1001 Errors in the Christian Bible
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Matthew -- Errors 99-105
#99
Matthew 19: (KJV)
29 “And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters,
or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake,
shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.”
Violates Tanakh commandment to honor mother and father (again).
#100
Matthew 21: (KJV)
2 “Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and
straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them,
and bring them unto me. 3 And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall
say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.”
Violates the commandment not to steal which the author of “Matthew”
has Jesus confirming in 19:18.
#101
Matthew 21: (KJV)
1 “And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage,
unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, 2 Saying unto
them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find
an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me.
3 And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need
of them; and straightway he will send them. 4 All this was done, that
it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, 5 Tell
ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and
sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.”
The supposed quote from the “prophet” is actually a conflation
from two prophets as we’ll see shortly. The part about the animals
is from Zechariah 9:9 (JPS)
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion,
shout, O daughter of Jerusalem;
behold, thy king cometh unto thee,
he is triumphant, and victorious,
lowly, and riding upon an ass,
even upon a colt the foal of an ass.
And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim,
and the horse from Jerusalem,
and the battle bow shall be cut off,
and he shall speak peace unto the nations;
and his dominion shall be from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.”
Almost all Bible scholars today, including the Christians, recognize that
the above has a style of parallel poetry whereby an idea is repeated.
Therefore, the “foal of an ass” refers to the same ass in the
previous line and Zechariah is only referring to one ass. The style of
parallel poetry is harder to recognize when translated into a different
language and the author of “Matthew” who seems to rely primarily
on Greek translations for references to the Tanakh apparently didn’t
realize that Zechariah was just referring to the same ass twice and mistakenly
made a whole ass out himself.
#102
Matthew 21: (KJV)
4 “All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken
by the prophet, saying, 5 Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King
cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of
an ass.”
“Tell ye the daughter of Sion” is from Isaiah 62:11 while the
rest of the quote is from Zechariah.
#103
Matthew 21: (KJV)
7 “And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes,
and they set him thereon.”
The earliest extant manuscripts have “and they set him thereon the
clothes” making it clear that Jesus sat on the clothes. But the clothes
were on the ass and colt and the context indicates a claimed prophecy
fulfillment of sitting upon an ass AND a colt. So the author of “Matthew”
probably intended to show Jesus sitting on an ass and a colt. If someone
asked the author exactly what he meant I suspect he would have said, “whatever
Zechariah prophesied, that’s what Jesus did.”
#104
Matthew 21: (KJV)
12 “And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them
that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers,
and the seats of them that sold doves,”
“Of God” is not in the earliest manuscripts but is included
in about half of modern English translations. The Greek word that “Matthew”
uses indicates that the entire temple is being described, not just a section,
and Matthew’s Greek states that ALL of the moneychangers were cast
out (overthrew). Based on descriptions of the temple operations this would
have been virtually impossible for one man to accomplish which was conceded
by several early Church Fathers such as Origen. Josephus records many
disturbances in the Temple but never mentions this one.
#105
Matthew 21: (KJV)
19 “And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and
found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit
grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered
away.”
The implication is that the fig tree didn’t have any fruit at the
time Jesus came by but that it could bear fruit in the future. However,
Deuteronomy 20:20 (JPS) says:
“Only trees that you know do not yield food may be destroyed”.
The context of 20:20 is a siege against a city but the implication is
that if it was prohibited to destroy trees that yield fruit during a siege
which could be used as a weapon then it would also be prohibited to destroy
trees that yield fruit under peaceful conditions.
Weekend Update
Hi, I'm AbdulReis and you're not. Welcome to the 1001 Errors' Weekend
Update.
Our top story tonight - For whom the Bella toiled – Ask not for
whom the Bella toiled, she toiled for you. The Jewish and the greater
non-Jewish world were saddened recently by the passing away of one of
the truly great Statespersons of our time, Bella Abzug. Supporters described
her as a tireless crusader of equal rights for women, working diligently
and endlessly in a great campaign to rid the world once and for all
of the last remaining vestiges of male chauvinism while critics described
her as “just another, typical, in-your-face, pushy, hook-nosed, JAP,
b----, New York, East Coast, liberal, elitist, intellectual, snob, pinko,
left wing, radical, Mrsshugganah or in other words, Leona Helmsley with
a hat”. Both sides agreed that she will be sorely missed. A spokesperson
for Mz. Abzug’s family said that the cause of death was prostate
cancer.
Estee Lauderinsky – Cosmetics giant Estee Lauder announced
today that it is launching a new brand of perfume, “Esther”,
to be promoted by intern in turn turned intern, and Judy-come-lately,
recently famous Jewess, Monica Lewinsky. The motto of “Esther”
will be “Make your King Arkansasuerus grant you your every wish.”
Special Prosecutor, Kenneth Starr, then announced that he will be coming
out with his own new brand of cologne for men to counter “Esther”
which will have the scent of ham and be called Haman (Ham for men).
Goodbye and have a pleasant week.