Christians have often made special decorated editions of the Bible, so we would have no objection to a red letter edition of our translation if there is a demand for it. Also if someone wants to volunteer to start converting the text into a version with metric measurements for readers outside the United States, that would be a good idea …
05. Did ancient Israel have toilets? (Mt 15:17)
The answer to both questions is “yes.” The facilities Israel had can be called either toilets or latrines. Latrine is the definition of aphedron in the standard lexicon of New Testament Greek (BDAG). Latrine perhaps is the most technically correct word for what Jesus is talking about because it is the most comprehensive. A latrine can be a ditch or …
04. Why does the account of the Wise Men say that they saw the star “in its rising” when many translations say that they saw the star “in the East”?
In Matthew 2:2,9 did the Wise Men see the star “in the east” or “in its rising” ? “In the east” certainly has a lot of support in recent translations, but if the Wise Men were from the East why would they have to tell us that they were “in the east” when they saw the star? We would know …
03. Why don’t you capitalize the pronouns that refer to God? That seems to give more honor to God.
The two most common suggestions that we have received are for a red letter Bible and to capitalize the pronouns that refer to God. The first suggestion (to use red letters for the words of Jesus) is not a translation issue but it is just a matter of the publisher producing a red letter version if there is demand for …
02. In the passion history Jesus twice says, “Who are you looking for?” Isn’t that bad grammar?
These are our principles that govern who and whom: Do keep distinctions between who and whom, etc., but try to avoid uses that sound stilted or pedantic in contemporary English. “Who are you looking for?” sounds like normal conversation. “For whom are you looking?” does not sound normal in conversation. Try out a few English sentences and see what sounds …
01. Why does Jesus say, “Amen, Amen, I tell you”?
In most recent English translations of the Gospels Jesus frequently says, “Truly I say to you” or “I tell you the truth.” This conveys a clear meaning, but the problem is that in the Greek text Jesus, in the great majority of cases, does not use the Greek word for “truly” [ἀληθῶς / alethos] or “truth [ἀλήθεια / aletheia].” Even …