Tag Archives: Philippians 3:9

Atonement, Part 8

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This is a continuation of yehôvâh’s (יהוה) instruction to Moses: They[1] are to eat those things by which atonement (kâphar, כפר; Septuagint: ἡγιάσθησαν, a form of ἁγιάζω) was made to consecrate and to set them apart, but no one else may eat them, for they are holy.[2]  The atonement of Aaron and his sons continued:

Exodus 29:22-25 (NET)

Leviticus 8:25-28 (NET)
You are to take from the ram the fat, the fat tail, the fat that covers the entrails, the lobe of the liver, the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and the right thigh – for it is the ram for consecration (millûʼ, מלאים; Septuagint: τελείωσις)  – Then he took the fat (the fatty tail, all the fat on the entrails, the protruding lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and their fat) and the right thigh,
and one round flat cake of bread, one perforated cake of oiled bread, and one wafer from the basket of bread made without yeast that is before the Lord. and from the basket of unleavened bread that was before the Lord he took one unleavened loaf, one loaf of bread mixed with olive oil, and one wafer, and placed them on the fat parts and on the right thigh.
You are to put all these in Aaron’s hands and in his sons’ hands, and you are to wave them as a wave offering (tenûphâh, תנופה; Septuagint: ἀφόρισμα) before the Lord. He then put all of them on the palms of Aaron and his sons, who waved them as a wave offering (tenûphâh, תנופה; Septuagint: ἀφαίρεμα) before the Lord.
Then you are to take them from their hands and burn them on the altar for a burnt offering (ʽôlâh, העלה; Septuagint: ὁλοκαυτώσεως, a form of ὁλοκαύτωσις), for a soothing aroma before the Lord.  It is an offering made by fire (ʼishshâh, אשה; Septuagint: κάρπωμά) to the Lord. Moses then took them from their palms and offered them up in smoke on the altar on top of the burnt offering (ʽôlâh, העלה; Septuagint: ὁλοκαύτωμα) – they were an ordination (millûʼ, מלאים; Septuagint: τελειώσεως, a form of τελείωσις) offering for a soothing aroma; it was a gift (ʼishshâh, אשה]; Septuagint: κάρπωμά) to the Lord.

The words ἀφόρισμα and ἀφαίρεμα (wave offering) in the Septuagint were not used in the New Testament, nor were any forms of ὁλοκαύτωσις (burnt offering) or κάρπωμά (NET: offering made by fire, gift).  I’ve already considered all of the occurrences of ὁλοκαύτωμα.[3]  So I’ll continue with τελείωσις (Hebrews 7:11 NET):

So if perfection (τελείωσις) had in fact been possible through the Levitical priesthood – for on that basis[4] the people received the law[5] – what further need would there have been for another priest to arise, said to be in the order of Melchizedek and not in Aaron’s order?

I’ll back up here a bit to consider Melchizedek (Hebrews 6:17-20 NET):

God wanted to demonstrate more clearly to the heirs of the promise that his purpose was unchangeable, and so he intervened with an oath, so that we who have found refuge in him may find strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us through two unchangeable things, since it is impossible for God[6] to lie.  We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, sure and steadfast, which reaches inside behind the curtain, where Jesus our forerunner entered on our behalf, since he became a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.

Jesus…became (γενόμενος, a form of γίνομαι) a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.  This alludes to Psalm 110:4, contrasted in the table below.

Hebrews 6:20b (NET)

Psalms 110:4 (Septuagint)
κατὰ τὴν τάξιν Μελχισέδεκ ἀρχιερεὺς γενόμενος εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα ἱερεὺς εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα κατὰ τὴν τάξιν Μελχισεδεκ

The order of phrases was reversed from the Septuagint: κατὰ τὴν τάξιν Μελχισέδεκ (NET: in the order of Melchizedek) preceded ἀρχιερεὺς…εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα (NET: a priest forever).  Also ἀρχιερεὺς (high priest) replaced ἱερεὺς (priest).  I’m noting it here because Hebrews 7:17b was a verbatim quote.

Hebrews 7:17b (NET)

Psalms 110:4 (Septuagint)
ἱερεὺς εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα κατὰ τὴν τάξιν Μελχισέδεκ ἱερεὺς εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα κατὰ τὴν τάξιν Μελχισεδεκ

Now this Melchizedek, the writer of Hebrews explained, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, met Abraham (Genesis 14:17-24) as he was returning from defeating the kings and blessed him.  To him also Abraham apportioned a tithe of everything.  His name first means king of righteousness, then king of Salem, that is, king of peace.  Without father, without mother, without genealogy, he has neither beginning of days nor end of life but is like the son of God, and he remains a priest for all time. [7]

The Jewish Encyclopedia (1906) entry on Melchizedek read:

The story is neither an invention nor the product of a copyist’s error, as Cheyne (“Encyc. Bibl.”) thinks, but rests upon ancient Jerusalemic tradition (as Josephus, “B. J.” vi. 10, affirms; comp. Gunkel, “Genesis,” 1901, p. 261), “Zedek” being an ancient name of Jerusalem…The city’s first king, accordingly, was known either as “Adoni Zedek” (Josh. x. 1 et seq. ; comp. Judges i. 5-7, where “Adonizedek” is the correct reading) or as “Malkizedek.”  The fact that he united the royal with the priestly dignity, like all ancient (heathen) kings, made him a welcome type to the composer of the triumphal song (Ps. cx.).

Adoni-Zedek was one of the five kings Joshua killed (Joshua 10:22-27).  The writer of Hebrews, however, who I think wrote down what Jesus taught his disciples after his resurrection, highlighted a change in the law based on δύναμιν ζωῆς ἀκαταλύτου, the power of an indestructible life (Hebrews 7:12-17 NET):

For when the priesthood changes, a change in the law must come as well.  Yet the one these things are spoken about belongs to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever officiated at the altar.  For it is clear that our Lord is descended from Judah, yet Moses[8] said nothing about priests[9] in connection with that tribe.  And this is even clearer if another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become a priest not by a legal regulation about physical[10] descent but by the power of an indestructible (ἀκαταλύτου, a form of ἀκατάλυτος) life.  For here is the testimony about him: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”

The verb translated here is the testimony was μαρτυρεῖται (a form of μαρτυρέω) in the NET parallel Greek text and NA28.  In the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text it was μαρτυρει (KJV: he testifieth).  The only difference between them is that the former is passive while the latter is active.  This exercise reminded me that God testifies through David’s psalm whether the verb is active or passive.

In 1906 Isidore Singer and Kaufmann Kohler claimed that Adoni-Bezek (Judges 1:5-7) was actually Adoni-Zedek or Melchizedek.  So whether Melchizedek was a line of king-priests or some otherworldy being, his reputation for an indestructible life was what the Holy Spirit keyed on.  And though the philosophical bent of my mind usually groans and rolls its metaphorical eyes when confronted with prefigures and types, I have to acknowledge the unsettling oddity if Israel was obliged to kill the king of righteousness and peace more than once (the second time he died in captivity in Jerusalem) during their conquest of Canaan.

The writer of Hebrews continued with Jesus’ actual point (Hebrews 7:18, 19 NET):

On the one hand a former command is set aside because it is weak and useless, for the law made nothing perfect (ἐτελείωσεν, a form of τελειόω).  On the other hand a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.

The KJV reads: For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did…  It is almost unique among English translations.  Paul described this better hope as the love of God…poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us (Romans 5:1-5 NET):

Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of God’s glory.  Not only this, but we also rejoice in sufferings (θλίψεσιν, a form of θλίψις), knowing that suffering (θλῖψις) produces endurance, and endurance, character, and character, hope.  And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

The writer of Hebrews continued (Hebrews 7:20-22 NET):

And since this was not done without a sworn affirmation – for the others have become priests without a sworn affirmation,[11] but Jesus did so with a sworn affirmation by the one who said to him, “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, ‘You are a priest forever’” –[12] accordingly[13] Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.

Here is a table comparing the quotation from Psalm 110:4 in the NET parallel Greek, Septuagint and Stephanus Textus Receptus:

Hebrews 7:21b (NET Parallel Greek)

 Psalm 110:4 (Septuagint)

Hebrews 7:21b (Stephanus Textus Receptus)
ὤμοσεν κύριος καὶ οὐ μεταμεληθήσεται σὺ ἱερεὺς εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα ὤμοσεν κύριος καὶ οὐ μεταμεληθήσεται σὺ εἶ ἱερεὺς εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα κατὰ τὴν τάξιν Μελχισεδεκ ωμοσεν κυριος και ου μεταμεληθησεται συ ιερευς εις τον αιωνα κατα την ταξιν μελχισεδεκ

The writer of Hebrews continued (Hebrews 7:23-28):

And the others who became priests were numerous, because death prevented them from continuing in office, but he holds his priesthood permanently since he lives forever.  So he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.  For it[14] is indeed fitting for us to have such a high priest: holy, innocent, undefiled, separate from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.  He has no need to do every day what those priests do, to offer sacrifices first for their own sins and then for the sins of the people, since he did this in offering himself once for all.  For the law appoints as high priests men subject to weakness, but the word of solemn affirmation that came after the law appoints a son made perfect (τετελειωμένον, another form of τελειόω) forever.

Solomon prayed to yehôvâh at the dedication of the temple, and yehôvâh appeared to him and answered his prayer.

1 Kings 8:27-29 (Tanakh)

1 Kings 9:3-5 (Tanakh)
But will God (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים) indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?  Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O LORD (yehôvâh, יהוה) my God (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהי), to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee to day: That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place. And the LORD (yehôvâh, יהוה) said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed (qâdash, הקדשתי; Septuagint: ἡγίακα, another form of ἁγιάζω) this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.  And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked (Psalm 51:10, 11), in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments: Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail (Luke 1:30-33) thee a man upon the throne of Israel.

Isaiah prophesied, if not a change in the law, a change in attitude toward the temple and its sacrifices.

Isaiah 66:1-4 (Tanakh)

Isaiah 66:1-4 (KJV)
Thus saith the LORD (yehôvâh, יהוה), The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?
For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD (yehôvâh, יהוה): but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.
He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog’s neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine’s blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol.  Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth (châphêts, חפצה) in their abominations. He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog’s neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine’s blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol.  Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations.
I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted (châphêts, חפצתי) not. I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.

Here the sacrifices prescribed by law were called their own ways (derek, בדרכיהם) and their abominations (shiqqûts, ובשקוציהם).  In fact, their soul delighteth (châphêts, חפצה) in their abominations.  They chose that in which I delighted (châphêts, חפצתי) not, saith the LORD (yehôvâh, יהוה).  This led me directly back to David (Psalm 51:16, 17 Tanakh Table1 Table2):

For thou desirest (châphêts, תחפץ; Septuagint: ἠθέλησας, a form of θέλω) not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest (râtsâh, תרצה; Septuagint: εὐδοκήσεις; a form of εὐδοκέω) not in burnt offering.  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

A table of Isaiah 66:1-4 in Greek from the Septuagint and an English translation follows:

Isaiah 66:1, 2, 3, 4 (Septuagint)

Isaiah 66:1-4 (NETS)
οὕτως λέγει κύριος ὁ οὐρανός μοι θρόνος ἡ δὲ γῆ ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν μου ποῖον οἶκον οἰκοδομήσετέ μοι ἢ ποῖος τόπος τῆς καταπαύσεώς μου Thus says the Lord: Heaven is my throne, and the earth is the footstool of my feet; what kind of house will you build for me, or of what kind will be the place of my rest?
πάντα γὰρ ταῦτα ἐποίησεν ἡ χείρ μου καὶ ἔστιν ἐμὰ πάντα ταῦτα λέγει κύριος καὶ ἐπὶ τίνα ἐπιβλέψω ἀλλ᾽ ἢ ἐπὶ τὸν ταπεινὸν καὶ ἡσύχιον καὶ τρέμοντα τοὺς λόγους μου For all these things my hand has made, and all these things are mine, says the Lord.  And to whom will I look but to the one who is humble and quiet and trembles at my words?
ὁ δὲ ἄνομος ὁ θύων μοι μόσχον ὡς ὁ ἀποκτέννων κύνα ὁ δὲ ἀναφέρων σεμίδαλιν ὡς αἷμα ὕειον ὁ διδοὺς λίβανον εἰς μνημόσυνον ὡς βλάσφημος καὶ οὗτοι ἐξελέξαντο τὰς ὁδοὺς αὐτῶν καὶ τὰ βδελύγματα αὐτῶν ἃ ἡ ψυχὴ αὐτῶν ἠθέλησεν (another form of θέλω) But the lawless who sacrifices to me a calf is like one who kills a dog, and he who offers fine flour, like one who offers swine’s blood; he who has given frankincense for a memorial, like a blasphemer.  And these have chosen their own ways and their abominations, which their soul wanted;
κἀγὼ ἐκλέξομαι τὰ ἐμπαίγματα αὐτῶν καὶ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἀνταποδώσω αὐτοῖς ὅτι ἐκάλεσα αὐτοὺς καὶ οὐχ ὑπήκουσάν μου ἐλάλησα καὶ οὐκ ἤκουσαν καὶ ἐποίησαν τὸ πονηρὸν ἐναντίον μου καὶ ἃ οὐκ ἐβουλόμην (a form of βούλομαι) ἐξελέξαντο So I will choose mockeries for them and repay them their sins, because I called them and they did not answer me, but they did what was evil in my sight and chose the things I did not desire.

Here “the lawless” (ἄνομος) who bring the sacrifices prescribed by law “have chosen their own ways (ὁδοὺς, a form of ὁδός)” and “their abominations (βδελύγματα, a form of βδέλυγμα).”  The rabbis made some connection to David’s psalm.  They translated חפצה (châphêts) ἠθέλησεν (another form of θέλω) in, “And these have chosen their own ways and their abominations, which their soul wanted (ἠθέλησεν).”  And they translated תחפץ (châphêts) ἠθέλησας (also a form of θέλω) in, For thou desirest (ἠθέλησας) not sacrifice.  But they translated חפצתי (châphêts) ἐβουλόμην (a form of βούλομαι) when the Holy Spirit’s point was that they “chose the things I (yehôvâh) did not desire (ἐβουλόμην),” obscuring that connection at a salient point.

The NET translators didn’t add “the lawless” to the text, but embedded it by turning similes into additive descriptions: The one who slaughters a bull also strikes down a man; the one who sacrifices a lamb also breaks a dog’s neck; the one who presents an offering includes pig’s blood with it; the one who offers incense also praises an idol.  They have decided to behave this way; they enjoy these disgusting practices.[15]

Perhaps this is not so surprising.  The rebuilding of the temple and the reinstitution of its sacrifices are major tenets of our eschatology.  David prophesied a time when אלהים (ʼĕlôhı̂ym) would do good (yâṭab, היטיבה; Septuagint: ἀγάθυνον, a form of ἀγαθύνω) unto Zion: Do good in thy good pleasure (râtsôn, ברצונך; Septuagint: εὐδοκίᾳ) unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.[16]

At that time אלהים (ʼĕlôhı̂ym) will be pleased with sacrifices (zebach, זבחי; Septuagint: θυσίαν, a form of θυσία) of righteousness (tsedeq, צדק; Septuagint: δικαιοσύνης, a form of δικαιοσύνη), even burnt offering (ʽôlâh, עולה; Septuagint: ἀναφορὰν, a form of ἀναφορά) and whole burnt offering (kâlı̂yl, וכליל; Septuagint: ὁλοκαυτώματα, a form of ὁλοκαύτωμα):

Then shalt thou be pleased (châphêts, חפצה; Septuagint: εὐδοκήσεις, a form of εὐδοκέω) with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.[17]

I seriously doubt however that sacrifices of righteousness can be offered by any who reject the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.[18]  Those who would offer such sacrifices are ignoring the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking instead to establish their own righteousness,[19] their own ways, by their abominations.  Perhaps the translators of the Septuagint meant that a priest should not be lawless but maintain his own righteousness derived from the law…[20]

Should a priest—consecrated with special clothes, fancy adornments and anointing oil, his atonement accomplished through a sin offering bull offered on an altar consecrated by the bull’s blood, the gift (offering made by fire) of a burnt offering ram, being sprinkled in the blood of a second ram of ordination, standing in his own righteousness derived from his own adherence to the law but without the righteousness from God that is in fact based on Christ’s faithfulness[21]—dare to offer Him the blood of bulls and goats?  He does away (ἀναιρεῖ, a form of ἀναιρέω) with the first, Jesus taught his disciples, to establish the second.[22]

Hear Jesus’ teaching through the writer of Hebrews (Hebrews 10:28-31 NET):

Someone who rejected the law of Moses[23] was put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.  How much greater punishment do you think that person deserves who has contempt for the Son of God, and profanes the blood of the covenant that made him holy, and insults the Spirit of grace?  For we know the one who said, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,”[24] and again, “The Lord will judge his people.”  It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took each of them his censer, and put fire therein, and laid incense thereon, and offered strange fire before HaShem (yehôvâh, יהוה), which He had not commanded them Table.  And there came forth fire from before HaShem (yehôvâh, יהוה), and devoured them, and they died before HaShem (yehôvâh, יהוה) Table.  Then Moses said unto Aaron: ‘This is it that HaShem (yehôvâh, יהוה) spoke, saying: Through them that are nigh unto Me I will be sanctified (qâdash, אקדש; Septuagint: ἁγιασθήσομαι, a form of ἁγιάζω), and before all the people I will be glorified.’  And Aaron held his peace Table.[25]

Again, Jesus said:

Matthew 23:37-39 (NET)

Luke 13:34, 35 (NET)
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill[26] the prophets and stone those who are sent to you!  How often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her[27] chicks under her wings, but you would have none of it!  Look, your house is left to you desolate!  For I tell you, you will not see me from now until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’” “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you!  How often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would have none of it!  Look, your house is forsaken![28]  And I tell you,[29] you will not see me until[30] you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

Tables of Hebrews 7:11; 6:18; 7:14; 7:16, 17; 7:21, 22; 7:26; 10:28; 10:30; Matthew 23:37 and Luke 13:35 comparing the NET and KJV follow.

Hebrews 7:11 (NET)

Hebrews 7:11 (KJV)
So if perfection had in fact been possible through the Levitical priesthood – for on that basis the people received the law – what further need would there have been for another priest to arise, said to be in the order of Melchizedek and not in Aaron’s order? If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?
Net Parallel Greek Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
Εἰ μὲν οὖν τελείωσις διὰ τῆς Λευιτικῆς ἱερωσύνης ἦν, ὁ λαὸς γὰρ ἐπ᾿ αὐτῆς νενομοθέτηται, τίς ἔτι χρεία κατὰ τὴν τάξιν Μελχισέδεκ ἕτερον ἀνίστασθαι ἱερέα καὶ οὐ κατὰ τὴν τάξιν Ἀαρὼν λέγεσθαι ει μεν ουν τελειωσις δια της λευιτικης ιερωσυνης ην ο λαος γαρ επ αυτη νενομοθετητο τις ετι χρεια κατα την ταξιν μελχισεδεκ ετερον ανιστασθαι ιερεα και ου κατα την ταξιν ααρων λεγεσθαι ει μεν ουν τελειωσις δια της λευιτικης ιερωσυνης ην ο λαος γαρ επ αυτη νενομοθετητο τις ετι χρεια κατα την ταξιν μελχισεδεκ ετερον ανιστασθαι ιερεα και ου κατα την ταξιν ααρων λεγεσθαι
Hebrews 6:18 (NET)

Hebrews 6:18 (KJV)
so that we who have found refuge in him may find strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us through two unchangeable things, since it is impossible for God to lie. That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:

Net Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
ἵνα διὰ δύο πραγμάτων ἀμεταθέτων, ἐν οἷς ἀδύνατον ψεύσασθαι [τὸν] θεόν, ἰσχυρὰν παράκλησιν ἔχωμεν οἱ καταφυγόντες κρατῆσαι τῆς προκειμένης ἐλπίδος ινα δια δυο πραγματων αμεταθετων εν οις αδυνατον ψευσασθαι θεον ισχυραν παρακλησιν εχωμεν οι καταφυγοντες κρατησαι της προκειμενης ελπιδος ινα δια δυο πραγματων αμεταθετων εν οις αδυνατον ψευσασθαι θεον ισχυραν παρακλησιν εχωμεν οι καταφυγοντες κρατησαι της προκειμενης ελπιδος

Hebrews 7:14 (NET)

Hebrews 7:14 (KJV)
For it is clear that our Lord is descended from Judah, yet Moses said nothing about priests in connection with that tribe. For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood.

Net Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
πρόδηλον γὰρ ὅτι ἐξ Ἰούδα ἀνατέταλκεν ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν, εἰς ἣν φυλὴν περὶ ἱερέων οὐδὲν Μωϋσῆς ἐλάλησεν προδηλον γαρ οτι εξ ιουδα ανατεταλκεν ο κυριος ημων εις ην φυλην ουδεν περι ιερωσυνης μωσης ελαλησεν προδηλον γαρ οτι εξ ιουδα ανατεταλκεν ο κυριος ημων εις ην φυλην ουδεν περι ιερωσυνης μωυσης ελαλησεν
Hebrews 7:16, 17 (NET)

Hebrews 7:16, 17 (KJV)
who has become a priest not by a legal regulation about physical descent but by the power of an indestructible life. Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.

Net Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
ὃς οὐ κατὰ νόμον ἐντολῆς σαρκίνης γέγονεν ἀλλὰ κατὰ δύναμιν ζωῆς ἀκαταλύτου ος ου κατα νομον εντολης σαρκικης γεγονεν αλλα κατα δυναμιν ζωης ακαταλυτου ος ου κατα νομον εντολης σαρκικης γεγονεν αλλα κατα δυναμιν ζωης ακαταλυτου
For here is the testimony about him: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.” For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
Net Parallel Greek Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
μαρτυρεῖται γὰρ ὅτι σὺ ἱερεὺς εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα κατὰ τὴν τάξιν Μελχισέδεκ μαρτυρει γαρ οτι συ ιερευς εις τον αιωνα κατα την ταξιν μελχισεδεκ μαρτυρει γαρ οτι συ ιερευς εις τον αιωνα κατα την ταξιν μελχισεδεκ

Hebrews 7:21, 22 (NET)

Hebrews 7:21, 22 (KJV)
but Jesus did so with a sworn affirmation by the one who said to him, “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, ‘You are a priest forever’” – For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec

Net Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
ὁ δὲ μετὰ ὁρκωμοσίας διὰ τοῦ λέγοντος πρὸς αὐτόν ὤμοσεν κύριος καὶ οὐ μεταμεληθήσεται σὺ ἱερεὺς εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα οι μεν γαρ χωρις ορκωμοσιας εισιν ιερεις γεγονοτες ο δε μετα ορκωμοσιας δια του λεγοντος προς αυτον ωμοσεν κυριος και ου μεταμεληθησεται συ ιερευς εις τον αιωνα κατα την ταξιν μελχισεδεκ ο δε μετα ορκωμοσιας δια του λεγοντος προς αυτον ωμοσεν κυριος και ου μεταμεληθησεται συ ιερευς εις τον αιωνα κατα την ταξιν μελχισεδεκ
accordingly Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant. By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.

Net Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
κατὰ τοσοῦτο [καὶ] κρείττονος διαθήκης γέγονεν ἔγγυος Ἰησοῦς κατα τοσουτον κρειττονος διαθηκης γεγονεν εγγυος ιησους κατα τοσουτον κρειττονος διαθηκης γεγονεν εγγυος ιησους
Hebrews 7:26 (NET)

Hebrews 7:26 (KJV)
For it is indeed fitting for us to have such a high priest: holy, innocent, undefiled, separate from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;
Net Parallel Greek Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
Τοιοῦτος γὰρ ἡμῖν |καὶ| ἔπρεπεν ἀρχιερεύς, ὅσιος ἄκακος ἀμίαντος, κεχωρισμένος ἀπὸ τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν καὶ ὑψηλότερος τῶν οὐρανῶν γενόμενος τοιουτος γαρ ημιν επρεπεν αρχιερευς οσιος ακακος αμιαντος κεχωρισμενος απο των αμαρτωλων και υψηλοτερος των ουρανων γενομενος τοιουτος γαρ ημιν επρεπεν αρχιερευς οσιος ακακος αμιαντος κεχωρισμενος απο των αμαρτωλων και υψηλοτερος των ουρανων γενομενος
Hebrews 10:28 (NET)

Hebrews 10:28 (KJV)
Someone who rejected the law of Moses was put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:

Net Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
ἀθετήσας τις νόμον Μωϋσέως χωρὶς οἰκτιρμῶν ἐπὶ δυσὶν ἢ τρισὶν μάρτυσιν ἀποθνῄσκει αθετησας τις νομον μωσεως χωρις οικτιρμων επι δυσιν η τρισιν μαρτυσιν αποθνησκει αθετησας τις νομον μωυσεως χωρις οικτιρμων επι δυσιν η τρισιν μαρτυσιν αποθνησκει
Hebrews 10:30 (NET)

Hebrews 10:30 (KJV)
For we know the one who said, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord.  And again, The Lord shall judge his people.

Net Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
οἴδαμεν γὰρ τὸν εἰπόντα ἐμοὶ ἐκδίκησις, ἐγὼ ἀνταποδώσω. καὶ πάλιν κρινεῖ κύριος τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ οιδαμεν γαρ τον ειποντα εμοι εκδικησις εγω ανταποδωσω λεγει κυριος και παλιν κυριος κρινει τον λαον αυτου οιδαμεν γαρ τον ειποντα εμοι εκδικησις εγω ανταποδωσω λεγει κυριος και παλιν κυριος κρινει τον λαον αυτου
Matthew 23:37 (NET)

Matthew 23:37 (KJV)
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you!  How often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would have none of it! O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

Net Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
Ἰερουσαλὴμ Ἰερουσαλήμ, ἡ ἀποκτείνουσα τοὺς προφήτας καὶ λιθοβολοῦσα τοὺς ἀπεσταλμένους πρὸς αὐτήν, ποσάκις ἠθέλησα ἐπισυναγαγεῖν τὰ τέκνα σου, ὃν τρόπον ὄρνις ἐπισυνάγει τὰ νοσσία |αὐτῆς| ὑπὸ τὰς πτέρυγας, καὶ οὐκ ἠθελήσατε ιερουσαλημ ιερουσαλημ η αποκτεινουσα τους προφητας και λιθοβολουσα τους απεσταλμενους προς αυτην ποσακις ηθελησα επισυναγαγειν τα τεκνα σου ον τροπον επισυναγει ορνις τα νοσσια εαυτης υπο τας πτερυγας και ουκ ηθελησατε ιερουσαλημ ιερουσαλημ η αποκτενουσα τους προφητας και λιθοβολουσα τους απεσταλμενους προς αυτην ποσακις ηθελησα επισυναγαγειν τα τεκνα σου ον τροπον επισυναγει ορνις τα νοσσια εαυτης υπο τας πτερυγας και ουκ ηθελησατε
Luke 13:35 (NET)

Luke 13:35 (KJV)
Look, your house is forsaken!  And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’” Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
Net Parallel Greek Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
ἰδοὺ ἀφίεται ὑμῖν ὁ οἶκος ὑμῶν. λέγω [δὲ] ὑμῖν, οὐ μὴ ἴδητε με ἕως [ἥξει ὅτε] εἴπητε· εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι κυρίου ιδου αφιεται υμιν ο οικος υμων ερημος αμην δε λεγω υμιν οτι ου μη με ιδητε εως αν ηξη οτε ειπητε ευλογημενος ο ερχομενος εν ονοματι κυριου ιδου αφιεται υμιν ο οικος υμων ερημος λεγω δε υμιν οτι ου μη με ιδητε εως αν ηξει οτε ειπητε ευλογημενος ο ερχομενος εν ονοματι κυριου

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

[2] Exodus 29:33 (NET)

[3] Atonement, Part 5; Atonement, Part 6

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

[5] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had νενομοθέτηται here, a perfect passive indicative 3rd person singular form, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had νενομοθετητο, the pluperfect passive indicative 3rd person singular form.

[6] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had the article τὸν preceding God.  The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

[7] Hebrews 7:1-3 (NET)

[8] In the NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Byzantine Majority Text Moses was spelled Μωϋσῆς, and μωσης in the Stephanus Textus Receptus.

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

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

[11] The Stephanus Textus Receptus had οἱ μὲν γὰρ χωρὶς ὁρκωμοσίας εἰσὶν ἱερεῖς γεγονότες (KJV: For those priests were made without an oath) at the beginning of verse 21.

[12] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had κατα την ταξιν μελχισεδεκ (KJV: after the order of Melchisedec) here.  The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

[13] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had τοσοῦτο here followed by the conjunction καὶ.  The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had another neuter form τοσουτον but no καὶ.

[14] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had the conjunction καὶ preceding the verb translated it is indeed fitting.  The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

[15] Isaiah 66:3a (NET)

[16] Psalm 51:18 (Tanakh) Table

[17] Psalm 51:19 (Tanakh) Table

[18] Hebrews 10:10b (NET) Table

[19] Romans 10:3a (NET)

[20] Philippians 3:9a (NET)

[21] Philippians 3:9b (NET)

[22] Hebrews 10:9b (NET)

[23] In the NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Byzantine Majority Text Moses was spelled Μωϋσέως, and μωσεως in the Stephanus Textus Receptus.

[24] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had λεγει κυριος (KJV: saith the Lord) here.  The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

[25] Leviticus 10:1-3 (Tanakh)

[26] The NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Stephanus Textus Receptus had ἀποκτείνουσα here, where the Byzantine Majority Text had αποκτενουσα.

[27] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had αὐτῆς here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had εαυτης.

[28] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ερημος at the end of this clause (KJV: your house is left unto you desolate).  The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

[29] The Stephanus Textus Receptus had αμην (KJV: verily) at the beginning of this phrase.  The NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Byzantine Majority Text did not.  The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had οτι here, where the NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

[30] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ἕως αν here, where the NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had simply ἕως.  The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ηξη ὅτε after (KJV: the time come when).  The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ἥξει ὅτε but it was not translated in the NET.

Cobwebs

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I think I can finally wipe some sticky filaments of ideas from my face and roll them up into something like a little cotton candy ball:

I have dual citizenship in the rarefied and pampered world of resort hotels, both as a guest and as a servant working along with those who make the resort conference experience what it is.  As a servant I’m expected to express love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  And since I’m never a paying guest, the fruit of the Holy Spirit maintains my dual citizenship in this world.

I frequent the backrooms and service corridors of venues often enough to know that sometimes the expression of these “virtues” is less than genuine.  In other words, it’s the work of actors, hypocrites.  But then I walk out again into a ballroom where a keynote speaker extols the value of some aspect of the fruit of the Holy Spirit for effective servant-leadership.  Of course, no one calls it the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

Hotel management and keynote speakers alike expect servants and effective leaders to generate love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control out from themselves, on their own, or with tips and techniques that have been developed and written about in books for sale in the lobby.  None offers a fountain of water springing up to eternal life,[1] though all seem to recognize that even an actor’s imitation of the fruit of the Holy Spirit is what makes resort life viable.

A friend called a while back seeking my opinion on the idea that Jesus was an alien lifted up by some sort of tractor beam into a spacecraft hidden in the clouds.  I get it, I suppose.  If Jesus is a magical being from another planet no one can expect us to be anything like Him.

Believing that God has provided us everything necessary for life and godliness through the rich knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence,[2] does pose an immediate and insistent question: Why am I not more like Him?  My go-to answer is that my faith in, measured as a function of my reliance upon, his supply is not all it might be.  But that really chafes since I claim to believe that this faith, or faithfulness, is also supplied through his Holy Spirit.

In April this year, working almost every day, I began to earn my two-month-long Christmas vacation.  If I wasn’t working I was driving to the next show.  I put a little over 6,000 miles on my company vehicle.  While driving I listened to some sermons on the radio.  One in particular rang “true” and familiar, similar to sermons I had heard before.  The gist was: “God has supplied everything you need for salvation in Jesus Christ.  All he requires from you is faith and obedience.”

In the past I resolved the irrationality of these statements by assuming that everything didn’t mean everything.  So I set out to supply my own faith and my own obedience by hearing and obeying rules.

May grace and peace be lavished on you, Peter wrote, as you grow in the rich knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord!  I can pray this because his divine power has bestowed on us everything  necessary for life and godliness through the rich knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence.[3]  The Greek word translated everything was πάντα (a form of πᾶς).  The definition of πᾶς in the NET contains an excerpt from a sermon by C.H. Spurgeon:

…”the whole world has gone after him” Did all the world go after Christ? “then went all Judea, and were baptized of him in Jordan.”  Was all Judea, or all Jerusalem, baptized in Jordan?  “Ye are of God, little children”, and the whole world lieth in the wicked one”.  Does the whole world there mean everybody? The words “world” and “all” are used in some seven or eight senses in Scripture, and it is very rarely the “all” means all persons, taken individually.  The words are generally used to signify that Christ has redeemed some of all sorts — some Jews, some Gentiles, some rich, some poor, and has not restricted His redemption to either Jew or Gentile … (C.H. Spurgeon from a sermon on Particular Redemption)

I grew up in the same religious milieu as the translators of the NET.  I, too, thought God had bestowed on us everything necessary for life and godliness except faith and obedience.  What was that everything?  After all, that seems to be Spurgeon’s point, to look for the limitations implicit in the text.  In my case everything was a second chance[4] to become the best Pharisee I could be, another opportunity to have my own righteousness derived from the law.[5]  But at what point does this obsessive caution in interpretation reduce forms of πᾶς from the pen of the New Testament writers to the written equivalent of uh or uhm?

So did Peter mean everything?  Well, even he had a long list of things for me to add to my faith in God through Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:5-11 NET):

For this very reason, make every effort to add (ἐπιχορηγήσατε, a form of ἐπιχορηγέω) to your faith excellence, to excellence, knowledge; to knowledge, self-control; to self-control, perseverance; to perseverance, godliness; to godliness, brotherly affection; to brotherly affection, unselfish love.  For if these things are really yours and are continually increasing, they will keep you from becoming ineffective and unproductive in your pursuit of knowing our Lord Jesus Christ more intimately.  But concerning the one who lacks such things – he is blind.  That is to say, he is nearsighted, since he has forgotten about the cleansing of his past sins.  Therefore, brothers and sisters, make every effort to be sure of your calling and election.  For by doing this you will never stumble into sin.  For thus an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be richly provided (ἐπιχορηγηθήσεται, another form of ἐπιχορηγέω) for you.

According to the Koine Greek Lexicon ἐπιχορηγήσατε is an aorist active imperative 2nd person plural verb.  The primary definition in the lexicon is “to furnish, provide for (at one’s own expense).”  So I can’t fault the translators here.  And I find no discrepancy in the Greek texts.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
Καὶ αὐτὸ τοῦτο δὲ σπουδὴν πᾶσαν παρεισενέγκαντες ἐπιχορηγήσατε ἐν τῇ πίστει ὑμῶν τὴν ἀρετήν, ἐν δὲ τῇ ἀρετῇ τὴν γνῶσιν και αυτο τουτο δε σπουδην πασαν παρεισενεγκαντες επιχορηγησατε εν τη πιστει υμων την αρετην εν δε τη αρετη την γνωσιν και αυτο τουτο δε σπουδην πασαν παρεισενεγκαντες επιχορηγησατε εν τη πιστει υμων την αρετην εν δε τη αρετη την γνωσιν

Granted, Peter may have admonished me to add these things in or by (ἐν) my faith rather than to it.  Faith here is πίστει (a form of πίστις), a noun in the dative case which “may also indicate the means by which something is done.”[6]  But in English translation I’m left with the disconcerting conclusion that the Holy Spirit wanted to wear me out striving to obey Peter until my ears were opened to hear Paul and then, at last, Jesus (Matthew 11:25-30 NET):

At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, and revealed them to little children.  Yes, Father, for this was your gracious will.  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 (βούληται, a form of βούλομαι) 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.”

In another essay I referenced John Piper’s essay “A Whole World Hangs on a Word” without any reference to opposing views.  So I typed “faith is not a gift Ephesians 2” into Google to consider some.  Wayne Jackson’s essay “Is Faith the Gift of Ephesians 2:8?” on Christian Courier was top of the list.

My purpose here is not to pick on Wayne Jackson.  He had a particular point of contention with followers of John Calvin.  My own relationship with John Calvin ended abruptly at Chapter 13 of the Institutes when the paperback copy of the book dented the wall of my apartment.  Something about his discussion of the “essence” of God so early in his book irritated me, and I’ve never looked back (except for today to recall how far I’d gotten).  Now, of course, if he meant God is love, my apologies to John Calvin and my landlord.  If not, it still seems pretentious to me.  Admittedly, I was reading in English translation with little appreciation for how problematic that might be.

What Wayne Jackson has done for me is to remind me how arguments against faith as a gift of God’s grace go.  Below is a table quoting two paragraphs from his essay under the heading: “God’s Sovereignty Does Not Negate Man’s Free Will.”

…since God is a Being of absolute truth (Dt. 32:4; “faithfulness,” ASV), he cannot do that which would violate his own nature, e.g., practice lying.  It thus is impossible for God to lie (Num. 23:19; Tit. 1:2; Heb. 6:18).  The Lord’s sovereignty is not compromised by his inability to lie.  His sovereignty is limited, however, by his own holy nature. Similarly, if it is the case that the Almighty granted man the ability to exercise free will, then the divine requirement that this free will be exercised responsibly (requiring obedience) is not a violation of Heaven’s sovereignty; rather, it is an example of the exercise thereof.

I didn’t quote these paragraphs to engage Mr. Jackson in philosophical debate but simply to highlight the contrast between them: One is stated with confidence, conviction and Bible references, the other (quite honestly, I think) is more speculative in nature with no Bible references.  I am well aware that something inhibits and impedes my expression of Christ-likeness, but is there any practical value to calling it free will over, say, the old human or sin in my flesh?

I realize that those who promote free will do so more positively, as the proximate cause of both faith and obedience.  If anyone wants (θέλῃ, a form of θέλω) to do God’s will (θέλημα), he will know about my teaching, whether it is from God or whether I speak from my own authority.[7]  Notice what Jesus did not say: If anyone wants to do God’s will, he will succeed thereby.  My failure to accomplish God’s will in my own strength was part of the confirmation that it was, in fact, God’s will rather than my own.  Jesus’ own attitude was not my will (θέλημα) but yours be done.[8]  But I don’t want to invalidate Mr. Jackson’s point entirely because Jesus’ called those who are weary and burdened.

I worked the hardest to will myself into doing God’s will when I turned Paul’s definition of love into rules I repeated as a mantra so as to obey them.  The highest achievement of that effort was that I didn’t murder my wife in her sleep.  It’s not much of a righteousness résumé but it is still a world removed from “I murdered my wife in her sleep.”  Perhaps I should patent this technique, so to speak, by writing it in a book as a kind of crisis intervention for those who are considering taking high-powered weapons to school to murder their classmates.

But the moment I consider how to market such a book to the young men I imagine them to be is also the moment I wonder if I haven’t overindulged my will even in this.  Some life-changing work had already been accomplished in me that I even cared enough to treat Paul’s definition of love as rules to obey.  And life-changing is a very poor way to characterize what Paul wrote the Ephesians (Ephesians 2:1-10 NET Table):

And although you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you formerly lived according to this world’s present path, according to the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the ruler of the spirit that is now energizing (ἐνεργοῦντος, a form of ἐνεργέω) the sons of disobedience (ἀπειθείας, a form of ἀπείθεια), among whom all of us also formerly lived out our lives in the cravings of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath even as the rest…

But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even though we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you are saved! – and he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, to demonstrate in the coming ages the surpassing wealth of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so that no one can boast.  For we are his workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we may do them.

Love is patient, but did I by my will alone believe it to be true and obey it more or less as a commandment—thou shalt be patient—with a wife who wanted to divorce me?  Love is kind, but did I by my will alone believe it to be true and obey it more or less as a commandment—thou shalt be kind—when her daily existence rejecting me was like a knife twisting in my heart?

Or was God, the Father, according to the wealth of his glory granting me to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person, that Christ was dwelling in my heart through faith, so that, because I had been rooted and grounded in love, I would be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and thus to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that I could be filled up to all the fullness of God[9] because I had a pastor who taught and prayed this prayer?

Is that what was really happening as I invented a rather stupid rationalization about turning definitions into rules to obey in my own strength?  Yeah, I think so.  As Paul wrote believers in Philippi, continue working out your salvation with awe (φόβου, a form of φόβος) and reverence (τρόμου, a form of τρόμος), for the one bringing forth (ἐνεργῶν, another form of ἐνεργέω) in you both the desire (θέλειν, another form of θέλω) and the effort (ἐνεργεῖν, another form of ἐνεργέω) – for the sake of his good pleasure – is God.[10]

But I’m not sure I could have gotten from there to here without that rationalization and its utter refutation by my persistent sinful behavior.  And I’m certain I couldn’t have gotten here apart from the overwhelming power of the indwelling Holy Spirit who has bestowed on us everything necessary for life and godliness through the rich knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence.  And here is no way station from which to backslide but an excellent place from which to strive toward the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus,[11] not in my own strength but in the faith and obedience that flow from his Holy Spirit, that fountain of water springing up to eternal life that Jesus promised the Samaritan woman[12] at Jacob’s well (John 4:4-42).

[1] John 4:14b (NET)

[2] 2 Peter 1:3 (NET)

[3] 2 Peter 1:2, 3 (NET)

[4] Who Am I? Part 3; Jesus the Leg-breaker, Part 1; Romans, Part 55

[5] Philippians 3:9 (NET)

[6] See Dative Case on Resources for Learning New Testament Greek

[7] John 7:17 (NET)

[8] Luke 22:42b (NET)

[9] Ephesians 3:16-19 (NET)

[10] Philippians 2:12b, 13 (NET)

[11] Philippians 3:14b (NET)

[12] My Reasons and My Reason, Part 6; Fear – Exodus, Part 9

Forgiven or Passed Over? Part 5

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If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord (ʼădônây, אדני), Moses said, let my Lord (ʼădônây, אדני) go among us, for we are a stiff-necked people; pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.[1]

Before I continue to study nâśâʼ[2] and ʽâbar in Exodus 20:7 – Deuteronomy 4:26, I must add another word to the mix.  The Hebrew word sâlach (וסלחת), translated pardon, was unprecedented.  It didn’t occur in Genesis or anywhere else in Exodus.  That the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) called to Moses and spoke to him from the Meeting Tent[3] is fairly explicit in the opening verse of Leviticus.  But I still speculate that at least some of the subject matter recorded there was broached on the mountain before yehôvâh and Moses were so rudely interrupted by Israel’s worship of a golden calf.

The idea that Moses coined a word and then discovered a universe to revolve around it seems to work out all right in particle physics, but it makes me uncomfortable in Bible study.  If yehôvâh had already begun to reveal the elaborate, sometimes tedious, detail of atonement (kâphar, כפר) and forgiveness (sâlach, סלח) it would help to account for Moses’ brass: He called yehôvâh’s intention to destroy Israel in accordance with the forty day covenant evil (Exodus 32:9-14) because he was taken by surprise at the abrupt change in yehôvâh’s tone and the content of his words.

Be that as it may, scribing kâphar and sâlach convinced me that I have mischaracterized Leviticus, and that I was wrong when I wrote that a primary verb to forgive was absent from “holy Hebrew.”  A table showing the translations of sâlach in the KJV, NET and Septuagint follows:

Form of sâlach

 Reference KJV NET

Septuagint
סלח Numbers 14:19 Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people… Please forgive the iniquity of this people… ἄφες, a form of ἀφίημι
יסלח Numbers 30:5 …and the LORD shall forgive her, because her father… And the Lord will release her from it, because her father overruled… καθαριεῖ, a form of καθαρίζω
Numbers 30:8 …and the LORD shall forgive her. And the Lord will release her from it.
Numbers 30:12 …and the LORD shall forgive her. …and the Lord will release her from them. καθαρίσει, another form of καθαρίζω
סלחתי Numbers 14:20 I have pardoned according to thy word: I have forgiven them as you asked. ἵλεως[4]
וסלחת Exodus 34:9 …and pardon our iniquity and our sin… …pardon our iniquity and our sin… ἀφελεῖς, a form of ἀφαιρέω
ונסלח Leviticus 4:20 …make an atonement for them, and it shall be forgiven them. …make atonement on their behalf and they will be forgiven. ἀφεθήσεται, another form of ἀφίημι
Leviticus 4:26 …make an atonement for him as concerning his sin, and it shall be forgiven him. …make atonement on his behalf for his sin and he will be forgiven.
Leviticus 4:31 …make an atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him. …make atonement on his behalf and he will be forgiven.
Leviticus 4:35 …his sin that he hath committed, and it shall be forgiven him. …his sin which he has committed and he will be forgiven.
Leviticus 5:10 …his sin which he hath sinned, and it shall be forgiven him. …his sin which he has committed, and he will be forgiven.
Leviticus 5:13 …in one of these, and it shall be forgiven him: …by doing one of these things, and he will be forgiven.
Leviticus 5:16 …with the ram of the trespass offering, and it shall be forgiven him. …with the guilt offering ram and he will be forgiven.
Leviticus 5:18 …and wist it not, and it shall be forgiven him. …(although he himself had not known it) and he will be forgiven.
Leviticus 6:7 …for him before the LORD: and it shall be forgiven him… …on his behalf before the Lord and he will be forgiven…
Leviticus 19:22 …and the sin which he hath done shall be forgiven him. …his sin that he has committed, and he will be forgiven…
Numbers 15:25 …the children of Israel, and it shall be forgiven them… …for the whole community of the Israelites, and they will be forgiven…
Numbers 15:26 And it shall be forgiven all the congregation of the children of Israel… …and the resident foreigner who lives among them will be forgiven…
Numbers 15:28 …to make an atonement for him; and it shall be forgiven him. …to make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven. Not Translated

I thought Leviticus was law: crime, especially capital crime, and punishment.  But Leviticus has much to say about atonement and forgiveness.  It is the good news (εὐαγγέλιον) of the five books of Moses:

If the whole congregation of Israel strays unintentionally and the matter is not noticed by the assembly, and they violate one of the Lord’s (yehôvâh, יהוה) commandments, which must not be violated, so they become guilty, the assembly must present a young bull for a sin offering when the sin they have committed becomes known.[5]  Some priestcraft was spelled out (Leviticus 4:14b-20a) with the result that the priest will make atonement on their behalf and they will be forgiven (sâlach, ונסלח; Septuagint: ἀφεθήσεται, a form of ἀφίημι).[6]  For this reason I tell you, Jesus said, people will be forgiven (ἀφεθήσεται, a form of ἀφίημι) for every sin and blasphemy, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven (ἀφεθήσεται, a form of ἀφίημι).[7]

Whenever a leader, by straying unintentionally, sins and violates one of the commandments of the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) his God (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהיו) which must not be violated, and he pleads guilty, or his sin that he committed is made known to him, he must bring a flawless male goat as his offering.[8]  Again, after some priestcraft (Leviticus 4:24-26a) the priest will make atonement on his behalf for his sin and he will be forgiven (sâlach, ונסלח; Septuagint: ἀφεθήσεται, a form of ἀφίημι).[9]  Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, Jesus continued, will be forgiven (ἀφεθήσεται, a form of ἀφίημι).  But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven (ἀφεθήσεται, a form of ἀφίημι), either in this age or in the age to come.[10]

If an ordinary individual sins by straying unintentionally when he violates one of the Lord’s (yehôvâh, יהוה) commandments which must not be violated, and he pleads guilty or his sin that he committed is made known to him, he must bring a flawless female goat as his offering for the sin that he committed.[11]  There was some priestcraft (Leviticus 4:29-31a) and the priest will make atonement on his behalf and he will be forgiven (sâlach, ונסלח; Septuagint: ἀφεθήσεται, a form of ἀφίημι).[12]  I tell you the truth, Jesus said, people will be forgiven (ἀφεθήσεται, a form of ἀφίημι) for all sins, even all the blasphemies they utter.  But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven (ἄφεσιν, a form of ἄφεσις), but is guilty of an eternal sin” (because they said, “He has an unclean spirit”).[13]

This same ordinary individual may bring a sheep instead: But if he brings a sheep as his offering, for a sin offering, he must bring a flawless female.[14]  After the priestcraft (Leviticus 4:33-35a) the priest will make atonement on his behalf for his sin which he has committed and he will be forgiven (sâlach, ונסלח; Septuagint: ἀφεθήσεται, a form of ἀφίημι).[15]  And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, Jesus said, will be forgiven (ἀφεθήσεται, a form of ἀφίημι), but the person who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven (ἀφεθήσεται, a form of ἀφίημι).[16]

If a person fails to testify and he is a witness,[17] touches anything ceremonially unclean,[18] touches human uncleanness,[19] or swears an oath, speaking thoughtlessly with his lips,[20] when an individual becomes guilty with regard to one of these things he must confess how he has sinned [Table], and he must bring his penalty for guilt to the Lord (yehôvâh, ליהוה) for his sin that he has committed, a female from the flock, whether a female sheep or a female goat, for a sin offering [Table].[21]  If he cannot afford an animal from the flock, he must bring his penalty for guilt for his sin that he has committed, two turtledoves or two young pigeons, to the Lord (yehôvâh, ליהוה), one for a sin offering and one for a burnt offering.[22]  After the priestcraft (Leviticus 5:8-10a) the priest will make atonement on behalf of this person for his sin which he has committed, and he will be forgiven (sâlach, ונסלח; Septuagint: ἀφεθήσεται, a form of ἀφίημι).[23]

If he cannot afford two turtledoves or two young pigeons, yehôvâh continued, he must bring as his offering for his sin which he has committed a tenth of an ephah of choice wheat flour for a sin offering. He must not place olive oil on it and he must not put frankincense on it, because it is a sin offering.[24]  So the priest will make atonement on his behalf for his sin which he has committed by doing one of these things, and he will be forgiven (sâlach, ונסלח; Septuagint: ἀφεθήσεται, a form of ἀφίημι).[25]  Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, Peter said to a believing magician who had attempted to buy the Holy Spirit, and pray to the Lord that he may perhaps forgive (ἀφεθήσεται, a form of ἀφίημι) you for the intent of your heart.[26]

The Lord’s holy things (Leviticus 5:14-16 NET):

Then the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) spoke to Moses: “When a person commits a trespass and sins by straying unintentionally from the regulations about the Lord’s (yehôvâh, יהוה) holy things (qôdesh, מקדשי; Septuagint: ἁγίων, a form of ἅγιος), then he must bring his penalty for guilt to the Lord (yehôvâh, ליהוה), a flawless ram from the flock, convertible into silver shekels according to the standard of the sanctuary shekel, for a guilt offering.  And whatever holy thing he violated he must restore and must add one fifth to it and give it to the priest.  So the priest will make atonement on his behalf with the guilt offering ram and he will be forgiven (sâlach, ונסלח; Septuagint: ἀφεθήσεται, a form of ἀφίημι).”

If a person sins and violates any of the Lord’s (yehôvâh, יהוה) commandments which must not be violated (although he did not know it at the time, but later realizes he is guilty), then he will bear his punishment for iniquity and must bring a flawless ram from the flock, convertible into silver shekels, for a guilt offering to the priest.  So the priest will make atonement on his behalf for his error which he committed (although he himself had not known it) and he will be forgiven (sâlach, ונסלח; Septuagint: ἀφεθήσεται, a form of ἀφίημι).[27]

Then the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) spoke to Moses (Leviticus 6:1-7 NET):

“When a person sins and commits a trespass against the Lord (yehôvâh, ביהוה) by deceiving his fellow citizen in regard to something held in trust, or a pledge, or something stolen, or by extorting something from his fellow citizen, or has found something lost and denies it and swears falsely concerning any one of the things that someone might do to sin – when it happens that he sins and he is found guilty, then he must return whatever he had stolen, or whatever he had extorted, or the thing that he had held in trust, or the lost thing that he had found, or anything about which he swears falsely.  He must restore it in full and add one fifth to it; he must give it to its owner when he is found guilty.  Then he must bring his guilt offering to the Lord (yehôvâh, ליהוה), a flawless ram from the flock, convertible into silver shekels, for a guilt offering to the priest.  So the priest will make atonement on his behalf before the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) and he will be forgiven (sâlach, ונסלח; Septuagint: ἀφεθήσεται, a form of ἀφίημι) for whatever he has done to become guilty.”

When a man has sexual intercourse with a woman, although she is a slave woman designated for another man and she has not yet been ransomed, or freedom has not been granted to her, there will be an obligation to pay compensation.  They must not be put to death, because she was not free.  He must bring his guilt offering to the Lord (yehôvâh, ליהוה) at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, a guilt offering ram, and the priest is to make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) for his sin that he has committed, and he will be forgiven (sâlach, ונסלח; Septuagint: ἀφεθήσεται, a form of ἀφίημι) of his sin that he has committed.[28]

James wrote (James 5:14-16a NET):

Is anyone among you ill?  He should summon the elders of the church, and they should pray for him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.  And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up – and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven (ἀφεθήσεται, a form of ἀφίημι).  So confess (ἐξομολογεῖσθε, a form of ἐξομολογέω) your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed.

I saved this quotation[29] for last to highlight that all of this priestly machinery of atonement and forgiveness ground to a halt if sinners didn’t acknowledge and confess their sin, whether directly or by bringing the appropriate offering.  This is extremely difficult for the religious mind to do, those who are trying to be declared righteous by the law[30] or attempting to have [their] own righteousness derived from the law.[31]  As I began these studies I wrote that “the religious mind may be nothing more than a subspecies of the carnal mind (KJV) or the outlook of the flesh (NET).”  Now I would simply say that what I call the religious mind is the carnal mind or the outlook of the flesh: because the religious mind is hostile to God, for it does not submit (ὑποτάσσεται, a form of ὑποτάσσω) to the law of God, nor is it able (δύναται, a form of δύναμαι) to do so.[32]

Jephthah sacrificed[33] his daughter to make his own word true rather than confess his reckless oath to keep yehôvâh’s commandments.  But first submission to the law of God is never a pretty sight.  Paul left a vivid description from his own experience of what it is like to die to the law, to have a new self, a new I, a place from which to gain one’s first glimpse of the old self, the carnal mind, the outlook of the flesh or as I have been calling it—the religious mind (Romans 7:15-24 NET):

For I don’t understand what I am doing.  For I do not do what I want – instead, I do what I hate.  But if I do what I don’t want, I agree (σύμφημι) that the law is good.  But now it is no longer me doing it, but sin that lives in me.  For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh.  For I want to do the good, but I cannot do it (NET note 24: Grk “For to wish [want] is present in/with me, but not to do it.”).  For I do not do the good I want, but I do the very evil I do not want!  Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer me doing it but sin that lives in me.  So, I find the law that when I want to do good, evil is present with me.  For I delight in the law of God in my inner being.  But I see a different law in my members waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that is in my members.  Wretched man that I am!  Who will rescue me from this body of death?

[1] Exodus 34:9 (NET)

[2] I used the second spelling (nâsâh) offered in Strong’s Concordance in the tables and a previous essay, which confused me when I linked to the Hebrew dictionary.

[3] Leviticus 1:1 (NET)

[4] “I am merciful to them according to your word” (Numbers 14:20b NETS).

[5] Leviticus 4:13, 14a (NET)

[6] Leviticus 4:20b (NET)

[7] Matthew 12:31 (NET) Table

[8] Leviticus 4:22, 23 (NET) Table1 Table2

[9] Leviticus 4:26b (NET)

[10] Matthew 12:32 (NET)

[11] Leviticus 4:27, 28 (NET)

[12] Leviticus 4:31b (NET)

[13] Mark 3:28-30 (NET)

[14] Leviticus 4:32 (NET)

[15] Leviticus 4:35b (NET)

[16] Luke 12:10 (NET)

[17] Leviticus 5:1 (NET)

[18] Leviticus 5:2 (NET)

[19] Leviticus 5:3 (NET)

[20] Leviticus 5:4 (NET) Table

[21] Leviticus 5:5, 6a (NET)

[22] Leviticus 5:7 (NET) Table

[23] Leviticus 5:10b (NET) Table

[24] Leviticus 5:11 (NET) Table

[25] Leviticus 5:13a (NET) Table

[26] Acts 8:22 (NET)

[27] Leviticus 5:17, 18 (NET)

[28] Leviticus 19:20-22 (NET)

[29] There are three more occurrences of ἀφεθήσεται in Luke 17:34-36 (KJV) translated left, contrasted to παραλημφθήσεται (a form of παραλαμβάνω) translated taken.  Verse 36 was not in the Textus Receptus of 1550 or the Byzantine Majority Text I consult most often.  It was however in the Textus Receptus of 1598 and thereafter and also in the Essex Gospels of 1175.

[30] Galatians 5:4 (NET) Table

[31] Philippians 3:9 (NET)

[32] Romans 8:7 (NET)

[33] In an article titled, “Did Jephthah Actually Kill his Daughter?,” on thetorah.com  Professor Jonathan Magonet argued: “The flexibility of the vav conjunctive linking the two statements would allow it to be read here as ‘and’, so that ‘belonging to the Lord’ meant the burnt offering mentioned immediately after.  But the ‘vav’ could also be read as ‘or’, so that whatever or whoever came out would be dedicated to God, and, only should it prove appropriate, would be sacrificed.”  Whether Jephthah “sacrificed” his daughter as a burnt offering or as a lifelong virgin matters very little to my argument here.  It would have mattered a great deal to the hold Jephthah’s “sacrifice” had on my attention, how often I returned to consider this story.  It’s hard to say if that alone would have left my religious mind skulking in the shadows.

Paul’s Religious Mind Revisited, Part 3

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The movie Spotlight is named after a team of investigative journalists at the Boston Globe.  They pierce a smokescreen of secrecy—fueled by police, prosecutors, defense attorneys, businessmen, civil servants, their own bosses and colleagues, even their own subconscious desires to protect the reputation of the Catholic Church—to shine a spotlight on priests’ abuse of children, both sexual and spiritual, in articles published in 2002.  There are spoilers here.  Though the film is based on actual events and people, I’m writing about characters in a movie, including the Catholic Church.

The scope of investigative journalist Mike Rezendes’ (Mark Ruffalo) research is broadened by phone conversations with Richard Sipe (Richard Jenkins – voice only), a psychiatrist and former priest, who treated pedophile priests during the last half of the 1960’s.  I quote one of their conversations, more personal than professional.

“Richard, do you still go to mass?” Mike asks.

“No.  No, I haven’t been to church for some time now.  But I still consider myself a Catholic.”

“How does that work?”

“Well, the church is an institution, Mike, made of men.  It’s passing.  My faith is in the eternal.  I try to separate the two.”

“Sounds tricky.”

“It is,” Richard agrees.

Cardinal Law (Len Cariou) presides over a shell game in the Boston Archdiocese, moving pedophile priests from parish to parish.  A super at the end of Spotlight reads, “In December 2002, Cardinal Law resigned from the Boston Archdiocese.  He was reassigned to the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, one of the highest ranking Roman Catholic churches in the world.”

The producers expect us to feel a certain way about that fact.  I want to use it to distinguish church—a not-for-profit business—from what I’ll call ἐκκλησία, those called by God through Jesus Christ to be led by his Holy Spirit.  Cardinal Law was promoted by the church.  He was a company man defending it from scandal.  Richard says: “the secretary-canonist for the papal nuncio…co-authored a report warning pedophile priests were a billion-dollar liability” sixteen years earlier than the present in the film.  But this faithfulness to the church doesn’t work out so well for the ἐκκλησία, especially the little ones Jesus mentioned (Matthew 18:6, Mark 9:42, Luke 17:1, 2).

Spotlight editor Walter “Robby” Robinson (Michael Keaton) threatens attorney Eric Macleish (Billy Crudup)—who profited settling child abuse cases against the Church privately—for information and confirmation: “We’ve got two stories here.  We’ve got a story about degenerate clergy, and we’ve got a story about a bunch of lawyers turning child abuse into a cottage industry.  Now, which story do you want us to write?”  Later however Robby admits regretfully:

“We had all the pieces.  Why didn’t we get it sooner?…Macleish sent us a letter on 20 priests, years ago…We buried the story in Metro.  No folo.”

“That was you,” Robby’s boss Ben Bradlee, Jr. (John Slattery) says.  “You were Metro.”

“Yeah.  That was me.  I’d just taken over.  I don’t remember it at all.  But yeah…”

Paul was concerned with both, the church and the ἐκκλησία, without distinguishing between the two.

church

ἐκκλησία
When any of you has a legal dispute with another, does he dare go to court before the unrighteous rather than before the saints?….So if you have ordinary lawsuits, do you appoint as judges those who have no standing in the church?  I say this to your shame!  Is there no one among you wise enough to settle disputes between fellow Christians?  Instead, does a Christian sue a Christian, and do this before unbelievers?

1 Corinthians 6:1, 4-6 (NET)

 The fact that you have lawsuits among yourselves demonstrates that you have already been defeated.  Why not rather be wronged?  Why not rather be cheated?  But you yourselves wrong and cheat, and you do this to your brothers and sisters!

1 Corinthians 6:7, 8 (NET)

His most beautiful words to the ἐκκλησία and to the church are his words on love.  In his letter to the Corinthians love was presented as one way, albeit, a way that is beyond comparison,[1] a more excellent way (KJV), a still more excellent way (ESV), a way of life that is best of all (NLV), the most excellent way (NIV), the same way Jesus preached in the sermon on the mount (Matthew 5:13-48 NET).  In his letter to the Romans Paul presented love as the only way (Romans 13:8-10 NET):

Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.  For the commandments, “Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not covet,” (and if there is any other commandment) are summed up in this, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  Love does no wrong to a neighbor.  Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Cleary, the love of natural humans will not fulfill the law.  We must all be born from above[2] through faith in Jesus Christ, dependent instead on the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe,[3] the love that is an aspect of the fruit of his Holy Spirit.  I’ll continue contrasting Paul’s regime in 1 Corinthians 5 to Jesus’ regime in Revelation 2:18-29.

Paul’s Regime

Jesus’ Regime
Your boasting is not good.  Don’t you know that a little yeast (ζύμη) affects the whole batch of dough?

1 Corinthians 5:6 (NET)

 But to the rest of you in Thyatira, all who do not hold to this teaching (who have not learned the so-called “deep secrets of Satan”), to you I say: I do not put any additional burden on you.  However, hold on to what you have until I come.

Revelation 2:24, 25 (NET)
Clean out the old yeast (ζύμην, another form of ζύμη) so that you may be a new batch of dough – you are, in fact, without yeast (ἄζυμοι, a form of ἄζυμος).  For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.  So then, let us celebrate the festival, not with the old yeast (ζύμῃ, another form of ζύμη), the yeast (ζύμῃ, another form of ζύμη) of vice and evil, but with the bread without yeast (ἀζύμοις, another form of ἄζυμος), the bread of sincerity and truth.

1 Corinthians 5:7, 8 (NET)

Not good your boasting (or, glorying, KJV, NKJV), Paul wrote.  The Greek word translated good is καλὸν (a form of καλός).  This is the beautiful good of Jesus’ works.  What follows is a quote from an article by George Long in William Smith’s “A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities,” defining incestum in Roman law:

If a man married a woman whom it was forbidden for him to marry by positive morality (moribus), he was said to commit incestum (Dig. 23 tit. 2 s39). Such a marriage was in fact no marriage, for the necessary connubium between the parties was wanting. Accordingly, incestum is the sexual connection of a male and a female, whether under the form of marriage or not, if such persons cannot marry by reason of consanguinity.

There was no connubium between persons related by blood in the direct line, as parents and children. If such persons contracted a marriage it was Nefariae et Incestae nuptiae. There was no connubium between persons who stood in the relation of parent and child by adoption, not even after the adopted child was emancipated.

With this in mind I would say it was the most likely meaning of the kind of immorality that is not permitted even among the Gentiles.[4]  A man cohabiting with his father’s wife, was against the law, Roman law as well as yehôvâh’s law.  In other words, it was a circumstance not unlike those in the movie Spotlight.  Would anyone consider the conspiratorial cover-up revealed in Spotlight a beautiful good?

Of course, now I need to consider whether turn this man over to Satan (σατανᾷ, a form of Σατανᾶς; adversary) was simply an instruction to turn him over to Roman authorities in the city of Corinth.  But I reject that notion just as quickly.  Roman authorities had no interest in the blasphemy of Hymenaeus and Alexander.  I find no guilt in him,[5] Pilate said of Jesus, while the Jewish authorities had Him dead to rights for blasphemy (Matthew 26:25, Mark 14:63, Luke 22:71 NET) if He is not yehôvâh, the Son of God the Father.

Don’t you know that a little yeast (ζύμη) affects the whole batch of dough?[6]  Paul continued.  Yes, that is exactly how Jesus expected his teaching to work in and through those who are called according to his purpose:[7]  He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast (ζύμῃ) that a woman took and mixed with three measures of flour until all the dough had risen.”[8]  To be fair Paul wasn’t writing about Jesus’ teaching.  He wrote about the yeast (ζύμῃ, another form of ζύμη) of vice and evil.  He’d already been-there-done-that as far as Jesus’ teaching was concerned.  In 1 Corinthians he was scrambling to put the toothpaste[9] back in the tube.

I need to pause to spell out what I’m actually thinking.  That is the main purpose of these essays, after all, to remind me what I was thinking as I did a particular word study.  As I worked on this one I stumbled across a website by Sherry Shriner.  She uses many of the Scriptures I use to assert that “The Apostle Paul Was A Deceiver!  He was Satan In The Flesh!  An Antichrist!”[10]  I’m not asserting that at all, only that Paul is a human being, born from above, led by the Holy Spirit, struggling at times with the sinfulness of his own flesh or with overcoming his own religion, which he characterized as my own righteousness derived from the law.[11]

More to the point here in 1 Corinthians 5 I think he struggled with 1) the repercussions of changing[12] his manner of teaching—When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come with superior eloquence or wisdom as I proclaimed the testimony of God.  For I decided to be concerned about nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified[13]—and, 2) his allegiance to James’ abbreviated version of the law (Acts 15:19, 20 NET) from the Jerusalem Council—As [Paul, Silas and Timothy] went through the towns, they passed on the decrees that had been decided on by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the Gentile believers to obey.[14]  I think what the NET translators called a Corinthian slogan—All things are lawful for me[15]—was the logical consequence of this teaching.  I also think the Corinthians may have been the most sinful people (1 Corinthians 6:9-11 NET) to be called to that time—but called they were (Acts 18:9-11 NET):

The Lord said to Paul by a vision in the night, “Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent, because I am with you, and no one will assault you to harm you, because I have many people in this city” [Table].  So he stayed there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

According to Kyle Harper: “Prostitution [πορνεία; sex with “slaves, prostitutes, and concubines”] was considered a social necessity, an alternative to the violation of respectable women [μοιχεία], in the Roman Empire no less than in classical Greece.”  But “πορνεία was not a common term before Judaism and Christianity infused it with new meaning.”[16]  “Πορνεία in the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs functions,” Mr. Harper continued, “as a catchall vice for any sexual transgression….Reuben was guilty of πορνεία for sleeping with Bilhah, Rachel’s maid, because his father had been in the same bed….”[17]  The thought that Paul derived his understanding of πορνεία from a book of fiction sent me to bed for a time.

When I got back to work I realized that the language of popular fiction[18] might well reflect the common word usage of a people and a time.  I realized we are not told whether the man who had his father’s wife was a Jew or proselyte who might be familiar with a usage of πορνεία that would include incestum, or a pagan more familiar with πορνεία as sex with slaves, prostitutes or concubines.  I don’t know whether Paul assumed his hearers understood the breadth of πορνεία that may have been common in Second Temple Judaism or taught it explicitly in Corinth.  I know Paul wrote a sin list in his letter to the Galatians (5:19-21a NET):

NET

Parallel Greek
Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, depravity, idolatry, sorcery, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish rivalries, dissensions, factions, envying, murder, drunkenness, carousing, and similar things. φανερὰ δέ ἐστιν τὰ ἔργα τῆς σαρκός, ἅτινα ἐστιν πορνεία, ἀκαθαρσία, ἀσέλγεια, εἰδωλολατρία, φαρμακεία, ἔχθραι, ἔρις, ζῆλος, θυμοί, ἐριθεῖαι, διχοστασίαι, αἱρέσεις, φθόνοι, |φόνοι,| μέθαι, κῶμοι καὶ τὰ ὅμοια τούτοις

In the Textus Receptus this list begins with μοιχεία (adultery).  But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, Jesus said, and these things defile a person.  For out of the heart come evil ideas, murder, adultery, sexual immorality (πορνεῖαι, another form of πορνεία), theft, false testimony, slander.[19]  And, For from within, out of the human heart, come evil ideas, sexual immorality (πορνεῖαι, another form of πορνεία), theft, murder, adultery, greed, evil, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, pride, and folly.[20]

Jesus’ Sin Lists in Greek
Matthew 5:19

Mark 7:21, 22
διαλογισμοὶ πονηροί, φόνοι, μοιχεῖαι, πορνεῖαι, κλοπαί, ψευδομαρτυρίαι, βλασφημίαι διαλογισμοὶ οἱ κακοὶ ἐκπορεύονται, πορνεῖαι, κλοπαί, φόνοι, μοιχεῖαι, πλεονεξίαι, πονηρίαι, δόλος, ἀσέλγεια, ὀφθαλμὸς πονηρός, βλασφημία, ὑπερηφανία, ἀφροσύνη

These sin lists alter the landscape considerably.  It is not possible for the words πορνείας[21] (another form of πορνεία) or πορνείαν[22] (another form of πορνεία) from James’ abbreviated version of the law to stand for every defilement that comes from the human heart, every work of the flesh.  Frankly, I think all of this happened in space and time to push Paul, the human author of so much of the New Testament commentary on the Gospel, to abandon his allegiance to this decision of the Jerusalem Council and to hear better words and gain a better understanding.  And I think these events are recorded in Scripture so that we would see how much better these words and this understanding actually are (Romans 7:7, 12; 3:19-24, 31 NET):

What shall we say then?  Is the law sin?  Absolutely not!  Certainly, I would not have known sin except through the law.  For indeed I would not have known what it means to desire something belonging to someone else if the law had not said, “Do not covet.”

So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good.

Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God.  For no one is declared righteous before him by the works of the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.  But now apart from the law the righteousness of God (which is attested by the law and the prophets) has been disclosed – namely, the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe.  For there is no distinction, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  But they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

Do we then nullify the law through faith?  Absolutely not!  Instead we uphold the law.

Confronted with a Corinthian man who had his father’s wife, Paul turned to Satan for help.  Confronted with pedophile priests, the Catholic Church turned to psychologists and psychiatrists.[23]  Spotlight, perhaps it is unnecessary to say, is not a movie about the amazing power of psychologists and psychiatrists to take away the sin of pedophile priests.

On the next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away (αἴρων, a form of αἴρω) the sin of the world!”[24]

For far too long I believed that meant forgiveness only.  I didn’t believe that, Everyone who has been fathered by God does not practice sin, because God’s seed resides in him, and thus he is not able to sin, because he has been fathered by God.[25]  I didn’t believe that all who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God.[26]  I thought it was all up to me: my faith, my obedience, my love, my joy, my peace, my patience, my kindness, my goodness, my faithfulness, my gentleness, and my self-control.

[1] 1 Corinthians 12:31b (NET)

[2] John 3:7b (NET)

[3] Romans 3:22 (NET)

[4] 1 Corinthians 5:1b (NET) Table

[5] John 19:6b (ESV)

[6] 1 Corinthians 5:6b (NET)

[7] Romans 8:28b (NET)

[8] Matthew 13:33 (NET)

[9] Romans, Part 66; Romans, Part 68

[10] http://www.justgivemethetruth.com/paul_was_a_deceiver.htm

[11] Philippians 3:9 (NET)

[12] Paul in Corinth; Romans, Part 2; Paul in Athens

[13] 1 Corinthians 2:1, 2 (NET) Table

[14] Acts 16:4 (NET) Table

[15] 1 Corinthians 6:12a (NET)

[16] Kyle Harper: “Porneia—The Making of a Christian Sexual Norm;” Journal of Biblical Literature 131, no. 2 (2012); p. 369; “For all the importance of prostitution in Greek and Roman societies, πορνεία was not a common word.  Πορνεία occurs in only four classical authors (by contrast, the word occurs nearly four hundred times in Jewish and Christian literature before 200 c.e., and over eighteen hundred times between 200 and 600 c.e.).”  (I cannot link to this article directly, but was able to download it at academia.edu.)

[17] ibid, p. 372

[18] What lover of the Old Testament Scriptures wouldn’t want to hear the patriarchs confess their sexual sins according to the law yehôvâh delivered at Sinai so many years after the patriarchs themselves died?

[19] Matthew 15:18, 19 (NET)

[20] Mark 7:21, 22 (NET)

[21] Acts 15:20, 29 (NET)

[22] Acts 21:25 (NET)

[23] http://www.themediareport.com/2015/11/30/cardinal-law-spotlight-movie/  (I am not the “Dan” who commented on this article, by the way.  I just discovered this site researching the current essay.)

[24] John 1:29 (NET)

[25] 1 John 3:9 (NET)

[26] Romans 8:14 (NET)

Romans, Part 81

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As I worked on this essay I read an article by Jeffrey Fleishman, How an angry national mood is reflected in pop culture.  Two sentences really resonated: 1) “Our screens and phones fume with righteousness;” and 2) “Our shared humanity has been demarcated on smaller and smaller screens that often brim more with quicksilver judgment than open-mindedness.”  It struck me as a sort of default position that I quote here as contrast to the righteousness of love Paul described.

One person regards one day holier than other days, and another regards them all alike,[1] Paul continued his discussion of love.  No form of ἅγιος occurs in the text.  The concept holier is derived from κρίνει (a form of κρίνω), “to distinguish, to separate, put asunder, to pick out, select, choose,” translated regards.  I don’t think there is any problem with that translation except that the second regards is also κρίνει, so another regards all days equally holy would be a more balanced translation of the second clause.  A note (3) in the NET acknowledged the literal text: “For one judges day from day, and one judges all days.”

Each must be fully convinced (πληροφορείσθω, a form of πληροφορέω) in his own mind,[2] Paul continued.  He was fully convinced (πληροφορηθεὶς, another form of πληροφορέω) that what God promised he was also able to do, Paul wrote of Abraham.  So indeed it was credited to Abraham as righteousness.[3]  But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message would be fully proclaimed (πληροφορηθῇ, another form of πληροφορέω) for all the Gentiles to hear,[4] he wrote Timothy.  And, You, however, be self-controlled in all things, endure hardship, do an evangelist’s work, fulfill (πληροφόρησον, another form of πληροφορέω) your ministry.  For I am already being poured out as an offering, and the time for me to depart is at hand.[5]  Epaphras, who is one of you, Paul wrote believers in Colossae, and a slave of Christ, greets you.  He is always struggling in prayer on your behalf, so that you may stand mature and fully assured (πεπληροφορημένοι, another form of πληροφορέω) in all the will of God.[6]

This gives me a good picture of the caliber of conviction Paul addressed.  A Catholic believer may be fully convinced that Sunday, the day Jesus arose from death, is the most holy day of the week.  A Seventh Day Adventist may be fully convinced that Saturday (28 Fundamental Beliefs, The Sabbath 20), the original Sabbath yehôvâh consecrated in the law, is more holy.  And I may be fully convinced that since I began to be led by the Holy Spirit every day is most holy:  Consequently a Sabbath rest remains for the people of God.  For the one who enters God’s rest has also rested from his works, just as God did from his own works.[7]

As I rest from my own works of sin and my own righteousness (likened to used tampons) to rely instead on the righteousness that comes by way of Christ’s faithfulness – a righteousness from God that is in fact based on Christ’s faithfulness,[8] the fruit of the Spirit, I see every day as the Sabbath.  And I  understand why Jesus healed so stubbornly on the Sabbath: to demonstrate beyond the shadow of any doubt that it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath,[9] including by the way serving my employer as a slave of Christ.[10]  But love neither despises nor judges us—the Catholic, the Seventh Day Adventist or me—for our differing convictions concerning holy days.

The one who observes (φρονῶν, a form of φρονέω) the day does (φρονεῖ, another form of φρονέω) it for the Lord, Paul continued.  The one who eats, eats for the Lord because he gives thanks to God, and the one who abstains from eating abstains for the Lord, and he gives thanks to God.  For none of us lives for himself and none dies for himself.  If we live, we live for the Lord; if we die, we die for the Lord.  Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.[11]  Then Paul added a somewhat curious aside about Jesus’ rule (κυριεύσῃ, a form of κυριεύω).  For this reason Christ died and returned to life, so that he may be the Lord (κυριεύσῃ) of both the dead and the living.[12]

My religion has taught me to add “if I allow it” to an assertion such as this.  I’ve learned to assert my will over the lordship of Jesus.  But I notice now that isn’t in the text.  And certainly the assertion of my authority over his was never my elders’ intent but an unintended consequence of what I now see as a defensive posture: If I refuse or fail to believe sufficiently in Jesus in this lifetime and spend eternity in hell it was not that Christ’s death and life failed to make Him Lord of both the dead and the living, but that I didn’t allow his Lordship to be efficacious in my earthly lifetime.  It is a brilliant maneuver.  I’m not convinced it’s true, so I’ll let Paul speak for himself once again: For this reason Christ died and returned to life, so that he may be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

But you who eat vegetables only, Paul continued, why do you judge (κρίνεις, another form of κρίνω) your brother or sister?  And you who eat everything – why do you despise (ἐξουθενεῖς, a form of ἐξουθενέω) your brother or sister?  For we will all stand before the judgment seat (βήματι, a form of βῆμα) of God.  For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will give praise to God.”[13]  I’m not sure about translating ἐξομολογήσεται (a form of ἐξομολογέω) will give praise here, no matter how hopeful it sounds.

Judas agreed (ἐξωμολόγησεν, another form of ἐξομολογέω) and began looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus.[14]  Paul wrote the Philippians, that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow – in heaven and on earth and under the earth – and every tongue confess (ἐξομολογήσηται, another form of ἐξομολογέω) that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.[15]  As it is written, Paul quoted Psalm 18:49, “Because of this I will confess (ἐξομολογήσομαι, another form of ἐξομολογέω) you among the Gentiles, and I will sing praises (ψαλῶ, a form of ψάλλω) to your name.”[16]  So confess (ἐξομολογεῖσθε, another form of ἐξομολογέω) your sins to one another,[17] James wrote.  People from Jerusalem…confessed (ἐξομολογούμενοι, another form of ἐξομολογέω) their sins[18] as they were baptized.  And in Ephesus, Many of those who had believed came forward, confessing (ἐξομολογούμενοι, another form of ἐξομολογέω) and making their deeds known.[19]

Paul’s point here was, Therefore, each of us will give an account (λόγον, a form of λόγος) of himself to God.[20]  Of course, if every tongue confesses, what will the outcome be?  To be fair and complete, Jesus said, I praise (ἐξομολογοῦμαι, another form of ἐξομολογέω) you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, and revealed them to little children.[21]  On that same occasion Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I praise (ἐξομολογοῦμαι, another form of ἐξομολογέω) you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, and revealed them to little children.  Yes, Father, for this was your gracious will.”[22]  Perhaps this ἐξομολογέω, agreement with God, confession to God, is a form of praise after all.

Therefore we must not pass judgment on one another,[23] Paul concluded, Μηκέτι οὖν ἀλλήλους κρίνωμεν (literally, “no longer therefore one another judge” or “therefore we no longer judge one another”).  I don’t understand why the NET translators turned this simple declarative statement into a rule, beyond the social construction of our shared religious reality.  Most translations adopted some form of let us stop here. Though I remain the locus of control in both translations, one might argue that in let us stop I have repented and am heading in the right direction, not-doing as opposed to doing.  But neither translation conveys being the love with which Christ’s Spirit fills us.

Before I was focused on the fruit of the Spirit I was like a fat ugly woman–or an old poor powerless man for that matter–priding myself in my celibacy.  But seeing righteousness as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control has put me in direct conflict with how sinful the sin in my flesh actually is.  It is utterly opposed to love or joy or peace or patience or kindness or goodness or faithfulness or gentleness or any and every form of control.  This conflict, mostly losing it, has taught me to stop trusting in myself but in God who raises the dead.

We know that our old man was crucified with him so that the body of sin would no longer dominate us, so that we would no longer (μηκέτι) be enslaved to sin.[24]  This is the same word as Μηκέτι in “therefore we no longer judge one another” above.  And [Jesus] died for all so that those who live should no longer (μηκέτι) live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised.[25]  So we are no longer (μηκέτι) to be children, tossed back and forth by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching by the trickery of people who craftily carry out their deceitful schemes.  But practicing the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ, who is the head.  From him the whole body grows, fitted and held together through every supporting ligament.  As each one does its part, the body grows in love.  So I say this, and insist in the Lord, that you no longer (μηκέτι) live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.[26]

In other words, this κρίνωμεν (another form of κρίνω; translated pass judgment) is from the old human.  We judge no longer if we are no longer the old human, if we are led by Spirit, but rather determine (κρίνατε, another form of κρίνω) never to place an obstacle or a trap before a brother or sister, Paul continued.  I know (οἶδα, a form of εἴδω) and am convinced (πέπεισμαι, a form of πείθω) in the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean (κοινὸν, a form of κοινός) in itself,[27] the former Pharisee agreed and confessed with (and so praised?) Jesus (Mark 7:1-8 NET).

Now the Pharisees and some of the experts in the law who came from Jerusalem gathered around him.  And they saw that some of Jesus’ disciples ate their bread with unclean (κοιναῖς, another form of κοινός) hands, that is, unwashed (ἀνίπτοις, a form of ἄνιπτος).  (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they perform a ritual washing, holding fast to the tradition of the elders.  And when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash.  They hold fast to many other traditions: the washing of cups, pots, kettles, and dining couches.)  The Pharisees and the experts in the law asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with unwashed (κοιναῖς, another form of κοινός) hands?”  He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.  They worship me in vain, teaching as doctrine the commandments of men.’  Having no regard for the command of God, you hold fast to human tradition.”

Born the son of a scrubby dutch mother with an obsessive personality of my own, I have a serious hand-washing fetish.  It has become apparent that applying the sterile conditions of the operating room to all of life is detrimental to human health.  At the Institute for Functional Medicine conferences I record I’m learning that our overly cleanly habits may be part of the cause of our maladaptive immune systems.  Children need dirt as much as mother’s milk to jump-start their immune and digestive systems.  Jesus said (Mark 7:14, 15 NET):

Listen to me, everyone, and understand.  There is nothing outside of a person that can defile (κοινῶσαι, a form of κοινόω) him by going into him.  Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles (κοινοῦντα, another form of κοινόω) him.

Jesus’ disciples were as surprised by this as we may be, so he explained (Mark 7:18-23 NET):

“Are you so foolish?  Don’t you understand that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile (κοινῶσαι, another form of κοινόω) him?  For it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and then goes out into the sewer.”  (This means all foods are clean.)  He said, “What comes out of a person defiles (κοινοῖ, another form of κοινόω) him.  For from within, out of the human heart, come evil ideas, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, evil (πονηρίαι, a form of πονηρία), deceit, debauchery, envy (ὀφθαλμὸς πονηρός), slander, pride, and folly.  All these evils come from within and defile (κοινοῖ, another form of κοινόω) a person.”

By the way, another tidbit I’ve gleaned from IFM conferences is that inflammation caused by stress impairs the healthy functioning of all our biological systems.  I imagine the stress of all these evils (πονηρὰ, a form of πονηρός, “hurtful, full of labours, annoyances, hardships”) and know firsthand the stress of attempting to overcome them in my own strength rather than receiving the righteousness that comes by way of Christ’s faithfulness – a righteousness from God that is in fact based on Christ’s faithfulness, the fruit of his Spirit.  I’ll pick this up again later.

Below is a comparison of Paul’s Old Testament quotations with the Septuagint, the NET and the KJV.

NET

 Parallel Greek

Septuagint
every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will give praise to God.

Romans 14:11b

 ὅτι ἐμοὶ κάμψει πᾶν γόνυ καὶ πᾶσα γλῶσσα ἐξομολογήσεται τῷ θεῷ

Romans 14:11b

 ὅτι ἐμοὶ κάμψει πᾶν γόνυ καὶ ἐξομολογήσεται πᾶσα γλῶσσα τῷ θεῷ

Isaiah 45:23b

NET

 NET

KJV
every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will give praise to God.

Romans 14:11b

 Surely every knee will bow to me, every tongue will solemnly affirm

Isaiah 45:23b

 That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear

Isaiah 45:23b
NET Parallel Greek

Septuagint
Because of this I will confess you among the Gentiles, and I will sing praises to your name.

Romans 15:9b

 διὰ τοῦτο ἐξομολογήσομαι σοι ἐν ἔθνεσιν καὶ τῷ ὀνόματι σου ψαλῶ

Romans 15:9b

 διὰ τοῦτο ἐξομολογήσομαί σοι ἐν ἔθνεσιν κύριε καὶ τῷ ὀνόματί σου ψαλῶ

Psalm 18:49

NET

 NET

KJV
Because of this I will confess you among the Gentiles, and I will sing praises to your name.

Romans 15:9b

 So I will give you thanks before the nations, O Lord!  I will sing praises to you!

Psalm 18:49

 Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name.

Psalm 18:49

Romans, Part 82

[1] Romans 14:5a (NET)

[2] Romans 14:5b (NET)

[3] Romans 4:21, 22 (NET)

[4] 2 Timothy 4:17a (NET)

[5] 2 Timothy 4:5, 6 (NET)

[6] Colossians 4:12 (NET)

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

[8] Philippians 3:9b (NET)

[9] Matthew 12:12b (NET)

[10] Ephesians 6:5-8 (NET)  I certainly relate to having difficulty with this passage.  If you find it impossible to serve your employer as a slave of Christ, perhaps you are not being led by the Holy Spirit or perhaps you need to seek a new job, assuming you are free to do so.

[11] Romans 14:6-8 (NET)

[12] Romans 14:9 (NET)

[13] Romans 14:10, 11 (NET)

[14] Luke 22:6 (NET)

[15] Philippians 2:10, 11 (NET)

[16] Romans 15:9b (NET)

[17] James 5:16a (NET)

[18] Matthew 3:5, 6 (NET); Mark 1:5 (NET)

[19] Acts 19:18 (NET)

[20] Romans 14:12 (NET) Table

[21] Matthew 11:25 (NET)

[22] Luke 10:21 (NET)

[23] Romans 14:13a (NET)

[24] Romans 6:6 (NET)

[25] 2 Corinthians 5:15 (NET)

[26] Ephesians 4:14-17 (NET) Table

[27] Romans 14:13b, 14a (NET)

Romans, Part 80

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JudgmentalPerhaps every old human (παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον, translated old man) should come with this warning label, but love says: Now receive the one who is weak in the faith, and do not have disputes over differing opinions.[1]  Paul continued his discussion of love with a then current example (Romans 14:2, 3a NET):

One person believes in eating everything, but the weak (ἀσθενῶν, a form of ἀσθενέω) person eats only vegetables.  The one who eats everything must not despise (ἐξουθενείτω, a form of ἐξουθενέω) the one who does not…

Luke introduced Jesus’ parable contrasting religious and righteous prayer this way: Jesus also told this parable to some who were confident that they were righteous and looked down on everyone else.[2]  The Greek word translated looked down is ἐξουθενοῦντας (another form of ἐξουθενέω) like ἐξουθενείτω, translated despise in Romans 14:3.  Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, replied, “Rulers of the people and elders[3]….This Jesus is the stone that was rejected (ἐξουθενηθεὶς, another form of ἐξουθενέω) by you, the builders, that has become the cornerstone.”[4]  Paul wrote believers in Corinth (1 Corinthians 1:26-31 NET Table):

Think about the circumstances of your call, brothers and sisters.  Not many were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were born to a privileged position.  But God chose what the world thinks foolish to shame the wise, and God chose what the world thinks weak (ἀσθενῆ, a form of ἀσθενής) to shame the strong.  God chose what is low and despised (ἐξουθενημένα, another form of ἐξουθενέω) in the world, what is regarded as nothing, to set aside what is regarded as something, so that no one can boast in his presence.  He is the reason you have a relationship with Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Love doesn’t despise the faith-weak the way the world despises all believers.  And love doesn’t judge those who do not adhere to the rules the faith-weak live by.  Paul continued (Romans 14:3b NET):

…and the one who abstains must not judge (κρινέτω, a form of κρίνω) the one who eats everything, for God has accepted (προσελάβετο, a form of προσλαμβάνω) him.

Therefore do not let anyone judge (κρινέτω, a form of κρίνω) you with respect to food or drink, Paul wrote believers in Colossae, or in the matter of a feast, new moon, or Sabbath days – these are only the shadow of the things to come, but the reality is Christ![5]  Yet of love Paul wrote (1 Corinthians 8):

With regard to food sacrificed to idols, we know that “we all have knowledge.”  Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.  If someone thinks he knows something, he does not yet know to the degree that he needs to know.  But if someone loves God, he is known by God.

With regard then to eating food sacrificed to idols, we know that “an idol in this world is nothing,” and that “there is no God but one.”  If after all there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we live, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we live.

But this knowledge is not shared by all.  And some, by being accustomed to idols in former times, eat this food as an idol sacrifice, and their conscience, because it is weak (ἀσθενὴς, another form of ἀσθενής), is defiled.  Now food will not bring us close to God.  We are no worse if we do not eat and no better if we do.  But be careful that this liberty of yours does not become a hindrance to the weak (ἀσθενέσιν, another form of ἀσθενής).  For if someone weak (ἀσθενοῦς, another form of ἀσθενής) sees you who possess knowledge dining in an idol’s temple, will not his conscience be “strengthened” to eat food offered to idols?  So by your knowledge the weak (ἀσθενῶν, a form of ἀσθενέω) brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed.  If you sin against your brothers or sisters in this way and wound their weak (ἀσθενοῦσαν, another form of ἀσθενέω) conscience, you sin against Christ.  For this reason, if food causes my brother or sister to sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I may not cause one of them to sin.

Paul continued for believers in Rome (Romans 14:4a NET):

Who are you to pass judgment (κρίνων, another form of κρίνω) on another’s servant?  Before his own master he stands or falls.

Jesus said, there is One who seeks and judges[6] (ἔστιν ὁ ζητῶν καὶ κρίνων).  I quoted the NAS because the NET translation reads, There is one who demands it, and he also judges.  This leaves me with the impression that Jesus told the Ἰουδαῖοι (Judeans, NET; Jews, NAS) that his Father demanded glory for Jesus from them and would judge them for failing to deliver it.  The latter is simply false, the Father does not judge (κρίνει, another form of κρίνω) anyone, but has assigned all judgment (κρίσιν, a form of κρίσις) to the Son…[7]  What the Father seeks (ζητῶν, a form of ζητέω) was specified earlier in John’s Gospel: But a time is coming – and now is here – when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks (ζητεῖ, another form of ζητέω) such people to be his worshipers.[8]

I think Jesus meant what He said: I am not trying to get (ζητῶ, another form of ζητέω) praise (δόξαν, a form of δόξα) for myself.[9]  The person who speaks on his own authority desires (ζητεῖ, a form of ζητέω) to receive honor (δόξαν, a form of δόξα) for himself; the one who desires (ζητῶν, a form of ζητέω) the honor (δόξαν, a form of δόξα) of the one who sent him is a man of integrity (ἀληθής), and there is no unrighteousness in him.[10]  Clearly, the translators of the NET thought of δόξαν as honor, also translated praise, something originating with people.  The Father has assigned all judgment to the Son, so that all people will honor (τιμῶσι, a form of τιμάω) the Son just as they honor (τιμῶσι, a form of τιμάω) the Father.[11]

In that light then since the Father seeks true worshipers who worship…in spirit and truth, then He might also seek honor from those worshippers for his Son.  The one who does not honor (τιμῶν, another form of τιμάω) the Son does not honor (τιμᾷ, another form of τιμάω) the Father who sent him.[12]  And granted, Jesus prefaced his remarks with, I honor (τιμῶ, another form of τιμάω) my Father – and yet you dishonor (ἀτιμάζετε, a form of ἀτιμάζω) me.[13]  But I’m still not convinced that made δόξαν a synonym for τιμάω.

I think Jesus meant glory from or of God, his Father.  “If I glorify (δοξάσω, a form of δοξάζω) myself, my glory (δόξα) is worthless.  The one who glorifies (δοξάζων, another form of δοξάζω) me is my Father, about whom you people say, ‘He is our God.’”[14]  I glorified (ἐδόξασα, another form of δοξάζω) you on earth, Jesus prayed to his Father, by completing the work you gave me to do.[15]  And I think Jesus was focused on that work, both to seek the Father’s true worshiper’s—For whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise[16]—and to do it in a way that satisfied the Father’s judgment (of Him as opposed to others).  I think Jesus expressed a relationship to his Father very similar to the relationship Paul expressed to Jesus (1 Corinthians 4:3, 4 NET):

So for me, it is a minor matter that I am judged (ἀνακριθῶ, a form of ἀνακρίνω) by you or by any human court.  In fact, I do not even judge (ἀνακρίνω) myself.  For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not acquitted because of this.  The one who judges (ἀνακρίνων) me is the Lord.

And that relationship answers why He was so impressed with the faith of the centurion: “just say the word and my servant will be healed.  For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me.  I say to this one, ‘Go’ and he goes, and to another ‘Come’ and he comes, and to my slave ‘Do this’ and he does it.”[17]  The servant and the slave honored the centurion but Caesar glorified him.

I consider when Jesus sought his own glory and what He did with it: “Father, the time has come.  Glorify (δόξασον, another form of δοξάζω) your Son, so that your Son may glorify (δοξάσῃ, another form of δοξάζω) you…[18]  Now, Father, glorify (δόξασον, another form of δοξάζω) Me together with Yourself, with the glory (δόξῃ, another form of δόξα) which I had with You before the world was.”[19]  Then He took that glory and nailed it naked, bruised and bleeding to a cross; Jesus said (John 10:17, 18; Matthew 26:53, 54 NET):

This is why the Father loves me – because I lay down my life, so that I may take it back again.  No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down of my own free will.  I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it back again.  This commandment I received from my Father.

Or do you think that I cannot call on my Father, and that he would send me more than twelve legions of angels right now? [Table]  How then would the scriptures that say it must happen this way be fulfilled?

The prophet Isaiah described it this way (Isaiah 53 NET):

Who would have believed what we just heard?  When was the Lord’s (yehôvâh, יהוה) power revealed through him?

He sprouted up like a twig before God, like a root out of parched soil; he had no stately form or majesty that might catch our attention, no special appearance that we should want to follow him.

He was despised and rejected by people, one who experienced pain and was acquainted with illness; people hid their faces from him; he was despised, and we considered him insignificant.

But he lifted up our illnesses, he carried our pain; even though we thought he was being punished, attacked by God (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים), and afflicted for something he had done.

He was wounded because of our rebellious deeds, crushed because of our sins; he endured punishment that made us well; because of his wounds we have been healed.

All of us had wandered off like sheep; each of us had strayed off on his own path, but the Lord (yehôvâh, ויהוה) caused the sin of all of us to attack him.

He was treated harshly and afflicted, but he did not even open his mouth.  Like a lamb led to the slaughtering block, like a sheep silent before her shearers, he did not even open his mouth.

He was led away after an unjust trial – but who even cared?  Indeed, he was cut off from the land of the living; because of the rebellion of his own people he was wounded.

They intended to bury him with criminals, but he ended up in a rich man’s tomb, because he had committed no violent deeds, nor had he spoken deceitfully.

Though the Lord (yehôvâh, ויהוה) desired to crush him and make him ill, once restitution is made, he will see descendants and enjoy long life, and the Lord’s (yehôvâh, יהוה) purpose will be accomplished through him.

Having suffered, he will reflect on his work, he will be satisfied when he understands what he has done.

“My servant will acquit many, for he carried their sins.  So I will assign him a portion with the multitudes, he will divide the spoils of victory with the powerful, because he willingly submitted to death and was numbered with the rebels, when he lifted up the sin of many and intervened on behalf of the rebels.”

Paul described it this way for believers in Rome, For God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened (ἠσθένει, another form of ἀσθενέω) 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.[20]  And he described it this way for believers in Corinth: God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we would become the righteousness of God.[21]

Who are you to pass judgment on another’s servant? Paul wrote.  Before his own master he stands or falls.  And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.[22]  Though it may seem at first that this latter applies only to the less faith-weak, I don’t think that is the case.  I as a believer stand not because I have my own righteousness derived from the law, but because I have the righteousness that comes by way of Christ’s faithfulness – a righteousness from God that is in fact based on Christ’s faithfulness.[23]  And this confidence in Christ’s faithfulness may be the ultimate meaning of thinking of one another.

[1] Romans 14:1 (NET)

[2] Luke 18:9 (NET)

[3] Acts 4:8 (NET)

[4] Acts 4:11 (NET)

[5] Colossians 2:16, 17 (NET)

[6] John 8:50b (NAS)

[7] John 5:22 (NET)

[8] John 4:23 (NET)

[9] John 8:50a (NET)

[10] John 7:18 (NET)

[11] John 5:22b, 23a (NET)

[12] John 5:23b (NET)

[13] John 8:49b (NET)

[14] John 8:54 (NET)

[15] John 17:4 (NET)

[16] John 5:19b (NET)

[17] Matthew 8:8b, 9 (NET) Table

[18] John 17:1b (NET)

[19] John 17:5 (NAS)

[20] Romans 8:3, 4 (NET)

[21] 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NET)

[22] Romans 14:4 (NET) Table

[23] Philippians 3:9 (NET)

Saving Demons, Part 1

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If senseless1 Gentiles, chosen for salvation to make Israel jealous, reject the righteousness that comes by way of Christ’s faithfulness – a righteousness from God that is in fact based on Christ’s faithfulness to pursue their own righteousness derived2 from a select subset of the law and their own religious rules, will that open Christ’s salvation to demons and fallen angels?

On the surface of it the question seems absurd to me, too speculative, though I appreciate the symmetry of the pattern.  My problem, however, is that I remember when I believed that Paul’s “commandment”— So you too consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus3—was a pious fiction, a mind game based on the flimsiest of pretexts: Or do you not know that as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?4

Now, of course, I believe that Paul’s “commandment” was a carefully wrought conclusion based on a solid truth.  And so I believe that I, too, have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.  So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  I do not set aside God’s grace, because if righteousness could come through the law, then Christ died for nothing!5  Furthermore, I now believe that this death facilitates forgiveness and the new resurrected (eternal) life by creating the distinction between me (the new man born of the Spirit) and the sin in my flesh (Romans 7:14-20 NET).

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

As John the Apostle wrote, We know that everyone fathered by God does not sin, but God protects the one he has fathered, and the evil one (πονηρός) cannot touch him.6  That experience prompts me to keep an open mind and a running account as touch points come up.  One of the first things that came to mind was Jesus’ response to the religious leaders’ charge that He blasphemed by claiming to be the Son of God: Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’?7

When I wrote about it before I focused on verses in Exodus where the Holy Spirit called human judges elohim (הָאֱלֹהִים).8  But Jesus apparently quoted Psalm 82:6 as well.  The note (84) in the NET reads: “The problem in this verse concerns the meaning of Jesus’ quotation from Ps 82:6. It is important to look at the OT context: The whole line reads ‘I say, you are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you.’ Jesus will pick up on the term ‘sons of the Most High’ in 10:36, where he refers to himself as the Son of God. The psalm was understood in rabbinic circles as an attack on unjust judges who, though they have been given the title ‘gods’ because of their quasi-divine function of exercising judgment, are just as mortal as other men. What is the argument here? It is often thought to be as follows: If it was an OT practice to refer to men like the judges as gods, and not blasphemy, why did the Jewish authorities object when this term was applied to Jesus? This really doesn’t seem to fit the context, however, since if that were the case Jesus would not be making any claim for ‘divinity’ for himself over and above any other human being – and therefore he would not be subject to the charge of blasphemy. Rather, this is evidently a case of arguing from the lesser to the greater, a common form of rabbinic argument. The reason the OT judges could be called gods is because they were vehicles of the word of God (cf. 10:35). But granting that premise, Jesus deserves much more than they to be called God. He is the Word incarnate, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world to save the world (10:36). In light of the prologue to the Gospel of John, it seems this interpretation would have been most natural for the author. If it is permissible to call men “gods” because they were the vehicles of the word of God, how much more permissible is it to use the word ‘God’ of him who is the Word of God?”

The psalm itself reads (Psalm 82 NET):

God (elohim, אֱלֹהִים) stands in the assembly of El (‘ēl, אֵל); in the midst of the gods (elohim, אֱלֹהִים) he renders judgment [Table].  He says, “How long will you make unjust legal decisions and show favoritism to the wicked?  (Selah)  Defend the cause of the poor and the fatherless!  Vindicate the oppressed and suffering!  Rescue the poor and needy!  Deliver them from the power of the wicked!  They neither know nor understand.  They stumble around in the dark, while all the foundations of the earth crumble [Table].  I thought,9 ‘You are gods (elohim, אֱלֹהִים); all of you are sons of the Most High’ [Table].  Yet you will die like mortals; you will fall like all the other rulers.”  Rise up, O God (elohim, אֱלֹהִים), and execute judgment on the earth!  For you own all the nations.

And the note (4) in the NET on gods reads: “The present translation assumes that the Hebrew term אֱלֹהִים (’elohim, ‘gods’) here refers to the pagan gods who supposedly comprise El’s assembly according to Canaanite religion. Those who reject the polemical view of the psalm prefer to see the referent as human judges or rulers (אֱלֹהִים sometimes refers to officials appointed by God, see Exod 21:6; 22:8-9; Ps 45:6) or as angelic beings (אֱלֹהִים sometimes refers to angelic beings, see Gen 3:5; Ps 8:5).”

In the prophetic Song of Moses we read: They made him jealous with other gods (zûr, בְּזָרִים), they enraged him with abhorrent idols [Table].  They sacrificed to demons, not God (‘ĕlôha, אֱלֹהַ), to gods (elohim, אֱלֹהִים) they had not known; to new gods (ḥāḏāš, חֲדָשִׁים) who had recently come along, gods your ancestors (‘āḇ, אֲבֹתֵיכֶם) had not known about [Table].10  And Paul wrote: I mean that what the pagans sacrifice is to demons and not to God.11  So I can side with the unbelievers Jesus addressed and believe that Psalm 82 was about Israel’s judges, or I can take the psalm at face value and believe that it was the pagan gods who made unjust legal decisions and showed favoritism to the wicked.

If God meant to save these demons, these rebellious angels, these fallen sons of the Most High, the first step would be that they die like mortals so they could be resurrected to a new life:  And the Lord God said, “Now that the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil, he must not be allowed to stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever”12 (e.g., immortality corrupted by sin).

On the other hand the letter to the Hebrews reads: Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he likewise shared in their humanity, so that through death he could destroy the one who holds the power of death (that is, the devil), and set free those who were held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death.  For surely his concern (ἐπιλαμβάνεται, a form of ἐπιλαμβάνω) is not for angels, but he is concerned (ἐπιλαμβάνεται, a form of ἐπιλαμβάνω) for Abraham’s descendants.13  Once again death played a pivotal role but God’s ἐπιλαμβάνεται (taking hold to rescue) might be limited to human beings here.  Of course when I turn that around and say, “Hebrews 2:16 limits God’s mercy to human beings,” I feel more like Gollum,14 saying, “It’s mine! My precious,” than an obedient follower of Jesus, who commanded, Freely you received, freely give.15

 

Addendum: April 17, 2026
Tables comparing Psalm 82:2; 82:3; 82:4; 82:7 and 82:8 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and comparing the Greek of Psalm 82:2 (81:2); 82:3 (81:3); 82:4 (81:4); 82:7 (81:7) and 82:8 (81:8) in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor) follow.

Psalm 82:2 (Tanakh)

Psalm 82:2 (KJV)

Psalm 82:2 (NET)
How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah. How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah. He says, “How long will you make unjust legal decisions and show favoritism to the wicked? (Selah)

Psalm 82:2 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 81:2 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἕως πότε κρίνετε ἀδικίαν καὶ πρόσωπα ἁμαρτωλῶν λαμβάνετε διάψαλμα ἕως πότε κρίνετε ἀδικίαν καὶ πρόσωπα ἁμαρτωλῶν λαμβάνετε; (διάψαλμα)

Psalm 81:2 (NETS)

Psalm 81:2 (English Elpenor)
“How long will you judge with injustice and to sinners show partiality? Interlude on strings How long will ye judge unrighteously, and accept the persons of sinners? Pause.

Psalm 82:3 (Tanakh)

Psalm 82:3 (KJV)

Psalm 82:3 (NET)
Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy. Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy. Defend the cause of the poor and the fatherless. Vindicate the oppressed and suffering.

Psalm 82:3 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 81:3 (Septuagint Elpenor)
κρίνατε ὀρφανὸν καὶ πτωχόν ταπεινὸν καὶ πένητα δικαιώσατε κρίνατε ὀρφανῷ καὶ πτωχῷ, ταπεινὸν καὶ πένητα δικαιώσατε

Psalm 81:3 (NETS)

Psalm 81:3 (English Elpenor)
“Give justice to orphan and poor; of lowly and needy maintain the right. Judge the orphan and poor: do justice to the low and needy.

Psalm 82:4 (Tanakh)

Psalm 82:4 (KJV)

Psalm 82:4 (NET)
Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked. Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked. Rescue the poor and needy. Deliver them from the power of the wicked.

Psalm 82:4 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 81:4 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐξέλεσθε πένητα καὶ πτωχόν ἐκ χειρὸς ἁμαρτωλοῦ ῥύσασθε ἐξέλεσθε πένητα καὶ πτωχόν, ἐκ χειρὸς ἁμαρτωλοῦ ῥύσασθε αὐτόν

Psalm 81:4 (NETS)

Psalm 81:4 (English Elpenor)
Deliver needy and poor; from a sinner’s hand rescue them.” Rescue the needy, and deliver the poor out of the hand of the sinner.

Psalm 82:7 (Tanakh)

Psalm 82:7 (KJV)

Psalm 82:7 (NET)
But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes. But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes. Yet you will die like mortals; you will fall like all the other rulers.”

Psalm 82:7 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 81:7 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ὑμεῖς δὲ ὡς ἄνθρωποι ἀποθνῄσκετε καὶ ὡς εἷς τῶν ἀρχόντων πίπτετε ὑμεῖς δὲ ὡς ἄνθρωποι ἀποθνήσκετε καὶ ὡς εἷς τῶν ἀρχόντων πίπτετε

Psalm 81:7 (NETS)

Psalm 81:7 (English Elpenor)
but you all are dying like human beings, and like one of the ruers you fall.” But ye die as men, and fall as one of the princes.

Psalm 82:8 (Tanakh)

Psalm 82:8 (KJV)

Psalm 82:8 (NET)
Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations. Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations. Rise up, O God, and execute judgment on the earth! For you own all the nations.

Psalm 82:8 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 81:8 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἀνάστα ὁ θεός κρῖνον τὴν γῆν ὅτι σὺ κατακληρονομήσεις ἐν πᾶσιν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν ἀνάστα, ὁ Θεός, κρίνων τὴν γῆν, ὅτι σὺ κατακληρονομήσεις ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσι

Psalm 81:8 (NETS)

Psalm 81:8 (English Elpenor)
Rise up, O God, judge the earth, because you will gain possession of all the nations. Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.

3 Romans 6:11 (NET) Table

4 Romans 6:3 (NET)

5 Galatians 2:20, 21 (NET)

6 1 John 5:18 (NET) Table

7 John 10:34 (NET) Table Table comparing the Greek of Jesus’ quotation to that of the Septuagint.

9 NET note 13: “Heb ‘said.’”

10 Deuteronomy 32:16, 17 (NET)

11 1 Corinthians 10:20a (NET) Table

12 Genesis 3:22 (NET) Table

13 Hebrews 2:14-16 (NET)

14 In “The Lord of the Rings” movies Sauron’s ring of power gave Gollum a corrupt immortality, dead in [his] transgressions and sins (Ephesians 2:1 NET) Table.

15 Matthew 10:8b (NET) Table

Son of God – 1 John, Part 1

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This is what we proclaim to you, John wrote, what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen (ἑωράκαμεν, a form of ὁράω) with our eyes, what we have looked at (ἐθεασάμεθα, a form of θεάομαι) and our hands have touched (concerning the word of life – and the life was revealed, and we have seen [ἑωράκαμεν, a form of ὁράω] and testify and announce to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us).1  John, by making the word of life—what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and our hands have touched—equivalent to—the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us—has defined eternal life as something more than a future time without end.

Eternal life is the Lord Jesus, the life He lived, the righteousness that comes by way of [his] faithfulness – a righteousness from God that is in fact based on Christ’s faithfulness,2 and the love that is the fulfillment of the law,3 as well as a place with Him in heaven.  As Jesus prayed, Now this is eternal life – that they know (γινώσκωσιν, a form of γινώσκω) you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent.4  If you have known (ἐγνώκατε, another form of γινώσκω) me, He said to Thomas, you will know (γνώσεσθε, another form of γινώσκω) my Father too.  And from now on you do know (γινώσκετε, another form of γινώσκω) him and have seen (ἑωράκατε, another form of ὁράω) him.5  The person who has seen (ἑωρακὼς, another form of ὁράω) me, he replied to Philip, has seen (ἑώρακεν, another form of ὁράω) the Father!6

What we have seen (ἑωράκαμεν, a form of ὁράω) and heard we announce to you too, John continued, so that you may have fellowship with us (and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ).  Thus we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.  Now this is the gospel7 message8 we have heard from him and announce to you, John continued, God is light, and in him there is no darkness (σκοτία) at all.  If we say we have fellowship with him and yet keep on walking in the darkness (σκότει, a form of σκότος), we are lying and not practicing the truth.9

The reason the translators added gospel to the text above is quoted in a footnote below.10  Jesus said, or John wrote, light has come into the world and people loved the darkness (σκότος) rather than the light, because their deeds were evil (πονηρὰ, a form of πονηρός; or, full of labours, annoyances, hardships).  For everyone who does evil (φαῦλα, a form of φαῦλος; or ordinary, or, worthless) deeds hates the light and does not come to the light, so that their deeds will not be exposed.11

When I read the Bible and said, “yea, verily, amen, Lord,” and didn’t believe what it said, I was walking in darkness.  It was a foolish thing to do, considering the psalm, O Lord, you examine me and know [Table]…even from far away you understand my motives [Table].12  I stepped into the light when I began to argue with Him.  And I wasn’t always reverent about it.  But his Spirit was patient with me.  He made me honest with Him, what I believed and what I didn’t believe, and eventually with myself (which is not easy), and patient enough to wait for understanding, where I was wrong or had misunderstood his word (as opposed to running off, saying, “none of it is true,” or, “it means whatever you want”).

But if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, John continued, we have fellowship with one another [e.g., with others walking in the light] and the blood of Jesus13 his Son cleanses us from all sin.14  This is so important, Faith 101.  It is equivalent in my mind to, There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.15  Honesty is impossible apart from this knowledge.  Walking in darkness I wasn’t such a bad guy.  In the light I discovered how sinful the sin in my flesh actually is, and I mourned.  Walking deeper into the light I discovered how corrupt my righteousness is, and I grieved.

If we say we do not bear the guilt of sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.  But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous, forgiving us our sins and cleansing us from all unrighteousness.  If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us.  (My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.)  But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous One, and he himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for our sins but also for the whole world.16  As Paul wrote, For God has consigned all people to disobedience (ἀπείθειαν, a form of ἀπείθεια) so that he may show mercy to them all.17

 

Addendum: April 5, 2026
Tables comparing 1 John 1:5 and 1:7 in the KJV and NET follow.

1 John 1:5 (NET)

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

1 John 1:5 (NET Parallel Greek)

1 John 1:5 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

1 John 1:5 (Byzantine Majority Text)
Καὶ ἔστιν αὕτη ἡ ἀγγελία ἣν ἀκηκόαμεν ἀπ᾿ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀναγγέλλομεν ὑμῖν, ὅτι ὁ θεὸς φῶς ἐστιν καὶ σκοτία |ἐν αὐτῷ| οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδεμία και αυτη εστιν η επαγγελια ην ακηκοαμεν απ αυτου και αναγγελλομεν υμιν οτι ο θεος φως εστιν και σκοτια εν αυτω ουκ εστιν ουδεμια και εστιν αυτη η αγγελια ην ακηκοαμεν απ αυτου και αναγγελλομεν υμιν οτι ο θεος φως εστιν και σκοτια εν αυτω ουκ εστιν ουδεμια

1 John 1:7 (NET)

1 John 1:7 (KJV)
But if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

1 John 1:7 (NET Parallel Greek)

1 John 1:7 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

1 John 1:7 (Byzantine Majority Text)
ἐὰν δὲ ἐν τῷ φωτὶ περιπατῶμεν ὡς αὐτός ἐστιν ἐν τῷ φωτί, κοινωνίαν ἔχομεν μετ᾿ ἀλλήλων καὶ τὸ αἷμα Ἰησοῦ τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ καθαρίζει ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ πάσης ἁμαρτίας εαν δε εν τω φωτι περιπατωμεν ως αυτος εστιν εν τω φωτι κοινωνιαν εχομεν μετ αλληλων και το αιμα ιησου χριστου του υιου αυτου καθαριζει ημας απο πασης αμαρτιας εαν δε εν τω φωτι περιπατωμεν ως αυτος εστιν εν τω φωτι κοινωνιαν εχομεν μετ αλληλων και το αιμα ιησου χριστου του υιου αυτου καθαριζει ημας απο πασης αμαρτιας

1 1 John 1:1, 2 (NET)

2 Philippians 3:9 (NET)

4 John 17:3 (NET)

5 John 14:7 (NET) Table

6 John 14:9b (NET) Table

7 NET note 13: The word “gospel” is not in the Greek text but is supplied to clarify the meaning. See the note on the following word “message.”

9 1 John 1:3-6 (NET)

10 NET note 14 on the word “message”: The word ἀγγελία (angelia) occurs only twice in the NT, here and in 1 John 3:11. It is a cognate of ἐπαγγελία (epangelia) which occurs much more frequently (some 52 times in the NT) including 1 John 2:25. BDAG 8 s.v. ἀγγελία 1 offers the meaning “message” which suggests some overlap with the semantic range of λόγος (logos), although in the specific context of 1:5 BDAG suggests a reference to the gospel. (The precise “content” of this “good news’ is given by the ὅτι [Joti] clause which follows in 1:5b.) The word ἀγγελία here is closely equivalent to εὐαγγέλιον (euangelion): (1) it refers to the proclamation of the eyewitness testimony about the life and ministry of Jesus Christ as proclaimed by the author and the rest of the apostolic witnesses (prologue, esp. 1:3-4), and (2) it relates to the salvation of the hearers/readers, since the purpose of this proclamation is to bring them into fellowship with God and with the apostolic witnesses (1:3). Because of this the adjective “gospel” is included in the English translation.

11 John 3:19, 20 (NET)

12 Psalm 139:1, 2 (NET)

13 The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had χριστου (KJV: Christ) following Jesus. The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

14 1 John 1:7 (NET)

15 Romans 8:1 (NET) Table

16 1 John 1:8-2:2 (NET)

17 Romans 11:32 (NET)

Romans, Part 43

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So I ask, Paul began the eleventh chapter of Romans, God has not rejected his people, has he?1 referring to his fellow countrymen.2  In regard to the gospel they are enemies for your sake, he concluded finally, but in regard to election they are dearly loved for the sake of the fathers.  For the gifts (χαρίσματα, a form of χάρισμα) and the call (κλῆσις) of God are irrevocable (ἀμεταμέλητα, a form of ἀμεταμέλητος).3  Just as you were formerly disobedient (ἠπειθήσατε, a form of ἀπειθέω) to God, but have now received mercy (ἠλεήθητε, a form of ἐλεέω) due to their disobedience (ἀπειθείᾳ, a form of ἀπείθεια), so they too have now been disobedient (ἠπείθησαν, another form of ἀπειθέω) in order that, by the mercy (ἐλέει, a form of ἔλεος) shown to you, they too may now receive mercy [Table] (ἐλεηθῶσιν, another form of ἐλεέω).  For God has consigned (συνέκλεισεν, a form of συγκλείω) all people to disobedience (ἀπείθειαν, another form of ἀπείθεια) so that he may show mercy (ἐλεήσῃ, another form of ἐλεέω) to them all.4

A note in the NET acknowledged that them “has been supplied for stylistic reasons.”  The original Greek reads simply, “to all.”  I don’t want to get involved in a “universal salvation” argument.  It seems to go nowhere.  After throwing Scripture around and philosophical opinions about free will the argument devolves into something like, “Well, I could never believe in a god who sent (or, would not send) anyone to hell.”  I know I will trust Him as long as He pours his faithfulness (πίστις) into me through his Spirit,5 whether He sends or does not send people to hell or not.  I do want to consider some of the things about God’s mercy that Paul outlined in Romans 9-11 in a table below.

What Jesus’ obedience, death and resurrection means to his Father, according to Paul

OLD TESTAMENT

Jesus’ obedience, death and resurrection

NEW TESTAMENT
For [God] says to Moses: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

Romans 9:15 (NET) Table Quotation Table

 Just as you were formerly disobedient to God, but have now received mercy due to their disobedience, so they too have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy.

Romans 11:30, 31 (NET) Table
God has mercy on whom he chooses to have mercy, and he hardens whom he chooses to harden.

Romans 9:18 (NET)

 So then, it does not depend on human desire or exertion, but on God who shows mercy.

Romans 9:16 (NET) Table

 For God has consigned all people to disobedience so that he may show mercy to…all.

Romans 11:32 (NET)

It may be arbitrary on my part to place—God has mercy on whom he chooses to have mercy, and he hardens whom he chooses to harden—exclusively under the Old Covenant, if that is seen as a limit to God’s choosing.  My point is simply its logical relationship to I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.  Paul’s conclusion—So then, it does not depend on human desire or exertion, but on God who shows mercy—serves then as the logical and justificatory bridge to his New Covenant argument concluding that, God has consigned all people to disobedience so that he may show mercy to…all.

The word translated consigned is συνέκλεισεν (a form of συγκλείω) in Greek.  Paul used it again when he wrote the Galatians, the scripture imprisoned (συνέκλεισεν) everything and everyone under sin so that the promise could be given – because of the faithfulness of Jesus Christ – to those who believe.6  Another form of the same word is found in Luke’s account of the calling of Peter, James and John: When they had done this [e.g., obeyed Jesus by lowering their nets where he instructed them to lower them], they caught (συνέκλεισαν, another form of συγκλείω) so many fish that their nets7 started to tear.8  It is an interesting image, all of us, all humanity, caught in his net.  For God has consigned all people to disobedience…9  Like fearful fish we flail frantically to escape from the One who whispers, Stop your striving and recognize that I am God.10  For God has consigned all people to disobedience so that he may show mercy to them all.11

I also want to consider the Old Testament precedent for Paul’s reasoning in Romans 11:30 and 31: The word of the Lord came to me, Ezekiel the prophet wrote.  “Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her abominable practices…”12

Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite [Table].  Your older sister was Samaria, who lived north of you with her daughters, and your younger sister, who lived south of you, was Sodom with her daughters [Table].  Have you not copied their behavior and practiced their abominable deeds?  In a short time you became even more depraved in all your conduct than they were [Table]!  As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, your sister Sodom and her daughters never behaved as wickedly as you and your daughters have behaved [Table].13

You have made your sisters appear righteous with all the abominable things you have done [Table], the Lord continued.  So now, bear your disgrace, because you have given your sisters reason to justify their behavior.  Because the sins you have committed were more abominable than those of your sisters; they have become more righteous than you [Table].14  I will restore their fortunes, the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, and the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters [Table]…15

Like Samaria or Sodom, Paul wrote Gentile believers, that senseless nation16 chosen for salvation, Just as you were formerly disobedient to God, but have now received mercy due to [Israel’s] disobedience,17 because, by [Israel’s] transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make Israel jealous.18  The fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, and the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters will be restored (along with your [Jerusalem’s] fortunes among them) [Table], so that you may bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all you have done in consoling them [Table].  As for your sisters, Sodom and her daughters will be restored to their former status, Samaria and her daughters will be restored to their former status, and you and your daughters will be restored to your former status [Table].19

So, Paul continued, they [Israel] too have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy.20  I will deal with you according to what you have done when you despised your oath by breaking your covenant, the Lord said to Jerusalem through Ezekiel.  Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish a lasting covenant with you.21  I will establish my covenant with you, the Lord continued, and then you will know that I am the Lord.  Then you will remember, be ashamed, and remain silent when I make atonement for all you have done, declares the sovereign Lord.22

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! Paul continued.  How unsearchable are his judgments and how fathomless his ways!  For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?  Or who has first given to God, that God needs to repay him?  For from him and through him and to him are all things.  To him be glory forever!  Amen.23

It causes me to wonder.  I assume that all in—he may show mercy to…all24—refers to human beings, those born of Adam.  But if senseless Gentiles, chosen for salvation to make Israel jealous, reject the righteousness that comes by way of Christ’s faithfulness – a righteousness from God that is in fact based on Christ’s faithfulness to pursue their own righteousness derived25 from a select subset of the law and their own religious rules, will that open Christ’s salvation to demons and fallen angels?  Will senseless Gentiles be resurrected to bear [their] disgrace and be ashamed of all [they] have done in consoling demons and fallen angels?  Will the administration of the fullness of the times, to head up all things in Christ really mean all things? – the things in heaven as well as the things on earth26?

 

Addendum: March 25, 2026
Tables comparing Ezekiel 16:1; 16:2; 16:59; 16:60; 16:62 and 16:63 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and comparing the Greek of Ezekiel 16:1; 16:2; 16:59; 16:60; 16:62 and 16:63 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor), and a table comparing Luke 5:6 in the KJV and NET follow.

Ezekiel 16:1 (Tanakh)

Ezekiel 16:1 (KJV)

Ezekiel 16:1 (NET)
Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, The Lord’s message came to me:

Ezekiel 16:1 (Septuagint BLB)

Ezekiel 16:1 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐγένετο λόγος κυρίου πρός με λέγων ΚΑΙ ἐγένετο λόγος Κυρίου πρός με λέγων

Ezekiel 16:1 (NETS)

Ezekiel 16:1 (English Elpenor)
And a word of the Lord came to me, saying: Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

Ezekiel 16:2 (Tanakh)

Ezekiel 16:2 (KJV)

Ezekiel 16:2 (NET)
Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations, Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations, “Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her abominable practices

Ezekiel 16:2 (Septuagint BLB)

Ezekiel 16:2 (Septuagint Elpenor)
υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου διαμάρτυραι τῇ Ιερουσαλημ τὰς ἀνομίας αὐτῆς υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, διαμάρτυραι τῇ ῾Ιερουσαλὴμ τὰς ἀνομίας αὐτῆς

Ezekiel 16:2 (NETS)

Ezekiel 16:2 (English Elpenor)
Son of man, testify to Ierousalem about her lawless acts, Son of man, testify to Jerusalem [of] her iniquities;

Ezekiel 16:59 (Tanakh)

Ezekiel 16:59 (KJV)

Ezekiel 16:59 (NET)
For thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, which hast despised the oath in breaking the covenant. For thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, which hast despised the oath in breaking the covenant. “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will deal with you according to what you have done when you despised your oath by breaking your covenant.

Ezekiel 16:59 (Septuagint BLB)

Ezekiel 16:59 (Septuagint Elpenor)
τάδε λέγει κύριος καὶ ποιήσω ἐν σοὶ καθὼς ἐποίησας ὡς ἠτίμωσας ταῦτα τοῦ παραβῆναι τὴν διαθήκην μου τάδε λέγει Κύριος· καὶ ποιήσω ἐν σοὶ καθὼς ἐποίησας, ὡς ἠτίμωσας ταῦτα τοῦ παραβῆναι τὴν διαθήκην μου

Ezekiel 16:59 (NETS)

Ezekiel 16:59 (English Elpenor)
This is what the Lord says: And I will deal with you just as you have done, as you have dishonored these things so as to transgress my covenant. Thus saith the Lord; I will even do to thee as thou hast done, as thou hast dealt shamefully in these things to transgress my covenant.

Ezekiel 16:60 (Tanakh)

Ezekiel 16:60 (KJV)

Ezekiel 16:60 (NET)
Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant. Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant. Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish a lasting covenant with you.

Ezekiel 16:60 (Septuagint BLB)

Ezekiel 16:60 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ μνησθήσομαι ἐγὼ τῆς διαθήκης μου τῆς μετὰ σοῦ ἐν ἡμέραις νηπιότητός σου καὶ ἀναστήσω σοι διαθήκην αἰώνιον καὶ μνησθήσομαι ἐγὼ τῆς διαθήκης μου τῆς μετὰ σοῦ ἐν ἡμέραις νηπιότητός σου καὶ ἀναστήσω σοι διαθήκην αἰώνιον

Ezekiel 16:60 (NETS)

Ezekiel 16:60 (English Elpenor)
And I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your childhood, and I will establish with you an everlasting covenant. And I will remember my covenant [made] with thee in the days of thine infancy, and I will establish to thee an everlasting covenant.

Ezekiel 16:62 (Tanakh)

Ezekiel 16:62 (KJV)

Ezekiel 16:62 (NET)
And I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD: And I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD: I will establish my covenant with you, and then you will know that I am the Lord.

Ezekiel 16:62 (Septuagint BLB)

Ezekiel 16:62 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἀναστήσω ἐγὼ τὴν διαθήκην μου μετὰ σοῦ καὶ ἐπιγνώσῃ ὅτι ἐγὼ κύριος καὶ ἀναστήσω ἐγὼ τὴν διαθήκην μου μετὰ σοῦ, καὶ ἐπιγνώσῃ ὅτι ἐγὼ Κύριος

Ezekiel 16:62 (NETS)

Ezekiel 16:62 (English Elpenor)
And I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall recognize that I am the Lord And I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord:

Ezekiel 16:63 (Tanakh)

Ezekiel 16:63 (KJV)

Ezekiel 16:63 (NET)
That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord GOD. That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord GOD. Then you will remember, be ashamed, and remain silent because of your disgrace when I make atonement for all you have done, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”

Ezekiel 16:63 (Septuagint BLB)

Ezekiel 16:63 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ὅπως μνησθῇς καὶ αἰσχυνθῇς καὶ μὴ ᾖ σοι ἔτι ἀνοῖξαι τὸ στόμα σου ἀπὸ προσώπου τῆς ἀτιμίας σου ἐν τῷ ἐξιλάσκεσθαί μέ σοι κατὰ πάντα ὅσα ἐποίησας λέγει κύριος ὅπως μνησθῇς καὶ αἰσχυνθῆς, καὶ μὴ ᾖ σοι ἔτι ἀνοῖξαι τὸ στόμα σου ἀπὸ προσώπου τῆς ἀτιμίας σου ἐν τῷ ἐξιλάσκεσθαί μέ σοι κατὰ πάντα, ὅσα ἐποίησας, λέγει Κύριος

Ezekiel 16:63 (NETS)

Ezekiel 16:63 (English Elpenor)
in order that you shall remember and be ashamed and it be impossible for you any longer to open your mouth from before your dishonor, when I am appeased with you for everything that you have done, says the Lord. that thou mayest remember, and be ashamed, and mayest no more be able to open thy mouth for thy shame, when I am reconciled to thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord.

Luke 5:6 (NET)

Luke 5:6 (KJV)
When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets started to tear. And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.

Luke 5:6 (NET Parallel Greek)

Luke 5:6 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Luke 5:6 (Byzantine Majority Text)
καὶ τοῦτο ποιήσαντες συνέκλεισαν πλῆθος ἰχθύων πολύ, διερρήσσετο δὲ τὰ δίκτυα αὐτῶν και τουτο ποιησαντες συνεκλεισαν ιχθυων πληθος πολυ διερρηγνυτο δε το δικτυον αυτων και τουτο ποιησαντες συνεκλεισαν πληθος ιχθυων πολυ διερρηγνυτο δε το δικτυον αυτων

1 Romans 11:1a (NET)

2 Romans 9:3 (NET) Table

3 Romans 11:28, 29 (NET)

4 Romans 11:30-32 (NET)

6 Galatians 3:22 (NET)

7 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had the plural τὰ δίκτυα here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had the singular το δικτυον (KJV: net).

8 Luke 5:6 (NET) The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had διερρήσσετο here, a form of διαρρήγνυμι, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had διερρηγνυτο (KJV: brake). These seem to be alternate spellings of the same part of speech.

9 Romans 11:32a (NET)

10 Psalm 46:10a (NET) Table

11 Romans 11:32 (NET)

12 Ezekiel 16:1, 2 (NET)

13 Ezekiel 16:45b-48 (NET)

14 Ezekiel 16:51b, 52a (NET)

15 Ezekiel 16:53a (NET)

16 Romans 10:19 (NET) Table Quotation Table

17 Romans 11:30 (NET) Table

18 Romans 11:11b (NET)

19 Ezekiel 16:53-55 (NET)

20 Romans 11:31 (NET) Table

21 Ezekiel 16:59, 60 (NET)

22 Ezekiel 16:62, 63 (NET)

23 Romans 11:33-36 (NET)

24 Romans 11:32b (NET)

25 Philippians 3:9 (NET)

26 Ephesians 1:10 (NET) Table

Antichrist, Part 2

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Before I could write about Lars von Trier’s movie, I had to return to what John the Apostle had to say about antichrist (ἀντίχριστος).  1 John 2:3-6 served as a preface and point of departure for that study.

Now by this we know that we have come to know God: if we keep his commandments.  The one who says1 “I have come to know God” and yet does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in such a person.  But whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love (ἀγάπη) of God has been perfected (τετελείωται, a form of τελειόω).2

In other words God’s ἀγάπη, when it is perfected, empowers me to keep his commandments.  For this is the love (ἀγάπη) of God: that we keep his commandments, John penned later in the same letter.  And his commandments do not weigh us down, because everyone who has been fathered by God conquers the world.3  Or as Paul said, ἀγάπη is the fulfillment of the law,4 and, the one bringing forth in you both the desire (θέλειν, a form of θέλω) and the effort – for the sake of his good pleasure – is God.5

God’s ἀγάπη is perfected in me by faith: we have come to know and to believe the love (ἀγάπην, another form of ἀγάπη) that God has in us.  God is love (ἀγάπη), and the one who resides in love (ἀγάπη) resides in God, and God resides6 in him [Table].  By this love (ἀγάπη) is perfected (τετελείωται, a form of τελειόω) with us…7  Not only the ἀγάπη but the faith was supplied by God—But the fruit of the Spirit is love (ἀγάπη), joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness (πίστις)8—if I had but gotten out of his way.  My religious mind stumbled over John’s statement, The one who says “I have come to know God” and yet does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in such a person.9

I thought I could avoid the stigma of being called a liar and prove myself true by obeying—first the law then Paul’s definition of love—in my own strength.  I set aside God’s grace, because if righteousness could come through the law, then Christ died for nothing!10  A note in the NET on the phrase love of God (1 John 5:3 NET), reads: “Once again the genitive could be understood as (1) objective, (2) subjective, or (3) both.  Here an objective sense is more likely (believers’ love for God) because in the previous verse it is clear that God is the object of believers’ love.”  What is far more obvious to me now is that my love for God was not sufficient to keep his commandments, and all my efforts to do so did weigh [me] down, when compared to being buoyed up by the fruit of his Spirit.

Still, I had received the desire (θέλειν) to keep his commandments, though God’s love was not yet perfected in me.  For I want (θέλειν) to do the good, Paul lamented in Romans, but I cannot do it.11  My friends’ desires, on the other hand, did not suddenly change.  And nothing I said mattered to them.  Their ongoing sinful behavior tormented me.  Why don’t they see? I wondered.

Lord, they themselves know that I imprisoned and beat those in the various synagogues who believed in you,12 Paul replied when the Lord had said to him, Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.13  And when the blood of your witness Stephen was shed, Paul continued, I myself was standing nearby, approving, and guarding the cloaks of those who were killing him.14  It seemed to me that since someone like I was had changed (repented) that everyone should change.  By this we know that we are in him, John wrote.  The one who says he resides in God ought (ὀφείλει, a form of ὀφείλω) himself to walk just as Jesus walked.15

There is nothing wrong with translating ὀφείλει ought:  “We have a law, and according to our law he ought (ὀφείλει, a form of ὀφείλω) to die, because he claimed to be the Son of God!”16 religious leaders said of Jesus.  But with my predilection for proving myself—“what I could do for God”—I need to remember that to owe is the primary meaning of ὀφείλει:  Now if [Onesimus] has defrauded you of anything, Paul wrote Philemon, or owes (ὀφείλει, a form of ὀφείλω) you anything, charge17 what he owes to me.18  My religious mind has used ought to turn John’s statement on its head.  I have believed that anything but absolute conformity on my part to walk just as Jesus walked is proof that I am not in him and do not reside in God, despite the fact that a sense of obligation, that I owe this to Him, has been with me since I believed.  My friends did not think they owed this to God, or anyone else, simply because I began to believe.

Children, it is the last hour, John wrote, and just as you heard that the antichrist (ἀντίχριστος) is coming, so now many antichrists (ἀντίχριστοι, a form of ἀντίχριστος) have appeared.  We know from this that it is the last hour.  They went out (ἐξῆλθαν, a form of ἐξέρχομαι) from us, but they did not really belong to us, because if they had belonged to us, they would have remained (μεμενήκεισαν, a form of μένω) with us.  But they went out from us to demonstrate that all of them do not belong to us.19  And I think 1 John 2:3-6 has more to do with the antichrists’ point of departure—They went out from us—than any geographical or institutional location.

To sense the obligation to walk just as Jesus walked while being imperfect in God’s love is a state of dynamic tension.  Though I didn’t realize it at the time, seeking to obey the law or Paul’s definition of love in my own strength was a way to ease that tension.  After all, no one, not even Jesus, could expect me to be as perfect as He is in my own strength.  I was completely aware that I was easing that tension when I deliberately abandoned my obligation to walk just as Jesus walked because “it didn’t matter what I did, because I was forgiven and because I was not under law but under grace” (as some of my new friends interpreted and preached the Apostle Paul).

Still, He always brought me back from the latter excursions:  Now as for you, John wrote, the anointing that you received from him resides (μένει, another form of μένω) in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you.  But as his anointing teaches you about all things, it is true and is not a lie.  Just as it has taught you, you reside (μένετε, another form of μένω) in him.20  If you love me, Jesus said, you will obey (τηρήσετε, a form of τηρέω) my commandments.  Then I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you forever – the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it does not see him or know him.  But you know him, because he resides (μένει) with you and will be in (ἐν) you [Table].21

The former excursions (though less like excursions and more like my lifestyle) were a bit more intractable.  After all, wasn’t God pleased by my noble efforts to keep the law or Paul’s definition of love?   Who is the liar, John wrote, but the person who denies that Jesus is the Christ?  This one is the antichrist: the person who denies the Father and the Son.  Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father either.  The person who confesses the Son has the Father also [Table].22

I didn’t deny Jesus with my mouth.  I honored Him with my lips.  But in my heart I rejected the righteousness that comes by way of Christ’s faithfulness in favor of my own righteousness derived from the law23 or Paul’s definition of ἀγάπη.  I was certainly hearing some of the things I’ve written about here.  I did attempt from time to time to trust Him with MY righteousness.  It wasn’t that I was better somehow at it than He was.  It was that I demanded 100% compliance from Him (e.g., from me when He was in charge) but I was much more lenient with myself when I took control.

Dear friends, John continued, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to determine if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.  By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses Jesus as the Christ who has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God, and this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and now is already in the world [Table].24  For me now this means more than paying lip service to Jesus.  Does the spirit encourage me to trust God’s credited righteousness, to rely on the fruit of his Spirit?  Or does the spirit encourage me to turn back to my own ways, striving in my own strength to keep his commandments?

Again John wrote of antichrist: But now I ask you, lady (not as if I were writing a new commandment to you, but the one we have had from the beginning), that we love one another [Table].  (Now this is love: that we walk according to his commandments.)  This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning; thus you should walk in it.  For many deceivers have gone out into the world, people who do not confess Jesus as Christ coming in the flesh.  This person is the deceiver and the antichrist! [Table]  Watch out, so that you do not lose25 the things we have worked for, but receive26 a full reward.27

John wrote his own ode to the love that fulfills the law (1 John 4:7-19 NET).

Dear friends, let us love (ἀγαπῶμεν, a form of ἀγαπάω) one another, because love (ἀγάπη) is from God, and everyone who loves (ἀγαπῶν, another form of ἀγαπάω) has been fathered by God and knows God.  The person who does not love (ἀγαπῶν, another form of ἀγαπάω) does not know God, because God is love (ἀγάπη).  By this the love (ἀγάπη) of God is revealed in us: that God has sent his one and only Son into the world so that we may live through him.  In this is love (ἀγάπη): not that we have loved28 (ἠγαπήκαμεν, another form of ἀγαπάω) God, but that he loved (ἠγάπησεν, another form of ἀγαπάω) us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Dear friends, if God so loved (ἠγάπησεν, another form of ἀγαπάω) us, then we also ought (ὀφείλομεν, another form of ὀφείλω) to love (ἀγαπᾶν, another form of ἀγαπάω) one another.  No one has seen God at any time.  If we love (ἀγαπῶμεν, another form of ἀγαπάω) one another, God resides in us, and his love (ἀγάπη) is perfected (τετελειωμένη, another form of τελειόω) in us.  By this we know that we reside in God and he in us: in that he has given us of his Spirit.  And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.

If anyone29 confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God resides in him and he in God.  And we have come to know and to believe the love (ἀγάπην, another form of ἀγάπη) that God has in us.  God is love (ἀγάπη), and the one who resides in love (ἀγάπη) resides in God, and God resides in him [Table].  By this love (ἀγάπη) is perfected (τετελείωται) with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because just as Jesus is, so also are we in this world.  There is no fear in love (ἀγάπη), but perfect (τελεία, a form of τέλειος) love (ἀγάπη) drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.  The one who fears punishment has not been perfected (τετελείωται) in love (ἀγάπη).  We love (ἀγαπῶμεν, another form of ἀγαπάω) because he loved (ἠγάπησεν, another form of ἀγαπάω) us first [Table].

Though Paul didn’t use the word antichrist he described a similar phenomenon of a religious person in whom God’s love is not perfected (1 Corinthians 13:1-3 NET).

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

The meaning (in words) of ἀγάπη does not come from an understanding of a word in the Greek language, but from the following (1 Corinthians 13:4-13 NET):

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

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

 

Addendum: March 12, 2026
Tables comparing 1 John 2:4; 5:4; Philemon 1:18; 2 John 1:8; 1 John 4:10 and 4:15 in the KJV and NET follow.

1 John 2:4 (NET)

1 John 2:4 (KJV)
The one who says “I have come to know God” and yet does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in such a person. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

1 John 2:4 (NET Parallel Greek)

1 John 2:4 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

1 John 2:4 (Byzantine Majority Text)
ὁ λέγων ὅτι ἔγνωκα αὐτόν καὶ τὰς ἐντολὰς αὐτοῦ μὴ τηρῶν, ψεύστης ἐστίν καὶ ἐν τούτῳ ἡ ἀλήθεια οὐκ ἔστιν ο λεγων εγνωκα αυτον και τας εντολας αυτου μη τηρων ψευστης εστιν και εν τουτω η αληθεια ουκ εστιν ο λεγων εγνωκα αυτον και τας εντολας αυτου μη τηρων ψευστης εστιν και εν τουτω η αληθεια ουκ εστιν

1 John 5:4 (NET)

1 John 5:4 (KJV)
because everyone who has been fathered by God conquers the world. This is the conquering power that has conquered the world: our faith. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

1 John 5:4 (NET Parallel Greek)

1 John 5:4 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

1 John 5:4 (Byzantine Majority Text)
ὅτι πᾶν τὸ γεγεννημένον ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ νικᾷ τὸν κόσμον· καὶ αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ νίκη ἡ νικήσασα τὸν κόσμον, ἡ πίστις ἡμῶν οτι παν το γεγεννημενον εκ του θεου νικα τον κοσμον και αυτη εστιν η νικη η νικησασα τον κοσμον η πιστις ημων οτι παν το γεγεννημενον εκ του θεου νικα τον κοσμον και αυτη εστιν η νικη η νικησασα τον κοσμον η πιστις υμων

Philemon 1:18 (NET)

Philemon 1:18 (KJV)
Now if he has defrauded you of anything or owes you anything, charge what he owes to me. If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee ought, put that on mine account;

Philemon 1:18 (NET Parallel Greek)

Philemon 1:18 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Philemon 1:18 (Byzantine Majority Text)
εἰ δέ τι ἠδίκησεν σε ἢ ὀφείλει, τοῦτο ἐμοὶ ἐλλόγα ει δε τι ηδικησεν σε η οφειλει τουτο εμοι ελλογει ει δε τι ηδικησεν σε η οφειλει τουτο εμοι ελλογει

2 John 1:8 (NET)

2 John 1:8 (KJV)
Watch out, so that you do not lose the things we have worked for, but receive a full reward. Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.

2 John 1:8 (NET Parallel Greek)

2 John 1:8 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

2 John 1:8 (Byzantine Majority Text)
βλέπετε ἑαυτούς, ἵνα μὴ ἀπολέσητε ἃ εἰργασάμεθα ἀλλὰ μισθὸν πλήρη ἀπολάβητε βλεπετε εαυτους ινα μη απολεσωμεν α ειργασαμεθα αλλα μισθον πληρη απολαβωμεν βλεπετε εαυτους ινα μη απολεσωμεν α ειργασαμεθα αλλα μισθον πληρη απολαβωμεν

1 John 4:10 (NET)

1 John 4:10 (KJV)
In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

1 John 4:10 (NET Parallel Greek)

1 John 4:10 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

1 John 4:10 (Byzantine Majority Text)
ἐν τούτῳ ἐστὶν ἡ ἀγάπη, οὐχ ὅτι ἡμεῖς ἠγαπήκαμεν τὸν θεὸν ἀλλ᾿ ὅτι αὐτὸς ἠγάπησεν ἡμᾶς καὶ ἀπέστειλεν τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ ἱλασμὸν περὶ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν εν τουτω εστιν η αγαπη ουχ οτι ημεις ηγαπησαμεν τον θεον αλλ οτι αυτος ηγαπησεν ημας και απεστειλεν τον υιον αυτου ιλασμον περι των αμαρτιων ημων εν τουτω εστιν η αγαπη ουχ οτι ημεις ηγαπησαμεν τον θεον αλλ οτι αυτος ηγαπησεν ημας και απεστειλεν τον υιον αυτου ιλασμον περι των αμαρτιων ημων

1 John 4:15 (NET)

1 John 4:15 (KJV)
If anyone confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God resides in him and he in God. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.

1 John 4:15 (NET Parallel Greek)

1 John 4:15 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

1 John 4:15 (Byzantine Majority Text)
Ὂς ἐὰν ὁμολογήσῃ ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἐστιν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ, ὁ θεὸς ἐν αὐτῷ μένει καὶ αὐτὸς ἐν τῷ θεῷ ος αν ομολογηση οτι ιησους εστιν ο υιος του θεου ο θεος εν αυτω μενει και αυτος εν τω θεω ος αν ομολογηση οτι ιησους εστιν ο υιος του θεου ο θεος εν αυτω μενει και αυτος εν τω θεω

1 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ὅτι (“that,” not translated in the NET) after says. The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

2 1 John 2:3-5a (NET)

3 1 John 5:3, 4a (NET)

4 Romans 13:10b (NET)

5 Philippians 2:13 (NET) Table

7 1 John 4:16-18a (NET)

8 Galatians 5:22 (NET)

9 1 John 2:4 (NET)

10 Galatians 2:21 (NET)

11 Romans 7:18b (NET) Table

12 Acts 22:19 (NET)

13 Acts 22:18 (NET) Table

14 Acts 22:20 (NET) Table

15 1 John 2:5b, 6 (NET)

16 John 19:7 (NET)

17 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ἐλλόγα here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ελλογει (KJV: put…on…account). Both are 2nd person singular forms of ἐλλογέω in the present tense, active voice, and imperative mood.

18 Philemon 1:18 (NET)

19 1 John 2:18, 19 (NET) Table

20 1 John 2:27 (NET) Table

21 John 14:15-17 (NET)

22 1 John 2:22, 23 (NET)

23 Philippians 3:9 (NET)

24 1 John 4:1-3 (NET)

25 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ἀπολέσητε here, a 2nd person plural form of ἀπόλλυμι, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had απολεσωμεν (KJV: we lose), a 1st person plural form.

26 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ἀπολάβητε here, a 2nd person plural form of ἀπολαμβάνω, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had απολαβωμεν (KJV: we receive), a 1st person plural form.

27 2 John 1:5-8 (NET)

29 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had Ὂς ἐὰν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ος αν (KJV: Whosoever).