| Subject: Matthew 4:10 - "Serve" the Lord |
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ZionsHerald
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Date Posted: 21:40:09 04/25/02 Thu
Author Host/IP: 12-250-237-70.client.attbi.com/12.250.237.70
Some trinitarians have suggested that Matthew 4:10 teaches that "ONLY" God is to be "served" and "worshipped." They claim that the word "serve" is used ONLY of God and Jesus and their conclusion based upon these ideas is that this must somehow make Jesus God. Is this true?
Lets look at the passage and see.
Matthew 4:10 "Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve."
Since Jesus said "it is written" we should go to the Scripture Jesus was quoting.
Jesus was quoting Deuteronomy 6:13.
What does this passage say?
Deut. 6:13 "Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name."
Notice the words "him only" are not in this verse. Why?
This is because Jesus was quoting the Greek translation of the Old Testament. This passage reads as the following from the Septuagint.
Deuteronomy 6:13 "Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve <05647> ; and thou shalt cleave to him, and by his name thou shalt swear." (Septuagint)
"Again, as in verses 4 and 7 (Matthew 4), we see the formula it is written, as Jesus once more quotes from scriptures in replying to the Devil. Translations should have the same formula here as in those verses. It is written (TEV "The scripture says") is a reference to Deut 6:13. In the Septuagint the word only is omitted, and the verb worship appears as "fear" in the major Septuagint tradition." (from the UBS Handbook Series. Copyright (c) 1961-1997, by United Bible Societies)
"The word here in Matt 4:10 for "serve" is latreuseis (NT:3000) from latris, a hired servant, one who works for hire, then rendered "worship."
(from Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft & Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament. Copyright (c) 1985 by Broadman Press)
Lets look at that verse again.
Deuteronomy 6:13 "Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve; and thou shalt cleave to him, and by his name thou shalt swear." (Septuagint)
Here is the same verse from the King James.
Deuteronomy 6:13 "Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve <05647> him, and shalt swear by his name."
If it is as you claim that we are to "serve" only God, then why is the word "serve" that Jesus quoted from Deut. 6:13 used in the following examples?
Jacob served Rachel's Father.
Genesis 29:18 And Jacob loved Rachel; and said, I will serve <05647> thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter.
If "only" God is to be "served", why does Jacob "serve" Rachel's father?
In this passage God required Israel to "serve" Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon!
Jeremiah 28:14 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; I have put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all these nations, that they may serve <05647> Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve <05647> him: and I have given him the beasts of the field also.
In this verse God sends Israel away to serve other Gods!
If "only" God was to be "served," then why did he turn them away and allow them to "serve" others?
Jeremiah 16:13 "Therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land that ye know not, neither ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye serve <05647> other gods day and night; where I will not shew you favour."
In this passage God says that the nations that will not "serve" Israel will perish!
Isaiah 60:12 For the nation and kingdom that will not serve <05647> thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted.
If one is to "serve" ONLY the Lord, then why will the Lord command the nations to "serve" Israel in the future?
Is it true? Is ONLY the Lord to be "served" as is claimed?
There certainly is no justification for such a meaning from the context of Matthew 4 or the meaning of the words used to support their conclusion.
The entire premise hangs upon the idea that they believe that the word rendered "serve" in Matthew 4:10 is used only of God.
From this assumption it is argued that since the word "serve" is used in Rev. 22 for both God and Jesus then therefore Jesus must be God.
However, I have shown that in this post that this assumption that the word "serve" is used ONLY of God is not true.
The "facts" simply do not bear out what is claimed by some trinitarians, for both the word "serve", the context of Matthew 4, AND the context of the Scripture that Jesus was quoting!
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