Out of the Box - August 6, 2010

By Brian Knowles

n the early eighties, my wife Lorraine gifted me with a little book that was to engender in me decades of profitable Bible study. It was entitled Understanding the Difficult Words of Jesus by David Bivin and Roy Blizzard, Jr. Only 130 pages long, the book turned out to be a small treasure of understanding. (I’ve discussed it before in these pages.)

            In the introduction, the authors explain why some of Jesus’ words seem so hard to understand, “…the original gospel that formed the basis for the Synoptic Gospels was first communicated, not in Greek, but in the Hebrew language. This means that we are reading English translations of a text which itself is a translation,” (pp. 1, 2). This fact, proven extensively throughout this and other books and articles, is a key to understanding what Jesus really said and meant.

            The authors both went on to produce a significant body of work in the form of audio tapes, books, articles and periodicals - most of which I have and treasure. Both scholars are connected with the Jerusalem School for the Study of the Synoptic Gospels. In fact, Bivin heads it up. The school’s scholars work closely with Jewish scholars at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

            Dr. Robert Lindsey, former pastor of the Narkis Ave. church in Jerusalem, spent decades of his life studying Hebrew roots with Professors David Flusser and Shmuel Safrai at the university. Lindsey became one of the foremost scholars in Synoptic studies. To get his feet wet, he translated the Gospel of Mark back into Hebrew. This project brought to light many remarkable insights into the Synoptics.

            Flusser, an Orthodox Jew, studied Jesus as the foremost example of a first century Jewish rabbi. He wrote a book simply called Jesus. It is excellent.

            Dr. Brad Young, now with Oral Roberts University, became Prof. Flusser’s personal assistant at Hebrew University. Flusser viewed him as his “best student.” Young has since written some of the best books explaining both Jesus and Paul as Jewish rabbis of the Second Temple Period. For my money, Young’s two books on the Parables are the best available.

            Another great teacher who was instrumental in developing the Jerusalem School and the Center for Judaic-Christian Studies is Dwight Pryor. Pryor now heads up a teaching ministry in Dayton, Ohio. He is with The Church of the Messiah there. His monthly teaching CD’s are a goldmine of sound Biblical teaching.

            The best primer for Hebrew roots studies is Our Father Abraham by Prof. Marvin Wilson. Everyone who wants to study in this field should read that first. It sets the stage for all subsequent studies. Wilson is widely recognized as a first-class scholar and a dedicated Christian. A group of prestigious scholars recently got together and published a tribute to Prof. Wilson. It is called Perspectives on Our Father Abraham - Essays in Honor of Marvin R. Wilson edited by Steven A. Hunt. It honored Wilson’s work on the occasion of his 75^th birthday.

            Wilson’s birthday is for me a cause for sadness. I realize that some of the finest Hebrew roots scholars of recent times are aging and passing from the scene. Prof. Flusser and Dr. Lindsey are both gone. Others are in their late 60’s and 70’s. The Jerusalem School struggles for life (Christians don’t generally support their scholars unless through denominational seminaries). Dr. Blizzard’s ministry is in danger of shutting down. Dwight Pryor’s ministry seems to be more successful, but Dr. Pryor is getting older and is stricken with arthritis.

            One younger scholar who is doing good work is Joseph Frankovic. His output can be found at Ha Kesher - a ministry based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. That ministry is run by Ken and Lenore Mullican. Lenore is the daughter of Dr. Lindsey, who was from Oklahoma. Her husband, like me, has Parkinson’s disease, and so is less active these days.

            I realize there are hundreds of reputable scholars who study Hebrew roots topics. Only a few of them, however, are connected with the Jerusalem School with its unique perspective. Only a relative handful of them share the conviction that the Synoptics were based on a Hebrew original, and that the first 15 chapters of Acts also reveal a Hebrew original. Personally, I adhere to the scholars most closely connected with the Jerusalem School. The fact that some teacher wears a prayer shawl and rattles off Hebrew terms means nothing to me in itself. If he does not hold to the perspective of the JS, I’m not really interested. 

            I have tried over the years to popularize this JS approach in the Hebrew Roots section of the ACD website. Response has been meager. I’m not sure how many people have actually purchased any of the recommended books and read them. I suspect very few. This of course saddens me.

            The following statement from Bivin & Blizzard’s book, cited earlier, sums up the importance of understanding the Hebraic background of Scripture: “We tend to forget that the Old Testament comprises approximately 78 percent of the Biblical text, and the New Testament only 22 percent. When we add the highly Hebraic portions of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Acts 15:1-15:35, approximately 43 percent of the New Testament) to the Old Testament, the percentage of Biblical material originally written in Hebrew rises to 88 percent (or 87% if we omit the portions of Ezra and Daniel - less than 1 percent of the Old Testament - composed in Aramaic). Not more than 12 percent of the entire Bible was originally written in Greek. When we subtract from that 12 percent of the 176 quotations from the Old Testament (14 Old Testament quotations in John and 162 from Acts 15:36 to the end of the New Testament) the percentage of the Bible originally composed in Hebrew rises to 90 percent,” Understanding the Difficult Words of Jesus, pp. 4 & 5.

            Why then is there so much emphasis on Greek and so little on Hebrew? The mainly Greek -- or Hellenistic -- approach to study holds back understanding. Write Bivin & Blizzard, “If any additional advances are to be made, especially in understanding the words of Jesus, the concentration must shift to the study of Hebrew history and culture, and above all, the Hebrew language,” (ibid. p. 4).

            At this time, the resources are out there. How long that will be the case is anyone’s guess. Don’t let the fear of Judaizing, anti-Semitism, or Replacement theology, get in your way. They’re all bogus. Hebrew roots studies, from the perspective of the Jerusalem School, is an exciting journey through the Bible, especially the three Synoptics. Hundreds of hitherto obscure passages are waiting to be opened up to our understanding. Read the books. Get the CD’s. Study the articles. It’s a stroll through a gold mine.