Recently, a friend of the Cepher wrote and said, “I’m trying to understand why this verse is vastly different than many other translations.”
Let’s take a look:
For Yahuah is the essence, and the Shabbath; the Son of A’dam.
Mattithyahu (Matthew) 12:8
In comparison, the typical translation is as follows:
For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. NIV, NASB, ISV,
For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath. ESV, ASB
For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day. KJV, NKJV
For the Ben HaAdam (Moshiach) is Adon HaShabbos. Oxford Jewish Bible
However, in the Greek we find the following:
Mt 12:8 κυριος γαρ εστιν και του σαββατου ο υιος του ανθρωπου
(kyrios gar estin kai tou savvatou o yios tou anthropou)
Κυριος (Yahuah) γαρ (for) εστιν (he is) και (and) του (the) σαββατου (sabbath) ο (the) υιος (son) του (the) ανθρωπου (man)
So, literally, we have Yahuah for he is and the sabbath the son, the man. We know, however, that in the ancient languages, the double “the” usually meant just one “the” thereby rendering the passage as “the son, man”. Even this is subject to an ancient reckoning which would place an “of” between two nouns, so “the son of man”.
We have another common construct in the Greek, which is to place the “for” after the subject verb, which in this case is Kyrios. As we have explained in other blogs, we construe the word Kyrios as Yahuah, as did Origen in his Septuagint. Kyrie we construe as Adonai, and kyrion as “sir”.
Now we see For Yahuah he is and the sabbath the son of man. Well, that is close to the way we find it in the Cepher, which is For Yahuah is the essence, and the Shabbath; the Son of A’dam.
The key to this verse lies in the word estin, which is the form of the word esti (ἐστί) (Strong’s G2076).
Here we find Strong’s marker G2076, giving us the verb estí (ἐστί), which is the third person singular present indicative of G1510; he (she or it) is; also (with neuter plural) they are:—are, be(-long), call, × can(-not), come, consisteth, × dure for a while, + follow, × have, (that) is (to say), make, meaneth, × must needs, + profit, + remaineth, + wrestle.
Alright then. Let’s look at G1510:
Strong's G1510 is the word eimi (εἰμί), which is the first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist (used only when emphatic):—am, have been, × it is I, was. See also:
G1488 - eî (εἶ), second person singular present of G1510; thou art:—art, be.
G1498 - eíēn (εἴην), optative (i.e. English subjunctive) present of G1510 (including the other person); might (could, would, or should) be.
G1511 - eînai (εἶναι) present infinitive from G1510; to exist:
G2258 - ane (ἦν), imperfect of G1510; I (thou, etc.) was (wast or were):—+ agree, be, × have (+ charge of), hold, use, was(-t), were.
G2071 - ésomai (ἔσομαι), future of G1510; will be:
G2070 - esmén (ἐσμέν), first person plural indicative of G1510; we are:
G2075 –esté (ἐστέ), second person plural present indicative of G1510; ye are:
G2076 - estí (ἐστί), third person singular present indicative of G1510; he (she or it) is:
G2468 - ísthi (ἴσθι), second person imperative present of G1510; be thou:
G5600 - ō (ὦ), the subjunctive of G1510; (may, might, can, could, would, should, must, etc.; also with G1487 and its comparative, as well as with other particles) be:
In short, we have the infinitive to be in all of its forms, hence, the essence. Let’s now include that concept which is given to us in the Greek to the phrase, and see how it reads:
For Yahuah is the essence, and the Shabbath; the Son of A’dam.
Mattithyahu (Matthew) 12:8