-
6A Jesus—A Godlike One; DivineNew World Translation of the Holy Scriptures—With References
-
-
6A Jesus—A Godlike One; Divine
Joh 1:1—“and the Word was a god (godlike; divine)”
Gr., καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος (kai the·osʹ en ho loʹgos)
1808
“and the word was a god”
The New Testament, in An Improved Version, Upon the Basis of Archbishop Newcome’s New Translation: With a Corrected Text, London.
1864
“and a god was the Word”
The Emphatic Diaglott (J21, interlinear reading), by Benjamin Wilson, New York and London.
1935
“and the Word was divine”
The Bible—An American Translation, by J. M. P. Smith and E. J. Goodspeed, Chicago.
1950
“and the Word was a god”
New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures, Brooklyn.
1975
“and a god (or, of a divine kind) was the Word”
aDas Evangelium nach Johannes, by Siegfried Schulz, Göttingen, Germany.
1978
“and godlike sort was the Logos”
bDas Evangelium nach Johannes, by Johannes Schneider, Berlin.
1979
“and a god was the Logos”
cDas Evangelium nach Johannes, by Jürgen Becker, Würzburg, Germany.
These translations use such words as “a god,” “divine” or “godlike” because the Greek word θεός (the·osʹ) is a singular predicate noun occurring before the verb and is not preceded by the definite article. This is an anarthrous the·osʹ. The God with whom the Word, or Logos, was originally is designated here by the Greek expression ὁ θεός, that is, the·osʹ preceded by the definite article ho. This is an articular the·osʹ. Careful translators recognize that the articular construction of the noun points to an identity, a personality, whereas a singular anarthrous predicate noun preceding the verb points to a quality about someone. Therefore, John’s statement that the Word or Logos was “a god” or “divine” or “godlike” does not mean that he was the God with whom he was. It merely expresses a certain quality about the Word, or Logos, but it does not identify him as one and the same as God himself.
In the Greek text there are many cases of a singular anarthrous predicate noun preceding the verb, such as in Mr 6:49; 11:32; Joh 4:19; 6:70; 8:44; 9:17; 10:1, 13, 33; 12:6. In these places translators insert the indefinite article “a” before the predicate noun in order to bring out the quality or characteristic of the subject. Since the indefinite article is inserted before the predicate noun in such texts, with equal justification the indefinite article “a” is inserted before the anarthrous θεός in the predicate of John 1:1 to make it read “a god.” The Sacred Scriptures confirm the correctness of this rendering.
In his article “Qualitative Anarthrous Predicate Nouns: Mark 15:39 and John 1:1,” published in Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 92, Philadelphia, 1973, p. 85, Philip B. Harner said that such clauses as the one in Joh 1:1, “with an anarthrous predicate preceding the verb, are primarily qualitative in meaning. They indicate that the logos has the nature of theos. There is no basis for regarding the predicate theos as definite.” On p. 87 of his article, Harner concluded: “In John 1:1 I think that the qualitative force of the predicate is so prominent that the noun cannot be regarded as definite.”
Following is a list of instances in the gospels of Mark and John where various translators have rendered singular anarthrous predicate nouns occurring before the verb with an indefinite article to denote the indefinite and qualitative status of the subject nouns:
Scripture Text
New World Translation
King James Version
An American Translation
New International Version
Revised Standard Version
Today’s English Version
an apparition
a spirit
a ghost
a ghost
a ghost
a ghost
a prophet
a prophet
a prophet
a prophet
a real prophet
a prophet
a prophet
a prophet
a prophet
a prophet
a prophet
a prophet
a slanderer
a devil
an informer
a devil
a devil
a devil
a manslayer
a murderer
a murderer
a murderer
a murderer
a murderer
a liar
a liar
a liar
a liar
a liar
a liar
a prophet
a prophet
a prophet
a prophet
a prophet
a prophet
a thief
a thief
a thief
a thief
a thief
a thief
a hired man
an hireling
a hired man
a hired hand
a hireling
a hired man
a man
a man
a mere man
a mere man
a man
a man
a thief
a thief
a thief
a thief
a thief
a thief
-
-
6B “Three Witness Bearers”New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures—With References
-
-
6B “Three Witness Bearers”
“For there are three witness bearers, the spirit and the water and the blood, and the three are in agreement.”
—1Jo 5:7, 8.This rendering is in agreement with the Greek texts by C. Tischendorf (eighth ed., 1872); Westcott and Hort (1881); Augustinus Merk (ninth ed., 1964); José María Bover (fifth ed., 1968); United Bible Societies (third ed., 1975); Nestle-Aland (26th ed., 1979).
After “witness bearers” the cursive mss No. 61 (16th century) and No. 629 (in Latin and Greek, 14th to 15th century) and Vgc add the words: “in heaven, the Father, the Word and the holy spirit; and these three are one. (8) And there are three witness bearers on earth.” But these words are omitted by אABVgSyh,p.
-
-
6C With the Blood of God’s Own SonNew World Translation of the Holy Scriptures—With References
-
-
6C With the Blood of God’s Own Son
Ac 20:28—Gr., διὰ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ ἰδίου
(di·aʹ tou haiʹma·tos tou i·diʹou)
1903
“with the blood of His own Son”
The Holy Bible in Modern English, by F. Fenton, London.
1950
“with the blood of his own [Son]”
New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures, Brooklyn.
1966
“through the death of his own Son”
Today’s English Version, American Bible Society, New York.
Grammatically, this passage could be translated as in the King James Version and Douay Version, “with his own blood.” That has been a difficult thought for many. That is doubtless why ACDSyh (margin) (followed by Moffatt’s translation) read “the congregation of the Lord,” instead of “the congregation of God.” When the text reads that way it furnishes no difficulty for the reading, “with his own blood.” However, אBVg read “God” (articulate), and the usual translation would be ‘God’s blood.’
The Greek words τοῦ ἰδίου (tou i·diʹou) follow the phrase “with the blood.” The entire expression could be translated “with the blood of his own.” A noun in the singular number would be understood after “his own,” most likely God’s closest relative, his only-begotten Son Jesus Christ. On this point J. H. Moulton in A Grammar of New Testament Greek, Vol. 1 (Prolegomena), 1930 ed., p. 90, says: “Before leaving ἴδιος [iʹdi·os] something should be said about the use of ὁ ἴδιος [ho iʹdi·os] without a noun expressed. This occurs in Jn 1:11; 13:1, Ac 4:23; 24:23. In the papyri we find the singular used thus as a term of endearment to near relations . . . . In Expos. VI. iii. 277 I ventured to cite this as a possible encouragement to those (including B. Weiss) who would translate Acts 20:28 ‘the blood of one who was his own.’”
Alternately, in The New Testament in the Original Greek, by Westcott and Hort, Vol., 2, London, 1881, pp. 99, 100 of the Appendix, Hort stated: “it is by no means impossible that ΥΙΟΥ [hui·ouʹ, “of the Son”] dropped out after ΤΟΥΙΔΙΟΥ [tou i·diʹou, “of his own”] at some very early transcription affecting all existing documents. Its insertion leaves the whole passage free from difficulty of any kind.”
The New World Translation renders the passage literally, adding “Son” in brackets after ἰδίου to read: “with the blood of his own [Son].”
-
-
6D “God, Who Is Over All”New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures—With References
-
-
6D “God, Who Is Over All”
Ro 9:5—Gr., καὶ ἐξ ὧν ὁ χριστὸς τὸ κατὰ σάρκα, ὁ ὢν ἐπὶ πάντων, θεὸς εὐλογητὸς εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας· ἀμήν
(kai ex hon ho khri·stosʹ to ka·taʹ sarʹka, ho on e·piʹ panʹton, The·osʹ eu·lo·ge·tosʹ eis tous ai·oʹnas; a·menʹ)
1934
“and from whom by physical descent the Christ came. God who is over all be blessed through the ages! Amen.”
The Riverside New Testament, Boston and New York.
1935
“and theirs too (so far as natural descent goes) is the Christ. (Blessed for evermore be the God who is over all! Amen.)”
A New Translation of the Bible, by James Moffatt, New York and London.
1950
“and from whom Christ sprang according to the flesh: God who is over all be blest forever. Amen.”
New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures, Brooklyn.
1952
“and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ. God who is over all be blessed for ever. Amen.”
Revised Standard Version, New York.
1961
“and from them, in natural descent, sprang the Messiah. May God, supreme above all, be blessed for ever! Amen.”
The New English Bible, Oxford and Cambridge.
1966
“and Christ, as a human being, belongs to their race. May God, who rules over all, be praised for ever! Amen.”
Today’s English Version, American Bible Society, New York.
1970
“and from them came the Messiah (I speak of his human origins). Blessed forever be God who is over all! Amen.”
The New American Bible, New York and London.
These translations take ὁ ὤν (ho on) as the beginning of an independent sentence or clause referring to God and pronouncing a blessing upon him for the provisions he made. Here and in Ps 67:19 LXX the predicate εὐλογητός (eu·lo·ge·tosʹ, “blessed”) occurs after the subject θεός (The·osʹ, “God”).—See Ps 68:19 ftn.
In his work A Grammar of the Idiom of the New Testament, seventh ed., Andover, 1897, p. 551, G. B. Winer says that “when the subject constitutes the principal notion, especially when it is antithetical to another subject, the predicate may and must be placed after it, cf. Ps. lxvii. 20 Sept [Ps 67:19 LXX]. And so in Rom. ix. 5, if the words ὁ ὢν ἐπὶ πάντων θεὸς εὐλογητός etc. [ho on e·piʹ panʹton The·osʹ eu·lo·ge·tosʹ etc.] are referred to God, the position of the words is quite appropriate, and even indispensable.”
A detailed study of the construction in Ro 9:5 is found in The Authorship of the Fourth Gospel and Other Critical Essays, by Ezra Abbot, Boston, 1888, pp. 332-438. On pp. 345, 346 and 432 he says: “But here ὁ ὤν [ho on] is separated from ὁ χριστός [ho khri·stosʹ] by τὸ κατὰ σάρκα [to ka·taʹ sarʹka], which in reading must be followed by a pause,—a pause which is lengthened by the special emphasis given to the κατὰ σάρκα [ka·taʹ sarʹka] by the τό [to]; and the sentence which precedes is complete in itself grammatically, and requires nothing further logically; for it was only as to the flesh that Christ was from the Jews. On the other hand, as we have seen (p. 334), the enumeration of blessings which immediately precedes, crowned by the inestimable blessing of the advent of Christ, naturally suggests an ascription of praise and thanksgiving to God as the Being who rules over all; while a doxology is also suggested by the ᾿Αμήν [A·menʹ] at the end of the sentence. From every point of view, therefore, the doxological construction seems easy and natural. . . . The naturalness of a pause after σάρκα [sarʹka] is further indicated by the fact that we find a point after this word in all our oldest MSS. that testify in the case,—namely, A, B, C, L, . . . I can now name, besides the uncials A, B, C, L, . . . at least twenty-six cursives which have a stop after σάρκα, the same in general which they have after αἰῶνας [ai·oʹnas] or ᾿Αμήν [A·menʹ].”
Therefore, Ro 9:5 ascribes praise and thanksgiving to God. This scripture does not identify Jehovah God with Jesus Christ.
-
-
6E “Of the Great God and of [the] Savior of Us, Christ Jesus”New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures—With References
-
-
6E “Of the Great God and of [the] Savior of Us, Christ Jesus”
Tit 2:13—Gr., τοῦ μεγάλου θεοῦ καὶ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ
(tou me·gaʹlou The·ouʹ kai so·teʹros he·monʹ Khri·stouʹ I·e·souʹ)
1934
“of the great God and of our Savior Christ Jesus”
The Riverside New Testament, Boston and New York.
1935
“of the great God and of our Saviour Christ Jesus”
A New Translation of the Bible, by James Moffatt, New York and London.
1950
“of the great God and of our Savior Christ Jesus”
New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures, Brooklyn.
1957
“of the great God and of our Savior Jesus Christ”
aLa Sainte Bible, by Louis Segond, Paris.
1970
“of the great God and of our Savior Christ Jesus”
The New American Bible, New York and London.
1972
“of the great God and of Christ Jesus our saviour”
The New Testament in Modern English, by J. B. Phillips, New York.
In this place we find two nouns connected by καί (kai, “and”), the first noun being preceded by the definite article τοῦ (tou, “of the”) and the second noun without the definite article. A similar construction is found in 2Pe 1:1, 2, where, in vs 2, a clear distinction is made between God and Jesus. This indicates that when two distinct persons are connected by καί, if the first person is preceded by the definite article it is not necessary to repeat the definite article before the second person. Examples of this construction in the Greek text are found in Ac 13:50; 15:22; Eph 5:5; 2Th 1:12; 1Ti 5:21; 6:13; 2Ti 4:1. This construction is also found in LXX. (See Pr 24:21 ftn.) According to An Idiom Book of New Testament Greek, by C. F. D. Moule, Cambridge, England, 1971, p. 109, the sense “of the great God, and of our Saviour Jesus Christ . . . is possible in κοινή [koi·neʹ] Greek even without the repetition [of the definite article].”
A detailed study of the construction in Tit 2:13 is found in The Authorship of the Fourth Gospel and Other Critical Essays, by Ezra Abbot, Boston, 1888, pp. 439-457. On p. 452 of this work the following comments are found: “Take an example from the New Testament. In Matt. xxi. 12 we read that Jesus ‘cast out all those that were selling and buying in the temple,’ τοὺς πωλοῦντας καὶ ἀγοράζοντας [tous po·lounʹtas kai a·go·raʹzon·tas]. No one can reasonably suppose that the same persons are here described as both selling and buying. In Mark the two classes are made distinct by the insertion of τούς before ἀγοράζοντας; here it is safely left to the intelligence of the reader to distinguish them. In the case before us [Tit 2:13], the omission of the article before σωτῆρος [so·teʹros] seems to me to present no difficulty,—not because σωτῆρος is made sufficiently definite by the addition of ἡμῶν [he·monʹ] (Winer), for, since God as well as Christ is often called “our Saviour,” ἡ δόξα τοῦ μεγάλου θεοῦ καὶ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν [he doʹxa tou me·gaʹlou The·ouʹ kai so·teʹros he·monʹ], standing alone, would most naturally be understood of one subject, namely, God, the Father; but the addition of Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ to σωτῆρος ἡμῶν [I·e·souʹ Khri·stouʹ to so·teʹros he·monʹ] changes the case entirely, restricting the σωτῆρος ἡμῶν to a person or being who, according to Paul’s habitual use of language, is distinguished from the person or being whom he designates as ὁ θεός [ho The·osʹ], so that there was no need of the repetition of the article to prevent ambiguity. So in 2 Thess. i. 12, the expression κατὰ τὴν χάριν τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν καὶ κυρίου [ka·taʹ ten khaʹrin tou The·ouʹ he·monʹ kai ky·riʹou] would naturally be understood of one subject, and the article would be required before κυρίου if two were intended; but the simple addition of Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ to κυρίου [I·e·souʹ Khri·stouʹ to ky·riʹou] makes the reference to the two distinct subjects clear without the insertion of the article.”
Therefore, in Tit 2:13, two distinct persons, Jehovah God and Jesus Christ, are mentioned. Throughout the Holy Scriptures it is not possible to identify Jehovah and Jesus as being the same individual.
a Translated from French.
-
-
6F Jesus—In Existence Before AbrahamNew World Translation of the Holy Scriptures—With References
-
-
6F Jesus—In Existence Before Abraham
Joh 8:58—“before Abraham came into existence, I have been”
Gr., πρὶν ᾿Αβραὰμ γενέσθαι ἐγὼ εἰμί
(prin A·bra·amʹ ge·neʹsthai e·goʹ ei·miʹ)
Fourth/Fifth Century
“before Abraham was, I have been”
Syriac—Edition: A Translation of the Four Gospels from the Syriac of the Sinaitic Palimpsest, by Agnes Smith Lewis, London, 1894.
Fifth Century
“before ever Abraham came to be, I was”
Curetonian Syriac—Edition: The Curetonian Version of the Four Gospels, by F. Crawford Burkitt, Vol. 1, Cambridge, England, 1904.
Fifth Century
“before Abraham existed, I was”
Syriac Peshitta—Edition: The Syriac New Testament Translated into English from the Peshitto Version, by James Murdock, seventh ed., Boston and London, 1896.
Fifth Century
“before Abraham came to be, I was”
Georgian—Edition: “The Old Georgian Version of the Gospel of John,” by Robert P. Blake and Maurice Brière, published in Patrologia Orientalis, Vol. XXVI, fascicle 4, Paris, 1950.
Sixth Century
“before Abraham was born, I was”
Ethiopic—Edition: Novum Testamentum . . . Æthiopice (The New Testament . . . in Ethiopic), by Thomas Pell Platt, revised by F. Praetorius, Leipzig, 1899.
The action expressed in Joh 8:58 started “before Abraham came into existence” and is still in progress. In such situation εἰμί (ei·miʹ), which is the first-person singular present indicative, is properly translated by the perfect indicative. Examples of the same syntax are found in Lu 2:48; 13:7; 15:29; Joh 5:6; 14:9; 15:27; Ac 15:21; 2Co 12:19; 1Jo 3:8.
Concerning this construction, A Grammar of the Idiom of the New Testament, by G. B. Winer, seventh edition, Andover, 1897, p. 267, says: “Sometimes the Present includes also a past tense (Mdv. 108), viz. when the verb expresses a state which commenced at an earlier period but still continues,—a state in its duration; as, Jno. xv. 27 ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς μετʼ ἐμοῦ ἐστέ [apʼ ar·khesʹ metʼ e·mouʹ e·steʹ], viii. 58 πρὶν ᾿Αβραὰμ γενέσθαι ἐγὼ εἰμι [prin A·bra·amʹ ge·neʹsthai e·goʹ ei·mi].”
Likewise, A Grammar of New Testament Greek, by J. H. Moulton, Vol. III, by Nigel Turner, Edinburgh, 1963, p. 62, says: “The Present which indicates the continuance of an action during the past and up to the moment of speaking is virtually the same as Perfective, the only difference being that the action is conceived as still in progress . . . It is frequent in the N[ew] T[estament]: Lk 248 137 . . . 1529 . . . Jn 56 858 . . . ”
Attempting to identify Jesus with Jehovah, some say that ἐγὼ εἰμί (e·goʹ ei·miʹ) is the equivalent of the Hebrew expression ʼaniʹ huʼ, “I am he,” which is used by God. However, it is to be noted that this Hebrew expression is also used by man.—See 1Ch 21:17 ftn.
Further attempting to identify Jesus with Jehovah, some try to use Ex 3:14 (LXX) which reads: ᾿Εγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν (E·goʹ ei·mi ho on), which means “I am The Being,” or, “I am The Existing One.” This attempt cannot be sustained because the expression in Ex 3:14 is different from the expression in Joh 8:58. (See Ex 3:14 ftn.) Throughout the Christian Greek Scriptures it is not possible to make an identification of Jesus with Jehovah as being the same person.—See 1Pe 2:3 ftn; App 6A, 6E.
-
-
7A Cobras Responding to SoundNew World Translation of the Holy Scriptures—With References
-
-
7A Cobras Responding to Sound
Ps 58:4b, 5a—“Deaf like the cobra that stops up its ear, that will not listen to the voice of charmers.”
In The New York Times, January 10, 1954, § 4, p. 9, under the title “Are Snakes ‘Charmed’ by Music?” the following report on Ps 58:4, 5 is found: “Dr. David I. Macht, research pharmacologist of the Mount Sinai Hospital in Baltimore [U.S.A.], is one of the world’s leading authorities on cobra snake venom. (Cobra venom is an accepted medication, in blood disorders, for instance.) Dr. Macht reported that in working with cobras and cobra venom he became acquainted with a number of Hindu physicians, well educated, and from different parts of India. All agreed that cobras respond to some musical tones, from musical pipes or fifes. Some forms of music excite the animals more than other forms, the physicians reported. Indian children, playing in the dark in the countryside, are even warned not to sing lest their sounds attract cobras, he said. Dr. Macht commented that Shakespeare, who repeatedly referred to serpents as deaf . . . merely repeated a common misunderstanding. On the other hand Dr. Macht said, the psalmist was right who implied conversely, in Psalm 58, Verse 5, that serpents can hear . . . . Contrary to the claims of some naturalists, Dr. Macht said, snakes are ‘charmed’ by sounds, not by movements of the charmer.”
Likewise, in an article published in the German zoological magazine Grzimeks Tier, Sielmanns Tierwelt (Grzimek’s Animal, Sielmann’s Animal World), July 1981, pp. 34, 35, the author tells of a cobra that lived on his estate in Sri Lanka in a termite hill. He asked a snake charmer to catch the wild snake and get it to dance. The author reports: “After I had assured my guest that there really was a cobra living there, he sat down in front of the termite hill and began to play his pipe. After a long time—I no longer believed anything would happen—the cobra raised its head several centimeters out of a hole. Before the snake could open its mouth the charmer hurried over and grabbed its head between his thumb and two fingers.” The Indian thereupon actually got the snake to dance.
Therefore, there is evidence that the cobra does “listen to the voice of charmers.”
-
-
7B Repellent Questions Indicating ObjectionNew World Translation of the Holy Scriptures—With References
-
-
7B Repellent Questions Indicating Objection
Mt 8:29—“What have we to do with you, Son of God?”
This question of the demons to Jesus is an ancient idiomatic form of question that is found in the Hebrew Scriptures in eight places, namely, in Jos 22:24; Jg 11:12; 2Sa 16:10; 19:22; 1Ki 17:18; 2Ki 3:13; 2Ch 35:21; Ho 14:8. In the Christian Greek Scriptures as well as in the Syriac version a literal translation is made of the ancient Hebrew expression, and it occurs six times, namely, in Mt 8:29; Mr 1:24; 5:7; Lu 4:34; 8:28; Joh 2:4. Literally translated, the question in Mt 8:29 reads: “What is there to us [or, to me] and to you?” and means, “What is there in common between us [or, me] and you?” “What do we [or, I] and you have in common?” Or, as rendered above, “What have we to do with you?”
In every case in the Scriptures, Hebrew and Greek, it is a repellent form of question, indicating objection to the thing suggested, proposed or suspected. This is supported by the positive form of putting the matter in Ezr 4:3 (1 Esdras 5:67, LXX): “You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God.” Literally, “It does not pertain to you and to us to build a house to our God.” The same form of expression in the imperative mood is the request made to Pilate by his wife concerning Jesus, who was up before her husband for trial, in Mt 27:19: “Have nothing to do with that righteous man.” Literally: “Let there be nothing between you and that righteous man.”
Couched in that very common form, Jesus’ question to his mother in Joh 2:4 cannot be excluded from the one category. It bears all the features of repellency or resistance to his mother in proposing his course for him. So in his case we have rendered it the same as in all other cases of the like question: “What have
-