Difficult and questionable parts of Greek Scripture

QUESTIONABLE, OBJECTIONABLE, TEXTS IN BIBLE’S . .
New Testament

• Matthew's Gospel, 10:24   [A slave is not above his master.]

  2 
   10:24  [Jesus said] A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his lord. – Matthew 10:24 (Kingdom Interlinear Translation, KIT).  ("Slave" in koine Greek: δουλος = "doulos")  2 [[Found by KJJM February 13, 2004.]]

• Matthew's Gospel, 12:31-32   [No forgiveness even in the world to come.]


   12:31  [Jesus said] Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.  12:32  And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. – Matthew 12:31-32 <http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/matthew-kjv.html>, Authorised Version = King James's Bible 1611.  [[Suggested by the Rock of the Fiery Shore, February 4, 2014.]]

• Mark's Gospel, 11:12-14 and 20   [A fig-tree, out of season, is cursed to wither.]

  4 
   11:12  On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he [Jesus] was hungry.  13And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it.  When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.  14And he said to it, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." … 20. As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. - Mark 11:12-14 & 20. (Revised Standard Version, RSV).   [[CONTRAST this with Matthew 21:18-20, in which the fig tree withered at once.]]   4
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• Ephesians 5:22-23   [Wives, be subject to your husbands as to the Lord.]

  5 
   Wives should be subject to your husbands as to the Lord, since as Christ is head of the Church and saves the whole body, so is a husband head of his wife … – New Jerusalem Bible (NJB), R.C.   5

• Ephesians 6:5-7 (and 3 other epistles):  [Slaves, obey your masters, as the Lord.]


   Ephesians 6:5-7:  Slaves, be obedient to those who are your earthly masters, with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as to Christ, … as to the Lord - (RSV).  (In koine Greek: δουλοι = "douloi" = "slaves.")
   Colossians 3:22-23:  Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing the Lord.  Whatever your task, work heartily, as serving the Lord, and not men. - (RSV).  (Greek: δουλοι = "douloi")
   Colossians 4:1:  Masters, be just and fair to your slaves, knowing that you too have a Master in heaven.  (The New English Bible (NEB), revised, © 1961, 1970.)
   Titus 2:9-10:  Bid slaves to be submissive to their masters and to give satisfaction in every respect;  they are not to be refractory, nor to pilfer, but to show entire and true fidelity, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour. - (Revised Standard Version (RSV), N.T. © 1971). (δουλους = "doulous" = "slaves")
   1st Peter 2:18:  Let house servants be in subjection to owners with all fear, not only to the good and reasonable, but also to those hard to please. - (adapted from KIT)  ("House servants" in Greek οικεται; = "oiketai" ;  "owners" δεσποταις = "despotais")
   [[The Roman Catholic scholarly New Jerusalem Bible © 1985, 1990 edition, for 1 Peter 2:18 translates "house servants" as "slaves," and "owners" as "masters."  The choice of the word "slaves" in the NJB is a welcome reversal of the usual translators' methods - most Western sects soften the meaning "slave" to "servant" (the main searchable word in both Strong's and Cruden's concordances) etc., or a euphemistic variant which leads the unwary astray.]]

• 1 Thessalonians 2:14-15   [Jews' conduct makes them enemies of all humanity.]


   … Jews … killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, … persecuted us, and please not God, and are adversaries to all men –  (Douay, R.C., N.T. done AD 1582, and similar in other sects' translations)
   [[CONTRAST above with Jesus quoted in John 4:22 "... for salvation is from the Jews."  Also read Galatians 3:28 regarding CONVERTED Jews: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." – (NIV).  In that regard, also read Ephesians 2:11-20.]]

• Hebrews 9:22   [Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.]


   … without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. – (NIV)
All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness   6 
– Bible: 2 Timothy 3:16  6
________________________________________
 ENDNOTES   (Endnotes 1 and 3 relate mainly to the companion webpage giving Old Testament quotations that are not really acceptable. - Webmaster, 17 July 2013, and 05 Feb 2014)
 1   Genesis 22:1-2, 10, 12: How MANY sons?  Instead of looking up this reference, try moving your mind away from those ancient writings, and follow an allegory set in the 20th or 21st century:-
   A comfortably-off man, Mr A, had an employee, Miss H.  (There seemed to be no paydays for Miss H.)  Mr A one way or another had sex with Miss H, and she became pregnant.  They lived in a polygamous society, but there is no record of them having married.  The baby, a boy, was called "I-1".  Mr A expected the employee Miss H to keep on working for him, as well as to bring up their son I-1.
   Thirteen or 14 years later, when Mr A was extremely old, special important visitors came and told him he was to be a father – again.  Overhearing this from nearby, "S" (Mrs A), laughed, she being well past her prime.  Sure enough, Mrs A conceived, and she and Mr A had a son, "I-2", this being Mr A's second son.
   When I-2 was a grown lad, a voice from the sky then told Mr A to take the lad I-2 off to a lonely place, for a risky undertaking.  At the last moment, a sky-voice's deputy told Mr A not to put the boy at such risk.  After a religious ceremony of thanksgiving, both father and the second son I-2 returned home.
   Exceptions are rare, but with two mothers each having that prized offspring, a boy, in the one house, jealously is likely to break out – and so it came to the point where "S" told her husband that she wanted Miss H and I-1 out of the house.  Mr A agreed.
   Miss H and I-1 left, with very little chance of finding food or getting jobs, but after an amazing adventure they returned to Mr A.

   Prosecution:  Years and years and years later Mr A could be facing the court of public opinion, facing these charges:
  • Taking advantage of an employee in a difficult situation, by having sex with Miss H. 
  • Failing to marry Miss H when she was pregnant with his first son.
  • Failing to free Miss H from bondage.
  • Failing to pay employee Miss H wages.
  • Failing to put aside funds for Miss H's sick leave, holiday pay, long-service leave, and superannuation.
  • Failing to give Miss H parenthood leave.
  • Sexual discrimination against Miss H and I-1 by treating them differently to the other woman and son in the home, as subservient.
  • Failing to properly counsel S (Mrs A), who advised him to practice discrimination against Miss H and the youth I-1.
  • Failing to respect and honour Miss H and their son I-1, by expelling them without provision for their future, thus risking the lives of his victim Miss H and his first-born son I-1.
  • Agreeing to a sky-voice telling him to put his second son, I-2, at extreme risk.
  • Pretending that his second son, I-2, was his ONLY son, and so causing mental anguish to Miss H and the first son, I-1.  This pretence also spoilt the official records relating to paternity and inheritance rights.

       Verdicts: Guilty on all charges!

       For a more traditional look at the Hebrew scripture cited:
       Genesis 22:1-2, 10, 12:  "Your ONLY SON Isaac": These words are used three times in this Old Testament chapter, but they are inconsistent with the rest of the Abraham stories.  Evidence:- Abram (later called Abraham) had his first son Ishmael / Ismael, born of the slave-girl Hagar / Agar, according to Genesis 15:15.  Ishmael was born, according to Genesis 16:15, when Abraham was 86 years old, so Ishmael was his "only son" for 13 to 14 years.  Isaac was born to Sarah / Sarai / Sara when Abraham was 100 years old (Genesis 21:5).
       But Sarah and Abraham cast Hagar and the child Ishmael out, according to Genesis 21:10, which is difficult to accept as the action of "moral" people, to be honoured for generations.  In fact, the inconsistency of "Isaac, your only son, whom you love," might be evidence of insertion of the name Isaac (ancestor of Israelites) instead of Ishmael, by Israelite copyists, according to a footnote to a Koran translation, which at 37:102 does not give a name to the near-victim son.  Muslim scripture, the Koran (Qur'an) seems to show Ishmael / Ismā‘īl as being first son of a wife of Abraham / Ibrāhim, not of a slave-girl.  Both Ishmael and Isaac outlived Abraham, and buried him in the cave of Machpelah, according to Genesis 25:9.  So, although Ishmael was an only son into his teens, Isaac never was an ONLY son.
       Horror: But, although this inconsistency suggests that these Hebrew texts were not written under the inspiration of the holy spirit of the God of Truth and Mercy, "your only son" mistakes are only words.  What about the cruel actions reported ?  The very idea of a man intending to sacrifice his son (Genesis 22:2), or to sell a daughter into slavery (Exodus 21:7-11), or to actually kill his daughter as a sacrifice (Judges 11:30-31, 34, 39), or killing children and livestock of indigenous people (1 Samuel 15:3), or that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness (Greek Scripture or N.T., Hebrews 9:22), fills modern civilised peoples with horror.  Yet three global monotheistic religions' scriptures seem to include the Abraham and near-victim story.  Judaism and Christianity treat Abraham as a kind of keystone of their obedience theories.
     2   Exodus 20:17, Leviticus 25:44, 46, and Matthew 10:24:  SLAVERY was practised by prosperous classes in both Israel and Judah in Old Testament times.  And it was accepted as normal by Christians, according to the New Testament in Matthew 10:24 and elsewhere. Remember, many traditional Bible translations used euphemisms (or "weasel words") such as "servant" instead of "slave" (Hebrew ‘ebed and ’amah, Greek doulos, doule) in many places.  To get a feeling for this, read Ephesians 6: 5-8 in the Douay or King James versions, where the chapter's advice to "servants" gives the game away at the end, by the phrase "bond or free."  The Webmaster recommends reading a newer translation, but even some of these use "handmaid" and "maid" in the Genesis story about Jacob having sons by slave-girls.  In the 10th Commandment "manservant" and "maidservant" are in translations in Church usage instead of man slave and slave-girl.  In other places the words to disguise meaning in translations include bondsman and bondmaid.  In a few places there is "young man," possibly like "boy" is/was used by some people of southern states of USA when speaking to or about African-Americans, whose ancestors were enslaved in former times by so-called Christians, with coastal African groups co-operating by catching them.
       Old Testament check-up (Alternative book names and/or other references are given after a forward stroke, i.e. "/"): Genesis 15:3, 16:1ff, 17:12-13, 23, 27;  24:2, 30:3, 9; Exodus 12:44, 20:10, 20:17 (10th Commandment includes: don't covet neighbour's man-servant nor his maid-servant, original language "slaves), 21:1-11, 21:2-6 (Judaists buying Judaist slaves, and seven-year rule), Exodus 21:7-11 (Rules about selling a daughter into slavery), 21:20, 21:26, 21:32, 22:3, 23:12; Leviticus 25:39, 25:47; Deuteronomy 5:21 (10th Commandment includes: don't covet neighbour's man-servant nor his maid-servant, original language, "slaves"), 12:12-18, 15:12-18, 16:11-14, 21:10-14 (women war captives), 23:15-16 (don't return a slave); 2 Samuel / 2 Kings 9:2, 1 Kings / 3 Kings 2:39, 5:2-3 9:21; 1 Chronicles / 1 Paralipomenon 2:34-35; Nehemiah / 2 Esdras 7:67; Job 31:13-15; Proverbs 17:2, 19:10.
       Apocrypha: Ben Sira / Ecclesiasticus / Sirach 33:25-31.
       New Testament:  Read verses quoted in the main article, and also read Philemon (all of it).  Paul did not ORDER the owner to free the slave.  The "Christian" Spanish, Portuguese, and British cultures all had slavery as part of their system (as did the Chinese and Muslim cultures).
       Islam, too, has scripture and tradition condoning (that is, permitting) slavery.  An example in The Koran scripture is at 24:58 (or 24:57): "Believers, let your slaves and those who are under age ask your leave on three occasions when they come in to see you … ."  Islamic traditions in the Hadith include: Bukhari's, 8, 82:815:- […] The Prophet said, "By Him in Whose Hand my soul is, I will judge you according to the Laws of Allah. … Your one-hundred sheep and slave are to be returned to you, … ."
       Three religions: So, this means that Judaism, Christianity, and the later starter, Islam (Muslims, Moham­med­an­ism), all have slavery treated as a part of everyday life in their scriptures and other texts about their traditions.  (By the way, Islam's scripture and its books and preachers claim that their religion dates back to Abraham, Moses, and Noah, if not earlier.)  So, Yehovah, Jesus, and Allah supposedly did not think it worth while to tell their adherents that to take slaves, sell slaves, or own slaves was a most serious sin.
     3   2 Samuel 6:6-7 and look back to Genesis 22:1-2, 10-12:  TWO NAMES for the Divine Being in Uzzah killing, and in near-killing of Isaac:  For serious students of these Hebrew writings, please ponder why there seem to be VARIOUS NAMES for the Hebrew god, including:
  • God (Elohiym, pronounced "el-o-heem"; Strong's Hebrew 430), first seen in the very first verse of Hebrew Scriptures.
  • The LORD (Yehovah, or "I am who exists"; Strong's Hebrew 3068).
  • El Shaddai (often approximated in translations as "Almighty God"; Strong's Hebrew 7706).  (El Shaddai is seen at Genesis 17:1, 28:3, 35:11, 43:14, 48:3, 49:25; Exodus 6:3, Numbers 24:4, 24:16; Ruth 1:20-21; Job 5:17 and 30 times more to Job 40:2; twice in Psalms, once in Isaiah, twice in Ezekiel, and once at Joel 1:15.  See Strong's list "Almighty" at page 28.)
  • El (Strong's, Hebrew number 410) translated as God, makes its first appearance at Genesis 14:18.
  • Adonai (Strong's 136), is oftimes translated as "the Lord." See it at Genesis 15:2.
  • Adown or Adon (Strong's 113) appears at Deuteronomy 10.17.
       To read more about various names for God in Hebrew scriptures, please visit: "Religion / Names of the O.T. God" on this website.
       The various names have presumably been puzzling people for centuries.  Some bold thinkers state that Elohiym (which is a plural form mean­ing "gods") was invoked early on, but when Yehovah worshippers came into the same orbit, the word Yehovah was inserted into books that supposedly came from an earlier time.
       CONTRADICTION: Take note that the second book of Hebrew scripture states that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had not known Him by the name Yehovah (Exodus 6:3).  That seems a bit at odds with the claim in the Bible's first book that in the time of Enos or Enosh, a grandson of Adam, people first began calling on the name of the LORD – which is some translators' code for Yehovah. (Genesis 4:26).  (Some modern bibles use the word Yahweh, but the Hebrew is yod, he, vav, he, YHVH, or in Hebrew letters, reading right to left, י ה ו ה ‎ ~= Yehôvâh.)  (The original vowel sounds had been lost in antiquity, because of the superstition of not pronouncing this name for the Divinity, and instead saying "Adonai".)
       Sadly, a whole religion, that of the Jehovah's Witnesses, is devoted to reverencing mainly one of these various Hebrew names for the Heavenly Being, and insisting that one, Tetragrammaton, YHVH, is the right one, pronounced, at least in English, with a J sound for Jehovah, although Yehovah is the best pronunciation.
     4   Mark 11:12-14 and 20:  FIG TREE CURSED, WITHERED: Why would Jesus seek to "find anything on it" if "it was not the season for figs."?  If He was Almighty God, wouldn't He know that it was not fig-fruiting season, AND that there were no figs on it ?  Doesn't His curse, then, look like a petty tantrum, not befitting a philosopher, let alone the Lord of Creation ?  And remember, the OWNER/S of the fig tree are not consulted or even mentioned in either gospel.  Also, ask yourself, if Jesus was God, why didn't He CREATE ripe figs on the spot ?  He could have shared them with His followers.  Or was this tale written before the Jesus-is-God dogma was invented ?
     5   Ephesians 5:22-23: WOMEN to be SUBJECT to their men, as to the Lord!  Sensible men who know their own weaknesses don't believe such Bible texts, knowing that their wives have helped lead them away from silly or immoral inclinations at times.  This N.T. text is just one of a few pushing women down.  But to look back further, get a real feel for the Old Testament's idea of women lacking human rights, by reading Exodus 21:7-11 and 22:18, Leviticus 15:19-20, Deuteronomy 25:11-12, Judges 19:22-28, and some other texts in the Hebrew Scripure ( a.k.a. Old Testament).
     6   2 Timothy 3:16:  INSPIRED ?  RIGHTEOUSNESS ?   Readers, do you believe, as this disputed book claims, that all Old Testament SCRIPTURE IS INSPIRED by God and is profitable for training in righteousness ?   (The "scriptures" which "St Paul" meant, presumably, were the ones that existed then, that is, Hebrew-Aramaic scripture.  At times the N.T. writers quoted from the widely-used Greek Septuagint translation of the Hebrew-Aramaic literature, which varied in meaning from the Hebrew original, and also had more books and writings.)
    SLAVERY IS SUPPORTED in the 10TH COMMANDMENT
       It was a great surprise to me when browsing a bible translation to see that the 10th Commandment had confirmed slavery.  It was in a little-known version, God's Word Bible translation, 1995, by God's Word to the Nations, U.S.A.
       Yes, at Exodus 20:17, in the Decalogue's 10th Commandment against coveting, we are forbidden to desire to take our neighbour's household, his wife, his male or female slave, his ox, his donkey, or anything else that belongs to him.  Yes, and it's similar at Deuteronomy 5:21.
       I discovered this by chance in God's Word Bible on August 19, 2011.  I was flummoxed to find that Christianity, supposedly freeing humanity, was copying Judaism's protection of slavery, and cheating on translations.
       Generations of Anglican and other Reformed Churches' children and adults have recited these words of the 10th Commandment based on the 1611 Authorised Version of Bible, not to covet "his manservant, nor his maidservant."  So, was this 1995 translation more correct than the 1611 translation, for which 400-year celebrations are being held in the second half of 2011 ?
       A bit of research showed that years ago in 1927 the inventor of the Esperanto language, Dr Louis L. Zamenhof, had published the truth.  His translation into Esperanto from the original language, Hebrew, of the 10th Commandment, included the words sklavo and sklavino, that is, "slave" and "female slave."
       And some English-language translators had used "slave" instead of "servant" or similar euphemisms in publications of 1966, 1968, 1971, 1984, 1991, 1995 and 1996.  The fact that I and many others had not realised the shameful truth is, perhaps, another example of how most popular bible translations plus propaganda close the eyes and ears and minds of people.
       The words have been checked to Hebrew words and translations in The New Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of Bible, 1996.  They are ‘ebed = male slave (Strong's Hebrew 5650), and ’âmâh = female slave (Strong's Hebrew 519).
       Teachers of Roman Catholic children, of course, seemed to avoid the issue by using a catechism that showed the commandment, divided, as "9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife.  10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's goods."  The R.C. Douay-Rheims Bible of 1582 (New Testament) and 1609 (Old Testament) had "servant" mistranslations before the publication of the Church of England's 1611 Bible, the A.V. or King James's.  But, how could "servants" be classified as part of the neighbour's "goods", unless it was thought they were possessions ?  And, are "slaves" "goods" ?  The fraud is obvious, and the translators' efforts to hide the cruel words needed such mental gymnastics.
       However, some elements of the R.C.C. published the truth years ago.  The Jesuit John L. McKenzie's Dictionary of the Bible, 1968, honestly gave the meaning as male and female slave in his "Decalogue" article when quoting the Bible's two lists (p 186).  Although he seems to have made no adverse comment on this "divine commandment" to condone slavery, his article "Slave, Slavery" (pp 823-5) is honest in exposing the fact that both the Judaic and the Christian scriptures seem to treat slavery as a fact of life, rather than a denial of humanity's right to freedom.  The R.C. imprimatur (permission to print) was dated 1965. 
       But the mainstream Roman Catholic Church before and after McKenzie was still obscuring the truth, as it had been doing at least since the Douay Bible publication of its New Testament translation in 1582 and its Old Testament translation in 1609, with repeated reprintings to the present day, and by permitting the Knox Bible's mistranslations issued in 1949, 1955, and 1957, and The New Jerusalem Bible (NJB), 1985 and 1990, which has been widely used in its divine worship, and which shows "servant, man or woman." 
       The Revised Standard Version (RSV) of 1952 is a revision of a revision of the Church of England's Authorised Version (King James).  The (RSV) also adheres to the "cover-up," using the euphemisms "manservant" and "maidservant" in their O.T. translation, reprinted and reprinted.
       And the reformed and evangelical scholars who worked on the New International Version (NIV)  1973, 1978 and 1984, and on its revision, Today's New International Version (TNIV), copyrighted 2001 and 2005, are also deceiving the people by printing "male or female servant."  (By the way, the Hebrew word for a servant who gets WAGES is sâkîyr, pronounced "saw-keer", Strong's Hebrew 7916.)
       How could generations of Anglican, Roman Catholic, and many other clergy and teachers face themselves while deceiving the public for so long ?  Is there any excuse for this ?
       LIST OF TRUTHFUL PUBLICATIONS (date order): Here is a list of publications known to the author, showing the truth, that slaves were referred to, not servants:
    • 1927, Dr Lazaro L. Zamenhof, Esperanto Old Testament, and other translators, the Esperanto New Testament;
    • 1966 and 1971, the Good News Bible (GNB), also known as The Bible in Today's English Version (TEV);
    • 1968, the Dictionary of the Bible, by John L. McKenzie, U.S.A.;
    • 1969, the Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures, The, (KIT).
    • 1984 revision, the New World Translation (NWT) (literalist translation), New World Bible Translation Committee, International Bible Students Association, Brooklyn (New York), U.S.A.;
    • 1991 and 1995, the Contemporary English Version (CEV), also known as The Bible for Today;
    • 1995, the God's Word ® Bible (GWT) from God's Word to the Nations, PO Box 400, Orange Park, Florida, 32067-0400, U.S.A.;
    • 1996, The New Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible.  - John C. Massam, August 19-28, 2011.
       NOTE: SANS-SERIF TYPE, GREY COLOUR:  Mostly on this website, if scripture scholars have declared books or parts of books disputed or doubtful, quotations are shown on this website in sans-serif typeface, and in a grey colour (which when printed is sometimes hard to tell from black), to distinguish them from what many say are more reputable scriptures.
       SOURCES and REFERENCES (alphabetical order):
       Authorised Version (AV), often called the King James Bible, London, 1611.  (Reformers' translation in England.)
       Contemporary English Version (CEV) 1991 and 1995, also known as The Bible for Today.
       Douay-Rheims Bible; New Testament 1582, Old Testament 1609.  (Roman Catholic translation done by English refugees in France; often called just Douay or, at times, Douai.)
       God's Word ® translation (GWT), © 1995, by God's Word to the Nations, (a mission society), <www.godsword.org>, PO Box 400, Orange Park, Florida, 32067-0400, United States of America.  AND © 2003 Green Key Books. AND imprinted with Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group. (To this webpage on 19 Aug 2011.)
       Good News Bible (GNB) 1966 and 1971, also known as The Bible in Today's English Version (TEV).
       Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures, The, (KIT) (literalist translation), 1st Edition, foreword dated 1950, 1st edition © 1969, New World Bible Translation Committee, International Bible Students Association, Brooklyn (New York).
       King James's Bible, also called the Authorised Version (AV), London, 1611.  (Reformers' translation in England.)
       New International Version (NIV) © 1973, 1978, 1983, (reformed and evangelical scholars), International Bible Society; Publisher: Zondervan Publishing House <http://­www.­zonde­rvan.com>, Grand Rapids (Michigan, U.S.A.).
       New Jerusalem Bible (NJB), (regular edition), (scholarly Roman Catholic translation), © 1985 by Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd. and Doubleday; Doubleday, New York, London, Toronto, Sydney, Auckland. WANSBROUGH, Henry (general editor). ISBN 0-385-14264-1.
       New Jerusalem Bible (NJB), (pocket edition), (scholarly R.C. translation), © 1985, 1990, Darton Longman & Todd, London, U.K.  ISBN 0 232 51890 4 (Printed case edition)
       New World Translation (NWT) (literalist translation), © 1984 revision, New World Bible Translation Committee, International Bible Students Association, Brooklyn (New York), U.S.A.
       Revised Standard Version, (RSV) of the Holy Bible, © O.T. 1952 and © N.T. 1971, Collins Clear-Type Press, New York, Glasgow, and Toronto.  (Stated to be an authorised revision of the American Standard Version, 1901, which was a revision of the Authorised Version, i.e., the reformers' 1611 King James Version.)
       Today's New International Version (TNIV ®) © 2001, 2005, (reformed and evangelical scholars), International Bible Society, Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S.A.; an update of NIV.
       ZAMENHOF, Lazaro Ludoviko, 1927, La Malnova Testamento el la Hebrea Originalo, British and Foreign Bible Society, London, and the National Bible Society of Scotland, Edinburgh and Glasgow.  (He was a Judaist by birth, and his O.T. translations from Hebrew into Esperanto, yielding sklavo and sklavino, align with J.L.McKenzie's 1968 slave article.)
       Internet Bibles: 
       Bible Crosswalk http://bible.crosswalk.com .
       Bible Gateway www.biblegateway.com .
       ZAMENHOF, Lazaro Ludoviko; 1927; Old Testament translation: <www.jesus.org.uk/­cgi-bin/bible/­bible.c­gi?BIBL­E=Esper­anto&­BO­OK=1&SE­ARCH=+­+&CASE=­ON­&HILITE­=­O­N­&FIRST=OK­&R1=I&CH­AP=2&S­UBMIT=Read#15>.
       OTHER ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
       CRUDEN, Alexander; (orig. 1737), 1969; Cruden's complete concordance to the Old and New Testaments, Lutterworth Press, London.  (The text indexed is of the Authorised Version (King James Version) of 1611, with some references to the Revised Version of 1881, and so leaves out the extra books and sections used by Roman Catholics.)
       McKENZIE, John L. (Jesuit); © 1965, 1968 edition; Article "Slave, slavery," Dictionary of the Bible, Geoffrey Chapman, London; pp 823-25, and elsewhere.  (Its coverage includes books, often called apocrypha, such as the two books of Maccabees, not accepted by Judaists and the Reformed Churches, and some of which are rejected also by the Orthodox Churches.  Quite frank about the slavery question.)
       STRONG, Dr James (1882-94); © 1996; The New Strong's ™ Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Thomas Nelson, Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.A.. (It indexes the English words in the Authorised Version of 1611, and "keys in" the words by unique numbers to the relevant languages, Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek, with pronunciation guide.)
    http://www.johnm.multiline.com.au/religion/difficult.htm#sources-and-references
    More objectionable texts
       MORE OBJECTIONABLE TEXTS such as "an eye for an eye," and "heavenly" orders to totally destroy Palestine's indigenous people (and their livestock and food trees) may be found by looking at what were originally Hebrew writings, and traditions, plus similar death-dealing scriptures from another religion that wrote in another Asian language, Arabic, and its traditions.   (Keep both eyes open when looking on this website and elsewhere in the literature for more lowlights that ought to be included in scholarly papers and leaders' talks on "comparative religion," "oecumenism," "non-discrimination," "inclusion," "diversity," "multicultural," "culturally sensitive," "culturally appropriate," "harmony day," and suchlike.)
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    • Slavery is supported in the 10th Commandment. Aug 2011
    • Sources and References.
    • Spoils rules, Achan family burned; two mass murders. At the destruction of Jericho Achan and seemingly his family were stoned and burnt because he kept some of the spoils (booty).  At both Jericho and Ai mass murder of the indigenous people was carried out.  Booty-taking was confirmed at Ai.  Entry corrected on Mar 09, 2012.
    • Spoils forbidden, Achan. (Incorrect heading and commentary, corrected on March 09, 2012)
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    Hived off (as sicken.htm, next day called difficult.htm) from spurious.htm with Microsoft ® WordPad © on 20 June 2008, may be tested with more than one Browser, spellchecked with Ms Word © on 27 Aug 08 and at other times; quotes about wives to be subject to husbands added 21 May 2010, and no blood no forgiveness, added 25 May 2010; on 31 March 2011 there were effectively about 4 1/3 pages; endnote numbers given yellow background and black borders on 01 Apr 2011; blue borders 02 Apr 2011; 10th Commandment "servants" instead of "slaves" exposed on 19 Aug 2011; in October 2012 there were about 8 1/2 pages with both New AND Old Testaments; Old Testament removed to objectionable.htm on 17 July 2013, Expansion and modernisation of "Your ONLY son Isaac" done 18-19 Jul 2013, last modified on 05 Feb 2014
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