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NASB | Acts 10:15 Again a voice came to him a second time, "What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Acts 10:15 And the voice came to him a second time, "What God has cleansed and pronounced clean, no longer consider common (unholy)." |
Subject: Greek use of koinos and akathartos |
Bible Note: Part 2 of 2 To backtrack, we see in Acts 10, our Lord Jesus teaching Peter that Gentiles are not to be considered as unclean or as common. They, like he, could also be in the covenant family of God. While the Law states very clearly that the Gentile who sojourns with Israel, is not only allowed covenant fellowship, but also the Temple worship (Lev 17:8), in the days of the Apostles, all Gentiles were considered common. Jesus says, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” Pre Exile Years: During the years of the Judges and Prophets the people adulterated themselves after false gods and were sent into exile. This idolatry was mainly due to contact with pagan Gentiles. The remnant who returned eventually set up laws to separate themselves from ALL Gentiles, pagan or not, in order to prevent a repeat of the sins of their fathers. Around the year 20 B.C. a counsel convened that wrote Eighteen Measures that cemented the dividing wall between Jews and any Gentile. This was a period of high Gentile interest in the faith of Israel (see Josephus, et. al.) Certain strict Pharisees, who determined to build this wall between Jews and Gentiles, ended up killing dozens of the followers of the more lenient school and enacted the measures despite them. Many years latter, this event was considered by some as more grievous than the day of the Golden Calf. Either way, by the mid first century A.D. these measures were well entrenched into the Jewish life. The word common is littered throughout these measures. Back to Romans 14:14 While this may seem a bit of a rabbit trail, how this connects to Romans 14:14 is important. These measures made food bought from a Gentile Market “common.” Pius Jews would not eat such meat. Since the ruling Paul gives in this chapter is about “disputable matters” it would seem unlikely that he would be referring to Lev. 11, since that passage is quite clear. It’s hard to dispute plain language. But, this issue of what meat could be eaten being a disputable matter fits the historical events. Paul has no problem eating this meat (which might even have been used in the pagan Temple) because he will not add to what the Law says (Deut 4:1-2; 12:32). Yet, if some have strong convictions that eating such meat would be a transgression of the Law, they ought to follow their convictions. As for Paul, he has no issue with eating “common” meat. There is no such thing as “common” for Paul, primarily because the Hebrew Scriptures (the only Scriptures he has) say nothing about it. Furthermore, we see in Ephesians 2:14 that Paul has declared the dividing wall between Jews and Gentiles to be destroyed. Paul, being the Apostle to the Gentiles, fought hard against the 20 BC ruling – the Eighteen Measures – as well as other things. So what is the best word to use to translate koinos in Romans 14:14? The most obvious choice would be to use “common” each time koinos is used. We are not helping the average English reader by using the wrong English word regardless of its connection to another. While I understand the need to “interpret” at times when doing a translation, my view is that the translator should do more translating and less interpreting. By translating what the author meant to convey instead of what the author said, we cheapen the Text and assume an ignorant audience. This verse, as translated in English wrong, prevents the English reader from asking the question, “What is meant by ‘common’?” Without the question the reader can not find the answer. MJH |