Tag Archives: Galatians 2:20

A Shadow of the Good Things, Part 9

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In another essay I began to consider the substance or body which cast the shadow of the scape-goat (English Elpenor) or the [goat] to be sent off (NETS) in Leviticus 16:8 (Septuagint [Table]). It led me to Paul’s continuing discussion of the death of those who were baptized into Christ Jesus (Romans 7:14-20 NET):

For we know that the law is spiritual—but I am unspiritual, sold into slavery to sin [Table]. For I don’t understand what I am doing. For I do not do what I want—instead, I do what I hate. But if I do what I don’t want, I agree that the law is good. But now it is no longer me doing it, but sin that lives in me [Table]. For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For I want to do the good, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but I do the very evil I do not want! Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer me doing it but sin that lives in me [Table].

Immediately, I was confronted with my own unbelief. My religious mind rebels against the idea that I am unspiritual, sold into slavery to sin.1 Why adhere to a religion that renders me unspiritual, sold into slavery to sin? The easiest way to overcome the evangelical penchant of my religious mind to fabricate a religion palatable to unbelievers is to stop thinking about religion and start thinking about truth: Set them apart in the truth, Jesus prayed to his Father; your word is truth.2

Truthfully, my religious mind wants I am unspiritual, sold into slavery to sin to apply to the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires.3 My old man may well be the proximate cause of my unspirituality and slavery to sin, but Paul described an I, as I am seen here and now, that is comprised of both an old man and a new man who has been created in God’s image—in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth:4 For I want to do the good, he wrote, but I cannot do it.5

Though this saying is too defeatist for my religious mind, its truth is readily apparent when contrasted to the lie told at the inauguration of the law.

Romans 7:18b (NET)

Exodus 19:8b (NET)
For I want to do the good, but I cannot do it. All that the Lord has commanded we will do!

Besides, I do not do the good: For through the law I died to the law so that I may live to God. 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!6

Literally: “For I by law to law died” (ἐγὼ γὰρ διὰ νόμου νόμῳ ἀπέθανον). I suppose I’ve wanted this I to be the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires7 only, but Paul wrote (Romans 12:1 NET):

Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies (τὰ σώματα ὑμῶν) as a sacrifice—alive, holy, and pleasing to God—which is your reasonable service.

I wonder if persons might be a better translation of σώματα here, but the bodies or persons to whom Paul wrote were comprised of both an old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires8 and a new man who has been created in God’s image—in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth.9

Paul continued: so that I may live to God.10 Literally: “so that (ἵνα) to God (θεῷ) I may live (ζήσω).” The may was added because the verb ζήσω is in the subjunctive mood. Logically, it can be dropped, however, because this is a purpose and a result clause: “to God I live” because “I by law to law died.” Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live before him,11 Jesus told some Sadducees (who contend that there is no resurrection).12

I have been crucified with Christ (Χριστῷ συνεσταύρωμαι):13 “in Christ, to Christ, by Christ I have been and am crucified with [Him].” The Greek verb συνεσταύρωμαι is in the perfect tense:

The basic thought of the perfect tense is that the progress of an action has been completed and the results of the action are continuing on, in full effect. In other words, the progress of the action has reached its culmination and the finished results are now in existence. Unlike the English perfect, which indicates a completed past action, the Greek perfect tense indicates the continuation and present state of a completed past action.

For example, Galatians 2:20 should be translated “I am in a present state of having been crucified with Christ,” indicating that not only was I crucified with Christ in the past, but I am existing now in that present condition.

Paul continued: and it is no longer I who live.14 Literally, “and I live (ζῶ δὲ) no longer I (οὐκέτι ἐγώ),” but Christ lives in me.15 Literally, “but lives (ζῇ δὲ) in me (ἐν ἐμοὶ) Christ (Χριστός).” So the life I now live in the body:16 “so which (ὃ δὲ) now I live (νῦν ζῶ) in flesh (ἐν σαρκί),” I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God:17 “in the faithfulness I live (ἐν πίστει ζῶ τῇ) of the Son of God (τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ),”18 who loved me (τοῦ ἀγαπήσαντος με) and gave himself (καὶ παραδόντος ἑαυτὸν) for me (ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ).19

So, the I who actually accomplishes the good I want to do,20 or “is present in/with me,” (but cannot do) is Christ [who] lives in me.21 This is in keeping with Paul’s explanation in his letter to the Galatians of an I comprised of an old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires22 and a new man who has been created in God’s image—in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth23 (Galatians 5:16, 17 NET):

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 (θέλητε, a form of θέλω) [Table].

But I say (Λέγω δέ), live by the Spirit, “by [the] Spirit (πνεύματι) walk or you walk (περιπατεῖτε),” and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh,24 “and (καὶ) desire of flesh (ἐπιθυμίαν σαρκὸς) you never carry out (οὐ μὴ τελέσητε).” I wrote about the strength of οὐ μὴ τελέσητε elsewhere. Jesus is the One who proved this statement true.

So, to walk or live by the Spirit, buoyed up and carried along by the fruit of the Spirit—Jesus’ own love, his joy, his peace, his patience, his kindness, his goodness, his faithfulness, his gentleness and his self-control—is the only way I will do the good I want but cannot do. So you too, Jesus said, when you have done (ποιήσητε, a form of ποιέω) everything you were commanded to do, should say, ‘We are slaves undeserving of special praise; we have only done (ποιῆσαι, another form of ποιέω) what was our duty.’25 Though I’ve complained—“You mean, I can’t even put in my thumb, pull out a plum and say, ‘Oh, what a good boy am I’?”26—I do recognize how little credit I deserve for what is effectively the Lord’s work in and through me.

This explains to my satisfaction why Paul and the Holy Spirit considered an I comprised of an old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires27 and a new man who has been created in God’s image—in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth,28 who want[s] to do the good, but…cannot do it,29 unspiritual, sold into slavery to sin.30 This new desire (Romans 3:10-18), this new will, to do the will of God revealed in the law, prompted the following conclusion (Romans 7:16, 17 NET):

But if I do what I don’t want, I agree that the law is good. But now it is no longer me doing it, but sin that lives in me [Table].

Literally, “But if (εἰ δὲ) what not I want (ὃ οὐ θέλω) this I do (τοῦτο ποιῶ),” according to a note (23) in the NET, “I agree with the law (σύμφημι τῷ νόμῳ) that it is good (ὅτι καλός)” or beautiful. But now (νυνὶ δὲ) it is no longer me (οὐκέτι ἐγὼ) doing it (κατεργάζομαι αὐτὸ), “but (ἀλλὰ) this lives (ἡ |οἰκοῦσα|) in me (ἐν ἐμοὶ), sin (ἁμαρτία)” or “but this sin lives in me.”

Here is the substance or body which cast the shadow of the scape-goat (English Elpenor) or the [goat] to be sent off (NETS). It was repeated for good measure (Romans 7:20 NET [Table]).

Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer me doing it but sin that lives in me.

Literally, “If now (εἰ δὲ) what not I want (ὃ οὐ θέλω) I ([ἐγὼ]) this do (τοῦτο ποιῶ), it is no longer me (οὐκέτι ἐγὼ) doing it (κατεργάζομαι αὐτὸ), but (ἀλλὰ) this lives (ἡ οἰκοῦσα) in me (ἐν ἐμοὶ), sin (ἁμαρτία)” or “but this sin lives in me.”

Paul continued (Romans 7:21-25 NET):

So, I find the law that when I want to do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God in my inner being. But I see a different law in my members waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that is in my members [Table]. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin [Table].

Paul seemed simultaneously frustrated and calmly resigned to reside in this body of death (τοῦ σώματος τοῦ θανάτου τούτου) for a season, trusting the grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.31 The Lord described the scape-goat ceremony as follows:

Masoretic Text

Septuagint

Leviticus 16:21, 22 (Tanakh)

Leviticus 16:21, 22 (NET)

Leviticus 16:21, 22 (NETS)

Leviticus 16:21, 22 (English Elpenor)
And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, even all their sins; and he shall put them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of an appointed man into the wilderness. Aaron is to lay his two hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities of the Israelites and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins, and thus he is to put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the desert by the hand of a man standing ready. And Aaron shall lay his hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the lawless acts of the sons of Israel and all their offenses and all their sins and shall put them on the head of the live goat and shall send it away into the desert by the hand of a ready person. and Aaron shall lay his hands on the head of the live goat, and he shall declare over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their unrighteousness, and all their sins; and he shall lay them upon the head of the live goat, and shall send him by the hand of a ready man into the wilderness.
And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land which is cut off (גְּזֵרָ֑ה); and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness. The goat is to bear on itself all their iniquities into an inaccessible (gᵊzērâ, גזרה) land, so he is to send the goat away into the desert. And the goat shall bear on itself their offenses to an untrodden (ἄβατον) region, and he shall send off the goat into the wilderness. And the goat shall bear their unrighteousnesses upon him into a desert (ἄβατον) land; and Aaron shall send away the goat into the wilderness.

I’ll pick this up in another essay. A table comparing Exodus 19:8 translated from the Hebrew of the Masoretic text and the Greek of the Septuagint follows:

Masoretic Text

Septuagint

Exodus 19:8 (Tanakh)

Exodus 19:8 (NET)

Exodus 19:8 (NETS)

Exodus 19:8 (English Elpenor)
And all the people answered together, and said: ‘All that HaShem (יְהוָֹ֖ה) hath spoken we will do.’ And Moses reported the words of the people unto HaShem (יְהוָֹֽה). and all the people answered together, “All that the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ, יהוה) has commanded we will do!” So Moses brought the words of the people back to the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ, יהוה). And all the people with one accord answered and said, “All that God (ὁ θεός) said we will do and heed.” Then Moyses carried the words of the people up to God (τὸν θεόν). And all the people answered with one accord, and said, All things that God (ὁ Θεός) has spoken, we will do and hearken to: and Moses reported these words to God (τὸν Θεόν).

Tables comparing Exodus 19:8; Leviticus 16:21 and 16:22 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and tables comparing the Greek of Exodus 19:8; Leviticus 16:21 and 16:22 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor) follow.

Exodus 19:8 (Tanakh)

Exodus 19:8 (KJV)

Exodus 19:8 (NET)
And all the people answered together, and said: ‘All that HaShem hath spoken we will do.’ And Moses reported the words of the people unto HaShem. And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD. and all the people answered together, “All that the Lord has commanded we will do!” So Moses brought the words of the people back to the Lord.

Exodus 19:8 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 19:8 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἀπεκρίθη δὲ πᾶς ὁ λαὸς ὁμοθυμαδὸν καὶ εἶπαν πάντα ὅσα εἶπεν ὁ θεός ποιήσομεν καὶ ἀκουσόμεθα ἀνήνεγκεν δὲ Μωυσῆς τοὺς λόγους τοῦ λαοῦ πρὸς τὸν θεόν ἀπεκρίθη δὲ πᾶς ὁ λαὸς ὁμοθυμαδὸν καὶ εἶπαν· πάντα, ὅσα εἶπεν ὁ Θεός, ποιήσομεν καὶ ἀκουσόμεθα. ἀνήνεγκε δὲ Μωυσῆς τοὺς λόγους τούτους πρὸς τὸν Θεόν

Exodus 19:8 (Septuagint NETS)

Exodus 19:8 (English Elpenor)
And all the people with one accord answered and said, “All that God said we will do and heed.” Then Moyses carried the words of the people up to God. And all the people answered with one accord, and said, All things that God has spoken, we will do and hearken to: and Moses reported these words to God.

Leviticus 16:21 (Tanakh)

Leviticus 16:21 (KJV)

Leviticus 16:21 (NET)
And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, even all their sins; and he shall put them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of an appointed man into the wilderness. And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: Aaron is to lay his two hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities of the Israelites and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins, and thus he is to put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the desert by the hand of a man standing ready.

Leviticus 16:21 (Septuagint BLB)

Leviticus 16:21 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐπιθήσει Ααρων τὰς χεῖρας αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν τοῦ χιμάρου τοῦ ζῶντος καὶ ἐξαγορεύσει ἐπ᾽ αὐτοῦ πάσας τὰς ἀνομίας τῶν υἱῶν Ισραηλ καὶ πάσας τὰς ἀδικίας αὐτῶν καὶ πάσας τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῶν καὶ ἐπιθήσει αὐτὰς ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν τοῦ χιμάρου τοῦ ζῶντος καὶ ἐξαποστελεῖ ἐν χειρὶ ἀνθρώπου ἑτοίμου εἰς τὴν ἔρημον καὶ ἐπιθήσει ᾿Ααρὼν τὰς χεῖρας αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν τοῦ χιμάρου τοῦ ζῶντος καὶ ἐξαγορεύσει ἐπ᾿ αὐτοῦ πάσας τὰς ἀνομίας τῶν υἱῶν ᾿Ισραὴλ καὶ πάσας τὰς ἀδικίας αὐτῶν καὶ πάσας τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῶν καὶ ἐπιθήσει αὐτὰς ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν τοῦ χιμάρου τοῦ ζῶντος καὶ ἐξαποστελεῖ ἐν χειρὶ ἀνθρώπου ἑτοίμου εἰς τὴν ἔρημον

Leviticus 16:21 (Septuagint NETS)

Leviticus 16:21 (English Elpenor)
And Aaron shall lay his hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the lawless acts of the sons of Israel and all their offenses and all their sins and shall put them on the head of the live goat and shall send it away into the desert by the hand of a ready person. and Aaron shall lay his hands on the head of the live goat, and he shall declare over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their unrighteousness, and all their sins; and he shall lay them upon the head of the live goat, and shall send him by the hand of a ready man into the wilderness.

Leviticus 16:22 (Tanakh)

Leviticus 16:22 (KJV)

Leviticus 16:22 (NET)
And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land which is cut off; and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness. And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness. The goat is to bear on itself all their iniquities into an inaccessible land, so he is to send the goat away into the desert.

Leviticus 16:22 (Septuagint BLB)

Leviticus 16:22 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ λήμψεται ὁ χίμαρος ἐφ᾽ ἑαυτῷ τὰς ἀδικίας αὐτῶν εἰς γῆν ἄβατον καὶ ἐξαποστελεῖ τὸν χίμαρον εἰς τὴν ἔρημον καὶ λήψεται ὁ χίμαρος ἐφ᾿ ἑαυτῷ τὰς ἀδικίας αὐτῶν εἰς γῆν ἄβατον, καὶ ἐξαποστελεῖ τὸν χίμαρον εἰς τὴν ἔρημον

Leviticus 16:22 (Septuagint NETS)

Leviticus 16:22 (English Elpenor)
And the goat shall bear on itself their offenses to an untrodden region, and he shall send off the goat into the wilderness. And the goat shall bear their unrighteousnesses upon him into a desert land; and Aaron shall send away the goat into the wilderness.

1 Romans 7:14b (NET) Table

2 John 17:17 (NET) Table

3 Ephesians 4:22b (NET)

4 Ephesians 4:24b (NET)

5 Romans 7:18b (NET) Table

6 Galatians 2:19-21 (NET)

7 Ephesians 4:22b (NET)

8 Ibid.

9 Ephesians 4:24b (NET)

10 Galatians 2:19b (NET)

11 Luke 20:38 (NET)

12 Luke 20:27 (NET)

13 Galatians 2:20a (NET)

14 Galatians 2:20b (NET)

15 Galatians 2:20c (NET)

16 Galatians 2:20d (NET)

17 Galatians 2:20e (NET)

18 Both πίστει and the article τῇ are in the dative case. Perhaps, this could be understood as “in faithfulness I live to” the Son of God, but that strikes me as the selfsame lie as All that the Lord has commanded we will do! (Exodus 19:8b NET)

19 Galatians 2:20f (NET)

20 Romans 7:18b (NET) Table

21 Galatians 2:20c (NET)

22 Ephesians 4:22b (NET)

23 Ephesians 4:24b (NET)

24 Galatians 5:16 (NET)

25 Luke 17:10 (NET)

27 Ephesians 4:22b (NET)

28 Ephesians 4:24b (NET)

29 Romans 7:18b (NET) Table

30 Romans 7:14b (NET) Table

31 Romans 7:25b (NET) Table

Nothing True, Part 5

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Eliphaz continued his response to Job’s lament:

Masoretic Text

Septuagint

Job 4:9 (Tanakh/KJV)

Job 4:9 (NET)

Job 4:9 (NETS)

Job 4:9 (English Elpenor)
By the blast (מִנִּשְׁמַ֣ת) of God they perish, and by the breath (וּמֵר֖וּחַ) of his nostrils are they consumed. By the breath (nᵊšāmâ, מנשמת) of God they perish, and by the blast (rûaḥ, ומרוח) of his anger they are consumed. By the command (ἀπὸ προστάγματος) of the Lord they will perish, and by the breath (ἀπὸ δὲ πνεύματος) of his anger they will disappear. They shall perish by the command (ἀπὸ προστάγματος) of the Lord, and shall be utterly consumed by the breath (ἀπὸ δὲ πνεύματος) of his wrath.

In another essay I came to a draw, more or less, considering whether there was “nothing true” in Eliphaz’s argument. But here he spoke specifically about the Lord, and I admit what he said sounds similar to other descriptions in the Old Testament. So, I’ll pause here to consider some of those other descriptions, to see if I can understand why God was angered by Eliphaz’s words.

Masoretic Text

Septuagint

Isaiah 30:33 (Tanakh/KJV)

Isaiah 30:33 (NET)

Isaiah 30:33 (NETS)

Isaiah 30:33 (English Elpenor)
For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath (נִשְׁמַ֚ת) of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it. For the burial place1 is already prepared; it has been made deep and wide for the king. The firewood is piled high on it. The Lord’s breath (nᵊšāmâ, נשמת), like a stream flowing with brimstone, will ignite it. for you will be deceived before those days; was it also for you to reign that it was made ready with a deep trench, wood piled, fire and wood in abundance? The wrath (ὁ θυμὸς) of the Lord is like a ravine burning with brimstone. For thou shalt be required before [thy] time: has it been prepared for thee also to reign? nay, God has [prepared for thee] a deep trench, wood piled, fire and much wood: the wrath (ὁ θυμὸς) of the Lord [shall be] as a trench kindled with sulphur.

Here, in the Masoretic text God is imagined as a fire-breathing dragon, lighting the funeral pyre of the king of Assyria and, presumably, the army that oppressed (and punished) the northern kingdom of Israel (2 Kings 15:17-18:12). Assyria then moved on to threaten the southern kingdom of Judah (2 Kings 18:13-19:37), angering God (2 Kings 19:34) with blasphemy. But Isaiah comforted Hezekiah king of Judah:

Masoretic Text

Septuagint

2 Kings 19:7 (Tanakh)

2 Kings 19:7 (NET)

4 Reigns 19:7 (NETS)

4 Kings 19:7 (English Elpenor)
Behold, I will put a spirit (ר֔וּחַ) in him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.’ Look, I will take control of his mind (rûaḥ, רוח); he will receive a report and return to his own land. I will cut him down with a sword in his own land.”’” Behold, I myself am putting a spirit (πνεῦμα) in him, and he shall hear a message and return to his own land, and I will strike him down by a sword in his own land’.” Behold, I send a blast (πνεῦμα) upon him, and he shall hear a report, and shall return to his own land; and I will overthrow him with the sword in his own land.

Masoretic Text

Septuagint

Isaiah 37:7 (Tanakh/KJV)

Isaiah 37:7 (NET)

Isaiah 37:7 (NETS)

Isaiah 37:7 (English Elpenor)
Behold, I will send a blast (ר֔וּחַ) upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land. Look, I will take control of his mind (rûaḥ, רוח); he will receive a report and return to his own land. I will cut him down with a sword in his own land.”’” Look, I will put a spirit (πνεῦμα) in him, and when he hears a report, he will return to his country, and he will fall by the dagger in his own land’.” Behold, I [will] send a blast (πνεῦμα) upon him, and he shall hear a report, and return to his own country, and he shall fall by the sword in his own land.

Eliphaz spoke of more ordinary sinners who were not an immediate threat to the lives of those God intended to protect. Was Eliphaz justified appropriating such imagery of God for that purpose? Was he justified using such imagery against Job?

Masoretic Text

Septuagint

Job 1:19 (Tanakh/KJV) Table

Job 1:19 (NET)

Job 1:19 (NETS) Table

Job 1:19 (English Elpenor)
And, behold, there came a great wind (ר֨וּחַ) from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. and suddenly a great wind (rûaḥ, רוח) swept across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they died! And I—only I alone—escaped to tell you!” suddenly a great wind (πνεῦμα) came from the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and the house fell on your children, and they died, but I alone escaped, and I came to tell you.” suddenly a great wind (πνεῦμα) came on from the desert, and caught the four corners of the house, and the house fell upon thy children, and they are dead; and I have escaped alone, and am come to tell thee.

It seems as if Eliphaz found an open wound in Job’s heart and ground his heel into it. Two verses follow from the song of David (2 Samuel 22, Psalm 18), the Lord’s anointed king and a soldier, praising God for rescuing him (and his men) in combat.

Masoretic Text

Septuagint

2 Samuel 22:16 (Tanakh) Table

2 Samuel 22:16 (NET)

2 Samuel 22:16 (NETS) Table

2 Samuel 22:16 (English Elpenor)
And the channels of the sea appeared, the foundations of the world were laid bare by the rebuke of HaShem, at the blast (מִנִּשְׁמַ֖ת) of the breath (ר֥וּחַ) of His nostrils. The depths of the sea were exposed; the inner regions of the world were uncovered by the Lord’s battle cry, by the powerful (nᵊšāmâ, מנשמת) breath (rûaḥ, רוח) from his nose. And emissions of sea were seen, and foundations of the world were laid bare by the rebuke of the Lord, at the blast (ἀπὸ πνοῆς) of the breath (πνεύματος) of his anger. And the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered, at the rebuke of the Lord, at the blast (ἀπὸ πνοῆς) of the breath (πνεύματος) of his anger.

Masoretic Text

Septuagint

Psalm 18:15 (Tanakh/KJV) Table

Psalm 18:15 (NET)

Psalm 17:16 (NETS) Table

Psalm 17:16 (English Elpenor)
Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast (מִ֜נִּשְׁמַ֗ת) of the breath (ר֣וּחַ) of thy nostrils. The depths of the sea were exposed; the inner regions of the world were uncovered by your battle cry, Lord, by the powerful (nᵊšāmâ, מנשמת) breath (rûaḥ, רוח) from your nose. And the springs of the waters appeared, and the foundations of the world were uncovered at your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast (ἀπὸ ἐμπνεύσεως) of the breath (πνεύματος) of your wrath. And the springs of waters appeared, and the foundations of the world were exposed, at thy rebuke, O Lord, at the blasting (ἀπὸ ἐμπνεύσεως) of the breath (πνεύματος) of thy wrath.

Here again, the violent imagery of God is used to praise Him for his rescue from dire and immediate threat, rather than to threaten ordinary sinners who were no immediate threat. What follows is from a song of Moses, celebrating God’s rescue from impending destruction when Israel crossed the Red Sea.

Masoretic Text

Septuagint

Exodus 15:8 -10 (Tanakh)

Exodus 15:8 -10 (NET)

Exodus 15:8 -10 (NETS)

Exodus 15:8 -10 (English Elpenor)
And with the blast (וּבְר֤וּחַ) of Thy nostrils the waters were piled up–the floods stood upright as a heap; the deeps were congealed in the heart of the sea. By the blast (rûaḥ, וברוח) of your nostrils the waters were piled up, the flowing water stood upright like a heap, and the deep waters were solidified in the heart of the sea. And through the breath (καὶ διὰ πνεύματος) of your wrath the water separated; the waters were congealed like a wall; the waves were congealed in the midst of the sea. And by the breath (καὶ διὰ πνεύματος) of thine anger the water parted asunder; the waters were congealed as a wall, the waves were congealed in the midst of the sea.
The enemy said: ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.’ The enemy said, ‘I will chase, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my desire will be satisfied on them. I will draw my sword, my hand will destroy them.’ The enemy said, ‘In pursuit I will overtake; I will divide spoil; I will destroy with my dagger; my hand shall dominate’. The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoils; I will satisfy my soul, I will destroy with my sword, my hand shall have dominion.
Thou didst blow with Thy wind (בְרֽוּחֲךָ֖), the sea covered them; they sank as lead in the mighty waters. But you blew with your breath (rûaḥ, ברוחך), and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters. You sent your breath (τὸ πνεῦμά σου); the sea covered them; they sank like lead in violent water. Thou sentest forth thy wind (τὸ πνεῦμά σου), the sea covered them; they sank like lead in the mighty water.

In this same song the Lord was called a man (אִ֣ישׁ) of war (מִלְחָמָ֑ה) in the Masoretic text. The rabbis who translated the Septuagint understood this as συντρίβων (a form of συντρίβω) πολέμους (a form of πόλεμος), or they translated a word other than אִ֣ישׁ they found here in an older Hebrew manuscript.

Masoretic Text

Septuagint

Exodus 15:3 (Tanakh)

Exodus 15:3 (NET)

Exodus 15:3 (NETS)

Exodus 15:3 (English Elpenor)
HaShem is a man (אִ֣ישׁ) of war (מִלְחָמָ֑ה), HaShem is His name. The Lord is a warrior [NET note 10: Heb “man (‘îš, איש) of war (milḥāmâ, מלחמה)”]—the Lord is his name. The Lord, when he shatters wars (συντρίβων πολέμους), the Lord is his name. The Lord bringing wars to nought (συντρίβων πολέμους), the Lord [is] his name.

In the verse that follows Isaiah praised the Lord, but the rabbis who translated the Septuagint didn’t understand ר֥וּחַ (rûaḥ) in quite the way English translators understand it now:

Masoretic Text

Septuagint

Isaiah 25:4 (Tanakh/KJV)

Isaiah 25:4 (NET)

Isaiah 25:4 (NETS)

Isaiah 25:4 (English Elpenor)
For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast (ר֥וּחַ) of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall. For you are a protector for the poor, a protector for the needy in their distress, a shelter from the rainstorm, a shade from the heat. Though the breath (rûaḥ, רוח) of tyrants is like a winter rainstorm, For you have become a helper to every humble city and a shelter to those who are dispirited because of poverty; you will rescue them from evil persons—a shelter for the thirsty and breath (καὶ πνεῦμα) for ill-treated persons, For thou hast been a helper to every lowly city, and a shelter to them that were disheartened by reason of poverty: thou shalt deliver them from wicked men: [thou hast been] a shelter of them that thirst, and a refreshing air (καὶ πνεῦμα) to injured men.

And finally, Isaiah’s prophecy of Jesus follows:

Masoretic Text

Septuagint

Isaiah 11:1-4 (Tanakh/KJV)

Isaiah 11:1-4 (NET)

Isaiah 11:1-4 (NETS)

Isaiah 11:1-4 (English Elpenor)
And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse (Matthew 1:1-16), and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: A shoot will grow out of Jesse’s root stock (Luke 3:23-28), a bud will sprout from his roots. And a rod shall come out of the root of Iessai, and a blossom shall come up out of his root. And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a blossom shall come up from [his] root:
And the spirit (ר֣וּחַ) of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit (ר֧וּחַ) of wisdom and understanding, the spirit (ר֚וּחַ) of counsel and might, the spirit (ר֥וּחַ) of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; The Lord’s Spirit (rûaḥ, רוח) will rest on him—a Spirit (rûaḥ, רוח) that gives extraordinary wisdom, a Spirit (rûaḥ, רוח) that provides the ability to execute plans, a Spirit (rûaḥ, רוח) that produces absolute loyalty to the Lord. And the spirit (πνεῦμα) of God shall rest on him, the spirit (πνεῦμα) of wisdom and understanding, the spirit (πνεῦμα) of counsel and might, the spirit (πνεῦμα) of knowledge and godliness. and the Spirit (πνεῦμα) of God shall rest upon him, the spirit (πνεῦμα) of wisdom and understanding, the spirit (πνεῦμα) of counsel and strength, the spirit (πνεῦμα) of knowledge and godliness shall fill him;
And shall make him of quick understanding (וַֽהֲרִיח֖וֹ) in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: He will take delight (rîaḥ, והריחו) in obeying the Lord. He will not judge by mere appearances or make decisions on the basis of hearsay. The spirit (πνεῦμα) of the fear of God will fill him. He shall not judge on the basis of repute or convict on the basis of report, the spirit (πνεῦμα) of the fear of God. He shall not judge according to appearance, nor reprove according to report:
But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth: with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath (וּבְר֥וּחַ) of his lips shall he slay the wicked. He will treat the poor fairly and make right decisions for the downtrodden of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth and order the wicked to be executed [NET note 14: Heb “and by the breath (וברוח) of his lips he will kill the wicked”]. but he shall administer justice to a humble one and convict the humble ones of the earth, and he shall strike the earth with the word of his mouth, and with breath (καὶ ἐν πνεύματι) through his lips he shall do away with the impious. but he shall judge the cause of the lowly, and shall reprove the lowly of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the word of his mouth, and with the breath (καὶ ἐν πνεύματι) of his lips shall he destroy the ungodly one.

Viewed through an Old Testament lens alone this could be the most relevant passage to justify Eliphaz’s usage of violent imagery against ordinary sinners including Job. Knowing Jesus, however, the image of bloodied corpses lying on a battlefield does not come immediately to mind here. It reminds one instead of that death of which the redeemed partake in Christ (Romans 6:3, 4; Galatians 2:20 NET):

Or do you not know that as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may live a new life.

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.

Regardless, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.2 I’ll pick this up in another essay.

Tables comparing Job 4:9; Isaiah 30:33; 2 Kings 19:7; Isaiah 37:7; Exodus 15:8; 15:9; 15:10; 15:3; Isaiah 25:4; 11:1; 11:2; 11:3 and 11:4 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and tables comparing the Greek of Job 4:9; Isaiah 30:33; 2 Kings (4 Reigns, 4 Kings) 19:7; Isaiah 37;7; Exodus 15:8; 15:9; 15:10; 15:3; Isaiah 25:4; 11:1; 11:2; 11:3 and 11:4 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor) follow.

Job 4:9 (Tanakh)

Job 4:9 (KJV)

Job 4:9 (NET)
By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed. By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed. By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of his anger they are consumed.

Job 4:9 (Septuagint BLB)

Job 4:9 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἀπὸ προστάγματος κυρίου ἀπολοῦνται ἀπὸ δὲ πνεύματος ὀργῆς αὐτοῦ ἀφανισθήσονται ἀπὸ προστάγματος Κυρίου ἀπολοῦνται, ἀπὸ δὲ πνεύματος ὀργῆς αὐτοῦ ἀφανισθήσονται

Job 4:9 (NETS)

Job 4:9 (English Elpenor)
By the command of the Lord they will perish, and by the breath of his anger they will disappear. They shall perish by the command of the Lord, and shall be utterly consumed by the breath of his wrath.

Isaiah 30:33 (Tanakh)

Isaiah 30:33 (KJV)

Isaiah 30:33 (NET)
For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it. For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it. For the burial place is already prepared; it has been made deep and wide for the king. The firewood is piled high on it. The Lord’s breath, like a stream flowing with brimstone, will ignite it.

Isaiah 30:33 (Septuagint BLB)

Isaiah 30:33 (Septuagint Elpenor)
σὺ γὰρ πρὸ ἡμερῶν ἀπαιτηθήσῃ μὴ καὶ σοὶ ἡτοιμάσθη βασιλεύειν φάραγγα βαθεῖαν ξύλα κείμενα πῦρ καὶ ξύλα πολλά ὁ θυμὸς κυρίου ὡς φάραγξ ὑπὸ θείου καιομένη σὺ γὰρ πρὸ ἡμερῶν ἀπαιτηθήσῃ· μὴ καὶ σοὶ ἡτοιμάσθη βασιλεύειν, φάραγγα βαθεῖαν. ξύλα κείμενα, πῦρ καὶ ξύλα πολλά; ὁ θυμὸς Κυρίου ὡς φάραγξ ὑπὸ θείου καιομένη

Isaiah 30:33 (NETS)

Isaiah 30:33 (English Elpenor)
for you will be deceived before those days; was it also for you to reign that it was made ready with a deep trench, wood piled, fire and wood in abundance? The wrath of the Lord is like a ravine burning with brimstone. For thou shalt be required before [thy] time: has it been prepared for thee also to reign? nay, God has [prepared for thee] a deep trench, wood piled, fire and much wood: the wrath of the Lord [shall be] as a trench kindled with sulphur.

2 Kings 19:7 (Tanakh)

2 Kings 19:7 (KJV)

2 Kings 19:7 (NET)
Behold, I will put a spirit in him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.’ Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land. Look, I will take control of his mind; he will receive a report and return to his own land. I will cut him down with a sword in his own land.”’”

2 Kings 19:7 (Septuagint BLB)

4 Kings 19:7 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ δίδωμι ἐν αὐτῷ πνεῦμα καὶ ἀκούσεται ἀγγελίαν καὶ ἀποστραφήσεται εἰς τὴν γῆν αὐτοῦ καὶ καταβαλῶ αὐτὸν ἐν ῥομφαίᾳ ἐν τῇ γῇ αὐτοῦ ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ δίδωμι ἐν αὐτῷ πνεῦμα, καὶ ἀκούσεται ἀγγελίαν καὶ ἀποστραφήσεται εἰς τὴν γῆν αὐτοῦ, καὶ καταβαλῶ αὐτὸν ἐν ῥομφαίᾳ ἐν τῇ γῇ αὐτοῦ

4 Reigns 19:7 (NETS)

4 Kings 19:7 (English Elpenor)
Behold, I myself am putting a spirit in him, and he shall hear a message and return to his own land, and I will strike him down by a sword in his own land’.” Behold, I send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a report, and shall return to his own land; and I will overthrow him with the sword in his own land.

Isaiah 37:7 (Tanakh)

Isaiah 37:7 (KJV)

Isaiah 37:7 (NET)
Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land. Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land. Look, I will take control of his mind; he will receive a report and return to his own land. I will cut him down with a sword in his own land.”’”

Isaiah 37:7 (Septuagint BLB)

Isaiah 37:7 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἐμβαλῶ εἰς αὐτὸν πνεῦμα καὶ ἀκούσας ἀγγελίαν ἀποστραφήσεται εἰς τὴν χώραν αὐτοῦ καὶ πεσεῖται μαχαίρᾳ ἐν τῇ γῇ αὐτοῦ ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἐμβάλλω εἰς αὐτὸν πνεῦμα, καὶ ἀκούσας ἀγγελίαν ἀποστραφήσεται εἰς τὴν χώραν αὐτοῦ καὶ πεσεῖται μαχαίρᾳ ἐν τῇ γῇ αὐτοῦ

Isaiah 37:7 (NETS)

Isaiah 37:7 (English Elpenor)
Look, I will put a spirit in him, and when he hears a report, he will return to his country, and he will fall by the dagger in his own land’.” Behold, I [will] send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a report, and return to his own country, and he shall fall by the sword in his own land.

Exodus 15:8 (Tanakh)

Exodus 15:8 (KJV)

Exodus 15:8 (NET)
And with the blast of Thy nostrils the waters were piled up–the floods stood upright as a heap; the deeps were congealed in the heart of the sea. And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea. By the blast of your nostrils the waters were piled up, the flowing water stood upright like a heap, and the deep waters were solidified in the heart of the sea.

Exodus 15:8 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 15:8 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ διὰ πνεύματος τοῦ θυμοῦ σου διέστη τὸ ὕδωρ ἐπάγη ὡσεὶ τεῖχος τὰ ὕδατα ἐπάγη τὰ κύματα ἐν μέσῳ τῆς θαλάσσης καὶ διὰ πνεύματος τοῦ θυμοῦ σου διέστη τὸ ὕδωρ· ἐπάγη ὡσεὶ τεῖχος τὰ ὕδατα, ἐπάγη τὰ κύματα ἐν μέσῳ τῆς θαλάσσης

Exodus 15:8 (NETS)

Exodus 15:8 (English Elpenor)
And through the breath of your wrath the water separated; the waters were congealed like a wall; the waves were congealed in the midst of the sea. And by the breath of thine anger the water parted asunder; the waters were congealed as a wall, the waves were congealed in the midst of the sea.

Exodus 15:9 (Tanakh)

Exodus 15:9 (KJV)

Exodus 15:9 (NET)
The enemy said: ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.’ The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them. The enemy said, ‘I will chase, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my desire will be satisfied on them. I will draw my sword, my hand will destroy them.’

Exodus 15:9 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 15:9 (Septuagint Elpenor)
εἶπεν ὁ ἐχθρός διώξας καταλήμψομαι μεριῶ σκῦλα ἐμπλήσω ψυχήν μου ἀνελῶ τῇ μαχαίρῃ μου κυριεύσει ἡ χείρ μου εἶπεν ὁ ἐχθρός, διώξας καταλήψομαι, μεριῶ σκῦλα, ἐμπλήσω ψυχήν μου, ἀνελῶ τῇ μαχαίρᾳ μου, κυριεύσει ἡ χείρ μου

Exodus 15:9 (NETS)

Exodus 15:9 (English Elpenor)
The enemy said, ‘In pursuit I will overtake; I will divide spoil; I will destroy with my dagger; my hand shall dominate’. The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoils; I will satisfy my soul, I will destroy with my sword, my hand shall have dominion.

Exodus 15:10 (Tanakh)

Exodus 15:10 (KJV)

Exodus 15:10 (NET)
Thou didst blow with Thy wind, the sea covered them; they sank as lead in the mighty waters. Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters. But you blew with your breath, and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters.

Exodus 15:10 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 15:10 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἀπέστειλας τὸ πνεῦμά σου ἐκάλυψεν αὐτοὺς θάλασσα ἔδυσαν ὡσεὶ μόλιβος ἐν ὕδατι σφοδρῷ ἀπέστειλας τὸ πνεῦμά σου, ἐκάλυψεν αὐτοὺς θάλασσα· ἔδυσαν ὡσεὶ μόλιβος ἐν ὕδατι σφοδρῷ

Exodus 15:10 (NETS)

Exodus 15:10 (English Elpenor)
You sent your breath; the sea covered them; they sank like lead in violent water. Thou sentest forth thy wind, the sea covered them; they sank like lead in the mighty water.

Exodus 15:3 (Tanakh)

Exodus 15:3 (KJV)

Exodus 15:3 (NET)
HaShem is a man of war, HaShem is His name. The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name. The Lord is a warrior—the Lord is his name.

Exodus 15:3 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 15:3 (Septuagint Elpenor)
κύριος συντρίβων πολέμους κύριος ὄνομα αὐτῷ Κύριος συντρίβων πολέμους, Κύριος ὄνομα αὐτῷ

Exodus 15:3 (NETS)

Exodus 15:3 (English Elpenor)
The Lord, when he shatters wars, the Lord is his name. The Lord bringing wars to nought, the Lord [is] his name.

Isaiah 25:4 (Tanakh)

Isaiah 25:4 (KJV)

Isaiah 25:4 (NET)
For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall. For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall. For you are a protector for the poor, a protector for the needy in their distress, a shelter from the rainstorm, a shade from the heat. Though the breath of tyrants is like a winter rainstorm,

Isaiah 25:4 (Septuagint BLB)

Isaiah 25:4 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐγένου γὰρ πάσῃ πόλει ταπεινῇ βοηθὸς καὶ τοῖς ἀθυμήσασιν διὰ ἔνδειαν σκέπη ἀπὸ ἀνθρώπων πονηρῶν ῥύσῃ αὐτούς σκέπη διψώντων καὶ πνεῦμα ἀνθρώπων ἀδικουμένων ἐγένου γὰρ πάσῃ πόλει ταπεινῇ βοηθὸς καὶ τοῖς ἀθυμήσασι δι᾿ ἔνδειαν σκέπη, ἀπὸ ἀνθρώπων πονηρῶν ῥύσῃ αὐτούς, σκέπη διψώντων καὶ πνεῦμα ἀνθρώπων ἀδικουμένων

Isaiah 25:4 (NETS)

Isaiah 25:4 (English Elpenor)
For you have become a helper to every humble city and a shelter to those who are dispirited because of poverty; you will rescue them from evil persons—a shelter for the thirsty and breath for ill-treated persons, For thou hast been a helper to every lowly city, and a shelter to them that were disheartened by reason of poverty: thou shalt deliver them from wicked men: [thou hast been] a shelter of them that thirst, and a refreshing air to injured men.

Isaiah 11:1 (Tanakh)

Isaiah 11:1 (KJV)

Isaiah 11:1 (NET)
And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: A shoot will grow out of Jesse’s root stock, a bud will sprout from his roots.

Isaiah 11:1 (Septuagint BLB)

Isaiah 11:1 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐξελεύσεται ῥάβδος ἐκ τῆς ῥίζης Ιεσσαι καὶ ἄνθος ἐκ τῆς ῥίζης ἀναβήσεται ΚΑΙ ἐξελεύσεται ῥάβδος ἐκ τῆς ρίζης ᾿Ιεσσαί, καὶ ἄνθος ἐκ τῆς ρίζης ἀναβήσεται

Isaiah 11:1 (NETS)

Isaiah 11:1 (English Elpenor)
And a rod shall come out of the root of Iessai, and a blossom shall come up out of his root. And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a blossom shall come up from [his] root:

Isaiah 11:2 (Tanakh)

Isaiah 11:2 (KJV)

Isaiah 11:2 (NET)
And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; The Lord’s Spirit will rest on him—a Spirit that gives extraordinary wisdom, a Spirit that provides the ability to execute plans, a Spirit that produces absolute loyalty to the Lord.

Isaiah 11:2 (Septuagint BLB)

Isaiah 11:2 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἀναπαύσεται ἐπ᾽ αὐτὸν πνεῦμα τοῦ θεοῦ πνεῦμα σοφίας καὶ συνέσεως πνεῦμα βουλῆς καὶ ἰσχύος πνεῦμα γνώσεως καὶ εὐσεβείας καὶ ἀναπαύσεται ἐπ᾿ αὐτὸν πνεῦμα τοῦ Θεοῦ, πνεῦμα σοφίας καὶ συνέσεως, πνεῦμα βουλῆς καὶ ἰσχύος, πνεῦμα γνώσεως καὶ εὐσεβείας

Isaiah 11:2 (NETS)

Isaiah 11:2 (English Elpenor)
And the spirit of God shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and godliness. and the Spirit of God shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and godliness shall fill him;

Isaiah 11:3 (Tanakh)

Isaiah 11:3 (KJV)

Isaiah 11:3 (NET)
And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: He will take delight in obeying the Lord. He will not judge by mere appearances or make decisions on the basis of hearsay.

Isaiah 11:3 (Septuagint BLB)

Isaiah 11:3 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐμπλήσει αὐτὸν πνεῦμα φόβου θεοῦ οὐ κατὰ τὴν δόξαν κρινεῖ οὐδὲ κατὰ τὴν λαλιὰν ἐλέγξει ἐμπλήσει αὐτὸν πνεῦμα φόβου Θεοῦ. οὐ κατὰ τὴν δόξαν κρινεῖ οὐδὲ κατὰ τὴν λαλιὰν ἐλέγξει

Isaiah 11:3 (NETS)

Isaiah 11:3 (English Elpenor)
The spirit of the fear of God will fill him. He shall not judge on the basis of repute or convict on the basis of report, the spirit of the fear of God. He shall not judge according to appearance, nor reprove according to report:

Isaiah 11:4 (Tanakh)

Isaiah 11:4 (KJV)

Isaiah 11:4 (NET)
But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth: with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. He will treat the poor fairly and make right decisions for the downtrodden of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth and order the wicked to be executed.

Isaiah 11:4 (Septuagint BLB)

Isaiah 11:4 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἀλλὰ κρινεῖ ταπεινῷ κρίσιν καὶ ἐλέγξει τοὺς ταπεινοὺς τῆς γῆς καὶ πατάξει γῆν τῷ λόγῳ τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐν πνεύματι διὰ χειλέων ἀνελεῖ ἀσεβῆ ἀλλὰ κρινεῖ ταπεινῷ κρίσιν καὶ ἐλέγξει τοὺς ταπεινοὺς τῆς γῆς· καὶ πατάξει γῆν τῷ λόγῳ τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐν πνεύματι διὰ χειλέων ἀνελεῖ ἀσεβῆ

Isaiah 11:4 (NETS)

Isaiah 11:4 (English Elpenor)
but he shall administer justice to a humble one and convict the humble ones of the earth, and he shall strike the earth with the word of his mouth, and with breath through his lips he shall do away with the impious. but he shall judge the cause of the lowly, and shall reprove the lowly of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the word of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he destroy the ungodly one.

1 See NET note 76 and Commentaries on BibleHub on Isaiah 30:33.

2 Job 42:7b (Tanakh, KJV) Table

Wonders and False Wonders, Part 1

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Peter described Jesus to the crowd gathered at Pentecost as a man clearly attested to you by God with powerful deeds, wonders, and miraculous signs that God performed (ἐποίησεν, a form of ποιέω) among you through him, just as you yourselves know…1 The Greek word translated wonders above was τέρασι(ν), a form of τέρας:

omen, wonder
portent, premonition
a prodigy
feat, accomplishment
foreboding, portentous and amazing event (performed by God)

Now [Jesus] came again to Cana in Galilee where he had made the water wine. In Capernaum there was a certain royal official whose son was sick. When he heard that Jesus had come back from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and begged him to come down and heal his son, who was about to die [Table]. So Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders you will never believe!”2 Here the word translated wonders was τέρατα (another form of τέρας).

I wrote about Jesus’ complex attitude to signs (σημεῖα, a form of σημεῖον) in another essay and will simply continue with the story here (John 4:49, 50a NET).

“Sir,” the official said to him, “come down before my child dies.” Jesus told him, “Go home; your son will live” [Table].

John concluded this story: Jesus did this as his second miraculous sign when he returned from Judea to Galilee.3 The Greek word translated miraculous sign was σημεῖον. But Jesus had spoken of signs, σημεῖα, a plural form of σημεῖον and wonders.

At the risk of being somewhat arbitrary, I’ll say that the miraculous sign here was that without spells, potions or incantations Jesus healed the official’s son simply by promising that he would live. And so that leaves the wonders (John 4:50b-53 NET):

The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and set off for home. While he was on his way down, his slaves met him and told him that his son was going to live. So he asked them the time when his condition began to improve, and they told him, “Yesterday at one o’clock in the afternoon the fever left him.” Then the father realized that it was the very time Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live,” and he himself believed along with his entire household [Table].

So, a man who believed the word that Jesus spoke to him enough to obey Him and go home had his faith confirmed by the timing of the fulfillment of that word while he was on the way. The pattern seems to hold, though I am hard-pressed to distinguish between signs and wonders (Acts 2:41-47 NET):

So those who accepted [Peter’s] message were baptized, and that day about 3,000 people were added [Table]. They were devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Reverential awe came over4 everyone, and many wonders (τέρατα, another form of τέρας) and miraculous signs came about by the apostles. All who believed were together and held everything in common, and they began selling their property and possessions and distributing the proceeds to everyone, as anyone had need. Every day they continued to gather together by common consent in the temple courts, breaking bread from house to house, sharing their food with glad and humble hearts, praising God and having the good will of all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number5 every day those who were being saved.

The text doesn’t specify the many wonders and miraculous signs that came about διὰ (“through, by, in the midst of”) the apostles. The wonders performed by God are evident, however, in the attitudes and actions described, so uncharacteristic of people generally, now normative for those who have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer [they] who live, but Christ lives in [them]. So the life [they] now live in the body, [they] live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved [them] and gave himself for [them],6 on the cross, yes, but even beyond that through his indwelling Spirit. Though they met in the temple courts, their actions supported the creation of a priesthood of grace virtually overnight, independent of the priesthood of law. And those actions were prompted, not by a lawgiver on a mountain top but, by the Spirit of the living God moving in individual human hearts.

Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.7 For if the message spoken through angels (ἀγγέλων, a form of ἄγγελος; i.e., messengers) proved to be so firm that every violation or disobedience received its just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was first communicated through the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard him, while God confirmed their witness with signs and wonders (τέρασιν, a form of τέρας) and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.8

Paul complained to the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 12:11, 12 NET):

I have become a fool.9 You yourselves forced me to do it, for I should have been commended by you. For I lack nothing in comparison to those “super10-apostles,” even though I am nothing. Indeed, the signs of an apostle were performed among you with great perseverance by signs and11 wonders (τέρασιν, a form of τέρας) and powerful deeds.

The signs of an apostle (τὰ…σημεῖα τοῦ ἀποστόλου) were performed among you, he wrote. Without specifying exactly what they were, he described them as signs and wonders and powerful deeds. It makes sense at this point to actually look at what the apostles did.

As a disciple called by Jesus Peter had at best a very selective faith in Scripture:

Jesus and Scripture (Matthew 26:31 NET)

Peter (Matthew 26:33 NET)
Then Jesus said to them, “This night you will all fall away because of me, for it is written: ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’12 Peter said to him, “If they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away!”

He was willing to argue with both Jesus’ word and the Scripture if they impacted his ego adversely. On the night of Jesus’ arrest Peter flailed with a sword to protect Jesus, no doubt, but also to fulfill his own word that he would never fall away (οὐδέποτε σκανδαλισθήσομαι) and, whether intentionally or not, to prove Jesus’ word and the Scripture false. On Pentecost not that long afterward the apostle Peter deftly handled the sword of the Spirit (which is the word of God)13 to become one of the fishers of people Jesus promised. Peter quoted the prophet Joel (Acts 2:19 NET):

And I will perform wonders (τέρατα another form of τέρας) in the sky above and miraculous signs on the earth below, blood and fire and clouds of smoke.

I’ve presented Peter’s use of Scripture in its full context in another essay, and discussed some of it in detail in others.14 Here I’ll point out that the Hebrew word in the Masoretic text translated τέρατα in the Septuagint and the New Testament was מֽוֹפְתִ֔ים (môp̄ēṯ). The first occurrence of a form of מוֹפֵת (môp̄ēṯ) follows:

Masoretic Text

Septuagint

Exodus 4:21 (Tanakh)

Exodus 4:21 (NET)

Exodus 4:21 (NETS)

Exodus 4:21 (English Elpenor)
And HaShem said unto Moses: ‘When thou goest back into Egypt, see that thou do before Pharaoh all the wonders (הַמֹּֽפְתִים֙) which I have put in thy hand; but I will harden his heart, and he will not let the people go. The Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the wonders (môp̄ēṯ, המפתים) I have put under your control. But I will harden his heart and he will not let the people go. And the Lord said to Moyses, “As you go and return to Egypt, see, all the wonders (τὰ τέρατα) which I put in your hands, you shall perform them before Pharao. But I will harden his heart, and he will not send the people away. And the Lord said to Moses, When thou goest and returnest to Egypt, see– all the miracles (τὰ τέρατα) I have charged thee with, thou shalt work before Pharao: and I will harden his heart, and he shall certainly not send away the people.

The wonders which I have put in thy hand refers to Exodus 4:1-9. I’ll quote Exodus 4:8, 9 where these wonders were described individually as the voice of the sign:

Masoretic Text

Septuagint

Exodus 4:8, 9 (Tanakh)

Exodus 4:8, 9 (NET)

Exodus 4:8, 9 (NETS)

Exodus 4:8, 9 (English Elpenor)
And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice (לְקֹ֖ל) of the first sign (הָאֹ֣ת), that they will believe the voice (לְקֹ֖ל) of the latter sign (הָאֹ֥ת). “If they do not believe you or pay attention to [Note 16: Heb “listen to the voice (qôl, לקל) of,”] the former sign (‘ôṯ, האת), then they may believe the latter sign (‘ôṯ, האת) [Note 18: Heb “believe the voice (qôl, לקל) of the latter sign”]. “Now if they should not believe you or listen to the voice of the first sign (τῆς φωνῆς τοῦ σημείου), they will believe you because of the voice of the last sign (τῆς φωνῆς τοῦ σημείου). And if they will not believe thee, nor hearken to the voice of the first sign (τῆς φωνῆς τοῦ σημείου), they will believe thee [because] of the voice of the second sign (τῆς φωνῆς τοῦ σημείου).
And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe even these two signs (הָֽאֹת֜וֹת), neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land; and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land.’ And if they do not believe even these two signs (‘ôṯ, האתות) or listen to you, then take some water from the Nile and pour it out on the dry ground. The water you take out of the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.” And it will be if they should not believe you for these two signs (σημείοις) or listen to your voice, you shall take some of the river’s water and pour it on the dry ground, and the water, whatever you take from the river, will be blood on the dry ground.” And it shall come to pass if they will not believe thee for these two signs (σημείοις), and will not hearken to thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river and pour it upon the dry land, and the water which thou shalt take from the river shall be blood upon the dry land.

So I’ll try to use forms of σημεῖον for the sign, the thing itself, and forms of τέρας for the wonder, the voice of the sign (τῆς φωνῆς τοῦ σημείου), the effect it has on the one who witnesses the sign, to believe (Tanakh/KJV/NET) the messenger and ultimately the word of God. (The Hebrew word translated believe was יַֽאֲמִ֣ינוּ (‘āman) in the Masoretic text and the Greek was πιστεύσωσί(ν) in the Septuagint.) The implication seems to be that even Pharaoh would have believed through these wonders, except for the Lord’s promise to Moses: But I will harden his heart.15

After his resurrection Jesus said to his disciples (Luke 24:44-49 NET):

“These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled” [Table]. Then he opened their minds so they could understand the scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it stands written that the Christ would suffer and would rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And look, I am sending you what my Father promised. But stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high” [Table].

So, the sign here is that Jesus opened their minds so they could understand the scriptures. The wonder, or the voice of the sign, is the transformation in Peter’s regard for the Scriptures after he received the Holy Spirit, after he was clothed with power from on high. And this transformation is one of the signs of an apostle. It is impossible to imagine an apostle apart from this transformation, yet such a transformation is not exclusively the domain of apostles. It is to be expected in any who are drawn by Jesus, in all who have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer [they] who live, but Christ lives in [them].16

Jesus’ confidence in the Scriptures was unprecedented: “Put your sword back into its sheath,” He said to Peter during his arrest. “Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?”17 “How then would the scriptures that say it must happen this way be fulfilled?”18 [Y]our word is truth,19 He had prayed to his Father. Set them apart in the truth,20 He interceded for his disciples.

And here, I get a glimpse of what false wonders would be: For false messiahs and false prophets will appear, Jesus warned, and perform great signs and wonders (τέρατα, another form of τέρας) to deceive, if possible, even the elect.21 Without specifying exactly what any particular sign would be, Jesus warned that the wonder, the voice of the sign, would not result in confidence in the truth, God’s word, the Scriptures: great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

I’ll continue with this in another essay.

A note (40) in the NET claimed that Acts 2:19 was a quotation from Joel 2:30 (3:3). A table comparing the Greek of Acts 2:19 with that of Joel 2:30 (3:3) in the Septuagint follows.

Acts 2:19 (NET Parallel Greek)

Joel 2:30 (Septuagint BLB)

Joel 3:3 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ δώσω τέρατα ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἄνω καὶ σημεῖα ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς κάτω, αἷμα καὶ πῦρ καὶ ἀτμίδα καπνοῦ καὶ δώσω τέρατα ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς αἷμα καὶ πῦρ καὶ ἀτμίδα καπνοῦ καὶ δώσω τέρατα ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, αἷμα καὶ πῦρ καὶ ἀτμίδα καπνοῦ

Acts 2:19 (NET)

Joel 2:30 (NETS)

Joel 3:3 (English Elpenor)
And I will perform wonders in the sky above and miraculous signs on the earth below, blood and fire and clouds of smoke. I will give portents in the sky and on earth: blood and fire and the vapor of smoke. And I will shew wonders in heaven, and upon the earth, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke.

Tables comparing Joel 2:30 (3:3); Exodus 4:21; 4:8 and 4:9 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET; and tables comparing Joel 2:30 (3:3); Exodus 4:21; 4:8 and 4:9 in the BLB and Elpenor versions of the Septuagint with the English translations from Hebrew and Greek, and tables comparing the Greek of Acts 2:43; 2:47; Hebrews 2:1; 2 Corinthians 12:11, 12 and Ephesians 6:17 in the NET and KJV follow.

Joel 3:3 (Tanakh)

Joel 2:30 (KJV)

Joel 2:30 (NET)
And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. I will produce portents both in the sky and on the earth—blood, fire, and columns of smoke.

Joel 2:30 (Septuagint BLB)

Joel 3:3 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ δώσω τέρατα ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς αἷμα καὶ πῦρ καὶ ἀτμίδα καπνοῦ καὶ δώσω τέρατα ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, αἷμα καὶ πῦρ καὶ ἀτμίδα καπνοῦ

Joel 2:30 (NETS)

Joel 3:3 (English Elpenor)
I will give portents in the sky and on earth: blood and fire and the vapor of smoke. And I will shew wonders in heaven, and upon the earth, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke.

Exodus 4:21 (Tanakh)

Exodus 4:21 (KJV)

Exodus 4:21 (NET)
And HaShem said unto Moses: ‘When thou goest back into Egypt, see that thou do before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in thy hand; but I will harden his heart, and he will not let the people go. And the LORD said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go. The Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the wonders I have put under your control. But I will harden his heart and he will not let the people go.

Exodus 4:21 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 4:21 (Septuagint Elpenor)
εἶπεν δὲ κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν πορευομένου σου καὶ ἀποστρέφοντος εἰς Αἴγυπτον ὅρα πάντα τὰ τέρατα ἃ ἔδωκα ἐν ταῖς χερσίν σου ποιήσεις αὐτὰ ἐναντίον Φαραω ἐγὼ δὲ σκληρυνῶ τὴν καρδίαν αὐτοῦ καὶ οὐ μὴ ἐξαποστείλῃ τὸν λαόν εἶπε δὲ Κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν· πορευομένου σου καὶ ἀποστρέφοντος εἰς Αἴγυπτον, ὅρα πάντα τὰ τέρατα, ἃ δέδωκα ἐν ταῖς χερσί σου, ποιήσεις αὐτὰ ἐναντίον Φαραώ· ἐγὼ δὲ σκληρυνῶ τὴν καρδίαν αὐτοῦ, καὶ οὐ μὴ ἐξαποστείλῃ τὸν λαόν

Exodus 4:21 (NETS)

Exodus 4:21 (English Elpenor)
And the Lord said to Moyses, “As you go and return to Egypt, see, all the wonders which I put in your hands, you shall perform them before Pharao. But I will harden his heart, and he will not send the people away. And the Lord said to Moses, When thou goest and returnest to Egypt, see– all the miracles I have charged thee with, thou shalt work before Pharao: and I will harden his heart, and he shall certainly not send away the people.

Exodus 4:8 (Tanakh)

Exodus 4:8 (KJV)

Exodus 4:8 (NET)
And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign. And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign. “If they do not believe you or pay attention to the former sign, then they may believe the latter sign.

Exodus 4:8 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 4:8 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐὰν δὲ μὴ πιστεύσωσίν σοι μηδὲ εἰσακούσωσιν τῆς φωνῆς τοῦ σημείου τοῦ πρώτου πιστεύσουσίν σοι τῆς φωνῆς τοῦ σημείου τοῦ ἐσχάτου ἐὰν δὲ μὴ πιστεύσωσί σοι, μηδὲ εἰσακούσωσι τῆς φωνῆς τοῦ σημείου τοῦ πρώτου, πιστεύσουσί σοι τῆς φωνῆς τοῦ σημείου τοῦ δευτέρου

Exodus 4:8 (NETS)

Exodus 4:8 (English Elpenor)
“Now if they should not believe you or listen to the voice of the first sign, they will believe you because of the voice of the last sign. And if they will not believe thee, nor hearken to the voice of the first sign, they will believe thee [because] of the voice of the second sign.

Exodus 4:9 (Tanakh)

Exodus 4:9 (KJV)

Exodus 4:9 (NET)
And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe even these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land; and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land.’ And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land. And if they do not believe even these two signs or listen to you, then take some water from the Nile and pour it out on the dry ground. The water you take out of the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.”

Exodus 4:9 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 4:9 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἔσται ἐὰν μὴ πιστεύσωσίν σοι τοῖς δυσὶ σημείοις τούτοις μηδὲ εἰσακούσωσιν τῆς φωνῆς σου λήμψῃ ἀπὸ τοῦ ὕδατος τοῦ ποταμοῦ καὶ ἐκχεεῖς ἐπὶ τὸ ξηρόν καὶ ἔσται τὸ ὕδωρ ὃ ἐὰν λάβῃς ἀπὸ τοῦ ποταμοῦ αἷμα ἐπὶ τοῦ ξηροῦ καὶ ἔσται ἐὰν μὴ πιστεύσωσί σοι τοῖς δυσὶ σημείοις τούτοις, μηδὲ εἰσακούσωσι τῆς φωνῆς σου, λήψῃ ἀπὸ τοῦ ὕδατος τοῦ ποταμοῦ καὶ ἐκχεεῖς ἐπὶ τὸ ξηρόν, καὶ ἔσται τὸ ὕδωρ, ὃ ἐὰν λάβῃς ἀπὸ τοῦ ποταμοῦ, αἷμα ἐπὶ τοῦ ξηροῦ

Exodus 4:9 (NETS)

Exodus 4:9 (English Elpenor)
And it will be if they should not believe you for these two signs or listen to your voice, you shall take some of the river’s water and pour it on the dry ground, and the water, whatever you take from the river, will be blood on the dry ground.” And it shall come to pass if they will not believe thee for these two signs, and will not hearken to thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river and pour it upon the dry land, and the water which thou shalt take from the river shall be blood upon the dry land.

Acts 2:43 (NET)

Acts 2:43 (KJV)
Reverential awe came over everyone, and many wonders and miraculous signs came about by the apostles. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.

Acts 2:43 (NET Parallel Greek)

Acts 2:43 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Acts 2:43 (Byzantine Majority Text)
ἐγίνετο δὲ πάσῃ ψυχῇ φόβος, πολλά |τε| τέρατα καὶ σημεῖα διὰ τῶν ἀποστόλων ἐγίνετο εγενετο δε παση ψυχη φοβος πολλα τε τερατα και σημεια δια των αποστολων εγινετο εγενετο δε παση ψυχη φοβος πολλα τε τερατα και σημεια δια των αποστολων εγινετο

Acts 2:47 (NET)

Acts 2:47 (KJV)
praising God and having the good will of all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number every day those who were being saved. Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

Acts 2:47 (NET Parallel Greek)

Acts 2:47 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Acts 2:47 (Byzantine Majority Text)
αἰνοῦντες τὸν θεὸν καὶ ἔχοντες χάριν πρὸς ὅλον τὸν λαόν. ὁ δὲ κύριος προσετίθει τοὺς σῳζομένους καθ᾿ ἡμέραν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό αινουντες τον θεον και εχοντες χαριν προς ολον τον λαον ο δε κυριος προσετιθει τους σωζομενους καθ ημεραν τη εκκλησια αινουντες τον θεον και εχοντες χαριν προς ολον τον λαον ο δε κυριος προσετιθει τους σωζομενους καθ ημεραν τη εκκλησια

Hebrews 2:1 (NET)

Hebrews 2:1 (KJV)
Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.

Hebrews 2:1 (NET Parallel Greek)

Hebrews 2:1 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Hebrews 2:1 (Byzantine Majority Text)
Διὰ τοῦτο δεῖ περισσοτέρως προσέχειν ἡμᾶς τοῖς ἀκουσθεῖσιν, μήποτε παραρυῶμεν δια τουτο δει περισσοτερως ημας προσεχειν τοις ακουσθεισιν μηποτε παραρρυωμεν δια τουτο δει περισσοτερως ημας προσεχειν τοις ακουσθεισιν μηποτε παραρρυωμεν

2 Corinthians 12:11, 12 (NET)

2 Corinthians 12:11, 12 (KJV)
I have become a fool. You yourselves forced me to do it, for I should have been commended by you. For I lack nothing in comparison to those “super-apostles,” even though I am nothing. I am become a fool in glorying; ye have compelled me: for I ought to have been commended of you: for in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles, though I be nothing.

2 Corinthians 12:11 (NET Parallel Greek)

2 Corinthians 12:11 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

2 Corinthians 12:11 (Byzantine Majority Text)
Γέγονα ἄφρων, ὑμεῖς με ἠναγκάσατε. ἐγὼ γὰρ ὤφειλον ὑφ᾿ ὑμῶν συνίστασθαι· οὐδὲν γὰρ ὑστέρησα τῶν ὑπερλίαν ἀποστόλων εἰ καὶ οὐδέν εἰμι γεγονα αφρων καυχωμενος υμεις με ηναγκασατε εγω γαρ ωφειλον υφ υμων συνιστασθαι ουδεν γαρ υστερησα των υπερ λιαν αποστολων ει και ουδεν ειμι γεγονα αφρων καυχωμενος υμεις με ηναγκασατε εγω γαρ ωφειλον υφ υμων συνιστασθαι ουδεν γαρ υστερησα των υπερ λιαν αποστολων ει και ουδεν ειμι
Indeed, the signs of an apostle were performed among you with great perseverance by signs and wonders and powerful deeds. Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds.

2 Corinthians 12:12 (NET Parallel Greek)

2 Corinthians 12:12 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

2 Corinthians 12:12 (Byzantine Majority Text)
τὰ μὲν σημεῖα τοῦ ἀποστόλου κατειργάσθη ἐν ὑμῖν ἐν πάσῃ ὑπομονῇ, σημείοις |τε| καὶ τέρασιν καὶ δυνάμεσιν τα μεν σημεια του αποστολου κατειργασθη εν υμιν εν παση υπομονη εν σημειοις και τερασιν και δυναμεσιν τα μεν σημεια του αποστολου κατειργασθη εν υμιν εν παση υπομονη εν σημειοις και τερασιν και δυναμεσιν

Ephesians 6:17 (NET)

Ephesians 6:17 (KJV)
And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit (which is the word of God). And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Ephesians 6:17 (NET Parallel Greek)

Ephesians 6:17 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Ephesians 6:17 (Byzantine Majority Text)
καὶ τὴν περικεφαλαίαν τοῦ σωτηρίου δέξασθε καὶ τὴν μάχαιραν τοῦ πνεύματος, ὅ ἐστιν ρῆμα θεοῦ και την περικεφαλαιαν του σωτηριου δεξασθε και την μαχαιραν του πνευματος ο εστιν ρημα θεου και την περικεφαλαιαν του σωτηριου δεξασθαι και την μαχαιραν του πνευματος ο εστιν ρημα θεου

1 Acts 2:22 (NET) Table

2 John 4:46-48 (NET)

3 John 4:54 (NET) Table

6 Galatians 2:20 (NET)

7 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had παραρυῶμεν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had παραρρυωμεν (KJV: we should let [them] slip).

8 Hebrews 2:1-4 (NET)

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

10 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ὑπερλίαν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had υπερ λιαν (KJV: very chiefest).

12 A note (44) in the NET claimed that Jesus quoted Zechariah 13:7. The table comparing the Greek of Jesus’ quotation with that of the Septuagint makes it obvious that He did not quote the Septuagint verbatim.

13 Ephesians 6:17b (NET)

15 Exodus 4:21b (NET)

16 Galatians 2:20a (NET)

17 John 18:11 (NET) Table

18 Matthew 26:54 (NET)

19 John 17:17b (NET) Table

20 John 17:17a (NET) Table

21 Matthew 24:24 (NET)

Christianity, Part 10

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There are 10 occurrences of πάντας in Romans [see Table below] the Greek word translated all people in: And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people (πάντας, a form of πᾶς) to myself.1 I’ll consider seven of them in some detail. The first occurrence is probably universal (Romans 3:9 ESV):

What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all (πάντας), both Jews and Greeks, are under sin,

I might argue that πάντας was limited here by both Jews and Greeks (Ἰουδαίους τε καὶ ῞Ελληνας) to those people living around the Mediterranean Sea at the time Paul wrote his letter to Roman believers. The context argues against it. I’ve never heard anyone make that argument. But consider what Jesus said (Luke 5:32 ESV):

I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance (μετάνοιαν, a form of μετάνοια).

If I refuse to take this as evidence of the existence of righteous people Jesus did not come to call, I am likely to take righteous (δικαίους) as his rhetorical contrast to sinners (ἁμαρτωλοὺς), the all He came to call…to repentance. This is especially true if I remember Peter (2 Peter 3:9 ESV [Table]):

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance (μετάνοιαν, a form of μετάνοια).

For there is no distinction [Table], Paul clarified, for all (πάντες, another form of πᾶς) have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.2 This leads to the next occurrence of πάντας in Romans, but it is prefaced by a discussion I call the limit of the law (Romans 3:19, 20 ESV).

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 will be justified (οὐ δικαιωθήσεται πᾶσα σὰρξ) in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

I did alright as an atheist as long as I was willing to consider myself evil. I was playing kind of a word game, since I had already “decided that what God said was evil was at least potentially good, and what God said was good was probably generally evil.”3 Paul’s “limit of the law” became important to me eventually because:4

When I wanted to consider myself good again I invented “more realistic” rules than yehôvâh’s to obey. I failed to obey them. So I made “even more realistic” rules. Eventually my standards were so low even I realized they were unworkable. And I still wasn’t keeping them!

When I returned to faith I knew my own limitations but still expected Jesus to help me to have a righteousness of my own that comes from the law,5 my obedience to the law, that is. He wouldn’t help me do that. He helped me to believe my own experience and Paul’s writing instead: by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight,6 since through the law comes knowledge of sin.7 Only then was I ready to receive the righteousness of God (Romans 3:21-26 ESV).

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all (πάντας) who believe. For there is no distinction [Table]: for all (πάντες) have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus [Table].

Here πάντας is clearly limited by τοὺς πιστεύοντας (ESV: who believe). Of all the sinners who have ever lived on earth only those who believe have the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ.8 And since the total number of sinners is equal to the total number of people except for Jesus Christ, of all the other people who have ever lived on earth only those who believe are justified by [God’s] grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.9 That’s where I began my own journey, so that’s where I’ll begin here.

Given my history, that was a heavy burden for my faith to bear. I should point out that πιστεύοντας (ESV: believe) is in the present tense, which has a now and forever aspect to it. Jesus warned his disciples (Matthew 24:9-14 ESV):

Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

For a while, I relied on my faith to accomplish all of this, believing my faith was faith in Jesus Christ10 despite the fact that He wouldn’t help me to have a righteousness of my own that comes from the law.11 I had noticed that the word in in the phrase faith in Jesus Christ was not actually a preposition in Greek: πίστεως |Ἰησοῦ| Χριστοῦ. I even questioned why the genitive case was translated faith in Jesus Christ when of would have been a more normal translation. Still, the faith of Jesus Christ didn’t resonate with me until Peter’s stroll on the Sea of Galilee rocked my world. After that I wanted “to depend on Jesus’ faith. He has the faith to stand on the water and hold Peter up as well.”12 Then I heard (Romans 3:21-24 NET):

But now apart from the law the righteousness of God (although it is attested by the law and the prophets) has been disclosed—namely, the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all (πάντας) who believe. For there is no distinction [Table], for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. But they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

A lengthy note (27) in the NET explained the translators’ choice for πίστεως |Ἰησοῦ| Χριστοῦ, the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. Though a “decision is difficult here” and “the grammar is not decisive,” my own experience of Jesus’ faithfulness was sufficient to persuade me that the one who wrote, I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me,13 would encourage sinners to believe in the faithfulness of Jesus Christ rather than faith in Jesus Christ, to rely wholly on Him rather than some ephemeral thing they conjure in their own minds.

The next three occurrences of πάντας follow (Romans 5:12-21 ESV).

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all (πάντας) men because all (πάντες) sinned—for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam [Genesis 3:1-24], who was a type of the one who was to come [Table].

But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all (πάντας) men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all (πάντας) men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The first occurrence of πάντας here is limited by men (ἀνθρώπους, a form of ἄνθρωπος), human beings created male and female rather than ἄνδρας (a form of ἀνήρ), men as distinct from women or boys. But the point is that death spread to all (πάντας) people because all (πάντες) sinned.14

It’s in this light that I want to consider Paul’s usage of forms of the adjective πολύς (Romans 5:15b ESV).

For if many (πολλοὶ, a form of πολύς) died through one man’s trespass, much (πολλῷ, another form of πολύς) more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many (πολλοὺς, another form of πολύς).

The first many was οἱ (a form of ὁ) πολλοὶ, and can be legitimately translated “these many” or “those many,” referring back to all (πάντας): For if [these] many died through one man’s trespass. The next clause is related to the first one by πολλῷ μᾶλλον, much more (ESV). So, the second clause grows much more from the first: much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. The Greek words translated for many were εἰς τοὺς πολλοὺς, which could legitimately be translated “for these many” or “for those many,” referring immediately back to οἱ πολλοὶ (“these many” or “those many”) who died (ἀπέθανον, a form of ἀποθνήσκω).

I think the cleverness of the usage of forms of πολύς here is directly attributable to Paul’s knowledge that though Jesus died He was exempt from the all (πάντες) who sinned, and though Enoch and Elijah sinned, they were exempt from the all (πάντας) who died. But I seriously doubt that Paul or the Holy Spirit considered that the many (τοὺς πολλοὺς) for whom the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded was a quantity significantly less than the many (οἱ πολλοὶ) who died through one man’s trespass.

The next occurrence of πάντας was also limited by men: Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all (πάντας) men.15 Here, too, men was ἀνθρώπους not ἄνδρας. This is a reference to all people, even Jesus: For our sake [God] made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become16 the righteousness of God.17

And the next occurrence of πάντας is like the previous one: so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all (πάντας) men.18 It’s a fairly straightforward statement for any who have ears to hear. Granted, those who believe in the faithfulness of Jesus Christ may find it easier to hear than those who believe in faith in Jesus Christ.

Paul switched from πάντας to the adjective πολλοὶ again to continue his discussion: For as by the one man’s disobedience the many (οἱ πολλοί) were made sinners.19 “These many” or “those many” who were made sinners refers back to the all for whom one trespass led to condemnation. I’m assuming οἱ πολλοί gave Paul and the Holy Spirit the latitude to exclude Jesus from the category sinners (ἁμαρτωλοὶ). The next clause continues: so by the one man’s obedience the many (οἱ πολλοί) will be made righteous,20 the same many who were made sinners.

And again, this is easier to hear if one believes it will be accomplished by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ rather than by faith in Jesus Christ. Though God made (ἐποίησεν) him to be sin, I assume that οἱ πολλοί gave Paul and the Holy Spirit the latitude to exempt Jesus from any necessity of being made (κατασταθήσονται) righteous in the future.

The last two occurrences of πάντας that I’ll consider in this essay follow (Romans 11:29-32 ESV):

For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy [Table]. For God has consigned all (τοὺς πάντας) to disobedience, that he may have mercy21 on all (τοὺς πάντας).

Here τοὺς πάντας could be legitimately translated “these all” or “those all.” This reminds me of a snowball gaining mass and momentum as it rolls downhill. If God shows mercy to someone as disobedient as I have been, it only gives Him more latitude to show mercy to someone as disobedient as you have been, and on, and on, and on, and on. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, Jesus said, will draw all people to myself.22

This exercise, however, has made it quite clear to me that all of these things are easier to hear if one believes in the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. They are almost impossible to hear if one believes faith in Christ is the personal achievement that justifies one before God.

The table mentioned above follows.

Occurrences of πάντας in Romans
Reference

NET Parallel Greek

 ESV
Romans 3:9 προῃτιασάμεθα γὰρ Ἰουδαίους τε καὶ ῞Ελληνας πάντας ὑφ᾿ ἁμαρτίαν εἶναι For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin,
Romans 3:22

δικαιοσύνη δὲ θεοῦ διὰ πίστεως |Ἰησοῦ| Χριστοῦ εἰς πάντας τοὺς πιστεύοντας

the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.
Romans 5:12 οὕτως εἰς πάντας ἀνθρώπους ὁ θάνατος διῆλθεν so death spread to all men
Romans 5:18 ὡς δι᾿ ἑνὸς παραπτώματος εἰς πάντας ἀνθρώπους εἰς κατάκριμα as one trespass led to condemnation for all men
οὕτως καὶ δι᾿ ἑνὸς δικαιώματος εἰς πάντας ἀνθρώπους εἰς δικαίωσιν ζωῆς so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for fall men.
Romans 10:12

πλουτῶν εἰς πάντας τοὺς ἐπικαλουμένους αὐτόν

bestowing his riches on all who call on him
Romans 11:32 συνέκλεισεν γὰρ ὁ θεὸς τοὺς πάντας εἰς ἀπείθειαν For God has consigned all to disobedience
ἵνα τοὺς πάντας ἐλεήσῃ that he may have mercy on all.
Romans 16:15

τοὺς σὺν αὐτοῖς πάντας ἁγίους

the brothers who are with them.
Romans 16:19 ὑμῶν ὑπακοὴ εἰς πάντας ἀφίκετο your obedience is known to all

1 John 12:32 (ESV)

2 Romans 3:22b, 23 (ESV)

5 Philippians 3:9a (ESV)

7 Romans 3:20 (ESV)

8 Romans 3:22a (ESV) Table

9 Romans 3:24 (ESV)

10 Romans 3:22b (ESV) Table

11 Philippians 3:9a (ESV)

13 Galatians 2:20a (NET)

14 Romans 5:12b (ESV)

15 Romans 5:18a (ESV)

16 Both γινωμεθα (Stephanus Textus Receptus) and γενώμεθα (NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Byzantine Majority Text) are 1st person plural verbs in the subjunctive mood, hence the translation we might become (ESV). But this is a result clause: “if the subjunctive mood is used in a purpose or result clause, then the action should not be thought of as a possible result, but should be viewed as a definite outcome that will happen as a result of another stated action,” Verbal Moods, Greek Verbs (Shorter Definitions).

17 2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV) Table

18 Romans 5:18b (ESV)

19 Romans 5:19a (ESV)

20 Romans 5:19b (ESV)

21 The Greek word translated he may have mercy was ἐλεήσῃ, a 3rd person singular form of ἐλεέω in the subjunctive mood. This is, however, a result or purpose clause: “if the subjunctive mood is used in a purpose or result clause, then the action should not be thought of as a possible result, but should be viewed as a definite outcome that will happen as a result of another stated action,” Verbal Moods, Greek Verbs (Shorter Definitions).

22 John 12:32 (ESV)

Christianity, Part 4

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There are 13 occurrences of πάντας in Luke’s Gospel [see Table below], the Greek word translated all people in And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people (πάντας, a form of πᾶς) to myself.1 Two occurrences found in narrative passages were limited by words immediately following πάντας, and three others were limited by the time and place mentioned in context. There is one more occurrence in a narrative phrase introducing Jesus’ teaching, one in a question Peter asked Jesus about his teaching and six occurrences spoken by Jesus as He taught. I’ll consider these in detail.

And [Jesus] said to all (πάντας, a form of πᾶς), “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.2

In a narrative passage I would assume that πάντας was limited to all who heard Jesus at a particular time and place: Now it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him.3 But the nature of his message here causes me to question that assumption. It seems to apply beyond the immediate time and place to τις θέλει ὀπίσω μου ἔρχεσθαι, anyone [who] would come after [Jesus].

Given my predisposition it was natural, perhaps inevitable, for me to consider that this desire (θέλει, a form of θέλω) to follow Jesus originated with, or was conjured by, the human individual. It rendered that individual worthy of Jesus’ salvation. The lack of this desire, or one’s inability to conjure it, made one worthy of damnation. Then lightning struck, metaphorically speaking, in the form of Jesus’ saying: No one (οὐδεὶς) can (δύναται, a form of δύναμαι) come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.4

The desire to follow Jesus on these terms, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily, does not originate with any human individual. It is evidence that one is being drawn by God. And this truth, If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me; For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it, is not limited to those who would follow but applies to all. So, πάντας here stands without any limitation of time or place: And he said to all.5

I’d like to consider the fuller version of D. A. Carson’s argument quoted in “What Did Jesus Mean When He Said That he will ‘Draw All Men [and Women] to Myself’?” on the Christian Publishing House Blog:

“On the verb ‘to draw’, cf. notes on 6:44. There, the one who draws is the Father; here [John 12:32], it is the Son, but nothing much should be made of this (5:19)…

John 6:44 quotes Jesus saying: No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.6 John 5:19 reads: So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.7

Mr. Carson’s quote continued:

“But the scope and efficacy of the drawing in the two places are quite different. There, the focus is on those individuals whom the Father gives to the Son, whom the Son infallibly preserves and raises up at the last day. Here, ‘all men’ reminds the reader of what triggered these statements, viz. the arrival of the Greeks…

The “arrival of the Greeks” is a reference to the following (John 12:20-23 ESV):

Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip8 went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went9 and10 told Jesus. And Jesus answered11 them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

I agree that “the scope…of the drawing [is] quite different” in John 6:44 and 12:32. The Father draws a select few relative to all who have lived, or will ever live, on earth prior to Jesus’ crucifixion. Jesus promises to draw all afterward. But I fail to see how the “arrival of the Greeks” as described above alters the “efficacy of the drawing.”

In the KJV πάντας was translated all men (ESV: all people), but the Greek is not πάντας ἄνθρωπον or πάντας ἀνθρώπους as if Jesus intended to limit πάντας in some way. It is simply πάντας. Yet in Mr. Carson’s argument the “arrival of the Greeks” so alters the efficacy of Jesus’ drawing that πάντας ἑλκύσω (literally: “all I will draw”)…

…means ‘all people without distinction, Jews and Gentiles alike’, not all individuals without exception, since the surrounding context has just established judgment as a major theme (v. 31), a time for distinguishing between those who love their lives (and therefore lose them) and those who hate their lives (and therefore keep them for eternal life, v. 25).”

John 12:31 reads: Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.12 This indicates to me that Mr. Carson thought the judgment of this world and the casting out of the ruler of this world were opposed somehow to Jesus drawing all to Himself. John 12:25 reads: Whoever loves his life loses13 it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.14

I want to consider this in context (John 12:23-26 ESV):

And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If15 anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

All that follows falls under the heading: The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.16 Jesus referred to Himself here as the Son of Man but whenever I hear this phrase I think also of those who follow Him. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.17 He spoke of his own death but also the death of those who would follow Him. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.18 This is true of the Son of Man as it is true of all born of Him. And if I seek more clarification, what it means to hate my life in this world, Jesus spoke directly to us: If anyone serves me, he must follow me.19

This brings me back to the beginning of this essay:

If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.20

To hate my life in this world is to deny myself (I do not know the man21) in this world, to take up [my] cross daily in this world and to follow Jesus. Here it becomes clear that our old self born of the flesh loves its life in this world, does not deny itself, take up its cross daily or follow Jesus: We know that our old self (ὁ παλαιὸς ἡμῶν ἄνθρωπος) was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.22 It is the new self (τὸν νέον), which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator23 who comprehends that, 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,24 is not a hyperbolic expression of Paul’s personal devotion, but normative for all who believe.

Considered as a whole I can’t fit Mr. Carson’s argument into my understanding of a rational argument against And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people (πάντας, a form of πᾶς) to myself.25 It doesn’t line up in any way that persuades me that Jesus intended to limit πάντας here, nor cause me to doubt the efficacy of Jesus’ drawing relative to that of his Father. In fact, this argument resolves for me as: “Jesus didn’t say I…will draw all…to myself because that conflicts with the thoughts of my religious mind regarding the judgment of this world.” I prefer now to let my thoughts be shaped by the mind of Christ where, Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out; And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself,26 is one continuous thought rather than a contradiction.

The next occurrence of πάντας in Luke’s Gospel follows (Luke 12:41 ESV):

Peter said,27 “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all (πάντας, a form of πᾶς)?”

The parable to which Peter referred follows (Luke 12:35-40 ESV):

“Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home28 from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. If29 he comes in the second watch,30 or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants!31 But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming,32 he would not have left his house to be broken into.33 You34 also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

Jesus’ answer to Peter’s question is interesting (Luke 12:42-48 ESV):

And35 the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating [Table]. But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

I suppose my first thought would be that this parable is a warning to the ambitious: Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions.36 But since the ambitious are always with us, I want to stay alert, too, just for self-preservation. Even if they don’t succumb to alcohol the ambitious are very prone to error and desire to take others along with them. They’re ambitious.

Though the parable speaks of a master who is away, Jesus did not leave us orphaned (John 14:18-26). This is not about following a vague memory of a predetermined plan but being led by the Holy Spirit rather than someone else (including oneself). A light beating is insufficient cause to be ignorant of my master’s will. So, first and foremost I follow the Holy Spirit through the Bible and then in daily life.

So, how did Jesus answer Peter’s question: Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all (πάντας, a form of πᾶς)?37 He answered it at a specific time when God drew a select few to Jesus. But if I believe his promise, And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people (πάντας, a form of πᾶς) to myself,38 I can hear his answer as yes and yes. Yes, it is for you, and, yes, it is for all.

The translators of the NET rendered Peter’s question: Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for everyone (πάντας, a form of πᾶς)?39 The blog post I’ve been quoting reads: “Here we must go a bit further in our understanding of verse 32: But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men [πάντας, a form of πᾶς] to myself. Certainly, the Lord had no intention that we should read into this text the idea that everyone would be saved because we know only believers find eternal life.”40

Does faith arise spontaneously in the hearts of the unrighteous who do not seek for God? I don’t think so. I’m also having difficulty understanding how Jesus by drawing all to Himself might impact faith adversely. The question I remember most from my unbelief is: If you’re such a big deal, where are you? How does the answer, I’m drawing you to Myself, impede faith?

I do recall the Scripture on which this argument, “we know only believers find eternal life,” is based (John 3:16 ESV [Table]):

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

The Greek word πᾶς, translated whoever here, is limited by the words immediately following it: ὁ πιστεύων εἰς αὐτὸν (believes in him). This was translated everyone who believes in him in the NET. The phrase should not perish was μὴ ἀπόληται in Greek. The translation should…perish was intended to signal a verb in the subjunctive mood to those who already know Greek. It was translated will not perish in the NET despite the fact that the verb was ἀπόληται rather than ἀπολεῖται, because this is a result clause.

The subjunctive mood indicates probability or objective possibility. The action of the verb will possibly happen, depending on certain objective factors or circumstances. It is oftentimes used in conditional statements (i.e. ‘If…then…’ clauses) or in purpose clauses. However if the subjunctive mood is used in a purpose or result clause, then the action should not be thought of as a possible result, but should be viewed as a definite outcome that will happen as a result of another stated action.41

The author of this blog post was correct, writing, “we know only believers find eternal life.” But does it then follow that “the Lord had no intention that we should read into this text the idea that everyone would be saved”? Can we take this knowledge and use it as a rule to judge what Jesus can and cannot say? Consider the next verse (John 3:17 ESV [Table]):

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

The Greek word translated might be saved was σωθῇ (a form of σώζω), another verb in the subjunctive mood. It was translated should be saved in the NET. Again, this is a result clause. The meaning in Greek is: God sent his Son into the world…in order that the world [will] be saved through him. The inference here is not: Jesus cannot draw all to Himself because “we know only believers find eternal life.” The inference of this knowledge is that all whom Jesus draws to Himself will believe.

I’ll continue with the occurrences of πάντας in Luke’s Gospel in another essay. The table mentioned above follows.

Occurrences of πάντας in Luke
Reference NET Parallel Greek ESV
Luke 1:65 ἐγένετο ἐπὶ πάντας φόβος τοὺς περιοικοῦντας αὐτούς fear came on all their neighbors
Luke 4:36 ἐγένετο θάμβος ἐπὶ πάντας they were all amazed
Luke 5:9 πάντας τοὺς σὺν αὐτῷ all who were with him
Luke 6:10 περιβλεψάμενος πάντας αὐτοὺς looking around at them all
Luke 6:19 ἰᾶτο πάντας healed them all
Luke 9:23 Ἔλεγεν δὲ πρὸς πάντας And he said to all
Luke 12:41 πρὸς ἡμᾶς τὴν παραβολὴν ταύτην λέγεις ἢ καὶ πρὸς πάντας are you telling this parable for us or for all?
Luke 13:2 δοκεῖτε ὅτι οἱ Γαλιλαῖοι οὗτοι ἁμαρτωλοὶ παρὰ πάντας τοὺς Γαλιλαίους ἐγένοντο do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans
Luke 13:4 δοκεῖτε ὅτι αὐτοὶ ὀφειλέται ἐγένοντο παρὰ πάντας τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τοὺς κατοικοῦντας Ἰερουσαλήμ do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem
Luke 13:28 πάντας τοὺς προφήτας all the prophets
Luke 17:27 ἦλθεν ὁ κατακλυσμὸς καὶ ἀπώλεσεν πάντας the flood came and destroyed them all
Luke 17:29 ἔβρεξεν πῦρ καὶ θεῖον ἀπ᾿ οὐρανοῦ καὶ ἀπώλεσεν πάντας fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all
Luke 21:35 πάντας τοὺς καθημένους ἐπὶ πρόσωπον πάσης τῆς γῆς all who dwell on the face of the whole earth

Tables comparing the Greek of John 12:22, 23; 12:25; 12:26; Luke 12:41; 12:36; 12:38-40 and 12:42 in the NET and KJV follow.

John 12:22, 23 (NET)

John 12:22, 23 (KJV)
Philip went and told Andrew, and they both went and told Jesus. Philip cometh and telleth Andrew: and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus.

John 12:22 (NET Parallel Greek)

John 12:22 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

John 12:22 (Byzantine Majority Text)
ἔρχεται ὁ Φίλιππος καὶ λέγει τῷ Ἀνδρέᾳ, ἔρχεται Ἀνδρέας καὶ Φίλιππος καὶ λέγουσιν τῷ Ἰησοῦ ερχεται φιλιππος και λεγει τω ανδρεα και παλιν ανδρεας και φιλιππος λεγουσιν τω ιησου ερχεται φιλιππος και λεγει τω ανδρεα και παλιν ανδρεας και φιλιππος λεγουσιν τω ιησου
Jesus replied, “The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.

John 12:23 (NET Parallel Greek)

John 12:23 (Stepanus Textus Receptus)

John 12:23 (Byzantine Majority Text)
ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς ἀποκρίνεται αὐτοῖς λέγων· ἐλήλυθεν ἡ ὥρα ἵνα δοξασθῇ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ο δε ιησους απεκρινατο αυτοις λεγων εληλυθεν η ωρα ινα δοξασθη ο υιος του ανθρωπου ο δε ιησους απεκρινατο αυτοις λεγων εληλυθεν η ωρα ινα δοξασθη ο υιος του ανθρωπου

John 12:25 (NET)

John 12:25 (KJV)
The one who loves his life destroys it, and the one who hates his life in this world guards it for eternal life. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

John 12:25 (NET Parallel Greek)

John 12:25 (Stepanus Textus Receptus)

John 12:25 (Byzantine Majority Text)
ὁ φιλῶν τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἀπολλύει αὐτήν, καὶ ὁ μισῶν τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ τούτῳ εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον φυλάξει αὐτήν ο φιλων την ψυχην αυτου απολεσει αυτην και ο μισων την ψυχην αυτου εν τω κοσμω τουτω εις ζωην αιωνιον φυλαξει αυτην ο φιλων την ψυχην αυτου απολεσει αυτην και ο μισων την ψυχην αυτου εν τω κοσμω τουτω εις ζωην αιωνιον φυλαξει αυτην

John 12:26 (NET)

John 12:26 (KJV)
If anyone wants to serve me, he must follow me, and where I am, my servant will be too. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

John 12:26 (NET Parallel Greek)

John 12:26 (Stepanus Textus Receptus)

John 12:26 (Byzantine Majority Text)
ἐὰν ἐμοί τις διακονῇ, ἐμοὶ ἀκολουθείτω, καὶ ὅπου εἰμὶ ἐγὼ ἐκεῖ καὶ ὁ διάκονος ὁ ἐμὸς ἔσται· ἐάν τις ἐμοὶ διακονῇ τιμήσει αὐτὸν ὁ πατήρ εαν εμοι διακονη τις εμοι ακολουθειτω και οπου ειμι εγω εκει και ο διακονος ο εμος εσται και εαν τις εμοι διακονη τιμησει αυτον ο πατηρ εαν εμοι διακονη τις εμοι ακολουθειτω και οπου ειμι εγω εκει και ο διακονος ο εμος εσται και εαν τις εμοι διακονη τιμησει αυτον ο πατηρ

Luke 12:41 (NET)

Luke 12:41 (KJV)
Then Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for everyone?” Then Peter said unto him, Lord, speakest thou this parable unto us, or even to all?

Luke 12:41 (NET Parallel Greek)

Luke 12:41 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Luke 12:41 (Byzantine Majority Text)
Εἶπεν δὲ ὁ Πέτρος· κύριε, πρὸς ἡμᾶς τὴν παραβολὴν ταύτην λέγεις ἢ καὶ πρὸς πάντας ειπεν δε αυτω ο πετρος κυριε προς ημας την παραβολην ταυτην λεγεις η και προς παντας ειπεν δε αυτω ο πετρος κυριε προς ημας την παραβολην ταυτην λεγεις η και προς παντας

Luke 12:36 (NET)

Luke 12:36 (KJV)
be like people waiting for their master to come back from the wedding celebration, so that when he comes and knocks, they can immediately open the door for him. And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately.

Luke 12:36 (NET Parallel Greek)

Luke 12:36 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Luke 12:36 (Byzantine Majority Text)
καὶ ὑμεῖς ὅμοιοι ἀνθρώποις προσδεχομένοις τὸν κύριον ἑαυτῶν πότε ἀναλύσῃ ἐκ τῶν γάμων, ἵνα ἐλθόντος καὶ κρούσαντος εὐθέως ἀνοίξωσιν αὐτῷ και υμεις ομοιοι ανθρωποις προσδεχομενοις τον κυριον εαυτων ποτε αναλυσει εκ των γαμων ινα ελθοντος και κρουσαντος ευθεως ανοιξωσιν αυτω και υμεις ομοιοι ανθρωποις προσδεχομενοις τον κυριον εαυτων ποτε αναλυση εκ των γαμων ινα ελθοντος και κρουσαντος ευθεως ανοιξωσιν αυτω

Luke 12:38-40 (NET)

Luke 12:38-40 (KJV)
Even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night and finds them alert, blessed are those slaves! And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.

Luke 12:38 (NET Parallel Greek)

Luke 12:38 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Luke 12:38 (Byzantine Majority Text)
κὰν ἐν τῇ δευτέρᾳ κὰν ἐν τῇ τρίτῃ φυλακῇ ἔλθῃ καὶ εὕρῃ οὕτως, μακάριοι εἰσιν ἐκεῖνοι και εαν ελθη εν τη δευτερα φυλακη και εν τη τριτη φυλακη ελθη και ευρη ουτως μακαριοι εισιν οι δουλοι εκεινοι και εαν ελθη εν τη δευτερα φυλακη και εν τη τριτη φυλακη ελθη και ευρη ουτως μακαριοι εισιν οι δουλοι εκεινοι
But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through.

Luke 12:39 (NET Parallel Greek)

Luke 12:39 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Luke 12:39 (Byzantine Majority Text)
τοῦτο δὲ γινώσκετε ὅτι εἰ ᾔδει ὁ οἰκοδεσπότης ποίᾳ ὥρᾳ ὁ κλέπτης ἔρχεται, οὐκ |ἂν| ἀφῆκεν διορυχθῆναι τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ τουτο δε γινωσκετε οτι ει ηδει ο οικοδεσποτης ποια ωρα ο κλεπτης ερχεται εγρηγορησεν αν και ουκ αν αφηκεν διορυγηναι τον οικον αυτου τουτο δε γινωσκετε οτι ει ηδει ο οικοδεσποτης ποια ωρα ο κλεπτης ερχεται εγρηγορησεν αν και ουκ αν αφηκεν διορυγηναι τον οικον αυτου
You also must be ready because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.

Luke 12:40 (NET Parallel Greek)

Luke 12:40 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Luke 12:40 (Byzantine Majority Text)
καὶ ὑμεῖς γίνεσθε ἕτοιμοι, ὅτι ᾗ ὥρᾳ οὐ δοκεῖτε ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἔρχεται και υμεις ουν γινεσθε ετοιμοι οτι η ωρα ου δοκειτε ο υιος του ανθρωπου ερχεται και υμεις ουν γινεσθε ετοιμοι οτι η ωρα ου δοκειτε ο υιος του ανθρωπου ερχεται

Luke 12:42 (NET)

Luke 12:42 (KJV)
The Lord replied, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his household servants, to give them their allowance of food at the proper time? And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season?

Luke 12:42 (NET Parallel Greek)

Luke 12:42 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Luke 12:42 (Byzantine Majority Text)
καὶ εἶπεν ὁ κύριος· τίς ἄρα ἐστὶν ὁ πιστὸς οἰκονόμος ὁ φρόνιμος, ὃν καταστήσει ὁ κύριος ἐπὶ τῆς θεραπείας αὐτοῦ τοῦ διδόναι ἐν καιρῷ |τὸ| σιτομέτριον ειπεν δε ο κυριος τις αρα εστιν ο πιστος οικονομος και φρονιμος ον καταστησει ο κυριος επι της θεραπειας αυτου του διδοναι εν καιρω το σιτομετριον ειπεν δε ο κυριος τις αρα εστιν ο πιστος οικονομος και φρονιμος ον καταστησει ο κυριος επι της θεραπειας αυτου του διδοναι εν καιρω το σιτομετριον

1 John 12:32 (ESV)

2 Luke 9:23, 24 (ESV) Table

3 Luke 9:18a (ESV)

4 John 6:44a (ESV) Table

5 Luke 9:23a (ESV)

6 John 6:44 (ESV) Table

7 John 5:19 (ESV) Table

8 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had the article ὁ preceding Philip. The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

9 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ἔρχεται here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had και παλιν (KJV: and again).

12 John 12:31 (ESV)

13 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ἀπολλύει (NET: destroys) here in the present tense, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had απολεσει (KJV: shall lose) in the future tense.

14 John 12:25 (ESV)

15 The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had the conjunction και preceding If. The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

16 John 12:23 (ESV)

17 John 12:24 (ESV)

18 John 12:25 (ESV)

19 John 12:26a (ESV)

20 Luke 9:23 (ESV) Table

21 Matthew 26:72b (ESV) Table

22 Romans 6:6 (ESV)

23 Colossians 3:10b (ESV)

24 Galatians 2:20 (NET)

25 John 12:32 (ESV)

26 John 12:31, 32 (ESV)

27 The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had αυτω (KJV: unto him) here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

29 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had κὰν here and preceding third watch (NET: or), where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had και εαν ελθη (KJV: And if he shall come) and και (KJV: or) preceding in the third watch. The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had the verb ἔλθῃ only after third watch rather than both locations as the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had.

30 The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had φυλακη here and again after third. The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had φυλακῇ only after third.

32 The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had εγρηγορησεν αν και (KJV: he would have watched, and) here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

33 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had διορυχθῆναι here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had διορυγηναι (KJV: to be broken through).

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

36 Luke 12:42-44 (ESV)

37 Luke 12:41 (ESV)

38 John 12:32 (ESV)

39 Luke 12:41 (NET)

Peter’s Third Gospel Proclamation

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Peter’s third Gospel proclamation followed his arrest (Acts 4:1-7 NET):

While Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests and the commander of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them, angry because they were teaching the people and announcing in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. So they seized them and put them in jail until the next day (for it was already evening). But many of those who had listened to the message believed, and the number of the men came to about 5,000.1

On the next day, their rulers, elders,2 and experts in the law3 came together in4 Jerusalem. Annas the high priest5 was there, and Caiaphas,6 John,7 Alexander,8 and others who were members of the high priest’s family. After making Peter and John stand in their midst, they began to inquire, “By what power or by what name did you do this?”

What a perfect setup for the Gospel. This was exactly what Jesus promised (Matthew 10:18-20 NET):

And you will be brought before governors and kings because of me, as a witness to them and to the Gentiles. Whenever they hand you over for trial, do not worry about how to speak or what to say, for what you should say will be given to you at that time [Table]. For it is not you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

And the Spirit of Peter’s Father spoke just as Jesus had promised (Acts 4:8-12 NET):

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, replied, “Rulers of the people and elders,9 if we are being examined today for a good deed done to a sick man (Acts 3:1-10)—by what means this man was healed10—let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, this man stands before you healthy. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders,11 that has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no12 other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved.”

Luke described how the rulers, elders and experts in the law, Annas the high priest…and Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and others who were members of the high priest’s family13 responded to Peter’s Gospel proclamation (Acts 4:13, 14 NET):

When they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and discovered that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and recognized these men had been with Jesus. And14 because they saw the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say against this.

Today people who reject Peter’s Gospel proclamation deny the truth of the Bible. They claim it is just a story. The rulers, elders, and experts in the law, Annas the high priest…and Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and others who were members of the high priest’s family didn’t have that option available to them. The healed man was apparently well known to them and standing before them.

Paul credited what happened next to a partial hardening of Israel (Romans 11:25 NET):

For I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: A partial hardening (πώρωσις ἀπὸ μέρους) has happened to Israel until the full number of the Gentiles has come in [Table].

I have assumed that πώρωσις ἀπὸ μέρους τῷ Ἰσραὴλ γέγονεν (NET: A partial hardening has happened to Israel) meant that only some in Israel were hardened. Now I’m willing to consider that even that hardening of the some was merely partial (Romans 10:1-4 NET):

Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God on behalf of my fellow Israelites is for their salvation [Table]. For I can testify that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not in line with the truth. For ignoring the righteousness that comes from God and seeking instead to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law, with the result that there is righteousness for everyone who believes.

But when they had ordered them to go outside the council, [the rulers, elders and experts in the law, Annas the high priest…and Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and others who were members of the high priest’s family] began to confer15 with one another, saying (Acts 4:15-18 NET),

“What should we do16 with these men? For it is plain to all who live in Jerusalem that a notable miraculous sign has come about through them, and we cannot deny17 it. But to keep this matter from spreading any further among the people, let us warn18 them to speak no more to anyone in this name.” And they called them in and ordered them19 not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.

Unable (οὐ δυνάμεθα) to deny the truth of what happened, they used their authority to enlist Peter and John in a scheme to rewrite history. They would’ve preferred that Peter and John made the lame man walk by their own power or piety as good Jews, rather than have any of it attributed to Jesus, the Messiah.

Jesus had said (Matthew 23:2, 3 NET [Table]):

The experts in the law and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat. Therefore pay attention to what they tell you and do it. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they teach.

I admit that on my own I would have stumbled around trying to apply Jesus’ command to the situation in which Peter and John found themselves. But these uneducated (ἀγράμματοι,20 a form of ἀγράμματος) and ordinary (ἰδιῶται, a form of ἰδιώτης) men filled with the Holy Spirit as Jesus had promised did not stumble. They saw quickly and clearly that to obey their rulers in this command was to do what they do, e.g., rewrite history to suit their own narrative.

Peter and John replied (Acts 4:19, 20 NET):

Whether it is right before God to obey you rather than God, you decide, for it is impossible (οὐ δυνάμεθα) for us not to speak about what we have seen21 and heard.

They even sounded like Jesus. Paul described this transformation as follows (Galatians 2:20 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 have assumed that καὶ παραδόντος ἑαυτὸν ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ (and gave himself for me) referred to Jesus’ death on a cross. In this context it seems overwhelmingly clear that He also gave his resurrection and his life, filled with his love, his joy, his peace, his patience, his kindness, his goodness, his faithfulness, his gentleness and his self-control, a new mind filled with his knowledge and a new heart filled with his understanding to the glory of God.

After threatening [Peter and John] further, [the rulers, elders, and experts in the law, Annas the high priest…and Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and others who were members of the high priest’s family] released them, for they could not find how to punish22 them on account of the people, because they were all praising God for what had happened. For the man, on whom this miraculous sign of healing had been performed, was over forty years old.23

But the rulers, elders, and experts in the law, Annas the high priest…and Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and others who were members of the high priest’s family set official Israel firmly on course to become one of the nations that rage, one of the peoples that plot foolish things as they assembled together, against the Lord and against his Christ’24 until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.25

Paul concluded (Romans 11:28-32 NET):

In regard to the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but in regard to election they are dearly loved for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. Just as you were formerly disobedient to God, but have now received mercy due to their disobedience, so they too have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy [Table]. For God has consigned all people to disobedience so that he may show mercy to them all.

A note in the NET (32) claimed that Peter quoted from Psalm 118:22. A table comparing the Greek of Peter’s quotation to that of the Septuagint follows.

Acts 4:11 (NET Parallel Greek)

Psalm 118:22 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 117:22 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ὁ λίθος, ὁ ἐξουθενηθεὶς ὑφ᾿ ὑμῶν τῶν οἰκοδόμων, ὁ γενόμενος εἰς κεφαλὴν γωνίας λίθον ὃν ἀπεδοκίμασαν οἱ οἰκοδομοῦντες οὗτος ἐγενήθη εἰς κεφαλὴν γωνίας λίθον, ὃν ἀπεδοκίμασαν οἱ οἰκοδομοῦντες, οὗτος ἐγενήθη εἰς κεφαλὴν γωνίας

Acts 4:11 (NET)

Psalm 117:22 (NETS)

Psalm 117:22 (English Elpenor)
the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, that has become the cornerstone. A stone which the builders rejected, this one became the chief cornerstone. The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner.

Peter’s quotation appears to be a relatively independent translation of the Hebrew. I focused particularly on מָֽאֲס֣וּ (mā’as), translated ἀπεδοκίμασαν (a form of ἀποδοκιμάζω) in the Septuagint.

Masoretic Text

Septuagint

Psalm 118:22 (Tanakh/KJV)

Psalm 118:22 (NET)

Psalm 117:22 (NETS)

IPsalm 117:22 (Elpenor English)
The stone which the builders refused (מָֽאֲס֣וּ) is become the head stone of the corner. The stone that the builders discarded (mā’as, מאסו) has become the cornerstone. A stone which the builders rejected (ἀπεδοκίμασαν), this one became the chief cornerstone. The stone which the builders rejected (ἀπεδοκίμασαν), the same is become the head of the corner.

The rabbis, it seems, gave the builders the benefit of the doubt, that they had carefully considered their rejection. It’s not that hard to see why the Holy Spirit preferred ἐξουθενηθεὶς (a form of ἐξουθενέω).

Holy Spirit: ἐξουθενέω

Septuagint: ἀποδοκιμάζω
to despise, disdain, scorn; to reject (with contempt); to treat with contempt; to be of no account to reject on scrutiny; to reject after failing testing; to reject as unworthy, reject as unfit; to reject for lack of qualification, disapprove, repudiate, disallow

The quotation of Psalm 2:1, 2 (NET note 65) in Acts 4:25, 26 however was verbatim from the Septuagint.

Acts 4:25b, 26 (NET Parallel Greek)

Psalm 2:1, 2 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 2:1, 2 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἱνατί ἐφρύαξαν ἔθνη καὶ λαοὶ ἐμελέτησαν κενά παρέστησαν οἱ βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς καὶ οἱ ἄρχοντες συνήχθησαν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ κατὰ τοῦ κυρίου καὶ κατὰ τοῦ χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ ἵνα τί ἐφρύαξαν ἔθνη καὶ λαοὶ ἐμελέτησαν κενά παρέστησαν οἱ βασιλεῗς τῆς γῆς καὶ οἱ ἄρχοντες συνήχθησαν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ κατὰ τοῦ κυρίου καὶ κατὰ τοῦ χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ ΙΝΑΤΙ ἐφρύαξαν ἔθνη, καὶ λαοὶ ἐμελέτησαν κενά παρέστησαν οἱ βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς, καὶ οἱ ἄρχοντες συνήχθησαν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ κατὰ τοῦ Κυρίου καὶ κατὰ τοῦ χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ

Acts 4:25b, 26 (NET)

Psalm 2:1, 2 (NETS)

Psalm 2:1, 2 (English Elpenor)
‘Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot foolish things? The kings of the earth stood together, and the rulers assembled together, against the Lord and against his Christ.’ Why did nations grow insolent, and peoples contemplate vain things? The kings of the earth stood side by side, and the rulers gathered together, against the Lord and against his anointed, Wherefore did the heathen rage, and the nations imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers gathered themselves together, against the Lord, and against his Christ;

Tables comparing Psalm 118:22; 2:1 and 2:2 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and comparing the Greek of Psalm 118:22 (117:22); 2:1 and 2:2 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor), and tables comparing Acts 4:4-6; 4:8, 9; 4:11, 12; 4:14; 4:15-18; 4:20; 4:21 and 4:25 in the NET and KJV follow.

Psalm 118:22 (Tanakh)

Psalm 118:22 (KJV)

Psalm 118:22 (NET)
The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. The stone which the builders rejected Is become the head of the corner. The stone that the builders discarded has become the cornerstone.

Psalm 118:22 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 117:22 (Septuagint Elpenor)
λίθον ὃν ἀπεδοκίμασαν οἱ οἰκοδομοῦντες οὗτος ἐγενήθη εἰς κεφαλὴν γωνίας λίθον, ὃν ἀπεδοκίμασαν οἱ οἰκοδομοῦντες, οὗτος ἐγενήθη εἰς κεφαλὴν γωνίας

Psalm 117:22 (NETS)

Psalm 117:22 (English Elpenor)
A stone which the builders rejected, this one became the chief cornerstone. The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner.

Psalm 2:1 (Tanakh)

Psalm 2:1 (KJV)

Psalm 2:1 (NET)
Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? Why do the nations rebel? Why are the countries devising plots that will fail?

Psalm 2:1 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 2:1 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἵνα τί ἐφρύαξαν ἔθνη καὶ λαοὶ ἐμελέτησαν κενά ΙΝΑΤΙ ἐφρύαξαν ἔθνη, καὶ λαοὶ ἐμελέτησαν κενά

Psalm 2:1 (NETS)

Psalm 2:1 (English Elpenor)
Why did nations grow insolent, and peoples contemplate vain things? Wherefore did the heathen rage, and the nations imagine vain things?

Psalm 2:2 (Tanakh)

Psalm 2:2 (KJV)

Psalm 2:2 (NET)
The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, The kings of the earth form a united front; the rulers collaborate against the Lord and his anointed king.

Psalm 2:2 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 2:2 (Septuagint Elpenor)
παρέστησαν οἱ βασιλεῗς τῆς γῆς καὶ οἱ ἄρχοντες συνήχθησαν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ κατὰ τοῦ κυρίου καὶ κατὰ τοῦ χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ διάψαλμα παρέστησαν οἱ βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς, καὶ οἱ ἄρχοντες συνήχθησαν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ κατὰ τοῦ Κυρίου καὶ κατὰ τοῦ χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ (διάψαλμα)

Psalm 2:2 (NETS)

Psalm 2:2 (English Elpenor)
The kings of the earth stood side by side, and the rulers gathered together, against the Lord and against his anointed, Interlude on strings The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers gathered themselves together, against the Lord, and against his Christ;

Acts 4:4-6 (NET)

Acts 4:4-6 (KJV)
But many of those who had listened to the message believed, and the number of the men came to about 5,000. Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
πολλοὶ δὲ τῶν ἀκουσάντων τὸν λόγον ἐπίστευσαν καὶ ἐγενήθη [ὁ] ἀριθμὸς τῶν ἀνδρῶν [ὡς] χιλιάδες πέντε πολλοι δε των ακουσαντων τον λογον επιστευσαν και εγενηθη ο αριθμος των ανδρων ωσει χιλιαδες πεντε πολλοι δε των ακουσαντων τον λογον επιστευσαν και εγενηθη ο αριθμος των ανδρων ωσει χιλιαδες πεντε
On the next day, their rulers, elders, and experts in the law came together in Jerusalem. And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers, and elders, and scribes,

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
Ἐγένετο δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν αὔριον συναχθῆναι αὐτῶν τοὺς ἄρχοντας καὶ τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους καὶ τοὺς γραμματεῖς ἐν Ἰερουσαλήμ εγενετο δε επι την αυριον συναχθηναι αυτων τους αρχοντας και πρεσβυτερους και γραμματεις εγενετο δε επι την αυριον συναχθηναι αυτων τους αρχοντας και πρεσβυτερους και γραμματεις εις ιερουσαλημ
Annas the high priest was there, and Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and others who were members of the high priest’s family. And Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
καὶ Ἅννας ὁ ἀρχιερεὺς καὶ Καϊάφας καὶ Ἰωάννης καὶ Ἀλέξανδρος καὶ ὅσοι ἦσαν ἐκ γένους ἀρχιερατικοῦ εις ιερουσαλημ και ανναν τον αρχιερεα και καιαφαν και ιωαννην και αλεξανδρον και οσοι ησαν εκ γενους αρχιερατικου και ανναν τον αρχιερεα και καιαφαν και ιωαννην και αλεξανδρον και οσοι ησαν εκ γενους αρχιερατικου

Acts 4:8, 9 (NET)

Acts 4:8, 9 (KJV)
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, replied, “Rulers of the people and elders, Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel,

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
Τότε Πέτρος πλησθεὶς πνεύματος ἁγίου εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτούς· ἄρχοντες τοῦ λαοῦ καὶ πρεσβύτεροι τοτε πετρος πλησθεις πνευματος αγιου ειπεν προς αυτους αρχοντες του λαου και πρεσβυτεροι του ισραηλ τοτε πετρος πλησθεις πνευματος αγιου ειπεν προς αυτους αρχοντες του λαου και πρεσβυτεροι του ισραηλ
if we are being examined today for a good deed done to a sick man—by what means this man was healed— If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole;

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
εἰ ἡμεῖς σήμερον ἀνακρινόμεθα ἐπὶ εὐεργεσίᾳ ἀνθρώπου ἀσθενοῦς – ἐν τίνι οὗτος |σέσωται| ει ημεις σημερον ανακρινομεθα επι ευεργεσια ανθρωπου ασθενους εν τινι ουτος σεσωσται ει ημεις σημερον ανακρινομεθα επι ευεργεσια ανθρωπου ασθενους εν τινι ουτος σεσωσται

Acts 4:11, 12 (NET)

Acts 4:11, 12 (KJV)
This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, that has become the cornerstone. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
οὗτος ἐστιν ὁ λίθος, ὁ ἐξουθενηθεὶς ὑφ᾿ ὑμῶν τῶν οἰκοδόμων, ὁ γενόμενος εἰς κεφαλὴν γωνίας ουτος εστιν ο λιθος ο εξουθενηθεις υφ υμων των οικοδομουντων ο γενομενος εις κεφαλην γωνιας ουτος εστιν ο λιθος ο εξουθενηθεις υφ υμων των οικοδομουντων ο γενομενος εις κεφαλην γωνιας
And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved.” Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν ἄλλῳ οὐδενὶ ἡ σωτηρία, οὐδὲ γὰρ ὄνομα ἐστιν ἕτερον ὑπὸ τὸν οὐρανὸν τὸ δεδομένον ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἐν ᾧ δεῖ σωθῆναι ἡμᾶς και ουκ εστιν εν αλλω ουδενι η σωτηρια ουτε γαρ ονομα εστιν ετερον υπο τον ουρανον το δεδομενον εν ανθρωποις εν ω δει σωθηναι ημας και ουκ εστιν εν αλλω ουδενι η σωτηρια ουτε γαρ ονομα εστιν ετερον υπο τον ουρανον το δεδομενον εν ανθρωποις εν ω δει σωθηναι ημας

Acts 4:14 (NET)

Acts 4:14 (KJV)
And because they saw the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say against this. And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
τόν τε ἄνθρωπον βλέποντες σὺν αὐτοῖς ἑστῶτα τὸν τεθεραπευμένον οὐδὲν εἶχον ἀντειπεῖν τον δε ανθρωπον βλεποντες συν αυτοις εστωτα τον τεθεραπευμενον ουδεν ειχον αντειπειν τον δε ανθρωπον βλεποντες συν αυτοις εστωτα τον τεθεραπευμενον ουδεν ειχον αντειπειν

Acts 4:15-18 (NET)

Acts 4:15-18 (KJV)
But when they had ordered them to go outside the council, they began to confer with one another, But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves,

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
κελεύσαντες δὲ αὐτοὺς ἔξω τοῦ συνεδρίου ἀπελθεῖν συνέβαλλον πρὸς ἀλλήλους κελευσαντες δε αυτους εξω του συνεδριου απελθειν συνεβαλον προς αλληλους κελευσαντες δε αυτους εξω του συνεδριου απελθειν συνεβαλλον προς αλληλους
saying, “What should we do with these men? For it is plain to all who live in Jerusalem that a notable miraculous sign has come about through them, and we cannot deny it. Saying, What shall we do to these men? for that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem; and we cannot deny it.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
λέγοντες· τί ποιήσωμεν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τούτοις; ὅτι μὲν γὰρ γνωστὸν σημεῖον γέγονεν δι᾿ αὐτῶν πᾶσιν τοῖς κατοικοῦσιν Ἰερουσαλὴμ φανερὸν καὶ οὐ δυνάμεθα ἀρνεῖσθαι λεγοντες τι ποιησομεν τοις ανθρωποις τουτοις οτι μεν γαρ γνωστον σημειον γεγονεν δι αυτων πασιν τοις κατοικουσιν ιερουσαλημ φανερον και ου δυναμεθα αρνησασθαι λεγοντες τι ποιησομεν τοις ανθρωποις τουτοις οτι μεν γαρ γνωστον σημειον γεγονεν δι αυτων πασιν τοις κατοικουσιν ιερουσαλημ φανερον και ου δυναμεθα αρνησασθαι
But to keep this matter from spreading any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.” But that it spread no further among the people, let us straitly threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
ἀλλ᾿ ἵνα μὴ ἐπὶ πλεῖον διανεμηθῇ εἰς τὸν λαὸν ἀπειλησώμεθα αὐτοῖς μηκέτι λαλεῖν ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι τούτῳ μηδενὶ ἀνθρώπων αλλ ινα μη επι πλειον διανεμηθη εις τον λαον απειλη απειλησωμεθα αυτοις μηκετι λαλειν επι τω ονοματι τουτω μηδενι ανθρωπων αλλ ινα μη επι πλειον διανεμηθη εις τον λαον απειλη απειλησομεθα αυτοις μηκετι λαλειν επι τω ονοματι τουτω μηδενι ανθρωπων
And they called them in and ordered them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
Καὶ καλέσαντες αὐτοὺς παρήγγειλαν |τὸ| καθόλου μὴ φθέγγεσθαι μηδὲ διδάσκειν ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι |τοῦ| Ἰησοῦ και καλεσαντες αυτους παρηγγειλαν αυτοις το καθολου μη φθεγγεσθαι μηδε διδασκειν επι τω ονοματι του ιησου και καλεσαντες αυτους παρηγγειλαν αυτοις το καθολου μη φθεγγεσθαι μηδε διδασκειν επι τω ονοματι του ιησου

Acts 4:20 (NET)

Acts 4:20 (KJV)
for it is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
οὐ δυνάμεθα γὰρ ἡμεῖς ἃ εἴδαμεν καὶ ἠκούσαμεν μὴ λαλεῖν ου δυναμεθα γαρ ημεις α ειδομεν και ηκουσαμεν μη λαλειν ου δυναμεθα γαρ ημεις α ειδομεν και ηκουσαμεν μη λαλειν

Acts 4:21 (NET)

Acts 4:21 (KJV)
After threatening them further, they released them, for they could not find how to punish them on account of the people, because they were all praising God for what had happened. So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing how they might punish them, because of the people: for all men glorified God for that which was done.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
οἱ δὲ προσαπειλησάμενοι ἀπέλυσαν αὐτούς, μηδὲν εὑρίσκοντες τὸ πῶς κολάσωνται αὐτούς, διὰ τὸν λαόν, ὅτι πάντες ἐδόξαζον τὸν θεὸν ἐπὶ τῷ γεγονότι οι δε προσαπειλησαμενοι απελυσαν αυτους μηδεν ευρισκοντες το πως κολασωνται αυτους δια τον λαον οτι παντες εδοξαζον τον θεον επι τω γεγονοτι οι δε προσαπειλησαμενοι απελυσαν αυτους μηδεν ευρισκοντες το πως κολασονται αυτους δια τον λαον οτι παντες εδοξαζον τον θεον επι τω γεγονοτι

Acts 4:25 (NET)

Acts 4:25 (KJV)
who said by the Holy Spirit through your servant David our forefather, ‘Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot foolish things? Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
ὁ τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν διὰ πνεύματος ἁγίου στόματος Δαυὶδ παιδός σου εἰπών· ἱνατί ἐφρύαξαν ἔθνη καὶ λαοὶ ἐμελέτησαν κενά ο δια στοματος δαβιδ του παιδος σου ειπων ινα τι εφρυαξαν εθνη και λαοι εμελετησαν κενα ο δια στοματος δαυιδ παιδος σου ειπων ινα τι εφρυαξαν εθνη και λαοι εμελετησαν κενα

2 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had the article τοὺς preceding elders. The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

3 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had the article τοὺς preceding experts in the law (KJV: scribes). The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

4 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ἐν here, where the Byzantine Majority Text had εις. The Stephanus Textus Receptus also had εις but at the beginning of verse 6.

9 The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had του ισραηλ (KJV: of Israel) following elders. The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

10 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had σέσωται here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had σεσωσται (KJV: is made whole).

12 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had οὐδὲ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ουτε (KJV: none).

13 Acts 4:6 (NET)

18 The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had απειλη (KJV: straitly) preceding warn (KJV: threaten). The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

20 NET note 37: Uneducated does not mean “illiterate,” that is, unable to read or write. Among Jews in NT times there was almost universal literacy, especially as the result of widespread synagogue schools. The term refers to the fact that Peter and John had no formal rabbinic training and thus, in the view of their accusers, were not qualified to expound the law or teach publicly. The objection is like Acts 2:7.

23 Acts 4:21, 22 (NET)

24 Acts 4:25b, 26b (NET)

25 Romans 11:25b (NET) Table

The Book of Life, Part 3

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The beast was permitted to go to war against the saints and conquer them. He was given ruling authority over every tribe, people,1 language, and nation, and all those who live on the earth will worship the beast,2 everyone whose3 name4 has not been written since the foundation of the world in the5 book of life belonging to the Lamb who6 was killed.7

This is the fullest description of the book of life so far. The Greek words translated the book were τῷ βιβλίῳ in the NET, NA28 and Byzantine Majority Text. In the Stephanus Textus Receptus the feminine article τη preceded the neuter noun βιβλίῳ. That noun in the dative case was followed by a string of three articles, two nouns and a participle all in the genitive case: τῆς ζωῆς τοῦ ἀρνίου τοῦ8 ἐσφαγμένου.

For the most part, the genitive is often viewed as the case of possession. In more technical terms one noun in the genitive case helps to qualify another noun by showing its “class” or “kind”.9

So I have: “the book of the life of the lamb of the slain,” or “the book of the slain lamb’s life.” Or if one is inclined to play games with gender: “the slain lamb’s book of life.” Once the idea is purged from my thoughts—that the Lord wrote or had a list of personal names since the foundation of the world,10 that omission from this list condemned one to be thrown into the lake of fire,11 that Peter lied about the existence of this list, writing, The Lord…does not wish for any to perish but for all to come to repentance12—it is easy to understand “the book of the life of the lamb of the slain” as the New Testament.

The Greek word translated slain (KJV) and who was killed (NET) was ἐσφαγμένου, a participle of the verb σφάζω: “to kill, butcher, slaughter (by cutting the throat), slay for a sacrifice; to wound, maim, torment.” This word is like a synopsis of Jesus’ earthly ministry.

John13 saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb (ἀμνὸς) of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one about14 whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who is greater than I am, because he existed before me.’ I did not recognize him, but I came baptizing with water15 so that he could be revealed to Israel.”16

After many of his disciples quit following him (John 6:67, 68 NET):

Jesus said to the Twelve, “You don’t want to go away too, do you?” Simon Peter answered him,17 “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life (ζωῆς αἰωνίου).

If the Holy Spirit had intended for me to understand the book of life as a list of personal names He could have written τῷ ὀνοματογραφίᾳ τῆς ζωῆς. But if anyone says that Jesus’ life is described throughout the Bible, I wouldn’t be inclined to argue. I just didn’t see that for myself until I began to understand that Jesus learned this life from the Scriptures I know as the Old Testament.

First, I had to learn that Jesus expressed genuine surprise when he asked Nicodemus, Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you don’t understand these things?18 He didn’t ridicule Nicodemus for ignorance of a novel concept that Jesus’ had made up in the moment: Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must all be born from above.’19 Only then did I begin to recognize his life in the writings of the Old Testament.

The personal name of consequence in the slain Lamb’s book of life is not mine but Christ’s (Galatians 2:20 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.

This is not Paul’s hyperbolic expression of his personal devotion to Christ but his declarative statement of mere Christianity. Anything, everything, less is hypocrisy, the work of an actor, one seeking to have [one’s] own righteousness derived from the law,20 one rejecting the righteousness that comes by way of Christ’s faithfulness.21

He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross! As a result God highly exalted him and gave him the name (ὄνομα) that is above every name (ὄνομα), so that at the name (ὀνόματι, a form of ὄνομα) of Jesus every knee will bow—in heaven and on earth and under the earth—and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.22

The Greek word translated Jesus was Ἰησοῦ, a form of Ἰησοῦς. In the Septuagint Ἰησοῦ and Ἰησοῦς are the Greek name of Joshua (Exodus 17:9, 10 NET).

So Moses said to Joshua (Ἰησοῦ), “Choose some of our men and go out, fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.”

So Joshua (Ἰησοῦς) fought against Amalek just as Moses had instructed him, and Moses and Aaron and Hur went up to the top of the hill [Table].

So even the name above every name has more to do with the reputation of One than his personal name. Joshua did many wonderful things, but it is not before Joshua that every knee will bow. Joshua is not the Lord that every tongue will confess because his name is Ἰησοῦς in Greek.

Another occurrence of the Lamb’s book of life follows (Revelation 21:27 NET):

but nothing ritually unclean23 will ever enter into [the holy city, Jerusalem], nor anyone who does24 what is detestable or practices falsehood, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Again, names was added by the translators: but only those…written in the Lamb’s book of life. Here the book doesn’t seem like a literal book at all. Being written in the Lamb’s book of life sounds more like a euphemism for having a share in the Lamb’s life, for being in Christ (Philippians 3:5-11 NET):

I was circumcised on the eighth day, from the people of Israel and the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews. I lived according to the law as a Pharisee. In my zeal for God I persecuted the church. According to the righteousness stipulated in the law I was blameless [Table]. But25 these assets I have come to regard as liabilities because of Christ. More than that,26 I now regard all things as liabilities compared to the far greater value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things—indeed, I regard them as dung!—that I may gain Christ [Table] and be found in him, not because I have my own righteousness derived from the law, but because I have the righteousness that comes by way of Christ’s faithfulness—a righteousness from God that is in fact based on Christ’s faithfulness. My aim is to know him, to experience the power of his resurrection, to share in his sufferings, and to be like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead [Table].

Given this, I would understand one not found written in the book of life27 as a euphemism for one not in Christ. I’ll consider one more occurrence of the book of life (Revelation 20:11, 12 NET).

Then I saw a large white throne and the one who was seated on it;28 the earth and the heaven fled from his presence,29 and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the30 great and the31 small, standing before the throne.32 Then books were opened,33 and another book was opened34—the book of life. So the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to their deeds.

A note (34) in the NET acknowledged that ἄλλο βιβλίον ἠνοίχθη, ὅ ἐστιν τῆς ζωῆς is literally “another book was opened, which is of life.” I can understand these books concretely as the Bible with the New Testament which is of life highlighted: the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to their deeds.35

You yourselves are our letter, Paul wrote (2 Corinthians 3:2-11 NET):

written on our hearts, known and read by everyone, revealing that you are a letter of Christ, delivered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on stone tablets but on tablets of human hearts.36
Now we have such confidence in God through Christ. Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as if it were coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who made us adequate to be servants of a new covenant not based on the letter but on the Spirit, for the letter kills,37 but the Spirit gives life.
But if the ministry that produced death—carved in letters on38 stone tablets—came with glory, so that the Israelites could not keep their eyes fixed on the face of Moses because of the glory of his face (a glory which was made ineffective) [Table], how much more glorious will the ministry of the Spirit be? For if there was glory in the ministry that produced condemnation (κατακρίσεως, a form of κατάκρισις), how much more does the ministry that produces righteousness excel in glory! For indeed, what had been glorious now has no glory because of the tremendously greater glory of what replaced it [Table]. For if what was made ineffective came with glory, how much more has what remains come in glory!

Conversely, I can understand “another book was opened, which is of life” abstractly as Christ Himself at the very moment when those whose life is hidden with Christ appear (Colossians 3:1-4 NET).

Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Keep thinking about things above, not things on the earth, for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ (who is your39 life) appears, then you too will be revealed in glory with him.

I can’t understand the dead being judged by a list of personal names to which they have had no access. So the dead were judged (ἐκρίθησαν, a form of κρίνω) by what was written in the books, according to their deeds (ἔργα, a form of ἔργον).40 Jesus said, (John 3:16-21 ESV):

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn (κρίνῃ, another form of κρίνω) the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him [Table]. Whoever believes in him is not condemned (κρίνεται, another form of κρίνω), but whoever does not believe is condemned (κέκριται, another form of κρίνω) already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment (κρίσις): the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works (ἔργα, a form of ἔργον) were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works (ἔργα, a form of ἔργον) should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works (ἔργα, a form of ἔργον) have been carried out (εἰργασμένα, a form of ἐργάζομαι) in God.”

For many live, Paul wrote, about whom I have often told you, and now, with tears (Philippians 3:18-21 NET):

I tell you that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is the belly, they exult in their shame, and they think about earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven—and we also eagerly await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform these humble bodies of ours into the likeness of his glorious body by means of that power by which he is able to subject all things to himself [Table].

Does Jesus’ power (ἐνέργειαν, a form of ἐνέργεια; KJV: working) by which he is able to subject all things to himself extend to the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things41? I tend to answer this question in the affirmative because I remember when I believed none of it. I remember what “living” was like when I was written in the book of the slain Lamb’s life in these negative terms.

Tables comparing Exodus 17:9 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and comparing the Greek of Exodus 17:9 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor), and tables comparing Revelation 13:7, 8; John 1:29-31; 6:68; Revelation 21:27; Philippians 3:7; Revelation 20:11, 12; 2 Corinthians 3:3; 3:6 and Colossians 3:4 in the NET and KJV follow.

Exodus 17:9 (Tanakh)

Exodus 17:9 (KJV)

Exodus 17:9 (NET)
And Moses said unto Joshua: ‘Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek; tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of G-d in my hand.’ And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand. So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out, fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.”

Exodus 17:9 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 17:9 (Septuagint Elpenor)
εἶπεν δὲ Μωυσῆς τῷ Ἰησοῦ ἐπίλεξον σεαυτῷ ἄνδρας δυνατοὺς καὶ ἐξελθὼν παράταξαι τῷ Αμαληκ αὔριον καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἕστηκα ἐπὶ τῆς κορυφῆς τοῦ βουνοῦ καὶ ἡ ῥάβδος τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν τῇ χειρί μου εἶπε δὲ Μωυσῆς τῷ ᾿Ιησοῦ· ἐπίλεξον σεαυτῷ ἄνδρας δυνατοὺς καὶ ἐξελθὼν παράταξαι τῷ ᾿Αμαλὴκ αὔριον, καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἕστηκα ἐπὶ τῆς κορυφῆς τοῦ βουνοῦ, καὶ ἡ ράβδος τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν τῇ χειρί μου

Exodus 17:9 (NETS)

Exodus 17:9 (English Elpenor)
iAnd Moyses said to Iesous, “Choose for yourself capable men, and go forth, and set up in battle array with Amalek tomorrow. And look, I stand on top of the hill, and the rod of God is in my hand.” And Moses said to Joshua, Choose out for thyself mighty men, and go forth and set the army in array against Amalec to-morrow; and, behold, I [shall] stand on the top of the hill, and the rod of God [will be] in my hand.

Revelation 13:7, 8 (NET)

Revelation 13:7, 8 (KJV)
The beast was permitted to go to war against the saints and conquer them. He was given ruling authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation, And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
|καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ ποιῆσαι πόλεμον μετὰ τῶν ἁγίων καὶ νικῆσαι αὐτούς,| καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ ἐξουσία ἐπὶ πᾶσαν φυλὴν καὶ λαὸν καὶ γλῶσσαν καὶ ἔθνος και εδοθη αυτω πολεμον ποιησαι μετα των αγιων και νικησαι αυτους και εδοθη αυτω εξουσια επι πασαν φυλην και γλωσσαν και εθνος και εδοθη αυτω ποιησαι πολεμον μετα των αγιων και νικησαι αυτους και εδοθη αυτω εξουσια επι πασαν φυλην και λαον και γλωσσαν και εθνος
and all those who live on the earth will worship the beast, everyone whose name has not been written since the foundation of the world in the book of life belonging to the Lamb who was killed. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
καὶ προσκυνήσουσιν αὐτὸν πάντες οἱ κατοικοῦντες ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, οὗ οὐ γέγραπται τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ τῆς ζωῆς τοῦ ἀρνίου τοῦ ἐσφαγμένου ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου και προσκυνησουσιν αυτω παντες οι κατοικουντες επι της γης ων ου γεγραπται τα ονοματα εν τη βιβλω της ζωης του αρνιου εσφαγμενου απο καταβολης κοσμου και προσκυνησουσιν αυτω παντες οι κατοικουντες επι της γης ων ου γεγραπται το ονομα εν τω βιβλιω της ζωης του αρνιου του εσφαγμενου απο καταβολης κοσμου

John 1:29-31 (NET)

John 1:29-31 (KJV)
On the next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
Τῇ ἐπαύριον βλέπει τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἐρχόμενον πρὸς αὐτὸν καὶ λέγει· ἴδε ὁ ἀμνὸς τοῦ θεοῦ ὁ αἴρων τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τοῦ κόσμου τη επαυριον βλεπει ο ιωαννης τον ιησουν ερχομενον προς αυτον και λεγει ιδε ο αμνος του θεου ο αιρων την αμαρτιαν του κοσμου τη επαυριον βλεπει ο ιωαννης τον ιησουν ερχομενον προς αυτον και λεγει ιδε ο αμνος του θεου ο αιρων την αμαρτιαν του κοσμου
This is the one about whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who is greater than I am, because he existed before me.’ This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
οὗτος ἐστιν ὑπὲρ οὗ ἐγὼ εἶπον· ὀπίσω μου ἔρχεται ἀνὴρ ὃς ἔμπροσθεν μου γέγονεν, ὅτι πρῶτος μου ἦν ουτος εστιν περι ου εγω ειπον οπισω μου ερχεται ανηρ ος εμπροσθεν μου γεγονεν οτι πρωτος μου ην ουτος εστιν περι ου εγω ειπον οπισω μου ερχεται ανηρ ος εμπροσθεν μου γεγονεν οτι πρωτος μου ην
I did not recognize him, but I came baptizing with water so that he could be revealed to Israel.” And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
καγὼ οὐκ ᾔδειν αὐτόν, ἀλλ᾿ ἵνα φανερωθῇ τῷ Ἰσραὴλ διὰ τοῦτο ἦλθον ἐγὼ ἐν ὕδατι βαπτίζων καγω ουκ ηδειν αυτον αλλ ινα φανερωθη τω ισραηλ δια τουτο ηλθον εγω εν τω υδατι βαπτιζων καγω ουκ ηδειν αυτον αλλ ινα φανερωθη τω ισραηλ δια τουτο ηλθον εγω εν τω υδατι βαπτιζων

John 6:68 (NET)

John 6:68 (KJV)
Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
ἀπεκρίθη αὐτῷ Σίμων Πέτρος· κύριε, πρὸς τίνα ἀπελευσόμεθα; ρήματα ζωῆς αἰωνίου ἔχεις απεκριθη ουν αυτω σιμων πετρος κυριε προς τινα απελευσομεθα ρηματα ζωης αιωνιου εχεις απεκριθη ουν αυτω σιμων πετρος κυριε προς τινα απελευσομεθα ρηματα ζωης αιωνιου εχεις

Revelation 21:27 (NET)

Revelation 21:27 (KJV)
but nothing ritually unclean will ever enter into it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or practices falsehood, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
καὶ οὐ μὴ εἰσέλθῃ εἰς αὐτὴν πᾶν κοινὸν καὶ [ὁ] ποιῶν βδέλυγμα καὶ ψεῦδος εἰ μὴ οἱ γεγραμμένοι ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ τῆς ζωῆς τοῦ ἀρνίου και ου μη εισελθη εις αυτην παν κοινουν και ποιουν βδελυγμα και ψευδος ει μη οι γεγραμμενοι εν τω βιβλιω της ζωης του αρνιου και ου μη εισελθη εις αυτην παν κοινον και ποιουν βδελυγμα και ψευδος ει μη οι γεγραμμενοι εν τω βιβλιω της ζωης του αρνιου

Philippians 3:7 (NET)

Philippians 3:7 (KJV)
But these assets I have come to regard as liabilities because of Christ. But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
[Ἀλλὰ] ἅτινα ἦν μοι κέρδη, ταῦτα ἥγημαι διὰ τὸν Χριστὸν ζημίαν αλλ ατινα ην μοι κερδη ταυτα ηγημαι δια τον χριστον ζημιαν αλλ ατινα ην μοι κερδη ταυτα ηγημαι δια τον χριστον ζημιαν

Revelation 20:11, 12 (NET)

Revelation 20:11, 12 (KJV)
Then I saw a large white throne and the one who was seated on it; the earth and the heaven fled from his presence, and no place was found for them. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
Καὶ εἶδον θρόνον μέγαν λευκὸν καὶ τὸν καθήμενον ἐπ᾿ |αὐτόν|, οὗ ἀπὸ τοῦ προσώπου ἔφυγεν ἡ γῆ καὶ ὁ οὐρανὸς καὶ τόπος οὐχ εὑρέθη αὐτοῖς και ειδον θρονον λευκον μεγαν και τον καθημενον επ αυτου ου απο προσωπου εφυγεν η γη και ο ουρανος και τοπος ουχ ευρεθη αυτοις και ειδον θρονον μεγαν λευκον και τον καθημενον επ αυτον ου απο προσωπου εφυγεν η γη και ο ουρανος και τοπος ουχ ευρεθη αυτοις
And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne. Then books were opened, and another book was opened—the book of life. So the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to their deeds. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
καὶ εἶδον τοὺς νεκρούς, τοὺς μεγάλους καὶ τοὺς μικρούς, ἑστῶτας ἐνώπιον τοῦ θρόνου. καὶ βιβλία ἠνοίχθησαν, καὶ ἄλλο βιβλίον ἠνοίχθη, ὅ ἐστιν τῆς ζωῆς, καὶ ἐκρίθησαν οἱ νεκροὶ ἐκ τῶν γεγραμμένων ἐν τοῖς βιβλίοις κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτῶν και ειδον τους νεκρους μικρους και μεγαλους εστωτας ενωπιον του θεου και βιβλια ηνεωχθησαν και βιβλιον αλλο ηνεωχθη ο εστιν της ζωης και εκριθησαν οι νεκροι εκ των γεγραμμενων εν τοις βιβλιοις κατα τα εργα αυτων και ειδον τους νεκρους τους μεγαλους και τους μικρους εστωτας ενωπιον του θρονου και βιβλια ηνεωχθησαν και αλλο βιβλιον ηνεωχθη ο εστιν της ζωης και εκριθησαν οι νεκροι εκ των γεγραμμενων εν τοις βιβλιοις κατα τα εργα αυτων

2 Corinthians 3:3 (NET)

2 Corinthians 3:3 (KJV)
revealing that you are a letter of Christ, delivered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on stone tablets but on tablets of human hearts. Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
φανερούμενοι ὅτι ἐστὲ ἐπιστολὴ Χριστοῦ διακονηθεῖσα ὑφ᾿ ἡμῶν, ἐγγεγραμμένη οὐ μέλανι ἀλλὰ πνεύματι θεοῦ ζῶντος, οὐκ ἐν πλαξὶν λιθίναις ἀλλ᾿ ἐν πλαξὶν καρδίαις σαρκίναις φανερουμενοι οτι εστε επιστολη χριστου διακονηθεισα υφ ημων εγγεγραμμενη ου μελανι αλλα πνευματι θεου ζωντος ουκ εν πλαξιν λιθιναις αλλ εν πλαξιν καρδιας σαρκιναις φανερουμενοι οτι εστε επιστολη χριστου διακονηθεισα υφ ημων εγγεγραμμενη ου μελανι αλλα πνευματι θεου ζωντος ουκ εν πλαξιν λιθιναις αλλ εν πλαξιν καρδιαις σαρκιναις

2 Corinthians 3:6 (NET)

2 Corinthians 3:6 (KJV)
who made us adequate to be servants of a new covenant not based on the letter but on the Spirit, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
ὃς καὶ ἱκάνωσεν ἡμᾶς διακόνους καινῆς διαθήκης, οὐ γράμματος ἀλλὰ πνεύματος· τὸ γὰρ γράμμα |ἀποκτέννει|, τὸ δὲ πνεῦμα ζῳοποιεῖ ος και ικανωσεν ημας διακονους καινης διαθηκης ου γραμματος αλλα πνευματος το γαρ γραμμα αποκτεινει το δε πνευμα ζωοποιει ος και ικανωσεν ημας διακονους καινης διαθηκης ου γραμματος αλλα πνευματος το γαρ γραμμα αποκτενει το δε πνευμα ζωοποιει

Colossians 3:4 (NET)

Colossians 3:4 (KJV)
When Christ (who is your life) appears, then you too will be revealed in glory with him. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
ὅταν ὁ Χριστὸς φανερωθῇ (ἡ ζωὴ |ὑμῶν|), τότε καὶ ὑμεῖς σὺν αὐτῷ φανερωθήσεσθε ἐν δόξῃ οταν ο χριστος φανερωθη η ζωη ημων τοτε και υμεις συν αυτω φανερωθησεσθε εν δοξη οταν ο χριστος φανερωθη η ζωη ημων τοτε και υμεις συν αυτω φανερωθησεσθε εν δοξη

3 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had the singular οὗ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had the plural ων.

4 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had the singular τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ (literally: the name of him) here, where the Byzantine Majority Text had τὸ ὄνομα, and the Stephanus Textus Receptus had the plural τα ονοματα (KJV: names).

5 The NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Byzantine Majority Text had the masculine or neuter article τῷ preceding book, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus had the feminine article τη.

6 The NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Byzantine Majority Text had the article τοῦ in the genitive case preceding was killed. The Stephanus Textus Receptus did not.

7 Revelation 13:7, 8 (NET)

8 This article τοῦ is not found in the Stephanus Textus Receptus.

14 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ὑπὲρ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had περι (KJV: of).

15 The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had the article τω preceding water. The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

16 John 1:29-31 (NET)

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

18 John 3:10 (NET) Table

19 John 3:7 (NET)

21 Philippians 3:9b (NET)

22 Philippians 2:8-11 (NET)

23 The NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Byzantine Majority Text had an adjective κοινὸν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus had a participle κοινουν (KJV: that defileth).

24 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ὁ ποιῶν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ποιουν (KJV: worketh).

27 Revelation 20:15a (NET)

29 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had the article τοῦ preceding presence (KJV: face). The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

30 The NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Byzantine Majority Text had the article τοὺς preceding great. The Stephanus Textus Receptus did not.

31 The NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Byzantine Majority Text had the article τοὺς preceding small. The Stephanus Textus Receptus did not.

35 Revelation 20:12b (NET)

36 The NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Byzantine Majority Text had the plural καρδίαις in the dative case here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus had the singular καρδιας in the genitive case (KJV: of the heart).

38 The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had εν preceding stone. The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

39 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ὑμῶν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ημων (KJV: our).

40 Revelation 20:12b (NET)

41 Philippians 3:18b, 19 (KJV)

Who Am I? Part 11

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In the movie M*A*S*H Major Frank Burns (Robert Duvall) is introduced on his knees at his cot praying aloud.  At sixteen I thought he was some kind of super-Christian.  I wouldn’t have prayed aloud like that at church camp.

When he yelled at Private Boone (Bud Cort) for a lazy and inappropriate response to a direct order, it was uncomfortable, but it didn’t diminish Major Burns in my estimation.  After all, what does it mean to be “under authority” if not that those in authority over you berate you as they see fit?  I didn’t particularly like it but I was used to it.  It didn’t really change my opinion of those who berated me.

When Major Burns succumbed to his lust for Major Houlihan (Sally Kellerman), it was disappointing, but God punished him immediately.  Radar O’Reilly (Gary Burghoff) slipped a microphone into the tent where Major Burns and Major Houlihan carried on their tryst.  Audio of it was broadcast live to the entire 4077th camp.

And know that your sin will find you out[1] [Table below].  You who tell others not to commit adultery, do you commit adultery?[2]

When Major Burns was sent home in a straitjacket and I was left alone at the MASH camp in Korea (actually, I was on a date) I was at a loss to figure out what this, my first R-rated, movie was actually about.  I had been a do-it-yourself-Christian for over ten years by then.

Jesus may have died to forgive my sins but it was up to me to trust and obey.  C.H. Spurgeon did a fair job of describing my faith in a sermon presented, not as doctrine he believed but, as his characterization of an “Arminian” theory of redemption:

Christ, when He died, did not die with an intent to save any particular person…Christ’s death does not in itself secure, beyond doubt, the salvation of any one man living…Christ died to make the salvation of all men possible…any man who pleases may attain unto eternal life…if man’s will would not give way and voluntarily surrender to grace, then Christ’s atonement would be unavailing….

Though I didn’t realize it at the time I worshiped my own free will.  I didn’t carve or cast a statue, fall prostrate before it and bring it offerings.  I wasn’t a sculptor.  But I thought free will as a concept was fair.

I lifted the following diagram from a site online.

The Throne Diagram

This diagram (or one like it) was the essence of my religious education.  The explanation reads as follows: “The circle is your life.  The seat is a throne.  The throne stands for whatever is lord of your life.  S is for self.  The cross is Jesus.  The other things in the circle represent whatever is important to you.”

Everyone begins at letter A.  The goal is to work through to letter C.  The steps are spelled out in some detail on Cru.org online:[3]

We must surrender, or yield, the throne to Christ….By faith we must recognize that Christ assumed control of our lives upon our invitation….We receive the Lord Jesus Christ by faith.  How then do we allow Him to control our lives moment by moment?

Did I receive the Lord Jesus Christ by faith at sixteen?  Certainly not by the faith (πίστις) that is an aspect of the fruit of his Spirit (John 16:12-16).  I didn’t know of such a faith and would have considered it cheating.  By faith meant trust and obey, acts (continuous acts) of my free will: “We must surrender…we must recognize…We receive…we allow” or God is powerless, except to punish.

I didn’t realize I was worshiping my free will.  I certainly can’t recall what I might have meant at the time by free will if I had.  I thought I was doing, more or less, what I was supposed to be doing, except, of course, when I wasn’t.  So, what is free will?

As I approach it now I have a fairly clear idea what the translators of the NET think about it.  Jesus said (John 10:18 NET):

No one takes [my life] away from me, but I lay it down of my own free will.  I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it back again.  This commandment I received from my Father.

Here the Greek words ἀπ᾿ ἐμαυτοῦ were translated of my own free will.  This ἐμαυτοῦ was derived from an authority (ἐξουσίαν, a form of ἐξουσία) derived from a commandment (ἐντολὴν, a form of ἐντολή) Jesus received (ἔλαβον, a form of λαμβάνω) from his Father.  Jesus’ saying is very important to me.  I can describe it best as a contrast to me.

Nail me to a cross and I will stay there until you pry me down, whether dead or alive will depend on how long you leave me nailed there.  Jesus endured the cross.  The Greek word translated endured was ὑπέμεινεν (a form of ὑπομένω): “to remain, stay behind (while others leave); to remain (instead of fleeing).”  Jesus remained on the cross when He had other options.  At any moment throughout that ordeal He could have exercised his authority received by the commandment of His Father, and of his own free will, said, “Enough of this,” and stepped down from the cross.

In the past I’ve added, “and been none the worse for wear.”  I see it a little differently now: He would not be obedient to the point of death, nor the firstborn from the dead and He would be uniquely alone: I tell you the solemn truth, He said, unless a kernel of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains by itself alone.  But if it dies, it produces much grain.[4]

At sixteen I didn’t study the Bible, didn’t know I was worshiping my own free will, but I wonder if I could have accepted an authority received from a commandment of God my free will.  Recently, I’ve described free will as an ability to ignore and disobey God.  That might be an authority derived from a commandment: I don’t know but I don’t cease to exist the moment I think or do anything contrary to God’s word or will.

I looked at the other examples of ἀπ᾿ ἐμαυτοῦ to see if of my own free will would stand up to scrutiny as a translation.  The very first example called my understanding of Jesus’ free will into question (John 5:26, 27, 30):

For just as the Father has life in himself, thus he has granted the Son to have life in himself, and he has granted the Son authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of Man.

I can do nothing on my own initiative.  Just as I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just because I do not seek my own will, but the will of the one who sent me [Table].

I can do nothing of my own free will (ἀπ᾿ ἐμαυτοῦ), seems to hold up, despite its shock value: Jesus said this after having been granted (ἔδωκεν, a form of δίδωμι)…authority (ἐξουσίαν, a form of ἐξουσία) to execute (ποιεῖν, a form of ποιέω) judgment (κρίσιν, a form of κρίσις).

I’m willing to hear an authority (ἐξουσίαν) granted (ἔδωκεν) as roughly equivalent to an authority (ἐξουσίαν) received (ἔλαβον) by a commandment (ἐντολὴν), though that authority is not exercised here of Jesus’ own free will: Just as I hear (ἀκούω), I judge (κρίνω), and my judgment (κρίσις) is just (δικαία, a form of δίκαιος).  Jesus didn’t leave me to guess why such judgment is just: I do not seek (ζητῶ, a form of ζητέω) my own will (θέλημα), but the will (θέλημα) of the one who sent me.

So is there something peculiar about judgment (κρίσιν, κρίσις) that placed special constraints on Jesus’ authority (ἐξουσίαν) to judge of his own free will?  Or did I carry it too far before?  Could Jesus, being Jesus, being who He is, actually of his own free will have stepped down from the cross?  Or did He, as Jesus, seek…the will (θέλημα) of the one (KJV: Father) who sent Him?

The next occurrence of ἀπ᾿ ἐμαυτοῦ sheds some more light on Jesus’ attitude (John 7:16-18 NET):

So[5] Jesus replied, “My teaching is not from me, but from the one who sent me [Table].  If anyone wants to do God’s will, he will know about my teaching, whether it is from God or whether I speak from my own authority.  The person who speaks on his own authority desires to receive honor for himself; the one who desires the honor of the one who sent him is a man of integrity, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

Here ἀπ᾿ ἐμαυτοῦ was translated from my own authority, despite the lack of any form of ἐξουσία in the text.  I don’t have any quarrel with it but think “of my own free will” was still possible as long as I don’t assume that Jesus’ teaching was contrary to his own free will.  The point is his own free will was not the source of his teaching: My teaching is not from me (ἐμὴ, a form of ἐμός; literally: mine).

The person who speaks on his own authority (ἀφ᾿ ἑαυτοῦ) desires (ζητεῖ, a form of ζητέω; literally: seeks) to receive honor (δόξαν, a form of δόξα; KJV: glory) for himself.  Again, Jesus contrasted this one to Himself, One who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him.  It seems less and less likely that Jesus would have exercised his authority to utilize his free will to come down from the cross.

The next occurrence of ἀπ᾿ ἐμαυτοῦ was translated on my own initiative (John 7:28, 29 NET):

Then Jesus, while teaching in the temple courts, cried out, “You both know me and know where I come from!  And I have not come on my own initiative, but the one who sent me is true.  You do not know him, but[6] I know him because I have come from him and he sent me.”

Again, I have not come of my own free will, holds up as long as I don’t assume that He came against his own free will.  This pattern continues: When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and I do nothing on my own initiative (ἀπ᾿ ἐμαυτοῦ), but I speak just what the Father[7] taught me.[8]  And, If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come from God and am now here.  I have not come on my own initiative (ἀπ᾿ ἐμαυτοῦ), but he sent me [Table].[9]  And finally, Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me?  The words that I say[10] to you, I do not speak on my own initiative (ἀπ᾿ ἐμαυτοῦ), but the Father residing in me performs[11] his[12] miraculous deeds.[13]

To translate ἔργα (a form of ἔργον) miraculous deeds here and in the following verses might divert one’s attention away from one of the clearest statements of Jesus’ faith, how He lived as a man on this earth: the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.[14]  I live by the faith (πίστει, a form of πίστις) of the Son of God,[15] Paul wrote.

So, though Jesus had the authority to come down from the cross of his own free will, He didn’t do it because the Father that dwelleth in [Him]…doeth the works.  I didn’t know any of this at sixteen.  My knowledge of God was based on hearsay and whatever I had reasoned out through trial and error, which wasn’t particularly helpful since I was asking the wrong questions and misunderstanding the answers.

God’s love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control is so meaningful to me now, I search for some inkling of the fruit of the Spirit in my past.  The closest I come is the vague memory of a belief that God would help me.  By age sixteen I had over ten years of empirical evidence that God didn’t help me do anything I wanted to do.  (Even after my prodigal years the fruit of the Spirit so-called was a list of attitudes I was expected to conjure and maintain out of my own gratitude for being saved from an eternity in the lake of fire.)

At sixteen I was trying to trust and obey as continuous acts of my own free will and figure out how to abdicate the throne of my life to Christ.  God had one role in my life: to punish me for sin.  By seventeen or eighteen, after He had “failed” at that, I was left alone to figure out what this life was actually about (or so I thought). 

Tables comparing Numbers 32:23 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and comparing Numbers 32:23 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor), and tables comparing John 7:29; 8:28 and 14:10 in the NET and KJV follow. 

Numbers 32:23 (Tanakh)

 Numbers 32:23 (KJV)

Numbers 32:23 (NET)
But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against HaShem; and know ye your sin which will find you. But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out. “But if you do not do this, then look, you will have sinned against the Lord.  And know that your sin will find you out.

Numbers 32:23 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 32:23 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ποιήσητε οὕτως ἁμαρτήσεσθε ἔναντι κυρίου καὶ γνώσεσθε τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ὑμῶν ὅταν ὑμᾶς καταλάβῃ τὰ κακά ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ποιήσητε οὕτως, ἁμαρτήσεσθε ἔναντι Κυρίου καὶ γνώσεσθε τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ὑμῶν, ὅταν ὑμᾶς καταλάβῃ τὰ κακά

Numbers 32:23 (NETS)

Numbers 32:23 (English Elpenor)
But if you will not do so, you will sin against the Lord, and you will know your sin when misfortunes overtake you. But if ye will not do so, ye will sin against the Lord; and ye shall know your sin, when afflictions shall come upon you.

John 7:29 (NET)

John 7:29 (KJV)
but I know him because I have come from him and he sent me.” But I know him: for I am from him, and he hath sent me.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
ἐγὼ οἶδα αὐτόν, ὅτι παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ εἰμι κακεῖνος με ἀπέστειλεν εγω δε οιδα αυτον οτι παρ αυτου ειμι κακεινος με απεστειλεν εγω οιδα αυτον οτι παρ αυτου ειμι κακεινος με απεστειλεν

John 8:28 (NET)

John 8:28 (KJV)
Then Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and I do nothing on my own initiative, but I speak just what the Father taught me. Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
εἶπεν οὖν [αὐτοῖς] ὁ Ἰησοῦς· ὅταν ὑψώσητε τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, τότε γνώσεσθε ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι, καὶ ἀπ᾿ ἐμαυτοῦ ποιῶ οὐδέν, ἀλλὰ καθὼς ἐδίδαξεν με ὁ πατὴρ ταῦτα λαλῶ ειπεν ουν αυτοις ο ιησους οταν υψωσητε τον υιον του ανθρωπου τοτε γνωσεσθε οτι εγω ειμι και απ εμαυτου ποιω ουδεν αλλα καθως εδιδαξεν με ο πατηρ μου ταυτα λαλω ειπεν ουν αυτοις ο ιησους οταν υψωσητε τον υιον του ανθρωπου τοτε γνωσεσθε οτι εγω ειμι και απ εμαυτου ποιω ουδεν αλλα καθως εδιδαξεν με ο πατηρ μου ταυτα λαλω

John 14:10 (NET)

John 14:10 (KJV)
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. Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
οὐ πιστεύεις ὅτι ἐγὼ ἐν τῷ πατρὶ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἐν ἐμοί ἐστιν; τὰ ρήματα ἃ ἐγὼ λέγω ὑμῖν ἀπ᾿ ἐμαυτοῦ οὐ λαλῶ, ὁ δὲ πατὴρ ἐν ἐμοὶ μένων ποιεῖ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ ου πιστευεις οτι εγω εν τω πατρι και ο πατηρ εν εμοι εστιν τα ρηματα α εγω λαλω υμιν απ εμαυτου ου λαλω ο δε πατηρ ο εν εμοι μενων αυτος ποιει τα εργα ου πιστευεις οτι εγω εν τω πατρι και ο πατηρ εν εμοι εστιν τα ρηματα α εγω λαλω υμιν απ εμαυτου ου λαλω ο δε πατηρ ο εν εμοι μενων αυτος ποιει τα εργα

[1] Numbers 32:23b (NET)

[2] Romans 2:22a (NET)

[3] “The Christ-Controlled Life,” by Bill Bright

[4] John 12:24 (NET)

[5] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had οὖν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had και (KJV: And).

[6] The Stephanus Textus Receptus had the conjunction δε here.  The NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

[7] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had μου following Father (KJV: my).  The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

[8] John 8:28 (NET)

[9] John 8:42 (NET)

[10] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had λέγω here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had λαλω (KJV: speak).

[11] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had αυτος (KJV: he) preceding performs (KJV: doeth).  The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

[12] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had αὐτοῦ following deeds.  The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

[13] John 14:10 (NET)

[14] John 14:10b (KJV)

[15] Galatians 2:20b (KJV)

Romans, Part 92

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Paul blessed believers in Rome with the following benediction (Romans 16:25-27 NET):

Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that had been kept secret for long ages, but now is disclosed, and through the prophetic scriptures has been made known to all the nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be glory forever!  Amen.[1]

The Greek word translated is able above was δυναμένῳ, a form of δύναμαι.  Paul told the Ephesian elders (Acts 20:32 NET):

And now I entrust you[2] to God and to the message of his grace.  This message is able (δυναμένῳ) to build[3] you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

I hear τῷ λόγῳ τῆς χάριτος αὐτοῦ (NET: the message of his grace) as an another appositive phrase effectively, equivalent to εὐαγγέλιον (NET: gospel) and τὸ κήρυγμα Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ (NET: the proclamation of Jesus Christ).  Here the message of his grace is able to build you up (οἰκοδομῆσαι, a form of οἰκοδομέω).  But I assume this is true because of him who is able to strengthen (στηρίξαι, a form of στηρίζω) you:  Except the LORD build (Septuagint [Table2 below]: οἰκοδομήσῃ, another form of οἰκοδομέω) the house, they labour in vain that build (οἰκοδομοῦντες, another form of οἰκοδομέω) it.[4]  Anything other than being led by the Spirit of God (Romans 8:1-17) is the work of actors, hypocrites.

Paul wrote to believers in Ephesus (Ephesians 3:20, 21 NET):

Now to him who by the power that is working within us is able (δυναμένῳ) to do far beyond all that we ask or think, to him be the glory in the church and[5] in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever.  Amen.

And may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another and for all, Paul wrote believers in Thessalonica, just as we do for you, so that your hearts are strengthened (στηρίξαι) in holiness to be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.[6]  Here hearts…strengthened in holiness is linked to the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love.  This love is ἀγάπῃ, the ἀγάπη which is the fulfillment of the law[7] (1 Corinthians 13).

Paul continued this theme in his second letter (2 Thessalonians 2:13-17 NET):

But we ought to thank God always for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose[8] you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.  He called[9] you to this salvation through our gospel, so that you may possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold on to the traditions that we taught you, whether by speech or by letter.  Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father,[10] who loved us and by grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen (στηρίξαι) you[11] in every good thing you do or say.

Paul made the mystery (μυστηρίου, a form of μυστήριον) that had been kept secret for long ages explicit in his letter to believers in Colossae; namely, Christ in you (Colossians 1:25-29 NET):

I became a servant of the church according to the stewardship from God—given to me for you—in order to complete (πληρῶσαι, a form of πληρόω; KJV: to fulfil) the word of God, that is, the mystery (μυστήριον) that has been kept hidden from ages and generations, but has now[12] been revealed to his saints.  God wanted to make known to them the glorious riches[13] of this mystery (μυστηρίου, a form of μυστήριον) among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.  We proclaim him by instructing and teaching all people with all wisdom so that we may present every person mature in Christ.[14]  Toward this goal I also labor, struggling according to his power that powerfully works in me.

Paul didn’t labor to complete or fulfil the word of God in his own strength, but according to Christ’s power that powerfully works in me.  For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for[15] you, he continued, and for those in Laodicea, and for those who have not met[16] me face to face[17] (Colossians 2:2, 3 NET Table).

My goal is that their hearts, having been knit together in love, may be encouraged, and that they may have all the riches that assurance brings in their understanding of the knowledge of the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

In Paul’s mind—I have been crucified (Romans 6:3-14) 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[18]—was not a unique situation exclusively for him alone.  It was the gospel he struggled to complete in all who believe (Ephesians 3:14-21 NET):

For this reason I kneel before the Father (Table), from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.  I pray that according to the wealth of his glory he will grant you to be strengthened (κραταιωθῆναι) with power through his Spirit in the inner person (Table), that Christ will dwell in your hearts through faith, so that, because you have been rooted and grounded in love, you will be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and thus to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you will be filled up to all the fullness of God.

Now to him who by the power that is working within us is able to do far beyond all that we ask or think, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever.  Amen.

And so ὑπακοὴν πίστεως (NET: obedience of faith), faith’s[19] obedience as opposed to works’ obedience, is nothng other than the fruit of the Spirit: God’s own love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control,[20] springing up to eternal life.[21]

Tables comparing Psalm 127:1 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and tables comparing Psalm 127:1 (126:1) in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor) follow.  Following those are tables comparing Romans 16:27; Acts 20:32; Ephesians 3:21; 2 Thessalonians 2:13, 14; 2:16, 17; Colossians 1:26-28 and 2:1 in the NET and KJV.

Psalm 127:1 (Tanakh)

 Psalm 127:1 (KJV)

Psalm 127:1 (NET)
Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. A Song of degrees for Solomon.  Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. A song of ascents; by Solomon.  If the Lord does not build a house, then those who build it work in vain.  If the Lord does not guard a city, then the watchman stands guard in vain.

Psalm 127:1 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 126:1 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ᾠδὴ τῶν ἀναβαθμῶν τῷ Σαλωμων ἐὰν μὴ κύριος οἰκοδομήσῃ οἶκον εἰς μάτην ἐκοπίασαν οἱ οἰκοδομοῦντες αὐτόν ἐὰν μὴ κύριος φυλάξῃ πόλιν εἰς μάτην ἠγρύπνησεν ὁ φυλάσσων ᾿ῼδὴ τῶν ἀναβαθμῶν. – ΕΑΝ μὴ Κύριος οἰκοδομήσῃ οἶκον, εἰς μάτην ἐκοπίασαν οἱ οἰκοδομοῦντες· ἐὰν μὴ Κύριος φυλάξῃ πόλιν, εἰς μάτην ἠγρύπνησεν ὁ φυλάσσων

Psalm 126:1 (NETS)

Psalm 126:1 (English Elpenor)
An Ode of the Steps.  Pertaining to Salomon.  Unless the Lord builds a house, those who build it labored in vain.  Unless the Lord guards a city, the guard kept awake in vain. [A Song of Degrees.]  Except the Lord build the house, they that build labour in vain: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman watches in vain.

Romans 16:27 (NET)

Romans 16:27 (KJV)
to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be glory forever!  Amen. To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever.  Amen.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
μόνῳ σοφῷ θεῷ, διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, |ᾧ| ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας, ἀμήν.] μονω σοφω θεω δια ιησου χριστου ω η δοξα εις τους αιωνας αμην [προς ρωμαιους εγραφη απο κορινθου δια φοιβης της διακονου της εν κεγχρεαις εκκλησιας] μονω σοφω θεω δια ιησου χριστου ω η δοξα εις τους αιωνας αμην

Acts 20:32 (NET)

Acts 20:32 (KJV)
And now I entrust you to God and to the message of his grace.  This message is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
Καὶ τὰ νῦν παρατίθεμαι ὑμᾶς τῷ |θεῷ| καὶ τῷ λόγῳ τῆς χάριτος αὐτοῦ, τῷ δυναμένῳ οἰκοδομῆσαι καὶ δοῦναι τὴν κληρονομίαν ἐν τοῖς ἡγιασμένοις πᾶσιν και τανυν παρατιθεμαι υμας αδελφοι τω θεω και τω λογω της χαριτος αυτου τω δυναμενω εποικοδομησαι και δουναι υμιν κληρονομιαν εν τοις ηγιασμενοις πασιν και τα νυν παρατιθεμαι υμας αδελφοι τω θεω και τω λογω της χαριτος αυτου τω δυναμενω εποικοδομησαι και δουναι υμιν κληρονομιαν εν τοις ηγιασμενοις πασιν

Ephesians 3:21 (NET)

Ephesians 3:21 (KJV)
to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever.  Amen. Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end.  Amen.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ καὶ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ εἰς πάσας τὰς γενεὰς τοῦ αἰῶνος τῶν αἰώνων, ἀμήν αυτω η δοξα εν τη εκκλησια εν χριστω ιησου εις πασας τας γενεας του αιωνος των αιωνων αμην αυτω η δοξα εν τη εκκλησια εν χριστω ιησου εις πασας τας γενεας του αιωνος των αιωνων αμην

2 Thessalonians 2:13, 14 (NET)

2 Thessalonians 2:13, 14 (KJV)
But we ought to thank God always for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
ἡμεῖς δὲ ὀφείλομεν εὐχαριστεῖν τῷ θεῷ πάντοτε περὶ ὑμῶν, ἀδελφοὶ ἠγαπημένοι ὑπὸ κυρίου, ὅτι εἵλατο ὑμᾶς ὁ θεὸς |ἀπ᾿ ἀρχῆς| εἰς σωτηρίαν ἐν ἁγιασμῷ πνεύματος καὶ πίστει ἀληθείας ημεις δε οφειλομεν ευχαριστειν τω θεω παντοτε περι υμων αδελφοι ηγαπημενοι υπο κυριου οτι ειλετο υμας ο θεος απ αρχης εις σωτηριαν εν αγιασμω πνευματος και πιστει αληθειας ημεις δε οφειλομεν ευχαριστειν τω θεω παντοτε περι υμων αδελφοι ηγαπημενοι υπο κυριου οτι ειλετο υμας ο θεος απ αρχης εις σωτηριαν εν αγιασμω πνευματος και πιστει αληθειας
He called you to this salvation through our gospel, so that you may possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
εἰς ὃ [καὶ] ἐκάλεσεν ὑμᾶς διὰ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου ἡμῶν εἰς περιποίησιν δόξης τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ εις ο εκαλεσεν υμας δια του ευαγγελιου ημων εις περιποιησιν δοξης του κυριου ημων ιησου χριστου εις ο εκαλεσεν υμας δια του ευαγγελιου ημων εις περιποιησιν δοξης του κυριου ημων ιησου χριστου

2 Thessalonians 2:16, 17 (NET)

2 Thessalonians 2:16, 17 (KJV)
Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace,

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
Αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς καὶ [ὁ] θεὸς ὁ πατὴρ ἡμῶν ὁ ἀγαπήσας ἡμᾶς καὶ δοὺς παράκλησιν αἰωνίαν καὶ ἐλπίδα ἀγαθὴν ἐν χάριτι αυτος δε ο κυριος ημων ιησους χριστος και ο θεος και πατηρ ημων ο αγαπησας ημας και δους παρακλησιν αιωνιαν και ελπιδα αγαθην εν χαριτι αυτος δε ο κυριος ημων ιησους χριστος και ο θεος και πατηρ ημων ο αγαπησας ημας και δους παρακλησιν αιωνιαν και ελπιδα αγαθην εν χαριτι
encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good thing you do or say. Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
παρακαλέσαι ὑμῶν τὰς καρδίας καὶ στηρίξαι ἐν παντὶ ἔργῳ καὶ λόγῳ ἀγαθῷ παρακαλεσαι υμων τας καρδιας και στηριξαι υμας εν παντι λογω και εργω αγαθω παρακαλεσαι υμων τας καρδιας και στηριξαι υμας εν παντι λογω και εργω αγαθω

Colossians 1:26-28 (NET)

Colossians 1:26-28 (KJV)
that is, the mystery that has been kept hidden from ages and generations, but has now been revealed to his saints. Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
τὸ μυστήριον τὸ ἀποκεκρυμμένον ἀπὸ τῶν αἰώνων καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν γενεῶν – νῦν δὲ ἐφανερώθη τοῖς ἁγίοις αὐτοῦ το μυστηριον το αποκεκρυμμενον απο των αιωνων και απο των γενεων νυνι δε εφανερωθη τοις αγιοις αυτου το μυστηριον το αποκεκρυμμενον απο των αιωνων και απο των γενεων νυνι δε εφανερωθη τοις αγιοις αυτου
God wanted to make known to them the glorious riches of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
οἷς ἠθέλησεν ὁ θεὸς γνωρίσαι τί τὸ πλοῦτος τῆς δόξης τοῦ μυστηρίου τούτου ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, ὅ ἐστιν Χριστὸς ἐν ὑμῖν, ἡ ἐλπὶς τῆς δόξης οις ηθελησεν ο θεος γνωρισαι τις ο πλουτος της δοξης του μυστηριου τουτου εν τοις εθνεσιν ος εστιν χριστος εν υμιν η ελπις της δοξης οις ηθελησεν ο θεος γνωρισαι τι το πλουτος της δοξης του μυστηριου τουτου εν τοις εθνεσιν ος εστιν χριστος εν υμιν η ελπις της δοξης
We proclaim him by instructing and teaching all people with all wisdom so that we may present every person mature in Christ. Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
ὃν ἡμεῖς καταγγέλλομεν νουθετοῦντες πάντα ἄνθρωπον καὶ διδάσκοντες πάντα ἄνθρωπον ἐν πάσῃ σοφίᾳ, ἵνα παραστήσωμεν πάντα ἄνθρωπον τέλειον ἐν Χριστῷ ον ημεις καταγγελλομεν νουθετουντες παντα ανθρωπον και διδασκοντες παντα ανθρωπον εν παση σοφια ινα παραστησωμεν παντα ανθρωπον τελειον εν χριστω ιησου ον ημεις καταγγελλομεν νουθετουντες παντα ανθρωπον και διδασκοντες παντα ανθρωπον εν παση σοφια ινα παραστησωμεν παντα ανθρωπον τελειον εν χριστω ιησου

Colossians 2:1 (NET)

Colossians 2:1 (KJV)
For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for those who have not met me face to face. For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh;

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
Θέλω γὰρ ὑμᾶς εἰδέναι ἡλίκον ἀγῶνα ἔχω ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν καὶ τῶν ἐν Λαοδικείᾳ καὶ ὅσοι οὐχ ἑόρακαν τὸ πρόσωπον μου ἐν σαρκί θελω γαρ υμας ειδεναι ηλικον αγωνα εχω περι υμων και των εν λαοδικεια και οσοι ουχ εωρακασιν το προσωπον μου εν σαρκι θελω γαρ υμας ειδεναι ηλικον αγωνα εχω περι υμων και των εν λαοδικεια και οσοι ουχ εωρακασιν το προσωπον μου εν σαρκι

[1] The Stephanus Textus Receptus had προς ρωμαιους εγραφη απο κορινθου δια φοιβης της διακονου της εν κεγχρεαις εκκλησιας (Written to the Romanes from Corinthus, and sent by Phebe seruant of the Church at Cenchrea [King James Bible 1611]) here.  The NET Parallel Greek text, NA28 and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

[2] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had αδελφοι (KJV: brethren) here.  The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

[3] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had οἰκοδομῆσαι here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had εποικοδομησαι.

[4] Psalm 127:1a (Tanakh)

[5] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had καὶ here.  The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

[6] 1 Thessalonians 3:12, 13 (NET)

[7] Romans 13:10b (NET)

[8] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had εἵλατο here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ειλετο (KJV: hath…chosen).

[9] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had καὶ preceding called.  The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

[10] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had the article ὁ preceding Father, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had καὶ (KJV: even).

[11] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had υμας here.  The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

[12] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had νῦν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had νυνι.

[13] The NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Byzantine Majority Text had the article τὸ preceding riches, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus had ο.

[14] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ιησου (KJV: Jesus) here.  The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

[15] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ὑπὲρ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had περι.

[16] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ἑόρακαν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had εωρακασιν (KJV: have…seen).

[17] Colossians 2:1 (NET)

[18] Galatians 2:20 (NET)

[19] The Greek word πίστεως is a genitive form of πίστις.

[20] Galatians 5:22, 23a (NET) Table

[21] John 4:14b (NET) Table

Who Am I? Part 9

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“One more thing you should know about me,” I wrote in another essay: “I usually appreciate God’s deceptiveness (the NIV translates it shrewdness, if you prefer) first, before I recognize his reliability, trustworthiness and loyalty.  So I assume that I am far more perverse (NIV, crooked [now, devious]), than I am blameless, innocent or faithful.”  As I revisited this essay to make tables for 2 Samuel 22:26, 27 it occurred to me that this is no longer true.

In the Tanakh (and KJV) חסיד (châsı̂yd) was translated merciful (Table1) rather than loyal.  Daily infusions of God’s own love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control[1] have rendered me more merciful than perverse.  Consequently, I view God as more merciful than deceptive these days.  Paul described a similar transformation in his own life for believers in Galatia (Galatians 2:20 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.

He prayed the same transformation for believers in Ephesus (Ephesians 3:16, 17a NET):

I pray that according to the wealth[2] of his glory [the Father,[3] from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named] will grant[4] you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person, that Christ will dwell in your hearts through faith…

I noticed something comparing the English translations of 2 Samuel (Reigns, Kings) 2:26, 27 from the Septuagint (Table2 and Table3) to those of the Masoretic text.

Septuagint

 Masoretic Text
2 Reigns 22:26, 27 (NETS) 2 Kings 22:26, 27 (Septuagint Elpenor) 2 Samuel 22:26, 27 (Tanakh)

2 Samuel 22:26, 27 (NET)
With the devout you will be deemed devout, and with a perfect man you will be deemed perfect, and with the select you will be select, and with the crooked you will be deemed crooked. With the holy thou wilt be holy, and with the perfect man thou will be perfect, and with the excellent thou wilt be excellent, and with the froward thou will be froward. With the merciful Thou dost show Thyself merciful, with the upright man Thou dost show Thyself upright, With the pure Thou dost show myself pure; and with the crooked Thou dost show Thyself subtle. You prove to be loyal to one who is faithful; you prove to be trustworthy to one who is innocent.  You prove to be reliable to one who is blameless, but you prove to be deceptive to one who is perverse.

The English translations from the Masoretic text seem to imply that God changes his behavior toward me depending upon my response to Him.  If I achieve the rank of crooked (Tanakh) or perverse (NET), God dost show Himself subtle (Tanakh) or prove to be deceptive (NET).  If I strive to be pure (Tanakh) or blameless (NET), He dost show myself (KJV: thyself) pure or prove to be reliable.  If I make myself upright or innocent, He dost show Himself upright or prove to be trustworthy.  If I become merciful or faithful, He dost show Himself merciful or prove to be loyal.

The translations from the Greek Septuagint (especially the NETS, “you will be deemed…”), however, called this into question and forced me to dig deeper.  With the exception of the adjective ἐκλεκτὸς, the verbs—ὁσιωθήσῃ, τελειωθήσῃ[5] and στρεβλωθήσῃ—applied to God by the rabbis who translated the Septuagint were all passive.  In other words, my perception—not God—changes as He has his way with me.  There is a caveat.

In a similar verse (Table3 below) Psalm 18:26 (18:27, 17:27) the rabbis chose the active διαστρέψεις for תתפתל (pâthal) rather than the passive στρεβλωθήσῃ (the Hebrew word תתפל [pâthal] was slightly different).  Here are the words in tabular form:

Reference

 NET Parallel Hebrew Tanakh Parallel Hebrew (chabad.org) Strong’s Concordance Septuagint (BLB)

Septuagint (Elpenor)
2 Samuel (Kings) 22:27 תתפל תִּתַּפָּֽל פָּתַל (pâthal) στρεβλωθήσῃ στρεβλωθήσῃ
Psalm 18:26 (18:27; 17:27) תתפתל תִּתְפַּתָּֽל פָּתַל (pâthal) διαστρέψεις διαστρέψεις

In other words, with the froward (Tanakh), perverse (NET/English Elpenor) or “crooked” (NETS) God is more actively froward (Tanakh) or deceptive (NET), wilt shew frowardness (English Elpenor) or “will pervert” (1 Kings 22:19-23; 1 Timothy 4:1-5).  His mercy toward me is ever astonishing.  At my most crooked or perverse I mistook God’s mercy for his nonexistence.  He remained pure, reliable, upright, trustworthy, merciful and loyal despite my religious mind’s inability to perceive it at that time.

Before I get too carried away with the English translation merciful, however, I want to study the Greek translation some.  The Hebrew word חסיד (châsı̂yd) translated merciful in the Tanakh and KJV was translated ὁσίου (a form of ὅσιος) in the Septuagint rather than ἐλεήμων (Hebrews 2:17 NET):

Therefore [Jesus] had to be made like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he could become a merciful (ἐλεήμων) and faithful high priest in things relating to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people.

Peter quoted David’s psalm about Jesus, you will not leave my soul in Hades, nor permit your Holy One to experience decay.[6]  Paul quoted part of the same psalm: You will not permit your Holy One to experience decay.[7]  Here in both quotes ὅσιον (another form of ὅσιος) was translated Holy One.

The Greek word διαφθοράν translated decay above was itself a translation of the Hebrew word שחת.  But it was translated (Table4 below) corruption (Tanakh) or the Pit (NET).  A table contrasting these Hebrew homographs follows.

Reference

 NET Parallel Hebrew Tanakh Parallel Hebrew (chabad.org) Strong’s Concordance Tanakh (Jewish Virtual Library)

NET
Psalm 16:10 שחת שָֽׁחַת שַׁחַת (shachath) corruption the Pit
Genesis 13:10 שחת שַׁחֵ֣ת שָׁחַת (shâchath) destroyed obliterated

The only difference between them is the vowel points.  Whether Peter and Paul misquoted the psalm to make it prophesy Jesus’ resurrection, or the Masoretes manipulated the vowel points to make it less obvious so as to defend their people from Christian interpretation will remain a matter of faith.  Admittedly, the rabbis who translated the Septuagint chose καταστρέψαι for שחת in Genesis 13:10 rather than διαφθοράν.  But they didn’t choose any form of Βόθυνος (Matthew 12:11) or φρέαρ (Revelation 9:1) for either occurrence.

Moses identified Levi’s holy one, whom Thou didst prove at Massah, with whom Thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah.[8] Again, the Hebrew word translated holy was חסידך (châsı̂yd) which was translated ὁσίῳ (another form of ὅσιος) in the Septuagint.  To Paul Levi’s holy one (τῷ ἀνδρὶ τῷ ὁσίῳ in the Septuagint; literally, holy man) was Christ (1 Corinthians 10:1-4 NET Table):

For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink.  For they were all drinking from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.

A plural form of ὅσιος (Table19 below) was translated holy (NET) or mercies (KJV) in Paul’s exhortation in the synagogue at Pisidian Antioch (Acts 13:34 NET):

But regarding the fact that he has raised Jesus from the dead, never again to be in a state of decay, God has spoken in this way: ‘I will give you the holy (ὅσια) and trustworthy promises made to David.’[9]

The last was a quote from the prophet Isaiah (Table8 below): I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.[10]  The Hebrew word חַסְדֵ֥י (chêsêd) was translated mercies on chabad.org as well.  The Greek translation ὅσια was also rendered mercies in the Elpenor English translation of the Septuagint, but sacred things in the NETS (Table9 below).

Who will not fear you,[11] O Lord, and glorify[12] your name, because you alone are holy[13] (ὅσιος), those who conquered the beast sang.  All nations will come and worship before you for your righteous acts (seven final plagues, seven angels holding the seven trumpets, the scroll and its seven seals) have been revealed.[14]  John’s vision continued: Now I heard the angel of the waters saying: “You are just[15] – the one who is and who was, the Holy One[16] (ὅσιος) – because you have passed these judgments, because they poured out the blood of your saints and prophets, so you have given[17] them blood to drink.  They[18] got what they deserved!”[19]

Without reverting to my old ways—considering justice and mercy as opposites—it seemed only fair to mention these contexts for ὅσιος.  The varied translations of ὅσιος seem to confirm my understanding of a category called “justice-mercy.”  Though I struggle to describe this category in words or diagrams it becomes much clearer—along with faithfulness and love—in the person of Jesus the Christ.

He will keep the feet of His holy ones,[20] Hannah prayed.  I planned to quote this as an example of חסידו] חסידיו] (châsı̂yd) [contrast chabad.org] translated δικαίου (a form of δίκαιος) in the Septuagint.  Comparing the Greek of the Septuagint to the Masoretic text proved more problematic than that.  The English translations follow:

English Translations from Masoretic Hebrew

 English Translations from Septuagint Greek
1 Samuel 2:9 (Tanakh) 1 Samuel 2:9 (NET) 1 Reigns 2:9 (NETS)

1 Kings 2:9 (English Elpenor)
He will keep the feet of His holy ones, but the wicked shall be put to silence in darkness; for not by strength shall man prevail. He watches over his holy ones, but the wicked are made speechless in the darkness, for it is not by one’s own strength that one prevails. Granting the prayer to the one who prays, he has even blessed the years of the righteous, because not by strength is a man mighty. granting his petition to him that prays; and he blesses the years of the righteous, for by strength cannot man prevail.

Admittedly, I wondered at first how the rabbis who translated the Septuagint got granting his petition to him that prays from but the wicked shall be put to silence in darkness.  Still I lamented that this woman of ancient Israel understood something I required almost a lifetime to learn: not by strength (NET: one’s own strength) shall man prevail.  The more I meditated though, the more sense it made to me that Hannah would have prayed what she acknowledged to Eli (1 Samuel 1:26-28 Tanakh):

And she said: ‘Oh, my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto HaShem.  For this child I prayed; and HaShem hath granted me my petition which I asked of Him; therefore I also have lent him to HaShem; as long as he liveth he is lent to HaShem.’  And he worshipped HaShem there.

Then I began to wonder why the Masoretes changed granting his petition to him that prays to but the wicked shall be put to silence in darkness.  No contrast with the wicked is required to understand that the righteous do not prevail by their own strength.  I began to consider Hannah’s prayer of dedication in its entirety, but that must wait for another essay.

To conclude this essay, I won’t gainsay merciful as a translation of חסיד (châsı̂yd), but it was translated holy more often, indicating the Messiah.  Tables comparing Psalm 18:25, 26; 16:10; Deuternomy 33:8; Isaiah 55:3; 1 Samuel 2:9 and 1:26-28 in the Tanakh and NET, and tables comparing Psalm 18:25 (17:26); 18:26 (17:27); 16:10 (15:10); Deuteronomy 33:8; Isaiah 55:3; 1 Samuel (Reigns, Kings) 2:9; 1:26; 1:27 and 1:28 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor) follow.  Following those are tables comparing Ephesians 3:14; 3:16; Acts 13:35; 13:34; Revelation 15:4 and 16:5, 6 in the NET and KJV.

Psalm 18:25, 26 (Tanakh)

Psalm 18:25, 26 (NET)
With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright; You prove to be loyal to one who is faithful; you prove to be trustworthy to one who is innocent.
With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward. You prove to be reliable to one who is blameless, but you prove to be deceptive to one who is perverse.

Psalm 18:25 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 17:26 (Septuagint Elpenor)
μετὰ ὁσίου ὁσιωθήσῃ καὶ μετὰ ἀνδρὸς ἀθῴου ἀθῷος ἔσῃ μετὰ ὁσίου ὅσιος ἔσῃ, καὶ μετὰ ἀνδρὸς ἀθῴου ἀθῷος ἔσῃ

Psalm 17:26 (NETS)

Psalm 17:26 (English Elpenor)
With the devout you will be deemed devout, and with the innocent man you will be innocent, With the holy thou wilt be holy; and with the innocent man thou wilt be innocent.

Psalm 18:26 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 17:27 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ μετὰ ἐκλεκτοῦ ἐκλεκτὸς ἔσῃ καὶ μετὰ στρεβλοῦ διαστρέψεις καὶ μετὰ ἐκλεκτοῦ ἐκλεκτὸς ἔσῃ καὶ μετὰ στρεβλοῦ διαστρέψεις

Psalm 17:27 (NETS)

Psalm 17:27 (English Elpenor)
and with the select you will be select, and with the crooked you will pervert, And with the excellent [man] thou wilt be excellent; and with the perverse thou wilt shew frowardness.

Psalm 16:10 (Tanakh)

Psalm 16:10 (NET)
For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. You will not abandon me to Sheol; you will not allow your faithful follower (châsı̂yd, חסידך) to see the Pit.

Psalm 16:10 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 15:10 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ὅτι οὐκ ἐγκαταλείψεις τὴν ψυχήν μου εἰς ᾅδην οὐδὲ δώσεις τὸν ὅσιόν σου ἰδεῗν διαφθοράν ὅτι οὐκ ἐγκαταλείψεις τὴν ψυχήν μου εἰς ᾅδην, οὐδὲ δώσεις τὸν ὅσιόν σου ἰδεῖν διαφθοράν

Psalm 15:10 (NETS)

Psalm 15:10 (English Elpenor)
because you will not abandon my soul to Hades or give your devout to see corruption. because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

Deuteronomy 33:8 (Tanakh)

Deuteronomy 33:8 (NET)
And of Levi he said: Thy Thummim and Thy Urim be with Thy holy one, whom Thou didst prove at Massah, with whom Thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah; Of Levi he said: Your Thummim and Urim belong to your godly (châsı̂yd, חסידך) one, whose authority you challenged at Massah, and with whom you argued at the waters of Meribah.

Deuteronomy 33:8 (Septuagint BLB)

Deuteronomy 33:8 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ τῷ Λευι εἶπεν δότε Λευι δήλους αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀλήθειαν αὐτοῦ τῷ ἀνδρὶ τῷ ὁσίῳ ὃν ἐπείρασαν αὐτὸν ἐν πείρᾳ ἐλοιδόρησαν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ ὕδατος ἀντιλογίας καὶ τῷ Λευὶ εἶπε· δότε Λευὶ δήλους αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀλήθειαν αὐτοῦ, τῷ ἀνδρὶ τῷ ὁσίῳ, ὃν ἐπείρασαν αὐτὸν ἐν πείρᾳ, ἐλοιδόρησαν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ ὕδατος ἀντιλογίας

Deuteronomy 33:8 (NETS)

Deuteronomy 33:8 (English Elpenor)
And to Leui he said: Give Leui his clear ones and his truth to the devout man, whom they tempted him with temptation.  They reviled him at the water of dispute. And to Levi he said, Give to Levi his manifestations, and his truth to the holy man, whom they tempted in the temptation; they reviled him at the water of strife.

Isaiah 55:3 (Tanakh)

Isaiah 55:3 (NET)
Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Pay attention and come to me!  Listen, so you can live!  Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to you, just like the reliable covenantal promises (chêsêd, חסדי) I made to David.

Isaiah 55:3 (Septuagint BLB)

Isaiah 55:3 (Septuagint Elpenor)
προσέχετε τοῗς ὠτίοις ὑμῶν καὶ ἐπακολουθήσατε ταῗς ὁδοῗς μου ἐπακούσατέ μου καὶ ζήσεται ἐν ἀγαθοῗς ἡ ψυχὴ ὑμῶν καὶ διαθήσομαι ὑμῗν διαθήκην αἰώνιον τὰ ὅσια Δαυιδ τὰ πιστά προσέχετε τοῖς ὠσὶν ὑμῶν καὶ ἐπακουλουθήσατε ταῖς ὁδοῖς μου· εἰσακούσατέ μου, καὶ ζήσεται ἐν ἀγαθοῖς ἡ ψυχὴ ὑμῶν· καὶ διαθήσομαι ὑμῖν διαθήκην αἰώνιον, τὰ ὅσια Δαυὶδ τὰ πιστά

Isaiah 55:3 (NETS)

Isaiah 55:3 (English Elpenor)
Pay attention with your ears, and follow my ways; listen to me, and your soul will live in good things.  I will make with you an everlasting covenant, the sacred things of David that are sure. Give heed with your ears, and follow my ways: hearken to me, and your soul shall live in prosperity; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, the sure mercies of David.

1 Samuel 2:9 (Tanakh)

1 Samuel 2:9 (NET)
He will keep the feet of His holy ones, but the wicked shall be put to silence in darkness; for not by strength shall man prevail. He watches over his holy (châsı̂yd, [חסידו]) ones (châsı̂yd, חסידיו), but the wicked are made speechless in the darkness, for it is not by one’s own strength that one prevails.

1 Samuel 2:9 (Septuagint BLB)

1 Kings 2:9 (Septuagint Elpenor)
διδοὺς εὐχὴν τῷ εὐχομένῳ καὶ εὐλόγησεν ἔτη δικαίου ὅτι οὐκ ἐν ἰσχύι δυνατὸς ἀνήρ διδοὺς εὐχὴν τῷ εὐχομένῳ καὶ εὐλόγησεν ἔτη δικαίου· ὅτι οὐκ ἐν ἰσχύϊ δυνατὸς ἀνήρ

1 Reigns 2:9 (NETS)

1 Kings 2:9 (English Elpenor)
Granting the prayer to the one who prays, he has even blessed the years of the righteous, because not by strength is a man mighty. granting his petition to him that prays; and he blesses the years of the righteous, for by strength cannot man prevail.

1 Samuel 1:26-28 (Tanakh)

1 Samuel 1:26-28 (NET)
And she said: ‘Oh, my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto HaShem. She said, “My lord. Just as surely as you are alive, my lord, I am the woman who previously stood here with you in order to pray to the Lord.
For this child I prayed; and HaShem hath granted me my petition which I asked of Him; For this boy I prayed, and the Lord has given me the request that I asked of him.
therefore I also have lent him to HaShem; as long as he liveth he is lent to HaShem.’  And he worshipped HaShem there. So I also dedicate him to the Lord. For all the days of his life he is dedicated to the Lord.” Then he bowed down there in worship to the Lord.

1 Samuel 1:26 (Septuagint BLB)

1 Kings 1:26 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἶπεν ἐν ἐμοί κύριε ζῇ ἡ ψυχή σου ἐγὼ ἡ γυνὴ ἡ καταστᾶσα ἐνώπιόν σου ἐν τῷ προσεύξασθαι πρὸς κύριον καὶ εἶπεν· ἐν ἐμοί, κύριε· ζῇ ἡ ψυχή σου, ἐγὼ ἡ γυνὴ ἡ καταστᾶσα ἐνώπιόν σου μετὰ σοῦ ἐν τῷ προσεύξασθαι πρὸς Κύριον

1 Reigns 1:26 (NETS)

1 Kings 1:26 (English Elpenor)
and said, “By me, sir!  Your soul lives, I am the woman who stood before you when praying to the Lord; And she said, I pray thee, my lord, as thy soul liveth, I [am] the woman that stood in thy presence with thee while praying to the Lord.

1 Samuel 1:27 (Septuagint BLB)

1 Kings 1:27 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ὑπὲρ τοῦ παιδαρίου τούτου προσηυξάμην καὶ ἔδωκέν μοι κύριος τὸ αἴτημά μου ὃ ᾐτησάμην παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ ὑπὲρ τοῦ παιδαρίου τούτου προσηυξάμην, καὶ ἔδωκέ μοι Κύριος τὸ αἴτημά μου, ὃ ᾐτησάμην παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ

1 Reigns 1:27 (NETS)

1 Kings 1:27 (English Elpenor)
for this boy I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my request that I requested of him. For this child I prayed; and the Lord has given me my request that I asked of him.

1 Samuel 1:28 (Septuagint BLB)

1 Kings 1:28 (Septuagint Elpenor)
κἀγὼ κιχρῶ αὐτὸν τῷ κυρίῳ πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας ἃς ζῇ αὐτός χρῆσιν τῷ κυρίῳ κἀγὼ κιχρῶ αὐτὸν τῷ Κυρίῳ πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας, ἃς ζῇ αὐτός, χρῆσιν τῷ Κυρίῳ. Καὶ εἶπεν

1 Reigns 1:28 (NETS)

1 Kings 1:28 (English Elpenor)
And I lend him to the Lord as long as he lives, a loan to the Lord. And I lend him to the Lord all his days that he lives, a loan to the Lord: and she said,

Ephesians 3:14 (NET)

Ephesians 3:14 (KJV)
For this reason I kneel before the Father, For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
Τούτου χάριν κάμπτω τὰ γόνατα μου πρὸς τὸν πατέρα τουτου χαριν καμπτω τα γονατα μου προς τον πατερα του κυριου ημων ιησου χριστου τουτου χαριν καμπτω τα γονατα μου προς τον πατερα του κυριου ημων ιησου χριστου

Ephesians 3:16 (NET)

Ephesians 3:16 (KJV)
I pray that according to the wealth of his glory he will grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
ἵνα δῷ ὑμῖν κατὰ τὸ πλοῦτος τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ δυνάμει κραταιωθῆναι διὰ τοῦ πνεύματος αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸν ἔσω ἄνθρωπον ινα δωη υμιν κατα τον πλουτον της δοξης αυτου δυναμει κραταιωθηναι δια του πνευματος αυτου εις τον εσω ανθρωπον ινα δωη υμιν κατα τον πλουτον της δοξης αυτου δυναμει κραταιωθηναι δια του πνευματος αυτου εις τον εσω ανθρωπον

Acts 13:35 (NET)

Acts 13:35 (KJV)
Therefore he also says in another psalm, ‘You will not permit your Holy One to experience decay.’ Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
διότι καὶ ἐν ἑτέρῳ λέγει· οὐ δώσεις τὸν ὅσιον σου ἰδεῖν διαφθοράν διο και εν ετερω λεγει ου δωσεις τον οσιον σου ιδειν διαφθοραν διο και εν ετερω λεγει ου δωσεις τον οσιον σου ιδειν διαφθοραν

Acts 13:34 (NET)

Acts 13:34 (KJV)
But regarding the fact that he has raised Jesus from the dead, never again to be in a state of decay, God has spoken in this way: ‘I will give you the holy and trustworthy promises made to David.’ And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
ὅτι δὲ ἀνέστησεν αὐτὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν μηκέτι μέλλοντα ὑποστρέφειν εἰς διαφθοράν, οὕτως εἴρηκεν ὅτι δώσω ὑμῖν τὰ ὅσια Δαυὶδ τὰ πιστά οτι δε ανεστησεν αυτον εκ νεκρων μηκετι μελλοντα υποστρεφειν εις διαφθοραν ουτως ειρηκεν οτι δωσω υμιν τα οσια δαβιδ τα πιστα οτι δε ανεστησεν αυτον εκ νεκρων μηκετι μελλοντα υποστρεφειν εις διαφθοραν ουτως ειρηκεν οτι δωσω υμιν τα οσια δαυιδ τα πιστα

Revelation 15:4 (NET)

Revelation 15:4 (KJV)
Who will not fear you, O Lord, and glorify your name, because you alone are holy?  All nations will come and worship before you for your righteous acts have been revealed.” Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
τίς οὐ μὴ φοβηθῇ, κύριε, καὶ δοξάσει τὸ ὄνομα σου; ὅτι μόνος ὅσιος, ὅτι πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ἥξουσιν καὶ προσκυνήσουσιν ἐνώπιον σου, ὅτι τὰ δικαιώματα σου ἐφανερώθησαν τις ου μη φοβηθη σε κυριε και δοξαση το ονομα σου οτι μονος οσιος οτι παντα τα εθνη ηξουσιν και προσκυνησουσιν ενωπιον σου οτι τα δικαιωματα σου εφανερωθησαν τις ου μη φοβηθη σε κυριε και δοξαση το ονομα σου οτι μονος αγιος οτι παντα τα εθνη ηξουσιν και προσκυνησουσιν ενωπιον σου οτι τα δικαιωματα σου εφανερωθησαν

Revelation 16:5, 6 (NET)

Revelation 16:5, 6 (KJV)
Now I heard the angel of the waters saying: “You are just – the one who is and who was, the Holy One – because you have passed these judgments, And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
Καὶ ἤκουσα τοῦ ἀγγέλου τῶν ὑδάτων λέγοντος· δίκαιος εἶ, ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἦν, |ὁ| ὅσιος, ὅτι ταῦτα ἔκρινας, και ηκουσα του αγγελου των υδατων λεγοντος δικαιος κυριε ει ο ων και ο ην και ο οσιος οτι ταυτα εκρινας και ηκουσα του αγγελου των υδατων λεγοντος δικαιος ει ο ων και ο ην ο οσιος οτι ταυτα εκρινας
because they poured out the blood of your saints and prophets, so you have given them blood to drink.  They got what they deserved!” For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
ὅτι αἷμα ἁγίων καὶ προφητῶν ἐξέχεαν καὶ αἷμα αὐτοῖς |[δ]έδωκας| πιεῖν, ἄξιοι εἰσιν οτι αιμα αγιων και προφητων εξεχεαν και αιμα αυτοις εδωκας πιειν αξιοι γαρ εισιν οτι αιμα αγιων και προφητων εξεχεαν και αιμα αυτοις εδωκας πιειν αξιοι εισιν

[1] Galatians 5:22, 23a (NET) Table

[2] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had πλοῦτος—the nominative case—here along with its corresponding article τὸ, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had πλουτον (KJV: riches)—the accusative case—with its corresponding article τον.

[3] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had του κυριου ημων ιησου χριστου (KJV: of our Lord Jesus Christ) here.  The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

[4] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had δῷ—in the subjunctive mood—here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had δωη (KJV: would grant)—in either the optative or subjunctive mood (depending on diacritical marks which are absent, though the word would may indicate that the translators understood it as subjunctive).  The NET will grant indicates a more “definite outcome,” the “result” of Paul’s prayer according to the wealth of the Father’s glory.

[5] In a similar passage in Psalm 18:26 (17:27) the rabbis chose the adjective ἀθῷος to translate תתמם (tâmam) rather than the passive τελειωθήσῃ though the Hebrew was also תתמם (tâmam).

[6] Acts 2:27 (NET) Table

[7] Acts 13:35b (NET)

[8] Deuteronomy 33:8b (Tanakh)

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

[10] Isaiah 55:3b (Tanakh)

[11] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had σε here.  The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

[12] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had the future tense indicative mood verb δοξάσει here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had the aorist tense subjunctive mood verb δοξαση.  This is potentially a significant difference.  For what it’s worth, φοβηθῇ (fear) is in the aorist tense and subjunctive mood.  Of course, it is also in the passive voice while both δοξάσει and δοξαση are in the active voice.

[13] The NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Stephanus Textus Receptus had ὅσιος here, where the Byzantine Majority Text had αγιος.

[14] Revelation 15:4 (NET)

[15] The Stephanus Textus Receptus had κυριε (KJV: O Lord) here.  The NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

[16] The Stephanus Textus Receptus had και (KJV: and shalt be) preceding the Holy One.  The NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

[17] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had δέδωκας here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had εδωκας (KJV: hast given).

[18] The Stephanus Textus Receptus had the conjunction γαρ (KJV: for) joining these clauses.  The NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

[19] Revelation 16:5, 6 (NET)

[20] 1 Samuel 2:9 (Tanakh)