Results 1 - 2 of 2
|
|
|||||
Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | WEB Bible and capitalization. | 2 Tim 3:16 | kalos | 6930 | ||
Ray: Note the following re the World English Bible (WEB) and capitalization. I believe it will be of interest to you. "The WEB doesn't capitalize pronouns pertaining to God. This is similar to the NRSV and NIV, and the same as the original ASV of 1901. Note that this is an English style decision, *because Hebrew has no such thing as upper and lower case, and the oldest Greek manuscripts were all upper case*. I kind of prefer the approach of the KJV, NKJV, and NASB of capitalizing these pronouns, because I write that way most of the time and because it is a way of offering greater honor to God. I admit that it is kind of a throw-back to the Olde English practice of capitalizing pronouns referring to the king. This is archaic, because we don't capitalize pronouns that refer to our president. "It is also true that choosing to capitalize pronouns relating to God causes some difficulties in translating the coronation psalms, where the psalm was initially written for the coronation of an earthly king, but which also can equally well be sung or recited to the praise of the King of Kings. *Capitalizing pronouns relating to God also makes for some strange reading* where people were addressing Jesus with anything but respect. In any case, in the presence of good arguments both ways, we have decided *to leave these as they were in the ASV 1901 (which also gives us fewer opportunities to make mistakes*)." (emphasis added) This FAQ is maintained by Michael Paul Johnson (http://ebible.org/mpj/). Please mail comments or suggestions to mpj@ebible.org mailto:mpj@ebible.org. This page is kept at http://ebible.org/bible/web/webfaq.htm. |
||||||
2 | WEB Bible and capitalization. | 2 Tim 3:16 | Hank | 6939 | ||
You're quite on target, JVH, about the capitalization of personal pronouns that refer to Deity. In some sentence constructions it may enhance clarity concerning who the antecedent of the pronoun is. But, as you point out, in certain passages of the Old Testament, the process can force the translator into the role of interpreter. Moreover, whether writing "He" or "he" brings any more or any less honor to members of the Godhead is, it seems to me, rather a moot issue. Clearly with nouns, capitalization is of prime importance; for example, we understand that "God" can mean only one person, the God of the Bible, but that "god" can refer to a pagan deity, or even to wealth, as in "making money one's god." Preoccupation with this subject can become almost a fetish. One thing is certain: We'll never know how the writers of the Biblical autographs viewed the issue, because their vehicle of expression, the ancient alphabets, gave them no choice in the matter. --Hank | ||||||