"חָזוֹן גַּבְרִיאֵל" Stone:

B.C.E. Ëphrayim = Mashiakh Ben-Yoseiph

Prof. Israel Knohl, Hebrew Univ.

"חָזוֹן גַּבְרִיאֵל"Stone 1 meter tall, text written in ink, a combination unknown elsewhere. It's provenance is unknown but is dated, based on linguistic considerations, from B.C.E. 1st century to 1st century C.E.

Ëphrayim was the original firstborn Bën-Yoseiph and, accordingly, is a synonym for the Mâshiakh Bën-Yoseiph.

Until recently, the first extant mention of the "slain Messiah," called Mâshiakh Bën-Yoseiph was in Talmud (Masëkët Sukâh 52a). In 2007.04.19, hâ-Ârëtz published an article on this ink inscription written on a large stone, 'In three days, you shall live', by Yehezkel Kaufmann Professor of Bible at Hebrew University, Israel Knohl. He published his findings in "By Three Days Live": Messiahs, Resurrection, and Ascent Into Heaven in Hazon Gabriel (The Journal of Religion, University of Chicago. 2008).

More recently (18/05/2008), the Shalom Hartman Institute Senior Fellow Prof. Knohl cites new research that supports his case.

One point I find worth questioning about Prof. Knohl's thesis is his dismissal of the equating of Ëphrayim with the P^әrushim in the Dead Sea Scrolls. While he is correct that the Bible correlated Ëphrayim to Northern Israel, scholars date the "חָזוֹן גַּבְרִיאֵל" Stone to B.C.E. first century (based on linguistic factors, the stone's provenance is unknown), meaning that Northern Israel had not existed for six centuries (since B.C.E. 722). Further, since Ribi Y^әhoshua was conspicuously (Ribi!) a P^әrushi, these two considerations are compelling evidence that Ëphrayim was then equated to the P^әrushim.

This suggests that Yardeni's and Elitzur's observation must be modified: "'Ëphrayim' is the name of the Messiah in Pesikta [sic] Rabbati, who suffers in order to atone for Israel" (the Biblical correlation that had become extinct six centuries earlier); rather, it may have been understood much more narrowly: "to atone for the P^әrushim" (the contemporary, DSS, correlation)—today's fellow Orthodox Jews!!!

Interestingly too, this stone apparently predicts the Roman Christian counterfeit Jesus as הַצֶמַח הַרַע–the "antichrist."

Given the recent spate of archeological items being exposed, or claims of exposure, as forgeries, any unprovenanced item—as this is—must be treated with caution.

N^әtzâr•im′ … Authentic