Christians commonly believe that many verses of the Hebrew Bible are prophecies of the Messiah and that some of these were fulfilled in the Ministry of Jesus, with the rest to be fulfilled by the Second Coming of Christ, which is the anticipated return of Christ to Earth. Jews and Christians do not agree on what Biblical statements constitute messianic prophecies. Christians point to many statements that they believe are messianic prophecies that Jews do not hold as referring to the Jewish Messiah. Most Jews believe that the prophets of the Hebrew Bible did not prophesy that Jesus would be the Messiah,[1] and no significant Messianic prophecy of Jewish scripture was fulfilled by Jesus.[2]
The following is an example of a list of scriptural requirements in Judaism and Christianity concerning the Messiah: his actions, and his reign. Jewish and Christian sources both beleive that the Messiah will fulfill all relevant prophecies.
| Jewish Interpretation of Sample Messianic Prophecy | Judaism | Christianity |
|---|---|---|
| The Sanhedrin will be re-established[3][4] | ||
| Once he is King, leaders of other nations will look to him for guidance.[4][5] | ||
| The whole world will worship the One God of Israel[4][6][7] | ||
| Jews will return to full Torah observance and practice it.[4] | ||
| He will be descended from King David[8] via Solomon[9][10] | ||
| The Mashiach will be a man of this world, an observant Jew with "fear of God"[4][11] | ||
| Evil and tyranny will not be able to stand before his leadership[4][12] | ||
| Knowledge of God will fill the world[4][13] | ||
| He will include and attract people from all cultures and nations[4][14] | ||
| All Israelites will be returned to their homeland[4][15] | ||
| Death will be swallowed up forever[4][16] | ||
| There will be no more hunger or illness, and death will cease[4][16] | ||
| All of the dead will rise again. According to the Zohar, the resurrection will take place forty years after the arrival of Moshiach[4][17] |
||
| The Jewish people will experience eternal joy and gladness[4][18] | ||
| He will be a messenger of peace[4][19] | ||
| Nations will end up recognizing the wrongs they did to Israel[4][20] | ||
| The peoples of the world will turn to the Jews for spiritual guidance[4][21] | ||
| The ruined cities of Israel will be restored[4][22] | ||
| Weapons of war will be destroyed[4][23] | ||
| The Temple will be rebuilt[24] resuming many of the suspended 613 mitzvot.[4] | ||
| He will rebuild the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem.[7][9][25] | ||
| He will gather the Jewish people from exile and return them to Israel.[9][26] | ||
| He will bring world peace.[7][9][27] | ||
| He will influence the entire world to acknowledge and serve one God.[9][28] | ||
| He will then perfect the entire world to serve God together[4][29] He will give you all the worthy desires of your heart[4][30] |
||
| He will take the barren land and make it abundant and fruitful[4][31] |
"Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined." - Daniel 9:24-27 (Authorized Version 1611)
Some Christians interpret the phrase that the Messiah "would be cut off, but not for himself" as meaning that he would be killed for someone else and take this as being fulfilled by the crucifixion of Jesus. According to these Christians, the references to "most holy", "anointed" and "prince" speak of Jesus, while the phrase "anointed shall be cut off" points to his crucifixion, and the "people of the prince who is to come" are the Romans who destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 AD.[32]
In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus refers to the “horrible abomination” or “abomination of desolation,” (Mark 13:14) and the Gospel of Matthew adds a direct reference to this as being from the Book of Daniel, "So when you see the desolating sacrilege spoken of by the prophet Daniel…" (Matt 24:15)
The general scholarly view[33][34] is that Daniel is writing a contemporaneous account of the Maccabean Revolt c. 167 BCE and the "cutting off of an anointed one" (9:26)— refers to the murder of the high priest Onias III; the "abomination that causes desolation" refers to Antiochus IV erecting a statue of Zeus in the Temple, the final straw breaking the uneasy coexistence of the traditionalist Jews and the more Hellenized Jews.
This view is also supported by the Jewish Encyclopedia[35] as the well the Roman Catholic New American Bible commentary.[36] A similar event happens in 132 CE, where Hadrian erects a statue of Jupiter on the sacred ground of the Temple, sparking the Bar Kokhba Revolt. A minority view Jesus' prediction of the abomination causing desolation to refer to Hadrian erecting the statue of Jupiter and "false Christs" as a reference to Simon bar Kokhba, who was considered a messiah for a while after the revolt.
Deuteronomy 18 is one of the earliest prophecies which speaks of a prophet who would be raised up from among the Jewish nation.
15 "The LORD will raise up for you a prophet like me from among yourselves, from your own kinsmen. You are to pay attention to him ... 18I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their kinsmen. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I order him." (CJB)
Some Evangelical Christians claim that in the first century CE, Jews expected a final prophet.[37] The Gospel of John states that the Jews of Jesus' time asked John the Baptist if he were the prophet described in this verse (John 1:19-22), and that he denied it. In Acts 3:18-22, Peter claimed that Jesus was the fulfillment of this promise.
"I will make a covenant of peace with them, an everlasting covenant. I will give to them, increase their numbers, and set my Sanctuary among them forever. My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people." (CJB)
The "dwelling place" (Hebrew mishkan) recalls the wilderness tabernacle. The Sanctuary (Hebrew miqdash) points rather to the Temple, in particular the renewed Temple, which will occupy Ezekiel's attention in the last ch.s of 40-48.
Christianity believes that Ezekiel's Temple is more glorious than the Tabernacle of Moses (Exodus 25-40) and the Temple of Solomon (1 Kings 5-8), pointing forward to several beliefs:
Judaism holds that the Messiah has not yet arrived namely because of the belief that the Messianic Age has not started yet. Jews believe that the Messiah will completely change life on earth and that pain and suffering will be conquered, thus initiating the Kingdom of God and the Messianic Age on earth. Contrary to the Christian belief that the Kingdom of God is not worldly, most Jews hold that the Kingdom of God will be on earth. Jews hold that life on earth after Jesus has not changed profoundly enough for him to be considered the Messiah.
While Christians have cited the following as prophecies referencing the life, status, and legacy of Jesus, Jewish scholars maintain that these passages are not messianic prophecies and are based on mistranslations/misunderstanding of the Hebrew texts.[39]
"6 For this is what ADONAI-Tzva'ot says: "It won't be long before one more time I will shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land;7 and I will shake all the nations, so that the treasures of all the nations will flow in; and I will fill this house with glory," says ADONAI-Tzva'ot. 8 "The silver is mine, and the gold is mine," says ADONAI-Tzva'ot.
9 "The glory of this new house will surpass that of the old," says ADONAI-Tzva'ot, "and in this place I will grant shalom," says ADONAI-Tzva'ot.'" (CJB)
The Second Temple was to be filled with the glory of God and its glory would be superior to Solomon's temple despite the missing artifacts and the absence of sacred fire (God initially lighting up the altar Himself).
For some Christians, this prophecy is believed to be fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth being present and teaching in Herod's renovated Temple and peace being granted by God for mankind in that place through the tearing of the veil of the Holy of Holies upon Christ's death. Furthermore, it is asserted that if Haggai's prophecy is to be held as true, it must have been accomplished before 70 AD since the Romans destroyed the Second Temple at that time.
On the other hand, many scholars, including evangelical Christians, understand the prophecy as being in reference to the physical splendor of the Temple (as implied by the context) and/or apply it to the yet future Third Temple.[40]
"When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son."
In its original context, this text from Hosea referred to the deliverance of the people of Israel from bondage in Egypt.[41] The Gospel of Matthew applies it to the return from Egypt of Jesus and his family as a messianic prophecy.[42] “An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there till I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child to destroy him.’ And he rose and took the child and his mother by night, and departed to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt have I called my son’” (Matthew 2: 13-15).
Isaiah 7:14 - Matthew 1:22-23 states "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" — which means, "God with us". However the Jewish translation of that passage reads "Behold, the young woman [ha-almah in Hebrew] is with child and will bear a son and she will call his name Immanuel."[9] Judaism affirms that [ha-almah] ("young woman") does not refer to a virgin, and that had the Tanakh intended to refer to such, the specific Hebrew word for virgin [bethulah] would have been used. According to secular and Jewish scholarship, Isaiah chapter 7 when read in context, speaks of a prophecy made to the Jewish King Ahaz to allay his fears of two invading kings (those of Damascus and of Samaria) who were preparing to invade Jerusalem, about 600 years before Jesus’ birth. Isaiah 7:16: "For before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken." Also, the following chapter of Isaiah appears to describe the fulfillment of the prophecy, repeating that Israel and Syria will soon fall to Assyria, and mentioning again the name Immanuel (Isaiah 8: 1-8). Howard W. Clarke, the Professor Emeritus of Classics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, says Isaiah seems to be explicitly referring to a son of the Judean King Ahaz (ca. 735-715 BC) rather than to his mother as Matthew misinterprets it.[43]
The use of Isaiah 9:1 by the Gospel author of Matthew has led many Christian authors to cite its messianic applications.[44]
Matthew refers to this, since Jesus began preaching in Galilee: “Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth he went and dwelt in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulon and Naphtali, that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: ‘The land of Zebulon and the land of Naphtali, toward the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles – the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned’” (Matthew 4: 15-16).
In Isaiah, this passage describes how Assyrian invaders are increasingly aggressive as they progress toward the sea, while Matthew 4:13-15 has re-interpreted the description as a prophecy stating that Jesus would progress (without any hint of becoming more aggressive) toward Galilee. While Matthew uses the Septuagint rendering of Isaiah, in the Masoretic text it refers to the region of the gentiles rather than Galilee of the nations, and it is likely that the presence of the word Galilee in the Septuagint is a translation error - the Hebrew word for region is galil which can easily be corrupted to galilee.
Most Christians believe that this verse refers to the birth of Jesus as the Messiah. The verse reads:
"For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government shall rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace."Isaiah 9:5-6
"For a child is born unto us, a son is given unto us; and the government is upon his shoulder; and his name is called Pele-joez-el-gibbor-Abi-ad-sar-shalom; That the government may be increased, and of peace there be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it through justice and through righteousness from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts doth perform this."Isaiah 9:5-6
The word translated "wonderful" is actually a noun, meaning a "wonder". Another translation of that phrase would be "A wonder, a counselor is the mighty God, the everlasting father, prince of peace." Like the name "Immanuel," this name would describe God, not the person who carries the name. The word "is", is usually not stated in Hebrew. Rather,"is" is understood. For example, the words hakelev (the dog) and gadol (big), when joined into a sentence hakelev gadol means "the dog is big," even though no Hebrew word in that sentence represents the word "is." On the other hand, the Hebrew word "hu" (meaning he) is often used similarly to the word "is", so to say "A wonder, a counselor, is the mighty God..." one would probably say "Pele yo`ets hu el gibor...", inserting the word "hu". In any case, if this "name" is actually a sentence, it is a rather unnatural sentence by the standards of Biblical Hebrew.
This long name is the throne name of the royal child. Semitic names often consist of sentences that describe God; thus the name Isaiah in Hebrew means "Yahweh saves"; Hezekiah, "Yahweh strengthens"; in Akkadian, the name of the Babylonian king M'rodakh-Bal'adan (39:1) means "Marduk has provided an heir." These names do not describe that person who holds them but the god whom the parents worship.[45]
This verse is expressly applied to the Messiah in the Targum.[46]
"And he shall set up a banner for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth." Isaiah 11:12
Some commentators view this as an unfulfilled prophecy, arguing that the Jewish people have not all been gathered in Israel.[47] Some Christians refer to the foundation of the State of Israel as fulfillment of this prophecy.[48] Others argue that the fulfillment is that Jesus as Messiah brings all nations to himself (cf. 11:10 "Nations will seek his counsel / And his abode will be honored.") citing John 12:32 ("And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.") and Paul in Romans 15:12 when he quotes Isaiah 11:10, emphasizing the inclusion of the gentiles into the people of God.[38]
Christians also believe that Isaiah 2:2 is to be understood in connection with Isaiah 11:10,12.
"In the days to come, The Mount of the Lord’s house Shall stand firm above the mountains And tower above the hills; And all the nations Shall gaze on it with joy." Isaiah 2:2
Christians believe that Jesus the Messiah is the ultimate "house" or dwelling place of God, as is told in John 1:14 ("And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory") and 2:19-21 ("Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body."). Through him the messianic community becomes a temple in 1 Corinthians 3:16 ("Do you not know that you all are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?"') and Ephesians 2:20-22 ("...built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, the Messiah Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit."). It is through the Messiah's exaltation all nations are drawn to him, as in Luke 24:47 ("...and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.").[38]
Isaiah 53 is probably the most famous example claimed to be a messianic prophecy fulfilled by Jesus. It speaks of one known as the "suffering servant," who suffers because of the sins of others. Jesus is said to fulfill this prophecy through his death on the cross.[49] The following verse from Isaiah 53:5 is understood by Christians to speak of Jesus as the Messiah:
"But he was wounded because of our transgressions, he was crushed because of our iniquities: the chastisement of our welfare was upon him, and with his stripes we were healed." Isaiah 53:5 (JPS 1917 Edition)
"But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed." Isaiah 53:5 (King James Version)
Modern scholars, as well as Rashi (1040–1105), believe that the 'suffering servant' is a reference to Israel,[50] specifically the Jewish people deported to Babylon.[51] However, in some of the most ancient Jewish writings, Isaiah 53:5 is applied to the Messiah. The verse is messianically interpreted in the Midrash on Samuel.[52]
One of the first claims in the New Testament that Isaiah 53 is a prophecy of Jesus comes from the Book of Acts, which describes a scene in which God commands Philip the Apostle to approach an Ethiopian eunuch who is sitting in a chariot, reading aloud to himself from the Book of Isaiah. The eunuch comments that he does not understand what he is reading (Isaiah 53) and Philip explains to him that the passage refers to Jesus: "And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? Of himself, or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus." This has been the standard Christian interpretation of the passage since Apostolic times.[53]
Matthew 2:17-18 gives the killing of innocents by Herod as the fulfillment of a prophecy spoken of in Jeremiah:
In Jeremiah 31:15, the phrase "because her children are no more" refers to the captivity of Rachel's children in Assyria. The subsequent verses describe their return to Israel.[54]
"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 ancient days." (Micah 5:1)
A verse near the end of Micah's prophecy on the Babylonian captivity has been interpreted by Christian apologists as a prophecy that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.[55]
The verse describes the clan of Bethlehem, who was the son of Caleb's second wife, Ephrathah. (1 Chr. 2:18, 2:50-52, 4:4) Bethlehem Ephrathah is the town and clan from which king David was born,[56] and this passage refers to the future birth of a new Davidic heir.[57]
Although the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke give different accounts of the birth of Jesus, both place the birth in Bethlehem.[58] The Gospel of Matthew describes Herod the Great as asking the chief priests and scribes of Jerusalem where the Messiah was to be born. They respond by quoting Micah, "In Beit-Lechem of Y'hudah," they replied, "because the prophet wrote, 'And you, Beit-Lechem in the land of Y'hudah, are by no means the least among the rulers of Y'hudah; for from you will come a Ruler who will shepherd my people Isra'el.'" (Matt 2:4-6)
The idea that Bethlehem was to be the birthplace of the Messiah appears in no Jewish source before the 4th century CE.[59] Jewish tradition appears to have emphasised the idea that the birthplace of the Messiah was not known.[60]
Many modern scholars consider the birth stories as inventions by the Gospel writers, created to glorify Jesus and present his birth as the fulfillment of prophecy.[61][62] However since the birth in Bethlehem is one of the few common elements in the Gospel accounts, some scholars believe that both writers were drawing on an existing Christian tradition.[63]
Some portions of the Psalms are considered prophetic in Judaism, even though they are listed among the Ketuvim (Writings) and not the Nevi'im (Prophets).
The words Messiah and Christ mean "anointed one". In ancient times Jewish leaders were anointed with olive oil when they assumed their position (e.g. David, Saul, Isaac, Jacob). And "Messiah" is used as a name for kings in the Hebrew Bible: in 2Samuel 1:14 David finds King Saul's killer and asks, "Why were you not afraid to lift your hand to destroy the LORD's anointed?"
In many Psalms, whose authorship are traditionally ascribed to King David (i.e. Messiah David), the author writes about his life in third person, referring to himself as "the/God's/your messiah" while clearly discussing his military exploits. Thus it can be argued that many of the portions that are asserted to be prophetic Psalms may not be. Psalm 2, spoken of below, can be argued to be about David and not Jesus. Psalms 2:6 says "I have installed [past tense] my King on Zion, my holy hill [Jerusalem, David's capital that he captured in battle in 1 Samuel]." Psalms 2:7 says, "I [David, the author] will proclaim the decree of the LORD: He said to me [David, the person to whom God was speaking], 'You [David] are my Son; today I have become your [adopted] Father.'" If the passage was speaking about a begotten son then that person would have been born the son of that father; he wouldn't have to become it at some later point after birth. (Throughout the Bible it is common to call saints and angels the sons or children of God.)
"Why do the nations conspire, and the peoples plot in vain? 2. The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and his Anointed, saying, 3. 'Let us burst their bonds asunder, and cast their cords from us.' 4. He who sits in the heavens laughs; the LORD has them in derision. 5. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, 6. 'I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill." 7. I will tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to me, 'You are my son, today I have begotten you. 8. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. 9. You shall break them with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel'" (Psalm 2: 1-9).
The dating of Psalm 2 is argued among scholars, but one suggestion is that it was composed under the Hasmonean dynasty (140-37BC.[64] The authors of Acts and the Epistle to the Hebrews interpreted it as relating to Christ.
Verse 2. “Anointed” – in Hebrew mashiah, “anointed”; in Greek christos, whence English Messiah and Christ.
Verse 7. The LORD is the messiah’s father.
As for kings and rulers setting themselves against the Christ, both Herod and Pontius Pilate set themselves against Jesus, whom God had anointed, according to Acts of the Apostles 4: 25-27.
Acts 13: 33 interprets Jesus’ rising from the dead as confirmation of verse 7 (“You are my son, today I have begotten you”).
Hebrews 1: 5 employs verse 7 in order to argue that Jesus is superior to the angels, i.e., Jesus is superior as a mediator between God and man. “For to what angel did God ever say, Thou art my Son, today I have begotten thee?”
Texts vary in the exact wording of the phrase beginning Psalm 2:12, with "kiss his foot", and "kiss the Son" being most common in various languages for centuries. Strong's shows the widely known word "bar," of apparent Chaldean origin but still in common use in Hebrew today as "son," as meaning "heir" or "son." Thus, with this word and the context there is an obvious reverence for royalty which is being portrayed in various manners. The New Testament era translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, gives another variation, literally "accept correction." All of these variations express the same concept- to show reverence and submission to the LORD and his anointed.
The interpretation of Psalm 16 as a messanic prophecy is common among Christian evangelical hermeneutics.[65] “I bless the Lord who has given me understanding, because even in the night, my heart warns me. I keep the Lord always within my sight; for he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. For this reason my heart is glad and my soul rejoices; moreover, my body also will rest secure, for thou wilt not leave my soul in the abode of the dead, nor permit thy holy one to see corruption. Thou wilt show me the path of life, the fullness of joys in thy presence, and delights at thy right hand forever” (verses 7-11).
According to the preaching of Peter, this prophecy is about the messiah’s triumph over death, i.e., the resurrection of Jesus.
“God raised Jesus up, having loosed the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. For David says concerning him, ‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken… For thou wilt not abandon my soul to Hades, nor let thy Holy One see corruption… Thou wilt make me full of gladness with thy presence.’ Brethren, I may say to you confidently of the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants upon his throne, he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and we are all witnesses of it” (Acts 2: 24-32).
Also of note is what Paul said in the synagogue at Antioch. “And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he spoke in this way, ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’ Therefore he also says in another psalm, ‘Thou wilt not let thy Holy One see corruption.’ For David, after he had served the counsel of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and saw corruption; but he whom God raised up saw no corruption” (Acts 13: 34-37).
Two of the Gospels (Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34) quote Jesus as speaking these words from the cross;[66]
"From the cross, Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
The other two canonical Gospels give different accounts of the words of Jesus. Luke 23:46 quotes Psalm 31:5 ("Into your hands I commit my spirit") while John has Jesus say "It is finished" (John 19:30). Some scholars see this as evidence that the words of Jesus were not part of a pre-Gospel Passion narrative, but were added later by the Gospel writers.[67]
In most Hebrew manuscripts, such as the Masoretic, Psalm 22:16 (verse 17 in the Hebrew verse numbering) reads כארי ידי ורגלי ("like a lion my hands and my feet").[68] Many Christians translate this as "they have pierced my hands and my feet", based on the Septuagint and Syriac manuscripts. However, the phrase, if translated as "like a lion my hands and my feet" bears no coherent meaning. There remains some controversy about this translation. It asserted that the Dead Sea Scrolls lend considerable weight to the translation as "They have pierced my hands and my feet",[69] although this view is not uncontested.[70]
"Many are the afflictions of the just man; but the Lord delivers him from all of them. He guards all his bones: not even one of them shall be broken." (Psalms 34:20)
Some Christian writers have described Psalm 34:20 as a messianic prophecy.[71] In its account of the crucifixion of Jesus, the Gospel of John interprets it as a prophecy (John 19:36) and presents some of the details as fulfillment.
“So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with Jesus; but when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water… For these things took place that the scripture might be fulfilled, ‘Not a bone of him shall be broken.’ And again another scripture says, ‘They shall look on him whom they have pierced’” (John 19:32-37)
"They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink"
Christians believe that this verse refers to Jesus' time on the cross in which he was given a sponge soaked in vinegar to drink, as seen in Matthew 27:34, Mark 15:23, and John 19:29.[72]
Christian authors have interpreted Psalm 110 as a messianic passage in light of several New Testament passages.[73]
“A psalm of David.
1. The Lord says to my lord: ‘Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies your footstool.’
2. The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty sceptre: ‘Rule in the midst of your foes!
3. With you is sovereignty in the splendor of holiness on the day of your birth: before the morning star, like the dew, I have begotten you.’
4. The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: ‘You are a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.’
5. The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.
6. He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will crush heads over the wide earth.
7. He will drink from the brook by the way; therefore he will lift up his head.”
Verse 1. God speaks to David. The first instance of "The LORD (Hebrew: YHWH)" in this verse is a translation of the Hebrew name of God, Yahweh. The second instance of "my lord (Hebrew: ADONI)" is David, from the viewpoint of the Psalmist. The opening phrase of Psalm 110 is literally translated as "Regarding David, a psalm," indicating that the psalm is "of" or "about" King David, not written by him. The same introduction (τω δαυιδ ψαλμος) is used in the LXX version of Psalm 110 (which is Psalm 109 in the Greek text).[74]
In the New Testament, the gospel writers leave out the portion "regarding David, a psalm" and reinterprets the remaining out of context verse as a messainic prophecy: “while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, saying, ‘What do you think of the Christ? Whose son is he?’ They said to him, ‘The son of David.’ He said to them, ‘How is it then that David in the Spirit calls him Lord, saying, The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand, till I put thy enemies under thy feet? If David thus calls him Lord, how is he his son?’ And no one was able to answer him a word” (Matthew 22: 41-46). The remaining portion of this verse speaks of how David shall be seated at God's right hand, with his enemies thoroughly defeated. Although Hebrew has no capital letters, the Hebrew translation of that passage reads "The Lord said to my lord" indicating that it is not speaking of God.[75]
"A royal psalm(see Ps.2 intro). It is quite difficult because v.3 is totally obscure, and the psalm speakers often. In Christain interpretaion, it is understood as a reference to Jesus, as a messianic and sometimes eschatological psalm; Radak polemicizes against this veiw" 1. Here God is speaking to the king,called my lord; Perhaps these are the words spoken by a prophet. The king is very proximate to God, in a position of privilege, imagined as being on His right hand in the divine council. The second-in-command was seated to the right of the king in the ancient Near East. Such images are rear in psalms, but see Ps45:7. If the king trods on the back of his enemies (see Josh. 10:24), they poetically become his "Footstool" 2. In contrast to v.1, God is spoken of in the third person. The Zion tridition (see Isa. 2:1-4; 60:1-22)and royal tridition are here connected. While v.1-2 express the great power of the king, they also emphisize it comes from God" (YHWH).[76]
Hebrews 1:5 quotes this verse as, "I will be his Father, and he will be my Son.". However, the verse doesn’t end with the phrase quoted in the New Testament, but continues: "When he does wrong, I will punish him with the rod of men, with floggings inflicted by men." Christians see Jesus as taking on the sins of all humanity. Therefore, Jesus "did wrong" by accepting the sins of the world. ref>2 Cor. 5:21, 1 Peter 2:21-22</ref> The Old Testament verse is referring to Solomon.[9][77]
The Wisdom of Solomon is one of the Deuterocanonical books of the Hebrew Bible. The Deuterocanonical books are considered canonical by Catholics, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox, but are considered non-canonical by Jews and Protestants.
Christian authors have interpreted Zechariah 9:9 as a prophecy of an act of messianic self-humiliation.[78]
The Gospel of John links this verse to the account of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem: "took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began to shout, “Hosanna! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, even the King of Israel.” Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written, “FEAR NOT, DAUGHTER OF ZION; BEHOLD, YOUR KING IS COMING, SEATED ON A DONKEY’S COLT.” " John 12:13-15
The Synoptic Gospels make clear that Jesus arranged this event, thus consciously fulfilling the prophecy.[79]
The Gospel of Matthew describes Jesus' triumphant entry on Palm Sunday as a fulfillment of this verse in Zechariah. Matthew describes the prophecy in terms of a colt and a separate donkey, whereas the original only mentions the colt; the reference in Zechariah is a Jewish parallelism referring only to a single animal, and the gospels of Mark, Luke, and John state Jesus sent his disciples after only one animal.[80] Several explanations have been suggested, such as that Matthew misread the original, the existence of the foal is implied, or he wanted to create a deliberate echo of a reference in 2 Samuel 16:1-4, where there are two asses for David's household to ride on.[81]
In the most ancient Jewish writings Zechariah 9:9 is applied to the Messiah. According to the Talmud, so firm was the belief in the ass on which the Messiah is to ride that "if anyone saw an ass in his dream, he will see salvation".[82] The verse is also Messianically quoted in Sanh. 98 a, in Pirqé de R. Eliez. c. 31, and in several of the Midrashim.
Zechariah 12:10 is another verse commonly cited by Christian authors as a messianic prophecy fulfilled by Jesus.[83]
"And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they shall look unto Me because they have thrust him through; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born." Zec 12:10
In some of the most ancient Jewish writings, Zechariah 12:10 is applied to the Messiah ben Joseph in the Talmud,[84] and so is verse 12 ("The land will wail, each family by itself: The family of the House of David by themselves, and their women by themselves; the family of the House of Nathan by themselves, and their women by themselves"), there being, however, a difference of opinion whether the mourning is caused by the death of the Messiah ben Joseph, or else on account of the evil concupiscence (Yetzer hara).
The Gospel of John makes reference to this prophecy when referring to the crucifixion of Jesus, as can be seen in the following account: "So the soldiers came, and broke the legs of the first man and of the other who was crucified with Him; but coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe. For these things came to pass to fulfill the Scripture, “NOT A BONE OF HIM SHALL BE BROKEN.” And again another Scripture says, “THEY SHALL LOOK ON HIM WHOM THEY PIERCED.” " John 19:32-37
Among Christian believers, opinion varies as to which Old Testament passages are messianic prophecies and which are not, and whether the prophecies they claim to have been fulfilled are intended to be prophecies. The authors of these Old Testament "prophecies" often appear to be describing events that had already occurred. For example, the New Testament verse Matthew 2:14 states, "So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: 'Out of Egypt I called my son.'" This is referring to the Old Testament verse Hosea 11:1. However, that passage reads, "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son." Skeptics say that the Hosea passage clearly is talking about a historical event and therefore the passage clearly is not a prophecy.
According to modern scholarship, the suffering servant described in Isaiah chapter 53 is actually the Jewish people. According to some, the rabbinic response, e.g., Rashi and Maimonides, is that although the suffering servant passage clearly is prophetic and even if Psalm 22 is prophetic, the Messiah has not come yet, therefore, the passages could not possibly be talking about Jesus. As noted above, there is some controversy about the phrase "they have pierced my hands and my feet".
Different explanations are offered for why these types of passages should be considered prophecies, depending on the particular passage.
Some[85] have pointed out that at the time of Jesus of Nazareth there was a Jewish method of biblical interpretation known as pesher in Hebrew. It was a common approach to the Hebrew Bible by the communities at Qumran. It was a widely known and widely accepted interpretive technique that the Jewish writers of the New Testament would have known well. In modern Christian theological terminology, this approach involves typology. When a New Testament author describes something as a prophecy that is not usually regarded as a prophecy, he is saying essentially, "This event is an example of the type of thing that this Old Testament passage is referring to."
Jews and Christians tend to ask different questions about the Bible. One example cited is that a common question of Jewish biblical scholars is, "Why is this passage next to this passage?"
Jewish interpretive techniques often look for a "hint" at a deeper meaning; this "hint" is known as remez in Hebrew. Because the New Testament writers were fluent in biblical Hebrew, sometimes they are using a play on Hebrew words in the original Tanach that is not obvious to Greek scholars and translators or to English-speaking readers. One example is Matthew saying at Matthew 2:23 "and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: 'He will be called a Nazarene.'" The words "Nazareth" and "Nazarene" do not occur in the Old Testament. Juster opines that Matthew is hinting at two Hebrew words: the root n-z-r, meaning "branch", and "Nazarite".
Another possible explanation offered is that such a prophecy once existed in the biblical texts but was lost. This theory is supported by the fact that such a verse exists in a copy of Samuel found among the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Jewish analysis
Evangelical Christian analysis
Skeptical and Critical analysis