COMBINATION OF [1]  THE SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY AND [2]  THE REALITY ON ISAIAH 41:4.   With the Scripture of the Day first.
[1]   SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY [VOL. 148A]
 
For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.   Romans 8:22,  [authorized King James Bible; AV]
 
Yes, things on earth are NOT getting better, but only going down in a continuous downward spiral.  Of course, this eventuality was foretold long ago by the Apostle Matthew when he wrote at Matthew 24:8 – 12, [AV] “All these are the beginning of sorrows.  9  Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.  10  And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.  11  And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.  12  And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.”  For example the use of illegal drugs is increasing and more youths are committing crimes of ever more grave types, and the political scene is getting worse in many diverse countries, and there is no peace in the world as it is in great turmoil with entities that claim a religious reason such as ISIS and Al Queda.  
        
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[2]   THE REALITY ON ISAIAH 41:4:
 
Isaiah 41:4 Who has performed and accomplished it, Calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, am the first, and with the last, I am He." [New American Standard Bible-Reference Edition by Moody Press, Chicago, a div. Of Moody Bible Institute; NASB-MP].
 
Some think this applies to Jesus (Yeshua), but it does not, it applies to his Father (YHWH) as clearly shown at Isaiah 44:6-8, 'Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God. 7 And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them shew unto them. 8 Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.." (AV); and at Isaiah 46:9-10, "Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: "; and Isaiah 43:10-11, "Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. 11 I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour." (AV); and many others.
 
But Isaiah 48:17-18, "Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go. 18 O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea:" (AV) clearly shows the Title, "Lord," being applied to Almighty God (YHWH). This is reaffirmed at Revelation 11:17, "Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.",(AV), yet there are those who attempt to twist the scriptures to serve the god of this system or world, and use scriptures such as Revelation 1:11, "Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea." (AV) , but fail to notice the critical difference "the first and the last" which rather than implying that Jesus (Yeshua) is Almighty God (YHWH) clearly show his as the first of Creation as does Revelation 3:14, "And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans F1 write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;" (AV); Clearly they do not recognize the difference between "beginning and the ending" and "the first and the last."
 
Actually a lot of this confusion results from poor translation as clearly shown by the rendering of Revelation 1:11 in the New American Standard Bible-reference Edition by Moody Press, Chicago, a div. Of Moody Bible Institute; NASB-MP, "Saying, 'Write in a book what you see, and send it to the seven churches; To Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyater and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodices." (NASB-MP); similar renderings are found in the American Standard Bible (ASB); the New World Translation (NWT); The Emphatic Dialogue; New Revised Standard Version (NRSV); the Westcott-Hort (1948 Reprint), and many more. Of particular interest is the rendering in the Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible, the following, "Saying: What thou seest, write in a book and send to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamus and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.".
 
However, be not mislead by the trickery of men, but know this Psalms 83:18 says, "That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth." (AV). And the difference is drawn out at Acts 5:24-26, "Now when the high priest and the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these things, they doubted of them whereunto this would grow. 25 Then came one and told them, saying, Behold, the men whom ye put in prison are standing in the temple, and teaching the people. 26 Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence: for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned." (AV), where it clearly says, Acts 4:26, "The kings of the earth took their stand, And the rulers were gathered together Against the Lord, and against His Christ." (NASB-MP). Clearly showing here "Lord" applied to Almighty God (YHWH) and distinguishing him from his son the Christ, Jesus (Yeshua) as it showed them against both as distinct beings and not as one and the same.
 
So we can clearly see those being mislead by the god of this system, see 2 Corinthians 4:4, "In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." (AV), are liars like their leader as shown at John 8:44. They twist scripture and/or use poor translations to try and support their idolatry, instead of trying to understand the plain Truth of the Bible.
 
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COMBINATION OF [1]  THE SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY AND [2]  THE 'TEXTUAL MECHANICS' OF EARLY JEWISH LXX/OG PAPYRI AND FRAGMENTS BY ROBERT A. KRAFT (UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA)- PART 2.   With the Scripture of the Day first.
 
SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY [VOL. 150A]
 
But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.   2 Peter 2:1,  [authorized King James Bible; AV]
 
Today we see many religions, over 33,000, all teaching different things, many of which are in opposition to each other; but Almighty God (YHWH) IS A God of unity along with His son, Jesus (Yeshua).  They are one in purpose and their genuine true followers must likewise be one in purpose and in unity.  Yes, there are many false religions in existence today spawned by the Creators arc-enemy, Satan the Devil, and their evil results are highlighted at 2 Peter 2:2 – 8, [AV] “And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.  3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.  4  For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;  5  And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;  6  And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;”  
        
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[2]   PART 2 OF THE 'TEXTUAL MECHANICS' OF EARLY JEWISH LXX/OG PAPYRI AND FRAGMENTS BY ROBERT A. KRAFT (UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA)-
 
 The editor, Bradford Welles, dated PYale 1 to around the year 90 and especially because of the codex form considered it unquestionably Christian. Treu would date it at least a century later , and wonders if it might be of Jewish origin. Turner also dates it to late 2nd or early 3rd c [Codex "OT 7" pp. 90, 164].
 
Roberts also dates this text later than 100 [see van Haelst], but considers it definitely of Christian origin not only because of its codex form but because "the numeral 318 is written not in words but in symbols, contrary to the usual practice of Graeco- Jewish manuscripts; moreover, in this passage the symbols had for the author of the epistle of Barnabas [9.7-9; see further Hurtado] a mystical significance which the words could not have conveyed and it is reasonable to think that they had the same meaning for the writer of PYale 1" [MSB 78].
18. PBodl 5, Psalms 48-49 [#2082 = vh151 = AT68];
papyrus codex, 2nd ce; Bodleian Library, Oxford.
Ed J.W.B.Barns and G.D.Kilpatrick, Proc Br Acad 43 (1964), 229-32 (plate).
Originally 35-40 lines per page.
The photographs are difficult to read, but the hand appears to be a "delicate" round/square minimally decorated bilinear similar to #905 (item 19 below).
 
Stichometric format (with some long lines continued at the end of the next line and marked with guidelines accordingly). Uncontracted forms of QEOS and ANQRWPOS are restored ("conclusively," so Treu, but not so confidently Roberts MSB 78) in the gaps. Roberts thinks it "definitely" Christian (as did the original editors, because of the codex format), Treu is less sure.
19. POx 656 Genesis 14-27 [#905(U4) = vh013 = AT8];
papyrus codex, 2nd/3rd ce; Bodleian Library, Oxford.
Oxyrhynchos; ed. Grenfell & Hunt, POx 4 (1904) 28f (plate).
Page dimensions at least 11 by 24 cm, 41-42 lines per page (Turner, Codex OT 9).
 
Carefully written in a round/square large upright hand with minimal decoration (similar to #2082, item 18 above). Some use of spacing as well as explicit high and middle stops. No abbreviations except the stroke representing N at the end of some lines -- QEOS and KURIOS are uncontracted in the first hand. Some corrections have been made by a second hand, which also seems to have added the numeration at the top of each page.
 
Treatment of tetragrammaton passages warrants further comment. At Gen 15.8 (where the absence of KURIE is a variant in the MSS) there was a blank, four letters in width, filled in with KURIE by another hand. Presumably the manuscript being copied represented the tetragrammaton here in non-Greek letters, and space was left to be filled in by someone expert in the desired script. In Gen 24.40, no attempt is made to represent the tetragrammaton, in accord with a minority textual variant.
 
The remaining two passages are especially interesting since they both occur at the end of lines at Gen 24.31 (line 122) and 24.42 (line 166; see the photo), and in neither case is the full form of the word KURIOS preserved! In the first of these passages, only the first letter K can be seen before the fragment breaks off (where space for 1-3 letters would have remained, based on the format of the surrounding lines), and in the second passage only KU appears, although there is some room for additional letters after that on the preserved blank surface (the editors complete the word by supplying RIE in the margin of the lacuna preceding the next line, which would be highly unusual!). It seems to me more likely that only the abbreviated KU (without any mark of abbreviation) was supplied in the second instance, and possibly in the first as well!
 
[[link appended excerpts]]
20. POx 1007 = PLitLond 199, Genesis 2-3 [#907 = vh005];
parchment codex, 3rd ce; British Museum, London.
Oxyrhynchos; ed. A.S.Hunt, POx 7 (1910) 1-3 (plate).
Relatively square page format, about 16 cm high, with two columns of about 33 lines each and 20-25 letters per line.
 
Basically upright "formal mixed" bilinear lettering (FY break the upper and lower planes, and R the lower), with oval tendencies and minimal decoration -- some loops/hooks on some vertical strokes, but no serifs as such. A blank space of about one letter width appears between chapters 2 and 3; otherwise no clear evidence of punctuation or word division.
 
The tetragrammaton is rep resented by paleo-Hebrew double yod (two yods with a line through them both; a form found already on coins from the 2nd century bce [[locate a photo?]]), and QEOS is contracted, but no other nomina sacra contractions occur (e.g. ANQRWPOS is fully written several times). Treu, following Kahle (Cairo Geniza), considers the text to be of Jewish origin.
 
Roberts is more cautious:
"Either we have an instance of a Jewish scribe being influenced by Christian practice or we must assume that a Christian copying a Jewish manuscript preserved the Hebrew form of the Name, as a few later manuscripts, e.g. the Marchalianus [MS Q], do" (MSB ...). Apparently Roberts does not consider the possibility that the tradition of abbreviating QEOS may itself be of Jewish origin, along with abbreviating the tetragrammaton.
 
21. POx 1166 = PLitLond 201, Genesis 16 [#944 = vh014 = AT9];
papyrus roll, 3rd ce; British Museum, London.
Oxyrhynchos; ed. A.S.Hunt, POx 9 (1912) (plate).
At least 28 lines per column, about 14-15 letters per line.
The calligraphic style in this scroll fragment differs significantly from all that we have seen above; this is in an attractive large undecorated bilinear round/square "Biblical Uncial/Majuscule" with thick strokes except for the horizontals (thus "shaded"). KURIOS and QEOS (as reconstructed) are contracted, but not ANQRWPOS. A medial point occurs two (or three?) times (e.g. before 16.10 and 16.11), once clearly followed by a short blank space; no other spacing appears. A rough breathing mark also occurs in 16.10, O( AGGELOS KU.
 
This is an especially important text for the discussion of Jewish or Christian scribal practice. Roberts sees the evidence as ambiguous, finally concluding that "It is perhaps more likely to be Christian than Jewish" (MSB 77; but see his earlier comments in JTS 50 [1949] 157). Treu is less sure.\12/ If this text is Jewish in origin, it suggests that the "biblical majuscule" style may have come into Christianity from Judaism, and that the use of nomina sacra was no less Jewish than Christian in this early period!
---
 
\12/The fragment contains a variant that might also be relevant to this discussion: in Gen 16.11 which parallels the familiar wording of Matt 1.21 "she shall bear a son," #944 has paidion in agreement with some MSS of Philo, while all other known witnesses to the Genesis and the Matthew passages have uion. Was this an old Jewish reading that survived in our fragment (and in Philo) despite the temptation that Christian scribes might have had to harmonize the text with Matthew? Or is it evidence for Christian revisionary activity to make the Genesis text (on the birth of Ishmael) more different from the Matthew wording (Ishmael is a "servant/son," while Jesus is simply "son")?
===
22. PBerlin 17213, Genesis 19 [#995 = vh015 = AT10];
papyrus codex, early 3rd; Staatlichen Museen, Berlin.
Provenance unknown; ed. K.Treu, Archiv fuer Papyrusforschung 20 (1970) 46f (plate).
 
Fragments of 8 and 9 lines from a page that originally contained 27-28 lines of about 26-27 letters each. The script is in a relatively bilinear round/square hand that tilts slightly to the left at the top, with little obvious decoration (some feathering) or shading, and regular ligaturing of some letters (e.g. alpha, epsilon, and tau with what follows them).
There is a mid-stop with a space at the end of 19.17, and a space of about 3 letter widths at the end of 19.18, where most texts have a form of KURIOS. Treu comments: "...as though the scribe omitted the word unintentionally.... Or perhaps this resulted from a vorlage that had the Hebrew divine name here?" Roberts suggests that this is "a secular sense" of the designation "lord" (MSB 77 n.2), but it is at best ambiguous, referring to one or two divine messengers, and the textual variants in the context show that a tetragrammaton type of understanding was not impossible.
 
23. POx 1075 = PLitLond 203, Exodus 40 [#909 = vh044 = AT21];
papyrus roll, 3rd ce; British Museum, London.
Oxyrhynchos. Ed A.S.Hunt POx 8 (1911) (plate).
The remains of 23 lines plus a simple subscription at the end of the book of "Exodus," with about 19-23 letters per line. On the reverse side and in a different and slightly later hand from the 3rd/4th ce are 17 lines from near the beginning of the Apocalypse (POx 1079 = vh559 = NT18).
The Exodus scroll is clearly written in a "sloping uncial hand of medium size," bilinear in concept but erratically executed without literary formalism; there is sporadic ornamentation (no serifs as such) and appears to be some consciousness of word or phrase division (a few very small spaces, and some slightly enlarged letters) in addition to the one high-stop and space after 40.28. Dieresis/trema occurs on the first letter of "Israel." At the end of the text are found three pointed space fillers (> > >) after the last word (underlined, to separate it from the subscription?) and then centered (or indented) on a separated line the title ECODOS[...] with short lines above and below to set it off as well.
 
KURIOU is contracted as KU with an overstroke (in slightly enlarged letters followed by a small space -- it is possible that this was originally a blank space filled in later, probably by the same hand) but not "sons of Israel."
 
The reuse of this roll within a generation or so to inscribe a Christian apocalypse inclines one to believe that the Exodus text was also Christian in origin, but as Treu is quick to point out, "Jewish manuscripts in the possession of Christians are attested" (as well as the opposite -- see the reused Cairo Geniza copies of the Hexapla and of some church fathers). Roberts does not discuss this fragment in MSB.
 
24. Cairo Ostrakon 215, Judith 15 [#999 = vh080];
ostrakon, latter 3rd ce; Egyptian Papyrological Society(?), Cairo.
Fayum; ed. J. Schwartz, RevBiblique 53 (1946) 534-37 (plate).
This unusual fragmentary piece containing at least 19 lines (often with 50 letters or more) from Judith 15.1-7 is written in a sloping but neat semi-cursive hand with minimal ornamentation and no evidence of spacing or added marks of any sort. "Israel," "sons of Israel," and "Jerusalem" are spelled out in full.
 
The editor discusses some pros and cons of whether to classify the fragment as Jewish or Christian, and leaves the question open. Treu (143f and n.81) and Roberts (MSB 78) seem to agree.
 
25. PLitLond 202 = BM P 2557, Genesis 46-47 [#953 = vh030 = AT14];
papyrus codex, ca 300 ce; British Museum, London.
Provenance unknown; ed. H.J.M.Milne, Catalogue... (1927) 165f (no plate).
The page was originally about 14 by 17 cm, with 16-17 lines per page, written in a "medium-sized upright laterally compressed cursive hand of a type familiar in documents of the period of Diocletian. Punctuation by a middle point and a small space in the line. The I has the diaeresis once [on the first letter of the name Joseph, but not normally]" (Milne). An apostrophe separating double consonants "gg" and "ng" also seems to be present (judging from the transcript). "Father" and "Israel" occur without contraction.
 
26. PVindob 39777 = StudPal 11.114 = PWien Rainer 18, Ps 68/69, 80/81 (Symmachus) [Goettingen #?? = vh167];
parchment roll, 3/4 ce; Vienna.
Fayum or Heracleopolites Nome; ed. C.Wessely in Melanges ... Chatelain (1910) 224-29 [identified as Aquila], with handwritten replica in Studien zur Palaeographie und Papyruskunde ... Theologischen Inhalts 2 (1911) [corrected identification to Symmachus].
Roberts MSB 77: "The Tetragrammaton is in the archaic Hebrew characters; the writing is noticeably elegant." In the handwritten facsimile, it appears to be moderately decorated with cursive tendencies and frequent ligatures and no pattern of spacing. QEOU is uncontracted.
27. PAlex 203, Isaiah 48 [Goettingen #?? = vh300];
papyrus roll, 3/4th ce; Alexandria Museum, EGYPT.
Provenance unknown; ed. A.Carlini, Ann. Sc. Norm. Sup. Pisa, series 3, vol 2.2 (1972) 489-94 (plate).
 
The two best preserved columns (of three) differ significantly in width, with the first averaging about 11 letters, and the second about 15; the columns seem to have contained 24-25 lines (not 27 as the editor estimates).
 
The writing style fits Turner's "formal mixed" classification, with a combination of petit rounded letters (except omega) some medium sized forms (e.g. alpha, iota, rho) and otherwise bold strokes. The result is a relatively attractive upright hand with minimal decoration and a hint of shading (the photo is somewhat blurred, making subtle judgments difficult). One dieresis/trema is visible, on the first letter of the name Jacob. There is a wider space than normal between the last line of 48.11 and the first line of 48.12, and possibly a space was present in the line on which 48.16 begins. Otherwise, no spacing between letters is obvious.
 
The editor claims that KURIOS is contracted at one point (48.17), although the photo is not clear, and my reconstruction suggests that it was also contracted in the two other occurrences in this material. Possibly the one reconstructed occurrence of QEOS was similarly shortened. Other nomina sacra -- Israel and heaven -- do not seem to have been contracted (although the evidence for "Israel" seems ambiguous in both instances).
 
28. PHarris 31, Psalm 43 [#2108 = vh148 = AT67];
papyrus roll(?), 3/4th ce; Central Library of the Selly Oak Colleges, Birmingham ENG.
Unknown provenance; ed. J.E.Powell, Rendel Harris Papyri 1 (1936) (plate); identified by G.D.Kilpatrick, JTS 50 (1949) 176-177.
Beginning of six fragmentary lines, stichometric (longest line has 44 letters, shortest 23 -- thus perhaps a page rather than a roll?). "The writing is of the elegant character referred to above [in connection with Jewish biblical manuscripts]" (Roberts MSB 77) -- shaded and modestly ornamented (mostly by feathering), with slightly enlarged initial letters. QEOS is uncontracted.
 
29. POx 1225, Leviticus 16.33f [#947 = vh048 = AT23];
papyrus roll, early 4th ce; Princeton Theological Seminary, NJ.
Oxyrhynchos; ed. A.S.Hunt, POx 10 (1914) (plate).
 
Parts of only 12 lines are preserved, with about 15-20 letters per reconstructed line. The style is a heavy, slightly sloping "formal mixed" tending towards "biblical majuscle" (but with relatively smaller O E S forms). There is a hint of ornamentation by means of some subtle thickening and/or feathering at the end of some strokes, and also a hint of shading. The ink is brownish in color rather than the more usual black.
 
In this short amount of text, three instances of dieresis/trema occur, and three middle stops, without any accompanying spacing (which suggests that they may have been added by a later hand). No nomina sacra are visible, although the editor has supplied -- perhaps unnecessarily -- the contracted form of "Israel" in one reconstruction, preceded by the full form of YI+W[N] (with dieresis/trema on the iota).
 
30. PLitLond 211, Daniel 1.17f (Theodotion) [#925 = vh319];
vellum roll, early 4th ce; British Museum, London.
Upper Egypt, from the cover of a Sahidic codex; ed. H.I.Bell in Budge, Coptic Biblical Texts (1912) xiv (no plate).
 
Parts of 8 lines are preserved. Since I have not seen a reproduction of this piece, here are Roberts' comments: "A fragment of a parchment roll of Daniel in the version of Theodotion, written in the first half of the fourth century; QEOS is uncontracted. This too exemplifies the light and elegant script found in other Jewish texts" (MSB 77).
 
Listing of other early fragments
Summary and Conclusions
There are various ways in which this complex body of literary "presentational evidence" can be analyzed, depending to a large extent on what sort of conclusions are being tested or what hypotheses developed. There are few "control" criteria, such as date, to assist the process. Intuitions are important, but also need careful testing. My own approach tends to assume that developments of this nature came into early Christian circles by means of the Greek Jewish world unless the evidence clearly indicates otherwise; my impression is that Roberts (and Hurtado) would assume the Christian origin of such practices unless there were contrary evidence. So how is the evidence to be evaluated?
 
It would be useful to have an appropriate and unambiguous term to denote the sorts of features under analysis, some of which have come back into the spotlight partly as a result of scholarly reconsideration of the "oral" side of ancient textual culture. Hurtado seems to prefer "material culture" (659 n.14), but that seems to me unnecessarily imprecise. Something like "textual presentation" or even "textual mechanics" gets closer to the point -- the conventions involved in laying out the text,
from choice of material (e.g. papyrus, leather, pottery, etc.)
to its mode of packaging (roll, codex, ostrakon, etc.)
to the details of how the writing is organized relative to the writing surfaces (dimensions of writing material, size of columns and letters, column/page layout)
 
as well as relative to itself (paragraphing and marginal markers, use of spacing in relation to lines and letters, punctuating, abbreviating, form of numbers, form of corrections and notations, use of diacritics, etc.), perhaps sometimes with a view to facilitating (public) reading.
"Style": A central point in the overall discussion is the assessment of relevant Greek transcriptional styles. Colin Roberts has moved farther than most in this area, in which he was very experienced -- although sometimes his desire to illuminate early Christian "orthodox" development seems to me to problematize aspects of his presentation.
 
Roberts sees most of the clearly "Jewish" LXX/OG texts as more professionally written -- more "literary" and "elegant" in appearance than most of the earliest "Christian" texts -- although exactly what features indicate the degree of "literaryness" for him would be useful to know with more precision (e.g. "bilinearity" or consistent height of letters, use of "serifs" and other embelleshments on non-rounded basic strokes, thickness of strokes, shading, etc.). For him this observation goes hand in hand with his explanation of certain "documentary" (in contrast to "literary") tendencies in the early Christian materials (e.g. the use of spacing/punctuation, diacritics, abbreviated numbers and special contractions, less formal script, cursive tendencies, ligatures).\13/
 
\13/Roberts, MSB 76: "There seems to have been a distinctive style of writing used for Jewish copies of the scriptures in Greek from the second century B.C. onwards and still used, with modifications of course, down to the third century A.D. [\fn/ The style of these Jewish manuscripts needs closer examination and definition than they have as yet been given, especially in the use of serifs (for these see GMAW, p.25).]; a parallel would be the development of the so-called Biblical Uncial or Biblical Majuscule.... But not all Greek manuscripts known to be Jewish are written in this style, witness the roll of the Minor Prophets from Engedi [actually, Nahal Hever], and parallels to it can be found among the secular literary papyri." See also P.Parsons, DJD 8 (1990) 23f, on the Minor Prophets scroll (item 13 above): "...the use of enlarged initials at line-beginning (hands A and B) and phrase-beginning (hand A) and (set out in the margin) to mark a new section (hand A) gives this manuscript a documentary look. ... The fact is itself remarkable. Early Christian books show the same characteristic; copies of the Greek classics do not. It has therefore been tempting to argue that the texts of the Early Church stood closer to the world of business than to that of literature, and to draw conclusions about the social milieu in which the texts circulated or the esteem in which they were held. Now we see the same thing in a Jewish manuscript of pre-Christian date. This may suggest that the Christians inherited the practice, rather than inventing it; the problem remains, why Greek-speaking Jews should have adopted it in the first place" (23f). Parsons adds, in his comparisons of the various Dead Sea Scroll Greek scripts: "This makes it clear that serifed hands are common enough (but not universal) in Judaean material assignable to the period i B.C.-i A.D." (25).
===
The range of hands and styles even within the Judean Desert fragments, which were produced within a fairly limited period of time, is noteworthy, and is also reflected in the Egyptian materials contemporary with the Judean. A detailed comparative analysis of the relevant features remains to be made, but I doubt that it will result in identifying "schools" or traditions of scribal culture except in very broad terms. Of course, comparison with what was happening at the same time in the larger Greco- Roman world will also be very relevant.\14/ If, in general, the Roman period (moving into the "common era") witnessed a tendency for literature to be copied less elegantly than it had been before, the presence of such a "decline" in Jewish texts, and its reflection in Christian materials would seem less significant than otherwise.
---
\14/Note, for example, Turner's strictures on giving too much weight to the use and forms of "serifs" in classifying styles of Greek hands (ed1, 25 = ed2, 21)!
===
Nevertheless, progress has been made in this survey simply by recognizing the extent of the problem and sampling some of the possibilities. A next step in assessing these phenomena more carefully would require availability of excellent reproductions of the extant fragments in a framework that facilitates close comparison and contrast (e.g. by computerized paleographic analysis). Hopefully, the Internet can be used to provide such a resources in the near future, if permissions from the current "owners" of the materials can be obtained to display high quality digitized images.
 
Scroll/Codex: Of course, the main vehicle for Greek literary production at the start of the period we are examining was the roll, and a major point of discussion is the introduction of the codex format and its very rapid acceptance in emerging (Egyptian) Christianity -- where the roll also survives, but not in such relative abundance.\15/ How soon and under what conditions Jewish authors and copyists accepted the codex format is not clear. But as Treu pointed out forcefully, the mere fact that a fragment of LXX/OG is in codex format does not necessarily mean that it must be of Christian origin. Whether there will ever be sufficient evidence to support my suspicion that the codex form came into early Christianity from Judaism remains to be seen. Probably not in my lifetime. But it is almost certain that at least one Jewish codex can be identified in the raw data of this report (as even Roberts gradually came to admit) -- POx 656, from the late 2nd or early 3rd century ce (item 19; see also 20 and 22).
---
\15/The previous state of this question has been defined by the study produced jointly by Roberts and T.C.Skeat, The Birth of the Codex (1983; also released with a 1987 date). ===
Spacing: Whether roll or codex, comprehending the texts required some mental gymnastics on the part of the reader, especially when little or no visual assistance was available to identify larger or smaller sense units or ideally, words. In general, traditional literary Greek texts are in scriptio continua -- an uninterrupted flow of letters -- with occasional breaks or indicators for larger units. As Roberts correctly points out, in many -- perhaps most -- of the early Christian texts with which he deals (not only LXX/OG texts), there are various helps for indicating sense units, whether spaces or lines in the left margin (paragraphoi) or punctuation marks, or exaggerated initial letters or letters that protrude into the left margin. Roberts explains this as part of what he calls the "documentary" influence on early Christian scribal practice.
What Roberts notes (e.g. in editing item 2) but fails to pursue with the same vigor or consistency is that despite their relatively more "literary" flavor the clearly Jewish fragments almost all show evidence of the same sort of "aids to the reader" phenomenon. Indeed, the second hand (or, if I am right, second scroll) of the Nahal Hever Greek Minor Prophets materials [#943b, item 13b above] uniquely engages in actual word division of an obvious sort. To me, this kind of evidence deserves much closer exploration than it has received thus far, and Emanuel Tov is making a major contribution to this discussion by his careful analysis of such phenomena in the Judean Desert materials and in other biblical texts (see n.7 above). Spacing occurs in the Jewish materials whether "elegant" or not, early or late. It also occurs quite early in materials of clearly Christian origin. To view this as coincidental seems highly unlikely, given the fact that early Christianity developed out of Judaism! This not so unambiguously "documentary" practice -- which has not yet received the attention it deserves in the study of Greco-Roman literature in general\16/ -- almost certainly has been inherited by Christian scribes, if not from their Jewish examples (which seems to me most likely), then from the scribal culture of the Greco-Roman world at large.
 
---
\16/A small (yet large!) step in this direction is taken by William A. Johnson in his Yale dissertation on The Literary Papyrus Roll: Formats and Conventions -- An Analysis of the Evidence from Oxyrhynchus (1992); witness his long list of corrections to the editions of these literary papyri (22-70), where he regularly notes the omission in the editions of signs of paragraphing, punctuation, and occasionally spacing. See also his brief note on "The Function of the Paragraphus in Greek Literary Prose Texts" in ZPE 100 (1994) 65-68.
===
Special Words: Some of the spacing issues in these early Jewish and Christian texts are associated with the appearance of personal or ethnic names and certain special words that, for present purposes, fall into three categories: (1) the tetragrammaton, (2) "nomina sacra," and (3) number symbolism.
Jewish scribes were selfconscious about the representation of the tetragrammaton -- the special revered 4 letter name of the Jewish God -- and had available a variety of devices, from paleo-Hebrew, to square Hebrew (thus Greek PIPI), to abbreviated Hebrew (ZZ), to the semi-transliteration (also an abbreviation?) IAW and the use of substitutes such as ADONAI and KURIOS ("Lord"), or even to using dots and blank spacing. If convincing evidence has not yet emerged that they also used a Greek abbreviated formation such as KS (see items 19, 21, 23, 27 above), that surprises me less than the claim that such abbreviation must have been a Christian invention.
 
Roberts certainly wants to see it otherwise, and traces the practice that became so prevalent, if not pervasive, in Christian MSS of abbreviating a select group of "nomina sacra" terms to the initial and original Christian sacralizing of "the Name" Jesus, which then led to similar treatment for "Lord," and for "God," and for the other "nomina sacra." Hurtado introduces some considerations (see n.4 above) to strengthen this argument. Nevertheless, I remain skeptical. Though it admittedly remains ambiguous, some of the evidence presented above suggests that Jewish scribes sometimes may have used contractions of QEOS, and perhaps a few other frequently used words, in the development of their scribal traditions (see items 20, 21[?], 27, and n.11 above).
 
One other "special words" detail that comes up in the discussion is treatment of numbers. Roberts argues that good literary Greek texts invariably (or perhaps, normally) spell out numbers rather than using symbols, while Christian texts -- again following "documentary" influences -- usually employ the symbols. In our early texts, examples are few, and I have not systematically explored all of the early fragments of Greek Jewish scriptures for this feature. If PYale 1 (item 17), a codex fragment of Genesis that should probably be dated no earlier than the 2nd century ce, is of Jewish origin, Roberts' hypothesis would be in trouble since number symbols are found in that material. But the combination of codex and symbolized number in PYale 1 unites to make it difficult for Roberts even to consider the possibility that the text is of Jewish origin. Treu is not so troubled, and leaves open the possibility. Obviously I agree that this should be an open question.
 
Concluding Remarks
This just scrapes the surface of the variety of information and of issues that can emerge from close study of these early LXX/OG materials. Roberts recreates a developmental historical hypothesis about early Christianity in Egypt from the details as he interprets them, and in general, the hypothesis makes a great deal of sense. But he does not consistently engage the question of what we can learn about Greek speaking/writing/reading Judaism in Palestine and Egypt from the same materials, and in that regard, often fails to be convincing about details.
The evidence is clear that prior to the emergence of Christianity, Greek speaking/writing Jews had access to a range of scriptural (and other) works copied in a highly "professional" manner. That these manuscripts were produced by specifically Jewish copyists cannot be assumed, although in some instances, the treatment of the tetragrammaton and the apparently selfconscious attention to indicating significant sense units by means of spacing suggests that the task must have been entrusted to persons who were familiar with those sorts of special literary traditions. The differences in overall "style" between some of the early Jewish manuscripts suggests that our preserved witnesses represent varieties of technique that had developed in Jewish literary circles. Whether on the basis of this evidence one can mount economic arguments (these Jews were rich enough to afford such quality), or liturgical ones (the spacing techniques were developed to assist in oral reading in the synagogues), or even issues of cultural-educational status (these Jews knew what was appropriate to their social station) I will leave to others. The data suggests variety, and that is what we should have expected. And as new situations developed in the transition to Roman rule and influence, we should expect changes to evidence themselves, not only in our Jewish to Christian trajectories, but in the surrounding world as well.
 
Early Christianity was formed in large measure in close relationship (positive and negative) to the types of Judaism present in the Greco-Roman world in the first century of the common era. The "scriptural" preoccupations of many early Christian representatives surely were influenced by the established Jewish frameworks of the time. Thus in the end -- if one can responsibly speak of such an end -- I would expect to find that the debt of early Christianity to its Jewish heritage is even greater in these areas of "textual mechanics" and transmitted scribal craft than our scholarly traditions and approaches have permitted us to recognize.
 
//08 July 1999 draft #6//
Appended Excerpts [[to be linked]]
1. 4Q122=LXXDeut Deuteronomy 11 [#819; not known to vh] parchment roll, 2nd bce; Rockefeller Museum, Jerusalem.
[excerpts]
Ulrich, DJD 9 (1992) 195 (plate 43): "The manuscript is inscribed in a literary hand not particularly elegant, though not careless; its uncial letters seem to be somewhat influenced by cursive forms. ... Space for word division appears between some words but not between others, and an unexpected space appears within the word ERUQRAS after the upsilon. Few, if any, clearly complete words survive, and ERUQRAS fragiley bears the sole possibility for the identification of the manuscript." These scraps would have been unknown to Roberts and Treu.
Parsons, DJD 9 (1992) 11-12: The letters ... are of irregular heights and widths. ... The letters are written with a thick pen, but without organised contrasts. ... There are small decorative hooks or blobs on the feet of some uprights, as well as on the tops of K and U. ... The scroll is written in an informal hand with some ligatures. The overall impression is of a script rather earlier than the others of this find. It is comparable with [some texts] ... of the early second century BCE, or ... of the mid-second century BCE. ... But it should be emphasised that, with so small a sample, the dating must be more than usually uncertain."
 
Parsons, DJD 8 (1990) 25: "The hand of this scrap shows no similarities with [#943a-b]; it is an informal script of Ptolemaic look with some cursive tendencies and no decoration except some terminal hooks and blobs."
2. PRyl 458 Deuteronomy 23-28 [#957 = vh057] papyrus roll, 2nd bce; John Rylands Library, Manchester ENG.
 
[excerpts]
Roberts, Two Biblical Papyri ... (Manchester Univ Press 1936) (with a facsimile): "The hand is a book hand, stylised and careful and of considerable elegance, if rather formal; its most striking feature is the use of decorative serifs, particularly noticeable on N, U and T. At first sight it has a somewhat archaic appearance, but this may well be deceptive and the formal character of the hand as a whole must be taken into consideration. [Then refers to similar hands, esp in PTeb]" 22f.
 
"What is paleographically of most interest about the text is the scribe's system of punctuation, or rather of interspacing. ...The writer regularly leaves a space not only at the end of a verse or sentence, but at the end of a KWLON or group of words. At the end of a verse, as in [Dt 24.1], a wider space is left and a high point added; otherwise the writer's principle seems to be to leave a fairly large space at the end of a sentence or clause ... and a smaller one at the end of a group of words. The interspacing does not seem to follow the sense of the passage [in some instances]. But there is no attempt at word division. ... Our text ... shows no sign of documentary influence and we cannot ascribe to this cause the systematic use of [spacing] found here. ... Possibly it may be due to Aramaic influence, as word division is found in the Aramaic papyri of the fifth century B.C. The Nash papyrus, however -- a Hebrew text, probably liturgical, which contains the Decalogue and the Shema and was written not later than the second century A.D. -- has spacing between words but no verse division. ... This system [otherwise] is not to be found in Biblical manuscripts; its origin may perhaps be due to Aramaic influence or if, as is possible, this roll was the property of some Jewish synagogue, to the exigencies of public reading" (25- 28).
3. 7QLXXEx Exodus 28 [#805 = vh038]; papyrus roll, 2nd/1st bce; Rockefeller Museum, Jerusalem.
 
[excerpt]
Parsons DJD 8 (1990) 25: "This small serifed bilinear hand has some similarities with hands A and B [of #943 Minor Prophets] (note the pointed alpha, and wide tau hooked down at the left)."
4. 4Q119=LXXLev\a Leviticus 26 [#801 = vh049]; parchment roll, 2nd/1st bce; Rockefeller Museum, Jerusalem.
[excerpts]
Ulrich, DJD 9 (1992) 161 (plate 38): "The scribe used the customary scriptio continua but with occasional spaces for word-division, as after SPORON (line 6), UMWN (line 12), etc. Of the 12 lines whose beginnings are preserved, only two (lines 19, 23) show the division of a word between lines. A new section at 26.14 (line 21) is marked by an interval of about three letters' width within the line and by a horizontal paragraph-mark in the left margin."
 
Parsons, DJD 9, 7: "The script ... is approximately bilinear .... The letter forms tend toward the oval/rectangular, but not consistently. ... There is no consistent use of shading as part of the style. ... There is no consistent use of ornament, but there are sporadic terminal hooks, notably on the foot of R and the left extremity of T. ...The scribe displays a pinched, plain hand of no great pretensions .... The general impression is of a script ... unlikely to be later than the first century BCE, ... or much earlier. C.H.Roberts (apud Kahle, 616) thought of first century BCE, with the end of the second 'not out of the question'."
 
Parsons, DJD 8 (1990) 25: "This is a pinched, undecorated hand ... with a pronounced Ptolemaic look; not similar to [#943a-b], and probably earlier"
5. 7QLXX EpJer Epistle of Jeremiah (Baruch 6) [#804 = vh312]; papyrus roll, 2nd/1st bce; Rockefeller Museum, Jerusalem.
 
[excerpts]
Parsons, DJD 8 (1990) 25: "This tiny scrap shows a broad bilinear script without ornament (except for a half-serif on the foot of tau)."
6. PFouad 266a Genesis 3-38 [#942 = vh056] papyrus roll, 1st bce; Egyptian Papyrological Society, Cairo.
 
[excerpts]
Zaki Aly & Ludwig Koenen, Three Rolls of the Early Septuagint: Genesis and Deuteronomy ... (Bonn: Habelt 1980) (includes plates). Descriptions are by Koenen. For #942 (Koenen 3): "The papyrus is of good quality. ... The use of the tetragrammaton is not attested for this roll, but may be inferred from the fact that 942 has probably been written by the same hand as 848 [see below] or, at least, by a scribe belonging to the same school and scribal tradition. Little blanks indicate new cola [footnote: "The practice was obviously the same as in 848 and 847" [see below]]. There is also a tendency to mark Hebrew names by little blanks before and after the names."
 
Turner, Greek Manuscripts\2 #56 (describing #848, below, which is virtually identical to the 9 small fragments of #942): "Medium to large, formal, upright, rounded capitals, written slowly. ... Markedly bilinear, the lower line outlined by horizontal strokes on the feet of letters [full feet on TU, half feet or hooks on most other verticals and on some obliques], the upper indicated by high horizontals; even R and U fall inside the parallels, only F protrudes [below and above, and Y slightly above, but not below]."
 
7. 4Q120=LXXLev\b Leviticus 2-5 [#802 = vh046]; papyrus roll, 1st bce; Rockefeller Museum, Jerusalem.
[excerpts]
Ed. E.Ulrich, DJD 9 (1992) 168 (plates 39-41): "The scribe used the customary scriptio continua, but with spaces before and after the divine name and occasionally with spaces between sense-divisions or sentences. Signs to mark a new paragraph occur at the left margin of frg. 27 between lines 6 and 7 (= Lev 6.1 [5.24]) and of frg. 32." It also uses iota adscript (usually); and contains some corrections. The tetragrammaton occurs as IAW twice, and KURIOS is not found in these fragments.
Parsons, DJD 9 (1992) 10: "The scribe used a bilinear script ..., with square/circular letter forms. The upper line is broken by the risers of F and Y; the lower line, emphasised by the serifs, is hardly broken at all. ... There is hardly any noticeable shading. ... Ornament ... is frequent. ... This is a full round hand, carefully executed, comparable with the Fouad Deuteronomy [#848 below] ... and the second script of the Greek Minor Prophets Scroll [below #943]. ... Such scripts may belong to the first century BCE, ... but they may extend well into the first century CE. ... This example has a slightly old-fashioned look ..., and could reasonably be assigned to the first century BCE."
8. PFouad 266b Deuteronomy 17-33 [#848 = vh56]; papyrus roll, 1st bce; Egyptian Papyrological Society, Cairo.
 
[excerpts]
Koenen, Three Rolls 4-5: "The quality of the papyrus is the same as in the case of 942, and both rolls have probably been written by the same scribe. The columns of 848 are smaller (... [about] 37 letters per line); the height of the writing area varies between 15.5-16.5 cm. (21-23 lines). The upper margin was originally at least 3.5 cm., the lower margin 4 cm. This indicates close to 24 cm. for the height of the entire roll. Kolleseis [joins between sheets of papyri] are occasionally visible, but since too much of the roll is missing, the length of the kollemata [sheets] cannot be determined. The intercolumnation varies around an average of 1.5 cm., but occasionally it narrows down to 0.2 cm. Towards the bottoms the lines have the tendency to begin progressively more to the left, thus producing slightly longer lines (Mass's Law). Paragraphoi marking the beginning of verses are used throughout, though not regularly. An additional long oblique stroke marks the beginning of chapter 21 [footnote: "... This is the only instance; a reason for this special treatment is not apparent. ...]. Frequently small blanks indicate new verses, sentences, or cola [footnote: "... The size varies according to the function of the blank. In addition, there occur blanks for which I see no reason...."], while Hebrew names are not surrounded by blanks, as is the case in 942. The ends of lines are occasionally left blank in order to start the next verse on a new line. Corrections are rare. A gloss appears on the lower margin on pl. 6. col.4."
 
The tetragrammaton is represented by small square Hebrew letters (slightly more than half the height of the Greek, written along the bottom part of the line) inserted into a space equivalent to about "5-6 Greek letters (i.e. about the size of KU/RIOS written in full) and marked ... by a high dot at its beginning [preceded by a space]. A second scribe filled in the Hebrew letters. They cover only the middle of the blank, usually the space of 2 1/2 - 3 letters" (Koenen 5-6).
 
Turner, Greek Manuscripts\2 #56: "The ends of lines are not even. Letters may be reduced in size at the line-end. Medium to large, formal, upright, rounded capitals, written slowly. Contrast between thick horizontals and downward obliques, and fine verticals [RAK Note: this is not obvious from the photos]. Markedly bilinear, the lower line outlined by horizontal strokes on the feet of letters [full feet on TU, half feet or hooks on most other verticals and on some obliques], the upper indicated by high horizontals; even R and U fall inside the parallels, only F protrudes [below and above, and Y slightly above, but not below]." "...Few orthographical errors. Iota adscript is written."
 
9. PFouad 266c Deuteronomy 10-33 [#847 = vh56] papyrus roll, late 1st bce; Egyptian Papyrological Society, Cairo.
 
[excerpts]
Koenen, Three Rolls 7: "The papyrus is of a quality similar to 942 and 848. Only 49 very small fragments of a few letters each are extant. ... The columns seem to have had [about] 21 lines. ... One might assume that the overall height of the roll 847 was the same (24 cm.) [as 848]. The width of the lines averages 24 letters ... but the number of letters per lines varies considerably. Kollesis may occur [once]. ... Paragraphos is extant on pl. 51 col. V. Small blanks separate verses, sentences, or cola [footnote: "... small blanks also occur elsewhere. ..."] and mark Hebrew names [footnote: "... all in front of the name. No example survives for a blank after those names. ..."]. A large blank precedes Moses' blessing of Dan, presumedly at the end of line (4?) of col VIII (pl.53) [[conjectural reconstruction]] in order that the blessing may begin at a new line.... No KURIOS or tetragrammaton is extant. QEOS is written in full; thus we may assume that the scribe did not use the Christian abbreviations of holy names, which came into use after 70 A.D. 'Inorganic' trema [or dieresis, a single or double dot above a vowel] indicating the beginning of a word) occurs once [51.IV.11; but not clear in photo]... [footnote: "'Inorganic' is the use of the trema which marks the initial or emphasizes the final vowel of a word, while its use for separating vowels in a cluster is called 'organic.' The 'organic' use is attested as early as the 2nd cent. B.C., though it does not become common before the 2nd cent. A.D. For 'inorganic' use I am not aware of any example before the end of the 1st cent. B.C. ...."]. ...Corrections are frequent."
 
"In many details, this hand is similar to 848 [above], but larger, thinner, more rounded and irregular, and less bilinear, though the extensions of letters above the 'upper line' and below the 'lower line' are only small (see particularly A). The letters are occasionally decorated by quite heavy strokes [Schubart's decorative style...]. Also the middle horizontal strokes are stressed" (6 n.28). In dating, Koenen has vacillated between 1st bce and 1st ce, preferring in his edition "the end of the 1st cent. B.C." (6 n.28 and see examples cited there). The use of serifs and hooks is similar to 848 and 942, but less obvious or obtrusive. It seems to be a more refined formal hand.
10. 4Q127 Exodus Paraphrase (?) [unknown to vh]; papyrus roll, late 1st bce; Rockefeller Museum, Jerusalem.
 
[excerpts]
Ulrich, DJD 9 (1992) 223f (very similar to 4QLXXLev\b = #802): "Where a margin is listed as questionable, there is insufficient evidence to determine whether the blank portion of the papyrus actually represents a margin, or rather a blank line above or below the extant text, or a space between words; it should be remembered, however, that in the Greek manuscripts from Cave 4 blank lines to signal a new paragraph are unusual." ... "Paragraphing is indicated in at least two places. Above KAI in line 3 of frg. 17 is a short horizontal line of 0.3 cm. There is also a coronis, or elaborate marginal marking, preserved on frg. 8 (cf. also frg. 18?)." ... "The manuscript dates from about the first century BCE or the earlier first century CE.... It is written in scriptio continua, with full or narrow spaces occasionally left before sentences (cf KAI in frg. 1 line 5) and before or after proper names (cf. each of lines 6-11 in frg. 1)." There are some corrections by the original scribe. There is no evidence of tetragrammaton passages.
 
Parsons, DJD 9, 12f: "The scroll is written in a bilinear hand ..., with the letter forms round and square [F (and probably Y) extend slightly below and also above the projected lines]. ... There is no noticeable shading. ... The tops of some uprights are hooked to the left; the feet of uprights and obliques are generally decorated with full or half serifs, sometimes in the form of angled hooks. ... The manuscript is rather ineptly written in a bilinear, decorated literary script. This ineptness is not necessarily personal, since many literary scripts of the early Roman period show the same characteristics .... It is likely that the manuscript was written in the first century BCE or the earlier first century CE. A date early in the period is certainly possible."
11. 4Q126 unidentified Greek [not known to vh]; parchment roll, late 1st bce; Rockefeller Museum, Jerusalem.
 
[excerpts]
Ulrich, DJD 9 (1992) 219 (plate 46): "The scribe used the customary scriptio continua, though leaving some full- letter spaces probably between sentences ... and half- or quarter-spaces occasionally between words." Eight frgs (double plates of some). Frg. 2 seems to have KURIO[], preceded by a short space.
 
Parsons, DJD 9, 12: "The script ... is bilinear. ... There is no shading. ... There are some half-serifs or hooks on the feet of uprights, and full serifs on the base of T and U. ... To judge from this very small sample, the scroll is written by a hand of the same kind as those of 4Q120[Lev\b = #802] and 4Q121[Num = #803] (but more shakily executed), and it can be assigned to the same date (i.e. the first century BCE or possibly the early first century CE)."
 
Parsons, DJD 8 (1990) 25: "A decorated hand of the same type as [#803], but not so elegant."
12. 4Q121=LXXNum Numbers 3-4 [#803 = vh051]; parchment roll, turn of the era; Rockefeller Museum, Jerusalem.
 
[excerpts]
Ulrich, DJD 9 (1992) 188 (plates 42-43): "The scribe does not usually leave a space for word-division. He does leave a single space for some sense-divisions, occasionally at the end of a 'verse,' but not always, and occasionally at other points within a 'verse.' Thus in counting letters per line, for this manuscript one should not count spaces between words, except possibly before some sense-divisions." Uses iota adscript; two or three corrections; no occurrences of tetragrammaton, but "in reconstruction, spacing would seem to allow either KURIOS or YHWH, whereas IAW ... and the (Christian) abbreviation KS would be too short. Palaeo-Hebrew or PIPI forms in a Greek manuscript this early are improbable" [why?!].
 
Parsons, DJD 9, 11: The scribe used a bilinear script ..., with the letter-forms square/circular [FY and sometimes A extend above the projected top line (but not below?)]. ... Shading [is not] ... notable. ... Ornament ... is frequent: the tops of uprights and obliques are occasionally decorated with hooks, and the feet of uprights and obliques are regularly decorated with heavy full and half-serifs (these are sometimes oblique, sometimes formed as a hook in a single movement with the main stroke). The serifs are notably long, and may run into the serif preceding or following; this marks the lower line all the more emphatically. ... The script is similar to that of 4Q120[Lev\b = #802], but with heavier ornament. This too could be of late Ptolemaic date; but the early Roman period cannot be excluded."
 
Parsons, DJD 8 (1990) 25: "This bilinear script (the descenders of rho and phi are curtailed), heavily ornamented with half- and full serifs, has some similarities with [#943a], but it is much more elegant and finely written; a distinctive feature is that the oval letters tend to lean backwards."
 
13. 8HevXIIgr = Nahal Hever Minor Prophets [#943 = vh285]; parchment roll(s), turn of the era; Rockefeller Museum, Jerusalem.
 
[excerpts]
Tov, DJD 8 (1990) 9ff: "The text of the scroll has been subdivided into paragraphs with both minor and major breaks .... What has not been observed by these scholars is that the scroll contains also a division into 'verses' and that in all three divisions the scroll agrees to a great extent with the Masoretic tradition, not only regarding the system of subdividing the text, but also regarding the location of the divisions themselves. ..." "In addition to the open and closed sections the scroll indicates with one or two spaces the beginning of what in MT is a new verse. This practice is known from a few Hebrew sources (1QpaleoLev [limited evidence] and 4QDan\a,d/ [reported by S. J. Pfann]; the situation with regard to 1QIs\a/ is not clear) as well as from two early Greek biblical sources: PFouad 266 [see #848] and PRyl Greek 458 [= #957]. [[para]] It is relatively easy to recognize these spaces in the scroll since in the section written by scribe A there are otherwise no spaces between words. ... The second scribe left spaces between most words, and for the beginnings of new verses he left more than one space. Likewise, the scribe of PRyl Greek 458 [= #957] often left spaces within the verse, and between verses he left more than one space. ..."
 
It is possible that we have remnants of two scrolls here; in any event, two different hands worked on the materials that have survived, and the second hand presents virtual word division in those sections.
Peter Parsons describes the hands (19ff): With scribe A (the bulk of the preserved material) "the script is in intention bilinear (only F reaches well above the line; the descenders of R F and Y are normally curtailed), although uncertainty in execution, and the enlargement of initial letters, gives an irregular impression. ...[[para]]... The script is profusely ornamented. The feet of verticals and descending obliques carry blobs or hooks or half-serifs (horizontal or angular or arched) or -- rarely -- full serifs; hooks and half-serifs normally point to the right; they may be very large." For scribe B, "the script is bilinear (allowing for the enlargement of some line-initials), except for R and F (this scribe makes no attempt to curtail them). ... The general [horizontal] effect is round and square. ...[[paragraph]]... The feet of uprights, the tops of uprights in I, K, N, F, and the left- hand tips of U and X, take decoration in the form of blobs, hooks and half-serifs (horizontal or oblique), rarely full serifs; hooks and half-serifs more often (but not consistently) point to the left." In general, A "aspires to be a book-hand ..., but the performance is inconsistent." Hand B "is a much more fluent and consistent copyist than hand A." Comparison with other, especially dated materials (23) concludes: "Most of this material is documentary; but the comparison is rather appropriate, since the use of enlarged initials at line-beginning (hands A and B) and phrase-beginning (hand A) and (set out in the margin) to mark a new section (hand A) gives this manuscript a documentary look. ... The fact is itself remarkable. Early Christian books show the same characteristic; copies of the Greek classics do not. It has therefore been tempting to argue that the texts of the Early Church stood closer to the world of business than to that of literature, and to draw condlusions about the social milieu in which the texts circulated or the esteem in which they were held. Now we see the same thing in a Jewish manuscript of pre-Christian date. This may suggest that the Christians inherited the practice, rather than inventing it; the problem remains, why Greek-speaking Jews should have adopted it in the first place" (23f).
14. POx 3522 Job 42 [#??]; papyrus roll, 1st ce; [location?]
[excerpts]
---
POx 50 (1983) 1 (with plate): "The lines are of 19-22 letters; the columns perhaps of 15 lines [but see the discussion in the notes], which would give a roll-height of c. 14 cm.... There are no lectional signs; punctuation by blank space (i.4, 5, 7). The informal upright bilinear script, in which the verticals are often ornamented with back-hooks, has similarities with [[two dated MSS]]; a date in the early first century would suit. ... [[paragraph]] A copy in roll-form, and of this date, will have been Jewish, not Christian."
With regard to the "archaic Hebrew" tetragrammaton, "the scribe of 3522 himself wrote the Hebrew continuously and fluently ...; but apparently without understanding, since the medial and final he have different shapes." The writing appears to be relatively undisciplined (quickly executed, some ligatures and run-on strokes in letter formation), with no serifs of note beyond the "hooks" (mostly on T, H) mentioned above. The initial letter of the name JOB has a dieresis/trema (see above, on #847) over it, and the name may be followed by a short blank.
Tov, DJD 8 (1990) 12: "The scribe of POxy 3522 (Job) very clearly wrote the tetragrammaton from left to right, creating a ligature between the yod and the next Greek letter."
15. POx 4443 Esther E + 8-9 [#???] papyrus roll, 1st/2nd ce; [location?]
[excerpts]
Ed K. Luchner, POx 65 (1998): "...This was a luxurious copy. The columns have 31 lines (height 20 cm) with an average 25 letters (width 7 cm, plus 0.5 cm for projecting letters at paragraphs). The intercolumnium is approximately 2 cm. The back is blank." [[paragraph]] "This is the first known [Greek] copy of a passage from Esther in roll-form, a rare format for biblical texts, probably indicating Jewish provenance (C.H.Roberts and T.C.Skeat, Birthe of the Codex 38-40). It is also the first papyrus to preserve this passage [and it supplies many variants in the "E" "additions" section]. ..." [[paragraph]] "There are no diacritical signs or punctuation, apart from some paragraphi (with short lines preceding them, and projecting enlarged letters at the beginning of the following line), and diaeresis above I (ii.24, 31; iii.6, 24) and U (i.6, ii.16). Words are occasionally separated. There are occasional space fillers at the line ends, and the centre bar of E is frequently extended for the same purpose. Iota adscript is generally used (ii.10 the only exception); four examples are irrational (ii.25, 27, 28, 29). Itacism occurs in i.2, 18, 19." [[paragraph]] "The script is fluent and broadly bilinear, but with its frequent ligatures, cursive forms, enlarged initial letters [also enlarged B elsewhere] and tall risers [e.g. H, F] / deep descenders (R, F, sometimes I) it perhaps owes more to official documentary styles than to bookhands. For the general appearance cf. the earlier Roberts GLH 9a (between 7-4 BC)." Also, "nomina sacra" are uncontracted -- e.g. QEOU, SWTHRIAN, ANQRWPOIS in E.16 (reconstructed) and 18, 23, 24.
16. PFouad 203 [vh911] (1st/2nd ce, papyrus roll, prayer/amulet?)
Roberts MSB 78 (no plate?): "There can be little doubt of the Jewish origin ..., a prayer against evil spirits, written on a roll of papyrus and attributed to the late first or early second century. Both PLond Christ 5 (=vh921), a leaf from a liturgical book of the third century, and POx 17.2068 (=vh966), some fragments of a papyrus roll of the fourth century, have been thought to be Jewish; but in the latter the contraction of QEOS, the eccentric nomen sacrum BS = BASILEUS, and the apparent echoes of Revelation 15.3 and 1 Timothy 1.17 in l. 7 render the suggestion doubtful. To these should be added the Vienna text of The Penitence of Iannes and Iambres: it was written on the recto of a roll and nomina sacra are left uncontracted [p.61f n.5 calls this PVindobGr 29456 (=vh1068); p.63 n.3 refers to the forthcoming ed of Jannes/Jambres material by A. Pietersma and also to the republication of the Vienna fragment by P.Maraval in ZPE 25 (1977) pp. 199ff.]."
 
19. POx 656 [#905(U4) = vh013 = T009] (2nd/3rd ce, papyrus codex, Gen 14-27)
Grenfell & Hunt, POx 4 (1904) 28f: "The MS was carefully written in round upright uncials of good size and decidedly early appearance, having in some respects more affinity with types of the second century than of the third. To the latter, however, the hand is in all probability to be assigned, though we should be inclined to place it in the earlier rather than the later part of the century. ... Another mark of age is perhaps to be recognized in the absence of the usual contractions for QEOS, KURIOS, &c., but this may of course be no more than an individual peculiarity. The only abbreviation that occurs is the horizontal stroke instead of N, employed to save space at the end of a long line. Both high and middle ... stops are found, but are sparingly used: more often a pause is marked by a slight blank space. A few alterations and additions have been made by a second hand, which seems also to be responsible for the numeration in the centre of the upper margin of each page."
Roberts MSB 76f: [does not comment on literary style] "... The implication is that the Hebrew Tetragrammaton stood in the exemplar and the first scribe, like the scribe of PFouad 266 [#848], either did not know how to write it or was not entrusted with the writing. In the event the second scribe, perhaps not accustomed to writing biblical manuscripts but aware that KURIOS was the Greek equivalent of Adonai inserted it here. The text has a number of unique readings which may point to a revision of the LXX."
//end//
 
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COMBINATION OF [1]  THE SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY AND [2]  Prophecy About Jesus (Yeshua):  With the Scripture of the Day first.
[1]   SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY [VOL. 152A]
 
But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.   2 Peter 2:1,  [authorized King James Bible; AV]
 
Today we see many religions, over 33,000, all teaching different things, many of which are in opposition to each other; but Almighty God (YHWH) IS A God of unity along with His son, Jesus (Yeshua).  They are one in purpose and their genuine true followers must likewise be one in purpose and in unity.  Yes, there are many false religions in existence today spawned by the Creators arc-enemy, Satan the Devil, and their evil results are highlighted at 2 Peter 2:2 – 8, [AV] “And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.  3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.  4  For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;  5  And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;  6  And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;”  
        
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Francis David said it long ago, "Neither the sword of popes...nor the image of death will halt the march of truth. "Francis David, 1579, written on the wall of his prison cell." Read the book, "What Does The Bible Really Teach" and the Bible today, and go to WWW.JW.ORG!
 
[2]   Prophecy About Jesus (Yeshua):
 
The prophecy that was written in the Old Testament was written hundreds of years before Jesus (Jeshua or YHWH saves) was even born and not after he was born.  This has been proved by the findings of the Dead Sea Scrolls and many other ancient parchments, etc. Some of these prophecies and their fulfillment.  See, " He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken." (Psalms 34:20 AV)[compare, 33  But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: 34  But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.  And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe.  36  For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken.] which was quite interesting as in the Roman method of execution of none Romans by crucifixion the bones of those were usually broken to hasten death, but Jesus's bones were not as he was already dead when the Roman guard checked him. As we know he was betrayed by Judas for 30 pieces of silver and this was foretold at " And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver." (Zechariah 11:12 AV). [compare, " And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver." (Matthew 26:15 AV)]   Likewise it was foretold that they would divide up his garments " They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture." (Psalms 22:18 AV). [compare to " And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots." (Matthew 27:35 AV)]. " Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me." (Psalms 41:9 AV) [compare, " I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me." (John 13:18 AV)]. " They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." (Psalms 69:21 AV)[compare, " They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink." (Matthew 27:34 AV)]. "1 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying," (Psalms 2:1-2 AV)[compare, " And the same day Pilate and Herod were made friends together: for before they were at enmity between themselves." (Luke 23:12 AV)].
 
Also, " For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption." (Psalms 16:10 AV)[compare, " He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee," (Luke 24:6 AV)]. " I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting." (Isaiah 50:6 AV)[compare, " And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to buffet him, and to say unto him, Prophesy: and the servants did strike him with the palms of their hands." (Mark 14:65 AV)]
 
Some ask what makes the Bible different from other books, but I will answer here with respect the Bible what makes it different from other so called "holy Books."
1) It was written under divine inspiration by over 40 men chosen by Almighty God (YHWH) as an instruction guide for all of mankind that he had created.
2) It accurately foretold future events with exact detail 100 of years in advance.  For example, Isaiah was written app. 732 B.C.E., but it accurately foretold events that would occur during Jesus' life, see the above plus check out:
 
Anointed with the Spirit. Ps 45:7. Is 11:2; 61:1.
Fulfilled: Mt 3:16. Jn 3:34. Ac 10:38.
 
Born of a virgin. Is 7:14.
Fulfilled: Mt 1:18. Lk 2:7.
 
Buried with the rich. Is 53:9.
Fulfilled: Mt 27 :57-60.
 
Called Immanuel. Is 7:14.
Fulfilled: Mt 1:22-23.
 
Chief cornerstone of the church. Is 28:16.
Fulfilled: 1 P 2:6-7.
 
Conversion of the Gentiles to him. Is 11:10; 42:1.
Fulfilled: Mtl:17,21. Jn 10:16. Ac 10:45,47.
 
Death. Is 53:12.
Fulfilled: Mt 27:50.
 
Entering on his public ministry. Is 61:1-2.
Fulfilled: Lk4:16-21,43.
 
Flesh not seeing corruption. Ps 16:10.
Fulfilled: Ac 2:31.
 
Hated by the Jews. Ps 69:4. Is 49:7.
Fulfilled: Jn 15:24-25.
 
Intercession for his murderers. Is 53:12.
Fulfilled: Lk 23:34.
 
Meekness and want of ostentation. Is 42:2.
Fulfilled: Mt 12:15-16, 19.
 
Ministry commencing in Galilee. Is 9:1-2.
Fulfilled: Mt 4:12-16, 23.
 
Numbered with the transgressors. Is 53:12.
Fulfilled: Mk 15:28.
 
Patience and silence under sufferings. Is 53:7.
Fulfilled: Mt 26:63; 27:12-14.
 
Poverty. Is 53:2.
Fulfilled: Mk 6:3. Lk9:58.
 
Rejected by his brethren. Ps 69:8. Is 63:3.
Fulfilled: Jn 1:11;7:3.
 
Resurrection. Ps 16:10. Is 26:19.
Fulfilled: Lk 24:6,31,34.
 
A stone of stumbling to the Jews. Is 8:4.
Fulfilled: Ro 9:32.1 P 2:8.
 
Suffering for others. Is 53:4-6, 12. Dn 9:26.
Fulfilled: Mt 20:28.
 
Tenderness and compassion. Is 40:11; 42:3.
Fulfilled: Mt 12:15,20. He 4:15.
 
Visage marred. Is 52:14; 53:3.
Fulfilled: Jn 19:5.
 
Without guile. Is 53:9.
Fulfilled: 1 P 2:22.
 
Working miracles. Is 35:5-6.
Fulfilled: Mt 11:4-6. Jn 11:47.
 
Zeal. Ps 69:9.
Fulfilled: Jn 2:17
 
And this is just from one book of the Bible OT, Isaiah.  Others are similar, let's just consider one example from the first book of the Bible, Genesis, written in 1513 B.C.E.
 
Seed of Isaac. " And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called." (Genesis 21:12 AV)[compare, "17  By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18  Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: 19  Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure." (Hebrews 11:17-19 AV).
 
See also,
 
Coming at a set time. Gn 49:10. Dn 9:24-25.
Fulfilled: Lk 2:1.
 
Seed of Abraham. Gn 17:7; 22:18.
Fulfilled: Gl 3:16.
 
Seed of the woman. Gn 3:15.
Fulfilled: Gl 4:4.
 
As can readily be seen from the short list of fulfilled prophecy above, the Bible is the only "Holy Book" that is really the word of God (YHWH) and all the other ones are only frauds and counterfeits.
 
Second with respect the virgin birth of Jesus many prophecies were fulfilled, a few of them follow:
 
He would be born in Bethlehem of Judaea: Prophecy = " But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." (Micah 5:2 AV)
 
Fulfillment = "1 ¶ Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 2  Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.  3  When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.  4  And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.  5  And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, 6  And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel." (Matthew 2:1-6 AV)
 
A virgin would give birth, Prophecy =  " Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." (Isaiah 7:14 AV),
 
Fulfillment =  " Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." (Matthew 1:23 AV)
 
A barren women in her old age would have a son, Prophecy = " And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son." (Judges 13:3 AV)
 
Fulfillment = "30  And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.  31  And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.  32  He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 33  And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.  34  Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?  35  And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.  36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren."  (Luke 1:30-36 AV).  Note, this group of scriptures goes from where Mary, a virgin, was told she would have a child who would be called the Son of the Highest and that her barren cousin would have a child.
 
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COMBINATION OF [1]   THE SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY AND [2]  DISCOURSE ON REVELATION 22:12 – 13:.   With the Scripture of the Day first.
[1]   SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY [VOL. 154A]
 
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?   Psalms 22:1,  [authorized King James Bible; AV]
 
This prophecy was with respect the future coming of  Jesus (Yeshua) and what would transpire to him and this is made even more sure by Psalms 22:18 – 19,  [AV]  “They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.  19  But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me.”  This prophecy was written about 460 B.C. long before Christ arrival, and the fulfillment was clearly shown at Matthew 27:35, [AV]  “And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.”  And Mark 15:34, [AV]  “And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” shows the fulfillment of Psalms 22:1.  
 
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Francis David said it long ago, "Neither the sword of popes...nor the image of death will halt the march of truth. "Francis David, 1579, written on the wall of his prison cell." Read the book, "What Does The Bible Really Teach" and the Bible today, and go to WWW.JW.ORG!
 
[2]    DISCOURSE ON REVELATION 22:12 – 13:
 
Revelation 22:12-13 "Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every men according to what he has done. 13 'I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.'" [New American Standard Bible-Reference Edition by Moody Press, Chicago, a div. Of Moody Bible Institute; NASB-MP]
 
Many misguided ones attempt to use this scripture to 'prove' that Jesus (Yeshua) always existed and is coeternal with his Father (YHWH), but it does not. Many of these same individuals turn to Acts 13:33, "that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, Thou ART MY SON; TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN THEE." (NASB-MP); and Psalm 2:7, "I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, 'Thou art My Son, Today I have begotten Thee.'" (NASB-MP); whereas, in doing so they show their ignorance of the word begotten which comes from beget which the Webster's New world College Dictionary, Fourth Ed., says, "1, to be the father or sire of; procreate, 2, to bring into being; produce ["Webster's New World College Dictionary, 4 ed.", Michael Agnes, Editor in Chief, ISBN 0-02-863118-8]; as can be seen from the definition of the word, both these scriptures clearly show that Jesus (Yeshua) did NOT always exist, but was brought into being or created by his Father (YHWH). This clearly shows that Jesus (Yeshua) can NOT BE COETERNAL with his Father (YHWH) who the Bible shows always existed, Psalms 90:2, "Before the mountains were born, Or Thou didst give birth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God." (NASB-MP); and Psalms 93:2, "Thy throne is established from of old; Thou art everlasting." (NASB-MP); and Jeremiah 10:10, "But the Lord is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth quakes, And the nations cannot endure His Indignation." (NASB-MP); and, 1 Timothy 1:17, "Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen." (NASB-MP). In fact the Bible at Revelation 3:14 clearly states, ""And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans F1 write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;" (Authorized King James Bible; AV) that he is "the beginning of the creation of God" as does Colossians 1:15, ""Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:" (AV).
 
Thus we can clearly see that those misguided ones that claim that Jesus (Yeshua) is coeternal with his Father (YHWH) are in gross error, and their use of begotten to attempt to prove this error only highlights their ignorance of the word 'begotten.'
 
Now with respect, "'I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.'" They overlook the difference in the use of the Alpha and the Omega when applied to the Father (YHWH) at Revelation 1:8, "'I am the Alpha and the Omega,' says the Lord God, 'who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.'" (NASB-MP); Which is quite different than when applied to Jesus (Yeshua) where it says, "the first and the last, the beginning and the end." Since in Jesus' (Yeshua's) case, he was the first, that is of creation, or the beginning of creation, and also, the end of direct creation by his Father, Almighty God (YHWH). How so, his Father (YHWH) used him in the creation of all else as testified to at Colossians 1:16-17, "For in Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." (NASB-MP); and John 1:10, "He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him." (NASB-MP). Whereas, with respect the Father (YHWH) the scripture clearly says, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." Where 'who is' emphasized which show implicitly that he always existed, and was not a created being as was his Son, Jesus (Yeshua). Thus as can be seen, he can NOT BE COETERNAL with his Father (YHWH), nor coequal with his Father (YHWH) since he, Jesus (Yeshua) was created by His Father (YHWH). Always remember John 8:32, "and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (NASB-MP).
 
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COMBINATION OF [1]  THE SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY AND [2]  Trinity Disproved By Refuting Specific Questions/Accusations by Trinitarians.   With the Scripture of the Day first.
[1]   SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY [VOL. 156A]
 
As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.   Psalms 103:12,  [authorized King James Bible; AV]
 
However as shown at Isaiah 1:16 - 20, [AV] Almighty God (YHWH) will wipe away the sins of those loving him, “Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;  17  Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.  18  Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.  19  If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:  20  But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.”  Thus it is imperative to strive to bring our lives in harmony with his will as detailed in His book of guidance, the Bible.  
        
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[2]   Trinity Disproved By Refuting Specific Questions/Accusations by Trinitarians:
 
FIRST, Question/Accusation by a Trinitarian:
 
There are places in the NT that definitely show Jesus to be God and yet some would deny this. To deny the Son is to deny the Father, meaning that those who say that Jesus is no more than Son and not God deny God the Father.
 
Answer:
 
Obviously overlooking the fact that Jesus (Yeshua) also is one of God's (Yeshua's) children, the first or only begotten, and that everything he has was given to him. Now, let's look at the facts concerning Jesus's (Yeshua's) incarnation and his status before his incarnation in brief.
 
HIS INCARNATION:
 
Now the Bible says at Matthew 1:18-25, "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. 19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. 20 But when he thought on these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 And she shall bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name JESUS; for it is he that shall save his people from their sins. 22 Now all this is come to pass, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, 23 Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, And they shall call his name Immanuel; which is, being interpreted, God with us. 24 And Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took unto him his wife; 25 and knew her not till she had brought forth a son: and he called his name JESUS." (ASV) clearly showing his conception to be through God's (YHWH's) power or Spirit, a miracle. Now some may ask, what is God's (YHWH's) spirit, let's examine this subject and view the evidence. Now what is this Spirit or Holy Spirit that John the Baptist mentioned at John 1:32, ""And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. 33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the holy Ghost." (AV)? The Holy Spirit is only God's (YHWH's) active force and not even a spirit being or person. This is clearly shown at Pentecost where the Holy Spirit was poured out onto all there, Acts 2:1-4, "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." (AV). This entire scripture bespeaks of a force and not a being as you do not get filled with a being! And this fact is reaffirmed at Acts 4:31, ""And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spoke the word of God with boldness." (AV); And 2 Corinthians 1:21-22, "Now he which established us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; 22 Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts." (AV), surely a being would not be in our hearts as that is ludicrous, thus this scripture talks of God's (YHWH's) active force; This is clearly shown at Luke 11:13, "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" (AV). Once more, why? Why? Do many say they are coequal and coeternal when clearly they are not and the Holy Ghost is just God's (YHWH's) active force? Only to try to give some resemblance of reality to a myth as we shall later see. An interesting note on the Spirit is that the neuter Greek word for spirit (pneu'ma) is used, the neuter pronoun "it" is properly employed. This fact is conveniently over looked or hidden by most Trinitarian translators as admitted in the "New American Bible Catholic Bible," regarding John 14:17: "The Greek word for 'Spirit' is neuter, and while we use personal pronouns in English ('he,' 'his,' 'him'), most Greek MSS [manuscripts] employ 'it.'" So when the Bible uses masculine personal pronouns in connection with pa·ra'kle·tos at John 16:7, 8, it is conforming to rules of grammar, not expressing a doctrine. And in Ancient Hebrew the word here rendered Holy Ghost, Holy Spirit, or Spirit which is translated from 'ru'ach' meaning "breath; wind; spirit."
 
WHO HIS REAL FATHER IS:
 
The Bible says his Father is Almighty God (YHWH) who we have seen from the foregoing used his power to implant his life force into a virgin Jewish girl named Mary. Also, that he was supposedly the son of Joseph which is clearly shown at Luke 3:23, "And when He began His Ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age, [b]being supposedly the son of Joseph, the son of Eli." (New American Standard Bible; NASB). He was in effect de-facto adopted by Joseph the husband of Mary who DID NOT have relations with Mary until after Jesus' (yeshua's) birth as testified to at Matthew 1:25, " And he knew her not till she brought forth her first born son: and he called his name Jesus." (Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible; DRCB); thus there can not be any doubt that his real Father is none other than Almighty God (YHWH) as clearly shown in the account of his pre-human existence given at Proverbs 8:22-31, "Jehovah possessed me in the beginning of his way, Before his works of old. 23 I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, Before the earth was. 24 When there were no depths, I was brought forth, When there were no fountains abounding with water. 25 Before the mountains were settled, Before the hills was I brought forth; 26 While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, Nor the beginning of the dust of the world. 27 When he established the heavens, I was there: When he set a circle upon the face of the deep, 28 When he made firm the skies above, When the fountains of the deep became strong, 29 When he gave to the sea its bound, That the waters should not transgress his commandment, When he marked out the foundations of the earth; 30 Then I was by him, [as] a master workman; And I was daily [his] delight, Rejoicing always before him, 31 Rejoicing in his habitable earth; And my delight was with the sons of men." (ASV). Which clearly shows that he was the first or beginning of God's (YHWH's) creation and absolutely proves in gross error anyone imputing anything but legitimacy to his birth since in fact he existed long before the earth or his incarnation on earth.
 
START OF HIS MINISTRY:
 
Let's also take a brief look at the start of his ministry. At the age of 30 Jesus (Yeshua) came from Galilee to Jordan to be baptized by John. This is detailed in the Bible at Matthew 3:13-17, "Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to the Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. 14 But John would have hindered him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? 15 But Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer [it] now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffereth him. 16 And Jesus when he was baptized, went up straightway from the water: and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him; 17 and lo, a voice out of the heavens, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (ASV). . Jesus (Yeshua) was therefore, now, ready and prepared to take up his ministry, but had not yet received the Holy Spirit with which he would be able to prove that he was the Son of God (YHWH). Now, at his baptism, his Sonship was confirmed by the Spirit of God (YHWH) descending upon him like a dove, and by the voice from heaven which said "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased". There is beautiful symbolism in the use of a dove to g visibly represent the Spirit of God (YHWH). Jesus (Yeshua) was to be the mediator through whom peace would be re-established between God and man. Many people find it difficult to associate human nature with its weakness and propensities with Jesus (Yeshua), the Son of God (YHWH). This association, however, is extremely important since it is only because Jesus (Yeshua) was 'made like his brethren in every respect' as testified to at Hebrews 2:16-18, " For surely it is not with angels that he is concerned but with the descendants of Abraham. 17 Therefore he had to be made like his brethren in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make expiation for the sins of the people. 18 For because he himself has suffered and been tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted." (Revised Standard Version; ASV). This was so to permit him to represent them perfectly in his sacrifice as shown at Hebrews 4:15-16, "For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (RSV) tells us that he was tempted in all ways like we are but without sinning', and because of this he is 'able to help those who are tempted'. We must acknowledge we are all desperately in need of his help.
 
SECOND, Question/Accusation by a Trinitarian:
 
1 - 1 John 5:2,3 is saying that if we love GOD we will keep HIS commandments.
 
2 - John 14:15 shows that if we love JESUS we will keep HIS commandments!
 
The key is on keeping the commandments. Whose are they? Answer the question this time.
 
Answer:
 
Read Jesus' (Yeshua's) words at John 14:23-24, "Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my word: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. 24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my words: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me." (American Standard Version; ASV) for your answer. Jesus (Yeshua) clearly answers your question for you and at the same time shows where he receives all from.
 
Now, to understand 1 John 5:2-3, one need no more than look at it in contest and it actually proves the Trinity impossible, 1 John 5:1-9, "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is begotten of God: and whosoever loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him[Note; Clearly shows that Jesus (Yeshua) is the begotten of God (YHWH) and NOT God (YHWH)]. 2 Hereby we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and do his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. 4 For whatsoever is begotten of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that hath overcome the world, [even] our faith. 5 And who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? [Note, Clearly identifies Jesus (Yeshua) as the Son of God and NOT God (YHWH) or God the Son as would be required for the Trinity to even be plausible] 6 This is he that came by water and blood, [even] Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. 7 And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is the truth. 8 For there are three who bear witness, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and the three agree in one. 9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for the witness of God is this, that he hath borne witness concerning his Son." (ASV) [Note: Some older translations had an error at 1 John 5:7 that had been deliberately inserted by someone way back, but the finding of older manuscripts has clearly shown this to be a violation of Revelations 22:18 called the Comma Johannenium as this error is so well known it has even been given a name].
 
THIRD, Question/Accusation by a Trinitarian:
 
Once again, Almighty God is El Shaddai (not YHWH ) AND Being the SON does not exempt Him from being YHWH, as you assume that is the name of the Father ONLY, which it is not. It is the name of GOD, not the name of the Father ONLY.
 
Answer:
 
YHWH is the name of God and in no way used to describe the devil. Now let's consider what the leading expert has to say on the subject, Gérard GERTOUX is a Hebrew scholar, specialist of the Tetragram; He has been president of the Association Biblique de Recherche d'Anciens Manuscrits since 1991. His training as an engineer and teacher has enabled him to compile an amount of information coming from a great diversity of specialized departments. He has written a book, "The Name of God Y.eH.oW.aH Which Is Pronounced As It Is Written I_Eh_Ou_Ah", and it clearly shows what God's (YHWH's) name is, its history, and that it can in no way properly be applied to the Devil.
 
A short abstract of it appeared in The Wall Street Journal and other publications as follows:
 
Usually, God's name is presented as fundamental in the monotheistic religions, but its pronunciation is controversial. However, the key to unlock this mystery was provided by the famous Maimonides 800 years ago, when he wrote that the Name 'is read as it is written'. The paradox starts and ends here with these intriguing words...
 
God's name is fundamental to all monotheistic religions. "May your name be held holy" is the first request for Christians in the Lord's Prayer taught by Jesus (Mt 6:9). "They exult in you, those who love your name" is sung by Jews when they sing the Psalms of David (Ps 5:11). "The hearts of humble ones quiver when the name of God is mentioned" is what Muslims say when they recite certain surahs of the Quran (22:35).
 
Paradoxically, religions prefer to translate God's name as Yahweh 'He is', Adonay 'my Lord', Allah 'The God', etc., rather than a transcription of the name, which is more usual. This study, initially published in the form of thesis, was greatly appreciated by many renowned specialists, because the subject had never been approached from the historical angle. This work created renewed interest in this fascinating topic -the disappearance of the Name followed by its slow re-emergence- which is relatively unknown.
 
Eight centuries ago, the famous Talmudist, Moses Maimonides, arrived at the right conclusion: There is no mystical mystery, because God's name is simply pronounced as it is written, that is to say: Y-H-W-H = I-eH-U-A in the same way: Y-H-W-D-H = I-eH-U-D-A.
 
And other expert critics said this of the book:
 
From United Bible Societies (Sarah Lind: Editor of the Newsletter)
Gérard Gertoux. 2002. The Name of God Y.EH.OW.AH Which is Pronounced as It is Written I_Eh_oU_Ah: Its Story. University Press of America. Translated from the French Un historique du nom divin. Un Nom Encens (L¹Harmattan, 1999). G. follows Maimonides' teaching that that YHWH "is read as it is written," i.e., yehua, in the same way that yhwdh is vocalized yehuda -applying the (coincidentally correct) Masoretic vowels. G. first considers biblical treatment of "the name": the power of the name; to know God's name; Jesus, Satan, the controversy over the name; and "the name read distinctly" (reconstruction of the reading). Part 2 examines the historical record from Adam to the American Standard Version, and the name of Jesus and its connections to the name. There is a seven part appendix that includes "interpretation of the Hebrew names" and "lack of nomina sacra in the earliest Christian papyrus." G. maintains a website with excerpts at divinename.net. Published in the Translation Information Clearinghouse Talk N°57, 2004.
www.ubs-translations.org/.../tt57.html
 
From Religious Studies Review (Won W. Lee professor at the Calvin College):
"In contrast to the long-held Jewish tradition, the author claims that the name of God in the HB should be pronounced. His claim is based on Exod 9:16, "... to make my name resound through all the earth" and Maimonides' work stressing the impossibility of a deep, personal relationship with a nameless God. With a survey of the historical record from "Adam" to the American Standard Version, Gertoux argues that the letters Y, W, H are read as the vowels I (or E), U (or O), and A. For the H, a mute e could be added in order to be better heard. The tetragrammaton, YHWH, is therefore read I-eH-U-A (Iehoua), the equivalent of YeHoWaH in Masoretic punctuation. This means that the name is to be pronounced as it is written, or according to its letters. The result is that the tetragrammaton is the only Hebrew name constituted, not of four consonants, but of four vowels, as noted by Josephus. This detailed treatment of the Name is useful for those who are interested in the history of its translation over the centuries." published in the Religious Studies Review Volume 29 Number 3 July 2003 page 285.
www.cssr.org/article.asp?idx=26142
 
From Seek God Association (Michael John Rood: Messianic Karaite Rabbi)
Emanuel Tov's credentials are numerous and lengthy, but one of the most interesting aspects of Mr. Tov's work is his study on the Masoretic Text and the translation of YHVH. According to postings on various forums, it has been stated that both Emanuel and Nehemiah Gordon believe that the Name of God is closer to Yehowah, which is similar to Jehovah in English, and not even close to Yahweh (...) The Masoretic Text manuscripts tend to vary later on, per Nehemiah Gordon (who also defends Yehovah after extensive study of the Masoretic Text manuscripts). Nehemiah's view, developed quite separately from Gertoux,... based on studying the actual manuscripts under Emanuel Tov, is that Yahweh cannot be defended, and the earlier Masoretic manuscripts all have a Yehowah (or Yehovah) pronounciation, while later on there is a lot of variation.
www.seekgod.ca/roodkaraite.htm
 
From Golden Age Books (Anthony Byatt: Specialist in English Bibles and Bible Study Material)
The Name of God Y.eH.oW.aH (...): Its Story reflects on God's name as fundamental to all monotheistic religions. Maimonides, 800 years ago, wrote that the Name "is read as it is written." Gerard Gertoux has written a deep treatise with a great deal of factual evidence for Jehovah's name. Contents include The Power of The Name; Jesus and Satan - Their Controversy Over the Name; The Pronunciation of Jesus' Name; Methods to Restore a Pronunciation; and a long section on the historical record from Adam through Bible times and down to the American Standard Version. Many appendices, notes and charts.
www.goldenagebooks.co.uk/...oductID=71
 
From New Testament Abstracts (Weston Jesuit School of Theology):
Gertoux contends that YHWH, the Tetragram, which is the proper name of God, is pronounced without difficulty because "it is read as it is written" according to the words of Maimonides. He first considers "the name": the power of the name; to know God's name; Jesus, Satan, their controversy over the name; and the name read distinctly. Then he examines the historical record: from Adam to Moses, from Moses to David, from David to Zedekiah, from Zedekiah to Simon the Just, from Simon the Just to Jesus, from Jesus to Justin, from Justin to Jerome, from Jerome to the Masoretes, from the Masoretes to Maimonides, from Maimonides to Tyndale, from Tyndale to the American Standard Version, and the name of Jesus and its connections to the name. Eight appendices are included. Published in the New Testament Abstracts Volume 47 Number 3 (2003) page 553. www.wjst.edu/news/nta/index.htm
 
From Booknews (Reference and Research Book News)
As indicated in the title, Gertoux concludes that the tetragram YHWH is the proper name of God, and is easy to pronounce because it sounds just like it is written according to the great Maimonides. In order to reach that destination, however, he has examined errors that have accumulated for at least 20 centuries, and wandered through linguistic questions. He posts warnings so non-specialist readers can avoid the very technical bogs. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) www.paratext.com/booknews_intro.htm
Reference and Research Book News 2002 Volume 17 N°1-4. 5739 NE Summer Street, Portland Or 97218 ISSN 0-887-3763
 
From Old Presbyterian Meeting House (Professor Bruce M. Metzger)
The use of any proper name for the one and only God, as though there were other gods from whom the true God had to be distinguished, began to be discontinued in Judaism before the Christian era (....) for further scholarly information on the origins of sacred names, please visit the pages of Gérard GERTOUX. www.opmh.org/newbibles.htm
 
FOURTH, Question/Accusation by a Trinitarian:
 
Only SCRIPTURE can either prove or disprove the deity of Christ!
 
Answer:
 
Is correct, but used often by Trinitarians who get caught in a corner and need to obfuscate the issue. But common reasoning can go along way to backing up the Bible with regard to the fact that Jesus (Yeshua) is indeed divine and a diety. You should well know the fact that 'like begets like' and know by this law of nature that Jesus (Yeshua) would have to be a diety and not question it; but that in NO way makes him the same spirit being as his Father (YHWH) than it makes any other son the same being as his father. This fact should be obvious to all.
 
FIFTH, Question/Accusation by a Trinitarian:
 
That is not the translation you are referring to. That is the Greek words used in John 1:1 if used OUT OF CONTEXT and SEPARATELY. That is not the meaning of those words. Therefore, it is not an interpretation of John 1:1. [Referring to, "The Word for Word English Translation from Koine Greek to English from The Vatican Manuscript #1209" done by the great German Bible scholar and translator Dr. J. J. Griesbach]
 
Answer:
 
WRONG, The Word for Word English Translation from Koine Greek to English from The Vatican Manuscript #1209 which makes the Emphatic Diaglott so valuable in seeing exactly what the Koine Greek is and its word for word equivalency in English, see below:
 
John 1:1-5 & 14, "1 In a beginning was the word, and the word was with the God, and a god was the Word 2 This was in a beginning with the God. 3 All through it was done; and without it was done not even one, that has been done. 4 In it life was, and the life was the light of the men, 5 and the light in the darkness shines, and the darkness it not apprehended." And "14And the Word flesh became, and tabernacied among us, (and we beheld the glory of him, a glory as of an only-begotten from a father,) full of favor and truth," ( The Word for Word English Translation from Koine Greek to English from The Vatican Manuscript #1209" done by the great German Bible scholar and translator Dr. J. J. Griesbach)
 
Now let's look at how several unbiased translators translated these verses as opposed to the common biased translation:
 
The Complete Bible: An American Translation. Contributors: Edgar J. Goodspeed - transltr, J. M. Powis Smith - transltr. Publisher: University of Chicago Press. Place of Publication: Chicago. Publication Year: 1939.:
John 1:1-5 & 14, "1 IN THE beginning the Word exist- ed. The Word was with God, and the Word was divine. 2 It was he that was with God in 3 the beginning. Everything came into ex- istence through him, and apart from him 4 nothing came to be. It was by him that life came into existence, and that life 5 was the light of mankind. The light is still shining in the darkness, for the darkness has never put it out." And "14 So the Word became flesh and blood and lived for a while among us, abounding in blessing and truth, and we saw the honor God had given him, such honor as an only son receives from his father."
 
A New Translation of The Bible by James Moffatt, D.D., D.Litt.:
John 1:1-5 & 14, "The Logos existed in the very beginning, the Logos was with God, the Logos was divine. 2 He was with God in the very beginning: 3 through him all existence came into being, no existence came into being apart from him. 4 In him life lay, and this life was the Light for men; 5 amid the darkness the Light shone, and the darkness did not master it." And "14 So the Logos became flesh and tarried among us; we have seen his glory-glory such as an only sone enjoys from his father-seen it to be full of grace and reality."
 
The New English Bible (NEB)
John 1:1-5 & 14, "1 When all things began, the Word already was. The Word dwelt with God, and what God was, the Word was 2 The Word, then, was with God at the beginning, 3 and through him all things came to be; no single thing was created without him. 4 All that came to be was alive with his life, 5 and that life was the light of men. The light shines on in the dark, and the darkness has never quenched it." And "14 So the Word became flesh; he came to dwell among us, and we saw his glory, such glory as befits the Father's only Son, full of grace and truth"
 
[History of this great translation, "A presbytery in the Church of Scotland in 1946 recommended to the General Assembly that a translation of the Bible be made in the language of the present day because the language in the Authorized Version was archaic and less generally understood. The General Assembly approached other churches. There was a desire that a completely new translation rather than a revision and for a contemporary idiom rather than a traditional Biblical English be used.
 
It was planned and directed by representatives of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland, the Church of England, the Church of Scotland, the Congregational Church in England and Wales, the Council of Churches for Wales, the Irish Council of Churches, the London Yearly Meeting of the Society of Friends, the Methodist Church of Great Britain, the Presbyterian Church of England, the British and Foreign Bible Society, and the National Bible Society of Scotland. The Roman Catholic Church in England and Scotland sent representatives as observers.]
 
Other data that shows the truth with respect John 1:1 in brief.
 
"Jn 1:1 should rigorously be translated 'the word was with the God [=the Father], and the word was a divine being.'" [source - The Dictionary of the Bible by John McKenzie, Collier Books, p. 317]
"Recent commentaries on John admit that despite the long-standing tradition to the contrary, the term "word" in the famous prologue of John need not refer to the Son of God before he was born. Our translations imply belief in the traditional doctrine of incarnation by capitalizing "Word." But what was it that became flesh in John 1:14? Was it a pre-existing person? Or was it the self-expressive activity of God, the Father, His eternal plan? A plan may take flesh, for example, when the design in the architect's mind finally takes shape as a house. What pre-existed the visible bricks and mortar was the intention in the mind of the architect. Thus, it is quite in order to read John 1:1-3a: "In the beginning was the creative purpose of God. It was with God and was fully expressive of God [just as wisdom was with God before creation]. All things came into being through it." This rendering suits the Old Testament use of "word" admirably: "So shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it."2
We are now in a better position to see why Jesus is known as "the word (logos) in the flesh." Jesus was the ultimate expression of God. God's plan, wisdom and purpose was the logos, and when we speak of the Bible, it is called "the Word" because it also is God's expression of Himself. When we speak of a prophecy, we say, it is "the word of the Lord," both because it is in the form of words and because it is God's expression of Himself. Jesus was the logos in the most complete sense. He was the ultimate expression of God and the essence of His plan and purpose. Thus, it is quite correct to say that Jesus was the logos, but he was not all of the logos. "Jesus" does not equal "the logos," he was part of and the ultimate expression of the logos. If we see Jesus, we see the Father, but it is also true that if we study the Bible, God's Word, God's expression of Himself in writing, we will see the Father. More dimly, to be sure, because the written Word is not the clear and ultimate expression of God that the Living Word is, but it is the logos just the same. ... The logos or message of God, as it has been revealed in Jesus, includes the following account of the meaning and purpose of creation: Jesus' coming was prophesied throughout the Hebrew Scriptures; he was finally born a man, and by his free will lived a sinless life; Jesus died on the Cross to mark the beginning of the end of the present age of sin and death, revealing that it is only a matter of time until this age and fallen humanity as it now exists come to an end; Jesus was raised from the dead to reveal that death (the experience that all humans since Adam have held in common) is contrary to God's will and will ultimately be abolished by resurrection; Jesus was exalted as Lord to the right hand of God where he presently exercises this authority; after he comes to gather together the Church, Jesus will come again at the end of this age in judgment, bringing destruction on the unbelieving world and salvation to the community of faith; he will rule for one thousand years on this earth; finally he will destroy Satan and all evil, end the heavens and earth of the present age and begin the new heavens and earth of the age to come, a "new creation.".... The meaning of "beginning" that immediately comes to mind when John 1:1 is read refers to the time before history when God first conceived of man, and foresaw the possibility that he would fall and need a Savior. This is because of the familiar phrase, "In the beginning God" in Genesis 1:1. John tells us that "in the beginning" God had wisdom and a plan, and was prepared to start acting that plan out so that the people He created and invested His love in could be rescued from death and live with Him eternally. The crowning piece of the plan of God was the creation of Jesus Christ, who was in a very real sense, "the last word." ... The "word" was with God in the same sense that "wisdom" was with God. Proverbs 8:29b and 30a says, "When He [God] marked out the foundations of the earth, then I [wisdom] was the craftsman at His side." No one we know of believes that there was a being called "Wisdom" who helped God make the heavens and the earth. Everyone knows that wisdom is personified to make the record interesting and easy to understand. So too, in John 1:1 when Scripture says that the logos was "with God," it is a personification. God had His plan and power, and "when the time had fully come" (Gal. 4:4), Jesus was conceived in the womb of Mary. This means that the person called "Jesus" did not yet exist, as is the case with all human persons, until he was conceived in his mother's womb. Prior to his conception, his existence was not personal, but prophetic, as foretold in the Old Testament Scriptures (the "Word"). Before Jesus' conception in the womb of Mary, the logos was to Jesus what promise is to fulfillment. When "the logos became flesh," the promise was fulfilled in the form of a person. While this understanding will be objectionable, perhaps anathema, to Trinitarian believers, it must be admitted that it is not a denial of Jesus' divine Sonship or Messiahship but, rather, a compelling alternative interpretation of relevant scriptural texts.... Because logos has the article [ho] preceding it, it is marked out as the subject. The fact that theos is the first word after the conjunction kai ("and") shows that the main emphasis of the clause lies on it. Had the article preceded theos as well as logos, the meaning would have been that the Word was completely identical with God, which is impossible if the Word was also "with God." What is meant is that the Word shared the nature and being of God, or, to use a piece of modern jargon, was an extension of the personality of God. The NEB paraphrase, "what God was, the Word was," brings out the meaning of the clause as successfully as a paraphrase can. John intends that the whole of his gospel shall be read in the light of this verse. The deeds and words of Jesus are the deeds and words of God [i.e., "If you have seen me, you have seen the Father"]; if this be not true, the book [i.e., the Gospel of John] is blasphemous.25
What it does say is defined as succinctly and accurately as it can be in the opening verse of St. John's Gospel. But we have to be equally careful about the translation. The Greek runs: kai theos en ho logos. The so-called Authorized Version has: "And the Word was God." This would indeed suggest the view that "Jesus" and "God" were identical and interchangeable. But in Greek this would most naturally be represented by "God" with the article, not theos but ho theos. But, equally, St. John is not saying that Jesus is a "divine" man, in the sense with which the ancient world was familiar [the product of God and man] or in the sense in which the Liberals spoke of him [as a great man, teacher, prophet, etc.]. That would be theios. The Greek expression steers carefully between the two. It is impossible to represent it in a single English word, but the New English Bible, I believe, gets the sense pretty exactly with its rendering, "And what God was, the Word was." [source - Biblical Unitarians]
 
Now let's consider a comment on two scriptures by Uriyah the Messiahite,
 
"John 5:26 For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself
 
John 6:57 Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me.
 
By the words of Jesus, Jesus was not eternal; he was given to have life in himself and lives because of the Father. A eternal being cannot be given to have life in themselves, and they do not depend on others to live." [source - Uriyah the Messiahite]
SIXTH, Question/Accusation by a Trinitarian:
Yes and I am the byproduct of MY father and I have HIS name IN me and we share the same attributes. In the same way, Jesus has the name of YHWH IN Him, making Him deity, as YHWH is deity. Jesus is not 'a god' unless you are a polytheist. The Word cannot be WITH God and BE a god at the same time. Scripture will not allow it.
Answer,
But obviously one is NOT his father, and the same goes for Jesus (Yeshua); a very simple truth. With respect polytheist accusation this clearly shows one has obviously NOT read Exodus 20:3 with understanding as it says, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." (Authorized King James Bible; AV), so Jesus (Yeshua) is NOT polytheistic thinking as he is NOT a deity before his Father (YHWH) as clearly shown at John 14:28, "Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I." (AV) in Jesus' (Yeshua's) own words. So again what I am seeing is a lack of comprehension on the part of some; they should let me assist them in this most important matter instead of resisting.
 
SEVENTH, Question/Accusation by a Trinitarian:
[claim by Trinitarians] I am not influenced by any councils. The word of GOD has priority and IT says that Jesus is GOD"
 
Answer:
 
Here is the facts the reality, remember John 8:32, "you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (The Goodnews Bible), now let's look at the facts:
"By the third and fourth centuries, Christians were weary of Pagan persecution. The temptation was to compromise. Besides, the Pagan emperor Constantine needed Christians to salvage his shaky empire. Constantine embraced; howbeit only on his deathbed. However, he saw Christianity as a tool he could use to firm up his shaky empire. To this opportunity for political intrigue, and happy blend of politics and people was the chief triumvirate of Roman gods Jupiter, Juno and Minerva. Jupiter was the principal deity of Roman mythology and Juno was the next highest divinity. Minerva, the "offspring of the brain of Jupiter" was regarded as the "personification of divine thought, the plan of the material universe of which Jupiter was the creator and Juno the representative" (26). Many Pagan ideas, in fact, were incorporated into Christianity. "Christianity did not destroy paganism; it adopted it" (*26).
 
Roman Emperor Constantine needed to make his subjects feel secure if he were to maintain control of the empire; he wanted to rule a unified empire, be it pagan and/or Christian. But first he would have to find a way to end the dispute over the divinity of Jesus-was he a man or God? So he ordered his Christian bishops to meet at Nicaea in 325 A.D. to settle the matter once and for all. To do this, "he made himself the head of the church, and thus the problems of the church became his responsibilities. As a whole the Western Empire with its Roman influence, with some exceptions, had accepted Tertullian and his new theory of the Trinity in the early part of the previous century, but in the East the church adhered more closely to the older formula of baptism in the name of Jesus, or Jesus the Christ. Especially was this true with the Armenians, who specified that baptism "into the death of Christ" was that which alone was essential (*28) .
 
Now let's see how Constantine got the Trinity. As previously shown, The Roman Empire at this time was being torn apart by religious differences between pagans, mostly Sun God worshippers, and Christianity. Constantine the Emporer was a worshipper of the Unconquered Sun, but he was a very pragmatic individual and saw the need to bring religious unity to his empire. The central doctrine of the pagans was the dogma of a Trinity that they had received from earlier pagans in Babylon (Chaldea). In this, the pagan Emperor, Constantine, saw a possibility for unifying his empire if he could only lead the majority of the Christians to accept a Trinity or a Duality. He knew however that he had to make them think it was their own idea. To this end, he, the Roman emperor Constantine summoned all bishops to Nicaea, about 300, but even though it was the emperor's direction, only a fraction actually attended.
 
This council went on for a very long time and the emperor worked behind the scene to get support for a Trinity or a Duality. This effort was not completely successful, but finally he got a majority and declared under imperial degree
that this hence forth would be the central doctrinal pillar of the Christian church, which by this time was apostate. Even with this declaration by the emperor himself not all bishops signed the creed. (*29).
 
*26 - McClintock & Strong's Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature, Vol. 6
*27 - Lamson, Newton & Durant, Will, "Caesar and Christ," cited from Charles Redeker Caesar and Christ, W. Duran (page 595).
*28 - ENCYLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, 11th Edition, Vol. 3, (page 366).
*29 - Payne, Robert, "The Holy Fire: The Story of the Early Centuries of the Christian Churches in the Near East" (1957); BETHUNE-BAKER, J,F. "An Introduction to the Early History of Christian Doctrine". Methuen; 5th Ed., 1933 and ENCYLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, 11th Edition, Vol. 3, (page 366); David, Francis and Blandrata, Georgio, "De falsa et vera unius Dei Patris, Filii, et Spiritus Sancti cognitone" [Latin](The False and True Knowledge of the Unity of God the Father, Son, and Holy spirit), 1566 A.D.; Eklof, Todd F., "David's Francis Tower, Strength through Peace," (06-16-02); The New Encyclopedia Britannica: " Micropædia, Vol. X, p. 126. (1976); Parkes, James, "The Foundation of Judaism and Christianity," 1960; Durant, Will. "Caesar and Christ." New York: Simon.[source - "Discourse on Mainstream Religion," by Iris the Preacher- 2001]
EIGHTH, Question/Accusation by a Trinitarian:
 
Jesus Christ's Father is God. Therefore, Jesus Christ is God because they share an Attibute with each other that cannot be changed. They share the Attribute of God. Jesus Christ is still the Son of God and God as well.
 
Answer:
 
All sons share Attributes with their father, but that in NO way makes them their father also. This is just common knowledge that no play on words, logomachy, can change. Now let's look at Jesus' (Yeshua's) name as differentiating him from his father, "Yehoshua, Yeshua or Yeshu;
Which one is the name of Jesus in Hebrew?
By Dr. James D. Price
Forward by Guy Cramer
The Jewish community has claimed the name of Jesus in Hebrew is Yeshu the traditional Jewish spelling of Jesus. Why do others spell Jesus as Yeshua with four letters and sometimes spell it as Yehoshua with five letters ?
Before we look at the answer lets look at the origin of the name. The sixth book of the Old Testament is called Joshua.
The title of the book is appropriately named after its central figure, Joshua. His original name is Hoshea, "Salvation" (Num.13:8); but Moses evidently changes it to Yehoshua, "Yahweh (Jehovah) is Salvation" (Num.13:16). He is also called Yeshua, a shortened form of Yehoshua. This is the Hebrew equivalent of the Greek name Iesous (Jesus). (NKJV, Thomas Nelson Inc.,1980, p.190)
Why is it important to find out which spelling to use? Advanced mathematical research into the equidistant letter sequences (ELS) discovered in the Hebrew Bible (see The Mysterious Hebrew Codes) needs the proper spelling of words and names. The wrong spelling of a name can invalidate all (ELS) research on that name. There is a great deal that depends on this simple question.
(Guy Cramer)
The Names Yeshua and Yehoshua
by Dr. James Price, professor of Hebrew
Yehoshua in the Septuagint
Two things indicate that Yehoshua is the proper Hebrew name for Jesus:
(1) In the Greek Translation of the OT known as the Septuagint (LXX), the name Joshua is rendered *Iasous* = Jesus.
(2) In the NT, Joshua is mentioned twice (Acts 7:45; Heb 4:8), and in both places the Greek NT spells the name *Iasous* = Jesus.
Thus the Greek *Iasous* is the equivalent of Hebrew *Yehoshua*
Yehoshua in the Hebrew Bible
As far as the Hebrew Bible is concerned, it is important to note that in the early books, the name Joshua is spelled as ( yod-hey-waw-shin-ayin) or on rare occasions as ( yod-hey-waw-shin-waw-ayin). However, in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, the high priest is named Jeshua the son of Jozadak ( yod-shin-waw-ayin); whereas in the contemporary books of Haggai and Zechariah, the same high priest is named Joshua the son of Jehozadak ( yod-hey-waw-shin-ayin beth-nun). Thus, it can be concluded that in post-exilic times of the Biblical era, the namesYeshua and Yehoshua were regarded as equivalent.
Yehoshua in the Talmud
(From A.D. 200 to 500 ancient rabbis compiled their commentaries on the Bible, Jewish social customs and historical events in the Talmud. Because it was compiled by rabbis who were leaders in rabbinical academies, the Talmud is considered to be very authoritative by Jews, even to this day. [Missler, Chuck, "The Creator Beyond Time and Space", 1996 The Word For Today, p.165] )
As far as the Talmud is concerned, it is evident that the old uncensored editions of the Talmud associated Jesus of Nazareth with the name Joshua. This is demonstrated by the following passage:
Sotah 47a
Our Rabbis have taught: Always let the left hand thrust away and the right hand draw near. Not like Elisha who thrust Gehazi away with both his hands (and not like ' Joshua b. Perahiah who thrust one of his disciples away with both his hands).11
Here, the editor's footnote reads:
[(11) MSS. and old editions read Jesus the Nazarene. R. T. Herford sees in Gehazi a hidden reference to Paul. Cf. his Christianity in Talmud and Midrash, pp. 97ff.]
Another interesting passage indicates that the Talmud regarded the changing of the spelling of a name to be a sign of divine disapproval. The following passage discusses the change of a name from Yehoshua to Yoshua. Arachim 32b
And the other?13 - He [Ezra] had prayed for mercy because of the passion for idolatry and he removed it, and his merit then shielded them even as the booth. That is why Scripture reproved Joshua, for in all other passages it is spelt: Jehoshua, but here, Joshua.14
The editor's footnote reads:
[(14) For his failure to implore the Lord to remove the passion for idolatry from the heart of the people. Just as with Abram the enlargement of his name into 'Abraham' was an expression of divine approval, so did this diminution of Jehoshua into Joshua express divine disapproval. The reason for Joshua's failure to implore the Lord to remove the passion for idolatry was his assumption that he possessed the land in its pristine holiness, so that it would in itself help Israel to overcome its idolatrous tendencies.]
Perhaps that is the reason why the Talmud altered the spelling of the name Jesus of Nazareth from Yeshua ha-Notzri to Yesu ha-Notzri. However, it is clear that the editor of the Talmud regarded this as the equivalent of Yeshua ha-Notzri. Associated with the following passage in the Talmud is an interesting footnote by the editor:
 
Sanhedrin 67a
For it has been taught: And for all others for whom the Torah decrees death, witnesses are not hidden, excepting for this one. How is it done? - A light is lit in an inner chamber, the witnesses are hidden in an outer one [which is in darkness], so that they can see and hear him,11 but he cannot see them. Then the person he wished to seduce says to him, 'Tell me privately what thou hast proposed to me'; and he does so. Then he remonstrates; 'But how shall we forsake our God in Heaven, and serve idols'? If he retracts, it is well. But if he answers: 'It is our duty and seemly for us', the witnesses who were listening outside bring him to the Beth din, and have him stoned.12
 
The editor's footnote reads:
[(12) In the uncensored editions of the Talmud there follows this important passage (supplied from D.S. on the authority of the Munich and Oxford Mss. and the older editions) 'And this they did to Ben Stada in Lydda ( . . .), and they hung him on the eve of Passover. Ben Stada was Ben Padira. '. Hisda said: 'The husband was Stada, the paramour Pandira. But was nor the husband Pappos b. Judah? - His mother's name was Stada. But his mother was Miriam, a dresser of woman's hair? (. . . megaddela neshayia): - As they say in Pumbaditha, This woman has turned away (. . .) from her husband, (i.e., committed adultery).' T. Herford, in 'Christianity in the Talmud', pp. 37 seqq, 344 seqq, identifies this Ben Stada with Jesus of Nazareth. As to the meaning of the name, he connects it with ** 'seditious', and suggests (p. 345 n.1) that it originally denoted 'that Egyptian' (Acts XXI 38, Josephus, Ant. XX, 8, 6) who claimed to be a prophet and led his followers to the Mount of Olives, where he was routed by the Procurator Felix, and that in later times he might have been confused with Jeshua ha-Notzri. This hypothesis, however, involves the disregard of the Talmudic data, for Pappos b. Judah lived a century after Jesus (Cit. 90a), though the mother's name, Miriam (Mary), would raise no difficulty, as . . . megaddla neshayia may be the result of a confusion with Mary Magdalene (v. also Box, The Virgin Birth of Jesus, pp. 201f, for other possible meanings of Ben Stada and Ben Pandira) Derenbourg (Essai note 9, pp. 465-471) rightly denies the identity of Ben Stada with Jesus, and regards him simply as a false prophet executed during the second century at Lydda.]
Note that the editor spells the name of Jesus as Jeshua ha-Notzri when he transliterated it.
From this evidence it can be concluded that in post-exilic Bible times the names Yehoshua and Yeshua were regarded as equivalent names of the same person. Also the Talmudic evidence indicates that historically the Jews regarded the name of Jesus as Yeshua, perhaps omitting the *hey* as their sign of divine disapproval, and then subsequently omitting the *ayin* as further disapproval. [source - Dr. Price, Professor of Hebrew and Old Testament at Temple Baptist Seminary][Note, this gentlemen is a Trinitarian but even differentiates Jesus' (Yeshua's) name from that of his father.
 
NINTH, Question/Accusation by a Trinitarian:
 
Revelation 1:7. Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
 
Isn't Revelation 1:7 referring to The Mighty God in Isaiah 9:6?
 
Revelation 1:8. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
 
Doesn't Revelation 1:8 support Jesus Christ's claim in John 10:30? John 10:30 states...
 
John 10:30 I and my Father are one.
 
Answer,
 
Now we have a similar result in the New Testament with titles often times being substituted for proper names such as Jesus' (Yeshua) proper name being substituted with titles such as 'Lord,' 'Logos,' etc. This causes great confusion as the same title, 'Lord,' is often used for Almighty God (YHWH) in the New Testament, such as at Revelation 1:8, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. " (AV); and at, Revelation 22:6, "And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done." (AV).; whereas, isused as a title for his Son, Jesus (Yeshua) at Revelation 22:20, "He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so come, Lord Jesus." (AV).[[source - "The Confusion Factor," by Iris the Preacher 1987]
 
As can be seen from the above many wrestle with the scriptures trying to make them fit their tradition instead of trying to get an understanding of same. This is clearly shown by the poster's question if you can call it that of, "Doesn't Revelation 1:8 support Jesus Christ's claim in John 10:30?" which clearly shows one trying to support his pet tradition. Why, well John 10:30 says, "My Father and I are one" (the New English Bible; NEB), but if this poster really wanted understanding rather than to support his misguided tradition he would continue to read on in the Book of John since at John 17:11 this oneness is explained as unity of purpose as, "And I am no more in the world, and these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep them in thy name which thou hast given me, that they may be one, even as we [are]." (ASV).
 
Next, this same poster asks about Revelation 1:7, "Every eye shall see him, and among them those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the world shall lament in remose. So it shall be. Amen." (NEB). Obviously, unlike Revelation 1:8 which refers to the Father (YHWH), this one refers to Jesus (Yeshua or YHWH is Salvation). Now it is high time that all start reading the Bible for understanding instead of constantly trying to trick me with silly questions in the same perverted manner as the Jews at Matthew 22: , "But the Pharisees, when they heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, gathered themselves together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, trying him: 36 Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law? 37 And he said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second like [unto it] is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 40 On these two commandments the whole law hangeth, and the prophets. 41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, 42 saying, What think ye of the Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, [The son] of David. 43 He saith unto them, How then doth David in the Spirit call him Lord, saying, 44 The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Till I put thine enemies underneath thy feet? 45 If David then calleth him Lord, how is he his son? 46 And no one was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions." (ASV).
 
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