Exploration, Part 19

Posted on April 26, 2026 by admin

I want to continue hearing with faith¹ the truth of the Gospel in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. A quick review follows (Ephesians 3:1-6 EXP18).

By reason of this grace I, Paul, the captive of Christ Jesus for your sake, the nations—assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you (and by means of me unto you), how by revelation was made known to me the mystery, as I have written briefly, (which this you can read to perceive my insight into the mystery), which to other generations was not made known to the sons of men as now has been revealed by means of his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit—to become the nations, fellow heirs and of the same body and partakers of the promise by means of Christ Jesus through the gospel.

Paul continued (Ephesians 3:7-13 ESV):

Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things [Table], so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him [Table]. So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory [Table].

The Greek is: οὗ, Of this gospel (literally “Of which”), ἐγενήθην διάκονος, I was made a minister. The difference here between the critical texts (NA²⁸ / NET Parallel Greek) and received texts (Stephanus Textus Receptus / Byzantine Majority Text) may be worth pausing to mention. The critical texts had ἐγενήθην, a passive form of γίνομαι, I was made (ESV), where the received texts had ἐγενόμην in the middle voice (also translated I was made in the KJV).

Passive Voice

Middle Voice

Grammatical voice indicates whether the subject is the performer of the action of the verb (active voice), or the subject is the recipient of the action (passive voice). If the subject of the sentence is being acted upon, then the verb is referred to as being in the passive voice.
For example: “Jesus … was baptized by John in the Jordan” (Mark 1:9). “Jesus” is the subject of the sentence, but in this case He is being acted upon (i.e. He is the recipient of the action), therefore the verb is said to be in the “Passive Voice”.²

The Greek middle voice shows the subject acting in his own interest or on his own behalf, or participating in the results of the verbal action. In overly simplistic terms, sometimes the middle form of the verb could be translated as “the performer of the action actually acting upon himself” (reflexive action).
For example: “I am washing myself.” “I” is the subject of the sentence (performing the action of the verb) and yet “I” am also receiving the action of the verb. This is said to be in the “Middle Voice”. Many instances in the Greek are not this obvious and cannot be translated this literally.³

I found no English translations that went full middle voice (reflexive action)—“I made myself”—but several were translated I became, including the NET (which was supposedly a translation of ἐγενήθην rather than ἐγενόμην. Paul was quite specific about how he was made or became: κατὰ τὴν δωρεὰν τῆς χάριτος τοῦ θεοῦ, according to the gift of God’s grace, τῆς δοθείσης μοι, which was given me, κατὰ τὴν ἐνέργειαν, by the working, τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ, of his power. In other words, this was God’s doing not Paul’s, regardless how offensive that may be to the old human (τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον), your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires.⁴

Paul continued: Ἐμοὶ, To me, τῷ ἐλαχιστοτέρῳ, the very least (or “less than the least”), πάντων ἁγίων, of all saints, ἐδόθη, was given, ἡ χάρις αὕτη, this grace, τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, to the Gentiles, εὐαγγελίσασθαι, to preach (or “to announce good news”), τὸ ἀνεξιχνίαστον πλοῦτος τοῦ Χριστοῦ, the unsearchable riches of Christ, καὶ φωτίσαι, and to bring to light, [πάντας], for everyone… I want to pause here to review since what follows is somewhat problematic to unravel.

“Of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was given me by the working of his power. To me, less than the least of all saints, was given this grace to the Gentiles to announce good news (or, to announce good news to the Gentiles): the unsearchable riches of Christ and to bring to light for everyone” τίς ἡ οἰκονομία, what is the plan. The received texts have τίς ἡ κοινωνία here, what is the fellowship (KJV). But that’s only part of the difficulty.

If κοινωνία was not original and οἰκονομία was Paul’s and the Holy Spirit’s intent, they had already used οἰκονομίαν, a form of οἰκονομία in the accusative case, translated of the stewardship in: assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you.⁵ If Paul and the Holy Spirit actually meant plan, πρόθεσις was readily available rather than a word which hearkens back to Paul’s stewardship of God’s grace.⁶ And frankly, I would prefer a translation that doesn’t force me to choose between κοινωνία (fellowship) and οἰκονομία (stewardship). Looking ahead to what follows, why, another possible translation of τίς, seems to be the question that is answered, rather than what is.

So, “to announce good news to the Gentiles: the unsearchable riches of Christ and to bring to light for everyone why the stewardship” or “why the fellowship” τοῦ μυστηρίου, of the mystery, τοῦ ἀποκεκρυμμένου ἀπὸ τῶν αἰώνων, hidden for ages (or “hidden from the ages”), ἐν τῷ θεῷ, in God (or “by means of God”), τῷ, who, τὰ πάντα κτίσαντι, created all things (or, “the whole created”), ἵνα, (e.g., this is why) so that, γνωρισθῇ νῦν, might now be made known,⁷ ταῖς ἀρχαῖς, to the rulers, καὶ ταῖς ἐξουσίαις, and authorities, ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις, in the heavenly places, διὰ τῆς ἐκκλησίας, through the church, ἡ πολυποίκιλος σοφία τοῦ θεοῦ, the manifold wisdom of God.

The truth to be hearing with faith⁸ so far is (Ephesians 3:7-10 EXP19):

Of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was given me by the working of his power. To me, less than the least of all saints, was given this grace to announce good news to the Gentiles: the unsearchable riches of Christ and to bring to light for everyone why the stewardship, or the fellowship, of the mystery hidden from the ages by means of God, who the whole created, so that now may be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places through the church the manifold wisdom of God.

Paul continued: κατὰ, This was according to (or “according to”), πρόθεσιν τῶν αἰώνων, the eternal purpose (or “the purpose of the ages”), ἣν, that, ἐποίησεν, he has realized (or “he has accomplished”), ἐν τῷ Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, in Christ Jesus (or “by means of Christ Jesus”), τῷ κυρίῳ ἡμῶν, our Lord, ἐν ᾧ, in whom (or “by means of whom”), ἔχομεν, we have, τὴν παρρησίαν, boldness, καὶ προσαγωγὴν ἐν πεποιθήσει, and access with confidence, διὰ τῆς πίστεως αὐτοῦ, through our faith in him.

Translating διὰ τῆς πίστεως αὐτοῦ through our faith in him, sounds like the Christian version of a works religion to me: “Our faith is the work we accomplish to achieve Christ’s salvation.”⁹ The plural possessive pronoun our is neither found nor implied in the phrase διὰ τῆς πίστεως αὐτοῦ: “through the faith of Him” or “through his faithfulness.”

Jesus corrected the misconceptions of those who chased him around the Sea of Galilee after they ate a free meal (John 6:25-29 ESV):

When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent” [Table].

They asked: τί ποιῶμεν, What must we do (or “What might we do”). The verb ποιῶμεν is a form of ποιέω in the subjunctive mood. The verb was ποιοῦμεν in the indicative mood in the Stephanus Textus Receptus: “What do we do.” I’m not finding a 1^st person plural form of ποιέω in the present tense active voice and imperative mood—What must we do—but perhaps this was the ESV translators’ way of indicating a preference for the indicative ποιοῦμεν.

The Greek continues: ἵνα ἐργαζώμεθα, to be doing (or “so that we might do”), τὰ ἔργα τοῦ θεοῦ, the works of God? Jesus answered: τοῦτο ἐστιν τὸ ἔργον τοῦ θεοῦ, This is the work of God, ἵνα πιστεύητε, that you believe (or “that you may believe”), εἰς ὃν, in him, ἀπέστειλεν ἐκεῖνος, whom he has sent.

Did Jesus just redefine faith as the work we must…do to be doing the works of God? The translators of the NET seem to have thought that: “This is the deed God requires—to believe in the one whom he sent.”¹⁰ But the Greek word translated to believe was not πιστεύειν, an infinitive form of πιστεύω. It was certainly not πιστεύετε, a 2^nd person plural imperative—“you must believe”—“a command or instruction given to the hearer, charging the hearer to carry out or perform a certain action.”¹¹ It is πιστεύητε in the critical texts, and πιστευσητε in the received texts. Both are in the subjunctive mood—“so that (ἵνα) you may believe in Him whom He has sent.” Both¹² are subjunctive verbs in a purpose or result clause: “the action should not be thought of as a possible result, but should be viewed as a definite outcome that will happen as a result of another stated action.”¹³ The other “stated action” is: This is the work of God, τοῦτο ἐστιν τὸ ἔργον τοῦ θεοῦ (or, “This is God’s work”).

Jesus addressed those who (by and large) pursued a law that would lead to righteousness¹⁴ as if it were based on works; they did not pursue it by faith.¹⁵ This “cultivated old human” may have sinned somewhat less and done somewhat more good things than the old human (τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον) who made no attempt to mitigate its corruption through deceitful desires.¹⁶ But the “cultivated old human” is not the new human (τὸν καινὸν ἄνθρωπον), the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.¹⁷ In a similar way, turning Christian into an adjective governing what people should and should not do is just pursuing another law as if it were based on works. It is the absolute antithesis of what God has accomplished by means of Christ Jesus our Lord: Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?¹⁸ You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.¹⁹

And finally: διὸ, So, αἰτοῦμαι, I ask you, μὴ ἐγκακεῖν, not to lose heart, ἐν ταῖς θλίψεσιν μου ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν, over what I am suffering for you (or “by means of what I am suffering for you”), ἥτις ἐστὶν, which is, δόξα ὑμῶν, your glory. Since I’ve questioned whether Paul was incarcerated at the time he wrote this letter, I should point out some of the other sufferings to which he may have alluded.

Paul “boasted” about his sufferings to the Corinthians. It only seems fair to quote that boasting in its own context (2 Corinthians 11:16-33 ESV):

I repeat, let no one think me foolish. But even if you do,²⁰ accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little. What I am saying with this boastful confidence, I say not as the Lord would but as a fool. Since many boast according to the flesh, I too will boast. For you gladly bear with fools, being wise yourselves! For you bear it if someone makes slaves of you, or devours you, or takes advantage of you, or puts on airs, or strikes you in the face. To my shame, I must say, we were too weak²¹ for that!

But whatever anyone else dares to boast of—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast of that. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one [Table]. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches [Table]. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?

If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. The God and Father of the²² Lord Jesus,²³ he who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying. At Damascus, the governor under King Aretas was guarding the city of Damascus in order²⁴ to seize me, but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his hands.

The truth to be hearing with faith²⁵ is:

By reason of this grace I, Paul, the captive of Christ Jesus for your sake, the nations—assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you (and by means of me unto you), how by revelation was made known to me the mystery, as I have written briefly, (which this you can read to perceive my insight into the mystery), which to other generations was not made known to the sons of men as now has been revealed by means of his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit—to become the nations, fellow heirs and of the same body and partakers of the promise by means of Christ Jesus through the gospel.²⁶
Of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was given me by the working of his power. To me, less than the least of all saints, was given this grace to announce good news to the Gentiles: the unsearchable riches of Christ and to bring to light for everyone why the stewardship, or the fellowship, of the mystery hidden from the ages by means of God, who the whole created, so that now may be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places through the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the purpose of the ages that he has accomplished by means of Christ Jesus, by means of whom we have boldness and access with confidence through his faithfulness. So I ask you not to lose heart by means of what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.²⁷

Tables comparing 2 Corinthians 11:16; 11:21 and 11:31, 32 in the KJV and NET follow.

2 Corinthians 11:16 (NET)	2 Corinthians 11:16 (KJV)
I say again, let no one think that I am a fool. But if you do, then at least accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little.	I say again, Let no man think me a fool; if otherwise, yet as a fool receive me, that I may boast myself a little.

2 Corinthians 11:16 (NET Parallel Greek)	2 Corinthians 11:16 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	2 Corinthians 11:16 (Byzantine Majority Text)
Πάλιν λέγω, μή τίς με δόξῃ ἄφρονα εἶναι· εἰ δὲ μή γε, κὰν ὡς ἄφρονα δέξασθε με, ἵνα καγὼ μικρόν τι καυχήσωμαι	παλιν λεγω μη τις με δοξη αφρονα ειναι ει δε μηγε καν ως αφρονα δεξασθε με ινα μικρον τι καγω καυχησωμαι	παλιν λεγω μη τις με δοξη αφρονα ειναι ει δε μηγε καν ως αφρονα δεξασθε με ινα καγω μικρον τι καυχησωμαι

2 Corinthians 11:21 (NET)	2 Corinthians 11:21 (KJV)
(To my disgrace I must say that we were too weak for that!) But whatever anyone else dares to boast about (I am speaking foolishly), I also dare to boast about the same thing.	I speak as concerning reproach, as though we had been weak. Howbeit whereinsoever any is bold, (I speak foolishly,) I am bold also.

2 Corinthians 11:21 (NET Parallel Greek)	2 Corinthians 11:21 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	2 Corinthians 11:21 (Byzantine Majority Text)
(κατὰ ἀτιμίαν λέγω, ὡς ὅτι ἡμεῖς ἠσθενήκαμεν.) ἐν ᾧ δ᾿ ἄν τις τολμᾷ (ἐν ἀφροσύνῃ λέγω), τολμῶ καγώ	κατα ατιμιαν λεγω ως οτι ημεις ησθενησαμεν εν ω δ αν τις τολμα εν αφροσυνη λεγω τολμω καγω	κατα ατιμιαν λεγω ως οτι ημεις ησθενησαμεν εν ω δ αν τις τολμα εν αφροσυνη λεγω τολμω καγω

2 Corinthians 11:31, 32 (NET)	2 Corinthians 11:31, 32 (KJV)
The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is blessed forever, knows I am not lying.	The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not.

2 Corinthians 11:31 (NET Parallel Greek)	2 Corinthians 11:31 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	2 Corinthians 11:31 (Byzantine Majority Text)
ὁ θεὸς καὶ πατὴρ τοῦ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ οἶδεν, ὁ ὢν εὐλογητὸς εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας, ὅτι οὐ ψεύδομαι	ο θεος και πατηρ του κυριου ημων ιησου χριστου οιδεν ο ων ευλογητος εις τους αιωνας οτι ου ψευδομαι	ο θεος και πατηρ του κυριου ιησου χριστου οιδεν ο ων ευλογητος εις τους αιωνας οτι ου ψευδομαι

In Damascus, the governor under King Aretas was guarding the city of Damascus in order to arrest me,

In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king kept the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desirous to apprehend me:

2 Corinthians 11:32 (NET Parallel Greek)	2 Corinthians 11:32 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	2 Corinthians 11:32 (Byzantine Majority Text)
ἐν Δαμασκῷ ὁ ἐθνάρχης Ἁρέτα τοῦ βασιλέως ἐφρούρει τὴν πόλιν Δαμασκηνῶν πιάσαι με	εν δαμασκω ο εθναρχης αρετα του βασιλεως εφρουρει την δαμασκηνων πολιν πιασαι με θελων	εν δαμασκω ο εθναρχης αρετα του βασιλεως εφρουρει την δαμασκηνων πολιν πιασαι με θελων

Exploration, Part 20

Back to Justice and Mercy Revisited, Part 5

¹ Galatians 3:2b (ESV)

² From “Grammatical Voice of Verbs: Passive Voice,” Greek Verbs (Shorter Definitions) on Resources for Learning New Testament Greek online.

³ From “Grammatical Voice of Verbs: Middle Voice,” Greek Verbs (Shorter Definitions) on Resources for Learning New Testament Greek online.

⁴ Ephesians 4:22b (ESV)

⁵ Ephesians 3:2 (ESV) Table

⁶ And πρόθεσιν, an accusative form of πρόθεσις, occurs later when that is what Paul and the Holy Spirit intended.

⁷ This is not as iffy in Greek as it sounds in English. It is quite clearly a purpose or result clause following the conjunction ἵνα. The verb γνωρισθῇ is a passive form of γνωρίζω in the aorist tense and subjunctive mood. It will be made known at an unspecified time in the present (νῦν): “if the subjunctive mood is used in a purpose or result clause, then the action should not be thought of as a possible result, but should be viewed as a definite outcome that will happen as a result of another stated action” (e.g., τῷ θεῷ τῷ τὰ πάντα κτίσαντι, “by means of God who the whole created”).

⁸ Galatians 3:2b (ESV)

⁹ An interesting article online, “Salvation is Reached through works, Not by Faith Alone: A Complete Path to God,” attempts to balance faith and works in a biblical way. And it begins well, though I would quibble with the statement: “but humans, created with free will, must actively cooperate through their works for this grace to bear fruit (from “The Historical Debate: From the Reformation to the Council of Trent”). Calling the corruption of deceitful desires “free will” bothers me. And “cooperation” can be misleading: for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure (Philippians 2:13 ESV). One’s “cooperation” is primarily to stop kicking against the goads (Acts 26:14 ESV), if and only if one is “cooperating” by putting off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires (Ephesians 4:22 ESV), and putting on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:24 ESV) through the renewing of the mind, by his word and by his indwelling Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:23). The rest of the article devolved into a “fake it ’til you make it” scheme, which may work for some. The Lord is patient with, and accommodating to, the old human. “From a Catholic perspective, salvation is an ongoing process of sanctification, where each step brings us closer to God…It is our daily lives, our decisions, and our works that shape our relationship with Him” (from “Salvation as a Path of Personal Transformation”). I never experienced “this relationship as a growth in charity, in the love that God offers,” but only as a persistent assurance that I was in charge and everything about my sanctification depended on me, which in retrospect sounds like the old human kicking and screaming against the goads.

¹⁰ John 6:29 (NET) Table

¹¹ From “Verbal Moods: Imperative Mood,” Greek Verbs (Shorter Definitions) on Resources for Learning New Testament Greek online.

¹² The difference is that πιστεύητε is in the present tense—“so that you may believe in Him whom He has sent now”—and πιστευσητε is in the aorist tense—“so that you may believe in Him whom He has sent at some unspecified time.”

¹³ From “Verbal Moods: Subjunctive Mood,” Greek Verbs (Shorter Definitions) on Resources for Learning New Testament Greek online.

¹⁴ Romans 9:31b (ESV) Table

¹⁵ Romans 9:32a (ESV) Table

¹⁶ Ephesians 4:22 (ESV)

¹⁷ Ephesians 4:24b (ESV)

¹⁸ Galatians 3:3 (ESV)

¹⁹ Galatians 5:4 (ESV) Table

²⁰ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had εἰ δὲ μή γε (NET: But if you do…at least) here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ει δε μηγε (KJV: if otherwise).

²¹ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ἠσθενήκαμεν (NET: were too weak) here, a form of ἀσθενέω in the perfect tense, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ησθενησαμεν (KJV: had been weak) in the aorist tense.

²² The Stephanus Textus Receptus had ημων (KJV: our) here. The NET parallel Greek text, NA²⁸ and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

²³ The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had χριστου (KJV: Christ) following Jesus. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

²⁴ The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had θελων (KJV: desirous), a present participle of the verb θέλω, at the end of this clause. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

²⁵ Galatians 3:2b (ESV)

²⁶ Ephesians 3:1-6 (EXP18)

²⁷ Ephesians 3:7-13 EXP19

Balaam, Balak and the 24,000, Part 4

Posted on April 13, 2026 by admin

This is a continuation of my review of the Lord’s patience with the 24,000 killed by Mosesc, Phineas and the judges or tribes of Israel after joining themselves to Baal of Peor. The old human (τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον)—your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires¹—never learns very much from its experience with the Lord (Exodus 16:1-3 ESV).

They set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

The old human wasn’t learning that The Lord is at hand.² It was ruled by its own anxiety instead, unable and unwilling in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving [to] let [its] requests be made known to God.³ The truth seemed harsh when Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him,⁴ You are of your father the devil, and your will (θέλετε, a form of θέλω) is to do your father’s desires (ἐπιθυμίας, a form of ἐπιθυμία).⁵ But listen to the desires expressed by the words of the old human when the people’s actual desires were for meat and bread, and some sense of food security:

Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt…

Who but the devil wishes this for the nation in whom all the families of the earth [shall] be blessed?⁶ Now hear the devil’s hope for Israel:

…you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.

But the Lord had different plans (Exodus 16:4-15 ESV):

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not [Table]. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily” [Table]. So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, “At evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against the Lord. For what are we, that you grumble against us?” And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him—what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the Lord.”

Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, ‘Come near before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’” And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. And the Lord said to Moses, “I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’”

In the evening quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp. And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground. When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat [Table].

As Jesus, the One new human, grew to maturity, He learned not only from his own experience with God his Father but, like a force multiplier, from the experience of others recorded in Scripture. As an adult He shared those insights, reasoning with the old human who gathered to hear Him (Matthew 6:25-33 ESV).

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? [Table] Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin [Table], yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all [Table]. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you [Table].

But Jesus…knew all people [Table] and needed no one to bear witness about man (ἀνθρώπου, a form of ἄνθρωπος), for he himself knew what was in man (ἀνθρώπῳ, another form of ἄνθρωπος).⁷ He knew the old human would not be persuaded by his example of faith and his reasoning alone. “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you don’t understand these things?”⁸ He chided Nicodemus (John 3:5-8 NET):

“I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God [Table]. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must all be born from above.’ The wind blows wherever it will, and you hear the sound it makes, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

This is Jesus’ key to understanding the Scriptures: to know what is in man as He knew what was in man, to recognize the old human (τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον)—your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires⁹—in these Bible stories, and to perceive the need to be born from above, born of the Spirit, a new human (τὸν καινὸν ἄνθρωπον)—the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.¹⁰

Moses continued (Exodus 16:16-20 ESV):

This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take an omer, according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent.’” And the people of Israel did so. They gathered, some more, some less. But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat. And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over till the morning.” But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them [Table].

“Let no one leave any of it over till the morning.” It seems like a simple enough command to follow, but the old human (τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον)—your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires¹¹—has difficulty with simple commands. It opts more often than not for its own deceitful desires. Moses was angry, but notice the Lord’s patience with the old human: He made sure that what was left over bred worms and stank (e.g., it was [not] good for food). And He made sure in some way that defies human explanation that when they measured [what they had gathered] with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack, fulfilling his command for them irrespective of their own work gathering much or little.

Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat; but when the sun grew hot, it melted.

On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers each. And when all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, he said to them, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning’” [Table]. So they laid it aside till the morning, as Moses commanded them, and it did not stink, and there were no worms in it [Table]. Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field [Table]. Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none” [Table].

On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they found none [Table].¹²

Patiently the Lord taught the old human, proving his word at every step. But his patience wasn’t limitless (Exodus 16:28-31 ESV).

And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? [Table] See! The Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day” [Table]. So the people rested on the seventh day [Table].

Now the house of Israel called its name manna. It was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.

We are meant to assume here that God spoke to Moses, who spoke to Aaron, who spoke to the people of Israel (Exodus 4:10-17). The Hebrew verb translated will you refuse is מֵאַנְתֶּם, a plural form of מָאֵן (mā’ēn). Though the translation will you refuse might lead me to expect an imperfect verb—describing “incomplete, ongoing, or potential” action—מֵאַנְתֶּם, a 2^nd person form of מָאֵן (mā’ēn), is actually a perfect verb—describing “completed” action—translated refuse ye in the KJV. It is also a Piel stem: “an intensive or causative version of the” Qal stem מָאֵן (mā’ēn). So, the Lord asked a question and the people rested on the seventh day. Why?

If one is inclined to reply, “the fear of the Lord,” I think I’m inclined to agree, though not the kind of fear that prompts a “fight or flight response.” There is no threat, either explicit or implicit, in the Lord’s question: How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? So the people rested on the seventh day. The reasons were already apparent as were the facts—anything left over from the first five days of the week bred worms and stank while anything left over from the sixth day did not stink, and there were no worms in it—and yet some refused to keep the Lord’s commandments and laws: On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather.

The old human is notoriously unreasonable, even to its own harm. After all, the old human’s father, the devil—whose desires the old human wants to do—wants you dead. So again I ask, why did the old human hear the Lord’s question, fear the Lord in the sense of reverencing Him and obey his word?

The One new human taught (Matthew 7:7-11 ESV):

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? [Table] If you then, who are evil (πονηροὶ, a plural form of πονηρός), know how to give good (ἀγαθὰ, a plural form of ἀγαθός) gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things (ἀγαθὰ, a plural form of ἀγαθός) to those who ask him!

This seems to be the key in Exodus as well. Most of the adults the Lord addressed through Moses through Aaron with the question—How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws?—were currently, or had been, parents of young children. It is the way God created humankind to live on the earth, the desires He programmed into human hearts. Despite being the old human, parents know how to give good gifts to [their] children. They also know the frustration of children who refuse the good they intend to give them. So here, even the old human can know the heart of God because He made it so from the beginning. So the people [mostly parents] rested on the seventh day.

This is another example of the Lord’s patience with the old human, Israel and the 24,000. And here is a glimpse into what is required to get the old human to rest one day in seven if the Lord commands it. For while we were living in the flesh (e.g., controlled by the old human), our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.¹³

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh (ἐν σαρκὶ in the dative case; e.g., “by means of the flesh”) cannot please God.¹⁴

Paul called my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh¹⁵ a cultivated olive tree as distinguished from Gentiles, a wild olive tree.¹⁶ I will call them the cultivated old human for the sake of clarity in what follows. As difficult as it was to get Israel to rest one day in seven at the Lord’s command, once that command was inculcated into the cultivated old human, pursued [as] a law that would lead to righteousness¹⁷ as if it were based on works,¹⁸ even that cultivated old human still found itself at odds with Jesus, the One new human, over this very Sabbath rest (Mark 2:23-3:6 ESV).

One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on¹⁹ the Sabbath?” And he said²⁰ to them, “Have you never read what David²¹ did (1 Samuel 21:1-7), when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests²² to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath [Table]. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”
Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man with the withered²³ hand, “Come²⁴ here.” And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good²⁵ or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your²⁶ hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.²⁷ The Pharisees went out and immediately held²⁸ counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him [Table].

No achievements of religious or worldly authority defend one from the dictates of the old human (τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον)—your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires.²⁹

The Pharisees were a prominent Jewish sect during the Second Temple period, known for their strict adherence to the Law of Moses and the oral traditions that they believed were equally authoritative. They were influential in the synagogues and among the common people, emphasizing purity, tithing, and Sabbath observance. The Pharisees believed in the resurrection of the dead, the existence of angels and spirits, and the coming of the Messiah.³⁰
The Herodians were a political group associated with the Herodian dynasty, which ruled parts of Judea under Roman authority. Unlike the Pharisees, the Herodians were more aligned with the Roman government and the Herodian rulers, who were seen as collaborators with the occupying power. Their primary interest was maintaining the political status quo and the favor of Rome.³¹

The old human united these natural enemies in common cause against the Word of God come in human flesh, the One new human. What I have called the religious mind focuses primarily on the religious aspect of this phenomenon. The old human is a much better description (though I probably won’t change the name of this site at this late date).

Tables comparing Exodus 16:1; 16:2; 16:3; 16:6; 16:7; 16:8; 16:9; 16:10; 16:11; 16:12; 16:13; 16:14; 16:16; 16:17; 16:18; 16:19; 16:21; 16:22 and 16:31 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and comparing the Greek of Exodus 16:1; 16:2; 16:3; 16:6; 16:7; 16:8; 16:9; 16:10; 16:11; 16:12; 16:13; 16:14; 16:16; 16:17; 16:18; 16:19; 16:21; 16:22 and 16:31 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor), and tables comparing Mark 2:24-26 and 3:3-5 in the NET and KJV follow.

Exodus 16:1 (Tanakh)	Exodus 16:1 (KJV)	Exodus 16:1 (NET)
And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt.	And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt.	When they journeyed from Elim, the entire company of Israelites came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their exodus from the land of Egypt.

Exodus 16:1 (Septuagint BLB)	Exodus 16:1 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἀπῆραν δὲ ἐξ Αιλιμ καὶ ἤλθοσαν πᾶσα συναγωγὴ υἱῶν Ισραηλ εἰς τὴν ἔρημον Σιν ὅ ἐστιν ἀνὰ μέσον Αιλιμ καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον Σινα τῇ δὲ πεντεκαιδεκάτῃ ἡμέρᾳ τῷ μηνὶ τῷ δευτέρῳ ἐξεληλυθότων αὐτῶν ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου	ΑΠῌΡΑΝ δὲ ἐξ Αἰλεὶμ καὶ ἤλθοσαν πᾶσα συναγωγὴ υἱῶν ᾿Ισραὴλ εἰς τὴν ἔρημον Σίν, ὅ ἐστιν ἀνὰ μέσον Αἰλεὶμ καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον Σινά. τῇ δὲ πεντεκαιδεκάτῃ ἡμέρᾳ τῷ μηνὶ τῷ δευτέρῳ ἐξεληλυθότων αὐτῶν ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου
Exodus 16:1 (NETS)	Exodus 16:1 (English Elpenor)
And they set out from Ailim, and the entire congregation of the sons of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Ailim and between Sina. And on the fifteenth day, in the second month, after they had gone out from the land of Egypt,	And they departed from Aelim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Aelim and Sina; and on the fifteenth day, in the second month after their departure from the land of Egypt,

Exodus 16:2 (Tanakh)	Exodus 16:2 (KJV)	Exodus 16:2 (NET)
And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron in the wilderness;	And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness:	The entire company of Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.

Exodus 16:2 (Septuagint BLB)	Exodus 16:2 (Septuagint Elpenor)
διεγόγγυζεν πᾶσα συναγωγὴ υἱῶν Ισραηλ ἐπὶ Μωυσῆν καὶ Ααρων	διεγόγγυζε πᾶσα συναγωγὴ υἱῶν ᾿Ισραὴλ ἐπὶ Μωυσῆν καὶ ᾿Ααρών
Exodus 16:2 (NETS)	Exodus 16:2 (English Elpenor)
the entire congregation of the sons of Israel was complaining against Moyses and Aaron,	all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron.

Exodus 16:3 (Tanakh)	Exodus 16:3 (KJV)	Exodus 16:3 (NET)
and the children of Israel said unto them: ‘Would that we had died by the hand of HaShem in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh-pots, when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.’	And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.	The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger!”

Exodus 16:3 (Septuagint BLB)	Exodus 16:3 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἶπαν πρὸς αὐτοὺς οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ ὄφελον ἀπεθάνομεν πληγέντες ὑπὸ κυρίου ἐν γῇ Αἰγύπτῳ ὅταν ἐκαθίσαμεν ἐπὶ τῶν λεβήτων τῶν κρεῶν καὶ ἠσθίομεν ἄρτους εἰς πλησμονήν ὅτι ἐξηγάγετε ἡμᾶς εἰς τὴν ἔρημον ταύτην ἀποκτεῖναι πᾶσαν τὴν συναγωγὴν ταύτην ἐν λιμῷ	καὶ εἶπαν πρὸς αὐτοὺς οἱ υἱοὶ ᾿Ισραήλ· ὄφελον ἀπεθάνομεν πληγέντες ὑπὸ Κυρίου ἐν γῇ Αἰγύπτῳ, ὅταν ἐκαθίσαμεν ἐπὶ τῶν λεβήτων τῶν κρεῶν καὶ ἠσθίομεν ἄρτους εἰς πλησμονήν· ὅτι ἐξήγαγε ἡμᾶς εἰς τὴν ἔρημον ταύτην ἀποκτεῖναι πᾶσαν τὴν συναγωγὴν ταύτην ἐν λιμῷ
Exodus 16:3 (NETS)	Exodus 16:3 (English Elpenor)
and the sons of Israel said to them, “If only we had died, struck by the Lord, in the land, Egypt, when we sat at the cauldrons of meat and were eating bread to the full, because you led us out into this wilderness to kill all this congregation by famine.”	And the children of Israel said to them, Would we had died smitten by the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh-pots, and ate bread to satiety! for ye have brought us out into this wilderness, to slay all this congregation with hunger.

Exodus 16:6 (Tanakh)	Exodus 16:6 (KJV)	Exodus 16:6 (NET)
And Moses and Aaron said unto all the children of Israel: ‘At even, then ye shall know that HaShem hath brought you out from the land of Egypt;	And Moses and Aaron said unto all the children of Israel, At even, then ye shall know that the LORD hath brought you out from the land of Egypt:	Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you will know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt,

Exodus 16:6 (Septuagint BLB)	Exodus 16:6 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἶπεν Μωυσῆς καὶ Ααρων πρὸς πᾶσαν συναγωγὴν υἱῶν Ισραηλ ἑσπέρας γνώσεσθε ὅτι κύριος ἐξήγαγεν ὑμᾶς ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου	καὶ εἶπε Μωυσῆς καὶ ᾿Ααρὼν πρὸς πᾶσαν συναγωγὴν υἱῶν ᾿Ισραήλ· ἑσπέρας γνώσεσθε ὅτι Κύριος ἐξήγαγεν ὑμᾶς ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου
Exodus 16:6 (NETS)	Exodus 16:6 (English Elpenor)
Then Moyses and Aaron said to the entire congregation of the sons of Israel, “At evening you shall know that the Lord brought you out of the land of Egypt,	And Moses and Aaron said to all the congregation of the children of Israel, At even ye shall know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt;

Exodus 16:7 (Tanakh)	Exodus 16:7 (KJV)	Exodus 16:7 (NET)
and in the morning, then ye shall see the glory of HaShem; for that He hath heard your murmurings against HaShem; and what are we, that ye murmur against us?’	And in the morning, then ye shall see the glory of the LORD; for that he heareth your murmurings against the LORD: and what are we, that ye murmur against us?	and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your murmurings against the Lord. As for us, what are we, that you should murmur against us?”

Exodus 16:7 (Septuagint BLB)	Exodus 16:7 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ πρωὶ ὄψεσθε τὴν δόξαν κυρίου ἐν τῷ εἰσακοῦσαι τὸν γογγυσμὸν ὑμῶν ἐπὶ τῷ θεῷ ἡμεῖς δὲ τί ἐσμεν ὅτι διαγογγύζετε καθ᾽ ἡμῶν	καὶ πρωΐ ὄψεσθε τὴν δόξαν Κυρίου ἐν τῷ εἰσακοῦσαι τὸν γογγυσμὸν ὑμῶν ἐπὶ τῷ Θεῷ· ἡμεῖς δὲ τί ἐσμεν ὅτι διαγογγύζετε καθ᾿ ἡμῶν
Exodus 16:7 (NETS)	Exodus 16:7 (English Elpenor)
and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, when he heard your complaining against God. But we, what are we that you complain against us?”	and in the morning ye shall see the glory of the Lord, inasmuch as he hears your murmuring against God; and who are we, that ye continue to murmur against us?

Exodus 16:8 (Tanakh)	Exodus 16:8 (KJV)	Exodus 16:8 (NET)
And Moses said: ‘This shall be, when HaShem shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full; for that HaShem heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against Him; and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against HaShem.’	And Moses said, This shall be, when the LORD shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full; for that the LORD heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him: and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against the LORD.	Moses said, “You will know this when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening and bread in the morning to satisfy you, because the Lord has heard your murmurings that you are murmuring against him. As for us, what are we? Your murmurings are not against us, but against the Lord.”

Exodus 16:8 (Septuagint BLB)	Exodus 16:8 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἶπεν Μωυσῆς ἐν τῷ διδόναι κύριον ὑμῖν ἑσπέρας κρέα φαγεῖν καὶ ἄρτους τὸ πρωὶ εἰς πλησμονὴν διὰ τὸ εἰσακοῦσαι κύριον τὸν γογγυσμὸν ὑμῶν ὃν ὑμεῖς διαγογγύζετε καθ᾽ ἡμῶν ἡμεῖς δὲ τί ἐσμεν οὐ γὰρ καθ᾽ ἡμῶν ὁ γογγυσμὸς ὑμῶν ἐστιν ἀλλ᾽ ἢ κατὰ τοῦ θεοῦ	καὶ εἶπε Μωυσῆς· ἐν τῷ διδόναι Κύριον ὑμῖν ἑσπέρας κρέα φαγεῖν καὶ ἄρτους τὸ πρωΐ εἰς πλησμονὴν διὰ τὸ εἰσακοῦσαι Κύριον τὸν γογγυσμὸν ὑμῶν, ὃν ὑμεῖς διαγογγύζετε καθ᾿ ἡμῶν· ἡμεῖς δὲ τί ἐσμεν; οὐ γὰρ καθ᾿ ἡμῶν ἐστιν ὁ γογγυσμὸς ὑμῶν· ἀλλ᾿ ἢ κατὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ
Exodus 16:8 (NETS)	Exodus 16:8 (English Elpenor)
And Moyses said, “When the Lord gives you meat in the evening to eat and bread in the morning to the full, because the Lord heard your complaining which you complain against us, then we, what are we? For not against us is your complaining, but rather against God.”	And Moses said, [This shall be] when the Lord gives you in the evening flesh to eat, and bread in the morning to satiety, because the Lord has heard your murmuring, which ye murmur against us: and what are we? for your murmuring is not against us, but against God.

Exodus 16:9 (Tanakh)	Exodus 16:9 (KJV)	Exodus 16:9 (NET)
And Moses said unto Aaron: ‘Say unto all the congregation of the children of Israel: Come near before HaShem; for He hath heard your murmurings.’	And Moses spake unto Aaron, Say unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, Come near before the LORD: for he hath heard your murmurings.	Then Moses said to Aaron, “Tell the whole community of the Israelites, ‘Come before the Lord, because he has heard your murmurings.’”

Exodus 16:9 (Septuagint BLB)	Exodus 16:9 (Septuagint Elpenor)
εἶπεν δὲ Μωυσῆς πρὸς Ααρων εἰπὸν πάσῃ συναγωγῇ υἱῶν Ισραηλ προσέλθατε ἐναντίον τοῦ θεοῦ εἰσακήκοεν γὰρ ὑμῶν τὸν γογγυσμόν	εἶπε δὲ Μωυσῆς πρὸς ᾿Ααρών· εἰπὸν πάσῃ συναγωγῇ υἱῶν ᾿Ισραήλ· προσέλθετε ἐναντίον τοῦ Θεοῦ· εἰσακήκοε γὰρ τὸν γογγυσμὸν ὑμῶν
Exodus 16:9 (NETS)	Exodus 16:9 (English Elpenor)
And Moyses said to Aaron, “Say to the entire congregation of the sons of Israel: Draw near before God. For he heard your complaining.”	And Moses said to Aaron, Say to all the congregation of the children of Israel, Come near before God; for he has heard your murmuring.

Exodus 16:10 (Tanakh)	Exodus 16:10 (KJV)	Exodus 16:10 (NET)
And it came to pass, as Aaron spoke unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of HaShem appeared in the cloud.	And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud.	As Aaron spoke to the whole community of the Israelites and they looked toward the wilderness, there the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud,

Exodus 16:10 (Septuagint BLB)	Exodus 16:10 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἡνίκα δὲ ἐλάλει Ααρων πάσῃ συναγωγῇ υἱῶν Ισραηλ καὶ ἐπεστράφησαν εἰς τὴν ἔρημον καὶ ἡ δόξα κυρίου ὤφθη ἐν νεφέλῃ	ἡνίκα δὲ ἐλάλει ᾿Ααρὼν πάσῃ συναγωγῇ υἱῶν ᾿Ισραήλ, καὶ ἐπεστράφησαν εἰς τὴν ἔρημον, καὶ ἡ δόξα Κυρίου ὤφθη ἐν νεφέλῃ
Exodus 16:10 (NETS)	Exodus 16:10 (English Elpenor)
And when Aaron was speaking to the entire congregation of the sons of Israel, they also turned about towards the wilderness, and the glory of the Lord appeared in a cloud.	And when Aaron spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and they turned toward the wilderness, then the glory of the Lord appeared in a cloud.

Exodus 16:11 (Tanakh)	Exodus 16:11 (KJV)	Exodus 16:11 (NET)
And HaShem spoke unto Moses, saying:	And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,	and the Lord spoke to Moses,

Exodus 16:11 (Septuagint BLB)	Exodus 16:11 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐλάλησεν κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν λέγων	καὶ ἐλάλησε Κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν λέγων
Exodus 16:11 (NETS)	Exodus 16:11 (English Elpenor)
And the Lord spoke to Moyses, saying,	And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

Exodus 16:12 (Tanakh)	Exodus 16:12 (KJV)	Exodus 16:12 (NET)
‘I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel. Speak unto them, saying: At dusk ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am HaShem your G-d.’	I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God.	“I have heard the murmurings of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘During the evening you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be satisfied with bread, so that you may know that I am the Lord your God.’”

Exodus 16:12 (Septuagint BLB)	Exodus 16:12 (Septuagint Elpenor)
εἰσακήκοα τὸν γογγυσμὸν τῶν υἱῶν Ισραηλ λάλησον πρὸς αὐτοὺς λέγων τὸ πρὸς ἑσπέραν ἔδεσθε κρέα καὶ τὸ πρωὶ πλησθήσεσθε ἄρτων καὶ γνώσεσθε ὅτι ἐγὼ κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὑμῶν	εἰσακήκοα τὸν γογγυσμὸν τῶν υἱῶν ᾿Ισραήλ· λάλησον πρὸς αὐτοὺς λέγων· τὸ πρὸς ἑσπέραν ἔδεσθε κρέα καὶ τὸ πρωΐ πλησθήσεσθε ἄρτων· καὶ γνώσεσθε ὅτι ἐγὼ Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ὑμῶν
Exodus 16:12 (NETS)	Exodus 16:12 (English Elpenor)
“I have heard the complaining of the sons of Israel. Speak to them saying: Towards evening you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. And you shall know that I am the Lord, your God.”	I have heard the murmuring of the children of Israel: speak to them, saying, Towards evening ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be satisfied with bread; and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God.

Exodus 16:13 (Tanakh)	Exodus 16:13 (KJV)	Exodus 16:13 (NET)
And it came to pass at even, that the quails came up, and covered the camp; and in the morning there was a layer of dew round about the camp.	And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host.	In the evening the quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning a layer of dew was all around the camp.

Exodus 16:13 (Septuagint BLB)	Exodus 16:13 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐγένετο δὲ ἑσπέρα καὶ ἀνέβη ὀρτυγομήτρα καὶ ἐκάλυψεν τὴν παρεμβολήν τὸ πρωὶ ἐγένετο καταπαυομένης τῆς δρόσου κύκλῳ τῆς παρεμβολῆς	ἐγένετο δὲ ἑσπέρα, καὶ ἀνέβη ὀρτυγομήτρα καὶ ἐκάλυψε τὴν παρεμβολήν· τὸ πρωΐ ἐγένετο καταπαυομένης τῆς δρόσου κύκλῳ τῆς παρεμβολῆς
Exodus 16:13 (NETS)	Exodus 16:13, 14a (English Elpenor)
So evening came and quail came up and covered the camp. Then morning came when the dew was lifting around the camp,	And it was evening, and quails came up and covered the camp: (14) in the morning it came to pass as the dew ceased round about the camp,

Exodus 16:14 (Tanakh)	Exodus 16:14 (KJV)	Exodus 16:14 (NET)
And when the layer of dew was gone up, behold upon the face of the wilderness a fine, scale-like thing, fine as the hoar-frost on the ground.	And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground.	When the layer of dew had evaporated, there on the surface of the wilderness was a thin flaky substance, thin like frost on the earth.

Exodus 16:14 (Septuagint BLB)	Exodus 16:14 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐπὶ πρόσωπον τῆς ἐρήμου λεπτὸν ὡσεὶ κόριον λευκὸν ὡσεὶ πάγος ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς	καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐπὶ πρόσωπον τῆς ἐρήμου λεπτὸν ὡσεὶ κόριον λευκόν, ὡσεὶ πάγος ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς
Exodus 16:14 (NETS)	Exodus 16:14b (English Elpenor)
and look, upon the surface of the wilderness was something fine like coriander, white like frost on the ground.	that, behold, on the face of the wilderness [was] a small thing like white coriander seed, as frost upon the earth.

Exodus 16:16 (Tanakh)	Exodus 16:16 (KJV)	Exodus 16:16 (NET)
This is the thing which HaShem hath commanded: Gather ye of it every man according to his eating; an omer a head, according to the number of your persons, shall ye take it, every man for them that are in his tent.’	This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents.	“This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Each person is to gather from it what he can eat, an omer per person according to the number of your people; each one will pick it up for whoever lives in his tent.’”

Exodus 16:16 (Septuagint BLB)	Exodus 16:16 (Septuagint Elpenor)
τοῦτο τὸ ῥῆμα ὃ συνέταξεν κύριος συναγάγετε ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ ἕκαστος εἰς τοὺς καθήκοντας γομορ κατὰ κεφαλὴν κατὰ ἀριθμὸν ψυχῶν ὑμῶν ἕκαστος σὺν τοῖς συσκηνίοις ὑμῶν συλλέξατε	τοῦτο τὸ ῥῆμα ὃ συνέταξε Κύριος· συναγάγετε ἀπ᾿ αὐτοῦ ἕκαστος εἰς τοὺς καθήκοντας, γομὸρ κατὰ κεφαλὴν κατὰ ἀριθμὸν ψυχῶν ὑμῶν, ἕκαστος σὺν τοῖς συσκηνίοις ὑμῶν συλλέξατε
Exodus 16:16 (NETS)	Exodus 16:16b (English Elpenor)
This is the word that the Lord instructed, ‘Each person gather from it for those appropriate; a gomor per head, according to the number of your souls, each of you with your tent mates collect’.”	This is that which the Lord has appointed: gather of it each man for his family, a homer for each person, according to the number of your souls, gather each of you with his fellow-lodgers.

Exodus 16:17 (Tanakh)	Exodus 16:17 (KJV)	Exodus 16:17 (NET)
And the children of Israel did so, and gathered some more, some less.	And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less.	The Israelites did so, and they gathered—some more, some less.

Exodus 16:17 (Septuagint BLB)	Exodus 16:17 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐποίησαν δὲ οὕτως οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ καὶ συνέλεξαν ὁ τὸ πολὺ καὶ ὁ τὸ ἔλαττον	ἐποίησαν δὲ οὕτως οἱ υἱοὶ ᾿Ισραὴλ καὶ συνέλεξαν ὁ τὸ πολὺ καὶ ὁ τὸ ἔλαττον
Exodus 16:17 (NETS)	Exodus 16:17 (English Elpenor)
And the sons of Israel did so, and they collected, the one much and the other less.	And the children of Israel did so, and gathered some much and some less.

Exodus 16:18 (Tanakh)	Exodus 16:18 (KJV)	Exodus 16:18 (NET)
And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating.	And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating.	When they measured with an omer, the one who gathered much had nothing left over, and the one who gathered little lacked nothing; each one had gathered what he could eat.

Exodus 16:18 (Septuagint BLB)	Exodus 16:18 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ μετρήσαντες τῷ γομορ οὐκ ἐπλεόνασεν ὁ τὸ πολύ καὶ ὁ τὸ ἔλαττον οὐκ ἠλαττόνησεν ἕκαστος εἰς τοὺς καθήκοντας παρ᾽ ἑαυτῷ συνέλεξαν	καὶ μετρήσαντες γομόρ, οὐκ ἐπλεόνασεν ὁ τὸ πολύ, καὶ ὁ τὸ ἔλαττον οὐκ ἠλαττόνησεν· ἕκαστος εἰς τοὺς καθήκοντας παρ᾿ ἑαυτῷ συνέλεξαν
Exodus 16:18 (NETS)	Exodus 16:18 (English Elpenor)
And they measured by the gomor. The one with much did not have excess, and the one with less did not have too little. Each person collected for those appropriate at his own home.	And having measured the homer [full], he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that had gathered less had no lack; each gathered according to the need of those who belonged to him.

Exodus 16:19 (Tanakh)	Exodus 16:19 (KJV)	Exodus 16:19 (NET)
And Moses said unto them: ‘Let no man leave of it till the morning.’	And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning.	Moses said to them, “No one is to keep any of it until morning.”

Exodus 16:19 (Septuagint BLB)	Exodus 16:19 (Septuagint Elpenor)
εἶπεν δὲ Μωυσῆς πρὸς αὐτούς μηδεὶς καταλιπέτω ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸ πρωί	εἶπε δὲ Μωυσῆς πρὸς αὐτούς· μηδεὶς καταλειπέτω ἀπ᾿ αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸ πρωΐ
Exodus 16:19 (NETS)	Exodus 16:19 (English Elpenor)
Then Moyses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it to the morning.”	And Moses said to them, Let no man leave of it till the morning.

Exodus 16:21 (Tanakh)	Exodus 16:21 (KJV)	Exodus 16:21 (NET)
And they gathered it morning by morning, every man according to his eating; and as the sun waxed hot, it melted.	And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted.	So they gathered it each morning, each person according to what he could eat, and when the sun got hot, it would melt.

Exodus 16:21 (Septuagint BLB)	Exodus 16:21 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ συνέλεξαν αὐτὸ πρωὶ πρωί ἕκαστος τὸ καθῆκον αὐτῷ ἡνίκα δὲ διεθέρμαινεν ὁ ἥλιος ἐτήκετο	καὶ συνέλεξαν αὐτὸ πρωΐ πρωΐ, ἕκαστος τὸ καθῆκον αὐτῷ· ἡνίκα δὲ διεθέρμαινεν ὁ ἥλιος, ἐτήκετο
Exodus 16:21 (NETS)	Exodus 16:21 (English Elpenor)
And they collected it morning by morning, each person that which was appropriate for him. But when the sun grew hot, it melted.	And they gathered it every morning, each man what he needed, and when the sun waxed hot it melted.

Exodus 16:22 (Tanakh)	Exodus 16:22 (KJV)	Exodus 16:22 (NET)
And it came to pass that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one; and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses.	And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man: and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses.	And on the sixth day they gathered twice as much food, two omers per person; and all the leaders of the community came and told Moses..

Exodus 16:22 (Septuagint BLB)	Exodus 16:22 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐγένετο δὲ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἕκτῃ συνέλεξαν τὰ δέοντα διπλᾶ δύο Γομορ τῷ ἑνί εἰσήλθοσαν δὲ πάντες οἱ ἄρχοντες τῆς συναγωγῆς καὶ ἀνήγγειλαν Μωυσεῖ	ἐγένετο δὲ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἕκτῃ, συνέλεξαν τὰ δέοντα διπλᾶ, δύο γομὸρ τῷ ἑνί· εἰσήλθοσαν δὲ πάντες οἱ ἄρχοντες τῆς συναγωγῆς καὶ ἀνήγγειλαν Μωυσῇ
Exodus 16:22 (NETS)	Exodus 16:22 (English Elpenor)
But it happened on the sixth day, they collected double what was required, two gomors for one person. And all the leaders of the congregation went in and reported to Moyses.	And it came to pass on the sixth day, they gathered double what was needed, two homers for one [man]; and all the chiefs of the synagogue went in and reported it to Moses.

Exodus 16:31 (Tanakh)	Exodus 16:31 (KJV)	Exodus 16:31 (NET)
And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna; and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.	And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.	The house of Israel called its name “manna.” It was like coriander seed and was white, and it tasted like wafers with honey.

Exodus 16:31 (Septuagint BLB)	Exodus 16:31 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐπωνόμασαν οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Μαν ἦν δὲ ὡς σπέρμα κορίου λευκόν τὸ δὲ γεῦμα αὐτοῦ ὡς ἐγκρὶς ἐν μέλιτι	καὶ ἐπωνόμασαν οἱ υἱοὶ ᾿Ισραὴλ τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ, μάν· ἦν δὲ ὡσεὶ σπέρμα κορίου λευκόν, τὸ δὲ γεῦμα αὐτοῦ ὡς ἐγκρὶς ἐν μέλιτι
Exodus 16:31 (NETS)	Exodus 16:31 (English Elpenor)
And the sons of Israel called its name Man. Now it was white like coriander seed, but its taste was like cake with honey.	And the children of Israel called the name of it Man; and it was as white coriander seed, and the taste of it as a wafer with honey.

Mark 2:24-26 (NET)	Mark 2:24-26 (KJV)
So the Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is against the law on the Sabbath?”	And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?

Mark 2:24 (NET Parallel Greek)	Mark 2:24 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	Mark 2:24 (Byzantine Majority Text)
καὶ οἱ Φαρισαῖοι ἔλεγον αὐτῷ· ἴδε τί ποιοῦσιν τοῖς σάββασιν ὃ οὐκ ἔξεστιν	και οι φαρισαιοι ελεγον αυτω ιδε τι ποιουσιν εν τοις σαββασιν ο ουκ εξεστιν	και οι φαρισαιοι ελεγον αυτω ιδε τι ποιουσιν εν τοις σαββασιν ο ουκ εξεστιν

He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry—

And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him?

Mark 2:25 (NET Parallel Greek)	Mark 2:25 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	Mark 2:25 (Byzantine Majority Text)
καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς· οὐδέποτε ἀνέγνωτε τί ἐποίησεν Δαυὶδ ὅτε χρείαν ἔσχεν καὶ ἐπείνασεν αὐτὸς καὶ οἱ μετ᾿ αὐτοῦ	και αυτος ελεγεν αυτοις ουδεποτε ανεγνωτε τι εποιησεν δαβιδ οτε χρειαν εσχεν και επεινασεν αυτος και οι μετ αυτου	και αυτος ελεγεν αυτοις ουδεποτε ανεγνωτε τι εποιησεν δαυιδ οτε χρειαν εσχεν και επεινασεν αυτος και οι μετ αυτου

how he entered the house of God when Abiathar was high priest and ate the sacred bread, which is against the law for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to his companions?”

How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him?

Mark 2:26 (NET Parallel Greek)	Mark 2:26 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	Mark 2:26 (Byzantine Majority Text)
\|πῶς\| εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ θεοῦ ἐπὶ Ἀβιαθὰρ ἀρχιερέως καὶ τοὺς ἄρτους τῆς προθέσεως ἔφαγεν, οὓς οὐκ ἔξεστιν φαγεῖν εἰ μὴ τοὺς ἱερεῖς, καὶ ἔδωκεν καὶ τοῖς σὺν αὐτῷ οὖσιν	πως εισηλθεν εις τον οικον του θεου επι αβιαθαρ του αρχιερεως και τους αρτους της προθεσεως εφαγεν ους ουκ εξεστιν φαγειν ει μη τοις ιερευσιν και εδωκεν και τοις συν αυτω ουσιν	πως εισηλθεν εις τον οικον του θεου επι αβιαθαρ αρχιερεως και τους αρτους της προθεσεως εφαγεν ους ουκ εξεστιν φαγειν ει μη τοις ιερευσιν και εδωκεν και τοις συν αυτω ουσιν

Mark 3:3-5 (NET)	Mark 3:3-5 (KJV)
So he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Stand up among all these people.”	And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth.

Mark 3:3 (NET Parallel Greek)	Mark 3:3 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	Mark 3:3 (Byzantine Majority Text)
καὶ λέγει τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ τῷ τὴν \|ξηρὰν\| χεῖρα ἔχοντι · ἔγειρε εἰς τὸ μέσον	και λεγει τω ανθρωπω τω εξηραμμενην εχοντι την χειρα εγειραι εις το μεσον	και λεγει τω ανθρωπω τω εξηραμμενην εχοντι την χειρα εγειραι εις το μεσον

Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath, or evil, to save a life or destroy it?” But they were silent.

And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.

Mark 3:4 (NET Parallel Greek)	Mark 3:4 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	Mark 3:4 (Byzantine Majority Text)
καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς· ἔξεστιν τοῖς σάββασιν \|ἀγαθὸν ποιῆσαι\| ἢ κακοποιῆσαι, ψυχὴν σῶσαι ἢ ἀποκτεῖναι; οἱ δὲ ἐσιώπων	και λεγει αυτοις εξεστιν τοις σαββασιν αγαθοποιησαι η κακοποιησαι ψυχην σωσαι η αποκτειναι οι δε εσιωπων	και λεγει αυτοις εξεστιν τοις σαββασιν αγαθοποιησαι η κακοποιησαι ψυχην σωσαι η αποκτειναι οι δε εσιωπων

After looking around at them in anger, grieved by the hardness of their hearts, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.

And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.

Mark 3:5 (NET Parallel Greek)	Mark 3:5 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	Mark 3:5 (Byzantine Majority Text)
καὶ περιβλεψάμενος αὐτοὺς μετ᾿ ὀργῆς, συλλυπούμενος ἐπὶ τῇ πωρώσει τῆς καρδίας αὐτῶν λέγει τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ· ἔκτεινον τὴν χεῖρα . καὶ ἐξέτεινεν καὶ ἀπεκατεστάθη ἡ χεὶρ αὐτοῦ	και περιβλεψαμενος αυτους μετ οργης συλλυπουμενος επι τη πωρωσει της καρδιας αυτων λεγει τω ανθρωπω εκτεινον την χειρα σου και εξετεινεν και αποκατεσταθη η χειρ αυτου υγιης ως η αλλη	και περιβλεψαμενος αυτους μετ οργης συλλυπουμενος επι τη πωρωσει της καρδιας αυτων λεγει τω ανθρωπω εκτεινον την χειρα σου και εξετεινεν και αποκατεσταθη η χειρ αυτου υγιης ως η αλλη

Balaam, Balak and the 24,000, Part 5

Back to Introduction

Back to Exploration, Part 19

¹ Ephesians 4:22b (ESV)

² Philippians 4:5b (ESV)

³ Philippians 4:6b (ESV)

⁴ John 8:31a (ESV)

⁵ John 8:44a (ESV) Table

⁶ Genesis 28:14b (ESV) Table

⁷ John 2:24, 25 (ESV)

⁸ John 3:10 (NET) Table

⁹ Ephesians 4:22b (ESV)

¹⁰ Ephesians 4:24b (ESV)

¹¹ Ephesians 4:22b (ESV)

¹² Exodus 16:21-27 (ESV)

¹³ Romans 7:5 (ESV)

¹⁴ Romans 8:5-8 (ESV)

¹⁵ Romans 9:3b (ESV) Table

¹⁶ Romans 11:24 (ESV)

¹⁷ Romans 9:31 (ESV) Table

¹⁸ Romans 9:32 (ESV) Table

¹⁹ The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had the preposition εν here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

²⁰ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had λέγει here, a 3^rd person singular form of λέγω in the present tense, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had αυτος ελεγεν in the imperfect tense.

²¹ In the NET parallel Greek text, NA²⁸ and Byzantine Majority Text David was spelled Δαυὶδ, and δαβιδ in the Stephanus Textus Receptus.

²² The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had τοὺς ἱερεῖς here in the accusative case, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had τοις ιερευσιν in the dative case.

²³ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had the adjective ξηρὰν here, an accusative form of ξηρός, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had εξηραμμενην, a perfect participle of the verb ξηραίνω.

²⁴ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ἔγειρε here, a 2^nd person imperative form of ἐγείρω in the present tense, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had an aorist infinitive εγειραι (e.g., “to stand”).

²⁵ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ἀγαθὸν ποιῆσαι here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had the compound verb αγαθοποιησαι.

²⁶ The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had the genitive pronoun σου here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

²⁷ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ἀπεκατεστάθη here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had αποκατεσταθη. Both are listed as 3^rd person singular forms of ἀποκαθίστημι in the aorist tense, indicative mood and passive voice. The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had υγιης ως η αλλη (KJV: whole as the other) at the end of this clause. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

²⁸ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ἐδίδουν here, an imperfect form of δίδωμι, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had εποιουν (KJV; took), an imperfect form of ποιέω.

²⁹ Ephesians 4:22b (ESV)

³⁰ From “The Pharisees and Herodians: Pharisees” in the Topical Encyclopedia on Bible Hub online.

³¹ From “The Pharisees and Herodians: Herodians” in the Topical Encyclopedia on Bible Hub online.

Justice and Mercy Revisited, Part 3

Posted on February 25, 2026 by admin

This is a continuation of “a fuller consideration” of “Matthew’s and the Holy Spirit’s word choices”¹ in Matthew 12:18-21. It became apparent in another essay that Behold, my servant whom I have chosen² wasn’t a quotation from Isaiah 42:1 exclusively: Behold my servant, whom I uphold.³ While preparing this essay I watched Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut again, which helped to illustrate the difference between them.

I recalled my first viewing (with my own eyes wide shut) enjoying the visual smorgasbord of female nudes in classic poses, even as I struggled to find some point to its story beyond a celebration that the Lord God made a woman and brought her to Adam. The story begins, I suppose, when Alice Harford (Nicole Kidman)—having resisted the dubious “charms” of a cad at a Christmas party—is offended by her husband’s lack of jealousy over her, his too facile faith in her fidelity. She angrily and hurtfully recounts her own conflicting emotions over an unconsummated lust for a stranger at a hotel on a family vacation that summer.

The persistent (and explicit) mental image of his beautiful young wife’s desire for another man, a naval officer, propels Bill Harford (Tom Cruise), a successful medical doctor, on a dark parody of a Hero’s Journey, even a mockery of the concept of the hero’s journey. It seems, at first, like a cinematic foray into Baal worship as described by B. Z. Goldberg in “The Sacred Fire, the story of sex in religion,” consorting with prostitutes as religious rite and ritual. Bill’s bookend encounters with Mr. Milich (Rade Šerbedžija), a costumer he bribed to reopen his shop late that night, were a poignant reminder that a prostitute is somebody’s daughter.

Bill needed a tuxedo, a cape with a hood and a mask to gain admittance to a secret orgy he heard about after a timely phone call from Alice aborted an impromptu assignation with Domino (Vinessa Shaw), a prostitute who had propositioned him as he wandered the streets. Awakened by Bill, as he reopens his shop Milich discovers his underage daughter (Leelee Sobieski) entertaining two older men. “We were invited here by the young lady,” one of them explains as Milich rages: “The young lady? It is my daughter. And couldn’t you see she is a child? You will have to explain to police.” Then he lashes out at his child, “You little whore! I’ll kill you for this.” Milich locks the two men in the front room of his shop as his daughter flees and cowers behind Bill.

Then Milich tends again to his rental business as his half-naked daughter, clinging to Bill for protection, whispers coquettishly into Bill’s ear. The scene ends without revealing how Bill extricates himself from her grasp or leaves her to her fate, which sets up the bookend scene the next morning. As he returns the rental costume (everything but the missing mask), Milich’s daughter, still in her underwear, emerges from the front of the shop, smiling. Her father greets her warmly and introduces her properly to Dr. Harford. Then the same two men from the night before emerge through the same doorway, fully clothed and looking like satisfied customers, and they are regarded as such by Mr. Milich.

Perplexed, Bill reminds Milich of his intent to call the police last night (without mentioning his intent to kill his daughter). “Well, uh, things change,” Milich responds, “we have come to another arrangement.” Then he offers his daughter to Bill as another potential rental item of interest, since Bill is clearly of interest to her. But the story has morphed into a thriller as Bill investigates the disappearance of a musician friend, Nick Nightingale (Todd Field), who told him about the secret orgy in the first place, and the suspiciously timed death of a prostitute, Mandy Curran (Julienne Davis), who offered herself as a sacrifice to “redeem” Bill from further humiliation (and other more lethal threats) when he was unmasked as an unwelcome intruder at the secret orgy.

Only at the end did I recognize “Eyes Wide Shut” as a love story. And after another divorce and a few more years of Bible study with God the Father, God the Son through God the indwelling Holy Spirit, I realize it’s a love story about the grace of God, protecting Dr. and Mrs. Harford from the deceitful desires of their old human during three nights and three days when their marriage is severely tested.

Once he confesses all to Alice, Bill is uneasy, questioning what his wife is thinking and where he stands with her. Alice Harford, beautiful deeper than even her face or form, ponders aloud:

What do I think we should do? (Their young daughter Helena [Madison Eginton] interrupts.) What do I think? I don’t know. I mean, maybe I… (She tends to Helena again.) Maybe I think we should be grateful, grateful that we’ve managed to survive through all of our (she searches for a word) adventures—whether they were real or only a dream.

Gratitude is appropriate. Neither Bill nor Alice had any occasion for pride over any works of righteousness which had been done by any righteousness of their own derived from any law: Behold my servant, whom I uphold.⁴ This isn’t exactly what one expects of Jesus—Behold, my servant whom I have chosen⁵—but is appropriate to consider for servants who are not yet born from above, not yet created by means of [Christ]…into one new human.⁶

The Hebrew word translated I uphold was אֶתְמָךְ, a form of תָּמַךְ (tāmaḵ), which was translated ἀντιλήμψομαι or ἀντιλήψομαι in the Septuagint, forms of ἀντιλαμβάνω in the middle voice. The first occurrence of a form of תָּמַךְ (tāmaḵ) in the Masoretic text occurs in the story of Israel blessing Joseph and his two sons.

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Genesis 48:17 (Tanakh) Table	Genesis 48:17 (NET)	Genesis 48:17 (NETS) Table	Genesis 48:17 (English Elpenor)
And when Joseph saw that his father was laying his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he held up (וַיִּתְמֹ֣ךְ) his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head unto Manasseh’s head.	When Joseph saw that his father placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head, it displeased him. So he took (tāmaḵ, ויתמך) his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.	Now when Ioseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it seemed grievous to him, and Ioseph took hold (καὶ ἀντελάβετο) of his father’s hand to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasse’s head.	And Joseph having seen that his father put his right hand on the head of Ephraim– it seemed grievous to him; and Joseph took hold (καὶ ἀντελάβετο) of the hand of his father, to remove it from the head of Ephraim to the head of Manasse.

The next occurrence is found in the story of Israel’s battle with Amalek.

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Exodus 17:12 (Tanakh/KJV)	Exodus 17:12 (NET)	Exodus 17:12 (NETS)	Exodus 17:12 (English Elpenor)
But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up (תָּֽמְכ֣וּ) his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.	When the hands of Moses became heavy, they took a stone and put it under him, and Aaron and Hur held up (tāmaḵ, תמכו) his hands, one on one side and one on the other, and so his hands were steady until the sun went down.	But Moyses’ hands were heavy. And they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hor kept supporting (ἐστήριζον) his hands, here one and there one. And the hands of Moyses were supported until the setting of the sun.	But the hands of Moses were heavy, and they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat upon it; and Aaron and Or supported (ἐστήριζον) his hands one on this side and the other on that, and the hands of Moses were supported till the going down of the sun.

In the first occurrence Joseph held up, took, took hold of his father’s hand to correct what he perceived as wrong. In the second occurrence Aaron and Hur stayed up, held up, kept supporting, supported Moses’ hands to help him do what they perceived as right (Exodus 17:10, 11, 13 ESV):

So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill [Table]. Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed…And [because of a form of תָּמַךְ (tāmaḵ) done by Aaron and Hur] Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword.

David wrote (Psalm 16:1, 2, 5 ESV):

Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.”
The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold (תּוֹמִ֥יךְ, a form of תָּמַךְ, tāmaḵ) my lot.

When I returned to the church where I became an atheist, I believed wholeheartedly that Jesus would finally help me have my own righteousness derived from the law,⁷ which was a major departure from many years of experience that I was neither faithful nor good enough to receive any help from Him at all. My last hope before I disbelieved Him entirely was that He would punish me for my sins. He didn’t, not in anyway I expected or perceived.

When He brought me back I didn’t actually “know” that I wanted Him to help me have my own righteousness derived from the law, because I didn’t yet know that there was any alternative to my own righteousness derived from the law. So, though He still didn’t help me have my own righteousness derived from the law, He helped me to know and to desire his righteousness (τὴν δικαιοσύνην αὐτοῦ), the righteousness that comes by way of Christ’s faithfulness—a righteousness from God that is in fact based on Christ’s faithfulness.⁸

The Greek words translated the righteousness that comes by way of Christ’s faithfulness were: τὴν, the righteousness that, διὰ, comes by way, πίστεως Χριστοῦ, of Christ’s faithfulness. A note (11) in the NET goes into some detail about scholarly arguments over translation here: in the ESV for instance τὴν διὰ πίστεως Χριστοῦ was translated that which comes through faith in Christ.⁹ While the arguments are interesting, the writer was Paul, who also wrote (Galatians 2:20 EXP11):

By means of Christ I have been crucified, but I live hereafter not I but He lives within me, Christ, so who now I live within flesh, by faithfulness I live by means of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

Paul is faithful because the indwelling Christ makes it so. And Paul didn’t retain this grace as a special privilege to himself alone (Ephesians 2:8-10 EXP14):

For by means of grace you are, were and continue to be saved through faith, and this not from within you, God’s gift, not out from works, so that no one may boast [about oneself]. For we are his workmanship, created by means of Christ Jesus to good works which God prepared beforehand, so that by means of them we may walk.

At the conclusion of another essay I wrote:

Just as the conjunction καὶ (and) in Jesus’ prayer doesn’t deny his divinity but highlights and accentuates his humanity, even as the new human (τὸν καινὸν ἄνθρωπον) created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness,¹² so God (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) chose this new human: Behold, my servant whom I have chosen. Eternal life is to know the only true God (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) and this new human. How? by knowing Jesus Christ, through the Bible certainly, yet equally if not more importantly, through the time spent with the One who died to fulfill the Scriptures.

I chide myself for being so slow to understand. The relationship between Jesus as Christ and the new human is actually quite explicit (Romans 5:12-21 ESV).

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man (δι᾿ ἑνὸς ἀνθρώπου), and death through sin, and so death spread to all men (εἰς πάντας ἀνθρώπους) because all sinned—for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come [Table].

But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass (τῷ τοῦ ἑνὸς παραπτώματι), much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man (τῇ τοῦ ἑνὸς ἀνθρώπου) Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin (οὐχ ὡς δι᾿ ἑνὸς ἁμαρτήσαντος). For the judgment following one trespass (ἐξ ἑνὸς) brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man’s trespass (τῷ τοῦ ἑνὸς παραπτώματι), death reigned through that one man (διὰ τοῦ ἑνός), much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man (διὰ τοῦ ἑνὸς) Jesus Christ.

Therefore, as one trespass (ὡς δι᾿ ἑνὸς παραπτώματος) led to condemnation for all men (εἰς πάντας ἀνθρώπους), so one act of righteousness (δι᾿ ἑνὸς δικαιώματος) leads to justification and life for all men (εἰς πάντας ἀνθρώπους). For as by the one man’s disobedience (διὰ τῆς παρακοῆς τοῦ ἑνὸς ἀνθρώπου) the many were made sinners (ἁμαρτωλοὶ κατεστάθησαν οἱ πολλοί), so by the one man’s obedience (διὰ τῆς ὑπακοῆς τοῦ ἑνὸς) the many will be made righteous (δίκαιοι κατασταθήσονται οἱ πολλοί). Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

And again (1 Corinthians 15:45-49 ESV):

Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”;¹⁰ the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven [Table]. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven [Table].

And here, I return to Matthew 12:18a (ESV).

“Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased.

I’ll continue with the idea (NET note 28) that Isaiah 42:1 is a good place to start looking for the source of the quotation my beloved (ὁ ἀγαπητός μου). The next Hebrew word in Isaiah 42:1 in the Masoretic text is בְּחִירִ֖י, a form of בָּחִיר (bāḥîr):

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Isaiah 42:1 (Tanakh/KJV) Table	Isaiah 42:1 (NET)	Isaiah 42:1 (NETS) Table	Isaiah 42:1 (English Elpenor)
mine elect (בְּחִירִ֖י)	my chosen one (bāḥîr, בחירי)	Israel is my chosen (Ισραηλ ὁ ἐκλεκτός μου)	Israel is my chosen (᾿Ισραὴλ ὁ ἐκλεκτός μου)

In another essay I considered why the Septuagint translators may have been inclined to add Israel to these words, and won’t repeat it here. But does Matthew 12:18 help to corroborate the Masoretic text as more original this time?

Matthew 12:18 (NET Parallel Greek)	Isaiah 42:1 (Septuagint BLB)	Isaiah 42:1 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ὁ ἀγαπητός μου	Ισραηλ ὁ ἐκλεκτός μου	᾿Ισραὴλ ὁ ἐκλεκτός μου
Matthew 12:18 (NET)	Isaiah 42:1 (NETS)	Isaiah 42:1 (English Elpenor)
the one I love	Israel is my chosen	Israel is my chosen

Granted, the word Ισραηλ is missing from Matthew’s quotation as it is from the apparent source in the Masoretic text of Isaiah. But is ἀγαπητός a fitting synonym for ἐκλεκτός, or a reasonable translation of בְּחִירִ֖י, a form of בָּחִיר (bāḥîr)? The singular adjective ἀγαπητός in the nominative case doesn’t occur in the Greek translation of Isaiah. There are, however, two occurrences of other forms.

The first is fairly straightforward (Isaiah 5:1-4 ESV):

Let me sing for my beloved
my love song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard
on a very fertile hill.
He dug it and cleared it of stones,
and planted it with choice vines;
he built a watchtower in the midst of it,
and hewed out a wine vat in it;
and he looked for it to yield grapes,
but it yielded wild grapes.
And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem
and men of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
What more was there to do for my vineyard,
that I have not done in it?
When I looked for it to yield grapes,
why did it yield wild grapes?

The Hebrew word translated my love in my love song concerning his vineyard above was דּוֹדִ֖י, a form of דּוֹד (dôḏ). A table with more detail follows:

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Isaiah 5:1 (Tanakh/KJV)	Isaiah 5:1 (NET)	Isaiah 5:1 (NETS)	Isaiah 5:1 (English Elpenor)
Now will I sing to my wellbeloved (לִֽידִידִ֔י) a song of my beloved (דּוֹדִ֖י) touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved (לִֽידִידִ֖י) hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:	I will sing to my love (yāḏîḏ, לידידי)—a song to my lover (dôḏ, דודי) about his vineyard. My love (yāḏîḏ, לידידי) had a vineyard on a fertile hill.	I will now sing for the beloved (τῷ ἠγαπημένῳ) a song of the loved one (τοῦ ἀγαπητοῦ) concerning my vineyard: The beloved (τῷ ἠγαπημένῳ) had a vineyard on a hill, on a fertile place.	Now I will sing to [my] beloved (τῷ ἠγαπημένῳ) a song of my beloved (τοῦ ἀγαπητοῦ μου) concerning my vineyard. [My] beloved (τῷ ἠγαπημένῳ) had a vineyard on a high hill in a fertile place.

So, one Hebrew word occurs twice in the Masoretic text: לִֽידִידִ֔י, a form of יָדִיד (yāḏîḏ), to my wellbeloved / My wellbeloved (Tanakh, KJV), to my love / My love (NET). It was translated τῷ ἠγαπημένῳ in the Septuagint, for the beloved / The beloved (NETS), to [my] beloved / [My] beloved (English Elpenor). And another occurs once: דּוֹדִ֖י, a form of דּוֹד (dôḏ), of my beloved (Tanakh, KJV), to my lover (NET). The ESV translators chose my love, abandoning any sense of personality, treating דּוֹדִ֖י, a form of דּוֹד (dôḏ), simply as an adjective describing song. It was translated τοῦ ἀγαπητοῦ in the BLB Septuagint, of the loved one (NETS), and τοῦ ἀγαπητοῦ μου in the Elpenor Septuagint, of my beloved (English Elpenor).

The Greek adjective ἀγαπητοῦ is a singular form of ἀγαπητός in the genitive case. Since Matthew and the Holy Spirit chose ἀγαπητός, referring to Jesus in Matthew 12:18, rather than ἐκλεκτός (which referred to Israel in the Septuagint), I’m primed to respond to the Lord’s questions as follows:

Question 1 (Isaiah 5:4a ESV):
What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it?

Answer 1 (John 3:14-17 ESV):
As Moses¹¹ lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him¹² may have eternal life. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn (κρίνῃ, a form of κρίνω; literally judge) the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him [Table].

Question 2 (Isaiah 5:4b ESV):
When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?

Answer 2 (John 3:6, 7; Romans 8:3, 4 ESV):
That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again’ (ἄνωθεν; literally from above).
For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned (κατέκρινεν, a form of κατακρίνω) sin in the flesh (ἐν τῇ σαρκί; or “by means of the flesh”), in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

I tend to understand the allegory of the vineyard as a reference to the people of Israel, more specifically to the people of the southern kingdom of Judah, or even more specifically to the Jews of Jerusalem, at the time of Isaiah. Without denying any of that, Rashi understood the vineyard as Adam, perhaps even humanity more generally (See Rashi’s commentary to Isaiah 5:7). But despite all his insight, including his recognition that God did more for Israel than for Adam, Rashi still hoped in Torah, in law, a millennium after Christ has come, Christ has died, Christ is risen again. And another millennium after Rashi “all the little Jewish children look forward to the happy day when they will begin to learn Chumash [Torah (The Pentateuch)] with Rashi…a new milestone on their wonderful and enchanting road to scholarship and wisdom.”¹³

The only other occurrence of a form of ἀγαπητός in the Greek translation of Isaiah is more difficult because the Masoretic text and Septuagint diverge significantly (Isaiah 26:16-19 ESV).

O Lord, in distress they sought you;
they poured out a whispered prayer
when your discipline was upon them.
Like a pregnant woman
who writhes and cries out in her pangs
when she is near to giving birth,
so were we because of you, O Lord;
we were pregnant, we writhed,
but we have given birth to wind.
We have accomplished no deliverance in the earth,
and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen.
Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise.
You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy!
For your dew is a dew of light,
and the earth will give birth to the dead [Table].

The differences between the Masoretic text and the Septuagint are reasonably apparent in English translation:

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Isaiah 26:16, 17 (Tanakh/KJV)	Isaiah 26:16, 17 (NET)	Isaiah 26:16, 17 (NETS)	Isaiah 26:16, 17, 18a (English Elpenor)
LORD, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them.	O Lord, in distress they looked for you; they uttered incantations because of your discipline.	O Lord, in affliction I remembered you; with small affliction your chastening was on us.	Lord, in affliction I remembered thee; thy chastening was to us with small affliction.
Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD.	As when a pregnant woman gets ready to deliver and strains and cries out because of her labor pains, so were we because of you, O Lord.	And as a woman in travail is about to give birth and cries out in her pangs, so were we to your beloved because of the fear of you, O Lord.	And as a woman in travail draws nigh to be delivered, [and] cries out in her pain; so have we been to thy beloved. (18) We have conceived, O Lord, because of thy fear…

I’ll pause here to consider Isaiah 26:17 (26:17, 18a) in more detail:

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Isaiah 26:17 (Tanakh/KJV)	Isaiah 26:17 (NET)	Isaiah 26:17 (NETS)	Isaiah 26:17, 18a (English Elpenor)
Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so (כֵּ֛ן) have we been (הָיִ֥ינוּ) in thy sight (מִפָּנֶ֖יךָ), O LORD (יְהֹוָֽה).	As when a pregnant woman gets ready to deliver and strains and cries out because of her labor pains, so (kēn, כן) were we (hāyâ, היינו) because of you (pānîm, מפניך), O Lord (yᵊhōvâ, יהוה).	And as a woman in travail is about to give birth and cries out in her pangs, so (οὕτως) were we (ἐγενήθημεν) to your beloved (τῷ ἀγαπητῷ σου) because of (διὰ) the fear of you (τὸν φόβον σου), O Lord (κύριε).	And as a woman in travail draws nigh to be delivered, [and] cries out in her pain; so (οὕτως) have we been (ἐγενήθημεν) to thy beloved (τῷ ἀγαπητῷ σου). (18) We have conceived, O Lord (Κύριε), because of (διὰ) thy fear (τὸν φόβον σου),

The Hebrew word כֵּ֛ן (kēn), so (Tanakh, KJV, NET), was translated οὕτως in the Septuagint, so (NETS, English Elpenor). Then הָיִ֥ינוּ a form of הָיָה (hāyâ), have we been (Tanakh, KJV), were we (NET), was translated ἐγενήθημεν, were we (NETS), have we been (English Elpenor). The next word is absent from the Masoretic text: τῷ ἀγαπητῷ σου, to your beloved (NETS), to thy beloved (English Elpenor), only occurs in the Septuagint; ἀγαπητῷ is a form of the adjective ἀγαπητός in the dative case. The rabbis apparently translated a Hebrew manuscript that had a form of דּוֹד (dôḏ) at this point in the word string (based on Isaiah 5:1). The Masoretes either dropped it or favored a manuscript from which it was absent.

The next word מִפָּנֶ֖יךָ, a form of פָּנִים (pānîm), in thy sight (Tanakh, KJV), because of you (NET), was translated διὰ, because of (NETS, English Elpenor), in the Septuagint. Then again, a word, probably a form of יָרֵא (yārē’), is absent from the Masoretic text, but was translated τὸν φόβον σου, the fear of you (NETS), thy fear (English Elpenor), in the Septuagint. And finally, יְהֹוָֽה (yᵊhōvâ), O LORD (Tanakh, KJV), O Lord (NET), in the Masoretic text was translated Κύριε, O Lord (NETS, English Elpenor), in the Septuagint.

In the Greek of the Septuagint there is a point and purpose of this woman in hard labor imagery, a reference to some relationship between that labor and your beloved, thy beloved: so were we to your beloved because of the fear of you, O Lord (NETS), so have we been to thy beloved…O Lord, because of thy fear (English Elpenor). The point and purpose in the Tanakh and KJV translations of the Masoretic text is thy chastening: so have we been in thy sight, O LORD. The NET and ESV translations may hint at some other purpose: so were we because of you, O Lord. But I suspect that hint owes more to the translators’ consultation of the Septuagint than to any strict adherence to the Hebrew of the Masoretic text.

Since Matthew and the Holy Spirit chose ὁ ἀγαπητός μου in Matthew 12:18 my beloved (ESV) to specify Jesus, who fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah, rather than Israel (Ισραηλ ὁ ἐκλεκτός μου in Isaiah 42:1 in the Septuagint), I’m primed to recognize the identity of τῷ ἀγαπητῷ σου, to your beloved (NETS), to thy beloved (English Elpenor) as a prophetic reference to Jesus. And Paul, in his lament, was quite specific about Jesus’ relationship to Israel imagined as a woman in hard labor (Romans 9:1-5 ESV).

I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit—that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh [Table]. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

The differences between the Masoretic text and Septuagint continue:

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Isaiah 26:18, 19 (Tanakh/KJV)	Isaiah 26:18, 19 (NET)	Isaiah 26:18, 19 (NETS)	Isaiah 26:18, 19 (English Elpenor)
We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.	We were pregnant, we strained, we gave birth, as it were, to wind. We cannot produce deliverance on the earth; no people are born to populate the world.	We conceived and travailed and gave birth; we produced a wind of your salvation on the earth, but those who dwell on the earth will fall.	We have conceived, O Lord, because of thy fear, and have been in pain, and have brought forth the breath of thy salvation, which we have wrought upon the earth: we shall not fall, but all that dwell upon the land shall fall.
Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead [Table].	Your dead will come back to life; your corpses will rise up. Wake up and shout joyfully, you who live in the ground! For you will grow like plants drenched with the morning dew, and the earth will bring forth its dead spirits.	The dead shall rise, and those who are in the tombs shall be raised, and those who are in the earth shall rejoice; for the dew from you is healing to them, but the land of the impious shall fall [Table].	The dead shall rise, and they that are in the tombs shall be raised, and they that are in the earth shall rejoice: for the dew from thee is healing to them: but the land of the ungodly shall perish.

A more detailed table of Isaiah 26:18 follows:

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Isaiah 26:18 (Tanakh/KJV)	Isaiah 26:18 (NET)	Isaiah 26:18 (NETS)	Isaiah 26:18 (English Elpenor)
We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were (כְּמ֖וֹ) brought forth (יָלַ֣דְנוּ) wind (ר֑וּחַ); we have not (בַּל) wrought (נַ֣עֲשֶׂה) any deliverance (יְשׁוּעֹת֙) in the earth (אֶ֔רֶץ); neither (וּבַֽל) have the inhabitants (יֹֽשְׁבֵ֥י) of the world (תֵבֵֽל) fallen (יִפְּל֖וּ).	We were pregnant, we strained, we gave birth (yālaḏ, ילדנו), as it were (kᵊmô, כמו), to wind (rûaḥ, רוח). We cannot (bal, בל) produce (ʿāśâ, נעשׁה) deliverance (yᵊšûʿâ, ישועת) on the earth (‘ereṣ, ארץ); no people (bal, ובל) are born (nāp̄al, יפלו) to populate (yāšaḇ, ישבי) the world (tēḇēl, תבל).	We conceived and travailed and gave birth (ἐτέκομεν); we produced (ἐποιήσαμεν) a wind (πνεῦμα) of your salvation (σωτηρίας σου) on the earth (ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς), but (ἀλλὰ) those who dwell (οἱ ἐνοικοῦντες) on the earth (ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς) will fall (πεσοῦνται).	We have conceived, O Lord, because of thy fear, and have been in pain, and have brought forth (ἐτέκομεν) the breath (πνεῦμα) of thy salvation (σωτηρίας σου), which we have wrought (ἐποιήσαμεν) upon the earth (ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς): we shall not (οὐ) fall (πεσούμεθα), but (ἀλλὰ) all that dwell (πάντες οἱ ἐνοικοῦντες) upon the land (ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς) shall fall (πεσοῦνται).

The first word in the Masoretic text to diverge from the Septuagint is כְּמ֖וֹ (kᵊmô), as it were (Tanakh, KJV, NET). There is no counterpart in the Septuagint. But the next word יָלַ֣דְנוּ, a form of יָלַד (yālaḏ), we have…brought forth (Tanakh, KJV), we gave birth (NET), was translated ἐτέκομεν, gave birth (NETS), have brought forth (English Elpenor), in the Septuagint. This was followed by ר֑וּחַ (rûaḥ), wind (Tanakh, KJV), to wind (NET), translated πνεῦμα, a wind (NETS), the breath (English Elpenor). Then came יְשׁוּעֹת֙, a form of יְשׁוּעָה (yᵊšûʿâ), any deliverance (Tanakh, KJV), deliverance (NET), translated σωτηρίας σου, of your salvation (NETS), of thy salvation (English Elpenor), in the Septuagint.

The next word in the Hebrew word string of the Masoretic text is בַּל (bal), not (Tanakh, KJV), cannot (NET). There is no negative particle in the BLB Septuagint; οὐ in the Elpenor Septuagint occurs later in the word string and precedes a different verb. The verb negated in the Hebrew of the Masoretic text is נַ֣עֲשֶׂה, a form of עָשָׂה (ʿāśâ), we have…wrought (Tankah, KJV), We…produce (NET), and was translated ἐποιήσαμεν without any hint of negation in the Septuagint, we produced (NETS), which we have wrought (English Elpenor). And this is followed by אֶ֔רֶץ (ereṣ), in the earth (Tanakh, KJV), on the earth (NET), translated ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, on the earth (NETS), upon the earth (English Elpenor), in the Septuagint.

In other words, prior to many in Israel rejecting Jesus as Messiah there is Greek evidence of a Hebrew manuscript which prophesied something like: we produced a wind of your salvation on the earth [e.g., your beloved] (NETS); have brought forth the breath of thy salvation [e.g., thy beloved], which we have wrought upon the earth (English Elpenor). And after their rejection the Masoretic text reads: we have as it were brought forth wind [e.g., a fart]; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth (Tanakh, KJV); we gave birth, as it were, to wind; We cannot produce deliverance on the earth (NET).

The next word in the Hebrew word string of the Masoretic text is another negative particle וּבַֽל, a form of בַּל (bal), neither (Tanakh, KJV), no people (NET). Here is where the negative particle οὐ occurs in the Elpenor Septuagint only, preceding πεσούμεθα (a form of πίπτω), we shall not fall (English Elpenor). Frankly, whether this is evidence of yet another Hebrew manuscript or simply an editorial comment identifying The dead [who] shall rise,¹⁴ is of no concern to me at present. Both the BLB and Elpenor Septuagint have the conjunction ἀλλὰ here, but (NETS, English Elpenor), rather than a negative particle when οὐ πεσούμεθα is bracketed aside.

The next word in the Hebrew of the Masoretic text is יִפְּל֖וּ, a form of נָפַל (nāp̄al), have…fallen (Tanakh, KJV), are born (NET), and was translated πεσοῦνται, will fall (NETS), shall fall (English Elpenor), in the Septuagint. Then יֹֽשְׁבֵ֥י, a form of יָשַׁב (yāšaḇ), the inhabitants (Tanakh, KJV), to populate (NET), was translated οἱ ἐνοικοῦντες (BLB Septuagint), those who dwell (NETS) and πάντες οἱ ἐνοικοῦντες (Elpenor Septuagint), all that dwell (English Elpenor). Finally, תֵבֵֽל (tēḇēl), of the world (Tanakh, KJV), the world (NET), was translated ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, on the earth (NETS), upon the land (English Elpenor).

None of this persuades me that ἀγαπητός in Matthew 12:18 calls the originality of בְּחִירִ֖י, a form of בָּחִיר (bāḥîr) in Isaiah 42:1, into question. On the contrary, ἀγαπητός seems to be a deliberate choice to bind Isaiah 42 to Isaiah 5 and Isaiah 26 in Matthew 12:18, even as it distinguishes Jesus somewhat from Israel (as translated in the Septuagint). Even in the mutilated remains of Isaiah 26:18 in the Masoretic text one finds ר֑וּחַ (rûaḥ) followed by יְשׁוּעֹת֙, a form of יְשׁוּעָה (yᵊšûʿâ; pronounced yesh-oo’-aw), “spirit of salvation.” As Paul wrote: the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.¹⁵ And Matthew wrote that Jesus fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah.¹⁶ And the Holy Spirit called Him: my beloved¹⁷ (ὁ ἀγαπητός μου).

Israel…pursued a law that would lead to righteousness¹⁸…as if it were based on works,¹⁹ Paul assessed the failure of his brothers, [his] kinsmen according to the flesh.²⁰ The Masoretes confirmed his assessment: we were pregnant, we writhed, but we have given birth to wind. We have accomplished no deliverance in the earth.²¹ In other words, they did not pursue it by faith²² in the faithfulness of God: Behold my servant, whom I uphold.²³ And many still reject his “spirit of salvation,” Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved.²⁴

When Bill Harford (Tom Cruise) returned home late on the third night, he found the missing mask he had to purchase from the man who prostituted his own daughter. He found that mask, which he wore in a vain attempt to fit in at a secret orgy hoping in vain to hide his true identity, lying on his pillow in his place in his bed next to his sleeping wife—and he repented.

Tables comparing Exodus 17:12; 17:11; 17:13; Psalm 16:1; 16:2; 16:5; Isaiah 5:1; 5:2; 5:3; 5:4; 26:16; 26:17 and 26:18 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and comparing the Greek of Exodus 17:12; 17:11; 17:13; Psalm 16:1 (15:1); 16:2 (15:2); 16:5 (15:5); Isaiah 5:1; 5:2; 5:3; 5:4; 26:16; 26:17 and 26:18 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor), and a table comparing John 3:14, 15 in the KJV and NET follow.

Exodus 17:12 (Tanakh)	Exodus 17:12 (KJV)	Exodus 17:12 (NET)
But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.	But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.	When the hands of Moses became heavy, they took a stone and put it under him, and Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side and one on the other, and so his hands were steady until the sun went down.

Exodus 17:12 (Septuagint BLB)	Exodus 17:12 (Septuagint Elpenor)
αἱ δὲ χεῖρες Μωυσῆ βαρεῖαι καὶ λαβόντες λίθον ὑπέθηκαν ὑπ᾽ αὐτόν καὶ ἐκάθητο ἐπ᾽ αὐτοῦ καὶ Ααρων καὶ Ωρ ἐστήριζον τὰς χεῖρας αὐτοῦ ἐντεῦθεν εἷς καὶ ἐντεῦθεν εἷς καὶ ἐγένοντο αἱ χεῖρες Μωυσῆ ἐστηριγμέναι ἕως δυσμῶν ἡλίου	αἱ δὲ χεῖρες Μωυσῆ βαρεῖαι· καὶ λαβόντες λίθον ὑπέθηκαν ὑπ᾿ αὐτόν, καὶ ἐκάθητο ἐπ᾿ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ᾿Ααρὼν καὶ ῍Ωρ ἐστήριζον τὰς χεῖρας αὐτοῦ, ἐντεῦθεν εἷς καὶ ἐντεῦθεν εἷς· καὶ ἐγένοντο αἱ χεῖρες Μωυσῆ ἐστηριγμέναι ἕως δυσμῶν ἡλίου
Exodus 17:12 (NETS)	Exodus 17:12 (English Elpenor)
But Moyses’ hands were heavy. And they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hor kept supporting his hands, here one and there one. And the hands of Moyses were supported until the setting of the sun.	But the hands of Moses were heavy, and they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat upon it; and Aaron and Or supported his hands one on this side and the other on that, and the hands of Moses were supported till the going down of the sun.

Exodus 17:11 (Tanakh)	Exodus 17:11 (KJV)	Exodus 17:11 (NET)
And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.	And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.	Whenever Moses would raise his hands, then Israel prevailed, but whenever he would rest his hands, then Amalek prevailed.

Exodus 17:11 (Septuagint BLB)	Exodus 17:11 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐγίνετο ὅταν ἐπῆρεν Μωυσῆς τὰς χεῖρας κατίσχυεν Ισραηλ ὅταν δὲ καθῆκεν τὰς χεῖρας κατίσχυεν Αμαληκ	καὶ ἐγίνετο ὅταν ἐπῇρε Μωυσῆς τὰς χεῖρας, κατίσχυεν ᾿Ισραήλ· ὅταν δὲ καθῆκε τὰς χεῖρας, κατίσχυεν ᾿Αμαλήκ
Exodus 17:11 (NETS)	Exodus 17:11 (English Elpenor)
And it happened whenever Moyses held up his hands, Israel was prevailing, and whenever he lowered his hands, Amalek was prevailing.	And it came to pass, when Moses lifted up his hands, Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hands, Amalec prevailed.

Exodus 17:13 (Tanakh)	Exodus 17:13 (KJV)	Exodus 17:13 (NET)
And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.	And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.	So Joshua destroyed Amalek and his army with the sword.

Exodus 17:13 (Septuagint BLB)	Exodus 17:13 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐτρέψατο Ἰησοῦς τὸν Αμαληκ καὶ πάντα τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ ἐν φόνῳ μαχαίρας	καὶ ἐτρέψατο ᾿Ιησοῦς τὸν ᾿Αμαλὴκ καὶ πάντα τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ ἐν φόνῳ μαχαίρας
Exodus 17:13 (NETS)	Exodus 17:13 (English Elpenor)
And Iesous routed Amalek and all his people by slaughter of dagger.	And Joshua routed Amalec and all his people with the slaughter of the sword.

Psalm 16:1 (Tanakh)	Psalm 16:1 (KJV)	Psalm 16:1 (NET)
Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust.	Michtam of David. Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust.	A prayer of David. Protect me, O God, for I have taken shelter in you.

Psalm 16:1 (Septuagint BLB)	Psalm 15:1 (Septuagint Elpenor)
στηλογραφία τῷ Δαυιδ φύλαξόν με κύριε ὅτι ἐπὶ σοὶ ἤλπισα	Στηλογραφία τῷ Δαυΐδ. – ΦΥΛΑΞΟΝ με, Κύριε, ὅτι ἐπὶ σοὶ ἤλπισα
Psalm 15:1 (NETS)	Psalm 15:1 (English Elpenor)
A stele inscription. Pertaining to Dauid. Guard me, O Lord, because in you I hoped.	[A writing of David.] Keep me, O Lord; for I have hoped in thee.

Psalm 16:2 (Tanakh)	Psalm 16:2 (KJV)	Psalm 16:2 (NET)
O my soul, thou hast said unto the LORD, Thou art my Lord: my goodness extendeth not to thee;	O my soul, thou hast said unto the LORD, Thou art my Lord: my goodness extendeth not to thee;	I say to the Lord, “You are the Lord, my only source of well-being.”

Psalm 16:2 (Septuagint BLB)	Psalm 15:2 (Septuagint Elpenor)
εἶπα τῷ κυρίῳ κύριός μου εἶ σύ ὅτι τῶν ἀγαθῶν μου οὐ χρείαν ἔχεις	εἶπα τῷ Κυρίῳ· Κύριός μου εἶ σύ, ὅτι τῶν ἀγαθῶν μου οὐ χρείαν ἔχεις
Psalm 15:2 (NETS)	Psalm 15:2 (English Elpenor)
I said to the Lord, “My Lord you are, because you have no need of my goods.”	I said to the Lord, Thou art my Lord; for thou hast no need of my goodness.

Psalm 16:5 (Tanakh)	Psalm 16:5 (KJV)	Psalm 16:5 (NET)
The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.	The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.	Lord, you give me stability and prosperity; you make my future secure.

Psalm 16:5 (Septuagint BLB)	Psalm 15:5 (Septuagint Elpenor)
κύριος ἡ μερὶς τῆς κληρονομίας μου καὶ τοῦ ποτηρίου μου σὺ εἶ ὁ ἀποκαθιστῶν τὴν κληρονομίαν μου ἐμοί	Κύριος μερὶς τῆς κληρονομίας μου καὶ τοῦ ποτηρίου μου· σὺ εἶ ὁ ἀποκαθιστῶν τὴν κληρονομίαν μου ἐμοί
Psalm 15:5 (NETS)	Psalm 15:5 (English Elpenor)
The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup; you are the one who restores to me my inheritance.	The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou art he that restores my inheritance to me.

Isaiah 5:1 (Tanakh)	Isaiah 5:1 (KJV)	Isaiah 5:1 (NET)
Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:	Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:	I will sing to my love—a song to my lover about his vineyard. My love had a vineyard on a fertile hill.

Isaiah 5:1 (Septuagint BLB)	Isaiah 5:1 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ᾄσω δὴ τῷ ἠγαπημένῳ ᾆσμα τοῦ ἀγαπητοῦ τῷ ἀμπελῶνί μου ἀμπελὼν ἐγενήθη τῷ ἠγαπημένῳ ἐν κέρατι ἐν τόπῳ πίονι	ΑΣΩ δὴ τῷ ἠγαπημένῳ ἆσμα τοῦ ἀγαπητοῦ μου τῷ ἀμπελῶνί μου. ἀμπελὼν ἐγενήθη τῷ ἠγαπημένῳ ἐν κέρατι, ἐν τόπῳ πίονι
Isaiah 5:1 (NETS)	Isaiah 5:1 (English Elpenor)
I will now sing for the beloved a song of the loved one concerning my vineyard: The beloved had a vineyard on a hill, on a fertile place.	Now I will sing to [my] beloved a song of my beloved concerning my vineyard. [My] beloved had a vineyard on a high hill in a fertile place.

Isaiah 5:2 (Tanakh)	Isaiah 5:2 (KJV)	Isaiah 5:2 (NET)
And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.	And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.	He built a hedge around it, removed its stones, and planted a vine. He built a tower in the middle of it and constructed a winepress. He waited for it to produce edible grapes, but it produced sour ones instead.

Isaiah 5:2 (Septuagint BLB)	Isaiah 5:2 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ φραγμὸν περιέθηκα καὶ ἐχαράκωσα καὶ ἐφύτευσα ἄμπελον σωρηχ καὶ ᾠκοδόμησα πύργον ἐν μέσῳ αὐτοῦ καὶ προλήνιον ὤρυξα ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ ἔμεινα τοῦ ποιῆσαι σταφυλήν ἐποίησεν δὲ ἀκάνθας	καὶ φραγμὸν περιέθηκα καὶ ἐχαράκωσα καὶ ἐφύτευσα ἄμπελον Σωρὴχ καὶ ὠκοδόμησα πύργον ἐν μέσῳ αὐτοῦ καὶ προλήνιον ὤρυξα ἐν αὐτῷ· καὶ ἔμεινα τοῦ ποιῆσαι σταφυλήν, ἐποίησε δὲ ἀκάνθας
Isaiah 5:2 (NETS)	Isaiah 5:2 (English Elpenor)
And I put a hedge around it and fenced it in and planted a Sorech vine, and I built a tower in the midst of it and dug out a wine vat in it, and I waited for it to produce a cluster of grapes, but it produced thorns.	And I made a hedge round it, and dug a trench, and planted a choice vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and dug a place for the wine-vat in it: and I waited [for it] to bring forth grapes, and it brought forth thorns.

Isaiah 5:3 (Tanakh)	Isaiah 5:3 (KJV)	Isaiah 5:3 (NET)
And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.	And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.	So now, residents of Jerusalem, people of Judah, you decide between me and my vineyard!

Isaiah 5:3 (Septuagint BLB)	Isaiah 5:3 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ νῦν ἄνθρωπος τοῦ Ιουδα καὶ οἱ ἐνοικοῦντες ἐν Ιερουσαλημ κρίνατε ἐν ἐμοὶ καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ ἀμπελῶνός μου	καὶ νῦν, οἱ ἐνοικοῦντες ἐν ῾Ιερουσαλὴμ καὶ ἄνθρωπος τοῦ ᾿Ιούδα, κρίνατε ἐν ἐμοὶ καὶ ἀναμέσον τοῦ ἀμπελῶνός μου
Isaiah 5:3 (NETS)	Isaiah 5:3 (English Elpenor)
And now, man of Ioudas and those who dwell in Ierousalem, judge between me and my vineyard.	And now, ye dwellers in Jerusalem, and [every] man of Juda, judge between me and my vineyard.

Isaiah 5:4 (Tanakh)	Isaiah 5:4 (KJV)	Isaiah 5:4 (NET)
What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?	What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?	What more can I do for my vineyard beyond what I have already done? When I waited for it to produce edible grapes, why did it produce sour ones instead?

Isaiah 5:4 (Septuagint BLB)	Isaiah 5:4 (Septuagint Elpenor)
τί ποιήσω ἔτι τῷ ἀμπελῶνί μου καὶ οὐκ ἐποίησα αὐτῷ διότι ἔμεινα τοῦ ποιῆσαι σταφυλήν ἐποίησεν δὲ ἀκάνθας	τί ποιήσω ἔτι τῷ ἀμπελώνί μου καὶ οὐκ ἐποίησα αὐτῷ; διότι ἔμεινα τοῦ ποιῆσαι σταφυλήν, ἐποίησε δὲ ἀκάνθας
Isaiah 5:4 (NETS)	Isaiah 5:4 (English Elpenor)
What more might I do for my vineyard, and I have not done for it? Because I waited for it to produce a cluster of grapes, but it produced thorns,	What shall I do any more to my vineyard, that I have not done to it? Whereas I expected [it] to bring forth grapes, but it has brought forth thorns.

Isaiah 26:16 (Tanakh)	Isaiah 26:16 (KJV)	Isaiah 26:16 (NET)
LORD, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them.	LORD, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them.	O Lord, in distress they looked for you; they uttered incantations because of your discipline.

Isaiah 26:16 (Septuagint BLB)	Isaiah 26:16 (Septuagint Elpenor)
κύριε ἐν θλίψει ἐμνήσθην σου ἐν θλίψει μικρᾷ ἡ παιδεία σου ἡμῖν	Κύριε, ἐν θλίψει ἐμνήσθην σου, ἐν θλίψει μικρᾷ ἡ παιδεία σου ἡμῖν
Isaiah 26:16 (NETS)	Isaiah 26:16 (English Elpenor)
O Lord, in affliction I remembered you; with small affliction your chastening was on us.	Lord, in affliction I remembered thee; thy chastening was to us with small affliction.

Isaiah 26:17 (Tanakh)	Isaiah 26:17 (KJV)	Isaiah 26:17 (NET)
Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD.	Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD.	As when a pregnant woman gets ready to deliver and strains and cries out because of her labor pains, so were we because of you, O Lord.

Isaiah 26:17 (Septuagint BLB)	Isaiah 26:17 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ὡς ἡ ὠδίνουσα ἐγγίζει τοῦ τεκεῖν καὶ ἐπὶ τῇ ὠδῖνι αὐτῆς ἐκέκραξεν οὕτως ἐγενήθημεν τῷ ἀγαπητῷ σου διὰ τὸν φόβον σου κύριε	καὶ ὡς ἡ ὠδίνουσα ἐγγίζει τοῦ τεκεῖν καὶ ἐπὶ τῇ ὠδῖνι αὐτῆς ἐκέκραξεν, οὕτως ἐγενήθημεν τῷ ἀγαπητῷ σου διὰ τὸν φόβον σου, Κύριε
Isaiah 26:17 (NETS)	Isaiah 26:17 (English Elpenor)
And as a woman in travail is about to give birth and cries out in her pangs, so were we to your beloved because of the fear of you, O Lord.	And as a woman in travail draws nigh to be delivered, [and] cries out in her pain; so have we been to thy beloved.

Isaiah 26:18 (Tanakh)	Isaiah 26:18 (KJV)	Isaiah 26:18 (NET)
We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.	We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.	We were pregnant, we strained, we gave birth, as it were, to wind. We cannot produce deliverance on the earth; no people are born to populate the world.

Isaiah 26:18 (Septuagint BLB)	Isaiah 26:18 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐν γαστρὶ ἐλάβομεν καὶ ὠδινήσαμεν καὶ ἐτέκομεν πνεῦμα σωτηρίας σου ἐποιήσαμεν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἀλλὰ πεσοῦνται οἱ ἐνοικοῦντες ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς	ἐν γαστρὶ ἐλάβομεν καὶ ὠδινήσαμεν καὶ ἐτέκομεν· πνεῦμα σωτηρίας σου ἐποιήσαμεν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, οὐ πεσούμεθα, ἀλλὰ πεσοῦνται πάντες οἱ ἐνοικοῦντες ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς
Isaiah 26:18 (NETS)	Isaiah 26:18 (English Elpenor)
We conceived and travailed and gave birth; we produced a wind of your salvation on the earth, but those who dwell on the earth will fall.	We have conceived, O Lord, because of thy fear, and have been in pain, and have brought forth the breath of thy salvation, which we have wrought upon the earth: we shall not fall, but all that dwell upon the land shall fall.

John 3:14, 15 (NET)	John 3:14, 15 (KJV)
Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,	And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

John 3:14 (NET Parallel Greek)	John 3:14 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	John 3:14 (Byzantine Majority Text)
Καὶ καθὼς Μωϋσῆς ὕψωσεν τὸν ὄφιν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, οὕτως ὑψωθῆναι δεῖ τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου	και καθως μωσης υψωσεν τον οφιν εν τη ερημω ουτως υψωθηναι δει τον υιον του ανθρωπου	και καθως μωσης υψωσεν τον οφιν εν τη ερημω ουτως υψωθηναι δει τον υιον του ανθρωπου

so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”

That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

John 3:15 (NET Parallel Greek)	John 3:15 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	John 3:15 (Byzantine Majority Text)
ἵνα πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων ἐν αὐτῷ ἔχῃ ζωὴν αἰώνιον	ινα πας ο πιστευων εις αυτον μη αποληται αλλ εχη ζωην αιωνιον	ινα πας ο πιστευων εις αυτον μη αποληται αλλ εχη ζωην αιωνιον

Justice and Mercy Revisited, Part 4

Back to Balaam, Balak and the 24,000, Part 3

Back to Balaam, Balak and the 24,000, Part 5

Back to Antichrist, Part 6

¹ Justice and Mercy

² Matthew 12:18a (ESV)

³ Isaiah 42:1a (ESV) Table

⁴ Isaiah 42:1a (ESV) Table

⁵ Matthew 12:18a (ESV)

⁶ From “Eyes Wide Shut: Adaptation” on Wikipedia online: Kubrick adapted Eyes Wide Shut with co-writer Frederic Raphael from Arthur Schnitzler’s 1926 novella Dream Story…For the film, Kubrick transposed the events to 1990s Greenwich Village in New York City, instead featuring an American doctor, Bill, and his wife, Alice.^[19] In an introduction to a Penguin Classics edition of Dream Story, Raphael wrote that, “Fridolin is not declared to be a Jew, but his feelings of cowardice, for failing to challenge his aggressor, echo the uneasiness of Austrian Jews in the face of Gentile provocation.”^[20] Kubrick, who frequently removed references to Jewishness of characters in the novels he adapted,^[21][22] felt that the character of Bill should be a “Harrison Ford-ish goy” and created the surname of Harford as an allusion to the actor.^[23]

⁷ Philippians 3:9b (NET)

⁸ Philippians 3:9c (NET)

⁹ Philippians 3:9c (ESV)

¹⁰ See A Monotonous Cycle Revisited, Part 4 for a table comparing the Greek of Paul’s quotation to Genesis 2:7b in the Septuagint.

¹¹ In the NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ Moses was spelled Μωϋσῆς, and μωσης in the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text.

¹² The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ἐν αὐτῷ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had εις αυτον μη αποληται αλλ (KJV: in him should not perish, but). The implicit argument of the critical text, NA²⁸, is that ἐν αὐτῷ is the older and, therefore, more original text. Currently, I would understand ἐν αὐτῷ in the dative case as by means of Him rather than as an indirect object.

¹³ From “Who Was Rashi?” on chabad.org online.

¹⁴ Isaiah 26:19a (English Elpenor) Paul used another form of πίπτω in his rhetorical question regarding Israel’s stumble: So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall [πέσωσιν]? (Romans 11:11 ESV)

¹⁵ 1 Corinthians 15:45b (ESV)

¹⁶ Matthew 12:17b (ESV) Table

¹⁷ Matthew 12:18 (ESV)

¹⁸ Romans 9:31a (ESV) Table

¹⁹ Romans 9:32b (ESV) Table

²⁰ Romans 9:3b (ESV) Table

²¹ Isaiah 26:18a (ESV)

²² Romans 9:32a (ESV) Table

²³ Isaiah 42:1a (ESV) Table

²⁴ Matthew 12:18a (ESV) Table

3 John, Part 8

Posted on November 23, 2025 by admin

This is a continuation of my notes on 3 John for the preaching class I’m taking. John wrote (3 John 1:11 ESV):

Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good (τὸ ἀγαθόν). Whoever does good¹ is from God (ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐστιν); whoever does evil has not seen God.

I wondered, “How does Jesus relate to ἀγαθόν (good)?”² Jesus taught a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases³ (Luke 6:43-45 ESV).

For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit [Table], for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good (τὸ ἀγαθόν), and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks [Table].

The Greek is: Οὐ γάρ ἐστιν δένδρον καλὸν ποιοῦν καρπὸν σαπρόν, For no good tree bears bad fruit (or “for not exists beautiful tree bearing rotten fruit”). For my purposes here I’ll use beautiful for καλὸν to distinguish it from forms of ἀγαθός, while recognizing that the words δένδρον καλὸν (ESV: good tree) have been used interchangeably apparently for δένδρον ἀγαθὸν (ESV: healthy tree) in: So, every healthy tree (δένδρον ἀγαθὸν) bears good fruit (καρποὺς καλοὺς).⁴ Likewise, I’ll use rotten for σαπρόν to distinguish it from forms of πονηρός, while recognizing that καρπὸν σαπρόν (ESV: bad fruit) seems essentially equivalent to καρποὺς πονηροὺς (ESV: bad fruit) in: but the diseased tree (σαπρὸν δένδρον) bears bad fruit (καρποὺς πονηροὺς).⁵

In Matthew’s Gospel narrative Jesus went on to say: A healthy tree (δένδρον ἀγαθὸν) cannot bear bad fruit (καρποὺς πονηροὺς), nor can a diseased tree (δένδρον σαπρὸν) bear good fruit (καρποὺς καλοὺς).⁶ In another essay, I wrote:

Is this a definitional statement? Woman—the owner of a fruit tree in this case, as the measure of all things—defines a healthy (ἀγαθὸν) fruit tree as one that cannot make bad (πονηροὺς) fruit? Or, is this actual knowledge about fruit trees from the Maker of fruit trees? The answers to these questions are yes and yes and yes.

My assumption is that “for not exists beautiful tree bearing rotten fruit” (a more fluent English rendering might be, “for no beautiful tree exists bearing rotten fruit”) follows the same pattern as A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit.⁷ My word choices are designed to keep me aware of the different words in Greek in case that assumption won’t withstand scrutiny. I’m not sure why the ESV translators didn’t translate ἐστιν (“exists”). They are not alone and most who did, translated it there is.⁸

Jesus continued: οὐδὲ πάλιν, nor again, δένδρον σαπρὸν ποιοῦν καρπὸν καλόν, does a bad tree bear good fruit (or “a diseased tree bearing beautiful fruit”). Here, I chose “diseased” for σαπρὸν because it matches nor can a diseased tree (δένδρον σαπρὸν) bear good fruit.⁹ (And frankly, καρποὺς καλοὺς, good fruit, is the plural form of the singular καρπὸν καλόν.) I’ve stuck with the gerund bearing rather than does…bear for the present participle ποιοῦν. So, that gives me: “For no beautiful tree exists bearing rotten fruit, nor again a diseased tree bearing beautiful fruit,” for each tree is known by its own fruit,¹⁰ Jesus continued.

The Greek is: ἕκαστον γὰρ δένδρον, for each tree, ἐκ τοῦ ἰδίου καρποῦ, by its own fruit (or “from the distinct fruit”), γινώσκεται, is known. While ἰδίου, a form of ἴδιος, can mean, “belonging to an individual; private (not public); one’s own, pertaining to oneself, personal;” it can also mean, “peculiar, separate, distinct, strange, unaccustomed.” And while ἐκ can be translated “by means of” (the example given is: “ἐκ πίστεως ζήσεται he shall live by faith, Hab. 2:4; Rom 1:17”), this particular word string describes people “knowing” an apple tree because it produces apples, or more likely, a fig tree because it produces figs. It does not dispute whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God (or “by means of God”),¹¹ a distinction which seems important since Jesus will relate it momentarily to The good person.

Jesus continued: οὐ γὰρ ἐξ ἀκανθῶν, For not from thornbushes, συλλέγουσιν σῦκα, are figs gathered, οὐδὲ ἐκ βάτου, nor from a bramble bush, σταφυλὴν τρυγῶσιν, are grapes picked; ὁ ἀγαθὸς ἄνθρωπος, The good person, ἐκ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ θησαυροῦ, out of the good treasure, τῆς καρδίας, of his heart (literally, “of the heart”), προφέρει τὸ ἀγαθόν, produces good (or, “brings out the good”).

The critical text and received text diverge slightly here.

Critical Text	Received Text
Luke 6:45a (NA²⁸)	Luke 6:45a (Stephanus Textus Receptus / Byzantine Majority Text)
ὁ ἀγαθὸς ἄνθρωπος ἐκ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ θησαυροῦ τῆς καρδίας προφέρει τὸ ἀγαθόν	ο αγαθος ανθρωπος εκ του αγαθου θησαυρου της καρδιας αυτου προφερει το αγαθον
Luke 6:45a (NRSV)	Luke 6:45a (KJV)
The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good	A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good

Here the critical text argues that the scribes who copied the received texts added the personal pronoun αυτου, his, to the heart. It’s a subtle argument, but consider the context: the way, and the truth, and the life¹² spoke truly very near the end of the Old Covenant, knowing full well He would inaugurate the New Covenant by his own bloodshed. Who is ὁ ἀγαθὸς ἄνθρωπος, The good person, if No one is good except God alone?¹³ And what is τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ θησαυροῦ, the good treasure?

The words of the psalmist come to mind (Psalm 119:1-11 ESV):

Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord [Table]! Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart [Table], who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways [Table]!¹⁴ You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently [Table]. Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes [Table]! Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments [Table]. I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous rules [Table]. I will keep your statutes; do not utterly forsake me [Table]!

How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

So, God’s word in one’s heart answers the good treasure question truly in terms of the Old Covenant. It would not be false in the New. But does one who hides God’s word in his heart answer The good person question, if No one is good except God alone?

Paul wrote of the New Covenant (Romans 8:3-8 ESV):

For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

If I return with this in mind, I hear concern over this weakness of the flesh baked right into the Psalm (Psalm 119:4-8, 10 ESV):

You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently [Table]. Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes [Table]! Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments [Table]. I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous rules [Table]. I will keep your statutes; do not utterly forsake me [Table]!

With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!

This English translation of the Masoretic text retains the flavor of one pursuing a righteousness that is by faith.¹⁵ But the Septuagint diverges from the Masoretic text here at the end.

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Psalm 119:10b (Tanakh/KJV)	Psalm 119:10b (NET)	Psalm 118:10b (NETS)	Psalm 118:10b (English Elpenor)
O let me not (אַל) wander (תַּ֜שְׁגֵּ֗נִי) from thy commandments (מִמִּצְו‍ֹתֶֽיךָ).	Do not (‘al, אל) allow me to stray (šāḡâ, תשגני) from your commands (miṣvâ, ממצותיך).	do not (μὴ) thrust me aside (ἀπώσῃ με) from (ἀπὸ) your commandments (τῶν ἐντολῶν σου).	cast me (με) not (μὴ) away (ἀπώσῃ) from (ἀπὸ) thy commandments (τῶν ἐντολῶν σου).

The English translation of the Greek translation sounds like the translators recognized God as a potential (or actual) adversary, as they pursued a law that would lead to righteousness¹⁶…as if it were based on works,¹⁷ having a righteousness of [their] own that comes from the law,¹⁸ rather than the righteousness from God that depends on faith.¹⁹ The Complete Jewish Bible on chabad.org translates the Hebrew of the Masoretic text in this way as well: With all my heart I searched for You; do not cause me to stray from Your commandments.²⁰

Jesus continued: καὶ ὁ πονηρὸς, and the evil person, ἐκ τοῦ πονηροῦ, out of his evil treasure (literally, “out of the evil,” though one might argue that the genitive case justifies his), προφέρει τὸ πονηρόν, produces evil (or “brings out the evil”).

The critical and received texts diverge significantly here.

Critical Text	Received Text
Luke 6:45b (NA²⁸)	Luke 6:45b (Stephanus Textus Receptus / Byzantine Majority Text)
καὶ ὁ πονηρὸς ἐκ τοῦ πονηροῦ προφέρει τὸ πονηρόν	και ο πονηρος ανθρωπος εκ του πονηρου θησαυρου της καρδιας αυτου προφερει το πονηρον
Luke 6:45b (Berean Literal Bible)	Luke 6:45b (KJV)
and the evil out of the evil brings forth that which is evil	and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil

The critical text argues that the scribes who copied the received texts added ανθρωπος (KJV: man) to ὁ πονηρὸς (Berean Literal Bible: the evil). And I hear the scribes’ rejoinder: “It’s implied, ανθρωπος is what the Lord intended.” But did He say it? Would the Lord Jesus—knowing, loving and fulfilling the Scriptures as He does—add ανθρωπος to ὁ πονηρὸς?

And God said, Let us make man (ἄνθρωπον, a form of ανθρωπος) according to our image and likeness…²¹ And God made man (τὸν ἄνθρωπον), according to the image of God he made him, male and female he made them.²² And God saw all the things that he had made, and, behold, they were very (λίαν) good (καλὰ, a form of καλός).²³

Did Jesus ask anyone, man or woman, to own the evil (ὁ πονηρὸς)? No, He said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself”²⁴—your old self (τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον; literally, “the old human”), which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires²⁵—“and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life (τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ; e.g., “his soul”) will lose it, but whoever loses his life (τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ; e.g., “his soul”) for my sake will find it” [Table].²⁶ “What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must all be born from above,’”²⁷ as the new self (τὸν καινὸν ἄνθρωπον; literally, “the new human”), created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.²⁸

The next argument of the critical text is that the scribes who copied the received texts added θησαυρου της καρδιας αυτου (KJV: treasure of his heart) to εκ του πονηρου (Berean Literal Bible: out of the evil). Again, I hear the scribes’ rejoinder: “It’s implied, θησαυρου της καρδιας αυτου is what the Lord intended.” But would the Lord Jesus say that?

In the New Covenant the treasure stored up in one’s heart is so much more than the commandments, priestcraft and Bible stories one remembers. This treasure is literally the Word who was in the beginning, the Word who was with God, the Word who was and is God, the Word through whom all things were made and without whom was not any thing made that was made, the Word in whom is life and whose life is the light of men (τῶν ἀνθρώπων).²⁹ One’s part in all this is deference to the Word, a complete abandon to the overwhelming flood of his own love, his own joy, his own peace, his own patience, his own kindness, his own goodness, his own faithfulness, his own gentleness and his own self-control,³⁰ in a word—his own righteousness—as He washes away the selfish, self-centered, sin-filled heart and soul, destroying even as He creates anew by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.³¹

Paul described this experience of God the Father, God the Son, through God the indwelling Holy Spirit with the words (Galatians 2:20 EXP11):

By means of Christ I have been crucified, but I live hereafter not I but He lives within me, Christ, so who now I live within flesh, by faithfulness I live by means of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

This was not a special privilege Paul reserved to himself alone. To share his experience of God with all who would hear was his mission and ministry: Do you not know, he wrote to Romans, that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.³² To foolish Galatians he wrote: my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you.³³ And for the Ephesians he prayed (Ephesians 3:14b-21 ESV):

I bow my knees before the Father [Table], from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being [Table], so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth [Table], and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us [Table], to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen [Table].

Jesus concluded: ἐκ γὰρ περισσεύματος καρδίας, for out of the abundance of the heart, λαλεῖ τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ, speaks his mouth. This gives me (Luke 6:43-45):

For no beautiful tree exists bearing rotten fruit, nor again a diseased tree bearing beautiful fruit, for each tree from the distinct fruit is known: For not from thornbushes are figs gathered, nor from a bramble bush are grapes picked. The good person out of the good treasure of the heart brings out the good, and the evil person out of the evil brings out the evil; for out of the abundance of the heart speaks his mouth.

Balak’s words have been fairly consistent at revealing the abundance of the heart. A few times I’ve wondered if he wasn’t at least close to hearing God’s word, but he consistently disappoints. Balaam’s words, since his arrival, have seemed fairly consistent at revealing God’s heart, until Balak dismissed him angrily (Numbers 24:12, 13 ESV).

And Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not tell your messengers whom you sent to me, ‘If Balak should give me his house full of silver and gold, I would not be able to go beyond the word of the Lord, to do either good or bad of my own will. What the Lord speaks, that will I speak’?

Granted, I was suspicious of Balaam’s motives when he spoke to Balak’s messengers. Two tables follow comparing both instances from the Masoretic text and the Septuagint.

Numbers 22:18b (Masoretic Text) Table	Numbers 24:13 (Masoretic Text)
אם יתן לי בלק מלא ביתו כסף וזהב לא אוכל לעבר את פי יהוה אלהי לעשׁות קטנה או גדולה	אם יתן לי בלק מלא ביתו כסף וזהב לא אוכל לעבר את פי יהוה לעשׁות טובה או רעה מלבי אשר ידבר יהוה אתו אדבר
Numbers 22:18b (ESV) Table	Numbers 24:13 (ESV)
Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the Lord my God to do less or more.	If Balak should give me his house full of silver and gold, I would not be able to go beyond the word of the Lord, to do either good or bad of my own will. What the Lord speaks, that will I speak

Numbers 22:18b (Septuagint Elpenor) Table	Numbers 24:13 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐὰν δῷ μοι Βαλὰκ πλήρη τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ ἀργυρίου καὶ χρυσίου, οὐ δυνήσομαι παραβῆναι τὸ ρῆμα Κυρίου τοῦ Θεοῦ, ποιῆσαι αὐτὸ μικρὸν ἢ μέγα ἐν τῇ διανοίᾳ μου	ἐάν μοι δῷ Βαλὰκ πλήρη τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ ἀργυρίου καὶ χρυσίου, οὐ δυνήσομαι παραβῆναι τὸ ῥῆμα Κυρίου ποιῆσαι αὐτὸ καλὸν ἢ πονηρὸν παρ’ ἐμαυτοῦ· ὅσα ἐὰν εἴπῃ ὁ Θεός, ταῦτα ἐρῶ
Numbers 22:18b (English Elpenor)	Numbers 24:13 (English Elpenor)
If Balac would give me his house full of silver and gold, I shall not be able to go beyond the word of the Lord God, to make it little or great in my mind.	If Balac should give me his house full of silver and gold, I shall not be able to transgress the word of the Lord to make it good or bad by myself; whatsoever things God shall say, them will I speak.

That my God is missing from Numbers 24:13 leaps out at me in English translation. But since it was translated τοῦ Θεοῦ, the Lord God, rather than τοῦ Θεοῦ μου, “the Lord my God,” in the Septuagint, I’ll back off some. That less or more (ESV/Masoretic Text), little or great (English Elpenor/Septuagint), became good or bad (ESV/Masoretic Text; English Elpenor/Septuagint) seems telling, whether a guilty conscience or a heart divided by resisting the Spirit of God. The phrase in my mind (English Elpenor) seems like a misunderstanding of τῇ διανοίᾳ in the dative case: “by means of my mind.” Balaam acknowledged some power the Lord had over his words. It is sufficiently similar to by myself (English Elpenor) in meaning that I am disregarding it’s difference.³⁴

Balaam’s final statement to Balak is perhaps the most revelatory of a divided heart: What the Lord speaks, that will I speak (ESV/Masoretic Text), whatsoever things God shall say, them will I speak (English Elpenor/Septuagint). This statement is demonstrably false according to both the Masoretic text and the Septuagint; Balaam did not say this to Balak’s messengers. This is what the Lord said to Balaam and (perhaps was reiterating at the very moment) Balaam may have been twisting it into a (false) declaration of his own words (and works). Be that as it may, Balaam successfully telegraphed his price for betrayal to Balak’s ready-ears.

Balaam continued (Numbers 24:14-24 ESV)

“And now, behold, I am going to my people. Come, I will let you know what this people will do to your people in the latter days.”

And he took up his discourse and said,

“The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened, the oracle of him who hears the words of God, and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down with his eyes uncovered:

I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth.

Edom shall be dispossessed; Seir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed. Israel is doing valiantly. And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion and destroy the survivors of cities!”

Then he looked on Amalek and took up his discourse and said,

“Amalek was the first among the nations, but its end is utter destruction” [Table]. And he looked on the Kenite, and took up his discourse and said,

“Enduring is your dwelling place, and your nest is set in the rock. Nevertheless, Kain shall be burned when Asshur takes you away captive.” And he took up his discourse and said,

“Alas, who shall live when God does this? But ships shall come from Kittim and shall afflict Asshur and Eber; and he too shall come to utter destruction.”

The prophet’s oracles simply confirmed the fear that already possessed Balak, king of Moab (Numbers 22:2, 3 ESV).

And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites (Numbers 21:21-35). And Moab was in great dread of the people, because they were many. Moab was overcome with fear of the people of Israel.

Once Balaam telegraphed his price, there is no way Balak could hear anything—apart from the direct intervention of the Spirit of God—but the threat he already feared if he did not meet the prophet’s price for betrayal.

Then Balaam rose and went back to his place. And Balak also went his way.³⁵

So, two old humans, corrupt through deceitful desires, parted company. One was mightily influenced by the Spirit of God, yet struggled with deceitful desires for wealth and, perhaps, the honor of men. The other was so consumed with fear and the certainty of his own way that he could neither hear nor see God when confronted by a prophet. John’s New Covenant promise seems an appropriate response to this Old Covenant impasse (1 John 3:6 NA²⁸):

πᾶς ὁ ἐν αὐτῷ μένων οὐχ ἁμαρτάνει· πᾶς ὁ ἁμαρτάνων οὐχ ἑώρακεν αὐτὸν οὐδὲ ἔγνωκεν αὐτόν.

The promise begins with the adjective πᾶς, “All,” understood as a singular whole. It does not begin with εἷς, “one, any,” an indefinite pronoun. This is not a promise of achievement by certain individuals (Berean Literal Bible: Anyone; KJV: Whosoever; NKJV: Whoever); it is the promise of God through Jesus Christ to ὁ μένων, a singular article followed by a singular nominative participle in the present tense, “the abiding,” “All who abide.” So is this a promise of achievement by “All who abide”? Not exactly.

Sandwiched between the singular article ὁ and the nominative singular present participle μένων is the phrase ἐν αὐτῷ, in the dative case, “by means of Him.” “All who by means of Him abide” is the the subject of this clause as well as the recipient of this promise: οὐχ ἁμαρτάνει, a form of the verb ἁμαρτάνω in the present tense: “not sin, not act sinfully; not miss the mark; not commit (a sinful act); not fail to be available; not fail, not fault, not offend, not trespass, not transgress.”

The promise is, “All who by means of Him abide sin not,” does not sin (Berean Literal Bible, NKJV), sinneth not (KJV). This promise of God through Jesus Christ by his Apostle and Prophet John is to “All who by means of Him abide,” that is, to the new self (τὸν καινὸν ἄνθρωπον; “the new human”), created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.³⁶

The promise is followed by a comparable contrasting statement: πᾶς ὁ ἁμαρτάνων, a nominative present participle of ἁμαρτάνω, “all the sinning,” “all who sin” οὐχ ἑώρακεν αὐτὸν, “have not seen Him” (and continue not seeing Him³⁷), οὐδὲ ἔγνωκεν αὐτόν, “nor have known Him” (and continue not knowing Him³⁸). This is a profound description of your old self (τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον; “the old human”), which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires.³⁹

All who have turned in faith to Jesus Christ for salvation are instructed (Ephesians 4:17-24 ESV):

Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds [Table]. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart [Table]. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus [Table], to put off (ἀποθέσθαι, an infinitive form of ἀποτίθημι in the middle voice) your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on (ἐνδύσασθαι, an infinitive form of ἐνδύω in the middle voice) the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

As John wrote: Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.⁴⁰ I’ll pick this up in another essay.

Tables comparing Psalm 119:9; 119:10; 119:11; Numbers 24:12; 24:13; 24:14; 24:15; 24:16; 24:17; 24:18; 24:19; 24:21; 24:22; 24:23; 24:24; 22:2; 22:3 and 24:25 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and comparing the Greek of Psalm 119:9 (118:9); 119:10 (118:10); 119:11 (118:11); Numbers 24:12; 24:13; 24:14; 24:15; 24:16; 24:17; 24:18; 24:19; 24:21; 24:22; 24:23; 24:24; 22:2; 22:3 and 24:25 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor) follow.

Psalm 119:9 (Tanakh)	Psalm 119:9 (KJV)	Psalm 119:9 (NET)
Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.	BETH. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.	ב (Bet) How can a young person maintain a pure life? By guarding it according to your instructions.

Psalm 119:9 (Septuagint BLB)	Psalm 118:9 (Septuagint Elpenor)
βʹ βηθ ἐν τίνι κατορθώσει ὁ νεώτερος τὴν ὁδὸν αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ φυλάσσεσθαι τοὺς λόγους σου	᾿Εν τίνι κατορθώσει νεώτερος τὴν ὁδὸν αὐτοῦ; ἐν τῷ φυλάξασθαι τοὺς λόγους σου
Psalm 118:9 (NETS)	Psalm 118:9 (English Elpenor)
2 beth. How shall the young keep his way straight? By observing your words!	Wherewith shall a young man direct his way? by keeping thy words.

Psalm 119:10 (Tanakh)	Psalm 119:10 (KJV)	Psalm 119:10 (NET)
With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.	With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.	With all my heart I seek you. Do not allow me to stray from your commands.

Psalm 119:10 (Septuagint BLB)	Psalm 118:10 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐν ὅλῃ καρδίᾳ μου ἐξεζήτησά σε μὴ ἀπώσῃ με ἀπὸ τῶν ἐντολῶν σου	ἐν ὅλῃ καρδίᾳ μου ἐξεζήτησά σε· μὴ ἀπώσῃ με ἀπὸ τῶν ἐντολῶν σου
Psalm 118:10 (NETS)	Psalm 118:10 (English Elpenor)
With my whole heart I sought you; do not thrust me aside from your commandments.	With my whole heart have I diligently sought thee: cast me not away from thy commandments.

Psalm 119:11 (Tanakh)	Psalm 119:11 (KJV)	Psalm 119:11 (NET)
Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.	Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.	In my heart I store up your words, so I might not sin against you.

Psalm 119:11 (Septuagint BLB)	Psalm 118:11 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ μου ἔκρυψα τὰ λόγιά σου ὅπως ἂν μὴ ἁμάρτω σοι	ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ μου ἔκρυψα τὰ λόγιά σου, ὅπως ἂν μὴ ἁμάρτω σοι
Psalm 118:11 (NETS)	Psalm 118:11 (English Elpenor)
In my heart I hid your sayings so that I may not sin against you.	I have hidden thine oracles in my heart, that I might not sin against thee.

Numbers 24:12 (Tanakh)	Numbers 24:12 (KJV)	Numbers 24:12 (NET)
And Balaam said unto Balak: ‘Spoke I not also to thy messengers that thou didst send unto me, saying:	And Balaam said unto Balak, Spake I not also to thy messengers which thou sentest unto me, saying,	Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not also tell your messengers whom you sent to me,

Numbers 24:12 (Septuagint BLB)	Numbers 24:12 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἶπεν Βαλααμ πρὸς Βαλακ οὐχὶ καὶ τοῖς ἀγγέλοις σου οὓς ἀπέστειλας πρός με ἐλάλησα λέγων	καὶ εἶπε Βαλαὰμ πρὸς Βαλάκ· οὐχὶ καὶ τοῖς ἀγγέλοις σου, οὓς ἀπέστειλας πρός με, ἐλάλησα λέγων
Numbers 24:12 (NETS)	Numbers 24:12 (English Elpenor)
And Balaam said to Balak, “No, even to your messengers whom you sent to me I spoke, saying,	And Balaam said to Balac, Did I not speak to thy messengers also whom thou sentest to me, saying,

Numbers 24:13 (Tanakh)	Numbers 24:13 (KJV)	Numbers 24:13 (NET)
If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of HaShem, to do either good or bad of mine own mind; what HaShem speaketh, that will I speak?	If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the commandment of the LORD, to do either good or bad of mine own mind; but what the LORD saith, that will I speak?	‘If Balak would give me his palace full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the commandment of the Lord to do either good or evil of my own will, but whatever the Lord tells me I must speak’?

Numbers 24:13 (Septuagint BLB)	Numbers 24:13 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐάν μοι δῷ Βαλακ πλήρη τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ ἀργυρίου καὶ χρυσίου οὐ δυνήσομαι παραβῆναι τὸ ῥῆμα κυρίου ποιῆσαι αὐτὸ πονηρὸν ἢ καλὸν παρ᾽ ἐμαυτοῦ ὅσα ἐὰν εἴπῃ ὁ θεός ταῦτα ἐρῶ	ἐάν μοι δῷ Βαλὰκ πλήρη τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ ἀργυρίου καὶ χρυσίου, οὐ δυνήσομαι παραβῆναι τὸ ῥῆμα Κυρίου ποιῆσαι αὐτὸ καλὸν ἢ πονηρὸν παρ’ ἐμαυτοῦ· ὅσα ἐὰν εἴπῃ ὁ Θεός, ταῦτα ἐρῶ
Numbers 24:13 (NETS)	Numbers 24:13 (English Elpenor)
‘If Balak gives me his house full of silver and gold, I will not be able to transgress the word of the Lord to do it, bad or good, of my own accord; whatever God says, that I will speak.’	If Balac should give me his house full of silver and gold, I shall not be able to transgress the word of the Lord to make it good or bad by myself; whatsoever things God shall say, them will I speak.

Numbers 24:14 (Tanakh)	Numbers 24:14 (KJV)	Numbers 24:14 (NET)
And now, behold, I go unto my people; come, and I will announce to thee what this people shall do to thy people in the end of days.’	And now, behold, I go unto my people: come therefore, and I will advertise thee what this people shall do to thy people in the latter days.	And now, I am about to go back to my own people. Come now, and I will advise you as to what this people will do to your people in future days.”

Numbers 24:14 (Septuagint BLB)	Numbers 24:14 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ νῦν ἰδοὺ ἀποτρέχω εἰς τὸν τόπον μου δεῦρο συμβουλεύσω σοι τί ποιήσει ὁ λαὸς οὗτος τὸν λαόν σου ἐπ᾽ ἐσχάτου τῶν ἡμερῶν	καὶ νῦν ἰδοὺ ἀποτρέχω εἰς τὸν τόπον μου· δεῦρο συμβουλεύσω σοι, τί ποιήσει ὁ λαὸς οὗτος τὸν λαόν σου ἐπ’ ἐσχάτου τῶν ἡμερῶν
Numbers 24:14 (NETS)	Numbers 24:14 (English Elpenor)
And now, behold, I am going off to my place; come, let me advise you what this people will do to your people at the end of days.”	And now, behold, I return to my place; come, I will advise thee of what this people shall do to thy people in the last days.

Numbers 24:15 (Tanakh)	Numbers 24:15 (KJV)	Numbers 24:15 (NET)
And he took up his parable, and said: The saying of Balaam the son of Beor, and the saying of the man whose eye is opened;	And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said:	Then he uttered this oracle: “The oracle of Balaam son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eyes are open,

Numbers 24:15 (Septuagint BLB)	Numbers 24:15 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἀναλαβὼν τὴν παραβολὴν αὐτοῦ εἶπεν φησὶν Βαλααμ υἱὸς Βεωρ φησὶν ὁ ἄνθρωπος ὁ ἀληθινῶς ὁρῶν	καὶ ἀναλαβὼν τὴν παραβολὴν αὐτοῦ εἶπε· φυσὶ [possibly φησὶ] Βαλαὰμ υἱὸς Βεώρ, φησὶν ὁ ἄνθρωπος ὁ ἀληθινῶς ὁρῶν
Numbers 24:15 (NETS)	Numbers 24:15 (English Elpenor)
And he took up his parable and said: “Says Balaam son of Beor; says the man who truly sees,	And he took up his parable and said, Balaam the son of Beor says, the man who sees truly says,

Numbers 24:16 (Tanakh)	Numbers 24:16 (KJV)	Numbers 24:16 (NET)
The saying of him who heareth the words of G-d, and knoweth the knowledge of the Most High, who seeth the vision of the Almighty, fallen down, yet with opened eyes:	He hath said, which heard the words of God, and knew the knowledge of the most High, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open:	the oracle of the one who hears the words of God, and who knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees a vision from the Almighty, although falling flat on the ground with eyes open:

Numbers 24:16 (Septuagint BLB)	Numbers 24:16 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἀκούων λόγια θεοῦ ἐπιστάμενος ἐπιστήμην παρὰ ὑψίστου καὶ ὅρασιν θεοῦ ἰδὼν ἐν ὕπνῳ ἀποκεκαλυμμένοι οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ αὐτοῦ	ἀκούων λόγια Θεοῦ, ἐπιστάμενος ἐπιστήμην παρὰ ὑψίστου καὶ ὅρασιν Θεοῦ ἰδὼν ἐν ὕπνῳ, ἀποκεκαλυμμένοι οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ αὐτοῦ
Numbers 24:16 (NETS)	Numbers 24:16 (English Elpenor)
one who hears divine oracles, one who understands knowledge of the Most High and one who sees a divine vision, in sleep when his eyes had been uncovered:	hearing the oracles of God, receiving knowledge from the Most High, and having seen a vision of God in sleep; his eyes were opened.

Numbers 24:17 (Tanakh)	Numbers 24:17 (KJV)	Numbers 24:17 (NET)
I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not nigh; there shall step forth a star out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite through the corners of Moab, and break down all the sons of Seth.	I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.	‘I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not close at hand. A star will march forth out of Jacob, and a scepter will rise out of Israel. He will crush the skulls of Moab, and the heads of all the sons of Sheth.

Numbers 24:17 (Septuagint BLB)	Numbers 24:17 (Septuagint Elpenor)
δείξω αὐτῷ καὶ οὐχὶ νῦν μακαρίζω καὶ οὐκ ἐγγίζει ἀνατελεῖ ἄστρον ἐξ Ιακωβ καὶ ἀναστήσεται ἄνθρωπος ἐξ Ισραηλ καὶ θραύσει τοὺς ἀρχηγοὺς Μωαβ καὶ προνομεύσει πάντας υἱοὺς Σηθ	δείξω αὐτῷ, καὶ οὐχὶ νῦν· μακαρίζω, καὶ οὐκ ἐγγίζει· ἀνατελεῖ ἄστρον ἐξ ᾿Ιακώβ, ἀναστήσεται ἄνθρωπος ἐξ ᾿Ισραὴλ καὶ θραύσει τοὺς ἀρχηγοὺς Μωὰβ καὶ προνομεύσει πάντας υἱοὺς Σήθ
Numbers 24:17 (NETS)	Numbers 24:17 (English Elpenor)
I will point to him, and not now; I deem him happy, but he is not at hand. A star shall dawn out of Iakob, and a person shall rise up out of Israel, and he shall crush the chiefs of Moab, and he shall plunder all Seth’s sons.	I will point to him, but not now; I bless him, but he draws not near: a star shall rise out of Jacob, a man shall spring out of Israel; and shall crush the princes of Moab, and shall spoil all the sons of Seth.

Numbers 24:18 (Tanakh)	Numbers 24:18 (KJV)	Numbers 24:18 (NET)
And Edom shall be a possession, Seir also, even his enemies, shall be a possession; while Israel doeth valiantly.	And Edom shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a possession for his enemies; and Israel shall do valiantly.	Edom will be a possession, Seir, his enemy, will also be a possession; but Israel will act valiantly.

Numbers 24:18 (Septuagint BLB)	Numbers 24:18 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἔσται Εδωμ κληρονομία καὶ ἔσται κληρονομία Ησαυ ὁ ἐχθρὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ Ισραηλ ἐποίησεν ἐν ἰσχύι	καὶ ἔσται ᾿Εδὼμ κληρονομία, καὶ ἔσται κληρονομία ῾Ησαῦ ὁ ἐχθρὸς αὐτοῦ· καὶ ᾿Ισραὴλ ἐποίησεν ἐν ἰσχύϊ
Numbers 24:18 (NETS)	Numbers 24:18 (English Elpenor)
And Edom will be an inheritance, and Esau, his enemy, will be an inheritance, and Israel acted with strength.	And Edom shall be an inheritance, and Esau his enemy shall be an inheritance [of Israel], and Israel wrought valiantly.

Numbers 24:19 (Tanakh)	Numbers 24:19 (KJV)	Numbers 24:19 (NET)
And out of Jacob shall one have dominion, and shall destroy the remnant from the city.	Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion, and shall destroy him that remaineth of the city.	A ruler will be established from Jacob; he will destroy the remains of the city.’”

Numbers 24:19 (Septuagint BLB)	Numbers 24:19 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐξεγερθήσεται ἐξ Ιακωβ καὶ ἀπολεῖ σῳζόμενον ἐκ πόλεως	καὶ ἐξεγερθήσεται ἐξ ᾿Ιακὼβ καὶ ἀπολεῖ σῳζόμενον ἐκ πόλεως
Numbers 24:19 (NETS)	Numbers 24:19 (English Elpenor)
And one shall arise out of Iakob, and he shall destroy one being saved from a city.”	And [one] shall arise out of Jacob, and destroy out of the city him that escapes.

Numbers 24:21 (Tanakh)	Numbers 24:21 (KJV)	Numbers 24:21 (NET)
And he looked on the Kenite, and took up his parable, and said: Though firm be thy dwelling-place, and though thy nest be set in the rock;	And he looked on the Kenites, and took up his parable, and said, Strong is thy dwellingplace, and thou puttest thy nest in a rock.	Then he looked on the Kenites and uttered this oracle: “Your dwelling place seems strong, and your nest is set on a rocky cliff.

Numbers 24:21 (Septuagint BLB)	Numbers 24:21 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἰδὼν τὸν Καιναῖον καὶ ἀναλαβὼν τὴν παραβολὴν αὐτοῦ εἶπεν ἰσχυρὰ ἡ κατοικία σου καὶ ἐὰν θῇς ἐν πέτρᾳ τὴν νοσσιάν σου	καὶ ἰδὼν τὸν Κεναῖον καὶ ἀναλαβὼν τὴν παραβολὴν αὐτοῦ εἶπεν· ἰσχυρὰ ἡ κατοικία σου· καὶ ἐὰν θῇς ἐν πέτρᾳ τὴν νοσσιάν σου
Numbers 24:21 (NETS)	Numbers 24:21 (English Elpenor)
And when he saw the Kenite and took up his parable, he said: “Strong is your dwelling place; even if you set your nest in a rock,	And having seen the Kenite, he took up his parable and said, thy dwelling-place [is] strong; yet though thou shouldest put thy nest in a rock,

Numbers 24:22 (Tanakh)	Numbers 24:22 (KJV)	Numbers 24:22 (NET)
Nevertheless Kain shall be wasted; How long? Asshur shall carry thee away captive.	Nevertheless the Kenite shall be wasted, until Asshur shall carry thee away captive.	Nevertheless the Kenite will be consumed. How long will Asshur take you away captive?”

Numbers 24:22 (Septuagint BLB)	Numbers 24:22 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐὰν γένηται τῷ Βεωρ νεοσσιὰ πανουργίας Ἀσσύριοί σε αἰχμαλωτεύσουσιν	καὶ ἐὰν γένηται τῷ Βεὼρ νοσσιὰ πανουργίας, ᾿Ασσύριοι αἰχμαλωτεύσουσί σε
Numbers 24:22 (NETS)	Numbers 24:22 (English Elpenor)
and if a nest of cleverness accrues to Beor, Assyrians shall take you away captive.”	and though Beor should have a skillfully contrived hiding-place, the Assyrians shall carry thee away captive.

Numbers 24:23 (Tanakh)	Numbers 24:23 (KJV)	Numbers 24:23 (NET)
And he took up his parable, and said: Alas, who shall live after G-d hath appointed him?	And he took up his parable, and said, Alas, who shall live when God doeth this!	Then he uttered this oracle: “O, who will survive when God does this!

Numbers 24:23 (Septuagint BLB)	Numbers 24:23 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἰδὼν τὸν Ωγ καὶ ἀναλαβὼν τὴν παραβολὴν αὐτοῦ εἶπεν ὦ ὦ τίς ζήσεται ὅταν θῇ ταῦτα ὁ θεός	καὶ ἰδὼν τὸν ῍Ωγ καὶ ἀναλαβὼν τὴν παραβολὴν αὐτοῦ εἶπεν· ὦ ὦ, τίς ζήσεται, ὅταν θῇ ταῦτα ὁ Θεός
Numbers 24:23 (NETS)	Numbers 24:23 (English Elpenor)
And when he saw Og and took up his parable, he said: “Alas, alas, who shall live when God ordains these things?	And he looked upon Og, and took up his parable and said, Oh, oh, who shall live, when God shall do these things?

Numbers 24:24 (Tanakh)	Numbers 24:24 (KJV)	Numbers 24:24 (NET)
But ships shall come from the coast of Kittim, and they shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber, and he also shall come to destruction.	And ships shall come from the coast of Chittim, and shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber, and he also shall perish for ever.	Ships will come from the coast of Kittim, and will afflict Asshur, and will afflict Eber, and he will also perish forever.”

Numbers 24:24 (Septuagint BLB)	Numbers 24:24 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐξελεύσεται ἐκ χειρὸς Κιτιαίων καὶ κακώσουσιν Ασσουρ καὶ κακώσουσιν Εβραίους καὶ αὐτοὶ ὁμοθυμαδὸν ἀπολοῦνται	καὶ ἐξελεύσεται ἐκ χειρῶν Κιτιαίων καὶ κακώσουσιν ᾿Ασσοὺρ καὶ κακώσουσιν ῾Εβραίους, καὶ αὐτοὶ ὁμοθυμαδὸν ἀπολοῦνται
Numbers 24:24 (NETS)	Numbers 24:24 (English Elpenor)
And one shall go forth from the hand of Kitieans, and they shall harm Assour, and they shall harm Ebreans, and they too shall perish together.”	And he looked upon Og, and took up his parable and said, Oh, oh, who shall live, when God shall do these things?

Numbers 22:2 (Tanakh)	Numbers 22:2 (KJV)	Numbers 22:2 (NET)
And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.	And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.	Balak son of Zippor saw all that the Israelites had done to the Amorites.

Numbers 22:2 (Septuagint BLB)	Numbers 22:2 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἰδὼν Βαλακ υἱὸς Σεπφωρ πάντα ὅσα ἐποίησεν Ισραηλ τῷ Αμορραίῳ	καὶ ἰδὼν Βαλὰκ υἱὸς Σεπφὼρ πάντα ὅσα ἐποίησεν ᾿Ισραὴλ τῷ ᾿Αμορραίῳ
Numbers 22:2 (NETS)	Numbers 22:2 (English Elpenor)
And when Balak son of Sepphor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorite,	And when Balac son of Sepphor saw all that Israel did to the Amorite,

Numbers 22:3 (Tanakh)	Numbers 22:3 (KJV)	Numbers 22:3 (NET)
And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many; and Moab was overcome with dread because of the children of Israel.	And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many: and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel.	And the Moabites were greatly afraid of the people, because they were so numerous. The Moabites were sick with fear because of the Israelites.

Numbers 22:3 (Septuagint BLB)	Numbers 22:3 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐφοβήθη Μωαβ τὸν λαὸν σφόδρα ὅτι πολλοὶ ἦσαν καὶ προσώχθισεν Μωαβ ἀπὸ προσώπου υἱῶν Ισραηλ	καὶ ἐφοβήθη Μωὰβ τὸν λαὸν σφόδρα ὅτι πολλοὶ ἦσαν, καὶ προσώχθισε Μωὰβ ἀπὸ προσώπου υἱῶν ᾿Ισραήλ
Numbers 22:3 (NETS)	Numbers 22:3 (English Elpenor)
also Moab feared the people very much, because they were many, and Moab was vexed because of the presence of Israel’s sons.	then Moab feared the people exceedingly because they were many; and Moab was grieved before the face of the children of Israel.

Numbers 24:25 (Tanakh)	Numbers 24:25 (KJV)	Numbers 24:25 (NET)
And Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place; and Balak also went his way.	And Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place: and Balak also went his way.	Balaam got up and departed and returned to his home, and Balak also went his way.

Numbers 24:25 (Septuagint BLB)	Numbers 24:25 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἀναστὰς Βαλααμ ἀπῆλθεν ἀποστραφεὶς εἰς τὸν τόπον αὐτοῦ καὶ Βαλακ ἀπῆλθεν πρὸς ἑαυτόν	καὶ ἀναστὰς Βαλαὰμ ἀπῆλθεν ἀποστραφεὶς εἰς τὸν τόπον αὐτοῦ, καὶ Βαλὰκ ἀπῆλθε πρὸς ἑαυτόν
Numbers 24:25 (NETS)	Numbers 24:25 (English Elpenor)
And Balaam got up and went away as he returned to his place; Balak too went home.	And Balaam rose up and departed and returned to his place, and Balac went to his own home.

Balaam, Balak and the 24,000, Part 1

¹ 3 John, Part 3

² 3 John, Part 3

³ Luke 6:17b, 18a (ESV)

⁴ Matthew 7:17a (ESV)

⁵ Matthew 7:17b (ESV)

⁶ Matthew 7:18 (ESV)

⁷ Matthew 7:18a (ESV)

⁸ Luke 6:43 on Bible Hub

⁹ Matthew 7:18b (ESV)

¹⁰ Luke 6:44a (ESV)

¹¹ John 3:21 (ESV)

¹² John 14:6 (ESV)

¹³ Mark 10:18b (ESV)

¹⁴ Septuagint: For those who practice lawlessness did not walk in his ways (Psalm 118:3 NETS). For they that work iniquity have not walked in his ways (Psalm 118:3 English Elpenor). Table

¹⁵ Romans 9:30b (ESV)

¹⁶ Romans 9:31b (ESV) Table

¹⁷ Romans 9:32b (ESV) Table

¹⁸ Philippians 3:9b (ESV)

¹⁹ Philippians 3:9c (ESV)

²⁰ Psalm 119:10 (The Complete Jewish Bible)

²¹ Genesis 1:26a (English Elpenor) Table

²² Genesis 1:27 (English Elpenor) Table

²³ Genesis 1:31a (English Elpenor) Table

²⁴ Matthew 16:24b (ESV)

²⁵ Ephesians 4:22b (ESV)

²⁶ Matthew 16:24c, 25 (ESV)

²⁷ John 3:6, 7 (NET)

²⁸ Ephesians 4:24b (ESV)

²⁹ An allusion to John 1:1-4

³⁰ An allusion to the fruit of the Spirit, Galatians 5:22-23

³¹ Philippians 3:21b (ESV) Table

³² Romans 6:3, 4 (ESV)

³³ Galatians 4:19 (ESV) Table

³⁴ The inclusion of of my own will (ESV/Masoretic Text) in Numbers 24:13 and its absence from Numbers 22:18 raises the question of whether the phrase was added by the rabbis who translated the Septuagint or removed by the Masoretes, or whether they favored different Hebrew sources. I have no particular opinion except to wonder, if it was added to the Septuagint, why are there any differences in wording at all? It is difficult to utilize this difference to understand Balaam’s heart as he uttered these words.

³⁵ Numbers 24:25 (ESV)

³⁶ Ephesians 4:24b (ESV)

³⁷ This verb is in the perfect tense: “The basic thought of the perfect tense is that the progress of an action has been completed and the results of the action are continuing on, in full effect. In other words, the progress of the action has reached its culmination and the finished results are now in existence. Unlike the English perfect, which indicates a completed past action, the Greek perfect tense indicates the continuation and present state of a completed past action.” From Verb Tenses: Perfect Tense, Greek Verbs (Shorter Definitions) on Resources for Learning New Testament Greek online.

³⁸ Ibid.

³⁹ Ephesians 4:22b (ESV)

⁴⁰ 3 John 1:11b (ESV) Table

Exploration, Part 15

Posted on August 24, 2025 by admin

I want to continue hearing with faith¹ the truth of the Gospel in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, but first I need to record the new covenant sermon that is still coming to fruition within me.

The 4^th chapter of 1 John followed the 3^rd: “The interlinear English/Greek New Testament keyed to the Greek text of the KJV, NA²⁸ and the Koine Greek Lexicon were all open on my phone.” I had made it through, checking verbs mostly, and a few other parts of speech if a particular question came to mind. We had reached the end of the sermon and the last verse of the chapter (1 John 4:21 ESV).

And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

I’m not entirely sure why I bothered to look it up: commandment, must…love. Obviously the verb was in the imperative mood.

The imperative mood is a command or instruction given to the hearer, charging the hearer to carry out or perform a certain action.²

I recalled “This multiplexing of truth,” particularly “the Greek verbs in Galatians 5 (στήκετε,²⁴ δουλεύετε,²⁵ βλέπετε,²⁶ περιπατεῖτε ²⁷) which might be understood in either the indicative or imperative moods.”³ But even as I searched the Greek Lexicon I was unsure what to make of it if I discovered that ἀγαπᾷ (ESV: must…love) was another one of those multiplexed verbs that might also be understood in the indicative mood.

The indicative mood is a statement of fact or an actual occurrence from the writer’s or speaker’s perspective…It may be action occurring in past, present, or future time.⁴

When I found ἀγαπᾷ in the lexicon, I thought I had the wrong word. I had selected ἀγαπᾷ from the interlinear English/Greek New Testament (INT: should love), the received text. Perhaps, the critical text had a different “better” word. But, no, NA²⁸ had ἀγαπᾷ, too. I recalled that the Textus Receptus Bibles online had no accent marks. Perhaps the original Greek was αγαπα rather than ἀγαπᾷ.

And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God you (singular) must also love his brother.

That didn’t make much sense. It had to be a 3^rd person singular verb. But a verb in the present tense and indicative mood seemed so problematic that I began to suspect that the editor of the Koine Greek Lexicon had made a mistake, listing a multiplexed verb (both imperative and indicative) as if it were in the indicative mood only. I mean, commandment (τὴν ἐντολὴν) is clearly right there in the text! Then the lightning flashed.

John’s and the Holy Spirit’s meaning was clear as day: the new covenant. In the new covenant a commandment is a fact, a promise to, and a truth of the new human (τὸν καινὸν ἄνθρωπον) created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness:⁵ 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:⁶ for it is God who works in [the new human], both to will and to work for [God’s] good pleasure.⁷

All my religious training, however, is designed to discount, doubt or dispute those flashes of insight from the Holy Spirit. And there is that other matter of the English translation of the New Testament. As I scanned the list of translations on Bible Hub, one from Aramaic rather than from Greek stood out (1 John 4:21 Lamsa Bible).

And this commandment we have from him, That he who loves God loves his brother also.

There were two other translations near the bottom of the list translated from Greek (1 John 4:21 Godbey New Testament and Worrell New Testament):

And we have this precept from him, that the one loving God with divine love also loves his brother with divine love.

And this commandment we have from Him, that he who loves God loves his brother also.

Since none of these translations is likely to carry much weight in the religious circles in which I travel, I’ll take the long way round. But first, a confession: As I sit at home with my laptop (and easy access to my notes), I realize I have looked up ἀγαπᾷ before, and did not recall it.

I didn’t know yet that the Greek word translated should love was ἀγαπᾷ, a form of ἀγαπάω in the indicative mood, another statement of fact. The commandment (τὴν ἐντολὴν) we have from him is apparently of the—And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light¹¹—variety.⁸

Though my failing memory is a continual source of embarrassment, that seemingly forgotten insight probably paved the way for the flash of understanding that came six months later, when I was so absolutely convinced that ἀγαπᾷ must be in the imperative mood. There are twelve occurrences of ἀγαπᾷ in the New Testament (see table below). Only one was translated must love in the ESV. The other eleven were translated loves, the ordinary expectation of a 3^rd person singular form of the verb to love in the indicative mood and present tense in contemporary English. But the “long way round” was not as long as I had anticipated (1 John 5:1 ESV):

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves (ἀγαπᾷ) whoever⁹ has been born of him.

The Greek is: Πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων, Everyone who believes, ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἐστιν ὁ Χριστὸς, that Jesus is the Christ, ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ γεγέννηται, of God has been born (or “out of God has been born and continues to be such”¹⁰). Here is the creation of that new human (τὸν καινὸν ἄνθρωπον) created (κτισθέντα, a participle of κτίζω) after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.¹¹ John continued: καὶ πᾶς, and everyone, ὁ ἀγαπῶν, who loves, τὸν γεννήσαντα, the Father, ἀγαπᾷ, loves, καὶ τὸν, whoever (KJV: him also), γεγεννημένον ¹² ἐξ αὐτοῦ, has been born of him (KJV: that is begotten of him).

Now I can piece together what happened to me at the end of that sermon: God the Father, God the Son through God the indwelling Holy Spirit, knowing I had all but forgotten what He taught me in February, knowing that the sermon would end one verse before 1 John 5:1, prompted me to look up the Greek verb ἀγαπᾷ contrary to my own inclination since I already knew (erroneously) it must be in the imperative mood. As I puzzled over why it was not in the imperative mood, his insight flashed vividly in my heart, mind, soul. Though my religion inclines me to distrust his vivid flashes of insight, the next verse, which I was otherwise inclined to avoid, agrees with the content of his vivid flash of insight.

According to the Koine Greek Lexicon online, ἀγαπάτω is the 3^rd person singular form of ἀγαπάω in the active voice, present tense and imperative mood.¹³ In a footnote (55) the NET translators explained why they understood the one who loves God should love his fellow Christian too as a commandment to be obeyed by the one who loves God:

The ἵνα (hina) clause in 4:21 could be giving (1) the purpose or (2) the result of the commandment mentioned in the first half of the verse, but if it does, the author nowhere specifies what the commandment consists of [see Matthew 22:34-40]. It makes better sense to understand this ἵνα clause as (3) epexegetical to the pronoun ταύτην (tautēn) at the beginning of 4:21 and thus explaining what the commandment consists of: “that the one who loves God should love his brother also.”

Microsoft copilot answered my request for “the two greatest commandments” correctly:

The two greatest commandments are:
1. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.
2. Love your neighbor as yourself.
These commandments summarize the essence of the Law and the Prophets, as taught by Jesus in the New Testament (Matthew 22:37-40).

Be that as it may, a promise in Greek (ἀγαπᾷ in the indicative mood rather than ἀγαπάτω in the imperative mood) was transformed into a rule in the English translation because ἀγαπᾷ was joined by the conjunction ἵνα (translated as a colon in the ESV) to ταύτην τὴν ἐντολὴν (ESV: this commandment). 1 John isn’t taught in Greek philosophy courses but in churches. English translations of 1 John are shaped by this usage. Does any Pastor want to stand in front of his congregation and say, “If you do not love the one born of God, you are not born of God, because one born of God loves God and the one born of God”? A Pastor prefers to say, “You are born of God; act like it: love the one born of God.” And I can be very double-minded about this, or perhaps I should say multiplexed.

My gut instinct or the philosophical bent of my mind¹⁴ says, “Tell us the truth.” But my own experience was completely different. I wore myself out being perfected by the flesh¹⁵ as I attempted to love like God by transforming Paul’s description of love into rules I obeyed (or disobeyed) in the flesh. But it worked in the sense that after that incrementally better colossal failure, I was more than ready to hear an alternative from Paul and Jesus and John and God the Father through the indwelling Holy Spirit and the written word of God.

Ephesians isn’t taught in Greek philosophy courses either. When I discovered that ὄντας is a plural participle of εἰμί in the present tense—“you are dead”—rather than the past tense—you were dead¹⁶—I could begin to unravel two multiplexed truths. At issue was how to understand the dative case in the first verse of Ephesians 2: And you are dead in the trespasses and sins or “by means of your trespasses and sins” or “to your trespasses and sins.” These three options ultimately resolved to two: “by means of (in) your trespasses and sins” and “to your trespasses and sins.”

As I wrote regarding Colossians 1:21-23, “It’s not too difficult to see why one might prefer to understand this as a contrast between one’s past and present,” likewise it is not too difficult to grasp why pastors and Bible translators would prefer to translate ὄντας were. Hopefully, its not too difficult to understand why the philosophical bent of my mind prefers to grapple with the multiplexed truths of ὄντας translated literally.

Paul continued (Ephesians 2:11-13 ESV):

Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—remember that you were at¹⁷ that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

The Greek is: Διὸ μνημονεύετε, Therefore remember. This might be a command—Therefore you must remember—or it might be a statement of fact—Therefore (this is why) you remember—relative to all that has been written previously, specifically all that had transpired in his readers’ lives. And though I would have understood the ESV translation remember as a command previously, a deliberate choice of the imperative mood, now I wonder if it is a placeholder pointing to these dual possibilities: the Greek μνημονεύετε might be understood in the imperative mood as a command to the lawless and disobedient (the old human), or in the indicative mood as a fact of, and a promise to, the just (the new human).

The clause continued: ὅτι ποτὲ, that at one time, ὑμεῖς τὰ ἔθνη ἐν σαρκί, you Gentiles in the flesh (or, “you, the Gentiles by means of the flesh”). Here in as ESV-speak for “by means of” seems reinforced. Paul’s readers are Gentiles by means of the flesh, their descent from non-Jews, rather than their membership in a “Gentile club.” But there is some multiplexing apparent as well: by means of the flesh these Gentiles’ bodies are host (1 Corinthians 15:45-49; John 3:6-8) to the old human (τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον) which belongs to [their] former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,¹⁸ as evidenced by the trespasses and sins [Table] in which [they] once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience (or “by means of the sons of disbelief”).¹⁹

Paul continued in the second half of verse 11 of Ephesians 2: οἱ λεγόμενοι, called (or “those called”), ἀκροβυστία, “the uncircumcision” (literally, “foreskin”), ὑπὸ τῆς λεγομένης by what is called (or “by those called”), περιτομῆς ἐν σαρκὶ χειροποιήτου, the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands (or, the circumcision “by means of flesh made by hand”). Circumcision is regarded here as the living symbol of the foolishness of being perfected by the flesh.²⁰ The translators do a fairly good job of conveying what is not quite disdain for his own people and heritage (Philippians 3:2-11 ESV) though it could be taken that way spoken by someone other than Paul (Romans 9:1-8 ESV): Rather, they convey Paul’s recognition of the greater value of the power of the indwelling Spirit of Christ: It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life,²¹ as Jesus said.

Paul continued: ὅτι, remember that (literally, “that” or “since”), ἦτε, you were, τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ, at that time (or “by means of that time”). The received texts (Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text) had εν preceding the phrase τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ (KJV: at that time). The critical texts (NET Parallel Greek text and NA²⁸) did not. I use the NET Parallel Greek text as a proxy for NA²⁷. Here, the critical texts agree.

In 1 John 5:1 (footnote 9), however, they do not: NA²⁸ agrees with the received texts that καὶ (KJV: also) is original and belongs in the text. The NET Parallel Greek text (my proxy for NA²⁷) disagrees. In other words, this is documentary evidence that at one point in time the latest and greatest research of the critical text of the New Testament indicated that καὶ was an unwarranted addition to the original text and it was removed from the Greek text of 1 John 5:1 that translators use to translate the New Testament into English (or any other language).Then at another later time the latest and greatest research of the critical text of the New Testament indicated that καὶ is original and it was placed back into the Greek text again, in agreement with the received texts. But wait for it: NA²⁹ is coming soon.

Textus Receptus Bibles online²² has several different older Greek texts to compare and contrast to the critical text of the moment. And as you begin to look into it, you’ll find that they mostly compare. Maurice Robinson, one of the editors of the Byzantine Majority Text, appeared as a panelist in at least two videos produced by the Textural Confidence Collective or Mark Ward. In a video titled Do Westcott & Hort Rule New Testament Textural Criticism?, responding to a request to summarize the Byzantine Priority, Mr. Robinson acknowledged:

What is the Byzantine Priority? It’s a name that Pierpont and I made up…because the name that was being used before was Majority Text. But as Gordon Fee had complained, “Majority Text means that all you’re doing is counting noses.” And, well, we weren’t doing that. The truth is that most variant units, where there is textual variation, the majority of manuscripts tends to be one way or the other. That’s why it was called the Majority Text. But in certain places the majority splits. In some places we even, actually in our edition, favor…a reading that has less than the actual numerical majority…So Byzantine Priority means the Byzantine, in our view, was the one that was considered the text from which the other text types or clusters derived over time.

Given my current kick of understanding the dative case instrumentally, “by means of” (if that seems even remotely possible), whether εν precedes τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ or not is irrelevant to me. Understanding these two phrases instrumentally—“you, the Gentiles by means of the flesh” and “by means of that time” (before Christ was revealed to them, before they received Him and were born from above)—I hear Paul echoing the truth Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him,²³ You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires,²⁴ even as he lays the groundwork for the concepts he will coin later in this letter: the old human (τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον) and the new human (τὸν καινὸν ἄνθρωπον).

Therefore remember that at one time you, the Gentiles by means of the flesh, those called foreskin by those called the circumcision (by means of flesh made by hand) since you were by means of that time χωρὶς Χριστοῦ, separated from Christ (or “apart from Christ”), ἀπηλλοτριωμένοι, alienated (or “had become an outsider”), τῆς πολιτείας τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ, from the commonwealth of Israel (or “of citizenship of Israel”), καὶ ξένοι, and strangers, τῶν διαθηκῶν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας, to the covenants of promise, ἐλπίδα μὴ ἔχοντες, having no hope, καὶ ἄθεοι ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ, and without God in the world (or “and godless by means of the world”).

It is worth pointing out that the words τῶν διαθηκῶν (the covenants) are plural. These Gentiles were strangers to both covenants of promise, old and new. Though Israel…pursued a law that would lead to righteousness,²⁵ the covenant in which that law was given is a covenant of promise. But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises [Table]. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.²⁶

Also, Paul did not say that the Gentiles had believed the wrong stories about God or worshiped the wrong god or gods. He said, by means of the world they were godless, without any god at all. What do I imply then? Paul wrote elsewhere. That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer²⁷ to demons and not to God [Table].²⁸

Paul continued: νυνὶ δὲ, But now, ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, in Christ Jesus (or “by means of Christ Jesus”), ὑμεῖς οἵ ποτε ὄντες μακρὰν, you who once were far off (or “you, who at any time—by means of the flesh, by means of that time—are²⁹ far off,”), ἐγενήθητε ἐγγὺς, have been brought near (or “have come into existence near at hand”), ἐν τῷ αἵματι τοῦ Χριστοῦ, by the blood of Christ (or “by means of the bloodshed of Christ” or “by means of Christ’s bloodshed”).

The old human (τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον) which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires³⁰ remains as far off as it ever was, despite being hosted in the same body (John 3:5; Romans 7:21-25) as the new human (τὸν καινὸν ἄνθρωπον) created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.³¹ This new human (τὸν καινὸν ἄνθρωπον) has “come into existence near at hand by means of Christ’s bloodshed,” rather than the blood of Christ. The emphasis is on Jesus’ obedience not a magical object: And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.³²

Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ³³ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is,³⁴ he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin³⁵ by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so³⁶ Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.³⁷

The truth to be hearing with faith³⁸ is: Therefore remember that at one time you, the Gentiles by means of the flesh, those called foreskin by those called the circumcision (by means of flesh made by hand) since you were by means of that time apart from Christ, had become an outsider of citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope, and godless by means of the world. But now by means of Christ Jesus you, who at any time [by means of the flesh, by means of that time] are far off, have come into existence near at hand by means of Christ’s bloodshed.

I’ll pick this up in another essay.

Occurrences of ἀγαπᾷ in the New Testament
Reference	ESV	NA²⁸
Luke 7:5	for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue.”	ἀγαπᾷ γὰρ τὸ ἔθνος ἡμῶν καὶ τὴν συναγωγὴν αὐτὸς ᾠκοδόμησεν ἡμῖν
Luke 7:47	Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”	οὗ χάριν λέγω σοι, ἀφέωνται αἱ ἁμαρτίαι αὐτῆς αἱ πολλαί, ὅτι ἠγάπησεν πολύ· ᾧ δὲ ὀλίγον ἀφίεται, ὀλίγον ἀγαπᾷ
John 3:35	The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.	ὁ πατὴρ ἀγαπᾷ τὸν υἱὸν καὶ πάντα δέδωκεν ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ
John 10:17	For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.	Διὰ τοῦτό με ὁ πατὴρ ἀγαπᾷ ὅτι ἐγὼ τίθημι τὴν ψυχήν μου, ἵνα πάλιν λάβω αὐτήν
John 14:23	Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.	ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· ἐάν τις ἀγαπᾷ με τὸν λόγον μου τηρήσει, καὶ ὁ πατήρ μου ἀγαπήσει αὐτὸν καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐλευσόμεθα καὶ μονὴν παρ’ αὐτῷ ποιησόμεθα
1 Corinthians 8:3	But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.	εἰ δέ τις ἀγαπᾷ τὸν θεόν, οὗτος ἔγνωσται ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ
2 Corinthians 9:7	Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.	ἕκαστος καθὼς προῄρηται τῇ καρδίᾳ, μὴ ἐκ λύπης ἢ ἐξ ἀνάγκης· ἱλαρὸν γὰρ δότην ἀγαπᾷ ὁ θεός
Ephesians 5:28	In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.	οὕτως ὀφείλουσιν [καὶ] οἱ ἄνδρες ἀγαπᾶν τὰς ἑαυτῶν γυναῖκας ὡς τὰ ἑαυτῶν σώματα. ὁ ἀγαπῶν τὴν ἑαυτοῦ γυναῖκα ἑαυτὸν ἀγαπᾷ
Hebrews 12:6	For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”	ὃν γὰρ ἀγαπᾷ κύριος παιδεύει, μαστιγοῖ δὲ πάντα υἱὸν ὃν παραδέχεται
1 John 2:15	Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.	Μὴ ἀγαπᾶτε τὸν κόσμον μηδὲ τὰ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ. ἐάν τις ἀγαπᾷ τὸν κόσμον, οὐκ ἔστιν ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ πατρὸς ἐν αὐτῷ·
1 John 4:21	And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.	καὶ ταύτην τὴν ἐντολὴν ἔχομεν ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ, ἵνα ὁ ἀγαπῶν τὸν θεὸν ἀγαπᾷ καὶ τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ
1 John 5:1	Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.	Πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἐστιν ὁ Χριστὸς ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ γεγέννηται, καὶ πᾶς ὁ ἀγαπῶν τὸν γεννήσαντα ἀγαπᾷ καὶ τὸν γεγεννημένον ἐξ αὐτοῦ

The Lexicon³⁹ my Pastor uses listed ἀγαπᾷ as a verb in the subjunctive mood. I was curious if the Literal Standard Version and Young’s Literal Translation consistently translated ἀγαπᾷ in the subjunctive mood. These versions are related apparently.

Occurrences of ἀγαπᾷ in the New Testament
Reference	Literal Standard Version	NA²⁸
Luke 7:5	for he loves our nation, and he built to us the synagogue.”	ἀγαπᾷ γὰρ τὸ ἔθνος ἡμῶν καὶ τὴν συναγωγὴν αὐτὸς ᾠκοδόμησεν ἡμῖν
Luke 7:47	therefore I say to you, her many sins have been forgiven, because she loved much; but to whom is forgiven little, loves little.”	οὗ χάριν λέγω σοι, ἀφέωνται αἱ ἁμαρτίαι αὐτῆς αἱ πολλαί, ὅτι ἠγάπησεν πολύ· ᾧ δὲ ὀλίγον ἀφίεται, ὀλίγον ἀγαπᾷ
John 3:35	the Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand;	ὁ πατὴρ ἀγαπᾷ τὸν υἱὸν καὶ πάντα δέδωκεν ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ
John 10:17	Because of this the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life, that again I may take it;	Διὰ τοῦτό με ὁ πατὴρ ἀγαπᾷ ὅτι ἐγὼ τίθημι τὴν ψυχήν μου, ἵνα πάλιν λάβω αὐτήν
John 14:23	Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone may love Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and We will make [an] abode with him;	ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· ἐάν τις ἀγαπᾷ με τὸν λόγον μου τηρήσει, καὶ ὁ πατήρ μου ἀγαπήσει αὐτὸν καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐλευσόμεθα καὶ μονὴν παρ’ αὐτῷ ποιησόμεθα
1 Corinthians 8:3	and if anyone loves God, this one has been known by Him.	εἰ δέ τις ἀγαπᾷ τὸν θεόν, οὗτος ἔγνωσται ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ
2 Corinthians 9:7	each one, according as he purposes in heart, not out of sorrow or out of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver,	ἕκαστος καθὼς προῄρηται τῇ καρδίᾳ, μὴ ἐκ λύπης ἢ ἐξ ἀνάγκης· ἱλαρὸν γὰρ δότην ἀγαπᾷ ὁ θεός
Ephesians 5:28	so ought the husbands to love their own wives as their own bodies: he who is loving his own wife—he loves himself;	οὕτως ὀφείλουσιν [καὶ] οἱ ἄνδρες ἀγαπᾶν τὰς ἑαυτῶν γυναῖκας ὡς τὰ ἑαυτῶν σώματα. ὁ ἀγαπῶν τὴν ἑαυτοῦ γυναῖκα ἑαυτὸν ἀγαπᾷ
Hebrews 12:6	for whom the LORD loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives”;	ὃν γὰρ ἀγαπᾷ κύριος παιδεύει, μαστιγοῖ δὲ πάντα υἱὸν ὃν παραδέχεται
1 John 2:15	Do not love the world, nor the things in the world; if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him,	Μὴ ἀγαπᾶτε τὸν κόσμον μηδὲ τὰ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ. ἐάν τις ἀγαπᾷ τὸν κόσμον, οὐκ ἔστιν ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ πατρὸς ἐν αὐτῷ·
1 John 4:21	And this [is] the command we have from Him, that he who is loving God, may also love his brother.	καὶ ταύτην τὴν ἐντολὴν ἔχομεν ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ, ἵνα ὁ ἀγαπῶν τὸν θεὸν ἀγαπᾷ καὶ τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ
1 John 5:1	Everyone who is believing that Jesus is the Christ has been begotten of God, and everyone who is loving Him who begot, also loves him who is begotten of Him.	Πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἐστιν ὁ Χριστὸς ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ γεγέννηται, καὶ πᾶς ὁ ἀγαπῶν τὸν γεννήσαντα ἀγαπᾷ καὶ τὸν γεγεννημένον ἐξ αὐτοῦ

I can begin to hear the subjunctive mood here as a technicality of Greek grammar: If anyone may love Me (John 14:23) is the antecedent of a conditional statement rather than a standalone fact. But the translators exercise quite a bit of discretion since even the conditional statements of Scripture are factual in their entirety: and if anyone loves God, this one has been known by Him (1 Corinthians 8:3). Now that I’m hearing the subjunctive mood if anyone may love God, this one has been known by Him is an even clearer statement that loving God is the effect or result of being known by Him (Romans 7:1-6) through his indwelling Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-24). Anyone who is not known (Matthew 7:21-23) by God, does not love Him, modus tollens.

Occurrences of ἀγαπᾷ in the New Testament
Reference	Young’s Literal Translation	NA²⁸
Luke 7:5	for he doth love our nation, and the synagogue he did build to us.’	ἀγαπᾷ γὰρ τὸ ἔθνος ἡμῶν καὶ τὴν συναγωγὴν αὐτὸς ᾠκοδόμησεν ἡμῖν
Luke 7:47	therefore I say to thee, her many sins have been forgiven, because she did love much; but to whom little is forgiven, little he doth love.’	οὗ χάριν λέγω σοι, ἀφέωνται αἱ ἁμαρτίαι αὐτῆς αἱ πολλαί, ὅτι ἠγάπησεν πολύ· ᾧ δὲ ὀλίγον ἀφίεται, ὀλίγον ἀγαπᾷ
John 3:35	the Father doth love the Son, and all things hath given into his hand;	ὁ πατὴρ ἀγαπᾷ τὸν υἱὸν καὶ πάντα δέδωκεν ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ
John 10:17	`Because of this doth the Father love me, because I lay down my life, that again I may take it;	Διὰ τοῦτό με ὁ πατὴρ ἀγαπᾷ ὅτι ἐγὼ τίθημι τὴν ψυχήν μου, ἵνα πάλιν λάβω αὐτήν
John 14:23	Jesus answered and said to him, `If any one may love me, my word he will keep, and my Father will love him, and unto him we will come, and abode with him we will make;	ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· ἐάν τις ἀγαπᾷ με τὸν λόγον μου τηρήσει, καὶ ὁ πατήρ μου ἀγαπήσει αὐτὸν καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐλευσόμεθα καὶ μονὴν παρ’ αὐτῷ ποιησόμεθα
1 Corinthians 8:3	and if any one doth love God, this one hath been known by Him.	εἰ δέ τις ἀγαπᾷ τὸν θεόν, οὗτος ἔγνωσται ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ
2 Corinthians 9:7	each one, according as he doth purpose in heart, not out of sorrow or out of necessity, for a cheerful giver doth God love,	ἕκαστος καθὼς προῄρηται τῇ καρδίᾳ, μὴ ἐκ λύπης ἢ ἐξ ἀνάγκης· ἱλαρὸν γὰρ δότην ἀγαπᾷ ὁ θεός
Ephesians 5:28	so ought the husbands to love their own wives as their own bodies: he who is loving his own wife — himself he doth love;	οὕτως ὀφείλουσιν [καὶ] οἱ ἄνδρες ἀγαπᾶν τὰς ἑαυτῶν γυναῖκας ὡς τὰ ἑαυτῶν σώματα. ὁ ἀγαπῶν τὴν ἑαυτοῦ γυναῖκα ἑαυτὸν ἀγαπᾷ
Hebrews 12:6	for whom the Lord doth love He doth chasten, and He scourgeth every son whom He receiveth;’	ὃν γὰρ ἀγαπᾷ κύριος παιδεύει, μαστιγοῖ δὲ πάντα υἱὸν ὃν παραδέχεται
1 John 2:15	Love not ye the world, nor the things in the world; if any one doth love the world, the love of the Father is not in him,	Μὴ ἀγαπᾶτε τὸν κόσμον μηδὲ τὰ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ. ἐάν τις ἀγαπᾷ τὸν κόσμον, οὐκ ἔστιν ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ πατρὸς ἐν αὐτῷ·
1 John 4:21	and this [is] the command we have from Him, that he who is loving God, may also love his brother.	καὶ ταύτην τὴν ἐντολὴν ἔχομεν ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ, ἵνα ὁ ἀγαπῶν τὸν θεὸν ἀγαπᾷ καὶ τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ
1 John 5:1	Every one who is believing that Jesus is the Christ, of God he hath been begotten, and every one who is loving Him who did beget, doth love also him who is begotten of Him:	Πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἐστιν ὁ Χριστὸς ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ γεγέννηται, καὶ πᾶς ὁ ἀγαπῶν τὸν γεννήσαντα ἀγαπᾷ καὶ τὸν γεγεννημένον ἐξ αὐτοῦ

I’m not sure why Mr. Young added an archaic 3^rd person singular form of to do in the present tense to ἀγαπᾷ. I thought, perhaps it was to distinguish the verb from the identical English noun, but doth chasten (Hebrews 12:6) seems to deny that possibility. Still, doth love functions like loves in the indicative mood as a statement of fact.

Tables comparing 1 John 5:1; Ephesians 2:12; Hebrews 9:24; 9:26 and 9:28 in the KJV and NET follow.

1 John 5:1 (NET)	1 John 5:1 (KJV)
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been fathered by God, and everyone who loves the father loves the child fathered by him.	Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.

1 John 5:1 (NET Parallel Greek)	1 John 5:1 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	1 John 5:1 (Byzantine Majority Text)
Πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἐστιν ὁ Χριστὸς, ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ γεγέννηται, καὶ πᾶς ὁ ἀγαπῶν τὸν γεννήσαντα ἀγαπᾷ τὸν γεγεννημένον ἐξ αὐτοῦ	πας ο πιστευων οτι ιησους εστιν ο χριστος εκ του θεου γεγεννηται και πας ο αγαπων τον γεννησαντα αγαπα και τον γεγεννημενον εξ αυτου	πας ο πιστευων οτι ιησους εστιν ο χριστος εκ του θεου γεγεννηται και πας ο αγαπων τον γεννησαντα αγαπα και τον γεγεννημενον εξ αυτου

Ephesians 2:12 (NET)	Ephesians 2:12 (KJV)
that you were at that time without the Messiah, alienated from the citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.	That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

Ephesians 2:12 (NET Parallel Greek)	Ephesians 2:12 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	Ephesians 2:12 (Byzantine Majority Text)
ὅτι ἦτε τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ χωρὶς Χριστοῦ, ἀπηλλοτριωμένοι τῆς πολιτείας τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ καὶ ξένοι τῶν διαθηκῶν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας, ἐλπίδα μὴ ἔχοντες καὶ ἄθεοι ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ	οτι ητε εν τω καιρω εκεινω χωρις χριστου απηλλοτριωμενοι της πολιτειας του ισραηλ και ξενοι των διαθηκων της επαγγελιας ελπιδα μη εχοντες και αθεοι εν τω κοσμω	οτι ητε εν τω καιρω εκεινω χωρις χριστου απηλλοτριωμενοι της πολιτειας του ισραηλ και ξενοι των διαθηκων της επαγγελιας ελπιδα μη εχοντες και αθεοι εν τω κοσμω

Hebrews 9:24 (NET)	Hebrews 9:24 (KJV)
For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with hands—the representation of the true sanctuary—but into heaven itself, and he appears now in God’s presence for us.	For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:

Hebrews 9:24 (NET Parallel Greek)	Hebrews 9:24 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	Hebrews 9:24 (Byzantine Majority Text)
οὐ γὰρ εἰς χειροποίητα εἰσῆλθεν ἅγια Χριστός, ἀντίτυπα τῶν ἀληθινῶν, ἀλλ᾿ εἰς αὐτὸν τὸν οὐρανόν, νῦν ἐμφανισθῆναι τῷ προσώπῳ τοῦ θεοῦ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν·	ου γαρ εις χειροποιητα αγια εισηλθεν ο χριστος αντιτυπα των αληθινων αλλ εις αυτον τον ουρανον νυν εμφανισθηναι τω προσωπω του θεου υπερ ημων	ου γαρ εις χειροποιητα αγια εισηλθεν ο χριστος αντιτυπα των αληθινων αλλ εις αυτον τον ουρανον νυν εμφανισθηναι τω προσωπω του θεου υπερ ημων

Hebrews 9:26 (NET)	Hebrews 9:26 (KJV)
for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the consummation of the ages to put away sin by his sacrifice.	For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

Hebrews 9:26 (NET Parallel Greek)	Hebrews 9:26 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	Hebrews 9:26 (Byzantine Majority Text)
ἐπεὶ ἔδει αὐτὸν πολλάκις παθεῖν ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου· νυνὶ δὲ ἅπαξ ἐπὶ συντελείᾳ τῶν αἰώνων εἰς ἀθέτησιν [τῆς] ἁμαρτίας διὰ τῆς θυσίας αὐτοῦ πεφανέρωται	επει εδει αυτον πολλακις παθειν απο καταβολης κοσμου νυν δε απαξ επι συντελεια των αιωνων εις αθετησιν αμαρτιας δια της θυσιας αυτου πεφανερωται	επει εδει αυτον πολλακις παθειν απο καταβολης κοσμου νυν δε απαξ επι συντελεια των αιωνων εις αθετησιν αμαρτιας δια της θυσιας αυτου πεφανερωται

Hebrews 9:28 (NET)	Hebrews 9:28 (KJV)
so also, after Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many, to those who eagerly await him he will appear a second time, not to bear sin but to bring salvation.	So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

Hebrews 9:28 (NET Parallel Greek)	Hebrews 9:28 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	Hebrews 9:28 (Byzantine Majority Text)
οὕτως καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς ἅπαξ προσενεχθεὶς εἰς τὸ πολλῶν ἀνενεγκεῖν ἁμαρτίας ἐκ δευτέρου χωρὶς ἁμαρτίας ὀφθήσεται τοῖς αὐτὸν ἀπεκδεχομένοις εἰς σωτηρίαν	ουτως ο χριστος απαξ προσενεχθεις εις το πολλων ανενεγκειν αμαρτιας εκ δευτερου χωρις αμαρτιας οφθησεται τοις αυτον απεκδεχομενοις εις σωτηριαν	ουτως και ο χριστος απαξ προσενεχθεις εις το πολλων ανενεγκειν αμαρτιας εκ δευτερου χωρις αμαρτιας οφθησεται τοις αυτον απεκδεχομενοις εις σωτηριαν

Exploration, Part 16

Back to 3 John, Part 7

Back to Exploration, Part 17

¹ Galatians 3:2b (ESV)

² From Verbal Moods: Imperative Mood, Greek Verbs (Shorter Definitions) on Resources for Learning New Testament Greek online.

³ Exploration, Part 14

⁴ From Verbal Moods: Indicative Mood, Greek Verbs (Shorter Definitions) on Resources for Learning New Testament Greek online.

⁵ Ephesians 4:24b (ESV)

⁶ Galatians 2:20b (NET)

⁷ Philippians 2:13 (ESV) Table

⁸ Exploration, Part 8

⁹ The Stephanus Textus Receptus, Byzantine Majority Text and NA²⁸ had καὶ (KJV: also) here. The NET parallel Greek text did not.

¹⁰ The Greek verb γεγέννηται is a form of γεννάω in the perfect tense: “The basic thought of the perfect tense is that the progress of an action has been completed and the results of the action are continuing on, in full effect. In other words, the progress of the action has reached its culmination and the finished results are now in existence. Unlike the English perfect, which indicates a completed past action, the Greek perfect tense indicates the continuation and present state of a completed past action.” From Verb Tenses: Perfect Tense, Greek Verbs (Shorter Definitions) on Resources for Learning New Testament Greek online.

¹¹ Ephesians 4:24b (ESV)

¹² Here, too (footnote 10), the verb γεγεννημένον is a form of γεννάω in the perfect tense, implying the permanence of the new human (τὸν καινὸν ἄνθρωπον) created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

¹³ Does anyone recall what the translators of the King James Bible, ASV, CEV, English Revised Version, Webster’s Bible Translation, Smith’s Literal Translation, Douay-Rheims Bible and Haweis New Testament meant by their translation love? It doesn’t sound like a 3^rd person singular verb in the present tense and indicative mood in any English I know. The prima facie evidence supports the contention that they meant must love or should love. Another option, may love (Literal Standard Version [see table above], Young’s Literal Translation [see table above]), sounds more like the subjunctive mood. (That is how the lexicon my Pastor uses describes ἀγαπᾷ in 1 John 4:21.)

¹⁴ Jesus’ Artifacts, Part 1; Jesus’ Artifacts, Part 5; Jesus’ Artifacts, Part 6; Who Am I? Part 1; David’s Forgiveness, Part 4; Torture, Part 4

¹⁵ Galatians 3:3b (ESV)

¹⁶ Ephesians 2:1a (ESV) Table

¹⁷ The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had the preposition εν here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

¹⁸ Ephesians 4:22b (ESV)

¹⁹ Ephesians 2:1b, 2 (ESV) Exploration, Part 14

²⁰ Galatians 3:3b (ESV)

²¹ John 6:63 (ESV) Table

²² The site bogs down some on the weekends, especially Sunday mornings, but is fairly responsive during the week.

²³ John 8:31a (ESV)

²⁴ John 8:44a (ESV) Table

²⁵ Romans 9:31a (ESV) Table

²⁶ Hebrews 8:6, 7 (ESV)

²⁷ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had the verb θύουσιν, a form of θύω, repeated here. The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

²⁸ 1 Corinthians 10:19, 20a (ESV)

²⁹ The Greek word ὄντες is a participle of εἰμί in the present tense.

³⁰ Ephesians 4:22b (ESV)

³¹ Ephesians 4:24b (ESV)

³² Philippians 2:8 (ESV)

³³ The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had the article ο preceding Christ. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

³⁴ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had the adverb νυνὶ (NET: now) here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had νυν (KJV: now).

³⁵ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had the article τῆς in brackets (indicating some uncertainty) preceding sin, designating ἁμαρτίας as a singular form of ἁμαρτία in the genitive case rather than a plural form in the accusative case. The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

³⁶ The NET parallel Greek text, NA²⁸ and Byzantine Majority Text had the conjunction καὶ (NET: also) following so. The Stephanus Textus Receptus did not.

³⁷ Hebrews 9:22-28 (ESV)

³⁸ Galatians 3:2b (ESV)

³⁹ I found a table on another site online listing ἀγάπα as a form of ἀγαπάω in the indicative mood. That table does not deny that ἀγάπα might also be a form of ἀγαπάω in the subjunctive mood (a table I could not find on this particular site).

The Gospel and the Religious Mind

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

Tag Archives: Romans 9:31

Exploration, Part 19

Balaam, Balak and the 24,000, Part 4

Justice and Mercy Revisited, Part 3

3 John, Part 8

Exploration, Part 15