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NASB | Ephesians 3:9 and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Ephesians 3:9 and to make plain [to everyone] the plan of the mystery [regarding the uniting of believing Jews and Gentiles into one body] which [until now] was kept hidden through the ages in [the mind of] God who created all things. |
Bible Question:
Thanks to all for your responses and links to study aids. Tim, I understand you are the Greek expert here. Could you clarify a few things for me? -Is there a difference between the modern Greek spoken today and the Greek of the New Testament as far as it making a difference in translation? -You said, “It is easy to see how v. 11 could be translated as 'eternal purpose'.” Coud you explain what you mean? It seems that the translators of the KJV/NAS were inserting their own interpretation into the translations, weren’t they? -In the KJV, the translators have many times rendered “aion” as “eternal” or “forever”. However, as I have been studying this I’ve come to the conclusion that “aion” can only be correctly rendered as: a limited time, an age, and the plural means ages. Am I correct in this? Thanks for your help. |
Bible Answer: Greetings Jubalee! In the spirit of full disclosure, I am by no means a Greek expert. :-) I have been trained in it and have a decent working knowledge of it. All translation involves interpretation. Words are very fluid and flexible things. For instance, if you were to find an English document some 3,000 years in the future, how would you translate the word 'level'? It could be a verb, or a noun, or an adjective. Words can sometimes be used in Greek to express idioms or meanings that may not be apparent from a very literal translation. Having said that, I think a more literal translation is preferable when possible. 'Age' or 'ages' can refer to a definite period of time or an indefinite period of time. Thus, one possible meaning is 'eternal'. In the case of v. 11, the literal 'purpose of the ages' could be translated as 'eternal purpose' in the same way that 'bush of fire' could be translated as 'fiery bush'. You wrote: "In the KJV, the translators have many times rendered “aion” as “eternal” or “forever”. However, as I have been studying this I’ve come to the conclusion that “aion” can only be correctly rendered as: a limited time, an age, and the plural means ages. Am I correct in this?" This is a mistake that a lot of beginners in language studies make. Many feel that one should simply be able to take a strong's concordance and plug a particular meaning into a translation all through out Scripture. However, translation is much more difficult than that. :-) I don't really know much about modern Greek. However, google has a translation feature. When I typed in 'eternal' it translated it into 'aionios'. I hope this helps some! Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |