"The New World Translation rendering of this verse GOES AGAINST ALL LEGITIMATE TRANSLATIONS OF SCRIPTURE" Ron Rhodes
Is this true?
Translated literally, this is rendered as "through the blood of the own" which we can see when viewing an interlinear:
"through the blood of the (his) own" Marshall
"through the blood of the own (one)" Kingdom Interlinear
"through the blood of the own" Emphatic Diaglott
"through the blood of the own" Interlinear Scripture Analyzer
This is evident when looking at very literal Bibles:
"through the blood of the His own" Concordant Literal Version
"with the blood of his own" Darby
"Grk “with the blood of his own.”" NET Bible footnote.
Zondervan's NIV Study Bible has "Lit. 'the blood of his own one,' a term of endearment (such as 'his own dear one.' referring to his own Son)." See also Zondervan's KJV, and NASB Study Bible.
The Greek word IDIOS, especially when it is articular (see below), demands that a noun follows, whether stated, or implied. If not stated in the Greek, it is required in the English translation to fill the meaning.
F.F.Bruce, in _The Acts of the Apostles: Greek Text with Introduction and Commentary_ 3rd ed.). On p. 434 he writes:
DIA TOU hAIMATOS TOU IDIOU: "with the blood of his own one; byz reads DIA TOU IDIOU hAIMATOS, "with his own blood." In the present sense IDIOS is the equivalent of Heb. YAHID, "only," "well-beloved," otherwise rendered AGAPHTOS, EKLEKTOS, MONOGENHS. For the absolute sense of hO IDIOS (but in the plural) cf. 4:23; 24:23; also Jn 1:11; 13:1. (Cf. TA IDIA, "one's own place," 21:6). In the papyri we find the singular used thus as a term of endearment to near relations, e.g. hO DEINA TWi IDIWi CAIREIN ["So-and-so to his own (friend), greeting']" (J.H. Moulton, MHTI, p. 90).
The more natural way of expressing "through his own blood" in Attic Greek would be DIA TOU hEAUTOU hAIMATOS or DIA TOU hAIMATOS TOU hEAUTOU; or one might find an instrumental dative instead of the preposition DIA + genitive, and, of course, the use of hAIMA here has to be viewed as a Semitism. DIA TOU IDIOU hAIMATOS would also be another way of getting to the translation "through his own blood" and this is what the Majority Text/Textus Receptus shows--but that's not in the ancient manuscripts.
In my list below I ask the reader to take note that IDIOS precedes the noun, whether in Greek, or in the translation English.
The word "own" here creates an expectation of a contrast, as in "his own language" (THi IDIAi DIALEKTWi, Acts 1:19, 2:6, 2:8) which is contrasted to someone else's language, or as in THi IDIAi EXOUSIAi, Acts 1:7, or IDIAi DUNAMEI, Acts 3:12, or IDIAi GENEAi, Acts 13:36, or PERI THS IDIAIS DEISIDAIMONIAS, Acts 25:19. If such a contrast is present, the normal, expected order is for IDIOS to precede its noun. This is what my list of comparable Scriptures using IDIOS will show:
Matthew 9:1 his own city.
Matthew 22:5 his own farm
Matthew 25:14 his own servants
Luke 2:3 his own city (Textus Receptus)
Luke 6:41 thine own eye
Luke 6:44 his own fruit
Luke 10:34 his own beast
John 1:11 unto his own [CEV adds the word "world"; TEV adds the word "country"; God's Word and NJB adds the word "people"; RSV adds the word "home"; NLT adds the word "land"]
John 1:41 his own brother [Textus Receptus]
John 4:44 his own country
John 5:18 his own Father
John 5:43 his own name
John 7:18 hiw own glory
John 8:44 he speaketh of his own [NRSV, RSV, HCSB, NASB, NET, NJB adds the word "nature"; EMTV, NKJV adds the word "resources"; ESV, NLT adds the word "character" NIV adds "native language"; Weymouth adds the word "store."]
John 10:3 his own sheep
John 10:4 all his own [KJV, CEV, Diaglott, EMTV, God's Word, LITV, MKJV, NET, NKJV, WEB and Weymouth adds the word "sheep"]
John 10:12 own the sheep
John 13:1 having loved his own [CEV adds the word "followers"; NLT adds the word "disciples"]
John 15:19 the world would love its own [Weymouth adds the word "property"; God's Word writes "one of its own"]
John 16:32 each one to his own [CEV, HCSB, ESV, TEV, NASB, NET, NIV, NRSV, RSV, Weymouth, Beck, C.B. Williams adds the word "home"; LITV, MKJV adds the word "things"; NJB, NLT adds the word "way"]
John 19:27 took her unto his own [KJV, CEV, HCSB, Darby, ESV, TEV, God's Word, LITV, MKJV, NET, NJB, NIV, NKJV, NLT, RSV, NRSV, WEB, Weymouth, Williams, Beck adds the word "home"]
Acts 1:7 his own power
Acts 1:25 his own place
Acts 2:6 his own language
Acts 2:8 his own language
Acts 3:12 our own power
Acts 4:23 went to their own [KJV, Darby, MKJV, WEB adds the word "company"; HCSB adds thw word "fellowship"; ESV and Diaglott adds the word "friends"; NASB adds the word "companions" etc]
Acts 4:32 which he possessed was his own [Message has "claim ownership of their own possessions" NRSV has "claimed private ownership of any possessions"] ANARTHROUS
Acts 13:36 his own generation
Acts 25:19 their own religion
Acts 28:30 in his own hired apartment
Romans 8:32 his own Son [Textus Receptus]
Romans 10:3 to establish their own [Nestle] [Textus Receptus, HCSB, Darby, NET, Weymouth adds the word "righteousness"; NLT adds "way of getting right with God"; Good News Bible adds the word "way"]
Romans 11:24 their own olive tree
Romans 14:4 his own lord
Romans 14:5 his own mind
1 Corinthians 3:8 his own reward
1 Corinthians 3:8 his own labor
1 Corinthians 4:12 our own hands
1 Corinthians 6:18 his own body
1 Corinthians 7:2 her own husband
1 Corinthians 7:4 her own body
1 Corinthians 7:4 his own body
1 Corinthians 7:7 his own gift
1 Corinthians 7:37 his own will
1 Corinthians 9:7 at his own wages
1 Corinthians 11:21 his own supper
1 Corinthians 14:35 their own husbands
1 Corinthians 15:23 his own order
1 Corinthians 15:38 his own body
Galatians 6:5 his own burden
Ephesians 5:22 to their own husbands
Ephesians 5:24 their own husbands
Colossians 3:18 their own husbands [Textus Receptus]
1 Thessalonians 2:14 your own countrymen
1 Thessalonians 2:15 their own prophets [Textus Receptus]
1 Thessalonians 4:11 your own business
1 Timothy 3:4 his own household
1 Timothy 3:5 his own household
1 Timothy 3:12 their own households
1 Timothy 4:2 their own conscience
1 Timothy 5:4 their own houshold
1 Timothy 5:8 his own people
1 Timothy 6:1 their own masters
2 Timothy 1:9 his own purpose
2 Timothy 4:3 their own lusts
Titus 2:5 their own husbands
Titus 2:9 their own masters (ANARTHROUS)
Hebrews 4:10 his own the God did [Lattimore, Simple English Bible, NET, CEV, New Life NT, NiRV, International English Bible adds the word "works"; The Power NT adds the word "labors."]
Hebrews 7:27 his own sins
Hebrews 9:12 his own blood
Hebrews 13:12 his own blood
James 1:14 his own lusts
1 Peter 3:1 your own husbands
1 Peter 3:5 their own husbands
2 Peter 2:16 his own transgression
2 Peter 2:22 his own vomit
2 Peter 3:3 their own lusts
2 Peter 3:16 their own destruction
2 Peter 3:17 your own stedfastness
Jude 6 their own habitation
"This absolute use of hO IDIOS is found in the Greek papyri as a term of endearment referring to near relatives. It is possible, therefore, that 'his Own' (hO IDIOS) was a title that early Christians gave to Jesus, comparable to 'the Beloved' (hO AGAPHTOS); compare Ro 8:32, where Paul refers to God 'who did not spare TOU IDIOU hUIOU' in a context that clearly alludes to Gn 22:16, where the Septuagint has TOU AGAPHTOU hUIOU." A Textual Commentary of the Greek New Testament p. 426. This same page refers to Hort, who believed that "hUIOU [Son] may have dropped out after TOU IDIOU. Also, "On the supposition that the text is incorrupt, such a force would be given by the sense 'through the blood that was His own', i.e. as being His Son's. This conception of the death of Christ as a price paid by the Father is in strict accordance with St Paul's own language elsewhere (Ro v 8; viii 32)." [The New Testament in the original Greek, the text revised by B.F. Westcott (Notes on Select Readings)]
What does this mean for Acts 20:28? Following the practice in the Greek and the English translations that endeavor to bring out the full meaning from the Greek, the best rendering of Acts 20:28 from the "church of God" critical text tradition is as follows:
"Be shepherds of the church of God, which he acquired by means of his own Son's death." Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains, Vol. 1, p. 565
"care for the church of God, which he has bought for himself at the price of the blood of his own One." William Barclay
"be the shepherds of the church of God, which he obtained with the blood of his own Son." Revised Standard Version
"Be shepherds of the church of God, which he made his own through the sacrificial death of his Son." Good News Bible
"to shepherd the church of God that he obtained with the blood of his own Son." New Revised Standard Version
"to feed the church of God that he bought with the blood of his own Son" New Jerusalem Bible
"Be like shepherds to God's church. It is the flock that he bought with the blood of his own Son." Contemporary English Version
"to nourish the church of God, which He has purchased with the blood of His own Son" The Holy Bible in Modern English by Ferrar Fenton.
French Darby "par le sang de son propre [fils]."
German Elber "durch das Blut seines Eigenen."
"Tenderly care for God's congregation, which he acquired by the blood of his own Son." 21st Century NT
See also The Concordant Literal New Testament, The Translator's New Testament, and the footnotes in the Darby, Rotherham and Alfred Marshall versions.
Aside from Rhodes' narrow view of Scripture, these are legitimate translations, which, in this case, have given us the better rendering of the original Greek.
"We who have seen, and you who have not seen, do alike enjoy that fellowship with God. The imitation of God being the only sure proof of our having fellowship with him. And the blood of Jesus Christ his Son - With the grace purchased thereby. Cleanseth us from all sin - Both original and actual, taking away all the guilt and all the power." John Wesley on Acts 20:28
"But if we live in light, as he is in light, we have a share in another's life, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin." 1 John 1:7 New Jerusalem Bible
"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it." Eph. 5:25 KJV
Translated literally, this is rendered as "through the blood of the own" which we can see when viewing an interlinear:
"through the blood of the (his) own" Marshall
"through the blood of the own (one)" Kingdom Interlinear
"through the blood of the own" Emphatic Diaglott
"through the blood of the own" Interlinear Scripture Analyzer
This is evident when looking at very literal Bibles:
"through the blood of the His own" Concordant Literal Version
"with the blood of his own" Darby
"Grk “with the blood of his own.”" NET Bible footnote.
Zondervan's NIV Study Bible has "Lit. 'the blood of his own one,' a term of endearment (such as 'his own dear one.' referring to his own Son)." See also Zondervan's KJV, and NASB Study Bible.
The Greek word IDIOS, especially when it is articular (see below), demands that a noun follows, whether stated, or implied. If not stated in the Greek, it is required in the English translation to fill the meaning.
F.F.Bruce, in _The Acts of the Apostles: Greek Text with Introduction and Commentary_ 3rd ed.). On p. 434 he writes:
DIA TOU hAIMATOS TOU IDIOU: "with the blood of his own one; byz reads DIA TOU IDIOU hAIMATOS, "with his own blood." In the present sense IDIOS is the equivalent of Heb. YAHID, "only," "well-beloved," otherwise rendered AGAPHTOS, EKLEKTOS, MONOGENHS. For the absolute sense of hO IDIOS (but in the plural) cf. 4:23; 24:23; also Jn 1:11; 13:1. (Cf. TA IDIA, "one's own place," 21:6). In the papyri we find the singular used thus as a term of endearment to near relations, e.g. hO DEINA TWi IDIWi CAIREIN ["So-and-so to his own (friend), greeting']" (J.H. Moulton, MHTI, p. 90).
The more natural way of expressing "through his own blood" in Attic Greek would be DIA TOU hEAUTOU hAIMATOS or DIA TOU hAIMATOS TOU hEAUTOU; or one might find an instrumental dative instead of the preposition DIA + genitive, and, of course, the use of hAIMA here has to be viewed as a Semitism. DIA TOU IDIOU hAIMATOS would also be another way of getting to the translation "through his own blood" and this is what the Majority Text/Textus Receptus shows--but that's not in the ancient manuscripts.
In my list below I ask the reader to take note that IDIOS precedes the noun, whether in Greek, or in the translation English.
The word "own" here creates an expectation of a contrast, as in "his own language" (THi IDIAi DIALEKTWi, Acts 1:19, 2:6, 2:8) which is contrasted to someone else's language, or as in THi IDIAi EXOUSIAi, Acts 1:7, or IDIAi DUNAMEI, Acts 3:12, or IDIAi GENEAi, Acts 13:36, or PERI THS IDIAIS DEISIDAIMONIAS, Acts 25:19. If such a contrast is present, the normal, expected order is for IDIOS to precede its noun. This is what my list of comparable Scriptures using IDIOS will show:
Matthew 9:1 his own city.
Matthew 22:5 his own farm
Matthew 25:14 his own servants
Luke 2:3 his own city (Textus Receptus)
Luke 6:41 thine own eye
Luke 6:44 his own fruit
Luke 10:34 his own beast
John 1:11 unto his own [CEV adds the word "world"; TEV adds the word "country"; God's Word and NJB adds the word "people"; RSV adds the word "home"; NLT adds the word "land"]
John 1:41 his own brother [Textus Receptus]
John 4:44 his own country
John 5:18 his own Father
John 5:43 his own name
John 7:18 hiw own glory
John 8:44 he speaketh of his own [NRSV, RSV, HCSB, NASB, NET, NJB adds the word "nature"; EMTV, NKJV adds the word "resources"; ESV, NLT adds the word "character" NIV adds "native language"; Weymouth adds the word "store."]
John 10:3 his own sheep
John 10:4 all his own [KJV, CEV, Diaglott, EMTV, God's Word, LITV, MKJV, NET, NKJV, WEB and Weymouth adds the word "sheep"]
John 10:12 own the sheep
John 13:1 having loved his own [CEV adds the word "followers"; NLT adds the word "disciples"]
John 15:19 the world would love its own [Weymouth adds the word "property"; God's Word writes "one of its own"]
John 16:32 each one to his own [CEV, HCSB, ESV, TEV, NASB, NET, NIV, NRSV, RSV, Weymouth, Beck, C.B. Williams adds the word "home"; LITV, MKJV adds the word "things"; NJB, NLT adds the word "way"]
John 19:27 took her unto his own [KJV, CEV, HCSB, Darby, ESV, TEV, God's Word, LITV, MKJV, NET, NJB, NIV, NKJV, NLT, RSV, NRSV, WEB, Weymouth, Williams, Beck adds the word "home"]
Acts 1:7 his own power
Acts 1:25 his own place
Acts 2:6 his own language
Acts 2:8 his own language
Acts 3:12 our own power
Acts 4:23 went to their own [KJV, Darby, MKJV, WEB adds the word "company"; HCSB adds thw word "fellowship"; ESV and Diaglott adds the word "friends"; NASB adds the word "companions" etc]
Acts 4:32 which he possessed was his own [Message has "claim ownership of their own possessions" NRSV has "claimed private ownership of any possessions"] ANARTHROUS
Acts 13:36 his own generation
Acts 25:19 their own religion
Acts 28:30 in his own hired apartment
Romans 8:32 his own Son [Textus Receptus]
Romans 10:3 to establish their own [Nestle] [Textus Receptus, HCSB, Darby, NET, Weymouth adds the word "righteousness"; NLT adds "way of getting right with God"; Good News Bible adds the word "way"]
Romans 11:24 their own olive tree
Romans 14:4 his own lord
Romans 14:5 his own mind
1 Corinthians 3:8 his own reward
1 Corinthians 3:8 his own labor
1 Corinthians 4:12 our own hands
1 Corinthians 6:18 his own body
1 Corinthians 7:2 her own husband
1 Corinthians 7:4 her own body
1 Corinthians 7:4 his own body
1 Corinthians 7:7 his own gift
1 Corinthians 7:37 his own will
1 Corinthians 9:7 at his own wages
1 Corinthians 11:21 his own supper
1 Corinthians 14:35 their own husbands
1 Corinthians 15:23 his own order
1 Corinthians 15:38 his own body
Galatians 6:5 his own burden
Ephesians 5:22 to their own husbands
Ephesians 5:24 their own husbands
Colossians 3:18 their own husbands [Textus Receptus]
1 Thessalonians 2:14 your own countrymen
1 Thessalonians 2:15 their own prophets [Textus Receptus]
1 Thessalonians 4:11 your own business
1 Timothy 3:4 his own household
1 Timothy 3:5 his own household
1 Timothy 3:12 their own households
1 Timothy 4:2 their own conscience
1 Timothy 5:4 their own houshold
1 Timothy 5:8 his own people
1 Timothy 6:1 their own masters
2 Timothy 1:9 his own purpose
2 Timothy 4:3 their own lusts
Titus 2:5 their own husbands
Titus 2:9 their own masters (ANARTHROUS)
Hebrews 4:10 his own the God did [Lattimore, Simple English Bible, NET, CEV, New Life NT, NiRV, International English Bible adds the word "works"; The Power NT adds the word "labors."]
Hebrews 7:27 his own sins
Hebrews 9:12 his own blood
Hebrews 13:12 his own blood
James 1:14 his own lusts
1 Peter 3:1 your own husbands
1 Peter 3:5 their own husbands
2 Peter 2:16 his own transgression
2 Peter 2:22 his own vomit
2 Peter 3:3 their own lusts
2 Peter 3:16 their own destruction
2 Peter 3:17 your own stedfastness
Jude 6 their own habitation
"This absolute use of hO IDIOS is found in the Greek papyri as a term of endearment referring to near relatives. It is possible, therefore, that 'his Own' (hO IDIOS) was a title that early Christians gave to Jesus, comparable to 'the Beloved' (hO AGAPHTOS); compare Ro 8:32, where Paul refers to God 'who did not spare TOU IDIOU hUIOU' in a context that clearly alludes to Gn 22:16, where the Septuagint has TOU AGAPHTOU hUIOU." A Textual Commentary of the Greek New Testament p. 426. This same page refers to Hort, who believed that "hUIOU [Son] may have dropped out after TOU IDIOU. Also, "On the supposition that the text is incorrupt, such a force would be given by the sense 'through the blood that was His own', i.e. as being His Son's. This conception of the death of Christ as a price paid by the Father is in strict accordance with St Paul's own language elsewhere (Ro v 8; viii 32)." [The New Testament in the original Greek, the text revised by B.F. Westcott (Notes on Select Readings)]
What does this mean for Acts 20:28? Following the practice in the Greek and the English translations that endeavor to bring out the full meaning from the Greek, the best rendering of Acts 20:28 from the "church of God" critical text tradition is as follows:
"Be shepherds of the church of God, which he acquired by means of his own Son's death." Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains, Vol. 1, p. 565
"care for the church of God, which he has bought for himself at the price of the blood of his own One." William Barclay
"be the shepherds of the church of God, which he obtained with the blood of his own Son." Revised Standard Version
"Be shepherds of the church of God, which he made his own through the sacrificial death of his Son." Good News Bible
"to shepherd the church of God that he obtained with the blood of his own Son." New Revised Standard Version
"to feed the church of God that he bought with the blood of his own Son" New Jerusalem Bible
"Be like shepherds to God's church. It is the flock that he bought with the blood of his own Son." Contemporary English Version
"to nourish the church of God, which He has purchased with the blood of His own Son" The Holy Bible in Modern English by Ferrar Fenton.
French Darby "par le sang de son propre [fils]."
German Elber "durch das Blut seines Eigenen."
"Tenderly care for God's congregation, which he acquired by the blood of his own Son." 21st Century NT
See also The Concordant Literal New Testament, The Translator's New Testament, and the footnotes in the Darby, Rotherham and Alfred Marshall versions.
Aside from Rhodes' narrow view of Scripture, these are legitimate translations, which, in this case, have given us the better rendering of the original Greek.
"We who have seen, and you who have not seen, do alike enjoy that fellowship with God. The imitation of God being the only sure proof of our having fellowship with him. And the blood of Jesus Christ his Son - With the grace purchased thereby. Cleanseth us from all sin - Both original and actual, taking away all the guilt and all the power." John Wesley on Acts 20:28
"But if we live in light, as he is in light, we have a share in another's life, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin." 1 John 1:7 New Jerusalem Bible
"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it." Eph. 5:25 KJV
Thank you so much for this thoughtful and informative post! I was just trying to understand this question as it relates to a YouTube video about Nestorianism/Anti-Nestorianism.
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