1 TIMOTHY 1:2
I am getting ready to start preaching/teaching through the New Testament letter of 1 Timothy and have been working in the first couple of verses for this Sunday.
In my work I noticed something peculiar in the way that 1:2 is rendered. The ESV (following most other English translations) reads: "To Timothy my true child in the faith." The word translated as child is teknon -- which is quite a literal rendering. However, the TNIV (following the NIV) renders the same verse as "To Timothy, my true son in the faith..." -- which is an acceptable translation.
However, the thing which strikes me as a bit ironic about rendering teknon as son in the TNIV is that the critics of the TNIV (of whom there are many -- and they are vocal) are annoyed with the translation because they say that it has a strong feminist agenda and that it uses broader gender inclusive language than the text supports. Yet, here is an instance when the original language lends itself to something more inclusive and because of the context the TNIV translates it as gender specific. This suggests that the TNIV feminist agenda is perhaps not as defining as the critics contend.
2 comments:
Better Bible Blog (I think englishbibles.blogspot.com) is a great place to go to look at issues like you bring up here.
ESV and some of those backing it and on a campaign against the TNIV is not based on scholarship, I believe. You can see that if you understand some of what has gone on behind the scenes along with at least one instance of backtracking that has occurred.
Ha. Thanks for bringing that up. I'd be surprised if that's the only case like it, the one you mention, at least as to the TNIV.
"behind the scenes"- I mean here not publicly, yet at the same time not secretly. These men are not acting in a devious manner at all. They are good men whom I believe are overall profoundly mistaken.
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