Re: Magi & Matthew 2

To: dkennedy@cornerstone.edu
Subject: Re: Magi & Matthew 2
From: "Gregory Jordan (ENG)" <jordan@chuma.cas.usf.edu>
Date: Sat, 1 Oct 1994 14:04:52 -0400 (EDT)
Cc: b-greek@virginia.edu, dkennedy@cornerstone.edu
In-Reply-To: <009854AF.296932BC.24764@cornerstone.edu>

On Sat, 1 Oct 1994 dkennedy@cornerstone.edu wrote:

> I have three problems with this common understanding.  (1) I am not aware of 
> any ancient Jewish source that looks for a Messianic birth in Bethlehem. 
> Iindeed, a/the "messiah" is generally one who appears to set things right, not 
> one whose birth is emphasized at all. 

I wouldn't be too sure about that.  I would recommend browsing through 
one of my favorite books, _The Messiah Texts_ by Rafael Patai, a 
source-book of Jewish lore on the Messiah, from antiquity to modern 
times.  There were some pretty exaggerated stories about the Messiah's 
birth circulating at some point in Jewish history - although dating these 
is always a tricky problem.

Greg Jordan
jordan@chuma.cas.usf.edu

References:

Re: Magi & Matthew 2

From: dkennedy@cornerstone.edu