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Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Note (13.) to HS - "Is the Holy Spirit a Person, God or an Impersonal Force From God?"

13. 2 Cor. 13:14 is rendered in such a way as to imply personality for the Holy Spirit (HS) in some trinitarian Bibles. This is done, as in the NASB, for example, by rendering the NT Greek word koinonia as "fellowship of": "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship [koinonia] of the Holy Spirit, be with you all." - NASB.

However, the word koinonia is well known to be applied to things as well as persons.

KOINONIA ... , a having in common (koinos), ... denotes (a) the share one has in anything, ... thus it is used ... of participation in what is derived from the Holy Spirit, 2 Cor. 13:14 (R.V., "communion"); Phil. 2:1; of participation in the sufferings of Christ, Phil. 3:10" - p. 207, An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, W. E. Vine (extremely trinitarian), Thomas Nelson Publ.,1983.

[Koinonia], ... fellowship, association, community, communion, joint participation, .... 1. the share which one has in anything, participation; w. gen. of the thing in which he shares: ... 2 Co. xiii. 13 (14) - # 2842, Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, Baker Book House, 1977.

koinonia means "participation," "impartation," or "fellowship." It is used with the objective genitive (what is shared), .... e. Believers also share in the Spirit (2 Cor. 13:13).... - pp. 448, 449, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (Abridged In One Volume), Kittel and Friedrich (transl. G.W. Bromiley), Eerdmans Publ. (trinitarian), 1985.

This is why Phil. 2:1 is translated in the following manner by trinitarian Bibles:

If our life in Christ means anything to you, if love can persuade at all, or the Spirit that we have in common [koinonia] or any tenderness and sympathy, ... - Jerusalem Bible.

If then there is ... any sharing in [koinonia] the Spirit ... - New Revised Standard Version.

... any sharing of [koinonia] the Spirit ... - New English Bible.

...if we have any common share in [koinonia] the Spirit, ... C. B. Williams

... if we and you have the same [koinonia] Spirit, ... - William F. Beck

... any participation in [koinonia] the Spirit, ... - Revised Standard Version

... any participation in [koinonia] the Spirit, ... - Revised English Bible

... sharing the same [koinonia] Spirit - Living Bible

... sharing [koinonia] the Holy Spirit - New Life Version

Now please examine the following trinitarian translations of 2 Cor. 13:14 (or 13:13 in some Bibles) itself:

The blessing of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the participation in [koinonia] the Holy Spirit be with you all. - An American Translation (Smith-Goodspeed)

May you have loving-favor from our Lord Jesus .... May you be joined together [koinonia] by the Holy Spirit. - New Life Version.

The grace (kindness) of the Lord Jesus ... and the fellowship (sharing) [koinonia] of the Holy Spirit be with you all. - Easy-to-Read Version. [The Preface of the ETRV explains that italicized words in parentheses are synonyms for the words they follow.]

The spiritual blessing of the Lord Jesus ... and the common sharing [koinonia] of the Holy Spirit be with you all. - The New Testament in the Language of the People (C. B. Williams).

The grace of the Lord Jesus ... and participation in [koinonia] the Holy Spirit be with you all." - RSV (using alternate reading from footnote).

The grace of the Lord Jesus ... and the sharing in [koinonia] the Holy Spirit be with all of you. - NRSV (using alternate reading from footnote).

I pray that the Lord Jesus Christ will bless you and be kind to you! May God bless you with his love, and may the Holy Spirit join all your hearts together. - CEV.

May the grace shown by the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love that God has given us, and the sharing of life brought about by the Holy Spirit be with you all. - New International Reader's Version.

If even such a large number of trinitarian scholars and translators believe the above concerning koinonia and the translation of 2 Cor. 13:14 itself, we simply cannot consider it as acceptable evidence for the personality of the Holy Spirit!

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