The New World Translation and "Proskuneo" (worship)


The chart below is a list of every occurrence of the Greek word "proskuneo" that I could find in The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures (1969). This work was produced by the New World Translation Bible (NWT) committee in accordance with the Watchtower organization. An interlinear is a word-for-word translation of the Greek text. Included in this Watchtower interlinear is the text of the New World Translation Bible placed in a column on each page so the reader can see exactly how the NWT renders each occurrence of the verb "proskuneo."

The word "proskuneo" means "to kiss the hand, bow down before, show obeisance, to worship." Since the Jehovah's Witnesses deny that Jesus is God, they maintain that He is not to be worshipped. So, how does the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society translate the word "proskuneo" in their Greek New Testament in reference to Jesus and other objects of adoration? The NWT never translates the word into "worship" when it references Jesus. It does, however, render the word as "worship" in regards to the devil, the dragon, the beast, the image, demons, idols, and an angel. Of course, they correctly translate it as "worship" when it deals with God.

Is the New World Translation biased against worshipping Jesus? It would surely seem so, especially since the NASB, NIV, KJV, NKJV, etc., all translate the word as "worship" in reference to Jesus.

What is curious is to note that the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society used to teach that worshipping Jesus was acceptable:

"The fact that our Lord received worship is claimed by some to be an evidence that while on earth he was God the Father disguised in a body of flesh and not really a man. Was he really worshiped, or is the translation faulty? Yes we believe our Lord Jesus while on earth was really worshiped, and properly so. While he was not the God, Jehovah, he was a God. The word ‘God’ signifies a ‘mighty one,’ and our Lord was indeed a mighty one. So it is stated in the first two verses of the gospel of John. It was proper for our Lord to receive worship in view of his having been the only begotten of the Father. . ." (The Watchtower, July 15, 1898, p. 216.)

It seems that as the Watchtower theology changed, they needed a Bible consistent with those changes; hence, the New World Translation. Following is a chart listing every appearance of the word "proskuneo" in the New World Translation. Let's see if the bias of the Watchtower organization is obvious.

The word "proskuneo" occurs 55 times in the Watchtower Kingdom. Interlinear. Of those 55, 15 are in reference to Jesus with 40 used of others. 27% of the usage is of Jesus and not a single reference is translated as "worship" even though in reference to the devil, demons, idols, etc., they do translate it as worship. If this doesn't demonstrate their bias, then what does?

Verse	Jesus	God	Demons	dragon, beast, image	Devil	Generic	Idols	Peter	angel
Matt. 2:2	obeisance
Matt. 2:8	obeisance
Matt. 2:11	obeisance
Matt. 4:9					worship
Matt. 4:10		worship
Matt. 8:2	obeisance
Matt. 9:18	obeisance
Matt. 14:33	obeisance
Matt. 15:25	obeisance
Matt. 18:26						obeisance
Matt. 20:20	obeisance
Matt. 28:9	obeisance
Matt. 28:17	obeisance
Mark 5:6	obeisance
Mark 15:19	obeisance
Luke 4:7					worship
Luke 4:8		worship
Luke 24:52	obeisance
Verse	Jesus	God	Demons	dragon, beast, image	Devil	Generic	Idols	Peter	angel
John 4:20		worship
John 4:21		worship
John 4:22		worship
John 4:23		worship
John 4:23		worship
John 4:24		worship
John 9:38	obeisance
John 12:20						worship
Acts 7:43							worship
Acts 8:27						worship
Acts 10:25								obeisance
Acts 24:11						worship
1 Cor. 14:25		worship
Heb. 1:6	obeisance
Heb. 11:21		worship
Verse	Jesus	God	Demons	dragon, beast, image	Devil	Generic	Idols	Peter	angel
Rev. 3:9						obeisance
Rev. 4:10		worship
Rev. 5:14		worship
Rev. 7:11		worship
Rev. 9:20			worship
Rev. 11:1						worship
Rev. 11:16		worship
Rev. 13:4				worship
Rev. 13:8				worship
Rev. 13:12				worship
Rev. 13:15				worship
Rev. 14:7		worship
Rev. 14:9				worship
Rev. 14:11				worship
Rev. 15:4		worship
Rev. 16:2				worship
Rev. 19:4		worship
Rev. 19:10		worship
Rev. 19:20				worship
Rev. 20:4				worship
Rev. 22:8									worship
Rev. 22:9		worship

As you can see, the NWT is very bias in how it translates the word "proskuneo." Whenever it is in reference to Jesus, they absolutely will not let it be translated as worship. Why? Because they erringly deny that Jesus is God in flesh and their Bible reflects their bias. This is not how proper theology is done.

The Watchtower Organization has changed the Bible to suit its needs.

source: The New World Translation and "Proskuneo" (worship) | Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry

This single point demonstrates the bias of the NWT (to belittle Jesus to support their false doctrines).

Their deliberately deceptive Bible translation is full of these chosen misuses of vocabulary. In many cases they chose to use the most befuddled option to promote confusion.

For example:

Isaiah 53:5

KJV
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed

ESV
But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.

NIV
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

Now for the NWT (Watchtower Bible)

But he was being pierced for our transgression; he was being crushed for our errors. The chastisement meant for our peace was upon him, and because of his wounds there has been a healing for us.


That is just one example of how they make "difficult" a verse.


I will try to find the information on their "secret" translation committee.

I read an article several years ago that I will try to find. The Watchtower claimed that the people on the committee wanted to remain anonymous because they didn't want to be "prideful" when the truth of the matter was that they knew what they were doing was wrong and didn't want to be associated with it. If I remember correctly, some of them even committed suicide and most were not scholars at all but regular men given the task to create a Bible that changed passages to support Watchtower doctrines. For example, every where there was the word "Cross" they replaced it with "torture stake" and everywhere it said "crucify/ crucified" They replaced it with "impaled".

This is not the article I referenced in my previous post. That was written by the son of the committee member that committed suicide. I read it several years ago and bookmarked it, but I have had several computers since. I will keep looking for it.

I did find this article on "Got Questions 'dot' com" That discusses some of the questionably translated passages.

Please take note of the references to John 1:1. (One of the main verses the Watchtower uses to belittle Jesus)

QUESTION:

"Is the New World Translation a valid version of the Bible?"

ANSWER:

The New World Translation (NWT) is defined by the Jehovah's Witnesses’ parent organization (the Watchtower Society) as "a translation of the Holy Scriptures made directly from Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek into modern-day English by a committee of anointed witnesses of Jehovah." The NWT is the anonymous work of the “New World Bible Translation Committee.” Jehovah’s Witnesses claim that the anonymity is in place so that the credit for the work will go to God. Of course, this has the added benefit of keeping the translators from any accountability for their errors and prevents real scholars from checking their academic credentials.

The New World Translation is unique in one thing – it is the first intentional, systematic effort at producing a complete version of the Bible that is edited and revised for the specific purpose of agreeing with a group's doctrine. The Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Watchtower Society realized that their beliefs contradicted Scripture. So, rather than conforming their beliefs to Scripture, they altered Scripture to agree with their beliefs. The “New World Bible Translation Committee” went through the Bible and changed any Scripture that did not agree with Jehovah’s Witness theology. This is clearly demonstrated by the fact that, as new editions of the New World Translation were published, additional changes were made to the biblical text. As biblical Christians continued to point out Scriptures that clearly argue for the deity of Christ (for example), the Watchtower Society would publish new editions of the New World Translation with those Scriptures changed. Here are some of the more prominent examples of intentional revisions:

The New World Translation renders the Greek term word staurós ("cross") as "torture stake" because Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe that Jesus was crucified on a cross. The New World Translation does not translate the Greek words sheol, hades, gehenna, and tartarus as "hell” because Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe in hell. The NWT gives the translation "presence" instead of “coming” for the Greek word parousia because Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Christ has already returned in the early 1900s. In Colossians 1:16, the NWT inserts the word “other” despite its being completely absent from the original Greek text. It does this to give the view that “all other things” were created by Christ, instead of what the text says, “all things were created by Christ.” This is to go along with their belief that Christ is a created being, which they believe because they deny the Trinity.

The most well-known of all the New World Translation perversions is John 1:1. The original Greek text reads, “the Word was God.” The NWT renders it as “the word was a god.” This is not a matter of correct translation, but of reading one's preconceived theology into the text, rather than allowing the text to speak for itself. There is no indefinite article in Greek (in English, "a" or "an"), so any use of an indefinite article in English must be added by the translator. This is grammatically acceptable, so long as it does not change the meaning of the text.

There is a good reason why theos has no definite article in John 1:1 and why the New World Translation rendering is in error. There are three general rules we need to understand to see why.

1. In Greek, word order does not determine word usage like it does in English. In English, a sentence is structured according to word order: Subject - Verb - Object. Thus, "Harry called the dog" is not equivalent to "the dog called Harry." But in Greek, a word's function is determined by the case ending found attached to the word's root. There are two case endings for the root theo: one is -s (theos), the other is -n (theon). The -s ending normally identifies a noun as being the subject of a sentence, while the -n ending normally identifies a noun as the direct object.

2. When a noun functions as a predicate nominative (in English, a noun that follows a being verb such as "is"), its case ending must match the noun's case that it renames, so that the reader will know which noun it is defining. Therefore, theo must take the -s ending because it is renaming logos. Therefore, John 1:1 transliterates to "kai theos en ho logos." Is theos the subject, or is logos? Both have the -s ending. The answer is found in the next rule.

3. In cases where two nouns appear, and both take the same case ending, the author will often add the definite article to the word that is the subject in order to avoid confusion. John put the definite article on logos (“the Word”) instead of on theos. So, logos is the subject, and theos is the predicate nominative. In English, this results in John 1:1 being read as "and the Word was God" (instead of "and God was the word").

The most revealing evidence of the Watchtower's bias is their inconsistent translation technique. Throughout the Gospel of John, the Greek word theon occurs without a definite article. The New World Translation renders none of these as “a god.” Just three verses after John 1:1, the New World Translation translates another case of theos without the indefinite article as "God." Even more inconsistent, in John 1:18, the NWT translates the same term as both "God" and "god" in the very same sentence.

The Watchtower, therefore, has no hard textual grounds for their translation—only their own theological bias. While New World Translation defenders might succeed in showing that John 1:1 can be translated as they have done, they cannot show that it is the proper translation. Nor can they explain the fact that that the NWT does not translate the same Greek phrases elsewhere in the Gospel of John the same way. It is only the pre-conceived heretical rejection of the deity of Christ that forces the Watchtower Society to inconsistently translate the Greek text, thus allowing their error to gain some semblance of legitimacy in the minds of those ignorant of the facts.

It is only the Watchtower's pre-conceived heretical beliefs that are behind the dishonest and inconsistent translation that is the New World Translation. The New World Translation is most definitely not a valid version of God’s Word. There are minor differences among all the major English translations of the Bible. No English translation is perfect. However, while other Bible translators make minor mistakes in the rendering of the Hebrew and Greek text into English, the NWT intentionally changes the rendering of the text to conform to Jehovah’s Witness theology. The New World Translation is a perversion, not a version, of the Bible.

Raymond V. Franz, Crisis of Conscience (Atlanta: Commentary Press, 1983), p. 50. The author, Raymond V. Franz, was from 1971 to 1980 a member of the Governing Body of the Jehovah's Witnesses, and a nephew of vice-president Frederick W. Franz. He wrote Crisis of Conscience after being expelled from the organization. On page 50 of the book he adds the following information in a footnote: "Other members of that Committee were Nathan Knorr, Albert Schroeder and George Gangas; Fred Franz, however, was the only one with sufficient knowledge of the Bible languages to attempt translation of this kind. He had studied Greek for two years in the University of Cincinnati but was only self-taught in Hebrew."

Something most Jehovah's witnesses don't know.

Ok..
I have googled for many hours and can not find that article that I read years ago. I googled the names that Raymond Franz gave and can't find much on any of them other than they were the committee and none of them would be considered "scholars". George Gangas did speak Greek (modern Greek) because he was greek but had no training in ancient Greek.

I did find a few interesting bits on Fred Franz. He claimed he was asked to be a Rhodes Scholar... but turned it down.

At the University of Cincinnati, Fred Franz had quite a few "A"'s some "B"'s and Five "C"'s...

NOT Rhodes Scholar material. Seems the President of the Watchtower society had delusions of grander.

Anyway, I can't find the article I was looking for. Sorry.

Thanks for your hard work! This will be something people can reference in future dates.

Is the New World Translation really biased or has the translators done their "homework" so as to render accurately both Hebrew and Greek words ? What have other translations rendered many of the Scriptures noted above that involved the Greek proskyneo ? Unlike the churches, who never make real progress in their Bible studies, who remain "stagnant" in their understanding of the Bible and unlocking "the mysteries of the kingdom", Jehovah's Witnesses realize that the Bible is unveiled according to Jehovah God's timetable.

These grasp the meaning of Psalms 97:10, 11, which says: "O you lovers of Jehovah, hate what is bad.....Light itself has flashed up for the righteous one." What is meant by this, that "light itself has flashed up for the righteous one" ? Is this speaking of literal light ? No. Light in the Bible is associated with Bible truth, whereas darkness is associated with falsehood.

Thus, our Creator, Jehovah God, according to his timetable in these "last days", reveals Bible truths to "babes" (or humble teachable ones) that have been hidden from all others. Jesus said: "I publicly praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intellectual ones and have revealed them to babes."(Matt 11:25)

At Proverbs 4, it says that "the path of the righteous ones is like the bright light that is getting lighter and lighter until the day is firmly established."(Prov 4:18) The churches have never understood these words, but continue to dish out the "same old thing", week after week, month after month, year after year. Jesus used a very significant Greek word some six times when giving several illustrations concerning "the kingdom of the heavens", sy·ni´e·mi, which means "to mentally put the pieces together". Most, including the churches, are unable "to mentally put the pieces together", regarding the Bible, not comprehending as for example what the "kingdom" is.

Concerning this, Jesus said to his disciples: "To you it is granted to understand ("understand", Greek gnonai, meaning "to know, understand, perceive, have knowledge of ", Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, pg 117, G1097) the sacred secrets ("sacred secrets", Greek mysteria, meaning "a hidden thing, secret, mystery", Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, pg 420, G3466) of the kingdom of the heavens, but to those people it is not granted. For whoever has, more will be given him and he will be made to abound; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. This is why I speak to them by the use of illustrations, because, looking, they look in vain, and hearing, they hear in vain, neither do they get the sense of it." (Matt 13:11-13, "get the sense of it", sy·ni´e·mi, meaning "to put together, i.e. [mentally] to comprehend", Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, G4920, "to set or join together in the mind", Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, pg 605)

Now concerning the Greek word proskyneo, how have several different Bibles rendered this word at Matthew 2:2 ? The King James Bible says "worship", Young's Bible says "bow to him", Darby's Bible says "homage", along with Weymouth's New Testament, Webster's Bible says "worship", along with the International Standard Version and William's New Testament.

At Matthew 2:8, the King James Bible says "worship", Young's Bible says "bow to him", Darby's Bible "homage" along with Weymouth's New Testament, Webster's Bible says "worship", along with the International Standard Version but William's New Testament says "homage". Thus, there is no unanimity across the board concerning proskyneo meaning "worship".

The Emphatic Diaglott reads in the interlinear at Matthew 2:2 as "to do homage" (right column as "homage"), at 2:8 as "pay homage" (right column as "pay him reverence"), 2:11 as "did homage" (right column as "prostrating"), 4:9 as "do homage" (right column as "worship me"), 4:10 as "worship" (right column as "worship"), 8:2 as "prostrated" (right column as "prostrated").

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible says of proskyneo: "to fawn or crouch to; i.e. (literally or figuratively) prostrate oneself in homage". Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament says: "to kiss the hand to (towards) one, to fall upon the knees and touch the ground with the forehead, prostration to do homage (to one) or make obesiance."(G4352, pg 548)

Hence, the Greek word proskyneo has several meanings and nuances, but with regard to our Creator, Jehovah God, it always means "worship", for Jesus said to Satan, quoting from Deuteronomy 5:9 and 10:20: "Go away, Satan! For it is written, ‘It is Jehovah your God (not Jesus) you must worship (Greek proskynesis), and it is to him alone you must render sacred service.' '' (Matt 4:10, "sacred service", Greek latreuseis, meaning "to minister (to God), i.e. render religious homage", Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, G3000)

Bless you Strypes for your hard work on this thread.

Originally Posted by Jaareshiah

Is the New World Translation really biased or has the translators done their "homework" so as to render accurately both Hebrew and Greek words ?

As evidenced in the OP by Chad and expounded upon in my post... yes it is biased.


The following Quote is from "Watching the Watchtower"

Dr. Robert Countess, who wrote a doctoral dissertation on the Greek of the NWT, concluded that the translation "must be viewed as a radically biased piece of work." At some points it is actually dishonest. At others it is neither modern nor scholarly." No wonder British scholar H. H. Rowley asserted, "From the beginning to the end, this volume (NWT) is a shining example of how the Bible should not be translated." Rowley went on to say "This translation is an insult to the Word of God." Dr. Julius Mantey, author of A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament, calls the NWT " A shocking mistranslation. "Dr. Bruce Metzger, professor of The New Testament at Princeton University, calls it " a frightful mistranslation, erroneous, pernicious, and reprehensible." Dr. William Barclay concluded that "the deliberate distortion of truth by this sect is seen in their New Testament translation...it is abundantly clear that a sect which can translate the New Testament like that is intellectually dishonest."
(From Watching the Watchtower)

Actual Greek Scholars say it is "Biased"

Originally Posted by Jaareshiah

What have other translations rendered many of the Scriptures noted above that involved the Greek proskyneo ? Unlike the churches, who never make real progress in their Bible studies, who remain "stagnant" in their understanding of the Bible and unlocking "the mysteries of the kingdom", Jehovah's Witnesses realize that the Bible is unveiled according to Jehovah God's timetable.

Propaganda technique.. "only we have accurate knowledge".. I think that is #3 on what constitutes a cult.

Additionally, this comment is an insult to the believers on this site.

Final thought on the loaded language in this comment, the purpose is to set up the false doctrine of "old light" and "new light". This is part of what the Watchtower uses to white wash their false prophecies (old light) and change their dates and doctrines and the rank and file witnesses are not allowed to even question it. They are to suppress their cognitive dissonance or risk being marked and shunned. One earmarks of all cults is that it's members must relinquish all thought and reason to a person or organization. The JW's guise it as you are being "prideful" if you think for yourself. Independent thinking is a disfellowshipping offense.

Within the Jehovah's Witness Organization, questioning or testing is not permitted. If someone is discovered researching them (Organization, the governing body, leaders, elders etc) they are punished swiftly. They are disfellowshipped for examining the organization. That's when they really discover the cruel, ungodly spirit that really persist within this cult. Family members and friends must shun you, and have nothing to do with you. They can't talk or have any communication with you. The WT is so callous that they will help you examine the teachings of other religious groups, but will destroy you if you question or examine them. Proverbs 18:17 reminds us; " He who states his case first seems right until his rival comes and cross-examines him." The Bible approves of testing and questioning spiritual things and doctrines, even encourages it. The WT strong armed policies of silencing its critics is UN-biblical.

Originally Posted by Jaareshiah

These grasp the meaning of Psalms 97:10, 11, which says: "O you lovers of Jehovah, hate what is bad.....Light itself has flashed up for the righteous one." What is meant by this, that "light itself has flashed up for the righteous one" ? Is this speaking of literal light ? No. Light in the Bible is associated with Bible truth, whereas darkness is associated with falsehood.

Thus, our Creator, Jehovah God, according to his timetable in these "last days", reveals Bible truths to "babes" (or humble teachable ones) that have been hidden from all others. Jesus said: "I publicly praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intellectual ones and have revealed them to babes."(Matt 11:25)

This is an example of taking a phrase out of context to promote their false doctrines.

Psalm 97 (the whole psalm)

1 The LORD reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice. 2 Clouds and thick darkness surround him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. 3 Fire goes before him and consumes his foes on every side. 4 His lightning lights up the world; the earth sees and trembles. 5 The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth. 6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory. 7 All who worship images are put to shame, those who boast in idols-- worship him, all you gods! 8 Zion hears and rejoices and the villages of Judah are glad because of your judgments, O LORD. 9 For you, O LORD, are the Most High over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods. 10 Let those who love the LORD hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked. 11 Light is shed upon the righteous and joy on the upright in heart. 12 Rejoice in the LORD, you who are righteous, and praise his holy name. NIV

The Jehovah's witnesses will use this to promote their "new light" deception by using a verse or phrase out of context. For those of you reading this that are not familiar with Watchtower doctrine, they will call their past mistakes and failed prophecies "old light" and the "New light" is the current "light" that could change next week. For example "old light" was that receiving a blood transfusion was cannibalism (like eating blood). It was a severe violation and if you (or let a family member/child) receive blood, you would be disfellowshiped. If you refused a blood transfusion for your self or your spouse or child and they died (which they often did) you would be praised by the Organization for "Putting Jehovah first"... you may even make the cover of the magazine.. Tiz true.

Thousands have died because of this policy. Over the years, as the Watchtower has paid out judgements to the many lawsuits of recent years.. There is now "NEW LIGHT".. it is now a "matter of conscious decision" You will still be shunned if you do but the liability factor for the Watchtower has been removed.

Originally Posted by Jaareshiah

At Proverbs 4, it says that "the path of the righteous ones is like the bright light that is getting lighter and lighter until the day is firmly established."(Prov 4:18) The churches have never understood these words, but continue to dish out the "same old thing", week after week, month after month, year after year.

Another twisting of scripture to promote their policies and under gird their loaded language

Proverbs 4 (the whole thing)

1 Listen, my sons, to a father's instruction; pay attention and gain understanding. 2 I give you sound learning, so do not forsake my teaching. 3 When I was a boy in my father's house, still tender, and an only child of my mother, 4 he taught me and said, "Lay hold of my words with all your heart; keep my commands and you will live. 5 Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or swerve from them. 6 Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you. 7 Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding. 8 Esteem her, and she will exalt you; embrace her, and she will honor you. 9 She will set a garland of grace on your head and present you with a crown of splendor." 10 Listen, my son, accept what I say, and the years of your life will be many. 11 I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths. 12 When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble. 13 Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life. 14 Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evil men. 15 Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn from it and go on your way. 16 For they cannot sleep till they do evil; they are robbed of slumber till they make someone fall. 17 They eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence. 18 The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day. 19 But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble. 20 My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. 21 Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; 22 for they are life to those who find them and health to a man's whole body. 23 Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. 24 Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. 25 Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. 26 Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. 27 Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.

It has nothing to do with changing doctrines.




The remainder of Jaareshiah's post is distraction and avoidance. Trying to appear knowledgeable of that which he has copy and pasted from Watchtower publications.

Originally Posted by Jaareshiah

Jesus used a very significant Greek word some six times when giving several illustrations concerning "the kingdom of the heavens", sy·ni´e·mi, which means "to mentally put the pieces together". Most, including the churches, are unable "to mentally put the pieces together", regarding the Bible, not comprehending as for example what the "kingdom" is.

Concerning this, Jesus said to his disciples: "To you it is granted to understand ("understand", Greek gnonai, meaning "to know, understand, perceive, have knowledge of ", Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, pg 117, G1097) the sacred secrets ("sacred secrets", Greek mysteria, meaning "a hidden thing, secret, mystery", Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, pg 420, G3466) of the kingdom of the heavens, but to those people it is not granted. For whoever has, more will be given him and he will be made to abound; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. This is why I speak to them by the use of illustrations, because, looking, they look in vain, and hearing, they hear in vain, neither do they get the sense of it." (Matt 13:11-13, "get the sense of it", sy·ni´e·mi, meaning "to put together, i.e. [mentally] to comprehend", Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, G4920, "to set or join together in the mind", Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, pg 605)

Now concerning the Greek word proskyneo, how have several different Bibles rendered this word at Matthew 2:2 ? The King James Bible says "worship", Young's Bible says "bow to him", Darby's Bible says "homage", along with Weymouth's New Testament, Webster's Bible says "worship", along with the International Standard Version and William's New Testament.

At Matthew 2:8, the King James Bible says "worship", Young's Bible says "bow to him", Darby's Bible "homage" along with Weymouth's New Testament, Webster's Bible says "worship", along with the International Standard Version but William's New Testament says "homage". Thus, there is no unanimity across the board concerning proskyneo meaning "worship".

The Emphatic Diaglott reads in the interlinear at Matthew 2:2 as "to do homage" (right column as "homage"), at 2:8 as "pay homage" (right column as "pay him reverence"), 2:11 as "did homage" (right column as "prostrating"), 4:9 as "do homage" (right column as "worship me"), 4:10 as "worship" (right column as "worship"), 8:2 as "prostrated" (right column as "prostrated").

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible says of proskyneo: "to fawn or crouch to; i.e. (literally or figuratively) prostrate oneself in homage". Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament says: "to kiss the hand to (towards) one, to fall upon the knees and touch the ground with the forehead, prostration to do homage (to one) or make obesiance."(G4352, pg 548)

Hence, the Greek word proskyneo has several meanings and nuances, but with regard to our Creator, Jehovah God, it always means "worship", for Jesus said to Satan, quoting from Deuteronomy 5:9 and 10:20: "Go away, Satan! For it is written, ‘It is Jehovah your God (not Jesus) you must worship (Greek proskynesis), and it is to him alone you must render sacred service.' '' (Matt 4:10, "sacred service", Greek latreuseis, meaning "to minister (to God), i.e. render religious homage", Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, G3000)

Originally Posted by Cariad Iesu

Bless you Strypes for your hard work on this thread.

: )

I like your signature verse.

Matthew 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.