Granville Sharp was a Christian abolitionist and devout scholar of the Greek [N]ew [T]estament who wrote a monograph in 1798 on how the NT employs the Greek definite article (“the”) in respect to passages related to the Deity of Christ. He discovered six rules, the first of which has a direct bearing on how key texts in regards to Christ should be rendered in English.  

Here’s an articulation of Sharp’s first rule: When two singular personal nouns/adjectives/participles that do not include proper names are connected by the conjunction kai (“and”), with the definite article appearing only before the first noun/adjective/participle, then both of the nouns/adjectives/participles refer to the same individual. Scholars subsequent to Sharp have carefully examined the Greek NT and have found no exceptions to this first rule.

Two such verses that fall under the purview of Sharp’s first rule, and which have spawned centuries of heated discussion and debate, are Titus 2:13 and 2 Peter 1:1.

Here’s how they read in the Authorized King James Version (AV). I also include the rendering of both the New King James Version (NKJV) and New International Reader’s Version (NIRV) for comparative purposes:

“looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ (tou megalou theou kai soteros hemon ‘Iesou Christou);” Titus 2:13 AV

“looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,” NKJV

“13 That’s how we should live as we wait for the blessed hope God has given us. We are waiting for Jesus Christ to appear in his glory. He is our great God and Savior.” NIRV

“Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ (tou theou hemon kai soteros ‘Iesou Christou):” 2 Peter 1:1 AV

“Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:” NKJV

“I, Simon Peter, am writing this letter. I serve Jesus Christ. I am his apostle. I am sending this letter to you. You are those who have received a faith as valuable as ours. You received it because our God and Savior Jesus Christ does what is right.” NIRV

Suffice it to say, some have taken the AV’s translation of these key verses as a denial of the Deity of Christ. At the very least, these individuals argue that the AV is less than explicit and leaves room for doubt, which is not the case with other versions such as the NKJV or the NIRV.

It is this objection to the AV which I seek to address here in my post.

A DENIAL OF CHRIST’S DEITY?

A careful reading of the KJV shows that its rendering of the aforementioned texts isn’t meant to undermine or weaken the case for the Deity of Christ. This can be easily seen from the way the AV translates other verses which contain similar if not identical constructions:   

“who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father (to theou kai patros hemon):” Galatians 1:4

“giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father (to theo kai patri) in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;” Ephesians 5:20 

“Now unto God and our Father (to de theo kai patri hemon) be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” Philippians 4:20

“We give thanks to God and the Father (to theo patri – the God Father) of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,” Colossians 1:3

“And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father (to theo patri – the God Father) by him.” Colossians 3:17

“remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father (tou theou kai patros hemon);” 1 Thessalonians 1:3

“Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father (to theo kai patri – the God and Father) is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” James 1:27

“and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father (to theo kai patri autou); to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” Revelation 1:5-6

Would anyone conclude from the preceding texts that God isn’t the same Person as the Father?

Here’s a few more cases:

“that ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father (ton theon kai patera) of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 15:6

“Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father (to theo kai patri); when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.” 1 Corinthians 15:24

“Blessed be God, even the Father (ho theos kai pater) of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;” 2 Corinthians 1:3

“Now God himself and our Father (ho theos kai pater hemon), and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you… to the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father (tou theou kai patros hemon), at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.” 1 Thessalonians 3:11, 13

“Therewith bless we God, even the Father (ton theon kai patera); and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.” James 3:9

Again, who would assume that the foregoing examples are teaching that God isn’t the Father?

Neither should one conclude from the way in which the AV renders the specific verses in question, e.g., Titus 2:13, 2 Peter 1:1, that the scholars which produced the KJV were seeking to deny the fact of Jesus being described as the great God and Savior of all true believers. Rather, it is one of the ways that the translators rendered such constructions to an audience who would have no problem seeing that these specific passages are in fact explicit prooftexts for the Deity of Christ.

Besides, the AV’s rendering of Titus 2:13 is a literal translation of what the Greek actually says, i.e., tou megalou theou kai soteros hemon ‘Iesou Christou (“of the great God and Savior of us [e.g., our Savior], Jesus Christ”).

VARIANT READINGS

Another problem facing the critics of the AV, which is rarely mentioned, is the fact that there are a few variants in the extant manuscript copies and ancient versions in respect to 2 Peter 1:1. These variations directly affect how 2 Pet. 1:1 should be translated.

For instance, certain manuscripts (MSS) and ancient versions read kyriou (“of Lord”) instead of theou (“of God”):

tc A few witnesses (א Ψ 442 vg sy sa) read κυρίου (kuriou, “Lord”) for θεοῦ (theou, “God”) in v. 1, perhaps due to confusion of letters (since both words were nomina sacra), or perhaps because “our God and Savior, Jesus Christ” is an unusual expression (though hardly because of theological objections to θεοῦ). (NET Bible https://netbible.org/bible/2+Peter+1; emphasis mine)

This is the reading found in the ancient Syriac version of 2 Peter 1:1, commonly known as the Peshitta:

“Shimeon Petraus, a Servant and an Apostle of Yeshua The Messiah to those who, equal in honor with us, were worthy for the faith by the righteousness of Our LORD and OUR Savior Yeshua The Messiah (dəMARAN wəpārūqan yešūᶜ məšīḥā).” Peshitta Holy Bible Translation (PHBT https://biblehub.com/hpbt/2_peter/1.htm)

“… of our LORD and Saviour Jesus Christ have been made equal with us in the precious faith;” George Lamsa Bible (LAMSA https://biblehub.com/lamsa/2_peter/1.htm)

“… of our Lord and our Redeemer Jeshu Meshiha.” Etheridge(i) Peschito Syriac NT

“… of Our Lord and Redeemer, Jesus the Messiah;” Murdock(i) Syriac Peshitta NT

What makes the Peshitta reading all the more interesting is that the Aramaic plural possessive pronoun, e.g. an (“our”), is suffixed to both “Lord” and “Savior,” i.e. demarAN waparuqAN.

Another issue affecting the meaning and rendering of this text is the fact that in certain MSS the definite article appears before both of the nouns, i.e., tou theou hemon kai tou soteros (“of the God of us and of the Savior”):

Our God and Savior Jesus Christ (RSV) is significantly different from the more familiar reading, God and our Saviour Jesus Christ (KJV; ASV, Goodspeed, Moffatt, and R. A. Knox, along with ERV, support the reading of RSV). In the one instance one person is mentioned, in the other, two. The problem of correct rendering is both textual and historical. The reading of the KJV is based on MSS that show the definite article before “God” AND “Saviour.” The critical texts of Nestle and of Westcott and Hort show the definite article only once, before “God.” In four other instances II Peter uses the definite article once with two nouns clearly referring to Jesus (vs. 11; 2:20; 3:2, 18). IF the text accepted as correct in the present instance shows the article only once, the author’s customary usage would require that it refer to Jesus as our God and Savior. In addition to strictly textual evidence, two arguments favor the RSV reading: (a) if two persons are meant, the reader is left uncertain whose righteousness accounts for the equal standing of the faith of all Christians: (b) the tendency to call Jesus Christ “God” became increasingly widespread from the end of the first century onward–e.g., convinced of the reality of the Resurrection, Thomas addresses Jesus, “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28): Ignatius of Antioch (in the salutation to his letter to the Ephesians) uses the phrase “Jesus Christ our God,” and in the same letter refers to Mary as having conceived “our God, Jesus Christ” (18:2); the author of the Pastoral epistles thinks of Christians as awaiting their “blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Tit. 2:11-13; cf. I Clem. 1:1). The fact that “God” and “Jesus our Lord” are clearly distinguished in vs. 2 does not reduce the probability that the reading in vs. 1 which describes Jesus Christ as our God and Savior is original. Ignatius salutes “the church … at Ephesus in Asia” as “united and chosen through true suffering by the will of the Father and Jesus Christ our God.” (The Interpreter’s Bible: A Commentary in Twelve Volumes [Abingdon Press, Nashville, TN 1984], Volume 12. James, Peter, John, Jude, Revelation, General Articles, Indexes, pp. 169-170; emphasis mine)

The problem is further compounded by the fact that certain printed Greek editions of the Textus Receptus (“Received Text” [TR]) employed by the AV’s translators, namely, Beza’s 1598 edition (which is also picked up by the 1624 edition of Elzevir’s TR) include the pronoun hemon twice, right after theos and soteros:  

σιμων πετρος δοῦλος καὶ ἀπόστολος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, τοῖς ἰσότιμον ἡμῖν λαχοῦσι πίστιν ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν καὶ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ (Theodore Beza, Textus Receptus, Novum Testamentum, 5th major edition, Geneva, 1598 https://textusreceptusbibles.com/Beza/61/1)

συμεων πετρος δουλος και αποστολος ιησου χριστου τοις ισοτιμον ημιν λαχουσιν πιστιν εν δικαιοσυνη του θεου ημων και σωτηρος ημων ιησου χριστου (Abraham and Bonaventure Elzevir, Textus Receptus, 1624 https://textusreceptusbibles.com/Elzevir/61/1)

Here’s a transliteration of the relevant Greek portion: tou theou hemon kai soteros hemon ‘Iesou Christou (lit. “of the God of us and Savior of us Jesus Christ” [“of our God and our Savior Jesus Christ”]). As was already noted, this is the same kind of variant found in the Peshitta.

Interestingly, according to the renowned Evangelical NT scholar Murray J. Harris, this is precisely how 2 Peter 1:1 would have been written if the inspired writer intended to distinguish Jesus Christ from God:

Now it is true that (1) the article is not required with the second noun if the distinction between the two nouns is regarded as obvious or is assumed; (2) soteros is shown to be definite by the ‘Iesous Christos that follows, so that an article is not required; and (3) the single article may be accounted for by the writer’s conceptual association of two separate items. But against these three arguments one may urge the following corresponding rejoinders.

Although the clear distinction between theos and ‘Iesous in verse 2 might suggest that a similar distinction between theos and soteros is obvious or assumed in verse 1, the fact remains that elsewhere in 2 Peter whenever an anarthrous soteros is attached by kai to another noun in the same case (viz., in 1:11; 2:20; 3:2, 18) there is a single referent, Jesus Christ. If the author had wished to distinguish the two persons unambiguously, he could have written either tou theou hemon kai ‘Iesou Christou tou soteros hemon (cf. v. 2) or tou theou hemon kai tou soteros (hemon) ‘Iesou Christou. (Harris, Jesus as God: The New Testament Use of Theos in Reference to Jesus [Baker Books, Grand Rapids, MI, first paperback edition, 1992], p. 233; bold emphasis mine)

Since the particular version of the TR, which the translators of the AV consulted, namely Beza’s 1598 edition, contained an extra hemon after the noun soteros, and since there are certain MSS that have an additional article right before the second noun, e.g., tou soteros, then one can hardly blame the KJV’s ambiguity or lack of clarity at this point.

The scholars working on the AV seemed to be aware of the problems and impact that such variants had on the precise meaning and translation of 2 Pet. 1:1. As such, this may have led them to render the text in a less than clear fashion in order to avoid the charge of translation bias. And yet these renowned men of faith translated the verse in such a manner that those familiar with the way these scholars rendered similar constructions found elsewhere in the Greek NT, would still be able to see in this passage another reference to the essential Deity of Christ.    

ADDENDUM

I post here the list of examples of Granville Sharp’s first rule, or something akin to it, which are all translated similarly to the manner in which the AV translators rendered Tit. 2:13 and 2 Pet. 1:1.   

“looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ (tou megalou theou kai soteros hemon ‘Iesou Christou);” Titus 2:13

“Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ (tou theou hemon kai soteros ‘Iesou Christou):” 2 Peter 1:1

“that ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father (ton theon kai patera) of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 15:6

“Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father (to theo kai patri); when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.” 1 Corinthians 15:24

“Blessed be God, even the Father (ho theos kai pater) of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;” 2 Corinthians 1:3

“who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father (to theou kai patros hemon):” Galatians 1:4

“giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father (to theo kai patri) in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;” Ephesians 5:20 

“Now unto God and our Father (to de theo kai patri hemon) be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” Philippians 4:20

“We give thanks to God and the Father (to theo patri – the God Father) of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,” Colossians 1:3

“And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father (to theo patri – the God Father) by him.” Colossians 3:17

“remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father (tou theou kai patros hemon);” 1 Thessalonians 1:3

“Now God himself and our Father (ho theos kai pater hemon), and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you… to the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father (tou theou kai patros hemon), at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.” 1 Thessalonians 3:11, 13

“Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father (to theo kai patri – the God and Father) is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” James 1:27

“Therewith bless we God, even the Father (ton theon kai patera); and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.” James 3:9

“and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father (to theo kai patri autou); to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” Revelation 1:5-6

FURTHER READING

TITUS 2:13 & KJV

2 PETER 1:1 & KJV

MURRAY J. HARRIS ON 2 PT. 1:1

MURRAY HARRIS ON TITUS 2:13

NT SCHOLARSHIP ON JOHN 1:1 AND TITUS 2:13 PT. 1, PT. 2

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