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Old 02-23-2013, 10:27 AM   #61
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Originally Posted by Tommy View Post
I heard that "dove" and "pigeon" cover many species with "dove" tending to refer to smaller birds (as with ponies). Had the Holy Ghost descended as a pigeon it might have had theological implications with pigeons free to roam like cows in India.
A dove is domesticated and a pigeon is wild.

Domesticated here means from a source as send by God to bring harmony about wherein the dove is the empowerment to lead the beneficiary home, and so is in evidence of God send.

A pidgeon is without a home and so will fly the coop again. It may have been send from an animal, like a monkey maybe as we see on American TV, or from a wild beast that send the spirit of fighting on the beneficiary, and so your distinction is well made.

So a dove is what you want and I think white is the color that you need.
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Old 02-23-2013, 02:00 PM   #62
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I think I figured it out. spin and Andrew are probably the only judges of whether I am right or not. I think the dove reference is a sloppy translation of the original Aramaic. Here is the Gospel of the Ebionites as translated into Greek:

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It came to pass in the days of Herod, King of Judaea under the high priest Caiaphas, that John came and baptized with the baptism of repentance in the river Jordan; he is said to be from the tribe of Aaron and a son of Zacharias the priest and of Elizabeth and all went out to him.(13.6) And it came to pass when John baptized, that the Pharisees came to him and were baptized, and all Jerusalem also. He had a garment of camels' hair, and a leather girdle about his loins. And his meat was wild honey, which tasted like manna, formed like cakes of oil.(13.4) The people having been baptized, Jesus came also, and was baptized by John. And as he came out of the water the heavens opened, and he saw the Holy Spirit descending under the form of a dove, and entering into him. And a voice was heard from heaven: "Thou art my beloved Son, and in thee am I well pleased. And again: "This day have I begotten thee." And suddenly shone a great light in that place. And John seeing him, said, "Who art thou, Lord?" Then a voice was heard from heaven: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Thereat John fell at his feet and said: "I pray thee, Lord, baptize me." But he would not, saying "Suffer it, for so it behoveth that all should be accomplished."
When Celsus says that Jesus saw the holy Spirit come down on him he is clearly quoting from this material:

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And as he came out of the water the heavens opened, and he saw the Holy Spirit descending under the form of a dove, and entering into him.
But the words 'as a dove' or 'under the form of the dove' must have been understood to be kyonah, the kaf prefix (= k) is the equivalent of 'as' or 'like' in Aramaic. But the original text must have been kiona (the same letters save for an alef instead of a he) which means 'straight' or 'directly' so the original text read:

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And as he came out of the water the heavens opened, and he saw the Holy Spirit descending straight down and entering into him.
What do you think? I think that's a pretty major discovery and may be the explanation to a lot of mistakes involving that prefix - i.e. 'Carpocrates' instead of 'as Harpocrates' etc. I think this is a major discovery. The person who translated the section is probably Irenaeus who is so misguided in his translations of Hebrew and Aramaic he thinks the opening words of Genesis can be rendered 'in his Son' (= bereshith).

Here is the page in Jastrow http://hebrewbooks.org/pagefeed/hebr..._38236_647.pdf
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Old 02-23-2013, 02:22 PM   #63
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don't forget that this would be the second mistaken translation from this section. Jerome points out John did not eat "locusts" but "cakes dipped in oil"
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Old 02-23-2013, 03:52 PM   #64
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And I can possibly explain the error. kywn or kywna meaning "directly" or "straight" only exists in Jewish Aramaic. The person translating the text only knew Syriac and mistook the term for "like a dove"
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Old 02-23-2013, 04:27 PM   #65
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There can be no doubt that something like what I am suggesting must have existed because the dove reference disappears in the gospel of the Nazarenes. Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah 4 [on Isaiah 11:2] writes:

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According to the Gospel written in the Hebrew speech (= Aramaic), which the Nazaraeans read, the whole fount of the Holy Spirit shall descend upon him....Further in the Gospel which we have just mentioned we find the following written: "And it came to pass when the Lord was come up out of the water, the whole fount of the Holy Spirit descended upon him and rested on him and said to him: My son, in all the prophets was I waiting for you that you should come and I might rest in you. For you are my rest; you are my firstbegotten Son that reigns forever.
The 'when' in the last passage may well have been a kywna reference as Jastrow translates the term with the English 'when' in many instances:

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as soon as, when, since (also היון). Targ. Y. Gen. X X I, 15. Targ. Y. II Gen, X X V I I I, 10'; a. fr.—Ber. 8a כ׳ דאמדי ליה when they told him. Ib.וכ׳ להא דשמענא כ׳ when we heard that which &c.; a. v. fr.
Jerome must have been able to translate Aramaic better than Irenaeus, or perhaps, Irenaeus deliberately misrepresented the text ...
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Old 02-23-2013, 05:25 PM   #66
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Originally Posted by stephan huller View Post
I think I figured it out. spin and Andrew are probably the only judges of whether I am right or not. I think the dove reference is a sloppy translation of the original Aramaic. Here is the Gospel of the Ebionites as translated into Greek:
Just a simple reading will tell you that into is different then onto, as into means there to stay, and that would deny his mother-in-law miracle where doubt was called to order again because she flew the coop or maybe just shit on him.

And a good point you make about about the WILD locust in Mark as opposed to cakes dipped in oil that were like ointment when understood as his favorite that he was looking for. Nicely put.

The old timers were not stupid and knew exactly how to call a right and a wrong and pile-it-on even to give them what they seek in double dose.
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Old 02-23-2013, 06:52 PM   #67
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The entry in Sokoloff's Dictionary of Jewish Aramaic http://books.google.com/books?id=WdN...hen%22&f=false
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Old 02-23-2013, 07:36 PM   #68
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Some examples in Hebrew of kaf being used in this way. kephir in Hebrew is young lion and in Proverbs 28:1 we see the kaf added as a prefix to denote 'as a lion':

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The wicked man flees though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion (kikephir). (Proverbs 28:1)

And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people as a lion (kearyeh) among the beasts of the forest as a young lion (kikephir) among the flocks of sheep who if he go through both treadeth down and teareth in pieces and none can deliver (Micah 5:8)
Notice also the kaf added to aryeh (lion). The Mishnah adds lo ke’aryeh she’lemata, ela ke’arye she’le’maalah, "not like an earthly lion but rather like a heavenly lion." I think the readers get the gist of things.
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Old 02-23-2013, 08:46 PM   #69
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The translator of the gospel may have wanted to align the text with scriptural material such as the Odes of Solomon:

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The dove flew over the head of the Messiah
who was her head,
and she sang over him
and her voice was heard.
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Old 02-23-2013, 08:59 PM   #70
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The narrative in the Nag Hammadi Testimony of Truth is worth looking at again. The unfortunately fragmentary text reads:

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... upon the Jordan river, when he came to John at the time he was baptized. The Holy Spirit came down upon him as a dove ...
Compare with Mark 1:10:

Quote:
And straightway (euthys) coming up out of the water he saw the heavens opened and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him
We know from Celsus and the Gospel of the Hebrews that the 'he' here was originally. Mark doesn't seem to support that understanding because the previous sentence ends with a reference to John the Baptist. But this may have been deliberately arranged.

Matthew 3:9 preserves Jesus's witnessing of the descent of the Holy Spirit:

Quote:
And Jesus when he was baptized went up straightway (euthys) out of the water and lo the heavens were opened unto him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon him
But this is a most curious construction again because it is difficult to belief that Matthew could have known that Jesus thought that the Holy Spirit looked like a dove. How did the author know that?
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