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Thursday 5 January 2012

Reading the NT with annotations - questions

What notes occur to me as I read the Jewish Annotated New Testament?

I even read the list of abbreviations - well skimmed it at least. The first thing I noted in the text intro to Matthew (page 1) is that there is no mention of the Markan priority without Q, The Case Against Q that Mark Goodacre proposes (2002).

Next I noted this sentence: page 3. Messiah is never used in Tanakh of the future ideal Davidic king. I immediately wondered about the usage in the psalms, especially the use in Psalm 89 and comparing this psalm with Psalm 72. [I see reading David Mitchell's interactions with Wilson "Lord, Remember David: G. H. Wilson and the Message of the Psalter" that I am in good company - I really should read those authors. - even if they are just arguing with each other!]

Psalm 72 does not have the term anointed, but it does, at the end of Book 2 of the Psalter, describe the ideal king. This is in contrast to Psalm 89 at the end of Book 3 which describes the lament of the 'earthly' kingdom. (Failure is too strong a word.)  Book 4 presents יְהוָה as king. What then is anointing and how does such a gift manifest itself in the individual, in the people, and in the relationship with יְהוָה?

The root for anoint is used in the following verses.

Verses sharing this stem

יִתְיַצְּבוּ מַלְכֵי אֶרֶץ
וְרוֹזְנִים נוֹסְדוּ יָחַד
עַל יְהוָה וְעַל מְשִׁיחוֹ
--2.2They station themselves, these kinglets of earth
these rule-makers reasoning as one
against יְהוָה and against his anointed
rule-makers, רזן (rzn) once in the psalms, weighty, judicious, commanding

the kings are against the anointed from the beginning
מַגְדִּל יְשׁוּעוֹת מַלְכּוֹ
וְעֹשֶׂה חֶסֶד לִמְשִׁיחוֹ
לְדָוִד וּלְזַרְעוֹ עַד עוֹלָם
-18.51Great victories he does for his king
and he makes loving kindness for his anointed
for David and his seed for ever
victories, ישׁע (yshu) = salvation

Psalms 17-18 are prayer and statement of completion
עַתָּה יָדַעְתִּי
כִּי הוֹשִׁיעַ יְהוָה מְשִׁיחוֹ
יַעֲנֵהוּ מִשְּׁמֵי קָדְשׁוֹ
בִּגְבֻרוֹת יֵשַׁע יְמִינוֹ
-20.7Now I know
because יְהוָה will save his anointed
he will answer from his holy heaven
in the prevailing of the salvation of his right hand
part of the prayer for the king
- following a space in the poem where the prayer is answered.
יְהוָה עֹז לָמוֹ
וּמָעוֹז יְשׁוּעוֹת מְשִׁיחוֹ הוּא
-28.8יְהוָה their strength
and the stronghold of the victories of his anointed is he
Psalms 27-28 are again a pair focused on the individual
אָהַבְתָּ צֶּדֶק וַתִּשְׂנָא רֶשַׁע
עַל כֵּן מְשָׁחֲךָ אֱלֹהִים אֱלֹהֶיךָ
שֶׁמֶן שָׂשׂוֹן מֵחֲבֵרֶךָ
-45.8You have loved righteousness and hate wickedness
therefore God your God has anointed you
with oil of joy above your companions
the marriage of the king
מָגִנֵּנוּ רְאֵה אֱלֹהִים
וְהַבֵּט פְּנֵי מְשִׁיחֶךָ
-84.10See our shield O God
and take note of the face of your anointed
in the middle of Book 3, prayer for the whole people
מָצָאתִי דָּוִד עַבְדִּי
בְּשֶׁמֶן קָדְשִׁי מְשַׁחְתִּיו
-89.21I have found David my servant
with the oil of my holiness I have anointed him

the promise is noted
וְאַתָּה זָנַחְתָּ וַתִּמְאָס
הִתְעַבַּרְתָּ עִם מְשִׁיחֶךָ
-89.39But you yourself have rejected and refused
You have passed over with your anointed
the lament follows at the failure of the Davidic line
אֲשֶׁר חֵרְפוּ אוֹיְבֶיךָ יְהוָה
אֲשֶׁר חֵרְפוּ
עִקְּבוֹת מְשִׁיחֶךָ
-89.52that your enemies יְהוָה have reproached
that they have reproached
the footsteps of your anointed

the enemies are triumphant
אַל תִּגְּעוּ בִמְשִׁיחָי
וְלִנְבִיאַי אַל תָּרֵעוּ
105.15do not touch my anointed
and to my prophets do no evil

the anointed is the whole people
בַּעֲבוּר דָּוִד עַבְדֶּךָ
אַל תָּשֵׁב פְּנֵי מְשִׁיחֶךָ
132.10on behalf of David your servant
do not turn away the presence of your anointed

anointed is a frame with a promise in Psalm 132
שָׁם אַצְמִיחַ קֶרֶן לְדָוִד
עָרַכְתִּי נֵר לִמְשִׁיחִי
132.17There I will cause the horn Of David to grow
I have arranged a lamp for my anointed
The psalms do more than give room for hope. They provide the framework in which the anointed may grow and learn mercy

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