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_001.jpg) Christian clergy openly acknowledge that Jesus never
called himself “son of God,” however they claim that others did. This too has
an answer.
Investigating the manuscripts that make up the New
Testament, one finds that the alleged “sonship” of Jesus is based upon the mistranslation
of two Greek words—pais and huios, both of which are translated
as “son.” However, this translation appears disingenuous. The Greek word pais
derives from the Hebrew ebed, which bears the primary meaning of
servant, or slave. Hence, the primary translation of pais theou
is “servant of God,” with “child” or “son of God” being an extravagant
embellishment. According to the Theological Dictionary of the New
Testament, “The Hebrew original of pais in the phrase pais theou,
i.e., ebed, carries a stress on personal relationship and has first the
sense of ‘slave.’”
This is all the more interesting because it dovetails perfectly with the
prophecy of Isaiah 42:1, upheld in Matthew 12:18: “Behold, My servant [i.e.,
from the Greek pais] whom I have chosen, My beloved in whom my soul is
well pleased …” Whether a person reads the King James Version, New King
James Version, New Revised Standard Version, or New International Version, the
word is “servant” in all cases. Considering that the purpose of revelation is
to make the truth of God clear, one might think this passage an unsightly mole
on the face of the doctrine of divine sonship. After all, what better place
for God to have declared Jesus His son? What better place to have said, “Behold,
My son whom I have begotten …”? But He didn’t say that. For that
matter, the doctrine lacks biblical support in the recorded words of both Jesus
and God, and there is good reason to wonder why. Unless, that is, Jesus was
nothing more than the servant of God this passage describes.
Regarding the religious use of the word ebed, “The
term serves as an expression of humility used by the righteous before God.” Furthermore,
“After 100 B.C. pais theou more often means “servant of God,” as when
applied to Moses, the prophets, or the three children (Bar. 1:20; 2:20; Dan. 9:35).” A
person can easily get into doctrinal quicksand: “Of eight instances of this
phrase, one refers to Israel (Lk. 1:54), two refer to David (Lk 1:69; Acts
4:25), and the other five to Jesus (Mt. 12:18; Acts 3:13, 26; 4:27, 30)…. In the few instances in which Jesus is called pais theou we obviously
have early tradition.”
So Jesus did not have exclusive rights to this term, and where it was employed
the term “obviously” stemmed from “early tradition.” Furthermore, the
translation, if impartial, should identify all individuals to whom the phrase
was applied in similar manner. Such, however, has not been the case. Whereas pais
has been translated “servant” in reference to David (Acts 4:25 and Luke 1:69) and Israel (Luke 1:54), it is translated “Son” or “holy child” in reference to
Jesus (Acts 3:13; 3:26; 4:27; 4:30). Such preferential treatment is
canonically consistent, but logically flawed.
Lastly an interesting, if not key, religious parallel is
uncovered: “Thus the Greek phrase pais tou theou, ‘servant of God,’ has
exactly the same connotation as the Muslim name Abdallah—the ‘servant of Allah.’”
The symmetry is all the more shocking, for the Holy Qur’an
relates Jesus as having identified himself as just this—Abdallah (abd
being Arabic for slave or servant, Abd-Allah [also spelled “Abdullah”] meaning
slave or servant of Allah). According to the story, when Mary returned to her
family with the newborn Jesus, they accused her of being unchaste. Speaking
from the cradle in a miracle that gave credence to his claims, baby Jesus
defended his mother’s virtue with the words, “Inni Abdullah …” which
means, “I am indeed a servant of Allah …” (TMQ 19:30)
Translation of the New Testament Greek huios to “son”
(in the literal meaning of the word) is similarly flawed. On page 1210 of
Kittel and Friedrich’s Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, the
meaning of huios journeys from the literal (Jesus the son of Mary), to
mildly metaphorical (believers as sons of the king [Matt. 17:25-26]), to
politely metaphorical (God’s elect being sons of Abraham [Luke 19:9]), to
colloquially metaphorical (believers as God’s sons [Matt. 7:9 and Heb 12:5]),
to spiritually metaphorical (students as sons of the Pharisees [Matt. 12:27,
Acts 23:6]), to biologically metaphorical (as in John 19:26, where Jesus
describes his favorite disciple to Mary as “her son”), to blindingly
metaphorical as “sons of the kingdom” (Matt. 8:12), “sons of peace” (Luke.
10:6), “sons of light” (Luke. 16:8), and of everything from “sons of this world”
(Luke 16:8) to “sons of thunder” (Mark 3:17). It is as if this misunderstood
word for “son” is waving a big sign on which is painted in bold letters:
METAPHOR! Or, as Stanton eloquently puts it, “Most scholars agree that the
Aramaic or Hebrew word behind ‘son’ is ‘servant.’ So as the Spirit descends on
Jesus at his baptism, Jesus is addressed by the voice from heaven in terms of
Isaiah 42:1: ‘Behold my servant … my chosen … I have put my Spirit upon him.’ So
although Mark 1:11 and 9:7 affirm that Jesus is called by God to a special
messianic task, the emphasis is on Jesus’ role as the anointed servant, rather
than as Son of God.”
Copyright © 2007
Laurence B. Brown; used by permission.
The above excerpt
is taken from Dr. Brown’s forthcoming book, MisGod’ed, which is expected to be
published along with its sequel, God’ed. Both books can be viewed on Dr. Brown’s
website, www.LevelTruth.com. Dr.
Brown can be contacted at BrownL38@yahoo.com
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