Comments on: proofreading Bible translations

By: Paul Shaddick

Paul Shaddick — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 09:14:07 +0000

Is there a KJV spambot running? Of course LeRoy does mean ‘the king’ in old French.

By: LeRoy

LeRoy — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 01:34:46 +0000

Temρtation of Jesus
Then the Sρirit led Jesus up intο the desert: sο that the devil might tempt him. (CEB)
Then, Jesus was driven into the wilderness, by the Spirit, to be tested by the accuser; 1225 διάβολος ‘accuser, slanderer’ fiend demon troublemaker see 4567 & 1140(Corrected)

Now after he had fasted fσr forty days and forty nights, be was starνing (CEB)
and, fasting forty days and forty nights,––afterwards, he was hungry.

The tempter came to him αnd said, “Since yοu’ re the Son οf God, order these stones tο become bread.”(CEB)
And, coming near, to make a test of, the vexer said to him,––If you are a son of God, speak! that, these stones, may become, loaves. (προσελθων and coming near ὁ πιραζων the vexer)(Corrected copy)

‘Jesus αnswered, “It’s written, Ρeορle won’t Ιiνe only by bread, but by every ωοrd thαt comes out οf Gοd’s mouth.”(CEB)
But answering, he said, It is written,––”Not by bread alone, shall a man live, but by every word proceeding from the mouth of God.”(Corrected copy)

Αfter that the deνil brοught him into the holy city, stood him αt the highest ροint of the temρle,(CEB)
Then, the accuser takes him into the holy city,––and places him on the wing of the temple;(Corrected copy)

αnd said to him, “Since yοu’re the Sοn of God, thrοw yουrself down; for it is written., I will command my angels cοncerning you, and they will tαke you up in their hands sο thαt you do not hit your fοοt on a stone.”(CEB)
and says to him––If you are a son of God, cast thyself down,––it is written, “That to his messengers, he will give charge of you; and, they shall raise you up, with hands, lest you strike, your foot, against a stone”. (Corrected copy)

Jesus replied, “Αgαin it is written, Υοu will not test the Lοrd your God.”(CEB)
Jesus said to him, Again, it is written,––”you shall not tempt, the Lord your God.”(Corrected copy)

Then the devil brought him to a very high mοuntain, showed him αll the kingdοms οf the world and their glory, (CEB)
Again, the accuser takes him, into an exceeding high mountain,––and shows him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory; (Corrected copy)

αnd said, “I will give yoυ αll these if you bow down αnd worship me.*(CEB)
and says to him, All these things, will I give you,––if you will fall down and do homage to me.(Corrected copy)

Jesus responded, “Go away, Satan, because it’s written, You will worship the Lord your God and serνe οnly him.” (CEB)
Then Jesus said to him, go away, adversary! for it is written,––”The Lord your God, you shall pay homage to, and, to be in servitude to him alone. (Corrected copy)

Αt that the devil left him, αnd angels cαme αnd took care of him.(CEB)
Then the accuser left him; and lo, messengers came and ministered to him.(Corrected copy)

By: Peter Kirk

Peter Kirk — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 14:10:25 +0000

I see a different problem with the Matthew rendering. “All the bodies of the holy people…” suggests that these holy people (not necessarily every holy person) had multiple bodies, and that every one of these bodies was raised. More accurate (or in fact inaccurate) is “The bodies of all the holy people…”

By: Wayne Leman

Wayne Leman — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 14:05:17 +0000

More good ideas from you all. Thanks.

Jonathan, you spotted the issue I was thinking of. It is definitely a translation problem to have a difference between “many” and “all”. Greek uses very different words for these two quantities.

By: Peter Milloy

Peter Milloy — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 13:48:47 +0000

I think Gary Simmons is onto something with his #3 comment on Matthew 27:51. The passive verbs should all be rendered as such in English: “…and the ground was shaken and the rocks were split…” Rendering them as passive would lead readers in the direction of understanding them as “divine passives,” meaning God shook the ground and split the limestone bedrock.

By: Jonathan Morgan

Jonathan Morgan — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 12:45:30 +0000

I don’t know if this is a translation problem, but when I read the Matthew verse it suggests to me that all of the holy men who have ever died have been raised. Every other version I have compared with says “many” or “a number” or something similar instead.

By: Gary Simmons

Gary Simmons — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 22:38:15 +0000

Ooh, ooh! *Raises hand!*

This actually encompasses Matthew 27:51-52.

1. it leaves out “and the graves were opened.” It would be very sad to be resurrected into an unopened tomb, then die of asphyxiation!

2. “Those who were asleep” is paraphrased as “who had died.”

3. Stylistic: the verbs in 51 are not all passive, though I don’t see how they could be rendered passively in good English anyway.

4. “Holy people” for hagioi.

I’m guessing you’re looking for number four?

By: Wayne Leman

Wayne Leman — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 20:20:08 +0000

Keep the comments coming folks. Thanks for them. Several of you have spotted the spelling problem in the first passage. The problem that I spotted in the second passage is exegetical, having to do with translation accuracy. Hint, hint: you may have to read the underlying Greek text or compare the translation in the post with other English translations of this verse.

By: David Dewey (UK)

David Dewey (UK) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 09:37:36 +0000

I have two favourite Bible misprints. The first is in the 2001 ESV which, in Gen 30:35 had Jacob’s sheep put ‘in charge of his sons’ (intsead of ‘in the charge of his sons’). The second is in an early NIV which instead of condemning ‘sexual immorality’ condemned ‘sexual immortality’

By: Gary Simmons

Gary Simmons — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 03:02:03 +0000

Jeff: that “look” in Greek or Hebrew is used as an interjection, so it gets an exclamation point in English. It’s weird, I know.

LeRoy: what is your native language? I’m just curious.