Tag: King James

Spiritual Deception in the Highest 2.2.3

What are the final problems with the Living Bible? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

We’re in the New Testament now in the Living Bible and today, we will wrap things up and then move on to the Amplified. As always, the original source is here. Let’s commence.

John 2:4

KJV: “WOMAN, WHAT HAVE I TO DO WITH THEE? MINE HOUR IS NOT YET COME.”

LB: “I can’t help you now, He said, It isn’t yet my time for miracles.”

COMMENT: His hour would come at Calvary. His HOUR and His MIRACLES are not the same.

The problem here is that both sides are doing the same thing. Johnson is arguing the hour is Calvary. The Living Bible is saying it’s the time for miracles. Both are doing interpretation more than translation. There is a rule that every translation is also an interpretation. Which one is correct? I’m not going to take a side, but leave it to you to decide. Either way, it’s a flimsy argument to say “This is a bad translation because it disagrees with my interpretation.”

John 3:13

KJV: “AND NO MAN HATH ASCENDED UP TO HEAVEN, BUT HE THAT CAME DOWN FROM HEAVEN, EVEN THE SON OF MAN WHICH IS IN HEAVEN.”

LB: “For only I, the Messiah, have come to earth and will return to heaven again.”

Comment: Not true, LB! Remember the angels on Jacob’s ladder?

Even if we went with the KJV, there are a number of atheists who would say that Elijah ascended to Heaven. A correct understanding has to answer both of them. When done, both translations will work.

John 6:69

KJV: “AND WE BELIEVE AND ARE SURE THAT THOU ART THAT CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD.”

LB: “And we believe them and know you are the holy Son of God.”

COMMENT: The word Christ means “anointed”. Why does the LB strip him of his anointing?

There are plenty of verses that speak of Jesus as the Christ. What Johnson is doing is taking one spot where this is changed. That’s hardly the way to go about a conspiracy to eliminate the Messiahship of Jesus from the text.

John 13:26

KJV: “JESUS ANSWERED, HE IT IS, TO WHOM I SHALL GIVE A SOP, WHEN I HAVE DIPPED IT.”

LB: “He told me it is the one I honor by giving the bread dipped in th sauce.”

COMMENT: Was Jesus Christ really HONORING Judas?

Actually, yes. He was. Jesus dipped the bread and gave it to Judas. Judas was actually in a place of honor. Had he not been the one to betray Jesus, we could be hearing more about how Judas was put in a position of trust. This is part of the grace of Jesus. Even His enemies were treated with love.

Acts 9:5

KJV: “AND HE SAID, WHO ART THOU, LORD? AND THE LORD SAID, I AM JESUS WHOM THOU PERSECUTEST: IT IS HARD FOR THEE TO KICK AGAINST THE PRICKS.”

LB: “Who is speaking sir, Paul asked. And the voice replied, I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting. Now get up and go into the city and await my further instructions.”

COMMENT: Jesus title “LORD” is changed to `SIR‘. And Saul’s name is changed to Paul.

See above at John 6:69 for the first part. Also, the Living Bible is a paraphrase trying to keep matters simple so the name of Paul being used isn’t a major deal then.

I Cor. 16:22

KJV: “IF ANY MAN LOVE NOT THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, LET HIM BE ANATHEMA MARANATHA.”

LB: “If anyone does not love the Lord, that person is cursed, Lord Jesus, come.”

COMMENT: Once again; Jesus Christ is separated from title ‘Lord’

Once again, in the end, Jesus is still referred to as the Lord. This simply boils down to “The LB disagrees with the KJV.”

II Cor. 8:9

KJV: “FOR YE KNOW THE GRACE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.”

LB: “You know how full of love and kindness our Lord Jesus was.”

COMMENT: Lord Jesus Christ is stripped down to: Lord Jesus.

More of the same….

I Tim. 2:5-6

KJV: “FOR THERE IS ONE GOD, AND ONE MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MEN THE MAN CHRIST JESUS, WHO GAVE HIMSELF A RANSOM FOR ALL, TO BE TESTIFIED IN DUE TIME.”

LB: “That God is on one side and all the people on the other side, and Christ Jesus Himself, man, is between them to bring them together by giving His life for all mankind.”

I am not sure what Johnson is upset about. He doesn’t say.

I Tim. 3:16

KJV: “AND WITHOUT CONTROVERSY GREAT IS THE MYSTERY OF GODLINESS: GOD WAS MANIFEST IN THE FLESH.”

LB: “It is quite true that the matter to live a godly life is not an easy matter, but the answer lies in Christ who came to earth as a man.”

COMMENT: Remember the test for the anti-christ. The anti-christ cannot say: “JESUS CHRIST IS COME IN THE FLESH“. Notice how the LB dances around this verse! Apparently the LB cannot say “GOD WAS MANIFEST IN THE FLESH!

Or it’s just a paraphrase….

I John 1:7

KJV: “AND THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST HIS SON CLEANSETH US FROM ALL SIN.”

LB: “The blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from every sin.”

COMMENT: Jesus Christ is stripped down to Jesus.

It gets so tiring to see the same thing again and again.

Revelation 6:17

Rev. 6:17

KJV: “FOR THE GREAT DAY OF HIS WRATH IS COME …”

LB: “Because the great day of THEIR anger is come and who can survive it?”

Comment: What do “HIS” wrath and “THEIR” anger have in common?

Well, let’s see. The KJV sees the one on the throne and the lamb likely as one and the same. The Living Bible translators think it means the Father and the Son. Both are pointing to the same source essentially.

Next time, we will look at the comparison to the Amplified Bible.

In Christ,
Nick Peters
(And I affirm the virgin birth)

 

 

 

 

Spiritual Deception in the Highest 2.2.2

Does the Living Bible hold up? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

So we’re now returning again to this. I started this series and even though it’s painful to see such bad argumentation as is common from KJV-Onlyists, I intend to see it through to the end. As always, the source material is here.

Job 3:26

KJV: “I WAS NOT IN SAFETY. NEITHER HAD I REST, NEITHER WAS I QUIET: YET TROUBLE CAME.”

LB: “I was not fat and lazy yet trouble struck me down.”

In this case, I again prefer the KJV. I don’t see any basis for fat in the text. All the words seem to refer to having rest. Lazy is understandable since if Job is saying he didn’t have rest, it would mean he was busy.

Psalm 34:20

KJV: “HE KEEPETH ALL HIS BONES: NOT ONE OF THEM IS BROKEN.”

LB: “God even protects him from accidents.”

COMMENT: There are NO ACCIDENTS with God!

This is an example of how translation is a form of interpretation. This would depend on what you mean by accident. For instance, in the Aristotlean sense, God has no accidents, but other things do have accidents. Is this necessitating that God is in direct control of everything that happens? A hyper-Calvinist would have no problem with that, but what does this mean if one doesn’t hold that theology?

Johnson’s comment raises more questions than it would supposedly answer.

Ezekiel 2:1

KJV: “AND HE SAID UNTO ME, SON OF MAN, STAND UPON THY FEET, AND I WILL SPEAK UNTO THEE.”

LB: “And he said unto me, Stand up, son of dust and I will talk to you.”

COMMENT: In the book of Ezekiel `son of dust’ is used in place of `son of man’. Does the term ‘son of dust’ sound as derogatory to you like as it does to me?

I can see the reason for the Living Bible using this seeing as man comes from the dust. This is true even in the KJV. However, the reason given for the translation being wrong is just dumb. We shouldn’t go with an interpretation because Johnson finds it derogatory? Personally, I find it derogatory to be told I’m a sinner, but sadly, it’s true.

Zech. 2:8

KJV: “HE THAT TOUCHETH YOU TOUCHETH THE APPLE OF HIS EYE.”

LB: “For he who harms you sticks his finger in Jehovah’s eye.”

The Living Bible is getting at what the text is saying here. Touching refers to harming and saying anyone who harms you harms the one that YHWH loves. It’s not the way I would phrase it, but it does work.

Zech. 13:6

KJV: “AND ONE SHALL SAY UNTO HIM, WHAT ARE THESE WOUNDS IN THINE HANDS? THEN HE SHALL ANSWER, THOSE WITH WHICH I WAS WOUNDED IN THE HOUSE OF MY FRIENDS.”

LB: “And if someone asks then, what are these scars on your chest and your back, you will say, I got into a brawl at the home of a friend.”

COMMENT: The footnote about this verse says: “That this is not a passage referring to Christ is clear from the context. This is a false prophet who is lying about the reasons for his scars.” We wonder how the editor of the LB (Taylor) came to know this.

Yes, boys and girls. If someone else has an interpretation that differs, you are to question how they got to it. If Johnson has an interpretation of a text, shut up and get in line! A man of God has spoken! Taylor likely just studied the text and looked at the context and determined what was going on. He could be right, or he could be wrong, but just saying “I don’t know how he concludes this!” is not an argument.

KJV: “AND HE SAID UNTO THEM, THIS KIND CAN COME FORTH BY NOTHING, BUT BY PRAYER AND FASTING.”

LB: “Jesus replied, Cases like this require prayer.”

COMMENT: Notice: fasting is left out! Wonder why Satan does not want us to fast?

I wrote about this kind of thinking in a blog post once. These people have a mindset that treats the devil as if he was the counter opposite to God with just as much power to alter reality, as if the devil alters texts regularly. These translations are just going by what the oldest and best manuscripts have and don’t think fasting was originally included. Johnson needs an argument to why the text he prefers is better instead of just saying “SATAN!”

Luke 23:42

KJV: “AND HE SAID UNTO JESUS, LORD, REMEMBER ME WHEN THOU COMEST INTO THY KINGDOM.”

LB: “Then he said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

COMMENT: What justification is there to strip Jesus of his title “Lord”?

Probably based on the text used. Either way, the LIving Bible calls Jesus Lord in several other places and the thief does refer to Jesus as someone having a kingdom.

John 1:17

KJV: “FOR THE LAW WAS GIVEN BY MOSES, BUT GRACE AND TRUTH CAME BY JESUS CHRIST.”

LB: “For Moses gave us only the law with its rigid demands and merciless justice while Jesus Christ brought us loving forgiveness as well.”

COMMENT: The Old Testament contained God’s mercy and grace, too.

Because obviously one verse was supposed to give an entire interpretation of everything in the Old Testament….

Hopefully, next time we come, we can finish off the look at the Living Bible. After that it will be the Amplified.

In Christ,
Nick Peters
(And I affirm the virgin birth)

Spiritual Deception in the Highest 2.2-1

How does the Living Bible measure up? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

As we go through Jeff Johnson’s *cough* work *cough* we need to get something clear about translation. All translations to some extent are interpretations. If this blog was translated into another language, the person would have to think of the right language to use to translate it and that will likely entail certain meanings.

Some translations go with a word for word where you try to find the word in the corresponding language that matches the word in the manuscript. This can be hard as sometimes words really don’t have an equivalent in another language. (The Greeks have four words for love and we use one for all of them.) Some words are hapax legomena meaning they show up one time in the text and sometimes these words are extremely hard to find anywhere else if they can be found at all.

Some translations go with more of what is called a dynamic equivalence and the idea is to get the meaning out even if it isn’t word-for-word. Paraphrases are extremely like this. Paraphrases are meant more for devotional reading of a text. They are not meant for serious academic study.

But I suspect none of this matters to Johnson. He might not even know about it. At any rate, here’s the source material again.

Lev. 3:13b

KJV: “AND THE SONS OF AARON SHALL SPRINKLE THE BLOOD THEREOF UPON THE ALTAR ROUND ABOUT.”

LB: “The priest shall throw its blood against the sides of the altar.”

One can say the paraphrase doesn’t get to the main emphasis of how this was done, but that is not the point of a paraphrase. I don’t think throw is the best term, but again, the Living Bible is not meant for academic study.

Numbers 25:11

KJV: “PHINEHAS … HATH TURNED MY WRATH AWAY FROM THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL.”

LB: “Phinehas has turned away my anger for he was as angry as I.”

COMMENT: How can someone be as angry as God?

Brace yourself, Mr. Johnson. In the time that this was written, the translators, (rightly or wrongly) would have believed in impassibility which means they would not believe God could literally be angry. However, even if I did not hold to that position, I would still be able to recognize hyperbolic language, which is common to Jews.

Judges 7:20b

KJV: “AND THEY CRIED, THE SWORD OF THE LORD AND OF GIDEON.”

LB: “All yelling for the Lord and for Gideon.”

Comment: The two verses are not even close!

But if you look at what’s going on in the context, then they are close.

Judges 19:2

KJV: “AND HIS CONCUBINE PLAYED THE WHORE AGAINST HIM.”

LB: “But she became angry with him and ran away.”

Comment: Are PLAYING THE WHORE and running away the same?

In this case, I do think that the KJV has it better. That’s called being fair in translation and interpretation.

I Sam. 20:30

KJV: “THOU SON OF A PERVERSE REBELLIOUS WOMAN.”

LB: “You son of a bitch.”

Comment: Some ‘modern’ versions, like the LB, actually contain vulgarity. Notice this verse. Also, take a look in an NIV ‘bible’ in Ezekiel 23:20.

So let’s put up what Ezekiel 23:20 says in the NIV.

There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses.

Profanity is honestly more of a social sin than anything else. Nowhere in Scripture is something said like “You shall not say these words.” I don’t say them, but I don’t fault Christians who sometimes do. If you look at these verses and your biggest problem is they use words that you don’t like in some translations, you have a bigger problem.

II Sam. 16:4b

KJV: “AND ZIBA SAID, I HUMBLY BESEECH THEE THAT I MAY FIND GRACE IN THY SIGHT, MY LORD, O KING.”

LB: “Thank you, thank you, sir, Ziba replied.”

Comment: There is NO similarity between these two verses.

Unless you, I don’t know, actually read the story.

I Kings 18:27

KJV: “CRY ALOUD: FOR HE IS A GOD: EITHER HE IS TALKING, OR HE IS PURSUING.”

LB: “Perhaps he is talking to someone or else is out sitting on the toilet.”

Comment: Sitting on a toilet ???

This is the only time the word translated “pursuing” is used in Scripture, but again, what’s the big deal? Oh my gosh! He said a pagan god could be sitting on a toilet and thus not answering! I suppose Elijah should realize he can mock Baal all he wants as long as he doesn’t say words that might be deemed offensive.

II Kings 21:6b

KJV: “HE WROUGHT MUCH WICKEDNESS IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD, TO PROVOKE HIM TO ANGER.”

LB: “So the Lord was very angry, for Manasseh was an evil man in God’s opinion.”

COMMENT: In God’s opinion?

This is another case where I do think the KJV is better.

II Chr. 26:4

KJV: “AND HE DID THAT WHICH WAS RIGHT IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD ACCORDING TO ALL THAT HIS FATHER AMAZIAH DID.”

LB: “He followed in the footsteps of his father Amaziah and was in general a good king as far as the Lord’s opinion of him was concerned.”

COMMENT: Again, God does NOT have opinions. Men have opinions.

And again, the same.

Okay. No need to overwhelm the reader. We will continue another time.

In Christ,
Nick Peters
(And I affirm the virgin birth)

Spiritual Deception in the Highest 2-5

Ready to wrap up comparisons with the NKJV? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

Yeah. You all know the drill by now. We’re still dealing with KJV-onlyism and the link to the source material can be found here.

KJV: “DUNG”

NKJV: “rubbish”

COMMENT: I have rubbish on the top of my office desk, but I don’t want ‘dung’ there!!!

First off, clean off your office desk, dude.

Second, I do think the KJV is closer in this in the word is skubalon and it could best be translated as an expletive. However, I don’t think it’s fair to say the NKJV gives a bad idea here of what Paul is saying and the argument of “I want one on my office desk and not the other” is hardly a persuader.

1 Tim 6:10

KJV: “For the love of money is THE root of all evil …”

NKJV: “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil …”

COMMENT: There is a big difference between the NKJV’s “a” root and the correct KJV reading of “THE” root.

Yes. There is. For one thing, the KJV is wrong. Let’s ask a few simple questions. Did the devil rebel against God for the money? Did Cain kill his brother for money? There are plenty of evils that are done for money. The NKJV has this one right. (Also, there is no article before root in the Greek so that’s another reason to not say “the”.)

1 Tim 6:20

KJV: “… oppositions of science falsely so called”

NKJV: “… contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge”

I have no idea what the issue is with this one and Johnson doesn’t say.

2 Tim 2:15

KJV: “STUDY to shew thyself approved unto God …”

NKJV: “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God…”

COMMENT: We are supposed to STUDY the Word of God.

Note that the passage doesn’t even say study the Word of God. It just says study. Johnson is adding that part in. However, the word there is best translated as be diligent and that works better everywhere else it is used in the NT. There is only one place where the KJV translates this as study. Here it does it differently.

Jude 15

KJV: “… and of all their hard SPEECHES which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”

NKJV: “… and of all the harsh things which …”

COMMENT: There is a difference between speeches and things.

Go look this one up on BlueLetterBible.com and you will see that it has speeches in brackets. Why? The word isn’t there in the original. The term harsh is which tells me it’s likely an adjective that plays the role of a noun too. (The good, the bad, and the ugly.) Johnson could have, you know, looked this up, but I guess he didn’t want to. After all, he had the inspired KJV.

And yes, speeches and things are different. You can say many unkind and harsh things to someone that are not speeches.

Next the KJV will be compared to the Living Bible.

In Christ,
Nick Peters
(And I affirm the virgin birth)

Spiritual Deception in the Highest 2-2

Does God know good and evil? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

The more and more I go through this online book, the more I really don’t understand how someone can hold to this position. Then again, there are internet atheists who hold that Jesus never existed. Anyway, again, the source material is here.

So let’s begin.

Gen. 3:4-5

KJV: “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye at thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods knowing good and evil.”

NKJV: “Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God knowing good and evil.”

COMMENT: This is major blasphemy! God (with a big G) is not

evil! Think about the difference.

So apparently, saying that you know good and evil is the same as saying you are evil. Not sure how that follows. One could say it depends on the usage of the word “know” which can mean something like that, but let’s also remember that this is the devil and geez, would it be so awful if in the account the devil told something that wasn’t true?

Besides, look at the KJV interpretation. Is this upholding polytheism?

Gen. 22:8

KJV: “And Abraham said, My son, God will provide HIMSELF a lamb for a burnt offering …”

NKJV: “And Abraham said, My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.

Comment: It is true, as the NKJV says, that God did provide FOR himself a sacrifice. However, that is only part of the story. The NKJV totally misses the deeper, and more amazing truth: GOD WAS the sacrifice! The KJV wording is perfect: “God will provide HIMSELF” (in the form of his son Jesus Christ) as the sacrifice.

Of rather the NKJV is being accurate in its translation. Also, saying God will provide himself a lamb doesn’t mean that God will be the lamb. That’s an added step of interpretation. I can talk to my folks in the evening and say I can provide a meal for myself. It doesn’t mean I’m a cannibal who is going to eat myself.

1 Ki.10:28

KJV: “and LINEN yarn: the king’s merchants received the LINEN yarn at a price.”

NKJV: “and Keveh; the king’s merchants bought them in Keveh at the current price.”

Comment: I know what linen is, but what is Keveh?

“One of these requires that I look at the text and study it! One of them just tells me something that I already know something about! That last one must be true then!”

It’s really embarrassing that this kind of thing is counted as an argument.

Looking up the verse, it seems quite difficult to translate as I don’t see anything that reads linen. There is a place called Keveh however and so the text is saying that Solomon was buying from this place.

Dan. 3:25

KJV: “… and the form of the fourth is like THE SON OF GOD.”

NKJV: (footnote) “or a son of the gods”

COMMENT: See comments in chapter 1 of this report. There is

a big difference between “THE SON OF GOD” and a son of ‘plural’ gods!

This was covered in an earlier post.

By the way, when the devil spoke, it was okay that he said gods, but not okay to say God. Here, it’s the opposite.

Zech 11:17

KJV: “Woe to the IDOL shepherd that leaveth the flock!

NKJV: “Woe to the worthless shepherd, who leaves the flock”

The word is best translated as worthless, though sometimes it does mean idol. However, idol in this context makes no sense. Now if you meant “idle”, that could make sense. The NKJV has this right. It’s a worthless shepherd. There is no commentary here so how is this an argument? It’s just saying the NKJV is wrong since it’s different, when it makes more sense. What is an idol shepherd after all?

Matt. 2:4

KJV: “… he (King Herod) DEMANDED of them where Christ should be born.”

NKJV: “… he inquired of them where Christ was to be born.”

COMMENT: King Herod, furious over the arrival of Jesus, (and

wanting to do away with Him) did not inquire where Christ should be born, he DEMANDED to know!

So the argument that Herod demanded to know is that….he demanded to know. KJV-onlyists are quite good at circular reasoning.

The word more often is best translated as inquire. There are times that it could mean demand, but without further historical evidence, there’s no way to tell what King Herod did. It would fit his character if he did demand, but he could also be wanting to know without giving away the game so he could fool the wise men.

So as I said, this section is a disaster just like the first. We’ll continue next week, Lord willing.

In Christ,
Nick Peters
(And I affirm the virgin birth)

Response To Spiritual Deception in the Highest question 1

Is the KJV the only Bible? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

I recently was shown some work from a guy named Robert Breaker who is a KJV-onlyist. He recommended a book that can be found on his web site called “Spiritual Deception in the Highest.” After all, the obvious work of spiritual deception is to get people away from the KJV. (We all know eschatologically the biggest disaster to the devil came in 1611 when for the first time there was actually a Bible.) So if you want to see this work, then you can see it here.

I realize there aren’t as many KJV-onlyists today as there used to be most likely, but they are still out there and either way, this is dealing with issues that many people will still struggle with. I do definitely plan to get back to Life Is A Game, but I figured I could use my skills here to deal with this. Thus, time to look at this work and see the charges that are made.

Bible Question #1: Who was it that saved Shadrach, Messach, and Abednego from the fiery furnace?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Turn to Daniel 3:25. In this verse, Shadrach, Messach and Abednego have been thrown into the fiery furnace. However, they are NOT alone! Another one (a fourth) is there to deliver them !

Let’s start off by looking at this verse in a ‘modern version’. (Notice: the wording in each ‘modern version’ will differ slightly from all the others. But, those small differences, will not materially affect this report).

Suffice it to say that, at the end of Daniel 3:25, a ‘modern’ version has a reading “similar to” the following:

“… and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods …”

“a” son of the ( plural ) gods?! Who is that? What is His name ? Notice how that reading is very vague and “non-descript”.

But, look at this same verse in your King James Bible. The Authorized (KJ) Bible says:

“… and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God“. i.e. Jesus Christ.

It was JESUS CHRIST, THE only begotten Son of God, who delivered Shadrach, Messach and Abednego. Jesus saved them from the fiery furnace; and it’s Jesus who will save you and me from the fiery furnace (i.e. from hell, from the lake of fire ).

The Bible is clear: There is ONLY ONE SAVIOUR: The LORD Jesus Christ, THE Son (capital S) of God (big G). Jesus is the ONLY one who saves from the fiery furnace, NOT “a” son of the (plural) gods (little g). Jesus saved in the past, He does it today, and He will save in the future ! Amen ?

So let’s put this in some context.

The Hebrew word listed here is Ela and is 424 in Strong’s. Now going to BlueLetterBible, let’s see where else this shows up in Daniel.

2:11 And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.

2:18 That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

2:19 Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.

2:20 Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his:

2:23 I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king’s matter.

2:28 But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;

2:45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.

2:47 The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.

3:14

Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?

 

3:15 Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?

3:26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire.

3:28 Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.

3:29 Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort.

I have only covered chapters 2 and 3 here as these terms also show up in 5 and 6 and then stop, though surely it is not because God is not mentioned. It’s interesting that this term only shows up when it is interacting in a pagan environment. Both the Hebrews like Daniel and his friends and the pagans like Nebuchadnezzar use this term. When the Jews use it, it more refers to their God in the singular and when the pagans use it, it refers to the gods in the plural. Sometimes King Nebuchadnezzar will use it to refer to the God of Israel, but only when directly speaking to a Jewish person.

So what is more likely here?

When Nebuchadnezzar is speaking to his fellow pagans, he is not likely to say the Son of God. He is more likely to say a son of the gods, which is the way a pagan would understand matters. Now does this diminish Jesus? Not at all. Assuming that Jesus is the fourth man in the fire, which I have no problem with, this is still painting Jesus as a divine being and a Jewish reader would think that the divine being was a son of God in some sense.

It might be easy for Johnson, the author of the work in question, to paint to a conspiracy, but it’s far more level-headed to just look at the text. The pattern is consistent and rather than seek to impugn someone else, it’s better to just understand why they translate the text a certain way. It might not be as easy, but it is more fitting in Christian character.

In Christ,
Nick Peters
(And I affirm the virgin birth)