So I’ve decided to “translate” some Bible verses that we are studying as a family. My goal is to (1) learn the true meaning of the verse and (2) to communicate it in the best way while (3) remaining true to the text. To do this I look through about 50 or 60 different translations to try to discern the meaning of each phrase. Then I look briefly at the Greek, not being a Greek expert, just to make sure the sentence structure is true to the original. (I continually find subtle differences between the Greek and many of the popular translations. I will give one example below.)
My first scripture to tackle was Hebrews 9:27-28, a wonderful passage drawing a comparison between (1) our death and judgment and (2) the Messiah’s sin-offering and his return. Here is my translation of the verse:
And just as it is appointed for humans to die once, and after that to face judgment, so also the Messiah, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not as a sin offering, but to save those waiting on him for deliverance.
Some points of interest:
(1) I chose to translate the Greek word Christos (χριστός), usually translated “Christ”, as “the Messiah”. Christ is merely the Greek way of saying “the Messiah”. But many modern readers unfortunately do not understand this simple connection. Substituting “the Messiah” clarifies this issue.
(2) In the Greek the phrase “not as a sin offering” is simply rendered “apart from sin” (χωρίς αμαρτίας). The meaning is more difficult to get at if translated directly as some modern translations have done, but when examined within the context the meaning becomes clear: men only die once, the Messiah only dies for sin once (as in 1 Peter 3:18).
(3) The last phrase in greek is τοις<ho> αυτόν<ego> απεκδεχομένοις<apekdechomai> εις<eis> σωτηρίαν<soteria> which is literally “to the ones awaiting him for deliverance.” I changed the sentence structure to make it flow more easily by adding the word “save”. I think many of the modern translations, including the ESV, NIV, and NASB, get it ever so subtly wrong here. I thought it was important to communicate, as the Greek does, that the people were not merely waiting for him in a generic sense, rather they were waiting “for his deliverance”. I think it might be subtly different to say “he will appear to deliver those who are waiting for him” instead of “he will appear to those who are waiting on him for deliverance”. In this I am trying to default to the Greek sentence structure when a judgment could go either way.
(4) I chose to use the word deliverance rather than salvation which are interchangeable in this sense. But salvation has become an overused, misunderstood, and therefore problematic word in our culture. I favored the use of the less religious word for this reason.
I’d be interested in any comments.
