A Shadow of the Good Things, Part 10

Posted on April 14, 2024 by admin

My mother told the following story about her firstborn son:

His father worked the evening shift. Perhaps it was the only shift the young man could get. Perhaps he did it deliberately to earn more per hour. She was alone with their infant son in the afternoon in an upstairs city apartment in summer heat. She put her firstborn in a stroller and pushed him up the street to a corner dairy for a chocolate milkshake.

As they sat in the shade outside the dairy, she offered her son his first taste of chocolate milkshake. He grabbed it from her and wouldn’t let go. There wasn’t money for another. She wasn’t at all certain her husband would agree that there had been money for the first one. So, the twenty-three-year-old mother did without while her son drank too much, too soon for one so small.

I’ve heard that story many times. The time I recall most now, I was telling it myself as my sister and I reminisced after Mom’s death. Like Scrooge pleading to “sponge away the writing on this stone,”¹ I tried vainly once again to repent of a deed done before I have any memory of doing it. My sister laughed and said, “She told that story because she thought it was funny. She loves you.”

I’ve reacted to that story many different ways at different times throughout my life. I don’t think it’s funny—not now. Though I don’t recall the event, I am all too familiar with that child. He is the sin that lives in me.² He is the evil…present with me when I want to do good.³ He is the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires.⁴ He is unrestrained will: “I want.”

Though I say “unrestrained,” he was constrained somewhat by his stroller and the shortened reach of his chubby little arms. Do you still think he is funny? If I shout it in German, “Ich will!” perhaps you can hear the very worst of Adolf Hitler incipient in that child’s lust, a child who wouldn’t even share a chocolate milkshake with his own mother. Grant him power and he will covet and steal; he will rape and murder; he will try to conquer the world, shrieking a damnable lie: I AM AND THERE IS NO OTHER! No one I know has caused more harm to me or the people I love. And there is no one I would rather see condemned to the lake of fire for all eternity.

In another essay I began to consider the substance or body which cast the shadow of the scape-goat (English Elpenor) or the [goat] to be sent off (NETS) in Leviticus 16:8 (KJV, Septuagint) [Table]. And in another essay I wrote:

Truthfully, my religious mind wants I am unspiritual, sold into slavery to sin (Romans 7:14b NET) to apply to the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires.³ My old man may well be the proximate cause of my unspirituality and slavery to sin, but Paul described an I, as I am seen here and now, that is comprised of both an old man and a new man who has been created in God’s image—in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth:⁴For I want to do the good, he wrote, but I cannot do it.⁵

My sister was right: my mother loved me even before I was “comprised of both an old man and a new man who has been created in God’s image.” She didn’t grab me by the ankles and bash my brains out on the hot pavement that day. The words the only true God spoke through Isaiah the prophet to Cyrus, another old man more powerful than mine, follow:

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Isaiah 45:4-8 (Tanakh/KJV)	Isaiah 45:4-8 (NET)	Isaiah 45:4-8 (NETS)	Isaiah 45:4-8 (English Elpenor)
For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect (בְּחִירִ֑י), I have even called thee [e.g., Cyrus] by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.	For the sake of my servant Jacob, Israel, my chosen one (bāḥîr, בחירי), I call you by name and give you a title of respect, even though you do not submit to me.	For the sake of my servant Iakob and Israel my chosen (τοῦ ἐκλεκτοῦ μου), I will call you by name and receive you, but you did not know me,	For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel mine elect (τοῦ ἐκλεκτοῦ μου), I will call thee by thy name, and accept thee: but thou hast not known me.
I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:	I am the Lord, I have no peer, there is no God but me. I arm you for battle, even though you do not recognize me.	because I am the Lord God, and there is no other god besides me, and you did not know me,	For I am the Lord God, and there is no other God beside me; I strengthened thee, and thou hast not known me.
That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.	I do this so people will recognize from east to west that there is no God but me; I am the Lord, I have no peer.	so that they who are from the rising of the sun and from its going down may know that there is no one besides me; I am the Lord God, and there is no other.	That they that [come] from the east and they that [come] from the west may know that there is no God but me. I am the Lord God, and there is none beside.
I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.	I am the one who forms light and creates darkness; the one who brings about peace and creates calamity. I am the Lord, who accomplishes all these things.	I am the one who has prepared light and made darkness, who makes peace and creates evils; I am the Lord who does all these things.	I am he that prepared light, and formed darkness; who make peace, and create evil; I am the Lord God, that does all these things.
Drop down, ye heavens, from above (מִמַּ֔עַל), and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it.	O sky, rain down from above (maʿal, ממעל)! Let the clouds send down showers of deliverance! Let the earth absorb it so salvation may grow and deliverance may sprout up along with it. I, the Lord, create it.’”	Let heaven rejoice from above (ἄνωθεν), and let the clouds shower down righteousness; let the earth bring forth mercy, and let it bring forth righteousness as well; I am the Lord who created you.	Let the heaven rejoice from above (ἄνωθεν), and let the clouds rain righteousness: let the earth bring forth, and blossom [with] mercy, and bring forth righteousness likewise: I am the Lord that created thee.

Though I was born evil incarnate,⁵ not yet born from above (γεννηθῆναι ἄνωθεν),⁶ that evil dwelt by the grace of God in a cute and cuddly package. Most women by the grace of God find that cute and cuddly infant package adorable and appealing. I was born by the grace of God through an intensely intimate process that made my birth and my existence uniquely special to my mother. And so, I lived, not by any virtue of my own, but by the grace of a loving God who gave me a mother who loved me and hoped for me and named me Daniel, that I would grow to stand alone, if necessary, with God.

I’m torn here because I want to get back to studying the Bible but I know my mother would argue with my assessment of myself. It seems obligatory to address how I fooled my mother a large portion, if not most, of the time. I think it boils down to the same thing that surprises me now about the direct honesty of that evil infant. I can only rationalize it as naive ignorance. My earliest memory of my own motivation was that I wanted my mother, my father, anyone, everyone really, to think well of me, to speak well of me. I would attempt to do almost anything to hear their praise.

Trying to please all the people all of the time to win their praise was exhausting and led directly to what some call defiance. My little brother began life with that strategy. It seemed stupid and annoying to me, a waste of time when one is weak and unarmed. If you can’t please all the people all of the time and you can’t kill all the people all of the time, one must compromise: compliance rather than defiance is that compromise.

I tried to the best of my ability to comply as much as I was able with the demands of those I couldn’t kill or intimidate. Compliance can seem like obedience, even righteousness, to those who look on external appearance only. Compliance, to optimize my experience of winning the praise of others, fooled me, too. I wasn’t subtle enough to imagine any righteousness beyond compliance.

Jesus saying, Woe to you⁷ when all people speak well of you, for their ancestors did the same things⁸ to the false prophets,⁹ was just word salad to me. But in the right circumstances at the right time and place I could nod and “yea, verily” with the best of them, without ever hearing Jesus’ aspersion on the meaning of my life. Eventually, I was so accustomed to my strategy of maximizing praise and minimizing being screamed at by the minimal level of compliance required, even when I tried to learn from the Bible I only heard what I expected to hear.

John wrote (1 John 5:16 NET):

If anyone sees his fellow Christian (τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ) committing a sin not resulting in death, he should ask, and God will grant life to the person who commits a sin not resulting in death. There is a sin resulting in death. I do not say that he should ask about that.

The fellow Christian John described here was also an I, as I am seen here and now, an I comprised of both an old man and a new man who has been created in God’s image—in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth.¹⁰ This I is not the same as everyone fathered by God (1 John 5:18 NET [Table]):

We know that everyone fathered by God does not sin, but God protects the one he has fathered, and the evil one (ὁ πονηρὸς) cannot touch him.

This I is the new man who has been created in God’s image—in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth.¹¹ The evil one cannot touch (οὐχ ἅπτεται) him. In other words, the old man and the new man are distinct, though both dwell together within John’s fellow Christian. The Greek word ἅπτεται (NET: touch) is a passive form of ἅπτω in the middle voice: “to fasten to, touch, grab, attach, cling; to reach, get as far as.” To my mind cannot implies οὐ δύναται in Greek: an inability, a lack of power. But this is οὐχ ἅπτεται, “does not touch.” The old man, the devil, evil does not touch the new man, period, end of statement.

Making God the subject of the clause—but God protects the one he has fathered—while not wrong exactly, is not what the Greek actually says. The subject of this clause is ὁ γεννηθεὶς (NET: the one he has fathered): “the one he has fathered protects him.” The NET translators didn’t distinguish¹² between the everyone fathered by God (πᾶς ὁ γεγεννημένος ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ) who does not sin (οὐχ ἁμαρτάνει) from the fellow Christian¹³ (τὸν ἀδελφὸν; literally, “the brother”) who does.

I assume that ὁ γεννηθεὶς (NET: the one he has fathered) refers to Jesus and his work on the cross in union with the new man who has been created in God’s image,¹⁴ while αὐτόν ¹⁵ (him) refers back to the singular πᾶς (NET: everyone) of everyone fathered by God.¹⁶

John made a similar distinction between his Dear friends (ἀγαπητοί, a form of ἀγαπητός) and the new man earlier in this same letter:

1 John 3:2 (NET)	1 John 3:6 (NET)
Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We¹⁷ know that whenever it is revealed we will be like him because we will see him just as he is.	Everyone who resides in him does not sin; everyone who sins has neither seen him nor known him.
1 John 3:2 (NET Parallel Greek)	1 John 3:6 (NET Parallel Greek)
ἀγαπητοί, νῦν τέκνα θεοῦ ἐσμεν, καὶ οὔπω ἐφανερώθη τί ἐσόμεθα. οἴδαμεν ὅτι ἐὰν φανερωθῇ, ὅμοιοι αὐτῷ ἐσόμεθα, ὅτι ὀψόμεθα αὐτὸν καθώς ἐστιν	πᾶς ὁ ἐν αὐτῷ μένων οὐχ ἁμαρτάνει· πᾶς ὁ ἁμαρτάνων οὐχ ἑώρακεν αὐτὸν οὐδὲ ἔγνωκεν αὐτόν

The NET translators chose whenever it is revealed for ἐὰν φανερωθῇ, where the KJV translators chose when he shall appear. Either way, we will be (ἐσόμεθα, a form of εἰμί) like him (i.e., like God, NET or like Jesus, KJV) at some future time because we will see (ὀψόμεθα, a form of ὁράω) him just as he is.¹⁸ This likeness to God or Jesus should, at a minimum, entail not sinning. And John confirmed that everyone who sins has neither seen (ἑώρακεν, another from of ὁράω) him nor known (ἔγνωκεν, a form of γινώσκω) him.¹⁹

Paul echoed and clarified this concept for John’s Dear friends (1 Corinthians 13:12 NET):

For now we see (βλέπομεν, a form of βλέπω) in a mirror indirectly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know (γινώσκω) in part, but then I will know fully (ἐπιγνώσομαι, a form of ἐπιγινώσκω), just as I have been fully known (ἐπεγνώσθην, another form of ἐπιγινώσκω).

This leads to the conclusion that John’s more absolute—has neither seen him nor known him—denoted everyone who sins (πᾶς ὁ ἁμαρτάνων) as the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires.²⁰ Conversely, Everyone who resides in him does not sin, refers to the new man who has been created in God’s image—in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth.²¹

So, returning to the evil one (ὁ πονηρὸς) cannot touch (οὐχ ἅπτεται) him (αὐτοῦ):²² the NET translators apparently understood αὐτοῦ as a personal pronoun in the genitive case. I am more inclined to understand αὐτοῦ as an adverb: “the evil one does not touch here,” or “there.” In other words, John described the new man as a holy place where God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit meets with the new man who has been created in God’s image—in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth as One.

I have lived as the old man, bereft of the new man. I am living as the new man, frustrated at times by that old man. I hope to live as the new man, separated entirely from the old man. When I began to consider the final judgment as a potential deadline for Jesus to have drawn all to Himself, I thought it was mostly for my convenience.

I have no authority or standing to tell Jesus that He can draw no one to Himself afterward, but final judgment is like an event horizon I have difficulty seeing beyond. While I am aware of no Christian theology which addresses Jesus’ drawing of all to Himself, or the impact of that drawing on the judgment of this world and the ruler of this world being driven out, I can’t now go back and pretend that I don’t hear Him saying (John 12:31, 32 NET):

Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when (ἐὰν) I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all²³…to myself.

Considering the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires,²⁴ the sin that lives in me,²⁵ as that which cast the shadow of the scape-goat (English Elpenor) or the [goat] to be sent off (NETS) in Leviticus 16:8 (KJV, Septuagint) [Table] adds an interesting line of evidence to that convenience of my choice. Rashi’s commentary to Leviticus 16:8 reads:

And Aaron shall place lots upon the two he-goats: He would place one [he-goat] on his right and one on his left. Then, he would insert both his hands into an urn [which contained two lots, one bearing the inscription “to the Lord” and the other “to Azazel.” These lots were mixed up, and Aaron, with both hands inside the urn] took one lot in his right hand and the other in his left hand, and he would place them upon them [the he-goats]: [The one] upon which [he placed the lot] with the inscription “to the Lord,” would be for God, while the one upon which [he placed the lot] with the inscription “to Azazel,” would be sent off to Azazel. — [Yoma 39a]

Azazel: This is a strong and hard mountain, [with] a high cliff, as the Scripture says [in describing Azazel] (verse 22 below),“a precipitous land (אֶרֶץ גְּזֵרָה),” meaning a cut-off land [i.e., a sheer drop]. — [Torath Kohanim 16:28; Yoma 67b]

Assuming that Rashi was reaching back into an actual institutional memory of this ceremony, Jesus seems to have alluded to it in his description of final judgment (Matthew 25:31-33 NET):

When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be assembled before him, and he will separate people (αὐτοὺς) one from another like a shepherd separates the sheep from (ἀπὸ) the goats [Table]. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

I’ll pick this up in another essay.

Tables comparing Isaiah 45:4; 45:5; 45:6; 45:7 and 45:8 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and tables comparing the Greek of Isaiah 45:4; 45:5; 45:6; 45:7 and 45:8 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor), and tables comparing Luke 6:26 and 1 John 3:2 in the NET and KJV follow.

Isaiah 45:4 (Tanakh)	Isaiah 45:4 (KJV)	Isaiah 45:4 (NET)
For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.	For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.	For the sake of my servant Jacob, Israel, my chosen one, I call you by name and give you a title of respect, even though you do not submit to me.

Isaiah 45:4 (Septuagint BLB)	Isaiah 45:4 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἕνεκεν Ιακωβ τοῦ παιδός μου καὶ Ισραηλ τοῦ ἐκλεκτοῦ μου ἐγὼ καλέσω σε τῷ ὀνόματί σου καὶ προσδέξομαί σε σὺ δὲ οὐκ ἔγνως με	ἕνεκεν τοῦ παιδός μου ᾿Ιακὼβ καὶ ᾿Ισραὴλ τοῦ ἐκλεκτοῦ μου, ἐγὼ καλέσω σε τῷ ὀνόματί σου καὶ προσδέξομαί σε, σὺ δὲ οὐκ ἔγνως με
Isaiah 45:4 (NETS)	Isaiah 45:4 (English Elpenor)
For the sake of my servant Iakob and Israel my chosen, I will call you by name and receive you, but you did not know me,	For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel mine elect, I will call thee by thy name, and accept thee: but thou hast not known me.

Isaiah 45:5 (Tanakh)	Isaiah 45:5 (KJV)	Isaiah 45:5 (NET)
I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:	I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:	I am the Lord, I have no peer, there is no God but me. I arm you for battle, even though you do not recognize me.

Isaiah 45:5 (Septuagint BLB)	Isaiah 45:5 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ὅτι ἐγὼ κύριος ὁ θεός καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἔτι πλὴν ἐμοῦ θεός καὶ οὐκ ᾔδεις με	ὅτι ἐγὼ Κύριος ὁ Θεός, καὶ οὐκ ἔστι πλὴν ἐμοῦ Θεός, ἐνίσχυσά σε καὶ οὐκ ᾔδεις με
Isaiah 45:5 (NETS)	Isaiah 45:5 (English Elpenor)
because I am the Lord God, and there is no other god besides me, and you did not know me,	For I am the Lord God, and there is no other God beside me; I strengthened thee, and thou hast not known me.

Isaiah 45:6 (Tanakh)	Isaiah 45:6 (KJV)	Isaiah 45:6 (NET)
That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.	That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.	I do this so people will recognize from east to west that there is no God but me; I am the Lord, I have no peer.

Isaiah 45:6 (Septuagint BLB)	Isaiah 45:6 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἵνα γνῶσιν οἱ ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν ἡλίου καὶ οἱ ἀπὸ δυσμῶν ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν πλὴν ἐμοῦ ἐγὼ κύριος ὁ θεός καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἔτι	ἵνα γνῶσι οἱ ἀπ᾿ ἀνατολῶν ἡλίου καὶ οἱ ἀπὸ δυσμῶν, ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι Θεὸς πλὴν ἐμοῦ· ἐγὼ Κύριος ὁ Θεός, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἔτι
Isaiah 45:6 (NETS)	Isaiah 45:6 (English Elpenor)
so that they who are from the rising of the sun and from its going down may know that there is no one besides me; I am the Lord God, and there is no other.	That they that [come] from the east and they that [come] from the west may know that there is no God but me. I am the Lord God, and there is none beside.

Isaiah 45:7 (Tanakh)	Isaiah 45:7 (KJV)	Isaiah 45:7 (NET)
I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.	I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.	I am the one who forms light and creates darkness; the one who brings about peace and creates calamity. I am the Lord, who accomplishes all these things.

Isaiah 45:7 (Septuagint BLB)	Isaiah 45:7 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐγὼ ὁ κατασκευάσας φῶς καὶ ποιήσας σκότος ὁ ποιῶν εἰρήνην καὶ κτίζων κακά ἐγὼ κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ ποιῶν ταῦτα πάντα	ἐγὼ ὁ κατασκευάσας φῶς καὶ ποιήσας σκότος, ὁ ποιῶν εἰρήνην καὶ κτίζων κακά· ἐγὼ Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ὁ ποιῶν πάντα ταῦτα
Isaiah 45:7 (NETS)	Isaiah 45:7 (English Elpenor)
I am the one who has prepared light and made darkness, who makes peace and creates evils; I am the Lord who does all these things.	I am he that prepared light, and formed darkness; who make peace, and create evil; I am the Lord God, that does all these things.

Isaiah 45:8 (Tanakh)	Isaiah 45:8 (KJV)	Isaiah 45:8 (NET)
Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it.	Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it.	O sky, rain down from above! Let the clouds send down showers of deliverance! Let the earth absorb it so salvation may grow and deliverance may sprout up along with it. I, the Lord, create it.’”

Isaiah 45:8 (Septuagint BLB)	Isaiah 45:8 (Septuagint Elpenor)
εὐφρανθήτω ὁ οὐρανὸς ἄνωθεν καὶ αἱ νεφέλαι ῥανάτωσαν δικαιοσύνην ἀνατειλάτω ἡ γῆ ἔλεος καὶ δικαιοσύνην ἀνατειλάτω ἅμα ἐγώ εἰμι κύριος ὁ κτίσας σε	εὐφρανθήτω ὁ οὐρανὸς ἄνωθεν, καὶ αἱ νεφέλαι ῥανάτωσαν δικαιοσύνην· ἀνατειλάτω ἡ γῆ καὶ βλαστησάτω ἔλεος, καὶ δικαιοσύνην ἀνατειλάτω ἅμα· ἐγώ εἰμι Κύριος ὁ κτίσας σε
Isaiah 45:8 (NETS)	Isaiah 45:8 (English Elpenor)
Let heaven rejoice from above, and let the clouds shower down righteousness; let the earth bring forth mercy, and let it bring forth righteousness as well; I am the Lord who created you.	Let the heaven rejoice from above, and let the clouds rain righteousness: let the earth bring forth, and blossom [with] mercy, and bring forth righteousness likewise: I am the Lord that created thee.

Luke 6:26 (NET)	Luke 6:26 (KJV)
Woe to you when all people speak well of you, for their ancestors did the same things to the false prophets.	Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.

Luke 6:26 (NET Parallel Greek)	Luke 6:26 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	Luke 6:26 (Byzantine Majority Text)
οὐαὶ ὅταν ὑμᾶς \|καλῶς\| εἴπωσιν πάντες οἱ ἄνθρωποι· κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ γὰρ ἐποίουν τοῖς ψευδοπροφήταις οἱ πατέρες αὐτῶν	ουαι υμιν οταν καλως υμας ειπωσιν παντες οι ανθρωποι κατα ταυτα γαρ εποιουν τοις ψευδοπροφηταις οι πατερες αυτων	ουαι οταν καλως υμας ειπωσιν οι ανθρωποι κατα ταυτα γαρ εποιουν τοις ψευδοπροφηταις οι πατερες αυτων

1 John 3:2 (NET)	1 John 3:2 (KJV)
Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that whenever it is revealed we will be like him because we will see him just as he is.	Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

1 John 3:2 (NET Parallel Greek)	1 John 3:2 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	1 John 3:2 (Byzantine Majority Text)
ἀγαπητοί, νῦν τέκνα θεοῦ ἐσμεν, καὶ οὔπω ἐφανερώθη τί ἐσόμεθα. οἴδαμεν ὅτι ἐὰν φανερωθῇ, ὅμοιοι αὐτῷ ἐσόμεθα, ὅτι ὀψόμεθα αὐτὸν καθώς ἐστιν	αγαπητοι νυν τεκνα θεου εσμεν και ουπω εφανερωθη τι εσομεθα οιδαμεν δε οτι εαν φανερωθη ομοιοι αυτω εσομεθα οτι οψομεθα αυτον καθως εστιν	αγαπητοι νυν τεκνα θεου εσμεν και ουπω εφανερωθη τι εσομεθα οιδαμεν δε οτι εαν φανερωθη ομοιοι αυτω εσομεθα οτι οψομεθα αυτον καθως εστιν

Back to Romans, Part 26

Back to The Day of the Lord, Part 8

¹ From “A Christmas Carol (Part 4)” by Charles Dickens. Movie: A Christmas Carol

² Romans 7:17b (NET) Table; Romans 7:20b (NET) Table

³ Romans 7:21 (NET)

⁴ Ephesians 4:22b (NET)

⁵ Psalm 51:5 [Table]

⁶ John 3:7 (NET)

⁷ The Stephanus Textus Receptus had υμιν (KJV: unto you) here. The NET parallel Greek text, NA²⁸ and Byzantine Majority Text did not (NET note 87).

⁸ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had τὰ αὐτὰ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ταυτα (KJV: so).

⁹ Luke 6:26 (NET)

¹⁰ Ephesians 4:22b (NET)

¹¹ Ephesians 4:22b (NET)

¹² NET note 49

¹³ 1 John 5:16a (NET)

¹⁴ Ephesians 4:24a (NET)

¹⁵ The NA²⁸, Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had τηρει εαυτον (KJV: keepeth himself) here. If one does not distinguish (NET note 49) between the new man and the sinning Christian, this becomes unintelligible: “the sinning Christian keepeth himself from sinning.”

¹⁶ 1 John 5:18a (NET) Table

¹⁷ The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had δε (KJV: but) here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

¹⁸ 1 John 3:2b (NET)

¹⁹ 1 John 3:6b (NET)

²⁰ Ephesians 4:22b (NET)

²¹ Ephesians 4:24b (NET)

²² 1 John 5:18b (NET)

²³ I dropped the word people here, because that limitation is not in the Greek text: πάντας ἑλκύσω πρὸς ἐμαυτόν.

²⁴ Ephesians 4:22b (NET)

²⁵ Romans 7:20b (NET) Table

The Day of the Lord, Part 7

Posted on December 28, 2023 by admin

This is a continuation of my consideration whether my assumption that Jesus called Judas Iscariot ὁ υἱὸς τῆς ἀπωλείας (NET: the one destined for destruction) is like Jesus’ disciples’ discussion about having no bread¹ after He said: “Watch out! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod!”² In another essay I began to look at John’s description of antichrist and many antichrists because Meyer’s NT Commentary stated that many of the Church Fathers had understood Paul’s description of the man of lawlessness, the son of destruction, as the Antichrist.

I highlighted two things he wrote about their insights:³

They correctly agree in considering that by the advent (2 Thessalonians 2:1; 2 Thessalonians 2:8), or the day of the Lord (2 Thessalonians 2:2), is to be understood the personal advent of Christ for the last judgment and for the completion of the Messianic kingdom. Also it is correctly regarded as proved, that the Antichrist here described is to be considered as an individual person, in whom sin will embody itself.

Meyer’s NT Commentary continued to elaborate on the “view of the Fathers” regarding “the Antichrist…considered as an individual person” with the following caveat:

Meyer’s NT Commentary	Google Translate
Yet Augustin already remarks, that “nonnulli non ipsum principem, sed universum quodam modo corpus ejus i. e. ad eum pertinentem hominum multitudinem simul cum ipso suo principe hoc loco intelligi Antichristum volunt.”	Yet Augustin already remarks, that “some, not the prince himself, but the whole world, in a certain way, his body i. e. The multitude of men belonging to him, together with their own leader, want to be understood in this place as Antichrist.”

Mr. Meyer cataloged many evolving views: “[T]he view, first in the eleventh century, that the establishment and growing power of the Papacy is to be considered as the Antichrist predicted by Paul,”⁴ is a familiar one. “Yet even before the reference of Antichrist to Popery was maintained, Mohammed[55] was already regarded by the divines of the Greek church…as the Antichrist predicted by Paul.”⁵

The power which restrained Antichrist evolved as well.

The restraining power by which the appearance of Antichrist is delayed, is usually considered [by the Church Fathers] to be the continuance of the Roman Empire (τὸ κατέχον) and its representative the Roman emperor (ὁ κατέχων). Some, however, as Theodorus Mopsuestius and Theodoret, understand by it τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸν ὅρον, i.e. more exactly, the counsel of God to keep back the appearance of Antichrist until the gospel is proclaimed throughout the earth…Chrysostom chooses a third interpretation, that by the restraining power is meant the continuance of the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit…

In recent times it has often been considered as objectionable to determine exactly the individual traits of the imagery used by Paul. Accordingly the representation of the apostle has been interpreted in a general, ideal, or symbolical sense. To this class of interpreters belongs Koppe, according to whom Paul, founding on an old national Jewish oracle, supported especially by Daniel, would describe the ungodliness preceding the last day, which already worked, but whose full outbreak was only to take place after the death of the apostle; so that Paul himself was the κατέχων.[57]⁶

Meyer’s NT Commentary continued:

Meyer’s NT Commentary	Google Translate
Similarly Storr (l.c.), who understands by the ἄνθρωπος τῆς ἁμαρτίας [man of sin] “potestas aliqua, deo omnique religioni adversaria, quae penitus incognita et futuro demum tempore se proditura sit,” and by the preventing power the “copia hominum verissimo amore inflammatorum in christianam religionem.”	Similarly Storr (l.c.), who understands by the ἄνθρωπος τῆς ἁμαρτίας [man of sin] “some power, hostile to God and to all religion, which is completely unknown and will betray itself in the future at the last time,” and by the preventing power the “a multitude of men inflamed with true love into the Christian religion.”

Other opinions were cited: “Nitzsch (l.c.) thinks on the power of atheism first come to have public authority, or the contempt of all religion generally.”⁷ “Pelt…sums up his views in the following words”:⁸

Meyer’s NT Commentary	Google Translate
Mihi … adversarius illi principium esse videtur sive vis spiritualis evangelio contraria, quae huc usque tamen in Pontificiorum Romanorum operibus ac serie luculentissime sese prodidit, ita tamen, ut omnia etiam mala, quae in ecclesia compareant, ad eandem Antichristi ἐνέργειαν sint referenda.	To me… it seems that the opposite principle is a spiritual force contrary to the gospel, which until now has revealed itself most clearly in the works and series of the Roman Pontiffs, so that even all the evils that appear in the church are to be referred to the same Antichrist ἐνέργειαν.
Ejus vero ΠΑΡΟΥΣΊΑ i. e. summum fastigium, quod Christi reditum qui nihil aliud est, nisi regni divini victoria,[59] antecedet, futurum adhuc esse videtur, quum illud tempus procul etiamnum abesse putemus, ubi omnes terrae incolae in eo erunt, ut ad Christi sacra transeant. Κατέχον vero cum Theodoreto putarim esse dei voluntatem illud Satanae regnum cohibentem, ne erumpat, et, si mediae spectantur causae, apostolorum tempore maxime imperii Romani vis, et quovis aevo illa resistentia, quam malis artibus, quae religionem subvertere student, privati commodi et honoris augendorum cupiditas opponere solet.	But his ΠΑΡΟΥΣΊΑ i. e. the highest climax, which precedes the return of Christ, which is nothing else but the victory of the divine kingdom, [59] seems to be yet to come, since we think that time is still far off, when all the inhabitants of the earth will be there, to pass to the sacraments of Christ. Κατέχον, with Theodoretus, I think that it is the will of God restraining that kingdom of Satan, lest it break out, and, if we look at the middle causes, in the time of the apostles the power of the Roman government was especially strong, and in every age that resistance, which is usually opposed to the evil arts which seek to subvert religion, the desire to increase private advantage and honor.

According to [Pelt], the chief stress lies on ΤῸ ΜΥΣΤΉΡΙΟΝ ἬΔΗ ἘΝΕΡΓΕῖΤΑΙ Τῆς ἈΝΟΜΊΑς [literally: the mystery already working of lawlessness]. Antichrist is a union of the individuality and spiritual tendency in masses of individuals. The revolt of the Jews from the Romans, and the fearful divine punishment in the destruction of Jerusalem, Nero, Mohammed and his spiritual devastating power, the development of the Papacy in the Middle Ages, the French Revolution of 1789, with the abrogation of Christianity, and the setting up of prostitutes on altars for worship, in the external world, as well as the constantly spreading denial of the fundamentals of all religious truth and morality, of the doctrines of God, freedom, and immortality, and likewise the self-deification of the ego in the internal world,—all these phenomena are the real precursors of Antichrist; but they contain only some of his characteristics, not all; it is the union of all these characteristics which shall make the full Antichrist.⁹

Ultimately, though I found some of them illuminating, Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer rejected the views developed in recent times:

It is evident that all these explanations are arbitrary. The Pauline description is so definitely and sharply marked, and has for its whole compass so much the idea of nearness for its supposition, that it can by no means be taken generally, and in this manner explained away.

While I’m grateful to Mr. Meyer for painstakingly collecting all of these opinions in one place, I don’t intend to play guess the identity of Antichrist as an individual person. That game scatters in my opinion, rather than gathering with the Lord Jesus: and whoever does not gather (συνάγων, a form of συνέχω) with me scatters (σκορπίζει, a form of σκορπίζω),¹⁰ Jesus said. So, I want to approach it differently.

Matthew Poole’s summation from his Commentary of the difficulty of knowing “what whithholdeth” the revelation of the man of lawlessness was very accessible:

And now ye know what withholdeth: the apostle it seems had told them, as of his coming, so of what at present withheld the revealing of him. And what this was is difficult to know now, though it seems these Thessalonians knew it: there are many conjectures about it. This I shall say in general:
1. It was something that the apostle thought not safe openly to declare in writing; else he would not have written of it so obscurely.
2. It was both a thing, and a person; a thing, to katecon, in this verse, that which withholdeth; and a person, as in the next verse, o katecwn, he who letteth.
3. It was also such a thing and such a person as were to be removed out of the way, not totally, but as they were hinderances [sic] of this revelation.

Barnes’ Notes on the Bible echoed Mr. Poole’s first point:

It is not known precisely what is referred to by the phrase “what withholdeth,” τὸ κατέχον to katechon. The phrase means properly, something that “holds back,” or “restrains”….Of this, the apostle says, they had had full information; but we can only conjecture what it was.

This seems to be a natural consequence of the assumption that Antichrist is an unknown individual from the future. Rather than assuming that Paul, the Holy Spirit and the New Testament are keeping something from us, I prefer to experiment with the idea that ὁ ἄνθρωπος τῆς ἀνομίας or αμαρτιας (NET: the man of lawlessness; KJV: that man of sin [Table])¹¹ and ὁ υἱὸς τῆς ἀπωλείας (NET: the son of destruction; KJV: the son of perdition)¹² are other words for ἡ οἰκοῦσα ἐν ἐμοὶ ἁμαρτία (NET: sin that lives in me; KJV: sin that dwelleth in me),¹³ τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον τὸν φθειρόμενον κατὰ τὰς ἐπιθυμίας τῆς ἀπάτης (NET: the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires; KJV: the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts),¹⁴ ἐμοὶ τὸ κακὸν παράκειται (NET/KJV: evil…present with me)¹⁵ and ἡ…σὰρξ (NET/KJV: the flesh).¹⁶ I’ll work backwards through this.

The spirit is willing, but the flesh (σὰρξ) is weak,¹⁷ Jesus said of disciples who both believed and followed Him. The Greek word translated willing was πρόθυμον (a form of πρόθυμος): “ready, willing, eager, predisposed.” The Greek word translated weak was ἀσθενής: “weak, powerless; weak and easily defeated; sick, ill, unhealthy; disabled, physically weak, feeble, miserable; morally weak; weak in influence, without influence; structurally weak (e.g., weak stones unable to support).” What is born of the flesh (σαρκὸς, a form of σὰρξ) is flesh (σάρξ),¹⁸ He told Nicodemus; in other words, it is weak (ἀσθενής). And again, Jesus said to his disciples, The Spirit is the one who gives life; human nature (σὰρξ) is of no help!¹⁹

Flesh (σὰρξ) and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God,²⁰ Paul wrote the Corinthians. He elaborated on this point in his letter to the Romans (Romans 8:1-8 NET):

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death [Table]. For God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened (ἠσθένει, a form of ἀσθενέω) through the flesh (σαρκός, a form of σὰρξ). By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh (σαρκὸς, a form of σὰρξ) and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh (σαρκί, another form of σὰρξ), so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh (σάρκα, another form of σὰρξ) but according to the Spirit.

For those who live according to the flesh (σάρκα) have their outlook shaped by the things of the flesh (σαρκὸς), but those who live according to the Spirit have their outlook shaped by the things of the Spirit. For the outlook of the flesh (σαρκὸς) is death, but the outlook of the Spirit is life and peace, because the outlook of the flesh (σαρκὸς) is hostile to God, for it does not submit to the law of God, nor is it able to do so. Those who are in the flesh (σαρκὶ) cannot please God.

Prior to this, Paul had written, with my flesh (σαρκὶ, another form of σὰρξ) I serve the law of sin.²¹ [W]hen I want to do good, evil is present with me,²² he lamented as he characterized that evil as 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.²³ For the flesh (σὰρξ) has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires that are opposed to the flesh (σαρκός, another form of σὰρξ),²⁴ he wrote to the Galatians. To the Ephesians he characterized this flesh as the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires.²⁵ He also called this old man simply, sin that lives in me.²⁶ And to the Thessalonians he described all of this as the man of lawlessness…the son of destruction.²⁷

I’ll continue with this in another essay.

The Day of the Lord, Part 8

¹ Mark 8:16b (NET) Table

² Mark 8:15b (NET)

³ From Meyer’s NT Commentary 2 Thessalonians 2:12, Bible Commentaries on Bible Hub online.

⁴ Ibid.

⁵ Ibid.

⁶ Ibid.

⁷ Ibid.

⁸ Ibid.

⁹ Ibid.

¹⁰ Matthew 12:30b (NET)

¹¹ 2 Thessalonians 2:3 Table

¹² Ibid.

¹³ Romans 7:19 Table

¹⁴ Ephesians 4:22

¹⁵ Romans 7:21

¹⁶ Galatians 5:17 Table

¹⁷ Matthew 26:41b (NET)

¹⁸ John 3:6a (NET)

¹⁹ John 6:63a (NET) Table

²⁰ 1 Corinthians 15:50b (NET) Table

²¹ Romans 7:25b (NET) Table

²² Romans 7:21b (NET)

²³ Romans 7:23b (NET) Table

²⁴ Galatians 5:17a (NET) Table

²⁵ Ephesians 4:22b (NET)

²⁶ Romans 7:17b (NET) Table, and 7:20b (NET) Table

²⁷ 2 Thessalonians 2:3b (NET) Table

A Door of Hope, Part 2

Posted on March 19, 2020 by admin

And I will give her possessions from thence, and the valley of Achor to open her understanding:^[1] This rendering of Hosea 2:15a (2:17a in the Septuagint) hit me like a bolt. It seemed too important to think “of Achan’s confession as the door or opportunity of/for hope,” and to relate “it to John’s letter,” to ever call that relationship into question.

The Hebrew word translated door (NET: Opportunity) was לְפֶ֣תַח (NET parallel Hebrew: לפתח [pethach]). It was translated διανοῗξαι (open)—a form of διανοίγω—in the Septuagint. The same words were translated open and “open wide” in Ezekiel.

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Ezekiel 21:22^[2] (Tanakh)	Ezekiel 21:22 (NET)	Ezekiel 21:22 (NETS)	Ezekiel 21:22 (English Elpenor)
At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to appoint captains, to open (לִפְתֹּ֚חַ) the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering rams against the gates, to cast a mount, and to build a fort.	Into his right hand comes the portent for Jerusalem—to set up battering rams, to give (pethach, לפתח) the signal^[3] for slaughter, to shout out the battle cry, to set up battering rams against the gates, to erect a siege ramp, to build a siege wall.	And the oracular response came against Ierousalem, to throw up a palisade, to open wide (διανοῗξαι) a mouth in a shout, to raise up high a voice with a cry, to throw up a palisade against its gates and to put up a ramp and to build batteries of war engines.	On his right was the divination against Jerusalem, to cast a mound, to open (διανοῖξαι) the mouth in shouting, to lift up the voice with crying, to cast a mound against her gates, to cast up a heap, and to build forts.

The Hebrew word translated hope from the Masoretic text was תִּקְוָ֑ה. It was translated σύνεσιν (understanding)—a form of σύνεσις—in the Septuagint. I had to run תקוה (without vowel points) through Morfix to get any result:

Morfix Translation
Hebrew	Tanakh	Homographs	English Definitions
תִּקְוָ֑ה תקוה	hope	תִּקְוָה	hope; התקווה – Hatikva (Israel’s national anthem)
		קִוָּה	to hope
		נִקְוָה	to pool (water)

Perhaps someone could argue that the rabbis paraphrased hope as understanding. But as I studied the other Hebrew words they translated σύνεσιν (Table below) and the other differences between the Masoretic text and the Septuagint, I was obliged to consider that the Septuagint may be more original here, despite my fondness for “a door of hope.”

As I worked on the table of σύνεσιν I heard a preacher prophesy that the corona virus was God’s punishment for my (literally: “all Americans”) greed and worship of sex, among other things. I’m becoming so practiced at not thinking of the vicissitudes of life as crime and punishment that I decided not to reject this prophesy out of hand. I fell asleep, however, without arriving at any specific conclusions.

Asleep, I dreamed that I committed adultery with my neighbor’s wife. We stopped before we got too far but my lust was obvious: I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to desire her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.^[4] Though I awoke grieving^[5] I was grateful my covetousness expressed itself in a dream rather than entangling my neighbor, his wife and countless others. I think this may be part of the meaning of he condemned sin in the flesh (Romans 8:2-4 NET Table):

For the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. For God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned (κατέκρινεν, a form of κατακρίνω) 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.

[W]hen I want to do good, evil is present with me.^[6] Still, I praise the Lord Jesus and God our Father whenever the sin in my flesh remains condemned (damned, judged against, sentenced, pronounced guilty) in my flesh, as opposed to seeing the light of day. I’ll consider it a partial victory until His complete victory (1 Corinthians 15:50-58) has come. And without making any judgment regarding the truth of the preacher’s prophecy, I plan to—Endure^[7] hardship as discipline; God is treating [me] as [one of] his children^[8]—rather than attempting to ferret out what, if any, sins He may or may not be punishing.

I had already been drifting toward the conclusion that I had misunderstood the story of Achan in the valley of Achor. My adulterous dream helped sharpen my focus. The question was not: How could such an excellent confession result in the death (Joshua 7:16-26) of Achan and his family? That was a fixation of my personal history. The question was: How could a covetous sinner (e.g., one such as I am) live in a holy land among a holy people?

I hope the answer is obvious: Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must all be born from above.’^[9] And I will give her…the valley of Achor to open her understanding is a fresh opportunity to understand Christ’s gift of new life. There is a synopsis of σύνεσιν (understanding) in the four occurrences in Isaiah:

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Isaiah 27:11b (Tanakh)	Isaiah 27:11b (NET)	Isaiah 27:11b (NETS)	Isaiah 27:11b (Elpenor English)
for it is a people of no understanding (בִּינוֹת֙): therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will shew them no favour.	For these people lack understanding (bı̂ynâh, בינות), therefore the one who made them has no compassion on them; the one who formed them has no mercy on them.	For it is not a people having understanding (σύνεσιν); therefore he that made them will not have compassion, nor will he that formed them have mercy.	for it is a people of no understanding (σύνεσιν); therefore he that made them shall have no pity upon them, and he that formed them shall have no mercy [upon them].

A people of no understanding will have no mercy from he that made them and he that formed them will shew them no favour. So God’s intention to show Israel both mercy and favour was made clear by giving them the valley of Achor to open [their] understanding. That is certainly a door of hope but a door of hope obfuscates that understanding.

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Isaiah 29:13, 14 (Tanakh)	Isaiah 29:13, 14 (NET)	Isaiah 29:13, 14 (NETS)	Isaiah 29:13, 14 (Elpenor English)
Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:	The Lord says, “These people say they are loyal to me; they say wonderful things about me, but they are not really loyal to me. Their worship consists of nothing but man-made ritual.	The Lord said: These people draw near me; they honor me with their lips, while their heart is far from me, and in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts and teachings.	And the Lord has said, This people draw nigh to me with their mouth, and they honour me with their lips, but their heart is far from me: but in vain do they worship me, teaching the commandments and doctrines of men.
Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding (וּבִינַ֥ת) of their prudent men shall be hid.	Therefore I will again do an amazing thing for these people—an absolutely extraordinary deed. Wise men will have nothing to say, the sages will have no explanations (bı̂ynâh, ובינת).”	Therefore look, I will proceed to remove this people. I will remove them and destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment (σύνεσιν) of the discerning I will hide.	Therefore behold I will proceed to remove this people, and I will remove them: and I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will hide the understanding (σύνεσιν) of the prudent.

Here, the wisdom and understanding of those teaching the precept of men (English Elpenor: the commandments and doctrines of men) would perish and would be hid. The Masoretic text in English translation called it a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder, while an English rendering of the words the rabbis translated reads: I will proceed to remove this people, and I will remove them. The first Greek word translated remove was μετατεθῆναι (BLB: μεταθεῗναι) and the second was μεταθήσω. All are forms of μετατίθημι.

Assuming that the Septuagint better reflects the Hebrew original, it seems odd to call the removal of the people who draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder. It would make more sense if the Masoretes thought this people corresponded to the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision.^[10] But then, why cover up their removal?

There is another meaning of μετατίθημι. The Greek of the Septuagint might have been translated, I will proceed to [change the nature of] this people, and I will [induce] them [to change their minds]. And suddenly, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder, becomes an honest assessment. It completely disguises, however, how close the original was to Jesus’ words: Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must all be born from above.’ Here is a New Testament example of another form of μετατίθημι (Hebrews 7:12 NET):

For when the priesthood changes (μετατιθεμένης), a change (μετάθεσις) in the law must come as well.

Here are other examples of forms of μετατίθημι the rabbis used to translate Hebrew words in the Septuagint:

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Genesis 5:24 (Tanakh)	Genesis 5:24 (NET)	Genesis 5:24 (NETS)	Genesis 5:24 (Elpenor English)
And Enoch walked with G-d, and he was not; for G-d took (לָקַ֥ח) him.	Enoch walked with God, and then he disappeared because God took (lâqach, לקח) him away.	And Henoch was well pleasing to God, and he was not found, because God transferred (μετέθηκεν) him.	And Enoch was well-pleasing to God, and was not found, because God translated (μετέθηκεν) him.
1 Kings 21:25 (Tanakh)	1 Kings 21:25 (NET)	3 Reigns 20:25 (NETS)	3 Kings 20:25 (English Elpenor)
But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up (הֵסַ֥תָּה).	(There had never been anyone like Ahab, who was firmly committed to doing evil in the sight of the Lord, urged on (sûth, הסתה) by his wife Jezebel.	(Yet, Achaab did act foolishly when he sold himself to do what was evil before the Lord, as his wife Iezabel led him astray (μετέθηκεν),	But Achaab [did] wickedly, in that he sold himself to do that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, as his wife Jezabel led him astray (μετέθηκεν).
Hosea 5:10 (Tanakh)	Hosea 5:10 (NET)	Hosea 5:10 (NETS)	Hosea 5:10 (English Elpenor)
The princes of Judah were like them that remove (כְּמַסִּיגֵ֖י) the bound: therefore I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.	The princes of Judah are like those who move (nâsag, כמסיגי) boundary markers. I will pour out my rage on them like a torrential flood.	The rulers of Ioudas have become like those who remove (μετατιθέντες) landmarks; on them I will pour out my onslaught like water.	The princes of Juda became as they that removed (μετατιθέντες) the bounds: I will pour out upon them my fury as water.
Isaiah 29:17 (Tanakh)	Isaiah 29:17 (NET)	Isaiah 29:17 (NETS)	Isaiah 29:17 (English Elpenor)
Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned (וְשָׁ֥ב) into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?	In just a very short time Lebanon will turn (shûb, ושב) into an orchard, and the orchard will be considered a forest.	Is it not yet a little while, and Lebanon shall be changed (μετατεθήσεται) like Mount Chermel, and Mount Chermel shall be regarded as a forest?	[Is it] not yet a little while, and Libanus shall be changed (μετατεθήσεται) as the mountains of Chermel, and Chermel shall be reckoned as a forest?
Deuteronomy 27:17 (Tanakh)	Deuteronomy 27:17 (NET)	Deuteronomy 27:17 (NETS)	Deuteronomy 27:17 (English Elpenor)
Cursed be he that removeth (מַסִּ֖יג) his neighbour’s landmark. And all the people shall say: Amen.	‘Cursed is the one who moves (nâsag, מסיג) his neighbor’s boundary marker.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’	“Cursed be he who moves (μετατιθεὶς) a neighbor’s boundaries.” And all the people shall say, “May it be!”	Cursed is he that removes (μετατιθεὶς) his neighbour’s landmarks: and all the people shall say, So be it.
Psalm 46:2 (Tanakh)	Psalm 46:2 (NET)	Psalm 45:3 (NETS)	Psalm 45:3 (English Elpenor)
Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried (וּבְמ֥וֹט) into the midst of the sea;	For this reason we do not fear when the earth shakes, and the mountains tumble (môṭ, ובמוט) into the depths of the sea,	Therefore we will not fear, when the earth is troubled and mountains be transposed (μετατίθεσθαι) in hearts of seas.	Therefore will we not fear when the earth is troubled, and the mountains are removed (μετατίθεσθαι) into the depths of the seas.
Proverbs 23:10 (Tanakh)	Proverbs 23:10 (NET)	Proverbs 23:10 (NETS)	Proverbs 23:10 (English Elpenor)
Remove (תַּ֖סֵּג) not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:	Do not move (nâsag, תסג) an ancient boundary stone, or take over the fields of the fatherless,	Do not relocate (μεταθῇς) ancient borders, nor enter the possession of orphans.	Remove (μεταθῇς) not the ancient landmarks; and enter not upon the possession of the fatherless:

It seems that the rabbis employed forms of μετατίθημι to imply some kind of change, if not transformation. The next item in the synopsis of understanding (σύνεσιν) was a promise of transformation:

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Isaiah 29:24 (Tanakh)	Isaiah 29:24 (NET)	Isaiah 29:24 (NETS)	Isaiah 29:24 (Elpenor English)
They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding (בִּינָ֑ה), and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.	Those who stray morally will gain understanding (bı̂ynâh, בינה); those who complain will acquire insight.	And those who wander in spirit will know understanding (σύνεσιν), and those who grumble will learn to obey, [and the faltering tongues will learn to speak peace].	And they that erred in spirit shall know understanding (σύνεσιν), and the murmurers shall learn obedience, and the stammering tongues shall learn to speak peace.

The final item in the synopsis of understanding was God’s assessment of those taught by the precept of men (English Elpenor: the commandments and doctrines of men).

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Isaiah 56:10-12 (Tanakh)	Isaiah 56:10-12 (NET)	Isaiah 56:10-12 (NETS)	Isaiah 56:10-12 (Elpenor English)
His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.	All their watchmen are blind, they are unaware. All of them are like mute dogs, unable to bark. They pant, lie down, and love to snooze.	Observe that all have become totally blind; they have not learned how to think; they are all silent dogs; they will not be able to bark, dreaming in bed, loving to slumber.	See how they are all blinded: they have not known; [they are] dumb dogs [that] will not bark; dreaming of rest, loving to slumber.
Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand (הָבִ֑ין): they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter.	The dogs have big appetites; they are never full. They are shepherds who have no understanding (bı̂yn, הבין); they all go their own way, each one looking for monetary gain.	The dogs are shameless in their soul, not knowing satisfaction. They are evil, not knowing understanding (σύνεσιν). They have all followed their own ways, each in the same manner.	Yea, they are insatiable dogs, that know not what it is to be filled, and they are wicked, having no understanding (σύνεσιν): all have followed their own ways, each according to his [will].
Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.	Each one says, ‘Come on, I’ll get some wine! Let’s guzzle some beer! Tomorrow will be just like today! We’ll have everything we want!’

In the Hebrew text the rabbis translated there was no mention of watchmen: See how they are all blinded. There was no mention of shepherds. There was no subterfuge about monetary gain, wine, beer or strong drink. The text they translated was laser-focused that all are wicked, having no understanding (σύνεσιν): all have followed their own ways, each according to his [will]. In other words, all (not just the watchmen and shepherds) were not born from above, not led by the Spirit of God, not the sons of God. If God were your Father, [Jesus said to those Judeans who had believed him^[11]] you would love me, for I have come from God and am now here. I have not come on my own initiative, but he sent me.^[12]

A table of the occurrences of σύνεσιν in the Blue Letter Bible version of the Septuagint (with my best guess for the Hebrew word each translates) follows:

	Septuagint Greek		Masoretic Hebrew
Reference	Blue Letter Bible	Elpenor	Chabad.org	NET Parallel Hebrew
Hosea 2:15 (2:17)	σύνεσιν	σύνεσιν	תִּקְוָ֑ה	תקוה (tiqvâh)
Exodus 31:6	σύνεσιν	σύνεσιν	חָכְמָ֑ה	חכמה (chokmâh)
1 Kings (3 Kings) 3:11	σύνεσιν	συνιεῖν	הָבִ֖ין	הבין (bı̂yn)
1 Chronicles 12:32 (12:33)	σύνεσιν	σύνεσιν	בִינָה֙	בינה (bı̂ynâh)
1 Chronicles 22:12	σύνεσιν	σύνεσιν	וּבִינָ֔ה	ובינה (bı̂ynâh)
1 Chronicles 28:19	σύνεσιν	σύνεσιν	הִשְׂכִּ֑יל	השׁכיל (śâkal)
2 Chronicles 1:10	σύνεσιν	σύνεσιν	וּמַדַּע֙	ומדע (maddâʽ)
2 Chronicles 1:11	σύνεσιν	σύνεσιν	וּמַדָּ֔ע	ומדע (maddâʽ)
2 Chronicles 1:12	σύνεσιν	σύνεσιν	וְהַמַּדָּ֖ע	והמדע (maddâʽ)
2 Chronicles 2:12 (2:11)	σύνεσιν	σύνεσιν	וּבִינָ֔ה	ובינה (bı̂ynâh)
2 Chronicles 2:13 (2:12)	σύνεσιν	σύνεσιν	בִּינָ֖ה	בינה (bı̂ynâh)
2 Chronicles 30:22	σύνεσιν	σύνεσιν	שֵֽׂכֶל	שׁכל (śekel)
Job 6:30	σύνεσιν	σύνεσιν	יָבִ֥ין	יבין (bı̂yn)
Job 12:20	σύνεσιν	σύνεσιν	וְטַ֖עַם	וטעם (ṭaʽam)
Job 21:22	σύνεσιν	σύνεσιν	?	?
Job 22:2	σύνεσιν	σύνεσιν	?	?
Job 38:4	σύνεσιν	σύνεσιν	בִינָֽה	בינה (bı̂ynâh)
Psalm 42:1 (41:1, 2)	σύνεσιν	σύνεσιν	מַשְׂכִּ֥יל	משׁכיל (maśkı̂yl)
Psalm 44:1 (43:1, 2)	σύνεσιν	σύνεσιν	מַשְׂכִּֽיל	משׁכיל (maśkı̂yl)
Psalm 45:1 (44:1)	σύνεσιν	σύνεσιν	מַ֜שְׂכִּ֗יל	משׁכיל (maśkı̂yl)
Psalm 49:3 (48:4; 49:4)	σύνεσιν	σύνεσιν	תְבוּנֽוֹת	תבונות (tabuwn)
Proverbs 9:6	σύνεσιν	σύνεσιν	בִּינָֽה	בינה (bı̂ynâh)
Isaiah 27:11	σύνεσιν	σύνεσιν	בִּינוֹת֙	בינות (bı̂ynâh)
Isaiah 29:14	σύνεσιν	σύνεσιν	וּבִינַ֥ת	ובינת (bı̂ynâh)
Isaiah 29:24	σύνεσιν	σύνεσιν	בִּינָ֑ה	בינה (bı̂ynâh)
Isaiah 56:11	σύνεσιν	σύνεσιν	הָבִ֑ין	הבין (bı̂yn)
Daniel 1:17	σύνεσιν	σύνεσιν	מַדָּ֥ע	מדע (maddâʽ)
Daniel 2:21	σύνεσιν	σύνεσιν	בִינָֽה	בינה (bı̂ynâh)
Daniel 8:15	σύνεσιν	σύνεσιν	בִינָ֔ה	בינה (bı̂ynâh)
Daniel 9:22	σύνεσιν	σύνεσιν	בִינָֽה	בינה (bı̂ynâh)
Obadiah 1:8	σύνεσιν	σύνεσιν	וּתְבוּנָ֖ה	ותבונה (tabuwn)

Tables comparing Ezekiel 21:22; Isaiah 27:11; 29:13; 29:7; Genesis 5:24; 1 Kings 21:25; Hosea 5:10; Isaiah 29:17; Deuteronomy 27:17; Psalm 46:2; Proverbs 23:10; Isaiah 29:24; 56:10; 56:11 and 56:12 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and comparing Ezekiel 21:22; Isaiah 27:11; 29:13; 29:7; Genesis 5:24; 1 Kings (3 Kings, 3 Reigns) 21:25 (20:25); Hosea 5:10; Isaiah 29:17; Deuteronomy 27:17; Psalm 46:2 (45:3); Proverbs 23:10; Isaiah 29:24; 56:10; 56:11 and 56:12 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor) follow. Following these is a table comparing John 8:42 in the NET and KJV.

Ezekiel 21:22 (Tanakh)	Ezekiel 21:22 (KJV)	Ezekiel 21:22 (NET)
At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to appoint captains, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering rams against the gates, to cast a mount, and to build a fort.	At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to appoint captains, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering rams against the gates, to cast a mount, and to build a fort.	Into his right hand comes the portent for Jerusalem—to set up battering rams, to give the signal for slaughter, to shout out the battle cry, to set up battering rams against the gates, to erect a siege ramp, to build a siege wall.

Ezekiel 21:22 (Septuagint BLB)	Ezekiel 21:22 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐγένετο τὸ μαντεῗον ἐπὶ Ιερουσαλημ τοῦ βαλεῗν χάρακα τοῦ διανοῗξαι στόμα ἐν βοῇ ὑψῶσαι φωνὴν μετὰ κραυγῆς τοῦ βαλεῗν χάρακα ἐπὶ τὰς πύλας αὐτῆς καὶ βαλεῗν χῶμα καὶ οἰκοδομῆσαι βελοστάσεις	ἐγένετο τὸ μαντεῖον ἐπὶ ῾Ιερουσαλὴμ τοῦ βαλεῖν χάρακα, τοῦ διανοῖξαι στόμα ἐν βοῇ, ὑψῶσαι φωνὴν μετὰ κραυγῆς, τοῦ βαλεῖν χάρακα ἐπὶ τὰς πύλας αὐτῆς καὶ βαλεῖν χῶμα καὶ οἰκοδομῆσαι βελοστάσεις
Ezekiel 21:22 (NETS)	Ezekiel 21:22 (English Elpenor)
And the oracular response came against Ierousalem, to throw up a palisade, to open wide a mouth in a shout, to raise up high a voice with a cry, to throw up a palisade against its gates and to put up a ramp and to build batteries of war engines.	On his right was the divination against Jerusalem, to cast a mound, to open the mouth in shouting, to lift up the voice with crying, to cast a mound against her gates, to cast up a heap, and to build forts.

Isaiah 27:11 (Tanakh)	Isaiah 27:11 (KJV)	Isaiah 27:11 (NET)
When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off: the women come, and set them on fire: for it is a people of no understanding: therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will shew them no favour.	When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off: the women come, and set them on fire: for it is a people of no understanding: therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will shew them no favour.	When its branches get brittle, they break; women come and use them for kindling. For these people lack understanding, therefore the one who made them has no compassion on them; the one who formed them has no mercy on them.

Isaiah 27:11 (Septuagint BLB)	Isaiah 27:11 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ μετὰ χρόνον οὐκ ἔσται ἐν αὐτῇ πᾶν χλωρὸν διὰ τὸ ξηρανθῆναι γυναῗκες ἐρχόμεναι ἀπὸ θέας δεῦτε οὐ γὰρ λαός ἐστιν ἔχων σύνεσιν διὰ τοῦτο οὐ μὴ οἰκτιρήσῃ ὁ ποιήσας αὐτούς οὐδὲ ὁ πλάσας αὐτοὺς οὐ μὴ ἐλεήσῃ	καὶ μετὰ χρόνον οὐκ ἔσται ἐν αὐτῇ πᾶν χλωρὸν διὰ τὸ ξηρανθῆναι. γυναῖκες ἐρχόμεναι ἀπὸ θέας, δεῦτε· οὐ γὰρ λαός ἐστιν ἔχων σύνεσιν, διὰ τοῦτο οὐ μὴ οἱκτειρήσῃ ὁ ποιήσας αὐτούς, οὐδὲ ὁ πλάσας αὐτοὺς οὐ μὴ ἐλεήσῃ.
Isaiah 27:11 (NETS)	Isaiah 27:11 (English Elpenor)
Then after a time there will be nothing green in it, because it will have dried up. You women who come from a spectacle, come here! For it is not a people having understanding; therefore he that made them will not have compassion, nor will he that formed them have mercy.	And after a time there shall be in it no green thing because of [the grass] being parched. Come hither, ye woman that come from a sight; for it is a people of no understanding; therefore he that made them shall have no pity upon them, and he that formed them shall have no mercy [upon them].

Isaiah 29:13 (Tanakh)	Isaiah 29:13 (KJV)	Isaiah 29:13 (NET)
Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:	Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:	The Lord says, “These people say they are loyal to me; they say wonderful things about me, but they are not really loyal to me. Their worship consists of nothing but man-made ritual.

Isaiah 29:13 (Septuagint BLB)	Isaiah 29:13 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἶπεν κύριος ἐγγίζει μοι ὁ λαὸς οὗτος τοῗς χείλεσιν αὐτῶν τιμῶσίν με ἡ δὲ καρδία αὐτῶν πόρρω ἀπέχει ἀπ᾽ ἐμοῦ μάτην δὲ σέβονταί με διδάσκοντες ἐντάλματα ἀνθρώπων καὶ διδασκαλίας	Καὶ εἶπε Κύριος· ἐγγίζει μοι ὁ λαὸς οὗτος ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐν τοῖς χείλεσιν αὐτῶν τιμῶσί με, ἡ δὲ καρδία αὐτῶν πόρρω ἀπέχει ἀπ᾿ ἐμοῦ· μάτην δὲ σέβονταί με διδάσκοντες ἐντάλματα ἀνθρώπων καὶ διδασκαλίας
Isaiah 29:13 (NETS)	Isaiah 29:13 (English Elpenor)
The Lord said: These people draw near me; they honor me with their lips, while their heart is far from me, and in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts and teachings.	And the Lord has said, This people draw nigh to me with their mouth, and they honour me with their lips, but their heart is far from me: but in vain do they worship me, teaching the commandments and doctrines of men.

Isaiah 29:7 (Tanakh)	Isaiah 29:7 (KJV)	Isaiah 29:7 (NET)
And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision.	And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision.	It will be like a dream, a night vision. There will be a horde from all the nations that fight against Ariel, those who attack her and her stronghold and besiege her.

Isaiah 29:7 (Septuagint BLB)	Isaiah 29:7 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἔσται ὡς ὁ ἐνυπνιαζόμενος ἐν ὕπνῳ ὁ πλοῦτος τῶν ἐθνῶν πάντων ὅσοι ἐπεστράτευσαν ἐπὶ Αριηλ καὶ πάντες οἱ στρατευσάμενοι ἐπὶ Ιερουσαλημ καὶ πάντες οἱ συνηγμένοι ἐπ᾽ αὐτὴν καὶ θλίβοντες αὐτήν	καὶ ἔσται ὡς ὁ ἐνυπνιαζόμενος καθ᾿ ὕπνους νυκτὸς ὁ πλοῦτος ἁπάντων τῶν ἐθνῶν, ὅσοι ἐπεστράτευσαν ἐπὶ ᾿Αριήλ, καὶ πάντες οἱ στρατευσάμενοι ἐπὶ ῾Ιερουσαλὴμ καὶ πάντες οἱ συνηγμένοι ἐπ᾿ αὐτὴν καὶ θλίβοντες αὐτήν
Isaiah 29:7 (NETS)	Isaiah 29:7 (English Elpenor)
And the wealth of all the nations—as many as marched against Ariel and all that went to war against Ierousalem and all who were gathered against her and were distressing her—shall be like one who dreams in his sleep.	And the wealth of all the nations together, as many as have fought against Ariel, and all they that war against Jerusalem, and all who are gathered against her, and they that distress her, shall be as one that dreams in sleep by night.

Genesis 5:24 (Tanakh)	Genesis 5:24 (KJV)	Genesis 5:24 (NET)
And Enoch walked with G-d, and he was not; for G-d took him.	And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.	Enoch walked with God, and then he disappeared because God took him away.

Genesis 5:24 (Septuagint BLB)	Genesis 5:24 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εὐηρέστησεν Ενωχ τῷ θεῷ καὶ οὐχ ηὑρίσκετο ὅτι μετέθηκεν αὐτὸν ὁ θεός	καὶ εὐηρέστησεν ᾿Ενὼχ τῷ Θεῷ καὶ οὐχ εὑρίσκετο, ὅτι μετέθηκεν αὐτὸν ὁ Θεός
Genesis 5:24 (NETS)	Genesis 5:24 (English Elpenor)
And Henoch was well pleasing to God, and he was not found, because God transferred him.	And Enoch was well-pleasing to God, and was not found, because God translated him.

1 Kings 21:25 (Tanakh)	1 Kings 21:25 (KJV)	1 Kings 21:25 (NET)
But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.	But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.	(There had never been anyone like Ahab, who was firmly committed to doing evil in the sight of the Lord, urged on by his wife Jezebel.

1 Kings 21:25 (Septuagint BLB)	3 Kings 20:25 (Septuagint Elpenor)
πλὴν ματαίως Αχααβ ὡς ἐπράθη ποιῆσαι τὸ πονηρὸν ἐνώπιον κυρίου ὡς μετέθηκεν αὐτὸν Ιεζαβελ ἡ γυνὴ αὐτοῦ	πλὴν ματαίως ᾿Αχαάβ, ὃς ἐπράθη ποιῆσαι τὸ πονηρὸν ἐνώπιον Κυρίου, ὡς μετέθηκεν αὐτὸν ᾿Ιεζάβελ ἡ γυνὴ αὐτοῦ
3 Reigns 20:25 (NETS)	3 Kings 20:25 (English Elpenor)
(Yet, Achaab did act foolishly when he sold himself to do what was evil before the Lord, as his wife Iezabel led him astray,	But Achaab [did] wickedly, in that he sold himself to do that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, as his wife Jezabel led him astray.

Hosea 5:10 (Tanakh)	Hosea 5:10 (KJV)	Hosea 5:10 (NET)
The princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound: therefore I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.	The princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound: therefore I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.	The princes of Judah are like those who move boundary markers. I will pour out my rage on them like a torrential flood.

Hosea 5:10 (Septuagint BLB)	Hosea 5:10 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐγένοντο οἱ ἄρχοντες Ιουδα ὡς μετατιθέντες ὅρια ἐπ᾽ αὐτοὺς ἐκχεῶ ὡς ὕδωρ τὸ ὅρμημά μου	ἐγένοντο οἱ ἄρχοντες ᾿Ιούδα ὡς μετατιθέντες ὅρια, ἐπ᾿ αὐτοὺς ἐκχεῶ ὡς ὕδωρ τὸ ὅρμημά μου
Hosea 5:10 (NETS)	Hosea 5:10 (English Elpenor)
The rulers of Ioudas have become like those who remove landmarks; on them I will pour out my onslaught like water.	The princes of Juda became as they that removed the bounds: I will pour out upon them my fury as water.

Isaiah 29:17 (Tanakh)	Isaiah 29:17 (KJV)	Isaiah 29:17 (NET)
Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?	Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?	In just a very short time Lebanon will turn into an orchard, and the orchard will be considered a forest.

Isaiah 29:17 (Septuagint BLB)	Isaiah 29:17 (Septuagint Elpenor)
οὐκέτι μικρὸν καὶ μετατεθήσεται ὁ Λίβανος ὡς τὸ ὄρος τὸ Χερμελ καὶ τὸ ὄρος τὸ Χερμελ εἰς δρυμὸν λογισθήσεται	οὐκέτι μικρὸν καὶ μετατεθήσεται ὁ Λίβανος, ὡς τὸ ὄρος τὸ Χέρμελ καὶ τὸ Χέρμελ εἰς δρυμὸν λογισθήσεται
Isaiah 29:17 (NETS)	Isaiah 29:17 (English Elpenor)
Is it not yet a little while, and Lebanon shall be changed like Mount Chermel, and Mount Chermel shall be regarded as a forest?	[Is it] not yet a little while, and Libanus shall be changed as the mountains of Chermel, and Chermel shall be reckoned as a forest?

Deuteronomy 27:17 (Tanakh)	Deuteronomy 27:17 (KJV)	Deuteronomy 27:17 (NET)
Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour’s landmark. And all the people shall say: Amen.	Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour’s landmark. And all the people shall say, Amen.	‘Cursed is the one who moves his neighbor’s boundary marker.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’

Deuteronomy 27:17 (Septuagint BLB)	Deuteronomy 27:17 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐπικατάρατος ὁ μετατιθεὶς ὅρια τοῦ πλησίον καὶ ἐροῦσιν πᾶς ὁ λαός γένοιτο	ἐπικατάρατος ὁ μετατιθεὶς ὅρια τοῦ πλησίον· καὶ ἐροῦσι πᾶς ὁ λαός· γένοιτο
Deuteronomy 27:17 (NETS)	Deuteronomy 27:17 (English Elpenor)
“Cursed be he who moves a neighbor’s boundaries.” And all the people shall say, “May it be!”	Cursed is he that removes his neighbour’s landmarks: and all the people shall say, So be it.

Psalm 46:2 (Tanakh)	Psalm 46:2 (KJV)	Psalm 46:2 (NET)
Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;	Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;	For this reason we do not fear when the earth shakes, and the mountains tumble into the depths of the sea,

Psalm 46:2 (Septuagint BLB)	Psalm 45:3 (Septuagint Elpenor)
διὰ τοῦτο οὐ φοβηθησόμεθα ἐν τῷ ταράσσεσθαι τὴν γῆν καὶ μετατίθεσθαι ὄρη ἐν καρδίαις θαλασσῶν	διὰ τοῦτο οὐ φοβηθησόμεθα ἐν τῷ ταράσσεσθαι τὴν γῆν καὶ μετατίθεσθαι ὄρη ἐν καρδίαις θαλασσῶν
Psalm 45:3 (NETS)	Psalm 45:3 (English Elpenor)
Therefore we will not fear, when the earth is troubled and mountains be transposed in hearts of seas.	Therefore will we not fear when the earth is troubled, and the mountains are removed into the depths of the seas.

Proverbs 23:10 (Tanakh)	Proverbs 23:10 (KJV)	Proverbs 23:10 (NET)
Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:	Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:	Do not move an ancient boundary stone, or take over the fields of the fatherless,

Proverbs 23:10 (Septuagint BLB)	Proverbs 23:10 (Septuagint Elpenor)
μὴ μεταθῇς ὅρια αἰώνια εἰς δὲ κτῆμα ὀρφανῶν μὴ εἰσέλθῃς	μὴ μεταθῇς ὅρια αἰώνια, εἰς δὲ κτῆμα ὀρφανῶν μὴ εἰσέλθῃς
Proverbs 23:10 (NETS)	Proverbs 23:10 (English Elpenor)
Do not relocate ancient borders, nor enter the possession of orphans.	Remove not the ancient landmarks; and enter not upon the possession of the fatherless:

Isaiah 29:24 (Tanakh)	Isaiah 29:24 (KJV)	Isaiah 29:24 (NET)
They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.	They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.	Those who stray morally will gain understanding; those who complain will acquire insight.

Isaiah 29:24 (Septuagint BLB)	Isaiah 29:24 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ γνώσονται οἱ τῷ πνεύματι πλανώμενοι σύνεσιν οἱ δὲ γογγύζοντες μαθήσονται ὑπακούειν καὶ αἱ γλώσσαι αἱ ψελλίζουσαι μαθήσονται λαλεῗν εἰρήνην	καὶ γνώσονται οἱ πλανώμενοι τῷ πνεύματι σύνεσιν, οἱ δὲ γογγύζοντες μαθήσονται ὑπακούειν, καὶ αἱ γλῶσσαι αἱ ψελλίζουσαι μαθήσονται λαλεῖν εἰρήνην
Isaiah 29:24 (NETS)	Isaiah 29:24 (English Elpenor)
And those who wander in spirit will know understanding, and those who grumble will learn to obey, [and the faltering tongues will learn to speak peace].	And they that erred in spirit shall know understanding, and the murmurers shall learn obedience, and the stammering tongues shall learn to speak peace.

Isaiah 56:10 (Tanakh)	Isaiah 56:10 (KJV)	Isaiah 56:10 (NET)
His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.	His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.	All their watchmen are blind, they are unaware. All of them are like mute dogs, unable to bark. They pant, lie down, and love to snooze.

Isaiah 56:10 (Septuagint BLB)	Isaiah 56:10 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἴδετε ὅτι πάντες ἐκτετύφλωνται οὐκ ἔγνωσαν φρονῆσαι πάντες κύνες ἐνεοί οὐ δυνήσονται ὑλακτεῗν ἐνυπνιαζόμενοι κοίτην φιλοῦντες νυστάξαι	ἴδετε ὅτι ἐκτετύφλωνται πάντες, οὐκ ἔγνωσαν φρονῆσαι, πάντες κύνες ἐνεοί, οὐ δυνήσονται ὑλακτεῖν, ἐνυπνιαζόμενοι κοίτην, φιλοῦντες νυστάξαι
Isaiah 56:10 (NETS)	Isaiah 56:10 (English Elpenor)
Observe that all have become totally blind; they have not learned how to think; they are all silent dogs; they will not be able to bark, dreaming in bed, loving to slumber.	See how they are all blinded: they have not known; [they are] dumb dogs [that] will not bark; dreaming of rest, loving to slumber.

Isaiah 56:11 (Tanakh)	Isaiah 56:11 (KJV)	Isaiah 56:11 (NET)
Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter.	Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter.	The dogs have big appetites; they are never full. They are shepherds who have no understanding; they all go their own way, each one looking for monetary gain.

Isaiah 56:11 (Septuagint BLB)	Isaiah 56:11 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ οἱ κύνες ἀναιδεῗς τῇ ψυχῇ οὐκ εἰδότες πλησμονήν καί εἰσιν πονηροὶ οὐκ εἰδότες σύνεσιν πάντες ἐν ταῗς ὁδοῗς αὐτῶν ἐξηκολούθησαν ἕκαστος κατὰ τὸ ἑαυτοῦ	καὶ οἱ κύνες ἀναιδεῖς τῇ ψυχῇ, οὐκ εἰδότες πλησμονήν· καί εἰσι πονηροὶ οὐκ εἰδότες σύνεσιν, πάντες ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτῶν ἐξηκολούθησαν, ἕκαστος κατὰ τὸ ἑαυτοῦ
Isaiah 56:11 (NETS)	Isaiah 56:11 (English Elpenor)
The dogs are shameless in their soul, not knowing satisfaction. They are evil, not knowing understanding. They have all followed their own ways, each in the same manner.	Yea, they are insatiable dogs, that know not what it is to be filled, and they are wicked, having no understanding: all have followed their own ways, each according to his [will].

Isaiah 56:12 (Tanakh)	Isaiah 56:12 (KJV)	Isaiah 56:12 (NET)
Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.	Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.	Each one says, ‘Come on, I’ll get some wine! Let’s guzzle some beer! Tomorrow will be just like today! We’ll have everything we want!’

Isaiah 56:12 (Septuagint BLB)	Isaiah 56:12 (Septuagint Elpenor)
NA	NA
Isaiah 56:12 (NETS)	Isaiah 56:12 (English Elpenor)
NA	NA

John 8:42 (NET)	John 8:42 (KJV)
Jesus replied, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come from God and am now here. I have not come on my own initiative, but he sent me.	Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
εἶπεν αὐτοῖς \|ὁ\| Ἰησοῦς· εἰ ὁ θεὸς πατὴρ ὑμῶν ἦν ἠγαπᾶτε ἂν ἐμέ, ἐγὼ γὰρ ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐξῆλθον καὶ ἥκω· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀπ᾿ ἐμαυτοῦ ἐλήλυθα, ἀλλ᾿ ἐκεῖνος με ἀπέστειλεν	ειπεν ουν αυτοις ο ιησους ει ο θεος πατηρ υμων ην ηγαπατε αν εμε εγω γαρ εκ του θεου εξηλθον και ηκω ουδε γαρ απ εμαυτου εληλυθα αλλ εκεινος με απεστειλεν	ειπεν ουν αυτοις ο ιησους ει ο θεος πατηρ υμων ην ηγαπατε αν εμε εγω γαρ εκ του θεου εξηλθον και ηκω ουδε γαρ απ εμαυτου εληλυθα αλλ εκεινος με απεστειλεν

Back to Who Am I? Part 11

Back to Section One – Conclusion

Back to Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Part 8

^[1] Hosea 2:17a (English Elpenor)

^[2] Verse 27 in the Tanakh on chabad.org

^[3] A note (26) in the NET acknowledged that the Hebrew was “to open the mouth.”

^[4] Matthew 5:28 (NET) Table

^[5] I don’t want to leave the wrong impression: My imaginations can stray farther afield, awake, when a wave of libido crashes over me. The description above is me at my Sunday-go-to-meeting best behavior. I had been laid off from work that very day as a result of the panic over the corona virus.

^[6] Romans 7:21b (NET) Table

^[7] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had εἰς at the beginning of this clause (literally: “into” or “unto discipline endure”), where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ει (literally: “if” or “although discipline endure”).

^[8] Hebrews 12:7 (NIV) Table

^[9] John 3:7 (NET)

^[10] Isaiah 29:7 (Tanakh)

^[11] John 8:31 (NET)

^[12] John 8:42 (NET)

Father, Forgive Them – Part 3

Posted on March 31, 2018 by admin

Jesus said (Matthew 23:33-36 NASB):

You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?

“Therefore (Διὰ τοῦτο; See: Table1 below), behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

I quoted the NASB to blunt the crime/punishment motif the NET translators superimposed upon the text by translating ἥξει (a form of ἥκω) will be held responsible (See: Table). Of course the NASB translators superimposed their own crime/punishment motif by translating ἔλθῃ (a form of ἔρχομαι) may fall the guilt (See: Table3 below). Neither word seems capable of carrying such concepts. Both translations help to disguise the fact that Jesus brought all the righteous blood shed on earth…upon this generation so that the serpents, the brood of vipers, could escape (φύγητε, a form of φεύγω) the sentence (κρίσεως, a form of κρίσις) of hell. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn (κρίνῃ, a form of κρίνω) the world, but that the world should be saved through him.^[1]

Clarifying this point, however, doesn’t fill me with instant insight. It seems rather to be leading me somewhere I didn’t particularly want to go. Before I go there I want to entertain another insight gained along the way (Matthew 2:13 NET):

After [the wise men] had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and flee (φεῦγε, another form of φεύγω) to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to look for the child to kill him.”

Only one king was aware enough (Matthew 2:1-12) of Jesus’ first advent to respond to it (Matthew 2:16-18 NET):

When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he became enraged. He sent men to kill all the children in Bethlehem and throughout the surrounding region from the age of two and under, according to the time he had learned from the wise men. Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled (ἐπληρώθη, a form of πληρόω): “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud wailing, Rachel weeping for her children, and she did not want to be comforted, because they were gone.”

Herod comes off as a fool: First he thought Jesus was after something so petty as his throne. My kingdom is not from this world,^[2] Jesus told Pilate. Second, he thought to thwart God by committing infanticide when it was he who was thwarted by the simple tactic of fleeing beyond the boundary of his jurisdiction and remaining there until he died. Those in positions of authority at Jesus’ second advent, when The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ,^[3] will do well to remember Herod’s negative example, if for no other reason than how they will be remembered in the history of Him who will reign for ever and ever.

Despite all that had transpired (Luke 1:1-2:40) Joseph wasn’t expected to add Jeremiah’s prophecy to the time in which he was living to deduce that he should flee with the child Jesus and his mother to Egypt. Rather an angel appeared to him in a dream and warned him explicitly, while other fathers of infant sons slept ignorantly, blissfully, through that fateful night. Of course, the purpose of Jeremiah’s prophecy was not that brilliant young minds might thwart it by fleeing. Consider a prophecy, for instance, in which fleeing is its intended fulfillment (Matthew 24:15, 16 NET):

So when you see the abomination of desolation – spoken about by Daniel the prophet – standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those in Judea must flee (φευγέτωσαν, another form of φεύγω) to the mountains.

But as I wondered how to live emotionally with the collateral damage of all those butchered sons I caught a glimpse of young Jesus in tears contemplating the same thing and heard the scripture as written for its primary heir (Galatians 3:15-22).

Jeremiah 31:16, 17 (Tanakh)	Jeremiah 38:16, 17 (NETS)
Thus saith the LORD (y^ehôvâh, יהוה); Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the LORD (y^ehôvâh, יהוה); and [Rachel’s children] shall come again from the land of the enemy. And there is hope in thine end, saith the LORD (y^ehôvâh, יהוה), that thy children shall come again to their own border.	Thus did the Lord say: Let your voice cease from weeping, and your eyes from tears, because there is a wage for your works, and [Rachel’s sons] shall come back from a land of enemies; there will be permanence for your children.

I am the resurrection and the life, Jesus told Martha before He raised Lazarus from the dead. The one who believes in me will live even if he dies, and the one who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?^[4] But even Moses revealed that the dead are raised in the passage about the bush, Jesus told Sadduccees who contend that there is no resurrection, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live before him.^[5] For the joy set out for him, the writer of Hebrews declared of Jesus, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame…^[6]

As for leading me somewhere I didn’t particularly want to go: the fact that Jesus brought all the righteous blood shed on earth…upon this generation so that the serpents, the brood of vipers, could escape the sentence of hell reminds me of Abraham’s reasoning in Jesus’ parable (Luke 16:19-31) of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:25 NET):

But Abraham said [to the rich man], ‘Child, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things and Lazarus likewise bad things, but now he is comforted (παρακαλεῖται, a form of παρακαλέω) here and you are in anguish (ὀδυνᾶσαι, a form of ὀδυνάω; See: Table2 below).’

In another essay, though I didn’t quite scoff at Abraham’s reasoning, I didn’t think that receiving good things in life was sufficient cause to turn the rich man’s ᾅδῃ (a form of ᾅδης) into γεέννης (a form of γέεννα). But Jesus clearly meant γεέννης in reference to the serpents, the brood of vipers escape from the sentence of hell. So it’s difficult for me to turn now and see how bad things—bringing all the righteous blood shed on earth…upon this generation—might justify that escape.

As I consider again the accounts of the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple I have to admit I find it hard to imagine a γέεννα were sin could be any more unrestrained. The primary differences I see between the destruction of Jerusalem and γέεννα are: 1) though there is a “letting go” on God’s part evident in Jerusalem’s destruction it was not the absolute “place that the omnipresent God is not” that I understand of γέεννα; and, 2) what we call death was the escape route taken by most in Jerusalem from its hellish destruction, while there is no exit from γέεννα.

I am probably missing the point here, however. There is no more justification required to spare the serpents, the brood of vipers from a sentence of hell beyond Jesus’ death on the cross and his mercy. I should consider his motivation to show them mercy since it does not depend on human desire or exertion, but on God who shows mercy (ἐλεῶντος, a form of ἐλεέω).^[7]

I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy (râcham, ורחמתי; Septuagint: ἐλεήσω, another form of ἐλεέω) on whom I will show mercy (râcham, ארחם; Septuagint: ἐλεῶ, another form of ἐλεέω),^[8] y^ehôvâh declared to Moses after the incident with the golden calf. In the past witnessing his people suffering from their sin has motivated y^ehôvâh/Jesus to show them mercy.

Jeremiah 31:18-20 (Tanakh)	Jeremiah 38:18-20 (NETS)
I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the LORD (y^ehôvâh, יהוה) my God.	In hearing I heard Ephraim mourning: “You instructed me and I was instructed; I was not trained like a calf. Bring me back, and I shall come back, because you are the Lord my God.
Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.	Because later than my captivity I repented, and later than that I became aware, I sighed for days of shame, and I yielded to you, because I bore the disgrace of my youth.
Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely (râcham, רחם) have mercy (râcham, ארחמנו) upon him, saith the LORD (y^ehôvâh, יהוה).	Ephraim is my beloved son, a child to delight in; because since my words are in him, I will remember him with remembrance. Therefore I hurried for him; in having mercy (ἐλεῶν, another form of ἐλεέω) I will have mercy (ἐλεήσω, a form of ἐλεέω) on him, quoth the Lord.

Notice the order of events:

First, one is turned (John 6:44; 12:32) by y^ehôvâh…turn (shûb, השיבני; Septuagint: ἐπίστρεψόν, a form of ἐπιστρέφω) thou me, and I shall be turned (shûb, ואשובה; Septuagint: ἐπιστρέψω)…(KJV: turn thou me, and I shall be turned).

Second, one who is turned by y^ehôvâh repents (2 Timothy 2:24-26)…after that I was turned (shûb, שובי), I repented (nâcham, נחמתי; Septuagint: μετενόησα, a form of μετανοέω)… (KJV: after that I was turned, I repented).

The translators of the Septuagint conflated being turned by y^ehôvâh with captivity: “later than my captivity I repented” (ὅτι ὕστερον αἰχμαλωσίας μου μετενόησα). The Tanakh reads: Thou hast chastised (yâsar, יסרתני; Septuagint: ἐπαίδευσάς, a form of παιδεύω) me, and I was chastised (yâsar, ואוסר; Septuagint: ἐπαιδεύθην, another form of παιδεύω), as a bullock unaccustomed (lôʼ, לא) to the yoke (lâmad, למד)… (KJV: Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke).

Translating yâsar with forms of παιδεύω wasn’t wrong exactly, just a little misleading. Ephraim learned that y^ehôvâh’s word (Deuteronomy 32) was true, but I wonder if ἐπαίδευσάς and ἐπαιδεύθην actually communicate the crudity and violence of that method of “instruction.”

The Greek ἐγώ ὥσπερ μόσχος οὐκ ἐδιδάχθην^[9] seems virtually identical to the Hebrew translated as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke though the English translation—“I was not trained like a calf”—coupled with instructed rather than chastised seems to disguise that fact. But, yes, survivors “instructed” by losing a war and being carried off into captivity that y^ehôvâh’s word was true did prompt Ephraim to ask y^ehôvâh to turn him.

The translators of the NET (among other modern translations) followed the same line of reasoning—“For after we turned away from you we repented”—and—“You disciplined us and we learned from it”—emphasizing our repentance and our learning over being turned by y^ehôvâh. But hear y^ehôvâh’s motivation to show mercy revealed in Moses’ song: For HaShem (y^ehôvâh, יהוה) will judge His people, and repent Himself for His servants; when He seeth that their stay is gone, and there is none remaining, shut up or left at large.^[10]

Third, it is after repentance that one gains real knowledge (Ephesians 4:24-29; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31; 2:6-16) beyond the simple fact that y^ehôvâh’s word is true…and after that I was instructed (yâdaʽ, הודעי; Septuagint: γνῶναί, a form of γινώσκω)… (KJV: after that I was instructed).

Fourth, this instruction (Tanakh, KJV) or awareness (NETS/Septuagint) brings shame and confusion (Romans 7:15-25; 1 Corinthians 15:9; Ephesians 3:7-9; 1 Timothy 1:15-17) over past behavior…I was ashamed (bûsh, בשתי; Septuagint: αἰσχύνης, a form of αἰσχύνη), yea, even confounded (kâlam, נכלמתי; Septuagint: ὑπέδειξά, a form of ὑποδεικνύω)…(KJV: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded). It is the carnal mind or religious mind that seeks to induce shame first to manipulate others into conformity with its concept of righteousness.

For this purpose the Son of God was revealed, John wrote, to destroy the works of the devil.^[11] To be born from above and led by the Spirit of God is the surest way to destroy the works (ἔργα, a form of ἔργον) of the devil, but as in the instance cited above it isn’t the only thing God is doing or has done to reconcile the world to Himself through Christ.

I haven’t written about destroying the works of the devil. I think more often in terms of the old man (παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον). It is good to pause here a moment to consider παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον since so many women feel excluded by the word man.

This is the record of the family line of Adam (ʼâdâm, אדם; Septuagint: ἀνθρώπων, a form of ἄνθρωπος). When God created humankind (ʼâdâm, אדם; Septuagint: Αδαμ, a form of Ἀδάμ), he made them in the likeness of God. He created them male (zâkâr, זכר; Septuagint: ἄρσεν) and female (n^eqêbâh, ונקבה; Septuagint: θῆλυ, a form of θῆλυς); when they were created, he blessed them and named them “humankind (ʼâdâm, אדם; Septuagint: Αδαμ, a form of Ἀδάμ) [Table].”^[12] The rabbis who translated the Septuagint used ἀνθρώπων (a form of ἄνθρωπος) for the first ʼâdâm (אדם) in Genesis 5:1. So from now on I will call παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον (another form of ἄνθρωπος) old human.

My wife would dig into me in arguments, searching for what I am calling the old human. When she found it, when I responded angrily, she believed she had discovered my true motives, my true feelings, my true self. If I avoided an outburst of anger, which was usually facilitated by my silence, she called me mean and assumed I was hiding my true motives, my true feelings, my true self. I didn’t study the Bible as often or as consistently as I do now, so the experience was much more disorienting in real time than it seems in retrospect.

I have no excuse for my inattention to Scripture. I became the married man…concerned about the things of the world, how to please his wife.^[13] She, my children and I have all suffered for it. But that kind of unmasking by the woman I love is a wound that doesn’t heal. I am all too aware now that when I want to do good, evil is present with me.^[14]

A conversation recently over a long lunch with a coworker helped me understand my now ex-wife. My coworker, speaking on a different topic, said that her mother reprimanded her with the words “be nice.” And my coworker repeated, “be nice, be nice, be nice.” On the flight home I had a long time to consider that lifestyle relative to my own.

It was similar to my efforts to have my own righteousness derived from the law,^[15] except that the law actually is God’s word, through the law comes the knowledge of sin. So, though I was playing badly, I was in the right theater. When I turned Paul’s definition of love (1 Corinthians 13:4-13) into rules that I tried to obey in my own strength, that definition actually is a vivid description of the way God loves. So again, I played badly but in the right theater. For a child to attempt to construct a way of life from the word nice, defined as a vague negation of whatever she was doing, saying or thinking at the moment her mother spoke it as correction, could only seem like a repression of her true motives, her true feelings, her true self.

If I am filled with God’s own love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, the fruit of his Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22, 23), then all I need is permission to consider that fruit my new human. When I am filled with the fruit of Spirit the Old Testament testifies to the need for a new human, since the old human was never reformed by love or promise, by law or punishment. “Do not be amazed that I said to you,” Jesus said, “‘You must all be born from above.’”^[16] And the teaching of the New Testament becomes that permission to receive and perceive the fruit of God’s own Spirit as my new human (Galatians 2:20, 21 NET).

I 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!

If my wife has turned the faith she used on me against herself, that her old human is her true self, it is extraordinarily difficult for her to work out her salvation. I cannot have the salvation by grace through faith revealed in the Bible if I refuse to believe what the Bible says about me—the old me and the new me—and about that salvation.

Since I failed her so miserably when we were married I have tried by the grace of God to love her consistently since our divorce. I’ve confessed my sins and shortcomings when I’ve recognized them, but I’ve clearly lost all credibility with her. She is convinced that I live by obeying rules I have derived from studying the Bible. Of course, she is not entirely wrong.

At any given moment I may be led by the Spirit of God or I may have reverted to attempting to love like God by obeying Paul’s definition of love as if it were rules or worse, the sin in my flesh may be expressed beyond the confines of my flesh. But the Holy Spirit’s persistence—despite my efforts to obey rules—has increased the frequency of that oscillation and vacillation to moments, not days or weeks, not months or years. And my fixation on the old human does not alter the fact that Jesus, the Judge, is perfectly willing to consider my old human a child of the devil doing the deeds (ἔργα, a form of ἔργον) of [his] father (John 8:37-47). I would do well to accept his faith as my own.

Three tables follow: the occurrences of Διὰ τοῦτο in Matthew and forms of ὀδυνάω and ἔλθῃ (a form of ἔρχομαι) in the New Testament and their translations in the KJV and NET. If the parallel Greek in the NET differed from the Stephanus Textus Receptus I have broken the table to show those differences in other tables including the Byzantine Majority Text.

Διὰ τοῦτο in Matthew	Reference	KJV	NET
Διὰ τοῦτο	Matthew 6:25	Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life…	Therefore I tell you, do not worry…

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
Διὰ τοῦτο λέγω ὑμῖν· μὴ μεριμνᾶτε τῇ ψυχῇ ὑμῶν τί φάγητε [ἢ τί πίητε], μηδὲ τῷ σώματι ὑμῶν τί ἐνδύσησθε. οὐχὶ ἡ ψυχὴ πλεῖον ἐστιν τῆς τροφῆς καὶ τὸ σῶμα τοῦ ἐνδύματος	δια τουτο λεγω υμιν μη μεριμνατε τη ψυχη υμων τι φαγητε και τι πιητε μηδε τω σωματι υμων τι ενδυσησθε ουχι η ψυχη πλειον εστιν της τροφης και το σωμα του ενδυματος	δια τουτο λεγω υμιν μη μεριμνατε τη ψυχη υμων τι φαγητε και τι πιητε μηδε τω σωματι υμων τι ενδυσησθε ουχι η ψυχη πλειον εστιν της τροφης και το σωμα του ενδυματος

διὰ τοῦτο	Matthew 12:27	…therefore they shall be your judges.	For this reason they will be your judges.
Διὰ τοῦτο	Matthew 12:31	Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven…	For this reason I tell you, people will be forgiven…

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
Διὰ τοῦτο λέγω ὑμῖν, πᾶσα ἁμαρτία καὶ βλασφημία ἀφεθήσεται τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, ἡ δὲ τοῦ πνεύματος βλασφημία οὐκ ἀφεθήσεται	δια τουτο λεγω υμιν πασα αμαρτια και βλασφημια αφεθησεται τοις ανθρωποις η δε του πνευματος βλασφημια ουκ αφεθησεται τοις ανθρωποις	δια τουτο λεγω υμιν πασα αμαρτια και βλασφημια αφεθησεται τοις ανθρωποις η δε του πνευματος βλασφημια ουκ αφεθησεται τοις ανθρωποις

διὰ τοῦτο	Matthew 13:13	Therefore speak I to them in parables…	For this reason I speak to them in parables…
διὰ τοῦτο	Matthew 13:52	…Therefore every scribe which is instructed…	…Therefore every expert in the law who has been trained…

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ὁ δὲ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· διὰ τοῦτο πᾶς γραμματεὺς μαθητευθεὶς τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν ὅμοιος ἐστιν ἀνθρώπῳ οἰκοδεσπότῃ, ὅστις ἐκβάλλει ἐκ τοῦ θησαυροῦ αὐτοῦ καινὰ καὶ παλαιά	ο δε ειπεν αυτοις δια τουτο πας γραμματευς μαθητευθεις εις την βασιλειαν των ουρανων ομοιος εστιν ανθρωπω οικοδεσποτη οστις εκβαλλει εκ του θησαυρου αυτου καινα και παλαια	ο δε ειπεν αυτοις δια τουτο πας γραμματευς μαθητευθεις εις την βασιλειαν των ουρανων ομοιος εστιν ανθρωπω οικοδεσποτη οστις εκβαλλει εκ του θησαυρου αυτου καινα και παλαια

διὰ τοῦτο	Matthew 14:2	…and therefore mighty works do show forth themselves in him.	And because of this, miraculous powers are at work in him.
Διὰ τοῦτο	Matthew 18:23	Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened…	For this reason, the kingdom of heaven is like…
διὰ τοῦτο	Matthew 21:43	Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you…	For this reason I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken from you…
δια τουτο	Matthew 23:14	…therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.	Not included in NET
Διὰ τοῦτο	Mathew 23:34	Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men…	For this reason I am sending you prophets and wise men…

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
Διὰ τοῦτο ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἀποστέλλω πρὸς ὑμᾶς προφήτας καὶ σοφοὺς καὶ γραμματεῖς· ἐξ αὐτῶν ἀποκτενεῖτε καὶ σταυρώσετε καὶ ἐξ αὐτῶν μαστιγώσετε ἐν ταῖς συναγωγαῖς ὑμῶν καὶ διώξετε ἀπὸ πόλεως εἰς πόλιν	δια τουτο ιδου εγω αποστελλω προς υμας προφητας και σοφους και γραμματεις και εξ αυτων αποκτενειτε και σταυρωσετε και εξ αυτων μαστιγωσετε εν ταις συναγωγαις υμων και διωξετε απο πολεως εις πολιν	δια τουτο ιδου εγω αποστελλω προς υμας προφητας και σοφους και γραμματεις και εξ αυτων αποκτενειτε και σταυρωσετε και εξ αυτων μαστιγωσετε εν ταις συναγωγαις υμων και διωξετε απο πολεως εις πολιν

διὰ τοῦτο

Matthew 24:44

Therefore be ye also ready…

Therefore you also must be ready…

Form of ὀδυνάω	Reference	KJV	NET
ὀδυνᾶσαι	Luke 16:25	…and thou art tormented.	…and you are in anguish.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
εἶπεν δὲ Ἀβραάμ· τέκνον, μνήσθητι ὅτι ἀπέλαβες τὰ ἀγαθά σου ἐν τῇ ζωῇ σου, καὶ Λάζαρος ὁμοίως τὰ κακά· νῦν δὲ ὧδε παρακαλεῖται, σὺ δὲ ὀδυνᾶσαι	ειπεν δε αβρααμ τεκνον μνησθητι οτι απελαβες συ τα αγαθα σου εν τη ζωη σου και λαζαρος ομοιως τα κακα νυν δε οδε παρακαλειται συ δε οδυνασαι	ειπεν δε αβρααμ τεκνον μνησθητι οτι απελαβες συ τα αγαθα σου εν τη ζωη σου και λαζαρος ομοιως τα κακα νυν δε ωδε παρακαλειται συ δε οδυνασαι

ὀδυνῶμαι	Luke 16:24	…I am tormented in this flame.	…I am in anguish in this fire.
ὀδυνώμενοι	Luke 2:48	…thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.	…your father and I have been looking for you anxiously.
ὀδυνώμενοι	Acts 20:38	Sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake…	…especially saddened by what he had said…

ἔλθῃ, a form of ἔρχομαι	Reference	KJV	NET
ἔλθῃ	Matthew 10:23	…till the Son of man be come.	…before the Son of Man comes.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
Ὅταν δὲ διώκωσιν ὑμᾶς ἐν τῇ πόλει ταύτῃ, φεύγετε εἰς τὴν ἑτέραν ἀμὴν γὰρ λέγω ὑμῖν, οὐ μὴ τελέσητε τὰς πόλεις \|τοῦ\| Ἰσραὴλ ἕως \|ἂν\| ἔλθῃ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου.	οταν δε διωκωσιν υμας εν τη πολει ταυτη φευγετε εις την αλλην αμην γαρ λεγω υμιν ου μη τελεσητε τας πολεις του ισραηλ εως αν ελθη ο υιος του ανθρωπου	οταν δε διωκωσιν υμας εν τη πολει ταυτη φευγετε εις την αλλην αμην γαρ λεγω υμιν ου μη τελεσητε τας πολεις του ισραηλ εως αν ελθη ο υιος του ανθρωπου

ἔλθῃ	Matthew 21:40	When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh…	…when the owner of the vineyard comes…
ἔλθῃ	Matthew 23:35	That upon you may come all the righteous blood…	…so that on you will come all the righteous blood…

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ὅπως ἔλθῃ ἐφ᾿ ὑμᾶς πᾶν αἷμα δίκαιον ἐκχυννόμενον ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἀπὸ τοῦ αἵματος Ἅβελ τοῦ δικαίου ἕως τοῦ αἵματος Ζαχαρίου υἱοῦ Βαραχίου, ὃν ἐφονεύσατε μεταξὺ τοῦ ναοῦ καὶ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου	οπως ελθη εφ υμας παν αιμα δικαιον εκχυνομενον επι της γης απο του αιματος αβελ του δικαιου εως του αιματος ζαχαριου υιου βαραχιου ον εφονευσατε μεταξυ του ναου και του θυσιαστηριου	οπως ελθη εφ υμας παν αιμα δικαιον εκχυνομενον επι της γης απο του αιματος αβελ του δικαιου εως του αιματος ζαχαριου υιου βαραχιου ον εφονευσατε μεταξυ του ναου και του θυσιαστηριου

ἔλθῃ

Matthew 25:31

When the Son of man shall come in his glory…

When the Son of Man comes in his glory…

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
Ὅταν δὲ ἔλθῃ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐν τῇ δόξῃ αὐτοῦ καὶ πάντες οἱ ἄγγελοι μετ᾿ αὐτοῦ, τότε καθίσει ἐπὶ θρόνου δόξης αὐτοῦ	οταν δε ελθη ο υιος του ανθρωπου εν τη δοξη αυτου και παντες οι αγιοι αγγελοι μετ αυτου τοτε καθισει επι θρονου δοξης αυτου	οταν δε ελθη ο υιος του ανθρωπου εν τη δοξη αυτου και παντες οι αγιοι αγγελοι μετ αυτου τοτε καθισει επι θρονου δοξης αυτου

ἔλθῃ

Mark 4:22

…neither was any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad.

…and nothing concealed except to be brought to light.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
οὐ γάρ ἐστιν κρυπτὸν ἐὰν μὴ ἵνα φανερωθῇ, οὐδὲ ἐγένετο ἀπόκρυφον ἀλλ᾿ ἵνα ἔλθῃ εἰς φανερόν.	ου γαρ εστιν τι κρυπτον ο εαν μη φανερωθη ουδε εγενετο αποκρυφον αλλ ινα εις φανερον ελθη	ου γαρ εστιν τι κρυπτον ο εαν μη φανερωθη ουδε εγενετο αποκρυφον αλλ ινα εις φανερον ελθη

ἔλθῃ	Mark 8:38	…when he cometh in the glory of his Father…	…when he comes in the glory of his Father…
ἔλθῃ	Luke 1:43	…that the mother of my Lord should come to me?	…that the mother of my Lord should come and visit me?

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
καὶ πόθεν μοι τοῦτο ἵνα ἔλθῃ ἡ μήτηρ τοῦ κυρίου μου πρὸς ἐμέ	και ποθεν μοι τουτο ινα ελθη η μητηρ του κυριου μου προς με	και ποθεν μοι τουτο ινα ελθη η μητηρ του κυριου μου προς με

ἔλθῃ

Luke 8:17

…that shall not be known and come abroad.

…made known and brought to light.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
οὐ γάρ ἐστιν κρυπτὸν ὃ οὐ φανερὸν γενήσεται οὐδὲ ἀπόκρυφον ὃ οὐ μὴ γνωσθῇ καὶ εἰς φανερὸν ἔλθῃ	ου γαρ εστιν κρυπτον ο ου φανερον γενησεται ουδε αποκρυφον ο ου γνωσθησεται και εις φανερον ελθη	ου γαρ εστιν κρυπτον ο ου φανερον γενησεται ουδε αποκρυφον ο ου γνωσθησεται και εις φανερον ελθη

ἔλθῃ	Luke 9:26	…when he shall come in his own glory…	…when he comes in his glory…
	Luke 12:38	And if he shall come in the second…	Even if he comes in the second…
	Luke 12:38	…or come in the third watch…	…or third watch of the night…

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
κὰν ἐν τῇ δευτέρᾳ κὰν ἐν τῇ τρίτῃ φυλακῇ ἔλθῃ καὶ εὕρῃ οὕτως, μακάριοι εἰσιν ἐκεῖνοι.	και εαν ελθη εν τη δευτερα φυλακη και εν τη τριτη φυλακη ελθη και ευρη ουτως μακαριοι εισιν οι δουλοι εκεινοι	και εαν ελθη εν τη δευτερα φυλακη και εν τη τριτη φυλακη ελθη και ευρη ουτως μακαριοι εισιν οι δουλοι εκεινοι

ἔλθῃ

Luke 14:10

…that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say…

…so that when your host approaches he will say to you…

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ἀλλ᾿ ὅταν κληθῇς, πορευθεὶς ἀνάπεσε εἰς τὸν ἔσχατον τόπον, ἵνα ὅταν ἔλθῃ ὁ κεκληκώς σε ἐρεῖ σοι· φίλε, προσανάβηθι ἀνώτερον· τότε ἔσται σοι δόξα ἐνώπιον πάντων τῶν συνανακειμένων σοι	αλλ οταν κληθης πορευθεις αναπεσον εις τον εσχατον τοπον ινα οταν ελθη ο κεκληκως σε ειπη σοι φιλε προσαναβηθι ανωτερον τοτε εσται σοι δοξα ενωπιον των συνανακειμενων σοι	αλλ οταν κληθης πορευθεις αναπεσε εις τον εσχατον τοπον ινα οταν ελθη ο κεκληκως σε ειπη σοι φιλε προσαναβηθι ανωτερον τοτε εσται σοι δοξα ενωπιον των συνανακειμενων σοι

ἔλθῃ

Luke 22:18

…until the kingdom of God shall come.

…until the kingdom of God comes.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
λέγω γὰρ ὑμῖν, [ὅτι] οὐ μὴ πίω ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν ἀπὸ τοῦ γενήματος τῆς ἀμπέλου ἕως οὗ ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ ἔλθῃ.	λεγω γαρ υμιν οτι ου μη πιω απο του γεννηματος της αμπελου εως οτου η βασιλεια του θεου ελθη	λεγω γαρ υμιν οτι ου μη πιω απο του γενηματος της αμπελου εως οτου η βασιλεια του θεου ελθη

ἔλθῃ

John 4:25

…when he is come, he will tell us all things.

…whenever he comes, he will tell us everything.

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

ἔλθῃ	John 5:43	…if another shall come in his own name…	If someone else comes in his own name…
ἔλθῃ	John 7:31	When Christ cometh…	Whenever the Christ comes…

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
Ἐκ τοῦ ὄχλου δὲ πολλοὶ ἐπίστευσαν εἰς αὐτὸν καὶ ἔλεγον· ὁ χριστὸς ὅταν ἔλθῃ μὴ πλείονα σημεῖα ποιήσει ὧν οὗτος ἐποίησεν	πολλοι δε εκ του οχλου επιστευσαν εις αυτον και ελεγον οτι ο χριστος οταν ελθη μητι πλειονα σημεια τουτων ποιησει ων ουτος εποιησεν	πολλοι δε εκ του οχλου επιστευσαν εις αυτον και ελεγον οτι ο χριστος οταν ελθη μητι πλειονα σημεια τουτων ποιησει ων ουτος εποιησεν

ἔλθῃ	John 11:56	…that he will not come to the feast?	That he won’t come to the feast?
ἔλθῃ	John 15:26	But when the Comforter is come…	When the Advocate comes…

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
Ὅταν ἔλθῃ ὁ παράκλητος ὃν ἐγὼ πέμψω ὑμῖν παρὰ τοῦ πατρός, τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας ὃ παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς ἐκπορεύεται, ἐκεῖνος μαρτυρήσει περὶ ἐμοῦ	οταν δε ελθη ο παρακλητος ον εγω πεμψω υμιν παρα του πατρος το πνευμα της αληθειας ο παρα του πατρος εκπορευεται εκεινος μαρτυρησει περι εμου	οταν δε ελθη ο παρακλητος ον εγω πεμψω υμιν παρα του πατρος το πνευμα της αληθειας ο παρα του πατρος εκπορευεται εκεινος μαρτυρησει περι εμου

ἔλθῃ	John 16:4	…that when the time shall come…	…so that when their time comes…
ἔλθῃ	John 16:13	Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come…	But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes…

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ὅταν δὲ ἔλθῃ ἐκεῖνος, τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας, ὁδηγήσει ὑμᾶς \|ἐν τῇ ἀληθείᾳ πάσῃ\| οὐ γὰρ λαλήσει ἀφ᾿ ἑαυτοῦ, ἀλλ᾿ ὅσα \|ἀκούσει\| λαλήσει καὶ τὰ ἐρχόμενα ἀναγγελεῖ ὑμῖν	οταν δε ελθη εκεινος το πνευμα της αληθειας οδηγησει υμας εις πασαν την αληθειαν ου γαρ λαλησει αφ εαυτου αλλ οσα αν ακουση λαλησει και τα ερχομενα αναγγελει υμιν	οταν δε ελθη εκεινος το πνευμα της αληθειας οδηγησει υμας εις πασαν την αληθειαν ου γαρ λαλησει αφ εαυτου αλλ οσα αν ακουση λαλησει και τα ερχομενα αναγγελει υμιν

ἔλθῃ	Romans 3:8	Let us do evil, that good may come?	Let us do evil so that good may come…
	1 Corinthians 4:5	…until the Lord come…	Wait until the Lord comes.
	1 Corinthians 11:26	…ye do show the Lord’s death till he come.	…you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ὁσάκις γὰρ ἐὰν ἐσθίητε τὸν ἄρτον τοῦτον καὶ τὸ ποτήριον πίνητε, τὸν θάνατον τοῦ κυρίου καταγγέλλετε ἄχρι οὗ ἔλθῃ	οσακις γαρ αν εσθιητε τον αρτον τουτον και το ποτηριον τουτο πινητε τον θανατον του κυριου καταγγελλετε αχρις ου αν ελθη	οσακις γαρ αν εσθιητε τον αρτον τουτον και το ποτηριον τουτο πινητε τον θανατον του κυριου καταγγελλετε αχρις ου αν ελθη

ἔλθῃ

1 Corinthians 13:10

But when that which is perfect is come…

…but when what is perfect comes…

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

ἔλθῃ

1 Corinthians 16:10

Now if Timotheus come…

Now if Timothy comes…

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
Ἐὰν δὲ ἔλθῃ Τιμόθεος, βλέπετε, ἵνα ἀφόβως γένηται πρὸς ὑμᾶς· τὸ γὰρ ἔργον κυρίου ἐργάζεται ὡς \|καγώ\|	εαν δε ελθη τιμοθεος βλεπετε ινα αφοβως γενηται προς υμας το γαρ εργον κυριου εργαζεται ως και εγω	εαν δε ελθη τιμοθεος βλεπετε ινα αφοβως γενηται προς υμας το γαρ εργον κυριου εργαζεται ως και εγω

ἔλθῃ	1 Corinthians 16:11	…that he may come unto me:	…so that he may come to me.
	1 Corinthians 16:12	I greatly desired him to come unto you…	I strongly encouraged him to visit you…
	1 Corinthians 16:12	…but his will was not at all to come at this time…	…but it was simply not his intention to come now.
	Galatians 3:19	…till the seed should come…	…until the arrival of the descendant…
	Colossians 4:10	…if he come unto you, receive him…	…if he comes to you, welcome him…
	2 Thessalonians 1:10	When he shall come to be glorified in his saints…	…when he comes to be glorified among his saints…

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ὅταν ἔλθῃ ἐνδοξασθῆναι ἐν τοῖς ἁγίοις αὐτοῦ καὶ θαυμασθῆναι ἐν πᾶσιν τοῖς πιστεύσασιν, ὅτι ἐπιστεύθη τὸ μαρτύριον ἡμῶν ἐφ᾿ ὑμᾶς, ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ	οταν ελθη ενδοξασθηναι εν τοις αγιοις αυτου και θαυμασθηναι εν πασιν τοις πιστευουσιν οτι επιστευθη το μαρτυριον ημων εφ υμας εν τη ημερα εκεινη	οταν ελθη ενδοξασθηναι εν τοις αγιοις αυτου και θαυμασθηναι εν πασιν τοις πιστευσασιν οτι επιστευθη το μαρτυριον ημων εφ υμας εν τη ημερα εκεινη

ἔλθῃ	2 Thessalonians 2:3	…for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first…	For that day will not arrive until the rebellion comes…
ἔλθῃ	Revelation 17:10	…and when he cometh…	…but whenever he does come…

Father, Forgive Them – Part 4

Back to Cobwebs

Back to Will, Areté and Troy

Back to Forgiven or Passed Over? Part 6

Back to The Lost Son of Perdition, Part 8

^[1] John 3:17 (NET)

^[2] John 18:36a (NET)

^[3] Revelation 11:15 (NET)

^[4] John 11:25, 26 (NET)

^[5] Luke 20:37, 38 (NET)

^[6] Hebrews 12:2b (NET)

^[7] Romans 9:16 (NET) Table

^[8] Exodus 33:19b (Tanakh) Table

^[9] I just as a calf was not trained.

^[10] Deuteronomy 32:36 (Tanakh)

^[11] 1 John 3:8b (NET)

^[12] Genesis 5:1, 2 (NET)

^[13] 1 Corinthians 7:33 (NET)

^[14] Romans 7:21b (NET)

^[15] Philippians 3:9b (NET)

^[16] John 3:7 (NET)

The Gospel and the Religious Mind

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

Tag Archives: Romans 7:21

A Shadow of the Good Things, Part 10

The Day of the Lord, Part 7

A Door of Hope, Part 2

Father, Forgive Them – Part 3