Torah)
------------ Extended Version ----------------
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, and not thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his field, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that [is] thy neighbour's. And when it so happens that LORD God brings you to the land of Caanan, which you are coming to posses, you shall set-up there for you great stones and plaster them with plaster and you write on the stones all words of this law. And it becomes for you that across the Jordan you shall raise these stones, which I command you today, in mountain Grizim. And you build there the altar to the LORD God of you. Altar of stones. Not you shall wave on them iron. With whole stones you shall build the altar to LORD God of you. And you bring on it ascend offerings to LORD God of you, and you sacrifice peace offerings, and you eat there and you rejoice before the face of the LORD God of you. The mountain this is across the Jordan behind the way of the rising of the sun, in the land of Caanan who is dwelling in the desert before the Galgal, beside Alvin-Mara, before Sechem (Exodus 20:17 Samaritan Torah) |
We can see from all those above versions, that Torah was not preserved as Christians claim. The original “13 scrolls” which was written by Moses is missing and no longer with us. Another thing to add to all this is, when Moses wrote “13 scrolls” did he only write 13 individual scrolls the entire time or more? Here’s another portion from the Midrash which states:
- A Torah Scroll is disqualified if even a single letter is added.
- A Torah Scroll is
disqualified if even a single letter is deleted.
Ask yourself
from the evidence which I’ve provided, how many “letters and words” have been added
to the “Torah” can you honestly say those added words and paragraphs didn’t change a
single meaning to what was being said? The
Midrash goes as far as saying “anything additional added to the Torah writings
should be scraped” the problem is before we think of scrapping anything, we
first have to establish which came from the “Original 13 Scrolls” written by
Moses. And the answer it you can’t.
·
Interestingly The Aleppo Codex (c. 920 CE) and Leningrad Codex
(c. 1008 CE) were the oldest Hebrew language manuscripts of the Tanakh. If they
are the oldest full codex Bible in our possession, what about during the time
of Jesus what were they using? Without a doubt they were using scrolls copied
throughout centuries going back to 200BC. This is also acknowledged by a
Christian apologist by the name of “Sam Shamoun” famous for his hatred towards Islam.
We also have
another issue to deal with, and that is the Nash Papyrus, “A false impression has been created
among general readers that the OT has been transmitted through the ages exactly
word for word, and character for character." Such is hardly the case; even
the Ten Commandments differ in two versions.' See for instance Wurthwein's
analysis of the Nash Papyrus [Wurthwein, p. 34]. (THE HISTORY OF THE
QURANIC TEXT From Revelation to Compilation A Comparative Study with the
Old and New Testaments MUHAMMAD MUSTAFA AL-AZAMI)
Another question
raised by Christians is, was the Torah corrupted before or “AFTER” the advent
of Islam? One Christian apologist by the name of Alex
Kerimli called it the “conspiracy theory” let’s answer them using their
own Bible.
The
idea that he Torah was corrupted after the advent of Islam is nonsensical. It’s
like saying ”was the Torah revealed to Adam and the Gospel to Moses”. However
let’s show how the Torah was corrupted by Jesus himself whom Christians follow.
What would you say if we told you that Jesus
himself altered the text? Hard to believe right, well we have evidence
from the New Testament where Jesus altered the text. If we go to the Book of
Luke on chapter 4 verse 16 &17 it reads:
And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought
up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and
stood up to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah.
And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, (Luke
4:16-17)
Here we read Jesus went inside a synagogue on a Sabbath
day, stood up and read from the scroll of Isaiah. The next few verses tell us
what Jesus read:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath
anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the
brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight
to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, (Luke 4:18)
Jesus read a verse from the Book of Isaiah chapter
61 verse 1. It would seem without doubt he read from the ancient scrolls, which
would have been preserved by the orthodox rabbis. Just to be on the safe side
let’s compare Jesus’s reading with the Hebrew Bible, and see if they really
line up word for word.
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the
LORD has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the
brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and freedom to the
prisoners; to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor, and the day of our God's
vengeance; to comfort all who mourn (Isaiah 61:1)
If you compare the two passages side by side you’ll notice one thing
added and one thing removed. Jesus added “and recovery of sight to the blind”
and removed “and the day of our God’s vengeance.” Luke tells us, Luke
4:16-17 He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. As usual, He entered
the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read. (17) The scroll of the
prophet Isaiah was given to Him, and unrolling the scroll, He found the place
where it was written: We’re not really given the option of saying that Jesus
was roughly paraphrasing because He actually took the scroll and turned to the
passage, implying that he read it. When he quit, he rolled up the scroll, gave
it back to the attendant, and sat down (v. 20). Of course He could have turned
to it and then simply looked up and spoke from memory. I’m sure He had most, if
not all, of the Scriptures memorized at this point in His life. However, if we
say that, there are two problems. One is that we are making an unnatural
assumption. Jesus took the book, opened to the right page and then didn’t read
it? That doesn’t seem right.
Second, we’d be saying that Jesus’ memory did not stand up to the test and He misquoted the Scriptures! In case you’re wondering, these differences are reflected in the Greek and Hebrew texts as well so it’s not a modern translational error.
Second, we’d be saying that Jesus’ memory did not stand up to the test and He misquoted the Scriptures! In case you’re wondering, these differences are reflected in the Greek and Hebrew texts as well so it’s not a modern translational error.
Now you have two options to choose from. Could it be the scroll Jesus
was given to read was corrupted, or that Jesus himself corrupted the text? It seem more likely from the
New Testament, that Jesus of the Bible altered and added his own word to
scriptures. Which means he went against the command of Yahweh, as found in
Deuteronomy 4:2
If the Septuagint was written before the time of Jesus, followed by the
Masoretic after the advent of Islam and they both differ in many places what
does that tell you. It’s pretty clear Jesus changed the words from the scroll
which he was reading from. Unless the scroll which Jesus was reading from was
different from the Septuagint which creates a bigger problem and proving the
fact the Torah was changed before the advent of Islam.
Also just for the record Luke 4:18-19 says that Jesus read
from the scroll of Isaiah, but the text given was not on any scroll of Isaiah.
As Robert J. Karris writes in 'The New Jerome Bible Commentary' (section 43:59)
'As the analysis of verses 18-19 will make clear, this Isaiah text is not to be
found on a synagogue scroll. It is an artistic text, woven from Isa 61:1-2 and
Isa 58:6.' Luke quotes from the Septuagint version of Isaiah and quotes Isaiah
61:1 a,b,d, Isaiah 58:6 d and Isaiah 61:2 a. Luke mixed together two different
chapters from Isaiah.
Now if Christians believe all scriptures are God breathed and
inspired then was Moses speaking the truth about Jews turning to Corruption!
How about the Torah being distorted by false scribes, I'll leave that to you.
---------------------
Christians keep
bringing up the same old argument, that if Allah Swt revealed the Torah why don’t
we believe in the Torah and follow it? There are many reason why we don’t follow
the Torah which you have. Firstly, the Torah was given to Moses Pbuh, which was
to be followed by the children of Israel. It was a guidance for the children of
Israel only. the Torah was entrusted to the rabbis and doctors of law as mentioned
in Surah 5:44, but unfortunately, they could not preserve it. throughout time the Jews became hard hearted their
faith wasn’t as strong and committed as their forefathers were. They started to
distort and change the words of God, writing words which were not from God as
mentioned in Surah 2:27 and 2:79 for breaching their covenant which they made
with God Almighty, they have been cursed as found in Surah 5:13. Secondly we have
not been commanded to follow the Torah, yes we are to believe in the Torah
which “was” revealed by Allah Swt to Moses Pbuh. We also have Hadith which explicitly tells us Torah has been changed/corrupted
The Bani Israel wrote a book, they
followed it and left the Torah. (This hadith was reported in Tabarani’s Al
Mu’jam Al Awsat and was authenticated by
Sheikh Nasr Al Deen Al Albani in his Silsila Al Ahaadeeth Al Saheeha , hadith no. 2832.)
Sheikh Nasr Al Deen Al Albani in his Silsila Al Ahaadeeth Al Saheeha , hadith no. 2832.)
The Prophet peace be upon him said…
The Bani Israel as a long time passed
and their hearts became hardened, they invented a book from themselves. It took
over their hearts and their tongues.
(This hadith was reported in Al Bayhaqi’s
Shu’b Al Eemaan, Volume 2, no.439. Sheikh Nasr Al Deen Al Albani has authenticated this hadith in his Silsila Al Ahaadeeth Al Saheeha , hadith no. 2694.)
(This hadith was reported in Al Bayhaqi’s
Shu’b Al Eemaan, Volume 2, no.439. Sheikh Nasr Al Deen Al Albani has authenticated this hadith in his Silsila Al Ahaadeeth Al Saheeha , hadith no. 2694.)
This should be sufficient prove, that the Torah which Christians and
Jews read is not the original Torah given to Moses Pbuh
Now let’s go little deeper, when Christians tells us why don’t we follow
the Torah which they have, what exactly do they mean? What’s ironic is, many Christians don’t even
know what “TORAH” means. The word Torah means "to
guide/teach" (cf. Lev 10:11). The meaning of the word
is therefore "teaching", "doctrine", or "instruction"
or commonly known as the Law.
Now if
the word “Torah” means teaching or instruction Muslims don’t have a problem
with that, let me elaborate. There are 613 Laws in the “TORAH” 613
instructions and rules, take for instance
Not to commit sodomy with one's father (Lev. 18:7)
Not to commit incest with one's father's wife (Lev. 18:8)
Not to commit sodomy with one's father's brother (Lev. 18:14)
Not to commit sodomy with a male (Lev. 18:22)
Not to do wrong in buying or selling (Lev. 25:14)
Not to borrow on interest (Deut. 23:20)
That one who possesses evidence shall testify in Court (Lev. 5:1)
Not to steal personal property (Lev. 19:11)
Not to defraud (Lev. 19:13) etc..
Th above
Laws are not a problem for Muslims. When you say TORAH, you mean LAW and INSTRUCTIONS.
Why then do you expect us to believe in the 5 books of the Pentateuch, when
there is only 613 Laws which make up the TORAH. Those laws also come with
instructions. Why should we believe in the stories found within the Law? Those stories
found in, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy are meaningless
since the Torah doesn’t mean stories why should we accept them. Think about it,
the 5 books of the Pentateuch, speak of the creation and fall of man, how
people fought each other, how kingdom and empire were built. How man defied God
etc. within all those stories are the Law of God (Torah). Some laws were specifically
for the Jewish Sabbatical and Jubilee Years
others where for the Jewish court and judicial procedure. But many are still
applicable for modern times, which Muslims wont have a problem with. Take for
instance Not to slay an innocent person (Ex. 20:13) Not
to defraud (Lev. 19:13) Not to turn one's attention to idolatry (Lev.
19:4) To destroy idolatry and its appurtenances (Deut. 12:2-3)
etc..
Next time Christians tells you why don’t you follow the Torah, since
it’s a revelation from your God. Correct them on what the Torah means. Torah does not mean the 5 books of the Pentateuch,
i.e. the creation story, biographies of Prophets etc.. rather it means Laws, Instructions and teaching.
Another interesting point is, Joshua on many occasions refers to the Torah as
the “Law of Moses” even the New Testament, refers the Torah as the “Law of
Moses”.
My people are destroyed for lack
of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a
priest to me. And since you have "FORGOTTEN THE LAW OF YOUR GOD", I
also will forget your children. (Hosea 4:6)
Here the word Law in Hebrew is
"Torah תּוֹרַ֣ת,” thus the Jewish rabbis are
being accused of forgetting the Torah i.e. Law, Instruction, teachings. The question
is did they not have the Book of Moses with them? Christians claim this book
was always with the Jews so what happened?
Case closed!
"that most of the nation completely forgot Torah and the commandments" (Numbers 15:22 Rambam)
"and in 55 years the Torah was forgotten.” (2 Kings 22: 8 Radak)
When
we say the Torah is corrupted we mean the “Law/Instructions/Teachings” have
been corrupted. Also, why are there 613 laws, why not 650 why stop at 613? Was
this divinely inspired or another handy work of the rabbis? Funny enough we
have good reason to believe this was made up by a rabbi.
The first
report that the Torah contains 613 commandments dates to the third century CE,
when Rabbi Simlai mentioned this concept in a sermon that is recorded in
the Babylonian Talmud, Makkot 23b.
The Talmud states: “Rabbi Simlai gave as a sermon [darash
Rabi Simlai]: 613 commandments were communicated to Moses – 365
negative commands, corresponding to the number of solar days [in a year], and
248 positive commands, corresponding to the number of the members [bones
covered with flesh] of a man’s body.” It thus appears that Rabbi Simlai
invented the number 613 because it fit his sermon: A person should observe the
Torah with all his body parts (248) every day (365). The two numbers add up to
613.
As far as
we know, no one thought there were 613 biblical commandments before Rabbi
Simlai offered his sermon. In fact, 150 years before Rabbi Simlai, ben
Azzai is quoted as saying that there were three hundred biblical commands. (Sifrei Deuteronomy 76) E. E. Urbach wrote:
“In the Tannaitic sources this number [613] is unknown.” (The Sages: Their Concepts and
Beliefs (Cambridge,
MA: Harvard University Press, 1987).
Ibn Ezra (1089–1167) recognized that if one counts all of the
divine commandments recorded in the Bible, the number would be well over a
thousand; and that if only the commandments relevant to his day were numbered,
the total would be less than three hundred. He wrote in his Yesod Moreh 2: “Some sages enumerate 613 mitzvot [divine commandments] in diverse ways By “diverse ways,” ibn Ezra meant that rabbis differed
in what they included in the 613 “biblical commandments.” The most famous
catalogue is that of Maimonides, discussed below, who included beliefs in his
list. In contrast, Bachya ibn Pakuda (eleventh century) considered that
only practical duties and not beliefs should be included, so he had a different
list of 613 commands. Ibn Pakuda’s list appears in Sefer Torat Chovot Halevavot (Jerusalem:
Feldheim, 1984)…but the truth is that there is no end of the number of mitzvot…and if we were to count only the root principles…the number
of mitzvot would not reach 613.”
So we can see from the above information, this 613 Law was
made up by Rabbi Simlai. throughout
time rabbis have been playing with the Law of Moses, thus the Torah is not prestige
as it was delivered.
-------------------
-------------------
The Ark of the Covenant goes missing
and the Bible is silent of its whereabouts? yet the Bible has no problem
telling us how many soldiers the Israelite's had and killed e.g. Joshua 20, or
Rachel stealing her fathers idols and hiding them inside the camels saddle, how ironic.
if one of the most Sacred object can
disappear what makes you say the Torah could not be altered by the Jews? what’s
alarming to know is this very Ark of the Covenant contained relics of Moses and
Aaron, and even the most beloved to Jews the “Torah & Tablets".
If the Torah, the Tablets, the rod of
Aaron alongside the Ark of the Covenant can go missing, what reason do you have
the Torah which you currently have could not be altered?
So
Moses the servant of the LORD died there, in the land of Moab, at the command
of the LORD. He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, near Beth-peor;
and no one knows his burial place to this day. (Deuteronomy 34:5-6 Masoretic
Torah)
According to the
Masoretic Torah, Moses of the Bible was buried by Yahweh in the land of Moab.
The verse goes on to say no one knows where Moses was buried till this day.
This tells us the text was written much later i.e. long after Moses.
Here's where it
gets interesting. We have a text which
pre dates the Masoretic Torah by roughly a thousand years. It's the DSS text.
Here's what the DSS says
So
Moses the servant of the LORD died in the land of Moab, according to the word
of the Lord . And they (Israelites) buried him in the valley in the land of
Moab, opposite Beth-peor; but no one knows of his burial place to this day.
(Deuteronomy 34:5-6 DSS Torah)
Did
you catch the problem? The Masoretic Torah which postdates the DSS states
Yahweh buried Moses. However the DSS which predates the Masoretic states
"they" i.e. the Israelites buried Moses in the land of Moab. The
other problem is, if the Israelites buried Moses in Moab, then surely they
would know they location to where the exact place is. The text on both
manuscripts states "no one knows till this day", again indicating the
author wrote much later. If for
arguments sake the author wrote a thousand years after Moses, then yes he
wouldn't know where the exact buried location would be unless they had a strong
oral tradition which we know they didn't. It's possible the people who
participated in burying Moses orally told people the location, which eventually
faded away from the lips and memory of people. Whatever the case we see the
earliest manuscript i.e. the DSS proves tampering took place at best.
Ezra changed the Torah
script
It is taught in
a baraita (Tosefta 4:5):Rabbi Yosei says: Ezra was
suitable, given his greatness, for the Torah to be given by
him to the Jewish people, had Moses not come first and received the Torah
already. With regard to Moses the verse states: “And Moses went
up to God” (Exodus 19:3), and with
regard to Ezra the verse states: “This Ezra went up from
Babylon and he was a ready scribe in the Torah of Moses, which the Lord,
the God of Israel, had given” (Ezra 7:6). Just
as the going up stated here, with regard to Moses, is for
the Torah, which he received from God and transmitted to the Jewish
people, so too, the going up stated there,with regard to Ezra,
is for the Torah, as he taught Torah to the Jewish people and was
suitable to have originally merited to give it. The baraita continues:With
regard to Moses the verse states: “And the Lord commanded me at that
time to teach you statutes and ordinances” (Deuteronomy 4:14), andwith regard to
Ezra the verse states: “For Ezra had set his heart to seek the Torah
of the Lord his God and to do it and to teach in Israel statutes and
ordinances” (Ezra 7:10). And
even though the Torah was not given literallyby him, the
script of the Torah was changed by him, as it is stated:
“And the writing of the
letter [hannishtevan] was written in the Aramaic script, and set forth
in the Aramaic tongue” (Ezra 4:7). The term “hannishtevan” is similar to the word nishtana,
meaning changed, alluding to the fact that the script had been changed. And
it is written with regard to the writing on the wall of Belshazzar’s
palace:
( Talmud Sanhedrin
22a )
As
a penalty for the sin they have committed, they must bring to the LORD a female
lamb or goat from the flock as a sin offering; and the priest shall make
atonement for them for their sin. (Leviticus 5:6 Masoretic Torah)
Compare
the Masoretic with the DSS
and
he shall bring his trespass offering to Yahweh for his sin which he has
sinned, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat, for a sin offering; and
the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin which he
has sinned, and he shall be forgiven. (Leviticus 5:6 DSS Torah)
|
Interesting
after making an offering to Yahweh and the priest making an atonement for that
person their sins are forgiven, as found in the DSS. This is absent from the
Masoretic text how comes?
---------------------------------------------
reference
---------------------------------------------
Deliberate scribal change confirmed by rabbis
For thus said the LORD of Hosts—He who sent me after glory—concerning the nations that have taken you as spoil: “Whoever touches you touches the pupil of his own eye. (Zachariah 2:12)
---------------
The original wording in Zechariah 2:12 has God saying “whoever touches you (Israel) touches the apple of my eye,” meaning pocking a finger in God’s eye, which suggests that God has an eye and can be harmed. It was replaced to “his eye,” saying whoever touches Israel has done such a grievous harm as if he hit the nation in its eye.
Deliberate scribal change, thus the text was altered.
A number of rabbinic texts claim that the uncorrected wording was actually
“Whoever touches you touches the pupil of My [= God’s!] eye.”
Midrash Tanhuma [3] calls this “a scribal correction [made] by the Men of the Great Assembly” (שהוא תיקון סופרים אנשי כנסת הגדולה). Writing in the Jewish Study Bible, Ehud Ben Zvi paraphrases this rabbinic comment:
Midrash Tanhuma [3] calls this “a scribal correction [made] by the Men of the Great Assembly” (שהוא תיקון סופרים אנשי כנסת הגדולה). Writing in the Jewish Study Bible, Ehud Ben Zvi paraphrases this rabbinic comment:
“The original text read, ‘the pupil of My own eye,’ and was changed by the soferim (scribes) so as to avoid the obvious anthropomorphism.”
Attempting to explain this apparently brazen attitude to sacred text from religious leaders, the 20th-century scholar of rabbinics, Saul Lieberman, argued that some rabbis justified their emendations based on the Talmudic saying:
Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: “It is better that one letter be removed from the Torah than that the Divine name be publicly profaned.”[4]
reference
3] Beshalah 16.
[4] Hellenism in Jewish Palestine (New York, 1962), p. 35, quoting b. Yevamot 79a.
Such attempts to rewrite history and “clean up” the work of an earlier rabbi are not so rare. See e.g. my Rashbam’s Commentary on Leviticus and Numbers: An Annotated Translation, pp. 260-261, where I argue that Rashbam’s commentary to Num 22:1 was altered for religious ideological reasons. And see more generally Marc Shapiro’s recent book, Changing the Immutable: How Orthodox Judaism Rewrites its History, concerning the phenomenon in contemporary times.
--------------------------
Such attempts to rewrite history and “clean up” the work of an earlier rabbi are not so rare. See e.g. my Rashbam’s Commentary on Leviticus and Numbers: An Annotated Translation, pp. 260-261, where I argue that Rashbam’s commentary to Num 22:1 was altered for religious ideological reasons. And see more generally Marc Shapiro’s recent book, Changing the Immutable: How Orthodox Judaism Rewrites its History, concerning the phenomenon in contemporary times.
--------------------------
another easy and
simple t way to prove the current "Torah" Christians and Jews read
has been corrupted.
All you do is ask
the Christian, " if you believe the "Torah" you read is not
corrupted then show us where Jesus is mentioned as the Messiah, and that he
will be beaten, crucified and killed by the Jews, and on the third day
resurrect. Go a step further and cite the following passage from Luke.
He said to them,
"This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be
fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the
Psalms." Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, And
said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and
to rise from the dead the third day: (Luke 24:44-46)
Now if you say the
"Torah" has not been corrupted show in which Torah book is such
information found? Name the chapter and verse. If you can't then admit your
either your Jesus lied of the Torah which he was referring to is missing or
corrupted and all those parts which mention about him was taken out.
You can't have the
cake and eat it.
--------------------
--------------
Rabbi Shimon said to him: Is it possible that the Torah scroll was missing a single letter? But it is written that
God instructed Moses: “Take this
Torah scroll and put it by the side of the Ark of the Covenant” (Deuteronomy
31:26), indicating that the Torah was
complete as is and that nothing further would be added to it. (Talmud Menachot 30a:7)
If nothing was added after the Torah was
placed inside the Ark (Talmud Bava Batra
14b:3), how did chapter 31:26 all the way till the end of Deuteronomy chapter
34:12 make its way to the Torah when it was safely locked inside the Ark? Who
opened the Ark and added all those chapters?
More broken glass for them to chew on
Discrepancy
Cain made love to
his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was then
building a city, and he named it after his son Enoch. (Genesis 4:17)
According to Genesis
the first book of the Pentateuch, Cain was the father of Enoch. However, if we
turn to the New Testament which was written roughly 1600 years later, Luke tell
us in his genealogy; Enoch was the son of Jared?
the son of Methuselah, the son of
Enoch,
the son of Jared, the son of
Mahalalel,
the son of Kenan (Luke 3:37)
Seems like the sources Luke was
reliant on were not aware of the Old Testament's discrepancy. Luke's sources ignored Genesis 4:17 and
instead took what Genesis 5:18 said.
When Jared was 162
years old, he became the father of Enoch. (Genesis 5:18)
Did you catch the
joke? Genesis 4:17 explicitly states Cain was the father of Enoch, yet five
chapters later, Jared becomes the father of Enoch not Cain? This is a blatant
discrepancy within the Bible. Now just for the records, Genesis 5 omits Cain
and his son.
Do not be fooled by
Christians when they tell you there were two different Enoch's. Genesis 4:18
confirms there was one Enoch alongside the same names found in Luke 3:36-37
To Enoch was born Irad. And Irad
begot Mehujael, and Mehujael begot Methushael, and Methushael begot Lamech.
(Genesis 4:18)
Once again we ask,
why did Luke omit cain as the father and why does Genesis 4 and 5 contradict?
Well it gets worse. According to Jude 1:14, Enoch was the seventh from Adam
And Enoch also, the
seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord comes with ten
thousands of his saints (Jude 1:14)
However, if we read
the genealogy from Luke and Genesis 5, Enoch is sixth from Adam not seventh.
the son of
Methuselah, the son of Enoch,
the son of Jared,
the son of Mahalalel,
the son
of Kenan, 38 the son of Enosh,
the son of Seth,
the son of Adam,
the son of God.
(Luke 3:37-38)
Adam's son was
: Seth (1) Enosh (2) Kenan (3) Mahalalel
(4) Jared (5) Enoch (6)
Again we see a
problem with the transmission of information.
--------------------
Amazing! the earliest
fragments of the Tanack discovered inside the Qumran caves (DSS fragments) make
no mention of Samson. We have manuscripts of the book of judges, but the story
of samson is nowhere to be found as though it was never written. Text prior to
Samsons and after is written , yet the story of samson which is found in the
current "Masoretic, Septuagint" bible, is nowhere to be found in the
DSS fragments, how strange? Nor is the
book of Esther found. Not a single fragment from the book of Esther was
discovered. Scholars believe those stories were later written and added as part
of the current Tanack.
Talk about later
corruption, adding and omitting. Christians claim their book is the word of God
and no addition or omission took place, this is a blatant lie. Prove us wrong
by showing the story of samson and the book of Esther from the earliest fragments,
so we know they have some credibility as part of your bible. If not scrap those
books from your canon alongside many passages from other different books
------------------------
------------------------
According to Exodus,
Moses went up Mount Sinai where he received the tablets, the Torah and
commandments. Did you catch the problem?
Moses received the
"TORAH" alongside the tablets and commandments. Yet the Jews claim
Moses wrote the Torah found in the Bible? If that the case, what did he receive
in mount Sinai? The verse is clear, Moses received the Torah. Where exactly is
this Torah?
"The
LORD said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and wait there, and I will
give you the stone tablets with the Torah (תּוֹרָה)and commandments which
I have inscribed to instruct them.” (Exodus 24:12)
Nowhere in the 5
books known as the "Torah" do we find anywhere written where Moses
wrote them. bear in mind Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy are stories
and events of Moses and the children of Israel.
Ask yourself this question how do you know Genesis was written by Moses?
Where exactly does it say Moses wrote Genesis or any of the books? It's all
through tradition. Learned Jews know perfectly well the Pentateuch was not
written by Moses.
Also, notice the
text says, God has written them to teach them. this would refer to the oral law
which Christians reject. Rashi a giant
Jewish scholar writes in his commentary
את לחת
האבן והתורה והמצוה אשר כתבתי להורתם
[AND I WILL GIVE THEE] THE TABLETS OF STONE, AND THE LAW, AND THE COMMANDMENT
WHICH I HAVE WRITTEN TO TEACH THEM — All the six hundred and thirteen
commandments are implicitly contained in the Ten Commandments and may therefore
be regarded as having been written on the tablets. Rabbi Saadia specified in
the אזהרות which he has composed those commandments which may be associated with
each of the Ten Commandments. (Rashi commentary on Exodus 24:12)
Now this might be a
lot for Christians to swallow, however looking at it from a neutral stance shows
the Torah is not the 5 books found in the Bible known as the Pentateuch.
--------------
preserved yea right!
If you ever forget the
LORD your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify
against you today that you will surely be destroyed. (Deuteronomy 8:19
Masoretic Torah)
There is a variant reading
of the above statement.
And If you forget the LORD
your God and walk after other gods and serve them and worship to them, I call
the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you today that you will surely
perish. (Deuteronomy 8:19 DSS Torah)
Notice how the DSS Torah
states Yahweh will use the heavens and earth as witnesses against those who
worship a false god. This is very interesting since Christians brag, Yahweh
doesn't depend on anything as he only swears by himself. seems like the DSS opened
a new can of worms.
--------------------
-------------------------------
--------------------
Since it is
established that they have altered and changed (their scriptures), our Prophet
Muḥammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, told us: ‘When the People of
the Book narrate something, neither confirm them, nor deny them. Rather, “Say:
We believe in that which has been sent down to us and sent down to you; our God
and your God is One, to Him we surrender”.’21 It is a known fact that they have
not changed everything that came down to them, but rather, only part of it,
specifically that which would be detrimental for them if it remained, such as
the glad tidings regarding Muḥammad and similar things. And it is due to this
that he, peace be upon him, said: ‘Neither confirm them,’ for by changing some
of it they have become unreliable transgressors. And he, may God bless him,
said: ‘Nor deny them,’ due to the possibility that what they report to you is
among the things they have not changed. He further said: ‘Say: We believe in
that which has been sent down to us and sent down to you,’ because the totality
of what has been sent down to them [in its original form] is true, namely the
Torah, the Gospel sent down to Jesus, and other books that were sent down to
the prophets. The changes occurred over a long period of time after the
revelation. The controversy concerns only that which they possess at the
moment, due to the length of time involved and its transmission from book to
book and from language to language. 22 (Muslim Exegesis of the Bible in
Medieval Cairo Najm al-Dīn al-Ṭūfī’s (d. 716/1316) Commentary on the Christian
Scriptures P. 248)
Footnote
21) Q 29:46. See Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ, “Shahādāt” 30, “Tafsīr sūrat
al-Baqara” 11, “al-Iʿtiṣām bi-alKitāb” 26, “Tawḥīd” 51; Abū Dāwūd, Sunan,
“ʿIlm” 2; Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal, Musnad, 4/136.
22 The same
ḥadīth is also cited and commented on in his Intiṣārāt (vol. I, pp. 231–232;
vol. II, p. 751) and Ḥallāl (f. 18b).
------------
------------
Then
the children of Dan set up for themselves the carved image; and Jonathan the
son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, and his sons were priests to the tribe of
Dan until the day of the captivity of the land. (Judges 18:30 KJV)
There
the Danites set up for themselves the idol, and Jonathan son of Gershom, the
son of Moses, and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of
the captivity of the land. (Judges 18:30 NIV)
Did
you notice the difference between the two?
The KJV says Manasseh whereas the NIV
says Moses. Why two different names? According to Rashi and JPS an altering
took place.
Rashi
commentary
Ben
Menasheh.
In deference to Moshe, the letter "nun" was included, thus altering
the name. It is scripturally suspended to indicate that he was actually not
Menasheh, but Moshe.10Bava Basra 109b.
JPS
commentary
Heb.
º0äùðî with º0ð suspended, indicating an earlier reading “Moses”; cf. Exod.
2.22.
Why
was the name Moses changed to Maneesha? Because the idea of Moses's son
becoming a pagan was not acceptable in the eyes of the Jews so the scribes
changed the name thus, altering the text
The
sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer. (1 Chronicle 23:15)
-------------------
-------------------
Rejoice, O ye nations,
with his people: for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render
vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land, and to his
people. (Deuteronomy 32:43 Masoretic version)
the text below is taken
from the Septuagint and DSS
Rejoice, ye heavens, with
him, and let all the angels of God worship him; rejoice ye Gentiles, with his
people, and let all the sons of God strengthen themselves in him; for he will
avenge the blood of his sons, and he will render vengeance, and recompense
justice to his enemies, and will reward them that hate him; and the Lord shall
purge the land of his people. (Deuteronomy 32:43 Septuagint/DSS)
notice the deference
between the Masoretic and Septuagint/DSS. the Masoretic has the shorter
version, also DSS version (4QDeut) including Septuagint of "Deuteronomy
32:43 has 'let all God’s angels worship him' while the Masoretic text does not."
Is this corruption of the
DSS/ LXX for adding it or of the Masoretic for lacking it? And if the DSS/ LXX
is corrupt, then how did the Masoretic which was written later get it correct?
-------------------------------
One event triple contradictions. Who made the golden calf? Aaron, fire or Israelite's?
” He [Aaron] took this from their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf.” (Exodus 32:4)
So I told them, 'Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.' Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!" (Exodus 32:24)
“At that time they [the Israelites] made a calf and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and were rejoicing in the works of their hands.” (Acts 7:41)
Interestingly, Exodus 32:24 claims the golden calf came out the fire miraculously !
---------------------------------
Interesting the bible
seems to portray the Hebrews the slaves of Egypt, they went through centuries
of hardship, persecution through tyrannical rulers. However, they still were
able to enjoin the luxury or wearing gold?
And Aharon said to them,
Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your
sons, and of your daughters, and bring them to me. (Exodus 32:2)
Seems odd for a nation who were
in constant persecution and slavery able to afford gold for their family, wives, sons, and
daughters? also notice "wives" was being use in plural, so, they also
had more than one wife on top of being persecuted.
are we missing something form the story guys?
---------------------------
--------------
------
Professor Emanuel Tov writes the Masoretes received corrupted text. The text the Masoretes were trying to standardise were already full of errors and corruption. They have the audacity to say the OT was never corrupted. (TEXTUAL CRITICISM OF THE HEBREW BIBLE pp, 9)
SCRIBAL PRACTICES AND APPROACHES REFLECTED IN THE TEXTS FOUND IN THE JUDEAN DESER pp. 209 (Emanuel Tov)
Imagine the "scholars in the early church" concluded the rabbis of the first and second century changed the Masoretic text where "Jesus the Messiah" was mentioned. This book accuses rabbi Akiva as the culprit Incredible
(REBOOTING THE BIBLE S. Douglas Woodward pp. 214)
According to the Rabbi Yosef Mizrchi, King David added to the Torah. He changed a Torah permissible act.
Fixing God's Torah [B. BARRY. LEVY] pp.134
--------------------
----------------------------------
Notice how the Jews wrote some parts of the original Torah and hid the rest from men. In honest they Jews played a serious deceptive part in concealing the truth, but eventually they were exposed.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All rabbinic opinions (on halakhah at least) are from God according to the talmud
--------------------------
---------------------------
And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi.And the woman conceived, andbore a son: and when she saw that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him a box made of papyrus, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child in it; and she laid it in the rushes by the River’s brink. (Exodus 2:1-3)
"And there went a man of the house of Levi and took to wife a daughter of Levi. And the woman conceived, and bore a son (v1)"
Considering Moses being the author makes no sense he would start off by introducing his father as "a man" and his mother as "daughter of Levi the woman", and himself
as "the son"? even the proceeding verses are strange as he refers to his mother as "she" considering he was the author i.e. his own autobiography?
The very first verse makes it clear Moses was not the author of Exodus.
------------------------
These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his
family: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; (Exodus 1:1-3 Masoretic Torah)
Compare with the DSS
1 Now these are the names of the sons of Israel, who came into Egypt (every man and his household came with Jacob their father): [..] 3 Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph and Benjamin, (Exodus 1:1, 1:3 DSS 4Q13 fragment)
Notice how "Joseph is mentioned as one of the members who went to Egypt with Jacob his father? Joseph was already in Egypt as the vizier or Prime Minister. Though the DSS fragment has verse 2 missing, this still doesn't explain why Joseph was mentioned as part of the 75 members who came to Egypt with Jacob?
----------------------
----------------------
Whatever Yahweh pleased, that he has done,in heaven and in earth, to do as he does,there is none like Yah, there is none like Yahweh,there is none who acts as king of the gods (Psalm 135:6 4Q92 DSS)
No mention of Jesus or his son? Interestingly, the additional text "to do as he does,there is none like Yah, there is none like Yahweh, there is none who acts as king of the gods" is missing from both LXX and Masoretic?
What does that tell you?
The words of Qarāfī, who says: ‘If (the Christians) say, “how do you (Muslims) hold onto these scriptures [i.e. the Bible] when you consider them to be unauthentic?” we reply that the prophethood of our Prophet, peace be upon him, is proven by miracles and has no need for these books. Yet, we point to what they hold as proof of his prophethood, peace be upon him, only in order to force the ahl al-kitāb, who believe in their authenticity, to accept the argument (ilzām)’ (Qarāfī, Ajwiba, p. 463).
Muslim Exegesis of the Bible in Medieval Cairo Najm al-Dīn al-Ṭūfī’s (d.
716/1316) Page 350
Since it is established that they have altered and changed (their scriptures), our Prophet Muḥammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, told us: ‘When the People of the Book narrate something, neither confirm them, nor deny them. Rather, “Say: We believe in that which has been sent down to us and sent down to you; our God and your God is One, to Him we surrender”.’21 It is a known fact that they have not changed everything that came down to them, but rather, only part of it, specifically that which would be detrimental for them if it remained, such as the glad tidings regarding Muḥammad and similar things. And it is due to this that he, peace be upon him, said: ‘Neither confirm them,’ for by changing some of it they have become unreliable transgressors. And he, may God bless him, said: ‘Nor deny them,’ due to the possibility that what they report to you is among the things they have not changed. He further said: ‘Say: We believe in that which has been sent down to us and sent down to you,’ because the totality of what has been sent down to them [in its original form] is true, namely the Torah, the Gospel sent down to Jesus, and other books that were sent down to the prophets. The changes occurred over a long period of time after the revelation. The controversy concerns only that which they possess at the moment, due to the length of time involved and its transmission from book to book and from language to language. 22 (Muslim Exegesis of the Bible in Medieval Cairo Najm al-Dīn al-Ṭūfī’s (d.716/1316) Commentary on the Christian Scriptures P. 248)
Footnote
21) Q 29:46. See Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ, “Shahādāt” 30, “Tafsīr sūrat al-Baqara”
11, “al-Iʿtiṣām bi-alKitāb” 26, “Tawḥīd” 51; Abū Dāwūd, Sunan, “ʿIlm” 2; Aḥmad
b. Ḥanbal, Musnad, 4/136.
22 The same ḥadīth is also cited and commented on in his Intiṣārāt (vol. I, pp. 231–232; vol. II, p. 751) and Ḥallāl (f. 18b).
Septuagint Torah in trouble! (corrupted)
Phylacteries and Mezuzoth may only be written in square Hebrew script. Permission was also given to write scrolls of the Law in Greek characters but not in those of any other foreign tongue. The ancient Greek script has gone out of use, been corrupted and become obsolete. Hence, at the present day, all three religious articles,—Scroll of the Law, Tephillin and Mezuzah,—are only written in the square Hebrew script. Care must be taken in writing that no letter shall adhere to any other letter; for any letter which is not completely surrounded on all four sides by a blank space of parchment has been improperly written. Any letter that cannot be read by a child of ordinary intelligence—not particularly bright or dull—is improperly written. Thus a Yod must not be like a Vav nor a Vav like a Yod, nor a Koph like a Beth, nor a Beth like a Koph, nor a Daleth like a Resh, nor a Resh like a Daleth, etc., so that the reader may be able to read fluently.
(Mishneh Torah, Tefillin, Mezuzah and the Torah Scroll 1:19משנה תורה, הלכות תפילין ומזוזה וספר תורהThe Mishneh Torah by Maimonides. trans. by Moses Hyamson, 1937-1949)
Ezra changed the "Torah" script
Ezra 7:10. And even though the Torah was not given literally by him, the script of the Torah was changed by him, as it is stated: “And the writing of the letter [hannishtevan] was written in the Aramaic script, and set forth in the Aramaic tongue” Ezra 4:7.
(Talmud Sanhedrin 21b)
"It is better that a single law be uprooted than that the
whole Torah be forgotten" (Talmud Temurah 14b)
They said in response to the question of how Rav Dimi could propose writing down the halakha in a letter: Perhaps with regard to a new matter it is different, i.e., it might be permitted to write down new material so that it not be forgotten. One proof for this suggestion is that Rabbi Yoḥanan and Reish Lakish would read from a scroll of aggada, containing the words of the Sages, on Shabbat. And they did so because they taught as follows: Since one cannot remember the Oral Law without writing it down, it is permitted to violate the halakha, as derived from the verse: “It is time to work for the Lord; they have made void your Torah” (Psalms 119:126). They said it is better to uproot a single halakha of the Torah, i.e., the prohibition of writing down the Oral Torah, and thereby ensure that the Torah is not forgotten from the Jewish people entirely. (Talmud Temurah 14b)
Rav Yehuda says that Rav says: Just before the time when Moses, our teacher, left this world and went to the Garden of Eden, he said to Joshua: Ask from me all the cases of uncertainty in matters of halakha that you have, so that I can clarify them for you. Joshua said to him: My teacher, did I ever leave you for even one moment and go to another place? Didn’t you write this about me in the Torah: “But his minister, Joshua, son of Nun, a young man, did not depart out of the tent” (Exodus 33:11)? If I would have had any case of uncertainty I would have asked you earlier. Immediately after he said this, Joshua’s strength weakened, and three hundred halakhot were forgotten by him, and seven hundred cases of uncertainty emerged before him, and the entire Jewish people arose to kill him, as he was unable to teach them the forgotten halakhot. (Talmud Temurah 16a)
The Gemara returns to the matter itself. Rav Yehuda says that Shmuel says: Three thousand halakhot were forgotten during the days of mourning for Moses. The Jewish people said to Joshua: Ask for guidance from Heaven so that you can reacquire the forgotten halakhot. Joshua said to them: “It is not in heaven” (Deuteronomy 30:12). Once the Torah was given on Sinai, the Sages of each generation must determine the halakha. No new halakhot may be added or subtracted by heavenly instruction or through prophecy. (Talmud Temurah 16a)
------------
The prophet Ezekiel contradicts the words of the Torah
“Rav Judah said in Rav’s name: In truth, that man, Channaniah the son of Chezkiah by name, is to be remembered for good; but for him, the book of Ezekiel would have been hidden, for its words contradicted the Torah. What did he do? Three hundred barrels of oil were taken up to him and he sat in an upper chamber and reconciled them.”(Tractate Shabbat 13b.)
Therefore they had to reconcile the contradictions between the various books. But so strange are their deductions that we wonder why they had to take three hundred barrels of oil up to Channaniah the son of Chezkiah. Using the way Chazal chose to reconcile the contradictions and discrepancies, all are reconciled through a wave of the hand — so a small candle should have sufficed Channaniah the son of Chezkiah
---------------------
What was the length of time that the Israelites lived in Egypt?
Masoretic Torah (Egypt only) 430 years.
Samaritan Torah both (Egypt & Canaan) 430 years.
1 Kings 6:1 (Egypt only) 480 years
LXX 1 Kings 6:1 (Egypt only 440 years
What a mess!
Rashi commentary
This was one of the passages which they altered for king Ptolemy (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 12:40; Megillah 9a).
---------
Immediately after he said this, Joshua’s strength weakened, and three hundred halakhot were forgotten by him, and seven hundred cases of uncertainty emerged before him, and the entire Jewish people arose to kill him, as he was unable to teach them the forgotten halakhot. (Talmud Temurah 16a) Joshua could not have been a Prophet
It is taught in a baraita: One thousand and seven hundred a fortiori inferences, and verbal analogies, and minutiae of the scribes were forgotten during the days of mourning for Moses. (Talmud Temurah 16a)
-----------------
Deuteronomy 18:15 the Prophet to come will change the law so listen to him
Come and hear “To him you shall listen” (Deut 18:15), even if he says to you: Transgress one of the mitzvot of Torah, for example Elijah at mount Carmel, listen to him in everything according to its time! its different, as its written (TO HIM YOU SHALL LISTEN) (Talmud Yevamot 90b)
Talmud/Deut 18 Prophet: TO HIM YOU SHALL LISTEN = OBEY What The Prophet says (His positive Mitzva) = Making any changes to the Law, incl. "OVERRIDING A PROHIBITION" = (Basically, making what was Haram for them Halal) [Beautiful Verse from The Quran about this] Now, Read The Quran - Ch. 7 (Al-Baqara) v. 157:
more aboration sanctioned by rabbis. Rabbis can and do abrogate/suspend laws already as per Deuteronomy 17:8-12...
They no longer carry out the various punishments in the Tanakh such as the marriage of the raped women to their rapists, execution for breaking the Sabbath, etc.---------
Until now the book of Jubilees was recognised as apocrypha by the Jews because it was not written in Hebrew, but in Ethiopian hence, it's part of the Ethiopian cannon. Interestingly, manuscripts of the book of Jubilees were discovered in the Qumran caves written in Hebrew,
indicating that Jubilees was widely used at Qumran, a book not considered apocrypha. The book of Jubilees presents as God speaking to Moses in the first person. The pronouns in the book of Jubilees is strikingly different than the Masoretic Torah which is by consensus uses by the majority Jews.
Here's the interesting part. If you read from chapter one regarding Moses when he went up Mount Sinai. God tells him regarding a future prophecy of what will become of the children of Israel. Here are a few lines of what God said regarding these "chosen people"
And they will eat and be satisfied, and they will turn to strange gods, to (gods) which cannot deliver them from aught of their tribulation: 10
"and this witness shall be heard for a witness against them. For they will forget all My commandments, (even) all that I command them, and they will walk after the Gentiles, 11
And they will make to themselves high places and groves and graven images, and they will worship, each his own (graven image), so as to go astray, and they will sacrifice their children to demons, and to all the works of the error of their hearts. 15
and they will persecute those who seek the law, and they will abrogate and change everything so as to work evil before My eyes. 17
(Book of Jubilees 1:10,11,15,17)
This type of harsh language towards the Israelites is not found in the Masoretic text. Not only did God say the Jews will turn to paganism he also prophecies’ something very interesting. Read verse 17 very carefully.
"and they will persecute those who seek the law, and they will abrogate and change everything so as to work evil before My eyes."
They will abrogate and change the law, the Hebrew word"תורה" is used thus, the law will be changed. Verse 19 again emphasis how the Jews will forget the Torah. This book was written by Jew’s thousands of years ago, and it claims to predict what the Jews would do. Imagine a book confirming the outcome of its people. Jews without a doubt have no reason to reject this book. Again, the only reason they kept it out the cannon was because it was not written in Hebrew, nor did they have access to any manuscripts until now.
This book indeed exposes the Jews for lying about their book being perfectly preserved. Question is, why is all this crucial information missing from the Masoretic? It seems Jeremiah 8:8 after reading the historical book of jubilees makes perfect sense.
“How do you say: “We are wise, and the Torah of the Lord is with us? when, in fact, the false pen of the scribes has made it into a lie?” (Jeremiah 8:8)
Jeremiah uses the same word תורה Torah as being distorted/changed/corrupted as found in the book of Jubilees. You decide!
According
to God question.org the Book of Jubilees was written around the 2nd century?
"The Book of Jubilees, sometimes called the “Lesser Genesis,” was probably written in the 2nd century BC and records an account of the biblical history of the world from the creation to Moses." (https://www.gotquestions.org/book-of-Jubilees.html)
The author further goes on to say only a few fragments exist in Greek and Latin, but no in its entirety.
"There are some fragments existing today in Greek and Latin, but nowhere near a complete book in either language." (https://www.gotquestions.org/book-of-Jubilees.html)
The author does say some scholars "believe" the book of Jubilees was written in "Hebrew"
"The only complete version of the Book of Jubilees is written in Ethiopian, though most scholars believe that it was originally written in Hebrew."(https://www.gotquestions.org/book-of-Jubilees.html)
To be frank, the author had no knowledge what he wrote. One thing he was good at is, deceiving the readers into believing what he wrote was true.
The Book of Jubilee was discovered in the Qumran caves. The book of Jubilee dates back 100 BC possibly earlier. The Book of Jubilee was found in the Hebrew text. Thus, got question.org got it all wrong
As a result, general reference works such as the Oxford Annotated Bible and the Mercer Bible Dictionary conclude the work can be dated to 160–150 BC. (VanderKam (1989, 2001), pp. 17–21.) this makes the book of Jubilee an inspired book used roughly 160 years before Christianity not 2nd century BC as the author claims. Watch out for these deceptive sheep hunters.
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Emmanuel Tov Professor of Bible Studies in the Department of Bible at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
The baraita now considers the authors of the
biblical books: And who wrote the books of the Bible? Moses wrote his
own book, i.e., the Torah, and the portion of Balaam in the Torah, and
the book of Job. Joshua wrote his own book and eight verses in the Torah,
which describe the death of Moses. Samuel wrote his own book, the book
of Judges, and the book of Ruth. David wrote the book of Psalms by
means of ten elders of previous generations, assembling a collection that
included compositions of others along with his own. He included psalms authored
by Adam the first man, by Melchizedek king of Salem, and by
Abraham, and by Moses, and by Heman, and by Jeduthun, and by Asaph, and by
the three sons of Korah. (Talmud Bava Batra 15b- 15a:)
Professor Emanuel Tov writes the Masoretes received corrupted text. The text the Masoretes were trying to standardise were already full of errors and corruption. They have the audacity to say the OT was never corrupted. (TEXTUAL CRITICISM OF THE HEBREW BIBLE pp, 9)
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Note that the matter of changing texts was known even in the time of the Talmud. Therefore, according to the Halacha, what is to be done when we do not know the precise text of the Torah?
In Tractate Soferim 6:4 it is said: “Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: Three scrolls of the Torah were found in the Temple court: The Maon [instead ofMaonah] scroll, the Zaatutei [instead of Naarei] scroll, and the He [instead ofHoo] scroll…so they retained the reading of the two [i.e., the majority] and abandoned that of the one [i.e. the exception].” The decision was according to the majority of the scrolls, based on “after the multitude to sway” (Exodus 23:2).
Professor of Jewish Studies Barry Levy, in his book: "Fixing Gods Torah", p. 4
Dss,
Samaritan,
LXX,
Masoretic, (which recention? Aleppo codex, Lenningrad codex. Codex Sassoon 1053 which predates the Lenningrad codex. Aaron ben Moses ben Asher 930 CE family of the masorete)
The Ashkar-Gilson Manuscript
Ketef Hinnom Scrolls 600BC,
Silver scrolls,
Nash papyrus 150BC
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Emmanuel Tov
Jacob Neusner
Geza Vermas
Dr Noam Mizrahi
Reinhard Muller/ Juha Pakkala/ Bas ter Haar Romeny (EVIDENCE OF EDITING Growth and Change of Texts in the Hebrew Bible)
Joshua A. Berman (Inconsistency in the Torah Ancient Literary Convention and the Limits of Source Criticism)
Joel S Baden
C Dennis Mckinsey
Rolf Rendtorff (The PROBLEM of the PROCESS of TRANSMISSION in the PENTATEUCH)
Michael S. Heiser
PETER ENNS
John F. Brug (Textual Criticism of the Old Testament)
John barton
Peter schafer
Philip w comfort
Ellis R. Brotzman and
Eric J. Tully ( Old Testament textual criticism)
ROBERT REZETKO Hebrew, Biblical and Jewish Studies)
B Barry Levy
James Tabor
Rabbi Lee Weissman
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Imagine the "scholars in the early church" concluded the rabbis of the first and second century changed the Masoretic text where "Jesus the Messiah" was mentioned. This book accuses rabbi Akiva as the culprit Incredible
(REBOOTING THE BIBLE S. Douglas Woodward pp. 214)According to the Rabbi Yosef Mizrchi, King David added to the Torah. He changed a Torah permissible act.
The Qumran Scrolls of the Book of Judges: Literary Formation, Textual Criticism, and Historical Linguistics pp. 63 (ROBERT REZETKO)
Fixing God's Torah [B. BARRY. LEVY] pp.134
Deuteronomy 4:2 : You shall not add or subtract to the command does not mean rabbinic laws cannot be added protect the bible laws
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The Book That Changed: Narratives of Ezran Authorship as Late Antique Biblical Criticism [Rebecca Scharbach Wollenber]
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Rabbi Akiva, one of the greatest sages of the Talmud, interpreted Deuteronomy 10:20 "You shall fear the Lord your God" to mean "you shall fear both the Lord your God and the Torah scholars". Rashi comments
Jewish corruption of the Old Testament
This section shall highlight some of the corruptions made by the Jews in the Old Testament and how early Christians accused the Jews of corruption.
Justin Martyr
The first example is Justin Martyr(an early church father who died at about 150 AD) says in his dialogue with Trypho, a Jew:
Chap. LXXII. — Passages Have Been Removed by the Jews from Esdras and Jeremiah.
And I said, “I shall do as you please. From the statements, then, which Esdras made in reference to the law of the passover, they have taken away the following: ‘And Esdras said to the people, This passover is our Saviour and our refuge. And if you have understood, and your heart has taken it in, that we shall humble Him on a standard, and….. thereafter hope in Him, then this place shall not be forsaken for ever, says the God of hosts. But if you will not believe Him, and will not listen to His declaration, you shall be a laughing-stock to the nations.’…… And again, from the sayings of the same Jeremiah these have been cut out: ‘The Lord God remembered His dead people of Israel who lay in the graves; and He descended to preach to them His own salvation.
So Justin Martyr here is explicitly accusing the Jews of corrupting the Old Testament by hiding some verses talking about salvation. But is it that easy that verses are removed from the Bible?
John Chrysostom
Let’s see what John Chrysostom (church father who lived in the fourth century) says in his Homilies on Gospel Matthew when he came to the verse quoting the Old Testament” which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.”:
And what manner of prophet said this? Be not curious, nor overbusy. For many of the prophetic writings have been lost; and this one may see from the history of the Chronicles. For being negligent, and continually falling into ungodliness, some they suffered to perish, others they themselves burnt up and cut to pieces. The latter fact Jeremiah relates; the former, he who composed the fourth book of Kings, saying, that after a long time the book of Deuteronomy was hardly found, buried somewhere and lost. But if, when there was no barbarian there, they so betrayed their books, much 56 more when the barbarians had overrun them. For as to the fact, that the prophet had foretold it, the apostles themselves in many places call Him a Nazarene. ”
So simply John Chrysostom is not just accusing the Jews of being negligent who are not caring for their books, but also of destroying their own books. If these are accusations made by Christians, who are supposed to share the Jews their belief in the Old Testament, how could Muslims trust the Jews and consider that they were really honest and followed God’s commandment to keep Hi s books, not to add or remove or replace?
Adam Clarke
Not only that, we can see another interesting account by Adam Clarke, a Christian commentator where he shows another intentional corruption made by the Jews against the Samaritans. He said in his commentary on Deu 27:4 –
“Set up these stones – in Mount Ebal – So the present Hebrew text , but the Samaritan has Mount Gerizim. Dr. Kennicott has largely defended the reading of the Samaritan in his second dissertation on the present state of the Hebrew text , and Dr. Parry has defended the Hebrew against the Samaritan. Many still think Dr. Kennicott’s arguments unanswerable, and have no doubt that the Jews have here corrupted the text through their enmity to the Samaritans. “
So here again Adam Clarke didn’t just accuse the Jews for corrupting the manuscripts due to their hostility with Christians only, but also they did the same with Samaritans, and with Muslims when they changed the name ofAbraham’s offered son to Isaac.
These may be just some examples of what I have seen from Christian writings, and for sure if we dug more through various books, we may find more issues showing other issues. Actually if we went through early and medieval Muslim writings, we may find many quotes from Jewish and Christian writings talking about Prophet Muhammad in a very explicit way which are not present in the Bible. But if the Jews are actually proven to behave the way described above, then I tend to believe Muslim scholars, especially that this is against both Christian and Jewish beliefs
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Justin Martyr affirms the Qur'anic claim that the Bible was corrupted
Much to the consternation of Christians, Muslims insist that the texts of their scripture, the Bible, have undergone changes, alterations, or in other words, corruption. The Muslims' insistence is based on several Qur'anic passages that seem to testify to the fact that they, the Jews (and Christians), have manhandled the scriptures that they were given:
"So woe to those who write the "scripture" with their own hands, then say, "This is from Allah," in order to exchange it for a small price. Woe to them for what their hands have written and woe to them for what they earn." [Quran 2:79]
"Of those who are Jews (there are those who) alter words from their places and say: We have heard and we disobey and: Hear, may you not be made to hear! and: Raina, distorting (the word) with their tongues and taunting about religion; and if they had said (instead): We have heard and we obey, and hearken, and unzurna it would have been better for them and more upright; but Allah has cursed them on account of their unbelief, so they do not believe but a little." [4:46]
While the Qur'an's preservation is ensured by Allah, for He says that He Himself would see to its preservation, in 15:9 ("Indeed, it is We who sent down the Quran and indeed, We will be its guardian."), the preservation of previous scriptures were entrusted to the people that received them [Qur'an 5:44], but, unfortunately, they failed to live up to their responsibility:
"“But because of their breach of their covenant, We cursed them, and made their hearts grow hard; they change the words from their (right) places and forget a good part of the message that was sent them, nor wilt thou cease to find them- barring a few – ever bent on (new) deceits: but forgive them, and overlook (their misdeeds): for Allah loveth those who are kind.” [Qur'an 5, verse 13]
It is rather quite surprising that the Christians would be surprised by the Qur'anic charge since it is by no means a unique accusation. Hundreds of years before the revelation of the Qur'an, major Christian Church Fathers* actually testified to the Jewish corruption of scripture. One such Church Father or patristic personality was Justin Martyr, who, in his dialogue with Trypho, indicts the Jews of corrupting the Old Testament:
"from the ninety-fifth (ninety-sixth) Psalm they have taken away this short saying of the words of David: ‘From the wood.’ For when the passage said, ‘Tell ye among the nations, the Lord hath reigned from the wood,’ they have left, ‘Tell ye among the nations, the Lord hath reigned.'" [1]
In the book, i.e., Justin Martyr's 'The First Apology', the above quotation comes under the chapter "[THE WORDS] "FROM THE WOOD" HAVE BEEN CUT OUT OF PS [PSALM] XCVI." According to Justin Martyr, then, the Jews, driven by theological purposes, had tampered with the text of Psalm 96 and removed words from their original text. Writing on Justin Martyr's testimony concerning the corruption of the Bible at the hands of the Jews, professor emeritus and former chair of the Humanities Department at Wilbur Wright College, Dr. Sheldon W. Liebman writes:
"Justin Martyr went so far as to accuse the Jews of corrupting their Bible (i.e., rewriting it) "so as to obscure the scriptures' plain prophetic testimony to Jesus as the Christ." [2]
Lest we are accused of misreading Justin Martyr, the scholarly appraisal of Sheldon Liebman above reinforces our point.
Christians should not be too surprised by the Qur'an when it disavows their scriptures for having been corrupted, because this allegation is by no means unique to the Qur'an. Around 400 years before the Qur'an even came to the scene, this charge was made by their own "Holy Spirit-inspired" Church Fathers, such as Justin Martyr.
Notes:
* According to Catholic.com, Church Fathers are "...so called because of their leadership in the early Church, especially in defending, expounding, and developing Catholic doctrines. For the first two centuries, most of these men were bishops, although in later years certain priests and deacons were also recognized as Fathers."
[1] Justin Martyr (2007). The First Apology. In Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson & Arthur Cleveland Coxe (eds), The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1: The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus. New York: CosmoClassics. p. 235
[2] Liebman, S. W. (2018). The Great Betrayal: Christians and Jews in the First Four Centuries. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf & Stock. p. 384
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Justin Martyr affirms the Qur'anic claim that the Bible was corrupted
Much to the consternation of Christians, Muslims insist that the texts of their scripture, the Bible, have undergone changes, alterations, or in other words, corruption. The Muslims' insistence is based on several Qur'anic passages that seem to testify to the fact that they, the Jews (and Christians), have manhandled the scriptures that they were given:
"So woe to those who write the "scripture" with their own hands, then say, "This is from Allah," in order to exchange it for a small price. Woe to them for what their hands have written and woe to them for what they earn." [Quran 2:79]
"Of those who are Jews (there are those who) alter words from their places and say: We have heard and we disobey and: Hear, may you not be made to hear! and: Raina, distorting (the word) with their tongues and taunting about religion; and if they had said (instead): We have heard and we obey, and hearken, and unzurna it would have been better for them and more upright; but Allah has cursed them on account of their unbelief, so they do not believe but a little." [4:46]
While the Qur'an's preservation is ensured by Allah, for He says that He Himself would see to its preservation, in 15:9 ("Indeed, it is We who sent down the Quran and indeed, We will be its guardian."), the preservation of previous scriptures were entrusted to the people that received them [Qur'an 5:44], but, unfortunately, they failed to live up to their responsibility:
"“But because of their breach of their covenant, We cursed them, and made their hearts grow hard; they change the words from their (right) places and forget a good part of the message that was sent them, nor wilt thou cease to find them- barring a few – ever bent on (new) deceits: but forgive them, and overlook (their misdeeds): for Allah loveth those who are kind.” [Qur'an 5, verse 13]
It is rather quite surprising that the Christians would be surprised by the Qur'anic charge since it is by no means a unique accusation. Hundreds of years before the revelation of the Qur'an, major Christian Church Fathers* actually testified to the Jewish corruption of scripture. One such Church Father or patristic personality was Justin Martyr, who, in his dialogue with Trypho, indicts the Jews of corrupting the Old Testament:
"from the ninety-fifth (ninety-sixth) Psalm they have taken away this short saying of the words of David: ‘From the wood.’ For when the passage said, ‘Tell ye among the nations, the Lord hath reigned from the wood,’ they have left, ‘Tell ye among the nations, the Lord hath reigned.'" [1]
In the book, i.e., Justin Martyr's 'The First Apology', the above quotation comes under the chapter "[THE WORDS] "FROM THE WOOD" HAVE BEEN CUT OUT OF PS [PSALM] XCVI." According to Justin Martyr, then, the Jews, driven by theological purposes, had tampered with the text of Psalm 96 and removed words from their original text. Writing on Justin Martyr's testimony concerning the corruption of the Bible at the hands of the Jews, professor emeritus and former chair of the Humanities Department at Wilbur Wright College, Dr. Sheldon W. Liebman writes:
"Justin Martyr went so far as to accuse the Jews of corrupting their Bible (i.e., rewriting it) "so as to obscure the scriptures' plain prophetic testimony to Jesus as the Christ." [2]
Lest we are accused of misreading Justin Martyr, the scholarly appraisal of Sheldon Liebman above reinforces our point.
Christians should not be too surprised by the Qur'an when it disavows their scriptures for having been corrupted, because this allegation is by no means unique to the Qur'an. Around 400 years before the Qur'an even came to the scene, this charge was made by their own "Holy Spirit-inspired" Church Fathers, such as Justin Martyr.
Notes:
* According to Catholic.com, Church Fathers are "...so called because of their leadership in the early Church, especially in defending, expounding, and developing Catholic doctrines. For the first two centuries, most of these men were bishops, although in later years certain priests and deacons were also recognized as Fathers."
[1] Justin Martyr (2007). The First Apology. In Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson & Arthur Cleveland Coxe (eds), The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1: The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus. New York: CosmoClassics. p. 235
[2] Liebman, S. W. (2018). The Great Betrayal: Christians and Jews in the First Four Centuries. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf & Stock. p. 384
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The Bible has been Corrupted
The Quran says that the current Torah, Psalms and Gospel (the New Testament) have been corrupted. Numerous passages of the Quran refer to man’s distortion and alterations of the previous books of revelations from Allah. These passages in the Quran note that the received books by the People of the Book, The Jews and the Christians, do not conform to the original revelations that were given to Moses, David and Jesus.
Can ye (o ye men of Faith) entertain the hope that they will believe in you?- Seeing that a party of them heard the Word of Allah, and perverted it knowingly after they understood it… Then woe to those who write the Book with their own hands, and then say:"This is from Allah," to traffic with it for miserable price!- Woe to them for what their hands do write, and for the gain they make thereby. (Quran 2:75,79)There is among them a section who distort the Book with their tongues: (As they read) you would think it is a part of the Book, but it is no part of the Book; and they say, "That is from Allah," but it is not from Allah: It is they who tell a lie against Allah, and (well) they know it! (Quran 3:78)But because of their breach of their covenant, We cursed them, and made their hearts grow hard; they change the words from their (right) places and forget a good part of the message that was sent them, nor wilt thou cease to find them- barring a few - ever bent on (new) deceits: but forgive them, and overlook (their misdeeds): for Allah loveth those who are kind. From those, too, who call themselves Christians, We did take a covenant, but they forgot a good part of the message that was sent them: so we estranged them, with enmity and hatred between the one and the other, to the day of judgment. And soon will Allah show them what it is they have done. (Quran 5:13-14)No just estimate of Allah do they make when they say: "Nothing doth Allah send down to man (by way of revelation)" Say: "Who then sent down the Book which Moses brought?- a light and guidance to man: But ye make it into (separate) sheets for show, while ye conceal much (of its contents): therein were ye taught that which ye knew not- neither ye nor your fathers." Say: "Allah (sent it down)": Then leave them to plunge in vain discourse and trifling. (Quran 6:91)
But those who wronged among them changed [the words] to a statement other than that which had been said to them. So We sent upon them a punishment from the sky for the wrong that they were doing. [quran 7:162]Among the Jews are those who distort words from their [proper] usages and say, "We hear and disobey" and "Hear but be not heard" and "Ra'ina," twisting their tongues and defaming the religion. And if they had said [instead], "We hear and obey" and "Wait for us [to understand]," it would have been better for them and more suitable. But Allah has cursed them for their disbelief, so they believe not, except for a few.[quran 4:46]And [mention, O Muhammad], when Allah took a covenant from those who were given the Scripture, [saying], "You must make it clear to the people and not conceal it." But they threw it away behind their backs and exchanged it for a small price. And wretched is that which they purchased. [Quran 3:187]O People of the Scripture, there has come to you Our Messenger making clear to you much of what you used to conceal of the Scripture and overlooking much. There has come to you from Allah a light and a clear Book.[Quran 5:15]Indeed, those who conceal what We sent down of clear proofs and guidance after We made it clear for the people in the Scripture - those are cursed by Allah and cursed by those who curse[Quran 2:159]Indeed, they who conceal what Allah has sent down of the Book and exchange it for a small price - those consume not into their bellies except the Fire. And Allah will not speak to them on the Day of Resurrection, nor will He purify them. And they will have a painful punishment.[Quran 2:174]
Where Hadith Says Bible is corrupted :
The Hadith (sayings and actions of Prophet Muhammad in Islam) as well point out to Biblical Corruption. Consider these hadith:
Narrated Abu Huraira: The people of the Scripture (Jews) used to recite the Torah in Hebrew and they used to explain it in Arabic to the Muslims. On that Allah's Apostle said, "Do not believe the people of the Scripture or disbelieve them, but say:-- "We believe in Allah and what is revealed to us." (2.136) (Bukhari Volume 6, Book 60, Number 12)Narrated Ubaidullah: Ibn 'Abbas said, "Why do you ask the people of the scripture about anything while your Book (Quran) which has been revealed to Allah's Apostle is newer and the latest? You read it pure, undistorted and unchanged, and Allah has told you that the people of the scripture (Jews and Christians) changed their scripture and distorted it, and wrote the scripture with their own hands and said, 'It is from Allah,' to sell it for a little gain. Does not the knowledge which has come to you prevent you from asking them about anything? No, by Allah, we have never seen any man from them asking you regarding what has been revealed to you!" (Bukhari Volume 9, Book 92, Number 461)
Narrated 'Ubaidullah bin 'Abdullah: 'Abdullah bin 'Abbas said, "O the group of Muslims! How can you ask the people of the Scriptures about anything while your Book which Allah has revealed to your Prophet contains the most recent news from Allah and is pure and not distorted? Allah has told you that the people of the Scriptures have changed some of Allah's Books and distorted it and wrote something with their own hands and said, 'This is from Allah, so as to have a minor gain for it. Won't the knowledge that has come to you stop you from asking them? No, by Allah, we have never seen a man from them asking you about that (the Book Al-Qur'an ) which has been revealed to you. (Bukhari Volume 9, Book 93, Number 614)
What Scholars of Bible says :
The gospels are not eyewitness accounts-Allen D. Callahan, Associate Professor of New Testament, Harvard Divinity School
Some scholars say so many revisions occurred in the 100 years following Jesus' death that no one can be absolutely sure of the accuracy or authenticity of the Gospels, especially of the words the authors attributed to Jesus himself.-Jeffery L. Sheler, [2]
and WHAT MORE BIBLE ITSELF SPEAK ABOUT CORRUPTION :
" 'How can you say, "We are wise, for we have the law of the LORD," when actually the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely? (Jeremiah 8:8 New International Version)
Which Part of Bible is corrupted :
Anypart which says:[my personal view]GOD have Son.God turned in to man.God sent his son to die for us.Salvation by Jesus Blood.Every things which makes a human Equal to God.
Verse 4:136 of the Holy Quran:"O you who have believed, believe in Allah and His Messenger and the Book that He sent down upon His Messenger and the Scripture which He sent down before. And whoever disbelieves in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, and the Last Day has certainly gone far astray."
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Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel… [Al A’raaf 157]
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note in "what they have of the Torah and Gospel" i.e. what was available to them at their time. also notice "Injeel, Gospel" singular is mentioned. we find from the verse, the entire original Torah was not with the Jews at that time. This is also mentioned by Allah Swt
They have no true respect of God when they say, "God has not sent anything to a mortal being." (Muhammad), tell them, "Who revealed the Book containing a light and guidance for the people which Moses brought? You wrote down only some parts of the original on paper and hid much, even after having learnt from it, that which neither you nor your fathers knew." Tell them, "God has (revealed the Quran)," and then leave them alone to pursue their useless investigations. (Surah 6:91)
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According to Dean Burgon, a renowned Bible defender of the last century, the codices Vaticanus and Sinaiticus are among “the most corrupt copies in existence.” Burgon wrote, “I am able to demonstrate that every one of them singly is in a high degree corrupt, and is condemned upon evidence older than itself”. Although these two codices may be “earliest” they are by no means “most reliable.”
John William Burgon’s The Revision Revised [Collingswood NJ: The Bible For Today, 1981 reprint], 548 pp).
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The Talmud what it is and what is says, Jacob Neusner pp.171
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According to the Talmud the cherubim stood up miraculously expanding its wings?
The outspread wings of the cherubim were 20 cubits across: one wing 5 cubits long touching one wall of the House, and the other wing 5 cubits long touching the wing of the other cherub; [2 Chronicles 3:11]
And concerning their bodies, our Sages said, (Yoma 21a), that they stood miraculously, [i.e., they did not occupy space]. But according to the simple explanation of the matter, it appears to me that their bodies protruded from them like a bird which spreads its wings, that its body protrudes outside its wings, [Rashi commentary]
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Joshua the son of Nun, married a prostitute called Rahab. this prostitute is one of the Great ancestor of Jesus.
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Eight prophets, who were also priests, descended from Rahab the prostitute, and they are: Neriah; his son Baruch; Seraiah; Mahseiah; Jeremiah; his father, Hilkiah; Jeremiah’s cousin Hanamel; and Hanamel’s father, Shallum. Rabbi Yehuda said: So too, Huldah the prophetess was a descendant of Rahab the prostitute, (Talmud Megillah 14b)
For Rahab (the prostitute)converted and married Joshua, and therefore Huldah descended from both Joshua and Rahab. (Talmud Megillah Daf 14b)
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According to the genealogy of Jesus found in Matthew, Rahab the Prostitute is one of his great ancestor. Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, (Matthew 1:5)
do Christians accept their god coming from the lineage of a "whore, prostitute"
10, 20 or 40 commandments on the tablets?
All rabbinic opinions (on halakhah at least) are from God according to the talmud
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According to Zohar Satan wrestled with Jacob.
Against Apion book 1:8 says tanack had
22 books josephus says there are only 22 books
