Being “in Christ” (en christo) is one of Paul’s central themes. Romans 8:1 is a good example: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (NRSV). But it’s a tricky phrase. The Greek work en, like its English translation “in,” is what linguists call a “light” preposition, that is, one…
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There is something intuitively appealing about a translation that takes the Hebrew and Greek words in the Bible and translates each one into English. But the premise behind such an approach is flawed, because words work together differently in different languages. Here’s a simple example from Genesis 29:19: vayomer lavan tov titi ota lach mititi…
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The latest round of reporting on the LifeWay Bible-preference poll addresses the theme of gender-neutral translations, with headlines like, “Study: Bible readers oppose gender-inclusive translations” (from the Associated Baptist Press). What I find interesting here is that the poll specifically explained that some Greek and Hebrew terms refer to “people in general,” and the question…
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As with words, it makes intuitive sense that a translation should convey the grammar of the original. “Translating the words and grammar separately doesn’t work. They have to be translated together.” But, again, our intuition leads us astray. Here’s an example of what can go wrong if we try to mimic the grammar of one…
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Zondervan has a chart (reproduced immediately below at right) suggesting that effectively conveying both the form and meaning of the original Biblical documents is the best way to reflect the original reading experience. I disagree, and I think that Zondervan’s approach represents a common and fundamental misunderstanding about how form works. Form and Meaning For…
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From the About page: Still working on he and vav and I came across this pair of words in Ruth vatishtachu artza. Two questions — why the vav at the end of the first word? And why the he at the end of the second? KJV translates it as if it were hithpael — she…
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From the About comes this great question: I have a question about the gender of nations. It seems like nations can be referred with both masculine and feminine pronouns. Is there any significance with this change? For example, Moab is “he” in Isa 16:12, Israel is “he” in Jer 2:14; 50:17 but “herself” in Jer…
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From the About page comes this question: The NET Bible does not render imperatives in Psalm 97:7, while others do. Their footnote is helpful, but not enough for me to opine on which is right. What light can you shed on this? The phrase here is hishtachavu lo kol elohim. The last three words mean,…
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It seems that the default explanation for an unknown grammatical feature is to assume, often wrongly, that it is “emphatic.” Here are four examples, three from Hebrew (skip to them: one, two, three) and one from Greek (skip to it here). The Examples The Infix Nun From time to time, a nun will appear between…
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Another great question from the About page: I have a question about Matthew 27:54. The centurion and the rest of the detachment set to guard Jesus body cried out and said “truly he was the Son of God!” — or is that really what they said? Since it lacks the articles in Greek, and Latin…
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Recent posts from my Ancient Wisdom, Modern Lives:
