FIRST EXAMPLE
This page shows some of the more easily recognized examples in RED, CAPITAL LETTERS,
THAT DO NOT SPECIFY THAT THE ORIGINAL GREEK DEFINITION OF PURGING IN MARK 7:19 REFERS ONLY TO AN EXTERNAL TYPE OF PURGING OR CLEANSING INSTEAD OF AN INTERNAL, LEVITICAL KIND OF PURGING,
of the unacceptable, anti-Mosaic law prejudice most translators seem to have. In 7 of the 10 examples provided below, the RED, CAPITAL LETTERS are the almost identical words of actual, PERSONAL additions, sometimes in parentheses, deliberately inserted into the original Greek, WHICH PREVIOUSLY NEVER WERE IN THE ORIGINAL GREEK!! These additions are rephrased using synonyms providing the exact meaning of what translators inserted themselves. Except for the American Standard Version, the Bible In Basic English, the World English Bible, and God’s Word Translation, the actual additions are not the word for word quotation from other translations. Mark 7:18-21,23 provides the best, most flagrant, egregious example of where anti-Old Testament leaning translators brazenly inserted their OWN OPINIONS, WHICH STRAY UNACCEPTABLY TOO FAR FROM THE ORIGINAL, LITERAL GREEK at the end of verse 19 in MOST translations such as the American Standard Version, Revised Standard Version, God’s Word Translation, The Amplified Bible, New Living Translation, New Simplified Bible, The Message, Contemporary English Version, English Revised Version, and the Bible in Basic English. These inserted additions are not the words of Mark himself since they do not appear in the original Greek texts. Verses 18 and 19 refer only to tiny, probably mostly invisible amounts of GENERALLY HARMLESS, ORDINARY DIRT, STAINS, WEAK TOXINS, ETC. on UNWASHED hands before eating, NOT the forbidden foods. This very same discussion was recorded by another apostle in Matthew 15:1-20. Twelve more translations listed immediately below, in addition to the ten already mentioned, with the unjustifiably liberal, inserted addition at the end of verse 19 help demonstrate further how bad this bias problem really is:
Lexham English Bible, Weymouth New Testament, An Understandable Version, Twentieth Century New Testament, James Moffatt New Testament, International Standard Version, Williams New Testament, Revised King James New Testament, Goodspeed New Testament, Montgomery New Testament, Riverside New Testament, and the Worrell New Testament. The first 4 translations below are a word for word quotation from the American Standard Version, the Bible In Basic English, the World English Bible, and God’s Word Translation. Translations 7 through 10 also reveal this unacceptable prejudice (verses 18 and 21,23 in 3 through 10 of the examples below are from the New King James Version, but the red, capitalized, translator inserted words (rephrased) at the end of verse 19 are from other popular, well known translations :
1) Mark: 7:18-21,23: “And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Perceive ye not, that whatsoever from without goeth into the man, it cannot defile him; 19 because it goeth not into his heart, but into his belly, and goeth out into the draught? THIS HE SAID, MAKING ALL MEATS CLEAN. 20 And he said, That which proceedeth out of the man, that defileth the man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, evil thoughts proceed, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries …… 23 all these evil things proceed from within, and defile the man.” — American Standard Version
2) Mark 7:18-21,23: “And he said to them, Have even you so little wisdom? Do you not see that whatever goes into a man from outside is not able to make him unclean, 19 Because it goes not into the heart but into the stomach, and goes out with the waste? HE SAID THIS, MAKING ALL FOOD CLEAN. 20 And he said, That which comes out of the man, that makes the man unclean. 21 Because from inside, from the heart of men, come evil thoughts and unclean pleasures, 23 All these evil things come from inside, and make the man unclean.” -Bible In Basic English
3) Mark 7:18-21,23: “He said to them, ‘Are you also without understanding? Don’t you perceive that whatever Do you not perceive that whatever goes into a man from outside can’t defile him, 19 because it doesn’t go into his heart, but into his stomach, then into the latrine, MAKING ALL FOODS CLEAN? 20 He said, “That which proceeds out of the man, that defiles the man. 21 For from within, out of the hearts of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, sexual sins, murders, thefts …… 23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.” — World English Bible
4) Mark 7:18-21,23: “Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand? Don’t you know that whatever goes into a person from the outside can’t make him unclean? 19 It doesn’t go into his thoughts but into his stomach and then into a toilet.” (BY SAYING THIS, JESUS DECLARED ALL FOODS ACCEPTABLE.) 20 He continued, “It’s what comes out of a person that makes him unclean. 21 Evil thoughts, sexual sins, stealing, murder …… 23 All these evils come from within and make a person unclean.” — God’s Word Translation
Compare the following 6 translations with frequently used versions that might include, for examples, the Revised Standard Version, The Amplified Bible, New Living Translation, New Simplified Bible, The Message, Contemporary English Version, and the English Revised Version, and then you will see how unacceptably far the inserted additions, shown in RED, CAPITALIZED, LETTERS (but rephrased using identical synonyms), stray “light years” from the original Greek.
5) Mark 7:18-21,23: “…….. Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, 19 because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods? JESUS DECLARED EVERY KIND OF MEAT IS NOW ACCEPTABLE IN GOD’S OPINION. 20 And He said, ‘What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders …… 23 All these evil things come from within and defile a man.” — Another well known translation.
6) Mark 7:18-21,23: “…….. Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, 19 because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods? IN SAYING THIS, CHRIST MEANT THAT ALL FOOD IS NOW ACCEPTABLE TO CONSUME. 20 And He said, ‘What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders …… 23 All these evil things come from within and defile a man.” — Another popular version.
7) Mark 7:18-23: 18-19: “…….. Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, 19 because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods? THAT PUT AN END TO ALL DIETARY DISPUTES. JESUS WAS SAYING THAT ALL FOODS CAN NOW BE EATEN. 20 And He said, ‘What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders …… 23 All these evil things come from within and defile a man.” — Another popular translation.
The above ultra liberal, worthless translation is my favorite one.
8) Mark 7:18-21,23: “…….. Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, 19 because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods? EVERYTHING THAT CAN BE EATEN HAS BEEN CLEANSED. 20 And He said, ‘What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders …… 23 All these evil things come from within and defile a man.” — Another popular translation.
9) Mark 7:18-21,23: “…….. Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, 19 because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods? JESUS SAID THIS MAKING ALL FOOD NOW FIT FOR CONSUMPTION. 20 And He said, ‘What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders …… 23 All these evil things come from within and defile a man.” — Another popular version.
10) Mark 7:18-21,23: “…….. Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, 19 because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods? HE SAID THIS SHOWING ALL MEATS ARE CLEAN. 20 And He said, ‘What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders …… 23 All these evil things come from within and defile a man.” — Another well known translation.
The following are 3 of the more accurate, untainted, literal translations of Mark 7:18-21,23.
1) Mark 7:18-21,23: “…….. Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, 19 because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods? 20 And He said, ‘What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders …… 23 All these evil things come from within and defile a man.” — New King James Version
2) Mark 7:18-21,23: “And He says to them, ‘So you also are without understanding! You do understand that nothing from outside entering into the person is able to defile him, do you not? 19 Because it does not enter into his heart, but into the stomach, and goes out into the latrine, purifying [or, purging] all the foods. 20 But He was saying, ‘That [which] comes out from the person, that defiles the person. 21 ‘For from within, out of the heart of people, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, sexual sins, murders …… 23 All these evils come out from within and defile the person.” — Analytical Literal Translation
3) Mark 7:18-21,23: “…… Perceive ye not (Strong’s) 3539,5719 that 3754 everything 3956 which 3588 from without 1855 enters 1531,5740 into 1519 the 3588,444 man 3756 is not able 1410,5736 him 846 to defile 2840,5658? 19 Because 3754,3756 it enters not 1531,5736 of him 846 into 1519 the 3588 heart 2588, but 235 into 1519 the 3588 belly 2836, and 2532 into 1519 the 3588 draught 856 goes out 1607,5736, purifying 2511,5723 all 3956 the 3588 food 1033. 20 And He said 3004,5707,1161, that 3754 which 3588 out 1537 of the 3588 man 444 goes 1607 forth 5740, that 1565 defiles 2840,5719 the 3588 man 444. 21 For 2081,1063 from within out 1537 of the 3588,2588 heart 3588,444 of men 3588,1261 reasonings 3588 evil 2556 go 1607 forth 5736, adulteries 3430, fornications 4202, murders 5408 23 All 3956 these 3588 evils 4190 from within 2081 go forth 1607, and 2532 defile 2840 the 3588 man 444.” — Interlinear Greek New Testament
Mark 7:18,19 CANNOT be referring to the prohibited foods for 7 ROCK SOLID REASONS:
1) Mark 7 begins, lasting through verse 5, with an introductory discussion between the kosher foods eating Pharisees and scribes, who strictly obeyed the Mosaic food laws, and Jesus. They asked Him why His disciples ate bread with “DEFILED, THAT IS, WITH UNWASHED HANDS” and did not follow the man made tradition of washing their hands in a certain way before eating food. The big, big issue here AND THE ONLY ISSUE here is eating with UNWASHED HANDS, repeat, UNWASHED HANDS, one more time, UNWASHED HANDS, not eating something forbidden. The main subject in this chapter is Jesus’ answer, which explained the harmlessness of eating with unwashed hands, not eating what can sometimes still kill you within only days and sometimes even within hours. In this chapter 7 not even the slightest reference is made to the forbidden foods or their relevant laws.
2) Mark 7:7-9,13 verifies further that the context of Mark 7 involves or includes MAN CONCOCTED TRADITIONS, not the holy, God inspired laws against eating the forbidden foods.
3) The FIRST, MAIN definition of the original Greek word katharizo, Strong’s 2511, translated “purging” or “purifying” in verse 19 PRIMARILY refers to an EXTERNAL (NOT INTERNAL) TYPE OF CLEANSING OF FOOD OR EATING UTENSILS CONTAMINATED BY OR EXPOSED TO OR SMUDGED OR SOILED BY SURFACE (SURFACE) STAINS OR DIRT WHICH IS NOT THE LEVITICAL OR MEDICAL KIND OF CLEANSING. Five other usage examples include Matthew 23:25: “Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean (katharizo) the outside of the cup,” Matthew 23:26: “Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse (katharizo) first that which is within the cup,” Luke 11:39: “Now do ye Pharisees make clean (katharizo) the outside of the cup,” Ephesians 5:26: “That he might sanctify and cleanse (katharizo) it with the washing of water by,” and James 4:8: “and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse (katharizo) your hands, ye sinners; and purify.”
4) Nothing in chapter 7 actually says or even implies that Jesus Himself has magically cleansed food in any way. According to these verses any “purifying” or “purging” is done BY THE STOMACH AND THE STOMACH ONLY (and not by Jesus), which obviously has substantial limitations in what it can “purify” or “purge.”
5) Jesus basically “spells out” in verses 20-23 that sinful thoughts such as murder, theft, and adultery are what really defile or degrade a person, not eating with unwashed hands. Thoughts are invisible, spiritual and not physical. Forbidden foods are visible, physical, and not spiritual. This is further proof that Jesus is talking about something other than forbidden foods, which are quite physical, in Mark 7.
6) If verses 18 and 19 refer to the forbidden foods, then they seriously conflict with verse 18’s statement quite plainly proclaiming that nothing physical entering his body can defile or harm a person. Just read what has happened to people who ate forbidden, ciguatera poisoned eels or forbidden, domoic acid contaminated clams, mussels, or oysters. Domoic acid is a naturally occurring, powerful, unforgiving nerve poison that cannot be destroyed by cooking or stomach acids. Some of them were so badly “defiled” by those foods that they died. Since we should be able to, of course, confidently assume that Jesus is not lying to us here, then what He is talking about really is harmless and won’t hurt us like those forbidden foods will. Therefore verse 18 cannot be referring to the still sometimes quite harmful forbidden foods. He is simply discussing a subject that is not about potentially lethal food that we are prohibited to eat.
7) Peter, a major apostle that taught exactly what Jesus taught, was born about the same time that Jesus was born. So he knew, by his declaration in Acts 10:14 that he had never eaten unclean meat, that Jesus did not annul any of the food laws by what He said in Mark 7:19. Peter’s statement in Acts 10:14, then provides additional proof that Jesus did not really annul the meat restrictions in Mark 7:19. The book of Acts was written many years after the death of both Jesus and Peter, who lived about 30 years longer than our Savior, Jesus. If Jesus had rescinded the meat laws in Mark 7:19, Peter certainly would have known about it and certainly would have announced it to the world in his teachings before he died, but that never happened.
These Mark 7 verses therefore DO NOT CLEARLY, BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT, prove that the divinely inspired, Biblically recorded, Mosaic dietary restrictions have been annulled.
Discussing further the limitations of the stomach, normal, not low or impaired stomach acidity which some people have, will often denature and neutralize various toxins, impurities, and even some poisonous snake venom (although the venom may harm you through contact with the mouth and throat as it travels to the stomach). However, even a normal stomach definitely will not always medically cleanse food in the way that the book of Leviticus describes food that is clean (for example, one of the characteristics of clean food is that it usually will not injure you through contracting trichinosis or Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning). To illustrate, human stomach acidity will dissolve the trichinosis cysts of infected, forbidden, raw or undercooked pork, but the acidity will not kill the larvae released from the cysts, which can go on to infect and sometimes seriously harm a person. Stomach acid also will not denature domoic acid, the cause of ASP sometimes found in forbidden shellfish. So the forbidden pork or shellfish certainly have not been cleansed. Debilitating trichinosis or ASP can of course defile, so all foods obviously still are not “clean,” and the overwhelming evidence shows that Mark 7:18,19 refers to a type of uncleanness or purging that is different from the kind discussed in the book of Leviticus and Deuteronomy.
Mark 7:1-5: “Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Him …… 2 Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault. 3 For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders. 4 …… they do not eat unless they wash. …… 5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, ‘Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?”— NKJV Verses 1-5 above show that the MAIN SUBJECT of Mark 7 involves an EXTERNAL, MAN CONCOCTED, RITUALISTIC TYPE OF HAND WASHING CLEANLINESS emphasized in the Jewish Oral Law. The dietary laws in the written law are not mentioned or even implied anywhere in chapter 7.
The parallel passage in Matthew 15:16-20 is additional proof that failing to ceremonially wash your hands before eating generally will not harm or “defile” you.
ANALYSIS SUMMARY: Verses 18 and 19 are easy to explain. The incorrect belief that these verses prove that the Old Testament dietary laws have been abolished is another classic case of
1) totally ignoring the over all meaning of the first two thirds of the seventh chapter of Mark,
2) totally ignoring the main definition of the original Greek word katharizo, Strong’s number 2511, translated “purifying” in verse 19, and worst of all,
3) unquestioningly accepting the DIRECT ADDITIONS of anti-Old Testament leaning translators’ personal, MISLEADING comments in translations such as those above and in MOST other English translated Bibles!
The subject of verses 18-19, according to verses 1-5 refers to the Pharisees’ man made ceremonial ritual of meticulously washing hands, not what foods are “unclean” or Biblically inedible. The first, primary definition of katharizo refers to the cleansing of physical stains, dirt, and other external contamination on food, not the neutralization of potentially fatal infections such as trichinosis cysts, domoic acid, or ciguatera toxin ingested by consuming one of the forbidden foods. Most English translations, incredibly, brazenly add the following or similar misleading anti-Old Testament comment at the end of Mark 7:19: “In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean,” a comment that IS NOT found in the generally more accurate New King James Version and certainly not in the original Greek. In verses 20-23 Jesus added that the Pharisees should put more emphasis on cleansing their thoughts which is more important than washing their hands. For additional study please visit lifehopeandtruth.com/bible/biblical-laws/clean-and-unclean-animals/mark-7. Another site to visit is ucg.org/doctrinal-beliefs/did-jesus-declare-all-meats-clean/.
If the Bible was a secular document of excellent, very fair German tax laws, for example, written in German that was to be adopted and used to replace American tax laws, and a thorough Congressional investigation discovered that the translator had deliberately sneaked in his own personal opinion in the text that was contrary to a major German tax principle, that translator might be prosecuted and jailed for conspiracy, fraud, and other crimes. Concerning the Bible, though, liberal or rogue translators are never even charged with a crime.
SECOND EXAMPLE
Here is another example of translators inserting their own unacceptable interpretation, shown in RED, CAPITAL LETTERS, which strays far from the literal definition of the original Greek word dogma in verse 15. Appearing only 4 other times in the Bible, dogma never even comes close to clearly referring to all or even most of the Mosaic laws. Four translations that might include the New Living Translation, the New International Version, God’s Word Translation, and the Contemporary English Version stray exceptionally far from the literal Greek. There are many others, too, that stray exceptionally far. Read those four translations, then compare them to the more literal translations and decide if those four translations are more harmful or more helpful in understanding the Scriptures. Verse 14 in the following four translations is taken from the more literal World English Bible. Verse 15 uses almost identical words found in popular translations such as the New Living Translation, the New International Version, God’s Word Translation, and the Contemporary English Version.
1) Ephesians 2:14,15: “For he is our peace, who made both one, and brake down the middle wall of partition, 15 Through His sacrificial death he ended the ALL THE MOSAIC LAWS that did not include the Gentiles. He wanted to make peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new person from those two groups.” — a paraphrased translation
2) Ephesians 2:14,15: “For he is our peace, who made both one, and brake down the middle wall of partition, 15 by annulling the law in His flesh THE MOSAIC LAW WITH ITS MANY RULES AND REGULATIONS. HE WANTED TO CREATE IN HIMSELF ONE GROUP OUT OF THE TWO TO MAKE PEACE.” – another paraphrased translation
3) Ephesians 2:14,15: “For he is our peace, who made both one, and brake down the middle wall of partition, 15 He brought an end to the RULES AND REGULATIONS FOUND IN THE TEACHINGS OF MOSES so that he could take Jews and gentiles to create one new humanity in himself to make peace. ” — another paraphrased translation
4) Ephesians 2:14,15: “For he is our peace, who made both one, and brake down the middle wall of partition, 15 to demolish the MOSAIC LAW WITH ALL ITS DO’S AND DON’TS. He united the Jews and Gentiles to make one person, when he brought us together in peace.” — one more paraphrased translation
According to the New King James Version and other more literal translations, the following are MORE LITERAL, MORE SPECIFIC translations:
Ephesians 2:14,15: “For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, 15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments CONTAINED IN ORDINANCES, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace.” — New King James Version
Ephesians 2:14,15: “For He is our Peace, Who makes both one, and razes the central wall of the barrier 15 (the enmity in His flesh), nullifying the law of PRECEPTS IN DECREES, that He should be creating the two, in Himself, into one new humanity, making peace;” — Concordant Literal Version
Ephesians 2:14,15: “For he is our peace, who made both one, and brake down the middle wall of partition, 15 having abolished in his flesh the enmity, [even] the law of commandments [CONTAINED] IN ORDINANCES; that he might create in himself of the twain one new man, [so] making peace.” — English Revised Version
Ephesians 2:14,15: “For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and breaking down the middle wall of partition, the enmities in his flesh: 15 Making void the law of commandments CONTAINED IN DECREES: that he might make the two in himself into one new man, making peace.” — Douay-Rheims Bible
ANALYSIS: Whatever was abolished was “contained” in or involved “ordinances” or “decrees,” which by the Greek definition of dogma overwhelmingly refers to MAN MADE judgments, opinions, edicts, rules, or instructions. The Greek for “ordinances” or “decrees” is dogma, Strong’s 1378, a somewhat rare, special word in the Bible overwhelmingly referring to judgments, rules, and decrees concocted by human beings, not divine laws specifically recorded in the Bible. The very man made, burdensome, divisive Oral Torah is most likely the set of laws that was done away with here, not the God created civil and moral laws in the Scriptures, which include many laws of the most basic decency and common sense. Since when did the written, God inspired Mosaic laws forbidding the placement of stumbling blocks in front of blind people, forbidding the removal of property landmarks, and forbidding the prosecution of a son for a crime committed by his father, create “hostility” between the Gentiles and the Jews? Despite the personal conclusion that the authors of the New Living Translation, New International Version, and other translations jumped to in their translations, these Ephesians verses do not conclusively, beyond reasonable doubt, say that the entire written Mosaic law or even most of it, which contains a substantial number of very humane, good laws given directly by the Lord, has been annulled. Logic, reasonable logic totally devoid of all peer pressure, dictates that the probability is well over 50% that what was abolished here were the man made, non-Biblical Oral Torah laws added by the Jews. The Greek nomos is used in the Bible around 200 or more times to refer to all or the bulk of written, Biblically recorded Old Testament laws, not dogma, used only 5 times, which never even clearly refers to all or even most of the written, God inspired Biblical laws. The 1 John 3:4 definition of sin specifies that sin is breaking the law (nomos), not breaking dogma.
By accepting the sacrificial death of Jesus to blot out personal sins, Jews and gentiles were put on equal footing before God. By making the forgiveness of sin available to all peoples, including the Jews and gentiles, Christ abolished all excuses to maintain hostility toward others. This is what the real message is in Ephesians 2:15. For a more detailed discussion that includes the middle wall, which helps further define what was annulled, read the page EPHESIANS 2:15: JESUS ABOLISHED ENMITY, THE LAW OF COMMANDMENTS CONTAINED IN ORDINANCES, MAKING PEACE. ONLY MAN MADE LAWS LIKE ORAL TORAH ABOLISHED, NOT ALL BIBLICAL OT LAWS. For further study of Ephesians 2:15, a good site is ucg.org/booklet/new-covenant-does-it-abolish-gods-law/peace-and-unity-christ/. Please also read the middle part of tomorrowsworld.org/magazines/2001/may-june/principles-bible-study. Another excellent site to visit is rcg.org/questions/p154.a.html.
THIRD EXAMPLE
Another example involves Colossians 2:14 in which some anti-Old Testament law leaning translators, straying from the literal, have again seized the opportunity to slant and contort the translation of the rarely used Greek word dogma their way, shown in RED, CAPITAL LETTERS below. In this verse most translators, correctly, do not “cross the line” of calling dogma “the law” or “the written Law.” Compare the very liberal James Moffatt New Testament, the New International Reader’s Version, and The Bible in Basic English translations with more literal, conservative translations to see if the more liberal ones are helpful or harmful in better understanding the Bible. In the first two translations below verse 13 is from the World English Bible.
1) Colossians 2:13,14: “You were dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh. He made you alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 He cancelled THOSE RULES THAT WERE AGAINST US AND ANNULLED THEM ALL, FASTENING THEM TO THE CROSS” — a paraphrased translation
2) Colossians 2:13,14: “You were dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh. He made you alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 He DESTROYED THE RECORDED LAW WITH ITS MANY REGULATIONS. IT WAS AGAINST AND CONTRARY TO US. HE ABOLISHED IT AND NAILED IT TO THE CROSS.” — a paraphrased translation
3) Colossians 2:13,14: “And you, being dead through your sins and the evil condition of your flesh, to you, I say, he gave life together with him, and forgiveness of all our sins; 14 Having put an end to the handwriting of THE LAW which was against us, taking it out of the way by nailing it to his cross.” — Bible in Basic English
Who do these translators think they are, actually, deliberately mistranslating dogma in verse 14, tampering with divine instructions for salvation? The obvious subject matter of verse 13 is the transgression itself and only the transgression of the holy, God inspired law, not the holy law itself. These “translators” made the “quantum leap” from sin or trespasses to divine, God created laws in verse 14, which in the original Greek refers primarily to man made opinions and judgments since dogma is used, not nomos, which refers to the Mosaic laws. The much more literal New King James Version reads as follows:
Colossians 2:13,14: “And you, being dead in your TRESPASSES and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all TRESPASSES, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.”
The Greek for “requirements” in verse 14 is dogma, Strong’s 1378, which does not usually and does not clearly refer to divine, God inspired laws such as those recorded in the Bible. Read Strong’s definition of dogma. It refers primarily to authoritative judgments and to opinions (most likely to heavenly recorded personal violations [sins] of the law as discussed in verse 13), and dogma never even comes close to referring to the entire or even most of the Mosaic law elsewhere in the Bible. These biased translators have not only flagrantly ignored reasonable doubt, but have also flagrantly ignored a very large amount of reasonable doubt by referring to the holy law itself in verse 14.
FOURTH EXAMPLE
Galatians 3:10: “For as many as are OF the works of the law are under the curse ……” (NKJV) This is the way MOST translators translate the Greek word ek, Strong’s number 1537, the first “of,” in verse 10 above, using the word OF in “of the works of the law.”
Galatians 3:10 again reveals just how unjustifiably the vast majority of Bible translators are anti-Mosaic law leaning, and rabidly so. A correct, literal translation of Galatians 3:10, translating ek as OUT OF is as follows:
Galatians 3:10: “For as many as are OUT OF works of Law, these are under a curse. For it has been written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all the things having been written in the book of the Law, to do them. Deut. 27:26.” (JP Green Literal Translation)
Not the first, not the second, and not the third literal definition of the Greek word for “of,” but the ONLY definition is a “separation, distancing, ejection, and removal” from the works of the law (law keeping). In other words, those who have ABANDONED keeping the laws of Moses are under a curse. Yet, most translators insist on translating verse 10 to say just the direct opposite!! One of the best authorities in the world on Greek word definitions is Joseph H. Thayer. On pages 189-192 of his Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, Seventh Printing, March, 2005, he defines the Greek word for “of” as ek, Strong’s number 1537, saying
“It denotes as well exit or emission out of, as separation from, something with which there has been close connection; opp. to the prepositions ….. into and ….. in: from out of, out from, forth from, from …..” Yes, believe it or not, that’s what “of” or ek really means!! The CAPITALIZED, RED words in the following five paraphrased translations of popular translations that might include The Living Bible, An Understandable Version, the Weymouth New Testament, the Jonathan Mitchell New Testament, and the Twentieth Century New Testament, for examples, reveal the unreasonably liberal, anti-Mosaic law leaning prejudice of the translator.
Galatians 3:10: “People who RELY ON THE MOSAIC LAWS to save them ARE UNDER A CURSE FROM GOD, because the Bible says, ‘Cursed is everyone who at any time breaks a single one of these laws that are written in God’s Book of the Law.’ ” (a paraphrased translation)
Galatians 3:10: “For everyone who seeks righteousness by ATTEMPTING TO OBEY ALL THE LAWS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT ARE UNDER A CURSE from the Lord, because it is written [Deut. 27:26], “Every person is cursed who does not continue to obey all of the requirements written in the law of Moses.” (a paraphrased translation)
Galatians 3:10: “Everybody who DEPENDS UPON THEMSELVES TO KEEP THE LAWS OF MOSES ARE CURSED, because it has been recorded, “CURSED IS EVERY ONE WHO DOES NOT OBEY ALL THE MOSAIC LAWS.’ ” (another paraphrased version)
Galatians 3:10: “EVERYONE WHO LIVES BY OBEDIENCE TO THE TORAH ARE ALWAYS UNDER A CURSE, for it has been written in the Scriptures that, “A curse is upon all who do not obey every law in the Torah, in order to do them.” [Deut. 27:26] (a paraphrased translation)
Galatians 3:10: “All WHO TRY TO KEEP THE LAW ARE UNDER A CURSE, since the Bible says–‘Cursed is every one who does not abide by all that is written in the Book of the Law, and do it.’ ” (a paraphrased translation)
For further study of Galatians 3:10 read the page in the table of contents GALATIANS 3:10: “FOR AS MANY AS ARE OF THE WORKS OF THE LAW ARE UNDER THE CURSE ….” THE GREEK REVEALS THAT ABANDONMENT OF LAW KEEPING INCURS THIS CURSE
Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible,
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Scripture taken from the Analytical-Literal Translation of the New Testament of the Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1999-2001 by Gary F. Zeolla of Darkness to Light ministry (www.dtl.org).