Day: October 26, 2009

Bible Translations and Mistranslations

Amos’s Clean White Teeth

Amos 4:6 is back, first in a comment and then in a post at Aberration Blog. The Hebrew text reads: v’gam ani natati lachem nikyon shinayim b’chol areichem v’choser lechem b’chol m’komoteichem v’lo shavtm aday n’um adonai. That is, ” ‘I [Adonai] have given [or will give] you a purity/cleanness of teeth in all your…
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October 26, 2009 7

On Idioms and Metaphors

In More than Cool Reason, George Lakoff writes: Metaphors are so commonplace we often fail to notice them. Take the way we ordinarily talk about death. The euphemism “He passed away” is not an arbitrary one. When someone dies, we don’t say “He drank a glass of milk” or “He had an idea” or “He…
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October 26, 2009 5

The Letter of the Text

Bill Mounce has a post about gramma in Romans 2:27 and 2:29. He’s responding to a question about the ESV’s translation of the word as “letter” in 2:29, but “written code” in 2:27. (Dr. Mounce defends the decision.) Let’s look at how gramma is used. The word gramma refers most basically to letters (of the…
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October 26, 2009 0

Ancient Wisdom, Modern Lives

Recent posts from my Ancient Wisdom, Modern Lives:

©  Joel M. Hoffman 2009-2026.