The Deity of The Messiah

SUMMARY

The concept of Trinity is commonly misunderstood by many people. It is the concept which defines God as one in what He is, but three in who He is. Other way of saying this is that the Almighty is One being, but three persons.
Multiple assertions have become popular when discussing about the origins of the believe on a Triune God:
- Some people say that it was invented by some Christians in the council of Nicea 300 years after Jesus 
- Other people argue that the Trinity is definitely a Christian invention, for the Jews never came up with any concept which would point to support this.
In this article I present references to first generation Christian writings outside the Bible who explicitly declare the deity of The Messiah. I also present references to Jewish writings which do present views aligned with the concept of the deity of the Messiah, from before and after the time of Jesus.
The objective is to argument that the deity of The Messiah was not an innovation from the third century, and certainly not a view solely held by Christianity.


First Century Christian Followers

Some skeptics from religious and non religious background have stated that Paul was the mastermind behind many of the claims in Christianity. For this reason, I'm appealing to the writings of a Christian  student of John The Apostle, Ignatius Teophorus of Antioch. Since Ignatius died in 107 CE, his writings should precede this year. Here are some excerpts of some of His letters, where he bluntly qualifies the Messiah as God:

Epistle to the Trallians (1)


Ignatius in the epistle to the Trallians calls Jesus as God. He clarifies that Jesus was incarnated as a man who ate and drank and died. This indicates that the conception that Jesus was both fully man and fully God was believed very early in Christianity. He also made clear annotations of His belief on the resurrection of Christ through the power of The Father. Here we see a clear allusion to the oneness of God in His being, but clear references to two persons within the oneness of God, The Father and Jesus:

  • 2:4 Wherefore guard yourself against such persons; and that you will do, if you are not puffed up; but continue inseparable from Jesus Christ our God (θεοῦ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ (2)), and from your bishop, and from the commands of the Apostles (...)2:11 Who was truly born, and did eat and drink; was truly persecuted under Pontius Pilate; was truly crucified and dead; both those in heaven and on earth, and under the earth, being spectators of it 2:12 Who, was also truly raised from the dead by his Father, after the same manner as HE will also raise up us who believe in him by Christ Jesus; without whom we have no true life.


Talmudic, midrashic and mishnaic references to the Messiah pointing to His Deity 

Though these references are not authoritative, nor equate to the word of God, they do present the views of some of the jewish sages and their judaism streams. These references support the view that within Judaism there have existed interpretations of certain passages which show the complexity of the Unity of God. They also show that some sages have interpreted some verses with an understanding that could point to a Divine Messiah. Since, as a written document, these commentaries were collected after the sprout of Christianity, it's not possible to assert with certainty that these beliefs pre-dated Christianity. However it results quite interesting, because the Talmud, Midrash and Mishnah are held in high steem by the main stream rabbinical judaism which opposes to the view of the deity of the Messiah.
1. The Messiah is made equal to the Spirit of God: 
  • From the time of creation constant reference is made in Holy Writ to Messiah and the Messianic hope of Israel. 'The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters'; the Spirit of God means Messiah.--Gen. Rabba 2; also Levit. Rabba 14.
2. The Messiah is above all creation:
  • The great mountain spoken of by the prophet Zechariah (4. 7) is no other than Messiah, Son of David, and he is called 'the Great Mountain,' because he towers above the Patriarchs, is greater than Moses, and is above the ministering angels. As Isaiah says (52. 10), 'Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled and be very high.'--Midr. Tanchuma Toldos.
3. The Messiah is clothed with the same Glory and Majesty of God:
  • The honour and majesty with which David tells us (Ps. 104.) that God is clothed, He will bestow on Messiah. As it is said, 'His glory is great in Thy salvation, honour and majesty hast Thou laid upon Him.'--Numb. Rabba 14.
4. The Messiah is called after the unpronounceable name of God (YHWH)
  • The צמח ('Zemach'), mentioned by Jeremiah (23. 5) and by Zechariah (6. 12) is the Messiah.--Numb. Rabba 18. Jeremiah 23:5 (HCSB) 5 "The days are coming" -- this is the LORD's declaration --"when I will raise up a Righteous Branch ( צֶ֣מַח )of David. He will reign wisely as king and administer justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. This is what He (The Messiah) will be named: Yahweh Our Righteousness.
  • The proper name of Messiah is ה׳ צדקנו (the Lord our righteousness).--Midr. Lament. 1.
  • Jer.23:5-6: “The L-RD our righteousness (YHWH Tzidkenu). “Rabbi Huna counted amongst the seven names of Messiah also: “YHVH Tzidkenu”.” –Midrash Mishle 19:21
  • “G-D nameth also the King Messiah with His own Name.” –Midrash T’hillim 21:2
  • “What is the name of King Messiah?  To this answered Rabbi Abba bar Kahana: YHVH is His name, for it is written: ‘This is the name whereby He shall be called: YHVH Tzidkenu.’” –Midrash Echa 1:51
  •  Isa.9:6-7: “also the name of the Messiah is called Peace, for it is written: ‘Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.’” – Rabbi Jose the Galilean; Babylonian Talmud; Tract Derech Erez Zutha.
5. God is the first, and The Messiah is also called The First
  • Many and varied are the things that in the Bible are designated 'the first.' The month of the Egyptian exodus God named the first month of the year (Exod. 12. 2). He revealed Himself as 'the first' to the prophet Isaiah (44. 6). Zion, too, is styled 'the first' (Jer. 117). Of Esau also the epithet is used (Gen. 25.) And, lastly, Messiah is mentioned as 'the first' (Isa. 41. 27).There is this intimate connexion between them, that God, who is the first, will rebuild Zion the first, and bring retribution on Esau, known as the first, at the time of the advent of Messiah the first, in the month (= Nissan) which was appointed as the first.--Exod. Rabba 15.


Targums, The Deity of The Messiah and The Complexity of God

The Aramaic Targums is the Aramaic translation and paraphrases of the Hebrew Scriptures that was read year in and year out publicly in places where Jews spoke Aramaic and little Hebrew. In Specific, the Targum Yonathan, authored by Yonathan Ben Uzziel, pre-dates the time of Christianity (1st century BCE). Yonathan Ben Uzziel was a recognized disciple of Hilel, the head of one of the most (if not the most important) sages school in the first century BCE. 
In the Targum Yonathan of the book of Isaiah several verses in which the Masoretic text does not explicitly mention the Messiah, The Targum of Yonathan does. Such is the case of Isaiah 9:6:
  • The Prophet said to the house of David, For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and He has taken the law upon Himself to keep it. His name is called from eternity, Wonderful, The Mighty God, who liveth to eternity, The Messiah, whose peace shall be great upon in His days (4).
The targumist paraphrasis of this verse clearly says that:
  1. The Messiah is Eternal
  2. The Messiah's name is Eternal
  3. The Messiah's name is the Mighty God

Another Targum is the one known as Targum Pseudo-Yonathan. Rashi's commentary on Genesis 48 documents the thought presented in the Targum pseudo-Yonathan that the Angel who appeared to Jacob was in fact the God of Bethel (5): 
  • Commentary on Gen 48:16 the angel who redeemed me: The angel who was usually sent to me in my distress, as the matter is stated: “And an angel of God said to me in a dream, ‘Jacob!…I am the God of Bethel’ ” (Gen. 31:11-13). - [after Targum Jonathan ben Uzziel] המלאך הגאל אתי: מלאך הרגיל להשתלח אלי בצרתי, כענין שנאמר (בראשית לא יא - יג) ויאמר אלי מלאך הא-להים בחלום יעקב וגו' אנכי האל בית אל:
These presented verses are paraphrasis from before and after the sprout of Christianity. Both indicate that within Judaism there have been interpretations of a complex God. In the Targum Yonathan the note is direct. On the Targum Pseudo-Yonathan the interpretation is indirect, but makes the reader think, how can the Angel of God call himself the God of Bethel?. Is it a contradiction? How can the Angel of God be the God of whom he claims belong to?
The Creating Power of The Word Of God: The Concept of Logos and Memra
The Gospel according to John opens with a strong theological statement: He presents a character named as "The Word" who exists before creation, who has been with God and who is God. Given that the gospel of John is the last of the 4 canonical gospels to be written, skeptics claim that this view of God correspond to evolution of beliefs trying to support the invention of the Deity of Jesus.
However, within Judaism there have been similar views, which pre-date the writing of the gospel of John. For example, in Alexandria, a similar view of God was supported by Hellenistic Jews:
  • Philo (c. 30 BCE – c. 50 CE), was a leading writer of the Hellenistic Jewish community in Alexandria, Egypt. For Philo, (...)God existed neither in time nor space and had no human attributes or emotions. He argued that God has no attributes (ἁπλοῡς), in consequence no name (ἅρρητος), and for that reason he cannot be perceived by man (ἀκατάληπτος). Further, God cannot change (ἅτρεπτος): He is always the same (ἀἱδιος). He needs no other being (χρήζων ὁυδενòς τò παράπαν), and is self-sufficient (ἑαυτῷ ἱκανός). God can never perish (ἅφθαρτος). He is the simply existent (ó ὤν, τὸ ὅν), and has no relations with any other being (τὸ γὰρ ἢ ὄν ἒστιν ουχὶ τῶν πρός τι).”
  • Philo used the term Logos (Word in English) to mean an intermediary divine being, or demiurge. Philo followed the Platonic distinction between imperfect matter and perfect Form, and therefore intermediary beings were necessary to bridge the enormous gap between God and the material world. The Logos was the highest of these intermediary beings, and was called by Philo "the first-born of God."
  • Philo also wrote that "the Logos of the living God is the bond of everything, holding all things together and binding all the parts, and prevents them from being dissolved and separated. Philo considers these divine powers in their totality also, treating them as a single independent being, which he designates "Logos". Philo's conception of the Logos is directly related to the Middle Platonic view of God as unmoved and utterly transcendent. As such, the Logos becomes the aspect of the divine that operates in the world—through whom the world is created and sustained. Philo, in connecting his doctrine of the Logos with Scripture, first of all bases on Gen. i.  the relation of the Logos to God. He translates this passage as follows: "He made man after the image of God," concluding therefrom that an image of God existed. This image of God is the type for all other things (the "Archetypal Idea" of Plato), a seal impressed upon things. The Logos is a kind of shadow cast by God, having the outlines but not the blinding light of the Divine Being". (6)
Philo's view of God is not aligned 100% with the New Testament definition of God. However, his view demonstrates that at the time of Jesus, some Jewish philosophers and sages tried to explain the complexity of the unity of God. This view supports the fact the God's unity cannot be explained simply as one person in one being.
Skepticism may think that Greek pagan philosophy permeated Judaism, influencing John's view. However, we see similar views within respected mainstream rabbinical Judaism. The Aramaic targums also present a similar view of the Word of God. The Targum Yonathan also uses the term Word of God (or Memra in Aramaic) or Shekhinah (presence of God) instead of the name of God, when an action is executed by God. Here is an example from the Targum Yonathan:
  • Your new moons and your appointed feasts my Word hates (TY Isa 1:14)
  • Because they despised the law of the Lord of Hosts, and rejected the Word, The Holy One of Israel. (TY on Isa 5:24b)
  • And I heard the voice of The Word of the Lord, which said, Whom shal I send to prophesy? (TY Isa 6:8)
  • For at first when ye did pass the Red sea my Word was your support (TY on Isa 43:2)
  • Other references are found on Isa 1:2, 1:16, 1:20, 8:5, 8:14, 9:7, 10:17, 10:20, 12:2, 17:7, 17:10, 21:10, 21:17, 22:25, 24:14, 25:8-9, 26:3-4, 26:13, 27:19, 27:13,  28:21, 29:19, 30:1-2, 30:30-33, 31:1, 32:5, 33:2, 34:16-17, 36:10, 37:29, 37:32, 37:35, 40:5, 40:13, 40:24, 41:13-14, 41:16, 42:1, 43:27, 44:24, 45:2, 45:12, 17, 45:22-23, 46:4, 46:12, 47:1-3, 48:11-16, 49:1,49:5, 49:15, 50:2, 51:1-7, 52:6, 52:13, 59:13, 59:16, 59:19, 61:10, 62:2, 63:1-10, 63:14, 65:1, 65:3, 66:24
But also other Targums used by Rabbinical judaism use the Memra to replace anthropomorphisms:
  • Gen.1:27 “The Word of the L-RD created man. (Targum Pseudo-Jonathan)
  • Gen. 15:6 “And Abraham believed in the Word of the L-RD.”
  • Ex.14:31 “And they believed in the Word of the L-RD.”
  • Deut.31:3 “The L-RD your G-D, His Word will pass before you.”
  • Isa.45:17 “Israel will be saved by the Word of the L-RD.”
  • Gen.28:20-21 “If the Word of the L-RD will be with me… then the Word of the L-RD will be my G-D.” Jacob called The Word his G-D!
Michael Brown on his book "Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus" makes a good summary of the implications of the use of the Memra for anthropomorphisms:
  • “Risto Santala, a Fininish Christian Scholar fluent in Hebrew and Rabbinic sources, summarizes the combined evidence from the Targums: “‘The L-RD’s Memra’ (Aramaic for Word); will be my G-D’; ‘I will save them through their G-D, the L-RD’s Memra’; Abraham was justified through the Memra; the Memra gave Israel the Law; Moses prayed to the Memra; Memra even created the world.”, (Santala, Messiah in the Old testament, 90-91). In fact, according to the Targum Neofiti, representing important, early translations, man was created in the image of the Memra’ of the L-RD!  Consider also Targum Pseudo Jonathan – a Targum printed in all Rabbinic Bibles (called Mikra’ot Gedolot)… “The Memra of YHVH sits upon His throne high and lifted up and hears our prayer whenever we pray before Him and make our petitions.” (Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus vol.2 –Michael L. Brown)
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Footnotes 
(4) "The Chaldee Paraphrase on The Prophet Isaiah" Translated by Rev. C.W.H Pauli. London Society's House 1871. Pages 30 & 31.

 

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