Why “Pastor” Shouldn’t Be in the Bible

The word rendered “pastor” is Greek poimen “shepherd.” It is literally one who herds sheep. Pastor once had this meaning, but has degraded over the years to mean a preacher (the head of a Church).

“Pastor” might have been an ok translation hundreds of years ago, but its actual meaning is now archaic. The Bible commands no such office as the modern “pastor,” and inventing one out of the text by deliberately mistranslating a word is blasphemy! Truly the pen of the scribes is a lie!
Poimen should be translated for what it means: shepherd. Let me know what you think.

Sola Scriptura!


Copyright © 2011 David S. Robinson. Any part of this work may be transmitted, reprinted, or otherwise used in any form, so long as 1) I am clearly identified as the author, and 2) a link or URL to this site is included.

Why “Ordain” Shouldn’t Be in the Bible

“Ordain” is an archaic word; it is not used in everyday language anymore — except in Church where it is used to mean giving someone authority to minister (though The Church doesn’t have authority to keep people from service, since God alone gives spiritual gifts!).

In the King James Version, the word “ordain” is translated from eleven different Hebrew words and thirteen different Greek words. Twenty-four unique words supposedly all mean exactly the same thing. That incredible inconsistency should be proof enough of the absurdity of the word’s translation. Since there are so many words to discuss and none of them is predominant, I will simply list each Strong’s number with a possible translation (you should do some more research yourself; let me know if you find anything interesting):

H3245 Found
H3559 Set up
H4483 Count (?)
H5414 Give
H5975 Stand
H6186 Order
H6213 Make (?)
H6466 Do (?)
H6965 Raise
H7760 Put
H8239 Set

G1096 Become
G1299 Order
G2525 Set down
G2680 Construct (?)
G2919 Judge
G3724 Bound
G4160 Make
G4270 Write before
G4282 Prepare
G4309 Pre-bound
G5021 Arrange
G5087 Lay
G5500 Elect (?)
Let me know what you think…

Sola Scriptura!


Copyright © 2011 David S. Robinson. Any part of this work may be transmitted, reprinted, or otherwise used in any form, so long as 1) I am clearly identified as the author, and 2) a link or URL to this site is included.

Why “Nation” Shouldn’t Be in the Bible

The English word “nation” usually has to do with political boundaries. The words generally translated as “nation” in the Bible are gowy (Strong’s H1471) and ethnos (Strong’s G1484). Ethnos has to do with the customs of a people group (much like our derivative “ethnic”), but can refer to a country, a culture, or people. For example, in Acts 8:9 and 10:22 the word ethnos is clearly referring to people. Political boundaries are expressed by the Greek word basileia “kingdom” (cf. Matthew 21:3 where basileia and ethnos are both used). Hebrew gowy and Greek ethnos are almost synonymous, so remember these concepts when I go over gowy.
How should ethnos be translated? “People” is not a good enough translation, because that word implies only individuals, and can also have a connotation of the commoners or non-rulers (as in “power to the people”), and “people” is also translated from Greek laos. It should not be “tribe” or “race,” as those are denoted by phule and genos respectively. “Nation” is looking better and better, but still it doesn’t have just the right intonation. “Ethnicity” could work, but try it in Galatians 3:8
“Yet foreseeing that out of faith The God is justifying the ethnicities, the scripture fore-messages good at Abraham, that ‘all the ethnicities will be being blessed in you.’”
It is a bit awkward, but “ethnicity” has the connotation of people and customs whereas “nation” has the connotation of physical borders, so I think ethnicity is the best choice.
On to gowy. This word has the idea of people amassing. It is not, however, “people.” “People” is represented by `am. Like ethnos, gowy is closely associated with, but distinct from, the idea of a kingdom. Except for the connotation of bodies, which ethnos doesn’t have, “ethnicity” would seem to work as well for gowy as for ethnos, but try it in Exodus 9:24
“And hail is becoming, and fire amidst the hail, intensely heavy, which there was not like it in all the land of Egypt from since she became an ethnicity.” Fail. When does an ethnicity come into existence? Also, the land became a gowy. What word could imply bodies and land? “Nation” isn’t exactly right, but it seems to be closer than “ethnicity,” since “nation” can imply the physical borders as well as the people. “Ethnicity” also has connotations of minority groups and foreigners, uses devoid in the Greek. Perhaps for continuity, since ethnos is translated in the LXX and NT for gowy, “nation” should be used in both cases. Let me know what you think…
Sola Scriptura!


Copyright © 2011 David S. Robinson. Any part of this work may be transmitted, reprinted, or otherwise used in any form, so long as 1) I am clearly identified as the author, and 2) a link or URL to this site is included.