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July 1, 2010 Bear in mind that the Jewish Bible was not written as an Old Testament that would have a New Testament as a sequel, and most Jews even to this day do not recognize the New Testament. It hardly matters though, since the bulk of both the Jewish Bible and the New Testament can be dismissed as little more than fantasy and folklore, although some historical parts can be found in both. Here is a classical case of wrenching something out of context. Today it might be called a “whopper”. Compare two passages from the two “testaments”, namely Micah 5:2, from the Old Testament, and Matthew 2:4 through 2:6, from the New Testament. Micah 5:2. But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. Matthew 2:4. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. Matthew 2:5. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, Matthew 2:6. And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel. Matthew tried to make it look as if Micah had prophesied the coming of Jesus, although the name Jesus never appears in the Old Testament at all. If Micah had said “Jesus”, we might have attached more meaning to Matthew’s claim. In my opinion, Matthew merely seized upon a passage he had found and liked, and tailored the Messiah he was inventing accordingly. Matthew chose Bethlehem as a birthplace so he could say, “Aha! It was prophesied that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem.” Bethlehem was also the alleged birthplace of David, and so reinforced the genealogy from David to Jesus that Matthew had fabricated in his first chapter. If you feel that this is unjustified cynicism, read the entirety of Micah’s prophecy: Micah 5:2. But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. Micah 5:3. Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. Micah 5:4. And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth. Micah 5:5. And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men. Micah 5:6. And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders. We see, in Micah 5:5 and 5:6, that the man that Micah was hoping for—prophesying, I mean—was going to raise shepherds and principal men to lay waste the land of Assyria. It’s hard to figure how Matthew thought that this man was Jesus, since the Assyrian Empire of Micah’s day was destined to be conquered by a coalition of Babylonians, Medes and others in 612 BCE. I’ve never heard anyone claim that Jesus led armed men into Assyria in the 7th century BCE. So it’s absolutely preposterous for Matthew to have hijacked this passage and put it in his Gospel. Matthew must have reasoned that few would check out his reference. Since the “prophecy” was actually present in the Old Testament, that was enough. I’ve used the names of Matthew and Micah, as if two such people really existed, but the authorship of the both books, especially Matthew, is up for grabs. ------------ About the author Thomas Keyes: I have written two books: A SOJOURN IN ASIA (non-fiction) and A TALE OF UNG (fiction), neither published so far. I have studied languages for years and traveled extensively on five continents. Visit my website here. Email: udikeyes@yahoo.com Comment on this article here! 
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