Has Isaiah's signature seal been found?
by fulltimestudent 7 Replies latest jw friends
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Pete Zahut
I don't know but even if it has, it doesn't prove that Isaiah is who he claimed to be or that JW's are the one and only true religion and that you need to let your child die from lack of blood.
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dropoffyourkeylee
They seemed pretty cautious to make the assumption that it is the Isaiah of the Bible, in the article I read. Unfortunately my subscription to BAR ( Biblical Archaeology review) has expired, so I missed the original article.
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fulltimestudent
Had some problems posting this morning, so did not get all info on the thread:
https://theconversation.com/seal-of-the-prophet-isaiah-sorting-out-fact-from-fantasy-92296
I was using a discussion that appeared in The Conversation. It was headlined;
Seal of the Prophet Isaiah: sorting out fact from fantasy.
Eilat Mazar,who is an archaeologist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem claims that even though part of the inscription is missing, the missing section should be translated as prophet.
My own take is that an historical existence does not prove divine inspiration or even the existence of a divinity, anymore than the existence of buddhist relics prove that the magical claims of Buddhism are true.
Candida Moss's write-up notes that:
"Isaiah is one of the most important Old Testament prophets, who predicted the birth of Jesus Christ."
That's referring to Isaiah's prophecy at Isa 9:6. Which claims that one day a special person in the life of Israel would be born.
The Christian appropriation of those verses does not make Jesus the promised 'Prince of Peace.' For since the death of Jesus, wew have heard nothing from him.
and the other reference to Isaiah &:14) notes:
"Christian tradition interprets Isaiah’s words as prophecies about the Virgin Birth, the nature of being a messiah and the universal relevance of Jesus’ messianic identity to both gentiles and Jews. "
But the Hebrew word used there and translated centuries later in the Septuagint does not suggest that the Messiah would be born to a virgin, but merely a young woman.
We need to differentiate between historical figures and outlandish mythical claims.
But an interesting find even if the claims that will follow are outlandish.
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Crazyguy
Isaiah chapter 14 is almost word for word the same as a Ugaritic text talking about a minor deity trying to take the throne of Baal . It’s used in Isaiah to make it seem as though he was talking about Nebuchadnezzar.
The isaiah writtings are a fraud same as proverbs where the 30 saying of Amenope found themselves. One can also see the writings of the righteous sufferer and the book being used as a foundation for the books of Job and Lamentations.
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smiddy3
Well if one eye is higher than the other then he`s the man
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Earnest
The BAR article is accessible here.
Alongside the bullae of Hezekiah and the Bes family, 22 additional bullae with Hebrew names were found. Among these is the bulla of “Yesha‘yah[u] Nvy[?].”
It was located only 6.5 feet southeast from the wall of the Building of the Royal Bakers, while the bulla of King Hezekiah was found about 13.1 feet southeast from the same wall; thus, less than 10 feet separated the bulla of Yesha‘yah[u] Nvy[?] and the bulla of King Hezekiah.
The seal impression of Yesha‘yah[u] Nvy[?] is divided into three registers. The upper end of the bulla is missing, and its lower left end is slightly damaged. The surviving portion of the top register shows the lower part of a grazing doe, a motif of blessing and protection found in Judah, particularly in Jerusalem. The middle register reads “leyesha‘yah[u]” ([belonging] “to Isaiah”), where the damaged left end most likely included the letter vav (w). The lower register reads “nvy”, centered. The damaged left end of this register may have been left empty, as on the right, with no additional letters, but it also may have had an additional letter, such as an aleph (’), which would render the word nvy’, “prophet” in Hebrew. The addition of the letter aleph (’) creates the occupation name (like Baker, Smith, or Priest) for “prophet”. Whether or not the aleph was added at the end of the lower register is speculative.
Without an aleph at the end, the word nvy is most likely just a personal name. The standard layout of names on bullae is composed of the owner’s name and his father’s name, with or without the additional word bn (“son of”) before the father’s name.
However, the close relationship between Isaiah and King Hezekiah, as described in the Bible, and the fact the bulla was found next to one bearing the name of Hezekiah seem to leave open the possibility that, despite the difficulties presented by the bulla’s damaged area, this may have been a seal impression of Isaiah the prophet, adviser to King Hezekiah.
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silentbuddha
Why this obsession over every aspect of this ridiculous desert dweller iron age religion. A desert god that ordered the murder of men women children and animals so his best buddies could have a place to live.
To this day people walk on eggshells so as not to offend these people when their own god was the most racist/prejudice homicidal maniac of all time... that Is if you want to believe that he existed