This is a continuation of my notes on 3 John for the preaching class I’m taking. One feature of a sermon introduction is to “establish the context of the passage.” I have my own sketchy ideas about the historical context of 3 John, but would prefer to “establish the context” from John’s writings instead (Revelation 19:11-16 ESV).

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God [Table]. And the armies¹ of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on² white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury³ of the wrath of God the Almighty [Table]. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name⁴ written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

The Greek is: Καὶ εἶδον τὸν οὐρανὸν ἠνεῳγμένον, Then I saw heaven opened, καὶ ἰδοὺ ἵππος λευκός, and behold, a white horse! καὶ ὁ καθήμενος ἐπ᾿ αὐτὸν, The one sitting on it (literally “and the one sitting on him”), [καλούμενος] |πιστὸς| καὶ ἀληθινός, is called Faithful and True (or “is called faithful and truthful”), καὶ ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ κρίνει, and in righteousness he judges (or “and by means of righteousness He judges”), καὶ πολεμεῖ, and makes war; οἱ δὲ ὀφθαλμοὶ αὐτοῦ [ὡς] φλὸξ πυρός, His eyes like a flame of fire, καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ διαδήματα πολλά, and on his head many diadems, ἔχων ὄνομα γεγραμμένον ὃ οὐδεὶς οἶδεν εἰ μὴ αὐτός, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself (or “having a name written that no one has seen except himself”).

The Greek verb translated knows was οἶδεν, a form of εἴδω in the perfect tense, rather than ἔγνωκε(ν), a form of γινώσκω. It feels like a deliberate word choice to accentuate the more visual aspect of knowing inherent in εἴδω. John’s vision continued: καὶ περιβεβλημένος ἱμάτιον |βεβαμμένον| αἵματι, He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, καὶ κέκληται τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ, and the name by which he is called is (or “and He was named his name”), ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ, The Word of God.

The ESV translators understood τὸ ὄνομα in the nominative case as the subject of the clause. In my alternative version I understood it as the direct object in the accusative case. The difference seems inconsequential to me. The received texts had καλειται, a middle/passive form of καλέω in the present tense, where the critical text had κέκληται in the perfect tense. It is difficult to determine which verb the ESV translators encountered (ESV: he is called) since they also translated περιβεβλημένος, a participle of περιβάλλω (also in the perfect tense) He is clothed, along with οἶδεν, translated knows. But again, the difference seems inconsequential.

The basic thought of the perfect tense is that the progress of an action has been completed and the results of the action are continuing on, in full effect. In other words, the progress of the action has reached its culmination and the finished results are now in existence. Unlike the English perfect, which indicates a completed past action, the Greek perfect tense indicates the continuation and present state of a completed past action.⁵

Understanding καὶ κέκληται τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ as “and He was named his name” leads me to suspect that ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ (The Word of God) was the “name written that no one has seen (or ‘known’) except himself.” For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, Jesus promised, nor is anything secret that will not⁶ be known⁷ and come to light.⁸

By comparing occurrences of λόγος to occurrences of θεοῦ I found eleven other examples (see Table below) of the phrase ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ (the word of God) in the New Testament. None of them seem to be a personal name, with the possible exception of another example penned by John (1 John 2:14 ESV).

I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God (ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ) abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

Even if John alluded to Jesus abiding with the young men through his indwelling Holy Spirit, it would not exclude Jesus’ teaching or the written word of God. By comparing occurrences of λόγος to occurrences of θεοῦ in the Septuagint, I found one example of λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ in the Greek translation of the Old Testament.

This was unusual. The Hebrew phrase was usually translated λόγος κυρίου (see Table below). The NET translation, the Lord’s message, though not as literal as the word of the Lord, is fairly accurate. The name ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ (The Word of God) is revealed for the first time in:

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John…⁹

John described Jesus in the majestic opening of his Gospel narrative in the light of this revelation of his name: The Word of God (John 1:1-5 ESV):

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

The Greek is: Ἐν ἀρχῇ, In the beginning, ἦν ὁ λόγος, was the Word, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, and the Word was with God, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος, and the Word was God (or “and God was the Word); οὗτος ἦν ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν θεόν, He was in the beginning with God (or “this was in the beginning with God,” e.g., “this is the way it was in the beginning with God”); πάντα δι᾿ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, All through him were made, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἕν ὃ γέγονεν, and without him was not any thing made that was made (or “and without Him was made nothing which existed and continues to exist”); ἐν αὐτῷ ζωὴ ἦν, In him was life (or “by means of Him life was”), καὶ ἡ ζωὴ ἦν τὸ φῶς τῶν ἀνθρώπων, and the life was the light of men (or “and that life was the light of the human beings”); καὶ τὸ φῶς ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ φαίνει, The light shines in the darkness (or “and the light to the darkness gives light” or “and the light gives light to the darkness”), καὶ ἡ σκοτία αὐτὸ οὐ κατέλαβεν, and the darkness has not overcome it (or “and that darkness has not grasped it with the mind”).

As Jesus said (John 6:44a ESV):

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him [Table].

The revelation of Jesus Christ continued: Καὶ τὰ στρατεύματα, And the armies, [τὰ] ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἠκολούθει αὐτῷ ἐφ᾿ ἵπποις λευκοῖς, of heaven were following him on white horses (or “those who by means of heaven had followed continually after by means of Him on white horses”), ἐνδεδυμένοι βύσσινον λευκὸν καθαρόν, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure (or, “were clothed in pure white fine linen” or “had clothed themselves in pure white fine linen”); καὶ ἐκ τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ, From his mouth (or “and out of his mouth”), ἐκπορεύεται ρομφαία ὀξεῖα, comes a sharp sword, ἵνα ἐν αὐτῇ πατάξῃ τὰ ἔθνη, with which to strike down the nations (or “in order that by means of it He may strike the nations”), καὶ αὐτὸς ποιμανεῖ αὐτοὺς ἐν ράβδῳ σιδηρᾷ, and he will rule them with a rod of iron (or “and He will shepherd them by means of a rod of iron”).

The difference between he will rule, αὐτὸς ποιμανεῖ, and “He will shepherd” is a matter of connotation only:

I’ll take the time here to consider the five occurrences of ποιμανεῖ, a form of ποιμαίνω, in the Septuagint.

Four of the five occurrences of ποιμανεῖ were translations of forms of רָעָה (rāʿâ), which occurs first in Moses’ description of Abel: Now Abel was a keeper (rāʿâ, רֹ֣עֵה) of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground.¹⁰ The fifth was a translation of a form of נָהַג (nāhaḡ), an allied word which first occurs in the beginning of the account of Jacob’s return journey to Canaan: He drove away (nāhaḡ, וַיִּנְהַ֣ג) all his livestock, all his property that he had gained, the livestock in his possession that he had acquired in Paddan-aram, to go to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac.¹¹

According to a note (41) in the NET, he will rule them with a rod of iron¹² is a quotation from Psalm 2:9 (see Table below).

In the Septuagint תְּרֹעֵֽם (rāʿaʿ) was translated ποιμανεῖς, another form of ποιμαίνω. There are no occurrences of ποιμανεῖς in the New Testament. There are two other occurrences in the Septuagint.

Here, two of three occurrences of ποιμανεῖς were translations of forms of רָעָה (rāʿâ), but the third is an outlier: The first occurrence of a form of רָעַע (rāʿaʿ)—Thou shalt break (תְּרֹעֵֽם, Tanakh, KJV), You will break (תרעם, NET)—occurs in Lot’s entreaty to the men of Sodom threatening to break down his door (Genesis 19:7 ESV).

…and [Lot] said, “I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly (rāʿaʿ, תָּרֵֽעוּ).

For any who has ears to hear, the Greek translator’s choice of ποιμανεῖς, a 2^nd person singular form of ποιμαίνω, in Psalm 2:9 and John’s and the Holy Spirit’s choice of ποιμανεῖ, a 3^rd person singular form, in Revelation 19:15 are at least three witnesses that either תְּרֹעֵֽם or its parse as a form of רָעַע (rāʿaʿ) was not original to the Hebrew text of Psalm 2:9.

An excerpt from Jewish Concepts: Masoretic Text on Jewish Virtual Library online describing the Masoretic text follows:

The Torah texts that we read today are believed by some to be the same as those given to Moses and the people of Israel by God. It is believed by scholars that the word of God and history of the Jewish people was imprinted on the minds of the Israelites at Mount Sinai. Over the years as tradition was orally passed on and eventually written down, many disparities of the Torah emerged as countless scribes wrote numerous scrolls.
After being exiled from Israel, and as the Jewish Diaspora grew more widespread across the World, many Jews understood the importance of creating a single text of the Torah. This uniformity would enable the consistency of the Jewish faith outside the land of Israel. Specific scholars and scribes were chosen for this task, these men were called Masoretes. Masoretes derives its name from the word “masorah” meaning “tradition;” their ultimate goal was to uphold the traditions of the Jewish people. The Masoretes had to decipher the authentic word of God and eliminate the dissimilarities…
In 930 C.E. Aaron ben Moses ben Asher produced the first complete Bible, called the Aleppo Codex, utilizing masoretic symbols and ordering. For several centuries, various Masoretes continued to influence the pronunciation and writing of the text. However, the first “official” Bible text that is still used today was the Great Rabbinic Bible, published in 1524-1525 by Daniel Bomberg (a Christian in Venice).

Though negative evidence is more time consuming to acquire—scrutinizing all 102 occurrences of forms of רָעַע (rāʿaʿ) in both the Hebrew of the Masoretic text and the Greek of the Septuagint (which I didn’t do)—I did search for ποιμαίνω and all its forms listed in the Koine Greek Lexicon online in the BLB Septuagint, and compared those results against the results listed for רָעַע (rāʿaʿ) on Blue Letter Bible online. I got no other matches. In other words, it doesn’t appear likely that any of the other occurrences of forms of רָעַע (rāʿaʿ) in the Masoretic text were translated with forms of ποιμαίνω in the Septuagint.

The nearest proximity I recognized from those searches was in Psalm 37:1-3, a contrast which is probably worth pursuing here.

A note (5) in the NET reads:

Heb “tend integrity.” The verb רָעָה (raʿah, “tend, shepherd”) is probably used here in the sense of “watch over, guard.” The noun אֱמוּנָה (ʾemunah, “faithfulness, honesty, integrity”) is understood as the direct object of the verb, though it could be taken as an adverbial accusative, “[feed] securely,” if the audience is likened to a flock of sheep.

Somehow it makes perfect sense to me that the NET translators would turn a promise into a work. It’s what I love about the NET. The translators are my contemporaries, who grew up in the same religious milieu, and translated the Bible accordingly.¹³ They keep me from feeling absolutely insane. Perhaps I should rephrase that to say, they keep me from feeling absolutely alone in my insanity. They confirm that I had some company and encouragement in it along the way.

For comparison, The Complete Jewish Bible on chabad.org reads (Psalm 37:3 CJB):

Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and be nourished by faith.

My Hebrew isn’t good enough to comment on this as translation, but it’s excellent expository preaching. Rashi’s commentary on Psalm 37:3 follows:

Trust in the Lord. and do not say, “If I do not rob and steal,” or “If I give charity to a poor man, how will I sustain myself?”

and do good. Then you will dwell in the land for a long time.

and be nourished by faith. You will eat and be sustained from the reward of [your] faith, that you believed in the Holy One, blessed be He, to rely on Him and do good.

It’s not too difficult to appreciate why Masoretes, as champions of Jewish traditions, might want to read תְּרֹעֵֽם in Psalm 2:9 (or whatever word was in the original text) as a form of רָעַע (rāʿaʿ) rather than as a form of רָעָה (rāʿâ).

Israel, including the Masoretes, lived through the fulfillment of Joshua’s prophecy: Indeed ye will not be able to serve the Lord, for God is holy; and he being jealous will not forgive your sins and your transgressions;¹⁴ he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you…¹⁵ Could David prophesy anything less (or, more) concerning the heathen (Tanakh, KJV) or the nations (NET)—ג֖וֹיִם (gôy) in Hebrew in the Masoretic text—or nations (NETS) or the heathen (English Elpenor)—ἔθνη, a form of ἔθνος, in Greek in the Septuagint?

Psalm 2:7-9, along with Rashi’s commentary from The Complete Jewish Bible on chabad.org, follows:

I will tell of the decree; The Lord said to me, “You are My son; this day have I begotten you [Table].
I will tell of the decree. Said David, “This is an established decree, and [one] that I have received to tell this and to make known.”
The Lord said to me. through Nathan, Gad, and Samuel.
You are My son. The head over Israel, who are called “My firstborn son.” And they will endure through you, as is stated concerning Abner (II Sam. 3:18): “for God said, etc., ‘By the hand of My bondsman David shall I deliver… Israel.’” And for their sake, you are before Me as a son because they are all dependent upon you.
this day have I. for I have enthroned you over them.
begotten you. to be called My son and to be beloved to Me as a son for their sake, as it is stated (II Sam. 7:14) concerning Solomon: “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to Me a son.” We find further concerning David (Ps. 89:27) “He shall call Me, ‘You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’”
Request of Me, and I will make nations your inheritance, and the ends of the earth your possession.
Request of Me. Pray to Me whenever you come to battle your enemies.
You shall break them with an iron rod; like a potter’s vessel you shall shatter them.”
You shall break them. Heb. תרעם [like] תרוצצם.
with an iron rod. That is the sword.
you shall shatter them. Heb. תנפצם, you shall break them, and that is the expression of נפוץ throughout the Scriptures, a potsherd that is broken into fine pieces.

Understood as a promise of Israel’s military conquest of the heathen nations, תְּרֹעֵֽם (or whatever word was in the original text) in Psalm 2:9 could only be understood by the Masoretes as a form of רָעַע (rāʿaʿ, break), rather than as a form of רָעָה (rāʿâ, shepherd). But those of us heathen who recognize the benefit of the shepherding of the Lord Jesus Christ, the son of David, the One condemned as a blasphemer by the High Priest and the Council (Mark 14:55-65), crucified by the Romans (Mark 15:1-39) and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead,¹⁶ find it easier to see that the rabbis who translated the Septuagint had it right as a form of רָעָה (rāʿâ) all along.

In The Complete Jewish Bible on chabad.org, the book of Joshua (Ἰησοῦς in Greek in the Septuagint) is listed as the first book of the prophets. The response of the people to Joshua’s prophecy near the beginning of the old covenant is virtually identical to that of Peter and all the disciples when Jesus (Ἰησοῦς in Greek in the New Testament) revealed what was about to happen to them, according to the written word of God, near the end of the old covenant. I belabor this point of connotation between he will rule and “He will shepherd” in Revelation 19:15 because the connotations of the English words which translate the warlike imagery describing the absolute power and authority of the Lord in the revelation of Jesus Christ are offered as excuses to doubt, dispute or deny Jesus’ clear declaration of God’s judgment (John 12:31, 32 ESV).

Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.

The Greek is: νῦν κρίσις ἐστὶν, Now is the judgment (or “now judgment is”), τοῦ κόσμου τούτου, of this world; νῦν ὁ ἄρχων τοῦ κόσμου τούτου, now the ruler of this world, ἐκβληθήσεται ἔξω, will be cast out;¹⁷ καγὼ, And I, ἐὰν ὑψωθῶ ἐκ τῆς γῆς, when I am lifted up from the earth (or “if I am lifted up from the earth”¹⁸), πάντας ἑλκύσω πρὸς ἐμαυτόν, all “I” will draw to myself.

The revelation of Jesus Christ continued: καὶ αὐτὸς πατεῖ, He will tread (or “and He treads”), τὴν ληνὸν, the winepress, τοῦ οἴνου, “of the wine,” τοῦ θυμοῦ, of the fury, τῆς ὀργῆς, of the wrath, τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ παντοκράτορος, of God the Almighty; καὶ ἔχει, “and” he has, ἐπὶ τὸ ἱμάτιον καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν μηρὸν αὐτοῦ, On his robe and on his thigh, ὄνομα γεγραμμένον, a name written, Βασιλεὺς βασιλέων καὶ κύριος κυρίων, King of kings and Lord of lords.

Though The Word of God, King of kings and Lord of lords is never mentioned in John’s third letter, this vision of the omnipotent Lord Jesus Christ is ever present in the confidence the author exudes throughout.

According to a note (41) in the NET, Revelation 19:15 contains a quotation from Psalm 2:9. The following table compares the Greek of that quotation with that of the Septuagint.

Tables comparing Psalm 2:9; Jeremiah 1:2; Zechariah 11:11; Psalm 48:14; Isaiah 40:11; Jeremiah 22:22; Ezekiel 34:23; Micah 5:4; Genesis 4:2; 31:18; 2 Samuel 5:2; 1 Chronicles 11:2; Genesis 19:7; Psalm 37:1; 37:2; 37:3; Joshua 24:20; 24:21; 24:22; 24:23 and Psalm 2:8 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and comparing the Greek of Psalm 2:9; Jeremiah 1:2; Zechariah 11:11; Psalm 48:14 (47:15); Isaiah 40:11; Jeremiah 22:22; Ezekiel 34:23; Micah 5:4 (5:3); Genesis 4:2; 31:18; 2 Samuel (2 Reigns, 2 Kings) 5:2; 1 Chronicles (1 Supplements) 11:2; Genesis 19:7; Psalm 37:1 (36:1); 37:2 (36:2); 37:3 (36:3); Joshua 24:20; 24:21; 24:22; 24:23 and Psalm 2:8 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor), and tables comparing Revelation 19:14; 19:16 and Luke 8:17 in the KJV and NET follow.