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ON THE ACCURATE TRANSLATION OF JOHN 1:1 Bible Scholar posted this article on Larry Ingram's Trinity Discussion / John 1:1 Discussion forum in September 2000.
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| ON THE ACCURATE TRANSLATION OF JOHN 1:1 - © [email protected] '98 - ( Permission is granted to reproduce this article for non-commercial purposes only so long as Author's name and copyright claim are posted at the beginning of the article- Bible-Scholar ) - - - INTRODUCTION - This article will attempt to demonstrate that the current, popular translation of The New Testament verse at John 1:1 - "... and the word was God." - is inaccurate, and misrepresents the author's intended meaning, and that it ought rightly be understood to be saying that "...the word was divine in nature, character and essence- LIKE God." - - - The King James translation of the Bible offers this rendering of John 1:1 : ------------------ "....the word was with God and the word was God". ------------------- - - Trinitarians contend that this "proves " that Jesus is Jehovah-God-Almighty. - - Many other modern translations render Jn. 1:1 the same way. However, there are many many other highly respected Bible translations which DISAGREE with the K.J.V and offer a DIFFERENT rendering of the same original Greek words. - - Some of these translations are: - -------------- "...and the word was divine." -------------- Goodspeed's Bible, The Complete Bible, Moffatt's Bible. - - ------------- "was a god." ------------- The Emphatic Diaglott Interlinear- 1864, New Testament in an Improved Version - by Archbishop Newcomb-1808, The New Testament -by J.L. Tomanek- l958, The New World Translation, Das Evangelium Nach Johannes by S.Schultz-1975 . - - ------------- "was identical in essence with God" ------------- Harper and Row's Study Bible. - - ------------- "... one with God." ------------- Expositor's Bible - - ------------- "...was the same as God" ------------- Today's English Version- - - ------------- "...what God was the word was" ------------- New English Bible. - - ------------- "...the nature of the word was the same as the nature of God." ------------- William Barclay's Translation. - - - Also, many highly respected Bible commentaries say the same thing-for example: - - The One Volume Bible Commentary - Dummlow - p774 - says : ------------- "...it is one with him (God), it is divine like him..." ------------- - - Peak's Bible Commentary - p846 - says: -------------- "...was with God and had the nature of God-he was the agent of creation." ------------- - - - It would appear obvious that these alternate translations do not have the same meaning as "...the word was God", or else no new and more complicated rendering would have been necessary. - So why the difference? And what exactly is the difference in meaning? - We need to examine the Greek words of Jn. 1:1 to gain insight. - - - - - THE ORIGINAL GREEK WORDING - - - The whole sentence from the King James is: --------------- "in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God." -------------- - The Greek word here, translated "God" in the KJV, is "theos" . This word is used in the N.T to refer to Almighty God, and also to other (mythical) gods, lesser divine created beings (angels) and to human judges. It is a word which, at heart, refers to God's QUALITY or NATURE (deity or divinity). - About this, Strong's (N.T.) Greek Dictionary says: - " # 2316--THEOS--a god--especially-with the definite article ( the word "the") - The Supreme Divinity (God Almighty Jehovah-my clarification here)". - In plain English this says that the word means " a divine being" ( a god) and especially, with the word "the" ( Greek "ho" or "ha") in front of it, it means "God Almighty". - Understand that the word "theos" was never held by the writers or translators of the New Testament to refer ONLY to God, but was also legitimately used to refer to other beings, including men. - - - Let us now return to John 1:1. - All translators agree upon the first part: ------------- "in the beginning was the word and the word was with God...". ------------- - - The original Greek uses the definite article "the ( 'ho' or 'ha' ) " - in front of both "word" ( " logos" AND "God" ( "theos" ) in the first half of this sentence : ---------- " THE word ( " ha logos " ) was with THE God ( " ha theos ") ..." . ---------- - - The translators, however, DROP or omit the word "the" from before the word "God" because we do not say "THE God" in English, but rather simply "God" - ---------- "...was with God . " ---------- (no "the" before "God"- although it is there in the Greek). - - In the second use of the word "theos" in this sentence, however , there is no definite article in the Greek preceding theos" . - - The literal translation (word for word) of Jn. 1:1 actually reads: ------------ " In the beginning was THE word ( ho logos), and THE word (ho logos) was with THE God (ho theos) and God (theos-no definite article)-was THE word (ho logos)" ------------ - - Please notice that the term " theos" comes BEFORE the phrase " the word " in the second half of the verse. - Many commentaries point out that "theos" IN FRONT OF, not following, "the word" should be understood as DESCRIBING or "modifying" "the word" ( in other words, in this position it is acting like an adjective-telling us what "the word" is like)- and that the lack of the definite article ("the") here means that the QUALITY, or NATURE of God - (in other words, His "divinity" ) is being expressed here. - - - - EXPERT TESTIMONY - - In his book "The Translation Debate" ( page 94 , G.H. Glassman-Master of Theology, Master of Linguistics, Master of Communications (holding masters degrees in these subjects) and a TRANSLATION ADVISOR TO "THE UNITED BIBLE SOCIETIES" says: ------------- "...the lack (absence) of the definite article, in Greek, frequently emphasizes QUALITY RATHER THAN IDENTITY. " . - He continues--"...' with God ' is NOT THE SAME AS ' was God '. The first one speaks of " the God ", with the definite article, because the PERSONHOOD of God is in focus - God identified as a person. The second (use of) ' god ' (theos) occurs without the article...the stress accent or focus shifts...to the CHARACTER of God rather than his personhood...THE WORD ...SHARED THE CHARACTER OR NATURE OF GOD..." - page 45. -------------------- - If what Glassman says is true, then the King James rendering of John 1:1 is totally misleading. - - - Let us consult another HIGHLY respected expert. - Bishop Westcott, along with bishop Hort, produced the "best text" manuscript of the Greek New Testament. This document is a single, revised N.T. Greek rendering-the results of years of painstaking work and research- which examined many hundreds of early copies of the Greek New Testament manuscripts-and came up with a single manuscript which most faithfully and accurately represents the original (missing) Greek New Testament. - This " Wescott and Hort " best-text " N.T. Greek manuscript is the basis for the majority of modern revised English translations. Certainly, any serious student of the Bible will want to consider his opinion on the subject of Jn. 1:1. - Bishop Westcott says, regarding the second use of the word "theos" in Jn. 1:1 : ------------------- "...it is necessarily without the definite article inasmuch as IT DESCRIBES THE NATURE OF THE WORD AND DOES NOT IDENTIFY HIS PERSON ." -------------------- from An Idiom Book Of N.T. Greek - by Prof. C. F. D. Moule'-1953-page 116. - - - Further, A Dictionary Of The Bible by Jesuit John Mc Kenzie - McMillin Pubs. - a book currently on sale at most Christian booksellers- says in an article on Jesus, about Jn. 1:1, and concerning the phrase in question: ----------------- "...SHOULD RIGOROUSLY BE TRANSLATED '..A DIVINE BEING ' . " . ----------------- - - - - HERMENEUTICS - - Hermeneutics - the science of Bible interpretation, says that " unclear scripture should be interpreted in the light of clear scripture " . - Plainly Jn. 1:1 is an unclear scripture (given the differences in interpretation it has received). This fact alone makes the K.J. version of this verse an unreliable basis for " proving " that " Jesus is God ". - - - - CLEAR SCRIPTURE - - Further, the clear scripture on this subject requires us to interpret it in the alternate way - " was a divine being " - since this second rendering agrees with dozens of clear scriptures from both the old and new testaments. - - For example: - ------------------ psalm 8-5-..."...Thou ( God ) hast made man a little lower than the angels ...". ------------------ - The word translated "angels" here is the Hebrew word " elohim " - a word which literally means " God " or " gods " . The New Testament - in referring to this verse - uses the Greek word " theos " ( the word in question in Jn. 1:1) for " angels " , and Jesus used the word "theos" when referring to the Old Testament verse wherein God is reported to have called MEN " gods " . - Paul also made reference to this word as describing angels. ( Heb. 2:7, Jn, 10:34, Ps. 82:6, Ps. 22:9 . - - - Jn. 7:16 - Jesus says: ---------------- "...of God or... of myself " ---------------- drawing a DISTINCTION BETWEEN himself and God. - - - Jn. 13:3 : ---------------- "...Jesus knowing that he was COME FROM God and WENT TO God..." ---------------- - - Jn, 17:3 - Jesus saying : ---------------- "...father...YOU ALONE (are) the true god..." ---------------- - - JN. 20:17 Jesus saying that his father was: ------------- "..my god and your god" ------------- - - 1 Cor. 7:4-6 Paul saying : ------------- "there is but one GOD, ( that is ) the father." ------------- - - Jude 1:1,4 : ------------- "...God, the father...the ONLY Lord God " ------------- - - ...and dozens of other CLEAR scriptures in the Bible that teach that Jesus and Almighty - God - Jehovah are two distinctly different and un-equal people. - - - - - CONCLUSION - - in view of the above information and " clear scripture ", and in accordance with the law of hermeneutics, I - and I would think any reasonable student of this issue - am forced to interpret Jn. 1:1 as saying - ----------------- " IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD, AND THE WORD WAS WITH GOD, AND THE WORD WAS HIMSELF A DIVINE BEING, HAVING THE NATURE AND CHARACTER OF GOD. " ----------------- - - May the spirit which comes from the Almighty - God - Jehovah guide us into the right understanding of His holy word. - - Thank you. :-) Bible-Scholar - ( © [email protected] '98 ) |
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