The following text is an extractions from The Gospel of Barnabas.

The Gospel of Barnabas was accepted as a Canonical Gospel in the Churches of Alexandria till 325 C.E.  In 325 C.E., the Nicene Council was held, where it was ordered that all original Gospels in Hebrew script should be destroyed. An Edict was issued that any one in possession of these Gospels will be put to death. The article, How the Gospel Survived, gives a brief narrative on the text's survival.

        An Islamic perspective and commentary are added to each chapter of the Gospel. The commentary highlights any differences or commanlities which exist between the Gospel and the primary Islamic texts, especially the Holy Quran.

        It should be noted that while presenting the Gospel, chapter headings have been added by us and are not part of the Gospel's text. 

EPHESIANS 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (NKJV)

Let's start by looking at a controversial passage of Scripture from the farewell song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32. First, we'll examine the passage as it appears in most translations based on the traditional Hebrew text (the Masoretic Text, which was finalized between the 8th and 10th centuries C.E.):

DEUTERONOMY 32:7 "Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations. Ask your father, and he will show you; your elders, and they will tell you: 8 When the Most High divided their inheritance to the nations, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. 9 For the LORD's portion is His people; Jacob is the place of His inheritance. (NKJV)

DEUTERONOMY 32:7 Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will show you; your elders, and they will tell you. 8 When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the sons of men, He fixed the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the SONS OF GOD. 9 For the LORD's portion is His people, Jacob His allotted heritage. (RSV)

DEUTERONOMY 32:7 Remember the days of old, consider the years for past ages: ask thy father, and he shall relate to thee, thine elders, and they shall tell thee. 8 When the Most High divided the nations, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the nations according to the number of the angels of God. 9 And His people Jacob became the portion of the Lord, Israel was the line of His inheritance. (Brenton's LXX)

The Septuagint translators plainly understood that the "sons of God" (beney 'elohim) spoken of in Deuteronomy 32:8 and elsewhere were spirit beings ("angels"), and rendered it that way several times (Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7) in order to clarify the meaning. Thus the textual change from huion theou to aggelon theou.

The idea that the separation of mankind into 70 nations at the Tower of Babel was by and for the angelic "sons of God" is supported by the ancient Book of Jasher (Jos. 10:13; II Sam. 1:18):

JASHER 9:31 And they built the tower and the city, and they did this thing daily until many days and years were elapsed. 32 And God said to the seventy angels who stood foremost before him, to those who were near to him, saying, Come let us descend and confuse their tongues, that one man shall not understand the language of his neighbor, and they did so unto them. (pub. 1887, J.H. Parry & Company, Salt Lake City, Utah)

DEUTERONOMY 32:8 When the Most High made allotment of the world unto the nations which proceeded from the sons of Noach, in the separation of the writings and languages of the children of men at the time of the division, He cast the lot among the seventy angels, the princes of the nations with whom is the revelation to oversee the city, even at that time He established the limits of the nations according to the sum of the number of the seventy souls of Israel who went down into Mizraim [Egypt]. (Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, translated by J.W. Etheridge)

As the Targum explicitly brings out, Moses' mention of the separation of "the sons of men" refers back to God's division of Noah's descendants into 70 different nations, as recorded in the 10th chapter of Genesis:

GENESIS 10:32 These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, by their nations; and out of these the nations were separated on the earth after the flood. (NASU)

If Moses was indeed referencing God's separation of the nations according to Noah's offspring (specifically their physical separation at the Tower of Babel), it is important to note that Israel is not listed in the index of the 70 nations found in Genesis 10. The nation of Israel did not yet exist at that time. Therefore, the statement that God "set the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the children of Israel" clearly seems out of context here.

However, if we accept the rendering of Deuteronomy 32:8 found in the Septuagint and the Hebrew copies of Deuteronomy from Qumran (which is supported by the testimony of the Book of Jasher), we face the same dilemma that the Jewish scribes later faced. Did the Hebrew Scriptures at one time suggest polytheism in the religion delivered to the Israelites?

Ancient Hebrew language expert Michael S. Heiser has shown that there is good reason to accept the earlier version of this Scripture. In his article on this passage, he writes:

. . . What could possibly be meant by the textual option that created a correspondence between the number of the nations in Genesis 10-11 and heavenly beings?

Literary and conceptual parallels discovered in the literature of Ugarit, however, have provided a more coherent explanation for the number 70 in Deuteronomy 32:8 - and have furnished powerful ammunition to textual scholars who argued against the "sons of Israel" reading in MT. Ugaritic mythology plainly states that the head of its pantheon, El (who, like the God of the Bible, is also referred to as El Elyon, the "Most High") fathered 70 sons, thereby setting the number of the "sons of El" (Ugaritic, bn 'il ). An unmistakable linguistic parallel with the Hebrew text underlying the LXX reading was thus discovered, one which prompted many scholars to accept the LXX reading on logical and philological grounds: God (El Elyon in Deut. 32:8) divided the earth according to the number of heavenly beings who already existed from the time of creation.

. . . Understanding "sons of God" as the correct reading in Deuteronomy 32:8 in no way requires one to view Israelite religion as polytheistic. (p. 3, "Deuteronomy 32:8 and the Sons of God")

We see a very similar scene portrayed in the Bible at I Kings 22 and II Chronicles 18, where YHVH's prophet Micaiah describes a vision of the heavenly council that he had been given in regard to a question posed to him by Ahab, king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah:

II CHRONICLES 18:18 Then Micaiah said, "Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left. 19 And the LORD said, 'Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up, that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead?' So one spoke in this manner, and another spoke in that manner. 20 Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD, and said, 'I will persuade him.' The LORD said to him, 'In what way?' 21 "So he said, 'I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' And the Lord said, 'You shall persuade him and also prevail; go out and do so.' 22 Therefore look! The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours, and the LORD has declared disaster against you." (NKJV)

The "host of heaven" is spoken of in many Scriptures. Some Bible scholars attempt to downplay the true meaning of this phrase and imply that it speaks mainly of the stars in the sky. Contextually, however, it is evident that tzeva' hashamayim often refers to the realm of spirit beings in the heavens.

The New Bible Dictionary says this about the "host of heaven":

This phrase (tzeva' hashamayim) occurs about 15 times, in most cases implying the object of heathen worship (Dt. 4:19, etc.). The two meanings 'celestial bodies' and 'angelic beings' are inextricably intertwined. The LXX translation, using kosmos, stratia, or dynamis, does not help to resolve this. No doubt to the Heb[rew] mind the distinction was superficial, and the celestial bodies were thought to be closely associated with heavenly beings. . . . The Bible certainly suggests that angels of different ranks have charge of individuals and of nations; no doubt, in the light of modern cosmology this concept, if retained at all (as biblically it must be), ought properly to be extended, as the dual sense of the phrase 'host of heaven' suggests, to the oversight of the elements of the physical universe--planets, stars and nebulae. (p. 495, "Host, Host of Heaven")

It is thought by some to have arisen as a title of God associated with his lordship over the 'host' of Israel; but its usage, especially in the prophets, clearly implies also a relationship to the 'host of heaven' in its angelic sense; and this could well be the original connotation. (p. 495, "Host, Host of Heaven")

NEHEMIAH 9:5 . . . "Stand up and bless the LORD your God forever and ever! Blessed be Your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise! 6 You alone are the LORD; You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and everything on it, the seas and all that is in them, and You preserve them all. The host of heaven worships You." (NKJV)

JEREMIAH 19:13 "And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah shall be defiled like the place of Tophet, because of all the houses on whose roofs they have burned incense to all the host of heaven, and poured out drink offerings to other gods." (NKJV)

One of the most grievous sins of the ancient Israelites was their continual idolatry. Instead of worshiping the one true God, they instead worshiped the inferior "sons of God," the "host of heaven":

II KINGS 17:15 And they [Israel and Judah] rejected His statutes and His covenant that He had made with their fathers, and His testimonies which He had testified against them; they followed idols, became idolaters, and went after the nations who were all around them, concerning whom the LORD had charged them that they should not do like them. 16 So they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, made for themselves a molded image and two calves, made a wooden image and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. (NKJV)

II KINGS 21:3 For he [Manasseh] rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; he raised up altars for Baal, and made a wooden image, as Ahab king of Israel had done; and he worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 4 He also built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, "In Jerusalem I will put My name." 5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. 6 Also he made his son pass through the fire, practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft, and consulted spiritists and mediums. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger. (NKJV)

JOB 38:4 "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding, 5 Who set its measurements? Since you know. Or who stretched the line on it? 6 On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone, 7 When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" (NASU)

GENESIS 1:26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." (NIV)

The "us" in "Let us make man in our image" (Gen. 1:26; cf. 3:22; 11:6-7) refers to the "sons of God" or lesser "gods" mentioned elsewhere (6:1-4; Job 1:6; Ps. 29:1), here viewed as a heavenly council centered around the one God (cf. Ps. 82:1). In later usage these probably would be called "angels." (p. 1019, "Trinity")

DEUTERONOMY 4:19 "And beware not to lift up your eyes to heaven and see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, and be drawn away and worship them and serve them, those which the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven. (NASU)

The "host of heaven" are the same spiritual "principalities," "powers," and "rulers" Paul speaks of in Ephesians 6:12. These heavenly "powers" are mentioned many times in the New Testament:

MATTHEW 24:29 "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken." (NKJV)

MARK 13:24 "But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; 25 the stars of heaven will fall, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken." (NKJV)

LUKE 21:25 "And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; 26 men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven will be shaken." (NKJV)

ROMANS 8:38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NKJV)

I CORINTHIANS 15:24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. 25 For he must reign till He has put all enemies under his feet. (NKJV)

EPHESIANS 1:20 Which He worked in Christ, raising him from the dead and seating him at His right hand in the heavens, 21 far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion, and every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one to come. (NAB)

EPHESIANS 3:8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to make all men see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things; 10 that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places. 11 This was according to the eternal purpose which he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, (RSV)

COLOSSIANS 1:15 He [Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things were created through him and for him. (NAB)

COLOSSIANS 2:9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. (NKJV)

COLOSSIANS 2:13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He [God] made you alive together with him [Christ], having forgiven us all our transgressions, 14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through him. (NASU)

1 PETER 3:22 [Christ] who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him. (NKJV)

HEBREWS 2:5 It is not to angels that He has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. (NIV)

Chapters 1 and 2 of the book of Job show two instances of the divine council composed of the sons of God (the beney 'elohim) gathering in heaven for a meeting of the council:

JOB 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. 7 And the LORD said to Satan, "From where do you come?" So Satan answered the LORD and said, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it." (NKJV)

JOB 2:1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD. 2 And the LORD said to Satan, "From where do you come?" So Satan answered the LORD and said, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it." (NKJV)

A couple of other Scriptures mention the divine council in passing:

JOB 15:7 "Are you the first man that was born? Or were you brought forth before the hills? 8 Have you listened in the council of God? And do you limit wisdom to yourself? (RSV)

JEREMIAH 23:16 This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. 17 They keep saying to those who despise Me, 'The LORD says: You will have peace.' And to all who follow the stubbornness of their hearts they say, 'No harm will come to you.' 18 But which of them has stood in the council of the LORD to see or to hear His word? Who has listened and heard His word?" (NIV)

PSALM 82:1 {A Psalm of Asaph.} God has taken His place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods He holds judgment: 2 "How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah 3 Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. 4 Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked." 5 They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken. 6 I say, "You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; 7 nevertheless, you shall die like men, and fall like any prince." 8 Arise, O God, judge the earth; for to thee belong all the nations! (RSV)

Psalm 82:7 refers to the governing 'elohim as "princes." This designation connects these council members to whom rulership of the nations was given (Deu. 32:8) with another passage of Scripture found in Daniel:

DANIEL 10:5 I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, a certain man clothed in linen, whose waist was girded with gold of Uphaz! 6 His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like torches of fire, his arms and feet like burnished bronze in color, and the sound of his words like the voice of a multitude. . . . 12 Then he said to me, "Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. 13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia. (NKJV)

Indeed, if Michael (who is described in Dan. 12:1 as the great prince who stands over the people of Israel) had not helped Gabriel, God's message to Daniel might not have been delivered. For additional information on Michael, the spiritual prince over God's portion, Israel, refer to my article "Christ in the Old Testament."

DANIEL 10:20 Then he said, "Do you know why I have come to you? Now I must return to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I am through with him, the prince of Greece will come. 21 But I am to tell you what is inscribed in the book of truth. There is no one with me who contends against these princes except Michael, your prince." (NRSV)

The book of Daniel mentions the fate of some of the "host of heaven" under the coming Antichrist:

DANIEL 8:10 And it [the little horn] grew up to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground, and trampled them. 11 He even exalted himself as high as the Prince of the host [Yeshua, cf. Eph. 1:21; Col. 2:10; I Pet. 3:22]; and by him the daily sacrifices were taken away, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down. (NKJV)

Just as Psalm 82 speaks of the eventual fate of these heavenly princes, the prophet Isaiah tells of their coming punishment in a couple of passages:

ISAIAH 24:19 The earth is broken asunder, the earth is split through, the earth is shaken violently. 20 The earth reels to and fro like a drunkard and it totters like a shack, for its transgression is heavy upon it, and it will fall, never to rise again. 21 So it will happen in that day, that the LORD will punish the host of heaven on high, and the kings of the earth on earth. 22 They will be gathered together like prisoners in the dungeon, and will be confined in prison; and after many days they will be punished. (NASU)

ISAIAH 34:1 Come near, you nations, to hear; and heed, you people! Let the earth hear, and all that is in it, the world and all things that come forth from it. 2 For the indignation of the LORD is against all nations, and His fury against all their armies; He has utterly destroyed them, He has given them over to the slaughter. 3 Also their slain shall be thrown out; their stench shall rise from their corpses, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood. 4 All the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll; all their host shall fall down as the leaf falls from the vine, and as fruit falling from a fig tree. 5 "For My sword shall be bathed in heaven; indeed it shall come down on Edom, and on the people of My curse, for judgment." (NKJV)

We are told in Isaiah 34:4 that "the host of heaven shall be dissolved" (Heb. namaqu, literally "waste away," "decay"). In Zechariah 14:12, the same Hebrew root word maqaq is used to describe the fate of those who come against Jerusalem at the end of the age.

There is a similarity between Isaiah 34:4 and II Peter 3:10-12 that deserves some attention. Peter speaks of an end-time fire in the heavens, which will melt and dissolve the elements:

II PETER 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements [stoicheia] will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and the works that are upon it will be burned up. 11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of persons ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be kindled and dissolved, and the elements [stoicheia] will melt with fire! (RSV)

GALATIANS 4:1 I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no better than a slave, though he is the owner of all the estate; 2 but he is under guardians and trustees until the date set by the father. 3 So with us; when we were children, we were slaves to the elemental spirits of the universe [ta stoicheia tou kosmou]. (RSV)

GALATIANS 4:9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and beggarly elemental spirits [stoicheia], whose slaves you want to be once more? (RSV)

COLOSSIANS 2:8 See to it that no one makes a prey of you by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe [ta stoicheia tou kosmou], and not according to Christ. (RSV)

COLOSSIANS 2:18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, taking his stand on visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. 20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the universe [ton stoicheion tou kosmou], why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? . . . (RSV)

A number of interpreters, perhaps even a majority, have concluded that ta stoicheia tou kosmou refers to spiritual powers of some sort. . . . The earliest extant extrabiblical Jewish evidence for the stoicheia being associated with both spirits and stars is later than the first century (second and third centuries A.D.), but it is well attested and may very well represent beliefs contemporaneous with Paul (cf. Lohse, 99 n.41). The Testament of Solomon, a Jewish-Christian work usually dated to the third century A.D., but possibly containing material dating to the first century, testifies to a belief in star spirits called stoicheia. Seven bound spirits appear before Solomon and reveal their identity: "We are the stoicheia, rulers of this world of darkness [kosmokratores tou skotous, cf. Eph 6:12] . . . our stars in heaven look small, but we are named like gods" (T. Sol. 8:2-4). (pp. 231, 232, "Elements/Elemental Spirits of the World")

YESHUA'S RELATIONSHIP TO THE DIVINE COUNCIL

JOHN 10:24 Then the Jews surrounded him and said to him, "How long do you keep us in doubt? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." 25 Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. 26 But you do not believe, because you are not of my sheep, as I said to you. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. 29 "My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. 30 I and My Father are one." 31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. 32 Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have shown you from my Father. For which of those works do you stone me?" 33 The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone you, but for blasphemy, and because you, being a man, make yourself God [theon]." 34 Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods [theoi]" '? 35 If He called them gods [theous], to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), 36 do you say of him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'? 37 If I do not do the works of my Father, do not believe me; 38 but if I do, though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in Him." (NKJV)

This answer prompted the Jews to charge him with blasphemy and prepare to stone him (vv. 31-33). In verses 34-36, Yeshua addressed the charge that the Jews had leveled against him, namely that he had blasphemed by proclaiming himself to be "God." The Greek word theon is the equivalent of the Hebrew 'elohim.

Based on Yeshua's answer to the Jews, why were they planning to stone him? Did they think that he, a man, had proclaimed himself to be God the Father? Or did they understand his claim in a way that was different from the common Trinitarian understanding of today?

Rather than assume that we know, let's allow the Jews themselves define for us what they took Yeshua's claim to be:

JOHN 19:6 Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, "Crucify Him, crucify Him!" Pilate said to them, "You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him." 7 The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God." (NKJV)

Yeshua's response, including the reference to Psalm 82:6, was intended to convey the understanding that Yeshua, the Son of God, had preexisted his mortal appearance and was one of the members (in fact, the foremost member) of the divine council addressed in Psalm 82. Yeshua here was proclaiming himself to be an 'elohim (divine); he was NOT saying that he was the 'Elohim, the Most High, God the Father.

Many Christians base their understanding of this passage solely on verse 30. They assume that Yeshua's statement that he and the Father are one is an affirmation of the Trinity doctrine (or the less popular "Oneness" doctrine). However, the Bible clearly shows that the state of being "one" does not entail being "the same as" (i.e., Yeshua = the Father).

The example of Adam and Eve clearly illustrates this biblical principal:

GENESIS 2:21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. 23 And Adam said: "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." 24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become ONE FLESH. 25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. (NKJV)

Yeshua's prayer to the Father before his crucifixion, recorded in John 17, confirms this understanding of "one":

JOHN 17:11 "Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are." (NKJV)

JOHN 17:20 "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me." (NKJV)

CONCLUSION

Bryan T. Huie
January 22, 2002
Revised: September 28, 2002

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