Comments on: Colossians Translation Comparisons – 1

By: Colossians Translation Comparisons - 2 | Scripture Zealot

Colossians Translation Comparisons - 2 | Scripture Zealot — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 03:11:38 +0000

[...] If you haven’t seen it, the first post is here. [...]

By: TCR

TCR — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 02:48:20 +0000

I totally agree with Bryan on this one. Besides, every translation has some sort of “commentary” to make sense to the reader. It’s the nature of translating.

The TNIV is the clear winner here.

By: Scripture Zealot

Scripture Zealot — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 00:16:10 +0000

Sorry about that Brian. I wasn’t aware that JavaScript was needed to post a reply.

Thanks for the second reply. I know you’ve been working on Colossians and that’s very helpful.
Jeff

By: Bryan

Bryan — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 00:00:07 +0000

A few more thoughts-

Basically, I take the dia, (“through,” “because of”) as modifying “which you have” in the previous verse.

The relative pronoun “which,” has “love” as its antecedent:
“The love which you have” – So here, we find that “hope” is connected to the “love which you have” by the preposition “dia,” as I said above.

Going backwards a bit more, we see that the “love” is connected to “faith” with a simple conjunction, “and.”

This gives us that their faith AND love are “because of” hope. In other words, they come from, or “spring from” hope.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 23:51:43 +0000

Yeah, so I just typed out a long response quoting O’Brien and Wright, in favor of my translation on my site.

Then your blog ate it because I forgot to allow javascript.

So… basically I’ll paraphrase:

“I agree with the TNIV, although the RSV maintains the ambiguity of the original.”

Citations:
O’Brien, Colossians-Philemon, WBC.
Wright, Colossians and Philemon, TNTC.

By: Nathan Stitt

Nathan Stitt — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 22:53:26 +0000

The REB and NEB are great translations and worth owning. If there is a used bookstore near you there is a good chance they’ve got a NEB available second hand. I already have a NLT, however it is the 1996 edition. After the recent discussion on TC’s blog I’m going to pick up the NLTse on Saturday when I’m near the bookstore. There is a hardback copy that is only $12 or so, that is nice enough for comparison work. While I’m at it, I’m also going to be on the lookout for a CEV. David Ker over at Lingamish has recommended it quite frequently and it’s about time I get myself a copy of that.

By: Scripture Zealot

Scripture Zealot — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 19:49:56 +0000

I wish the REB was online somewhere. I suppose I’ll have to buy one. I also want an NLT. Too much stuff to buy.

Thank you for looking up the commentary.
Jeff

By: ElShaddai Edwards

ElShaddai Edwards — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 19:02:05 +0000

For what it’s worth, the REB is similar to the TNIV:

In all our prayers to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we thank him for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love you bear towards all God’s people; both spring from that hope stored up for you in heaven of which you learned when the message of the true gospel first came to you.

So the question is regarding “spring from”. The IVP commentary on BibleGateway.com says:

The NIV’s loose translation of the difficult phrase dia ten elpida, “for the sake of hope,” correctly indicates that faith and love are the effective yield of hope: faith and love . . . spring from hope. This should not seem remarkable to us (cf. Moule 1968:49), even though we might expect Paul to view faith or love as the ground of hope. He does speak elsewhere about the impossibility of a hopeless faith (1 Cor 15:12-19) or a hopeless love (1 Thess 3:12-13), and in 1 Thessalonians he combines faith and love to make hope their common foundation (1 Thess 1:3; cf. 5:8).