The LORD and the Lord: an interactive online study
Psalm 145:17 The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.


1 Corinthians 1:2 Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints

1 Corinthians 1:2 Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name (for more on this idiom see New Testament phrase 3) of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:

Aramaic: agrees with the Stephens text

 

1 Corinthians 1:3 Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Aramaic: our Lord

 

1 Corinthians 1:7 So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:

Aramaic: agrees with the Stephens text

 

1 Corinthians 1:8 Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Aramaic: agrees with the Stephens text

 

1 Corinthians 1:9 God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

Aramaic: agrees with the Stephens text

 

1 Corinthians 1:10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

Aramaic: agrees with the Stephens text

 

1 Corinthians 1:31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the LORD (Jehovah: Jeremiah 9:24; en kurios – no article).

Aramaic: LORDemp agrees with the Stephens text

 

1 Corinthians 2:8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

Aramaic: agrees with the Stephens text

 

1 Corinthians 2:16 For who hath known the mind of the LORD (Jehovah: Isaiah 40:13), that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

Aramaic: LORDemp agrees with the Stephens text

 

1 Corinthians 3:5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord (Ephesians 4:8) gave to every man?

Aramaic: LORDemp agrees with the Stephens text

 

1 Corinthians 3:20 And again, The LORD (Jehovah: Psalm 94:1) knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.

Aramaic: LORDemp agrees with the Stephens text

 

1 Corinthians 4:4 For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord (for rewards: bema: Christ).

Aramaic: LORDemp agrees with the Stephens text

 

1 Corinthians 4:5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.

Aramaic: LORDemp agrees with the Stephens text

 

1 Corinthians 4:17 For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord (NT Phrase 1), who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach every where in every church.

Aramaic: Lordsprm agrees with the Stephens text

 

1 Corinthians 4:19 But I will come to you shortly, if the LORD will (Jehovah: James 4:15, Romans 1:10; 15:32), and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power.

Aramaic: *God/ or agrees with the Stephens text; LORDemp

Latin:       agrees with the Stephens text

 

*Although Lamsa and the Peshitta Aramaic texts have Lord, Murdock has translated this verse with God in the place of Lord.

 

1 Corinthians 5:4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Aramaic: agrees with the Stephens text

 

1 Corinthians 5:5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

Aramaic: our Lord

 

1 Corinthians 6:11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

Aramaic: our Lord

 

1 Corinthians 6:13 Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.

Aramaic: our Lord

 

1 Corinthians 6:14 And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.

Aramaic: our Lord

 

1 Corinthians 6:17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

Aramaic: our Lord

 

1 Corinthians 7:10 And unto the married I command (paraggelo), yet not I, but the Lord* Let not the wife depart from her husband:

 

*This is certainly the Lord Jesus Christ for paraggello is used 32 times, but it used with God only once, in Acts 17:30. Most importantly, the noun form is used in the exact same context in 1 Thessalonians 4:2-3:

 

For ye know what commandments ––paraggelia:  we gave you by the Lord Jesus.

For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:),

 

Aramaic: my Lord                                           

 

1 Corinthians 7:12 But to the rest speak I, not the Lord (from 7:10). If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away.

Aramaic: my Lord

 

1 Corinthians 7:17 But as the LORD (Lord: Greek, God: Latin, & Aramaic.* This is Jehovah in the application of Romans 12:3 as God has dealt to every man...) hath distributed to every man, as the God (God: Greek, the Lord: Latin, & Aramaic) hath called every one, so let him walk. And so ordain I in all churches.

Aramaic: God/Lord – LORDemp

Latin:       God/Lord

 

*There is also a variation in the order of theos and kurios in a number of the Greek texts as well. The key to a full recognition of the tremendous truths held forth in this section of I Corinthians 7 is the verb form of the Greek word translated distributed in I Corinthians 7:17. This word (merizo 3307) is translated dealt in Romans 12:3 and distributed in I Corinthians 10:13. In Romans every man is to think according to the limitless measure of the gift of Christ dealt to each and every saint from the oldest to the youngest.

In application, although each individual in the body of Christ is set as it pleases God (I Corinthians 12:18, 27), married, unmarried, Jew, Gentile, bond or free, we are to each think of ourselves according to the measureless equality that is given to each of us in Christ. Whether we are parent or youngest child, each member of the body of Christ is called to fulfill their unique responsibilities with the greatness of the power of God that is the measure of the faith of Jesus Christ distributed to each. By God’s power, all of us are equally righteous in Christ, and by the power of God in each, each of us are to fulfill our unique calling in the body of Christ which body is, figuratively, the temple, the house of Jehovah God to the world.

 

1 Corinthians 7:22 For he that is called in the Lord (NT Phrase 1), being a servant, is the Lord's freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ's servant.

Aramaic: our Lord

 

1 Corinthians 7:25 Now concerning virgins I have no commandment (epitage) of the Lord: (I Co. 7:10,12, and the use of epitage in 7:6) yet I give my judgment, as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord (1 Timothy 1:12) to be faithful.

Aramaic:  1st God, 2nd God 

Latin:       agrees with the Stephens text

 

1 Corinthians 7:32 But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord:

Aramaic:  1st for the one who is his Lord, 2nd his lord

Latin:       1st agrees with Stephens text, 2nd God

 

1 Corinthians 7:34 There is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband.

Aramaic: her Lord

 

1 Corinthians 7:35 And this I speak for your own profit; not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is comely, and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction.

Aramaic: your Lord

 

1 Corinthians 7:39 The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord (NT Phrase 1).

Aramaic: our Lord

 

1 Corinthians 8:5 For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,)

Aramaic: lordships

 

1 Corinthians 8:6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

Aramaic: Lordsprm agrees with the Stephens text

 

1 Corinthians 9:1 Am I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord (NT Phrase 1)?

Aramaic: our Lord

 

1 Corinthians 9:2 If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you: for the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord (NT Phrase 1).

Aramaic: omits

Latin:       agrees with the Stephens text

 

1 Corinthians 9:5 Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?

Aramaic: our Lord

 

1 Corinthians 9:14 Even so hath the LORD* ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.

Aramaic: our Lord

 

*I Corinthians 9:9 begins the context of this verse with: "For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen?" The second record given as an explanation of abundant sharing is in 9:13 concerning the Old Testament temple. Because the words even so connect the Old Testament temple directly to the Lord who ordains in 9:14, "Lord" must be Jehovah.

 

1 Corinthians 10:9 Neither let us tempt Christ (this should be the LORD—Jehovah*), as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.

Aramaic: agrees with the Stephens text

Latin: agrees with the Stephens text

 

*The major critical Greek texts are split pretty evenly between Lord and Christ (Tischendorf NT --8th Ed. and Westcott and Hort’s NT have kurios while Robinson-Pierpont Majority Text, the Friberg NT, Scrivener’s 1894 NT, and the Stephen’s text have Xristos.), but this is Jehovah, Old Testament phrase 20. The structure of each verse of scripture from I Corinthians 10:7-10 is a direct comparison through a series of elliptical expressions. For instance, in 10:7 “Neither be ye idolaters, as some of them (were idolaters)” leaves out the last two word were idolaters. Each of these verses begins: "don't 'X', as Israel did 'X'." Hence, 10:9 can't be an ellipsis with the sense of: "Neither let us tempt Christ as some of them also tempted Jehovah." The verse must read, “Let none of us tempt Jehovah as some of them also tempted (Jehovah). Otherwise, if we read "Christ,” I Corinthians 10:9 becomes impossible." Israel could not have tempted Christ because our Lord had not yet been born and, even more simply, the Old Testament tells us that Israel tempted Jehovah.

 

1 Corinthians 10:21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord (I Corinthians 11:27), and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.

Aramaic: 1st our Lord, 2nd our Lord

 

1 Corinthians 10:22 Do we provoke the LORD to jealousy (De 32:21)? are we stronger than he?

Aramaic: our Lord

 

1 Corinthians 10:26 For the earth is the LORD's (Psalm 24:1), and the fulness thereof.

Aramaic: LORDemp agrees with the Stephens text

 

1 Corinthians 11:11 Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord (NT Phrase 1).

Aramaic: our Lord

 

1 Corinthians 11:23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:

Aramaic: our Lord

 

1 Corinthians 11:26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.

Aramaic: our Lord

 

1 Corinthians 11:27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

Aramaic: 1st eats of the bread of the Lordsprm and drinks from his cup, 2nd Lordsprm

Latin:       agrees with the Stephens text

 

1 Corinthians 11:29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's (N-A, L,T,Tr, A, N omit) body.

Aramaic: Lordsprm agrees with the Stephens text

Latin:       agrees with the Stephen' text.

 

1 Corinthians 11:32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the LORD (chastened, paideo, is primarily the instruction of children by a father. Sometimes tyrants such as Herod abused the word paideo. Hence, our Father God, or Jehovah in the Old Testament, must be meant here. See also Hebrews 12:6-10, and De. 8:5), that we should not be condemned with the world.

Aramaic: But when we are judged by our Lord

Latin:       agrees with the Stephens text

 

1 Corinthians 12:3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord*, but by the Holy Ghost.

Aramaic: Lordsprm agrees with the Stephens text

 

*Anyone can say the words “Jesus is my Lord,” and, for a price, just might. That, however, is not salvation. According to Romans 10:9-10, one must believe in his heart that God has raised our Lord from the dead and then (wisely) confess him as lord. This is salvation. I Corinthians 12:3 is about speaking by the spirit, speaking in tongues (I Corinthians 14:14). No one can say publically that Jesus Christ is Lord if that person does not speak in tongues. The presence of the holy spirit is proof that this person is a born-again son of God. Such a person speaking in tongues and interpreting in accordance with the commandments of the Lord given in I Corinthians 14 need never tell anyone directly that Christ is his Lord. The evidence of the spirit is enough. This person could have received the holy spirit in one way and in one way only. He must have received it through the Master when he believed. Period. Far from calling Jesus accursed, that man or woman who speaks by the spirit is perfectly declaring the Lordship of Christ to all the world.

 

1 Corinthians 12:5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same *LORD (Jehovah. the Aramaic reading seems to hearken back to Deuteronomy 6:4: “the LORD our God is one LORD”).

Aramaic: LORDemp agrees with the Stephens text

 

* In I Corinthians 12:4 the topic changes from all spiritual matters in 12:1 (pneumatikon) to spiritual gifts, or charismata, in the church. God, the Holy Spirit, through Christ, is the giver of the charismata in the church. The gift of the holy spirit that came on Pentecost is a charismata, but is never responsible for giving charismata. Hence, the one God is the subject of I Corinthians 12:4. The charismata include the five gift ministries mentioned as doma in Ephesians 4 (I Timothy 4:14), but they include the unique service to the body of Christ every member is called of God to offer (I Corinthians 7:7). Likewise, the one God is plainly the subject of 12:6.  Hence, by the context, lord in 12:5 refers to Jehovah. We are servants of our Lord Jesus Christ, but on his behalf we serve the body of Christ, the household of God.

 

1 Corinthians 14:21 In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the LORD (Jehovah: cited – Isa. 28:11).

Aramaic: LORDemp agrees with the Stephens text

 

1 Corinthians 14:37 If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments (entole) of the *Lord.

Aramaic: our Lord

 

*1 Corinthians 7:6 (epitage), 10 (paragello), 12 (lego), 25 (epitage) each refer to our Lord's orders. The authority in I Corinthians 14 is the same. However, the words used in I Corinthians 7 concern a spoken order that is pretty much a one-time deal. For instance, if you are to stay married, you stay married. On the other hand, the entole of the Lord refers to standing orders that are followed repeatedly every time they apply.

In the first ten verses of I Corinthians 1, our savior is named ten times. In these same ten verses he is referred to as Lord six times. As I Corinthians 1:2 and 1:10 show, throughout I Corinthians God is reminding the divided church that they have one Lord. If they all obey their Lord, there will not be division.

 

1 Corinthians 15:31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

Aramaic: agrees with the Stephens text

 

1 Corinthians 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord (N-A, G= L,T,Tr, A, N omit the Lord. The ellipsis in the Geek reads beautifully.) from heaven.

Aramaic:  Lordsprm agrees with the Stephens text

Latin:       the second from heaven, heavenly

 

1 Corinthians 15:57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Aramaic: agrees with the Stephens text

 

1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord (Philippians 2:30), forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord (NT Phrase 1).

Aramaic: 1st LORDsprm 2nd LORDsprm

 

1 Corinthians 16:7 For I will not see you now by the way; but I trust to tarry a while with you, if the LORD permit (James 4:15, Romans 1:10; 15:32).

Aramaic: my Lord

 

1 Corinthians 16:10 Now if Timotheus come, see that he may be with you without fear: for he worketh the work of the Lord (Philippians 2:30 NT2), as I also do.

Aramaic: Lordsprm agrees with the Stephens text

 

1 Corinthians 16:19 The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord (NT Phrase 1), with the church that is in their house.

Aramaic: our Lord (Lee 1816 edition Peshitta—agrees with Stephens text; Lordsprm)

 

1 Corinthians 16:22 If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema *Maranatha.

Aramaic: our Lord

*In Aramaic Maranatha translates as our Lord cometh. Even more than the Aramaic words found in the gospels, this salutation in Aramaic supports the likelihood that Aramaic (thought not necessarily the Syriac of the Peshitta) was the primary language in which God’s word was revealed to the Apostle Paul.

 

1 Corinthians 16:23 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you (NT Phrase 5).

Aramaic: agrees with the Stephens text

 

2 Corinthians 1:2 Grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Aramaic: our Lord

 

2 Corinthians 1:3 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;

Aramaic: agrees with the Stephens text

 

2 Corinthians 1:14 As also ye have acknowledged us in part, that we are your rejoicing, even as ye also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus.

Aramaic: our Lord

 

2 Corinthians 2:12 Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ's gospel, and a door was opened unto me in (not of) the Lord (NT Phrase 1: All the Greek texts agree the words are ev kurios, in the Lord. This is New Testament phrase 1. How is it that God opens doors of utterance for Paul? He remained in the Lord! Through thick and thin, Paul stayed on target in obedience to God and His wonderful Son. God's word in II Corinthians follows through and offers a lot of detail about what remaining in the Lord as an ambassador and minister looks like.),

Aramaic: Lordsprm agrees with the Stephens text

 

2 Corinthians 3:16 Nevertheless when it shall turn to the LORD (OT phrase 18 &, with veil, an unmistakable Old Testament law context), the vail shall be taken away.

Aramaic: LORDemp agrees with the Stephens text

 

2 Corinthians 3:17 Now the LORD (Jehovah, John 4:24 & 2co. 3:16) is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the LORD (Jehovah: OT phrase 14) is, there is liberty.

Aramaic: 1st LORDemp 2nd LORDemp agrees with the Stephens text

 

2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the LORD (Jehovah, OT phrase 13 & 2Co. 3:17), are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the LORD (Jehovah: OT phrase 14).

Aramaic: 1st LORDemp 2nd LORDemp, agrees with the Stephens text

 

2 Corinthians 4:5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.

Aramaic: our Lord

 

2 Corinthians 4:10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord (N-A, G,L,T,Tr, A omit the Lord) Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

Aramaic: omits the Lord

Latin:       omits the Lord

 

2 Corinthians 4:14 Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.

Aramaic: our Lord

 

2 Corinthians 5:6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:

Aramaic: our Lord

 

2 Corinthians 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

Aramaic: our Lord

 

2 Corinthians 5:11 Knowing therefore the terror (phobus: fear) of the LORD (OT phrase 17, fear of the Jehovah. The phrase, the terror of the Lord, is an overly dramatic KJV translation), we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.

Aramaic: our Lord

 

2 Corinthians 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the LORD (Jehovah, Isaiah 52:11) and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,

Aramaic: LORDemp agrees with the Stephens text

 

2 Corinthians 6:18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the LORD Almighty (Kurious Pantokrator: the Greek of God’s O.T. title, Jehovah El'Shaddai).

Aramaic: LORDemp agrees with the Stephens text

 

*God's promise relates to us as His children rather than as His subjects. Hence, El’Shaddai, the Almighty, pantokrator in the Greek, rather than Sabaoth—of Hosts, is correct.)

 

2 Corinthians 8:5 And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God.

Aramaic: our Lord

 

2 Corinthians 8:9 For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ (NT Phrase 5), that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.

Aramaic: agrees with the Stephens text

 

2 Corinthians 8:19 And not that only, but who was also chosen of the churches to travel with us with this grace, which is administered by us to the glory of the same Lord (God*), and declaration of your ready mind:

Aramaic:  God

Latin:       Lord

 

*The Aramaic has God in place of the same Lord. If we allow the Aramaic readings of God instead of Lord in 8:19 and 8:21, the entire passage, from 2 Corinthians 8:16 to 8:23, reads much more smoothly. If the Aramaic is correct, then God is referred to throughout. If the Greek is correct, then, in accordance 2 Corinthians 8:23, lord refers to the lord of glory, our lord Jesus Christ.

 

2 Corinthians 8:21 Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the God but also in the sight of men.*

Aramaic:  God

Latin:       God

 

*If the Greek is correct, then Jehovah: OT phrase 11… The idiom or figure "in the sight of" is used with men as well as with God. However, here in the sight of the lord is set in contrast to the sight of men. Finally, the idiom is used everywhere else in the New Testament with Jehovah: Luke 1:15, James 4:10. There are also 12 uses of the phrase in the sight of God used in the New Testament.

 

2 Corinthians 10:8 For though I should boast somewhat more of our authority, which the Lord (Ephesians 4:8) hath given us for edification, and not for your destruction, I should not be ashamed:

Aramaic: our Lord

 

2 Corinthians 10:17 But he that glorieth, let him glory in the LORD (Jehovah: a reference to the truth of Jer. 9:27-28).

Aramaic: LORDemp agrees with the Stephens text

 

2 Corinthians 10:18 For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the LORD commendeth (Jehovah: Jer. 9:28 ends "…in this I delight...," 10:18 is the application of this truth. The letters of commendation in 2 Co 3, the living epistles, are written by God.)

Aramaic: LORDemp agrees with the Stephens text

 

2 Corinthians 11:17 That which I speak, I speak it not after the Lord, (laleo kata kurios*) but as it were foolishly, in this confidence of boasting.

Aramaic: our Lord

 

*The phrase not after the Lord does not mean that the verses that follow are not words from God. However, the judgment that they involve is not according to the standards or values that belong to our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 7:6 (epitage), 10 (paragello), 12 (lego), 25 (epitage) each refer to our Lord's orders. The words used in I Corinthians 7 concern a spoken order that is pretty much a one-time deal. However, the entole of the Lord in I Corinthians 14:37 refers to standing orders that are followed repeatedly every time they apply. Commands are not the issue in II Corinthians 11:17. This verse concerns what believers should glory in or boast about. The idea is that boasting according to the flesh is an example of what speaking and viewing each other in the church is not. We should view each other and speak of ourselves in accordance with the authority we have in Christ spiritually.

The irony here is that, when speaking about his credentials according to the flesh rather than in the Lord, the apostle far exceeds the credentials of the others who boast after the flesh. By revelation Paul needs to remind the church of this because he ordinarily never mentions these things. He counts the flesh as dung and doesn't look back or rest on his past accomplishments.

As I Corinthians 1:2 and 1:10 show, throughout I Corinthians, God is reminding the divided church that they have one Lord. If they all obey their Lord, or speak according to the Lord's authority in them spiritually, there will not be division. Boasting according to the flesh causes division also.

 

2 Corinthians 11:31 The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not.

Aramaic: agrees with the Stephens text

 

2 Corinthians 12:1 It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord (Lord Jesus Christ; see Revelation 1:1).

Aramaic: our Lord

 

2 Corinthians 12:8 For this thing I besought the Lord* thrice, that it might depart from me.

Aramaic: my Lord

 

*This use of the Lord Jesus Christ might seem unusual because, everywhere else in the Bible, prayer requests are made to the heavenly Father. The request for help from the Lord is in the context of the abundance of revelation. This abundance was so great that Paul talks about it as greater than the revelation he was receiving concerning the Corinthian church!

The context starts in II Corinthians 11:2 where Paul begins to boast about his credentials in Christ according to the flesh (not according to the Christ in him). Then, in II Corinthians 12, Paul begins to set the example of boasting, glorying, according to the glory of Christ in him. He begins to give the spiritual perspective on all he has endured in Christ. He doesn't go too far into detail, because it is the past. Paul is what he is spiritually, rather than who he was when he received the abundance of revelation.

The things Paul endured from the inhabitants of the places God sent him was Paul's thorn in the flesh. Unlike others who seem to want to have worldly pains for the gospels sake so they can boast about their status with God, Paul didn't want to endure these things. While he was receiving the abundance of revelation, he had revelation knowledge concerning the source of the thorn. In the process of receiving this revelation knowledge from the Lord Jesus Christ, Paul besought the Lord three times that the thorn in the flesh would depart from him. Anyone with any sense that had to endure a tenth of what Paul endured would have asked the same thing. Paul is describing three specific requests made while he was receiving an abundance of visions and revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Likewise, when the Lord revealed himself to Ananias, Ananias spoke with the Lord directly.

This is the same pattern found when the Lord appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus in Acts 9:22. In Acts 22:17-21 Paul goes into greater detail about revelation he received from our Lord Jesus Christ. Ironically, his audience in Jerusalem revolts just as Paul repeats the Lord's original directions, "for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles." If the Lord sent Paul far hence, why was he in Jerusalem? True revelation from the Lord will always come to pass. The Lord warned Paul that the people of Jerusalem would not receive Paul's testimony, and they did not. Everyone wants to say how he or she spoke with the Lord Jesus. If those words don't come to pass, if they fall to the ground, those folks more than deserve to lose their credibility. I hope the leaders in the church remind people of Ephesians 4:25 and 29.

Do all revelation visions involve seeing the Lord Jesus Christ? No, in Acts 9:12 Paul received a vision of Ananias laying hands on him. In Acts 16:9 Paul's received the vision of the man from Macedonia. In Acts 12:9 visions involving angels must have been part of Peter's life, for he confused the appearance of the angel with a vision. In Ephesians spiritual wisdom and revelation knowledge is given to all. No matter the form in which the revelation information comes, it is the knowledge of God. It is given to the end that we may know (by experience) the hope of his calling (as we overcome in life: Romans 5:1-5), the riches of the glory of Christ in us, and what God's glorious power in Christ and how we in the church are his body.

 

2 Corinthians 13:10 Therefore I write these things being absent, lest being present I should use sharpness, according to the power which the Lord (Ephesians 4:8) hath given me to edification, and not to destruction.

Aramaic: my Lord

 

2 Corinthians 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ (NT Phrase 5), and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.

Aramaic: our Lord

 

Galatians 1:3 Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ,

Aramaic: agrees with the Stephens text

 

Galatians 1:19 But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother.

Aramaic: our Lord

 

Galatians 4:1 Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord* of all;

Aramaic: Lord in the construct form, linguistically “a lord of all” or lordspr – “the lord of all.”

 

*In English, the translation “lord” without an indefinite article or a definite article is very safe. In English “lord” can be a noun of direct address which, set apart with a comma, can serve as our English vocative (“Lord, where are you going?”). Also, as part of a genitive construction, lord can be the lord of a specific realm (He is “lord of heaven and earth”), or the lord of an indefinite realm, as it does here in Galatians 4. From the context, in Greek and in Aramaic, the heir is “a lord of all,” for we who believe and receive are joint heirs with Christ –Romans 8:16.

 

Galatians 5:10 I have confidence in you through (en-in) the Lord (NT Phrase 1), that ye will be none otherwise minded: but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be.

Aramaic: our Lord

 

Galatians 6:14 But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.

Aramaic: agrees with the Stephens text

 

Galatians 6:17 From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord (N-A, G=, L, T, Tr, A omit Lord. LAU keeps Lord) Jesus.

Aramaic: our Lord, includes Lord; Walton, 1657; Schaff, 1709; Lee 1816; Mosul 1898: add Christ.

Latin:       agrees with the Stephen's text

 

Galatians 6:18 Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ (NT Phrase 5) be with your spirit. Amen.

Aramaic: agrees with the Stephens text