Acts 20:28

by Fisherman 13 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  Earnest

  In A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, 1974, pp.480, 481, Bruce Metzger explains why "congregation of God" is probably the original reading.

  ... it is undeniable that theou [of God] is the more difficult reading. The following clause speaks of the church "which he obtained dia tou haimatos tou idiou [with the blood of his own]." If this is taken in its usual sense ("with his own blood"), a copyist might well raise the question, Does God have blood?, and thus be led to change theou [of God] to kuriou [of Lord]. If, however, kuriou were the original reading, there is nothing unusual in the phrase [which would lead the copyist to change it].

  Instead of the usual reading of dia tou haimatos tou idiou [with his own blood], it is possible that the writer of Acts intended his readers to understand the expression to mean "with the blood of his Own." (It is not necessary to suppose, with Hort, that huiou [son] may have dropped out after tou idiou [(his) own], though palaeographically such an omission would have been easy.) This absolute use of ho idios [(his) Own] is found in Greek papyri as a term of endearment referring to near relatives. It is possible, therefore, that "his Own" (ho idios) was a title which early Christians gave to Jesus, comparable to "the Beloved" (ho agapetos); compare Ro 8.32, where Paul refers to God "who did not spare tou idiou huiou [his own son]" in a context that clearly alludes to Gn 22.16, where the Septuagint has tou agapetou huiou [the beloved son].

  Without committing itself concerning what some have thought to be a slight probability that tou idiou [(his) own] is used here as the equivalent of tou idiou huiou [his own son], the Committee judged that the reading theou [of God] was more likely to have been altered to kuriou [of Lord] than vice versa.
  
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  Vanderhoven7

  (NWT) Pay attention to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the holy spirit has appointed you overseers, to shepherd the congregation of God, which he purchased with the blood of his own Son. Acts 20:28

  (ASV) Take heed unto yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit hath made you bishops, to feed the church of the Lord which he purchased with his own blood.

  (DRB) Take heed to yourselves and to the whole flock, wherein the Holy Ghost hath placed you bishops, to rule the Church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood.

  (GNB) So keep watch over yourselves and over all the flock which the Holy Spirit has placed in your care. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he made his own through the blood of his Son.

  (KJV) Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

  (KJV+) Take heedG4337 thereforeG3767 unto yourselves,G1438 andG2532 to allG3956 theG3588 flock,G4168 overG1722 the whichG3739 theG3588 HolyG40 GhostG4151 hath madeG5087 youG5209 overseers,G1985 to feedG4165 theG3588 churchG1577 of God,G2316 whichG3739 he hath purchasedG4046 withG1223 his ownG2398 blood.G129

  (KJVA) Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

  (LITV) Then take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit placed you as overseers, to shepherd the assembly of God which He purchased through His own blood.

  (MKJV) Therefore take heed to yourselves, and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to feed the church of God which He has purchased with His own blood.

  (YLT) 'Take heed, therefore, to yourselves, and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit made you overseers, to feed the assembly of God that He acquired through His own blood,

  John Gill's Commentary

  which he hath purchased with his own blood; which being the blood not only of a pure and innocent man, but of one that is truly and properly God as well as man, was a sufficient ransom price to redeem the church and people of God from sin, the law, its curse and condemnation: so that this is no inconsiderable proof of the true and proper deity of Christ; and contains a fresh argument, or reason, why the flock of God and "church of Christ", as the Syriac version reads; or "the church of the Lord and God", as in five of Beza's exemplars: or "of the Lord God", as the Arabic version, should be taken heed unto and fed; because it must needs be dear to God and Christ, and precious to them, since so great a price has been paid for it. The purchaser is God, Christ who is God over all, blessed for ever, not a creature; that could never have made such a purchase, it could not have purchased a single sheep or lamb in this flock, no man can redeem his brother, or give to God a ransom for him, much less the whole flock; but Christ being God, was able to make such a purchase, and he has actually made it, and given a sufficient price for it; not to Satan, with whom these sheep were a prey, and from whom they are taken in virtue of the ransom given; but to God, from whom they strayed, against whom they sinned, and whose law they broke; and this price was not silver and gold, nor men, nor people: but Christ himself, his life and blood; and which were his "own", the human nature, the blood of which was shed, and its life given being in union with his divine person, and was in such sense his own, the property of the Son of God, as the life and blood of no mere man are theirs: and this purchase now being made in this way, and by such means, is a very proper one; it is not made without price, but with an invaluable one; and it is a legal purchase, a valuable consideration being given for it, perfectly equivalent to it; and therefore is a complete one, there is nothing wanting to make it more firm, it is a finished purchase; and it is a very peculiar one, it is a peculiar people that are purchased, called the purchased possession, Eph_1:14 and a peculiar price which is paid for it; there is no other of the same kind, nor any thing like it, and it is made by a peculiar person, one that is God and man in one person.

  
  
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  Rattigan350

  "which literally says : "the blood of his own", a subtle difference."

  The blood of his own what?

  This is why following the Bible does not give the clear answer, so we must use logic.
  

  It can't be God's own blood Not his own blood but the blood of someone else.

  And everywhere else in the Bible points to the blood of Jesus, his son.

  Thus the NWT is accurate in its meaning.
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  hooberus

  Since Christ is God (John 20:28) and man, this verse (as translated in the KJV) makes perfect sense.