The New Covenant, Part 2

Posted on February 5, 2022 by admin

I shared the first essay of this series with two friends. Both preferred the judgment focus of my Pastor’s sermon, what I called “an invitation to do-it-yourself religion.”^[1] To one it was a desirable limit to “grace,” which was seen as a come on to an open-ended commitment to do whatever a preacher says. The other saw it as the only path to righteousness since “grace” is just an excuse for indulging whatever sins one wants and then saying, “I’m sorry,” at the end to get into heaven (i.e., to avoid hell). The unifying thread between these two beliefs is the current understanding of the grace of God.

When I think, speak or write about grace what I mean at the very least is the power to become the righteousness of God. God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we would become the righteousness of God.^[2] In practical terms I think we become the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ, receiving his indwelling Holy Spirit and walking in the continuous supply of his own love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.^[3]

My Pastor objected to the word power for grace. The connection to grace is made for me when Paul asked the Lord three times about [a thorn in the flesh], that [this messenger of Satan] would depart from [him]:^[4] But [the Lord] said to me, “My grace (χάρις) is enough for you, for my power (δύναμις) is made perfect in weakness.” So then, I will boast most gladly about my weaknesses, so that the power (δύναμις) of Christ may reside in me.^[5]

I’ve grown up around people who feel that saying too much about the Holy Spirit robs Jesus of some of his glory. Jesus said (John 16:7-14 ESV):

Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I^[6] do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the^[7] Father, and you will see me no longer;^[8] concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears^[9] he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you [Table].

In the story of the raising of Lazarus Jesus hints at a proximity effect to his grace: Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, and I am glad for your sake that I was not there, so that you may believe.”^[10] “Lord, if you had been here, Martha seems to confirm this proximity effect, my brother would not have died [Table]. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will grant you.”^[11] At the risk of angering hardcore Trinitarians the Holy Spirit is Jesus omnipresent, Jesus without a proximity effect, Jesus unleashed throughout all space and time.

Here, too, my Pastor objected to my description of the Holy Spirit citing Jesus’ words: Then I will ask the Father, and he will give you another (ἄλλον, a form of ἄλλος) Advocate to be with you forever.^[12] I asked whether—If anyone loves me, he will obey my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and take up residence with him^[13]—should be understood as “over and above” the indwelling Holy Spirit. He said, no, and settled on the word through. So, I’ll amend my original statement: Through his Holy Spirit Jesus is omnipresent, without a proximity effect, unleashed throughout all space and time.

A more expansive definition of grace is God so loved…that He gave. Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things that are freely given (χαρισθέντα, a form of χαρίζομαι) to us by God.^[14] For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son.^[15] Ultimately Jesus is the grace of God.

My faith needs some of the nuts and bolts, how Jesus is the grace of God to me. And here again Paul associated power with the grace that is Jesus: I pray that according to the wealth of his glory [the Father] will grant you to be strengthened (κραταιωθῆναι, a form of κραταιόω) with power (δυνάμει, a form of δύναμις) through his Spirit in the inner person [Table], that Christ will dwell in your hearts through faith.^[16]

I want to consider this grace of God and the new covenant in the light of my own experience as the types of ground Jesus described in the parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-9). The first type of ground He described was the path (Matthew 13:19 NET).

When anyone hears the word about the kingdom and does not understand (συνιέντος, a form of συνίημι) it, the evil one comes and snatches what was sown in his heart; this is the seed sown along the path.

This describes me fairly accurately from about five years old to seventeen. When I said a sinner’s prayer to escape hell, I meant that I disobeyed my parents sometimes. I was many years and a considerable psychic distance from acknowledging that I was from [my] father the devil, and [I] want to do what [my] father desires.^[17] I was like those who loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil deeds hates the light and does not come to the light, so that their deeds will not be exposed.^[18]

I didn’t know my deeds were evil. Quite the contrary, I resented anyone who called what I wanted “evil.” “What I wanted” was the epitome of righteousness in my mind, though I would not have used the term. I realized as I grew that what adults called righteousness was often not anything I wanted at all.

I don’t recall ever hearing Jesus’ saying—You people are from your father the devil, and you want to do what your father desires—as if it applied to me. It was relatively recently that I realized He spoke to those…who had believed him.^[19] It was relatively recently that I recognized this saying as one of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven.^[20] I was like one of the outsiders who heard most of Jesus’ sayings as parables: Although they see they do not see, and although they hear they do not hear nor do they understand (συνίουσιν, another form of συνίημι).^[21]

This period of my life, being the path, came to an end when I chose to be an atheist. For a time I actively opted out of being any kind of soil for the seed of God’s word. Even if I have treated it like some sort of necessity in these essays, atheism was not a foregone conclusion. I had an alternative at seventeen.

I was driven back to the Bible when God didn’t punish me for the “sin of premarital sex.” But I rejected the Bible if it didn’t agree with what I “knew” it was supposed to say from years of church and Sunday school, when I was the path, one who heard about the kingdom but didn’t understand it, one who whatever he heard was snatched away by the evil one.

I didn’t realize I was that kind of ground at the time. There was a tacit assumption among those I knew that the three types of ground that didn’t produce consistent fruit were destined for the lake of fire. I had said a sinner’s prayer to Jesus to avoid hell. I was, therefore, good ground by definition.

I have described my time as an atheist as a “decline that is such a cliché, it is too embarrassing to mention in detail.”^[22] There was an upside to becoming a cliché: I could no longer imagine myself to be the unique individual courageously forging my own path into the unknown. My path was well known and well-worn, most notably well known in the Bible, not that I acknowledged that consciously at the time.

My flirtation^[23] with atheism ended when I prayed, “If you’re really out there, I really want to know you.”^[24] Though I had an immediate hunger for the Bible from that moment on, I didn’t study the Bible to know…the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom [He] sent.^[25] I studied to know the rules to obey to keep my end of the bargain.

When I mentioned this to my Pastor, he thought it was a good way to start. For me it was possibly the only way to start. But I can’t help wondering: what if I had believed Jesus saying that I was from my father the devil and wanted to do what my father desired? What if I had let his words create a healthy skepticism in me about those desires and thoughts, those feelings and reasons that came “naturally” to my heart and mind? What if I had taken Him at his word at five or ten or twenty or even forty-years-old rather than compelling Him to prove to me for sixty-five years that I was from my father the devil and wanted to do what my father desired?

Would it have helped me believe that his grace was enough for me? Could it have shortened the time I spent as the next type of ground Jesus described (Matthew 13:20, 21 NET)?

The seed sown on rocky ground is the person who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. But he has no root in himself and does not endure; when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he falls away.

This ground describes me between the ages of twenty-three and forty-three. As I searched the Bible for rules to obey to keep my part of the contract and then disobeyed them anyway, I heard Paul’s lament (Romans 7:22-24 NET):

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?

Paul believed that Jesus had rescued him: Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!^[26] I didn’t understand how at first, even though I was more curious than I had ever been before. Though now I might be more inclined to translate χάρις δὲ τῷ θεῷ διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν^[27] “grace from God through Jesus Christ our Lord” and while I might appreciate more now that Paul may have given a very direct answer to his own rhetorical question, I wouldn’t have understood it any better then. I didn’t know God or his grace—not yet.

Twenty years of springing up with joy only to fall away again, twenty years of being picked up, dusted off and put back together by Jesus one more time, slowly began to teach me to know Him and his grace. Paul wrote to Timothy (2 Timothy 2:11-13 NET):

This saying is trustworthy: If we died with him, we will also live with him. If we endure, we will also reign with him. If we deny^[28] him, he will also deny us. If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, since^[29] he cannot (οὐ δύναται) deny himself.

Sometimes when I tell this story people want to credit me for continuing to study the Bible over those twenty years. I also ate food over that time, whenever I was hungry. Granted, eating food was instrumental in keeping me alive, but the hunger comes from God as did the food. Eventually, I began to understand that the one bringing forth in [me] both the desire and the effort—for the sake of his good pleasure—is God.^[30]

The Greek words translated desire and effort were not nouns but infinitive verbs: θέλειν (a form of θέλω) and ἐνεργεῖν (a form of ἐνεργέω). Eventually, I was able to make this connection to the hunger, the food and the eating. The hunger, θέλειν, and the food, the Bible, are from God. The eating, doing his will, ἐνεργεῖν, becoming the righteousness of God in Him, is the outcome of his grace. And eventually I trusted Him and his grace more than I trusted myself—good ground at last?

Jesus continued (Matthew 13:22 NET):

The seed sown among thorns is the person who hears the word, but worldly^[31] cares and the seductiveness of wealth choke the word, so it produces nothing.

This type of ground characterizes me from about forty-four years of age to perhaps fifty-three. I got a fulltime job again with a steady paycheck. I married a woman with two children. I left all the “spiritual stuff” to the grace of God while I attended to more mundane matters. This period of my life ended when my wife divorced me.

So from about the age of fifty-four to the present, sixty-eight, have I finally become what Jesus called good soil (Matthew 13:23 NET)?

But as for the seed sown on good soil,^[32] this is the person who hears the word and understands^[33] (συνιείς, another form of συνίημι). He bears fruit, yielding a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown.”

Who knows? I can’t even imagine how to measure such a thing. My Pastor treated these measurements like ordinary agricultural yields. And he’s right.

If I think of a kernel of corn (maize) growing to maturity, one ear of corn would easily be thirty times what was sown. When I think about the time and attention, the forgiveness and patience, the mercy and grace the Lord has lavished upon me, what I share with others is a tiny fraction rather than a multiple.

I planted, Paul wrote the Corinthians, Apollos watered, but God caused it to grow (ἠύξανεν, a form of αὐξάνω).^[34] After all we’ve been through together I can trust Him with that growth.

Tables comparing John 16:7; 16:10; 2 Timothy 2:12, 13; Matthew 13:22 and 13:23 in the NET and KJV follow.

John 16:7 (NET)	John 16:7 (KJV)
But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I am going away. For if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you, but if I go, I will send him to you.	Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ἀλλ᾿ ἐγὼ τὴν ἀλήθειαν λέγω ὑμῖν, συμφέρει ὑμῖν ἵνα ἐγὼ ἀπέλθω. ἐὰν γὰρ μὴ ἀπέλθω, ὁ παράκλητος \|οὐκ ἐλεύσεται\| πρὸς ὑμᾶς· ἐὰν δὲ πορευθῶ, πέμψω αὐτὸν πρὸς ὑμᾶς	αλλ εγω την αληθειαν λεγω υμιν συμφερει υμιν ινα εγω απελθω εαν γαρ μη απελθω ο παρακλητος ουκ ελευσεται προς υμας εαν δε πορευθω πεμψω αυτον προς υμας	αλλ εγω την αληθειαν λεγω υμιν συμφερει υμιν ινα εγω απελθω εαν γαρ εγω μη απελθω ο παρακλητος ουκ ελευσεται προς υμας εαν δε πορευθω πεμψω αυτον προς υμας

John 16:10 (NET)	John 16:10 (KJV)
concerning righteousness because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer;	Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
περὶ δικαιοσύνης δέ, ὅτι πρὸς τὸν πατέρα ὑπάγω καὶ οὐκέτι θεωρεῖτε με	περι δικαιοσυνης δε οτι προς τον πατερα μου υπαγω και ουκ ετι θεωρειτε με	περι δικαιοσυνης δε οτι προς τον πατερα μου υπαγω και ουκετι θεωρειτε με

2 Timothy 2:12, 13 (NET)	2 Timothy 2:12, 13 (KJV)
If we endure, we will also reign with him. If we deny him, he will also deny us.	If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
εἰ ὑπομένομεν, καὶ συμβασιλεύσομεν· εἰ ἀρνησόμεθα, κακεῖνος ἀρνήσεται ἡμᾶς	ει υπομενομεν και συμβασιλευσομεν ει αρνουμεθα κακεινος αρνησεται ημας	ει υπομενομεν και συμβασιλευσομεν ει αρνουμεθα κακεινος αρνησεται ημας

If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, since he cannot deny himself.

If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
εἰ ἀπιστοῦμεν, ἐκεῖνος πιστὸς μένει, ἀρνήσασθαι γὰρ ἑαυτὸν οὐ δύναται.	ει απιστουμεν εκεινος πιστος μενει αρνησασθαι εαυτον ου δυναται	ει απιστουμεν εκεινος πιστος μενει αρνησασθαι εαυτον ου δυναται

Matthew 13:22 (NET)	Matthew 13:22 (KJV)
The seed sown among thorns is the person who hears the word, but worldly cares and the seductiveness of wealth choke the word, so it produces nothing.	He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ὁ δὲ εἰς τὰς ἀκάνθας σπαρείς, οὗτος ἐστιν ὁ τὸν λόγον ἀκούων, καὶ ἡ μέριμνα τοῦ αἰῶνος καὶ ἡ ἀπάτη τοῦ πλούτου συμπνίγει τὸν λόγον καὶ ἄκαρπος γίνεται	ο δε εις τας ακανθας σπαρεις ουτος εστιν ο τον λογον ακουων και η μεριμνα του αιωνος τουτου και η απατη του πλουτου συμπνιγει τον λογον και ακαρπος γινεται	ο δε εις τας ακανθας σπαρεις ουτος εστιν ο τον λογον ακουων και η μεριμνα του αιωνος τουτου και η απατη του πλουτου συμπνιγει τον λογον και ακαρπος γινεται

Matthew 13:23 (NET)	Matthew 13:23 (KJV)
But as for the seed sown on good soil, this is the person who hears the word and understands. He bears fruit, yielding a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown.”	But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ὁ δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν καλὴν γῆν σπαρείς, οὗτος ἐστιν ὁ τὸν λόγον ἀκούων καὶ συνιείς, ὃς δὴ καρποφορεῖ καὶ ποιεῖ ὃ μὲν ἑκατόν, ὃ δὲ ἑξήκοντα, ὃ δὲ τριάκοντα	ο δε επι την γην την καλην σπαρεις ουτος εστιν ο τον λογον ακουων και συνιων ος δη καρποφορει και ποιει ο μεν εκατον ο δε εξηκοντα ο δε τριακοντα	ο δε επι την γην την καλην σπαρεις ουτος εστιν ο τον λογον ακουων και συνιων ος δη καρποφορει και ποιει ο μεν εκατον ο δε εξηκοντα ο δε τριακοντα

Addendum: February 6, 2022
I can’t say that a sermon like the following wasn’t preached to me when I was five or ten or twenty or forty-years-old. I can say I heard it today.

The New Covenant, Part 3

Back to The Lost Son of Perdition, Part 8

^[1] The New Covenant, Part 1

^[2] 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NET) Table

^[3] Galatians 5:22b, 23a (NET) Table

^[4] 2 Corinthians 12:8 (NET) with phrases in brackets from 2 Corinthians 12:7 (NET) Table

^[5] 2 Corinthians 12:9 (NET) Table

^[6] The Byzantine Majority text had εγω here. The NET parallel Greek text, NA²⁸ and Stephanus Textus Receptus did not.

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

^[8] The NET parallel Greek text, NA²⁸ and Byzantine Majority Text had οὐκέτι here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus had ουκ ετι (KJV: no more).

^[9] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ἀκούσει here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had αν ακουση (KJV: whatsoever he shall hear).

^[10] John 11:14, 15a (NET)

^[11] John 11:21b, 22 (NET)

^[12] John 14:16 (NET) Table

^[13] John 14:23 (NET) Table

^[14] 1 Corinthians 2:12 (NET)

^[15] John 3:16a (NET) Table

^[16] Ephesians 3:16, 17a (NET)

^[17] John 8:44a (NET) Table

^[18] John 3:19b, 20 (NET)

^[19] John 8:31a (NET)

^[20] Matthew 13:11b (NET)

^[21] Matthew 13:13b (NET)

^[22] Who Am I? Part 3

^[23] I called it a flirtation not to minimize its seriousness but to highlight how I was not serious enough about it to maintain such a demanding faith for any prolonged period of time.

^[24] Who am I? Part 3

^[25] John 17:3b (NET)

^[26] Romans 7:25a (NET) Table

^[27] Romans 7:25a NA²⁸ This is what the editors of the NA²⁸ currently believe to be the original text.

^[28] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ἀρνησόμεθα here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had αρνουμεθα.

^[29] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had γὰρ here. The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

^[30] Philippians 2:13 (NET)

^[31] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had τουτου following αἰῶνος (KJV: this world). The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

^[32] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had the article την preceding soil (KJV: ground). The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

^[33] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had συνιείς here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had συνιων (KJV: understandeth it).

^[34] 1 Corinthians 3:6 (NET) Table

The New Covenant, Part 1

Posted on January 13, 2022 by admin

Then [Jesus] took bread, and after giving thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”^[1] The table below compares what He said next from four sources.

NET Parallel Greek, NA²⁸, Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text		Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text^[2]
Luke 22:20 (NET)	1 Corinthians 11:25 (NET)	Matthew 26:28 (KJV) Table	Mark 14:24 (KJV) Table
And in the same way he took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant (ἡ καινὴ διαθήκη) in my blood.	In the same way, he also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant (ἡ καινὴ διαθήκη) in my blood. Do this, every time you drink it, in remembrance of me.”	For this is my blood of the new testament (το της καινης διαθηκης), which is shed for many for the remission of sins.	And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament (το της καινης διαθηκης), which is shed for many.

A new covenant (διαθήκης καινῆς) was mentioned again in Hebrews (9:13-15 NET).

For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow sprinkled on those who are defiled consecrated them and provided ritual purity, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our consciences from dead works to worship the living God [Table]. And so he is the mediator of a new covenant (διαθήκης καινῆς), so that those who are called may receive the eternal inheritance he has promised, since he died to set them free from the violations committed under the first covenant.

And this new covenant is linked directly to the promise God made through Jeremiah (Hebrews 8:6-13 NET):

But now Jesus has obtained^[3] a superior ministry, since the covenant that he mediates is also better and is enacted on better promises.

For if that first covenant had been faultless, no one would have looked for a second one. But showing its fault, God says to them, “Look, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will complete a new covenant (διαθήκην καινήν) with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their fathers, on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant and I had no regard for them, says the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will establish with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds, and I will inscribe them on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be my people. And there will be no need at all for each one to teach his countryman^[4] or each one to teach his brother saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ since they will all know me, from the least^[5] to the greatest. For I will be merciful toward their evil deeds, and their sins^[6] I will remember no longer.”

When he speaks of a new (καινὴν) covenant, he makes the first obsolete. Now what is growing obsolete and aging is about to disappear.

Jesus, the mediator of this better covenant, prayed (John 17:1-3 NET):

Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, so that^[7] your^[8] Son may glorify you—just as you have given him authority over all humanity, so that he may give^[9] eternal life to everyone you have given him. Now this is eternal life—that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent.

Over time, Jesus’ understanding of eternal life—that they know (γινώσκωσιν, a form of γινώσκω) you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent^[10]—has focused my attention on this aspect of the promise of the new covenant—And there will be no need at all for each one to teach his countryman or each one to teach his brother saying, ‘Know (γνῶθι, another form of γινώσκω) the Lord,’ since they will all know (εἰδήσουσιν, a form of εἴδω) me, from the least to the greatest.^[11] Though I had prayed that genius-level prayer (of very little faith)—“If you’re really out there, I really want to know you,”^[12]—striking at the very heart of the new covenant and Jesus’ understanding of eternal life, I understood nothing of it.

I didn’t study to know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He had sent to live that eternal life. I searched the Bible for rules to obey—or disobey as it turned out.^[13]

Though I wrote this describing a slightly later time in my life, it was true earlier, too. Studying the Bible to know God and to follow Jesus did not compute in my mind yet. Now I hope, God willing, to spend the next ten thousand years or so studying the Bible to know…the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom [He] sent. There is so much I’m missing that Jesus knew, perhaps by twelve but at least, by thirty or so.

It will be nice to have face-to-face contact with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit as well as the other participants. I mentioned this to my Pastor. He corrected me that all of the participants wouldn’t be available to me for an interview, but didn’t think my hope was that outrageous otherwise. Of course, God may have different plans for me. But this hunger for the Bible was a direct result of my prayer to know God, regardless that I misunderstood what it meant or how to satisfy that hunger.

Focusing on knowing the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom [He] sent does de-emphasize hell, the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10-15). There’s no denying that. When I said a sinner’s prayer at five-years-old I just wanted to avoid going to hell. The rest of this—was unanticipated to be sure but—came as a sort of unwanted shock and largely unwelcome surprise. I’ll try to highlight the difference between knowing the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom [He] sent and avoiding hell.

I heard a sermon recently presented in what I would characterize as a fairly typical example of the “avoiding hell” fashion. A particular passage of Scripture was introduced as the answer to a question: “Why do so many people reject the Lord?” This was reaffirmed later with the statements: “This is describing why some people accept the Gospel and why the majority do not;” and, “What we see here is the beginning of the Lord’s judgment on those who reject Him. It is the first taste of hell and a warning of things that come if they continue to refuse his offer of grace.”

God’s grace wasn’t ignored in this sermon: “God’s grace is ever-expanding. It reaches its full completion. It never runs out in the generosity of God…” It was just strictly limited: “…for those who truly do embrace discipleship, for those who truly become citizens of the kingdom through faith and repentance…”

“He who has an ear, let that person hear,” wasn’t presented as the word of the One (John 1:1-34) who said, “Let there be light.” And there was light!^[14] It was presented as a weak word, easily ignored: “Most won’t listen. Most won’t understand. Most won’t let it change their lives.” The picture was very bleak indeed: “As long as we refuse to acknowledge how broken we are, as long as we refuse to acknowledge how much we need mercy, as long as we remain hardhearted there is no chance of salvation, zero.”

The passage in question was Matthew 13:1-23, the parable where Jesus describes people as types of ground, types of soil. The most striking thing about this metaphor is that soil is powerless to improve itself. The Sower must improve the soil if He wants a harvest. Still, the emphasis seemed to remain upon the powerless soil: “This is a call for patient endurance. This is a call for wholehearted devotion. This is a call to root out weeds in our life because those thorns be poky and they hurt.”

I say “seemed” because this sermon did an abrupt about face at the very end:

But with the coming of the Spirit we see a new age in humanity, an age in which the church has been filled with the power of God like never before, where the transformation of the power of the Spirit through Christ’s death and resurrection gives us new hope and new life to embrace the Gospel at the very deepest part of our life. So that by his grace He roots out all those vines, all those thorns. By his grace He deepens the soil of our heart and brings us to that place of brokenness and joy because of the healing of Christ. The reason we can have hope as we read this, as we recognize ourselves as the ones with the hard heart and the shallow heart and the crowded heart, is because we know that we don’t live by our own strength any more. We never did. But now we live in the power of the Spirit.^[15]

In my opinion a sermon more focused on knowing the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom [He] sent rather than “avoiding hell” would start here and go on, maybe even to the God who of his own volition promised: “People will no longer need to teach their neighbors and relatives to know me. For all of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me,” says the Lord. “For I will forgive their sin and will no longer call to mind the wrong they have done.”^[16]

I shared this with my Pastor in case I was overly critical or offensive. He seemed satisfied with my focus on the grace aspect of his sermon. We talked some about a Pastor’s choice of focus, his desire to be true to both the grace and the judgment implicit in the text. I may not have learned much about being a Pastor. I did get a fresh glimpse into myself.

Apparently, I heard the judgment focus of his sermon (as I am prone to do) as an invitation to do-it-yourself religion. Jesus, through his indwelling Spirit, forcibly shifted my focus away from judgment and fully onto his grace, putting some steel in my spine, as it were, keeping me trusting Him. In other words, I am heeding the “call for patient endurance,” not by grinning and bearing it on my own but wholly dependent on the grace of my Savior. After all, patience (μακροθυμία) is an aspect of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22, 23).

I’ve compared the quotation from Jeremiah in Hebrews to the Septuagint as a matter of completeness. It seemed that Hebrews 8:8b may not be a quotation from the Septuagint but an independent translation of the Hebrew of Jeremiah 31:31. The Hebrew word וכרתי (kāraṯ) was translated συντελέσω in the New Testament and διαθήσομαι (a form of διατίθεμαι) in the Septuagint.

Hebrews 8:8b (NET Parallel Greek)	Jeremiah 31:31 (Septuagint BLB)	Jeremiah 38:31 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἰδοὺ ἡμέραι ἔρχονται, λέγει κύριος, καὶ συντελέσω ἐπὶ τὸν οἶκον Ἰσραὴλ καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν οἶκον Ἰούδα διαθήκην καινήν	ἰδοὺ ἡμέραι ἔρχονται φησὶν κύριος καὶ διαθήσομαι τῷ οἴκῳ Ισραηλ καὶ τῷ οἴκῳ Ιουδα διαθήκην καινήν	ἰδοὺ ἡμέραι ἔρχονται, φησὶ Κύριος, καὶ διαθήσομαι τῷ οἴκῳ ᾿Ισραὴλ καὶ τῷ οἴκῳ ᾿Ιούδα διαθήκην καινήν
Hebrews 8:8b (NET)	Jeremiah 38:31 (NETS)	Jeremiah 38:31 (English Elpenor)
“Look, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will complete a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.	Behold, days are coming, quoth the Lord, and I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Iouda.	Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Juda:

I struggle some with the idea that ἐπὶ τὸν οἶκον and τῷ οἴκῳ both translate with the house. I suspect that συντελέσω ἐπὶ τὸν οἶκον is something more like I will complete upon the house, but don’t find any support for it other than the NET translation of the same construction in Luke 1:33. He will reign over the house (βασιλεύσει ἐπὶ τὸν οἶκον) of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will never end.^[17]

The clause translated although I was an husband unto them (Tanakh/KJV) from the Masoretic text of Jeremiah 31:32 was translated and I disregarded them (English Elpenor) in the Septuagint.

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Jeremiah 31:32 (Tanakh/KJV)	Jeremiah 31:32 (NET)	Jeremiah 38:32 (NETS)	Jeremiah 38:32 (Elpenor English)
Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I (וְאָֽנֹכִ֛י) was an husband (בָּעַ֥לְתִּי) unto them (בָ֖ם), saith the LORD:	It will not be like the old covenant that I made with their ancestors when I delivered them from Egypt. For they violated that covenant, even though I (‘ānōḵî, ואנכי) was like a faithful husband (bāʿal, בעלתי) to them (ḇām, בם),” says the Lord.	It will not be like the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by their hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not abide in my covenant, and (καὶ) I (ἐγὼ) was unconcerned (ἠμέλησα) for them (αὐτῶν), quoth the Lord,	not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day when I took hold of their hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; for they abode not in my covenant, and (καὶ) I (ἐγὼ) disregarded (ἠμέλησα) them (αὐτῶν), saith the Lord.

The difference appears to be one Hebrew word: בָּעַ֥לְתִּי (bāʿal). If the writer of Hebrews actually did an independent translation from Hebrew, I have two points of evidence hinting at what the Hebrew word translated ἠμέλησα (a form of ἀμελέω) in the Septuagint and the New Testament was before the Masoretes changed it to בָּעַ֥לְתִּי (bāʿal).

Hebrews 8:9 (NET Parallel Greek)	Jeremiah 31:32 (Septuagint BLB)	Jeremiah 38:32 (Septuagint Elpenor)
οὐ κατὰ τὴν διαθήκην, ἣν ἐποίησα τοῖς πατράσιν αὐτῶν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ἐπιλαβομένου μου τῆς χειρὸς αὐτῶν ἐξαγαγεῖν αὐτοὺς ἐκ γῆς Ἀιγύπτου, ὅτι αὐτοὶ οὐκ ἐνέμειναν ἐν τῇ διαθήκῃ μου, καγὼ ἠμέλησα αὐτῶν, λέγει κύριος	οὐ κατὰ τὴν διαθήκην ἣν διεθέμην τοῗς πατράσιν αὐτῶν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ἐπιλαβομένου μου τῆς χειρὸς αὐτῶν ἐξαγαγεῗν αὐτοὺς ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου ὅτι αὐτοὶ οὐκ ἐνέμειναν ἐν τῇ διαθήκῃ μου καὶ ἐγὼ ἠμέλησα αὐτῶν φησὶν κύριος	οὐ κατὰ τὴν διαθήκην, ἣν διεθέμην τοῖς πατράσιν αὐτῶν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ἐπιλαβομένου μου τῆς χειρὸς αὐτῶν ἐξαγαγεῖν αὐτοὺς ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου, ὅτι αὐτοὶ οὐκ ἐνέμειναν ἐν τῇ διαθήκῃ μου, καὶ ἐγὼ ἠμέλησα αὐτῶν, φησὶ Κύριος
Hebrews 8:9 (NET)	Jeremiah 38:32 (NETS)	Jeremiah 38:32 (English Elpenor)
It will not be like the covenant that I made with their fathers, on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant and I had no regard for them, says the Lord.	It will not be like the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by their hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not abide in my covenant, and I was unconcerned for them, quoth the Lord,	not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day when I took hold of their hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; for they abode not in my covenant, and I disregarded them, saith the Lord.

Admittedly, I may not have thought of this quotation in Hebrews as an independent translation if I were only considering Hebrews 8:9 and Jeremiah 31:32 (38:32). The comparison of Hebrews 8:10 and Jeremiah 31:33 (38:33) below isn’t exactly a tie breaker on that score.

Hebrews 8:10 (NET Parallel Greek)	Jeremiah 31:33 (Septuagint BLB)	Jeremiah 38:33 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ὅτι αὕτη ἡ διαθήκη, ἣν διαθήσομαι τῷ οἴκῳ Ἰσραὴλ μετὰ τὰς ἡμέρας ἐκείνας, λέγει κύριος· διδοὺς νόμους μου εἰς τὴν διάνοιαν αὐτῶν καὶ ἐπὶ καρδίας αὐτῶν ἐπιγράψω αὐτούς, καὶ ἔσομαι αὐτοῖς εἰς θεόν, καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔσονται μοι εἰς λαόν	ὅτι αὕτη ἡ διαθήκη ἣν διαθήσομαι τῷ οἴκῳ Ισραηλ μετὰ τὰς ἡμέρας ἐκείνας φησὶν κύριος διδοὺς δώσω νόμους μου εἰς τὴν διάνοιαν αὐτῶν καὶ ἐπὶ καρδίας αὐτῶν γράψω αὐτούς καὶ ἔσομαι αὐτοῗς εἰς θεόν καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔσονταί μοι εἰς λαόν	ὅτι αὕτη ἡ διαθήκη μου, ἣν διαθήσομαι τῷ οἴκῳ ᾿Ισραὴλ μετὰ τὰς ἡμέρας ἐκείνας, φησὶ Κύριος· διδοὺς δώσω νόμους εἰς τὴν διάνοιαν αὐτῶν καὶ ἐπὶ καρδίας αὐτῶν γράψω αὐτούς· καὶ ἔσομαι αὐτοῖς εἰς Θεόν, καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔσονταί μοι εἰς λαόν
Hebrews 8:10 (NET)	Jeremiah 38:33 (NETS)	Jeremiah 38:33 (English Elpenor)
For this is the covenant that I will establish with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds, and I will inscribe them on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be my people.	because this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, quoth the Lord. Giving I will give my laws in their mind, and I will write them on their hearts, and I will become a god to them, and they shall become a people to me.	For this is my covenant which I will make with the house of Israel; after those days, saith the Lord, I will surely put my laws into their mind, and write them on their hearts; and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.

There is nothing significant in the comparison of the next verse to persuade me that the quotation in Hebrews was an independent translation of the Hebrew.

Hebrews 8:11, 12 (NET Parallel Greek)	Jeremiah 31:34 (Septuagint BLB) Table	Jeremiah 38:34 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ οὐ μὴ διδάξωσιν ἕκαστος τὸν πολίτην αὐτοῦ καὶ ἕκαστος τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ λέγων· γνῶθι τὸν κύριον, ὅτι πάντες εἰδήσουσιν με ἀπὸ μικροῦ ἕως μεγάλου αὐτῶν ὅτι ἵλεως ἔσομαι ταῖς ἀδικίαις αὐτῶν καὶ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῶν οὐ μὴ μνησθῶ ἔτι	καὶ οὐ μὴ διδάξωσιν ἕκαστος τὸν πολίτην αὐτοῦ καὶ ἕκαστος τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ λέγων γνῶθι τὸν κύριον ὅτι πάντες εἰδήσουσίν με ἀπὸ μικροῦ αὐτῶν καὶ ἕως μεγάλου αὐτῶν ὅτι ἵλεως ἔσομαι ταῗς ἀδικίαις αὐτῶν καὶ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῶν οὐ μὴ μνησθῶ ἔτι	καὶ οὐ μὴ διδάξωσιν ἕκαστος τὸν πολίτην αὐτοῦ καὶ ἕκαστος τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ λέγων· γνῶθι τὸν Κύριον· ὅτι πάντες εἰδήσουσί με ἀπὸ μικροῦ αὐτῶν ἕως μεγάλου αὐτῶν, ὅτι ἵλεως ἔσομαι ταῖς ἀδικίαις αὐτῶν καὶ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῶν οὐ μὴ μνησθῶ ἔτι
Hebrews 8:11, 12 (NET)	Jeremiah 38:34 (NETS)	Jeremiah 38:34 (English Elpenor)
And there will be no need at all for each one to teach his countryman or each one to teach his brother saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ since they will all know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful toward their evil deeds, and their sins I will remember no longer.”	And they shall not teach, each his fellow citizen and each his brother, saying, “Know the Lord,” because they shall all know me, from their small even to their great, because I will be gracious regarding their injustices, and remember their sins no more.	And they shall not at all teach every one his [fellow] citizen, and every one his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them: for I will be merciful to their iniquities, and their sins I will remember no more.

Tables comparing Jeremiah 31:31; 31:32 and 31:33 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and tables comparing the Greek of in Jeremiah 31:31; 31:32 and 31:33 the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor), and tables comparing Hebrews 8:6; 8:11, 12 and John 17:1, 2 in the NET and KJV follow.

Jeremiah 31:31 (Tanakh)	Jeremiah 31:31 (KJV)	Jeremiah 31:31 (NET)
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:	Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:	“Indeed, a time is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah.

Jeremiah 31:31 (Septuagint BLB)	Jeremiah 38:31 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἰδοὺ ἡμέραι ἔρχονται φησὶν κύριος καὶ διαθήσομαι τῷ οἴκῳ Ισραηλ καὶ τῷ οἴκῳ Ιουδα διαθήκην καινήν	ἰδοὺ ἡμέραι ἔρχονται, φησὶ Κύριος, καὶ διαθήσομαι τῷ οἴκῳ ᾿Ισραὴλ καὶ τῷ οἴκῳ ᾿Ιούδα διαθήκην καινήν
Jeremiah 38:31 (NETS)	Jeremiah 38:31 (English Elpenor)
Behold, days are coming, quoth the Lord, and I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Iouda.	Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Juda:

Jeremiah 31:32 (Tanakh)	Jeremiah 31:32 (KJV)	Jeremiah 31:32 (NET)
Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:	Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:	It will not be like the old covenant that I made with their ancestors when I delivered them from Egypt. For they violated that covenant, even though I was like a faithful husband to them,” says the Lord.

Jeremiah 31:32 (Septuagint BLB)	Jeremiah 38:32 (Septuagint Elpenor)
οὐ κατὰ τὴν διαθήκην ἣν διεθέμην τοῗς πατράσιν αὐτῶν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ἐπιλαβομένου μου τῆς χειρὸς αὐτῶν ἐξαγαγεῗν αὐτοὺς ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου ὅτι αὐτοὶ οὐκ ἐνέμειναν ἐν τῇ διαθήκῃ μου καὶ ἐγὼ ἠμέλησα αὐτῶν φησὶν κύριος	οὐ κατὰ τὴν διαθήκην, ἣν διεθέμην τοῖς πατράσιν αὐτῶν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ἐπιλαβομένου μου τῆς χειρὸς αὐτῶν ἐξαγαγεῖν αὐτοὺς ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου, ὅτι αὐτοὶ οὐκ ἐνέμειναν ἐν τῇ διαθήκῃ μου, καὶ ἐγὼ ἠμέλησα αὐτῶν, φησὶ Κύριος
Jeremiah 38:32 (NETS)	Jeremiah 38:32 (English Elpenor)
It will not be like the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by their hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not abide in my covenant, and I was unconcerned for them, quoth the Lord,	not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day when I took hold of their hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; for they abode not in my covenant, and I disregarded them, saith the Lord.

Jeremiah 31:33 (Tanakh)	Jeremiah 31:33 (KJV)	Jeremiah 31:33 (NET)
But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.	But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.	“But I will make a new covenant with the whole nation of Israel after I plant them back in the land,” says the Lord. “I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts and minds. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

Jeremiah 31:33 (Septuagint BLB)	Jeremiah 38:33 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ὅτι αὕτη ἡ διαθήκη ἣν διαθήσομαι τῷ οἴκῳ Ισραηλ μετὰ τὰς ἡμέρας ἐκείνας φησὶν κύριος διδοὺς δώσω νόμους μου εἰς τὴν διάνοιαν αὐτῶν καὶ ἐπὶ καρδίας αὐτῶν γράψω αὐτούς καὶ ἔσομαι αὐτοῗς εἰς θεόν καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔσονταί μοι εἰς λαόν	ὅτι αὕτη ἡ διαθήκη μου, ἣν διαθήσομαι τῷ οἴκῳ ᾿Ισραὴλ μετὰ τὰς ἡμέρας ἐκείνας, φησὶ Κύριος· διδοὺς δώσω νόμους εἰς τὴν διάνοιαν αὐτῶν καὶ ἐπὶ καρδίας αὐτῶν γράψω αὐτούς· καὶ ἔσομαι αὐτοῖς εἰς Θεόν, καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔσονταί μοι εἰς λαόν
Jeremiah 38:33 (NETS)	Jeremiah 38:33 (English Elpenor)
because this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, quoth the Lord. Giving I will give my laws in their mind, and I will write them on their hearts, and I will become a god to them, and they shall become a people to me.	For this is my covenant which I will make with the house of Israel; after those days, saith the Lord, I will surely put my laws into their mind, and write them on their hearts; and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.

Hebrews 8:6 (NET)	Hebrews 8:6 (KJV)
But now Jesus has obtained a superior ministry, since the covenant that he mediates is also better and is enacted on better promises.	But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
\|Νυν[ὶ]\| δὲ διαφορωτέρας τέτυχεν λειτουργίας, ὅσῳ καὶ κρείττονος ἐστιν διαθήκης μεσίτης, ἥτις ἐπὶ κρείττοσιν ἐπαγγελίαις νενομοθέτηται	νυνι δε διαφορωτερας τετευχεν λειτουργιας οσω και κρειττονος εστιν διαθηκης μεσιτης ητις επι κρειττοσιν επαγγελιαις νενομοθετηται	νυνι δε διαφορωτερας τετυχεν λειτουργιας οσω και κρειττονος εστιν διαθηκης μεσιτης ητις επι κρειττοσιν επαγγελιαις νενομοθετηται

Hebrews 8:11, 12 (NET)	Hebrews 8:11, 12 (KJV)
And there will be no need at all for each one to teach his countryman or each one to teach his brother saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ since they will all know me, from the least to the greatest.	And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
καὶ οὐ μὴ διδάξωσιν ἕκαστος τὸν πολίτην αὐτοῦ καὶ ἕκαστος τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ λέγων· γνῶθι τὸν κύριον, ὅτι πάντες εἰδήσουσιν με ἀπὸ μικροῦ ἕως μεγάλου αὐτῶν,	και ου μη διδαξωσιν εκαστος τον πλησιον αυτου και εκαστος τον αδελφον αυτου λεγων γνωθι τον κυριον οτι παντες ειδησουσιν με απο μικρου αυτων εως μεγαλου αυτων	και ου μη διδαξωσιν εκαστος τον πολιτην αυτου και εκαστος τον αδελφον αυτου λεγων γνωθι τον κυριον οτι παντες ειδησουσιν με απο μικρου αυτων εως μεγαλου αυτων

For I will be merciful toward their evil deeds, and their sins I will remember no longer.”

For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ὅτι ἵλεως ἔσομαι ταῖς ἀδικίαις αὐτῶν καὶ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῶν οὐ μὴ μνησθῶ ἔτι	οτι ιλεως εσομαι ταις αδικιαις αυτων και των αμαρτιων αυτων και των ανομιων αυτων ου μη μνησθω ετι	οτι ιλεως εσομαι ταις αδικιαις αυτων και των αμαρτιων αυτων και των ανομιων αυτων ου μη μνησθω ετι

John 17:1, 2 (NET)	John 17:1, 2 (KJV)
When Jesus had finished saying these things, he looked upward to heaven and said, “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, so that your Son may glorify you—	These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
Ταῦτα ἐλάλησεν Ἰησοῦς καὶ ἐπάρας τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν εἶπεν· πάτερ, ἐλήλυθεν ἡ ὥρα· δόξασον σου τὸν υἱόν, ἵνα ὁ υἱὸς δοξάσῃ σέ	ταυτα ελαλησεν ο ιησους και επηρεν τους οφθαλμους αυτου εις τον ουρανον και ειπεν πατερ εληλυθεν η ωρα δοξασον σου τον υιον ινα και ο υιος σου δοξαση σε	ταυτα ελαλησεν ο ιησους και επηρεν τους οφθαλμους αυτου εις τον ουρανον και ειπεν πατερ εληλυθεν η ωρα δοξασον σου τον υιον ινα και ο υιος σου δοξαση σε

just as you have given him authority over all humanity, so that he may give eternal life to everyone you have given him.

As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
καθὼς ἔδωκας αὐτῷ ἐξουσίαν πάσης σαρκός, ἵνα πᾶν ὃ δέδωκας αὐτῷ \|δώσῃ\| αὐτοῖς ζωὴν αἰώνιον	καθως εδωκας αυτω εξουσιαν πασης σαρκος ινα παν ο δεδωκας αυτω δωση αυτοις ζωην αιωνιον	καθως εδωκας αυτω εξουσιαν πασης σαρκος ινα παν ο δεδωκας αυτω δωσει αυτοις ζωην αιωνιον

The New Covenant, Part 2

Back to The New Covenant, Part 3

Back to Christ-Centered Preaching, Chapter 4, Part 3

Back to Christ-Centered Preaching, Chapter 5

Back to Exploration, Part 2

^[1] Luke 22:19 (NET)

^[2] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had τῆς διαθήκης, of the covenant (NET), in Matthew 26:28 and Mark 14:24.

^[3] The NET parallel Greek text, NA²⁸ and Byzantine Majority Text had τέτυχεν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus had τετευχεν (KJV: hath…obtained).

^[4] The NET parallel Greek text, NA²⁸ and Byzantine Majority Text had πολίτην here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus had πλησιον (KJV: neighbour).

^[5] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had αυτων following least. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

^[6] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had και των ανομιων αυτων (KJV: and their iniquities) here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

^[7] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had και following that. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

^[8] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had σου here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

^[9] The NET parallel Greek text, NA²⁸ and Stephanus Textus Receptus had δώσῃ here, where the Byzantine Majority Text had δωσει.

^[10] John 17:3b (NET)

^[11] Hebrews 8:11 (NET)

^[12] Who am I? Part 3

^[13] Sexual Immorality Revisited, Part 3

^[14] Genesis 1:3 (NET) Table

^[15] Adam Sanftner, “Dirty Heart,” Covenant Bible Church, January 2, 2022

^[16] Jeremiah 31:34 (NET) Table

^[17] Luke 1:33 (NET)

The Lost Son of Perdition, Part 7

Posted on January 5, 2022 by admin

This is a continuation of my consideration of God’s love for Satan revealed in the book of Job. I left off when יהוה (Yᵊhōvâ) authorized the experiment testing Satan’s hypothesis:

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Job 1:12 (Tanakh/KJV) Table	Job 1:12 (NET)	Job 1:12 (NETS) Table	Job 1:12 (Elpenor English)
And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.	So the Lord said to Satan, “All right then, everything he has is in your power. Only do not extend your hand against the man himself!” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.	Then the Lord said to the salnderer, “Look, all that he has I am giving into your power, but do not touch him.” So the slanderer went out from the Lord.	Then the Lord said to the devil, Behold, I give into thine hand all that he has, but touch not himself. So the devil went out from the presence of the Lord.

Though I considered glossing over the next few verses, it seems relevant now to carefully consider Satan’s power if and only if the Lord removes the hedge He has made around Job’s household and all that he has: Have you not made a hedge (śûḵ, שׁכת) around him and his household and all that he has on every side?^[1]

Now the day came when Job’s sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, and a messenger came to Job, saying, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing beside them, and the Sabeans swooped down and carried them all away, and they killed the servants with the sword! And I—only I alone—escaped to tell you!”^[2]

To the unbeliever this could seem like coincidence even as someone paying heed to the scripture recognizes it as Satan’s power. Satan had complained about Job’s prosperity and the hedge the Lord had made around it, gotten leave to take that prosperity away, and then it began to happen. Persuading unscrupulous people—who may have been lusting after Job’s oxen and donkeys already—that this was the opportune moment to strike seems a bit like Satan 101. What happened next might be thought of as Satan 201:

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Job 1:16 (Tanakh/KJV)	Job 1:16 (NET)	Job 1:16 (NETS)	Job 1:16 (Elpenor English)
While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God (אֱלֹהִ֗ים) is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.	While this one was still speaking, another messenger arrived and said, “The fire of God (‘ĕlōhîm, אלהים) has fallen from heaven and has burned up the sheep and the servants—it has consumed them! And I—only I alone—escaped to tell you!”	While he was still speaking, a further messenger came and said to Iob, “Fire fell from the sky and burned up the sheep, and it likewise consumed the shepherds, and when I alone escaped, I came to tell you.”	While he was yet speaking, there came another messenger, and said to Job, Fire has fallen from heaven, and burnt up the sheep, and devoured the shepherds like wise; and I having escaped alone am come to tell thee.

I don’t know if אֱלֹהִ֗ים (‘ĕlōhîm), of God (Tanakh, KJV, NET), was ignored by the rabbis who translated the Septuagint or added by the Masoretes. While I assume that The fire of God…from heaven or Fire…from the sky was lightning, a lightning strike (though there is nothing in the text compelling me to limit it to one lightning strike) killing 7,000 sheep and their shepherds is beyond my personal experience. I try to keep an open mind to the possibility that The fire of God…from heaven or Fire…from the sky that killed 7,000 sheep and their shepherds was a phenomenon I haven’t seen..

The point here, I think, is that The fire of God…from heaven or Fire…from the sky that killed 7,000 sheep and their shepherds was under Satan’s control, if and only if God allowed it. That if and only if becomes extremely interesting when considering the story of Elijah and the priests of Baal (1 Kings 18:21-24 NET).

Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long are you going to be paralyzed by indecision? If the Lord is the true God, then follow him, but if Baal is, follow him!” But the people did not say a word. Elijah said to them: “I am the only prophet of the Lord who is left, but there are 450 prophets of Baal.^[3] Let them bring us two bulls. Let them choose one of the bulls for themselves, cut it up into pieces, and place it on the wood. But they must not set it on fire. I will do the same to the other bull and place it on the wood. But I will not set it on fire. Then you will invoke the name of your god, and I will invoke the name of the Lord. The god who responds with fire will demonstrate that he is the true God.” All the people responded, “This will be a fair test.”

Here I find another hypothesis and a proposed test for that hypothesis. Elijah’s hypothesis was, The god who responds with fire will demonstrate that he is the true God.^[4] The test for his hypothesis was that the bull that burst spontaneously into flame, his or theirs, designated which God, יהוה (Yᵊhōvâ) or Baal, is the true God. As a scientific experiment this one clearly lacks some controls relative to Satan’s experiment with Job.

The priests of Baal called on him from morning until evening without result (1 Kings 18:25-29). Then Elijah built an altar and called on יהוה (1 Kings 18:36b-39 NET).

“O Lord (Yᵊhōvâ, יהוה) God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, prove (yāḏaʿ, יודע; Septuagint: γνώτωσαν, a form of γινώσκω) today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so these people will know (yāḏaʿ, וידעו; Septuagint: γνώτω, another form of γινώσκω) that you, O Lord, are the true God and that you are winning back their allegiance.” Then fire from the Lord fell from the sky. It consumed the offering, the wood, the stones, and the dirt, and licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground and said, “The Lord is the true God! The Lord is the true God!”

It was an impressive demonstration. Elijah’s hypothesis—The god who responds with fire will demonstrate that he is the true God—was not falsified. The logical structure of the scientific method is designed to falsify hypotheses. It doesn’t prove anything except, perhaps, that the effect in question is not due to chance. The test of Elijah’s hypothesis was designed well enough to demonstrate that fire falling from a cloudless sky in the midst of a drought hitting either of two targets at any time near the prayer of the prophets was probably not a random event.

The controls for this particular experiment were: 1) the specified targets for the fire from the sky, the two sacrifices; and 2) the timing of fire falling from the sky, after the prayer of the prophets of Baal or after the prayer of Elijah. But Elijah himself mentioned a variable his test did not control for (I Kings 18:27 NET).

At noon Elijah mocked [the prophets of Baal], “Yell louder! After all, he is a god; he may be deep in thought, or perhaps he stepped out for a moment or has taken a trip. Perhaps he is sleeping and needs to be awakened.”

So, did יהוה (Yᵊhōvâ) send fire from the sky on time and on target, or was it Baal, late and off target? Elijah’s test can’t tell us, especially since he changed the conditions mid-experiment (1 Kings 18:32b, 33b-35).

Around the altar he made a trench large enough to contain two seahs of seed.…Then he said, “Fill four water jars and pour the water on the offering and the wood.” When they had done so, he said, “Do it again.” So they did it again. Then he said, “Do it a third time.” So they did it a third time. The water flowed down all sides of the altar and filled the trench.

If “fire from the sky” was lightning or shared some of the electrical properties of lightning, did Elijah cheat by making his sacrifice a better conductor of electricity than that of the prophets of Baal? The simplest way to improve the rigor of Elijah’s experiment is to repeat it a second time with the conditions reversed:^[5] Let Elijah go first and let the prophets of Baal water down their sacrifice before Elijah prays. But who—other than a prophet of יהוה (Yᵊhōvâ), hearing and obeying his voice—would propose such a test even once, much less twice?

Fortunately, faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.^[6] The believer ascertains the identity of the One who caused fire to fall from the sky from the written word of God. And here both the Masoretic text and Septuagint agree; the fire was from Yᵊhōvâ (יְהֹוָ֗ה), translated παρὰ Κυρίου (a form of κύριος) in the Septuagint.

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
1 Kings 18:38 (Tanakh/KJV)	1 Kings 18:38 (NET)	3 Reigns 18:38 (NETS)	3 Kings 18:38 (Elpenor English)
Then the fire of the LORD (יְהֹוָ֗ה) fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.	Then fire from the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ, יהוה) fell from the sky. It consumed the offering, the wood, the stones, and the dirt, and licked up the water in the trench.	And fire from the Lord (παρὰ κυρίου) fell from heaven and consumed the whole burnt offering and the firewood and the water that was in the thaala and the stones, and the fire licked up the dust.	Then fire fell from the Lord (παρὰ Κυρίου) out of heaven, and devoured the whole-burnt-offerings, and the wood and the water that was in the trench, and the fire licked up the stones and the earth.

My purpose here was to consider this story in the light of the knowledge that Satan does in fact have the power to call fire down from the sky if and only if Yᵊhōvâ (יְהֹוָה) gives him leave to exercise that power. Faith gives me new insight into this story I might miss as an outsider analyzing it as a scientific experiment. Without getting too involved in the question whether Baal was another name for Satan or another entity under Satan’s control, through faith I feel fairly confident assuming that Yᵊhōvâ (יְהֹוָה) did not give Satan leave to interfere with the demonstration of Elijah’s authority to speak on Yᵊhōvâ’s behalf. Elijah prayed: let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word.^[7]

But^[8] no one is able^[9] to enter a strong man’s house and steal his property unless he first ties up the strong man, Jesus told the experts in the law. Then he can thoroughly plunder^[10] his house.^[11] There was no need to command Elijah to water down the sacrifice of the prophets of Baal because Yᵊhōvâ knew He hadn’t given Satan leave to call down fire from the sky (1 Kings 18:25, 26, 28 NET).

Elijah told the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of the bulls for yourselves and go first, for you are the majority. Invoke the name of your god, but do not light a fire.” So they took a bull, as he had suggested, and prepared it. They invoked the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “Baal, answer us.” But there was no sound and no answer. They jumped around on the altar they had made.…they yelled louder and, in accordance with their prescribed ritual, mutilated themselves with swords and spears until their bodies were covered with blood.

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
1 Kings 18:29 (Tanakh/KJV)	1 Kings 18:29 (NET)	3 Reigns 18:29 (NETS)	3 Kings 18:29 (Elpenor English)
And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.	Throughout the afternoon they were in an ecstatic frenzy, but there was no sound, no answer, and no response.	and they were acting the prophet until evening came. And it happened, as it was the time for the sacrifice to ascend and there was no voice, that Eliou the Thesbite spoke to the prophets of the offenses, saying, “Stand aside for the present, and I will do my whole burnt offering,” and they stood aside and departed.	And they prophesied until the evening came; and it came to pass as it was the time of the offering of the sacrifice, that Eliu the Thesbite spoke to the prophets of the abominations, saying, Stand by for the present, and I will offer my sacrifice. And they stood aside and departed.

The purpose of a lightning rod is not to call down lightning from the sky, though that might arguably be its effect at times. The purpose of a lightning rod is to offer a direct path to ground, protecting, insulating the house and its occupants from the harmful effects of a lightning strike. Through faith I can see these things as circumstantial evidence that fire from the sky was lightning (or something sharing the electrical properties of lightning), and that Yᵊhōvâ protected those whose hearts would be turned back to Him (not to mention all the other bystanders) by telling his prophet Elijah to drench the sacrifice with water. Hear me, O LORD, Elijah prayed, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.^[12]

I don’t study the Bible because I have some deep interest in ancient Jewish history or even the Jewish or Christian religions. I study the Bible with the Holy Spirit to know…the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom [He] sent,^[13] to enjoy what Jesus called eternal life (ἡ αἰώνιος ζωὴ) here and now. As I follow Jesus through the Scriptures I not only gain insight into the mind of יְהֹוָה (Yᵊhōvâ) as He commanded Elijah to prepare his sacrifice, I gain insight into the mind and life of Christ.

Jesus didn’t fantasize as a boy about binding strong men and plundering their houses. He didn’t grow up and apply that fantasy to Him or his Father. I tell you the solemn truth, Jesus said, the Son can do nothing on his own initiative, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise.^[14] He saw his Father bind Satan in some of the very same Scriptures He leads me through now, as He studied with the Holy Spirit as a boy. When He promised his disciples that when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth,^[15] He simply recounted his own experience growing up.

I’ll pick this up in another essay.

Tables comparing Job 1:13; 1:14; 1:15; 1:16; 1 Kings 18:21; 18:22; 18:23; 18:24; 18:36; 18:37; 18:38; 18:39; 18:27; 18:32; 18:33; 18:34; 18:35; 18:25; 18:26; 18:28 and 18:29 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and tables comparing the Greek of Job 1:13; 1:14; 1:15; 1:16; 1 Kings (3 Reigns, 3 Kings) 18:21; 18:22; 18:23; 18:24; 18:36; 18:37; 18:38; 18:39; 18:27; 18:32; 18:33; 18:34; 18:35; 18:25; 18:26; 18:28 and 18:29 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor), and a table comparing Mark 3:27 in the NET and KJV follow.

Job 1:13 (Tanakh)	Job 1:13 (KJV)	Job 1:13 (NET)
And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house:	And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house:	Now the day came when Job’s sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house,

Job 1:13 (Septuagint BLB)	Job 1:13 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἦν ὡς ἡ ἡμέρα αὕτη οἱ υἱοὶ Ιωβ καὶ αἱ θυγατέρες αὐτοῦ ἔπινον οἶνον ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ αὐτῶν τοῦ πρεσβυτέρου	Καὶ ἦν ὡς ἡ ἡμέρα αὕτη, οἱ υἱοὶ ᾿Ιὼβ καὶ αἱ θυγατέρες αὐτοῦ ἔπινον οἶνον ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ αὐτῶν τοῦ πρεσβυτέρου
Job 1:13 (NETS)	Job 1:13 (English Elpenor)
So it was, when it was the set day, Iob’s sons and daughters were drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house.	And it came to pass on a certain day, that Job᾿s sons and his daughters were drinking wine in the house of their elder brother.

Job 1:14 (Tanakh)	Job 1:14 (KJV)	Job 1:14 (NET)
And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them:	And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them:	and a messenger came to Job, saying, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing beside them,

Job 1:14 (Septuagint BLB)	Job 1:14 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἰδοὺ ἄγγελος ἦλθεν πρὸς Ιωβ καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ τὰ ζεύγη τῶν βοῶν ἠροτρία καὶ αἱ θήλειαι ὄνοι ἐβόσκοντο ἐχόμεναι αὐτῶν	καὶ ἰδοὺ ἄγγελος ἦλθε πρὸς ᾿Ιὼβ καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· τὰ ζεύγη τῶν βοῶν ἠροτρία, καὶ αἱ θήλειαι ὄνοι ἐβόσκοντο ἐχόμεναι αὐτῶν,
Job 1:14 (NETS)	Job 1:14 (English Elpenor)
And, look, a messenger came to Iob and said to him, “The yokes of oxen were plowing, and the she-donkeys were feeding beside them,	And, behold, there came a messenger to Job, and said to him, The yokes of oxen were ploughing, and the she-asses were feeding near them;

Job 1:15 (Tanakh)	Job 1:15 (KJV)	Job 1:15 (NET)
And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.	And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.	and the Sabeans swooped down and carried them all away, and they killed the servants with the sword! And I—only I alone—escaped to tell you!”

Job 1:15 (Septuagint BLB)	Job 1:15 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐλθόντες οἱ αἰχμαλωτεύοντες ᾐχμαλώτευσαν αὐτὰς καὶ τοὺς παῗδας ἀπέκτειναν ἐν μαχαίραις σωθεὶς δὲ ἐγὼ μόνος ἦλθον τοῦ ἀπαγγεῗλαί σοι	καὶ ἐλθόντες οἱ αἰχμαλωτεύοντες ᾐχμαλώτευσαν αὐτὰς καὶ τοὺς παῖδας ἀπέκτειναν ἐν μαχαίραις· σωθεὶς δὲ ἐγὼ μόνος ἦλθον τοῦ ἀπαγγεῖλαί σοι
Job 1:15 (NETS)	Job 1:15 (English Elpenor)
and marauders came and carried them off, and they killed the servants with daggers, but when I alone escaped, I came to tell you.”	and the spoilers came and took them for a prey, and slew the servants with the sword; and I having escaped alone am come to tell thee.

Job 1:16 (Tanakh)	Job 1:16 (KJV)	Job 1:16 (NET)
While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.	While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.	While this one was still speaking, another messenger arrived and said, “The fire of God has fallen from heaven and has burned up the sheep and the servants—it has consumed them! And I—only I alone—escaped to tell you!”

Job 1:16 (Septuagint BLB)	Job 1:16 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἔτι τούτου λαλοῦντος ἦλθεν ἕτερος ἄγγελος καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς Ιωβ πῦρ ἔπεσεν ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ κατέκαυσεν τὰ πρόβατα καὶ τοὺς ποιμένας κατέφαγεν ὁμοίως καὶ σωθεὶς ἐγὼ μόνος ἦλθον τοῦ ἀπαγγεῗλαί σοι	ἔτι τούτου λαλοῦντος, ἦλθεν ἕτερος ἄγγελος καὶ εἶπε πρὸς ᾿Ιώβ· πῦρ ἔπεσεν ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ κατέκαυσε τὰ πρόβατα καὶ τοὺς ποιμένας κατέφαγεν ὁμοίως· σωθεὶς δὲ ἐγὼ μόνος ἦλθον τοῦ ἀπαγγεῖλαί σοι
Job 1:16 (NETS)	Job 1:16 (English Elpenor)
While he was still speaking, a further messenger came and said to Iob, “Fire fell from the sky and burned up the sheep, and it likewise consumed the shepherds, and when I alone escaped, I came to tell you.”	While he was yet speaking, there came another messenger, and said to Job, Fire has fallen from heaven, and burnt up the sheep, and devoured the shepherds like wise; and I having escaped alone am come to tell thee.

1 Kings 18:21 (Tanakh)	1 Kings 18:21 (KJV)	1 Kings 18:21 (NET)
And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.	And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.	Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long are you going to be paralyzed by indecision? If the Lord is the true God, then follow him, but if Baal is, follow him!” But the people did not say a word.

1 Kings 18:21 (Septuagint BLB)	3 Kings 18:21 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ προσήγαγεν Ηλιου πρὸς πάντας καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῗς Ηλιου ἕως πότε ὑμεῗς χωλανεῗτε ἐπ᾽ ἀμφοτέραις ταῗς ἰγνύαις εἰ ἔστιν κύριος ὁ θεός πορεύεσθε ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ εἰ δὲ ὁ Βααλ αὐτός πορεύεσθε ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ καὶ οὐκ ἀπεκρίθη ὁ λαὸς λόγον	καὶ προσήγαγεν ᾿Ηλιοὺ πρὸς πάντας, καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς ᾿Ηλιού· ἕως πότε ὑμεῖς χωλανεῖτε ἐπ᾿ ἀμφοτέραις ταῖς ἰγνύαις; εἰ ἔστι Κύριος ὁ Θεός, πορεύεσθε ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ· εἰ δὲ ὁ Βάαλ, πορεύεσθε ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ. καὶ οὐκ ἀπεκρίθη ὁ λαὸς λόγον
3 Reigns 18:21 (NETS)	3 Kings 18:21 (English Elpenor)
And Eliou came near to all, and Eliou said to them, “How long will you go limping on both legs? If the Lord is God, go after him, but if Baal is he, go after him.” And the people did not answer a word.	And Eliu drew near to them all: and Eliu said to them, How long wilt ye halt on both feet? if the Lord be God, follow him; but if Baal, follow him. And the people answered not a word.

1 Kings 18:22 (Tanakh)	1 Kings 18:22 (KJV)	1 Kings 18:22 (NET)
Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the LORD; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men.	Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the LORD; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men.	Elijah said to them: “I am the only prophet of the Lord who is left, but there are 450 prophets of Baal.

1 Kings 18:22 (Septuagint BLB)	3 Kings 18:22 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἶπεν Ηλιου πρὸς τὸν λαόν ἐγὼ ὑπολέλειμμαι προφήτης τοῦ κυρίου μονώτατος καὶ οἱ προφῆται τοῦ Βααλ τετρακόσιοι καὶ πεντήκοντα ἄνδρες καὶ οἱ προφῆται τοῦ ἄλσους τετρακόσιοι	καὶ εἶπεν ᾿Ηλιοὺ πρὸς τὸν λαόν· ἐγὼ ὑπολέλειμμαι προφήτης τοῦ Κυρίου μονώτατος, καὶ οἱ προφῆται τοῦ Βάαλ τετρακόσιοι καὶ πεντήκοντα ἄνδρες, καὶ οἱ προφῆται τοῦ ἄλσους τετρακόσιοι
3 Reigns 18:22 (NETS)	3 Kings 18:22 (English Elpenor)
And Eliou said to the people, “I all alone am left over as a prophet of the Lord, and Baal’s prophets number four hundred fifty men, and the prophets of the grove, four hundred.	And Eliu said to the people, I am left, the only one prophet of the Lord; and the prophets of Baal [are] four hundred and fifty men, and the prophets of the groves four hundred.

1 Kings 18:23 (Tanakh)	1 Kings 18:23 (KJV)	1 Kings 18:23 (NET)
Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under:	Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under:	Let them bring us two bulls. Let them choose one of the bulls for themselves, cut it up into pieces, and place it on the wood. But they must not set it on fire. I will do the same to the other bull and place it on the wood. But I will not set it on fire.

1 Kings 18:23 (Septuagint BLB)	3 Kings 18:23 (Septuagint Elpenor)
δότωσαν ἡμῗν δύο βόας καὶ ἐκλεξάσθωσαν ἑαυτοῗς τὸν ἕνα καὶ μελισάτωσαν καὶ ἐπιθέτωσαν ἐπὶ τῶν ξύλων καὶ πῦρ μὴ ἐπιθέτωσαν καὶ ἐγὼ ποιήσω τὸν βοῦν τὸν ἄλλον καὶ πῦρ οὐ μὴ ἐπιθῶ	δότωσαν ἡμῖν δύο βόας, καὶ ἐκλεξάσθωσαν ἑαυτοῖς τὸν ἕνα καὶ μελισάτωσαν καὶ ἐπιθέτωσαν ἐπὶ τῶν ξύλων καὶ πῦρ μὴ ἐπιθέτωσαν, καὶ ἐγὼ ποιήσω τὸν βοῦν τὸν ἄλλον, καὶ πῦρ οὐ μὴ ἐπιθῶ
3 Reigns 18:23 (NETS)	3 Kings 18:23 (English Elpenor)
Let them give us two bulls, and let them choose the one for themselves and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, and let them put on no fire, and I will do the other bull and will put on no fire.	Let them give us two oxen, and let them choose one for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, and put no fire [on] the wood: and I will dress the other bullock, and put on no fire.

1 Kings 18:24 (Tanakh)	1 Kings 18:24 (KJV)	1 Kings 18:24 (NET)
And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken.	And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken.	Then you will invoke the name of your god, and I will invoke the name of the Lord. The god who responds with fire will demonstrate that he is the true God.” All the people responded, “This will be a fair test.”

1 Kings 18:24 (Septuagint BLB)	3 Kings 18:24 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ βοᾶτε ἐν ὀνόματι θεῶν ὑμῶν καὶ ἐγὼ ἐπικαλέσομαι ἐν ὀνόματι κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ μου καὶ ἔσται ὁ θεός ὃς ἐὰν ἐπακούσῃ ἐν πυρί οὗτος θεός καὶ ἀπεκρίθησαν πᾶς ὁ λαὸς καὶ εἶπον καλὸν τὸ ῥῆμα ὃ ἐλάλησας	καὶ βοᾶτε ἐν ὀνόματι θεῶν ὑμῶν, καὶ ἐγὼ ἐπικαλέσομαι ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι Κυρίου τοῦ Θεοῦ μου, καὶ ἔσται ὁ θεὸς ὃς ἐὰν ἐπακούσῃ ἐν πυρί, οὗτος Θεός. καὶ ἀπεκρίθησαν πᾶς ὁ λαὸς καὶ εἶπον· καλὸν τὸ ρῆμα, ὃ ἐλάλησας
3 Reigns 18:24 (NETS)	3 Kings 18:24 (English Elpenor)
And shout in the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord, my God, and it will be, the god who answers by fire, he is God.” And all the people answered and said, “The word which you spoke is good!”	And do ye call loudly on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord my God, and it shall come to pass that the God who shall answer by fire, he [is] God. And all the people answered and said, The word which thou hast spoken [is] good.

1 Kings 18:36 (Tanakh)	1 Kings 18:36 (KJV)	1 Kings 18:36 (NET)
And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word.	And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word.	When it was time for the evening offering, Elijah the prophet approached the altar and prayed: “O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, prove today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command.

1 Kings 18:36 (Septuagint BLB)	3 Kings 18:36 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἀνεβόησεν Ηλιου εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ εἶπεν κύριε ὁ θεὸς Αβρααμ καὶ Ισαακ καὶ Ισραηλ ἐπάκουσόν μου κύριε ἐπάκουσόν μου σήμερον ἐν πυρί καὶ γνώτωσαν πᾶς ὁ λαὸς οὗτος ὅτι σὺ εἶ κύριος ὁ θεὸς Ισραηλ κἀγὼ δοῦλός σου καὶ διὰ σὲ πεποίηκα τὰ ἔργα ταῦτα	καὶ ἀνεβόησεν ᾿Ηλιοὺ εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ εἶπε· Κύριε ὁ Θεὸς ῾Αβραὰμ καὶ ᾿Ισαὰκ καὶ ᾿Ισραήλ, ἐπάκουσόν μου, Κύριε, ἐπάκουσόν μου σήμερον ἐν πυρί, καὶ γνώτωσαν πᾶς ὁ λαὸς οὗτος ὅτι σὺ εἶ Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ᾿Ισραὴλ καὶ ἐγὼ δοῦλός σου καὶ διὰ σὲ πεποίηκα τὰ ἔργα ταῦτα
3 Reigns 18:36 (NETS)	3 Kings 18:36 (English Elpenor)
And Eliou cried aloud to heaven and said, “O Lord, God of Abraam and Isaak and Israel, heed me, heed me today with fire, and let all this people know that you are Lord, God of Israel, and I am your slave, and I have done these works on your account.	And Eliu cried aloud to the heaven, and said, Lord God of Abraam, and Isaac, and Israel, answer me, O Lord, answer me this day by fire, and let all this people know that thou art the Lord, the God of Israel, and I [am] thy servant, and for thy sake I have wrought these works.

1 Kings 18:37 (Tanakh)	1 Kings 18:37 (KJV)	1 Kings 18:37 (NET)
Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.	Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.	Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, O Lord, are the true God and that you are winning back their allegiance.”

1 Kings 18:37 (Septuagint BLB)	3 Kings 18:37 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐπάκουσόν μου κύριε ἐπάκουσόν μου ἐν πυρί καὶ γνώτω ὁ λαὸς οὗτος ὅτι σὺ εἶ κύριος ὁ θεὸς καὶ σὺ ἔστρεψας τὴν καρδίαν τοῦ λαοῦ τούτου ὀπίσω	ἐπάκουσόν μου, Κύριε, ἐπάκουσόν μου ἐν πυρί, καὶ γνώτω ὁ λαὸς οὗτος, ὅτι σὺ εἶ Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς καὶ σὺ ἔστρεψας τὴν καρδίαν τοῦ λαοῦ τούτου ὀπίσω
3 Reigns 18:37 (NETS)	3 Kings 18:37 (English Elpenor)
Heed me, O Lord, heed me with fire, and let this people know that you are Lord God and that you turned the heart of this people back.”	Hear me, O Lord, hear me, and let this people know that thou art the Lord God, and thou hast turned back the heart of this people.

1 Kings 18:38 (Tanakh)	1 Kings 18:38 (KJV)	1 Kings 18:38 (NET)
Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.	Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.	Then fire from the Lord fell from the sky. It consumed the offering, the wood, the stones, and the dirt, and licked up the water in the trench.

1 Kings 18:38 (Septuagint BLB)	3 Kings 18:38 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἔπεσεν πῦρ παρὰ κυρίου ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ κατέφαγεν τὸ ὁλοκαύτωμα καὶ τὰς σχίδακας καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ τὸ ἐν τῇ θααλα καὶ τοὺς λίθους καὶ τὸν χοῦν ἐξέλιξεν τὸ πῦρ	καὶ ἔπεσε πῦρ παρὰ Κυρίου ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ κατέφαγε τὰ ὁλοκαυτώματα καὶ τὰς σχίδακας καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ τὸ ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ, καὶ τοὺς λίθους καὶ τὸν χοῦν ἐξέλειξε τὸ πῦρ
3 Reigns 18:38 (NETS)	3 Kings 18:38 (English Elpenor)
And fire from the Lord fell from heaven and consumed the whole burnt offering and the firewood and the water that was in the thaala and the stones, and the fire licked up the dust.	Then fire fell from the Lord out of heaven, and devoured the whole-burnt-offerings, and the wood and the water that was in the trench, and the fire licked up the stones and the earth.

1 Kings 18:39 (Tanakh)	1 Kings 18:39 (KJV)	1 Kings 18:39 (NET)
And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God.	And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God.	When all the people saw this, they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground and said, “The Lord is the true God! The Lord is the true God!”

1 Kings 18:39 (Septuagint BLB)	3 Kings 18:39 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἔπεσεν πᾶς ὁ λαὸς ἐπὶ πρόσωπον αὐτῶν καὶ εἶπον ἀληθῶς κύριός ἐστιν ὁ θεός αὐτὸς ὁ θεός	καὶ ἔπεσε πᾶς ὁ λαὸς ἐπὶ πρόσωπον αὐτῶν καὶ εἶπον· ἀληθῶς Κύριος ὁ Θεός, αὐτὸς ὁ Θεός
3 Reigns 18:39 (NETS)	3 Kings 18:39 (English Elpenor)
And all the people fell on their face and said, “Truly the Lord is God; he is God.”	And all the people fell upon their faces, and said, Truly the Lord [is] God; he [is] God.

1 Kings 18:27 (Tanakh)	1 Kings 18:27 (KJV)	1 Kings 18:27 (NET)
And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked.	And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked.	At noon Elijah mocked them, “Yell louder! After all, he is a god; he may be deep in thought, or perhaps he stepped out for a moment or has taken a trip. Perhaps he is sleeping and needs to be awakened.”

1 Kings 18:27 (Septuagint BLB)	3 Kings 18:27 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐγένετο μεσημβρίᾳ καὶ ἐμυκτήρισεν αὐτοὺς Ηλιου ὁ Θεσβίτης καὶ εἶπεν ἐπικαλεῗσθε ἐν φωνῇ μεγάλῃ ὅτι θεός ἐστιν ὅτι ἀδολεσχία αὐτῷ ἐστιν καὶ ἅμα μήποτε χρηματίζει αὐτός ἢ μήποτε καθεύδει αὐτός καὶ ἐξαναστήσεται	καὶ ἐγένετο μεσημβρία καὶ ἐμυκτήρισεν αὐτοὺς ᾿Ηλιοὺ ὁ Θεσβίτης καὶ εἶπεν· ἐπικαλεῖσθε ἐν φωνῇ μεγάλῃ, ὅτι θεός ἐστιν, ὅτι ἀδολεσχία αὐτῷ ἐστι, καὶ ἅμα μή ποτε χρηματίζει αὐτός, ἢ μή ποτε καθεύδει αὐτός, καὶ ἐξαναστήσεται
3 Reigns 18:27 (NETS)	3 Kings 18:27 (English Elpenor)
And it happened at noon that Eliou the Thesbite mocked them and said, “Call in a loud voice! For he is a god, for prating occupies him, and at the same time he is perhaps giving an oracle, or perhaps he is asleep and will get up.”	And it was noon, and Eliu the Thesbite mocked them, and said, Call with a loud voice, for he is a god; for he is meditating, or else perhaps he is engaged in business, or perhaps he is asleep, and is to be awaked.

1 Kings 18:32 (Tanakh)	1 Kings 18:32 (KJV)	1 Kings 18:32 (NET)
And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD: and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed.	And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD: and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed.	With the stones he constructed an altar for the Lord. Around the altar he made a trench large enough to contain two seahs of seed.

1 Kings 18:32 (Septuagint BLB)	3 Kings 18:32 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ᾠκοδόμησεν τοὺς λίθους ἐν ὀνόματι κυρίου καὶ ἰάσατο τὸ θυσιαστήριον τὸ κατεσκαμμένον καὶ ἐποίησεν θααλα χωροῦσαν δύο μετρητὰς σπέρματος κυκλόθεν τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου	καὶ ᾠκοδόμησε τοὺς λίθους ἐν ὀνόματι Κυρίου καὶ ἰάσατο τὸ θυσιαστήριον τὸ κατεσκαμμένον, καὶ ἐποίησε θάλασσαν χωροῦσαν δύο μετρητὰς σπέρματος κυκλόθεν τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου
3 Reigns 18:32 (NETS)	3 Kings 18:32 (English Elpenor)
and he built the stones in the name of the Lord and repaired the altar that had been thrown down and made a thaala around the altar, holding two measures of seed.	And he built up the stones in the name of the Lord, and repaired the altar that had been broken down; and he made a trench that would hold two measures of seed round about the altar.

1 Kings 18:33 (Tanakh)	1 Kings 18:33 (KJV)	1 Kings 18:33 (NET)
And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood.	And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood.	He arranged the wood, cut up the bull, and placed it on the wood. Then he said, “Fill four water jars and pour the water on the offering and the wood.”

1 Kings 18:33 (Septuagint BLB)	3 Kings 18:33 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐστοίβασεν τὰς σχίδακας ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον ὃ ἐποίησεν καὶ ἐμέλισεν τὸ ὁλοκαύτωμα καὶ ἐπέθηκεν ἐπὶ τὰς σχίδακας καὶ ἐστοίβασεν ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον	καὶ ἐστοίβασε τὰς σχίδακας ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον, ὃ ἐποίησε, καὶ ἐμέλισε τὸ ὁλοκαύτωμα καὶ ἐπέθηκεν ἐπὶ τὰς σχίδακας καὶ ἐστοίβασεν ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον καὶ εἶπε· λάβετέ μοι τέσσαρας ὑδρίας ὕδατος καὶ ἐπιχέετε ἐπὶ τὸ ὁλοκαύτωμα καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς σχίδακας· καὶ ἐποίησαν οὕτως
3 Reigns 18:33 (NETS)	3 Kings 18:33 (English Elpenor)
And he piled up the firewood on the altar that he made and cut the whole burnt offering in pieces and laid it on the firewood and piled it on the altar.	And he piled the cleft wood on the altar which he [had] made, and divided the whole-burnt-offering, and laid [it] on the wood, and laid [it] in order on the altar, and said, Fetch me four pitchers of water, and pour [it] on the whole-burnt-offering, and on the wood. And they did so.

1 Kings 18:34 (Tanakh)	1 Kings 18:34 (KJV)	1 Kings 18:34 (NET)
And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time.	And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time.	When they had done so, he said, “Do it again.” So they did it again. Then he said, “Do it a third time.” So they did it a third time.

1 Kings 18:34 (Septuagint BLB)	3 Kings 18:34 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἶπεν λάβετέ μοι τέσσαρας ὑδρίας ὕδατος καὶ ἐπιχέετε ἐπὶ τὸ ὁλοκαύτωμα καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς σχίδακας καὶ ἐποίησαν οὕτως καὶ εἶπεν δευτερώσατε καὶ ἐδευτέρωσαν καὶ εἶπεν τρισσώσατε καὶ ἐτρίσσευσαν	καὶ εἶπε· δευτερώσατε· καὶ ἐδευτέρωσαν. καὶ εἶπε· τρισσώσατε· καὶ ἐτρίσσευσαν
3 Reigns 18:34 (NETS)	3 Kings 18:34 (English Elpenor)
And he said, “Take for me four jars of water, and pour it on the whole burnt offering and on the firewood,” and they did so. And he said, “Do it a second time,” and they did it a second time. And he said, “Do it a third time,” and they did it a third time.	And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time.

1 Kings 18:35 (Tanakh)	1 Kings 18:35 (KJV)	1 Kings 18:35 (NET)
And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water.	And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water.	The water flowed down all sides of the altar and filled the trench.

1 Kings 18:35 (Septuagint BLB)	3 Kings 18:35 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ διεπορεύετο τὸ ὕδωρ κύκλῳ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου καὶ τὴν θααλα ἔπλησαν ὕδατος	καὶ διεπορεύετο τὸ ὕδωρ κύκλῳ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου, καὶ τὴν θάλασσαν ἔπλησαν ὕδατος
3 Reigns 18:35 (NETS)	3 Kings 18:35 (English Elpenor)
And the water ran all around the altar, and filled the thaala with water.	And the water ran round about the altar, and they filled the trench with water.

1 Kings 18:25 (Tanakh)	1 Kings 18:25 (KJV)	1 Kings 18:25 (NET)
And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under.	And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under.	Elijah told the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of the bulls for yourselves and go first, for you are the majority. Invoke the name of your god, but do not light a fire.”

1 Kings 18:25 (Septuagint BLB)	3 Kings 18:25 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἶπεν Ηλιου τοῗς προφήταις τῆς αἰσχύνης ἐκλέξασθε ἑαυτοῗς τὸν μόσχον τὸν ἕνα καὶ ποιήσατε πρῶτοι ὅτι πολλοὶ ὑμεῗς καὶ ἐπικαλέσασθε ἐν ὀνόματι θεοῦ ὑμῶν καὶ πῦρ μὴ ἐπιθῆτε	καὶ εἶπεν ᾿Ηλιοὺ τοῖς προφήταις τῆς αἰσχύνης· ἐκλέξασθε ἑαυτοῖς τὸν μόσχον τὸν ἕνα καὶ ποιήσατε πρῶτοι, ὅτι πολλοὶ ὑμεῖς, καὶ ἐπικαλέσασθε ἐν ὀνόματι θεοῦ ὑμῶν καὶ πῦρ μὴ ἐπιθῆτε
3 Reigns 18:25 (NETS)	3 Kings 18:25 (English Elpenor)
And Eliou said to the prophets of shame, “Choose for yourselves the one bull calf, and do it first, for you are many, and call on the name of your god, and put on no fire.”	And Eliu said to the prophets of shame, Choose to yourselves one calf, and dress it first, for ye [are] many; and call ye on the name of your god; but apply no fire.

1 Kings 18:26 (Tanakh)	1 Kings 18:26 (KJV)	1 Kings 18:26 (NET)
And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made.	And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made.	So they took a bull, as he had suggested, and prepared it. They invoked the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “Baal, answer us.” But there was no sound and no answer. They jumped around on the altar they had made.

1 Kings 18:26 (Septuagint BLB)	3 Kings 18:26 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἔλαβον τὸν μόσχον καὶ ἐποίησαν καὶ ἐπεκαλοῦντο ἐν ὀνόματι τοῦ Βααλ ἐκ πρωίθεν ἕως μεσημβρίας καὶ εἶπον ἐπάκουσον ἡμῶν ὁ Βααλ ἐπάκουσον ἡμῶν καὶ οὐκ ἦν φωνὴ καὶ οὐκ ἦν ἀκρόασις καὶ διέτρεχον ἐπὶ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου οὗ ἐποίησαν	καὶ ἔλαβον τὸν μόσχον καὶ ἐποίησαν καὶ ἐπεκαλοῦντο ἐν ὀνόματι τοῦ Βάαλ ἐκ πρωΐθεν ἕως μεσημβρίας καὶ εἶπον· ἐπάκουσον ἡμῶν, ὁ Βάαλ, ἐπάκουσον ἡμῶν· καὶ οὐκ ἦν φωνὴ καὶ οὐκ ἦν ἀκρόασις· καὶ διέτρεχον ἐπὶ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου, οὗ ἐποίησαν
3 Reigns 18:26 (NETS)	3 Kings 18:26 (English Elpenor)
And they took the bull calf and did it and were calling on the name of Baal from morning until noon and said, “Hear us, O Baal, hear us!” And there was no voice, and there was no hearing, and they ran about on the altar that they made.	And they took the calf and drest it, and called on the name of Baal from morning till noon, and said, hear us, O Baal, hear us. And there was no voice, neither was there hearing, and they ran up and down on the altar which they [had] made.

1 Kings 18:28 (Tanakh)	1 Kings 18:28 (KJV)	1 Kings 18:28 (NET)
And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them.	And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them.	So they yelled louder and, in accordance with their prescribed ritual, mutilated themselves with swords and spears until their bodies were covered with blood.

1 Kings 18:28 (Septuagint BLB)	3 Kings 18:28 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐπεκαλοῦντο ἐν φωνῇ μεγάλῃ καὶ κατετέμνοντο κατὰ τὸν ἐθισμὸν αὐτῶν ἐν μαχαίραις καὶ σειρομάσταις ἕως ἐκχύσεως αἵματος ἐπ᾽ αὐτούς	καὶ ἐπεκαλοῦντο ἐν φωνῇ μεγάλῃ καὶ κατετέμνοντο κατὰ τὸν ἐθισμὸν αὐτῶν ἐν μαχαίραις καὶ σειρομάσταις ἕως ἐκχύσεως αἵματος ἐπ᾿ αὐτούς
3 Reigns 18:28 (NETS)	3 Kings 18:28 (English Elpenor)
And they were calling in a loud voice and, as was their custom, they were cutting themselves with daggers and lances until the blood gushed out over them,	And they cried with a loud voice, and cut themselves according to their custom with knives and lancets until the blood gushed out upon them.

1 Kings 18:29 (Tanakh)	1 Kings 18:29 (KJV)	1 Kings 18:29 (NET)
And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.	And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.	Throughout the afternoon they were in an ecstatic frenzy, but there was no sound, no answer, and no response.

1 Kings 18:29 (Septuagint BLB)	3 Kings 18:29 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐπροφήτευον ἕως οὗ παρῆλθεν τὸ δειλινόν καὶ ἐγένετο ὡς ὁ καιρὸς τοῦ ἀναβῆναι τὴν θυσίαν καὶ οὐκ ἦν φωνή καὶ ἐλάλησεν Ηλιου ὁ Θεσβίτης πρὸς τοὺς προφήτας τῶν προσοχθισμάτων λέγων μετάστητε ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν καὶ ἐγὼ ποιήσω τὸ ὁλοκαύτωμά μου καὶ μετέστησαν καὶ ἀπῆλθον	καὶ ἐπροφήτευον ἕως οὗ παρῆλθε τὸ δειλινόν. καὶ ἐγένετο ὡς ὁ καιρὸς τοῦ ἀναβῆναι τὴν θυσίαν καὶ οὐκ ἦν φωνή. καὶ ἐλάλησεν ᾿Ηλιοὺ ὁ Θεσβίτης πρὸς τοὺς προφήτας τῶν προσοχθισμάτων λέγων· μετάστητε ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν, καὶ ἐγὼ ποιήσω τὸ ὁλοκαύτωμά μου. καὶ μετέστησαν, καὶ ἀπῆλθον
3 Reigns 18:29 (NETS)	3 Kings 18:29 (English Elpenor)
and they were acting the prophet until evening came. And it happened, as it was the time for the sacrifice to ascend and there was no voice, that Eliou the Thesbite spoke to the prophets of the offenses, saying, “Stand aside for the present, and I will do my whole burnt offering,” and they stood aside and departed.	And they prophesied until the evening came; and it came to pass as it was the time of the offering of the sacrifice, that Eliu the Thesbite spoke to the prophets of the abominations, saying, Stand by for the present, and I will offer my sacrifice. And they stood aside and departed.

Mark 3:27 (NET)	Mark 3:27 (KJV)
But no one is able to enter a strong man’s house and steal his property unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can thoroughly plunder his house.	No man can enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ἀλλ᾿ οὐ δύναται οὐδεὶς εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν τοῦ ἰσχυροῦ εἰσελθὼν τὰ σκεύη αὐτοῦ διαρπάσαι, ἐὰν μὴ πρῶτον τὸν ἰσχυρὸν δήσῃ, καὶ τότε τὴν οἰκίαν αὐτοῦ διαρπάσει	ου δυναται ουδεις τα σκευη του ισχυρου εισελθων εις την οικιαν αυτου διαρπασαι εαν μη πρωτον τον ισχυρον δηση και τοτε την οικιαν αυτου διαρπασει	ουδεις δυναται τα σκευη του ισχυρου εισελθων εις την οικιαν αυτου διαρπασαι εαν μη πρωτον τον ισχυρον δηση και τοτε την οικιαν αυτου διαρπαση

The Lost Son of Perdition, Part 8

Back to αὐτοῦ and ἑαυτοῦ, Part 1

Back to Luke 8:22-56

^[1] Job 1:10a (NET) Table

^[2] Job 1:13-15 (NET)

^[3] The Septuagint had καὶ οἱ προφῆται τοῦ ἄλσους τετρακόσιοι (NETS: and the prophets of the grove, four hundred) following here.

^[4] 1 Kings 18:24b (NET)

^[5] This is what Gideon did with the fleece (Judges 6:36-40) when he was uncertain of God’s intent.

^[6] Romans 10:17 (ESV) Table

^[7] 1 Kings 18:36b (Tanakh, KJV)

^[8] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ἀλλ᾿ here. The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

^[9] The NET parallel Greek text, NA²⁸ and Stephanus Textus Receptus had the negative particle οὐ preceding is able (KJV: can) and οὐδεὶς (NET: no one; KJV: No man) following, where the Byzantine Majority Text simply had οὐδεὶς preceding.

^[10] The NET parallel Greek text, NA²⁸ and Stephanus Textus Receptus had διαρπάσει, where the Byzantine Majority Text had διαρπαση.

^[11] Mark 3:27 (NET)

^[12] 1 Kings 18:37 (Tanakh/KJV)

^[13] John 17:3b (NET)

^[14] John 5:19 (NET) Table

^[15] John 16:13a (NET) Table

Westworld, Part 2

Posted on September 6, 2021 by admin

On his very first visit to Westworld William (Jimmi Simpson) asks the host who greets him: “So, how does this work? Is there an orientation?”^[1]

Female Host: No orientation. No guidebook. Figuring out how it works is half the fun. All you do is make choices…

I suppose anyone can live this way, many do. But in the real world we have a guidebook called the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16, 17 NET).

Every scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness [Table], that the person dedicated to God may be capable and equipped for every good work.

This guidebook offers a path to eternal life: Now this is eternal life, Jesus prayed, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent.^[2] I recommend Jesus’ understanding of eternal life over anything else one might imagine. It focuses one’s attention on knowing the only true God, and Jesus Christ. But don’t worry, there are still many choices to make, much fun to be had knowing the mind of our Creator:

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Isaiah 55:8, 9 (Tanakh/KJV)	Isaiah 55:8, 9 (NET)	Isaiah 55:8, 9 (NETS)	Isaiah 55:8, 9 (English Elpenor)
For my thoughts (מַחְשְׁבוֹתַי֙) are not your thoughts (מַחְשְׁב֣וֹתֵיכֶ֔ם), neither are your ways (דַרְכֵיכֶ֖ם) my ways (דְּרָכָ֑י), saith the LORD.	“Indeed, my plans (maḥăšāḇâ, מחשבותי) are not like your plans (maḥăšāḇâ, מחשבותיכם), and my deeds (dereḵ, דרכי) are not like your deeds (dereḵ, דרכיכם),” says the Lord,	For my plans (βουλαί μου) are not like your plans (βουλαί ὑμῶν), nor are your ways (ὁδοὶ ὑμῶν) like my ways (ὁδοί μου), says the Lord.	For my counsels (βουλαί μου) are not as your counsels (βουλαί ὑμῶν), nor are my ways (ὁδοί μου) as your ways (ὁδοὶ ὑμῶν), saith the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways (דְרָכַי֙) higher than your ways (מִדַּרְכֵיכֶ֔ם), and my thoughts (וּמַחְשְׁבֹתַ֖י) than your thoughts (מִמַּחְשְׁבֹֽתֵיכֶֽם).	“for just as the sky is higher than the earth, so my deeds (dereḵ, דרכי) are superior to your deeds (dereḵ, מדרכיכם) and my plans (maḥăšāḇâ, ומחשבתי) superior to your plans (maḥăšāḇâ, ממחשבתיכם).	But as heaven is far from the earth, so is my way (ὁδός μου) far from your ways (ὁδῶν ὑμῶν) and your notions (διανοήματα ὑμῶν) from my thought (διανοίας μου).	But as the heaven is distant from the earth, so is my way (ὁδός μου) distant from your ways (ὁδῶν ὑμῶν), and your thoughts (διανοήματα ὑμῶν) from my mind (διανοίας μου).

The Man in Black (Ed Harris), a guest at Westworld, contrasted it to the real world in conversation with an android host named Lawrence (Clifton Collins Jr.):^[3]

That’s what I love about this place. All the secrets, all the little things I never noticed, even after all these years. You know why this beats the real world, Lawrence? Real world’s just chaos. It’s an accident. But in here, every detail adds up to something.

Dr. Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkins) programmed Westworld with all these details in mind:^[4]

The guests don’t return for the obvious things we do, the garish things. They come back because of the subtleties, the details.

Ford, an evolutionist, shares the Man in Black’s worldview to a certain extent, as he explained to his assistant Bernard (Jeffrey Wright):^[5]

Ford: “Mistakes” is the word you’re too embarrassed to use. You ought not to be. You’re a product of a trillion of them. Evolution forged the entirety of sentient life on this planet using only one tool: The Mistake.

Bernard: I flattered myself we were taking a more disciplined approach here. I suppose self-delusion is a gift of natural selection as well.

Ford: Indeed it is. But, of course, we’ve managed to slip evolution’s leash now, haven’t we? We can cure any disease, keep even the weak of us alive, and… You know, one fine day, perhaps, we shall even resurrect the dead. Call forth Lazarus from his cave. Do you know what that means? It means that we’re done. That this is as good as we’re going to get.

Ford thinks of the real world as an endless series of mistakes. The Man in Black thinks it is meaningless chaos, an accident. Both deprive themselves of the knowledge of God revealed in the Bible.

I’ll paraphrase the beginning of the Bible with knowledge that can be perceived throughout by anyone who pays attention, but isn’t stated explicitly^[6] until nearer the end (Genesis 1:1-2:3 ESV).

In the beginning, Love created the heavens and the earth [Table]. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of Love was hovering over the face of the waters [Table]. And Love said, “Let there be light,” and there was light [Table]. And Love saw that the light was good. And Love separated the light from the darkness [Table]. Love called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day [Table].

And Love said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters” [Table]. And Love made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so [Table]. And Love called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day [Table].

And Love said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so [Table]. Love called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And Love saw that it was good [Table].

And Love said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so [Table]. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And Love saw that it was good [Table]. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day [Table].

And Love said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years [Table], and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so [Table]. And Love made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars [Table]. And Love set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth [Table], to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And Love saw that it was good [Table]. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day [Table].

And Love said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens” [Table]. So Love created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And Love saw that it was good [Table]. And Love blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth” [Table]. And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day [Table].

And Love said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so [Table]. And Love made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And Love saw that it was good [Table].

Then Love said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth” [Table].

So Love created man in his own image, in the image of Love he created him; male and female he created them [Table].

And Love blessed them. And Love said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth” [Table]. And Love said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. And Love saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day [Table].

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them [Table]. And on the seventh day Love finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done [Table]. So Love blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it Love rested from all his work that he had done in creation [Table].

Though Bernard spoke of self-delusion as a gift of natural selection, it was just a manner of speaking. Natural selection has neither the power nor authority, neither mind nor inclination to bestow gifts on anyone. It is simply a euphemism for death.

The game is played something like this:

If self-delusion can be shown to help evolutionists overcome their anxiety—living in a cold, uncaring universe—enough to relax, have sex and reproduce more offspring than those who believe in God’s love, care and provision for them, evolutionists may become the dominant species. Then self-delusion could be considered an evolutionary advantage “chosen” by natural selection. If not, evolutionists may die off eventually as other more beneficial beliefs prove more conducive to differential reproduction.^[7]

Tables comparing Isaiah 55:8; 55:9; Genesis 1:29 and 1:30 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and tables comparing the Greek of Isaiah 55:8; 55:9; Genesis 1:29 and 1:30 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor) follow.

Isaiah 55:8 (Tanakh)	Isaiah 55:8 (KJV)	Isaiah 55:8 (NET)
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.	For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.	“Indeed, my plans are not like your plans, and my deeds are not like your deeds,” says the Lord,

Isaiah 55:8 (Septuagint BLB)	Isaiah 55:8 (Septuagint Elpenor)
οὐ γάρ εἰσιν αἱ βουλαί μου ὥσπερ αἱ βουλαὶ ὑμῶν οὐδὲ ὥσπερ αἱ ὁδοὶ ὑμῶν αἱ ὁδοί μου λέγει κύριος	οὐ γάρ εἰσιν αἱ βουλαί μου ὥσπερ αἱ βουλαὶ ὑμῶν, οὐδ᾿ ὥσπερ αἱ ὁδοὶ ὑμῶν αἱ ὁδοί μου, λέγει Κύριος
Isaiah 55:8 (NETS)	Isaiah 55:8 (English Elpenor)
For my plans are not like your plans, nor are your ways like my ways, says the Lord.	For my counsels are not as your counsels, nor are my ways as your ways, saith the Lord.

Isaiah 55:9 (Tanakh)	Isaiah 55:9 (KJV)	Isaiah 55:9 (NET)
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.	For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.	“for just as the sky is higher than the earth, so my deeds are superior to your deeds and my plans superior to your plans.

Isaiah 55:9 (Septuagint BLB)	Isaiah 55:9 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἀλλ᾽ ὡς ἀπέχει ὁ οὐρανὸς ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς οὕτως ἀπέχει ἡ ὁδός μου ἀπὸ τῶν ὁδῶν ὑμῶν καὶ τὰ διανοήματα ὑμῶν ἀπὸ τῆς διανοίας μου	ἀλλ᾿ ὡς ἀπέχει ὁ οὐρανὸς ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς, οὕτως ἀπέχει ἡ ὁδός μου ἀπὸ τῶν ὁδῶν ὑμῶν καὶ τὰ διανοήματα ὑμῶν ἀπὸ τῆς διανοίας μου
Isaiah 55:9 (NETS)	Isaiah 55:9 (English Elpenor)
But as heaven is far from the earth, so is my way far from your ways and your notions from my thought.	But as the heaven is distant from the earth, so is my way distant from your ways, and your thoughts from my mind.

Genesis 1:29 (Tanakh)	Genesis 1:29 (KJV)	Genesis 1:29 (NET)
And G-d said: ‘Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed–to you it shall be for food;	And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.	Then God said, “I now give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the entire earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.

Genesis 1:29 (Septuagint BLB)	Genesis 1:29 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεός ἰδοὺ δέδωκα ὑμῗν πᾶν χόρτον σπόριμον σπεῗρον σπέρμα ὅ ἐστιν ἐπάνω πάσης τῆς γῆς καὶ πᾶν ξύλον ὃ ἔχει ἐν ἑαυτῷ καρπὸν σπέρματος σπορίμου ὑμῗν ἔσται εἰς βρῶσιν	καὶ εἶπεν ὁ Θεός· ἰδοὺ δέδωκα ὑμῖν πάντα χόρτον σπόριμον σπεῖρον σπέρμα, ὅ ἐστιν ἐπάνω πάσης τῆς γῆς, καὶ πᾶν ξύλον, ὃ ἔχει ἐν ἑαυτῷ καρπὸν σπέρματος σπορίμου, ὑμῖν ἔσται εἰς βρῶσιν
Genesis 1:29 (NETS)	Genesis 1:29 (English Elpenor)
And God said, “See, I have given to you any herbage, sowable, seeding seed, which is over all the earth, and any tree that has in itself fruit of sowable seed—to you it shall be for food—	And God said, Behold I have given to you every seed-bearing herb sowing seed which is upon all the earth, and every tree which has in itself the fruit of seed that is sown, to you it shall be for food.

Genesis 1:30 (Tanakh)	Genesis 1:30 (KJV)	Genesis 1:30 (NET)
and to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is a living soul, I have given every green herb for food’ And it was so.	And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.	And to all the animals of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has living breath in it—I give every green plant for food.” It was so.

Genesis 1:30 (Septuagint BLB)	Genesis 1:30 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ πᾶσι τοῗς θηρίοις τῆς γῆς καὶ πᾶσι τοῗς πετεινοῗς τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ παντὶ ἑρπετῷ τῷ ἕρποντι ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ὃ ἔχει ἐν ἑαυτῷ ψυχὴν ζωῆς πάντα χόρτον χλωρὸν εἰς βρῶσιν καὶ ἐγένετο οὕτως	καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς θηρίοις τῆς γῆς καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς πετεινοῖς τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ παντὶ ἑρπετῷ ἕρποντι ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ὃ ἔχει ἐν ἑαυτῷ ψυχὴν ζωῆς, καὶ πάντα χόρτον χλωρὸν εἰς βρῶσιν. καὶ ἐγένετο οὕτως
Genesis 1:30 (NETS)	Genesis 1:30 (English Elpenor)
and to all the wild animals of the earth and to all the birds of the sky and to every creeping thing that creeps on the earth that has in itself the animating force of life,—and all green herbage for food.” And it became so.	And to all the wild beasts of the earth, and to all the flying creatures of heaven, and to every reptile creeping on the earth, which has in itself the breath of life, even every green plant for food; and it was so.

Westworld, Part 3

Back to Westworld, Part 4

Back to Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Part 5

^[1] Westworld, Season 1, Episode 2, “Chestnut”

^[2] John 17:3 (NET)

^[3] Westworld, Season 1, Episode 2, “Chestnut”

^[4] Ibid.

^[5] Westworld, Season 1, Episode 1, “The Original”

^[6] 1 John 4:8; 4:16

^[7] See Differential Reproduction online for interesting and more detailed explanations.

Who Am I? Part 13

Posted on February 8, 2021 by admin

I returned to the same church I had left, believing they were right and I was wrong. I resurrected my god of punishment, more or less, and resolved to be a do-it-yourself-Christian with renewed vigor. I began to worship my own free will again, though I would have denied it if anyone had told me. I only recognize two things different from before my prodigal years.

First, I was done with sin. I would never have said that aloud. I’m not sure I ever thought it through. It certainly wasn’t true yet in any practical sense. But I had returned with real adult sins to my credit and I was sick and tired of it. I can trace that very clearly back to my prodigal years.

Second, I wanted to study the Bible. It wasn’t like before when there were times that I wanted to study the Bible because I was a studious person. Trying to study the Bible always cured me of my “studious person” desire. After my prodigal years I caught myself reading and studying the Bible when I didn’t particularly want to read or study the Bible. I trace that back to God’s answer to a prayer:

“If you’re really out there, I really want to know you.”

It wasn’t a prayer of great faith. “If you’re really out there,” doesn’t score very high on any faith-o-meter. It was little more than a flicker of “hope” that “God might still be there waiting for any who might perchance call upon Him.”^[1] And yet it was the prayer that was answered.

It was a prayer of my own free will in some sense. No one held a gun to my head to force me to walk to the kitchen and look out at the sky. No one beat or tortured me until I said the words. But when I consider the actual words I prayed I find it more difficult to believe that they were the result of my own free will.

My prayer was a conditional statement. It would be several years before I went back to school, took Logic 101 and understood that the only condition I placed upon God was his existence. There was no list of personal goals, plans, hopes, dreams, other conditions that God must meet to obtain my loyalty or, in this prayer, my desire (my will) to know Him.

Once I returned to the church and the people I grew up among many if not all of my conditions returned, but even that didn’t alter my new desire to read and study the Bible. Even when it wasn’t always exactly my desire, I caught myself doing it anyway. And I was several years from understanding that I had prayed for eternal life as Jesus’ defined it. Where did the words of this prayer come from?

I’m going to consider a passage from John’s first letter about knowing God. It’s not too hard to imagine that these words were somewhere in my memory from somewhere in my past. I’ll begin at his discussion of love and eternal life (1 John 3:14, 15 NET):

We know that we have crossed over from death to life because we love (ἀγαπῶμεν, a form of ἀγαπάω) our fellow Christians. The one who does not love^[2] (ἀγαπῶν, another form of ἀγαπάω) remains in death. Everyone who hates his fellow Christian is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.^[3]

As a do-it-yourself-Christian I assumed I should love other Christians (KJV: the brethren) in my own strength to prove that I was one, too. I understood that Everyone who hates his fellow Christian is a murderer, and you know that no murderer will go to heaven. John, however, was thinking here of ζωὴν αἰώνιον (eternal life) as something potentially residing (μένουσαν, a form of μένω) in one, rather than as a place one might go. This is much more like Jesus’ understanding of αἰώνιος ζωὴ (John 17:3 NET):

Now this is eternal life (αἰώνιος ζωὴ)—that they know (γινώσκωσιν, a form of γινώσκω) you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent.

The Greek word translated know in the phrase We know was not the same as γινώσκωσιν above. Rather, it was οἴδαμεν (a form of εἴδω), to know by seeing or experiencing. John was not describing a rule to obey in my own strength so much as a sign to recognize that I had crossed over from death to life.

The second definition of ἀγαπάω in the Koine Greek Lexicon online is “to accept the authority of (someone), display respect for (someone).” Though “believing” my fellow Christians “were right and I was wrong” would eventually become somewhat problematic, I probably should have recognized, or would have benefitted from recognizing, this insight as at least the beginning of the love of God stirring within me, an aspect of the fruit of the Holy Spirit residing in me.

I have argued alternatively that fellow Christians was too restrictive or not restrictive enough a translation of τοὺς ἀδελφούς (KJV: the brethren). Regardless, it doesn’t alter Jesus’ teaching (Matthew 5:43-45 NET):

You have heard that it was said, ‘Love (ἀγαπήσεις, another form of ἀγαπάω) your neighbor’ and ‘hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love (ἀγαπᾶτε, another form of ἀγαπάω) your enemy and pray for those who persecute you [Table], so that you may be like your Father in heaven, since he causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous [Table].

As a rule to obey in my own strength, loving my enemies seems daunting if not even a little stupid. But to be like my Father in heaven, loving with the love that flows from his Spirit dwelling within me, is completely doable despite the how-to-do-that being a little tricky to learn. John was explicitly clear about the quality of this love (1 John 3:16 NET):

We have come to know love (ἀγάπην, a form of ἀγάπη) by this: that Jesus laid down his life for us; thus we ought to lay down^[4] our lives for our fellow Christians.

The Greek word translated We have come to know is ἐγνώκαμεν (another form of γινώσκω), like that they know (γινώσκωσιν, a form of γινώσκω) you, the only true God… So I have everything Jesus said and did in the Gospel narratives to define this love as well as the Holy Spirit’s verbal definition given through Paul (1 Corinthians 13:1-13 NET):

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but I do not have love (ἀγάπην, a form of ἀγάπη), I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can remove^[5] mountains, but do not have love (ἀγάπην, a form of ἀγάπη), I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I give over my body in order to boast, but do not have love (ἀγάπην, a form of ἀγάπη), I receive no benefit [Table].

Love (ἀγάπη) is patient, love (ἀγάπη) is kind, it is not envious. Love (ἀγάπη) does not brag, it is not puffed up. It is not rude, it is not self-serving, it is not easily angered or resentful. It is not glad about injustice, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love (ἀγάπη) never ends. But if there are prophecies, they will be set aside; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be set aside [Table]. For^[6] we know in part, and we prophesy in part, but when what is perfect comes,^[7] the partial will be set aside. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. But when I became an adult, I set aside childish ways. For now we see in a mirror indirectly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I have been fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love (ἀγάπη). But the greatest of these is love (ἀγάπη).

John continued (1 John 3:17 NET):

But whoever has the world’s possessions and sees his fellow Christian in need and shuts off his compassion against him, how can the love (ἀγάπη) of God reside in such a person?

It was exceptionally childish of me as a do-it-yourself-Christian to think that I could love like God by turning Paul’s definition of love into rules I would obey in my own strength. John was fairly clear here, writing about the love of God that might reside (μένει, another form of μένω) in a person (much like eternal life). Here one does not manufacture the love but possibly shuts off (κλείσῃ, a form of κλείω) his compassion. I wonder if I should consider his (αὐτοῦ, a form of αὐτός) here as a reference to God.

John continued (1 John 3:18-20 NET):

Little children,^[8] let us not love (ἀγαπῶμεν, a form of ἀγαπάω) with word or with tongue but in deed and truth. And by this we will know^[9] that we are of the truth and will convince our conscience^[10] in his presence, that if our conscience condemns us, that God is greater than our conscience and knows all things.

As a child I had adapted my understanding of the meaning of my elders’ words to better accommodate what they actually did. As a do-it-yourself-Christian I understood word (λόγῳ, a form of λόγος) and tongue (γλώσσῃ, a form of γλῶσσα) as faith, and deed (ἔργῳ, a form of ἔργον) and truth (ἀληθείᾳ) as my own works. So, by our own works we will know (γνωσόμεθα, a form of γινώσκω) that we are of the truth (ἀληθείας, a form of ἀλήθεια) and will convince our conscience in his presence. The only sense I could make of the next verse then was that God would forgive us for not loving like God in our own strength.

The idea that we would actually love like God in his strength by his Holy Spirit eluded me, as did what I misconstrued as the goal of Christian faith and obedience—to get God to do what we want—since I failed so miserably to love like God in my own strength (1 John 3:21, 22 NET):

Dear friends, if our conscience does not condemn us,^[11] we have confidence in the presence of God, and whatever we ask we receive from^[12] him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing to him.

And the one who sent me is with me, Jesus said. He^[13] has not left me alone because I always do those things that please him.^[14] The Greek words translated those things that please here and the things that are pleasing above were τὰ ἀρεστὰ. This connection was troubling since Jesus seemed to credit his perfect obedience with the fact that the Father has not left me alone. But it became enlightening as well as I began to suspect that God had not left me alone even during my prodigal years when I had claimed to be an atheist. I searched for some reason to explain it since I was unpersuadable that I’m so much more adorable than Jesus.

John continued (1 John 3:23, 24 NET):

Now this is his commandment: that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love (ἀγαπῶμεν, a form of ἀγαπάω) one another, just as he gave us the commandment. And the person who keeps his commandments resides in God, and God in him. Now by this we know (γινώσκομεν, another form of γινώσκω) that God resides in us: by the Spirit he has given us.

Over time it became harder and harder to believe that my faith and obedience caused me to reside in God and He in me. Slowly, I began to suspect that the Holy Spirit He had given me was God residing in me and the cause of my residing in Him. My faith and obedience, such as they were, were the result of his presence, and signs that it was so. For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever! Amen.^[15]

Tables comparing 1 John 3:14, 15; 3:16; 1 Corinthians 13:2; 13:9, 10; 1 John 3:18, 19; 3:21, 22 and John 8:29 in the NET and KJV follow.

1 John 3:14, 15 (NET)	1 John 3:14, 15 (KJV)
We know that we have crossed over from death to life because we love our fellow Christians. The one who does not love remains in death.	We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ἡμεῖς οἴδαμεν ὅτι μεταβεβήκαμεν ἐκ τοῦ θανάτου εἰς τὴν ζωήν, ὅτι ἀγαπῶμεν τοὺς ἀδελφούς· ὁ μὴ ἀγαπῶν μένει ἐν τῷ θανάτῳ	ημεις οιδαμεν οτι μεταβεβηκαμεν εκ του θανατου εις την ζωην οτι αγαπωμεν τους αδελφους ο μη αγαπων τον αδελφον μενει εν τω θανατω	ημεις οιδαμεν οτι μεταβεβηκαμεν εκ του θανατου εις την ζωην οτι αγαπωμεν τους αδελφους ο μη αγαπων τον αδελφον μενει εν τω θανατω

Everyone who hates his fellow Christian is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.

Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
πᾶς ὁ μισῶν τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ ἀνθρωποκτόνος ἐστίν, καὶ οἴδατε ὅτι πᾶς ἀνθρωποκτόνος οὐκ ἔχει ζωὴν αἰώνιον ἐν αὐτῷ μένουσαν	πας ο μισων τον αδελφον αυτου ανθρωποκτονος εστιν και οιδατε οτι πας ανθρωποκτονος ουκ εχει ζωην αιωνιον εν αυτω μενουσαν	πας ο μισων τον αδελφον αυτου ανθρωποκτονος εστιν και οιδατε οτι πας ανθρωποκτονος ουκ εχει ζωην αιωνιον εν εαυτω μενουσαν

1 John 3:16 (NET)	1 John 3:16 (KJV)
We have come to know love by this: that Jesus laid down his life for us; thus we ought to lay down our lives for our fellow Christians.	Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ἐν τούτῳ ἐγνώκαμεν τὴν ἀγάπην, ὅτι ἐκεῖνος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἔθηκεν· καὶ ἡμεῖς ὀφείλομεν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀδελφῶν τὰς ψυχὰς θεῖναι	εν τουτω εγνωκαμεν την αγαπην οτι εκεινος υπερ ημων την ψυχην αυτου εθηκεν και ημεις οφειλομεν υπερ των αδελφων τας ψυχας τιθεναι	εν τουτω εγνωκαμεν την αγαπην οτι εκεινος υπερ ημων την ψυχην αυτου εθηκεν και ημεις οφειλομεν υπερ των αδελφων τας ψυχας τιθεναι

1 Corinthians 13:2 (NET)	1 Corinthians 13:2 (KJV)
And if I have prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.	And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
\|καὶ ἐὰν\| ἔχω προφητείαν καὶ εἰδῶ τὰ μυστήρια πάντα καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γνῶσιν \|καὶ ἐὰν\| ἔχω πᾶσαν τὴν πίστιν ὥστε ὄρη \|μεθιστάναι\|, ἀγάπην δὲ μὴ ἔχω, οὐθέν εἰμι.	και εαν εχω προφητειαν και ειδω τα μυστηρια παντα και πασαν την γνωσιν και εαν εχω πασαν την πιστιν ωστε ορη μεθιστανειν αγαπην δε μη εχω ουθεν ειμι	και εαν εχω προφητειαν και ειδω τα μυστηρια παντα και πασαν την γνωσιν και εαν εχω πασαν την πιστιν ωστε ορη μεθιστανειν αγαπην δε μη εχω ουθεν ειμι

1 Corinthians 13:9, 10 (NET)	1 Corinthians 13:9, 10 (KJV)
For we know in part, and we prophesy in part,	For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ἐκ μέρους γὰρ γινώσκομεν καὶ ἐκ μέρους προφητεύομεν	εκ μερους γαρ γινωσκομεν και εκ μερους προφητευομεν	εκ μερους δε γινωσκομεν και εκ μερους προφητευομεν

but when what is perfect comes, the partial will be set aside.

But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ὅταν δὲ ἔλθῃ τὸ τέλειον, τὸ ἐκ μέρους καταργηθήσεται	οταν δε ελθη το τελειον τοτε το εκ μερους καταργηθησεται	οταν δε ελθη το τελειον τοτε το εκ μερους καταργηθησεται

1 John 3:18, 19 (NET)	1 John 3:18, 19 (KJV)
Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue but in deed and truth.	My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
Τεκνία, μὴ ἀγαπῶμεν λόγῳ μηδὲ τῇ γλώσσῃ ἀλλὰ ἐν ἔργῳ καὶ ἀληθείᾳ	τεκνια μου μη αγαπωμεν λογω μηδε γλωσση αλλ εργω και αληθεια	τεκνια μου μη αγαπωμεν λογω μηδε τη γλωσση αλλ εν εργω και αληθεια

And by this we will know that we are of the truth and will convince our conscience in his presence,

And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
[Καὶ] ἐν τούτῳ γνωσόμεθα ὅτι ἐκ τῆς ἀληθείας ἐσμέν, καὶ ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ πείσομεν τὴν καρδίαν ἡμῶν	και εν τουτω γινωσκομεν οτι εκ της αληθειας εσμεν και εμπροσθεν αυτου πεισομεν τας καρδιας ημων	και εν τουτω γινωσκομεν οτι εκ της αληθειας εσμεν και εμπροσθεν αυτου πεισομεν τας καρδιας ημων

1 John 3:21, 22 (NET)	1 John 3:21, 22 (KJV)
Dear friends, if our conscience does not condemn us, we have confidence in the presence of God,	Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
Ἀγαπητοί, ἐὰν ἡ καρδία [ἡμῶν] μὴ καταγινώσκῃ, παρρησίαν ἔχομεν πρὸς τὸν θεόν	αγαπητοι εαν η καρδια ημων μη καταγινωσκη ημων παρρησιαν εχομεν προς τον θεον	αγαπητοι εαν η καρδια ημων μη καταγινωσκη ημων παρρησιαν εχομεν προς τον θεον

and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing to him.

And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
καὶ ὃ ἐὰν αἰτῶμεν λαμβάνομεν ἀπ᾿ αὐτοῦ, ὅτι τὰς ἐντολὰς αὐτοῦ τηροῦμεν καὶ τὰ ἀρεστὰ ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ ποιοῦμεν	και ο εαν αιτωμεν λαμβανομεν παρ αυτου οτι τας εντολας αυτου τηρουμεν και τα αρεστα ενωπιον αυτου ποιουμεν	και ο εαν αιτωμεν λαμβανομεν παρ αυτου οτι τας εντολας αυτου τηρουμεν και τα αρεστα ενωπιον αυτου ποιουμεν

John 8:29 (NET)	John 8:29 (KJV)
And the one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone because I always do those things that please him.	And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
καὶ ὁ πέμψας με μετ᾿ ἐμοῦ ἐστιν· οὐκ ἀφῆκεν με μόνον, ὅτι ἐγὼ τὰ ἀρεστὰ αὐτῷ ποιῶ πάντοτε	και ο πεμψας με μετ εμου εστιν ουκ αφηκεν με μονον ο πατηρ οτι εγω τα αρεστα αυτω ποιω παντοτε	και ο πεμψας με μετ εμου εστιν ουκ αφηκεν με μονον ο πατηρ οτι εγω τα αρεστα αυτω ποιω παντοτε

Who Am I? Part 14

Back to Psalm 22, Part 7

Back to To Make Holy, Part 9

Back to Father, Son and Holy Spirit – Part 10

^[1] Who Am I?, Part 3^[2] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had τον αδελφον (KJV: the brethren) following love (KJV: loveth). The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

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

^[4] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had θεῖναι here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had τιθεναι.

^[5] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had μεθιστάναι here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had μεθιστανειν (KJV: that I could remove).

^[6] The NET parallel Greek text, NA²⁸ and Stephanus Textus Receptus had γὰρ here, where the Byzantine Majority Text had δε.

^[7] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had τοτε (KJV: then) here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

^[8] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had μου (KJV: My) following Little children. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

^[9] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had γνωσόμεθα here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had γινωσκομεν (KJV: we know).

^[10] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had τὴν καρδίαν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had τας καρδιας (KJV: our hearts).

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

^[12] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ἀπ᾿ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had παρ (KJV: of).

^[13] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ο πατηρ (KJV: the Father) here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

^[14] John 8:29 (NET)

^[15] Romans 11:36 (NET)

Patterns of Evidence: Exodus

Posted on December 19, 2020 by admin

Patterns of Evidence: Exodus, A Filmmaker’s Journey by Timothy P. Mahoney was Mom’s coffee table book this Thanksgiving. I have a bit of history with my mother’s coffee table books. This time I even asked her if she leaves them out for my benefit. (She said, “No.”)

I can relate to the need to pursue this kind of project. If there is something dissuading you from believing the Bible it’s best to take Jesus by the hand and hit it head on. With a history background I’m a little more inured apparently to the historical dabbling of archaeologists than Mr. Mahoney was. My bias toward historical documents has afforded me a measure of protection here.

Mr. Mahoney’s book is the companion to a film of the same name. It’s a good film. He described it in an interview: “Is there a pattern of evidence at any time in the archaeology of Egypt and Israel that matches the events of the Exodus and the Conquest as recorded in the Bible?”^[1] I won’t steal his thunder. He and his investors deserve to make their money back. The companion book was more detailed and much more troubling to me.

The confessions he elicited from Jews (on camera) without torture or duress of any kind disturbed me. Had you asked me I would have said yes, not all those who are descended from Israel are truly Israel, nor are all the children Abraham’s true descendants.^[2] But I was clearly not prepared to have my nose rubbed in it, like some naughty puppy that has peed the carpet.

Mr. Mahoney interviewed a Jewish anthropologist in his museum workroom:

Anthropologist: I always have been Jewish, I always will be Jewish, and I believe in the tradition of Judaism. Do I think of the Bible as the word of God? No (Luke 24:25-27), I don’t….^[3]

Mahoney: Do you believe that the Exodus occurred as it is written in the Old Testament—do you believe it was a miraculous event with God intervening?

Anthropologist: No, I don’t. Do I believe the event may have happened? Yep. Sure I do. But do I believe that there was a miraculous event with God intervening? I don’t believe it… (Exodus 3:1-22) But I’m willing to be shown.^[4]

He interviewed a Jewish archaeologist in the hill country of Israel.

Mahoney: So was there an Exodus?

Archaeologist1: My easy answer to you, as an archaeologist, it didn’t happen. Not in the way its written down in the Bible…If we didn’t have the Bible, we would never, as archaeologists or as Egyptologists, be able to say this happened….^[5]

I’m Jewish, and I like to sit down at a Seder meal and enjoy recounting the Exodus. But that’s a tradition. That makes me who I am culturally. As an archaeologist, we do not see this happening as a one-off event….^[6]

Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down, Jesus said to the Pharisees and the experts in the law. And you do many things like this.^[7] Jesus’ actual point here was some specific legal wrangling about corban (κορβᾶν). And you do many things like this, opens it up in my mind to the kind of mental gymnastics cited above.

Mr. Mahoney interviewed another Jewish archaeologist in his workroom.

Archaeologist2: Exodus did not happen in the way it is described in the text of the Bible on the background of the 13^th century BC….^[8]

This same pattern of traditional thinking informed his view of the Hebrew Bible.

Archaeologist2: We are dealing with traditions (2 Timothy 3:16, 17). Let’s say that the author of this or that part of the Hebrew Bible sits in Jerusalem. And people have traditions. Grandpa says this and Grandma says another story, and there is one tradition of this village and another tradition of that family, that clan and this tribe and so on and so forth…They collected all sorts of stories, memories, myths, tales, you know. And they put them together in such a way that transmits an idea….^[9]

Mahoney: Do you believe in celebrating Passover?

Archaeologist2: When I sit at a Passover meal and we read the Haggadah with the family, that evening, it’s all history from A to Z. Perfect history…about all those many generations of my forefathers who were sitting to the same table at Passover at the same time and reciting the Haggadah….

Mahoney: What would you say to those people who are concerned with the idea that these stories didn’t happen as they are written?

Archaeologist2: I would tell them that it is not important…I think that it is more important to understand the meaning of Exodus, the moral of Exodus, for our civilization, for humanity, for mankind, for understanding the biblical text and the authors….^[10]

“As I have mentioned before,” Mr. Mahoney wrote, this particular archaeologist’s “work and ideas greatly influenced” a Jewish Rabbi “to write his controversial Passover sermon.”^[11] Michael Medved asked this Rabbi about that sermon:

Rabbi: I said that the Exodus certainly didn’t happen the way the Bible depicts it, assuming that it was a historical event in any description….

Medved: Why did you say that?

Rabbi: I said it for two reasons. One was because I knew that these students and others would go off to college and hear people talk about biblical archaeology and comparative religion, and I wanted them to know that that was not a frightening topic….^[12]

This Rabbi regarded the Exodus as fiction:

Rabbi: The extent to which the Exodus story has a historical core is very hard to say, but my deeper conviction about it is that it’s a story that whether it was true, it is true. And those are two different things…there are things that aren’t facts that can be truths….^[13]

Medved: What did you want people to feel, not to think, but to feel about the Exodus?

Rabbi: I wanted them to feel that their faith was unshakable, that it didn’t matter what the conclusions were of archaeologists, scientists and historians….^[14]

Medved: What does [Passover] mean if we weren’t delivered from Egypt?

Rabbi: Whether or not people were delivered then, does that affect my ability to empathize with what slavery is like now?^[15]

Mr. Mahoney interviewed a Jewish politician in the Knesset who seemed to echo the Rabbi’s emphasis on slavery:

Moses was the greatest revolutionary of all time. Remember that in antiquity there were grand empires that were based on one principal: slavery (Deuteronomy 15:12-18). Moses challenged that twice. He challenged it by taking his people, who were slaves in bondage in Egypt, freeing them, and taking them to their promised land. But Moses also challenged the empires of the world by providing a moral code for mankind that said it is not the king or the emperor who decides the law. There is a higher law (Deuteronomy 17:18-20). These were absolutely revolutionary ideas.^[16]

If the reason given for celebrating the Passover was: for in this selfsame day have I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt,^[17] a feast to HaShem,^[18] then staying home to celebrate it “to empathize with what slavery is like now” is almost as disobedient as going out and doing something else instead.

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Exodus 12:14, 17 (Tanakh)	Exodus 12:14, 17 (NET)	Exodus 12:14, 17 (NETS)	Exodus 12:14, 17 (Elpenor English)
And this day shall be unto you for a memorial, and ye shall keep it a feast to HaShem; throughout your generations ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.	“‘This day will become a memorial for you, and you will celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—you will celebrate it perpetually as a lasting ordinance.	And this day shall be a memorial for you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall celebrate it as a perpetual precept.	And this day shall be to you a memorial, and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord through all your generations; ye shall keep it a feast for a perpetual ordinance.
And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt; therefore shall ye observe this day throughout your generations by an ordinance for ever.	So you will keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because on this very day I brought your regiments out from the land of Egypt, and so you must keep this day perpetually as a lasting ordinance.	And you shall keep this commandment. For on this day I will bring your host out of the land of Egypt, and you shall make this day throughout your generations a perpetual precept.	And ye shall keep this commandment, for on this day will I bring out your force out of the land of Egypt; and ye shall make this day a perpetual ordinance for you throughout your generations.

Mr. Mahoney interviewed another Jewish archaeologist in his teaching lab.

Archaeologist3: …as I used to tell my students, archaeology is about 10 percent data and 90 percent interpretation. And this is why I’d say it is controversial in many aspects and open to different opinions….^[19]

This confession proved to be more important than it appeared at first. Mr. Mahoney, a filmmaker, did an admirable job of demonstrating from archaeological data and a few documentary fragments where the events of Exodus in the Bible fit sequentially into that archaeological data. He went on to demonstrate that Jewish archaeologists (among others) reject this correlation in favor of their own interpretations of the data. In other words, they reject the Hebrew scriptures to cling to their faith in their own works, their own interpretations as archaeologists. You can’t make this stuff up.

The interview continued:

Mahoney: You believe the Exodus and the Conquest are legendary stories? You don’t see them in the archaeology, is that right?

Archaeologist3: No, we don’t see them at all. We see something different. Many times people tell us absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, but the point is, as I used to say, paradoxically, the more information we have on biblical matters, the more contradictions we’ve found…we have hundreds of sites now of different periods and millions of objects which indicate an archaeological reality. And this reality says the Israelites did not come from outside the land of Canaan. They did not conquer the land. They simply evolved from within the local community to a new phase of economic and social organization, which later developed into the state of Israel. So, the process was entirely different than described in the Bible….^[20]

The Exodus story is a very important and interesting legend about the people of Israel, but it has no real historical basis….^[21]

So Israelites are merely Canaanites with delusions of grandeur? Why do I, a natural born Gentile Christian turned atheist, have more confidence in the Hebrew scriptures than a Jewish anthropologist, Jewish archaeologists, a Rabbi or a Jewish politician? Jesus.

Jesus is dragging me out of my Gentile-Christian-turned-atheist-ness to Himself (John 12:32). His own confidence in the Hebrew scriptures directed his actions toward their fulfillment: How then would the scriptures that say it must happen this way be fulfilled?^[22] He asked Peter. Does this mean that I am inspired to faith by Jesus’ faith?

Well, okay, sure. But I’m also inspired to courage, determination and some faith at the climax of Avengers: Endgame when Captain America (Chris Evans), bruised, fallen, all but defeated, tightens the strap of his broken shield on his arm and stands again to face Thanos (Josh Brolin) and his armies, alone if necessary. The trouble with this kind of inspiration is that it can only awaken the courage, determination or faith already latent within me.

In Jesus I am born from above and filled with his own Holy Spirit just as He promised. My faith is not my faith^[23] but his (it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me^[24]), the same faith that flowed into and through Him from the same Spirit when He asked: How then would the scriptures that say it must happen this way be fulfilled? Jesus also said, Do not be afraid^[25] of those who kill^[26] the body but cannot kill the soul.^[27]

Archaeologists cannot kill the body. This is not to say that an individual archaeologist is incapable of murderer, just that archaeologists as archaeologists have no authority beyond the grades handed down in their classrooms. The entire field of archaeology, that interpretive work of archaeologists, is a “finite province of meaning” relative to the “paramount reality” of most people’s everyday lives. Most people are unlikely to hear, in fact most people do not hear, about most of the interpretations of data uncovered by archaeologists, unless those interpretations prove useful to Satan, who deceives the whole world.

Given the limited authority archaeologists actually have over others it may seem like overkill to apply Jesus’ prohibition to them: Do not be afraid of archaeologists. But I actually agree with the Rabbi that archaeology is “not a frightening topic.” When I understand Jesus’ prohibition as a negation of the definition I gleaned from Deuteronomy of the the fear of the Lord—Do not have a heart to hear and do whatsoever archaeologists shall speak—I am free to choose what I will hear with what measure of faith.

Anyone interested in archaeology should take the Jewish archaeologist’s instruction to his students to heart: “archaeology is about 10 percent data and 90 percent interpretation.” Every student is free to distinguish that germ of data from the mass of interpretation and judge that interpretation accordingly, based on all that student’s knowledge, including the Bible as the word of God.

Answers to test questions in school are not assertions of truth a student must believe. They are simply a measure of a student’s proficiency taking notes and repeating what a teacher has said. A student is not forsworn by recalling what a teacher has said and writing it down accurately on a test. All rights to one’s own thoughts and beliefs are fully retained, even after an archaeology test.

Archaeology, archaeologists’ interpretations of archaeological data, is no reason to let Satan rob you of your opportunity to know…the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom [He] sent,^[28] to be born from above (John 3:5-7), to receive his Holy Spirit, to be bouyed up and carried along by a continuous stream of God’s own love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control^[29] here and now.

Jesus said: No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him….^[30] And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, He promised, will draw all…to myself.^[31] Paul wrote: So then, it does not depend on human desire or exertion, but on God who shows mercy.^[32] For God has consigned all…to disobedience so that he may show mercy to…all.^[33]

When I hear these things I tighten the strap of the shield of faith on my arm. Do you? Or are you hurting yourself by kicking against the goads?^[34]

Tables comparing Exodus 12:17 and 12:14 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and tables comparing Exodus 12:17 and 12:14 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor) follow. A Table comparing Matthew 10:28 in the NET and KJV follows those.

Exodus 12:17 (Tanakh)	Exodus 12:17 (KJV)	Exodus 12:17 (NET)
And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt; therefore shall ye observe this day throughout your generations by an ordinance for ever.	And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever.	So you will keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because on this very day I brought your regiments out from the land of Egypt, and so you must keep this day perpetually as a lasting ordinance.

Exodus 12:17 (Septuagint BLB)	Exodus 12:17 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ φυλάξεσθε τὴν ἐντολὴν ταύτην ἐν γὰρ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ταύτῃ ἐξάξω τὴν δύναμιν ὑμῶν ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου καὶ ποιήσετε τὴν ἡμέραν ταύτην εἰς γενεὰς ὑμῶν νόμιμον αἰώνιον	καὶ φυλάξετε τὴν ἐντολὴν ταύτην· ἐν γὰρ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ταύτῃ ἐξάξω τὴν δύναμιν ὑμῶν ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου, καὶ ποιήσετε τὴν ἡμέραν ταύτην εἰς γενεὰς ὑμῶν νόμιμον αἰώνιον
Exodus 12:17 (NETS)	Exodus 12:17 (English Elpenor)
And you shall keep this commandment. For on this day I will bring your host out of the land of Egypt, and you shall make this day throughout your generations a perpetual precept.	And ye shall keep this commandment, for on this day will I bring out your force out of the land of Egypt; and ye shall make this day a perpetual ordinance for you throughout your generations.

Exodus 12:14 (Tanakh)	Exodus 12:14 (KJV)	Exodus 12:14 (NET)
And this day shall be unto you for a memorial, and ye shall keep it a feast to HaShem; throughout your generations ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.	And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.	“‘This day will become a memorial for you, and you will celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—you will celebrate it perpetually as a lasting ordinance.

Exodus 12:14 (Septuagint BLB)	Exodus 12:14 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἔσται ἡ ἡμέρα ὑμῗν αὕτη μνημόσυνον καὶ ἑορτάσετε αὐτὴν ἑορτὴν κυρίῳ εἰς πάσας τὰς γενεὰς ὑμῶν νόμιμον αἰώνιον ἑορτάσετε αὐτήν	καὶ ἔσται ἡ ἡμέρα ὑμῖν αὕτη μνημόσυνον· καὶ ἑορτάσετε αὐτὴν ἑορτὴν Κυρίῳ εἰς πάσας τὰς γενεὰς ὑμῶν· νόμιμον αἰώνιον ἑορτάσετε αὐτήν
Exodus 12:14 (NETS)	Exodus 12:14 (English Elpenor)
And this day shall be a memorial for you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall celebrate it as a perpetual precept.	And this day shall be to you a memorial, and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord through all your generations; ye shall keep it a feast for a perpetual ordinance.

Matthew 10:28 (NET)	Matthew 10:28 (KJV)
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.	And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
καὶ μὴ \|φοβεῖσθε\| ἀπὸ τῶν \|ἀποκτεννόντων\| τὸ σῶμα, τὴν δὲ ψυχὴν μὴ δυναμένων ἀποκτεῖναι· φοβεῖσθε δὲ μᾶλλον τὸν δυνάμενον καὶ ψυχὴν καὶ σῶμα ἀπολέσαι ἐν γεέννῃ	και μη φοβηθητε απο των αποκτεινοντων το σωμα την δε ψυχην μη δυναμενων αποκτειναι φοβηθητε δε μαλλον τον δυναμενον και ψυχην και σωμα απολεσαι εν γεεννη	και μη φοβεισθε απο των αποκτενοντων το σωμα την δε ψυχην μη δυναμενων αποκτειναι φοβηθητε δε μαλλον τον δυναμενον και την ψυχην και το σωμα απολεσαι εν γεεννη

Back to Christ-Centered Preaching, Chapter 2

^[1] “Timothy Mahoney Interview on Patterns of Evidence,” July 21, 2015, TheBestSchools

^[2] Romans 9:6b, 7a (NET)

^[3] “Patterns of Evidence: Exodus, A Filmmaker’s Journey,” by Timothy P. Mahoney; with Steven Law; St. Louis Park: MN, Thinking Man Media, 2015, p. 38

^[4] ibid, pp. 38-39

^[5] ibid, p. 51

^[6] ibid, p. 52

^[7] Mark 7:13 (NET)

^[8] “Patterns of Evidence: Exodus, A Filmmaker’s Journey,” by Timothy P. Mahoney; with Steven Law; St. Louis Park: MN, Thinking Man Media, 2015, p. 55

^[9] ibid, pp. 56-57

^[10] ibid, p. 173

^[11] ibid, p. 173

^[12] ibid, p. 42

^[13] ibid, p. 43

^[14] ibid, pp. 173, 174

^[15] ibid, p. 174

^[16] ibid, p. 66

^[17] Exodus 12:17b (Tanakh)

^[18] Exodus 12:14 (Tanakh) The Hebrew word translated Hashem was לַֽיהֹוָ֑ה (Yehovah).

^[19] “Patterns of Evidence: Exodus, A Filmmaker’s Journey,” by Timothy P. Mahoney; with Steven Law; St. Louis Park: MN, Thinking Man Media, 2015, pp. 59, 60

^[20] ibid, pp. 60, 61

^[21] ibid, p. 61

^[22] Matthew 26:54 (NET)

^[23] The Greek word translated faithfulness in Galatians 5:22 (NET) was πίστις.

^[24] Galatians 2:20b (NET)

^[25] The NET parallel Greek text, NA²⁸ and Byzantine Majority Text had φοβεῖσθε here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus had φοβηθητε (KJV: fear).

^[26] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ἀποκτεννόντων here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus had αποκτεινοντων and the Byzantine Majority Text had αποκτενοντων.

^[27] Matthew 10:28a (NET)

^[28] John 17:3 (NET)

^[29] Galatians 5:22b-23a (NET) Table

^[30] John 6:44a (NET) Table

^[31] John 12:32 (NET) NET note (67): Grk “all.” The word “people” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for stylistic reasons and for clarity (cf. KJV “all men”). I removed people for accuracy: καγὼ ἐὰν ὑψωθῶ ἐκ τῆς γῆς, πάντας ἑλκύσω πρὸς ἐμαυτόν. There is no word limiting this drawing to people in the Greek text.

^[32] Romans 9:16 (NET) Table

^[33] Romans 11:32 (NET) NET note (24): Grk “to all”; “them” has been supplied for stylistic reasons. Here again I removed people and them: συνέκλεισεν γὰρ ὁ θεὸς τοὺς πάντας εἰς ἀπείθειαν, ἵνα τοὺς πάντας ἐλεήσῃ. I wrote about τοὺς πάντας in another essay. For God was pleased to have all (πᾶν) his fullness dwell in the Son and through him to reconcile all things (τὰ πάντα) to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross—through him, whether things on earth or things in heaven (Colossians 1:19, 20 NET).

^[34] Acts 26:14b (NET) Table

To Make Holy, Part 8

Posted on May 15, 2020 by admin

The next form of ἁγιάζω I want to consider is found in Jesus’ prayer to his Father: Set them apart (ἁγίασον, a form of ἁγιάζω) in the truth; your word is truth.^[1] But I’m making a slow pilgrimage through his prayer because I believe I can know his holiness here. Jesus prayer continued (John 17:14, 15 NET):

I have given them your word, and the world has hated them, because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but that you keep them safe from the evil one.

The Greek words translated your word were τὸν λόγον σου. Jesus had spoken to a Samaritan woman (John 4:39-42 NET):

Now many Samaritans^[2] from that town believed in him because of the report of the woman who testified, “He told me everything I ever^[3] did.” So when the Samaritans^[4] came to him, they began asking him to stay with them. He stayed there two days, and because of his word many more believed. They said to the woman, “No longer do we believe because of your words, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this one really is the Savior of the world.”^[5]

The Greek words translated the report of the woman were τὸν λόγον τῆς γυναικὸς. So I have the word of the woman to contrast with the word of Jesus’ father: Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did, the woman told her friends. Surely he can’t be the Messiah (ὁ χριστός), can he?^[6] Her friends believed her enough to obey her: So^[7] they left the town and began coming to him.^[8] I should back up to point out that the woman’s word which her friends obeyed was a relatively tentative presentation of Jesus’ word (John 4:25, 26 NET):

The woman said to [Jesus], “I know that Messiah^[9] is coming” (the one called Christ); “whenever he comes, he will tell us everything.”^[10] Jesus said to her, “I, the one speaking to you, am he.”

The woman’s friends also demonstrated their faith in her word, a relatively tentative presentation of Jesus’ word, by asking Jesus to stay with them. The Greek word translated to stay was μεῖναι (a form of μένω). Other forms of μένω occur in Jesus’ teaching to his disciples (John 15:4 NET):

Remain (μείνατε, another form of μένω) in me, and I will remain in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains^[11] (μένῃ, another form of μένω) in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain^[12] (μένητε, another form of μένω) in me.

Jesus stayed (ἔμεινεν, another form of μένω) there two days, and because of his word (τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ) many more believed. After two days these Samaritans had acquired two important concepts: 1) They had learned to value Jesus’ word above that of the woman. This is my daily prayer: “Please let any who read these essays hear your voice instead of mine.” And, 2) they knew Jesus as the Savior of the world (ο σωτηρ του κοσμου).

These Samaritans didn’t know Jesus as a conqueror who would overthrow the Romans and bring the whole world into submission to the descendants of Israel. They knew Him as the Savior of the world at a time when his own hand-picked disciples were chomping at the bit for Him to get down to the serious messianic business of overthrowing the Romans and restoring the kingdom to Israel. And lest I suppose that these were just ignorant Samaritans, their knowledge agreed with the the word of God through Jesus and a much more spiritually mature John, one of the original twelve disciples: For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him (σωθῇ ὁ κόσμος δι᾿ αὐτοῦ).^[13]

Here is the next occurrence of λόγον in John’s Gospel narrative (John 5:24-30 NET):

“I tell you the solemn truth, the one who hears my message and believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned (κρίσιν, a form of κρίσις), but has crossed over from death to life. I tell you the solemn truth, a time is coming—and is now here—when the dead will hear^[14] the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 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 (κρίσιν, a form of κρίσις), because he is the Son of Man.

“Do not be amazed at this, because a time is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear^[15] his voice and will come out—the ones who have done what is good (ἀγαθὰ, a form of ἀγαθός) to the resurrection resulting in life, and the ones who have done what is evil (φαῦλα, a form of φαῦλος) to the resurrection resulting in condemnation (κρίσεως, another form of κρίσις). I can do nothing on my own initiative. Just as I hear, I judge (κρίνω), and my judgment (κρίσις) is just, because I do not seek my own will, but the will of the one^[16] who sent me.

The Greek words translated my message were τὸν λόγον μου. I assume that the dead, in the dead (νεκροὶ, a form of νεκρός) will hear the voice of the Son of God, referred to something more like what Paul meant when he wrote to believers in Ephesus: you were dead (νεκροὺς, another form of νεκρός) in your offenses and sins^[17] (Ephesians 2:1-10). And all who are in the tombs will hear his voice seems fairly obvious in its reference to something more like Matthew’s Gospel account (Matthew 27:50-53). The implication is consistent that to hear Jesus’ word is a divinely facilitated activity: So then faith comes by hearing (ἀκοῆς, a form of ἀκοή), and hearing (ἀκοὴ) by the word (ρήματος, a form of ῥῆμα) of God.^[18]

The human part in hearing is to sit and listen, or read and study as the case may be, rather than to hold one’s ears and flee in terror. And if one is as slow and stupid as I have been, hearing may take longer relative to another less prone to argument. One of my best teachers in college had been a mediocre student. It made him very aware as a teacher of the information that had confused him as a student.

The dead will hear the voice of the Son of God who has been granted authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. I can do nothing on my own initiative, the Judge proclaimed. Just as I hear (ἀκούω), I judge (κρίνω), and my judgment (κρίσις) is just, because I do not seek my own will, but the will of the one who sent me…not…to condemn (κρίνῃ, a form of κρίνω) the world, but that the world should be saved through [me]. The words are important.

The Judge whom God sent that the world should be saved through him continued (John 5:36-40 NET):

I have a testimony greater than that from John (John 5:33-35; 1:6-8; 1:19-37; 3:22-36). For the deeds that the Father has assigned me to complete—the deeds I^[19] am now doing—testify about me that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself^[20] testified about me. You people have never heard (ἀκηκόατε, a form of ἀκούω) his voice nor seen his form at any time, nor do you have his word residing in you, because you do not believe the one whom he sent. You study^[21] the scriptures thoroughly because you think in them you possess eternal life (ζωὴν αἰώνιον), and it is these same scriptures that testify about me, but you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life.

The Greek words translated his word were τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ, and residing was μενοντα (another form of μένω). When I studied the Bible searching for rules to obey I wasn’t consciously seeking to know…the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom [He] sent,^[22] ἡ αἰώνιος ζωὴ, eternal life according to Jesus in prayer to his Father. So despite my best efforts to curry favor with God by finding more and more rules to (dis-)obey, I did begin to know Him. And it was a little frustrating to me that He showed mercy far too often rather than meting out the punishment the law required.

Why don’t you understand what I am saying? Jesus continued (John 8:43-47 NET):

It is because you cannot accept (ἀκούειν, another form of ἀκούω) my teaching. You people are from your father the devil, and you want to do what your father desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies [Table]. But because I am telling you the truth, you do not believe me. Who among you can prove me guilty of any sin? If^[23] I am telling you the truth, why don’t you believe me? The one who belongs to God listens and responds to (ἀκούει, another form of ἀκούω) God’s words (ρήματα, another form of ῥῆμα). You don’t listen and respond (ἀκούετε, another form of ἀκούω), because you don’t belong to God.”

The Greek words translated my teaching were τὸν λόγον τὸν ἐμόν. Jesus spoke to those Judeans who had believed him, but this truth applies to all human beings not yet born from above. And I would encourage those born from above to take it to heart as well. I’ve heard some claim freedom from all residue of sin and the old nature, but it’s not my experience. I agree with Paul that when I want to do good (καλόν, a form of καλός), evil (κακὸν, a form of κακός) is present with me.^[24] Evil doesn’t always win out, in the sense that it is what comes out of me, yet it is always an option but for the grace of God, the fruit of his Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:16-23).

I am not trying to get (ζητῶ, a form of ζητέω) praise for myself, Jesus continued (John 8:50-56 NET).

There is one who demands (ζητῶν, another form of ζητέω) it, and he also judges (κρίνων, a form of κρίνω). I tell you the solemn truth, if anyone obeys (τηρήσῃ, a form of τηρέω) my teaching,^[25] he will never see death.”^[26]

Then^[27] the Judeans responded, “Now we know you’re possessed by a demon! Both Abraham and the prophets died, and yet you say, ‘If anyone obeys (τηρήσῃ, a form of τηρέω) my teaching, he will never experience death.’^[28] You aren’t greater than our father Abraham who died, are you? And the prophets died too! Who do you claim to be?” [Table] Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory is worthless. The one who glorifies^[29] me is my Father, about whom you people say, ‘He is our^[30] God.’ Yet you do not know him, but I know him. If^[31] I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you.^[32] But^[33] I do know him, and I obey (τηρῶ, another form of τηρέω) his teaching. Your father Abraham was overjoyed to see my day, and he saw it and was glad.”

The Greek words translated my teaching were τὸν ἐμὸν λόγον and τὸν λόγον μου respectively, and his teaching was τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ. Jesus continued (John 14:23-26 NET):

“If anyone loves me, he will obey (τηρήσει, another form of τηρέω) my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and take up residence with him [Table]. The person who does not love me does not obey (τηρεῖ, another form of τηρέω) my words. And the word you hear (ἀκούετε, another form of ἀκούω) is not mine, but the Father’s who sent me.

“I have spoken these things while staying (μένων, another form of μένω) with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and will cause you to remember everything I said to you [Table].

The Greek words translated my word were τὸν λόγον μου and my words were τοὺς λόγους μου. When Jesus speaks, however, the word (ὁ λόγος) you hear is not mine (οὐκ ἔστιν ἐμὸς), but the Father’s who sent me. He continued (John 15:1-4 NET):

I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener. He takes away every branch that does not bear fruit in me. He prunes every branch that bears fruit so that it will bear more fruit. You are clean already because of the word that I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me.

I think it’s prudent here to highlight all of the meanings of the Greek word translated takes away (αἴρει, a form of αἴρω): “to lift up, take up, pick up; to look up (in prayer); to move upward, raise vertically; to raise to a higher level; to take up and carry along; to lift up and carry away, remove; to take away, remove (no suggestion of lifting up); to bear with, endure; to carry, transport; to bear and uphold; to be dressed as an office-bearer; to cause to emerge.” If one fears punishment for a failure to do good works then takes away may be an appropriate understanding of αἴρει. And I have accepted this understanding uncritically until this very moment.

I plan to do a thorough word study of forms of αἴρω in another essay. Here I’ll propose that if one has begun to know the love of God through Jesus Christ, There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment (κόλασιν, a form of κόλασις).^[34] In that light I’m willing to consider some of the other meanings of αἴρει that may describe the Father’s activity in my life better: “to lift up, take up, pick up; to move upward, raise vertically; to raise to a higher level; to take up and carry along; to bear with, endure; to carry, transport; to bear and uphold; to cause to emerge.”

The Greek words translated the word were τὸν λόγον. The Greek word translated He prunes was καθαίρει (a form of καθαίρω), which means: “to make clean, purge, cleanse; to remove impurities and things undesirable; to sift, winnow (grain).” It is essentially the verb form of the noun translated clean (καθαροί, a form of καθαρός), which means: “clear; pure, containing no foreign mixture (e.g., pure gold); morally pure, religiously pure; clean, free from dirt; released from the power of (an oath); free from guilt, innocent.”

Remember what I told you, Jesus continued, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they obeyed (ἐτήρησαν, another form of τηρέω) my word, they will obey (τηρήσουσιν, another form of τηρέω) yours too.^[35] The Greek words translated my word were τὸν λόγον μου.

And finally Jesus prayed (John 17:6-8 NET):

I have revealed your name to the men you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have obeyed (τετήρηκαν, another form of τηρέω) your word [Table]. Now they understand that everything you have given me comes^[36] from you, because I have given them the words you have given^[37] me. They accepted them and really understand that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.

The Greek words translated your word were τὸν λόγον σου. And with this I’ve completed a fairly thorough examination of what Jesus meant by I have given them your word^[38] (ἐγὼ δέδωκα αὐτοῖς τὸν λόγον σου) according to John’s Gospel narrative. I want to return to examine other words in John 17:14 and 15 in more detail in other essays.

Tables comparing John 4:39, 40; 4:42; 4:30; 4:25; 15:4; 5:25; 5:28; 5:30; 5:36, 37; 8:46; 8:51, 52; 8:54, 55 and 17:7, 8 in the NET and KJV follow.

John 4:39, 40 (NET)	John 4:39, 40 (KJV)
Now many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the report of the woman who testified, “He told me everything I ever did.”	And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
Ἐκ δὲ τῆς πόλεως ἐκείνης πολλοὶ ἐπίστευσαν εἰς αὐτὸν τῶν Σαμαριτῶν διὰ τὸν λόγον τῆς γυναικὸς μαρτυρούσης ὅτι εἶπεν μοι πάντα ἃ ἐποίησα	εκ δε της πολεως εκεινης πολλοι επιστευσαν εις αυτον των σαμαρειτων δια τον λογον της γυναικος μαρτυρουσης οτι ειπεν μοι παντα οσα εποιησα	εκ δε της πολεως εκεινης πολλοι επιστευσαν εις αυτον των σαμαρειτων δια τον λογον της γυναικος μαρτυρουσης οτι ειπεν μοι παντα οσα εποιησα

So when the Samaritans came to him, they began asking him to stay with them. He stayed there two days,

So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ὡς οὖν ἦλθον πρὸς αὐτὸν οἱ Σαμαρῖται, ἠρώτων αὐτὸν μεῖναι παρ᾿ αὐτοῖς· καὶ ἔμεινεν ἐκεῖ δύο ἡμέρας	ως ουν ηλθον προς αυτον οι σαμαρειται ηρωτων αυτον μειναι παρ αυτοις και εμεινεν εκει δυο ημερας	ως ουν ηλθον προς αυτον οι σαμαρειται ηρωτων αυτον μειναι παρ αυτοις και εμεινεν εκει δυο ημερας

John 4:42 (NET)	John 4:42 (KJV)
They said to the woman, “No longer do we believe because of your words, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this one really is the Savior of the world.”	And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
τῇ τε γυναικὶ ἔλεγον \|ὅτι\| οὐκέτι διὰ τὴν σὴν λαλιὰν πιστεύομεν, αὐτοὶ γὰρ ἀκηκόαμεν καὶ οἴδαμεν ὅτι οὗτος ἐστιν ἀληθῶς ὁ σωτὴρ τοῦ κόσμου	τη τε γυναικι ελεγον οτι ουκετι δια την σην λαλιαν πιστευομεν αυτοι γαρ ακηκοαμεν και οιδαμεν οτι ουτος εστιν αληθως ο σωτηρ του κοσμου ο χριστος	τη τε γυναικι ελεγον οτι ουκετι δια την σην λαλιαν πιστευομεν αυτοι γαρ ακηκοαμεν και οιδαμεν οτι ουτος εστιν αληθως ο σωτηρ του κοσμου ο χριστος

John 4:30 (NET)	John 4:30 (KJV)
So they left the town and began coming to him.	Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ἐξῆλθον ἐκ τῆς πόλεως καὶ ἤρχοντο πρὸς αὐτόν	εξηλθον ουν εκ της πολεως και ηρχοντο προς αυτον	εξηλθον εκ της πολεως και ηρχοντο προς αυτον

John 4:25 (NET)	John 4:25 (KJV)
The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (the one called Christ); “whenever he comes, he will tell us everything.”	The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
λέγει αὐτῷ ἡ γυνή· οἶδα ὅτι Μεσσίας ἔρχεται (ὁ λεγόμενος χριστός)· ὅταν ἔλθῃ ἐκεῖνος, ἀναγγελεῖ ἡμῖν ἅπαντα	λεγει αυτω η γυνη οιδα οτι μεσσιας ερχεται ο λεγομενος χριστος οταν ελθη εκεινος αναγγελει ημιν παντα	λεγει αυτω η γυνη οιδα οτι μεσιας ερχεται ο λεγομενος χριστος οταν ελθη εκεινος αναγγελει ημιν παντα

John 15:4 (NET)	John 15:4 (KJV)
Remain in me, and I will remain in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me.	Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
μείνατε ἐν ἐμοί, καγὼ ἐν ὑμῖν. καθὼς τὸ κλῆμα οὐ δύναται καρπὸν φέρειν ἀφ᾿ ἑαυτοῦ ἐὰν μὴ μένῃ ἐν τῇ ἀμπέλῳ, οὕτως οὐδὲ ὑμεῖς ἐὰν μὴ ἐν ἐμοὶ μένητε	μεινατε εν εμοι καγω εν υμιν καθως το κλημα ου δυναται καρπον φερειν αφ εαυτου εαν μη μεινη εν τη αμπελω ουτως ουδε υμεις εαν μη εν εμοι μεινητε	μεινατε εν εμοι καγω εν υμιν καθως το κλημα ου δυναται καρπον φερειν αφ εαυτου εαν μη μεινη εν τη αμπελω ουτως ουδε υμεις εαν μη εν εμοι μεινητε

John 5:25 (NET)	John 5:25 (KJV)
I tell you the solemn truth, a time is coming—and is now here—when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.	Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι ἔρχεται ὥρα καὶ νῦν ἐστιν ὅτε οἱ νεκροὶ ἀκούσουσιν τῆς φωνῆς τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ οἱ ἀκούσαντες ζήσουσιν	αμην αμην λεγω υμιν οτι ερχεται ωρα και νυν εστιν οτε οι νεκροι ακουσονται της φωνης του υιου του θεου και οι ακουσαντες ζησονται	αμην αμην λεγω υμιν οτι ερχεται ωρα και νυν εστιν οτε οι νεκροι ακουσονται της φωνης του υιου του θεου και οι ακουσαντες ζησονται

John 5:28 (NET)	John 5:28 (KJV)
“Do not be amazed at this, because a time is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice	Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
μὴ θαυμάζετε τοῦτο, ὅτι ἔρχεται ὥρα ἐν ᾗ πάντες οἱ ἐν τοῖς μνημείοις ἀκούσουσιν τῆς φωνῆς αὐτοῦ	μη θαυμαζετε τουτο οτι ερχεται ωρα εν η παντες οι εν τοις μνημειοις ακουσονται της φωνης αυτου	μη θαυμαζετε τουτο οτι ερχεται ωρα εν η παντες οι εν τοις μνημειοις ακουσονται της φωνης αυτου

John 5:30 (NET)	John 5:30 (KJV)
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.	I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
Οὐ δύναμαι ἐγὼ ποιεῖν ἀπ᾿ ἐμαυτοῦ οὐδέν· καθὼς ἀκούω κρίνω, καὶ ἡ κρίσις ἡ ἐμὴ δικαία ἐστίν, ὅτι οὐ ζητῶ τὸ θέλημα τὸ ἐμὸν ἀλλὰ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ πέμψαντος με	ου δυναμαι εγω ποιειν απ εμαυτου ουδεν καθως ακουω κρινω και η κρισις η εμη δικαια εστιν οτι ου ζητω το θελημα το εμον αλλα το θελημα του πεμψαντος με πατρος	ου δυναμαι εγω ποιειν απ εμαυτου ουδεν καθως ακουω κρινω και η κρισις η εμη δικαια εστιν οτι ου ζητω το θελημα το εμον αλλα το θελημα του πεμψαντος με πατρος

John 5:36, 37 (NET)	John 5:36, 37 (KJV)
I have a testimony greater than that from John. For the deeds that the Father has assigned me to complete—the deeds I am now doing—testify about me that the Father has sent me.	But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
Ἐγὼ δὲ ἔχω τὴν μαρτυρίαν μείζω τοῦ Ἰωάννου· τὰ γὰρ ἔργα ἃ δέδωκεν μοι ὁ πατὴρ ἵνα τελειώσω αὐτά, αὐτὰ τὰ ἔργα ἃ ποιῶ μαρτυρεῖ περὶ ἐμοῦ ὅτι ὁ πατήρ με ἀπέσταλκεν	εγω δε εχω την μαρτυριαν μειζω του ιωαννου τα γαρ εργα α εδωκεν μοι ο πατηρ ινα τελειωσω αυτα αυτα τα εργα α εγω ποιω μαρτυρει περι εμου οτι ο πατηρ με απεσταλκεν	εγω δε εχω την μαρτυριαν μειζω του ιωαννου τα γαρ εργα α εδωκεν μοι ο πατηρ ινα τελειωσω αυτα αυτα τα εργα α εγω ποιω μαρτυρει περι εμου οτι ο πατηρ με απεσταλκεν

And the Father who sent me has himself testified about me. You people have never heard his voice nor seen his form at any time,

And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
καὶ ὁ πέμψας με πατὴρ ἐκεῖνος μεμαρτύρηκεν περὶ ἐμοῦ. οὔτε φωνὴν αὐτοῦ πώποτε ἀκηκόατε οὔτε εἶδος αὐτοῦ ἑωράκατε	και ο πεμψας με πατηρ αυτος μεμαρτυρηκεν περι εμου ουτε φωνην αυτου ακηκοατε πωποτε ουτε ειδος αυτου εωρακατε	και ο πεμψας με πατηρ αυτος μεμαρτυρηκεν περι εμου ουτε φωνην αυτου ακηκοατε πωποτε ουτε ειδος αυτου εωρακατε

John 8:46 (NET)	John 8:46 (KJV)
Who among you can prove me guilty of any sin? If I am telling you the truth, why don’t you believe me?	Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
τίς ἐξ ὑμῶν ἐλέγχει με περὶ ἁμαρτίας; εἰ ἀλήθειαν λέγω, διὰ τί ὑμεῖς οὐ πιστεύετε μοι	τις εξ υμων ελεγχει με περι αμαρτιας ει δε αληθειαν λεγω δια τι υμεις ου πιστευετε μοι	τις εξ υμων ελεγχει με περι αμαρτιας ει δε αληθειαν λεγω δια τι υμεις ου πιστευετε μοι

John 8:51, 52 (NET)	John 8:51, 52 (KJV)
I tell you the solemn truth, if anyone obeys my teaching, he will never see death.”	Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ἐάν τις τὸν ἐμὸν λόγον τηρήσῃ, θάνατον οὐ μὴ θεωρήσῃ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα	αμην αμην λεγω υμιν εαν τις τον λογον τον εμον τηρηση θανατον ου μη θεωρηση εις τον αιωνα	αμην αμην λεγω υμιν εαν τις τον λογον τον εμον τηρηση θανατον ου μη θεωρηση εις τον αιωνα

Then the Judeans responded, “Now we know you’re possessed by a demon! Both Abraham and the prophets died, and yet you say, ‘If anyone obeys my teaching, he will never experience death.’

Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
εἶπον αὐτῷ οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι· νῦν ἐγνώκαμεν ὅτι δαιμόνιον ἔχεις. Ἀβραὰμ ἀπέθανεν καὶ οἱ προφῆται, καὶ σὺ λέγεις· ἐάν τις τὸν λόγον μου τηρήσῃ, οὐ μὴ γεύσηται θανάτου εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα	ειπον ουν αυτω οι ιουδαιοι νυν εγνωκαμεν οτι δαιμονιον εχεις αβρααμ απεθανεν και οι προφηται και συ λεγεις εαν τις τον λογον μου τηρηση ου μη γευσεται θανατου εις τον αιωνα	ειπον ουν αυτω οι ιουδαιοι νυν εγνωκαμεν οτι δαιμονιον εχεις αβρααμ απεθανεν και οι προφηται και συ λεγεις εαν τις τον λογον μου τηρηση ου μη γευσηται θανατου εις τον αιωνα

John 8:54, 55 (NET)	John 8:54, 55 (KJV)
Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory is worthless. The one who glorifies me is my Father, about whom you people say, ‘He is our God.’	Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God:

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς· ἐὰν ἐγὼ δοξάσω ἐμαυτόν, ἡ δόξα μου οὐδέν ἐστιν· ἔστιν ὁ πατήρ μου ὁ δοξάζων με, ὃν ὑμεῖς λέγετε ὅτι θεὸς \|ἡμῶν\| ἐστιν	απεκριθη ιησους εαν εγω δοξαζω εμαυτον η δοξα μου ουδεν εστιν εστιν ο πατηρ μου ο δοξαζων με ον υμεις λεγετε οτι θεος υμων εστιν	απεκριθη ιησους εαν εγω δοξαζω εμαυτον η δοξα μου ουδεν εστιν εστιν ο πατηρ μου ο δοξαζων με ον υμεις λεγετε οτι θεος ημων εστιν

Yet you do not know him, but I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him, and I obey his teaching.

Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
καὶ οὐκ ἐγνώκατε αὐτόν, ἐγὼ δὲ οἶδα αὐτόν. κὰν εἴπω ὅτι οὐκ οἶδα αὐτόν, ἔσομαι ὅμοιος ὑμῖν ψεύστης· ἀλλὰ οἶδα αὐτὸν καὶ τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ τηρῶ	και ουκ εγνωκατε αυτον εγω δε οιδα αυτον και εαν ειπω οτι ουκ οιδα αυτον εσομαι ομοιος υμων ψευστης αλλ οιδα αυτον και τον λογον αυτου τηρω	και ουκ εγνωκατε αυτον εγω δε οιδα αυτον και εαν ειπω οτι ουκ οιδα αυτον εσομαι ομοιος υμων ψευστης αλλ οιδα αυτον και τον λογον αυτου τηρω

John 17:7, 8 (NET)	John 17:7, 8 (KJV)
Now they understand that everything you have given me comes from you,	Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
νῦν ἔγνωκαν ὅτι πάντα ὅσα \|δέδωκας\| μοι παρὰ σοῦ εἰσιν	νυν εγνωκαν οτι παντα οσα δεδωκας μοι παρα σου εστιν	νυν εγνωκαν οτι παντα οσα δεδωκας μοι παρα σου εστιν

because I have given them the words you have given me. They accepted them and really understand that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.

For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ὅτι τὰ ρήματα ἃ ἔδωκας μοι δέδωκα αὐτοῖς, καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔλαβον καὶ ἔγνωσαν ἀληθῶς ὅτι παρὰ σοῦ ἐξῆλθον, καὶ ἐπίστευσαν ὅτι σύ με ἀπέστειλας	οτι τα ρηματα α δεδωκας μοι δεδωκα αυτοις και αυτοι ελαβον και εγνωσαν αληθως οτι παρα σου εξηλθον και επιστευσαν οτι συ με απεστειλας	οτι τα ρηματα α δεδωκας μοι δεδωκα αυτοις και αυτοι ελαβον και εγνωσαν αληθως οτι παρα σου εξηλθον και επιστευσαν οτι συ με απεστειλας

To Make Holy, Part 9

Back to He Takes Away, Part 1

Back to He Takes Away, Part 3

Back to Psalm 22, Part 5

Back to The Will of God – Jesus, Part 1

Back to Who Am I? Part 11

Back to The New Covenant, Part 3

Back to αὐτοῦ and ἑαυτοῦ, Part 1

Back to The Day of the Lord, Part 8

Back to Christ-Centered Preaching, Chapter 4, Part 2

^[1] John 17:17 (NET)

^[2] In the NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ Samaritans was spelled Σαμαριτῶν, and σαμαρειτων in the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text.

^[3] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ἃ, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had οσα (KJV: that ever).

^[4] In the NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ Samaritans was spelled Σαμαρῖται, and σαμαρειται in the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text.

^[5] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ο χριστος (KJV: the Christ) following world. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

^[6] John 4:29 (NET)

^[7] The Stephanus Textus Receptus had ουν (KJV: Then) here. The NET parallel Greek text, NA²⁸ and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

^[8] John 4:30 (NET)

^[9] In the NET parallel Greek text, NA²⁸ and Stephanus Textus Receptus Messiah was spelled Μεσσίας, and μεσιας in the Byzantine Majority Text.

^[10] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ἅπαντα here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had παντα (KJV: all things).

^[11] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had μένῃ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had μεινη (KJV: abide).

^[12] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had μένητε here, where the the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had μεινητε (KJV: abide).

^[13] John 3:17 (NET) Table

^[14] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ἀκούσουσιν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ακουσονται (KJV: shall hear). “THE MIDDLE VOICE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT,” by George J. Cline, Grace Theological Seminary, 1983

^[15] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ἀκούσουσιν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ακουσονται (KJV: shall hear).

^[16] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had πατρος (KJV: Father) here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

^[17] Ephesians 2:1 (NET) Table

^[18] Romans 10:17 (NKJV) Table

^[19] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had εγω here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

^[20] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ἐκεῖνος here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had αυτος.

^[21] Though the NET parallel Greek text, NA²⁸, Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text all had ἐραυνᾶτε here, the KJV translators treated it like the imperative ἐρευνήσατε (KJV: Search the scriptures), transforming Jesus’ observation into a command, a rule to obey. A sign of the Protestant times circa 1611 or an early example of product placement advertising? Addendum: July 14, 2020 – Somehow I missed that the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ερευνατε here.

^[22] John 17:3b (NET)

^[23] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had δε (KJV: And) here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

^[24] Romans 7:21 (NET)

^[25] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had the article τον preceding teaching and my. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had τον preceding my only.

^[26] The NET parallel Greek text, NA²⁸, Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα (not translated in NET or KJV) here. A note (134) in the NET translated it forever (2 Corinthians 5:1-10).

^[27] The Stephanus Textus Receptus, Byzantine Majority Text and NA²⁸ had ουν here. The NET parallel Greek text did not.

^[28] The NET parallel Greek text, NA²⁸, Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα (not translated in NET or KJV) here. A note (143) in the NET translated it forever (2 Corinthians 5:1-10).

^[29] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had δοξάσω here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had δοξαζων (KJV: honoureth).

^[30] The NET parallel Greek text, NA²⁸ and Byzantine Majority Text had ἡμῶν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus had υμων (KJV: your).

^[31] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had κὰν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had και εαν (KJV: and if).

^[32] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ὑμῖν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had υμων (KJV: unto you).

^[33] The NET parallel Greek text had ἀλλὰ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus, Byzantine Majority Text and NA²⁸ had ἀλλ’.

^[34] 1 John 4:18 (NET)

^[35] John 15:20 (NET)

^[36] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had εἰσιν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had εστιν (KJV: are).

^[37] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ἔδωκας here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had δεδωκας (KJV: thou gavest).

^[38] John 17:14a (NET)

A Shadow of the Good Things, Part 5

Posted on April 21, 2020 by admin

Another statement of the law of the Sabbath in Exodus reads as follows:

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Exodus 23:12 (Tanakh)	Exodus 23:12 (NET)	Exodus 23:12 (NETS)	Exodus 23:12 (English Elpenor)
Six days thou shalt do thy work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest (תִּשְׁבֹּ֑ת); that thine ox and thine ass may have rest (יָנ֗וּחַ), and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.	For six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you must cease (shâbath, תשבת), in order that your ox and your donkey may rest (nûach, ינוח) and that your female servant’s son and the resident foreigner may refresh themselves.	Six days you shall do your tasks, but on the seventh day you shall rest (ἀνάπαυσις) in order that your ox and your draft animal might rest (ἀναπαύσηται) and that the son of your female servant and the guest might be refreshed.	Six days shalt thou do thy works, and on the seventh day there shall be rest (ἀνάπαυσις), that thine ox and thine ass may rest (ἀναπαύσηται), and that the son of thy maid-servant and the stranger may be refreshed.

All of these translations pass the test—The Sabbath was made for people, not people for the Sabbath^[1]—in my opinion. Here rest was תִּשְׁבֹּ֑ת (shâbath) in the clause but on the seventh day thou shalt rest in the Masoretic text, and ἀνάπαυσις in the Septuagint. The Hebrew root is the same in and He rested (shâbath, וַיִּשְׁבֹּת֙) on the seventh day from all His work which He had made.^[2] The Greek root is the same in Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest (ἀνάπαυσιν, a form of ἀνάπαυσις) for your souls.^[3]

The second rest—that thine ox and thine ass may have rest—was יָנ֗וּחַ (nûach) in the Masoretic text and ἀναπαύσηται (a form of ἀναπαύω) in the Septuagint. The Hebrew root is the same in the ten commandments: in six days HaShem made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested (nûach, וַיָּ֖נַח) on the seventh day.^[4] The Greek root is the same in Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest (ἀναπαύσω, a form of ἀναπαύω).^[5]

I looked up may be refreshed out of curiosity: It was וְיִנָּפֵ֥שׁ (nâphash) in the Masoretic text and ἀναψύξῃ (a form of ἀναψύχω) in the Septuagint. There is only one occurrence of a form of ἀναψύχω in the New Testament (2 Timothy 1:16-18 NET):

May the Lord grant mercy to the family of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed (ἀνέψυξεν a form of ἀναψύχω) me and was not ashamed^[6] of my imprisonment. But when he arrived in Rome, he eagerly^[7] searched for me and found me. May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day! And you know very well all the ways he served me in Ephesus.

I was about to return to Exodus when a question came to mind: Did Paul consider Onesiphorus a fellow believer? May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day! Is that the way he would write about a fellow believer? I won’t argue yea or nay here. But it sent me back to Jesus’ teaching as it shed some light on something I had heard the night before. I’ll try to put all this back into perspicuous form.

I don’t listen to Todd Friel often. He is a bit snarky for my taste. (Perhaps, I should say that his snarkiness appeals way too much to my flesh.) Apparently, he did stand-up comedy^[8] in another life. The night before I began this study a YouTube video titled, “The #1 reason there are so many FALSE Christian converts,” was the clickbait I needed to deviate from my usual course. Mr. Friel explained:

The problem is they aren’t presenting the gospel…God will pull the rug out from under anybody to get their attention. But it’s not that He wants them to come to him so the rug can be replaced. He wants to get their attention so that they recognize: You’re at the end of your rope because I hold the rope, and one day I’m going to pull your rope in and I am going to judge you for every thought, word and deed. And if you are not hidden in the cleft of the rock, My Son the Lord Jesus Christ, I will grind you to powder.

The next morning Paul’s prayer for Onesiphorus—May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day—sent me back to Jesus’ description of that day (Matthew 25:31-40 NET):

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be assembled before him, and he will separate people one from another like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats [Table]. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited^[12] me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you sick^[13] or in prison and visit you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘I tell you the truth, just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine, you did it for me.’

The Greek word translated brothers or sisters was ἀδελφῶν (a form of ἀδελφός). Paul wrote believers in Rome (Romans 8:28-30 NET):

And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose, because those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters (ἀδελφοῖς, another form of ἀδελφός). And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified.

Those who were accursed demonstrated no care or concern (Matthew 25:42-45) for Jesus’ brothers and sisters: “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels!’^[14] And these will depart into eternal punishment, but the righteous (e.g., those who demonstrated some level of care or concern for Jesus’ brothers and sisters) into eternal life.”^[15]

For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, Jesus taught his disciples, so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes (John 5:21-24 NET).

Furthermore, the Father does not judge anyone, but has assigned all judgment to the Son, so that all people will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him [Table].

“I tell you the solemn truth, the one who hears my message and believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned, but has crossed over from death to life.

Jesus defined eternal life for us in a prayer to his Father: Now this is eternal life—that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent.^[16] And the Holy Spirit reminded me of more knowledge of the Judge the Father appointed, who He is, how He judges. Jesus taught his disciples (Matthew 10:40-42 NET):

Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. Whoever receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive^[17] a prophet’s reward. Whoever receives a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive^[18] a righteous person’s reward. And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple, I tell you the truth, he will never lose his reward.

I received a gospel similar to the one presented by Mr. Friel: Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ or burn in hell for all eternity. I was five. I don’t recall any of the emotional baggage that would be so offensive to adults. It was simply another fact, like cross at the crosswalk with the light, or a bus will run you down. But there was always an undercurrent, and since I wasn’t availing myself of the word of God as a precision diagnostic and surgical instrument, I didn’t recognize that undercurrent as the flesh or the old man.

That undercurrent became progressively more vociferous throughout my young life:

I wanted to save myself from an eternity in a lake of fire. And now, lo and behold, I find that I have become—inadvertently—a Christian! Not a day goes by that I don’t discover yet another restriction in an endless list of prohibitions to which I must conform because I am a Christian! On top of that there is another endless list of things I must do because I am a Christian, chief among these is to rope my friends into a way of life I would not wish on my worst enemy.

If that undercurrent sounds a little like Joe Pesci in the movie My Cousin Vinny, well, that’s a bit of literary license. As a hilariously triumphant example of all things working together for good, even that undercurrent has become a strong motivation to rest in the fruit of the Holy Spirit—once I began to recognize that the voice of that undercurrent wasn’t mine.

I was one of the most false converts to Christ. But God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit hasn’t given up on me yet. Mr. Friel also mentioned substitutionary atonement as something important to the Gospel: For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received—that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures.^[19] For the wages of sin is death.^[20]

Clearly substitutionary atonement is of first importance. Given my history, however, I’m wary whenever the doctrine of substitutionary atonement substitutes faith in punishment for faith in Jesus Christ. David Instone-Brewer in his essay, “Did God Punish Jesus on the Cross?,” offers a better introduction to this concern than I have done or am doing here.

None of this is to discourage anyone from answering the call of God in Jesus Christ, just a reminder that God is not the enemy here. Sin is the enemy. For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received—that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures^[21] because this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him.^[22] I will not speak with you much longer, Jesus told his disciples, for the ruler of this world^[23] is coming. He has no power over me, but I am doing just what the Father commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father.^[24]

When Joeseph considered divorcing Mary because she was already pregnant, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit [Table]. She will give birth to a son and you will name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”^[25] He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we may cease from sinning and live for righteousness. By his wounds you were healed.^[26] John Piper preached a sermon—Christ Died for Our Sins That We Might Die to Sin—that is clearer than anything I’ve written.

It is true that there was wrath in the past. The Grand Canyon in Arizona is a visible memorial to a time when The Lord regretted that he had made humankind on the earth, and he was highly offended.^[27] There is a time of wrath and revelation of Jesus Christ yet to come. Now, dear friends, Peter wrote, do not let this one thing escape your notice, that a single day is like a thousand years with the Lord and a thousand years are like a single day. The^[28] Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some regard slowness, but is being patient toward you,^[29] because he does not wish for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.^[30]

Different believers estimate the strength of μακροθυμεῖ (a form of μακροθυμέω; NET: patient; KJV: longsuffering) and βουλόμενος (a form of βούλομαι) in different ways. The NET translators, for instance, chose wish for βουλόμενος where the KJV translators chose longsuffering. The Koine Greek Lexicon online indicates that forms of βούλομαι with a negative, as it is here (μὴ βουλόμενος), mean “to refuse, not to consent.” Likewise, I may have a different experience of God’s patience than one who has never strayed far from Christian faith.

To end this excursion where it began: the man who marveled at Jesus’ definition of eternal life in my musical composition not only alerted me to how illiterate I had actually become, caring more for the sounds of words than their meaning, he also provided me with a handy tool—this is—to begin to understand the Bible better. This Jew who found philosophical comfort in Buddhism, who thought that salvation by faith was too non-human to be true the last time I had any contact with him, was a great help to me in my journey to know the only true God and Jesus Christ. May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day.

Tables comparing Exodus 23:12 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and Exodus 23:12 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor) follow. Following those are tables comparing 2 Timothy 1:16, 17; 25:36; 25:39; 10:41; John 14:30 and 2 Peter 3:9 in the NET and KJV.

Exodus 23:12 (Tanakh)	Exodus 23:12 (KJV)	Exodus 23:12 (NET)
Six days thou shalt do thy work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest; that thine ox and thine ass may have rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.	Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.	For six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you must cease, in order that your ox and your donkey may rest and that your female servant’s son and the resident foreigner may refresh themselves.

Exodus 23:12 (Septuagint BLB)	Exodus 23:12 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἓξ ἡμέρας ποιήσεις τὰ ἔργα σου τῇ δὲ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ ἀνάπαυσις ἵνα ἀναπαύσηται ὁ βοῦς σου καὶ τὸ ὑποζύγιόν σου καὶ ἵνα ἀναψύξῃ ὁ υἱὸς τῆς παιδίσκης σου καὶ ὁ προσήλυτος	ἓξ ἡμέρας ποιήσεις τὰ ἔργα σου, τῇ δὲ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ ἀνάπαυσις, ἵνα ἀναπαύσηται ὁ βοῦς σου καὶ τὸ ὑποζύγιόν σου, καὶ ἵνα ἀναψύξῃ ὁ υἱὸς τῆς παιδίσκης σου καὶ ὁ προσήλυτος
Exodus 23:12 (NETS)	Exodus 23:12 (English Elpenor)
Six days you shall do your tasks, but on the seventh day you shall rest in order that your ox and your draft animal might rest and that the son of your female servant and the guest might be refreshed.	Six days shalt thou do thy works, and on the seventh day there shall be rest, that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and that the son of thy maid-servant and the stranger may be refreshed.

2 Timothy 1:16, 17 (NET)	2 Timothy 1:16, 17 (KJV)
May the Lord grant mercy to the family of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my imprisonment.	The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain:

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
δῴη ἔλεος ὁ κύριος τῷ Ὀνησιφόρου οἴκῳ, ὅτι πολλάκις με ἀνέψυξεν καὶ τὴν ἅλυσιν μου οὐκ ἐπαισχύνθη	δωη ελεος ο κυριος τω ονησιφορου οικω οτι πολλακις με ανεψυξεν και την αλυσιν μου ουκ επησχυνθη	δωη ελεος ο κυριος τω ονησιφορου οικω οτι πολλακις με ανεψυξεν και την αλυσιν μου ουκ επαισχυνθη

But when he arrived in Rome, he eagerly searched for me and found me.

But, when he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently, and found me.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ἀλλὰ γενόμενος ἐν Ῥώμῃ σπουδαίως ἐζήτησεν με καὶ εὗρεν	αλλα γενομενος εν ρωμη σπουδαιοτερον εζητησεν με και ευρεν	αλλα γενομενος εν ρωμη σπουδαιοτερον εζητησεν με και ευρεν

Matthew 25:36 (NET)	Matthew 25:36 (KJV)
I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’	Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
γυμνὸς καὶ περιεβάλετε με, ἠσθένησα καὶ ἐπεσκέψασθε με, ἐν φυλακῇ ἤμην καὶ ἤλθατε πρός με	γυμνος και περιεβαλετε με ησθενησα και επεσκεψασθε με εν φυλακη ημην και ηλθετε προς με	γυμνος και περιεβαλετε με ησθενησα και επεσκεψασθε με εν φυλακη ημην και ηλθετε προς με

Matthew 25:39 (NET)	Matthew 25:39 (KJV)
When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’	Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
πότε δέ σε εἴδομεν ἀσθενοῦντα ἢ ἐν φυλακῇ καὶ ἤλθομεν πρός σε	ποτε δε σε ειδομεν ασθενη η εν φυλακη και ηλθομεν προς σε	ποτε δε σε ειδομεν ασθενη η εν φυλακη και ηλθομεν προς σε

Matthew 10:41 (NET)	Matthew 10:41 (KJV)
Whoever receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward. Whoever receives a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward.	He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ὁ δεχόμενος προφήτην εἰς ὄνομα προφήτου μισθὸν προφήτου λήμψεται, καὶ ὁ δεχόμενος δίκαιον εἰς ὄνομα δικαίου μισθὸν δικαίου λήμψεται	ο δεχομενος προφητην εις ονομα προφητου μισθον προφητου ληψεται και ο δεχομενος δικαιον εις ονομα δικαιου μισθον δικαιου ληψεται	ο δεχομενος προφητην εις ονομα προφητου μισθον προφητου ληψεται και ο δεχομενος δικαιον εις ονομα δικαιου μισθον δικαιου ληψεται

John 14:30 (NET)	John 14:30 (KJV)
I will not speak with you much longer, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me,	Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
οὐκέτι πολλὰ λαλήσω μεθ᾿ ὑμῶν, ἔρχεται γὰρ ὁ τοῦ κόσμου ἄρχων· καὶ ἐν ἐμοὶ οὐκ ἔχει οὐδέν	ουκ ετι πολλα λαλησω μεθ υμων ερχεται γαρ ο του κοσμου τουτου αρχων και εν εμοι ουκ εχει ουδεν	ουκετι πολλα λαλησω μεθ υμων ερχεται γαρ ο του κοσμου αρχων και εν εμοι ουκ εχει ουδεν

2 Peter 3:9 (NET)	2 Peter 3:9 (KJV)
The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some regard slowness, but is being patient toward you, because he does not wish for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.	The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
οὐ βραδύνει κύριος τῆς ἐπαγγελίας, ὥς τινες βραδύτητα ἡγοῦνται, ἀλλὰ μακροθυμεῖ εἰς ὑμᾶς, μὴ βουλόμενος τινας ἀπολέσθαι ἀλλὰ πάντας εἰς μετάνοιαν χωρῆσαι	ου βραδυνει ο κυριος της επαγγελιας ως τινες βραδυτητα ηγουνται αλλα μακροθυμει εις ημας μη βουλομενος τινας απολεσθαι αλλα παντας εις μετανοιαν χωρησαι	ου βραδυνει ο κυριος της επαγγελιας ως τινες βραδυτητα ηγουνται αλλα μακροθυμει εις ημας μη βουλομενος τινας απολεσθαι αλλα παντας εις μετανοιαν χωρησαι

A Shadow of the Good Things, Part 6

Back to The Lost Son of Perdition, Part 2

Back to David’s Forgiveness, Part 3

Back to Romans, Part 18

Back to The Lost Son of Perdition, Part 8

Back to Isaiah 53:10-12, Part 11

Back to The Book of Life, Part 2

Back to The Book of Life, Part 3

Back to Christianity, Part 1

Back to Christianity, Part 5

Back to Christianity, Part 8

Back to The Day of the Lord, Part 3

Back to Christianity, Part 10

Back to Father, Son and Holy Spirit – Part 10

Back to Who Am I? Part 16

^[1] Mark 2:27 (NET) Table

^[2] Genesis 2:2b (Tanakh) Table

^[3] Matthew 11:29 (NET) Table

^[4] Exodus 20:11a (Tanakh) Table

^[5] Matthew 11:28 (NET)

^[6] The NET parallel Greek text, NA²⁸ and Byzantine Majority Text had ἐπαισχύνθη here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus had επησχυνθη.

^[7] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had σπουδαίως here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had σπουδαιοτερον (KJV: very diligently).

^[8] The online ad for one of his books describes the author this way: “Todd Friel studied to be a pastor for four years but neglected to actually get saved. He abandoned church ministry plans and did secular TV, radio and stand-up comedy for 6 years. Gratefully, God saved Todd (from hell and stand-up comedy).”

^[12] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ἤλθατε here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ηλθετε (KJV: ye came).

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

^[14] Matthew 25:41 (NET)

^[15] Matthew 25:46 (NET)

^[16] John 17:3 (NET)

^[17] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had λήμψεται here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ληψεται (KJV: shall receive).

^[18] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had λήμψεται here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ληψεται (KJV: shall receive).

^[19] 1 Corinthians 15:3 (NET)

^[20] Romans 6:23a (KJV)

^[21] 1 Corinthians 15:3b, 4 (NET) Table

^[22] John 3:16, 17 (NET) Table

^[23] The Stephanus Textus Receptus had τουτου following world and preceding ruler. The NET parallel Greek text, NA²⁸ and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

^[24] John 14:30, 31 (NET)

^[25] Matthew 1:20, 21 (NET)

^[26] 1 Peter 2:24 (NET) Table

^[27] Genesis 6:6 (NET) Table

^[28] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had the article ο preceding Lord. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

^[29] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ὑμᾶς here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ημας (KJV: us).

^[30] 2 Peter 3:8, 9 (NET)

Hannah’s Prayer, Part 3

Posted on July 5, 2019 by admin

Hannah’s prayer continued:

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
1 Samuel 2:4, 5 (Tanakh)	1 Samuel 2:4, 5 (NET)	1 Reigns 2:4, 5 (NETS)	1 Kings 2:4, 5 (Elpenor English)
The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength.	The bows of warriors are shattered, but those who stumbled have taken on strength.	The bow of the mighty has become weak, and weak ones have girded themselves with might;	The bow of the mighty has waxed feeble, and the weak have girded themselves with strength.
They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry have ceased; while the barren hath borne seven, she that had many children hath languished.	The well-fed hire themselves out to earn food, but the hungry no longer lack. Even the barren woman has given birth to seven, but the one with many children has declined.	full of bread they suffered loss, and the hungry have forsaken the land, because a barren one has borne seven, and she who is rich in children became weak.	They that were full of bread are brought low; and the hungry have forsaken the land; for the barren has born seven, and she that abounded in children has waxed feeble.

In the Tanakh (Table3 below) חָדֵ֑לּוּ was translated have ceased, or ceased in the KJV. The translators of the NET understood חדלו (châdal) as no longer lack, though the rabbis who translated the Septuagint (Table4 below) chose παρῆκαν γῆν (have forsaken the land). This variation of meaning was evident in the first occurrence of חדלו (châdal): So HaShem scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth; and they left off (וַיַּחְדְּל֖וּ) to build the city.^[1] They stopped building in the NET (Table5 below) because few (or none) remained to continue. The rabbis chose ἐπαύσαντο (Table6 below) the middle voice of παύω which can mean “to stop doing (something)” as well as “to leave” or “to cease to exist.”

In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied (חָדְל֖וּ), and the travellers walked through byways.^[2] The KJV was identical here (Table7 below) while the NET had caravans disappeared (châdal, חדלו). The Tanakh on chabad.org rendered it caravans ceased. All conjure an image of depopulation. The Greek word ἐξέλιπον (Table8 below) was translated they deserted the ways in one version of the Septuagint and kings were lacking in another.

The inhabitants of the villages ceased (חָדְל֧וּ), they ceased (חָדֵ֑לּוּ) in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel.^[3] There is some question who ceased or were scarce (Table9 below) or was lacking or failed (Table10 below), but all seemed to be attempting a translation of חדלו (châdal). I wanted to consider at least one example where the clear intent was to stop something: And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease.^[4] Samson promised to quit killing after he got revenge (Table11 below).

Though the rabbis chose different Greek words—παρῆκαν, ἐπαύσαντο, ἐξέλιπον, ἐξέλιπεν and κοπάσ—I’m convinced, except for the BLB version of Judges 15:7 (Table12 below), that some form of חָדַל (châdal) was the Hebrew word in question. Again, the Tanakh and KJV have the most accurate translation as far as the range of meaning of the word is concerned, but Hannah probably meant something more like the hungry no longer lack or the hungry have forsaken the land. So the cautious translation—ceased or have ceased—is a tacit admission that the translators of the KJV and Tanakh had no more idea what Hannah actually meant than I do.

I lacked the patience for this kind of ambiguity when I searched the Bible for rules to justify me and condemn you if we disagreed. Such ambiguity threatened the veracity as well as the harshness of my judgments. Studying to know…the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom [He] sent^[5] is another matter entirely. Lessons on the limitations of the language that carry that knowledge are part of the process. I won’t spend any more time here trying to crack the code of what Hannah actually meant. I’m more interested in what she prayed next, something that has enjoyed more universal agreement among translators.

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
1 Samuel 2:6 (Tanakh)	1 Samuel 2:6 (NET)	1 Reigns 2:6 (NETS)	1 Kings 2:6 (Elpenor English)
HaShem killeth, and maketh alive; He bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.	The Lord both kills and gives life; he brings down to the grave and raises up.	The Lord puts to death and brings to life; he brings down to Hades and brings up.	The Lord kills and makes alive; he brings down to the grave, and brings up.

This was the first time the Hebrew word ויעל (ʽâlâh; Tanakh: bringeth up) was used to mean resurrection. It was translated ἀνάγει (a form of ἀνάγω; brings up) in the Septuagint (Table14 below). Now may the God of peace who by the blood of the eternal covenant brought back (ἀναγαγὼν, another form of ἀνάγω) from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep, our Lord Jesus, equip you with every good thing^[6] to do his will, working in us^[7] what is pleasing before him through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever.^[8] Amen.^[9]

The prophet Ezekiel was told (Ezekiel 37:12-14 Tanakh):

Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up (וְהַֽעֲלֵיתִ֥י) out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up (וּבְהַֽעֲלוֹתִ֥י) out of your graves, And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.

Here וְהַֽעֲלֵיתִ֥י (come up) was translated ἀνάξω (another form of ἀνάγω) and וּבְהַֽעֲלוֹתִ֥י (brought…up) was translated ἀναγαγεῗν (another form of ἀνάγω). I admit I have taken this resurrection literally. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke January 27, 2010 at Auschwitz in Poland, and said:

We, the Jewish nation, who lost a third of our people on Europe’s blood-soaked soil, have learned that the only guarantee for defending our people is a strong State of Israel and the army of Israel…

The Jewish people rose from ashes and destruction, from a terrible pain that can never be healed. Armed with the Jewish spirit, the justice of man, and the vision of the prophets, we sprouted new branches and grew deep roots. Dry bones became covered with flesh, a spirit filled them, and they lived and stood on their own feet.

As Ezekiel prophesized:

“Then He said unto me: These bones are the whole House of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, our hope is gone; we are doomed.’ Prophecy [sic], therefore, and say to them: Thus said the Lord God: I am going to open your graves and lift you out of your graves, O My people, and bring you to the land of Israel.”

Almost three weeks later an anonymous blogger wrote:

Israel came back from the dead in 1948. In spite of the obviousness of the situation, there are many who continue to deny this and look at this as either an accident of nature, or simply due to Israel’s stubborness. However, in spite of the all the odds, Israel once again became a nation. Not only this, but since that time, the language of Hebrew (also dead as a language prior to that point), was resurrected. This is unheard of that dead languages are resurrected!

Today, continuing against all odds, Israel exists.

It is the kind of activity Hannah credited to God:

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
1 Samuel 2:7, 8a (Tanakh)	1 Samuel 2:7, 8a (NET)	1 Reigns 2:7, 8 (NETS)	1 Kings 2:7, 8 (Elpenor English)
HaShem maketh poor, and maketh rich; He bringeth low, He also lifteth up.	The Lord impoverishes and makes wealthy; he humbles and he exalts.	The Lord makes poor and makes rich; he brings low, and he raises on high.	The Lord makes poor, and makes rich; he brings low, and lifts up.
He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, He lifteth up the needy from the dung-hill, to make them sit with princes, and inherit the throne of glory;	He lifts the weak from the dust; he raises the poor from the ash heap to seat them with princes–he bestows on them an honored position.	He raises up the needy from the ground and lifts the poor from the dunghill, to make them sit with the mighty of the peoples, even making them inherit a throne of glory.	He lifts up the poor from the earth, and raises the needy from the dunghill; to seat him with the princes of the people, and causing them to inherit the throne of glory:

As Paul wrote believers in Corinth (1 Corinthians 1:27-29 NET Table):

God chose what the world thinks foolish to shame the wise, and God chose what the world thinks weak to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world, what is regarded as nothing, to set aside what is regarded as something, so that no one can boast in his presence.

But the Masoretic text continued:

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
1 Samuel 2:8b (Tanakh)	1 Samuel 2:8b (NET)	1 Reigns 2:8b (NETS)	1 Kings 2:8b (Elpenor English)
for the pillars of the earth are HaShem’S, and He hath set the world upon them.	The foundations of the earth belong to the Lord–he placed the world on them.

The Hebrew word translated pillars was מְצֻ֣קֵי (mâtsûq). It only occurred one other time: The one crag rose up (מָצ֥וּק) on the north in front of Michmas, and the other on the south in front of Geba.^[10] The rabbis translated this verse in the Septuagint without translating the modifier מָצ֥וּק (mâtsûq). In the English translations of the Septuagint (Table26 below) the word was was supplied just like מָצ֥וּק (mâtsûq) was translated in the NET (Table25 below). But a crag or cliff face “pillared up” conjures a mental image not unlike an igneous rock formation called columnar jointing.

An entry titled “The Hexagon Pool” on Milestones Israel online reads:

A fact maybe not widely known is that many of the mountain and rock formations in Israel are volcanic. The result is beautiful sites such as the Hexagon Pool which can be found in the Yehudiya Forest in northern Israel.

I can easily imagine Hannah describing columnar jointing as pillars of the earth. The most apparent reason why the rabbis wouldn’t translate it was deference to Greek knowledge of a spherical earth. Perhaps a world (תֵּבֵֽל) placed on pillars sounded a little too much like a flat earth. Though this strikes me as more a modern than an ancient concern, the Wikipedia article “Spherical Earth” reads:

The Hebrew Bible imagined a three-part world, with the heavens (shamayim) above, Earth (eres) in the middle, and the underworld (sheol) below.^[35] After the 4th century BC this was gradually replaced by a Greek scientific cosmology of a spherical Earth surrounded by multiple concentric heavens.^[36]

I still wanted to examine the scriptures. Since I couldn’t pursue מְצֻ֣קֵי, pillars, any further I looked at תֵּבֵֽל (têbêl), world. And the channels of the sea appeared, the foundations (מֹסְד֣וֹת) of the world (תֵּבֵ֑ל) were laid bare by the rebuke of HaShem, at the blast of the breath of His nostrils.^[11] The rabbis had no problem with this one: And the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations (θεμέλια) of the world (οἰκουμένης) were discovered, at the rebuke of the Lord, at the blast of the breath of his anger.^[12] This is repeated with minor variations in Psalm 18:15 (Table29 and Table30 below). Granted, the rabbis may have perceived David’s song as less literal than Hannah’s prayer.

I began to investigate verses which contained both מֹסְד֣וֹת (foundations) and אֶ֨רֶץ֙ (earth) as a proxy for pillars of the earth. For a fire is kindled in My nostril, and burneth unto the depths of the nether-world, and devoureth the earth (אֶ֨רֶץ֙) with her produce, and setteth ablaze the foundations (מֽוֹסְדֵ֥י) of the mountains.^[13] The rabbis translated this practically verbatim: For a fire has been kindled out of my wrath, it shall burn to hell below; it shall devour the land (γῆν; NETS: earth), and the fruits of it; it shall set on fire the foundations (θεμέλια) of the mountains.^[14] As far as it goes it’s a fairly good description of volcanism, except for attributing volcanism to God’s anger at Israel’s sin and rebellion (Deuteronomy 32:21).

Then the earth (הָאָ֔רֶץ) did shake and quake, the foundations (מוֹסְד֥וֹת) of heaven did tremble; they were shaken, because He was wroth.^[15] The rabbis render it: And the earth (γῆ) was troubled and quaked, and the foundations (θεμέλια) of heaven were confounded and torn asunder, because the Lord was wroth with them.^[16] This theme of earthquakes and God’s anger continued.

Then the earth (הָאָ֗רֶץ) shook and trembled; the foundations (וּמֽוֹסְדֵ֣י) also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.^[17] The rabbis translated it: Then the earth (γῆ) shook and quaked, and the foundations (θεμέλια) of the mountains were disturbed, and were shaken, because God was angry with them.^[18]

They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations (מ֥וֹסְדֵי) of the earth (אָֽרֶץ) are out of course.^[19] The repetition of this theme is causing me to repent of any tendency to use my admittedly meager knowledge of volcanism and plate tectonics to ascribe such naturalness to them as to scoff at God’s wrath as their cause. The rabbis translated it: They know not, nor understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations (θεμέλια) of the earth (γῆς) shall be shaken.^[20]

Reference	Masoretic Text (Tanakh)	Septuagint (Elpenor English)
Isaiah 24:18	And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations (מ֥וֹסְדֵי) of the earth (אָֽרֶץ) do shake.	And it shall come to pass, [that] he that flees from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that comes up out of the pit shall be caught by the snare: for windows have been opened in heaven, and the foundations (θεμέλια) of the earth (γῆς) shall be shaken,
Isaiah 40:21	Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations (מֽוֹסְד֖וֹת) of the earth (הָאָֽרֶץ)?	Will ye not know? will ye not hear? has it not been told you of old? Have ye not known the foundations (θεμέλια) of the earth (γῆς)?
Micah 6:2	Hear ye, O mountains, the LORD’s controversy, and ye strong foundations (מֹ֣סְדֵי) of the earth (אָ֑רֶץ): for the LORD hath a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel.	Hear ye, O mountains, the controversy of the Lord, and [ye] valleys [even] the foundations (θεμέλια) of the earth (γῆς): for the Lord [has] a controversy with his people, and will plead with Israel.

I saved the final two occurrences of מֹסְד֣וֹת (foundations) and אֶ֨רֶץ֙ (earth) as a transition to considering the alternative that Masoretes added for the pillars of the earth are HaShem’S, and He hath set the world upon them to Hannah’s prayer.

Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations (מֽוֹסְדֵי) of the earth (אֶ֖רֶץ) searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.^[21] The Septuagint was significantly different. Though the sky should be raised to a [greater] height, saith the Lord, and though the ground (ἔδαφος) of the earth (γῆς) should be sunk [lower] beneath, yet I will not cast off the family of Israel, saith the Lord, for all that they have done.^[22]

The first thing that leapt out at me was the possibility that μετέωρον (Table46 below) was a copyist’s jumble of μετρέω and μέτρον. On the other hand, if one considers astronomy and geophysics as fulfilling the conditions specified in the Masoretic text to cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, the rabbis’ translation in the Septuagint might become preferable to those who believe that God is faithful to Israel for the sake of his holy name.

Reference	Masoretic Text (Tanakh)	Septuagint (Elpenor English)
Proverbs 8:29	When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations (מ֣וֹסְדֵי) of the earth (אָֽרֶץ):	and when he strengthened the foundations (θεμέλια) of the earth (γῆς):

This prompts the question afresh: Did the rabbis refuse to translate When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment? Or was it not there originally to be translated? I won’t explore that here but will consider that possibility in Hannah’s prayer.

Jacob “Freudenthal’s ultimate conclusion…was that ‘the translation of the so-called Septuagint bears no traces of the inroad of Greek philosophy into Jewish Hellenism.’”^[23] If I wonder whether that might apply to Greek cosmology as well, and consider more seriously that the Masoretes’ “ultimate goal was to uphold the traditions of the Jewish people,”^[24] my attention becomes focused on why they would add something to Hannah’s prayer? My assumption would be for misdirection. They wanted my attention drawn away from the Savior/Judge Hannah had praised up to that point and onto the Creator. So I fastened on inherit the throne of glory because of its proximity, preceding the suspected addition.

The Hebrew word translated throne was וְכִסֵּ֥א (kissêʼ) and glory was כָב֖וֹד (kâbôd). I began with the most notable throne one might inherit, God’s promise to David through the prophet Nathan.

1 Chronicles	Masoretic Text (Tanakh)	Septuagint (Elpenor English)
17:11	And it shall come to pass, when thy days be expired that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom.	And it shall come to pass when thy days shall be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.
17:12	He shall build me an house, and I will stablish his throne (כִּסְא֖וֹ) for ever.	He shall build me a house, and I will set up his throne (θρόνον) for ever.
17:13	I will be his father, and he shall be my son: and I will not take my mercy away from him, as I took it from him that was before thee:	I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son: and my mercy will I not withdraw from him, as I withdrew [it] from them that were before thee.
17:14	But I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom for ever: and his throne (וְכִסְא֕וֹ) shall be established for evermore.	And I will establish him in my house and in his kingdom for ever; and his throne (θρόνος) shall be set up for ever.

So the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God! Listen: You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne (θρόνον) of his father David.^[25] He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will never end.”^[26]

I’ll pick this up in another essay.

Tables comparing 1 Samuel 2:4; 2:5; Genesis 11:8; Judges 5:6; 5:7; 15:7; 1 Samuel 2:6; Ezekiel 37:12; 37:13; 37:14; 1 Samuel 2:7; 2:8; 14:5; 2 Samuel 22:16; Psalm 18:15; Deuteronomy 32:22; 2 Samuel 22:8; Psalm 18:7; 82:5; Isaiah 24:18; 40:21; Micah 6:2; Jeremiah 31:37; Proverbs 8:29; 1 Chronicles 17:11; 17:12; 17:13 and 17:14 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET; and tables comparing 1 Samuel (Kings, Reigns) 2:4; 2:5; Genesis 11:8; Judges 5:6; 5:7; 15:7; 1 Samuel (Kings, Reigns) 2:6; Ezekiel 37:12; 37:13; 37:14; 1 Samuel (Kings, Reigns) 2:7; 2:8; 14:5; 2 Samuel (Kings, Reigns) 22:16; Psalm 18:15 (17:16); Deuteronomy 32:22; 2 Samuel (Kings, Reigns) 22:8; Psalm 18:7 (17:8); 82:5 (81:5); Isaiah 24:18; 40:21; Micah 6:2; Jeremiah 31:35 (38:35; 38:37); Proverbs 8:29; 1 Chronicles (Supplements) 17:11; 17:12; 17:13 and 17:14 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor) follow. Following these are tables comparing Hebrews 13:21 and Luke 1:32 in the NET and KJV.

1 Samuel 2:4 (Tanakh)	1 Samuel 2:4 (KJV)	1 Samuel 2:4 (NET)
The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength.	The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength.	The bows of warriors are shattered, but those who stumbled have taken on strength.

1 Samuel 2:4 (Septuagint BLB)	1 Kings 2:4 (Septuagint Elpenor)
τόξον δυνατῶν ἠσθένησεν καὶ ἀσθενοῦντες περιεζώσαντο δύναμιν	τόξον δυνατῶν ἠσθένησε, καὶ ἀσθενοῦντες περιεζώσαντο δύναμιν
1 Reigns 2:4 (NETS)	1 Kings 2:4 (English Elpenor)
The bow of the mighty has become weak, and weak ones have girded themselves with might;	The bow of the mighty has waxed feeble, and the weak have girded themselves with strength.

1 Samuel 2:5 (Tanakh)	1 Samuel 2:5 (KJV)	1 Samuel 2:5 (NET)
They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry have ceased; while the barren hath borne seven, she that had many children hath languished.	They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased: so that the barren hath born seven; and she that hath many children is waxed feeble.	The well-fed hire themselves out to earn food, but the hungry no longer lack. Even the barren woman has given birth to seven, but the one with many children has declined.

1 Samuel 2:5 (Septuagint BLB)	1 Kings 2:5 (Septuagint Elpenor)
πλήρεις ἄρτων ἠλαττώθησαν καὶ οἱ πεινῶντες παρῆκαν γῆν ὅτι στεῗρα ἔτεκεν ἑπτά καὶ ἡ πολλὴ ἐν τέκνοις ἠσθένησεν	πλήρεις ἄρτων ἠλαττώθησαν, καὶ οἱ πεινῶντες παρῆκαν γῆν· ὅτι στεῖρα ἔτεκεν ἑπτά, καὶ ἡ πολλὴ ἐν τέκνοις ἠσθένησε
1 Reigns 2:5 (NETS)	1 Kings 2:5 (English Elpenor)
full of bread they suffered loss, and the hungry have forsaken the land, because a barren one has borne seven, and she who is rich in children became weak.	They that were full of bread are brought low; and the hungry have forsaken the land; for the barren has born seven, and she that abounded in children has waxed feeble.

Genesis 11:8 (Tanakh)	Genesis 11:8 (KJV)	Genesis 11:8 (NET)
So HaShem scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth; and they left off (וַיַּחְדְּל֖וּ) to build the city.	So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off (ויחדלו) to build the city.	So the Lord scattered them from there across the face of the entire earth, and they stopped (châdal, ויחדלו) building the city.

Genesis 11:8 (Septuagint BLB)	Genesis 11:8 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ διέσπειρεν αὐτοὺς κύριος ἐκεῗθεν ἐπὶ πρόσωπον πάσης τῆς γῆς καὶ ἐπαύσαντο οἰκοδομοῦντες τὴν πόλιν καὶ τὸν πύργον	καὶ διέσπειρεν αὐτοὺς Κύριος ἐκεῖθεν ἐπὶ πρόσωπον πάσης τῆς γῆς, καὶ ἐπαύσαντο οἰκοδομοῦντες τὴν πόλιν καὶ τὸν πύργον
Genesis 11:8 (NETS)	Genesis 11:8 (English Elpenor)
And the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city and the tower.	And the Lord scattered them thence over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city and the tower.

Judges 5:6 (Tanakh)	Judges 5:6 (KJV)	Judges 5:6 (NET)
In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied (חָדְל֖וּ), and the travellers walked through byways.	In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied (חדלו), and the travellers walked through byways.	In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael caravans disappeared (châdal, חדלו); travelers had to go on winding side roads.

Judges 5:6 (Septuagint BLB)	Judges 5:6 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐν ἡμέραις Σαμεγαρ υἱοῦ Αναθ ἐν ἡμέραις Ιαηλ ἐξέλιπον βασιλεῗς καὶ ἐπορεύθησαν τρίβους ἐπορεύθησαν ὁδοὺς διεστραμμένας	ἐν ἡμέραις Σαμεγὰρ υἱοῦ ᾿Ανάθ, ἐν ἡμέραις ᾿Ιαὴλ ἐξέλιπον ὁδοὺς καὶ ἐπορεύθησαν ἀτραπούς, ἐπορεύθησαν ὁδοὺς διεστραμμένας
Judges 5:6 (NETS)	Judges 5:6 (English Elpenor)
In the days of Samegar son of Anath, in the days of Iael, kings were lacking, and they traveled paths; they traveled twisting roads.	In the days of Samegar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, they deserted the ways, and went in by-ways; they went in crooked paths.

Judges 5:7 (Tanakh)	Judges 5:7 (KJV)	Judges 5:7 (NET)
The inhabitants of the villages ceased (חָדְל֧וּ), they ceased (חָדֵ֑לּוּ) in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel.	The inhabitants of the villages ceased (חדלו), they ceased (חדלו) in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel.	Warriors were scarce (châdal, חדלו), they were scarce (châdal, חדלו) in Israel, until you arose, Deborah, until you arose as a motherly protector in Israel.

Judges 5:7 (Septuagint BLB)	Judges 5:7 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐξέλιπεν φραζων ἐν τῷ Ισραηλ ἐξέλιπεν ἕως οὗ ἐξανέστη Δεββωρα ὅτι ἀνέστη μήτηρ ἐν τῷ Ισραηλ	ἐξέλιπον δυνατοὶ ἐν ᾿Ισραήλ, ἐξέλιπον, ἕως οὗ ἀνέστη Δεββώρα, ἕως οὗ ἀνέστη μήτηρ ἐν ᾿Ισραήλ
Judges 5:7 (NETS)	Judges 5:7 (English Elpenor)
A spokesman was lacking in Israel; he was lacking until Debbora rose up, for she arose as a mother in Israel.	The mighty men in Israel failed, they failed until Debbora arose, until she arose a mother in Israel.

Judges 15:7 (Tanakh)	Judges 15:7 (KJV)	Judges 15:7 (NET)
And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease (אֶחְדָּֽל).	And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease (אחדל).	Samson said to them, “Because you did this, I will get revenge against you before I quit (châdal, אחדל) fighting.”

Judges 15:7 (Septuagint BLB)	Judges 15:7 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῗς Σαμψων ἐὰν ποιήσητε οὕτως οὐκ εὐδοκήσω ἀλλὰ τὴν ἐκδίκησίν μου ἐξ ἑνὸς καὶ ἑκάστου ὑμῶν ποιήσομαι	καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς Σαμψών· ἐὰν ποιήσητε οὕτως ταύτην, ὅτι ἦ μὴν ἐκδικήσω ἐν ὑμῖν καὶ ἔσχατον κοπάσω
Judges 15:7 (NETS)	Judges 15:7 (English Elpenor)
And Samson said to them, “if you act thus, I will not be content unless I take my revenge from each and every one of you.”	And Sampson said to them, Though ye may have dealt thus with her, verily I will be avenged of you, and afterwards I will cease.

1 Samuel 2:6 (Tanakh)	1 Samuel 2:6 (KJV)	1 Samuel 2:6 (NET)
HaShem killeth, and maketh alive; He bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up (וַיָּֽעַל).	The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up (ויעל).	The Lord both kills and gives life; he brings down to the grave and raises up (ʽâlâh, ויעל).

1 Samuel 2:6 (Septuagint BLB)	1 Kings 2:6 (Septuagint Elpenor)
κύριος θανατοῗ καὶ ζωογονεῗ κατάγει εἰς ᾅδου καὶ ἀνάγει	Κύριος θανατοῖ καὶ ζωογονεῖ, κατάγει εἰς ᾅδου καὶ ἀνάγει
1 Reigns 2:6 (NETS)	1 Kings 2:6 (English Elpenor)
The Lord puts to death and brings to life; he brings down to Hades and brings up.	The Lord kills and makes alive; he brings down to the grave, and brings up.

Ezekiel 37:12 (Tanakh)	Ezekiel 37:12 (KJV)	Ezekiel 37:12 (NET)
Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up (וְהַֽעֲלֵיתִ֥י) out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.	Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up (והעליתי) out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.	Therefore prophesy, and tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to open your graves and will raise (ʽâlâh, והעליתי) you from your graves, my people. I will bring you to the land of Israel.

Ezekiel 37:12 (Septuagint BLB)	Ezekiel 37:12 (Septuagint Elpenor)
διὰ τοῦτο προφήτευσον καὶ εἰπόν τάδε λέγει κύριος ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἀνοίγω ὑμῶν τὰ μνήματα καὶ ἀνάξω ὑμᾶς ἐκ τῶν μνημάτων ὑμῶν καὶ εἰσάξω ὑμᾶς εἰς τὴν γῆν τοῦ Ισραηλ	διὰ τοῦτο προφήτευσον καὶ εἰπὸν πρὸς αὐτούς· τάδε λέγει Κύριος· ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἀνοίγω τὰ μνήματα ὑμῶν καὶ ἀνάξω ὑμᾶς ἐκ τῶν μνημάτων ὑμῶν καὶ εἰσάξω ὑμᾶς εἰς τὴν γῆν τοῦ ᾿Ισραήλ
Ezekiel 37:12 (NETS)	Ezekiel 37:12 (English Elpenor)
Therefore prophesy, and say, This is what the Lord says: Behold, I am opening your tombs and will bring you up out of your tombs and bring you into the land of Israel,	therefore prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I [will] open your tombs, and will bring you up out of your tombs, and will bring you into the land of Israel.

Ezekiel 37:13 (Tanakh)	Ezekiel 37:13 (KJV)	Ezekiel 37:13 (NET)
And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up (וּבְהַֽעֲלוֹתִ֥י) out of your graves,	And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up (ובהעלותי) out of your graves,	Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and raise (ʽâlâh, ובהעלותי) you from your graves, my people.

Ezekiel 37:13 (Septuagint BLB)	Ezekiel 37:13 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ γνώσεσθε ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι κύριος ἐν τῷ ἀνοῗξαί με τοὺς τάφους ὑμῶν τοῦ ἀναγαγεῗν με ἐκ τῶν τάφων τὸν λαόν μου	καὶ γνώσεσθε ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι Κύριος ἐν τῷ ἀνοῖξαί με τοὺς τάφους ὑμῶν τοῦ ἀναγαγεῖν με ἐκ τῶν τάφων τὸν λαόν μου
Ezekiel 37:13 (NETS)	Ezekiel 37:13 (English Elpenor)
And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves so that I might bring my people up out of their graves.	And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, that I may bring up my people from [their] graves.

Ezekiel 37:14 (Tanakh)	Ezekiel 37:14 (KJV)	Ezekiel 37:14 (NET)
And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.	And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.	I will place my breath in you and you will live; I will give you rest in your own land. Then you will know that I am the Lord – I have spoken and I will act, declares the Lord.’”

Ezekiel 37:14 (Septuagint BLB)	Ezekiel 37:14 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ δώσω τὸ πνεῦμά μου εἰς ὑμᾶς καὶ ζήσεσθε καὶ θήσομαι ὑμᾶς ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν ὑμῶν καὶ γνώσεσθε ὅτι ἐγὼ κύριος λελάληκα καὶ ποιήσω λέγει κύριος	καὶ δώσω πνεῦμά μου εἰς ὑμᾶς, καὶ ζήσεσθε, καὶ θήσομαι ὑμᾶς ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν ὑμῶν, καὶ γνώσεσθε ὅτι ἐγὼ Κύριος· λελάληκα καὶ ποιήσω, λέγει Κύριος
Ezekiel 37:14 (NETS)	Ezekiel 37:14 (English Elpenor)
And I will give my spirit into you, and you shall live, and I will place you upon your own land, and you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will act, says the Lord.	And I will put my Spirit within you, and ye shall live, and I will place you upon your own land: and ye shall know that I [am] the Lord; I have spoken, and will do [it], saith the Lord.

1 Samuel 2:7 (Tanakh)	1 Samuel 2:7 (KJV)	1 Samuel 2:7 (NET)
HaShem maketh poor, and maketh rich; He bringeth low, He also lifteth up.	The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up.	The Lord impoverishes and makes wealthy; he humbles and he exalts.

1 Samuel 2:7 (Septuagint BLB)	1 Kings 2:7 (Septuagint Elpenor)
κύριος πτωχίζει καὶ πλουτίζει ταπεινοῗ καὶ ἀνυψοῗ	Κύριος πτωχίζει καὶ πλουτίζει, ταπεινοῖ καὶ ἀνυψοῖ
1 Reigns 2:7 (NETS)	1 Kings 2:7 (English Elpenor)
The Lord makes poor and makes rich; he brings low, and he raises on high.	The Lord makes poor, and makes rich; he brings low, and lifts up.

1 Samuel 2:8 (Tanakh)	1 Samuel 2:8 (KJV)	1 Samuel 2:8 (NET)
He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, He lifteth up the needy from the dung-hill, to make them sit with princes, and inherit the throne of glory; for the pillars of the earth are HaShem’S, and He hath set the world upon them.	He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD’S, and he hath set the world upon them.	He lifts the weak from the dust; he raises the poor from the ash heap to seat them with princes–he bestows on them an honored position. The foundations of the earth belong to the Lord–he placed the world on them.

1 Samuel 2:8 (Septuagint BLB)	1 Kings 2:8 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἀνιστᾷ ἀπὸ γῆς πένητα καὶ ἀπὸ κοπρίας ἐγείρει πτωχὸν καθίσαι μετὰ δυναστῶν λαῶν καὶ θρόνον δόξης κατακληρονομῶν αὐτοῗς	ἀνιστᾷ ἀπὸ γῆς πένητα καὶ ἀπὸ κοπρίας ἐγείρει πτωχὸν καθίσαι μετὰ δυναστῶν λαοῦ καὶ θρόνον δόξης κατακληρονομῶν αὐτοῖς
1 Reigns 2:8 (NETS)	1 Kings 2:8 (English Elpenor)
He raises up the needy from the ground and lifts the poor from the dunghill, to make them sit with the mighty of the peoples, even making them inherit a throne of glory.	He lifts up the poor from the earth, and raises the needy from the dunghill; to seat him with the princes of the people, and causing them to inherit the throne of glory:

1 Samuel 14:5 (Tanakh)	1 Samuel 14:5 (KJV)	1 Samuel 14:5 (NET)
The one crag rose up (מָצ֥וּק) on the north in front of Michmas, and the other on the south in front of Geba.	The forefront of the one was situate (מצוק) northward over against Michmash, and the other southward over against Gibeah.	The cliff to the north was (mâtsûq, מצוק) closer to Micmash, the one to the south closer to Geba.

1 Samuel 14:5 (Septuagint BLB)	1 Kings 14:5 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἡ ὁδὸς ἡ μία ἀπὸ βορρᾶ ἐρχομένῳ Μαχμας καὶ ἡ ὁδὸς ἡ ἄλλη ἀπὸ νότου ἐρχομένῳ Γαβεε	ἡ ὁδὸς ἡ μία ἀπὸ βορρᾶ ἐρχομένῳ Μαχμὰς καὶ ἡ ὁδὸς ἡ ἄλλη ἀπὸ νότου ἐρχομένῳ Γαβαέ
1 Reigns 14:5 (NETS)	1 Kings 14:5 (English Elpenor)
one way from the north was for one going to Machmas, and the other way from the south, for one going to Gabee.	The one way [was] northward to one coming to Machmas, and the other way [was] southward to one coming to Gabae.

2 Samuel 22:16 (Tanakh)	2 Samuel 22:16 (KJV)	2 Samuel 22:16 (NET)
And the channels of the sea appeared, the foundations (מֹסְד֣וֹת) of the world (תֵּבֵ֑ל) were laid bare by the rebuke of HaShem, at the blast of the breath of His nostrils.	And the channels of the sea appeared, the foundations (מסדות) of the world (תבל) were discovered, at the rebuking of the LORD, at the blast of the breath of his nostrils.	The depths of the sea were exposed; the inner regions (môsâdâh, מסדות) of the world (têbêl, תבל) were uncovered by the Lord’s battle cry, by the powerful breath from his nose.

2 Samuel 22:16 (Septuagint BLB)	2 Kings 22:16 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ὤφθησαν ἀφέσεις θαλάσσης καὶ ἀπεκαλύφθη θεμέλια τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐν τῇ ἐπιτιμήσει κυρίου ἀπὸ πνοῆς πνεύματος θυμοῦ αὐτοῦ	καὶ ὤφθησαν ἀφέσεις θαλάσσης, καὶ ἀπεκαλύφθη θεμέλια τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐν τῇ ἐπιτιμήσει Κυρίου, ἀπὸ πνοῆς πνεύματος θυμοῦ αὐτοῦ
2 Reigns 22:16 (NETS)	2 Kings 22:16 (English Elpenor)
And emissions of sea were seen, and foundations of the world were laid bare by the rebuke of the Lord, at the blast of the breath 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 of the breath of his anger.

Psalm 18:15 (Tanakh)	Psalm 18:15 (KJV)	Psalm 18:15 (NET)
Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations (מֽוֹסְד֪וֹת) of the world (תֵּ֫בֵ֥ל) were discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.	Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.	The depths of the sea were exposed; the inner regions (môsâdâh, מוסדות) of the world (têbêl, תבל) were uncovered by your battle cry, Lord, by the powerful breath from your nose.

Psalm 18:15 (Septuagint BLB)	Psalm 17:16 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ὤφθησαν αἱ πηγαὶ τῶν ὑδάτων καὶ ἀνεκαλύφθη τὰ θεμέλια τῆς οἰκουμένης ἀπὸ ἐπιτιμήσεώς σου κύριε ἀπὸ ἐμπνεύσεως πνεύματος ὀργῆς σου	καὶ ὤφθησαν αἱ πηγαὶ τῶν ὑδάτων, καὶ ἀνεκαλύφθη τὰ θεμέλια τῆς οἰκουμένης ἀπὸ ἐπιτιμήσεώς σου, Κύριε, ἀπὸ ἐμπνεύσεως πνεύματος ὀργῆς σου
Psalm 17:16 (NETS)	Psalm 17:16 (English Elpenor)
And the springs of the waters appeared, and the foundations of the world were uncovered at your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath 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 of the breath of thy wrath.

Deuteronomy 32:22 (Tanakh)	Deuteronomy 32:22 (KJV)	Deuteronomy 32:22 (NET)
For a fire is kindled in My nostril, and burneth unto the depths of the nether-world, and devoureth the earth (אֶ֨רֶץ֙) with her produce, and setteth ablaze the foundations (מֽוֹסְדֵ֥י) of the mountains.	For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.	For a fire has been kindled by my anger, and it burns to lowest Sheol; it consumes the earth (ʼerets, ארץ) and its produce, and ignites the foundations (môsâdâh, מוסדי) of the mountains.

Deuteronomy 32:22 (Septuagint BLB)	Deuteronomy 32:22 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ὅτι πῦρ ἐκκέκαυται ἐκ τοῦ θυμοῦ μου καυθήσεται ἕως ᾅδου κάτω καταφάγεται γῆν καὶ τὰ γενήματα αὐτῆς φλέξει θεμέλια ὀρέων	ὅτι πῦρ ἐκκέκαυται ἐκ τοῦ θυμοῦ μου, καυθήσεται ἕως ᾅδου κάτω, καταφάγεται γῆν καὶ τὰ γενήματα αὐτῆς, φλέξει θεμέλια ὀρέων
Deuteronomy 32:22 (NETS)	Deuteronomy 32:22 (English Elpenor)
For a fire has lit up from my anger and will burn as far as Hades below; it will devour earth and its produce and will light up the foundations of mountains.	For a fire has been kindled out of my wrath, it shall burn to hell below; it shall devour the land, and the fruits of it; it shall set on fire the foundations of the mountains.

2 Samuel 22:8 (Tanakh)	2 Samuel 22:8 (KJV)	2 Samuel 22:8 (NET)
Then the earth (הָאָ֔רֶץ) did shake and quake, the foundations (מוֹסְד֥וֹת) of heaven did tremble; they were shaken, because He was wroth.	Then the earth (הארץ) shook and trembled; the foundations (מוסדות) of heaven moved and shook, because he was wroth.	The earth (ʼerets, הארץ) heaved and shook; the foundations (môsâdâh, מוסדות) of the sky trembled. They heaved because he was angry.

2 Samuel 22:8 (Septuagint BLB)	2 Kings 22:8 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐταράχθη καὶ ἐσείσθη ἡ γῆ καὶ τὰ θεμέλια τοῦ οὐρανοῦ συνεταράχθησαν καὶ ἐσπαράχθησαν ὅτι ἐθυμώθη κύριος αὐτοῗς	καὶ ἐταράχθη καὶ ἐσείσθη ἡ γῆ, καὶ τὰ θεμέλια τοῦ οὐρανοῦ συνεταράχθησαν καὶ ἐσπαράχθησαν, ὅτι ἐθυμώθη Κύριος αὐτοῖς
2 Reigns 22:8 (NETS)	2 Kings 22:8 (English Elpenor)
And the earth was stirred up and quaked, and the foundations of the sky were conunded and torn apart, because the Lord was angrywith them.	And the earth was troubled and quaked, and the foundations of heaven were confounded and torn asunder, because the Lord was wroth with them.

Psalm 18:7 (Tanakh)	Psalm 18:7 (KJV)	Psalm 18:7 (NET)
Then the earth (הָאָ֗רֶץ) shook and trembled; the foundations (וּמֽוֹסְדֵ֣י) also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.	Then the earth (הארץ) shook and trembled; the foundations (ומוסדי) also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.	The earth (ʼerets, הארץ) heaved and shook; the roots (môsâdâh, ומוסדי) of the mountains trembled; they heaved because he was angry.

Psalm 18:7 (Septuagint BLB)	Psalm 17:8 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐσαλεύθη καὶ ἔντρομος ἐγενήθη ἡ γῆ καὶ τὰ θεμέλια τῶν ὀρέων ἐταράχθησαν καὶ ἐσαλεύθησαν ὅτι ὠργίσθη αὐτοῗς ὁ θεός	καὶ ἐσαλεύθη καὶ ἔντρομος ἐγενήθη ἡ γῆ, καὶ τὰ θεμέλια τῶν ὀρέων ἐταράχθησαν καὶ ἐσαλεύθησαν, ὅτι ὠργίσθη αὐτοῖς ὁ Θεός
Psalm 17:8 (NETS)	Psalm 17:8 (English Elpenor)
And the earth shook and was atremble, and the foundations of the mountains were disturbed and shook, because God was angry wth them.	Then the earth shook and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains were disturbed, and were shaken, because God was angry with them.

Psalm 82:5 (Tanakh)	Psalm 82:5 (KJV)	Psalm 82:5 (NET)
They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations (מ֥וֹסְדֵי) of the earth (אָֽרֶץ) are out of course.	They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations (מוסדי) of the earth (ארץ) are out of course.	They neither know nor understand. They stumble around in the dark, while all the foundations (môsâdâh, מוסדי) of the earth (ʼerets, ארץ) crumble.

Psalm 82:5 (Septuagint BLB)	Psalm 81:5 (Septuagint Elpenor)
οὐκ ἔγνωσαν οὐδὲ συνῆκαν ἐν σκότει διαπορεύονται σαλευθήσονται πάντα τὰ θεμέλια τῆς γῆς	οὐκ ἔγνωσαν οὐδὲ συνῆκαν, ἐν σκότει διαπορεύονται· σαλευθήσονται πάντα τὰ θεμέλια τῆς γῆς
Psalm 81:5 (NETS)	Psalm 81:5 (English Elpenor)
They had neither knowledge nor understanding; in darkness they walk around; all the foundations of the earth will be shaken.	They know not, nor understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth shall be shaken.

Isaiah 24:18 (Tanakh)	Isaiah 24:18 (KJV)	Isaiah 24:18 (NET)
And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations (מ֥וֹסְדֵי) of the earth (אָֽרֶץ) do shake.	And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations (מוסדי) of the earth (ארץ) do shake.	The one who runs away from the sound of the terror will fall into the pit; the one who climbs out of the pit, will be trapped by the snare. For the floodgates of the heavens are opened up and the foundations (môsâdâh, מוסדי) of the earth (ʼerets, ארץ) shake.

Isaiah 24:18 (Septuagint BLB)	Isaiah 24:18 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἔσται ὁ φεύγων τὸν φόβον ἐμπεσεῗται εἰς τὸν βόθυνον ὁ δὲ ἐκβαίνων ἐκ τοῦ βοθύνου ἁλώσεται ὑπὸ τῆς παγίδος ὅτι θυρίδες ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἠνεῴχθησαν καὶ σεισθήσεται τὰ θεμέλια τῆς γῆς	καὶ ἔσται ὁ φεύγων τὸν φόβον ἐμπεσεῖται εἰς τὸν βόθυνον, ὁ δὲ ἐκβαίνων ἐκ τοῦ βοθύνου ἁλώσεται ὑπὸ τῆς παγίδος, ὅτι θυρίδες ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἠνεῴχθησαν, καὶ σεισθήσεται τὰ θεμέλια τῆς γῆς
Isaiah 24:18 (NETS)	Isaiah 24:18 (English Elpenor)
And it shall be that the one who flees from the fear shall fall into the pit, and the one who gets out of the pit shall be caught by the snare, because windows have been opened out of heaven, and the foundations of the earth will be shaken.	And it shall come to pass, [that] he that flees from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that comes up out of the pit shall be caught by the snare: for windows have been opened in heaven, and the foundations of the earth shall be shaken,

Isaiah 40:21 (Tanakh)	Isaiah 40:21 (KJV)	Isaiah 40:21 (NET)
Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations (מֽוֹסְד֖וֹת) of the earth (הָאָֽרֶץ)?	Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations (מוסדות) of the earth (הארץ)?	Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told to you since the very beginning? Have you not understood from the time the earth’s (ʼerets, הארץ) foundations (môsâdâh, מוסדות) were made?

Isaiah 40:21 (Septuagint BLB)	Isaiah 40:21 (Septuagint Elpenor)
οὐ γνώσεσθε οὐκ ἀκούσεσθε οὐκ ἀνηγγέλη ἐξ ἀρχῆς ὑμῗν οὐκ ἔγνωτε τὰ θεμέλια τῆς γῆς	οὐ γνώσεσθε; οὐκ ἀκούσεσθε; οὐκ ἀνηγγέλη ἐξ ἀρχῆς ὑμῖν; οὐκ ἔγνωτε τὰ θεμέλια τῆς γῆς
Isaiah 40:21 (NETS)	Isaiah 40:21 (English Elpenor)
Will you not know? Will you not hear? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not known the foundations of the earth?	Will ye not know? will ye not hear? has it not been told you of old? Have ye not known the foundations of the earth?

Micah 6:2 (Tanakh)	Micah 6:2 (KJV)	Micah 6:2 (NET)
Hear ye, O mountains, the LORD’s controversy, and ye strong foundations (מֹ֣סְדֵי) of the earth (אָ֑רֶץ): for the LORD hath a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel.	Hear ye, O mountains, the LORD’S controversy, and ye strong foundations (מסדי) of the earth (ארץ): for the LORD hath a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel.	Hear the Lord’s accusation, you mountains, you enduring foundations (môsâdâh, מסדי) of the earth (ʼerets, ארץ)! For the Lord has a case against his people; he has a dispute with Israel!

Micah 6:2 (Septuagint BLB)	Micah 6:2 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἀκούσατε βουνοί τὴν κρίσιν τοῦ κυρίου καὶ αἱ φάραγγες θεμέλια τῆς γῆς ὅτι κρίσις τῷ κυρίῳ πρὸς τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ μετὰ τοῦ Ισραηλ διελεγχθήσεται	ἀκούσατε ὄρη, τὴν κρίσιν τοῦ Κυρίου, καὶ αἱ φάραγγες θεμέλια τῆς γῆς, ὅτι κρίσις τῷ Κυρίῳ πρὸς τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ, καὶ μετὰ τοῦ ᾿Ισραὴλ διελεγχθήσεται
Micah 6:2 (NETS)	Micah 6:2 (English Elpenor)
Hear, you peoples, the judgment of the Lord, and you chasms, foundations of the earth, because the Lord has a case against his people, and he will dispute with Israel.	Hear ye, O mountains, the controversy of the Lord, and [ye] valleys [even] the foundations of the earth: for the Lord [has] a controversy with his people, and will plead with Israel.

Jeremiah 31:37 (Tanakh)	Jeremiah 31:37 (KJV)	Jeremiah 31:37 (NET)
Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations (מֽוֹסְדֵי) of the earth (אֶ֖רֶץ) searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.	Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations (מוסדי) of the earth (ארץ) searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.	The Lord says, “I will not reject all the descendants of Israel because of all that they have done. That could only happen if the heavens above could be measured or the foundations (môsâdâh, מוסדי) of the earth (ʼerets, ארץ) below could all be explored,” says the Lord.

Jeremiah 31:35 (Septuagint BLB)	Jeremiah 38:35 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐὰν ὑψωθῇ ὁ οὐρανὸς εἰς τὸ μετέωρον φησὶν κύριος καὶ ἐὰν ταπεινωθῇ τὸ ἔδαφος τῆς γῆς κάτω καὶ ἐγὼ οὐκ ἀποδοκιμῶ τὸ γένος Ισραηλ φησὶν κύριος περὶ πάντων ὧν ἐποίησαν	᾿Εὰν ὑψωθῇ ὁ οὐρανὸς εἰς τὸ μετέωρον, φησὶ Κύριος, καὶ ἐὰν ταπεινωθῇ τὸ ἔδαφος τῆς γῆς κάτω, καὶ ἐγὼ οὐκ ἀποδοκιμῶ τὸ γένος ᾿Ισραήλ, φησὶ Κύριος, περὶ πάντων, ὧν ἐποίησαν.
Jeremiah 38:35 (NETS)	Jeremiah 38:37 (English Elpenor)
If the sky be elevated to midair, quoth the Lord, and if the floor of the earth be brought low, even then I will not reject the race of Israel, quoth the Lord, because of all they have done.	Though the sky should be raised to a [greater] height, saith the Lord, and though the ground of the earth should be sunk [lower] beneath, yet I will not cast off the family of Israel, saith the Lord, for all that they have done.

Proverbs 8:29 (Tanakh)	Proverbs 8:29 (KJV)	Proverbs 8:29 (NET)
When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations (מ֣וֹסְדֵי) of the earth (אָֽרֶץ):	When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations (מוסדי) of the earth (ארץ):	when he gave the sea his decree that the waters should not pass over his command, when he marked out the foundations (môsâdâh, מוסדי) of the earth (ʼerets, ארץ),

Proverbs 8:29 (Septuagint BLB)	Proverbs 8:29 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἰσχυρὰ ἐποίει τὰ θεμέλια τῆς γῆς	καὶ ἰσχυρὰ ἐποίει τὰ θεμέλια τῆς γῆς
Proverbs 8:29 (NETS)	Proverbs 8:29 (English Elpenor)
when he made strong the foundations of the earth,	and when he strengthened the foundations of the earth:

1 Chronicles 17:11 (Tanakh)	1 Chronicles 17:11 (KJV)	1 Chronicles 17:11 (NET)
And it shall come to pass, when thy days be expired that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom.	And it shall come to pass, when thy days be expired that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom.	When the time comes for you to die, I will raise up your descendant, one of your own sons, to succeed you, and I will establish his kingdom.

1 Chronicles 17:11 (Septuagint BLB)	1 Chronicles 17:11 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἔσται ὅταν πληρωθῶσιν αἱ ἡμέραι σου καὶ κοιμηθήσῃ μετὰ τῶν πατέρων σου καὶ ἀναστήσω τὸ σπέρμα σου μετὰ σέ ὃς ἔσται ἐκ τῆς κοιλίας σου καὶ ἑτοιμάσω τὴν βασιλείαν αὐτοῦ	καὶ ἔσται ὅταν πληρωθῶσιν ἡμέραι σου καὶ κοιμηθήσῃ μετὰ τῶν πατέρων σου, καὶ ἀναστήσω τὸ σπέρμα σου μετὰ σέ, ὃς ἔσται ἐκ τῆς κοιλίας σου, καὶ ἑτοιμάσω τὴν βασιλείαν αὐτοῦ
1 Supplements 17:11 (NETS)	1 Chronicles 17:11 (English Elpenor)
And it shall be, when your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, also I will raise up your seed after you, he who shall be from your belly, and I will establish his kingdom.	And it shall come to pass when thy days shall be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.

1 Chronicles 17:12 (Tanakh)	1 Chronicles 17:12 (KJV)	1 Chronicles 17:12 (NET)
He shall build me an house, and I will stablish his throne (כִּסְא֖וֹ) for ever.	He will be the builder of my house, and I will make the seat of his authority (כסאו) certain for ever.	He will build me a house, and I will make his dynasty (kissêʼ, כסאו) permanent.

1 Chronicles 17:12 (Septuagint BLB)	1 Chronicles 17:12 (Septuagint Elpenor)
αὐτὸς οἰκοδομήσει μοι οἶκον καὶ ἀνορθώσω τὸν θρόνον αὐτοῦ ἕως αἰῶνος	αὐτὸς οἰκοδομήσει μοι οἶκον, καὶ ἀνορθώσω τὸν θρόνον αὐτοῦ ἕως αἰῶνος
1 Supplements 17:12 (NETS)	1 Chronicles 17:12 (English Elpenor)
It is he who shall build me a house, and I will set up his throne forever.	He shall build me a house, and I will set up his throne for ever.

1 Chronicles 17:13 (Tanakh)	1 Chronicles 17:13 (KJV)	1 Chronicles 17:13 (NET)
I will be his father, and he shall be my son: and I will not take my mercy away from him, as I took it from him that was before thee:	I will be his father, and he shall be my son: and I will not take my mercy away from him, as I took it from him that was before thee:	I will become his father and he will become my son. I will never withhold my loyal love from him, as I withheld it from the one who ruled before you.

1 Chronicles 17:13 (Septuagint BLB)	1 Chronicles 17:13 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐγὼ ἔσομαι αὐτῷ εἰς πατέρα καὶ αὐτὸς ἔσται μοι εἰς υἱόν καὶ τὸ ἔλεός μου οὐκ ἀποστήσω ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ ὡς ἀπέστησα ἀπὸ τῶν ὄντων ἔμπροσθέν σου	ἐγὼ ἔσομαι αὐτῷ εἰς πατέρα, καὶ αὐτὸς ἔσται μοι εἰς υἱόν· καὶ τὸ ἔλεός μου οὐκ ἀποστήσω ἀπ᾿ αὐτοῦ ὡς ἀπέστησα ἀπὸ τῶν ὄντων ἔμπροσθέν σου
1 Supplements 17:13 (NETS)	1 Chronicles 17:13 (English Elpenor)
I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. And I will not withdraw my mercy from him as I withdrew it from those before you.	I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son: and my mercy will I not withdraw from him, as I withdrew [it] from them that were before thee.

1 Chronicles 17:14 (Tanakh)	1 Chronicles 17:14 (KJV)	1 Chronicles 17:14 (NET)
But I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom for ever: and his throne (וְכִסְא֕וֹ) shall be established for evermore.	But I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom for ever: and his throne (וכסאו) shall be established for evermore.	I will put him in permanent charge of my house and my kingdom; his dynasty (kissêʼ, וכסאו) will be permanent.

1 Chronicles 17:14 (Septuagint BLB)	1 Chronicles 17:14 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ πιστώσω αὐτὸν ἐν οἴκῳ μου καὶ ἐν βασιλείᾳ αὐτοῦ ἕως αἰῶνος καὶ ὁ θρόνος αὐτοῦ ἔσται ἀνωρθωμένος ἕως αἰῶνος	καὶ πιστώσω αὐτὸν ἐν οἴκῳ μου καὶ ἐν βασιλείᾳ αὐτοῦ ἕως αἰῶνος, καὶ ὁ θρόνος αὐτοῦ ἔσται ἀνωρθωμένος ἕως αἰῶνος
1 Supplements 17:14 (NETS)	1 Chronicles 17:14 (English Elpenor)
And I will confirm him in my house and in his reign forever. And his throne shall be established forever.	And I will establish him in my house and in his kingdom for ever; and his throne shall be set up for ever.

Hebrews 13:21 (NET)	Hebrews 13:21 (KJV)
equip you with every good thing to do his will, working in us what is pleasing before him through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever. Amen.	Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
καταρτίσαι ὑμᾶς ἐν παντὶ ἀγαθῷ εἰς τὸ ποιῆσαι τὸ θέλημα αὐτοῦ, ποιῶν ἐν ἡμῖν τὸ εὐάρεστον ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ᾧ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας ἀμήν	καταρτισαι υμας εν παντι εργω αγαθω εις το ποιησαι το θελημα αυτου ποιων εν υμιν το ευαρεστον ενωπιον αυτου δια ιησου χριστου ω η δοξα εις τους αιωνας των αιωνων αμην	καταρτισαι υμας εν παντι εργω αγαθω εις το ποιησαι το θελημα αυτου ποιων εν υμιν το ευαρεστον ενωπιον αυτου δια ιησου χριστου ω η δοξα εις τους αιωνας των αιωνων αμην

Luke 1:32 (NET)	Luke 1:32 (KJV)
He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.	He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
οὗτος ἔσται μέγας καὶ υἱὸς ὑψίστου κληθήσεται καὶ δώσει αὐτῷ κύριος ὁ θεὸς τὸν θρόνον Δαυὶδ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ	ουτος εσται μεγας και υιος υψιστου κληθησεται και δωσει αυτω κυριος ο θεος τον θρονον δαβιδ του πατρος αυτου	ουτος εσται μεγας και υιος υψιστου κληθησεται και δωσει αυτω κυριος ο θεος τον θρονον δαυιδ του πατρος αυτου

Hannah’s Prayer, Part 4

Back to Hannah’s Prayer, Part 5

Back to Nothing True, Part 5

^[1] Genesis 11:8 (Tanakh)

^[2] Judges 5:6 (Tanakh)

^[3] Judges 5:7 (Tanakh)

^[4] Judges 15:7 (Tanakh) אֶחְדָּֽל

^[5] John 17:3 (NET)

^[6] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had εργω (KJV: work) here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

^[7] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ἡμῖν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had υμιν (KJV: you).

^[8] The Stephanus Textus Receptus, Byzantine Majority Text and NA²⁸ had αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων (KJV: for ever and ever) here. The NET parallel Greek text had simply αἰῶνας.

^[9] Hebrews 13:20, 21 (NET)

^[10] 1 Samuel 14:5 (Tanakh)

^[11] 2 Samuel 22:16 (Tanakh)

^[12] 2 Kings 22:16 (Septuagint Elpenor)

^[13] Deuteronomy 32:22 (Tanakh)

^[14] Deuteronomy 32:22 (Septuagint Elpenor)

^[15] 2 Samuel 22:8 (Tanakh)

^[16] 2 Kings 22:8 (Septuagint Elpenor)

^[17] Psalm 18:7 (Tanakh)

^[18] Psalm 17:8 (Septuagint Elpenor)

^[19] Psalm 82:5 (Tanakh)

^[20] Psalm 81:5 (Septuagint Elpenor)

^[21] Jeremiah 31:37 (Tanakh)

^[22] Jeremiah 38:37 (Septuagint Elpenor)

^[23] Who Am I? Part 10

^[24] Who Am I? Part 10

^[25] In the NET parallel Greek text, NA²⁸ and Byzantine Majority Text David was spelled Δαυὶδ, and δαβιδ in the Stephanus Textus Receptus.

^[26] Luke 1:30-33 (NET)

Atonement, Part 3

Posted on August 19, 2018 by admin

I’ll continue to consider y^ehôvâh’s (יהוה) instruction to Moses: They^[1] are to eat those things by which atonement (kâphar, כפר; Septuagint: ἡγιάσθησαν, a form of ἁγιάζω) was made to consecrate and to set them apart, but no one else may eat them, for they are holy.^[2]

The Hebrew word translated to consecrate was למלא (mâlêʼ). In the Septuagint למלא (mâlêʼ) was translated τελειῶσαι τὰς χεῖρας, “validate their hands” in an English translation of the Septuagint (NETS). And τελειῶσαι (a form of τελειόω) was translated to perfect in: For the law possesses a shadow of the good things to come but not the reality itself, and is therefore completely unable, by the same sacrifices offered continually, year after year, to perfect those who come to worship.^[3]

There isn’t a lot of wiggle room in the meaning of τελειῶσαι here. If the sacrifices had perfected those who came to worship, the sacrifices would have ceased to be offered long before the temple was destroyed: For otherwise would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers would have been purified once for all and so have no further consciousness of sin?^[4] John wrote (1 John 1:5-2:6 NET):

Now this is the gospel message^[5] we have heard from him and announce to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him and yet keep on walking in the darkness, we are lying and not practicing the truth. But if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus^[6] his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we do not bear the guilt of sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous, forgiving us our sins and cleansing us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us. (My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.) But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous One, and he himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for our sins but also for the whole world.

Now by this we know that we have come to know God: if we keep (τηρῶμεν, a form of τηρέω) his commandments. The one who says “I have come to know God” and yet does not keep (τηρῶν, another form of τηρέω) his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in such a person. But whoever obeys (τηρῇ, another form of τηρέω) his word, truly in this person the love of God has been perfected (τετελείωται, another form of τελειόω). By this we know that we are in him. The one who says he resides in God ought (ὀφείλει,^[7] a form of ὀφείλω) himself to walk^[8] just as Jesus walked.

If I fall back on my own strength the obligation to walk just as Jesus walked will fill me first with fear, then defensiveness, anger and eventually a pervasive desire to “chuck this whole religion thing.” So I plan to be very gentle with myself. I want to keep foremost in my mind the two points from the previous essay: 1) By his will we have been made holy through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all;^[9] and, 2) he will in fact do this:^[10] …make you completely holy and…[keep] your spirit and soul and body…entirely blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.^[11]

If I’m honest my fear stems from my offended pride when I fail to walk just as Jesus walked in my own strength. So I want to consider that pride. Aaron and his sons^[12] were commanded to eat those things by which atonement was made to consecrate and to set them apart. No one else could eat them, for they are holy. For the moment it doesn’t really matter whether they meant the things by which atonement was made or Aaron and his sons or all of the above. In any case Aaron and his sons were distinguished from everyone else in Israel by this holiness. But how proud could they be about that?

Exodus 29:4-9 (NET)	Leviticus 8:6-13 (NET)
You are to present Aaron and his sons at the entrance of the tent of meeting. You are to wash them with water…	So Moses brought Aaron and his sons forward and washed them with water.
…and take the garments and clothe Aaron with the tunic, the robe of the ephod, the ephod, and the breastpiece; you are to fasten the ephod on him by using the skillfully woven waistband.	Then he put the tunic on Aaron, wrapped the sash around him, and clothed him with the robe. Next he put the ephod on him and placed on him the decorated band of the ephod, and fastened the ephod closely to him with the band.
Exodus 28:30	He then set the breastpiece on him and put the Urim and Thummim into the breastpiece.
You are to put the turban on his head and put the holy diadem on the turban.	Finally, he set the turban on his head and attached the gold plate, the holy diadem, to the front of the turban just as the Lord (y^ehôvâh, יהוה) had commanded Moses.
Exodus 30:22-33	Then Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and everything in it, and so consecrated (qâdash, ויקדש; Septuagint: ἡγίασεν, another form of ἁγιάζω) them.
Exodus 30:22-33	Next he sprinkled some of it on the altar seven times and so anointed the altar, all its vessels, and the wash basin and its stand to consecrate (qâdash, לקדשם; Septuagint: ἡγίασεν, another form of ἁγιάζω) them.
You are to take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him.	He then poured some of the anointing oil on the head of Aaron and anointed him to consecrate (qâdash, לקדשו; Septuagint: ἡγίασεν, another form of ἁγιάζω) him.
You are to present his sons and clothe them with tunics…	Moses also brought forward Aaron’s sons, clothed them with tunics, wrapped sashes around them, and wrapped headbands on them just as the Lord (y^ehôvâh, יהוה) had commanded Moses.
…and wrap the sashes around Aaron and his sons and put headbands on them, and so the ministry of priesthood will belong to them by a perpetual ordinance. Thus you are to consecrate (mâlêʼ, ומלאת: Septuagint: τελειώσεις,^[13] another form of τελειόω) Aaron and his sons.

Aaron and his sons were distinguished in holiness because they stood there while Moses performed y^ehôvâh’s prescribed rituals to them and around them. Now to the one who works, Paul wrote believers in Rome, his pay is not credited due to grace but due to obligation (ὀφείλημα) [Table]. But to the one who does not work, but believes in the one who declares the ungodly righteous, his faith is credited as righteousness.^[14] The Pharisees on the other hand said, None of the rulers or the Pharisees have believed in [Jesus], have they? But this rabble who do not know the law are accursed!^[15]

This is very interesting in this context. The priests were made holy by atonement rituals prescribed by y^ehôvâh. The only holiness the Pharisees could legitimately^[16] claim was atonement made by priests performing rituals prescribed by y^ehôvâh. Yet they distinguished themselves from the rabble^[17] (ὄχλος) here, not by these rituals, but by knowledge of the law. To seek out some other distinction was a tacit acknowledgement that the law was completely unable, by the same sacrifices offered continually, year after year, to perfect those who come to worship. So in a sense they were on the right track as it pertained to recognizing a need.

I don’t intend to minimize the value of knowing the law as a means to knowing the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom [He] sent.^[18] As the Psalmist wrote (Psalm 119:33-40 Tanakh):

Teach me, O LORD (y^ehôvâh,יהוה), the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end.

Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.

Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.

Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.

Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way.

Stablish thy word unto thy servant, who is devoted to thy fear.

Turn away my reproach which I fear: for thy judgments are good.

Behold, I have longed after thy precepts: quicken me in thy righteousness.

But to claim knowledge of the law as a means of distinction, rendering one more holy than one who does not know it, is to not know the law: For all who rely on doing the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not keep on doing everything written in the book of the law.”^[19] Cursed be he that confirmeth not the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say: Amen.^[20] For all who have sinned apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.^[21]

Cursed in the phrase Cursed is everyone was ἐπικατάρατος in Greek. The Greek word translated accursed in this rabble who do not know the law are accursed was ἐπάρατοι (a form of ἐπικατάρατος). In other words, those who know the law are as accursed as those who do not because… (Romans 3:10-18 NET):

…just as it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one, there is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, together they have become worthless; there is no one who shows kindness, not even one.”^[22]

“Their throats are open graves, they deceive with their tongues, the poison of asps is under their lips.”^[23]

“Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”^[24]

“Their feet are swift to shed blood, ruin and misery are in their paths, and the way of peace they have not known.”^[25]

“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”^[26]

So how proud should I, a Gentile, be, recognizing that: 1) by [Israel’s] transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make Israel jealous;^[27] 2) They were broken off because of their unbelief, but [I] stand by faith; Do not be arrogant, but fear; For if God did not spare the natural branches, perhaps he will not spare [me];^[28] 3) [I] have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous One, and he himself is the atoning sacrifice for [my] sins, and not only for [my] sins but also for the whole world;^[29] and, 4) Jesus Christ the righteous One promised, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself”^[30]?

It is past time that I give up my pride, quit trying to distinguish myself from others by some holiness I have achieved rather than received, and start gathering with Jesus rather than scattering (Matthew 12:30-32). So then, it does not depend on human desire or exertion, but on God who shows mercy.^[31] 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. For God has consigned all people to disobedience so that he may show mercy to them all.^[32]

The righteous never expected to keep the law in his or her own strength but in the power and presence of God (Psalm 51 Tanakh):

Have mercy upon me, O God (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים), according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions (Table).

Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin (Table).

For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me (Table).

Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest (Table).

Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me [Table] (Genesis 5:1-5; Romans 5:12-21).

Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.

Create in me a clean heart, O God (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים); and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me (Table).

Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit (Table).

Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים), thou God (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהי) of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.

O Lord (ʼădônây, אדני), open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.

For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.

The sacrifices of God (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים) are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים), thou wilt not despise.

Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.

Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.

A table comparing the NET and KJV translation of 1 John 1:5-2:6 follows. I broke the table whenever the NET parallel Greek text differed from the Stephanus Textus Receptus or the Byzantine Majority Text.

1 John 1:5-2:6 (NET)	1 John 1:5-2:6 (KJV)
Now this is the gospel message we have heard from him and announce to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all.	This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
Καὶ ἔστιν αὕτη ἡ ἀγγελία ἣν ἀκηκόαμεν ἀπ᾿ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀναγγέλλομεν ὑμῖν, ὅτι ὁ θεὸς φῶς ἐστιν καὶ σκοτία \|ἐν αὐτῷ\| οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδεμία	και αυτη εστιν η επαγγελια ην ακηκοαμεν απ αυτου και αναγγελλομεν υμιν οτι ο θεος φως εστιν και σκοτια εν αυτω ουκ εστιν ουδεμια	και εστιν αυτη η αγγελια ην ακηκοαμεν απ αυτου και αναγγελλομεν υμιν οτι ο θεος φως εστιν και σκοτια εν αυτω ουκ εστιν ουδεμια

If we say we have fellowship with him and yet keep on walking in the darkness, we are lying and not practicing the truth.	If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
But if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.	But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ἐὰν δὲ ἐν τῷ φωτὶ περιπατῶμεν ὡς αὐτός ἐστιν ἐν τῷ φωτί, κοινωνίαν ἔχομεν μετ᾿ ἀλλήλων καὶ τὸ αἷμα Ἰησοῦ τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ καθαρίζει ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ πάσης ἁμαρτίας	εαν δε εν τω φωτι περιπατωμεν ως αυτος εστιν εν τω φωτι κοινωνιαν εχομεν μετ αλληλων και το αιμα ιησου χριστου του υιου αυτου καθαριζει ημας απο πασης αμαρτιας	εαν δε εν τω φωτι περιπατωμεν ως αυτος εστιν εν τω φωτι κοινωνιαν εχομεν μετ αλληλων και το αιμα ιησου χριστου του υιου αυτου καθαριζει ημας απο πασης αμαρτιας

If we say we do not bear the guilt of sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.	If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous, forgiving us our sins and cleansing us from all unrighteousness.	If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us.	If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
(My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.) But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous One,	My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
and he himself is the atoning sacrifice (ἱλασμός) for our sins, and not only for our sins but also for the whole world.	And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
Now by this we know that we have come to know God: if we keep his commandments.	And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
The one who says “I have come to know God” and yet does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in such a person.	He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
But whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has been perfected. By this we know that we are in him.	But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
The one who says he resides in God ought himself to walk just as Jesus walked.	He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.

Atonement, Part 4

Back to Atonement, Part 6

Back to Everyone Fathered by God Does Not Sin

Back to My Deeds, Part 2

Back to Atonement, Part 1

Back to Son of God – 1 John, Part 1

Back to Atonement, Part 8

Back to Atonement, Part 10

Back to A Door of Hope, Part 1

^[1] Aaron and his sons (Exodus 28:43 NET)

^[2] Exodus 29:33 (NET)

^[3] Hebrews 10:1 (NET)

^[4] Hebrews 10:2 (NET)

^[5] In the NET parallel Greek text and the Byzantine Majority Text the word translated gospel message was ἀγγελία while it was επαγγελια in the Stephanus Textus Receptus.

^[6] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had the word χριστου here, while the NET parallel Greek text did not.

^[7] https://greekdoc.github.io/lexicon/of.html#ofeilw

^[8] The Greek verbs translated walk and walked were περιπατεῖν and περιεπάτησεν respectively. Both are forms of περιπατέω. By simply tracking select forms of περιπατέω I found that Paul and the Holy Spirit left a fairly detailed description of what it means to walk just as Jesus walked: περιπατῆσαι, Colossians 1:9-14; περιπατήσωμεν, Romans 6:1-4; περιπατήσωμεν, Ephesians 2:4-10; περιπατῆτε, 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12; περιπατεῖτε, Ephesians 5:1-21, Colossians 2:6-23, Colossians 4:2-6; περιπατεῖν (also περιπατεῖτε), 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8; περιπατείτω, 1 Corinthians 7:17-24; περιπατοῦμεν, 2 Corinthians 5:1-10; περιπατοῦσιν, Romans 8:1-17. Perhaps most to the point is Galatians 5:16. But I say, live (περιπατεῖτε) by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.

^[9] Hebrews 10:10 (NET)

^[10] 1 Thessalonians 5:24b (NET)

^[11] 1 Thessalonians 5:23 (NET)

^[12] Exodus 28:43 (NET)

^[13] τελειώσεις τὰς χεῖρας, “validate the hands” (NETS)

^[14] Romans 4:4, 5 (NET)

^[15] John 7:48, 49 (NET)

^[16] from Pharisees: “Emergence of the Pharisees”
After defeating the Seleucid forces, Judas Maccabaeus’s nephew John Hyrcanus established a new monarchy in the form of the priestly Hasmonean dynasty in 152 BCE, thus establishing priests as political as well as religious authorities. Although the Hasmoneans were considered heroes for resisting the Seleucids, their reign lacked the legitimacy conferred by descent from the Davidic dynasty of the First Temple era.^[16]
The Pharisee (“separatist”) party emerged largely out of the group of scribes and sages…
Sadducees rejected the Pharisaic tenet of an Oral Torah. In their personal lives this often meant an excessively stringent lifestyle from a Jewish perspective, as they did away with the oral tradition, and in turn the Pharisaic understanding of the Torah, creating two Jewish understandings of the Torah. An example of this differing approach is the interpretation of, “an eye in place of an eye”. The Pharisaic understanding was that the value of an eye was to be paid by the perpetrator.^[20] In the Sadducees’ view the words were given a more literal interpretation, in which the offender’s eye would be removed.^[21] From the point of view of the Pharisees, the Sadducees wished to change the Jewish understanding of the Torah, to a Greek understanding of the Torah. The Pharisees preserved the Pharisaical oral law in the form of the Talmud. They would become the foundation of Rabbinic Judaism…
“The Hasmonean period”
After the death of John Hyrcanus his younger son Alexander Jannaeus made himself king and openly sided with the Sadducees by adopting their rites in the Temple. His actions caused a riot in the Temple and led to a brief civil war that ended with a bloody repression of the Pharisees. However, on his deathbed Jannaeus advised his widow, Salome Alexandra, to seek reconciliation with the Pharisees.
“The Roman period”
According to Josephus, the Pharisees appeared before Pompey asking him to interfere and restore the old priesthood while abolishing the royalty of the Hasmoneans altogether (“Ant.” xiv. 3, § 2). Pharisees also opened Jerusalem’s gates to the Romans, and actively supported them against the Sadducean faction.^[26] When the Romans finally broke the entrance to the Jerusalem’s Temple, the Pharisees killed the priests who were officiating the Temple services on Saturday.^[27] They regarded Pompey’s defilement of the Temple in Jerusalem as a divine punishment of Sadducean misrule.

^[17] In John 7:40 ὄχλου (a form of ὄχλος; translated of the crowd) was used without any pejorative connotation. The translators may have added more emphasis to the distinction than the Pharisees actually intended. The point still stands that they distinguished themselves from the crowd, not by y^ehôvâh’s prescribed rituals, but by their own knowledge of the law.

^[18] John 17:3b (NET)

^[19] Galatians 3:10 (NET)

^[20] Deuteronomy 27:26 (Tanakh)

^[21] Romans 2:12 (NET)

^[22] The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one (Psalm 14:1-3 Tanakh).

^[23] For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue (Psalm 5:9 Tanakh). They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adders’ poison is under their lips. Selah (Psalm 140:3 Tanakh).

^[24] His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity (Psalm 10:7 Tanakh).

^[25] Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths. The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace (Isaiah 59:7, 8 Tanakh).

^[26] The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes (Psalm 36:1 Tanakh).

^[27] Romans 11:11b (NET)

^[28] Romans 11:20, 21 (NET)

^[29] 1 John 2:1b, 2 (NET)

^[30] John 12:32 (NET)

^[31] Romans 9:16 (NET) Table

^[32] Romans 11:30-32 (NET)

The Gospel and the Religious Mind

An attempt to distinguish the mind of Christ from the ordinary religious mind.

Tag Archives: John 17:3