[B-Greek] Hebrews 9:28
George F Somsel
gfsomsel at yahoo.com
Fri Oct 2 08:46:04 EDT 2009
I get a bit disconcerted with the emphasis on "how do you translate" when what we should be doing is understanding the Greek of the text. On the other hand, translations are an encapsulation of someone's or a group's understanding of a text. I note that you refer to χωρὶς ἁμαρτίας [XWRIS hAMATIAS] as referring to a lack of sin in Christ. I think that this is a misunderstanding of the intent of the passage and makes for poor theology as well. If it is only δευτέρου [DEUTEROU], i.e. the second time that he is without sin, what about the first time since this appears to contrast to the first. This forum is not, however, about theology so I only mention it to note that one can create problems for one's self. I would recommend the understanding of χωρὶς [XWRIS] here as referencing the second appearance as not having to do with sin rather than not possessing sin. See Moulton & Milligan _Vocabulary ..._
george
gfsomsel
… search for truth, hear truth,
learn truth, love truth, speak the truth, hold the truth,
defend the truth till death.
- Jan Hus
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________________________________
From: Carl Conrad <cwconrad2 at mac.com>
To: B-Greek <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
Cc: Leonard Jayawardena <leonardj at live.com>
Sent: Friday, October 2, 2009 2:35:50 AM
Subject: [B-Greek] Hebrews 9:28
Forwarded on behalf of Leonard Jayawardena:
Hebrews 9:28 reads, hOUTWS KAI hO CRISTOS hAPAX PROSNECQEIS EIS TO
POLLWN ANENEGKEIN hAMARTIAS, EK DEUTEROU CWRIS hAMARTIAS OFQHSETAI
TOIS AUTON APEKDECOMENOIS EIS SWTHRIAN.
NASB's translation of this verse is typical of the way most
translations handle this verse: "... so Christ also, having been
offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for
salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await
Him." ("reference to" is in italics.)
Of all the translations I have consulted, only Darby Translation
renders this verse thus: "... thus the Christ also, having been once
offered to bear the sins of many, shall appear to those that look for
him the second time without sin for salvation."
I think Darby translation's rendition of this verse has the following
points to commend it:
1. CWRIS hAMARTIAS occurs in 4:15 in relation to Christ and there
clearly refers to the absence of sin in Christ. The use of CWRIS
elsewhere in Hebrews, too, involves the idea of absence and that is
the sense of this word in the NT generally when used as a preposition.
Therefore the usage of this word in the NT would seem require the
translation in Hebrews 9:28 either that Christ will appear a second
time without sin or that those who wait for him are without sin when
he appears to them. Since the former does not arise, the latter seems
to be the correct translation, i.e., when Christ appears to those who
eagerly wait for him, they are without sin.
2. That translation dovetails well with what is said in the first part
of the verse, that Christ was offered once to take away sin. Thus
Christ having been offerred once to take away the sins of his
believers, they wait for him without sin--the purpose for Christ being
offered now achieved--to appear to them.
3. How is the EK DEUTEROU to be understood? Is it possible to
understand this as modifying AUTON, so that the interpretation is that
"he will appear to those who are eagerly waiting for him (to come) the
second time without sin unto salvation"? That is, They wait for him to
come the second time and they are without sin. (I take "salvation"
here as a reference to the resurrection/rapture.)
Why do virtually all the translations translate this verse the way
they do when there are good reasons for translating it the way it is
rendered in Darby translation? What is the justification for
translating CWRIS hAMARTIAS in the verse under discussion as "not to
bear sin," "without reference to sin," "not to deal with sin," etc.?
Leonard Jayawardena
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