S.R.
2 min readJan 6, 2024

--

Yeah I’ve read those passages multiple times…As well as the book of John. I just went abs reread it. I definitely agree with you that reading the entire book is key for understanding that.
I honestly never thought of those as antisemitic at all. I can kind of see how on the surface it might seem antisemitic, but in context of the what’s happening, no.
Jesus, who is a jew in every sense, is debating and arguing with other Jews about his religious beliefs. He clearly has some radical beliefs that go against the norm, but he is clearly arguing his views and his position on what should happen next in Judaism. He’s more like saying “listen fellow Jews, here’s what we should be doing!”
Fellow Jews: uh no, you sound crazy.
Jesus: “you guys are jerks them! I’m right!”
He is criticizing people he disagrees with, getting into debates, but I wouldn’t say he is telling them they’re wrong for being jewish, just that he wants to take the religion to the next direction.
I would equate it to if someone is running for president, and they disagree and insult the standing president, that doesn’t mean they’re anti-American, or that Americans hate them. By disagreeing with the leadership, he’s saying follow me, I’m right their wrong, but he clearly considers himself the right Jewish leader.

However, the Bible is very much open to interpretation, and I can see someone interpreting it this way-though I think it’s a huge stretch.
Still, if someone already is antisemitic and looking for validation in the Bible I can see them biasedly seeing these verses as evidence. It still feels alien to me though. People use the Bible for all sorts of things, including hate.

Thanks for pointing these verses out to me. Growing up I mostly read the Bible on my own without a lot of other others interpretations projected into my reading, so I am often unaware of these takes people have on it.
I remember being shocked when people assumed Mary Magdalen was a prostitute (it never says that) and other weird things.

--

--

S.R.
S.R.

Written by S.R.

Cheese Enthusiast. Fat and Feminist. I can’t help but write. Trying to learn as much as I can.

No responses yet