23
votes
In Psalm 22:21 is the Bible speaking of "unicorns"?
Interestingly, despite there being several good answers here, no one has yet raised the possibility that the word ראם (re'em) refers to an animal known as the aurochs or urus (Bos primigenius). (Edit:...
- 4,190
17
votes
Accepted
How can we reconcile 2 Samuel 6:23 & 2 Samuel 21:7-9?
As a commenter notes, there is a text-critical issue here.
The Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible plainly reads "Michal" at this point. However, as the textual notes to the Biblia Hebraica ...
- 24.6k
13
votes
In Isaiah 14:12 did the King James translator make a mistake using the term Lucifer to describe morning star?
The Idea in Brief
The best translation in this passage is not “Lucifer” (or any similar translation with the image of the brightness of light), but instead “the one wailing aloud” falling from heaven....
- 16.3k
12
votes
What was the logic behind changing "firmament" to "sky"?
Firmament
The primary reason the word "firmament" has been updated in modern translation (using the term "changed" is incorrect - new translations start with the original language, ...
- 4,190
9
votes
How convincing were the proofs of the resurrection in Acts 1:3?
This interesting question has two dimensions: (1) the meaning of παρέστησεν ἑαυτὸν ... ἐν πολλοῖς τεκμηρίοις [parestēsen heauton ... en pollois tekmēriois = "he presented himself ... by many ...
- 24.6k
9
votes
Accepted
Why does the KJV add "desire" to Mark 11:24?
When looking at slightly odd renderings in the KJV (and there are some fascinating ones), it is worth checking on its influences for any clues.
And the case of Mark 11:24, along with its parallel in ...
- 24.6k
9
votes
Accepted
How should we understand Gen 31:24 in view of the context (i.e., Laban speaks to Jacob) and an apparent Hebrew language nuance?
The Hebrew phrase in question is מִטּוֹב עַד־רָע (metov ad ra), literally “from good to bad.”
According to Gesenius on מן...עד (min...ad),1
There are used in opposition to each other—(α) מִן אֶל … ...
- 10.4k
9
votes
Accepted
How does the Douay Rheims Bible translate שַׁדַּי as God of Jacob in Psalms 91:1?
The Douay-Rheims version is a translation of the Vulgate. The Vulgate to Psalms seems to have gone through multiple revisions. I looked through all the versions I could find easily and found these ...
- 3,700
9
votes
Is it Nebuchadnezzar or Nebuchadrezzar?
The King James Version translators were careful to translate as near as possible to the original.
In this case, the Hebrew spellings are different. In Jeremiah 32:28, "Nebuchadrezzar" is ...
- 3,450
8
votes
In Isaiah 14:12 did the King James translator make a mistake using the term Lucifer to describe morning star?
When the KJV and other Reformation-era English translations were written, Lucifer was already seen as a proper noun for Satan
The OED gives five instances of Lucifer being used as a proper noun ...
- 2,935
8
votes
Why is 2 Peter 1:19 commonly translated with "day star" rather than "Lucifer"?
The Greek word"phosphoros" occurs only here in the New Testament. It can be translated as "Lucifer", light-bringer or light-bearer". As the name assigned to the planet Venus by the ancients, it can ...
- 126
8
votes
In Rev.5:6, is the "Lamb" one of the "four beasts in the midst of the throne" (KJV)?
If that which is termed 'lamb' is one of the four beasts simply because it is in the midst of the four beasts, then that which is 'lamb' is also a part of the throne (as it is in the midst of the ...
- 28.1k
8
votes
What are the main Textual Differences between KJV and DRB?
The Douay-Rheims Bible is a translation into English from the Latin Vulgate, which dates to a translation from Hebrew (most of the Old Testament) and Greek (New Testament and some Old Testament ...
- 10.2k
8
votes
Why is the phrase 'not being myself under the law' missing in 1 Corinthians 9:20 in the KJV?
The KJV is translated from the Textus Receptus from the Greek texts of the Computensian Polyglot, from Erasmus, from Beza 1598 and Stephanus 1550.
Professor Frederick Scrivener, in 1881, produced a ...
- 28.1k
8
votes
Accepted
Why is the phrase 'not being myself under the law' missing in 1 Corinthians 9:20 in the KJV?
The phrase in question from the Greek is μὴ ὢν αὐτὸς ὑπὸ νόμον = not being myself under the law.
The MSS that include this phrase include (dates in brackets):
P46(200), 01(350), 02(V), 03(IV), 04(V), ...
- 82.5k
7
votes
Accepted
Genesis 2:10 - Why are the verbs and the participle translated into English past tense?
It is hard to know how else to translate this idiomatically in English otherwise. Even sticking with the MT, the verb sequence makes it clear that 2:10-14 is an "offline" digression describing the one-...
- 24.6k
7
votes
Accepted
In Psalm 12:6-7 who or what will God preserve from that generation?
The Idea in Brief
The received Masoretic Text and its translation into English by the New American Standard Bible appear to be the best rendering of this verse in Hebrew and English, respectively.
...
- 16.3k
7
votes
Is "theos" of the Textus Receptus of 1 Timothy 3:16 the original reading?
John William Burgon wrote “The Revision Revised” (1881) to which anyone would have to refer sooner or later to decide if there was any merit in Sir Isaac Newton’s assertions concerning 1 Timothy 3:16.
...
- 719
6
votes
Accepted
Proverbs 26:10 - Are modern translations right to involve an 'archer'?
This has been called "The Most Obscure Verse in Proverbs". Textual and/or translational uncertainties involve nearly every word in the verse1 and they are to some extent inseparable if we want to end ...
- 26.1k
6
votes
In Psalm 12:6-7 who or what will God preserve from that generation?
Ambiguity is present in all languages. Just as the referent of "them" in verse 7 is ambiguous in English, the Hebrew also allows several interpretations, although I think that the "scholars" ...
- 26.1k
6
votes
Origin of Pleonastic Phrasology in the Bible
Bullinger designates such a figure of speech as “polyptoton.”1
He categorizes the variety of polyptoton that occur in the Bible.
Examples like the ones you quoted are discussed in section “3. Verbs ...
- 10.4k
6
votes
Accepted
Why KJV translated "Χριστοῦ" as "God" in Ephesians 5:21?
The Textus Receptus Greek text for Ephesians 5:21 reads :
υποτασσομενοι αλληλοις εν φοβω θεου
The KJV translates this as :
Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. [KJV 1769]
...
- 28.1k
6
votes
Accepted
Why is John 5:4 missing in the NIV?
John 5:4 is a verse that is variously included or excluded in various manuscripts upon which the modern edited versions depend. Thus, the question is purely a textual criticism problem.
Of the ...
- 82.5k
5
votes
Accepted
In Luke 2:22, why does the King James Version translate «τοῦ καθαρισμοῦ αὐτῶν» as “her purification”?
This is a textual issue. Most important manuscripts (including Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus, and Vaticanus) contain αὐτῶν, unambiguously 3rd masculine plural (genitive). This is the reading of the Textus ...
- 26.1k
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