You mean that's in the Bible ?
by Satyaraj das.
"Many Bible scholars persist with the theory that Christ ate animal
flesh, obviously swayed in their opinions by personal habits. The desire
to accede to prejudice and uphold existing tradition has been a human characteristic
for many centuries, but truth appears now even more important as man exerts
his independence in so many aspects of life.
Respected Bible scholar Rev. V. A. Holmes-Gore has researched
the frequent use of the word "meat" in the New Testament Gospels.
He traced its meaning to the original Greek.
His findings were first published in World Forum of Autumn 1947.
He reveals that the nineteen Gospel references to "meat" should have been
more accurately translated as follows:
| Greek | No. of References | Meanings |
| Broma | 4 | "Food" |
| Brosis | 4 | "the act of eating food" |
| Phago | 3 | "to eat" |
| Brosimos | 1 | "that which may be eaten" |
| Trophe | 6 | "nourishment" |
| Prosphagon | 1 | "anything to eat" |
Thus, the Authorised Version (KJV) of John 21:5 'Have you any meat?' is incorrect. It should read: 'Have ye anything to eat?'
"Fish" is another frequently mistranslated word in the Bible. Its reference
is often not to the form fish of swimming life, but to the symbol by which
early Christians could identify each other. It was a secret sign, needed
in times of persecution, prior to official acceptance of Christianity as
a state religion.
The sign of the fish was a mystical symbol and conversational
password deriving from the Greek word for fish, 'ichthus.' As such, it
represented an acrostic, composed of leading letters of the Greek phrase,
'Jesous Christos Theou Uios Soter' 'Jesus Christ, Son of God,
Saviour.'
Frequent references to fish are intended as symbolic of The Christ,
having nothing to do with the act of eating dead fish. But the symbol of
the fish did not meet with Roman approval. They preferred the sign of the
cross, choosing to concentrate more on the death of Christ than on His
brilliant life. Perhaps this is one reason only ten percent of his life
record appears in the canonical scriptures. Most of His first thirty years
is omitted.
How many worshippers go home from church and sit down to a feast
cut from a once proud beast in defiance of the very commandments they have
just been advocating?
Genesis 1:29. "And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which [is] upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which [is] the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
Genesis 9:4. "But flesh with the life thereof, [which is] the blood thereof, shall ye not eat."
Genesis 9:5. "And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man."
Isaiah 1:11. "To what purpose [is] the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.
Isaiah 1:15. "And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood."
Isaiah 7:14. "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."
Isaiah 7:15. "Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good."
Isaiah 66:3. "He that killeth an ox [is as if] he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, [as if] he cut off a dog's neck; he that offereth an oblation, [as if he offered] swine's blood; he that burneth incense, [as if] he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations."
Leviticus 17:10. "And whatsoever man [there be] of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people."
Leviticus 3:17. "[It shall be] a perpetual statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings, that ye eat neither fat nor blood."
Matthew 3:4. "And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey."
Luke 8:55. "And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and he commanded to give her meat."
Luke 24:41. "And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat?"
Luke 24:42. "And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb."
Luke 24:43. "And he took [it], and did eat before them."
John 4:8. "(For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)"
Acts 9:19. "And when he had received meat, he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus."
Acts 27:33. "And while the day was coming on, Paul besought [them] all to take meat, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye have tarried and continued fasting, having taken nothing."
Acts 27:34. "Wherefore I pray you to take [some] meat: for this is for your health: for there shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you."
Acts 27:35. "And when he had thus spoken, he took bread, and gave thanks to God in presence of them all: and when he had broken [it], he began to eat."
Acts 27:36. "Then were they all of good cheer, and they also took [some] meat."
Acts 16:34. "And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house."
Romans 14:15. "But if thy brother be grieved with [thy] meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died."
Romans 14:17. "For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost."
Romans 14:20. "For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed [are] pure; but [it is] evil for that man who eateth with offence."
Romans 14:21. "[It is] good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor [any thing] whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak."
1 Corinthians 8:8. "But meat commendeth us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse."
1 Corinthians 8:13. "Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend."
1 Corinthians 10:4. "And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ."
......but to try to tell deaf people of such things is not worth the time it takes to make them angry. How much can a blind man see, about as far as a lame man can walk.
Thus, the Authorised Version of John 21:5, "Have ye any meat? " is incorrect. It should have been translated: "Have ye anything to eat?
from Bhajahari dasa ACBSP
Vegetarianism
and Beyond pages
