BIBLE MISTRANSLATION

1Corinthians 1:4

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvanus) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 19:25:00 +0000

1Corinthians 1:4
'the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ'

It seems here that the grace spoken of is God's, but given by Christ.
It seem rather to me that the same is given by the possessor of it.. God, for the preposition here, is not 'by', but 'in'

τη χαριτι του θεου τη δοθειση υμιν εν χριστω ιησου

1Corinthians 1:2

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvanus) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 21:33:00 +0000

1Corinthians 1:2
'Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours.'

Why do some translations add this verb? (to be)

Are the addressed:
- saints now?
- to be saints in some future?

The Greek, κλητοις αγιοις, has no verb in it..... only 2 simple adjectives........ 'called' and 'saints', so why do so many translations/versions add this verb?

I ask.

John 1:16

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvanus) — Fri, 18 May 2007 16:45:00 +0000

Has the Grace given through Jesus replaced the Grace given through Moses?

What would do say? What does your bible say? (John 1:16)

If we are to go by some bible versions, it hasn't!

GREEK:οτι εκ του πληρωματος αυτου ημεις παντες ελαβομεν και χαριν αντι χαριτος
KING JAMES: And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
SYLVANUS: [because / and] out of his fullness we all received, and grace replaced grace

The word we are interested in here, is the word αντι. As you can see on the list HERE, the majority of bible translations/versions render it as either

'for',
'upon' or
'after'.

The word αντι corresponds to the Strong's number 0473, found 17 times in the NT in this form, and 5 time as ανθ, which is defined therein by those terms: A primary particle; opposite, that is, instead or because of (rarely in addition to): - for, in the room of. Often used in composition to denote contrast, requital, substitution, correspondence, etc.

The definition of αντι is clear, and in all occurrences can be translated as: 'in place of', or 'instead'. (Matt 2:22, 5:38, 17:27, 20:28, Mark 10:45, Luke 11:11, John 1:16, Rom 12:17, 1Cor 11:15, Eph 5:31, 1Th 5:15, Heb 12:2, 12:16, James 4:15, 1Ptr 3:9). (ανθ = Luke 1:20, 12:3, 19:44, Acts 12:23, 2Th 2:10, translated as: 'because', or 'since'). So let have a look as the way it is translated otherwise:

Grace for Grace

This seems to make some sense, as in English when we say 'tit for tat', we mean tit in response to tat, or tit instead of tat, as a Greek speaker would say. But it is quite misleading as we also say 'I'll do this for you', meaning an action of grace to the recipient. A translation must be clear. When Jesus died for us, He didn't die for us as if doing us a favour, though it was, but rather He died instead of us. So to translate as for, is correct, but quite ambiguous.

Grace upon Grace

Why would a translator do such a thing? If the original writer would have wanted to say Grace upon Grace, he would have rather used επί, as in

Matthew 24:2 'a stone upon(επι) a stone' or
Philippians 2:27 'sorrow upon(επι) sorrow'.

Besides, to express this idea, the second 'Grace' couldn't have been in the genitive case.

Grace after Grace

This way of translating does not seem to make sense at all. Whereas Grace for Grace implies a reciprocity, and Grace upon Grace an accumulation, Grace after Grace implies a constant repetition. This only seem to be an interpretative translating, and is absolutely not correct.

Grace replaced Grace

To translate Grace in place of Grace is correct. We find this form in the New Testament also on these verses:

Matt 5:38: An eye for(αντι) an eye
Rom 12:17: evil for(αντι) evil
1Th 5:15: evil for(αντι) evil
1Ptr 3:9: evil for(αντι) evil

SO WHY THE CONFUSION?

The confusion derives in the way verses are divided. This was done a long time after the writing of the New Testament, and sometimes it confuses the reader. I assert the verses 16 and 17 of chapter 1 of John should not be split.:

(KJV) And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace, for the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

The word 'for' here (οτι) joins the two sentences together (it's a conjunction), the second explaining the first, as in: 'I say it that you may understand', and is mostly translated in the King James as 'because' (183/206 times).

Verse 17 explains that the law (a grace in itself) was given through Moses, and that truth (also a grace) was given through Jesus, so that there was two dispensation of Grace, the second having replaced the first.

If you separate these two verses, the whole meaning of these disappear instantly, and the end of verse 16 does not fit anymore.

(Sylvanus Bible) [because / and] out of his fullness we all received, and grace replaced grace because {although} the Law was given through Moses, grace and truth came to be through Jesus Christ.

TO DIE OR NOT TO DIE?

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvanus) — Fri, 18 May 2007 16:44:00 +0000

We have just look at John 1:16 regarding the use of the greek word αντι in the previous post below. So why not have a look at it a little further?

Verses concerned: Matthew 20:28, Mark 10:45, Hebrews 12:2.

I

So it is that Christ died for us. We read this statement in Matthew 20:28: 'even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'
And in Mark 10:45: 'For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'

We looked in our analyses that the word here translated as 'for', should in fact be translated as 'instead of' or 'in place of'. This is very significant for those two verses quoted above. Did Jesus died FOR us, or did he died INSTEAD of us?

I believe he died instead of us, paying our dept for our sins, and since we deserve death, as prescribed both by the Law and the righteousness of God, Jesus dying on our behalf, not just for us, has now released us, not just from the deserving penalty, but more importantly from death itself. What do you think?
II

The other point is a little more pertinent:

In Hebrews 12:2 we read: 'looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God'.

To read it so, as most do, it implies that Jesus endured the cross so that He could have joy, which was set before Him, and most commentaries of that verse seem to point to that direction.

However, we have seen that the Greek word αντι translated as 'for' is a little inaccurate.

This is what other commentators have said:

Wuest's Word Studies:
This interpretation is based upon an erroneous use of the preposition "for." The Greek preposition is anti, the predominant use of which in the first century was "instead of." It is so used in Luke 11:11 where we have, "If he asked a fish, will he for (anti, instead of) a fish give him a serpent?" The word "set" is the translation of prokeimenes literally "lying before."

Vincent Word Studies:
Ἁντὶ in its usual sense, in exchange for. Προκειμένης lying before, present. The joy was the full, divine beatitude of his preincarnate life in the bosom of the Father; the glory which he had with God before the world was. In exchange for this he accepted the cross and the blame. The contrast is designed between the struggle which, for the present, is alone set before the readers (Heb_12:1), and the joy which was already present to Christ. The heroic character of his faith appears in his renouncing a joy already in possession in exchange for shame and death. The passage thus falls in with Phi_2:6-8.

John Gill's Full Exposition:
The word αντι, rendered "for"; sometimes signifies, in the room, or stead of, as in Mat_2:22 and is so rendered here in the Syriac and Arabic versions; and then the sense is, that Christ instead of being in the bosom of the Father, came into this world; instead of being in the form of God, he appeared in the form of a servant; instead of the glory which he had with his Father from eternity, he suffered shame and disgrace; instead of living a joyful and comfortable life on earth, he suffered a shameful and an accursed death.

III

What could be significant for me and you, is that instead of enjoying His usual confort and pleasures and glory, Christ Jesus disrobed Himself of these, and came to die in our stead. Sobering though, wouldn't you say?

ABBREVIATIONS

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvanus) — Fri, 18 May 2007 16:35:00 +0000

For simplicity, and throughout this blog, each bible will have the same abbreviation. Please make yourself familiar with each of them as they will reoccur on almost every post.
Thank you.

AB: The Apostles' Bible
ACV: A Conservative Version
ALT: Analytical-Literal Translation
AMP: Amplified Bible
ASV: American Standard Version
BEB: Basic English Bible
BISH: The Bishop's Bible
CEV: Contemporary English Version
CLV: Concordant Literal Version
DARB: Darby Translation
DIA: Emphatic Diaglott
DRB: Douay-Rheims
ELG: Everlasting Gospel
EMTV: English Majority Text Version
ESV: English Standard Version
ETH: Etheridge
FFL: A Faithful Translation
GDBY: The Godbey New Testament
GDSP: Goodspeed (EJ) NT
GEN: The Geneva Bible
GNB: Good News Bible
GW: God's Word Translation
ISV: International Standard Version
JMNT: Jonathan Mitchell NT
JUB2: English Jubilee 2000
]KJC: King James Version (Clarified)
KJV: King James Version 1611
LAM: Lamsa's English Translation
LDB: The Last Days Bible
LO: Living Oracles (4th Edition)
LTV: Literal Translation Version
MACE: Mace NT
MOFF: Moffatt NT
MONT: Montgomery NT
MRC: Messianic Renewed Covenant
MSG: The Message
MUR: Murdock's NT
NAB: New American Bible
NCV: New Century Version
NET: New English Translation
NIRV: New International Reader's Version
NIV: New International Version
NJB: New Jerusalem Bible
NLT: New Living Translation
NLV: New Life Version
NWT: New World Translation
PHIL: J.B Phillips New Testament
RIV: Riverside NT
ROTH: Rotherham's Emphasised Bible
SCR: The Scriptures
T1CV: 21st Century Version
TCV: 20th Century New Testament
TEV: Today's English Version
TYN: Tyndale New Testament
UNDV: (An) Understandable Version
UPDV: Updated Bible Version (1.9)
VW: A Voice in the Wilderness
WEB: World English Bible
WEBS: Webster's Bible Translation
WEY: Weymouth New Testament
WILL: William's NT
WORS: Worsley's NT
WWEB: Worldwide English Bible
YLT: Young's Literal Translation

BIBLE TALLY

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvanus) — Fri, 18 May 2007 16:23:00 +0000

As we go on through the theme of bible mistranslation, we will also score each bible according to accuracy. Here, you will find the accumulated score.

This is how we score each bible:

Very accurate and unambiguous: 5
Fairly accurate: 3
Acceptable: 2
Correct but ambiguous: 1
Questionable: -1
Not accurate: -3
Misleading: -4
Terrible: -5

So far: 1 verse rated

20C: -4
2001: -4
21C: -5
3MILL: 1
ALT: 5
APO: -3
ASV: 1
BEB: -1
BISH: 1
CBAT: -4
CCOM: -3
CEV: -4
CJEW: -3
CONC: 1
CONS: 1
COV: 1
DARB: -3
D-R: 1
DIAG: -3
E2R: -5
EASE: -4
EMTV: -3
ESV: -3
ETH: 1
FTH: -3
GEN: 1
GN: -4
GW: -4
HCSV: -3
HNV: -3
INSP: -5
ISV: -4
JBP: -5
JUB: 1
K1611: 1
K1769: 1
KJ21: 1
KJAM: 1
KJCL: 1
KJCOR: 1
L-ID: 5
LITV: -4
LO: -5
MACE: -5
MRC: -4
MESS: -5
MODL: 1
MOFF: -3
MONT: -3
MURD: 1
NAB: 5
NASV: -3
NCV: -4
NET: -4
N-ECC: -4
NIRV: -5
NIV: -4
NJB: 5
NKJV: 1
NLT: -4
NLV: -4
NOY: -3
NSPL: -4
NRSV: -3
NWT: -3
PESH: 1
RECV: -3
RSV: -3
ROTH: 2
SCRIP: -3
SRC: -5
SS: 1
TCE: -3
TEV: -4
TNIV: 5
TYND: 1
UND: -4
UPD: 1
URIM: 2
VW: 1
WEB: -3
WEBS: 1
WEBSR: 1
WESL: -3
WEY: -3
WILL: -4
WORS: 1
WU: 4
WYAH: 1
WWE: -5
WYCL: 1
YES: 1
YNG: 2
YNGR: 2

VERSE ARCHIVE

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvanus) — Fri, 18 May 2007 16:21:00 +0000

Here you will find each verse discussed on this blog arranged according to the order they appear in the Bible.

John 1:16 -

STUDY ARCHIVE

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvanus) — Fri, 18 May 2007 16:20:00 +0000

Here you will find each topic discussed on this blog on the 'BIBLE STUDIES' category arranged alphabetically.

To die or not to die -

SUGGESTIONS

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvanus) — Fri, 18 May 2007 16:19:00 +0000

If you have any suggestion whatsoever on how to improve the functionality of this blog, however unimportant it may seem to you, please feel free to place a comment here.
Only please, make it constructive .

Thank you

Sylvanus

BLOG'S PURPOSE

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvanus) — Tue, 15 May 2007 09:38:00 +0000

Hello to all you Christian friends and fellow worshipers!

The intention of this blog will be to have a closer look at the Bible, bit by bit, and to analize textual differences between various Bible versions and translations. To do that, I have at my disposal about 120 English versions of the Bible and quite a few source language resources. As you may now have realised, I translate the New Testament, and as It progresses, I will report here all my findings.

As we exchange thoughts about the matters mentioned above, we would clarify some of these mysterious and not so well exposed verses we sometime come accross, hence resolving some of these difficulties.

Please understand that I consider The Bible to be the Holy Word of the Almighty God, and have no intention to downgrade its sacredness, but rather to restore it in highlighting uncorrect translatings, be they intentional or not.

Finally, If fondational doctrines are important to the faith, Christianity has through the ages gone through many transformations, so much so that some would say it hasn't changed at all. However differing our opinion is, there remain differences of opinion regarding the sacred doctrines within the various members of the Body of Christ.
I would therefore ask all participating comentators to respect these differences of opinion in their comments, as 1)This blog is not about doctrine, but about textual analysis, and 2) Matters of doctrine can be discussed through topics found in the STUDY ARCHIVE. Thank you for your understanding.

James rightly said: "yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes." (James 4:14 - ESV). In truth only One can tell !!

So I Hope to see you very soon!

Thank you for your visit.
Sylvanus

POSTING GUIDELINES

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvanus) — Tue, 15 May 2007 09:26:00 +0000

POSTING GUIDELINES:

It is the policy of this blog to adhere to the Appropriate Comment Protocol.

By this I mean that there should be no comment including foul language, derogatorious demeanour, blasphemous wordings or libel, and such verbalities.

It is the intention of this blog to share the knowledge of God as found in the Holy Bible, and therefore expound thoughts expressing those of the Holy Spirit.

Your participation on the Bible Mistranslation blog is always very much appreciated, and will always be considered enriching to our pilgrimage toward our final destination.

May the peace and grace of our Almighty God through Jesus Christ always be with you.

Sylvanus

WELCOME PAGE

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvanus) — Mon, 14 May 2007 15:23:00 +0000

Greeting everyone, and welcome to the Bibe Mistranslation Blog.

On the right column, you will find a few links:

BLOG'S PURPOSE:
This will tell you why this blog exists.

VERSE ARCHIVE:
Quite simply, each verse analized is indexed there.

STUDY ARCHIVE:
Pretty much the same as above, but with the subject of the Bible studies.

ABBREVIATIONS:
This is a list of Bible versions abbreviations. These are used throughout this blog, so make yourself familiar with them, as they will reappear all the time.

BIBLES TALLY:
This is where each Bible version is scored according to its accuracy of the verses analized. It is updated each time a new verse is reviewed.

Please note that, initially, a post will only show my notes. Further in time, that post will be revisited and edited to expound on the subject discussed.

I hope you will benefit from the content of this blog, and may God bring you blessing through it.

Sylvanus