In this post:
5 different translations of Exodus 20:7
2 Different translations of Matthew 5: 33-37
2 example/case studies/scenarios
1 Tolkien's story of the Elve's fall from grace, which was a result of one of
them swearing.
I find much disagreement on the meaning of Third commandment.
The Third Commandment:
Exodus 20:7 King James Version (KJV)
Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will
not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
Exodus 20:7 New International Version (NIV)
You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold
anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
Exodus 20:7 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will
not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.
Exodus 20:7: English Standard Version (ESV)
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will
not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
Exodus 20:7 Young's Literal Translation (YLT)
Thou dost not take up the name of Jehovah thy God for a vain thing, for
Jehovah acquitteth not him who taketh up His name for a vain thing.
Oaths:
Matthew 5: 33-37 NIV
Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not break
your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.' But I tell you, Do
not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; or by the earth,
for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great
King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white
or black. Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond
this comes from the evil one.
Matthew 5: 33-37 KJV
Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt
not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:
But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's
throne:
Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the
city of the great King.
Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair
white or black.
But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than
these cometh of evil.
For the sake of illustration, lets examine the case of two men ? let?s call
one Spock and the other Oral.
Spock hates sports, but loves politics, and therefore listens to ?IMUS in the
Morning? because, other than Tim Russert, Imus gets the best politicos on his
show and asks them the hard questions. Spock is more concerned with how Bush
and Kerry are doing in the polls than how Duke and UNC State are doing in the
polls. IMUS, affectionately known as the ?The IMAN,? claims to be Christian,
and in fact contends that Martin Luther King Sr. is the greatest preacher he
has ever heard. The IMAN also has a habit of say, ?Jesus God!? quite often.
While, distasteful, and showing proof of poor judgment, Spock has also often
been heard saying, ?Jesus God!? to which he means, ?I can?t believe it!? To
my knowledge, no one hearing him say that has ever been under the impression
that God was taking requests from him, doing his bidding, or that he
personally was commanding anything to be done in God or anyone?s name at all.
Oral used to be a Pentecostal of the ?Holiness Movement,? but in 1968 became a
United Methodist. One more move in this theological direction, and I am
afraid he will be Anglican ? Horrors! In addition to having a TV show, Oral
claims that he can in fact feel God travel directly down through his right
arm, thus giving him the power to heal! Further more, Located in the center
of Oral Robert's University, he has erected a 200-foot montage called ?The
Tower of Prayer.? When viewed from the side, we can see the profile of a
cross. When viewed from other angles we can see a ?Crown of Thorns? motif,
which represents the suffering of folks who have sent this guy money. Large
parts of the exoskeleton have been constructed with PVP piping, which when
viewed closely we can see, as required by the ASTM, American Society of
Testing Materials, the name of the extruder, their number, the date and time
of the extrusion, and the diameter of the pipe, plainly written in English in
green lettering on the outside. A recording of Oral's son Richard in the
observation deck reveals its construction philosophy: "No second-class
buildings for God." - Can I get an ?Amen?? Oral Roberts ascended to his ?Tower
of Prayer? on the campus of Oral Roberts University saying if he did not raise
$8 million by March 31, 1986 that God would take him away.
I assume the 3rd commandment means:
Do not use God?s name for your own personal purposes, or to frighten folks, or
to give the appearance that you are evoking ?Divine magic,? such as healing
people on television, or speaking for your own purposes using God?s name ? ala
Oral Roberts, ?Send in $8 million or God will take me away.?
There is a second meaning, or implications that I do not quiet fully
understand, but I have seen it illustrated in Tolkien?s Silmarillion. Tolkien
may be taking this from Matthew 5: 33-37 (I think all Christians should The
Silmarillion because it is steeped in Christian beliefs, and illustrates them
in ways that are very illuminating.)
The breaking of the Third Commandment or Matthew 5: 33-37 is precisely the
cause of the fall from grace for the Elves.
1. It causes the Elves to be physically separated from Illuvatar (God)
when they are sent out of Valanor (Eden).
2. It causes the Elves to be Spiritually separated from Illuvatar. They
fear Him, they fear each other, and they are now vulnerable, as a result of
this fear, to be mislead by Morgoth (Satan).
3. It causes the Elves to be scattered all over middle earth, distrusting
each other and fracturing their language (Tower of Babble).
4. It causes the Elves for the first time to kill other Elves.
5. It causes problems not only for Feanor, but also for all of his
descendants.
What did Feanor do?
The Oath of Feanor:
?Then Feanor swore a terrible oath... vowing to pursue with vengeance and
hatred to the ends of the World Vala (Archangels), Demon, Elf or Man as yet
unborn, or any creature, great or small, good or evil, that time should bring
forth unto the end of days, whoso should hold or take or keep a Silmaril from
their possession.?
So, when the Vala ask Feanor for one of the Silmaril?s, as he can not break
his oath, he and all his descendants are Doomed.
Pax,
Glen
5 different translations of Exodus 20:7
2 Different translations of Matthew 5: 33-37
2 example/case studies/scenarios
1 Tolkien's story of the Elve's fall from grace, which was a result of one of
them swearing.
I find much disagreement on the meaning of Third commandment.
The Third Commandment:
Exodus 20:7 King James Version (KJV)
Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will
not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
Exodus 20:7 New International Version (NIV)
You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold
anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
Exodus 20:7 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will
not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.
Exodus 20:7: English Standard Version (ESV)
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will
not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
Exodus 20:7 Young's Literal Translation (YLT)
Thou dost not take up the name of Jehovah thy God for a vain thing, for
Jehovah acquitteth not him who taketh up His name for a vain thing.
Oaths:
Matthew 5: 33-37 NIV
Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not break
your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.' But I tell you, Do
not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; or by the earth,
for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great
King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white
or black. Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond
this comes from the evil one.
Matthew 5: 33-37 KJV
Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt
not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:
But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's
throne:
Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the
city of the great King.
Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair
white or black.
But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than
these cometh of evil.
For the sake of illustration, lets examine the case of two men ? let?s call
one Spock and the other Oral.
Spock hates sports, but loves politics, and therefore listens to ?IMUS in the
Morning? because, other than Tim Russert, Imus gets the best politicos on his
show and asks them the hard questions. Spock is more concerned with how Bush
and Kerry are doing in the polls than how Duke and UNC State are doing in the
polls. IMUS, affectionately known as the ?The IMAN,? claims to be Christian,
and in fact contends that Martin Luther King Sr. is the greatest preacher he
has ever heard. The IMAN also has a habit of say, ?Jesus God!? quite often.
While, distasteful, and showing proof of poor judgment, Spock has also often
been heard saying, ?Jesus God!? to which he means, ?I can?t believe it!? To
my knowledge, no one hearing him say that has ever been under the impression
that God was taking requests from him, doing his bidding, or that he
personally was commanding anything to be done in God or anyone?s name at all.
Oral used to be a Pentecostal of the ?Holiness Movement,? but in 1968 became a
United Methodist. One more move in this theological direction, and I am
afraid he will be Anglican ? Horrors! In addition to having a TV show, Oral
claims that he can in fact feel God travel directly down through his right
arm, thus giving him the power to heal! Further more, Located in the center
of Oral Robert's University, he has erected a 200-foot montage called ?The
Tower of Prayer.? When viewed from the side, we can see the profile of a
cross. When viewed from other angles we can see a ?Crown of Thorns? motif,
which represents the suffering of folks who have sent this guy money. Large
parts of the exoskeleton have been constructed with PVP piping, which when
viewed closely we can see, as required by the ASTM, American Society of
Testing Materials, the name of the extruder, their number, the date and time
of the extrusion, and the diameter of the pipe, plainly written in English in
green lettering on the outside. A recording of Oral's son Richard in the
observation deck reveals its construction philosophy: "No second-class
buildings for God." - Can I get an ?Amen?? Oral Roberts ascended to his ?Tower
of Prayer? on the campus of Oral Roberts University saying if he did not raise
$8 million by March 31, 1986 that God would take him away.
I assume the 3rd commandment means:
Do not use God?s name for your own personal purposes, or to frighten folks, or
to give the appearance that you are evoking ?Divine magic,? such as healing
people on television, or speaking for your own purposes using God?s name ? ala
Oral Roberts, ?Send in $8 million or God will take me away.?
There is a second meaning, or implications that I do not quiet fully
understand, but I have seen it illustrated in Tolkien?s Silmarillion. Tolkien
may be taking this from Matthew 5: 33-37 (I think all Christians should The
Silmarillion because it is steeped in Christian beliefs, and illustrates them
in ways that are very illuminating.)
The breaking of the Third Commandment or Matthew 5: 33-37 is precisely the
cause of the fall from grace for the Elves.
1. It causes the Elves to be physically separated from Illuvatar (God)
when they are sent out of Valanor (Eden).
2. It causes the Elves to be Spiritually separated from Illuvatar. They
fear Him, they fear each other, and they are now vulnerable, as a result of
this fear, to be mislead by Morgoth (Satan).
3. It causes the Elves to be scattered all over middle earth, distrusting
each other and fracturing their language (Tower of Babble).
4. It causes the Elves for the first time to kill other Elves.
5. It causes problems not only for Feanor, but also for all of his
descendants.
What did Feanor do?
The Oath of Feanor:
?Then Feanor swore a terrible oath... vowing to pursue with vengeance and
hatred to the ends of the World Vala (Archangels), Demon, Elf or Man as yet
unborn, or any creature, great or small, good or evil, that time should bring
forth unto the end of days, whoso should hold or take or keep a Silmaril from
their possession.?
So, when the Vala ask Feanor for one of the Silmaril?s, as he can not break
his oath, he and all his descendants are Doomed.
Pax,
Glen
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