Isaiah42:8 demystified.

 Will Not Share Glory:

Is. 42:8 - "I am the LORD [Jehovah - ASV]: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images" - KJV.

Heb. 1:3 - "[Jesus] being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person...sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high" - KJV.

After quoting the above two verses, some trinitarians will claim that they prove that Jesus is Jehovah.  They claim that if Jehovah will not share his glory with anyone else, then Jesus must be Jehovah because he shares Jehovah's glory.

Well, first we should note that others have "shared" or reflected Jehovah's glory.  For example, the angel at Luke 2:9 appeared with "the glory of the Lord."  God was not physically present, but the angel He personally sent to represent him was there with God's reflected glory to identify him as being from God and representing God.  This particular angel was not even Jesus since Jesus had already been born on earth (verse 11).  We see a similar thing at Rev. 21:10, 11 where the city of holy Jerusalem has descended from God and has the glory of God!  That is how it can be identified as being from God:  It has the glory of God!

Why, even some Christians will reflect God's glory: 2 Cor. 3:7-18.  And Jesus himself said that the glory which the Father had given him he had also given to his followers! - John 17:22.

So it certainly appears that God allows his glory to be with others who represent him as a sign of the authority He has given them and who do not represent that glory as being their very own.

But there is something else that makes the trinitarian argument incredibly poor (if not downright dishonest).  That is the actual meaning of "glory."  You see, "glory" meant, even as it does today, two different things.  Often it meant "honor" or "praise" which a person has earned.  On occasion, however, the same word  meant the visible, brilliant light radiating from something or someone.

So we can see that Isaiah also uses this meaning at Is. 60:1-3 where "shine," "light," "brightness" are used in conjunction with God's "glory" and that glory (`kaw-bode' in the Hebrew) will be seen.  We find this same meaning at Acts 7:55 (where the glory was seen), Luke 2:9 (where the glory `shone' all around them).  Obviously, a visible light-radiating type of glory is intended at these places.

But at Is. 42:12 and 43:7 we can see that the same Hebrew word "kaw-bode" clearly means "honor" or "praise."  In fact, that same Hebrew word ("kaw-bode") is even translated as "honour" at Ps. 66:2 (and 30 other places in the KJV).

Even today in modern English we have those same two meanings for "glory." 

(1) "Praise, honor, or distinction accorded by common consent; renown," and (2) "Brilliancy; splendor." - Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, ("Glory").

For example, we might say that the Nobel Prize winner did not want to share the glory with another scientist who had merely copied some of his scientific work.  "Glory" in this sense is not a visible brightness or radiance he gives off but the recognition, honor, and praise he will receive.  The glory of a beautiful sunset, however, is a visual brightness or beauty which others receive or observe.

So which meaning was intended at Is. 42:8?  (1) A shining visible "glory" given off by someone or (2) "praise" and "honor" owed to someone?

Well we can see from how it's used at Is. 42:8 that it clearly means "praise" or "honor" -  "I am [Jehovah]: that is my name [see Ps. 83:18] and my glory [`kaw-bode'] will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images."  This style of writing is very common in the Holy Scriptures.  It is called parallelism because similar (or parallel) meanings are written (in different words) beside each other.

For example: the familiar verse at Is. 9:6 begins "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given."  You can easily see that the second clause ("unto us a son is given") is parallel (similar in meaning) to the first clause ("unto us a child is born").

We can see, then, that the entire verse at Is. 42:8 is about the honor that is due God alone.  Jehovah starts the verse by declaring his name (to which he has said honor is due forever - Ps. 83:18; Ps. 86:9; Ps. 113:1-3; Ps. 145:21; Ezek. 39:6, 7).  He then follows that with the parallelism: (1) "my glory [`kaw-bode'] I will not give to another" and (2) "neither my praise to graven images."  Clearly the word "glory" (paralleled by "praise" in the next statement of this verse) here means "praise" or "honor." - see Is. 42:12, 17. 

And just as clearly, we can see that the word "glory" at Heb. 1:3 means the visible radiance given off by him (as with the angel of Luke 2:9 who reflected God's glory). - see Heb. 1:3 in TEV, NIV.  In fact, some modern trinitarian Bibles even translate Heb. 1:3 as "He reflects the glory of God"   - RSV (compare NAB; MLB; GNB; and Moffatt's translation). 

Therefore, if God said "I shall not share the praise or honor due me" at Is. 42:8, what kind of "evidence" is it to point out that Jesus reflects God's visible radiance at Heb. 1:3?


John 17:5 
John 17:5 is also used by some trinitarians to show that Jesus had the glory of God:

“And now, Father, glorify me in your presence [para] with the glory I had with [para] you before the world began.” - NIV.

The key here is the Greek word para. This word literally means “beside,” “by the side of” (W.E. Vine, pp. 112 and 1040). So the first use of para in the NIV rendering above is clearly understood. 

But the second use in the NIV quote (“with”) is ambiguous. It could be understood (wrongly in this case) as Jesus shared the glory with God (which trinitarians want to be true). Whereas, it more honestly means Jesus asks to receive from God the glory he used to have when he was by the side of God.

That is why these trinitarian Bibles and scholars have rendered John 17:5 as:

“In xvii. 5 [Jesus] speaks of ‘the glory which I possessed at thy [God’s] side (para soi) before the world existed’, and in xvii. 24 of ‘my glory which thou gavest me because thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world’.” - p. 260, The Interpretation of the Fourth Gospel, C. H. Dodd.

“By the side of thyself.” - A. T. Robertson, p. 275, Word Pictures.

“what is involved [in John 17:5] is the glory that Jesus possessed before the foundation of the world in the presence of God” - p. 151, John 2, Ernst Haenchen.

“So now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.” - NRSV.

“Now, Father, do such honor to me in your presence as I had done me there before the world existed.” - An American Translation (AT), Smith and Goodspeed. 

“now, Father, glorify me in thy presence with the glory which I enjoyed in thy presence before the world began.” - Moffatt.

“So now, Father, glorify me up there in your presence just as you did before the world existed.” - C.B. Williams.

“now glorify me in turn, Father, alongside yourself with the glory that I did have alongside you before the world was.” - Byington.

John 17:5 - “5. WITH,] lit. ‘along-side of thyself .. along-side of thee.’” - Young’s Concise Commentary.

I don’t think anyone would deny that the Son of God had a glory of his own in heaven, as do the heavenly host. So this verse merely shows Jesus asking God that he be returned to the glory he previously had (which had been given to him by God - 17:24.)