Hello Oz, the minister of the church I was attending spoke about how he only believed English Translations that came out of a committee rather than a paraphrase English translation generated by a single person.
I smiled to myself as a committee is just as susceptible to making mistakes as a single person when creating a translation of a text written in another language, whether ancient or modern.
What hinders us from correcting our existing translations is the tradition of the translations themselves.
I provided an example with the Greek word "seismos" where I suggested that it would be better to translate this Greek word as "turmoil" rather than "earthquake" in all of the places where it is found in its many forms in the New Testament.
However, because of the tradition it will be difficult to change peoples understanding and open up some very different understanding as to what is being actually said in the Greek texts from which our translations were derived.
In Matthew 8:12, we find: -
Matthew 8:24: - 24 And suddenly a great tempest/great turmoil arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep.
If all of the occurrences of the same Greek word was translated in the same manner as in: - Matthew 8:24, 28:2, Acts 16:26, Revelation 6:12, 11:13, 11:19, 16:18, 16:18, then Matt 8 12 should have been translated as
Matthew 8:24: - 24 And suddenly a great tempest/great earthquake arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep.
For sailors who cross bars and sail in confined waters, they know that the wind plus the reflected waves can cause standing waves to occur such that they will swamp their small craft and sink it. This is the turmoil that occurs in the waves that the disciples were afraid of while Jesus was asleep in the bottom of the boat.
In other passages where G:4578 occurs, the earth shaking and rocks being split is also described and this is a great description of an actual earthquake, but in the example I gave, the centurion saw the turmoil in the people around him and felt the earth shaking, and the sun being blotted out such that there was darkness, said, "Surely this man was the Son of God." The earthquake was only of a short duration, while the turmoil that the centurion saw occurred over many hours during the crucifixion of Christ.
You have presented the usual argument given against changing the word "earthquake" to "turmoil" because the tradition has been set in the translations given over many centuries.
The question I have in what is translated in Matt 28:2: -
Matt 28:2: - 2 And, behold, there was a
great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
is How does an Angel, coming down out of heaven cause "a great earthquake." On the other hand, the people at the tomb, would have been in "great turmoil" when confronted with an Angel descending from heaven, and they would have probably run away in fear.
An earthquake was not needed to roll the stone away as we are told that the Angel was the one who rolled the stone away from the door of the tomb.
Can I rest my case with you on this point of understanding.
Shalom
