Which translation sits best with you?

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JohnDB

Well-known member
Jan 16, 2021
6,142
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#21
Just curious.

Which translation below sits best with you and your understanding of James 3:17?



But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure;
then peace-loving,
considerate,
submissive,
full of mercy and good fruit,
impartial and sincere.



But the wisdom from above is first of all pure . . .
then peaceable . . .
and reasonable . . .
and teachable.
Filled with mercy . . .
divine good production -
without partiality . . .
and without hypocrisy.
Grace and peace, GeneZ​
Both work well for me....
But I understand the Jewish concept of Submission/teaching and considerate/reasonable.

In Jewish minds these things are the same thing and not separate from each other. Unlike modern Westernized thought which makes the distinction.

And we are reading ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN literature when discussing scriptures.

I really don't own a favorite translation. Because one cannot exist.
 

JohnDB

Well-known member
Jan 16, 2021
6,142
2,456
113
#22
Just to tack on here....

To "fulfill" the scriptures of course means to live them out....but ALSO EQUALLY IMPORTANT was to make them understandable as to how to live to those around you.

And in this we say that Jesus FULFILLED the Law of Moses.

Ok....I'm done for the moment.
 
Oct 12, 2017
2,457
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#23
I really don't own a favorite translation. Because one cannot exist.
That is correct.
It takes someone able to soundly exegete the Scriptures to explain.

The listeners had no Bibles in their hands. They listened to the one teaching and would think for themselves.

But, the people teaching, and the listeners, would both know the Hebrew language, which was their native tongue.

And, the same holds true for when the NT was written in the Greek.

How many can teach today line upon line as a pastor-teacher?
James 3:1 tells us, only a few should try.

But, instead of a few good, clear thinking teachers?
What do we find today?

For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine.
Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great
number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear."

2 Timothy 4:3


Paul warned in 2 Timothy 4:3 that MANY today will be peddling what people crave/want to hear, rather than what they NEED to hear.
What they need to hear? Is correction with direction.

So it is being....
 

GWH

New member
Oct 19, 2024
7
1
3
#26
And when you check the Greek, then you will have to determine which of the Greek definitions fits best. No thanks. I do not want to be the final authority on what God has said.
John146 raises a good point: even if we had an inerrant translation, we would need an infallible interpretation, and the closest approximation requires a systematic methodology or seeking to harmonize all biblical teachings regarding a topic, such as perseverance--which few folks are interested in doing, perhaps because it requires too much work of study, so they settle for some degree of sufficient understanding.