49. Iv. CONCURRENT GREEK USAGES: "SAINTS"
(2) It is used of Israel in the very next verse (Deut. xxxiii. 3).
"Yea, He loved the People;
All His holy ones are in Thy hand."
Here the word is used of the People of Israel. For the preceding words are—"This is the blessing wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death."
It is a blessing which is yet to receive its full consummation when the Lord shall have come again, and the People of Israel shall know Him to be their Divine Redeemer, their King, and their God.
(3) It is used also of individuals and other godly Israelites, as in Pss. xvi. 3; xxxiv. 9; lxxxix. 5, 7; evi. 16, Hos. xi. 12.¹
(4) It is used in the Church Epistles specially of the members of the one Spiritual Body, whose holiness is that of Christ; and whose saintship therefore, though enjoyed on earth, is higher than that of any other created beings, being merged in their higher title, "the sons of God."
This is its usage in the commencement of the Epistles, as in Rom. i. 7. 1 Cor. i. 2, etc.
With this key, Bible students will have no difficulty in determining what the usage of the word is in any particular passage; for the Context alone is the all-sufficient guide as to what it must be.
We need not go through all the passages where the word "saints" occurs; this would be doing the work which it should be our readers' pleasure and profit to carry out.
One or two passages may be doubtful; in which case it may be well to come to no conclusion, but to wait for further light.
A few other passages will receive a new interpretation and lead to a change in our traditional views.
¹ The English word "saints" represents quite a different Hebrew word in 1 Sam. ii. 9. 2 Chron. vi. 41. Pss. xxx. 4; xxxi. 23; xxxvii. 28; l. 5; lii. 9; lxxxv. 8; xcvii. 10; cxvi. 15; cxxxii. 9, 16; cxlv. 10; cxviii. 14. Here the Hebrew word is חָכִיר (chasid), pious, Godly.
With Matt. xxv. 31 before us we shall find that several passages which we have been in the habit of referring to the Church of God, really refer to angelic beings.
"When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory" (Matt. xxv. 31).
Here we have the word "angels" associated with the word "holy" (pl.), which leaves us in no doubt.
In harmony with this passage we must take 1 Thess. iii. 13. "To the end he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his holy [angels]."
On the other hand, in 2 Thess. i. 10 the word "saints" is used synonymously of "all them that believe," and in contrast with "the mighty angels" of verse 7, because
"At the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven" (v. 7), those who have been troubled now will be at "rest."
This revelation in judgment (v. 10) will take place "when He shall have come to be glorified amid His saints on earth (Israel), and wondered at (in that day) amid all raptured believers."
In Jude 14 the word "saints" clearly refers to angels; "Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints to execute judgment upon all."
In Rev. xv. 3 the word "saints" should be "ages" according to the R.V., or "nations" according to the R.V. margin. The Structure (Introversion) requires "nations."
V. WHERE A UNIFORM USAGE OF GREEK WORDS SHOULD NOT BE DEPARTED FROM IN THE ENGLISH.
It is not always that Greek words have different usages. The vast majority have one uniform usage; and this must not be departed from in the English, and cannot be ignored without serious loss.
Even where it does not lead to a misunderstanding or a wrong interpretation of a passage, it creates great and unnecessary confusion.