How Jesus's Meaning is Lost: 2 Vocabulary
This site has scores of articles about specific words and the problems with how they are translated. It is time to look at the larger, more generic problems, from the level of the sky, as Jesus might say.
The record we have of Jesus's words is written in Greek. There are Greek words which are close to English alternative and those for which there are only poor matches. However, translators of the most popular versions of the Bible used today will not even attempt to translate Jesus's words to something as close as possible in English. They admit this. These translators claim to be able to capture Jesus's meaning more clearly without using similar vocabulary or syntax and, instead, using more "modern" phrases. They claim to know with certainty that Jesus’s meaning, the underlying propositions of his statements, so they can put then in their own words.
Is this true? Let us look at some very simple problems.
Missing Words
Words that Jesus used are often left out of Biblical translations. There are over 1,445 verses where at least one of his Greek words is left untranslated in one of the two most popular versions. Since there are 1,921 of Jesus’s verses in the Bible, this means that 75% leave something out. The most common untranslated word is the definite article ("the" in English). This word may seem trivial, but the word is much more important in Greek than English (see this article).
The most extreme case of a missing word, however, is when a negative is left out. There is a huge difference between, "Do this,” and, “Do not do this.” Click here for six examples where translators leave out a negative ("not," "no," or "never").
Specific Words
As Mark Twain advised, ““Use the right word, not its second cousin.” In choosing a word, Jesus always chose the right word. More specific vocabulary carry a different meaning not just a more general one. Jesus chose his words for a reason, one which is often not seen by most translators, including me. I correct my mistakes everyday. The problem is usually that I am too much influenced by Biblical versions.
Rather than get into the hundreds of examples of where Jesus uses a more specific word than the translators do. Let us look at a situation where Jesus frequently uses a more general term. The word translated as "heaven" is always the Greek word that means "sky." This Greek word is used over 111 times by Jesus. However, a word with our concept of "heaven" did not exist in Jesus's era, except in the religion of Zoroastrianism. Did Jesus mean Zoroastrian-type heaven when he used it? Did he mean our modern concept? Only if he didn't want anyone to understand what he was saying at the time. In Greek, the word for the place of the afterlife was hades. In Hebrew, it was sheol. Both were underworlds. Both contained both good and bad people’s spirits.
The problem with all the verses where one word is confused with another is broad. One or more of Jesus’s Greek words are confused in over 1,422 verses, almost 75% of them.
Singular and Plural
We can also say, for certain, that a plural word is always different in meaning from a singular one. This idea is useful in understanding how Jesus's concepts are different than those of his translators.
Again a good example is the Greek word translated as "heaven." In Jesus’s Greek, it is almost always in the plural, "heavens." Yet, it is almost always translated in the singular because the modern concept of Heaven is of a single place, not many different ones. Jesus's concept, however, is plural, "Father in the skies." Do we know what he means by multiple “skies?” I don’t, though I have had many thoughts about it, and, if he used it, we have good reason to ponder it. It is interesting that today we recognize many different planets, all with different skies. This Father is in all of them.
There are easy explanations for when he uses the singular. For example, he uses a singular when referring to the generic concept, such as when he contrasts “sky” with "earth." he word for “earth” is always in singular because there is only one. In these contrast, he is contrasting the earth’s sky with it.
Translators use the wrong number for verbs or nouns in over three hundred verses. Some of these changes are to the person Jesus is addressing. In English the pronoun, “you” is used for both singular and plural but in Greek the pronoun and the verbs have number. Many times when it appears Jesus is talking to a group (as in the Sermon on the Mount), he is talking to an individual. This changes the whole nature of the discussion. He maybe giving individual advice, not necessarily general advice.
Word Play
Finally, we have multiple meanings. They are a huge problem in translating Jesus's words because he loves double meanings. He uses it to create the expectations and surprises of his setups and punchlines. He does this in perhaps half his verses. He often seems to avoid single-meaning words because multiple-meaning words give him more room for interpretation. Teaching philosophy while entertaining isn’t easy. His wordplay proves that, despite what our academics say, his words couldn’t have been translated from Aramaic unless we attribute the genius level wordplay to a translator not Jesus.
One example of wordplay is the word that is translated as “lost its savor” referring to salt. “Salt” during the time of Jesus also meant "common sense.” The “lost its savor” adjective means “insipid,” both in the sense of having no flavor and in being simple minded. This is one word where we have a good alternative in English translation. Of course, it isn’t used in Biblical versions.
Changes of Form
Word meanings are also destroyed by changing their form. The most common form changes in Biblical translation are:
Confusing verbs with nouns and adjectives.
Confusing the tense, mood and voice of verbs;
Verb form is a complex topic but let me offer one example. There is a big difference between saying "heaven and earth will pass away" and "the sky and earth might pass away." This confusing of the future tense with the subjunctive mood is common in the Bible. What you think are prophesies may or may not be. In Biblical translation tenses, moods, and voices are continually ignored when Jesus’s words don’t fit the desired narrative.
Final Thoughts
We want to trust the Bible. We need to trust it. And we can trust what was preserved faithfully in Greek for two thousand years. However, translation has given us the power to change it. And humans are flawed.
We could insist on accurate translation, but the sad truth is that less and less faithful versions have become more and more broadly accepted because people “like them better.” It is no longer about truth, but about our feelings. If we don’t value truth, we will lose Jesus entirely.