Biblical
Support For The Doctrine of Verbal Plenary Preservation (II)
-- Psalm 12:6-7 and Psalm19:7-10
Lesson 4
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INTRODUCTION
The unending attacks
on the Word of God know no bound. God’s people must be vigilant and
sober for the day of deliverance is nearer than we think. To let our
guard down would signify the spiritual death of our present and future
generations.
When the doctrine of inspiration came under attack the defenders of the
Word of God in times past had only one clear-cut verse to support the
doctrine. It was 2 Timothy 3:16. They fought tooth and nail defending
this truth amidst all the distortions and misinterpretations.
Finally the battle was over and the line was clearly drawn. On the one
side there were the fundamentalists who held on to the doctrine of
inspiration as stated in our church Constitution which is our heritage.
On the other side were the modernists and neo-evangelicals who believe
in limited inerrancy and infallibility where inspiration was only in
spiritual matters or matters that pertain to man’s salvation. Anything
else would have mistakes, which they called minor ones.
Today we thank God that we have more than one verse from God’s Word
defending the doctrine of preservation. Even though there are many
verses that teach preservation, the same attack that was used to
undermine the doctrine of inspiration is also employed today.
Re-interpretation or misinterpretation of Bible verses is also used.
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INTERPRETING
PSALM 12:6-7—Perfect Word of God preserved
Psalm
12:6-7: "The words of
the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth,
purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve
them from this generation for ever."
The teaching from these two
verses appears quite clear that God would preserve His Holy Word for
ever. Yet many have argued otherwise. They say that
the preservation in verse 7 refers to people only.
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Grammar
and Syntax arguments
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Those who interpret Psalm 12:7 as referring
to people and not the Word of God say that since the pronominal suffix
“keep them” in verse 7a is in the masculine gender (plural) and “the
words of the LORD” in verse 6 is in the feminine gender (plural),
“them” must refer to “people.” In order for it to refer to
God’s Word the pronominal suffix must also be in the feminine gender
like the substantive. This is a faulty reasoning based upon a
wrong assumption. As Gesenius, a classic Hebrew grammarian
teaches, “Through a weakening in the distinction of gender, which is
noticeable elsewhere . . . And which probably passed from the
colloquial language into that of literature, masculine suffixes
(especially in the plural) are not infrequently used to refer to
feminine substantives.” [Gesenius’
Hebrew Grammar, edited and enlarged by E. Kitsch, second
edition by A. E. Cowley, (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1910, 2nd
edition), page 440, Section O].
Some examples from the OT where this phenomenon occurs
include:
Genesis 31:9, "Thus God hath taken away the cattle of your [masculine plural pronoun suffix
-- referring to Rachel and Leah) father, and
given them to me."
Genesis 32:15, "Thirty milch camels with their [masculine plural pronoun suffix -
referring to the thirty female camels) colts, forty kine, and ten
bulls, twenty she asses, and ten foals."
Exodus 1:21, "And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God,
that he made them [masculine
plural pronoun suffix -- a reference to the midwives]
houses.
Psalm 119:111, “Thy testimonies [feminine
plural noun] have I taken as an heritage for ever: for
they [masculine plural
pronoun] are the rejoicing of my heart.”
Psalm 119:129, “Thy testimonies [feminine
plural noun] are wonderful: therefore doth my soul keep
them [masculine plural
pronoun suffix].”
Psalm 119:152, “Concerning thy testimonies [feminine plural noun],
I have known of old that thou hast founded them [masculine plural pronoun suffix]
for ever.”
Psalm 119:167, “My soul hath kept thy testimonies [feminine plural noun];
and I love them [masculine
plural noun suffix] exceedingly.”
These are only a few examples cited to demonstrate the nature of
feminine plural nouns in relation to their masculine
pronouns. According to the Hebrew language, it is most
legitimate to refer the suffix pronoun “them -- masculine plural pronominal
suffix (verse 7a)” to “the words -- feminine plural substantive
of the LORD (verse 6).” For them to insist that the gender
must be the same is eisegesis. We cannot force the Word of God to say
what we want it to say. Also it is wrong to insist that biblical Hebrew
grammar and syntax must conform to the English grammar and syntax.
Thomas Strouse agrees and wrote, “. . . it is not uncommon,
especially in the Psalter, for feminine plural noun synonyms for the
‘words’ of the Lord to be the antecedent for masculine plural
pronouns/pronominal suffixes, which seem to ‘masculinize’ the verbal
extension of the patriarchal God of the Old Testament. . . . . As the
KJV/TR bibliologists have argued all along, both the context and the
grammar (proximity rule and accepted gender discordance) of Psalm
12:6-7 demand the teaching of the preservation of the Lord’s pure words
for every generation.” [http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/strouse-psalm127.html]
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Another argument they cited is that the
pronominal suffix “preserve them (verse 7b)” is in the singular and KJV
translators have no right to change it to “them (plural).” It
is true that the pronominal suffix for “preserve them” in verse 7b is a
third person masculine singular suffix (him).
Why did the KJV translators translate it as “them”?
The key is that in the addition of the suffix, the Holy Spirit wanted
to emphasize the verb “preserve” so that an “energetic nun”
(the letter “n”) is added before attaching the pronominal suffix. When
this occurs an additional rule comes into operation in the Hebrew
language. There is no
masculine plural pronominal suffix in the third person when the
energetic nun is applied to a verb. [See Gesenius, page
157-158 Section 4, I]. Hence the Scripture writer, through
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, used the singular masculine
pronominal suffix, retaining the same gender as in “keep them (verse
7a).”
Therefore it is very legitimate and consistent with Hebrew grammar for
the KJV translators to translate the masculine singular pronoun suffix
with the energetic nun as a masculine plural pronoun --
“them.”
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B.
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Contextual
argument
When we speak of context, it is the immediate
context that is considered first, and not the distant
context. The immediate context is of course the Words of the
LORD. Hence the preservation and keeping (guarding) would be
the Words of the LORD. We know that the syntax and grammar allow it.
Verse 6 is what is known as an emblematic parallelism where the purity
of God’s Word is likened to the sevenfold purification (as pure as you
can ever get) process of purifying silver where every bit of dross is
burned away leaving behind the purest silver [Tremper Longman III, How to Read the Psalms,
(Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 100]. This verse
teaches that the Words of the LORD are without error or fallibility and
it is 100% perfect.
Verse 7 is known as a synonymous parallelism where the second line
restates what is mentioned in the first, but using different words
(Longman III, 99). As mentioned before, the use of the energetic “nun”
emphasizes the act of preservation. This preservation is forever.
The relationship between verses 6 and 7 is what we call synthetic
parallelism where the second verse adds or expands on the teaching
mentioned in the first verse. These two verses combined
together teach that the Words of God which are perfect like silver
purified seven times will be preserved by God forever!
The contrast within the entire psalm would be the words of these evil
men pitted against the Words of the LORD. These evil men
speak vanity and flattery (verse 2) and boast that their words will
prevail and no one is lord over them (verse 4). The Words of the LORD
counter that it is the Lord’s Word that will prevail over the words of
the evil ones.
This is the assurance and comfort that the LORD gives to His people. Do
not fear the words of these evil flatterers and boasters;
trust in the Words of the LORD that is purified seven times as opposed
to the words of the evil men which are vain, proud and stem from a
double heart (verse 2). God will keep (guard) His Holy Words and
preserve (action is emphasized by the energetic nun) them from this
generation forever. The LORD gave this verbal assurance to that
generation and after because He knew they needed it. God’s people were
plagued by the many wicked words that came from evil men to confuse and
confound them.
The faith of the believers was put to the test, they had to choose to
believe and trust in the inerrant, infallible and divinely inspired
Word of God Almighty or the errant, fallible words of sinful men. The
same decision is asked of every Christian today on the issue of the
doctrine of preservation of God’s Holy, inerrant, infallible Word.
It must not be intimated that from before this time, God did not
preserve His Holy Word. This is faulty hermeneutics. Argument from
silence is very dangerous and can lead to all kinds of wrong doctrine.
For example, Ephesians 1:4 teaches us that the believers’ salvation
have been chosen in Him [Christ] before the foundation of the world.
Does it mean that the believers in the Old Testament were not chosen
before the foundation of the world? Of course we cannot arrive at this
erroneous conclusion. Progressive revelation teaches that it took more
than one thousand five hundred years for the Bible to be given to us
completely intact and perfectly [from Moses around 1445 B.C. to the
Apostle John who wrote Revelation, the last book of the New Testament,
around 95 A.D.]. When a truth is revealed to God’s people, it does not
mean that this was the “activation” of that truth. It simply points to
the fact that this was the first time God has revealed or taught this
truth to His people, something which He has been doing all the time.
The doctrines of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, Election, the
doctrine of the Trinity, the Trinitarian involvement in the giving of
gifts, God giving gifts according to His sovereign will, and every
Christian being given at least one gift are some of the doctrines which
are found clearly taught in the New Testament but not taught or implied
only in the Old Testament. These doctrines are clearly taught in the
New Testament.
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C.
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Bible
Translations—past and present on Psalm 12:6-7
David Cloud wrote correctly, "The bifurcation of
the Reformation Bible tradition and the post-19th century English
Bibles is seen in the New Revised Standard Version render[ing of] Psalm
12:7, "You O Lord, will protect us; you will guard us from this
generation forever." In a similar manner, the New International Version
translates verse 7, "O Lord, you will keep us safe and protect us from
such people forever." In spite of Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia
reading "keep them" and "preserve him," both the NRSV and NIV have
elected not to translate the Hebrew and have, in its place, substituted
a translation from the Greek and Latin rendering of these two pronouns.
By so doing, the editors of these translations have endorsed one
exegetical tradition, the Greek-Latin, to the exclusion of the other,
the Hebraic, and by doing so have censured any further debate within
the Hebrew exegetical tradition itself.
"This essay will show the diversity of the textual
and exegetical tradition of Psalm 12:6-7 ... By so doing, the
inadequacy of modern renditions of Psalm 12:7 will be exposed...
"Michael
Ayguan (1340-1416) ... On Psalm 12:7 Ayguan comments, Keep
them: that is, not as the passage is generally taken, Keep or guard Thy
people, but Thou shalt keep, or make good, Thy words: and by doing so,
shalt preserve him--him, the needy, him, the poor--from this
generation...
"Martin
Luther's German Bible ... Following the arrangement of
this Psalm, Luther penned a hymn, two stanzas of which reflect his
understanding of verse 6 and 7: ... "Thy truth thou wilt preserve, O
Lord, from this vile generation..." In poetic form, Luther grasps the
significance of this verse both for the preservation of those who are
oppressed and for the Word of God. The two-pronged significance of this
interpretation to both people and God's words in Luther's Psalter was
to have wide-ranging significance in the English Bible tradition.
"Calvin's
Commentary on the Psalms ... in the body of the commentary
he writes, 'Some give this exposition of the passage, Thou wilt keep
them, namely, thy words; but this does not seem to me to be suitable."
[Thus while Calvin did not believe Psalm 12:7 referred to the Word of
God, he admits that others did hold this view in his day.]
"Coverdale
Bible, 1535 ... reads for [verse 7] of Psalm 12: "Keep
them therefore (O Lord) and preserve us from this generation for ever."
With the absence of "Thou shalt" to begin verse 7, there is a direct
connection between 'words' and 'keep them.' In the first clause,
Coverdale intended the words to be kept; in the second clause people
are in view..."
"The
Matthew Bible 1537. ... In Psalm 12:67 Rogers translated,
"The words of the Lord are pure words as the silver, which from the
earth is tried and purified vii times in the fire. Keep them therefore
(O Lord) and preserve us from this generation for ever." Following
Coverdale, Rogers makes a clear connection in his translation between
the words being the antecedent to "them." ... The significance of
Roger's marginal note is that two of the greatest Hebrew scholars
referred to by the Reformation writers differed on the interpretation
of "them" in Psalms 12:7. [Thus we see that the interpretation of this
verse was also divided among Jewish scholars.]
"The
Third Part of the Bible, 1550. Taken from Becke's text of
1549 this edition of the scriptures contains the Psalter, Proverbs,
Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs. ... In verse 7 there is a note at
them which states, 'some understand here certain men, some others
word." Again, the translators and exegetes allowed breadth of
interpretation of "them" to include people and words.
"The
Geneva Bible, 1560. ... The preface reads, "Then
comforting himself and others with the assurance of God's help, he
commendeth the constant vigil that God observeth in keeping his
promises." The text reads, "The words of the Lord are pure words, as
the silver, tried in a furnace of earth, fined seven fold. Thou wilt
keep them, O Lord: Thou wilt preserve him from this generation
forever." [The margin reads, "Because the Lords word and promise is
true and unchangeable, he will perform it and preserve the poor from
this wicked generation." Thus the Geneva took a position that verse 7
applies both to the preservation of the Bible and of God's people.]
"Annotations
by Henry Ainsworth, 1626. Briggs commends Ainsworth as the
"prince of Puritan commentators" and that his commentary on the Psalms
is a "monument of learning." ... Ainsworth states that "the sayings"
[of Psalm 12:7] are "words" or "promises" that are "tried" or
"examined" "as in a fire." He cross references the reader to Psalm
18:31; 119:140; and Proverbs 30:5, each reference having to do with the
purity of the word.
"Matthew
Poole's 1685 Commentary of the Psalms ... writes at verse
seven, "Thou shalt keep them; either, 1. The poor and needy, ver. 5 ...
Or, 2. Thy words or promises last mentioned, ver. 6. ...
"In summary ... [t]he only sure conclusion is that
there is no consensus within the English Bible tradition for the
interpretation of "them" in Psalm 12:7 and it was precisely this lack
of agreement within the tradition which was the genius of the ambiguity
of the King James Version's rendering. ... by choosing a Greek-Latin
basis the modern versions elect to overlook the Reformation's Hebrew
basis for translation in Psalm 12:6-7; and the churchly tradition in
the new versions is censored by not including a translation that is
broad enough to include both interpretations--oppressed people and
God's words" (Peter Van Kleeck, The
Translational and Exegetical Rendering of Psalm 12:7 Primarily
Considered in the Churchly Tradition of the 16th and 17th Centuries and
Its Expression in the Reformation English Bibles: The Genius of
Ambiguity, March 1993). [Taken from [http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/fbns/fbns88.html]
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III.
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INTERPRETING
PSALM 19:7-10—Nature of the Word of God explained
Psalm 19:7-10:
“The
law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the
LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the
LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is
pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring
for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous
altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than
much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.”
Contextual
Observations
Psalm 19 teaches God’s revelations.
Psalm 19:1-6 refers to the general revelation of God through His
creation. Psalm 19:7-14 teaches special revelation through God’s Holy
Word. The Word of God is described by the Psalmist in these six ways:
the law, the testimony, the statutes, the commandments, fear and
judgments. The nature of the Word of God is described as: perfect,
sure, right, pure, clean and true. The effect of the Word of God in the
heart and lives of the believer is described as: converting the soul,
making wise the simple, rejoicing the heart, enlightening the eyes,
enduring for ever and righteous altogether.
The totality of the richness of the
Word of God is seen here by the use of these six different nouns. Its
infinite value is seen in the description by the Word of God in using “perfect” which means
“without blemish” i.e. absolutely no mistakes; “sure” which means
“faithfulness and trust worthy”; “right”
which means “straight and righteous”; “pure” which means
“clean and clear and void of impurities”; “clean” which means
“pure in the moral sense”; and “true”
which means “trustworthiness or verity i.e. contains no falsehood or
errors,” to capture the depth and breadth of the Word of God in its
totality.
On the meaning of the word “perfect”
as used here Barnes wrote, “The meaning is that it lacks nothing in
order to its completeness; nothing in order that it might be what it
should be. It is complete as a revelation of divine truth; it is
complete as a rule of conduct. As explained above, this refers not only
to the law of God as the word is commonly employed now, but to the
whole of divine truth as revealed. It is absolutely true; it is adapted
with consummate wisdom to the wants of man; it is an unerring guide of
conduct. There is nothing there which would lead men into error or sin;
there is nothing essential for man to know which may not be found
there. [Albert Barnes’
Notes on the Bible, Swordsearcher 4.7]”
That the Word of God was perfect to
the Psalmist is an understatement. For the Psalmist to ever think that
the Word of God contains the slightest degree of impurity or error or
mistake was unthinkable. The highest regard the psalmist gives to the
Word of God is clearly seen in the use of the six nouns.
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IV.
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CONCLUSION
The Word of God is the only “catalyst” used by the
Spirit of God to transform lives and make children of darkness into
children of God’s marvelous light, why would God then after more than
1,500 years of inspiration and writing of God’s Word not preserve all
His words for future generations? We thank God that He did.
Psalm 12:6-7 teaches us that God has preserved His
perfect Word perfectly for His people. God inspired His Word perfectly,
inerrant, infallible and He also preserved the same Word for His people
throughout the ages so that every generation can assuredly say, “Thus
saith the LORD!” with absolute confidence.
Psalm 19:7-10 teaches us that the Word of God is more
than perfect in all its glory but also purity, verity, surety,
righteousness and truthfulness. The Word of God cannot have mistakes
and must be perfect at inspiration and perfectly preserved by God
Himself throughout the ages for all of God’s people. Anything less
would be foolishness like a man shooting his own foot! AMEN.
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