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Identifying the Son of GodThe Watchtower—1966 | June 15
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named Tacitus, who was born about 54 C.E., while some of the apostles of Jesus Christ were still alive, states: “Christ . . . suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilate.”—Annals xv. 44.
Finally, as Daniel’s prophecy indicated, Jesus Christ was put to death in the spring of the year 33 C.E. In fact, he died on Nisan 14, the middle of the lunar year that began in the fall with the month of Tishri. Three and a half years later the seventieth “week of years” came to an end with the anointing of the Gentile Cornelius. A footnote in the Whiston translation of Antiquities of the Jews gives the date of impalement and death of Jesus as April 3, 33 C.E. (Julian calendar), which is Nisan 14 in the Hebrew calendar for that year. Jewish tradition fixes the date of Jesus’ death, according to the Talmudic Tractate (non-expurgated edition), Sanhedrin vi 2, as the 14th of Nisan, in the spring of the year, which is the time Daniel foretold.
So the cone of identification, by means of lineage, place and manner of birth, manner of work and pinpoint chronology all agree to Jesus Christ’s being the Son of God. With what great precision God identified his Son, the Messiah! Those who desire life will give the strongest consideration to the identity of Jesus Christ as the Messiah, for the Messiah is the Seed of Abraham through whom all the families of the earth will bless themselves if they exercise faith in and follow the commands of this prophet Greater than Moses, the Son of God Almighty.
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The Balsam of GileadThe Watchtower—1966 | June 15
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The Balsam of Gilead
“IS THERE no balsam in Gilead?” Thus asked Jeremiah some 2,500 years ago. What was this balsam of Gilead, and what meaning does it have for Christians today?—Jer. 8:22.
The word “balsam” comes from the Greek balsamon, which, in turn, comes from two Hebrew roots, baal (lord), and shemen (oil). Balsam was thus purported to be the finest of oils, the lord or chief of oils, used, not for eating, but for perfume and for its healing properties. “It was regarded with the utmost esteem among the nations of antiquity and to the present day is peculiarly prized among the peoples of the East.”—Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th Edition.
Just exactly from which plant the prized balsam of Gilead was extracted cannot be stated with certainty today. However, among the low-growing evergreen trees or shrubs having the most likely claim to it is the Amyris opobalsamum or gileadensis. To gather the balsam oil, incisions are made in the trees from which, according to one authority, at the most sixty drops of oil could be gathered in one day during a certain season of the year. It grew so plentifully in ancient Gilead that it was exported from there to Egypt and Tyre. According to Josephus, in later years Jericho was also noted for its balsam trees.—Gen. 37:25; Ezek. 27:17.
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