Friday, October 27, 2023
Elder of Ziyon
Starting around 6:00, Netanyahu quoted Isaiah 60:18, which translated to English is "You will no longer hear the word 'violence' (or 'stealing') in your land....And you shall name your walls 'Victory' and your gates 'Renown.'
The Christian Post seized upon this as meaning that Bibi was referring to, um, Jesus:
In that same chapter, just two verses prior to the one quoted by Netanyahu, is what most scholars believe is an Old Testament reference to the Lord Jesus Christ: “You shall suck the milk of nations; you shall nurse at the breast of kings; and you shall know that I, the Lord, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.” (Isaiah 60:16)
The Daily Beast also assumed Bibi was invoking some sort messianic prophecy because Isaiah has lots of that.
Arab media further interpreted this to mean that Netanyahu was calling for an apocalyptic war to bring about the "Second Coming" according to Christian faith.
What they all missed was that Bibi was making a pun, one familiar to many Jews from last week's Torah portion.
The verse starts with "You will no longer hear the word 'hamas' in your land",לֹא־יִשָּׁמַ֨ע ע֤וֹד חָמָס֙ בְּאַרְצֵ֔ךְ, where 'hamas' means theft or violence. Netanyahu was using the verse to say that Israel will wipe out Hamas and emerge victorious. It was not meant at all to elicit a messianic message.
