going over basics

As a follow up to an exercise with terms let's review a few from a biblical context.


Many may be familiar with the concept that the term messiah means 'anointed one', being no one in particular save the 'crowned' ruler of the Jewish people, usually from the line descended from David. This term is not applied to rabbis or priests, and the station being occupied by someone in the priestly elite was not only unorthodox, it was reserved in part by Levites. It also has some very important aspects commonly over-looked by non-scholars: the first being that Jesus, as a pretender to the Jewish throne, and thereby one who may be deemed under the general term 'messiah', was only thus if he was directly related to his worldly father Joseph, who's patrilinear descent from David is commonly known (otherwise his brother James would have been deemed the true scion of the Davidic line, and thereby the true Messiah); the second is the nature of the relatively recently adopted apocalyptic attitude of the time where it was believed that a king would come who's reign would force all those foreign nations of the world to cower before Jewish law and thence redeem the world from its sin (in so many words, but the nationalistic attitude at the time spelled out by the zealots simply said it in nicer terms) -- redemption from sin in Jewish terms means living by the Law.

In taking terms that have previous meaning in a society and expanding it's boundaries to encompass what later becomes a philosophical concept or other is a form of creating elite-speak. Other such terms may be applied to things like pigeons, the Meek, the Poor, Messengers/Angels, the Holy Spirit. The Poor and other specific terms often used describe not the homeless beggars commonly believed, but more likely ascetics who have cast away possessions, wear white, lime-washed linens, and dwell in the "wilderness". Lamsa's enlightened reflections on idioms used in the Gospels are close to what historical researchers believe they meant. 'Angel', for instance, according to both Lamsa and biblical scholars, refers to members of the priestly elite.

The terms don't just stop at nouns, but also ways of describing time. Great and lengthy care has been taken to reconstruct the Gospel events by some biblical scholars in conjunction with the Peshers found in the Dead Sea Scrolls. At the time spanning the last centuries of BC and first century of AD, there were a number of different temporal reckonings: the solar, lunar and lunisolar to name a few. Each reckoning shifted the dates of years based on whether they recognized a 0 year from when a prophecy was made and when it was supposed to be fulfilled. Also varying in the length of the year, some made up for the leap year in a solar calendar with an extra 10-day period every dozen years. Terms like 'about' indicated a full day previous and the word order determines which hour on whichever numbered day of the week. 'One of these days' indicates the first day of the month, as each day is referred to as a number, and each week will have the same numbered days of the month on the same day of the week every year, even with a leap year (so the last day of one month could be 10 days away from the first day of the next month). In the leap on one of the calendars in use, a half-day was observed as hours shifted through daytime, and therefore the 3rd hour, or 9am, could be observed as being at 6 in the morning during certain times of certain years before a leap brought the times back round to "normal" again. (Please shoot me now, they must have been so incredibly bored to be able to keep track of all this.)

Moving on, some idioms presented by Lamsa (these being colloquial expressions, not quite as esoteric as what may have been the period's elite-speak):
"Went up to God" - went to a high place
"Satan" - adversary, dishonest man, to stay, to slide, to mislead, to slip, to mis the mark (in greek, the term we get 'sin' from)
"Angel" - pious or holy man, God's council, a messenger, a minister
"Flame of fire" - speed, prompt action; fluency in speech
"Living water" - true teaching
"Bread of life" - eternal truth
"Darkness" - ignorance and superstition
"lambs", "sheep", "ewes" - children, adults, women
"Staff" - protection
"Mountains and hills leveled" - proud, arrogant men humbled
"Touch his garment" - an urgent need
"Horn" - strength and triumph
"Carcass and eagles" - weak nations and powerful nations
"Held him by his feet" - implored him
"Plant" - teaching, doctrine
"take children's bread and cast it to dogs" - sharing the truths of Judaism with the pagans
"Hell" (Sheol) - resting place for the departed ones
"virgin" - a girl who has known no man, also an unmarried woman
"be perfect" - all inclusive, thorough
"bury my father" - take care of my father until he dies

too much more to type,
i'm gonna go sleep now