Most Bibles today read: “And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS” (Revelation 19:16).
Many Have Been Deeply Puzzled By This Surprising Statement.
Was His thigh then exposed while riding on a white horse in dignified battle array?
And how was His title written — was it permanently tattooed upon His thigh?
Was this title written on His right thigh, on His left thigh, or on both thighs?
Since one’s thigh is relatively small, how can His long title be visibly written for all to see?
Was this long title written across His thigh, or longitudinally written towards His lower leg?
These are some of the disturbing, embarrassing, and even somewhat undignified questions asked on this topic. But these questions need to be honestly clarified.
How a Literal Answer to These Questions Violate Biblical Principles and Even Presents Some Contradictions
IF we say that this long title was written on His exposed thigh, that act of exposure would have already been condemned and considered as part of being naked which is contrary to biblical injunctions in the Levitical priesthood attire (yet He is much more than a human priest), even as defined and proscribed by these verses below:
Exodus 28:42 prescribes trousers to include covering the waist down to the thighs.
Leviticus 16:4 talks about the need to put on trousers on one’s legs and body.
Mark 14:51-52 — a loose cloth draped over one’s body very easily exposes nakedness.
IF we say that His title was tattooed on His thigh, that would be a violation of Scriptures.
Leviticus 19:28 prohibits making marks or tattoos on one’s body.
Since Christ Was Most Righteous, He Was Attired Down to the Feet
Please notice the clothing apparel described of the Messiah in this same Book of Revelation:
Revelation 1:13 describes the Messiah as being clothed with a garment down to the feet.
And we know that Scriptural teachings cannot be in contradiction with each other (John 10:35).
What Then Caused This Glaring Contradiction Upon This Topic?
Deeply researching into any Greek Concordance, Lexicon, Dictionary, or even a Greek-based Interlinear Bible will not solve this problem. This is because we will just find ourselves simply looking at a defective Greek source of information to begin with. WHY?
Contrary to popular teachings, Greek was NOT the original language in which the New Testament was written. For PROOF, please read the article: 25 Irrefutable Reasons Why the New Testament Was NOT Originally Written in Greek.
Problem With the Translation From the Original Hebrew-Aramaic Manuscript Into the Greek Translation
In the original Hebrew-Aramaic manuscript, the correct word was “degel” which meant “banner.” However, the translator from the original manuscript into Greek simply mis-read just one letter which completely changed the meaning of the word to “regel’ which now meant “thigh.”
That pivotal error which rendered a big difference in meaning was in unintentionally mis-reading the 4th letter “Dalet” (ד) in the Hebrew alphabet and considering it as “Resh” (ר) [the 20th letter of the Hebrew alphabet] — these two letters look very similar.
Another Similar Translation Problem Between Dalet and Resh
Genesis 10:3 — Note that the name of one of Gomer’s sons was written as “Riphath” while in 1 Chronicles 1:6 that same son’s name was written as “Diphath”—a common “D & R” mistake.
[These facts came from the research of the “Institute for Scriptural Research”—producers of The Scriptures [Bible], which is detailed on page 1229 in their Explanatory Notes section.]
Conclusion
Like any great conquering King leading His victorious heavenly army down to earth, The Messiah’s title will be prominently displayed both on His long robe and on a big high-flying banner boldly declaring Him as “KING OF KINGS AND LORD [MASTER] OF LORDS [MASTERS]; (but definitely not timidly written upon his hidden thigh)! Please note also Revelation 17:14.
NOTE: The true solution and answer to this puzzling question again proves that the New Testament Scriptures were originally written in the Hebrew-Aramaic language, and not in Greek.
For more background information on this very important topic, please read the article: 25 Irrefutable Reasons Why the New Testament Was NOT Originally Written in Greek.