Using the Indefinite Article at John 1:14

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A person in Quora wrote (https://qr.ae/TS9mE6): With that being said, should John had wished to indicate to us that the Word “became a man,” he could have done so as he did eight verses earlier of John the Baptist, John 1.6, EGENETO ANTHROPOS (“There came a man”)

Reply: The main difference here is the placement of the verb before the noun, while at John 1:1c the verb is placed after the noun.

However, we already have many instances in John where we translate with the indefinite article "a" where the verb is placed after the noun:

John 4:19 has PROFHTHS EI SU which translates to: "you are a prophet."

John 6:70 has DIABOLOS ESTIN which translates to: "is a slanderer."

John 8:34 has DOULOS ESTIN which translates to: "is a slave."

John 8:44 has ANQRWPOKTONOS HN which translates to "a murderer."

John 8:44 has EUSTHS ESTIN which translates to "he is a liar."

John 8:48 has SAMARITHS EI SU which translates to "you are a Samaritan."

John 9:8 has PROSAITHS HN which translates to "as a beggar."

John 9:17 has PROFTHS ESTIN which translates to "He is a prophet."

John 9:24 has hAMARTWLOS ESTIN which translates to "is a sinner."

John 9:25 has hAMARTWLOS ESTIN which translates to "he is a sinner."

John 10:1 has KLEPTHS ESTIN which translates to "is a thief"

John 10:13 has MISQWTOS ESTIN which translates to "a hired hand."

John 12:6 has KLEPTHS HN which translates to "he was a thief."

John 18:35 has MHTI EGO IOUDAIOS EIMI which translates to "I am not a Jew, am I?"

John 18:37 has BASILEUS EI SU which translates to "So you are a king?"

John 18:37 also has BASILEUS EIMI EGW which translates to "I am a king."

Not only that, John 1:14 can be translated indefinitely as well, and some Bibles actually do this:

"The Word became a human being." CEV, GNT, A Translator's Handbook on the Gospel of John by Barclay Newman & Eugene Albert Nida, Biography of the Biblical God by E. Asamoah-Yaw, NIRV

"The Word became a man" ICB

"The Word became a human" NCV

So, if you compare John 1:14 to John 1:1c, you can insert the indefinite "a" in both Scriptures to flesh out the proper meaning.

Thomas More's Horse, and Erasmus

ANECDOTE OF ERASMUS

On a visit to England, he passed some time at the house of Sir Thomas More, a decided Papist. Upon his departure, "Sir Thomas loaned him a favorite horse, to go as far as the seashore and then to be returned. Erasmus, taking a fancy to the horse, kept him, whereupon Sir Thomas reproached him for not fulfilling his word, and taking what was not his own. Erasmus sent back the following lines, which contain a satire upon his friend's belief in transubstantiation:—

'That Christ's body is in the bread, say you, 
 Only believe, 't is therefore true; 
 So of your horse, if you are able, 
 Only believe 't is in the stable.'" 

from: Jortin's Life of Erasmus.

See also Erasmus the Reformer & Bible Scholar - 40 PDF Books on DVDrom

Exodus 3:14 in the New World Translation

The website at http://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/LVSermons/NewWorldTransaltion.html has many criticisms of the New World Translation Bible, but I am only going to concentrate on one Scripture today, and that is the one at Exodus 3:14 -

Exodus 3:14 “At this God said to Moses: ‘I shall prove to be what I shall prove to be.’ And he added: ‘This is what you are to say to the sons of Israel, “I shall prove to be has sent me to you.'" (NWT)

The website says: The Hebrew phrase, ‘eheyeh ‘asher ‘eheyeh, literally is “I am who I am.” But Jesus alludes to this statement in John 8:58 by calling himself “I am,” and Jehovah’s Witnesses reject the deity of Jesus so this passage was modified.

Reply: Does Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh literally mean “I am who I am?”

Look at this image that shows the same word used two verses prior at Exodus 3:12 where it is translated in your Bible as "I Will Be." It seems odd to translate it so oddly at Exodus 3:14, unless you are going to great pains to link it to Jesus' words at John 8:58.

I have looked at many occurrences of the Hebrew word `hyh (ehyeh) I could find with the pronoun, and the results are overwhelming that "I AM" is a poor translation. Unless otherwise stated, the Bible used is the Revised Standard Version:

Exo 3:12 And he said, Certainly I will be with thee ASV

Exo 3:14 snip

Exo 4:12  Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak."

Exo 4:15  And you shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and will teach you what you shall do.

Deu 31:23  And the LORD commissioned Joshua the son of Nun and said, "Be strong and of good courage; for you shall bring the children of Israel into the land which I swore to give them: I will be with you."

Jos 1:5  No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.

Jos 3:7  And the LORD said to Joshua, "This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.

Jdg 6:16  And the LORD said to him, "But I will be with you, and you shall smite the Mid'ianites as one man."

Jdg 11:9  Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "If you bring me home again to fight with the Ammonites, and the LORD gives them over to me, I will be your head."

1Sa 18:18  And David said to Saul, "Who am I, and who are my kinsfolk, my father's family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?"

1Sa 23:17  And he said to him, "Fear not; for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you; you shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you; Saul my father also knows this."

2Sa 7:14  I will be his father, and he shall be my son. When he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men;

2Sa 15:34  But if you return to the city, and say to Ab'salom, 'I will be your servant, O king

2Sa 16:18  And Hushai said to Ab'salom, "No; for whom the LORD and this people and all the men of Israel have chosen, his I will be

2Sa 16:19  so I will be in your presence. NASB

Isa 3:7  in that day he will speak out, saying: "I will not be a healer; in my house there is neither bread nor mantle; you shall not make me leader of the people."

Isa 47:7  You said, "I will be the mistress for ever," HCSB

Jer 11:4  which I commanded your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Listen to my voice, and do all that I command you. So shall you be my people, and I will be your God,

Jer 24:7  I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD; and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart.

Jer 30:22  And you shall be my people, and I will be your God."

Jer 31:1  "At that time, says the LORD, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people."

Jer 32:38  And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

Eze 11:20  that they may walk in my statutes and keep my ordinances and obey them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

Eze 14:11  and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, saith the Lord Jehovah. Darby Bible

Eze 34:24  And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them; I, the LORD, have spoken.

Eze 36:28  You shall dwell in the land which I gave to your fathers; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

Eze 37:23  They shall not defile themselves any more with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but I will save them from all the backslidings in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

Hos 1:9  Then He said, Call his name Not My People, for you are not My people, and I will not be for you. LITV [RSV has "I am"]

Zec 2:5[9]  And I will be to her a wall of fire all around, and I will be for glory in her midst, declares Jehovah. LITV

Zec 8:8  and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be my people and I will be their God, in faithfulness and in righteousness."

Psa 50:21  You have done these things, and I have kept silence; you thought that surely I would be like you LITV

Job 3:16 Or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been, As infants that never saw light.  ASV

Job 10:19 I should have been as though I had not been ASV

*Job 12:4 I am as one that is a laughing-stock to his neighbor ASV
[Compare NIV "I have become a laughingstock to my friends"]

*Job 17:6 He has made me a byword of the peoples, and I am one before whom men spit.
[Compare NKJV  "I have become one in whose face men spit."
KJV "and aforetime I was as a tabret."
DARBY "and I am become one to be spit on in the face."]

Song 1:7  for why should I be like one who wanders beside the flocks of your companions?

Rth 2:13  though I am not one of your maidservants
[Compare KJV, ASV "though I be not like unto one of thine handmaidens."
NET "though I could never be equal to one of your servants."

1Ch 17:13 I will be his father, and he shall be my son

1Ch 28:6  I will be his father

For this reason, many other Bibles do not translate Exodus 3:14 as I AM, but rather "I will be," such as The James Moffatt Translation. The Jewish Study Bible: Jewish Publication Society Tanakh Translation By Adele Berlin, Marc Zvi Brettler says that Exodus 3:14 is "probably best translated as 'I Will Be What I Will Be'" and Robert Alter in his Hebrew Bible concludes as well that "I Will Be Who I Will Be" is the most plausible construction. Frederic Huidekoper in his "Genesis, Chapters I.-XI.: In Parallel Columns" also believes "I Will Be What I Will Be" "is the only translation." https://tinyurl.com/se9cupw . Even Walter Martin in his The Kingdom of the Occult at footnote 25 in the Eastern Mysticism and the New Age section that "the original words literally signify 'I will be what I will be.'"

"YHWH is the name that describes this essence and identity most clearly: 'I will be what I will be.'" Reformed Dogmatics: God and Creation By Herman Bavinck, John Bolt, John Vriend

"The traditional English translation within Judaism favors 'I will be what I will be' because there is no present tense of the verb 'to be' in the Hebrew language." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_that_I_Am

Elsewhere in Judaism, The book "An Introduction to Judaism" By Nicholas de Lange prefers "I shall be what I shall be" https://tinyurl.com/sxtq8z9 as does "Ehyeh: A Kabbalah for Tomorrow" By Arthur Green https://tinyurl.com/qko3w3a and "Tales of the Village Rabbi: A Manhattan Chronicle" By Harvey M. Tattelbaum https://tinyurl.com/tuf4wv9 and "Gan Sofer" by Baruch Myers (Page 275) and "The Jewish Study Bible: Second Edition" https://tinyurl.com/udpkgmo and "Prophecy: The History of an Idea in Medieval Jewish Philosophy" By Howard Kreisel https://tinyurl.com/vnwca73 and "Crescas: Light of the Lord (Or Hashem): Translated with introduction and notes" by Roslyn Weiss https://tinyurl.com/yx2o9qdb and Rational Rabbis: Science and Talmudic Culture by Menachem Fisch (Page 194) and "Religion of the Age and of the Ages" by Abraham Moses Hershman (Page 61) and "Judaism: an Analysis and an Interpretation" by Israel Herbert Levinthal (Page 61) and Journal of Reform Judaism, Volume 32, 1985 (Page 112) and it is ascribed to the great medieval Jewish commentator Rashi in "The God Who May Be: A Hermeneutics of Religion by Richard Kearney (Page 25).

See also The Exodus 3:14/John 8:58 Nothing-Burger
https://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-exodus-314john-858-nothing-burger.html

The Present of Past Action and John 8:58
https://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-present-of-past-action-and-john-858.html

EGW EIMI (ego eimi), I AM and John 8:58
https://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2018/07/egw-eimi-ego-eimi-i-am-and-john-858.html

Buy: And the Word was a god: A New Book on the Most Disputed Text in the New Testament - John 1:1  and The Dark History of the Trinity, is now available on Amazon by clicking here...and both are only 99 cents

[The newer NWT has “I Will Become What I Choose to Become.”]

Some Naughty Popes on This Day in History

Download: Vicars of Christ - the Dark Side of the Papacy by Peter De Rosa

This Day In History: Pope John XII was Pope on this day in 955. He gained notoriety by being bludgeoned to death while naked in bed by a jealous husband. In fact, Pope John XIII died the same way. Prior to him Pope Leo VII had a heart attack during sexual congress. Pope Paul II also had a heart attack (1471 A.D.), although in his case a page boy was involved.

See also: 200 Books to Download on the Dark Side of Christianity
https://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2015/10/200-books-on-dvdrom-on-dark-side-of.html

The Legend of Pope Joan, 1873 Article
https://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2017/08/the-legend-of-pope-joan-1873-article.html

Download: The Final Conclave by Malachi Martin
https://archive.org/details/TheFinalConclave

Download: Windswept House - A Vatican Novel by Malachi Martin
https://archive.org/details/MalachiMartinsWindsweptHouse

The Pope who Rewrote the Bible
https://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2017/11/the-pope-who-rewrote-bible.html

Download: Babylon Mystery Religion - Ralph Woodrow

Download: The Power of the Popes by Pierre Claude François Daunou

The Infamous Trial of a Dead Pope

Crimes of the Popes by G W Foote & J M Wheeler 1887

Unitarian Martyr Johann Sylvan on This Day in History

This Kindle book, The Dark History of the Trinity, is now available on Amazon by clicking here...and it is only 99 cents

See a local listing for this book here

This Day In History: Reformed German theologian Johann Sylvan was executed on this day in 1572 for his Antitrinitarian beliefs. The negative connotations in denying the Trinity Doctrine goes back to the Arian controversy in the 4th century. This controversy carried with it such a stigma that, Protestants still clung to it while shedding itself of all other "Popish" beliefs, even while Catholics had long admitted that the Trinity is based solely on the authority of the church, not the Bible. Many after realized this and paid for this realization with their lives.

Download: When Jesus Became God by Ridhard E. Rubenstein
https://archive.org/details/pdfy-fVoMnUsaDlQlaRnI

Download: How Jesus Became God by Bart Ehrman
https://archive.org/details/HowJesusBecameGodTheExaltBartD

Download: How on Earth Did Jesus Become a God?: Historical Questions about Earliest Devotion to Jesus by Larry W. Hurtado
https://tinyurl.com/ty6n6ot

See also The Terrible Death of Michael Servetus
https://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-terrible-death-of-michael-servetus.html

Unitarian History by John Hayward 1860
https://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2019/03/unitarian-history-by-by-john-hayward.html

Giordano Bruno, Martyr for the Trinity
https://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2019/02/giordano-bruno-martyr-for-trinity.html

Johann Sylvan - Unitarian Martyr
https://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2018/12/johann-sylvan-unitarian-martyr.html

The Trinity NO PART of Primitive Christianity, by James Forrest A.M. 1836
https://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2019/03/the-trinity-no-part-of-primitive.html

The Interrogation of Unitarian Anabaptist Martyr Herman van Vlekwijk
https://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-interrogation-of-unitarian.html

Peter Gunther, Unitarian Martyr
https://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2018/09/peter-gunther-unitarian-martyr.html

A Catholic Priest Declares the Trinity Doctrine "Opposed to Human Reason."
https://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2018/07/a-catholic-priest-declares-trinity.html

Edward Wightman (Unitarian Martyr)
https://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2018/07/edward-wightman-unitarian-martyr.html

metatron3@gmail.com

Genesis 1:2 in the New World Translation

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The website at http://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/LVSermons/NewWorldTransaltion.html has many criticisms of the New World Translation Bible, but I am only going to concentrate on one Scripture today, and that is the one at Genesis 1:2:

Genesis 1:2 “Now the earth proved to be formless and waste and there was darkness upon the surface of [the] watery deep; and God’s active force was moving to and fro over the surface of the waters.” (NWT)

The website says: The Hebrew phrase, weruach elohim, is literally “the Spirit of God,” but Jehovah’s Witnesses reject the idea of a being known as the Holy Spirit, so verses where the Spirit is active are modified.

Reply: It should be noted that the idea of a being known as the Holy Spirit is a later belief. We got our Hebrew Old Testament (the Masoretic text) and the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint) from the Jews, and they did not believe in the idea of a being known as the Holy Spirit. "In Judaism, Holy Spirit (ruach ha-kodesh) refers to the divine force, quality, and influence of God over the universe or over God's creatures." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Spirit_in_Judaism
Naturally, this then would be reflected in the text of the Old Testament.*

The website says: Interestingly, in other passages where ruach appears, such as Genesis 6:3 and 41:38, they retain the translation “spirit,” though they make sure not to capitalize the word.

Reply: The website seems to have cherry-picked a couple of verses from Genesis in order to make their point, but the bigger picture exposes their lack of knowledge in this area. Please take note of the following occurrences of the word Ruach in Genesis, using the New Revised Standard Version, The King James Version, the New American Bible and the New World Translation:

Genesis 1:2
NRSV: a wind from God
KJV: the Spirit of God
NAB: a mighty wind
NWT: God’s active force

Genesis 3:8
NRSV: in the garden at the time of the evening breeze
KJV: in the garden in the cool of the day:
NAB: in the garden at the breezy time of the day
NWT: in the garden about the breezy part of the day

Genesis 6:3
NRSV: My spirit shall not abide in mortals forever
KJV: said, My spirit shall not always
NAB: My spirit shall not remain in man forever
NWT: My spirit shall not act toward man indefinitely

Genesis 6:17
NRSV: in which is the breath of life
KJV: all flesh, wherein [is] the breath of life,
NAB: in which there is the breath of life
NWT: in which the force of life is active

Genesis 7:15
NRSV: in which there was the breath of life
KJV: wherein [is] the breath of life.
NAB: in which there was the breath of life
NWT: in which the force of life was active

Genesis 7:22
NRSV: in whose nostrils was the breath of life
KJV: in whose nostrils was the breath of life
NAB: with the faintest breath of life in its nostrils
NWT: in which the breath of the force of life was active in its nostrils

Genesis 8:1
NRSV: And God made a wind blow
KJV: and God made a wind to pass over
NAB: God made a wind sweep over
NWT: and God caused a wind to pass over

Genesis 26:35
NRSV: and they made life bitter for Isaac
KJV: Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac
NAB: they became a source of embitterment to Isaac
NWT: they were a source of bitterness of spirit to Isaac

Genesis 41:8
NRSV: In the morning his spirit was troubled
KJV: in the morning that his spirit was troubled;
NAB: Next morning his spirit was agitated
NWT: in the morning that his spirit became agitated

Genesis 41:38
NRSV: one in whom is the spirit of God
KJV: in whom the Spirit of God
NAB: endowed with the spirit of God
NWT: in whom the spirit of God

Genesis 45:27
NRSV: to carry him, the spirit of their father
KJV: to carry him, the spirit of Jacob
NAB: the spirit of their father Jacob
NWT: the spirit of Jacob their father

As you can see, when the word "spirit" is actually used, the NRSV and NAB also made sure not to capitalize the word either. Is it because of some sinister agenda? The word spirit has many meanings, as you can see even in an Evangelical Bible like the New American Standard Version which translates Ruach as... air (2 times), anger (1 time), blast (2 times), breath (31 times), breathless (1 time), cool (1 time), courage (1 time), despondency (1 times), exposed (1 time), grief (1 time), heart (1 time), inspired (1 time), mind (3 times), motives (1 time), points (1 time), quick-tempered (1 time), side (4 times), sides (2 times), Spirit (76 times), spirit (127 times), spirits (3 times), strength (1 times), temper (2 times), thoughts (1 times), trustworthy (1 times), wind (98 times), winds (7 times), windy (2 times) and wrath (1 time).

*"Spirit in the Old Testament was originally wind and breath. To the ancient Israelite it meant the breath of life, and since Yahweh was the living God and the giver of life He was called spirit...the spirit of Yahweh has many functions. It is a creative force and a spirit of judgement..." The Triune God: A Historical Study of the Doctrine of the Trinity By Edmund J. Fortman (read the entire section at https://tinyurl.com/Spirit-Fortman )

See also: Answering Questions on the holy spirit
https://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2018/01/answering-questions-on-holy-spirit.html

The Holy Spirit-Active Force or the 3rd Person of the Trinity?
https://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2018/04/the-holy-spirit-active-force-or-3rd.html

May the Force Be With You: Genesis 1:2 and the Word "Spirit"
https://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2018/06/may-force-be-with-you-genesis-12-and.html

Genesis 1:2 and the spirit of God in various translations of the Bible
https://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2019/10/genesis-12-and-spirit-of-god-in-various.html

Buy: And the Word was a god: A New Book on the Most Disputed Text in the New Testament - John 1:1  and The Dark History of the Trinity, is now available on Amazon by clicking here...and both are only 99 cents

metatron3@gmail.com

The [three-tribe] Division at Numbers 1:52 and the New World Translation

The website at http://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/LVSermons/NewWorldTransaltion.html has many criticisms of the New World Translation Bible, but I am only going to concentrate on one Scripture today, and that is the one at Numbers 1:52:

Numbers 1:52 “And the sons of Israel must encamp each with reference to his camp and each man by his [three-tribe] division by their armies.” (NWT)

"The Hebrew phrase ‘al-dighlo, literally means 'besides his banner,' but Jehovah Witnesses regard saluting a flag as idolatry, so the text was altered to remove reference to the presence of a flag or standard."

Reply: Yes, many Bibles do use "standard" or "banner" as a meaning for the Hebrew word DEGEL, but like McClintock and Strong's Cyclopædia says after discussing the Hebrew words used: "Neither of them, however, expresses the idea which 'standard' conveys to our minds, viz. a flag." At Song of Solomon 6:4; 10 a form of DEGEL is used to describe a division of the heavenly armies (constellations), Here, GEORGE ATHAS, Dept of Semitic Studies, University of Sydney says, "This would also fit the context in which DEGEL implies a division of an army. A constellation would certainly make sense if it seen as both something you look up at, and something which is an ordered division of the starry host."

So the Hebrew word used here can also mean "division of an army". And we know that they are divided into 3 tribes by reading Numbers 2:3-8

The Hebrew Bible: A Translation With Commentary by Robert Alter adds that "banner" is "the consensus of post-biblical Hebrew tradition for understanding the term degel" however, "Baruch Levine summons considerable comparative Semitic evidence, seconded by the Aramaic Targums, to argue that degel actually designates a 'sociomilitary unit' (perhaps something like 'regiment'?)."

The Jewish Study Bible: Jewish Publication Society Tanakh Translation By Adele Berlin, Marc Zvi Brettler states on page 287 "The meaning of the Hebrew term 'degel' is uncertain...'degel' may refer to a military unit, a subdivision of the tribe."

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Volume 4, says on page 610: "R. de Vaux has argued that degel signified a division of the army." This he states in his own book (Ancient Israel: Its Life and Instructions By Roland De Vaux): "This word does not mean a standard or ensign, as so many modern dictionaries and translations interpret it, but a division of the army. This is the right meaning in Nb 1:52; 2:2034; 10: 14-25; it is also the sense given by the ancient versions, and it is used with this meaning in the papyri of Elephantine and in the Order of War from Qumram." The Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible, Volume 1 also echoes Roland De Vaux's views. This is why the NRSV Bible translates Numbers 1:52 as "The other Israelites shall camp in their respective regimental camps, by companies."

Neither the New American Bible, nor Brenton's Septuagint mention "banner" or "flag" here. The revised New World Translation does offer "standard" and "banner" as alternate readings.

Once again, the NWT Bible proves to be the shining city on the hill in a swamp full of lesser Bible versions.

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