The Tanakh describes Messiah as Divine

Important Introduction I have given my pleasantries to my friend/opponent EmilRose, so I'll jump right in. First, I'd like to point out that this debate has little to do with Yeshua (aka Jesus) or Christianity. It is a debate over whether or not the Jewish scriptures (the Tanakh) claims that the Messiah (literally translated into English as "Anointed One") has a divine nature. There are many scriptures that refer to Messiah being divine. I will also use ancient Jewish writings from the Talmud, Mishna, and other Jewish sources to show that this was the interpretation of Jewish rabbis both before and after Christianity began. This interpretation of ancient (before Christianity) rabbis also establishes the credibility of the divine interpretation being argued in favor of by pro. Unless otherwise noted, I will use New King James Version (NKJV) for all my scripture references. For those perhaps unfamiliar, the original King James Version (KJV) was made to be as literal (word-for-word) translation as possible, but was translated in Old English. The NKJV is almost the same as KJV, but uses modern American English. For those interested, there is a freely available tool called Strong's Exhaustive Concordance that provides the original Hebrew from which the Tanakh was translated with statistics on each Hebrew word and many other tools. To make this more straight forward for the voters, I plan to use the English names for books from the Tanakh. To look up verses and compare them, there are a number of sources. I usually used BibleGateway: http://biblegateway.com... Round 2 Opening Arguments Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty G-d, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Even modern Jewish rabbis agree that Isaiah 9:6 is speaking about a Messiah (1, 2, 3). To not misrepresent, though, the common interpretation is that King Hezekiah was a Messiah that this verse refers to (1). I will allow to give more details. It is also clear from the targums and mishna that the names in the list refer to the child/Messiah (1, 2, 3). One name in the list stands out: El Gibbor (Mighty G-d). El Gibbor is a name that is reserved for G-d (1). If the list of names applies to Messiah, then this verse is calling Messiah by a name only given to G-d thus making Messiah equal with G-d. On the other hand, this verse refers to a Messiah that is born. Micah 5:2 "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting." Modern Orthodox Judaism agrees that Micah 5:2 is a reference to Messiah, the Son of David who was created before the sun was (4, 5). However, it is also believed that only G-d existed before the universe was created, thus if this ruler existed from everlasting, this ruler would have to be G-d. This verse is very clear that this leader will be human, coming from the tribe of Judah. It is astounding to note that the Messiah is given the most sacred name for G-d in all of Judaism! Jeremiah 23:5"6 5 "Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord, "That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. 6 In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. (7) I provided a link to blueletterbible. One may open the study tools there to see the original Hebrew to confirm that the name for G-d is given of Messiah. This has been agreed to by Jewish rabbis. For example, the Midrash on Lamentations 1:16 written in the third century by Rav Huna asserts that Messiah has the most sacred name for G-d (8, 9, 10). Speaking of the names given to the Messiah, Isaiah 7:14 claims that a human child will be called Immanuel which literally translates into English "G-d with us". Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. Whether or not the word virgin is appropriate is debatable and is off-topic for this debate. Whether or not it was a virgin or just a young maiden, the point still stands that there is a human child named "G-d with us". If the meaning of the name is taken at face value, it implies that the human with that name is also G-d. If this is the case, it is difficult to attribute the child in this verse to anyone but Messiah, because there is no other human in the scriptures which could possibly be divine. It is no surprise that this verse was traditionally given a messianic interpretation before the anti-Christian movement. The Dead Sea Scrolls are a significant archaeological finding, because they have been left preserved and unmodified since before Christianity which leaves them unbiased for or against the Christian claim that Messiah is divine. Judaism was much more diverse in those days than it is in modern times, even though it is very diverse in modern times. However, it is notable that the Dead Sea Scrolls contained evidence that some early Jewish adherents believed in a divine Messiah (11). I have shown that Judaism has accepted the idea of a divine Messiah before, shortly after, and recently. I have also given just a few verses on which this belief is based. I plan to provide more in future rounds. Best of luck to EmilRose. I'm looking forward to her response. Sources 1) http://jewsforjudaism.org... 2) http://www.truthnet.org... 3) http://www.hadavar.org... 4) http://www.chabad.org... 5) http://www.seedofabraham.net... 6) http://www.chabad.org... 7) http://www.blueletterbible.org... 8) http://www.jesusplusnothing.com... 9) http://books.google.com... 10) http://lmgtfy.com... 11) http://www.hebrew-streams.org...