Good Morning Yamon Ki Yesepar;
Luke 23:31: “For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry tree.?”
This is an example of a verse which is unintelligible in the Greek in which it was preserved, but it makes perfect sense when translated into Hebrew.
When translating one must know something about rabbinic methods of Scriptural interpretation. In a very rabbinic way Jesus is using a remez in Luke 23:31 and is hinting at a passage in the Old Testament. That passage would be Ezekiel 20:47
In this prophecy Ezekiel declares that God will send a forest fire, it will sweep through the forest of Negeb. The heat was so intense that even the green trees were burned up. Allegorically, the green tree represents the righteous and the dry tree the not so righteous. Here’s the kicker, the sages also see the green tree to represent the Messiah.
No back to Luke. A company of women followed Jesus weeping. Jesus turned to them and said: “Weep not for me but for yourselves and your children.” Jesus was making a reference to the coming destruction of Jerusalem. In other words: “If this is done in the Green Tree (referring to Himself) what will happen to the dry trees?”
The Greek text in verse 31 literally says: “If they do these things ‘in’ a Green Tree.” A translator must recognize that “so in (someone)” is a Hebrew idiom which means “to do (someone).” Without understanding this idiom this can confuse a translator. The RSV for instance translates this as: “For if they do this when the wood is green, what will they do when it is dry?’ Some translations say “green wood” rather than “Green Tree.”
If we were to understand that Jesus is giving a remez, using a rabbinic form of teaching, we will see that this passage should then be correctly translated: “For if he do these things ‘to a’ Green Tree…” as a reference to Ezekiel 20:47 and if we recognize that the sages see the Messiah in Ezekiel 20:47 then with Jesus referring to Himself as the “Green Tree,” He is therefore declaring Himself to be the Messiah.
It is have often been said that no where in the Gospels does Jesus actually call Himself the Messiah and some take that to deny the divinity of Jesus. However, a little understanding of the teachings of those through whom the Messiah came and ironically rejected Him as the Messiah would reveal that Jesus was constantly declaring Himself as the Messiah, as God Himself in human form.
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