The Calf is Jesus!

While searching for something else entirely, I came across an item of interest to me. It was discovered in the Epistle of Barnabas, a text dated between AD 70 (post-destruction of Jewish Temple) and 135.

The Epistle of Barnabas is attributed to Barnabas, the companion of the Apostle Paul. This treatise is part of a body of works known as The Apostolic Fathers.

The statement that piqued my interest was the calf is Jesus (bolded below). To better understand its meaning in context, two prior sections (verses) are included. The citation below is from the J. B. Lightfoot translation, since it is in the public domain.

Barnabas 7:11

But what meaneth it, that they place the wool in the midst of the thorns? It is a type of Jesus set forth for the Church, since whosoever should desire to take away the scarlet wool it behoved him to suffer many things owing to the terrible nature of the thorn, and through affliction to win the mastery over it. Thus, He saith, they that desire to see Me, and to attain unto My kingdom, must lay hold on Me through tribulation and affliction.

Barnabas 8:1

But what think ye meaneth the type, where the commandment is given to Israel that those men, whose sins are full grown, offer an heifer and slaughter and burn it, and then that the children take up the ashes, and cast them into vessels, and twist the scarlet wool on a tree (see here again is the type of the cross and the scarlet wool), and the hyssop, and that this done the children should sprinkle the people one by one, that they may be purified from their sins?

Barnabas 8:2

Understand ye how in all plainness it is spoken unto you; the calf is Jesus, the men that offer it, being sinners, are they that offered Him for the slaughter. After this it is no more men (who offer); the glory is no more for sinners.

The larger context plainly reveals the meaning.

My specific interest here is in the Greek text translated the calf is Jesus. In Greek it is a convertible proposition: A = B and B = A. In other words, the subject nominative (SN), “the calf”, and predicate nominative (PN), “Jesus”, are interchangeable. That is, if the PN were placed first and the SN last, the meaning would be unchanged. In the above context, there is one particular calf being referred to and, of course, only one Jesus. So, “Jesus is the calf” has the same meaning as “the calf is Jesus” in this context.

But that’s not all that’s going on here.

Below is the Greek:

ὁ μόσχος ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐστίν
ho moschos ho Iēsous estin
the calf the Jesus is

Since each noun (nominative) includes the Greek article ὁ (ho), either one could be the subject. To determine which is the subject, we look for the known entity.¹ The larger context seems to reveal “the calf” as the subject.² Furthermore, in cases where both nominatives (ὁ μόσχος and ὁ Ἰησοῦς here) have the Greek article (where both are articular) “word order may be the deciding factor”.³ Therefore, “the calf” is most likely the subject nominative.

Observe that ὁ Ἰησοῦς (ho Iēsous), “Jesus”, precedes the copula, aka copulative verb (CV) ἐστίν (estin), “is”. This placement provides emphasis: The calf is Jesus.

To recap, the Greek phrase above is a convertible proposition (A = B and B = A).⁴ It contains a copulative verb (CV)—a ‘to be’ verb—in this case ἐστίν, “is”.⁵  If we were to switch the subject nominative (SN) with the predicate nominative (PN), the meaning would remain the same. However, the ordering of the sentence in Greek is SN_PN_CV here. Note that a PN is typically placed after the CV (ἐστίν ὁ Ἰησοῦς); so, because the PN here (“Jesus”) precedes the CV (“is”), the PN is emphatic. The best translation, therefore, is the calf is Jesus.⁶

The calf is Jesus!

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¹ See Daniel B. Wallace, Greek Grammar beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1996), p 42.

² This is my own analysis, extrapolating from Wallace above (and pp 44–45). That is, Wallace almost solely discusses grammatical particulars in deciding which should be the subject, but he is cautious in affirming that context may imply one over the other when both nominatives are articular (or cases with an articular noun and a proper name). To my way of thinking, the “known entity” by definition would appear to be—at least tentatively—the one the reader would perceive to be the subject due to its focus in the context. In this particular case, the focus appears to be on the heifer (“the calf” being a young heifer) as sacrifice, which would make it the most likely candidate for the subject.

³ Wallace, Grammar, p 44.

⁴ See Wallace, Grammar, pp 41,

⁵ Other verbs such as become, appear, seem, look, sound, smell, taste, feel, and get are sometimes included as CVs, though some might consider these “semi-copulas” or “pseudo-copulas” instead.

⁶ Had the Greek read ὁ μόσχος ἐστίν ὁ Ἰησοῦς instead, the translation would be the calf is Jesus (no emphasis).