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This question was just asked over at the Judaism site, so I'll repost my answer from there here. In general it is difficult to find pre-Christian rabbinic commentary, since the earliest rabbinic commentaries began coalescing around the end of the Second Temple period, in the first century CE. So while early midrashic collections like the Sifra and Mekhilta ...

I asked about this question at the Judaism.SE site and was told that it is difficult to find pre-Christian Rabbinic sources. It seems that the current understanding of Psalm 22 within Judaism deals with the plight of the Jewish Nation in Exile.1 However, Rashi's 11th-century commentary states that Our Sages, however, interpreted it [(ayeleth hashachar, ...

The first and most important clue is found in the annotation of the Psalm: For the Leader; upon Aijeleth ha-Shahar. A Psalm of David "Of David" can mean that it was written by, about, or in the style of David. Since the Psalm is written in the first person, any way you look at it, the subject must have originally been David. Nothing in the Psalm ...

Hermeneutic principles for understanding this passage: The Christology of the the law and the prophets. It's all is about Christ; even if you were to disagree with this personally, this is certainly the overarching principle of hermeneutics that Matthew is working with (see my answer here for a few example passages). This gives us pause in claiming that ...

Judaism of the time expected two messiahs to come. One of them was called Messiah ben David, and he was to be a warrior king who would run the foreigners out of Judea and Galilee. Messiah ben David would restore the kingdom to the Israelites and reign from the throne as God's right hand. The other was Messiah ben Levi (sometimes called Messiah ben ...

From a Jewish perspective, the answer is a pretty definite No; the Jewish perspective on the moshiach is very different from the Christian view of the Messiah and leaves no room to make him into an angelic being. Additionally, the phrase “angel of the Lord” is ambiguous in its first word. The word malakh (מלאך) translates equally as “messenger” and (when ...

We should distinguish between the idiom of the prophet and the later theological interpretations of the text. Ben Adam in Hebrew (Aramaic bar Enosh) expresses the distinction in ancient thought between the mortal and immortal actors in the world drama - between humans and gods in Greek and Roman thought, and between humans and God in Israelite thought. In ...

The text says nothing about confusion or doubt. John knew from his infancy that Jesus was the promised Messiah. He knew from Jesus' baptism that He was also the God's Son, the King. But kings, messiahs, never do miracles. As Frank says, many Jews interpreted the prophecies to mean that both a new David and a new Moses would come. But was Jesus also the new ...

This is a widely debated idea across many branches of the Christian faith. My belief is that, yes, the Angel of the LORD does refer to the pre-incarnate Christ. Here are a few reasons why. In Genesis 16:7-14, the Angel of the LORD appears to Hagar. He tells her "I will multiply thy seed", an act that can certainly only be done by God. In verse 13, Hagar ...

This verse is complex. Here are some brief thoughts. The Hebrew word תֹורָה (torah) does not translate as "the Law" (note the definite article), but simply "law" or "a law." At first impression, one may be inclined to think that the phrases "the mountain of YHVH" and "the house of the God of Ya'akov" refer to a rebuilt physical Temple in Yerushalaim. ...

From the more immediate meaning it may have been a simple way for God to humble Ezekiel for he had given him many visions about the future. The same thing was required of Paul on account of his ‘surpassingly great revelations’ (2 Cor 12:7). Yet as (כל הנביאים כולן לא נתנבאו אלא לימות המשיח Sanh. 99a) "All the prophets prophesied not but of the days of the ...

This answer is from a Christian perspective (as requested), and reflects the position that the promise was Christ, and not all prophets (culminating in Christ.) "Exhibit A" We have a Divinely-inspired Christian interpretation of the passage in Acts 3. After Peter healed the Lame Beggar, the men of Israel stood amazed. Peter asked why they were staring at ...

The verses in question in condensed form say: a) Judah is like a lion. b) Judah will keep the scepter until someone comes (Shiloh) who will receive the obedience of other nations (or bring rest to the nations). c) Judah will enjoy great prosperity I have not encountered a Christian commentary that did not accept b) as indicating that the kingdom of Judah ...

I do not believe in a literal millennium of one thousand years but if I did there are some Biblical principles that would be at play that might help you form your own good opinion. First, to be clear the Jews did expect a literal reign of Christ but it was to be a brief period whereby the Gentiles would be defeated in a war against Gog and Maggog. For ...

The key for understanding this section is that from verses 1-6 the prophecy deals with cleansing sin which includes banishing ‘the names of the idols’ and 'false prophets'. In fact the false prophets should be killed even by ‘their own parents” who will ‘stab the one who prophesies’ (v3). This was the rule under the laws of Moses. (Deuteronomy 13:9) The idea ...

Angel of Jehovah I have been digging deeper and am not aware how the connection was first made by early Christians to view ‘the Angel of Jehovah’ or ‘Angel of the Covenant’ to be a pre-human appearance of Messiah, but I have found one place that makes me see an arguable connection. The connection is based on the connection of various ‘human forms’ that God ...

First, it is true, most of the rabbinic commentaries that survive were either taught late in the Second Temple period, or somewhat after the Temple's destruction. So I can't give you a rabbinic interpretation. But I'll give you a textual analysis that I think is convincing. The Christian link to Psalm 22 is rooted in their shocking mis-translation of ...