Where is a literal English translation misleading?

[Dylan569]

“For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.” (Luk 1:15 KJV)

“For he shall be great in the eyes of the Lord, and he shall not drink wine or strong drink. And he will be filled of the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.” (Luk 1:15 LITV)

“for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit.” (Luk 1:15 NRSVue)

“For he will be great in the sight of the Lord and will never drink wine or beer. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit while still in his mother’s womb.” (Luke 1:15, HCSB)

John Gill, Baptist, 18th C. Calvinist
“and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb; or “whilst in his mother's womb”, as the Syriac, Arabic, and Persic versions render it: like Jeremiah, he was sanctified, set apart, and ordained to be the prophet of the Highest, before he came out of his mother's womb; and was then under such an influence of the Spirit of God, as to leap in it for joy, at the salutation of the mother of Christ to his, Luk_1:41 and very early appeared to have the extraordinary gifts and graces of the Holy Ghost, qualifying him for his work”

Adam Clarke, Methodist 19th C. Arminian
“One MS., two versions, and four of the primitive fathers read εντηκοιλια, IN the womb of has mother-intimating that even before he should be born into the world the Holy Spirit should be communicated to him. Did not this take place on the salutation of the Virgin Mary?-and is not this what is intended, Lu 1:44?”

Robert’s Word Pictures
“Even from his mother’s womb (eti ek koilias mētros autou). A manifest Hebraism. Cf. Luk_1:41.”

John was filled with the Holy Spirit and leaped for joy in his mother’s womb 6 months before his time of birth.

Another example is found in Matthew 24, when in v34 “Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled” where “this generation” is literal, obviously meaning that generation present to whom Jesus was speaking about ALL these things that he had described in previous verses. YET, so many try to avoid the obvious meaning here by ignoring the ‘Hebraism’ and viewing vs 29-31 as literal. Dispensationalists claim to stick to a literal interpretation, but they choose the ‘Hebraism’ to be literal, and the plainly literal to be figurative. “Generation” obviously means those to whom Jesus was speaking, and the temple’s destruction in 70 AD shows that “this generation” is literal. The apocalyptic language in vs 29-31 is clearly figurative, not literal, such as in Isaiah 13:10; 24:23; Eze. 32:7-8.

“Truly I tell you: the present generation will live to see it all.” (Matt 24:34, REB)

“Remember that all these things will happen before the people now living have all died.” (Matt 24:34, GNB92)

“I tell you in solemn truth that the present generation will certainly not pass away without all these things having first taken place.” (Matt 24:34, Weymouth)

 

[B-A-C]

(Mat 24:32) "Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near;
(Mat 24:33) so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door.
(Mat 24:34) "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.
(Mat 24:35) "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

This is an old debate. It's probably been discussed for centuries.
What is "this generation". Sometimes in the Bible, it's about 40 years. Sometimes it's literally when the next generation becomes of age.

Sometimes the Bible talks about eons or ages. These are very long periods of time. In this context, could "this generation" be the church age?
What gives this some credibility, is the next verse. "Heaven and earth will pass away". Obviously that didn't happen anytime after Jesus
said this. At least it hasn't happened yet.

The other thing here are these verses...

Mat 24:37 "For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.
Mat 24:44 "For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.
Mat 24:50 the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know,

I think most people would agree this hasn't happened yet.

 

[Dylan569]

(Mat 24:32) "Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near;
(Mat 24:33) so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door.
(Mat 24:34) "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.
(Mat 24:35) "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

This is an old debate. It's probably been discussed for centuries.
What is "this generation". Sometimes in the Bible, it's about 40 years. Sometimes it's literally when the next generation becomes of age.

Sometimes the Bible talks about eons or ages. These are very long periods of time. In this context, could "this generation" be the church age?
What gives this some credibility, is the next verse. "Heaven and earth will pass away". Obviously that didn't happen anytime after Jesus
said this. At least it hasn't happened yet.

The other thing here are these verses...

Mat 24:37 "For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.
Mat 24:44 "For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.
Mat 24:50 the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know,

I think most people would agree this hasn't happened yet.

1. Most scholars believed that approaching the last day, there would be a large conversion of Jews into the church of Jesus Christ, but NOT setting up a new literal temple in Jerusalem replete with altar and sacrifices, essentially bringing back the Old Covenant.

2. Claiming that Matt. 24:32 refers to 1948 has no biblical support, nor is the fig tree a symbol of Israel.

3. The fig tree Jesus cursed represented only that part of Israel that had only an outward show of religion, but it was mere words, empty boasts. This was not a symbol of true Israel. Of course this lesson can be applied to the church of today as well, the false professors, religious but not saved.

3. Going to Matthew in the New Testament chapter 1:11, 17 give how in this context is means in the life-span of those then living, usually considered 40 years, and indeed 40 years later the temple and Jerusalem were destroyed by the Roman army.

4. It is clear that Jesus turned from the telling of the coming of the destruction of the temple, to the last day, in our future. It was a turning point from one topic to another topic, truly in our future:

"Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only." (Matt 24:34-36, KJV)

Jesus tells his disciples of the coming of the destruction of the temple, and gives the signs to watch for as they await. Christ's words "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away" are Jesus expressing the certainty of his prediction of 70 AD, he referred that to "this generation", those he was speaking to. There is a turning point in v36 from a discussion of 70 AD to "that day", meaning the last day of which not even He as son knew the time. You have the contrast "this generation" to "that day". After giving signs to alert them of 70 AD, he makes it clear there will be NO signs of the arrival of the last day. As it is said of Noah's day, they "knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be"

Yes, what follows v36 is future us and has not happened as yet. A quote from the 18th century Methodist Joseph Benson:

"This generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled, — Hereby evidently showing that he had been speaking all this while only of the calamities coming on the Jews, and the destruction of Jerusalem. “It is to me a wonder,” says Bishop Newton, “how any man can refer part of the foregoing discourse to the destruction of Jerusalem, and part to the end of the world, or any other distant event, when it is said so positively here in the conclusion, All these things shall be fulfilled in this generation. And it seems as if our Lord had been aware of some such misapplication of his words, by adding yet greater force and emphasis to his affirmation, Mat_24:35, Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away"

 

[Dylan569]

The following teaching comes not from the Bible, but from Gnosticism, and this comes from the Gnostic web site:

"And the Master (Lord) answered and said unto me: Understandest thou not that the fig-tree is the house of Israel? Even as a man that planted a fig-tree in his garden, and it brought forth no fruit. And he sought the fruit thereof many years and when he found it not, he said to the keeper of his garden: Root up this fig-tree that it make not our ground to be unfruitful. And the gardener said unto God: (Suffer us) to rid it of weeds and dig the ground round about it and water it. If then it bear not fruit, we will straightway remove its roots out of the garden and plant another in place of it. Hast thou not undErstood that the fig-tree is the house of Israel? Verily I say unto thee, when the twigs thereof have sprouted forth in the last days, then shall feigned Christs come and awake expectation saying: I am the Christ, that am now come into the world. And when they (Israel) shall perceive the wickedness of their deeds they shall turn away after them and deny him [whom our fathers did praise], even the first Christ whom they crucified and therein sinned a great sin. But this deceiver is not the Christ. [something is wrong here: the sense required is that Israel perceives the wickedness of antichrist and does not follow him.] And when they reject him he shall slay with the sword, and there shall be many martyrs. Then shall the twigs of the fig-tree, that is, the house of Israel, shoot forth: many shall become martyrs at his hand. Enoch and Elias shall be sent to teach them that this is the deceiver which must come into the world and do signs and wonders to deceive. And therefore shall they that die by his hand be martyrs, and shall be reckoned among the good and righteous martyrs who have pleased God in their life. [Hermas, Vision III.i.9, speaks of 'those that have already been well-pleasing unto God and have suffered for the Name's sake'.]"

The Apocalypse of Peter -- Gnostic Society Library: Christian Apocrypha and Early Christian Literature

The Apocalypse of Peter -- Christian Apocrypha and Early Christian Literature, in a vast collection of materials dealing with Gnosis and Gnosticism, both ancient and modern. The site includes the Gnostic Library, with the complete Nag Hammadi Library and a large collection of other primary...

www.gnosis.org