Jesus: Man, Messenger, Messiah · 5. Originals That Matter
Hebrews 2:9 — 'by the grace of God' or 'apart from God'?
In short
- 1.Most manuscripts: CHARITI THEOU, 'by the grace of God'.
- 2.A minority, plus Origen and Ambrose: CHORIS THEOU, 'apart from God'.
- 3.The two differ by a few letters and were easily confused in copying.
- 4.Origen reports that 'apart from God' was the reading of *some* copies in his day — third century.
The claim being examined
Hebrews says Jesus (PBUH) tasted death 'by the grace of God' for everyone.
The Islamic position
The alternative reading, attested by Origen and others, has Jesus (PBUH) dying 'apart from God' — a very different of the cross.
Analysis
Ehrman argues that 'apart from God' is the harder and better-attested-in-the-Fathers reading, and that it coheres with Hebrews' insistence that Jesus (PBUH) experienced death fully. A scribe encountering 'apart from God' had every reason to change it; a scribe encountering 'by the grace of God' had none to introduce a phrase suggesting God abandoned Christ. The variant matters because it touches directly on the relationship between Father and Son at the crucifixion.
From the Qur'an
وَمَا قَتَلُوهُ وَمَا صَلَبُوهُ وَلَـٰكِن شُبِّهَ لَهُمْ ۚ
wamā qatalūhu wamā ṣalabūhu walākin shubbiha lahum
They did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but it was made to appear so to them.
From the Bible
Greek: chariti theou / choris theou
…so that by the grace of God [or: apart from God] he might taste death for everyone.
Read it in their BibleGreek/Aramaic: Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
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