tigger2
Active Member
Response to Clear in post #28:
An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, p. 809: “1. Hapax denotes a. once, one time.... b. once for all, of what is of perpetual validity, not requiring repetition.”
(Also see hapax in Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament; Liddell and Scott's An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon; the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (‘Little Kittel’), Eerdman’s Publ., 1985; the Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament, Vol. 1, Eerdman’s, 1990; and A.T. Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament, Vol. 5, p. 404.)
Like so many words (in NT Greek and OT Hebrew as well as in English) hapax has more than one meaning. Either the a. or the b. definition is an honest translation of the Greek word hapax!
Look at these trinitarian translations of hapax:
Heb. 9:26 - “He has appeared once and for all” [hapax] - Jerusalem Bible, NJB, GNB,
TEV, NEB, Phillips.
- “once for all” [hapax] - NAB (1970), NAB (1991), RSV, NRSV, REB.
Heb. 9:27 - “reserved for men to die once for all” [hapax] - MLB.
- “Destined that men die only once” [hapax] - JB, NJB, Living Bible.
Heb. 9:28 - “Christ sacrificed once for all” [hapax] - MLB.
- “Christ died only once” [hapax] - JB, NJB, LB.
Jude 3 - “once and for all” [hapax] - NEB, JB, NJB, GNB, TEV, Phillips.
- “once for all” [hapax] - RSV, NRSV, REB, NASB, NAB, NAB (1991), Mo, MLB,
LB, AT (Goodspeed).
Compare the various translations at Jude 3 - Bible Gateway
Also note John 10:38 which does not even have the word hapax, but TEV adds “once and for all” anyway!
Yes, even the trinitarian standard, The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, 1986, Zondervan, Vol. 2, pp. 717, 718, tells us hapax means
“once in the sense of an event that cannot be repeated. It is so used of the sacrificial death of Christ (Heb. 9:26 ff; 1 Pet. 3:18).... The author of Heb. sees the death of Christ as the once-and-for-all [hapax] sacrifice” - p. 717.
And
“Jude 3 urges its readers ‘to contend for the faith which was once for all [hapax] delivered to the saints.’” - p. 718.
A final note on hapax comes from the highly trinitarian (and highly anti-Watchtower Society) “cult” expert Dr. Walter Martin. This “born-again” spokesman likes to quote Dr. Mantey in an attempt to show the “mistranslations” and “perversions” of God’s Word by the Watchtower Society. Interestingly, Martin himself interprets hapax in Jude 3 as “once for all time”:
“ ‘...contend earnestly for the faith once [hapax] delivered to the saints,’ that’s King James, but the [NT] Greek is a little better,” says Martin. “The Greek says, ‘... put up a stiff fight for the faith once for all time [hapax] delivered to the saints.’” - Introduction to the Cults, cassette tape recording by Dr. Walter Martin, 1980. - Compare Jude :3 NWT.
An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, p. 809: “1. Hapax denotes a. once, one time.... b. once for all, of what is of perpetual validity, not requiring repetition.”
(Also see hapax in Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament; Liddell and Scott's An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon; the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (‘Little Kittel’), Eerdman’s Publ., 1985; the Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament, Vol. 1, Eerdman’s, 1990; and A.T. Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament, Vol. 5, p. 404.)
Like so many words (in NT Greek and OT Hebrew as well as in English) hapax has more than one meaning. Either the a. or the b. definition is an honest translation of the Greek word hapax!
Look at these trinitarian translations of hapax:
Heb. 9:26 - “He has appeared once and for all” [hapax] - Jerusalem Bible, NJB, GNB,
TEV, NEB, Phillips.
- “once for all” [hapax] - NAB (1970), NAB (1991), RSV, NRSV, REB.
Heb. 9:27 - “reserved for men to die once for all” [hapax] - MLB.
- “Destined that men die only once” [hapax] - JB, NJB, Living Bible.
Heb. 9:28 - “Christ sacrificed once for all” [hapax] - MLB.
- “Christ died only once” [hapax] - JB, NJB, LB.
Jude 3 - “once and for all” [hapax] - NEB, JB, NJB, GNB, TEV, Phillips.
- “once for all” [hapax] - RSV, NRSV, REB, NASB, NAB, NAB (1991), Mo, MLB,
LB, AT (Goodspeed).
Compare the various translations at Jude 3 - Bible Gateway
Also note John 10:38 which does not even have the word hapax, but TEV adds “once and for all” anyway!
Yes, even the trinitarian standard, The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, 1986, Zondervan, Vol. 2, pp. 717, 718, tells us hapax means
“once in the sense of an event that cannot be repeated. It is so used of the sacrificial death of Christ (Heb. 9:26 ff; 1 Pet. 3:18).... The author of Heb. sees the death of Christ as the once-and-for-all [hapax] sacrifice” - p. 717.
And
“Jude 3 urges its readers ‘to contend for the faith which was once for all [hapax] delivered to the saints.’” - p. 718.
A final note on hapax comes from the highly trinitarian (and highly anti-Watchtower Society) “cult” expert Dr. Walter Martin. This “born-again” spokesman likes to quote Dr. Mantey in an attempt to show the “mistranslations” and “perversions” of God’s Word by the Watchtower Society. Interestingly, Martin himself interprets hapax in Jude 3 as “once for all time”:
“ ‘...contend earnestly for the faith once [hapax] delivered to the saints,’ that’s King James, but the [NT] Greek is a little better,” says Martin. “The Greek says, ‘... put up a stiff fight for the faith once for all time [hapax] delivered to the saints.’” - Introduction to the Cults, cassette tape recording by Dr. Walter Martin, 1980. - Compare Jude :3 NWT.
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