Here is the latest translation I'm publishing, that of John's gospel. This had unique challenges, particularly since it Christ's direct words needed translating. As before, I translated them from Greek as though they were originally spoken in Hebrew. There's lots of evidence in the gospel that the Greek had a Hebrew original, in particular what words are chosen and how they are used.
On notable word that I translated differently than usual is "cosmos." Usually this is translated as "world," but that doesn't make sense in Hebrew, as they have no comparable word. All words that relate to the land, like "eres" or "adamah"refer directly to the soil. Even in Greek, the word at the time (though the Greeks knew that the world was round) referred to the land and the astronomical happenings above it. So I consistently translated it as "land."
Another is "phosphoreo." This is usually translated as light, and that is in part what it means, but it also means "fire." Given that Jesus frequently refers to metaphors of fire, it makes sense that this would sometimes mean fire, sometimes light, depending on the context.
Another is "logos." This is usually translated abstractly in the beginning of the gospel, however in St. Paul's letter to the Hebrews, he uses "logos" to refer particularly to scripture, whereas "legei" and other words like this are used to refer to saying something. It actually works quite well as scripture, understanding it as something that both existed before, and that Jesus and His disciples were also actively making at the time they were saying what they said. Now they form part of our scripture.
Yet another is "they put them out of the synagogue." The Greek word used here is "excommunicatio" Clearly, this is directly related to the English word "excommunication," however it appears the first English translators didn't think it right to translate it more directly, since it appears to indicate that the Jewish authorities at the time excommunicated as the Catholic Church excommunicates today. Still, there is a link between the practice at the time, and the practice now, which is why the same word is used. Also, in my opinion, that word is the best translation available, since it very concisely contains nearly all that is meant by the original word. So I have translated it thus.
I could continue on with many other words, however there is much more to the Gospel than just my translation choices! So I recommend you read it for yourself to get a sense of it. Please pray for me, I will continue to pray for all of you.
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