On another forum, there was a big discussion with some posters who believed that Archangel Michael were the same persons. Because some of the people here may also believe that, I will now give a solid lesson in Greek grammar using the terms of our English grammar.
One poster used Hebrews 1:3 and interjected the unwarranted word "stamp" to indicate that Jesus is not fully God. In my reply, I stated that the words that the author of Hebrews 1:3 used are as theologically significant as is John 1:1 That is what this post is all about.
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Hebrews 1:3 ὃς ὢν ἀπαύγασμα τῆς δόξης καὶ χαρακτὴρ τῆς ὑποστάσεως αὐτοῦ, φέρων τε τὰ πάντα τῷ ῥήματι τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ, καθαρισμὸν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ποιησάμενος ἐκάθισεν ἐν δεξιᾷ τῆς μεγαλωσύνης ἐν ὑψηλοῖς...
Hebrews 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high
John 1:1 Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Aland, K., Black, M., Martini, C. M., Metzger, B. M., Robinson, M., & Wikgren, A. (1993; 2006). The Greek New Testament, Fourth Revised Edition (with Morphology) (John 1:1 & Heb 1:3). Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft.
I copied the verses in both the KJV and in the UBS 4 so that you all could see the entire verse. However I will explicate only the parts in bold blue.
Our first step in looking at these verses is to go back to our grammar school days, and revise an old term: predicate nominative. This was coined because there was a nominative form of the subject placed in the predicate. In case you want a more detaile3d explanation, I hope that this helps:.
"As a noun, nominal is used for a constituent of a noun phrase intermediate in extent between a noun phrase and a noun. For example, in the noun phrase a nice cup of tea, it makes sense to say that nice is a modifier of cup of tea, rather than just the head noun cup. Hence we can say that cup of tea is a nominal, which is larger than a single noun but smaller than the whole noun phrase."
.
(Geoffrey Leech, A Glossary of English Grammar. Edinburgh Univ. Press, 2006)
For the sake of simplicity, we can say that a predicate nominative is a noun (person, place or thing) that is placed in the predicate (second part of the sentence following the verb,) and is the same thing as the main noun or subject noun which is placed in the subject part of the sentence.
In every sentence containing a predicate nominative there is a linking verb. Linking verbs are different from action verbs because they give information about the subject instead of having the subject do anything, By Grace is a grammarian. (That is a DOH statement for sure!) That sentence gives you information about me, and is different than "By Grace kicked the cat." There is no information about me, but that sentence tells you what I (allegedly) did to a particular (and well-deserving) animal.
There are many linking verbs such as appear, saw, and others, but the most common linking verb is one of the many forms of the verb "be". They include is, am, was, were, be, being and been. In John 1:1, each incidence of the term in bold red, ἦν is the verb was.
Long ago, Granville Sharpe made a rule of Greek grammar, and it bears his name. more recently prof. Daniel Wallace of Dallas Seminary shortened it to say that when there are two nouns separated by a form of "be"; if the first noun has the definite article attached, the second noun is also definite, therefore we have in John 1:1, which begins "In the beginning was the Word..."
Also, please notice the Greek phrase "ὁ λόγος πρὸς τὸν θεόν " ὁ λόγος means "the Word . The Greek word πρὸς means "from" and the little Greek words τὸν θεόν means from and in totality it means from THE God
There is no other conclusion possible that The Word is the same thing as (the) God in John 1:1
Another important consideration is the Greek word τῆς which we translate as "the". In each incidence of the bold green Greek word, τῆς it is the definite article, we use to designate something particular, called a definite article the.
When the poster focused on the Greek word ὑποστάσεως (and incorrectly substituted the word "stamp) he was correct in selecting it, but unfortunately, he could not come up with the reason WHY it was important. That is because the noun is declined to be in the genitive case. That is the case that shows possession. That is further classified into seven different subsets of possession. Below is one.
Genitive of Relationship - This is a subset of the Possessive Genitive. It indicates familial relationship. The article modifying the word in the genitive case is usually present, but not always. The actual word showing the relationship may be omitted (except for the definite article) when it is clearly known by context or by general knowledge. The genitive noun is often a proper noun. It is a relatively rare use of the genitive.
from http://www.ntgreek.org/learn_nt_gree...y-genitive.htm
Notice that it indicates familial relationship and this familial relationship means that the same nature and attributes that God the Father possesses are the exact natures that Jesus Christ has. The ONLY difference between God the Father, God the Son and God Holy Spirit are their offices or duties, which they do.
THAT is the reason why Hebrews 1:1-3 is so theologically important, and equally consistent with John 1:1
All this is to prove through exegesis of merely two verses in the New Testament that anyone who attempts to claim that Jesus = Michael is just like a particular brand of coffee "chock full of ..."
(That is just a silly attempt of a joke.) But in all seriousness those who claim that Michael = Jesus have no grounds on which to stand. (groan)
Yeah, it is a looong article, but I hope that I wrote it both sufficiently simple and sufficiently clear so that all can understand, and then be edified by it.
One poster used Hebrews 1:3 and interjected the unwarranted word "stamp" to indicate that Jesus is not fully God. In my reply, I stated that the words that the author of Hebrews 1:3 used are as theologically significant as is John 1:1 That is what this post is all about.
.
Hebrews 1:3 ὃς ὢν ἀπαύγασμα τῆς δόξης καὶ χαρακτὴρ τῆς ὑποστάσεως αὐτοῦ, φέρων τε τὰ πάντα τῷ ῥήματι τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ, καθαρισμὸν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ποιησάμενος ἐκάθισεν ἐν δεξιᾷ τῆς μεγαλωσύνης ἐν ὑψηλοῖς...
Hebrews 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high
John 1:1 Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Aland, K., Black, M., Martini, C. M., Metzger, B. M., Robinson, M., & Wikgren, A. (1993; 2006). The Greek New Testament, Fourth Revised Edition (with Morphology) (John 1:1 & Heb 1:3). Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft.
I copied the verses in both the KJV and in the UBS 4 so that you all could see the entire verse. However I will explicate only the parts in bold blue.
Our first step in looking at these verses is to go back to our grammar school days, and revise an old term: predicate nominative. This was coined because there was a nominative form of the subject placed in the predicate. In case you want a more detaile3d explanation, I hope that this helps:.
"As a noun, nominal is used for a constituent of a noun phrase intermediate in extent between a noun phrase and a noun. For example, in the noun phrase a nice cup of tea, it makes sense to say that nice is a modifier of cup of tea, rather than just the head noun cup. Hence we can say that cup of tea is a nominal, which is larger than a single noun but smaller than the whole noun phrase."
.
(Geoffrey Leech, A Glossary of English Grammar. Edinburgh Univ. Press, 2006)
For the sake of simplicity, we can say that a predicate nominative is a noun (person, place or thing) that is placed in the predicate (second part of the sentence following the verb,) and is the same thing as the main noun or subject noun which is placed in the subject part of the sentence.
In every sentence containing a predicate nominative there is a linking verb. Linking verbs are different from action verbs because they give information about the subject instead of having the subject do anything, By Grace is a grammarian. (That is a DOH statement for sure!) That sentence gives you information about me, and is different than "By Grace kicked the cat." There is no information about me, but that sentence tells you what I (allegedly) did to a particular (and well-deserving) animal.
There are many linking verbs such as appear, saw, and others, but the most common linking verb is one of the many forms of the verb "be". They include is, am, was, were, be, being and been. In John 1:1, each incidence of the term in bold red, ἦν is the verb was.
Long ago, Granville Sharpe made a rule of Greek grammar, and it bears his name. more recently prof. Daniel Wallace of Dallas Seminary shortened it to say that when there are two nouns separated by a form of "be"; if the first noun has the definite article attached, the second noun is also definite, therefore we have in John 1:1, which begins "In the beginning was the Word..."
Also, please notice the Greek phrase "ὁ λόγος πρὸς τὸν θεόν " ὁ λόγος means "the Word . The Greek word πρὸς means "from" and the little Greek words τὸν θεόν means from and in totality it means from THE God
There is no other conclusion possible that The Word is the same thing as (the) God in John 1:1
Another important consideration is the Greek word τῆς which we translate as "the". In each incidence of the bold green Greek word, τῆς it is the definite article, we use to designate something particular, called a definite article the.
When the poster focused on the Greek word ὑποστάσεως (and incorrectly substituted the word "stamp) he was correct in selecting it, but unfortunately, he could not come up with the reason WHY it was important. That is because the noun is declined to be in the genitive case. That is the case that shows possession. That is further classified into seven different subsets of possession. Below is one.
Genitive of Relationship - This is a subset of the Possessive Genitive. It indicates familial relationship. The article modifying the word in the genitive case is usually present, but not always. The actual word showing the relationship may be omitted (except for the definite article) when it is clearly known by context or by general knowledge. The genitive noun is often a proper noun. It is a relatively rare use of the genitive.
from http://www.ntgreek.org/learn_nt_gree...y-genitive.htm
Notice that it indicates familial relationship and this familial relationship means that the same nature and attributes that God the Father possesses are the exact natures that Jesus Christ has. The ONLY difference between God the Father, God the Son and God Holy Spirit are their offices or duties, which they do.
THAT is the reason why Hebrews 1:1-3 is so theologically important, and equally consistent with John 1:1
All this is to prove through exegesis of merely two verses in the New Testament that anyone who attempts to claim that Jesus = Michael is just like a particular brand of coffee "chock full of ..."
Yeah, it is a looong article, but I hope that I wrote it both sufficiently simple and sufficiently clear so that all can understand, and then be edified by it.
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