Luke 21:29

Luke 21:29

Here is how to refute the Jehovah's Witnesses' false claim that Luke 21:29 supports the Greek word for "all things" in Colossians 1:16 being changed into "all other things."

Jehovah's Witness - Luke 21:29 indicates that in some context, the Greek word for "all" can mean "all other," so the "all things" in Colossians 1:16 can be translated as "all other things."

Christian - Please read Luke 21:29 in your translation.
Jehovah's Witness - "With that he told them an illustration: 'Notice the fig tree and all the other trees.' "

Christian - Please google "Luke 21:29 biblehub.com interlinear," click on the first search result, and read the three Greek words that your translation has as "all the other trees"?
Jehovah's Witness - "panta ta dendra" (from this page).

Christian - What do those three words literally mean?
Jehovah's Witness - "all the trees."

(Note: It will be good for the Jehovah's Witness to be introduced to the interlinear Bible function of biblehub.com so that he can use it on his own later to look up other verses and words. But if the Jehovah's Witness insists on using his Kingdom Interlinear, have him use it since it also reads "all the trees.")

Christian - The sentence, "Notice the fig tree and all the trees" means "Notice the fig tree and all the other trees" only because the sentence distinguishes one tree from the rest of the trees. Is there such a context of distinguishing some from the rest in Colossians 1:16?
Jehovah's Witness - No.

Christian - You are right. Instead of distinguishing some from the rest, Colossians 1:16, which states, "For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him," actually does the opposite; it lumps "all things" together, doesn't it?
Jehovah's Witness - Yes it does.

Christian - So, does the context of distinguishing some from the rest in Luke 21:29 support changing the "all things" into "all other things" in Colossians 1:16, whose context is to not to distinguish but to lump "all things" together?
Jehovah's Witness - No.

God isn't a "thing" - 1 Corinthians 15:27