GRAMMAR IN THE BIBLE

Verbs, nouns, direct objects, adjectives, aorist Greek, present perfect tense, future progressive, ad nauseam. No, I am not going into any English grammar dissertation. But I do want to express a point with regard to our understanding.

If you are an uneducated person, as I am, (a relative thing, no offense intended), reading the Bible in the Greek language would be a hilarious exercise in futility. I appreciate the English language is difficult enough to understand, in any venue, but with regard to Bible reading, it is important to have a QUALITY translation (very important) that is easy to read (within reasonable consideration)… not JUST something that is easy to read. What do I mean by that? Suffice it to say that if you do not have a high enough standard of "quality" then you are probably "drinking in diluted milk"… if you're lucky.

One should also have a QUALITY teacher (pastor, mentor). Of course, the Holy Spirit is assumed to be at work in both mentor/teacher and disciple. This is incumbent on the believer in order to attain the best quality communication (he who has ears to hear, let him hear) between yourself and your Savior/God. Why?… To LEARN! We put our soul in jeopardy if we do anything else.

The other side of that coin is, if you are an "educated" person (a relative thing, no offense intended) as I am, be careful of the seduction of intellectualism. "…Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. And if any man think that he knows any thing, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know" 1 Cor. 8:1-2.
It is easy to get buried in the scholarly, academic, cerebral aspects of "learning". We should pray… and keep our hearts and "ears" open.

Sometimes help comes through your pastor. Sometimes from the brethren. Isn't it amazing… most brothers and sisters in Christ are "LAY" people… "untrained: without expertise or professional training in a particular field" (one of the meanings I most vehemently disagree with). And so we don't talk to each other because… why? We don't have degrees or "letters" after our names? How convenient then to never have to accept a word of edification, or exhortation, or yes, even reproof… or comfort one another, or forbear one another, or indeed… Love one another, as we are INSTRUCTED to do (Eph. 4:32, 5:21; Col. 3:13, 3:16; 1 Thess. 4:18; Heb. 3:13, 10:24-25; Jas. 5:16; 1 Pet. 5:5). No one to oversee our behavior except the learned Pastor and many only see him once a week. Pa-leeze.

I have recently had a discussion on verb tense with a blogger. So far, I don't get it because I don't know Greek well enough to read it. Furthermore, there are differences of opinion (surprise) among Greek "scholars." So I have one person telling me one thing, and someone else… another thing. The subject of discussion was Col. 1:18.


My question (or issue) is verb tense. That question opens up a whole new world of verb tenses. Days of past, present and future tense were already long gone. Today we have past perfect continuous; present perfect progressive and such. In the Greek, there is a whole new rascal called the aorist, or the aorist indicative, or the aorist subjunctive (depending on who one is talking to). The verse (and verb) of question (by me) reads…
"He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything" Col. 1:18 NASB.

"And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence" Col. 1:18 KJV.

Those two versions read two different ways to me, and one of them does not assert present tense "preeminence" to the Lord. Let's look at some other "renderings"…

"And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy" NIV.

"He also is the Head of [His] body, the church; seeing He is the Beginning, the Firstborn from among the dead, so that He alone in everything and in every respect might occupy the chief place [stand first and be preeminent]" AMP.

"Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything". NLT.

"And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent" ESV.

"And himself is the head of the body -- the assembly -- who is a beginning, a first-born out of the dead, that he might become in all [things] -- himself -- first" YLT.

"And *he* is the head of the body, the assembly; who is [the] beginning, firstborn from among the dead, that *he* might have the first place in all things" Darby Translation.

The YLT is very interesting. It speaks not only of "position" (preeminence), but of regeneration and restoration to glory… in all. The word "Himself" is used…"Himself is the Head of the Body, that He might become Himself in all things"… meaning (to me) that Christ might be perfected in all… that all things might be conformed to Christ… that all things might be reconciled to God, because He is the preeminent one and the very standard of God's Righteousness. And thus must ALL things be conformed to Himself… "that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers" Col. 1:16.
"And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven" Col. 1:20.

Now… I'm not going to tell anyone what Bible they should read (although I have opinions) and I do not criticize the blogger for the Bible he reads. But then I do take issue with whether a verse says, "He IS preeminent" or whether it says, "He will come to have the preeminence". And that's how I read those two translations. Yes, I know He is, BOTH now and in the future, preeminent. However, the verb, which is translated 255 times elsewhere as "BE" includes and encompasses past, present and future… whereas, "will come to have" speaks of a future event and does NOT address present status. We can't all go back to the Greek to check out "tenses". We need a quality translation.

I am not crazy about either translation (KJV or NASB) on this verse because I know "in all things He IS preeminent" …always was, always will be. The introduction of confusion comes from not "digging" into the text… not studying in depth, the Word of God… because God's Word IS deep. Now here's the thing… the "event" of Jesus'  Lordship (preeminence) happened in the past. Although He was God Incarnate (Emmanuel) Who always was the Preeminent One, it is the resurrected Jesus Who Himself has become and is preeminent, the first born of every (new) creature, the "first born from the dead".

As the Image of the invisible God, He is before all things and by Him all things consist. As the first born of the Church (His Body), He is preeminent among the brethren, by a present act of submission of will on our part. But here is the rest of the verse… He will manifest Himself as preeminent to all that have rejected Him, as well. His brethren will bow willingly, (now)… his enemies will be constrained (forced) to do it (in the future).

My point is - we will come to misunderstand some things, sometimes… text, lessons, sermons. I think it is safe to say "that is inevitable". That is our own fault… or perhaps I should say - "shortcoming". And that is scary to me… that I should misunderstand or misconstrue what God wants to "say" to me. I say "our own shortcoming" because, it's not like I have to go get a "degree" in order to be conversant in the Word; or I need to study up on Greek grammar to know the difference between "will be" and "is". However, there are things I CAN do. I can have a QUALITY Bible for one thing. I can prepare myself to comprehend; I can ready myself to receive; and be willing and able to apply. Those things go back directly to God our Father "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him" Jas. 1:5.
Peace and Grace to you.