Refutations to Exodus 12:46, Numbers 9:12, Zechariah 12:10 and Psalm 34:20:
When I tried to show that John 19:36-37 actually contradicts the Christians' belief about Jesus dying on the cross, I found references to Exodus 12:46, Numbers 9:12, Zechariah 12:10 and Psalm 34:20 which supposedly supports the Christians' belief.
Let us analyze these verses and see just how wrong the Christian belief is:
Exodus 12:46:
Let us look at Exodus 12:43-48 from the NIV Bible:
Ok, so part of the Passover celebration's regulations is to not let any foreigner eat from it. Slaves can eat only after they are circumcised. Temporary residents are prohibited from eating of it. It must be eaten inside one house, and no bones should be broken from the meal's animal.
Ok, so where does it talk about Jesus and the crucifixion here?!
Numbers 19:12:
Let us look at Numbers 19:10-14 from the NIV Bible:
Again, these verses are talking about the Passover's celebration. Where in the world does it talk about Jesus and the crucifixion?!
Zechariah 12:10:
Below you will see from the original Hebrew sources that the current Trinitarian English translation of Zechariah 12:10 is not correct. I showed the proof below that Zechariah 12:10 should read as follows:
"they will look onto Me concerning whom they have pierced and they will mourn for him"
And not as:
"And they have looked unto Me whom they pierced, And they have mourned over it", as Trinitarian Christians like to suggest that GOD was the one to be pierced on the cross (i.e., Jesus).
Anyway, if Christians want Zechariah 12:10 to refer to Jesus, then it is a clear contradiction with Psalm 34:20 as shown in more details in Did Isaiah 53 really prophecies about Jesus' crucifixion? article. If they however consider Islam's claim that it appeared that Jesus was crucified, but in reality he was not, then it would all make sense and we would have no contradiction.
10. "I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication, and they will look onto Me whom (et asher) they have pierced and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep for Him like the weeping over a first born. 11. In that day there will be a great mourning in Jerusalem like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the plain of Megiddo. 12. and the land will mourn every family by itself; the family of the house of David by itself; and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself; and their wives by themselves..."
The Christian reading of this passage is somewhat problematic. The words "Me" and "Him" makes it quite obvious that the text is speaking of two different subjects. The gospel of John acknowledged this and therefore rendered the passage as, "they shall look on Him whom they pierced." This New Testament mistranslation of Zechariah in and of itself demonstrates that the New Testament is fallacious.
To interpret this passage that at some future time the "Jewish people shall look unto Me (G-d/Jesus) whom they (the Jewish people) pierced" does not seem to be what John had in mind. It is important to note that according to John, Zechariah's prophesy was fulfilled at the time that the Roman soldiers pierced the side of Jesus. As it says in John 19:36, "For these things came to pass that the scripture might be fulfilled." John saw the two different subjects of Zechariah's passage as the Roman soldiers and Jesus.
"They (the Roman soldiers) shall look on Him (Jesus) whom they (the Roman soldiers) pierced.
There is an additional problem in this passage. The Hebrew words "et asher" are not found very often in scripture. When they do occur together the phrase is read as "concerning whom" or "concerning that" but never as "whom". You can see this by reading the Hebrew original of Ezekiel 36:27. (It is also interesting to note that the Septuagint does not translate "et asher" as "whom." Its translation does not at all resemble the Christian interpretation.)
The correct translation of Zechariah 12:10 should be.
"they will look onto Me concerning whom they have pierced and they will mourn for him"
This is consistent with the two subjects. By reviewing the context we can also understand of whom this passage is speaking. Starting with the beginning of Zechariah chapter 12 the prophet speaks of a time when the nations of the world will be gathered against Jerusalem to destroy it (Zec 12:3). On that day, G-d Himself will defend Jerusalem and destroy all of its enemies (Zec 12:4-9). G-d will pour out a spirit of grace and supplication toward the Jews. Grace is requested from G-d and supplication are directed to G-d.
This new spirit will motivate the Jewish nation to look towards G-d concerning those Jews (collective Jewish Martyrs) (see Hosea 11:1 for the Jewish people described as him. See Ex.1 etc. verbs of oppression in singular. Cf. Deut 32, Hos 8:3 and Ex. 19:2) who have been killed in battle prior to G-d's divine intervention in fighting our adversaries.
All the inhabitants of Jerusalem will mourn. This has obviously not yet been fulfilled, now or when the Roman soldier looked at Jesus.
This understanding is validated by the scriptural description that this mourning in Jerusalem would be "like the mourning of Hadadrimmom in the Valley of Magiddo." This refers to the death of King Josiah who was killed in battle with Pharaoh Neco (2 Kings 23:29-30). After his death all of Judah and Jerusalem mourned for him (2 Chron 35:22-25). In the same way that the Jews mourned over King Josiah who died in battle so too will the Jewish people in the future mourn over their war dead.
Written by Rabbi Bentzion Kravitz (c) 1998
Psalm 34:20:
Let us look at Psalm 34:18-22 from the NIV Bible:
Interestingly enough, these verses clearly prove Islam's point! That Jesus never died on the cross. Notice in Psalm 34:20, it says that GOD Almighty will protect "all his bones". So, not even an inch from his bones will be damaged according to the Scriptures.
As you might know, the crucifixion back then was done by nailing to the cross the hands and the ankles or the feet. If GOD Almighty was going to protect Jesus' body that not even a single bone will be broken, then how would the crucifixion and the death of Jesus be possible then?!
My question to all Christians is: How in the world is it possible for the feet to get nailed on the cross without any penetration to the bones by the nails, hence breaking part of the feet's bones?!
And for the parts of the Bible that suggest that Jesus actually died (which clearly contradict the Verses that I presented above), please visit What parts of the Bible do Muslims believe are closest to the Truth?
Back to Did Isaiah 53 really prophecies about Jesus' crucifixion?
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