3 John, Part 6

This is a continuation of my notes on 3 John for the preaching class I’m taking. John wrote (3 John 1:11 ESV):

Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good (τὸ ἀγαθόν). Whoever does good1 is from God (ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐστιν); whoever does evil has not seen God.

I wondered, “How does Jesus relate to ἀγαθόν (good)?”2 Someone asked Him about a good deed (ἀγαθόν) one might do to have eternal life (Matthew 19:16-21 ESV):

And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed (ἀγαθὸν) must I do to have eternal life?” And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments” [Table]. He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your3 father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to him, “All these I have kept.4 What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me” [Table].

I considered the first two verses above in some detail in another essay. I won’t repeat it here except to say that, “What good might I do in order that I might have life eternal,” treats both ποιήσω, “might I do,” and σχῶ, “I might have,” as verbs in the aorist tense and subjunctive mood. I admit, however, that translating ποιήσω as an imperative, must I do, highlights the insight that this man was probably like one of those in Israel described by Paul (Romans 9:30-33 ESV):

What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law [Table]. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith (ἐκ πίστεως), but as if it were based on works (ἐξ ἔργων). They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame” [Table].5

I already began a consideration of Jesus’ question about the good; more to come on that in another essay.

He continued: εἰ δὲ θέλεις, If you would (or “But if you desire”), εἰς τὴν ζωὴν εἰσελθεῖν, enter life (or “into the life to enter”), |τήρησον| τὰς ἐντολάς, keep the commandments. The Greek word translated keep, τήρησον, is a 2nd person singular form of τηρέω in the imperative mood: “to guard, keep watch over (someone/something); to watch (in preparation for either offense or defense); to remain alert in anticipation; to watch out for danger; to watch out for the loss of (something); to inspect closely; to act and live in conformity to; to keep and not let go; to keep, hold, reserve, preserve (someone/something); to keep (from harm); to keep (from loss); to keep and protect; to keep, observe, fulfill, pay attention to.”

The man said, ποίας, Which ones? Knowing that he had great possessions,6 I have wondered if he was negotiating for the best possible price on eternal life. But Jesus didn’t treat him that way. Jesus answered him like an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit,7 a branch of the cultivated olive tree8 of which Paul wrote. Jesus clarified and focused his meaning for the man, not with ceremonial laws or cleanliness laws or dietary laws which separated Israel from other peoples, not with the teaching of the scribes and Pharisees but, with five of the ten commandments (Exodus 20) and the second of the two commandments [on which] depend all the Law and the Prophets.9

There were some notable exceptions (Exodus 20:1-7 ESV):

And God spoke all these words, saying [Table], “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery [Table]. “You shall have no other gods before me [Table]. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth [Table]. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me [Table], but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments [Table]. “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain [Table].

These resolve to, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…the great and first commandment.10 Another exception was (Exodus 20:17 ESV):

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s” [Table].

This is probably the commandment in the forefront of Paul’s mind when he wrote: Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being (σὰρξ; literally, flesh) will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.11 For he acknowledged later (Romans 7:7-13 ESV):

What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure [Table].

The man responded to the six commandments Jesus recited: |πάντα ταῦτα| ἐφύλαξα, All these I have kept. The verb ἐφύλαξα is an indicative form of φυλάσσω: “to watch, guard, defend; to guard (someone), prevent (from escaping); to guard, protect, watch over (someone); to stand guard; to keep (something from being broken); to observe (i.e., to acknowledge that something is significant and important to affect one’s behaviour); to follow; to keep, maintain.” Then the man, sensing apparently that something must be missing, asked: τί ἔτι ὑστερῶ, What do I still lack?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the translation What for the interrogative pronoun τί (a form of τίς). It is probably precisely what the man meant, especially if he was stumbling over the stumbling stone,12 pursuing righteousness as if it were based on works.13 Still, it intrigues me that τί might have been translated Who, “Who do I still lack,” for that is the question Jesus answered: “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”14

Jesus answered the man’s question about eternal life by inviting him to die the death of the upright and [have an] endlike his.15 I left the story of Balaam and Balak, asking, “Did Balak realize that he was hearing from God as Balaam prophesied to him?” Balak neither bowed down nor fell on his face.16 He did not confess, I have sinned.17 But before moving on to consider how Balak responded, there was another commandment missing from Jesus’ response to a man’s desire to enter into eternal life (Exodus 20:8-11 ESV):

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy [Table]. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work [Table], but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates [Table]. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy [Table].

I can’t simply relegate this to a ceremonial law “which separated Israel from other peoples” without comment. Jesus’ attitude was clear: “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath [Table]. So the Son of Man (or “son of man”) is lord even of the Sabbath.”18 And, “it is lawful (ἔξεστιν, a form of ἔξεστι; e.g., permitted) to do good (καλῶς; e.g., beautifully) on the Sabbath.”19 (As the writer of Hebrews noted: For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well.20)

Paul wrote (Romans 14:4-6a; 7-12 ESV):

Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand [Table].

One21 person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord…22 For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ23 died and lived again,24 that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God;25 for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.”26 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God [Table].

The writer of Hebrews likened the Sabbath in the new covenant to the promised land in the old, a daily way of life rather than a singular day of the week (Hebrews 3:12-4:10 ESV).

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. As it is said,

“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”27

For who were those who heard (Exodus 19:1-20:21) and yet rebelled (Exodus 32:1-10)? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? [Table] And with whom was he provoked for forty28 years (Numbers 13:1-14:12)? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest (Numbers 14:13-23), but to those who were disobedient (τοῖς ἀπειθήσασιν)? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief (ἀπιστίαν).

Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened (KJV: not being mixed with faith in them that heard it) [Table]. For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said,

“As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest,’”29

although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.”30 And again in this passage he said,

“They shall not enter my rest.”

Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience (ἀπείθειαν, a form of ἀπείθεια), again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted,

“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts” [Table].

For if Joshua (Ἰησοῦς) had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.

As Paul wrote, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure [Table].31 And I wrote in another essay:

My entering into God’s rest differs from his rest in a significant way. He rested from works that were very good: God saw all that he had made—and it was very good![14] I am eager to rest from works of evil at one extreme, hypocrisy at the other (the works of an actor playing at righteousness) or some jumbled combination of the two everywhere in between.

As John wrote: Whoever does good is from God (or “from God exists”).32 Balak did not believe that God spoke personally to him through Balaam (Numbers 23:11, 12 ESV).

And Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have done nothing but bless them.” And he answered and said, “Must I not take care to speak33 what the Lord (yᵊhōvâ, יְהוָה; Septuagint: Θεὸς) puts in my mouth?”

To one who believes that the Lord (NETS: God) put a word in Balaam’s mouth, this sounds as if He is still speaking, asking an adroit question, inviting Balak to reconsider his ways. To one who does not believe, this sounds like Balaam trying rather ineffectively to deflect the king’s anger. Balak remained resolute (Numbers 23:13, 14 ESV):

And Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place, from which you may see them. You shall see only a fraction of them and shall not see them all. Then curse them for me from there.” And he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

Children are encouraged to emulate a faith and determination like Balak’s to realize their goals and achieve their full potential. Adults are praised for this kind of faith and determination as they pursue their goals and purposes. And the successful credit their success to this kind of faith and determination. Balaam continued as he had done before (Numbers 23:15-18a ESV):

Balaam said to Balak, “Stand here beside your burnt offering, while I meet the Lord (not in the Masoretic text;34 Septuagint: τὸν Θεόν) over there.” And the Lord (yᵊhōvâ, יְהוָה; Septuagint: Θεὸς) met Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus shall you speak.” And he came to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord (yᵊhōvâ, יְהוָה, corroborated by Κύριος in the Septuagint) spoken?”

Is Balak ready now to hear from the Lord (yᵊhōvâ, יְהוָה, corroborated by Κύριος in the Septuagint)?

And Balaam took up his discourse and said, “Rise, Balak, and hear; give ear to me, O son of Zippor: God (‘ēl, אֵל; Septuagint: Θεὸς) is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? [Table] Behold, I received a command to bless: he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it. He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob, nor has he seen trouble in Israel. The Lord (yᵊhōvâ, יְהוָה, corroborated by Κύριος in the Septuagint) their God (‘ĕlōhîm, אֱלֹהָיו, corroborated by Θεὸς in the Septuagint) is with them, and the shout of a king is among them.35

The Septuagint and the Masoretic text diverge here.

Masoretic Text

Septuagint

Numbers 23:21 (Tanakh)

Numbers 23:21 (NET)

Numbers 23:21 (NETS)

Numbers 23:21 (English Elpenor)

None hath beheld (הִבִּ֥יט) iniquity (אָ֨וֶן֙) in Jacob, neither hath one seen (רָאָ֥ה) perverseness (עָמָ֖ל) in Israel; HaShem his G-d is with him, and the shouting for the King (מֶ֖לֶךְ) is among them. He has not looked on (nāḇaṭ, הביט) iniquity (‘āven, און) in Jacob, nor has he seen (rā’â, ראה) trouble (ʿāmāl, עמל) in Israel. The Lord their God is with them; his acclamation as king (meleḵ, מלך) is among them. There shall be (ἔσται) no trouble (μόχθος) in Iakob, nor shall hardship (πόνος) be seen (ὀφθήσεται) in Israel. The Lord his God is with him; the glories of rulers (ἀρχόντων) are in him. There shall not be (ἔσται) trouble (μόχθος) in Jacob, neither shall sorrow be (πόνος) seen (ὀφθήσεται) in Israel: the Lord his God [is] with him, the glories of rulers (ἀρχόντων) [are] in him.

In the Masoretic text הִבִּ֥יט, a form of נָבַט (nāḇaṭ) followed by אָ֨וֶן֙ (āven) was translated hath beheld iniquity (Tanakh), He hathbeheld iniquity (KJV) and He haslooked on iniquity (NET). This was understood as ἔσται μόχθος in the Septuagint, There shall betrouble (NETS, English Elpenor). These statements were negated by לֹֽא (lō’) in the Masoretic text and οὐκ in the Septuagint. In the Masoretic text רָאָ֥ה (rā’â) followed by עָמָ֖ל (ʿāmāl) was translated hath one seen perverseness (Tanakh), hath he seen perverseness (KJV) and has he seen trouble (NET). This was understood as ὀφθήσεται πόνος in the Septuagint, shall hardship be seen (NETS) and shall sorrow be seen (English Elpenor). Again, these statements were negated by וְלֹֽא, a form of לֹא (lō’), in the Masoretic text and οὐδὲ in the Septuagint. Finally, מֶ֖לֶךְ (meleḵ), for the King (Tanakh), of a king (KJV) and as king (NET), was singular in the Masoretic text; ἀρχόντων, of rulers (NETS, English Elpenor), was plural in the Septuagint.

Balaam’s prophecy continued (Numbers 23:22, 23 ESV):

God brings them out of Egypt and is for them like the horns of the wild ox [Table]. For there is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel; now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel, ‘What has God wrought!’

Here, too, the Septuagint and Masoretic text diverge.

Masoretic Text

Septuagint

Numbers 23:23b (Tanakh)

Numbers 23:23b (NET)

Numbers 23:23b (NETS)

Numbers 23:23b (English Elpenor)

‘What hath G-d wrought (פָּעַ֖ל)!’ Look at what God has done (p̄āʿal, פעל)!’ what God shall accomplish (ἐπιτελέσει) what God shall perform (ἐπιτελέσει)

The Masoretic text looks backward to the formation of Israel, while the Septuagint looks forward in the future tense: ἐπιτελέσει, a form of ἐπιτελέω. Would those “scholars and scribes” tasked “to decipher the authentic word of God” from “many disparities of the Torah [which had] emerged as countless scribes wrote numerous scrolls,” with an “ultimate goal…to uphold the traditions of the Jewish people,”36 be more likely to look back to the Passover and the Exodus from Egypt or forward to Christ?

Balaam continued (Numbers 23:24 ESV):

Behold, a people! As a lioness it rises up and as a lion it lifts itself; it does not lie down until it has devoured the prey and drunk the blood of the slain.”

Here, too, the tense in the English translation is at issue.

Masoretic Text

Septuagint

Numbers 23:24 (Tanakh)

Numbers 23:24 (NET)

Numbers 23:24 (NETS)

Numbers 23:24 (English Elpenor)

Behold a people that riseth up (יָק֔וּם) as a lioness, and as a lion doth he lift himself up (יִתְנַשָּׂ֑א); he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain. Indeed, the people will rise up (qûm, יקום) like a lioness, and like a lion raises himself up (nāśā’, יתנשׁא); they will not lie down until they eat their prey, and drink the blood of the slain.” Behold, a people shall rise up (ἀναστήσεται) like a whelp and shall bear itself proudly (γαυριωθήσεται) like a lion! It will not lie down until it eats prey and will drink blood of mortally wounded.” Behold, the people shall rise up (ἀναστήσεται) as a lion’s whelp, and shall exalt himself (γαυρωθήσεται) as a lion; he shall not lie down till he have eaten the prey, and he shall drink the blood of the slain.

The Hebrew word קוּם, a form of יָק֔וּם (qûm) in the Masoretic text, was translated in the present tense in the Tanakh, that riseth up, but in the future tense in the KJV, shall rise up, and NET, will rise up. It was translated ἀναστήσεται in the future tense in the Septuagint: shall rise up (NETS, English Elpenor). The Hebrew word יִתְנַשָּׂ֑א, a form of נָשָׂא (nāśā’) in the Masoretic text, was translated in the present tense in the Tanakh, doth he lift himself up, and NET, raises himself up, but in the future tense in the KJV if I assume that shall carries through the conjunction and, [shall] lift up himself. It was translated γαυριωθήσεται in the future tense in the BLB Septuagint, shall bear itself proudly (NETS), and γαυρωθήσεται also in the future tense in the Elpenor Septuagint, shall exalt himself (English Elpenor).

With the words—it does not lie down until it has devoured the prey and drunk the blood of the slain—the Lord confirmed Balak’s fear (Numbers 23:25, 26 ESV).

And Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all.” But Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘All that the Lord (yᵊhōvâ, יְהוָה; Septuagint: Θεός) says, that I must do’?”37

For the briefest moment it sounds as if Balak is catching on. Perhaps it is too much to hope that he would take advantage of his audience with God, and ask Balaam to intercede on behalf of his people (Exodus 32:9-14). But Balak continued in his faith with determination (Numbers 23:27 ESV):

And Balak said to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God (‘ĕlōhîm, הָאֱלֹהִים, corroborated by τῷ Θεῷ in the Septuagint) that you may curse them for me from there.”

Here, Balak’s faith and determination became a stubborn rebellion; he completely ignored the Lord’s word: God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? [Table] Behold, I received a command to bless: he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it.38 John wrote, whoever does evil has not seen (ἑώρακεν, a form of ὁράω) God.39

This sounds strange on its surface: No one has ever seen (ἑώρακεν, a form of ὁράω) God; God the only Son, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.40 The key here is ἐξηγήσατο (a form of ἐξηγέομαι), translated has made him known. Forms of ὁράω mean more than “to see (with the eyes)” in the literal sense: “to consider (i.e., look at mentally); to arrive at a conclusion by observation; to experience, witness; to notice, recognize, understand; to realize, comprehend.” It is in this sense that Balak, though confronted by the word of God through a prophet, did not consider God, arrive at a conclusion in favor of God by observation, experience, witness, notice, recognize, understand, realize or comprehend God, though he had called Him by name, without understanding.

I’ll pick this up in another essay. According to a note (22) in the NET Matthew 19:18b, 19a is a quotation from Exodus 20:12-16 and Deuteronomy 5:16-20. The following tables compare the Greek of that quotation with the Septuagint.

Matthew 19:18b (NET Parallel Greek)

Exodus 20:13 (Septuagint BLB) Table

Exodus 20:15 (Septuagint Elpenor)

οὐ φονεύσεις οὐ φονεύσεις οὐ φονεύσεις

Matthew 19:18b (NET)

Exodus 20:15 (NETS)

Exodus 20:15 (English Elpenor)

Do not murder You shall not murder. Thou shalt not kill.

Matthew 19:18b (NET Parallel Greek)

Exodus 20:14 (Septuagint BLB) Table

Exodus 20:13 (Septuagint Elpenor)

οὐ μοιχεύσεις οὐ μοιχεύσεις οὐ μοιχεύσεις

Matthew 19:18b (NET)

Exodus 20:13 (NETS)

Exodus 20:13 (English Elpenor)

do not commit adultery You shall not commit adultery. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Matthew 19:18b (NET Parallel Greek)

Exodus 20:15 (Septuagint BLB) Table

Exodus 20:14 (Septuagint Elpenor)

οὐ κλέψεις οὐ κλέψεις οὐ κλέψεις

Matthew 19:18b (NET)

Exodus 20:14 (NETS)

Exodus 20:14 (English Elpenor)

do not steal You shall not steal. Thou shalt not steal.

Matthew 19:18b (NET Parallel Greek)

Exodus 20:16a (Septuagint BLB) Table

Exodus 20:16a (Septuagint Elpenor)

οὐ ψευδομαρτυρήσεις οὐ ψευδομαρτυρήσεις οὐ ψευδομαρτυρήσεις

Matthew 19:18b (NET)

Exodus 20:16a (NETS)

Exodus 20:16a (English Elpenor)

do not give false testimony You shall not testify falsely Thou shalt not bear false witness

Matthew 19:19a (NET Parallel Greek)

Exodus 20:12a (Septuagint BLB) Table

Exodus 20:12a (Septuagint Elpenor)

τίμα τὸν πατέρα καὶ τὴν μητέρα τίμα τὸν πατέρα σου καὶ τὴν μητέρα τίμα τὸν πατέρα σου καὶ τὴν μητέρα σου

Matthew 19:19a (NET)

Exodus 20:12a (NETS)

Exodus 20:12a (English Elpenor)

honor your father and mother Honor your father and your mother Honour thy father and thy mother

Matthew 19:18b (NET Parallel Greek)

Deuteronomy 5:17 (Septuagint BLB)

Deuteronomy 5:17 (Septuagint Elpenor)

οὐ φονεύσεις οὐ φονεύσεις οὐ φονεύσεις

Matthew 19:18b (NET)

Deuteronomy 5:18 (NETS)

Deuteronomy 5:17 (English Elpenor)

Do not murder You shall not murder. Thou shalt not commit murder.

Matthew 19:18b (NET Parallel Greek)

Deuteronomy 5:18 (Septuagint BLB) Table

Deuteronomy 5:18 (Septuagint Elpenor)

οὐ μοιχεύσεις οὐ μοιχεύσεις οὐ μοιχεύσεις

Matthew 19:18b (NET)

Deuteronomy 5:17 (NETS)

Deuteronomy 5:18 (English Elpenor)

do not commit adultery You shall not commit adultery. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Matthew 19:18b (NET Parallel Greek)

Deuteronomy 5:19 (Septuagint BLB)

Deuteronomy 5:19 (Septuagint Elpenor)

οὐ κλέψεις οὐ κλέψεις οὐ κλέψεις

Matthew 19:18b (NET)

Deuteronomy 5:19 (NETS)

Deuteronomy 5:19 (English Elpenor)

do not steal You shall not steal. Thou shalt not steal.

Matthew 19:18b (NET Parallel Greek)

Deuteronomy 5:20a (Septuagint BLB)

Deuteronomy 5:20a (Septuagint Elpenor)

οὐ ψευδομαρτυρήσεις οὐ ψευδομαρτυρήσεις οὐ ψευδομαρτυρήσεις

Matthew 19:18b (NET)

Deuteronomy 5:20a (NETS)

Deuteronomy 5:20a (English Elpenor)

do not give false testimony You shall not testify falsely Thou shalt not bear false witness

Matthew 19:19a (NET Parallel Greek)

Deuteronomy 5:16a (Septuagint BLB) Table

Deuteronomy 5:16a (Septuagint Elpenor)

τίμα τὸν πατέρα καὶ τὴν μητέρα τίμα τὸν πατέρα σου καὶ τὴν μητέρα σου τίμα τὸν πατέρα σου καὶ τὴν μητέρα σου

Matthew 19:19a (NET)

Deuteronomy 5:16a (NETS)

Deuteronomy 5:16a (English Elpenor)

honor your father and mother Honor your father and your mother Honour thy father and thy mother

According to a note (23) in the NET Matthew 19:19b is a quotation from Leviticus 19:18. The following table compares the Greek of that quotation with the Septuagint.

Matthew 19:19b (NET Parallel Greek)

Leviticus 19:18c (Septuagint BLB) Table

Leviticus 19:18c (Septuagint Elpenor)

ἀγαπήσεις τὸν πλησίον σου ὡς σεαυτόν ἀγαπήσεις τὸν πλησίον σου ὡς σεαυτόν ἀγαπήσεις τὸν πλησίον σου ὡς σεαυτόν

Matthew 19:19b (NET)

Leviticus 19:18c (NETS)

Leviticus 19:18c (English Elpenor)

love your neighbor as yourself you shall love your neighbor as yourself thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself

Tables comparing Deuteronomy 5:17; 5:19 (5:17); 5:20 (5:17); Numbers 23:11; 23:12; 23:13; 23:14; 23:15; 23:16; 23:17; 23:18; 23:20; 23:21; 23:23; 23:24; 23:25; 23:26 and 23:27 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and comparing the Greek of Deuteronomy 5:17 (5:18); 5:19; 5:20; Numbers 23:11; 23:12; 23:13; 23:14; 23:15; 23:16; 23:17; 23:18; 23:20; 23:21; 23:23; 23:24; 23:25; 23:26 and 23:27 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor), and tables comparing Matthew 9:19, 20; Romans 14:5, 6; 14:9, 10 and Hebrews 3:17 in the KJV and NET follow.

Deuteronomy 5:17 (Tanakh)

Deuteronomy 5:17 (KJV)

Deuteronomy 5:17 (NET)

Thou shalt not murder. Thou shalt not kill. “You must not murder.

Deuteronomy 5:17 (Septuagint BLB)

Deuteronomy 5:17 (Septuagint Elpenor)

οὐ φονεύσεις οὐ φονεύσεις

Deuteronomy 5:18 (NETS)

Deuteronomy 5:17 (English Elpenor)

You shall not murder. Thou shalt not commit murder.

Deuteronomy 5:17 (Tanakh)

Deuteronomy 5:19 (KJV)

Deuteronomy 5:19 (NET)

Thou shalt not murder. Neither shalt thou commit adultery. Neither shalt thou steal. Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour. Neither shalt thou steal. “You must not steal.

Deuteronomy 5:19 (Septuagint BLB)

Deuteronomy 5:19 (Septuagint Elpenor)

οὐ κλέψεις οὐ κλέψεις

Deuteronomy 5:19 (NETS)

Deuteronomy 5:19 (English Elpenor)

You shall not steal. Thou shalt not steal.

Deuteronomy 5:17 (Tanakh)

Deuteronomy 5:20 (KJV)

Deuteronomy 5:20 (NET)

Thou shalt not murder. Neither shalt thou commit adultery. Neither shalt thou steal. Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour. Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour. “You must not offer false testimony against another.

Deuteronomy 5:20 (Septuagint BLB)

Deuteronomy 5:20 (Septuagint Elpenor)

οὐ ψευδομαρτυρήσεις κατὰ τοῦ πλησίον σου μαρτυρίαν ψευδῆ οὐ ψευδομαρτυρήσεις κατὰ τοῦ πλησίον σου μαρτυρίαν ψευδῆ

Deuteronomy 5:20 (NETS)

Deuteronomy 5:20 (English Elpenor)

You shall not testify falsely against your neighbor with a false testimony. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

Numbers 23:11 (Tanakh)

Numbers 23:11 (KJV)

Numbers 23:11 (NET)

And Balak said unto Balaam: ‘What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.’ And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether. Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but on the contrary you have only blessed them!”

Numbers 23:11 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 23:11 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ εἶπεν Βαλακ πρὸς Βαλααμ τί πεποίηκάς μοι εἰς κατάρασιν ἐχθρῶν μου κέκληκά σε καὶ ἰδοὺ εὐλόγηκας εὐλογίαν καὶ εἶπε Βαλὰκ πρὸς Βαλαάμ· τί πεποίηκάς μοι; εἰς κατάρασιν ἐχθρῶν μου κέκληκά σε, καὶ ἰδοὺ εὐλόγηκας εὐλογίαν

Numbers 23:11 (NETS)

Numbers 23:11 (English Elpenor)

And Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? For cursing my enemies have I called you—and, behold, you have blessed them with a blessing.” And Balac said to Balaam, What hast thou done to me? I called thee to curse my enemies, and behold thou hast greatly blessed [them].

Numbers 23:12 (Tanakh)

Numbers 23:12 (KJV)

Numbers 23:12 (NET)

And he answered and said: ‘Must I not take heed to speak that which HaShem putteth in my mouth?’ And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD hath put in my mouth? Balaam replied, “Must I not be careful to speak what the Lord has put in my mouth?”

Numbers 23:12 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 23:12 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ εἶπεν Βαλααμ πρὸς Βαλακ οὐχὶ ὅσα ἐὰν ἐμβάλῃ ὁ θεὸς εἰς τὸ στόμα μου τοῦτο φυλάξω λαλῆσαι καὶ εἶπε Βαλαὰμ πρὸς Βαλάκ· οὐχὶ ὅσα ἂν ἐμβάλῃ ὁ Θεὸς εἰς τὸ στόμα μου, τοῦτο φυλάξω λαλῆσαι

Numbers 23:12 (NETS)

Numbers 23:12 (English Elpenor)

And Balaam said to Balak, “No, as much as God puts into my mouth, shall I beware of speaking it?” And Balaam said to Balac, Whatsoever the Lord shall put into my mouth, shall I not take heed to speak this?

Numbers 23:13 (Tanakh)

Numbers 23:13 (KJV)

Numbers 23:13 (NET)

And Balak said unto him: ‘Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them; thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all; and curse me them from thence.’ And Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them: thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence. Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place from which you can observe them. You will see only a part of them, but you will not see all of them. Curse them for me from there.”

Numbers 23:13 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 23:13 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτὸν Βαλακ δεῦρο ἔτι μετ᾽ ἐμοῦ εἰς τόπον ἄλλον ἐξ ὧν οὐκ ὄψῃ αὐτὸν ἐκεῖθεν ἀλλ᾽ ἢ μέρος τι αὐτοῦ ὄψῃ πάντας δὲ οὐ μὴ ἴδῃς καὶ κατάρασαί μοι αὐτὸν ἐκεῖθεν Καὶ εἶπε πρὸς αὐτὸν Βαλάκ· δεῦρο ἔτι μετ’ ἐμοῦ εἰς τόπον ἄλλον, ἐξ οὗ οὐκ ὄψει αὐτὸν ἐκεῖθεν, ἀλλ’ ἢ μέρος τι αὐτοῦ ὄψει, πάντας δὲ οὐ μὴ ἴδῃς, καὶ κατάρασαί μοι αὐτὸν ἐκεῖθεν

Numbers 23:13 (NETS)

Numbers 23:13 (English Elpenor)

And Balak said to him, “Come yet with me to another place, from there where you shall not see it; rather some part of it you shall see, but all you shall not see. And curse if for me from there.” And Balac said to him, Come yet with me to another place where thou shalt not see the people, but only thou shalt see a part of them, and shalt not see them all; and curse me them from thence.

Numbers 23:14 (Tanakh)

Numbers 23:14 (KJV)

Numbers 23:14 (NET)

And he took him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar. And he brought him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar. So Balak brought Balaam to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, where he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

Numbers 23:14 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 23:14 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ παρέλαβεν αὐτὸν εἰς ἀγροῦ σκοπιὰν ἐπὶ κορυφὴν λελαξευμένου καὶ ᾠκοδόμησεν ἐκεῖ ἑπτὰ βωμοὺς καὶ ἀνεβίβασεν μόσχον καὶ κριὸν ἐπὶ τὸν βωμόν καὶ παρέλαβεν αὐτὸν εἰς ἀγροῦ σκοπιὰν ἐπὶ κορυφὴν λελαξευμένου καὶ ᾠκοδόμησεν ἐκεῖ ἑπτὰ βωμοὺς καὶ ἀνεβίβασε μόσχον καὶ κριὸν ἐπὶ τὸν βωμόν

Numbers 23:14 (NETS)

Numbers 23:14 (English Elpenor)

And he took him to a lookout place of a field, on the top of Hewn. And he built there seven altars and brought a calf and a ram on the altar. And he took him to a high place of the field to the top of the quarried [rock], and he built there seven altars, and offered a calf and a ram on [every] altar.

Numbers 23:15 (Tanakh)

Numbers 23:15 (KJV)

Numbers 23:15 (NET)

And he said unto Balak: ‘Stand here by thy burnt-offering, while I go toward a meeting yonder.’ And he said unto Balak, Stand here by thy burnt offering, while I meet the LORD yonder. And Balaam said to Balak, “Station yourself here by your burnt offering, while I meet the Lord there.”

Numbers 23:15 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 23:15 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ εἶπεν Βαλααμ πρὸς Βαλακ παράστηθι ἐπὶ τῆς θυσίας σου ἐγὼ δὲ πορεύσομαι ἐπερωτῆσαι τὸν θεόν καὶ εἶπε Βαλαὰμ πρός Βαλάκ· παράστηθι ἐπὶ τῆς θυσίας σου, ἐγὼ δὲ πορεύσομαι ἐπερωτῆσαι τὸν Θεόν

Numbers 23:15 (NETS)

Numbers 23:15 (English Elpenor)

And Balaam said to Balak, “Stand beside your sacrifice, but I will go to inquire of God.” And Balaam said to Balac, Stand by thy sacrifice, and I will go to enquire of God.

Numbers 23:16 (Tanakh)

Numbers 23:16 (KJV)

Numbers 23:16 (NET)

And HaShem met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said: ‘Return unto Balak, and thus shalt thou speak.’ And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Go again unto Balak, and say thus. Then the Lord met Balaam and put a message in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you.”

Numbers 23:16 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 23:16 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ συνήντησεν ὁ θεὸς τῷ Βαλααμ καὶ ἐνέβαλεν ῥῆμα εἰς τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ καὶ εἶπεν ἀποστράφητι πρὸς Βαλακ καὶ τάδε λαλήσεις καὶ συνήντησεν ὁ Θεὸς τῷ Βαλαὰμ καὶ ἐνέβαλε ρῆμα εἰς τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ καὶ εἶπεν· ἀποστράφηθι πρὸς Βαλὰκ καὶ τάδε λαλήσεις

Numbers 23:16 (NETS)

Numbers 23:16 (English Elpenor)

And God met with Balaam, and he put a word into his mouth and said, “Turn back to Balak, and this is what you shall speak.” And God met Balaam, and put a word into his mouth, and said, return to Balac, and thus shalt thou speak.

Numbers 23:17 (Tanakh)

Numbers 23:17 (KJV)

Numbers 23:17 (NET)

And he came to him, and, lo, he stood by his burnt-offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto him: ‘What hath HaShem spoken?’ And when he came to him, behold, he stood by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto him, What hath the LORD spoken? When Balaam came to him, he was still standing by his burnt offering, along with the princes of Moab. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord spoken?”

Numbers 23:17 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 23:17 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ ἀπεστράφη πρὸς αὐτόν καὶ ὅδε ἐφειστήκει ἐπὶ τῆς ὁλοκαυτώσεως αὐτοῦ καὶ πάντες οἱ ἄρχοντες Μωαβ μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ Βαλακ τί ἐλάλησεν κύριος καὶ ἀπεστράφη πρὸς αὐτόν, καὶ ὅδε ἐφειστήκει ἐπὶ τῆς ὁλοκαυτώσεως αὐτοῦ, καὶ πάντες οἱ ἄρχοντες Μωὰβ μετ’ αὐτοῦ. καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ Βαλάκ· τί ἐλάλησε Κύριος

Numbers 23:17 (NETS)

Numbers 23:17 (English Elpenor)

And he turned back to hum, and the latter stood beside his whole burnt offering, and all the rulers of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, “What did the Lord speak?” And he returned to him: and he also as standing by his whole-burnt-sacrifice, and all the princes of Moab with him; and Balac said to him, What has the Lord spoken?

Numbers 23:18 (Tanakh)

Numbers 23:18 (KJV)

Numbers 23:18 (NET)

And he took up his parable, and said: Arise, Balak, and hear; give ear unto me, thou son of Zippor: And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor: Balaam uttered his oracle, and said, “Rise up, Balak, and hear; Listen to me, son of Zippor:

Numbers 23:18 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 23:18 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ ἀναλαβὼν τὴν παραβολὴν αὐτοῦ εἶπεν ἀνάστηθι Βαλακ καὶ ἄκουε ἐνώτισαι μάρτυς υἱὸς Σεπφωρ καὶ ἀναλαβὼν τὴν παραβολὴν αὐτοῦ εἶπεν· ἀνάστηθι Βαλάκ, καὶ ἄκουε· ἐνώτισαι μάρτυς, υἱὸς Σεπφώρ

Numbers 23:18 (NETS)

Numbers 23:18 (English Elpenor)

And he took up this parable and said, “Rise up, Balak, and hear; give ear as a witness, O son of Sepphor: And he took up his parable, and said, rise up, Balac, and hear; hearken as a witness, thou son of Sepphor.

Numbers 23:20 (Tanakh)

Numbers 23:20 (KJV)

Numbers 23:20 (NET)

Behold, I am bidden to bless; and when He hath blessed, I cannot call it back. Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it. Indeed, I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot reverse it.

Numbers 23:20 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 23:20 (Septuagint Elpenor)

ἰδοὺ εὐλογεῖν παρείλημμαι εὐλογήσω καὶ οὐ μὴ ἀποστρέψω ἰδοὺ εὐλογεῖν παρείλημμαι· εὐλογήσω καὶ οὐ μὴ ἀποστρέψω

Numbers 23:20 (NETS)

Numbers 23:20 (English Elpenor)

Behold, I have been taken hold of to bless; I will bless, and I will not turn away. Behold, I have received [commandment] to bless: I will bless, and not turn back.

Numbers 23:21 (Tanakh)

Numbers 23:21 (KJV)

Numbers 23:21 (NET)

None hath beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath one seen perverseness in Israel; HaShem his G-d is with him, and the shouting for the King is among them. He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them. He has not looked on iniquity in Jacob, nor has he seen trouble in Israel. The Lord their God is with them; his acclamation as king is among them.

Numbers 23:21 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 23:21 (Septuagint Elpenor)

οὐκ ἔσται μόχθος ἐν Ιακωβ οὐδὲ ὀφθήσεται πόνος ἐν Ισραηλ κύριος ὁ θεὸς αὐτοῦ μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ τὰ ἔνδοξα ἀρχόντων ἐν αὐτῷ οὐκ ἔσται μόχθος ἐν ᾿Ιακώβ, οὐδὲ ὀφθήσεται πόνος ἐν ᾿Ισραήλ· Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς αὐτοῦ μετ’ αὐτοῦ, τὰ ἔνδοξα ἀρχόντων ἐν αὐτῷ

Numbers 23:21 (NETS)

Numbers 23:21 (English Elpenor)

There shall be no trouble in Iakob, nor shall hardship be seen in Israel. The Lord his God is with him; the glories of rulers are in him. There shall not be trouble in Jacob, neither shall sorrow be seen in Israel: the Lord his God [is] with him, the glories of rulers [are] in him.

Numbers 23:23 (Tanakh)

Numbers 23:23 (KJV)

Numbers 23:23 (NET)

For there is no enchantment with Jacob, neither is there any divination with Israel; now is it said of Jacob and of Israel: ‘What hath G-d wrought!’ Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought! For there is no spell against Jacob, nor is there any divination against Israel. At this time it must be said of Jacob and of Israel, ‘Look at what God has done!’

Numbers 23:23 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 23:23 (Septuagint Elpenor)

οὐ γάρ ἐστιν οἰωνισμὸς ἐν Ιακωβ οὐδὲ μαντεία ἐν Ισραηλ κατὰ καιρὸν ῥηθήσεται Ιακωβ καὶ τῷ Ισραηλ τί ἐπιτελέσει ὁ θεός οὐ γάρ ἐστιν οἰωνισμὸς ἐν ᾿Ιακώβ, οὐδὲ μαντεία ἐν ᾿Ισραήλ· κατὰ καιρὸν ρηθήσεται ᾿Ιακὼβ καὶ τῷ ᾿Ισραήλ, τί ἐπιτελέσει ὁ Θεός

Numbers 23:23 (NETS)

Numbers 23:23 (English Elpenor)

For there is no omen in Iakob nor divination in Israel; opportunely it shall be told to Iakob and to Israel what God shall accomplish. For there is no divination in Jacob, nor enchantment in Israel; in season it shall be told to Jacob and Israel what God shall perform.

Numbers 23:24 (Tanakh)

Numbers 23:24 (KJV)

Numbers 23:24 (NET)

Behold a people that riseth up as a lioness, and as a lion doth he lift himself up; he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain. Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain. Indeed, the people will rise up like a lioness, and like a lion raises himself up; they will not lie down until they eat their prey, and drink the blood of the slain.”

Numbers 23:24 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 23:24 (Septuagint Elpenor)

ἰδοὺ λαὸς ὡς σκύμνος ἀναστήσεται καὶ ὡς λέων γαυριωθήσεται οὐ κοιμηθήσεται ἕως φάγῃ θήραν καὶ αἷμα τραυματιῶν πίεται ἰδοὺ λαὸς ὡς σκύμνος ἀναστήσεται καὶ ὡς λέων γαυρωθήσεται· οὐ κοιμηθήσεται, ἕως φάγῃ θήραν, καὶ αἷμα τραυματιῶν πίεται

Numbers 23:24 (NETS)

Numbers 23:24 (English Elpenor)

Behold, a people shall rise up like a whelp and shall bear itself proudly like a lion! It will not lie down until it eats prey and will drink blood of mortally wounded.” Behold, the people shall rise up as a lion’s whelp, and shall exalt himself as a lion; he shall not lie down till he have eaten the prey, and he shall drink the blood of the slain.

Numbers 23:25 (Tanakh)

Numbers 23:25 (KJV)

Numbers 23:25 (NET)

And Balak said unto Balaam: ‘Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.’ And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all. Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!”

Numbers 23:25 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 23:25 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ εἶπεν Βαλακ πρὸς Βαλααμ οὔτε κατάραις καταράσῃ μοι αὐτὸν οὔτε εὐλογῶν μὴ εὐλογήσῃς αὐτόν καὶ εἶπε Βαλὰκ πρὸς Βαλαάμ· οὔτε κατάραις καταράσῃ μοι αὐτὸν οὔτε εὐλογῶν μὴ εὐλογήσῃς αὐτόν

Numbers 23:25 (NETS)

Numbers 23:25 (English Elpenor)

And Balak said to Balaam, “You shall neither curse them with curses for me, nor, when blessing, shall you bless them.” Behold, the people shall rise up as a lion’s whelp, and shall exalt himself as a lion; he shall not lie down till he have eaten the prey, and he shall drink the blood of the slain.

Numbers 23:26 (Tanakh)

Numbers 23:26 (KJV)

Numbers 23:26 (NET)

But Balaam answered and said unto Balak: ‘Told not I thee, saying: All that HaShem speaketh, that I must do?’ But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying, All that the LORD speaketh, that I must do? But Balaam replied to Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘All that the Lord speaks, I must do’?”

Numbers 23:26 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 23:26 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς Βαλααμ εἶπεν τῷ Βαλακ οὐκ ἐλάλησά σοι λέγων τὸ ῥῆμα ὃ ἐὰν λαλήσῃ ὁ θεός τοῦτο ποιήσω καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς Βαλαὰμ εἶπε τῷ Βαλάκ· οὐκ ἐλάλησά σοι λέγων, τὸ ρῆμα, ὃ ἐὰν λαλήσῃ ὁ Θεός, τοῦτο ποιήσω

Numbers 23:26 (NETS)

Numbers 23:26 (English Elpenor)

And Balaam answered and said to Balak, “Did I not speak to you, saying, ‘The word that God speaks, this I shall do’?” And Balaam answered and said to Balac, Spoke I not to thee, saying, Whatsoever thing God shall speak to me, that will I do?

Numbers 23:27 (Tanakh)

Numbers 23:27 (KJV)

Numbers 23:27 (NET)

And Balak said unto Balaam: ‘Come now, I will take thee unto another place; peradventure it will please G-d that thou mayest curse me them from thence.’ And Balak said unto Balaam, Come, I pray thee, I will bring thee unto another place; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence. Balak said to Balaam, “Come, please; I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God to let you curse them for me from there.”

Numbers 23:27 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 23:27 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ εἶπεν Βαλακ πρὸς Βαλααμ δεῦρο παραλάβω σε εἰς τόπον ἄλλον εἰ ἀρέσει τῷ θεῷ καὶ καταρᾶσαί μοι αὐτὸν ἐκεῖθεν Καὶ εἶπε Βαλὰκ πρὸς Βαλαάμ· δεῦρο παραλάβω σε εἰς τόπον ἄλλον, εἰ ἀρέσει τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ κατάρασαί μοι αὐτὸν ἐκεῖθεν

Numbers 23:27 (NETS)

Numbers 23:27 (English Elpenor)

And Balak said to Balaam, “Come, let me take you to another place, if it shall please God, and curse it for me from there.” And Balac said to Balaam, Come [and] I will remove thee to another place, if it shall please God, and curse me them from thence.

Matthew 19:19, 20 (NET)

Matthew 19:19, 20 (KJV)

honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.” Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Matthew 19:19 (NET Parallel Greek)

Matthew 19:19 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Matthew 19:19 (Byzantine Majority Text)

τίμα τὸν πατέρα καὶ τὴν μητέρα, καί ἀγαπήσεις τὸν πλησίον σου ὡς σεαυτόν τιμα τον πατερα σου και την μητερα και αγαπησεις τον πλησιον σου ως σεαυτον τιμα τον πατερα και την μητερα και αγαπησεις τον πλησιον σου ως σεαυτον
The young man said to him, “I have wholeheartedly obeyed all these laws. What do I still lack?” The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?

Matthew 19:20 (NET Parallel Greek)

Matthew 19:20 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Matthew 19:20 (Byzantine Majority Text)

λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ νεανίσκος· |πάντα ταῦτα| ἐφύλαξα· τί ἔτι ὑστερῶ λεγει αυτω ο νεανισκος παντα ταυτα εφυλαξαμην εκ νεοτητος μου τι ετι υστερω λεγει αυτω ο νεανισκος παντα ταυτα εφυλαξαμην εκ νεοτητος μου τι ετι υστερω

Romans 14:5, 6 (NET)

Romans 14:5, 6 (KJV)

One person regards one day holier than other days, and another regards them all alike. Each must be fully convinced in his own mind. One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.

Romans 14:5 (NET Parallel Greek)

Romans 14:5 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Romans 14:5 (Byzantine Majority Text)

Ὂς μὲν [γὰρ] κρίνει ἡμέραν παρ᾿ ἡμέραν, ὃς δὲ κρίνει πᾶσαν ἡμέραν· ἕκαστος ἐν τῷ ἰδίῳ νοὶ_ πληροφορείσθω ος μεν κρινει ημεραν παρ ημεραν ος δε κρινει πασαν ημεραν εκαστος εν τω ιδιω νοι πληροφορεισθω ος μεν κρινει ημεραν παρ ημεραν ος δε κρινει πασαν ημεραν εκαστος εν τω ιδιω νοι πληροφορεισθω
The one who observes the day does it for the Lord. The one who eats, eats for the Lord because he gives thanks to God, and the one who abstains from eating abstains for the Lord, and he gives thanks to God. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.

Romans 14:6 (NET Parallel Greek)

Romans 14:6 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Romans 14:6 (Byzantine Majority Text)

ὁ φρονῶν τὴν ἡμέραν κυρίῳ φρονεῖ· καὶ ὁ ἐσθίων κυρίῳ ἐσθίει, εὐχαριστεῖ γὰρ τῷ θεῷ· καὶ ὁ μὴ ἐσθίων κυρίῳ οὐκ ἐσθίει καὶ εὐχαριστεῖ τῷ θεῷ ο φρονων την ημεραν κυριω φρονει και ο μη φρονων την ημεραν κυριω ου φρονει ο εσθιων κυριω εσθιει ευχαριστει γαρ τω θεω και ο μη εσθιων κυριω ουκ εσθιει και ευχαριστει τω θεω ο φρονων την ημεραν κυριω φρονει και ο μη φρονων την ημεραν κυριω ου φρονει και ο εσθιων κυριω εσθιει ευχαριστει γαρ τω θεω και ο μη εσθιων κυριω ουκ εσθιει και ευχαριστει τω θεω

Romans 14:9, 10 (NET)

Romans 14:9, 10 (KJV)

For this reason Christ died and returned to life, so that he may be the Lord of both the dead and the living. For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.

Romans 14:9 (NET Parallel Greek)

Romans 14:9 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Romans 14:9 (Byzantine Majority Text)

εἰς τοῦτο γὰρ Χριστὸς ἀπέθανεν καὶ ἔζησεν, ἵνα καὶ νεκρῶν καὶ ζώντων κυριεύσῃ εις τουτο γαρ χριστος και απεθανεν και ανεστη και ανεζησεν ινα και νεκρων και ζωντων κυριευση εις τουτο γαρ χριστος και απεθανεν και ανεστη και εζησεν ινα και νεκρων και ζωντων κυριευση
But you who eat vegetables only—why do you judge your brother or sister? And you who eat everything—why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

Romans 14:10 (NET Parallel Greek)

Romans 14:10 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Romans 14:10 (Byzantine Majority Text)

Σὺ δὲ τί κρίνεις τὸν ἀδελφόν σου; ἢ καὶ σὺ τί ἐξουθενεῖς τὸν ἀδελφόν σου; πάντες γὰρ παραστησόμεθα τῷ βήματι τοῦ θεοῦ συ δε τι κρινεις τον αδελφον σου η και συ τι εξουθενεις τον αδελφον σου παντες γαρ παραστησομεθα τω βηματι του χριστου συ δε τι κρινεις τον αδελφον σου η και συ τι εξουθενεις τον αδελφον σου παντες γαρ παραστησομεθα τω βηματι του χριστου

Hebrews 3:17 (NET)

Hebrews 3:17 (KJV)

And against whom was God provoked for forty years? Was it not those who sinned, whose dead bodies fell in the wilderness? But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?

Hebrews 3:17 (NET Parallel Greek)

Hebrews 3:17 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Hebrews 3:17 (Byzantine Majority Text)

τίσιν δὲ προσώχθισεν τεσσεράκοντα ἔτη; οὐχὶ τοῖς ἁμαρτήσασιν, ὧν τὰ κῶλα ἔπεσεν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ τισιν δε προσωχθισεν τεσσαρακοντα ετη ουχι τοις αμαρτησασιν ων τα κωλα επεσεν εν τη ερημω τισιν δε προσωχθισεν τεσσαρακοντα ετη ουχι τοις αμαρτησασιν ων τα κωλα επεσεν εν τη ερημω

4 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ἐφύλαξα here, a form of φυλάσσω in the active voice, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had εφυλαξαμην (KJV: have I kept) in the middle voice. The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had εκ νεοτητος μου (KJV: from my youth up) here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

5 See Exploration, Part 3 for tables comparing the Greek of Paul’s quotation to that of the Septuagint.

6 Matthew 19:22b (ESV)

7 John 1:47b (ESV)

8 Romans 11:24 (ESV)

9 Matthew 22:40 (ESV) Table

10 Matthew 22:37b, 38 (ESV) Table

11 Romans 3:19, 20 (ESV)

12 Romans 9:32b (ESV) Table

13 Ibid.

14 Matthew 19:21 (ESV) Table For those with ears to hear, this is where the commandments concerning coveting and loving the Lord your God come to bear in this discourse.

15 Numbers 23:10b (The Complete Jewish Bible)

16 Numbers 22:31b (ESV) Table

17 Numbers 22:34b (ESV) Table

18 Mark 2:27, 28 (ESV)

19 Matthew 12:12b (ESV)

20 Hebrews 7:12 (ESV)

21 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had the conjunction γὰρ (“for”) here. The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

22 The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ο μη φρονων την ημεραν κυριω ου φρονει (KJV: he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it) here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

23 The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had και (KJV: both) here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

25 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had θεοῦ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had χριστου (KJV: Christ).

26 See Wonders and False Wonders, Part 2 for tables comparing the Greek of Paul’s quotation to that of the Septuagint.

27 See A Shadow of the Good Things, Part 4 for tables comparing the Greek of this quotation to that of the Septuagint.

28 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had τεσσεράκοντα here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had τεσσαρακοντα. These seem to be alternate spellings of the same word.

29 See A Shadow of the Good Things, Part 4 for tables comparing the Greek of this quotation to that of the Septuagint.

30 See A Shadow of the Good Things, Part 4 for tables comparing the Greek of this quotation to that of the Septuagint.

31 Philippians 2:12b, 13 (ESV)

32 3 John 1:11b (ESV) Table

33 The Septuagint had τοῦτο φυλάξω λαλῆσαι, shall I beware of speaking it (NETS) and shall I not take heed to speak this (English Elpenor), in the indicative mood rather than the imperative.

34 He said to Balak, “Stand here next to your burnt offering and I will be chanced on here (The Complete Jewish Bible).

35 Numbers 23:18-21 (ESV)

37 The Septuagint has τοῦτο ποιήσω: this I shall do (NETS) and that will I do (English Elpenor), translated as a verb in the future tense and indicative mood, rather than the aorist tense and subjunctive mood.

38 Numbers 23:19, 20 (ESV)

39 3 John 1:11b (ESV) Table

40 John 1:18 (ESV) Table

Father, Son and Holy Spirit – Part 5

This is a continuation of my intent to become much more familiar with the Greek translation of יְהֹוָ֨ה (Yᵊhōvâ) and יֱהֹוִה֙ (yᵊhōvâ) in the Septuagint. There were no occurrences of either in Genesis 1:1-27.

Masoretic Text

Septuagint

Genesis 1:28 (Tanakh) Table

Genesis 1:28 (NET)

Genesis 1:28 (NETS) Table

Genesis 1:28 (English Elpenor)

And G-d (אֱלֹהִים֒) blessed them [man: male and female]; and G-d (אֱלֹהִ֗ים) said unto them: ‘Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that creepeth upon the earth’. God (‘ĕlōhîm, אלהים) blessed them [humankind] and [Note 57: God (‘ĕlōhîm, אלהים) said] to them, “Be fruitful and multiply! Fill the earth and subdue it! Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that moves on the ground.” And God ( θεὸς) blessed them [humankind], saying, “Increase, and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule the fish of the sea and the birds of the sky and all the cattle and all the earth and all the creeping things that creep upon the earth.” And God ( Θεός) blessed them [man: male and female], saying, Increase and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the seas and flying creatures of heaven, and all the cattle and all the earth, and all the reptiles that creep on the earth.

Here is another example of the graciousness of God’s word: He gives the gifts He deems appropriate to whomever He chooses to give them. The Hebrew word translated blessed was וַיְבָ֣רֶךְ (bāraḵ) and was translated ηὐλόγησεν and εὐλόγησεν (both forms of εὐλογέω) in the Septuagint. But the graciousness of God’s word didn’t end here.

Masoretic Text

Septuagint

Genesis 1:29, 30 (Tanakh)

Genesis 1:29, 30 (NET)

Genesis 1:29, 30 (NETS)

Genesis 1:29, 30 (English Elpenor)

And G-d (אֱלֹהִ֗ים) said: ‘Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed–to you it shall be for food [Table]; Then God (‘ĕlōhîm, אלהים) said, “I now give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the entire earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And God ( θεός) said, “See, I have given to you any herbage, sowable, seeding seed, which is over all the earth, and any tree that has in itself fruit of sowable seed—to you it shall be for food— [Table] And God ( Θεός) said, Behold I have given to you every seed-bearing herb sowing seed which is upon all the earth, and every tree which has in itself the fruit of seed that is sown, to you it shall be for food.
and to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is a living soul, I have given every green herb for food’ And it was so [Table]. And to all the animals of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has living breath in it—I give every green plant for food.” It was so. and to all the wild animals of the earth and to all the birds of the sky and to every creeping thing that creeps on the earth that has in itself the animating force of life,—and all green herbage for food.” And it became so [Table]. And to all the wild beasts of the earth, and to all the flying creatures of heaven, and to every reptile creeping on the earth, which has in itself the breath of life, even every green plant for food; and it was so.

The Hebrew word translated I have given (Tanakh) and give (NET) was נָתַ֨תִּי (nāṯan). It was translated δέδωκα (a form of δίδωμι) in the Septuagint. I tend to understand this giving as a continuation of the blessing, and another example of the graciousness of God’s word. But the addition of the phrase, And it was so, is the form I’ve recognized1 as describing the power of God’s word: He spoke and it happened as He said.

Masoretic Text

Septuagint

Genesis 1:31 (Tanakh) Table

Genesis 1:31 (NET)

Genesis 1:31 (NETS) Table

Genesis 1:31 (English Elpenor)

And G-d (אֱלֹהִים֙) saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. God (‘ĕlōhîm, אלהים) saw all that he had made—and it was very good! There was evening, and there was morning, the sixth day. And God ( θεὸς) saw all the things that he had made, and see, they were exceedingly good. And it came to be evening, and it came to be morning, a sixth day. And God ( Θεὸς) saw all the things that he had made, and, behold, they were very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Here on the sixth day the qualifier ט֖וֹב (ṭôḇ), translated καλά (a form of καλός) in the Septuagint and good in English, was modified by מְאֹ֑ד (mᵊ’ōḏ) in Hebrew, λίαν in the Septuagint and very in English.

Masoretic Text

Septuagint

Genesis 2:1-3 (Tanakh)

Genesis 2:1-3 (NET)

Genesis 2:1-3 (NETS)

Genesis 2:1-3 (English Elpenor)

And the heaven and the earth were finished, and all the host of them [Table]. The heavens and the earth were completed with everything that was in them. And the sky and the earth were finished, and all their arrangement [Table]. AND the heavens and the earth were finished, and the whole world of them.
And on the seventh day G-d (אֱלֹהִים֙) finished His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made [Table]. By the seventh day God (‘ĕlōhîm, אלהים) finished the work that he had been doing, and he ceased on the seventh day all the work that he had been doing. And on the sixth day God ( θεὸς) finished his works that he had made, and he left off on the seventh day from all his works that he had made [Table]. And God ( Θεὸς) finished on the sixth day his works which he made, and he ceased on the seventh day from all his works which he made.
And G-d (אֱלֹהִים֙) blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it; because that in it He rested from all His work which G-d (אֱלֹהִ֖ים) in creating had made [Table]. God (‘ĕlōhîm, אלהים) blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it he ceased all the work that he (‘ĕlōhîm, אלהים) had been doing in creation. And God ( θεὸς) blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it he left off from all his works that God ( θεὸς) had begun to make [Table]. And God ( Θεὸς) blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it he ceased from all his works which God ( Θεὸς) began to do.

Here is another example of the graciousness of God’s word: He gives the gifts He deems appropriate to whomever He chooses to give them. The Hebrew word translated blessed was וַיְבָ֤רֶךְ (bāraḵ) and was translated ηὐλόγησεν and εὐλόγησεν (both forms of εὐλογέω) in the Septuagint. Here it seems the gift of blessing was given to the seventh day of the week.

Masoretic Text

Septuagint

Exodus 20:8-11 (Tanakh)

Exodus 20:8-11 (NET)

Exodus 20:8-11 (NETS)

Exodus 20:8-11 (English Elpenor)

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy [Table]. Remember the Sabbath day to set it apart as holy. Remember the day of the sabbaths to consecrate it [Table]. Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy.
Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work [Table]; For six days you may labor and do all your work, For six days you shall labor and do all your labor [Table], Six days thou shalt labour, and shalt perform all thy work.
but the seventh day is a sabbath unto HaShem (לַֽיהֹוָ֣ה) thy G-d (אֱלֹהֶ֗יךָ), in it thou shalt not do any manner of work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates [Table]; but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ, ליהוה) your God (‘ĕlōhîm, אלהיך); on it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your cattle, or the resident foreigner who is in your gates. but on the seventh day there is Sabbata to the Lord (κυρίῳ) your God (τῷ θεῷ σου). You shall not do in it any labor, you and your son and your daughter, your male slave and your female slave, your ox and your draft animal and any animal of yours and the guest who resides among you [Table]. But on the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord (Κυρίῳ) thy God (τῷ Θεῷ σου); on it thou shalt do no work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy servant nor thy maidservant, thine ox nor thine ass, nor any cattle of thine, nor the stranger that sojourns with thee.
in six days HaShem (יְהֹוָ֜ה) made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested on the seventh day; wherefore HaShem (יְהֹוָ֛ה) blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it [Table]. For in six days the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ, יהוה) made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ, יהוה) blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy. For in six days the Lord (κύριος) made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all things in them, and he rested on the seventh day and consecrated it. For this reason the Lord (κύριος) blessed the seventh day and consecrated it [Table]. For in six days the Lord (Κύριος) made the heaven and the earth, and the sea and all things in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord (Κύριος) blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it.

Will I perceive this as an unwarranted intrusion into my plans and schemes, or as a welcome respite from subsistence?

Jesus faced religious authorities who tie up heavy loads, hard to carry, and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing even to lift a finger to move them.2 I, too, recall after a long week at my subsistence job hearing that god was just more work I should have been doing all along. The Sabbath was made for people, Jesus instructed the Pharisees, not people for the Sabbath.3

And so we sinful people needed some extra instruction to understand to whom this gracious gift was given. Here in the law the sabbath was unto לַֽיהֹוָ֣ה (Yᵊhōvâ) אֱלֹהֶ֗יךָ (‘ĕlōhîm) because יְהֹוָ֜ה (Yᵊhōvâ) made heaven and earth in six days, and rested on the seventh day; wherefore יְהֹוָ֛ה (Yᵊhōvâ) blessed the sabbath day. The introduction of יהוה (Yᵊhōvâ) אֱלֹהִ֖ים (‘ĕlōhîm) in Genesis follows.

Masoretic Text

Septuagint

Genesis 2:4 (Tanakh)

Genesis 2:4 (NET)

Genesis 2:4 (NETS)

Genesis 2:4 (English Elpenor)

These are the generations of the heaven and of the earth when they were created, in the day that HaShem (יְהֹוָ֥ה) G-d (אֱלֹהִ֖ים) made earth and heaven. This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created—when the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ, יהוה) God (‘ĕlōhîm, אלהים) made the earth and heavens. This is the book of the origin of heaven and earth, when it originated, on the day that God ( θεὸς) made the sky and the earth This [is] the book of the generation of heaven and earth, when they were made, in the day in which the Lord (Κύριος) God ( Θεὸς) made the heaven and the earth,

The Elpenor Septuagint had the Greek word Κύριος here for the Hebrew יהוה (Yᵊhōvâ). The BLB Septuagint did not.

Masoretic Text

Septuagint

Genesis 2:5-7 (Tanakh)

Genesis 2:5-7 (NET)

Genesis 2:5-7 (NETS)

Genesis 2:5-7 (English Elpenor)

No shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for HaShem (יְהֹוָ֤ה) G-d (אֱלֹהִים֙) had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground; Now no shrub of the field had yet grown on the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ, יהוה) God (‘ĕlōhîm, אלהים) had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground. and all verdue of the field before it came to be upon the earth and all herbage of the field before it sprang up, for God ( θεὸς) had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was not a human to till the earth, and every herb of the field before it was on the earth, and all the grass of the field before it sprang up, for God ( Θεὸς) had not rained on the earth, and there was not a man to cultivate it.
but there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. Springs would well up from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground. yet a spring would rise from the earth and water the whole face of the earth. But there rose a fountain out of the earth, and watered the whole face of the earth.
Then HaShem (יְהֹוָ֨ה) G-d (אלהים) formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul [Table]. The Lord (Yᵊhōvâ, יהוה) God (‘ĕlōhîm, אלהים) formed the man from the soil of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. And God ( θεὸς) formed man, dust from the earth, and breathed into his face a breath of life, and the man became a living being [Table]. And God ( Θεὸς) formed the man [of] dust of the earth, and breathed upon his face the breath of life, and the man became a living soul.

None of these occurrences of יְהֹוָ֨ה (Yᵊhōvâ) in the Masoretic text was corroborated by the Septuagint.

Paul contrasted Adam and Christ (1 Corinthians 15:45-49 NET):

So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living person”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, made of dust; the second man is from heaven [Table]. Like the one made of dust, so too are those made of dust, and like the one from heaven, so too those who are heavenly. And just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, let us also bear the image of the man of heaven [Table].

A table comparing the Greek of Paul’s quotation in 1 Corinthians 15:45 to that of Genesis 2:7 in the Septuagint follows:

1 Corinthians 15:45b (NET Parallel Greek)

Genesis 2:7b (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 2:7b (Septuagint Elpenor)

ἐγένετο ὁ πρῶτος ἄνθρωπος Ἀδὰμ εἰς ψυχὴν ζῶσαν, ἐγένετο ὁ ἄνθρωπος εἰς ψυχὴν ζῶσαν ἐγένετο ὁ ἄνθρωπος εἰς ψυχὴν ζῶσαν

1 Corinthians 15:45b (NET)

Genesis 2:7b (NETS)

Genesis 2:7b (English Elpenor)

The first man, Adam, became a living person”; the man became a living being. the man became a living soul.

The Hebrew word translated man in Genesis 2:7 was הָֽאָדָ֗ם (‘āḏām).

Tables comparing Genesis 2:4; 2:5 and 2:6 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET; and tables comparing Genesis 2:4; 2:5 and 2:6 in the BLB and Elpenor versions of the Septuagint with the English translations from Hebrew and Greek follow.

Genesis 2:4 (Tanakh)

Genesis 2:4 (KJV)

Genesis 2:4 (NET)

These are the generations of the heaven and of the earth when they were created, in the day that HaShem G-d made earth and heaven. These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created—when the Lord God made the earth and heavens.

Genesis 2:4 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 2:4 (Septuagint Elpenor)

αὕτη ἡ βίβλος γενέσεως οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς ὅτε ἐγένετο ᾗ ἡμέρᾳ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν Αὕτη ἡ βίβλος γενέσεως οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς, ὅτε ἐγένετο· ᾗ ἡμέρᾳ ἐποίησε Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν

Genesis 2:4 (NETS)

Genesis 2:4 (English Elpenor)

This is the book of the origin of heaven and earth, when it originated, on the day that God made the sky and the earth This [is] the book of the generation of heaven and earth, when they were made, in the day in which the Lord God made the heaven and the earth,

Genesis 2:5 (Tanakh)

Genesis 2:5 (KJV)

Genesis 2:5 (NET)

No shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for HaShem G-d had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground; And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. Now no shrub of the field had yet grown on the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground.

Genesis 2:5 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 2:5 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ πᾶν χλωρὸν ἀγροῦ πρὸ τοῦ γενέσθαι ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς καὶ πάντα χόρτον ἀγροῦ πρὸ τοῦ ἀνατεῗλαι οὐ γὰρ ἔβρεξεν ὁ θεὸς ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ ἄνθρωπος οὐκ ἦν ἐργάζεσθαι τὴν γῆν καὶ πᾶν χλωρὸν ἀγροῦ πρὸ τοῦ γενέσθαι ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς καὶ πάντα χόρτον ἀγροῦ πρὸ τοῦ ἀνατεῖλαι· οὐ γὰρ ἔβρεξεν ὁ Θεὸς ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν, καὶ ἄνθρωπος οὐκ ἦν ἐργάζεσθαι αὐτήν

Genesis 2:5 (NETS)

Genesis 2:5 (English Elpenor)

and all verdue of the field before it came to be upon the earth and all herbage of the field before it sprang up, for God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was not a human to till the earth, and every herb of the field before it was on the earth, and all the grass of the field before it sprang up, for God had not rained on the earth, and there was not a man to cultivate it.

Genesis 2:6 (Tanakh)

Genesis 2:6 (KJV)

Genesis 2:6 (NET)

but there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. Springs would well up from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground.

Genesis 2:6 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 2:6 (Septuagint Elpenor)

πηγὴ δὲ ἀνέβαινεν ἐκ τῆς γῆς καὶ ἐπότιζεν πᾶν τὸ πρόσωπον τῆς γῆς πηγὴ δὲ ἀνέβαινεν ἐκ τῆς γῆς καὶ ἐπότιζε πᾶν τὸ πρόσωπον τῆς γῆς

Genesis 2:6 (NETS)

Genesis 2:6 (English Elpenor)

yet a spring would rise from the earth and water the whole face of the earth. But there rose a fountain out of the earth, and watered the whole face of the earth.

1 Genesis 1:3 and Genesis 1:9 (in the Masoretic text)

2 Matthew 23:4 (NET) Table

3 Mark 2:27 (NET) Table

A Shadow of the Good Things, Part 4

As I continue to focus on the Sabbath (because it has so much material to access) I’ve arrived at the first statement of the ten commandments in Exodus.  So here is the shadow of the good things to come of the Sabbath in its most definitive form.  This section begins, And G-d spoke all these words, saying:[1]

Masoretic Text

Septuagint
Exodus 20:8-11 (Tanakh) Exodus 20:8-11 (NET) Exodus 20:8-11 (NETS)

Exodus 20:8-11 (English Elpenor)

Remember the sabbath (הַשַּׁבָּ֜ת) day, to keep it holy. “Remember the Sabbath (shabbâth, השבת) day to set it apart as holy. Remember the day of the sabbaths (σαββάτων) to consecrate it. Remember the sabbath (σαββάτων) day to keep it holy.
Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work; For six days you may labor and do all your work, For six days you shall labor and do all your labor, Six days thou shalt labour, and shalt perform all thy work.
but the seventh day is a sabbath (שַׁבָּ֣ת) unto HaShem thy G-d, in it thou shalt not do any manner of work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; but the seventh day is a Sabbath (shabbâth, שבת) to the Lord your God; on it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your cattle, or the resident foreigner who is in your gates. but on the seventh day there is Sabbata (σάββατα) to the Lord your God.  You shall not do in it any labor, you and your son and your daughter, your male slave and your female slave, your ox and your draft animal and any animal of yours and the guest who resides among you. But on the seventh day is the sabbath (σάββατα) of the Lord thy God; on it thou shalt do no work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy servant nor thy maidservant, thine ox nor thine ass, nor any cattle of thine, nor the stranger that sojourns with thee.
in six days HaShem made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested (וַיָּ֖נַח) on the seventh day; wherefore HaShem blessed the sabbath (הַשַּׁבָּ֖ת) day, and hallowed it. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, and he rested (nûach, וינח) on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath (shabbâth, השבת) day and set it apart as holy. For in six days the Lord made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all things in them, and he rested (κατέπαυσεν) on the seventh day and consecrated it.  For this reason the Lord blessed the seventh (ἑβδόμην) day and consecrated it. For in six days the Lord made the heaven and the earth, and the sea and all things in them, and rested (κατέπαυσε) on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the seventh (ἑβδόμην) day, and hallowed it.

Do these translations effectively convey the truth that, The Sabbath was made for people, not people for the Sabbath[2]?  This isn’t a question I’ll explore necessarily in this essay.  It is a safeguard, along with Jesus’ more general key to the Old Testament—Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must all be born from above’,[3] that I might not be waylaid by shadows while studying the law.

I will note a new Hebrew word וַיָּ֖נַח (nûach) here: In this reprise of Genesis 2:2—and rested on the seventh dayוַיִּשְׁבֹּת֙ (shâbath) has been replaced by וַיָּ֖נַח (nûach).  And the ark rested (nûach, וַתָּ֤נַח) in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.[4]  The rabbis returned to κατέπαυσε(ν) (a form of καταπαύω) in the ten commandments: The Lord rested on the seventh day; He did not “sabbatize.”  When Noah’s ark rested, however, the rabbis chose ἐκάθισεν (a form of καθίζω).

Another item of note: In the Masoretic text HaShem blessed the sabbath (shabbâth, הַשַּׁבָּ֖ת) day.  In the Septuagint the Lord blessed the seventh (ἑβδόμην, a form of ἕβδομος) day.  Since the Hebrew construction in Genesis 2:3 was identical except that הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י (shebı̂yʽı̂y) was replaced by הַשַּׁבָּ֖ת (shabbâth), it may seem that the Septuagint is the more original here.  The problem with that is Exodus 20:8 was also identical construction but the word was הַשַּׁבָּ֜ת (shabbâth), translated σαββάτων (a form of σάββατον) in the Septuagint.  I’ll call it a toss-up.

Consequently a Sabbath rest (σαββατισμὸς) remains for the people of God.  For the one who enters God’s rest (κατάπαυσιν, a form of κατάπαυσις) has also rested (κατέπαυσεν, a form of καταπαύω) from his works (ἔργων, a form of ἔργον), just as God did from his own works.[5]

This is the advantage of studying the Sabbath.  The good things to come of the Sabbath are stated as explicitly as its shadow in the law.  I’ll back up and take a run at this (Hebrews 4:1, 2 NET):

Therefore we must be wary that, while the promise of entering his rest (κατάπαυσιν, a form of κατάπαυσις) remains open, none of you may seem to have come short of it.  For we had good news proclaimed (εὐηγγελισμένοι, a form of εὐαγγελίζω; KJV: gospel preached) to us just as they did.  But the message they heard did them no good, since they did not join in with[6] those who heard it in faith.

The Greek word translated we must be wary was φοβηθῶμεν (a form of φοβέω), fear in all its connotations of fearing the Lord.  The Greek word συγκεκραμενος (a form of συγκεράννυμι) is singular and was translated being mixed with in the KJV: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.  In other words, they didn’t believe it.  In the NET, however, συγκεκερασμένους (another form of συγκεράννυμι) is plural and was translated as if it referred to the people rather than the message.  So the message they heard did them no good, since they didn’t go to church.  I’m not so sure that συγκεκερασμένους was original here.

I’ll back up a bit further (Hebrews 3:14-19 NET):

For we have become partners with Christ, if in fact we hold our initial confidence firm until the end.  As it says, “Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks!  Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”  For which ones heard and rebelled?  Was it not all who came out of Egypt under Moses’[7] leadership?  And against whom was God provoked for forty years?  Was it not those who sinned, whose dead bodies fell in the wilderness?  And to whom did he swear they would never enter into his rest (κατάπαυσιν, a form of κατάπαυσις), except those who were disobedient (ἀπειθήσασιν, a form of ἀπειθέω; KJV: believed not)?  So we see that they could not enter because of unbelief (ἀπιστίαν, a form of ἀπιστία).

After establishing a causal relationship between ἀπιστία and ἀπειθέω—unbelief causes disobedience—I don’t see the author of Hebrews or the Holy Spirit muddying the waters with συγκεκερασμένους.  I don’t know what documents or reasons the Nestle-Aland editors employed, but on the face of it crediting disobedience to a lack of church attendance sounds like a later alteration to the Greek text.

I’ll continue from where I left off (Hebrews 4:3-8 NET):

For we who have believed enter that rest (κατάπαυσιν, a form of κατάπαυσις), as he has said, “As I swore in my anger, ‘They will never enter my rest (κατάπαυσιν, a form of κατάπαυσις)!’”[8]  And yet God’s works were accomplished from the foundation of the world.  For he has spoken somewhere about the seventh day in this way: “And God rested (κατέπαυσεν, a form of καταπαύω) on the seventh day from all his works,” but to repeat the text cited earlier: “They will never enter my rest (κατάπαυσιν, a form of κατάπαυσις)!”  Therefore it remains for some to enter it, yet those to whom it was previously proclaimed (εὐαγγελισθέντες, a form of εὐαγγελίζω) did not enter because of disobedience (ἀπείθειαν, a form of ἀπείθεια; KJV: unbelief).  So God again ordains a certain day, “Today,” speaking through David[9] after so long a time, as in the words quoted before,[10] “Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks!  Do not harden your hearts.”  For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken afterward about another day.

For if Jesus had given them rest, we read in the KJV, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.[11]  This is certainly the safer translation in the sense that the translators exerted the least interpretation over the Greek text.  The only safer step I can imagine would have been to transliterate Ἰησοῦς Iesous.  Jesus and Joshua are Ἰησοῦς in Greek.

Exodus 17:10 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 17:10 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ ἐποίησεν Ἰησοῦς καθάπερ εἶπεν αὐτῷ Μωυσῆς καὶ ἐξελθὼν παρετάξατο τῷ Αμαληκ καὶ Μωυσῆς καὶ Ααρων καὶ Ωρ ἀνέβησαν ἐπὶ τὴν κορυφὴν τοῦ βουνοῦ καὶ ἐποίησεν ᾿Ιησοῦς καθάπερ εἶπεν αὐτῷ Μωυσῆς, καὶ ἐξελθὼν παρετάξατο τῷ ᾿Αμαλήκ· καὶ Μωυσῆς καὶ ᾿Ααρὼν καὶ ῍Ωρ ἀνέβησαν ἐπὶ τὴν κορυφὴν τοῦ βουνοῦ

Exodus 17:10 (NETS)

Exodus 17:10 (English Elpenor)

And Iesous did as Moyses said to him and set up in battle array with Amelek, and Moyses and Aaron and Hor went up onto the top of the hill. And Joshua did as Moses said to him, and he went out and set the army in array against Amalec, and Moses and Aaron and Or went up to the top of the hill.

It seems fairly obvious to translate Ἰησοῦς Joshua in Exodus 17:10.  But what about Hebrews 4:8?  God was added by the NET translators.  The KJV translators derived he from ἐλάλει, the 3rd person singular form of the verb λαλέω.

Personally, I have no difficulty these days believing that He who was born into this world as Ἰησοῦς rested on the seventh day from all his works of creation, swore in [his] anger, ‘They will never enter my rest’ in the time of Moses, did not grant the rest He was concerned with in the time of Joshua and promised another day of rest through his prophet David.  But would I have understood that this particular passage referred to Joshua’s conquest of Canaan if the NET translators (like most modern translators) hadn’t translated Ἰησοῦς Joshua and distinguished him from the one speaking in Psalm 95?  I don’t know, probably not until I began to study this deeply.

Consequently a Sabbath rest remains for the people of God, the writer of Hebrews continued.  For the one who enters God’s rest has also rested from his works, just as God did from his own works.[12]  Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest (ἀναπαύσω, a form of ἀναπαύω), Jesus promised.  Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest (ἀνάπαυσιν, a form of ἀνάπαυσις; Exodus 16:23 Septuagint) for your souls.  For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry.[13]

My entering into God’s rest differs from his rest in a significant way.  He rested from works that were very good: God saw all that he had made—and it was very good![14]  I am eager to rest from works of evil at one extreme, hypocrisy at the other (the works of an actor playing at righteousness) or some jumbled combination of the two everywhere in between.  Wretched man that I am! Paul lamented.  Who will rescue me from this body of death?[15]  Paul understood entering God’s rest this way (Galatians 2:20, 21 NET):

I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.  So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  I do not set aside God’s grace, because if righteousness could come through the law, then Christ died for nothing!

Though he never used the words, I think Paul wrote extensively about this Sabbath rest from the works of the flesh (Romans 3:30, 31; 13:9, 10; Galatians 5:16, 17; 5:22-25 NET):

Since[16] God is one, he will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.  Do we then nullify the law through faith?  Absolutely not!  Instead we uphold the law.[17]

For the commandments, “Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not covet,” (and if there is any other commandment) are summed up in this, “Love your neighbor as yourself[Table].  Love does no wrong to a neighbor.  Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

But I say, live by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.  For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to each other, so that you cannot do what you want [Table].

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  Against such things there is no law [Table].  Now those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  If we live by the Spirit, let us also behave in accordance with the Spirit.

And no creature is hidden from God, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.[18]  He knows better than I do when I’m relying on, resting in the fruit of his Spirit, or when I’m trying to make myself righteous by obeying some rule.  And I am not so attuned to his Holy Spirit that I discern any of this apart from studying the Bible with Him (1 Corinthians 2:9-16).  For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the point of dividing soul from spirit, and joints from marrow; it is able to judge (κριτικὸς) the desires and thoughts of the heart.[19]

I’ll pick this up in another essay.  A table comparing the Greek of Psalm 95:7b, 8a (94:7b, 8a) in the Septuagint with that of the quotation in Hebrews 3:15 follows:

Hebrews 3:15 (NET Parallel Greek)

Psalm 95:7b, 8a (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 94:8a (Septuagint Elpenor)

σήμερον ἐὰν τῆς φωνῆς αὐτοῦ ἀκούσητε, μὴ σκληρύνητε τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν ὡς ἐν τῷ παραπικρασμῷ σήμερον ἐὰν τῆς φωνῆς αὐτοῦ ἀκούσητε μὴ σκληρύνητε τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν ὡς ἐν τῷ παραπικρασμῷ σήμερον, ἐὰν τῆς φωνῆς αὐτοῦ ἀκούσητε, μὴ σκληρύνητε τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν, ὡς ἐν τῷ παραπικρασμῷ

Hebrews 3:15 (NET)

Psalm 94:7b, 8a (NETS)

Psalm 94:8a (English Elpenor)

Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks!  Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion. Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as at the embittering, To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation,

A table comparing the Greek of Psalm 95:11 (94:11) in the Septuagint with that of the quotation in Hebrews 4:3 follows:

Hebrews 4:3a (NET Parallel Greek)

Psalm 95:11 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 94:11 (Septuagint Elpenor)

ὡς ὤμοσα ἐν τῇ ὀργῇ μου εἰ εἰσελεύσονται εἰς τὴν κατάπαυσιν μου ὡς ὤμοσα ἐν τῇ ὀργῇ μου εἰ εἰσελεύσονται εἰς τὴν κατάπαυσίν μου ὡς ὤμοσα ἐν τῇ ὀργῇ μου· εἰ εἰσελεύσονται εἰς τὴν κατάπαυσίν μου

Hebrews 4:3a (NET)

Psalm 94:11 (NETS)

Psalm 94:11 (English Elpenor)

“As I swore in my anger, ‘They will never enter my rest!’” As I swore in my wrath, “If they shall enter into my rest!” So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.

A table comparing the Greek of Genesis 2:2 in the Septuagint with that of the quotation in Hebrews 4:4 follows:

Hebrews 4:4b (NET Parallel Greek) Genesis 2:2b (Septuagint BLB) Genesis 2:2b (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ κατέπαυσεν ὁ θεὸς ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν ἔργων αὐτοῦ καὶ κατέπαυσεν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν ἔργων αὐτοῦ καὶ κατέπαυσε τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν ἔργων αὐτοῦ
Hebrews 4:4b (NET) Genesis 2:2b (NETS) Genesis 2:2b (English Elpenor)
“And God rested on the seventh day from all his works,” and he left off on the seventh day from all his works and he ceased on the seventh day from all his works

Tables comparing Exodus 20:1; 20:8; 20:9; 20:10; 20:11; Genesis 8:4; Psalm 95:7; 95:8; 95:11; Exodus 17:10 and Genesis 1:31 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and Exodus 20:1; 20:8; 20:9; 20:10; 20:11; Genesis 8:4 (8:3b); Psalm 95:7 (94:7); 95:8 (94:8); 95:11 (94:11); Exodus 17:10 and Genesis 1:31 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor) follow.  Following those are tables comparing Hebrews 4:2, 3:16; 4:7 and Romans 3:30, 31 in the NET and KJV.

Exodus 20:1 (Tanakh)

Exodus 20:1 (KJV)

Exodus 20:1 (NET)

And G-d spoke all these words, saying: And God spake all these words, saying, God spoke all these words:

Exodus 20:1 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 20:1 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ ἐλάλησεν κύριος πάντας τοὺς λόγους τούτους λέγων ΚΑΙ ἐλάλησε Κύριος πάντας τοὺς λόγους τούτους λέγων

Exodus 20:1 (NETS)

Exodus 20:1 (English Elpenor)

And the Lord spoke all these words, saying: And the Lord spoke all these words, saying:

Exodus 20:8 (Tanakh)

Exodus 20:8 (KJV)

Exodus 20:8 (NET)

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. “Remember the Sabbath day to set it apart as holy.

Exodus 20:8 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 20:8 (Septuagint Elpenor)

μνήσθητι τὴν ἡμέραν τῶν σαββάτων ἁγιάζειν αὐτήν μνήσθητι τὴν ἡμέρα τῶν σαββάτων ἁγιάζειν αὐτήν

Exodus 20:8 (NETS)

Exodus 20:8 (English Elpenor)

Remember the day of the sabbaths to consecrate it. Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy.

Exodus 20:9 (Tanakh)

Exodus 20:9 (KJV)

Exodus 20:9 (NET)

Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work; Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: For six days you may labor and do all your work,

Exodus 20:9 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 20:9 (Septuagint Elpenor)

ἓξ ἡμέρας ἐργᾷ καὶ ποιήσεις πάντα τὰ ἔργα σου ἓξ ἡμέρας ἐργᾷ καὶ ποιήσεις πάντα τὰ ἔργα σου

Exodus 20:9 (NETS)

Exodus 20:9 (English Elpenor)

For six days you shall labor and do all your labor, Six days thou shalt labour, and shalt perform all thy work.

Exodus 20:10 (Tanakh)

Exodus 20:10 (KJV)

Exodus 20:10 (NET)

but the seventh day is a sabbath unto HaShem thy G-d, in it thou shalt not do any manner of work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; on it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your cattle, or the resident foreigner who is in your gates.

Exodus 20:10 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 20:10 (Septuagint Elpenor)

τῇ δὲ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ σάββατα κυρίῳ τῷ θεῷ σου οὐ ποιήσεις ἐν αὐτῇ πᾶν ἔργον σὺ καὶ ὁ υἱός σου καὶ ἡ θυγάτηρ σου ὁ παῗς σου καὶ ἡ παιδίσκη σου ὁ βοῦς σου καὶ τὸ ὑποζύγιόν σου καὶ πᾶν κτῆνός σου καὶ ὁ προσήλυτος ὁ παροικῶν ἐν σοί τῇ δὲ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ σάββατα Κυρίῳ τῷ Θεῷ σου· οὐ ποιήσεις ἐν αὐτῇ πᾶν ἔργον, σὺ καὶ ὁ υἱός σου καὶ ἡ θυγάτηρ σου, ὁ παῖς σου καὶ ἡ παιδίσκη σου, ὁ βοῦς σου καὶ τὸ ὑποζύγιόν σου καὶ πᾶν κτῆνός σου καὶ ὁ προσήλυτος ὁ παροικῶν ἐν σοί

Exodus 20:10 (NETS)

Exodus 20:10 (English Elpenor)

but on the seventh day there is Sabbata to the Lord your God.  You shall not do in it any labor, you and your son and your daughter, your male slave and your female slave, your ox and your draft animal and any animal of yours and the guest who resides among you. But on the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God; on it thou shalt do no work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy servant nor thy maidservant, thine ox nor thine ass, nor any cattle of thine, nor the stranger that sojourns with thee.

Exodus 20:11 (Tanakh)

Exodus 20:11 (KJV)

Exodus 20:11 (NET)

in six days HaShem made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested on the seventh day; wherefore HaShem blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.

Exodus 20:11 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 20:11 (Septuagint Elpenor)

ἐν γὰρ ἓξ ἡμέραις ἐποίησεν κύριος τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ τὴν θάλασσαν καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐν αὐτοῗς καὶ κατέπαυσεν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ διὰ τοῦτο εὐλόγησεν κύριος τὴν ἡμέραν τὴν ἑβδόμην καὶ ἡγίασεν αὐτήν ἐν γὰρ ἓξ ἡμέραις ἐποίησε Κύριος τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ τὴν θάλασσαν καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐν αὐτοῖς καὶ κατέπαυσε τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ· διὰ τοῦτο εὐλόγησε Κύριος τὴν ἡμέραν τὴν ἑβδόμην καὶ ἡγίασεν αὐτήν

Exodus 20:11 (NETS)

Exodus 20:11 (English Elpenor)

For in six days the Lord made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all things in them, and he rested on the seventh day and consecrated it.  For this reason the Lord blessed the seventh day and consecrated it. For in six days the Lord made the heaven and the earth, and the sea and all things in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it.

Genesis 8:4 (Tanakh)

Genesis 8:4 (KJV)

Genesis 8:4 (NET)

And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat. And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat. On the seventeenth day of the seventh month, the ark came to rest on one of the mountains of Ararat.

Genesis 8:4 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 8:4 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ ἐκάθισεν ἡ κιβωτὸς ἐν μηνὶ τῷ ἑβδόμῳ ἑβδόμῃ καὶ εἰκάδι τοῦ μηνός ἐπὶ τὰ ὄρη τὰ Αραρατ καὶ ἐκάθισεν ἡ κιβωτὸς ἐν μηνὶ τῷ ἑβδόμῳ, ἑβδόμῃ καὶ εἰκάδι τοῦ μηνός, ἐπὶ τὰ ὄρη τὰ ᾿Αραράτ

Genesis 8:4 (NETS)

Genesis 8:3b (English Elpenor)

And in the seventh month, on the twenty-seventh of the month, the ark settled on the mountains of Ararat. and the ark rested in the seventh month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat.

Psalm 95:7 (Tanakh)

Psalm 95:7 (KJV)

Psalm 95:7 (NET)

For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice, For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice, For he is our God; we are the people of his pasture, the sheep he owns.  Today, if only you would obey him.

Psalm 95:7 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 94:7 (Septuagint Elpenor)

ὅτι αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν καὶ ἡμεῗς λαὸς νομῆς αὐτοῦ καὶ πρόβατα χειρὸς αὐτοῦ σήμερον ἐὰν τῆς φωνῆς αὐτοῦ ἀκούσητε ὅτι αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, καὶ ἡμεῖς λαὸς νομῆς αὐτοῦ καὶ πρόβατα χειρὸς αὐτοῦ

Psalm 94:7 (NETS)

Psalm 94:7 (English Elpenor)

because he is our God and we are people of his pasture and sheep of his hand!  Today if you hear his voice, For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.

Psalm 95:8 (Tanakh)

Psalm 95:8 (KJV)

Psalm 95:8 (NET)

Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: He says, “Do not be stubborn like they were at Meribah, like they were that day at Massah in the wilderness,

Psalm 95:8 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 94:8 (Septuagint Elpenor)

μὴ σκληρύνητε τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν ὡς ἐν τῷ παραπικρασμῷ κατὰ τὴν ἡμέραν τοῦ πειρασμοῦ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ σήμερον, ἐὰν τῆς φωνῆς αὐτοῦ ἀκούσητε, μὴ σκληρύνητε τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν, ὡς ἐν τῷ παραπικρασμῷ κατὰ τὴν ἡμέραν τοῦ πειρασμοῦ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ

Psalm 94:8 (NETS)

Psalm 94:8 (English Elpenor)

do not harden your hearts, as at the embittering, like the day of the trial in the wilderness, To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, according to the day of irritation in the wilderness:

Psalm 95:11 (Tanakh)

Psalm 95:11 (KJV)

Psalm 95:11 (NET)

Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest. Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest. So I made a vow in my anger, ‘They will never enter into the resting place I had set aside for them.’”

Psalm 95:11 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 94:11 (Septuagint Elpenor)

ὡς ὤμοσα ἐν τῇ ὀργῇ μου εἰ εἰσελεύσονται εἰς τὴν κατάπαυσίν μου ὡς ὤμοσα ἐν τῇ ὀργῇ μου· εἰ εἰσελεύσονται εἰς τὴν κατάπαυσίν μου

Psalm 94:11 (NETS)

Psalm 94:11 (English Elpenor)

As I swore in my wrath, “If they shall enter into my rest!” So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.

Exodus 17:10 (Tanakh)

Exodus 17:10 (KJV)

Exodus 17:10 (NET)

So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. So Joshua fought against Amalek just as Moses had instructed him, and Moses and Aaron and Hur went up to the top of the hill.

Exodus 17:10 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 17:10 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ ἐποίησεν Ἰησοῦς καθάπερ εἶπεν αὐτῷ Μωυσῆς καὶ ἐξελθὼν παρετάξατο τῷ Αμαληκ καὶ Μωυσῆς καὶ Ααρων καὶ Ωρ ἀνέβησαν ἐπὶ τὴν κορυφὴν τοῦ βουνοῦ καὶ ἐποίησεν ᾿Ιησοῦς καθάπερ εἶπεν αὐτῷ Μωυσῆς, καὶ ἐξελθὼν παρετάξατο τῷ ᾿Αμαλήκ· καὶ Μωυσῆς καὶ ᾿Ααρὼν καὶ ῍Ωρ ἀνέβησαν ἐπὶ τὴν κορυφὴν τοῦ βουνοῦ

Exodus 17:10 (NETS)

Exodus 17:10 (English Elpenor)

And Iesous did as Moyses said to him and set up in battle array with Amelek, and Moyses and Aaron and Hor went up onto the top of the hill. And Joshua did as Moses said to him, and he went out and set the army in array against Amalec, and Moses and Aaron and Or went up to the top of the hill.

Genesis 1:31 (Tanakh)

Genesis 1:31 (KJV)

Genesis 1:31 (NET)

And G-d saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was very good And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. God saw all that he had made—and it was very good!  There was evening, and there was morning, the sixth day.

Genesis 1:31 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 1:31 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ εἶδεν ὁ θεὸς τὰ πάντα ὅσα ἐποίησεν καὶ ἰδοὺ καλὰ λίαν καὶ ἐγένετο ἑσπέρα καὶ ἐγένετο πρωί ἡμέρα ἕκτη καὶ εἶδεν ὁ Θεὸς τὰ πάντα, ὅσα ἐποίησε, καὶ ἰδοὺ καλὰ λίαν. καὶ ἐγένετο ἑσπέρα καὶ ἐγένετο πρωΐ, ἡμέρα ἕκτη

Genesis 1:31 (NETS)

Genesis 1:31 (English Elpenor)

And God saw all the things that he had made, and see, they were exceedingly good.  And it came to be evening, and it came to be morning, a sixth day. And God saw all the things that he had made, and, behold, they were very good.  And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Hebrews 4:2 (NET)

Hebrews 4:2 (KJV)

For we had good news proclaimed to us just as they did.  But the message they heard did them no good, since they did not join in with those who heard it in faith. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text

καὶ γάρ ἐσμεν εὐηγγελισμένοι καθάπερ κακεῖνοι· ἀλλ᾿ οὐκ ὠφέλησεν ὁ λόγος τῆς ἀκοῆς ἐκείνους μὴ συγκεκερασμένους τῇ πίστει τοῖς ἀκούσασιν και γαρ εσμεν ευηγγελισμενοι καθαπερ κακεινοι αλλ ουκ ωφελησεν ο λογος της ακοης εκεινους μη συγκεκραμενος τη πιστει τοις ακουσασιν και γαρ εσμεν ευηγγελισμενοι καθαπερ κακεινοι αλλ ουκ ωφελησεν ο λογος της ακοης εκεινους μη συγκεκραμενους τη πιστει τοις ακουσασιν

Hebrews 3:16 (NET)

Hebrews 3:16 (KJV)

For which ones heard and rebelled?  Was it not all who came out of Egypt under Moses’ leadership? For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text

τίνες γὰρ ἀκούσαντες παρεπίκραναν; ἀλλ᾿ οὐ πάντες οἱ ἐξελθόντες ἐξ Ἀιγύπτου διὰ Μωϋσέως τινες γαρ ακουσαντες παρεπικραναν αλλ ου παντες οι εξελθοντες εξ αιγυπτου δια μωσεως τινες γαρ ακουσαντες παρεπικραναν αλλ ου παντες οι εξελθοντες εξ αιγυπτου δια μωυσεως

Hebrews 4:7 (NET)

Hebrews 4:7 (KJV)

So God again ordains a certain day, “Today,” speaking through David after so long a time, as in the words quoted before, “Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks!  Do not harden your hearts.” Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text

πάλιν τινὰ ὁρίζει ἡμέραν, σήμερον, ἐν Δαυὶδ λέγων μετὰ τοσοῦτον χρόνον, καθὼς προείρηται σήμερον ἐὰν τῆς φωνῆς αὐτοῦ ἀκούσητε, μὴ σκληρύνητε τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν. παλιν τινα οριζει ημεραν σημερον εν δαβιδ λεγων μετα τοσουτον χρονον καθως ειρηται σημερον εαν της φωνης αυτου ακουσητε μη σκληρυνητε τας καρδιας υμων παλιν τινα οριζει ημεραν σημερον εν δαυιδ λεγων μετα τοσουτον χρονον καθως ειρηται σημερον εαν της φωνης αυτου ακουσητε μη σκληρυνητε τας καρδιας υμων

Romans 3:30, 31 (NET)

Romans 3:30, 31 (KJV)

Since God is one, he will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text

εἴπερ εἷς ὁ θεὸς ὃς δικαιώσει περιτομὴν ἐκ πίστεως καὶ ἀκροβυστίαν διὰ τῆς πίστεως επειπερ εις ο θεος ος δικαιωσει περιτομην εκ πιστεως και ακροβυστιαν δια της πιστεως επειπερ εις ο θεος ος δικαιωσει περιτομην εκ πιστεως και ακροβυστιαν δια της πιστεως
Do we then nullify the law through faith?  Absolutely not! Instead we uphold the law. Do we then make void the law through faith?  God forbid: yea, we establish the law.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text

νόμον οὖν καταργοῦμεν διὰ τῆς πίστεως; μὴ γένοιτο· ἀλλὰ νόμον ἱστάνομεν νομον ουν καταργουμεν δια της πιστεως μη γενοιτο αλλα νομον ιστωμεν νομον ουν καταργουμεν δια της πιστεως μη γενοιτο αλλα νομον ιστωμεν

[1] Exodus 20:1 (Tanakh)

[2] Mark 2:27 (NET) Table

[3] John 3:7 (NET)

[4] Genesis 8:4 (Tanakh)

[5] Hebrews 4:9, 10 (NET)

[6] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had συγκεκερασμένους here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had συγκεκραμενος (KJV: being mixed with).

[7] In the Stephanus Textus Receptus Moses was spelled μωσεως, and Μωϋσέως in the NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Byzantine Majority Text.  Despite this single difference in Greek, the KJV translation is quite different: For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.

[8] The Greek of the NET, NA28, Stephanus Textus Receptus, Byzantine Majority Text, Septuagint BLB and Elpenor is identical, but the English translation of the KJV (Hebrews 4:3) and NETS (Psalm 94:11)—if they shall enter into my rest—is different.  My knowledge of Greek is insufficient to choose between them.

[9] In the NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Byzantine Majority Text David was spelled Δαυὶδ, and δαβιδ in the Stephanus Textus Receptus.

[10] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had προείρηται here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ειρηται (KJV: it is said).

[11] Hebrews 4:8 (KJV)

[12] Hebrews 4:9, 10 (NET)

[13] Matthew 11:28-30 (NET) Table

[14] Genesis 1:31 (NET)

[15] Romans 7:24 (NET)

[16] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had εἴπερ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had επειπερ (KJV: Seeing).

[17] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ἱστάνομεν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ιστωμεν  (KJV: establish).

[18] Hebrews 4:13 (NET)

[19] Hebrews 4:12 (NET) Table

To Make Holy, Part 4

The next form of ἁγιάζω I’ll consider is found in Jesus’ prayer to his Father: Set them apart (ἁγίασον, a form of ἁγιάζω) in the truth; your word is truth.[1]  But I plan to crawl through his prayer on my knees because I believe I can know his holiness here.

I have revealed your name, Jesus prayed, to the men you gave me out of the world.[2]  Though the Greek word translated men is masculine, I’m not convinced that justifies (note 15) translating ἀνθρώποις (a form of ἄνθρωπος) men in the 21st century.  John didn’t use ἄρσενες (a form of ἄῤῥην) for instance, as Paul did when his intent was to distinguish male from human.  But from the beginning of creation, Jesus said, he made them male (ἄρσεν, another form of ἄῤῥην) and female.[3]  And God made humankind (ἄνθρωπον, another form of ἄνθρωπος); according to divine image he made it; male (ἄρσεν, another form of ἄῤῥην) and female he made them.[4]

Also the Greek word translated I have revealed was not a form of ἀποκαλύπτω but Ἐφανέρωσα (a form of φανερόω).  So I think Jesus meant something more than calling God πάτερ, even something more than the mere fact that yehôvâh has a Father.  Jesus revealed (ἐφανέρωσεν, another form of φανερόω) his glory[5] by turning water to wine (John 2:1-11).  He revealed (ἐφανέρωσεν, another form of φανερόω) himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias[6] after he was raised from the dead[7] by telling them where to cast their net to catch fish and by having a charcoal fire ready to prepare their breakfast (John 21:1-14).  Jesus had revealed his Father’s name by demonstrating who the Father is by his own relationship to Him (John 14:8-10 NET).

Philip said, “Lord, show (δεῖξον, a form of δεικνύω) us the Father, and we will be content.”  Jesus replied, “Have I been with you for so long, and you have not known me, Philip?  The person who has seen me has seen the Father!  How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?  Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me?  The words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own initiative, but the Father residing in me performs his miraculous deeds.

At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on a Sabbath.  His disciples were hungry, and they began to pick heads of wheat [8] as they made their way,[9] rubbed them in their hands, and ate them.[10]  We may misunderstand this story because we live in a different world.  Most seed farmers sow today is dead, purchased from agribusinesses.  It will not grow a crop that produces viable seed.  We think it is wrong to walk through a farmer’s field to eat without payment the crop he purchased and labored over.

The grain Jesus’ disciples ate was alive, fully able to grow another crop and produce another harvest.  It was from God who provides seed for the sower and bread for food,[11] from God who said to Moses: When you go into the ripe grain fields of your neighbor you may pluck off the kernels with your hand, but you must not use a sickle on your neighbor’s ripe grain.[12]  But when the Pharisees saw this they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is against the law to do on the Sabbath.”[13]

They weren’t wrong (Exodus 16:4, 5; 20:8-11 NET):

Then the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people will go out and gather the amount for each day, so that I may test them.  Will they walk in my law or not?  On the sixth day they will prepare what they bring in, and it will be twice as much as they gather every other day.”

Remember the Sabbath day to set it apart as holy.  For six days you may labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord (yehôvâh, ליהוה) your God; on it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your cattle, or the resident foreigner who is in your gates.  For in six days the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.

But Jesus defended his disciples’ from the Pharisees accusation by citing hunger as a commonly known exception: “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry – how he entered the house of God when Abiathar was high priest,[14] took and ate the sacred bread, which is not lawful for any to eat but the priests alone, and gave it to his companions?”[15]

His next argument might have been a bit more opaque to the Pharisees: Or have you not read in the law that the priests in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are not guilty (ἀναίτιοι, a form of ἀναίτιος)?[16]  This becomes clearer with Peter’s teaching, one of the men to whom Jesus revealed his Father’s name (1 Peter 2:4-10 NET):

So as you come to [Jesus], a living stone rejected by men but chosen and priceless in God’s sight, you yourselves, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood and to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.  For it says in scripture, “Look, I lay in Zion a stone, a chosen and priceless cornerstone, and whoever believes (πιστεύων, a form of πιστεύω) in him will never be put to shame.”  So you who believe (πιστεύουσιν, another form of πιστεύω) see his value, but for those who do not believe (ἀπιστοῦσιν, a form of ἀπιστέω), the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, and a stumbling-stone and a rock to trip over.  They stumble because they disobey (ἀπειθοῦντες, a form of ἀπειθέω; disbelieve) the word, as they were destined to do.  But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may proclaim (ἐξαγγείλητε, a form of ἐξαγγέλλω) the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.  You once were not a people, but now you are God’s people.  You were shown no mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Isaiah prophesied yehôvâh’s description of my chosen people as the people whom I formed for myself, so they might praise (tehillâh, תהלתי; Septuagint: διηγεῖσθαι, a form of διηγέομαι) me.[17]  How we praise and proclaim Him is important.  Are we filled with his own ἀρετὰς (a form of ἀρέτη; translated virtues), his love, his joy, his peace, his patience, his kindness, his goodness, his faithfulness, his gentleness and his self-control, or are we bitter and resentful as we grudgingly strive in our own strength to obey rules that others apparently ignore with impunity?  Malachi prophesied (3:13-18 NET):

“You have criticized me sharply,” says the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה), “but you ask, ‘How have we criticized you?’  You have said, ‘It is useless to serve God.  How have we been helped by keeping his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord (yehôvih, יהוה) who rules over all?  So now we consider the arrogant to be happy; indeed, those who practice evil are successful.  In fact, those who challenge (bâchan, בחנו; Tanakh, tempt) God escape!’”

Then those who respected (yârêʼ, יראי) the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) spoke to one another, and the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) took notice.  A scroll was prepared before him in which were recorded the names of those who respected (yârêʼ, ליראי) the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) and honored his name.  “They will belong to me,” says the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) who rules over all, “in the day when I prepare my own special property.  I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him.  Then once more you will see that I make a distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not.”

I tell you that something greater than the temple is here,[18] Jesus continued.  I turn here to Hebrews, not as the thoughts of some anonymous disciple but, as the teaching that was foremost in Jesus’ mind between his resurrection and ascension (Hebrews 12:18-24 NET):

For you have not come to something that can be touched, to a burning fire and darkness and gloom and a whirlwind and the blast of a trumpet and a voice uttering words such that those who heard begged to hear no more.  For they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.”  In fact, the scene was so terrifying that Moses said, “I shudder with fear.”  But you have come to Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the assembly and congregation of the firstborn, who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous, who have been made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks of something better than Abel’s does.

If you had known what this means:I want mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent (ἀναιτίους, another form of ἀναίτιος),[19] Jesus continued.  Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for people, not people for the Sabbath.  For this reason the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”[20]  It was not wrong to capitalize Son of Man, for Jesus certainly meant Himself, but clearly not Himself exclusively.

If I pay attention, He has given me a beautiful contrast between how the disobedient and unbelieving picture God and judge others according to their own image, and how the obedient and believing see Him.  Actually everything Jesus said and did confronting the Pharisees and teachers of the law offers this contrast and reveals his Father’s name, but I’ll consider only one other slightly different example in this essay:

Matthew 15:21-28 (NET)

Mark 7:24-30 (NET)

After going out from there, Jesus went to the region of Tyre and Sidon.

Matthew 15:21

After Jesus left there, he went to the region of Tyre.

Mark 7:24a

A Canaanite woman from that area came and cried out, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David!  My daughter is horribly demon-possessed (δαιμονίζεται, a form of δαιμονίζομαι)!”  But he did not answer her a word.  Then his disciples came and begged him, “Send her away, because she keeps on crying out after us.”  So he answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Matthew 15:22-24

When he went into a house, he did not want anyone to know, but he was not able to escape notice.

Mark 7:24b

But she came and bowed down before him…

Matthew 15:25a

Instead, a woman whose young daughter had an unclean (ἀκάθαρτον, a form of ἀκάθαρτος) spirit (πνεῦμα) immediately heard about him and came and fell at his feet.

Mark 7:25

The woman was a Greek, of Syrophoenician origin.

Mark 7:26a

…and said, “Lord, help me!”

Matthew 15:25b

She asked him to cast the demon (δαιμόνιον) out of her daughter.

Mark 7:26b

He said to her, “Let the children be satisfied first, for…

Mark 7:27a

“It is not right (καλὸν, a form of καλός) to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs,” he said.

Matthew 15:26

…it is not right to take the children’s bread and to throw it to the dogs.”

Mark 7:27b

“Yes, Lord,” she replied, “but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”

Matthew 15:27

She answered, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

Mark 7:28

Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, your faith is great!  Let what you want be done for you.”

Matthew 15:28a

Then he said to her, “Because you said this, you may go.  The demon (δαιμόνιον) has left your daughter.”

Mark 7:29

And her daughter was healed from that hour.

Matthew 15:28b

She went home and found the child lying on the bed, and the demon (δαιμόνιον) gone.

Mark 7:30

It is too easy to miss Jesus’ demonstration of his Father here.  When I obsess about what He called the woman I miss that He said, Woman, your faith is great, and honored her request when she accepted his description of her as a dog.  Mark described her socially and genealogically as Greek, of Syrophoenician origin.  Matthew described her lost soul as a Canaanite (1 Corinthians 10:19-22 NET).

Am I saying that idols or food sacrificed to them amount to anything?  No, I mean that what the pagans sacrifice is to demons (δαιμονίοις, a form of δαιμόνιον) and not to God [Table].  I do not want you to be partners with demons (δαιμονίων, another form of δαιμόνιον).  You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons (δαιμονίων, another form of δαιμόνιον).  You cannot take part in the table of the Lord and the table of demons (δαιμονίων, another form of δαιμόνιον).  Or are we trying to provoke the Lord to jealousy?  Are we really stronger than he is?

The word translated pagans (εθνη, a form of ἔθνος) doesn’t occur in the parallel Greek of the NET online.  It is found however in the Stephanus Textus Receptus and the Byzantine Majority Text.

1 Corinthians 10:20 NET Parallel Greek 1 Corinthians 10:20 Stephanus Textus Receptus

1 Corinthians 10:20 Byzantine Majority Text

ἀλλ᾿ ὅτι ἃ θύουσιν[21] , δαιμονίοις καὶ οὐ θεῷ [θύουσιν]· οὐ θέλω δὲ ὑμᾶς κοινωνοὺς τῶν δαιμονίων γίνεσθαι αλλ οτι α θυει[22] τα εθνη δαιμονιοις θυει και ου θεω ου θελω δε υμας κοινωνους των δαιμονιων γινεσθαι αλλ οτι α θυει τα εθνη δαιμονιοις θυει και ου θεω ου θελω δε υμας κοινωνους των δαιμονιων γινεσθαι

After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do; and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do; neither shall ye walk in their statutes,[23] yehôvâh commanded Moses to Speak unto the children of Israel.[24]  Moses knew Israel would not obey yehôvâh’s statutes and prophesied in song (Deuteronomy 32:16, 17 Tanakh):

They roused Him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations (tôʽêbah, בתועבת; Septuagint: βδελύγμασιν, a form of βδέλυγμα) did they provoke Him [Table].  They sacrificed unto demons (shed, לשדים; Septuagint: δαιμονίοις, a form of δαιμόνιον), no-gods, gods that they knew not, new gods that came up of late, which your fathers dreaded not [Table].

With this fresh in my mind I get a better picture of what was going on: Jesus came to town and a demon worshiper complained to Him that her daughter was demon-possessed.  It’s a vivid picture of the iniquity of the mother (in this case) being visited upon her daughter, whether we regard that visitation as punishment from God or the expected result of consorting with demons.  Jesus fully intended to ignore the Canaanite woman because He was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  It is how He understood his mission from his Father.  It is what He taught his disciples (Matthew 10:5-8 NET):

Jesus sent out these twelve, instructing them as follows: “Do not go to Gentile (ἐθνῶν, another form of ἔθνος) regions and do not enter any Samaritan town.  Go instead to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near!’  Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons.  Freely you received, freely give.”

Could there be anything more cruel than casting out a demon from the daughter of a demon worshiper?

Matthew 12:43-45 (NET)

Luke 11:24-28 (NET)

“When an unclean (ἀκάθαρτον, a form of ἀκάθαρτος) spirit (πνεῦμα) goes out of a person, it passes through waterless places looking for rest but does not find it.

Matthew 12:43

“When an unclean (ἀκάθαρτον, a form of ἀκάθαρτος) spirit (πνεῦμα) goes out of a person, it passes through waterless places looking for rest but not finding any.

Luke 11:24a

Then it says, ‘I will return to the home I left.’  When it returns, it finds the house empty, swept clean, and put in order.

Matthew 12:44

Then it says, ‘I will return to the home I left.’  When it returns, it finds the house swept clean and put in order.

Luke 11:24b, 25

Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits (πνεύματα, a form of πνεῦμα) more evil (πονηρότερα, a form of πονηρός) than itself, and they go in and live there, so the last state of that person is worse than the first.

Matthew 12:45a

Then it goes and brings seven other spirits (πνεύματα, a form of πνεῦμα) more evil (πονηρότερα, a form of πονηρός) than itself, and they go in and live there, so the last state of that person is worse than the first.”

Luke 11:26

It will be that way for this evil (πονηρᾷ, another form of πονηρός) generation as well!”

Matthew 12:45b

As he said these things, a woman in the crowd spoke out to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts at which you nursed!”

Luke 11:27

But he replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear (ἀκούοντες, a form of ἀκούω) the word of God and obey (φυλάσσοντες, a form of φυλάσσω) it!”

Luke 11:28

Jesus’ disciples couldn’t tolerate the woman’s loud persistence, so Jesus engaged her.  Still she persisted.  More to the point she accepted Jesus’ description of her as one of the dogs: She answered, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”  (The Pharisees by contrast wouldn’t even accept Jesus’ description of them as actors.[25])  And so Jesus, contrary to his own understanding of his mission from the Father and his own teaching to his own disciples, healed the woman’s daughter because of this woman’s one simple act of faith, believing his description of her as a dog.  Perhaps that faith would lead to more faith in more things Jesus taught and turn this Canaanite woman and her daughter from their faith in demons.

This all reminds me of yehôvâh’s repentance: And the LORD (yehôvâh, יהוה) repented (nâcham, וינחם; Septuagint: ἱλάσθη, a form of ἱλάσκομαι) of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.[26]  How can yehôvâh/Jesus repent of his own covenant, his own understanding or his own teaching, except by submitting his own will to that of his Father?  Who is his Father?

God is love,[27] wrote another of the men to whom Jesus revealed his Father’s name.  Not, Love is god.  This isn’t pagan worship of an idea or ideals achieved by human desire or exertion.  It is rather a shorthand for the name of the Father Jesus revealed to his disciples by his every word and deed.  Paul’s definition of love is the way He, in fact, loves and fills believers with Himself (1 Corinthians 13:1-8a NET):

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but I do not have God, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  And if I have prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can remove mountains, but do not have God, I am nothing.  If I give away everything I own, and if I give over my body in order to boast, but do not have God, I receive no benefit.

God is patient, God is kind, He is not envious.  God does not brag, He is not puffed up.  He is not rude, He is not self-serving, He is not easily angered or resentful.  He is not glad about injustice, but rejoices in the truth.  He bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  God never ends.

And Jesus said (Matthew 7:21-23; John 3:7; Matthew 12:33a NET):

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven – only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.  On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons and do many powerful deeds?’ [Table]  Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you.  Go away from me, you lawbreakers!’

Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must all be born from above.’

Make a tree good and its fruit will be good…

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God,[28] Paul wrote believers in Rome.  The Gospel harmony I created to write this essay follows.

Matthew 12:1-8 (NET)

Mark 2:23-28 (NET)

Luke 6:1-5 (NET)

At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on a Sabbath.

Ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ καιρῷ ἐπορεύθη ὁ Ἰησοῦς τοῖς σάββασιν διὰ τῶν σπορίμων

Matthew 12:1a

Jesus was going through the grain fields on a Sabbath…

Καὶ ἐγένετο αὐτὸν ἐν τοῖς σάββασιν |παραπορεύεσθαι| διὰ τῶν σπορίμων

Mark 2:23a

Jesus was going through the grain fields on a Sabbath…

Ἐγένετο δὲ ἐν σαββάτῳ διαπορεύεσθαι αὐτὸν διὰ σπορίμων

Luke 6:1a

His disciples were hungry…

οἱ δὲ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ ἐπείνασαν

Matthew 12:1b

…and they began to pick heads of wheat…

καὶ ἤρξαντο τίλλειν στάχυας

Matthew 12:1c

…and his disciples began to pick some heads of wheat…

καὶ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ ἤρξαντο … τίλλοντες τοὺς στάχυας

Mark 2:23b

…and his disciples picked some heads of wheat…

καὶ ἔτιλλον οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ … τοὺς στάχυας

Luke 6:1b

as they made their way.

ὁδὸν ποιεῖν

Mark 2:23c

…rubbed them in their hands…

ψώχοντες ταῖς χερσίν

Luke 6:1c

…and eat them.

καὶ ἐσθίειν

Matthew 12:1d

…and ate them.

καὶ ἤσθιον …

Luke 6:1d

But when the Pharisees saw this…

οἱ δὲ Φαρισαῖοι ἰδόντες

Matthew 12:2a

…they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is against the law to do on the Sabbath.”  He said to them, “Haven’t you read what David did…

εἶπαν αὐτῷ· ἰδοὺ οἱ μαθηταί σου ποιοῦσιν ὃ οὐκ ἔξεστιν ποιεῖν ἐν σαββάτῳ.  ὁ δὲ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· οὐκ ἀνέγνωτε τί ἐποίησεν Δαυὶδ

Matthew 12:2b, 3a

So the Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is against the law on the Sabbath?”  He said to them, “Have you never read what David did…

καὶ οἱ Φαρισαῖοι ἔλεγον αὐτῷ· ἴδε τί ποιοῦσιν τοῖς σάββασιν ὃ οὐκ ἔξεστιν; καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς· οὐδέποτε ἀνέγνωτε τί ἐποίησεν Δαυὶδ

Mark 2:24, 25a

But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is against the law on the Sabbath?”  Jesus answered them, “Haven’t you read what David did…

τινὲς δὲ τῶν Φαρισαίων εἶπαν· τί ποιεῖτε ὃ οὐκ ἔξεστιν τοῖς σάββασιν; καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς πρὸς αὐτοὺς εἶπεν |ὁ| Ἰησοῦς· οὐδὲ τοῦτο ἀνέγνωτε ὃ ἐποίησεν Δαυὶδ

Luke 6:2, 3a

…when he was in need…

ὅτε χρείαν ἔσχεν

Mark 2:25b

…when he and his companions were hungry – how he entered the house of God…

ὅτε ἐπείνασεν καὶ οἱ μετ᾿ αὐτοῦ, πῶς εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ θεοῦ

Matthew 12:3b, 4a

…and he and his companions were hungry – how he entered the house of God…

καὶ ἐπείνασεν αὐτὸς καὶ οἱ μετ᾿ αὐτοῦ, |πῶς| εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ θεοῦ

Mark 2:25c, 26a

…when he and his companions were hungry – how he entered the house of God…

ὅτε ἐπείνασεν αὐτὸς καὶ οἱ μετ᾿ αὐτοῦ [ὄντες], [ὡς] εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ θεοῦ

Luke 6:3b, 4a

…when Abiathar was high priest…

ἐπὶ Ἀβιαθὰρ ἀρχιερέως

Mark 2:26b

…took…

λαβὼν

Luke 6:4b

…and they ate the sacred bread, which was against the law…

καὶ τοὺς ἄρτους τῆς προθέσεως ἔφαγον, ὃ οὐκ ἐξὸν ἦν

Matthew 12:4b

…and ate the sacred bread, which is against the law…

καὶ τοὺς ἄρτους τῆς προθέσεως ἔφαγεν, οὓς οὐκ ἔξεστιν

Mark 2:26c

…and ate the sacred bread, which is not lawful…

καὶ τοὺς ἄρτους τῆς προθέσεως … ἔφαγεν … οὓς οὐκ ἔξεστιν

Luke 6:4c

…for him or his companions to eat…

αὐτῷ φαγεῖν οὐδὲ τοῖς μετ᾿ αὐτοῦ

Matthew 12:4c

…but only for the priests?

εἰ μὴ τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν μόνοις

Matthew 12:4d

…for any but the priests to eat…

φαγεῖν εἰ μὴ τοὺς ἱερεῖς

Mark 2:26d

…for any to eat but the priests alone…

… φαγεῖν εἰ μὴ μόνους τοὺς ἱερεῖς

Luke 6:4d

…and also gave it to his companions?”

καὶ ἔδωκεν καὶ τοῖς σὺν αὐτῷ οὖσιν

Mark 2:26e

…and gave it to his companions?”

καὶ ἔδωκεν τοῖς μετ᾿ αὐτοῦ

Luke 6:4e

Or have you not read in the law that the priests in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are not guilty?  I tell you that something greater than the temple is here.  If you had known what this means: ‘I want mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.

ἢ οὐκ ἀνέγνωτε ἐν τῷ νόμῳ ὅτι τοῖς σάββασιν οἱ ἱερεῖς ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ τὸ σάββατον βεβηλοῦσιν καὶ ἀναίτιοι εἰσιν;  λέγω δὲ ὑμῖν ὅτι τοῦ ἱεροῦ μεῖζον ἐστιν ὧδε.  εἰ δὲ ἐγνώκειτε τί ἐστιν· ἔλεος θέλω καὶ οὐ θυσίαν, οὐκ ἂν κατεδικάσατε τοὺς ἀναιτίους

Matthew 12:5-7

Then he said to them…

καὶ ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς

Mark 2:27a

Then he said to them…

καὶ ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς

Luke 6:5a

“The Sabbath was made for people, not people for the Sabbath.  For this reason…

τὸ σάββατον διὰ τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐγένετο καὶ οὐχ ὁ ἄνθρωπος διὰ τὸ σάββατον·  ὥστε

Mark 2:27b, 28a

For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

κύριος γάρ ἐστιν τοῦ σαββάτου ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου.

Matthew 12:8

…the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

κύριος ἐστιν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου καὶ τοῦ σαββάτου.

Mark 2:28b

“The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

κύριος ἐστιν τοῦ σαββάτου ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου.

Luke 6:5b


[1] John 17:17 (NET)

[2] John 17:6a (NET)

[3] Mark 10:6 (NET) Table

[4] Genesis 1:27 (NETS)

[5] John 2:11b (NET)

[6] John 21:1 (NET)

[7] John 21:14b (NET)

[8] Matthew 12:1a (NET)

[9] Mark 2:23b (NET)

[10] Luke 6:1b (NET)

[11] 2 Corinthians 9:10 (NET)

[12] Deuteronomy 23:25 (NET)

[13] Matthew 12:2 (NET)

[14] Mark 2:25, 26a (NET)

[15] Luke 6:4b (NET)

[16] Matthew 12:5 (NET)

[17] Isaiah 43:20b, 21 (NET)

[18] Matthew 12:6 (NET)

[19] Matthew 12:7 (NET)

[20] Mark 2:27, 28 (NET)

[21] A form of θύω

[22] θυει another form of θύω

[23] Leviticus 18:3 (Tanakh) Table

[24] Leviticus 18:2a (Tanakh)

[25] Romans, Part 9; Romans, Part 10; Romans, Part 12; Romans, Part 26; Romans, Part 49; Romans, Part 60; Romans, Part 71; Romans, Part 83; Sowing to the Flesh, Part 2; My Deeds, Part 1

[26] Exodus 32:14 (KJV)

[27] 1 John 4:8b (NET)

[28] Romans 8:14 (NET)

Romans, Part 11

Paul continued to describe the difference between those who hear (ἀκροαταὶ, a form of ἀκροατής) and those who do (ποιηταὶ, a form of ποιητής) the law.  For circumcision has its value (ὠφελεῖ, a form of ὠφελέω) if you practice (πράσσῃς, a form of πράσσω) the law (νόμον, a form of νόμος), but if you break (παραβάτης) the law (νόμου, another form of νόμος), your circumcision has become uncircumcision.1  I wasn’t going to delve into circumcision here, but I can’t resist the first occurrence in John 7.  Perhaps an appreciation of Jesus’ frustration will do more to distinguish the ἀκροατής from the ποιητής of the law.

Jesus was staying in Galilee, avoiding Judea because the Jewish leaders wanted to kill him.2  This stemmed from an incident when He healed a man who had been disabled3 for thirty-eight4 years.5  So the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and6 you are not permitted to carry your7 mat.”  But8 he answered them, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”  They asked9 him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Pick up your mat10 and walk’?”11  The healed man didn’t know who made him well.

Later Jesus found the man in the temple and said, Look, you have become well.  Don’t sin any more, lest anything worse happen to you.12  Sad to say I understand this man perfectly.  For thirty-eight years, fifty-two times each year, he kept the Sabbath by not standing up, picking up his mat or walking.  One Sabbath Jesus came up to him and said, Stand up!13  Pick up your mat and walk.14  For some reason, inexplicable except for the grace of God, the man believed this stranger and tried to stand up, pick up his mat and walk.  Immediately the man was healed, and he picked up his mat and started walking.15  When Jesus told him, Don’t sin any more, the healed man was conscience stricken that he had stood up, picked up his mat and walked on the Sabbath.  So he trotted back and informed the Jewish leaders that Jesus was the one who had made him well.16

Now because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began persecuting him.17

Before I get too carried away with the blindness of ancient Jewish leaders I’ll relate a fairly contemporary tale.  I was standing just inside the doorway with the Pastor of a small Bible church one Sunday before the evening service.  A car pulled up in the parking lot.  A visiting couple got out and made their way toward the door.  The Pastor opened the door and extended his hand to help the woman up the stair.  She refused his hand and stopped in the doorway.

“Before I come in here, I just want to know one thing,” she said belligerently.  “Did Jesus turn water into wine?”

I’d never experienced anything like this, but reasoned quickly that this was a Bible church, the woman wanted to make sure that we believed the fundamentals of the faith, including Jesus’ miracles.

“No,” the Pastor said.

I was stunned.  But that was nothing compared to my confusion when the woman smiled, took the Pastor’s hand and entered the church.  Later, when I got him alone, I asked, “How did you know that no was the right answer?”

Then it was his turn to be stunned that I would impugn his sincerity.  “Because it is the right answer,” he said defensively.  I argued fairly ineffectively for the distinction between Jesus and John the Baptist,18 but he was having none of it.  “Wine is a mocker, Strong drink is a brawler,”19 he quoted the Proverb.  Though he never pressed me on it, I got the message that because of this Proverb Jesus would not make, serve or encourage anyone to drink alcohol—no matter what the Bible seemed to be saying to me.

Obviously I have been blinder than this many times.  It’s not fair to judge the Pastor or the woman by this one idiosyncrasy, though I do think she was looking for a Pastor who would dance to her flute.  She obviously didn’t return.  I wonder at times why I stayed so long.  But the people there were nice to me.  Some said the church would close if I left.  The church closed sometime after I finally left.  I don’t really think there is any cause and effect there.

Remember the Sabbath day to set it apart as holy [Table].  For six days you may labor and do all your work [Table], but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; on it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your cattle, or the resident foreigner who is in your gates [Table].  For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy [Table].20

As far as the Jewish leaders were concerned no man of God would heal a disabled man on the Sabbath and tell him to Stand up!  Pick up your mat and walk.  Jesus told them, “My Father is working until now, and I too am working.”21  But that didn’t help at all.  For this reason the Jewish leaders were trying even harder to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was also calling God his own Father, thus making himself equal with God.22

Frankly, the way I’ve presented the story so far puts the Jewish leaders on a lot firmer ground scripturally than my Pastor.  But if I bring in a similar story from Luke’s Gospel, the picture gets a bit more nuanced.  Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the Sabbath.  A woman23 was there who had been disabled by a spirit for eighteen24 years.  She was bent over and could not straighten herself up completely.25  Jesus healed her (Luke 13:14-17 NET).

But the president of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the crowd, “There are six26 days on which work should be done!  So come and be healed on those days,27 and not on the Sabbath day.”  Then28 the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites29 (ὑποκριταί, a form of ὑποκριτής)!  Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from its stall, and lead it to water?”  Then shouldn’t this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be released from this imprisonment on the Sabbath day?”  When he said this all his adversaries were humiliated, but the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things he was doing.

Humiliated Jewish leaders were not Jesus’ only adversaries.  While He was staying out of Judea because they wanted to kill him, as the beginning of the feast of Tabernacles approached, his brothers advised him, “Leave here and go to Judea so your disciples may see your miracles that you are performing.  For no one who seeks to make a reputation for himself does anything in secret.  If you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.”  (For not even his own brothers believed in him.)30

Mark’s Gospel account gives me the impression that it was Jesus’ persistence in healing on the Sabbath even after the Pharisees began plotting31 with the Herodians, as to how they could assassinate him32 over it that alarmed his mother and his brothers.  On one homecoming (probably to Peter’s house) they went out to restrain him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”33  While the experts in the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and, “By the ruler of demons he casts out demons.”34

This is the context for Jesus’ saying, “Who are my mother and35 my brothers?”  And looking at those who were sitting around him in a circle, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!  For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”36  It is also probably a better context to consider—Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me37than Jephthah’s sacrifice of his daughter.  Indeed, such a thing never even entered my mind!38 The Lord told Jeremiah.

 

Addendum: November 19, 2020
Tables comparing Proverbs 20:1 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and comparing Proverbs 20:1 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor), and tables comparing John 5:5; 5:10-12; 5:8; 5:16, 17; Luke 13:11; 13:14, 15; Mark 3:6 and 3:33 in the NET and KJV follow.

Proverbs 20:1 (Tanakh)

Proverbs 20:1 (KJV)

Proverbs 20:1 (NET)

Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. Wine is a mocker and strong drink is a brawler; whoever goes astray by them is not wise.

Proverbs 20:1 (Septuagint BLB)

Proverbs 20:1 (Septuagint Elpenor)

ἀκόλαστον οἶνος καὶ ὑβριστικὸν μέθη πᾶς δὲ συμμειγνύμενος αὐτῇ οὐκ ἔσται σοφός ΑΚΟΛΑΣΤΟΝ οἶνος καὶ ὑβριστικὸν μέθη, πᾶς δὲ ἄφρων τοιούτοις συμπλέκεται

Proverbs 20:1 (NETS)

Proverbs 20:1 (English Elpenor)

Wine is an intemperate thing, and strong drink is something insolent, and everyone who mixes with it will not be wise. Wine is an intemperate thing, and strong drink full of violence: but every fool is entangled with them.

John 5:5 (NET)

John 5:5 (KJV)

Now a man was there who had been disabled for 38 years. And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text

ἦν δέ τις ἄνθρωπος ἐκεῖ τριάκοντα [καὶ] ὀκτὼ ἔτη ἔχων ἐν τῇ ἀσθενείᾳ αὐτοῦ ην δε τις ανθρωπος εκει τριακονταοκτω ετη εχων εν τη ασθενεια ην δε τις ανθρωπος εκει τριακοντα και οκτω ετη εχων εν τη ασθενεια

John 5:10-12 (NET)

John 5:10-12 (KJV)

So the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and you are not permitted to carry your mat.” The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text

Ἔλεγον οὖν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι τῷ τεθεραπευμένῳ· σάββατον ἐστιν, καὶ οὐκ ἔξεστιν σοι ἆραι τὸν κράβαττον |σου| ελεγον ουν οι ιουδαιοι τω τεθεραπευμενω σαββατον εστιν ουκ εξεστιν σοι αραι τον κραββατον ελεγον ουν οι ιουδαιοι τω τεθεραπευμενω σαββατον εστιν ουκ εξεστιν σοι αραι τον κραββατον
But he answered them, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’” He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text

|| δὲ ἀπεκρίθη αὐτοῖς· ὁ ποιήσας με ὑγιῆ ἐκεῖνος μοι εἶπεν· ἆρον τὸν κράβαττον σου καὶ περιπάτει απεκριθη αυτοις ο ποιησας με υγιη εκεινος μοι ειπεν αρον τον κραββατον σου και περιπατει απεκριθη αυτοις ο ποιησας με υγιη εκεινος μοι ειπεν αρον τον κραββατον σου και περιπατει
They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Pick up your mat and walk’?” Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text

ἠρώτησαν αὐτόν· τίς ἐστιν ὁ ἄνθρωπος ὁ εἰπών σοι· ἆρον καὶ περιπάτει ηρωτησαν ουν αυτον τις εστιν ο ανθρωπος ο ειπων σοι αρον τον κραββατον σου και περιπατει ηρωτησαν ουν αυτον τις εστιν ο ανθρωπος ο ειπων σοι αρον τον κραββατον σου και περιπατει

John 5:8 (NET)

John 5:8 (KJV)

Jesus said to him, “Stand up! Pick up your mat and walk.” Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text

λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς· ἔγειρε ἆρον τὸν κράβαττον σου καὶ περιπάτει λεγει αυτω ο ιησους εγειραι αρον τον κραββατον σου και περιπατει λεγει αυτω ο ιησους εγειραι αρον τον κραββατον σου και περιπατει

John 5:16, 17 (NET)

John 5:16, 17 (KJV)

Now because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began persecuting him. And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text

καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἐδίωκον οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι τὸν Ἰησοῦν, ὅτι ταῦτα ἐποίει ἐν σαββάτῳ και δια τουτο εδιωκον τον ιησουν οι ιουδαιοι και εζητουν αυτον αποκτειναι οτι ταυτα εποιει εν σαββατω και δια τουτο εδιωκον τον ιησουν οι ιουδαιοι και εζητουν αυτον αποκτειναι οτι ταυτα εποιει εν σαββατω
So he told them, “My Father is working until now, and I too am working.” But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text

Ὁ δὲ  ἀπεκρίνατο αὐτοῖς· ὁ πατήρ μου ἕως ἄρτι ἐργάζεται καγὼ ἐργάζομαι ο δε ιησους απεκρινατο αυτοις ο πατηρ μου εως αρτι εργαζεται καγω εργαζομαι ο δε ιησους απεκρινατο αυτοις ο πατηρ μου εως αρτι εργαζεται καγω εργαζομαι

Luke 13:11 (NET)

Luke 13:11 (KJV)

and a woman was there who had been disabled by a spirit for eighteen years.  She was bent over and could not straighten herself up completely. And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text

καὶ ἰδοὺ γυνὴ πνεῦμα ἔχουσα ἀσθενείας ἔτη δεκαοκτὼ καὶ ἦν συγκύπτουσα καὶ μὴ δυναμένη ἀνακύψαι εἰς τὸ παντελές και ιδου γυνη ην πνευμα εχουσα ασθενειας ετη δεκα και οκτω και ην συγκυπτουσα και μη δυναμενη ανακυψαι εις το παντελες και ιδου γυνη ην πνευμα εχουσα ασθενειας ετη δεκα και οκτω και ην συγκυπτουσα και μη δυναμενη ανακυψαι εις το παντελες

Luke 13:14, 15 (NET)

Luke 13:14, 15 (KJV)

But the president of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the crowd, “There are six days on which work should be done!  So come and be healed on those days, and not on the Sabbath day.” And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text

ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ ὁ ἀρχισυνάγωγος, ἀγανακτῶν ὅτι τῷ σαββάτῳ ἐθεράπευσεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς, ἔλεγεν τῷ ὄχλῳ ὅτι ἓξ ἡμέραι εἰσὶν ἐν αἷς δεῖ ἐργάζεσθαι· ἐν αὐταῖς οὖν ἐρχόμενοι θεραπεύεσθε καὶ μὴ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τοῦ σαββάτου αποκριθεις δε ο αρχισυναγωγος αγανακτων οτι τω σαββατω εθεραπευσεν ο ιησους ελεγεν τω οχλω εξ ημεραι εισιν εν αις δει εργαζεσθαι εν ταυταις ουν ερχομενοι θεραπευεσθε και μη τη ημερα του σαββατου αποκριθεις δε ο αρχισυναγωγος αγανακτων οτι τω σαββατω εθεραπευσεν ο ιησους ελεγεν τω οχλω εξ ημεραι εισιν εν αις δει εργαζεσθαι εν ταυταις ουν ερχομενοι θεραπευεσθε και μη τη ημερα του σαββατου
Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites!  Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from its stall and lead it to water? The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering?

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text

ἀπεκρίθη δὲ αὐτῷ ὁ κύριος καὶ εἶπεν· ὑποκριταί, ἕκαστος ὑμῶν τῷ σαββάτῳ οὐ λύει τὸν βοῦν αὐτοῦ ἢ τὸν ὄνον ἀπὸ τῆς φάτνης καὶ |ἀπαγαγὼν| ποτίζει απεκριθη ουν αυτω ο κυριος και ειπεν υποκριτα εκαστος υμων τω σαββατω ου λυει τον βουν αυτου η τον ονον απο της φατνης και απαγαγων ποτιζει απεκριθη ουν αυτω ο κυριος και ειπεν υποκριται εκαστος υμων τω σαββατω ου λυει τον βουν αυτου η τον ονον απο της φατνης και απαγαγων ποτιζει

Mark 3:6 (NET)

Mark 3:6 (KJV)

So the Pharisees went out immediately and began plotting with the Herodians, as to how they could assassinate him. And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text

καὶ ἐξελθόντες οἱ Φαρισαῖοι εὐθὺς μετὰ τῶν Ἡρῳδιανῶν συμβούλιον ἐδίδουν κατ᾿ αὐτοῦ ὅπως αὐτὸν ἀπολέσωσιν και εξελθοντες οι φαρισαιοι ευθεως μετα των ηρωδιανων συμβουλιον εποιουν κατ αυτου οπως αυτον απολεσωσιν και εξελθοντες οι φαρισαιοι ευθεως μετα των ηρωδιανων συμβουλιον εποιουν κατ αυτου οπως αυτον απολεσωσιν

Mark 3:33 (NET)

Mark 3:33 (KJV)

He answered them and said, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren?

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text

καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς αὐτοῖς λέγει τίς ἐστιν ἡ μήτηρ μου καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοί [μου] και απεκριθη αυτοις λεγων τις εστιν η μητηρ μου η οι αδελφοι μου και απεκριθη αυτοις λεγων τις εστιν η μητηρ μου η οι αδελφοι μου

1 Romans 2:25 (NET)

2 John 7:1 (NET)

3 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had αὐτοῦ following disabled.  The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

5 John 5:5 (NET)

8 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had the article and the conjunction δὲ preceding he answered.  The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

9 The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ουν (KJV: Then) here.  The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

11 John 5:10-12 (NET)

12 John 5:14 (NET)

14 John 5:8 (NET)

15 John 5:9 (NET)

16 John 5:15 (NET)

17 John 5:16 (NET) The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had και εζητουν αυτον αποκτειναι (KJV: and sought to slay him) here.  The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

19 Proverbs 20:1 (NKJV)

20 Exodus 20:8-11 (NET)

21 John 5:17 (NET)

22 John 5:18 (NET)

23 The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ην (KJV: there was) following woman.  The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

25 Luke 13:11 (NET)

26 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ὅτι preceding six.  The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

28 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had δὲ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ουν (KJV: then).

29 The NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Byzantine Majority Text had the plural ὑποκριταί here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus had the singular υποκριτα (KJV: hypocrite).

30 John 7:3-5 (NET)

32 Mark 3:6 (NET)

33 Mark 3:21 (NET)

34 Mark 3:22 (NET)

35 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had καὶ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had η (KJV: or).

36 Mark 3:33-35 (NET)

37 Matthew 10:37 (NET)

38 Jeremiah 19:5 (NET) Table