Worthington, Ohio

QUESTION:

Exodus 12:36, says "And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians." 

Someone is telling me that "borrowed" a mistranslation.  And I have to admit, I am stumped by this.

ANSWER:

They do come up with some "stumpers" from time to time.

First, and in case you've never thought about this or haven't heard me talk about it, I begin by reminding the stumper that no matter what trifling issues he/she can come up with about the Authorized KJB, NONE compare to the horrible corruptions found in the corrupt Hebrew and Greek texts (including the corrupt "Classical Greek" (and NOT the original Koine Greek) Old Testament (which was NOT originally in Greek to begin with) and New Testament of the Vatican Codex (also called Codex Vaticanus) which all new versions are translated from.

Corruption produces corruption.  Period.

Secondly, I remind the stumper that my inability to answer any question does not mean that there isn't an answer.  So, I will agree to continue looking for the answer if I am unable to do so in the moment of time I am being asked...  But I will NEVER accept the Satanic corruptions of some new version.  Instead, I will trust that MY ignorance of an answer to a question does not change the reality of God giving and preserving His words.

Thirdly, and at least in this case, the question is really just silly:

Did you know I "borrowed my genes" from my parents?  And I never gave them back!

Did you know that my name, Gregory, is "borrowed from" the Greek "Gregorios"?  And we English have never given it back.  We've never even been asked to!  lol

When I was a kid, I had these big cute eyelashes to go with my big brown eyes.  (Now, my eyelids droop and my eyelashes have all but disappeared, but I digress...)  When I was a kid, a man looked at my mom and said, "I see where that boy borrowed his eyelashes and big brown eyes from."

I was a SILLY little boy at the time.  And I thought, "My eyes and eyelashes aren't BORROWED.  I don't have to give them back."

And I thought on that for awhile and then asked my mom.  "Why did that man say my eyes and eyelashes were borrowed from you?"  She said, "Oh, that's just a way of saying that you got those from me because I'm your mom."

And with the Israelites, it's a similar usage:

Exodus 12:35, "And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment:"

And the Built-In Dictionary found in our King James Bible goes on to explain what was meant by "borrowed" in the very next verse:

Exodus 12:36, "And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians."

OOPS!  There's another one.  "Lent".  Why do the stumpers RARELY bring that one up?

Because the dictionaries (fallible as they are) answer that one.  In Webster's 1828 it says, "3. To afford; to grant; to furnish, in general; as, to lend assistance; to lend an ear to a discourse."

"Allow me to lend you a hand."  And you give a guy a jump when his car battery runs down.  Does that mean you go back at a later time and take it back?  LOL

No.  And that is what is so dangerous about these people being encouraged by stupid "pastors" and false teachers to try to correct the King James Bible.  People pick up a dictionary (they use the big word "Lexicon" for the Hebrew and Greek dictionaries because it sounds more impressive) and think they are able to CHANGE the Bible God produced and has used for going on 415 years.

I try to be tactful about it, but I've told many of these stumpers that the issue isn't our King James Bible.  The issue is their own PRIDE and ARROGANCE but with an extra layer of IGNORANCE.  They think they know something but they don't.  And it makes them feel like someone important when they can sit in judgment of God's word.  It's like seeing a kid wearing a police badge riding a tricycle out on I-75 trying to pull over a speeding semi.  It's childish nonsense.

When you hear someone say, "You can make the Bible say anything."  That is true IF you treat it with utter disrespect.  You can ignore the context (as is done by stumpers with the word "borrow" and "lent") and pick out one of the various definitions found of any particular word...  And then say, "I prefer this translation to that of the King James..."  And say it with a touch of snobbery for good measure.

But that is sloppy, dangerous and (to borrow a word I don't own!) downright WICKED.

But without taking into account the context, the words used in connection to the context, the cultural use of the word, etc., you get translations like The Message, the NIV, the Watchtower New World Translation, ESV, the Legacy Bible, etc. 

And the word "borrowed" is translated from the Hebrew "SHA-AL"  That CAN be translated as any of the following: to inquire; by implication, to request; by extension, to demand:—ask (counsel, on), beg, borrow, lay to charge, consult, demand, desire, earnestly enquire, greet, obtain leave, lend, pray, request, require, salute, straitly, surely, wish.

And only a Spirit-Filled EXPERT who can read, talk, write, think and even DREAM in ancient (dead) Hebrew has any business trying to figure out WHICH of those 20+ options is proper in Exodus 12:35.

And that describes the translators of our King James Bible.  EXPERTS.  Spirit-Filled.  And qualified beyond the abilities of the top 5 Hebrew translators of our day COMBINED.  

I could go on and on about that matter...  But I hope that helps,

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