The Day of the Lord, Part 7

Posted on December 28, 2023 by admin

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

I highlighted two things he wrote about their insights:³

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

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

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

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

The power which restrained Antichrist evolved as well.

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

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

Meyer’s NT Commentary continued:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I’ll continue with this in another essay.

The Day of the Lord, Part 8

¹ Mark 8:16b (NET) Table

² Mark 8:15b (NET)

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

⁴ Ibid.

⁵ Ibid.

⁶ Ibid.

⁷ Ibid.

⁸ Ibid.

⁹ Ibid.

¹⁰ Matthew 12:30b (NET)

¹¹ 2 Thessalonians 2:3 Table

¹² Ibid.

¹³ Romans 7:19 Table

¹⁴ Ephesians 4:22

¹⁵ Romans 7:21

¹⁶ Galatians 5:17 Table

¹⁷ Matthew 26:41b (NET)

¹⁸ John 3:6a (NET)

¹⁹ John 6:63a (NET) Table

²⁰ 1 Corinthians 15:50b (NET) Table

²¹ Romans 7:25b (NET) Table

²² Romans 7:21b (NET)

²³ Romans 7:23b (NET) Table

²⁴ Galatians 5:17a (NET) Table

²⁵ Ephesians 4:22b (NET)

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

²⁷ 2 Thessalonians 2:3b (NET) Table

Christianity, Part 11

Posted on September 30, 2023 by admin

There are 3 occurrences of πάντας in 1 Corinthians [see Table below], the Greek word translated all people in: And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people (πάντας, a form of πᾶς) to myself.¹ The first occurrence will take some time (1 Corinthians 7:7 ESV):

I wish² that all (πάντας ἀνθρώπους) were as I myself am. But³ each has his own gift from God, one⁴ of one kind and one⁵ of another.

Here πάντας was clearly limited by ἀνθρώπους (KJV: all men). Paul did not wish that all porcupines were as I myself am. I admit when I first read it I considered even all men limited to “very few men” because I heard the second clause as “But most of you aren’t as spiritual as I am.” Yet here πάντας ἀνθρώπους was translated all, everyone in the NET, which has the advantage of eliminating porcupines and other non-humans. And now I no longer think that everyone is wrong, misleading or a poor translation.

Now concerning the matters about which you wrote,⁶ Paul began this particular explanation, but what was written wasn’t recorded. Perhaps that’s because it seems fairly obvious that the question involved whether certain people at a certain place and time should or could marry, depending on whether the writers were doing the forbidding, being forbidden or both. Or perhaps it was because the Holy Spirit regarded Paul’s answer as more universally applicable than the questions as written. Paul continued (1 Corinthians 7:1b ESV)

“It is good for a man not to have sexual relations (ἅπτεσθαι) with a woman” [Table].

The Greek word translated good here was καλὸν (a form of καλός), the “beautiful good,” rather than ἀγαθόν (a form of ἀγαθός). I wrote about the “beautiful good” in another essay. So, why did Paul write, It is good (a beautiful good) for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman?

According to Britannica online, “The philosophical and religious ideals of celibacy in the Classical world strongly influenced subsequent practices of celibacy and monasticism in Christianity.”⁷ Was Paul persuaded that pagan celibacy was the highest form of self-righteousness? Probably not.

As I studied, I wondered why Paul chose ἅπτεσθαι, “to touch,” rather than λαμβάνεσθαι, a present middle/passive infinitive form of λαμβάνω, “to take.” And I also wondered why γυναικὸς (ESV: woman), a form of γυνή in the genitive case, was chosen rather than γυνήν in the accusative case or even γυνῇ in the dative. I typed the latter question into a search engine and Barnes’ Notes on the Bible directed me to the story of Abraham, Sarah and Abimelech.

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Genesis 20:2-6 (Tanakh)	Genesis 20:2-6 (NET)	Genesis 20:2-6 (NETS)	Genesis 20:2-6 (English Elpenor)
And Abraham said of Sarah his wife (אִשְׁתּ֖וֹ): ‘She is my sister.’ And Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took (וַיִּקַּ֖ח) Sarah.	Abraham said about his wife (‘iššâ, אשתו) Sarah, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent for Sarah and took (lāqaḥ, ויקח) her.	And Abraam said of his wife (τῆς γυναικὸς αὐτοῦ) Sarra, “She is my sister,” lest perhaps the men of the city kill him on her account. Then Abimelech king of Gerara sent and took (ἔλαβεν) Sarra.	And Abraam said concerning Sarrha his wife (τῆς γυναικὸς αὐτοῦ), She is my sister, for he feared to say, She is my wife, lest at any time the men of the city should kill him for her sake. So Abimelech king of Gerara sent and took (ἔλαβε) Sarrha.
But G-d came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him: ‘Behold, thou shalt die, because of the woman (הָֽאִשָּׁ֣ה) whom thou hast taken (לָקַ֔חְתָּ); for she is a man’s (בָּֽעַל) wife (בְּעֻ֥לַת)’ [Table].	But God appeared to Abimelech in a dream at night and said to him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman (‘iššâ, האשה) you have taken (lāqaḥ, לקחת), for she is someone else’s (baʿal, בעל) wife (bāʿal, בעלת).”	And God came in to Abimelech in his sleep during the night and said, “Look, you are about to die by reason of the woman (τῆς γυναικός) whom you have taken (ἔλαβες), whereas she is married (συνῳκηκυῗα) to a man (ἀνδρί)” [Table].	And God came to Abimelech by night in sleep, and said, Behold, thou diest for the woman (τῆς γυναικός), whom thou hast taken (ἔλαβες), whereas she has lived (συνῳκηυῖα) with a husband (ἀνδρί).
Now Abimelech had not come near (קָרַ֖ב) her; and he said: ‘L-rd, wilt Thou slay even a righteous nation?	Now Abimelech had not gone near (qāraḇ, קרב) her. He said, “Lord, would you really slaughter an innocent nation?	Now Abimelech had not touched (ἥψατο) her, and he said, “Lord, will you destroy an unwitting and righteous nation?	But Abimelech had not touched (ἥψατο) her, and he said, Lord, wilt thou destroy an ignorantly [sinning] and just nation?
Said he not himself unto me: She is my sister? and she, even she herself said: He is my brother. In the simplicity of my heart and the innocency of my hands have I done this.’	Did Abraham not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ I have done this with a clear conscience and with innocent hands!”	Did not he himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said to me, ‘He is my brother’. I did this with a pure heart and righteousness of hands.”	Did not he himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said to me, ‘He is my brother’. I did this with a pure heart and righteousness of hands.”
And G-d said unto him in the dream: ‘Yea, I know that in the simplicity of thy heart thou hast done this, and I also withheld thee from sinning against Me. Therefore suffered I thee not to touch (לִנְגֹּ֥עַ) her.	Then in the dream God replied to him, “Yes, I know that you have done this with a clear conscience. That is why I have kept you from sinning against me and why I did not allow you to touch (nāḡaʿ, לנגע) her.	Then God said to him during his sleep, “I too knew that you did this with a pure heart, and I was the one who spared you so that you did not sin in regard to me. Therefore I did not allow you to touch (ἅψασθαι) her.	And God said to him in sleep, Yea, I knew that thou didst this with a pure heart, and I spared thee, so that thou shouldest not sin against me, therefore I suffered thee not to touch (ἅψασθαι) her.

Abimelech took (וַיִּקַּ֖ח) Sarah. In the Septuagint the Greek word translated took was ἔλαβε(ν) (a form of λαμβάνω). Abimelech had every intention of making Sarah one of his wives but he had not come near (קָרַ֖ב) her,⁸ he had not touched (ἥψατο, a form of ἅπτω in the middle voice) her.⁹ The Greek word translated sexual relations (ἅπτεσθαι) in 1 Corinthians 7:1b (ESV) was an infinitive form of ἅπτω also in the middle voice. I did not allow you to touch her,¹⁰ God told Abimelech in a dream. The Greek word translated to touch here was ἅψασθαι, another infinitive form of ἅπτω in the middle voice.

The Greek word γυναικὸς (a form of γυνή) was in the genitive case because whether translated wife¹¹ or woman,¹² she is married (συνῳκηκυῗα) to a man (ἀνδρί),¹³ or she has lived (συνῳκηυῖα) with a husband (ἀνδρί).¹⁴ A note (5) in the NET explained that the Hebrew was literally: “and she is owned by an owner.” Though this concept has been misunderstood as abusive authority, I think the Holy Spirit understands it as a man’s responsibility for his wife.

Consider an owner’s responsibility, written in the law, for an ox or bull:

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Exodus 21:28, 29 (Tanakh)	Exodus 21:28, 29 (NET)	Exodus 21:28, 29 (NETS)	Exodus 21:28, 29 (English Elpenor)
And if an ox gore a man or a woman, that they die, the ox shall be surely stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner (וּבַ֥עַל) of the ox shall be quit.	“If an ox gores a man or a woman so that either dies, then the ox must surely be stoned and its flesh must not be eaten, but the owner (baʿal, ובעל) of the ox will be acquitted.	Now if a bull gores a man or a woman and he dies, the bull shall be stoned with stones, and its meat shall not be eaten, but the owner (κύριος) of the bull shall not be liable.	And if a bull gore a man or woman and they die, the bull shall be stoned with stones, and his flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner (κύριος) of the bull shall be clear.
But if the ox was wont to gore in time past, and warning hath been given to its owner (בִּבְעָלָיו֙), and he hath not kept it in, but it hath killed a man or a woman; the ox shall be stoned, and its owner (בְּעָלָ֖יו) also shall be put to death.	But if the ox had the habit of goring, and its owner (baʿal, בבעליו) was warned but he did not take the necessary precautions, and then it killed a man or a woman, the ox must be stoned and the man (baʿal, בעליו) must be put to death.	But if the bull was prone to gore before yesterday and before the third day and they warn its owner (κυρίῳ) and he does not restrain it and it kills a man or a woman, the bull shall be stoned, and its owner (κύριος) shall die as well.	But if the bull should have been given to goring in former time, and men should have told his owner (κυρίῳ), and he have not removed him, but he should have slain a man or woman, the bull shall be stoned, and his owner (κύριος) shall die also.

Husbands, love your¹⁵ wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, Paul wrote, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself [Table].¹⁶ The Greek words translated should here are ὀφείλουσιν [καὶ], and love is ἀγαπᾶν, an infinitive form of ἀγαπάω in the present tense: In the same way husbands owe also to love their wives as their own bodies.

Yes, I am asking myself at this very moment if I took ownership of, if I accepted the responsibility for, my wife’s spiritual well-being while we were married. No, I’m not at all happy with the answer. “Find’em, feel’em, fuck’em and forget’em,” was the guiding maxim of the 4F club. It was something I learned in elementary school, not part of the official curriculum but handed down from a classmate’s older brother. And though I scoffed at it in my youth as morally beneath me, in my old age I reckon I’ve lived more nearly in compliance to that odious maxim than to any semblance of Christ-likeness. A feminist is not a godly husband: See to that¹⁷ yourself,¹⁸ was too often my attitude as I was preoccupied with more worldly concerns.

It seems like I understand Paul’s insight in 1 Corinthians 7:1b better, at least grasp its generality better, if I don’t even try to translate his word string into a fluent English sentence: καλὸν ἀνθρώπῳ γυναικὸς μὴ ἅπτεσθαι, “beautiful man wife not to touch.” That beauty is obvious in the story of Abraham, Sarah and Abimelech, when a man does not touch another man’s wife. The beauty of God’s intervention to spare both Sarah and Abimelech is beyond compare. I’ll return to that later. Paul described the beauty of a man not touching his own wife for an agreed upon period of time a few verses after this, and the beauty of not taking a wife at all in some verses after that (1 Corinthians 7:28-35 ESV):

But if you do marry,¹⁹ you have not sinned, and if a betrothed woman marries, she has not sinned. Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that. This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, and those who deal with the world²⁰ as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.

I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please²¹ the Lord. But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please²² his wife, and his interests are divided.²³ And the unmarried or betrothed woman²⁴ is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body²⁵ and spirit.²⁶ But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please²⁷ her husband. I say this for your own benefit,²⁸ not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion²⁹ to the Lord.

I’ve discounted this entire chapter way too much: the appointed time has grown very short spoke to me of the return of Christ. I couldn’t calculate how Paul might have amended his words if he had known that I would still be waiting in the fall of 2023, and so I failed to pay enough attention to what is actually written here. Now, as I approach my seventieth birthday my appointed time has grown very short and my attention is more focused, perhaps, than in the past. There are things to consider about συνεσταλμένος, the Greek word translated very short, a participle of the verb συστέλλω in the perfect tense. But for the moment I’d rather consider and address something else.

Paul’s assumptions about the beautiful preoccupations of an unmarried man and an unmarried or betrothed woman were not made regarding those who are born of the flesh of Adam only. His words are folly to those who are perishing.³⁰ That which is born of the flesh is flesh,³¹ Jesus explained to Nicodemus. “None is righteous,” Paul wrote of those born only of the flesh of Adam, “no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one [Table]. Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive. The venom of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.”³²

In this letter Paul addressed those who were born, not only of the flesh of Adam but, from above as well, by the Spirit (1 Corinthians 1:4-9 ESV):

I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge—even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you—so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

I say: “I’ve lived more nearly in compliance to that odious [4F club] maxim than to any semblance of Christ-likeness.” But Paul wrote that, our Lord Jesus Christ…will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.³³ The Greek word translated will sustain was βεβαιώσει, a 3^rd person singular form of βεβαιόω in the future tense, active voice and indicative mood: “to establish, strengthen, stabilize, make firm, confirm, secure, warrant, make good.” The word translated you was the plural ὑμᾶς, so I assume Paul meant individuals rather than the Corinthian church as a singular collective.

Everything I’m complaining about in my self-assessment happened after I said a sinner’s prayer to Jesus. Some of it after I returned from atheism. What hurts the most is the more recent events in my forties and fifties when I thought I was doing better. At the very time when 1 Corinthians 7 and Ephesians 5 should have been my daily meditation, I ignored them and became anxious about worldly things, how to please [my] wife,³⁴ and I should’ve known better—but, clearly, I didn’t. During this study, as my failure to understand the love owed to my wife was brought to my attention (how many years after the fact?), I moaned, “Why don’t You just kill me, and be done with it?”

That wouldn’t really accomplish anything from God’s perspective: for all live to him.³⁵ So I suck it up and appropriate Paul’s words as my own, finding hope and comfort (even fellowship) in them (1 Timothy 1:15, 16 ESV):

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life [Table].

I left a sermon on the first chapter of 1 Peter recently, disgruntled. Peter is not my favorite writer, though my Pastor is beginning to help overcome that antipathy in me. The text was: Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.³⁶ I left the worship service that afternoon mumbling something about, “pie in the sky bye and bye.” It took me a day or so to put my disgruntled feelings into words.

But when I finally expressed myself honestly…

No, thank you. I’ll put my hope fully on the grace that is brought to me new every morning, the fruit of Your Spirit: Your love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

…the Lord’s answer was immediate:

Why do you hope for what you already see?

There wasn’t much left for me to say:

Duh, because I’m an idiot?

And so He corrected my misunderstanding.

Any time I compare myself to Jesus, I come up short. And the appointed time has grown very short³⁷ for that gap to be closed before I see Him face to face. Here is real hope: to set [my] hope fully on the grace that will be brought to [me] at the revelation of Jesus Christ. For now, I keep following Him through the Scripture, all too aware that those who have suffered the most from this gap are those whom I have loved and continue to love (e.g., because I do it so poorly).

I’ll pick this up in another essay. The table mentioned above follows.

Occurrences of πάντας in 1 Corinthians
Reference	NET Parallel Greek	ESV
1 Corinthians 7:7	θέλω δὲ πάντας ἀνθρώπους εἶναι ὡς καὶ ἐμαυτόν	I wish that all were as I myself am.
1 Corinthians 14:5	θέλω δὲ πάντας ὑμᾶς λαλεῖν γλώσσαις	Now I want you all to speak in tongues,
1 Corinthians 15:25	ἄχρι οὗ θῇ πάντας τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ	until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

Tables comparing Genesis 20:2; 20:4; 20:5; 20:6; Exodus 21:28 and 21:29 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and tables comparing the Greek of Genesis 20:2; 20:4; 20:5; 20:6; Exodus 21:28 and 21:29 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor), and tables comparing 1 Corinthians 7:7; Ephesians 5:25; Matthew 27:4; 1 Corinthians 7:28 and 7:31-35 in the NET and KJV follow.

Genesis 20:2 (Tanakh)	Genesis 20:2 (KJV)	Genesis 20:2 (NET)
And Abraham said of Sarah his wife: ‘She is my sister.’ And Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.	And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.	Abraham said about his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent for Sarah and took her.

Genesis 20:2 (Septuagint BLB)	Genesis 20:2 (Septuagint Elpenor)
εἶπεν δὲ Αβρααμ περὶ Σαρρας τῆς γυναικὸς αὐτοῦ ὅτι ἀδελφή μού ἐστιν ἐφοβήθη γὰρ εἰπεῖν ὅτι γυνή μού ἐστιν μήποτε ἀποκτείνωσιν αὐτὸν οἱ ἄνδρες τῆς πόλεως δι᾽ αὐτήν ἀπέστειλεν δὲ Αβιμελεχ βασιλεὺς Γεραρων καὶ ἔλαβεν τὴν Σαρραν	εἶπε δὲ ῾Αβραὰμ περὶ Σάρρας τῆς γυναικὸς αὐτοῦ, ὅτι ἀδελφή μου ἐστίν· ἐφοβήθη γὰρ εἰπεῖν ὅτι γυνή μου ἐστί, μή ποτε ἀποκτείνωσιν αὐτὸν οἱ ἄνδρες τῆς πόλεως δι᾿ αὐτήν. ἀπέστειλε δὲ ᾿Αβιμέλεχ, βασιλεὺς Γεράρων, καὶ ἔλαβε τὴν Σάρραν
Genesis 20:2 (NETS)	Genesis 20:2 (English Elpenor)
And Abraam said of his wife Sarra, “She is my sister,” lest perhaps the men of the city kill him on her account. Then Abimelech king of Gerara sent and took Sarra.	And Abraam said concerning Sarrha his wife, She is my sister, for he feared to say, She is my wife, lest at any time the men of the city should kill him for her sake. So Abimelech king of Gerara sent and took Sarrha.

Genesis 20:4 (Tanakh)	Genesis 20:4 (KJV)	Genesis 20:4 (NET)
Now Abimelech had not come near her; and he said: ‘L-rd, wilt Thou slay even a righteous nation?	But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation?	Now Abimelech had not gone near her. He said, “Lord, would you really slaughter an innocent nation?

Genesis 20:4 (Septuagint BLB)	Genesis 20:4 (Septuagint Elpenor)
Αβιμελεχ δὲ οὐχ ἥψατο αὐτῆς καὶ εἶπεν κύριε ἔθνος ἀγνοοῦν καὶ δίκαιον ἀπολεῖς	᾿Αβιμέλεχ δὲ οὐχ ἥψατο αὐτῆς καὶ εἶπε· Κύριε, ἔθνος ἀγνοοῦν καὶ δίκαιον ἀπολεῖς
Genesis 20:4 (NETS)	Genesis 20:4 (English Elpenor)
Now Abimelech had not touched her, and he said, “Lord, will you destroy an unwitting and righteous nation?	But Abimelech had not touched her, and he said, Lord, wilt thou destroy an ignorantly [sinning] and just nation?

Genesis 20:5 (Tanakh)	Genesis 20:5 (KJV)	Genesis 20:5 (NET)
Said he not himself unto me: She is my sister? and she, even she herself said: He is my brother. In the simplicity of my heart and the innocency of my hands have I done this.’	Said he not unto me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this.	Did Abraham not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ I have done this with a clear conscience and with innocent hands!”

Genesis 20:5 (Septuagint BLB)	Genesis 20:5 (Septuagint Elpenor)
οὐκ αὐτός μοι εἶπεν ἀδελφή μού ἐστιν καὶ αὐτή μοι εἶπεν ἀδελφός μού ἐστιν ἐν καθαρᾷ καρδίᾳ καὶ ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ χειρῶν ἐποίησα τοῦτο	οὐκ αὐτός μοι εἶπεν, ἀδελφή μου ἐστί; καὶ αὕτη μοι εἶπεν, ἀδελφός μου ἐστίν; ἐν καθαρᾷ καρδίᾳ καὶ ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ χειρῶν ἐποίησα τοῦτο
Genesis 20:5 (NETS)	Genesis 20:5 (English Elpenor)
Did not he himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said to me, ‘He is my brother’. I did this with a pure heart and righteousness of hands.”	Said he not to me, She is my sister, and said she not to me, He is my brother? with a pure heart and in the righteousness of my hands have I done this.

Genesis 20:6 (Tanakh)	Genesis 20:6 (KJV)	Genesis 20:6 (NET)
And G-d said unto him in the dream: ‘Yea, I know that in the simplicity of thy heart thou hast done this, and I also withheld thee from sinning against Me. Therefore suffered I thee not to touch her.	And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her.	Then in the dream God replied to him, “Yes, I know that you have done this with a clear conscience. That is why I have kept you from sinning against me and why I did not allow you to touch her.

Genesis 20:6 (Septuagint BLB)	Genesis 20:6 (Septuagint Elpenor)
εἶπεν δὲ αὐτῷ ὁ θεὸς καθ᾽ ὕπνον κἀγὼ ἔγνων ὅτι ἐν καθαρᾷ καρδίᾳ ἐποίησας τοῦτο καὶ ἐφεισάμην ἐγώ σου τοῦ μὴ ἁμαρτεῖν σε εἰς ἐμέ ἕνεκεν τούτου οὐκ ἀφῆκά σε ἅψασθαι αὐτῆς	λίγο εἶπε δὲ αὐτῷ ὁ Θεὸς καθ᾿ ὕπνον· κἀγὼ ἔγνων ὅτι ἐν καθαρᾷ καρδίᾳ ἐποίησας τοῦτο, καὶ ἐφεισάμην σου τοῦ μὴ ἁμαρτεῖν σε εἰς ἐμέ· ἕνεκα τούτου οὐκ ἀφῆκά σε ἅψασθαι αὐτῆς
Genesis 20:6 (NETS)	Genesis 20:6 (English Elpenor)
Then God said to him during his sleep, “I too knew that you did this with a pure heart, and I was the one who spared you so that you did not sin in regard to me. Therefore I did not allow you to touch her.	And God said to him in sleep, Yea, I knew that thou didst this with a pure heart, and I spared thee, so that thou shouldest not sin against me, therefore I suffered thee not to touch her.

Exodus 21:28 (Tanakh)	Exodus 21:28 (KJV)	Exodus 21:28 (NET)
And if an ox gore a man or a woman, that they die, the ox shall be surely stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be quit.	If an ox gore a man or a woman, that they die: then the ox shall be surely stoned, and his flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be quit.	“If an ox gores a man or a woman so that either dies, then the ox must surely be stoned and its flesh must not be eaten, but the owner of the ox will be acquitted.

Exodus 21:28 (Septuagint BLB)	Exodus 21:28 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐὰν δὲ κερατίσῃ ταῦρος ἄνδρα ἢ γυναῖκα καὶ ἀποθάνῃ λίθοις λιθοβοληθήσεται ὁ ταῦρος καὶ οὐ βρωθήσεται τὰ κρέα αὐτοῦ ὁ δὲ κύριος τοῦ ταύρου ἀθῷος ἔσται	᾿Εὰν δὲ κερατίσῃ ταῦρος ἄνδρα ἢ γυναῖκα καὶ ἀποθάνῃ, λίθοις λιθοβοληθήσεται ὁ ταῦρος, καὶ οὐ βρωθήσεται τὰ κρέα αὐτοῦ· ὁ δὲ κύριος τοῦ ταύρου ἀθῷος ἔσται
Exodus 21:28 (NETS)	Exodus 21:28 (English Elpenor)
Now if a bull gores a man or a woman and he dies, the bull shall be stoned with stones, and its meat shall not be eaten, but the owner of the bull shall not be liable.	And if a bull gore a man or woman and they die, the bull shall be stoned with stones, and his flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the bull shall be clear.

Exodus 21:29 (Tanakh)	Exodus 21:29 (KJV)	Exodus 21:29 (NET)
But if the ox was wont to gore in time past, and warning hath been given to its owner, and he hath not kept it in, but it hath killed a man or a woman; the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death.	But if the ox were wont to push with his horn in time past, and it hath been testified to his owner, and he hath not kept him in, but that he hath killed a man or a woman; the ox shall be stoned, and his owner also shall be put to death.	But if the ox had the habit of goring, and its owner was warned but he did not take the necessary precautions, and then it killed a man or a woman, the ox must be stoned and the man must be put to death.

Exodus 21:29 (Septuagint BLB)	Exodus 21:29 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐὰν δὲ ὁ ταῦρος κερατιστὴς ᾖ πρὸ τῆς ἐχθὲς καὶ πρὸ τῆς τρίτης καὶ διαμαρτύρωνται τῷ κυρίῳ αὐτοῦ καὶ μὴ ἀφανίσῃ αὐτόν ἀνέλῃ δὲ ἄνδρα ἢ γυναῖκα ὁ ταῦρος λιθοβοληθήσεται καὶ ὁ κύριος αὐτοῦ προσαποθανεῖται	ἐὰν δὲ ὁ ταῦρος κερατιστὴς ᾖ πρὸ τῆς χθὲς καὶ πρὸ τῆς τρίτης, καὶ διαμαρτύρωνται τῷ κυρίῳ αὐτοῦ, καὶ μὴ ἀφανίσῃ αὐτόν, ἀνέλῃ δὲ ἄνδρα ἢ γυναῖκα, ὁ ταῦρος λιθοβοληθήσεται καὶ ὁ κύριος αὐτοῦ προσαποθανεῖται
Exodus 21:29 (NETS)	Exodus 21:29 (English Elpenor)
But if the bull was prone to gore before yesterday and before the third day and they warn its owner and he does not restrain it and it kills a man or a woman, the bull shall be stoned, and its owner shall die as well.	But if the bull should have been given to goring in former time, and men should have told his owner, and he have not removed him, but he should have slain a man or woman, the bull shall be stoned, and his owner shall die also.

1 Corinthians 7:7 (NET)	1 Corinthians 7:7 (KJV)
I wish that everyone was as I am. But each has his own gift from God, one this way, another that.	For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that.

1 Corinthians 7:7 (NET Parallel Greek)	1 Corinthians 7:7 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	1 Corinthians 7:7 (Byzantine Majority Text)
θέλω δὲ πάντας ἀνθρώπους εἶναι ὡς καὶ ἐμαυτόν· ἀλλὰ ἕκαστος ἴδιον ἔχει χάρισμα ἐκ θεοῦ, ὁ μὲν οὕτως, ὁ δὲ οὕτως	θελω γαρ παντας ανθρωπους ειναι ως και εμαυτον αλλ εκαστος ιδιον χαρισμα εχει εκ θεου ος μεν ουτως ος δε ουτως	θελω γαρ παντας ανθρωπους ειναι ως και εμαυτον αλλ εκαστος ιδιον χαρισμα εχει εκ θεου ος μεν ουτως ος δε ουτως

Ephesians 5:25 (NET)	Ephesians 5:25 (KJV)
Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her	Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

Ephesians 5:25 (NET Parallel Greek)	Ephesians 5:25 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	Ephesians 5:25 (Byzantine Majority Text)
Οἱ ἄνδρες, ἀγαπᾶτε τὰς γυναῖκας, καθὼς καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς ἠγάπησεν τὴν ἐκκλησίαν καὶ ἑαυτὸν παρέδωκεν ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς	οι ανδρες αγαπατε τας γυναικας εαυτων καθως και ο χριστος ηγαπησεν την εκκλησιαν και εαυτον παρεδωκεν υπερ αυτης	οι ανδρες αγαπατε τας γυναικας εαυτων καθως και ο χριστος ηγαπησεν την εκκλησιαν και εαυτον παρεδωκεν υπερ αυτης

Matthew 27:4 (NET)	Matthew 27:4 (KJV)
saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood!” But they said, “What is that to us? You take care of it yourself!”	Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.

Matthew 27:4 (NET Parallel Greek)	Matthew 27:4 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	Matthew 27:4 (Byzantine Majority Text)
λέγων· ἥμαρτον παραδοὺς αἷμα \|ἀθῷον\|. οἱ δὲ εἶπαν· τί πρὸς ἡμᾶς; σὺ ὄψῃ	λεγων ημαρτον παραδους αιμα αθωον οι δε ειπον τι προς ημας συ οψει	λεγων ημαρτον παραδους αιμα αθωον οι δε ειπον τι προς ημας συ οψει

1 Corinthians 7:28 (NET)	1 Corinthians 7:28 (KJV)
But if you marry, you have not sinned. And if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face difficult circumstances, and I am trying to spare you such problems.	But and if thou marry, thou hast not sinned; and if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned. Nevertheless such shall have trouble in the flesh: but I spare you.

1 Corinthians 7:28 (NET Parallel Greek)	1 Corinthians 7:28 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	1 Corinthians 7:28 (Byzantine Majority Text)
ἐὰν δὲ καὶ γαμήσῃς, οὐχ ἥμαρτες, καὶ ἐὰν γήμῃ \|ἡ\| παρθένος, οὐχ ἥμαρτεν· θλῖψιν δὲ τῇ σαρκὶ ἕξουσιν οἱ τοιοῦτοι, ἐγὼ δὲ ὑμῶν φείδομαι	εαν δε και γημης ουχ ημαρτες και εαν γημη η παρθενος ουχ ημαρτεν θλιψιν δε τη σαρκι εξουσιν οι τοιουτοι εγω δε υμων φειδομαι	εαν δε και γημης ουχ ημαρτες και εαν γημη η παρθενος ουχ ημαρτεν θλιψιν δε τη σαρκι εξουσιν οι τοιουτοι εγω δε υμων φειδομαι

1 Corinthians 7:31-35 (NET)	1 Corinthians 7:31-35 (KJV)
those who use the world as though they were not using it to the full. For the present shape of this world is passing away.	And they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away.

1 Corinthians 7:31 (NET Parallel Greek)	1 Corinthians 7:31 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	1 Corinthians 7:31 (Byzantine Majority Text)
καὶ οἱ χρώμενοι τὸν κόσμον ὡς μὴ καταχρώμενοι· παράγει γὰρ τὸ σχῆμα τοῦ κόσμου τούτου	και οι χρωμενοι τω κοσμω τουτω ως μη καταχρωμενοι παραγει γαρ το σχημα του κοσμου τουτου	και οι χρωμενοι τω κοσμω τουτω ως μη καταχρωμενοι παραγει γαρ το σχημα του κοσμου τουτου

And I want you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord.

But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord:

1 Corinthians 7:32 (NET Parallel Greek)	1 Corinthians 7:32 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	1 Corinthians 7:32 (Byzantine Majority Text)
Θέλω δὲ ὑμᾶς ἀμερίμνους εἶναι. ὁ ἄγαμος μεριμνᾷ τὰ τοῦ κυρίου, πῶς ἀρέσῃ τῷ κυρίῳ·	θελω δε υμας αμεριμνους ειναι ο αγαμος μεριμνα τα του κυριου πως αρεσει τω κυριω	θελω δε υμας αμεριμνους ειναι ο αγαμος μεριμνα τα του κυριου πως αρεσει τω κυριω

But a married man is concerned about the things of the world, how to please his wife,

But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife.

1 Corinthians 7:33 (NET Parallel Greek)	1 Corinthians 7:33 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	1 Corinthians 7:33 (Byzantine Majority Text)
ὁ δὲ γαμήσας μεριμνᾷ τὰ τοῦ κόσμου, πῶς ἀρέσῃ τῇ γυναικί	ο δε γαμησας μεριμνα τα του κοσμου πως αρεσει τη γυναικι	ο δε γαμησας μεριμνα τα του κοσμου πως αρεσει τη γυναικι

and he is divided. An unmarried woman or a virgin is concerned about the things of the Lord, to be holy both in body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the things of the world, how to please her husband.

There is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband.

1 Corinthians 7:34 (NET Parallel Greek)	1 Corinthians 7:34 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	1 Corinthians 7:34 (Byzantine Majority Text)
καὶ μεμέρισται. καὶ ἡ γυνὴ ἡ ἄγαμος καὶ ἡ παρθένος μεριμνᾷ τὰ τοῦ κυρίου, ἵνα ᾖ ἁγία \|καὶ\| τῷ σώματι καὶ τῷ πνεύματι· ἡ δὲ γαμήσασα μεριμνᾷ τὰ τοῦ κόσμου, πῶς ἀρέσῃ τῷ ἀνδρί	μεμερισται η γυνη και η παρθενος η αγαμος μεριμνα τα του κυριου ινα η αγια και σωματι και πνευματι η δε γαμησασα μεριμνα τα του κοσμου πως αρεσει τω ανδρι	μεμερισται και η γυνη και η παρθενος η αγαμος μεριμνα τα του κυριου ινα η αγια και σωματι και πνευματι η δε γαμησασα μεριμνα τα του κοσμου πως αρεσει τω ανδρι

I am saying this for your benefit, not to place a limitation on you, but so that without distraction you may give notable and constant service to the Lord.

And this I speak for your own profit; not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is comely, and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction.

1 Corinthians 7:35 (NET Parallel Greek)	1 Corinthians 7:35 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	1 Corinthians 7:35 (Byzantine Majority Text)
τοῦτο δὲ πρὸς τὸ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν σύμφορον λέγω, οὐχ ἵνα βρόχον ὑμῖν ἐπιβάλω ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὸ εὔσχημον καὶ εὐπάρεδρον τῷ κυρίῳ ἀπερισπάστως	τουτο δε προς το υμων αυτων συμφερον λεγω ουχ ινα βροχον υμιν επιβαλω αλλα προς το ευσχημον και ευπροσεδρον τω κυριω απερισπαστως	τουτο δε προς το υμων αυτων συμφερον λεγω ουχ ινα βροχον υμιν επιβαλω αλλα προς το ευσχημον και ευπροσεδρον τω κυριω απερισπαστως

Christianity, Part 12

Back to Christianity, Part 13

¹ John 12:32 (ESV)

² The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had δὲ (not translated in the NET) near the beginning of this clause, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had γαρ (KJV: For).

³ The NET parallel Greek text had the conjunction ἀλλὰ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus, Byzantine Majority Text and NA²⁸ had ἀλλ᾽.

⁴ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had the article ὁ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had the relative pronoun ος.

⁵ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had the article ὁ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had the relative pronoun ος.

⁶ 1 Corinthians 7:1a (ESV) Table

⁷ “Pagan religions of the ancient Mediterranean,” celibacy, Britannica

⁸ Genesis 20:4 (Tanakh)

⁹ Genesis 20:4 (NETS, English Elpenor)

¹⁰ Genesis 20:6 (NETS)

¹¹ Genesis 20:2 (NETS, English Elpenor)

¹² Genesis 20:3 (NETS, English Elpenor) Table

¹³ Genesis 20:3b (NETS) Table

¹⁴ Genesis 20:3b (English Elpenor) Table

¹⁵ The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had εαυτων here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

¹⁶ Ephesians 5:25-28 (ESV)

¹⁷ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ὄψῃ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had οψει (KJV: see…to that).

¹⁸ Matthew 27:4b (NASB)

¹⁹ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had γαμήσῃς here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had γημης (KJV: thou marry).

²⁰ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had τὸν κόσμον here in the accusative case, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had τω κοσμω τουτω (KJV: this world) in the dative case.

²¹ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ἀρέσῃ here in the subjunctive mood and aorist tense, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had αρεσει (KJV: he may please) in the indicative mood and future tense.

²² The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ἀρέσῃ here in the subjunctive mood and aorist tense, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had αρεσει (KJV: he may please) in the indicative mood and future tense.

²³ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had καὶ μεμέρισται (NET: and he is divided) here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had simply μεμερισται (KJV: There is difference also between).

²⁴ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had καὶ ἡ γυνὴ ἡ ἄγαμος καὶ ἡ παρθένος (NET: An unmarried woman or a virgin) here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had η γυνη και η παρθενος η αγαμος (KJV: a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman).

²⁵ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had the article τῷ preceding body. The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

²⁶ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had the article τῷ preceding spirit. The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

²⁷ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ἀρέσῃ here in the subjunctive mood and aorist tense, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had αρεσει (KJV: she may please) in the indicative mood and future tense.

²⁸ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had the noun σύμφορον here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had συμφερον (KJV: profit), a participle of the verb συμφέρω.

²⁹ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had εὐπάρεδρον here, a form of εὐπάρεδρος, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ευπροσεδρον (KJV: that ye may attend upon), a form of εὐπρόσεδρος.

³⁰ 1 Corinthians 1:18b (ESV)

³¹ John 3:6a (ESV)

³² Romans 3:10b-18 (ESV)

³³ 1 Corinthians 1:7b, 8 (ESV)

³⁴ 1 Corinthians 7:33b (ESV)

³⁵ Luke 20:38b (ESV)

³⁶ 1 Peter 1:13 (ESV)

³⁷ 1 Corinthians 7:29a (ESV)

Christianity, Part 1

Posted on November 9, 2022 by admin

It’s not possible to “distinguish the mind of Christ from the ordinary religious mind” without broaching the subject of Christianity, yet I’ve hesitated to do so directly. Recently, however, I quoted For God has consigned all people to disobedience so that he may show mercy to them all¹ with no comment whatsoever. I didn’t need to comment. I’ve studied the Greek enough now that I no longer pay any attention to the English translation.

Later, I had to go back and link show mercy to them all to a discussion of “the subjunctive mood…in a purpose or result clause” in Greek. While I appreciate that the Greek word is ἐλεήσῃ (“he may show”) not ἐλεήσει (“he will show”), the meaning is that He will show mercy to all. Or, if I want to be more mindful of the aorist tense, it looks to a moment when God will have shown mercy to all as an actual, factual moment in time.

In English, however, he may show mercy to them all means: 1) that God has permission to show mercy to them all; or something equally meaningless, 2) He might show mercy to them all or He might not. So I began to wonder: What is the point of translating the New Testament from Greek into English for the benefit and approval of those who already know the Greek, rather than for the enlightenment and edification of those who do not?

I recalled another instance where the NET translators did render aorist subjunctive verbs as if they were future indicative verbs: every knee will bow (κάμψῃ)…and every tongue confess (ἐξομολογήσηται), rather than every knee [may] bow…and every tongue [may] confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Romans 11:32 (NET Parallel Greek)	Philippians 2:9-11 (NET Parallel Greek)
συνέκλεισεν γὰρ ὁ θεὸς τοὺς πάντας εἰς ἀπείθειαν, ἵνα τοὺς πάντας ἐλεήσῃ	διὸ καὶ ὁ θεὸς αὐτὸν ὑπερύψωσεν καὶ ἐχαρίσατο αὐτῷ τὸ ὄνομα τὸ ὑπὲρ πᾶν ὄνομα, ἵνα ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ πᾶν γόνυ κάμψῃ ἐπουρανίων καὶ ἐπιγείων καὶ καταχθονίων καὶ πᾶσα γλῶσσα ἐξομολογήσηται ὅτι κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς εἰς δόξαν θεοῦ πατρός
Romans 11:32 (NET)	Philippians 2:9-11 (NET)
For God has consigned all people to disobedience so that he may show mercy to them all.	As a result God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow—in heaven and on earth and under the earth—and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Now both of these passages seem to be describing essentially the same thing. I can even hear the former as a cause of the latter. But I remember when I understood the latter as a demonstration of brute force, much like when Voldemort forced Harry Potter to bow before he attempted to murder him in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Divorced from its context the idea that God will show mercy to all hardly seems controversial. But in context the mercy shown to all is nothing less than salvation: So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.²

Jesus said (John 15:7-11 ESV):

If you abide (μείνητε, a form of μένω) in me, and my words abide (μείνῃ, another form of μένω) in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples [Table]. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide (μείνατε, another form of μένω) in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide (μενεῖτε, another form of μένω) in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide (μένω) in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be³ in you, and that your joy may be full.

It would be wonderful if Christianity were synonymous with abiding in Christ and his words abiding in us, but Christianity means many other things. Comedian Bill Burr had a church quip that became an internet meme and can elicit at least a chuckle even from churchgoers:

God’s everywhere, but I gotta go down to (church) to see him? And he’s mad at me down there, and I owe you money?

To the ordinary religious mind the lands and buildings, the administrative hierarchies and religious rituals, the rules and regulations of Christianity may seem more real and tangible than abiding in Christ and his words abiding in us. For my purposes in these essays abiding in Christ and his words abiding in us is the real and tangible while all other aspects of Christianity are human abstractions, peripheral, when they are not inimical, to abiding in Christ and his words abiding in us.

Fair or not Paul gets a lot of the blame or a lot of the credit for Christianity. So his letter to the Romans seems like a good place to start (Romans 2:1-16 ESV):

Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things [Romans 1:18-32]. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed [Table].

He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury [Table]. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality [Table].

For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified [Table]. For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law [Table]. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

I want to focus a moment, acknowledging that this might should be thought of as a continuation of Paul’s rhetorical question, another thing his reader might not be knowing: Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance [b]ut because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed?⁴

Who has this hard and impenitent heart? Those who are in the flesh cannot please God,⁵ Paul wrote. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again,’⁶ Jesus told Nicodemus. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.⁷

Paul explained why [t]hose who are in the flesh cannot please God: 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.⁸ He had already come to the following conclusion about himself: So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.⁹

With this as background I want to turn my attention to Jesus’ words about that day when, according to [Paul’s] gospel (εὐαγγέλιον), God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.¹⁰ He said (Matthew 25:31-46 ESV):

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people (αὐτοὺς, a form of αὐτός; literally: themselves) one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats [Table]. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me’ [Table]. Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ [Table] And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ [Table] Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

So, what kind of people are all the nations gathered before the throne of the Son of Man? My religious mind has imagined that they are the righteous on Jesus’ right and the wicked on his left. The trouble with that idea is that There is no one righteous.¹¹ I turn again to Paul (Romans 3:10-18 ESV):

“None is righteous, no, not one [Table]; no one understands; no one seeks for God [Table]. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one” [Table] [Table]. “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips” [Table]. “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness” [Table]. “Their feet are swift to shed blood [Table]; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known” [Table]. “There is no fear of God before their eyes” [Table].

If none is righteous, who could or should receive this amazing grace of Jesus? Jesus said that his Father made that decision: No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws (ἑλκύσῃ, a form of ἑλκύω) him.¹² So now I can imagine that some of the people gathered before the throne of the Son of Man are those God the Father chose not to draw to Jesus, while others are those He chose to draw. And those He chose to draw would be more like Paul: I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.¹³

Of course, Jesus promised that after He died as the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for our sins but also for the whole world,¹⁴ He will draw all…to [Himself]: And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.¹⁵ So now, if Jesus’ words abide in me I am compelled to imagine that everyone gathered before the throne of the Son of Man has been drawn to Jesus, that everyone standing there is more like Paul: I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.¹⁶

Jesus had already hinted at this outcome: It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me—¹⁷ But here, my Christianity wants to argue and debate. So here I must decide Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen (ἀκούειν, a form of ἀκούω) to [my Christianity] rather than to God.¹⁸

A table comparing John 15:11 in the NET and KJV follows:

John 15:11 (NET)	John 15:11 (KJV)
I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be complete.	These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

NET Parallel Greek Text	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
Ταῦτα λελάληκα ὑμῖν ἵνα ἡ χαρὰ ἡ ἐμὴ ἐν ὑμῖν ᾖ καὶ ἡ χαρὰ ὑμῶν πληρωθῇ	ταυτα λελαληκα υμιν ινα η χαρα η εμη εν υμιν μεινη και η χαρα υμων πληρωθη	ταυτα λελαληκα υμιν ινα η χαρα η εμη εν υμιν μεινη και η χαρα υμων πληρωθη

Christianity, Part 2

Back to Wonders and False Wonders, Part 3

Back to A Shadow of the Good Things, Part 10

¹ Romans 11:32 (NET)

² Romans 9:16 (ESV) Table

³ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ᾖ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had μεινη (KJV: might remain).

⁴ Romans 2:4, 5 (ESV) Table

⁵ Romans 8:8 (ESV)

⁶ John 3:7 (ESV)

⁷ John 3:6 (ESV)

⁸ Romans 8:7 (ESV)

⁹ Romans 7:25b (ESV) Table

¹⁰ Romans 2:16 (ESV)

¹¹ Romans 3:10a (NET)

¹² John 6:44a (ESV) Table

¹³ Romans 7:25b (ESV)

¹⁴ 1 John 2:2 (NET)

¹⁵ John 12:32 (ESV)

¹⁶ Romans 7:25b (ESV)

¹⁷ John 6:45 (ESV) Table

¹⁸ Acts 4:19b (ESV)

Romans, Part 91

Posted on January 13, 2019 by admin

Now I urge you, Paul wrote believers in Rome, to watch out for those who create dissensions and obstacles contrary to the teaching that you learned. Avoid^[1] them!^[2] The Greek word translated to watch out was σκοπεῖν (a form of σκοπέω). Jesus said (Luke 11:33-36 NET):

No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a hidden place^[3] or under a basket, but on a lampstand, so that those who come in can see the light.^[4] Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is diseased, your body is full of darkness. Therefore see to it (σκόπει, another form of σκοπέω) that the light in you is not darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, with no part in the dark, it will be as full of light as when the light of a lamp shines on you.

So much of the light in me has been darkness because I’ve mistrusted Jesus so often and misunderstood his teaching. I can’t say now if I learned the teaching I was taught by others or misunderstood them, too. A pastor stressed with one accord in a sermon I heard recently: When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord^[5] in one place.^[6] As I listened I realized that in the past I may have learned that the Holy Spirit came because the disciples were with one accord, or may not have come if the disciples had not been with one accord.

The pastor transitioned from with one accord (ομοθυμαδον) to a discussion of the importance of unity. I’m not saying he was wrong to do that. Being with one accord sounds a lot like the English word unity to me, too. Here is a list of some of the Greek words translated unity in English Bibles: ἑνότητα, ἓν, συμβιβαζόμενον, σύνδεσμος and μία. And I used the word some because I only searched the eleven English language Bibles contained in my Bible software. So as a practical matter, not to stray too far afield, I’ll stick to with one accord.

Now I know that being with one accord as some work of the flesh (since the Holy Spirit had not yet been given), or as a righteousness of our own derived from some rules about how to be with one accord, could not be a prerequisite to receiving the Holy Spirit. Being with one accord or of one mind comes from the fruit of the Spirit, and an open-ended forgiveness of one another. And so I’m content not knowing the pastor’s teaching on this particular point since it is up to me to see to it that the light in [me] is not darkness.

“But Pastor so-and-so said,” won’t fly at the judgment seat of Christ. Jesus knows everything his Holy Spirit has done to guide [us] into all truth. And this particular pastor, to his credit, likened his own preaching to a local buffet restaurant: a lot of variety, not necessarily the best food and certainly not sufficient to sustain anyone throughout an entire week. He encouraged Bible reading (which I instinctively translated Bible study) outside of the Sunday service. I, for instance, didn’t recall that ομοθυμαδον (with one accord) may not have been original to Luke in Acts, until I studied the verse again at home.

For our momentary, light suffering is producing for us an eternal weight of glory, Paul wrote believers in Corinth, far beyond all comparison because we are not looking at (σκοπούντων, another form of σκοπέω) what can be seen but at what cannot be seen. For what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.^[7] I admit that to watch out as a translation of σκοπεῖν (a form of σκοπέω) seemed like an emotional flee-for-your-lives kind of thing. But looking at calms me that σκοπέω means more than a casual or fearful glance. And the context—we are not looking at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen—reminds me to consider more than my initial reaction: “That’s not what I think I know!”

Ultimately, those who create dissensions and obstacles contrary to the teaching that you learned are to be avoided. In other words, I will decide that God did not bring such people into my life for my benefit. Perhaps I should pay close attention (σκοπῶν, another form of σκοπέω) to them and to the teaching before arriving at that conclusion (Galatians 6:1 NET Table):

Brothers and sisters, if a person is discovered in some sin, you who are spiritual restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness. Pay close attention (σκοπῶν, another form of σκοπέω) to yourselves, so that you are not tempted too.

Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, Paul wrote believers in Philippi, any comfort provided by love, any fellowship in the Spirit, any^[8] affection or mercy, complete my joy and be of the same mind, by having the same love, being united in spirit, and having one purpose. Instead of being motivated by^[9] selfish ambition or^[10] vanity, each of you should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself. Each of you should be concerned^[11] (σκοποῦντες, another form of σκοπέω) not only about your own interests, but about the interests of others^[12] as well.^[13] To watch out (σκοπεῖν, a form of σκοπέω) for those who create dissensions and obstacles contrary to the teaching that you learned clearly entails being concerned (σκοποῦντες, another form of σκοπέω) about their interests as well as my own.

Be imitators of me, Paul continued, and watch carefully (σκοπεῖτε, another form of σκοπέω) those who are living this way,^[14] just as you have us as an example.^[15] He described this way in some detail (Philippians 3:8-11, 12b, 13b-15 NET):

I now regard all things as liabilities compared to the far greater value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things – indeed, I regard them as dung!^[16] – that I may gain Christ, and be found in him, not because I have my own righteousness derived from the law, but because I have the righteousness that comes by way of Christ’s faithfulness – a righteousness from God that is in fact based on Christ’s faithfulness. My aim is to know him, to experience the power of his resurrection, to share in his sufferings, and to be like^[17] him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from^[18] the dead…

I strive to lay hold of that for which Christ^[19] Jesus also laid hold of me…

Forgetting the things that are behind and reaching out for the things that are ahead, with this goal in mind, I strive toward^[20] the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore let those of us who are “perfect” embrace this point of view. If you think otherwise, God will reveal to you the error of your ways.

I confess that I try to create a space where it is God who reveals to others the error of their ways. That seems so much more important than putting them into a position where they must submit to me. Nevertheless, Paul concluded, let us live up to the standard that we have already attained.^[21] And he was fairly explicit why this way should be so carefully watched (Philippians 3:18, 19 NET):

For many live, about whom I have often told you, and now, with tears, I tell you that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is the belly, they exult in their shame, and they think about earthly things.

So who were believers in Rome to watch out for, who were they looking at, paying close attention to, being concerned for and watching carefully? Those who create dissensions and obstacles contrary to the teaching that [they] learned. The Greek word translated who create dissensions was διχοστασίας (a form of διχοστασία). Paul wrote believers in Corinth (1 Corinthians 3:3b-7 NKJV):

For where there are envy, strife, and divisions^[22] (διχοστασίαι, another form of διχοστασία) among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not^[23] carnal?^[24]

Who^[25] then is Paul, and who^[26] is Apollos, but^[27] ministers^[28] through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? I planted, Apollos watered, but^[29] God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.

So those who create dissensions have attached themselves to a local church for some reason but are led by the flesh rather than the Holy Spirit. There may be some question whether καὶ διχοστασίαι (NKJV: and divisions) was original here, but διχοστασίαι was clearly among those things listed as works of the flesh in Paul’s letter to believers in Galatia (Galatians 5:13-21^[30] NET):

For you were called to freedom (1 Corinthians 10:23-33), brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity to indulge your flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law can be summed up in a single commandment, namely, “You must love your neighbor as yourself.” However, if you continually bite and devour one another, beware that you are not consumed by one another. But I say, live by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to each other, so that you cannot do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, depravity, idolatry, sorcery, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish rivalries, dissensions (διχοστασίαι, another form of διχοστασία), factions, envying, murder, drunkenness, carousing, and similar things. I am warning you, as I had warned you before: Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God!

Paul concluded: Now those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.^[31] I no longer assume this means I will be immune to the passions and desires that result in the works of the flesh listed above. Sometimes these passions and desires must be endured as an unpleasant fact, not unlike enduring crucifixion, hanging naked on a cross unable to act on them. The real “cure,” here and now, is: live by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.

Some contemporary churches do a poor job of growing up believers who are led by the Spirit, who rely on that inexhaustible supply of God’s own love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control^[32] as a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.^[33] And here I begin to understand why the Holy Spirit stressed σκοπεῖν (a form of σκοπέω) as I began this study.

There is no law against the fruit of the Spirit. One led by the Holy Spirit, who is watching out for another who creates dissensions, and paying close attention to the teaching, may well eschew avoidance of that other. If one is informed by the Holy Spirit that the other has not yet learned how to be led by the Spirit, one may continue to act in love and kindness, goodness, faithfulness and gentleness, with joy, peace, patience and self-control toward the other who merely creates dissensions. If we live by the Spirit, let us also behave in accordance with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, being jealous of one another.^[34]

So I’ll turn my attention to those who create dissensions and obstacles contrary to the teaching that you learned. The Greek word translated obstacles was σκάνδαλα (a form of σκάνδαλον). Jesus’ explanation of the parable of the sower sets the tone for this consideration (Matthew 13:37-42 NET):

The one who sowed the good (καλὸν, a form of καλός) seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world and the good (καλὸν, a form of καλός) seed are the people of the kingdom. The poisonous weeds are the people of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the^[35] age, and the reapers are angels. As the poisonous weeds are collected and burned^[36] with fire, so it will be at the end of the^[37] age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather from his kingdom everything that causes sin (σκάνδαλα, a form of σκάνδαλον) as well as all lawbreakers. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

A note (64) in the NET stated that throw them into the fiery furnace was a quote from Daniel 3:6.

Matthew 13:42a (NET Parallel Greek)	Daniel 3:6b (Septuagint BLB)	Daniel 3:6b (Septuagint Elpenor)
βαλοῦσιν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν κάμινον τοῦ πυρός	ἐμβληθήσεται εἰς τὴν κάμινον τοῦ πυρὸς τὴν καιομένην	ἐμβληθήσεται εἰς τὴν κάμινον τοῦ πυρὸς τὴν καιομένην
Matthew 13:42 (NET)	Daniel 3:6b (NETS)	Daniel 3:6b (English Elpenor)
They will throw them into the fiery furnace	Will be thrown in the furnace blazing with fire	he shall be cast into the burning fiery furnace

Whatever the fiery furnace is, it is reserved for everything that causes sin (σκάνδαλα, a form of σκάνδαλον; KJV: things that offend) as well as all lawbreakers, poisonous weeds sown by the devil. Granted, these are in the world (κόσμος) rather than a local church (ἐκκλησία), but it does add some weight and definition to the kind and caliber of dissensions they create. But still, angels gather these poisonous weeds (ζιζάνια, a form of ζιζάνιον) at the end of the age since people here and now may uproot the wheat along with it.^[38]

I’ll consider the next occurrences of forms of σκάνδαλον together.

Matthew 18:6, 7 (NET)	Luke 17:1, 2 (NET)
But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin (σκανδαλίσῃ, a form of σκανδαλίζω), it would be better for him to have a huge millstone hung around^[39] his neck and to be drowned in the open sea.	Jesus said to his^[40] disciples, “Stumbling blocks (σκάνδαλα, a form of σκάνδαλον) are sure to come, but^[41] woe to the one through whom they come!
Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks (σκανδάλων, another form of σκάνδαλον)! It is^[42] necessary that stumbling blocks (σκάνδαλα, a form of σκάνδαλον) come, but woe to the^[43] person through whom they (σκάνδαλον) come.	It would be better for him to have a millstone^[44] tied around his neck and be thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin (σκανδαλίσῃ, a form of σκανδαλίζω).

Here, I’ll suggest that causes…to sin (KJV: shall offend) is so misleading a translation of σκανδαλίσῃ (likewise, causes sin as a translation of σκάνδαλα above) that it is probably wrong. Most in Israel stumbled over Jesus: They stumbled^[45] over the stumbling stone, just as it is written, “Look, I am laying in Zion a stone that will cause people to stumble and a rock that will make them fall (σκανδάλου, another form of σκάνδαλον; KJV: of offence), yet the one^[46] who believes in him will not be put to shame.”^[47] So you who believe see his value, but for those who do not believe,^[48] the stone^[49] that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, and a stumbling-stone and a rock to trip over (σκανδάλου, another form of σκάνδαλον).^[50] But I would be brazen indeed to suggest that Jesus caused Israel to sin. They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.^[51]

Forms of the verb σκανδαλίζω are what forms of the noun σκάνδαλον do. So the precise sin or offense described here is to cause one of these little ones who believe in Jesus to reject Him. Once again, the translators of the NET have recalled my religious milieu.

When I was a child, young women who got pregnant before marriage were secreted away and treated with varying degrees of contempt. I asked why. The answer was that they would cause other young women to sin. But which was more offensive, more conducive to unbelief? Young women proving that What is born of the flesh is flesh,^[52] or the way their Christian elders treated them? Now, with the threat of abortion, most are treated better. Wouldn’t it have been better to have shown them God’s own love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control in the first place rather than requiring such coercion? But we have another opportunity.

Same sex attraction (Romans 1:26, 27) is the wrath of God…revealed from heaven against^[53] those who have exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever!^[54] Many of our own children suffer his wrath in this way. So, we can blame them, shun them, excommunicate them, or we can love our children and turn our hearts and minds reverently and repentantly to God, trying to discover exactly what it is about our worship or pedagogy^[55] that has angered Him so. Jesus’ teaching continued:

Matthew 18:8, 9 (NET)	Luke 17:3, 4 (NET)
If your hand or your foot causes you to sin (σκανδαλίζει, another form of σκανδαλίζω; KJV: offend thee), cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire.	Watch yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him. If he repents, forgive him.
And if your eye causes you to sin (σκανδαλίζει, another form of σκανδαλίζω; KJV: offend thee), tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into fiery hell.	Even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times returns to you saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

I’ve had my own issue taking Jesus’ command to cut off a hand or foot and to tear out an eye too literally. After addressing his disciples collectively in verse 3 Jesus spoke individually to them in verse 4. The Greek word translated your in verses 8 and 9 is singular (σου) as are Ὂς (anyone) in verse 6 and οὗ (whom) in verse 7 continuing that individual address. He was not referencing offices (1 Corinthians 12:12-26) in a local church. I have heard it understood as a euphemistic reference to what one does, where one goes or what one sees, but I don’t plan to chase that particular rabbit in this essay.

My interest here is to contrast the ruthlessness of dealing with my own things that would turn faith away from Christ (my own faith or that of the little ones above) to the relative gentleness of dealing with others. Granted, the Greek word translated sins in If your brother sins was ἁμάρτῃ (a form of ἁμαρτάνω) rather than a form of σκανδαλίζω. And I have quoted it elsewhere as if it referred to generic sin. It is better perhaps to consider it in context as a reference to one who has caused one of these little ones to turn away from faith in Christ. As for the rebuke (ἐπιτίμησον, a form of ἐπιτιμάω) one would give such a sinner, I consider Peter’s rebuke of Jesus exemplary (Matthew 16:21-23 NET):

From that time on Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. So Peter took him aside and began to rebuke (ἐπιτιμᾶν, another form of ἐπιτιμάω) him: “God forbid, Lord! This must not happen to you!” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block (σκάνδαλον; KJV: an offence) to me,^[56] because you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but on man’s.”

Peter’s rebuke is exemplary as a warning because it was partially motivated by a misunderstanding of the Scriptures concerning the Messiah. It is important to pay very close attention to the teaching—God’s interests rather than man’s. And Peter’s rebuke was exemplary as a model because it was expressed as concern for Jesus’ well-being rather than as a doctrinal dispute. (Consider Jesus’ rebuke of Saul on the road to Damascus [Acts 26:14] as well.) Jesus did not avoid Peter when his rebuke had become a stumbling block (σκάνδαλον).

The Greek word translated avoid in the imperative—Avoid them—was ἐκκλίνετε (a form of ἐκκλίνω). “There is no one righteous, Paul quoted David, not even one, there is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away (ἐξέκλιναν, another form of ἐκκλίνω), together they have become worthless;^[57] there is no one who shows^[58] kindness, not even one.”^[59] And Peter quoted David, too (1 Peter 3:10, 11 NET):

For the one who wants to love life and see good days must keep his^[60] tongue from evil and his^[61] lips from uttering deceit. And^[62] he must turn away (ἐκκλινάτω, another form of ἐκκλίνω) from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it.

So Paul admonished believers in Rome to avoid those who create dissensions and obstacles contrary to the teaching that [they] learned as sinners turned away from God and those who want to love life and see good days were instructed to turn away from evil (κακοῦ, a form of κακός). It’s a serious step, not to be taken lightly lest we become those who create dissensions and obstacles contrary to the teaching. For these are the kind who do not serve our Lord Christ,^[63] Paul continued, but their own appetites. By their smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of the naive.^[64]

Tables of Romans 16:17; Luke 11:33; Philippians 2:1; 2:3, 4; 3:17; 3:8; 3:10-12; 3:14; 3:16; 1 Corinthians 3:3-6; Matthew 13:39, 40; 13:29; 18:6, 7; Luke 17:1, 2; Romans 9:32, 33; 1 Peter 2:7; Matthew 16:23; Romans 3:12; 1 Peter 3:10, 11; Romans 16:18 and Galatians 4:19 comparing the NET and KJV follow.

Romans 16:17 (NET)	Romans 16:17 (KJV)
Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who create dissensions and obstacles contrary to the teaching that you learned. Avoid them!	Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
Παρακαλῶ δὲ ὑμᾶς, ἀδελφοί, σκοπεῖν τοὺς τὰς διχοστασίας καὶ τὰ σκάνδαλα παρὰ τὴν διδαχὴν ἣν ὑμεῖς ἐμάθετε ποιοῦντας, καὶ ἐκκλίνετε ἀπ᾿ αὐτῶν	παρακαλω δε υμας αδελφοι σκοπειν τους τας διχοστασιας και τα σκανδαλα παρα την διδαχην ην υμεις εμαθετε ποιουντας και εκκλινατε απ αυτων	παρακαλω δε υμας αδελφοι σκοπειν τους τας διχοστασιας και τα σκανδαλα παρα την διδαχην ην υμεις εμαθετε ποιουντας και εκκλινατε απ αυτων

Luke 11:33 (NET)	Luke 11:33 (KJV)
No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a hidden place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, so that those who come in can see the light.	No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
Οὐδεὶς λύχνον ἅψας εἰς κρύπτην τίθησιν [οὐδὲ ὑπὸ τὸν μόδιον] ἀλλ᾿ ἐπὶ τὴν λυχνίαν, ἵνα οἱ εἰσπορευόμενοι τὸ φῶς βλέπωσιν.	ουδεις δε λυχνον αψας εις κρυπτον τιθησιν ουδε υπο τον μοδιον αλλ επι την λυχνιαν ινα οι εισπορευομενοι το φεγγος βλεπωσιν	ουδεις δε λυχνον αψας εις κρυπτην τιθησιν ουδε υπο τον μοδιον αλλ επι την λυχνιαν ινα οι εισπορευομενοι το φεγγος βλεπωσιν

Philippians 2:1 (NET)	Philippians 2:1 (KJV)
Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort provided by love, any fellowship in the Spirit, any affection or mercy,	If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
Εἴ τις οὖν παράκλησις ἐν Χριστῷ, εἴ τι παραμύθιον ἀγάπης, εἴ τις κοινωνία πνεύματος, εἴ τις σπλάγχνα καὶ οἰκτιρμοί	ει τις ουν παρακλησις εν χριστω ει τι παραμυθιον αγαπης ει τις κοινωνια πνευματος ει τινα σπλαγχνα και οικτιρμοι	ει τις ουν παρακλησις εν χριστω ει τι παραμυθιον αγαπης ει τις κοινωνια πνευματος ει τις σπλαγχνα και οικτιρμοι

Philippians 2:3, 4 (NET)	Philippians 2:3, 4 (KJV)
Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition or vanity, each of you should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself.	Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
μηδὲν κατ᾿ ἐριθείαν μηδὲ κατὰ κενοδοξίαν, ἀλλὰ τῇ ταπεινοφροσύνῃ ἀλλήλους ἡγούμενοι ὑπερέχοντας ἑαυτῶν	μηδεν κατα εριθειαν η κενοδοξιαν αλλα τη ταπεινοφροσυνη αλληλους ηγουμενοι υπερεχοντας εαυτων	μηδεν κατα εριθειαν η κενοδοξιαν αλλα τη ταπεινοφροσυνη αλληλους ηγουμενοι υπερεχοντας εαυτων

Each of you should be concerned not only about your own interests, but about the interests of others as well.

Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
μὴ τὰ ἑαυτῶν \|ἕκαστος\| σκοποῦντες ἀλλὰ [καὶ] τὰ ἑτέρων ἕκαστοι	μη τα εαυτων εκαστος σκοπειτε αλλα και τα ετερων εκαστος	μη τα εαυτων εκαστος σκοπειτε αλλα και τα ετερων εκαστος

Philippians 3:17 (NET)	Philippians 3:17 (KJV)
Be imitators of me, brothers and sisters, and watch carefully those who are living this way, just as you have us as an example.	Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
Συμμιμηταί μου γίνεσθε, ἀδελφοί, καὶ σκοπεῖτε τοὺς οὕτω περιπατοῦντας καθὼς ἔχετε τύπον ἡμᾶς	συμμιμηται μου γινεσθε αδελφοι και σκοπειτε τους ουτως περιπατουντας καθως εχετε τυπον ημας	συμμιμηται μου γινεσθε αδελφοι και σκοπειτε τους ουτως περιπατουντας καθως εχετε τυπον ημας

Philippians 3:8 (NET)	Philippians 3:8 (KJV)
More than that, I now regard all things as liabilities compared to the far greater value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things – indeed, I regard them as dung! – that I may gain Christ,	Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ἀλλὰ μενοῦνγε καὶ ἡγοῦμαι πάντα ζημίαν εἶναι διὰ τὸ ὑπερέχον τῆς γνώσεως Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ κυρίου μου, δι᾿ ὃν τὰ πάντα ἐζημιώθην, καὶ ἡγοῦμαι σκύβαλα, ἵνα Χριστὸν κερδήσω	αλλα μενουνγε και ηγουμαι παντα ζημιαν ειναι δια το υπερεχον της γνωσεως χριστου ιησου του κυριου μου δι ον τα παντα εζημιωθην και ηγουμαι σκυβαλα ειναι ινα χριστον κερδησω	αλλα μεν ουν και ηγουμαι παντα ζημιαν ειναι δια το υπερεχον της γνωσεως χριστου ιησου του κυριου μου δι ον τα παντα εζημιωθην και ηγουμαι σκυβαλα ειναι ινα χριστον κερδησω

Philippians 3:10-12 (NET)	Philippians 3:10-12 (KJV)
My aim is to know him, to experience the power of his resurrection, to share in his sufferings, and to be like him in his death,	That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
τοῦ γνῶναι αὐτὸν καὶ τὴν δύναμιν τῆς ἀναστάσεως αὐτοῦ καὶ [τὴν] κοινωνίαν [τῶν] παθημάτων αὐτοῦ, συμμορφιζόμενος τῷ θανάτῳ αὐτοῦ,	του γνωναι αυτον και την δυναμιν της αναστασεως αυτου και την κοινωνιαν των παθηματων αυτου συμμορφουμενος τω θανατω αυτου	του γνωναι αυτον και την δυναμιν της αναστασεως αυτου και την κοινωνιαν των παθηματων αυτου συμμορφουμενος τω θανατω αυτου

and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
εἴ πως καταντήσω εἰς τὴν ἐξανάστασιν τὴν ἐκ νεκρῶν	ει πως καταντησω εις την εξαναστασιν των νεκρων	ει πως καταντησω εις την εξαναστασιν των νεκρων

Not that I have already attained this – that is, I have not already been perfected – but I strive to lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus also laid hold of me.

Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
Οὐχ ὅτι ἤδη ἔλαβον ἢ ἤδη τετελείωμαι, διώκω δὲ εἰ καὶ καταλάβω, ἐφ᾿ ᾧ καὶ κατελήμφθην ὑπὸ Χριστοῦ [Ἰησοῦ]	ουχ οτι ηδη ελαβον η ηδη τετελειωμαι διωκω δε ει και καταλαβω εφ ω και κατεληφθην υπο του χριστου ιησου	ουχ οτι ηδη ελαβον η ηδη τετελειωμαι διωκω δε ει και καταλαβω εφ ω και κατεληφθην υπο του χριστου ιησου

Philippians 3:14 (NET)	Philippians 3:14 (KJV)
with this goal in mind, I strive toward the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.	I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
κατὰ σκοπὸν διώκω εἰς τὸ βραβεῖον τῆς ἄνω κλήσεως τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ	κατα σκοπον διωκω επι το βραβειον της ανω κλησεως του θεου εν χριστω ιησου	κατα σκοπον διωκω επι το βραβειον της ανω κλησεως του θεου εν χριστω ιησου

Philippians 3:16 (NET)	Philippians 3:16 (KJV)
Nevertheless, let us live up to the standard that we have already attained.	Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
πλὴν εἰς ὃ ἐφθάσαμεν, τῷ αὐτῷ στοιχεῖν	πλην εις ο εφθασαμεν τω αυτω στοιχειν κανονι το αυτο φρονειν	πλην εις ο εφθασαμεν τω αυτω στοιχειν κανονι το αυτο φρονειν

1 Corinthians 3:3-6 (NET)	1 Corinthians 3:3-6 (KJV)
for you are still influenced by the flesh. For since there is still jealousy and dissension among you, are you not influenced by the flesh and behaving like unregenerate people?	For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ἔτι γὰρ σαρκικοί ἐστε. ὅπου γὰρ ἐν ὑμῖν ζῆλος καὶ ἔρις, οὐχὶ σαρκικοί ἐστε καὶ κατὰ ἄνθρωπον περιπατεῖτε	ετι γαρ σαρκικοι εστε οπου γαρ εν υμιν ζηλος και ερις και διχοστασιαι ουχι σαρκικοι εστε και κατα ανθρωπον περιπατειτε	ετι γαρ σαρκικοι εστε οπου γαρ εν υμιν ζηλος και ερις και διχοστασιαι ουχι σαρκικοι εστε και κατα ανθρωπον περιπατειτε

For whenever someone says, “I am with Paul,” or “I am with Apollos,” are you not merely human?

For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ὅταν γὰρ λέγῃ τις· ἐγὼ μέν εἰμι Παύλου, ἕτερος δέ· ἐγὼ Ἀπολλῶ, οὐκ ἄνθρωποι ἐστε	οταν γαρ λεγη τις εγω μεν ειμι παυλου ετερος δε εγω απολλω ουχι σαρκικοι εστε	οταν γαρ λεγη τις εγω μεν ειμι παυλου ετερος δε εγω απολλω ουχι σαρκικοι εστε

What is Apollos, really? Or what is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, and each of us in the ministry the Lord gave us.

Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
Τί οὖν ἐστιν Ἀπολλῶς; τί δέ ἐστιν Παῦλος; διάκονοι δι᾿ ὧν ἐπιστεύσατε, καὶ ἑκάστῳ ὡς ὁ κύριος ἔδωκεν	τις ουν εστιν παυλος τις δε απολλως αλλ η διακονοι δι ων επιστευσατε και εκαστω ως ο κυριος εδωκεν	τις ουν εστιν παυλος τις δε απολλως αλλ η διακονοι δι ων επιστευσατε και εκαστω ως ο κυριος εδωκεν

I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused it to grow.

I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ἐγὼ ἐφύτευσα, Ἀπολλῶς ἐπότισεν, ἀλλὰ ὁ θεὸς ἠύξανεν	εγω εφυτευσα απολλως εποτισεν αλλ ο θεος ηυξανεν	εγω εφυτευσα απολλως εποτισεν αλλ ο θεος ηυξανεν

Matthew 13:39, 40 (NET)	Matthew 13:39, 40 (KJV)
and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels.	The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ὁ δὲ ἐχθρὸς ὁ σπείρας αὐτά ἐστιν ὁ διάβολος, ὁ δὲ θερισμὸς συντέλεια αἰῶνος ἐστιν, οἱ δὲ θερισταὶ ἄγγελοι εἰσιν	ο δε εχθρος ο σπειρας αυτα εστιν ο διαβολος ο δε θερισμος συντελεια του αιωνος εστιν οι δε θερισται αγγελοι εισιν	ο δε εχθρος ο σπειρας αυτα εστιν ο διαβολος ο δε θερισμος συντελεια του αιωνος εστιν οι δε θερισται αγγελοι εισιν

As the poisonous weeds are collected and burned with fire, so it will be at the end of the age.

As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ὥσπερ οὖν συλλέγεται τὰ ζιζάνια καὶ πυρὶ [κατα]καίεται, οὕτως ἔσται ἐν τῇ συντελείᾳ τοῦ αἰῶνος	ωσπερ ουν συλλεγεται τα ζιζανια και πυρι κατακαιεται ουτως εσται εν τη συντελεια του αιωνος τουτου	ωσπερ ουν συλλεγεται τα ζιζανια και πυρι καιεται ουτως εσται εν τη συντελεια του αιωνος τουτου

Matthew 13:29 (NET)	Matthew 13:29 (KJV)
But he said, ‘No, since in gathering the darnel you may uproot the wheat along with it.	But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ὁ δέ φησιν· οὔ, μήποτε συλλέγοντες τὰ ζιζάνια ἐκριζώσητε ἅμα αὐτοῖς τὸν σῖτον	ο δε εφη ου μηποτε συλλεγοντες τα ζιζανια εκριζωσητε αμα αυτοις τον σιτον	ο δε εφη ου μηποτε συλλεγοντες τα ζιζανια εκριζωσητε αμα αυτοις τον σιτον

Matthew 18:6, 7 (NET)	Matthew 18:6, 7 (KJV)
But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a huge millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the open sea.	But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
Ὂς δ᾿ ἂν σκανδαλίσῃ ἕνα τῶν μικρῶν τούτων τῶν πιστευόντων εἰς ἐμέ, συμφέρει αὐτῷ ἵνα κρεμασθῇ μύλος ὀνικὸς περὶ τὸν τράχηλον αὐτοῦ καὶ καταποντισθῇ ἐν τῷ πελάγει τῆς θαλάσσης	ος δ αν σκανδαλιση ενα των μικρων τουτων των πιστευοντων εις εμε συμφερει αυτω ινα κρεμασθη μυλος ονικος επι τον τραχηλον αυτου και καταποντισθη εν τω πελαγει της θαλασσης	ος δ αν σκανδαλιση ενα των μικρων τουτων των πιστευοντων εις εμε συμφερει αυτω ινα κρεμασθη μυλος ονικος εις τον τραχηλον αυτου και καταποντισθη εν τω πελαγει της θαλασσης

Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks)! It is necessary that stumbling blocks come, but woe to the person through whom they come.

Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
Οὐαὶ τῷ κόσμῳ ἀπὸ τῶν σκανδάλων· ἀνάγκη γὰρ ἐλθεῖν τὰ σκάνδαλα, πλὴν οὐαὶ τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ δι᾿ οὗ τὸ σκάνδαλον ἔρχεται	ουαι τω κοσμω απο των σκανδαλων αναγκη γαρ εστιν ελθειν τα σκανδαλα πλην ουαι τω ανθρωπω εκεινω δι ου το σκανδαλον ερχεται	ουαι τω κοσμω απο των σκανδαλων αναγκη γαρ εστιν ελθειν τα σκανδαλα πλην ουαι τω ανθρωπω εκεινω δι ου το σκανδαλον ερχεται

Luke 17:1, 2 (NET)	Luke 17:1, 2 (KJV)
Jesus said to his disciples, “Stumbling blocks are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come!	Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come!

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
Εἶπεν δὲ πρὸς τοὺς μαθητὰς αὐτοῦ· ἀνένδεκτον ἐστιν τοῦ τὰ σκάνδαλα μὴ ἐλθεῖν, πλὴν οὐαὶ δι᾿ οὗ ἔρχεται	ειπεν δε προς τους μαθητας ανενδεκτον εστιν του μη ελθειν τα σκανδαλα ουαι δε δι ου ερχεται	ειπεν δε προς τους μαθητας ανενδεκτον εστιν του μη ελθειν τα σκανδαλα ουαι δε δι ου ερχεται

It would be better for him to have a millstone tied around his neck and be thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.

It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
λυσιτελεῖ αὐτῷ εἰ λίθος μυλικὸς περίκειται περὶ τὸν τράχηλον αὐτοῦ καὶ ἔρριπται εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν ἢ ἵνα σκανδαλίσῃ τῶν μικρῶν τούτων ἕνα	λυσιτελει αυτω ει μυλος ονικος περικειται περι τον τραχηλον αυτου και ερριπται εις την θαλασσαν η ινα σκανδαλιση ενα των μικρων τουτων	λυσιτελει αυτω ει μυλος ονικος περικειται περι τον τραχηλον αυτου και ερριπται εις την θαλασσαν η ινα σκανδαλιση ενα των μικρων τουτων

Romans 9:32, 33 (NET)	Romans 9:32, 33 (KJV)
Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but (as if it were possible) by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone,	Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
διὰ τί; ὅτι οὐκ ἐκ πίστεως ἀλλ᾿ ὡς ἐξ ἔργων· προσέκοψαν τῷ λίθῳ τοῦ προσκόμματος	δια τι οτι ουκ εκ πιστεως αλλ ως εξ εργων νομου προσεκοψαν γαρ τω λιθω του προσκομματος	δια τι οτι ουκ εκ πιστεως αλλ ως εξ εργων νομου προσεκοψαν γαρ τω λιθω του προσκομματος

just as it is written, “Look, I am laying in Zion a stone that will cause people to stumble and a rock that will make them fall, yet the one who believes in him will not be put to shame.”

As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
καθὼς γέγραπται ἰδοὺ τίθημι ἐν Σιὼν λίθον προσκόμματος καὶ πέτραν σκανδάλου, καὶ ὁ πιστεύων ἐπ᾿ αὐτῷ οὐ καταισχυνθήσεται	καθως γεγραπται ιδου τιθημι εν σιων λιθον προσκομματος και πετραν σκανδαλου και πας ο πιστευων επ αυτω ου καταισχυνθησεται	καθως γεγραπται ιδου τιθημι εν σιων λιθον προσκομματος και πετραν σκανδαλου και πας ο πιστευων επ αυτω ου καταισχυνθησεται

1 Peter 2:7 (NET)	1 Peter 2:7 (KJV)
So you who believe see his value, but for those who do not believe, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,	Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ὑμῖν οὖν ἡ τιμὴ τοῖς πιστεύουσιν, ἀπιστοῦσιν δὲ λίθος ὃν ἀπεδοκίμασαν οἱ οἰκοδομοῦντες, οὗτος ἐγενήθη εἰς κεφαλὴν γωνίας	υμιν ουν η τιμη τοις πιστευουσιν απειθουσιν δε λιθον ον απεδοκιμασαν οι οικοδομουντες ουτος εγενηθη εις κεφαλην γωνιας	υμιν ουν η τιμη τοις πιστευουσιν απειθουσιν δε λιθον ον απεδοκιμασαν οι οικοδομουντες ουτος εγενηθη εις κεφαλην γωνιας

Matthew 16:23 (NET)	Matthew 16:23 (KJV)
But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me, because you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but on man’s.”	But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ὁ δὲ στραφεὶς εἶπεν τῷ Πέτρῳ· ὕπαγε ὀπίσω μου, σατανᾶ· σκάνδαλον εἶ ἐμοῦ, ὅτι οὐ φρονεῖς τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ ἀλλὰ τὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων	ο δε στραφεις ειπεν τω πετρω υπαγε οπισω μου σατανα σκανδαλον μου ει οτι ου φρονεις τα του θεου αλλα τα των ανθρωπων	ο δε στραφεις ειπεν τω πετρω υπαγε οπισω μου σατανα σκανδαλον μου ει οτι ου φρονεις τα του θεου αλλα τα των ανθρωπων

Romans 3:12 (NET)	Romans 3:12 (KJV)
All have turned away, together they have become worthless; there is no one who shows kindness, not even one.”	They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
πάντες ἐξέκλιναν ἅμα ἠχρεώθησαν οὐκ ἔστιν \|ὁ\| ποιῶν χρηστότητα, [οὐκ ἔστιν] ἕως ἑνός	παντες εξεκλιναν αμα ηχρειωθησαν ουκ εστιν ποιων χρηστοτητα ουκ εστιν εως ενος	παντες εξεκλιναν αμα ηχρειωθησαν ουκ εστιν ποιων χρηστοτητα ουκ εστιν εως ενος

1 Peter 3:10, 11 (NET)	1 Peter 3:10, 11 (KJV)
For the one who wants to love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from uttering deceit.	For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ὁ γὰρ θέλων ζωὴν ἀγαπᾶν καὶ ἰδεῖν ἡμέρας ἀγαθὰς παυσάτω τὴν γλῶσσαν ἀπὸ κακοῦ καὶ χείλη τοῦ μὴ λαλῆσαι δόλον,	ο γαρ θελων ζωην αγαπαν και ιδειν ημερας αγαθας παυσατω την γλωσσαν αυτου απο κακου και χειλη αυτου του μη λαλησαι δολον	ο γαρ θελων ζωην αγαπαν και ιδειν ημερας αγαθας παυσατω την γλωσσαν αυτου απο κακου και χειλη αυτου του μη λαλησαι δολον

And he must turn away from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it.

Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ἐκκλινάτω δὲ ἀπὸ κακοῦ καὶ ποιησάτω ἀγαθόν, ζητησάτω εἰρήνην καὶ διωξάτω αὐτήν	εκκλινατω απο κακου και ποιησατω αγαθον ζητησατω ειρηνην και διωξατω αυτην	εκκλινατω απο κακου και ποιησατω αγαθον ζητησατω ειρηνην και διωξατω αυτην

Romans 16:18 (NET)	Romans 16:18 (KJV)
For these are the kind who do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By their smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of the naive.	For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
οἱ γὰρ τοιοῦτοι τῷ κυρίῳ ἡμῶν Χριστῷ οὐ δουλεύουσιν ἀλλὰ τῇ ἑαυτῶν κοιλίᾳ, καὶ διὰ τῆς χρηστολογίας καὶ εὐλογίας ἐξαπατῶσιν τὰς καρδίας τῶν ἀκάκων	οι γαρ τοιουτοι τω κυριω ημων ιησου χριστω ου δουλευουσιν αλλα τη εαυτων κοιλια και δια της χρηστολογιας και ευλογιας εξαπατωσιν τας καρδιας των ακακων	οι γαρ τοιουτοι τω κυριω ημων ιησου χριστω ου δουλευουσιν αλλα τη εαυτων κοιλια και δια της χρηστολογιας και ευλογιας εξαπατωσιν τας καρδιας των ακακων

Galatians 4:19 (NET)	Galatians 4:19 (KJV)
My children – I am again undergoing birth pains until Christ is formed in you!	My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
\|τέκνα\| μου, οὓς πάλιν ὠδίνω μέχρις οὗ μορφωθῇ Χριστὸς ἐν ὑμῖν	τεκνια μου ους παλιν ωδινω αχρις ου μορφωθη χριστος εν υμιν	τεκνια μου ους παλιν ωδινω αχρις ου μορφωθη χριστος εν υμιν

Romans, Part 92

Back to A Monotonous Cycle Revisited, Part 2

Back to Peter and Cornelius

Back to Hannah’s Prayer, Part 1

Back to The Lost Son of Perdition, Part 1

Back to A Monotonous Cycle Revisited, Part 3

Back to Fear – Deuteronomy, Part 16

Back to The Will of God – Jesus, Part 2

Back to To Make Holy, Part 9

Back to Romans, Part 14

Back to Peter’s Second Gospel Proclamation, Part 2

Back to Westworld, Part 4

Back to The New Covenant, Part 2

Back to The Book of Life, Part 3

Back to Christianity, Part 1

Back to Christianity, Part 11

^[1] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ἐκκλίνετε here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had εκκλινατε.

^[2] Romans 16:17 (NET)

^[3] The NET parallel Greek text, NA²⁸ and Byzantine Majority Text had κρύπτην here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus had κρυπτον (KJV: a secret place).

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

^[5] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ομοθυμαδον here, where the NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ὁμοῦ (NET: together).

^[6] Acts 2:1 (NKJV) Table

^[7] 2 Corinthians 4:17, 18 (NET)

^[8] The NET parallel Greek text, NA²⁸ and Byzantine Majority Text had τις here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus had τινα.

^[9] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had κατ᾿ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had κατα.

^[10] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had μηδὲ κατὰ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had simply η.

^[11] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had σκοποῦντες here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had σκοπειτε (KJV: Look…on).

^[12] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ἕκαστοι here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had εκαστος.

^[13] Philippians 2:1-4 (NET)

^[14] The NET parallel Greek text had οὕτω here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus, Byzantine Majority Text and NA²⁸ had ουτως (KJV: so).

^[15] Philippians 3:17 (NET)

^[16] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ειναι following dung. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

^[17] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had συμμορφιζόμενος here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had συμμορφουμενος (KJV: being made conformable).

^[18] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ἐκ here. The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not (KJV: of).

^[19] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had the article του preceding Christ. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

^[20] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had εἰς here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had επι.

^[21] Philippians 3:16 (NET) The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had κανονι το αυτο φρονειν (KJV: by the same rule, let us mind the same thing) here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

^[22] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had και διχοστασιαι (KJV: and divisions) here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

^[23] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ουχι here, where the NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had οὐκ.

^[24] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had σαρκικοι here, where the NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ἄνθρωποι (NET: merely human).

^[25] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had τις here, where the NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had Τί.

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

^[27] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had αλλ here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

^[28] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had η preceding ministers. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

^[29] The Stephanus Textus Receptus, Byzantine Majority Text and NA²⁸ had αλλ here, where the NET parallel Greek text had ἀλλὰ.

^[30] Table1 (Galations 5:14, 15); Table2 (Galatians 5:17); Table3 (Galatians 5:19-21)

^[31] Galatians 5:24 (NET)

^[32] Galatians 5:22b, 23a (NET) Table

^[33] John 4:14b (NET) Table

^[34] Galatians 5:25, 26 (NET)

^[35] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had the article του preceding age. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

^[36] The NET parallel Greek text, NA²⁸ and Stephanus Textus Receptus had κατακαίεται here, where the Byzantine Majority Text had καιεται.

^[37] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had τουτου (KJV: this) here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

^[38] Matthew 13:29b (NET)

^[39] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had περὶ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus had επι (KJV: about) and the Byzantine Majority Text had εις.

^[40] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had αὐτοῦ here. The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not (KJV: the).

^[41] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had πλὴν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had δε.

^[42] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had εστιν here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

^[43] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had εκεινω (KJV: that) here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

^[44] The Greek words translated millstone in the NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ were λίθος μυλικὸς, and μυλος ονικος in the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text.

^[45] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had γαρ (KJV: For) here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

^[46] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had πας (KJV: whosoever) here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

^[47] Romans 9:32b, 33 (NET)

^[48] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ἀπιστοῦσιν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had απειθουσιν (KJV: be disobedient).

^[49] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had λίθος here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had λιθον.

^[50] 1 Peter 2:7, 8a (NET)

^[51] 1 Peter 2:8b (NET)

^[52] John 3:6a (NET)

^[53] Romans 1:18a (NET)

^[54] Romans 1:25 (NET)

^[55] I’m including pedagogy here for three reasons:

1) It is my own bias that pedagogical practices are the general issue in question (whether in transmission or reception) and may have some bearing on this specific situation. Paul’s letter to believers in Galatia was addressed to: My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you (Galatians 4:19 NKJV). I labored more at my day job than at ensuring that Christ was formed in my children because they were mostly compliant and obeyed most of my rules.

2) If the science indicating that sexual orientation is set in utero is falsified, the influence of our pedagogy on our children’s worship practices takes precedence over our worship practices:

Alicia Garcia-Falgueras, Dick Swaab, “Sexual Hormones and the Brain: An Essential Alliance for Sexual Identity and Sexual Orientation,” ResearchGate, January 2010: “The human fetal brain develops in the male direction through a direct action of testosterone and in the female direction through the absence of such an action. During the intrauterine period, gender identity (the conviction of belonging to the male or female gender), sexual orientation, cognition, aggression and other behaviors are programmed in the brain in a sexually differentiated way. Sexual differentiation of the genitals takes place in the first 2 months of pregnancy, whereas sexual differentiation of the brain starts in the second half of pregnancy. This means that in the event of an ambiguous sex at birth, the degree of masculinization of the genitals may not reflect the degree of masculinization of the brain.”

3) If the science indicating that sexual orientation is set in utero is not falsified, the pedagogical practices of our ancestors certainly had some influence on our worship practices. And they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, in their treachery which they committed against Me, and also that they have walked contrary unto Me (Leviticus 26:40 Tanakh).

^[56] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ἐμοῦ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had μου.

^[57] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ἠχρεώθησαν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ηχρειωθησαν (KJV: they are…become unprofitable).

^[58] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had the article ὁ preceding shows. The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

^[59] Romans 3:10b-12 (NET)

^[60] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had αυτου here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

^[61] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had αυτου here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

^[62] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had δὲ here. The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

^[63] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ιησου (KJV: Jesus) preceding Christ. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

^[64] Romans 16:18 (NET)

A Monotonous Cycle Revisited, Part 1

Posted on December 30, 2018 by admin

Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you don’t understand these things? Jesus said to Nicodemus. I tell you the solemn truth, we speak about what we know and testify about what we have seen, but you people do not accept our testimony. If I have told you people about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?^[1]

I’ve hinted at how Jesus’ teaching informs my understanding of the Old Testament. Here I intend to get explicit about these earthly things. Though I will do my best to make these essays interesting, the very repetitiveness of the subject matter may seem like A Monotonous Cycle.

Here is the general introduction (Genesis 1:26-30 Tanakh):

And G-d (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים) said: ‘Let us make man (ʼâdâm, אדם) in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth’. And G-d (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים) created man (ʼâdâm, האדם) in His own image, in the image of G-d (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים) created He him; male and female created He them. And G-d (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים) blessed them; and G-d (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים) said unto them: ‘Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that creepeth upon the earth’ [Table].

And G-d (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים) said: ‘Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed–to you it shall be for food; and to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is a living soul, I have given every green herb for food’ And it was so.

Here is a more detailed account of the involvement of y^ehôvâh ʼĕlôhı̂ym, corresponding to the Word (λόγος) in the opening chapter of John’s Gospel narrative (Genesis 2:4-9 Tanakh):

These are the generations of the heaven and of the earth when they were created, in the day that HaShem (y^ehôvâh, יהוה) G-d (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים) made earth and heaven. No shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for HaShem (y^ehôvâh, יהוה) G-d (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים) had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man (ʼâdâm, ואדם) to till the ground; but there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. Then HaShem (y^ehôvâh, יהוה) G-d (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים) formed man (ʼâdâm, האדם) of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man (ʼâdâm, האדם) became a living soul.

And HaShem (y^ehôvâh, יהוה) G-d (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים) planted a garden eastward, in Eden; and there He put the man (ʼâdâm, האדם) whom He had formed. And out of the ground made HaShem (y^ehôvâh, יהוה) G-d (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים) to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

The Hebrew word translated good was טוב (ṭôb). The light was טוב (ṭôb). The dry land amidst the gathering together of the waters was טוב (ṭôb). The grass the earth brought forth… herb yielding seed after its kind, and tree bearing fruit, wherein is the seed thereof, after its kind^[2] was טוב (ṭôb). The lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night^[3] were טוב (ṭôb). The great sea-monsters, and every living creature that creepeth, wherewith the waters swarmed, after its kind, and every winged fowl after its kind^[4] were טוב (ṭôb). The beast of the earth after its kind, and the cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the ground after its kind^[5] were טוב (ṭôb). In fact, every thing that He [ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים] had made^[6] was טוב (ṭôb).

The Hebrew word translated evil was ורע (râʽâh) and this is its first occurrence. In other words, ורע (râʽâh) is as yet unknown. The story continued (Genesis 2:15-17 Tanakh):

And HaShem (y^ehôvâh, יהוה) G-d (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים) took the man (ʼâdâm, האדם), and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And HaShem (y^ehôvâh, יהוה) G-d (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים) commanded the man (ʼâdâm, האדם), saying: ‘Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat [Table]; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die’ [Table]

Thus the one and only law was given. Paul, after he was born from above and led by the Holy Spirit, wrote to others like him in Rome: For no one is declared righteous before him by the works of the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.^[7] As David had prayed: Hear my prayer, O LORD (y^ehôvâh, יהוה), give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness [Table]. And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified [Table].^[8] The story continued (Genesis 2:18-3:5 Tanakh):

And HaShem (y^ehôvâh, יהוה) G-d (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים) said: ‘It is not good (ṭôb, טוב) that the man (ʼâdâm, האדם) should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him.’ And out of the ground HaShem (y^ehôvâh, יהוה) G-d (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים) formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto the man (ʼâdâm, האדם) to see what he would call them; and whatsoever the man (ʼâdâm, האדם) would call every living creature, that was to be the name thereof. And the man (ʼâdâm, האדם) gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam (ʼâdâm, ולאדם) there was not found a help meet for him.

And HaShem (y^ehôvâh, יהוה) G-d (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים) caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man (ʼâdâm, האדם), and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the place with flesh instead thereof. And the rib, which HaShem (y^ehôvâh, יהוה) G-d (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים) had taken from the man (ʼâdâm, האדם), made He a woman, and brought her unto the man (ʼâdâm, האדם). And the man (ʼâdâm, האדם) said: ‘This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.’

Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh [Table]. And they were both naked, the man (ʼâdâm, האדם) and his wife, and were not ashamed.

Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which HaShem (y^ehôvâh, יהוה) G-d (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים) had made. And he said unto the woman: ‘Yea, hath G-d (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים) said: Ye shall not eat of any tree of the garden?’

And the woman said unto the serpent: ‘Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, G-d (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים) hath said: Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.’

And the serpent said unto the woman: ‘Ye shall not surely die [Table]; for G-d (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים) doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as G-d (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, כאלהים), knowing good and evil’ [Table].

Eve, in fact, knew nothing but good (ṭôb, טוב). But though she was visited routinely by y^ehôvâh ʼĕlôhı̂ym, who spoke with her face to face, she did not know Him. The story continues (Genesis 3:6-8 Tanakh):

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat; and she gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves girdles [Table]. And they heard the voice of HaShem (y^ehôvâh, יהוה) G-d (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים) walking in the garden toward the cool of the day; and the man (ʼâdâm, האדם) and his wife hid themselves from the presence of HaShem (y^ehôvâh, יהוה) G-d (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים) amongst the trees of the garden.

So they learned the meaning of ורע (râʽâh): to mistrust y^ehôvâh so as to disregard his word. And He afflicted thee, and suffered thee to hunger, Moses told Israel, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that He might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every thing that proceedeth out of the mouth of HaShem (y^ehôvâh, יהוה) doth man live.^[9] So then, just as sin entered the world through one man…^[10] Paul wrote.

To conclude with the moral of this story, I’ve made a table interspersing Jesus’ teaching to Nicodemus with Paul’s teaching on the first and last Adam.

Jesus answered, “I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

John 3:5 (NET) Table

So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living person”;

1 Corinthians 15:45a (NET)

What is born of the flesh is flesh,

John 3:6a (NET)

the last Adam [e.g., Jesus] became a life-giving spirit.

1 Corinthians 15:45b (NET)

and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.

John 3:6b (NET)

However, the spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, made of dust; the second man is^[11] from heaven.

1 Corinthians 15:46, 47 (NET)

Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must all be born from above.’

John 3:7 (NET)

Like the one made of dust, so too are those made of dust, and like the one from heaven, so too those who are heavenly.

1 Corinthians 15:48 (NET)

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.”

John 3:8 (NET)

And just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, let us also bear^[12] the image of the man of heaven.

1 Corinthians 15:49 (NET)

Now this is what I am saying, brothers and sisters: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.^[13]

Tables comparing 1 Corinthians 15:47 and 15:49 in the NET and KJV follow.

1 Corinthians 15:47 (NET)	1 Corinthians 15:47 (KJV)
The first man is from the earth, made of dust; the second man is from heaven.	The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ὁ πρῶτος ἄνθρωπος ἐκ γῆς χοϊκός, ὁ δεύτερος ἄνθρωπος ἐξ οὐρανοῦ	ο πρωτος ανθρωπος εκ γης χοικος ο δευτερος ανθρωπος ο κυριος εξ ουρανου	ο πρωτος ανθρωπος εκ γης χοικος ο δευτερος ανθρωπος ο κυριος εξ ουρανου

1 Corinthians 15:49 (NET)	1 Corinthians 15:49 (KJV)
And just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, let us also bear the image of the man of heaven.	And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
καὶ καθὼς ἐφορέσαμεν τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ χοϊκοῦ, \|φορέσωμεν\| καὶ τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ ἐπουρανίου	και καθως εφορεσαμεν την εικονα του χοικου φορεσομεν και την εικονα του επουρανιου	και καθως εφορεσαμεν την εικονα του χοικου φορεσωμεν και την εικονα του επουρανιου

A Monotonous Cycle Revisited, Part 2

Back to Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Part 5

^[1] John 3:10-12 (NET) Table

^[2] Genesis 1:12 (Tanakh)

^[3] Genesis 1:14 (Tanakh)

^[4] Genesis 1:21 (Tanakh)

^[5] Genesis 1:25 (Tanakh)

^[6] Genesis 1:31a (Tanakh)

^[7] Romans 3:20 (NET)

^[8] Psalm 143:1, 2 (Tanakh)

^[9] Deuteronomy 8:3 (Tanakh) Table

^[10] Romans 5:12 (NET)

^[11] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ο κυριος (KJV: the Lord) here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

^[12] The NET parallel Greek text and Byzantine Majority Text had φορέσωμεν in the subjunctive mood here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and NA²⁸ had φορεσομεν in the indicative mood (KJV: we shall…bear).

^[13] 1 Corinthians 15:50 (NET) Table

Forgiven or Passed Over? Part 3

Posted on November 22, 2017 by admin

I bogged down in this study a couple of years ago. I don’t remember whether I balked at how much work it would be or simply recognized the futility of studying ʽâbar alone. I’ll start again comparing and contrasting ʽâbar with nâsâh.

The translators of the Septuagint chose twenty-two different Greek words for fifty-four occurrences of nâsâh (only fifty-three were actually translated) from Genesis 4:13 through Exodus 19:4 (see table below). They worked very hard to refine and communicate their own understanding in Greek, which only served to obscure y^ehôvâh’s mind if I fail to recognize the one Hebrew word—nâsâh—behind all that refinement.

The most concrete meaning of nâsâh is to bear, to lift or carry. Both lift and carry are evident in: And the people took (nâsâh, וישׁא; Septuagint: ἀνέλαβεν, a form of ἀναλαμβάνω) their dough before it was leavened, their kneading-troughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders.^[1] But neither took nor ἀνέλαβεν fully convey the idea of lifting and carrying if I don’t already know nâsâh.

What was important to the translators was that the people took their dough with them before it was leavened. Intended as a corrective, perhaps, even that added emphasis didn’t prevent religious minds from imbuing unleavened bread with spiritual significance beyond the haste of Israel’s exodus from Egypt (1 Corinthians 5:7, 8 NET):

Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new batch of dough – you are, in fact, without yeast. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. So then, let us celebrate the festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of vice and evil, but with the bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.

The concrete meaning of nâsâh prevailed in the phrase lift up one’s eyes (Genesis 13:10, 14; 18:2; 22:4, 13; 24:63, 64; 31:10, 12; 33:1, 5; 37:25; 43:29; Exodus 14:10). It was a bit more abstract in lift up one’s voice (Genesis 21:16; 27:38; 29:11) or lift up one’s feet (Genesis 29:1). While I lifted up My hand^[2] was translated concretely in the Tanakh, it was translated I swore in the NET and I did swear in the KJV. I want to keep these variations in mind as I consider six occurrences translated forgive or forgiven.

The relatively contemporary translators of the Tanakh, the KJV and the NET all agreed that Cain was not spiritually aware enough to lament his iniquity: My punishment is greater than I can bear^[3] (NET: too great to endure), he said in these translations. The more ancient translators of the Septuagint translated ʽâvôn αἰτία and nâsâh ἀφεθῆναί (a form of ἀφίημι) which a relatively contemporary translator rendered My guilt is too great for me to be forgiven^[4] in English.

Of the five occurrences of ʽâvôn in Genesis 4:13 through Exodus 20:5 (see table below) one was translated αἰτία, one ἀδικίαν (a form of ἀδικία), one ἀνομίαις (a form of ἀνομία) and two with forms of ἁμαρτία. The most concrete meaning of forms of ἁμαρτία is found in its verb form ἁμαρτάνω, “to miss the mark.” In the occurrence translated ἁμαρτίαι (Genesis 15:16) before Exodus 20, what mark was missed before the law was given? I would not have known sin (ἁμαρτίαν, another form of ἁμαρτία), Paul wrote believers in Rome, except through the law.^[5] But sin (ἁμαρτία), seizing the opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of wrong desires.^[6]

I’ve questioned the idea of ἁμαρτία seizing the opportunity through the commandment in the context of Cain’s murder of his brother Abel. But if the NET translation of Genesis 4:7b (see comparison below) is more correct than that of the Septuagint (namely, that Cain would rule again over Abel if Cain offered the correct sacrifice), then y^ehôvâh’s words, you must subdue sin (chaṭṭâʼâh, חטאת; Septuagint: ἥμαρτες, a form of ἁμαρτάνω), would serve as the commandment ἁμαρτία seized, for before the law was given, sin (ἁμαρτία) was in the world, but there is no accounting for sin (ἁμαρτία) when there is no law.^[7]

NETS	NET
Be still; his recourse is to you, and you will rule over him.	…sin is crouching at the door. It desires to dominate you, but you must subdue it.

The translators of the Septuagint seemed to acknowledge a problem with ἁμαρτία prior to the law with the word ἀδικίαν: G-d hath found out the iniquity (ʽâvôn, עון; Septuagint: ἀδικίαν; NETS: injustice; NET: the sin) of thy servants…^[8] The iniquity that concerned Joseph’s brothers wasn’t stealing his silver goblet (44:2). They knew Benjamin hadn’t taken it but suspected (Genesis 43:18-23) that it had been placed there by the Egyptian’s (e.g., Joseph’s) servant to entrap them. They had reasoned that y^ehôvâh was behind their difficulties with the Egyptian and that their iniquity was their injustice toward their younger brother Joseph (Genesis 42:21-23 Tanakh):

And they said one to another: ‘We are verily guilty (ʼâshêm, אשמים; Septuagint: ἐν ἁμαρτίᾳ) concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear (shâmaʽ, שמענו); therefore is this distress come upon us.’ And Reuben answered them, saying: ‘Spoke I not unto you, saying: Do not sin (châṭâʼ, תחטאו; Septuagint: ἀδικήσητε, a form of ἀδικέω) against the child; and ye would not hear (shâmaʽ, שמעתם)? therefore also, behold, his blood is required.’ And they knew not that Joseph understood (shâmaʽ, שמע) them; for the interpreter was between them.

They had not disobeyed a law: Thou shalt not sell thy brother into slavery. But they had not dealt justly with their little brother, whether a tattletale, a braggart (Genesis 37:5-11) or a father’s favorite. And I realize here that I am regarding iniquity (ʽâvôn) more like Jesus’ and Paul’s description of the flesh than like a sin, a missing of a mark. What is born of the flesh (σαρκὸς, a form of σάρξ) is flesh (σάρξ), Jesus said, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.^[9] For when we were in the flesh (σαρκί, another form of σάρξ), Paul wrote believers in Rome, the sinful desires, aroused by the law, were active in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.^[10] Paul continued (Romans 8:5-8 NET):

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

The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great, y^ehôvâh told Abraham, and their sin (chaṭṭâʼâh, וחטאתם; Septuagint: ἁμαρτίαι, another form of ἁμαρτία) so blatant that I must go down and see if they are as wicked as the outcry suggests. If not, I want to know.^[11] Will you sweep away the godly along with the wicked? Abraham asked. What if there are fifty godly people in the city? Will you really wipe it out and not spare (nâsâh, תשׁא) the place for the sake of the fifty godly people who are in it?^[12]

In the Tanakh nâsâh was translated forgive rather than spare. In the Septuagint it was translated ἀνήσεις (a form of ἀνίημι) which was translated go free in the NETS. Abraham asked y^ehôvâh to bear the sin (chaṭṭâʼâh, וחטאתם) of the majority of the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah for the sake of fifty hypothetical godly (tsaddı̂yq, צדיקם; Septuagint: δίκαιοι, a form of δίκαιος; Tanakh, KJV, NETS: righteous) people who may or may not reside there, then forty-five, forty, thirty, twenty and ten. And y^ehôvâh agreed to Abraham’s proposition: If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will forgive (nâsâh, ונשׁאתי; Septuagint: ἀφήσω, another form of ἀφίημι; NETS: I will forgive; KJV, NET: I will spare) all the place for their sake.^[13]

I don’t mean to imply that forgive was a bad translation of nâsâh here. I do intend to highlight the nature of this forgiveness as primarily forbearance on y^ehôvâh’s part, and to stress that it is only part, a very necessary part, of the forgiveness I hope for from Him.

Joseph’s brothers sought the same forbearance from Joseph after Jacob’s death: “What if Joseph bears a grudge and wants to repay us in full for all the harm we did to him?”^[14] So they sent word to Joseph, saying (Genesis 50:16, 17a NET):

“Your father gave these instructions before he died: ‘Tell Joseph this: Please forgive (nâsâh, שׁא; Septuagint: ἄφες, another form of ἀφίημι; Tanakh, KJV, NETS: forgive) the sin of your brothers and the wrong they did when they treated you so badly.’ Now please forgive (nâsâh, שׁא; Septuagint: δέξαι, a form of δέχομαι; Tanakh, KJV: forgive; NETS: accept) the sin of the servants of the God of your father.”

Though they asked for forbearance I think one could argue that they received so much more (Genesis 50:19-21 NET):

But Joseph answered them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant to harm me, but God intended it for a good purpose, so he could preserve the lives of many people, as you can see this day. So now, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your little children.” Then he consoled them and spoke kindly to them.

Pharoah asked for a similar forbearance: Then Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you! So now, forgive (nâsâh, שׁא; Septuagint: προσδέξασθε, a form of προσδέχομαι; Tanakh, KJV: forgive; NETS: bear) my sin this time only, and pray to the Lord your God that he would only take this death away from me.”^[15]

Moses extended his staff over the land of Egypt, and then the Lord brought an east wind on the land all that day and all night. The morning came, and the east wind had brought up (nâsâh, נשׁא) the locusts!^[16] The death (mâveth, המות) Pharaoh asked Moses to pray that y^ehôvâh would take…away was those locusts: Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord, and the Lord turned a very strong west wind, and it picked up (nâsâh, וישׁא) the locusts and blew them into the Red Sea. Not one locust remained in all the territory of Egypt.^[17]

No matter what I think of Cain’s spiritual competence, The Lord (y^ehôvâh, יהוה) would speak to Moses face to face, the way a person speaks to a friend.^[18] Moses wrote the words we read in Genesis. With the first occurrences of both ʽâvôn and nâsâh a son of Adam spoke words that may legitimately be translated, “my iniquity is greater than I can bear.”^[19] That sounds like something I can work with as I continue this study.

I found no occurrence of ʽâbar in this section (Genesis 1:1 – Exodus 20:5) that was, or should have been, translated forgive (see table below).

Form of nâsâh	Reference	KJV	NET	Septuagint
מנשׁא	Genesis 4:13	…My punishment is greater than I can bear.	My punishment is too great to endure!	ἀφεθῆναί, a form of ἀφίημι
וישׁאו	Genesis 7:17	…and the waters increased, and bare up the ark…	As the waters increased, they lifted the ark…	ἐπῆρεν, a form of ἐπαίρω
	Genesis 37:25	…and they lifted up their eyes and looked…	…they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites…	ἀναβλέψαντες, a form of ἀναβλέπω
	Genesis 42:26	And they laded their asses with the corn…	So they loaded their grain on their donkeys…	ἐπιθέντες, a form of ἐπιτίθημι
	Genesis 46:5	…and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father…	…and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob…	ἀνέλαβον, a form of ἀναλαμβάνω
	Genesis 50:13	For his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him…	His sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him…	ἀνέλαβον, a form of ἀναλαμβάνω
	Exodus 14:10	…the children of Israel lifted up their eyes…	Not translated	ἀναβλέψαντες, a form of ἀναβλέπω
נשׁא	Genesis 13:6	And the land was not able to bear them…	But the land could not support them…	ἐχώρει, a form of χωρέω
נשׁא	Exodus 10:13	…the east wind brought the locusts.	…the east wind had brought up the locusts!	ἀνέλαβεν, another form of ἀναλαμβάνω
שׁא	Genesis 13:14	Lift up now thine eyes…	Not translated	ἀναβλέψας, another form of ἀναβλέπω
	Genesis 27:3	Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow…	Therefore, take your weapons – your quiver and your bow…	λαβὲ, a form of λαμβάνω
	Genesis 31:12	Lift up now thine eyes, and see…	Not translated	ἀνάβλεψον, another form of ἀναβλέπω
	Genesis 50:17	Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren…	Please forgive the sin of your brothers…	ἄφες, another form of ἀφίημι
	Genesis 50:17	…forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father.	Now please forgive the sin of the servants of the God of your father.	δέξαι, a form of δέχομαι
	Exodus 10:17	Now therefore forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once…	So now, forgive my sin this time only…	προσδέξασθε, a form of προσδέχομαι
שׁאי	Genesis 21:18	Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand…	Get up! Help the boy up and hold him by the hand…	λαβὲ, a form of λαμβάνω
ישׁא	Genesis 32:20	…peradventure he will accept of me.	Perhaps he will accept me.	προσδέξεται, another form of προσδέχομαι
	Genesis 40:13	…within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thine head…	Not translated	μνησθήσεται, a form of μιμνήσκω
	Genesis 40:19	…within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head…	Not translated	ἀφελεῖ, a form of ἀφαιρέω
וישׁא	Genesis 13:10	And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain…	Lot looked up and saw the whole region…	ἐπάρας, a form of ἐπαίρω
	Genesis 18:2	And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men…	Abraham looked up and saw three men…	ἀναβλέψας, another form of ἀναβλέπω
	Genesis 22:4	Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes…	Not translated	ἀναβλέψας, another form of ἀναβλέπω
	Genesis 22:13	And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram…	Abraham looked up and saw behind him a ram…	ἀναβλέψας, another form of ἀναβλέπω
	Genesis 24:63	…and he lifted up his eyes, and saw…	Not translated	ἀναβλέψας, another form of ἀναβλέπω
	Genesis 27:38	And Esau lifted up his voice, and wept.	Not translated	ἀνεβόησεν, a form of ἀναβοάω
	Genesis 29:1^[20]	Then Jacob went on his journey…	So Jacob moved on…	ἐξάρας, a form of ἐξαίρω
	Genesis 29:11	…and lifted up his voice, and wept.	Not translated	βοήσας, a form of βοάω
	Genesis 31:17	Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives upon camels…	So Jacob immediately put his children and his wives on the camels.	ἔλαβεν, another form of λαμβάνω
	Genesis 33:1	And Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked…	Jacob looked up and saw that Esau was…	ἀναβλέψας, another form of ἀναβλέπω
	Genesis 33:5	And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children…	When Esau looked up and saw the women and the children…	ἀναβλέψας, another form of ἀναβλέπω
	Genesis 40:20	…and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker…	He “lifted up” the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief…	ἐμνήσθη, another form of μιμνήσκω
	Genesis 43:29	And he lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin…	When Joseph looked up and saw his brother Benjamin…	ἀναβλέψας, another form of ἀναβλέπω
	Genesis 43:34	And he took and sent messes unto them from before him…	He gave them portions of the food set before him…	ἦραν, a form of αἴρω
	Exodus 10:19	…which took away the locusts, and cast them into the Red sea…	…and it picked up the locusts and blew them into the Red Sea.	ἀνέλαβεν, a form of ἀναλαμβάνω
	Exodus 12:34	And the people took their dough before it was leavened…	So the people took their dough before the yeast was added…	ἀνέλαβεν, a form of ἀναλαμβάνω
תשׁא	Genesis 18:24	…and not spare the place for the fifty righteous…	…and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty godly people…	ἀνήσεις, a form of ἀνίημι
שׁאת	Genesis 44:1	…with food, as much as they can carry…	…as much food as they can carry…	ἆραι, another form of αἴρω
ותשׁא	Genesis 21:16	…and lift up her voice, and wept.	Not translated	ἀναβοῆσαν, another form of ἀναβοάω
	Genesis 24:64	And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac…	Rebekah looked up and saw Isaac.	ἀναβλέψασα, another form of ἀναβλέπω
	Genesis 31:10	…that I lifted up mine eyes, and saw in a dream…	Not translated	Not translated εἶδον, a form of ὁράω
	Genesis 39:7	…that his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph…	…his master’s wife took notice of Joseph…	ἐπέβαλεν, a form of ἐπιβάλλω
ונשׁאו	Exodus 18:22	…and they shall bear the burden with thee.	…and they will bear the burden with you.	κουφιοῦσιν, a form of κουφίζω
ונשׁאתי	Genesis 18:26	…then I will spare all the place for their sakes.	…I will spare the whole place for their sake.	ἀφήσω, another form of ἀφίημι
ונשׁאתני	Genesis 47:30	…and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their buryingplace…	…carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.	ἀρεῖς, another form of αἴρω
ונשׁאתם	Genesis 45:19	…and bring your father, and come.	Bring your father and come.	ἀναλαβόντες, another form of ἀναλαμβάνω
נשׁאת	Genesis 45:23	…ten she asses laden with corn…	…ten female donkeys loaded with grain…	αἰρούσας, another form of αἴρω
נשׁאתי	Genesis 19:21	I have accepted thee concerning this thing also…	I will grant this request too and will not overthrow the town you mentioned.	ἐθαύμασά, a form of θαυμάζω
נשׁאתי	Exodus 6:8^[21]	…the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham…	I will bring you to the land I swore to give to Abraham…	ἐξέτεινα τὴν χεῖρά μου^[22]
נשׁאים	Genesis 37:25	…with their camels bearing spicery…	Their camels were carrying spices…	ἔγεμον, a form of γέμω
נשׁאים	Genesis 45:23	…ten asses laden with the good things…	…ten donkeys loaded with the best products…	αἴροντας, another form of αἴρω
לשׁאת	Genesis 36:7	…and the land wherein they were strangers could not bear them…	…the land where they had settled was not able to support them…	φέρειν, a form of φέρω
	Genesis 45:27	…the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him…	…the wagons that Joseph had sent to transport him…	ἀναλαβεῖν, another form of ἀναλαμβάνω
	Genesis 46:5	…the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.	…the wagons that Pharaoh had sent along to transport him.	ἀνέλαβον, another form of ἀναλαμβάνω
ואשׁא	Exodus 19:4	…and how I bare you on eagles’ wings…	…and how I lifted you on eagles’ wings…	ἀνέλαβον, another form of ἀναλαμβάνω

Form of ʽâvôn	Reference	KJV	NET	Septuagint
עוני	Genesis 4:13	My punishment is greater than I can bear.	My punishment is too great to endure!	αἰτία^[23]
עון	Genesis 15:16	…for the iniquity of the Amorites is not…^[24]	…for the sin of the Amorites has not yet…	ἁμαρτίαι, a form of ἁμαρτία
	Genesis 44:16	…found out the iniquity of thy servants…	…God has exposed the sin of your servants!	ἀδικίαν, a form of ἀδικία
	Exodus 20:5	…visiting^[25] the iniquity of the fathers upon the children…	…responding to the transgression of fathers…	ἁμαρτίας, a form of ἁμαρτία
בעון	Genesis 19:15	…be consumed in the iniquity of the city.	…will be destroyed when the city is judged!	ἀνομίαις, a form of ἀνομία

Form of ʽâbar	Reference	KJV	NET	Septuagint
עבר	Genesis 15:17	…a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.	…a flaming torch passed between the animal parts.	διῆλθον, a form of διέρχομαι
	Genesis 23:16	…current money with the merchant.	…according to the standard measurement at the time.	δοκίμου, a form of δόκιμος
	Genesis 32:31	And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him…	The sun rose over him as he crossed over Penuel…	παρῆλθεν, a form of παρέρχομαι
	Genesis 33:3	And he passed over before them…	But Jacob himself went on ahead of them…	προῆλθεν, a form of προέρχομαι
	Exodus 17:5	Go on before the people…	Go over before the people…	προπορεύου, a form of προπορεύομαι
יעבר	Genesis 33:14	Let my Lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant:	Let my lord go on ahead of his servant.	προελθέτω, another form of προέρχομαι
	Exodus 15:16	…till thy people pass over, O LORD…	…until your people pass by, O Lord…	παρέλθῃ, another form of παρέρχομαι
	Exodus 15:16	…till the people pass over, which thou hast purchased.	…until the people whom you have bought pass by.	παρέλθῃ, another form of παρέρχομαι
עברו	Genesis 32:16	Pass over before me…	Pass over before me…	προπορεύεσθε, a form of προπορεύομαι
עברתי	Genesis 32:10	…I passed over this Jordan…	…I crossed the Jordan…	διέβην, a form of διαβαίνω
עברתם	Genesis 18:5	…for therefore are ye come to your servant.	…since you have passed by your servant’s home.	ἐξεκλίνατε, a form of ἐκκλίνω
ועבר	Exodus 12:23^[26]	For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians…	For the Lord will pass through to strike Egypt…	παρελεύσεται, another form of παρέρχομαι
ויעבר	Genesis 8:1	…and God made a wind to pass over the earth…	God caused a wind to blow over the earth…	Not translated ἐπὶ
	Genesis 12:6	And Abram passed through the land…	Abram traveled through the land…	διώδευσεν, a form of διοδεύω
	Genesis 31:21	…and passed over the river…	He quickly crossed the Euphrates River…	διέβη, another form of διαβαίνω
	Genesis 32:22	…and passed over the ford Jabbok.	…and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.	διέβη, another form of διαβαίνω
	Genesis 32:23	…and sent over that he had.	Not translated	διεβίβασεν,^[27] a form of διαβιβάζω^[28]
	Genesis 41:46	…and went throughout all the land of Egypt.	…and was in charge of all the land of Egypt.	διῆλθεν, another form of διέρχομαι
ויעברו	Genesis 37:28	Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen…	So when the Midianite merchants passed by…	παρεπορεύοντο, a form of παραπορεύομαι
ויעברו	Genesis 50:4	And when the days of his mourning were past…	When the days of mourning had passed…	παρῆλθον, another form of παρέρχομαι
ויעברם	Genesis 32:23	…and sent them over the brook…	…and sent them across the stream…	διέβη, another form of διαβαίνω
ועברתי	Exodus 12:12	For I will pass through the land of Egypt…	I will pass through the land of Egypt…	διελεύσομαι, another form of διέρχομαι
תעבר	Genesis 18:3	…pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:	…do not pass by and leave your servant.	παρέλθῃς, another form^[29] of παρέρχομαι
תעבר	Genesis 31:52	…thou shalt not pass over this heap…	…you will not pass beyond this pile…	διαβῇς, another form of διαβαίνω
ותעבר	Genesis 32:21	So went the present over before him…	So the gifts were sent on ahead of him…	παρεπορεύοντο, a form of παραπορεύομαι
והעברת	Exodus 13:12	That thou shalt set apart unto the LORD all that openeth the matrix…	…then you must give over to the Lord the first offspring…	ἀφελεῖς, a form of ἀφαιρέω
העביר	Genesis 47:21	…he removed them to cities from one end…	Not translated	κατεδουλώσατο, a form of καταδουλόω
תעברו	Genesis 18:5	…after that ye shall pass on:	After that you may be on your way.	παρελεύσεσθε, another form of παρέρχομαι
אעבר	Genesis 30:32	I will pass through all thy flock to day…	Let me walk among all your flocks today…	παρελθάτω, another form of παρέρχομαι
אעבר	Genesis 31:52	…I will not pass over this heap…	…I will not pass beyond this pile…	διαβῶ, another form of διαβαίνω

Forgiven or Passed Over? Part 4

Back to Who Am I? Part 8

Back to Hypocrisy

Back to Forgiven or Passed Over? Part 5

Back to A Monotonous Cycle Revisited, Part 2

^[1] Exodus 12:34 (Tanakh)

^[2] Exodus 6:8 (Tanakh)

^[3] Genesis 4:13 (Tanakh, KJV) Table

^[4] Genesis 4:13 (NETS)

^[5] Romans 7:7b (NET)

^[6] Romans 7:8a (NET)

^[7] Romans 5:13 (NET)

^[8] Genesis 44:16b (Tanakh)

^[9] John 3:6 (NET)

^[10] Romans 7:5 (NET)

^[11] Genesis 18:20, 21 (NET)

^[12] Genesis 18:23, 24 (NET)

^[13] Genesis 18:26 (Tanakh)

^[14] Genesis 50:15b (NET)

^[15] Exodus 10:16, 17 (NET)

^[16] Exodus 10:13 (NET)

^[17] Exodus 10:18, 19 (NET)

^[18] Exodus 33:11a (NET)

^[19] I’ve phrased this in a way that scarcely disguises my assumption, based on an argument I wouldn’t know how to defend, that Hebrew was not the original language Cain spoke with y^ehôvâh.

^[20] “And Iakob, lifting up his feet…” Genesis 29:1 (NETS)

^[21] “I lifted up My hand” Tanakh

^[22] I stretched out my hand Exodus 6:8 (NETS)

^[23] https://greekdoc.github.io/lexicon/ait.html#aitia

^[24] Septuagint: ἀναπεπλήρωνται, a form of ἀναπληρόω

^[25] Septuagint: ἀποδιδοὺς, a form of ἀποδίδωμι

^[26] The Hebrew for Passover is pâsach (ופסח) rather than a form of ʽâbar but in Greek in the Septuagint both words are παρελεύσεται, another form of παρέρχομαι, though Exodus 12:12 was translated διελεύσομαι, another form of διέρχομαι.

^[27] https://greekdoc.github.io/lexicon/diab.html#diabibazw

^[28] http://en.bab.la/dictionary/greek-english/%CE%B4%CE%B9%CE%B1%CE%B2%CE%B9%CE%B2%CE%AC%CE%B6%CF%89

^[29] http://studybible.info/LXX_WH/Genesis%2018:3

Fear – Deuteronomy, Part 8

Posted on July 2, 2017 by admin

I was standing between the Lord and you at that time, Moses said to Israel, to reveal to you the message of the Lord (y^ehôvâh, יהוה), because you were afraid (yârêʼ, יראתם) of the fire and would not go up the mountain.^[1] Then he recounted the ten commandments. Within them was a fearful description of y^ehôvâh: I punish the sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons for the sin of the fathers who reject me…^[2] And in a footnote (11) the translators made it perfectly clear what form of punishment they had in mind: “God sometimes punishes children for the sins of a father (cf. Num 16:27, 32; Josh 7:24-25; 2 Sam 21:1-9).” In other words y^ehôvâh executes the sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons for the sin of the fathers who reject Him.

That’s what I thought. And that’s why I love the NET. Apart from its written record I would look back and think I had been completely insane. It’s not that I had the NET to read when I was young, but that its translators came of age in the same religious milieu as I did. So in the spirit of fearing the Lord I want to slow way down to consider how they arrived at I punish as a translation of the Hebrew word pâqad (פקד; Septuagint: ἀποδιδοὺς, a form of ἀποδίδωμι). And this fear is not reverence, but the fear that keeps one from direct intercourse with y^ehôvâh. Only Moses risked that, because you were afraid of the fire and would not go up the mountain.

In Exodus 20:5 (NET) pâqad was translated responding.

Form of pâqad	Reference	KJV	NET
פקד	Exodus 20:5	…visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children…	…responding to the transgression of fathers by dealing with children…
פקד	Deuteronomy 5:9	…visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children…	…I punish the sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons…

I intend to track pâqad, ʽâvôn (עון; translated to the transgression and for the sin) and śânêʼ (לשׁנאי; translated of those who reject me and who reject me) from the beginning to the giving of the law, and then from there to its restatement in Deuteronomy. I first encountered ʽâvôn from the mouth of Cain after he attacked his brother Abel and killed him.^[3]

So now, you are banished from the ground, y^ehôvâh said to him, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.^[4] Up to that time Cain had cultivated the ground. When you try to cultivate the ground, y^ehôvâh continued, it will no longer yield its best for you. You will be a homeless wanderer on the earth.^[5] Cain lamented (Genesis 4:13b, 14 NET):

My punishment (ʽâvôn, עוני) is too great to endure! [Table] Look! You are driving me off the land today, and I must hide from your presence. I will be a homeless wanderer on the earth; whoever finds me will kill me.

Here the translators assumed that Cain lamented his punishment rather than his sin; ʽâvôn can mean both. When y^ehôvâh prophesied to Abram the translators assumed the Amorites were not punished in the promised land they inhabited but that the land itself would not be given to Abram’s descendants until the Amorites’ sin reached some predetermined limit (Genesis 15:13b-16 NET):

Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign country. They will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years [Table]. But I will execute judgment on the nation that they will serve. Afterward they will come out with many possessions [Table]. But as for you, you will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age [Table]. In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the sin (ʽâvôn, עון) of the Amorites has not yet reached its limit [Table].

But Abram/Abraham had no son yet by his wife Sarah (Genesis 17:15-21).

Then God said to Abraham, “As for your wife, you must no longer call her Sarai; Sarah will be her name [Table]. I will bless her and will give you a son through her. I will bless her and she will become a mother of nations. Kings of countries will come from her [Table]!”

Then Abraham bowed down with his face to the ground and laughed as he said to himself, “Can a son be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety [Table]?” Abraham said to God, “O that Ishmael might live before you [Table]!”

God said, “No, Sarah your wife is going to bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. I will confirm my covenant with him as a perpetual covenant for his descendants after him [Table]. As for Ishmael, I have heard you. I will indeed bless him, make him fruitful, and give him a multitude of descendants. He will become the father of twelve princes; I will make him into a great nation [Table]. But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year [Table].”

The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent during the hottest time of the day. Abraham looked up and saw three men standing across from him.^[6] One of them said, “I will surely return to you when the season comes round again, and your wife Sarah will have a son!”^[7]

So Sarah laughed to herself, thinking, “After I am worn out will I have pleasure, especially when my husband is old too?”

The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child when I am old?’ Is anything impossible for the Lord? I will return to you when the season comes round again and Sarah will have a son.” Then Sarah lied, saying, “I did not laugh,” because she was afraid (yârêʼ, יראה). But the Lord said, “No! You did laugh.”^[8]

The next occurrence of ʽâvôn involved the judgment and condemnation of Sodom. At dawn the angels hurried Lot along, saying, “Get going! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or else you will be destroyed when the city is judged (ʽâvôn)!”^[9] Competing values had met at Lot’s front door (Genesis 19:4-9a NET):

Before they could lie down to sleep, all the men – both young and old, from every part of the city of Sodom – surrounded the house. They shouted to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so we can have sex with them!”

Lot went outside to them, shutting the door behind him. He said, “No, my brothers! Don’t act so wickedly (râʽaʽ, תרעו)! Look, I have two daughters who have never had sexual relations with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do to them whatever you please. Only don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”

“Out of our way!” they cried, and “This man came to live here as a foreigner, and now he dares to judge us! We’ll do more harm (râʽaʽ, נרע) to you than to them!”

The two angels, y^ehôvâh’s messengers, didn’t allow the men of Sodom to fulfill their desire, nor did they allow Lot to defile his daughters to fulfill his family’s ideal of hospitality. They struck the men who were at the door of the house, from the youngest to the oldest, with blindness.^[10] And that brings me to the first occurrence of pâqad.

The Lord visited (pâqad, פקד) Sarah just as he had said he would and did for Sarah what he had promised.^[11] The rabbis who translated the Septuagint chose ἐπεσκέψατο (a form of ἐπισκέπτομαι) here. I find ἐπεσκέψατο at the beginning of the fulfillment of another promise as well. The Jerusalem Council listened to Barnabas and Paul while they explained all the miraculous signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them.^[12] James replied (Acts 15:13b-18 NET Table1 Table2):

“Brothers, listen to me. Simeon has explained (Acts 15:7-11) how God first concerned himself (ἐπεσκέψατο, a form of ἐπισκέπτομαι) to select from among the Gentiles a people for his name. The words of the prophets agree with this, as it is written, ‘After this I will return, and I will rebuild the fallen tent of David; I will rebuild its ruins and restore it, so that the rest of humanity may seek the Lord, namely, all the Gentiles I have called to be my own,’ says the Lord, who makes these things known from long ago.”

James didn’t quote the Septuagint.

Acts 15:16, 17 (NET)	Acts 15:16, 17 Parallel Greek	Amos 9:11, 12 Septuagint	Amos 9:11, 12 NETS
‘After this…	μετὰ ταῦτα…	ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ…	On that day…
…I will return…	…ἀναστρέψω…
…and I will rebuild the fallen tent of David…	καὶ ἀνοικοδομήσω τὴν σκηνὴν Δαυὶδ τὴν πεπτωκυῖαν	…ἀναστήσω τὴν σκηνὴν Δαυιδ τὴν πεπτωκυῖαν…	…I will raise up the tent of David that is fallen…
		…καὶ ἀνοικοδομήσω τὰ πεπτωκότα αὐτῆς…	…and rebuild its ruins…
…I will rebuild its ruins…	…καὶ τὰ \|κατεσκαμμένα\| αὐτῆς ἀνοικοδομήσω…	…καὶ τὰ κατεσκαμμένα αὐτῆς ἀναστήσω…	…and raise up its destruction…
…and restore it…	…καὶ ἀνορθώσω αὐτήν…	…καὶ ἀνοικοδομήσω αὐτὴν καθὼς αἱ ἡμέραι τοῦ αἰῶνος…	…and rebuild it as the days of old…
…so that the rest of humanity may seek the Lord, namely, all the Gentiles I have called to be my own,’ says the Lord, who makes these things…	…ὅπως ἂν ἐκζητήσωσιν οἱ κατάλοιποι τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὸν κύριον καὶ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ἐφ᾿ οὓς ἐπικέκληται τὸ ὄνομα μου ἐπ᾿ αὐτούς, λέγει κύριος ποιῶν ταῦτα…	…ὅπως ἐκζητήσωσιν οἱ κατάλοιποι τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ἐφ᾽ οὓς ἐπικέκληται τὸ ὄνομά μου ἐπ᾽ αὐτούς λέγει κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ ποιῶν ταῦτα…	…in order that those remaining of humans and all the nations upon whom my name has been called might seek out me, says the Lord who does these things.

But the Septuagint version of Amos 9:12 is much closer to James’ quotation than the Hebrew from which our Bibles have been translated.

Amos 9:12 (NET)	Amos 9:12 (KJV)	Amos 9:12 (Tanakh)
“As a result they will conquer those left in Edom and all the nations subject to my rule.” The Lord, who is about to do this, is speaking!	That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the LORD that doeth this.	That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the LORD that doeth this.

The first occurrence of śânêʼ is found in the words with which Rebekah’s family blessed her when she left them to marry Abraham’s and Sarah’s son Isaac: Our sister, may you become the mother of thousands of ten thousands! May your descendants possess the strongholds of their enemies (śânêʼ).^[13] But enemies as a translation of śânêʼ did not mean open warfare exclusively. It could include the fear of a potential enemy. Abimelech said to Isaac, “Leave us and go elsewhere, for you have become much more powerful than we are.”^[14] When Abimelech saw how y^ehôvâh had blessed Isaac and sought a treaty with him, Isaac asked, Why have you come to me? You hate (śânêʼ, שׁנאתם) me and sent me away from you. ^[15]

The Hebrew word śânêʼ was also used to describe personal preference. Isaac and Rebekah had twin sons, Esau and Jacob. Jacob married two women, Leah and Rachel. Rachel was beautiful. Leah was not. When evening came Jacob preferred to bed Rachel over Leah. When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved (śânêʼ, שׁנואה), he enabled her to become pregnant while Rachel remained childless.^[16] She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “Because the Lord heard that I was unloved (śânêʼ, שׁנואה), he gave me this one too.”^[17]

From the perspective of the word usage of śânêʼ it matters very little whether Leah was a superstitious woman who mistook happenstance for interaction with y^ehôvâh. As a matter of faith in y^ehôvâh it is important to remember that Moses was not afraid of the fire, went up the mountain and spoke directly with Him. He said of Moses (Numbers 12:6-8a NET):

Hear now my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord (y^ehôvâh, יהוה) will make myself known to him in a vision; I will speak with him in a dream. My servant Moses is not like this; he is faithful in all my house. With him I will speak face to face, openly, and not in riddles; and he will see the form of the Lord (y^ehôvâh, יהוה).

It was Moses who wrote that y^ehôvâh saw (râʼâh, וירא) that Leah was unloved and enabled her to become pregnant. If I believe, the details pulse with life. Leah concurred with y^ehôvâh at first: The Lord has looked (râʼâh, ראה) with pity on my oppressed condition,^[18] she said when she was not having regular sex with Jacob. But after she was and had given birth to two sons, Reuben and Simeon, the idea that y^ehôvâh saw her became less comforting: the Lord heard (shâmaʽ, ושמע) that I was unloved, she amended her statement of faith.

So then faith comes by hearing,^[19] Paul wrote the Romans. The best way to avoid faith in y^ehôvâh is to avoid the Bible. Don’t read it for yourself or listen to preaching or teaching from it. The second best way to avoid faith in y^ehôvâh is to read the Bible, study it even, listen to plenty of sermons from it, but keep your mind focused on rules for you to obey. I know. I did it for years.

With my mind focused on my own compliance, or lack of compliance, to rules derived from the law I missed the grace of God, his gift of righteousness, the fruit of his Spirit. Although they see they do not see, and although they hear they do not hear nor do they understand,^[20] Jesus promised those who trusted their religion, rites and rituals rather than y^ehôvâh. Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, He critiqued their labors, hypocrites! You cross land and sea to make one convert, and when you get one, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves!^[21]

Elsewhere I called my attempt “to keep yehôvâh’s law in my own strength…an occupational hazard of reading the Old Testament with a willing heart…If y^ehôvâh said do this or don’t do that, I said okay, and woke up somewhere in the story of David to the fact that I was striving again to keep the law in my own strength, without malice or forethought.” Jesus read the Old Testament and concluded, You must all be born from above^[22] because what is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.^[23] Keeping that in view and remaining open to understanding how He got that out of the Old Testament helps to minimize the “occupational hazard” of studying it. Another more manual technique has been to deny my suspicions of y^ehôvâh, to take Him at his word, and to become more suspicious of the motives (1 Timothy 1:5-7) and agendas (Galatians 4:17-31) of those who would dissuade me from trusting his salvation.

Eventually, Rachel had a son, Joseph. When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated (śânêʼ, וישׁנאו) Joseph and were not able to speak to him kindly. Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated (śânêʼ, שׁנא) him even more.^[24] He said to them (Genesis 37:6-8 NET):

“Listen to this dream I had: There we were, binding sheaves of grain in the middle of the field. Suddenly my sheaf rose up and stood upright and your sheaves surrounded my sheaf and bowed down to it!” Then his brothers asked him, “Do you really think you will rule over us or have dominion over us?” They hated (śânêʼ, שׁנא) him even more because of his dream and because of what he said.

Joseph had another dream, and told it to his brothers (Genesis 37:9, 10 NET).

“Look,” he said. “I had another dream. The sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” When he told his father and his brothers, his father rebuked him, saying, “What is this dream that you had? Will I, your mother, and your brothers really come and bow down to you?”

Joeseph’s brothers’ śânêʼ was no mere emotion. They plotted to kill him. But Reuben, the eldest, talked them down from killing Joseph. Then Judah said to his brothers (Genesis 37:26-28 NET):

“What profit is there if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let’s not lay a hand on him, for after all, he is our brother, our own flesh.” His brothers agreed. So when the Midianite merchants passed by, Joseph’s brothers pulled him out of the cistern and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. The Ishmaelites then took Joseph to Egypt.

An Egyptian named Potiphar, an official of Pharaoh and the captain of the guard, purchased [Joseph] from the Ishmaelites who had brought him there (Genesis 39:1b-6a NET).

The Lord (y^ehôvâh, יהוה) was with Joseph. He was successful and lived in the household of his Egyptian master. His master observed that the Lord (y^ehôvâh, יהוה) was with him and that the Lord (y^ehôvâh, יהוה) made everything he was doing successful. So Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal attendant. Potiphar appointed (pâqad, ויפקדהו) Joseph overseer of his household and put him in charge of everything he owned. From the time Potiphar appointed (pâqad, הפקיד) him over his household and over all that he owned, the Lord (y^ehôvâh, יהוה) blessed the Egyptian’s household for Joseph’s sake. The blessing of the Lord (y^ehôvâh, יהוה) was on everything that he had, both in his house and in his fields. So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph’s care; he gave no thought to anything except the food he ate.

In the Septuagint these two occurrences of pâqad were translated κατέστησεν and κατασταθῆναι (forms of καθίστημι). Who then is the faithful and wise slave, Jesus asked, whom the master has put in charge (κατέστησεν, a form of καθίστημι) of his household, to give the other slaves their food at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom the master finds at work when he comes. I tell you the truth, the master will put him in charge (καταστήσει, another form of καθίστημι) of all his possessions.^[25]

I’ll pick this up in another essay. The tables I’ve used here follow.

Form of pâqad	Reference	KJV	NET
פקד	Genesis 21:1	And the LORD visited Sarah as he had…	The Lord visited Sarah just as he had said…
	Genesis 50:24	…and God will surely visit you…	…But God will surely come to you…
	Genesis 50:25	…God will surely visit you…	..God will surely come to you…
	Exodus 3:16	…I have surely visited you…	…I have attended carefully to you…
	Exodus 4:31	…they heard that the LORD had visited…	…heard that the Lord had attended to…
	Exodus 13:19	…God will surely visit you…	…God will surely attend to you…
	Exodus 20:5	…visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children…	…responding to the transgression of fathers by dealing with children…
ויפקדהו	Genesis 39:4	…and he made him overseer over his…	…Potiphar appointed Joseph overseer of…
הפקיד	Genesis 39:5	…he had made him overseer in his house…	…Potiphar appointed him over his…
ויפקד	Genesis 40:4	…charged Joseph with them…	…appointed Joseph to be their attendant…
ויפקד	Genesis 41:34	…and let him appoint officers over the…	…he should appoint officials throughout…
יפקד	Genesis 50:24	…and God will surely visit you…	…But God will surely come to you…
	Genesis 50:25	…God will surely visit you…	..God will surely come to you…
	Exodus 13:19	…God will surely visit you…	…God will surely attend to you…
פקדתי	Exodus 3:16	…I have surely visited you…	…I have attended carefully to you…

Form of ʽâvôn	Reference	KJV	NET
עוני	Genesis 4:13	My punishment is greater than I can bear.	My punishment is too great to endure!
עון	Genesis 15:16	…for the iniquity of the Amorites is not…	…for the sin of the Amorites has not yet…
	Genesis 44:16	…found out the iniquity of thy servants…	…God has exposed the sin of your servants!
	Exodus 20:5	…visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children…	…responding to the transgression of fathers…
בעון	Genesis 19:15	…be consumed in the iniquity of the city.	…will be destroyed when the city is judged!

Form of śânêʼ	Reference	KJV	NET
שׁנאיו	Genesis 24:60	…possess the gate of those which hate…	…possess the strongholds of their enemies.
שׁנאתם	Genesis 26:27	…ye hate me, and have sent me away…	You hate me and sent me away from you.
שׁנואה	Genesis 29:31	…the LORD saw that Leah was hated…	…the Lord saw that Leah was unloved…
שׁנואה	Genesis 29:33	…the LORD hath heard that I was hated…	…the Lord heard that I was unloved…
וישׁנאו	Genesis 37:4	…they hated him, and could not speak…	…they hated Joseph and were not able to…
שׁנא	Genesis 37:5	…and they hated him yet the more.	…they hated him even more.
שׁנא	Genesis 37:8	And they hated him yet the more for his…	They hated him even more because of his…
שׁנאינו	Exodus 1:10	…they join also unto our enemies…	…will ally themselves with our enemies…
שׁנאי	Exodus 18:21	…men of truth, hating covetousness…	…men of truth, those who hate bribes…
לשׁנאי	Exodus 20:5	…generation of them that hate me…	…generations of those who reject me…

Fear – Deuteronomy, Part 9

Back to Fear – Deuteronomy, Part 10

Back to Fear – Deuteronomy, Part 11

Back to Fear – Deuteronomy, Part 12

Back to Forgiven or Passed Over? Part 6

Back to Romans. Part 91

Back to Fear – Deuteronomy, Part 13

Back to Fear – Deuteronomy, Part 14

Back to Fear – Deuteronomy, Part 15

Back to Isaiah 53:10-12, Part 9

^[1] Deuteronomy 5:5 (NET)

^[2] Deuteronomy 5:9b (NET)

^[3] Genesis 4:8b (NET)

^[4] Genesis 4:11 (NET) Table

^[5] Genesis 4:12 (NET) Table

^[6] Genesis 18:1, 2a (NET)

^[7] Genesis 18:10a (NET)

^[8] Genesis 18:12-15 (NET)

^[9] Genesis 19:15 (NET) בעון

^[10] Genesis 19:11a (NET)

^[11] Genesis 21:1 (NET)

^[12] Acts 15:12 (NET)

^[13] Genesis 24:60 (NET) שׁנאיו

^[14] Genesis 26:16 (NET)

^[15] Genesis 26:27 (NET)

^[16] Genesis 29:31 (NET)

^[17] Genesis 29:33a (NET)

^[18] Genesis 29:32a (NET)

^[19] Romans 10:17a (NKJV)

^[20] Matthew 13:13b (NET)

^[21] Matthew 23:15 (NET)

^[22] John 3:7b (NET)

^[23] John 3:6 (NET)

^[24] Genesis 37:4, 5 (NET)

^[25] Matthew 24:45-47 (NET)

Fear – Deuteronomy, Part 2

Posted on December 23, 2016 by admin

Instruct these people as follows, y^ehôvâh had said to Moses: ‘You are about to cross the border of your relatives the descendants of Esau [Jacob’s brother], who inhabit Seir. They will be afraid (yârêʼ, וייראו; Septuagint: φοβηθήσονται, afraid) of you, so watch yourselves carefully.’^[1]

The rabbis who translated the Septuagint understood the last phrase, καὶ εὐλαβηθήσονται ὑμᾶς σφόδρα (“and they will be very cautious,” of you; i.e., of Israel). Either works in context. The origin of this fear was the destruction of the Egyptians in the Red Sea: The nations will hear, Moses and the Israelites sang to y^ehôvâh. Israel by contrast overflowed with confidence (Exodus 15:13 NET):

By your loyal love you will lead the people whom you have redeemed; you will guide them by your strength to your holy dwelling place.

The Hebrew word translated By your loyal love was chêsêd (בחסדך). Below is a table of forms of chêsêd and their translations in Genesis to the giving of the law.

chêsêd	Hebrew	KJV	NET	Tanakh	Septuagint
Genesis 19:19	חסדך	mercy	kindness	mercy	δικαιοσύνην
Genesis 20:13	חסדך	kindness	loyalty	kindness	δικαιοσύνην
Genesis 21:23	כחסד	kindness	loyalty	kindness	δικαιοσύνην
Genesis 24:12	חסד	kindness	Be faithful	kindness	ἔλεος
Genesis 24:14	חסד	kindness	you have been faithful	kindness	ἔλεος
Genesis 24:27	חסדו	mercy	faithful	mercy	δικαιοσύνην
Genesis 24:49	חסד	kindly	faithful	kindly	ἔλεος^[2]
Genesis 32:10	החסדים	mercies	faithful	mercies	δικαιοσύνης
Genesis 39:21	חסד	mercy	kindness	kindness	ἔλεος
Genesis 40:14	חסד	kindness	kindness	kindness	ἔλεος
Genesis 47:29	חסד	kindly	kindness	kindly	ἐλεημοσύνην
Exodus 15:13	בחסדך	mercy	By your loyal love	in Thy love	δικαιοσύνῃ
Exodus 20:6	חסד	mercy	covenant faithfulness	mercy	ἔλεος

This equation of mercy, kindness, faithfulness, loyalty and loyal love with δικαιοσύνῃ, righteousness, is a profound lesson in itself for one who neglected what is more important in the law – justice, mercy, and faithfulness: the righteousness (δικαιοσύνη) of God is revealed in the gospel from faith to faith, just as it is written, “The righteous (δίκαιος) by faith will live.”^[3] Paul quoted Habakkuk 2:4. The Tanakh reads, Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just (tsaddı̂yq, וצדיק) shall live by his faith. The Septuagint translated into English reads, “If it draws back, my soul is not pleased in it, But the just shall live by my faith.” The first part was translated, if he shrinks back, I take no pleasure in him^[4] in the New Testament.

NET

Parallel Greek

Septuagint

if he shrinks back, I take no pleasure in him.

Hebrews 10:38b

ἐὰν ὑποστείληται, οὐκ εὐδοκεῖ ἡ ψυχή μου ἐν αὐτῷ

Hebrews 10:38b

ἐὰν ὑποστείληται οὐκ εὐδοκεῖ ἡ ψυχή μου ἐν αὐτῷ

Habakkuk 2:4a Table

The righteous by faith will live

Romans 1:17b

ὁ δὲ δίκαιος ἐκ πίστεως ζήσεται

Romans 1:17b

ὁ δὲ δίκαιος ἐκ πίστεώς μου ζήσεται

Habakkuk 2:4b

The nations will hear and tremble,^[5] the song Moses and the Israelites sang continued. The Hebrew word translated tremble was râgaz (ירגזון). As Joseph sent his brothers back to Canaan to bring their father and their families to Egypt, He said to them, “As you travel don’t be overcome with fear.”^[6] The Hebrew word translated be overcome with fear was also râgaz (תרגזו) but a footnote (31) acknowledged:

The verb means “stir up.” Some understand the Hebrew verb רָגָז (ragaz, “to stir up”) as a reference to quarreling (see Prov 29:9, where it has this connotation), but in Exod 15:14 and other passages it means “to fear.” This might refer to a fear of robbers, but more likely it is an assuring word that they need not be fearful about returning to Egypt. They might have thought that once Jacob was in Egypt, Joseph would take his revenge on them.

The rabbis who translated the Septuagint did not agree. They chose ὀργίζεσθε (a form of ὀργίζω) in Genesis 45:24. Be angry (ὀργίζεσθε) and do not sin,^[7] Paul quoted the Psalm^[8] in his letter to the Ephesians.

NET

Parallel Greek

Septuagint

Be angry and do not sin…

Ephesians 4:26a

ὀργίζεσθε καὶ μὴ ἁμαρτάνετε

Ephesians 4:26a

ὀργίζεσθε καὶ μὴ ἁμαρτάνετε

Psalm 4:4a

And in Exodus 15:14 they chose ὠργίσθησαν (another form of ὀργίζω). The nations were enraged^[9] (τὰ ἔθνη ὠργίσθησαν) is nearer the rabbis’ understanding in the Septuagint ἤκουσαν ἔθνη καὶ ὠργίσθησαν.

The song continued, anguish will seize the inhabitants of Philistia.^[10] The Hebrew word translated anguish was chı̂yl (חיל). It was translated pain (בחילה) in Job 6:10 and writhing (חיל) like a woman in childbirth in Psalm 48:6. That is what the translators of the Septuagint picked up on with ὠδῖνες (a form of ὠδίν): Now when they are saying, “There is peace and security,” Paul wrote believers in Thessalonica, then sudden destruction comes on them, like labor pains (ὠδὶν) on a pregnant woman, and they will surely not escape.^[11]

Then the chiefs of Edom will be terrified,^[12] Moses’ song continued. The Hebrew word translated terrified was bâhal (נבהלו). It was also translated terrified (נבהל) in 1 Samuel 28:21, but they were dumbfounded (נבהלו) in Genesis 45:3 and panicked (ויבהל) in Judges 20:41. That hasty confused state of mind seemed to be what the rabbis responded to in the Septuagint with ἔσπευσαν (a form of σπεύδω). Hurry (σπεῦσον, another form of σπεύδω), Jesus said to Saul [Paul] in a vision, and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.^[13]

The song continued, trembling will seize the leaders of Moab.^[14] Here the Hebrew word translated trembling was raʽad (רעד). It was translated shake uncontrollably (רעדה) in Psalm 48:6 and panic (רעדה) in Isaiah 33:14. It was translated τρόμος in the Septuagint. Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went out and ran from [Jesus’] tomb, for terror (τρόμος) and bewilderment had seized them.^[15]

Moses and the people sang, and the inhabitants of Canaan will shake.^[16] The Hebrew word translated will shake was mûg (נמגו). It was translated are cringing (נמגו) in Joshua 2:9 and seemed to melt (נמוג) in 1 Samuel 14:16. This was the sense the rabbis understood in the Septuagint: “all those inhabiting Canaan melted away” (ἐτάκησαν, a form of τήκω), whether by death, defection or fleeing as refugees. Peter prophesied, the heavens will be burned up and dissolve, and the celestial bodies will melt away (τήκεται, another form of τήκω) in a blaze!^[17]

Fear and dread will fall on them; by the greatness of your arm they will be as still as stone until your people pass by, O Lord, until the people whom you have bought pass by.^[18] In the Septuagint this was understood as a request for more supernatural fear and trembling: “May fear and trembling fall upon them.”^[19] The Hebrew word translated fear (ʼêymâh, אימתה) was translated my terror in y^ehôvâh’s promise: I will send my terror (ʼêymâh, אימתי) before you, and I will destroy all the people whom you encounter.^[20] This terror was associated with an angel: For my angel will go before you and bring you to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I will destroy them completely.^[21] Fear was φόβος in the Septuagint. And Zechariah, visibly shaken when he saw the angel, was seized with fear (φόβος).^[22] The Hebrew word translated dread was pachad (ופחד), which was translated τρόμος in the Septuagint.

There was a lot of anger, pain, panic, trembling and defection among the people who heard about the Egyptians drowned in the Red Sea. There was fear and dread of supernatural origin besides. The fear (yirʼâh, יראת; Septuagint: φόβος) of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.^[23] I heard that often with no trace of irony. Apparently the NET translators heard it the same way for they went a step farther and translated yirʼâh to obey: To obey the Lord is the fundamental principle for wise living.^[24]

An oracle within my heart concerning the transgression of the wicked, David penned, There is no fear (pachad, פחד; Septuagint: φόβος) of God before his eyes.^[25] I didn’t hear this simply as a factual diagnosis but as a prescription for more fear. I don’t think I’m entirely alone in this. I had a pastor once who took No Fear sportswear as a personal insult. Perhaps he was considering the quotation credited to Albert Camus: “Nothing is more despicable than respect based on fear.”

I didn’t find the context for this quote online so I’m just guessing, but I suppose that Camus didn’t know many French citizens who became committed NAZIs during the occupation out of fear, only resistance fighters and collaborators. We see the same phenomenon in the Old Testament if we will see it: some rebelled against God, others adopted a hypocritical religiosity. What is born of the flesh is flesh^[26] and the works of the flesh^[27] erupt eventually through the hypocritical veneer of any religion (Romans 3:10-18 NET).

“There is no one righteous, not even one, there is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, together they have become worthless; there is no one who shows kindness, not even one.”

“Their throats are open graves, they deceive with their tongues, the poison of asps is under their lips.”

“Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”

“Their feet are swift to shed blood, ruin and misery are in their paths, and the way of peace they have not known.”

“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

This is the diagnosis. The prescription is given in Jesus’ summary of Israel’s history: You must all be born from above,^[28] not more fear but more God, the righteousness (δικαιοσύνη) of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe,^[29] more of our daily bread, more love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and Holy Spirit control, not pumped up artificially by some virtue of mine like some little engine that could, but flowing freely and continuously from those rivers of living water,^[30] his Holy Spirit. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God.^[31]

If I may assume that y^ehôvâh’s instruction, how to behave^[32] in Edom, implies y^ehôvâh’s intent that Israel pass through Edom, then the result of all of this anger, pain, panic, trembling, defection, fear and dread was exactly what one believing Jesus’ summary of Israel’s history would expect: Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border.^[33] Edom said to [Israel], “You will not pass through me, or I will come out against you with the sword.”^[34] Fear (φόβος), John explained, has to do with punishment.^[35]

Though fear did not supply Esau’s descendants with enough faith in y^ehôvâh to allow Israel to cross through their land of Edom, it kept them from attacking Israel and being destroyed by y^ehôvâh. Fear can produce collaborators. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom if the collaborators don’t settle down to live in it (1 John 4:15-19). In that case they may have been better off as resistance fighters (Revelation 3:14-22).

Back to Who Am I? Part 4

Back to Fear – Deuteronomy, Part 5

^[1] Deuteronomy 2:4 (NET)

^[2] Here ʼemeth (ואמת) was translated δικαιοσύνην.

^[3] Romans 1:17 (NET)

^[4] Hebrews 10:38b (NET)

^[5] Exodus 15:14a (NET) Also in the Tanakh, tremble

^[6] Genesis 45:24b (NET) In the Tanakh, fall not out

^[7] Ephesians 4:26a (NET)

^[8] Psalm 4:4 Also râgaz (רגזו) in Hebrew, translated Stand in awe in the Tanakh and Tremble with fear in the NET.

^[9] Revelation 11:18 (NET)

^[10] Exodus 15:14b (NET)

^[11] 1 Thessalonians 5:3 (NET)

^[12] Exodus 15:15a (NET)

^[13] Acts 22:18b (NET) Table

^[14] Exodus 15:15b (NET)

^[15] Mark 16:8a (NET)

^[16] Exodus 15:15c (NET)

^[17] 2 Peter 3:12b (NET)

^[18] Exodus 15:16 (NET)

^[19] Exodus 16:16a (NETS)

^[20] Exodus 23:27a (NET)

^[21] Exodus 23:23 (NET)

^[22] Luke 1:12 (NET)

^[23] Psalm 111:10a (NKJV)

^[24] Psalm 111.10a (NET)

^[25] Psalm 36:1 (NKJV)

^[26] John 3:6a (NET)

^[27] Galatians 5:19-21 (NET)

^[28] John 3:7b (NET)

^[29] Romans 3:22a (NET)

^[30] John 7:37-39 (NET)

^[31] Romans 8:14 (NET)

^[32] Deuteronomy 2:4-7 (NET)

^[33] Numbers 20;21a (NET)

^[34] Numbers 20:18 (NET)

^[35] 1 John 4:18b (NET)

Romans, Part 29

Posted on October 19, 2012 by admin

There is therefore now no condemnation (κατάκριμα)^[1] for those who are in Christ Jesus (ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ),^[2] Paul continued. I want to list some of the things that are true for those in Christ Jesus:

In Christ Jesus…
1) …born of water and spirit…What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.	John 3:5, 6 (NET)
2) …the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to each other, so that you cannot do what you want.	Galatians 5:17 (NET)
3) I delight in the law of God in my inner being.	Romans 7:22 (NET)
4) I know that nothing good lives…in my flesh.	Romans 7:18a (NET)
5) I want to do the good, but I cannot do it.	Romans 7:18b (NET)
6) I do not do the good I want, but I do the very evil I do not want!	Romans 7:19 (NET)
7) Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer me doing it but sin that lives in me.	Romans 7:20 (NET)
8) So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.	Romans 7:25b (NKJV)
9) There is therefore now no condemnation…	Romans 8:1a (NET)

For the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.^[3] All of this was achieved by God. For God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned (κατέκρινεν, a form of κατακρίνω)^[4] sin in the flesh…^[5]

Only God knows how much sin is condemned in my flesh. I have a general sense that while I’m preoccupied (and frustrated) with the opposition of the flesh that keeps me from the perfection I want (and think I should demonstrate by the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ)^[6] less and less of the sin (that is the desire of the flesh) sees the light of day. It is not expressed in the world. It is confined, trapped, condemned in dead and dying flesh.

I am the resurrection and the life, Jesus said. The one who believes in me will live even if he dies, and the one who lives and believes in me will never die.^[7] This was a difficult saying for Martha to believe, many years before Paul wrote to the Romans. Jesus asked her, Do you believe this?^[8] Martha’s answer was a model of tactful diplomacy, Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God who comes into the world.^[9]

Jesus knew Martha’s brother was sick, but deliberately waited two more days until he died.^[10] Our friend, He told his disciples, has fallen asleep. But I am going there to awaken him.^[11] His disciples were not eager to return to Judea. Rabbi, they said, the Jewish leaders were just now trying to stone you to death! [Jesus had claimed to be Yahweh, John 8:58, 59 NET] Are you going there again?^[12] Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.^[13] So Jesus told them plainly that he was dead, and said, I am glad for your sake that I was not there, so that you may believe.^[14]

Jesus had deliberately contrived this situation as an object lesson for his disciples, but then Mary, Martha’s sister, came and fell at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died:”^[15]

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the people who had come with her weeping, he was intensely moved in spirit and greatly distressed. He asked, “Where have you laid him?” They replied, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept.^[16]

It was a profound moment. Only He knows how many people He killed as Yahweh, sinners, yes, but people. He planned the death of Martha’s and Mary’s brother. He knew what He intended to do in the next few moments. And yet He wept. To say that Yahweh was not empathetic with human death would be false. I’m particularly affected by the implications of Genesis 18, that before the omniscient, omnipresent Yahweh decided to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah he took physical form and walked its streets. But there is something even more affecting about Yahweh, born of the flesh of Adam as Jesus, standing before the tomb of a friend weeping human tears from human eyes.

Take away the stone,^[17] Jesus said. Martha, ever the proper hostess, protested, Lord, by this time the body will have a bad smell, because he has been buried four days.^[18] Jesus responded (John 11:40-44 NET):

“Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you that you have listened to me. I knew that you always listen to me, but I said this for the sake of the crowd standing around here, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, he shouted in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The one who had died came out, his feet and hands tied up with strips of cloth, and a cloth wrapped around his face. Jesus said to them, “Unwrap him and let him go.”

Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord^[19]…who will rescue me from this body of death.^[20] The ultimate condemnation of sin in the flesh is the death of the body. The one who believes in me will live even if he dies,^[21] Jesus promised everyone born of the flesh and of the Spirit. To those who already consider themselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus,^[22] who accept their new identities, with the mind [they themselves] serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin,^[23] Jesus promised, the one who lives and believes in me will never die.^[24] To them the well-deserved demise of the body of death is a welcome relief, not a cause of apprehension.

Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, [Jesus] likewise shared in their humanity, so that through death he could destroy the one who holds the power of death (that is, the devil), and set free those who were held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death,^[25] is the way the writer of Hebrews put it. Paul concluded, so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled (πληρωθῇ, a form of πληρόω)^[26] in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.^[27] The righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled by the righteousness of God [apart from the law^[28]] through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe,^[29] the love that is the fulfillment (πλήρωμα)^[30] of the law,^[31] the fruit of the Spirit^[32] of God, in other words, to walk according…to the Spirit. As Jesus said, Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish these things but to fulfill (πληρῶσαι, another form of πληρόω) them.^[33]

Paul continued (Romans 8:5-11 NET):

For those who live according to the flesh have their outlook shaped by the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their outlook shaped by the things of the Spirit. For the outlook of the flesh is death, but the outlook of the Spirit is life and peace, because the outlook of the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to the law of God, nor is it able to do so. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this person does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is your life because of righteousness. Moreover if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his Spirit who lives in you.

Peter’s Way?

Romans, Part 30

Back to Romans, Part 31

Back to Romans, Part 32

Back to Romans, Part 35

Back to Son of God – John, Part 5

Back to Saving Demons, Part 1

Back to Romans, Part 45

^[2] Romans 8:1 (NET)

^[3] Romans 8:2 (NET)

^[5] Romans 8:3 (NET)

^[6] Romans 3:22 (NET)

^[7] John 11:25, 26a (NET)

^[8] John 11:26b (NET)

^[9] John 11:27 (NET)

^[10] John 11:6 (NET)

^[11] John 11:11 (NET)

^[12] John 11:8 (NET)

^[13] John 11:12 (NET)

^[14] John 11:15 (NET)

^[15] John 11:32 (NET)

^[16] John 11:33-35 (NET)

^[17] John 11:39a (NET)

^[18] John 11:39b (NET)

^[19] Romans 7:25a (NET)

^[20] Romans 7:24b (NET)

^[21] John 11:25b (NET)

^[22] Romans 6:11 (NET)

^[23] Romans 7:25b (NET)

^[24] John 11:26a (NET)

^[25] Hebrews 2:14, 15 (NET)

^[27] Romans 8:4 (NET)

^[28] Romans 3:21 (NET)

^[29] Romans 3:22 (NET)

^[31] Romans 13:10 (NET)

^[32] Galatians 5:22, 23 (NET)

^[33] Matthew 5:17 (NET)

Jesus’ Artifacts, Part 7

Posted on June 9, 2012 by admin

I’m not saying one word against the truth of the Bible, even its universal absolute truth. Believers, however, rarely argue among themselves that the Bible in all its context is the universal absolute truth. The arguments are over someone’s understanding of some part of the Bible, in other words we argue over sermons. I don’t even intend to argue against the absolute truth of a sermon prepared and delivered as the Lord intended for a particular congregation that has produced actual obedient results. I am simply saying that it is not necessarily universally applicable to every other congregation on the planet any more than the absolutely correct protein for, say, a liver cell is necessarily (for that reason alone) the absolutely correct protein for eyes, skin, teeth or lungs. So I am using my current knowledge of the DNA-RNA-protein complex as an analogy to demonstrate how even absolute truth might not be universally applicable and might appear to be completely contradictory when that universality is tacitly assumed.

So how true is this analogy? Or, another way of saying essentially the same thing is, How binding should this analogy be in your thoughts and actions? Guess what? For you, it is only as true and binding as you believe it to be. In this sense faith (and its consequent commitments) is a protection against wild swings of trajectory or action. So we are no longer to be children, tossed back and forth by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching by the trickery of people who craftily carry out their deceitful schemes,¹ is how Paul put it.

I am working not only with my acknowledged understanding of the Bible but with my understanding of others’ understanding of microscopic physical phenomena. That is at least two, probably three, times removed from the simple goodness of “God said it; I believe it; that settles it.” No matter what your current belief about the validity of my analogy is, it is likely to change. Human knowledge of the DNA-RNA-protein complex will undoubtedly change. Our current knowledge is the first knowledge of a rather small piece of the whole genome. As we learn more about the rest it may reinforce and exalt our current understanding, or it may demonstrate that what we now know is relatively insignificant or even fundamentally flawed.

But for me, having gone through the process, I’m going to stand for the time being by what I have learned. Perhaps the most obvious stance I am taking is that this is not called PREACHERS DON’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT THE BIBLE, it is called WHAT KIND OF CARPENTER IS JESUS.

Well, have I learned anything about that?

I’ve already mentioned that I recognized Jesus as a cleverer programmer than I am. (And perhaps now is as good a time as any to acknowledge that any of my inferences will be about Jesus as a craftsman in general rather than a carpenter specifically.) I am so taken with the DNA-RNA-protein complex I would love to wax poetic in my praise of his excellent craftsmanship. The only thing that stops me from doing that here is the recognition that it is faith that allows me to see things that way. James Watson, for instance, looked at the same DNA-RNA-protein complex and did not conclude that it is “absolutely the best and most efficient way”² to do things. “‘Why does the information in DNA need to go through an RNA intermediate before it can be translated into a protein?”³ he asked.

Frankly, I’m not wise enough to criticize the Lord’s creation like this. All I know of DNA, RNA and proteins comes from James Watson and a few others like him. So I am compelled to fall back on my one little skill, that philosophical bent of my mind.

Watson pointed out that DNA can store information but can’t catalyze chemical reactions. Proteins catalyze chemical reactions but can’t store information. DNA and proteins are each dependent on the existence of the other. RNA on the other hand “can store and replicate genetic information” and “can catalyze critical chemical reactions.” So Francis Crick imagined an RNA world that pre-existed the DNA-RNA-protein complex understood presently. RNA persists today as a kind of piecemeal vestige of that evolutionary history, according to Watson. For Watson, apparently, a DNA-protein complex would be more efficient than the DNA-RNA-protein complex. An RNA-protein complex would be out of the question because RNA is not a very stable molecule. DNA is a definite improvement for long-term information storage. Why proteins came into the picture is not entirely clear, except that the only chemical reaction Watson mentioned that RNA catalyzes is the bonding of the amino acids that make the chains that fold into proteins. But remember, DNA is not able to catalyze these chemical bonds.

Even after Watson’s explanation I was left scratching my head and still thinking that the DNA-RNA-protein complex sounded like the best thing for the job at hand. You see, James Watson and I have different agendas. If the DNA-RNA-protein complex proves to be the irreducible level of complexity necessary for the existence of life, I’m unconcerned. God is smart enough to handle that level of complexity from the very beginning. Watson’s faith in the theory of evolution, on the other hand, would be called into question. This is an awful lot to ask of chance-directed processes. So in my opinion it is Watson’s faith that prompts him to question the efficiency of the DNA-RNA-protein complex while my faith prompts me to praise Jesus.

So while engaging in poetic praise of Jesus’ craftsmanship is a good and necessary thing for me to do as a matter of worship, here I’ll limit myself to a simple observation. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit,⁴ Jesus told Nicodemus. We have known for nearly two thousand years that this life “born of the Spirit” had some relationship to the Bible. We’ve argued over the details of that relationship for most of that time, but generally agree to some manner of relationship. It is interesting to me at this late date to find an information storage and retrieval system like the DNA-RNA-protein complex in some relationship to life “born of the flesh.”

I didn’t create the DNA-RNA-protein complex out of my imagination. In fact, I learned about it from people who might reasonably be called hostile witnesses. Yet even in the descriptions of hostile witnesses I can recognize enough of the hallmarks of a particular individual’s craftsmanship—in both the Bible-Preacher-obedient-congregation complex’s relationship to life born of the Spirit and the DNA-RNA-protein complex’s relationship to life born of the flesh—to be willing to modify my views about the former by reference to the latter.

What kind of carpenter is Jesus? He is the kind of craftsman whose handiwork displays the individually recognizable traits of his craftsmanship. In other words, whatever those distinguishing features are that make it possible to recognize a favorite composer’s music, or a favorite artist’s paintings, or a favorite architect’s buildings, those features are also evident in the artifacts of Jesus’ creation—the DNA-RNA-protein complex and the Bible-Preacher-obedient-congregation complex, life born of the flesh and life born of the Spirit respectively.

Who am I? Part 1

Back to Fear – Genesis, Part 8

Back to Torture, Part 4

Back to Who Am I? Part 8

¹ Ephesians 4:14 (NET)

³ Ibid, pg. 83

⁴ John 3:6 (NET)

The Gospel and the Religious Mind

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

Tag Archives: John 3:6