The Textus Receptus was little more than an intellectual fraud and financial hoax.

Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.

Until quite recently, the Textus Receptus was touted as the foundation of all English translations of the Greek text which is errantly known as “the Christian New Testament.” And yet it was little more than an intellectual fraud and financial hoax. In October of 1515 CE, a Dutch secular humanist, Desiderius Erasmus, and Johann Froben, a publisher of low repute, took five months to mark up, adding and taking away from, a flawed 12^th-century Medieval Greek manuscript, and they set type directly from those arbitrary scribbles. Then in places where their manuscript was void, they filled in the blanks by translating portions of the Latin Vulgate back into Greek. Worse, when Roman Catholic clerics protested that some of their pet passages weren’t included, to quiet their critics, Erasmus and Froben added them without any legitimate basis. Such an example is the story of “Jesus and the adulterous woman” recounted in John 8:1-11, whereby the “one without sin” was told “to cast the first stone.” This, the most famous and often quoted “New Testament” abstract is false. It did not occur. The alleged discussion, which if true, would have Yahowsha’ disavowing the Torah. But it is not found in any manuscript prior to the 8^th century CE. Similarly, you will not find the ending of Mark, chapter 16 verses 9-20, in any pre-Constantine manuscript, nor even in the 4^th-century Codex Sinaiticus or Vaticanus.

But in the absence of a viable competitor, Erasmus’s and Froben’s scholastic and financial fraud was said to be “a text received by all in which we have nothing changed or corrupted.” This myth was thus rendered: “the Textus Receptus.” And while the evidence is overwhelming that the King James Bible, which was first printed in 1609, was actually a revision of prior English translations of the Latin Vulgate, its authors attributed their text to this very same and highly flawed Textus Receptus. The KJV then became so popular; no English translation has yet been offered which dares to correct its familiar phrasing, especially of the most memorable passages.

It wasn’t until 1707 that the Textus Receptus was challenged—effectively undermining the basis of the Reformation and Protestantism. John Mill, a fellow of Queens College in Oxford, invested 30 years comparing the Textus Receptus to some one hundred much older Greek manuscripts. In so doing, he documented 30,000 variations between them. And even this was just a rash on a donkey’s posterior. Known variations between the oldest manuscripts of the Greek text, and those which publishers now claim serve as the basis for their translations, may actually exceed 300,000.

Even though some improvements were made in the later Westcott and Hort (1881) and Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament (1898 (also known as Novum Testamentum Graece)), both texts, while differing substantially from the Textus Receptus, remain more in sync with it than with the earliest extant (and recently discovered and published) Greek manuscripts from the first- through third-centuries CE. So while Christian pastors hold up their favorite English translation of their “Bible” and proclaim that it is “the inerrant word of God,” factually, the book they are touting isn’t even remotely consistent with the earliest witnesses.

Some of these same issues exist with the Hebrew text—albeit to a lesser degree. All English Bible translations claim to be based upon the Masoretic, an 11^th century vocalization of Babylonian Hebrew (itself a pseudo-translation of Ancient and Paleo Hebrew) composed by politically- and religiously-minded, and very misguided, rabbis. Their copyedits of Yahowah’s Word are now legend, revealed courtesy of the 3^rd-century BCE through 1^st-century CE, Dead Sea Scrolls. For example, in the Great Isaiah Scroll in which the entire text has been preserved, we find that the oldest witness from Qumran and the Masoretic Text differ by 14% with regard to the textual root of the words alone. To this we must add innumerable errant vocalizations which significantly alter the meanings of the words Yahowah selected.

So while God’s words in the Torah, Prophets, and Psalms, and Yahowsha’s words properly translated and accurately retained in the eyewitness accounts, were inspired, and while much of what they revealed has been preserved in old manuscripts and thus can be known, translations are strictly human affairs. As such, I do not claim that my Scriptural presentations are perfect, only that they are as accurate and complete as I can render them using the oldest manuscripts and best research tools. For this purpose I have relied upon:

The Dead Seas Scrolls Bible

Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon

The Hebrew & Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament

Dictionary of Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains: Hebrew

Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament

A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament

New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries

A Biblical Hebrew Reference Grammar

The Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon

Englishman’s Concordance

Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament

The Complete Word Study Guide of the Old Testament

The Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament

The ESV English-Hebrew Reverse Interlinear Old Testament

Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia; Werkgroep Informatica, Vrije Morphology

The Lexham Hebrew-English Interlinear Bible

Zondervan’s Hebrew-English Old Testament Interlinear

Logos Scholar’s Platinum Edition Software

The Text of the Earliest New Testament Greek Manuscripts

Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament

The Complete Word Study Dictionary, New Testament

Dictionary of Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains: Greek

The Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament

The Greek-English Dictionary of the New Testament

Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Christian Literature

Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains

A Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, Revised Edition

The New American Standard Greek Dictionary

The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible

An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon

The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament

The Complete Word Study Guide of the New Testament

Synonyms of the New Testament

Wuest’s Word Studies in the Greek New Testament

The New International Greek Testament Commentary

Word Studies in the New Testament

The ESV English-Greek Reverse Interlinear New Testament

The NRSV English-Greek Reverse Interlinear New Testament

Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament, with McReynolds English Interlinear

Marshall’s Parallel New Testament in Greek and English

Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary

Therefore, in An Introduction to God and Yada Yah you will find a complete translation of each Hebrew and Greek word, all rendered in accordance with the definitions and synonyms provided by the world’s most reputable resources. I most always have a dozen or more scholastic tomes open, surrounding me on revolving Jeffersonian carousels, and another score of research tools electronically linked to the text via Logos interactive software. It’s a lot of information, so recognize that in the quest to be thorough and accurate, fluidity will suffer. Scripture will not roll off the tongue in familiar word patterns. But if you question, verify, and study the words Yahowah revealed, you will come to know the truth—as God revealed it.

And yet, this will not be easy. As I have already mentioned, there is a substantial difference between the definitions rendered in the lexicons which bear the names of popular bible translations, and the translations themselves. So if their word definitions are accurate, their translations are not. And in this way, serious students of God’s Word quickly come to appreciate the Achilles’ heel of their bible. If believers questioned the texts they were reading, if they did their homework, they would reject their bibles, their pastors, their church, and their religion.

That is not to say that we cannot know what God revealed. But it is to say that our quest to understand will not be easy. And that, surprisingly, is exactly as Yahowah wants it to be—at least between now and His Yowm Kippurym return in 2033 – when He will write His Towrah inside of us. He wants all of us to value knowing Him sufficiently to prioritize this endeavor.

Along these lines, when Yahowah introduces a new term, one that seems to defy normal translation, we will study other verses to see how He initially deploys the concept. For example, the singular Hebrew noun zarow’a, is usually translated as “arms,” and yet Scripture suggests it means “sacrificial lamb.” And at other times, we will find that a good translation just isn’t possible. In that case the word will be transliterated in the text and then explained in subsequent paragraphs. Nesamah, whose best analog is “conscience,” is such a term, one we will examine at the end of the “Chay – Life” chapter.

For your benefit, the genitive case (scrubbed of pronouns and conjunctions) of the actual Hebrew words found in Scripture are italicized and set inside parentheses within the text itself. The most generic forms are provided so that you will be able to look them up in Hebrew lexicons. This is also done so that you might gradually become more familiar with God’s most commonly used terms.

In this regard, understanding is based upon evidence and reason. And the best source of information, at least as it relates to the existence of God and the means to salvation, is a complete and accurate translation of God’s testimony—replete with a comprehensive evaluation of the words He selected to communicate to us. That is why this book is dedicated to Yahowah’s predictions and instructions, not mine—or anyone else’s. This is a conversation with God, not with me. All I have attempted to do is provide a handrail, an augmentation, a running commentary, and a contextual framework for considering and connecting His insights so that they are as revealing as possible. Hopefully, this will encourage you to reflect upon the significance of His words.

To maintain a clear distinction between my observations and Yahowah’s, Scripture is printed in a bold font. Yahweh’s words (correctly translated) can be trusted. Mine are only there because I want you to think about His. I do not purport to have all the answers—but fortunately I don’t have to because He does, and He has told us where to find them. Revealing them, and where to find them, is the intent of His testimony and thus of this book.

While my opinions are mostly irrelevant, I think that it’s useful for you to know that I am of the conclusion that the Hebrew Scriptures were without error, so far as language makes that possible, as the inspired writers of the Torah, Prophets, and Psalms (everything from Genesis through Malachi) put quill to parchment two-thousand-five-hundred to three-thousand-five-hundred years ago. But as time passed, occasional scribal errors, a considerable onslaught of religious editing, and changes in language and customs, conspired to rob us of the message which originally permeated the divine texts. These problems were multiplied when the Hebrew manuscripts were translated into Greek, then Latin, en route to being rendered in English. And this issue was exacerbated by political and religious agendas—all designed to make the flock easier to control and fleece.

In rendering Yahowah’s Word in English as completely and accurately as possible, I have favored the preferred meanings of the Hebrew terms unless a different vocalization of the text or a secondary definition provides a better, more consistent fit considering the context. Etymological roots will be our principle guide as we explore. If a phrase still begs for elucidation, we’ll consider colloquialism, and will always be attuned to metaphors and especially symbolism.

Hebrew provides a rich linguistic palette—especially for subjects related to human nature and relationships, things Yahowah cares deeply about and about which He had a lot to say. And the language is spiritually revealing. It speaks to mind and soul.

Some say that there may be a deeper, mystical meaning to passages, some esoteric code latent in Gematria and Equidistant Letter Sequences. While there may be merit to these claims, no matter what’s buried under the words, their plain meaning, and the mental pictures they provide, is primarily what God intended for us to understand.

Since words comprise the totality of Scripture, and thus prophecy, and since God calls Himself “the Word,” it’s important that we render His correctly. Words are Yahowah’s most important symbols. His Scripture represents Him, His Word defines Him; it explains His purpose and plan. That shouldn’t be surprising. Words are the basis of most everything: communication, thought, consciousness, relationships, and causality. It is even possible that a communication medium lies at the heart of what we consider matter and energy—the very stuff of creation. We think in words. Without language, virtually nothing can be known and nothing happens. There are no meaningful relationships without words. Written language is considered man’s greatest invention and our most important tool. So when it comes to the Word of God, we will examine His thoughts closely

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“An Introduction to God” is found at

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All Glory be to Yahweh!

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