Table of Contents
Parent:: KingJamesOnlyism
King James Etcetera Words
When King James commissioned the King James Version, he decreed 15 principles of translation which were instituted by Richard Bancroft, the bishop of London in 1604. The 3rd rule was:
- The Old Ecclesiastical Words to be kept, viz. the Word Church not to be translated Congregation et. cetera.
Tyndale wrote a book that explains in detail his reasons for the critical choices of translation he made of those "et. cetera" words. These changes are major and systematic, and change the whole flavour of the KJV relative to a real Tyndale bible like Matthew's, which nonetheless are the root of the bibles that the KJV was made from (rules 1 and 14).
The top 5 of the "et. cetera" words that Tyndale translated differently from what King James I decreed are:
- He translated ekklesia as congregation, not church. (Luther avoided the word Kirche, preferring instead Gemeinde.)
- He translated presbuteros as elder, not priest.
- He translated metanoeo as repent, not do penance.
- He translated exomologeo as acknowledge, rather than do confession.
- He translated agape as love, not charity.
King James' decree to not use Tyndale's translation we call KjvTampering.
Paul's Literary Metamorphosis
We can also note in passing some other English translations that were faced with similar choices of words, for what they call postclassical Greek literary conventions, and we'll call Post Vulgate English Conventions.
[https://earlywritings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=159449](Paul's Literary Metamorphosis: Translations of Marcion's Apostolos and Canonical Counterparts) provides the first English translation of Markus Vinzent's forthcoming Greek edition of Marcion's Apostolos. Translated by Mark Bilby; from his notes on Translation:
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πνεῦμα / pneuma [is] translated as “spirit” (evoking the presence and/or power of a god or a demon) [...]
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ἅγιος / hagios as “sacred spirit”, instead of “Spirit” or “Holy Spirit” (implying the third Person of the Trinity in later doctrine).
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capitalization is retained for Χριστός / Christos, but it is not translated as the proper noun “Christ” (as if it were a name at the time), but instead as a common noun or substantive adjective, that is, “Anointed” (a role, title, or description).
Such decisions correct anachronistic, pious editorial programs that have sought (whether consciously or unconsciously) to treat an early imperial set of texts emerging from a fledgling socio-religious movement as if they fit a fully developed, post-Constantinian theological and ecclesiastical mold. They also bring the text fully into conversation with translations of other ancient Greek literature, where references abound to “the god”, to “spirit”, and to various messianic candidates deemed as “Anointed”.
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εὐαγγέλιον / euangelion is transliterated “euangelion”, rather than translated “gospel” (derived from “good story”).
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εὐαγγελίζω / euangelidzô is “euangelize” (i.e., to bring a good message), not “evangelize” (i.e., “convert”) nor “to preach the gospel”.
These transliterations help surface the close linguistic and thematic connections with the word ἄγγελος, “angel” or “messenger”, a term commonplace not only in ancient religions, but also theatrical plays and royal courts.
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ἐκκλησία / ekklêsia is “assembly” not “church”;
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κοινωνία / koinônia is “partnership” not “fellowship”;
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Ἰουδαῖος / Iudaios is “Judean” not “Jew” (as if a religious identity separated from a specific place and its culture);
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ἅγιος / hagios is “devotee|devoted|sacred”, not “saint”;
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χάρις / charis is “favor”, not “grace”;
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καλός / kalos is “virtuous”, not “good”;
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ἁμαρτία / hamartia and ἁμαρτωλός / hamartôlos are “offense|offend|offender”, not “sin|sinner|sinful”;
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αἰών / aiôn is “aeon” (an era or heavenly power), not “age|eternal” (as if always temporal or invoking temporal transcendence);
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γλῶσσα / glôssa is usually “language” not “tongue”;
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ψυχή / psychê is “beast” or “animal” or “life”, not a Platonic “soul”; and
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κόσμος / kosmos is typically “cosmic order”, not “world”.
Some terms may seem unusual, yet reflect common late antique social conventions or idiomatic expressions:
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λειτουργία / leitourgia is “ritual service” not “ministry” or “work”;
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ἀσπάζομαι / aspadzomai is “embrace” not “greet”; and
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σπλάγχνα / splagchna is “gut-level empathies” or “entrails,” not “compassion” or “heart”.
Word choices follow common meanings in the Liddell-Scott-Jones (LSJ) lexicon, often against the sanitized jargon of theological lexicons and church-sponsored translations.
The is online at a number of places including:
- Liddell-Scott-Jones lexicon as a Wiki - a massive Wiki
- A Greek-English Lexicon, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, revised and augmented throughout by Sir Henry Stuart Jones with the assistance of Roderick McKenzie (Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1940).
- https://stephanus.tlg.uci.edu/lsj/