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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Isa. 7:14 -- "virgin" or "young woman"? | Is 7:14 | kalos | 104485 | ||
How the NET Bible strives for accuracy 'What are some of the distinctive characteristics of the NET Bible translation philosophy? 'One distinctive characteristic is how the NET Bible strives for accuracy. The NET Bible seeks to be accurate by translating passages consistently and properly within their grammatical, historical, and theological context. The interplay and proper understanding of these three contexts has produced some distinctive translations within the NET Bible. By explaining these here we hope to help the Bible reader understand more fully the translation task undertaken to produce the NET Bible, but even more importantly to understand more fully the Bible itself. 'As a translator approaches a passage there are a number of contexts which must be considered. They can be summed up under three broad terms: grammatical, historical, and theological. (...) 'As implied above, these three concepts form a limited hierarchy. Grammatical context is the most important because it deals with the nuts and bolts of the language which convey meaning which ultimately can be translated. For example, in English one cannot communicate to a reader that the sky is blue by writing “The tree is green.” The words and phrases which make up this sentence can only communicate a limited meaning, and this is defined by the grammar, the syntax of the phrases, the meanings of the individual words, and other similar considerations. Understanding the grammatical context is the most important task of the translator, for the meaning is found in these words and phrases. The translators and editors of the NET Bible translate a passage with precedence given to the grammatical context. The historical and theological context provide a reasonable system of checks and balances; they help the translator decide what is the most probable meaning of the original text and how that meaning should be translated. They do not drive the translation; instead they guide it so that the most probable meaning is conveyed. 'A very important concept for understanding the translation philosophy of the NET Bible and how these three contexts work together is progressive revelation. Simply put, progressive revelation recognizes that God reveals himself—his nature as well as his word, plans, and purposes—over time. He did not reveal everything about himself and what he was doing in the world all at once; instead he graciously revealed more and more as time went on. Later revelation serves to complement and supplement what has come before. The relation of this reality to translation work creates a great deal of tension, especially as it relates to the theological context, because certain earlier passages are clarified by later ones. Does the translator translate the older passage with a view to the clarification that the later passage brings, or does the translator concentrate solely on the native context of the older passage? The translators and editors for the NET Bible have generally chosen to do the latter for a variety of reasons. A translation which takes into account the progress of revelation will be true to the three contexts discussed above. It is also very beneficial to the Bible reader to have the progress of revelation accurately represented in the translation of particular texts. This helps the reader see how God has worked through the centuries, and it helps the reader to stand more accurately in the place of the original recipients of the text. Both of these are very instructive and inspirational, and they help the reader to connect with the text in a more fulfilling way. 'A discussion of particular passages in the NET Bible—how they have been translated and why—will illuminate these concepts. Explaining these examples will show how the translators and editors have put the aspects of the translation theory discussed above into practice. The translators and editors believe these issues are important for readers of the Bible to grasp, so all these passages have extensive notes regarding these issues.' (http://netbible.com/netbible/index.htm) |
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2 | Isa. 7:14 -- "virgin" or "young woman"? | Is 7:14 | Emmaus | 104493 | ||
The key to understanding the translation of Isaiah 7:14 as "alma / young woman" or "parthenos / virgin" is the Septuagint (LXX) translation of the Hebrew old Testament into Greek by Jewish scholars in Alexandria about the year 250 B.C. These pre-Christian Jewish scholars(no after the fact Christian bias)chose to translate the Hebrew "alma" into the Greek "parthenos" which has the strict definition of "virgin" while the Hebrew could be considered more ambiguous. Their choice of the word "parthenos" in translation is a strong indication of how the Jews well before the birth of Jesus understood the meaning of "alma". Eighty percent of the Old Testament citations in the New Testament are quotes from the Septuagint, including some of Jesus' quotes. Luke 1:15 has an implict reference to the Septuagint version of 1 Samuel 1:11 which includes the Nazarite vows promised of Samuel by his mother when she promised to dedicate him to the Lord. Samuel was another great prophet and precursor the first king of the Jews, as john was to The King of the Jews. These details are not found in the Hebrew version of 1 Samuel 1:11. |
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3 | Isa. 7:14 -- "virgin" or "young woman"? | Is 7:14 | Hank | 104494 | ||
Emmaus - Thanks for an excellent post. Very insightful. It's good to see you back, Oriole! --Hank | ||||||