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| A Diversity of Interpretations is Useful. Errors Arising from Ambiguous Words.
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Chapter 12.—A Diversity of
Interpretations is Useful. Errors Arising from Ambiguous
Words.
17. And this circumstance would
assist rather than hinder the understanding of Scripture, if only
readers were not careless. For the examination of a number of
texts has often thrown light upon some of the more obscure
passages; for example, in that passage of the prophet Isaiah,1774
one
translator reads: “And do not despise the domestics of thy
seed;”1775
| 1775 Et domesticos seminis tui ne
despexeris. | another
reads: “And do not despise thine own flesh.”1776
| 1776 Et carnem tuam ne
despexeris. | Each of
these in turn confirms the other. For the one is explained by the
other; because “flesh” may be taken in its literal sense, so
that a man may understand that he is admonished not to despise his
own body; and “the domestics of thy seed” may be understood
figuratively of Christians, because they are spiritually born of
the same seed as ourselves, namely, the Word. When now the
meaning of the two translators is compared, a more likely sense of
the words suggests itself, viz., that the command is not to despise
our kinsmen, because when one brings the expression “domestics of
thy seed” into relation with “flesh,” kinsmen most naturally
occur to one’s mind. Whence, I think, that expression of the
apostle, when he says, “If by any means I may provoke to
emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of
them;”1777
that is,
that through emulation of those who had believed, some of them
might believe too. And he calls the Jews his “flesh,” on
account of the relationship of blood. Again, that passage from
the same prophet Isaiah:1778
| 1778 Isa. vii. 9, “If ye
will not believe, surely ye shall not be established”
(A.V.). | “If ye will not believe, ye
shall not understand,”1779
| 1779 Nisi credideritis, non
intelligetis. | another has translated: “If ye
will not believe, ye shall not abide.”1780
| 1780 Nisi credideritis, non
permanebitis. | Now which of these is the
literal translation cannot be ascertained without reference to the
text in the original tongue. And yet to those who read with
knowledge, a great truth is to be found in each. For it is
difficult for interpreters to differ so widely as not to touch at
some point. Accordingly here, as understanding consists in sight,
and is abiding, but faith feeds us as babes, upon milk, in the
cradles of temporal things (for now we walk by faith, not by
sight);1781
as,
moreover, unless we walk by faith, we shall not attain to sight,
which does not pass away, but abides, our understanding being
purified by holding to the truth;—for these reasons one says,
“If ye will not believe, ye shall not understand;” but the
other, “If ye will not believe, ye shall not abide.”
18. And very often a translator,
to whom the meaning is not well known, is deceived by an ambiguity
in the original language, and puts upon the passage a construction
that is wholly alien to the sense of the writer. As for example,
some texts read: “Their feet are sharp to shed
blood;”1782
for the
word ὁζύς among the
Greeks means both sharp and swift. And so he saw
the true meaning who translated: “Their feet are swift to shed
blood.” The other, taking the wrong sense of an ambiguous word,
fell into error. Now translations such as this are not obscure,
but false; and there is a wide difference between the two
things. For we must learn not to interpret, but to
correct texts of this sort. For the same reason it is, that
because the Greek word
μόσχος means a calf, some
have not understood that
μοσχεύματα1783
are shoots of
trees, and have translated the word “calves;” and this error
has crept into so many texts, that you can hardly find it written
in any other way. And yet the meaning is very clear; for it is
made evident by the words that follow. For “the plantings of an
adulterer will not take deep root,”1784
| 1784 Adulterinæ plantationes non
dabunt radices altas. | is a more suitable form of
expression than the “calves;”1785
because these walk upon the ground
with their feet, and are not fixed in the earth by roots. In this
passage, indeed, the rest of the context also justifies this
translation.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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