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Mohamad Mostafa Nassar
Twitter:@NassarMohamadMR
This article is a refutation to those who claim the Torah has not been tampered with. This bold claim Christians make, that the Torah is exactly the same âword for wordâ from the time of Moses will be analysed. Letâs start off with what the Jewish sources have to say before we completely destroys this nonsense made by Christians.
The Midrash (Devarim Rabba 9:4) tells us:
Before his death, Moses wrote 13 Torah Scrolls. Twelve of these were distributed to each of the 12 Tribes. The 13th was placed in the Ark of the Covenant (along with the Tablets). If anyone would come and attempt to rewrite or falsify the Torah, the one in the Ark would “testify” against him.
Similarly, an authentic “proof text” was always kept in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, against which all other scrolls were checked. Following the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, the Sages would periodically perform global checks to guard against any scribal errors.
âTake this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God. There it will remain as a witness against you. 27 For I know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If you have been rebellious against the LORD while I am still alive and with you, how much more will you rebel after I die!28 Assemble before me all the elders of your tribes and all your officials.
So that I can speak these words in their hearing and call the heavens and the earth to testify against them. 29 For I know that after my death you are sure to become utterly corrupt and to turn from the way I have commanded you. (Deuteronomy 31:26-29)
From the above statements we read that, Moses not only wrote â13 scrollsâ he also had one put in the Ark of the Covenant. The âTorah scrollâ which was put in the Ark of the Covenant, was a proof test that would verify if the Torah which was in the hand of that individual was the exact same as the one put in the âArk of the Covenantâ.
Hereâs the problem, where is the Ark of the Covenant now? How is one supposed to verify if he has the original Torah which Moses commanded to be placed in the âArk of the Covenantâ What about those other â12 scrollsâ given to the 12 tribes of Israel, where are they?
Why was the âTorah scrollsâ placed in the Ark of the Covenant in the first place, so they can be protected from any tampering. What was the point of placing the Torah Scrolls in the Ark of the Covenant when the object itself is missing, how absurd!
Isnât it interesting how Moses said, after he leaves, the Jews would turn to corruption and disobey all which he has commanded them. âFor I know that after my death you are sure to become utterly corrupt and to turn from the way I have commanded you.â
If Moses is a Prophet of God, then surely his saying about the Jews would come to terms. Thatâs a sign of a false Prophet according to the same âTorahâ in dispute.
“When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him. (Deuteronomy 18:22)
Thereâs also another problem added to this mess. According Exodus 25:16, the Two Tablets with the 10 commandments were placed in the Ark of the Covenant. Again how does one verify the 10 commandments which is written in Exodus 20 is the same as written on the âTwo Tabletsâ placed in the Ark of the Covenant, when the Ark itself is missing?
The idea that the Torah which is read by millions of Jews and Christian as being the same as what was written by Moses hold is totally absurd.
Itâs ludicrous to make such a bold claim when you have no manuscripts which go back to the time of Moses. If Moses supposed to have written those âTorah scrollsâ roughly around 3500 years ago, and the earliest of manuscripts which we have under our possession dates to around 200BC, (that is the âDSS scrollsâ) how many years gap is that between the time of Moses and the DSS scrolls?
Nearly 1200 years! So, you now have a 1200 year missing gap between the time of Moses and the earliest manuscripts, how then could you claim you have the original Torah which Moses had written?
The tradition of preserving the Torah could not have been possible with the Jews, since history tells us during their exile, they had nothing at hand. We also have many versions of the Torah at our hands, such as the DSS, Samaritan Torah, Masoretic Torah, Septuagint Torah (copied from Hebrew manuscripts into Greek). All of those versions differ each other one way or another. Hereâs a small sample of what I mean by differ.
He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.”(Genesis 16:12 Masoretic text)
Compare this to the Samaritan Torah
He will be a FRUITFUL MAN; his hand will be with everyone, and everyone’s hand will be with him, and he will live among all his brothers.”(Genesis 16:12 Samaritan text)
Notice the Significant difference between the two, especially when it comes to the nature of Ismael Pbuh. The Masoretic Torah seems to make a derogatory statement towards the Prophet of God Ishmael Pbuh. Whereas the Samaritan Torah gives us a more honest and accurate image of Ishmael Pbuh, which also fits with the promise God made about him in the Book of Genesis.
And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. (Genesis 17:20)
Ask yourself this question, did the scribes of the Masoretic text make such changes in order to conceal the true identity and nature of Ishmael Pbuh? Unless the Masoretes who received the Hebrew manuscripts were already corrupted? But what did the Masoretes themselves believe? Did they believe they were perfectly preserving the ancient text? Did they even think they had received a perfect text to begin with?
History says ânoâ . . .
Scribal emendations â Tikkune Soferim
Early rabbinic sources, from around 200 CE, mention several passages of Scripture in which the conclusion is inevitable that the ancient reading must have differed from that of the present text. . . . Rabbi Simon ben Pazzi (3rd century) calls these readings âemendations of the Scribesâ (tikkune Soferim; Midrash Genesis Rabbah xlix. 7), assuming that the Scribes actually made the changes. This view was adopted by the later Midrash and by the majority of Masoretes.
With no surprise the Masoretic text, written around the (10th or 11th) century the first full codex is taken from corrupted sources imagine that. There are many more such differences throughout the individual versions of the Torah. Iâll add a few more so you can see for yourself the Torah has been tampered with just as predicted in Deuteronomy 31.
(How Old was Lamech when he had his son?)
When Lamech had lived 182 years, he had a son.
(Genesis 5:28 Masoretic Torah)
When Lamech had lived 188 years, he had a son.
(Genesis 5:28 Septuagint Torah)
When Lamech had lived 53 years, he had a son.
(Genesis 5:28 Samaritan Torah)
—————————-
(How long did Lamech live?)
Altogether, Lamech lived a total of 777 years, and then he died.
(Genesis 5:31 Masoretic text)
Altogether, Lamech lived a total of 753 years, and then he died.
(Genesis 5:31 Septuagint Torah)
Altogether, Lamech lived a total of 653 years, and then he died.
(Genesis 5:31 Samaritan text)
————————————-
And when you have crossed the Jordan, set up these stones on MOUNT GERIZIM, as I command you today, and coat them with plaster…….. (Deuteronomy 27:4 Samaritan text)
Compare to
And when you have crossed the Jordan, set up these stones on Mount Ebal, as I command you today, and coat them with plaster. (Deuteronomy 27:4 Masoretic text)
————————————–
But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it. “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said. (Exodus 4:25 Masoretic Torah )
Compare to
But seeboorah took a flint, and she CIRCUMCISED HER BLOCKED HEART and she brought herself to his feet and she said you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” (Exodus 4:25 Samaritan Torah )
—————————————–
Below we see Direct commandments have been added and subtracted
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”( Exodus 20:17 Masoretic Torah)
———— Extended Version —————-
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, and not thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his field, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that [is] thy neighbour’s. And when it so happens that LORD God brings you to the land of Caanan, which you are coming to posses, you shall set-up there for you great stones and plaster them with plaster and you write on the stones all words of this law.
And it becomes for you that across the Jordan you shall raise these stones, which I command you today, in mountain Grizim. And you build there the altar to the LORD God of you. Altar of stones. Not you shall wave on them iron. With whole stones you shall build the altar to LORD God of you.
And you bring on it ascend offerings to LORD God of you, and you sacrifice peace offerings, and you eat there and you rejoice before the face of the LORD God of you. The mountain this is across the Jordan behind the way of the rising of the sun, in the land of Caanan who is dwelling in the desert before the Galgal, beside Alvin-Mara, before Sechem (Exodus 20:17 Samaritan Torah)
We can see from all those above versions, that Torah was not preserved as Christians claim. The original â13 scrollsâ which was written by Moses is missing and no longer with us. Another thing to add to all this is, when Moses wrote â13 scrollsâ did he only write 13 individual scrolls the entire time or more?
Hereâs another portion from the Midrash which states:
– A Torah Scroll is disqualified if even a single letter is added.
– A Torah Scroll is disqualified if even a single letter is deleted.
Ask yourself from the evidence which Iâve provided, how many âletters and wordsâ have been added to the âTorahâ can you honestly say those added words and paragraphs didnât change a single meaning to what was being said?
The Midrash goes as far as saying âanything additional added to the Torah writings should be scrapedâ the problem is before we think of scrapping anything, we first have to establish which came from the âOriginal 13 Scrollsâ written by Moses. And the answer it you canât.
⢠Interestingly The Aleppo Codex (c. 920 CE) and Leningrad Codex (c. 1008 CE) were the oldest Hebrew language manuscripts of the Tanakh. If they are the oldest full codex Bible in our possession, what about during the time of Jesus what were they using?
Without a doubt they were using scrolls copied throughout centuries going back to 200BC. This is also acknowledged by a Christian apologist by the name of âSam Shamounâ famous for his hatred towards Islam.
We also have another issue to deal with, and that is the Nash Papyrus, âA false impression has been created among general readers that the OT has been transmitted through the ages exactly word for word, and character for character.” Such is hardly the case; even the Ten Commandments differ in two versions.’ See for instance Wurthwein’s analysis of the Nash Papyrus [Wurthwein, p. 34].
(THE HISTORY OF THE QUR>ANIC TEXT From Revelation to Compilation A Comparative Study with the Old and New Testaments MUHAMMAD MUSTAFA AL-AZAMI)
Another question raised by Christians is, was the Torah corrupted before or âAFTERâ the advent of Islam? One Christian apologist by the name of Alex Kerimli called it the âconspiracy theoryâ letâs answer them using their own Bible.
The idea that he Torah was corrupted after the advent of Islam is nonsensical. Itâs like saying âwas the Torah revealed to Adam and the Gospel to Mosesâ. However, letâs show how he Torah was corrupted by Jesus himself whom Christians follow.
What would you say if we told you that Jesus himself altered the text? Hard to believe right, well we have evidence from the New Testament where Jesus altered the text. If we go to the Book of Luke on chapter 4 verse 16 &17 it reads:
And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, (Luke 4:16-17)
Here we read Jesus went inside a synagogue on a Sabbath day, stood up and read from the scroll of Isaiah. The next few verses tell us what Jesus read:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, (Luke 4:18)
Jesus read a verse from the Book of Isaiah chapter 61 verse 1. It would seem without doubt he read from the ancient scrolls, which would have been preserved by the orthodox rabbis. Just to be on the safe side letâs compare Jesusâs reading with the Hebrew Bible, and see if they really line up word for word.
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and freedom to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of our God’s vengeance; to comfort all who mourn (Isaiah 61:1)
If you compare the two passages side by side youâll notice one thing added and one thing removed. Jesus added âand recovery of sight to the blindâ and removed âand the day of our Godâs vengeance.â Luke tells us, Luke 4:16-17 He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. As usual, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read.
(17) The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to Him, and unrolling the scroll, He found the place where it was written: Weâre not really given the option of saying that Jesus was roughly paraphrasing because He actually took the scroll and turned to the passage, implying that he read it. When he quit, he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down (v. 20).
Of course, He could have turned to it and then simply looked up and spoke from memory. Iâm sure He had most, if not all, of the Scriptures memorized at this point in His life.
However, if we say that, there are two problems. One is that we are making an unnatural assumption. Jesus took the book, opened to the right page and then didnât read it? That doesnât seem right.
Second, weâd be saying that Jesusâ memory did not stand up to the test and He misquoted the Scriptures! In case youâre wondering, these differences are reflected in the Greek and Hebrew texts as well so itâs not a modern translational error.
If the Septuagint was written before the time of Jesus, followed by the Masoretic after the advent of Islam and they both differ in many places what does that tell you. Itâs pretty clear Jesus changed the words from the scroll which he was reading from. Unless the scroll which Jesus was reading from was different from the Septuagint which creates a bigger problem and proving the fact the Torah was changed before the advent of Islam.
Now you have two options to choose from. Could it be the scroll Jesus was given to read was corrupted, or that Jesus himself corrupted the text?
It seems more likely from the New Testament, that Jesus of the Bible altered and added his own word to scriptures. Which means he went against the command of Yahweh, as found in Deuteronomy 4:2
Also, just for the record Luke 4:18-19 says that Jesus read from the scroll of Isaiah, but the text given was not on any scroll of Isaiah. As Robert J. Karris writes in ‘The New Jerome Bible Commentary’ (section 43:59) ‘As the analysis of verses 18-19 will make clear, this Isaiah text is not to be found on a synagogue scroll.
It is an artistic text, woven from Isa 61:1-2 and Isa 58:6.’ Luke quotes from the Septuagint version of Isaiah and quotes Isaiah 61:1 a,b,d, Isaiah 58:6 d and Isaiah 61:2 a. Luke mixed together two different chapters from Isaiah.
Now if Christians believe all scriptures are God breathed and inspired then was Moses speaking the truth about Jews turning to Corruption! How about the Torah being distorted by false scribes, I’ll leave that to you.
Allah knows Best.
Source Br. Ismail Jacobs
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