Is The Bible Translated and Interpreted Correctly?

For an introduction

There are dozens of different Bible translations. Where does the Bible translation begin? Now, I am thinking mainly of the problematics of the translation of the New Testament.
The New Testament was written in Greek. First, we need to find the correct Greek original. This can be determined in different ways. It has generally been argued that the oldest text would be the best and would not have reproduction problems, duplication errors or direct additions or even forgeries.

However, there is one way of ensuring the true origin of the Scriptures. That’s what I’ve brought up on these pages. In the Bible – both Old and New Testament – there is a Divine Numeric Code. If this code remains unbroken from the beginning to the end, we can count on the text as a whole being the original inspiration (inspired) of God for mankind. So if you understand and accept this reliable Bible text, you can go to the next question and condition.

Very few people are able to read the text written in Koine Greek. In addition to that, all the words are written without punctuation and without distinguishing names in capital letters. This leads to questions of interpretation and also disagreements. Where should I put the comma? Is it a question of God or of god?

Ivan Panin, who delivered the New Testament in the Greek language, also translated it into the English language as a skillful linguist. He used the American Standard, which he qualified as the basis for his work. This Appendix now includes this New Testament provided by Ivan Panin. Let me remind you again that this English translation does not include the numeric code; it is merely a translation of the Greek UT, which completely fulfilled the requirements of the numerics. Indeed, Panin sought for the most accurate translation in his English translation. The language used in his translation is old when compared with the current English language.

Panin removed some of the Bible verses from the NENT translation

Deleted Bible verses:

Mat 17:21 But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.
Mat 18:11 For the Son of man has come to save that which was lost.
Mat 23:14 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour the houses of widows, and pray at length as a pretext. Because of this, you will receive more abundant judgment.
Mar 7:16 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.
Mar 11:26 But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in Heaven forgive your sins.
Mar 15:28 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And He was numbered with the lawless.” Isa 53:12
Luk 17:36 There shall be two men in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. (See Mat 24:40)
Luk 22:45 Then He opened up their mind to understand the Scriptures,
Luke 23:17And he had to release to them one at the Feast.
Joh 5:4 For an angel from time to time descended in the pool and agitated the water. Then the one first entering after the agitation of the water became well, whatever disease he was held by.
Act 8:37 And Philip said, If you believe from all the heart, it is lawful. And answering he said, I believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God.
Act 15:34 But it seemed good to Silas to remain.
Act 24:7 but Lysias the chiliarch coming up with much force took him away out of our hands,
Act 28:29 And he saying these things, the Jews went away, having much discussion among themselves.
Rom 16:24 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

Many ancient manuscripts lack the above verses. An even better justification to leave these verses from the Bible is that the verses do not meet the numeric requirement.

These verses in the deleted list are not crucial to the Bible interpretation. However, there are many ambiguous points in the Bible that are really relevant. It often produces a chain reaction, which passes on the interpretation of the faith to new and emerging issues. A good example is the question of the pre-existence of Jesus. If we accept that Jesus has always existed in heaven with the Father, we must also accept his divinity and omnipotence and that he came down from heaven to earth as God but taking the human form and that he was from the beginning the Word of God. When God cannot die, Jesus did not die in the same way as a human being dies.

Gradually, the Catholic Church fathers had developed the most peculiar explanations and the synods accepted these doctrines which every member of the church had to accept at the risk of anathema and even their lives.

What does the Bible say about changes?

The Bible warns of arbitrary changes: Rev 22:18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy in this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will strike him with the plagues that are written in this book. 19 If anyone takes away any words from the book of this prophecy, God will take away his portion of the tree of life and the holy city that are described in this book.

Deu 4:2 You shall not add to the word which I command you, neither shall you diminish from it, that you may keep the commandments of Yahweh your God which I command you.

Deu 12:32 Whatever thing I command you, that shall you observe to do: you shall not add thereto, nor diminish from it.

Prov 30:6 Don’t you add to his words, Lest he reprove you, and you be found a liar.

The apostles’ writings and their copies have remained about five thousand. They include, for example, monks replicated in monastery libraries, and some have had a compelling need for their own additions. Sometimes the replicator has had so much need to clarify the writer’s idea that he has considered it appropriate with his own addition to make it even “clearer”. In some places, these additions are trumpet-proof verses of the trinity essence. 1 John 5: 7-8 are such additions that did not belong to the original text. These additions have moved forward when others have copied the text version where the additions have been: KJV: For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

Also, the following verse, which gives instructions on baptism in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit: Mat 28:19 Therefore go, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, – How do we know that this verse has been added to the original texts? It is clear from the Bible that the apostles always baptized only in the name of Jesus Christ. Surely they would have baptized in the names of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit if Jesus had so commanded.

The Comma Johanneum in 1 Joh 5:7-8

Over the centuries, many versions of these two verses have been published. They have been characterized by the desire to associate the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit with the Triune God as the basis for the realization of Catholic doctrines. For the first time, these verses appeared in the Latin Vulgate in the 9th century. However, the real controversy took place in the 1500s in the Reformation era. For example, the Douay-Rheims Version, the English New Testament published in 1582 in Reims, France, says:

7 And there are three who give testimony in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. And these three are one. 8 And there are three that give testimony on earth: the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three are one.

However, all Catholic scholars of the Bible were not unanimously adding The Comma (comma means a short clause) in the Bible. Erasmus of Rotterdam was a learned Greek of the 16th century and, of course, a Latin speaker. He was publishing the New Testament in Greek based on old Greek manuscripts. Erasmus, therefore, supplied both a revised Latin New Testament and a Greek equivalent, which then evolved into the well-known Textus Receptus. However, Erasmus lacked a small part of the Greek text. What is he doing? It is reported that Erasmus translated the missing Greek text from the Latin Vulgata and from this translation translated the missing part back to his Latin text.

Comma Johanneum was included in the commonly used versions of Vulgate, and therefore Erasmus was pressured to include Comma Johanneum into his own text because the supporters of the triune God lacked clear Biblical texts in support of the Catholic doctrine. In the first two editions the comma was not included, but then when the third edition appeared, under 1522 Erasmus was pressed to accept the addition. Subsequently, Comma Johanneum was included in the upcoming Greek texts of the New Testament, which became known as the Textus Receptus (Received Text).

By the end of the 16th century, the Reformation advanced, when the Reformists fought against the influence of the papal priesthood and Bibles in English and other languages began to appear to the public; for example, William Tyndale’s Bible in England. The New Testament of Erasmus in the Greek language attracted widespread interest. The first edition was followed by a second edition, which had corrected many of the first edition mistakes. In the third edition (1522) the Comma Johanneum (1 John 5: 7-8) was added to the scripture as a reference to the holy trinity:

7 For there are three bearing witness in Heaven: the Father the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.
8 And there are three who bear witness on the earth: The Spirit, and the water, and the blood; and the three are to the one.

NENT translation: 7 And it is the Spirit that witnesseth, because the Spirit is the truth. 8 Because the witnessing ones are three: the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and the three agree in one.

Luther’s Bible translation is missing Comma Johanneum, as it was based on Erasmus’s second edition of the Greek NT. In Greek scripts, Comma Johanneum is missing except for a few very late manuscripts, mostly copied in the 16th century or later. Early Greek churches do not even refer to this point.

However, KJV 1789 states that: 1 Joh. 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. 8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.
A Bible translation from 1776 says in verse 7: … these three are one, and in verse 8: … the three are together.

These two verses (The comma) appear for the first time in the 15th century Greek manuscripts. The Comma is missing from Ethiopian, Aramean, Syriac, Slavic, Armenian, Georgian, and Arabic New Testament Greek versions. At a later stage, these verses then appeared in Greek scripts, as I explained above how Erasmus was put pressure to add them.

What do we learn from this? At least the fact that the truth can be displaced when fighting for even more important values such as the doctrine of the Church. Similar doctrinal fabrications (additions) are discussed in my next article ”Baptism in the name of the Son and the Holy Ghost”.

He who descended from God in Heaven

No one has ascended into heaven, but he who descended out of heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven (Joh 3:13).

This is one of the Bible’s most important questions. Did Jesus come from God in Heaven? Really, was Jesus in heaven with God, and God sent Jesus from there on earth? This is therefore intrinsically linked to the question of Jesus’ pre-existence.

Joh 3:13 NENT And no one hath ascended into the heaven, except he that descended out of the heaven, the Son of :man. Descend; καταβαίνω katabaínō, from G2596 and the base of G939; to descend (literally or figuratively):—come (get, go, step) down, fall (down). Descending can therefore also be figurative, for example ”as from the temple at Jerusalem, from the city of Jerusalem of celestial beings coming down to earth”.

John and Jesus. In Joh 1:6 it is said John the Baptist to be ”a man sent from God” (ἀποστέλλω παρά θεός apostellō para theos). – This means simply that John the Baptist was a man sent from God, i.e. he was “from God”, not from people or from the devil. Compare Mat 21:25 NENT The baptism of :John, whence was it? From heaven or from men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say to us, Why then did ye not believe him? – The baptism of John was from heaven, not from men.

Jesus is come from the Father in the same way as John the Baptist and the disciples. He is a man sent by God. Jesus is not of this world but is from above as his disciples are not of this world but are from above, from God. Joh 17:14 I have given them your word. The world hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

NENT: I have given them thy :word; and the world hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. NENT 16:27-28 27 for the Father himself loveth you, because YE have loved me, and have believed that I came forth from the Father. 28 I came out from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go unto the Father.

NENT 6:38 For I [Jesus] am come down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. Luk 20:4 The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or from men?

Luk 20:4 The baptism of John, was it from Heaven, or from men? The baptism of John is from heaven. (ἐκ οὐρανός ek ouranos), not from men. It does not mean that he would have existed with God before the creation of the world. Jesus said he came “from heaven” (εκ του ουρανου) John 6:38; For I am come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. – It does not mean that he would have been a spirit or a spirit being with the Father before the foundation of the world as many believe with certainty.

Joh 6:32 Then Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, Moses has not given you the bread out of Heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread out of Heaven.
33 For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.
34 Then they said to Him, Lord, always give us this bread.
35 Jesus said to them, I am the Bread of life; the one coming to me will not at all hunger, and the one believing in me will never thirst.
36 But I told you that you have seen me, and yet you don’t believe.
37 All those who the Father gives me will come to me. Him who comes to me I will in no way throw out.
38 For I am come down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.

So the actions of Jesus and John were planned and decided by God in advance. However, the plan that God had foreseen to save humanity was much wider: 1 Pet 1:1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the chosen ones who are living as strangers in the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled in his blood: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.

The disciples and followers of Jesus are not “of the world”. It does not mean that they would have been in heaven as spirits before the foundation of the world. They were in the mind of God, in the foreknowledge of God. The same applies to Jesus. The Holy Spirit of God made Virgin Mary pregnant and Jesus lived a completely sinless life and died to free all mankind from the bonds of sin.

As you read John’s account of how the Father gives true bread from heaven, remember that it is still a figurative description. Jesus assures himself to be the bread of God that comes from heaven. When he says “if anyone eats this bread, he will live forever”, it does not mean eating bread, but receiving his word; when one receives it, the person gets eternal life. Jesus is the living bread that has come from heaven. The bread that he gives is his flesh for the life of the world. Because he spoke figuratively, the Jews could not understand what he meant. Is all his speech a figurative expression, his coming of heaven and the bread of life which he brings from heaven and gives to humans? It may be possible that the part describing Jesus coming would be a concrete expression, and the second part, that is, the bread of life would be symbolic. I do not want to rule out this possibility, even if such an interpretation would not be limited to this single Scripture; it would mean almost everything to be re-evaluated. It is therefore not possible to present such a broad interpretation on the basis of a single word – “heaven”.

Joh 3:3 Jesus replied to him, “Truly, truly I tell you, unless a person is born from above [Or born again] he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Jesus is born from above, but not in the same way from above as people of faith who throw behind their sinful lives and become God’s children. Jesus never committed sin, so he did not need to be born again from above. He was born from his father, but not again. The will of God, therefore, was that his son would atone for the sins of all people with his own life. 1 Joh 4:10 This is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

– Jesus cannot, according to this, be equal and almighty God like the Father and the Holy Spirit. God sent Jesus but nobody can send God. God is present everywhere; If God the Father sends out of heaven His Son, who is also (according to the doctrine of Trinity), equal God, then the son would no longer be present everywhere. Fil. 2:6 who, existing in God’s form, counted not the being on an equality with God ought to be grasped at, 7 but emptied himself, taking a bondman’s form, being made in likeness of men;

Mat 3:17 Then a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love. I am pleased with him! – The spirit of God came at that time to live with his son Jesus as the spirit came later to the disciples and to others who believed. Jesus is the Son of God born of Mary through the holy spirit. The recognition of God cannot be regarded as the true birth of Jesus. God had been pleased with him even before.

Jesus was born of virgin Mary, yes. Heb. 1: 5, however, says: For to which of the angels did He ever say, “You are My Son; today I have begotten You“? And again, “I will be a Father to Him, and He shall be a Son to Me. Psa 2:7 I will declare concerning the statute of Jehovah: He said to Me, You are My Son. Today I have begotten You. – What is the day when Jesus was born? Jesus was born only after God saw Jesus fulfilled the task assigned to him, that is, by dying on the cross for all mankind.

Jesus said he came from heaven because he is the firstborn of spirit. Coming from heaven means that Jesus received the holy spirit in connection with his baptism, not that he had come from heaven as a spirit to his mother Maria’s womb. Man can be the brother of Jesus, if born from above (from heaven). NENT: Joh 3:7 Marvel not that I said to thee, Ye must be born from above.

Joh 8:42 Jesus told them, “If God were your Father, you would have loved me, because I came from God and am here. For I have not come on my own accord, but he sent me. (εκ του θεου, KJV: I proceeded forth and came from God) ἐξέρχομαι exerchomai G 1831 Strong’s from G1537 and G2064; to issue (literally or figuratively):—come (forth, out), depart (out of), escape, get out, go (abroad, away, forth, out, thence), proceed (forth), spread abroad.

Joh. 16:28 I came out from the Father and have come into the world; I leave the world again and go to the Father.

Joh 3:2 He came to Jesus at night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you have come from God as a teacher, for no one can perform these signs that you are doing unless God is with him. – This includes the words “you have come from God (ἔρχομαι ἀπό θεός erchomai apo theos), mean that God has given him this, so he acts as a representative of God and, in all respects, authorized by God. Jesus did everything in accordance with God’s will and said: Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will also live because of me. (Joh 6:57).

– When the Holy Spirit comes down from heaven to a man, merge the human spirit and the spirit of God with each other, and they will become one spirit. 1 Cor 6:17 says: But the person who unites himself with the Lord becomes one spirit with him. 1 Cor 15:47 calls such people come from heaven: The first man [Adam] came from the dust of the earth; the second man came from heaven. Such a human being is born again (from above) and Jesus Christ calls them brothers. 2 Kor 6:18 promises that … ” you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”

The Word became flesh (Joh 1:14)

What would be the result of the decision of the churches that Jesus is, at the same time, completely God and fully human? He would be both God and the Son of God in the physical body of man. If Jesus was both God and man at the same time, he would have had the Holy Spirit without the Father God sending it to him. Why then did God the Father need to send the Holy Spirit to him? What if Jesus was not in Heaven except as part of God’s plan in God’s mind? Then many questions are entirely appropriate.

What Jesus spoke did not come of himself, but he received the words from God the Father. This is evident from the Bible: Joh 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him: If any man love me, he will keep my word (λόγος logos), and my Father loveth him: and we will come unto him, and we will dwell with him. 24 The one who does not love me does not keep my words. The word (λόγος logos) that you hear is not mine, but comes from the Father who sent me. – If Jesus had been in heaven as the Son of God or as a part of the triune God before coming to earth, he could have spoken to the people what he himself thought and not to speak what God gave him the task. Jesus emphasized in all his activities his subordinate position in relation to God the Father. How could Jesus have been God like the Father?

Jhn 17:6 I have made your name known to the men you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word (λόγος). 17:14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them, for they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.

1 Joh 2:7 Brothers, I do not write a new commandment to you, but an old commandment (ἐντολή entolē) which you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word (λόγος) which you heard from the beginning.

God created the world in his word. The word is the commandment of God, which leads to the outcome of God’s will. Jesus was born into the world and conveyed the word of God to the world. It can be said that he became God’s word for the world. The word logos means at all points in the Bible a word, message, or command. How in the world did the Catholic scholars interpreted it to mean the Son of God?

Jhn 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and tabernacled among us, and we beheld his :glory, glory as of an only begotten with a father, full of grace and truth. – For this verse, we can test our understanding. Do we believe that Jesus, the Son of God, who was in heaven as the Word and who was made flesh on earth, and who lived among us? Or do we believe that the plan of God’s word was realized when Jesus Christ was born on earth and in his life for the will of God? When “the word lived in our midst”, do we think that Jesus Christ simply lived with his disciples? Or do we understand that Christ came to live in the hearts of the disciples and in all the hearts of those who received the word thus being born again from above? As the Word dwells in us, we have in faith the same fullness of spirit as Christ had, as well as many fruits of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:22).