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NASB | Psalm 2:12 Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him! |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Psalm 2:12 Kiss (pay respect to) the Son, so that He does not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled and set aflame. How blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] are all those who take refuge in Him! |
Subject: Is NASB the "most literal" in Ps. 2:12? |
Bible Note: YOU: Answer: The translators of the NASB never claimed to give the absolute literal translation of every word in the text of the Bible. ME: The NASB is generally touted as the most literal translation out there. YOU: The NASB translators' note for "Do homage" at Psalm 2:12 reads: "Lit[eral] 'Kiss': some ancient versions read 'Do homage purely,' or 'Lay hold of instruction.'" This being so, what is your problem with the NASB translation of this verse? ME: Since the translators' note itself says the word is LITERALLY "Kiss" and the Hebrew says "kiss" and all the other versions say "kiss," it seemed odd that "the most literal translation" would go with what "some ancient versions" said. The weight seems to fall on the side of the word "kiss." Btw, this is not a huge problem. But I am very interested in how these decisions are made and why translations differ. It is fascinating and educational. YOU: Also, no offense intended, but why on earth do people keep asking the Forum why certain versions translate certain verses as they do? Wouldn't it be better to write the publishers and ask them? How are we Forum members to know why a certain word was translated a certain way in a certain translation? ME: I didn't realize there was an abundance of these types of questions. It seems to me that writing the publishers would probably not help. Publishers are business people. They are not necessarily privvy to these choices. Anyway, that's my sense of things; but I have to admit I have not tried writing the publishers. The people who would know are people who read the Bible a lot, study it, examine it against the original languages, and perhaps understand the reasons, in general, behind textual choices, even particular choices like this one. While most forum members may not know the answer to this question, it seems to me that some of them might know or have an interesting contribution to make about it. And it also could open conversation. It seems appropriate to this forum; but I could be wrong. You might be underestimating the abilities to answer questions of some of those on forum; or maybe I'm wrong about that too. -- waldo |