I have previously mentioned "THE SOURCE New Testament with extensive notes on Greek Word Meaning" by Dr. A. Nyland.
I bring it up now because it renders Joh 14:12 as "In fact, whoever believes me will do the deeds that I do..."
I often look to this one as one of my most reliable resources when writing my articles on Biblical subjects.
In addition to providing us with quotes of an incorrectly translated verse, would you please show us a correct translation after detailing why it needs to be that way?
Hi Terry, Thanks for your message. In all my recently updated articles, I provide a literal translation. For John 14:12 it is: "Honestly, honestly I tell you, the one trusting as much as me, the deeds that I myself perform, that one there will perform. And greater than these he will perform because I myself go before the Father."
However, I hesitate to call this THE "correct" translation. I can only call it AN accurate one. In future updates, I may provide a whole series of such translations. But my goal is a translation that doesn't say more or less than Jesus did., one that uses the same word forms (tenses, cases, numbers, genders, etc) that Jesus did, one that is consistent with Jesus's other verses, and would have made sense to people of the time and isn't written to promote my own ideas. People provide translations with other goals. I don't know what Dr. Nyland's goals are, but he certainly doesn't seek fidelity to the original Greek. Here, he ignores entirely the use of the proposition phrase after "believe." This is not what Jesus said.
I provide complete definitions of the Greek words and details about their forms so people can play with other possible legitimate versions.
In this verse, I translated the phrase "believe in me" as "believe as much as me." I will explain my reasoning in next week's article.
You're in the difficult position of being as accurate as possible, while still making your rendering understandable to readers, few of whom are even familiar with the concept of different syntax, much less tenses that don't exist in English.
My hope is that one day you'll give us a translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures that convey in an understandable way a far more accurate sense of Jesus' love, humor, and grace.
Recent Bible translations are looking for two things: simplifying what Jesus said and making it conform to current Christian teaching. Neither of these goals is of any interest to me. Indeed, I think they drive away many potential Christians, but they may well be what most who think they are Christians want.
Still have years of analysis left to do. I hope enough people find it interesting. I certainly do. Much more interesting that reading current translations which seem like they are written for children.
I don't think any simple translation can convey everything in Jesus was saying in most verse. A huge number of them rely upon wordplay and double meanings that are impossible to create in a single translation. That is why I have been trying to do a novel so these words can be understood by people's reactions to their various meanings.
Jesus spoke of a narrow road upon which few would tread, and a wide one which most would take. I think that's reflected in the translations that are most common. 'current translations which seem like they are written for children." Spiritually they are children. Those on the narrow road need a more accurate translation.
I suspect your novel will more accurately reflect what can't adequately be expressed in directly translated words alone. However a more accurate translation would still convey some of the subtleties that are commonly lost. Granted it would appeal to only a small percentage of the Christian population. But there is that small number who play a vital role in building up the body of Christ who need those nuances to be able to better carry out their specific purposes in his body. (Rom 1;, 1 Cor 12: Eph 4:7-16)
Looking forward to seeing your novel when it's done.
Looking forward to reading part two of this. Did I miss it?
No, was actually looking at it today to decide how to handle it. Will publish this week for paid subs and it will be available in a month for unpaid.
Hi Gary,
Good article.
I have previously mentioned "THE SOURCE New Testament with extensive notes on Greek Word Meaning" by Dr. A. Nyland.
I bring it up now because it renders Joh 14:12 as "In fact, whoever believes me will do the deeds that I do..."
I often look to this one as one of my most reliable resources when writing my articles on Biblical subjects.
In addition to providing us with quotes of an incorrectly translated verse, would you please show us a correct translation after detailing why it needs to be that way?
Thanks for all your hard work.
Hi Terry, Thanks for your message. In all my recently updated articles, I provide a literal translation. For John 14:12 it is: "Honestly, honestly I tell you, the one trusting as much as me, the deeds that I myself perform, that one there will perform. And greater than these he will perform because I myself go before the Father."
However, I hesitate to call this THE "correct" translation. I can only call it AN accurate one. In future updates, I may provide a whole series of such translations. But my goal is a translation that doesn't say more or less than Jesus did., one that uses the same word forms (tenses, cases, numbers, genders, etc) that Jesus did, one that is consistent with Jesus's other verses, and would have made sense to people of the time and isn't written to promote my own ideas. People provide translations with other goals. I don't know what Dr. Nyland's goals are, but he certainly doesn't seek fidelity to the original Greek. Here, he ignores entirely the use of the proposition phrase after "believe." This is not what Jesus said.
I provide complete definitions of the Greek words and details about their forms so people can play with other possible legitimate versions.
In this verse, I translated the phrase "believe in me" as "believe as much as me." I will explain my reasoning in next week's article.
Gary
Looking forward to reading it, Gary.
You're in the difficult position of being as accurate as possible, while still making your rendering understandable to readers, few of whom are even familiar with the concept of different syntax, much less tenses that don't exist in English.
My hope is that one day you'll give us a translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures that convey in an understandable way a far more accurate sense of Jesus' love, humor, and grace.
Recent Bible translations are looking for two things: simplifying what Jesus said and making it conform to current Christian teaching. Neither of these goals is of any interest to me. Indeed, I think they drive away many potential Christians, but they may well be what most who think they are Christians want.
Still have years of analysis left to do. I hope enough people find it interesting. I certainly do. Much more interesting that reading current translations which seem like they are written for children.
I don't think any simple translation can convey everything in Jesus was saying in most verse. A huge number of them rely upon wordplay and double meanings that are impossible to create in a single translation. That is why I have been trying to do a novel so these words can be understood by people's reactions to their various meanings.
Gary
Jesus spoke of a narrow road upon which few would tread, and a wide one which most would take. I think that's reflected in the translations that are most common. 'current translations which seem like they are written for children." Spiritually they are children. Those on the narrow road need a more accurate translation.
I suspect your novel will more accurately reflect what can't adequately be expressed in directly translated words alone. However a more accurate translation would still convey some of the subtleties that are commonly lost. Granted it would appeal to only a small percentage of the Christian population. But there is that small number who play a vital role in building up the body of Christ who need those nuances to be able to better carry out their specific purposes in his body. (Rom 1;, 1 Cor 12: Eph 4:7-16)
Looking forward to seeing your novel when it's done.