I will happily take this down if anyone has a copyright, but I couldn’t just link to it. I had to put it on the blog. It is too perfect. (And then it sat in my queue so long that I can’t find the link to the original…)
I won’t say that no pastor has the capacity or permission to publicly disagree with Bible translators. I hope to be one of those pastors begging to differ with a particular rendering here or there someday. But really, it’s tossed off so easily!
And look at the people’s eyes! They’re believing it! Especially in the back, where the people with bigger heads sit! (Though the preacher arguably has the biggest head. =)
We preachers of God’s Word truly ought to be careful and humble in our use of the original languages.
HT: Twenty-Two Words (I think!)
http://twentytwowords.com/2010/10/24/ultimate-preaching-trick-now-what-this-means-in-the-original-language-is/
Thanks, Micah! You nailed it. I don’t know why I couldn’t find it.
mlwj
Well, along with a lot of the commenters on the original blog, I disagree with this one. (Of course, appealing to the Gk can be overdone.)
For example, though, I am doing a series called “Seed of Life” for Christmas. (Seed of the Woman, Seed of Abraham, Seed of David [tomorrow’s message], and Seed of Life)
It really bugs me that modern translations don’t translate ‘spermatos’ as ‘seed’, as if modern readers are too dumb to get the metaphor. Instead we get ‘descendants’ (which is a mistranslation) or ‘offspring’ which is a bit better, but leaves me cold.
FWIW
Maranatha!
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3