Washing of the Disciples' Feet : v.4.07b : 04-Mar-2010 (original) (raw)

AUTHENTIC CHRISTIANITY

But become makers of the message - and not just hearers misleading yourselvesFor if anyone is a hearer of the message and not a makerhe is like a man assessing the face of his 'Genesis' in a mirror [Jm.1:22-23]

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If you find this website to be of some interestthen you may also like to read: Why Call Me God? : The Gospel Seen with a Single Eye published by Capabel Press in September 2009. The book explains the ancient 'mystery' concealed behind the text of the gospelsat the time they were first composed. The riddles of Greek scripture are soon unravelled to expose the devastating plotwhich must have been familiar to the Gnostic authors. Analysis then shows that the deeply challenging message of the gospelsis not what the Christian churches say. It is something very different…and now explained in this groundbreaking book. For details, pleaseclick here

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BOOK 2

Chapter 13 : The Washing of the Disciples' Feet

Copyright Notice
As the basis for my work I have used the Nestlé-Aland 26th Edition Greek text. Copyright on this is reserved as follows :
..... Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestlé-Aland 26th edition (c)1979, Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart;
..... The Greek New Testament, 3rd edition (c) 1975, United Bible Societies, London
This is the Greek text underlying most modern English translations since 1881, including the New American Standard and New International Versions. Certain words within the Nestlé text proper are enclosed in square brackets [ ] or double brackets [[ ]]. These reflect those places where the critical text editors consider the inclusion or omission of such text to be in question.
This text is only available for NON-COMMERCIAL personal/scholarly and educational use.

I have also used the CATSS LXX editions of the Septuagint Old Testament prepared by the TLG (Thesaurus Linguae Graecae) Project directed by T. Brunner at the University of California, Irvine and made available through the Center for Computer Analysis of Texts (CCAT) at the University of Pennsylvania 'for the use of students, teachers and scholars in study and education contexts'.
This text is only available for NON-COMMERCIAL personal/scholarly and educational use.

Unless otherwise noted, the remainder of what is presented in this document is my original work. Copyright on this is reserved as follows :
..... Authentic Christianity, 4th edition : (c) 2004, Target Technical, York, UK
All rights are reserved - except that this text is made available without charge for NON-COMMERCIAL personal/scholarly and educational use.

13.1 Introduction
At March 2004 it is now more than three years since I began my research project and this website was first established. In that time much has been added, much revised - and I myself have been able to penetrate the 'mystery' of scripture right down to its origins in the first few verses of 'Genesis'. Throughout I have been using my own special computer program to help me with sorting and analysing the scriptural texts themselves. This has been highly effective in speeding up what would otherwise have proved a slow and irksome task.

There are now twelve chapters. I hope these may serve to expose some of the technical features deployed in Greek scripture. I hope too that they may illustrate effectively the curious 'two-mouthed' compositional method employed by these gnostic authors [see Heb.4:12] - and the compound nature of their challenging, if artfully deceptive, spiritual message. Lastly I hope that these chapters may serve to indicate the ultimate conclusion which the authors appear to have hoped for the more devoted, the more pious, the more dutiful amongst their readers, to reach. And now, if these dark conclusions be rejected in our age, at least we may first have understood correctly what the underlying proposition of Judaeo-Christian scripture actually was.

Next, if the established Christian church (in its several varieties) is now to be held to account for the shallow and 'literalist' doctrine which for seventeen centuries it has mostly striven to uphold, then I hope that this too will prove to be a constructive development with distinct benefits arising for future generations. Our history is filled with national and international conflict, frequently inspired by religious differences, these so often characterised by each party's neglect for resolving the 'mystery' of scripture. How much might have been avoided if the scriptures had been better understood ?

Then I am conscious that there is little in the public domain which treats with the topic I have addressed : indeed I am aware of nothing similar. So I have taken the decision now to designate these twelve chapters as 'Book 1' and to make only minor changes to their structure. I apologise for aspects of presentation which could have been better done - and for the undue length of Chapter 11. And I am sure there must be some mistakes. No doubt there are - but nothing, I trust, beyond what is minor. And if the need should arise for any further corrections to these chapters I can make a note elsewhere of such 'Errata'. Like this I shall preserve 'Book 1' pretty much as a 'record of process' - a 'trail', as it were, illustrating the learning path which I myself was travelling at the time it was being written.

My motives remain what they always were. For myself, I seek simply to know the truth (and so to avoid being misled). Then I seek the same for those around me. So if I see others still being caught out by an artful 'trick' first established in a bygone age, what shall I do ? This can be the remedy : to_explain_ the trick. By this means the trick itself may be disarmed, its 'spell' may be broken. And to the extent that this may be successful, to the extent that truth is established, peace may be brought to the world ?

It is with such a hope in mind that I resume writing now. Then Book 2 begins with this chapter (Chapter 13). In what follows nothing should appear to be at odds with the material of the foregoing twelve chapters. But now, as I hope you will soon see, we really are getting to the bottom of the great 'mystery' configured so long ago by these gnostic authors - and left for us to resolve.

13.2 The Dinner
Here I point up the deeper significance of a story which appears only in the Fourth Gospel (that attributed to John). It is the well known story of the dinner at which Jesus washes the feet of his disciples. But, as I hope you will shortly appreciate, I have a particular reason to begin with another familiar story, that from 'Genesis' Chapter 3 :

LXX, Gn.3 (oldest extant text, translated from Hebrew original at Pharos, Alexandria ca. 250 BCE):

01O 3 13 kai eipen kurioV o qeoV th gunaiki ti touto epoihsaV kai eipen h gunh o ofiV hpathsen me kai efagon

01O 3 13 And the lord god said to the woman "What (is) this you did ?". And the woman said "The serpent deceived me - and I ate"

01O 3 14 kai eipen kurioV o qeoVtw ofei oti epoihsaV touto epikataratoV su apo pantwn twn kthnwn kai apo pantwn twn qhriwn thV ghV epi tw sthqei sou kai th koilia poreush kai ghn fagh pasaV taV hmeraV thV zwhV sou

01O 3 14 And the lord god said to the serpent "Because you did this, cursed (are) you from all the pastoral beasts and from all the wild beasts of the earth. On your chest and (your) abdomen shall you go - and eat 'earth' all the days of your life

01O 3 15 kai ecqran qhsw ana meson sou kai ana meson thV gunaikoV kai ana meson tou spermatoV sou kai ana meson tou spermatoV authV autoV sou thrhseikefalhn kai su thrhseiV autou pternan

01O 3 15 And I shall put enmity amidst you and amidst the woman, and amidst your seed and amidst her seed. He shall watch you (for) a head - and you shall watch him (for) a heel"

Vulgate, Gn.3 (orig. Jerome ca. 380 CE : unfortunately gender altered, sense altered, now asymmetric):

01O 3 15 Inimicitias ponam inter te et mulierem et semen tuum et semen illius : ipsa conteret caput tuum et tu insidiaberis calcaneo eius

01O 3 15 I shall place hostility between you and the woman, and your seed and her seed. She shall bruise your head - and you shall be laid in wait for her heel"

KJV, Gn.3 (1611 CE : gender altered again, symmetry restored, and vigilance no longer required):

01O 3 15 And I shall put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel

JPS 1917 Edition Masoretic Text : (c) 2003 Mechon Mamre : Gn.3:15 (accords substantially with the LXX Greek):

01O 3 15 And I shall put enmity between you and the woman, and between
your seed and her seed. He shall gape upon1 a head - and you
shall gape upon1 a heel. {S}

1 The verb used here is generally considered to be Strong's 07779 meaning to bruise,to crush, or to gape upon.

To 'gape upon' is close in meaning to the English slang usage 'to gawp at'. It suggests to stare in open-mouthed amazement.

This consideration would appear to have influenced the LXX author in his selection of the Greek verb 'threw' (I watch closely over, I guard, I give heed to, I observe).

The verb seems to be cognate with :a judge.

LXX, Gn.25:

01O 25 26 kai meta touto exhlqen o adelfoV autou kai h ceir autou epeilhmmenh thV pternhV hsau kai ekalesen to onoma autou iakwb isaak de hn etwn exhkonta ote eteken autouV rebekka

01O 25 26 And with this his brother came out - and his hand (was) clutching the heel of Esau. And his name was called Jacob. But Isaac was sixty years when Rebekka bore them

Here is the curse taking effect - with the birth of the twins, Esau and Jacob. Their father, Isaac, was 'sixty' (number value of the letter 'x').

By this the author casts Jacob as 'the seed of the serpent'. For a birth we must first rotate the frame of reference - for babies are generally born head first. Now the heel of Esau (first born) is over the head of Jacob (who is grasping it in his indecent struggle to take first place over Esau). The pattern of the curse is taking its scriptural course. Shortly Jacob [alias Cain] usurps the position of Esau - and Esau [alias Abel] is eliminated from the scene.

In the gospels we see this pattern unfold once more. As before, the children are related by birth - but now it is Jesus who restores his ancient priority by usurping the place of the first born, John. Indeed this is just as the Baptist predicts [Jn.1:15, 1:30]. The head of the latter is shortly delivered '

epi pinaki' (upon aplate), the name of 'kain' (Cain) being concealed (a sinister, but rather obvious anagram) within the name for the plate. Freed from the critical witness of John, Jesus sets out immediately to impress the populace - with his 'glory', his 'authority', his 'mighty works'.

Jacob (assisted by his mother Rebekka) turned out to be a

liar. He impersonated Esau for advantage, lying three times to Isaac, his father - twice about his own identity.

In the gospels, who tells the truth ? Is it John or Jesus ? The import of what

Jesus says to Martha at Jn.11:25 matches what the serpent says to the woman at Gn.3:4 : "You shall not die by death". One may do well not to forget whose idea this was.

LXX, Ps. 41:

19O 40 10 kai gar o anqrwpoV thV eirhnhV mou ef'on hlpisa o esqiwn artouV mou emegalunen ep'eme pternismon

19O 40 10 For even the person of my peace upon whom I hoped, the one eating my bread, enlarged upon me a supplanting [alt: a craft; subtlety]

This is the verse to which most commentaries on the fourth gospel refer the reader at Jn.13:18. But it is a mere 'tip of the iceberg' (an allusion in particular to the supplanting of Esau by Jacob ?) and not the primary target of the reference which follows (below) at Jn.13:18.

In the gospel attributed to Matthew we hear Jesus say NA26, Mt.10:34:

40N 10 34 mh nomishte oti hlqon balein eirhnhn epi thn ghn ouk hlqon balein eirhnhn alla macairan

40N 10 34 "Do not suppose that I came to cast peace upon the earth. I did not come to cast peace - but a dagger"

The one with the dagger is Cain ? His kind of 'peace' does not endure.

NA26, Jn.13:

It is well known that the fourth gospel begins with the same two words as LXX Genesis, its theme closely related.

But look for a moment at this vignette from the gospel attributed to John, Chapter 13 :

43N 13 4 egeiretai ek tou deipnou kai tiqhsin ta imatia kai labwn lention diezwsen eauton

43N 13 4 He rose from the supper and laid aside his garments. And, taking a towel, he girded himself

43N 13 5 eita ballei udwr eiV ton nipthra kai hrxato niptein touV podaV twn maqhtwn kai ekmassein tw lentiw w hn diezwsmenoV

43N 13 5 Next he threw water into the wash basin and began to wash the feet of the learners - and to wipe them off with the towel with which he was girded

43N 13 6 ercetai oun proV simwna petron legei autw kurie su mou nipteiV touV podaV

43N 13 6 Then he came to Simon Peter - (who) said to him "Lord, doyou wash my feet?"

43N 13 7 apekriqh ihsouV kai eipen autw o egw poiw su ouk oidaV arti gnwsh de meta tauta

43N 13 7 Jesus answered - and he said to him "What I am doing you have not now understood. But with these things you shall learn to know"

A gnostic scenario - and a gnostic statement to go with it. 'You havenot yet understood. But ...'.

Raymond Brown, in his book 'The Gospel According to John' [Ref.1], notes that "... it was customary hospitality to provide water for a guest to wash his own feet. But as the Midrash Mekilta on Exodus xxi 2 tells us, the washing of a master's feet could not be required [even] of a Jewish slave". Again he writes that "... there was nothing in the ritual of the Passover meal that can be compared to the footwashing. Footwashing was done when one entered the house, not during the course of the meal".

The story seems thus incongruous. Taken as a record of a social gathering, it is not a realistic scenario. But this well known narrative has a substantial burden to carry. For just look what happens ...

Jesus first removes his clothes [ the serpent is invariably naked/smooth : qv. Jacob at Gn.27:11].

Next he stoops [ 'upon your chest and (your) abdomen shall you go' : Gn.3:14 ] - to wash the feet of the disciples, even Peter.

To wash the foot in a basin the heel must be raised. This action brings the heel of Peter into proximity with the head of Jesus. By formulating this story line the author has invoked (once again) the 'heel over head' curse - the curse configured at Gn.3:15.

And now, to confirm the mind of the author beyond all reasonable doubt, we hear the link to prior scripture established through the mouth of Jesus himself (and by inference it is made clear that this is confirmed here_in retrospect_). There is just one verse in the 'New Testament' canon where a 'heel' is mentioned - and this is it. With the depiction of the foot-washing at the meal, we learn here that the ancient curse has been invoked one more time :

43N 13 18 ou peri pantwn umwn legw egw oida tinaV exelexamhn all ina h grafh plhrwqh o trwgwn mou tonarton ephren ep eme thnpternan autou

43N 13 18 Not about all of you do I speak. I know whom I haveselected. But so that the scripture may be fulfilled : "The one nibbling my bread raised up upon me hisheel"

43N 13 19 ap arti legw umin pro tou genesqai ina pisteushte otan genhtai oti egw eimi

43N 13 19 From now on I (shall) tell you before the happening - that you may believe, when it happens, that ' I AM'

The bread is amongst the 'fruits of the earth'. But in Genesis it is the 'serpent' who is cursed to 'eat earth' [Gn.3:14]. The bread is therefore 'his' food (see also the diets defined at Gn.1:29-30 for the sinister 'person' of Gn.1:26-28 - and for the creatures he is to 'lord' over).

At Gn.4:3 the one bringing 'from the fruits of the earth' is Cain. He is the one whose (evil) 'sacrifices' are ignored by God [ Note: In all this, do not confuse 'God' who is good with 'the lord god', the evil impersonator of 'God']. And Cain, slaughtering his brother, is the first in scripture to utter the phrase 'eimi egw' [ AM I ].

When God asks"Where is Abel, your brother ?", Cain replies [Gn.4:9] :

ou ginwskw mh fulax tou adelfou mou eimi egw
"I do not know. AM I my brother`s guardian ?"

Then in the next verse we hear God say :

... fwnhaimatos tou adelfou sou boa pros me ek ths ghs"
"... a voice of theblood of your brother SHOUTS TO ME from the earth"

Then did you hear it ?

Surely Cain's phrase 'eimi egw' (AM I) sounds in Greek alike to 'aima ... h gh' (blood ... the earth) ? This is what the author of Genesis is getting at - with an ironic play upon the sound of the words Cain utters [to understand how this word play in_Greek_ appears to have its origins in the anagram riddles of the original _Hebrew_ text, see Appendix 1 below]. From this point on, these words serve always to condemn him, throughout scripture never failing to recall the slaughter of his brother Abel.

Now in the fourth gospel it is Jesus alone, the mysterious 'son of man', who persists in uttering six times this most telling of phrases - then repeating it twenty four times in its reversed form 'egw eimi' (I AM) [see also Chapter 7, Section 7.6]. Thus_by his voice_ the author identifies Jesus as Cain reincarnate, the one bringing 'from the fruits of the earth', a class including all primary 'photosynthetic' foods.

And of course in the narrative of the gospel it is Jesus who emulates Cain by bringing bread andwine (you may notice that fish too are specified at Gn.1:26, 1:28).

Conclusions:

1. By setting out this story of 'the washing of the feet' and then explicitly invoking the conjunction with prior scripture (the curse from Genesis 3:15), the author of the fourth gospel writes to expose Jesus as 'seed of the serpent', as one against whom the offspring of Eve is 'to raise his heel'.
2. With the linked mention of bread , the author identifies Jesus more specifically as Cain (a 'worker of the earth', as noted at Genesis 4:2) who in the following verse brings his sacrifice 'from the fruits of the earth' - subsequently slaughtering his brother Abel (Genesis 4:8).
3. By invoking also Cain's guilty catch-phrase, the author further confirms for us the 'real' identity ofJesus.

Can there be any doubt of what is intended here ?

Additional comments:

For a brief moment the heel of Peter is 'raised' over the head of this serpent. The direction to all readers of scripture at Gn.3:15 is clear - 'Watch out for a head ...'. But on account of mistranslation this key direction may have been obscured. The remedy is to read in Greek.

In the narrative Peter, failing altogether to recognise the head as that of a serpent, misses his chance to crush it. And look at the irony in Jn.13:8-9 ! How clever these scriptural authors were.

And there is more irony embedded here. For the heel which Jesus washes is the heel of Peter. At v.6 we have his name 'Simon Peter', (here in the accusative case) 'simwna petron'. And then at v.18 we have the reference to 'his heel', 'thn pternan autou'. Do you see the heavy anagram overlap ? That Jesus should use the word 'rock' in naming Simon is suspicious in itself. For in prior Hebrew tradition 'rock' seems to be reserved for use in referring to God himself. Indeed the LXX (Greek) translators were consistently reluctant to refer to God as a 'rock' : for example at Is.44:8 the boastful claim "There is no rock : I know of none" is simply omitted in Greek. This avoidance probably arises because in Greek the word 'rock' has the wrong anagrammatic connotations. It may therefore be considered impossible to use it without causing serious confusion to the (gnostic) reader.

But the very name assigned in the gospels to Peter evokes, for the Greek reader, the fact that his was meant to be the 'heel' to crush the 'head' of the serpent [Gn.3:15]. And then, in the story of Jn.13, Peter misses his chance - and for one reason only, he has failed to identify the serpent !

In the narrative the serpent then seizes the opportunity to set in train the 'literalist' tradition which the Christian church has then transmitted through the centuries :

43N 13 15 upodeigma gar edwka umin ina kaqwV egw epoihsa umin kai umeiV poihte

43N 13 15 For I have given an example to you - that just as I have done to you, also you may do

As a result the scenario has jumped two millennia - right out the story in the fourth gospel (gnostic composition of the first century CE) into real life in the twenty-first century (with the annual re-enaction performed by the church as part of the Easter week liturgy on what has come to be known as 'Holy' Thursday).

Oh, how slow we are to understand the scriptures [see Lk.24:25, Ga.3:1] ! How very easily we grasp hold of 'the wrong end of the stick' !

When Moses took hold of the wrong end of the serpent, it became a stick in his hand [Ex.4:4]. When we take hold of this story in thecorrect way, look ... Jesus becomes in our hand what he always was - a serpent. For the 'authority' betokened by Moses' staff was never anything but the authority of the 'lord god', of this polymorphous and scripturally ubiquitous serpent.

Some Definitions:

What of this serpent ?
AtRv.12:9 we find :

66N 12 9 kai eblhqh o drakwn o megaV o ofiV o arcaioV o kaloumenoVdiaboloV kai o satanaV o planwn thn oikoumenhn olhn eblhqh eiV thn ghn kai oi aggeloi autou met autou eblhqhsan
66N 12 9 And he was thrown down, the great dragon, the ancient serpent, the one called a devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown down onto the earth - and his angels were thrown down with him

And what of Cain ?
AtHeb.11:4 we find :

58N 11 4 pistei pleiona qusian abel para kain proshnegken tw qew di hs emarturhqh einai dikaioV marturountoV epi toiV dwroiV autou tou qeou kai di authV apoqanwn eti lalei
58N 11 4 By faith, Abel offered to God more of a sacrifice than Cain - through which he [Abel] was witnessed to be right, witness upon his gifts for God. And through it, being dead, he still speaks

And at 1 Jn.3:12 we find :

62N 3 12 ou kaqwV kain ek tou ponhrou hn kai esfaxen ton adelfon autou kai carin tinoV esfaxen auton oti ta erga autou ponhra hn ta de tou adelfou autou dikaia
62N 3 12 Not like Cain : he was from the evil one and he slaughtered his brother. And for the sake of what did he kill him ? Because hisworks were evil - but those of his brother right

And so it is also for the 'authority' of Peter - and the church of Jesus Christ. For as satan claims at Lk.4:6, the authority which he confers upon Jesus is now entirelyhis :

42N 4 6 kai eipen autwo diaboloV soi dwsw thn exousian tauthn apasan kai thndoxan autwn oti emoi paradedotai kai w ean qelw didwmi authn
42N 4 6 And the devil said to him "To you I shall give this authority, in its entirety, and the glory of them. For it has been given away** to me - and I give it to whomsoever I wish".

Addendum at 24th February 2006 :
** Almost certainly this assertion appeals to what God says at Gn.1:28 to the androgynous PERSON newly made [Gn.1:27] "according to the image of a god". This one is directed to "Grow and multiply and fill the earth - andlord over it". So this is where the 'lord god' is first granted "authority over the earth".

And by the time we get to Gn.4:8, we have been given enough additional information to deduce (from Cain's situation) that the 'lord god' is inherently evil. Thus at Gn.1:27 we had our first glimpse ofsatan, the adversary, the prideful impostor for God himself - the one addressed byJesus as 'Father' [qv. Lk.10:21-22, 11:2].

Here at Lk.4:6 the devil transfers the same authority to Jesus. And at Lk.22:29-30 Jesus transfers it once again - this time to his apostles.

This is just one of the alternate paths by which one may arrive at the conclusion implicit here. Relying entirely upon the texts of scripture, there are several other paths to an equivalent conclusion. And notice how John (the Baptist) avoids the opportunity for his own head to come into proximity with the feet of Jesus [ 'I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandal' : Jn.1:27]. For from the outset John is the one who 'knows' the identity of Jesus. But, being (in these stories) 'afraid for his life', the witness which he does give is carefully concealed within his riddles. Is this difficult to follow ?

So how does it happen that for 1700 years the Roman (or western) church has embraced this 'Christ' - but so persistently has failed to establish (or to admit) the identity assigned by the authors of scripture ?

Gn.3:

01O 3 1 o de ofiV hn fronimwtatoV pantwn twn qhriwn twn epi thV ghV wn epoihsen kurioV o qeoV ...

01O 3 1 But the serpent was the most sagacious of all the wild beasts - of those (going) upon the earth which the lord god made ...

...

01O 3 13... kai eipen h gunh oofiV hpathsen me kai efagon

01O 3 13 ... and the woman said "The serpent deceived me - and I ate"

But what a remarkable oversight ?

13.3 Appendix 1

Here is the Hebrew text at Genesis 4:10-11 :

JPS 1917 Edition Masoretic Text : (c) 2003 Mechon Mamre : Gn.4:10-11

01O 4 10 And he said "What have you done ? A voice of theblood of your brother
cries to me from the earth

01O 4 11 And now you are cursed from the earth which
has opened a mouth to receive theblood of your brother from your hand".

There is a word play here which appears to work like this. In Hebrew :

• The word for 'blood' is 'DM'
• and 'a person' is 'ADM' (ie. Adam)
• while the 'earth' is 'ADMH'

Accordingly we get "A voice of the blood ... cries to me from theearth".

To establish its significance, the point is reiterated in a variant form at v.11. From now on the use of the word 'earth' should evoke for us the demise of Abel at the 'hand' of his brother. Indeed the very phrase 'from your hand' recalls again the 'blood' ('DMy') - but now with the letter sequence scrambled as 'MyD' (in the final word).

It would appear that the authors/translators of the Septuagint (LXX) Greek text have sought to establish a Greek equivalent to this word play originally implemented in Hebrew. Now (for the Greek reader) they choose to associate the words spoken by Cain 'eimi egw' (AM I) with the words 'aima ... h gh' (blood ... the earth). As in the Hebrew text, our attention is drawn to 'blood' and to 'earth'. Then in the Greek text both the_spelling_ and the sound of these two words closely match with the final phrase spoken by Cain at Gn.4:9. For the attentive Greek reader, any subsequent use of Cain's words will now recall the circumstance of their first use - in this key narrative where he kills his brother, Abel.

Jobes & Silva, in the Introduction to their book 'Invitation to the Septuagint' [Ref.2], state as follows :

• The Septuagint, not the Hebrew Bible, was the primary theological and literary context within which the writers of the New Testament and most early Christians worked. This does not mean that the New Testament writers were ignorant of the Hebrew Bible or that they did not use it. But since the New Testament authors were writing in Greek, they would naturally quote, allude to, and otherwise use the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible.
• ... the doctrines of orthodox Christianity were hammered out with exegetical appeals to an Old Testament that was written in Greek, not Hebrew.
• ... the Septuagint text was the Word of God for the church in its first three centuries.

Once the 'translation' to Greek had been made then (in a Greek world) this was the key text upon which the reader was to rely for comprehension.

In the fourth gospel we hear Jesus say this to Pilate :

Jn.18:

43N 18 37 ... su legeiV oti basileuV eimi egw eiV touto gegennhmai kai eiV touto elhluqa eiV ton kosmon ina marturhsw th alhqeia paV o wn ek ths alhqeiaV akouei mou thV fwnhV

43N 18 37 ... "You say that a king AM I. For this I have been born and for this I was set free in the cosmos (ie. the world) - so that I shall witness to the truth. Each one being from the truth hears my voice."

Then this is one way to identify the facelessCain, who at Gn.4:14 says "I shall be hidden also from your face" (there are no pictures in scripture anyway). Just listen to his 'voice' - in Greek.

----- o -----

And here is yet one more instance where 'the voice of theblood of your brother cries to me from the earth/ground' - now finally arranged_in Greek_ :

Jn.18 again:

43N 18 5 apekriqhsan autw ihsoun ton nazwraion legei autoiV egw eimi eisthkei de kai ioudaV o paradidouV auton met autwn

43N 18 5 They answered him "Jesus the Nazarene". He said to them "I AM". But there stood also Judas, the one betraying him, with them.

43N 18 6 wV oun eipen autoiVegw eimi aphlqon eis ta opisw kai epesancamai

43N 18 6 As therefore he said to them "I AM", they went into reverse and fell to the ground

Now there are two things here just waiting to 'go into reverse' :

• egw eimi (I AM) => eimi egw (AM I) [now Cain's actual phrase from Gn.4:9]
• camai (to the ground) => aima (blood)

Quite clever, I think ?

13.4 PostScript
This site is still 'under construction'. So please forgive its shortcomings ! There is always more which might be done.

If you would like to make any comments (favourable or otherwise) or have any corrections to offer, then I would be delighted to hear from you - and please accept my thanks in advance. Please use this e-mail address :

13.5 References
[1] Brown, Raymond E., "The Gospel According to John", Doubleday & Co (Geoffrey Chapman Ltd) : 1966
[2] Jobes KH and Silva M., "Invitation to the Septuagint", Baker Academic/Paternoster Press, 2000, : ISBN 0-8010-2235-5 or ISBN 1-84227-061-3