When I was baptized, I did not dedicate myself to an organization or corporation. I dedicated myself to Jehovah God and His Christ, Jesus. I follow the Bible, not the teachings of men. I also understand how certain individuals will twist the scriptures to their own liking.

Way back in 2005, I chose the user name of tsaphah, from Mic 7:7. At the time I was writing a film script, and I named one of the main characters as tsaphah, because he was a watcher/observer. Not a watchman. He was waiting on, and expecting the return of Jehovah’s promise. Read Micah 7.

I took up that position on the forum that Robert started back then. Robert removed himself from the forum to concentrate on his other work, and study. My roll has morphed into where I am now. There was a short time that I became frustrated by the introduction of robots and left the site. But, I am back! I will call them as I see them. I will also NOT get into a “dispute about words”. It is a waste of time. ( Job 15:3, 1 Tim 6:3-5 )

“And you, son of man, I have set you as a watchman to the house of Israel. And you shall hear the word from My mouth and warn them from Me.” (Eze 33:7 LITV)

“I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem. All the day and all the night they shall not always be silent; you who remember Jehovah, do not let a pause be to you. And give no pause to Him until He sets up and makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.” (Isa 62:6-7 LITV)

Those on this site know me, to the extent I reveal my thoughts. I use many Bible translations. Some are more correct to the original meanings of the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. Read the following translations and, determine if they say something different about the main subject.
The conclusion will be evident.

“But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them. In this way, they will bring sudden destruction on themselves. Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered. In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction will not be delayed.” (2 Pe 2:1-3 NLT)

“However, there also came to be false prophets among the people, as there will also be false teachers among you. These will quietly bring in destructive sects, and they will even disown the owner who bought them, bringing speedy destruction upon themselves. Furthermore, many will follow their brazen conduct, and because of them the way of the truth will be spoken of abusively. Also, they will greedily exploit you with counterfeit words. But their judgment, decided long ago, is not moving slowly, and their destruction is not sleeping.” (2 Pe 2:1-3 NWT)

As written in Micah, I will do my job! I did not choose it, Jehovah did.

 

Wow... what a comparison... Thank you.

 

Why is it important to have a correct translation of the Bible? Especially if you do not have a source of the original manuscripts. One wrong word can completely change the meaning. A famous writer stated: “The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.” (Mark Twain)

“A grandfather was walking through his yard when he heard his granddaughter repeating the alphabet in a tone of voice that sounded like a prayer. He asked her what she was doing. The little girl explained: "I'm praying, but I can't think of exactly the right words, so I'm just saying all the letters, and God will put them together for me, because He knows what I'm thinking." (Charles B. Vaughan)

That thought is cute for a young child, but we should not think that way as adults. Even though God knows our thoughts, and heart, it is our responsibility to take in, or study His word. It is also our need to ask in prayer for the right things. And, it is very important to get the correct words from His word. Here is an example; Paul is speaking to the congregation in Rome.

“But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, ‘Lord, who hath believed our report?’ So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Ro 10:16-17 KJV)

“Nevertheless, they did not all obey the good news. For Isaiah says: ‘Jehovah, who has put faith in the thing heard from us?’ So faith follows the thing heard. In turn, what is heard is through the word about Christ.” (Ro 10:16-17 NWT)

Which translation is correct? Essentially, they are both correct. The Codex Sinaiticus has rhema theos, “word of God”, who is Jesus.
The Nestlé-Aland 26 transcript has, rhema christos (word of christ). The Greek, rhema, used here is not logos. The word rhema (hray’-mah) means: “that which is or has been uttered by the living voice, thing spoken, word, subject matter of speech, thing spoken of”. And, christos = christ, not God. The subject being spoken of, in this particular scripture is in reference to the good news about Christ! It is not “by the word of God”, but “the word about Christ.” Paul used the reference from Isaiah, speaking about who the Christ was/would be. Then, the question was asked if the people would listen to the good news? It is obvious that Paul was speaking of Christ, (Ro 10:14-15)

The other word translated as “heard”, speaking again about the spoken words, is akoe (ak-o-ay’) = the sense of hearing. This is the base word for the English word acoustic. It does not refer to the written word, but the spoken word, spoken by Jesus Christ. The other important message is where faith comes from. How will they hear if there is no one to speak? (Ro 10:14-15 NWT)

 

I had the opportunity to witness to a person yesterday. The question was asked; “Will the return of Christ be evident to everyone?” My response was, “Jesus said, ‘Just as the lightning flashes across the sky from east to west, so shall the coming of the son of man be’, if you saw the evidence of a thunder-storm or tornado coming, would you seek shelter from the storm?” They got the message. Then, they wrote down the scripture information.

While studying the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, I read: “Nebuchadnezzar the king to all the peoples, the nations, and the tongues that dwell in all the earth: Your peace be multiplied.” (Dan 4:1 LITV) The question or objection, that arises, is this; How could he, Nebuchadnezzar, be king over all the peoples, nations, tongues that live on the earth? He was only king of the Mesopotamian region! He was not king over the Oriental regions, or the aboriginal peoples of what is now called the Americas, or the peoples in what is now Europe, England, Scandinavia, and Russia.

The answer to that is this: the term “all” does not necessarily mean every single person. It is used to describe all those who are in some way in contact with God’s people, the Israelites. Another example of this is: “And all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.” ( Mr 1:5 NASB ) “Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened,” (Lu 3:21 NASB )

Did “all” really mean the whole population were baptized? Here is the explanation of the Greek word “pas” which is translated as “all” in these scriptures. ‘the whole world has gone after him’ Did all the world go after Christ? ‘then went all Judea, and were baptized of him in Jordan.’ Was all Judea, or all Jerusalem, baptized in Jordan? ‘Ye are of God, little children’, and the whole world lieth in the wicked one’. Does the whole world there mean everybody? The words ‘world’ and ‘all’ are used in some seven or eight senses in Scripture, and it is very rarely the ‘all’ means all persons, taken individually. The words are generally used to signify that Christ has redeemed some of all sorts-- some Jews, some Gentiles, some rich, some poor, and has not restricted His redemption to either Jew or Gentile ...”
( Strong's Concordance with Hebrew and Greek Lexicon )

 

“The worshippers of Nimrod and his queen were looked upon as regenerated and purged from sin by baptism, which baptism received its virtue from the sufferings of these two great Babylonian divinities. But yet in regard to justification, the Chaldean doctrine was, that it was by works and merits of men themselves, that they must be justified and accepted of God.” (The Two Babylons, 1862, Third Addition, pg. 209)

It is important to understand the wording and thought process of the meanings through translation of the Greek and Hebrew languages in the Bible. I find that particular “church” ideas, and also some “scholarly” explanations are sometimes misleading. These are not always intentional. An example is in the book of Revelation 17 when translating the acts of Babylon the Great.

“I solicit the reader’s attention, is the character of Mystery which attaches alike to the modern Roman and the ancient Babylonian systems. The gigantic system of moral corruption and idolatry, described in this passage under the emblem of a woman with a “golden cup in her hand,”(Rev.17:4), making “all nations drunk with the wine of her fornication,”(Rev. 17:2) (The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop, Third Addition, Chap 1, pg. 5)

Unfortunately, the NWT has: “drunk with the wine of her sexual immorality.” (Rev. 17:2 NWT) My point here is the translation of the Greek word porneia, which in this case is a metaphor, not literal illicit sexual intercourse. As a metaphor, it is the worship of idols; of the defilement of idolatry, as incurred by eating the sacrifices offered to idols. There would be intercourse involved but, in this case it is; dealings or communication between individuals, groups, countries, etc. Or, interchange of thoughts, feelings, etc.

This is where all of the turmoil comes from. The world idea that the nations can solve their own problems through diplomacy, they don’t need God. At least, not the true God, Jehovah. They worship the “god of this system”. Paul wrote to the Romans; “just as it is written: ‘God has given them a spirit of deep sleep, eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear, down to this very day.’” (Ro 11:8 NWT)

Modern Day American Government = Ancient Rome​

“The Roman government, considered both with respect to its form, and its laws, was certainly mild and equitable. But the injustice and avarice of the pretors and proconsuls, and the ambitious lust of conquest and dominion, which was the predominant passion of the Roman people, together with the rapacious proceedings of the publicans, by whom the taxes of the empire were levied, were the occasions of perpetual tumults and unsupportable grievances. And among the many evils that arose from thence we justly reckon the formidable armies, that were necessary to support these extortions in the provinces, and the civil wars which frequently broke out between the oppressed nations and their haughty conquerors.” (Mosheim’s Church History, pg 22, 1847)

For those unfamiliar with history of Rome, a pretor(praetor) was: one of a number of elected magistrates charged chiefly with the administration of civil justice and ranking next below a consul.
And, proconsul: an official, usually a former consul, who acted as governor or military commander of a province, and who had powers similar to those of a consul. Consul = an official appointed by the government of one country to look after its commercial interests and the welfare of its citizens in another country. Sound familiar?

“A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.” (Ecc 1:4 ESV)

“What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said, ‘See, this is new’! It has been already in the ages before us.” (Ecc 1:9-10 ESV)

“I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and striving after wind.” ( Ecc 1:14 NASB )

The Hebrew term hebel, translated as vanity or vain, refers concretely to a “mist:” “vapor:” or “mere breath:” and metaphorically to something that is fleeting or elusive (with different nuances depending on the context). It appears five times in this verse and in 29 other verses in Ecclesiastes.

“Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.” - H. L. Mencken

One thing I never forget, my 9th grade social studies teacher said: “People deserve the government they choose.” I choose the Kingdom of Jehovah God.

 

There is a belief among many people that when we die, we go straight to heaven. “They’re in a better place. “They’re looking down on us now.” “They went home to be with God.” If everyone goes to heaven, why is there a reason for a “new earth”? (Rev 21:1) And, it also says; “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,” (Rev 21:3 NASB )

“The ancient Jews believed that God would renew the heavens and the earth at the end of seven thousand years. The general supposition they founded on Isaiah 65:17.” (Clarke commentary) I don't know where Clarke gets the “seven thousand years”.

Once again, if everybody goes to heaven, who will live on the “new earth”?

“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and the sea no longer is. And I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven from God, having been prepared as a bride, having been adorned for her Husband. And I heard a great voice out of Heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God with men! And He will tabernacle with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. And death shall be no longer, nor mourning, nor outcry, nor pain will be any longer; for the first things passed away. And the One sitting on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And He says to me, Write, because these words are faithful and true.” (Rev 21:1-5 LITV)

Notice; the tabernacle is “coming down out of Heaven”, to where? To the new earth! If we read the sentence again, in context, we find the true meaning of “new heavens” and, “new earth”. In verse 5 it says, “Behold, I make all things new”. It does not say, “Behold, I make all new things.” The statement, “make all things new”, speaks of restoration. The former Heavens, and former Earth, with rebel angels and rebel humans, will be cleansed of those disobedient persons. That is why it will be a new heavens and new earth.

What is meant; “the sea no longer is.”? Does it mean there will no longer be oceans, or seas? I posted information back in August 2015. The sea is figurative, not literal. http://e-jw.org/index.php?threads/the-figurative-sea-and-many-waters.1652/

 

How many here were told; “Do not be misled. Bad associations spoil useful habits.” (1 Co 15:33 NWT)
Stay away from worldly people. You should never associate with them!

What about this? “And he said to them, ‘You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean.’” ( Acts 10:28 NASB )

But, Paul clarifies his instruction; “In my letter I wrote you to stop keeping company with sexually immoral people, not meaning entirely with the sexually immoral people of this world or the greedy people or extortioners or idolaters. Otherwise, you would actually have to get out of the world. But now I am writing you to stop keeping company with anyone called a brother who is sexually immoral or a greedy person or an idolater or a reviler or a drunkard or an extortioner, not even eating with such a man. For what do I have to do with judging those outside? Do you not judge those inside, while God judges those outside? ‘Remove the wicked person from among yourselves.’” (1 Co 5:9-13 NWT)

Paul was speaking about so-called brothers within the congregation. He was not speaking about worldly people. I would say that so-called brothers are far more dangerous than worldly people because those in the congregation should know better. They supposedly have the word of God as their life style book. Many people in the world are ignorant of God's Word and don't know what is expected of them in His eyes.

“For your part, brothers, do not give up in doing good. But if anyone is not obedient to our word through this letter, keep this one marked and stop associating with him, so that he may become ashamed. And yet do not consider him an enemy, but continue admonishing him as a brother.” (2 Th 3:14 NWT)

 

I agree with you Tsaphah, Paul said that a believer could even go to a unbeliever house and have a meal with him. 1Co:10:27 Let us all seek peace and pursue it. 1 Pe:311 Regent

 

In my post about the “mark of the beast", I used references from the "Aid To Bible Understanding" (1971). Apparently the WTB&TS did not continue to publish this book. Does anyone happen to know why they stopped publishing this book? It was an excellent resource.

I can’t find any new publications that provides the research and information that this book provided. They now have “A Study Guide for God’s Word" and, "Research Guide for Jehovah's Witnesses—2017 Edition", in PDF form. Both of these are sorry sources! All they do is list articles in the WT and Awake. The Study Guide does nothing but explain why the NWT is so great with it’s translation. It does have some good maps and illustrations. It also has some good looking time tables but, they don’t say what resources they use to arrive at these dates. One map in particular shows the missions of Paul, with dates. It sure looks identical to a map from the Encyclopædia Britannica Online. The only differences are the maps geographic features. WT has dates of Paul’s missions and Britannica lists as 1st, 2nd, etc. It would be nice if they listed their resources. Without them, it leaves holes to be filled with questions.
This file only has 70 some pages, yet it lists 1739. ???

On page 2, it states:
Photo Credits:
Cover and page 1728:
Shrine of the Book,
Photo © The Israel Museum,
Jerusalem

Page 1734:
© The British Library Board
(G.12161)

Page 1738:
Left: From the book
A Pre-Massoretic Biblical
Papyrus, by Stanley A. Cook,
M. A. (1903)

Page 1739:
From The Codex Alexandrinus
in Reduced Photographic
Facsimile, 1909,
by permission of
the British Library

 

Surely because it was a Edward Dunlap and Raymond Franz' work (or they were the main contributors), both of them having been disfellowshipped.
By the way, have you read the 2015 Yearbook about Dominican Republic? Franz (Raymond) explains that since the early 50's he was periodically sent in Dominican Republic to smuggle copies of Watch Tower literature. He also met President Trujillo. In 1961, he and the wife transferred in the island for years. The Yearbook does not make a single mention of that man, as if it had never existed! What a shame!

 

What a shame! Sometimes I have to shake my head about situations like that. After all, the WTB&TS owns the copyright, (see attachment) not individuals. I also don’t know who wrote what. That presents a problem with fact checking. They don’t give credit to the authors of the information. This begs the problem of where this information comes from.Of course we do know that the authors are influenced by their association with the publishers. There are places where they do give references to some information quoted. That is required under the fair use ruling of the Copyright Law.

 

That may have been an error. If I did post another message, it's gone because I delete much of my messages from my hard drive.

 

Here another comment that I posted yesterday. It disappeared into the ether of the Internet. Maybe this one will overcome the evil powers.

I happened to be listening to a preacher/minister teaching a point from 1 Peter today. It had to do with “What are you doing to benefit from God’s word.” Peter mentions the familiar term that many “born again Christians” use. They ask if you are “born again”. That particular term actually means born anew. The Greek word is anagennao (an-ag-en-nah'-o) from ana = into the midst, in the midst, among, between, and gennao (ghen-nah'-o) meaning to be born, or generated. In the Jewish sense, of one who brings others over to his way of life, to convert someone, or of God making men and women his sons and daughters through faith in Christ's work. As a metaphor it has the meaning to have one’s mind changed so that he lives a new life and one conformed to the will of God.

“. . .for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.” ( 1 Peter 1:23 NASB ) What caught my attention and raised a question in my mind was; “the living and enduring word of God.” Was this intended to have a double meaning? (John 1:1)

The answer may be No! The following verses are a quotation of Isaiah 40:6-8, which is speaking of Jehovah’s word being honest and faithful, not about Jesus being “The Word”. Peter continues “And this word is the good news that was preached to you.” ( 1 Peter 1:25 ESV ) So, what is this word of the good news? This word is likened to food, in this case, milk. That is what “new born” infants eat to stay alive.

“So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.” 1 Peter 2:1-3 ESV)

Exactly what is “this word” of “the good news”? Tell me, in one short sentence.

 

Hi. Tsaphah, you made me find some thing in my "French N.W.T." 1Pe:2:2 It is Translated: that by "him" you may grow to salvation. In the "English N.W.T. it is Translated: that by "it" you may grow to salvation. To answer your question: In French, this "Word" of the good news, would be "Christ". In English it would refer to the "Word of Christ his message" Confusion of language = Babylon. I am making a Joke. The end game here is if somone does not have "Christ" you do not have nothing. Php:3:8 Agape, Love to you and all. Regent

 

Hi Regent,
Everyone here should appreciate the information you have given us. Translation into other languages is important, because one word can easily change the meaning.* Sometimes it/him can be a subtle change, but very effective in it’s change of the message. That is why it is so important for all, in their study of God’s word, in both senses. In this particular verse, “him”, would be inappropriate because “pure spiritual milk” is “it”, the subject as food for “newborn infants”.

I am using this method of feeding a new person who is unfamiliar with the bible. Trying to have them understand the “meatier” information could not be easily digested. I love how Peter used this metaphor for teaching. Being just “born anew” is an infant.

* see Video & Audio Posts: Hermeneutics (a necessity)

As an example, this English word, lead, has two completely different meanings depending on sentence and subject.

Lead: verb (used with object) pronounced leed.
1. to go before or with to show the way; conduct or escort:
to lead a group on a cross-country hike.
2. to conduct by holding and guiding:
to lead a horse by a rope. "
3. to influence or induce; cause:
Subsequent events led him to reconsider his position. (past tense)

Lead: (noun)
1. Chemistry. a heavy, comparatively soft, malleable, bluish-gray metal, sometimes found in its natural state but usually combined as a sulfide, especially in galena.
2. something made of this metal or of one of its alloys.
3. a plummet or mass of lead suspended by a line, as for taking soundings.
4. bullets collectively; shot.
5. black lead or graphite.
6. a small stick of graphite, as used in pencils.

There is an idiom used for a person acting to slowly. “Get the lead out!” = (slang) Move or work faster; hurry up. Suppose, in another situation a person is instructed to “Get the lead out”, meaning to bring out the person who will “lead the way”.

These are the problems for a translator. They must understand how the original words and subject matter and, idea those words carried, in that time and cultural background. One of the problems with this word is how and when it is pronounced. As shown in number 3 “led” is past tense. The chemistry word is pronounced “led” at all times. http://www.dictionary.com/browse/lead?s=t

 

The following is a portion of an article written in today’s Wall Street Journal. Although it speaks from a point of view of the “Jewish” Israelite belief. It addresses issues that concern Christians as well. Many Christians believe that repentance; “born again”, “once saved always saved”, takes care of our sins against God.

Mr. Sacks raises some good points about the relationship between Us and God. Of course for most Christian believers there is the relationship with Christ. After all, for them, He is God. But no matter which way we believe, it is truly about our being written in that “Book of Life”, isn’t it? We need to address these questions daily, not yearly.

The Challenge of Jewish Repentance
In the High Holy Days, a drama about choice and sin
(by Jonathan Sacks, 9-16, 2017, Review WSJ)​

“Judaism is a supremely activist faith for which the greatest religious challenge is to heal some of the wounds of our deeply fractured world. As Frankl put it: The real question is not what do we want from life but what does life want from us.
That is the question we are asked on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. As we ask God to write us in the Book of Life, he asks us, what have you done with your life thus far? Have you thought about others or only about yourself? Have you brought healing to a place of human pain or hope where you found despair? You may have been a success, but have you also been a blessing? Have you written other people in the Book of Life?
To ask these questions once a year in the company of others publicly willing to confess their faults, lifted by the words and music of ancient prayers, knowing that God forgives every failure we acknowledge as a failure, and that He has faith in us even when we lose faith in ourselves, can be a life-changing experience. That is when we discover that, even in a secular age, God is still there, open to us whenever we are willing to open ourselves to Him.”

 

“And He said, “See to it that you are not misled; for many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not go after them.” ( Lu 21:8 NASB )

“And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.” ( Lu 21:8 KJV )

I don’t know if any here are aware of the misguided message of: “Is the end of the world on September 23 and what is David Meade's theory about the Great American solar eclipse and Planet X?”
https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/44746...d-meade-great-american-solar-eclipse-planet-x

As Trump said at the UN. “We’ll see.”

 

Hi Joshuastone,
It's not only ridiculous, it's ludicrous! But unfortunately there are those who believe it. So, "drink the . . . ."