A Little Red Neck Theology: a Defense of the New Word Chapter 15

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According to Microsoft® Encarta® Reference Library 2005. a paraphrase is to rephrase and simplify a longer work, to restate something using other words, especially in order to make it simpler or shorter.   Plagiarism, on the other hand is stealing somebody’s work or idea, copying what somebody else has written or taking somebody’s else’s idea and trying to pass it off as original. Something that is plagiarized is something copied from somebody else’s work, or somebody else’s idea that somebody presents as his or her own.  My New Word paraphrase has been accused of being plagiarism by a certain party who doesn’t know the difference.  As far as I know, the King James Version of the Bible is not copyrighted, which was the basis of my work.  I did refer to several other versions, but was very careful not to copy directly from any of them.  I wrote the paraphrase using my own words in order to simplify the Bible for myself as well as other readers.  I believe the Bible is the Word of God, and I don’t think I plagiarized God.  There are many other paraphrases of the Bible out there, so if my version is considered plagiarism, then theirs might be considered plagiarism as well.  But I highly doubt that. 

I have spent several years working on this paraphrase and have just this year began to publish some of my hard work.  I have spent countless hours working on it, referring to many reference books as well as to many versions of the Bible to help me in my quest.  This publication is a paraphrase of the New Testament portion of the Bible. Its main purpose is to present a more simplified version to those who have difficulty understanding some of the more traditional ones, especially children and teens. My inspiration was to give my own children a more understandable, easier to read text, and one that would hopefully encourage them and other young people to begin reading the Word of God. Many Biblical versions were considered in the interpretation of this version, in which the starting point was the original King James Version.  The primary versions I have consulted in this paraphrase were the King James Version, The New King James Version, the American Standard Version, the Good News Bible, the Living Bible, The Book, the Revised Standard Version, Young’s Literal Translation, among others, along with a study of many of the original Hebrew words from the Strong’s Concordance and Dictionary. The main departure from these common versions is the use of the proper Name of God, which is now commonly understood to be Yahweh. So I now quote from the preface to The New Oxford Annotated Bible Revised Standard Version which states concerning the Name of God,

“A major departure…is the rendering of the Divine Name…the term Jehovah; the King James Version had employed this in four places, but everywhere else, except in three cases where it was employed as part of a proper Name, used the English word LORD (or in certain cases GOD). . .  While it is almost if not quite certain that the Name was originally pronounced Yahweh, this pronunciation was not indicated when the Masoretes added vowel signs to the consonantal Hebrew.  To the four consonants YHWH of the Name, which had come to be regarded as too sacred to be pronounced, they attached vowel signs indicating that in its place should be read the Hebrew word Adonai meaning Lord (or Elohim meaning God)…The form Jehovah is of late medieval origin; it is a combination of the consonants of the Divine Name and the vowels attached to it by the Masoretes but belonging to an entirely different word.  The sound of the Y is represented by J and the sound of W by V, as in Latin . . . the word Jehovah does not accurately represent any form of the Name ever used in Hebrew . . . and is entirely inappropriate for the universal faith of the Christian Church.” 

In light of these words and many hours of heartfelt prayer and much study of the Scriptures, I have endeavored to bring back the use of the forgotten Name of God in this paraphrase, and the use of the English word Lord has been rendered as Savior, Christ, and God, in places where the use of YAHWEH was not employed.  I have been tormented many days over whether or not this interpretation was the right thing to do, and I now believe with all my heart that I have done the perfect will of God.  Nevertheless, if I have rather entered into the permissive will of God, I now plead for God’s mercy on my soul, as I have done it in ignorance rather than malice.  God knows my heart is to serve my Yahweh God, the Great I Am.  The Hebrew form of the name of God, which is “Yahweh,” interpreted in English means “I Am”. 

            Another departure from the norm is the explicit use of the masculine forms of language to denote the persons of the Godhead, noting that many of the Hebrew words implicating the Godhead are in feminine forms, in particularly Elohiym, which can denote God or Goddess. Where verses read He, Him, or His, many instances have been changed to read You, Your, or Yours, which doesn’t denote a masculine or feminine Entity, but rather an androgynous Entity.   Certain passages in the New Testament indicate that heavenly beings are neither male nor female, and I believe we can ascertain from these passages that God is neither masculine nor feminine or possibly has both qualities.  Since human beings are made in the image of our Maker, and have both masculine and feminine attributes, as well as both male and female hormones, and it is believed by most that God is complete in Self-existence, it is possible that God fully has both qualities. Since we have no way of knowing this for certain, I choose to use an androgynous descriptor of God in the text of this paraphrase.  In addition, since the word man no longer represents humanity in general to some people, as used to be the case for most, I have changed the words man, mankind, and the like to more neutral forms, such as humanity, people, or persons, along with many of the systematically rendered masculine wording such as he, him, and his, to they, them, and theirs as the original Hebrew word (1931 Strong’s) can be denoted as masculine, feminine, or androgynous (he, she, it, etc.). 

            Other passages which are notably antiquated by their wording and phrasing are rendered a more modern connotation than the original text would allow for.  In cases where a change was made, several alternate texts were considered along with the original languages as denoted in the Strong’s Concordance and Dictionary. Some verses were joined together, where the thought had been divided into separate verses in the KJV, when they were felt to be better understood by keeping the thought in one main sentence.  With these departures in mind, I hope that this interpretation may be viewed as a help along with other translations and paraphrases in the great commission of Jesus Christ, my Sovereign and Savior. I hope to someday do additional interpretations of the Scriptures, but trust that I have done and will do only that which would be in God’s perfect will.   God Bless and Go Fish!  Jesus said, Follow me and I’ll teach you to fish for the souls of others.  Matthew 4:19. 

Some Scriptural reasons for my quest: 

1. And those that know Your Name will put their trust in You: for You, oh Yahweh, haven’t abandoned those that seek You. Hymn 9:10
2. I’ll declare Your Name to my friends; in the midst of the congregation I’ll praise You.  Hymn 22:22
3. If we have forgotten the Name of our God, or stretched out our hands to make ungodly things our idols won’t You know it? For You know the secrets of the heart. Hymn 44: 20-21
4. I’ll praise You forever, because You’ve done it, and I’ll minister to Your Name; for it’s good for Your People.  Hymn 52:9
5. Save me, oh God, by Your Name, and judge me by Your strength. Hymn 54:1
6. Sing to God: We’ll sing praises to Your Name and exalt You, who rides on the heavens by Your Name YAHWEH, and celebrate before You.  Hymn 68:4
7. God, You sent redemption to Your people, authorizing the covenant forever: holy and reverent is Your Name. The reverence of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom: all those that do Your commandments have a good understanding: Your praise endures forever. Hymn 111: 9-10
8. I have remembered Your Name, oh Yahweh, in the night, and have kept Your word. This I was able to do, only because I kept Your precepts. Hymn119: 55-56
9. Our help is in the Name of Yahweh, who made heaven and earth. Hymn 124:8

In closing I would like to say that I don’t think anybody ought to have a copyright on God’s Word, including myself. So as Yahweh God holds the ©copyright, all rights are reserved for and by God. This Book of the New Word may be reproduced in its entirety or in part with permission of the Author.  Reproductions may be distributed in printed, electronic, media, and other formats.  Any and all reproductions must be provided to users free of charge and may not be sold for a fee.   We have been freely given, so we must freely give.  Go into all the world and make followers…

Go to Chapter 16 Finding My Voice in the Wilderness http://www.authspot.com/Journals/Chapter-16-Finding-my-Voice-in-the-Wilderness.872883

Following are links to the published portions of my paraphrase work:

http://www.relijournal.com/Christianity/The-New-Word-According-to-John.155907

http://www.relijournal.com/Christianity/The-Acts-of-the-Followers-Chapters-1-7.672465

http://relijournal.com/christianity/acts-of-the-followers-chapter-8-14/

http://relijournal.com/christianity/the-acts-of-the-followers-chapters-15-21/

http://relijournal.com/christianity/the-acts-of-the-followers-chapters-22-28/

http://relijournal.com/christianity/paul%e2%80%99s-letter-to-the-romans-chapters-1-7/

http://relijournal.com/christianity/paul%e2%80%99s-letter-to-romans-ch-8-16/

http://relijournal.com/christianity/i-corinthians-1-4/

http://relijournal.com/christianity/i-corinthians-5-7/

http://relijournal.com/christianity/i-corinthians-8-11-paul%e2%80%99s-first-letter-to-the-corinthians/

http://relijournal.com/christianity/i-corinthians-12-16/

http://relijournal.com/christianity/paul%e2%80%99s-second-letter-to-the-corinthians-ch-1-3/

http://relijournal.com/christianity/paul%e2%80%99s-second-letter-to-the-corinthians-ch-4-7/

http://relijournal.com/christianity/paul%e2%80%99s-second-letter-to-the-corinthians-ch-8-10/

http://relijournal.com/christianity/paul%e2%80%99s-second-letter-to-the-corinthians-ch-11-13/

http://relijournal.com/christianity/paul%e2%80%99s-letter-to-the-galatians/

http://relijournal.com/christianity/paul%e2%80%99s-letter-to-the-ephesians/

http://relijournal.com/christianity/paul%e2%80%99s-letter-to-the-philippians/

http://relijournal.com/christianity/pauls-letter-to-the-collossians/

http://relijournal.com/christianity/pauls-first-letter-to-the-thessalonians/

http://relijournal.com/christianity/the-second-letter-to-the-thesalonians-the-holy-bible/

http://relijournal.com/christianity/paul%e2%80%99s-first-letter-to-timothy/

http://relijournal.com/christianity/paul%e2%80%99s-second-letter-to-timothy/

http://relijournal.com/christianity/pauls-letter-to-titus/

http://relijournal.com/christianity/paul%e2%80%99s-letter-to-philemon/

http://relijournal.com/christianity/a-letter-to-the-hebrews/

http://relijournal.com/christianity/a-letter-from-james/

http://relijournal.com/christianity/peter-i/

http://relijournal.com/christianity/peter-ii/

http://relijournal.com/christianity/the-first-letter-from-john/

http://relijournal.com/christianity/the-second-letter-from-john/

http://relijournal.com/christianity/the-third-letter-from-john/

http://relijournal.com/christianity/a-letter-from-jude/