As is often pointed out in these posts, much of the spiritual ignorance that so pervades christianity is a direct result of the rejection of the Father’s traditions when christianity was invented well after the NT writers had all died, and codified in the 4th century by a pagan sun-worshiping emperor.
Today, we address two important truths—the fact that the original words of scripture were inspired by the Holy Spirit, but that ALL translations of those words are works of men that contain human error, AND the fact that some of the translators who have produced different English translations are so devoid of the Holy Spirit’s truths that they don’t even understand a specific group of people that are explicitly named, and their translations refer to them as if they are an entirely different group, even though the early manuscripts clearly identify them properly.
In Matthew 9, Mark 2, and Luke 5, Messiah Yahoshua is questioned by the scribes and Pharisees about the fact that the Jews had regular fasting days, but that Yahoshua’s disciples weren’t fasting on any of those schedules.
Understand that different groups selected different days of the week, month, and year to fast for spiritual purposes, which is the context of Romans 14:5—another verse that is corruptly lifted out of context by many christians, claiming that Paul is talking about the Sabbaths in that verse, which he was not—he was talking about days of fasting.
Messiah responded to the religious leaders with a question, and he identifies His disciples as a specific part of the wedding. However, if one relies on only one English translation of scripture to gain insight into what Messiah was saying, one is likely to be misinformed and misled.
The NIV, NLT, ESV, CSB, GNT, HCSB, and ISV are among the translations that claim Messiah asked the religious leaders about “wedding guests” fasting while the Bridegroom is with them.
The Berean Study Bible says they are “the guests of the Bridegroom.”
The NASB calls them “attendants of the Bridegroom.” The Douay-Rheims Bible refers to them as “children of the Bridegroom.” The NKJV, CEV, and the World English Bible call them the “friends of the Bridegroom.”
The Berean Literal Bible, KJV, Aramaic Bible in Plain English, Jubilee Bible, ASV, Darby Bible Translation, ERV, Webster’s Bible Translation, and Young’s Literal Translation all say either “children of the bride chamber,” or “sons of the bridal chamber.”
So, which of these is actually a correct translation? Well, that only matters if one desires truth over error, as John 4:24 exhorts us to do. Note that someone can belong to only one of the groups who are part of the wedding. One cannot be both a friend of the Bridegroom and a wedding guest, for example.
Let’s quickly identify the different participants in the wedding, and see just how flawed some of the English translations are.
Father of the Bridegroom – Yah
Bridegroom – Yahoshua
Bride – those who receive the covenant (saved between Acts 2 and the gathering in the air)
Friends of the Bridegroom – Old Testament saints
Friends of the bride – tribulation saints
Wedding guests – millennial saints
Now, Messiah Yahoshua was speaking of His own disciples. Are we to imagine that He didn’t know who they were within the wedding traditions of His Father? That is an absurd assertion! Of course He knew who they were.
So, why are His disciples identified falsely by so many translations? How could they be referred to as different participants in the wedding? It is because the translators were devoid of the Holy Spirit and His truths, as they clearly did not understand the traditions, and thus, perverted the plain words in the earliest manuscripts available (which are, unfortunately, Greek, as the Gospels were originally written in Hebrew, but have either been hidden or lost).
Messiah Yahoshua knew that His disciples were the ones who would first be given the spiritual covenant (seal of the Holy Spirit) that was revealed on the Feast of Weeks (Acts 2). As such, He knew they were part of the bride. They weren’t friends of the Bridegroom, they weren’t the Bridegroom’s guests, they weren’t the Bridegroom’s attendants, and they weren’t the wedding guests. Those are specific groups of people who will attend the wedding (the members of all those groups are saved).
So, being members of the bride, they were properly called “children of the bridal chamber,” as only the Bridegroom and bride enter the wedding chamber to consummate the marriage.
In a recent conversation I had with a christian writer, he seemed genuinely surprised by the information about the wedding traditions, and the different participants in the wedding, as he claimed that references to different aspects of the wedding in scripture, and those who are a part of it, are just “casual references” with ambiguous meanings, as he didn’t understand that all of the intricate traditions of the Jewish wedding are being followed precisely. And, that is a symptom of christianity’s false teachings and sloppy theology.
Does that mean that the English translations that correctly identified what Messiah actually stated in this instance are the “inspired” English translations? No. There is no such thing. Those translations got this one verse correct (all the other translations of this verse are false); but, ALL translations are works of men, and, thus, contain human error. There is not a single English translation that is the actual inspired scriptures of the Holy Spirit. Only His original words are inspired and inerrant.
Of course, many of us are familiar with a very cult-like group of people who proclaim that the KJV translation of men is the actual perfect “Word of God.” They border on idolatry, as the KJV is just a translation like all other translations.
Folks in the KJV-Only cult twist and distort specific verses of scripture, claiming that the verses are referring to the KJV (which is human lunacy), and most of that comes from the fact that they don’t know WHO the Word even is (Hebrew: dabar, Greek: logos). They don’t realize that HE is not a book, but a living being who speaks as Elohim.
The important thing to understand here is that, if you are relying on a single English translation of the scriptures as your source of final truth, you will be misled, for all translations contain human error. It is vital to examine the broad meanings of the earliest words we have on record, and those words are in Hebrew and Greek. And, it is helpful to research how several different English versions translate those words.
But, and this is the most important aspect of this—it is imperative, if one is to comprehend the spiritual meanings of the scriptures (those meanings that are far deeper than mere literal word definitions), then one must be led by the Holy Spirit, who is the only one who can open people’s eyes to understand the scriptures. That actually eliminates teachers of christianity, as christianity is a counterfeit of the true faith, and is at the heart of so many false translations found in its many different English versions.
And, if one is led by the Holy Spirit to be instructed by one whose understanding HE has illuminated regarding His meanings within the scriptures, then He, by definition, is leading that person to His truths. Paul and the other apostles clearly taught the truths of the Spirit to others who were led by the Spirit. In turn, as they grew in understanding, they taught others who weren’t as far along in their understanding.
Remember, Messiah’s disciples knew the literal words of scripture, as they had been given in their native Hebrew tongue. But, they didn’t understand the actual spiritual meanings WITHIN those words until their eyes were opened to BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND those meanings (Luke 24:45, 1 Corinthians 2:14).
So, if your pastor or teacher states that a specific English translation of the scriptures is the final arbiter of truth, or that a particular English translation of the scriptures is the inspired, inerrant scriptures, that person is a false teacher, and likely has no real understanding of the truths of the Holy Spirit revealed in His scriptures.
That is why there are more than 41,000 christian denominations in the world, and one bride of Messiah, who is called Y’isra-el. Messiah’s bride is singular, but the counterfeit of her is comprised of tens of thousands of different flavors, which all disagree with one another about what the scriptures teach.
For more information: Was the KJV Inspired by the Holy Spirit?