Why We Have Over 99.9999999% of the Original Five Books of the Bible

The most conservative Orthodox Jews believe that the Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament, was dictated by God to Moses, letter-by-letter. Not all Jewish traditions are as conservative as the Orthodox, but all authentic Torah scrolls are identical and must meet certain guidelines.

The Midrash (in Devarim Rabba 9:9) states that Moses wrote out 13 Torah scrolls and gave one to the leader of each tribe. The 13^th scroll was placed in the Ark of the Covenant. All the other 12 scrolls were checked letter-by-letter against the Temple Scroll. Modern Torah Scrolls are still checked in this way.

Modern Torah Scrolls are hand-copied from a previously approved scroll by a certified scribe. The process takes about 2000 hours. If even one error is found in the copy or if the fabric of the Torah is physically damaged in any way, the scroll is placed in a blessed container and buried in a Jewish cemetery near the grave of a Torah scholar.

The hand-copied scroll is checked against strict requirements and must be discarded for failing to meet any of the standards. The guidelines include:

1. The scroll is discarded if one letter is added.

2. The scroll is discarded if one letter is missing.

3. The scribe must be certified after special training.

4. The parchment, quill pen, and ink, must meet special requirements.

5. The text must be copied letter-by-letter, not written from memory.

6. Before writing down each word, the scribe must say it out loud.

7. The entire scroll is discarded if any part of a letter touches any part of another letter.

8. Every letter must be legible or the entire scroll must be discarded.

9. There must be a precise spacing between each letter and those around it.

10.          There are required line-lengths and paragraph formats.

11.         If any mistake cannot be corrected without damaging the scroll, it must be buried.

12.         The scroll must contain 304,805 letters.

13.         The parchment is prepared from the skin of a kosher animal. Panels of parchment are sewn together to form one continuous scroll.

The Yemenite Torah scrolls contain the only nine known letter variations, all of which are spelling differences. None change the meaning of the text.

 

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Statement of Faith Updated Today

 The Statement of Faith has been updated today.

Subjects in the Labels List Which Begin with the Letters D. to dem

This blog is ακωλυτως, unhindered. (Acts 28:31) Any subject is fair game. We are allowed to have and to express opinions on any subject. 

Below is an alphabetical listing of the LABELS which begin with the letters D. to dem. All can be searched from the list which follows the last posted article on this page or by typing them into the SEARCH button at the top of the page. Most will call up multiple postings in which they appear.

D. James Kennedy, da Vinci, dairy free, Dalai Lama, Dale Evans, Dallas, damnation, dance, dancing, danger, Daniel, Daniel Lapin, Daredevil, Darius, Daniel Craig, darkness, Darren Aronosky, data mining, database, dating systems, Dave Mustaine, Dave Ramsey, daughter, David, David Barinerd, David Cronenberg, Daytona, DC Comics, deacon, dead, Dead Sea Scrolls, deaf, Dear Abby, death, death metal, death penalty, debate, debt, deception, decision, Deep South, defilement, decisions, deformation, deism, deity, delusion, demands, Demetrius, Democrat, Democratic Party, Democratic Republic of Congo, demographics, demon possession, demons, Demosthenes.

Does Your Mind Wander When You Read the Bible?

Entering this phrase into your search engine , “When you realize you’ve been reading with your eyes but not your brain for the last 3 pages, ” brings up numerous webpages.

This has happened to everyone: realizing that you do not remember or understand anything that you just read. Your brain has been on autopilot.  You may just be tired. The television or music you have playing in the background may be distracting you. You may be worried about work or the health of one of your loved ones.

Do not just push through it. If you are physically tired, rest for a while, even sleep for a while. You will not lose points with God! He is not keeping score! You are already his! Pray to him, thank him, and take care of your physical body. Your body belongs to him and he wants you to take care of it.

If background noise is distracting you, pause for a moment and turn it off. Try reading the text out loud. Read shorter passages, even single verses. Use the online Strong’s concordance to focus on individual words. Then pray and, most of all, shut up and LISTEN.

If personal issues are distracting you, pray and, most of all, shut up and LISTEN.

In the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-23), Jesus talked about hearing but not listening. James 1:22 speaks about this very clearly.

The subject is discussed here: https://trochia.org/does-you-mind-wander-when-you-read-the-bible/

How Many Women Were at the Foot of the Cross?

 The koine/common Greek used in the Bible was written without any punctuation, had no spaces between words, and was written in one long stream. This, and especially the lack of punctuation marks like commas, periods, colons, and semicolons, requires the modern reader sometimes to make assumptions as to the exact literal meaning. After centuries of scholarly study, this is not known to have ever obscured the theological messages being presented.

This is present in the question of exactly how many women were at the foot of the cross? Were there three or were there four? Depending on how they are identified there could have been more than four. We do know that more women were present but were standing farther back. 

These women standing farther back probably included Joanna (Luke 8:2-3, 24:10), who was the wife of Chuza, who was the personal steward of Herod Antipas.

Women were strongly attracted to Jesus. They lived in a totally male-dominated world but he treated them with actual respect as if they had brains and were actual people.

John was at the foot of the cross with the women (John 19:26-27) but where were all the other men? Well, they ran away or were hanging farther back into the crowd which was there to see the crucifixion. They were afraid. Matthew 26:56

A literal, word-for-word translation of Matthew 27:55-56: Were and / now there women many from afar off / a distance beholding / looking on who / which had followed to the Jesus from the Galilee ministering to / serving Him in / among whom was Mary the Magdalene and Mary the of James and Joseph / Joses mother and the mother of the sons Zebedee (four women)

A literal, word-for-word translation of Mark 15:40-41: They were and / now also women from / out of afar off / a distance beholding / looking on / observing in whom also / both Mary the Magdalene and Mary the of James the little / younger / less and of Joses / Joseph mother and Salome who when he was in the Galilee were following him and were ministering to / serving him and other many the ones having come up with him into / to Jerusalem (four women)

A literal, word-for-word translation of Luke 23:27: Was following / was trailing behind and / now / moreover to Him / Him much / great / large crowd / multitude / crowded mass of the people and of women who / which were beating themselves / were lamenting and were wailing / were mourning / singing dirges Him (The number of women is not stated and they are not individually named)

A literal, word-for-word translation of John 19:23-25: they had stood / were standing now / and / but beside / near / by the cross / stake of the of Jesus the mother of him / his and the sister of the of mother of him / his Mary the of the of Clopas / Cleopas and Mary the Magdalene / of Magdala (Either three or four women depending on whether or not Mary, the wife of Cleophas, was the sister of Mary, Jesus’ mother. The word could also mean female relative, especially since some traditions say that Cleophas/Clopas was Joseph’s brother)

The women who are mentioned include:

Jesus’mother, Mary (Miryam, Miriam)

Mary’s sister (possibly Salome, or Mary who was the wife of Clopas, or a different woman entirely)

Mary, the wife of Clopas/Cleophas. Tradition says that Clopas was the brother of Joseph.

Salome, who may have been the sister who is mentioned above. Tradition says she was the mother of the apostles James and John.

Mary the Magdalene

Mary, the mother of James the Less

The mother of the sons of Zebedee

You sort them out. This is like a situation which genealogists often run into while tracing family ancestry. Often in one small community there are several men of the same name and roughly of the same age. It can be difficult. 

Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus showed up to claim Jesus’ body for burial after he was declared to be dead. John 19:38-40

Remember that the New Testament is written in the Greek which was in common everyday use at that time. The contemporary readers would have understood exactly what was being said. We are the ones with the problem.

The fact that the four recountings of this event are not exactly word-for-word identical shows that the Gospels, while God-inspired, were written by four different men with different writing styles and different levels of proficiency in Greek and that God used each man to say what God wanted to be said. 

Subjects in the Labels List Which Begin with the Letters caa to car

 This blog is ακωλυτως, unhindered. (Acts 28:31) Any subject is fair game. Below is a listing of the LABELS which begin with the letters caa to car. All can be searched from the list which follows the last posted article on this page or by typing them into the SEARCH button at the top of the page. Most will call up multiple postings in which they appear.

C.S. Lewis, Cabalism, Cabo Verde, Caesar, Caesarea, cafeteria Christianity, Caiaphas, Cairo, cake, calendar, California, called home, called-out, calling, calmness, Calvinism, Calvinist, Cambodia, Cambyses, camcorder, Cameron Diaz, Campbellite, Campbellites, campus, Campus Crusade for Christ, Canaan, Canada, cancel culture, cancer, candles, candy, Candyman, cannibalism, canon, canonical  books, canonization, Cape Verde, Capernaum, capital punishment, capitalism, Captain America, Capuchins, car tags, carbohydrates. 

Athletics in Corinth

 Paul, and whoever wrote Hebrews, used athletic metaphors to explain spiritual truths. Paul described his efforts as fighting a good fight and finishing a race. The main use of the athletic metaphors was to show that winning the prize requires self discipline, intentional practice, and effort. It does not just happen by itself. 

An interesting fact is that Corinth (modern Korinthos, Greece) had a historical connection to athletics. It was the site of the Isthmian games which began in either 582 or 581 BC/BCE. Just as with the Olympics, the athletes competed in the nude in the sports of chariot races, wresting, boxing, and pankration, similar to modern mixed martial arts. The prizes for winning were garlands or wreaths.

When Corinth was destroyed by Rome in 146 BC/BCE, the games shifted to the city of Sicyon (modern Sikyona, Greece). In 44 BC/BCE, Corinth was rebuilt by Caesar and the games returned to the city 42 or 43 AD. They continued being observed until the 4th century AD/CE.

Hebrews 12:1; Philippians 2:16; Galatians 2:2, 2:7; 2 Timothy 4:7; 1 Corinthians 9:24-26.