Category Archives: logos

Renewal, Regeneration, and Born Again

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This word study began in a “last to first” post in Matthew 9:28. That inquiry also generated a study for some other great words. Translators and dictionary makers have a demanding job, especially if they are keeping politics out of the final product. The words and phrases that caught my attention are very close in usage in our modern vernacular, I wonder what they were in the first century.

Strong: G3824 palingenesia a new birth; regeneration, renovation, Matthew 19:28; Titus 3:5.

Matthew 19:28 And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (KJV)

Titus 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; (KJV)

Strong: G342 anakainōsis renovation, renewal – Romans 12:2; Titus 3:5 

Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (KJV)

Titus contains both of the first two words, which I found interesting. Paul is very careful with his words; I don’t think this was a mistake. More study on my part is required. This led me to the idea in John 3:3 and how it compares with the first two words.

Strong: G1080 and G509 gennaō anōthen birth from above or born-again John 3:3

John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. (KJV)

Mounce did a doctorial paper on the topic of new birth. I could only access the introduction. There seem to be other writers who have pondered this. For me, it is amazing that these few words occupy so much of our theology.

The verse in Matthew made me reflect on exactly what happened when Jesus came out of the tomb. Christianly has used many words to describe Jesus’ new state of being. For all practical purposes, He was born anew, with a glorified body and several new titles and responsibilities.

Sources were Mounce Interlinear and Strong’s Concordance.

Last to First with Some Great Words

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Matthew 19:28 to 20:16 is a formal lesson on last/first. Matthew recorded four great words Jesus used in this teaching. I have used Strong’s Concordance for many years, recently I found Mounce’s Greek Interlinear to help in my studies, like this one. Which for me is great because the New Testament can be Greek in my mind at times. Tools like these can expand your study, but they are just two of many helpful resources. Go outside your box every now and then and let the Spirit expand your knowledge.

The four words that caught my attention have limited use in the New Testament, are important to the tone of the lesson, and/or I thought they were funny.

Palingenesia – Strong: G3824 is used by Jesus, in verse 28, to introduce and set the tone for His answer to Peter and to give a timeframe for His teaching. Regeneration is maybe the best translation for this word, but you may see new birth, renewal, or renovation in some translations. It is used twice in the New Testament; the other time is in Titus 3:5. Jesus includes the disciples and gives it a heavenly tone, but contrasts this against the thought that part of the receiving will be done here on earth.

Hama – Strong: G260. In 29:1 it is “early in the morning”. Hama is used 10x in the New Testament, in most of the other verses it is “at the same time”. Since the landowner is hiring workers at various times that is okay. If you reflect on the second usage, I believe it can change how view the Father’s desire and consistent practice of getting laborers into His field. 

Misthoō – Strong: G3409. It means to hire out. This word is used only twice in the New Testament- Matthew 20:1, 7. These refer to the first and the last workers to be hired, the third, sixth, and ninth-hour workers are offered payment and told to go. The first ones the owner went to hire and the last men no one had hired.

Ouchi – Strong: G3780. It appears in Matthew 20:13 and means “not or no”, the no is emphasized. The first hired are complaining and the owner says he is not unfair on the wages. Ouchi is used many times in the New Testament.

I believe these four great words, that Jesus uses, demonstrate how important the first to last and last to first concept is in the Kingdom.

Last and First

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The words first and last are found together in many verses in the New Testament. The passage that started this study is 1 Corinthians 15: 45-48. Paul is explaining the resurrected body to the church in Chapter 15. He uses the body of Jesus as the example of how His earthy (dust) body was sown in the tomb and a spiritual body came out of it. Paul compared the “first Adam” to the “last Adam” and then changed terms and said the first man and second man (referring to Jesus). In this set of verses first is some form of protos. The word second is deuteros. The word last is eschatos. Sorry, those are English-to-Greek translations (Mounce).  

This first study led to a second one, and this last study provide some surprises. I will use Matthew as the reference book. These stories are also found in the other Gospels and the words and uses of them seem consistent among several major translations of the Bible.

Bad to Worse – These two stories are on different topics but the last to first concept is the same. In 12:45 Jesus is responding to a demand from the Pharisees for a miraculous sign. The final part of the teaching is about a demon that leaves a man and then returns with seven others. The man had it bad at first, but his last condition was worse. The second story has the Pharisees demanding a guard be posted by the tomb of Jesus (27:64). They argued that the first lie from Jesus would be worse than the last lie of the disciples. They said the lie was Him rising from the dead in three days. (No surprises here.)

Shall, First, Last – As a parent, coach, and teacher I have used the iconic saying “the first shall be last” many times in dealing with people. Jesus, the Master Teacher, surprised me by switching the order of the saying on the same day in two different circumstances to deliver two different meanings. This day of teaching occurred before Jesus started His victory parade into Jerusalem during Holy Week, He was on the east bank of the Jordan.

The rich young ruler was the object of the story in 19:30. He had money, and I am sure he was always allowed to be first in line wherever he went. He did not want to give up his money. The end of his part of the story was – the first shall be last and the last shall be first (those who gave up their money).

As Jesus expanded this teaching, He told the parable of a landowner hiring workers – Chapter 20, especially Verse 16. At the end of the day, the owner paid the last workers the same as he paid the first workers. Here the last workers are the object of the action, and they got what was promised them – the last shall be first, and the first last. (Attitude is part of the issue here.)

My surprise came in because of the switch in the order and the condition of whom He was talking about. The phrase still signals a change in position, but apparently, I need to think before slinging around who is first and last, why they are there, and whether they should be moving.

This is my first day writing on this topic, it will not be my last. The thoughts on a first day can be changed after studying, so these mat not be my last thoughts on the subject.

NASA vs MASSA

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I found these transliterations, nasa and massa, while reading/studying Isaiah (NIV, 1998 edition). The greatness of these words became such a burden to me, I had to be an oracle and sing their meanings. All of you Hebrew scholars, please lighten up as I have fun exploring these terms.

Massa, Strong’s H4853, has several ideas connected to it, but “a burden” is the major one. The KJV and other translations render the word “a burden”. The 1998 NIV says “oracle” and the 2011 NIV uses the word prophecy. That is why I found these two great words; Bible Gateway did not have enough oracles listed. They changed the translation, NIV does this frequently, and it really messes with search tools.

When it is used as “burden”, it means you are personally carrying the load. It also is used as a “weighty message” or a hard or dark saying. Isaiah 13:1 has massa and Isaiah “saw” it as actions against Babylon.

Okay, I thought it looked like masa, which is a corn mush used in cooking.

Nasa, Strong’s H5375, is the “parent word” for massa and it means burden. Strong’s says it is used in many different ways and it is. The definition that is given is very specific in that it is a burden carried for someone else; like the Messiah, Jesus, carrying our sin to the cross.

That is the term for the United States Space Agency, period. I truly believe God has a sense of humor.

Show some love to a translator. The job they do to bring an ancient language to modern man is astounding. There really is no dictionary the ancients left for your use. These men and women find the words in every passage and have to piece together meaning from the context the word is found in. Then they use modern words so it makes sense to us. That is why the Dead Sea Scrolls improved scholars’ understanding of the biblical text, they have more to work with and compare.

So, place yourself into the world of Isaiah. He saw a vision that was “dark” toward Babylon and it weighed him down, so he spoke it out as a prophecy.      

Now that the corny burden is lifted to the moon and beyond, I can continue studying Isaiah, and not be weighed down by massa and nasa.

Krypto in the Bible

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Krypto and its various forms are used in the Bible that was written in Greek (New Testament). This is a thought that makes translators work, hard. I am using the Mounce website as a reference. The simple transliteration is krypto, but it does take various forms and is used eighteen times. In the text we read it may be-hid/hide, hidden, secret, covered, or concealed. The Strong’s number is G 2928.  

Some of the verses that caught my attention are:

Matthew 13: 44 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. (KJV)

Matthew 25:25 And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. (KJV) This is from the Sermon on the Two Mounts.

On the lighter side, Superman’s dog is named Krypto. That should come from kryptonite and not something hidden.