Articles "a" "an" "the"

by Inquisitor 21 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  Inquisitor

  Can anyone tell me whether the usage of such articles can be found in the original Hebrew or Greek writing of the Scriptures?

  In this week's book study, the Society attempts to distinguish Jesus "the First and the Last" (Rev 1:18) from Jehovah "I am the first and I am the last" (Isaiah 44:6). The basis for such a distinction, according to the Society is that Isaiah quote lacks definite articles before the words "first" and "last". This makes God's claim of first and last a "description of his Godship" whereas the one in Revelation (in which articles are present) is a "title bestowed upon Jesus".

  So I want to know if the Society is honest in saying that the usage of articles is missing in the Isaiah because God was describing his Godship. Does the original Hebrew language used to write the OT even contain articles at all?

  INQ
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  Inquisitor

  Of course even without getting involved in the grammatical intrigue, one can still see that the Society's attempt to distinguish a phrase that describes one's Godship from the phrase that is a title, to be complete nonsense.

  What is the function of a title if not to describe the bearer's authority, i.e. Godship??!

  INQ
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  Alligator Wisdom

  Can anyone tell me whether the usage of such articles can be found in the original Hebrew or Greek writing of the Scriptures?

  Yes, I would like to know the scholarly answer to this one too. At the book study this week, the answer was read verbatim from the footnote:

  ***

  rechap.6p.27UnlockingaSacredSecret***

  *In the original Hebrew at Isaiah 44:6, there is no definite article with the words "first" and "last," whereas in Jesus’ description of himself in the original Greek at Revelation 1:17, the definite article is found. So, grammatically, Revelation 1:17 indicates a title, whereas Isaiah 44:6 describes Jehovah’s Godship.

  Once the answer was given, one sister raised her hand and commented that she still didn't grasp the meaning and wanted a clearer explanation of this. (She is a first generation JW, as she left the Baptist faith as an adult). The book study conductor, who supposedly is qualified to teach, didn't expound on this at all. He just said that the footnote was a wonderful way to describe and reveal the true meaning of this scripture.

  HUH?

  Alligator Wisdom (aka Brother NOT Exerting Vigorously by WTS standards)
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  SirNose586

  Yes, I wondered about that too! That really didn't make any sense. Blue Letter Bible pretty much just shot that out of the water. The exact phrase "I am the first" occurs in Isaiah 44:6 and Revelation 1:17.

  Lacking the definite article my ass. It's just a straight-up lie.
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  onacruse

  Both Biblical Greek and Hebrew have the specific article. In Hebrew it is ha (typically prefixed to the related noun), in Greek it is ho (stands alone as a precedent word). Neither language has an anarthric word "a."

  In Revelation 1:17, both "first" and "last" have the specific article in the Greek.

  In Isaiah 44:6, there is no specific article prefixed to "first" and "last."
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  LtCmd.Lore

  INQ hit the nail on the head,

  That's what I'm talking about!

  If his title is The First and the Last, how can they dare say that the title is innacurate! If the title doesn't meen anything then what's the point?
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  SirNose586

  Both Biblical Greek and Hebrew have the specific article. In Hebrew it is ha (typically prefixed to the related noun), in Greek it is ho (stands alone as a precedent word). Neither language has an anarthric word "a."

  In Revelation 1:17, both "first" and "last" have the specific article in the Greek.

  In Isaiah 44:6, there is no specific article prefixed to "first" and "last."

  I do see that in the Greek. In the BLB site, it has for "I [am] the last," 'acharon. So that little apostraphe does not stand for the h? In other words, would it have to be ha'acharon?
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  onacruse

  I do see that in the Greek. In the BLB site, it has for "I [am] the last," 'acharon. So that little apostraphe does not stand for the h? In other words, would it have to be ha'acharon?

  ah-'gharohn' is one word (an adjective) drawn from the root word ah-'ghehr', with the variable meanings of "to stay, tarry, retard, hinder." The "apostrophes" are "breathing marks," the spoken form being almost like "clearing the throat (a guttural hhhaaaaa)." The article is a letter ("he" as the second and fourth letters in YHWH), which is directly prefixed to the associated word (thus, "kol" ["a voice"] would become "hakkol," ["the voice"])

  Thus, "the last" would read (roughly) ha-ah-gharohn.

  I never thought English could be so easy! LOL
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  onacruse

  As an aside, the Septuagint of Isaiah 44:6 (and granted, the LXX is at times a very poor translation of the original Hebrew, if not downright unintelligible) is: "I am [the][no article] first, and I am hereafter [not ho eschatos, as the Greek in Revelation 1:17, but meta tauta [a prepositional idiom]]." This has meaning, in terms of Biblical import, only because, on many occasions, the NT writers (including Paul) quoted the LXX verbatim, even when it was not the best rendering of the original Hebrew text.

  Odd, that.
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  Narkissos

  It seems that this artificial dichotomy between "affirmation of godship" and "title" is just meant to muddy the waters. Forget about both categories, what remains? A solemn statement by Yhwh, put on the lips of Jesus.

  It is worth noting that the allusion to Deutero-Isaiah is not dependent on the LXX, neither in 44:6 (as Craig pointed out) nor in 48:12 which has prôtos ("first," anarthrous) and eis ton aiôna ("forever"). The Revelation version renders the formal Hebrew parallelism better, if not its meaning (it may be "before" and "after" as well as "first" and "last").