Biblical Commentary

The opening remarks to this podcast, entitled What Is Universalism?, are found here on the Christogenea Forum.

The Book of Acts, Chapter 1 Part 2 – Christogenea Internet Radio, April 19th, 2013

Discussing Amos chapter 3 here last month, we presented a lengthy dissertation concerning the Biblical phrase “all the families of the earth”, and from many scriptures found in both the Old and New Testaments it was demonstrated that within the Biblical context, the use of the phrase can only be applied to that group of White Adamic Nations which is listed in Genesis chapter 10. It can not be applied to anyone outside of that group. As Genesis 5:1 says, “This is the book of the generations of Adam.” The listing of those generations (which is the Hebrew word toledah, Strong's number 8435, meaning descendants) found in Genesis chapter 10 are a part of that book, and none of the promises made to those people, families and nations - such as those made to Abraham in Genesis chapter 12 - can ever justly be applied to anyone else.

The Book of Acts, Chapter 1 – Christogenea Internet Radio, April 11th, 2013

The Book of the Acts of the Apostles, as it is fully called, is a book of transition. It records a transition of the legitimate faith in Yahweh God, as decreed by His Word, from the tenets of Hebraism to the constructs of Christianity; from the rituals of the laws of the Old Covenant to a faith in the Word of God in Christ which was promised by the prophets of the Old Covenant, and which was recorded in the Gospel of the New Covenant. This faith in Christ would include the Christian recognition of a need for conformance to the commandments of Christ, found in those original ten commandments and the admonition to love one's brother. It records a transition of the primary subject of the Word of God from the remnant of Jerusalem to the dispersion of the children of Israel, the “lost sheep” of the ancient dispersions. That is what the New Testament is, it is the record of the Gospel of the New Covenant between Yahweh God and His people Israel, which was explicitly promised in the prophets at Jeremiah 31:31, Ezekiel 37:26 and Daniel 9:27. It was implicitly promised in many of the other writings of the prophets. We know that these Gospels do indeed represent the promised New Covenant since they came at the appropriate time, which was outlined in the 70 weeks vision of Daniel chapter 9.

There should be no doubt that the apostle called Luke wrote Acts. The author claims to be the writer of the Gospel, “that first account” mentioned in the opening of the Book of Acts. The Greek style is precisely the same which is found in the Gospel written in his name. Paul tells us that Luke was with him at his imprisonment (Philemon 24), and from Acts we see that Luke was there when this happened (Acts 27:1). Luke was with Paul, at the least, from Acts 16:10-17, 20:5-21:18, and 27:1-28:16 (to the end of the book). Paul is arrested in Acts Chapter 21, and the balance of the book follows his imprisonment as far as Rome. No other companion of Paul’s meets all of these criteria. Luke is also mentioned by Paul at Colossians 4:14 and 2 Timothy 4:11. Acts was written to be an extension of Luke's Gospel. It can justly be called Luke, Part Two. It is written to the same audience, the “lover of God” whom Luke addresses in his Gospel. More will be said about that as we get into the opening verses of the book. 

The remarks which prefaced this program, on the Christian obligation to practice freedom of association and disassociation, are posted in the Christogenea Forum: Remarks on Freedom of Association and Disassociation.

The Prophecy of Amos, Part 10

In Amos chapters 1 and 2, while Yahweh pronounced judgements upon Israel because they oppressed the poor and the righteous, He also pronounced judgements upon Judah and the other surrounding nations for their various transgressions. Beginning with Amos Chapter 3 and through to the end of the book, Yahweh pronounces a series of judgements upon Israel alone which are actually repetitive pronouncements foretelling the same punishment, but giving differing reasons for that punishment in different ways. In Amos chapter 3 Yahweh announces to Israel that “You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.” The reasons given in this chapter are that “they know not to do right, saith the LORD, who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.” This means that the riches they had gained for themselves were accumulated through those unjust means. In verse 12 a reference is made to the horns of the altar of Bethel, which was a principle seat of idolatry in Israel. 

Amos, Part 9

Accompanying this audio presentation of Amos is a separate article, Scatterers and Gatherers

KJV Amos 6:1 Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!

Amos is addressing the rulers, the societal elites, in Israel. The House of Israel had come to these people. That does not mean that these people themselves were not of Israel. It rather means that they had come to the control of the Kingdom, in one way or another. It seems, from 1 Chronicles 5:17, that genealogy still played an important part in reckoning the people, in spite of Israel's having long before gone off into paganism. It must be noted however that the Books of Chronicles were compiled from what records remained after the return of portions of Levi, Benjamin and Judah from Babylon. This is easily demonstrable because it is evident in the listings of the tribes in the opening chapters of 1 Chronicles. After describing the inheritance of the children of Gad, that passage says: “All these were reckoned by genealogies in the days of Jotham king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam king of Israel.” The reference to Jeroboam is to that king of Israel who ruled during the time of the ministry of Amos.

The Prophecy of Amos, Part 8

Most of the historical portion of our presentation is past. Now we shall focus on the pattern of sin and punishment suffered by the children of Israel.

KJV Amos 4:1 Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink.

Bashan means fruitful. The land of king Og of Bashan fell to the lot of Manasseh when the land was taken from the Canaanites and divided by Israel (Joshua 17). The children of Israel are likened to kine. If we had to venture as to why, it is evident that they had worshipped the golden calves of Jeroboam I all throughout the period of the divided kingdom. Adam Was formed in the image of Yahweh his God, and these Israelite children of Adam would rather worship calves. They were therefore likened to calves. Later, Ahab, Ahaziah, Jehoram, Jehu, Jehoahaz, Jehoash, Jeroboam II, Azariah, Menahem, Pekah, all kings of Israel, and probably some others besides these, were all criticized for doing “evil in the site of Yahweh” and for not departing from the ways of “Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin”.

The Prophecy of Amos, Part 7

In the last segment of this presentation of the prophecy of Amos we spent a considerable amount of time examining the phrase “all the families of the earth”, which appears in Amos 3:2, in the light of the context of Scripture. We shall not again dwell at length on that phrase here, however we shall summarize a few things from last week's presentation, and then proceed with the rest of Amos chapter 3.

Amos 3:1 Hear this word that the LORD hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying, 2 You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.

The phrase “all the families of the earth” can only refer to all of the White Genesis 10 nations of the Adamic oikoumenê, which is the Biblical context provided by Genesis chapters 5, 10 and 11, which is also the way the phrase was understood in both Deuteronomy 32:8 and in Acts 17:26:

Genesis 5:1: “This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; 2 Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.”

Genesis 10:32: “These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood.”

Genesis 11:1, 8-9: “1 And the whole earth [that whole land of Shinar] was of one language, and of one speech.... 8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. 9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth [of all of that land]: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.”

The Prophecy of Amos, Part 6

In the first two chapters of Amos, we saw judgements pronounced upon the people of Israel and Judah, and also upon the surrounding nations as well. These other nations are the Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, Philistines and the Syrians of Damascus. Some of these people of the surrounding nations were from the accursed tribes of Canaan, or from of the inbred descendants of Lot. Others were Adamic peoples closely related to the Israelites. Many of the people in these nations were evidently Israelites themselves who had been both residing in and even mixing with these nations ever since the period of the Judges, and especially since the time of the division of the Kingdom when Israel was turned to paganism by their political leaders. 

It is perfectly evident in 2 Samuel chapter 8, that the Syrians of Damascus, the Philistines, Moabites, Ammonites and Edomites were all subjected to Israel in the days of King David, and that his kingdom did indeed stretch from the border of Egypt to the Euphrates, and that David's sons were delegated rulership over parts of this territory. These things are truly not noticeable in inscriptions or often even in the Bible, because in the Bible the original names of these lands were kept, the lands were mostly named after the original occupants, and later on those who inhabited these lands were often called after these names no matter what tribe they were from. That the children of Israel had indeed begun to mingle with these subject people is evident throughout the Biblical narrative, that they went “a whoring after the heathen” (i.e. Ezekiel 23:30) and begot “strange children” (i.e. Hosea 5:7).

The Prophecy of Amos, Part 5

Over the past four segments of this presentation on the prophecy of Amos, we have discussed the ancient Mesopotamian inscriptions and their evidences of the existence of and the demise of the ancient kingdoms of Damascus, Ammon, Moab, Edom, and then Judah. In the past two segments of this, we also witnessed some of the Greek historical attestations of the founding of the ancient Kingdom of Israel by Moses, as it was recounted by both Strabo the Geographer and Diodorus Siculus. Discussing the oracle of Amos against Judah last week, we saw three ancient witnesses attesting to the facts and circumstances concerning the history of the ancient Kingdom of Judah as they are outlined in the Old Testament. These were the Lachish Ostraca, the Taylor Prism containing the Annals of Sennacherib, and various Babylonian inscriptions attesting to the presence of the household of Jehoiachin the King of Judah in captivity in Babylon. All of these things are more than sufficient proof witnessing to the historicity of the books of the Old Testament. Here we shall see further evidence from ancient inscriptions verifying the truth of the historical circumstances found in the writings of the Bible, and of this prophet.

6 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes; 7 That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in unto the same maid, to profane my holy name: 8 And they lay themselves down upon clothes laid to pledge by every altar, and they drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their god. 9 Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath. 10 Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and led you forty years through the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite. 11 And I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites. Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel? saith the LORD. 12 But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink; and commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not. 13 Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves. 14 Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not strengthen his force, neither shall the mighty deliver himself: 15 Neither shall he stand that handleth the bow; and he that is swift of foot shall not deliver himself: neither shall he that rideth the horse deliver himself. 16 And he that is courageous among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day, saith the LORD.

The Prophecy of Amos, Part 4

In closing the last part of this presentation on Amos, we discussed some of the historical evidence of the ancient kingdom of Israel. Early in that presentation we had seen the attestation of the text of the ancient Moabite Stone. In it we see the tribe of Gad mentioned explicitly, connected to the “king of Israel”, and in some of the same locations that the Hebrew Bible also places them.

Where the Moabite Stone says “Now the men of Gad had al­ways dwelt in the land of Ataroth, and the king of Israel had built Ataroth for them”, it agrees with the Biblical Book of Numbers at chapter 32, verses 1 through 4. This same inscription also mentions the Israelite king Omri, as the Assyrian inscriptions also often do. The Assyrian, Babylonian and Persian inscriptions verify the historicity of many things in the Bible, which we shall see as this presentation unfolds. To imagine that all of the inscriptions attesting to the historicity of the Bible are somehow spurious is ridiculous. There is no doubting the veracity of a great number of these inscriptions, for the accounts concerning their discoveries are well recorded.. The people that made such inscriptions were pagans, and had nothing extraneous to gain by them, and could not have imagined that over 2,500 years later these things would be dug out of the ground and found to verify the accounts in an unrelated book which was to be passed down over so many centuries.

The opening remarks to this program are not directly related to the subject matter, and are therefore published at the Christogenea Forum. 

The Prophecy of Amos, Part 3

The prophecy of Amos begins with oracles against both Israel and Judah, and also against the Edomites, Syrians, Moabites and Ammonites and certain of their cities. We have already discussed the fates of many of these places, and presented much of what can be seen of the contemporary history of these places from ancient Assyrian inscriptions. This helps to demonstrate that the Biblical account of the history of this period certainly is true, and also to show that these prophecies indeed had the beginning of their fulfillment in the years subsequent to the time of the prophet. Here we shall commence with Amos chapter 2, continuing with the utterances against Moab, continuing with our theme from the last two segments.

The Prophecy of Amos, Part 2

The prophecy of Amos begins with oracles against both Israel and Judah, and also against the Edomites, Syrians, Moabites and Ammonites and certain of their cities. In the first segment of our presentation of the Book of Amos we began to discuss the fates of these places, and presented much of what can be seen of these things from ancient Assyrian inscriptions. This helps to demonstrate that the Biblical account of the history of this period certainly is true, and also to show that these prophecies indeed had the beginning of their fulfillment in the years subsequent to the time of the prophet. Here we shall repeat these oracles against Damascus and against Gaza, and continue with our theme from last week.

3 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron: 4 But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, which shall devour the palaces of Benhadad. 5 I will break also the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden: and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir, saith the LORD.

The Prophecy of Amos, Part 1

Many students of the Bible fail to realize, or at least easily forget – and I also at times have probably been guilty of this same thing – that the promise to Abraham that his seed would possess all of the land from Egypt to the Euphrates was indeed fulfilled in the days of King David. Even the Jews often deny the fact of this fulfillment, hoping themselves to be the heirs of this land in modern times and pointing to the prophecy in order to justify their treachery – and in spite of the fact that they are not genetic Israel. Here it is in Genesis 15:18-21: “18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: 19 The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, 20 And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, 21 And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”

Now it is clear from Scripture that the children of Israel did not exterminate all of the tribes of Canaan as they were so commanded. But that does not mean that they did not possess the land. The fulfillment of this promise of Genesis 15:18 is evident in 2 Samuel chapter 8...

The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 24 - 12-28-2012

While presenting these gospel accounts it has often been said that the perspectives of all four gospel writers are needed in order to be able to piece together a more complete picture of the events surrounding the life, ministry and passion of Christ. That is especially true when trying to determine the chronology of the last week of His pre-Resurrection life and of the Resurrection itself.

The popular perception of the chronology of the death and resurrection of Christ comes from a calendar which was evidently made to suit the Roman church, however it does not agree with the Gospel. From John 19:31 we see of the Sabbath which was also the Passover that “that Sabbath day was an high day”. So we learn that Christ was placed into a tomb at the end of a preparation day for a high Sabbath, and not necessarily the day of the regular seventh-day Sabbath, and that He was in that tomb on a Sabbath day, and that he was found to have been arisen by dawn of the first day of the week, which is the day immediately following a Sabbath day. From three of the four gospels, from Matthew 27:55 and 61, from Mark 15:47, and from Luke 24:1, we see that the women who were with Christ had observed His death and burial right up to where He was placed into the tomb. From all four gospels, from Matthew 28:1, from Mark 16:2, from Luke 23:55 and from John 20:1, we find that the first thing Mary Magdalene and some of the other women did on the day immediately after a Sabbath – even before the sun had risen completely – was to go to the tomb of Christ and find that He had already arisen. If that day were the Passover Sabbath, it seems that they would hardly have had time to go shopping.

The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 23 Part 2 - 12-28-2012

Last week at the end of the first part of this presentation of Luke chapter 23, we addressed what was seen as two ages-old Christian Identity heresies, both of which are unnecessary innovations. The first belongs, so far as I know, to Wesley Swift, who told a fantastic story about Barabbas called The Blue Tunic Army Of Christ, a story which is not substantiated in history and which is refuted by the words of the Gospel writers alone. Barabbas was a mere robber, and not the great leader of an army for God. The second is the misconception concerning Luke 23:34, where some perhaps well-meaning but poorly studied individuals like to claim that the first sentence of that verse should be read in part “Father forgive them not, for they know what they do.” Yet the Greek sentence in question is correctly translated as it is found in the King James Version, where it reads “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” The Greek grammar proves that the King James Version translation of the sentence is correct, where in all of Luke's writing wherever a verb is accompanied with a negative particle, forming a negative verb, the negative particle precedes the verb which it negates, and never follows it.

However concerning this passage, in truth the earliest manuscripts are divided, and it is not found in the majority of them. Therefore it is most likely that the passage is an interpolation, and for that reason it is not found in the Christogenea New Testament. Many Identity Christians who have not known this have wondered how Christ could forgive his murderers. However even the context is obvious, that the verse saying “And casting lots they divided His garments” refers to the Roman soldiers, and not at all to the Judaeans who brought Christ before Pilate. Therefore if the statement concerning forgiveness is admitted into the narrative it can only refer to the Roman soldiers, and not to the Judaeans. The Judaeans knew what they were doing, as even Pilate knew they wanted Christ executed out of envy (Matthew 27:18, Mark 15:19), and the Roman soldiers were truly ignorant of the entire situation and were only following orders. Christ Himself told Pilate “You do not have any authority over Me if it was not given to you from above. For this reason he who delivered Me to you has greater fault”, fully indicating that the jews alone were primarily responsible for His execution.

The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 23 - 12-21-2012

We saw Luke chapter 22 end with the mock trial of Yahshua Christ in the court of the high priests. That trial was not a real trial, but probably only served so that the Judaeans could draw up the charges which they would present to Pilate, since in Judaea at the time only the Roman authority had the lawful power to try capital offenses. The first Herod had that power, when Judaea was a kingdom. However under Herod Archelaus Judaea was reduced to the status of an imperial province and the local rulers lost that authority.

All four gospels offer quite different perspectives on the mock trial of Yahshua before the high priests. It must be noted that the four quite different perspectives of the events of both trials and the crucifixion of Christ was probably the result of the disciples being scattered after Christ was seized in the garden, which is seen at Mark 14:50. One thing that is apparent in all four gospels, however, is that there were really no charges of substance worthy of a capital or even a minor offense which could have been brought, except that the high priests and scribes cared not for justice but for expediency, so they merely invented charges. As Mark wrote in his version of the account, “56...many had testified falsely against Him, and the testimonies were not the same. 57 And some arising gave false testimony against Him saying 58 that: “We heard Him saying that ‘I shall destroy this temple made by hand and after three days I shall build another not made by hand!’” 59 Yet not even thusly was their testimony the same.” Matthew said “59 Then the high priests and the entire council sought false testimony against Yahshua, that they may kill Him, 60 yet they found not many false witnesses coming forth. But later two having come forth 61 said 'He said this: ‘I am able to destroy the temple of Yahweh and in three days I will build it!’” While on the surface the accounts seem to conflict because of the differing perspectives, in many ways they compliment and corroborate one another. Luke did not record the matters concerning the temple, but all three gospels generally agree where Luke records the high priests as having asked “67 'If You are the Christ, tell us!' And He said to them: 'If I should tell you, you shall not believe it, 68 and if I shall ask, by no means will you answer. 69 But from this time the Son of Man shall be sitting at the right hand of the power of Yahweh.'” The apostle John in his gospel did not record any of the charges which the high priests and their followers had contrived before bringing Yahshua before Pilate.

The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 22, Part 2 - 12-07-2012

Satan is not in heaven. In his mailing this month, Clifton Emahiser sent out my reply to the assertions of Don Spears which had been presented here as a foreword with the presentation of Luke chapter 8 last July 7th. Since Don is a former Baptist preacher, his opinions on the issue generally reflect those which are held by Baptists on this matter. Unfortunately a very few people understand that once one comes to the truths of Christian Identity, one cannot put the new wine of these truths into old skins. Rather, one must put the new wine into new bottles, in order that the truth be maintained.

With this dispute in mind, we will begin our presentation of the second part of Luke chapter 22 with some of that which we had left off last week, with Luke 22:31 and the admonishment of Peter by Christ.

31 “Simon, Simon, behold! The Adversary demanded you, for which to winnow you as grain! 32 But I made supplication concerning you, that your faith would not fail. And when you have turned about, you must strengthen your brethren.”

The Baptists would insist that the Adversary, or Satan, of Luke 22:31 is a spirit demon, however that is not necessarily the case. The precedent Scripture with which to understand just what Peter was prevented from is found in the story of Job in the Old Testament. Yet the Baptists would insist that the Satan of Job was a spirit demon, and not an bodily one. They would then claim that this Satan had access to both heaven and earth, and reference the story of Jacob's Ladder in order to justify that claim.

The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 22, Part 1 - Christogenea on Talkshoe 12-07-2012

Last week, in presenting the second half of Luke chapter 21, we saw that the so-called diaspora of the jews, which in reality did not occur for the most part until after the Bar Kokhba Rebellion against Rome circa 136 AD, was really the diaspora of the enemies of God and Christ. We saw that in the language used not only by Christ Himself in Luke chapter 21, but where the same language was used of all those people of Judah who were to be given over to the “bad figs” described in Jeremiah chapters 24 and 29, the remnant of Judah in Jerusalem which was not taken away earlier by the Assyrians, but had been taken later by the Babylonians. These people who were to be given over to the bad figs are, ostensibly, those people of Judah who later race-mixed with the Kenites and Canaanites and Edomites who were the bad figs which had infiltrated the Kingdom from the earliest times. The Jews are not the people of God, they are the enemies of God. For this same reason the apostle Paul, in Romans chapter 9, distinguished between the true Israelites in Israel and those which were not of Israel, between the Israelites who are the vessels of mercy, and the Edomites who are the vessels of destruction. 

The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 21 part 2 - 11-30-2012

20 “But when you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, then you know that her desolation has come near. 21 Then those in Judaea must flee into the mountains, and those in her midst must leave the land, and those in the countryside must not enter into her!

Two weeks ago, in our presentation of the first half of Luke chapter 21, we saw how these words recorded by Luke were perfectly fulfilled in history just as they were recorded. Jerusalem was surrounded by armies during the siege of Cestius Gallus in 66 AD, and then Cestius withdrew from the city for no apparent reason. A couple of years later the Roman armies under Titus besieged and destroyed the city. In the interim, as Josephus attests, many of the better people fled the city for good. Josephus also attests to the vile nature of all those who remained behind, who were for the most part destroyed by Titus' armies. Now we shall present the second half of Luke chapter 21, where we left off discussing verses 22 through 24 and had introduced the parable of the good and the bad figs from Jeremiah chapter 24.

The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 21 - Christogenea on Talkshoe 11-16-2012

1 Then looking up He saw those casting the gifts of their riches into the treasury. 2 And He saw a certain needy widow casting two lepta there.

Lepta (singular λεπτόν, 3016) are very small coins. The Codex Bezae (D) inserts the explanatory phrase “which is a quadrans” (κοδράντης, 2835) into this verse. That manuscript also substituted κοδράντης for λεπτόν at Luke 12:59, where we see an example of a liberality taken in the copying of manuscripts in order to satisfy a difference in the vernacular, whether of the region or period. Evidently another copyist of the scrolls which led to the Codex Bezae meant to clarify lepton here by adding a note rather than changing the word. Marginal notes have often been known to eventually find their way into the texts, and here that process is evident.

3 And He said “Truthfully I say to you that this poor widow has cast more than all! 4 For all of them from their abundance have cast in the gifts, but she from her want has cast in all the substance she had!”

The Codices Alexandrinus (A), Bezae (D), Washingtonensis (W), and the Majority Text have “the gifts of God”; the text of the Christogenea New Testament follows the Codices Sinaiticus (א) and Vaticanus (B).

The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 20 - Christogenea on Talkshoe 11-09-2012

1 And it came to pass on one of the days of His teaching the people in the temple and announcing the good message, there appeared the high priests and the scribes with the elders 2 and they spoke, saying to Him “Tell us, by what sort of authority do You do these things? Or who is it who has given to You that authority?”

The Codices Alexandrinus (A), Washingtonensis (W) and the Majority Text have merely priests, rather than high priests. The text follows the Codices Sinaiticus (>א), Vaticanus (B), Ephraemi Syri (C) and Bezae (D).

3 But replying He said to them “I also shall ask you a question, and you must tell Me:

The word λόγος (3056) is rendered as question here, but it most literally means a word.

4 The immersion of Iohannes, was it from of heaven or from of men?”

The Pharisees had not gone to John because they thought of being baptized by him. They really went to see what he was doing, and why he thought he had such license to baptize. In Luke chapter 7, after Christ explains to the people that John was indeed a prophet, we see these words: “29 And all the people heard, and the tax-collectors deemed Yahweh just, being immersed in the immersion of Iohannes. 30 But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the counsel of Yahweh in regard to themselves, not being immersed by him.” Here Christ challenges them concerning this, which is also recorded in Matthew chapter 21and Mark chapter 11. From here we can also see that it is not improper to answer a question with a question in return, a rhetorical device eschewed by many today.