Just Say the Word: 1 Cor. 14:34 — Lost in the translation

Please don’t judge.

Communication is often difficult, even with those who know you the best. A definition I found for “lost in translation” is this: Having lost or lacking the full subtlety of meaning or significance when translated from the original language to another.

But I submit to you that it needn’t be another language at all. In normal conversation, there are six possible outcomes for every sentence you speak to another person. What you said, what you thought you said and what you meant to say; along with what the other person heard, what they thought they heard and what they wanted to hear.

So I don’t talk much. It’s so easy to misspeak or to be misunderstood.

With that in mind, consider the written Word, the Bible. Between your Latin Vulgate, your Old Testament Hebrew and your New Testament Greek, it’s a wonder we can track with anything in God’s Word. More accurately, it would be a miracle.

But I believe in miracles, and that the writers of scripture miraculously kept the essence of the truth of God’s Word intact, despite some perceived (and some very real) discrepancies.

So, think of it this way: As believers we take the Bible literately, as opposed to literally. In other words, it holds up as literature, but can’t be taken word-for-word as perfectly representative of what the original scribes meant. There are simply things lost in translation.

I am called to believe, not to understand. Okay, that last statement I realize needs further explanation. If I know everything there is to know about a thing, there is no faith required. And for the believer, faith is foundational. It’s not that knowledge is bad, but that faith is better, at least when engaging with God’s Word.

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One could easily pick out a verse of scripture and build a doctrine around it.

Here’s one to chew on: “Women should keep silent in the church.”

— 1 Cor. 14:34

Well, that certainly isn’t the case in my church. Were I to follow that decree, I would have to plug my ears when my pastor’s wife, an ordained minister herself, addresses the congregation.  I would have to leave the room when the worship team sang. I would have to assure that my wife, who sings like an angel, does not utter a sound.

So why did Paul the apostle write those words to the church at Corinth? I couldn’t tell you, but I will not be standing up in my church and calling anyone a heretic. Common sense tells me they do not apply today.

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Then Judas went out and hanged himself. Jesus said “Go ye therefore and do likewise.”

Wait, what? That is a mashup of two separate verses not connected in any way, but an exaggerated illustration of the dangers in taking scripture out of context.

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Some of the Bible is allegory, and much of it is a historical record. When you read the Old Testament, you are reading a record of what people did in the past. Some terrible people did some horrible things, and the fact that they are described in the book doesn’t mean anyone thought it was okay.

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Cherry-picking the Bible and using verses out of context has been done for ages. False teachers and false prophets almost always start their spiel with a truth from scripture and then change the wording to suit their narrative.

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It’s fine to highlight verses, as long as you tread carefully. Some people isolate specific verses out of context in order to suit their ideology. When you do this, you make God’s word of no effect.

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If you were to look at a translation where each word is literally translated from Greek/Hebrew into English, sentences would be broken, and participles left dangling. In order for English-speakers to comprehend what is being said, some wording would need to be ‘fixed’ to make the sentence structure proper in English.

Also, there are some words in Greek and Hebrew that don’t exist in English, and vice versa. Therefore, it is necessary to match up English words that will make a meaning understood as the original author intended. Clearly this is not an exact science.

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If you understand that no perfect translation exists, and therefore implies that each translation is imperfect, then it makes sense to stick to a favorite translation that you bring to church, Bible studies, and for your daily devotions. Find the one that speaks to you.