Booger McLovin

Introduction

Rabbi Tovia Singer is a gifted teacher and a respected voice in the Jewish world. His books, talks, and website argue that the Church misread Israel’s Scriptures and that the messianic reading of key passages is unsupported. Our aim is to answer his central objections while honoring the people and Scriptures of Israel.

Primary materials we are engaging include Rabbi Singer’s two–volume Let’s Get Biblical and his Outreach Judaism articles and lectures on passages like Isaiah 7, Isaiah 53, Psalm 22, and Daniel 9. 

A Brief Preface on who God is

The faith of Israel insists there is one God, the Holy One of Israel. Christians agree. Within that oneness, Scripture presents the Father, the Word or Son, and the Spirit of God acting personally, yet without dividing God. This is not three gods. It is one God, who can be present with us while still seated in heaven, and who can pour out the Spirit while still being one. Passages where people see God and live point to this mystery, not away from it.

1) Isaiah 7:14 — Who is the child and what does almah mean?

Singer’s claim in brief: almah means “young woman,” not “virgin,” so Matthew misread Isaiah. The sign was a child in Ahaz’s day, not the Messiah. 

The Word Almah in the Tanakh

The feminine noun almah appears seven times: Genesis 24:43; Exodus 2:8; Psalm 68:25; Proverbs 30:19; Song 1:3; 6:8; Isaiah 7:14. In every clear case the word describes a young unmarried woman whose chastity is assumed in Israel’s culture. No verse uses almah for a married woman. This is why many Jewish and Christian scholars acknowledge that almah commonly implies virginity, even if the term by itself could be broader. 

The Sign God Offers

Isaiah tells the house of David that a child will be born whose very name is “Immanuel” which means “God with us,” and that before this child reaches moral discernment, judgment will fall on the kings who threaten Judah. The child is marked by a holy life, “refusing evil and choosing good,” which is not true of the king’s son named in Isaiah 8. The royal infant born to Ahaz is Maher-shalal-hash-baz, a different name and a different purpose. The Immanuel-child signals God’s saving presence, not merely a countdown to Assyrian invasion.

Why a Virgin Fits the Context

Isaiah calls it a sign from the LORD. A normal pregnancy to a royal consort is not an extraordinary sign. A conception by a virgin is. Also, Isaiah 53 later describes a Servant with no ordinary origin, “a root out of dry ground,” life where life should not grow. That picture fits a miraculous conception better than a routine royal birth.

Early Jewish Translation

Centuries before Christian use, the Jewish translators of the Septuagint rendered almah with parthenos, the standard Greek word for virgin. This shows how Jews living before the time of Yeshua understood Isaiah 7:14. The Septuagint was widely read by Jews in the diaspora and was freely used by the apostles. 

Summary: Isaiah 7:14 promises a true sign, a holy child called “God with us,” whose birth and moral perfection point beyond Ahaz’s day to David’s greater Son.

2) Isaiah 9:6 — Is the child really called “Mighty God”?

Singer’s claim in brief: the titles are courtly hyperbole for Hezekiah or another king.

Classical Jewish witness: Targum Jonathan reads this as messianic and loads the titles onto the Messiah. 

The child is the ruler “upon the throne of David.” His names include “Wonderful Counselor” and “Mighty God.” The word “Wonderful” links with Judges 13 where the Angel of the LORD tells Manoah, “Why do you ask my name, since it is Wonderful,” and Manoah realizes he has met God. Isaiah’s royal child bears the same kind of name. Targum Jonathan’s messianic rendering supports that this is not mere flattery for an ordinary king. 

3) Isaiah 53 — Servant of the LORD or the nation of Israel?

Singer’s claim in brief: the Servant is Israel, not an individual Messiah. 

Classical Jewish voices that connect the Servant with the Messiah

The Talmud calls Messiah “the Leper Scholar,” applying Isaiah 53:4 to him. Ruth Rabbah 5:6 and other midrashim use Isaiah 53 language of the Messiah’s sufferings. These are not Christian sources. They are Jewish texts that show a pre-medieval messianic reading existed. 

Grammar that Points to an Individual

The song contrasts he and we throughout. “He was pierced for our transgressions… by his wounds we are healed.” If the Servant were Israel, the “we” would be the nations. Yet the speakers confess their own guilt and ignorance about the Servant, which fits Israel’s leaders speaking about one righteous sufferer far better than it fits the nations speaking about Israel. This is why many pre-modern Jewish sources were open to a personal, messianic reading.

“We are healed” while Israel is exiled?

If the Servant were the nation during exile, who is the “we” that is healed by Israel’s suffering, and when does that healing occur? The national reading strains the pronouns and timing. The individual reading fits the flow naturally.

Summary: Isaiah 53 reads most plainly as one righteous Servant who suffers for the many and brings them healing. Classical Jewish literature shows this was not a foreign idea.

4) Psalm 22:16 — “Like a lion” or “they pierced”?

Singer’s claim in brief: every real Hebrew Bible reads “like a lion my hands and my feet,” not “they pierced.” 

Why “like a lion” does not fit the sentence

“Like a lion my hands and feet” lacks a verb and sits awkwardly in the parallel lines, which otherwise flow as complete actions. Many scholars, including Jewish and Christian commentators, have noted that the “like a lion” reading is grammatically strained. 

Early Textual Witnesses

Septuagint translates “they dug” or “they pierced,” a natural verb with “hands and feet.” Pre-Masoretic scrolls from the Judean desert are cited by many as supporting a reading that matches “they dug/pierced,” not “like a lion,” and modern discussions of these finds recognize that the Masoretic reading is debated for good reasons. 

Bottom line: The sense “they pierced my hands and my feet” fits the grammar and the ancient Jewish Greek translation. It also matches the psalm’s cruciform imagery without forcing it.

5) Daniel 9:24-27 — The time the Messiah must come

Singer’s claim in brief: Christian readers rework the numbers or pick the wrong decree. He argues the Church corrupted this prophecy. 

A Simple Walk-through

The angel says there will be 7 weeks + 62 weeks from a decree to restore and build Jerusalem until the “Anointed One.” “Weeks” are sevens of years. 69 × 7 = 483 years. A strong case identifies the decree of Artaxerxes in his seventh year, recorded in Ezra 7. Many chronologies place this in 457 BC by Tishri-based reckoning used in the post-exile books.  Add 483 years to 457 BC, remembering there is no year zero, and you arrive around AD 27, the era of Yeshua’s public emergence in Judea. Daniel then says the Anointed One will be “cut off” and that the city and sanctuary will later be destroyed. Jerusalem and the Second Temple were destroyed in AD 70, exactly as the prophecy outlines.

These are not special pleading. They rely on standard regnal dating and a decree the text itself highlights. 

6) Zechariah 12:10 — Who is pierced and mourned?

Rabbinic tradition in Sukkah 52a connects this verse to the death of Messiah ben Yosef, and Rashi cites that view. This shows that a pierced, mourned messianic figure was not a Christian invention. 

7) Micah 5:2 — From Bethlehem, from ancient days

Targum and Rashi read Micah 5:2 messianically and tie the ruler to Bethlehem, David’s town. Micah also says this ruler’s “goings forth are from of old, from days of long ago,” language that reaches beyond a routine king. 

8) Psalm 110:1 — “The LORD said to my Lord”

Midrash Tehillim applies this psalm to the Messiah seated at God’s right hand. The Targum to Psalms often reads it in royal, exalted terms. This shows a messianic line of interpretation within Jewish tradition. 

9) “No one can see God” yet people see God

Scripture says, “No man can see My face and live” in the sense of the Father’s unveiled glory. Yet Hagar says, “Have I truly seen Him who sees me” and lives; the elders of Israel see the God of Israel on Sinai; Jacob says, “I have seen God face to face”; Joshua meets the commander of the LORD’s army; Manoah fears death because he has seen God. The Angel of the LORD speaks as HaShem, receives honor as HaShem, and does what only God does. These are not contradictions. They are windows into how the one God can be present with us while remaining the Most High in heaven.

10) The law, the nations, and the New Covenant

God gave Israel a holy Torah. The same Scriptures promised a New Covenant with a heart change for the people of Israel and pledged that the Servant would be a light to the nations. That does not erase Israel. It fulfills God’s promise to bless all families through Abraham’s seed. The nations are not placed under Israel’s civil and ceremonial code, which Israel itself found heavy in seasons of disobedience, but they are called to the God of Israel through the Messiah of Israel with new hearts and clean hands.

Responding Directly to Several of Rabbi Singer’s Recurring Points

“Pre-medieval rabbinic sources do not support a messianic reading.”

They do in many places. We have shown Targum Jonathan on Isaiah 9, Midrash and Talmud on Isaiah 53 and Zechariah 12, and traditional messianic readings of Micah 5 and Psalm 110. These witnesses are older than Rashi and show that messianic readings were part of Jewish interpretation long before the 11th century. 

“Psalm 22 must read ‘like a lion’.”

The grammar is difficult, and early Jewish translation renders a verb that yields “they dug/pierced.” This resolves the syntax and fits the poetry. 

“Daniel 9’s numbers do not point to Yeshua.”

The straightforward count from Artaxerxes’ seventh year reaches the era of Yeshua’s ministry, after which the Anointed is cut off, and the city and sanctuary fall in AD 70, exactly in line with the prophecy. 

Invitation

If you are Jewish and reading this, hear this with honor for you and your people. The God of Avraham, Yitzhak, and Yaakov invites His people to call upon Him. The prophet says, “Call to Me and I will answer you, and show you great and hidden things you do not know.” Come to HaShem with an open heart and ask if Yeshua is the promised Mashiach. Ask Him to make it plain. Then follow where He leads. 

Notes, sources, and where Singer teaches these points

Tovia Singer, Let’s Get Biblical! Why Doesn’t Judaism Accept the Christian Messiah? Vols. 1–2. RNBN, 2014. Overview and purchase pages.  Outreach Judaism articles and lectures on Isaiah 53, Psalm 22, and Daniel 9.  Targum Jonathan on Isaiah 9:6 reads the verse messianically.  Midrash and Talmud connecting Isaiah 53 and Zechariah 12 to Messiah.  Rashi acknowledging the Sukkah 52a reading for Zechariah 12:10.  Messianic readings of Micah 5 in Rashi and the Targumic tradition.  Psalm 22:16 textual and grammatical discussion, with ancient versional support for “they pierced.”  Septuagint usage among Jews in the Second Temple era and its early authority.  Daniel 9 timeline from Artaxerxes’ seventh year.