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Myrrh
Mark 15:23 “Then they gave Him wine mingled with myrrh to drink, but He did not take it.”
From Matthew 2 we read that one of the gifts Yeshua received at birth was Myrrh, and from that post we saw it is a very bitter resin used for symbolizing death and for anointing. However the resin is also like a pain killer, numbing the senses.
Yeshua is offered wine twice, in verse 23 (wine and myrrh mixed) and verse 36 (sour wine). For the normal criminals, they would have taken the first wine to kill their pain. But Yeshua refuses it and endures the pain. The sour wine is not a form of punishment as one would think, but is actually a relief. Sour wine was used as a refreshment after a hard day’s work, and could relief thirst even better than a glass of water. By the time they would give sour wine, it is to give you an extra energy to continue. Most criminals would probably refuse this, as by this point they would rather succumb to their death than continue in pain. But here Yeshua does take the wine, to continue for as long as He needed to.
Prophecy, Purpose and Different Translations
Mark 15:34 “And at the ninth hour Yeshua cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?””
Between Mark, Matthew and Luke, John, and the prophecy referring to Psalm of David – there are a few differences. Let’s break it down to all the options of what Yeshua’s last words were before He died.
- Mark 15:34 says, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani”, quoting Psalm 22:1 “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Mark also have the spelling “Eloi”.
- Matthew 27:46 says, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani”, quoting Psalm 22:1 “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Matthew have the spelling “Eli”.
- Luke 23:46 says, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ ””, saying to quote Psalm 31:5 “Into Your hand I commit my spirit”
- John 19:30 says, “It is finished!”
Psalm 22:1 in Hebrew reads, “El El ma azab”
Eli in Hebrew means “my El (God)“, where El H410 – ‘ēl is short for Elohim. Eloi is close and probably sounds close to Elijah, although in Hebrew it is written EliYah – meaning my El (God) is Yah. So the “i” at the end is rather “Yah”. Eli could sound like Aramaic, however “God” in their language is more “Elah” or “Alah”
Lama is Hebrew, and Lema is Aramaic. Lema in aramaic is “why?”, but in Hebrew it is not necesseraly a question, but could be a statement. From Psalm it only uses “ma”, the Hebrew word H4100 – mâ. Adding a “la” before could change the meaning of “lama” to “for purpose“.
It is said the word “sabachthani” is aramaic, from the word “sbq”, meaning to leave, permit, allow. But, the Hebrew word from Psalm is Azab H5800 – ʿāzaḇ means to leave, be free or complete.
So if we stick to Hebrew, and John’s version, Yeshua’s words could translate in Mark and Matthew rather to “my El, my El, my purpose is complete“. If Yeshua spoke Hebrew, and most Jews spoke more Aramaic at that time, it could have sound to the Aramaic speaking people as if Yeshua was calling Elijah, or that Yeshua is saying “God has forsaken Him”.
Curtain of Temple
Mark 15:38 “Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.”
From Exodus 26:33 we read, “And you shall hang the veil from the clasps. Then you shall bring the ark of the Testimony in there, behind the veil. The veil shall be a divider for you between the holy place and the Most Holy.” Once a year the High Priest was allowed in, for the Day of Atonement, which is held after the Day of Trumpets and before the Festival of Booths. We read in Leviticus 16:2 “not to come at just any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark”. Verse 17, “There shall be no man in the tabernacle of meeting when he goes in to make atonement in the Holy Place, until he comes out, that he may make atonement for himself, for his household, and for all the assembly of Israel.” And verse 34, “This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for the children of Israel, for all their sins, once a year.”
This meant that after YHWH announced His arrival, Atonement needs to be made for everybody, before the final Feast is held. For the veil to split, would have meant the ark of the Testimony / Covenant would be open and anyone could approach YHWH.
But, did you know the curtain (or veil) tearing was just the first of the many signs on the Temple for the next 40 years.. until it was finally destroyed in 70AD! These history events are actually recording in the Jewish Talmud. What is the Talmud.. well the Talmud is rabbinic discussions on Jewish law, ethics, history, and philosophy. It is composed of the Mishnah (the Jewish oral law), and the Gemara, a rabbinic commentary and elaboration on the Mishnah. It’s not just a book of answers, but a collection of debates, opinions, and stories that make up for the heart of Jews beliefs today. In these historic events, it is recorded:
“Forty years before the destruction of the Temple, the western light went out, the crimson thread remained crimson, and the lot for the Lord always came up in the left hand. They would close the gates of the Temple by night and get up in the morning and find them wide open” (Jacob Neusner, The Yerushalmi, p.156-157). The western lights were the lamps that are suppose to burn constantly.. they would lit the lamps, but every time the lamps on the west side would go out. Click here to download a pdf from Nicholas Fereroff where he explains each of these events and how they relate to the Laws and Festivals from the old testament.
Mark 16:9-10, Manuscripts
The verses in Mark 16:9-10 list the moments between Yeshua’s Resurrection and Ascension. This entire part, seem to have been added in later manuscripts, because they do not exist in the two oldest and most complete manuscripts, Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus. This is the same for Luke. The book of John gives actually a lot more detail about what happened in this time, which makes it clear that the other 3 gospel letters just gave a quick summaries for their immediate audiences.
The two main stories told are:
– Mary Magdalene at the tomb, seeing the angels and then seeing Yeshua
– Yeshua appearing to the apostles and His messages to them
John 21 gives a lot more details and stories on the 40 days Yeshua spent with the Apostles before His ascension. Acts 1:3 says, “being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God”. John ends chapter 20 and 21 with, “And truly Yeshua did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written that you may believe that Yeshua is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.”, and “And there are also many other things that Yeshua did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.”
