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CHAPTER 7

 

A MATTER OF TRANSLATIONS

62 cases for resolution and review

including reference to various versions, especially to

THE AUTHORISED and  NKJV

 

With Cautions and Resolutions as Needed

 

 PREFACE to 2012 Edition

 

For those without Hebrew and Greek  facility, in the current plethora of many translations, there is a relatively simple way of avoiding uncertainty concerning the text. The AV is a grand translation in beauty, attesting considerable perception, understanding, spiritual fluency as might be expected of so many in such a time, with such a task, energised with such stark realities for the faith, with so many revisions, cares, provisions and procedures. To be sure, the Greek text is not the entire Majority Text, given major preference as in (cf. Bible Translations   1 and  2), but it is a member of that group, and departs relatively little from it.

However, it is not entirely, in today's language, without error, and moreover, it is not  always now as clear as it might be. Hence it may be valuable to some to have a listing, here of around 30 items, where it is better, if using the NKJV, to refer back to the AV. Again, some studies show that a greater accuracy or clarity might be obtained, on a few cases, and at seldom met occasion,  both the AV and the NKJ version, do not cover the text  adequately. 

Vast things have been done in translations, giving many options - for example the NASB can be brilliant, the out-of-print Berkeley version (amazing loss!) can clarify to a marvel, but the combination of AV and NKJ versions is sufficiently valuable as a first base for factuality, that the following cases for care seem to warrant their provision, always with the desire for that textual fidelity which assists accurate Bible understanding in turn. In not all, is there any need to vary at all from these two versions, and not every variation is very significant; but with the word of God, one must not avoid precise care,  and each point is part of a precious whole.

A jot or a tittle can sometimes do a lot. Idolatry of a particular version does not help, but awareness of evil  traps wrought in this field as in any other, is eminently important.  Nothing must be taken for granted. In fact, it is in view of this that we should be all the more appreciative of the AV, and with due care, its  kin, the NKJV; but in neither is their room for complacency, just as they provide an  excellent joint base,  not exempted from care,  always, more care.

With all that has been done in opposition to  the texts and versions,  it is a wonder that the Bible is entirely clear not only in thrust, in message and in Gospel, but in all things pertinent to understanding; but the safeguarding grace of God is operative, and is not vexed. Knowledge and understanding are liberally provided for what God has given; and the word of God written delights as do those beautiful waters rather near to the shore, where a pellucid green gleam brings gentle but glorious beauty to the scene, where one can swim or float in peace and security. No doctrine, no data remain of concern to this writer, because of uncertainty relative to any part of the Bible, thus surveyed. Indeed, its felicities yield - as for one investigating a deep tunnel, with facilities and functions clear - what in detail and principle, is both harmonious and inspiring. His ways are wonderful; man's ways are not.

 


INTRODUCTION to 2012 Edition

Long ago would the Bible have been lost in the seas of warring vessels, cultures and counter-cultures, deceit and insertion, and the like, had not the good Lord intervened to keep the substance, matrix and all important details available. On this front, as on many others, there has been incessant cultural, vulture swooping and swiping if by any means either the text might be lost or the confidence in it, or both.

However the Lord DID act and amongst other things, the Dead Sea Scrolls have given great attestation of the fidelity in times not hitherto accessible, to be found in the preservation.

On this aspect,  see

Bible Translations   1 and  2,

Trust God ... Ch. 9,

 SMR pp. 1082-1083,

Archeology and Bryant Wood.doc,

The Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah, by Dr. W. J. Martin,

Second Thoughts on the Dead Sea Scrolls, Dr. F.F. Bruce, esp. pp. 61ff..

The English translations of the Bible have been remarkable, a long line of preliminaries leading to the excellent Authorised Version, with so many with such scholarship and such background in the impact of national history, such zeal in such a time of crisis in Britain as then was, proceeding with such revisions and comparisons as were just, but yet remarkable for their energy, facility and the ability displayed. However, now, with centuries past since this translation, there is a linguistic gap which some handle well, others less so, depending on knowledge of, and facility for reading older English.

The New King James Version overcomes most of this problem, being relatively recent, but naturally enough, it does not always show the perception and penetration which the multiplied translators of the AV had. Hence, it seems best for those without knowledge of the original Greek and Hebrew, to find some way of gaining the best of both versions, with some provision for occasions where neither appear to cover the evidence entirely, rather rare as this is, for more of the majority family of texts in particular and of whatever else has any applicability. Avoiding the intrusions of secular antagonism, well exhibited through such a work as Pickering's Identity of the New Testament Text (cf. SMR p. 569), and the illusions that wen with them, we now have the vastly conformist Majority Text, comprising a large majority of all text types, itself now amplified by discoveries.

It is not contraband, but a broad path of provision. Man was idly lost in the beginning, but the word of God is readily distinguishable from contraband, and is the means with His Spirit, in the testimony of Christ Jesus, of bringing many back from a listing as contraband themselves, being formerly without hope and without God (Ephesians 2). This saving and abiding goodness of God does not depart, but continues, founded and found for the lost, a governor of grace.

For the special task then, of helping those without knowledge of the original biblical languages, and any other wishing to consider translation elements here and there, more deeply, this list of some 60 items has been compiled.

One particular  feature is this. Where the NKJ Version does not seem adequate, or correct, then in that case there is a review and a recommendation, whether taken from the AV or elsewhere. As to these 60  cases  concerning issues in Biblical Translations, first immediate provision is made of the translation found to meet all the criteria, and then links are given, right there, ford the grounds, reasons, evidence.

To help most, there is now provided a simple list mainly of the actual suggested 60 translations, available in the next section. The earlier volume of the Biblical Translations book, has its opening pages below, with access to the tens of thousands of words, hundreds of pages of notes on translation cases, now amplified and revised.

Thus hyperlink edition of 2012, has been revised from the first edition of 2005. The adjoining hyperlinks in simple order of the Bible, for each text make it easy. Currently, perhaps about half of the texts have some refinement or revision, but these are by no means all more than slight or for closer reflection in our language.

 

2005 First Edition and  Preface.

On Translations of the Bible
Words about Words

 

Get out of the Way,

To Let the God of the Bible
Have His Say!

 

Rev. Dr. Robert E. Donaldson

 

Published by World Wide Web Witness Inc.

September 2005

 

ISBN 0 9757881 5 9

 

An early part of it is here provided for hyperlink facility.

PREFACE with POINT

 

This volume commenced life as a Chapter, but it has grown over the years since it first publication in 1997, until both in its organisation and its size, it has become better as a volume in its own right. It now appears to approximate some 500 pages, and various polishing, expansions and additions have occurred in this process.

The topic is important, and the 53 translations given of various verses, because of diversity and developments, are an endeavour to bring clarity such as belongs to the word of God, to bear.

In the preliminary notation, it is explained how translation has become just one more place for devilish intrigues as well as needless confusion, so that the word of God being paramount for understanding of His will, an overview is needed. His adequate care is proverbial and practical at the same time: after all, it is His own word!

It is hoped that those who use these pages will be able to see the fundamental simplicity of the issues en bloc, and the savour the clarity of the word of God, when it is given its own free rein, to govern all thought. That is the meaning in the sub-title!

More than this, there is in the Bible, such a cohesive correlation of the topics, themes, spirit, order, organisation, penetration of one aspect with another,  of meanings, that it is like some living skyscraper, some organic whole, synchronised in splendour, moulded in majesty. Thus so far is it from needing 'help', which is very often a name for cultural invasion from baseless premisses, that when with the utmost care, one brings out what is there, in the text for one's own language: then there is a resonance with the rest of the scriptural structure, a clarity which compels.

It is also deep, so that one may be shocked by oxymorons, into a stronger awareness, hit by concepts in augmenting cohesion, which do not yield to superficial enquiry. When however one continues, guided by each relevant text, there is an explosion of meaning, as in the last movement of some grand symphony: and this of course is so in the area of Predestination and Freewill in particular, where the translation, for example, in Matthew 11:27 (32 below) is in beautiful accord with all the rest of the word of God.

Again, in Isaiah 64:4-5 (21 below), one finds when the utmost circumspection is given to the integrity and accuracy of the translation, there is a positively inspiring unleashing of meaning which both adorns the understanding, and coalesces with the matrix of the word of God, like a kitten in the hands of its mistress. Number 33 below (Matthew 28:9) is another startlingly perfect example, concerning the resurrection.

Thus this is one phase of biblical Christian Apologetics, where one may also find the scrupulous harmony, without mere flattery to the passing reader, one which expands the understanding and rewards careful enquiry; and it is one which results from careful translation. Give to that work its objective due and behold, it is then that the flow of the whole, the concurrence of thoughts, the sweep of the splendour is to be seen, witnessed like a spectacle at dawn.

Such is what one would expect when no less than God is back of the inspiration, and it is, as these pages will illustrate continually, what one finds. In the forest of fecundity, there is verification en masse!

Meanwhile, it needs to be noted that compared with the original format for this topic, the order of items has been changed, so that it may correspond both with the order of the biblical books. It is this which  is provided in the main list, enabling hyperlink reaching of any given text in mind, from that well-known mode of listing: starting with Genesis, ending with Revelation.

In the text, because of its original construction, it follows the original mode, very largely. Thus both the continuity and ease of access are safeguarded.

For those wanting immediate action, the list is below. For others, and it is hoped for many in due time, the more leisurely movement through the preliminary considerations of Chapter 1, and the detailed conspectus of Chapter 2, would be preferable.

 
 
 

II

The 62  Translations Themselves

with Notes for Use

of Passages where the NKJV and sometimes the AV need attention.
 The latter in its text is never false doctrinally,  but can err
and is not always the clearest, especially compared with current language use. 
The former more often wrong, occasionally sadly, is often lacking in the perception
in the AV, product of enormous interchange and long history,
which it yet follows very often in substance and even tenor.
With the intention to make the most of every translation,
and especially to avoid deficiencies in the NKJV, we have

 

SET OUT IN BIBLICAL ORDER,
the TEXTS AVAILABLE re TRANSLATION ARE THESE.

For the reasons for these translations, click on the hyperlinks provided for each one of them.  The biblical books in which they occur are in the order in which they come in it.

 Special attention is given to the case of the Authorised Version and the New King James Version. The reason is that between them, in the former case in much precision and beauty, in the latter, with frequent additives of clarity in modern speech, they provide a readily usable and basically sound set for those who do not have the Greek and Hebrew languages in which they are chiefly set. Hence to have these 62 cases, only some of which vary markedly at all from those two versions, allows the reader to gain that little extra which can make such a difference in Bible study.

This can the be done without venturing into dubious guesses about texts, and venturesome dynamic translations, often not showing not too much concern about what is actually written. Thus "OTHER", for what is not precisely so in the AV or NKJV  is sometimes found in a text translation. "Thee" and "Thou" with the various archaic word forms are omitted, and what is misleading because of ancient language in English is a topic dealt with; so that this supplement aids bible study for the one whose concern is simply what God said in His book.

For convenience to readers, one places an asterisk by the cases where the NKJV is either in error, or infelicitous to an important degree: where in short, attention would be especially repaid. In some cases, the AV rectifies this, in others not entirely, or not, or without sufficient clarity. These appear some 37 cases in number, of this type. Some are more important than others; all need attention. There are about 30 cases where the language or detail in the AV can readily be improved, very occasionally in current terms, is in error, but these in general are less significant than those in the NKJV. These have the symbol # when listed.

The notes show whether they come from another translation, or a refinement, usually giving extensive grounds, since each jot and tittle matters. The ones marked OTHER without qualification deserve attention for the reader without Greek or Hebrew, and should be of value to many. The objective is always one: to give the clearest and most accurate rendering in our tongue as it is. While no actual doctrine is changed from the AV, much is made clear or available, that was not so, some things being rescued, otherwise not found through AV or NKJV.  Finally, the reason for the numbering having "A" sometimes instead of the next figure, relates to the way this was generated on the Web, and helps avoid cross-purpose error.

These move from Genesis to Revelation in order. 

 

Translations provided are in dull red, and successively numbered.

 

 

1) Genesis 1:1  AV,  but note the correlation with John 1:1,
which is other, but only  in terms of impact.

1a)   1b)
 

§In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and it was God the Word was*2.

§In the beginning,
God created the heaven and the earth,
and the earth was without form and void. 
 

See also, Gracious Goodness Ch. 6,

Bright Light Ch. 9, Dayspring et al..

 

#*1 A) Genesis 1:14-18   OTHER

"Then God said:
Let the luminaries in the firmament of heaven
be for the purpose of separating between day and night,
in order that they may be for signs,
and for seasons, and for days and for years,
and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens,
to give light upon the earth;
and it was so.

"Then God fashioned the two great luminaries,
the greater light for ruling the day
and the lesser light with the stars for ruling the night."



#2) Lev.  19:20  OTHER

§"there shall be a judicial assessment".

 

#*3) II Kings 7:13 OTHER

"One of his servants answered and said, "Please let some men take five of the horses which remain, which are left in the city. Behold they will be in any case  like the multitude of Israel who are left in it; behold, they will be in any case like all the multitude of Israel who have already perished, so let us send and see."

The AV also is sound here.
 

#*4) II Kings 8:10 l   OTHER

and

#*5) Job 21:30   OTHER

"Have you never questioned those who travel ?
Have you paid no regard to their accounts -
that the evil man is spared from the day of calamity,
that he is delivered from the day of wrath?"

Keil continues for 21:31-32 (modernised script)::

"Who likes to declare to him his way to his face,
And if he has done anything, who will recompence it to him!

§"And he is brought to the grave,
And over the tomb he still keeps watch.
The clods of the valley are sweet to him …"

There you get cohesion of theme and consistency of argument, with an overall atmosphere well conveyed. All these verses need to be read as one unit.

*6)

Psalm 12:6 is also covered in the preliminaries, at Bible Translations 1, at this link.

OTHER

"For the oppression of the poor,
for the sighing of the needy,

"Now I will arise, says the LORD;
I will set him in the safety for which he yearns.

 

"The words of the Lord are pure words,

as silver purified in an earthen furnace,
refined seven times.

 

"Thou, O LORD wilt keep them (the believing godly),

Thou wilt guard each one from this generation for ever.

The wicked prowl on every side,
as baseness is given a high rating
among the descendants of man."

 

#*7)

Psalm 19 is translated in Christ Jesus: the Wisdom and the Power of God
Ch. 3.

PSALM 19 Verse 2 OTHER

1) The text runs like this:

The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament shows His handiwork.

2 Day unto day utters speech,
And night unto night reveals knowledge.

3 There is no speech nor language
Their voice is not heard.

4 Their line has gone out through all the earth,
And their words to the end of the world.

In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun,
5 Which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
And rejoices like a strong man to run its race.
6 Its rising is from one end of heaven,
And its circuit to the other end;
And there is nothing hidden from its heat.

7 The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
8 The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold,
Yea, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

11 Moreover by them Your servant is warned,
And in keeping them there is great reward.

12 Who can understand errors?
Cleanse me from secret faults.
13 Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins;
Let them not have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless,
And I shall be innocent of great transgression.

14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.

 

2) The basic point above all is this:

"The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament shows His handiwork.

2 Day unto day utters speech,
And night unto night reveals knowledge.

3 There is no speech nor language,
Their voice is not heard.

4 Their line has gone out through all the earth,
And their words to the end of the world."

 The word "where" was been added to the text in verse 2, and in this step, the actual meaning of the text has been changed. NEVER add to change meaning; for who IS the author! In the impending majesty of the creation of God which proclaims itself  in every atom, particle, seed and designation, every word of command and in the DNA of life, the Speaker who has changed nothing to sound and sound not to chatter but to precision speech, there is cause for pause. Though no actual speech comes, as one surveys the heavens, yet the overwhelming testimony which in its derivative and exalted state it provides, controls the very airways of life, astounding the heart, so that THIS mission already has its missionaries, sent out without a word, to all the word. As the idiom has it, It speaks for itself!

For much more on this Psalm, see the hyperlink at 7) above.

 

*8) Psalm 22:30  OTHER

"a seed shall serve him;
It shall be accounted for the Lord for the generation.
They shall come and shall declare his righteousness
Unto a people that shall be horn, that he has done this."

Equally sound is this: It will be declared for the Lord for a generation.

 

*8A) Psalm 59:10 and 17.

The Hebrew is literally translated as in the AV, "the God of my mercy." While the NKJV later translation of "My God of mercy," can have the same meaning, it is broader in scope. Thus in general it COULD mean, among the gods, this is the one where I find mercy. Again, it could mean, among my possessions is this God, He is mine and I there gain mercy. It is first of all subjective in possible meaning, and has this cast of sound in it.

Further, there is a more personal thrust to salvation in the AV, and literal translation. Here is the One who IS God, first of all, to whom I THEN relate. To Him I go, as He is, and there it is that One above all, and staggeringly, even in such a One as He, there I found the  mercy, which He has apportioned as in II Timothy 1:8-12.

Thus, as the air is where my lungs find solace, so is the God of all glory, changeless and wise, even He, is the giver of the mercy which has become mine through His gift. It characterises GOD first of all, and relates to me from this elevation. The other relates to me, and where I find mercy, and could be construed as the one to whom I go for this, among all the other like things to which I go for this or that. Hence in the depths of covenantal realism, where the God is the One, and mercy is His attribute and this I have found in Him, as a free gift from His glorious favour, as a covenantal reality unique from His counsel, it is more fitting.

 

#9) Psalm 90:12   NKJV good. OTHER

§"So teach us to number our days that we might secure a heart of wisdom."

 

*10) Psalm 139:16     AV largely, but OTHER.

"Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed, and in Your book they all were written, the days they should be fashioned, when as yet there were none of them."

That covers the most difficult section. For paraphrase to help one consider the precise sense, we have this:

"My structure was not hidden from You,
when I was made in secret,
and intricately given diversity of form
in the developmental darkness.
Your eyes saw my embryonic substance
and in your book all
(the particular results of developmental processes,
to form the physical equipment of life, organic, structural)

were written,
the (very) days they should be fashioned,
when as yet none (the organic, structural members) of them
(so much as) existed."

 

#*10A) Proverbs 8:30  OTHER

"I was beside Him as one brought up before Him,
And I was daily His delight,
Rejoicing always before Him."

The considerations constraining to this translation are both potent and numerous, with immense correlations and thrusts for it, to the point one would simply not dare translate otherwise. The Vulgate captures something of this, advisedly. These matters are reviewed per hyperlink 10A).

 

*11) Isaiah 2:22     AV

"Cease from man, whose breath is in his nostrils,
for of what account is he ?"

 

Delitzsch has an interesting rendering, much the same:

"Oh, then, let man go, in whose nostrils is a breath;
for what is he estimated at ?"

 

This is the sense, and this is the severance in view: from man who, estimated as empty in pride when divorced from God, is the inflated but spiritually fallen object one must cease to follow. Just above is a depiction of his overthrow and devastation. Further on this is planned shortly  for Chapter 2 of the next volume,

 Now the Highway,

Then the Heights

 

12) Isaiah 7:14 SMR pp. 766, 770ff., 916    Largely AV

"Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign:
Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

However, for reasons Professor E.J. Young discusses in his 3 volume commentary, The Book of Isaiah, and another of his works, Studies in Isaiah, a yet more graphically correct version would be, as he translates:

Therefore the Lord himself will give to you a sign.
Behold! a virgin is with child and will bring forth a son and she shall call his name Immanuel.

Even here, however, here is another touch needed. It is, as Young declares, literally "the virgin" who is named, not "a virgin." He states that he conceives the word "the" here to be used in a generic sense, a reference to the type of being a virgin is. However, in line with our textual fidelity approach, leaving out nothing and letting individual research seek to justify this or that turn in refinement, we keep to "the virgin" as what is written.  THE virgin can indicate the one in view, who is to be, who is to be commissioned, a sudden definition of what has  long been in mind for a fulfilment of the protoevangelion from the first, as in Genesis 3:15.

Here it is, then, the virgin ... she is with child. Moreover, in one's attempts to translate, one follows what is held an excellent concept from the NKJV , the use of capitals for God in pronouns.

Thus the final translation is this:

"Therefore the Lord himself will give to you a sign.
Behold! the virgin is with child and will bring forth a son
and shall call His name Immanuel."

 

13) Isaiah 8:19 AV with simple updating of mode.

"And when they shall say to you,

'Seek to them that have familiar spirits, and to wizards that peep, and that mutter' :

         should not a people seek their God? should they seek
         on  behalf of the living to the dead?  

"To the law and to the testimony:

if they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. "

 

*14) Isaiah 9:3  AV

This is the kethib, what is written.

§  "You have multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy.

"They rejoice before You
According to the joy of harvest,
As men rejoice when they divide the spoil."

The "not" obviously many would wish to remove. But there is a contrast between the gloom of the nation, as in Isaiah 8, with darkness and anguish of grief, which arrives in the words of Isaiah 9, relating to those who actually (Isaiah 53:1) receive the report, and the Lord (53:10). It is THEY, the focus in the Lord, who do the rejoicing. As shown in the notes, Isaiah 26 has already expounded the whole matter in no small detail, involving just this contrast.

 

15) Isaiah 9:6-7  NKJV

  • "For unto us a Child is born,

  • Unto us a Son is given;

  • And the government will be upon His shoulder.

  • And His name will be called

  • Wonderful,

  • Counselor,

  • Mighty God,

  • Everlasting Father,

  • Prince of Peace. 
     

  • "Of the increase of His government and peace

  • There will be no end,

  • Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,

  • To order it and establish it with judgment and justice

  • From that time forward, even forever.

  •                      The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this."



    *16) Isaiah 13:12 AV

      §"I will make a human more precious than fine gold,
    a man more than the golden wedge..."

     

    #*17) Isaiah 23:13 OTHER

    "Behold the land of the Chaldeans:

    §This people which was not,
    Assyria founded it for wild beasts of the desert.

    They set up its towers,

    They laid bare its palaces,

    He brought it to ruin."

    The link above gives you the understanding of the passage. 

     

    #*18)  Isaiah 26:19          OTHER.

    As in AV except for omission of the words it has added to the text, and left there in italics. This addition destroys much of the meaning, and in accord with our policy of textual fidelity, no added words unless necessary to the sense, this is omitted with profound results. Punctuation follows.

    "Your dead shall live.

    My dead body shall they arise.

     Awake and sing,

    you who dwell in the dust;

    for your dew is as the dew of herbs,

    and the earth shall cast out the dead."

    It is precisely as in I Corinthians 15:23,41-58. Just as Christians become HIS generation, the One He now has, so here Christians, His body as in Romans 12, become what is afterwards raised in one bloc, though each an individual like seed, to change the image, so that it is His dead body, now shown in its full application in the saints, which rises: it is as intimate as that.

     

    19) Isaiah 33:6 AV in the main.

    1)  "Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times,

    And the strength of salvation.

    The fear of the Lord is his treasure"

    or

    2)

    "Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times,

    And the strength of salvation.

    The fear of the Lord is His treasure"

    Where there appears no clear way to differentiate, we in terms of textual fidelity take both meanings. If this negatively impacted on others of the word of God, this would not be an option; but here it is. 

     

    *20) Isaiah 53:10  AV in the main.

    "Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him;

    He has put Him to grief.

    When you make His soul an offering for sin,

    He shall SEE His seed, He shall prolong His days,

    and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand."

    Capitalisation is the result of examination of the text,
    and is important as representing the sense.

    See hyperlink for reasons.

     

    #21) Isaiah 64:4-5   OTHER

    §  "And from eternity, they have not heard,
    they have not given ear,
    nor has eye seen a God beside You,
    who works for the one who waits for Him.

    "You have met with the one rejoicing
    and executing righteousness.
    In Your ways they remember You.

    "Look,  You have been wrathful, and we have sinned: in those ways is eternity, and we shall be saved."

     

    21A) Jeremiah 13:27  AV

    "Woe to you, O Jerusalem!
    Will you not be made clean ?
    When shall it once be ?"

    A magnificent rendering, moulded to its masterful but gentle base.

     

    #*21B) Jeremiah 49:19  OTHER

    Keil in the Commentary of the Old Testament from Keil and Delitzsch makes this far more comprehensible than either the AV or the NKJV. Indeed there is more to be considered as well, and this is done in the notes, and the display of this verse, extended.
    Keil's translation seems impelling, with relatively slight changes.

    "Behold, he shall come up like a lion
    from the thicket of reeds of Jordan,
    to the dwelling of rock;
    but in a moment will I drive him away from her,
    and will appoint over her
    him who is chosen;
    for who is like Me ?
    and who will summon me {before the judge} ?
    and what shepherd shall stand before Me ?

    "Therefore  hear the counsel of the Lord
    which He has counselled against Edom,
    and His purposes which He has purposed
    against the inhabitants of Teman:
    Surely they shall drag them about,
    the little ones of the flock;
    surely he shall lay waste their dwelling over them.
    At the noise of their fall the earth tremble; a cry -
    its noise is heard in the Red Sea.

    "Behold, he shall come like the eagle and dart after {his prey}, and spread his wings over Bozrah; and the heart of the might men of Edom in that day shall become like the heart of a woman travailing."

    Not only does this indicate that the Lord, in disposing the evils in the unrepentant hearts of many, bring on whom He will, but there is a hint of reflection as well, in terms of the partial parallel in Jeremiah 30:20-21 and the prelude in Ezekiel 21:27, that the good rule is to be found  ONLY in the LORD Himself, and in His appointment of mercy, in Him to whom rule is only His due, the Messiah Himself! See notes per hyperlink at 21B).

     

    #*22) Ezekiel 34:29  OTHER

            The True God ... Ch. 1

    §"I will raise up for them a planting of renown".

    The wording must be watched, and when as here, it is closely, then a profound result arrives.  See hyperlink above at 22). The wording change may be small, but the reward is vast.

    Incidentally, on Ezekiel, the NASB has what prima facie appears a good effort at putting the temple dimensions and architectural specifications into modern and penetrable English: Ezekiel 40-46.

    Ezekiel 47 significantly leaves this architectural and procedural vision for one tangy with deep truths, in the  magnificent imagery of healing, evangelisation and cleansing.

     

     

    #*23) Hosea 7:13  OTHER

    "Woe to them! for they have fled from Me: destruction to them! because they have transgressed against Me. Though I would redeem them, yet they have spoken lies against Me."

     

    #*23A)  Hosea 13:1-2 OTHER

    "When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling:
    He exalted himself in Israel.

    "Now they sin more and more,
    and have made for themselves moulded images,
    idols of their silver, according to their skill:
    all of it the work of craftsmen.


    "They say of them, 'Let the sacrificers of mankind kiss the calves!' "

    There is a blatant and baneful irony of reproach in this, dealing with religionist murderers, sanctified in obtrusive slaughter, by their lusts.

     

    #*24) Joel 2:23   OTHER

    §"Fear not, O land:

    Be glad and rejoice,

    For the Lord has done marvellous things!...

    Be glad then, you children of Zion,
    And rejoice in the Lord your God:

    For He has given you the teacher of righteousness,

    And He will cause the rain to come down for you,

    The former rain and the latter rain ..."

     

    *25) Amos 4:13  AV

    "For behold,
    He who forms mountains
    And creates the wind,
    Who declares to man what His thought is,
    And makes the morning darkness,
    Who treads the high places of the earth,
    The LORD God of hosts is His name."

    "Cease from man, whose breath is in his nostrils,
    for of what account is he ?" is the testimony as so often.

    The point is, as contextually apparent in the preceding section of Amos, that it is the thought of God, HIS speech in contrast to those of man, that is to be considered. Hence the capitalisation, which in the NKJVindicates man here, though often useful in that version, and a net asset, is misleading concerning the sense, in this case.
     

     

    #*26) Habakkuk 2:13  OTHER

    §"It is not of the LORD of hosts
    that peoples toil for the flames,
    and nations grow weary for nothing,
    for the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea."

     

    *27) Zechariah  9:17   AV very largely.

    "For how great is His goodness, and how great is His beauty!
    corn will make the young man cheerful, and new wine the maids."

     

    28) Zechariah 14:5B (with I Thess. 3:13)

    is to be found at End-note *2A.

    NORMAL, AV, NKJV ... typical slight variation; heavily reinforced.

    "Thus the LORD my God will come,

    And all the saints with You."

     

    29  -  30) Malachi 2:12,15,

    2:12  OTHER

    "The Lord will cut off  the man who does this -
    wakers and answerers, from the tents of Jacob,
    yet brings an offering to the Lord of hosts."

    It might be put: "stirrers and responders", in place of "wakers and answerers", with very good sense.

    2:15 OTHER but close to AV and NKJV

    §"Did He not make one - with a residue of spirit ?"

    The text puts the question and simply adds the continuing residue of spirit, following "and", an associative term.

     

    #31) Matthew 10:8  OTHER as in Majority text.

    "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons.
    Freely you have received, freely give.

     

    #32) Matthew 11:27   NKJV


    §"All things have been delivered  to Me by My Father,
    and no one knows he Son except the Father.
    Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son,
    and he to whomsoever the Son wills to reveal Himself"

    The SON WILLS to reveal Himself, as the Greek declares. It is not just a future, but a volition. The AV does not show this.


    #*33) Matthew 28:9   OTHER

    "And as they were going to tell His disciples, behold , Jesus  met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held Him by the feet, and worshipped Him."

     

    34) John 1:1  AV but with some provision for emphasis.

    For the actual wording of the translation,  see here.

    §"In the beginning was the Word,
    and the Word was with God,
    and it was God the Word was." *2

    Similarly, the translation shown for Genesis 1:1 is:

    §In the beginning, God created
    the heaven and the earth,
    and the earth was without form and void. 

     

    #*35) Acts 9:35    OTHER

    §"And all those inhabiting Lydda and Sharon saw him -
    those who turned to the Lord."

     

    #*36) Acts13:19-20  OTHER

    §"And when He had destroyed seven nations
    in the land of Canaan,
    He distributed their land as an inheritance -
    all of which  took about four hundred and fifty years.
    And after these things He gave them judges
    until Samuel the prophet."

    The NASB here is good, for it keeps idiomatic flow while keeping equally strictly to the meaning of the  Greek prepositions, giving the sense of the Majority text.

     

    37) Romans 3:25  Minor refinement NKJV

    "Whom God has set forth as a propitiation,
    by faith through His blood, 
    to declare His righteousness
    for the remission of sins that are past,
    through the forbearance of God."

    #*38) Romans 5:12-15   OTHER

    "It is therefore as follows:
    Through one man sin entered the world,
    and death through sin,
    and so death passed on to all persons
    in that all sinned.
    To be sure, sin was in the world earlier than the Law; but in absence of law, sin is not charged up.
    Death, however, held rule from Adam to Moses
    over those who sinned but did not transgress
    a command in the way Adam had done  -
    who foreshadowed the Coming One.

    "With the free gift, however, it is by no means
    as it is with the fall, for if through the lapsing
    of one person many die, far more richly
    did the grace of God and His gift,
    that comes through the favor of one man Jesus Christ, overflow to the many. "

    That is the Berkeley version, a feat of clarity.

    We could with perhaps more consonance with the actual text write.

    "It is therefore as follows:
    As through one man sin entered the world,
    and death through sin
    and that passed to all persons since all sinned
    (for until the law sin was in the world,
    but sin is not charged up, law not being in place, 
    but death reigned from Adam to Moses,
    even on those who had not sinned
    after the manner of Adam's transgression,
    who is a figure of the Coming One):

    yet not as the offence, so is the free gift.
    For if through the offences of the one, many died, much more the grace of God and the gift in grace which is derived from one man, Jesus Christ, abounded to the many."

     

    The comparison of two things, not in terms of likeness but contrast, requires without help a little linguistic nimbleness perhaps. Both translations provide in different ways.

     

    39) Romans 9:5  AV NKJV

    "Theirs are the fathers, and from them in human lineage
    has come the Christ,
    the-being-over-all-GOD, BLESSED FOR EVER.    AMEN.

    That is the direct sense of it. However, it may sound un-English, so we could have this:

    has come the Christ, the all-ruling God, blessed forever.

    or

     has come the Christ, He being God over all, blessed forever.

    The last may be the best:

    "Theirs are the fathers, and from them in human lineage
    has come the Christ,
    He being God over all, blessed forever. Amen."

     The pinnacle of focus is Christ, last in the divine actions in view,
    and the summit deals with the same, continuing the concentration on His action in progression with the participle, without further indication, except of description of this same one, the Christ. Adding concepts to this sequence makes the result a hybrid of man and God, as writer! To translate, you need evidence for any addition, on the basis that if more were meant, it would be sent, not left for mere imagination to supply! We translate in textual fidelity, what is there ONLY. Idioms may require this or that, but that is another matter. This requires nothing. 



    #*40) Romans 16:25-26  OTHER Berkeley is very good here in the main.

      "Now
     

     to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel,
     

    and the preaching of Jesus Christ,
    according to the revelation of the mystery,
     

    kept secret since the world began
     

    but now made manifest,
     

    moreover through prophetic Scriptures
     

    according to the commandment of the everlasting God,
     

                   for obedience to the faith to all nations made known:

     

    bullet

    to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen."

    Paul's use of a long sentence is an illustration of the fact that short sentences, though brittle and busy, are not the only thing to which the human mind can be adapted, with relish and a sense of symphony and perspective. Modern fashions have their point in language; but that is all they are. There have been others; men have not been mad. There is room for wonderful variety in language and thought.
     

    #*40A) I Cor. 13:8-10   OTHER

    "Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies,
    they will come to an end;
    whether there are tongues, they will cease;
    whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.
    For we know in part and we prophesy in part.
    But when that which is perfect has come,
    then that which is in part will be done away."

     

    41) I Cor. 15:33   OTHER

    "Evil company corrupts good morals"

     

    #*42) Ephesians 1:3-5  OTHER

    §"... just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world
    that we should be holy and blameless before Him,
    in love having predestined us to adoption as sons
    by Jesus Christ to Himself,
    according to the good pleasure of His will,
    to the praise of the glory of His grace,
    in which He made us objects of grace in the Beloved.

    "In Him we have redemption through His blood..."
     

    43) Ephesians 3:21  OTHER

    §'To Him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus, throughout all phases of history here and hereafter. Amen.'

     

    *44) II Thessalonians 2:2 with words preceding    Largely AV.

    §"We ask you not to be quickly shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ were at hand."

     

    45) II Timothy 3:16 AV

    §"Every scripture is God-breathed and profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness."

     

    46) Titus 1:1-3  OTHER

    §“Paul, a servant of  God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ,
    according to the faith of God’s chosen people,
    and the sure knowledge of the truth
    which is in accord with godliness:
    in hope of eternal life.

    "God, who is alien to all lying, promised this before time began; and so, in its own appointed times, He has openly shown what He has in mind, expressing it through preaching, with which I stand entrusted, according to the commandment of God our Saviour:

     "TO TITUS, my own son in terms of the common faith …"

     

    47) Titus 2:13  NKJV

    §"looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing
    of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ,
    who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us
    from every lawless deed
    and purify for Himself His own special people,
    zealous of good works."

     

    #*48) Hebrews 11:1  OTHER

    §"Faith is the foundational assurance
    of things hoped for,
    the concurrent evidencing and evidence-based conviction
    of things not seen."

    The intimate tie between the complementary points is made more manifest by "concurrent" which may be left out, or used as a help.  It is after all, italicised.

     

    48A) James 4:5-6  OTHER

    "Or do you think that it is to no purpose

    that the scripture speaks ?

    {cf. Hebrews 9:5}

    Does the Spirit which dwells within us yearn to envy!

    But it is more grace that He gives

    As it is written, God resists the proud,

    But gives grace to the lowly."

        {The inversion in the line "But it is more grace"  enables us in English to bring out the force of the "more" which in Greek comes first, before the verb, to be followed by 'grace'}.

    The Berkeley Version here briefly notes, re yearns jealously over us, their rendering, that God wants all of a person, our undivided loyalty.

    The use of imagery concerning zeal and spiritual depth and love is often found in the Bible, as in a bad sense, in its misuse, in Ezekiel 16, and again of course in Hosea, while in a good sense in Ephesians 5. Misconceptions based upon a failure to realise the use of imagery have no excuse, but the actuality has a certain glory of purity.

     

    49) II Peter 1:19-21  OTHER

    The sense is that no personal attribute of any man led to the scriptures,
    for the will of man had nothing to do with it.

    It was in fact, being borne along by the Holy Spirit,
    that holy men of God spoke."

    As pointed out in the notes, for good reason, we could instead of "is sourced simply in itself,"  put "is accountable in its own terms." Both apply.

    The topic is not human authority to interpret,
    but divine power to present in the first place,
    consistently maintained throughout the passage,
    the context and words of which permit nothing else.

    The heart and the head of man, individually, have nothing to do with the
    divulgements whatsoever; and the reason for this state of affairs is expressly given, in the link term, "for". Not man but God impelled the arrival of these words, the men being MOVED, and that not merely by an inclination, as with a soft breeze, but through the driving thrust of the Holy Spirit.  See also I Corinthians 2:9-13 with SMR Appendix D.

     

    #*50)

    I John 5:7-8  - see Ch. 1, *2   above, and in Ch. 1 as marked.

    OTHER

    There is, as the NKJV admits in margin, no sound textual ground for including the words from 'in heaven' in I John 5:7, to 'on earth' in I John 5:8. thus it reads:

    "For there are three that bear witness in heaven,
    the Spirit, the water and the blood,
    and these three agree in one."

    These three bring to mind: the Spirit in its testimony of truth,
    the water signifying washing and repentance,
    as well as the water of the womb, the incarnation,
    and the blood, showing the crucial redeeming sacrifice achieved.
    It is all part of one divine plan of salvation.
     

    *51) Rev. 19:8    AV in substance.

    "And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints."

     

    #*52) Rev. 20:4  OTHER

    §"I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded
    because of the testimony of Jesus
    and because of the word of God,
    and those who had not worshipped the beast or his image,
    and had not received the mark upon their forehead
    and upon their hand;
    and they came to life
    and reigned with Christ for a thousand years."

     

    53) Rev. 22:14

    AV, NKJV but with very slight refinement.

    "Blessed are they who do His commandments,
    that they may have authority to the tree of life,
    and may enter in through the gates, into the city."
     

    #*54) Rev. 13:12-15  OTHER

    "Then I beheld another beast
    coming up out of the earth;
    and he had two horns like a lamb,
    and he spoke as a dragon.
    And he exercises all the power
    of the first beast before him,
    and and ordains that the earth
    and those who dwell in it
    should worship the first beast,  whose deadly wound was healed.

    "He performs  great wonders,
    so that he even makes  fire come down
    from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
    and he deceives those who  dwell on the earth
    by means of those miracles
    which he had power to do in the sight of the beast:
    telling those who dwell on the earth
    to make an image to the beast,
    which had the wound by a sword, and lived.
    He was given power to give life
    to the image of the beast,
    so that the image of the beast might both speak,
    and require that as many as
    would not worship the image of the beast
    should be killed. And it mandates over all,
    both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond,
    that it should give them a mark
    in their right hand, or in their foreheads ... "

    It is important to distinguish, in terms of the various grammatical points in the Greek text, what is MADE to happen, and what is ordained or directed to happen.

     


     
                                                        NOTE

    *1

    This passage in Jeremiah 49:19 has to be seen in the  total context of the book, for whether in life or in books, we have to consider the surrounding evidence. There is bountiful emphasis on the sovereignty of God in this passage, on His prevailing and prevalent excursions, exclamations, indications and decisions, despite anything to the contrary. This is judgment, when loose talk is past, hope is contained and results rule in the mode of discourse. The cackle, to use the vernacular, is over.

    There is another passage with no small resemblance both to Jeremiah 49:19 and 50:44, entirely similar in disposing of a nation in judgment. It is found at Jeremiah 30:21. There is in 49-50, an impactive series of questions asked. It is presented as rhetorical but informative interrogation.  FOR WHO IS LIKE ME ? and WHO WILL SUMMON ME ? ... and WHAT SHEPHERD SHALL STAND!  We meet here a wonder, a revelation. It reminds one of the tender word of a father concerning a child who suddenly does the unexpected or the notable: "Who is this who is suddenly able to mow the lawn!" It is an introduction to a kind of spectacle, one not entirely expected, but notable! 

    In Jeremiah  30:21, there is a somewhat similar arresting rhetorical question about an identity, about one who comes into view! Here we are learning of a situation the exact opposite to those concerning Edom and Babylon in Jeremiah 49 and 50. Here in Jeremiah 30 there is, as there the tragic, now the triumphal. Having told us that when Israel at last comes back to its culminating time of mercy and restoration, even the Governor will be from their midst (cf. Isaiah 59:20,Micah 5ff.), the matter is made vibrant through the question that suddenly follows. Let us inspect this case further.

    Back now, in this vision, in their land, and with their own Governor no less, is Israel. They have even a government structure as well as the Head of it! No more, as was the case with conquering Babylon in its little day, is there some foreign appointed governor: now theirs is from their own midst, just as was the Messiah to be (cf. Isaiah 53:2, which also follows the lead question in Isaiah 53:1).

    In Jeremiah 30, we find that there is One who is to draw near to the Father (as with the Messiah in Daniel 7:23-24), and in this express drawing close, there is an  approach, for it is not merely in place, but in grace. It is an effectual drawing, the thing is happening, as it were, before our very eyes. Then the question is asked: " 'For who is this who pledged His heart to approach to Me ?, says the Lord." In succinct answer, He announces that Israel will be His people, and He their God (as in Zechariah 9:9, 12:10, it is deity with whom they deal, deity direct, their Commander as in Isaiah 55, and their Governor as here).

    Who is HE ? It is the one before whom kings and principalities will be overturned, overthrown as in Ezekiel 21:27. It is the One who is the lead-out from endless evils and lead-in to the glory of God, summoned to send out sin and to bring in righteousness (as in Psalm 40l 72).

    When from this bold prelude of intimacy and profound blessing, the Lord identified as their Governor in Jeremiah 30, we turn to the contrasting horror of the fate of Edom and of Babylon, again we are questioned about the identity of the one in view. Having announced a disaster by one represented by a lion, in context evidently Babylon, in the case of the pair of Jeremiah 49 and 50, God makes it clear that the  "him", the lion will by the Lord Himself be driven away from her whom it assaulted. (Keil does well here in clarity of rendering concerning "driven" and the non-question, that He will appoint over her,  him who is chosen).

    Indeed, let us notice from the text, God HIMSELF will appoint the one to be chosen, and rule as He will.

    In fact. as Keil points out, that while Babylon mauled Edom, the Maccabeans and the Romans devastated her. He does not seem however to apply this, and certainly not in terms of Jeremiah 30:21, that powerful analogue.

    So using the two steps forward of Keil in translation, concerning 'driven' and "I will  appoint over her him who is chosen." we come in Jeremiah 49:19, to what is then the first question: "For who is like Me ?"

    In other words, God who has sent the lion (Babylon), will in due course dispossess it (other nations taking over Edom). Fierce will be the evils of the possessor, who will drag the little ones about; but this all passes. The whole things becomes a horror where judgment is condign, and uninterrupted by atonement.

    Thus there appears a parallel, in Jeremiah 30 and 49-50. Who is like the Lord who draws near to Israel at the last, and who like the appointed One who pledges His heart to draw near;  but when it comes to the arraignment, the judgment for Edom and Babylon, this same sovereign God will bring on, in and out, the marauding nations of ruin. Who in this also is like Him, and who can contest with Him ? Whether in the epoch of judgment, or deliverance, there is a time, an epoch perhaps,  a situation when it is all developed: grace is past, judgment is present. Indeed, whether it is to be disjoined by the atonement, or suffered by the dismissal of mercy by man, its era arrives (cf. John 3:16-19,36). Just as eternity makes the finale operative, so even history contains seeds of hope, and sediments of ruin.

    The path to heaven is as sovereignly hallowed as the path to doom. When you pass from the day of appeal, to that of the judgment, in both cases things are as appointed, the One, the Messiah, the other the nations of entanglement and ruin, in their entanglements.

    The road to hell has its own episodes; and it has its infamous figures as history draws near to it; while that to heaven has its own leader, the Messiah Himself, God manifest in the flesh and on this earth, the ultimate assurance. There is no haven but He, and when His mercy is disesteemed, there is no option but to find the appointees of ruin for ruin. Whether in Obadiah or in Jeremiah, Edom the brutal has found the road as unlovely in the end, as at the first (cf. Obadiah 10ff.).