Our Great God and Saviour Jesus Christ
“προσδεχόμενοι τὴν μακαρίαν ἐλπίδα καὶ ἐπιφάνειαν τῆς δόξης τοῦ μεγάλου θεοῦ καὶ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ ὃς ἔδωκεν ἑαυτὸν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν” (Titus 2:13-14a)
“Awaiting the Blessed Hope and the Appearing of the Glory of the Great God and Saviour of us Christ Jesus Who gave Himself for us” (literal)
There is no grammatical problem in the Greek, with the English being translated this way. In Galatians 1:4, “κατα το θελημα του θεου και πατρος ημων”, can be translated in English, “according to the will of the God and Father of us”.
The King James Version, among others, has translated the Greek as:
“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ”
This reading refers to two “Persons”, “the Great God”, to the Father; and “our Saviour Jesus Christ”.
This verse is only problematic to some, because they cannot accept the fact that Paul calls Jesus Christ, “The Great God and Saviour”. If Paul had written, “τῆς δόξης τοῦ μεγάλου κυρίου καὶ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ”, there would be no problem in it being translated as , “the Glory of our Great Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ”, and referring all the words to Jesus Christ. In Acts 20:28, we have the Apostle Paul say, “the Church of the God (του θεου), which He has purchased with His own blood”. Clear reference to Jesus Christ as God, Who died on the cross. This cannot refer to the Father. In the natural reading of Romans 9:5, “Christ Who is over all God blessed for ever. Amen”, Paul again calls Jesus Christ GOD. In Romans 10:13, Paul says, “For whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved”. Which is from Joel 2:32, “And it shall come to pass, whosoever shall call on the name of Yahweh shall be delivered” The Greek Version, the Septuagint, reads, “ And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved”. Clearly in Romans, Paul uses the verse from Joel, which is about Yahweh, for Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians 10:9, again Paul says, “Neither let us tempt the Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents”. This also is a reference to the Old Testament, Numbers 21:6, “And Yahweh sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died”, which Paul uses for Jesus Christ. Then, in Philippians 2:6, Paul says of Jesus Christ, “Who is from eternity in the very nature of God”. Which is what he also says in Colossians 2:9, “For in Him dwells (κατοικει, continually) all the fullness of the Deity (θεότης, “deity i. e. the state of being God, Godhead”, Thayer Greek lexicon) bodily”. Can any doubt that Paul taught that Jesus Christ IS Yahweh, The Almighty God?
In Titus 2:13, the Greek noun, “ἐπιφάνεια” (appearing), is only used by the Apostle Paul, in 2 Thessalonians 2:8; 1 Timothy 6:14; 2 Timothy 1:10; 4:1, 8; and Titus 2:13. In every case it is used for the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is never used for God the Father. There is not a single verse in the entire Bible, that teaches the Coming to earth, of God the Father.
There are some, who do not accept that this verse is about Jesus Christ, who argue, that this “Appearing”, is only of Jesus in the sense that He will Come in “τῆς δόξης” (the Glory), of the Father, and apply “τοῦ μεγάλου θεοῦ” (the Great God), to the Father. In Matthew 16:27, Jesus Himself says, “For the Son of man shall Come in the Glory of His Father”. Paul does not say in Titus 2:13, “τοῦ μεγάλου πατρος” (the Glory of the Father), which would have removed any ambiguity. Even if we were to accept that Paul does mean, that “τῆς δόξης”, is that of “the Father”, in what sense are we to understand this? Surely this must mean that God the Father, and Jesus Christ, share in the one same Glory. Whether we understand “τῆς δόξης”, as referring to, “Honour, Renown, Glory”; or, to “ Shekinah Glory”, the “Splendor”, by which Yahweh Appeared in the Old Testament. This would make Jesus Christ as COEQUAL with the Father, and prove His Deity. In John 17:5, Jesus says, “And now, O Father, Glorify You Me with (πᾰρά, alongside) Your own self with the Glory ( τη δοξη) which I had (ειχον, always had) with (πᾰρά, alongside) You before the world existed”. The “Glory” of the Father and Jesus Christ has from eternity past, been EQUAL, and the SAME. In Hebrews 1:3, we read of Jesus Christ, “ος ων απαυγασμα της δοξης”, “Who being (always) the Effulgence of The Glory”, not (His Glory as in some Versions, which is not in the Greek). In Isaiah 42:8, we read, “I am Yahweh, that is My Name; I will not give My Glory to another, Nor My praise to idols”. For Jesus Christ to have the SAME Glory as the Father, can only mean that He is Almighty God. In Revelation 5:13, it says about the Father and Jesus Christ, that ALL “The Blessing, and The Honor, and The Glory (η δοξα), and The Power”, belong to BOTH. And in the next verse, They are BOTH Worshipped. The language of Titus is clear to the Deity of Jesus Christ.
It must be said, that had Paul wanted to be very clear on how we understood the words, “τῆς δόξης τοῦ μεγάλου θεοῦ” (the Glory of the Great God), then, he would have written, “καὶ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ”, where the definite article would have clearly distinguished “τοῦ μεγάλου θεοῦ” (the Father), from “σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ” (Jesus Christ). The syntax in the Greek, as it is used, and the terms used, clearly here refer to ONE PERSON, The Lord Jesus Christ.
On the Greek grammar, even the Unitarian Greek scholar, Dr George Winer, admits, that, “In the above remarks it was not my intention to deny that, in point of grammar, Σωτηρoς μωv (our Saviour) may be regarded as a second predicate, jointly dependent on the article τoυ (the); but the dogmatic conviction derived from Paul's writings that this apostle cannot have called Christ the great God induced me to show that there is no grammatical obstacle to our taking the clause και Σωτ...Χριστoυ (from,'and to Christ') by itself as referring to a second subject" (A Treatise on the Grammar of New Testament Greek, p.162. 1877 edition. - words in brackets are mine). The Greek grammar, say Dr Winer, as written by the Apostle Paul, is used here to call Jesus Christ, “The Great God and Saviour”. However, because of his “dogmatic conviction”, as a Unitarian, he simply could not accept that Paul could have called Jesus Christ, “τοῦ μεγάλου θεοῦ”!
In their Kingdom Interlinear Greek New Testament, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, in the literal English translation, under the Greek text, reads: “awaiting the happy hope and manifestation of the glory of the great God and Saviour of us of Christ Jesus”. In their other publication, the Emphatic Diaglott, which is also a Greek Interlinear, it reads: “waiting for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of the great God and Saviour of us Jesus Anointed”. And, in the English translation in the right-hand column, “waiting for the BLESSED Hope, even the appearing of the GLORY of our GREAT GOD and Savior Jesus Christ”. Clear testimony to the absolute Deity of Jesus Christ!
In the Second Epistle of Peter, we have very similar verses as Titus 2:13
“του θεου ημων και σωτηρος ιησου χριστου” (2 Peter 1:1)
Where the KJV, and others, have wrongly translated the Greek, “of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ”, meaning two Persons.
In verse 11, it reads in the Greek, “του κυριου ημων και σωτηρος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ”, as it does in 2:20 “του κυρίου καὶ σωτῆρος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ”. And in 3:18, “του κυριου ημων και σωτηρος ιησου χριστου” The first, the KJV translates, “of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ”. The second, “of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ”. And the third, “of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ”. In the first and third readings, the words are almost identical to 1:1, the ONLY difference being, “θεου” and “κυρίου”. The word order is also the same. So, WHY did the KJV translate 1:1, as TWO Persons, and in the other three places, as ONE Person?
The JW’s translate 2 Peter 1:1, “"of our God and [the] Saviour Jesus Christ" (Kingdom Interlinear). “the” is in brackets so not in the Greek. And in the Emphatic Diaglott, “of our God and Savior Jesus Christ”. Again, clear testimony to the Deity of Jesus Christ.
2 Timothy 4:1
“Διαμαρτύρομαι ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ μέλλοντος κρίνειν ζῶντας καὶ νεκρούς, καὶ τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν βασιλείαν αὐτοῦ”
“I charge you in the presence of the God and Christ Jesus, Who is to Judge the living and the dead, and by His Appearing and His Kingdom”
“προσδεχόμενοι τὴν μακαρίαν ἐλπίδα καὶ ἐπιφάνειαν τῆς δόξης τοῦ μεγάλου θεοῦ καὶ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ ὃς ἔδωκεν ἑαυτὸν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν” (Titus 2:13-14a)
“Awaiting the Blessed Hope and the Appearing of the Glory of the Great God and Saviour of us Christ Jesus Who gave Himself for us” (literal)
There is no grammatical problem in the Greek, with the English being translated this way. In Galatians 1:4, “κατα το θελημα του θεου και πατρος ημων”, can be translated in English, “according to the will of the God and Father of us”.
The King James Version, among others, has translated the Greek as:
“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ”
This reading refers to two “Persons”, “the Great God”, to the Father; and “our Saviour Jesus Christ”.
This verse is only problematic to some, because they cannot accept the fact that Paul calls Jesus Christ, “The Great God and Saviour”. If Paul had written, “τῆς δόξης τοῦ μεγάλου κυρίου καὶ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ”, there would be no problem in it being translated as , “the Glory of our Great Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ”, and referring all the words to Jesus Christ. In Acts 20:28, we have the Apostle Paul say, “the Church of the God (του θεου), which He has purchased with His own blood”. Clear reference to Jesus Christ as God, Who died on the cross. This cannot refer to the Father. In the natural reading of Romans 9:5, “Christ Who is over all God blessed for ever. Amen”, Paul again calls Jesus Christ GOD. In Romans 10:13, Paul says, “For whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved”. Which is from Joel 2:32, “And it shall come to pass, whosoever shall call on the name of Yahweh shall be delivered” The Greek Version, the Septuagint, reads, “ And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved”. Clearly in Romans, Paul uses the verse from Joel, which is about Yahweh, for Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians 10:9, again Paul says, “Neither let us tempt the Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents”. This also is a reference to the Old Testament, Numbers 21:6, “And Yahweh sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died”, which Paul uses for Jesus Christ. Then, in Philippians 2:6, Paul says of Jesus Christ, “Who is from eternity in the very nature of God”. Which is what he also says in Colossians 2:9, “For in Him dwells (κατοικει, continually) all the fullness of the Deity (θεότης, “deity i. e. the state of being God, Godhead”, Thayer Greek lexicon) bodily”. Can any doubt that Paul taught that Jesus Christ IS Yahweh, The Almighty God?
In Titus 2:13, the Greek noun, “ἐπιφάνεια” (appearing), is only used by the Apostle Paul, in 2 Thessalonians 2:8; 1 Timothy 6:14; 2 Timothy 1:10; 4:1, 8; and Titus 2:13. In every case it is used for the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is never used for God the Father. There is not a single verse in the entire Bible, that teaches the Coming to earth, of God the Father.
There are some, who do not accept that this verse is about Jesus Christ, who argue, that this “Appearing”, is only of Jesus in the sense that He will Come in “τῆς δόξης” (the Glory), of the Father, and apply “τοῦ μεγάλου θεοῦ” (the Great God), to the Father. In Matthew 16:27, Jesus Himself says, “For the Son of man shall Come in the Glory of His Father”. Paul does not say in Titus 2:13, “τοῦ μεγάλου πατρος” (the Glory of the Father), which would have removed any ambiguity. Even if we were to accept that Paul does mean, that “τῆς δόξης”, is that of “the Father”, in what sense are we to understand this? Surely this must mean that God the Father, and Jesus Christ, share in the one same Glory. Whether we understand “τῆς δόξης”, as referring to, “Honour, Renown, Glory”; or, to “ Shekinah Glory”, the “Splendor”, by which Yahweh Appeared in the Old Testament. This would make Jesus Christ as COEQUAL with the Father, and prove His Deity. In John 17:5, Jesus says, “And now, O Father, Glorify You Me with (πᾰρά, alongside) Your own self with the Glory ( τη δοξη) which I had (ειχον, always had) with (πᾰρά, alongside) You before the world existed”. The “Glory” of the Father and Jesus Christ has from eternity past, been EQUAL, and the SAME. In Hebrews 1:3, we read of Jesus Christ, “ος ων απαυγασμα της δοξης”, “Who being (always) the Effulgence of The Glory”, not (His Glory as in some Versions, which is not in the Greek). In Isaiah 42:8, we read, “I am Yahweh, that is My Name; I will not give My Glory to another, Nor My praise to idols”. For Jesus Christ to have the SAME Glory as the Father, can only mean that He is Almighty God. In Revelation 5:13, it says about the Father and Jesus Christ, that ALL “The Blessing, and The Honor, and The Glory (η δοξα), and The Power”, belong to BOTH. And in the next verse, They are BOTH Worshipped. The language of Titus is clear to the Deity of Jesus Christ.
It must be said, that had Paul wanted to be very clear on how we understood the words, “τῆς δόξης τοῦ μεγάλου θεοῦ” (the Glory of the Great God), then, he would have written, “καὶ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ”, where the definite article would have clearly distinguished “τοῦ μεγάλου θεοῦ” (the Father), from “σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ” (Jesus Christ). The syntax in the Greek, as it is used, and the terms used, clearly here refer to ONE PERSON, The Lord Jesus Christ.
On the Greek grammar, even the Unitarian Greek scholar, Dr George Winer, admits, that, “In the above remarks it was not my intention to deny that, in point of grammar, Σωτηρoς μωv (our Saviour) may be regarded as a second predicate, jointly dependent on the article τoυ (the); but the dogmatic conviction derived from Paul's writings that this apostle cannot have called Christ the great God induced me to show that there is no grammatical obstacle to our taking the clause και Σωτ...Χριστoυ (from,'and to Christ') by itself as referring to a second subject" (A Treatise on the Grammar of New Testament Greek, p.162. 1877 edition. - words in brackets are mine). The Greek grammar, say Dr Winer, as written by the Apostle Paul, is used here to call Jesus Christ, “The Great God and Saviour”. However, because of his “dogmatic conviction”, as a Unitarian, he simply could not accept that Paul could have called Jesus Christ, “τοῦ μεγάλου θεοῦ”!
In their Kingdom Interlinear Greek New Testament, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, in the literal English translation, under the Greek text, reads: “awaiting the happy hope and manifestation of the glory of the great God and Saviour of us of Christ Jesus”. In their other publication, the Emphatic Diaglott, which is also a Greek Interlinear, it reads: “waiting for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of the great God and Saviour of us Jesus Anointed”. And, in the English translation in the right-hand column, “waiting for the BLESSED Hope, even the appearing of the GLORY of our GREAT GOD and Savior Jesus Christ”. Clear testimony to the absolute Deity of Jesus Christ!
In the Second Epistle of Peter, we have very similar verses as Titus 2:13
“του θεου ημων και σωτηρος ιησου χριστου” (2 Peter 1:1)
Where the KJV, and others, have wrongly translated the Greek, “of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ”, meaning two Persons.
In verse 11, it reads in the Greek, “του κυριου ημων και σωτηρος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ”, as it does in 2:20 “του κυρίου καὶ σωτῆρος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ”. And in 3:18, “του κυριου ημων και σωτηρος ιησου χριστου” The first, the KJV translates, “of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ”. The second, “of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ”. And the third, “of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ”. In the first and third readings, the words are almost identical to 1:1, the ONLY difference being, “θεου” and “κυρίου”. The word order is also the same. So, WHY did the KJV translate 1:1, as TWO Persons, and in the other three places, as ONE Person?
The JW’s translate 2 Peter 1:1, “"of our God and [the] Saviour Jesus Christ" (Kingdom Interlinear). “the” is in brackets so not in the Greek. And in the Emphatic Diaglott, “of our God and Savior Jesus Christ”. Again, clear testimony to the Deity of Jesus Christ.
2 Timothy 4:1
“Διαμαρτύρομαι ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ μέλλοντος κρίνειν ζῶντας καὶ νεκρούς, καὶ τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν βασιλείαν αὐτοῦ”
“I charge you in the presence of the God and Christ Jesus, Who is to Judge the living and the dead, and by His Appearing and His Kingdom”
