Luke 1:35 and the Person of Jesus Christ
“And
the angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the
power of the Highest shall overshadow you: therefore also that Holy Child Who
shall be born of you shall be called the Son of God”
(King James Version)
“And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power
of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be
called holy—the Son of God” (English Standard Version, and the majority of
Versions)
The difference in these two readings, is that, in the second, the two words, “of
you”, are missing. The Greek is “ἐκ σοῦ”, which is literally, “out of you”, and
singular in the Greek, which excludes Joseph as the biological father of the
Lord Jesus Christ. These two small words have been removed at a very early time,
from this Gospel, and this wickedness has been blindly followed in many of the
modern versions of the New Testament.
The textual
evidence that I have given below, is beyond any dispute that “ἐκ σοῦ”, is indeed
part of the original of Luke. “ἐκ σοῦ”, which is “out
of you”, and singular in the Greek, which excludes Joseph as the biological
father of the Lord Jesus Christ. These two small words have been removed at a
very early time, from this Gospel, and this wickedness has been blindly followed
in many of the modern versions of the New Testament. This reading shows that The
Lord Jesus Christ, actually derived His “human nature”, apart from any sin, from
the Virgin Mary. Without this there could have been no “real” Incarnation, and
denies that Jesus Christ IS indeed, “God manifested in the flesh” (1 Timothy
3:16, according to what Paul wrote). The fact that Jesus’ human nature was
completely sinless, can be seen from the very careful wording of the Apostle
Paul. In Romans 8:3, we read, “For
what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending
his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the
flesh”.
The Greek grammar here is very important. “Condemned
sin in the flesh
(κατεκρινε
την αμαρτιαν εν τη σαρκ)…If
the article
την
had been repeated before
εν τη σαρκ
Paul would have affirmed sin in the flesh of Jesus, but he carefully avoided
that (Robertson, Grammar, p. 784).”
(A T Robertson, Word Pictures)
A
few of the heretics in the early Church, actually denied that the “human nature”
in Jesus Christ, at His Incarnation, and thereafter, is consubstantial with
ours.
“The doctrines of Valentinus are described fully by Irenæus (I. cap. i.) from
whom S. Cyril takes this account. Valentinus, and Basilides, and
Bardesanes, and Harmonious, and those of their company admit Christ’s conception
and birth of the Virgin, but say that
God the Word received no addition from the Virgin, but made a sort of
passage through her, as
through a tube, and made use of a
phantom in appearing to men.”
(Theodoret, Epist. 145.)
"To docetic thinkers the divinity of Christ presented no difficulties. It was
the humanity (with its close relation to matter) that they could not
acknowledge. It was only the channel
by which He came into the world 'Jesus', they said,
'passed through Mary as water through a
tube'. He was 'through' or 'by
means of', but not 'of' Mary; that
is to say, He derived from her no part
of His being. 'For, just as water
passes through a pipe, without receiving any addition from the pipe, so too the
Word passed through Mary, but was not derived from Mary" (J F Bethune-Baker;
Early History of Christian Doctrine, pp.80-81)
"The school of Valentinus...admitted the miraculous birth of the Saviour.
Messiah passed through the womb of Mary,
'as water through a channel'" (E De Pressensé; The early Years of
Christianity, vol.III, Heresy and Christian Doctrine, pp.33-34)
"Nestorius
would admit no more than that God
passed through (transiit)
the womb of Mary" (Dr P Schaff; History of the Christian Church, vol. II,
p.720. Emphasis mine)
The evidence from the 1st century onwards, for the two words, in the
Greek of this Gospel, as in other languages, is beyond any dispute.
The words “ἐκ σοῦ” are supported by the following textual evidence:
Greek Codex Ephraemi, 5th cent.
The Old Latin Version, 2nd cent.
The Old Syriac Peshitta, 2nd cent.
The Latin Vulgate in mss. Quoted by Jerome as below, 4th cent.
The Armenian Version, 5th cent.
The Coptic Sahidic Version, 5th cent.
“He whom thou wilt produce”
Ethopic (from about 500 A.D.)
The Early Church Fathers:
JUSTIN MARTYR (A.D.100-165) - Dia Typh, Chapter C. ANF, p.249
“when
the angel Gabriel announced the good tidings to her that the Spirit of the Lord
would come upon her, and the power of the Highest would overshadow her:
wherefore also the Holy Thing begotten of her is the Son of God”
DIATESSARON by Tatian (A.D.150-170) – all editions
“Holy
Spirit will come, and the power of the Most High shall rest upon thee, and
therefore shall he that is born of thee be pure, and shall be called the Son of
God”
IRENAEUS (A.D.130-200) - Adv Her Bk III.xxi.4
“The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall
overshadow thee ; therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee
shall be called the Son of God ;"
TERTULLIAN (A.D.160-225) - Adv Prax xxvi, xxvii
“The
Spirit of God
shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you;
therefore also the Holy Thing that shall be born of you shall be called the
Son of God”;
Therefore that Holy Thing which shall be born of you shall be called the Son of
God.
HIPPOLYTUS (A.D.170-236) - Adv all Her VI. xxx
“wherefore
that which shall be born of you shall be called holy”
CYPRIAN (A.D.200-258) - Test against the Jews, sec 1
“Wherefore that holy thing which is born of thee shall be called the Son of
God."
NOVATIAN (A.D.200-258), Concerning The Trinity, Ch. xxiv. 6 times.
“The
Holy Spirit
shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you;
therefore also the Holy Thing which is born of you shall be called the Son of
God”
GREGORY THAUMATURGUS (A.D.213-270) - Twelve Topics on the Faith, Topic IV. 4
times
“The
Holy Ghost
shall come upon you, and the power of the highest shall overshadow you:
therefore also that holy
thing which shall be born of you shall be called the Son of the Highest”
PETER OF ALEXANDRIA (d.A.D.311) - frag from the book on the Godhead; sermon of
theology
“The
Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow
thee; therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called
the Son of God” (2); “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the
Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that holy thing which shall be
born of thee shall be called the Son of God." (9)
ATHANASIUS (A.D.296-373) - four Discourses against the Arians, Dis IV.32
“The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the Power of the Highest shall
overshadow thee therefore also that Holy Thing which shall be born of thee,
shall be called the Son of God .”
Didymus the Blind
(313-398) - USB 4;
HILARY (315-368)
“The Holy Spirit shall came upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall
overshadow thee. Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee
shall be called the Son of God”
CYRIL OF JERUSALEM (A.D.315-386) - lectures XII, 32; XVII.6
“The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall
overshadow thee; therefore also that Holy Thing which shall be born of thee
shall be called the Son of God.”
DIODORE (d.A.D.390) - Creed
AMBROSE (A.D.339-397) - of the Holy Spirit, Bk III.11.79
“The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall
overshadow thee, and that Holy Thing Which shall be born of thee shall be called
the Son of God,”
JEROME (A.D.342-420) - to Pammach against John of Jeru
“The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall
overshadow thee. Wherefore that holy thing which shall be born of thee
shall be called the Son of God.”
AUGUSTINE (A.D.354-430) - Enchiridion, ch 37 Multiple times
“That holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.”
JOHN CASSIAN (A.D.360-435) - Conference of Abbot Serapion, ch.V
“The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Most High shall
overshadow thee: therefore that which shall be born of thee shall be called
holy, the Son of God.”
ADAMANTIUS (early 4th cent)
EPHRAEM (A.D.306-373) - Griesbach
EPIPHANIUS (A.D.315-403) - UBS 4; N-A 27
AMPHILOCHIUS (A.D.340-395) - UBS 4
Theodoret of Cyrus
(393-457)
“The Holy Ghost
shall come upon thee and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee;
therefore also that holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the
Son of God.”
LEO "the great" (d.461 - Dilectissimo Fratri Flaviano Leo; II, 82.
“The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Most High shall
overshadow thee: and therefore that Holy Thing also that shall be born of thee
shall be called the Son of GOD,”
Gennadius of Massilia
(died 496)
“The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Highest shall
overshadow thee; therefore also that holy thing that shall be born of thee shall
be called the Son of God.”
JOHN DAMASCUS (A.D.675-749)
“Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the
Son of God”
Apocryphal (not inspired by the Holy Spirit)
The Protoevangelium of James
(The Protoevangelium of James is a text, to which scholars at times also refer
as the Infancy Gospel of James. Its origins go back as far as the second century
CE…
Indeed, there continues to be a strong scholarly consensus that the story
originated in Greek in the second century.
Cornelia Horn,). This Confirms the early date as found in extra-Biblical
writings, and importantly, in the Greek.
“for
the power of the Lord shall overshadow you: wherefore also that holy thing which
shall be born of you shall be called the Son of the Most High” (xi)
The textual
evidence for “out of you”, is beyond any doubt what the Apostle Luke wrote in
his Gospel.