[robertpaulsen]

"Do you concede that "rather than" means "and not" in biblical translation?"

I'll concede that you found a web site that said that "rather than" means "and not" in a biblical translation of some Proverb, yes.

Again, I have no idea how that applies to Madison's letter. Are you saying that we can substitute "and not" for "rather than" in Madison's letter? Let's get that cleared up first.

[Ken H]

I'll concede that you found a web site that said that "rather than" means "and not" in a biblical translation of some Proverb, yes.

Let's clear this up. Are you saying they got the quotes wrong? If not, then be honest and concede that the biblical translations (and not just a web site) say that "rather than" means "and not".

Again, I have no idea how that applies to Madison's letter.

Does "rather than" have a different meaning in the Bible than it does in secular writings?

Are you saying that we can substitute "and not" for "rather than" in Madison's letter?

Yes. You could also substitute "instead of". The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition on "rather than"--

CONJUNCTION: And not
PREPOSITION: Instead of