The Bible Translator: Volume 66, Issue 2

This article is based on the author’s checking session notes, and presents several categories of examples of domestication in translations of the Gospel of Luke in five minority languages of Russia: Yakut, Tuvan, Khakas, Kalmyk, and Chechen. View Less

This article argues against a proposal by Theophile J. Meek that the futurum instans (the imminent future, “about to”) represents the correct verbal aspect for כמשיב in Gen 38.29 and כפרחת in Gen 40.10. The reasons for rejecting the futurum instans in these constructions include Meek’s rigid view of aspect as it applies to the participle and the existence of less ambiguous constructions to communicate the imminent future. This article concludes by recommending that כמשיב ידו be translated as “as soon as he drew back his hand” and כפרחת as “as soon as it put forth its leaves.” View Less

Commentators are divided about whether κρίνω in Matt 19.28 means “to judge” or “to rule.” This study seeks to discern its specific sense in this verse by exploring the semantic domains of the syntagmatic contexts in which κρίνω is used in the LXX, Philo, Josephus, and the New Testament (besides Matt 19.28; Luke 22.30) and by considering the intertextual and literary contexts of Matt 19.28. The study concludes that the sense of κρίνω in Matt 19.28 is “to judge” rather than “to rule.” View Less

Scholarship devoted to the manner in which the vocative singular has been translated from ancient Greek texts to modern English is lacking. The address toward a man in the vocative singular, ἄνθρωπε, while rare in the New Testament, is often translated as “man” within the context of a rebuke and appears to be accurately translated. However, when a woman is addressed as γύναι, the general interpretation of its Greek usage in the New Testament is that it is an address of respect, while its frequent translation into English as “woman” does not capture this aspect. Nonbiblical Greek literature contemporary to the New Testament uses this address in the same way, with the implication of respect. More research is needed to determine how the meaning of this term can be accurately expressed in English. Keywords View Less

This article considers the way Eugene Nida’s view and corresponding arguments on the use of γύναι in John 2.4 have changed over more than fifty years. It appears that little by little he favoured a more toned-down meaning of this particular address, while at the same time producing gradually more and ever-changing arguments for his view—a view that still cannot be sustained, however. The article then offers a short summary of recent opinions on the matter, and ends with a remark on the translation of γύναι. View Less

This article argues on the basis of semantic and syntactical observations that the verb διαφέρω in Gal 4.1 is best translated as “be superior to” (rather than “be different from”). An alternative is proposed for the most prevalent translation of the verb in contemporary editions of the Bible and commentaries on Galatians alike. View Less

The standard translation of πίστις is faith. This article examines whether and how far the contemporary understanding of “faith/believe” does justice to the Pauline uses of the πιστ- words. I argue that (generally) in the Pauline letters πίστις is relational, not an idea that one holds as true. In the LXX passages with πιστ- words that Paul discusses in his letters, the sense of trust is most noticeable. Paul does not make a significant shift in the meaning of πίστις; rather, he gives it a central place which becomes decisive in the human relationship to God. I suggest that πίστις and its cognates are best translated as “trust.” The Bible’s relational understanding of πίστις as trust in God gives us a more reliable guide than faith. View Less