TRANSLATION COMPARISON

Proverbs 8:22

Is Jesus God? Is Jesus from everlasting to everlasting as the Bible states that the Almighty God, Jehovah, Is?

Well, what about the following scriptures, don't they indicate Jesus had a beginning?

K.J.V. Col. 1:15 "Who is the image of the invisible God, the Firstborn of every creature."

K.J.V. Rev-3:14 "And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; these things saith the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God."

Does Pro. 8:22 back up the above two scriptures? First of all, many say that this account is merely a literary personification of wisdom or wisdom personified in a figurative way. However, this scripture cannot be speaking about divine wisdom or wisdom in the abstract. The reason why not is that "wisdom" that is here depicted was "created" (see translation list below) or "produced" as the beginning of Jehovah's way. The scriptures show that Jehovah himself has always existed. (Ps.90:2, 1Tim.1:17) Since He is eternal and He has always been wise, then His wisdom has always existed; it never was created or produced; it was not "brought forth as with labor pains." Wisdom does not exist apart from a personality capable of possessing and reflecting it. Consequently, this "wisdom" must be a personification picturing someone who was created "as the beginning of God's way."

The N.T. repeatedly testifies to the fact that Jesus had a pre-human existence as the Son of God in heaven with Jehovah. (John 17:5, John 6:62) in that pre-human existence, He worked with Jehovah in creating all things. Jo. 1:3 states about Jesus: "All things came into existence through him, and apart from him not even one thing came into existence."

Once again, does Pro. 8:22 back up Col.1:15 end Rev-3:14? Well, the King James, Authorized Version doesn't. K.J. states it as: "The Lord possessed me in the beginning of His way, before His works of old." But, does the K.J. translate the Hebrew word "qa-nah" correctly as "possessed"? No, it does not. It should be translated as "created" or "produced". The following translations are given as proof.

1. Rotherham 1897 .......................................... "constituted" & "created"

2. Jerusalem Bible 1966 (Catholic) ........................................ "created"

3. Berkeley Version 1963 (Baptist) ............................................ "made"

4. Revised Standard Version 1952 ........................................... "Created'

5. New English Bible 1970 ................................................. "created"

6. Living Bible 1971 ..................................................... "formed"

7. Thomson's Septuagint 1808 ............................................ "created"

8. Brenton's Septuagint 1879 ............................................... "created"

9. Confraternity of Christian Doctrine 1955 (Catholic) .......................... "created"

10. Jewish Publ. Society 1955 .............................................. "made"

11. Leeser, I. (Jewish) ..................................................... "created"

12. Today's English Version (A.B.S.) 1972 .................................... "created"

13. Basic Bible 1950 ........................................................ "made"

14. Lamsa, G.M. 1957 ..................................................... "created"

15. Restoration of the Original Sacred Name Bible 1970 ........................ "constitute"

16. Byington, S.T. 1972 ....................................... "framed" & "constitute"

17. Fenton. F. 1903 ............................................ "framed"& "constitute"

18. Knox, R. 1956 (Catholic) ................................................. "made"

19. Confraternity Version (Catholic) 1963 ..................................... "begot"

20. Moffatt, J. 1950 ....................................................... "formed"

21. Amplified Bible 1965 .................................................. "formed"

22. American Standard Version 1901 ................................. footnote - "formed"

23. Revised Version 1898 .......................................... footnote - "formed"

24 Moulton, R.G. 1914 ................................................... "formed"

25. Kent, C.F. (Shorter Bible) 1922 .......................................... "formed"

26. New World Translation 1963 ............................................... "produced"

27. Goodspeed 1963 ................................................. "formed" & "fashioned"

28. Common Bible ..................................................... "created" & "set-up"

29. New American Bible 1970 (Catholic) .................................. "begot" & "Firstborn"

30. BECK, W. F. ................................... "Became my Father " (PREFACES with the sub-heading - "God's Son")

Bible Museum and Biblical Research Foundation. research87@yahoo.com

In full support of the above we would like to quote both the translation and note to Proverbs 8:22 by Roland E. Murphy (George Washington Ivy Emeritus Professor of Biblical Studies of Duke University)from the Word Biblical Commentary: Proverbs, 1988, Thomas Nelson Publishers.

Murphy translates: "The Lord begot me as the beginning of his ways, the first of his works from of old.ª "(italics ours)

He notes: "22.a. Several questions are raised about this verse: (1) The meaning of [qanah]: "create," "begot," and "acquired" are all possible. The LXX reads "create" (ektise), and this caused some turmoil in early christological disputes. In view of the following verb(....'I was brought forth," vv.24- 25), "beget" seems preferable (cf. also Gen 4:1), despite the arguements of B. Vawter (JBL. 99 [1980] 205-16) for "acquired" which was also the understanding of Symmachus, Aquila, and Theodotion."

To read C. F. Burney's article "Christ as the ARKHE of Creation" go here.

More Bible Translation Comparisons

Index page Main Page Minor Criticisms Page Recommended Books