Who Baptized Whom? What the Hebrew Manuscripts Reveal About What Really Happened at the Jordan River
"Acts 2: Shavuot Unveiled
A Verse-by-Verse Journey Through the Hebrew Manuscripts Behind the Day the Spirit Fell
From The Cochin Manuscript
When a Brooklyn hardware merchant asked Jonathan Felt if he wanted to immerse a pot in rainwater, it sparked a question his translation team couldn't shake: the same Hebrew verb used for koshering dishes — taval — is the verb used for what happened at the Jordan River. So what was John's actual role?
Drawing on five Hebrew manuscripts of Luke, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Mishnah, and Torah purification law, this essay traces a pattern that holds from Genesis to the Gospels: the person needing purification always immerses themselves. Never once, outside a single instance, is it someone else who dunks them.
What if the story of Pentecost was never meant to be read in Greek first? This exclusive sneak peek pulls back the curtain on Acts Chapter 2 using rare Hebrew New Testament manuscripts — including the Freiburg (HS314), Cambridge (Oo.1.16 and Oo.1.32), and Gaster 1616 codices, connected to the Cochin Jewish community of India. Dr. Miles R. Jones walks you line-by-line through the events of Shavuot: the sound from heaven, the tongues of fire, Peter's sermon, and the 3,000 souls added in a single day — comparing how each manuscript renders the Hebrew text, flags Aramaic influence, and preserves details often smoothed over in later translations.
Features
- Prepared for the Shavuot Conference — Presented as part of a focused teaching series on the Feast of Weeks
- Discussion-provoking notes — Includes open questions raised by the text (e.g., on the nature of the Trinity, divine names, and translation choices)
- Excerpts from Hebrew Matthew 26 — Cross-reference the arrest narrative alongside Acts 2
- Context on manuscript history — Understand the origins of each codex, from the Freiburg University Library to the Cochin synagogues of India
- Scribal and linguistic notes — Learn where Aramaic forms, spelling variants, and scribal choices shape meaning
- Original Hebrew text with transliteration notes — Follow the actual wording, not just an English glossSide-by-side manuscript comparison — See how the Freiburg, Cambridge, and Gaster texts differ verse by verse
“Dr. Jones and his team would love to share with you insights from our Hebrew Roots about this topic” – Writing of God (Benai Emunah Institute for Accelerated Learning)
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