The Sacred Name

Image used by permission of Yeshua.org.

When Paul wrote to his non-Jewish followers across the Roman Empire, he didn't call himself "Shaul." He called himself Paul. He didn't call the Messiah "Yeshua haMashiach." He called him "Iesous Christos."

It's ok to use transliterations, abbreviations, and even translations to refer to Yeshua/Jesus, especially when trying to communicate with non-Hebrew speakers. It's ok to use Hebrew names too. Just make sure you are using them in such a way as to teach the truth, not as stumbling blocks that drive people further from the truth.

Our Messiah's name isn't a collection of letters or sounds. Those things are just convenient labels. His name is the whole picture of who He is: Redeemer, Savior, Wonderful, Counselor, Anointed, Son of the Living God, the Word of God, the Law Giver, our Passover Lamb, our Atonement, High Priest, the Rock that Saves.



Some believe that the introduction of the letter J represents some kind of corruption or conspiracy to keep people from pronouncing the name of Yeshua. The letter is only 400 to 600 years old, and Hebrew has no J at all, so how can "Jesus" possibly be the Messiah's name?

There are two objections raised here.

The Letter J Is Only 400 Years Old!

The letter J wasn't invented to keep people from pronouncing the name correctly. The reality is exactly the opposite. J was created to show when the letter I was being used as a consonant, such as in the words "job" and "majesty". Before the letter J was invented, both of those words were spelled with I instead of J.

Every language that adopted the letter J into its alphabet pronounces it differently. Germans pronounce it like an English Y. Spanish speakers pronounce J like H, Y, or Kh, depending on regional dialect.

Have you ever heard someone from Mexico pronounce the English word "yes" as if it began with a J, like "Jyes"? Evidently, English speakers used to pronounce a consonant I with a J or Zh sound, exactly as many (not all!) Spanish speakers pronounce Y today.

English already had the letter Y, so why didn't they use that for consonant I? Two reasons:

• The letter Y was already doing double duty as a Th sound, as in "ye olde shop", which would have been pronounced as "THE old shop", not "YEE old shop". 
• Some consonantal Is that were pronounced like Y, evidently did get the Y letter at some point. I don't know if that was before or after the shift to J or if there was a rule about whether the letter was at the beginning or end of a syllable, followed by one or another vowel, etc.

Sometime in the mid to late Middle Ages, Latin speakers began to pronounce consonantal I (especially initial consonantal I) with a J sound. This pronunciation was picked up by French and other speakers long before King James commissioned his Bible. I'm not sure if Medieval Latin adopted this pronunciation from English speakers or not, but I suspect that English adopted it from Celtic languages and not from Latin. 

At some point, Latin scribes began adding a tail to the letter I when it was pronounced like J, and this new letter was also adopted by other European languages, even when those languages didn't have the J sound. When Iesus became Jesus, the pronunciation didn't change. Spanish speakers continued to pronounce it as Hay-soos, Germans continued to pronounce it as Yezus, and English speakers continued to pronounce it as Gee-suhs, just as they had when it was still spelled with an I.

The change to J didn't change how anything was pronounced. It reflected a pre-existing reality of regional accents. The English took the J sound from the Celts and the J letter from European scholars of Latin.

There Is No J in Hebrew

If you didn't already pick this up from my discussion of the invention of J, let me spell it out for you: All letters were invented at some point and no Latin letters exist in Hebrew. There is no Y, I, E, S, U, W, or A in Hebrew. Those are letters from the Latin alphabet and Hebrew uses the Hebrew alphabet.

What people should actually be saying is that there is no J sound in Hebrew, but even that depends on how you pronounce the letter J. If you speak Spanish or German, then there is definitely a J sound in Hebrew.

In fact, the Latin letter J is a descendant of the Hebrew letter yod, or I should say they are both descendants of a common ancestor. The paleo-Semitic/Hebrew yod became the Greek and Latin I and the (slightly more modern) Hebrew yod י. Then the Latin I became the I, J, and Y.

Saying that Hebrew has no J is like saying that English has no י. Of course, it doesn't, because English and Hebrew use completely different alphabets.

Philologically speaking, though, J = I = י. So, in a way, Hebrew does have a J. It's just shaped differently.

If you don't like the way Jesus is pronounced by English speakers, then pronounce it the way a German would, which is probably much closer to the Greek form used throughout the Septuagint Greek translation of the Old Testament and the Apostolic writings of the New Testament: Ἰησοῦς.

If you feel that the Apostles were wrong to write his name using Greek characters and grammar, then spell and pronounce it in the Hebrew manner. I prefer to use the form Yeshua, myself, but I'm not about to use the Hebrew characters in my English articles because I'm trying to communicate with people. Your priorities might be different, and that's certainly your business.

(Updated November 19, 2019.)

(Updated September 9, 2020.)

39 Messianic Blogs

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Scriptures Related to Passover

Scripture passages that appear to be directly or at least very closely related to Passover.

• Gen 4:3-16
• Abel brought firstfruits of his flock, while Cain brought firstfruits of his crops.
• Passover? Maybe.
• Gen 18:1-8
• Three angels appear at Abraham’s tent.
• He washed their feet and brought them unleavened bread.
• Prepared a calf and stood while they sat and ate.
• Gen 19:1-3
• Two angels arrive in Sodom where Lot was sitting in the gate.
• He invited them to his home.
• He made a feast with unleavened bread.
• Gen 22:8-19
• V2 – Son as an offering, but a burnt offering, which Passover only partly fits.
• V3 – Took an ass.
• V4 – Three days journey from the place of God’s calling to the altar. (Four days total.)
• V5 – Disciples left behind while the Son goes on with the Father.
• V6 – The Father lays the wood on the Son.
• V7 – Son prays to the Father just before his execution.
• V8 – God will provide a lamb for a burnt offering for His own benefit/purposes.
• V9 – Son is bound and placed on the wood with no word of objection.
• V13 – The Son saved from death.
• V17 – The gates of Hell will not prevail against him.
• V18 – All the nations of the earth blessed through the seed of Abraham.
• V19 – Abraham returns to the disciples and they all return to the Well of Seven Oaths (People of the Completed Covenant) together.
• Exodus 12 - First Passover
• V2-5 – 10 Aviv – Selecting the lamb
• Every man participate in the taking of one lamb per household.
• If the household is too small, then share with your neighbor
• Calculate how many people you need per lamb
• Without blemish
• Male, 1 year old
• Sheep or goats
• V6 – 14 Aviv – Whole congregation assembles and kill their lambs “between the evenings”
• Adam Clarke says “between the evenings” means between noon and sunset. He quotes Maimonides to say that killing the lamb before noon is forbidden.
• John Gill also says this means between noon and sunset. However, he says the Targum of Jonathan says it means between sunset on 13 Aviv and sunset on 14 Aviv.
• Put the blood on the two door posts and lintel
• Eat it that night roasted with fire and eaten with matzo and bitter herbs.
• Must not be raw or boiled, but roasted.
• Eaten with innards. All must be eaten or burned up before morning.
• Eat it with loins girded, staff in hand, and in haste.
• Kill the firstborn of man and beast
• Execute judgment on the gods of Egypt
• Blood identifies Israel
• Day is a memorial to be kept forever
• V15 – 20 – Feast of unleavened bread
• 7 days eat unleavened bread
• 1st day is a convocation and a day of rest.
• No work except what each person needs to eat.
• Sunset Aviv 14 through sunset Aviv 20th.
• 7 days eat unleavened bread. Same for grafted in or native born.
• V21 – Moses instructions re first Passover
• Select lambs according to families and kill it
• Hyssop dipped in blood in the basin
• Strike the lintel and the two side posts.
• Stay inside until morning.
• Ordinance forever.
• Keep it when you come into the land.
• When your children ask why, say
• Sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover
• He passed over the houses of Israel
• Smote the Egyptians
• Delivered our houses
• V39 – Unleavened bread because they didn’t have time for anything else.
• V43 – 50 – Who may eat the Passover
• No foreigners, uncircumcised sojourners or hired servants
• Servants bought with money and circumcised
• Eaten in one house, not divided up.
• No broken bones
• All the congregation of Israel will keep it
• Circumcised sojourners
• One law for native and sojourner
• Exodus 13
• Consecrate the firstborn
• Remember that God brought us out of Egypt and Slavery with a strong hand.
• Passover is a full sensory experience: Taste, See, Touch, Speak, Hear
• Keep it every year
• Teach it to your children
• Four questions
• Understand why you keep it
• Exo 23:14-15 – In the context of abstaining from idolatry
• One of 3 feasts of ascent
• Feast of unleavened bread.
• 7 days
• Unleavened bread
• Month of Aviv
• None appear before me empty
• Exo 29 - ?
• Exo 34:18-20, 25-26 – In the context of abstaining from idolatry.
• Feast of unleavened bread for 7 days
• Month of Aviv
• Firstborn males of all animals belongs to God.
• Redeem the firstborn sons
• None appear before me empty
• Lev 23:1-14
• V5 – Aviv 14 – The Lord’s Passover between the evenings
• V6-7 – Aviv 15 – Feast of unleavened bread for 7 days
• Holy convocation on first day
• No servile work
• V8 – Remainder of the feast
• Fire offerings daily
• 7th day is a holy convocation w/ no servile work
• V9-14 – Firstfruits
• Bring Firstfruits of grain harvest to the priest
• Priest waves the offering on the day after the Sabbath
• Eat no grain of the harvest until Firstfruits
• Num 9:1-14 – First Passover after Exodus
• V2 – Don’t wait until in the Promised Land, but keep it right now.
• V3 – Between evenings, with all statutes and rules
• V6-13 – Unclean or travelling person cannot keep the Passover
• Keep it in the 2nd month on the 14th.
• With unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
• Same rules otherwise.
• Sojourners to keep the Passover by same rules. One law for sojourner and native.
• Num 28:16-31 – Offerings for Passover
• V16-15 – Aviv 14 is the Passover. Feast on the 15th. For 7 days eat unleavened bread.
• V18-23 – First day is a convocation. Do no ordinary work.
• Burnt offering of 2 bulls, 1 ram, 7 yearling lambs without blemish.
• Grain offering mixed with oil for each animal.
• 1 male goat for a sin offering as an atonement.
• In addition to the regular daily offerings.
• V24 – Make the same offerings daily during unleavened bread.
• V25 – Seventh day is a convocation with no ordinary work.
• Numbers 33:3-5 –
• Aviv 15 – left Egypt.
• Deuteronomy 16:1-8,16-17 – How and where to keep Passover
• V1 – Keep the new moon of Aviv and keep Passover in the month of Aviv
• V2 – Offer Passover in the place where YHWH chooses to put His name.
• V3-4 – No chametz with it.
• 7 days of matso, the bread of affliction
• Remember that you came out of Egypt.
• No leaven for 7 days in all your territory
• Don’t leave the Passover until morning.
• V5-7 – Only in the place YHWH chooses
• May not offer the Passover in any of your towns.
• Only at the place YHWH chooses to make His name dwell.
• Offer it at sunset.
• Cook it and eat it in the place YHWH chooses.
• In the morning, go back to your homes.
• V8 – 6 days eat matso. The 7th is a holy convocation with no work.
• Joshua 5:2-12 – First Passover in the Land
• V2-9 – Circumcised all those born in the wilderness
• V10 – Kept Passover on the 14th of Aviv
• V11 – The day after Passover they ate the stored grain of the Canaanites. Unleavened bread and parched grain.
• V12 – Manna ceased the next day, but they ate the harvest of the Canaanites that year.
• Judges 6:11-26 – Gideon offers a goat and matso to an angel
• Not Passover because Gideon was threshing wheat which would not be ripe for another two months.
• 2 Samuel 12:1-15 – Who stole the Lamb from those to whom He belongs?
• 2 Kings 23 – Josiah’s revival
• Preceded by destruction of pagan altars.
• Keep Passover as it is written in the Book of the Covenant
• No Passover like this had been kept since before King Saul
• Passover kept to YHWH in Jerusalem in Josiah’s 18th year.
• It was kept, but not universally and not according to God’s commands.
• 2 Chronicles 8 – Passover of Solomon
• Daily burnt offerings during Unleavened Bread
• He seemed to perform the bare minimum, where Josiah made a true celebration
• 2Chr 30-31 – Hezekiah’s Passover
• Invited all the tribes to keep Passover in the 2nd month.
• Insufficient priests were consecrated for the 1st month.
• Had not been keeping Passover regularly.
• Mocked by most in Ephraim and Menasseh.
• A few in Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.
• Most of Judah obeyed.
• Many people still were not clean, but the Levites sacrificed their lambs anyway and Hezekiah prayed that God would forgive them because their sin wasn’t deliberate.
• God recognized it and honored his prayer: inward circumcision.
• Kept the feast for an extra 7 days.
• 1000 bulls, 7000 sheep from King Hezekiah and 1000 bulls, 10000 sheep from the princes given to the people as peace offerings.
• Nothing like it in Jerusalem since King David’s time.
• Followed by destruction of pagan altars.
• Restoration of divisions of priests and levites and service of the Temple.
• General revival
• 2Chr 35 – Josiah’s Passover
• Passover in Jerusalem.
• Passover killed on Aviv 14.
• Appointed and encouraged priests at the Temple.
• Restore the Ark to the Temple.
• Kill the Passover first, then prepare to kill the Passovers for all the people
• King gave the people 30k lambs and goats plus 3k bulls.
• King’s officials gave additional 2.6k lambs plus 300 bulls.
• Princes gave another 5k lambs plus 500 bulls.
• Distributed animals to clan groups.
• Roasted Passover lambs and boiled the other offerings.
• Singing by Sons of Asaph
• No Passover like it since Samuel.
• Psalm 34 – Oblique references to Passover
• V4 – YHWH delivered me from all my fears.
• V8 – Taste and see that YHWH is good!
• V14 – Repent from evil.
• V19 – YHWH delivers the righteous from his afflictions.
• V20 – None of his bones are broken.
• V21 – Affliction slays the wicked.
• V22 – YHWH redeems His servants.
• Ezra 6 – First Passover after returning from exile
• V16-17 – Dedication & cleansing
• V18 – Priests arranged in divisions according to Book of Moses.
• V19 – Passover kept on 14 Aviv.
• V21 – Exiled Israelites kept Passover along with any locals who repented from idolatry and worshipped YHWH.
• V22 – Kept Unleavened Bread for 7 days.
• Ezekiel 45 – Passover in the Millenium
• V18-19 – Purify the sanctuary on Aviv 1
• Put some of the blood on the doorposts of the Temple, four corners of the altar, posts of the inner gate.
• V20 – Repeat this on the 7th day of the month to atone for anyone who has sinned through error or ignorance.
• V21-22 – Passover
• 14 Aviv
• Feast of Passover
• 7 days of unleavened bread
• Prince provide for himself & the people a young bull for a sin offering
• V23-24 – Unleavened bread
• Prince will provide 7 young bulls and 7 rams on each of the 7 days for a burnt offering. 1 goat daily for a sin offering.
• Grain and oil with each bull and ram.
• Isaiah 16:1-5 – A reference to the Messiah as a lamb?
• Isaiah 53 – The suffering Messiah
• V4 – Afflicted by God, like the wicked. Yet, not wicked, for he was afflicted for our transgressions and not his own.
• V5 – By his stripes we are healed
• V6 – We are the guilty sheep, but God placed our sins on him.
• V7 – A lamb led to the slaughter.
• Zechariah 9:9-12
• V9 – The king riding on a donkey colt.
• V10 – Ephraim & Jerusalem rescued from the chariots and horses of their enemies.
• V11-12 – Prisoners redeemed by covenant blood.
• Matthew 16:5-12 – The leaven of the Pharisees.
• Matthew 20-28 – Yeshua's Last Passover
• Aviv 10
• 20:17-28 – Prophesies that he must be brought low in order to be lifted up.
• 21:1-11 – Triumphal entry
• 21:12-13 – Cleansed the Temple (Aviv 11 in Mark 11)
• 21:14-16 – Healed the sick and confronted by the priests.
• 21:18-19 – Withered the fig tree. It was out of season.
• Aviv 11
• 21:20-25:46 – Examined at the Temple by priests, Pharisees, people, and disciples.
• Aviv 12?
• 26:2 – After two days the Passover is coming.
• Aviv 13
• 26:17 – “first day of matzah” but it wasn’t.
• Go prepare the Passover
• Aviv 14
• Yeshua reclined with the disciples
• 26:23 – The one who dips his bread in the dish with me will betray me.
• 26:26 – Matzah: this is my body. “As they were eating.” Probably not at the end of the seder as today, but the middle piece regardless.
• Christians added the Afikomen as a sign of the second coming.
• 26:27-29 – This is my blood of the covenant for forgiveness of sins.
• I won’t drink again of this fruit of the vine until in my Father’s kingdom.
• Key on “this”. Either he meant all wine or he meant this particular cup.
• 26:47… Betrayed by Judas
• 27:46 – 9th hour, he died.
• 27:57 – Joseph buried the body
• Aviv 15
• 27:62 – Priests requested a guard on the tomb.
• Aviv 16 or 17
• At sunrise on the first day of the week, the women went to the tomb and found Yeshua already risen.
• Mark 8:14-21 – The leaven of the Pharisees.
• Mark 11:1-16:19 – The Feast of Unleavened Bread and Yeshua's Last Passover
• Luke 2:41 – Joseph & Mary went to Jerusalem for Passover every year.
• Luke 12:1-3 – The leaven of the Pharisees.
• Luke 22 – The Feast of Unleavened Bread.
• Luke 24:27
• John 1:29, 36 – John calls Yeshua “The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world”.
• The people are frequently referred to as sheep, but only Yeshua is referred to as a lamb, and only in the context of Passover.
• John 2:13-3:21 – Yeshua at Passover
• V13 – Yeshua went to Jerusalem for Passover
• V14-17 – Drove the money-changers out.
• V18-22 – Parable of the Temple rebuilt in 3 days.
• V23-25 – Performed miracles
• 3:1-21 - Nicodemus
• John 5 – Yeshua at Passover?
• V1 – A feast of the Jews at which Yeshua went to Jerusalem. Doesn’t specify Passover, but most commentators say it was.
• V2-16 – Healing at the pool of Bethesda on Shabbat.
• V17-47 – Confrontation with Pharisees re healing on Shabbat.
• John 6:1-71 – Yeshua in Galilee before Passover
• V9 – Barley loaves
• V26-69 – Yeshua as the bread of life, manna sent from heaven to give life eternal.
• John 11:55-21:25
• 11:55 – Jews traveled to Jerusalem
• 12:1 – Six days before Passover
• 18 – Jesus' trial and non-Torah customs of Passover.
• 19:4 – The day of Preparation of the Passover.
• Acts 12:1-23 – Peter arrested during Unleavened Bread. Easy for him to do since Peter would have been in Jerusalem.
• In prison
• Rescued by an angel
• “Get up quickly”
• Chains fell of his hands
• “Dress and put on your sandals”
• Follows the angel
• Iron city gate opens on its own
• Angel leaves him when he’s free
• “Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”
• Herod ordered the sentries killed
• People praised Herod as a god.
• Immediately, an angel killed him.
• Acts 20:6-16 – Paul was in Greece during Unleavened Bread, but wanted to get back to Jerusalem for Shavuot.
• 1 Corinthians 5:6-13 – Leaven compared to sin
• A little leaven leavens the whole lump
• Cleanse out the old leaven and be a new, unleavened lump
• Christ, the Passover has been sacrificed
• Celebrate the feast with unleavened bread of sincerity and truth
• Evil people are like a leavened lump mixed into the unleavened.
• Galatians 5:2-12 – The leaven of the Pharisees.
• Hebrews 11:24-29 – The first Passover.
• 1 Peter 1:18-19
• Redeemed with blood.
• An unblemished and spotless lamb.
• Revelation – The Lamb in Heaven, a blending of imagery from all of the Feasts.
• 5:6 – Between the throne and the four angels.
• Appearing to have been slain
• 7 horns, 7 eyes, which are the 7 spirits of God
• 5:8 – Opens the scroll
• 5:12-13 – Lamb who was slain to receive power, wealth, wisdom, might, honor, glory, & blessing
• 7 spirits of God?
• 6:1 – Opens the 1st seal
• 6:16 – Wrath of the Lamb
• 7:9-10 – Lamb enthroned and adored
• 7:14-17 – Lamb as savior
• Saints washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb
• Shepherd
• 8:1 – Lamb opens 7th seal
• 12:11 – Satan defeated by the blood of the Lamb and the testimony of the saints.
• 13:8 – Lamb has a book of life listing his people
• 13:11 – An imitation of the Lamb, an antichrist with two horns who speaks like a dragon.
• 14:4 – 144k follow the Lamb, redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb
• 14:10 – Followers of the beast are tormented before the Lamb
• 15:3 – Saints sing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb.
• 17:14 – 10 kings make war on the Lamb and are defeated.
• 19:7-9 – Marriage of the Lamb has come.
• 21:22-23 – City of the Lamb
• 21:27 – Lamb’s book of life
• 22:1-3 – Throne of God and of the Lamb in the city.
• V2 – Tree of life in its midst with 12 kinds of fruit.

Choosing to Sit in a Theological Prison of Your Own Making

"I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness." Isaiah 42:6-7 ESV

Throughout Isaiah 42 God speaks as if to an individual person. The word "you" in verses 6-7 is singular and verses 1-4 define the object as God's chosen servant. While this prophecy is ostensibly about the nation of Israel, it also seems to be addressed to the Messiah, and, in fact, the aging prophet Simeon alluded to this passage when he met the infant Yeshua for the first time:

"Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word;  for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel." Luke 2:29-32 ESV

However, prophecy frequently has dual meanings, even dual subjects. Since the roles of Israel and the Messiah are parallel in some ways, it isn't surprising that many prophecies use the same words to address both subjects. While Simeon (and many teachers throughout history) applied Isaiah 42 to Yeshua, Yeshua himself applied it to his twelve disciples, perhaps as a proxy for the twelve tribes of Israel:

"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."  Matthew 5:14-16 ESV

Bible commentators like John Gill, a 19th century English theologian, (and myself too) often forget this principle of dual application and latch onto a single possible interpretation of a prophetic passage, sometimes even excluding the plain and most obvious meaning. Concerning Isaiah 42:6, Gill wrote,

'"I the Lord have called thee in righteousness..." Not the Prophet Isaiah, as Jarchi and Aben Ezra (two medieval rabbis) interpret it; nor the people of Israel, as Kimchi; but the Messiah, whom Jehovah called to the office of Mediator, in a righteous way and manner, consistent with his own perfections.'

Gill recognized the reference to Messiah, but dismissed the possibility that the same prophecy could apply to Messiah, Elijah, and the whole nation all at the same time. He was a very intelligent and thoughtful man, but I think this is a typical error of people used to more binary, Greco-Roman patterns of thought.

Think of prophecy as a gem with multi-dimensional images embedded below the surface. The very same stone could present a very different picture depending on how you turn it and on what light you place it under. Even while I offer possible interpretations of some of the elements of this prophecy, keep in mind that these are only possible interpretations and possibly only one of multiple completely valid interpretations.

Isaiah 42:7 talks about three different kinds of people who need to be freed by the light.

1. The blind - As in Isaiah 29:18, these are people who are ignorant of the truth through unfortunate circumstances. They were born to a pagan nation or unbelieving parents who never taught them, etc.
2. Those chained in prison - These are people who have been restrained from finding the truth by unjust rulers, such as the people of North Korea.
3. People who sit in prison - These are people who have rejected the truth in favor of lies, who wilfully remain in darkness. They are atheists and people who attend church and hear the word--at least in part--but refuse to believe it or to put it into practice.

The tragic mistake that many make shows clearly in John Gill's comments to this verse:

'"and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house": of sin, Satan, and the law; being under which, they were in a state of darkness and ignorance as to things divine and spiritual. The allusion is to prisons, which are commonly dark places. Vitringa [a 17-18th century Dutch theologian], by the "prisoners", understands the Jews shut up under the law; and by those in "darkness" the Gentiles, destitute of all divine knowledge.'

In other words, rather than being a light to the world, Vitringa, Gill, and many Christians believed that the Jews are imprisoned in darkness by God's Law, the very Law about which God said "YHWH was pleased, for his righteousness' sake, to magnify his Law and make it glorious," just 14 verses later in the same chapter of Isaiah.

Keeping the Law doesn't keep a person in prison. Quite to the contrary, God's Law is a source of light and understanding.

The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. Psalms 19:7 ESV

How can the Law keep its adherents in a prison of darkness even while keeping it revives the soul and makes the simple to be wise?

Gill wasn't entirely incorrect. The Law can be a prison to those who use it wrongly, but it can be a liberator if it is used as it was intended. Many of the Sadducees, Pharisees, and others were (and still are) trapped in a rigid system of obedience to a set of rules that are based on the Torah, but are actually contrary to it. Like so many Christians today, they believed that if you obeyed God's Law perfectly, then you would earn a certain place in God's affections. To keep from breaking one rule or another, they added more rules on top of Torah like fences around a cliff's edge. If you can't get close to the edge, you can't fall over!

Such rules are fine if they really help you to stay on the straight and narrow and as long as you remember that they themselves are not God's Law. Unfortunately, by overemphasizing one rule, the Sadducees forgot or misinterpreted a host of others, and by adding more and more fences, the Pharisees ended up fencing off large portions of the Law itself. In their zeal to prevent people from breaking the Law, they prevented people from keeping it!

Because of his antinomian preconceptions, John Gill took one possible interpretation of Isaiah's prison of darkness and dismissed all others, thereby missing a very important message that was repeated throughout Scripture from Genesis to Revelation:

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:17-19 ESV  

Yeshua anticipated and refuted John Gill's rejection of Torah 1700 years before he penned it. Unfortunately for Dr. Gill, he turned away from the light that was offered, choosing instead to remain sitting in his prison, writing about how unfortunate those Jews are because of the prison that God so lovingly imposed upon them.