Matthew 3:17

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William Branham consistently misquoted Matthew 3:17 as - "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am pleased to dwell." He also misqoted it as - "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am pleased to dwell in." He butchered this passage of the Bible almost 60 time). This is not simply a misquote but it changes the meaning of the passage. He indicates that it is the correct translation but it is not. He is adding words that simply do not exist in the original Greek manuscripts.

What do the manuscripts say?

The original Greek wording of Matthew 3:17 is:

καὶ ἰδοὺ φωνὴ ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν λέγουσα· Οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητός, ἐν ᾧ εὐδόκησα.[1]

Here are several translations of this passage (from formal or word-for-word translations), none of which use the word "dwell":

KJV - And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.[2]
ESV - ...and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”[3]

NASB - ...and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”[4]

Young's Literal Translation - ...and lo, a voice out of the heavens, saying, ‘This is My Son—the Beloved, in whom I did delight.’[5]

Quotes of William Branham

And with such a shifting condition as we’re in today, how can faith rest itself? You got to come back to the Bible, back to the truth. And when Jesus, a carpenter’s Son, physically speaking, when He come to the earth here that’s all He was known of, and the day that when John baptized Him, God a vindicated Him. God spoke from the heavens. John saw Him coming in the form a dove, and said, “This is My beloved Son in Whom I’m pleased to dwell.” The right translation there is, “In whom I am pleased to dwell in.” Jesus immediately anointed with God, He was just a man till that time, but now He becomes the God-man.[6]

“But I bear record, I saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and a Voice saying, ‘This is My Beloved Son in Whom I am pleased to dwell in.’”[7]

Now watch when Jesus come, watch what He did to prove Himself to be that Messiah, that Anointed One. One day, after He had received…The Father had came down and dwelt in Him, in the form of a dove coming down from Heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am pleased to dwell in.”[8]

God can talk. Do you believe God can talk? He talked to Moses on the mount, in a burning bush. You believe that? Yes, sir. He talked to John, in the form of a dove, (you believe that?) that, “This is My beloved Son in Whom I’m pleased to dwell in.[9]

And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (In other words, “in whom I’m pleased to dwell in.”)[10]


Footnotes

  1. W. Hall Harris III, The Lexham Greek-English Interlinear New Testament: SBL Edition (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2010), Mt 3:17.
  2. The Holy Bible: King James Version, Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009), Mt 3:17.
  3. The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Mt 3:17.
  4. New American Standard Bible, 1995 Edition: Paragraph Version (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Mt 3:17.
  5. Robert Young, Young’s Literal Translation (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 1997), Mt 3:17.
  6. William Branham, 55-0806 - Jesus Christ The Same Yesterday, Today, And Forever, para. 30
  7. William Branham, 64-1221 - Why It Had To Be Shepherd, para. 201
  8. William Branham, 65-0427 - Does God Change His Mind?, para. 179
  9. William Branham, 65-0822M - Christ Is Revealed In His Own Word, para. 106
  10. William Branham, 65-1128E - On The Wings Of A Snow-White Dove, para. 37


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