When is Isaiah 61:1 read in the weekly torah
readings and provide sources / links to back it up?
I need to search for information about when Isaiah 61:1 is read in the weekly
Torah/Haftarah cycle.
Isaiah 61:1 weekly Torah reading Haftarah portion
Based on the search results, I can provide you with information about when
Isaiah 61:1 is read in Jewish liturgical practice:
Isaiah 61:1 in Weekly Torah Readings
Isaiah 61:10-63:9 is the Haftarah (prophetic reading) for Parashat Nitzavim, which
is one of the weekly Torah portions from the Book of Deuteronomy Torah
Readings – Judaism 101 (JewFAQ) +2. Note that while Isaiah 61:1 itself falls within
this general section, the standard Haftarah reading actually begins at Isaiah
61:10, not 61:1 Chabad.orgAdatreyim.
This Haftarah is the seventh and last of the haftarot of consolation read between
Tisha b’Av and Rosh Hashanah Adatreyim. Parashat Nitzavim typically falls in late
summer/early fall, around the month of Elul in the Hebrew calendar.
Historical Note
Interestingly, there is a reference in Luke 4:17 indicating that Isaiah 61:1-2 was
read during a Sabbath service in Nazareth in the first
century Encyclopedia.com, though some sources suggest this passage may
have been excluded from later haftarah lists Quora.
Sources:
- Chabad.org: https://www.chabad.org/parshah/torahreading_cdo/aid/36
239/p/haftarah - Judaism 101: https://www.jewfaq.org/torah_readings
- Congregation Adat Reyim: https://www.adatreyim.org/weekly-torah
portion.html - Encyclopedia.com (Haftarah
entry): https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias
almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/haftarah
Are you able to look back in time and discover if it was ever read
for weekly torah?
Isaiah 61:1 historical Haftarah readings ancient Jewish liturgy
Let me search for more specific information about the ancient triennial cycle
and whether Isaiah 61:1 was included.
triennial cycle Isaiah 61:1 ancient synagogue reading
Yes, I can provide you with fascinating historical information about Isaiah
61:1 and its use in ancient synagogue readings. The evidence is quite
compelling:
Historical Reading of Isaiah 61:1
Evidence from the 1st Century
The earliest reference to the actual reading of a haftarah is found in the New
Testament, specifically in Luke 4:17, which states that during a Sabbath service
in Nazareth, the Book of Isaiah was handed to Jesus, and he read from Isaiah
61:1-2 JewFAQ. This confirms that Isaiah 61:1 was indeed read in synagogue
services in the first century CE.
The Ancient Triennial Cycle
In the ancient triennial (or three-year) cycle of Torah readings used in Israel,
Egypt, and northern Africa, the haftarot (prophetic readings) focused on God’s
promised messianic reign, with almost half coming from Isaiah, especially Isaiah
40-66 Quora. In the first century, it was actually up to the weekly speaker to
choose the prophetic passage to accompany the Torah reading Our Rabbi
Jesus, which explains why Jesus may have selected this particular text.
Deliberate Exclusion from Later Readings
Here’s where it gets particularly interesting: Isaiah 61:1 is deliberately not read in
modern synagogues on any Sabbath, festival, or fast day in the Jewish
calendar, and scholars believe this exclusion was intentional due to its use in
Christian doctrine Wikipedia.
Scholars have difficulty determining exactly when and where the decision was
made to exclude it, but the chapter that Jesus recited in Nazareth does not
appear in any of today’s haftarot readings Wikipedia.
According to a Ha’aretz article, passages with clear Christian claims were
deliberately excluded from synagogue liturgies, and even triennial reading lists
from later centuries appear to be somewhat “sanitized” Quora.
Current Practice
As I mentioned in my first response, the closest modern reading is Isaiah 61:10
63:9 for Parashat Nitzavim, but this notably begins at verse 10, not verse 1.
Sources:
- Our Rabbi Jesus – “A Surprisingly Messianic Tradition in the Ancient Synagogue”: https://ourrabbijesus.com/articles/triennial-reading/
- Jewish Virtual Library (Haftarah entry) https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/haftarah
- Ha’aretz – “What Happened to Jesus’ Haftarah?” (August 12, 2005): https://www.haaretz.com/1.4930887
- TorahResource – “Public Reading of the Scriptures in the 1st Century
Synagogue”: https://torahresource.com/article/public-reading-of-the
scriptures-in-the-1st-century-synagogue/
So to directly answer your question: Yes, Isaiah 61:1 was read in the weekly
Torah/Haftarah cycle during the first century, but it has since been removed from
the liturgical calendar.
Is there a way to nail down when Jesus might have read it? Either
which week or perhaps time of year?
Luke 4:17 Jesus Nazareth Isaiah 61 when date synagogue reading
Let me search for more specific information about the timing and whether there
are any scholarly theories about when this occurred.
Luke 4 Nazareth synagogue Day of Atonement Yom Kippur timing
Let me search for information about the timing of Jesus’s ministry and when this
event occurred in relationship to other events in the gospels.
“Luke 4” Nazareth timing AD 27 Daniel 9 chronology Jesus ministry
Great! Now I have comprehensive information to answer your question. Let me
provide you with what can be determined about when Jesus might have read
Isaiah 61:1.
When Jesus Read Isaiah 61:1
Based on the biblical and historical evidence, there are several theories about
the timing, though we cannot pin down an exact date or week with certainty.
Here’s what scholars and sources suggest:
General Timing in Jesus’ Ministry
The event in Nazareth occurred after Jesus’ 40-day temptation in the wilderness
and at the beginning of His Galilean ministry, possibly as much as a full year after
His baptism and temptation Wikipedia. Luke dates Christ’s baptism in the
fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar (Luke 3:1), which places Jesus’
baptism around AD 26-27 JewishEncyclopedia.com.
The Yom Kippur Theory
Some scholars propose an intriguing possibility about the specific time of year:
One theory suggests that Luke’s use of the plural “Sabbaths” (σαββάτων) rather
than singular might indicate this was a weekly Sabbath that coincided with an
annual feast day requiring both a holy convocation and no work, such as the
Feast of Trumpets or the Day of Atonement Open Siddur Project.
Some scholars believe Jesus was reading Isaiah 61 during a first-century Yom
Kippur service, noting that Isaiah references “fast” and “afflict,” which are code
words for Yom Kippur, and that Jesus declared “today this Scripture is fulfilled in
your hearing” Our Rabbi Jesus. Isaiah 58 (which Jesus may have also referenced)
is traditionally read every year in the synagogue on the Day of
Atonement Open Siddur Project.
If this theory is correct, it would have been during the Day of Atonement (Yom
Kippur), which falls on the 10th day of Tishrei in the Hebrew calendar,
corresponding to late September or early October in our calendar.
Why It’s Difficult to Be More Specific
In the first century, it was actually up to the weekly speaker to choose the
prophetic passage to accompany the Torah reading Our Rabbi Jesus, which
means Jesus may have specifically selected this text rather than it being the
scheduled Haftarah for that day.
Sources:
- Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange – “Luke 4 – how does he know that
Jesus read the Isaiah
scrolls?”: https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/90894/luke
4-how-does-he-know-that-jesus-read-the-isaiah-scrolls - Ligonier Ministries – “Jesus in the
Synagogue”: https://learn.ligonier.org/sermons/jesus-synagogue - ICEJ USA – “The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) and Its Prophetic
Significance”: https://icejusa.org/2023/09/08/the-day-of-atonement
prophetic-significance/ - Jerusalem Cornerstone Foundation – “An Ancient Yom Kippur
Mashup”: https://www.jerusalemcornerstone.org/news/2017/09/15/an
ancient-yom-kippur-mashup-jesus-mixing-the-prophet-isaiah - Ministry Magazine – “Christ or antichrist: The mysterious gap in Daniel
9″: https://www.ministrymagazine.org/archive/1982/05/christ-or-antichrist
the-mysterious-gap-in-daniel-9
Bottom line: While we can place it generally in AD 26-27, early in Jesus’ Galilean
ministry, possibly during the autumn season, we cannot definitively identify the
exact week or date when Jesus read Isaiah 61:1 in Nazareth.
