The Man Like Whom to Carry On

 8. To seekers of what is Jesus Christ an example worthy of being imitated, and on the basis of what could Paul tell members of the congregation in Corinth to be imitators of him?

⁸ As a perfect example during his stay on earth, Jesus Christ is worthy of being imitated by all today who seek to gain eternal life, whether as heavenly associates with him in the kingdom or as his perfect human sons and daughters on the paradise earth. So, in the perfect fitness of things, the apostle Paul could write to the followers of Christ in ancient Corinth and say: “Keep from becoming causes for stumbling to Jews as well as Greeks and to the congregation of God, even as I am pleasing all people in all things, not seeking my own advantage but that of the many, in order that they might get saved. Become imitators of me, even as I am of Christ.”​—1 Corinthians 10:32–11:1.

 9. In 1 Corinthians 16:13 the Greek verb translated as “carry on as men” is drawn from what noun, and what distinction does this noun make?

⁹ Those words help us to view from the right standpoint Paul’s further exhortation found among his closing words written to the congregation in Corinth, Greece: “Stay awake, stand firm in the faith, carry on as men, grow mighty.” (1 Corinthians 16:13) Here the one Greek word translated as “carry on as men” is a verb drawn from the noun an·erʹ in the genitive case, namely, an·drosʹ. This Greek noun means a man, a male, as different from a woman, a female. For instance, Matthew 14:21 reads: “Yet those eating were about five thousand men, besides women and young children.” (See also Matthew 15:38; Mark 6:44; John 6:10.) Against the apostle Peter the complaint was made in Jerusalem that “he had gone into the house of men that were not circumcised and had eaten with them.” (Acts 11:3) At 1 Corinthians 11:3 we read: “The head of every man is the Christ; in turn the head of a woman is the man; in turn the head of the Christ is God.”

10. In Acts 17:31, what Greek noun did Paul use in designating the one by whom God purposed to judge the inhabited earth?

¹⁰ To the members of the Court of the Areopagus in ancient Athens, Greece, the apostle Paul said the following words concerning Jesus Christ: “He [God] has set a day in which he purposes to judge the inhabited earth in righteousness by a man [an·erʹ] whom he has appointed, and he has furnished a guarantee to all men [Greek, paʹsin] in that he has resurrected him from the dead.”​—Acts 17:31.

11. In Acts 14:15, how does the Greek text show the difference between a person of the male sex and a mere human being?

¹¹ In Acts 14:15 we read of Paul and Barnabas as crying out: “Men [Greek: anʹdres], why are you doing these things? We also are humans [Greek: anʹthro·poi] having the same infirmities as you do.” Thus we can see how the Greek text makes a distinction between a person of the male sex and a mere human being.

12. (a) In what way were the sisters in the Corinthian congregation to carry on “as men,” and how do other English translations read here? (b) How many times does the Greek verb an·driʹzo occur in the Christian Greek Scriptures, but how many times in the Greek Septuagint Version?

¹² Paul’s words at 1 Corinthians 16:13, “Carry on as men” (an·driʹzo), were written to all members of the congregation, to the sisters as well as the brothers. So even the sisters were to act in a manly way, that is, with Christian courage, in imitation of Jesus Christ, the Head of the Christian congregation. In the original text of the Christian Greek Scriptures the verb an·driʹzo occurs only once, namely in 1 Corinthians 16:13, where the New World Translation renders it as “carry on as men.” The King James Authorized Version reads: “Quit you like men.” The Living Bible: “Act like men.” Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English: “Live like men.” However, in the Greek text of the Greek Septuagint Version the verb an·driʹzo occurs twenty-one times.

13. How is the Greek verb rendered in Deuteronomy 31:6, 7, 23 according to the translation of the Septuagint by Charles Thomson?

¹³ For instance, in Deuteronomy 31:6, 7, 23 as translated by Charles Thomson, we read: “Act manfully, and be strong; . . . Then Moses called Joshua, and said to him before all Israel, Be courageous, and strong; . . . And the Lord gave a charge to Joshua, and said, Be courageous, and strong, for thou shalt conduct the children of Israel into the land which the Lord solemnly promised them, and he will be with thee.” (See similar readings in the edition published by S. Bagster and Sons of London, England.)

14. How does the translation by Charles Thomson render the Greek verb in Nahum 2:1?

¹⁴ In the last of the twenty-one cases of the occurrence of this Greek verb in the Greek Septuagint Version at Nahum 2:1, we read: “Into thy presence came up panting one who is delivered from affliction. Watch the way; strengthen thy loins; act manfully with all thy might.” (See also Bagster’s edition of the Septuagint.)a

15. So, in the light of the foregoing, how do other modern translations render the Greek verb in 1 Corinthians 16:13 in a way that plainly can apply to womenfolk as well as menfolk?

¹⁵ In view of the Septuagint renderings of the Greek verb an·driʹzo, it is understandable why other modern versions of the Holy Bible treat that Greek verb in 1 Corinthians 16:13 in a way as did translations of the Greek Septuagint Version (LXX). For instance, The Revised Standard Version: “Be courageous.” Today’s English Version: “Be brave.” New International Version: “Be men of courage.” The New English Bible: “Be valiant.” The Jerusalem Bible: “Be brave.” In that sense the Greek verb would apply to dedicated, baptized Christian women as well as to dedicated, baptized Christian men. Hence, the proper fitness of Paul’s use of that Greek verb in 1 Corinthians 16:13. This is true even though physically the womenfolk are each “a weaker vessel, the feminine one.”​—1 Peter 3:7.

16. After telling Christians to carry on as men, what words does Paul add, and how can this exhortation be carried out?

¹⁶ After the apostle Paul tells the dedicated, baptized Christians to “carry on as men” he adds the words: “Grow mighty.” In line with this, Paul wrote, at Ephesians 6:10: “Finally, go on acquiring power in the Lord and in the mightiness of his strength.” Jehovah God the Almighty can strengthen us to “grow mighty,” yes, to do exploits in his sacred service. (Daniel 11:32, Authorized Version; American Standard Version) He has clothed his dedicated, baptized people with the dignity of the greatest service one could have on earth. This should powerfully motivate the spirit-anointed remnant and their sheeplike companions to do as Paul exhorts us, “Carry on as men.”

17. In what way does the anointed remnant of today have a privilege more honorable than that of John the Baptizer?

¹⁷ Ours today is a greater and more honorable privilege than that of John the Baptizer of the first century. He was honored with the privilege of being the forerunner of Jesus Christ, the King-to-be, in fulfillment of the prophecy of Malachi 3:1 in a typical way or on a miniature scale. (Mark 1:1, 2) When speaking about this “messenger of the covenant,” Jesus said: “Truly I say to you people, Among those born of women there has not been raised up a greater than John the Baptist; but a person that is a lesser one in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he is.” (Matthew 11:7-11) Today, since the end of World War I in the year 1918, the remnant of the anointed heirs of the heavenly kingdom are acting as ambassadors, not of a future royal government, but of a celestial kingdom that was installed at the close of the Gentile Times in 1914, with the glorified Jesus Christ being put on the throne. Of them it is true, but in a grander sense, just as the apostle Paul wrote: “We are therefore ambassadors substituting for Christ, as though God were making entreaty through us. As substitutes for Christ we beg: ‘Become reconciled to God.’”​—2 Corinthians 5:20.

18. (a) Since 1935, who have responded to the entreaty to be reconciled to God as voiced by the remnant of “ambassadors substituting for Christ”? (b) Who have joined the menfolk in preaching the kingdom news, and how was this indicated in Psalm 68:11?

¹⁸ Since the close of the first world war in 1918, and notably since the memorable year of 1935, a great crowd of persons of all nationalities have responded to that entreaty extended by the anointed remnant of the kingdom heirs. These responsive ones have taken the Scripturally defined steps to become reconciled to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and are now at peace with him. In appreciation these are acting as the companions of the remnant of “ambassadors substituting for Christ,” and could be viewed as ‘envoys substituting for Christ’ in extending the appeal to be reconciled with God to still other sheeplike ones. In a manly, courageous way, these also, both the womenfolk and the menfolk, are going forth to preach ‘this good news of the kingdom in all the inhabited earth for a witness.’ (Matthew 24:14; Revelation 7:9-17) It is just as Psalm 68:11 foretold: “Jehovah himself gives the saying; the women telling the good news are a large army.”

[Footnotes]

⁴ The Hebrew name Har–Magedon means “mountain of assembly of troops.” That imports war! The “troops” are those of “the kings of the entire inhabited earth,” including the political rulers of Christendom. Jehovah’s dedicated, baptized witnesses are not among those troops. They will not need to fight with carnal weapons, but will only be onlookers of the fighting. Since Jehovah’s loyal witnesses will be the prime visible target of attack because of their steadfastly upholding Jehovah’s kingdom by Christ, it will call for Christlike courage on their part to “carry on as men.”​—1 Corinthians 16:13; compare 2 Chronicles 20:17.