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Book 2 Chapter 6.
What is the Coptic Translation?
Many Christians know and understand that Jesus and the 12 Apostles were Hebrew people.
And we all know that Jesus and his disciples spoke or understood the Hebrew language, the Greek language, and the Aramaic language.
But until a few days ago, I myself had never even heard of the Sahidic dialect of the Coptic language translation of the Bible.
And I had never heard that the Coptic language was also spoken and used in the time of the disciples during early centuries right after the ascension of Jesus.
In other words, there were Gentiles being saved from other nationalities who spoke other languages, but they also understood the Greek language.
To say this another way, the gospel was mainly preached by way of the Greek language, but the Gentile people who spoke their own language also understood the Greek language.
And thus, when they were saved and began preaching the gospel to their own people, then they used their own language.
Now, the Coptic language was primarily used in Egypt. And perhaps it was the first language, other than the Hebrew and Greek languages, that was used to write the gospels and the letters to the churches that were established in their country.
In other words, there were no English speaking Christians in the earliest churches in that part of the world, simply because the gospel had not yet spread to English speaking countries.
But there were Gentile countries who did hear and believe the gospel in that part of the world as the gospel spread further and further out into the world.
So then, it is not a wild stretch of the imagination to say that many of the different Gentile nationalities preached the gospel in their own native language.
But again, they also understood the Greek language that the gospel was first preached to the people.
With that being said, according to Wikipedia and other sources, the Christian school in Alexandria, Egypt, was founded by the Apostle Mark.
And the native Coptic people became Christians through the preaching and teaching of the Apostle Mark, the writer of the gospel of Mark.
And the first coptic church was founded by the Apostle Mark in 42 AD.
Now, due to OTHER influences of the gnostic philosophical Greek Christians who also were students of the Alexandrian school in Egypt, the majority part of the Coptic Church EVENTUALLY became deceived to join the Roman Catholic church that was being formed over the next few centuries.
But it is during the first and second century of the Coptic Christians that we are concerned with in this study.
For you see, not ALL Coptic Christians were deceived to become a part of the Roman Catholic Church.
And just like many other Christians of every nation contended for the faith that was first given to them, SOME of the Coptic Christians also held fast to the TRUE Gospel and the TRUE Jesus that the first Apostles taught.
So then, why are the Coptic translations of the Bible so important?
You see, the Greek language has no “indefinite” article “a” like the English language.
And thus, when a noun is NOT INTENDED to be a definite noun, then the Greek language does NOT have the definite article “a” to make the intended meaning known to the reader with absolute assurance.
So, all that can be done in the Greek language is to NOT use the definite article “the” before the noun. But again, that does not guarantee that the reader will understand the “intended meaning”.
For you see, the definite noun does not ALWAYS have to have the definite article. Therefore, it must be INTERPRETED if a noun is a definite noun or an indefinite noun.
Let me explain what I mean by using an example. If I were to ask you to hand me a pencil, then you would understand that I am asking you to hand me ANY pencil.
But, if I were to ask you to hand me the pencil that I always use, as in, I prefer to use, but I can also use a different pencil.
So then, if you knew the WHOLE story about me, then you would understand that I am asking you to hand me a SPECIFIC pencil.
And thus, you should be able to understand this example. In the beginning there was THE pencil.
And THE pencil was TOWARD THE ONE, and ONE was the pencil.
Now, my INTENDED meaning is that in the beginning I always used a specific pencil, and the pencil was the PREFERED ONE, and now, “A” pencil is one that I will use.
In other words, is the Greek word “theos” in John 1:1 b is a definite noun referring to THE ALMIGHTY God because it has the definite article “the” in the Greek text before the noun “theos”.
But John 1:1 c, the third phrase, there is not a definite article before the Greek word “theos”.
And thus, it must be interpreted as to whether the Greek word “theos” in John 1:1 c was INTENDED to mean “a” god or if it was intended to mean the Almighty God.
For you see, WITHOUT the definite article “the” before the Greek word “theos”, then it cannot be demanded that John 1:1 c refers to EITHER the Almighty God OR a god under and subject to the Almighty God.
And that is why the Coptic translation of the Bible is so important.
For you see, the Coptic language has BOTH the definite article AND the indefinite article like the English language.
Here is the Coptic translation of John 1:1 c from the 1911 publication, which is obviously a copy.
For there are no original manuscripts in ANY language. And thus, ALL manuscripts are copies made from the original manuscripts.
1911: “and [a] God was the word” – The Coptic Version of the New Testament in the Southern Dialect, by George William Horner.[43]
And as we already saw in chapter 5, there are MANY translations both before and after the KJV translation that translate John 1:1 c as follows. I will only quote a few.
14th century: “and God was the word” – Wycliffe’s Bible[35] (translated from the 4th-century Latin Vulgate)[36]
1808: “and the Word was a god” – Thomas Belsham[37] The New Testament, in an Improved Version, Upon the Basis of Archbishop Newcome’s[38] New Translation: With a Corrected Text, London.
1822: “and the Word was a god” – The New Testament in Greek and English (A. Kneeland, 1822.)
1829: “and the Word was a god” – The Monotessaron; or, The Gospel History According to the Four Evangelists (J. S. Thompson, 1829)
1863: “and the Word was a god” – A Literal Translation of the New Testament (Herman Heinfetter [Pseudonym of Frederick Parker], 1863)
1864: “the LOGOS was God” – A New Emphatic Version (right hand column)
1864: “and a god was the Word” – The Emphatic Diaglott[39] by Benjamin Wilson,[40] New York and London (left hand column interlinear reading)
1867: “and the Son was of God” – The Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible[41]
1879: “and the Word was a god” – Das Evangelium nach Johannes (J. Becker, 1979)
1885: “and the Word was a god” – Concise Commentary on The Holy Bible (R. Young,[42] 1885)
1894: “and the SAYING was God” – Scriveners translation from the Textus Receptus (Basis of KJV / AV translation)
1911: “and [a] God was the word” – The Coptic Version of the New Testament in the Southern Dialect, by George William Horner.[43]
Now, when a Christian knows and understands the END or the FULFILLMENT of the Scriptures, then they can clearly see that Almighty God the Father is the God of His Son, Jesus.
In other words, we can clearly see that the Bible itself teaches us that the Father is the God of His Son and that Jesus is under and subject to his God and Father.
And we also know and understand that the Greek word “theos” is translated as “god” with a lowercase “g” when Satan is called by the title of god in 2 Corinthians 4:3,4.
We also know and understand that the Greek word “theos” means God, as in, the Supreme or the Highest God, THE God of all other gods.
And we know that “theos” also means god, as in, a god who is NOT the Almighty God Himself.
It means gods, and in many gods, hence the meaning of Yahweh as being THE God of gods. It also means DEITY, a deity, and divine.
In other words, Jesus is a “true” God under and subject to his God and Father. Jesus is one in agreement and unity with the Almighty God the Father who highly exalted His human Son to be made a Lord of lords and King of kings to sit on his Father’s throne.
So then, in TRUTH, the WHOLE word of God clearly teaches us that the Son of God is “a” God and NOT the Almighty God Himself as some Christians dogmatically claim.
Below is a quote from another website where I found some of the quotes that I used in this Book 2 Chapter 1 called “John 3:16-18 The TRUE SOUND Biblical Meaning!”
Now, while Jehovah’s Witnesses correctly teach that Jesus is NOT Almighty God HIMSELF, they WRONGLY teach that the Son of God was begotten in the eternity past as the FIRST one born.
And thus, they wrongly teach that the Son of God created everything in the universe, based upon their INCORRECT interpretation of Colossians 1:16,17.
But that is NOT what the Bible itself teaches us! Again, I left their links so that you can read those other translations if you like.
The emphasis is mine.
Was the Word “God” or “a god”?
THAT question has to be considered when Bible translators handle the first verse of the Gospel of John.
In the New World Translation, the verse is rendered: “In the beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.” (John 1:1)
Some other translations render the last part of the verse to convey the thought that the Word was “divine,” or something similar. (A New Translation of the Bible, by James Moffatt; The New English Bible)
Many translations, however, render the last part of John 1:1: “And the Word was God.”—The Holy Bible—New International Version; The Jerusalem Bible.
Greek grammar and the context strongly indicate that the New World Translation rendering is correct and that “the Word” should not be identified as the “God” referred to earlier in the verse.
Nevertheless, the fact that the Greek language of the first century did not have an indefinite article (“a” or “an”) leaves the matter open to question in some minds. It is for this reason that a Bible translation in a language that was spoken in the earliest centuries of our Common Era is very interesting.
The language is the Sahidic dialect of Coptic. The Coptic language was spoken in Egypt in the centuries immediately following Jesus’ earthly ministry, and the Sahidic dialect was an early literary form of the language.
Regarding the earliest Coptic translations of the Bible, The Anchor Bible Dictionary says: “Since the [Septuagint] and the [Christian Greek Scriptures] were being translated into Coptic during the 3d century C.E., the Coptic version is based on [Greek manuscripts] which are significantly older than the vast majority of extant witnesses.”
The Sahidic Coptic text is especially interesting for two reasons. First, as indicated above, it reflects an understanding of Scripture dating from before the fourth century, which was when the Trinity became official doctrine.
Second, Coptic grammar is relatively close to English grammar in one important aspect. The earliest translations of the Christian Greek Scriptures were into Syriac, Latin, and Coptic. Syriac and Latin, like the Greek of those days, do not have an indefinite article. Coptic, however, does.
Moreover, scholar Thomas O. Lambdin, in his work Introduction to Sahidic Coptic, says: “The use of the Coptic articles, both definite and indefinite, corresponds closely to the use of the articles in English.”
Hence, the Coptic translation supplies interesting evidence as to how John 1:1 would have been understood back then. What do we find? The Sahidic Coptic translation uses an indefinite article with the word “god” in the final part of John 1:1.
Thus, when rendered into modern English, the translation reads: “And the Word was a god.” Evidently, those ancient translators realized that John’s words recorded at John 1:1 did not mean that Jesus was to be identified as Almighty God. The Word was a god, not Almighty God.
14th century: “and God was the word” – Wycliffe’s Bible[35] (translated from the 4th-century Latin Vulgate)[36]
1808: “and the Word was a god” – Thomas Belsham[37] The New Testament, in an Improved Version, Upon the Basis of Archbishop Newcome’s[38] New Translation: With a Corrected Text, London.
1822: “and the Word was a god” – The New Testament in Greek and English (A. Kneeland, 1822.)
1829: “and the Word was a god” – The Monotessaron; or, The Gospel History According to the Four Evangelists (J. S. Thompson, 1829)
1863: “and the Word was a god” – A Literal Translation of the New Testament (Herman Heinfetter [Pseudonym of Frederick Parker], 1863)
1864: “the LOGOS was God” – A New Emphatic Version (right hand column)
1864: “and a god was the Word” – The Emphatic Diaglott[39] by Benjamin Wilson,[40] New York and London (left hand column interlinear reading)
1867: “and the Son was of God” – The Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible[41]
1879: “and the Word was a god” – Das Evangelium nach Johannes (J. Becker, 1979)
1885: “and the Word was a god” – Concise Commentary on The Holy Bible (R. Young,[42] 1885)
1894: “and the SAYING was God” – Scriveners translation from the Textus Receptus (Basis of KJV / AV translation)
1911: “and [a] God was the word” – The Coptic Version of the New Testament in the Southern Dialect, by George William Horner.[43]
1924: “the Logos was divine” – The Bible: James Moffatt Translation, by James Moffatt.[44]
1935: “and the Word was divine” – The Bible: An American Translation, by John M. P. Smith[45] and Edgar J. Goodspeed,[46] Chicago.[47]
1955: “so the Word was divine” – The Authentic New Testament, by Hugh J. Schonfield,[48] Aberdeen.[49]
1956: “And the Word was as to His essence absolute deity” – The Wuest Expanded Translation.[50]
1958: “and the Word was a god” – The New Testament of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Anointed (J. L. Tomanec, 1958);
1962, 1979: “’the word was God.’ Or, more literally, ‘God was the word.’” – The Four Gospels and the Revelation (R. Lattimore, 1979)
1966, 2001: “and he was the same as God” – The Good News Bible.[51]
1970, 1989: “and what God was, the Word was” – The New English Bible[52] and The Revised English Bible.[53]
1975 “and a god (or, of a divine kind) was the Word” – Das Evangelium nach Johnnes, by Siegfried Schulz, Göttingen, Germany
1975: “and the Word was a god” – Das Evangelium nach Johannes (S. Schulz, 1975);
1978: “and godlike sort was the Logos” – Das Evangelium nach Johannes, by Johannes Schneider, Berlin
1985: “So the Word was divine” – The Original New Testament, by Hugh J. Schonfield.[54]
1993: “The Word was God, in readiness for God from day one.” — The Message,[55] by Eugene H. Peterson.[56]
1998: “and what God was the Word also was” – This translation follows Professor Francis J. Moloney, The Gospel of John, ed. Daniel J. Harrington.[57]
2017: “and the Logos was god” – The New Testament: A Translation, by David Bentley Hart.[58]
I have said this many times before, but it is worth repeating again and again.
The ONLY time in the Bible that the English words “Divine nature” are found together is in 2 Peter 1:4.
And that passage of Scripture teaches us that WE who believe in Jesus will be made PARTAKERS of the DIVINE NATURE.
We are being conformed into the IMAGE of God’s Son. And when we are made in the IMAGE of Jesus at his coming that does NOT mean that we will BE Jesus himself.
Therefore, the Son of God being in the IMAGE of Almighty God does NOT mean that Jesus is Almighty God Himself in the flesh as some Christians dogmatically claim.
And thus, my conclusion concerning John 3:16, “God GAVE His only begotten Son”, should be translated as God BROUGHT FORTH His only begotten HUMAN Son.
And then, Almighty God RECEIVED His Only begotten HUMAN Son up into heaven to ENTER INTO GLORY.
And the sound Biblical meaning of the words of God’s “ONLY begotten” Son means God’s FIRST human Son to be made a partaker of the DIVINE NATURE of immortality to become a God.
In other words, the Son of MAN, Jesus, was the FIRST human Son of God to be made in the IMAGE of the unseen God to become the FIRSTBORN of God’s new creation, the firstborn among many BRETHREN.
This concludes this particular Book 2 The TRUE Jesus According to the Bible ITSELF!
Here is the menu list of all my **NEW BOOKS!**.
And here are some links to a couple of chapters in other books and in-depth studies on John 1:1 and who Jesus TRULY is according to the Bible itself.
And here are two subject headings that have many links related to that subject.
Or you can type in any Scripture verse reference or key words in the search bar in the header menu or the footed menu to find if I have a study or studies on that verse or subject.
Thanks for reading, and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of Almighty God.
And to me, the truth concerning who Jesus TRULY is, according to the Bible ITSELF, is the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus.
Once Christians, Jews, Muslims, and even atheists understand the REASON that Yahweh CREATED the Son of MAN, Jesus, was to have DOMINION over the work of Yahweh’s hands.
And after you understand that the REASON that Yahweh did that is to STILL His ENEMIES, Satan and the fallen angels.
Then you can understand that God made His human Son to become “a” Lord, “a” King, and “a” God, under and subject to his God and Father in order to JUDGE Satan and the fallen angels.
For a deeper understanding of this WAR that Lucifer and one third of the angels waged against the throne of Almighty God, please read the studies under the subject category called Q-0 Why Are We Here? Is God at WAR?
More studies are coming in this SHORTER Biblical Unitarian view of who Jesus is according to the WHOLE word of God.
If you have a PARTICULAR verse of Scripture that you would like to know the sound Biblical Unitarian meaning, then please email me at MarkatAMatterOfTruth@Gmail.com and let me know.
For further and more in-depth studies on this subject of Jesus being created to STILL the enemies of Yahweh, please read the studies called D-25. A NEW LOOK at JOHN 1:1, In the BEGINNING!
And also read the study called D-28. The PRE-ADAMIC LUCIFERIAN FLOOD!
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Thanks again for reading, and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of Almighty God.
And to me, the truth concerning who Jesus TRULY is, according to the Bible ITSELF, is the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus.
And again, for ALL of the studies on the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus, please click on the subject heading D-0. The BIBLICAL UNITARIAN VIEW of Jesus!
And for the SUBJECT on the true foundation of the church, please click on the subject heading C-0. The TRUE FOUNDATION of the Church!
This way you can just send ONE link to those who you want to share the TRUE sound Biblical FOUNDATIONAL teachings of the church that Jesus and his Apostles taught in the first century church.
Your brother in our Lord Jesus Christ,
Brother Mark.
My heartfelt prayer is that all Christians RETURN to the TRUE FOUNDATION of the church that is taught by the very Apostles of Jesus in the first century.
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