The Word's Five Births
2019.03.05
Last page update: 2024.04.11
By Hal Dekker
"The fact that the biblical writers wrote statements about multiple births of the Word/Jesus Christ indicates that the biblical writers wrote statements about multiple births of the Word/Jesus Christ!" - Anonymous
Abbreviations used in this study:
LIT = Literal Idiomatic Translation
LITAGL - Literal Idiomatic Translation Analytical Greek Lexicon (free download)
NT = New Testament
OT = Old Testament
UBS4 - United Bible Societies Eclectic Greek New Testament, Version 4
Outline Of This Study
Introduction
John 1:14
2 Tim. 2:12b
Mat. 7:23
Heb. 13:8
Chapter 1 - The Word's First Birth
Heb. 3:1-2
1 Pet. 1:20a
1 Pet. 1:9-11b
John 17:24
Heb. 9:26
Prov. 8:12
1 Cor. 1:23-24
Prov. 8:22
Col. 1:17a
Gen. 4:1
Rev. 3:13-14
1 Cor. 15:45-47
Chapter 2 - The Word's Second Birth
1 John 4:9-14
Col. 1:13-15
Col. 1:16-17
Col. 1:18
Prov. 8:23-31
John 3:1-3
1 Cor. 2:11-12
John 3:5
John 3:6
John 3:7
Eph. 2:4-10
Joel 2:28-29
Acts 2:16-18
Luke 24:49
Chapter 3 - The Word's Third Birth
Mat. 1:18
John 4:24
Luke 1:34-35
Mat. 1:19-21
Luke 1:37-38
Mat. 1:22-25
Luke 2:7
John 1:14
Heb. 2:16
Heb. 2:17
Heb. 11:11-13
Rom. 1:3
Chapter 4 - The Word's Fourth Birth
John 1:14b
Mat. 3:16
Mark 1:10
Luke 3:22
John 1:32
Acts 17:25-28
Acts 17:29
1 Pet. 2:9-10
John 1:32-34
Mat. 3:13-17
John 3:1-7
Chapter 5 - The Word's Fifth Birth
Col. 1:18
Rev. 1:4-5
Mat. 12:38-40
Eph. 4:13-15
Col. 1:21-29
Rom. 8:1-11
Conclusion
Eph. 4:11-13
John 14:1-3
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Introduction
This study is going to be both a curse and a blessing; a curse for those who are trying to make money off of the things of God, and a curse for those non-Christian translators who have helped to destroy God's Word with paraphrases in Bible translations, and a blessing for those who are searching for God's Word.
Births
What can it mean for the individual parts of the one body of Christ that the biblical texts of God's Word reveal details of the Word, who became Christ Jesus, having possibly five separate and distinct births of some kind, or maybe more? For people like me, that's the time when I begin again closely examining and comparing what has been written by the prophets and apostles in the biblical texts for what may be in store for the one body of Christ in the new heavens and earth.
In each of the scriptural passages in which the prophets and apostles wrote about the Word/Jesus having a birth of some kind, an actual Hebrew or Greek word for a birth is used in those biblical texts, to state/present the births the Word/Jesus Christ experienced throughout his biblical history.
Maybe this next paragraph is a good one to use to explain how people's conclusions can be profoundly altered depending upon which reading methodology a reader has adopted for himself;
- either the very popular reading method in which a believer's, or other's, preconceived ideas are read INTO a verse, chapter and book, like most everyone does,
- or the other apparently unpopular reading method, in which a reader notices, very patiently, each and every word in a phrase, clause or sentence, its grammatical part of speech, its inflected form, its root's essential meaning, the inflected forms of other words around it, noticing the immediate, local and remote contexts of the discrete subject, secondary subjects, figures of speech, assumed indefinite articles and to be verbs, intransitive and transitive verbs, any possible ellipses, customs and cultural practices, etc., from reading OUT of the biblical texts.
I read the second way, and guess what I've found?
From my own reading, OUT of the biblical texts, it's seems obvious to me that during Jesus Christ's earthly ministry for our redemption, he was a mortal man with flesh and blood. But evidence of the Word's corporeal existence in the books of the Law, of the Psalms and of the prophets, apparently before it became flesh and tented among us, isn't so abundant with descriptions, at least that I have found yet. But before the Word became flesh and tented among us, I believe the Word was in-housed in a Spirit-based body of some kind, and it was in that "bodily form" in which the Word appeared at times throughout the records in the books of the Law, the psalms, and in the books of the prophets. Apostle Paul defines the kinds of bodies God's creations can have, both soul-based and spirit-based (1 Cor. 15:35-49). I recommend a very close read of this 1 Cor. 15 passage in the LIT before continuing with this study.
Once you, me, or anyone has noticed a word for "birth" in the biblical texts associated with the Word in the beginning, and the Word after he became flesh, about whom multiple births are presented to us in the biblical texts, about which we can read if we want to, how can those passages be ignored unless you, me, or anyone simply chooses not to read them, chooses to stay ignorant of them? Who, among all of the vast number of Christians across the planet, who love God with all of their heart, soul, mind and strength, wouldn't want to read about any and all of the Word's curious births?
The format of this study is to follow the biblical texts of the biblical writers, word for word, as they present and explain the Word's five births. Going through biblical passages and verses word for word is how I shall point out that individual words have individual unique meanings, based upon their roots and those roots' inflected forms. Searching for words' specific meanings, throughout the biblical texts, is how I discovered the meanings of the biblical terminology used by the biblical writers to report the Word's five births.
To a great extent English Bible "translators" have muddied the clarity of Bibles through their unashamed use of paraphrases. From my own experience producing the Literal Idiomatic Translation from simply quoting what the biblical writers wrote in the biblical texts, personally translating about 19,381 unique words in the UBS4 biblical Greek texts, I can tell you that about 50+% of most all Bible translations are opinionated paraphrases used to replace, yes I said replace, what the biblical writers actually wrote. I estimate that about one half of the meanings of the words used by the NT biblical writers have been altered, destroyed or replaced by others' (who are they?) private interpretations! Who are those people, what are their names, those who are replacing God's Word with their own privately interpreted paraphrases, and THEN they allow all Bible readers to believe that their forged-in/fudged-in private interpretations in Bibles are God's Word!?
For a couple of hundred years now most all Bible translations are slowly being altered/converted to erroneously show only the 4th century invented triune godhead oral tradition, while erasing from Bible translations references to the ideas, concepts, wordage and terminology actually written by Jesus' apostles and disciples, and God's old covenant prophets, in the Hebrew and Greek biblical texts! This is how the devil is getting rid of God's Word, through replacing the content in Bibles with mortal-made/devil-made religious crap, "oral tradition".
Throughout this study I'll show, as I show in all of my studies, how great discoveries in the texts of the biblical writers can be made through doing word studies, following the biblical writers' use of particular words and phrases to discover their contextual meanings. I'll present the quotes of the biblical texts used in this study from the LIT, since the LIT is the one and only Bible translation which contains no paraphrases or private interpretations, and simply quotes the writers of the biblical Hebrew and Greek texts.
I've noticed that it's very difficult for sin nature-based human beings in flesh, that's all of us, to desire to do word studies in God's Word, because it can be hard tedious work, and it's Truth, and all men are liars (Rom. 3:4; John 8:55, 44). Liars don't like the truth, and they don't like to be told they are liars, do they/we? But when the writers of the Hebrew and Greek biblical texts wrote this or that in those languages, and then Bible translators "translate" their words into English wordage and meanings not present in those Hebrew and Greek biblical texts, then who's lying, the prophets and apostles or the "translators"? I don't have any issues with Bible translators in general, but only with those who continue to assist the devil in destroying God's written Word with their invented, privately interpreted paraphrases!
But I've noticed that there must be some certain level of love in a person's heart, soul, mind and strength, that's enough to excite and energize a believer into spending that much time in God's Word, the amount of time required to do word studies. I've determined that for people who really believe that this world is not their home, and they are only passing through, those people wish to know what their real "home" is like, and so they study God's Word diligently, word for word, inflection by inflection, jot by jot and tittle by tittle.
Another curious thing I've noticed among many people I observe claiming themselves to be followers of Christ, all of this discipleship work over the sake of the Truth of God's Word is too inconvenient and tedious for them. Most all wish to simply be told what to believe. That suits the devil just fine, and he will ensure they all are told exactly what he wants them to believe, through "oral tradition" and paraphrased Bible "translations"!
If we're going to believe God's Word as opposed to mortal-made and/or manufactured religious precepts (Mark 7:6-7), which some people spend a tremendous amount of time studying, then isn't studying what's written in the biblical Hebrew and Greek texts supposed to be what guides and builds our belief in God's Word? Isn't that how Jesus discipled his disciples?
If the biblical writers wrote that the Word/Jesus had multiple births, using specific words meaning births, then what are some Christians going to do, simply ignore the biblical writers? Yes! That's what most all of "Christianity" is already doing, ignoring the written tradition to follow oral traditions! Ignoring the knowledge of God's Word in the written tradition, the Hebrew and Greek biblical texts, isn't how Jesus' disciples grew in their discipleship to him (Eph. 4:13), and contradicts what Jesus' disciples/followers have been commanded to do, study (2 Tim. 2:15).
Most everyone already knows of Jesus' three births:
1. Jesus' physical birth as Mariam's firstborn son - Mat. 1:18-25
2. Jesus' spiritual birth from above in God's gift of his holy Spirit, alongside the Jordan - Luke 3:21-22
3. Jesus' physical birth out of death, out from among dead ones in graves - Col. 1:18, Rev. 1:5
But I have found at least two more births which the Word has already experienced, according to the biblical texts.
Among human beings, one who has had a birth is one who has began life as a physically separate being from the one who gave it a birth. But is that precise meaning stored in any words used in the biblical texts, in Hebrew or Greek words, which apparently are used to describe births of and among biblical characters? From what I've found in those biblical contexts, and will show you, I say yes!
The meaning of a birth, at least among human beings, includes the coming into existence of a human being from an assumed previous non-existence. However, this may not be the whole truth about the mortal man Christ Jesus, about whom the biblical writers state he had a preexistence as the Word before he caused himself to become flesh (egeneto) and he tented among us (John 1:14; Col. 1:13-17). In the biblical texts egeneto is a middle/reflexive voice verb! Middle/reflexive voice verbs show the subject using his/her own personal will to cause himself/herself to say or do something.
Verbs for a Moment
On account of the meaning of a verb's voice, both middle/reflexive and passive voice verb meanings conspicuously reveal the source of the cause for the action of a verb. Identifying, within a biblical context, the source of the cause for the action of a verb is fundamental to understanding the subject, and for understanding of the context. This is exactly why verbs' voices, especially middle/reflexive and passive voices, are so important in determining internal vs. external causes for why biblical subjects think, say and do the things they think, say and do, especially about Jesus Christ.
- Middle/reflexive voice verbs in biblical Greek indicate that the source of the cause for the action of the verb affecting the nominative subject comes from within the subject itself; meaning that the action of the verb is primarily self-instigated, self-motivated. This is extremely important to notice about the mortal man Jesus Christ, deliberately forcing his own free will (middle/reflexive voice), as an example for his disciples to follow, to do the will of his heavenly Father, to cause himself to fulfill all of the prophecies given in the books of the law, the prophets, and the psalms about him. These biblical records show us extremely important examples of Jesus Christ conducting his own free will, as examples for his disciples to follow.
- Passive voice verbs indicate that the source of the cause for the action of the verb affecting the nominative subject comes from a source or sources outside of the nominative subject. This means that passive voice verbs show the nominative subject reacting to external conditions placed upon it. Passive voice verbs related to Jesus Christ show to us how Jesus reacted, mostly "on the fly", to external conditions presenting around him. These examples of Jesus reacting on the fly to external conditions around him are yet more extremely important examples for Jesus' disciples to learn and follow, in their own discipleship growth up into the spiritual maturity of the Christ (Eph. 4:13).
- Whereas with biblical Greek active voice verbs the specific source of the cause for the action of the verb is not always clear in the context. Active voice verbs show that this character did this, and that character did that, but exactly what was the instigation for doing those things is not always made crystal clear. The source of the cause for the action, and the why for the action, are often left up to the reader to indirectly conclude from other contextual information/data.
In ALL triune godhead-based "oral tradition" Bible translations ALL of the middle/reflexive and passive voice verbs related to Jesus Christ have been replaced with erroneous active voice verb paraphrases. This effectively stops Bible readers from seeing exactly what did the biblical writers write about the mortal man Jesus Christ, both aggressively and reactively conducting his own free will in many of life's various circumstances, as examples for his disciples to follow. The LIT simply quotes the biblical writers in the biblical texts, all of the way through the new testament books, because no paraphrases are needed! ALL of the middle/reflexive and passive voice verbs are clearly, properly and gloriously translated in the LIT!
I believe a reader will have a newly found appreciation for middle and passive voice verbs used by the biblical writers, about how and why the mortal man Jesus Christ conducted himself in various challenging circumstances, before the end of this study!
For example:
John 1:14 is a verse apostle John used to introduce believers to what I believe was the Word's third birth, through Mariam, using the middle voice verb egeneto to describe Jesus' self-transformation from a previous existence of some kind into his existence upon earth in flesh and bone (Luke 24:39). The Word caused himself to do it, which designates middle/reflexive voice verbs as verbs which describe voluntary actions of self-will, with respect to local context. In John 1:14 I've underlined the two middle voice verbs so a reader can notice their examples left by apostle John for us to read, out of the text.
John 1:14a (LIT/UBS4) And (kai) the (ho) Word (logos) caused himself to become (egeneto) flesh (sarx), and (kai) he tented (eskēnōsen) among (en) us (hēmin).
John 1:14b And (kai) we made ourselves spectators (etheasametha) of the (tēn) glory (doxan) of him (autou), [the] glory (doxan) as (hōs) of [an] only genus3439 (monogenous) alongside (para) of [the] Father (patros), one full (plērēs) of grace (charotis) and (kai) of Truth (alētheias).
A word believers may notice here in John 1:14b is the word monogenous, meaning an only genus. It's made of two words, the Greek word genos, Strong's # 1085, to which has been affixed to the Greek word mono, to produce the word monogenous. Genos transliterates and translates into genus in English, which is another very important word to understand, which meaning I'll explain also in this study of the Word's five births.
Many people may be challenged to fully understand the biblical meaning behind the apostles use of the noun genos, given that Bible translations have translated it with paraphrases instead of simply genus. The subject of genus shall stay around throughout this study as well. But in order to save time for readers here's an Excel spreadsheet file which can be downloaded (everything here is free!), Genos_Pivot.xls, of pivot tables I made to help explain to me those specific biblical meanings from the biblical contexts of the words genos meaning genus, and monogenēs meaning only genus, in the biblical texts. These biblical facts about genus should help all believers/readers to know and understand their own critical genus relationship with their heavenly Father, YHWH Elohim.
When I read the biblical texts I'm always trying to understand the semantic meanings of biblical passages beyond simply only the stated words, something like "reading between the lines"; such as, how can the Word make the cognitive determination to cause itself to become (egeneto, middle voice) flesh and tent among us, John 1:14, if it's not already in some kind of cognitive existence? In other words, the biblical writer, in this case apostle John, must have concluded/believed for himself that the Word in the beginning was an objective being of some kind, rather than only a subjective idea or thought in God's "mind".
The biblical writers have used a vast abundance of middle voice verbs throughout their writings to describe the Word's voluntary thoughts and actions to do his heavenly Father's will. But virtually ALL middle voice verbs have been either ignored or replaced as active voice verbs in triune godhead-based Bible translations, which is virtually all Bible translations.
Here's a download of my LIT analytical Greek lexicon (LITAGL) in MS Excel format, so that you can scroll up and down through it and see and count for yourself how many hundreds of middle voice verbs have either been ignored or replaced/forged as active voice verbs in virtually ALL Bible "translations".
Got Bible Hub?
If you wish to see the differences between a quote of what apostle John actually wrote in John 1:14 versus all of the paraphrases fudged/forged into triune godhead-based Bible translations, please compare the LIT translation to any and all of the triune godhead-based Bible translations listed in Bible Hub (https://Bible Hub.com/john/1-14.htm).
As anyone can easily see, all triune godhead-based Bible translations forge/fudge active voice "became" or "was made" into English in John 1:14, instead of preserving the middle/reflexive voice into English. I call paraphrasing, and/or creative "synonyming", which Bible translators have done about 50% of the time in virtually all Bible "translations", lying.
From my own hands-on translation experience, from translating the LIT over a thirty year period, one word at a time, tediously translating each and every word, about 19,381 of them, I estimate that about a half of the words in any given English Bible translation are erroneously invented paraphrases of "important peoples'" self-omniscient private interpretations, which are used TO REPLACE large portions of what the biblical writers actually wrote.
Everyone can read those abundant forgeries in Bibles, all of the time, because the Bible producers keep it secret that they are forging Bible translations with paraphrases, and they don't reveal to people which specific wordings in Bibles are forgeries and not authentic to the biblical writers, so everyone will believe what they want people to believe! Do you know any Christian one who cares about people's opinions being forged into Bible "translations", for at least one half of the total wordage in any given Bible translation, and then passed off as God's infallible Word?
I don't know any Christians who indicate that they actually care about preserving the integrity of the written tradition in Bible translations, which to me is a huge "tell" about the veracity of the current state of Christianity (Rev. 2-3). Do you think Jesus Christ would approve of forging Bibles, i.e., of more or less replacing God's Word, with "important people's" opinions?
IMO, forcing people to believe what you want them to believe, because you think you are self-omniscient and all-knowing, through secretly forging people's Bible translations, is not only lying, it's working for the devil himself! Forging Bible translations with paraphrased lies has a much longer reaching impact on people's beliefs, world wide, than what the devilish Judean leadership in Israel were doing to their people (John 8) during Jesus previous earthly ministry. Woe to you Bible forgers, because you are laying up in store for yourselves anti-wages in heaven, which shall be paid to you at the judgement.
But since most all of laity in Christianity still remains so ignorant about the content of their Bibles they carry, how many of the about 2.6 billion Christians world wide do you think Jesus is actually teaching, if so many Christians/disciples of Jesus Christ still remain so ignorant throughout their lives? If he's not teaching very many of them then is it their fault, or Jesus' fault! There must be a breakdown by one of the parties in the performance of his or her reciprocal new covenant responsibilities, which lack of adherence to the new covenant results in disqualification from fellowship.
Christ Jesus gave apostle John revelation about this very issue of false discipleship. Whether followers of Jesus Christ are accidentally ignorant and stupid of God's Word, or deliberately ignorant and stupid, the end result for that Christian is the same, ignorance and stupidity. This appears to be the present general state of Christianity world wide, massive ignorance and stupidity relatively speaking, compared to the acceptable standards of discipleship to Jesus stated by almost all of the biblical writers.
In Rev. 2-3, in the written tradition preserved in the LIT translation, we can read about Jesus having gone around to various groups of his disciples/followers to teach them, and what he says about their believability as his disciples. Studying, learning and believing the knowledge of God's Word in the following passages can help any disciple get his discipleship to Christ Jesus back on track into becoming an effective disciple. If apostle Paul can still be converted to Christ after stealing from, killing and destroying other members of Jesus' one body, maybe Bible forgers still have a chance for repentance and forgiveness of sins as well.
For example: In the Rev. 2:1-7 passage listed first, below, Christ Jesus says he shall remove the "lampstand" from its "place", from any disciple who does not repent from his sin, which sin hinders his or her growth into a measure of the fullness of the maturity of Christ (Eph. 4:13). I believe the "lampstand" is a metaphor for "light", which "light" is a metaphor for the precious knowledge of God's Word. Christ Jesus himself is a reflection of God's light (Heb. 1:1-4), which is God's Word, all of which I conclude means Jesus will not share his "light", his knowledge of God's Word with disciples who refuse to repent and stop sinning.
1. The assembly in Ephesus (Rev. 2:1-7) was not approved (vv. 4-5)
2. The assembly in Smyrna (Rev. 2:8-11) was approved (vv. 14-15)
3. The assembly in Pergamos (Rev. 2:12-17) was not approved (vv. 14-15)
4. The assembly in Thyatira (Rev. 2:18-29) was partially not approved (vv. 20-24)
5. The assembly in Sardis (Rev. 3:1-6) was partially not approved (vv. 4-5)
6. The assembly in Philadelphia (Rev. 3:7-13) was partially not approved (v. 9)
7. The assembly in Laodicea (Rev. 3:14-19) was not approved (vv. 15-19)
What is Jesus' lesson for us in this passage of knowledge he gave to his apostle John, to record for us all to read?
Of all of the disciples of Jesus Christ in these seven assemblies, apparently only the group of disciples in Smyrna rose up to the level of the "bar" in the performance of their discipleship duties to Christ Jesus. So then, where does the problem lie, what may be a/the cause for the lack of discipleship performance by the disciples in the other six assemblies? Do you conclude that Jesus Christ was shirking his duty to teach the other six assemblies, or were the "disciples" in the other six assemblies being slothful in their discipleship to Jesus? Where does the fault lie, and what may be the cause for their lack of discipleship performance? Isn't it sin in general?
Were the disciples in the other assemblies simply not cooperating with Jesus, refusing to learn, refusing to be taught certain knowledge in the written tradition? But, God so loved that he gave, and Jesus so loved that he gave also! So then, I don't think discipleship failure can be blamed upon God or his firstborn son, Christ Jesus. The concept/idea of a disciple's failure in his own discipleship to Christ Jesus, is an obvious biblical subject matter.
Can apostle John's allegory here be a microcosm of the present or general state of Christianity, in which only about 14.3% of self-identified Christians are actually cooperating with Christ Jesus for their own discipleship growth (Eph. 4:11-13)? If so, equally weighting each assembly for the same number of disciples, the other six assemblies could account for about 85.7% of the total disciples under Jesus' survey, who are, for some reason, still not cooperating in their own personal discipleship growth.
I believe Jesus Christ gave his apostle John this revelation, in Rev. 2-3, so that other disciples of Christ Jesus reading his work could be reminded to take a self-assessment of the quality of their own discipleship to Christ Jesus.
What did Jesus Christ say about Pharisees and scribes, writers, paraphrasing-in their own opinions when "teaching" people, mixing-in their own personal opinions or beliefs with God's Word:
Mark 7:6 (LIT/UBS4) But (de) the (ho) [Jesus, v6:30, RE] enunciated (eipen) to them (autois), “Beautifully (kalōs) Isaiah (Hsaias) prophesied (eprophēteusen) about (peri) you (humōn), the (tōn) actors (hupokritōn), as (hōs) it has been written (gegraptai), that (hoti):
‘The (ho) people (laos), this (houtos) [people, RE], honor (tima) me (me) [with, AE] the (tois) lips (cheilesin).
But (de) the (hē) heart (kardia) of them (autōn) holds away (apechei) distantly (porrō) from (ap’) me (emou).
Mark 7:7 (LIT/UBS4) But (de) emptily (matēn) they cause themselves to revere (sebontai) me (me), teaching (didaskontes) for teachings (didaskalias) precepts (entalmata) of mortals (anthrōpōn)!’
(See Isa. 29:13)
A common definition of the meaning of the word precept, is "a general rule intended to regulate behavior or thought." - Apple Dictionary App.
Paraphrases are precepts of mortals, which are commonly and abundantly used to replace God's Word in Bible "translations"! The triune godhead model of God was a precept of the non-Christian Constantine and his non-Christian "bishops".
Middle/reflexive voice verbs about Jesus Christ tell readers how Jesus conducted himself in both words and deeds, under his own free will self-autonomy, since the cause for the action of middle/reflexive voice verbs comes from the subject himself. But the various ways the mortal man Jesus Christ managed his own free will in all situations are exactly the examples from which all followers/disciples of Jesus Christ are to learn and imitate for themselves. All of those obliterated middle and passive voice verbs' in all other Bible translations are still there in the biblical Hebrew and Greek texts, and accurately displayed in the LIT, to help believers see and learn spiritual lessons of how to walk by the indwelling presence of God's Spirit, as the mortal man Jesus learned and walked, and demonstrated for us to see.
Those examples are there to help believers practice imitating Jesus, in order for them to grow up into complete males, into a/the measure of the fullness of maturity of the Christ (Eph. 4:13). How can Jesus' disciples fully, accurately, understand those biblical examples' meanings for us if the middle/reflexive voice verbs in ALL of those passages have ALL, yes, I said ALL, been obliterated in triune godhead-based English Bible translations?
Triune godhead-based Bible translators have made certain that Bible readers will never get to see middle/reflexive and passive voice verbs translated correctly in contexts about Jesus Christ, in any and ALL triune godhead-based Bible translations, which is virtually all Bible translations. This is because those middle/reflexive and passive voice verbs were deliberately used by the biblical writers to reveal Jesus' manhood, not a supposed/assumed godhood.
Apostle John's use of this particular middle voice verb (egeneto) in John 1:14a appears to indicate to readers, at least to me, that apostle John understood that the Word already existed somehow before it caused itself to become flesh and tent among us, and that the Word took a voluntary role in YHWH Elohim sending him.
Deponent Verb Theory (DVT)
One reason why I believe some translators have destroyed all middle/reflexive voice verbs in virtually all triune godhead-based Bible translations is because of their coercion into what I call Deponent Verb Theory (DVT), they wishing to go along to get along. I wish to introduce so-called Greek deponent verbs to you early in this study, because recognizing erroneous active voices applied to middle/reflexive and passive voice verbs is key to understanding the Word's/Jesus' own willful/voluntary participation in his own five births.
Does anyone really believe that Jesus' apostles wrote the Greek biblical texts about two thousands of years ago with a 20th century invented deponent verb theory (DVT) in their minds? If so, then why didn't the apostles deliberately choose to use active voice verbs in place of using middle voice verbs, as DVT triune godhead proponents wish they would have? Active, middle/reflexive and passive voice verbs, the ones the biblical writers used to write the NT biblical Greek texts, all existed long before the NT biblical writers came along. So then why not simply assume that they all wrote while consciously selecting the most appropriate verb voices out of their vocabulary as they were "moved" by holy Spirit to write?
Isn't the replacement of the written tradition in the biblical texts with invented paraphrases out of other people's imaginations, based upon the assumption that the wordage in the biblical texts isn't really God's Word? Can you imagine YHWH Elohim being confronted by a disciple of Jesus Christ to inform a supposed "stupid" God that what his servant, apostle Mark, wrote in a copy of an ancient biblical text two thousands of years ago was wrong, and that the self-omniscient imagination of a supposed "disciple" coming along now is the REAL God's Word?
Who among followers of Jesus Christ, ones who are struggling to grow in his or her discipleship, are thinking about replacing God's Word with his own privately interpreted imaginations? Isn't demonstrated hatred toward God an important factor in the coming judgement?
Other people's, especially translators', private interpretations/opinions don't belong in Bible translations. Translators are supposed to quote the biblical writers, adding nothing, changing nothing, and deleting nothing from the translation. A Bible translation should reflect only exactly what the biblical writers deliberately wrote, deliberately using inflected forms. We shouldn't assume that Jesus' apostles wrote anything accidentally or unconsciously, as DVT paraphrasers imagine God's Word was written.
Bible translators, who don't wish to be found in contempt of the God, should be simply quoting the biblical texts in translation, not adding their own privately interpreted opinions into a Bible translation through surreptitious use of paraphrases and creative "synonyms", which is lying.
I believe that ignoring what Jesus' apostles wrote about Jesus in the biblical Greek texts is the same as denying what Jesus' apostles wrote about Jesus in the biblical texts. Denying, and thereby ignoring exactly what Jesus' apostles wrote, appears to me to come out of a mindset which is opposed to the God and his Word, an anti-Christ-motivated mindset. I believe that any kind of "translation" work which doesn't simply quote the Hebrew and Greek biblical texts, is empathetic to and demonstrates an anti-Christ agenda.
2 Tim. 2:12b (LIT/UBS4) If (ei) we shall cause ourselves to deny (arnēsometha) [Christ Jesus, v10, ER], that one also (kakeinos) shall cause himself to deny (arnēsetai) us (hēmas)!
Mat. 7:23 (LIT/UBS4) And (kai) then (tote) I shall likewise confess (homologēsō) to them (autois), the ones (hoi) causing themselves to work (ergazomenoi) the (tēn) lawlessness (anomian), that (hoti) ‘But absolutely not at any time (oudepote) did I know (egnōn) you (humas)!
Depart away (apochōreite) from (ap’) me (emou)!’
In my opinion, from examining triune godhead-based Bibles translations, which are ALL at least 50% paraphrased, and usually more, there are going to be many Bible "translators" and "translation committees" who have set themselves up to hear Jesus say to them, "But absolutely not at any time did I know you! Depart away from me!" I believe that warning others of God's judgment has always been a part of the preached Evangelism of Jesus Christ (Mat. 18:5-6).
Root Word meaning, Inflected Form meaning, Contextual meaning
In the biblical Greek texts (UBS4), I "see" that a word's particular/specific meaning is controlled and determined primarily by three things:
First and foremost is the inherent meaning of a root word itself. A root word is the basic word from which other words closely related in meaning, inflected forms of that root word, are derived. Some scholars believe that other grammatical forms of words were ultimately derived from verb roots.
Second, when a root word's spelling (morphology) is slightly modified in one or several ways to give it a more exact meaning of some kind, those various spellings of that root word are called inflected forms. Root words are modified in spelling to produce closely related-in-meaning inflected forms of that root, to assign further specific meaningful characteristics to root words, through inflections, for type, mood, tense, voice, case, gender, person and number for verbs, and case, gender, person and number for nouns. Any statement of the importance of inflected verb forms in the biblical texts would be an under statement.
Third, the context surrounding an inflected form, especially of verbs, gives focus to the use of an inflected form, through supplying more information about the who, what, where, when, why and how influencing the meaning of it. This whole process of paying very close attention to exactly what the apostles of Jesus wrote, including context, I call reading. Reading should always be done out of the biblical texts, not into them.
If you would, open the LITAGL and scroll down to Strong's # 1096 for the Greek root word ginomai, meaning to become, or come to pass. Looking under the Voice column, cells containing an M or an M/P with note indicators are most often inflected forms of ginomai which historically have been considered to be deponent verbs. As you can see I have translated them in the LIT according to their inflected forms given to them by the biblical writers, following the Friberg morphology, supposedly just as Jesus' apostles originally wrote them in the biblical texts, completely dismissing deponent verb theory from any consideration in the LIT.
As you may know, there are generally eight main points of inflection for a verb. To produce the LIT I depended on the Friberg morphology for NT Greek texts and the Westminster Hebrew Morphology for the OT Hebrew texts, to identify how any inflected form of the Greek root verb ginomai, for example, should be translated, along with how its very important context should be translated as well.
From spending decades producing the Literal Idiomatic Translation (LIT) and the Literal Idiomatic Translation Analytical Greek Lexicon (LITAGL), I believe DVT, along with paraphrases, has destroyed more Bible translations than can actually be comprehended, millions upon millions printed. But for how many readers have those erroneous bible translations' paraphrases replaced God's Word in their minds with other peoples' opinionated paraphrases of mortal's precepts? I believe the people who imagined DVT, and then manufactured it, still believe that forging their own imaginations into Bible translations at every "identified" deponent verb, is still a good thing, if both lying and contempt of God are completely discounted.
The truths of the meanings of the Word's five births are in the details of the meanings of the words themselves in the biblical passages, which words' details we shall examine carefully. Examining the specific meanings of inflected forms of words in the biblical texts reveals which words and passages in the biblical texts have been replaced by opinionated paraphrases in Bible "translations".
The challenges I see for triune godhead-based bible translators working upon new Bible "translations" is first whether to destroy and/or obliterate again the wordage written by the biblical writers, the written tradition, about the Word's, Christ Jesus', flesh and blood mortality, so they can present Jesus as God himself in their Bible 'translation", and then how much more of the written tradition are they willing to publicly destroy with new paraphrases, which parts of the written tradition were not destroyed in the process of a previous Bible "translation"?
Knowing and understanding the unaltered biblical truths of the Evangelism of Jesus Christ leads a reader/believer into the conclusion that several of the kinds of births the Word experienced, a disciple of Christ Jesus is to experience also in his/her own growth, "into [a] complete male, into the full measure of the fullness of maturity of the Christ (Eph. 4:13 (LIT/UBS4)."
Jesus Christ [is] the Same, Yesterday, Today and Into the Ages
When closely reading and studying God's Word about the Word's personal characteristics, and the characteristics of Christ Jesus, the Word having caused himself to become flesh (John 1:14), we come across this verse particularly, from the writer of Hebrews:
Heb. 13:8 (LIT/UBS4) Jesus (Iēsous) Christ (Christos) [is] the (ho) same (autos) yesterday (echthes), and (kai) today (sēmeron), and (kai) into (eis) the (tous) ages (aiōnas).
All of the scriptural evidence for the proper interpretation of this verse, as with any verse, lies not only in the immediate verse itself, but in the immediate and local contexts of this verse and of other subject-related verses as well, which describe the Word's, Jesus Christ's, personal characteristics. For example, some reading this verse may determine that anything and everything about the Word/Jesus Christ never changes, throughout the Word's heavenly and earthly ministries. That assumption must ignore other passages which clearly state changes which the Word, Jesus Christ, put himself through in his redemptive ministry for us.
A challenge for a reader of God's Word quickly becomes apparent: how can the Word/Christ Jesus go through five distinct births of some kind, and yet stay the same, yesterday, today and into the ages? If a being going from non-existence into existence isn't a change of some kind, or a being going from death into life isn't a change of some kind, for those beings, then there would be no apparent suggestion of a contradiction to the biblical writer's statement in Heb. 13:8.
So why, then, is there this apparent contradiction in the biblical texts about the Word/Christ Jesus staying the same while yet going through multiple births? Is this apparent contradiction among the biblical writers evidence of their lack of oneness in the knowledge of the Evangelism of Jesus Christ, or is it a deliberate grammatical mechanism used to cause readers to examine the biblical texts much more closely, to search for the Truth?
Is there anything about the Words', Christ Jesus', personal characteristics which has stayed the same throughout this present genesis of the cosmos, although some biblical writers recorded the Word as having at least five distinct births of some kind since the genesis of this present cosmos?
What has stayed the same with the Word, Christ Jesus, is his dying desire to always do the will of his heavenly Father (John 4:34, 5:30, 6:38-40). The Word came in flesh and blood as a type for other mortals in flesh and blood to follow, to imitate (John 14:12-14; 2 Thes. 3:7,9; Heb. 13:7, 3 John 1:11)!
What's the same about the Word/Jesus Christ throughout all of known time is his own heart's desire to cause his own will to do the will of his heavenly Father, YHWH Elohim, the God. This is the bull's-eye of meaning in the Evangelism of Jesus Christ which DVT was invented to destroy, the mortal man Jesus causing his own free will to do his heavenly Father's will! Those are the biblical examples which the devil doesn't want any disciples of Jesus Christ to see, learn and do! This is why I believe that the devil doesn't want the mortality of the Word, Jesus Christ, to appear in Bible translations.
IMO sometimes in God's Word the biblical writers may appear to contradict themselves, and even one another, such as apostles Paul and James over works vs. belief. But most all apparent contradictions, the ones not caused by erroneous translation practices, resolve themselves through readers' efforts to gather together, learn and understand, the whole truth out of the biblical texts, the written tradition, word by word, for any supposed biblical subject matter.
That may be enough stage-setting. Now let's work through the various biblical passages which infer, state, and/or explain the Word's (Christ Jesus') apparent five births, to discover the wisdom and understanding into which that specific knowledge leads us. In order to present these related biblical passages to a reader in some logical and/or common sense order, let's examine the Word's births in the apparent chronological order of their occurrences, according to the biblical texts.
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Chapter 1 - The Word's First Birth - YHWH procured [me, AE] [in the, AE] beginning... Prov. 8:22
Some may question whether the Word of God actually existed in the beginning, before the cosmos existed, as a being of some kind and not simply an idea in God's "head". Let's address this issue first.
The ancient writer also of the book of Hebrews wrote about the Word's creation, and about the Word's belief in the one having made (poiēsanti) him.
Heb. 3:1 (LIT/UBS4) From which (hothen), holy (hagioi) brothers (adelphoi), partners (metochoi) of [a] heavenly (epouraniou) calling (klēseōs), perceive entirely (katanoēsate) the (ton) apostle (apostolon) and (kai) chief sacrificial priest (archierea) of the (tēs) confession (homologias) of us (hēmōn), Jesus (Iēsoun);
perceive entirely - How can disciples of Jesus Christ perceive him entirely, his entire biblical sinless character, with ALL of the middle voice verbs about him forged into active voice verbs, in millions upon millions of triune godhead-based Bible "translations"? How can any disciple of Jesus Christ drill down into the understanding of Jesus' biblical character, about how he acted and reacted in life's situations with God's holy Spirit within him, if over a thousand middle/reflexive voice verbs about Christ Jesus have been obliterated in Bible "translations"!?
the apostle and chief sacrificial priest - How many apostle-like things can you list which Jesus Christ said and did? How many chief sacrificial priest-like things did Jesus say and do which you can list? Jesus Christ was demonstrating apostle-like and chief sacrificial priest-like characteristics in his thoughts, words and actions, constantly, as EXAMPLES for his disciples and anyone else to follow. Jesus Christ was constantly broadcasting examples of how his followers/disciples should walk spiritually, should act and react in life's situations while working as agents/slaves (Gk., doulos) for his heavenly Father.
Heb. 3:2 (LIT/UBS4) he being (onta) believable (piston) to the one (tō) having made (poiēsanti) him (auton), as (hōs) Moses (mōusēs) also (kai) [was] [believable, RE] in (en) the (tō) whole (holō) house (oikō) of him (autou).
he being believable to - Believable (piston) is an acc., masc., sing. adjective, based upon the Greek root peitho, meaning "to persuade". To you does "believable" mean the same thing as "faithful?"
According to Websters...
Faithful means - 1. Keeping faith; maintaining allegiance; constant; loyal (faithful friends) 2. marked by or showing a strong sense of duty or responsibility; conscientious (faithful attendance)
Believable means - 1. to take as true, real, etc.; 2. to have confidence in a statement or promise of (another person);
Citing "Faithful". Def. 1 and 2, "Believable". Def. 1 an 2, . Webster's New World College Dictionary. 4th ed.
According to my survey of the biblical texts in which forms of pistos are used by the biblical writers, Strong's # 4103, I concluded that the English word faithful is too general in meaning to adequately reflect the more specific essential and contextual meanings of pistos.
I understand in English that both adjectives faithful and believable can describe another's regularity of character. But I see an obvious difference in specific meaning between the two words. In English faithful can mean continuing to work for or toward a goal to realize or obtain it, whether or not the goal is ever obtained. But pistos used in its contexts infers the meaning of believable, that others have been watching that one continuing to work for or toward a goal, and that that one has demonstrated that he can achieve the goal, through which success he has made himself believable to others.
I carefully made this translation decision for the LIT after surveying all 67 usages of the inflected forms of pistos in their contexts. Additionally, since the verb pisteuō, meaning to believe, is used 241 times, and the noun pistis, meaning belief, is used 243 times, it seemed logical and in line with common sense to standardize the meaning of the adjective pistos to mean believable throughout all of its 67 usages in the NT biblical texts (UBS4).
Standardization of translation helps readers' minds mentally hyperlink together biblical passages by subject matter. Since I see, maybe you can, that the use of paraphrases and "synonyms" in Bible "translations" obfuscate what are the clear subjects of biblical passages, and since closely following the essential meanings of inflected forms of grammatical forms can very adequately guide one into meaningful translations in English, I don't see a need, none whatsoever, for paraphrases in Bible translations!
Apparently Bible translators desire to obliterate the idea/concept in God's Word about Jesus' disciples making commitments to, and living up to, the God's standards of personal conduct for thoughts, words and actions, discipleship to Jesus Christ. Translating Gk. pistos as faithful instead of believable, in all 67 usages of it's inflected forms, almost obliterates the biblical standard of discipleship believability from appearing in Bible translations. Translating an inflected form of pistos as believable (piston, Heb. 3:2), instead of faithful, ties in the idea of disciples of Jesus Christ being considered believable to one another, as well as to Christ Jesus and to YHWH Elohim, which level of specificity agrees with an abundance of contextual implications around those inflected usages of pistos.
How about our own believability as disciples of Jesus Christ? For example, studying the verses and contexts of only 10 of the 67 inflected form usages of pistos, meaning believable, used in the biblical texts, doesn't allow a disciple to perceive entirely the whole Truth of the meaning of pistos, throughout all of its usages in the biblical texts, which slothful study habit is absolutely not disciple-like, IMO. Closely studying all 67 usages of the inflected forms of pistos in the biblical texts, looking for possible obvious contextual and nuanced meanings, is a more thorough and complete study method, and a method in line with the way Jesus taught his disciples, to become masters of the books of the Law, the psalms and the prophets, which I'm still working on.
YHWH Elohim taught his firstborn son to become a master of God's Word. Subsequently Jesus taught his disciples also to become masters of God's Word, explaining to them the meanings of all of the prophecies written about him up until that time. But since Jesus isn't visibly present to chastise us now, let's all stay as ignorant and stupid as we can (sarcasm) so we don't have to lift a finger to do any discipleship work while we slothfully wait for him to come and snatch us out of here! Do not let this thought and attitude be in you, which will absolutely shipwreck your discipleship. Disciples of Christ Jesus should be working hard, daily, to fulfill his and YHWH Elohim's goal for us, as apostle Paul was given revelation of it and he recorded in his letter to Jesus' disciples in Ephesus (Eph. 4:13, 11-14). I include book, chapter and verse references in my studies because they are/make my points.
Confronting one's own cognitive dissonance in one's own thoughts, from struggling with one's own belief in worldly wisdom verses belief in the words of the biblical writers, is exactly the competition or warfare in which disciples of Christ Jesus are to be engaged. The spiritual battle in this cosmos is first fought in the minds, in the thoughts, of the followers/disciples of Jesus Christ, and then secondarily in the senses realm through a disciple's words and actions. This is why preserving the middle/reflexive and passive voice verbs about Jesus Christ, about how he acted and reacted in his own mortality, are such important examples to know, understand and practice in a disciple's own mortality.
to the one having made him - In Heb. 3:2 having made (poiēsanti) is an inflected form of it's root poieō, simply meaning to do or to make. In Heb. 3:2 poiēsanti is a participle verb in an aorist, active, dative, masculine singular form of poieō, its root. Inflected forms of poieō have been used by the biblical writers 568 times in the NT writings. With close to 600 examples in the biblical texts of biblical writers using inflected forms of poieō, simply meaning to make or to do, I don't know how any translator can keep a straight face in God's sight translating poiēsanti in only one of those 568 usages, the one in Heb. 3:2, as appointed! In the NT biblical Greek texts of the written tradition, under Strong's # 2525, kathistēmi, used 21 times by the biblical writers, is the unambiguous Greek verb meaning to appoint.
It seems highly suspicious to me why triune godhead-based translators would erroneously forge into a Bible translation the English word appointed for the Greek word poiēsanti, meaning having made, since kathistēmi, meaning to appoint, is absolutely not used in Heb. 3:2! Do triune godhead-based translators of Heb. 3:2 object to the biblical writer of Hebrews stating that the God made Jesus? If through private interpretation triune godhead-based translators have already chose to believe that Jesus Christ is God himself, could that belief be their reason for this highly conspicuous and erroneous translation of poiēsanti as appointed instead of having made in Heb. 3:2?
Jesus and his disciples were known by the Pharisees and Sadducees as being "unlettered", meaning they didn't earn diplomas from any of them, from the "academics". But what's the use of 'translators" being "lettered" if they're going to lie like hell anyway in Bible translations, and everyone is going to see their lies through my work in the LIT? How are you "translators" going to show a need for your self-omniscient paraphrases when the LIT demonstrates that the essential meanings presented in the inflected forms used by the biblical writers are already complete and accurate by themselves to practically translate themselves! Just translate the essential root word meanings, following the guidance of their inflections, with close respect to contexts for ellipses, assumed zero copulas, to be verbs and indefinite articles, word by word. That's it! No paraphrases needed!
Paraphrases are not proof of how difficult it may be to translate biblical Greek, they're proof of how much Bible translations have been forged with certain denominations' private interpretations to REPLACE (just emphasizing) disagreeable passages written by the biblical writers! That's the facts Jack! Do you got it now?
Jesus Christ referred unflatteringly to those who lie about God's Word as "actors", especially as apostle Matthew has recorded (Mat. 6:2, 5, 22:18, 24:51; Mark 7:6; Luke 6:42), because what they taught and did wasn't God's Word, but their own precepts (Mat. 15:9; Mark 7:7; Col. 2:22), which method of operation (MO) was their early version of verbal and/or oral paraphrasing, replacing God's Word with their own self-omniscient privately interpreted lies! Nothing has changed between then and now, the devil still uses self -omniscient "lettered" actors/phonies, "academics" to destroy God's Word.
The religious leaders in Israel during the time of Jesus' earthly ministry were actors, about as ignorant and dumb about the knowledge of God's Word as anyone could be, since when their prophesied redeemer actually came they claimed he was a fraud, even though Jesus went around doing signs, miracles and wonders, which no one has ever seen before (John 8)! But, they were the frauds in their own pretend observance of God's Word! They kept everyone more ignorant and dumber than themselves, to keep a secret margin of "knowledge" to use as leverage over others, making themselves appear to be relevant. But their acts, pantomimes, were all showbiz. They couldn't and wouldn't teach anyone about the prophecies of Israel's promised coming redeemer, but threatening anyone even mentioning the name of Jesus, with excommunication.
Yes, the Judean "leadership" in Israel, during the time of Jesus' earthly ministry, was about as dumb and stupid as dumb and stupid could be, not to mention evil (John 8). IMO modern Christian "leadership", pick a denominational precept, is just as dumb and stupid, for the same reason, lack of knowledge of the biblical texts. But their knowledge of their own paraphrases/precepts is excellent!
They threw anyone out of the synagogues daring to mention the name of Jesus, because the Judean religious "leaders" were actually working for the devil (John 8:44)! Read the whole chapter 8 in the LIT and get more thoroughly enlightened about what apostle John actually wrote, free of paraphrases! The Judean religious "leaders"/actors had no real useable knowledge of God's Word, but only words of condemnation for any "unlettered" Israelite not going along with their precepts and charades.
All of the Judean leadership was supposedly "lettered", which tells me a lot about some people who may claim to be "lettered", as if trust is no longer earned, but may be assumed for people with "letters"! That perception, which modern biblical "academics" wish to put out there, is such a huge diaper load of BS. How come the names of the translators of any given Bible translation are not listed in the Bibles they translate? Don't they want credit for their work? People usually like to plaster their names all over anything they do, or anything anyone else does, to get/steal credit for it. But not in Bibles. No one wishes to take credit for all of the non-biblical paraphrases forged/fudged into Bibles! NO ONE wishes to openly/publicly take credit for, sign their names to, all of those paraphrased lies? Lie and then hide from accountability for those lies, that's how the devil does it.
Has anything changed in general about religious "leadership" over the last two thousands of years, since the demonstrated character of the Judean "leadership"? I don't believe so, since human nature hasn't changed. I believe perceptions of reality may change, but reality doesn't. After I discovered that at least half of the wordage in any given Bible translation/"translation", are paraphrases of other "important peoples'" opinions and preconceived ideas, forged into Bibles to REPLACE objectionable passages, people having "letters" means nothing to me other than they are more likely to lie, and more likely to get away with it, abusing people's trust to impose their precepts.
From my knowledge of what the biblical writers have written in the biblical texts (John 8) about "religious leadership" in Israel, and subsequently from what I've seen in Bible translations produced over the last few hundred years, to me the words "lettered" and "academic" are biblical metaphors for academics who have formed a cabal or brotherhood in which lying is the most common trait of sin which most all have in common, a standard to which most all have agreed to use to produce paraphrased "Bibles".
YHWH Elohim taught Christ Jesus his Words of life and Spirit, which words were the Evangelism of Jesus Christ. These words became known as the doctrine or orthodoxy of Jesus Christ. There are still some small bits of it left in Bible translations, but most of the wordage of it, especially about Jesus' mortality, has been replaced with paraphrases. But the LIT shows every word of the Evangelism of Jesus Christ, quoted exactly from the biblical writers, based upon the UBS4 biblical texts and the Friberg morphology. As resources for Bible translation, the UBS4 NT biblical Greek texts and the Friberg morphology are as good as resources can be.
What's Wrong With Paraphrasing?
In the following chart used to present levels of "scientific" classifications of the Animal and Vegetable Kingdoms, in your rhetorical opinion which level of classification is more general and which is more specific?
I. Kingdom ... Animal ... Vegetable
II. Sub-Kingdom ... Vertebrata ... Phanerogamia
III. Class ... Mammalia ... Dicotyledon
IV. Order ... Carnivora ... Rosiflorae
V. Family ... Canidae ... Rosaciae
VI. Genus ... Dog ... Rosa
VII. Species ... Spaniel ... Tea-rose
IMO, and in many other's, in this chart the Kingdom level of classification is the most general level, and the Species level of classification is the most specific level, in that order from top to bottom.
In the sentence, "See Spot chase the ball", is the name Spot more or less specific than the species name Spaniel? The name Spot is even more specific! When translating the biblical Greek texts into English the meanings of the English words selected must match the essential lexical meanings of the Greek words, and the levels of specificity of the English words must match also.
Would translating a biblical word with a specific meaning into a more general meaning in an English translation, be paraphrasing? Yes. It would be lying also, since it's not what the biblical writers wrote!
If "See Spot chase the ball" was a sentence which actually appeared in a Hebrew or Greek biblical text, would changing the word "ball" to "circle" in an English translation be paraphrasing? Yes, that is paraphrasing also, and lying also, since it's not what the biblical writers wrote!
Would removing the sentence altogether from appearing in a Bible translation be paraphrasing? Yes, that would be paraphrasing also, and lying also, since it's not what the biblical writers wrote!
Would withholding a sentence in the biblical texts from English translations and replacing it with a sentence which says something about a triune godhead, be paraphrasing? Yes, that would be paraphrasing also, and lying also, since it is not what the biblical writers wrote!
Is there anything at all which could be done to this sentence, to add, change or delete something from it, a letter, a word, some capitalization, to add, change or delete even a little jot or tittle of it, that would not be paraphrasing? NO! There is not one thing that can be done to God's Word to alter its meaning which would not be turning it into a paraphrase, and therefore turning it into a lie, because IT'S NOT WHAT THE BIBLICAL WRITERS WROTE!
Do paraphrased Bible translations allow you to entirely perceive the apostle and sacrificial priest of our confession, the mortal man Jesus Christ? No! Because virtually ALL triune godhead-based paraphrases are designed/word-smithed to destroy/obliterate the mortality of the mortal man, Jesus Christ, presented in the Hebrew and Greek biblical texts!
Are paraphrased Bible translations believable (Gk. piston)? Not to me. But they're still believable to people who don't care about whether the wordage in them is paraphrased, who don't care about whether the words in them are word-smithed lies and precepts.
Isn't believers' eternal salvation an important enough issue for these paraphrased translation issues to be addressed? Yes or No? Can you make a personal decision about where you stand with others' replacing God's Word with their own privately interpreted paraphrases? Don't you wish to read what the biblical writers actually wrote?
I believe that any word in a biblical Hebrew or Greek text, when translated, should be translated into the same level of specificity; not translated too generally in meaning, or too specifically in meaning, because it suits someone's privately interpreted beliefs!
Translating piston into English as "faithful" is not even close in meaning to the English word believable, as piston should have been translated!
From my examination of passages in most all popular Bible 'translations", I believe the triune godhead-based translators must have all colluded among themselves that the wording about the mortal man, Jesus Christ being believable as our chief sacrificial priest, believable enough for us to go to him for our salvation, should be almost completely removed from Bible translations!
*** Look for yourself to see how often both middle/reflexive and passive voice verbs are forged into active voice verbs in any given passage, especially passages about the mortality of Jesus Christ, in your favorite Bible translations. You really should look. Download and look at the LITAGL. Starting at the top of the spreadsheet in the column headings, find the Voice inflection column and read down through it to observe all of the M (middle voice) and M/P (middle or passive voice) verb forms marked as supposedly being deponent verbs using cell notes. Almost all of the passages, in which these middle and passive voice verbs have been used by the biblical writers, have been obliterated by paraphrases in virtually all Bible translations.
For example, pick a passage in which one of those Greek verbs has been used, then reading the NIV and the LIT for that verse, notice the difference in wordage between the NIV and the LIT, the LIT being simply a quote of the NT biblical Greek texts (UBS4). See any differences in wordage? In the LIT you're reading quoted wordage written by the biblical writers about the Evangelism of Jesus Christ, which wordage, in the LIT, you are likely to have not seen before. The LIT is simply a straight quote of the biblical Greek texts, nothing having been added, changed or deleted from what the biblical writers actually wrote.
The UBS4 biblical Greek text, and all other biblical Greek texts, say in John 1:14, "the (ho) Word (logos) caused himself to become (egeneto) flesh (sarx), because the biblical writers used to middle/reflexive voice verb egeneto, which is exactly what is translated in the LIT. But look at John 1:14 in Bible Hub, and see if you can find any Bible translations in which its translators have caused themselves to translate egeneto correctly, instead of as an active voice became. You'll notice that every single Bible translation given in Bible Hub for the middle voice egeneto was translated as an active voice became, came in, or was made, instead of caused himself to become. Of the 46 or so Bible translations in Bible Hub, did any one of them get the middle/reflexive voice egeneto correct in translation? No, not even one. Does anyone see any problem here?
These are the kinds of forgings of Bible translations done behind the "curtain" which create an immediate sense of confusion for many Bible readers, who can't quite put their fingers upon what's wrong with what their reading. Do the translators of those 46 or so Bible translations seem to be believable to me as honest translators, absolutely not! Do people who lie to you seem believable to you?
Early in my studies, decades ago, I thought that only the devil was stupid enough to lie about God's Word, and believe he/it could possibly get away with it without earning detrimental judgment. But now from looking at Bible Hub and seeing how often most all Bible translators couldn't care less about paraphrasing their Bible "translations" with lies, I can't find any Bible translations/Bible producers which are believable to me!
Now look at Heb. 3:2 in Bible Hub and see if you can find even one Bible translation which quotes the biblical text, "having made (poiēsanti) him (auton)". Not one of the unbelievable Bible translations are allowed to say that the God made the Word, which became Jesus Christ. The oral tradition those translators have bought into contains a precept which dictates that Jesus Christ was God himself, and so then God can't be made or created according to their own self-deception. They erroneously swapped in an erroneous "appointed him" in place of "made him", ignoring the biblical Greek word poiēsanti to forge in their own triune godhead-based private interpretations as paraphrases. But yet they allow Bible readers to believe that those paraphrases were written by the biblical writers. How devilish is that (John 8:44)?
This kind of rhetorical wording about Jesus Christ, in Heb. 3:1-2, sounds to me like Jesus Christ had a choice whether to be believable, or not to be believable, in the eyes of his heavenly Father, or anyone, as if the Word/Jesus Christ had his own self-autonomy, which biblical texts say he did.
If Jesus' believability in God's eyes was based upon Jesus' own decision-making and choices he made, then what might those decisions and choices have been about? Could Jesus' decisions and choices made be about the same kinds of things among which all mortals must make decisions and choices? Jesus Christ became believable as an apostle, and as our chief sacrificial priest, and final sacrificial lamb, because he always caused himself to do his heavenly Father's will (John 5:19, 30, 6:38, 40; 17:24).
Back to Heb. 3:2 again
to the one having made (poiēsanti) him - The implied erotesis in the text is expecting an affirmative agreement. What's, implied to readers of Heb. 3:1-2 by its writer, is, "Has everything the Word/Jesus Christ has done for the salvation/wholeness of all mortalkind been enough to cause you, a reader about him, to believe he can, and truly already has, redeemed believers from the penalty of their sin? The hopeful affirmation expected by the writer of Hebrews is "Yes!"
Is it believable to you that God has sent the Word, Jesus Christ, to do that, and that he in fact has done it?
Is the Word/Jesus Christ, a believable enough apostle, and chief sacrificial priest, to cause us to confess him with our mouths (Rom. 10:9-10)?
Translating faithful in place of believable obliterates the whole idea of God's Word, and the Word/Jesus Christ being persuasive, and thereby believable, in Jesus' redemptive ministry. Paraphrases are heavily used in Bible translations to do primarily one thing, to undercut and destroy Jesus' mortality, his flesh and blood existence. If Jesus Christ was a mortal man who learned how to work closely together with the God, then it seems likely, probable, that other mortal beings could learn to imitate Jesus to work closely with the God also. But if Jesus Christ is believed to be the God almighty, then how can any mortals believe that they may have the ability to imitate the things God has done?
Getting mortals to believe that Jesus Christ was God himself, in a body that only looked like flesh and blood, is a method based upon paraphrased lies in Bibles to get mortals to disengage from pursuing their own discipleship and sonship, through the suggested lie that mortals can't do the things which "God" has done. In addition, this is the round about way the triune godhead model of God tacitly states that Jesus Christ, our promised coming redeemer, did not come in flesh, that his flesh and blood were only illusions.
*** Using paraphrases in English "translations" to blot out, destroy, obliterate biblical references to the mortality of the mortal man, Jesus Christ, IS THE SAME THING AS denying he came in the flesh (1 John 4:1-4; 2 John 1:7)!
2 John 1:7 (LIT/UBS4) Because (hoti) many (polloi) wanderers (planoi) came out (exēlthon) into (eis) the (ton) cosmos (kosmon), the ones (hoi) not (mē) confessing alike (homologountes) Jesus (Iēsoun) Christ (Christon) causing himself to come (erchomenon) in (en) flesh (sarki).
This one (houtos) is (estin) the (ho) Wanderer (planos) and (kai) the (ho) Antichrist (antichristos).
Isn't denying that the Word/Jesus Christ was a mortal man with flesh and blood, but that he was God himself, the same as denying that he came in the flesh? If not, then what is the bottom line cognitive difference? People are fooled by slight-of-hand semantical lies dressed as paraphrases, for which lies those "translators" shall be judged.
I believe the writer of Hebrews was apostle Paul, on account of similar use of terminology and wording, and because of the depth into the details of biblical subject matter demonstrated by the writer of Hebrews, very closely mirrors apostle Paul's writing style. Whoever the writer of Hebrews may have been, the writer considered Jesus Christ to be an apostle of God, as well as being our chief sacrificial priest under God's new covenant. That sounds to me like the writer of Hebrews did not believe that Jesus Christ was God himself!
Jesus Christ always stated that he was sent by his heavenly Father, which may be the reason the writer of Hebrews refers to Jesus as an apostle, a "sent one". To apostle Paul, or the writer of Hebrews, the Word/Jesus Christ was entirely believable as the God's sent apostle, and chief sacrificial priest, under God's new covenant in Jesus' shed blood and death!
As for our own discipleship to Christ Jesus, that's our hint, that's our clue, ALWAYS do the Father's will, if you want to become believable, or stay believable, to God and his son Christ Jesus.
Are "believers" who don't care about what the biblical writers actually wrote in the biblical texts, about the Word/Jesus Christ, believable themselves as disciples of Jesus Christ? If so, believable to whom? They could only be accidentally believable to others who have no clue whatsoever about Christianity. This means that foolish "believers" can only be believable to other fools. This seems to be the goal of Constantine's precept of "Christianity", through replacing the Evangelism of Jesus Christ in Bibles with lying paraphrases of mortalkind's wisdom. Only fools would believe erroneous paraphrases in Bibles, if they knew they were reading other's extra-biblical paraphrases, which important fact is kept well-hidden by "translators" and "Bible" producers.
1 Pet. 1:20 (LIT/UBS4) Truly (men), [[the] Christ, v19, RE] was being known before (proegnōsmenou), before/since (pro) [a/the] downthrow (katabolēs) of [the] cosmos (kosmou);
but (de) he having been manifested (phanerōthentos) upon (ep’) [the] last (eschatou) of the (tōn) times (chronōn) through (di’) [the sake, AE] of you (humas);
Apostle Peter states, truly, that [the] Christ was being known before, before a/the downthrow of the cosmos. So then, who were the ones who knew of him? Who they were is stated earlier in the context of the passage, they were the OT prophets (v10)!
Apparently those OT prophets knew more then, about the coming redeemer's identity, before the Word/Jesus Christ became flesh and tented among us, than most all triune godhead-based Christians know now, about who was/is the Word/Jesus Christ!
1 Pet. 1:9 (LIT/UBS4) you are providing for yourselves (komizomenoi) the (to) completion (telos) of the (tēs) belief (pisteōs), [the] wholeness (sōtērian) of [the] souls (psuchōn) of you (humōn);
1 Pet. 1:10 (LIT/UBS4) about (peri) which (hēs) wholeness (sōtērias) the (hoi) prophets (prophētai) sought out (exezētēsan), and (kai) searched out (exēraunēsan), about (peri) the (tēs) grace (charitos) having been prophesied (prophēteusantes) into (eis) you (humas);
In the books of the Law, the Psalms and the prophets, the prophets searched for enough information about the coming new covenant, and the outpouring of God's holy Spirit into certain people, like mentioned in Joel 2:28-29. But at that time there was only scant informational pieces of that promised redemption, but not enough information to conclude the whole meaning of those prophesies. Apostle Paul refers to the inconclusive meanings of those scant prophecies as a/the great mystery, because there was not enough information given back then to fully understand the meanings of those prophecies about God's new covenant coming Kingdom upon earth (Mat. 13:11; Mark 4:11; Luke 8:10; Rom. 11:25, 16:25; 1 Cor. 2:1, 7, 4:1, 13:2, 14:2, 15:51; Eph. 1:9, 3:3, 4, 9, 5:32, 6:19; Col. 1:26, 27, 2:2, 4:3; 2 Thes. 2:7; 1 Tim. 3:9, 16; Rev. 1:20, 10:7, 17:5, 17:7).
1 Pet. 1:11 (LIT/UBS4) they searching (eraunōntes) into (eis) what (tina), or (ē) which (poion), time (kairon) was being made obvious (edēlou) for the (to) Spirit (pneuma) of Christ (Christou) [to be] in (en) them (autois);
[the Spirit of Christ, RE] being caused to witness before (promarturomenon) of the (ta) sufferings (pathēmata) in (eis) Christ (Christon), and (kai) with (meta) [the coming to pass, AE] of these (tauta) the (tas) glorious things (doxas);
The prophets sought out and searched out into what, or which time, was being made obvious for the Spirit of Christ [to be] in them, those believers under God's prophesied new covenant, who we now know would become the one body of Christ. The OT prophets already knew that the Word, which would become Jesus Christ, existed before the downthrow of the cosmos.
the Spirit of Christ - Could this be a statement, or at least a tacit statement, of the configuration of the Word in the beginning, as being a Spirit-based being? For apostle Paul's explanations of the various kinds of bodies of both earthly an heavenly beings, see 1 Cor. 15:35-58.
John 17:24 (LIT/UBS4) Father (pater), for that which (ho) you have given (dedōkas) to me (moi), I desire (thelō) that (hina) where (hopou) I (egō) am (eimi) those ones also (kakeinoi) may be (ōsin) with (met') me (emou);
in order that (hina) they may observe (theōrōsin) the (tēn) glory (doxan), the (tēn) [glory, RE] [being] mine (emēn) which (hēn) you have given (dedōkas) to me (moi), because (hoti) you loved (ēgapēsas) me (me) before (pro) [a/the] downthrow (katabolēs) of [the] cosmos (kosmou).
According to apostle John the God gave glory to the Word and loved him in the beginning, before the downthrow of the cosmos. I "see" the verb ēgapēsas as being transitive. What do you see?
Heb. 9:26 (LIT/UBS4) even though (epei) from/since (apo) [a/the] downthrow (katabolēs) of [the] cosmos (kosmou) it is being required (edei) of him (auton) to suffer (pathein) many times (pollakis)!
According to the writer of Hebrews again, it was required for the Word to begin suffering for the redemption of mortalkind from/since the downthrow of the cosmos (Gen. 3). How could he begin suffering then if he didn't yet exist? The Word began suffering to repair fallen mortalkind from at least the moment Eve began to believe the lie from the "tree" of the knowledge of good and evil, which metaphorical "tree" I believe was the devil himself. The Word was the metaphorical "tree" of life, which I believe later became the Way, and the Truth and the Life (John 14:6).
What I "see" in all of these passages is the biblical writers writing about an objective being not a subjective idea. What I found in Prov. 8 was Solomon writing in first person as the Word gave him revelation to write about him.
In Prov. 8:22-31, the Word gives King Solomon revelation about itself and its activities in the beginning, explaining it's own procurement (qānānî) by YHWH before the creation, and then about its "childhood" and training under YHWH thereafter. In Prov. 8:12 the speaker refers to itself/himself as Wisdom.
Prov. 8:12 (LIT/BHS) I wisdom (ʾănî-ḥākĕmâ) have lodged (šākantî) [in] prudence (ʿorĕmâ), and (wĕ) I am finding (ʾemṣāʾ) purpose (mĕzimmâ) for knowledge (daʿat).
Here in Prov. 8:12 we can read in the biblical text who is the being giving revelation to Solomon to write. It/he refers to himself as Wisdom. Some believers may already know who is the being identified as Wisdom within and throughout all of God's Word.
1 Cor. 1:23 (LIT/UBS4) But (de) we (hēmeis) preach (kērussomen) Christ (Christon) having been staked (estaurōmenon).
Truly (men), to Judeans (Ioudaiois) [we preach, ER] scandal (skandalon)!
But (de) to ethnic groups (ethnesin) [we preach, ER] moronism (mōrian).
1 Cor. 1:24 (LIT/UBS4) But (de) to them (autois), to the (tois) ones called aloud (klētois), both (te) to Judeans (Ioudaiois) and (kai) to Hellenes (Hellēsin), [we preach, ER] Christ (Christon), [the] inherent power (dunamin) of God (theou), and (kai) wisdom (sophian) of God (theou);
Other "wisdom of God" references: Mat. 12:42, 13:54; Mark 6:2; Luke 2:40, 52, 11:31,49; Eph. 1:7-9, 17, *3:11.
To my understanding, from these and other biblical passages, the biblical writers have reserved many typical names, titles and references for the Word, about which most all disciples of Jesus Christ can find for themselves throughout God's Word. In any of apostle Paul's letters, especially the ones to the Hebrews and Romans, apostle Paul lists and describes many names, titles and references applied to the Word/Jesus, which Paul used to characterize the Word's various duties performed in order to fulfill prophecies about how he would deliver God's people.
For example, here are five typical titles or descriptive references of the Word/Christ Jesus in only the first chapter of Hebrews through v10, two references in 1 Cor. 1:24 above. Our notice of all of the names, titles and references to the Word throughout God's Word is one important way in which biblical readers can connect the meanings of new covenant names, titles and references to old covenant prophecies about the coming Word's promised work for our deliverance.
Heb. 1:2 - a son
Heb. 1:3 - a reflection
Heb. 1:4 - a so much stronger positioned one of the messengers
Heb. 1:6 - the firstborn one
Heb. 1:10 - a lord
1 Cor. 1:24 above - [the] inherently powered work of God
1 Cor. 1:24 above - [the] wisdom of God
Here come the STATEMENTS of the Word's first birth: Prov. 8:22; Col. 1:17a
In Prov. 8:22 the Spirit of Christ gave Solomon first person, eye witness, revelation about how, who and when the Word was caused to come into existence, his first birth. In Col. 1:17a the Spirit of Christ gave apostle Paul revelation also about this.
Let's pay close attention to exactly what is the wordage in Prov. 8 of the revelation the Word gave to Solomon to write for our learning.
Prov. 8:22 (LIT/BHS) YHWH
(YHWH) procured (qānānî) [me, AE] [in the, AE] beginning (rē ͐šît) way (darkô) [of him, AE], before (qedem) [the] deeds (mipʿālāyw) [of him, AE] from then (mē ͐āz) [on, AE].Prov. 8:22 tells us three things about the Word:
1. HOW the Word came into being - he was procured.
2. WHO procured the Word - YHWH.
3. WHEN was the Word procured - [in the, AE] beginning way [of him, AE], before [the] deeds [of him, AE] from then [on, AE].
Procured (qānānî), a form of a Hebrew root, qānâ, may seem like a strange meaning word to use to describe a birth of some kind, compared to how we describe births in our modern Western culture. But this is a Hebrew word used thousands of years ago, in the beginning, about which etymology may exist only in a Hebrew pictograph. Here in Prov. 8:22 qānānî, a form of its root qānâ, is deliberately used to describe the outcome of a birth, through which both the God (Prov. 8:22), and Eve (Gen. 4:1), in that order, both brought their firstborn "procreations" into the cosmos.
Apparently, based upon the writings of the biblical texts, these are the first two births to occur in this present cosmos; first the birth of the Word (qānānî), and then the birth of Cain (qānîtî ), of which the description of both are based upon the Hebrew root word qānâ. These two births, the first birth of the Word, and the birth of a mortal man, Cain, had never occurred before, and no one had ever seen a birth of any kind, before these. This word was the word God selected to describe these highly important first two births, the birth of a spirit-based being, the Word, and the birth of a soul-based being, Cain, mentioned by God in his Word.
Inflected forms of qānâ, meaning procured, are used 85 times in the biblical Hebrew texts. Examining the use and context of each of these 85 usages reveals the scope of meaning attributed to qānâ by the various biblical writers. Qānâ appears to me to have a very general meaning, to procure. But in the contexts of its usages the biblical writers may have included other details which may affect the general meaning of an inflected form of qānâ to be more specific. Biblical readers must determine this for themselves.
The first usage of qānâ is qānîtî, an inflected form of qānâ, in Gen. 4:1, which usage appears to corroborate the meaning of qānānî in the context of Prov. 8:22.
Gen. 4:1 (LIT/BHS) And (wĕ) the (ha) adam (ʾādām) had known (yādaʿ) [a/the] life-giver (ḥawwāh) of him (ʾēt), [a] female entity (ʾiššâ), and (wĕ) she was being pregnant (hrh), and (wĕ) she was bearing (yld) Cain (qayin) of her (ʾēt), and (wĕ) she was saying (ʾmr), "I have procured (qānîtî ) [a] male entity (ʾîš) of him (ʾēt), YHWH!"
[a/the] life-giver - I believe the first female, known mostly as Eve, was the first mortal entity the devil attacked because out of her would come the posterity of all mortalkind. Ever since then ignorant male entities have been trained through spiritual influences to hate and abuse female entities as second or third class entities, using the flimsy excuse that Eve was deceived first, so she bears the greater blame for the fall of mortalkind, as the justification for hate and oppression against female entities. I believe female entities are the more glorious of the two mortal genders, being a type to the one body of Christ and to the bride of Christ.
"I have procured (qānîtî ) - Here in Gen. 4:1 we can see that the biblical writer chose to use the word qānîtî, an inflected form of its root qānâ. Qānâ, Strong's # 7069, is a verb root of which its inflected forms are used 84 times throughout the OT biblical texts.
Since in both passages, Prov. 8:22 and Gen. 4:1, both very closely related words have the same lexical root, qānâ, and both passages don't appear to me to be written figuratively, then to be honest with myself I must conclude/infer that in Prov. 8:22 the Word spoke about its own beginning of existence, having its own birth of some kind, and that at its procurement the Word became a living being, as Cain's procurement, recorded in Gen. 4:1, caused Cain to become a living being.
I believe that if in Gen. 4:1 the inflected form of the root word qānâ, qānîtî means a procurement/birth into existence, then in Prov. 8:22 the inflected form of qānâ, qānānî, means a procurement/birth into existence also, since all of a root's inflected forms carry their root word's meaning as well, with the exception of words used figuratively!
[a] male entity (ʾîš) of him, YHWH" - In the Hebrew text a word often translated as man or men is the Hebrew word ish, which inherent meaning, according to Strong's dictionary and TWOT, literally means a being that is extant, a being that exists as opposed to non-existence, therefore which essential Hebrew meaning calls for the English word entity in translation, to preserve its essential meaning into English. Ish is the form for a male entity, and ishshah is the form for a female entity. But the essential inherent root meaning of either word deals essentially with the subject of existence versus non-existence.
So then, whether those entities are male or female is only an ancillary inflected adjunct of those words, so which, therefore, male or female renderings alone into English are incomplete definitions of those essential meanings. Ish could be translated as an existing male, or hyh issh could be translated as a male who came into existence. The idea of existence can't be divorced from the word's essential root meaning, as it has been in virtually all triune godhead-based Bible translations simply translating it as man or men. The Hebrew point of ish or ishshah is existence, not gender.
So if I think I "see" something here in this passage in Prov. 8:22, here's what it is:
First, the whole passage of Prov. 8 implies that King Solomon received revelation from the Word himself, in order to be able to quote the Word's first person statements in this prophetic passage.
Second, Solomon's writing style appears to quote the Word speaking about its own procurement/birth from YHWH (v22), and its subsequent childhood growth and play, toward the face of YHWH (Prov. 8:23-31).
So then, does procured in Gen. 4:1 mean the same thing as procured in Prov. 8:22? Yes, I believe it does. This kind of comparison between passages, based upon the biblical writers' common use of biblical terms, is very often the method used within God's Word to define meanings throughout God's Word! With the exception of figures of speech, essential root word meanings do not change between a root word and its inflected forms.
If this is what I "see" for myself, then that means to me that the Word had a definite procurement/birth into existence, and then a period of subsequent childhood growth (Prov. 8:22-31)!
What does Bible Hub show us about the verb qānâ?
By the way, what does Bible Hub show us about how some of the inflected forms of the VERB qānâ, all of those being VERBS as well, were "translated" in some of its other 83 usages? Guess what, they were "translated"/paraphrased as NOUNS in some usages! Let's take a moment for me to show you more examples of Bible forgeries, in case you haven't seen enough yet to convince you that triune godhead-based Bible translations are at least 50% fiction.
The second usage of an inflected form of the VERB qānâ is in Gen. 14:19. Looking at Gen. 14:19 in Bible Hub, what do you "see"? Looking thoroughly down through all of the Bible "translations" in Bible Hub I can see that Strong's #7069 has been "translated" almost exclusively as a NOUN in that verse! Why, is there something in that verse or its context that contradicts something about their triune godhead-based model of God theory? What, either Bible "translators" can't tell the difference between a VERB and a NOUN, or they can and don't give a damn, but care more about sculpting your perceptions than they do about communicating the Truth of God's Word!
How do Greek students graduate out of academia into Bible translators not knowing the difference between a verb and a noun? That's exactly who triune godhead Bible producers are looking for, "translators" who have no compunctions about deceiving people, about "translating" anything into anything! Translating a verb as a noun is lying, right? Who do you stand with, the biblical writers or lying "translators"?
In Gen. 14:19 virtually ALL triune godhead Bible translations "translated" the inflected form of the verb as a noun, as Creator, Possessor, etc., instead of procuring/giving birth to the heavens and earth, or things within them. As we can see, the "translators" quickly force the verb into a noun in their Bible translations, which I can only guess is for the reason to divorce Bible "translations" from showing God procuring/giving birth to something mentioned in that verse or context.
For me I choose to believe no alternate theological invention, but only that which I can read and "see" in the biblical texts for myself, relying upon the God, YHWH, to teach me through his gift of holy Spirit in me as YHWH has promised, "Christ in me" (Col. 1:27)! If the God, Jesus' heavenly Father, YHWH, taught Christ Jesus before Jesus came to be within believers, can the God YHWH still teach Jesus Christ while Christ Jesus is being within believers (Col. 1:27)? Yes, because God, who is Spirit (John 4:24), is one Spirit ( Cor. 6:17, 12:11, 13 (twice); Eph. 2:18, 4:4; Php. 1:27; Heb. 2:11), in all, in everything.
For taught of God contexts see Isa. 54:13; Jer. 31:31-34; Luke 12:12; John 5:19-20, 6:45, 14:26, 15:26, 16:13-14; 1 Cor. 1:4-8, 2:10, 12:8; 2 Cor. 5:19; Gal. 1:12; Eph. 4:20-21; Col. 1:27; 1 Thes. 4:9; 2 Tim. 2:7; Heb. 8:8-12, 10:16-17; James 1:5-6; 1 John 2:27, 5:20.
So then, in Prov. 8:22 we have evidential terminology like that used in Gen. 4:1, that a being, who could/must have been the Word (since Adam had not yet been formed, made and created) experienced a procurement/birth of some kind.
Are there any other possible new covenant passages which state or allude to a birth of the first thing the God created before the subsequent production of the heavens and earth, which passages can be examined for possible relevance? There are some passages in apostle Paul's letter to the believers in Colossae which appear to me to be related to Prov. 8:22-23.
In apostle Paul's letter to the believers in the Colossae area, in chapter one Paul wrote about at least three kinds of births which the Word/Jesus Christ experienced.
Col. 1:15 - the Word's 2nd birth, a birth into sonship
Col. 1:17 - the Word's 1st birth, a birth into existence
Col. 1:18 - the Word's/Jesus' 5th birth, a birth out of dead ones into existence again
Of these three kinds of births written about by apostle Paul in the 1st chapter of Colossians, Col. 1:17 appears to me to speak of the Word's first birth into existence.
Col. 1:17a (LIT/UBS4) And (kai) he (autos) is (estin) first (pro) of all things (pantōn) [created, v16, RE].
Paraphrasing this verse into saying anything else would be paraphrasing this verse into a lie.
I believe apostle Paul's comparison in this sentence is between rank/order, and thereby time, between when the Word/Jesus Christ was created and when everything else was subsequently created in all of God's creation. I believe apostle Paul states in Col. 1:17a that the Word/Jesus Christ was the first thing created by God of all of the things created by God.
The example of Col. 1:17 above is from the LIT/UBS4 translation, in which I show the reader, you, exactly what does the Greek biblical text say as well. The LIT is an interlinear style translation which fully discloses to the reader the exact biblical text, so a reader can have confidence, at a glance, that the LIT translation has not erroneously used paraphrases and creative "synonyms" to make an English translation. Please download my LITAGL (Analytical Greek Lexicon) in MS Excel format, so you can see for yourself how each and every word in the UBS4 Greek text has been translated in the LIT Bible translation.
The LIT Analytical Greek Lexicon (LITAGL) of the New Testament
So now then, how do most of the popular Bible translations compare in English translations to exactly what the UBS4 text states in Greek, in Col. 1:17a?
NIV - "He is before all things..."
NLT - "He existed before anything else"
ESV - "And he is before all things"
These three examples are repeated almost verbatim throughout most all Bible translations, in Col. 1:17a. The problem I see is that "before" is used almost exclusively in triune godhead-based translations instead of "first". Why? Where's the logic in this? Something can come along "before" something else, and something can be created "before" something else, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it came along, or was created, first of all things created!
If something is first in rank, order, time or place, before that something became first there was nothing there at all. Right? So then, is that why triune godhead proponents don't like the word "first", because something had to be created or made in order for it to be "first!"
If in Col. 1:17a God's son is before (pro) all things (pantōn) [created, v16, RE], which means there was nothing created before him, then in this verse the Greek word pro could of, should of, been translated as "first", in this specific usage of pro. But because the passage is about the Word/Jesus Christ, is that why the translators suddenly go dumb, and can't see that apostle Paul means "first" with his use of pro?
The NLT translators used the paraphrase existed before, but the Greek word for exist doesn't appear in Col. 1:17a either, which is yet another reason why existed before is another erroneous paraphrase, a lie, as all paraphrases are.
This isn't just another paraphrased coincidence of triune godhead-based translators picking on the Word/Jesus Christ, to dumb down and obliterate anything having to do with his mortality. This is standard procedure in ALL triune godhead-based Bible translations; to use paraphrases in English translations in place of, i.e., TO REPLACE, certain meanings present in the biblical Hebrew and Greek texts which they don't want you to read in Bibles! Yes, they're secretly trying to control what you believe! Yes, that's Bible producers manipulating and controlling you, through your Bible! How do you like that?
They use paraphrases extensively, and almost exclusively, in virtually all English triune godhead model of God Bible translations, to replace meanings in the biblical Greek texts about Jesus' mortality, manhood, and self-autonomy, so those meanings won't appear in English Bible translations!!!
The two biblical facts in Col. 1:17a, that the Word was created/made, and that it was created/made first in the order of all things created/made by YHWH Elohim, are two scriptural facts which the triune godhead model of God adopters desire to destroy out of the Evangelism of Jesus Christ.
Isn't DESTROYING the Word's/Jesus' mortality in Bible translations the same as DENYING that the Word/Jesus Christ came in the flesh!
I repeated my last statement six times, because when working with some people things, especially things they don't want to hear, must be repeated at least six times for them to begin to remember it.
If you wish to get the full effect from this study, now try this:
Go to Bible Hub and focus in on verse Col. 1:17a, to plainly see how many various ways it's been translated in various popular English Bible translations. You'll notice that in Bible Hub a reader can look down through all of the presented examples of Bible translations for that verse, and plainly see how somewhat differently many Bible translations have rendered the English meanings of the Greek words.
For example: Look at the Amplified Bible translation, those producers used the word "Amplified" in the title of their Bible translation to indicate that it will be "amplified", i.e., paraphrased, all the way through, from cover to cover, as all triune godhead-based translations already are, but they seem to be particularly proud of it! Now look at their translation of Col. 1:17, noticing that every pronoun is capitalized to transmit a paraphrased "message", based upon capitalization, that the HE, HIM, and HIMSELF are all God himself! And then they added the additional extra-biblical example of their mortal-made wisdom, "[His is the controlling, cohesive force of the universe.]" I'll bet they're glad they got that in there, so they can sleep at night.
Now pull up this same verse in the LIT at BelieversHomePage.com and see how each word in the UBS4 text was translated, showing you the Greek word inflected form for the corresponding English word or words. The following is a simple word for word quote of the biblical text of Col. 1:17, verbatim, with respect to ellipses; nothing added, changed or deleted in translation. As anyone can see, no paraphrasing is needed to translate the verse into English. No paraphrasing is necessary to translate any biblical texts into English!
Col. 1:17 (LIT/UBS4) And (kai) he (autos) is (estin) first (pro) of all things (pantōn) [created, v16, RE].
And (kai) [he is, RE] the one (ta) having stood together (sunestēken) all (panta) [holy ones, v12, RE] in (en) to him (autō).
No paraphrasing is ever necessary to translate any biblical texts into English!
Why? Because of the biblical writer's common use of grammatical mechanisms, such as zero copula, assumed indefinite articles and ellipses, as I've demonstrated their use throughout the LIT. But translators feign total ignorance of these grammatical mechanisms used by the biblical writers, in order to create a plausible excuse for their use of erroneous paraphrases to destroy God's Word.
But translators feign total ignorance of these grammatical mechanisms used by the biblical writers, in order to create a plausible excuse for their use of erroneous paraphrases to destroy God's Word.
But translators feign total ignorance...
I believe the collection of biblical passages I've shown so far are leading to a conclusion that: The Word was the first thing God procured/created/made in the order of all of the things he created, of his entire creation.
Here's a passage in Rev. 3:14 in which apostle John states that the Word, which became Jesus Christ, was the witness, the believable one and true one, who was being the beginning one of the creation of the God.
Rev. 3:13 (LIT/UBS4) The one (ho) having (echōn) [an] ear (ous), hear (akousatō) what (ti) the (to) Spirit (pneuma) says (legei) to the (tais) assemblies (ekklēsiais).
Rev. 3:14 (LIT/UBS4) And (kai) to the (tō) messenger (angelō) of the (tēs) assembly (ekklēsias) in (en) Laodicea (Laodikeia) write (grapson) but these here things (tade),” says (legei) the (ho) [Spirit, v13, RE], truly (amēn);
[says, RE] the (ho) witness (martus), the (ho) believable one (pistos) and (kai) true one (alēthinos), the (hē) beginning one746 (archē) of the (tēs) creation (ktiseōs) of the (tou) God (theou):
Who has an ear to hear? Hear what? Can you hear that the witness, the believable one and true one is the beginning one of the creation of the God? Only someone having an "ear" can "hear" this.
I believe these verses above, about the Word's first birth, a birth into existence, establish corroboration that the Word which became Jesus Christ was a spirit-based being of some kind before he caused himself to become flesh and tent among us.
SUMMARY of The Word's First Birth
I began this study of the Word's first birth showing the biblical fact stated by the writer of Hebrews, in Heb. 3:1-2, that Jesus, which was/is the Word, was made (poiēsanti) by his God and heavenly Father, YHWH Elohim.
In 1 Pet. 1:20 I show the biblical fact stated by apostle Peter, that the OT prophets knew of Christ existing before the downthrow of the cosmos.
In 1 Pet. 1:9-11 I showed the context and stated biblical fact that the Spirit of Christ was being caused to witness before of his own coming sufferings, to secure our redemption from the penalty of our sin. This biblical fact accounts for prophesies given to the OT prophets about the promised coming redeemer, and especially first person, eye witness, prophesies like the one given to Solomon by the Word, in Prov. 8.
In John 17:24 the Word/Jesus Christ states that his heavenly Father loved him before the downthrow of the cosmos. The word for loved in this verse is an ind., aor., act., 2nd., sing. verb, which I believe has a transitive meaning; which transitive meaning means that the Word had to be an actual living being that was loved, ēgapēsas, a form of its root agapaō.
In Heb. 9:26, according to the writer of Hebrews (apostle Paul?) it was required for the Word to begin suffering for the redemption of mortalkind beginning from/since the downthrow of the cosmos. How could he begin suffering then if he didn't yet exist?
In Prov. 8:12 we can read in the biblical text who is the being giving a first person eyewitness account to Solomon to write. It/he refers to himself as Wisdom. Some believers may already know who is the being identified as Wisdom within and throughout all of God's Word.
In 1 Cor. 1:23-24 we can read apostle Paul's statement that Christ is the inherently powered work and wisdom of God.
In Col. 1:17 I believe apostle Paul is stating who or what was the very first thing which God created out of all of God's creation. I believe this is a statement of the Word's first birth.
In Prov. 8:22 Solomon records the Word's first person eye witness account of his own birth, which Solomon quoted the Word as stating his birth was a procurement.
In Gen. 4:1 Eve? uses this same term, procurement, to describe how her pregnancy and birth of Cain occurred.
In Rev. 3:13-14 apostle John refers to the Word/Christ Jesus, the one giving him revelation, that he is the witness of the God, the true and believable witness, the beginning one (common noun) of the creation of the God.
From all of these passages about the Word's first birth, and about the Word being the first of all of the things God created, if the biblical texts are believable (they are to me) it appears obvious to me that the Word was a separate and distinct created being from his creator and Father YHWH Elohim, and that he didn't have a mortal body such as the sin nature-based bodies we mortals have now. But whatever was the kind of "body" which the Word had, he caused himself to use it to assist God in the creation of the heavens and earth and all things therein. I believe the Word had a Spirit-based body, a kind of heavenly body as apostle Paul wrote about in his letter to the Corinthian believers (1 Cor. 15), which Spirit-based body sometime later became the first host of God's genus, God's own holy Spirit, as we'll see next.
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Chapter 2 - The Word's Second Birth - I was Poured Out... Prov. 8:23
The challenge for me now isn't finding verses of biblical scripture which relate to the Word's second birth, but how to lay them out orderly for a reader, so that the scriptural evidence builds into a convincing conclusion. I can't guarantee to or for anyone how someone else may "see" meanings in the biblical texts, and so I'll leave that up to God who promises to teach (John 6:45) followers of Jesus Christ what they need to "see".
In an article by John R. Fiske, South Haven, KS, from 1949, reprinted in the Restitution Herald, Jan-Mar 2023, in his article titled "Disproving the Pre-Existence (of Christ) Theory", he points out a passage in 1 John 4:9-14 in which apostle John appears to state that the Word was already a genus son of God before he was sent. The article didn't disprove the Word's pre-existence to me, but showed me this scriptural passage in which apostle John affirms Jesus' pre-existence.
1 John 4:9 (LIT/UBS4) In (en) this (toutō) was manifested (ephanerōthē) the (hē) love (agapē) of the (tou) God (theou) among (en) us (hēmin):
because (hoti) the (ho) God (theos) has sent (apestalken) the (ton) son (huion) of him (autou), the (ton) only genus3439 (monogenē), into (eis) the (ton) cosmos (kosmon), in order that (hina) we may live (zēsōmen) through (di’) him (autou)!
1 John 4:10 (LIT/UBS4) In (en) this (toutō) is (estin) the (hē) love (agapē):
absolutely not (ouch) that (hoti) we (hēmeis) have loved (ēgapēkamen) the (ton) God (theon), BUT (all’), that (hoti) he (autos) loved (ēgapēsen) us (hēmas), and (kai) he sent (apesteilen) the (ton) son (huion) of him (autou) [to be] [an] appeasement (hilasmon) about (peri) the (tōn) sins (hamartiōn) of us (hēmōn)!
1 John 4:11 (LIT/UBS4) Beloved ones (agapētoi), if (ei) the (ho) God (theos) loved (ēgapēsen) us (hēmas) thusly (houtōs), we (hēmeis) also (kai) owe (opheilomen) to love (agapan) one another (allēlous).
1 John 4:12 (LIT/UBS4) Absolutely not one (oudeis), ever at any time (pōpote), has made himself [a] spectator (tetheatai) of God (theon)!
If perhaps (ean) we may love (agapōmen) one another (allēlous), the (ho) God (theos) stays (menei) in (en) us (hēmin), and (kai) the (hē) love (agapē) of him (autou) is (estin) in (en) us (hēmin), it having been made complete (teteleiōmenē).
1 John 4:13 (LIT/UBS4) In (en) this (toutō) we know (ginōskomen) that (hoti) we stay (menomen) in (en) him (autō), and (kai) he (autos) [stays, RE] in (en) us (hēmin), because (hoti) he has given (dedōken) to us (hēmin) out (ek) of the (tou) Spirit (pneumatos) of him (autou).
1 John 4:14 (LIT/UBS4) And (kai) we (hēmeis) have made ourselves spectators (tetheametha), and (kai) we witness (marturoumen), that (hoti) the (ho) Father (patēr) has sent (apestalken) the (ton) son (huion), [the] savior4990 (sōtēra) of the (tou) cosmos (kosmou).
Yes, that's what the verb tense actually says in v9, "has sent (apestalken)", perfect tense.
But based upon the un-paraphrased wordage of 1 John 4:9-14, apostle John may be stating that the Word of God was already a genus son of God before he was sent and became flesh and tented among us. That's what I "see" in this biblical passage starting in v9.
In v9 above does apostle John state that when God sent the son of him into the cosmos to save us from the penalty of our sin, that God's son was already a son (genus) of God, before he was sent, and then again in v10, and then again in v14?
This indicates to me that God's Word was given spiritual authority and ability to do spiritual things within the cosmos before the Word was sent into the cosmos to do them. This sounds like the same circumstance Jesus' disciples were in just before the day of Pentecost (Acts 2), when Jesus instructed them not to depart from Jerusalem to go and do their own ministries elsewhere throughout the cosmos, until after they became endued with power from on high (Luke 24:49) through which they all became sons of God as well. Apparently God doesn't send anyone to do anything for him until after he has given that one spiritual power/ability to do it, which power and ability is the God's, YHWH Elohim's, genus (genos), holy Spirit.
Presently it's commonly believed among Christians that Jesus Christ didn't become an only begotten/genus son of God until very shortly after his water baptism in the Jordan by John the Baptist, as Jesus stepped up out of the water and God's Spirit, in the form of a dove, came down upon and into him. But from this passage in 1 John 4:9-14 we can "see" that the Word had already come into existence, and had already become a genus son of God at a time before he was sent into the cosmos and became flesh and tented among them. The biblical texts are starting to indicate to me that the Word experienced two separate births into sonship with YHWH Elohim, once before he was sent into the cosmos to tent among us in flesh and blood, and once after he came into the cosmos as flesh and blood. Those two births would be the Word's second and fourth births in YHWH Elohim's genus, holy Spirit.
But before we examine Prov. 8:23 to determine what it says about the Word's 2nd birth, a birth into sonship with God, I would like to show you a little more from the NT text of Col. 1, in which not only is the Word's 2nd birth mentioned, but it appears in a context along with his 1st and 5th births as well!
All humankind has experienced a birth into existence by YHWH Elohim, but not all humankind have, or can, experience a birth into sonship (genos) with YHWH Elohim. My first birth, one in flesh into this present cosmos, had no prerequisites that I can remember. Receiving a second birth from above, sonship, in YHWH Elohim's paternal gift of his holy Spirit, his genus, did come with prerequisites.
Close examination of biblical records which speak of births of some kind impart knowledge, understanding and clarification about either of the three kinds of births which were preached and taught in the first century by Jesus' apostles and disciples.
The word firstborn (prōtotokos) in Col. 1:15 seemed conspicuous to me at first, as to whether it means firstborn into existence before any other creation came into existence, or firstborn son of the God, before any other creation received a birth into sonship with the God?
The answer seems clear to me now, from examining apostle Paul's careful wording in the context, Col. 1:13-15. The critical ellipsis of repetition of son in the context indicates to me that firstborn refers to a birth in God's genus, which is a birth into sonship with God!
Col. 1:13 (LIT/UBS4) [to the Father, v12, RE] who (hos) caused himself to rescue (errusato) us (hēmas) out (ek) of the (tēs) authority (exousias) of the (tou) darkness (skotous);
and (kai) he stood [us, RE] together with (metestēsen) [himself, AE] into (eis) the (tēs) Kingdom932 (basileian) of the (tou) son (huiou) [of him, RE], [out, AE] of the (tēs) love (agapēs) of him (autou);
he stood [us, RE] together with [himself, AE] into the (tēs) Kingdom932 of the son [of him, RE] - Apostle Paul wrote to the born from above believers in Colossae that Jesus' heavenly Father has rescued them and stood them all together with the God into the Kingdom of the son [of him].
According to triune godhead model of God proponents the Kingdom of God upon earth, which Christ Jesus is presently building with his one body, which here in Col. 1:13 is called the Kingdom of the son [of him, RE], doesn't exist yet. But anyone can see how the middle/reflexive voice verbs prosdechomenos in Mark 15:43, and prosedecheto in Luke 23:51, have been forged/fudged in translation into active voices instead of middle voices. These egregious paraphrases, in effect, help to destroy the present reality of the existence of the Kingdom of the God upon earth now, which present form apostle Paul calls 'the Kingdom of the son [of him, RE].
When Jesus' disciples asked him to teach them how to pray to YHWH Elohim (Mat. 6:5-15; Luke 11:1-9), after Jesus glorified his heavenly Father's name, what's the first thing he asked his disciples to pray for? Jesus Christ asked them to pray to receive God's Kingdom here upon earth, where God's desire is done as it is in the heaven. God began answering their prayers, individually, according to how each individual fulfilled God's perquisites of belief in their hearts and confession of Jesus' name, to become parts of Jesus' one body of believers, which apostle Paul refers to in Col. 1:13 as "the Kingdom of the son [of him, RE]." This is the Kingdom of God upon earth, now, because YHWH Elohim lives in the one body of Christ!
A believer may ask himself, "How can my heavenly Father, YHWH Elohim, stand me together with himself into the Kingdom of the son of him, in which Kingdom Jesus Christ sits on the thrown of his father David, which Kingdom shall be turned over to Christ's heavenly Father at some point (1 Cor. 15:24), if the Kingdom of the son of him doesn't exist yet?"
Yep, you guessed it, more devilish Bible translation in which paraphrases are used in Bible translations to REPLACE meanings written in the biblical texts! Please see my study Prosdechomai, Strong's # 4327, "one causing himself to receive to himself the Kingdom of the God!"
In Col. 1:13 apostle Paul's focus in the context was still upon what the Father has done for us. Beginning in v14 I "see" Paul's focus change to begin focusing upon the 'son', giving a synopsis of his purpose starting from the beginning of his existence, and listing new covenant outcomes he accomplished with the authority having been given to him, for us.
Col. 1:14 (LIT/UBS4) [the son of him, v13, RE] in (en) whom (hō) we have (echomen) the (tēn) redemption (apolutrōsin), the (tēn) letting go (aphesin) of the (tōn) sins (hamartiōn);
Col. 1:15 (LIT/UBS4) [the son of him, v13, RE] who (hos) is (estin) [an/the] icon (eikōn) of the (tou) God (theou), of the (tou) unseeable (aoratou) [God, RE];
[the son of him, v13, RE] [who is, RE] [the] firstborn (prōtotokos) [son, v13, RE] of all (pasēs) of creation (ktiseōs);
Mostly on account of the abundant vacuum for repeated ellipses of "son" in these verses, in apostle Paul's letter to the believers in Colossae, I believe firstborn here refers not to the Word's/Jesus' birth into existence, but a birth into sonship with the God. This is why I believe Paul's letter to the Colossians is about them comparing the Word's/Jesus' birth into sonship with their own births into sonship, with the God. Comparing what? Each believer should and can answer that for himself. But I "see" an implied comparison between what the Word, Jesus Christ, did in his own personal ministry with the power and authority which was given to him to do it, with what each believer in Colossae could do for the heavenly Father, in their own personal ministries with the down payment of power and authority given to each one of them, at the time of their new birth from above in God's genus, holy Spirit, imparting sonship (Luke 24:49)!
Here are the three births I "see" in Col. 1:
Col. 1:15 - the Word's 2nd birth, a birth into sonship
Col. 1:17 - the Word's 1st birth, a birth into existence
Col. 1:18 - the Word's/Jesus' 5th birth, a birth out of dead ones into existence again
The Word's 3rd and 4th births are births with which most all of us are familiar; 3rd birth - "the Word caused himself to become flesh, and he tented among us" (John 1:14), and his 4th birth - "and the Spirit as a dove coming down into him" (Mark 1:10-11).
As Prov. 8:22 provides knowledge to us of the Word's 1st birth into existence, in the very next verse, Prov. 8:23 I "see" the Word's description to Solomon of the Word's 2nd birth into sonship with YHWH.
It seems obvious that the Word must have received a birth into existence first in order for it/him to be able to assist the God in the creation of all of the things in the heavens and upon the earth, and in assisting YHWH with the creation of mortal kind, "Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness" (Gen. 1:26-27). If the Word was the "first (pro) of all things [created, v16, RE]" (Col. 1:17) it seems highly likely to me that the Word was an important part of the "us" in Gen. 1:26-27. The "us" indicates to me that the Word's "image" must have been identical to YHWH Elohim's "image". God must have given the Word its "image", which was God's "image", and then they together gave Adam their "image". I believe that "image" was blinding white light, which light is Godly "clothing", which "white" indicates righteousness. I believe Adam and Eve lost their spirit-based abilities, beginning with their "clothing", when they sinned against God and became "naked", as unrighteously naked as is most all of mortalkind now.
But did the Word's birth into sonship occur before or after the creation of all things in the heavens and upon the land, the seeable things and the unseeable things? This question is answered in Prov. 8 if those events listed occurred in chronological order. In Prov. 8, through the Word's mention of time, both directly and indirectly in the passage, I believe those events are listed in chronological order.
One of the most important reasons why I believe this passage in Prov. 8 is highly important for believers to know and understand about who is the Word, is in order for believers who believe in the name of Jesus Christ not to continue to commit the sin of breaking the first commandment, over and over. Is honoring, "bowing to", a created being, as the Word says of itself in (Prov. 8:22), in place of honoring YHWH as the God almighty, who created the Word, be considered by YHWH to be idolatry, as YHWH has stated repeatedly in the OT about having other gods?
In Prov. 8:22 we saw revelation given to Solomon about what I believe is the Word's first birth, as I tried to explain in the Word's first birth section. But in the very next verse, v23, I believe the Word spoke of a second birth he experienced. What caused me to consider that the Word spoke of another birth, actually another kind of birth, was the meaning of the word (nissaktî), meaning I was poured out, which sounds very much like the wording used by the prophet in Joel 2:28-29 and the wording used by disciple Luke in Acts 2:16-18.
Here comes the STATEMENT of the Word's second birth: Prov. 8:23
Prov. 8:23 (LIT/BHS) From [an] unknown point in time (mēʿôlām) I was poured out (nissaktî) from [the] head (mērō ͐š), from [a time, RE] before [a time, RE] of land (miqqadmê- ͐āreṣ).
Sadly this verb (nissaktî) in Prov. 8:23 is paraphrased and creatively "synonymed" out of meaningful existence throughout virtually all triune godhead-based Bible translations. Using Bible Hub again we can see how various Bible translations have egregiously neglected to represent that verb's actual meaning, literal or otherwise. This is yet another of thousands of examples of the essential inherent meanings of words being ignored in translation to replace them with paraphrased and creatively "synonymed" lies.
You look and see for yourself! Looking at Bible Hub for Prov. 8:23, in which English Bible translation listed, as below (copied from Bible Hub), did the Hebrew verb (nissaktî) get translated accurately into saying "I was poured out"? If you get out all of your Hebrew analytical lexicons you can find and look up what they state is the meaning of the verb (nissaktî) from nāsak its root, for Strong's # 5258. You'll notice that verb means "to pour out", with universal consensus among those lexicon scholars! The Hebrew verb means "to pour out", not "to form" or "to establish". Those are more lying paraphrases used to replace the knowledge of the Word's birth given in Prob. 8:23, to help Jesus appear more like God himself in Bible translations.
New International Version (NIV) - I was formed
New Living Translation (NLT) - I was appointed
English Standard Version (ESV) - I was set up
English Revised Version - I was set up
Webster's Bible Translation - I was set up
Berean Standard Bible - I was established
King James Bible - I was set up
New King James Version - I have been established
King James 2000 Bible - I was set up
American King James Version - I was set up
New American Standard Bible - I was established
NASB 1995 - I was established
NASB 1977 - I was established
Amplified Bible - I was established
Christian Standard Bible - I was formed
Holman Christian Standard Bible - I was formed
American Standard Version - I was set up
A Faithful Version - I was set up
Darby Bible Translation - I was set up
Aramaic Bible in Plain English - he was possessed
Brenton Septaugint Translation - He established
Contemporary English Version - the LORD gave life
Douay-Rheims Bible - I was set up
Good News Translation - I was made
GOD'S WORD Translation - I was appointed
International Standard Version - I was appointed
JPS Tanakh 1917 - I was set up
* Literal Standard Version - I was anointed
New American Bible - I was formed
NET Bible - I was appointed
New Revised Standard Version - I was set up
New Heart English Bible - I was set up
World English Bible - I was set up
* Young's Literal Translation - I was anointed
Geneva Bible of 1587 - I was set vp (actual spelling)
Bishop's Bible of 1568 - I haue ben ordayned (actual spelling)
Coverdale Bible of 1535 - I haue bene ordened (actual spelling)
Smith's Literal Translation - I was knit
Catholic Public Domain Version - I was ordained
Peshitta Holy Bible Translated - he was possessed
Lamsa Bible - I was established
The only thing "standard" about most all of these translations is that the use of paraphrases and creative "synonyms" has become erroneously standardized! The Literal Standard Version and Young's Literal Translation are the only two translations in the list which even come close in meaning, "anointed", to the actual meaning of the verb (nissaktî), with the exception of the Literal Idiomatic Translation which accurately reflects the inherent meaning of that verb into English, "to pour out".
So, why don't Bible translators simply quote the biblical texts? The triune godhead-based Christianity can't allow for the biblical texts to state that the Word had a birth of some kind in the beginning, because God almighty wasn't born and can't die, whom they suppose the Word/Jesus Christ to be, YHWH Elohim himself. But they're too proud to change their Constantinian triune godhead model of God beliefs to agree with the biblical texts, and so to settle their own personal contradiction with God's Word they destroy God's Word in Bible translations!
This is done purposefully. This is not a coincidence! This, in my opinion, is another reason why Bible "translations" are so confusing, because key words linking discrete biblical topics to one another have been paraphrased/destroyed out of existence in "translation". Many key passages of God's Word are word-smithed, sculpted with paraphrases, to lead people nowhere. Biblical passages have been routinely disassociated from one another using dissimilar "synonyms" so people can't visually find the whole truth about something from simply reading through books, chapters and verses. This occurs very often because a single Greek word is deliberately "translated" into several dissimilar English words!
Right now, at this minute, the only way possible that has been left for readers to study God's Word by topic, is by searching through biblical texts by Strong's number. This huge, deliberately created, fencing-off of God's Word from readers using paraphrases, so that they MUST BUY expensive PCs and Bible study software, in order to be able to get at God's Word, is deliberate! All of this stuff is done to insulate/isolate God's Word from people.
If you test read the LIT for a week or two in your studies you'll begin to notice how various passages are linked to one another by the apostles' actual wordage they use, which wordage patterns are destroyed with paraphrases. I don't translate any given Hebrew or Greek word using several various "synonyms". I translate a Hebrew or Greek word's root word meaning into each and every one of its inflected forms, paying close attention to preserving a word's actual points of inflection into English. Translating a root's essential meaning into each and every one of its inflected forms is what creates RELATIVE, VISUAL, TRACEABLE, hyperlinks in biblical passages, which can be detected and followed through simply reading throughout God's Word!
Paraphrases and synonyms hide words' vital inherent meanings from being mentally hyperlinked by readers throughout the biblical texts, which obfuscation produces lack of knowledge and understanding, confusion and ultimately unbelief. The inherent meanings, ideas and concepts of words', which meanings become more apparent to a reader through observing their deliberate multiple usages, become de-emphasized, dumbed down, if not obliterated in triune godhead-based Bible translations, so readers can't see the Spirit's intentional multiple use of those meanings, ideas and concepts for repetitive instructional purposes.
Let's examine again the LIT Prov. 8 translation which I believe contains knowledge of the Word's 1st and 2nd births. We saw the Word's 1st birth into existence in Prov. 8:22 and in Col. 1:17. Now let's examine Prov. 8:23 to discover the knowledge of the Word's apparent 2nd birth, according to the Word's statement, I was poured out (nissaktî).
Solomon, still quoting the Word's first person revelation to him, wrote...
Prov. 8:23 (LIT/BHS) From [an] unknown point in time
(mēʿôlām) I was poured out (nissaktî) from [the] head (mērō ͐š), from [a time, RE] before [a time, RE] of land (miqqadmê- ͐āreṣ).
Prov. 8:23 tells us two more things about the Word, in addition to what was stated in v22:
1. HOW the Word received a second birth - he was poured out.
2. WHEN was the Word poured out.- From [an] unknown point in time (mēʿôlām), from [a time, RE] before [times, RE] of land (miqqadmê- ͐āreṣ).
We already know WHO poured out the Word, which I believe was stated already in Prov. 8:23 from v22, YHWH, the same God who procured him in the beginning.
I was poured out (nissaktî) - Solomon's use of this particular verb seems to suggest, if taken literally, that the Word had yet another birth of some kind, a second birth, at a point in time in the beginning, before there was land upon the earth.
Could the wording, "I was poured out..." indicate that the Word had yet another birth while he was still the Word but yet before he became the firstborn son of Mariam? Or is the statement "I was poured out..." simply a second statement reaffirming the procurement resulting in the Word's first birth? We'll come back to this phrase in a few minutes when we come to review the meaning of the Joel 2:28-30 prophecy.
from [the] head ͐- This phrase appears to be a Hebrew idiom referencing a family hierarchy of authority, in this context patriarchal (father) authority. Apostle Paul preached and taught about this orientalism (1 Cor. 11:3-4). In the East a person's head is not always an anatomical reference, but in this passage and others, "head" is a figurative reference to a being who has authority over him. "... the head of every male is the Christ. ... [the] head of every female [is] the male. ... [the head, RE] of Christ [is] the God (1 Cor. 11:3)." Most all triune godhead-based Christians don't like this verse because apostle Paul states that Jesus Christ had a God in authority over him, which God was his own heavenly Father. The biblical concept of hierarchical authority of a being over another being, in this case based upon this "head" orientalism, indicates that the God has authority over his Christ, since the God is the "head" of his Christ. Further more we know that Christ didn't send himself, but he was sent by his heavenly Father.
If the Word already existed in the beginning because he was procured in the beginning, v22, then how can he say in v23 that he was poured out from the head? I believe the Word's procurement was into existence, but when God poured out his holy Spirit into the Word, v23, I believe he became a paternal son of the God through a birth in the God's genus, similar to how all mortalkind now receives a new birth from above in God's holy Spirit, sonship and salvation/wholeness.
What's presently natural for us mortal beings is that we perceive the things around us with our five senses, seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and touching. But these five senses can't possibly give us the ability to "see" spiritual things, to be able to "walk" by the Spirit, which is why mortals must receive the God's gift of his holy Spirit in order for mortals to have the ability to "see" and "hear" and then understand spiritual things, such as "seeing" the kingdom of the God, which Jesus said shall be within those who believe upon his name (1 Cor. 2:9-12; Luke 17:20-21). I believe that people without God's gift of his holy Spirit working in and through them can't possibly do anything but guess at what are the spiritual meanings of the things in God's Word, because they can't "see" them! They require Spiritual discernment.
The biblical writers' definition of God's genus will become clearer as we go through the Word's, Jesus Christ's, third and fourth births, which are Jesus' birth in the flesh through Mariam, and his new birth from above in holy Spirit while alongside the Jordan river.
Since I "saw" the Word's first and second births in Prov. 8, suddenly I'm anxious to know and understand the meanings of what else the Word gave Solomon revelation to record about the Word. What Prov. 8 looks like to me is the Christology of the Word/Jesus Christ. Here's the remainder of the Prov. 8 passage about the Word's biblical Christology, which Christology we can find and see throughout God's Word.
Some people say they can't determine who Solomon wrote about in this passage. Who do you think it may be? It couldn't have been Adam or any of his posterity, because mortalkind was not yet formed, made and created! According to the time period described in Prov. 8 the earth at this time in history was only a featureless planet covered in water, land upon earth and the heavens did not yet exist (v23).
Prov. 8:24a (LIT/BHS) Not in [the time, AE] of things of the deep
(bĕ ͐ên-tĕhōmôt), I was caused to dance (ḥôlālĕtî).
Prov. 8:24b
(LIT/BHS)
Not In
(bĕ
͐ên) [the time, AE] of fountains (maʿyānôt), of
waters being honored (nikbaddê-māyim),
Prov. 8:25 (LIT/BHS) in [the time, AE] before
(bĕṭerem) mountains (hārîm) were caused to sink/drown (hoṭĕbāʿû) to faces (lipnê) of little hills (gĕbāʿôt), I was caused to dance (ḥôlālĕtî).(See Prov. 8:24-25; Col. 1:15; Heb. 3:2, Rev.
3:14.)
Prov. 8:26 (LIT/BHS) Not while
(ʿad-lō ͐) land ( ͐ereṣ) was having been made (ʿāśâ), and (wĕ) outside (ḥûṣ), and (wĕ) [the] head (rō ͐š) [of the] world (tēbēl) [was] dust (ʿopĕrôt),
the
head of the world was dust
- Is this a
reference to the first Adam (Gen. 1:26-28)?
Prov. 8:27a (LIT/BHS) in [the time, AE] to establish
(bahăkînô) [the] heavens (šāmayim) I ( ͐ānî) [was] there (šām).Prov. 8:27b (LIT/BHS) [I was there, v27, RE] in [the time, AE] to schematize
(bĕḥûqô) [an] equator (ḥûg) over [the] face (ʿal-pĕnê) of [the] deep (tĕhôm);Prov. 8:28 (LIT/BHS) in [the time, AE] to inherently power
(bĕ ͐ammĕṣô) [the] sky (šĕḥāqîm) from above (mimmāʿal);
in [the time, AE] to set
(baʿăzôz) eyes (ʿînôt) [over, v27a, RE] [the] deep (tĕhôm);
Prov. 8:29 (LIT/BHS) in [the time, AE] to set
(bĕśûmô) [a] regulation (ḥuqqô) for the surf (layyām), and (wĕ) for waters (ûmayim), not (lō ͐) to be overflowing its mouth (yaʿabrû-pîw);
in
[the time, AE] to schematize
(bĕḥûqô) [the] foundations (môsĕdê) of land (
͐āreṣ);
for the surf and for waters not to be overflowing its mouth - Are the shorelines of bodies of waters referred to here as "mouths"? This certainly makes sense when we come to biblical passages which refer to people being "drank down" by flooding waters (Heb. 11:29; Rev. 12:13-17).
Prov. 8:30a (LIT/BHS) and I was becoming
(wā ͐ehyeh) one being brought up ( ͐āmôn) alongside ( ͐eṣlô).Prov. 8:30b (LIT/BHS) And I was becoming
(wā ͐ehyeh) [a] delighted one (šaʿăšuʿîm), day (yôm) [to] day (yôm), being in [a] state of play (mĕśaḥeqet) toward [the] face (lĕpānāyw) [of YHWH, v22, RE], in all of [the] time (bĕkāl-ʿēt).Prov. 8:31 (LIT/BHS) I was being in [a] state of play
(mĕśaḥeqet) in [the time, AE] of [the] world (bĕtēbēl), of [the] land ( ͐arṣô), and [enjoying, AE] delights (wĕšaʿăšuʿay) with [the] sons ( ͐et-bĕnê) of Adam ( ͐ādām).
and [enjoying, AE] delights with the sons of Adam - Is this a reference to the Word as being Melchisedek, the God's first high priest on earth in the beginning of this present genesis? When the Word was "poured out" (v23) was that the time when the Word became not only a paternal son of YHWH Elohim, but a/the first high priest of the God, the first high priest of a priesthood after the order of Melchisedek? When believers in Jesus' name become parts of his one body, that's when we become a kingly priesthood after the order of Melchisedek (Heb. 5:6, 10, 6:20, 7:1, 10, 11, 15, 17; 1 Pet. 2:5-10)!
According to Jesus' apostles, those believers who have received a new birth above in God's offering, his gift of paternal holy Spirit, who have received God's pouring out of his holy Spirit through his firstborn son Christ Jesus,
- have become new spiritual babies (1 Pet. 2:2),
- have begun causing themselves to collectively become "a living stone" (zōnta lithon, singular, 1 Pet. 2:4),
- have begun causing themselves individually to become as "living stones" (zōntes lithoi, plural, 1 Pet. 2:5),
- have begun causing themselves to individually and collectively become spirit-based "houses", and "[a] house", respectively, of God (oikodomeisthe plural, pneumatikos oikos singular, 1 Pet. 2:5),
- have begun causing themselves to become [a] holy priesthood (hagion hierateuma, singular, 1 Pet. 2:5) of the God,
- [a] called out genus (eklekton genos, singular, 1 Pet. 2:9),
- [a] kingly priesthood (basileion hierateuma, singular, 1 Pet. 2:9),
- [a] holy ethnic group (hagion ethnos, singular, 1 Pet. 2:9),
- [a] people (laos) in (eis) [a] periphery (peripoiēsin, singular, 1 Pet. 2:9).
If the Word of God became God's first high priest upon earth on account of he received the authority, the power/ability to do it, when the Word was poured out, i.e., when God poured out his holy Spirit into the Word (Prov. 8:23), then is that why, under God's new covenant, all of the individual believers also within the one body of Christ become high priests of the God (1 Pet. 2:1-10), high priests of the greater new covenant?
In John 3 Jesus Christ taught Nicodemus about mortals needing two births; first a physical birth in water, and then a spiritual birth from above, in God's gift of his paternal holy Spirit.
Apostle John recorded in the biblical texts of Jesus Christ speaking with Nicodemus about a person needing/requiring two births, first one in water, and secondly a birth from up above in God's holy Spirit, in order for a believing disciple of Jesus Christ to be able to "see" the Kingdom of the God (Luke 17:20-21). Wait a minute! How can the Kingdom of the God be "seen" now, if the triune godhead model of God theory says that the Kingdom of God does not yet exist? Is our God a King without a kingdom? The one body of Christ is the God's new Kingdom here upon earth, in which he permanently dwells, under his new covenant in Jesus' shed blood and death!
John 3:1 (LIT/UBS4) But (de) there was being (en) [a] mortal (anthrōpos) out (ek) of the (tōn) Pharisees (Pharisaiōn), Nicodemus (Nikodēmos) [is the] name (onoma) [given, AE] to him (autō), [a] chief one758 (archōn) of the (tōn) Judeans (Ioudaiōn).
John 3:2 (LIT/UBS4) This one (houtos) came (ēlthe) to (pros) him (auton) [at, AE] night (nuktos), and (kai) he enunciated (eipen) to him (autō), "Rabbi (rhabbi), we have seen (oidamen) that (hoti) you have come (elēluthas) from (apo) God (theou), [a] teacher (didaskalos).
Because (gar) absolutely not one can inherently power himself (oudeis dunatai) to do (poiein) these things (tauta), the (ta) signs (sēmeia) which (ha) you (su) do (poieis), if perhaps (ean) the (ho) God (theos) may not be (mē ē) with (met’) him (autou)!"
John 3:3 (LIT/UBS4) Jesus (Iēsous) was caused to make [a] decision (apekrithē), and (kai) he enunciated (eipen) to him (autō), "Truly (amēn), truly (amēn) I say (legō) to you (soi), if perhaps (ean) anyone (tis) may not have been generated (mē gennēthē) up above (anōthen), he can absolutely not inherently power himself (ou dunatai) to see (idein) the (tēn) Kingdom932 (basilian) of the (tou) God (theou)!”
According to my own ability to understand the biblical texts, and using common sense and logic, Jesus' statement sounds to me like the Kingdom of the God must be presently in existence if it's able to be "seen" by believers who have received a new birth above in God's holy Spirit. I must conclude for myself that people who can't "see" spiritual things in God's Word either must not have God's holy Spirit working within them, or they can't "see" very good yet. Believers who have God's Spirit working within them know it, without a doubt, because the God is big enough to make himself known to you, and he's very convincing in those visions and dreams he gives to you for your own personal discipleship and sonship growth (Eph. 4:11-16).
anyone - Jesus said anyone. Does anyone include Jesus himself, both when he was the Word and after he caused himself to become flesh and tented among us (1 John 1:14)?
I believe that YHWH procured the Word in a fleshly form of some kind before the heavens, earth and all things therein were created, according to Prov. 8. In this passage the Word speaks of himself as having a physical existence, before, during and after the physical formation, production and creation of the heavens and earth and all things therein.
may not have been generated up above - If the Word was in a physical form of some kind after his first birth in the beginning (Prov. 8:22), at the time when the earth was a featureless ball of water, then did his physical form which he received at that time need to become enhanced, need to receive a pouring out of God's holy Spirit into him in order for YHWH to spiritually equip him for his earthly ministry, the subsequent creation of the heavens and earth, and all things therein? After YHWH Elohim poured out his holy Spirit, his genus, into the Word, I believe then the Word became a Spirit-based being, Spiritually equipped, enabled, inherently powered, to assist YHWH in the continued creation of the heavens and earth.
he can absolutely not empower himself to see - Although in John 3:3 the transitive verb idein points to anyone already being able to "see" the Kingdom of the God, I believe God's indwelling gift of paternal holy Spirit is first required for a believer to be able to "see" anything spiritually (1 Cor. 2:11-12).
Jesus Christ states that a mortal who may not have been generated above can absolutely not (please notice the emphatic particle of negation, ou) inherently power himself to see the kingdom of the God. I believe Jesus stated this in the negative to emphasize the positive outcome from being generated above in God's Spirit. The positive outcome is a believer becoming inherently powered with God's Spirit to "see" the Kingdom of the God. But wait a minute, we know that the Kingdom of the God is not a physical five senses detectable place with a geographical location, as Jesus has stated (Luke 17:20), but that the Kingdom of the God shall be within a believer (Luke 17:21).
So then Jesus' use of the word see in John 3:3 has not an objective meaning, but a subjective meaning, qualifying a believer to be able to "see" the Kingdom of the God only through God's Spirit energizing within a believer. So then, ultimately what a believer subjectively "sees" is the knowledge and understanding of God's Word about the Kingdom of the God. The lesson again here is that it is only God's gift of holy Spirit working within a believer which gives a believer "eyes" to "see" and "ears" to "hear" the things God has given to us to know in his written Word.
I believe I can "see" the Kingdom of the God, which I believe is the one body of Christ, the God's new homing-down place, not made with human's hands. Please see my studies God's Desired True "Tent", His "Domed-Roof House"!
and Prosdechomai, Strong's # 4327, "one causing himself to receive to himself the Kingdom of the God!"
1 Cor. 2:11 (LIT/UBS4) Because (gar) who (tis) of mortals (anthrōpōn) has seen (oiden) the things (ta) of the (tou) mortal (anthrōpou) if (ei) not (mē) the (to) spirit (pneuma) of the (tou) mortal (anthrōpou), the one (to) in (en) him (autō)?
Thusly (houtōs), absolutely no one (oudeis) has known (egnōken) the things (ta) also (kai) of the (tou) God (theou) if (ei) not (mē) [through, v10, RE] the (to) Spirit (pneuma) of the (tou) God (theou) [in him, RE]!
1 Cor. 2:12 (LIT/UBS4) But (de) we absolutely did not receive (ouk elabomen) the (to) spirit (pneuma) of the (tou) cosmos (kosmou), BUT (alla), [we received, RE] the (to) Spirit (pneuma), the (to) [Spirit, RE] out (ek) of the (tou) God (theou);
in order that2443 (hina) we may have seen (eidōmen) the things (ta) having been graciously given (charisthenta) to us (hēmin) under (hupo) [authority, AE] of the (tou) God (theou)!
Apostle Paul's revelation to us, to Adam's posterity of sinful flesh, makes it absolutely clear that we need YHWH's paternal gift of holy Spirit in order to "see" spiritual things (1 Cor. 2:12), in order to "walk" by the Spirit and not according to the flesh (Gal. 5:25).
Did the Word in the beginning, even though it scripturally appears to have had a sinless spirit-based body of some kind at that time (Prov. 8), still need a new birth from above, a new birth in the God's gift of paternal holy Spirit, in order for him, the Word, to be able to "see" spiritual things and walk by the Spirit of God? From my own understanding of Prov. 8 and other scriptural knowledge I believe the answer is yes!
We're looking at actual biblical data in the biblical texts, verse by verse, word for word, letter by letter, and inflection by inflection, exactly out of the biblical Greek texts, not triune godhead paraphrases forged/fudged into Bible translations. What does the biblical data say, which data I've been showing you?
Back to John 3.
John 3:3 (LIT/UBS4) Jesus (Iēsous) was caused to make [a] decision (apekrithē), and (kai) he enunciated (eipen) to him (autō), "Truly (amēn), truly (amēn) I say (legō) to you (soi), if perhaps (ean) anyone (tis) may not have been generated (mē gennēthē) up above (anōthen), he can absolutely not inherently power himself (ou dunatai) to see (idein) the (tēn) Kingdom932 (basilian) of the (tou) God (theou)!”
John 3:4 (LIT/UBS4) The (ho) Nicodemus (Nikodēmos) says (legei) to (pros) him (auton), “How (pōs) [can, AE] [a] mortal (anthrōpos) being (ōn) old (gerōn) inherently power himself (dunatai) to be generated (gennēthēnai)?
[[A] mortal, RE] cannot inherently power himself (mē dunatai) to enter in (eiselthein) into (eis) the (tēn) belly (koilia) of the (tēs) mother (mētros) of him (autou) and (kai) to be generated (gennēthēnai) [a] second (deuteron) [time, AE]!”
John 3:5 (LIT/UBS4) Jesus (Iēsous) was caused to make [a] decision (apekrithe), “Truly (amēn), truly (amēn) I say (legō) to you (soi), if perhaps (ean) anyone (tis) may not have been generated (mē gennēthē) out (ek) of water (hudatos) and (kai) of Spirit (pneumatos), he can absolutely not inherently power himself (ou dunatai) to enter in (eiselthein) into (eis) the (tēn) Kingdom932 (basileian) of the (tou) God (theou)!
I conclude for myself, from simply reading the biblical texts in the LIT of John 3:5, that the Kingdom of the God is not only already in existence at the time Jesus spoke these words, but is waiting and ready to be entered into by those already having been generated out of water and holy Spirit! Exactly the reason why "believers" don't enter into the Kingdom of the God now, and since the day of Pentecost, is because they've already been trained to believe it doesn't yet exist. The one body of Christ I believe is the beginning of the Kingdom of God upon earth, for which Jesus instructed his disciples to pray (Mat. 6:7-13; Luke 11:1-4).
John 3:6 (LIT/UBS4) The (to) one having been generated (gegennēmenon) out (ek) of the (tēs) flesh (sarkos) is (esti) flesh (sarx), and (kai) the (to) one having been generated (gegennēmenon) out (ek) of the (tou) Spirit (pneumatos) is (esti) Spirit (pneuma).
Is Jesus Christ actually stating here in John 3:6 that after a person has been generated out of both water, and holy Spirit up above, that a person is no longer a flesh-based/soul-based being but a spirit-based being? YES! Apostle Paul explains the meaning of this in Rom. 8:9-17 and 1 Cor. 15:35-50 and elsewhere!
John 3:7 (LIT/UBS4) Do not be amazed (mē thaumasēs) that (hoti) I enunciated (eipon) to you (soi) it is required (dei) of you (humas) to be generated (gennēthēsai) up above (anōthen)!
Was a new birth above in God's paternal holy Spirit required sometime in the beginning for the Word, as it is now for us, in order for the Word to become a spirit-based, genus, son of God? So far, from not only the scriptural evidence I've laid out, but from much more ancillary evidence throughout the biblical texts, I now believe the Word in the beginning was required to believe upon the names of his creator, in order for him to receive a new birth above, similar to how at this time, we being the posterity of Adam must believe upon the name of the one making us righteous in God's eyes through his own sacrifice and death, the precious name of Jesus!
Similar to as God's new covenant states now, that all mortals must believe upon the name of Jesus for their salvation and sonship, I believe the Word had to believe upon the names of his heavenly Father in order to receive his own sonship in the beginning. Here, listed randomly, are ten of YHWH's names, of which there may be up to about twenty which I've seen myself. There are many more, in the writings of the Law, psalms and prophets, upon which I believe the Word was required to believe in order for him to receive a new birth above in the pouring out of God's holy Spirit in the beginning:
-
YEHOVAH-YIREH - Yehovah Shall See And Provide!; First usage, Gen. 22:14
-
-
YEHOVAH-ROPHECA - Yehovah Shall Become Our Healer!; First usage, Exod. 15:26
-
-
YEHOVAH-NISSI - Yehovah Shall Become Our Banner!; First usage, Exod. 17:15-16
-
-
YEHOVAH-MEKADDISHKEM - Yehovah Shall Become Our Sanctifier!; First usage, Exod. 31:13
-
-
YEHOVAH-SHALOM - Yehovah Shall become Our Peace!; First usage, Judges 6:24
-
-
YEHOVAH-ZEBAOTH - Yehovah of Hosts!; First usage, 1 Sam. 1:3
-
-
YEHOVAH-ELYON – Yehovah the most High One!; First usage, Psalm 7:17
-
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YEHOVAH-ROHI - Yehovah shall become my Shepherd!; First usage, Psalm 23:1
-
-
YEHOVAH-TSIDKENU - Yehovah shall become Our Righteousness!; First usage, Jer. 23:5-6
-
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YEHOVAH-SHAMMAH - Yehovah shall be There!; First usage, Ezek. 48:35
In Prov. 8:23 nasak is the Hebrew root word translated as I was poured out (nissaktî). Nasak and its inflected forms are used primarily in contexts in which offerings are poured out to YHWH in thankfulness to him. But in Prov. 8:23 YHWH did the pouring out upon/into the Word, which action could be interpreted as YHWH making an offering to the Word in thankfulness to the Word for his belief in YHWH's names, similar to how we are to believe upon Jesus' name. But is there any language in the new covenant biblical texts to substantiate this notion of the God almighty, YHWH, making offerings to believers for their belief upon the name of Jesus, YHWH's firstborn son?
The notion of YHWH pouring out an offering to the Word resulting in his paternal sonship in the beginning, is reflected in the new covenant biblical texts as well. But in the new covenant texts it is the posterity of Adam who in the last days, through their belief upon the name of Jesus, God's firstborn son, receive a pouring out of YHWH's Spirit also, which pouring out is a new birth above for them, subsequently causing them to become born above paternal sons and daughters of YHWH also.
In the Word's fourth birth, a birth into sonship again while Jesus was attending John the Baptist's water baptisms alongside the Jordan river, I'll give more explanation into God's genus again, since God's genus is required for any being in God's creation, whether spirit-based or soul-based, to become a son of God.
In the God's offer to mortalkind for its salvation/wholeness and sonship, the YHWH Elohim instructed the Word
to use that same "pour out" terminology in the prophecy he gave to the prophet Joel (Joel 2:28-29) about mortalkind's salvation and sonship, which prophecy came to pass on the day of Pentecost (about 30-31 C.E.) as recorded by disciple Luke in Acts 2:17-18.
Joel 2:28
(LIT/BHS)
"And
(wĕ)
subsequently (ʾaḥar)
it has become (hyh) thusly
(kēn):
I am pouring out
(špk)
of me (ʾēt) Spirit (rûah)
over
(‘al) all (kōl)
flesh (bāśār);
and
(wĕ)
sons (bēn)
[of you, AE] and (wĕ)
daughters (bat) [of you, AE]
have caused themselves to prophesy (nb’);
and
(wĕ)
elders (zāqēn)
[of you, AE] are dreaming (ḥlm)
dreams (ḥălôm).
Choice
men
(bāḥûr)
[of you, AE] are seeing (r’h)
visions (ḥizzāyôn).
Joel
2:29
(LIT/BHS)
And
(wĕ)
over (‘al) the (ha) slaves (‘ebed) and (wĕ)
over (‘al) the (ha) handmaids (šipḥâ)
also
(gam), in (bĕ) the (ha)
days (yôm), the (ha) ones of those
(hēm),
I am pouring out (špk)
of me (ʾēt) Spirit (rûah).
In disciple Luke's digest of the acts of Jesus' apostles, Luke wrote about Joel's prophecy which provides more insight into its meaning for us.
Acts 2:16 (LIT/UBS4) BUT (alla), this (touto) is (estin) the (to) [statement, RE] having been stated (eirēmenon) through (dia) the (tou) prophet (prophētou) Joel (iōēl)!
Acts 2:17 (LIT/UBS4) And (kai) it shall cause itself to be (estai) in (en) the (tais) last (eschatais) days (hēmerais), says (legei) the (ho) God (theos, YHWH elohim), “I shall pour out (ekcheō) from (apo) the (tou) Spirit (pneumatos) of me (mou) upon (epi) all (pasan) flesh (sarka);
and (kai) the (hoi) sons (huioi) of you (humōn) and (kai) the (hai) daughters (thugateres) of you (humōn) shall prophesy (prosphēteusousin); (note future active voice verb)
and (kai) the (hoi) young ones (neaniskoi) of you (humōn) shall cause themselves to gaze at (opsontai) visions (horaseis); (note future middle voice verb)
and (kai) the (hoi) elders (presbuteroi) of you (humōn) shall be caused to dream (enupnaisthēsontai) dreams (enupnia); (note future passive voice verb)
Acts 2:18 (LIT/UBS4) and (kai) even (ge) upon (epi) the (tous) slaves (doulous) of me (mou), and (kai) upon (epi) the (tas) female slaves (doulas) of me (mou), in (en) the (tais) days (hēmerais) for those things (ekeinais), I shall pour out (ekcheō) from (apo) the (tou) Spirit (pneumatos) of me (mou) and (kai) they shall prophesy (prophēteusousin).
Please note future active voice verb (prophēteusousin). That's what I'm doing for you now.
According to my own biblical knowledge, common sense and logic, because of the biblical fact that YHWH Elohim pours out his holy Spirit upon believers, those believers become spiritually empowered to:
1. shall prophesy (prosphēteusousin), (future active voice),
2. shall cause themselves to gaze at (opsontai) visions, (future middle/reflexive voice),
3. shall be caused to dream (enupnaisthēsontai) dreams, (future passive voice).
Hey all of you Greek students out there, can you see the differences in the voices between these verbs in Acts 2:17? It's Friberg morphology. If no, ask for your money back from your teachers and instructors. How about you academic teachers and instructors, can you see the differences between these verb's voices? If yes, then teach it! If no, then quit teaching because you are an imposter, an "actor" as Jesus says.
Bible Hub shows me that for all of the Bible translations ever made upon earth, at least the most popular ones shown in Bible Hub, opsontai and enupnaisthēsontai have been translated as future active voices as well, instead of middle/reflexive and passive voices respectively. Can you, the reader, see that the voices of these two verbs in the biblical Greek text, future middle/reflexive and future passive, respectively, that they have been lied about in English translations, using paraphrases to replace their voices?
Supposed Christians could see this erroneous "translation" in their Bibles if they wanted to, but they don't desire to, because the reasons for their "Christianity" are not related to personal salvation/wholeness. Blind "Christians" are fluttering around Christianity for other reasons! As far as I can tell, only to accuse, blame and hate real Christians for what they're saying and doing.
Is that because triune godhead-based academia isn't teaching truthfully about biblical Greek middle voice verbs in the biblical texts? Yes! Their forged/fudged Bible translations, which they seem to be proud of, are the proof of the efficacy of their own beliefs!
Proof: Look up the verb morphologies of the six verbs in Acts 2:17, using any biblical Greek text of your choice, using any analytical Greek lexicons of your choice. Here are those verbs and their Friberg morphologies:
estai - Ind. Fut. Mid. 3rd Pers. Sing.
legei - Ind. Pres. Act. 3rd Pers. Sing.
ekcheō - Ind. Fut. Act. 1st Pers. Sing.
prophēteusousin - Ind. Fut. Act. 3rd Pers. Plur.
opsontai - Ind. Fut. Mid. 3rd Pers. Plur.
enupniasthēsontai - Ind. Fut. Pass. 3rd Pers. Plur.
How have these verbs' meanings, especially their inflected form meanings, been translated into your favorite Bible "translation"? For three very popular Bible translations, I'll list only those verbs which were paraphrased, lied about, in "translation".
NIV
estai - completely ignored the verb
opsontai - "will see" - ignored the middle voice meaning
enupniasthēsontai - "will dream" - ignored the passive voice meaning
ESV
estai - "it shall be" - ignored the middle voice meaning
opsontai - "shall see" - ignored the middle voice meaning
enupniasthēsontai - "shall dream" - ignored the passive voice meaning
NKJV
estai - it shall come to pass - ignored the meaning of the verb altogether
opsontai - "shall see" - ignored the middle voice meaning
enupniasthēsontai - "shall dream" - ignored the passive voice meaning
First of all, Acts 2:17 is a quote of YHWH Elohim speaking, quoted in the LIT from Joel 2:28-29, of the coming new covenant, and the new "temple" of the God, the one body of Christ! Wouldn't you agree that this is a rather very important prophecy in God's Word having to do with believers' coming salvation/wholeness?
Of these three triune godhead model of God 'translations", pick any three out of the Bible Hub list, COINCIDENTALLY all three Bible translations received the same kind of mistranslation, mistranslating middle and passive voice verbs. Look in Bible Hub, virtually all 45 or so triune godhead-based Bible translations all targeted the same middle and passive voice verbs for destruction in translation, they all using, more or less, the same mistranslations for middle and passive voice verbs! See any collusion there?
Now look at the subject matter of the verse in Acts 2:17, what specific subject matters were the middle and passive voiced verbs about?
The middle voice verb estai is about God causing his plan for our salvation to come to pass! Destroying the meaning of that verb in translation destroys God's tacit statement that he is deliberately causing himself to pour out his holy Spirit upon those who shall believe upon Jesus' name! Destroying the meaning of estai destroys part of the meaning of this verse, through destroying its display of God's desire, intention, for the salvation of his creation. Isn't using paraphrases to destroy God's statements of his intent, at least lying? This is what I "see"! What do you "see"?
What about the verb opsontai, what's the specific subject matter with that middle voice verb in Acts 2:17? The middle voice of opsontai is about young believers causing themselves to gaze at visions of revelation from God, YHWH, for teaching and training purposes in a believer's discipleship and sonship! Believers routinely receive gracious things from YHWH through causing themselves to ask and pray for the necessary needs of others, and for themselves. Asking and praying for visions and dreams of knowledge and wisdom is how believers manifest any of the three revelation manifestations apostle Paul stated in 1 Cor. 12. In 1 Cor. 12 the first two manifestations listed are two of the three revelation manifestations, Word of Wisdom and Word of Knowledge. The seventh manifestation listed by apostle Paul is a revelation manifestation about thorough judgments of spirits, which in my experience are demon spirits,
- 1 Cor. 12:8a is the first manifestation listed, about believers asking/praying for a Word of Wisdom revelation from YHWH.
- 1 Cor. 12:8b is the second manifestation listed, about believers asking/praying for a Word of Knowledge revelation from YHWH.
- 1 Cor. 12:10c is the seventh manifestation listed, about believers asking/praying for thorough judgments of spirits revelation from YHWH, which in my experience is used to manage demon spirit activity around believers.
In Acts 2:17/Joel 2:28-29 YHWH promises to pour out his holy Spirit into believers so they can cause themselves to gaze at visions of revelations from YHWH. The verse states at least two great spiritual Truths: 1 - YHWH promises to pour out his holy Spirit into believers so they can manifest it to defeat the devil and demon spirit activity in their lives, and 2 - that believers can use it to ask/pray to receive revelation manifestations from God through gazing at visions and dreams! Does the triune godhead-based "translators" destruction of the middle voice verbs in Acts 2:17 obliterate these two truths from appearing in triune godhead-based Bible translations? No to the first posit, and absolutely YES to the second posit!
But in Acts 2:17 disciple Luke records YHWH as stating also that "the elders of you shall be caused (passive voice!) to dream dreams." In this phrase the verb is the verb enupniasthēsontai, in the passive voice, meaning that the older believers, the elders, shall be given revelation manifestations through dreams, whether they specifically ask/pray for it or not. That's what passive voice means: the cause for the instigation of the action of the verb comes from a source outside of the believer, which action of the verb may or may not be welcomed.
I've noticed, in all triune godhead-based Bible translations, from cover to cover, that whenever middle voice verbs are used by biblical writers in verses, to describe the Word/Jesus Christ causing himself to force his own free will to do God's will, that those verbs' and/or verses' meanings are REPLACED with erroneous paraphrases! Why do you suppose this is true? If you don't believe this, start looking up middle voice verbs used in passages about Jesus Christ, and "see" for yourself that ALL of them are REPLACED with erroneous paraphrases!!! Stop arguing, look this up for yourself, and come out from false Christian bondage to ignorance! Wake up!!!
It seems obvious to me that the Word in the beginning needed to become inherently empowered with YHWH's poured out holy Spirit into him in order to become God's firstborn son, and to become empowered to be God's master builder of the heavens and the universe, and to become the Way, the Truth and the Life of the God himself, YHWH, who was and still is Jesus' God (Mat. 27:46).
What is obvious in both Joel's prophecy and Luke's writing about it is that God's Spirit in a believers gives a believer Spirit-based abilities which were not previously present in a believer before he or she received a poured out new birth above in God's gift of his paternal Spirit. In Luke's gospel record in Luke 24:49 Jesus characterized God's promised outpouring of his holy Spirit upon all mortalkind as "the promise of the Father of me", and as "inherent power out of high up."
Luke 24:49 (LIT/UBS4) And (kai) behold (idou), I (egō) send (exapostellō) the (tēn) promise (epangelian) of the (tou) Father (patros) of me (mou) upon (eph’) you (humas)!
But (de) you (humeis) sit down (kathisate) in (en) the (tē) city (polei), until (heōs) of which (hou) [time, AE] you may have enrobed yourselves in (endusēsthe) inherent power (dunamin) out (ek) of high up (hupsous)!”
I send the promise of the Father - The promise about which Jesus speaks I believe is at least the Joel 2:28-29 prophesy, which new covenant was prophesied more or less in some other OT passages as well. There were "bits and pieces" prophesied in the OT of God's new coming covenant. But the OT prophets couldn't find enough revealed about it to reliably assemble a clear picture of how that new covenant would affect the nation of Israel's standing in their present Mosaic Law covenant at that time.
sit down in the city, until ... - As we can see, Jesus didn't allow his disciples to leave Jerusalem to begin their own personal ministries, preaching and teaching the Evangelism of Jesus Christ, which is the heavenly Father's own orthodoxy (John 7:16, 14:24) which he taught to his firstborn son Jesus, until after you may have enrobed yourselves in (endusēsthe) inherent power out of high up, the God's gift of his paternal holy Spirit. God's gift of holy Spirit, of himself, of his genus, gave Jesus' twelve the inherent power, ability, to be witnesses of him to as many people as Jesus, their head, may send them.
In 1 Cor. 12 apostle Paul explains to the Corinthian believers that God's holy Spirit gift within them gives them the inherent power, ability, to be adequate witnesses of God's Word to others, on account of it gives them the ability, the inherent power, to manifest God's holy Spirit in nine different ways; speaking in tongues, speaking interpretation of tongues, speaking prophecy, receiving word of knowledge, word of wisdom, discerning of spirits, works of belief, miracles and healings. These nine manifestations of the one gift of holy Spirit, were given to believers to equip them to be adequate witnesses of God's Word, and of God's firstborn son, Christ Jesus!
Back to Bible Hub
I wonder about Greek students and teachers, whether they can see that verb endusēsthe in the biblical text in Luke 24:49? It's a subjunctive, aorist, middle voice, second person plural verb? Now look in Bible Hub for Luke 24:49, at all of the Bible translations. Can you find even one Bible translation (excluding my LIT) that translated that verb correctly with its middle/reflexive voice? Any wordage like, "you may have enrobed yourselves in (endusēsthe)"? No! The triune godhead-based "translators can't allow a Bible translation to show followers of Jesus causing themselves to do anything in obedience to God's Word, or in obedience to Jesus Christ's statements! ALL of those middle voice verbs have been replaced with paraphrases!
Why don't certain readers here go and find all of the middle voice verbs in the NT Greek texts, from Mat. 1:1 to Rev. 22:21, having to do with either Jesus Christ or any of his followers, and then when you find one actually translated as a middle voice, in any Bible translation except the LIT, please let me know! Some readers here are here, truly, to learn God's Word, while other readers are here, truly, to "see" how thoroughly I'm dismantling their evil "translation" work.
But what do you see here? I show you Bible translations heavily infused with a myriad of paraphrases and creative "synonyms" replacing middle and passive voice verbs, and paraphrases replacing many other things! But not even once do you see a translation of a verse in which the verb's middle/reflexive voice was preserved correctly into an English Bible translation! Not even once, from cover to cover!?
Back in Luke 24:49, the verb's, endusēsthe, middle/reflexive voice puts the burden upon believers to enrobe themselves in inherent power of high up. Can you begin to "see" how the biblical writers' use of middle/reflexive voice verbs shows believers deciding for themselves how they are going to respond, act/react, to God's written Word? Maybe the authors of all of those biblical paraphrases don't want believers deciding anything for themselves, i.e., depending upon their own heart's persuasion over the things they've read out of God's Word for themselves!? Maybe this is done by wolves in sheep's clothing in religious leadership positions, to preserve their own relevancy?
Maybe you don't need many of those anemic and dishonest religious "leaders" who are imposing themselves into your spiritual affairs. Maybe all you need is an honest Bible translation out of which to read, and God's Spirit working in and through you to teach you his words' meanings.
Studying closely and learning the knowledge in the following verses teaches a believer how to receive teaching from their heavenly Father, YHWH Elohim, including how to receive revelation manifestations (Isa. 54:13; Jer. 31:31-34; Luke 12:12; John 5:19-20, 6:45, 14:26, 15:26, 16:13-14; 1 Cor. 1:4-8, 2:10, 12:8; 2 Cor. 5:19; Gal. 1:12; Eph. 4:20-21; Col. 1:27; 1 Thes. 4:9; 2 Tim. 2:7; Heb. 8:8-12, 10:16-17; James 1:5-6; 1 John 2:27, 5:20). Why not study these verses, and then pray to YHWH Elohim and ask him to start teaching you through dreams and visions? Why not? Are you waiting for permission from someone?
* Middle/reflexive voice verbs point out a subject's, a believer's, own decision-making required before the subject can perform the action of the verb.
* Passive voice verbs point out a subject's, a believer's, own decision-making required after the action of the verb has affected, has perhaps "surprised", the subject.
Virtually all of the middle/reflexive voice verbs used in the biblical texts, which are nominatively related to Jesus Christ, are ignored in virtually all Bible translations, I believe in order to denounce/renounce Jesus' mortality as a human being, and squelch his own personal decision-making autonomy in order to portray him as God himself. But it is Jesus' examples in the biblical texts of his own personal decision-making, portrayed by middle/reflexive and passive voice verbs, from which we are to learn and imitate him!
Jesus' specific use of endusēsthe in Luke 24:49 indicates to me that believers are themselves responsible to enrobe themselves in inherent power of high up. Mat. 3:11 states that it is the lord Jesus Christ who spiritually baptizes believers into his one body, baptizing them in YHWH's gift of holy Spirit. So then, exactly what other "enrobing" are believers required to do to/for themselves? Believe upon the name of Jesus! Belief in God's Word in the name of Jesus Christ for salvation/wholeness is all any mortal is spiritually strong enough to do before receiving a new birth from above. Repentance and belief in God's Word is all any believer can do, is required to do, to prepare himself to become enrobed in God's holy Spirit.
Since the Word states that it was poured out, in the beginning, the pouring of it indicates to me that it was the God's Spirit being poured out into the production of a spirit-based being, about which soul-based beings are challenged to comprehend (Luke 24:39; Rom. 8:3-11). But the biblical texts indicate that the result from a soul-based mortal receiving YHWH's holy Spirit, as it is being poured out, transforms the nature of a soul-based being into the nature of the God's being (John 4:24), a Spirit-based being (Rom. 8:9); but into more than that, into a Spirit-based being having YHWH's specific paternal genus (Acts 17:28-29; Rom. 8:8-17; 1 Pet. 2:9-10)!
Compared to triune godhead model of God assertions, how can Jesus, the firstborn son of the God, cause himself to become (middle voice verb!) a genus of the God (John 1; Heb. 1) if he is already the God? I would suggest that believers need to enrobe themselves in the written knowledge of God's Word in the biblical texts, in exact wordings, not in mortal-made paraphrases. And that is why many triune godhead-based Christians have no idea about what is the meaning of poured out in various biblical passages, or the meaning of becoming a genus of God according to the biblical texts. If you're a triune godhead believer, has any leadership in any triune godhead organization ever taught you 1 Cor. 12, about how to manifest God's holy Spirit within you? If the answer is No, then maybe those leadership people don't want you to learn how to grow up into the fullness of the maturity of Christ Jesus, in your discipleship to him (Eph. 4:13)!
Doesn't teaching you that you need a new birth from above in God's gift of his holy Spirit, and then not teaching you how to manifest it (1 Cor. 12), or teaching you that you don't need to learn how to manifest it, cause contradiction and thereby confusion? I say it does. Why would any follower of Jesus Christ desire to stay ignorant and/or stupid about any spiritual things in God's Word?
Before I summarize what I "saw" in this section on The Word's Second Birth, I suggest to readers to closely examine the possible contextually related passages in which are used the three Hebrew and Greek verbs I've noted so far, meaning to pour out.
In Prov. 8:23 we saw the Hebrew verb nissaktî from its root nāsak, which forms are used 25 times throughout the biblical Hebrew texts. Studying the related contexts of the other 24 occurrences will undoubtedly lead a believer's mind into much deeper spiritual knowledge and understanding through the biblical writer's use of types, metaphors and other figures of speech, about things being poured out.
For example:
In the context of the first occurrence of a form of the Hebrew nāsak, Strong's # 5258, which occurs 25 times, in the biblical texts, in Gen. 35:14 when Jacob/Israel came to Luz of Canaan God spoke with him again, and he set up a standing stone there, a masseba, in the place where he talked with Elohim Shadday (God Almighty), a place Jacob/Israel called El-Bethel (God's House). Jacob/Israel fashioned this standing stone after the appearance God showed to him in a vision or dream as he fled from the face of his brother Esau. Could this standing stone in El-Bethel be a type or metaphor for the reason for God's deliverance of Jacob/Israel from his brother Esau? Could the standing stone be a type of the Word, and/or God's not yet promised coming redeemer/deliverer Jesus Christ?
In the Middle East, for thousands of years it has been very common for people to pour out some of their drink as an offering in honor of and thankfulness to their god(s) for preserving their safety, health and wholeness. But Jacob poured out both a libation (drink offering?) and an oil offering (olive oil?) upon the standing stone, in honor of Elohim Shadday (God Almighty) delivering him and guiding him upon his journey to where he was told to go. For many, but not all, pouring out a drink offering was a type to the coming redeemer pouring out his own shed blood for our deliverance from the penalty for our sin.
So what was the meaning behind Jacob/Israel pouring out oil upon the standing stone? Throughout the books of the Law, of the Psalms and of the Prophets stones/rocks are used various times as types to both the God and God's promised coming redeemer/deliverer, Christ Jesus (Psalm 118:22-23; Isa. 28:16-17; Mat. 21:42; Mark 12:10-11; Luke 20:17; Acts 4:1-11; Eph. 2:20; 1 Pet. 2:1-10). But rocks and stones are used as types for members of the one body of Christ also (1 Pet. 2:1-10)! Jacob/Israel pouring out oil over the stone indicates to me that it could have been the result of what God and Jacob/Israel talked about, about God's promised coming new covenant, about God pouring out his holy Spirit upon the posterity of Jacob/Israel, upon all of those who shall believe upon the name of God's promised coming redeemer. I believe the standing stone, the monolith, became a type to God's new covenant promised coming redeemer, and to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and to all of those who shall believe upon God's promised coming redeemer. Pouring out oil over the monolith indicated Jacob's understanding of God pouring out of his holy Spirit over his family under their current covenant with YHWH Elohim, and of God pouring out his holy Spirit upon and into his posterity under a new covenant in the future.
SUMMARY of The Word's Second Birth
I began this chapter of the Word's second birth showing what I believe was a birth in God's genus, as I mentioned briefly before. The detailed subject matter of God's genus is vitally important, since it is what constitutes biblical salvation/wholeness, both for the Word and for all of mortalkind, as I have shown out of the biblical texts.
In 1 John 4:9-14 the wording in apostle John's statements in vv9, 10 and 14 mean to me that the Word was already a son of God, already an only genus, before he came into the cosmos and had yet another birth, a third birth, a birth into mortality through Mariam.
In Col. 1:13-15 apostle Paul characterizes the Word/Jesus Christ as the firstborn son of all of creation. I believe this, v15, is a statement by apostle Paul of the Word's second birth in God's genus, since the ellipsis indicates sonship.
This is what led me to notice in the context here in Col. 1, that apostle Paul was talking about three different births of the Word in vv15-18;
Col. 1:15 - the Word's 2nd birth, a birth into sonship
Col. 1:16-17 - the Word's 1st birth, a birth into existence
Col. 1:18 - the Word's/Jesus' 5th birth, a birth out of dead ones into existence again
In Prov. 8 I believe the Word gave king Solomon first person, "eye" witness, revelation about his procurement and then sonship, his first and second births respectively. In v23 the Word states that he was poured out from the head, from an unknown point in time, at a time before times of land upon the earth. I believe this pouring out of God's genus into the Word was the Word's second birth, a birth into sonship.
For my understanding of John 3:1-3, I equate the pouring out in Prov. 8:23 to what Jesus Christ taught Nicodemus about needing to receive another birth, about needing to be generated up above to become inherently powered to be able to "see" the Kingdom of the God. Presently, most all of triune godhead-based Christianity can't "see" the Kingdom of the God, because to them it doesn't yet exist. Then, can they even "see" the one body of Christ? What do triune godhead-based Christians believe it means when Jesus said that the Kingdom of the God shall be within them (Luke 17:20-21)!? What do they believe is presently, now, the "Kingdom of Jesus Christ" (Rev. 11:15), which he shall turn over to his heavenly Father (1 Cor. 15:24), and what is his "throne of David" upon which he shall sit (Mat. 19:28, 25:31; Luke 1:31-33)?
In 1 Cor. 2:11-12 apostle Paul states again that no one can know the things of the Spirit of the God unless one has received the Spirit of the God, in order for that one to be able to see the things having been graciously given to us under authority of the God.
In John 3:3-5 apostle John records Jesus elaborating about mortalkind receiving a new birth from above, that unless one has received it he can absolutely not inherently power himself to enter into the Kingdom of the God, v5, not just "see" it as in v3!
In John 3:6 Jesus explained to Nicodemus about how a mortal man transforms himself out of being a soul-based being into becoming a Spirit-based being, while still yet alive upon earth!
In John 3:7 Jesus explained to Nicodemus that it is required (I suppose for salvation/wholeness) to be generated above. I present these verses because I believe they begin to explain how and why the Word received a pouring out of God's Spirit, as Solomon recorded, in Prov. 8. I believe God's poured out Spirit into the Word gave the Word the inherent power to carry out his earthly ministry of redemption of all of mortalkind, of whoever may believe upon Jesus' name.
In Joel 2:28-29 we saw the Hebrew verb špk (I am pouring out) from its root shāpak, Strong's # 8210, from which root various forms of it occur 116 times. Following closely along this trail of study can produce huge benefits in knowledge and understanding as well.
We saw Joel's prophecy that YHWH Elohim (v27) would be pouring out his Spirit over/upon all flesh, which I conclude to mean that God plans on giving all of mortalkind a similar birth from above as he gave to the Word, which second birth of the Word Solomon recorded in Prov. 8:23. I wish to point out that the specific but same pouring out terminology the prophet King Solomon used about the Word's second birth is used as well by other prophets throughout the OT texts, and by the apostles of Jesus Christ.
In Acts 2:17 we saw the Greek verb ekcheō (I shall pour out) from its root ekcheō, Strong's # 1632, from which root various forms of it occur 28 times in the Greek biblical texts. This pouring out for all mortalkind may or may not be like the pouring out the Word received in the beginning, but since the wording is the same I believe the pouring out of God's Spirit is the same, but the amount of God's genus which is poured out into the Word versus all other mortal men, is different. Jesus received the fullness of the God into him bodily (Col. 2:9). But believers out of Adam's posterity don't receive the full amount yet, but only a part of the whole of God's Spirit, God's genus (Eph. 1:14, 4:16).
In Luke 24:49 - Luke introduces readers to Christ Jesus' explanation of a second birth mortals need to receive, a new birth from above in God's holy Spirit, God's genus, a birth which mortals are required to receive in order to receive salvation/wholeness, and in order to be able to both "see" and enter into the Kingdom of the God, which Jesus stated "is within you" (Luke 17:21). When a believer finally comes to the point of having belief in God's Word, on account of his or her belief in the witness of Jesus Christ in God's Word, then that believer receives an outpouring of God's paternal holy Spirit into him or her, giving anyone a new birth from above in God's unique genus, giving anyone sonship with God. Is this the point where we are supposed to connect the dots, and conclude that wherever the God goes his Kingdom goes with him?
As we have read in these selected biblical passages, the invisible process Jesus Christ uses to baptize believers in God's gift of his paternal holy Spirit, God's genus, God chose to describe as a pouring out. To my English speaking ears the normal meaning of the infinitive to pour out describes the typical handling of liquids or granulated substances. But if we examined all of the contextual meanings of both the Hebrew and Greek words used it the biblical texts for to pour out, they tell us exactly what various things are poured out, and for what reasons, and what are the results, both physical and spiritual, of those pourings.
What I see in these verses is that the Word received an initial birth into existence in the beginning, when he was procured. But then he received a pouring out into him from YHWH, which caused the Word to become a firstborn son, a genus of the God. These verses I've read and studied for myself cause me to conclude that the Word, which became Jesus Christ, had already become a paternal son of God before he was sent and caused himself to become born into flesh as a mortal man, through Mariam.
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Chapter 3 - The Word's Third Birth - The Word received a third birth, when he caused himself to become flesh (John 1:14).
In Mat. 1:18-25 When Joseph was espoused to Mary, she was found to already be holding the Word, Christ Jesus, in her belly, about which a messenger of the Lord was shown to Joseph in a dream, who assured him that he should not be fearful to take alongside to him Mary, the female of him. And Joseph was absolutely not knowing her until of whom a son was born (eteken, Mat. 1:25).
Mat. 1:18 (LIT/UBS4) But (de) of the (tou) Jesus (Iēsou) Christ (Christou), the (hē) origin (genesis) was being (ēn) thusly (houtōs):
Of the (tēs) mother (mētros) of him (autou), Mariam (Marias), having been espoused (mnēsteutheisēs) to the (tō) Joseph (Iōsēph), or (ē) before (prin) they (autous) were to come together (sunelthein), she was found (heurethē) holding (echousa) in (en) [the] belly (gastri), out (ek) of holy (hagiou) Spirit (pneumatos).
For those reading out of the biblical text, you can see that Matthew wrote "of holy spirit", not "the Holy Spirit", which erroneous addition of the definite article and the capitalization of the adjective holy, creates/manufactures a supposed "third person" of a fourth century invented "Christian" triune godhead theory.
she was found holding in [the] belly, out of holy Spirit - Precisely on account of contradictory Bible translations, we need to verify exactly who caused Mariam's pregnancy, God himself or a/the "third person" not written about by any of the biblical writers? Because triune godhead-forged Bible translations all say, "the Holy Spirit", while the biblical Greek texts say, "holy spirit". Readers like me may ask, "The biblical Greek texts say that God, "holy Spirit", was responsible for Mariam's pregnancy, while most all Bibles have been paraphrased to say that a "third person", as in the paraphrase "the Holy Spirit", caused Mariam's pregnancy." Based upon the evidence in the biblical texts, versus the "evidence" of forged-in paraphrases and "synonyms" into Bibles, the biblical writers say God himself, holy spirit, caused Mariam's pregnancy, versus a "third Person" which "person" exists only in paraphrased Bible translations. Please see my study, Isn't This How A "Third Person" Is Manufactured Into Bible Translations?
The biblical writers, the OT prophets and Jesus' apostles and disciples, all wrote about Jesus' heavenly Father as a monotheistic God. The idea/concept of splitting God into two or more parts, and then naming those parts as separate individual "persons" is not what the biblical writers wrote. The biblical writers say that the God is all in one piece, as one God, one Spirit, not in multiple pieces with each piece having a different "person" designation.
Here's the BIBLICAL EVIDENCE for God's oneness, which biblical evidence trumps paraphrased Bible translations' forged-in threeness:
Here's BIBLICAL EVIDENCE for God being one God - Mat. 23:9; Mark 2:7, 10:18, 12:29, 32; Luke 18:19; John 8:41; 1 Cor. 8:4, 6; Rom. 3:30; Gal. 3:20; Eph. 4:6; 1 Tim. 2:5; James 2:19
Here's BIBLICAL EVIDENCE for God being one Spirit - 1 Cor. 6:17, 12:11, 13 (twice); Eph. 2:18, 4:4; Php. 1:27; Heb. 2:11
And now here's more BIBLICAL EVIDENCE of apostle John quoting Jesus Christ stating and equating the God as being that Spirit.
John 4:24 (LIT/UBS4) The (ho) God (theos) [is] Spirit (pneuma).
How can followers of Jesus Christ not be able to connect these dots of BIBLICAL EVIDENCE, unless they refuse to read out of the biblical texts, or God isn't teaching them (John 6:45)? Mortals, without a baptism from above in God's holy Spirit, his genus, don't have the ability to "see" spiritual things (1 Cor. 2:9-15)! Do triune godhead followers/'translators" who have not received God's gift of holy Spirit need to paraphrase Bibles so much because else there's not much in them which they can spiritually understand?
Their conjectured "bridges of understanding" paraphrases have become their "walls of blindness".
For knowledge of the meaning of taught of God, please see Isa. 54:13; Jer. 31:31-34; Luke 12:12; John 5:19-20, 6:45, 14:26, 15:26, 16:13-14; 1 Cor. 1:4-8, 2:10, 12:8; 2 Cor. 5:19; Gal. 1:12; Eph. 4:20-21; Col. 1:27; 1 Thes. 4:9; 2 Tim. 2:7; Heb. 8:8-12, 10:16-17; James 1:5-6; 1 John 2:27, 5:20.
In 1 Cor. 15:35-54 apostle Paul explains that earthly soul-based beings and heavenly spirit-based beings have different kinds of "bodies". Maybe a lot of people are believing the threeness religious invention because God isn't teaching them about oneness in his Word! Reading threeness into God's Word can block people from "seeing" and reading oneness out of God's Word.
Please download my free Excel pivot table about Oneness, written about by the biblical writers in the biblical texts, to see for yourself if a plurality of three of anything is ever mentioned in the biblical texts as being one something or another, like one God. I'll put that study out there in the next few weeks. When you discover that there is no biblical wording which says that, and the wording which does say that are paraphrases forged into Bible "translations", then what are you going to do? Stay ignorant, stay stupid about paraphrases used in Bible 'translations" because it'll make your "handlers" happy that you're sticking with their showbiz, and you'll continue to pay them for their love?
Based upon this biblical evidence listed above, "holy spirit" in Mat. 1:18 means to me, "God himself", because to the biblical writers "holy spirit" was simply used as a reference to God's spirit-based "bodily form", which "form" I understand to be invisible (Col. 1:15; John 1:18; 1 Tim. 1:17, 6:16). According to the biblical writers spirit-based beings don't generally have visible bodily "forms" because they don't generally have visible physical features like "flesh and bones", according to Jesus Christ's statement (Luke 24:39). I believe anthropomorphizing a spirit-based being into a "person" using invented terminology is completely extra-biblical.
Luke 1:34 (LIT/UBS4) But (de) Mariam (Mariam) enunciated (eipen) to (pros) the (ton) messenger (angelon), “How (pōs) shall I cause myself to be (estai) this (touto), since (epei) I absolutely do not know (ou ginōskō) [a] male (andra)?”
Luke 1:35 (LIT/UBS4) And (kai) having been caused to make [a] decision (apokritheis), the (ho) messenger (angelos) enunciated (eipen) to her (autē), “Holy (hagion) Spirit (pneuma) shall cause itself to come over (epeleusetai) upon (epi) you (se), and (kai) inherent power (dunamis) of [the] highest one (hupsistou) shall overshadow (episkiasei) you (soi).
And (kai) through which (dio) [overshadowing, RE] the one (to) being generated (gennōmenon) shall be called aloud (klēthēsetai) [a] holy (hagion) son (huios) of God (theou).
According to Luke 1:35, about how Mariam became pregnant, holy spirit is the inherent power of the highest one, God himself, on account of which the one being generated within her shall be called a holy son of God. Luke didn't write, "a holy son of a third person".
According to what Luke wrote, God himself is the Father, not a "third person". The biblical writers all spoke and wrote about oneness, not threeness. Whom triune godhead model of God proponents refer to as the first and third "persons" the biblical writers refer to as only one being, the God himself, YHWH Elohim. According to the biblical writers holy spirit is always a reference to the highest one, God himself. According to the biblical writers, when a believer receives a new birth above in God's gift of holy spirit, that gift of holy spirit is God himself coming to live within that believer, not a "third person" coming to live within a believer.
Mat. 1:19 (LIT/UBS4) But (de) Joseph (Iōsēph), the (ho) male (anēr) of her (autēs), he being (ōn) [a] righteous one (dikaios), and (kai) one not desiring (mē thelōn) her (autēn) to be made [a] show (deigmatisai), he was caused to wish (eboulēthē) to send her away (apolusai autēn) secretly (lathra).
Mat. 1:20 (LIT/UBS4) But (de) of him (autou) having been made inwardly passionate (enthumēthentos) of these things (tauta), behold (idou), down according to (kat’) [a] dream (onar) [a] messenger (angelos) of [the] Lord (kuriou, Adonai/YHWH) was shown (ephanē) to him (autō), saying (legōn), "Joseph (Iōsēph), son (huios) of David (Dauid), do not be made fearful (mē phobēthēs) to take alongside (paralabein) Mariam (Mariam), the (tēn) female (gunaika) of you (sou)!
Because (gar) the one (to) having been generated (gennēthen) in (en) her (autē) is (estin) [generated, RE] out (ek) of holy (hagiou) Spirit (pneumatos)!
the one (to) having been generated (gennēthen) - The source of Mariam's pregnancy and of the one she was carrying was holy spirit, the God! So then how did the Word, which the biblical writers portray as an existing spirit-based being, in the beginning, transfer or transform from that existence into being a fetus in Mariam? Did the Word need to experience a death in order to become born in flesh and blood in Mariam? Did the Word transform his own spirit-based body into a sperm, and then God implanted it into Mariam? Exactly how did that transformation happen? I haven't found yet in the biblical texts if that's explained. However, the biblical writers did write about Jesus transfiguration (Mat. 17; Mark 9; Php. 3), and about Abraham almost sacrificing his own son (Gen. 22), which records shed some light.
Mat. 1:21 (LIT/UBS4) But (de) she shall cause herself to bear (texetai) [a] son (huion).
she shall cause herself to bear (texetai) - Do you see that middle reflexive voice of the verb texetai? Now go look in Bible Hub to see for yourself how many Bible translations translated it correctly. Guess what? Not even one! They all replaced it with a future active or other erroneous translation, ignoring its inflected form.
And (kai) you shall call aloud (kaleseis) the (to) name (onoma) of him (autou) Jesus (Iēsoun), because (gar) he (autos) shall make whole (sōsei) the (ton) people (laon) of him (autou) from (apo) the (tōn) sins (hamartiōn) of them (autōn)."
How did Mariam cause herself to become the bearer of God's promised coming redeemer?
Mariam learned out of God's Word, word for word and line by line, about God's prophesied coming redeemer, until she knew and understood those prophesies. Then she believed those prophesies. Then, out of her belief, she asked God, speaking with her own mouth and lips, if she could be the one to bring that promise of God to pass (Luke 1:26-38)! And then she thanked God (Luke 1:46-55)! That's exactly how anyone can receive anything (almost!) from the God YHWH Elohim!
Luke 1:37 (LIT/UBS4) because (hoti) each (pan) statement (rhēma) shall absolutely not be inherently unpowered (ouk adunatēsei) alongside3844, 3936 (para) of the (tou) God (theou)!"
Luke 1:38 (LIT/UBS4) But (de) Mariam (Mariam) enunciated (eipen), “Behold (idou), the (hē) female slave (doulē) of [the] Lord (kuriou).
May it cause itself to come to pass (genoito) to me (moi) down according to (kata) the (to) statement (rhēma) of you (sou)!”
And (kai) the (ho) messenger (angelos) went away (apēlthen) from (ap’) her (autēs).
Mariam asked for WHAT? Let that be a lesson to us, that a believer's belief qualifies a believer to ask for almost anything, large or small, if it's according to God's will! Mariam's belief in God's Word pleased God (Heb. 11:6). Please see Heb. 11:6 too, as well as the whole chapter (great cloud of witnesses!).
Here's Mariam's "secret formula" for receiving anything from the God:
1. Mariam read out of and understood God's Word.
2. Because Mariam understood God's Word she was able to believe it.
3. Because Mariam believed God's Word she asked to receive God's Word to come to pass in her own life.
4. Because Mariam believed God's Word and asked to receive it, God answered her prayer.
5. Mariam thanked God.
Do you remember what Jesus taught in Mat. 7:7-11? Please go look!
How many females of the daughters of Israel do you conclude there may have been up until the moment Mariam spoke out loud her prayer to YHWH, to be the one to give birth to God's promised redeemer, spoken of by his prophets?
Of course Mariam's "secret formula" for receiving anything from the God isn't secret at all. It's repeated time after time throughout all of God's Word, for anyone to see and believe it who has "eyes" to "see" and "ears" to "hear". In Heb. 11 the writer lists some of the astounding things believers were able to accomplish in their lives, spiritually, through their belief in God's Word which they built into their hearts and minds from knowledge and understanding of God's Word.
But as for the community around Joseph and Mariam, what did they believe about Mariam's pregnancy? At the very beginning of Jesus earthly ministry as a mortal man, at thirty years of age, as Jesus stood by the Jordan river, much of the community believed that Jesus was a child of Joseph born out of wedlock "... as was being decided" (Luke 3:23). But that belief among members of the community was about to change dramatically. Immediately after Jesus' water baptism in the Jordan the God, holy Spirit, God's genus, came into Jesus, affirming in front of all, making them all witnesses, that the mortal man Jesus Christ was truly God's firstborn son. Once God, holy Spirit, in Jesus began manifesting himself to begin reconciling people to himself, Jesus' reputation changed dramatically.
The overwhelming majority of religious leaders in Israel, who themselves were charlatans with the exception of only a handful, who were shouting and yelling that Jesus was a charlatan, suddenly realized that this Jesus was going around doing signs, miracles and wonders, i.e., God's Spirit within Jesus was doing signs, miracles and wonders, reconciling people back to God himself (2 Cor. 5:19-20). Now those religious leaders became openly fully exposed as the true charlatans, ones who simply couldn't understand and follow the prophecies about Israel's promised coming redeemer. Those charlatans began realizing they needed to do something in order to remain relevant in people's eyes, and so they decided to kill Jesus, which efforts obviously couldn't kill the God, holy Spirit, homing-down within Jesus.
The responsibility for the completion of this age of reconciling believers back to God, in the name of Jesus, now lies in the hands of Jesus' one body of believers, who are to stand up now and take their positions as more than conquerors (Rom. 8:37) over the devil and demon spirits (John 14:10-14), i.e., the spirits at work in the ones condemning the one body of Christ. This stance begins with PRAYERS, PRAYERS, PRAYERS from Christ's one body for all of those in positions of leadership throughout the world; especially for evil leaders, prayers for their deliverance from temptations, and their deliverance from demon spirit afflictions and possessions. Prayers are to be made for the deliverance of individuals as well as for their entire families, and their entire organizations. It's incumbent upon every believer in the one body of Christ to keep himself holy, apart from sin as much as is possible, in order for prayers to be heard, and a believer's prayer life to remain effectual. Please see my study, "Why Sons Of God And Disciples Of Christ Jesus Are To Keep Themselves Holy." Thanks for the idea Terry!
For what the one body of Christ has been called to do now, please see Mat. 10:25; Acts 1:4-8; Rom. 8:9-11, 37; 1 Cor. 12:6; 2 Cor. 2:14, 13:3-5; Gal. 1:16; Eph. 1:19-20, 4:13, 6:13-18; Phil. 2:13, 4:13; Col. 1:27-29; 1 Thes. 2:13; 2 Tim. 1:7; 1 John 4:4, 5:4-5.
Mat. 1:22 (LIT/UBS4) But (de) this (touto) whole thing (holon) has come to pass (gegonen) in order that (hina) the (to) [prophecy, Isa. 7:13-15, RE] having been stated (rhēthen) under (hupo) [authority, AE] of [the] Lord (kuriou, Adonai/YHWH) through (dia) the (tou) prophet (prophētou), may be fulfilled (plērōthē), saying (legontes),
Mat. 1:23 (LIT/UBS4) "Behold (idou), the (hē) one in virginity (parthenos) shall hold (hexei) in (en) belly (gastri), and (kai) she shall cause herself to bear (texetai) [a] son (huion)!
she shall cause herself to bear (texetai) - Do you see again that middle reflexive voice of the verb texetai, like in v21? Okay, let's go look in Bible Hub again to see for ourselves how many Bible translations translated the verb correctly in v23 also. Guess what? Again, not even one! They all forged into Bible translations a future active again, or another erroneous translation, as in v21.
And (kai) [the people of him, v21, RE] shall call aloud (kalesousin) the (to) name (onoma) of him (autou) 'Emmanuel (Emmanouēl)', which (ho) is (estin) being with interpretation (methermēneuomenon), 'The (ho) God (theos) of us (hēmōn) [is] with (meth’) [us, RE]'."
"Because (hoti), as (hōs) God (theos) was being (ēn) in (en) Christ (Christos) reconciling (katallassōn) [the] cosmos (kosmon) to himself ..." - 2 Cor. 5:19
(See Isa. 7:13-15; *2 Cor. 5:19-21)
Mat. 1:24 (LIT/UBS4) But (de) the (ho) Joseph (Iōsēph) having been awoken (egertheis) from (apo) the (tou) sleep (hupnou), he did (epoiēsen) as (hōs) the (ho) messenger (angelos) of [the] Lord (kuriou, Adonai/YHWH) arranged (prosetaxen) for him (autō), and (kai) he took alongside (parelaben) the (tēn) female (gunaika) of him (autou).
Mat. 1:25 (LIT/UBS4) And (kai) he was absolutely not knowing (ouk eginōsken) her (autēn) until (heōs) of whom (hou) [a] son (huion) was born (eteken)!
And (kai) he called aloud (ekalesen) the (to) name (onoma) of him (autou), Jesus (Iēsoun)!
Here comes Luke's STATEMENT of the Word's third birth: Luke 2:7
Luke 2:7 (LIT/UBS4) And (kai) she bore (eteken) the (ton) son (huion) of her (autēs), the (ton) firstborn (prōtotokon), and (kai) she swaddled (esparganōsen) him (auton).
she bore (eteken) - A statement of Mariam giving birth to the Word in the flesh.
the (ton) firstborn (prōtotokon) - The word who caused himself to became flesh (John 1:14) is Mariam's firstborn child. Disciple Luke wrote that he believed Jesus to be Mariam's firstborn child. In our human understanding of the meaning of the word firstborn, the word first in firstborn implies that Mariam had other children also, subsequent to Jesus' birth. And she did, according to the biblical Greek texts (Mat. 12:46-47, 13:53-58).
But there is yet more meaning to this word firstborn. Among human beings a parent's firstborn, second-born, or whatever-born, is never considered to be an identical cloned copy of the parent. In other words, when Mariam gave birth to Jesus, Jesus became a separate and distinct being from Mariam his mother. There were not now two identical Mariams in the world. So does this common and well known description of birth, to the extent this partial meaning is inherent in the meaning of the word firstborn, still apply if the God YHWH has a firstborn son?
What do you conclude: When YHWH procured the Word in the beginning, do the biblical texts say that the Word was an identical clone of YHWH, so that there are now two identical YHWHs, or is that idea an erroneous mortal-made religious invention? I can't find that idea in the biblical texts, so it must have been invented.
Or does the text mean that YHWH had a son who was a separate and distinct being from his heavenly Father, similar to how Jesus became a separate and distinct being from his mother Mariam?
Here comes apostle John's STATEMENT of the Word's third birth: John 1:14a
John 1:14a (LIT/UBS4) And (kai) the (ho) Word (logos) caused himself to become (egeneto) flesh (sarx), and (kai) he tented (eskēnōsen) among (en) us (hēmin).
But look closely at John 1:14b, at what it says. In John 1:14b apostle John mentions the Word's fourth birth also, in which apostle John speaks of him as [an] only genus alongside of the Father, which speaks of him as having already received a new birth into sonship as well, a birth in God's gift of his paternal holy Spirit, God's genus.
John 1:14b (LIT/UBS4) And (kai) we made ourselves spectators (etheasametha) of the (tēn) glory (doxan) of him (autou), [the] glory (doxan) as (hōs) of [an] only genus3439 (monogenous) alongside (para) of [the] Father (patros), one full (plērēs) of grace (charotis) and (kai) of Truth (alētheias).
Can you notice any middle/reflexive voice verbs in John 1:14?
caused himself to become (egeneto) flesh (sarx) - There's another one of those middle/reflexive voice verbs, egeneto, about the Word acting upon his own volition, causing his own will to do his heavenly Father's will, in order for him to become a sent one.
we made ourselves spectators (etheasametha) - The Word's energized from above ministry, both the things he was saying and doing, commanded people's attention, because no one had ever seen a messenger of God saying and doing the kinds of miraculous works, repeatedly, like the Word was demonstrating. Those who could "see" what was happening became compelled to cause themselves to become spectators of him, and they followed him. But most of the children of Israel couldn't "see" anything unusual happening. They were distracted by the devil's common use of confusion and chaos, very similar to the confusion and chaos the devil is creating through the world's "leaders" across the face of the earth today. But the spectators who could "see" were seeing the Word throwing out the devil and demon spirits from all kinds of situations, as examples for them to follow.
Defeating the devil's chaos and confusion, for a moment
Whenever I see the creation and escalation of confusion and chaos anywhere in the world, it's and indicator to me that the devil is on the move to do something horrific in the world, in that specific location. But starting in 2020 we saw the United States begin to fall into confusion and chaos, which indicates to me that the devil is focusing upon stealing, killing and/or destroying (John 10:9-10) the nation and people of the US. I can "see" the devil's plan underway, but if and when it may be completed isn't yet known.
Mortalkind's first line of defense is always prayer, to pray for those in leadership roles, that God's hand of blessing will stop the devil and demon spirits from influencing them. That's what believers should be praying for specifically, no matter which nation of people are under attack! The devil is the enemy of all mortalkind, no matter what ethnic group.
The devil always tries to foment hatred between ethnic groups, or social groups of people, through pointing out to each of them their differences from one another, and then trying to convince each of them to hate the other based upon any one or more of those differences; maybe differences in customs, cultural practices, skin color, aptitudes and/or educational levels, whatever thing he can convince others to believe is hateful. The only thing the devil does is STEAL, KILL and DESTROY human beings (John 10:9-10), or any of YHWH Elohim's creation, to try to hate and hurt YHWH Elohim. And most all of the human beings on this planet are so stupid about this that they allow the devil to do this to everyone, over and over, all of the time!
The devil goes around constantly planting "tares", reasons why people should hate one another, trying to get people to "see" and act upon those hateful reasons, while those same people are actively keeping themselves rock dumb stupid about how to "see" the devil's and demon spirit's activities going on around them!
The people of any ethnic group need to pray for both their governmental and religious leadership, that YHWH Elohim will give them knowledge and wisdom in their decision-making, AND that YHWH Elohim will bind the devil and demon spirits from having any influence in their nation's affairs. These specific prayers need to be enveloped in other prayers as well, prayers of well-thankfulness to God, for his Kingdom, power and glory coming to pass for them. Please see my study, We Wrestle Not Against Flesh And Blood.
Back to the Word's third birth
Why would the God send someone somewhere if they are not going to do God's will when they get there? That's the Word giving us another example of how disciples of Christ Jesus are to direct their own personal wills to do our heavenly Father's will.
Let's look at Bible Hub again to see how well Bible translators translated the middle/reflexive voice verb egeneto in John 1:14. Again the translators refused to acknowledge the middle/reflective voice, instead translating it almost exclusively as a past tense active voice, and as a passive voice in the Douay-Rheims Bible. No surprise here, just more confirmation of erroneous Bible translations, who's producers, translators and editors, none of which "experts" can "see" middle voice verbs.
They can't "see" hundreds, maybe over a thousand, middle voice verbs which exist in the biblical texts, but they can "see" triune godhead "references" forged into Bible translations, which don't exist in the biblical texts! This situation reminds me of Deut. 28. Those same conditions, and worse, prevail now, if followers of Jesus allow that to "tell" them anything.
The next few verses give us some knowledge about how the Word transformed himself from existing as a spirit-based being into existing as a flesh and bone, a soul, based being.
Heb. 2:16 (LIT/UBS4) Because (gar) he absolutely did not cause himself to take hold over (ou epilambanetai) but of some (dēpou) [seed/sperm, RE] of messengers (angelōn), BUT (alla), he caused himself to take hold over (epilambanetai) [a] seed/sperm (spermatos) of Abraham (Abraam);
[a] seed/sperm - Please note that the Greek word translated as seed/sperm is spermatos, from which English has assimilated the word sperm!
he caused himself to take hold over (epilambanetai) - Because of the general meaning of the verb's root, lambanō, Strong's # 2983, this may be a colloquialism meaning to take or receive direct control of something.
The implied 3rd person of the verb I take from the context to be the resurrected and glorified firstborn son of God, Jesus Christ. He was the one, who earlier in his history as the Word, before he became flesh and tented among us, "caused himself to take hold over/direct control over [a] seed/sperm of Abraham."
[a] seed/sperm (spermatos) of Abraham - Now the writer of Hebrews (apostle Paul?) places Mariam's firstborn son Jesus as being of the lineage of Abraham, which places Jesus into the bloodline which produced King David fourteen generations later. When I think for a minute, God could make children from stones, and God having given the Word the power and ability to help God create the entire heavens and universe, the Word could have, or may have, transformed himself into a human sperm having the genetic code for Abraham and his posterity, which would then make Jesus flesh and bones genetically identical to that of Abraham's posterity. If the Word caused himself to take hold over [a] seed of Abraham, could that statement possibly mean that the Word transformed himself into a human sperm having the genetic code of Abraham, but even more specifically into a sperm like king David's (Rom. 1:3)?
The writer of Heb. 2:16 states the middle voice verb epilambanetai twice, which I believe is to emphasize the biblical fact that the Word caused himself to take hold over [a] seed/sperm of Abraham! Now my question is, does the verb epilambanetai, meaning caused himself to take hold over [a] seed/sperm, refer to an existing sample of a seed/sperm of Abraham (could God have some original seed/sperm of Abraham stashed in a freezer somewhere?), or did the Word create an exact copy of Abraham's seed on the fly, and YHWH Elohim planted it in Mariam? For now all I can do is speculate over these kinds of details.
So what does Bible Hub show us about how most all Bible translations reproduced the meaning of the verb epilambaneta into English Bible translations? First of all, from looking at all of the various Bible translations in Bible Hub, it's very difficult for me to say that any of those translations say anything even close to what is stated by the writer of Hebrews in v2:16 in the Greek texts. The meaning of this whole verse, in virtually all Bible translations, has been obliterated and replaced by almost completely fictitious paraphrases! Why do you suppose that is? Allow me to re-ask that question: Why do you suppose God's Word is so heavily destroyed in Bible translations about this kind of subject matter, subject matter related directly to the identity and mortality of the Word and his ministries?
Why do you suppose the devil wants Heb. 2:16 obliterated? Maybe it's because of the parallel, that just as the Word caused himself to take hold over a seed/sperm of Abraham to become a son of Mariam in the flesh, likewise believers in Jesus' name can cause themselves to take hold over the spore (1 Pet. 1:23) of the God, holy Spirit, to become sons of God! Yes, that's what those middle voice verbs do for readers in connecting the dots of knowledge and understanding of God's Word!
Heb. 2:17 (LIT/UBS4) from which (hothen) [seed, v16, RE] he was owing (ōpheilen) to be made [into, AE] [a] likeness (homoiōthēnai) down according to (kata) all (panta) the (tois) brothers (adelphois), in order that (hina) he may cause himself to become (genētai) [a] merciful (eleēmōn) and (kai) believable (pistos) chief sacrificial priest (archiereus) for (pros) the things (ta) of the (ton) God (theon), to cause himself to cover (hilaskesthai) for the (tas) sins (hamartias) of the (tou) people (laou)!
Here in Heb. 2:17 we can see two more middle/reflexive voice verbs, genētai and hilaskesthai. Were translators able to "see" those verb's voices and translate them correctly? You can look up those verbs in Bible Hub if you want to, I already know what I'll find. Those verbs were deliberately chosen by apostle Paul to show readers, again, examples of the Word deliberately conforming his own self-autonomy free will to do the will of his heavenly Father.
he may cause himself to become (genētai) - It seems figurative in the context, and therefore notable, that the writer of Hebrews would state a believable certainty in a 3rd person, middle voice, subjunctive mood. Here the subjunctive mood together with the middle/reflective voice more emphatically draws our attention specifically to the Word's own personal decision-making ability, addressing any possible doubt among readers as to whether the Word may or may not cause himself to become a merciful and believable chief sacrificial priest, who in the end of his earthly redemptive ministry causes himself to become the final Passover lamb under the old Mosaic Law covenant, which brought an end to that covenant and began God's prophesied new covenant, put through by Jesus in his own shed blood and death.
to cause himself to cover (hilaskesthai) - According to Bible Hub Bible translations have paraphrased the authenticity of this verb and verse into obscurity as well, as we have seen virtually all Bible translations have done to middle/reflexive voice verbs, and to the verses in which they appear.
Next, from the knowledge apostle Paul gave us in Rom. 1:3, we could conclude that the term used by the writer of Hebrews, "he caused himself to take hold over [a] seed/sperm of Abraham", was a more general meaning term, since in Paul's letter to the believers in Rome area he stated a more specific seed/sperm, and that more specific seed/sperm of Abraham came fourteen generations later from Abraham (Mat. 1:1-6), in his great, great, great, ... grandson, King David.
This whole thing started when Abraham and Sarah both were too old to produce children.
Heb. 11:11 (LIT/UBS4) And (kai) for belief (pistei) Sarah (Sarra) herself (autē), sterile (steira), received (elaben) [an] inherently powered work (dunamin) into (eis) [an] ovulation (katabolēn) of [a] seed/sperm (spermatos), and (kai) beside (para) [the] time (kairon) of maturity (hēlikias)!
Since (epei) [the God, v10, RE] [was] believable (piston), she led herself (hēgēsato) [according to, AE] the one (ton) having caused himself to promise (epangeilamenon) [to her, AE];
Heb. 11:12 (LIT/UBS4) and (kai) through whom (dio), from (apo) one (henos) [seed/sperm, v11, RE], were generated (egennēthēsan) [many, AE].
(See Gen. 22:17]
And (kai) these ones (tauta) having been necrotized (nenekrōmenou), the (tō) plethora (plēthei) [of whom, AE] [are] down according to as (kathōs) the (ta) stars (astra) of the (tou) heaven (ouranou), and (kai) as (hōs) the (hē) sand (ammos), (the (hē) [sand, RE] beside (para) the (to) lip (cheilos) of the (tēs) sea (thalassēs), the (hē) innumerable (anarithmētos) [sand, RE]),
Heb. 11:13 (LIT/UBS4) down on account (kata) of belief (pistin) [of Abraham and Sarah, v8, 11, RE], these (houtoi) all (pantes) [the plethors, v12, RE] died away (apethanon), ones not having received (mē labontes) the (tas) promises (epaggelias).
BUT (alla), they having seen (idontes) them (autas) distantly (porrōthen), they are ones having caused themselves to embrace (aspasamenoi) [the promises, RE] also (kai);
(the promises: the land, v9; the city, v10; the plethora, v12)
they having confessed alike (homologēsantes) also (kai), that (hoti) they are (eisin) strangers (xenoi) and (kai) sojourners (parepidēmoi) upon (epi) the (tēs) land (gēs)!
The verses in Heb. 11:11-13 indicate to me that God produced both and egg for Sarah and a sperm for Abraham, so they could begin the posterity of Abraham, out of which would come God's promised coming redeemer, Jesus Christ, 42 generations later (Mat. 1:17). Who do you know who plans things to happen 42 generations in advance!?
Even though Abraham and Sarah were both beyond the age for child production, the writer of Hebrews seems to me to state that it was specifically on account of Sarah's belief in the word of God's messenger that God "prepared" a seed/sperm for Abraham, and an egg for Sarah! Whether both the egg and sperm were supernaturally created within Sarah, or the sperm was created within Abraham, which seems most likely to me, is still only speculation. But in order for Abraham and Sarah to even be able to engage at their ages may likely have required some other healing from old age, healing needed to increase their energy levels, since Sarah will then need to carry Isaac for the next nine months.
Rom. 1:3 (LIT/UBS4) about (peri) the (tou) son (huiou) of him (autou), the (tou) [son, RE] having caused himself to become (genomenou) out (ek) of the (tou) seed/sperm (spermatos) of David (Dauid) down according to (kata) flesh (sarka);
Before we analyze this verse, what does Bible Hub tell us about Rom. 1:3, about how well Bible translations recognized and reproduced another middle/reflexive voice verb, genomenou, into an English language Bible? About a third of English Bible translations ignore altogether the presence of the verb in the Greek texts and don't reproduce it at all in translation. Apparently the devil really wants this verb and verse to go away into obscurity. This inflected form is translated only a few times, as was born, having come, was made, has come, and maybe something else, anything but what the middle voice verb actually says, "having caused himself to become"!
having caused himself to become (genomenou) out of the seed/sperm of David - There's another middle voice verb, here in Rom. 1:3, (genomenou). What do you suppose, did translators ignore this middle voice verb as well? Yes! The translators translated it as anything but a middle voice verb, or anything close to it.
For apostle Paul's more detailed statement of this event, recorded by Luke in Acts, see Acts 13:16-23. See also Jer. 23; Micah 5:2; John 7:42; Gal. 3:19.
I'm beginning to understand these verses (Luke 1:35; Heb. 2:16-17; Rom. 1:3; Heb. 11:11-13), as well as others, to state that a sperm was placed into Mariam by holy Spirit, YHWH Elohim himself, in order to fertilize an egg of Mariam. The two biblical facts that the Word caused himself to take hold over a seed/sperm of Abraham, and then caused himself to become out of the seed/sperm of King David, implies/indirectly states that it was God's plan to use a sperm to impregnate and egg in Mariam, in order to send the Word into the cosmos.
Jesus in the flesh, through Mariam his maternal mother, was the outcome of the Word causing himself to take hold over Abraham's seed/sperm, but more specifically of King David's seed/sperm, and thereby Abraham’s genus according to the flesh.
Since apostle Paul chose to use the middle/reflexive voice verb genomenou in Rom. 1:3, which essential root meaning indicates something going through a change or transition, then I conclude that apostle Paul understood the Word to voluntarily change or transition himself into becoming a seed/sperm of King David, according to God's admiration of King David's demeanor (Acts 13:21-23). In Rom. 1:3 the middle voice verb genomenou portrays the Word as doing everything he can to do his heavenly Father's will, and to be pleasing in his eyes. This is why middle/reflexive voice verbs are so vitally important, because they show a biblical character's deliberate use of his or her own free will to do something.
But as I feel compelled to think a little further about all of these things, I have yet another question: How can the sin nature-based posterity of Adam and Eve, out of which came Abraham, and later, Mariam, together produce a sinless mortal man, Jesus Christ?
We've seen in these biblical texts that Mariam was a mortal woman, a female out of the sin nature-based posterity of Adam. And Abraham was out of the sin nature-based posterity of Adam as well. And so wouldn't a seed/sperm out of Abraham or David still be a seed/sperm capable of producing only another sin nature-based human being? Wouldn't an original seed/sperm itself, from either of them, still be sin nature-based, and only capable of producing another sin nature-based human being?
Assuming that the God did fashion a sperm to fertilize Mariam's egg, how perfect or imperfect was that sperm God fashioned, if we may be bold enough to think along this line for a moment?
According to Hebraisms, after Eve and then Adam "ate" (figuratively meaning to hear or listen) to the "fruit" (figuratively meaning the words) of the devil, who is/was the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil", especially the evil part (Gen. 2-3), and I believe the Word was the "tree of life", who became the Way, the Truth and the Life, all mortalkind which came after Adam through his sperm are born with a sin nature, that same sin nature Adam and Eve received into themselves from the devil, the same sin nature out of which all mortalkind must now be saved/delivered/made whole (Rom. 6:16-19). So then, in order for the mortal man Jesus to be born without a sin nature as is all of the posterity of Adam, how much different was the sperm the God used to impregnate Mariam than an original sin nature-based sperm of King David? That's a question none of us are qualified to answer, but the biblical texts certainly encourage us to ask and think about it. Why?
As a mortal man could Jesus have been God's perfect example of how any mortal man can control his own will to do his heavenly Father's will? That may not be an apples to apples comparison, given that the mortal man born of Mariam, named Jesus, apparently wasn't born with a sin nature, as are all of the posterity of Adam, even though Jesus was born of Mariam who's father and mother were both of the posterity of Adam. But given whatever enhanced genetic ability some believe Jesus may have had, the biblical writers state that Jesus was a mortal man (1 Tim. 2:5-7), who was tempted in all things as we all are (Heb. 4:14-15). But our competition in this life against evil is not a race or battle fought physically per se (Eph. 6:12), as the David and Goliath record teaches us, as much as it is a battle over whether Godly thoughts in our minds are allowed to rule over ungodly thoughts in our minds, over which our human bodies, maybe even the possible differences between Jesus' human body and our own, can neither hinder nor help whether or how we cause ourselves to give precedence to those thoughts.
But for some followers of Jesus Christ the mental discipline of discipleship to him has "paid-off", according to God's promised new covenant based upon Jesus' broken body and shed blood. Since the day of Pentecost the God has outfitted all of those who believe in the name of Jesus with a baptism in God's gift of his paternal holy Spirit, his own genus, giving them a new birth above in God's own seed/spore (1 Pet. 1:20 - 2:5), causing them to become sons of God also, as well as valuable stones, rocks, to be used in the building of the God's prophesied permanent dwelling, his domed-roof house, the one body of Christ.
Another question I have is, if from the Word's second birth, recorded in Prov. 8:23, when God poured out his Spirit into the Word, and the Word became God's firstborn son, did that sonship carry over into Jesus Christ when he was born into flesh and bone through Mariam?
I believe it did, since when Jesus was the Word, before he became flesh and bone, he had already acquired/received sonship from his God and heavenly Father, YHWH Elohim. I believe Jesus asked John the Baptist to water baptize him not because Jesus had committed sins from which he needed to confess and repent, or from which he needed to be forgiven, but so people could see and witness the sight and sound show of God speaking out of heaven, and showing out of heaven through the use of a dove, that Jesus had already been approved by God as his firstborn son.
On the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) God gave another sight and sound show, the sound of heavy breathing echoing throughout the temple area (Acts 2:2), reminding the twelve to breath-in God's holy Spirit as Jesus previously had taught them (John 20:22), along with the sight of tongues of fire appearing over/upon the heads of Jesus' twelve disciples, who were now becoming born from above sons of God and apostles, through receiving God's poured out holy Spirit.
We know from the biblical texts that Jesus Christ was born through sin nature-based Mariam, having a seed/sperm placed within her from sin nature-based David, also of the posterity of Adam, and so how could Jesus have been born not being a sin nature-based mortal man, unless the seed/sperm of David placed within Mariam was modified some how to remove or nullify its sin nature-based genetic elements? This line of thinking leads me to wonder whether that seed/sperm of David was actually re-created or reconstituted into a seed/sperm void of sin nature-based elements, into a sperm maybe similar to the kind of seed/sperm Adam would have passed to Eve before their fall, before the devil reshuffled their genetic code to suit his own purposes. But whatever it was about King David which caused God's to state that David was a man after God's own heart, was what the Word/Jesus Christ caused himself to become (genomenou).
About Jesus disciples becoming like Jesus himself, the writer of Hebrews states that it's appointed unto man to die once (Heb. 9:27), and Jesus Christ did that also, but for a different reason; to cancel the penalty for sin for all mortalkind, for as many as believe upon Jesus' name. But being without a sin nature, who knows how long the Word/Jesus Christ could/would have lived? I think I understand that the death of our present sin nature-based bodies is necessary to get rid of sin nature once and for all time, in order for us to be raised up out of dead ones with new spirit-based bodies, perhaps like the kind Adam and Eve had before their fall from sinlessness and God's grace. Those new spirit-based bodies shall be of the kind Jesus Christ had after he was raised out of dead ones (Phil. 3:20-21).
SUMMARY of The Word's Third Birth
In various verses in Matthew, Luke and John we read about how Mariam became pregnant with Jesus, and that it was God, holy Spirit, who caused Mariam's pregnancy, which obviously resulted in another birth of the Word, a third birth.
In Mat. 1:18 Matthew wrote about Mariam becoming pregnant out of holy spirit, who is always God himself according to the biblical writers. Matthew didn't write that Mariam became pregnant out of the third person, or "the Holy Spirit". That's what people invented in the fourth century.
In John 4:24 I presented biblical evidence of how all of the biblical writers used the phrase "holy Spirit" as a reference to God himself:
Here's the BIBLICAL EVIDENCE for God's oneness, which biblical evidence trumps paraphrased Bible translations' forged-in three-in-oneness:
Here's BIBLICAL EVIDENCE for God being one God - Mat. 23:9; Mark 2:7, 10:18, 12:29, 32; Luke 18:19; John 8:41; 1 Cor. 8:4, 6; Rom. 3:30; Gal. 3:20; Eph. 4:6; 1 Tim. 2:5; James 2:19
Here's BIBLICAL EVIDENCE for God being one Spirit - 1 Cor. 6:17, 12:11, 13 (twice); Eph. 2:18, 4:4; Php. 1:27; Heb. 2:11
In Luke 1:34-35 we saw the messenger of God offering the motherhood of God's promised coming redeemer to Mariam, and she asking how she can cause herself to become his mother.
In Mat. 1:19-21 we saw how the messenger of God informed Mariam's husband, Joseph, of these things.
In Luke 1:37-38 we saw Mariam believing and asking God if she could be the one to bring forth God's promised redeemer. Mariam's statement, “Behold, the female slave of [the] Lord. May it cause itself to come to pass to me down according to the statement of you!” Mariam's statement/request was absolutely not inherently unpowered alongside of the God!
In Mat. 1:22-25 we saw that Matthew's statement that Mariam was prophesied to be the virgin mother of the promised coming redeemer, as was prophesied in Isa. 7:13-15.
In Luke 2:7a and in John 1:14a we saw disciple Luke's and apostle John's statements of the Word's third birth;
- Luke 2:7a (LIT/UBS4) And she bore (eteken) the son (huion) of her (autēs), the firstborn (prōtotokon), and she swaddled (esparganōsen) him.
- John 1:14a (LIT/UBS4) And the Word (logos) caused himself to become (egeneto) flesh (sarx), and (kai) he tented (eskēnōsen) among (en) us (hēmin).
In Heb. 2:16 we read that the Word caused himself to take hold over a seed/sperm of Abraham, which gave the Word the genetic qualifications to become the redeemer of Israel according to God's Word among the prophets.
In Heb. 2:17 we saw why, in order that he may cause himself to become [a] merciful and believable chief sacrificial priest for the things of the God, to cause himself to cover for the sins of the people.
In Heb. 11:11-13 we read that although Abraham and Sarah were old, and Sarah was sterile, she eventually believed God's Word through his messenger to her, to become pregnant with Isaac.
In Rom. 1:3 apostle Paul chose to use the middle voice verb genomenou to describe the Word having caused himself to go through a change or transition from a spirit-based being into a soul-based being of flesh and blood; not somewhat generally over a seed/sperm of Abraham, but more specifically over a seed/sperm of King David, down according to flesh.
Another fact I pointed out again in this chapter is the ongoing destruction of middle voice verbs in Bible translations.
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Chapter 4 - The Word's Fourth Birth - The Word received a fourth birth when Jesus received a new birth from above in God's gift of his genus, holy Spirit.
Before I present to you the biblical records which state the Words'/Jesus' fourth birth, I would like to do a little more stage-setting around the apostles' important use of the word genus, to show parallels between the Word's/Jesus Christ's birth into sonship and other mortal's births into sonship also.
For my own use I create Excel spreadsheet-based pivot tables to hold biblical "data" three-dimensionally, although presented two-dimensionally. An example of a piece of biblical "data" may be a word a biblical writer used in a sentence. Most of my pivot tables are based upon meanings of individual words used in the NT biblical Greek texts. I pivot upon groups of words when a root has grammatical variances, so the table contains a root's verb, noun, adj. and adv. variations. These are related meanings which are all necessary to be understood together, in pursuit of the whole truth of meaning.
A pivot table created for this study was based upon the NT biblical texts Greek word genos, a common noun, who's inflected forms are used twenty times in the NT biblical Greek texts, Strong's # 1085, meaning genus/genera, in both biblical Greek when written back then and in our English language now. Here, click on this -> Genus Pivot Table.
I offer my Excel spreadsheet pivot table showing the apostles' use of the word genus, as a "free download". Actually, everything from here is free. A pivot table presents, in an instant, all of the contexts in which a biblical writer wrote about a discrete subject or topic (the pivot word), so that a disciple of Jesus Christ can do a rapid word study to discover a word's essential biblical meaning, very quickly, without needing to search for and look up each individual passage one at a time.
The key to a pivot table's effectiveness is to create unique categories of related data gleaned from the unique immediate contexts of all of a word's inflected form biblical usages. No two pivot tables may ever contain identical categories of data, because the meanings of discrete words each have unique meaningful relationships with the meanings of other discrete words in their own unique immediate contexts.
The genus pivot table shows all of the usages of the Greek word genos, and its inflected forms, meaning genus or genera, in the NT biblical texts (UBS4). The pivot table, at a glance, shows all of the various kinds of genos' contextual relationships written about in the NT biblical texts. The table shows Scripture Ref., , by book, chapter and verse, in a sample of the LIT Translation, # of Usages - this number gets summed various ways in the table, Root Word, Usage, Strong's #, Greek Text inflected form, the Gram. Usage of the inflected form, a sample of the Context in which the word was used, Genus of who/what?, Genus Type For, and Who is Speaking. I believe a reader will quickly see and understand why I chose to create these specific fields of biblical "data", upon which to pivot, while looking at and thinking about the data in the Genus of who/what? and Genus Type For fields for their quantifications. The quantifications of those two fields give us some kind of a limited statistical view or rank of the source of the genera, and their meaningful types.
My personal reason for making the genus pivot table was so I could see at a glance quantifications of all of the various types of genera written about in the biblical texts by the biblical writers. Keeping an eye on the various quantifications of Genus of who/what? and Genus Type For, while reading any biblical passage in which a genus/genera is mentioned, helps me to understand the meanings of those passages much more quickly.
If you're a reader who is somewhat comfortable doing biblical research using various resource materials and books, then you should have little difficulty incorporating the use of pivot tables into your study routines. A disciple of Jesus Christ will discover that incorporating pivot tales into his study of the Evangelism of Jesus Christ, will take him deeper into noticing all of the nuances of meanings portrayed by each and every word in the NT biblical Greek texts!
In the following passages we'll see Jesus' fourth birth, which I believe was another spiritual birth as was the Word's second birth, which supposed fourth birth came from above when Jesus Christ visited John the Baptist alongside the Jordan River. Almost immediately after Jesus' was water baptized the God then baptized Jesus again in God's own paternal genus, holy Spirit, a visual supernatural event which other mortals present witnessed, a spiritual baptism from above in God's holy Spirit, God himself, which caused Jesus to again become the God's firstborn paternal son.
John 1:14b (LIT/UBS4) And (kai) we made ourselves spectators (etheasametha) of the (tēn) glory (doxan) of him (autou), [the] glory (doxan) as (hōs) of [an] only genus3439 (monogenous) alongside (para) of [the] Father (patros), one full (plērēs) of grace (charotis) and (kai) of Truth (alētheias).
we made ourselves spectators (etheasametha) - The "we" in John 1:14b I take to be apostle John referring to Jesus' apostles, disciples and all of the followers of Jesus Christ. I believe many people followed Jesus Christ in unbelief, but only for entertainment purposes, and to have something to talk about. Some followed Jesus to fill their own bellies. BUT, Jesus disciples were following him to learn God's Word, the meanings of the OT prophecies, and how they were becoming fulfilled by Jesus Christ daily, in anticipation of God's prophesied new covenant! How can disciples of Jesus Christ learn from his examples, examples of him setting aside his own free will to do God's will, to walk in life by belief, unless they watch him carefully over long periods of time?
The disciples and apostles of Jesus made themselves spectators of him, because no one upon earth had ever seen the things that the Word/Jesus Christ was doing, going around healing all that were either physically sick or mentally oppressed by the devil and/or demon spirits. The signs, miracles and wonders God was doing for believers, working in and through his firstborn son, Christ Jesus, was "taking people's breath away", but in reality God was enhancing their breath, through Jesus giving to them God's gift of himself, holy Spirit, on the day of Pentecost and thereafter, for their reward for believing in his son Christ Jesus. That's how God, holy Spirit, is received, it's breathed in when you take a breath (Gen. 2:7; John 20:22; Acts 2:1-2). Repent to God, confess your sin to him, and pray/ask to receive, breath in, God's gift of himself, holy Spirit.
of the glory of him - The glory Jesus received from his heavenly Father, from God himself, became apparent from God working IN and THROUGH Jesus to heal all from their sicknesses and/or demonic oppression, who were believing upon Jesus' name .
as of [an] only genus - At the time Jesus received his fourth birth, a spiritual baptism from above in God's paternal holy Spirit, that's the time under God's new covenant when God began declaring himself to have children through paternal birth, no longer through adoption as the children of Israel were adopted under God's old covenant of Law of Works.
But look closely again at John 1:14b. Here's another middle/reflective voice verb etheasametha, meaning we made ourselves spectators, used by apostle John in the text. So let's look at Bible Hub again to see how many Bible translations present apostle John's use of another middle/reflexive voice verb. Again, not even one triune godhead-based Bible translation correctly translated the middle/reflexive voice of etheasametha! All of the Bible translations in Bible Hub show that their translators "translated" etheasametha in John 1:14b as an active voice verb instead of middle voice, as we have seen, or we saw, which is another paraphrased lie.
A Challenge for Biblical Greek students
Can any of you biblical Greek students in academia somewhere send an email to me to verify whether any of your instructors are actually teaching you about inflected forms? Exactly what are you students being instructed about inflected forms, if anything at all? Are you being taught to ignore inflected forms when reading the biblical Greek texts? How do you all test out of your classes? Are you favorably rewarded for identifying inflected forms or for ignoring them? Is there any linkage at all between testing and acknowledgement of inflected forms? The essential meanings of the Truth of the Evangelism of Jesus Christ are contained in all of those inflected forms, especially in the verbs! But Bible translators chose to ignore inflected forms to go with other people's opinions/paraphrases!
Are you students charged tens of thousands of dollars to learn Greek, maybe biblical Greek, then at the end of your matriculation you're taught to ignore the Greek you've just been taught, and to go with conjured-up paraphrases instead, when "translating" Greek texts? And you are okay with that? Somebody must be okay with that, since the content of all triune godhead-based Bible translations ever made are at least 50+% conjured-up paraphrases, to obliterate the mortality and self autonomy of Jesus Christ!
Seriously, at what point in a student's learning curve is he or she taught to lie about biblical Greek texts' inflected forms? Is it while still a student in academia Greek classes, or after graduation in an actual Bible translation position? Exactly how are students introduced into lying about Greek word inflected forms, into paraphrasing them out of existence in Bible translations? Are students who will lie about inflected forms given better grades than students who won't lie about inflected forms?
I'm amazed that institutions of "higher" learning impose testing upon their students in Greek classes to assure themselves over how well their students absorb their teachings. And then in the classes about Bible translation they admonish their students to ignore the Greek texts in certain parts (inflected forms?) to forge-in triune godhead model of God paraphrases and creative "synonyms". Apparently all of the students go along with it as though it's the right thing to do, if they wish to receive a passing grade! Isn't that teaching students to become dishonest? Isn't that institutionally-sanctioned dishonesty?
Please see my study "Isn't This How A 'Third Person' Is Manufactured Into Bible Translations" to see for yourself a highly detailed list of examples of institutionally-sanctioned dishonesty in Bible translations. Those "translators" of those heavily paraphrased Bibles are going to go face to face with Jesus Christ in the judgment, because of their decisions to go anti-Christ!
Back to John 1:14b
How can Bible translators come up with a believable excuse for not translating any middle/reflexive voice verbs' inflected forms correctly into English? But they have come up with excuses, one of them is called deponent verb theory, for which there is no, none, zero evidence for it in the biblical Greek texts. So then what may possibly be the translators' grand reason for erroneously fudging/forging active voice in translation in place of middle voice, for hundreds if not over a thousand usages of middle voice verbs by Jesus' apostles? What could possibly be the great benefit to Bible readers from "translators" lying about the meanings of middle/reflexive voice verbs?
* Almost everyone believes/agrees that God is big enough and powerful enough to have his own free will! But since triune godhead proponents believe Jesus Christ is God, Jesus can't have his own free will! Does that make any sense to you?
I can't see there being two ways to go about this. If any believer is in agreement with destroying/obliterating out of Bible translations the things stated by Jesus' apostles using middle voice verbs, how can that possibly be pleasing in God's sight? If you caused yourself to become a believer/follower of the lord Jesus Christ and a Bible translator also, would you be comfortable cutting, hacking and slashing out of God's Word what the apostles of Jesus actually wrote, to replace it with yours or other's privately interpreted paraphrases? To me, deliberately destroying God's Word is like asking for yourself to be thrown into the harbor of fire on judgment day.
I caution myself when translating, to be very careful, that I don't accidentally replace/destroy God's Word with any manufactured paraphrases by me, which self-omniscient act must be equated as having contempt for God, and his son Christ Jesus, and God's prophets, and Jesus' disciples and apostles, and you and me! Further more, I don't want to read other people's opinions forged/paraphrased into Bibles about what Jesus' apostles wrote. I want to read only exactly what Jesus' apostle wrote!
So what caused Jesus' followers to stick around, looking, watching and paying attention to Jesus Christ? The things Jesus was saying and doing "knocked them out" (Mat. 13:54, 19:23-26, 22:33-37; Mark 6:1-2)! There's another ancient Greek idiom, "knocked them out", which etymology would be interesting. Today we might say, "blew their minds". Jesus was speaking Truth, something not many people had heard before from the Judean religious leaders (John 8:44) in Israel. The God YHWH Elohim was working in and through Jesus doing signs, miracles and wonders (2 Cor. 5:18-20), which were all "knocking out" the people who were listening and watching. That's how people knew that Jesus wasn't a fake religious leader.
Jesus Christ was causing himself, through causing himself to exercise his own free will, to do his heavenly Father's will, which then allowed his heavenly Father, the God almighty, to work in and through Jesus (John 6:37-40). Jesus learned how to allow his heavenly Father, holy Spirit, to work in and through him. This is what all of the followers of Jesus Christ are supposed to learn from Jesus' examples for us (John 14:12-14), especially from ALL of those middle/reflexive voice verb examples in the biblical texts!!!
So what is the motivation which causes believers in God's Word and followers of Jesus Christ to learn love and obedience to the God? Isn't it first a believer's thirst for righteousness with God, through knowing and understanding God's Word? And then subsequently, isn't it their love for God which develops as God reveals himself to them? Isn't it a believer's love for the God with all of his heart, soul, mind and strength which causes God to reciprocate back to them according to his new covenant in Jesus' shed blood and death? The way in and through which God travels, searching for those who love him and have belief in his Word, is through people's hearts (Rom. 8:27-28; Mat. 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:3-6). Our own hearts/minds are the paths and ways which are up to us to make "straight", meaning honest, truthful, according to God's Word.
Once again in John 1:14b:
of [an] only genus3439 (monogenous) - At the time of Jesus' earthly ministry, after he caused himself to become flesh and tent among us, but before the day of Pentecost (Acts 2), or before any other mortals received a new birth above in God's gift of holy Spirit, Jesus Christ was literally the first mortal man to receive a new birth above in God's gift of holy Spirit, making Jesus at that moment time both the firstborn son, and the one and only genus of the God upon the earth, mere moments in time before the coming to pass of the great Joel 2:28-29 prophecy, through which new covenant God would become the heavenly father of countless more paternal sons of God (Acts 2).
At least upon and after the day of Pentecost the ascended Jesus Christ baptized believers (Mat. 3:11; John 1:33; Acts 2:33) from above in God's gift of holy Spirit, which produced more born from above children of God, children of God's genus. According to the biblical texts, on the day of Pentecost recorded in Acts 2 is when Jesus ceased being God's only begotten son and became the firstborn among many brethren, when about three thousand more souls (Acts 2:41) received a new birth above in God's gift of holy Spirit into sonship.
According to what the apostles of Jesus taught, and Jesus himself, not all people upon earth are God's children. All people upon earth are God's creation, but only those believers who have believed upon Jesus' name and who have received a new birth above in God's gift of his holy Spirit, God's genus, are actually children of the God. Whenever you may hear people virtue signaling about themselves, saying, "We're all God's children", that statement actually indicates their ignorance about a primary fundamental truth of God's Word, about how the God has children.
Learning out of God's Word what actually constitutes being a child of God is one of the most basic and easiest of things to learn. Believers who have actually received a new birth from above in holy Spirit, God's genus, know the differences in births very well, and would never say, about humanity in general, "We're all children of God." If you know supposed preachers in pulpits making that statement, run for your spiritual lives! Or stick around for a few years and let him fully fill your head with religious BS, phony God's Word, which BS you will soon be parroting in place of what God's Word actually says. Why is everyone so anxious to parrot blasphemy against god? Is it to go along to get along, to feel relevant, to feel accepted? Is it to get along with, feel relevant to and accepted by everyone but God and his son Christ Jesus?
There are several passages in which the biblical writers chose to use the word genus. Forms of its root, genos, are used twenty times in the NT biblical texts (UBS4). In Acts 17 disciple Luke sheds light upon what is a genus, and who may be a genus of who. Historically, in the hierarchy of Nature, Genus has always been classified as a subset of Family, and Species. This relationship of Natural classification appears to me to be used and presented by the biblical writers as well, there being abundant examples throughout the biblical texts of this close relationship between Family and Genus.
The following passages in Matthew, Mark and Luke describe the Word's/Jesus' fourth birth from above.
Here come the STATEMENTS of the Word's fourth birth: Mat. 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke 3:22; John 1:32
Mat. 3:16 - And (kai) behold (idou), the (hoi) heavens (ouranoi) were opened up (ēneōchthēsan) to him (autō), and (kai) [Jesus, v16, RE] saw (eiden) the (to) Spirit (pneuma) of the (tou) God (theou) coming down (katabainon) as if (hōsei) [a] dove (peristeran), and (kai) causing itself to come (erchomenon) upon (ep) him (auton)!
Mark 1:10 - And (kai) straightaway (euthus) stepping up (anabainōn) out (ek) of the (tou) water (hudatos), [Jesus, v9, RE] saw (eiden) the (tous) heavens (ouranous) being split (schizomenous), and (kai) the (to) Spirit (pneuma), as (hōs) [a] dove (peristeran), coming down (katabainon) into (eis) him (auton).
Luke 3:22 - ... and (kai) for the (to) Spirit (pneuma), the (to) holy one (hagion), to come down (katabēnai) upon (ep’) him (auton) [in, AE] [a] bodily (sōmatikō) sight (eidei), as (hōs) of [a] dove (peristeran), and (kai) for [a] voice (phōnēn) out (ex) of heaven (ouranou) to cause itself to come to pass (genesthai), “You (su) are (ei) the (ho) son (huios) of me (mou), the (ho) beloved one (agapētos);
in (en) you (soi) I well-approved (eudokēsa).”
Please notice exactly what disciple Luke recorded God as saying; I well-approved (eudokēsa) is in the aorist, generally a past tense, which past tense means that the God had given his approval for the Word's/Jesus' sonship at some time previous to the present time of the context. Could that approval have come at the time of the Word's second birth, which birth was recorded by Solomon in Prov. 8:23. Any and every little tiny bit of inflection used in any of the words written by the prophets or apostles, means something, and must be read out of the biblical texts, as opposed to reading private interpretations into the texts.
John 1:32 - And (kai) John (Iōannēs) witnessed (emarturēsen), saying (legōn) that (hoti), “I have been made [a] spectator (tetheamai) of the (to) Spirit (pneuma) coming down (katabainon) as (hōs) [a] dove (peristeran) out (ex) of heaven (ouranou)!
And (kai) [the Spirit, RE] stayed (emeinen) upon (ep’) him (auton)!
The fact that in each one of these four biblical records the apostles/disciples of Jesus Christ recorded that the God spoke out of the heaven in an audible voice after he baptized Jesus in his own holy Spirit, his own genus, leads me to believe that this was yet another birth of the Word/Jesus Christ into sonship, his fourth birth which was similar to his second birth into sonship, both of which were spiritual births into holy Spirit, God's own genus.
According to the Evangelism of Jesus Christ written in the biblical Greek texts, God's gift of holy Spirit is God's genus. The receipt of God's gift of his genus is what causes a mortal being to become a son of God. From this revelation in the new covenant biblical texts we now know what it was which Adam and Eve forfeited through their sin against God by believing the serpent's/devil's (the "tree" of the knowledge of good and evil) words over God's Word. They lost/forfeited sonship with the God, they ceased being of the God's genus. This is the genus relationship between the God and his creation which the Word/Jesus Christ was sent into the cosmos to repair and restore.
Now lets look into a record in Acts about believers who believe upon the name of Jesus becoming genera (plural of genus) of the God as well, similar to how the Word/Jesus Christ became a genus of his heavenly Father.
Acts 17:25 (LIT/UBS4) But absolutely not (oude) under (hupo) [authority, AE] of hands (cheirōn) of mortals (anthrōpinōn) is [the God, v24, RE] being given therapy (therapeuetai), he [absolutely not, RE] causing himself to beg (prosdeomenos) for something (tinos);
he (autos) giving (didous) to all (pasi) life (zōēn), and (kai) breath (pnoēn), and (kai) all (panta) the things (ta)!
Acts 17:26 (LIT/UBS4) And (te) he made (epoiēsen) out (ex) of one (henos) [mortal, RE] every (pan) ethnic group (ethnos) of mortals (anthrōpōn);
to home-down (katoikein) over (epi) every (pantos) face (prosōpou) of the (tēs) land (gēs), he having segregated (horisas) [every ethnic group, RE];
they having been arranged toward (prostetagmenous) times (kairous), and (kai) the (tas) set boundaries (horothesias) of the (tēs) homing-down place (katoikias) of them (autōn),
every (pan) ethnic group (ethnos) of mortals (anthrōpōn) - This phrase somewhat generally defines what is meant by a genus in the biblical texts, an ethnic group. But a genus in the biblical texts can be even a more defined subset of an ethnic group as I show below.
Acts 17:27 (LIT/UBS4) to search (zētein) for the (ton) God (theon), if (ei) so (ara) indeed (ge) they may feel (psēlaphēseian) for him (auton), and (kai) they may find (heuroien) [the God, RE].
And (kai) indeed (ge) [the God, RE] [is] absolutely not (ou) far off (makran) from (apo) each (hekastou) one (henos) of us (hēmōn) being under control (huparchonta) [of him, AE]!
each (hekastou) one (henos) of us (hēmōn) being under control (huparchonta) [of him, AE]! - Those in Athens being under control of the God appear to me to be the ones apostle Paul is directly addressing, while he knows many unbelievers are listening to him also.
Acts 17:28 (LIT/UBS4) Because (gar) in (en) him (autō) we live (zōmen), and (kai) we are (esmen) moved (kinoumetha) also (kai);
as (hōs) some (tines) also (kai) of the (tōn) performers (poiētōn) have stated (eirēkasin) down according to (kath’) you (humas), “Because (gar) we are (esmen) [a] genus (genos) also (kai) of the (tou) [God, v27, RE].”
we are (esmen) [a] genus (genos) also (kai) of the (tou) [God, v27, RE]. - Who were the "we"? According to the context of Acts 17:16-31, apostle Paul states to the Judeans in a synagogue in Athens that the "we" were apostle Paul and his companions and other Athenian Judeans present who had already received a new birth above in the God's gift of holy Spirit, his genus.
But this synagogue in Athens was a synagogue of the Judeans (Acts 17:1), and so apostle Paul was presenting his argument to them, but not only to them. There were other people there also, from the marketplace (v17), and some philosophers of the Epicureans (v18) and stoics (v18) as well. Apostle Paul was preaching to them all, the Evangelism of Jesus Christ and Jesus' standing up out of dead ones (v18).
Here in Acts 17 is one example of how apostle Paul presented the concept of being a genus of the God. How did Jesus' other apostles and disciples present the contextual meaning of the word genus in the biblical texts?
I translate genus (singular) and genera (plural) from their root genos, Strong's # 1085 in my LIT and analytical Greek lexicon (LITAGL), a free download. Here's a quick overview of the contexts in which the twenty usages of forms of genos appear in the biblical Greek texts. A careful reading of these passages explains the various kinds of genera preached, taught and written about by Jesus' apostles and disciples. Here's a free download of an Excel pivot table, Genus Pivot, which includes monogenos, showing all of the genus relationships among Families given by the apostles in the NT biblical texts.
Mat. 13:47 - various genera of fish - Carp, Bullhead, Bass, Perch - a genus of Family
Mark 7:26 - various genera of people - Parthians, Medes, Elamites, Asians - a genus of Family
Mark 9:29 - various genera of demon spirits - a genus of Family
Acts 4:6 - various genera of chief sacrificial priests - a genus of Family
Acts 4:36 - various genera of Levites, a Cypriot - a genus of Family and geographical location
Acts 7:13 - the genus of Joseph, son of Jacob - a genus of Family
Acts 7:19 - the genus of Joseph, Joseph's forefathers - a genus of Family
Acts 13:26 - the genus of Abraham, males, brothers and sons - a genus of Family
Acts 17:28 - a genus of the God - a genus of Family
Acts 17:29 - a genus also of the God, apostle Paul and his companions - a genus of Family
Acts 18:2 - a genus of Pontican, Aquila - a genus of a geographical location
Acts 18:24 - a genus of Alexandria, Apollos - a genus of a geographical location
1 Cor. 12:10 - a genus of tongues - a genus of Family of languages
1 Cor. 12:28 - various genera of tongues - a genus of Family of languages
1 Cor. 14:10 - various genera of sounds - a genus of Family of sounds
2 Cor. 11:26 - the genus of apostle Paul - a genus of Family - Judeans
Gal. 1:14 - the genus of apostle Paul - a genus of Family - Judeans
Phil. 3:5 - the genus of apostle Paul - a genus of Family - Israel, tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews
1 Pet. 2:9 - the genus of those who have received God's gift of holy Spirit - a genus of Family - a kingly priesthood, a holy ethnic group, a people being acquired by the God
Rev. 22:16 - the earthly fleshly genus of Jesus Christ - the genus of David - a genus of Family
These twenty contexts of genos provide a clear delineation for what is and is not a biblical genos, or genus. What is a biblical genos is determined by the writers of the biblical texts, no one else; not Constantine in the fourth century, not your denominational church leaders, no one else.
Continuing in Acts 17:
Acts 17:29 (LIT/UBS4) Therefore (oun), <we being> [a] genus (genos) under control (huparchontes) of the (tou) God (theou), we absolutely do not owe (ouk opheilomen) to decide (nomizein) the (to) godly one (theion) to be (einai) like (homoion) [a] gold (chrusō), or (ē) [a] silver (argurō), or (ē) [a] stone (lithō) character (charagmati) of technical ability (technēs), and (kai) of [an] inner passion (enthumēseōs) of [a] mortal (anthrōpou)!
[a] genus (genos) under control (huparchontes) of the (tou) God (theou) - I believe this a believer who has received a new birth above in God's gift of his paternal holy Spirit, sonship. But once again looking at Bible Hub we can see how Bible translators and producers have translated genos using supposed synonyms as paraphrases; as offspring, descendants, children, generation, posterity, family, lineage, instead of what the biblical text actually says, simply genus! The translators are supposed to translate the Greek word genos into English as "genus", not their own privately interpreted "synonyms" of what they think a possible genus might be! That's for readers to determine for themselves from reading out of the various passages and contexts.
Since the transliteration of Greek genos into genus is identical to our English word genus, and the etymological meaning of genos hasn't changed among ethnic groups over millenniums, signals to me that using paraphrases in place of genus is erroneously suggestive. Bible readers don't wish to see translator's paraphrased suggestions in Bibles, they want to read the biblical writer's actual wordage! get it? Other's privately interpreted ideas and suggestions belong in external documents like commentaries and glossaries, not in Bible translations where readers will mistakenly believe other's paraphrased and "synonymed" opinions are the words of a biblical writer. That deceitful trick is especially devilish. People who forge their own opinions into Bible translations must have ego-maniacal and self-omniscience issues. They're certainly not demonstrating humbleness and meekness toward the God, YHWH Elohim.
God's Word assumes that it's incumbent upon believers for each one to adjust his or her own level of reading comprehension and retention up to the level of the bar required by God himself, according to his Word. That's especially hard work for sin nature-based mortalkind, who would rather read into God's Word what they wish it would say, rather than read out of God's Word the teaching, reproof and correction necessary for one's training in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16). Make no mistakes about it, discipleship to Christ Jesus requires nothing less than a complete inventory of a believer's own habitual words and actions, to sort out and replace those which are not righteous in God's eyes, with words and actions which are righteous in God's eyes, as Jesus and his apostles demonstrated throughout the biblical texts. We changing our own thinking is what changes our own words and actions. A believer who changes his thinking to think God's Word is a believer who is successful at changing his previous habitual sinful words and actions, to now become pleasing in God's sight.
In Acts 17:29:
the godly one (theion) - In the biblical texts the use of theion in Acts 17:29 is as an adjective; not a noun, not a verb, and not any other part of speech. But in Bible Hub we can see that all popular Bible translations have translated theion as both common and proper nouns; as divine, Godhead, God, Divine Nature, nature, Divine Being, Deity, divinity, Godhood, divine being, Divinity, his nature, or anything instead of simply what the biblical text actually says, godly one. This is yet another example of people's private interpretations and opinions about a triune godhead model of God becoming "translated" into Bibles
When the biblical writers refer to the devil or demon spirits, they don't say "unholy spirits" they simply drop the use of the word holy altogether, because referring to demon spirits as unholy spirits is superfluous, redundant, excessive and therefore unnecessary. The biblical writers relied upon context to indicate to readers whether they were speaking of unholy spirits of some kind, without actually stating the word "unholy" in the biblical texts. Using the context to indicate "unholy" is how they did it. That's why there is no biblical Greek word ahagios, which would literally mean unholy.
1 Pet. 2:9a (LIT/UBS4) But (de) you (humeis) [are] [a] called out (eklekton) genus (genos), [a] kingly (basileion) priesthood (hierateuma), [a] holy (hagion) ethnic group (ethnos), [a] people (laos) in (eis) [a] periphery (peripoiēsin);
There may be wording in the old covenant books of the Bible, the books of the law, the psalms and the prophets, which explain to us how the God procured the Word in the beginning, maybe similar to how Moses wrote in the book of Genesis of how the God and the Word, "us", formed, made and created the Adam and Eve. For now I must conclude that the God supplied himself with the Word out of his own resources unknown to us. Whereas, Eve procured Cain out of the resource(s) God gave to her, which resource Adam and Eve had was the biological ability of Adam and Eve to produce and bare children through Eve.
In the biblical texts God is very often referred to as being a male in sex, because of the use of male pronouns he, him and his. But in actuality, the God is a Spirit, a holy Spirit, and spirit-based beings don't have flesh and bone-based physical characteristics, because they don't have flesh and bone per se as Jesus explained (Luke 24:39). But yet in the biblical texts we can see records of God's messengers appearing to mortals as though they did have physical characteristics of male mortals. Can holy Spirit-based beings, such as the heavenly host, become beings of any sex, or no sex, instantly, to suit whatever the God may desire? I believe so. There's no record of Lot asking to see under the robes of the three heavenly messengers who visited him, who to Lot looked like young men. My guess is that they instantaneously became young men, 100%.
There is that biblical record of the sons of God coming down and having sex with the daughters of men. But if God's heavenly host was or is locked into being only bright lights floating in mid air, then how was that heavenly host able to have sex with the daughters of mortals? Are heavenly messengers able to transform themselves at will? From the biblical texts I've read I believe yes.
[a] people (laos) in (eis) [a] periphery (peripoiēsin) - The idea of peripheralization socially may refer to people who are, as is said in the West, "on the outside looking in", people who are marginalized, not fully engaged in what's going on. But the idea of peripheralization in the biblical texts has both negative and positive connotations, mostly favorable in reference to supposed believers in God's Word. A negative connotation can be seen in Luke 17:33, in which Jesus states that whoever may search to peripheralize the soul of him, which according to the context means to me, not in abeyance to God's Word, for which example Jesus mentions Lot's female/wife, shall lose his soul.
But that negative connotation about someone being in the periphery, i.e., out of fellowship with God, becomes a positive connotation when the whole periphery of what the world considers to be worthless human beings, outcasts, deplorables, become the periphery of believers around Jesus Christ as his one body, who have become the periphery around the God as his genus sons by birth, through a spiritual new birth from above in God's holy Spirit. Peripheralization in the biblical texts draws my attention to those who the world may despise as being nothing, worthless, valueless people. But these are the very ones God is looking for to become his own sons and daughters (1 Cor. 1:24-31).
From an etymological standpoint, the constituent parts of the common noun peripoiēsin mean "something made around", like a margin, a perimeter, a boundary, a borderline. This margin, perimeter, boundary or borderline of God is made of the one body of Christ (1 Pet. 2:9-10, 1 Tim. 3:15). Contextually, the believers in a periphery are all standing around in the light, around Jesus Christ, absorbing the light, the knowledge, wisdom and understanding of God's Word from him, so they can pass it on to others through their own personal ministries.
I believe the biblical periphery is at least the one body of Christ, and the heavenly host, but it may include also all of those who are followers of Jesus Christ. Exactly who are the people who constitute the periphery around Jesus Christ can be defined in the contexts of the five usages of the inflected forms of peripoiēsis in Eph. 1:14; 1 Thes. 5:9; 2 Thes. 2:14; Heb. 10:39; 1 Pet. 2:9-10. Apostle Peter's record presents the most complete contextual definition of the composition of the periphery surrounding Jesus Christ; "[a] called out (eklekton) genus (genos), [a] kingly (basileion) priesthood (hierateuma), [a] holy (hagion) ethnic group (ethnos) ..."
Believers in the Evangelism of Jesus Christ are becoming the holy genus of God, holy spirit-based beings, through receiving a new birth above in God's gift of his paternal holy Spirit, making them sons of the God by paternal birth, by genus, not adoption as were the children of Israel. The same periphery around Jesus Christ as his one body of believers, is the periphery now around YHWH Elohim as his sons of God. The change of covenants from the Mosaic Law to the new covenant of God's grace (Acts 20:24), put through by Jesus' shed blood and death, has changed-out God's old periphery of the adopted children of Israel, to his new prophesied periphery, the one body of Christ, his sons by birth, by genus, his new permanent dwelling place built without mortal's hands. Please see my in-depth study, God's Desired True "Tent", His "Domed-roof House"!
Whenever we see the phrase holy Spirit in the biblical texts it ALWAYS refers to God himself, his "bodily" essence, i.e., the stuff of which God is composed, holy Spirit.
1 Pet. 2:9b it so being that (hopōs) you may get out the message (exangeilēte) of the (tas) virtues (aretas) of the (tou) [God, v4, RE] having called (kalesantos) you (humas) out (ek) of darkness (skotous) into (eis) the (to) amazing (thaumaston) light (phōs) of him (autou);
1 Pet. 2:10 (LIT/UBS4) ones who (hoi) in time past (pote) [were] absolutely not (ou) [a] people (laos), but (de) [are] now (nun) [a] people (laos) of God (theou);
the ones (hoi) absolutely not having been given mercy (ouk ēleēmenoi), but (de) [are] now (nun) ones having been given mercy (eleēthentes)!
As apostle Peter stated 1 Pet. 2:9 above, God's Word is about God's virtues, which virtues become born into us with a new birth from above in God's genus. I believe no mortal has the ability to demonstrate God's virtues to others, the way they were intended to be demonstrated, without first receiving God's gift of holy Spirit, which genus of God gives mortals the inherent power (Luke 24:49), the ability, to adequately demonstrate God's virtues to others, believably, convincingly.
John 1:32 (LIT/UBS4) And (kai) John (Iōannēs) witnessed (emarturēsen), saying (legōn) that (hoti), “I have been made [a] spectator (tetheamai) of the (to) Spirit (pneuma) coming down (katabainon) as (hōs) [a] dove (peristeran) out (ex) of heaven (ouranou)!
And (kai) [the Spirit, RE] stayed (emeinen) upon (ep’) him (auton)!
John 1:33a (LIT/UBS4) And I (kagō) had absolutely not seen (ouk ēdein) him (auton)!
Back in John 1:29-31, as John the Baptist begins another day preaching and water baptizing people into repentance to God, in the Jordan river, as he spots the promised Christ coming toward him, verses 29-30, John the Baptist says to his followers, in v 31, "And I (kagō) had absolutely not seen (ouk ēdein) him (auton)!" I take John the Baptist to mean, at least to me, in both v31 and v33, that up until this very day, in the context of the biblical text, that John had absolutely never seen Jesus Christ before with his own eyes. Please note that apostle John, not writing unconsciously, chose to use the emphatic Greek particle of negation, ouk from ou, to strongly emphasize that absolutely not until that day, and apostle John points out the beginning of that new day, back in v29, that John the Baptist had absolutely not seen Jesus Christ before. And then what does John the Baptist say next:
John 1:33b (LIT/UBS4) BUT (all’), the one (ho) having sent (pempsas) me (me) to baptize (baptizein) in (en) water (hudati), that one (ekeinos) enunciated (eipen) to me (moi), ‘Upon (eph’) perhaps (an) whomever (hon) you may see (idēs) the (to) Spirit (pneuma) coming down (katabainon) and (kai) staying (menon) upon (ep’) him (auton), this one (houtos) is (estin) the one (ho) baptizing (baptizōn) in (en) holy (hagiō) Spirit (pneumati)!’
In the LIT I use red letters to indicate when I believe either the prophets or the apostles were quoting the words of the Word/Jesus Christ. I use blue letters to indicate when I believe biblical writers were quoting the words of God himself.
John the Baptist, immediately following his emphatic statement that he had absolutely not seen the promised coming redeemer before this day, next emphatically states, using the very emphatic Greek conjunction of antithesis, all' from alla, meaning BUT (I capitalize all three letters of the word because that's how I "see" it's essential biblical intensity of meaning), he further states, "BUT (all’), the one (ho) having sent (pempsas) me (me) to baptize (baptizein) in (en) water (hudati), that one (ekeinos) enunciated (eipen) to me (moi), ...", that the one who sent John the Baptist, whom I presume is the God, YHWH Elohim, told him, gave him revelation, about how he, God, shall verify/confirm to John the Baptist the identity of God's promised coming redeemer, Jesus the Christ!
John the Baptist must have been expressing emotional joy in his voice when he witnessed to us through the use of these emphatic statements, partly about how the God had continued to work with him in his personal ministry up until this day, but mostly that God's promised coming messiah was now, this day, standing before him! God's age old prophecy has come true! And now he was going to see if God's dream or vision to him, about verifying/confirming to him the identity of the one coming to baptize in holy Spirit, shall come true as well!
God had already told the mortal man, John the Baptist, how Jesus Christ, the promised coming redeemer, would be verified/confirmed to him, through God's use of a dove. If YHWH Elohim never changes, then isn't this how he promises to work (1 Cor. 12-14) with all of those who believe upon the name of his son Christ Jesus?
John 1:34 (LIT/UBS4) And I (kagō) have gazed at (heōraka), and (kai) truly I have witnessed (memarturēka) that (hoti) this one (houtos) is (estin) the (ho) son (huios) of the (tou) God (theou)!”
In Rom. 8:28-29 apostle Paul states that Christ Jesus has received not only a new birth from the God, who is Jesus' heavenly Father, but that Jesus is the firstborn among other brothers, who became born sons also of the God. Not too many people talk about the God, YHWH Elohim, having other sons in addition to the Word, and what may be God's purpose for them.
Jesus Christ was the first mortal man to receive the coming to pass of the Joel 2:28-29 prophecy ("one being placed first in all things", Col. 1:18), the prophecy of the God coming to permanently dwell within his creation, his holy place, which he built with his own hand! Please see my study about God's Desired True "Tent", his "Domed-roof House!". Under the new covenant, God's new "Holy of Holies" is now the one body of Christ!
John the Baptist's Hesitation
The following passage in Matthew about the Word's apparent fourth birth has always puzzled me, about why John the Baptist would be hesitant to water baptize the Word/Jesus Christ who caused himself to become flesh to save all of mortalkind from the penalty of their sin. John the Baptist's response to Jesus seems to indicate to me some momentary confusion on John's part about why he should water baptize the promised coming redeemer who has no sins from which to repent, or for which to confess, to the God!
Mat. 3:13 (LIT/UBS4) Then (tote) the (ho) Jesus (Iēsous) causes himself to become alongside3854 (paraginetai) upon (epi) the (ton) Jordan (Iordanēn), from (apo) the (tēs) Galilee (Galilaias), to (pros) the (ton) John (Iōannēn) of the (tou) [water baptism, v11, RE] to be baptized (baptisthēnai) under (hup) [authority, AE] of him (autou).
"the Jesus causes himself to become alongside upon the Jordan" - Apparently Jesus was either walking in the river, or upon the river, or riding in a boat upon the Jordan river when he arrived to become water baptized under John the Baptist. Whichever may be the case, Matthew wrote that Jesus came upon the Jordan river to John's water baptism.
Matthew could have chosen to leave out the preposition epi, which would have allowed his sentence to say "causes himself to become alongside3854 (paraginetai) the (ton) Jordan (Iordanēn)." So why did Matthew add the preposition epi, meaning upon? There must be something to the question of why add epi if Matthew didn't wish his audience to notice something about the water? This is how I think, inquisitively. Everyone can think the way he or she chooses. My own conclusion is that if Jesus came walking upon the water then it seems likely to me that Matthew would have recorded something about people noticing that miracle and being "knocked out" by it. So I conclude that Jesus was either wading in or boating upon the Jordan river when he arrived. Boating across the land from Galilee, in the Jordan river, seems like it might be much easier and enjoyable than walking across somewhat open land, especially in the heat.
I believe, because of epi, that Jesus came to his two baptisms, water and holy Spirit, in a boat upon the Jordan river, to receive from his heavenly Father the spiritual ability to become a fisher of men, through receiving God's gift of his holy Spirit. The biblical metaphor of Jesus boating or walking upon water I believe is a metaphor for all things being under Jesus' feet (Psalm 8:6-8; 1 Cor. 15:24-28; Eph. 1:15-23; Heb. 2:1-8), especially control over demon spirits when they are typified by rushing or flooding waters, and especially the power of God's holy Spirit over which Jesus will have full control when he becomes filled with his heavenly Father's holy Spirit, filled with the fullness of God's godliness bodily (Col. 2:8-12), at this time. Don't neglect to read the above "under his feet" passages; because everything being under Jesus' feet are under the feet of his one body as well!
John the Baptist was sent to baptize mortals in physical water, but which water was declared by John to be a type to a coming baptism in God's holy Spirit. John's water baptism was only a type to the coming spiritual cleansing in God's holy Spirit, which is a token of God's grace having cleansed believers from the penalty of their sin! Maybe the point is that it's much easier for a believer to "boat" through life upon the water (using the power of God's holy Spirit) than to "walk" through life in the 'heat' of sin. Boating upon the "water" would certainly be more pleasing in God's eyes than sinning our way to the end of our earthly lives.
In apostle Paul's letter to the Ephesian believers (Eph. 5:25-27), Paul emphasized that statements of God's Word are like baths of water, which statements when believed clean up and heal a mortal on the inside, in a mortal's mind and heart; which renewing of one's mind with the knowledge of God's Word transforms a mortal into growing up into a measure of the fullness of the maturity of the Christ (Rom. 12:1-2; Eph. 4:13).
Mat. 3:14 (LIT/UBS4) But (de) the (ho) John (Iōannēs) was forbidding him to go through (diekōluen auton) [[a] baptism, v13, RE], saying (legōn), “I (egō) have (echō) need (chreian) to be baptized (baptisthēnai) under (hupo) [authority, AE] of you (sou), and (kai) you (so) cause yourself to come (erchē) to (pros) me (me)!?”
John the Baptist said, "I have need to be baptized under [authority, AE] of you ..." - Exactly what did he mean by that statement? The purpose of John's water baptism was to help people become righteous in God's eyes, through helping them repent to the God through confession of their sins, and to become thankful to the God for his love, grace and mercy.
Although having never met Jesus before this time, John the Baptist already knew who Jesus was and why he was here upon earth at this time. John the Baptist already knew that Jesus had no sins from which to repent or confess, because Jesus was the prophesied promised coming redeemer of Israel.
Did John the Baptist know that Jesus himself was not water baptizing people? What was the baptism with which John said he needed to be baptized from Jesus? Although not recorded by Matthew, Mark recorded that John the Baptist was preaching that one was coming behind him who would baptize them in holy Spirit (Mark 1:7-8). That may have been the kind of "baptism" John said he needed from Jesus.
Mat. 3:15 (LIT/UBS4) But (de) the (ho) Jesus (Iēsous) having been caused to make [a] decision (apokritheis), he enunciated (eipen) to (pros) him (auton), “Let [[the] baptism, v13, RE] go (aphes) at this time (arti), because (gar) thusly (houtōs) it is (estin) being conspicuous (prepon) for us (hēmin) to fulfill (plērōsai) all (pasan) righteousness (dikaiosunēn).”
Then (tote) he let go (aphiēsin) of him (auton) [to be baptized, v13, RE].
Based upon the evidence of God's dream or vision to John the Baptist of God's verification/confirmation to him of the promised redeemer's identity, using a dove, God had already planned when he was going to reveal the dove in his show, which would become John the Baptist's confirmation of the identity of YHWH Elohim's promised coming messiah, Jesus Christ.
Mat. 3:16 (LIT/UBS4) But (de) he having been baptized (baptistheis), straightaway (euthus) the (ho) Jesus (Iēsous) stepped up (anebē) from (apo) the (tou) water (hudatos).
And (kai) behold (idou), the (hoi) heavens (ouranoi) were opened up (ēneōchthēsan) to him (autō), and (kai) [Jesus, v16, RE] saw (eiden) the (to) Spirit (pneuma) of the (tou) God (theou) coming down (katabainon) as if (hōsei) [a] dove (peristeran), and (kai) causing itself to come (erchomenon) upon (ep) him (auton)!
Mat. 3:17 (LIT/UBS4) And (kai) behold (idou), [there was, AE] [a] voice (phōnē) out (ek) of the (tou) heavens (ouranōn), saying (legousa), “This one (houtos) is (estin) the (ho) son (huios) of me (mou), the (ho) beloved one (agapētos), in (en) whom (hō) I well-approved (eudokēsa).”
At the time God made this statement he spoke a past tense aorist verb to indicate when he had given his approval for the Word/Jesus Christ to become his firstborn son, I well-approved (eudokēsa). The aorist tense of this verb indicates that God may have already given his approval for the Word to become God's firstborn son, at some earlier time than at the time the Mat. 3:17 event occurred; five days earlier, five years earlier or five thousand years earlier. If YHWH Elohim had made his decision fairly recently to the timing of this event, to approve the Word/Jesus Christ for sonship, I expect YHWH Elohim would have used a present tense active voice verb, eudokō, meaning "I approve". But for some reason YHWH stated an aorist, a past tense, meaning God had concluded his approval for the Word's/Jesus Christ's sonship at some time in the past, at some time previous to this present moment alongside the Jordan river.
Did the God's initial approval for the Word to become his firstborn son come at the time of the Word's second birth, and not at this time recorded in Mat. 3:17 of the Word's fourth birth? Was this event "upon" the Jordan like a reenactment of the Word's second birth from above, recorded in Prov. 8:23, but demonstrated through John the Baptist at this time because God needed mortal witnesses to see the God giving a spiritual birth to a mortal man, his firstborn son, the firstborn of many brothers (Rom. 8:28-29)!?
The words which God spoke in his sight and sound show for Jesus' witnesses of his fourth birth, alongside of the Jordan river, are recorded in Mat. 3:17; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22, in which those three writers all used the same identical verb to indicate YHWH's past tense approval for the Word's/Jesus Christ's approval for sonship.
Mat. 3:17 (LIT/UBS4) ... “This one (houtos) is (estin) the (ho) son (huios) of me (mou), the (ho) beloved one (agapētos), in (en) whom (hō) I well-approved (eudokēsa).”
Mark 1:11 (LIT/UBS4) ... “You (su) are (ei) the (ho) son (huios) of me (mou), the (ho) beloved one (agapētos);
in (en) you (soi) I well-approved (eudokēsa).”
Luke 3:22 (LIT/UBS4) ... “You (su) are (ei) the (ho) son (huios) of me (mou), the (ho) beloved one (agapētos);
in (en) you (soi) I well-approved (eudokēsa).”
The verb eudokēsa is an indicative, aorist, active, first person, singular. Apparently, it's a first aorist with a transitive meaning indicating a past tense one time action completed in the past (perfective aspect), based upon its sa inflection ending, which I've learned based upon the Greek language text books I've studied; books about biblical Greek grammar and vocabulary, and especially biblical text books about biblical Greek inflected forms, supposedly written by Jesus' apostles and disciples.
It seems suitable to me to conclude this section, about the Word's fourth birth, through reviewing the exact wordage Jesus preached and taught to Nicodemus and others in John 3 about how morrtals are to receive a new birth from above in God's gift of his paternal holy Spirit. The following verses are quoted in the LIT from the UBS4 biblical Greek text.
John 3:1 (LIT/UBS4) But (de) there was being (en) [a] mortal (anthrōpos) out (ek) of the (tōn) Pharisees (Pharisaiōn), Nicodemus (Nikodēmos) [is the] name (onoma) [given, AE] to him (autō), [a] chief one758 (archōn) of the (tōn) Judeans (Ioudaiōn).
John 3:2 (LIT/UBS4) This one (houtos) came (ēlthe) to (pros) him (auton) [at, AE] night (nuktos), and (kai) he enunciated (eipen) to him (autō), "Rabbi (rhabbi), we have seen (oidamen) that (hoti) you have come (elēluthas) from (apo) God (theou), [a] teacher (didaskalos).
This one came to him [at, AE] night - The chief sacrificial priests had given an edict that anyone speaking the name of Jesus would be put out of the synagogue. Does that give you any hint about for whom the Judean religious leaders were working, at that time (John 8:44)?
we have seen that you come from God, a teacher - Apparently Nicodemus didn't believe that Jesus was God himself, since he speaks of Jesus as coming from God rather than being God himself.
John 3:2b (LIT/UBS4) Because (gar) absolutely not one can inherently power himself (oudeis dunatai) to do (poiein) these things (tauta), the (ta) signs (sēmeia) which (ha) you (su) do (poieis), if perhaps (ean) the (ho) God (theos) may not be (mē ē) with (met’) him (autou)!"
"if perhaps the God may not be with him" - Isn't it important to notice, in the biblical text, that Nicodemus didn't address Jesus as if he was God himself, but addressed Jesus as a prophet of the God, a mortal being with whom God chose to be. The essential meaning of the Greek preposition with (met') is accompaniment. Look it up in a biblical Greek lexicon of your own choosing, and then learn! That has always been the essential root meaning of met'/meta for thousands of years now. Nicodemus spoke of Jesus' as having his powerful abilities only because the God was accompanying Jesus, working in and through Jesus in a partnering/symbiotic(?) relationship. I'm simply reading the verse to you out of the biblical text. Nicodemus said with (met'), didn't he!?
Apparently Nicodemus distinguishes Jesus as being a separate entity from God himself, concluding that God must be with Jesus in order for Jesus to be able to have the inherent power to do the signs Jesus appeared to be doing. Apparently Nicodemus believed that the God and Jesus Christ were two separate and distinct entities from one another. That doesn't sound to me like Nicodemus was speaking about a triune godhead model of god, but something much different! What? Maybe Jesus Christ really was the firstborn son of God!
If "believers" don't like it that apostle John quoted Nicodemus as stating "with" in this verse, then maybe they should think about why they have within themselves a built-in distaste for God's Word, and how that may have already affected their own salvation/wholeness!
John 3:3 (LIT/UBS4) Jesus (Iēsous) was caused to make [a] decision (apekrithē), and (kai) he enunciated (eipen) to him (autō), "Truly (amēn), truly (amēn) I say (legō) to you (soi), if perhaps (ean) anyone (tis) may not have been generated (mē gennēthē) up above (anōthen), he can absolutely not inherently power himself (ou dunatai) to see (idein) the (tēn) Kingdom932 (basilian) of the (tou) God (theou)!”
"if perhaps anyone may not have been generated up above" - This is from where came Jesus' source of inherent spiritual power, and from where God's paternal gift of holy Spirit comes, from up above. Jesus Christ confirms to Nicodemus that the same source of power, holy Spirit, which was working in and through Jesus, to cause Jesus to appear to be doing signs (2 Cor. 5:19), is the same source of power from which believers are to receive a new birth from above in God's gift of holy Spirit, God himself. But it's Jesus Christ, from up above, who does the spiritual baptizing (Mat. 3:11) of believers into Jesus' one body.
"he can absolutely not inherently power himself - Jesus Christ plainly states that unless a believer has received a new birth from above, God's gift of holy Spirit, that he can absolutely not inherently power himself spiritually. God himself, holy Spirit, is the only source of spiritual power with which believers in Jesus' name should be concerned. Throughout all of the biblical texts, Jesus Christ mentions no other source of spiritual power from which Jesus and his one body can be energized to do anything, if God, holy Spirit, is not with him or them (John 8:28-29; 3:27; 15:4-5)!
to see the Kingdom of the God" - A new birth from above in God's gift of holy Spirit is required in order for a believer to be empowered to do what? Jesus said "see" the Kingdom of God. But, did Jesus mean see objectively or "see" subjectively? Again, what did Jesus Christ state? Let's read it out of God's Word.
Luke 17:20 (LIT/UBS4) But (de) he having received [an] inquiry (eperōtētheis) under (hupo) [authority, AE] of the (tōn) Pharisees (pharisaiōn) for when (pote) the (hē) Kingdom (basileia) of the (tou) God (theou) is caused to come (erchetai), he was caused to make [a] decision (apekrithē) for them (autois), and (kai) he enunciated (eipen), “The (hē) Kingdom (basileia) of the (tou) God (theou) is absolutely not caused to come (ouk erchetai) with (meta) careful watching alongside (paratērēseōs)!
(The Pharisees inquired about only
when does the Kingdom of the
God come. For a thorough
explanation by Jesus Christ about what is the Kingdom of the
God, and when, and where,
and how does the Kingdom of the God come into a believer, see
Mark 4:1-32.)
Luke 17:21 (LIT/UBS4) But they shall absolutely not state (oude erousin), ‘Behold (idou), here (hōde)!’ or (ē), ‘Behold (idou), there (ekei)!’
Because (gar) behold (idou), the (hē) Kingdom932 (basileia) of the (tou) God (theou) is (estin) within (entos) you (humōn)!”
If apostle John and disciple Luke both quoted Jesus Christ correctly, then when Jesus stated "see" the Kingdom of God in John 3:3, he meant "see" subjectively, according to Luke 17:20-21, because how can anyone physically see/observe a belief about a spiritual reality? Jesus used "see" figuratively, as a term of/for enlightenment (2 Cor. 4:7). In this usage, by "see" Jesus means the ability the learn/know and understand God's Word about the kingdom of the God. But Jesus Christ gives God's holy Spirit to his believers so that they may "see" not only the Kingdom of the God, but many spiritual things (1 Cor. 2:9-15)! The holy Spirit of God, God himself, is required to be living within a believer in order for any believers to be empowered to "see" anything spiritual within God's Word and creation (Rom.8:5-16)!
Aare not all of the believers in Jesus' one body God's new Kingdom upon earth? Isn't a king's kingdom the "dom", i.e., the 'decrees, judgments' under which a king's people live? If the one body of Jesus Christ lives their daily lives in respect and fear of God's Word, of his decrees and judgments, then isn't the one body of Christ God's new Kingdom upon earth, by simple definition?
By definition, a kingdom is a country, state or territory ruled by a king. But doesn't the king look for obedience to his rule from the people themselves in a country, state or territory? The king isn't looking for the land itself, per se, to be obedient to him, but for the people throughout the land to be obedient to him. That's why I believe that all of the believers in the one body of Christ, who have repented to God for their own past sins, who, supposedly, have now committed themselves to doing only God's will, who are now the one body of Christ, are (individually), or is (collectively), God's new Kingdom upon earth!
If this is true, and it is, according to the biblical texts which I read, then WHEN did God's new Kingdom upon earth arrive? Didn't it arrive when Jesus received God's holy Spirit into himself alongside the Jordan river, very shortly after he was water baptized by John the Baptist? Isn't that when the King of kings, God, officially arrived into his new temple, Jesus Christ, upon earth, his own temple not made with human hands, but made by God himself with his own "hand". How is it possible that God would build his own new prophesied living "temple" in a kingdom other than his own? Please see my study, God's Desired True "Tent", His "Domed-Roof House"!
Please allow me to take you through God's Word step by step, to show you one of the ways in which I've come to my own beliefs about what is the Kingdom of the God:
- Didn't Jesus Christ pray that God's Kingdom in heaven would come to be upon earth as well (Mat. 6:10)?
- And, didn't Jesus Christ state that the Kingdom of God upon earth would be within believers (Luke 17:21)?
- And so, what is Jesus Christ's kingdom, the kingdom of the Son of the Mortal (Mat. 16:28)? Isn't Jesus Christ's kingdom his own one body of believers which he is building?
- And so then, are not passages in God's Word which speak of God coming to permanently live/dwell in believers, in those who have believed upon the name of Jesus, in Jesus' one body, passages about God working in and through his new Kingdom upon earth (Rom. 8:9; Gal. 2:20; Phil. 2:13; 1 John 4:16)?
- The one body of Christ is known as a kingdom of sacrificial priests (Rev. 1:6, 5:10)!
- How can apostle John be partaking in the kingdom with us, with all of his believing companions, if it does not yet exist (Rev. 1:9)?
- The one body of Christ is called the Kingdom of the Cosmos (Rev. 11:15-17)! Isn't this the coming to pass of God's Kingdom upon earth, for which Jesus taught his disciples to pray (Luke 11:2)?
- Isn't Jesus', the Son of the Mortal's kingdom his own one body of believers (Mat. 16:28)?
- Are not all of these references to a kingdom references to the Kingdom which Jesus Christ is building with his one body of believers? And isn't that kingdom the same Kingdom which he is going to turn over to his heavenly Father after he is finished building it (1 Cor. 1:20-28)?
This is the Kingdom of God which I "see" in the biblical texts! I hope you also can "see" it.
John 3:4 (LIT/UBS4) The (ho) Nicodemus (Nikodēmos) says (legei) to (pros) him (auton), “How (pōs) [can, AE] [a] mortal (anthrōpos) being (ōn) old (gerōn) inherently power himself (dunatai) to be generated (gennēthēnai)?
[[A] mortal, RE] cannot inherently power himself (mē dunatai) to enter in (eiselthein) into (eis) the (tēn) belly (koilia) of the (tēs) mother (mētros) of him (autou) and (kai) to be generated (gennēthēnai) [a] second (deuteron) [time, AE]!”
John 3:5 (LIT/UBS4) Jesus (Iēsous) was caused to make [a] decision (apekrithe), “Truly (amēn), truly (amēn) I say (legō) to you (soi), if perhaps (ean) anyone (tis) may not have been generated (mē gennēthē) out (ek) of water (hudatos) and (kai) of Spirit (pneumatos), he can absolutely not inherently power himself (ou dunatai) to enter in (eiselthein) into (eis) the (tēn) Kingdom932 (basileian) of the (tou) God (theou)!
if perhaps anyone may not have been generated out of water and of Spirit -
- of water: Concerning human birth, as far as we know, you, me, or as anyone may know, around the world, for as long as humans have been giving birth on this planet, a woman's "water breaking" is often one of the early signs of labor, and a sign of an immanent birth. If Jesus may mean something else by "water" in this verse, I'll let the reader determine what else it may be.
- of Spirit: Concerning human generation/birth in God's gift of himself, holy Spirit, Jesus begins explaining it by describing it as a kind of birth which gives a human being a supernatural ability, the inherent power to both "see" and enter in into the Kingdom of the God, which Kingdom of God comes into existence within a believer.
A human's birth in "water" is how a human is generated/born into the cosmos. But a human's generation/birth in God's gift of his paternal holy Spirit is how a human becomes empowered to become a paternal son or daughter of YHWH Elohim, and to both "see" and enter into the Kingdom of the God!
John 3:6 (LIT/UBS4) The (to) one having been generated (gegennēmenon) out (ek) of the (tēs) flesh (sarkos) is (esti) flesh (sarx), and (kai) the (to) one having been generated (gegennēmenon) out (ek) of the (tou) Spirit (pneumatos) is (esti) Spirit (pneuma)."
Apostle John quotes Jesus Christ speaking, here in v6, about a disciple's own self-perception. It's already a given that most any human being born in flesh and blood knows that his consciousness in this cosmos depends upon keeping his fleshly body alive. But how can a believing person's consciousness be kept alive beyond the death of his fleshly body? YHWH Elohim, God himself, holy Spirit! From the example of the unending expanse of the cosmos God made, in which we all live, YHWH Elohim has more than plenty of inherent power to make believers alive again (Rom. 8:1-17). Apostle Paul, in Rom. 8:11, states that when believers die and go to the grave, that God, holy Spirit, stays within believers, even into the grave, and that after a believer's death God's in-housing holy Spirit within believers shall make believers' death-doomed bodies alive again!
Getting believers to think of themselves as spirit-based beings, even while still alive upon earth, in fleshly bodies, is apparently somewhat difficult for believers to do. This is the kind of "old man" thinking from which disciples of Jesus Christ need to be transformed (Rom. 12:2)! This challenge in discipleship growth is overcome through a believer building his own knowledge and belief in God's Word, building his own "domed-roof house". Apostle Paul called it a renewing of the mind (Rom. 12:2). Discipleship to Jesus Christ is something which starts in a believer's life, but it never ends. Discipleship to Jesus Christ, and sonship to YHWH Elohim, are both 24/7 callings. The very first responsibility of a disciple to Jesus Christ is to build precious knowledge, and then understanding, and subsequently BELIEF in God's Word. To accomplish this first goal of discipleship believers must determine exactly what is and what is not God's Word. Salvation/wholeness and spiritual growth into the fullness of the maturity of the Christ (Eph. 4:13) cannot occur from reading and believing mortal-made/devil-made paraphrased lies forged into Bible translations!!!
John 3:7 (LIT/UBS4) Do not be amazed (mē thaumasēs) that (hoti) I enunciated (eipon) to you (soi) it is required (dei) of you (humas) to be generated (gennēthēsai) up above (anōthen)!
What was for the Word/Jesus Christ his fourth birth or origin, is for other mortals in God's creation a second birth or origin, this one coming from above in YHWH Elohim's gift of holy Spirit, himself!
SUMMARY of The Word's Fourth Birth
In chapter four, The Word's Fourth Birth, I began this chapter by presenting the biblical concept/truth about the meanings of the Greek word genus/genera, used in the NT biblical Greek texts. We saw that disciples of Jesus Christ first became spectators of him, as they watched how he conducted himself, in his belief in God's Word and in his walk through life.
We read that the glory Jesus Christ received in his ministry was from his heavenly Father working in and through him to love and heal all of those believing upon Jesus' name.
I introduced a reader to the use of pivot tables as study tools, to accelerate one's own digestion of biblical "data", using a pivot table to track the meaning of the word genus/genera throughout the NT biblical Greek texts.
In this fourth chapter I presented a challenge to biblical Greek students to help them determine whether they are being taught to lie in Bible translations using paraphrases to replace vital meanings present in the words of the NT biblical Greek texts. Are you being taught to lie about what ancient Greek texts say, at the same time you're being taught biblical Greek?
We examined the statements, by the biblical writers, of the mortal man, Jesus Christ, receiving a new birth from above, a fourth birth, in God's paternal gift of himself, holy Spirit (Mat. 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke 3:22; John 1:32).
We spent some time reviewing examples in Acts, and in other passages, of what is a genus or genera of God. We also spent important time reviewing, with the help of Bible Hub, about how the essential meaning of genus has been thoroughly forged out of English Bible translations using paraphrases, in ALL triune godhead-based Bibles!
In Mat. 3 I attempted to explain what I noticed was a bit of hesitation on John the Baptist's part to water baptize Jesus Christ. And we reviewed various biblical records of the apostles quoting what God said out of heaven, after Jesus' baptism in God's gift of himself, holy Spirit, claiming Jesus Christ as his firstborn son.
Then we reviewed John 3, in which Jesus Christ taught Nicodemus about what is a new birth from above in God's gift of holySpirit. Since Jesus' teaching to Nicodemus included a reference about mortals having the ability to subjectively "see" (v3) the Kingdom of the God, and to enter into the Kingdom of the God (v5), I shared the scripture references of why I believe the one body of Christ is Christ's Kingdom, which when in the end it is turned over to Jesus' heavenly Father it becomes known as the Kingdom of the God, here upon earth for which Jesus taught his disciples to pray (Mat. 6:5-13). The prophesied Kingdom of the God coming to be upon earth is here now, in the form of the one body of Christ!
In the Word's/Jesus' 2nd and 4th births the God himself "baptized" the Word/Jesus in God's paternal gift of his genus, God's spore (1 Pet. 1:23), holy Spirit. The 2nd birth for the remainder of the posterity of Adam, to restore them back into having a righteous relationship with the God, YHWH Elohim, comes to mortalkind through Jesus Christ (Mat. 3:11). The Word/Jesus, who has earned redemption for the posterity of Adam (Please see my study titled The Biblical Texts-Based Christology of the Word), who on account of which has received the God's inheritance for both Jesus and those believing upon his name, is now the agent of the God who is baptizing those who believe upon Jesus' name with the God's paternal gift of his holy Spirit, God's seed, spore, God's genus (Rom. 9:29; Gal. 3:16; 1 John 3:9; 1 Pet. 1:23, 2:9).
-------- : --------
Chapter 5 - The Word's Fifth Birth - "firstborn [son of him, v13, RE] out of the dead ones"
Mat. 26:36 (LIT/UBS4) Then (tote) the (ho) Jesus (Iēsous) causes himself to come (erchetai) with (met’) them (autōn) into (eis) [a] parcel (chōrion) being said (legomenon) [to be] Gethsemane (Gethsēmani).
And (kai) he says (legei) to the (tois) disciples (mathētai), “Sit down (kathisate) here (autou) until (heōs) of which (hou) [time, AE], I having gone away (apelthōn) there (ekei), I may cause myself to be well-thankful toward4336 (proseuxōmai) [God, AE].”
Do you see apostle Matthew's deliberate use of the middle voice verb proseuxōmai, to show Jesus Christ as having his own self autonomy, his own personal free will? And, do you see the subjective inflection of that word as well, "I may cause myself"? Jesus always decided for himself if and when he would be well-thankful to his heavenly Father (watch ALL of the middle voice verbs throughout the NT!), and if and when he would do anything for his heavenly Father!
Jesus Christ, as any mortal man, had his own free will to do anything as he may have desired. BUT, and this is the bull's-eye of his examples for us to follow, he always did his heavenly Father's will (John 5:19, 30, 6:38-40, 17:24)! This shows us another definition of sin, which is not doing our heavenly Father's will. This may be why many mortals (believers? disciples? Christians?) don't want to know God's Word, because they desire to always do their own will, and don't desire to face their own sin!
Mat. 26:37 (LIT/UBS4) And (kai) having taken along (paralabōn) Peter (Petron) and (kai) the (tous) two (duo) sons (huious) of Zebedee (Zebedaiou), he caused himself to start (ērxato) to be grieved (lupeisthai), and (kai) to be very heavy (adēmonein).
Mat. 26:38 (LIT/UBS4) Then (tote) he says (legei) to them (autois), “The (hē) soul (psuchē) of me (mou) is (estin) one going around grieving (perilupos) until (heōs) death (thanatou)!
Stay (meinate) here (hōde), and (kai) stay awake (grēgoreite) with (met’) me (emou)!”
Mat. 26:39 (LIT/UBS4) And (kai) having gone before (proelthōn) [Peter and the two sons, RE] [a] small (mikron) [way, AE], he fell4098 (epesen) upon (epi) [the] face (prosōpon) of him (autou) causing himself to be well-thankful to4336 (proseuchomenos) [God, AE], and (kai) saying (legōn), “Father (pater) of me (mou), if (ei) the (to) cup (potērion) is (estin) [an] inherently powered one (dunaton), <let> this one (touto) pass aside (parelthatō) from (ap’) me (emou);
moreover (plēn), absolutely not (ouch) as (hōs) I (egō) desire (thelō), BUT (all’), as (hōs) you (su) [desire, RE]!”
According to what my eyes can read, in Mat. 26:37-39 apostle Matthew portrays Jesus Christ as agonizing over his thoughts over his own death. Why would God agonize over his own death, as if it was a possibility?
The Word's/Jesus Christ's fifth birth, I see in the NT biblical Greek texts, occurred when Jesus' heavenly Father, YHWH Elohim, made Jesus alive again while in the grave, and raised him out of the dead ones (Mat. 28:1-8; Mark 16:1-10; Luke 24:1-9, 39; John 20:1-18; *Col. 1:18; *Rev. 1:5).
Here come statements by apostles Paul and John of the Word's fifth birth: Col. 1:18; Rev. 1:4-5
Col. 1:18 (LIT/UBS4) And (kai) he (autos) is (estin) the (hē) head (kephalē) of the (tou) body (sōmatos) of the (tēs) assembly (ekklēsias), one who (hos) is (estin) [the] beginning one746 (archē), [the] firstborn (prōtotokos) [son of him, v13, RE] out (ek) of the (tōn) dead ones (nekrōn);
in order that (hina) he (autos) may cause himself to become (genētai) one being placed first (prōteuōn) in (en) all things (pasin);
he is the head of the body of the assembly (ekklēsias) - Jesus Christ is the head of his one body of believers, the believers who have believed the Evangelism of Jesus Christ, not Constantine's false Christianity. YHWH Elohim knows the difference between the two, and he can determine exactly what believers are believing in their hearts. If anyone desires to have fellowship with Jesus Christ and his heavenly Father, the one true God almighty, YHWH Elohim, believing only the Evangelism of Jesus Christ will get you there.
Spiritual victories are never about how big and strong we are in the flesh, it's always about how big and strong is God's Spirit within us, to throw out demon spirits and heal us! The presence of YHWH's Spirit within a disciple of Jesus Christ repels demon spirits from entering, because greater is God's Spirit in a believer than the spirit of the anti-Christ in the cosmos (1 John 4:4). YHWH Elohim was/is big and strong enough to put life back into each and every cell of Jesus' dead body, and I believe ours also!
According to Heb. 11, for all of those witnesses to us of God's power, God's Spirit within them was big and strong enough to supply their personal needs, very nicely. Why? Why do some disciples of Jesus see God work in their lives and other disciples do not? Those with adequate love and belief in their hearts, for YHWH and his son Jesus Christ, receive God's gracious things into their lives, while those without adequate belief do not (Heb. 11:6). Here's the remedy (Rom. 10:17)!
IF disciples of Jesus Christ do not have an adequate amount of belief in their hearts now, while still alive, to manifest any one of the nine manifestations given in 1 Cor. 12, as any disciple should be able to manifest, according to apostle Paul, then what exactly makes those disciples believe that they have enough adequate belief in their hearts for YHWH to raise them up out of a grave after they die!?
For the Spirit of God being in Christ, and the Spirit of Christ being in those who believe upon his name, making them more than conquerors now, see Mat. 10:25; Acts 1:4-8; Rom. 8:9-11, 37; 1 Cor. 12:6; 2 Cor. 2:14, 13:3-5; Gal. 1:16; Eph. 1:19-20, 4:13, 6:13-18; Phil. 2:13, 4:13; Col. 1:27-29; 1 Thes. 2:13; 2 Tim. 1:7; 1 John 4:4, 5:4-5.
Back to Col. 1:18 -
[the] beginning one746 (archē) - Of all of the believers which are YHWH Elohim's new permanent dwelling place, YHWH living inside of them, God's firstborn son is the first one, the beginning one who was given life again, and raised up out of dead ones.
firstborn (prōtotokos) out of dead ones - Before any believer in the one body of Christ, the head of that one body, Christ Jesus, is the firstborn (prōtotokos) [son of him, v13, RE] out of the dead ones. Both "beginning one (archē)" and "firstborn (prōtotokos)" out of dead ones form a compound affirmation of this important Truth of God's Word.
There's that highly revealing word again in the biblical texts, prōtotokos, apostle Paul used to assign another kind of birth to the Word. The word's, prōtotokos, inherent meaning suggests that there shall be other sons of God also born out of dead ones, a second born, a third born, a fourth born, etc., because Jesus Christ was the beginning one.
What I see in this verse, connecting dots with it and other related verses about judgments and resurrections, and about Jesus being placed first in ALL things (Col. 1:18), and he being the beginning offering to God of a mortal man out of the grave (1 Cor. 15:20-22), the Word/Jesus Christ was the first mortal man, under God's new covenant, to not receive a judgment of dead ones, but to pass through that judgment back into life into earthly existence again, to make earthly witnesses of his resurrection. Jesus demonstrated and presented both his former mortality - still visible wounds, and his new immortality, he being alive again, to Thomas and others, who Jesus made to become witnesses of him alive again!
In Col. 1:18 apostle Paul refers to the resurrection of Jesus Christ out of the grave, out from among dead ones, as a birth, in his reference to Jesus as the firstborn one (prōtotokos) out of the dead ones. Doesn't being dead and then being brought back to life again qualify as a birth? According to apostle Paul, who received revelation from Christ Jesus to preach and write the orthodoxy Paul received, it does. According to my Apple dictionary a birth qualifies under, "- the beginning or coming into existence of something ...". Prōtotokos is used eight times by the biblical writers to refer to various births (Luke 2:7; Rom. 8:29; Col. 1:15, 18; Heb. 1:6, 11:28, 12:23; Rev. 1:5).
Not only apostle Paul's used prōtotokos in Col. 1:18 of God's firstborn son being the firstborn one out of dead ones, apostle John used the same word in Rev. 1:5, making the same statement, referring to the Word's/Jesus' resurrection out of dead ones as a birth.
Rev. 1:4 (LIT/UBS4) John (Iōannēs), to the (tais) seven (hepta) churches (ekklēsiais), to the ones (tais) in (en) the (tē) Asia (asia);
grace (charis) to you (humin), and (kai) peace (eirēnē) from (apo) the one (ho) being (ōn), and (kai) the one (ho) [who, AE] was being (ēn), and (kai) the one (ho) causing himself to come (erchomenos);
and (kai) from (apo) the (tōn) seven (hepta) spirits (pneumatōn) which (ha) [are] in sight (enōpion) of the (tou) throne (thronon) of him (autou);
Rev. 1:5 (LIT/UBS4) and (kai) from (apo) Jesus (Iēsou) Christ (Christou), the (ho) witness (martus), the (ho) believable one (pistos), the (ho) firstborn one (prōtotokos) of the (tōn) dead ones (nekrōn), and (kai) the (ho) beginning one758 (archōn) of the (tōn) kings (basilēon) of the (tēs) land (gēs);
the one (tō) loving (agapōnti) us (hēmas), and (kai) having let us loose (lusanti hēmas) out (ek) of the (tōn) sins (hamartiōn) of us (hēmōn) in (en) the (tō) blood (haimati) of him (autou).
If Jesus Christ is the beginning one of the kings of the land, then who are the other kings of the land? I say they are Jesus Christ's one body of believers! Exactly what is it which makes them kings, according to God's Word? They're manifesting God within them, through manifesting any or all of the nine manifestations of God's Spirit, as believing disciples and parts of Jesus' one body should be doing in their earthly lives, while waiting for Jesus' return for them (1Cor. 12-14).
In Mat. 12 Matthew recorded Jesus' answer to some of the writers and Pharisees, who asked to see a sign from him proving that he was the promised coming redeemer of Israel.
Mat. 12:38 (LIT/UBS4) Then (tote) some (tines) of the (tōn) writers (grammateōn) and (kai) Pharisees (Pharisaiōn) were caused to make [a] decision (apekrithēsan), saying (legontes), “Teacher (didaskale), we desire (thelomen) to see (idein) [a] sign (sēmeion) from (apo) you (sou).”
Mat. 12:39 (LIT/UBS4) But (de) the (ho) [Jesus, v15] having been caused to make [a] decision (apokritheis), he enunciated (eipen) to them (autois), “[An] evil (ponēra) generation (genea), and (kai) [an] adulterous one (moichalis), searches over (epizētei) [the sake, AE] of [a] sign (sēmeion).
And (kai) [a] sign (sēmeion) shall absolutely not be given (ou dothēsetai) to her (autē), if (ei) not (mē) the (to) sign (sēmeion) of the (tou) prophet (prophētou) Jonah (Iōna)!
Mat. 12:40 (LIT/UBS4) Because (gar) so be it as (hōsper) Jonah (Iōnas) was being (ēn) in (en) the (tē) belly (koilia) of the (tou) whale (kētous) three (treis) days (hēmeras) and (kai) three (treis) nights (nuktas), thusly (houtōs) the (ho) Son (huios) of the (tou) Mortal (anthrōpou) shall cause himself to be (estai) in (en) the (tē) heart (kardia) of the (tēs) ground (gēs) three (treis) days (hēmeras) and (kai) three (treis) nights (nuktas).
It's believed by biblical scholars that the book of Jonah was written sometime in the 5th or 4th century BCE. If so, this date gave the religious leadership in Israel, during Jesus' ministry, about 300 years lead time to read it and determine its spiritual meaning, that Jonah being in the belly of the whale for three days and nights was a prophecy about the promised coming redeemer being in the grave for three days and nights!
But apparently, many or most of the religious leaders in Israel at that time were ignorant of this prophecy. We could ask ourselves "why"? Why were the religious leaders in Israel at this time so ignorant of such an important prophecy as this one about Jonah, and Israel's own promised coming redeemer? It was their job, their duty to their people, to know of the Jonah prophecy and its spiritual meaning, about which they were stupid imposters, or "actors" as Jesus characterized them.
For Jesus Christ calling out the phony religious leaders in Israel as actors, whose father was a diabolical one, a mortal-killer (John 8:44), please see Mat. 6:2, 5, 16, 7:5, 15:7, 22:18, 23:13, 15, 23, 25, 27, 29, 24:51; Mark 7:6; Luke 6:42, 12:56, 13:15.
Do you remember the Family Feud televised game show, hosted by a fugitive from the Hogan's Heroes sitcom, Richard Dawson, in which contestants called out possible or likely answers to specific questions? To the question of what did Jonah's prophecy mean, of all of the writers and Pharisees in Israel, apparently not one of them could shout out a correct answer, even with about three hundred years of lead time to read Jonah's prophecy and prepare!
Why were most all of Israel's religious leaders so ignorant, stupid, and worse? The answer is in John 8:44-47! So then, what do you conclude: how many religious leaders in Christianity today are like those religious leaders in Israel back then? Do you believe the devil and his demon spirits aren't doing anything right now, that they're all on vacations for a couple millenniums?
an evil and adulterous generation - This is how Jesus Christ characterized the spiritual leadership in Israel during his ministry, because the devil and his demon spirits had infiltrated most all of the people in positions of leadership. If the devil desired to take down the spiritual leadership of Israel at that time, to try to stop the coming of the Word made flesh, and he was somewhat "successful" at it, he managed to have Jesus killed, do you think the devil doesn't desire to destroy God's written Word in Bibles as well? Those little torpedoes the devil uses by the thousands, to destroy God's Word, and subsequently your belief, are called paraphrases. Can you guess where they're used by the thousands?
If the devil invented a false God's Word, which contained mostly religious-sounding paraphrases, with a scant few bits of remaining truth here and there, and stamped the word Bible upon the front of it to portray an illusion of it being God's Word, would you buy it? You already have! You likely own several of them!
But WHY did you buy it? Was it because it simply said Bible on the cover? Or did you buy it because one was brown, but you wanted a black one? Was it because someone (?) recommended it? Or did you buy it (God's Word is free!) because you took the time to carefully compare the wordage in it to the Hebrew and Greek biblical texts, and discovered that its translation simply quotes the ancient biblical writers? See what I mean? People pay more attention into getting what they want when buying a home, or an auto, a radio, than they do when "buying" a special book in which they hope to find their own eternal salvation/wholeness!
Almost no one I know buys a Bible translation because they've verified for themselves that its contents only quote the writers of the Hebrew and Greek biblical texts. BUT, Jesus taught his disciples and apostles to pay particularly close attention to every word of God's Word, written in the books of the Law, in the psalms, and in the books of the prophets, to pay particular attention to the meanings of every iota and little horn (Mat. 5:18). Jesus was teaching everyone listening to him to pay very close attention to the meanings of words' in God's Word, all the way down to words' inflected form meanings!
Back to Col. 1:18
Col. 1:18b (LIT/UBS4) in order that (hina) he (autos) may cause himself to become (genētai) one being placed first (prōteuōn) in (en) all things (pasin);
When YHWH Elohim planned and designed his creation, and produced the Word to build it for him, God planned that his Word would be an example to his creation of a mortal experiencing fellowship with the God almighty. Jesus' example, living as a mortal man, was, and is, intended to be the example which all other mortals are to follow, who desire to have a relationship with their creator, YHWH Elohim. The mortal man, Jesus Christ, was designed and planned to do and experience things first, in his fellowship with the heavenly Father, to demonstrate to all other mortals how to do and experience things in life through their own personal fellowship with the heavenly Father.
YHWH Elohim designed and planned that the Word, Jesus Christ, who became God's first born son, would be the example for all other mortals to follow in their own fellowship, obedience, and sonship to the heavenly Father. This is why middle voice verbs used by the biblical writers is so important. Do you see that verb in Col. 1:18b, genētai, "meaning, may cause himself to become"? Jesus' examples of him following his own beliefs about his heavenly Father's promises to him are the examples we all are to follow about our heavenly Father's precious promises to us (2 Pet. 1:4), causing ourselves to become imitators of our heavenly Father (Eph. 5:1-2), of apostle Paul (1 Cor. 4:15-16, 11:1), imitators of the lord and all true followers of him (1 Thes. 1:6-7, 2 Thes. 2:14-16; Heb. 6:10-15).
It was YHWH Elohim's design and plan to place the Word/Jesus Christ first in power and authority over all things in YHWH Elohim's creation (Mat. 28:18). All mortals are to imitate God, his son Christ Jesus, apostle Paul and all of the one body of Christ. Apostle Paul challenges all believers to follow after Jesus's examples, in our discipleship to him, until...
Eph. 4:13 (LIT/UBS4) until (mechri) all (pantes) the (hoi) [holy ones, v4:12, RE] may come down adjacent2658 (katantēsōmen) into (eis) the (tēn) oneness (henotēta) of the (tēs) belief (pisteōs) and (kai) of the (tēs) experiential knowledge (epignōseōs) of the (tou) son (huiou) of the (tou) God (theou), into (eis) [a] complete (teleion) male (andra), into (eis) [a/the] measure (metron) of the (tou) fullness (plērōmatos) of maturity (hēlikias) of the (tou) Christ (Christou);
Eph. 4:14 (LIT/UBS4) in order that (hina) we may no longer yet be (mēketi ōmen) infants (nēpioi), ones being caused to surge (kludōnizomenoi), and (kai) ones being brought about (peripheromenoi) to every (panti) wind (anēmo) of the (tēs) [winds, AE] of teaching (didaskalias) in (en) the (tē) die2940 (kubeia) of the (tōn) mortals (anthrōpōn) in (en) shrewdness (panourgia), to (pros) the (tēn) method (methodeian) of the (tēs) Wanderer (planēs)!
Are the winds of teachings of mortals wisdom, which false wisdom is taught based upon the throw of a die (dice - plural), i.e., they don't know what they are doing, which wisdom is in shrewdness, according to the method of the Wandered, the same wisdom used to create endless paraphrases which are used to replace God's Word in Bible 'translations"? Yes they are!!!
Eph. 4:15 (LIT/UBS4) But (de) being true ones (alētheuontes), in (en) love (agapē) may we grow (auxēsōmen) into (eis) all (panta) of the (ta) [teachings, v14, RE] of him (auton), who (hos) is (estin) the (hē) head (kephalē), Christ (Christos),
But what comfort and assurance is there in God's Word, for all mortalkind, based upon Jesus' examples for us to follow?
Col. 1:21 (LIT/UBS4) And (kai) you (humas), in time past (pote), were being (ontas) ones having been alienated from (apēllotriōmenous) [the God, v15, ER], and (kai) hated ones (echthrous) in (en) the (tē) thought (dianoia), [in, RE] the (tois) works (ergois), the (tois) evil ones (ponērois).
Col. 1:22 (LIT/UBS4) But (de) now, at this moment (nuni), [the God, v15, ER] has reconciled (apokatēllaxen) [you, v21, RE] in (en) the (tō) body (sōmati) of the (tēs) flesh (sarkos) of him (autou), through (dia) the (tou) death (thanatou) [of him, RE], to stand [you, v21, RE] alongside (parastēsai), holy ones (hagious) and (kai) unblemished ones (amōmous), and (kai) unquestionable ones (anenklētous) down in sight (katenōpion) of him (autou),
Col. 1:23 (LIT/UBS4) if (ei) indeed (ge) you stay (epimenete) [in, AE] to the (tē) belief (pistei);
you having been founded (tethemeliōmenoi) and (kai) settled ones (hedraioi), and (kai) ones not being moved (mē metakinoumenoi) from (apo) the (tēs) hope (elpidos) of the (tou) Evangelism (euangeliou) of which (hon) you heard (ēkousate);
of the (tou) [Evangelism, RE] having been preached (kēruchthentos) in (en) to all (pasē) creation (ktisei), the (tē) [creation, RE] under (hupo) the (ton) heaven (ouranon);
of which (hou) [Evangelism, RE] I (egō), Paul (Paulos), caused myself to become (egenomēn) [a] minister (diakonos)!
Col. 1:24 (LIT/UBS4) Now (nun) I rejoice (chairō) in (en) the (tois) sufferings (pathēmasin) [of me, AE] over (huper) [the sake, AE] of you (humōn);
and (kai) I fill up (antanaplērō) in (en) the (tē) flesh (sarki) of me (mou) the (ta) things lacking (husterēmata) of the (tōn) mental pressures (thlipseōn) of the (tou) Christ (Christou), over (huper) [the sake, AE] of the (tou) body (sōmatos) of him (autou), which (ho) is (estin) the (hē) assembly (ekklēsia);
Col. 1:25 (LIT/UBS4) of which (hēs) [assembly, RE] I (egō) caused myself to become (egenomēn) [a] minister (diakonos) down on account (kata) of the (tēn) house stewardship (oikonomian) of the (tou) God (theou);
of the (tēn) [house stewardship, RE] having been given (dotheisan) to me (moi) [to give, AE] into (eis) you (humas), to fulfill (plērōsai) the (ton) Word (logon) of the (tou) God (theou)
Col. 1:26 (LIT/UBS4) [of the house stewardship, v25, RE] of the (to) Mystery (mustērion);
the (to) [Mystery, RE] having been hidden away (apokekrummenon) from (apo) the (tōn) ages (aiōnōn) and (kai) from (apo) the (tōn) generations (geneōn), but (de) now (nun) it was manifested (ephanerōthē) to the (tois) holy ones (hagiois) of him (autou);
Col. 1:27 (LIT/UBS4) to whom (hois) the (ho) God (theos) desired (ēthelēsen) to make known (gnōrisai) what (ti) [is] the (to) wealth (ploutos) of the (tēs) glory (doxēs) of the (tou) Mystery (mustēriou) among (en) the (tois) ethnic groups (ethnesin), which (ho) [wealth, RE] is (estin) Christ (Christos) in (en) you (humin), the (hē) hope (elpis) of the (tēs) glory (doxēs);
Col. 1:28 (LIT/UBS4) whom (hon) we (hēmeis) report down (katangellomen), making mindful (nouthetountes) every (panta) mortal (anthrōpon), and (kai) teaching (didaskontes) every (panta) mortal (anthrōpon) in (en) to all (pasē) wisdom (sophia), in order that (hina) we may stand alongside (parastēsōmen) every (panta) mortal (anthrōpon) complete (teleion) in (en) Christ (Christō);
Col. 1:29 (LIT/UBS4) into (eis) which (ho) [mystery, v27, RE] I labor (kopiō) also (kai), causing myself to agonize (agōnizomenos) down according to (kata) the (tēn) energy (energeian) of him (autou), the (tēn) [energy, RE] causing itself to be energized (energoumenēn) in (en) to me (emoi), in (en) inherent power (dunamei).
Here's a little more comfort in apostle Paul's letter to believers in the area of Rome:
Rom. 8:1 (LIT/UBS4) So (ara) now (nun) [there, AE] [is] absolutely not one (ouden) condemnation (katakrima) to the ones (tois) in (en) Christ (Christō) Jesus (Iēsou)!
Rom. 8:2 (LIT/UBS4) Because (gar) the (ho) law (nomos) of the (autou) Spirit (pneumatos) of the (tēs) life (zōēs) in (en) Christ (Christō) Jesus (Iēsous) made you free (ēleutherōsen se) from (apo) the (tou) law (nomou) of the (tou) sin (hamartias) and (kai) of the (tou) death (thanatou).
Rom. 8:3 (LIT/UBS4) Because (gar) of the (to) inherently unpowered ability (adunaton) of the (tou) law (nomou), in (en) which (hō) it was being disabled (ēsthenei) through (dia) [the sake, AE] of the (tēs) flesh (sarkos), the (ho) God (theos) having sent (pempsas) the (ton) son (huion) of himself (heautou) in (en) [a] likeness (homoiōmati) of flesh (sarkos) of sin (hamartias), and (kai) about (peri) sin (hamartias), he condemned (katekrinen) the (tēn) sin (hamartian) in (en) the (tē) flesh (sarki);
Rom. 8:4 (LIT/UBS4) in order that2443 (hina) the (to) righteous purpose (dikaiōma) of the (tou) law (nomou) may be fulfilled (plērōthē) in (en) us (hēmin), the ones (tois) not (mē) walking around (peripatousin) down according to (kata) flesh (sarka), BUT (alla), down according to (kata) Spirit (pnema)!
Rom. 8:5 (LIT/UBS4) Because (gar) the ones (hoi) being (ontes) down according to (kata) flesh (sarkos) think (phronousin) of the (tēs) the things (ta) of flesh (sarkos).
But (de) the ones (hoi) [being, RE] down according to (kata) Spirit (pneuma) [think, RE] of the (tou) the things (ta) of Spirit (pneumatos).
Rom. 8:6 (LIT/UBS4) Because (gar) the (to) thought (phronēma) of the (tēs) flesh (sarkos) [is] death (thanatos), but (de) the (to) thought (phronēma) of the (tou) Spirit (pneumatos) [is] life (zōē) and (kai) peace (eirēnē);
Rom. 8:7 (LIT/UBS4) through the reason that (dioti) the (to) thought (phronēma) of the (tēs) flesh (sarkos) [is] hatefulness (echthra) into (eis) God (theon):
because (gar) [hatefulness, RE] can absolutely not be put in submission5293 (ouch hupotassetai) to the (tō) law (nomō) of God (theou);
because (gar) [hatefulness, RE] can but absolutely not inherently power itself (oude dunatai) [to be] [put in submission, RE]!
Rom. 8:8 (LIT/UBS4) But (de) the ones (hoi) being (ontes) in (en) flesh (sarki) can absolutely not inherently power themselves (ou dunantai) to be agreeable (aresai) to God (theō)!
Rom. 8:9 (LIT/UBS4) But (de) you (humeis) are (este) absolutely not (ouk) in (en) flesh (sarki), BUT (alla), in (en) Spirit (pneumati), if so be it (eiper) Spirit (pneuma) of God (theou) homesteads (oikei) in (en) you (humin)!
But (de) if (ei) anyone (tis) absolutely does not hold (ouk echei) Spirit (pneuma) of Christ (Christou), this (houtos) [anyone, RE] is (estin) absolutely not (ouk) of him (autou)!
Rom. 8:10 (LIT/UBS4) But (de) if (ei) Christ (Christos) [is] in (en) you (humin), truly (men), the (to) body (sōma) [is] dead (nekron) through (dia) [the sake, AE] of sin (hamartian)!
But (de) the (to) Spirit (pneuma) [is] life (zōē) through (dia) [the sake, AE] of righteousness (dikaiosunēn).
Rom. 8:11 (LIT/UBS4) But (de) if (ei) the (to) Spirit (pneuma) of the one (tou) having awakened (egeirantos) Jesus (Iēsoun) out (ek) of dead ones (nekrōn) homesteads (oikei) in (en) you (humin), the one (ho) having awoken (egeiras) Christ (Christon) out (ek) of dead ones (nekrōn) shall make alive (zōopoiēsei) the (ta) death-doomed (thnēta) bodies (sōmata) of you (humōn) also (kai), through (dia) the (to) in-housing (enoikountos) Spirit (pneuma) of him (autou) in (en) you (humin)!
SUMMARY of The Word's Fifth Birth
I believe that one of the important purposes of God's Word, shown in scriptural passages in this chapter of the Word's fifth birth, is to show us that Jesus Christ was a mortal man, having his own free will, thoughts and concerns about his own mortality (Mat. 26:37-39), and to show us that Jesus Christ actually died!. Since Adam and Eve's act of high treason against Elohim, death is something about which God's creation is concerned. But I see no biblical text in which is stated that God has a concern over his own death! Assigning godhood to a mortal man, and assigning death to the God, is the wisdom of mortalkind.
In Col. 1:18, speaking by revelation of Jesus Christ, apostle Paul characterizes a mortal becoming alive again after being dead, as a new birth, "[the] firstborn (prōtotokos) [son of him, v13, RE] out (ek) of the (tōn) dead ones (nekrōn)", and apostle John states almost the identical phrase in Rev. 1:5, "the (ho) firstborn one (prōtotokos) of the (tōn) dead ones (nekrōn) ...."
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The mortal man Jesus Christ believed that YHWH Elohim would raise him up out of the grave and dead ones. That belief of Jesus is another thing about the mortal man, Jesus, which we all should imitate.
It seems remarkable to me that the spiritual leadership of the nation of Israel could have been so ignorant and stupid about their own promised coming redeemer! Hint: They were really not spiritual leadership, only imposters, actors as Jesus called them. But everyone knows and believes that there can't possibly be false leadership, phonies, actors, in Christianity anywhere in the world, right? And almost everyone believes that, even while reading their Bibles chucked full of paraphrases of lies, from cover to cover, which lies they can't, or refuse, to "see".
How can the knowledge of the Word's five births not be an essential part of the evangelism of Jesus Christ? How can the knowledge of who is the Word of God, and about what he was sent to do in YHWH Elohim's creation, not have a bearing upon the future of the lives of those of his one body? We can see, through the presentation of God's Word in this study, that the Word allowed/caused himself to die at least four times already, in his zeal to maintain YHWH Elohim's present genesis upon this planet we call Earth (Psalm 69:9; John 2:17).
When does YHWH Elohim's desire to stop having more sons and daughters end? Maybe it doesn't end. The mortal man, Jesus Christ, who set aside his own free will to do his heavenly Father's will, allowed himself to die/be transformed, once again, four times already, to continue to keep on doing his heavenly Father's will on this planet, to support and maintain its present genesis.
But in a new heavens and earth, will the parts of Jesus' one body, from this present genesis and planet, be used to create geneses upon other planets throughout the new heavens? After Jesus' return for his one body of Believers, to raise them out of their graves, and we are with him from then on, I believe then we'll learn the answers to so many questions we have now; such as, will believers still be so petrified of death/transformations after having the experience of being raised out of the grave once already?
From the knowledge of God's Word we've seen, for the one body of Christ, death no longer means death, but transformation from one state of existence into another. But for all who are not a part of the one body of Christ, death still means death! For those who have died but who would experience a transformation back to life, Jesus began calling their "death", "sleep" (Mat. 9:24; Mark 5:39; Luke 8:52; Eph. 5:14).
Rom. 8:11 (LIT/UBS4) But (de) if (ei) the (to) Spirit (pneuma) of the one (tou) having awakened (egeirantos) Jesus (Iēsoun) out (ek) of dead ones (nekrōn) homesteads (oikei) in (en) you (humin), the one (ho) having awoken (egeiras) Christ (Christon) out (ek) of dead ones (nekrōn) shall make alive (zōopoiēsei) the (ta) death-doomed (thnēta) bodies (sōmata) of you (humōn) also (kai), through (dia) the (to) in-housing (enoikountos) Spirit (pneuma) of him (autou) in (en) you (humin)!
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Conclusion
Over the sake of this present cosmos, during this present genesis, I've found in the biblical texts records of the Word/Jesus Christ having five births/origins/transformations! But if the Word/Jesus Christ had five births/origins/transformations, that means that he must have experienced at least 4 deaths, assuming that's what they all were, in order to reach the fifth birth/origin/transformation! But the biblical writers, in the contexts of those passages, didn't mention those deaths per se, they chose to let that logical conclusion sit in believers' minds without much wordage about it. But we can think for ourselves, can't we, to try and think into each of the Words' required deaths to reach the next birth, to try to establish in our own minds what we may be thinking and doing with our own free will if we were in Jesus' place! The Word/Jesus Christ made his heavenly Father's plan his plan, and his Father's goals for this present genesis, his goals, through four deaths/origins/transformations.
If I were to use a single NT verse reference to sum up this study, which one would be an appropriate one for me to use? Okay, Isa. 45:22, 1 Tim. 2:4 and Eph. 4:11-13 are five verses, but Eph. 4:11-13 is all part of one sentence of apostle Paul. For now, for me, Eph. 4:11-13 best explain why the Word allowed/caused himself to experience 4 deaths/origins/transformations and new five births:
Eph. 4:11 (LIT/UBS4) And (kai), truly (men), he (autos) gave (edōken) the ones (tous) [being] apostles (apostolous), but (de) the ones (tous) [being] prophets (prophētas), but (de) the ones (tous) [being] evangelists (euangelistas), but (de) the ones (tous) [being] shepherds (poimenas), and (kai) [the ones, RE] [being] teachers (didaskalous),
Eph. 4:12 (LIT/UBS4) for (pros) [the sake, AE] of the (ton) making fit (katartismon) of the (tōn) holy ones (hagiōn) into (eis) [the] work (ergon) of [the] ministry (diakonias), into (eis) [the building, AE] of [a] domed-roof house3619 (oikodomēn) of the (tou) body (sōmatos) of the (tou) Christ (Christou);
Eph. 4:13 (LIT/UBS4) until (mechri) all (pantes) the (hoi) [holy ones, v4:12, RE] may come down adjacent2658 (katantēsōmen) into (eis) the (tēn) oneness (henotēta) of the (tēs) belief (pisteōs) and (kai) of the (tēs) experiential knowledge (epignōseōs) of the (tou) son (huiou) of the (tou) God (theou), into (eis) [a] complete (teleion) male (andra), into (eis) [a/the] measure (metron) of the (tou) fullness (plērōmatos) of maturity (hēlikias) of the (tou) Christ (Christou);
As the one body of Christ, and according to God's Word, the goal of our discipleship to the Word/Christ Jesus is for him to raise up each member of his one body of believers into the oneness of the belief of the Evangelism of Jesus Christ, and into the experiential knowledge of the son of the God, and to cause each one to become a complete male, to help each member grow up spiritually into a/the measure of the fullness of the maturity of Christ (Eph. 4:13)! And then do what in the new heavens and earth? I see God's Word as full of hints about what God's sons and daughters may do in the Kingdom of God. It's up to each believer to "see" himself in the Word/Jesus, in the biblical texts, as examples to imitate.
The Word/Jesus Christ left his followers with comforting words:
John 14:1 (LIT/UBS4) <Do not let> the (hē) heart (kardia) of you (humōn)be troubled (mē tarassesthō).
Believe (pisteuete) into (eis) the (ton) God (theon), and (kai) believe (pisteuete) into (eis) me (eme).
John 14:2 (LIT/UBS4) In (en) the (tē) house (oikia) of the (tou) Father (patros) of me (mou) there are (eisin) many (pollai) places to stay (monai).
But (de) if (ei) not (mē), perhaps (an) I enunciated (eipon) to you (humin) that (hoti) I cause myself to go (poreuomai) to make ready (hetoimasai) [a] place (topon) for you (humin)!
John 14:3 (LIT/UBS4) And (kai) if perhaps (ean) I may be caused to go (poreuthō), and (kai) I may make ready (hetoimasō) [a] place (topon) for you (humin), I am caused to come (erchomai) again (palin)!
And (kai) I shall take you alongside (paralēmpsomai humas) to (pros) myself (emauton), in order that (hina) where (hopou) I (egō) am (eimi) you (humeis) also (kai) may be (ēte) [there, AE].
If the God, YHWH Elohim, loved us so much that he gave us his only begotten son, who loved us so much that he allowed/caused himself to go through four deaths and five births/origins/transformations to help us reach our own completeness, and fullness of the spiritual maturity of Christ, how can disciples of Christ be ashamed of God's Words of life, or fearful of death, which is highly likely to be another birth?
I hope the knowledge of God's Word about the Word/Jesus Christ, helps you understand more about who exactly is the Word/Jesus Christ, and what he has done for us and for his heavenly Father. When after the resurrections have occurred and the day of judgment has arrived, I hope that no one has to hear Jesus say, "But absolutely not at any time did I know you! Depart away from me (Mat. 7:22-23)!
May YHWH Elohim keep us in peace.
Brother Hal