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Here the words for born are from γεννάω which means ‘beget’, that is, ‘sire’ (as by a father), as in Matthew 1:2,

It begins with conception (Mat 1:20), “…for that which is conceived [γεννηθὲν] in her ...”[ii] The allegory allows that we are begotten now in the womb of our spiritual mother (Gal 4:26; Rev 12:2).[iii] And even though he says (verse 6), “and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit”—and though we know that we are yet in the flesh (Gal 2:20)[iv] and not in possession of a “spiritual body” (1Cor 15:44)[v]—it is possible to be begotten now (Rom 8:9): “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.”[vi]

The imagery is of a teacher who through his words begets (1Cor 4:15): “For though ye have ten thousand instructers in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten [ἐγέννησα] you through the gospel.” And in Philemon 10 Paul writes, “I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten [ἐγέννησα] in my bonds”. Our words beget either for good or evil (2Tim 2:23): “But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender [γεννῶσιν] strifes.”[vii]

James uses another word— ἀποκυέω (James 1:14-15): “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth [ἀποκύει] death.” The only other place this word occurs is in verse 18 where James speaks of the Father who “Of his own will begat [ἀπεκύησεν] he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.”[viii] Peter expresses it similarly with another word (1Peter 1:23): “Being born again [ἀναγεγεννημένοι], not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.”[ix]

Thus according to both James and Peter we are begotten with the word of God, which implies God’s spirit as David understood (2Sam 23:2):

Paul speaks of (Eph 6:17) “…the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God”. God’s spirit is a spirit of understanding—of understanding the word of God (Isaiah 11:2), “And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD…”[xi]

John begins his Gospel with (John 1:1), “In the beginning was the Word,” and follows with (verse 14), “And the Word was made flesh,”[xii] which is like saying that Jesus was begotten with the word of truth (James 1:18; 1Pet 1:23). As Paul says (1Cor 15:44), “It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.” As it says (Heb 1:5), “For unto which of the angels said he at any time [Psalms 2:7], Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten [γεγέννηκά] thee?”[xiii]

Jesus said (Luke 7:28), “For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”[xiv] He also said (Luke 16:16), “The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.”[xv] And, as we have seen, he that presseth into the kingdom can neither see it nor enter it except he be begotten of God (John 3:3, 5).

So did Jesus mean, when he said of John (Luke 7:28), “…he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he”, that John was not begotten of God? The saints of the Tanakh did indeed receive the spirit, for consider David who prayed,

But during Jesus’ ministry it seems that no one at that time had been begotten of God. To his disciples Jesus spoke of (John 14:17) “…the Spirit of truth … but ye know [it]; for [it] dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.”[xvii] The spirit dwelled with them inasmuch as it was in Jesus with whom they dwelled, and it would be in them at a later date.

And so where Jesus stood and cried on the last great day of Sukkoth (John 7:37), “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink…”, John adds parenthetically (verse 39), “But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy [Spirit] was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.” And so Paul encountered some (Acts 19:2-4): “Have ye received the Holy [Spirit] since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.”

John was an Israelite and a kohen. His father was a priest and his mother was of the daughters of Aaron (Luke 1:5), and “filled with the Holy Spirit” his father even prophesied (verse 67), yet the spirit of understanding was upon Jesus and not John. One is born into the covenant and is an Israelite by having Israelite parents. Israel as a nation was God’s firstborn son (Exodus 4:22): “Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn…”[xviii] And thus saith the LORD again (Hosea 11:1), “When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.”[xix] Isaiah says (Isaiah 64:7[8]), “But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.”[xx] And Malachi asks (Mal 2:10), “Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us?”[xxi] Thus David could pray (1Chon 29:10),

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יהוה אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אָבִינוּ מֵעוֹלָם וְעַד־עוֹלָם

bārûk ’attā^h YHWH ’ĕlōhê Yiśrā’ēl ’ābînû mē‘ôlām wə‘ad-‘ôlām

Jesus taught his students to pray that way too (Mat 6:9), “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.” Nevertheless Jesus began calling God “my father”—even at the early age of 12 (Luke 2:49): “And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?”[xxii]

God is the Father of Israel collectively, for it was in Egypt before the Covenant that God said (Exodus 4:22), “Israel is my son, even my firstborn”. Individually, however, the sons of God [בְּנֵי הָאֱלֹהִים] were angels—at least in Job (Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7) and perhaps also in Genesis (Gen 6:2, 4).[xxiii] And so God turns to Israel’s elite and says (Psalms 82:6), “I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.”[xxiv] Jesus invoked this verse when criticized for calling God his Father:

Yet Israel in the flesh is weak—as in the concluding verses to the Psalm (Ps 82:7-8): “But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes. Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.”[xxv]

When it says, “and ye shall fall like one of the princes” [כְאַחַד הַשָּׂרִים תִּפֹּלוּ], we might recall that Michael is called “the great prince” [הַשַּׂר הַגָּדוֹל] in Daniel 12:1, and that the sons of God are associated with “the fallen ones” [הַנְּפִלִים] in Genesis 6.[xxvi]

The messianic king inherits the nations (Psalms 2:8), “Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance,” which means the kingdom of God, which Messiah will share with those who have been begotten of God (Mat 25:34), “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world…” And that, of course, takes us back to Genesis.

David asks (Psalms 8:4), “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?” He answers from Genesis:

In this world the real behind the scenes ruling “sons of God” are angels. Jesus calls the devil “the prince of this world” (John 12:31; 16:11),[xxviii] the same word (ἄρχων ‘prince’) that translates the fallen princes in Psalms 82. The angel that appears to Joshua just before the battle of Jericho calls himself “prince of the host of YHWH”[xxix] (Joshua 5:14-15), and in Daniel 10 the prince of Persia has the power to delay Michael—both he and Michael are called prince.[xxx] And thus the real “replacement theology” of the New Testament (Heb 2:5): “For unto the angels hath [God] not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak.” And then Psalms 8 is quoted:

Paul says it this way (1Cor 15:27-28): “For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.”

“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness,” [xxxii] is like a man saying to his wife, “Let us have a son.” For so it was with Adam (Gen 5:3), “And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, and after his image…”[xxxiii] And then there is Messiah’s dynasty which concludes (Luke 3:38), “Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.”[xxxiv]

Israel is a nation pictured collectively as a son—God’s firstborn (Ex 4:22), which suggests other nations are to follow (Isaiah 19:24-25): “In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land: Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.”[xxxv] Collectively the nations are sons of God—yet individually the citizens of those nations, including the nation of Israel, are mortals and (Mat 22:32), “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”

The kingdom of God, however, is made up of sons which are immortal, the least of which are greater than the greatest of the prophets. Man and the angelic hosts manipulating him have judged corruptly, and so we pray (Psalms 82:8), “Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.” We know that (Dan 4:17, 25, 32), “…the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.” We know that the day is coming when (Dan 2:44), “… the God of heaven [shall] set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.”

Let’s go over that bit by bit. When he says (verse 45), “And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul”, he means Adam in the flesh (Gen 2:7): “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground…” And when he says (same verse), “…the last Adam was made a quickening spirit”, this is Adam in the image of God at the end of the sixth millennium (Gen 1:27): “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” As he says (Eph 5:32), “This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”

When he says (verse 47), “…the second man is the Lord from heaven”, we might compare Adam in Eden (Gen 2:8), “And the LORD God planted a garden [παράδεισον] eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.” In the New Testament παράδεισος symbolizes heaven (Luke 23:43; 2Cor 12:4; Rev 2:7), which recalls Daniel’s vision where following the succession of beasts he says (Dan 7:13), “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man[xxxviii] came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.” This matches Psalms 110:1, “The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.”

When Paul says (1Cor 15:48), “As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly”, we might remember where Jesus told Nicodemus (John 3:6), “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” And then in verse 50, “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God…,” recalls Jesus’ words (John 3:3, 5), “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. … Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”

Nevertheless even now we are sons individually (Rom 8:14), “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”

We have been begotten of God and we are now the sons of God but, to what end? According to Peter it’s the resurrection (1Peter 1:3): “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten [ἀναγεννήσας] us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…”[xxxix] As Jesus said, the sons of God are sons of the resurrection (Luke 20:36): “Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.” [xl]

Paul connects the resurrection of Jesus with sonship (Acts 13:33): “God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm [Psalms 2:7],[xli]

And what is the son’s inheritance? In the next verse God tells his son (Psalms 2:8): “Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.”[xlii] This meshes with Paul’s statement in 1Cor 15:50, “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God...”[xliii] Must those who rule in the kingdom be granted immortality? Yes, as it says (Rev 20:4), “…and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”[xliv]

When do we inherit the kingdom? Jesus, as we have seen, spoke of a time (Mat 25:31-34), “When the Son of man shall come in his glory … Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world…”

Begotten as a scion of David (Mat 1:20; Luke 1:27) he inherits David’s throne, whereas God says (Psalms 89:27), “Also I will make him my firstborn,”[xlvi] why? Because, as it says (1Cor 15:50), “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God…”

Scholars tried to stump Jesus with questions, but there is an interesting instance where Jesus stumped the scholars:

Indeed—how might the messiah son of David (מָשִׁיחַ בֶּן דָּוִד) become David’s master (אָדוֹן)? One may want to deny that Psalms 110 refers to the messiah, yet the Midrash identifies David’s lord here as the messiah.[xlvii] The way that David’s son could be his lord, which no one seemed to have understood, would be if he were to precede David in the resurrection from the dead. On Pentecost when the spirit came to the disciples, then Peter understood:

What makes Messiah become David’s lord is not his priority of birth according to the flesh, rather it is that he is the firstborn from the dead (Col 1:18; Rev 1:5), [li] which means that from the perspective of the birth from above, David would be a younger brother.

Adam provides the type in Col 1:15, “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature…” His sonship is of the same genre as ours (Rom 8:29), “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” [lii]

Not only is there the imagery of God as Father, there is also that of a spiritual mother. Paul treats this in Galatians 4. He says (Gal 4:26-27), “But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.” Here Paul quotes from Isaiah: [liii]

When it says “and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles,” it means Adam in Genesis (Gen 1:28 and Psalms 8:4-9), as also the man child whom we see pictured as born of the celestial Jerusalem. We read of this lady in the book of Revelation.

When God brings his firstborn into the world (Heb 1:6),[liv] what does he say? He says (Psalms 2:9), “Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” And the same is said of the son of God’s wife (Rev 12:5), “And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron...” [lv]

Notice that the dragon stood ready to devour her child as soon as he was born but was unable because he was caught up to God and his throne, as it says (Psalms 110:1), “The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” When did this happen? Just 40 days (Acts 1:3) after his resurrection (verse 9): “And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.”

So where does it mention “the passion of Christ”? It doesn’t. Rather this follows the Jewish imagery of “the birthpangs of messiah.”[lvi] There is no mention of the woman’s son suffering, rather it is her birthpangs. And as soon as the son is born he is caught up to God. The birth described here is not his human birth from Mary but rather his birth from the celestial Jerusalem. This birth is via a resurrection from the dead.

The woman is represented by the covenant nation which remains down here and therefore must flee into the wilderness where she is nourished of God.

The picture emerges—being born of God involves the covenant. When Israel was brought out of Egypt it was as God’s son (Ex 4:22), but then from the perspective of the covenant Israel becomes God’s wife. The proposal and acceptance and wedding supper are pictured in Exodus 19 and 24—the two chapters give different perspectives on the same events. Thus the imagery in Isaiah 54 (verse 5), “For thy Maker is thine husband”, and God’s plea in Jeremiah 3:14, “Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you…”

A woman symbolizes a city in Scripture, [lvii] and thus at Sinai there emerged the outline of a city—God’s wife. But at the wedding supper there were only mortal stand-ins, as it says (Exodus 24:9-11), “Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel: And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness. And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink.”[lviii]

The offices in that capital city—the perfected Jerusalem—are not filled as yet, as Jesus said (John 14:2), “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.”[lix]

But some will object: if parturition is resurrection, then why the imagery of the milk of the word (1Peter 2:2 – “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word”)? We see this in Isaiah 28:9, “Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.” And it is there in Hebrews 5:12-13, “For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.”

All I can say is that Scripture is not limited to just one metaphor. From the perspective of begetting (γεννάω) in John 3, as also in James 1:18 and in 1Peter 1:23, the word compares not to milk but to seed from a father. Also the word is compared to wind (Psalms 33:6; 147:18; 148:8), it is imaged as light (Isaiah 8:20; Psalms 119:105; 2Peter 1:19), it compares to bread (Deut 8:3; Mat 4:4; Luke 4:4), and in Jesus’ parable of the sower, “The seed is the word of God.” (Luke 8:11) And in the imagery of Isaiah 55, the rain and snow stand for the word:

What is so pernicious about “born again” as popularly conceived is that there is no focus on the resurrection, let alone the imagery of Adam and the covenant connection. There is no relationship between the sonship of Jesus and that of ourselves. Receiving the spirit was indeed accompanied by physical manifestation, at least in those initial instances (Acts 2:2-4; 10:44-46; 19:2-7), but that was by no means the end of the matter. The spirit was given to open the mind to understanding.

The Father and the son at his right hand were to send the comforter,[lxi] “the spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father” (John 15:26),[lxii] which recalls the vocabulary of Isaiah 40 (Is 40:1), “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.” The people need comforted also in regard to their mortality (verses 6-8): “The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.” [lxiii] One cannot emphasize too much the following key to John’s gospel (John 6:63): “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”[lxiv]

And so when John says (John 1:1), “…and the Word was with [πρὸς] God,” and again (verse 14), “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,” we should connect 1John 1:2 where the focus is “...eternal life, which was with [πρὸς] the Father, and was manifested unto us”.[lxv] Again the word and eternal life are equated.

So it’s not mainly an emotional experience—it’s finally living by the words of the covenant, “For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth” (Eph 5:9), “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” (Gal 5:22-23)[lxvi]

Good law is mostly negative (“Thou shalt not…”). This allows an individual the freedom to bear fruit which, as it says, “against such there is no law.” James calls it “the law of liberty” (James 2:12) and also “the perfect law of liberty” (James 1:25).

Man is distinguished from the beasts by a special spirit, one that imparts language and understanding (as in philosophy, mathematics, science, technology, music, literature, art). The Targum paraphrases (Gen 2:7), “and man became a living soul” with, “and there was in man a spirit of speech.”[lxvii] Elihu ben Barachel the Buzite alludes to this verse when he says (Job 32:8), “But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration [breath] of the Almighty giveth them understanding.”[lxviii]

The spirit in man imparts marvelous intellectual abilities, but there is an extra spirit of understanding necessary to decode the Scriptures, a spirit that is denied at this time to even the most brilliant of men.

This would explain statements in the gospel of John (such as John 1:18; 5:37)[lxxi] that seem to contradict the Torah (Exodus 19:19; 20:1; 24:10-11; Deut 4:12, 33, 36; 5:22-24), in other words the people actually saw and heard but did not comprehend (Deut 5:29; Isaiah 64:4). It also provides an insight into John 3:7-8: “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.”[lxxii] Hearing also signifies understanding (1John 4:6), “We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.”

But even though “seeing” signifies understanding for which the spirit supplies the power (1Cor 2:12; etc.),[lxxiii] it is also true that invisible spirit beings exist—invisible to us, that is. “God is a Spirit,” Jesus says (John 4:24),[lxxiv] just as he says (John 3:6), “and he that is begotten of the spirit is spirit.”[lxxv] And just as those begotten of the spirit “see” God with their invisible understanding, so also (1John 3:2) “…when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” One who is presently invisible to us is Messiah (Col 1:15), “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature…”[lxxvi]

In a Jewish wedding there is a ketubah (כְּתוּבָה) or wedding contract—in the covenant such was inscribed on two tables of stone (Deut 4:13): “And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.” In Deut 9:9 they are called “the tables of the covenant”. In all of Scripture only these tablets were “written with the finger of God” (Ex 31:18; Deut 9:10).

The first tablet concludes with the words (Ex 20:12), “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.”[lxxvii] Now let us ask, if God is our Father and the celestial Jerusalem is our mother, how long might our days be upon the land? The Torah is extraordinarily explicit on the physical, on the building and service of the tabernacle and other details of the law, but vague and between the lines and behind the veil on such matters as the resurrection and the world to come, yet when Jesus was asked about the resurrection he did not go to the clearest verses in the Tanakh, namely,

ü Job 14:14—“If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.”

ü Daniel 12:2—“And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”

Rather Jesus is quite explicit—eternal life is implicit in the marriage ketubah:

And when confronted by those who rejected the idea of the resurrection, Jesus went to the Torah and the revelation at Sinai:

Back to our key verse (John 6:63), “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” When he says, “It is the spirit that quickeneth”, he means the resurrection. And here he explicitely ties the spirit to words—God’s words (Exodus 34:28), “And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.” Or as Jesus put it (John 12:49), “For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.”

Israel broke the covenant of which God recalls (Jer 7:22-23): “For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices: But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.”[lxxix] And indeed there is no mention of sacrifices in the words of the covenant in Exodus 20-23, except that if sacrifice is offered it must be upon an alter of earth or uncut stones (Ex 20:24-26). The tabernacle and the service came after the sin of the golden calf.

The intent of the covenant was, as Moses said (Deut 6:6), “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart…”[lxxx] And so in the restoration of the covenant God says:

Eventually all Israel will be begotten of God with the word of truth. Now it is the elect who are, as Paul puts it (2Cor 3:3), “…manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.” Law, as Thomas Sowell writes in The Quest for Cosmic Justice (Free Press, 2002), is made public for all to see before the fact—just as at Sinai. It is first written and publicized, as the commandments were on stone and in discussion (Deut 6:7), and then it is internalized. The “cosmic justice” of tyrants is decided after the fact according to the emotion of the moment.

When God says (Jer 31:34), “for they shall all know me,” let us let John interpret (1John 2:3-4): “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”

Therefore if we wish not only to be begotten by the Father with his word of truth, if we wish to proceed to parturition, then we must purify ourselves:

In his epistle John speaks often of this aspect of purification. In fact after parturition sin is no longer possible (1John 3:9), “Whosoever is born [ὁ γεγεννημένος] of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born [γεγέννηται] of God.” He says it again (1John 5:18), “We know that whosoever is born [ὁ γεγεννημένος] of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten [ὁ γεννηθεὶς] of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.”

John connects it to the Hebrew concept ofאַהֲבָה (ἀγάπη in Greek) or ‘love’ (1John 4:7), “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born [γεγέννηται] of God, and knoweth God.” Paul says (Rom 13:10), “Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.” And Jesus again derives love from the law:

We are begotten of God via a legitimate marriage covenant, and as such are to inherit the nature of God which is love:

The hope of the resurrection is implicit in the covenant for which Moses pleads,

But is life offered only to those in the covenant (old and/or new)? No! The purpose of the covenant is to make Jerusalem a light unto the nations.

ü Isaiah 42:6—“I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles”.

ü Isaiah 49:6—“And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.”

ü Isaiah 60:3—“And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.”

Paul quotes Isaiah 49:6 (Acts 13:47-48), “For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.” This too is the purpose of the messiah (Acts 26:23): “That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.” This is the universal appeal of John 3:16—“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

The nations will not enter the covenant, else its light be diffused and diminished, as he said (Mat 5:15), “Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.” So also shall the nations be drawn to such a light.

ü Isaiah 2:2-3—“ And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.”

ü Micah 4:1-2—“ But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.”

ü Isaiah 66:23—“And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.”

ü Rev 21:24—“And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.”

When the law is written in the heart of the Gentiles they come under the same blessings and curses as those within the covenant:

The individual who has been begotten of God through God’s marriage to Israel is an Israelite on a spiritual level—circumcised in the heart in the words of Torah (Deut 10:16; 30:6; Jer 4:4). On this level, as Paul explains (Rom 2:28-29), “…he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.”

He that is begotten of God must be begotten through God’s covenant marriage to Israel, yet he need not become a citizen of the physical nation of Israel. He must be a Jew inwardly, that is, subscribe to and live by the Torah values of his spiritual parents. But he need not enter the covenant to enter the kingdom of God. In other words he is birthed on a new level (Gal 6:15), “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.”

But this does not abolish the covenant with flesh which is forever (Gen 17:10-14).[lxxxvi] The new covenant is with the same fleshly nation and it is eternal (Jer 31:34-36[35-37]).[lxxxvii] It only makes sense: The world needs a nation of flesh—male and female, young and old, farmers, builders, artisans, scientists—as an example. Jesus is not the husband of the new covenant—rather he is the mediator (1Tim 2:5; Heb 8:6; 9:15; 12:24),[lxxxviii] and like Adam the king he shares that job with his queen (Gen 2:23; Eph 5:32).

The tree of life will be there in Jerusalem—it will be “for the healing of the nations” (Rev 22:2).[lxxxix] It is not to place everyone in the covenant but rather to expand the kingdom of God.

[i] John 3:

	3 ἀπεκρίθη ἰησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῶ,	3 Jesus answered and said unto him,
	ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω σοι,	Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
	ἐὰν μή τις γεννηθῇ ἄνωθεν,	Except a man be born again,
	οὐ δύναται ἰδεῖν τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ.	he cannot see the kingdom of God.
	4 λέγει πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ νικόδημος,	4 Nicodemus saith unto him,
πῶς δύναται ἄνθρωπος γεννηθῆναι γέρων ὤν;		How can a man be born when he is old?
	μὴ δύναται εἰς τὴν κοιλίαν τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ	can he enter … into his mother’s womb,
	δεύτερον εἰσελθεῖν καὶ γεννηθῆναι;	[the second time] and be born?
	5 ἀπεκρίθη ἰησοῦς, ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω σοι,	5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
	ἐὰν μή τις γεννηθῇ ἐξ ὕδατος καὶ πνεύματος,	Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit,
	οὐ δύναται εἰσελθεῖν	he cannot enter
	εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ.	into the kingdom of God.
	6 τὸ γεγεννημένον ἐκ τῆς σαρκὸς σάρξ ἐστιν,	6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh;
	καὶ τὸ γεγεννημένον ἐκ τοῦ πνεύματος	and that which is born of the Spirit
	πνεῦμά ἐστιν.	is spirit.
	7 μὴ θαυμάσῃς ὅτι εἶπόν σοι,	7 Marvel not that I said unto thee,
	δεῖ ὑμᾶς γεννηθῆναι ἄνωθεν.	Ye must be born again.
	8 τὸ πνεῦμα ὅπου θέλει πνεῖ,	8 The wind bloweth where it listeth,
	καὶ τὴν φωνὴν αὐτοῦ ἀκούεις,	and thou hearest the sound thereof,
	ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ οἶδας πόθεν ἔρχεται	but canst not tell whence it cometh,
	καὶ ποῦ ὑπάγει·	and whither it goeth:
	οὕτως ἐστὶν πᾶς ὁ γεγεννημένος	so is every one that is born
	ἐκ τοῦ πνεύματος.	of the Spirit.

[ii] Matthew 1:

20 ταῦτα δὲ αὐτοῦ ἐνθυμηθέντος	20 But while he thought on these things,
ἰδοὺ ἄγγελος κυρίου	behold, the angel of the LORD
κατ᾽ ὄναρ ἐφάνη αὐτῶ λέγων,	appeared unto him in a dream, saying,
Ἰωσὴφ υἱὸς δαυίδ,	Joseph, thou son of David,
μὴ φοβηθῇς παραλαβεῖν	fear not to take unto thee
μαρίαν τὴν γυναῖκά σου,	Mary thy wife:
τὸ γὰρ ἐν αὐτῇ γεννηθὲν	for that which is conceived in her
ἐκ πνεύματός ἐστιν ἁγίου·	is of the Holy Ghost.

[iii] Galatians 4:

26 ἡ δὲ ἄνω Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἐλευθέρα ἐστίν,	26 But Jerusalem which is above is free,
ἥτις ἐστὶν μήτηρ ἡμῶν·	which is the mother of us all.

Revelation 12:

2 καὶ ἐν γαστρὶ ἔχουσα,	2 And she being with child cried,
καὶ κράζει ὠδίνουσα	travailing in birth,
καὶ βασανιζομένη τεκεῖν.	and pained to be delivered.

[iv] Galatians 2:

20 Χριστῶ συνεσταύρωμαι·	20 I am crucified with Christ:
ζῶ δὲ οὐκέτι ἐγώ, ζῇ δὲ ἐν ἐμοὶ χριστός·	neverthless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me:
ὃ δὲ νῦν ζῶ ἐν σαρκί,	and the life which I now live in the flesh
ἐν πίστει ζῶ τῇ τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ	I live by the faith of the Son of God,
τοῦ ἀγαπήσαντός με	who loved me,
καὶ παραδόντος ἑαυτὸν ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ.	and gave himself for me.

[v] 1Corinthians 15:

44 σπείρεται σῶμα ψυχικόν,	44 It is sown a natural body;
ἐγείρεται σῶμα πνευματικόν.	it is raised a spiritual body.
εἰ ἔστιν σῶμα ψυχικόν,	There is a natural body,
ἔστιν καὶ πνευματικόν.	and there is a spiritual body.

[vi] Romans 8:

9 ὑμεῖς δὲ οὐκ ἐστὲ ἐν σαρκὶ	9 But ye are not in the flesh,
ἀλλὰ ἐν πνεύματι,	but in the Spirit,
εἴπερ πνεῦμα θεοῦ οἰκεῖ ἐν ὑμῖν.	if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.
εἰ δέ τις πνεῦμα χριστοῦ οὐκ ἔχει,	Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ,
οὖτος οὐκ ἔστιν αὐτοῦ.	he is none of his.

[vii] 2Timothy 2:

23 τὰς δὲ μωρὰς καὶ ἀπαιδεύτους ζητήσεις	23 But foolish and unlearned questions
παραιτοῦ, εἰδὼς ὅτι γεννῶσιν μάχας·	avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.

[viii] James 1:18

18 βουληθεὶς ἀπεκύησεν ἡμᾶς	Of his own will begat he us
λόγῳ ἀληθείας,	with the word of truth,
εἰς τὸ εἶναι ἡμᾶς ἀπαρχήν τινα	that we should be a kind of firstfruits
τῶν αὐτοῦ κτισμάτων.	of his creatures.

[ix] 1Peter 1:

23 ἀναγεγεννημένοι	23 Being born again,
οὐκ ἐκ σπορᾶς φθαρτῆς ἀλλὰ ἀφθάρτου,	not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible,
διὰ λόγου ζῶντος θεοῦ καὶ μένοντος·	by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

[x] 2Samuel 23:

ב רוּחַ יהוה דִּבֶּר־בִּי	2 The Spirit of the LORD spake by me,	2 πνεῦμα Κυρίου ἐλάλησεν ἐν ἐμοί,
וּמִלָּתוֹ עַל־לְשׁוֹנִי׃	and his word was in my tongue.	καὶ ὁ λόγος αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ γλώσσης μου.

[xi] Isaiah 11:

ב וְנָחָה עָלָיו	2 And … shall rest upon him	2 καὶ ἀναπαύσεται ἐπ᾿ αὐτὸν
רוּחַ יהוה	[the spirit of the LORD],	πνεῦμα τοῦ Θεοῦ,
רוּחַ חָכְמָה וּבִינָה	the spirit of wisdom and understanding,	πνεῦμα σοφίας καὶ συνέσεως,
רוּחַ עֵצָה וּגְבוּרָה	the spirit of counsel and might,	πνεῦμα βουλῆς καὶ ἰσχύος,
רוּחַ דַּעַת	the spirit of knowledge	πνεῦμα γνώσεως
וְיִרְאַת יהוה׃	and of the fear of the LORD	καὶ εὐσεβείας·

[xii] John 1:14

14 καὶ ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο	And the Word was made flesh,
καὶ ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν,	and dwelt among us,
καὶ ἐθεασάμεθα τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ,	(and we beheld his glory,
δόξαν ὡς μονογενοῦς παρὰ πατρός,	the glory as of the only begotten* of the Father,)
πλήρης χάριτος καὶ ἀληθείας.	full of grace and truth. †

* ὡς μονογενοῦς παρὰ πατρός ‘as the unique one from the Father’. The word μονογενής has etymology μόνος) ‘‘alone, only, sole, single’ plus γένος ‘genus, kind’, not μόνος) plus a nominalized γεννάω ‘begotten’. It does not mean ‘only begotten’ but rather ‘special, unique, one of a kind’ and recalls the Hebrew יָחִיד, as for example (’’’ Heb 11:17), “By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten [τὸν μονογενῆ]”. Abraham had already begotten Ishmael, rather what Hebrews 11:17 refers to is Genesis 22:2—“And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son [יְחִידְךָ] Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.” Μονογενής (and Hebrew יָחִיד) reference Isaac not as Abraham’s ‘only begotten’ but as Abraham’s ‘special’ son.

† Here “grace and truth” reflects the oft occurring חֶסֶד וֶאֱמֶת of the Hebrew Scriptures. These are attributes of God’s throne (Psalms 89:15[14]), “Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth [חֶסֶד וֶאֱמֶת] shall go before thy face.” And they are to be attributes of Israel’s king (Prov 20:28): “Mercy and truth [חֶסֶד וֶאֱמֶת] preserve the king: and his throne is upholden by mercy.” So when it says here (John 1:14) that Jesus was “full of grace and truth” we can understand these as necessary attributes of Israel’s messiah.

[xiii] Hebrews 1:

5 τίνι γὰρ εἶπέν ποτε τῶν ἀγγέλων,	5 For unto which of the angels said he at any time,
υἱός μου εἶ σύ, ἐγὼ σήμερον γεγέννηκά σε;	Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee?
καὶ πάλιν,	And again,
ἐγὼ ἔσομαι αὐτῶ εἰς πατέρα,	I will be to him a Father,
καὶ αὐτὸς ἔσται μοι εἰς υἱόν;	and he shall be to me a Son?

Psalms 89:

כז הוּא יִקְרָאֵנִי	26 He shall cry unto me,	27 αὐτὸς ἐπικαλέσεταί με·
אָבִי אָתָּה אֵלִי	Thou art my father, my God,	πατήρ μου εἶ σύ, Θεός μου
וְצוּר יְשׁוּעָתִי׃	and the rock of my salvation.	καὶ ἀντιλήπτωρ τῆς σωτηρίας μου·
כח אַף־אָנִי בְּכוֹר אֶתְּנֵהוּ	27 Also I will make him my firstborn,	28 κἀγὼ πρωτότοκον θήσομαι αὐτόν,
עֶלְיוֹן לְמַלְכֵי־אָרֶץ׃	higher than the kings of the earth.	ὑψηλὸν παρὰ τοῖς βασιλεῦσι τῆς γῆς.

[xiv] “Among those that are born of women”—ἐν γεννητοῖς γυναικῶν here in Luke 7:28 and in Matthew 11:1. The perspective is still ‘begotten’—‘begotten of women by a father’.

[xv] Luke 16:

16 ὁ νόμος καὶ οἱ προφῆται μέχρι ἰωάννου·	16 The law and the prophets were until John:
ἀπὸ τότε ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ εὐαγγελίζεται	since that time the kingdom of God is preached,
καὶ πᾶς εἰς αὐτὴν βιάζεται.	and every man presseth into it.

[xvi] Psalms 51:

יב לֵב טָהוֹר בְּרָא־לִי אֱלֹהִים	10 Create in me a clean heart, O God;
וְרוּחַ נָכוֹן חַדֵּשׁ בְּקִרְבִּי׃	and renew a right spirit within me.
יג אַל־תַּשְׁלִיכֵנִי מִלְּפָנֶיךָ	11 Cast me not away from thy presence;
וְרוּחַ קָדְשְׁךָ אַל־תִּקַּח מִמֶּנִּי׃	and take not thy holy spirit from me.
יד הָשִׁיבָה לִּי שְׂשׂוֹן יִשְׁעֶךָ	12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation;
וְרוּחַ נְדִיבָה תִסְמְכֵנִי׃	and uphold me with thy free spirit.

[xvii] John 14:17 (with adjustment to dispel the impression that the spirit is a “person”):

17 τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας,	17 Even the Spirit of truth;
ὃ ὁ κόσμος οὐ δύναται λαβεῖν,	[which] the world cannot receive,
ὅτι οὐ θεωρεῖ αὐτὸ	because it seeth [it] not,
οὐδὲ γινώσκει·	neither knoweth [it]:
ὑμεῖς γινώσκετε αὐτό,	but ye know [it];
ὅτι παρ᾽ ὑμῖν μένει	for [it] dwelleth with you,
καὶ ἐν ὑμῖν ἔσται.	and shall be in you.

[xviii] Exodus 4:

כב וְאָמַרְתָּ אֶל־פַּרְעֹה	22 And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh,
כֹּה אָמַר יהוה	Thus saith the LORD,
בְּנִי בְכֹרִי יִשְׂרָאֵל׃	Israel is my son, even my firstborn:

[xix] Hosea 11:

א כִּי נַעַר יִשְׂרָאֵל וָאֹהֲבֵהוּ	1 When Israel was a child, then I loved him,
וּמִמִּצְרַיִם קָרָאתִי לִבְנִי׃	and called my son out of Egypt.

[xx] Isaiah 64:

ז וְעַתָּה יהוה אָבִינוּ אָתָּה	8 But now, O LORD, thou art our father;
אֲנַחְנוּ הַחֹמֶר וְאַתָּה יֹצְרֵנוּ	we are the clay, and thou our potter;
וּמַעֲשֵׂה יָדְךָ כֻּלָּנוּ׃	and we all are the work of thy hand.

[xxi] Malachi 2:

י הֲלוֹא אָב אֶחָד לְכֻלָּנוּ	10 Have we not all one father?
הֲלוֹא אֵל אֶחָד בְּרָאָנוּ	hath not one God created us?
מַדּוּעַ נִבְגַּד אִישׁ בְּאָחִיו	why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother,
לְחַלֵּל בְּרִית אֲבֹתֵינוּ׃	by profaning the covenant of our fathers?

[xxii] Luke 2:

49 καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτούς,	49 And he said unto them,
τί ὅτι ἐζητεῖτέ με;	How is it that ye sought me?
οὐκ ᾔδειτε	wist ye not
ὅτι ἐν τοῖς τοῦ πατρός μου δεῖ εἶναί με;	that I must be about my Father’s business?

[xxiii] Genesis 6:

א וַיְהִי כִּי־הֵחֵל הָאָדָם לָרֹב	1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply
עַל־פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה וּבָנוֹת יֻלְּדוּ לָהֶם׃	on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,
ב וַיִּרְאוּ בְנֵי־הָאֱלֹהִים	2 That the sons of God saw
אֶת־בְּנוֹת הָאָדָם כִּי טֹבֹת הֵנָּה	the daughters of men that they were fair;
וַיִּקְחוּ לָהֶם נָשִׁים מִכֹּל	and they took them wives of all
אֲשֶׁר בָּחָרוּ׃	which they chose.
ג וַיֹּאמֶר יהוה	3 And the LORD said,
לֹא־יָדוֹן רוּחִי בָאָדָם לְעֹלָם	My spirit shall not always strive with man,
בְּשַׁגַּם הוּא בָשָׂר	for that he also is flesh:
וְהָיוּ יָמָיו מֵאָה וְעֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה׃	yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
ד הַנְּפִלִים הָיוּ בָאָרֶץ	4 There were giants [nəpīlîm ‘fallen ones’] in the earth
בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם וְגַם אַחֲרֵי־כֵן	in those days; and also after that,
אֲשֶׁר יָבֹאוּ בְּנֵי הָאֱלֹהִים	when the sons of God came in
אֶל־בְּנוֹת הָאָדָם וְיָלְדוּ לָהֶם	unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them,
הֵמָּה הַגִּבֹּרִים אֲשֶׁר מֵעוֹלָם	the same became mighty men which were of old,
אַנְשֵׁי הַשֵּׁם׃ פ	men of renown.

[xxiv] Psalms 82:

ו אֲנִי־אָמַרְתִּי	6 I have said,	6 ἐγὼ εἶπα·
אֱלֹהִים אַתֶּם	Ye are gods;	θεοί ἐστε
וּבְנֵי עֶלְיוֹן כֻּלְּכֶם׃	and all of you are children of the most High.	καὶ υἱοὶ ῾Υψίστου πάντες·

[xxv] Psalms 82:

ו אֲנִי־אָמַרְתִּי אֱלֹהִים אַתֶּם	6 I have said, Ye are gods;
וּבְנֵי עֶלְיוֹן כֻּלְּכֶם׃	and all of you are children of the most High.
ז אָכֵן כְּאָדָם תְּמוּתוּן	7 But ye shall die like men,
וּכְאַחַד הַשָּׂרִים תִּפֹּלוּ׃	and fall like one of the princes.
ח קוּמָה אֱלֹהִים שָׁפְטָה הָאָרֶץ	8 Arise, O God, judge the earth:
כִּי־אַתָּה תִנְחַל בְּכָל־הַגּוֹיִם׃	for thou shalt inherit all nations.

[xxvi] Even if the sons of God in Genesis 6 were angels, it still may not be necessary to see them as cohabiting with human women. See http://www.hebdomad.com/node/107.

[xxvii] Psalms 8:

ה מָה־אֱנוֹשׁ כִּי־תִזְכְּרֶנּוּ	4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him?
וּבֶן־אָדָם כִּי תִפְקְדֶנּוּ ׃	and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
ו וַתְּחַסְּרֵהוּ מְּעַט מֵאֱלֹהִים	5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels,
וְכָבוֹד וְהָדָר תְּעַטְּרֵהוּ׃	and hast crowned him with glory and honour.
ז תַּמְשִׁילֵהוּ בְּמַעֲשֵׂי יָדֶיךָ	6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands;
כֹּל שַׁתָּה תַחַת־רַגְלָיו׃	thou hast put all things under his feet:
ח צֹנֶה וַאֲלָפִים כֻּלָּם	7 All sheep and oxen,
וְגַם בַּהֲמוֹת שָׂדָי׃	yea, and the beasts of the field;
ט צִפּוֹר שָׁמַיִם וּדְגֵי הַיָּם	8 The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea,
עֹבֵר אָרְחוֹת יַמִּים׃	and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.

[xxviii] Some references to Satan as ἄρχων and θεός:

ὁ ἄρχων τοῦ κόσμου τούτου ‘the prince of this world’ (John 12:31; 16:11)

ὁ τοῦ κόσμου ἄρχων ‘the prince of the world’ (John 14:30)

ὁ θεὸς τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου ‘the god of this world’ (2Cor 4:4)

τὸν ἄρχοντα τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ ἀέρος ‘the prince of the power of the air’ (Eph 2:2)

[xxix] שַׂר צְבָא יהוה - ὁ ἀρχιστράτηγος κυρίου.

[xxx] Daniel 10:

יג וְשַׂר	13 But the prince	13 καὶ ὁ ἄρχων
מַלְכוּת פָּרַס	of the kingdom of Persia	βασιλείας Περσῶν
עֹמֵד לְנֶגְדִּי	withstood me	εἱστήκει ἐξ ἐναντίας μου
עֶשְׂרִים וְאֶחָד יוֹם	one and twenty days:	εἴκοσι καὶ μίαν ἡμέραν,
וְהִנֵּה מִיכָאֵל	but, lo, Michael,	καὶ ἰδοὺ Μιχαὴλ
אַחַד הַשָּׂרִים הָרִאשֹׁנִים	one of the chief princes,	εἷς τῶν ἀρχόντων τῶν πρώτων
בָּא לְעָזְרֵנִי	came to help me;	ἦλθε βοηθῆσαί μοι,
וַאֲנִי נוֹתַרְתִּי שָׁם	and I remained there	καὶ αὐτὸν κατέλιπον ἐκεῖ
אֵצֶל מַלְכֵי פָרָס׃	with the kings of Persia.	μετὰ τοῦ ἄρχοντος βασιλείας Περσῶν

[xxxi] The Hebrew has וַתְּחַסְּרֵהוּ מְּעַט מֵאֱלֹהִים ‘and you made him a little lower than God’, whereas the Septuagint and Hebrews 2:7 have ἠλάττωσας αὐτὸν βραχύ τι παρ᾽ ἀγγέλους ‘you made him a little lower than angels’.

[xxxii] Genesis 1:

כו וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים	26 And God said,	26 καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεός
נַעֲשֶׂה אָדָם	Let us make man	Ποιήσωμεν ἄνθρωπον
בְּצַלְמֵנוּ	in our image,	κατ’ εἰκόνα ἡμετέραν
כִּדְמוּתֵנוּ	after our likeness:	καὶ καθ’ ὁμοίωσιν,
וְיִרְדּוּ	and let them have dominion	καὶ ἀρχέτωσαν
בִדְגַת הַיָּם	over the fish of the sea,	τῶν ἰχθύων τῆς θαλάσσης
וּבְעוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם	and over the fowl of the air,	καὶ τῶν πετεινῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ
וּבַבְּהֵמָה	and over the cattle,	καὶ τῶν κτηνῶν
וּבְכָל־הָאָרֶץ	and over all the earth,	καὶ πάσης τῆς γῆς
וּבְכָל־הָרֶמֶשׂ	and over every creeping thing	καὶ πάντων τῶν ἑρπετῶν
הָרֹמֵשׂ עַל־הָאָרֶץ׃	that creepeth upon the earth.	τῶν ἑρπόντων ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς.

[xxxiii] Genesis 5:

ג וַיְחִי אָדָם	3 And Adam lived	3 ἔζησεν δὲ Αδαμ
שְׁלֹשִׁים וּמְאַת שָׁנָה	an hundred and thirty years,	διακόσια καὶ τριάκοντα ἔτη
וַיּוֹלֶד	and begat a son	καὶ ἐγέννησεν
בִּדְמוּתו	in his own likeness,	κατὰ τὴν ἰδέαν αὐτοῦ
כְּצַלְמוֹ	and after his image;	καὶ κατὰ τὴν εἰκόνα αὐτοῦ
וַיִּקְרָא אֶת־שְׁמוֹ שֵׁת׃	and called his name Seth	καὶ ἐπωνόμασεν τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Σηθ.

[xxxiv] Greek: τοῦ Ἐνὼς τοῦ Σὴθ τοῦ Ἀδὰμ τοῦ Θεοῦ. If this were put in Hebrew the word בֶּן ben ‘son’ would have to be expressed, as indeed it is in the Old Syriac (where ܒ݁ܰܪ bar means son): ܒ݁ܰܪ ܐܰܢܽܘܫ ܒ݁ܰܪ ܫܺܝܬ݂ ܒ݁ܰܪ ܐܳܕ݂ܳܡ ܒ݁ܰܪ ܐܰܠܳܗܳܐ.

[xxxv] Isaiah 19:

כד בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יִהְיֶה יִשְׂרָאֵל	24 In that day shall Israel be
שְׁלִישִׁיָּה לְמִצְרַיִם וּלְאַשּׁוּר	the third with Egypt and with Assyria,
בְּרָכָה בְּקֶרֶב הָאָרֶץ׃	even a blessing in the midst of the land:
כה אֲשֶׁר בֵּרְכוֹ יהוה צְבָאוֹת לֵאמֹר	25 Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying,
בָּרוּךְ עַמִּי מִצְרַיִם	Blessed be Egypt my people,
וּמַעֲשֵׂה יָדַי אַשּׁוּר	and Assyria the work of my hands,
וְנַחֲלָתִי יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ ס	and Israel mine inheritance.

[xxxvi] Hebrews 2:

	14 ἐπεὶ οὗν τὰ παιδία κεκοινώνηκεν	14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers
	αἵματος καὶ σαρκός,	of flesh and blood,
καὶ αὐτὸς παραπλησίως μετέσχεν τῶν αὐτῶν,		he also himself likewise took part of the same;
	ἵνα διὰ τοῦ θανάτου καταργήσῃ τὸν	that through death he might destroy him
	τὸ κράτος ἔχοντα τοῦ θανάτου,	that had the power of death,
	τοῦτ᾽ ἔστιν τὸν διάβολον,	that is, the devil;
	15 καὶ ἀπαλλάξῃ τούτους,	15 And deliver them
	ὅσοι φόβῳ θανάτου	who through fear of death
	διὰ παντὸς τοῦ ζῆν ἔνοχοι ἦσαν δουλείας.	were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
	16 οὐ γὰρ δήπου ἀγγέλων ἐπιλαμβάνεται,	16 For verily he took not on … angels;
	ἀλλὰ σπέρματος ἀβραὰμ ἐπιλαμβάνεται.	but he took on him the seed of Abraham.

[xxxvii] Revelation 11:

15 καὶ ὁ ἕβδομος ἄγγελος ἐσάλπισεν·	15 And the seventh angel sounded;
καὶ ἐγένοντο φωναὶ μεγάλαι ἐν τῶ οὐρανῶ	and there were great voices in heaven,
λέγοντες,	saying,
ἐγένετο ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ κόσμου	The kingdoms of this world are become
τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν καὶ τοῦ χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ,	the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ;
καὶ βασιλεύσει εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων.	and he shall reign for ever and ever.

[xxxviii] Aramaic: כְּבַר אֱנָשׁ ‘like a son of man’. Revelation 1:13 and 14:14 also refer to ὅμοιος υἱὸν ἀνθρώπου ‘one like a son of man’.

[xxxix] 1Peter 1:

3 Εὐλογητὸς ὁ θεὸς καὶ πατὴρ	3 Blessed be the God and Father
τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ,	of our Lord Jesus Christ,
ὁ κατὰ τὸ πολὺ αὐτοῦ ἔλεος	which according to his abundant mercy
ἀναγεννήσας ἡμᾶς εἰς ἐλπίδα ζῶσαν	hath begotten us again unto a lively hope
δι' ἀναστάσεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐκ νεκρῶν,	by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 εἰς κληρονομίαν ἄφθαρτον καὶ ἀμίαντον	4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled,
καὶ ἀμάραντον,	and that fadeth not away,
τετηρημένην ἐν οὐρανοῖς εἰς ὑμᾶς	reserved in heaven for you,
5 τοὺς ἐν δυνάμει θεοῦ φρουρουμένους	5 Who are kept by the power of God
διὰ πίστεως εἰς σωτηρίαν	through faith unto salvation
ἑτοίμην ἀποκαλυφθῆναι ἐν καιρῶ ἐσχάτῳ.	ready to be revealed in the last time.

[xl] Luke 20:36—

οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀποθανεῖν ἔτι δύνανται,	Neither can they die any more:
ἰσάγγελοι γάρ εἰσιν,	for they are equal unto the angels;
καὶ υἱοί εἰσιν θεοῦ,	and are the children of God,
τῆς ἀναστάσεως υἱοὶ ὄντες.	being the children of the resurrection.

[xli] The Greek is the same as in the Septuagint of Psalms 2:

ז אֲסַפְּרָה אֶל־חֹק	7 I will declare the decree:	7 διαγγέλλων τὸ πρόσταγμα κυρίου
יהוה אָמַר אֵלַי	the LORD hath said unto me,	κύριος εἶπεν πρός με
בְּנִי אַתָּה	Thou art my Son;	υἱός μου εἶ σύ
אֲנִי הַיּוֹם יְלִדְתִּיךָ׃	this day have I begotten thee.	ἐγὼ σήμερον γεγέννηκά σε

[xlii] Psalms 2:

ח שְׁאַל מִמֶּנִּי	8 Ask of me,	8 αἴτησαι παρ᾽ ἐμοῦ
וְאֶתְּנָה גוֹיִם	and I shall give thee the heathen	καὶ δώσω σοι ἔθνη
נַחֲלָתֶךָ	for thine inheritance,	τὴν κληρονομίαν σου
וַאֲחֻזָּתְךָ	and … for thy possession	καὶ τὴν κατάσχεσίν σου
אַפְסֵי־אָרֶץ׃	[the uttermost parts of the earth].	τὰ πέρατα τῆς γῆς
ט תְּרֹעֵם	9 Thou shalt break them	9 ποιμανεῖς αὐτοὺς
בְּשֵׁבֶט בַּרְזֶל	with a rod of iron;	ἐν ῥάβδῳ σιδηρᾷ
כִּכְלִי יוֹצֵר	…like a potter’s vessel	ὡς σκεῦος κεραμέως
תְּנַפְּצֵם׃	[thou shalt dash them in pieces].	συντρίψεις αὐτούς

[xliii] 1Corinthians 15:

50 τοῦτο δέ φημι, ἀδελφοί,	50 Now this I say, brethren,
ὅτι σὰρξ καὶ αἷμα	that flesh and blood
βασιλείαν θεοῦ κληρονομῆσαι οὐ δύναται,	cannot inherit the kingdom of God;
οὐδὲ ἡ φθορὰ τὴν ἀφθαρσίαν κληρονομεῖ.	neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

[xliv] Revelation 20:

4 καὶ εἶδον θρόνους,	4 And I saw thrones,
καὶ ἐκάθισαν ἐπ᾽ αὐτούς,	and they sat upon them,
καὶ κρίμα ἐδόθη αὐτοῖς,	and judgment was given unto them:
καὶ τὰς ψυχὰς τῶν πεπελεκισμένων	and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded
διὰ τὴν μαρτυρίαν ἰησοῦ	for the witness of Jesus,
καὶ διὰ τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ,	and for the word of God,
καὶ οἵτινες οὐ προσεκύνησαν τὸ θηρίον	and which had not worshipped the beast,
οὐδὲ τὴν εἰκόνα αὐτοῦ	neither his image,
καὶ οὐκ ἔλαβον τὸ χάραγμα ἐπὶ τὸ μέτωπον	neither had received his mark upon their foreheads,
καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν χεῖρα αὐτῶν·	or in their hands;
καὶ ἔζησαν καὶ ἐβασίλευσαν	and they lived and reigned
μετὰ τοῦ χριστοῦ χίλια ἔτη.	with Christ a thousand years.

[xlv] Romans 1:

3 περὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ	3 Concerning his Son…,
τοῦ γενομένου ἐκ σπέρματος δαυὶδ	which was made of the seed of David
κατὰ σάρκα,	according to the flesh;
4 τοῦ ὁρισθέντος υἱοῦ θεοῦ ἐν δυνάμει	4 And declared to be the Son of God with power,
κατὰ πνεῦμα ἁγιωσύνης	according to the spirit of holiness,
ἐξ ἀναστάσεως νεκρῶν, ἰησοῦ	by the resurrection from the dead
χριστοῦ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν,	[Jesus Christ our Lord]

[xlvi] Psalms 89:

כז הוּא יִקְרָאֵנִי	26 He shall cry unto me,	27 αὐτὸς ἐπικαλέσεταί με·
אָבִי אָתָּה	Thou art my father,	πατήρ μου εἶ σύ,
אֵלִי	my God,	Θεός μου
וְצוּר יְשׁוּעָתִי׃	and the rock of my salvation.	καὶ ἀντιλήπτωρ τῆς σωτηρίας μου·
כח אַף־אָנִי בְּכוֹר אֶתְּנֵהוּ	27 Also I will make him my firstborn,	28 κἀγὼ πρωτότοκον θήσομαι αὐτόν,
עֶלְיוֹן לְמַלְכֵי־אָרֶץ׃	higher than the kings of the earth.	ὑψηλὸν παρὰ τοῖς βασιλεῦσι τῆς γῆς.

[xlvii] Midrash to Psalms 110:1—

נְאֻם יְיָ׳ לַאדֹנִי	“Hashem said to my lord,
שֵׁב לִימִינִי	“Sit at my right hand.”
וְכֵן הוּא אוֹמר לְמָשִׁיחַ	And so he is saying to messiah (Isaiah 16:5),
וְהוּכַן בַּחֶסֶד כִּסְאוֹ	“And his throne will be established in mercy
וְיָשַׁב עָלָיו בֶּאֱמֶת	and he shall sit upon it in truth …”

The Zohar relates David’s lord in Psalms 110:1 to messiah son of Joseph (Pinchas 84:567):

נְאֻם יְיָ׳ לַאדֹנִי	“Hashem said to my lord,”
דָּא צַדִּיק	this is the righteous one
לָקְבְלֵיהּ מָשִׁיחַ בֶּן יוֹסֵף	corresponding to messiah son of Joseph,
וְאָמַר לֵיהּ	and He said to him (Psalms 110:1),
שֵׁב לִימִינִי	“Sit at my right hand,”
דְּרוֹעָא דְּאַבְרָהָם בְּגָלוּתָא דְּיִשְׁמָעֵאל	which is the arm of Abraham in the exile of Ishmael.
עַד אָשִׁית אֹיְבֶיךָ הֲדֹם לְרַגְלֶיךָ	“until I make your enemies your footstool.”

The following discussion in the Babylonian Talmud comes close to answering Jesus’ question. It follows a question in regard to (Zech 12:12): “And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart”—the Gemara asks (Sukkah 52a), “What is the nature of this mourning?”

תָּנוּ רַבָּנָן	The rabbis discussed (apart from the Mishna):
מָשִׁיחַ בֶּן דָּוִד	Messiah son of David,
שֶׁעָתִיד לְהִגָּלוֹת בִּמְהֵרָה בְּיָמֵינוּ	let him be revealed speedily in our day,
אוֹמֵר לוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּ הוּא	the Holy One blessed be he will say to him,
שְׁאַל מִמֶּנִּי דָּבָר וְאֶתֵּן לְ	Ask whatever and I will give it to you,
שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר	as it says (Psalms 2:7-8),
אֲסַפְּרָה אֶל חק וגו׳ אֲנִי הַיּוֹם יְלִדְתּי	“I will declare the decree ... this day have I begotten thee.
שְׁאַל מִמֶּנִּי וְאֶתְּנָה גוֹיִם נַחֲלָתֶ	Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance …”
וְכֵיוָן שֶׁרָאָה מָשִׁיחַ בֶּן יוֹסֵף שֶׁנֶּהֱרַג	And seeing messiah son of Joseph who is killed
אוֹמֵר לְפָנָיו	he will say to him [to God],
רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם	Master of the Universe,
אֵינִי מְבַקֵּשׁ מִמְּ אֶלָּא חַיִּים	I ask you for nothing but life.
אוֹמֵר לוֹ	He will answer him,
חַיִּים עַד שֶׁלּא אָמַרְתָּ	Life before you said it!
דָּוִד אָבִי כְּבָר הִתְנַבֵּא עָלֶי	Your father David already prophesied about you,
שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר	as it says (Psalms 21:5),
חַיִּים שָׁאַל מִמְּ נָתַתָּה לוֹ וגו׳	“He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him ...”

[xlviii] Psalms 132:

יא נִשְׁבַּע־יהוה	11 The LORD hath sworn	11 ὤμοσε Κύριος
לְדָוִד אֱמֶת	in truth unto David;	τῷ Δαυΐδ ἀλήθειαν
לֹא־יָשׁוּב מִמֶּנָּה	he will not turn from it;	καὶ οὐ μὴ ἀθετήσει αὐτήν·
מִפְּרִי בִטְנְךָ	Of the fruit of thy body will	ἐκ καρποῦ τῆς κοιλίας σου
אָשִׁית לְכִסֵּא־לָךְ׃	I set upon thy throne.	θήσομαι ἐπὶ τοῦ θρόνου σου·

2Samuel 7:

יב כִּי יִמְלְאוּ יָמֶיךָ	12 And when thy days be fulfilled,	12 καὶ ἔσται ἐὰν πληρωθῶσιν αἱ ἡμέραι σου
וְשָׁכַבְתָּ אֶת־אֲבֹתֶיךָ	and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers,	καὶ κοιμηθήσῃ μετὰ τῶν πατέρων σου,
וַהֲקִימֹתִי אֶת־זַרְעֲךָ אַחֲרֶיךָ	I will set up thy seed after thee,	καὶ ἀναστήσω τὸ σπέρμα σου μετὰ σέ,
אֲשֶׁר יֵצֵא מִמֵּעֶיךָ	which shall proceed out of thy bowels,	ὃς ἔσται ἐκ τῆς κοιλίας σου,
וַהֲכִינֹתִי אֶת־מַמְלַכְתּוֹ׃	and I will establish his kingdom.	καὶ ἑτοιμάσω τὴν βασιλείαν αὐτοῦ·
יג הוּא יִבְנֶה־בַּיִת לִשְׁמִי	13 He shall build an house for my name,	13 αὐτὸς οἰκοδομήσει μοι οἶκον τῷ ὀνόματί μου,
וְכֹנַנְתִּי אֶת־כִּסֵּא מַמְלַכְתּוֹ עַד־עוֹלָם׃	and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.	καὶ ἀνορθώσω τὸν θρόνον αὐτοῦ ἕως εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα.

[xlix] Psalms 16:

י כִּי לֹא־תַעֲזֹב	10 For thou wilt not leave	10 ὅτι οὐκ ἐγκαταλείψεις
נַפְשִׁי לִשְׁאוֹל	my soul in hell;	τὴν ψυχήν μου εἰς ᾅδην,
לֹא־תִתֵּן חֲסִידְךָ	neither wilt thou suffer thine [kind one]	οὐδὲ δώσεις τὸν ὅσιόν σου
לִרְאוֹת שָׁחַת׃	to see corruption.	ἰδεῖν διαφθοράν.
יא תּוֹדִיעֵנִי אֹרַח חַיִּים	11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life:	11 ἐγνώρισάς μοι ὁδοὺς ζωῆς·
שֹׂבַע שְׂמָחוֹת	…fulness of joy [is]	πληρώσεις με εὐφροσύνης
אֶת־פָּנֶיךָ	in thy presence];	μετὰ τοῦ προσώπου σου,
נְעִמוֹת בִּימִינְךָ	at thy right hand there are pleasures	τερπνότητες ἐν τῇ δεξιᾷ σου
נֶצַח׃	for evermore.	εἰς τέλος.

[l] Psalms 110:

א לְדָוִד מִזְמוֹר	1 A Psalm of David.	Ψαλμὸς τῷ Δαυΐδ. -
נְאֻם יהוה לַאדֹנִי	The LORD said unto my Lord,	ΕΙΠΕΝ ὁ Κύριος τῷ Κυρίῳ μου·
שֵׁב לִימִינִי	Sit thou at my right hand,	κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου,
עַד־אָשִׁית אֹיְבֶיךָ	until I make thine enemies	ἕως ἂν θῶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου
הֲדֹם לְרַגְלֶיךָ׃	thy footstool.	ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν σου.

[li] Πρωτότοκος ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν in Col 1:18; ὁ πρωτότοκος τῶν νεκρῶν in Rev 1:5.

[lii] Romans 8:

29 ὅτι οὓς προέγνω,	29 For whom he did foreknow,
καὶ προώρισεν συμμόρφους	he also did predestinate to be conformed
τῆς εἰκόνος τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ,	to the image of his Son,
εἰς τὸ εἶναι αὐτὸν πρωτότοκον	that he might be the firstborn
ἐν πολλοῖς ἀδελφοῖς·	among many brethren.

[liii] Isaiah 54:

א רָנִּי עֲקָרָה לֹא יָלָדָה	1 Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear;	ΕΥΦΡΑΝΘΗΤΙ, στεῖρα ἡ οὐ τίκτουσα,
פִּצְחִי רִנָּה וְצַהֲלִי	break forth into singing, and cry aloud,	ρῆξον καὶ βόησον,
לֹא־חָלָה	thou that didst not travail with child:	ἡ οὐκ ὠδίνουσα,
כִּי־רַבִּים בְּנֵי־שׁוֹמֵמָה	for more are the children of the desolate	ὅτι πολλὰ τὰ τέκνα τῆς ἐρήμου μᾶλλον
מִבְּנֵי בְעוּלָה	than the children of the married wife,	ἢ τῆς ἐχούσης τὸν ἄνδρα·
אָמַר יהוה׃	saith the LORD.	εἶπε γὰρ Κύριος·
ב הַרְחִיבִי מְקוֹם אָהֳלֵךְ	2 Enlarge the place of thy tent,	2 πλάτυνον τὸν τόπον τῆς σκηνῆς σου
וִירִיעוֹת מִשְׁכְּנוֹתַיִךְ יַטּוּ	and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations:	καὶ τῶν αὐλαιῶν σου, πῆξον,
אַל־תַּחְשֹׂכִי	spare not,	μὴ φείσῃ·
הַאֲרִיכִי מֵיתָרַיִךְ	lengthen thy cords,	μάκρυνον τὰ σχοινίσματά σου
וִיתֵדֹתַיִךְ חַזֵּקִי׃	and strengthen thy stakes;	καὶ τοὺς πασσάλους σου κατίσχυσον.
ג כִּי־יָמִין וּשְׂמֹאול תִּפְרֹצִי	3 For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left;	3 ἔτι εἰς τὰ δεξιὰ καὶ εἰς τὰ ἀριστερὰ ἐκπέτασον,
וְזַרְעֵךְ גּוֹיִם יִירָשׁ	and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles,	καὶ τὸ σπέρμα σου ἔθνη κληρονομήσει,
וְעָרִים נְשַׁמּוֹת יוֹשִׁיבוּ׃	and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.	καὶ πόλεις ἠρημωμένας κατοικιεῖς.

[liv] Hebrews 1:6—

ὅταν δὲ πάλιν εἰσαγάγῃ τὸν πρωτότοκον	And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten
εἰς τὴν οἰκουμένην, λέγει,	into the world, he saith,
καὶ προσκυνησάτωσαν αὐτῶ	And let worship him
πάντες ἄγγελοι θεοῦ.	all the angels of God.

Again in Hebrew the word is אֱלֹהִים (Psalms 97):

ז יֵבֹשׁוּ	7 Confounded be	7 αἰσχυνθήτωσαν
כָּל־עֹבְדֵי פֶסֶל	all they that serve graven images,	πάντες οἱ προσκυνοῦντες τοῖς γλυπτοῖς,
הַמִּתְהַלְלִים בָּאֱלִילִים	that boast themselves of idols:	οἱ ἐγκαυχώμενοι ἐν τοῖς εἰδώλοις αὐτῶν·
הִשְׁתַּחֲווּ־לוֹ	worship him,	προσκυνήσατε αὐτῷ,
כָּל־אֱלֹהִים׃	all ye gods.	πάντες οἱ ἄγγελοι αὐτοῦ.

[lv] Revelation 12:

5 καὶ ἔτεκεν υἱόν, ἄρσεν,	5 And she brought forth a man child,
ὃς μέλλει ποιμαίνειν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη	who was to rule all nations
ἐν ῥάβδῳ σιδηρᾷ·	with a rod of iron:
καὶ ἡρπάσθη τὸ τέκνον αὐτῆς πρὸς τὸν θεὸν	and her child was caught up unto God,
καὶ πρὸς τὸν θρόνον αὐτοῦ.	and to his throne.

[lvi] Hebrew חֶבְלֵי מָשִׁיחַ or חֶבְלוֹ שֶׁל מָשִׁיחַ ‘birthpangs of messiah’.

[lvii] Babylon (Jer 50-51; Rev 17); Tyre (Isaiah 23); Samaria and Jerusalem (Ezekiel 23); etc.

[lviii] Exodus 24:

ט וַיַּעַל מֹשֶׁה וְאַהֲרֹן נָדָב וַאֲבִיהוּא	9 Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu,
וְשִׁבְעִים מִזִּקְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל׃	and seventy of the elders of Israel:
י וַיִּרְאוּ אֵת אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל	10 And they saw the God of Israel:
וְתַחַת רַגְלָיו	and there was under his feet
כְּמַעֲשֵׂה לִבְנַת הַסַּפִּיר	as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone,
וּכְעֶצֶם הַשָּׁמַיִם לָטֹהַר׃	and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness.
יא וְאֶל־אֲצִילֵי בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל	11 And upon the nobles of the children of Israel
לֹא שָׁלַח יָדוֹ	he laid not his hand:
וַיֶּחֱזוּ אֶת־הָאֱלֹהִים וַיֹּאכְלוּ וַיִּשְׁתּוּ׃	also they saw God, and did eat and drink.

[lix] John 14:

2 ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ τοῦ πατρός μου	2 In my Father’s house
μοναὶ πολλαί εἰσιν·	are many mansions:

Ἀβραὰμ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἰσαάκ,	Abraham begat Isaac;
Ἰσαὰκ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἰακώβ,	and Isaac begat Jacob;
Ἰακὼβ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἰούδαν	and Jacob begat Judas
καὶ τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς αὐτοῦ	and his brethren…

υἱός μου εἶ σύ,	“Thou art my Son,
ἐγὼ σήμερον γεγέννηκά σε	this day have I begotten thee.”