6C With the Blood of God’s Own Son

Ac 20:28—Gr., διὰ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ ἰδίου

(di·aʹ tou haiʹma·tos tou i·diʹou)

Grammatically, this passage could be translated as in the King James Version and Douay Version, “with his own blood.” That has been a difficult thought for many. That is doubtless why ACDSy^{h (margin)} (followed by Moffatt’s translation) read “the congregation of the Lord,” instead of “the congregation of God.” When the text reads that way it furnishes no difficulty for the reading, “with his own blood.” However, אBVg read “God” (articulate), and the usual translation would be ‘God’s blood.’

The Greek words τοῦ ἰδίου (tou i·diʹou) follow the phrase “with the blood.” The entire expression could be translated “with the blood of his own.” A noun in the singular number would be understood after “his own,” most likely God’s closest relative, his only-begotten Son Jesus Christ. On this point J. H. Moulton in A Grammar of New Testament Greek, Vol. 1 (Prolegomena), 1930 ed., p. 90, says: “Before leaving ἴδιος [iʹdi·os] something should be said about the use of ὁ ἴδιος [ho iʹdi·os] without a noun expressed. This occurs in Jn 1:¹¹; 13:¹, Ac 4:²³; 24:²³. In the papyri we find the singular used thus as a term of endearment to near relations . . . . In Expos. VI. iii. 277 I ventured to cite this as a possible encouragement to those (including B. Weiss) who would translate Acts 20:²⁸ ‘the blood of one who was his own.’”

Alternately, in The New Testament in the Original Greek, by Westcott and Hort, Vol., 2, London, 1881, pp. 99, 100 of the Appendix, Hort stated: “it is by no means impossible that ΥΙΟΥ [hui·ouʹ, “of the Son”] dropped out after ΤΟΥΙΔΙΟΥ [tou i·diʹou, “of his own”] at some very early transcription affecting all existing documents. Its insertion leaves the whole passage free from difficulty of any kind.”

The New World Translation renders the passage literally, adding “Son” in brackets after ἰδίου to read: “with the blood of his own [Son].”