The Jehovah’s Witnesses translate the “sons of God” as "Angels"(Divine/Heavenly Beings) in seven verses EXCEPT two:
(1)*Deuteronomy 32:8 ("Sons of Israel")
(2)**Psalm 82:1-(6)* ("Sons of the Most High (God)") ("godlike ones", "Like Angels", **"Angels", "Judges", "gods") **CONRTADICTION IN TRANSLATION
What is the whole point here: Inconsistency in translation leads to weak argumentation. Most importantly, it begs the question: does the governing body incorporate eisegesis in its' teachings?
(1)*Deuteronomy 32:8 ("Sons of Israel")
(2)**Psalm 82:1-(6)* ("Sons of the Most High (God)") ("godlike ones", "Like Angels", **"Angels", "Judges", "gods") **CONRTADICTION IN TRANSLATION
What is the whole point here: Inconsistency in translation leads to weak argumentation. Most importantly, it begs the question: does the governing body incorporate eisegesis in its' teachings?
See the following verses:
- Genesis 6:2 LXX "Angels"
- Deuteronomy 32:43 LXX "Angels"
- Job 1:6 LXX "Angels"
- Job 2:1 LXX "Angels"
- Job 38:7 LXX "Angels"
- Psalm 29:1 LXX "Angels"
- *Psalm 89:6 LXX/TSy "Angels"
1. Deuteronomy 32:8-JWs DO NOT USE THE LXX here.
Deut 32:43 the JWs use the LXX to translate "angels of God" here.
Deut 32:43 the JWs use the LXX to translate "angels of God" here.
My question is this: why translate the seven verses mentioned above (LXX) and exclude Deut 32:8?
See the following verses:
Deuteronomy
32:8 When the Most High gave the nations an inheritance, when he parted the sons of Adam from one another, He proceeded to fix the boundary of the peoples with regard for the number of the sons of Israel*.Belong to the “Sons of
Israel”???? FIRST MENTION OF ISRAEL: Genesis 32:28 and 35:10
LXX sons of God (Not mentioned in the JW Library)
LXX sons of God (Not mentioned in the JW Library)
TABLE
OF NATIONS: GENESIS 10-11 Israel did not exist yet!!! Even more damaging
is the fact that the verse discusses Israel as Jehovah’s own. That means the 70
nations are not at all connected with Israel.
The JWs use the LXX to translate "angels of God" in Deut 32:43. The same exact Greek words ("ἀγγέλων θεοῦ") are found (LXX) in Duet 32:8 BUT the JWs do not use that translation!! If the JWs claim to be the only ones with the truth, then why is there an inconsistency with these two verses WITHIN THE SAME CHAPTER, mind you?
The JWs use the LXX to translate "angels of God" in Deut 32:43. The same exact Greek words ("ἀγγέλων θεοῦ") are found (LXX) in Duet 32:8 BUT the JWs do not use that translation!! If the JWs claim to be the only ones with the truth, then why is there an inconsistency with these two verses WITHIN THE SAME CHAPTER, mind you?
The JWs use these verses to prove their point regarding the Table of Nations and the "Sons of Israel"
(Genesis 15:18) On that day Jehovah concluded with A′bram a covenant, saying: “To your seed I will give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Eu·phra′tes:
(Exodus 23:31) “And I will fix your boundary from the Red Sea to the sea of the Phi·lis′tines and from the wilderness to the River; because I shall give into YOUR hand the inhabitants of the land, and you will certainly drive them out from before yourself.
(Psalm 105:44) And gradually he gave them the lands of the nations, And they kept taking possession of the product of the hard work of national groups.....
“m” (John 10:34) Jesus answered them: “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said: “YOU are gods”’?
*Or, “godlike ones.” Heb., ʼelo·him′; Gr., the·oi′; Syr.,( SYRIAC TEXT: “Syr.” indicates words transliterated from the Syriac Peshitta (Sy), S. Lee, 1826 edition, reprinted by United Bible) Societies, 1979. Other Syriac versions are indicated by their respective symbols daʼ·la·hin; Lat., di′i; T, “like angels.” (Taken from Watchtower Library Software 2012 regarding Psalm 82:6) See the Peshitta Translation below.
*Or, “godlike ones.” Heb., ʼelo·him′; Gr., the·oi′; Syr.,( SYRIAC TEXT: “Syr.” indicates words transliterated from the Syriac Peshitta (Sy), S. Lee, 1826 edition, reprinted by United Bible) Societies, 1979. Other Syriac versions are indicated by their respective symbols daʼ·la·hin; Lat., di′i; T, “like angels.” (Taken from Watchtower Library Software 2012 regarding Psalm 82:6) See the Peshitta Translation below.
Psalm 82: Peshitta (Syriac)
82.
Author: David
Subject: The priests (the sons of Levi) who are like their fathers
Author: David
Subject: The priests (the sons of Levi) who are like their fathers
Verses: 16
Elohim rises up in the assembly of the angels [("LIKE ANGELS"????? SIMILE???? NO)];
he brings justice among the angels.
he brings justice among the angels.
How long will you commit injustice
and prop up evildoers?
Bring justice to the orphan and the wretched;
exonerate the penniless and the humble.
Free the penniless and the wretched
from the hand of the wicked,
Who knew nothing and understood nothing;
they were walking in darkness
while all the earth’s foundations shook.
and prop up evildoers?
Bring justice to the orphan and the wretched;
exonerate the penniless and the humble.
Free the penniless and the wretched
from the hand of the wicked,
Who knew nothing and understood nothing;
they were walking in darkness
while all the earth’s foundations shook.
I hereby decree, “You are elohim (NO SIMILE HERE "LIKE ANGELS"?????),
each of you a child of the Most High —
therefore you will die like a human [(Here is the simile YES)],
and like one of the princes, you will fall.”
each of you a child of the Most High —
therefore you will die like a human [(Here is the simile YES)],
and like one of the princes, you will fall.”
Arise, Elohim, bring justice to the world,
for you are heir to all nations.
for you are heir to all nations.
Heiser notes in his essay: “First, how is it a coherent defense of John’s well-known high Christology by essentially having Jesus use Psalm 82:6 to say, in effect, that he can call himself the son of God when every other Jew can, too? The mortal view does nothing to advance John’s strategic goal of portraying Jesus as the incarnate Logos and the unique (monogenes) son of God. In simplest terms, it has John casting Jesus as another mortal, for Jesus simply applies a verse to himself in the manner other mortals can do. Second, how does the mortal view coherently explain the reaction of the Jewish audience in John’s story? They call for his arrest (10:39), on the heels of picking up stones to stone him in 10:30. If Jesus is citing a text that all of them could just as well cite on their own behalf for being sons of God, why would Jesus’ use of it elicit such a response?” Dr Michael Heiser-"Sons of God" essay
 |
| Dr Michael Heiser's notes on John 10:30. |
The problem with the “like angels”
translation (Psalm 82:6) (from Watchtower Library 2012) is that first, it is inconsistent with the other LXX translations
(Genesis 6:2, Deuteronomy 32:43, Job 1:6, Job 2:1, Job 38:7, Psalm 29:1, Psalm 89:6). Secondly,
the sentence is not in a simile-like format. As you can see below, the Syriac
translation, there is no simile present in Psalm 82:6. Lastly, the context does
not call for human judges.
*IMPORTANT NOTE: “god” (i.e. the Hebrew elohim and Greek theos) never—not even a single time— refers to living, breathing men anywhere else in the entire Bible. Here is an example of a simile: God does tell Moses that he will make him “as God” to Pharaoh (See Ex 4:16). Yes, Satan tells Eve that she will become “like God” (or better, “like gods; See Illustration below Gen 3:5 KJV). But those are similes.
The use of the prefix כֵּֽ (as/like) with אלֹהִ֔ים (Elohim) in Genesis 3:5 is sufficient to explain that the serpent is not saying Eve "will be a God", but that she will be "like a God", distinguishing good and evil.
*IMPORTANT NOTE: “god” (i.e. the Hebrew elohim and Greek theos) never—not even a single time— refers to living, breathing men anywhere else in the entire Bible. Here is an example of a simile: God does tell Moses that he will make him “as God” to Pharaoh (See Ex 4:16). Yes, Satan tells Eve that she will become “like God” (or better, “like gods; See Illustration below Gen 3:5 KJV). But those are similes.
The use of the prefix כֵּֽ (as/like) with אלֹהִ֔ים (Elohim) in Genesis 3:5 is sufficient to explain that the serpent is not saying Eve "will be a God", but that she will be "like a God", distinguishing good and evil.
Psalm 82: Peshitta (Syriac)
82.
Author: David
Subject: The priests (the sons of Levi) who are like their fathers
Author: David
Subject: The priests (the sons of Levi) who are like their fathers
Verses: 16
Elohim rises up in the assembly of the angels [("LIKE ANGELS"????? SIMILE???? NO)];
he brings justice among the angels.
he brings justice among the angels.
How long will you commit injustice
and prop up evildoers?
Bring justice to the orphan and the wretched;
exonerate the penniless and the humble.
Free the penniless and the wretched
from the hand of the wicked,
Who knew nothing and understood nothing;
they were walking in darkness
while all the earth’s foundations shook.
and prop up evildoers?
Bring justice to the orphan and the wretched;
exonerate the penniless and the humble.
Free the penniless and the wretched
from the hand of the wicked,
Who knew nothing and understood nothing;
they were walking in darkness
while all the earth’s foundations shook.
I hereby decree, “You are elohim (NO SIMILE HERE "LIKE ANGELS"?????),
each of you a child of the Most High —
therefore you will die like a human [(Here is the simile YES)],
and like one of the princes, you will fall.”
each of you a child of the Most High —
therefore you will die like a human [(Here is the simile YES)],
and like one of the princes, you will fall.”
Arise, Elohim, bring justice to the world,
for you are heir to all nations.
for you are heir to all nations.
I
found this info in the Watchtower Magazine 7/15/2004
Pg.13
par. 15: By using the Hebrew word form rendered
“like,” the psalmist is employing a simile. He is comparing two things that are
different, though they share a particular quality. Men and trees differ, but
the luxuriance of a tree planted beside a plentiful water source evidently
reminded the psalmist of the spiritual prosperity of those whose “delight is in
the law of Jehovah.” If we take delight in God’s law, our days can become like
those of a tree. In fact, we can live forever.—John 17:3.
The
argument does not apply to Psalm 82:6 since there is no simile present in the
passage BUT Psalm 82:7 does in fact have a simile which according to the Jehovah's Witnesses' understanding of a simile, we do in fact have an understanding of immortal beings about to be punished-turn into mortals.
With this argument then, we can safely state that Psalm 82 does
in fact have a simile “you will die like men” which implies “you, being
immortal, will die like humans”
The JWs use this verse to prove that Pslam 82 refers to human judges (1 Corinthians 8:5) For even though there are those who are
called “gods,” whether in heaven or on earth, just as there are many “gods” and
many “lords,”
Heiser
notes: “Paul acknowledges that pagans offer sacrifices to other gods (theoi),
entities he later refers to as demons (1 Cor 10:19-20)” Pg 183 “The Bible Unfiltered”
ONCE AGAIN Why mistranslate Psalm 82:1-6? (MORTAL VIEW?-Or, “godlike ones.” Heb., ʼelo·him′; LXXVgc, “gods”; Sy, *“angels”; T, “judges.”
Or, “godlike ones.” Heb., ʼelo·him′; Gr., the·oi′; Syr., daʼ·la·hin; Lat., di′i; T, *“like angels.” Found in the Watchtower Library 2012) *Translation contradiciton.
Or, “godlike ones.” Heb., ʼelo·him′; Gr., the·oi′; Syr., daʼ·la·hin; Lat., di′i; T, *“like angels.” Found in the Watchtower Library 2012) *Translation contradiciton.
SUM IT UP:
Total of 9 verses below.
7 verses (LXX "sons of God"="Angels")
2 verses are in question: Deut 32:8 & Psalm 82:6* (Still doing further studies on this topic)
1) Genesis 6:2 then the sons* of the [true] God began to notice the daughters of men, that they were good-looking; and they went taking wives for themselves, namely, all whom they chose. *“Angels,” LXXA. (Watchtower Library 2012)
2) Deuteronomy 32:8 When the Most High gave the nations an inheritance, when he parted the sons of Adam from one another, He proceeded to fix the boundary of the peoples with regard for the number of the sons of Israel*.
3) LXX TRANSLATION NOT USED HERE
Deuteronomy 32:43 Be glad, YOU nations, with his people, For he will avenge the blood of his servants, And he will pay back vengeance to his adversaries And will indeed make atonement for the ground of his people.” (JW MORTAL VIEW)
2) Deuteronomy 32:8 When the Most High gave the nations an inheritance, when he parted the sons of Adam from one another, He proceeded to fix the boundary of the peoples with regard for the number of the sons of Israel*.
LXX sons of God (Not mentioned in the JW Library)
FIRST MENTION OF ISRAEL: Genesis 32:28 and 35:10
TABLE OF NATIONS: GENESIS 10-11 Israel did not exist yet!!! Inconsistent with Deuteronomy 32:43
3) LXX TRANSLATION NOT USED HERE
Deuteronomy 32:43 Be glad, YOU nations, with his people, For he will avenge the blood of his servants, And he will pay back vengeance to his adversaries And will indeed make atonement for the ground of his people.” (JW MORTAL VIEW)
“Be glad, O heavens, together with
him, and let all the angels of God worship him. Be glad, you nations, with his
people, and let all the sons of God strengthen themselves in him,” LXX Bagster.
Compare Heb 1:6. (Watchtower Library 2012) The JWs show inconsistency here by using the LXX to mention "angels of God" BUT do not use the same words in Deut 32:8 LXX ("angels of God" WATCHTOWER LIBRARY 2012)
4) Job 1:6 Now it came to
be the day when the sons* of the [true] God entered to take their
station before Jehovah, and even Satan proceeded to enter right among them. “Sons of.” Heb., beneh′; LXX, “angels.”
5) Job 2:1 Afterward it
came to be the day when the sons* of the [true] God entered
to take their station before Jehovah, and Satan also proceeded to enter right
among them to take his station before Jehovah. “The angels,” LXX.
6) Job 38:7 When the
morning stars joyfully cried out together, And all the sons* of God began shouting
in applause?
“Sons of God.”
Or, “godlike ones.” Heb., beneh′ ʼElo·him′; T, “the bands of angels”; LXX,
“my angels.”
7) Psalm
29:1 Ascribe to Jehovah, O YOU sons of strong ones, Ascribe
to Jehovah glory and strength.
Or, “sons of gods”; or, “godlike
ones”; or, “sons of God.” Heb., beneh′
ʼe·lim′. If the Heb. word ʼe·lim′
is pl. of ʼel to denote majesty, then
it means “God.” T, “you bands of angels, the sons of God”; LXX, “you sons of
God”; SyVg, “you sons of rams.” Compare 89:6 ftn and Da 11:36 where the
expression ʼEl ʼe·lim′, “God of
gods,” occurs.
8) Psalm 82:1-6 (Psalm 82:superscription-8) LXX TRANLSATION USED HERE A melody of A′saph. 82 God is stationing himself in the assembly of the Divine One; In the middle of the gods* he judges: 2 “How long will YOU keep on judging with injustice And showing partiality to the wicked themselves? Se′lah. 3 Be judges for the lowly one and the fatherless boy. To the afflicted one and the one of little means do justice. 4 Provide escape for the lowly one and the poor one; Out of the hand of the wicked ones deliver [them].” 5 They have not known, and they do not understand; In darkness they keep walking about; All the foundations of the earth are made to totter. 6 “I myself have said, ‘YOU are gods, And all of YOU are sons of the Most High. 7 Surely YOU will die just as men do; And like any one of the princes YOU will fall!’”
(JW MORTAL VIEW (human judges) in question) THIS ONE HAS SEVERAL DIFFERENT TRANSLATIONS: "ANGELS"
"LIKE ANGELS", "GODLIKE ONES"
*Or, “godlike ones.” Heb., ʼelo·him′; LXXVgc, “gods”; Sy, “angels”; T, “judges.”(Watchtower Library 2012
9) Psalm 89:6 For who
in the skies can be compared to Jehovah? Who can resemble Jehovah among the sons* of God?
“God.” Heb., ʼE·lim′, pl. of ʼEl, to
denote majesty or excellence; Gr., The·ou′;
Lat., De′i; TSy, “angels.” Compare
Job 1:6 ftns, “Sons” and “God”; Job 38:7 ftn.
Here is an exception: "sons of the living God" refering to humans (Hosea 1:10) “And the number of the sons of Israel must become like the grains of
the sand of the sea that cannot be measured or numbered. And it must occur that
in the place in which it used to be said to them, ‘YOU men are not my people,’
it will be said to them, ‘The sons of the living God.’ (refer to the nation of Israel) See Exodus 4:22-23, Deut 14:1; Isa 1:2; Jer 31:9
Deuteronomy 4:19 and that you may not raise your eyes to the heavens and indeed see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the army of the heavens, and actually get seduced and bow down to them and serve them, which Jehovah your God has apportioned to all the peoples under the whole heavens.
Deuteronomy 32:8-9 When the Most High gave the nations an inheritance, When he parted the sons of Adam from one another, He proceeded to fix the boundary of the peoples with regard for the number of the sons of GOD (QUMRAN;LXX (Angels)).
For Jehovah’s share is his people;Jacob is the allotment that he inherits.
As the Jehovah's Witnesses say and I will use it here against them, "[So far] corroborating Scriptural evidence is lacking to support the JW understanding of the "mortal view" translation in Deuteronomy 32:8 & Psalm 82"
Deuteronomy 4:19 and that you may not raise your eyes to the heavens and indeed see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the army of the heavens, and actually get seduced and bow down to them and serve them, which Jehovah your God has apportioned to all the peoples under the whole heavens.
Deuteronomy 32:8-9 When the Most High gave the nations an inheritance, When he parted the sons of Adam from one another, He proceeded to fix the boundary of the peoples with regard for the number of the sons of GOD (QUMRAN;LXX (Angels)).
For Jehovah’s share is his people;Jacob is the allotment that he inherits.
EXTRA NOTES:
And the Lord was revealed to punish them for the work of the city and the tower which the sons of men builded. And the Lord said, "Behold, the people is one, and the language of all of them one: and this they have thought to do: and now they will not be restrained from doing whatever they imagine." And the Lord said to the seventy angels which stand before Him, "Come, we will descend and will there commingle their language, that a man shall not understand the speech of his neighbour." And the Word of the Lord was revealed against the city, and with him seventy angels, having reference to seventy nations, each having its own language, and thence the writing of its own hand: and he dispersed them from thence upon the face of all the earth into seventy languages. And one knew not what his neighbour would say: but one slew the other; and they ceased from building the city. (Gen. 11:5-8, Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, translated by J.W. Etheridge)
When the Most High made allotment of the world unto the nations which proceeded from the sons of Noach, in the separation of the writings and languages of the children of men at the time of the division, He cast the lot among the seventy angels, the princes of the nations with whom is the revelation to oversee the city, even at that time He established the limits of the nations according to the sum of the number of the seventy souls of Israel who went down into Mizraim. (Deu. 32:8, Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, translated by J.W. Etheridge)
As the Jehovah's Witnesses say and I will use it here against them, "[So far] corroborating Scriptural evidence is lacking to support the JW understanding of the "mortal view" translation in Deuteronomy 32:8 & Psalm 82"
More notes will be added in time. Thank you for reading this. God Bless. Please leave your comments below and I will do my best to answer you & any concerns you may have regarding my notes herein.
After reading all of my notes, if the human judges of Israel were not in charge of the nations then who/what was/were in charge? How many were in charge? Divine? Human kings/ princes? Angels?
Adding more notes:
The Jehovah's Witnesses interpret Psalm 82:6 " ' You are gods*, And all of you are sons of the Most High (God)' " When you hit on the asterisk (using the 2012 Watchtower Library), you will notice the following interpretations: Or, “godlike ones.” Heb., ʼelo·him′; Gr., the·oi′; Syr., daʼ·la·hin; Lat., di′i; T, “like angels/ human judges.”
Notice here that "T" is the Targum Onkelos to be exact.
Firstly, Why is the word "elohim" interpreted as "like angels" if their is no such interpretation in the entire Hebrew Bible (Masoretic Text)? It is actually a different Hebrew word all together.
Secondly and most importantly, why is Genesis 6:4- "the sons of the [true] God" NOT interpreted the same way as Psalm 82:6 in the NWT using the Targum Onkelos??? "Like angels" OR "human judges"
To sum it all up:
Why is Genesis 6:4 the exception here?
Divine Council-Hebrew Streams
The Divine Council Archives-Dr Michael Heiser
TABLE OF NATIONS
SONS OF GOD IN GENESIS 6:1-4
Gods of the Nations
Jewish Virtual Library
