jurisdiction and the feasts of yahweh

September 5, 2015 http://hodf.org 1


What’s on Tap What does the construction of James speech tell

us about the plan of God?

evkklhsi,a and loaj

Hidden in Plain Sight: Let the Lion Roar: Ancient Deception uncovered?

The Baptists over 400 years

What do the commentaries propagate?

Summary & Conclusion…What have we Learned?


James Speech James wants to make a statement

James = the Apostles, Elders, members of the assembly in Jerusalem, Jews and Gentiles sent from other assemblies outside Judea, God through His spirit

The prophetic words of Amos 9:11-12 are used but there are variations and we will now examine these to see what James was trying to say


Acts v16 & Amos v11

a16 Meta. tau/ta avnastre,yw kai. avnoikodomh,sw

After this I will return and rebuild

a11 evn th/| h`me,ra| evkei,nh| avnasth,sw

In that day I will raise up

bB th.n skhnh.n Dauid th.n peptwkui/an

The tent of David that has fallen


Acts v16 & Amos v11

c11 kai. avnoikodomh,sw ta. peptwko,ta auvth/j

and will rebuild the ruins of it

Hebrew: I will repair the breaches [in the walls]


Acts v16 & Amos v11

d16 kai. ta. kateskamme,na auvth/j avnoikodomh,sw

And the ruins of it I will rebuild

d11 kai. ta. kateskamme,na auvth/j avnasth,sw

And the ruins of it I will setup

LXE: and will set up the parts thereof that have

been broken down

e11 kaqw.j ai` h`me,rai tou/ aivw/noj

just as in the days of old


Acts v17 & Amos v12

F Acts 15:17 o[pwj a'n evkzhth,swsin ̀

In order that may seek3

oi` kata,loipoi tw/n avnqrw,pwn to.n ku,rion

the rest1 of mankind2 the lord4

kai. pa,nta ta. e;qnh

And all the Gentiles


Acts v17 & Amos v12

evfV ou]j evpike,klhtai to. o;noma, mou evpV auvtou,j(

That are called by the name My

le,gei ku,rioj poiw/n tau/ta

Says the lord who makes this

G gnwsta. avpV aivw/nojÅ

Known from the past.


Tent of David b th.n skhnh.n Dauid th.n peptwkui/an

The tent of David that has fallen

What does the “tent of David” mean here?

The Greek word skhnh.n is used in Psalm 42:4 = LXX 41:5 and Tobit 13:10 for the Temple.


Tent of David Psalm 42:4 I remembered these things, and

poured out my soul in me, for I will go to the place of thy wondrous tabernacle skhnh.n even to the house of God…

Tobit 13:10 Acknowledge the Lord, for he is good, and bless the King of the ages, so that his tent skhnh.n may be rebuilt in you in joy…


Tent of David 13:11 A bright light will shine to all the ends of

the earth; many nations will come to you from far away, the inhabitants of the remotest parts of the earth to your holy name, bearing gifts in their hands for the King of heaven.

NRSV Cambridge Annotated Study Apocrypha


Tent of David Acts 15:15 After this, I will return and rebuild

th.n skhnh.n Dauid

Associated with David and built by God

4Q Florilegium 1:1-13 takes the ‘house’ which Yahweh will build to be the eschatological Temple


Tent of David 11QT 29:8-10 And I will consecrate my Temple by

My glory, the Temple on which I will settle My glory, until the day of blessing on which I will create My Temple and establish it for Myself for all times, according to the covenant which I have made with Jacob at Bethel.


Tent of David Jubilees 1:15-16 [13-14]

15 … they shall be for a blessing and not for a curse, and they shall be the head and not the tail.

16 And I will build My sanctuary in their midst, and I will dwell with them, and I will be their God and they shall be My people…


Tent of David

13 And they will forget all My law and all My commandments and all My judgments, and will go astray as to new moons, and Sabbaths, and festivals, and jubilees, and ordinances.

14 And after this they will turn to Me from amongst the Gentiles with all their heart and with all their soul and with all their strength, and I will gather them from amongst all the Gentiles…


Tent of David Sibylline Oracles 5:414-432

For there came from the heavenly plains a man,one blessed, with a scepter in his hand,which God gave him, and he ruled all things well.

And he did make that city, which God loved,more radiant than stars and sun and moon.


Tent of David Sibylline Oracles 5:414-432

And he set order, and a holy houseincarnate made, pure, very fair, and formeda great and boundless tower touching the clouds themselves and seen by all,

So that all holy and all righteous men might see the glory of the eternal God, a sight that has been longed for.


Tent of David Mark 14:58

“We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands, and in three days I will build another


Tent of David Mark 14:58

“We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands.’”

The eschatological Temple will be built miraculously with the Messiah, in accordance with II Samuel 7:13 and Zechariah 6:12-13


Tent of David Acts 15:15 After this, I will return and rebuild

th.n skhnh.n Dauid

The skhnh.n Dauid means that God Himself will build the eschatological Temple miraculously through the agency of the Davidic Messiah.


Acts v16 & Amos v11

c11 kai. avnoikodomh,sw ta. peptwko,ta auvth/j

and will rebuild the ruins of it

Hebrew: I will repair the breaches [in the walls]

This text refers more so to the walls of a city than those of a temple, so James left it out.


Acts v16 & Amos v11

e11 kaqw.j ai` hm̀e,rai tou/ aivw/noj

just as in the days of old

James left this phase out because the eschatological temple will be vastly superior to the second temple of the first century.

Therefore, we don’t want it like what was in the days of old.

I Enoch 90:29; SibOr. 5:422-425; IV Ezra 10:55

July 16, 2011 http://hodf.org 2525


Acts v17 & Amos v12

Watershed: An event marking a turning point in a state of affairs

Emmanuel Tov wrote his watershed work Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible in 1992

July 16th, 2011, slides 63-98, discussing the A-Train Hebrew used by the disciples in the first century when they wrote.


Acts v17 & Amos v12

Acts 15:17 o[pwj a'n evkzhth,swsin ̀

In order that may seek3

oi` kata,loipoi tw/n avnqrw,pwn to.n ku,rion


In the case of Acts 15:17, there are two important differences to notice: The Greek “they will seek” vs the Hebrew “they will possess” and “mankind” vs “Edom”.


Acts v17 & Amos v12

oi ̀ kata,loipoi tw/n avnqrw,pwn to.n ku,rion


“the lord” is also an addition and makes sense in this case because “seek” requires an object, which is lacking in the LXX of Amos 9:12. It is well established that to.n ku,rion frequently is the object of evkzhth,swsin and this translates the Hebrew “Seek Yahweh”


Gezerah Shawah The practice of expanding a text by allusion to

another text with which it shares common words and themes.


Gezerah Shawah Zechariah 8:22 (LXE) And many peoples and

many nations shall come to seek earnestly the face of the Lord Almighty in Jerusalem…

Theme: Many shall “seek” “the lord”

Words: evkzhth,swsin “seek”; e;qnh “nations”

From the Hebrew, “seek Yahweh (the lord)”

Many will seek the face of Yahweh in the Temple


Zechariah 1. Following the laying of the foundation for the

building of the Temple, (8:9)

2. And Yahweh’s return (Acts 15:16a) to dwell in Zion (8:3)

3. The Gentiles will be drawn to seek the face of Yahweh in the Temple


Acts v16 & Amos v11

a16 Meta. tau/ta

After this

“After this” speaks to events that have already happened but are not directly mentioned in our text.

Another allusion to other prophecies of the building of the eschatological Temple and the conversion of the nations to the God of Israel.


Acts v16 & Amos v11

a16 Meta. tau/ta After this

Hosea 3:4 For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, or a prince, or a sacrifice, or an altar, or priesthood, or Urim.

5 And after these things meta. tau/ta, the children of Israel shall return and seek Yahweh Elohim and David their king…

Both passages associate “seek”, “after this”, and the restoration of the Temple with Davidic reign


Acts v16 & Amos v11

a16 Meta. tau/ta avnastre,yw I will return

“I will return” means that at some previous time, “I left”. Reason for leaving???

Linking a passage that refers to God abandoning the Temple

Jeremiah 12:7 I have forsaken mine house, I have left mine heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies.


Acts v16 & Amos v11


Jeremiah 12:8-13, God judges His people.

12:14 refers to Israel’s pagan neighbors

Thus says Yahweh against all mine evil neighbors, that touch the inheritance which I have caused My people Israel to inherit; Behold, I will pluck them out…


Acts v16 & Amos v11


12:15 And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them out, I will return, and have compassion on them…

16 And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of My people… then shall they be built in the midst of My people.

How many times have we seen the word “built”?


Acts v17 & Amos v12

G le,gei ku,rioj poiw/n tau/ta

Says the lord who makes this

gnwsta. avpV aivw/nojÅ

Known from the past.

Isaiah 45:20 Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations…

21 Who has made this known from the past?


Acts v17 & Amos v12

G gnwsta. avpV aivw/noj Known from the past

Isaiah 45:20-23 is an allusion to Amos 9:12 because once again it predicts that the “survivors of the nations e;qnoj” will draw near to God “all the ends of the Earth”, turn to God and be “saved” which equals entering into the covenant (15:1)

Since the Amos text is almost the same, there must have been a reason to conflate with Isaiah


Built Amos 9:11; Zechariah 8:9

4Q Florilegium 1:1-13; Jubilees 1:16

Acts 15:15,16; Mark 14:58

Matthew 16:18

“…upon this rock I will build my evkklhsi,an”


Built Jeremiah 12:14-17 as an example of “build”

Here, James understood the building as a reference to the eschatological Temple, not as a literal building per say, but as the eschatological people loaj of God, composed of both Jews and Gentiles.

This is not a new concept for the apostles


Built I Peter 2:5 You also, as living stones, are built up

a spiritual house…

I Corinthians 3:16 Know ye not that you are the temple of God…

17 If any man defile the temple of God, Him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.


Built 2 Corinthians 6:16 And what agreement hath the

temple of God with idols?

For you are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.


Built Ephesians 2:18 For through him we both

(Jews & Gentiles) have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

19 Now therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God;

20 And are built upon the foundation of the

apostles and prophets...


evkklhsi,a “It is... important that the word [evkklhsi,a] is used

in the LXX as a rendering of [qahal], the people of God, living... under His direction... Luke was familiar with the LXX and there can be no doubt that this use of [evkklhsi,a] would be in his mind. In the OT the Lord had acquired a people by the mighty acts that he performed in Egypt; he had now acquired a people, racially mixed, by the shedding of Christ’s blood.” ICC p.88


Loaj The Greek term loaj in the LXX frequently

translates the Hebrew “am”; ‘people’

Hosea 1:9 Then said God, Call his name Loammi: for ye are not my loaj, and I will not be your God.

“[loaj] is the word used in the LXX of Israel, the people of God, separated from the Gentiles. That the frontiers of the new people of God should be enlarged to embrace Gentiles ([ e;qnoj ]) was indeed a new departure.” F. F. Bruce, Acts, 309 fn# 37.


Loaj Revelation 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of

heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His loai, [plural] and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God.”


Loaj I Peter 1:1 Peter, an apostle of Yeshua the

Messiah, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

2 through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience…

2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy e;qnoj [nation], a set apart loaj…


James Summation Now it can be seen that all variations of the text

of Acts 15:16-18 from that of Amos 9:11-12 belong to a consistent interpretation of the Amos text with the help of related texts that refer to the building of the eschatological Temple (Hosea 3:4-5; Jeremiah 12:15-16) and the conversion of the nations (Jeremiah 12:15-16; Zechariah 8:22; Isaiah 45:20-23) with implications for what that behavior looks like.


James Summation “[loaj] is the word used in the LXX of Israel, the

people of God, separated from the Gentiles.

That the frontiers of the new people of God should be enlarged to embrace Gentiles ([ e;qnoj ]) was indeed a new departure.” F. F. Bruce, Acts, 309 fn# 37.

Therefore, the eschatological Temple, initially made up of only Israel and proselytes, is now being expanded to include Gentiles called by His name too. -> Their responsibility:


James Summation Psalm 103:18 To those who keep His covenant and

remember His precepts to do them.

To do them – Who will be saved (Acts 15:1)?

If you are going to experience Yahweh’s Chesed, then you must be numbered among those who keep His covenant and remember (“to guard carefully”) His precepts, DOING THEM!

II Peter 1:1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Yeshua the Messiah, to those who have received a faith exactly like ours… ..

September 5, 2015 http://hodf.org 51September 28, 2010 http://hodsbs.org 51

jurisdiction and the feasts of yahweh

Documents