Ahmed, The Comforter (2020 Edition)

Ahmed, The Comforter Muhammad in the words of Jesus Esmail Hemmati Toronto – 2010 First edition: 2019 Second edition: 2020 This page intentionally left blank. ii “Ahmed the Comforter, Muhammad in the words on Jesus” By Esmail Hemmati [email protected] Date authored 2010 Second edition 2019 Third edition 2020 © 2010 Esmail Hemmati. All rights reserved. A portion or whole of this article may be quoted or published only if the full title of the article and the name of the author are mentioned at the designated section for title / footnote / source / reference. More from the author:  “The Spirit of Truth, Bible the Herald of Quran”, Toronto, 2017, ISBN 978-0-9959690-0-1  Articles: Two Saviors (Imam Mahdi and Jesus) in the Bible, Fatima in the Bible; Imam Hussain in the Bible; Video/Audio lectures and more, available to read/download in the following links: https://independent.academia.edu/EsmHem https://hemmatiesm.wordpress.com/ https://t.me/christianityandbible Notes:  Unless otherwise noted, all biblical passages referenced are in the New International Version (NIV).  All Hebrew quotations of the Bible are from Westminster Leningrad Codex, unless otherwise noted.  All Hebrew and Greek text analysis are taken from biblehub.com.  All Quran translations are from Yusuf Ali. pbuh: peace be upon him/her pbut: peace be upon them (The two phrases are said by all Muslims after mentioning the name of a prophet. They will be assumed throughout this article). iii This page intentionally left blank. iv Contents Contents ......................................................................................................................................... v Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1 Part 1 - Parakletos ......................................................................................................... 4 “Another” Advocate ....................................................................................................................... 4 “The other” or “Another?” ............................................................................................................. 7 Gender of the Holy Spirit ................................................................................................................ 7 When the Comforter was supposed to come ................................................................................ 9 The Holy Spirit Was There ............................................................................................... 9 The Holy Spirit was sent before the Ascension ............................................................... 9 Parakletos in Hebrew ................................................................................................................... 10 Parakletos, Paraklisi and Perikletos.............................................................................................. 10 Part 2 - The Spirit of Ahmed ......................................................................................... 12 Jesus did not teach in Greek......................................................................................................... 13 Eh'-meth and Ahmed .................................................................................................................... 14 The Holy Spirit or the Spirit of Truth? .......................................................................................... 16 Spirits and Prophets ..................................................................................................................... 17 Christ “came in flesh” ................................................................................................................... 18 What the Advocate will do ........................................................................................................... 19 Part 3 - Trial of Jesus before Pontius Pilate .................................................................. 22 The spoken language in the Trial ................................................................................................. 23 Part 4 – Ahmed and Ameen in the Book of Revelation ................................................. 25 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 26 References .................................................................................................................. 27 v This page intentionally left blank. vi Ahmed, The Comforter Esmail Hemmati - 2020 Introduction It was an over a millennium challenge for Muslims to biblically prove the truthfulness of the passage in the Holy Quran where it quotes from Jesus giving “the glad tidings of a messenger after him whose name shall be Ahmed”; It is in Surah As-Saf (61) Verse 6 as following: And remember, Jesus, the son of Mary, said: "O Children of Israel! I am the messenger of Allah (sent) to you, confirming the Law (which came) before me, and giving Glad Tidings of a Messenger to come after me, whose name shall be Ahmed." But when he came to them with Clear Signs, they said, "this is evident sorcery!" (Quran 61:6) Muslims, even those of biblical scholars who are converted to Islam, were unable to respond the challenge. They have brought up the issue of corruption and changes in the Bible, questioning the reliability of the book and therefore rejecting its authority to prove nor disprove the Quranic passage. However, this may not be the full perspective that we once thought we had. When I looked for the commonalities between the Holy books of Jews, Christians, and Muslims, I discovered many verses in them relating to each other; including the prophetic verses from the Bible about the Quran. It was a decade’s worth of research for me until I finally decided to write them down and publish my findings in a book, named partially after the famous prophecy of Jesus in the Gospel of John, The Spirit of Truth, Bible the Herald of Quran. Since then, I made many more discoveries by the grace of God and recognized some fine details of the previously discovered ones. One of them, perhaps the most amazing one, was where Jesus foretells the advent of Prophet Muhammad by his other name, Ahmed. This was exactly what the Quran had stated in the aforementioned verse. It is necessary to know that the oldest known New Testament (NT) manuscripts are not in the language of Jesus, Hebrew/Aramaic; instead they are Greek translations from either the original Hebrew/Aramaic texts or oral stories told in Greek about and from the Hebrew Rabbi, Jesus, and his disciples. These stories, written or verbal, were originally in Hebrew/Aramaic, but when they entered the Roman world, were interpreted to Greek. There is strong evidence that the Gospel/s were originally written in Hebrew/Aramaic. Even names and titles were almost completely changed. Some examples are Christos, Petros / Simon, Solos, and James that are Greek translations of Mashiach (Messiah), Kifa (Cifa) / Shamoon, Shaol, and Jacob in Hebrew, respectively. Even if all the Gospels and other books of the NT were originally written in Greek, it does not prove that Jesus ministered and taught in the tongue of gentiles whom he himself rejected, 1 Ahmed, The Comforter Esmail Hemmati - 2020 (Matthew 15:24) and prohibited the apostles entering their towns. (Matthew 10:5-6) Therefore, in order to understand what Jesus really told in his language, we must reclaim his original words through translating the Greek back into Hebrew/Aramaic. This can be done linguistically acceptable by referring to the Hebrew OT. Hebrew and Aramaic are languages, known as Semitics. Some consider them one language and merely two different accents. They are so similar that even Flavius Josephus could not differentiate between the two. He tells us that he wrote the original version of his Jewish Wars in his ‘native tongue’ and he repeatedly calls his native tongue ‘Hebrew’. But an internal analysis of the work proves the original was written in Aramaic. So he did consider Aramaic and Hebrew as one and the same language. Since there are more Hebrew manuscripts than Aramaic, I attempted to back root the Greek words of the NT to the Hebrew of the OT, wherever needed. By doing so, I was able to uncover a 2 millennium secret; Ahmed in the words of Jesus. There are a few places in the NT where Jesus prophesied the coming of a person after his departure/ascension under two names translated to “Advocate” (or “Comforter”) and “The Spirit of Truth”. These are mainly in the G. of John, chapters 14, 16, and 18. Since Gospels have translated the words of Jesus into Greek, the names would naturally be translated as well; remember that name translation was a norm in ancient Greek literature. As we can see in the coming pages, G. of John has translated the words of Jesus including the name of the prophesied person to the following Greek phrases: Παράκλητος (paraklétos) meaning: helper, comforter, counselor, advocate τὸ Πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας (to Pneuma tēs alētheias) meaning: the Spirit of Truth As we will investigate in the coming pages, these phrases are closely related to Muhammad and Ahmed in Arabic, the names of the Prophet of Islam. In addition to the G. of John, the Revelation of John also has an interesting prophetic statement almost identical to the Gospel; Revelation 19:11 alludes the same person’s name, Ahmed, and his epithet, Πιστὸς (Pistos) meaning Ameen (trustworthy). Not only that, it talks about a well-known story of the Night-Journey of Prophet Muhammad riding on a white horse. This single verse, Revelation 19:11, is often sufficient enough to prove that my whole argument is true with no need for further evidence. Nevertheless, it is commonly believed by Christians that these prophecies are about the Holy Spirit. It has never been accepted by Churches, with a few exceptions of the learned men of Christianity, that Jesus had ever mentioned the name “Ahmed” or “Muhammad”. Though the back rooting of these Greek words into Hebrew will exhibit, through the similarities in pronunciation, the meaning of the words, and the context of the passages, that both are indeed related to the prophet of Islam. Today this discovery will drastically change the view of Christianity towards Islam. 2 Ahmed, The Comforter Esmail Hemmati - 2020 I will begin with examining lexicology of Παράκλητος (paraklétos) and the context where it is revealed in the Gospel, and then will compare its Hebrew parallel with the word Muhammad. After that, I will examine τὸ Πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας (to Pneuma tēs alētheias) and will explain why these phrases cannot be referring to the Holy Spirit but to Prophet Muhammad, by both contextual and philological approach. Bear with me to witness the most amazing truth of the Gospel, Ahmed foretold by Jesus. 3 Ahmed, The Comforter Esmail Hemmati - 2020 Part 1 - Parakletos Jesus, according to the G. of John, foretold and testified to Parakletos (John 14:16, 16:7) or Alithias (John 16:13, 18:37), meaning “the helper“/“advocate” and “truth” respectively. He declared that if he (Jesus) doesn’t go away, Parakletos will not come (John 16:7); moreover he made it clear that this (Parakletos) is a different one (alon Parakleton, in Greek) (John 14:16). No doubt that the words were in Hebrew/Aramaic but assimilated and translated into Greek. Who is Parakletos or Alithias? When was he predicted to come? What was he supposed to do? Was Jesus the only one that prophesied about him, or were there other Hebrew prophets that foretold his coming? In this article, we are dealing with the Identity of Parakletos, or Alithias, with references from The NT alone, for more information on the prophetic passages of the Bible including the OT, please refer to my book, The Spirit of Truth, Bible the Herald of Quran. I start with John 14:16. John 14:16 (NIV) And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— In order to understand the real application of this verse, we need to have a closer look at the terminology of “another advocate”. The word “another advocate”, or “another Comforter” in some translations, is a term used to express an advocate who is different from the one that is known at the time these words were uttered. The key to understanding the real meaning of the verse is in the word “another”; in the next a few pages, the matter will be discussed. “Another” Advocate The “another advocate” is a translation of “ἄλλον Παράκλητον” (allon Paraklēton) in Greek. It contains two separate words: ἄλλον (allon) and Παράκλητον (parakleton). The former occurs 17 times in the NT. It means: other, another, different. It is the accusative form of ἄλλος (allos), the primary root for English “else” and German “alles”. Below is its definition according to Strong’s Concordance and HELPS (243): Strong’s Concordance allos: other, another Original Word: ἄλλος, η, ον Part of Speech: Adjective Transliteration: allos 4 Ahmed, The Comforter Esmail Hemmati - 2020 Phonetic Spelling: (al’-los) Short Definition: other, another, different Definition: other, another (of more than two), different. HELPS Word-studies 243 állos (a primitive word) – another of the same kind; another of asimilar type. The word ἄλλον (allon) or ἄλλος (allos) mean “different”; for instance in 2 Corinthians we read: 2 Corinthians 11:4 For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. In this verse, ἄλλον (allon - translated to “other than”) has a clear message: someone else, not the same Jesus. Similarly, in John 14:16, it denotes the same concept: someone else, not the same Advocate. Although there are occasions in The Bible that “the Holy Spirit” is referred to as a “Comforter” or “Advocate”, it is apparent that “the Comforter” in John 14:16 is not “The Holy Spirit”, not just because of the allon (another) but also for the time line, context, chores, and gender differences between “the Holy Spirit” and ἄλλον Παράκλητον (allon parakleton) / “the other Advocate”. The Holy Spirit, as we will explain shortly, is Neuter, but ἄλλον Παράκλητον (allon parakleton) is Masculine. (See below.) 3875. paraklétos Strong's Concordance paraklétos: called to one's aid Original Word: παράκλητος, ου, ὁ Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine Transliteration: paraklétos Phonetic Spelling: (par-ak'-lay-tos) Short Definition: an Comforter, comforter, helper, Paraclete Definition: (a) an Advocate, intercessor, (b) a consoler, comforter, helper, (c) Paraclete. 5 Ahmed, The Comforter Esmail Hemmati - 2020 Text Analysis - John 14:16 Strong’s Transliteration Greek English Morphology 2504 [e] kagō κἀγὼ and I PPro-N1S 2065 [e] erōtēsō ἐρωτήσω will ask V-FIA-1S 3588 [e] ton τὸν the Art-AMS 3962 [e] Patera Πατέρα Father, N-AMS 2532 [e] kai καὶ and Conj 243 [e] allon ἄλλον another Adj-AMS1 3875 [e] Paraklēton Παράκλητον Helper N-AMS2 1325 [e] dōsei δώσει he will give V-FIA-3S 4771 [e] hymin ὑμῖν you, Ppro-D2P 2443 [e] hina ἵνα that Conj 1510 [e] ē ᾖ he might be V-PSA-3S 3326 [e] meth’ «μεθ’ with Prep Note: Both allon and parakleton are Masculine. For accepting the claim that Jesus is a “comforter” and “the Holy Spirit” is also a “comforter”, which explains why Jesus said “another comforter”- referring to the Holy Spirit, we need to find a solution for three issues: timeline, definiteness, and the gender differences between the “another Comforter” and the Holy Spirit. Because the Holy Spirit, as you will see soon, was present at the time of Jesus, grammatically neuter, and was known to Jews, but the “another Comforter” must come in the future (absent at the time of Jesus), grammatically masculine, and unknown at the time. These differences will be expounded through the rest of the text. 1 2 Adjective-Accusative Masculine Singular Noun- Accusative Masculine Singular 6 Ahmed, The Comforter Esmail Hemmati - 2020 “The other” or “Another?” Alon Parakleton, in John 14:16, appears to be an unknown person to the disciples because there is no definite article precedent to it. However, the Holy Spirit was known to them, as we see in Mark 3:29 a definite article is used for the Holy Spirit. (See below) Although this is the first time Mark uses the phrase “Holy Spirit”, it has a definite article which explains the fact that people were familiar with the Holy Spirit. Mark 3:29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin." ὃς δ’ ἂν βλασφημήσῃ εἰς τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, οὐκ ἔχει ἄφεσιν εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, ἀλλ’ ἔνοχός ἐστιν αἰωνίου κρίσεως· (Greek Orthodox Church 1904) The word “alon parakleton” lacks the definite article- τὸ - in John 14:16; that is sufficient reason to reject its relevance to the Holy Spirit. In another example, in John 20:2, the word “alon” is used for a known person, one of the Disciples. That is why it carries a definite article: John 20:2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!" τρέχει οὖν καὶ ἔρχεται πρὸς Σίμωνα Πέτρον καὶ πρὸς τὸν ἄλλον μαθητὴν ὃν ἐφίλει ὁ Ἰησοῦς, καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς· Ἦραν τὸν Κύριον ἐκ τοῦ μνημείου, καὶ οὐκ οἴδαμεν ποῦ ἔθηκαν αὐτόν. (Greek Orthodox Church 1904) Gender of the Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit is a translation of the Greek τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον (to Pneuma to Hagion). Pneuma (Spirit) has been used 160 times in the Bible. Both words are Neuter nouns. (See below.) 4151. pneuma Strong’s Concordance pneuma: wind, spirit Original Word: πνεῦμα, ατος, τό Part of Speech: Noun, Neuter Transliteration: pneuma Phonetic Spelling: (pnyoo’-mah) Short Definition: wind, breath, spirit Definition: wind, breath, spirit. 7 Ahmed, The Comforter Esmail Hemmati - 2020 Text Analysis - Luke 1:35 Strong’s Transliteration Greek English Morphology 2532 [e] kai καὶ And Conj 611 [e] apokritheis ἀποκριθεὶς answering, V-APP-NMS 3588 [e] ho ὁ the Art-NMS 32 [e] angelos ἄγγελος angel N-NMS 3004 [e] eipen εἶπεν said V-AIA-3S 846 [e] autē αὐτῇ to her, PPro-DF3S 4151 [e] Pneuma Πνεῦμα Spirit N-NNS3 40 [e] Hagion Ἅγιον [the] Holy Adj-NNS4 1904 [e] epeleusetai ἐπελεύσεται will come V-FIM-3S 1909 [e] epi ἐπὶ upon Prep 4771 [e] se σέ, you, Ppro-A2S I must mention here that in both Greek and Hebrew, God is referred to as a masculine, “He”, but the Spirit, in Greek “pneuma”, is Neuter, and in Hebrew “ruah”, feminine. “Spirit” in Old Syriac, “Rukha”, also takes a feminine gender, just like Hebrew. However, in later Syriac manuscripts written in the 5th and 6th centuries, scribes changed the feminine gender of the verbs and pronouns that referred to the Holy Spirit into masculine, 5 perhaps in order to accommodate it to the anti-feministic dogmas of the church. In another word, the Holy Spirit as a feminine was not acceptable to the Syriac Church, so it was transgendered by the fathers to be able to teach and speak! Greeks were lucky for having a Neuter gender in their grammar otherwise they had to do the same operation! In addition to the gender difference, the definiteness (as explained earlier) and timeline are two other issues that lead us to believe that the Advocate is not the Holy Spirit but a man. In the next pages the different timelines of the Advocate and the Holy Spirit will be explained. Noun – Nominative Neuter Singular Adjective – Nominative Neuter Singular 5 Suzanne McCarthy, Valiant or Virtuous?: Gender Bias in Bible Translation, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2019 pp. 176-177 3 4 8 Ahmed, The Comforter Esmail Hemmati - 2020 When the Comforter was supposed to come G. of John, quoting from Jesus, writes that the advent of the parakletos is conditioned to the departure of Jesus. John 16:7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. There is a key condition for the coming of the Advocate (parakletos): that is the departure of Jesus. Can this be the Holy Spirit? First of all, we know that the Holy Spirit was there before Jesus, and at the time of Jesus. Secondly, Jesus himself could give the Holy Spirit to the disciples before his departure to heaven. Please read on. The Holy Spirit Was There G. of Luke explains that the Holy Spirit (or the Holy Ghost in some translations) was there before Jesus, with John the Baptist, Mary, and Elizabeth, the mother of John. Therefore, Parakletos cannot be the Holy Spirit. Luke 1:15 (regarding John the Baptist) for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. Luke 1:35 (Angel talking to Mary) The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God”. Luke 1:41 When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was sent before the Ascension John 20:22 states that Jesus, Just before his Ascension, breathed on the disciples and said "Receive the Holy Spirit”. This makes the problem more complicated if we think that the promise given earlier in John 16:7 and 14:16 is fulfilled, because Jesus was supposed to send it only after 9 Ahmed, The Comforter Esmail Hemmati - 2020 his departure. According to John 16:7, Jesus at the time of the coming of the Parakletos (Advocate) or Pneuma Alithias (The Spirit of Truth) had to be away instead of present. Moreover, he was supposed to send Another Advocate not the one that was known. The Holy Spirit, as discussed earlier, was a well-known spirit to Jews, however Another Advocate in John 14:16 precedes with no definite article, emphasizing the fact that the person (another Advocate) is unknown to the disciples. Putting the verses 16:7, 20:22 from John and Luke 1:15, 35, 41 together, one can easily understand that the another Advocate cannot be the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit was known to people, it was with Jesus, the Disciples, even with his mother and his cousin (John the Baptist), Johns’ mother, before Jesus’ departure, but the Advocate was not known to them and was supposed to come after Jesus’ Ascension. Parakletos in Hebrew Hebrew word the following verse: ‫מנחם‬ (mə-na-ḥêm), as used in the OT, is the equivalent for parakletos. See Job 16:2 "I have heard many things like these; you are miserable comforters, all of you! .‫ָׁשמַ ְע ִּתי כְ אֵ לֶּ ה ַרּבֹות; ְמנַחֲ מֵ י עָׁ מָׁ ל כ ְֻּלכֶּם‬ The Hebrew phrase used for the Holy Spirit, ‫( רוח הקודש‬ruacḥ ha-qodesh) has no similarity with ‫( מנחם‬mə-na-ḥêm); compare it with Muhammad/Ahmed. This brings up the idea that Jesus might have stated Muhammad / Ahmed with a Hebrew/Aramaic accent but people who were telling these stories took it as mə-na-ḥêm, so did the author of the G. of John. (This also is the case for “the spirit of truth” where Jesus used a word that was unfamiliar to the people of his time, Ahmed; therefore they understood it as the closest Hebrew pronunciation, ‫( אֶ ֶמת‬eh'meth).To be discussed soon.) Parakletos, Paraklisi and Perikletos Parakletos, according to the HELPS consists of the prefix ‘παρα’ (para) and the main word ‘καλέω’ (kaleo);6 they mean ‘excess’7 and ‘to call’ / ‘called’,8 respectively; combined together 6 HELPS Word-studies, 3875 paráklētos, https://biblehub.com/greek/3875.htm, (Retrieved March 3, 2020) 7 Pocket Oxford Greek Dictionary, ISBN 0198645368, Oxford University Press Inc., New York, 1995 / παρα 8 Strong's Concordance 2564 καλέω’ 10 Ahmed, The Comforter Esmail Hemmati - 2020 they can be translated to ‘most called’; compare it with the meaning of Muhammad: ‘most praised’. There is another similar word in Greek that’s meaning is related to Muhammad and Ahmed; that is παράκληση (paraklisi), meaning ‘entreaty’ and ‘prayer’.9 Muhammad and Ahmed are both from H M D which means ‘Praise’ / ‘Pray’. And finally, Perikletos is another word in Greek that means exactly Ahmed (the praised).10 Could Jesus have used “Ahmed” or “Muhammad”, but people simply took it as a Hebrew/Aramaic word that resembles it, and consequently, the author of the G. of John translated it to the equivalent in Greek? It is highly possible. By examining the other aspects of the prophecy and some other passages of the Gospel and the Revelation of John, there will be no shadowy guess in believing that Jesus indeed spoke of Ahmed. Please read on. 9 Pocket Oxford Greek Dictionary, ISBN 0198645368, Oxford University Press Inc., New York, 1995 541 ‫ ص‬1 ‫ ج‬،‫ انتشارات مرتضوی‬،‫ سید عبدالرحیم خلخالی‬،‫ انیس االعالم‬،‫محمد صادق فخراالسالم‬ 10 11 Ahmed, The Comforter Esmail Hemmati - 2020 Part 2 - The Spirit of Ahmed John 16:13, gives more details on the characteristics of the Advocate, this time with another name, assimilated to Hebrew “Ruach eh'-meth”, and translated to “to pneuma tis alithias” in Greek (“the spirit of truth”). John 16:13 But when he, the Spirit of truth (Ruach eh'-meth), comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. This is a unique verse in the entire Bible for having a Masculine pronoun/noun no less than 7 times! The Greek word ἐκεῖνος (ekinos) used in this verse is a masculine pronoun similar to “he”. Text Analysis John 16:13 Strong's Transliteration Greek English Morphology 3752 [e] hotan ὅταν when Conj 1161 [e] de δὲ however Conj 2064 [e] elthē ἔλθῃ V-ASA-3S 1565 [e] ekeinos ἐκεῖνος, Might have come He, 3588 [e] to τὸ the Art-NNS 4151 [e] Pneuma Πνεῦμα Spirit N-NNS 3588 [e] tēs τῆς - Art-GFS 225 [e] alētheias ἀληθείας, of truth, N-GFS 3594 [e] hodēgēsei ὁδηγήσει he will guide V-FIA-3S 4771 [e] hymas ὑμᾶς you PPro-A2P 1722 [e] en ἐν** into Prep 12 DPro-NMS Ahmed, The Comforter Esmail Hemmati - 2020 The phrase “Spirit of Truth” has been used by Jesus twice, once in John 14:17 and once in John 16:13. The first occasion explains that the Spirit of Truth lived with the disciples. This contradicts the preceding verse where it states that Jesus will ask the father to send him. John 14:16-17 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Comforter (Allon parakleton) to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. Some bring the last statement of John 14:17 to prove that the Spirit of Truth is indeed the Holy Spirit. It reads: “But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you”. “This shows that Parakletos or the Spirit of Truth is not a man but a spirit”, they claim. If we accept that the quotation and the translation in John 14: 16, 17 is done accurately, we will be puzzled and left hopeless in explaining how these two verses both could be possibly correct. If the Disciples already had the Holy Spirit when Jesus was saying these words (as the verse 17 states so), why did he have to ask the Father to give them the Holy Spirit again?! Another puzzling verse is John 20:22 in which states that Jesus, just before his Ascension, breathed on the disciples and said "Receive the Holy Spirit”. Again, why did he have to give the Holy Spirit to them if they already had the Holy Spirit?! Not to mention what he said in John 16:7,… I go not away, the Comforter (Paraklētos) will not come unto you …. The complication arising from relating “the Advocate” (Parakletos) to “the Holy Spirit” is serious and challenging. The only solution I can think of is to consider them as two different beings. This can be done easily by back-rooting the terms “the Spirit of Truth” and “the Holy Spirit” to Jesus’ own scriptural language, Hebrew. Continue reading to find out more. Jesus did not teach in Greek Obviously Jesus did not speak English nor did he preach in Greek! He was guiding his people which were Hebrew / Aramaic speaking Jews. Both Aramaic and Hebrew are Semitic languages, closely related to each other and almost identical. Therefore, he must have used an Aramaic / Hebrew word for “alithias” or “truth”. The Hebrew word used for “truth”, in Tanakh, the Hebrew bible, is ‫( אֶ ֶמת‬eh'-meth). (See Isaiah 59:14 as an example.) As the following text analysis shows, the word “truth” is a translation of ‫( אֱ ֶ֔ ֶמת‬eh'-meth) in Hebrew. Isaiah 59:14 So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter. 13 Ahmed, The Comforter Esmail Hemmati - 2020 Text Analysis Isaiah 59:14 Str Translit Hebrew English Morph 5253 [e] wə-hus-saḡ ‫וְהֻ ַּ֤סג‬ 268 [e] ’ā-ḥō-wr ‫אָ חֹור‬ and is turned Verb away backward Subst 4941 [e] miš-pāṭ, ‫ִמ ְש ֶ֔ ָפט‬ judgment Noun 6666 [e] ū-ṣə-ḏā-qāh ‫ּוצְ ָד ָ ָ֖קה‬ and justice Noun 7350 [e] mê-rā-ḥō-wq ‫מֵ ָר ֣חֹוק‬ afar off Adj 5975 [e] ta-‘ă-mōḏ; ‫תע ֲֹ֑מד‬ stands Verb 3588 [e] kî- ‫ִ ִּֽכי־‬ for Conj 3782 [e] ḵā-šə-lāh ‫כ ְָשלָ ַּ֤ה‬ is fallen Verb 7339 [e] ḇā-rə-ḥō-wḇ ‫ָ ִּֽב ְרחֹוב‬ in the street Noun 571 [e] ’ĕ-meṯ,11 ‫אֱ ֶ֔מת‬ for truth Noun 5229 [e] ū-nə-ḵō-ḥāh ‫ּונְ כ ָ ָ֖חה‬ and equity Adj 3808 [e] lō- ‫לא־‬ not Adv 3201 [e] ṯū-ḵal ‫תּוכַ֥ל‬ do .. .. .. Verb 935 [e] lā-ḇō-w. ‫לָ ִּֽבֹוא׃‬ enter Verb Eh'-meth and Ahmed Eh'-meth and Ahmed can be related to each other in three ways: 1. Indirect meaning: “Ahmed” is one of the names of Prophet Muhammad mentioned in the Quran. (The Quran 61:6) It has the same meaning as “Muhammad”, A person in which praiseworthy traits are abundant, or one who deserves constant praise due to his remarkable character. It comes from 11 ’ĕ-meṯ pronounced as: eh'-meth (see http://biblehub.com/hebrew/571.htm) 14 Ahmed, The Comforter Esmail Hemmati - 2020 the Arabic triconsonantal root of Ḥ-M-D, meaning "praise". It also means "one who constantly praises God." Although Eh'-meth has more “truthfulness” meaning but in one way can be related to Ahmed. According to Exhaustive Concordance, Eh'-meth means “faithfulness” and “firmness”, “lasting”, etc.; an “everlasting faithfulness” can be demonstrated by the means of “constant praising”. Strong's Concordance emeth: firmness, faithfulness, truth Original Word: ‫אֶ מֶ ת‬ Part of Speech: noun feminine; adverb Transliteration: emeth Phonetic Spelling: (eh'-meth) Definition: firmness, faithfulness, truth NAS Exhaustive Concordance Word Origin from aman Definition firmness, faithfulness, truth NASB Translation faith (1), faithful (2), faithfully (6), faithfulness (10), lasting (1), nor* (1), right (1), true (18), truly (4), truth (80), truth that you may correctly (1), truthful (2). 2. The similarity in pronunciation: Letter ‫ ת‬t situated at the end of ’ĕ-meṯ pronounces very softly, similar to d in Arabic. An example of that is the word “echat” ‫ אֶ ָ ֹ֑חת‬in Hebrew, which is identical to “ahad” (‫ )احد‬in Arabic, means “one” in both languages. It is true that the connoting Arabic word to “echat” is “waahidah” or “waahidat”, considering the gender of the nouns, however, the root word is “ahad.” As shown below, both words have the same meaning, “One”. ’e·ḥāṯ ‫א ָ֑חת‬ Englishman's Concordance ’e·ḥāṯ — 31 Occurrences Genesis 11:1 HEB: ‫ְּודבָ ָ֖ריםֶאֲחָ ִֽדים׃ אֶ ָ֑חת הָ ָ ָ֖א ֶֶרץֶשָ פָ ָ֣ה‬ NAS: used the same language KJV: And the whole earth was of one language, INT: earth language the same words and the same Translation and Meaning of ‫“ احد‬Ahad” in “Almaany English Arabic Dictionary” ‫ األ َ َحد‬: ) ‫أَحَد ( اسم‬ the One (God) In another word: Hebrew ’e·ḥāṯ is equivalent to Arabic “ahad”, Therefore, we can confidently claim that ’ĕ-meṯ is equivalent to “ahmed”. They are so similar phonetically that if a Hebrew speaking person says echat and ’ĕ-meṯ next to an Arab speaker, he will immediately think of “Ahad” and “Ahmed”, respectively. Some people, such as Turks, pronounce “Ahmed” as “Ahmet”. As a matter of fact, the 26th prime minister of Turkey was Ahmet Davutoğlu. That is 15 Ahmed, The Comforter Esmail Hemmati - 2020 Ahmed the son of Davood (David); note how both words (Ahmet and Davout) ends to “t” instead of “d” in its Arabic pair “Ahmed” and “Davood.” 3. The Root meaning of Eh'-meth The word origin of ‫ אֱ ֶ֔ ֶמת‬Eh'-meth, which is ‫ אָ מן‬aman, is another surprising proof that it is indeed referring to the Prophet of Islam; it means “trustworthy”, identical to “Ameen” (‫ )امین‬in Arabic, the famous title of Prophet Muhammad! (See Strong’s and NAS– bellow) Strong's Concordance aman: to confirm, support Original Word: ‫אָ מן‬ Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: aman Phonetic Spelling: (aw-man') Short Definition: believe NAS Exhaustive Concordance Word Origin a prim. root Definition to confirm, support NASB Translation believe (26), believed (11), … have...assurance (1), last (1), lasting (1), … trust (4), trusted (1), trustworthy* Going back to John 16:13, Alithias (translated to Truth or ‫’ אֱ ֶ֔ ֶמת‬ĕ-meṯ, in Hebrew) is indeed an assimilation for “Ahmed” in Arabic. The Holy Spirit or the Spirit of Truth? “Holy” in Hebrew is “Kodesh” and “Spirit” is “Ruach”. [“ch” pronounced as “ch” in German “Bach” or ”‫ ”خ‬in Arabic “‫]”خبز‬. An example of that in the Old Testament is Isaiah 63:11, where it reads: Isaiah 63:11 Then his people recalled the days of old, the days of Moses and his people-- where is he who brought them through the sea, with the shepherd of his flock? Where is he who set his Holy Spirit among them. “His Holy Spirit” used in the above verse is from Hebrew words: ‫ּוח קָ ְד ִֽשֹו‬ ֶ ‫( ֥ר‬rū·aḥ qā·ḏə·šōw). So if Jesus meant to say “the Holy Spirit”, he would simply say “Ruach Hakodesh”. Then Greeks would translate it as: πνεύματος ἁγίου (pneumatos hagiou = the Holy Spirit). I see no reason for translating it as “the Spirit of Truth” if it is “pneumatos hagiou”. The fact that the Greek author(s) did not write it pneumatos hagiou and English translators also did not interpret it as “the Holy Spirit” is sufficient to believe that these two are not the same; but why do Christians assume the opposite?! 16 Ahmed, The Comforter Esmail Hemmati - 2020 As we showed earlier in Luke 1:15 and 35, the phrase πνεύματος ἁγίου (pneumatos hagiou = the Holy Spirit) has been used with no hesitation whenever it meant to. Because there are two different phrases for “the Holy Spirit” and “the spirit of Truth” in Hebrew, the translators also interpreted them differently. As mentioned earlier, “Spirit” in Hebrew is “ruach” similar to “rucha” in Aramaic and “ruh” in Arabic. An example of the “ruach" in the Bible is Numbers 27:16. (“God . . . gives breath [ruach] to all living things”) As a logical conclusion, Jesus, when promising the coming of “the Spirit of Truth”, must have said something similar to “Rucha Eh'-meth” (or Ruach Eh'-meth) not “Ruach Hakodesh”. [ִֶֽ‫ּוח קָ ְדש‬ ֶ ‫ ֥ר‬Ruach kodesh = Holy Spirit ‫אֱמת‬ ֶ ֶ֔ ֶ‫ ֥רּוח‬Ruach Ehmet = Spirit of Truth] / The only person with a name similar to “Eh'-meth” who claimed to be foretold by Jesus is Ahmed, the Prophet of Islam. Spirits and Prophets One may ask: what does the spirit have to do with a Prophet? Well, Prophets are metaphorically called spirits in the Bible. For example: 1 John 4:1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. Interestingly, the following verse even gives a simple criterion in distinguishing a true prophet from a false: 1 John 4:2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, This unique verse helps us to recognize the true prophet. If a prophet says that Jesus came in flesh (means a man) as the Christ, then he is from God. We also learn from this verse that the Spirit of God has a metaphoric use for true prophets. The Quran (the revelation to Prophet Muhammad) is the only non-Christian book testifies that Jesus has come in flesh (a man) and he is the Christ. In the Quran we read: QURAN 2:87 "..WE GAVE JESUS THE SON OF MARY CLEAR SIGNS AND STRENGTHENED HIM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT" 17 Ahmed, The Comforter Esmail Hemmati - 2020 QURAN 3:45 "..O MARY! GOD GIVETH THEE GLAD TIDINGS OF A WORD FROM HIM: HIS NAME WILL BE CHRIST JESUS, THE SON OF MARY." Christ “came in flesh” What does Christ and flesh mean? It is important to know what was the Greek and, possibly, the Hebrew phrase used by the author of the Gospel. A close look at the NT reveals that the word “flesh” is a translation of σαρκὶ (sarki) in Greek. The author of 1 John makes a big deal of it by presenting it as a criterion for distinguishing a true prophet from a falls: if a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, otherwise he is a false prophet. Sarki (σαρκὶ) according to the Strong’s and HELPS applies to “human body”, “merely of human origin”. ‘Someone is flesh’ means ‘he/she is just a human’. (See below.) Strong's Concordance sarx: flesh Original Word: σάρξ, σαρκός, ἡ Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration: sarx Phonetic Spelling: (sarx) Definition: flesh Usage: flesh, body, human nature, materiality; kindred. HELPS Word-studies 4561 sárksproperly, flesh ("carnal"), merely of human origin or empowerment. Luke writes that Jesus, at his first appearance to the disciples, explains that he is not a spirit, he is the same man as before, because he has flesh, but a ghost (spirit) has no flesh (σάρξ): Luke 24:39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have." No doubt that the epistle of John has the same opinion about the reality of the Christ; it means the same: Jesus was a human just like everyone else; the only exception is that he was the Christ. Now going back to the criterion, if a prophet acknowledges that Jesus was a human and Christ, he is of God, a true prophet. The Quran in An-Nisa 4:171 states: O People of the Book! Commit no excesses in your religion: Nor say of Allah aught but the truth. Christ Jesus the son of Mary was (no more than) a messenger of Allah, and His Word, which He bestowed on Mary, and a spirit proceeding from Him: so believe in Allah and His messengers. Say not "Trinity" : 18 Ahmed, The Comforter Esmail Hemmati - 2020 desist: it will be better for you: for Allah is one Allah: Glory be to Him: (far exalted is He) above having a son. To Him belong all things in the heavens and on earth. And enough is Allah as a Disposer of affairs. The statement “Christ Jesus the son of Mary” perfectly meets the criterion of John: he was a human and the Christ. It is worthy of mentioning that even the Bible doesn’t exclusively use the title ‘Christ’ for Jesus, but the Quran does. The Bible calls others Christ as well, such as Saul12, David13 and Cyrus14 the King of Persia. The word “Christ” is a translation of ‫( ְמ ִ ַ֥שיח‬maw-shee'-akh) in Hebrew; it means “anointed”, “Messiah.” As expressed above, the Quran is the only book to have an exclusive use of this title for Jesus; no one else is called “Messiah” in the Quran. What the Advocate will do John 16 has a comprehensive expression of what the promised person will do on his coming. We read: John 16 7But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. 12“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. As the text portrays, the Advocate will prove that the world is in the wrong about sin, righteousness and Judgement. Then it clarifies what that really means: “about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.” Applying these specifications to the Holy Spirit, one can easily notice that he cannot be the Advocate. The Holy Spirit, according to the Doctrine of “Salvation through the blood of Jesus” testifies not the sinfulness of the world but the forgiveness of all sins. It is also believed that people through the power of the Holy Spirit see Jesus during their lifetime; exactly contrary to what Jesus predicts, “I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer”. 12 1 Samuel 24:6 1 Samuel 26:9 14 Isaiah 45:1 13 19 Ahmed, The Comforter Esmail Hemmati - 2020 The Advocate that is supposed to confirm what Jesus said, nevertheless the Holy Spirit, in Christian beliefs, does just the opposite. Thirdly, the Advocate will declare the wrong judgement of people about Jesus, “the prince of this world now stands condemned” Jesus stated; that is an objection to the judgement made against Jesus. But, according to Churches, the judgement against Jesus’ self-claiming divinity was rightfully done by Jewish leaders. Finally, the Spirit of Truth will tell all the truth and will prophecy things to come. Nowhere in the Bible such a claim has been made. There is no statement in the Bible that claims that it has all the truths. As a matter of fact, the imperfection of the book has been clarified by the church historically by rendering the manuscripts and changing the meaning of the words and verses. The Catholic Church has confessed this fact in an article posted in its official website; it writes that there are 150,000 variations in older copies of the NT. 15 Many books of the NT that once were used by the early churches and regarded as the word of God, just a few hundred years after all were banned except the limited numbers. The main reason for it, was that they were contradictory to one another. Now let’s apply these to Prophet Muhammad. The Quran is the only book that condemns the accusations and the Judgement of the Jewish leaders about Jesus, opposes the belief to his divinity and crucifixion, and expresses the fact that he was taken up to God, (the latter was not even mentioned by the Gospels in older manuscripts!). As a result, no one can see him until he descends again. In Quran we read: Al-Maeida 5:116 And behold! Allah will say: "O Jesus the son of Mary! Didst thou say unto men, worship me and my mother as gods in derogation of Allah'?" He will say: "Glory to Thee! never could I say what I had no right (to say). Had I said such a thing, thou wouldst indeed have known it. Thou knowest what is in my heart, Thou I know not what is in Thine. For Thou knowest in full all that is hidden. An – Nisaa 4:157-157 That they said (in boast), "We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah"; but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not: Nay, Allah raised him up unto Himself; and Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise; All of the characteristics of the Advocate fit perfectly in Prophet Muhammad; he announced the sinfulness of people for their false accusations and beliefs about Jesus, the ascension of Jesus, and the misjudgement of Jews and Christians about him. Contrary to this, Christians, through the presumed power of the Holy Spirit, claim to see him even today, confirm 15 https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14530a.htm#IV (Under “Transmission of the text”) 20 Ahmed, The Comforter Esmail Hemmati - 2020 that he was crucified for claiming to be God, proclaim that the judgment made against him was right, and that through his blood all sins are forgiven. Finally, Quran states that Islam is a perfect religion to all mankind and that the book contains all the truth, a Guide, and a Mercy: Al-Maeda 5:3 … This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion. … An-Nahl 16:89 … and We have sent down to thee the Book explaining all things, a Guide, a Mercy, and Glad Tidings to Muslims. With this, I end the section and now am reviewing the Trial of Jesus before Pontius Pilate, a very short passage, however, essential to our topic. 21 Ahmed, The Comforter Esmail Hemmati - 2020 Part 3 - Trial of Jesus before Pontius Pilate The Jewish leaders, after condemning Jesus to death at the night of his arrest on Friday Nissan 15,16 needed Pontius Pilate’s approval to carry out the sentence. Pilate was the Roman Governor of Judea at the time; so they sent Jesus to him and the interrogation began by asking him questions, such as ‘if he claims to be the King.’ Jesus rejected this accusation that was made by the Jewish leaders, then explained very briefly but plainly about his mission; it was the reason for his coming to this world: John 18:36-37 36 Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.” 37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” Pilate didn’t get it. “What is truth?” asked he. (Verse 38) He seemed to be rather confused. Jesus did not reply. Strangely enough, Pilate, no further demanding Jesus to explain what he meant by saying “truth”, exclaimed that there is no guilt in him. However, Jews insisted to put him into death. Pilate gave up to the Jewish leaders, turned over Jesus to the Jews to carry out the death penalty, and followed the rest of the story. The key point in this trial is where Jesus says that his reason for being in this world is to testify to the truth. Pilate’s question, “What is truth,” is an important hint to understand what might Jesus meant by saying “truth”. The language in which the trial took place has to be clarified. The trial was most likely in Greek, or, although less likely, in Hebrew. In either case, 16 John’s account on the day and time of trial and “crucifixion of Jesus” is different than of the synoptic gospels. John puts the crucifixion on the day of preparation (Thursday Nissan 14) for the feast of Passover (Friday Nissan 15) after the 6th hour (12 noon), but it was Friday 3rd hour (9 am) in Mark’s Gospel, for instance. (John 18:28, 19:14; Mark 14:16, 15:25) John contradicts even itself on the day of crucifixion; compare John 18:28 with 19:31; the first says that the Jews did not enter the palace of Pilate so they would stay clean for the Passover meal (it is eaten at the evening of the preparation day), because they believed that the residences of Gentiles are not clean and should be avoided in religious feasts and special days. In another word it was Thursday when Jews brought Jesus to Pilate; but 19:31 states that Jesus was crucified on Friday after noon which is the first day after the Passover meal. Therefore, according to 18:28 Jews had not eaten the meal yet but in 19:31 the meal was supposedly eaten the night before because it was already Friday, the day after Passover meal, yet both of them are talking about a very same day, the day of crucifixion. 22 Ahmed, The Comforter Esmail Hemmati - 2020 there is no reason for not understanding the words Jesus used to express his only mission, “to testify to the truth”. Pilate did not ask about his mission, but the “truth”. He did not understand what Jesus meant by “truth”. That means the word used by Jesus was not known to Pilate. Pilate did not ask: “what are you testifying to?” but instead: “what is truth?” Because he understood that Jesus did not mean that he is testifying right/correct. Otherwise, he would question “the testimony” not the “truth”, “what is your testimony?” he would ask Jesus, but not “what is truth?” It is very clear that Pilate did not understand the word Jesus used. We have to clarify this important matter with all possible detail. We need to know why Pilate did not understand Jesus’ answer and why Jesus did not explain it. It is very essential to study the trial and revise it in the two possible languages, Greek and Hebrew. The spoken language in the Trial The trial of Jesus at the palace of Pilate might have taken place either in Hebrew or Greek. The trial in Hebrew, which is less plausible, proves Pilate’s sufficient knowledge of Hebrew. In this case, it is clear why he did not understand the meaning of “truth”, ‫( אֶ מֶ ת‬eh'-meth) in Hebrew. Furthermore, why Jesus did not tell him the meaning of this word in Pilate’s own tongue, Greek, which is ἀλήθεια (alētheia). John gives no explanation, and the trial ends with no answer from Jesus! The Judge (Pilate) asked the accused (Jesus) to defend himself; the defendant replied that he has done nothing but to testify to truth. The judge did not understand him, therefore asked him: “what is truth?” but received no response from the accused! Then the decision was made: “he is not guilty!” Not an acceptable story! However, if the conversation took place in Greek, which is highly plausible, the question becomes even more critical: Why did Jesus have to use a non-Greek word in between his conversation with the highest authority of Rom in Judea, at his trial, where the difference between understanding and not understanding his words will determine his truthfulness? Did he not know what the Greek word is used for “truth” and that is why he had to use perhaps a Hebrew/Aramaic equivalent for that specific word? Very inconceivable. What if he used an unfamiliar word in his statement, a word that had no equivalent in Greek and Hebrew? This can explain why Pilate did not understand it. One may ask: why did John write ἀλήθεια (alētheia) if this was not the word Jesus used? Obviously John was not there at the trial; someone must have been listening to this conversation and must have interpreted it with the best of his knowledge. The nearest Hebrew word that means “truth”, or ἀλήθεια (alētheia) in Greek, is ‫( אֶ מֶ ת‬eh'-meth). However, as explained before, there is no reason to accept that Jesus used a Hebrew word in his trial, unless we assume that the entire session was in Hebrew; then Pilate should understand what this Hebrew word means, or he could call an interpreter; but he did not. It is reasonable to assume that Jesus used a word that sounded similar to, but not exactly same as ‫( אֶ מֶ ת‬eh'-meth). 23 Ahmed, The Comforter Esmail Hemmati - 2020 Therefore, Pilate did not get it and asked: “What is …?” Did Jesus answer the question or not? John tells nothing. Nevertheless, right after Pilate asked the question, he found Jesus to be innocent, although Pilate received no response from him! There must be something in the words of Jesus where he said: “In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the [X]. Everyone on the side of [X] listens to me.” Jesus was testifying to the same person that he prophesied his coming earlier in John 14 and 16, “the spirit of [X].” This is the same word assimilated into ‫( אֶ מֶ ת‬eh'-meth) and translated to ἀλήθεια (alētheia) in Greek, “truth” in English. He must have mentioned a name unfamiliar to the Governor. Putting all the pieces together, one can easily guess the word, “Ahmed.” If we think for a moment that Jesus was testifying to the coming of Ahmed, and Pilate did not care enough to condemn Jesus and therefore found no guilt in him, the whole story will make sense. Pilate was only concerned about the time and the province he ruled over, not the Arabian dessert hundreds of years later. It is possible that Jesus did tell him what he was testifying to. That is why Pilate rushed to make his judgment and proclaimed that Jesus is innocent. This however, was not pleasant to the Jewish leaders of his time who were not happy with displacing the kingdom of God from the Israelites to the Ishmaelites. Remember where else Jesus prophesied that; Matthew writes an interesting event related to this matter. Matthew 21 43 “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. 44 Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”17 45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. 46 They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet. The Jews noticed that Jesus is foretelling the end of prophetic “kingdom of God” in Israelite; that means no more prophet, savior, or Mashiach form the Jews. This was a serious statement from an Israelite who claimed to be a prophet from God. That would bring hopelessness to some Jews who were under the oppression of tyrant rulers for over a millennium, and the dream of Mashiach was their only hope. Moreover, such a claim could end the Jewish authority on religious matters and would turn the tables upside down; no more Temples and the end of priesthood of Jews if Jesus could spread and infuse his proclamation. That could end the superiority of the Jewish leaders to the people. The claim was too heavy to be allowed to spread in Judea. That is why he had to be hung and be proven a false Christ. This was, in my opinion, what Caiaphas the high priest meant by saying: “You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish." (John 11:50) The priests believed that they were the guardians of the people; in their opinion, death of a prophet was better than death of a nation. 17 Some manuscripts do not have verse 44. 24 Ahmed, The Comforter Esmail Hemmati - 2020 Part 4 – Ahmed and Ameen in the Book of Revelation Revelation Chapter 19 is a vision about a future kingdom, the coming of a ruler who fights justly. There is lots to say about this vision, however the passage that concerns our topic is verse 11, where it mentions the rider of a heavenly white horse named “Ameen and Ahmed”. Revelation 16:11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. The Old Persian and Arabic Smith & Van Duke, translate “Faithful” to “Ameen”; (See below.) Prophet Muhammad was known as “Ameen” even before he received the revelation from God. The second name, “True”, is closely related to “Ahmed”, as pointed out earlier. The verse clearly proves that these are the names of the promised person, and explains what the testimony of Jesus at the trial was, to testify for the coming of Ahmed, as well as what he meant saying the Spirit of Ahmed will come after his departure. The words used in the Revelation are almost identical to the ones in the Gospel of John. That means Jesus before his departure prophesied the coming of Ahmed, so did the Angel of God in the Book of Revelation; both of them talked about the same person with the same name, “Ahmed”, but simulated to “‫( אֶ מֶ ת‬eh'-meth)”, and translated to “Truth”. Can Revelation 19:11 be about Jesus? Jesus was never called “Ameen” or “Ahmed”; nor was anyone else in the history, except Prophet Muhammad. Furthermore, a quick look at the story of Prophet Muhammad’s Night Journey (Lailat al-Miraj) on a white horse called ‘Buraq’ leaves no doubt that this prophesy is about him alone.18 18 Prophet Muhammad's night journey to heaven started in the Ka'bah in Mecca. The archangel Gabriel woke him up and led him to a winged white horse called ‘Buraq’. He rode Buraq from Mecca to Jerusalem and then visited Heaven overnight, where he met Adam, Jesus, Moses, and Abraham. The event is mentioned in the Quran in Al-Israa (17) and Al-Najm (53). 25 Ahmed, The Comforter Esmail Hemmati - 2020 Conclusion Numerous pieces of evidence from the Bible indicate that Jesus talked about someone coming after him. He called him with names that were translated to “Comforter” or “Advocate” (from the Greek word “Parakletos”), and “the Spirit of Truth (from the Greek phrase “to Pneuma tis Alithias”). The promised Comforter cannot be the Holy Spirit for many reasons, due to the gender and timeline differences between them, and the fact that Jesus said “Another Comforter” and not “The Comforter”. It can be someone with either a similar name, similar characteristics, or even both. Not to mention that there is another similar word in Greek called “Periklytos” that astonishingly means “the most praised one”, equivalent to “Muhammad” in Arabic. The closeness of this promised person to Prophet Muhammad points out that Jesus indeed must have said “Muhammad” or “Ahmed”, meaning “the praised one”. Prophet Muhammad (also known as Ahmed) is the only candidate we can think of logically, not The Holy Spirit. Because: 1- Parakletos is masculine, but the Holy Spirit is neuter. 2- Parakletos is supposed to come after Jesus’ departure (see John 16:7), but we know that The Holy Spirit was already there even before Jesus. (Luke 1:15, 1:35) 3- In John 14:16 we read "…another Comforter...". That means a different one, not the Holy Spirit that was already around. 4- If Jesus meant “the Holy Spirit”, he would simply say “Ruach Hakodesh”, but he used a phrase similar to “Rucha ’ĕ-meṯ” (or Ruach ’ĕ-meṯ). 5- “The Spirit of Truth” is equivalent to Hebrew “Ruach Ehmet”. Ehmet is Ahmed in Arabic. Ruach (meaning “spirit”) is used in the Bible for Prophets metaphorically. Therefore, Ruach Ehmet can be interpreted as Prophet Ahmed, another name of the Prophet Muhammad. 6- The Hebrew word ‫( אָ מן‬aman) is the word origin of ‫’ אֱ ֶ֔ ֶמת‬ĕ-meṯ, (equivalent to Greek word ἀληθείας alithias, “truth” in English) and it means “trustworthy”, similar to “Ameen” ‫ امین‬in Arabic. “Ameen” is one of the names of Prophet Muhammad. All the passages and statements brought here evidently prove that Prophet Muhammad was foretold by Jesus. This is in agreement with the Quran in Surah As-Saf (61) Verse 6. 26 Ahmed, The Comforter Esmail Hemmati - 2020 References              The Holy Quran – Yusuf Ali Translation The Holy Bible – NIV Westminster Leningrad Codex The Holy Bible – Arabic Smith & Van Duke The Holy Bible – Old Persian Translation https://biblehub.com/ https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/incunab/s6-215-e.html J.M.GRINTZ, Hebrew as the spoken and written language in the last days of the second Temple, Journal of Biblical Literature 179 (1960) Suzanne McCarthy, Valiant or Virtuous?: Gender Bias in Bible Translation, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2019 HELPS Word-studies Strong's Concordance Pocket Oxford Greek Dictionary, ISBN 0198645368, Oxford University Press Inc., New York, 1995 Anis al Aalaam, M.S. Fakhrolislam (Musha Ben Yuhannan), trans. S.Abdurrahim Khalkhali ‫ انتشارات مرتضوی‬،‫ سید عبدالرحیم خلخالی‬،‫ انیس االعالم‬،‫محمد صادق فخراالسالم‬  Eusebius Pamphili, The Fathers of the Church, Ecclesiastical History, Books 1-5, translated by Roy J. Deferrari, The Catholic University Of America Press, Washington, DC, pages 174, 175  Explanation of the Sayings of the Lord [cited by Eusebius in History of the Church 3:39] 27