Matthew 2:6
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And thou Bethlehem, land of Judah, Art in no wise least among the princes of Judah: For out of thee shall come forth a governor, Who shall be shepherd of my people Israel. (ASV)
Pro
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Misquote of Jewish Bible to Change Context
JW:
"4 And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ should be born.
5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written through the prophet,
6 And thou Bethlehem, land of Judah, Art in no wise least among the princes of Judah: For out of thee shall come forth a governor, Who shall be shepherd of my people Israel."
JW:
Compare to:
"2 But thou, Beth-lehem Ephrathah, which art little to be among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall one come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting."
JW:
Note that "Matthew" has deleted "Ephrathah" from his quote of Micah. The phrase "Beth-lehem Ephrathah" along with the context of Micah "which art little to be among the thousands of Judah" appears to give the context of Lineage. The same clan that David was from. This is supported by the traditional Jewish understanding that the Messiah would be a descendent of David. "Matthew's" "Bethlehem, land of Judah" gives a different context, the geographical location of the city Bethlehem. The reason for this change in context by "Matthew" looks to be so he can claim prophecy fulfillment with a birth in the city of Bethlehem.
--JoeWallack 08:52, 1 Feb 2007 (CST)
Misquote of Jewish Bible to Change Quality of Bethlehem
JW:
Matthew 2:6
"And thou Bethlehem, land of Judah, Art in no wise least among the princes of Judah: For out of thee shall come forth a governor, Who shall be shepherd of my people Israel."
JW:
Compare to:
"But thou, Beth-lehem Ephrathah, which art little to be among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall one come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting."
JW:
Instead of "Art in no wise least" the Masoretic text says "small to be". Even the Christian Greek translations of Micah generally say, "are too small to be". "Matthew" has changed the quote in the Tanakh to avoid any description of Bethlehem as insignificant.
--JoeWallack 08:41, 2 Feb 2007 (CST)
Mistranslation of Jewish Bible Quote
JW:
Matthew 2:6
"And thou Bethlehem, land of Judah, Art in no wise least among the princes of Judah: For out of thee shall come forth a governor, Who shall be shepherd of my people Israel."
JW:
Compare to:
"But thou, Beth-lehem Ephrathah, which art little to be among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall one come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting."
JW:
Instead of "princes" the Masoretic text says "clans" (literally, "thousands"). Christian Greek translations of Micah generally say "thousands". The consonants of the Hebrew word (lpy) can mean "clans" or "rulers" so Matthew could have chosen to ignore the Hebrew tradition of "clans" even though it was accepted by the early Christians. The context of Micah though yields a translation of "clans" because of the reference to a clan, Beth-lehem Ephrathah, in the sentence.
--JoeWallack 09:55, 3 Feb 2007 (CST)
Misquote of Jewish Bible - Ommission of "For Me"
JW:
Matthew 2:6
"And thou Bethlehem, land of Judah, Art in no wise least among the princes of Judah: For out of thee shall come forth a governor, Who shall be shepherd of my people Israel."
JW:
Compare to:
"But thou, Beth-lehem Ephrathah, which art little to be among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall one come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting."
JW:
The Masoretic text and Christian Greek translations of Micah say, "for out of thee shall come forth for me a ruler". "Matthew" has omitted "for me", apparently so as not to give the appearance that Jesus is ruling on behalf of anyone else.
--JoeWallack 13:08, 3 Feb 2007 (CST)
Misquote of Jewish Bible - Changing What/Who Is Ruled
JW:
Matthew 2:6
"And thou Bethlehem, land of Judah, Art in no wise least among the princes of Judah: For out of thee shall come forth a governor, Who shall be shepherd of my people Israel."
JW:
Compare to:
"But thou, Beth-lehem Ephrathah, which art little to be among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall one come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting."
JW:
The Masoretic text says, "from you there will come forth for me one who is to be a ruler in Israel". (Early Christian Greek translations generally say, ""a leader of Israel"). "Matthew" has changed the prophecy of a leader of the country Israel to a leader of the people Israel. At the time that "Matthew" wrote he likely realized that Jesus was never a ruler or leader of the country Israel.
--JoeWallack 22:11, 3 Feb 2007 (CST)
Con
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Neutral
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