The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah Vol 1 - Predestination

is made to banish all anthropomorphisms, as
incoH' sistent with their ideas of the Deity. The
superficial observer might be tempted to regard
this as not strictly Hellenistic, since the same may
be noted^ and indeed is much more consistently
carried oat, in the Targum of Onkelos. Perhaps
such alterations had even been introduced into the
Hebrew text itself.' But there is this vital
difference between Palestinianism and
Alexandrianism, that, broadly speaking, the
Hebrew avoidance of anthropomorphisms depends
an objective—theological and dogmatic—the
Hellenistic on subjective —philosophical and
apologetic—grounds. The Hebrew avoids them as
he does what seems to him inconsistent with the
dignity of Biblical heroes and of Israel. ^ Great is
the power of the prophets,' he writes, ' who liken
the Creator to the creature;' or else* ^ a thing is
written only to break it to the ear'—to adapt it to
our human modes of speaking and understanding;
and again,^ the ' words of the Torah are like the
speech of the children of men.' But for this very
pappose the Words of Scripture may be presented