Yesterday, I wrote that I had decided to use the NASB as the semi-official translation for the blog. In deciding, I read through 3 different books on Bible translations and also made a comparison of a number of scriptures with the final few translations. I finally went with the NASB because of its genealogy to the American Standard Version and its treatment of the Greek verb tenses. I know that most folks think that just about any translation today is all right (sometimes I wish I thought that way), but I am, yet again, different. Two quotes flesh out some of my “Troubles in Translation Land”:
“My friend Jeff Siker says that reading the New Testament in Greek is like seeing it in color, whereas reading it in translation is like seeing it in black and white: one gets the point but misses a lot of the nuances.” Bart Ehrman, Misquoting Jesus (Harper: San Francisco 2005) at 7 n. 1.
“This leads us to the heart of what was arguably Paul’s greatest letter. It also introduces us to one of his most crucial and controversial technical terms: the phrase dikaiosune theou, whose least adequate translation is perhaps ‘the righteousness of God.’”
“One initial note about language. English speakers need to bear in mind … that there are two quite different English roots which regularly translate the same Greek root. Dikaios means ‘righteous’, but also ‘just’. Dikaiosune means ‘righteousness’, but also ‘justice’. Unfortunately, when we come to the cognate verb, dikaioun, we can say ‘to justify’, but we cannot, in the normal English usage, say ‘to righteous’. … This would not matter so much if we could always say ‘just’ and ‘justice’ instead of ‘righteous’ and ‘righteousness’. But, though the latter pair are themselves misleading in their current English meaning, the former would be even more so. The problem - typical of many that meet the reader of Paul at every turn - is of course that Paul is writing in Greek but aware of the Hebrew scriptures that stand behind what he wants to say; and that we are writing in English, vainly attempting to find words and phrases which catch the flavor and emphasis of what was already a subtle and intricate train of thought. It is like translating poetry. Maybe that is actually what we are trying to do.” N.T. Wright, What Saint Paul Really Said (Eerdman’s: Michigan 1997) at 95-96.
The “least adequate translation” of dikaiosune theou is in the RSV, NET, ESV, KJV, ASV, NRSV, and NASB to name just a few. The Greek just has a pungency that is lost on a lot of the English translations so it’s hard to say, “I’ll settle on that one.” I’ll use the NASB as a baseline because it’s readily available to everyone, but don’t be surprised to find more of my personal translations bleeding through.
Playing Hooky for a Few Days
This week I am going to a ministers conference in Louisiana and I doubt that I’ll have time to post anything new on healing or the Jesus’s Descent series until next Monday. You guys deserve a break anyway.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I don’t understand what you are saying here.
“The “least adequate translation” of dikaiosune theou is in the RSV, NET, ESV, KJV, ASV, NRSV, and NASB to name just a few.”
Will you please explain?
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David, I’d probably have to do a few blog essays to flesh out your question. I agree with Ehrman that there are phrases in the Greek which really don’t translate too well into the English and 2 Cor. 5.21 is one of them. Until I get to it in the blog, I suggest that you check out Tom Wright’s What Paul Really Meant. He brings out the different facets of meaning that can be wrapped up in “the righteousness of God.”
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