NWT 1984 7 "Hey there, Zion! Make your escape, you who are dwelling with the daughter of Babylon. 8 For this is what Jehovah of armies has said, 'Following after [the] glory he has sent me to the nations that were despoiling you people; for he that is touching you is touching my eyeball. 9 For here I am waving hand against them, and they will have to become spoil to their slaves.' And you people will certainly know that Jehovah of armies himself has sent me.
Who is sending who?
by mdb 14 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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NowImFree
Hey all I found the NWT passage of their official website. Here is Zechariah 2:6-13. To me it sure sounds like it is saying Jehovah himself is sending Jehovah to dwelling with us, which to me is Jehovah in the flesh or Jesus the messiah.
6 “Hey there! Hey there! Flee, then, YOU people, from the land of the north,” is the utterance of Jehovah.
“For in the direction of the four winds of the heavens I have spread YOU people abroad,” is the utterance of Jehovah.
7 “Hey there, Zion! Make your escape, you who are dwelling with the daughter of Babylon. 8 For this is what Jehovah of armies has said, ‘Following after [the] glory he has sent me to the nations that were despoiling YOU people; for he that is touching YOU is touching my eyeball. 9 For here I am waving my hand against them, and they will have to become spoil to their slaves.’ And YOU people will certainly know that Jehovah of armies himself has sent me.
10 “Cry out loudly and rejoice, O daughter of Zion; for here I am coming, and I will reside in the midst of you,” is the utterance of Jehovah. 11 “And many nations will certainly become joined to Jehovah in that day, and they will actually become my people; and I will reside in the midst of you.” And you will have to know that Jehovah of armies himself has sent me to you. 12 And Jehovah will certainly take possession of Judah as his portion upon the holy ground, and he must yet choose Jerusalem. 13 Keep silence, all flesh, before Jehovah, for he has aroused himself from his holy dwelling.
NowImFree
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mdb
lovelylil,
In my bible the New International Version it reads very differently than yours. Which one are you using?
I am using the New King James version (or the KJV), I have the NIV, but I won't use it anymore.
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peacefulpete
It would be possible even easy in verses 3-5 to identify the "Lord " with the angel said to be speaking but it is unlikely that any Trinitarians would want to spin it that way.
And behold, the angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him and said to him, "Run, say to that young man, 'Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of people and livestock in it. And I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the LORD, and I will be the glory in her midst.'
Mind you I'm not suggesting the author intended that identification, he wasn't, anymore than he was intending to identify Jesus as part of a Christian Trinity in the verses that follow.
The fact is the section is poorly written and choppy. Perhaps this is the result of editing but just as likley the author was just a poor writer.
There are countles examples of difficult to translate passages in the Bible. For someone to maximize on an awkward rendering to support an otherwise unattested theological stance is cheap and desperate. the WT does it all the time. The most likely intended meaning is seen from this rendering (JPS 1944):
For thus saith the Lord of Hosts, who sent me after glory unto the nations which despoiled you: 'Surely, he that touches you touches the apple of my eye. For, behold, I will shake my hand over them and they shall be a spoil to those that served them' : and you shall know that the Lord of Hosts has sent me.
The angel is speaking and briefly quotes the Lord of Hosts. -
Kristofer
I find that to attribute "and you will know that the Jehovah of armies has sent me" to the angel is out of context. The angel is, indeed, delivering the speech on behalf of Jehovah, but notice he never speaks of himself or his purpose in this entire chapter. Everything the angel speaks are utterances of Jehovah. Not once does he declare himself anything. So to attribute THAT quote as the angel trying to prove that this is how you will know that he has been sent by Jehovah simply does not makes any sense.
I have a question to pose though...Does the original Hebrew contain quotations?
Does anyone know? What kind of punctuation exists in the original Hebrew manuscripts?