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The Study of the Holy Scriptures: Biblical Integrity Gregorio Billikopf וְאָמַרְתָּ
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Commentaries
There has been an increasing attack upon the integrity of the Holy Scriptures: an attempt to weaken the faith of those who hold to its marvelous promises. Perhaps the most prominent reason given for these proposals is the common belief that the Holy Prophets were simply brilliant men, rather than inspired men of God. Thus, they could see and discern the signs of the times, but not the times that were more distant from the age they prophecied. Some of these false premises were at first set out rather tentatively, but over time have often been given as a matter of fact. So, what do I mean by speaking of the integrity of the Scriptures? I would not suggest that the Holy Scriptures have been preserved perfectly, for we know that there are whole books of scripture mentioned in the Bible that are missing. Futhermore, we no longer have the original manuscripts, but only copies of copies. I do believe that the Holy Prophets were inspired men of God, and that they wrote as moved upon by the Holy Ghost. That they received inspiration and revelation from God that permitted them to see into the future. The purpose of this page is to warn against many of the twisted modern translations of the Scriptures, and to provide some references that defend the integrity of the same. The reader may not always agree with all the premises of these particular authors, but they nevertheless provide materials for the defense of the faith. Each person has the responsibility to study and ponder prayerfully over these important matters. I begin by sharing an example of an attack on the Messianic references in the Holy Scriptures, with an exegetical defense of the integrity of the Scriptures, before moving on to other references. The reader will need to download the free Ezra Sil fonts to be able to read the Hebrew characters in this page. What are these wounds in thine hands? In the Book of Zechariah we find a number of sublime Messianic end of days scriptures. For instance, in Zechariah 12:10 (see also 12:7-10; 11:12-13; 13:6; 14:4, 9) we read: "And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn." Now, associated with this scripture is another of great import: "And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends" (13:6). This last verse has been translated in some modern versions of the Scriptures in such a way to completely change its meaning. For instance, instead of thine hands we may read, "back" (RSV,AAT, JPS Tanakh), "chest" (HCSB), "body" (NIV), "between the hands," "between the shoulders," or "between your arms" (RV 1885, HNV, World English Bible). And instead of "friends" we may read "lovers" (AAT), or "harlot's house" (Moffatt) such as to yield an increasingly corrupt text that reads something like: "What are these sores on your chest? Those received at my lover's home." Defense of KJV translation of this verse: Let us begin with a brief conversation about principles of translation. Some have suggested on a translation approach that insists that the same term be translated in the same fashion every time it is used. On the surface such an approach seems to have merit. But after brief consideration, we realize that this is not possible. Why? Because other languages, just like English and Spanish, have words with multiple shades of meaning depending on their context. A translator must understand the context of the source language as well as the target translation language. In Hebrew, the
word A. General References Very Excellent Very Excellent B. Unity of Isaiah Very Excellent Z. Other Recommendations (available from Gregorio Billikopf). For conversation or questions contact Gregorio at bielikov@yahoo.com. Ó 2005-2010 Gregorio Billikopf Last Revised
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