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NASB | Revelation 3:14 ¶ "To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ¶ The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this: |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Revelation 3:14 ¶ "To the angel (divine messenger) of the church in Laodicea write: "These are the words of the Amen, the trusted and faithful and true Witness, the Beginning and Origin of God's creation: |
Subject: Jesus Created or Creator??? |
Bible Note: IS JESUS WISDOM? 'JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES AND PROVERBS 8:22 'According to Jehovah's Witnesses Jesus is wisdom in Proverbs 8:22. Is Proverbs 8:22 speaking about Jesus? Jehovah's Witnesses teach that Jesus is being spoken of in Proverbs 8:22 and was created by God before all other things were created. What is going to be shown here is what Jehovah's Witnesses believe, and teach others concerning Proverbs 8:22, and look at the context of Proverbs 8:22 to see what exactly this passage is saying. 'In the Jehovah's Witnesses brochure called "Should You Believe In The Trinity page 14" they say the following: "Notice how closely those references to the origin of Jesus correlate with expressions uttered by the figurative "Wisdom" in the Bible book of Proverbs: "Yahweh created me, first-fruits of his fashioning, before the oldest of his works. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills, I came to birth; before he had made the earth, the countryside, and the first elements of the world." (Proverbs 8:12, 22, 25, 26, NJB) While the term "Wisdom" is used to personify the one whom God created, most scholars agree that it is actually a figure of speech for Jesus as a spirit creature prior to his human existence." (Should You Believe In The Trinity page 14) Jehovah's Witnesses teach that Jesus is being spoken of in Proverbs 8:22 and that it teaches Wisdom (Jesus) was created. One point that needs to made right at the start. There is no reference to Jesus in Proverbs 8:22 at all. This passage is speaking of Wisdom, and for those who teach this is Jesus the evidence is not there. Another point is that the Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Jesus was God's first creation and therefore believe this to be speaking of Jesus and like to use different Bible Versions that would indicate that this Wisdom was created. There are Bible Versions that have Proverbs 8:22 with the words 'created, producted or made', however there are many Bible Versions that do not. 'BIBLE VERSIONS OF PROVERBS 8:22 THAT SUPPORT JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES '"Jehovah himself produced me as the beginning of his way, the earliest of his achievements of long ago." (New World Translation/ Official Jehovah's Witnesses Bible) '"The Lord created me first of all, the first of his works, long ago." (Todays English Bible) '"The Lord made me as the start of his way, the first of his works in the past." (The Bible In Basic English) 'BIBLE VERSIONS OF PROVERBS 8:22 THAT DO NOT SUPPORT JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES '"The LORD possessed me at the beginning of His way, Before His works of old." (New American Standard Bible) '"Jehovah possessed me in the beginning of his way, Before his works of old." (American Standard Version) '"Jehovah possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old." (Darby Bible) '"Jehovah possessed me--the beginning of His way, Before His works since then." (Youngs Literal Translation) '"The LORD already possessed me long ago, when his way began, before any of his works." (Gods Word Bible) '"Yahweh possessed me in the beginning of his work, Before his deeds of old." (World English Bible) '"The LORD possessed me at the beginning of His way, before His works of old." (Third Millennium Bible) 'Showing the comparison of different Bible Versions shows this is not an easy solution to Proverbs 8:22 and with it reading 'possessed' or 'create, made, produced'. What is the Hebrew word and what does it mean? The Hebrew word here is 'QANAH' and it means: "to own, to attain, buy-er, create, possess(-or), purchase, recover, redeem, provoke to jealously." The Hebrew word 'qanah' has many different definitions and can be used differently depending on the context. The question is how should 'qanah' be used in Proverbs 8:22? In order to rightly interpret the Scriptures the context is the key to understanding what the word means or implies. If someone said they love cats would you think they had a personal relationship with them as human beings do with other human beings? The word love can be used in many different ways and it is understood by the context of how it is used. The standard for rightly interpreting the Scriptures is reading carefully and looking at what is being said, who is sayiing it, and examining it in light of what the Scriptures teach.' ____________________ To read more, including 'EXAMINING PROVERBS 8 IN CONTEXT', go to: (http://www.apologeticsforchristians.homestead.com/JehovahsWitnessesProverbs8.html) |