JOHN 1:1
VERY IMPORTANT NOTE:The 66 little
books of the Bible have been directly inspired and authored by Almighty God
Yahweh. No argument on this. But please be aware, that the actual autographa
(original writings of these all 66 little books called the Bible) do NOT exist
today. Not even 1 Original book of the Bible has been found by Archaeologist’s
till date today.
All the original hand written and God inspired 66 books of the
Bible have totally disappeared from the face of the earth. Why? No one knows.
Let’s say only God knows. But he has not disclosed this facet of the truth. The
Bible does not answer this question directly, Neither does it throw any light
on its disappearance. So always remember when any Confusion or Complication or
Contradiction appears in God’s holy and sacred words, most of the times it gets
clear on comparing the earliest copies of the Holy Writ in Hebrew, Aramaic and
Greek languages.
Inadvertently or Ignorantly or even due to human Imperfections
and many times due to direct Intervention, humans have either added or removed
something or some word or some flavor or have added some emphasis to God’s Holy
Word in the many translations and versions of the Holy Bible.
Even Almighty God Yahweh (YHWH) knew this was bound to happen in
the distant future hence the warning and curse at Revelation 22:18, 19. - New Living Translation “And if
anyone removes any of the words from this book of prophecy, God will remove
that person's share in the tree of life and in the holy city that are described
in this book.”
MANY MODERN CHURCHES ARE USING SOME OLD OR NEW VERSION OR
TRANSLATION OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. THESE ARE ALL NOT 100% FREE FROM BIAS,
HUMAN ERROR, TYPOGRAPHICAL, GRAMMATICAL & TRANSLATION MISTAKES. THIS IS THE CAUSE OF
CREATING DOCTRINES BASED ON TRANSLATIONS AND NOT ON THE ORIGINAL EXISTING
COPIES OF THE HOLY BIBLE THAT ARE ACCESSIBLE TO US IN HEBREW, GREEK AND
ARAMAIC.FOR CENTURIES WE WERE FORCED TO ACCEPT THE SO CALLED SCHOLARS AND BIBLE
LANGUAGE TRANSLATORS, AS WE WERE AT THEIR MERCY. WE HAD TO TRUST THEM.
᾿Εν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος.
In the Beginning there was WORD (JESUS)
and the WORD was WITH GOD (with the Father) and the WORD was GOD...- John 1:1
New International Version
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God.
There were no complete Bibles in the English language before the
14th century. John Wycliffe
(c. 1320-1384) was mainly responsible for the first such English Bible.
Now PLESE NOTE, the above scripture quoted at John 1:1 is NOT the
exact and actual GOD BREATHED or GOD INSPIRED word and thought as was
communicated by the Original Inspired writer in Greek Language.
Now in 2017, thanks to an Information Explosion and Prophet
Daniel’s prophetic words coming true;
New Living
Translation
But you, Daniel, keep this prophecy a secret;
seal up the book until the time of the end, when many will rush here and there,
and knowledge will increase." Daniel 12:4
The primary application of "knowledge increased" is in
reference to people understanding the prophecies of the book of Daniel, however, many Bible scholars
believe that this prophecy also applies to an increasing knowledge of science,
medicine, travel, and technology. We are living in "The Information
Age" making this sign seem even more obvious. Even the most skeptical mind
must admit that knowledge is exploding in all directions. It is said that 80%
percent of the world's total knowledge has been brought forth in the last
decade and that 90% percent of all the scientists who have ever lived are alive
today.
Today thanks to the Internet, the
Information Highway one can have access to unlimited books, Online libraries,
literature and even to Interlinear Translations of the Greek New Testament with
a word to word translation in English for us to; TO CHECK AND MAKE SURE if the
English Translators of any Versions have been really accurate and faithful to
the WORD TO WORD rendering of God’s Holy words and thoughts.
Nouns are words that describe people, places, or things. Here are some
English nouns: book, person, chewing-gum, country, county, city, road, field,
justice, peace, language, concept, man, woman, god, programmer, and linguist.
In the first lesson, we learned a few Greek nouns:
Articles are those little words in front of the noun. In English, there are
two articles: "the" is the definite article, and "a" is the
indefinite article. Greek has only one article - since there are 24 forms for
it, they couldn't afford a second one. The Greek article is definite, and it is
often translated "the", but it functions very differently from the
English "the".
PLEASE NOTE:
· Original
Greek text lacks the article (in English, ‘the’) before the Greek word for
‘god’ (which is ‘theos’). Hence in some modern translations, at Luke 20:6 is
translated as, ‘John was a prophet.’ That is because the Greek text lacks the
article.”
There is no single translation that will clear up the confusion. Because all of the Translations
and Versions in English language and all other languages to have, “Human
Introduced Flaws” while translating from the “Original Copies of God’s Word”.
One of the best all-around translations I have by personal taste
found is the New American, but for specific Greek texts Wilson's Diaglott is
helpful. I also like the Concordant Literal version.
JOHN 1:1
Some translations say " ... and the Word was God.” But, the
word for word in the original Greek does not say it exactly as it was
translated in those versions.
GREEK
Text Analysis
VERY
IMPORTANT TO NOTICE:
See
that the above word has NOT been translated by the translators. WHY?
On copy pasting the Greek word τὸν in Google Translator, it translates this Greek
word as THE in English. The word THE is a definite article. Having THE God
indicates that this is referring to one DEFINITE GOD or MIGHTY ONE. In this
case it is the Almighty Elohim or God Almighty Yahweh.
Strong's
Concordance
theos: God, a god
Original
Word: θεός, οῦ, ὁ
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine;
Noun, Masculine
Transliteration: theos
Phonetic Spelling: (theh'-os)
Definition: God,
a god
Usage: (a)
God, (b) a god, generally.
HELPS
Word-studies
2316 theós (of unknown origin) – properly, God, the
Creator and owner of all things (Jn 1:3; Gen 1 - 3).
[Long before the NT was written, 2316 (theós) referred to the
supreme being who owns and sustains all things.]
Here the Greek writers used two different words one THEON
with the definite article before it as THE THEON and when referring to the Word
they used the Greek word THEOS without definite article THE. Thus clearly communicating a DISTINCTION between the Father
and the Son. This as you can see above in the Greek word to word translation,
the translators on purpose have left the translation for the word τὸν ton TOTALLY
BLANK.
In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with (THE)
God and the Word was God.
THE THEON
THEOS
Remember
that in Hebrew Elohim means Mighty Ones. To call Yahshua (Jesus) a Mighty one is not wrong.
But he is not THE Elohim meaning he is not THE ALMIGHTY EL. Yes he is a mighty
El. But when this is translated into the English language, THE ELOHIM and just
plain ELOHIM are both translated as God. This is where the confusion is
created.
What
Greek Scholars have to say about τὸν ton
ὁ, ἡ, τό, originally τος, τῇ, τό (as is
evident from the forms τοι, ται for οἱ, αἱ in Homer and the Ionic writings),
corresponds to our definite article the (German der, die, das), which is
properly a demonstrative pronoun, which we see in its full force in Homer, and
of which we find certain indubitable traces also in all kinds of Greek
prose, and hence also in the N. T.
Take a look at the Diaglott version for instance:
John 1:1 "In a beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
the God, and a god was the Word.
1:2 This was in a beginning with the God."
Also look at John 1:18 and compare the New America with the King
James:
NAS John 1:18 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God
who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.
KJV John 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten
Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
What do you conclude? If God (Theos, the Almighty Father) always existed, how can He be
begotten? Is the word "God" or "god"(mighty one - can refer
to Jesus)?
Look at Acts 28:6 "Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or
fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no
harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god."
Why is the same word from John 1:1 translated here as "a god”?
As many Bible students are aware, the words "a" and
"an" (called indefinite articles) do not exist in the Greek language.
If one wished to say "I saw a tree," in Greek it would be "I saw
tree" and everyone would know the intent is "a" tree. Therefore
a translator would automatically supply it. This is done everywhere in the New
Testament where the English word "a" or "an" appears.
So in John 1:1. The text actually says "In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with the God, and the Word was [a?] God."
Should the translator supply the intended "a" or not?
That is the question. Contrary to many vocal claims on this issue, it is a sound and
reasonable thing to do. C. H. Dodd, driving force of the NEB, acknowledges
"As a word-for-word translation it cannot be faulted."
(Technical Papers for the Bible Translator, 28, Jan. 1977, page).
Notice that the translators of the King James Version had no
hesitation in using "a god" in Acts 28:6 where the context makes it
obvious. (It also belongs
in John 10:33, as the logic of Jesus' reply shows.)
A very good reason for adding "a" in John 1:1 is John
1:18, but the point is hidden in the King James Version. Today it is generally
acknowledged that the better, earlier Greek manuscripts of this verse refer to
Jesus as "the only begotten god" (see the NASB for example).
John there says no one has ever seen "God," but "the
only begotten god, which is in the bosom of the Father," has appeared to
declare what God is about. First it is clear that by "God" John means
"the Father." Second it is clear that John has two gods in mind --
God himself, the unseen, and the son of God, Jesus, who in his own right is
also a mighty being, "a god." Since John 1:18 distinguishes two
mighty beings, it is apparent that John 1:1 also distinguishes two mighty
beings.
REMEMBER IN THE BEGINNING I MENTIONED THAT THE ENGLISH
TRANSLATION OF THE ORIGINAL BIBLE LANGUAGES WAS TRANSLATED ONLY IN 14TH
CENTURY
WHAT IF RECENT ARCHEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES HAVE FOUND THE EARLIEST
COPIES OF THE GREEK NEW TESTAMENT?
What are the sahidic Coptic language translations of New Testament
writings?
The Sahidic Coptic editions of the Greek New
Testament were some of the earliest translations of the Greek of the New
Testament. Coptic is not a widely known language these days—even among scholars
of the New Testament. The Sahidic Coptic New Testament in
English helps bridge the gap by providing a convenient English
translation of the Coptic New Testament.
Sahidic was the leading dialect of pre-Islamic
Coptic, and is the dialect in which most known Coptic texts are written. The
first written instances of the dialect occurred around 300 A.D., including
translations of Biblical texts.
No one doubts the Sahidic Coptic version is among the most important
of the early translations of the original Greek New Testament. Most scholars
place the Sahidic Coptic translation no later than the fourth century and as
early as the second (the same century of our earliest existing Greek manuscript
of the New Testament: P52).
As such, the Sahidic Coptic manuscripts comprise a rich deposit of
empirical evidence. They tell us what the early Greek texts might have looked
like. They tell us how the Copts understood the text at the time of
translation. In fact, the Sahidic Coptic translation was primarily intended to
proclaim the gospel throughout Egypt where the Copts lived. This, then, was the
text some of the earliest Christian missionaries used to first share the gospel
in Egypt.
Fortunately, knowledge of this Sahidic Coptic evidence is not new.
Unfortunately, popular-level access to legitimate New Testament scholarship on
it is new. In fact, 2011 marks the first year a major academic publisher—Oxford
University Press—published a work devoted solely to the Sahidic Coptic
version’s varying uses of the Coptic word for “god.”
What about our controversial text, John 1:1c? So far, the best way
to understand the Copts’ use of the indefinite article is that they were making
an interpretive, qualitative distinction. This distinction was to describe the
qualities of whatever god/entity was being referenced by the speaker, author,
or both. Thus, the Maltese population in Acts 28:6 were saying Paul possessed
the qualities of “a god.” This fits well with how the Copts were probably
understanding the text: descriptively. The population was not calling Paul a
false god or a lesser divine god. Instead, the population was describing him as
one characterized as having the qualities of “god” as they understood the gods.
Likewise, the best understanding of 2 Thessalonians 2:4 is that the
author is referring to the qualities of the Christian God, even though the “man
of lawlessness” is not the Christian God. As one scholar put it, “It is
therefore preferable to understand the characterization as of someone who is so
self-aggrandizing that he vaunts himself against all gods whatsoever, perceived
or real.”3 Again, this complements how the Copts probably understood the text:
descriptively. The “man of lawlessness” will not exult himself as a false god
or a lesser divine god, but as one claiming the qualities of “god” (in this
case, the Christian God).
The same category easily applies to John 1:1c. This
qualitative/descriptive understanding makes the best sense within the opening
of John’s Gospel. The Copts understood John to mean “the Word” possesses the
same qualities as the Christian God.
It is interesting to note that the Coptic language
was spoken in Egypt in the centuries immediately following Jesus' earthly
ministry, and the Sahidic dialect was an early literary form of the language. A
significant fact concerning the Coptic language is that, unlike the Greek, it
used an indefinite article ("a" or "an" in English).
The Sahidic Coptic translation DOES USE an
indefinite article with the word 'god' in the final part of John 1:1 and when
rendered into modern English, the translation reads: 'And the Word was a
god.'
KATA
IѠϨANNHС
The
Coptic Gospel of John 1:1-14
Digitalized
and Translated by Lance Jenott (2003)
According to the Coptic text in G.
Horner, The Coptic Version of the New Testament in the Southern Dialect,
vol. III (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1911-1924) pp.2-4.
1:1 ϨΝ ΤЄϨΟΥЄΙΤЄ ΝЄϤϢΟΟΠ
ΝϬΙΠϢΑϪЄ, ΑΥѠ ΠϢΑϪЄ
ΝЄϤϢΟΟΠ ΝΝΑϨΡΜ ΠΝΟΥΤЄ. ΑΥѠ
ΝЄΥΝΟΥΤЄ ΠЄ ΠϢΑϪЄ
In the beginning existed the
Word, and the Word existed with God, and the Word was a God.
NOW LET US DO A SIMPLE
EXERCISE
Here
below is copy pasted the John 1:1 from the Greek Language. The English words of
John 1:1 is translated from these Greek words:
᾿Εν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος,
καὶ ὁ λόγος
ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν,
καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ
1.
Open your Google Search Engine.
2.
Type Greek to English Language Translation
3.
In the Greek Box, carefully copy paste the
above 16 Original Greek words of John 1:1
4.
Remember there has to be SPACE between each of
the above 16 words.
5. See for yourself, WITH WIDE OPEN EYES, what
Google Translator which is a POWERFUL TRANSLATION TOOL (a machine), Not a human
who can cheat. See how it translates John 1:1 from Greek to English.
Copy pasted here, the result of Google Translation of John 1:1
from Greek to English:
Greek Text as it is at John 1:1
᾿Εν ἀρχῇ
ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ
λόγος ἦν πρὸς
τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ
Greek Transliteration in English
᾿En archí
ín o lógos, kaí o
lógos ín prós
tón theón, kaí theós ín o
Greek Translation in English
In the beginning the word, and the word to the
god, and the divine
Many accurate Bible translations that render the ending of John
1:1 are shown below:
1808: “and the word was a god.” The New
Testament in an Improved Version, Upon the Basis of Archbishop Newcome’s
New Translation: With a Corrected Text.
1864:
“and a god was the word.” The Emphatic Diaglott, interlinear
reading, by Benjamin Wilson.
1928:
“and the Word was a divine being.” La Bible du Centenaire,
L’Evangile selon Jean, by Maurice Goguel.
1935:
“and the Word was divine.” The Bible—An American Translation, by J.
M. P. Smith and E. J. Goodspeed.
1946:
“and of a divine kind was the Word.” Das Neue Testament, by Ludwig
Thimme.
1958:
“and the Word was a God.” The New Testament, by James L. Tomanek.
1975:
“and a god (or, of a divine kind) was the Word.” Das Evangelium nach
Johannes, by Siegfried Schulz.
1978:
“and godlike kind was the Logos.” Das Evangelium nach Johannes, by
Johannes Schneider.
