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From Kristos Vocabulary Booster

I simply asked:

nna...@yahoo.com wrote:
> you will see my point when you post the verse in English. I guess I
> need to be more specificwith you. Choose a Bible you have in English
> and post what it says at Acts 28:6

Bart Godderd wrote:

>No. I know that dishonest trick.

Dishonest trick? I asked you to quote a verse from one of your own
Bible translations and you refused to even do that? Why? Because you're
afraid of honest, objective debate methinks.

Since you are being stubborn I'll post the verse for you:

"But they were expecting he was going to swell up with inflammation or
suddenly drop dead. After they waited for a long while and beheld
nothing hurtful happen to him, they changed their mind and began saying
he was a god" (Acts 28:6)

"was a god"

If you look at one of your English Bibles (oh sarcastic Bart) you will
find it inserts in the indefinite artcle "a" before "god" even though
it does not appear there in Greek. So for you to accuse me or the New
World Translation of "inconsistant translation" is ignorant.

Following is a list of instances in the gospels of Mark and John where
various translators have rendered singular anarthrous predicate nouns
occurring before the verb with an indefinite article to denote the
indefinite and qualitative status of the subject nouns:

Scripture Text

New World Translation

King James Version

An American Translation

New International Version

Revised Standard Version

Today's English Version

Mark

6:49 an apparition a spirit a ghost a ghost a ghost a ghost

11:32 a prophet a prophet a prophet a prophet a real prophet a
prophet

John

4:19 a prophet a prophet a prophet a prophet a prophet a prophet

6:70 a slanderer a devil an informer a devil a devil a devil

8:44 a manslayer a murderer a murderer a murderer a murderer a
murderer

8:44 a liar a liar a liar a liar a liar a liar

9:17 a prophet a prophet a prophet a prophet a prophet a prophet

10:1 a thief a thief a thief a thief a thief a thief

10:13 a hired man an hireling a hired man a hired hand a hireling
a hired man

10:33 a man a man a mere man a mere man a man a man

12:6 a thief a thief a thief a thief a thief a thief

>We have a verse before us which says quite plainly
>that Jesus is God

it plainly refers to Jesus as an anarthrous "god" and not an articular
"God" like Jesus' Father and God whom the Word was WITH.

These translations use such words as "a god," "divine" or
"godlike" because the Greek word ???? (the·os´) is a singular
predicate noun occurring before the verb and is not preceded by the
definite article. This is an anarthrous the·os´. The God with whom
the Word, or Logos, was originally is designated here by the Greek
expression ? ????, that is, the·os´ preceded by the definite article
ho. This is an articular the·os´. Careful translators recognize that
the articular construction of the noun points to an identity, a
personality, whereas a singular anarthrous predicate noun preceding the
verb points to a quality about someone. Therefore, John's statement
that the Word or Logos was "a god" or "divine" or "godlike"
does not mean that he was the God with whom he was. It merely expresses
a certain quality about the Word, or Logos, but it does not identify
him as one and the same as God himself.

In the Greek text there are many cases of a singular anarthrous
predicate noun preceding the verb, such as in Mr 6:49; 11:32; Joh 4:19;
6:70; 8:44; 9:17; 10:1, 13, 33; 12:6. In these places translators
insert the indefinite article "a" before the predicate noun in
order to bring out the quality or characteristic of the subject. Since
the indefinite article is inserted before the predicate noun in such
texts, with equal justification the indefinite article "a" is
inserted before the anarthrous ???? in the predicate of John 1:1 to
make it read "a god." The Sacred Scriptures confirm the correctness
of this rendering.

In his article "Qualitative Anarthrous Predicate Nouns: Mark 15:39
and John 1:1," published in Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 92,
Philadelphia, 1973, p. 85, Philip B. Harner said that such clauses as
the one in Joh 1:1, "with an anarthrous predicate preceding the verb,
are primarily qualitative in meaning. They indicate that the logos has
the nature of theos. There is no basis for regarding the predicate
theos as definite." On p. 87 of his article, Harner concluded: "In
John 1:1 I think that the qualitative force of the predicate is so
prominent that the noun cannot be regarded as definite."

"and the Word was a god." we have:

The New Testament in an Improved Version(1808)
The New Testament in Greek and English(A. Kneeland, 1822.)
A Literal Translation Of The New Testament(H. Heinfetter, 1863)
Concise Commentary On The Holy Bible(R. Young, 1885)
The Coptic Version of the N.T.(G. W. Horner, 1911)
Das Evangelium nach Johannes(J. Becker, 1979)
The New Testament of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Anointed(J. L. Tomanec,
1958)
The Monotessaron; or, The Gospel History According to the Four
Evangelists(J. S. Thompson, 1829)
Das Evangelium nach Johannes(S. Schulz, 1975)



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