Daniel 9:26
The Two Messiahs?ã2001 ITCC
Neither Israel Nor Jesus is what is being pointed to in this
text
In our study of Daniel 9, I will use and compare the difference betweem the Hebrew text with that of the King James Version of the Bible, which contains the grossest errors, which are, in whole or in part, duplicated by other Christian versions of the Bible.
First, the King James Version puts a definite article before
"Messiah the Prince" (9:25). The original Hebrew text does not read
"the Messiah the Prince," but, having no article, it is to be
rendered "a mashiach ["anointed one," "messiah"], a
prince," i.e., Cyrus (Isaiah 45:1, 13; Ezra 1:1-2). for It is Isaiah who
proclaims that Cyrus would give the actual command to rebuild Jerusalem. Yah
declares through the prophet, "He [Cyrus] shall build My city"
(Isaiah 45:13; see also Ezra 1:1-8, 6:1-5). Indeed, it was Cyrus who issued a
proclamation (ca. 537 B.C.E.) for the return, and for the rebuilding to start.
This occurred forty-nine years after the destruction of Jerusalem.
Yah declares concerning Cyrus, "He is My shepherd, and
shall perform all My pleasures; even saying of Jerusalem: 'She shall be built';
and to the Temple: 'Your foundation shall be laid'" (Isaiah 44:28). Hence,
the Scriptures teach that it was during the reign of Cyrus that the rebuilding
of the city began. This was symbolized, first of all, by the start of
construction on the Second Temple, which was completed ca. 516 B.C.E., seventy
years after the destruction. It is with the completion of the Temple that the
period of desolation officially terminates.
Isaiah 45:1 describes Cyrus as Yah's "anointed. His
decree to rebuild Jerusalem comes forty-nine years after the destruction of the
city and the Temple, which is the time when an "anointed one" (Daniel
9:25) is to come to fulfill the prophecy, ". . . until an anointed one, a
prince, shall be seven weeks [forty-nine years]."
When all is said and done, the biblical record must speak
for itself. That record shows that it was Cyrus (Isaiah 45:13), who is given
credit by Yah for the rebuilding of Jerusalem. As we have seen, the initial
effort to rebuild was a direct result of Cyrus'decree. All subsequent permits
were based on this decree.
The word mashiach is nowhere used in the Hebrew Scriptures
as a proper name, but as a title of authority of a Prophet,King or a high
priest. Therefore, a correct rendering of the original Hebrew should be:
"an anointed one, a prince."
Second, the King James
Version and other Christian Translations disregards the Hebrew punctuation. The
punctuation mark 'atnach functions as the main pause within a sentence. The
'atnach’ is the appropriate equivalent of the semicolon in the modern system of
punctuation. It thus has the effect of separating the seven weeks from the
sixty-two weeks: ". . . until an anointed one, a prince, shall be seven
weeks; then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again . . ." (9:25).
By creating a sixty-nine
week period, which is not divided into two separate periods of seven weeks and
sixty-two weeks respectively, Christians and unfortunatly Hebrew Israelite
reach an incorrect conclusion, i.e., that the Messiah will come 483 years after
the destruction of the First Temple.
Some Christians claim that
there is something called a "prophetic year" of 360 days, thus
shortening the interval between the beginning of the 483 years which they claim
began in 444 B.C.E., and the date of the crucifixion of Jesus. They do this in
order to make the dates coincide, but the claim of a "prophetic year"
is without any scriptural foundation and is fictitious.
Third, the King James
Version omits the definite article in Daniel 9:26, which should read: "And
after the threescore and two weeks. . . ." By treating the sixty-two weeks
as a distinct period, this verse, in the original Hebrew, shows that the
sixty-two weeks mentioned in verse 25 are correctly separated from the seven
weeks by the 'atnach. Hence, two anointed ones are spoken of in this chapter,
one of whom comes after seven weeks (Cyrus), and the other after a further
period of sixty-two weeks
Fourth, the words v'ayn lo
(9:26) are incorrectly translated by the King James Version as "but not
for himself." They should be translated as "he has nothing" or
"he shall have nothing." There are Christian commentators who
maintain this phrase has both meanings, but that claim cannot be supported
grammatically.
Who is the the Other Anointed leader(s)?
The first seven weeks ends in 537 B.C.E.
The second segment of the Seventy Weeks period, sixty-two weeks in length, covered by verse 26, culminates in 103 B.C.E. (586-49-434=103 B.C.E.). Verse 26 indicates that "after sixty-two weeks an anointed one shall be cut off." This "anointed one" is either a reference to the High Priest Alexander Yannai (103-76 B.C.E.) or the Famous and 1st Messiah Yahudah, the Teacher of Righteousness and founder of the Essene Communities of the Dead Sea Scrolls(Osseans) and Galilean(Netzarim /pre-Heretical).
Alexander Yannai came to
power just at the end of the sixty-two week period in 103 B.C.E. and was the
last of the important Hasmonean leaders who revolted against Epiphanes. The phrase
"after sixty-two weeks" indicates the time frame during which
the "anointed one shall be cut off," that is, suffer karet,
"excision, to have nothing, or be no more. This Tragedy is given to
Alexander Yannai When he is overthrown and replaced by the High Priest and
puppet Hyrcanus, the Pharisees come to
power in 76 b.c.e when Queen Alexandra sits on the Throne(Hyrcanus and
Alexandra and Much of the Royal family sides with the Pharisees)
The Pharisees, who came to power as a “Anti-Prophetic/ Anti-Kohanim”, Laymen Movement, sought Revenge because Yannai challenged the foolishness and wickedness of the Pharisees , and was famous for his Zealous animosity against the Pharisee movement and his brazen yet applauded rejection of their man-made so-called Oral Law.
Josephus records that Alexander Yannai fought against the Pharisees for six years, "and . . slew no fewer than fifty thousand of them." This was done is accordance with the True Torah against those who twist the Torah and Turn the people away from the Truth in Yisrael, as in how the Pharisees had done (Jewish Antiquities XIII. 13. 5. [373]). He also "ordered some eight hundred of the Judeans(this includes apostate Hebrews, gentiles and Idumeans/Edomite) to be crucified (Jewish Antiquities XIII. 14. 2. [380]).
Verse 26 shows when
Alexander Yannai or the Teacher of Righteousness, the "anointed one,"
would be overthrown or cut off.
However it should also be
pointed out that Yahudah the Teacher of Righteousness could also have been the
one being spoken of… before 76b.c.e and rise of the Pharisee’s, Yahudah, the
Moreh Tzadik was a LEADING Kohan(Priest) and Sage of Yerushalem City
Council(Qahal). He is known to be one who had given Spiritual-politcal
counseling to Alexander Yannai,
especially the problems concerning the Pharisee’s. Yahudah and the
Essenes saw the Pharisee as harden criminals and intentionally transgressing
the Laws of Yah and blaspheming the Most High. The Pharisee were notoriously
known as, “seekers of accommodation(1Qh 10:34-11:7)”, ”Liers”,
“prophets of deception”, “seers of deception”, “Shoddy Wall
Builders covering it with White-wash”,
an epithet similarly used in the Tenakh known as those who, “pisseth
upon the walls(1Shamuel 25:22, 34; 1Kings 14:10; 16:11; 21:21; 2Kings 9:8;
YeshiYah 36:12). Yahudah’s community, the Essenes are the ones who inherited
and maintained the original Prophetic and Kohanim movement from the Hebrew
Prophets of old.
However his
Spiritual-Politcal influence would greatly take a sharp dip when the
Pharisees came to power in 76 B.C.E,
and then sought to take revenge on anyone who rejected the Oral Law. It is said
that the Pharisee went from “House to
House” searching out apponents and putting them to the sword. The Essene Teacher
of Righteousness became their Primary Target for assassination(Diogenes
and much of the Teacher of Righteousness peer were already dead).
Shimeon ben Shetah, a well known
and famous leader of the Pharisees in Rabbinic literature, But an Arch enemy of
The Teacher of Righteousness and Essenes who refers to him(Shimeon) as the
Wicked Priest in the Dead Sea Scrolls, advised
Hyrcanus to arrest Yahudah. He was nearly murdered, publicly defamed and
eventually arrested, tried and
convicted as a False Prophet according to the twisted Laws of the Oral Torah
and Customs aka “Ordinance of the Fathers” of the Pharisees. Yet instead of
receiving the Death Penalty, He and his followers were exiled from his
country(1qh 12:7-31a). They relocated to what was called the “Land of
Galilee\Damascus” in the North….
After Yahudah’s exile his movement
of the Eternal Yahad, the renewed/Eternal Covenant continued to grow and eventually he was assisinated by his
enemies… However this figure became the backdrop of everything the 1st
century knew or thought about a Messiah….
SO who is it? Alexander Yannai or Yahudah the Teacher of Righteousness?
Based
on my research and studies I myself have now come to the conclusion that it was
The Famous Teacher of Righteousness of the Dead Sea Scrolls, who was
the anointed leader that was cut off mentioned in Daniel Chapter 9:26. While yes, Yannai would have
been considered an “anointed one” because he was High Priest and
In Hebrew-Torah thought, anyone who was a Prophet or Priest was a Mashiach,
Yahudah, the Teacher of Righteousness was also a Priest and
a Prophet. He and his followers are responsible for inheriting and maintaining
and continuing the Prophetic-Priestly heritage while the other Priestly
Movements(Sadducees) and Non Priest Movement(Pharisees) rejected the Prophetic
Traditions and ran dry the Anointing and Spirit of Yah to the peoples… Yahudah,
the anointed was the one who directly influenced Yannai the anointed
high-Priest, therefore putting Yahudah as the leading influential Anointed
One of this Time.
Before
Yahudah, there existed very few literaray discription of messiahs and messianic
ideas were very limited. No one ever rose up proclaiming themselves to be a
Messiah as in the Post-biblical concept of 1st century Israel. No
Post biblical writings of the 2nd century (i.e assumption of Moshe,
The Wisdom of Ben Sira nor the Maccabees)
mentions a messiah.
However
after Yahudah and his established teachings and Essene Movement,
Messianic literature rapidly spread. Dozens of messianic movements inspired by the Teacher of Righteousness
flared up. Such movements were from figures such as Theudus(45-45
c.e), the Egyptian,
then self styled Kings such as athronge(4B.C.E)
at the same time across the Jordan in Parea, Shimeon
stirred up a peasant messianic movement, then Yahoshua
ben Josef(aka Jesus who was called Christ) started a movement within
the already established Nazarene Movement of Yahudah, the Teacher of Righteousness) and
His cousin Yahchonan(John) the Baptist
succeeded the leadership of the already established Baptist movement of the osseans, another
branch(or denomination) or the Teacher of Righteousness that was more stricter
in customs than the Nazarenes.. and Then Yahshua’s Older Brother Ya’akob Tzadikk(James the Just) had Taken
over the Leadership of the Ebionites who developed from both the Nazarenes and
Osseans and eventually obsorbed the Nazarenes who rejected the leadership of
the Hellenistic Pharisee Paul(the self
proclaimed apostle) who laid the foundations to Roman Catholism
and Modern Christianity….
Then
Menahem ben Hezekiah arose
with a Messianic resistant movement against the Romans, then Simon bar Giora… It even began to have a
impact on certain Pharisee-Rabbinical leaders
such as Bar koziba, Moses
of Crete etc…..
Now
it has become a plague to us today because of its changed and mis-understood
applications taken out of context, as originally taught by Yahudah the Teacher
of Righteousness…..You even find such figures within the Hebrew Israelite
Movements mis-applying the Messiah concept to themselves, proclaiming to
be the “Eternal Messiah”, never to die,
the King of Kings and Lord of Lords or proclaiming to be the Saviour, Son of Yahweh and King when no such messiah
existed or is even mentioned in the Scriptures or the Dead sea Scrolls!!!!
BUT
One thing for sure: All of these groups originally followed behind
Yahudah and then some re-interpreted and added more messianic ideas……
all
of these groups had different Ideas, and All of these former Messiahs Died in
VAIN except Yahudah, the Teacher of Righteousness,
Yahoshua ben Yosef, John
the Baptist and Ya’akob Tzadik… Yahoshua
Ben Yosef however, is lost in ancient history, distorted in modern history and
never got the chance to tell His-Story, His True Story!!!
One
last thing. It is said that no where in the Tenakh is there a reference to a
Teacher of Righteousness…This is first established by the Translations of the
Jews and then followed by the Translations and scholarship of the
Christians…..however
Joel
2:23 reads similar in both the Christian and Jewish Bibles,
“Be glad you children of Zion and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he has given you the former rain moderately and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain and the latter rain in the first month…… “
However
the Hebrew word for “Former rain” is Moreh Tzadik(look it up)
It
shoud therefore read as the Hebrew text says,
“and
you children of Tsiyon, be glad and rejoice in YHWH your Allahim, for he Shall
give you the TEACHER OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, and cause the rain to come
down for you, the former rain and the latter rain, as before”
Now one
should ask, “Why didn’t the
Traditional/Rabbinical Jewish and Christian Translations of the Bible translate
this verse as it is found in the Manuscripts?”
Remember Rabbinical
Judaism was once known as Pharisee Judaism…. Selah!!! That’s stop and think
about it. You decide….Alexander Yannai or Yahudah the Teacher of Righteousness
and founder of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the 1st
Messiah.
The
Israelite International Torah Covenant Community
Kohane
Shalomim HaLahawi
Spiritual
Leader and founder