[B-Greek] Hebrews 1:1-2 EN

Alderman, Jim jim.alderman at G3TP.com
Sat Dec 22 02:54:38 EST 2007


Carl W. Conrad wrote:

> As for B-Greek members, we surely range across a variety of 
> translation philosophies, but not many of us, I think, are 
> hung up on a word-for-word translation that doesn't accurately
> express the sense of the Greek text.

Ouch!  Perhaps we should bring this subject to a conclusion.

A.T. Robertson, in A Grammar Of The Greek New Testament, 1934, on page 47 states, “One of the commonest and gravest errors in studying the grammar of foreign languages is to make a half-conjectural translation, and then reason back from our own language to the meaning of the original; or to explain some idiom of the original by the formally different idiom which is our substantial equivalent.”  This is actually itself a quote from Broadus, Comm. On MT., 1886, p.316.  Robertson goes on to say, "Broadus was the greatest teacher of language that I have known and he has said nothing truer than this.  After all, an educated Greek knew what he meant better than we do."

Of course this has no application for those who read and study only the Greek text and think in Greek.  I am certainly not in that category - not even close.  I am a Wee Little Greek and I work with people studying the New Testament who know almost no Greek, save that which they pick up in class after many repetitions.  So I am constantly on guard not to make the Broadus error.

I just made my final case on this matter responding to George F Somsel.  If there is insufficient justification to translate the two occurrences of EN differently in Heb. 1:1-2, and according to Mark Lightman a vast majority of the translators found this to be true, then doing so establishes step 1 of the Broadus error.  Of course, with Marshall's interlinear, the reader can see what is happening.  NIV's through/by is rather innocuous but NET's through/in is not.  While this might not be a monumental issue, at the end of this verse we have DI' hOU KAI EPOIHSEN TOUS AIWNAS.
        
Finally, thanks to Jonathan Robie for his comments and C.S. Lewis quote and all who have contributed to my education.

James L. Alderman
Takton Systems, Inc.
Indianapolis, IN (USA)

Let all things be done decently and in order.
1 Corinthians 14:40



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