Guest yoshi Posted April 30, 2005 Share Posted April 30, 2005 I mentioned earlier that I have a collection of Proof-Texts that I have written both against Islam and Christianity. I'll begin posting them every few days or so. I know this is the "Debating with Christians" forum, but I think this is the best forum for this issue. Here it goes.... =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Many Muslims believe that their prophet, Mohammed was, prophecied of in the Tanakh. One of the texts that they point to is the Song of Songs (also known as The Song of Solomon in Christian Bibles) Chapter 5, verse 16. This article will show that the Muslim translation, while perhaps possible, is incorrect based on Hebrew grammar and the context of the passage. Song of Songs 5:16 (Original Hebrew) חִכּוֹ מַמְתַקִּים וְכֻלּוֹ מַחֲמַדִּים | זֶה דוֹדִי וְזֶה רֵעִי בְּנוֹת יְרוּשָׁלִָם Song of Songs 5:16 - Muslim Translation His mouth is most sweet: he is Mohammed the Great. This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. Isaiah 7:14 - Jewish Translation (Judaica Press) His palate is sweet, and he is altogether desirable; this is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. The word in question here is mauch'maudim (מַחֲמַדִּים). The first thing we notice is that the word is a plural word composed of two parts - the word mauch'maud (מחמד) and the suffix im (ים). Let us first examine the im. The suffix im denotes a plural masculine ending; for example, the word "wise man" is written as chakam (חכם) and wise men would be written chakamim (חכמים). Hypothetically, if מחמד refers to Mohammed, then we would be talking about multiple Mohammeds! A translation would be something like: His mouth is most sweet: he is Mohammeds the great..... The Muslim counter-argument is that the plural ending of im is "an indication of grandeur", and compare it to Elokim (אלקים), one of the Hebrew titles for God. What we have here, however, is a comparison of apples to oranges. While Muhammed is a personal name, Elokim is a title that is not specific to God - it is applied to people who exert some sort of authority. For example, in Psalms 82:6 the term is applied to corrupt Judges. When it comes to personal names, there are no known instances where a singular name (such as Adam) is turned into the plural (Such as Adamim). Finally, the best proof of what - or who - this verse is talking about is the context. A quick reading of the chapter shows it to be a love song - in verse 8, the phrase "I am lovesick" is even used! For verse 16 to be speaking about Mohammed, the "beloved" being spoken of must be a completely different person than is spoken of in the rest of the chapter. There is not, however, any indication that a change of subject has occured. Thus we conclude that the subject of verse 16 is not Mohammed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chefranden Posted April 30, 2005 Share Posted April 30, 2005 Very interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thurisaz Posted May 1, 2005 Share Posted May 1, 2005 Why oh why am I not surprised that this muslim "proof" isn't exactly based on solid ground? Nice stuff Yoshi. Keep up with it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest yoshi Posted May 2, 2005 Share Posted May 2, 2005 Thanks guys I just posted another one at http://www.ex-christian.net/index.php?showtopic=566 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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