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NASB | Malachi 2:5 "My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him as an object of reverence; so he revered Me and stood in awe of My name. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Malachi 2:5 "My covenant with Levi was [one of] life and peace, and I gave them to him as an object of reverence; so he [and the priests] feared Me and stood in reverent awe of My name. |
Bible Question:
If you remove the italicized words added by the Lockman committee and alter the punctuation slightly, the meaning of this verse changes significantly, in my opinion. It would read: My covenant with him was life and peace and I gave them to him, reverence so he revered Me and stood in awe of My name. This now indicates God's covenant includes reverence which was given as well as life and peace which were given. The pronoun "them" would refer to peace, life, and reverence. But in the Lockman committee primary translation, life and peace are objects of reverence and also God is an object of reverence. I have no Hebrew language training whatsoever. Perhaps someone could enlighten me as to why the published translation is presented as it is rather than the alternative translation I proposed. |
Bible Answer: Hi NoDoctrineOfMen, We probably have the same outlook on Bible translation in that I enjoy the literal word for word versions. I, too, would tend to add as few words as possible to the text.(If I were knowledgeable in Hebrew and doing translation work). We are in the same boat.:) And how we interpret the Scriptures is a personal thing that will affect our beliefs and our relationship with God. I commend you on your attention to little details for they could mean a lot. Personally, in my bibly study I am more concerned with the pronouns of Deity and would question the addition of words in the NKJ for this verse. NKJ, Malachi 2:5, "My covenant was with him, "one of" life and peace, And I gave them to him "that he might" fear "Me"; So he feared Me And was reverent before My name." So, here in the NKJ as I have typed it out, the words in quotes are the ones that are italized in the text. "One of" is denoting a single covenant with (as you have pointed out) a plural [them] which confuses the issue. In adddition it gives a pronoun of "Me" that I would like a Hebrew scholar to affirm as appropriate. The NKJ has five pronouns and the NASB has only four. I would go with your translation except I would leave out the comma and put in a word like "for". "My covenant with him was life and peace and I gave them to him for reverence, so that he revered Me and stood in awe of My name." I find nothing wrong with our determining what is right for us in this verse, especially since it will not affect any major doctrine that I know of. My friend Kalos is anxious to keep the Scriptures as they are. He is a respected contributor here and if you bear with him you might come to like him. :) From the heart, Ray |