Muhammad told his followers that they would find him prophesied of in the Bible and so, for the last 1,400 years, Muslims have looked high and low for him there... but in vain.
They have found a few favorite verses which they take completely out of context and grossly misinterpret in their desperate attempt to find Muhammad's claim affirmed by the God of the Jews and Christians. But what arguably has to be their oddest choice is King Solomon's "Song of Songs."
Depending on your theological proclivities, "Song of Songs" is a poem that either describes the love between a bride and his groom, or is an allegory of the love between YHWH and Israel if you're a Jew, or between Christ and His Church if you're a Christian.
The Muslim claim is that the Hebrew word, "machmaddim," which is translated as "altogether lovely" in Song of Songs 5:16, is actually the name of their prophet.
Here is Song 5:16 as it is found in the Mechon-Mamre Online Bible:
Because the word "machmaddim" sounds a little like "Muhammad," Muslims say the Jews have deliberately mistranslated the word to erase any prophetic trace of Muhammad from Bible.
Problem #1, of course, is the fact that there is no proof of either Jewish or Christian corruption of the Scriptures.
Problem #2 is that, not only is the word completely intact in the oldest manuscripts, it also makes perfect sense in its context.
Problem #3 is, well... let's say that we shall let the texts speak for themselves.
Let's grant (but only for the sake of argument) that the Islamic interpretation of Song 5:16 is correct, and that, therefore, every other place in the Bible that has the Hebrew word "machmaddim" is a reference to Muhammad.
So let's see what happens when we grant Muslims their fondest dream and replace the word "machmaddim" with Muhammad. Italics have been placed for your convenience. For maximum effect, I strongly recommend that you read each of the following verses out loud:
"Yet I will send my servants unto thee tomorrow about this time, and they shall search thine house, and the houses of thy servants; and it shall be, [that] whatsoever is Muhammad in thine eyes, they shall put [it] in their hand, and take [it] away." 1 Kings 20:6
"And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the Muhammad vessels thereof." 2 Chronicles 36:19
"Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire: and all our Muhammads are laid waste." Isaiah 64:11
"The adversary hath spread out his hand upon all her Muhammads: for she hath seen [that] the heathen entered into her sanctuary, whom thou didst command [that] they should not enter into thy congregation." Lamentations 1:10
"All her people sigh, they seek bread; they have given their Muhammads for meat to relieve the soul: see, O LORD, and consider; for I am become vile." Lamentations 1:11
"He hath bent his bow like an enemy: he stood with his right hand as an adversary, and slew all [that were] Muhammads to the eye in the tabernacle of the daughter of Zion: he poured out his fury like fire." Lamentations 2:4
"Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the Muhammads of thine eyes with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down." Ezekiel 24:16
"Speak unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the excellency of your strength, the Muhammads of your eyes, and that which your soul pitieth; and your sons and your daughters whom ye have left shall fall by the sword." Ezekiel 24:21
"Also, thou son of man, [shall it] not [be] in the day when I take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the Muhammads of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their minds, their sons and their daughters..." Ezekiel 24:25
"For, lo, they are gone because of destruction: Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them: the Muhammads [places] for their silver, nettles shall possess them: thorns [shall be] in their tabernacles." Hosea 9:6
"Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit: yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay [even] the Muhammads [fruit] of their womb." Hosea 9:16
"... if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head; Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly Muhammads..." Joel 3:4b-5
Hopefully, our little exercise above serves to dissuade these very imaginative but woefully inaccurate Bible "eisegetes" from playing games with the Bible text in the future. That way, they can avoid looking so silly.
They have found a few favorite verses which they take completely out of context and grossly misinterpret in their desperate attempt to find Muhammad's claim affirmed by the God of the Jews and Christians. But what arguably has to be their oddest choice is King Solomon's "Song of Songs."
Depending on your theological proclivities, "Song of Songs" is a poem that either describes the love between a bride and his groom, or is an allegory of the love between YHWH and Israel if you're a Jew, or between Christ and His Church if you're a Christian.
The Muslim claim is that the Hebrew word, "machmaddim," which is translated as "altogether lovely" in Song of Songs 5:16, is actually the name of their prophet.
Here is Song 5:16 as it is found in the Mechon-Mamre Online Bible:
| טז חִכּוֹ, מַמְתַקִּים, וְכֻלּוֹ, מַחֲמַדִּים; זֶה דוֹדִי וְזֶה רֵעִי, בְּנוֹת יְרוּשָׁלִָם. | 16 His mouth is most sweet; yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.' |
Problem #1, of course, is the fact that there is no proof of either Jewish or Christian corruption of the Scriptures.
Problem #2 is that, not only is the word completely intact in the oldest manuscripts, it also makes perfect sense in its context.
Problem #3 is, well... let's say that we shall let the texts speak for themselves.
Let's grant (but only for the sake of argument) that the Islamic interpretation of Song 5:16 is correct, and that, therefore, every other place in the Bible that has the Hebrew word "machmaddim" is a reference to Muhammad.
So let's see what happens when we grant Muslims their fondest dream and replace the word "machmaddim" with Muhammad. Italics have been placed for your convenience. For maximum effect, I strongly recommend that you read each of the following verses out loud:
"And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the Muhammad vessels thereof." 2 Chronicles 36:19
"Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire: and all our Muhammads are laid waste." Isaiah 64:11
"The adversary hath spread out his hand upon all her Muhammads: for she hath seen [that] the heathen entered into her sanctuary, whom thou didst command [that] they should not enter into thy congregation." Lamentations 1:10
"All her people sigh, they seek bread; they have given their Muhammads for meat to relieve the soul: see, O LORD, and consider; for I am become vile." Lamentations 1:11
"He hath bent his bow like an enemy: he stood with his right hand as an adversary, and slew all [that were] Muhammads to the eye in the tabernacle of the daughter of Zion: he poured out his fury like fire." Lamentations 2:4
"Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the Muhammads of thine eyes with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down." Ezekiel 24:16
"Speak unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the excellency of your strength, the Muhammads of your eyes, and that which your soul pitieth; and your sons and your daughters whom ye have left shall fall by the sword." Ezekiel 24:21
"Also, thou son of man, [shall it] not [be] in the day when I take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the Muhammads of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their minds, their sons and their daughters..." Ezekiel 24:25
"For, lo, they are gone because of destruction: Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them: the Muhammads [places] for their silver, nettles shall possess them: thorns [shall be] in their tabernacles." Hosea 9:6
"Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit: yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay [even] the Muhammads [fruit] of their womb." Hosea 9:16
"... if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head; Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly Muhammads..." Joel 3:4b-5
Hopefully, our little exercise above serves to dissuade these very imaginative but woefully inaccurate Bible "eisegetes" from playing games with the Bible text in the future. That way, they can avoid looking so silly.
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