Wednesday 27 November 2013

1 Thessalonians 4:16 (Part I)



                             "WITH THE VOICE OF ARCHANGEL"

                                "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first." --- I Thessalonians 4:16 (KJV, NRSV, e.t.c.)

                             "For the Lord himself will descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in christ will rise first." --- I Thessalonians 4:16 (Gideons, NWT, e.t.c.)

                             "There will be the shout of command, the archangel's voice, the sound of God's trumpet, and the Lord himself will come down from heaven. Those who have died believing in Christ will rise to life first." --- I Thessalonians 4:16 (TEV)

                             "The foremost angel, both in power and authority is the archangel, Jesus Christ also called Michael. (1 Thessalonians 4:16; Jude 9) Under his authority are seraphs, cherubs, and angels." --- (The Watchtower, November 1, 1995 "The Truth About Angels")

                        Personally, I do not hold that Jesus Christ our Lord is one in the same with Michael the archangel but, I have been -- and will always be-- open-minded to any scripturally proven fact that may show otherwise yet, as far as I've been able to see, there is no solid evidence to bolster its scriptural status and of course, only conjectures could help give it grounds in the Bible. Reading through proof texts tendered by those who claim that the Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is the archangel, Michael, the above quoted verse tends to be one held in very high regard. In fact, one isn't faulty to think that it is the very verse (at least, the way they interpret it) that must have inspired the belief that Jesus is Michael the archangel but is this what this verse really states? Let's analyze further.

                        An important information that one shouldn't overlook is the fact that the Bible was originally written in other tongues: The Old Testament (hence, OT) was written in Hebrew and Aramaic while the New Testament in Greek. Thus, it is always important to turn back to the originals just in case we get to misunderstand what an English translation is trying to inform. Paul, the other Apostles and at times, Jesus himself usually alluded to (and many times quoted) the OT from the Greek translation of the OT known as the Septuagint (hence, LXX) so in many cases, they tend to make statements with a similar grammatical construction to some passages in the LXX. Paul was no exception. He was so fund of the LXX such that his epistles even look like another version of it.

                        There are many passages from the LXX that resembles that of I Thessalonians 4:16 but a really outstanding verse that mirrors that of Paul is Psalm 47:5:

            "God has ascended, with joyful shouts, the LORD with the sound of trumpet" --- Septuagint (LXX)

Now. this is how it mirrors Paul's statement, I Thessalonians 4:16 reads:

            "The Lord himself will descend from heaven, with commanding shouts, with the voice of archangel and with the trumpet of God"

Grammatical similarities:

Psalm 47:5 "God has ascended" --- I Thessalonians 4:16 "The Lord himself shall descend"

Psalm 47:5 "with joyful shouts" (en odalagmo) --- I Thessalonians 4:16 "with commanding shouts" (en keleusmati)

Psalm 47:5 "...with the sound of trumpet" (en phone salpiggou) --- I Thessalonians 4:16 "with the voice of archangel" (en phone arkhaggelou)

One needs not go further into details to see it clear that Paul used the same grammatical construction of Psalm 47:5 to write his above quoted epistle. The striking similarities should be a key into understanding the usage of "en phone" + subject genitive in Greek.

According to Strong's concordance, the Greek word "phone" (pronounced, "fo-nay") has ranges of meanings but its most literal is "sound"; from which springs "voice", "language", "dialect", "utterance", "cry", "noise", e.t.c. In Psalm 47:5, God was more or less ascending with "the VOICE of a trumpet" (as the WYC translates it), with the SOUND of a trumpet (as most translations have it) or with the BLAST or ROAR of a trumpet (as some have also). They all explains the word "phone" which is also used in I Thessalonians 4:16.

            There are many interpretations to Paul's writing and these interpretations play a big role in determing in one's heart whether or not Jesus Christ is Michael. Like I said, Psalm 47:5 is a key into understanding Paul's grammar in I Thessalonians 4:16 and understanding one helps in understanding the other.

In Psalm:

Many translations even translate "...en odalagmo...en phone salpiggou" (in Psalm 47:5) as: "...amid joyful shouts...amid the sound of trumpet" (as in DARBY, AMP, NET, NIV, NIVUK, ); "...as people shout...and (as) trumpets blast" (as in CEV); "...among joyful shouts...among the sound of trumpets" (as in HCSB).  These should suggest to you how the word "en" is taken in Psalm 47:5. The word "en" should be another point of focus for our understanding of I Thessalonians 4:16. It is true that the most used translation of "en" is 'in" or "with" but at times, it means more than what the English words "in" and "with" have in them. Here are perfect examples:

"You became imitators of us amid much tribulation (en thlipsei polle), welcoming the message with joy given by the Holy Spirit" --- I Thessalonians 1:6

"But after we had already suffered and been mistreated in Philippi, as you know, we had the boldness in our God to speak to you the gospel of God amid much opposition (en pollo agoni)" --- I Thessalonians 2:2

The usage of "en" by Paul ISN'T saying that "you became imitators of us en much tribulations" means you became imitators of them "BY THE USE OF" tribulations (or something similar) but that they became imitators of them "in times of tribulations"; "amid tribulations"; "at tribulations', e.t.c. The same with the latter verse. Paul WAS NOT saying that "we...speak to you the gospel of God en much oppositions" means they speak the gospel to them "BY THE USE OF" much opposition. He was simply saying that they speak the gospel to them "in times of much oppositions"; "amid much oppostions"; "at much oppostions", e.t.c. Thus, we see that the English words "in" and "with" do not contain the fullness of meaning of the Greek word "en". However, "with" and "in" could rightly be used as translations for "en" in the above cited verses but then, the burden falls on whomever is going to give it an interpretation. If you take the word 'with" to mean "by use of" (as some take "en phone archaggelou" to mean "by use of/using archangel's voice) then one would be at odds with these verses, thus, a stronger interpretation should be used of "with" when used for "en" EVEN in places where it appears as "meta".

From our observations above, it is no wonder Bible translations have Psalm 47:5 as:

"Loud cheers as God climbs the mountain, a ram's horn blast at the summit." --- MSG

"the true God ascends the throne acclaimed by shouts of the people. The Eternal is announced by the blast of a trumpet." --- VOICE

"the LORD God goes up to his throne at the sound of the trumpet and horn." --- ERV

"God goes up to his throne as people shout and trumpets blast." --- CEV

Which the GNT translations explains:

"God goes up to his throne. There are joyful shouts and the blast of trumpets, as the LORD goes up."

These should give us a better view of this kind of grammatical construction and its understanding of "en phone" + subject genitive in its kind.

There are many usages of "en phone" in both LXX and NT but in all cases, "en phone" + subject genitive never appears between two nouns of the same identity. Even in cases where it is SPOKEN by the first or last noun. In II Peter 2:16, we are told that the donkey "spoke with the voice of a man". the first noun "donkey" + en phone + "man" (in genitive form, the subject of the genitive that is). In this case, Peter tells us that this donkey SPOKE WITH, thus the verb "speak" connects the noun with "en phone" and then the subject of the genitive (unlike Psalm 47:5 and I Thessalonians 4:16 that have NO SUCH verb connection). However, connection or no connection, "en phone" + subject of genive never appears between two nouns of the same identity; like: The donkey spoke with the "phone" of a noun that is the same as the donkey; the LORD with the "phone" of a noun that is the same as the LORD or the Lord himself with the "phone" of a noun that is the same as the Lord himself, e.t.c. the Greek doesn't permit such tautologies. If it is ever necessary to identify a noun with its verb of action in the above, it'd be written as "with a loud voice" "with his voice" "with a shrill voice", e.t.c. Do the Maths:

In II Peter 2:16: Donkey [noun 1] -+- en phone -+- anarthrous genitive "man" [noun 2] = the "Donkey" is NOT a "man"

In Psalm 47:5: God [noun 1] -+- en phone -+- anarthrous genitive  "trumpet" [noun 2] = "God" is NOT a "trumpet"

In I Thessalonians 4:16: The Lord [noun 1] -+- en phone -+- anarthrous genitive "archangel" [noun 2] = ???

Interestingly, the WYC translates Psalm 47:5 as:

"God has ascended in hearty song, and the Lord in the voice of a trump..." (God is not a trump of course, is He?)

And I Thessalonians 4:16 as:

"The Lord himself shall descend from heaven in shout of command, in the voice of an archangel and in the trump of God..." (Why then should the Lord be an archangel if God isn't a trump?)

The deeper we go into this, the better we find out how Paul's epistle never made a link between Jesus and Michael but even established a distinction. To cut deeper, we'll delve into the LXX once more:

Maab shall die powerless "with shouting and the cry of a trumpet (meta phones kai krauges salpiggou)" Amos 2:2 LXX (the words "meta" and "en" serve the same function). The same message here is like that of Psalm 47:5, Maab, of course, is not involved in the "shouting" and "cry(ing) of a trumpet" just as God, in Psalm 47:5, is not involved in the "joyful shouting" since the context of the entire chapter shows that it is indeed the people who shout and blow the trumpet as God "goes up". The same could be said of I Thessalonians 4:16. It is logical and in fact, biblical to interpret, understand and translate it as:

"the voice of an archangel is heard as the Lord himself descends from heaven, the trumpet of God blasts at the summit." --- (as in Psalm 47:5, MSG)

"the Lord himself shall descend from heaven acclaimed by commanding shouts. The Eternal Lord is announced by the blast of the trumpet of God [and the voice of an archangel]." --- (as in Psalm 47:5, VOICE)

"the LORD himself shall come down from heaven at the sound of the trumpet of God [and at the hearing of an archangel's voice]." --- (as in Psalm 47:5, ERV)

"the Lord himself shall descend from heaven as the voice of an archangel is heard and the trumpet of God is blast." --- (as in Psalm 47:5, CEV)

Which the TEV translation explains:

"There will be a shout of command, the archangel's voice, the sound of God's trumpet, and the Lord himself will come down from heaven." (cf. Psalm 47:5 "God goes up to his throne. there are joyful shouts and the blast of trumpets as the LORD goes up").


            Furthermore, like I earlier pointed out, "en phone" + subject of a genitive DOES NOT appear between two nouns of the same identity. If the Bible want to present it that way, it always appears like "with A loud voice," (Revelation 14:9)"With A shrill voice/noise/sound," (II Peter 3:10) e.t.c.

Claiming that Jesus Christ (the Lord himself) is the archangel, in the light of Paul's epistle, is as silly as writing it out like this:

"The Lord himself will descend from heaven... with the voice of the Lord himself..." or "the Archangel himself will descend... with the voice of archangel himself..." (as for I Thessalonians 4:16)

"God has gone up... with the sound/voice of God" or "The Trumpet has gone up... with the sound/voice of the trumpet"(as for Psalm 47:5)

"The Donkey... speaking with the voice of the Donkey" or "The Man... speaking with the voice of the man" (as for II Peter 2:16)

Even those who claim that Jesus Christ is Michael the archangel find it odd to interpret I Thessalonians 4:16 to mean: "The Lord himself will descend from heaven... with the voice of the Lord himself..." or "the Archangel himself will descend... with the voice of the Archangel himself..." I've talked this out with many Jesus/Michael believers and most of them admit that it is "bizarre" to render a Bible verse like this, but many of them don't seem to know that this is how it would appear and would be interpreted if one claims that Jesus is "identical" to the archangel stated in that verse, and of course, the Bible makes no such tautologies.

            It is always a pleasure having dialogues with people who believe that Jesus Christ is Michael the archangel because even if we put aside the numerous passages that debunk such a belief, we even get to see its refutation in the very verse used as their favourite "proof texts". Jesus was not, is not and will never be Michael the archangel, anyone who sees it differently should bring forth his/her proof from the Bible and of course, without unscriptural conjectures.

STAY BLESSED

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