Author: JoelMHoffman

Bible Translations and Mistranslations

What Wine and Wineskins can Teach Us about Text and Context

Bill Mounce notes (also here) that Classical Greek had two words for “new”: neos and kainos. We see them both in Matthew 9:17 (as well as Mark 2:22 and Luke 5:37), where Jesus relates that people “pour new wine into new wineskins” (NIV). The problem is that this translation (along with the NLT, CEV, and…
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April 28, 2010 13

Henry Neufeld on Bible Translation

Henry Neufeld (of Energion Publications) has posted some thoughts on Bible translation. I don’t agree with everything he says, but it’s worth taking a look at for another way of approaching Bible translation. In particular, this jumped out at me: There are wrong translations, but there are many partially right translations. The rest is here.


April 23, 2010 0

The Problem with Forever

Ancient Hebrew divided “forever” into two parts: forever in the past, and forever in the future. Hebrew used the preposition “from” (mi-) to indicate the former, and “to” (l’-) for the latter. So Hebrew has three words. “Eternity” is olam. “From the beginning of time up to now” is mei-olam. And “from now to the…
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April 23, 2010 4

Top Translation Traps: Missing the Point

[Between six appearances in four cities and then having to buy a new car, I haven’t been in front of a computer in nearly two weeks. So I’m playing catch-up, starting with a much-delayed installment of “translation traps.”] Following up on some thoughts about myopic translations, here’s one way in particular that a translation can…
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April 22, 2010 4

Q&A: How Mistranslation Created Divorce in the Bible

From the About page comes this response to something I wrote in And God Said: On p. 155 of And God Said you claim that “there is no divorce in the Bible.” Yes. Two great questions follow. I’ll take them in reverse order: The Case of Two Husbands Also, you speculate that perhaps the Bible…
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April 9, 2010 27

Interview on Bible translation with Al Kresta

Yesterday I had the treat to talk to Al Kresta about Bible translation on his nationally syndicated “Kresta in the Afternoon.” You can find the audio here.


April 8, 2010 0

What’s the difference between an eagle and a vulture?

The Greek aetos is usually translated “vulture” in Matthew 24:28 and Luke 17:37, but “eagle” in Revelation 4:7, 8:13, and 12:14. Why? The answer has to do with how words — for animals, in this case — are used metaphorically. In English a “vulture” is different than an “eagle” — and we also have hawks,…
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April 8, 2010 7

All in All Not Much of a Conversation

All in All Dannii at BBB has a post about “all in all” as a translation for panta en pasin in 1 Corinthians 15:28. The full verse is (NRSV): When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who put all things in subjection under him,…
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April 7, 2010 9

The Hebrew Bible is Rated “R”

Thanks to Haviv Rettig Gur for noticing that an iTunes version of the Hebrew Bible is rated “17+” because of “Frequent/Intense Mature/Suggestive Themes.” I guess this is in keeping with my springtime focus here on Song of Solomon.


March 31, 2010 7

Gazelles, Stags, and Other Romantic Images

This final line of Song of Solomon, reprising a phrase that appears twice earlier, references two animals which the female heroine tells her male hero to be like as he leaves. The most common translation of these animals is “gazelle” and “young stag,” as in the NRSV “Make haste, my beloved, and be like a…
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March 31, 2010 5