Posted by blue on July 15, 1998 at 20:36:15:
In Reply to: Thanks for the reply... posted by David Stephens on July 15, 1998 at 12:54:58:
: Just a few points of clarification:
The author of Matthew screwed up Jeremiah and Zechariah,
Remember that the O.T. writings were, at the time, in long scrolls, and Jeremiah was the first prophet in the Hebrew canon. Using Jewish tradition, he was most likely referring to the entire scroll, not the specific author. (Remember that the first five books, the pentateuch, were titled by the first word in each book, a similar Jewish tradition). The O.T. was much more cumbersome in those days.
. Your composite statement of death by hanging followed by later falling (headlong?!?) is not in either version in my bible:
: "And he cast down the pieces of silver into the temple and departed, and went out and hanged himself." (Matt. 27:5)
: "Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out." (Acts 1:18)
: P.S. I'm ignoring the translation issues as you don’t make any strong points, but rather just stretch a bit hoping to get some "wiggle room" for your truth.
Well, then you are ignoring the less popular, but to me more sensible, answer. If "hanging" also refers to impalement, then when Judas fell headlong he landed upon a sharp boulder and was left there, "hanging," with his "bowels gushed out." That would be a perfectly acceptable translation, where two different people described the same event from a different perspective. Listen to eye witness accounts from a crime scene, and you get a similar composite result. I really don't think I need to leave myself "wiggle room" in this case, but I also know I have the minority view, and since I can't prove the majority to be wrong, Ii'd be a fool to pretend I have the only possible truth.