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NASB | Matthew 1:19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Matthew 1:19 And Joseph her [promised] husband, being a just and righteous man and not wanting to expose her publicly to shame, planned to send her away and divorce her quietly. |
Bible Question:
"Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly." (NASB) I'm wondering what most speakers of English today would understand by the words "send her away" here? a. understand the words literally as meaning "send her to some other place" b. some other meaning My mind frequently asks questions like this when I read the Bible. How do you personally think most speakers of English would answer my question? I ask this sincerely. I remember in the mid1960s when I was in Bible school and the NASB first came out. How refreshing it was to read the NASB. We only had the NASB New Testament in those days and we used it for personal evangelism. Now I am a missionary Bible translator. My wife and I have helped translate the Bible for a tribal group since 1975. I have also worked as an English editor, and have helped, by invitation, several English Bible translation teams. I have constructed a survey with questions like the above to help us determine what understanding people have of wordings in the NASB. I invite you to take this confidential survey, posted at Internet address: http://www.geocities.com/bible_translation/survey2.htm Scroll down until you get to the NASB test. Our Bible translation mission has learned that field testing significantly improves the quality of our Bible translations. Perhaps you would find it interesting to help determine what understandings people have of various English Bible wordings, including those of the NASB, which I loved to read and carry around with me, as a Bible school student many years ago. Blessings, Wayne |
Bible Answer: Word study ... apoluo - apo and luo ... Wayne, greetings Translation work is tough, tedious and time consuming, as you know. You may be aware of most of what I say. But, this is for the edification of others. There are times one has to add a new concept. Even for us, the thought that Joseph and Mary were bound, because they were engaged is foreign. There were a couple of options. Have her stoned or divorce. Joseph chose a third. God had a fourth. Sometimes it is best to translate from the original. Greek, in this case, is a more prefect language. Our thoughts in English may prejudice the translation process. I think that natives have changed their Bible, once they learned Greek. Send away in the Greek is apoluo (Strong's 630) means - to set free - to let go, dismiss, (to detain no longer) - to let go free, release - used of divorce, to dismiss from the house, to repudiate - to send one's self away, to depart It is from - apo (Strong's 3089) which means ... of separation or ... of origin - and luo (Strong's 630) which means ... to loose any person (or thing) tied or fastened ... to loose one bound, i.e. to unbind, release from bonds, set free ... to loosen, undo, dissolve, anything bound, tied, or compacted together If the natives do not understand what Joseph wanted to do, they may understand the release of a prisoner (Matt 27:15ff) or the dismissal of the assembly (Acts 19:41). I think it is wiser to spend time with the natives to get their ideas. Out thought may be off. I am praying for you and wife, and others as you translate the Word, so others can read it in their native language. I hope I helped, Searcher |