“Corn” or “Maze” – Know the Culture of the Translator!

If you have read many of my blogs, you know how much I stress the importance of knowing as much as you can about the culture of Second Temple Judaism when you read the words of Jesus. It was his culture. But, there is another culture that you should be aware of too -- if you rely on English translations of the Bible – the culture of the translators.

Here is an example from Matthew 12:1 of the King James Version:

At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat.

Read the complete article at -- http://bhcbiblestudies.blogspot.com/2014/01/corn-or-maze-know-culture-of-translator.html

“Corn” or “Maze” – Know the Culture of the Translator!

If you have read many of my blogs, you know how much I stress the importance of knowing as much as you can about the culture of Second Temple Judaism when you read the words of Jesus. It was his culture. But, there is another culture that you should be aware of too -- if you rely on English translations of the Bible – the culture of the translators.

Here is an example from Matthew 12:1 of the King James Version:

At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat.

Now compare the underlined words to the American Standard Version’s translation:

At that season Jesus went on the sabbath day through the grainfields; and his disciples were hungry and began to pluck ears and to eat.

When most Americans read the King James Version they picture Jesus walking through fields like this:

His disciples were plucking and eating ears like these:

But in the American Standard Version, Americans picture Jesus walking through a field like this:

His disciples were plucking and eating ears like these:

Which one is correct? Actually, British readers of the King James Version picture the same thing as American readers of the American Standard Version. Both translations create the same images in the minds of their original audiences. The word “corn” to British readers means “wheat,” but to American’s “corn” is a type of “maize.” The translators of the American Standard Version correctly translated the Greek word by choosing “grain.”

A very interesting situation arose in World War II because of the different meanings for the word “corn.” Not knowing these differences, an American government agency received a request for "corn" from the British government.  The Americans shipped the British "maize." The British were expecting "wheat" which they needed for the European famine relief program.  Needless to say, the British were not happy with the maize they received.  Both groups used the identical word – corn – but they had different bundles of associations attached to it.  The Americans corrected the problem by shipping the British “wheat.” This bit of linguistic ignorance cost tax-payers a few million dollars to correct.

Knowing this information doesn’t reveal a great theological truth, but it does give you a much more accurate picture of what Jesus and his disciples were actually doing. The next time you read your Bible, be sure to go to the introduction and find out who the translators were -- and identify their culture. It is good to get in the habit of comparing English translations made by people from different cultures. This will help you identify situations like the one above.

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SHALOM & Be Empowered!

Israel and a Canaanite god?

This is a study of Genesis 33:17-20 and it has some very interesting transliterations in it. If you haven’t downloaded your FREE Hebrew Transliterator and completed the two short lessons on transliterating Hebrew words click here for lesson one & click here for lesson two. I capitalize Hebrew words that are transliterations (plus use bold type and underlines) so you won’t miss them in the verses below.

¹⁷ And Jacob traveled there to SUKKOT and built himself a house for his livestock he made SUKKOT (booths), for this reason he called the name of the place SUKKOT.

(To see the verse in Hebrew click here – the underlined words are Hebrew words #3, word #9 and the last Hebrew word in the verse – you will probably need to zoom in to enlarge the text.)

The word SUKKOT appears three time in this verse. In most English translations it appears twice because the second appearance is translated instead of transliterated. Its translation is “booths.” SUKKOT is also a major Jewish holiday in which Jews construct small booths to remember the time of the Exodus when their ancestors lived in “booths.” I updated the verse with translations instead of transliterations to give you a feel for what a Hebrew reader would have seen:

¹⁷ And Jacob traveled there to Booths and built himself a house for his livestock he made booths, for this reason he called the name of the place Booths.

Look at the map below and find SUKKOT, spelled “Succoth” (on the right side of the Jordan River).

¹⁸ And Jacob came in peace to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, and he came from Padan Aram, and he camped in front of the city. 

Jacob traveled from Succoth to Shechem (it is on the left side of the map). Jacob made his camp right in front of the city of Shechem.  We discover that he had traveled from Paddan Aram (in northern Mesopotamia, probably where Haran was located) to Succoth and then to Shechem. Paddan Aram or Padan-aram was an early Aramean kingdom in Mesopotamia. Paddan Aram in Aramaic means the field of Aram.[i]

¹⁹ And he bought that part of the field where he had pitched his tent, from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem for a hundred QeSITAH. 

The meaning of the Hebrew word QeSITAH is unknown. The text says Jacob paid 100 QeSITAH, but we do not know what that was or its value. However, and more importantly, Jacob acquired his property in Canaan by buying it from the owner. This indicates that the owner freely executed the contract with him. The next verse is a “loaded” one. There is no doubt that it created a theological nightmare for many translators.

²⁰ And he (Jacob) set up an altar and called to it:

Now it’s your time to have some fun and get a feel for what the translators experienced. Transliterate the three Hebrew words above. Keep in mind that Hebrew is read from right to left. Write down your transliterations and compare them to the translations below:

(1) King James Version: And he erected there an altar, and called it Elelohe-Israel.

(2) American Standard Version: And he erected there an altar, and called it El-elohe-israel.

(3) Bible in Basic English: And there he put up an altar, naming it El, the God of Israel.

(4) Darby's English Translation: And there he set up an altar, and called it El-Elohe-Israel.

(5) Douay Rheims Bible: And raising an altar there, he invoked upon it the most mighty God of Israel.

(6) Noah Webster Bible: And he erected there an altar, and called it El-elohe-Israel.

(7) World English Bible: He erected an altar there, and called it El-Elohe-Israel.

(8) Young's Literal Translation: and he setteth up there an altar, and proclaimeth at it God -- the God of Israel.

My transliterations of the above words are: #1 EL; #2  ELOHEY; #3 YISeRAEL. Compare my transliterations to your work. How did you do? Now, let’s take another look at how the above translators dealt with Hebrew words #1 and #2:

● Elelohe – capitalized the “E” and combined the two words into one.

● El-elohe – capitalized the first “E,” added hyphen, did not capitalize “e” in second word.

● El-Elohe - capitalized the first “E,” added hyphen, capitalized “E” in second word.

● El, the God of – transliterated word #1 & capitalized “E;” translated word #2 “the God of” with capital “G.”

● the most mighty God of – translates word #1 “the most mighty” with no capital letters and translates word #2 “God of” with a capital “G” but leaves out “the.”

● God - the God of – translates word #1 “God” with a capital “G” and translates word# 2 “the God of” with a capital “G.”

Below is my translation of the verse:

And he set up an altar and called to it: “El, god of Israel.”

Pay close attention to exactly what Jacob did – he called TO it: “El, god of Israel.” Why would this cause theological problems? Look at th image below and you will understand. It is a statue of the chief Canaanite god – El.

SOURCE

Did Jacob build an altar and call out to a Canaanite god? If you have purchased the Hebrew lexicon we recommend – A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (click here for link for more info about lexicon) – turn to page 15. In column b you will find five entries for the word EL. #V is the one for this form of the word:

(1a) the high god El

(1b) gods

The entries after the two above are heavily influenced by theologies, as will be seen in books that were written later. If you haven’t ordered the lexicon, I would recommend that you do because I will be referring to it many times in my articles and blogs – and the Hebrew Transliterator is keyed to it.

Now for the big surprise! Are you sitting down? I bet you did not even think about the meaning of Hebrew word #3, which every version above transliterated as “Israel.”  Everybody know that Israel is the name of the Jewish people and nation! Wrong! This is only the third appearance of this word in the Hebrew Bible. Below is the first appearance (Genesis 32:28a):

“Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel. . .”

“Israel” was Jacob’s name, not the name of the nation, yet. So let’s take one more look at the verse we are working on, with this last bit of information added:

And Jacob set up an altar and called to it: “El, god of Jacob.”

But, what about monotheism? That will not come until later in Jewish history – but I will have to wait and address it in future blogs. Isn’t it amazing how much was packed into just three short verses and how thing we may have not even questioned can turn out to be very different from what we though? I hoped you enjoyed this study.

Did you get anything out of this study? Did you see things you hadn’t seen before? If you did and you want to see more studies like it, please let me know by “Liking” BHC on Facebook by clicking here. It will only take a minute and doesn’t cost anything – but it really helps me to know that you benefited from my work.

Also, let others know about it by sharing it on Facebook, emailing or texting others.

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SHALOM & Be Empowered!

[i] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paddan_Aram

The Different Beginnings of Jesus in the Gospels: John’s Jesus

The beginning of John’s Jesus is very different from those of Mark, Luke and Matthew. John’s Jesus is not introduced as a man from Galilee or the son of Mary and the Holy Spirit. One word describes John’s Jesus:

For those who know how to use the BHC Greek-English Transliterator, take a moment to transliterate this word (if you haven’t downloaded your FREE BHC Transliterator click here to get it and learn how to transliterate Greek words).

Click here to continue reading this blog.

What does “Peace on Earth and Good Will Toward Men” Mean?

Suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

Glory to God in the highest,

Peace on earth and good will toward men.

The message of the angels to the shepherds in Luke’s account is one of the most powerful messages in the New Testament. It has been memorized by children for centuries and touched the hearts of millions who long for – “peace on earth and good will toward men.”  It is a message that hearts understand, regardless of the doctrines lodged in the minds.

The message announces that peace on earth and good will toward men will come through the baby – the future Savior and Anointed One – but not in the way that most people have been taught to expect.

What if all 2,000,000,000 Christians understood the real message of the real Jesus and did what that Jesus did and taught? What would happen?

Read the complete article at -- http://therealyesua.blogspot.com/2013/12/peace-on-earth-and-good-will-toward-men.html

The Different Beginnings of Jesus in the Gospels: Matthew’s Account

This is third Gospel account of the beginnings of Jesus. We are examining them in chronological order – Mark, Luke, Matthew and John.

David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah. Solomon begot Rehoboam . . . And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called the Anointed One. (1:6-7)

If you read Luke’s account, I bet you immediately saw a major difference in Matthew’s genealogy. In Luke, Joseph was from the line of Nathan, but in Matthew he is from Solomon’s line. Matthew’s Joseph is a party to David’s covenant, which descendants of Nathan were not. Read complete blog at -- http://fromonejesus.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-different-beginnings-of-jesus-in_22.html

Getting Acquainted with Ancient Manuscripts of the New Testament

Parts of the New Testament have been preserved in more manuscripts than any other ancient work, having over 5,800 complete or fragmented Greek manuscripts, 10,000 Latin manuscripts and 9,300 manuscripts in various other ancient languages including Syriac, Slavic, Gothic, Ethiopic, Coptic and Armenian. The dates of these manuscripts range from c. 125 CE (the John Rylands manuscript, P52; oldest copy of John fragments) to the introduction of printing in Germany in the 15th century. The vast majority of these manuscripts date after the 10th century.[i]

I am going to use the first two verse in Mark chapter 1 to show you what we see when we compare some of those ancient manuscripts.

Mark 1:1

Each of the following symbols is a Greek manuscript that has this verse. The number in parenthesis is the date the manuscript was copied.

Group 1

א¹ (4^th) B (4^th) D (5^th) L (8^th) W (4-5^th) Γ (10^th)

These manuscripts have the Greek words that are translated:

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Group 2

A (5^th) K (9^th) P (6^th) Δ (9^th)

These manuscripts have the Greek words that are translated:

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Group 3

Manuscript 1241 (12^th) has the Greek words that are translated:

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of Lord.

Mark 1:2a

Group 1

א  (4^th) B (4^th) L (8^th) Δ (9^th) 33 (10^th) 565 (9^th)

These manuscripts have the Greek words that are translated:

As it is written in Isaiah the Prophet . . .

Group 2

A (5^th) K (9^th) P (6^th) Γ (10^th)

These manuscripts have the Greek words that are translated:

As it is written in the prophets . . .

After the words that appear in Group 1 or Group 2, the following quotes appear:

Quote 1

“Behold, I send My messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.”

Quote 2

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’”

Quote 1 is from Malachi 3:1 and Quote 2 is from Isaiah 40:3. The older manuscripts of Mark attributed both quotes to Isaiah. Later scribes recognized the error and changed the text of Mark from “Isaiah the prophet” to “the prophets.”

Take a moment to glace over the online list of New Testament Greek manuscripts – CLICK HERE. Look up some of the above manuscripts and you will find out more about them.

It’s always good to know which manuscripts you English translation was made from. Keep in mind that most of them were discovered in the late 19^th and 20^th centuries. So, translations made before that did not have access to those we have today.

Shalom & Be Empowered!

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[i] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_manuscript#New_Testament_manuscripts