Pictured to the left is a copy of a version of the Holy Bible, known as the COMPLETE JEWISH BIBLE ( CJB ). The following quotation is taken from this version of the Holy Bible:
". . . I set out in 1977 to write a Messianic Jewish commentary on the New Testament; I wanted to produce a single book that would deal with all the 'Jewish issues' I could think of in connection with the New Testament-questions Jews have about Yeshua, the New Testament, and Christianity; questions Christians have about Judaism and the Jewish roots of their own faith; and questions we Messianic Jews have about our own identity and role in the light of two thousand years of separation and conflict between the Church and the Jews. But I quickly discovered that much of what I was writing consisted of arguments with the translator of the English version I was using; they took the form, 'Our English version says such-and-such, but what it really means is so-and-so.' The idea came to me to attempt my own translation of the New Testament from the ancient Greek original; then, obviously, I would have a version I agreed with, so I could focus exclusively on the subject matter. I did a sample and was pleased with it. Thus was born the Jewish New Testament (JNT), which was published in 1989.
I spent the next three years finishing up the Jewish New Testament Commentary. Meanwhile, the JNT had been well received by Messianic Jews and by Christians open to experiencing the Jewishness of their faith. Bible translation may not be known as a glamorous profession, but I have fans. My fans, who said that they appreciated my re-introduction of Jewishness into the New Testament and that they enjoyed my 'informal yet respectful' style of writing, kept asking me, 'When are you going to do the Old Testament?' They wanted to have a single book containing the entire Bible that they could bring to their congregational meetings, instead of having to carry the Jewish New Testament plus a second book containing the Tanakh." [ See COMPLETE JEWISH BIBLE: An English Version of the Tanakh (Old Testament) and B'rit Hadashah (New Testament), Stern, David H., JEWISH NEW TESTAMENT PUBLICATIONS, INC., Clarksville, Maryland USA, Jerusalem, Israel, Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern, p. xiii. ]
Acts 4:8-12 read as follows:
"Then Kefa, filled with the Ruach HaKodesh, said to them, 'Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being examined today about a good deed done for a disabled person, if you want to know how he was restored to health, then let it be known to you and to all the people of Israel that it is in the name of the Messiah, Yeshua from Natzeret, whom you had executed on a stake as a criminal but whom God has raised from the dead, that this man stands before you perfectly healed. This Yeshua is the stone rejected by you builders which has become the cornerstone. There is salvation in no one else! For there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by whom we must be saved!" [ NOTE1: Words and phrases are defined using the following format:
"All terms are Hebrew except where [A] indicates Aramaic, [Y] Yiddish, and [O] some other language. Usual English renderings are shown in parentheses, unless the usual ones are the same as the CJB ones or differ only by reason of apostrophes. The definition or explanation, if there is one, follows a dash. In the case of B'rit Hadashah names and terms, there is given at the end of each entry the book, chapter and verse of the B'rit Hadashah where the name or term first appears (see abbreviations below [ see '*' ] ); a '+' means it appears in at least one subsequent verse; 'f,' or 'ff,' means it appears again only in the verse or verses immediately following. Tanakh names and terms are generally not explained, although translations are given where needed." { Ibid., p. 1556. }:
"Kefa (Cephas, Peter)-name given by Yeshua to Shim'on Bar-Yochanan; it means 'rock' in Aramaic, as does the Greek equivalent, petros. Mt 4:18+." { Ibid., p. 1576. }
"Ruach HaKodesh-the Holy Spirit, referred to four times in the Tanakh as such, and many times as the Spirit of God. Mt 1:18+." { Ibid., p. 1589. }
"Yeshua (Jesus)-Variant of 'Y'hoshua' (Joshua; see below). In the Tanakh nine persons and a city have the name Yeshua, usually transliterated as 'Jeshua' or 'Jeshuah.' In the Septuagint and the New Testament the name was brought over into Greek as Iesous and thence into English as 'Jesus.' It means 'Y-H-V-H saves' (Mt 1:21) and is also the masculine form of yeshu'ah ('salvation'). (1)The Messiah of Israel, Yeshua from Natzeret. In modern Hebrew Yeshua's name is pronounced and written 'Yeshu,' which may have been the ancient pronunciation in the Galil. However, reflecting two thousand years of conflict between the Church and the Synagogue, it is also an acronym for Yimach sh'mo v'zikhrono ('May his name and memory be blotted out' ). However, the late Yosef Vactor, a Messianic Jewish Holocaust survivor, took it as an acronym for Yigdal sh'mo umalkhuto ('May his name and kingdom grow'). Mt 1:1+, (2) A Messianic Jew in Rome, 'Yeshua, the one called Justus.' Co 4:11." { Ibid., pp. 1600, 1601. }
"Natzeret (Nazareth)-town in the Galil where Yeshua grew up and lived most of his life. Mt 2:23+." { Ibid., p. 1584. }
"Galil, the (Galilee)-the Galil is the portion of Eretz-Yisra'el west of Lake Kinneret and north of the Yizre'el (Jezreel) Valley. Mt 2:22+." { Ibid., p. 1570. }
"Shim'on (Simon, Simeon)-(1) Tribe of Israel descended from the second son of Ya'akov. Rv 7:7. (2) Old man who blessed Yeshua in the Temple. Lk 2:25ff. (3) Ancestor of Yeshua the Messiah. Lk 3:30. (4) Shim'on Bar-Yochanan (Simon, son of John; Simon Barjona)-Shim'on Kefa (see below). (5) Another of Yeshua's talmidim, known as Shim'on the Zealot, i.e., a member of the party set on revolt against the Roman conquerors. Mt 10:4+. (6) Brother of Yeshua. Mt 13:55; Mk 6:3. (7) Person in Beit-Anyah who had had a skin disease. Mt 26:6+. (8) Cyrenian compelled to carry Yeshua's execution-stake. Mt 27:32+. (9) Parush in whose house Yeshua ate. Lk 7:40ff. (10) Father of Y'hudah from K'riot. Yn 6:71+. (11) Sorcerer in Shomron. Ac 8:9ff. (12) Tanner in Yafo with whom Kefa lodged. Ac 9:43+. (13) Follower of Yeshua and prophet in Antioch, called 'the Black.' Ac 13:1." { Ibid., p. 1592. }
"Shim'on Kefa (Simon Peter)-one of the twelve emissaries of Yeshua (see Kefa). Mt 4:18+." { Ibid. }
*-The above-referenced abbreviations in this note have not been included here. ]
Ephesians 4:5 reads as follows: "And there is one Lord, one trust, one immersion." This same passage, in the REVISED STANDARD VERSION ( RSV ) of the Holy Bible, reads as follows: "one Lord, one faith, one baptism." Thus, the wording of Ephesians 4:5 in the COMPLETE JEWISH BIBLE ( CJB ) is very similar to that of the REVISED STANDARD VERSION ( RSV ), for example.
Moreover, it can be shown from the COMPLETE JEWISH BIBLE ( CJB ) that there is one true religion, Christianity, since Judaism became obsolete when Jesus died on the cross of Calvary ( see MATTITYAHU ( MATTHEW ) 16:16, LUKE 23:26-49 ( especially verse 33 - see Luke 23:33 ( KJV, for example; with center-column references, for example ) to get the equivalent translation for the word "Calvary" ), YOCHANAN ( JOHN ) 14:6, ACTS 2:38; 8:26-40 ( especially verses 36-39, for example ), Romans 6:1-4 ( especially verses 3 and 4, for example ), COLOSSIANS 2:8-15 ( especially verse 14, for example ), MESSIANIC JEWS ( HEBREWS ), chapter 8 ( especially verses 7 and 13 ( see Hebrews 8:13; NKJV, for example ), for example ); chapter 9 ( especially verses 12-18, for example ); chapter 10 ( especially verses 4, 8-10, and 22, for example ), 1 KEFA ( 1 PETER ) 1:1, 2, and REVELATION 1:4-6 ( especially verses 5 and 6, for example ), for example. See also TEHILLIM ( PSALMS ) 22:22, 25; 40:9, 10; 119:65-73, 142, 151, MATTITYAHU ( MATTHEW ) 28:18, YOCHANAN ( JOHN ) 1:1, 14; 3:16, 17; 5:26, 27; 7:16; 8:26; 10:30; 17:17, Romans 1:16; 1:20 ( see Romans 1:20 ( KJV, for example; with center-column references, for example ) to get the equivalent translation for the word "Godhead" ), TITUS 1:1, 2, 1 YOCHANAN ( 1 JOHN ) 5:6-8, and REVELATION 2:10, for example.
Finally, Acts 4:8-12 ( RSV ) read as follows:
"Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, 'Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a cripple, by what means this man has been healed, be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him this man is standing before you well. This is the stone which was rejected by you builders, but which has become the head of the corner. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.'"
To you, the reader, the message is the same whether you read the COMPLETE JEWISH BIBLE ( CJB ) or the REVISED STANDARD VERSION ( RSV ), for example. Salvation is only in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth: it is not in the name of anyone else.
If you have any questions about the Holy Bible, you can contact me by e-mail at:
<rewillis1_1@juno.com>
<Russell E. Willis>
NOTE2: The Greek word ( Greek [ 4716 ] ), for the word "cross" in the KING JAMES VERSION ( KJV ) of the New Testament, is defined as follows:
"a stake or post (as set upright), i.e. (spec.) a pole or cross (as an instrument of capital punishment). . . ." [ See ABINGDON'S STRONG'S EXHAUSTIVE CONCORDANCE OF THE BIBLE, STRONG, JAMES, S.T.D., LL.D., ABINGDON PRESS, NASHVILLE, Copyright, 1890, by JAMES STRONG, MADISON, N.J., ( A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek/New Testament with their Renderings in the King James Version, p. 89. ). ]
Thus, with the above-given definition of Greek word ( Greek [ 4716 ] ) in mind, the use of the word "stake," for example ( for the word "cross" ), in the COMPLETE JEWISH BIBLE ( CJB ), is acceptable.
NOTE3: One day relatively recently, I made the mistake of placing my copy of the COMPLETE JEWISH BIBLE ( CJB ), as pictured above, on the top surface of the bed of my truck. After closing the driver's-side door, my copy of the CJB fell from the truck bed onto the concrete driveway below. That is why the bottom edge of its front cover is scuffed up a bit. Sometimes lessons have to be learned the hard way. It is better to have a book bag to carry more than one version of the Holy Bible at one time ( see Philippians 2:4, for example ).
NOTE4: Please study the COMPLETE JEWISH BIBLE ( CJB ), or any other version of the Holy Bible ( see 2 Timothy 2:15, for example ).
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