This contribution is being done ‘in absentia’ since timing of the second folio round has unfortunately coincided with a period of travel for myself. This essay being made possible due to the forethought of Robert Forrest in sending on a Xerox copy of said contribution.
Mr Rutherford has raised many interesting and indeed provocative issues. However, I shall limit myself to commenting on matters directly related to the religious theory revolving around Cheops. Implications behind man’s interpretation of the Godhead is a rather involved matter, and, although the interest is there, care must be taken to avoid the necessity of a separate ‘religious’ folio.
Bible interpretation. It is evident that contexts can indeed vary through the necessity of translation where simple transliteration often fails to provide us with a flowing text. Isaiah 19 v 19/20 seems to be a classic example of this limitation of linguistics. Basically, this was the main reason why I felt the root text demanded some investigation in making (within my ability) a literal translation. Into this context must come the problem between the ‘altar’ and the ‘pillar’ or ‘monument’, are they separate or ‘one and the same’? In my essay I forwarded the motion that relying on the evidence of the relevant passage, it appeared that indeed the altar and pillar were separate, drawing on various sources to substantiate this idea. However the only constant factor we can turn to, is of course the Biblical narrative in the original Hebrew rendering. Even theological commentators seem to have difficulty in understanding some of the Biblical text as mentioned by Mr Rutherford, this surely substantiates the transliteration ideal.
I’m afraid that the reliance on the pronoun ‘It’ as clear evidence that the altar and pillar are one, must be viewed with a certain amount of caution. Transliteration of the opening Hebrew text (Isaiah 19 v20) “And it shall be …” as rendered in the Authorized Version – English text, reveals its absence, to excuse the pun! The opening text reads:—
“And (to exist/existence/to be) – (to/for/at) symbol – and forever – to Jehovah.”
In the above the hyphen has been used to separate the relevant Hebrew text words in the resultant transliteration. Of course ‘Jehovah’ as evolved from ‘Yahweh’ became superseded by ‘the Lord’ in the AV rendering of today.
As a matter of interest consider this rendering from the ‘Jerusalem Bible’:—
“That day, there will be an altar to Yahweh in the centre of the land of Egypt and close to the frontier, a pillar to Yahweh which will be both sign and witness of Yahweh Sabaoth …”
As the reader will notice in the above, in the context given, whilst both objects are considered representative of Yahweh, there is no direct inference that we are dealing with one object as implied by the AV rendering, as implied by Mr Rutherford. Again we have the possibility that to the translator of the AV, ‘it’ illustrated a link with the pillar alone, or that ‘it’ could be read in the context of the ‘Jerusalem Bible’ translation of above.
From the esoteric standpoint, it could be argued that translation fundamentals as being raised as here, whilst interesting, are not wholly essential in developing a relationship with the Godhead. Whilst this has relevance, I raise certain issues in order that some understanding be acquired of the psychological fundamentals connected with numinosity.
Adding some support for Mr Rutherford’s view that the ‘pillar’ of Isaiah refers to Cheops, is the interpretation of a passage from Josephus’s Antiquity of the Jews Book 1 chapter 2:—
‘The children of Seth were the inventors of that peculiar sort of wisdom which is concerned with the heavenly bodies, and their order; and that their inventions might not be lost before they were sufficiently known, upon Adam’s prediction, that the world was at one time to be destroyed by the force of fire, and at another time by the violence and quantity of water, they made two pillars, the one of brick, the other of stone. They described their discoveries on them both, that in case the pillar of brick should be destroyed by the flood, the pillar of stone might remain, and exhibit those discoveries to mankind, and also inform them that there was another pillar of brick erected by them. Now this remains in the land of Syria or Seriad to this day.’
According to Robert Temple in The Sirius Mystery from which the above quote was taken, the pillar of brick can be equated with the Ziggurat whilst the pillar of stone being an allusion to Cheops. I leave the reader to arrive at his own conclusion.
David Randell. Aug: ’77.
NB. I have included two photostat copies of sections from The Companion Bible which relate to the Isaiah text (the Jews in Egypt) which I hope the reader will find of interest.
The following is Appendix 81 from The Companion Bible.
The fulfilment of this prophecy took place in 1 b.c., and is recorded by Josephus (Ant. xiii. 3. 1–3; 6; Wars 7. 10, 3; and Against Apion, 2.5):—
In consequence of wars between the Jews and Syrians, Onias IV, the High Priest, fled to Alexandria; where, on account of his active sympathy with the cause of Egypt against Syria, he was welcomed by Ptolemy Philometor, and rewarded by being made prince over the Jews in Egypt,1 with the title of Ethnarch and Alabarch. Josephus says:—
“Onias asked permission from Ptolemy and Cleopatra to build a temple in Egypt like that at Jerusalem, and to appoint for it priests and Levites of his own Nation. This he devised, relying chiefly on the prophet Isaiah, who, 600 years before, predicted that it temple must be builded in Egypt by a Jew to the supreme God. He therefore wrote to Ptolemy and Cleopatra the following epistle:—
‘Having come with the Jews to Leontopolis of the Heliopolite district, and other abodes of my Nation, and finding that many had sacred rites, not as was due, and were thus hostile to each other, which has befallen the Egyptians also through the vanity of their religions, and disagreeing in their services, I found a most convenient place in the fore-mentioned stronghold, abounding with wood and sacred animals. I ask leave, then, clearing away an idol temple, that has fallen down, to build a temple to the supreme God, that the Jews dwelling in Egypt, harmoniously coming together, may minister to thy benefit. For Isaiah the prophet has predicted thus: “There shall be an altar in Egypt to the Lord God”: and he prophesied many other such things concerning the place.’
“The King and Queen replied: ‘We have read thy request asking leave to clear away the fallen temple in Leontopolis of the Heliopolite nome. We are surprised that a temple should he pleasing to God, settled in an impure place, and one full of sacred animals. But since thou sayest that Isaiah the prophet so long ago foretold it, we grant thee leave, if, according to the Law, we may not seem to have offended against God.’” (Ant. xiii. 6.)
The place of this temple was the identical spot where, many centuries before, Israel had light in their dwellings while the rest of Egypt was suffering from a plague of darkness. Here again was light in the darkness, which continued for more than 200 years (about 160 b.c. to a.d. 71), when it was closed by Vespasian.
The Jerusalem Jews were opposed to, and jealous of, this rival temple; and, by changing two letters almost identical in form (ח = ḥ (or ch) to ה = h) turned ‘‘the city of the sun” (cheres) into “the city of destruction (heres). But the former reading is found in many codices, two early printed editions, and some ancient versions, as well as in the margins of the A.V. and R.V. The Septuagint reading shows that the Hebrew MSS. from which that version was made, read ‘īr-ha-zedek = “the city of righteousness.’’
The “five cities” of Isa. 19. 18 were probably Heliopolis (the city of the sun, where this temple was built), Leontopolis, Daphne, Migdol, and Memphis.
1See longer note in the Text on p. 1096.
The following is the longer note referred to above.
As the end of the kingdom of Judah drew near, many of the Jews were determined to go into Egypt; and this in spite of the warning given by Jehovah through Jeremiah.
In Jer. 44 we have the latest prophecy concerning those who had gone thither; which declared that they should not escape, but should be consumed there (44. 27, &c.). This prophecy must have been fulfilled concerning that generation; but their successors, or others that subsequently followed, continued there a little longer, until the time came for Egypt itself to fall into the hands of Babylon.
Recent discoveries of Papyri in the ruins of Elephantine (an island in the Nile, opposite Assouan), dating from the fifth century b.c., bear witness to two great facts:—
(1) That Jews were then dwelling there (in 424–405 b.c.).
(2) That they were observing the Feast of the Passover, “as it is written in the law of Moses”.
The importance of these Papyri lies in the fact that modern critics confidently assert and assume that the greater part of the Pentateuch was not written till after the Exile; and even then neither collectively as a whole, nor separately in its distinctive books.
In Ap. 92 it is shown that all through the prophets (who lived at the time of the kings in whose reigns they prophesied) there is a constant reference to the books of the Pentateuch, which conclusively proves that their contents were well known both to the prophets themselves and those whom they addressed.
The Pentateuch, being full of legal expressions, technical ceremonial terms, and distinctive phraseology, affords abundant evidence of the above fact, and makes it easy to call continuous attention to it in the notes of The Companion Bible.
But there is further evidence found in the Papyri now discovered in the ruins at Elephantine in Upper Egypt.
They show that the Jews who dwelt there had a temple of their own and offered up sacrifices therein. That once, when this their temple was destroyed by the Egyptians, they appealed to the Persian governor of Judah, asking permission to restore it (Papyrus 1).
There is a list preserved, registering the contributions towards the upkeep of the temple (containing the names of many ladies).
But the most interesting and important of these Papyri is one dated in the year 419 b.c., which is a Passover “announcement” of the approaching feast, such as were made from the earliest times to the present day (see Neh. 8. 15), containing a brief epitome of its laws and requirements. This particular announcement shows that the following passages were well known: Ex. 12. 16. Lev. 23. 7, 8. Num. 9. 1–14. Deut. 16. 6.
This Papyrus has been recently published by Professor Edward Sachau, of Berlin: Aramäische Papyrus und Ostraka aus einer jüdischen Militärkolonie zu Elephantine. Altorientalische Sprachdenkmäler des 5. Jahrhunderts vor Chr., mit 75 Lichtdrucktafeln. Leipzig, 1911. A small edition (texts only) by Professor Ungnad, of Jena, is published also under the title of Aramäische Papyrus aus Elephantine.
Nearly 2,400 years, since this announcement by Hananjah to the Jews in Egypt, have gone by. Elephantine is now a heap of ruins. The colony of Jews has passed away (unless the “Falashas” of Abyssinia are their descendants), but the Jewish nation still exists, and continues to keep the Passover, a standing witness to their truth of holy Scripture.