A Greek Tragedy Takes Flesh—and Still Dwells Among Us
The Odyssey narrates Odysseus’s ten-year journey as the king of Ithaca, during which he attempts to return home after the fall of Troy. Virgil’s Aeneid chronicles the journey of Aeneas, a Trojan hero and son of the goddess Venus. Aeneas escapes the fallen city of Troy and embarks on a quest to start a settler-colonial project in Italy.
Virgil wrote a work of total fiction, and then as if by witchcraft, Augustus traced his (and Rome’s) historical origins back to Aeneas.
In Jewish Antiquities, Josephus Flavius followed the line of Augustus, adulterating the Bible to appease the ego of his settler-colonial abuser, adopting the same Greco-Roman “literary-historicizing” framework. This may not have resonated with the Jews of the time, but man, would-be Christian imperial colonizers loved his historicizing of epic literature to “build” their apotheosis.
What good is Star Wars if lightsabers are not real, if you are not the heir of Luke Skywalker, and the Republic is not rightfully yours to “possess?”
So, thanks to Josephus Flavius, the (sellout, Uncle Tom) closet Hasmonean, and his oversized case of Bible-wrecking Stockholm Syndrome, by now, we’ve had to deal with two millennia of Hellenized theologians who really believe that Jesus picked up where Venus and Augustus left off.
If you want to understand the socio-political consequences of this approach, consider watching independent news media on YouTube.
If you want to be set free from the tyranny of Augustus and Josephus, hear the Gospel of Luke.
ἔρχομαι (erchomai) ب-و-ء (bā-wāw-hamza)/ ב-ו-א (bet-waw-alef)
The Hebrew verb בוא (bo) and the Arabic verb بَاءَ (bā’a) “he returned” are cognates that trace back to a common Semitic root related to movement toward a point—be it coming or returning. This root corresponds to ἐρχόμενος (erchomoenos) in Luke 7:19, the one who is expected.
“‘Behold, I am going to send my messenger, and he will clear the way before me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come (יָבוֹא, yāḇôʾ) to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, he is coming,’ says the Lord of hosts.” (Malachi 3:1)“The Lord God has sworn by his holiness, ‘Behold, the days are coming (בָּאִ֣ים, bā’îm) upon you when they will take you away with meat hooks, and the last of you with fish hooks.’” (Amos 4:2)
Related functions in Arabic:
- بَاءَ (bā’a) To return, to incur, to be burdened with, to bring upon oneself.
بَاءُوا بِغَضَبٍ مِنَ اللَّهِ
(bā’ū bi-ghaḍabin mina allāh)
“They have incurred wrath from God.”
(Surah Al-Baqarah 2:61)
- بَوَّأَ (bawwa’a) To settle someone, to provide lodging, to assign a place.
- مُتَبَوَّأ (mutabawa’a) A dwelling place. Arabic Lexicon, Hawramani, https://arabiclexicon.hawramani.com/?p=1617&book=50#9b0b27
وَلَقَدْ بَوَّأْنَا بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ مُبَوَّأَ صِدْقٍ
(wa laqad bawwa’nā banī isrā’īla mubawwa’a ṣidqin)
“And we settled the Children of Israel in a good dwelling-place.”
(Surah Yunus 10:93)
- تَبَاوَأَ (tabāwa’a) Used in literature to describe competition and contention between characters. The verb carries a negative connotation that implies equality. To be equal with each other. Equality in sin or punishment: state of being equally guilty.
- القتيلان فِي الْقصاص تعادلا (al-qatīlāni fī al-qiṣāsi ta‘ādalā)
“Two dead, in retribution, were tied.”
“بَوَاءٌ” Arabic Lexicon, Hawramani, https://arabiclexicon.hawramani.com/?p=63888#dbd19f
- القتيلان فِي الْقصاص تعادلا (al-qatīlāni fī al-qiṣāsi ta‘ādalā)