Hello John and Doves,When searching out the letter/word "Omicron" I found something very interesting in the New Testament and wanted to share this on 5Doves.Pilate placed an inscription on the plaque that was placed on the cross on which Jesus was crucified, the words were written in Hebrew, Latin and Greek. For all the people to read. John 19:19-20.THE GREEK INSCRIPTION:The Greek letter Omicron in this inscription can be translated as "the" or "of" or "and".The inscription has been translated differently - depending on the 'version' of the Bile one uses - King James, American Standard, NASB, etc."JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS" "JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS""Religious leaders became greatly agitated and demanded that Pilate reword what he had written: "And so the chief priests of the Jews were saying to Pilate, "Do not write, "The King of the Jews"; but that He said 'I am King of the Jews.' " Pilate answered, "What I have written I have written." John 19:21-22They didn't want Pilate stating anything about Jesus being God or the Son of God. Pilate refused to change the wording.The wording of this inscription greatly disturbed the chief priests. They had demanded that Pilate change it.In looking at the Greek inscription:This comes down to "the ways the Greek letter Omicron can be translated. Generally, the Omicron translates as "the". However, there are other possible translations depending upon the context. The Omicron appears twice in the Greek inscriptions above: between Yeshua/Jesus and Nazarene/Nazareth and between Nazarene/Nazareth and King. If can be translated as 'the', or 'of' or 'and'.In changing Omicron from 'the' to 'and' - "This apparently minor change in both the English and Hebrew will in fact have profound implications in the meaning of the inscription". If went from:Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews to Jesus of Nazareth, AND King of the Jews.Those who read Greek at the time of Jesus' crucifixion would have understood "AND King" as the proper translation. As their 'god' was Zeus and references to him were "Zeus, the god AND the king". Reading the plaque's inscription in Greek would have been known to Greeks as "Jesus of Nazareth AND King of the Jews."This, in part, was what the high priests found so offensive. It declared Jesus as King of the Jews. It was a declaration.One little letter...put them into a tizzy. The Omicron.THE LATIN INSCRIPTION:We do not have the Latin inscription as the New Testament was written in Greek. This is what is believed was written on the plaque in Latin:IESVS NAZARENVS REX IUDAEORVM "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews"The name of Jesus in Latin is spelled with an I. The Roman Catholic Church used the first letter of each word, INRI, and placed it on their crucifixes. I = Jesus (Isevs) N = Nazareth R = Rex (king) I = JewsTHE HEBREW INSCRIPTION:We do not have the Hebrew inscription as the New Testament was written in Greek...but further studies have pieced together the Hebrew words. "Unless the Hebrew is correctly restored (for this inscription), this profound meaning is lost."...showing why the religious leaders were so angered by the inscription.When viewing the Hebrew inscription the first letter of each word spells out YHVH - the Name of God. VeMelech in Hebrew means "and King" (there is that pesky 'and' again) "The four Hebrew letters- Yod/Yud, Hay, Vav, Hay - are the four letters of the Name of God..."Yeshua Hanazri VeMelech HaYehudimA Jewish scholar working with the Greek text in John 19:19, Shalom Ben-Chorin, "surmised that the following was the Hebrew line...Yeshua HaNozri VeMelech HaYehudim....Jesus the Nazorean AND King of the Jews." He saw the four letters that spelled the Name of God....and wrote that the Hebrew word for "king" on the inscription should be translated "VeMelech" or "AND King"...not "haMelech or "the King".Taking the first letters of the words in a phrase and putting them together to see a hidden meaning was a "common literary custom of the scribes of those days." Dating back "to the time of the Babylonian captivity of the Jewish nation."
THE INSCRIPTION AT THE CROSS - THE TRUTH STANDS FOREVER
He understood this translation revealing the Name of God, YHVH, explained why the chief priests protested to Pilate to change the inscription." Shalom Ben-Chorin, like the chief priests saw the Name of God in Pilate's Hebrew inscription on the plaque. This is what so offended the religious leaders.This is just amazing. Pilate had inscribed on the plaque exactly what God wanted there...and no man was going to change it.Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!Maranatha!Chance