DCHindley

The quality of the parchment page image in the archive.org version is horrendous. I'd recommend instead this one from the 2006 Gorgias Press reprint.

Actually, this is one of three instances of Nomina Sacra, all of which have thin line across top:

Line 03 CTA (ΣTA, Sigma Tau Alpha, first three letters of ΣΤΑυρος = Cross)

Line 10 IH (IĒ, Iota Eta, first two letters of ΙΗσους = Jesus)

Line 13 ΘY (Theta Upsilon, first & last letters of ΘεοΥ = of God)

DCH

stephan huller

I never noticed that before but it is interesting. You mentioning this is one of the good things about being at this forum. As to the bad aspects of the forum ...

stephan huller

Duvduv

It is true that the Samaritans vilify Ezra and perhaps to spin's point, Ezra doesn't appear to be his real name. Look at 4 Ezra:

"In the thirtieth year after the ruin of the city I Salathiel (the same is Ezra) was in Babylon and lay troubled upon my bed."

Maybe Ezra was a name that only a certain faction of the Jews called Shealtiel (שְׁאַלְתִּיאֵל)

Duvduv

Ezra is considered also have been the prophet Malachi in Jewish tradition, so what?

The Arabs called him Uzayr, but where they got the idea that any Jews considered him equivalent to the Arabian Christians notion of Jesus is a mystery to me.
http://www.answering-islam.org/Quran...s/009.030.html

stephan huller

But the Samaritans might not have recognized the name Ezra because they knew him by another name. 'Ezra' may have been the specifically Jewish way - or perhaps a specifically Jewish sectarian way - of identifying Shealtiel. There may have been Sadducean Samaritans who recognized that Moses did not write the existing Torah. Indeed as has been noted by Boid many of the beliefs of the modern Samaritans agree with Dosithean (= sectarian) halakhah.

Duvduv

Then you will want to examine whether the mention of Samaritans (Cuthites) in several places in the Talmud refer to the same Samaritans as today, or referred to SOME OTHER sect of Samaritans who had a closer and friendlier association with rabbinic Jews so as to make issues of the validity of their performing circumcision, ritual slaughter and baking of matzah a question worthy of halachic examination.

stephan huller

If I want to hear Jews slander other people I can comb through your posts about the Christians here at the forum. No need to reach for a book.

Duvduv

Huh?? Is this a case of projection??

stephan huller

I am happy with Jews. I happy being with Christians. I am happy being with atheists. I am happiest being with naked ladies. But I discovered today I am very uncomfortable being naked in front of two fully dressed women. One was okay but for some reason having two women examining me was disconcerting.

DCHindley

Hmmm ...

"Ezra's" genealogy just happens to be the exact same as that of the High Priest Jehozadak:

EZRA 7:1-5	NEHEMIAH 11:10-11	CHRONICLES 6:3-15
Ezra	*	Jehozadak
Seraiah	Seraiah	Seraiah
Azariah	*	Azariah
Hilkiah	Hilkiah	Hilkiah
Shallum	Meshullam	Shallum
Zadok	Zadok	Zadok
*	Meraioth	*
Ahitub	Ahitub	Ahitub
Amariah	*	Amariah
Azariah	*	Azariah
*	*	Johanan
*	*	Azariah
*	*	Ahimaaz
*	*	Zadok
*	*	Ahitub
*	*	Amariah
Meraioth	*	Meraioth
Zerahiah	*	Zerahiah
Uzzi	*	Uzzi
Bukki	*	Bukki
Abishua	*	Abishua
Phinehas	*	Phinehas
Eleazar	*	Eleazar
Aaron	*	Aaron

In Ezra 3:1-7, Zerubbabel completes an Alter and with Joshua son of Jehozadak offers sacrifices in the 2nd year of Darius I (520/519 BCE), celebrating the feast of Booths for 7 days starting the 1st day of the 7th month = Sept 27, 520 BCE Julian.

Yet in Nehemiah 8:13-18 it is said that the first thing Ezra does when He arrives in Judah to assume governorship (in the 7th year of Artaxerxes, which would be 458/457 for Art. I, 398/397 for Art II, or 352/351 for Art. III), is to celebrate the feast of Booths as if it was the very first time it had been done since the times of Joshua the son of Nun, and chooses the 15-21st day of the 7th month = Oct 17-23, 458 BCE, Oct 12-18 398 BCE, or Oct 14-20 352 BCE, respectively.

No matter how one dates matters, Ezra's celebration of Booths would have taken place at very least 62 years after Zerubbabel's celebration, and Zerubbabel's celebration would have occurred many centuries after the times of Joshua son of Nun.

Neh 8:17 The whole community that returned from the captivity made booths and dwelt in the booths -- the Israelites had not done so from the days of Joshua son of Nun to that day -- and there was very great rejoicing.

The only thing that could possibly save this inconsistency is for the "times of Joshua son of Nun" to include periods when priests still routinely officiated in the temple, and somehow include Joshua son of Jehozadak in this period, or assume that the Ezra and Zerubbabel traditions are two variants of the same set of events, or some garbling of them plus details from the governorship of Nehemiah.

DCH