Simon Pease reflects on problems and issues in translation, and that God’s salvation plan was always founded on Messiah’s willing sacrifice
ENTRUSTED WITH THE VERY WORDS OF GOD
“What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? Much in every way! First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God.” (Romans 3:2)
What an incredible responsibility for the Lord to place on a People – to entrust the safe-keeping of His Word to them! The Jewish people have indeed risen to this challenge and been wonderfully faithful in recording and transmitting the Tanakh (Old Testament) with remarkable accuracy for the benefit of the whole world.
The first edition of the Apostolic Scriptures (New Testament) was also authored by Jewish men (including a convert to Judaism). So attentive were the Jewish scribes to their work that if the smallest Hebrew letter (the yod or vav – sometimes translated in English Bibles as a “jot or tittle”) was wrongly transcribed, the entire scroll would be discarded and started again! Jesus stated that not one of these letters would disappear from the Torah until “all is fulfilled” (Matthew 5:18), and that His words are eternal (Matthew 24:35).
AMBIGUITY RARE
Such is this accuracy of Jewish transcription that cases of ambiguity in the Tanakh are extremely rare. One dispute in particular stands out. Does Psalm 22 say “they pierced my hands and feet”, or “at my feet, like a lion?” Contrary to popular belief, this was never a case of Jewish and Christian theologians disputing Jesus’ Messiahship, but of an internal Jewish debate, fascinatingly analysed on the One For Israel channel. The balance of evidence favours the use of “pierced”, and astonishingly, the entire debate rests on whether an original letter was a yod or a vav!
Those who translate the Bible are also entrusted with the words of God. The challenges of translation are such that it is sometimes called an “art”. Knowing a language’s vocabulary and grammar are just the start. One also needs to understand linguistic idioms and get a sense for the author’s intent, which in the Bible’s case involves historical background, cross-referencing other Scriptures and being firmly grounded in Biblical theology. A sometimes-overlooked factor is the translator as an individual, with their own cultural background or beliefs which might influence them in particular ways. We know what travesties have been intentionally committed to the Word of God by the Watchtower Society, but what about genuine believers influenced for example by Dominionism or Replacement Theology, perhaps even unwittingly?
THE JEWS KILLED JESUS
Tragically, the idea that Jesus’ crucifixion was “God’s Plan B” or that “the Jews killed Jesus” still circulates in certain Christian denominations, even though these beliefs resulted in abominable acts of cruelty being carried out by institutional Christianity against Jews over many centuries, and ultimately paved the way for the Holocaust.
“Plan B” is explained rather sloppily by the otherwise exceptional scholar Michael S Heiser along these lines: “when humanity (Israel) failed to restore God’s rule, God took matters into his own hands by becoming human in Jesus Christ”. Are we to believe that not only the Jews killed Jesus (rather than the Romans), but that they are twice condemned because Jesus would not even have had to come and die had the Jews only lived out the Torah perfectly – something no fallen human could ever do? Finally, just to add insult to injury, ‘the church’ is now supposed to be ‘the New Israel’, taking over all the covenants and promises that the New Testament says still belong to the Jews (Romans 9:4)?
I have tested the prevalence of this belief by separately quoting each verse of Jeremiah chapter 31:31-33 to Gentile believers and asking them who was being spoken of in each case. The answers were invariably “the church, the Jews, the church”. Their reaction was always astonishment when we then read the entire passage, as a whole!
UNCONSCIOUS BIAS SEEPING INTO ‘TRANSLATION’?
It is hard to conceive that such powerful beliefs, ingrained into the Christian psyche over millennia, cannot fail but to influence our Bible translations. The late David Pawson questioned why some Bibles (the NIV for example), translate Galatians 6:16 as “Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule, even to the Israel of God”, rather than “and to the Israel of God”, implying that the church is the “New Israel”, even though the term is not found in Scripture.
The Greek word “kai” is normally translated “and”, whilst “Israel” is used 70 times in the New Testament to refer to Jews, yet the use of “even” in this NIV translation might cause a reader to believe that the church has replaced the Jews as God’s covenant people. A case of unconscious bias on the part of the translator, perhaps?
Having dismissed “the New Israel”, then “Plan B” is also easily dealt with. It flies in the face of fundamental Biblical truth that Messiah’s atoning death was not only essential, but repeatedly prophesied (Isaiah 53, for example). Jesus was the “lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8), not from His cursing of the fig tree, which some take to be the moment when God finally gave upon the Jews and turned instead to a Gentile ‘church’ to set up His kingdom on earth. This neatly ignores the fact that all the apostles were Jewish! As yet, I have not personally noticed “Plan B” influencing our translations, but perhaps I have just missed it.
THE ‘CHRIST KILLERS’ PANDEMIC
What, then, of the blame exclusively placed on ‘the Jews’ as “Christ killers”? This question arose recently when I was teaching on Shavuot (Pentecost) and wondering if the NIV had accurately translated the apostle Peter’s statement concerning responsibility for Messiah’s death, and also following conversations about which Gospel to use in evangelism. Regarding the latter, the most suitable choice may depend on the recipient: Matthew is particularly relevant for Jews with its emphasis on Jesus’ fulfilment of prophecy. Mark’s action-packed narrative may appeal to younger readers. And John’s presentation of Christ’s identity may particularly help those influenced by New Age mysticism. However, the latter’s use of the term “the Jews”, often referring to those hostile to Jesus, is unfortunate in the sense it is open to misunderstanding – especially given the current pandemic of worldwide anti-Semitism. Is “Jew” even the correct translation?
Surely Yochanan (John) was also a Jew? So why did he use this term in an apparently “us-and-them” way? Before we explore this further, let us stay for a moment with the subject of personal names. Why do our translations use Jude, Judah and Judas when the original Hebrew name is identical? Or Miriam and Mary, when only Miriam is found in the Bible, or indeed Jesus and Joshua (including for the one who so powerfully prefigures the Messiah as suffering servant and king in Zechariah)? Historically the word “Jew” derives from the tribe of Judah, whose territory includes Jerusalem. Jesus’ disciples were Galileans, whose religious culture differed from that of the Jerusalem “establishment”, for example by using the pre-exile calendar.
This background helps us to better understand Yochanan’s Gospel. His use of the term “Jew” seems to be a generalised short-form for those Judean Priests, Scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees who were Messiah’s most vocal critics. And lest we not forget, Yeshua (Jesus) was Himself descended from the tribe of Judah and above all was a Torah-observant Jew, despite the collective amnesia of many Jews and Gentiles regarding this essential fact! This transformation of the Jewish Yeshua in the popular mindset was probably facilitated by changing His name. To counteract this, David Stern’s Bible translation uses authentic Jewish names with their English transliteration.
LAWLESS HANDS
Regarding Peter’s message at Pentecost, many of the Jewish men gathered from the far-flung regions of the Roman Empire were convicted powerfully by the Holy Spirit regarding the crucifixion of Messiah. How many or few of them had personally been present during that Passover festival or joined in the calls for Yeshua’s death is unknown, but the impact of this revelation struck at the very core of their being. Peter’s powerful words spoke of guilt, but what did he say? Translations vary:
“Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain”(KJV)
“This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.” (NIV)
First, regardless of differences in translation, there is no getting around Peter’s clear statement that Messiah’s death was God’s perfect plan. He did not refer to “Plan A” because there was never a “Plan B”.
Second, addressing a Jewish audience, he says “you”, implicating his own people. Third, those who carried out the death sentence – all of them Gentiles – were “wicked”. But what does the Greek say? The word is “anomos”, meaning “those without law”, which in a very obvious sense equates to sin. The Anti-Christ is infamously the “man of lawlessness”. Yeshua stated that He would be betrayed into the hands of sinners (Matthew 26:45). But what would “without law” have meant to Peter’s Jewish listeners? It would have meant, surely, those without Torah – the Gentiles. Perhaps this is a better translation:
“you killed this One, Who was given up by the before determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, when you nailed Him by lawless hands…..” (One New Man Bible)
The spirit of lawlessness today so powerfully at work in our generation, turns God’s definition of sin on its head. This spirit of lawlessness is offended, above all, by Eretz Israel as a physical reminder that God’s prophetic purposes still stand. Much of Western Christianity has been largely swept along with the anti-Jewish, anti-Israel, tide. David Wilkerson once famously warned that much of the Gentile church would come to embrace a “Christless Pentecost”, devoid of the cross and its convicting power to save. Zechariah prophesied, on the other hand, that throughout Israel:
“They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.” (Zechariah 12:10).
ALL GUILTY
For Jew and Gentile alike, guilt is the same, as is the way of salvation – provided hearts and minds are willing to be convicted by the Holy Spirit. Peter’s message was delivered at Shavuot, a festival of first fruits offering, and those Jews who responded foreshadow the greater outpouring yet to come upon their descendants. The Jews have always been faithful in their duty to preserve the written Word of God, and one day they will also become faithful to the Living Word of God.
“In those days ten men from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, ‘Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.’” (Zechariah 8:23)
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWi7GJ_QZ4E(Did the Church Corrupt Psalm 22:17? – “Pierced” or “Like a lion” – The Case for Messiah
The Unseen Realm, Michael S Heiser, p215. Lexham Press, 2015.
Defending Christian Zionism, David Pawson, pp 79-83. Terra Nova Publications, 2008.
Three Days and Three Nights – that Changed the World, David Serle and Peter Sammons. Christian Publications International, 2018.
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