Here is contained a very detailed scholarly study of the premise of Dr. Barbara Thiering
that there were two Jerusalems: Jerusalem and Qumran. Her conjectures on the Jesus' ministry
and the place of his birth and crucifixion and subsequent resuscitation depend on this proof.
In addition, if Qumran can be established as the site of the Jerusalem of Jesus,
the seeming connection between
the recently found
Dead Sea Scrolls and the early Church of Jesus can be affirmed. This connection was observed
by John Allegro, who was on of the original team that translated the DSS, and has been since been ridiculed.
The details shown here do in fact consistently show the correctness of Dr. Thiering's premise and clearly
support the assumptions of Allegro.
Here is the puzzle of two Jerusalems: Jerusalem and Jerusalem (Qumran) by Dr. Barbara Thiering in answer to my question:
| From Jerusalem To Jerusalem? |
| C. Dylan Stephens, our webmaster, sends a
comment on a matter that has concerned generations of scholars: I
have noticed a footnote to Acts 12:25 in my book of New Testament
versions stating that some versions have "from Jerusalem" instead
of "to Jerusalem". Many scholars saw the problem that since Saul
and Barnabas were already in Jerusalem that it would be impossible
to return to Jerusalem so in their wisdom, they changed εἰς
(into) which is in Vaticanus and
Sinaiticus to ἐξ or ἐκ (out
of) such as Textus Receptus and others resulting in mistranslations
into English such as King James, Rheims, new American Standard and
the Latin Vulgate (ab- from). Thus it goes to show that those
Christians who believe that the New Testament is the word of God
should be careful of their sources. And here again in the above
much appreciated Sinaiticus scanned document site, they have
mistranslated "to" as "from"! (Granted they are working on getting
the translation to correspond in the future.) |
A. To encapsulate the problem:
In Acts 11:27
the Christians in Antioch received a message from Jerusalem ("apo" Jerusalem (Genitive Neuter Plural) meaning in the pesher sense Qumran, the mirror image of Jerusalem). In
response to the message, Paul and Barnabas traveled south.
In Acts 12 a
great many events happened in the south.
In Acts 12:25
Paul and Barnabas went to Jerusalem.
So they went from Jerusalem to Jerusalem? That doesn’t make
sense.
All the major texts, including Vaticanus and Sinaiticus, read “to
Jerusalem” in Acts 12:25, using the Greek preposition eis.
The scholarly Nestle-Aland NT reads eis (STRONGS NT 1519: "εἰς" - a preposition governing the accusative, and denoting entrance into, or direction and limit: into, to, toward, for, among. "Jerusalem" is accusative, feminine singular ). But because of the
apparent problem other versions have changed the preposition “ to”
to “out of” or “from”. They have thus made Paul and Barnabas go
from Jerusalem to Antioch. But the verdict of the best texts and
modern scholarship is against them.
The pesher of Acts and the gospels gives the answer to this and a
host of NT problems. When the Greek is read, it is at once apparent
that there are two different forms of the word Jerusalem. One is
plural, Hierosolyma. The other is singular, Jerusalem. The difference is observable in many places.
especially Luke-Acts. For traditional scholars that was no problem
because the Hebrew has two different forms corresponding to these,
and the Greek simply reproduces them.
But when the new factor of pesher comes into it, the answer is
evident. The correct text with “to” does make sense. The pesharists
were writing a true record of their history which was meant to
conceal from outsiders the real facts, using the device of special
meanings of words. They had set up a “New Jerusalem” when they were
exiled to Qumran at the shore of the Dead Sea. For those who
understood special hidden meanings, the plural form of the name
meant Qumran. The singular form of the name meant the literal
Jerusalem, more specifically the Cenacle building on the slopes of
Mt Zion, which the Essenes also held.
In Acts 11:27 the plural form of the word Jerusalem is used. It
means Qumran. Paul and Barnabas received a message from Qumran and
traveled south, to Qumran.
In Acts 12:25 the singular form of the word Jerusalem is used.
After the events in chapter 12 Paul and Barnabas traveled from
Quman to the literal Jerusalem, then from there they returned to
Antioch, where they were found in chapter 13.
This example shows what a revolutionary difference the Dead Sea
Scrolls have made. They define pesher, and it has been my privilege
to apply it to the New Testament.
B.T. |
Also, in the next Inductive Reasoning, it will also be shown that the the Qumran location for Jerusalem resolves all of the discrepancies of location and distance in Jesus' journeys.
(See Jesus' Journeys where a donkey travels the roads to Jerusalem versus Qumran)
Jerusalem-singular (real Jerusalem)
and
Jerusalem-plural (Qumran on the Dead Sea - its mirror image)
All references in the Gospels, Acts, and Revelation to Jerusalem
to demonstrate the singular and plural use.
Please click
Inductive Reasoning: "Qumran as the mirror of Jerusalem"
to load the rest of the page.
(It takes a little longer to load as the Greek font is written and, in order to verify the correctness of the Greek, the actual images of the Codex Vaticanus are used.)
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