I learned something new today....
There were punctuation marks in the ancient Greek texts.
Article: http://www.elihubooks.com/data/topical_index/000/000/315/EOP_3_Punctuation_in_early_Greek_NT_texts_Stafford.pdf
Main site: http://www.elihubooks.com/content/topical_index.php
Page 2.
There are three marks [or, 'points'], a period [or, 'a finished point'], a semi-colon/colon [or,
'a middle point'], and a comma. On the one hand, the period mark is a sign for a complete
expression, but a semi-colon/colon [or, 'a middle point'] sign is breathed according to those
Page 3.the full point. The point at the top of the line (.) (stigmhÉ teleiÈa, 'high point') was a full stop;
that on the line (.) (uJpostigmhÈ) was equal to our semicolon, while a middle point (stigmhÉ
meÈsh) was equivalent to our comma. But gradually changes came over these stops till the top
point was equal to our colon, the bottom point became the full stop, the middle point
vanished, and about the ninth century A.D. the comma (,) took its place. About this time also
the question-mark (;) or ejrwthmatikoÈn appeared. These marks differed from the stiÈcoi in
that they concerned the sense of the sentence. Some of the oldest N.T. MSS. show these
marks to some extent. B [Codex Vaticanus] has the higher point as a period, the lower point
for a shorter pause.9
Page 19
As the response from Rome states clearly, the color of the lower point in
Codex B in Luke 23:43 after the Greek word for "today" is brown, not black or darker as is the
ink of the second hand or the even later scribal corrector.
Even if it were a mark by one of the other two scribes, it would still serve as an indication of the
belief of the scribe identified as to how the sense of the text was understood at the time it was
corrected. But since the point is apparently of the original "brown" color, then the mark after
"today" in Codex B in Luke 23:43 should be included as part of the good reasons which indicate
the correct understanding of Luke 23:43 according to one of the best available texts.
The way I read the above:[/size][/color][/font]
I say to you today; you shall be.....[/size][/color][/font]
I didn't comment on this because, quite frankly, I am not able to comment on it.
This is a fight between Greek scholars over punctuation, and you have found one that disagrees with the rest, and how can I judge who is right and who is wrong?
To do that, I would have to study for years in a very particular part of a very esoteric field, ancient texts in Greek and Hebrew.
Plenty of people have already done that for me. To find one that disagrees with the majority does not serve your cause.
But, what I can say, is that the rendering of most translations, 'Today you will be with me in paradise,' is confirmed by other statements in the NT and OT that point to Jesus being alive in Spirit during those three days, and actively doing things with respect to the dead.
Jesus himself gives Jonah as the sign of his death, and we all know that Jonah, although in the belly of the whale, was alive.
Common sense also tells us that it is impossible to kill the Spirit of God, and Jesus was filled with the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
Therefore, I reject fights over comma's in favor of a more overwhelming body of evidence, the actual scripture itself, that Jesus, although dead physically, was alive in Spirit during his time in the grave. And it is this Spirit which revivified his physical body.
Now I didn't say any of this at the time you posted because I was hoping to avoid any more fights over comma's and moving on.
But, you accuse me of not reading your posts by virtue of my silence, so now I feel I have to respond, if only to say, sometimes I don't respond because I choose not to prolong a fight and sometimes because I simply have nothing positive to say.
