My son has a question for you all...

sermonindex Aug 1, 2006

Last evening my kids and wife and I were doing a study on Jesus, particularly His pre-existence, which prooves He was God. My son asked a question for which I am not sure what the answer is. I told him I would ask it here on this forum and see what people thought.

Why is it that when Christ is talked about in the N.T. it is always with a capital letter... for instance "He". Yet, in the following verses, it's "he" with a small "h".

Any answers?

Joh 1:3-4 All things were made by ~~[b]~~him[/b]; and without ~~[b]~~him[/b] was not any thing made that was made. In ~~[b]~~him[/b] was life; and the life was the light of men.

Mic 5:2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall ~~[b]~~he[/b] come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

Krispy

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InTheLight Aug 1, 2006

Krispy, since you have made clear your preference for the KJV I am assuming you're teaching your children from that version. To my knowledge the KJV does not use capitals for any pronouns referring to God unless they start a sentence. I believe versions like the NKJV and NASB do use capitals though. It's really just English preference but I feel it may reduce some possible confusion by capitalizing the pronouns referring to God.

In Christ,

Ron

sermonindex Aug 1, 2006

Dont I feel stupid now... lol. I never noticed it before, but you're right. When I was first saved I mainly used an NIV, and also an NASB... which I believe both did capitalize the "H" in He. I never noticed that the KJV does not until just now.

I think you're right... the modern versions seem to do that in order to distinguish that it is referring to diety. Personally, I think that's a good idea, but not a necessary thing.

How about that. I found something about the modern versions I actually prefer.

Cool...

Krispy

K

KingJimmy Aug 1, 2006

It is entirely something that somebody chooses to do on their own to help the reader, as sometimes things can get a little confusing for the reader who "he" might be refering to. However, it should be noted that there are some areas where one might find disagreement with the translators e.g. Heb 2:5-8 NASB. However, this has to do with how one understands the passage. In it's original context the Psalm was anthropological in orientation, however, I believe the way the author of Hebrews is using it is Christological, therefore the "he" should be capitalized. However, with the "but" contrast of verse 9, I can understand why the NASB translators took an anthropological approach to the passage.

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ginnyrose Aug 1, 2006

Quote:
How about that. I found something about the modern versions I actually prefer.

Cool...

LOL, may I?

Krispy, I was told many moons ago that punctuation in the original manuscripts was non-existant. Even the separation of verses is not found in the original autographs. I have not checked this info out in recent years, it is just what I remember hearing...This may help answer your son's question.

Children do challenge parents in more ways then one, don't they? I have told mine: "I sometimes wonder who raises who?" and our oldest son said he thinks it goes both ways!

ginnyrose

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IRONMAN Aug 1, 2006

bro Krispy

How about that. I found something about the modern versions I actually prefer.

bro Krispy are you getting soft on me?!?!?! :-P

L

letsgetbusy Aug 2, 2006

That's hilarious.

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WorldView Aug 2, 2006

Other scriptures that you can use for the pre-existance of Christ is Hebrews 1:2, Revelation 1:8, Colossians 1:16 that is just some that I can quickly come up with