Luke 1:35 "that HOLY THING which shall be born OF THEE shall be called the Son of God."
More Dealing with the Bible Agnostics - Luke 1:35 and Romans 8:16
Bible corrector Dan Corner vigorously rails against the King James Bible saying such things as: "The KJV calls Jesus a "thing" (Lk. 1:35) and the Holy Spirit an "it" (Rom. 8:16)! Does that seem right to you?"..."There is NO Greek word for "thing" in Lk. 1:35, KJV. It was WRONGLY chosen to be used by them. The Greek word for "itself" in Rom. 8:16 should be HIMSELF, not neuter as the KJV translates it because the Holy Spirit is a PERSON."..."DO THOSE TRANSLATIONS EXCLUDE THE KJV FROM BEING THE "PERFECT" BIBLE?"..."The point is the KJV HAS ERRORS IN IT!!! Are you too proud to admit it?"..."Does anyone here call Jesus a THING, as the KJV does? (Would you want someone to call you a THING?) Jesus is my PRECIOUS LORD AND SAVIOR. HE IS NOT A THING. THE KJV IS WRONG."..."The KJV places the PRECIOUS LORD JESUS CHRIST alongside a fig, household products, poison, material possessions, food, ideas, etc. HOW? The KJV calls all of them THINGS, as well as JESUS! Here is the proof ==> JESUS IS A THING (Lk. 1:35), fig (Mk. 11:13), household products (Mk. 13:15), poison (Mk. 16:18), material possession (Lk. 19:8), food (Acts 10:14) and ideas (Acts 17:21)! **THE KJV IS WRONG!!!! IT IS NOT INSPIRED!!!" (all the capital letter words are his)
The only thing profound about Dan Corner and his totally unwarranted criticisms of the King James Bible is his profound ignorance, not only of the Greek texts but of his own English language as well.
I have addressed the big issue he has with the King James Bible's referring to the Holy Spirit as "it" in Romans 8:16 in this article here.
“The Spirit ITSELF beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.” Is referring to the third person of the of the blessed Trinity, as “itself” a major error in the King James Bible, which borders on blasphemy?
http://brandplucked.webs.com/thespirititself.htm
He might have picked up this alleged "blasphemous error in the KJV" from fellow bible agnostic Doug Kutilek. Seldom do any of these Bible critics like Dan Corner have an original thought. They usually pick stuff like this up from other unbelievers in the infallibility of ANY Bible and who criticize the Book God has used and continues to use like none other.
Simply read the article, compare the various translations, including many modern ones, and you should be able to clearly see that neither Dan Corner nor Doug Kutilek have a clue as to what they ignorantly affirm to be "a provable error in the King James Bible".
Now to address Dan Corner's "big error" as he sees it, in Luke 1:35 where both the Greek text itself and the King James Bible refer to the birth of the God-Man as "that Holy THING that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God."
In Luke 1:35, the angel says to Mary, “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also THAT HOLY THING which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” = διὸ καὶ τὸ γεννώμενον ἐκ σοῦ ἅγιον κληθήσεται υἱὸς Θεοῦ.
That holy thing - τὸ ἅγιον - is neuter. It is not masculine nor is it feminine word in the Greek, nor in the English text. Yet we all know that Jesus Christ is a person, in fact, God manifest in the flesh. THAT HOLY THING is the reading found in all Greek texts as well as Wycliffe 1395 - "therfor that hooli thing that schal be borun of thee", Tyndale 1525 - "that holy thinge which shalbe borne", the Great Bible 1540 - "that holy thynge", Bishops' bible 1568, the Geneva Bible 1587 - "that holy thing which shall bee borne of thee, shall be called the Sonne of God.", Beza's N.T. 1599 "that HOLY THING which shall be born OF THEE", Whiston's N.T. 1745, Wesley's N.T. 1755, Webster's translation 1833, Pickering N.T. 1840, The Commonly Received Version 1851, The Revised N.T. 1862, The Alford N.T. 1870, The Smith Bible 1876, Darby - "the holy thing also which shall be born", the RV 1885 (that which is to be born), the ASV of 1901 (the holy thing), Young's 1898 'literal' says: "the holy-begotten THING shall be called Son of God", Godbey Translation 1902, Rotherham's Emphasized bible 1902, The Clarke N.T. 1913, God's First Truth 1999, The Tomson N.T. 2002, the Updated Bible Version 2004, the Jubilee Bible 2000-2010 - "that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God, The Hebrew Transliteration Bible 2010 - "that Set Apart THING which shall be born OF YOU", The New European Version 2010 -"THE HOLY THING which is begotten WITHIN YOU shall be called the Son of God."
Several foreign language versions also reflect the use of a neuter here. The Spanish Sagradas Escrituras of 1569, Reina Valera 1909 -1977, Reina Valera Gómez 2010 say "lo Santo que de ti nacerá" = the Holy thing that will be born of thee". The Portuguese Almeida Actualizada has: "o ser que nascerá de ti será chamado Santo" = "the being that shall be born of thee shall be called Holy", the Italian Diodati 1649 - "per tanto ancora ciò che nascerà da te Santo sarà chiamato Figliuol di Dio." = "that Holy thing born of thee"
John Gill comments: "therefore also THAT HOLY THING which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. The human nature of Christ is here called a "thing"; for it was not a person; it never subsisted of itself, but was taken at once into union with the person of the Son of God, otherwise there would be two persons in Christ, whereas he is God, and man, in one person."
Matthew Henry comments: "The child she shall conceive is A HOLY THING, and therefore must not be conceived by ordinary generation, because he must not share in the common corruption and pollution of the human nature. He is spoken of emphatically, THAT HOLY THING, such as never was; and he shall be called the Son of God, as the Son of the Father by eternal generation, as an indication of which he shall now be formed by the Holy Ghost in the present conception. His human nature must be so produced, as it was fit that should be which was to be taken into union with the divine nature."
Adam Clarke comments: "We may plainly perceive here, that the angel does not give the appellation of Son of God to the Divine nature of Christ; but to that holy person or THING which was to be born of the virgin, by the energy of the Holy Spirit. The Divine nature could not be born of the virgin; the human nature was born of her. The Divine nature had no beginning; it was God manifested in the flesh, 1 Timothy 3:16... THE HOLY THING that was to be born of the virgin. Two natures must ever be distinguished in Christ"
Some modern versions have changed the translation somewhat. The NKJV, NIV (the holy one) Holman Standard say: "the Holy One to be born shall be called the Son of God." Strictly speaking, there is no word for "One" either but it is STILL neuter.
Here in Luke 1:35 the NASB 1995 edition, NET, the ESV 2011, ISV and the Catholic New Jerusalem 1985 now say "THE CHILD to be born will be called Holy", where the words "THE CHILD" are not in any Greek text at all, but once again the NASB footnote informs us that it literally is "that holy thing".
The NASB 1977 edition, as well as the Catholic St. Joseph NAB 1970, said : "the holy OFFSPRING shall be called the Son of God." Again, the word "offspring" and much less "child" are NOT found in ANY Greek text. They just made this stuff up and "edited" the word of God. Many modern versions are getting worse, not better.
The King James Bible is right in both Luke 1:35 and in Romans 8:16, just as it always is.
Luke 1:35 and a word of caution about the NKJV.
The NKJV is not at all the inerrant words of God. It is just another bogus bible version trading on the name of the King James Bible. Here is Luke 1:35 is one of about 40 instances I have found where the NKJV does NOT follow the Greek texts that underlie God's Masterpiece - the King James Holy Bible. See
When the NKJV does not follow the same Greek texts as the KJB -
http://brandplucked.webs.com/nkjvdepartsfromtr.htm
The Greek text that underlies the King James Bible in Luke 1:35 is that found in the Textus Receptus of Scrivener says "that holy thing born OF THEE shall be called the Son of God." - διο και το γεννωμενον εκ σου αγιον κληθησεται υιος θεου. Notice those two little words εκ σου = "of thee". The NKJV follows the Greek texts of Stephanus 1550 and that of the modern UBS/Nestle-Aland/Vatican critical Greek text which omits these two Greek words.
The Greek text of Theodore Beza 1598 also had the words "of thee" because his 1599 English translation of the New Testament reads "that holy thing which shall be born OF THEE shall be called the Son of God.", as do Coverdale 1535 and the Geneva Bible 1587 - and many others both old and modern as we shall soon see.
You can see Beza’s Greek text of 1598 here -
http://www.textusreceptusbibles.com/Beza/42/1
and it clearly reads “born OF THEE” -το γεννωμενον εκ σου αγιον κληθησεται υιος θεου
The Modern Greek New Testament also reads like the KJB - δια τουτο και το γεννωμενον εκ σου αγιον θελει ονομασθη Υιος Θεου.
However, the NKJV says: "therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God." You will notice they have omitted the words "OF THEE" from their text. Versions that follow this same reading and omit the words "OF THEE" are the R.V., ASV, NASB, RSV, ESV, NIV, NET, Holman Standard.
The Catholic Connection
The earlier Catholic Douay-Rheims of 1582 included the words " And therefore also the Holy which shall be born OF THEE shall be called the Son of God.". Then the 1950 Douay, the 1970 St. Joseph NAB and the 1985 New Jerusalem bibles all omitted the words. But wait. Now the 2009 Catholic Public Domain Version has come out and they once more put the words back into the text! - "the Holy One who will be born OF YOU shall be called the Son of God."
Other Bible translations that DO contain these two words "of thee" are Wycliffe 1395 - "and therfor that hooli thing that schal be borun OF THEE", Coverdale 1535, the Geneva Bible 1587 - "therefore also that holy thing which shall bee borne OF THEE, shall be called the Sonne of God.", the Douay-Rheims 1582, Beza's N.T. 1599, Whiston's N.T. 1745, Haweis N.T. 1795, the Etheridge 1849, Murdock 1852 and Lamsa's 1933 translations of the Syriac Peshitta, Webster's 1833 translation, Commonly Received Version 1851, Julia Smith Translation 1855, The Revised N.T. 1862, the Alford N.T. 1870, The Smith Bible 1876, The Revised English Bible 1877, the Clarke N.T. 1913, the Amplified Bible 1987, the KJV 21st Century Version 1994, The Koster Scriptures 1998, the Third Millennium bible 1998, J.P. Green's literal translation - "that Holy One being born OF YOU will be called Son of God.", the Complete Jewish Bible 1998, the Tomson N.T. 2002, the Apostolic Polyglot bible 2003, the Resurrection Life N.T. 2005, The Hebrew Transliteration Bible 2010 - "that Set Apart THING which shall be born OF YOU", The New European Version 2010, the Jubilee Bible 2010, the Work of God's Children bible 2011, the Hebrew Names Version 2014, the Modern Literal Version 2014, and the Hebrew Roots Bible 2015.
Foreign Language Bibles -
Among foreign language Bibles that contain the words "OF THEE" are the very old Spanish Evangelio de San Lucas Edición 1260 A.D. del Rey Alfonso X El Sabio - " e por ende la sancta cosa que naçra DE TI sera llamado Fiio de Dios.", the Spanish Sagradas Escrituras 1569, Cipriano de Valera 1602 and the Reina Valera Gómez 2010 - "por lo cual lo Santo que nacerá DE TI, será llamado Hijo de Dios.", Luther's German Bible 1545 - "das von dir geboren wird, wird Gottes Sohn genannt warden.", the French Martin 1744, Ostervald 1996, the French Louis Segond 1910 and La Bible du Semeur 1999 - "C'est pourquoi le saint enfant qui naîtra DE TOI sera appelé Fils de Dieu.", the Italian Diodati 1649 and La Nuova Diodati 1991 - "pertanto il santo che nascerà DA TE sarà chiamato figlio di Dio.", the Portuguese A Sagrada Biblia em Portugués, the Almeida Corregida E Fiel 1681 and O Livro of 2000 - "por isso, o menino que DE TI vai nascer será santo, e será chamado o Filho de Deus.", the Romanian Cornilescu Bible and the 2009 Romanian Fidela Bible - "De aceea Sfîntul care Se va naşte DIN TINE, va fi chemat Fiul lui Dumnezeu." and the Modern Greek Bible - "δια τουτο και το γεννωμενον εκ σου αγιον θελει ονομασθη Υιος Θεου." = "that holy thing born OF YOU shall be named the Son of God."
Early Church Writers that testify to the reading found in the King James Bible.
http://www.laparola.net/greco/index.php
A Treatise of Novatian Concerning the Trinity: For they propose and put forward what is told in the Gospel of Luke, whence they strive to maintain not what is the truth, but only what they want it to be: "The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shah overshadow thee; therefore also the Holy Thing which is born of thee shall be called the Son of God."[188]
Cyprian Treatise XII Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews: Whence, in the Gospel according to Luke, Gabriel says to Mary: "And the angel, answering, said to her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee. Wherefore that holy thing which is born of thee shall be called the Son of God."[193]
Dialogue of Justin: But the Virgin Mary received faith and joy, when the angel Gabriel announced the good tidings to her that the Spirit of the Lord would come upon her, and the power of the Highest would overshadow her: wherefore also the Holy Thing begotten of her is the Son of God;[386]
Fragments from Peter of Alexandria: For he shows that He was conceived in the womb, and was to become flesh; as it is written, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God; "[11]
Fragments from Peter of Alexandria: intended to signify God the Word is with thee, and also to show that He would arise from her bosom, and would be made flesh, even as it is written, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God."[40]
Hippolytus Refutation of All Heresies Book VI: had been concealed, and in which obscurity the natural man was hid, and had a veil upon the heart;-when (it was time), then, that the veil should be taken away, and that these mysteries should be seen, Jesus was born of Mary the virgin, according to the declaration (in Scripture), "The Holy Ghost will come upon thee"-Sophia is the Spirit-" and the power of the Highest will overshadow thee"-the Highest is the Demiurge,-"wherefore that which shall be born of thee shall be called holy."[96]
Irenaeus Against Heresies Book III: and that the angel Gabriel said unto her, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God; "[408]
Pseudo-Gregory Thaumaturgus Twelve Topics on the Faith: Wherefore he says, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of the Highest."[9]
Tertullian Against Praxeas: I will not here largely use the support of the other Gospels, which confirm our belief by the Lord's nativity: it is sufficient to remark that He who had to be born of a virgin is announced in express terms by the angel himself as the Son of God: "The Spirit of God shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also the Holy Thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God."[359]
Two verses come to mind when I read silly criticisms like this from men like Dan Corner and Doug Kutilek.
"Go from the presence of a foolish man, when thou perceivest not in him the lips of knowledge." Proverbs 14:7
and "Desiring to be teachers...understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm." 1 Timothy 1:7
All of grace, believing the Book - the Authorized King James Holy Bible. Accept no substitutes.
Will Kinney Return to Articles - http://brandplucked.webs.com/kjbarticles.htm