Exploration, Part 10

I shared the previous essay with my Pastor. “Jesus didn’t call his hearers/followers actors,” he said. That’s true. He called their teachers and leaders actors. That the term also applied to his hearers/followers was my inference from Jesus’ words to the Jews who had believed him1 (and continued to believe Him). The Greek words translated who had believed were τοὺς πεπιστευκότας, a participle of πιστεύω in the perfect tense:

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

“If you abide in my word,” Jesus said despite their continuing faith, “you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”2

The Greek is: ἐὰν ὑμεῖς μείνητε (if [or, “whenever”] you [plural] abide), a form of μένω in the aorist tense: “The aorist is said to be ‘simple occurrence’ or ‘summary occurrence’, without regard for the amount of time taken to accomplish the action. This tense is also often referred to as the ‘punctiliar’ tense. ‘Punctiliar’ in this sense means ‘viewed as a single, collective whole,’ a ‘one-point-in-time’ action, although it may actually take place over a period of time.”3

It is in the active voice: “Grammatical voice indicates whether the subject [plural you] is the performer of the action of the verb (active voice), or the subject is the recipient of the action (passive voice). If the subject of the sentence is executing the action, then the verb is referred to as being in the active voice.”4 And μείνητε is in the subjunctive mood: “The subjunctive mood indicates probability or objective possibility. The action of the verb will possibly happen, depending on certain objective factors or circumstances.”5 According to the Koine Greek Lexicon online μείνητε, a form of μένω means: “to remain, stay; to live, dwell, lodge; to adhere to and not contravene; to abide, continue, remain; to remain, last, persist, continue to live; to remain in force; to endure, bear with; to wait for.”

Where are you to remain, stay, to live, dwell, lodge, to abide, continue? What are you to adhere to and not contravene, to endure, bear with, to wait for? What will persist, continue to live, remain in force? The next words are ἐν τῷ λόγῳ τῷ ἐμῷ (“in the word of mine”): Jesus’ understanding of the Scriptures, illuminated by, but not limited to, the words which are highlighted in red in a red letter edition of the New Testament.

The very next word in this wordstring is the adverb ἀληθῶς (ESV: truly). The ESV translators assumed that ἀληθῶς modified ἐστε (ESV: you are) rather than μείνητε (ESV: abide). I want to consider the other occurrences of ἀληθῶς in John’s writing along with their translations in the ESV.

Reference

ESV

NA28

John 4:42

They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world [Table].”

τῇ τε γυναικὶ ἔλεγον ὅτι οὐκέτι διὰ τὴν σὴν λαλιὰν πιστεύομεν, αὐτοὶ γὰρ ἀκηκόαμεν καὶ οἴδαμεν ὅτι οὗτός ἐστιν ἀληθῶς ὁ σωτὴρ τοῦ κόσμου

John 6:14

When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world [Table]!”

Οἱ οὖν ἄνθρωποι ἰδόντες ὃ ἐποίησεν σημεῖον ἔλεγον ὅτι οὗτός ἐστιν ἀληθῶς ὁ προφήτης ὁ ἐρχόμενος εἰς τὸν κόσμον

Here, in both occurrences the adverb ἀληθῶς (ESV: indeed) modifies ἔστιν (ESV: is), the verb it follows.

Reference

ESV

NA28

John 7:26

And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ [Table]?

καὶ ἴδε παρρησίᾳ λαλεῖ καὶ οὐδὲν αὐτῷ λέγουσιν. μήποτε ἀληθῶς ἔγνωσαν οἱ ἄρχοντες ὅτι οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ χριστός

Here, the adverb ἀληθῶς (ESV: really) precedes the verb it modifies ἔγνωσαν (ESV: know).

Reference

ESV

NA28

John 7:40

When6 they heard these words,7 some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.”

Ἐκ τοῦ ὄχλου οὖν ἀκούσαντες τῶν λόγων τούτων ἔλεγον· οὗτός ἐστιν ἀληθῶς ὁ προφήτης

Here again, the adverb ἀληθῶς (ESV: really) modifies ἔστιν (ESV: is), the verb it follows.

Reference

ESV

NA28

John 17:8

For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.

ὅτι τὰ ῥήματα ἃ ἔδωκάς μοι δέδωκα αὐτοῖς, καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔλαβον καὶ ἔγνωσαν ἀληθῶς ὅτι παρὰ σοῦ ἐξῆλθον, καὶ ἐπίστευσαν ὅτι σύ με ἀπέστειλας

Here, too, the adverb ἀληθῶς (ESV: in truth) modifies the verb it follows, ἔγνωσαν (ESV: theyhave come to know).

Reference

ESV

NA28

John 1:47

Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!”

Εἶδεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς τὸν Ναθαναὴλ ἐρχόμενον πρὸς αὐτὸν καὶ λέγει περὶ αὐτοῦ· ἴδε ἀληθῶς Ἰσραηλίτης ἐν ᾧ δόλος οὐκ ἔστιν

Here it is fairly clear that ἀληθῶς (ESV: indeed) modifies ἔστιν (ESV: there is; e.g., “there is truly no deceit”) rather than λέγει (ESV: said; e.g., “said truly”). But since ἀληθῶς actually occurs between ἴδε (ESV: Behold) and Ἰσραηλίτης (ESV: an Israelite), the translators treated it like a defining characteristic of a true Israelite as much as Jesus’ description of Nathanael. So, I’ll return now with these examples to John 8:31.

Reference

ESV

NA28

John 8:31

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,

Ἔλεγεν οὖν ὁ Ἰησοῦς πρὸς τοὺς πεπιστευκότας αὐτῷ Ἰουδαίους· ἐὰν ὑμεῖς μείνητε ἐν τῷ λόγῳ τῷ ἐμῷ, ἀληθῶς μαθηταί μού ἐστε

The comma between ἐν τῷ λόγῳ τῷ ἐμῷ (ESV: in my word) and ἀληθῶς (ESV: truly) is not original to the Greek manuscripts. The placement of ἀληθῶς (ESV: truly) seems to function like a conjunction, coordinating and qualifying both clauses: If you abide in my wordtruly μαθηταί μού (ESV: my disciples) ἐστε (ESV: you are). The occurrence of ἀληθῶς in 1 John 2:5 is similar.

Reference

ESV

NA28

1 John 2:5

but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him:

ὃς δ’ ἂν τηρῇ αὐτοῦ τὸν λόγον, ἀληθῶς ἐν τούτῳ ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ θεοῦ τετελείωται· ἐν τούτῳ γινώσκομεν ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ ἐσμεν

“But whoever keeps his word truly in him the love of God is perfected.” Peter offered us a profound example of not abiding in Jesus’ word truly.

Matthew 16:21, 22 (ESV)

Mark 8:31, 32 (ESV)

From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again [Table].
And he said this plainly.
And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.”

Jesus’ word to the Jews who had believed him8 (and continued to believe Him) continued: and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”9 The Greek was καὶ γνώσεσθε, a form of the verb γινώσκω in the future tense and indicative mood (ESV: and you will know). It is a statement of fact, a promise from Jesus, but it is also in the middle voice.

The Greek middle voice shows the subject acting in his own interest or on his own behalf, or participating in the results of the verbal action. In overly simplistic terms, sometimes the middle form of the verb could be translated as “the performer of the action actually acting upon himself” (reflexive action).

The 2nd person plural you have something to do with the fulfillment of this promise; namely, abide in Jesus’ word truly, even as the work of an actor if necessary, playing a character by obeying a rule, before Jesus has made you one spirit with Him. What will you know if you abide in Jesus’ word truly? τὴν ἀλήθειαν (ESV: the truth), an accusative form of ἀλήθεια. You will know the only true (ἀληθινὸν, a form of ἀληθινός) God, and Jesus Christ whom [He has] sent.10I am the way, and the truth (ἀλήθεια), and the life,” Jesus said. “No one comes to the Father except through me.”11 [A]nd the truth (καὶ ἀλήθεια) will set you free (ἐλευθερώσει ὑμᾶς). For our freedom Christ has us set free, therefore you stand firm and cannot entangle yourselves in a yoke of slavery again.12

And here is a glimpse of other truth that can be gained from abiding in Jesus’ word truly; namely, the truth about you, specifically your enslavement to sin. But here, like Peter, the Jews who had believed him13 did not abide in Jesus’ word truly (John 8:33-38 ESV):

They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” [Table]

Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices ( ποιῶν) sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. I speak of what14 I have seen with my15 Father, and you do what you have heard16 from your father.”17

Here again, though Jesus offered the Jews who had believed him18 another opportunity to abide in his word truly, they did not (John 8:39-41a ESV).

They answered him,19Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were20 Abraham’s children, you would21 be doing the works Abraham did, but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth (τὴν ἀλήθειαν) that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are doing the works your father did.”

Again, they did not abide in Jesus’ word truly (John 8:41b-43):

They said22 to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality (πορνείας, a form of πορνεία). We have one Father—even God.” Jesus said to them,23 “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me [Table]. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word.

Jesus was less patient with Peter, with whom He had spent much more time, when Peter refused to abide in Jesus’ word truly.

Matthew 16:23 (ESV)

Mark 8:33 (ESV)

But he turned  But turning 
and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter
and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man [Table].” and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man [Table].”

Eventually Jesus told the Jews who had believed him24 plainly (John 8:44, 45, 47 ESV):

You are of your father the devil, and your will (θέλετε, a form of the verb θέλω) is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies [Table]. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me…Whoever is of God (ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ) hears the words of God (τοῦ θεοῦ). The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God (ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ οὐκ ἐστέ; e.g., at the then present time).”

To call Peter Satan, and to say to the Jews who had believed him,25 You are of your father the devil, truly, I infer that Jesus addressed the old self (τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον, aka “the old man”), which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires.26 No new self (τὸν καινὸν ἄνθρωπον, aka “the new man”), created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness,27 existed yet but Jesus.

Only Jesus was free to serve in the new way of the Spirit (ἐν καινότητι πνεύματος),28 while everyone else served in the old way of the written code,29 whether the law, the teaching of the scribes and Pharisees or Jesus’ commands. They were actors by definition, playing a role by obeying rules, no matter how sincerely. Every act of obedience was an act, a determined effort that was contrary to their true nature and actual character until Jesus’ death, resurrection, ascension and the giving of the Holy Spirit.

I continued to be an actor for far too long even after I was born from above, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God,30 until I learned the new covenant from the Lord. For our freedom Christ has us set free, therefore you stand firm and cannot entangle yourselves in a yoke of slavery again.31 As Jesus said, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.32 The result ( καρπὸς) of the Holy Spirit is a continuous infusion of God’s own (Galatians 5:22b, 23 ESV):

…love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law [Table].

In other words (Matthew 5:48 EXP8):

You will be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect [Table].

Paul relayed part of that perfection to foolish Galatians who attempted to be perfected by the flesh (Galatians 5:24 ESV):

And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

The Greek is οἱ δὲ, And those, τοῦ Χριστοῦ, “of Christ” (the ESV translation—who belong to Christ Jesus—accentuates the possessive aspect of the genitive τοῦ Χριστοῦ), τὴν σάρκα, the flesh, ἐσταύρωσαν, “they” have crucified, σὺν τοῖς παθήμασιν καὶ ταῖς ἐπιθυμίαις, “along with the ‘suffering, misfortune, passion’ and the ‘desire, longing, craving (in a good or bad sense); lust, concupiscence, coveting, a longing (esp. for what is forbidden); something desired in order to possess.’”

This is not a debatable point for those “of Christ” but something to receive through faith:

We know that our old self ( παλαιὸς ἡμῶν ἄνθρωπος; NET: our old man) was crucified with him (συνεσταυρώθη, a passive form of συσταυρόω) in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.33

After He corrected Peter’s thinking—you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man [Table]34—Jesus continued (Mark 8:34-38 ESV):

And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone35 would come after36 me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would37 save his life (τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ) will lose it, but whoever loses38 his39 life (τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ) for my sake and the gospel’s will save40 it. For what does it profit41 a man to gain42 the whole world and forfeit43 his soul (τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ)? For44 what can a man give45 in return for his soul (τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ)? For46 whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

The Greek words translated let him deny himself were ἀπαρνησάσθω ἑαυτὸν. The phrase is a little redundant but abundantly clear: ἀπαρνησάσθω, an imperative form of ἀπαρνέομαι, a command in the middle voice, means: “to deny, disown, abstain, renounce, reject, refuse” oneself. The reflexive pronoun ἑαυτὸν in the accusative case emphasizes that this denial is not a denial of things but explicitly himself (oneself), the direct object of the verb (NET: he must deny himself), rather than the indirect object (e.g., he must deny himself this, that or the other thing).

Jesus’ example, contemplating his own crucifixion, comes again to mind here (John 12:27, 28a ESV).

“Now is my soul ( ψυχή μου) troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.”

Then privately He prayed to his Father (Mark 14:36 NET):

“Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Take this cup away from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

This is hypocrisy according to the “more general meaning that we use today: ‘a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings.’”47 And that should tell you everything you need to know about the “more general meaning” of hypocrisy “that we use today.” Jesus did not act as an actor. He demonstrated righteousness in the flesh by denying Himself (Galatians 5:17, 18 ESV).

For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do [Table]. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

When I think of the desires of the flesh, I think mostly of sex, especially kinky sex. But the desire to live (or not to be tortured to death) is a more basic desire of the flesh. Despite this most desperate desire of Jesus’ flesh the night He was arrested, He by the Spirit retained the knowledge of God: all things are possible for you. He did not lie to his all-knowing Father about the desire of his flesh: Take this cup away from me. And He denied Himself completely: Yet not what I will (θέλω), but what you will. And the Spirit strengthened Him.

Matthew 26:51-54 (ESV)

Mark 14:46-49 (ESV)

Luke 22:49-53 (ESV)

John 18:10, 11 (ESV)

And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? [Table] But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?”

And they laid hands48 on him49 and seized him. But one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear.50 And Jesus said to them, “Have you come51 out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But let the Scriptures be fulfilled.”

And when those who were around him saw what would follow, they said,52 “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?”53 And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him [Table]. Then Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders, who had come out against him, “Have you come out54 as against a robber, with swords and clubs? When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”

Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) [Table] So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?” [Table]

Without taking anything away from the 2nd person plural μείνητε in the active voice, there is another possible way to understand Jesus’ instruction to the Jews who had believed him.55 The Greek words translated my word (τῷ λόγῳ τῷ ἐμῷ) in Jesus’ conditional statement If you abide in my word are in the dative case.

The dative is the case of the indirect object, or may also indicate the means by which something is done.

It is possible to understand Jesus’ word as the means by which you abide: “If you abide by means of my word truly my disciples you are,” by oneness with his Spirit rather than as an actor obeying rules: Whoever is of God (ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ) hears the words of God (τοῦ θεοῦ).56 This is what Paul called ὑπακοὴν πίστεως (Romans 1:5; 16:26), obedience of faith, to distinguish it from a righteousness pursued as if it were based on works.57 I’ll pick this up in another essay.

A table of the occurrences of ἀληθῶς in the New Testament from NA28 as translated in the ESV follows.

Examples of ἀληθῶς in the New Testament

Reference

ESV

NA28

Matthew 14:33

And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

οἱ δὲ ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ προσεκύνησαν αὐτῷ λέγοντες· ἀληθῶς θεοῦ υἱὸς εἶ

Matthew 26:73

After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you.”

Μετὰ μικρὸν δὲ προσελθόντες οἱ ἑστῶτες εἶπον τῷ Πέτρῳ· ἀληθῶς καὶ σὺ ἐξ αὐτῶν εἶ, καὶ γὰρ ἡ λαλιά σου δῆλόν σε ποιεῖ

Matthew 27:54

When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

Ὁ δὲ ἑκατόνταρχος καὶ οἱ μετ’ αὐτοῦ τηροῦντες τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἰδόντες τὸν σεισμὸν καὶ τὰ γενόμενα ἐφοβήθησαν σφόδρα, λέγοντες· ἀληθῶς θεοῦ υἱὸς ἦν οὗτος

Mark 14:70

But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.”

ὁ δὲ πάλιν ἠρνεῖτο. Καὶ μετὰ μικρὸν πάλιν οἱ παρεστῶτες ἔλεγον τῷ Πέτρῳ· ἀληθῶς ἐξ αὐτῶν εἶ, καὶ γὰρ Γαλιλαῖος εἶ

Mark 15:39

And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

Ἰδὼν δὲ ὁ κεντυρίων ὁ παρεστηκὼς ἐξ ἐναντίας αὐτοῦ ὅτι οὕτως ἐξέπνευσεν εἶπεν· ἀληθῶς οὗτος ὁ ἄνθρωπος υἱὸς θεοῦ ἦν

Luke 9:27

But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”

λέγω δὲ ὑμῖν ἀληθῶς, εἰσίν τινες τῶν αὐτοῦ ἑστηκότων οἳ οὐ μὴ γεύσωνται θανάτου ἕως ἂν ἴδωσιν τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ

Luke 12:44

Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions.

ἀληθῶς λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι ἐπὶ πᾶσιν τοῖς ὑπάρχουσιν αὐτοῦ καταστήσει αὐτόν

Luke 21:3

And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them.

καὶ εἶπεν· ἀληθῶς λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι ἡ χήρα αὕτη ἡ πτωχὴ πλεῖον πάντων ἔβαλεν

John 1:47

Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!”

Εἶδεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς τὸν Ναθαναὴλ ἐρχόμενον πρὸς αὐτὸν καὶ λέγει περὶ αὐτοῦ· ἴδε ἀληθῶς Ἰσραηλίτης ἐν ᾧ δόλος οὐκ ἔστιν

John 4:42

They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”

τῇ τε γυναικὶ ἔλεγον ὅτι οὐκέτι διὰ τὴν σὴν λαλιὰν πιστεύομεν, αὐτοὶ γὰρ ἀκηκόαμεν καὶ οἴδαμεν ὅτι οὗτός ἐστιν ἀληθῶς ὁ σωτὴρ τοῦ κόσμου

John 6:14

When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”

Οἱ οὖν ἄνθρωποι ἰδόντες ὃ ἐποίησεν σημεῖον ἔλεγον ὅτι οὗτός ἐστιν ἀληθῶς ὁ προφήτης ὁ ἐρχόμενος εἰς τὸν κόσμον

John 7:26

And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ?

καὶ ἴδε παρρησίᾳ λαλεῖ καὶ οὐδὲν αὐτῷ λέγουσιν. μήποτε ἀληθῶς ἔγνωσαν οἱ ἄρχοντες ὅτι οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ χριστός

John 7:40

When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.”

Ἐκ τοῦ ὄχλου οὖν ἀκούσαντες τῶν λόγων τούτων ἔλεγον· οὗτός ἐστιν ἀληθῶς ὁ προφήτης

John 8:31

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,

Ἔλεγεν οὖν ὁ Ἰησοῦς πρὸς τοὺς πεπιστευκότας αὐτῷ Ἰουδαίους· ἐὰν ὑμεῖς μείνητε ἐν τῷ λόγῳ τῷ ἐμῷ, ἀληθῶς μαθηταί μού ἐστε

John 17:8

For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.

ὅτι τὰ ῥήματα ἃ ἔδωκάς μοι δέδωκα αὐτοῖς, καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔλαβον καὶ ἔγνωσαν ἀληθῶς ὅτι παρὰ σοῦ ἐξῆλθον, καὶ ἐπίστευσαν ὅτι σύ με ἀπέστειλας

Acts 12:11

When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”

Καὶ ὁ Πέτρος ἐν ἑαυτῷ γενόμενος εἶπεν· νῦν οἶδα ἀληθῶς ὅτι ἐξαπέστειλεν [ὁ] κύριος τὸν ἄγγελον αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐξείλατό με ἐκ χειρὸς Ἡρῴδου καὶ πάσης τῆς προσδοκίας τοῦ λαοῦ τῶν Ἰουδαίων

1 Thessalonians 2:13

And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.

Καὶ διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἡμεῖς εὐχαριστοῦμεν τῷ θεῷ ἀδιαλείπτως, ὅτι παραλαβόντες λόγον ἀκοῆς παρ’ ἡμῶν τοῦ θεοῦ ἐδέξασθε οὐ λόγον ἀνθρώπων ἀλλὰ καθώς ἐστιν ἀληθῶς λόγον θεοῦ, ὃς καὶ ἐνεργεῖται ἐν ὑμῖν τοῖς πιστεύουσιν

1 John 2:5

but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him:

ὃς δ’ ἂν τηρῇ αὐτοῦ τὸν λόγον, ἀληθῶς ἐν τούτῳ ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ θεοῦ τετελείωται· ἐν τούτῳ γινώσκομεν ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ ἐσμεν

Tables comparing John 7:40; 8:38; 8:39; 8:41; Mark 8:34-38; 14:46-48; Luke 22:49 and 22:52 in the KJV and NET follow.

John 7:40 (NET)

John 7:40 (KJV)

When they heard these words, some of the crowd began to say, “This really is the Prophet!” Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet.

John 7:40 (NET Parallel Greek)

John 7:40 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

John 7:40 (Byzantine Majority Text)

Ἐκ τοῦ ὄχλου οὖν ἀκούσαντες τῶν λόγων τούτων ἔλεγον· οὗτος ἐστιν ἀληθῶς ὁ προφήτης πολλοι ουν εκ του οχλου ακουσαντες τον λογον ελεγον ουτος εστιν αληθως ο προφητης πολλοι ουν εκ του οχλου ακουσαντες τον λογον ελεγον ουτος εστιν αληθως ο προφητης

John 8:38 (NET)

John 8:38 (KJV)

I am telling you the things I have seen while with the Father; as for you, practice the things you have heard from the Father!” I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.

John 8:38 (NET Parallel Greek)

John 8:38 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

John 8:38 (Byzantine Majority Text)

ἐγὼ ἑώρακα παρὰ τῷ πατρὶ λαλῶ· καὶ ὑμεῖς οὖν ἠκούσατε παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς ποιεῖτε εγω ο εωρακα παρα τω πατρι μου λαλω και υμεις ουν ο εωρακατε παρα τω πατρι υμων ποιειτε εγω ο εωρακα παρα τω πατρι μου λαλω και υμεις ουν ο εωρακατε παρα τω πατρι υμων ποιειτε

John 8:39 (NET)

John 8:39 (KJV)

They answered him, “Abraham is our father!” Jesus replied, “If you are Abraham’s children, you would be doing the deeds of Abraham. They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.

John 8:39 (NET Parallel Greek)

John 8:39 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

John 8:39 (Byzantine Majority Text)

ἀπεκρίθησαν καὶ εἶπαν αὐτῷ· ὁ πατὴρ ἡμῶν Ἀβραάμ ἐστιν. λέγει αὐτοῖς |ὁ| Ἰησοῦς· εἰ τέκνα τοῦ Ἀβραάμ ἐστε, τὰ ἔργα τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ |ἐ|ποιεῖτε απεκριθησαν και ειπον αυτω ο πατηρ ημων αβρααμ εστιν λεγει αυτοις ο ιησους ει τεκνα του αβρααμ ητε τα εργα του αβρααμ εποιειτε αν απεκριθησαν και ειπον αυτω ο πατηρ ημων αβρααμ εστιν λεγει αυτοις ο ιησους ει τεκνα του αβρααμ ητε τα εργα του αβρααμ εποιειτε αν

John 8:41 (NET)

John 8:41 (KJV)

You people are doing the deeds of your father.” Then they said to Jesus, “We were not born as a result of immorality! We have only one Father, God himself.” Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.

John 8:41 (NET Parallel Greek)

John 8:41 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

John 8:41 (Byzantine Majority Text)

ὑμεῖς ποιεῖτε τὰ ἔργα τοῦ πατρὸς ὑμῶν. εἶπαν αὐτῷ· ἡμεῖς ἐκ πορνείας |οὐ γεγεννήμεθα|, ἕνα πατέρα ἔχομεν τὸν θεόν υμεις ποιειτε τα εργα του πατρος υμων ειπον ουν αυτω ημεις εκ πορνειας ου γεγεννημεθα ενα πατερα εχομεν τον θεον υμεις ποιειτε τα εργα του πατρος υμων ειπον ουν αυτω ημεις εκ πορνειας ου γεγεννημεθα ενα πατερα εχομεν τον θεον

Mark 8:34-38 (NET)

Mark 8:34-38 (KJV)

Then Jesus called the crowd, along with his disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

Mark 8:34 (NET Parallel Greek)

Mark 8:34 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Mark 8:34 (Byzantine Majority Text)

Καὶ προσκαλεσάμενος τὸν ὄχλον σὺν τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· εἴ τις θέλει ὀπίσω μου |ἀκολουθεῖν|, ἀπαρνησάσθω ἑαυτὸν καὶ ἀράτω τὸν σταυρὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀκολουθείτω μοι και προσκαλεσαμενος τον οχλον συν τοις μαθηταις αυτου ειπεν αυτοις οστις θελει οπισω μου ελθειν απαρνησασθω εαυτον και αρατω τον σταυρον αυτου και ακολουθειτω μοι και προσκαλεσαμενος τον οχλον συν τοις μαθηταις αυτου ειπεν αυτοις οστις θελει οπισω μου ακολουθειν απαρνησασθω εαυτον και αρατω τον σταυρον αυτου και ακολουθειτω μοι
For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me and because of the gospel will save it. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.

Mark 8:35 (NET Parallel Greek)

Mark 8:35 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Mark 8:35 (Byzantine Majority Text)

ὃς γὰρ ἐὰν θέλῃ τὴν ψυχὴν |αὐτοῦ| σῶσαι ἀπολέσει αὐτήν· ὃς δ᾿ ἂν ἀπολέσει τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἕνεκεν |ἐμοῦ καὶ| τοῦ εὐαγγελίου σώσει αὐτήν ος γαρ αν θελη την ψυχην αυτου σωσαι απολεσει αυτην ος δ αν απολεση την ψυχην αυτου ενεκεν εμου και του ευαγγελιου ουτος σωσει αυτην ος γαρ αν θελη την ψυχην αυτου σωσαι απολεσει αυτην ος δ αν απολεση την εαυτου ψυχην ενεκεν εμου και του ευαγγελιου ουτος σωσει αυτην
For what benefit is it for a person to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his life? For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

Mark 8:36 (NET Parallel Greek)

Mark 8:36 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Mark 8:36 (Byzantine Majority Text)

τί γὰρ ὠφελεῖ ἄνθρωπον κερδῆσαι τὸν κόσμον ὅλον καὶ ζημιωθῆναι τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ τι γαρ ωφελησει ανθρωπον εαν κερδηση τον κοσμον ολον και ζημιωθη την ψυχην αυτου τι γαρ ωφελησει ανθρωπον εαν κερδηση τον κοσμον ολον και ζημιωθη την ψυχην αυτου
What can a person give in exchange for his life? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

Mark 8:37 (NET Parallel Greek)

Mark 8:37 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Mark 8:37 (Byzantine Majority Text)

τί γὰρ δοῖ ἄνθρωπος ἀντάλλαγμα τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ η τι δωσει ανθρωπος ανταλλαγμα της ψυχης αυτου η τι δωσει ανθρωπος ανταλλαγμα της ψυχης αυτου
For if anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

Mark 8:38 (NET Parallel Greek)

Mark 8:38 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Mark 8:38 (Byzantine Majority Text)

ὃς γὰρ ἐὰν ἐπαισχυνθῇ με καὶ τοὺς ἐμοὺς λόγους ἐν τῇ γενεᾷ ταύτῃ τῇ μοιχαλίδι καὶ ἁμαρτωλῷ, καὶ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐπαισχυνθήσεται αὐτόν, ὅταν ἔλθῃ ἐν τῇ δόξῃ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ μετὰ τῶν ἀγγέλων τῶν ἁγίων ος γαρ αν επαισχυνθη με και τους εμους λογους εν τη γενεα ταυτη τη μοιχαλιδι και αμαρτωλω και ο υιος του ανθρωπου επαισχυνθησεται αυτον οταν ελθη εν τη δοξη του πατρος αυτου μετα των αγγελων των αγιων ος γαρ εαν επαισχυνθη με και τους εμους λογους εν τη γενεα ταυτη τη μοιχαλιδι και αμαρτωλω και ο υιος του ανθρωπου επαισχυνθησεται αυτον οταν ελθη εν τη δοξη του πατρος αυτου μετα των αγγελων των αγιων

Mark 14:46-48 (NET)

Mark 14:46-48 (KJV)

Then they took hold of him and arrested him. And they laid their hands on him, and took him.

Mark 14:46 (NET Parallel Greek)

Mark 14:46 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Mark 14:46 (Byzantine Majority Text)

οἱ δὲ ἐπέβαλον τὰς χεῖρας αὐτῷ καὶ ἐκράτησαν αὐτόν οι δε επεβαλον επ αυτον τας χειρας αυτων και εκρατησαν αυτον οι δε επεβαλον επ αυτον τας χειρας αυτων και εκρατησαν αυτον
One of the bystanders drew his sword and struck the high priest’s slave, cutting off his ear. And one of them that stood by drew a sword, and smote a servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.

Mark 14:47 (NET Parallel Greek)

Mark 14:47 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Mark 14:47 (Byzantine Majority Text)

εἷς δέ [τις] τῶν παρεστηκότων σπασάμενος τὴν μάχαιραν ἔπαισεν τὸν δοῦλον τοῦ ἀρχιερέως καὶ ἀφεῖλεν αὐτοῦ τὸ ὠτάριον εις δε τις των παρεστηκοτων σπασαμενος την μαχαιραν επαισεν τον δουλον του αρχιερεως και αφειλεν αυτου το ωτιον εις δε τις των παρεστηκοτων σπασαμενος την μαχαιραν επαισεν τον δουλον του αρχιερεως και αφειλεν αυτου το ωτιον
Jesus said to them, “Have you come with swords and clubs to arrest me like you would an outlaw? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Are ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and with staves to take me?

Mark 14:48 (NET Parallel Greek)

Mark 14:48 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Mark 14:48 (Byzantine Majority Text)

Καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· ὡς ἐπὶ λῃστὴν ἐξήλθατε μετὰ μαχαιρῶν καὶ ξύλων συλλαβεῖν με και αποκριθεις ο ιησους ειπεν αυτοις ως επι ληστην εξηλθετε μετα μαχαιρων και ξυλων συλλαβειν με και αποκριθεις ο ιησους ειπεν αυτοις ως επι ληστην εξηλθετε μετα μαχαιρων και ξυλων συλλαβειν με

Luke 22:49 (NET)

Luke 22:49 (KJV)

When those who were around him saw what was about to happen, they said, “Lord, should we use our swords?” When they which were about him saw what would follow, they said unto him, Lord, shall we smite with the sword?

Luke 22:49 (NET Parallel Greek)

Luke 22:49 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Luke 22:49 (Byzantine Majority Text)

ἰδόντες δὲ οἱ περὶ αὐτὸν τὸ ἐσόμενον εἶπαν· κύριε, εἰ πατάξομεν ἐν μαχαίρῃ ιδοντες δε οι περι αυτον το εσομενον ειπον αυτω κυριε ει παταξομεν εν μαχαιρα ιδοντες δε οι περι αυτον το εσομενον ειπον αυτω κυριε ει παταξομεν εν μαχαιρα

Luke 22:52 (NET)

Luke 22:52 (KJV)

Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders who had come out to get him, “Have you come out with swords and clubs like you would against an outlaw? Then Jesus said unto the chief priests, and captains of the temple, and the elders, which were come to him, Be ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and staves?

Luke 22:52 (NET Parallel Greek)

Luke 22:52 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Luke 22:52 (Byzantine Majority Text)

Εἶπεν δὲ Ἰησοῦς πρὸς τοὺς παραγενομένους ἐπ᾿ αὐτὸν ἀρχιερεῖς καὶ στρατηγοὺς τοῦ ἱεροῦ καὶ πρεσβυτέρους· ὡς ἐπὶ λῃστὴν ἐξήλθατε μετὰ μαχαιρῶν καὶ ξύλων ειπεν δε ο ιησους προς τους παραγενομενους επ αυτον αρχιερεις και στρατηγους του ιερου και πρεσβυτερους ως επι ληστην εξεληλυθατε μετα μαχαιρων και ξυλων ειπεν δε ο ιησους προς τους παραγενομενους επ αυτον αρχιερεις και στρατηγους του ιερου και πρεσβυτερους ως επι ληστην εξεληλυθατε μετα μαχαιρων και ξυλων

1 John 8:31a (ESV)

2 John 8:31b, 32 (ESV)

6 The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had πολλοι (KJV: Many) at the beginning of this clause. The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

7 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had the plural τῶν λόγων τούτων here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had the singular τον λογον (KJV: this saying).

8 John 8:31a (ESV)

9 John 8:32 (ESV)

10 John 17:3b (ESV)

11 John 14:6 (ESV)

12 Galatians 5:1b (EXP1) Table

13 John 8:31a (ESV)

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

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

16 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ἠκούσατε here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ο εωρακατε (KJV: which ye have seen).

18 John 8:31a (ESV)

19 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had καὶ εἶπαν preceding him (KJV: unto him), where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had και ειπον (KJV: and said).

20 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ἐστε here (NET: you are), where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ητε (KJV: ye were).

21 The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had αν at the end of this clause. The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

22 The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ειπον ουν (KJV: Then said they) here, where NA28 had Εἶπαν [οὖν], and the NET parallel Greek text had simply εἶπαν.

23 The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ουν here (not translated in the KJV). The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

24 John 8:31a (ESV)

25 Ibid.

26 Ephesians 4:22b (ESV)

27 Ephesians 4:24b (ESV)

28 Romans 7:6b (ESV)

29 Romans 7:6c (ESV)

30 John 1:13b (ESV)

31 Galatians 5:1b (EXP1) Table

32 John 14:26 (ESV) Table

33 Romans 6:6 (ESV)

34 Mark 8:33b (ESV)

35 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had εἴ τις here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had οστις (KJV: Whosoever).

36 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ἀκολουθεῖν here, an infinitive form of ἀκολουθέω, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ελθειν, an infinitive form of ἔρχομαι.

37 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ἐὰν preceding would (NET: wants; KJV: will), where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had αν.

39 The NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Stephanus Textus Receptus had αὐτοῦ following life, where the Byzantine Majority Text had εαυτου preceding it.

40 The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ουτος (KJV: the same) preceding save. The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

41 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ὠφελεῖ (NET: benefit is it) here, a form of ὠφελέω in the present tense, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ωφελησει (KJV: shall it profit) in the future tense.

42 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had κερδῆσαι here, an infinitive form of κερδαίνω, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had εαν κερδηση (KJV: if he shall gain) in the aorist tense and subjunctive mood.

43 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ζημιωθῆναι here, an infinitive form of ζημιόω, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ζημιωθη (KJV: lose) in the subjunctive mood.

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

45 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had δοῖ here, a form of δίδωμι in the 2nd aorist tense and subjunctive mood, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had δωσει (KJV: shall…give) in the future tense and indicative mood.

46 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ἐὰν (NET: if) here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had αν.

48 The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had αυτων (KJV: their) here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

49 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had αὐτῷ (NET: of him) here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had επ αυτον (KJV: on him).

51 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ἐξήλθατε here, a form of ἐξέρχομαι in the aorist tense, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had εξηλθετε (KJV: Are ye come out) in the 2nd aorist tense.

52 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had εἶπαν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ειπον αυτω (KJV: said unto him).

55 John 8:31a (ESV)

56 John 8:47a (ESV)

57 Romans 9:32b (ESV) Table

A Monotonous Cycle Revisited, Part 3

And HaShem (יְהֹוָה֙) said unto Cain: ‘Where is Abel thy brother?’[1]

I thought about skipping this exchange.  I’ve covered it elsewhere.[2]  My point in revisiting these monotonous cycles, however, is to see them through Jesus’ eyes: Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must all be born from above.’[3]

The most natural way to view the Bible, I suppose, is as an evolving human attempt to describe an imagined god.  There is a theory of Bible interpretation that one should imagine the time a book was written and try to understand the text as someone of that time would have understood it.  I think the NET translation of the Masoretic text may owe a lot to that theory.  I want to take all the knowledge of God I possess at this moment to know the One who asked Cain, Where is Abel thy brother?  That’s fairly ambitious for an essay.  I don’t know how this is going to go.

I’ll turn here to Jesus for some divine revelation about what is natural to human beings, even religious human beings who have begun to believe Him[4] (John 8:44, 45 NET Table):

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 (ἀληθείᾳ), because there is no truth (ἀλήθεια) in him.  Whenever he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies.  But because I am telling you the truth (ἀλήθειαν, a form of ἀλήθεια), you do not believe me.

What Jesus meant by ἀλήθειαν, ἀλήθεια and ἀληθείᾳ was, your word is truth (ἀλήθεια),[5] as He prayed to our Father in heaven.  The devil isn’t ignorant of God’s word preserved in the Bible (Matthew 4:5-7 NET):

Then the devil took [Jesus] to the holy city, had him stand[6] on the highest point of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down.  For it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you’ and ‘with their hands they will lift you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”  Jesus said to him, “Once again it is written: ‘You are not to put the Lord your God to the test.’”

The devil quoted a promise from a psalm (Tables below) addressed to He that dwells in the help of the Highest.[7]

Masoretic Text

Septuagint
Psalm 91:1-4 (Tanakh) Psalm 91:1-4 (NET) Psalm 90:1-4 (NETS)

Psalm 90:1-4 (English Elpenor)

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. As for you, the one who lives in the shelter of the Most High, and resides in the protective shadow of the Sovereign One— A laudation.  Of an Ode.  Pertaining to Dauid.  He who lives by the help (βοηθείᾳ) of the Most High, in a shelter of the God of the sky he will lodge. [Praise of a Song, by David.] He that dwells in the help (βοηθείᾳ) of the Highest, shall sojourn under the shelter of the God of heaven.
I will say of the LORD (לַֽ֖יהֹוָה), He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. I say this about the Lord (yehôvâh, ליהוה), my shelter and my stronghold, my God in whom I trust— He will say to the Lord, “My supporter you are and my refuge; my God, I will hope (ἐλπιῶ) in him,” He shall say to the Lord, Thou art my helper and my refuge: my God; I will hope (ἐλπιῶ) in him.
Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. he will certainly rescue you from the snare of the hunter and from the destructive plague. because it is he who will rescue me from a trap of hunters and from a troublesome word (λόγου); For he shall deliver thee from the snare of the hunters, from [every] troublesome matter (λόγου).
He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. He will shelter you with his wings; you will find safety under his wings.  His faithfulness is like a shield or a protective wall. with the broad of his back he will shade you, and under his wings you will find hope (ἐλπιεῗς); with a shield his truth (ἀλήθεια) will surround you. He shall overshadow thee with his shoulders, and thou shalt trust (ἐλπιεῖς) under his wings: his truth (ἀλήθεια) shall cover thee with a shield.

The devil used God’s word to persuade Jesus to break the law given through Moses.  With one quotation from Deuteronomy Jesus not only proved the psalm (“it is he who will rescue me from a trap of hunters and from a troublesome word”[8]) but gave a clear demonstration of the difference between trusting God for his provision or testing Him in unbelief to prove it.

Jesus continued addressing religious people who had begun to believe Him, yet rejected his revelation that they are from (ἐκ) [their] father the devil (John 8:46b, 47 NET):

If I am telling you the truth (ἀλήθειαν, a form of ἀλήθεια), why don’t you believe me?  The one who belongs to God listens and responds to God’s words.  You don’t listen and respond, because you don’t belong to God.

The KJV reads: He that is of [ἐκ] God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of [ἐκ] God.[9]  I quote it not so much to correct the NET as to clarify my own thinking.  Translating ἐκ belongs to and belong to sent my thoughts back to Jesus’ prayer (John 17:6 NET Table).

I have revealed your name to the men you gave me out of the world.  They belonged (ἦσαν; KJV: thine they were) to you, and you gave[10] them to me, and they have obeyed (τετήρηκαν; KJV: kept) your word.

If Jesus had prayed for the religious people who had begun to believe Him, He might have said: They belonged to you, and you gave them to me (e.g., No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him[11]).  But He would have stopped short of affirming—and they have obeyed (kept) your word–because they would not believe that they were from (ἐκ) their father the devil not of [ἐκ] God.  Why this distinction between those who believed and stayed near to Jesus and those who were farther off?

I turn again to Jesus’ prayer (John 17:11b, 12a NET Table):

Holy Father, keep them safe (τήρησον) in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one.  When I was with them I kept them safe (ἐτήρουν) and watched over them in your name that you have given me.

While He was with them Jesus performed the keep-them-safe function that He prayed would be turned over to the Holy Spirit ultimately.  Apparently there was a proximity effect.  Follow me, was not a metaphor when Jesus was the only person on the planet led by the Holy Spirit.  I tell you the truth, Jesus told his disciples before He prayed, 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.[12]  In fact, Jesus had told them quite a lot about this Advocate before He prayed (John 14:15-17, 21 NET)

“If you love me, you will obey (τηρήσετε) my commandments.  Then I[13] will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be[14] with you forever—the Spirit of truth (ἀληθείας, another form of ἀλήθεια), whom the world cannot accept, because it does not see him or know him.[15]  But[16] you know him, because he resides with you and will be in you.

The person who has my commandments and obeys (τηρῶν) them is the one who loves me.  The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I[17] will love him and will reveal myself to him.”

In the NET καγὼ was translated Then I.  Note 36 explained: “Here καί (kai) has been translated as ‘Then’ to reflect the implied sequence in the discourse.”  The word then plays havoc with the philosophical bent of my mind, so I feel obliged to emphasize that there is no quid pro quo here: Jesus did not say, Obey (keep) my commandments to prove that you love Me, then I will ask the Father…  These are two related promises.

In the KJV τηρήσετε was translated as an imperative: keep my commandments.  I think the NET translators did a much better job understanding the future tense, active voice, indicative mood τηρήσετε as you will obey.  (I won’t even quibble this time about translating it obey.)

In other words, if you are patient with Jesus, kind to Him, not envious, not bragging to Him, not puffed up, not rude, not self-serving, not easily angered by Him or resentful toward Him, not glad about injustice, but rejoicing in his truth, you will obey (keep) his commandments.  And also He will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you forever.  The only “implied sequence” in Jesus’ discourse was that his immediate hearers would need to encourage one another with these words for the few days between Jesus’ ascension and Pentecost.  Since the Holy Spirit was given this love for Jesus (and for others) is continuously provided, an aspect of the fruit of the Spirit.

A question was posed to Jesus (John 14:22-26 NET):

“Lord,” Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “what[18] has happened that you are going to reveal yourself to us and not to the world?”  Jesus[19] replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey (τηρήσει) my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and take up[20] residence with him.  The person who does not love me does not obey (τηρεῖ) my words.  And the word you hear is not mine, but the Father’s who sent me.

“I have spoken these things while staying 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[21] said to you.

None of this is to say that believers who were distant from Jesus rejected his revelation that they were from (ἐκ) their father the devil not of [ἐκ] God, while those who were closer to Him had completely accepted this fact. Peter’s struggle with this is the most obvious example (Matthew 16:15-17, 21-23 NET).

[Jesus] said to [his disciples], “But who do you say that I am?”  Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  And[22] Jesus answered him, “You are blessed, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven!”

From that time on Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.  So Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him: “God forbid, Lord!  This must not happen to you!”  But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan!  You are a stumbling block to me, because you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but on man’s [Table].”

One might expect that Peter would have heard Jesus’ words—You people are from your father the devil, and you want to do what your father desires[23]—with very different ears.  But even after everything else Jesus said, Peter intended to fight to the death to prove Jesus wrong (Matthew 26:33-35), and to prove his own religious theory (not exclusively his own), who the Messiah is and what he should do, correct.  The Peter of Acts 2 and beyond only comes into existence after he is indwelt by the Holy Spirit: we (Jesus and the Father) will come to him and take up residence with him.[24]  I tell you the truth (ἀλήθειαν, form of ἀλήθεια), Jesus said, it is to your advantage that I am going away.[25] 

After denying that he even knew Jesus three times, Peter remembered what Jesus had said:[26] “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.”  And he went outside and wept bitterly.[27]  He was brought face to face, as it were, with the truth: You people are from your father the devil, and you want to do what your father desires.[28]  And he was brought to this realization, against his own will, by the inexorable will of God through his authoritative word: Jesus said to him, “I tell you the truth (ἀμὴν), on this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.”[29]

I haven’t exhausted my limited knowledge of God but I am nearing the end of this essay.  I suppose I can say at this point it was, at a minimum, this Will and this Word who asked Cain, Where is Abel thy brother?  I want to mention one significant difference between Cain’s world and ours.

The same One who said, No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, [30] also said, And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people (πάντας) to myself.[31]  Jesus was crucified and buried.  God raised Him from the dead.  He ascended into heaven.  At a minimum all people alive are drawn to Him by the inexorable will of God.  Paul wrote (Ephesians 1:7-12 NET):

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our offenses, according to the riches of his grace [Table] that he lavished on us in all wisdom and insight.  He did this when he revealed to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, toward the administration of the fullness of the times, to head up all things in Christ—the things in heaven and the things on earth.  In Christ we too have been claimed as God’s own possession, since we were predestined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, would be to the praise of his glory [Table].

Each of us who resists God’s will, to whatever degree each resists Him, is like Saul on the road to Damascus, hurting himself by kicking against the goads.  These goads drive each of us to the realization that apart from God’s indwelling Holy Spirit each is from (ἐκ) his father the devil not of [ἐκ] God.  He that is of [ἐκ] God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of [ἐκ] God.[32]

Each of us has suffered or suffers still from this innate inbred resistance to God’s will.  A bit of patience with, and kindness toward, one another is in order, that we may all recognize: apart from the indwelling Holy Spirit, Jesus and his Father taking up residence within each of us—supplying us continuously with his love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control—eternity is just a long miserable time.  Do not be amazed that I said to you, Jesus said to a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council, ‘You must all be born from above.’

Tables comparing the Old Testament quotations in Matthew 4:6, 7 follow:

Matthew 4:6b (NET Parallel Greek) Psalm 91:11a (Septuagint BLB) Psalm 90:11a (Septuagint Elpenor)
ὅτι τοῖς ἀγγέλοις αὐτοῦ ἐντελεῖται περὶ σοῦ ὅτι τοῗς ἀγγέλοις αὐτοῦ ἐντελεῗται περὶ σοῦ ὅτι τοῖς ἀγγέλοις αὐτοῦ ἐντελεῖται περὶ σοῦ τοῦ
Matthew 4:6b (NET) Psalm 90:11a (NETS) Psalm 90:11a (English Elpenor)
He will command his angels concerning you because he will command his angels concerning you For he shall give his angels charge concerning thee,
Matthew 4:6c (NET Parallel Greek) Psalm 91:12 (Septuagint BLB) Psalm 90:12 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐπὶ χειρῶν ἀροῦσιν σε, μήποτε προσκόψῃς πρὸς λίθον τὸν πόδα σου ἐπὶ χειρῶν ἀροῦσίν σε μήποτε προσκόψῃς πρὸς λίθον τὸν πόδα σου ἐπὶ χειρῶν ἀροῦσί σε, μήποτε προσκόψῃς πρὸς λίθον τὸν πόδα σου
Matthew 4:6c (NET) Psalm 90:12 (NETS) Psalm 90:12 (English Elpenor)
with their hands they will lift you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. upon hands they will bear you up so that you will not dash your foot against a stone. They shall bear thee up on their hands, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Matthew 4:7b (NET Parallel Greek) Deuteronomy 6:16 (Septuagint BLB) Deuteronomy 6:16 (Septuagint Elpenor)
οὐκ ἐκπειράσεις κύριον τὸν θεόν σου οὐκ ἐκπειράσεις κύριον τὸν θεόν σου οὐκ ἐκπειράσεις Κύριον τὸν Θεόν σου
Matthew 4:7b (NET) Deuteronomy 6:16 (NETS) Deuteronomy 6:16 (English Elpenor)
You are not to put the Lord your God to the test. You shall not tempt the Lord your God, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God,

Tables comparing Genesis 4:9; Psalm 91:11; 91:12; Deuteronomy 6:16; Psalm 91:1; 91:2; 91:3 and 91:4 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and tables comparing the Greek of Genesis 4:9; Psalm 91:11 (90:11); 91:12 (90.12); Deuteronomy 6:16; Psalm 91:1 (90:1); 91:2 (90:2); 91:3 (90:3) and 91:4 (90:4) in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor), and tables comparing Matthew 4:5; John 14:16, 17; 14:21-23; 14:26; Matthew 16:17 and 26:75 in the NET and KJV follow.

Genesis 4:9 (Tanakh) Genesis 4:9 (KJV) Genesis 4:9 (NET)
And HaShem said unto Cain: ‘Where is Abel thy brother?’  And he said: ‘I know not; am I my brother’s keeper?’ And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother?  And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper? Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”  And he replied, “I don’t know!  Am I my brother’s guardian?”
Genesis 4:9 (Septuagint BLB) Genesis 4:9 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεὸς πρὸς Καιν ποῦ ἐστιν Αβελ ὁ ἀδελφός σου ὁ δὲ εἶπεν οὐ γινώσκω μὴ φύλαξ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ μού εἰμι ἐγώ καὶ εἶπε Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς πρὸς Κάϊν· ποῦ ἔστιν ῎Αβελ ὁ ἀδελφός σου; καὶ εἶπεν· οὐ γινώσκω· μὴ φύλαξ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ μου εἰμὶ ἐγώ
Genesis 4:9 (NETS) Genesis 4:9 (English Elpenor)
And God said to Kain, “Where is your brother Habel?”  And he said, “I do not know; surely I am not my brother’s keeper?” And the Lord God said to Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? and he said, I know not, am I my brother’s keeper?
Psalm 91:11 (Tanakh) Psalm 91:11 (KJV) Psalm 91:11 (NET)
For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. For he will order his angels to protect you in all you do.
Psalm 91:11 (Septuagint BLB) Psalm 90:11 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ὅτι τοῗς ἀγγέλοις αὐτοῦ ἐντελεῗται περὶ σοῦ τοῦ διαφυλάξαι σε ἐν πάσαις ταῗς ὁδοῗς σου ὅτι τοῖς ἀγγέλοις αὐτοῦ ἐντελεῖται περὶ σοῦ τοῦ διαφυλάξαι σε ἐν πάσαις ταῖς ὁδοῖς σου
Psalm 90:11 (NETS) Psalm 90:11 (English Elpenor)
because he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; For he shall give his angels charge concerning thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
Psalm 91:12 (Tanakh) Psalm 91:12 (KJV) Psalm 91:12 (NET)
They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. They will lift you up in their hands, so you will not slip and fall on a stone.
Psalm 91:12 (Septuagint BLB) Psalm 90:12 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐπὶ χειρῶν ἀροῦσίν σε μήποτε προσκόψῃς πρὸς λίθον τὸν πόδα σου ἐπὶ χειρῶν ἀροῦσί σε, μήποτε προσκόψῃς πρὸς λίθον τὸν πόδα σου
Psalm 90:12 (NETS) Psalm 90:12 (English Elpenor)
upon hands they will bear you up so that you will not dash your foot against a stone. They shall bear thee up on their hands, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Deuteronomy 6:16 (Tanakh) Deuteronomy 6:16 (KJV) Deuteronomy 6:16 (NET)
Ye shall not try HaShem your G-d, as ye tried Him in Massah. Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah. You must not put the Lord your God to the test as you did at Massah.
Deuteronomy 6:16 (Septuagint BLB) Deuteronomy 6:16 (Septuagint Elpenor)
οὐκ ἐκπειράσεις κύριον τὸν θεόν σου ὃν τρόπον ἐξεπειράσασθε ἐν τῷ Πειρασμῷ οὐκ ἐκπειράσεις Κύριον τὸν Θεόν σου, ὃν τρόπον ἐξεπειράσατε ἐν τῷ Πειρασμῷ
Deuteronomy 6:16 (NETS) Deuteronomy 6:16 (English Elpenor)
You shall not tempt the Lord your God, as you tempted in the Temptation. Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God, as ye tempted him in the temptation.
Psalm 91:1 (Tanakh) Psalm 91:1 (KJV) Psalm 91:1 (NET)
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. As for you, the one who lives in the shelter of the Most High, and resides in the protective shadow of the Sovereign One—
Psalm 91:1 (Septuagint BLB) Psalm 90:1 (Septuagint Elpenor)
αἶνος ᾠδῆς τῷ Δαυιδ ὁ κατοικῶν ἐν βοηθείᾳ τοῦ ὑψίστου ἐν σκέπῃ τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ αὐλισθήσεται Αἶνος ᾠδῆς τῷ Δαυΐδ. – Ο ΚΑΤΟΙΚΩΝ ἐν βοηθείᾳ τοῦ ῾Υψίστου, ἐν σκέπῃ τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ αὐλισθήσεται
Psalm 90:1 (NETS) Psalm 90:1 (English Elpenor)
A laudation.  Of an Ode.  Pertaining to Dauid.  He who lives by the help of the Most High, in a shelter of the God of the sky he will lodge. [Praise of a Song, by David.] He that dwells in the help of the Highest, shall sojourn under the shelter of the God of heaven.
Psalm 91:2 (Tanakh) Psalm 91:2 (KJV) Psalm 91:2 (NET)
I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. I say this about the Lord, my shelter and my stronghold, my God in whom I trust—
Psalm 91:2 (Septuagint BLB) Psalm 90:2 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐρεῗ τῷ κυρίῳ ἀντιλήμπτωρ μου εἶ καὶ καταφυγή μου ὁ θεός μου ἐλπιῶ ἐπ᾽ αὐτόν ἐρεῖ τῷ Κυρίῳ· ἀντιλήπτωρ μου εἶ καὶ καταφυγή μου, ὁ Θεός μου, καὶ ἐλπιῶ ἐπ᾿ αὐτόν
Psalm 90:2 (NETS) Psalm 90:2 (English Elpenor)
He will say to the Lord, “My supporter you are and my refuge; my God, I will hope in him,” He shall say to the Lord, Thou art my helper and my refuge: my God; I will hope in him.
Psalm 91:3 (Tanakh) Psalm 91:3 (KJV) Psalm 91:3 (NET)
Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. he will certainly rescue you from the snare of the hunter and from the destructive plague.
Psalm 91:3 (Septuagint BLB) Psalm 90:3 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ὅτι αὐτὸς ῥύσεταί με ἐκ παγίδος θηρευτῶν καὶ ἀπὸ λόγου ταραχώδους ὅτι αὐτὸς ῥύσεταί σε ἐκ παγίδος θηρευτῶν καὶ ἀπὸ λόγου ταραχώδους
Psalm 90:3 (NETS) Psalm 90:3 (English Elpenor)
because it is he who will rescue me from a trap of hunters and from a troublesome word; For he shall deliver thee from the snare of the hunters, from [every] troublesome matter.
Psalm 91:4 (Tanakh) Psalm 91:4 (KJV) Psalm 91:4 (NET)
He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. He will shelter you with his wings; you will find safety under his wings.  His faithfulness is like a shield or a protective wall.
Psalm 91:4 (Septuagint BLB) Psalm 90:4 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐν τοῗς μεταφρένοις αὐτοῦ ἐπισκιάσει σοι καὶ ὑπὸ τὰς πτέρυγας αὐτοῦ ἐλπιεῗς ὅπλῳ κυκλώσει σε ἡ ἀλήθεια αὐτοῦ ἐν τοῖς μεταφρένοις αὐτοῦ ἐπισκιάσει σοι, καὶ ὑπὸ τὰς πτέρυγας αὐτοῦ ἐλπιεῖς· ὅπλῳ κυκλώσει σε ἡ ἀλήθεια αὐτοῦ.
Psalm 90:4 (NETS) Psalm 90:4 (English Elpenor)
with the broad of his back he will shade you, and under his wings you will find hope; with a shield his truth will surround you. He shall overshadow thee with his shoulders, and thou shalt trust under his wings: his truth shall cover thee with a shield.
Matthew 4:5 (NET) Matthew 4:5 (KJV)
Then the devil took him to the holy city, had him stand on the highest point of the temple, Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,
NET Parallel Greek Stephanus Textus Receptus Byzantine Majority Text
Τότε παραλαμβάνει αὐτὸν ὁ διάβολος εἰς τὴν ἁγίαν πόλιν καὶ ἔστησεν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὸ πτερύγιον τοῦ ἱεροῦ τοτε παραλαμβανει αυτον ο διαβολος εις την αγιαν πολιν και ιστησιν αυτον επι το πτερυγιον του ιερου τοτε παραλαμβανει αυτον ο διαβολος εις την αγιαν πολιν και ιστησιν αυτον επι το πτερυγιον του ιερου
John 14:16, 17 (NET) John 14:16, 17 (KJV)
Then I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you forever— And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
NET Parallel Greek Stephanus Textus Receptus Byzantine Majority Text
καγὼ ἐρωτήσω τὸν πατέρα καὶ ἄλλον παράκλητον δώσει ὑμῖν, ἵνα  μεθ᾿ ὑμῶν εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα || και εγω ερωτησω τον πατερα και αλλον παρακλητον δωσει υμιν ινα μενη μεθ υμων εις τον αιωνα και εγω ερωτησω τον πατερα και αλλον παρακλητον δωσει υμιν ινα μενη μεθ υμων εις τον αιωνα
the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it does not see him or know him.  But you know him, because he resides with you and will be in you. Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
NET Parallel Greek Stephanus Textus Receptus Byzantine Majority Text
τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας, ὃ ὁ κόσμος οὐ δύναται λαβεῖν, ὅτι οὐ θεωρεῖ αὐτὸ οὐδὲ γινώσκει· ὑμεῖς γινώσκετε αὐτό, ὅτι παρ᾿ ὑμῖν μένει καὶ ἐν ὑμῖν |ἔσται| το πνευμα της αληθειας ο ο κοσμος ου δυναται λαβειν οτι ου θεωρει αυτο ουδε γινωσκει αυτο υμεις δε γινωσκετε αυτο οτι παρ υμιν μενει και εν υμιν εσται το πνευμα της αληθειας ο ο κοσμος ου δυναται λαβειν οτι ου θεωρει αυτο ουδε γινωσκει αυτο υμεις δε γινωσκετε αυτο οτι παρ υμιν μενει και εν υμιν εσται
John 14:21-23 (NET) John 14:21-23 (KJV)
The person who has my commandments and obeys them is the one who loves me.  The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will reveal myself to him.” He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
NET Parallel Greek Stephanus Textus Receptus Byzantine Majority Text
ὁ ἔχων τὰς ἐντολάς μου καὶ τηρῶν αὐτὰς ἐκεῖνος ἐστιν ὁ ἀγαπῶν με· ὁ δὲ ἀγαπῶν με ἀγαπηθήσεται ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρός μου, καγὼ ἀγαπήσω αὐτὸν καὶ ἐμφανίσω αὐτῷ ἐμαυτόν ο εχων τας εντολας μου και τηρων αυτας εκεινος εστιν ο αγαπων με ο δε αγαπων με αγαπηθησεται υπο του πατρος μου και εγω αγαπησω αυτον και εμφανισω αυτω εμαυτον ο εχων τας εντολας μου και τηρων αυτας εκεινος εστιν ο αγαπων με ο δε αγαπων με αγαπηθησεται υπο του πατρος μου και εγω αγαπησω αυτον και εμφανισω αυτω εμαυτον
“Lord,” Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “what has happened that you are going to reveal yourself to us and not to the world?” Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?
NET Parallel Greek Stephanus Textus Receptus Byzantine Majority Text
Λέγει αὐτῷ Ἰούδας (οὐχ ὁ Ἰσκαριώτης)· κύριε, [καὶ] τί γέγονεν ὅτι ἡμῖν μέλλεις ἐμφανίζειν σεαυτὸν καὶ οὐχὶ τῷ κόσμῳ λεγει αυτω ιουδας ουχ ο ισκαριωτης κυριε τι γεγονεν οτι ημιν μελλεις εμφανιζειν σεαυτον και ουχι τω κοσμω λεγει αυτω ιουδας ουχ ο ισκαριωτης κυριε και τι γεγονεν οτι ημιν μελλεις εμφανιζειν σεαυτον και ουχι τω κοσμω
Jesus replied, “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. Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
NET Parallel Greek Stephanus Textus Receptus Byzantine Majority Text
ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· ἐάν τις ἀγαπᾷ με τὸν λόγον μου τηρήσει, καὶ ὁ πατήρ μου ἀγαπήσει αὐτὸν καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐλευσόμεθα καὶ μονὴν παρ᾿ αὐτῷ ποιησόμεθα απεκριθη ο ιησους και ειπεν αυτω εαν τις αγαπα με τον λογον μου τηρησει και ο πατηρ μου αγαπησει αυτον και προς αυτον ελευσομεθα και μονην παρ αυτω ποιησομεν απεκριθη ιησους και ειπεν αυτω εαν τις αγαπα με τον λογον μου τηρησει και ο πατηρ μου αγαπησει αυτον και προς αυτον ελευσομεθα και μονην παρ αυτω ποιησομεν
John 14:26 (NET) John 14:26 (KJV)
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. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
NET Parallel Greek Stephanus Textus Receptus Byzantine Majority Text
ὁ δὲ παράκλητος, τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, ὃ πέμψει ὁ πατὴρ ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι μου, ἐκεῖνος ὑμᾶς διδάξει πάντα καὶ ὑπομνήσει ὑμᾶς πάντα ἃ εἶπον ὑμῖν [ἐγώ] ο δε παρακλητος το πνευμα το αγιον ο πεμψει ο πατηρ εν τω ονοματι μου εκεινος υμας διδαξει παντα και υπομνησει υμας παντα α ειπον υμιν ο δε παρακλητος το πνευμα το αγιον ο πεμψει ο πατηρ εν τω ονοματι μου εκεινος υμας διδαξει παντα και υπομνησει υμας παντα α ειπον υμιν
Matthew 16:17 (NET) Matthew 16:17 (KJV)
And Jesus answered him, “You are blessed, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven! And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
NET Parallel Greek Stephanus Textus Receptus Byzantine Majority Text
ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτῷ· μακάριος εἶ, Σίμων Βαριωνᾶ, ὅτι σὰρξ καὶ αἷμα οὐκ ἀπεκάλυψεν σοι ἀλλ᾿ ὁ πατήρ μου ὁ ἐν |τοῖς| οὐρανοῖς και αποκριθεις ο ιησους ειπεν αυτω μακαριος ει σιμων βαρ ιωνα οτι σαρξ και αιμα ουκ απεκαλυψεν σοι αλλ ο πατηρ μου ο εν τοις ουρανοις και αποκριθεις ο ιησους ειπεν αυτω μακαριος ει σιμων βαρ ιωνα οτι σαρξ και αιμα ουκ απεκαλυψεν σοι αλλ ο πατηρ μου ο εν τοις ουρανοις
Matthew 26:75 (NET) Matthew 26:75 (KJV)
Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.”  And he went outside and wept bitterly. And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.  And he went out, and wept bitterly.
NET Parallel Greek Stephanus Textus Receptus Byzantine Majority Text
καὶ ἐμνήσθη ὁ Πέτρος τοῦ ρήματος Ἰησοῦ εἰρηκότος ὅτι πρὶν ἀλέκτορα φωνῆσαι τρὶς ἀπαρνήσῃ με· καὶ ἐξελθὼν ἔξω ἔκλαυσεν πικρῶς και εμνησθη ο πετρος του ρηματος του ιησου ειρηκοτος αυτω οτι πριν αλεκτορα φωνησαι τρις απαρνηση με και εξελθων εξω εκλαυσεν πικρως και εμνησθη ο πετρος του ρηματος του ιησου ειρηκοτος αυτω οτι πριν αλεκτορα φωνησαι τρις απαρνηση με και εξελθων εξω εκλαυσεν πικρως

[1] Genesis 4:9a (Tanakh)

[2] David’s Forgiveness, Part 3; Fear – Deuteronomy, Part 9; Fear – Deuteronomy, Part 10

[3] John 3:7 (NET)

[4] John 8:31 (NET)

[5] John 17:17b (NET) Table

[6] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ἔστησεν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ιστησιν (KJV: setteth).

[7] Psalm 90:1a (English Elpenor)

[8] It is interesting that the Masoretic text has מדבר (deber)—noisome pestilence, destructive plague—here and repeated again in verse 6—pestilence that walketh, plague that stalks—where the Septuagint had λόγου—“troublesome word,” troublesome matter—and πράγματος—“deed that travels,” [evil] thing that walks.  The Hebrew word מִדֶּ֥בֶר (deber) is only distinguished from דָּבָר (dâbâr; word, matter) by vowel points and context apparently.

[9] John 8:47 (KJV)

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

[11] John 6:44a (NET)

[12] John 16:7 (NET)

[13] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had καγὼ the crasis of και εγω here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had και εγω (KJV: And I).

[14] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had μενη (KJV: he may abide).

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

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

[17] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had καγὼ the crasis of και εγω here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had και εγω.

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

[19] The Stephanus Textus Receptus had the article ο preceding Jesus.  The NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

[20] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ποιησόμεθα here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ποιησομεν (KJV: make).

[21] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ἐγώ here for emphasis.  The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

[22] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had δὲ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had και.

[23] John 8:44a (NET)

[24] John 14:23b (NET)

[25] John 16:7a (NET)

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

[27] Matthew 26:75 (NET)

[28] John 8:44a (NET)

[29] Matthew 26:34 (NET)

[30] John 6:44a (NET)

[31] John 12:32 (NET)

[32] John 8:47 (NET)

Antichrist, Part 4

Back at Eden in Lars Von Trier’s “Antichrist” she explained an incident that happened the past summer.  She heard her son Nic crying.  She searched everywhere for him.  When she found him, he was playing contentedly, but the crying persisted for a time in the air in Eden.

“What you’re experiencing is panic, nothing more,” he said.  “The screaming wasn’t real.”

She took that in as he walked away.  Then she jumped him and started hitting him.  He wrestled her to the ground.

“You’re just so damn arrogant,” she said.

Later she shared her own conclusion about hearing Nic cry:  “Now I could hear what I couldn’t hear before,” she said, “the cry of all things that are to die.”

“That’s all very touching,” he said, “if it was a children’s book….That’s what fear is.  Your thoughts distort reality, not the other way around.”  But he had already experienced some of the “reality” distortion of Eden, and his words had begun to ring hollow.

“Satan’s church,” she said later.

“Satan!? Jesus!” the rationalist psychologist, who believed in neither, exclaimed.

“Nature is Satan’s church,” she asserted.

The earth was ruined in the sight of God, the book of Genesis reads, the earth was filled with violence.  God saw the earth, and indeed it was ruined, for all living creatures on the earth were sinful.[1]  We accept the violence of animals (and even that of human beings sometimes) as “natural,” because fallen nature is natural to us.  But the Creator did not: God said to Noah, “I have decided that all living creatures must die, for the earth is filled with violence because of them.  Now I am about to destroy them and the earth.”[2]

In “Antichrist” her husband couldn’t tolerate her conclusion about fallen nature being Satan’s church.  He began to talk to her about nature.

“The kind of nature that causes people to do evil things against women?” she asked.  He agreed.

If you continue to follow my teaching, Jesus said to those who had believed him, you are really my disciples and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.[3]

We are descendants of Abraham, they protested, and have never been anyone’s slaves![4]

I tell you the solemn truth, Jesus answered, everyone who practices sin is a slave of sin.[5]  I know that you are Abraham’s descendants.[6]  But now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth I heard from God.  Abraham did not do this!  You people are doing the deeds of your father.[7]

We were not born as a result of immorality (πορνείας, a form of πορνεία)! They protested again.  We have only one Father, God himself.[8]

If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come from God and am now here.[9]  You people are from your father the devil, Jesus continued, 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.[10]  The one who belongs to God listens and responds to God’s words.  You don’t listen and respond, because you don’t belong to God.[11]

“That kind of nature interested me a lot when I was up here,” she continued.  “That kind of nature was the subject of my thesis.  But you shouldn’t underestimate Eden….I discovered something else in my material than I expected.  If human nature is evil then that goes as well for the nature of…”

“…of the women,” he finished her thought, “female nature.”

“The nature of all the sisters,” she agreed.  “Women do not control their own bodies.  Nature does.  I have it in writing in my books.”

“The literature that you used in your research was about evil things committed against women,” he clarified for her.  “But you read it as proof of the evil of women?  You were supposed to be critical of those texts.  That was your thesis.  Instead you’re embracing it.  Do you know what you’re saying?”

“Forget it,” she said.  “I don’t know why I said it.”

Later he attempted to drive his point home.  But by that moment in the film it seemed like he was trying to persuade himself, more than her, that the strange visions and dreams he was having in Eden weren’t real.

“Good and evil have nothing to do with therapy,” he assured her.  “Do you know how many innocent women were killed in the 16th century alone just for being women?  I’m sure you do—many—and not because they were evil.”

“I know.  It’s just sometimes I forget,” she said without conviction.

“The evil you talk about is an obsession.  Obsessions never materialize.  It’s a scientific fact.”

She caught up with him in the shed later and attacked him.  She feared that he would leave her.  As he wrestled with her and fended off her blows he protested that he loved her.  Just as it seemed that their fighting would become fucking, she hit him in the groin with a heavy object (a toolbox, I think, by the sound of it; I winced both times I saw it).  Though he lost consciousness from the pain, he still had an erection.  She massaged it to a bloody ejaculation.  Nature, it seems, also controlled his body.

I, too, have nothing but a woman’s word for the way my body responded when I was unconscious from driving all night to get home to her.  I awoke refreshed and whole.  In “Antichrist” he awoke to find a whole drilled through his calf and a heavy grinding stone bolted to his leg.  While she was outside disposing of the wrench under the shed, he attempted to escape, dragging his hobbled leg.

She found him hiding in a fox’s lair and dug him out.  She dragged him back to the shed.  She grabbed scissors and hid them from him as she began to masturbate with his hand.  I expected that he was about to be emasculated.  But she exposed and put her own clitoris in between the scissor’s blades instead.

I remember the Sunday afternoon during my first divorce when I considered cutting off my penis according to Jesus’ command.  He said, “You would need to cut off your head.”  It was the way He knew my thoughts from afar that persuaded me He was speaking.  I had gotten well beyond the act to its aftermath in my mind.  There was no way I would call for help and have to explain why I cut off my own penis.  I had considered cauterizing the wound because stitching seemed out of the question.  I wasn’t sure if I could stop the blood flow or not.

“That will kill me for sure,” I said.

His answer was “precisely” or “exactly,” something to that effect.  I had been studying Romans.  At that moment I began to take Jesus’ command to cut off my penis (literally, a hand or a foot)[12] more figuratively, and Paul’s insight—we have been buried with [Christ] through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may live a new life[13]—more literally.

“Antichrist” is a horror movie.  She was not studying Paul’s letter to the Romans.  No still small voice intervened to enlighten her.  She snipped off her clitoris with the scissors.  As she writhed in pain, he recovered the wrench and freed himself from the grinding stone.  And though he didn’t believe in Satan’s church, he joined her in worship.  He choked her to death with his bare hands, after he silenced her voice by crushing her larynx.

As he limped away, the last man standing, he had a vision.  He was surrounded by women, the victims of gynocide, I think.  When asked at Cannes to account for “Antichrist,” Lars Von Trier resisted.  But if the featurette on the DVD was edited honestly, eventually he said something to the effect that it was the hand of God.

Though Trier claimed not to know, the closing scene of “Antichrist” reminded me of a scene Jesus described: The people of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented when Jonah preached to them – and now, something greater than Jonah is here!  The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon – and now, something greater than Solomon is here![14]  The people of Ninevah and the queen of the South were portrayed by the victims of gynocide, while he, the rationalist psychologist, was this generation.


[1] Genesis 6:11, 12 (NET)

[2] Genesis 6:13 (NET)

[3] John 8:31, 32 (NET)

[4] John 8:33 (NET)

[5] John 8:34 (NET)

[6] John 8:37a (NET)

[7] John 8:40, 41a (NET)

[8] John 8:41b (NET)

[9] John 8:42a (NET)

[10] John 8:44 (NET)

[11] John 8:47 (NET)

[13] Romans 6:4 (NET)

[14] Matthew 12:41, 42 (NET)