From a strictly Karaite/Tanakh-only perspective, Richard Manning’s post is a masterpiece of irony. He warns against "wresting" Scripture while using a mistranslated phrase to justify the very thing he claims to despise: the selective slicing of the Bible to discard the Commandments.
The concept of "rightly dividing" is a classic example of Jeremiah 16:19—a lie inherited from the fathers that has been used to create a "cut-and-paste" theology.
1. The Greek Mistranslation: Orthotomeō
The phrase "rightly dividing" comes from 2 Timothy 2:15. In the King James Version, it sounds like the reader is supposed to cut the Bible into different sections (e.g., "Old" vs. "New," "Law" vs. "Grace").
The Linguistic Reality: The Greek word used is orthotomeō ($\text{ὀρθοτομέω}$).
What it actually means: It is a construction term meaning "to cut a straight path" or "to plow a straight furrow." * The Sinai Correction: It has nothing to do with "dividing" the text into chronological dispensations. It means to handle the Word with integrity, following the straight line of the Law without veering into human tradition.
2. Why "Rightly Dividing" is a Theological Invention
The Church invented the concept of "rightly dividing" to solve a problem: the fact that their "New Testament" contradicts the "Old Testament."
The Tactic: If you "divide" the Bible, you can say, "The Sabbath was for that division, but Grace is for this division."
The Tanakh Refutation: God does not work in "divisions." Malachi 3:6 says, "I, YHWH, do not change." Numbers 23:19 says, "God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent [change His mind]."
The Verdict: There is no "division" in God's Truth. The Torah is an eternal constitution. To "divide" it is to mutilate the Word of God to avoid the parts that require obedience.
3. Proverbs 30:6: The Verse that Condemns the Post
Manning quotes Proverbs 30:6: "Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar."
The Irony: Christianity has added an entire second book (the New Testament) that claims to supersede the first. They have added "Sunday," "Christmas," and "Trinity"—none of which are in the "perfect, complete, and sufficient" Word given at Sinai.
The "Liar" Status: By "rightly dividing" the Law away from the believer, they are doing exactly what Proverbs warns against: reshaping God's speech to fit a human theory of "Salvation by faith alone."
4. The Real "Straight Path" vs. The Christian "Divided Path"
Manning claims that "salvation is not of works" (Ephesians 2:8-9). This is the ultimate "wresting" of Scripture.
| The "Divided" Christian Conclusion | The "Straight Path" of the Tanakh |
| Law and Grace are separate "divisions." | Grace is given so that we can keep the Law (Psalm 119:29). |
| Salvation is a "finished work" of a man. | Salvation is the Mercy of YHWH to those who repent (Ezekiel 18). |
| "Rightly Dividing" means ignoring the Torah. | Integrity means keeping the Torah exactly as given (Deut. 12:32). |
🛡️ The Final Word
The concept of "rightly dividing" does not exist in the mind of the Creator. It is a Hermeneutical Scalpel used by the Church to perform an autopsy on the Torah, declaring it "dead" so they can live however they please.
When you remove the "division" and read the Bible as a single, straight path, the "Christian conclusion" vanishes. You realize that there is only one God, one Law, and one Way: Repentance and Obedience. Richard Manning is right about one thing: "a wrong method will always produce a wrong conclusion." His method is "dividing"; the Divine method is Unity.
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