In previous blog posts, I began telling the story of my brain tumor and the depression which followed it. The second article in the series described my faith in God which sustained me through both trials.
Having recently started a word-by-word translation of Martin Luther’s Bible from German to English, I’ll be publishing the book of Matthew a chapter at a time, with commentary to follow a week or so later. Hopefully people will contribute to a discussion on what the text says and debate my opinions on it.
Careful Translation of Others’ Words
Translator’s notes and headings are in italics, while headings and bold text are in regular font as they appeared in the 1984 German Bible Society edition. Verse numbers and most cross references from the German version were omitted for readability.
Synonyms were used to make the reading more interesting. Note five synonyms for begat in the genealogy of Jesus, where an entire life is sometimes compressed into three words. Children can build their vocabulary from a simple word and a less well known synonym and won’t need to refer to a dictionary as often.
There were no chapter and verse numbers in the original Greek text written by Matthew, one of Jesus’ original twelve disciples. Martin Luther translated Matthew’s account into German in 1522, and the German Bible Society revised it into modern German in 1984.
A Despised Tax Collector’s Persuasion
Matthew’s account was not a complete biography, but rather an attempt to persuade his Jewish readers that Jesus of Nazareth was the long-awaited Messiah.
The Romans were smart rulers in the ancient world, keeping the famous Pax Romana (Roman peace) by building roads, viaducts and other infrastructure. They got local people in conquered countries to collect the necessary taxes to run their government. Each province was required to pay a certain amount. If the local tax collector raised more than that he was allowed to keep the difference.
In most cases the temptation to collect more than a reasonable wage was overwhelming, and tax collectors grew wealthy by cheating their fellow countrymen. So the fiercely nationalistic Jews despised tax collectors as traitors as well as hating their Roman oppressors.
Matthew was an unlikely gospel (Good News) writer – saved by grace out of a despised group of people, and probably dishonest himself. Jesus fulfilled over 300 Old Testament prophecies concerning Himself, and Matthew mentions many of the important ones in his account.
So without further introduction, here is
The Gospel According to Matthew, Chapter 1
A tax collector’s connection to Old Testament prophecy
Word-by-word English translation from Martin Luther’s German, revised by the German Bible Society 1984
Jesus’ Family Tree
This is the book of the history of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham begat Isaac, Isaac begat Jacob, Jacob begat Judah and his brothers.
Judah procreated Perez and Zerah with Tamar. Perez procreated Hezron. Hezron procreated Ram. Ram generated Amminadab. Amminadab generated Nahshon. Nahshon generated Salmon.
Salmon produced Boaz with Rahab. Boaz produced Obed with Ruth. Obed produced Jesse.
Jesse created the King David. David created Solomon with the wife of Uriah.
Solomon begat Rehoboam. Rehoboam begat Abijah. Abijah begat Asa. Asa procreated Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat procreated Joram. Joram procreated Uzziah.
Uzziah generated Jotham. Jotham generated Ahaz. Ahaz generated Hezekiah.
Hezekiah produced Manasseh. Manasseh produced Amon. Amon produced Josiah.
Josiah created Jeconiah and his brothers around the time of the Babylonian captivity. After the Babylonian imprisonment, Jeconiah begat Shealtiel. Shealtiel begat Zerubbabel.
Zerubbabel procreated Abiud. Abiud procreated Eliakim. Eliakim procreated Azor. Azor generated Zadok. Zadok generated Akim. Akim generated Eliud. Eliud produced Eleazar. Eleazar produced Matthan. Matthan produced Jacob.
Jacob created Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who then was called Christ.
All the limbs from Abraham up to David are fourteen members. From David up to the Babylonian internment are fourteen limbs. From the Babylonian confinement up to Christ are fourteen members.
Jesus’ Birth
The birth of Jesus the Messiah happened like this: It became apparent that Mary, his mother, whom Joseph had trusted, was pregnant by the Holy Spirit before he took her home.[i]
But Joseph, her husband, was merciful and did not want to bring her into disgrace, but thought to leave her secretly.
While he was still considering this, see, there appeared to him the angel of the Lord in a dream and spoke, “Joseph, you son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary, your wife, to yourself, for what she has conceived, that is from the Holy Ghost. And she will bear a son, whom you shall give the name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
This all happened, so that it would be fulfilled, what the Lord said through the Prophets, who then spoke (Isaiah 7:14):
“See, a virgin will conceive and bear a son, and she will give him the name Immanuel;” which means when translated: God with us.
When now Joseph awoke from sleep, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him, and took his wife to himself.
And he did not touch[ii] her until she bore a son; and he gave him the name Jesus.
[i] See glossary under “Betrothal.” The Jewish betrothal represents a legally binding promise of marriage. The conjugal intercourse would first be taken up after the home-taking of the bride by the bridegroom.
[ii] Or “handle”, meaning in this context to have sexual relations with her. Roman Catholic, most Protestant, and Orthodox churches agree on the Virgin Birth, one of the basic doctrines of historic Christianity. Liberalism would reduce Jesus to a mere man, a good teacher who was born of a young woman in the natural way.
Individual beliefs within churches about the Virgin Birth, the eternal triune God becoming a man, vary, including pastors. However, Jesus either had a miraculous birth by union of the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, with a virgin or he did not. There is no middle ground.
Translator’s notes and headings are in italics, while headings and bold text are in regular font as they appeared in the 1984 German Bible Society edition. Verse numbers and most cross references from the German version have been omitted for readability. Permission is granted to copy this freely for individual or group Bible studies as long as passages are quoted in their entirety and proper attribution is given. Copyright Dale Murrish 2013.
I wish I had your faith no matter where your prayers are directed. We as Jews are just tired of being victimized even by mention by non Jewish zealots, Christian, Muslim, or otherwise for past centuries. Thus the popularity of the cry engendered since the holocaust "Never again", The cry that gave birth to the tiny Jewish homeland described in the bible that has paid in blood for its survival since what Jews and Christians alike call its rebirth in 1948. What Arabs call the Naqba, or disaster after their joint failures to complete Hitler's wish for Jewish anihilation.
Human beings are all flawed and fall short of God's commands - I'm for freedom of religion. Freedom to choose and change one's religion, not have someone tell me what to believe. America has the most freedom of any country on earth in this regard - may it ever be so!
Thank you for the translation and the interesting historical contextual notes. Looking forward to the next installment.
We of the old testament were not too kind to the Middites, the Amorites, the Cannanites. Neither was the Egyption Pharoah that jealousy attacked the kingdon of Soloman taking it off the map. The middle east from Nasser who murdered and imprisoned thousands followed by Sadat,, then Mubarak, and now Mursi a country bumpkin who is just as illiterate as the Islamist poor he bribed to put him in power orders the execution of 28 young soccer fans. Assad,follows his murdering father Haffez who wiped out an entire towns. Chemical Ali and the Kurds. Ah lets not forger the Catholic Inquisition that delighted in torturing on the rack and burning even non-Jews for not eating Pork accusing them of "Judeizing".. Look up expulsions,Pogroms, and learn about Lithuania,Ukraine, Poland, Russia, Christians today are killed not only in Pakistan but throughout the Moslem world only because they ran out of Jews. Isn't the study of all the peaceful religions interesting?
What the hell do you think we are going to change in these countries?
Eric Metaxas, who wrote an excellent biography of Bonhoeffer, will speak at Woodside Bible Church February 19: http://www.gotothehub.com/liveevents/bonhoeffertour/ “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” — DIETRICH BONHOEFFER You know darn well I will not be defending these racist writings of Luther; when he got to heaven he found out he was wrong. No doubt it caused him much pain and regret to have his seriously wrong writings used to justify mass murder in later times. Typical leftist thought, though. Focus on the 1% error to justify trashing the 99% good someone does! We are not yet in heaven, as Ronald points out so well. There is still real evil here on earth. If it is not restrained (by force as a last resort), evil wins. We can’t all be pacifists. Only those who live in civilized countries with rule of law have that luxury or they will be slaughtered as Ronald described. (Most anti-religionists are not genuine pacifists, but rather leftists.)
There was and is no difference between Jew and Gentile. All of us fall short of the glory of God and need rescue from our rebellion. I agree that people should stop coercing and killing each other over religion. Christians haven’t done this for several hundred years. (The Nazis were not Christians.) Most “religious wars” were defensive or were not really about religion, but about one group of people trying to control another group of people. The number of people killed by atheist regimes (the least peaceful religion with the possible exception of Islam) in the last century is far greater. People should have the freedom to choose and change their religion.
Catholic priests, Poles and Slavs were also systematically persecuted by the Nazis. The state-controlled “German Christians” were either co-opted or coerced by the Nazis. Some evangelicals stood by or were afraid to speak up. Others like Bonhoeffer actively resisted and paid for it with their lives. Perhaps some genuine Christians were in error like Luther and have since repented of their sin, either on earth or when they got to heaven. Not everyone who calls himself a Christian is one. KKK members may have used Christian symbols, but few if any were actually Christians. I’ll make a deal with you. Read Metaxas’ Bonhoeffer biography, Dennis Prager’s Still the Best Hope: Why the World needs American Values to Triumph, or Mark Levin’s Ameritopia (both authors are Jewish). Tell everyone what you think of them in a blog post and then I’ll read and comment on your “authoritative source.” http://www.ericmetaxas.com/ http://stores.dennisprager.com/PROD/DPBK6a.html http://www.marklevinshow.com/home.asp We should focus our efforts on blocking countries that want to wipe Israel off the map and criticizing current leaders who make anti-Semitic remarks. The Nazi swastika is a twisted cross.
I condone no violence, except in self-defense or in extreme cases like Dietrich Bonhoeffer: prevention of a greater crime like the mass murders in Nazi Germany. He compared taking part in the assassination plot against Hitler to shooting a drunk driver who was mowing down people on a pedestrian-only street to prevent more pedestrian deaths. The problem is, once the bullets start flying, you have the Hatfields and the McCoys on a national scale – that’s what we have in the Middle East (people taught to hate each other, then revenge for family members killed). The solution there will be thorny if it is ever found. No one should be forced to believe in a religion or attend a school against their will. Some in America's urban schools are trapped in dangerous, low performing schools by economic circumstances. Efforts to "free the hostages" with options like more charter schools that empower parents and students are being blocked by the MEA, which recently called in sick en masse so its members could protest for its union rights in Lansing. Meanwhile, 26,000 students sat home.
The while some of the violence in Northern Ireland has been political, religious bigotry, discrimination, violence and killing has been real problem. Political and religious institutions of the dominant protestant majority have long oppressed the Catholic minority, including annual provocative Protestant marches through Catholic neighborhoods and actions against Catholics by Protestant dominated and controlled police and paramilitary groups. Ian Paisley, an outspoken Protestant preacher exemplifies the Protestant bigotry and discrimination towards Catholics because of their religion. I won't be like you and say categorically that only Protestants engage in violence, provocation or hate in Northern Ireland, or that there is no political side to the troubles, but it is religious hatred abd bigotry that is the root of the problems in Northern Ireland, not politics.
I oppose all forms of religious bigotry – which is condemned throughout the Bible, by the way. Professing Christians throughout history who hated another group of people for their religious views were not following the Bible. They were in error and will be corrected for their sin when they get to heaven.
I also suggest looking up the No True Scotsman fallacy because you are up to your elbows in illogical hypocrisy as usual.
Please remember we all have the right to our own opinion and you are welcome to share yours by blogging on Patch like Dale. Please visit http://troy.patch.com/blog/apply. Thanks.