by digderidoo 24 Replies latest watchtower bible
Interesting! No wonder that elder thought he was appointed and he was not part of the 144,000 group! Because he thought they, elders, are over the earth in a kingship way ruling congregations!
Possible-san That Diaglott diagram looks like it more over the earth but I guess it is upon.
Leo that's a lot of information and worth reading over again! Thanks for posting the WT quotes!
Likewise, at Revelation 5:10, those entrusted with rulership are in charge of the earth, exercising dominion over those dwelling on it. The subject matter of this text is rulership, and logically, therefore, the Greek word epi calls attention, not to the location of the rulers, but to the area over which they exercise authority. That they rule "over the earth" agrees with the rest of the Scriptures, which reveal that God’s kingdom by Christ is heavenly and that Jesus’ associate rulers are promised heavenly life.
Leo AMAZING IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT! It looks like they are using epi the wrong way according to their own definition. How can they rule the earth without being in the location. According to the WTBTS they will do this invisible with the invisible Jesus. What is the purpose of ruling invisible?
Interesting that the Diaglott diagram uses a different word for over and it looks like it is above epi which means upon. How come they did not use the other Greek word instead of the one that mean upon which is epi.
Ok thanks Leoleia
So to reinterate...if Epi is spatial it can only mean on or upon in reference to physical location. It can not mean over as a physical location. It can be used non-spatially and mean over but that would always mean in a sense of subordination?
I think I got it. Much thanks.
Sarah Smiles....I suppose it is logically possible to rule from afar but that is neither here nor there, the writer of that article is definitely confused and imposes the incorrect interpretation of the word while at the same time arguing against it!
isaacaustin...That's right. Of course, because of English idiom, when you translate epi you might use other words than "on, upon" (such as ep' agrou being rendered "in the fields", although of course the semantic relation is one of a person standing on the fields), but "over" in the sense of having a location above another is not part of the word's meaning -- huper is used for that. And the specific phrase epi (tés) gés "upon the earth" is such a common, widely used phrase ... it's not some obscure idiom. I just checked the NT and find that it occurs over 50 times: Matthew 6:19, 9:6, 16:19, 18:18, 19, 23:9, 35; Mark 2:10, 4:1, 26, 31, 6:47, 8:6, 9:3, 20, 14:35, 5:24, 18:8, 21:23, 25, John 17:4, Acts 2:19, 10:11, Romans 9:28, Ephesians 1:10, 6:3, Colossians 1:16, 20, 3:2, 5, Hebrews 11:13, James 5:5, 17, Revelation 3:10, 5:3, 10, 13, 6:10, 7:1, 8:13, 10:2, 5, 8, 11:10, 13:8, 14, 14:6, 16:18, 17:8, 18:14. You can look these up and see for yourself whether a location "above" is meant. In fact, often a CONTRAST with heaven is made: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven" (Matthew 16:19). In the Greek LXX, the phrase occurs hundreds of times in the OT. I won't bother listing them, but here are a few examples: "the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth" (Genesis 2:5 LXX), "You will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth" (4:12 LXX), "The giants were on the earth in those days" (6:4), "I am going to bring a flood of waters on the earth" (v. 17), etc. etc.
thanks for the help on this. :)
