The Doctrine of the Cross[1] 1. Preached, 1Co_1:17  For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross[piece] of Christ should be made of none effect. 2. Gloried in, Gal_6:14  But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross[piece] of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. 3. Reconciliation through, Eph_2:16  And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross[piece], having slain the enmity thereby. 4. Enemies of, ]. Php_3:18  (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross[piece] of Christ: 5. Peace Made by, Col_1:20  And, having made peace through the blood of his cross[piece], by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. 6. Old Testament Ordinances abolished by, Col_2:14  Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross[piece]; 7. Cross-Bearing enjoined[2] Mat 10:38  And he that taketh not his cross[piece], and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. . Mat 16:24  Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross[piece], and follow me. Mar 10:21  Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross[piece], and follow me.

More Verses on the Cross[piece] and the Followers of Christ

Mar 8:34  And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross[piece], and follow me.  Luk 9:23  And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross[piece] daily, and follow me.  Luk 14:27  And whosoever doth not bear his cross[piece], and come after me, cannot be my disciple. Mat 10:38  And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. Luk 14:27  And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. 

Now some may be concerned about the symbol of a cross like this † or this Т being superstitious nonsense from Roman Catholicism and of other foreign religions but to us, the faithful, it reminds most of us of the structure that was used to hang and crucify our Saviour and Lord Christ Jesus. So, if that is true, what is wrong with that. To the Roman Catholics, is it not the crucifix with Jesus still hanging on it? But to the Protestants, it is an empty cross, symbolizing what Jesus did for us but it is over with and he is now a risen Saviour.

History tells us that the symbol that Constantine seen in a vision was not one of the above but this symbol: Χ, which is the Greek letter for the CH in Christ. In other words, it was the initial letter for Christ Jesus, that was to be put on the shields of his soldiers and they were to fight under that symbol for Christ as their savior. It was to be their ensign, consecrated by the NAME of Christ. This Greek letter on their ensign or banner had nothing to do with any pagan cross but it was simply referring to the NAME of Christ Jesus. On that standard or banner was also put the “words “Hoc signo victor eris,” meaning in this sign [of the X] thou shalt be a conqueror,”. This X was the “heavenly sign.”[3]

There is also mentioned that the Greek letter P, their letter for our R was superimposed on the X to show that the X was really referring to an abbreviation of CHR for the word CHRIST.[4]

 

---

The Timing of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection

 from Translations of Matthew 28:1 and other

by Clifford Besson

 

KJV (AV) from the Greek  Mat 28:1  In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.

Gordon Howard Hebrew Matthew On the first day of the week, early in the morn­ing, Mary Mag­dalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb

Victory Ver­sion from Aramaic, Greek, and Coptic in the evening (end) now of the sabbaths.       As the first (day) in the week was light­ening, Mariam Magdolitha and the other Mariam came to see the sepulchre. (Note, we believe that the first part of this verse really be­longs to the end of Matthew 27:66).

The Way Int. Version from the Peshitta Now in the evening of the sab­bath as it was twi­light, the first of the week, Mary Mag­dalene and the other Mary came that they might see the grave.

Dr. John Wesley Etheridge from the Peshitta FROM the evening (end) of the sab­bath, when the first (day) in the week was light­ening, Mariam Magdolitha and the other Mariam came to see the sepulchre.

George M. Lamsa translation from the Peshitta In the evening of the sab­bath, when the first day of the week began to dawn, there came Mary of Magdala and the other Mary to see the tomb.

James Murdock translation from the Peshito And in the evening of the Sab­bath as it was dusk, as the first day of the week began to dawn, came Mary of Magdala and the other Mary, to view the sepulcher.

Coptic NT-ND (Eng.)    Now in the night (lit. Now evening) of the sabbaths, being morning of (the) first (lit, to (the) one) of the sabbaths, Mary the Magdalene came and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.

Coptic NT-SD (Eng.) But (the) evening of the sab­bath, in (the) morning of (the) first day of the sab­bath, came Maria [the] Mag­dalene and the other Maria to see the tomb.

Ferris Fenton from the Greek After the Sabbaths, towards the dawn of the day following the Sab­baths, Mary, the Magdalene, and the other Mary, came to examine the tomb.

Comments on Matthew 28:1

by Clifford Besson

for https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/21961/

sabbath-sabbaths-or-week-matthew-281    

Isaiah 30:26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound. AV

See "The Report of Pilate the Governor" for "Now when he was crucified, there was darkness over all the world, and the sun was obscured for half a day, and the stars appeared, but no lustre was seen in them; and the moon lost its brightness, as though tinged with blood; and the world of the departed was swallowed up;"

"And the terror of the earthquake continued from the sixth hour of the preparation until the ninth hour; and when it was evening on the first day of the week, there came a sound from heaven, and the heaven became seven times more luminous than on all other days. And at the third hour of the night the sun appeared more luminous than it had ever shone, lighting up the whole hemisphere. And as lightning-flashes suddenly come forth in a storm, so there were seen men, lofty in stature, and surpassing in glory, a countless host, crying out, and their voice was heard as that of exceedingly loud thunder, Jesus that was crucified is risen again: come up from Hades ye that were enslaved in the subterraneous recesses of Hades. And the chasm in the earth was as if it had no bottom; but it was so that the very foundations of the earth appeared, with those that shouted in heaven, and walked in the body among the dead that were raised. And He that raised up all the dead and bound Hades said, Say to my disciples He goeth before you into Galilee, there shall ye see Him.

And all that night the light ceased not shining. And many of the Jews died in the chasm of the earth, being swallowed up, so that on the morrow most of those who had been against Jesus were not to be found. Others saw the apparition of men rising again whom none of us had ever seen. One synagogue of the Jews was alone left in Jerusalem itself, for they all disappeared in that ruin.

Therefore being astounded by that terror, and being possessed with the most dreadful trembling, I have written what I saw at that time and sent it to thine excellency; and I have inserted what was done against Jesus by the Jews, and sent it to thy divinity, my lord." pages 274-5.

Then from "The Report of Pontius Pilate" pp 276-277 of The Lost Books of the Bible and the Forgotten Books of Eden (Nashville, Tennessee: World Bible Publishers, 1927)

"Now when he was crucified darkness came over all the world; the sun was altogether hidden, and the sky appeared dark while it was yet day, so that the stars were seen, though still they had their lustre obscured, wherefore, I suppose your excellency is not unaware that in all the world they lighted their lamps from the sixth hour until evening. And the moon, which was like blood, did not shine all night long, although it was at the full, and the stars and Orion made lamentation over the

Ibid. p.277 .

[paragraph continues] Jews, because of the transgression committed by them.

And on the first day of the week, about the third hour of the night, the sun appeared as it never shone before, and the whole heaven became bright. And as lightnings come in a storm, so certain men of lofty stature, in beautiful array, and of indescribable glory, appeared in the air, and a countless host of angels, crying out and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among men: Come up from Hades, ye who are in bondage in the depths of Hades. And at their voice all the mountains and hills were moved, and the rocks were rent, and great chasms were made in the earth, so that the very places of the abyss were visible.

And amid the terror dead men were seen rising again, so that the Jews who saw it said, We beheld Abraham and Isaac, and Jacob, and the twelve patriarchs, who died some two thousand five hundred years before, and we beheld Noah clearly in the body. And all the multitude walked about and sang hymns to God with a loud voice, saying, The Lord our God, who hath risen from the dead, hath made alive all the dead, and Hades he hath spoiled and slain.

Therefore, my lord king, all that night the light ceased not. But many of the Jews died, and were sunk and swallowed up in the chasms that night, so that not even their bodies were to be seen. Now I mean, that those of the Jews suffered who spake against Jesus. And but one synagogue remained in Jerusalem, for all the synagogues which had been against Jesus were overwhelmed.

Through that terror, therefore, being amazed and being seized with great trembling, in that very hour, I ordered what had been done by them all to be written, and I have sent it to thy mightiness."

Then from "The Lost Gospel According to Peter"  Ibid. p.282

". And Herod said, Brother Pilate, even if no one has asked for him, we purposed to bury him, especially as the sabbath draweth on: for it is written in the law, that the sun set not upon one that hath been put to death.

3 And he delivered him to the people on the day before the unleavened bread, their feast. And they took the Lord and pushed him as they ran, and said, Let us drag away the Son of God, having obtained power over him.

5 And it was noon, and darkness came over all Judæa: and they were troubled and distressed, lest the sun had set, whilst he was yet alive: [for] it is written for them, that the sun set not on him that hath been put to death. And one of them said, Give him to drink gall with vinegar. And they

p. 284

mixed and gave him to drink, and fulfilled all things, and accomplished their sins against their own head. And many went about with lamps, supposing that it was night, and fell down. And the Lord cried out, saying, My power, my power, thou hast forsaken me. And when he had said it he was taken up. And in that hour the vail of the temple of Jerusalem was rent in twain.

6 And then they drew out the nails from the hands of the Lord, and laid him upon the earth, and the whole earth quaked, and great fear arose. Then the sun shone, and it was found the ninth hour: and the Jews rejoiced, and gave his body to Joseph that he might bury it, since he had seen what good things he had done. And he took the Lord, and him, and rolled him in a linen cloth, and brought him to his own tomb, which was called the Garden of Joseph.

9 And in the night in which the Lord's day was drawing on, as the soldiers kept guard two by two in a watch, there was a great voice in the heaven; and they saw the heavens opened, and two men descend from thence with great light and approach the tomb. And that stone which was put at the door rolled of itself and made way in part; and the tomb was opened, and both the young men entered in.

10 When therefore those

p. 285

soldiers saw it, they awakened the centurion and the elders; for they too were hard by keeping guard. And as they declared what things they had seen, again they see three men come forth from the tomb, and two of them supporting one, and a cross following them: and of the two the head reached unto the heaven, but the head of him who was lead by them overpassed the heavens. And they heard a voice from the heavens, saying, Thou hast preached to them that sleep. And a response was heard from the cross, Yea.

11 They therefore considered one with another whether to go away and shew these things to Pilate. And while they yet thought thereon, the heavens again are seen to open, and a certain man to descend and enter into the sepulchre. When the centurion and they that were with him saw these things, they hastened in the night to Pilate, leaving the tomb which they were watching, and declared all things which they had seen, being greatly distressed and saying, Truly he was the Son of God. Pilate answered and said, I am pure from the blood of the Son of God: but it was ye who determined this. Then they all drew near and besought him and entreated him to command the centurion and the soldiers to say nothing of the things which they had seen: For it is better, say they, for us to be guilty of the greatest sin before God, and not to fall into the hands of the people of the Jews and to be stoned. Pilate therefore commanded the centurion and the soldiers to say nothing.

12 And at dawn upon the Lord's day Mary Magdalene, a disciple of the Lord, fearing because of the Jews, since they were burning with wrath, had not done at the Lord's sepulchre the things which women are wont to do for those that die and for those that are beloved by them—she took her friends with her and came to the sepulchre where he was laid. And they feared lest the Jews should see them, and they said, Although on that day on which he was crucified we could not weep and lament, yet now let us do these things at his sepulchre. But who shall roll away for us the stone that was laid at the door of the sepulchre, that we may enter in and sit by him and do the things that are due? For the stone was great, and we fear lest some one see us. And if we cannot, yet if we but set at the door the things which we bring as a memorial of him, we will weep and lament, until we come unto our home.

13 And they went and found the tomb opened, and coming near they looked in there; and they see there a certain young man sitting in the midst of the tomb, beautiful and clothed in a robe exceeding bright; who said to them, Wherefore are ye come? Whom seek ye? Him that was crucified? He is risen and gone. But if ye believe not, look in and see the place

p. 286

where he lay, that he is not [here]; for he is risen and gone thither, whence he was sent. Then the women feared and fled.

14 Now it was the last day of the unleavened bread, and many were going forth, returning to their homes, as the feast was ended. But we, the twelve disciples of the Lord, wept and were grieved: and each one, being grieved for that which was come to pass, departed to his home. But I Simon Peter and Andrew my brother took our nets and went to the sea; and there was with us Levi the son of Alphæus, whom the Lord . . .

 

A Short Ending of Matthew’s Gospel

by Clifford Besson

 

      In George Howard’s Shem Tob passage of Matthew 28:19¹ he only has two Hebrew words: םתא וכל, which he translates as simply “Go.” Actually, it should be “Go to them.” Verse 20 carries on with “and (teach)² them to carry out all the things which i have commanded you forever.” While the Authorized (King James) Version has: Mt 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

     Why the difference? Which one is most likely the correct one? Here are some web sites with much evidence that backs up the “Go to them” reading rather than the longer Trinitarian or Triune reading which makes out that each of the three members has the same name: http://www.apostolic.net/biblicalstudies/matt2819-willis.htm which is on “A Collection of Evidence Against the Traditional Wording of Matthew 28:19 by Clinton D. Willis (Cwillis@ipa.net)” and http://www.godglorified.com/matthew_2819.htm which is on an “Analysis of Matthew 28:19 in A study of the Text of the New Testament” by Randall Duane Hughes.

     This last author points out that there are no Greek or any other language manuscripts before the fourth century or for 300 years after Matthew wrote his gospel that includes any of Matthew’s Gospel past 26:52. Why is that? Could all the ones that had that portion have omitted the Trinitarian formula and so they were destroyed. Could they have all been very similar to the Shem Tob copy?

     Conybeare noticed that Eusebius of Caesarea in seventeen (17) places “in his works prior to Nicea, . . . quotes Matthew 28:19 as "Go and make disciples of all nations in my name" without mentioning the Trinity baptism command.”(R. D. Hughes’ above site).

     This is another good site: http://jesus-messiah.com/apologetics/catholic/matthew2819.html, which has comments from an A. Ploughman, who is now deceased. It is called “A Collection of the evidence for and against the traditional wording of the baptismal phrase in Matthew 28:19."

     This next site by Clarke Wildeman (clwideman@yahoo.com) http://jesus-messiah.com/html/evr-last-gosp.htm includes seven citations of Eusebius discussing the words of Jesus, like Shem Tob’s copy. Another good site is http://www.focus-search.com/shc/matt2819.html by Mark Kennicott (mrmark008@aol.com), http://www.lightbearer.org/archives/2004/04/the_authentic_m.html, and http://jesus-messiah.com/apologetics/catholic/matthew-proof.html by By Dr. G. Reckart, of the Apostolic Theological Bible College.

     There is also the book, Miscellaneous Coptic Texts in the Dialect of Upper Egypt edited, with English Translations by E. A. Wallis Budge, M. A., Litt.D., which is Volume V of a set of books called Coptic Texts (reprint of a 1915 edition). In the Discourse on Mary Theotokos by Cyril, Archbishop of Jerusalem (lived from about A. D. 315 to 386) he convinced a poor holy and conscientious monk by the name of Annarikhus that he was wrong on a point of doctrine and to submit all his books to be burnt. Before doing so though, he said, “The Christ said, Go ye forth into all the world, and teach ye all the nations in My Name, in every place.” (p. 637). After the books were apparently burned, Cyril baptized the monk “in the name of Saint Mary.” (p. lxxix).

     One more point that someone pointed out (perhaps G. Howard) is that the Hebrew Gospel of Matthew was obviously written to convince the Hebrew people to trust in what John the Baptist said and to follow whatever Jesus said and did. There is apparently no mention though of the need to join up with the gentiles or other nations throughout the whole gospel, so a sudden mentioning of baptizing all the gentiles in one name, which is the same for the Father, the son, and the holy Spirit appears to be very out of place and not consistent at all with the rest of the gospel. It therefore must have been added on by people like Athanasius (A. D. 296-372), the chief defender for the Trinitarian doctrine.

     This Athanasius thought he was doing the Church a favour by promoting the teaching of the Trinity, but he was really promoting a devilish erroneous teaching as found amongst the Babylonians, who used the equilateral triangle to symbolize their supposed God of three persons. This symbol is used by the Romish Church today.³ “[I]n the monastery of the so-called Trinitarians of Madrid, [the Papacy has] an image of the Triune God, with three heads on one body. The Babylonians had something of the same.”⁴ Similar things can be found in India, Japan, Thibet, and China, but some include a mother and a child as part of the trinity as some Roman Catholics seem to do with Mary and Jesus as a baby.⁵

     Obviously, most theologians have not checked out the Bible thoroughly enough to discover many inconsistencies in their theories and philosophies about a Father God, a Son God, and a Holy Spirit God, all being one. They do not even realize that the real meaning of El is simply a Superior One like Jesus or Angels, while without the capital letter the el is simply a superior one, such as the judges, kings, the patriarchs, and the chiefs of the tribes of Israel. Of course, though, in the original autographs of the Scriptures, there was no difference in the size of the letters so one would have to go by context to figure out the true meanings of El or Eloah, an alternative spelling. Elohim is simply the plural form of the same word. Please see this web site to see the use of this term in Joshua 22 and its obvious true meanings: http://tlm79.org/#anchor_70. Also see the book The Day of the LORD is at Hand: The Real God of the Universe at http://tlm79.org/Revelations_on_t_Real_God_y.pdf and see chapters like #25, The Special Nature of God Most High and 45, Just One God.

     Note that God said that there is no superior one beside him (Isa. 44:6; 45:5, 6, 21). Does this not make sense, that the Father who is greater than Jesus, would therefore be the Superior one while Jesus, would be the lesser one? St. Paul also said in 1Co 8:6 “But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him. {in: or, for}” and then there is Isa 42:8 I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another [even to Jesus?],

 neither my praise to graven images.

 

A Short ending of Matthew L -c for printing in B&W.wpd February 9, 2007 Revised 21 June 2019.

 

                               

^{What Language Was Used to First Write}

^{by Clifford Besson}

^Introduction

^{At this moment almost every Bible college, seminary, and theologian in North America and Europe have been indoctrinated into the belief that all the New Testament (NT) manuscripts were initially written generally in Koiné or common Greek.}

^{1) Is this true though?}

^{Answer— According to almost every student of the Bible in this area of the world it is but not according to almost every Believer from the Mediterranean coastline to India, for they have always been taught that the NT documents were all written in the native language of the disciples of Jesus, which was Hebrew or Aramaic. Of these two groups of people, would it not be the ones closest to the area in question that should really know the truth? On studying the Greek of the NT, it really appears to be translation Greek, like the Greek of the Septuagint. Is this not true?}

^{2) Are there any documents that state that any or all the disciples that wrote their respective manuscripts ever wrote them in Greek or in another language?}

^{Answer— According to all that this writer has read and studied during the last fifty years of studying the Bible, there is no mention of any disciple or apostle ever writing his manuscript in Greek. At the end of Romans there is this note: “To [the] Romans [an Old Latin speaking area] written from Corinth [a Greek speaking area], by Phoebe [the deaconess] of the assembly in Cenchrea [of Greece].” This Phoebe may have been a Hebrew woman though, for Paul was in the practice of first going to the synagogues of whatever town or city to which he went. She therefore could have written the letter in her mother tongue of Aramaic to the Judean Hebrew believers in Rome for Paul, rather than in the Old Latin language of Rome at that time.}

^{At the end of 1st and 2nd Corinthians there are similar notes, but the same explanation could apply. Then at the end of these letters to the Galations, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 2nd Timothy, and Philemon, there are notes that they were written from Rome.[1]}

^{Could this mean that they were therefore written in the Old Latin language of that area or simply Paul’s native tongue of Aramaic? Most likely the Aramaic language, as the recipients were probably mainly Aramaic speaking Judeans living aboard. Though it says in Acts 16:1 that Timothy’s father was a Greek in the Authorized Version (AV) from the Greek Scriptures, it says Aramean in the Aramaic Scriptures. It says in both versions though that his mother was Jewess, in other words, Timothy’s mother tongue was most likely Aramaic.}

^{Philemon is said to have lived in Colosse (Col. 4:9), which is in western Asia Minor, an Aramaic speaking area. So far there is nothing that indicates that even Paul wrote in Greek. There are some significant quotes though that say that Matthew wrote his Gospel in Hebrew, the Aramaic language of Abraham and his family:[2]}

^{Concerning Matthew, Papias [A. D. 70 - 155] writes as follows: “So then Matthew wrote the oracles in the Hebrew language, and everyone interpreted them as he was able.” . . . —Eusebius, Book III, chapter 39, par. 16.[3]}

^{Matthew also issued a written Gospel among the Hebrews in their own dialect while Peter and Paul were preaching at Rome and laying the foundations of the Church. Irenaeus, Adv. Haer. 3.1.1[4]}

^{3) Are there any documents that state that Jesus or any of his Galilean followers ever spoke or wrote in Greek?}

^{Answer— No. There is one reference though showing that the Apostle Paul, who was from Tarsus of Cilicia (Acts 21:39) was able to speak Greek to the chief Captain of the Roman military in Jerusalem.}

^{4) Are there any problems that have developed through believing that Greek was the primary language of the NT?}

^{Answer— Yes, many problems because too much authority has been given to the Greek manuscripts which are obviously just a translation text. A text like this could contain many errors that often occur upon translating from one language to another. One error was already pointed out above in the reference to Acts 16:1 about Timothy’s father.}

^{Another aspect of this, is that there are many signs that several people tried translating the same or different copies of the Hebrew or Aramaic copies of the NT. This can be seen from the many variant readings of sometimes very critical passages of the NT. Some of the variants are just minor, with regards to the spelling of names, but then it causes a lot of confusion. These wrong spellings sometimes hide the fact that there are references to that same place or person in the Old Testament or other extra-biblical texts.}

^{These variants, misunderstandings, and sometimes omissions in the Greek text not only cause problems when translating into English but also when the NT is translated into hundreds of foreign languages by missionary societies. They have been told that Greek was the primary language when it was not. So, we can see that any mistakes in the Greek Scriptures get compounded or more mixed up, upon being translated into other languages.}

^{It is quite easy to see that mistakes can occur upon making hand written copies of any original documents. Greater inaccuracies can occur though, when not only someone tries translating from a copy of a copy but then someone else, later makes copies of incorrect translations.}

^{It is said though, that often it appears that copyists sometime try to correct some of the words, which do not make sense. The passages may read strangely because of poor translations or because of missing words or misarranged texts. Some of them may have tried to correct these problems right in the text while others have made notes about them in the margins.}

^{The more translations between the original and a present-day English or other language version, the more mixed up, things could get. It is therefore best then, to figure out what the real primary languages were for the NT manuscripts and then make translations into English and into foreign languages from them, the real primary texts and not from copies of translations.}

^{5) Should not the opinion of eminent Biblical scholars be greatly considered?}

^{Answer— Not necessarily, for one should check out their fruits. Consider the following comments after the following writer checked out the fruits of two or more “eminent” Biblical scholars:}

^{“Scholarly consensus” is meaningless. Furthermore, most of these eminent scholars would perhaps not even be . . . “real Christians” by the majority of those who believe. People like Metzger are highly liberal, don’t fully accept the inspiration of the Bible, believe that the Torah was compiled from many secular writings – from many different times – and believe the Bible to be full of myths. Yet these are the very people that are trusted to supply Christians with “the most accurate Bible texts”. That is akin to the widespread acceptance by Christians of the “Jewish” Masoretic Hebrew Old Testament version (which “messes around” with many Messianic prophecies, attested to by the Septuagint and Peshitta Old Testament, which is a topic for another day).}

^{Dr. Metzger, you have earned your place in this book. Your lies have not gone unnoticed.[5]}

^{Primacy of Hebrew or Aramaic Texts Rather than of Koine Greek Texts}

^{There are many other proofs that the Gospel of Matthew was written in Hebrew rather than in Aramaic or Greek and much also can be said to show that the rest of the New Testament must have been first written either in Hebrew or the Aramaic languages of the first disciples and apostles of Jesus, rather than in the Greek language of their one-time conquerors.}

^{The Galilean language of the first disciples of Jesus, as well as Syriac, are dialects of the major language of Aramaic, [a branch language from Hebrew,] which Noah and family spoke, as shown earlier. It was the linqua franca of that whole region of Palestine and into Asia Minor (present day Turkey). The Aramaic language is part of the “Semitic family of languages, as does Hebrew and Arabic.”[6]}

^{The well-known scholar, Origen (c. 185-c. 254) wrote that Matthew composed his gospel “in the Hebrew language,” as does Epiphanius (ca.315–403 ce) and Jerome.[7]}

^{True, Paul was born in Cilicia in Syria, but both the Jews and Syrians there spoke Aramaic [and many spoke Hebrew]. Cilicians were neither Greeks nor Romans. They were Syrians, Jews, and Armenians.}

^{. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .}

^{On the other hand, Paul . . . was trained by Gamaliel [a teacher of the Hebrew law]. At that time the Greek language and culture was so repulsive to the Jews that they considered it better to eat swine flesh than to learn Greek. Hebrew was the sacred tongue.[8]}

^{Do not these comments suggest then that the disciples must have therefore written their letters and gospels in their own languages of Hebrew or Aramaic, otherwise their own Hebrew or Aramaic speaking people, in all the churches throughout the Mediterranean might not even read them? If they were first written in Greek, that would have been in the tongue of the Gentiles or of the nations, which many Jews despised.}

^{Is it not more likely that the apostles and other writers of the New Testament manuscripts wrote in their own language to their own people, who then could translate them into whatever language of other members of the community, who also desired to read them? Could not this be the reason for so many versions or diverse readings in the Scriptures in the Greek language?}

^{Mt 10:5 These twelve did Jesus send forth, having given command to them, saying, `To the way of the nations go not away, and into a city of the Samaritans go not in, 6 and be going rather unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Mt 15:24 and he answering said, `I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.' Ac 3:25 `Ye are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant that God made unto our fathers, saying unto Abraham: And in thy seed shall be blessed all the families of the earth; 26 to you first, God, having raised up His child Jesus, did send him, blessing you, in the turning away of each one from your evil ways.' Ac 13:26 `Men, brethren, sons of the race of Abraham, and those among you fearing God, to you was the word of this salvation sent, :27 for those dwelling in Jerusalem, and their chiefs, this one not having known, also the voices of the prophets, which every sabbath are being read--having judged him --did fulfil, Ac 13:46 And speaking boldly, Paul and Barnabas said, `To you it was necessary that first the word of God be spoken, and seeing ye do thrust it away, and do not judge yourselves worthy of the life age-during, lo, we do turn to the nations; Ro 1:16 for I am not ashamed of the good news of the Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation to every one who is believing, both to Judeans first, and to Greek. Ro 2:9 tribulation and distress, upon every soul of man that is working the evil, both of Judeans first, and of Greek; Ro 2:10 and glory, and honour, and peace, to every one who is working the good, both to Judeans first, and to Greek. Ro 11:26 and so all Israel shall be saved, according as it hath been written, `There shall come forth out of Sion he who is delivering, and he shall turn away impiety from Jacob, . . . .}

^{Hebrew was Still Widely Used in Palestine}

^{Since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, many of which are Hebrew compositions, and the discovery of other Hebrew documents from the Judean Desert, it is now confirmed that Hebrew was used as a written medium in first century Palestine. Hebrew, and even Greek,4 were also spoken in first century Palestine. Whether Hebrew was spoken with the same widespread proficiency as Aramaic is debated.5 (Howard, p. 156)}

^{Josephus (A. D. 38-97), the great Jewish writer and contemporary of first-century Christians, states that Greek was not spoken or read in Palestine, and that only a few native people were rewarded for their efforts to learn Greek. . . . He says:}

^{I have proposed to myself, for the sake of such as live under the government of the Romans, to translate those books into the Greek tongue, which I formerly composed in the language of our country.— The Jewish Wars, Preface.}

^{I have also taken a great deal of pains to obtain the learning of the Greeks, and understand the elements of the Greek language; . . . . For our nation does not encourage those that learn the language of many nations. . . . there have yet hardly been two or three that have succeeded herein, who were immediately rewarded for their pains.—Antiquities XX, XI 2.[9]}

^{The Shem Tob Matthew is a Copy of a Much Earlier Hebrew Matthew}

^{In the introduction to Professor George Howard’s book, Hebrew Gospel of Matthew, a date of 1385 - 14th Century is given for that Hebrew manuscript, but it is more than just that. It says that Shem Tob ben-Isaac ben-Shaprut (sometimes called Ibn Shaprut) of Tudela, Castile, Spain wrote his Eben Bohan at that time, which included his Hebrew copy of The Gospel According to Matthew. This Eben Bohan means “The Touchstone.”}

^{The author, George Howard, is a professor of Religion, emeritus of the University of Georgia in Athens. In his above-mentioned book, he proves convincingly that it is most unlikely that the Hebrew Gospel of Matthew in Shem Tob’s treatise Eben Bohan is his translation from any Latin Vulgate, any Byzantine Greek text, “or any other known edition of the Gospel of Matthew. He [must have] received it from previous generations of Jewish scribes and tradents.” (In Howard’s “Preface to the Second Edition”) In other words he simply must have copied it from one or more old Hebrew manuscripts that he may have found in a synagogue library, which may have been hundreds of years older than the above date of 1385 - 14th Century. It may have been so old that it has now disintegrated.}

^{It has been said though, that when a manuscript was getting difficult to read, that it would get copied and after the copy was checked for accuracy, then the old manuscript would be burnt, rather than allow it to be misused. Perhaps this is what happened to the one or more old copies that he used to write his edition of Matthew’s Gospel.}

^{Shem Tob Made No Changes}

^{Though George Howard calls Shem Tob’s Even Bohan a polemical treatise, Shem Tob nowhere, apparently, ever changed the wording of the text. He simply made some comments at places where he criticizes the spelling or wording of some passages. He even advises others to do likewise out of respect for the old sacred manuscript as seen in the following quote from his writing in his book The Touchstone:}

^{I adjure by the life of the world that every copyist that he not copy the books of the gospel unless he writes in every place the objections that I have written just as I have arranged them and written them.[10]}

^{Primarily in Biblical Hebrew with Much Agreement to Very Old Manuscripts}

^{Howard says, “Considerable parts of the original [, primarily in Biblical Hebrew], however, appear to remain, including its unpolished style, ungrammatical constructions, and Aramaized forms.”[11]. There are also nine readings which are found in the Codex Sinaiticus (IV century book) and “one or more of them in Egyptian versions and a few minor witnesses.”[12] As this Sinaiticus text was not found until the middle of the nineteenth century, the roots of similarity or agreement to these texts must therefore go back to the early beginnings of Christianity[13]. This is also supported by numerous examples of similarity or agreements to Old Latin (second to fourth centuries), to old Syriac (fourth to seventh centuries) as well.[14] There is even much agreement (twenty-two times) with the Coptic Gospel of Thomas, “which was probably written in the second century, or even the latter part of the first”[15].}

^{Others Before Shem Tob had Made}

^{Shem Tob’s Hebrew manuscript was amended a little here and there and modernized a little with Midrash Hebrew before he ever copied it. An example is that the word Elohim is spelled as Eloqim with a qoph instead of with a cheth, which sounds quite similar. In other words, someone must have read out one of the previous copies of the original manuscript, while one or more scribes wrote the words down.}

^{This very practice of readers of the manuscripts working with one or more scribes appeared to happen in Old Testament times with Ezra and his five scribes (2 Esdras 14:23-45).}

^{Many Signs of Originality}

^{Professor Howard also points out the numerous puns, word plays, word connections, and alliterations of various kinds that are just not found in the Greek texts, making the Hebrew more original and a more realistic presentation of what Jesus and the disciples really said. “The wordplay [regarding standing and resurrection, which is the same word דמע in the Hebrew], so clearly operative in Shem-Tob’s Hebrew Matthew, is totally lacking in the Greek.”[16]. A supposed translation from the Greek into the Hebrew would hardly present anything like the saturation of these puns and word plays throughout the Shem Tob Hebrew texts.}

^{Three other Hebrew Manuscripts of Matthew}

^{Du Tillet is another Hebrew manuscript of Matthew found in 1553 amongst the Jews but has been modified much more than the above to agree more with the newer Latin and Greek manuscripts. Then there is the Munster manuscript which Sebastian Munster got in 1537 from some Jews. Though he filled in many lacunae (missing parts), it is still quite valuable, for it presents a Hebrew Matthew as to what was available to him at that time, whether he filled in the gaps with words from other Hebrew Matthew manuscripts or with translations from Latin or Greek. It is like the du Tillet one. There is also the Cinquarbres Matthew in Hebrew in 1551.}

^{Though these documents were made known to the European scholars at the above dates they may have been hundreds of years old at those times.}

^{A Hebrew Epistle to the Hebrews}

^{Besides the above copies of the Gospel of Matthew in Hebrew there is also the Sebastian Munster Hebrew copy of the Epistle to the Hebrews, which was added as an appendix to his 1557 second edition of his Hebrew copy of Matthew’s Gospel.}

^{All other N. T. Scriptures Besides the above can be Found Also in Aramaic}

^{All the other New Testament manuscripts can be found in either the Old Syriac Aramaic texts of Sinaitic (syrs – Lewis) (III/IV century) and of Curetonian (syrc --Burkitt) (III/IV c.) or in the Syriac texts of the Peshitta (syrp – eastern) (1st half of 5th c.) and the Peshitto (western) and Later Syriac texts of Philoxeniana (syrph – A. D. 507/8), Harklensis (syrh – A. D. 616), and Palestinian Syriac (syrpal – about the 6th c.).}

^{Dr. George M. Lamsa, the translator of his Holy Bible from the Ancient Eastern Text, who was born in Assyria, before moving to the U. S. A. as a young man, said that he was shocked to hear that the western people of Europe and America were saying that the New Testament was originally written in Greek. His people, who spoke almost the identical Aramaic as found in the Peshitta NT always believed that the disciples of Jesus all wrote their manuscripts that became the NT, in their native tongue of [Hebrew or] Aramaic. They also were never told of anyone ever translating any part of the NT from Greek into Aramaic.}

^{Does this not seem absurd to speak of Hebrew or Aramaic speaking Galileans learning to speak and write Greek, before ever writing their gospels and letters in their native tongues for the tens of thousands of their own Hebrew or Aramaic speaking people to read in neighbouring villages, towns, cities, provinces, and synagogues throughout the Roman Empire and beyond?}

^{Would it not be expected of them to write their manuscripts in their own mother tongues and then leave the translation work to those who were already proficient in Greek or other languages?}

^{Lamsa and his people should know much better than our professors of hundreds to thousands of miles away and of about fifty generations of time since the NT was written. Who are we to tell them how their ancestors or neighbours wrote?}

^{Consider the Borgian manuscripts and its remarks about the “Diatessaron (a word meaning "fourfold"), the work compiled by Titianus the Greek out of the four . . . .The work was translated from Syriac into Arabic by the excellent and learned priest Abu'l Faa'raa'j O^Abdulla ibn-at\-T|ayyib,54 may God grant him his favour.”[17] From this quote, it appears that Titianus, with great pain staking work compiled his Diatessaron in the same language that he found the gospels, in the Aramaic or Syriac language.}

^{Signs of a Translation}

^{Upon reading the NT English translations from the Hebrew and Aramaic texts, one will find that they generally exhibit much more sensible or logical readings than any translations from the Greek translation texts. Why? It is that the Greek manuscripts must be just a secondary version translation language New Testament. This is amply indicated by the many alternative or diverse readings for numerous passages in the NT, while there are hardly any alternative readings in the Aramaic NT.}

^{Besides the many alternative readings from one NT version from the Greek to the others, like from the old Authorized Version or the New King James Version to watered down versions like the New International Version (about 3600 words omitted[18] from what is in the Received Text, which is equivalent of the words from Mt. 1 to Mt 8:1 and then they added about 97617 which are not in the Received Text), there are numerous big differences from the versions from the Aramaic or Hebrew NT. These passages in the Lamsa Bible, which is translated mostly from the Aramaic Peshitta, are quite different than what are in the versions from the Greek, though sometimes it may be just}

^{one word but that can make a world of a difference: Mt 5:19,22,32; 6:13; 10:10,23; 18:19; 19:28; 21:5,7; 22:37; Mk 5:10; 7:26; 8:29,31; 9:44; 11:24; Lk 3:38; 13:11,32,33; 14:5; 14:26; 15:23; 19:17,19; 24:1, 4,26, 47; John 1:38,41,42; 4:11,12; 5:23; 6:1; 12:20,40; 19:25; 20:20; Acts 3:6; 8:3,33; 14:10; 17:9, 26; 18:3; 20:28; 23:8; Ro 5:7; 8:19-21; 9:13; 16:1 (deaconess/servant (AV)); 1 Co 2:3; 4:19; 7:5; 2 Co 5:21; 13:5-7; Ga 3:13; 4:9; Col 3:11; 1 Th 2:3,6,7, 14,18; 1 Tim 2:12,15; 2 Tim 4:13; Titus 3:4; Heb 2:1; 4:8; 7:3; 1 Pt 4:11; 1 John 5:6-8; Rev 11:1,2; 19:7. Examples from Lamsa’s and other translations from the Aramaic in comparison to the AV:}

^{Mt 18:19 Again I say to you that if two of you are worthy on earth, anything that they would ask will be done for them by my Father in heaven. Acts 3:6 “. . . In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth . . . .” (our Lord not there in the Greek)}

^{1 Tim 2:12 I do not think it seemly for a woman to debate publicly or otherwise usurp the authority of men, but she should be silent. For I do not allow a wife to teach nor to be presumptuous (footnote: Lit: teach against) over the husband, but she should be at peace. (Another translation from the Aramaic but by a woman: Janet M. Magiera[19]) 15 Nevertheless, if her posterity continue in faith and have holiness and chastity, she will live through them.}

^{For some important technical words or phrases that some people have complained about in the AV according to an article in the Quarterly Record of the Trinitarian Bible Society, Jan-Mar 2007[20] issue here are what translation from the Aramaic and Hebrew say about passages such as Ro 5:1, such as atonement it is reconciliation in Janet’s translation while at 2 Th 3:5 (AV) patience, (Janet’s) endurance.}

^{Ro 1:3 (AV) Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; 4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:}

^{(Janet) concerning his Son, who was born (footnote: OS (Efr [Old Syriac of St. Ephrem of Syria]) ‘who was seen’) in the flesh of the seed of the house of David 4 and was made known [as] the Son of God by power and by (footnote: Repeat by; lit: by power and by the holiness Spirit, not normal construction for “Holy Spirit”) the Holy Spirit, who raised Jesus Christ our Lord from the dead,}

^{1 Peter 1:2 (AV) Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.}

^{(Murdock from the Peshitto) to them who have been chosen, by the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto the obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus the Messiah: May grace and peace abound towards you.}

^{(Janet–mainly from the Peshitta) those who were chosen by the foreknowledge of God the Father by the holiness of the spirit to be to the obedience and the purifying by sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you.}

^{Mt 27:44 (KJV) The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth.}

^{(Murdock) In like manner the marauders also, that were crucified with him, reproached him.}

^{(Janet) Likewise, also, those robbers who were crucified with him were insulting him.}

^{Mark 2:3 (KJV) And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four.}

^{(Murdock) And they came to him and brought to him a paralytic, borne between four persons. (Janet) And they came to him and brought him a paralytic, bearing him between four [men].}

^{Ro 3:4 (KJV) God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.}

^{(Murdock) Far be it: for God is veracious, and every man false: as it is written: That thou mightest be upright, in thy declarations; and be found pure, when they judge thee.}

^{Mt 8:31 (KJV) So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine.}

^{(Murdock) And the demons entreated of him, and said: If thou cast us out, suffer us to go into the herd of swine.}

^{Actually the Greek is in the diminutive state, so it should be translated either demonette or small demon. Most likely the Hebrew and Aramaic are in the diminutive state as well, for why would the Greek be translated as such? In Luke 8:30, the man had so many demonettes that the evil spirits in him called themselves Legion. They must have been very small, like flies, bugs, or bacteria. This writer checked the states of those words in the Hebrew and the Aramaic but they do not appear to be in any known diminutive state according to the grammars of those languages. Their neighbours, the Greek Christians though, who understood both languages should know though.}

^{Rev 4:6 (KJV) And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.}

^{(Murdock) And before the throne, as it were a sea of glass like crystal; and in the midst of the throne, and around it, and before the throne, were four Animals, full of eyes in their front and in their rear.}

^{Mt 3:11 (KJV) I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:}

^{(Murdock) I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance; but he that cometh after me is more powerful than I; whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.}

^{(Bauscher[21]) has in water as does James Scott Trimm’s translation (from the Hebrew) while George Howard’s, as well as Janet’s, and Joseph Pashka’s says with water.}

^{Mr 1:8 (KJV) I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.}

^{(Murdock) I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.}

^{(Bauscher[22]) 8 I have immersed you! in water but He will immerse you! in The Spirit of holiness (The exclamation marks mean that the word is emphatic)}

^{Mt 6:10 (KJV) Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.}

^{(Murdock) Thy kingdom come: Thy will be done; as in heaven, so on earth:}

^{(Janet) on earth as does (Howard) but Bauscher has in earth.}

^{2 Pe 1:1 (KJV) Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:}

^{(Murdock) Simon Peter, a servant and legate of Jesus the Messiah, to those who have obtained equally precious faith with us, through the righteousness of Our Lord and Redeemer, Jesus the Messiah;}

^{Lk 9:58 (KJV) And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. (No the before foxes and birds)}

^{(Murdock) Jesus said to him: The foxes have holes, and the birds of heaven have coverts; but the Son of man hath not where he may lay his head.}

^{2 Co 5:14 (KJV) For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:}

^{(Murdock) For the love of the Messiah constraineth us to reason thus: One died for all; therefore are all dead.}

^{Two Hundred Key References for Evaluating Translations}

^{Now it is having been shown that almost every new translation of the NT Greek texts omit sixty-two (62) to 197 sections or parts of the texts out of two hundred (200) especially noted ones from the NT Textus Receptus [Greek Text] from which the King James Bible came.[23] The pamphlet indicates that Lamsa’s translation from the Eastern Syriac Aramaic manuscripts only leaves out forty-nine out of the two hundred (200). On checking those passages though, many of the ones that are said to be omitted in Lamsa’s are quite insignificant because in places like Mt 9:13, “to repentance” is understood by context and so are the missing words in Mk 2:17; John 11:41; 20:29; Acts 20:32; Mt 16:20, “Jesus” not there is really what it should be and so with the passage at 1 Jhn 5:7-8. Most other places are also minor or Lamsa has words altogether different from what is from the Greek, which often make more sense than what is in the AV. Most likely the other NT translations from the Hebrew and Aramaic are very similar to what was found with Lamsa’s translation as they are mostly from the same Aramaic texts. Though there are the Peshitta (Eastern) and the Peshitto (Western) texts, there are only minor differences between them.}

^{Though Using Old English, the Authorized Version May be}

^{the Most Accurate of the Versions from the Greek}

^{What the above section shows is that the Textus Receptus is closer to the ancient Eastern Syriac manuscripts than the eclectic texts of Westcott and Hort, 1881, Nestle, 26th ed., and the United Bible Societies’ 4th ed. 2005. Though the Textus Receptus is also an eclectic text, it is mainly made from most of the manuscripts of the NT that the Church honoured and respected as genuine. Some of the other oldest manuscripts which are not regarded as being in the majority of the texts, were quite defective and were rejected by the Church, because they were so defective. Too many words and sometimes even whole verses were missing. See good books on this subject like Counterfeit or Genuine: Mark 16? John 8? and Which Bible? and True or False all by David Otis Fuller, D. D., Evaluating Versions of the New Testament by Everett W. Fowler, Bible Version Manual by Donald T. Clarke, The Authorized King James Bible Defended by Chester A. Murray, The King James Version Defended by Edward F. Hills, Th. D., New Age Bible Versions by G. A. Riplinger, God Wrote Only One Bible by J. J. Ray, Modern Versions of the Bible by The Peoples Gospel Hour, Modern Versions and Ancient Manuscripts by Evangelistic Literature Enterprises, The Divine Original by the Trinitarian Bible Society, The Foundation and Authority of the Word of God by Dr. Bruce D. Cummons, Pastor, The Ancient Text of the New Testament by Dr. Jakob Van Bruggen, The Identity of the New Testament Text by Wilbur N. Pickering, and The First New Testament by David Estrada and William White, Jr.}

^{We do not agree with every point in the above-mentioned books and pamphlets but overall though, they show that texts or manuscripts most similar to the Aramaic and Hebrew manuscripts of the NT are the most logical and authoritative.}

^{We also believe that it is a mistake to base the English Old Testament entirely on the Masoretic Texts, for often readings from the Aramaic and the Greek manuscripts are more complete and make more sense than from the Hebrew Masoretic Texts. Texts from the Dead Sea Scrolls should also be used to help determine what were most likely in the original Old Testament. Any other versions of the Old Testament should also be used. Check out our samples of the Holy Bible, Victory Version at our web site: of http://truthandlightministries.org or http://tlm79.org.}

^{For some good Internet sites that agree and support these findings that Hebrew or Aramaic were the primary language of the New Testament, please see sites like http://aramaicnt.com/ of Pastor Glenn David Bauscher, who just recently published the Aramaic-English Interlinear New Testament, http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Ithaca/6623/aramaic.htm , http://www.peshitta.org/ , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramaic_primacy , http://aramaicbible.us/ , http://www.geocities.com/shenlan.geo/NT-is-Hebrew-orignin-or-not.html http://aramaicbible.us/WastheNewTestamentReallyWritteninGreek-first_edition.pdf , http://ad2004.com/Biblecodes/Greekmatrix/Grkmatrix.html http://www.mashiyach.com/hebrew.htm}

^Conclusion

^{It therefore appears that the AV is still a good translation in comparison to many modern-day ones. It should also be seen though, that what we have in translations from the Hebrew and Aramaic New Testament texts are often different in a number of key places from the translations from the Greek but they appear to make better sense than any that are from the Greek, especially if the Aramaic or Peshitta manuscripts are from the Eastern area. The Hebrew must have been the primary language then for the Gospel According to Matthew and the Epistle to the Hebrews while the common Aramaic of Syria and of Galilee was the primary language of the rest of the New Testament manuscripts.}

^{F:\Religion\What Language Was Used 1.wpd revised May 27, 2018}

Some Key Passages of Scripture

Authorized or King James Versions of 1769 (AV or KJV)

Murdock from Aramaic of 1851

Etheridge from Aramaic of 1849

Victory Version of Aramaic, Greek, & Coptic Texts2(V. V.)

Today's English Version (Good News Transla-=tion or TEV)

New American Standard Version [...]= not credible (their opinion)

New Interna-tional VersionNIV

Jehovah Witness VersionJ. V.

Revised Standard VersionRSV

Matt 18:11

For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.

For the Son of man, hath come to give life to that which was lost.

For the Son of man is come to save that which had perished.

For the Son of the mankind is come to save that which had perished.

Not in the text

[For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost]

Not in the Text

Not in the Text

Not in the text

Mark 9:44

Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched

where their worm dieth not, and their fire is not extinguished

where their worm dieth not, and their fire is not quenched.

where their worm dies not, and their fire is not quenched.

Not in the Text

Not in the Text

Not in the Text

Not in the Text

Not in the Text

Luke 2:33

And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him.

And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him.

But Jauseph and his mother wondered at these words which were spoken concerning him.

But Jauseph and his mother wondered at these words which were spoken concerning him.

The child's father and mother were amazed at the things Simeon said about him.

And His father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him.

The child's father and mother marvelled at what was said about him.

And his father and mother continued wondering at the things being spoken about it.

And his father and his mother marvelled at what was said about him.

KJV

Murdock

Etheridge

V. V.

TEV

NASV

NIV

J. W.

RSV

Luke 4:4

And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.

Jesus replied, and said to him: It is written, Not by bread only, doth man live; but by every thing of God.

Jeshu answered and said to him, It is written, It is not by bread alone that the son of man liveth, but by every word of Aloha.

Jesus answered and said to him, ‘It is written: It is not by bread alone that the son of the mankind lives, but by every word of the Superior.”

But Jesus answered, “The scripture says, 'Man cannot live on bread alone.”

And Jesus answered him, “It is written, 'Man shall not live on bread alone.”

Jesus answered, “It is written, “Man does not live on bread alone.”

But Jesus replied to him: 'It is written, 'Man must not live by bread alone.”

And Jesus answered, “The scripture says, 'Man cannot live on bread alone.'”

John 3:13

And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

And no one hath ascended to heaven, but he that descended from heaven, the Son of man who is in heaven.

AND no man hath ascended into heaven, but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man, he who is in heaven.

AND no man has ascended into !Heaven, but he who descended from !Heaven, the Son of the mankind,” (he who is in !Heaven).

And no one has gone up to heaven except the Son of Man, who came down from heaven.

And no one has ascended into heaven but He who descended from heaven, even the Son of Man.

No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven–the Son of Man.

Moreover, no man has ascended into heaven but he that descended from heaven, the Son of Man.

No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man.

John 6:47

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.

Verily, verily, I say to you: That, to him who believeth in me, there is life eternal.

AMEN, amen, I say to you, "Whosoever believes in me has the life which is eternal.

AMEN, amen, I say to you, “Whosoever believes in me has the life which is eternal.

I am telling you the truth: he who believes has eternal life.

Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.

I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.

Most truly I say to you, He that believes has everlasting life.

Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.

Verses

KJV

Murdock

Etheridge

V. V.

TEV

NASV

NIV

J. W.

RSV

Col. 1:143

In whom we have redemption through his blood,4 even the forgiveness of sins:

by whom we have redemp- tion and remis- sion of sins:

in whom we have redemption and the forgive- ness of sins:

in whom we have redemp- tion and the forgive- ness of sins:

By whom we are set free, that is, our sins are forgiven.

In whom we have redemp- tion, the forgive-ness of sins.

In whom we have redemp- tion, the forgive- ness of sins.

By means of whom we have our release by ransom, the forgiveness of our sins.

In whom we have redemp- tion, the forgive-ness of sins.

1 Tim. 3:16

And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world,received up into glory.

and truly great, is this mystery of righteous-ness, which was revealed in the flesh, and justified in the spirit, and seen by angels, and pro-claimed among the Gentiles and be-lieved on in the world, and received up into glory.

And truly great is this mystery of righteousness, [Kinutho.] which was revealed in the flesh, and justified by the Spirit, and seen of angels, and preached among the peoples, and believed in the world, and taken up into glory.

And truly great is this mystery of righteous-ness,[Kinutho.] which was revealed in the flesh, and justified by the Spirit, and seen of angels,and preached among the peoples,, and believed in the world, and taken up into glory.

No one can deny how great is the secret of our religion: He appeared in human form, was shown to be right by the Spirit, and was seen by angels. He was preached among nations, was believed in throughout the world, and was taken up to heaven.-

And by common confession great is the mystery of godliness: He was revealed in the flesh, was vindicated in the Spirit, Beheld by angels, Proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great: He appeared in the flesh, was vindicate-ed by the Spirit, was seen by angels, waspreached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.

Indeed, the sacred secret of this godly devotion is admittedly great: He was made manifest in flesh,+ was declared righteous in spirit, appeared toangels,+ was preached about among to nations,+ was believed upon in [the] world,+ was received up in glory.

Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of our religion: He was manifested in the flesh, vindica-ted in the Spirit, seen by angels, preachedamong the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

2 Tim. 2:15

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

And study to present thyself before God, perfectly, a laborer who is not ashamed, one who correctly announ- ceth the word of truth.

And be careful to establish thyself perfectly before Aloha, a workman without shame, preaching rightly the word of truth.

And be careful to establish yourself perfectly before the Superior, a workman without shame, preaching rightly the declara-tion of truth.

Do your best to win full approval in God's sight, as a worker who is not ashamed of his work, one who correctly teaches the message of God's truth.

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

Do your utmost to present yourself approved to God, a workman with nothing to be ashamed of, handling the word of the truth aright.

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

Verses

KJV

Murdock

Etheridge

V. V.

TEV

NASV

NIV

J. W.

RSV

1 Peter 4:1	Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;	If then the Messiah hath suffered for you in the flesh, do ye also arm your- selves with the same mind: for every one that is dead in his body, hath ceased from all sins,	If then the Meshiha hath suffered for you in the flesh, be you also armed in it with the same mind; for every one who dieth in his body hath ceased from all sins,	If then the Meshihathecnd Anointed-one hath suffered for you in the flesh, be you also armed in it with the same mind; for everyone who dies in his body has ceased from all sins,	Since Christ suffered physical-ly, you too must strengthen your- selves with the same way of thinking that he had; because whoever suffers physically is no longer involved with sin.	Therefore, since Christ has [a]suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has [b]suf- fered in the flesh has ceased from sin,	Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm your- selves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin.	Therefore Since Christ suffered in the flesh,+ you too arm your- selves with the same mental dispose- tion;* because the person who has suffered in the flesh has desisted from sins,	Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same thought, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,
1 John 5:7	For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one	[For there are three that testify in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit: and these three are one.][* This verse is wanting in most	and the Spirit testifieth, because the Spirit himself is truth.	and the Spirit testi- fies, because the Spirit himself is truth.	There are three witnesses:	For there are three that testify:	For there are three that testify:	For there are three witness bearers:	And the Spirit is the witness, because the Spirit is the truth.
	.	MSS., and is omitted in the edition: London, 1826.]
Verses	K. J. V.	Murdock	Etheridge	V. V.	TEV (GNT)	NASV	NIV	J. W.	RSV

Acts 8:37	And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.	[And Philip said: If thou believest with all thy heart, it is allowable. And he answered, and said: I believe that Yeshua Mshikha is the Son of Alaha.]* [* This 37th verse is not in any of the earlier editions, and is excluded from the text of the London editions of 1816 and 1826.]	[Verse 37 is wanting in the Peschito.]	And Philip said, “If you believe with your whole heart, you may.” And answering said, “I believe that Jesus, Anointed-one is the son of the Superior.” (Probably was left out accidently by a copyist says Glen David Bauscher in his translation from the Aramaic)	Not in the Text	Not in the Text	Not in the Text	Not in the Text	Not in the Text
Verses	K. J. V.	Murdock	Etheridge	V. V.	TEV (GNT)	NASV	NIV	J. W.	RSV
Matt 17:21	Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.	But this kind goeth not out, except by fasting and prayer.	But this kind goeth not forth but by fasting and by prayer.	But this kind does not go forth but by fasting and by prayer.	Not in the text	[[j]But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”](the footnote j says that early mss do not contain this.	Not in the text	Not in the text	Not in the text
Mark 9:29	And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.	Jeshu said to them, This kind with nothing can be cast out, but by fasting and prayer.	Jeshu said to them, This kind with nothing can be cast out, but by fasting and prayer.	Jesus said to them, “This kind with nothing can be cast out, but by fasting and prayer.”	“Only prayer can drive this kind out,” answered Jesus; “nothing else can.”	And He said to them, “This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer.”	He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.[a]”	He said to them: “This kind can come out only by prayer.”	And he said to them, "This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer."
Verses 1 Cor. 7:5	KJV Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.	Murdock Therefore, deprive not one another, except when ye both consent, at the time ye devote yourselves to fasting and prayer; and return again to the same disposition, that Satan tempt you not because of the concupiscence of your body.	Etheridge Defraud not then one the other, unless you both agree for a time, that you may humble yourselves by fasting and by prayer; and return again unto the same will, that Satana may not tempt you on account of the desire of your bodies.	V. V. Defraud not then one the other, unless you both agree for a time, that you may humble yourselves by fasting and by prayer; and return again unto the same will, that Satana may not tempt you on account of the desire of your bodies.	TEV (GNT) Do not deny yourselves to each other, unless you first agree to do so for a while in order to spend your time in prayer; but then resume normal marital relations. In this way you will be kept from giving in to Satan's temptation because of your lack of self-control.	NASV Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and [b]come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.	NIV Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.	J. W. Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent for an appointed time, so that you may devote time to prayer and may come together again, in order that Satan may not keep tempting you for your lack of self-control.	RSV Do not refuse one another except perhaps by agreement for a season, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, lest Satan tempt you through lack of self-control.

KJV Matt 28:19,20	G. Howard Hebrew Mt tr.	V. V.	Clayton Raymond Bowen, 1916 5	Yirmeyahu Ben-David6	Albert J. Edmunds, 19177	Elijah M. Brady (Ed.), 19998	MM Arnold Clinton Willis, W. Conner, 2000 9	Jim Wheeler (Chief Ed.), 200110	Jorge Cardenas (Ed.)11 2001
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.	Go 20 and teach them to carry out all the things which I have commanded you forever.	Go to 20 them and teach them to carry out all the things which I have commanded you forever.	\Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in my name, 20 teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you; and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world..	Go (28.19.1) and watchguard over the authority, prestige and Realm, to notify all of these. things. (28.20.1) 20 which I tzwah, to the tgeitz (28.20.1) of the age. (28.20.2)	Go ye therefore and make disciples of all the nations IN MY NAME, 20 teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I com-manded you; and lo! I am with you always, even unto the end of the age.*	Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, in my name: 20: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you; and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.	“Go ye and make disciples of all nations in My Name, 20 teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.”	°So go make disciples in all nations in my name, 20 and teach them to obey all the things that I commanded you. (Look!) I.ll be with you each day until the end of the age.	Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, immersing them in my name:‡ 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (cursive in orig-inal)

 

 Truth and Light Ministries Inc. (Raised by the Superior One to earnestly contend for the faith that was once delivered to the Saints) [Jude 3b]. http://truthandlightministries.org or http://tlm79.org and P. O. Box 79, Ethelbert, Manitoba, Canada R0L 0T0. Phone 204-742-3770 or truthandlight@mts.net.

./Your Check-up List for New Testament Versions - b2.pdf ./Timing of the Crucifixion and the Translation of Mt 28-1.pdf

 

 

The Corruption of 2 Timothy 3:16

Most Christians now-a-days, think the new translations are a great improvement from the clas­sic King James or Authorized version of the Bible but do not realize that even the so-called experts on translations of the Scriptures (note that when this word is capitalized it means not any scriptures or writings but the Holy Scriptures, the Holy Bible) are not all experts and do not even realize that the ori­ginal New Testament manuscripts were not in Greek but in the very language of the writers, which was Hebrew for the Gospel of Matthew and for the Letter to the Hebrews by the Apostle Paul and in Ara­maic for the rest of the New Testament writings. See our other articles on this at our website of http://tlm79.org or the Internet for writings by others on this topic.

Where do we ever read in the New Testament that the apostles studied Greek in order to write their letters to fellow Judeans who spoke Aramaic or Hebrew throughout the Mediterranean area? That is nonsense. Once the Judeans or the Hebrews in the new Christian assemblies throughout that same area as a rule, got their letters in their mother tongues, they could then translate them into the languages of their Gentile neighbours. This is exactly what we believe happened. Common sense tells us this. Does it not?

This essay is also to encourage you to question all the doctrines in your respective churches that may be questionable or do not appear to be completely supported by the Holy Bible.

We are therefore showing in this study or essay, a sample of ways in which we have been de­ceived, with a sample regarding a very well known verse of 2 Timothy 3:16.

Note that from following the two sets of Scripture, the common word for any writing by hand in Bible times, which was in Greek, Aramaic, Hebrew, or Latin was their respective word for writings or scripture. In translations those same words could be all translated by our English word script, scripture, or writing. In other words there were scriptures or writings which were not inspired. The writer Paul knew this obviously and that is why he specified what kind of writing he meant..

The Greek words for writings and their adjectives in these passages are in the nominative or subject case. That is, the following word after scripture in Greek is simply an adjective describing the subject, saying that “Every scripture, [meaning obviusly, only writings or scriptures which are] God in­spired. Then note that the following word translated here as and could be also translated as therefore:

2532. kai kai, kahee . . .

apparently, a primary particle, having a copulative and sometimes also a cumulative force; and, also, even, so then, too, etc.; often used in connection (or composition) with other par­ticles or small words:--and, also, both, but, even, for, if, or, so, that, then, therefore, when, yet. (Stong's Dictionary)

The Aramaic versions in English translations show this obvious true meaning:

2Ti 3:16 FOR all scripture which from the Spirit is written, is prof­itable for doctrine, and for rebuke, and for correction, and for instruc­tion [Or, discipline.] which is in righteousness:(Etheridge)

16  All scripture, written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction and for instruction in righteousness: (Lamsa)

2Ti 3:16 All scripture that was written by the Spirit, is profitable for instruction, and for confutation, and for correction, and for erudition in righteousness; (Murdock)

The Greek versions in some English translations also show this same mean­ing:

2Ti 3:16 Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teach­ing, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteous­ness. (American Standard Version)

2Ti 3:16 Every holy Writing which comes from God is of profit for teach­ing, for training, for guiding, for education in righteousness: (1965 Bible in Basic English)

2Ti 3:16 All scripture, given by divine inspiration, is indeed prof­itable for doctrine, for conviction, for reformation, for instruction in righteousness, (Charles Thomson NT)

2Ti 3:16 All scripture, inspired of God, is profitable to teach, to re­prove, to correct, to instruct in justice: (1899 Douay-Rheims Bible)

2Ti 3:16 Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teach­ing, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteous­ness: (Revised Version)

2Ti 3:16 For all scripture given by inspiration of God, is profitable to teach, to improve, to amend, and to instruct in righteousness (Modern Spelling Tyndale/ Coverdale Bible).

2Ti 3:16 For all scripture given by inspiration of God, is profitable to teach, to improve, to inform, and to instruct in righteousness, (William Tyndale New Testament)

The Coptic Versions in English translations are as such:

2Ti 3:16 All scriptures of inspiration of God are profitable unto [a] doctrine, unto [a] reproof, unto [a] correction, unto [an] instruction which is in [the] righteousness: (Coptic NT, Northern Dialect in English)

2Ti 3:16 For every scripture [^{part missing}] God [ ^{part missing}] unto the teaching [ ^{part missing}] unto the doctrine, unto the righteousness: (Coptic NT, Southern Dialect inEnglish)

Tricks Being Played in Translations

Note that almost every other version from the Greek is distorted and untrue except where they capitalize the word Scripture but in the Greek there was no differentia­tion of that. This capitalization should be noted as a footnote in order to be less deceitful to the readers. Another added word which distorts the meaning of the Greek ver­sion is this word: is as shown below:

2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteous­ness, (Jubilee Bible [probably from the Greek])

Note that in the above, the word scripture has a first letter which is in the small case and the word is, is in italics. In the Authorized Version this practice of using italics was to show not emphasis but to indicate that this word was added by the transla­tors and has no backing in the manuscripts from which they have translated.

The above therefore shows that the best translations are from the Aramaic and almost every one from the Greek, other than the ones we listed is distorted and not true.

There are many other distortions of the truth in Bible versions today so please check out for the truth on doctrine from our website of http://truthandlightministries.org or http://tlm79.org. We may make mistakes at times from misunderstanding God's leading, so if you find something that may be wrong. Please let us know.

Another reason for this above essay is to indicate that other ancient writ­ings may have also been initially inspired of God and should also be read and studied to help get a better background understanding of the languages of the Bible Scriptures and of the people of the Bible. Over the years though, many may have suffered some errors through copying, as what has happened with the Hebrew and other Bible manuscripts or from poor translations.

Note that other ancient manuscripts, just mentioned, existed during the Bible times when the Old Testament writings were being written and were in circulation while Paul and other writers were writing their Gospels, essays, or letters. Examples of these writings are the Book of Enoch, Se­crets of Enoch, Book of Jubilees, Book of Jasher, Books of Adam and Eve,The Letter of Aristeas (on the origins of the Septuagint Version of the Old Testament), the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs (some of which make it clear that Jesus was the Messiah), and some other ancient writings which were in the Synagogues through out the ancient world. For example, in 1840, there were thirteen or more copies of the Book of Jasher in the libraries of the Hebrews or Judeans throughout the world.

In other words, if any of these manuscripts or books support the Bible teachings, then they too may have been also inspired by God's Holy Spirit, for consider these verses that you and I should speak with God's inspiration as the people of old did.

Ro 3:2 Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God. Heb 5:12 For when for the time ye ought to be teach­ers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. 1Pe 4:11 If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

(KJV)

So in other words we should study other ancient Godly literature to under­stand God and His words in the Holy Bible better.

Truth and Light Ministries Inc. (Raised by God [the Supreme One] to earnestly contend for the faith that was once delivered to the Saints [Jude 3b]) P. O. Box 79, Ethelbert, Manitoba, Canada R0L 0T0 Phone 204-742-3770 or crbesson@mts.net Http://TruthandLightMinistries.org