Posted on 02/19/2019 1:42:44 PM PST by Sheapdog
PART ONE: TRANSLATION, COMMENTARY, AND DATE
INTRODUCTION
The Nazareth Inscription is a Greek inscription on a marble tablet measuring approximately 24 inches by 15 inches. The exact time and place of its discovery is not known. In 1878 it became an addition to the private Froehner Collection of ancient inscriptions and manuscripts, but the details of its acquisition are unknown. Froehner’s inventory of this Inscription simply states: “This marble was sent from Nazareth in 1878.” This is all that is known about the time and place of its discovery (Cumont 241-242, Zelueta 1-2). While Froehner did make a Greek miniscule transcription of the original Greek uncial version of the Nazareth Inscription, he never published either the miniscule or the uncial version, and the contents of the Nazareth Inscription remained unknown to the scholarly world for more than fifty years.
In 1925 the Froehner Collection was acquired by the Paris National Library, where the Nazareth Inscription was rediscovered and read by M. Rostovtzeff. Rostovtzeff told his friend, the French scholar M. Franz Cumont about this Inscription in the Paris National Library (Cumont 241-242). With the encouragement of Rostovtzeff, Cumont published a Greek transcription and a translation of the Nazareth Inscription with a commentary in his article Un Rescrit Imperial Sur La Violation De Sepulture in the French journal Reveu Historique, CLXII, in 1930. The Nazareth Inscription took the scholarly world by storm because, as will be seen, it could be read as an imperial decree against the Apostles stealing Christ’s body from His tomb and faking His resurrection. It is also very similar to the Jewish high-priestly version of the resurrection of Christ as found in Matthew 28:11-15—in other words, His disciples stole His body from the tomb.
(Excerpt) Read more at biblearchaeology.org ...
Cumont’s publication of the Nazareth Inscription led to a snowstorm of scholarly articles; more than twenty were published by the end of 1932. None of these early articles questioned the authenticity of the Nazareth Inscription. It is highly unlikely that it is a forgery. As will be seen, the Greek text of this Inscription and its historical connections provide strong support for its authenticity. However, its interpretation and possible connection to the story of the resurrection of Christ are still hotly debated today.
The purpose of this paper is to determine if the Nazareth Inscription is an imperial response to the story of the resurrection of Christ. While the views and opinions of key modern scholars will at times be discussed, it is not the intent of this study to do reviews or critiques of the many articles written on the Nazareth Inscription.
While there are several English translations available of the Nazareth Inscription (Zulueta 184-185; Brown 2-3), I disagree with them on the translation of a few key Greek words and phrases, and I have for this reason chosen to provide by own translation below.
THE NAZARETH INSCRIPTION TRANSLATION
1. EDICT OF CAESAR
2. It is my decision [concerning] graves and tombs—whoever has made
3. them for the religious observances of parents, or children, or household
4. members—that these remain undisturbed forever. But if anyone legally
5. charges that another person has destroyed, or has in any manner extracted
6. those who have been buried, or has moved with wicked intent those who
7. have been buried to other places, committing a crime against them, or has
8. moved sepulcher-sealing stones, against such a person I order that a
9. judicial tribunal be created, just as [is done] concerning the gods in
10. human religious observances, even more so will it be obligatory to treat
11. with honor those who have been entombed. You are absolutely not to
12. allow anyone to move [those who have been entombed]. But if
13. [someone does], I wish that [violator] to suffer capital punishment under
14. the title of tomb-breaker.
Ultimately it doesn’t matter what it says Everything I need to know is in Matthew Mark Luke or John as well as subsequent books
PinGGG!....................
Grave robbing was common then as now.
This is nothing more than an edict against that ancient practice.....................
This is the only known instance in known Roman law in which it was a capital crime. Later it was due to robbery for selling body parts as relics in Christian world.
Ah, a contest...to see how many words you can write before you divulge the inscription. Clever!
Thinking without any source of truth, I have to ask myself, ‘how did it come to be in Nazareth? An edict such as that would logically be found in Jerusalem or Caesarea. One would think that such an edict from Rome would go to the Roman Governor to be posted at a prominent place. A follower of Christ could have lifted it and took it to Nazareth.
Taken
From in the article “...
The Roman emperor who wrote the Nazareth Inscription—almost certainly Claudius—probably saw the new Jewish sect of the Nazarenes as a dangerous, anti-Roman religious movement. It should be remembered that Jesus’ followers believed that He was the Messiah, the King of the Jews. Roman emperors took a great deal of interest in people who proclaimed themselves kings. It should come as no surprise that a Roman emperor might want to nip this new religious-political movement in the bud. It should be remembered that the home base of the violent and rebellious Jewish Zealots was located in Galilee, and this may have caused the emperor to confuse the new sect of the “Nazarenes” with Jewish Zealots. And it should also be remembered that the first name given to Jewish Christians was “Nazarenes,” clearly connecting them to the area of Galilee. In addition, it should also be remembered that one of Jesus’ disciples was named Simon the “Zealot.”
To counter the Nazarene/Christian teaching that Jesus had been resurrected, Jewish leaders claimed that His disciples “came by night and stole him away” [Matt. 28:3 NASV]. It is almost certain that this was the version of the resurrection of Christ, which came to the ears of the Roman Emperor Claudius, who consequently issued the Nazareth Inscription and had it posted in the city of Nazareth [iii].
[iii] It is possible that the Nazareth Inscription was originally posted in the city of Sepphoris, a former capital of the Galilee. Sepphoris was located only about five miles from Nazareth, and was probably the largest city in the Galilee. The exact year when Herod Antipas shifted his capital from Sepphoris to his newly- built city of Tiberias is not known but must have taken place during or just before the ministry of Christ. Even if the Nazareth Inscription was posted at Sepphoris, it was clearly written against the sect of the Nazarenes. However, the early and frequent references to Christians as “Nazarenes” argue for the posting of the Nazareth Inscription in the city of Nazareth.
“Grave robbing was common then as now”
Most of the stealing goes on in the funeral parlor. Never put any items of value in a coffin with the deceased. They won’t be needing it and it only tempts the staff.
Thanks, but no thanks. No provenance, apparently bought in an antiquities market in Nazareth, unknown where it came from, and penalties for tomb robbing/desecration was a longstanding law throughout the Roman Empire long before this inscription. Generally laws get made because some objectionable practice becomes somewhat common. For example, there was a long series of proclamations against the removal of stones (for building materials) from public buildings (which included temples, in Rome itself) that went on for centuries, mostly to little effect on up to no avail.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazareth_Inscription
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