Translations are Interpretations
Posted by Patrick Corkum on May 1, 2010
As I am studying the Greek language, I am realizing how much translations are interpretations. It is not really possible to simply translate one language into another. Concepts exist in some languages where they don’t exist in others. There are also idioms that exist in languages (and cultures) that don’t make sense in others. A great example is the Hebrew idiom that is used in the Old Testament that is literally translated “long of the nostrils”. Huh? Well, this is translated in the English as “slow to anger”.
So, the one that has been bothering me is James 1:27. The reason that it is bothering me is that the way it is translated in English Bibles is an interpretation. I don’t want to get too heady, but bear with me. The NIV translates the Greek as:
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
This would lead one to believe that keeping oneself from being polluted by the world is a separate command. Now, up to the “and to keep”, I am not going to get into… but let’s look at the Greek for a minute…. don’t worry, I will walk you through it.
“θρησκεία καθαρὰ καὶ ἀμίαντος παρὰ τῷ θεῷ καὶ πατρὶ αὕτη ἐστίν, ἐπισκέπτεσθαι ὀρφανοὺς καὶ χήρας ἐν τῇ θλίψει αὐτῶν, ἄσπιλον ἑαυτὸν τηρεῖν ἀπὸ τοῦ κόσμου.”
See the comma? Well, that isn’t there in the manuscripts, but that is okay, I want to use it as a reference point. So let’s start with “ἄσπιλον ἑαυτὸν”. The translation that the NIV has for that works fine… it is translated as “oneself from being polluted”, perhaps “himself unstained”. Himself is the noun there and it is in what is called the accusative. In other words, it is the object of the verb, that is why it shows up in the English after the verb. The verb here is “τηρεῖν”. This verb is in what is called the infinitive. It means “to keep”, like “to keep his commandments.” So, what is an infinitive verb? It makes the verb function as a noun and conveys the concept of “in order that” or “for the purpose of”. Read here to understand what the infinitive means. “ἀπὸ τοῦ κόσμου” means “from the world”. So, where does that leave us? My translation!
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress in order to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
I simply replaced the “and”, which does not occur in the Greek with the concept of what the infinitive is. Now, this translation conveys something COMPLETELY different than the NIV. My translation conveys that looking after orphans and widows in their distress is how you remain unstained by the world.
Does this sound weird? Well, people have been testifying to the truth of that argument. Kay Warren (Rick Warren’s wife) has an entire talk where she explains how she has become “gloriously ruined” by caring for orphans and widows. What she means by that is that she cares nothing about the culture and the trivialities of life anymore. She doesn’t want to talk about anything but God’s heart for the orphan and widow. She wrote an article here.
James is not trying to tell us to do two separate things. People are trying to figure out how to keep themselves from becoming “of the world” and he is telling us how. Sorry if this was really heady.