[B-Greek] NWT: Is it an accurate translation of the Greek?
Awohili at aol.com
Awohili at aol.com
Thu Feb 23 11:25:14 EST 2006
In a message dated 02/23/2006 2:53:02 A.M. Pacific Standard Time,
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu writes:
It is hard to believe that anything new will be said about it,
but that remains a possibility, however remote. If list-members wish
to discuss it anew, that's well and good, provided that the
discussion remains civil and steers clear of sectarian wrangling.
In the post by Dave Smith some interesting points were made about the Latin
translation of the Greek of John 1:1c. In a similar vein, I would like to
make some points about an often overlooked ancient translation of that same
verse in the Sahidic Coptic version.
Coptic is more like English (and unlike Greek and Latin) in that it has both
an indefinite article and a definite article. The Sahidic Coptic version
was translated in late 2nd or early 3rd century C.E. and is of the Alexandrian
text variety as found in codex Vaticanus and codex Sinaiticus, two
well-regarded ancient Greek codices.
So, how did this early version that employed both articles translate the
Greek of John 1:1b, KAI hO LOGOS HN PROS TON QEON? By using the Coptic definite
article, *p* before both the Coptic word for Logos (*shaje*) and for God
(*noute*) i.e.: "the Word (*pshaje*) was with the God (*pnoute)."
What about the contested John 1:1c? The Coptic version uses its indefinite
article, *ou* (contracted to *u* following verbal *ne*) to render the
anarthrous QEOS in KAI QEOS HN hO LOGOS. In Coptic we read, *auw neunoute pe
pshaje*.
The Coptic translators had a good command of Greek. It was their liturgical
language and the Coptic language itself is written in mostly Greek letters.
In plain English the Coptic translation says, "and a God was the Word."
It was similarly translated in the English version of the Coptic Sahidic
made by Reverend George W. Horner and published between 1911-1924 in volume III
of his _The Coptic Version of the New Testament in the Southern Dialect_
(Oxford: Clarendon Press): "In the beginning was being the word, and the word was
being with God, and a God was the word."
Practically the same translation of the Sahidic Coptic John 1:1c was made by
Lance Jenott in 2003, as found at this web site:
_http://depts.washington.edu/cartah/text_archive/coptic/coptjohn.shtml_
(http://depts.washington.edu/cartah/text_archive/coptic/coptjohn.shtml)
As far as I know, neither the ancient Coptic translators nor the Reverend
Horner, nor Lance Jenott were members of the NWT translation committee. But
in translating John 1:1c into another language they arrived at similar results.
Different Greek scholars see different things in John 1:1c. Thus, they may
differ as to what is "accurate." But the NWT was neither the first nor the
last to render QEOS in John 1:1c as indefinite.
Solomon Landers
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