Tag Archives: Matthew 5:43-48

Father, Son and Holy Spirit – Part 3

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I intend to become much more familiar with the Greek translation of יְהֹוָ֨ה (yehôvâh) and יֱהֹוִה֙ (yehôvih) in the Septuagint.  To do that I decided to start at the beginning, noting all divine references.

Masoretic Text

 Septuagint
Genesis 1:1, 2 (Tanakh) Genesis 1:1, 2 (NET) Genesis 1:1, 2 (NETS)

Genesis 1:1, 2 (English Elpenor)
IN THE beginning G-d (אֱלֹהִ֑ים) created the heaven and the earth. In the beginning God (‘elohiym, אלהים) created the heavens and the earth. In the beginning God (θεὸς) made the sky and the earth. IN the beginning God (Θεὸς) made the heaven and the earth.
Now the earth was unformed and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit (וְר֣וּחַ) of G-d (אֱלֹהִ֔ים) hovered over the face of the waters. Now the earth was without shape and empty, and darkness was over the surface of the watery deep, but the Spirit (ruwach, ורוח) of God (‘elohiym, אלהים) was moving over the surface of the water. Yet the earth was invisible and unformed, and darkness was over the abyss, and a divine (θεοῦ) wind (πνεῦμα) was being carried along the water. But the earth was unsightly and unfurnished, and darkness was over the deep, and the Spirit (πνεῦμα) of God (Θεοῦ) moved over the water.

Thus far I have the plural אֱלֹהִ֑ים (‘elohiym, translated Θεὸς, God) and וְר֣וּחַ (ruwach, translated πνεῦμα, spirit, wind) אֱלֹהִ֔ים (‘elohiym, translated Θεοῦ, of God, divine).  I was raised on an abbreviated version of Lord Acton’s maxim:

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority, still more when you superadd the tendency or the certainty of corruption by authority.

It’s difficult to say now if I would’ve learned more from this fuller treatment or rebelled more against it.  Still, I find myself searching almost instinctively for a limit on the power and authority of אֱלֹהִ֔ים (‘elohiym).

Masoretic Text

 Septuagint
Genesis 1:3-5 (Tanakh) Genesis 1:3-5 (NET) Genesis 1:3-5 (NETS)

Genesis 1:3-5 (English Elpenor)
And G-d (אֱלֹהִ֖ים) said: ‘Let there be light’ And there was light. God (‘elohiym, אלהים) said, “Let there be light.”  And there was light! And God (θεός) said, “Let light come into being.”  And light came into being. And God (Θεός) said, Let there be light, and there was light.
And G-d (אֱלֹהִ֛ים) saw the light, that it was good; and G-d (אֱלֹהִ֔ים) divided the light from the darkness. God (‘elohiym, אלהים) saw that the light was good, so God (‘elohiym, אלהים) separated the light from the darkness. And God (θεὸς) saw the light, that it was good.  And God (θεὸς) separated between the light and between the darkness. And God (Θεὸς) saw the light that it was good, and God (Θεὸς) divided between the light and the darkness.
And G-d (אֱלֹהִ֤ים) called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night And there was evening and there was morning, one day. God (‘elohiym, אלהים) called the light “day” and the darkness “night.”  There was evening, and there was morning, marking the first day. And God (θεὸς) called the light Day and the darkness he called Night.  And it came to be evening, and it came to be morning, day one. And God (Θεὸς) called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night, and there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

The Hebrew word translated good was ט֑וֹב (towb).  It was translated καλόν (a form of καλός) in the Septuagint.  This beautiful good could be the limit I seek on the power and authority of אֱלֹהִ֔ים (‘elohiym).  Granted, its meaning is his own.  But I’ll take what I can get in the face of such fearful power and authority.

Years ago, studying this opening chapter, I realized it wasn’t instructional in the sense that I could read it and then go out and create the heaven and the earth.  Encouraged by Paul’s instruction to Timothy—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 (ἀγαθὸν, a form of ἀγαθός) work[1]—I was casting about for some useful instruction here.  It dawned on me finally that this chapter describes the word of God (before sin entered the world through one man and death through sin[2]).

And G-d said: ‘Let there be light’ And there was light.[3]  God’s word is powerful: He spoke and it happened as He said.

Masoretic Text

 Septuagint
Genesis 1:6-8 (Tanakh) Genesis 1:6-8 (NET) Genesis 1:6-8 (NETS)

Genesis 1:6-8 (English Elpenor)
And G-d (אֱלֹהִ֔ים) said: ‘Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters’. God (‘elohiym, אלהים) said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters and let it separate water from water.” And God (θεός) said, “Let a firmament come into being in the midst of the water, and let it be a separator between water and water.” And God (Θεός) said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water, and let it be a division between water and water, and it was so.
And G-d (אֱלֹהִים֘) made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. So God (‘elohiym, אלהים) made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it.  It was so. And God (θεὸς) made the firmament, and God (θεὸς) separated between the water that was under the firmament and between the water that was above the firmament. And God (Θεὸς) made the firmament, and God (Θεὸς) divided between the water which was under the firmament and the water which was above the firmament.
And G-d (אֱלֹהִ֛ים) called the firmament Heaven And there was evening and there was morning, a second day. God (‘elohiym, אלהים) called the expanse “sky.”  There was evening, and there was morning, a second day. And God (θεὸς) called the firmament Sky.  And God (θεὸς) saw that it was good.  And it came to be evening, and it came to be morning, a second day. And God (Θεὸς) called the firmament Heaven, and God (Θεὸς) saw that it was good, and there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

The word good (καλόν, a form of καλός) is repeated here in the Septuagint, though not in the Masoretic text.  And G-d said: ‘Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters’.  And G-d made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so.[4]  God’s word is true: He did what He said and made it so.

Masoretic Text

 Septuagint
Genesis 1:9, 10 (Tanakh) Genesis 1:9, 10 (NET) Genesis 1:9, 10 (NETS)

Genesis 1:9, 10 (English Elpenor)
And G-d (אֱלֹהִ֗ים) said: ‘Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear’ And it was so. God (‘elohiym, אלהים) said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place and let dry ground appear.”  It was so. And God (θεός) said, “Let the water that is under the sky be gathered into one gathering, and let the dry land appear.”  And it became so.  And the water that was under the sky was gathered into their gatherings, and the dry land appeared. And God (Θεός) said, Let the water which is under the heaven be collected into one place, and let the dry land appear, and it was so.  And the water which was under the heaven was collected into its places, and the dry land appeared.
And G-d (אֱלֹהִ֤ים) called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters called He Seas; and G-d (אֱלֹהִ֖ים) saw that it was good. God (‘elohiym, אלהים) called the dry ground “land” and the gathered waters he called “seas.”  God (‘elohiym, אלהים) saw that it was good. And God (θεὸς) called the dry land Earth, and the systems of the waters he called Seas.  And God (θεὸς) saw that it was good. And God (Θεὸς) called the dry land Earth, and the gatherings of the waters he called Seas, and God (Θεὸς) saw that it was good.

Here both the Masoretic text and Septuagint reiterated the qualifier good (towb, טֽוֹב; καλόν, a form of καλός) and the power of God’s word: And G-d said: ‘Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear’ And it was so.[5]  His power and authority (Matthew 8:23-27; Mark 4:35-41; Luke 8:22-25) were described vividly in the Septuagint: And the water which was under the heaven was collected into its places, and the dry land appeared.[6]

Masoretic Text

 Septuagint
Genesis 1:11-13 (Tanakh) Genesis 1:11-13 (NET) Genesis 1:11-13 (NETS)

Genesis 1:11-13 (English Elpenor)
And G-d (אֱלֹהִ֗ים) said: ‘Let the earth put forth grass, herb yielding seed, and fruit-tree bearing fruit after its kind, wherein is the seed thereof, upon the earth’ And it was so. God (‘elohiym, אלהים) said, “Let the land produce vegetation: plants yielding seeds and trees on the land bearing fruit with seed in it, according to their kinds.”  It was so. And God (θεός) said, “Let the earth put forth herbaceous vegetation, seeding seed according to kind and according to likeness, and a fruit-bearing tree producing fruit of which its seed is in it according to kind, on the earth.”  And it became so. And God (Θεός) said, Let the earth bring forth the herb of grass bearing seed according to its kind and according to its likeness, and the fruit-tree bearing fruit whose seed is in it, according to its kind on the earth, and it was so.
And the earth brought forth grass, herb yielding seed after its kind, and tree bearing fruit, wherein is the seed thereof, after its kind; and G-d (אֱלֹהִ֖ים) saw that it was good. The land produced vegetation—plants yielding seeds according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.  God (‘elohiym, אלהים) saw that it was good. And the earth brought forth herbaceous vegetation, seeding seed according to kind and according to likeness, and a fruit-bearing tree producing fruit of which its seed is in it according to kind, on the earth.  And God (θεὸς) saw that it was good. And the earth brought forth the herb of grass bearing seed according to its kind and according to its likeness, and the fruit tree bearing fruit whose seed is in it, according to its kind on the earth, and God (Θεός) saw that it was good.
And there was evening and there was morning, a third day. There was evening, and there was morning, a third day. And it came to be evening, and it came to be morning, a third day. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

Again, both the Masoretic text and Septuagint reiterated the qualifier good (towb, טֽוֹב; καλόν, a form of καλός).  And G-d said: ‘Let the earth put forth grass, herb yielding seed, and fruit-tree bearing fruit after its kind, wherein is the seed thereof, upon the earth’ And it was so.  And the earth brought forth grass, herb yielding seed after its kind, and tree bearing fruit, wherein is the seed thereof, after its kind; and G-d saw that it was good.[7]  God’s word is authoritative: He spoke and the earth obeyed Him.

Masoretic Text

 Septuagint
Genesis 1:14-19 (Tanakh) Genesis 1:14-19 (NET) Genesis 1:14-19 (NETS)

Genesis 1:14-19 (English Elpenor)
And G-d (אֱלֹהִ֗ים) said: ‘Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years; God (‘elohiym, אלהים) said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them be signs to indicate seasons and days and years, And God (θεός) said, “Let luminaries come into being in the firmament of the sky for illumination of the earth, to separate between the day and between the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and for years, And God (Θεός) said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, to divide between day and night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and for years.
and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth’ And it was so. and let them serve as lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.”  It was so. and let them be for illumination in the firmament of the sky so as to give light upon the earth.  And it became so. And let them be for light in the firmament of the heaven, so as to shine upon the earth, and it was so.
And G-d (אֱלֹהִ֔ים) made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; and the stars. God (‘elohiym, אלהים) made two great lights—the greater light to rule over the day and the lesser light to rule over the night.  He made the stars also. And God (θεὸς) made the two great luminaries, the great luminary for rulership of the day and the lesser luminary for rulership of the night, and the stars. And God (Θεὸς) made the two great lights, the greater light for regulating the day and the lesser light for regulating the night, the stars also.
And G-d (אֱלֹהִ֖ים) set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, God (‘elohiym, אלהים) placed the lights in the expanse of the sky to shine on the earth, And God (θεὸς) set them in the firmament of the sky so as to give light upon the earth And God (Θεὸς) placed them in the firmament of the heaven, so as to shine upon the earth,
and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness; and G-d (אֱלֹהִ֖ים) saw that it was good. And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God (‘elohiym, אלהים) saw that it was good. and to rule the day and the night and to separate between the light and between the darkness.  And God (θεὸς) saw that it was good. and to regulate day and night, and to divide between the light and the darkness.  And God (Θεός) saw that it was good.
And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day. There was evening, and there was morning, a fourth day. And it came to be evening, and it came to be morning, a fourth day. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

Here is another example of the truth of God’s word: He did what He said and made it so.  And good occurs in both the Masoretic text (towb, טֽוֹב) and Septuagint (καλόν, a form of καλός).  Jesus gave the following insight how the beautiful goodness of the works of אֱלֹהִ֖ים (‘elohiym) serves to limit the abuses of power and authority one expects of human rule (Matthew 5:43-48 NET):

You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘hate your enemy.’  But I say to you, love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you [Table], so that you may be like your Father in heaven,[8] since he causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.  For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have?  Even the tax collectors do the same, don’t they?  And if you only greet your brothers, what more do you do?  Even the Gentiles[9] do the same, don’t they?  So then, be perfect (τέλειοι, a form of τέλειος), as[10] your heavenly[11] Father is perfect (τέλειος).

The origin and development stories[12] of the socially constructed reality I inhabit deny the truth, power and authority of the word of אֱלֹהִ֔ים (‘elohiym).  Though the work of creation scientists has helped me break through this intellectual barrier to faith, these days I find it is quicker to imagine standing before the judgment seat of Christ and using any aspect[13] of these stories as an excuse for having disbelieved Him.  To paraphrase Paul (Galatians 3:1-5): Did I receive the Spirit—and a continuous infusion of God’s own love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control—by socially constructed origin and development stories or by believing what I heard in Christ?

I’ll pick this up in another essay.

Tables comparing Genesis 1:1; 1:2; 1:3; 1:4; 1:5; 1:6; 1:7; 1:8; 1:9; 1:10; 1:11; 1:12; 1:13; 1:14; 1:15; 1:16; 1:17; 1:18 and 1:19 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET; and tables comparing Genesis 1:1; 1:2; 1:3; 1:4; 1:5; 1:6; 1:7; 1:8; 1:9; 1:10; 1:11; 1:12; 1:13; 1:14; 1:15; 1:16; 1:17; 1:18 and 1:19 in the BLB and Elpenor versions of the Septuagint with the English translations from Hebrew and Greek follow.  Following these are tables comparing Matthew 5:45 and 5:47, 48 in the NET and KJV.

Genesis 1:1 (Tanakh)

 Genesis 1:1 (KJV)

Genesis 1:1 (NET)
IN THE beginning G-d created the heaven and the earth. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:1 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 1:1 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐν ἀρχῇ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν ΕΝ ἀρχῇ ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν

Genesis 1:1 (NETS)

Genesis 1:1 (English Elpenor)
In the beginning God made the sky and the earth. IN the beginning God made the heaven and the earth.

Genesis 1:2 (Tanakh)

 Genesis 1:2 (KJV)

Genesis 1:2 (NET)
Now the earth was unformed and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of G-d hovered over the face of the waters. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.  And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. Now the earth was without shape and empty, and darkness was over the surface of the watery deep, but the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the water.

Genesis 1:2 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 1:2 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἡ δὲ γῆ ἦν ἀόρατος καὶ ἀκατασκεύαστος καὶ σκότος ἐπάνω τῆς ἀβύσσου καὶ πνεῦμα θεοῦ ἐπεφέρετο ἐπάνω τοῦ ὕδατος ἡ δὲ γῆ ἦν ἀόρατος καὶ ἀκατασκεύαστος, καὶ σκότος ἐπάνω τῆς ἀβύσσου, καὶ πνεῦμα Θεοῦ ἐπεφέρετο ἐπάνω τοῦ ὕδατος

Genesis 1:2 (NETS)

Genesis 1:2 (English Elpenor)
Yet the earth was invisible and unformed, and darkness was over the abyss, and a divine wind was being carried along the water. But the earth was unsightly and unfurnished, and darkness was over the deep, and the Spirit of God moved over the water.

Genesis 1:3 (Tanakh)

 Genesis 1:3 (KJV)

Genesis 1:3 (NET)
And G-d said: ‘Let there be light’ And there was light. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. God said, “Let there be light.”  And there was light!

Genesis 1:3 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 1:3 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεός γενηθήτω φῶς καὶ ἐγένετο φῶς καὶ εἶπεν ὁ Θεός· γενηθήτω φῶς· καὶ ἐγένετο φῶς

Genesis 1:3 (NETS)

Genesis 1:3 (English Elpenor)
And God said, “Let light come into being.”  And light came into being. And God said, Let there be light, and there was light.

Genesis 1:4 (Tanakh)

 Genesis 1:4 (KJV)

Genesis 1:4 (NET)
And G-d saw the light, that it was good; and G-d divided the light from the darkness. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. God saw that the light was good, so God separated the light from the darkness.

Genesis 1:4 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 1:4 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἶδεν ὁ θεὸς τὸ φῶς ὅτι καλόν καὶ διεχώρισεν ὁ θεὸς ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ φωτὸς καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ σκότους καὶ εἶδεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸ φῶς, ὅτι καλόν· καὶ διεχώρισεν ὁ Θεὸς ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ φωτὸς καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ σκότους

Genesis 1:4 (NETS)

Genesis 1:4 (English Elpenor)
And God saw the light, that it was good.  And God separated between the light and between the darkness. And God saw the light that it was good, and God divided between the light and the darkness.

Genesis 1:5 (Tanakh)

 Genesis 1:5 (KJV)

Genesis 1:5 (NET)
And G-d called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night And there was evening and there was morning, one day. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.”  There was evening, and there was morning, marking the first day.

Genesis 1:5 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 1:5 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐκάλεσεν ὁ θεὸς τὸ φῶς ἡμέραν καὶ τὸ σκότος ἐκάλεσεν νύκτα καὶ ἐγένετο ἑσπέρα καὶ ἐγένετο πρωί ἡμέρα μία καὶ ἐκάλεσεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸ φῶς ἡμέραν καὶ τὸ σκότος ἐκάλεσε νύκτα. καὶ ἐγένετο ἑσπέρα καὶ ἐγένετο πρωΐ, ἡμέρα μία

Genesis 1:5 (NETS)

Genesis 1:5 (English Elpenor)
And God called the light Day and the darkness he called Night.   And it came to be evening, and it came to be morning, day one. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night, and there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

Genesis 1:6 (Tanakh)

 Genesis 1:6 (KJV)

Genesis 1:6 (NET)
And G-d said: ‘Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters’. And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters and let it separate water from water.”

Genesis 1:6 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 1:6 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεός γενηθήτω στερέωμα ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ ὕδατος καὶ ἔστω διαχωρίζον ἀνὰ μέσον ὕδατος καὶ ὕδατος καὶ ἐγένετο οὕτως Καὶ εἶπεν ὁ Θεός· γενηθήτω στερέωμα ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ ὕδατος καὶ ἔστω διαχωρίζον ἀνὰ μέσον ὕδατος καὶ ὕδατος. καὶ ἐγένετο οὕτως

Genesis 1:6 (NETS)

Genesis 1:6 (English Elpenor)
And God said, “Let a firmament come into being in the midst of the water, and let it be a separator between water and water.” And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water, and let it be a division between water and water, and it was so.

Genesis 1:7 (Tanakh)

 Genesis 1:7 (KJV)

Genesis 1:7 (NET)
And G-d made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it.  It was so.

Genesis 1:7 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 1:7 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸ στερέωμα καὶ διεχώρισεν ὁ θεὸς ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ ὕδατος ὃ ἦν ὑποκάτω τοῦ στερεώματος καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ ὕδατος τοῦ ἐπάνω τοῦ στερεώματος καὶ ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸ στερέωμα, καὶ διεχώρισεν ὁ Θεὸς ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ ὕδατος, ὃ ἦν ὑποκάτω τοῦ στερεώματος, καὶ ἀναμέσον τοῦ ὕδατος τοῦ ἐπάνω τοῦ στερεώματος.

Genesis 1:7 (NETS)

Genesis 1:7 (English Elpenor)
And God made the firmament, and God separated between the water that was under the firmament and between the water that was above the firmament. And God made the firmament, and God divided between the water which was under the firmament and the water which was above the firmament.

Genesis 1:8 (Tanakh)

 Genesis 1:8 (KJV)

Genesis 1:8 (NET)
And G-d called the firmament Heaven And there was evening and there was morning, a second day. And God called the firmament Heaven.  And the evening and the morning were the second day. God called the expanse “sky.”  There was evening, and there was morning, a second day.

Genesis 1:8 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 1:8 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐκάλεσεν ὁ θεὸς τὸ στερέωμα οὐρανόν καὶ εἶδεν ὁ θεὸς ὅτι καλόν καὶ ἐγένετο ἑσπέρα καὶ ἐγένετο πρωί ἡμέρα δευτέρα καὶ ἐκάλεσεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸ στερέωμα οὐρανόν. καὶ εἶδεν ὁ Θεός, ὅτι καλόν, καὶ ἐγένετο ἑσπέρα καὶ ἐγένετο πρωΐ, ἡμέρα δευτέρα

Genesis 1:8 (NETS)

Genesis 1:8 (English Elpenor)
And God called the firmament Sky.  And God saw that it was good.  And it came to be evening, and it came to be morning, a second day. And God called the firmament Heaven, and God saw that it was good, and there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

Genesis 1:9 (Tanakh)

 Genesis 1:9 (KJV)

Genesis 1:9 (NET)
And G-d said: ‘Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear’ And it was so. And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place and let dry ground appear.”  It was so.

Genesis 1:9 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 1:9 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεός συναχθήτω τὸ ὕδωρ τὸ ὑποκάτω τοῦ οὐρανοῦ εἰς συναγωγὴν μίαν καὶ ὀφθήτω ἡ ξηρά καὶ ἐγένετο οὕτως καὶ συνήχθη τὸ ὕδωρ τὸ ὑποκάτω τοῦ οὐρανοῦ εἰς τὰς συναγωγὰς αὐτῶν καὶ ὤφθη ἡ ξηρά Καὶ εἶπεν ὁ Θεός· συναχθήτω τὸ ὕδωρ τὸ ὑποκάτω τοῦ οὐρανοῦ εἰς συναγωγὴν μίαν, καὶ ὀφθήτω ἡ ξηρά. καὶ ἐγένετο οὕτως. καὶ συνήχθη τὸ ὕδωρ τὸ ὑποκάτω τοῦ οὐρανοῦ εἰς τὰς συναγωγὰς αὐτῶν, καὶ ὤφθη ἡ ξηρά

Genesis 1:9 (NETS)

Genesis 1:9 (English Elpenor)
And God said, “Let the water that is under the sky be gathered into one gathering, and let the dry land appear.”  And it became so.  And the water that was under the sky was gathered into their gatherings, and the dry land appeared. And God said, Let the water which is under the heaven be collected into one place, and let the dry land appear, and it was so.  And the water which was under the heaven was collected into its places, and the dry land appeared.

Genesis 1:10 (Tanakh)

 Genesis 1:10 (KJV)

Genesis 1:10 (NET)
And G-d called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters called He Seas; and G-d saw that it was good. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. God called the dry ground “land” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:10 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 1:10 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐκάλεσεν ὁ θεὸς τὴν ξηρὰν γῆν καὶ τὰ συστήματα τῶν ὑδάτων ἐκάλεσεν θαλάσσας καὶ εἶδεν ὁ θεὸς ὅτι καλόν καὶ ἐκάλεσεν ὁ Θεὸς τὴν ξηρὰν γῆν καὶ τὰ συστήματα τῶν ὑδάτων ἐκάλεσε θαλάσσας. καὶ εἶδεν ὁ Θεός, ὅτι καλόν

Genesis 1:10 (NETS)

Genesis 1:10 (English Elpenor)
And God called the dry land Earth, and the systems of the waters he called Seas.  And God saw that it was good. And God called the dry land Earth, and the gatherings of the waters he called Seas, and God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:11 (Tanakh)

 Genesis 1:11 (KJV)

Genesis 1:11 (NET)
And G-d said: ‘Let the earth put forth grass, herb yielding seed, and fruit-tree bearing fruit after its kind, wherein is the seed thereof, upon the earth’ And it was so. And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: plants yielding seeds and trees on the land bearing fruit with seed in it, according to their kinds.”  It was so.

Genesis 1:11 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 1:11 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεός βλαστησάτω ἡ γῆ βοτάνην χόρτου σπεῗρον σπέρμα κατὰ γένος καὶ καθ᾽ ὁμοιότητα καὶ ξύλον κάρπιμον ποιοῦν καρπόν οὗ τὸ σπέρμα αὐτοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ κατὰ γένος ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς καὶ ἐγένετο οὕτως καὶ εἶπεν ὁ Θεός· βλαστησάτω ἡ γῆ βοτάνην χόρτου σπεῖρον σπέρμα κατὰ γένος καὶ καθ᾿ ὁμοιότητα, καὶ ξύλον κάρπιμον ποιοῦν καρπόν, οὗ τὸ σπέρμα αὐτοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ κατὰ γένος ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. καὶ ἐγένετο οὕτως

Genesis 1:11 (NETS)

Genesis 1:11 (English Elpenor)
And God said, “Let the earth put forth herbaceous vegetation, seeding seed according to kind and according to likeness, and a fruit-bearing tree producing fruit of which its seed is in it according to kind, on the earth.”  And it became so. And God said, Let the earth bring forth the herb of grass bearing seed according to its kind and according to its likeness, and the fruit-tree bearing fruit whose seed is in it, according to its kind on the earth, and it was so.

Genesis 1:12 (Tanakh)

 Genesis 1:12 (KJV)

Genesis 1:12 (NET)
And the earth brought forth grass, herb yielding seed after its kind, and tree bearing fruit, wherein is the seed thereof, after its kind; and G-d saw that it was good. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. The land produced vegetation—plants yielding seeds according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.  God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:12 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 1:12, 13a (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐξήνεγκεν ἡ γῆ βοτάνην χόρτου σπεῗρον σπέρμα κατὰ γένος καὶ καθ᾽ ὁμοιότητα καὶ ξύλον κάρπιμον ποιοῦν καρπόν οὗ τὸ σπέρμα αὐτοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ κατὰ γένος ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς καὶ εἶδεν ὁ θεὸς ὅτι καλόν καὶ ἐξήνεγκεν ἡ γῆ βοτάνην χόρτου σπεῖρον σπέρμα κατὰ γένος καὶ καθ᾿ ὁμοιότητα, καὶ ξύλον κάρπιμον ποιοῦν καρπόν, οὗ τὸ σπέρμα αὐτοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ κατὰ γένος ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς (13) καὶ εἶδεν ὁ Θεός, ὅτι καλόν

Genesis 1:12 (NETS)

Genesis 1:12 (English Elpenor)
And the earth brought forth herbaceous vegetation, seeding seed according to kind and according to likeness, and a fruit-bearing tree producing fruit of which its seed is in it according to kind, on the earth.  And God saw that it was good. And the earth brought forth the herb of grass bearing seed according to its kind and according to its likeness, and the fruit tree bearing fruit whose seed is in it, according to its kind on the earth, and God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:13 (Tanakh)

 Genesis 1:13 (KJV)

Genesis 1:13 (NET)
And there was evening and there was morning, a third day. And the evening and the morning were the third day. There was evening, and there was morning, a third day.

Genesis 1:13 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 1:13b (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐγένετο ἑσπέρα καὶ ἐγένετο πρωί ἡμέρα τρίτη καὶ ἐγένετο ἑσπέρα καὶ ἐγένετο πρωΐ, ἡμέρα τρίτη

Genesis 1:13 (NETS)

Genesis 1:13 (English Elpenor)
And it came to be evening, and it came to be morning, a third day. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

Genesis 1:14 (Tanakh)

 Genesis 1:14 (KJV)

Genesis 1:14 (NET)
And G-d said: ‘Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years; And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them be signs to indicate seasons and days and years,

Genesis 1:14 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 1:14 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεός γενηθήτωσαν φωστῆρες ἐν τῷ στερεώματι τοῦ οὐρανοῦ εἰς φαῦσιν τῆς γῆς τοῦ διαχωρίζειν ἀνὰ μέσον τῆς ἡμέρας καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον τῆς νυκτὸς καὶ ἔστωσαν εἰς σημεῗα καὶ εἰς καιροὺς καὶ εἰς ἡμέρας καὶ εἰς ἐνιαυτοὺς Καὶ εἶπεν ὁ Θεός· γενηθήτωσαν φωστῆρες ἐν τῷ στερεώματι τοῦ οὐρανοῦ εἰς φαῦσιν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, τοῦ διαχωρίζειν ἀνὰ μέσον τῆς ἡμέρας καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον τῆς νυκτός· καὶ ἔστωσαν εἰς σημεῖα καὶ εἰς καιροὺς καὶ εἰς ἡμέρας καὶ εἰς ἐνιαυτούς

Genesis 1:14 (NETS)

Genesis 1:14 (English Elpenor)
And God said, “Let luminaries come into being in the firmament of the sky for illumination of the earth, to separate between the day and between the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and for years, And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, to divide between day and night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and for years.

Genesis 1:15 (Tanakh)

Genesis 1:15 (KJV)

Genesis 1:15 (NET)
and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth’ And it was so. And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. and let them serve as lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.”  It was so.

Genesis 1:15 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 1:15 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἔστωσαν εἰς φαῦσιν ἐν τῷ στερεώματι τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ὥστε φαίνειν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς καὶ ἐγένετο οὕτως καὶ ἔστωσαν εἰς φαῦσιν ἐν τῷ στερεώματι τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, ὥστε φαίνειν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. καὶ ἐγένετο οὕτως

Genesis 1:15 (NETS)

Genesis 1:15 (English Elpenor)
and let them be for illumination in the firmament of the sky so as to give light upon the earth.  And it became so. And let them be for light in the firmament of the heaven, so as to shine upon the earth, and it was so.

Genesis 1:16 (Tanakh)

 Genesis 1:16 (KJV)

Genesis 1:16 (NET)
And G-d made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; and the stars. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. God made two great lights—the greater light to rule over the day and the lesser light to rule over the night.  He made the stars also.

Genesis 1:16 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 1:16 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς τοὺς δύο φωστῆρας τοὺς μεγάλους τὸν φωστῆρα τὸν μέγαν εἰς ἀρχὰς τῆς ἡμέρας καὶ τὸν φωστῆρα τὸν ἐλάσσω εἰς ἀρχὰς τῆς νυκτός καὶ τοὺς ἀστέρας καὶ ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεὸς τοὺς δύο φωστῆρας τοὺς μεγάλους, τὸν φωστῆρα τὸν μέγαν εἰς ἀρχὰς τῆς ἡμέρας καὶ τὸν φωστῆρα τὸν ἐλάσσω εἰς ἀρχὰς τῆς νυκτός, καὶ τοὺς ἀστέρας

Genesis 1:16 (NETS)

Genesis 1:16 (English Elpenor)
And God made the two great luminaries, the great luminary for rulership of the day and the lesser luminary for rulership of the night, and the stars. And God made the two great lights, the greater light for regulating the day and the lesser light for regulating the night, the stars also.

Genesis 1:17 (Tanakh)

 Genesis 1:17 (KJV)

Genesis 1:17 (NET)
And G-d set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, God placed the lights in the expanse of the sky to shine on the earth,

Genesis 1:17 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 1:17 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἔθετο αὐτοὺς ὁ θεὸς ἐν τῷ στερεώματι τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ὥστε φαίνειν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς καὶ ἔθετο αὐτοὺς ὁ Θεὸς ἐν τῷ στερεώματι τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, ὥστε φαίνειν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς

Genesis 1:17 (NETS)

Genesis 1:17 (English Elpenor)
And God set them in the firmament of the sky so as to give light upon the earth And God placed them in the firmament of the heaven, so as to shine upon the earth,

Genesis 1:18 (Tanakh)

 Genesis 1:18 (KJV)

Genesis 1:18 (NET)
and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness; and G-d saw that it was good. And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:18 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 1:18 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἄρχειν τῆς ἡμέρας καὶ τῆς νυκτὸς καὶ διαχωρίζειν ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ φωτὸς καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ σκότους καὶ εἶδεν ὁ θεὸς ὅτι καλόν καὶ ἄρχειν τῆς ἡμέρας καὶ τῆς νυκτὸς καὶ διαχωρίζειν ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ φωτὸς καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ σκότους. καὶ εἶδεν ὁ Θεός, ὅτι καλόν

Genesis 1:18 (NETS)

Genesis 1:18 (English Elpenor)
and to rule the day and the night and to separate between the light and between the darkness.  And God saw that it was good. and to regulate day and night, and to divide between the light and the darkness.  And God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:19 (Tanakh)

 Genesis 1:19 (KJV)

Genesis 1:19 (NET)
And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. There was evening, and there was morning, a fourth day.

Genesis 1:19 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 1:19 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐγένετο ἑσπέρα καὶ ἐγένετο πρωί ἡμέρα τετάρτη καὶ ἐγένετο ἑσπέρα καὶ ἐγένετο πρωΐ, ἡμέρα τετάρτη

Genesis 1:19 (NETS)

Genesis 1:19 (English Elpenor)
And it came to be evening, and it came to be morning, a fourth day. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

Matthew 5:45 (NET)

Matthew 5:45 (KJV)
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. That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
ὅπως γένησθε υἱοὶ τοῦ πατρὸς ὑμῶν τοῦ ἐν οὐρανοῖς, ὅτι τὸν ἥλιον αὐτοῦ ἀνατέλλει ἐπὶ πονηροὺς καὶ ἀγαθοὺς καὶ βρέχει ἐπὶ δικαίους καὶ ἀδίκους οπως γενησθε υιοι του πατρος υμων του εν ουρανοις οτι τον ηλιον αυτου ανατελλει επι πονηρους και αγαθους και βρεχει επι δικαιους και αδικους οπως γενησθε υιοι του πατρος υμων του εν τοις ουρανοις οτι τον ηλιον αυτου ανατελλει επι πονηρους και αγαθους και βρεχει επι δικαιους και αδικους

Matthew 5:47, 48 (NET)

Matthew 5:47, 48 (KJV)
And if you only greet your brothers, what more do you do?  Even the Gentiles do the same, don’t they? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
καὶ ἐὰν ἀσπάσησθε τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς ὑμῶν μόνον, τί περισσὸν ποιεῖτε; οὐχὶ καὶ οἱ ἐθνικοὶ τὸ αὐτὸ ποιοῦσιν και εαν ασπασησθε τους αδελφους υμων μονον τι περισσον ποιειτε ουχι και οι τελωναι ουτως ποιουσιν και εαν ασπασησθε τους φιλους υμων μονον τι περισσον ποιειτε ουχι και οι τελωναι ουτως ποιουσιν
So then, be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
ἔσεσθε οὖν ὑμεῖς τέλειοι ὡς ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ οὐράνιος τέλειος ἐστιν εσεσθε ουν υμεις τελειοι ωσπερ ο πατηρ υμων ο εν τοις ουρανοις τελειος εστιν εσεσθε ουν υμεις τελειοι ωσπερ ο πατηρ υμων ο εν τοις ουρανοις τελειος εστιν

[1] 2 Timothy 3:16, 17 (NET)

[2] Romans 5:12a (NET)

[3] Genesis 1:3 (Tanakh)

[4] Genesis 1:6, 7 (Tanakh)

[5] Genesis 1:9 (Tanakh)

[6] Genesis 1:9b (Elpenor)

[7] Genesis 1:11, 12 (Tanakh)

[8] The Byzantine Majority Text had the article τοις preceding heaven.  The NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Stephanus Textus Receptus did not.

[9] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ἐθνικοὶ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had τελωναι (KJV: publicans).

[10] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ὡς here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ωσπερ (KJV: even as).

[11] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had εν τοις (KJV: in) preceding heaven(ly).  The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

[12] From: The Social Construction of Reality, Introduction, by Peter L Berger and Thomas Luckmann, pp. 20, 21: “It is safe to say when sociologists today think of the sociology of knowledge, pro or con, they usually do so in terms of Mann­heim’s formulation of it…Mannheim’s understanding of the sociology of knowledge was much more far-reaching than Scheler’s, possibly because the confrontation with Marxism was more prominent in his work.  Society was here seen as determining not only the appearance but also the content of human ideation, with the exception of mathematics and at least parts of the natural sciences.”

Mannheim’s “exception” sounds like pandering to me.  The natural sciences are the most obvious examples of the social construction of reality, the very things the man in the street takes for granted.  “The man in the street does not ordinarily trouble himself about what is ‘real’ to him and about what he ‘knows’ unless he is stopped short by some sort of problem.  He takes his ‘reality’ and his ‘knowledge’ for granted” (ibid. p.14).

A woman, her reason clearly tormented by personal loss and grief, wrote an obituary blaming the chief law enforcement officers of her state and nation for not enforcing current medical opinion as stringently as she deemed appropriate.  She also judged, and hoped for the condemnation of, any who had not complied with that opinion. Did those who voted for these men truly expect them to use the power of their offices to enforce medical opinion as law?

I didn’t stumble across the obituary this woman wrote for her husband on my own.  It was presented to me as pamphleteering for the U.S. election in November.

And in mathematics: -7(-7) = 7(7) is true.

[13] One of the skills I learned from creation scientists was to actually listen to scientists, not as a student seeking “correct” answers to potential test questions but in a more open (and ultimately more critical) way.  Here are links to two short videos: Dr. Becky Smethurst explains the history of the social construction of reality of the wave-particle duality and speed of light.

My Deeds, Part 3

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There is a table representing my unstudied view of the relationship of the clauses of Revelation 2:26-29.  I’m considering the clause, who continues in my deeds until the end, because it tugs the hardest at me to return to my own works.  I’ve begun to try to understand τὰ ἔργα μου, translated my deeds, with a study of τηρῶν (a form of τηρέω), translated who continues.  The most basic understanding of τηρῶν is: Blessed is the one who stays alert and does not lose (τηρῶν, a form of τηρέω) his clothes so that he will not have to walk around naked…[1]  It means to keep, not to lose or discard.

To review, the NET translation of John 14:21 confirms both my initial belief and practice, that obeying Jesus’ commands was the path to loving Him, knowing Him and being loved by Him and his Father.  Refining the translation obeys to keeps lowers the standard a bit but doesn’t alter the order of events, that Jesus and his Father loved me because I first loved Jesus (by keeping his commandments, not losing or discarding them).  But this argument was preceded by another, outlined below:

If you love Me…

John 14:15a (NASB)

 …you will keep (τηρήσετε, another form of τηρέω) My commandments.

John 14:15b (NASB)
I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides (μένει, a form of μένω; present tense) with you and will be (ἔσται, a form of εἰμί; future tense) in you.

John 14:16, 17 (NASB)
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…

Galatians 5:22, 23a (NASB)
I have not come to abolish [the law or the prophets] but to fulfill them.

Matthew 5:17b (NET)

 …love is the fulfillment of the law.

Romans 13:10b (NET)
He who has My commandments and keeps (τηρῶν, a form of τηρέω) them…

John 14:21a (NASB)

 …is the one who loves Me…

John 14:21b (NASB)

I will love Jesus and keep his commandments by the Holy Spirit who abides with me and will be in me.  If I concede to the old man (Ephesians 4:22-24; Colossians 3:9-11), fighting for its own survival by attempting to lose or discard Jesus’ commandments, though it may not alter God’s love for me, I have ceased to love Him with the love that is the fruit of his Spirit, the love that is the fulfillment of the law, no matter what I tell myself and no matter how much emotion I feel for Him.

In this essay I’ll consider John’s explanation, And the person who keeps (τηρῶν, a form of τηρέω) his commandments resides in God, and God in him,[2] but I’ll back up first to take a run at it (1 John 2:28, 29 NET):

And now, little children, remain (μένετε, a form of μένω) in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink away from him in shame when he comes back.  If you know that he is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices (ποιῶν, a form of ποιέω) righteousness has been fathered by him.

The Greek word translated fathered was γεγέννηται (a form of γεννάω).  John didn’t leave us wondering what he meant by it: Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been fathered (γεγέννηται, a form of γεννάω) by God…[3]  He had a unique understanding of the word μένετε as one of the twelve Jesus sent out with the following instruction (I’ve included Luke 10:7 though it was addressed to the seventy-two others Jesus appointed and sent on ahead of Him).

Mark 6:10 (NET)

Luke 9:4 (NET)

Luke 10:7 (NET)
[Jesus] said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay (μένετε, a form of μένω) there until you leave the area.” Whatever house you enter, stay (μένετε, a form of μένω) there until you leave the area. Stay (μένετε, a form of μένω) in that same house, eating and drinking what they give you, for the worker deserves his pay.  Do not move around from house to house.

I understand what it means to stay in a house, to not move around from place to place.  But what does it mean to stay in God?  A few verses prior to this John wrote (1 John 2:24 NET):

As for you, what you have heard from the beginning must remain (μενέτω, another form of μένω) in you.  If what you heard from the beginning remains (μείνῃ, another form of μένω) in you, you also will remain (μενεῖτε, another form of μένω) in the Son and in the Father.

So I remain in the Son and in the Father if Jesus’ teaching remains in me.  Here is Jesus’ teaching on the subject (John 15:4, 5a 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 (μένῃ, another form of μένω) in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain (μένητε, another form of μένω) in me.  I am the vine; you are the branches.  The one who remains (μένων, another form of μένω) in me – and I in him – bears much fruit…

In other words, remaining in Jesus (and his Father) by remaining in the teaching I have heard from the beginning of my new life in Christ (assuming that teaching was the Gospel of Christ) brings forth the fruit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control that is the fulfillment of the law.  Jesus continued, because apart from me you can accomplish nothing.[4]  I don’t think He meant that I couldn’t become a hypocrite, an actor playing at righteousness more or less skillfully.  Jesus warned, unless your righteousness goes beyond that of the experts in the law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.[5]  But I can’t do the righteousness that fulfills the law apart from remaining in Jesus by remaining in his teaching.

Jesus continued teaching his disciples (John 15:6 NET):

If anyone does not remain (μένῃ, another form of μένω) in me, he is thrown out like a branch, and dries up; and such branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire, and are burned up.

He listed some impediments either to hearing in the beginning or to what was heard from the beginning remaining (Luke 8:11-15 NET):

Now the parable means this: The seed is the word of God (ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ).  Those along the path are the ones who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.  Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root.  They believe for a while, but in a time of testing fall away (ἀφίστανται, a form of ἀφίστημι).  As for the seed that fell among thorns, these are the ones who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked (συμπνίγονται, a form of συμπνίγω) by the worries and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.  But as for the seed that landed on good soil, these are the ones who, after hearing the word, cling (κατέχουσιν, a form of κατέχω) to it with an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with steadfast endurance.

If you remain (μείνητε, another form of μένω) in me and my words remain (μείνῃ, another form of μένω) in you, Jesus continued, ask whatever you want, and it will be done (γενήσεται, a form of γίνομαι) for you.  My Father is honored by this, that you bear much fruit and show that you are (γένησθε, another form of γίνομαι) my disciples.[6]  The words if and whatever are the same Greek word ἐὰν.  I understand this request as related to, and bracketed by, bearing fruit.  I’m unsure about translating ἐὰν whatever.  In my case it led to unbelief while—ask [if] you want, and it will be done (or, become) for you—has led to some faith-confirming results.  Jesus continued (John 15:9, 10 NET):   

Just as the Father has loved me, I have also loved you; remain (μείνατε, another form of μένω) in my love.  If you obey (τηρήσητε, another form of τηρέω) my commandments, you will remain (μενεῖτε, another form of μένω) in my love, just as I have obeyed (τετήρηκα, another form of τηρέω) my Father’s commandments and remain (μένω) in his love.

This is how I understood this passage even when the Bible I read translated τηρήσητε keep and τετήρηκα kept.  “Jesus promises to love the disciples if they obey his commandments,” reads the sermon notes for John 15:9-17 on Sermon Writer online.  Here, and other places like it, I turned from being led by the Holy Spirit, especially if my behavior was too embarrassing too often to confess any longer, to take charge of my own righteousness in my own strength.

See what sort of love the Father has given to us: that we should be called God’s children,[7] John continued.  The note (1) in the NET reads:

The ἵνα (Jina) clause is best understood (1) as epexegetical (or explanatory), clarifying the love (ἀγάπην, agapen) that the Father has given to believers. Although it is possible (2) to regard the ἵνα as indicating result, the use of ποταπήν (potapen, “what sort of”) to modify ἀγάπην suggests that the idea of “love” will be qualified further in the following context, and this qualification is provided by the epexegetical ἵνα clause.

I think option (2) is the better understanding.  The sort of love the Father has given to us is not the Father’s feeling for us, but a very practical gift: It is the love that is patient, the love that is kind, the love that bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.[8]  This love may be shared in.  It is the fruit of his Spirit, the fulfillment of the law.  This love may be remained in or may be left behind.  If I leave God’s love behind to run ahead in my own strength God’s love has not and does not change.  If I do not remain in his love I strive way too hard to become a highly-skilled hypocrite rather than receiving the love he has given us.  He gave us this sort of love in order that we should be called God’s children.  Paul concurred with John (Romans 5:5b; 7:6b; 8:3, 4, 14 NET):

…the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us…

…so that we may serve in the new life of the Spirit and not under the old written code.

For God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened through the flesh.  By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God.

“To remain in Jesus’ love,” the entry in SermonWriter reads, “suggests being immersed in Jesus’ love—surrounded by Jesus’ love—comforted by Jesus’ love—empowered by Jesus’ love.  Imagine a swimming pool filled, not with water, but with Jesus’ love.”  All analogies have their problems but this one isn’t too bad.  Ordinarily one tries not to drown in a swimming pool.  A pool of Jesus’ love is really only threatening to the old man (Ephesians 4:25-5:5; Colossians 3:12-17).  The believer lives and breathes in its environs, in fact, only in its environs.  This pool travels with the believer, but the believer can leave the pool.  A believer leaving the pool of God’s love does not change God’s love at all.  Leaving only changes the believer’s access to, and appreciation of, God’s love.  Jesus’ and John’s point was, don’t get out of God’s love.

Here is John again (1 John 3:1-10 NET):

(See what sort of love the Father has given to us: that we should be called God’s children – and indeed we are!  For this reason the world does not know us: because it did not know him.  Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed.  We know that whenever it is revealed we will be like him, because we will see him just as he is.  And everyone who has this hope focused on him purifies himself, just as Jesus is pure).

Everyone who practices (ποιῶν, a form of ποιέω) sin also practices (ποιεῖ, another form of ποιέω) lawlessness; indeed, sin is lawlessness.  And you know that Jesus was revealed to take away (ἄρῃ, a form of αἴρω) sins, and in him there is no sin.  Everyone who resides (μένων, another form of μένω) in him does not sin; everyone who sins has neither seen him nor known him.  Little children, let no one deceive you: The one who practices (ποιῶν, a form of ποιέω) righteousness is righteous, just as Jesus is righteous.  The one who practices (ποιῶν, a form of ποιέω) sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning.  For this purpose the Son of God was revealed: to destroy the works of the devil.  Everyone who has been fathered (γεγεννημένος, another form of γεννάω) by God does not practice (ποιεῖ, another form of ποιέω) sin, because God’s seed resides (μένει, another form of μένω) in him, and thus he is not able to sin, because he has been fathered (γεγέννηται, a form of γεννάω) by God.  By this the children of God and the children of the devil are revealed: Everyone who does not practice (ποιῶν, a form of ποιέω) righteousness – the one who does not love his fellow Christian (ἀδελφὸν, a form of ἀδελφός) – is not of God.

Now if I do what I do (ποιῶ, another form of ποιέω) not want, Paul wrote believers in Rome, it is no longer me doing it but sin that lives in me.[9]  It is better to greet John’s and Paul’s explanations with faith than with fear or mockery.  But the Spirit of God relentlessly dragged me back when my default position was to “chuck this whole religion thing.”  He was kind and patient when my default position became do-it-myself sanctification, when I said in so many words, “I can’t trust You with something as important as MY righteousness.”  Jaco Gericke had a very different testimony.  I rationalize this difference with Paul’s conclusion: So then, God has mercy on whom he chooses to have mercy, and he hardens whom he chooses to harden.[10]  Others rationalize it as individual free will.

When I was young righteousness was a matter of good habits developed through willpower because Jesus had saved me.  Now I can see this as a childish misunderstanding of potentially good teaching.  But at the time I saw Jesus’ salvation only as a reason, why I should do righteousness, never as a cause, how I could do righteousness.  My willpower proved to be unequal to the task.  I am weak-willed vis-à-vis righteousness.  So I tend to minimize the effect of my will and magnify the effect of God’s mercy.   Now that I understand that Jesus’ salvation causes righteousness I have replaced willpower with the fruit of the Holy Spirit.  Of course, I still don’t recognize any habit in me toward the good apart from that daily infusion of his love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

On the other hand, I proved to be quite willful, stubborn, rebellious and stiff-necked regarding my sin.  So I tend to see free will as more useful, or more conducive, to sinning.  I don’t tend to argue the point because I can see how one who had more success than I did could regard willpower as helpful in the pursuit of righteousness.  Still, I keep my mind open to the possibility that the preachers of free will may have taken more credit for that righteousness than they deserve.

Little children, John continued, let us not love with word or with tongue but in deed and truth.[11]  As Jesus tried to teach me about the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe,[12] I got tripped up here quite often.  I thought, especially if my performance was less than perfect when I had attempted to trust Him, that his teaching was not his teaching but me playing word games, loving with word (λόγῳ, a form of λόγος) or with tongue (γλώσσῃ, a form of γλῶσσα).  “No, you really have to do it,” I heard many times from my elders if I tried to share what I thought I had been learning.  How I ever thought that obeying rules in my own strength might become loving in deed (ἔργῳ, a form of ἔργον) and truth (ἀληθείᾳ, a form of ἀλήθεια), I can’t explain apart from being willful, stubborn, rebellious and stiff-necked.  Now I assume that loving with word or with tongue corresponds to my hypocrisy, while loving in deed and truth corresponds to being led by his Holy Spirit.

John continued (1 John 3:19-24 NET):

And by this we will know that we are of the truth (ἀληθείας, another form of ἀλήθεια) and will convince our conscience in his presence, that if (ἐὰν) our conscience condemns us, that God is greater than our conscience and knows all things.  Dear friends, if (ἐὰν) our conscience does not condemn us, we have confidence in the presence of God, and whatever (ἐὰν; or if) we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing to him.  Now this is his commandment: that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he gave us the commandment.  And the person who keeps his commandments resides (μένει, another form of μένω) in God, and God in him.  Now by this we know that God resides (μένει, another form of μένω) in us: by the Spirit he has given us.

I want to conclude this essay by addressing one of the statements in the entry in Sermon Writer directly:

The emphasis is love.  Love begins with the Father and flows through the Son to the disciples (v. 9).  It is contingent on obedience…Jesus promises to love the disciples if they obey his commandments.

The demonstrably false statement—“Jesus promises to love the disciples if they obey his commandments”—mischaracterizes God’s love and remaining in his love.  First, consider Jesus’ teaching on the nature of the Father’s love (Matthew 5:43-48 NET):

You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘hate your enemy.’  But I say to you, love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you, 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.  For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have?  Even the tax collectors do the same, don’t they?  And if you only greet your brothers, what more do you do?  Even the Gentiles do the same, don’t they?  So then, be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Jesus’ love for me is not equivalent to, or contingent upon, my remaining in his love.  Jesus loves me because God is love and Jesus remains in his Father’s love.  If and only if I remain in his love I will bear the fruit of his Spirit, the love which is the fulfillment of the law, and obey him thereby.  It is not that his love, or even remaining in his love, is contingent upon some open-ended obedience of mine but that my obedience is contingent upon his love and my remaining in his love.

Here the misdirection of translating forms of τηρέω with forms of obey becomes evident.  To keep Jesus’ commandments, not to lose or discard them, has much more in common with his words remaining in us than it does with any form of obey.  Even as I write this I hear the quibble in my head: “But you have obeyed: you have remained in his love by clinging to his teaching.”  I write this quibble off to the religious mind.

I acknowledged the religious mind as nothing more than the carnal mind or the outlook of the flesh, but the term still serves a useful purpose for me.  I expect the carnal mind or the outlook of the flesh to be focused directly on sin.  The pretense of the religious mind is its focus on righteousness, albeit a righteousness of its own derived from the law with a keen desire to justify itself by law.  Consider Jesus’ teaching on the subject (Luke 17:10 NET):

“So you too, when you have done everything you were commanded to do, should say, ‘We are slaves undeserving of special praise; we have only done what was our duty.’”

As I’ve written before, we have this attitude not because we are in some wretched social condition but because our deeds have been done in (or, by) God[13]…for the one bringing forth (ἐνεργῶν, a form of ἐνεργέω) in you both the desire (θέλειν, a form of θέλω) and the effort (ἐνεργεῖν, another form of ἐνεργέω) – for the sake of his good pleasure – is God.[14]

[1] Revelation 16:15b (NET)

[2] 1 John 3:24a (NET)

[3] 1 John 5:1a (NET)

[4] John 15:5b (NET)

[5] Matthew 5:20 (NET)

[6] John 15:7, 8 (NET) Table

[7] 1 John 3:1a (NET)

[8] 1 Corinthians 13:7 (NET)

[9] Romans 7:20 (NET)

[10] Romans 9:18 (NET)

[11] 1 John 3:18 (NET)

[12] Romans 3:22a (NET)

[13] John 3:21b (NET)

[14] Philippians 2:13 (NET)

Sirach: Pro and Con

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What follows are pro and con comments from two websites.  I set the texts side by side in Greek and English translation for comparison/contrast and offer them here without comment.

“There are a number of references to the book of Sirach in the New Testament.  James 1:19 seems to quote Sirach 5:11.”[1]

James 1:19b (NET)

 Parallel Greek Sirach 5:11

Parallel Greek
Let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger. ἔστω δὲ πᾶς ἄνθρωπος ταχὺς εἰς τὸ ἀκοῦσαι, βραδὺς εἰς τὸ λαλῆσαι, βραδὺς εἰς ὀργήν Be swift to hear; and let thy life be sincere; and with patience give answer. γίνου ταχὺς ἐν ἀκροάσει σου καὶ ἐν μακροθυμίᾳ φθέγγου ἀπόκρισιν

“The Blessed Virgin Mary alludes to Sirach 10:14 in Luke 1:52.”

Luke 1:52 (NET)

 Parallel Greek Sirach 10:14

Parallel Greek
He has brought down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up those of lowly position… καθεῖλεν δυνάστας ἀπὸ θρόνων καὶ ὕψωσεν ταπεινούς The Lord hath cast down the thrones of proud princes, and set up the meek in their stead. θρόνους ἀρχόντων καθεῖλεν ὁ Κύριος καὶ ἐκάθισε πρᾳεῖς ἀντ᾿ αὐτῶν.

“There are four well known quotes from Christ that relate to Sirach.  Most well known is Christ’s statement in Matthew 7:16-20 which draws from Sirach 27:6.”

Matthew 7:16-20 (NET) Parallel Greek Sirach 27:6

Parallel Greek
You will recognize them by their fruit.  Grapes are not gathered from thorns or figs from thistles, are they?  In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree is not able to bear bad fruit, nor a bad tree to bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  So then, you will recognize them by their fruit. ἀπὸ τῶν καρπῶν αὐτῶν ἐπιγνώσεσθε αὐτούς. μήτι συλλέγουσιν ἀπὸ ἀκανθῶν σταφυλὰς ἢ ἀπὸ τριβόλων σῦκα;  οὕτως πᾶν δένδρον ἀγαθὸν καρποὺς καλοὺς ποιεῖ, τὸ δὲ σαπρὸν δένδρον καρποὺς πονηροὺς ποιεῖ.  οὐ δύναται δένδρον ἀγαθὸν καρποὺς πονηροὺς |ποιεῖν| οὐδὲ δένδρον σαπρὸν καρποὺς καλοὺς ποιεῖν.  πᾶν δένδρον μὴ ποιοῦν καρπὸν καλὸν ἐκκόπτεται καὶ εἰς πῦρ βάλλεται.  ἄρα γε ἀπὸ τῶν καρπῶν αὐτῶν ἐπιγνώσεσθε αὐτούς. The fruit declareth if the tree have been dressed; so is the utterance of a conceit in the heart of man. γεώργιον ξύλου ἐκφαίνει ὁ καρπὸς αὐτοῦ, οὕτως λόγος ἐνθυμήματος καρδίας ἀνθρώπου.

“Also Matthew 6:12, ‘And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors,’ mirrors Sirach 28:2 ‘Forgive your neighbor a wrong, and then, when you petition, your sins will be pardoned.’”

Matthew 6:12 (NET) Parallel Greek Sirach 28:2

Parallel Greek
…and forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors. καὶ ἄφες ἡμῖν τὰ ὀφειλήματα ἡμῶν, ὡς καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀφήκαμεν τοῖς ὀφειλέταις ἡμῶν Forgive thy neighbour the hurt that he hath done unto thee, so shall thy sins also be forgiven when thou prayest. ἄφες ἀδίκημα τῷ πλησίον σου, καὶ τότε δεηθέντος σου αἱ ἁμαρτίαι σου λυθήσονται.

“Mark 4:5,16-17 also resembles Sirach 40:15.”

Mark 4:5, 16, 17 (NET) Parallel Greek Sirach 40:15

Parallel Greek
Other seed fell on rocky ground where it did not have much soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep….These are the ones sown on rocky ground: As soon as they hear the word, they receive it with joy.  But they have no root in themselves and do not endure.  Then, when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately they fall away. καὶ ἄλλο ἔπεσεν ἐπὶ τὸ πετρῶδες ὅπου οὐκ εἶχεν γῆν πολλήν, καὶ εὐθὺς ἐξανέτειλεν διὰ τὸ μὴ ἔχειν βάθος γῆς….καὶ οὗτοι εἰσιν οἱ ἐπὶ τὰ πετρώδη σπειρόμενοι, οἳ ὅταν ἀκούσωσιν τὸν λόγον εὐθὺς μετὰ χαρᾶς λαμβάνουσιν αὐτόν, καὶ οὐκ ἔχουσιν ρίζαν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς ἀλλὰ πρόσκαιροι εἰσιν, εἶτα γενομένης θλίψεως ἢ διωγμοῦ διὰ τὸν λόγον εὐθὺς σκανδαλίζονται. The children of the ungodly shall not bring forth many branches: but are as unclean roots upon a hard rock. ἔκγονα ἀσεβῶν οὐ πληθύνει κλάδους, καὶ ρίζαι ἀκάθαρτοι ἐπ᾿ ἀκροτόμου πέτρας·

“Moreover, Patristic scholar Henry Chadwick claimed that in Matthew 11:28 Jesus directly quoted Sirach 51:27.”

Matthew 11:28 (NET) Parallel Greek Sirach 51:27

Parallel Greek
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Δεῦτε πρός με πάντες οἱ κοπιῶντες καὶ πεφορτισμένοι, καγὼ ἀναπαύσω ὑμᾶς Behold with your eyes, how that I have but little labour, and have gotten unto me much rest. ἴδετε ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς ὑμῶν ὅτι ὀλίγον ἐκοπίασα καὶ εὗρον ἐμαυτῷ πολλὴν ἀνάπαυσιν.

From Comment 8: “It’s also possible that Luke 11:41 ‘But give alms of such things as you possess, and behold, all things are clean unto you’ was influenced by Sirach 3:30 ‘Water will quench a flaming fire; and alms maketh an atonement for sins.’”

Luke 11:41 (NET) Parallel Greek Sirach 3:30

Parallel Greek
But give from your heart to those in need, and then everything will be clean for you. πλὴν τὰ ἐνόντα δότε ἐλεημοσύνην, καὶ ἰδοὺ πάντα καθαρὰ ὑμῖν ἐστιν Water will quench a flaming fire; and alms maketh an atonement for sins. πῦρ φλογιζόμενον ἀποσβέσει ὕδωρ, καὶ ἐλεημοσύνη ἐξιλάσεται ἁμαρτίας

The “apocrypha teach doctrines that contradicts Scripture (see, for instance, Sirach 3:3,30, in contrast with Galatians 2:16, 21; 3:10-14…”[2]

Galatians 2:16, 21 (NET)

 Parallel Greek Sirach 3:3, 30

Parallel Greek
…yet we know that no one is justified by the works of the law but by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ.  And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by the faithfulness of Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified….I do not set aside God’s grace, because if righteousness could come through the law, then Christ died for nothing! εἰδότες [δὲ] ὅτι οὐ δικαιοῦται ἄνθρωπος ἐξ ἔργων νόμου ἐὰν μὴ διὰ πίστεως |Ἰησοῦ| Χριστοῦ , καὶ ἡμεῖς εἰς Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν ἐπιστεύσαμεν, ἵνα δικαιωθῶμεν ἐκ πίστεως Χριστοῦ καὶ οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων νόμου, ὅτι ἐξ ἔργων νόμου οὐ δικαιωθήσεται πᾶσα σάρξ….Οὐκ ἀθετῶ τὴν χάριν τοῦ θεοῦ· εἰ γὰρ διὰ νόμου δικαιοσύνη, ἄρα Χριστὸς δωρεὰν ἀπέθανεν. Whoso honoureth his father maketh an atonement for his sins….Water will quench a flaming fire; and alms maketh an atonement for sins. ὁ τιμῶν πατέρα ἐξιλάσεται[3] ἁμαρτίας….πῦρ φλογιζόμενον ἀποσβέσει ὕδωρ, καὶ ἐλεημοσύνη ἐξιλάσεται ἁμαρτίας.

Galatians 3:10-14 (NET)

 Parallel Greek Sirach 3:3, 30

Parallel Greek
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.”  Now it is clear no one is justified before God by the law, because the righteous one will live by faith.  But the law is not based on faith, but the one who does the works of the law will live by them.  Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us (because it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”) in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles, so that we could receive the promise of the Spirit by faith. Ὅσοι γὰρ ἐξ ἔργων νόμου εἰσίν, ὑπὸ κατάραν εἰσίν· γέγραπται γὰρ ὅτι ἐπικατάρατος πᾶς ὃς οὐκ ἐμμένει πᾶσιν τοῖς γεγραμμένοις ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ τοῦ νόμου τοῦ ποιῆσαι αὐτά.  ὅτι δὲ ἐν νόμῳ οὐδεὶς δικαιοῦται παρὰ τῷ θεῷ δῆλον, ὅτι ὁ δίκαιος ἐκ πίστεως ζήσεται· ὁ δὲ νόμος οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ πίστεως, ἀλλ᾿ ὁ ποιήσας αὐτὰ ζήσεται ἐν αὐτοῖς.  Χριστὸς ἡμᾶς ἐξηγόρασεν ἐκ τῆς κατάρας τοῦ νόμου γενόμενος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν κατάρα (ὅτι γέγραπται· ἐπικατάρατος πᾶς ὁ κρεμάμενος ἐπὶ ξύλου), ἵνα εἰς τὰ ἔθνη ἡ εὐλογία τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ γένηται ἐν Χριστῷ |Ἰησοῦ|, ἵνα τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν τοῦ πνεύματος λάβωμεν διὰ τῆς πίστεως. Whoso honoureth his father maketh an atonement for his sins….Water will quench a flaming fire; and alms maketh an atonement for sins. ὁ τιμῶν πατέρα ἐξιλάσεται ἁμαρτίας….πῦρ φλογιζόμενον ἀποσβέσει ὕδωρ, καὶ ἐλεημοσύνη ἐξιλάσεται ἁμαρτίας.

“Sirach 12:4-7 disagrees with Luke 6:27-38 and Matthew 5:43-48.”

Luke 6:27-38 (NET)

 Parallel Greek Sirach 12:4-7

Parallel Greek
“But I say to you who are listening: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.  To the person who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other as well, and from the person who takes away your coat, do not withhold your tunic either.  Give to everyone who asks you, and do not ask for your possessions back from the person who takes them away.  Treat others in the same way that you would want them to treat you.

“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?  For even sinners love those who love them.  And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you?  Even sinners do the same.  And if you lend to those from whom you hope to be repaid, what credit is that to you?  Even sinners lend to sinners, so that they may be repaid in full.  But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing back.  Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to ungrateful and evil people.  Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven.  Give, and it will be given to you: A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be poured into your lap. For the measure you use will be the measure you receive.”

 Ἀλλὰ ὑμῖν λέγω τοῖς ἀκούουσιν· ἀγαπᾶτε τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ὑμῶν, καλῶς ποιεῖτε τοῖς μισοῦσιν ὑμᾶς,  εὐλογεῖτε τοὺς καταρωμένους ὑμᾶς, προσεύχεσθε περὶ τῶν ἐπηρεαζόντων ὑμᾶς.  τῷ τύπτοντι σε ἐπὶ τὴν σιαγόνα πάρεχε καὶ τὴν ἄλλην, καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ αἴροντος σου τὸ ἱμάτιον καὶ τὸν χιτῶνα μὴ κωλύσῃς.  παντὶ αἰτοῦντι σε δίδου, καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ αἴροντος τὰ σὰ μὴ ἀπαίτει.  Καὶ καθὼς θέλετε ἵνα ποιῶσιν ὑμῖν οἱ ἄνθρωποι ποιεῖτε αὐτοῖς ὁμοίως.  καὶ εἰ ἀγαπᾶτε τοὺς ἀγαπῶντας ὑμᾶς, ποία ὑμῖν χάρις ἐστίν; καὶ γὰρ οἱ ἁμαρτωλοὶ τοὺς ἀγαπῶντας αὐτοὺς ἀγαπῶσιν.  καὶ ἐὰν ἀγαθοποιῆτε τοὺς ἀγαθοποιοῦντας ὑμᾶς, ποία ὑμῖν χάρις ἐστίν; καὶ οἱ ἁμαρτωλοὶ τὸ αὐτὸ ποιοῦσιν.  καὶ ἐὰν δανίσητε παρ᾿ ὧν ἐλπίζετε λαβεῖν, ποία ὑμῖν χάρις [ἐστίν]; καὶ ἁμαρτωλοὶ ἁμαρτωλοῖς δανίζουσιν ἵνα ἀπολάβωσιν τὰ ἴσα.  πλὴν ἀγαπᾶτε τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ὑμῶν καὶ ἀγαθοποιεῖτε καὶ δανίζετε μηδὲν ἀπελπίζοντες· καὶ ἔσται ὁ μισθὸς ὑμῶν πολύς, καὶ ἔσεσθε υἱοὶ ὑψίστου, ὅτι αὐτὸς χρηστός ἐστιν ἐπὶ τοὺς ἀχαρίστους καὶ πονηρούς.  Γίνεσθε οἰκτίρμονες καθὼς [καὶ] ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν οἰκτίρμων ἐστίν.  Καὶ μὴ κρίνετε, καὶ οὐ μὴ κριθῆτε· καὶ μὴ καταδικάζετε, καὶ οὐ μὴ καταδικασθῆτε. ἀπολύετε, καὶ ἀπολυθήσεσθε·  δίδοτε, καὶ δοθήσεται ὑμῖν· μέτρον καλὸν πεπιεσμένον σεσαλευμένον ὑπερεκχυννόμενον δώσουσιν εἰς τὸν κόλπον ὑμῶν· ᾧ γὰρ μέτρῳ μετρεῖτε ἀντιμετρηθήσεται ὑμῖν.

 

 Give to the godly man, and help not a sinner.  Do well unto him that is lowly, but give not to the ungodly: hold back thy bread, and give it not unto him, lest he overmaster thee thereby: for else thou shalt receive twice as much evil for all the good thou shalt have done unto him.  For the most High hateth sinners, and will repay vengeance unto the ungodly, and keepeth them against the mighty day of their punishment.  Give unto the good, and help not the sinner. δὸς τῷ εὐσεβεῖ καὶ μὴ ἀντιλάβῃ τοῦ ἁμαρτωλοῦ.  εὖ ποίησον τῷ ταπεινῷ καὶ μὴ δῷς ἀσεβεῖ· ἐμπόδισον τοὺς ἄρτους αὐτοῦ καὶ μὴ δῷς αὐτῷ, ἵνα μὴ ἐν αὐτοῖς σε δυναστεύσῃ· διπλάσια γὰρ κακὰ εὑρήσεις ἐν πᾶσιν ἀγαθοῖς, οἷς ἂν ποιήσῃς αὐτῷ.  ὅτι καὶ ὁ ῞Υψιστος ἐμίσησεν ἁμαρτωλοὺς καὶ τοῖς ἀσεβέσιν ἀποδώσει ἐκδίκησιν.  δὸς τῷ ἀγαθῷ καὶ μὴ ἀντιλάβου τοῦ ἁμαρτωλοῦ.
Matthew 5:43-48 (NET) Parallel Greek Sirach 12:4-7

Parallel Greek
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘hate your enemy.’  But I say to you, love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you, 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.  For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have?  Even the tax collectors do the same, don’t they?  And if you only greet your brothers, what more do you do?  Even the Gentiles do the same, don’t they?  So then, be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Ἠκούσατε ὅτι ἐρρέθη· ἀγαπήσεις τὸν πλησίον σου καὶ μισήσεις τὸν ἐχθρόν σου.  ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν· ἀγαπᾶτε τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ὑμῶν καὶ προσεύχεσθε ὑπὲρ τῶν διωκόντων ὑμᾶς,  ὅπως γένησθε υἱοὶ τοῦ πατρὸς ὑμῶν τοῦ ἐν οὐρανοῖς, ὅτι τὸν ἥλιον αὐτοῦ ἀνατέλλει ἐπὶ πονηροὺς καὶ ἀγαθοὺς καὶ βρέχει ἐπὶ δικαίους καὶ ἀδίκους.  ἐὰν γὰρ ἀγαπήσητε τοὺς ἀγαπῶντας ὑμᾶς, τίνα μισθὸν ἔχετε; οὐχὶ καὶ οἱ τελῶναι τὸ αὐτὸ ποιοῦσιν;  καὶ ἐὰν ἀσπάσησθε τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς ὑμῶν μόνον, τί περισσὸν ποιεῖτε; οὐχὶ καὶ οἱ ἐθνικοὶ τὸ αὐτὸ ποιοῦσιν;  ἔσεσθε οὖν ὑμεῖς τέλειοι ὡς ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ οὐράνιος τέλειος ἐστιν. Give to the godly man, and help not a sinner.  Do well unto him that is lowly, but give not to the ungodly: hold back thy bread, and give it not unto him, lest he overmaster thee thereby: for else thou shalt receive twice as much evil for all the good thou shalt have done unto him.  For the most High hateth sinners, and will repay vengeance unto the ungodly, and keepeth them against the mighty day of their punishment.  Give unto the good, and help not the sinner. δὸς τῷ εὐσεβεῖ καὶ μὴ ἀντιλάβῃ τοῦ ἁμαρτωλοῦ.  εὖ ποίησον τῷ ταπεινῷ καὶ μὴ δῷς ἀσεβεῖ· ἐμπόδισον τοὺς ἄρτους αὐτοῦ καὶ μὴ δῷς αὐτῷ, ἵνα μὴ ἐν αὐτοῖς σε δυναστεύσῃ· διπλάσια γὰρ κακὰ εὑρήσεις ἐν πᾶσιν ἀγαθοῖς, οἷς ἂν ποιήσῃς αὐτῷ.  ὅτι καὶ ὁ ῞Υψιστος ἐμίσησεν ἁμαρτωλοὺς καὶ τοῖς ἀσεβέσιν ἀποδώσει ἐκδίκησιν.  δὸς τῷ ἀγαθῷ καὶ μὴ ἀντιλάβου τοῦ ἁμαρτωλοῦ.

I think Sirach is exactly what the author claimed, the writing of a man who sought wisdom from God (Sirach 51:13-22).

When I was yet young, or ever I went abroad, I desired wisdom openly in my prayer.  I prayed for her before the temple, and will seek her out even to the end.  Even from the flower till the grape was ripe hath my heart delighted in her: my foot went the right way, from my youth up sought I after her.  I bowed down mine ear a little, and received her, and gat much learning.  I profited therein, therefore will I ascribe glory unto him that giveth me wisdom.  For I purposed to do after her, and earnestly I followed that which is good; so shall I not be confounded.  My soul hath wrestled with her, and in my doings I was exact: I stretched forth my hands to the heaven above, and bewailed my ignorances of her.  I directed my soul unto her, and I found her in pureness: I have had my heart joined with her from the beginning, therefore shall I not be forsaken.  My heart was troubled in seeking her: therefore have I gotten a good possession.  The Lord hath given me a tongue for my reward, and I will praise him therewith.

 

[1] http://www.calledtocommunion.com/2010/11/sirach-about-a-biblical-book-rejected-by-the-reformation/

[2] http://www.justforcatholics.org/a48.htm

[3] Aaron is to make atonement (Septuagint: ἐξιλάσεται) on its horns once in the year with some of the blood of the sin offering for atonement; once in the year he is to make atonement on it throughout your generations.  It is most holy to the Lord. (Exodus 30:10 NET)

Condemnation or Judgment? – Part 2

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I am no more accustomed to taking Jesus’ criteria of judgment between the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25 ‎literally than anyone else socialized into my religion.  My first doubt appeared in the form of a “rational” conclusion: “Then it would make more sense to pursue the lesser path—to give food, drink and clothing to Jesus’ brothers and sisters, to show them hospitality, visit them when sick or in prison—rather than the greater path—to hear Jesus’ message and believe the One who sent Him.”[1]  The unstated assumption of that conclusion is that my goal is to escape[2] an eternity in hell rather than to know[3] God and glorify Him.

Of course, who is to say that the person who believed Jesus’ teaching enough today to start giving food, drink and clothing to his brothers and sisters, to show them hospitality, or visit them when sick or in prison, wouldn’t begin to hear his message and believe the One who sent Him tomorrow?  A question followed:  If I take the criteria of judgment between the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25 literally, what is all the hell talk in the Bible about?  I don’t know the answer to that but it’s something I can study along with the other instances of κρίσεως.

“Do not go to Gentile regions and do not enter any Samaritan town,” Jesus told Simon (called Peter), and Andrew his brother; James son of Zebedee and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.[4]  “Go instead to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near!’  Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons.  Freely you received, freely give.”[5]

And if anyone will not welcome you or listen to your message, Jesus continued, shake the dust off your feet as you leave that house or that town.  I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for the region of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment (ἐν[6] ἡμέρᾳ[7] κρίσεως[8]) than for that town![9]

When I thought of justice as essentially the equitable distribution of punishment for sin I assumed that more bearable meant less condemned, a more bearable place in hell, less heat, less torture or something.  Romans 11 and Ezekiel 16[10] have given me cause to consider that God’s sense of justice goes well beyond the equitable distribution of punishment for sin (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 a prophet’s reward (μισθὸν, a form of μισθός).[11] Whoever receives a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward (μισθὸν, a form of μισθός).  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 (μισθὸν, a form of μισθός).

I’m not sure what a prophet’s or a righteous person’s reward is.  The same word is used in Revelation, the time has come to give to your servants, the prophets, their reward (μισθὸν, a form of μισθός), as well as to the saints and to those who revere your name, both small and great…[12]  Can this μισθὸν (a form of μισθός) be received by those who receive a prophet in the name of a prophet, or those who receive a righteous person in the name of a righteous person, or those who give a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple, in hell?  I don’t know.

The first mention of hell in the New Testament came not from the mouth of Jesus but from his cousin John the Baptist, when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?[13]  I imagine this manner of address shocked men who liked walking around in long robes and elaborate greetings in the marketplaces, and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets.[14]

I didn’t understand this anger at Jewish religious leaders as a special circumstance.  I thought Jesus changed the rules on them, tightened up adultery and divorce, and loosened restrictions on ham and shellfish.  Yes, they were slow to adopt the new rules.  But I related to his anger in the sense that Peter expressed:  For it is time for judgment to begin, starting with the house of God.  And if it starts with us, what will be the fate of those who are disobedient to the gospel of God?  And if the righteous are barely saved, what will become of the ungodly and sinners?[15]

I assumed that if God had been angry like this with, and abusive to, Jewish religious leaders He was only that much more angry with me, though the abusive part didn’t always work out in practice, which was confusing.  But I knew even from English classes in public school that we were all “Sinner’s in the Hands of an Angry God,”[16] (if one were to believe in that sort of thing).  It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God,[17] the writer of Hebrews agreed.

Therefore produce fruit that proves your repentance, John the Baptist continued, and don’t think you can say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our father.”  For I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones![18]

I saw the relationship between Israel descended from Abraham and believers “born again” of Jesus Christ.  I made the connection between producing fruit and the fruit of the Spirit.  I had no intention of saying to myself, I have Jesus Christ for my father.  I knew God could raise up children for Jesus from stones.  I was ready to prove what I could do for God, first by keeping the law and later by producing the fruit of the Spirit.

I didn’t understand for many years that the fruit of the Spirit belonged to the Spirit, part of the glory of God.  I thought the “fruits” of the Spirit were things I did that the Spirit of God would approve of, or be pleased with.  For all practical purposes I became one of the Pharisees, not that I was ever any good at it.  I was never blameless according to the righteousness stipulated in the law. [19]

Even now the ax is laid at the root of the trees, John warned, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. [20]

For years I prayed in Sunday worship services, For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever,[21] while I worked to rob God of his glory, striving (and failing) to achieve the fruit of his Spirit as if it were my own religious works.  And for years He worked to dissuade me of this error, while I persistently refused to believe Him.  Or I simply walked away in frustration, persuaded that “this whole religious thing was” futile (though I used a more scatological adjective than futile).  The primary reason I know that Love is patient and that love is kind, [22] is not Paul’s written words, but the way they resonated with the Lord’s patient labor to get through to me, and his kind persistence calling me back from my frustration.

I baptize you with water, for repentance, John the Baptist continued, but the one coming after me is more powerful than I am – I am not worthy to carry his sandals.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.[23]

Everything about my religion says to me that He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit or fire.  “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ or burn in hell for all eternity.”  Yet I’ve heard no one with the courage to change or retranslate this particular conjunction καὶ.[24]  John the Baptist continued (Matthew 3:12 NET):

His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clean out his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the storehouse, but the chaff he will burn up with inextinguishable fire.

Part of the original question read: “I don’t really like these verses because it’s like the verses about the sheep and the goats and the wheat and the tares.  It makes it seem like some people are going to be saved and others aren’t.  HOWEVER, couple it with Romans 7:14-20 and it seems to mean something else.  In Romans 7:20 ‘Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.’  Now that verse seems like a real cop out!  I’ve never understood it very well.  But it seems to be saying that that part of the person doing ‘evil’ is separate from the person himself or herself (maybe as far as east is from the west??).  So maybe John 5:28 and 29 can be talking about all us dead being raised and our ‘old selves’ get condemned and our ‘new selves’ live eternally with the Lord.”

I don’t know that I see that in John 5:28 and 29, but here in Matthew 3:11 and 12 it sounds more plausible.  What is the chaff after all but the body that housed the kernel of grain until it matured?  I’m not sure that it proves that Jesus will baptize [us] with the Holy Spirit and[25] fire but I will certainly remember it as an interesting interpretive theory.

“‘Tis everlasting wrath,” Jonathan Edwards wrote in his sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”[26]

It would be dreadful to suffer this fierceness and wrath of Almighty God one moment; but you must suffer it to all eternity: there will be no end to this exquisite horrible misery: When you look forward, you shall see a long forever, a boundless duration before you, which will swallow up your thoughts, and amaze your soul; and you will absolutely despair of ever having any deliverance, any end, any mitigation, any rest at all; you will know certainly that you must wear out long ages, millions of millions of ages, in wrestling and conflicting with this almighty merciless vengeance; and then when you have so done, when so many ages have actually been spent by you in this manner, you will know that all is but a point to what remains. So that your punishment will indeed be infinite.

Is this knowledge of God?  Or is it human conjecture?

“If it were only the wrath of man, tho’ it were of the most potent prince, it would be comparatively little to be regarded,” reads one of Edward’s arguments.  “The wrath of kings is very much dreaded, especially of absolute monarchs, that have the possessions and lives of their subjects wholly in their power, to be disposed of at their meer will….The subject that very much enrages an arbitrary prince, is liable to suffer the most extreme torments, that human art can invent or human power can inflict.  But the greatest earthly potentates, in their greatest majesty and strength, and when clothed in their greatest terrors, are but feeble despicable worms of the dust, in comparison of the great and almighty creator and king of heaven and earth…”

In other words, if an absolute monarch or arbitrary prince became a great torturer of the subjects who angered him, imagine how much greater God must be at devising and inflicting torture.  He quoted Jesus to bolster this argument: “And I say unto you my friends, be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do: But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear; fear him, which after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell; yea I say unto you, fear him.”

It seems fairly obvious to me, however, that Jesus’ point was not that God (or Jesus Himself[27]) is the superlative torturer, but that those friends who believed Him and lived and spoke in his name should not be afraid of the beatings, imprisonments and deaths they would face at the hands of earthly potentates, absolute monarchs or arbitrary princes (Luke 12:4-7 NET):

I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid (φοβηθῆτε, a form of φοβέω)[28] of those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more they can do.  But I will warn you whom you should fear (φοβηθῆτε, a form of φοβέω): Fear (φοβήθητε, another form of φοβέω) the one who, after the killing, has authority to throw you into hell.  Yes, I tell you, fear (φοβήθητε, another form of φοβέω) him!  Aren’t five sparrows sold for two pennies?  Yet not one of them is forgotten before God.  In fact, even the hairs on your head are all numbered.  Do not be afraid (φοβεῖσθε, another form of φοβέω); you are more valuable than many sparrows.

It is as if He said, take all your fear of man, compare it to your fear of God’s wrath and see that it is nothing, then do not be afraid because God cares for you: you are more valuable than many sparrows.  To Jonathan Edwards argument I contrast the knowledge of God revealed in Jesus’ command (Matthew 5:43-48 NET):

You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘hate your enemy.’  But I say to you, love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you, 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.  For if you love those who love you, what reward (μισθὸν, a form of μισθός) do you have?  Even the tax collectors do the same, don’t they?  And if you only greet your brothers, what more do you do?  Even the Gentiles do the same, don’t they?  So then, be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect [loving his enemies].

“God is a great deal more angry with great numbers that are now on earth, yea doubtless with many that are now in this congregation…than he is with many of those that are now in the flames of hell,” Jonathan Edward’s told religious-minded folk trusting in their own religion and good works.  But Jesus’ attitude was a bit different toward the same sort of people (Matthew 11:27-30 NET):

All things have been handed over to me by my Father.  No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son decides to reveal him.  Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry.

As a matter of thoroughness I want to include a comparison of Peter’s quotation from Proverbs 11:31 with the Septuagint.  The translation from contemporary Hebrew reads: If the righteous are recompensed on earth, how much more the wicked sinner![29]

Peter Blue Letter Bible (Septuagint) NET Bible (Greek parallel text)
if the righteous are barely saved, what will become of the ungodly and sinners?

1 Peter 4:18 (NET)

 εἰ ὁ μὲν[30] δίκαιος μόλις σῴζεται ὁ ἀσεβὴς καὶ ἁμαρτωλὸς ποῦ φανεῖται

Proverbs 11:31

 εἰ ὁ δίκαιος μόλις σῴζεται, ὁ ἀσεβὴς καὶ ἁμαρτωλὸς ποῦ φανεῖται

1 Peter 4:18

 

Addendum (7/19/2015): Jim Searcy has published that the Septuagint is a hoax written by Origen and Eusebius 200 hundred years after Christ.  “In fact, the Septuagint ‘quotes’ from the New Testament and not vice versa…”  His contention is that the “King James Version is the infallible Word of God.”  So, I’ll re-examine the quotations above with the KJV.

Peter KJV NET Bible (Greek parallel text)
And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

1 Peter 4:18 (KJV)

 Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner.

Proverbs 11:31

 εἰ ὁ δίκαιος μόλις σῴζεται, ὁ ἀσεβὴς καὶ ἁμαρτωλὸς ποῦ φανεῖται

1 Peter 4:18

If the “King James Version is the infallible Word of God,” Peter interjected the idea of salvation (σῴζεται, a form of σώζω) into the Old Testament idea of earthly recompense.

[1] John 5:24 (NET)

[2] https://religiousmind.net/2013/02/09/you-must-be-gentle-part-3/

[3] https://religiousmind.net/2012/06/23/who-am-i-part-3/

[4] Matthew 10:2-4 (NET)

[5] Matthew 10:5-8 (NET)

[9] Matthew 10:14, 15 (NET)

[10] https://religiousmind.net/2013/05/02/romans-part-43/

[12] Revelation 11:18 (NET)

[13] Matthew 3:7 (NET)

[14] Mark 12:38b, 39 (NET)

[15] 1 Peter 4:17, 18 (NET)

[16] Jonathan Edwards, July 8, 1741  http://voicesofdemocracy.umd.edu/edwards-sinners-in-the-hands-speech-text/

[17] Hebrews 10:31 (NET)

[18] Matthew 3:8, 9 (NET)

[19] Philippians 3:6b (NET)

[20] Matthew 3:10 (NET)

[21] Matthew 6:13b (NKJV)  This has been removed from the NET: “Most mss (L W Θ 0233 Ë13 33 Ï sy sa Didache) read (though some with slight variation) ὅτι σοῦ ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία καὶ ἡ δύναμις καὶ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας, ἀμήν (‘for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, amen’) here. The reading without this sentence, though, is attested by generally better witnesses (א B D Z 0170 Ë1 pc lat mae Or). The phrase was probably composed for the liturgy of the early church and most likely was based on 1 Chr 29:11-13; a scribe probably added the phrase at this point in the text for use in public scripture reading (see TCGNT 13-14). Both external and internal evidence argue for the shorter reading.”

[22] 1 Corinthians 13:4a (NET)

[23] Matthew 3:11 (NET)

[25] NET note: “With the Holy Spirit and fire. There are differing interpretations for this phrase regarding the number of baptisms and their nature. (1) Some see one baptism here, and this can be divided further into two options. (a) The baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire could refer to the cleansing, purifying work of the Spirit in the individual believer through salvation and sanctification, or (b) it could refer to two different results of Christ’s ministry: Some accept Christ and are baptized with the Holy Spirit, but some reject him and receive judgment. (2) Other interpreters see two baptisms here: The baptism of the Holy Spirit refers to the salvation Jesus brings at his first advent, in which believers receive the Holy Spirit, and the baptism of fire refers to the judgment Jesus will bring upon the world at his second coming. One must take into account both the image of fire and whether individual or corporate baptism is in view. A decision is not easy on either issue. The image of fire is used to refer to both eternal judgment (e.g., Matt 25:41) and the power of the Lord’s presence to purge and cleanse his people (e.g., Isa 4:4-5). The pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost, a fulfillment of this prophecy no matter which interpretation is taken, had both individual and corporate dimensions. It is possible that since Holy Spirit and fire are governed by a single preposition in Greek, the one-baptism view may be more likely, but this is not certain. Simply put, there is no consensus view in scholarship at this time on the best interpretation of this passage.”

[26] http://voicesofdemocracy.umd.edu/edwards-sinners-in-the-hands-speech-text/

[27] 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 (John 5:22, 23 NET).

[29] Proverbs 11:31 (NET)