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EDWARD D. ANDREWS (AS in Criminal Justice, BS in Religion, MA in Biblical Studies, and MDiv in Theology) is CEO and President of Christian Publishing House. He has authored ninety-two books. Andrews is the Chief Translator of the Updated American Standard Version (UASV).
Dynamic equivalent (interpretive) translations are very much guilty of over translating the words of the original text, which might be better expressed as going beyond the words of the authors. The literal and essentially and optimally literal translations may err in that at times they may make poor choices in their translation by either over- or under-translating the words of the original text. Either they go beyond by being interpretive in their effort to convey the meaning of the author as opposed to the words of the author in an English equivalent, or the translators in their effort to be literal they fall short of the corresponding English equivalent.
A good example is a Greek construction of οὐ μή and the aorist subjunctive εἰσέλθῃ found at Mark 10:15. Let’s begin by looking at the Greek text and then the literal and semi-literal translations to see how they deal with this.
Literal Bible Translation
Mark 10:15 Updated American Standard Version (UASV) 15 Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter into it.”
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Mark 10:15 English Standard Version (ESV) 15 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”
Mark 10:15 Lexham English Bible (LEB) 15 Truly I say to you, whoever does not welcome the kingdom of God like a young child will never enter into it.”
Mark 10;15 Christian Standard Bible (CSB) 15 Truly I tell you, whoever does not receivethe kingdom of God like a little childwill never enter it.”
Mark 10:15 New American Standard Bible (NASB) 15 Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”
The supralinear above shows the English words in isolation above the Greek so that we can see what they mean in a stand-alone position. Let’s look at the Greek adverb participle negatives οὐ μή and the aorist subjunctive εἰσέλθῃ.
οὐ (ou): This is an adverb (modifies or describes a verb), particle (conveys syntactical relationships), negative (negates a clause) that is rendered no or not in our English Bible translations.
µή (mē): This is also an adverb (modifies or describes a verb), particle (conveys syntactical relationships), negative (negates a clause) that is rendered no or not in our English Bible translations.
οὐµή (oumē): This combination of two Greek negative particles with reference to a future event, which conveys not at all, in no way, by no means in any way to something in the future.
εἰσέλθῃ (eiselthē): This is a verb (describes action) in the aorist (snapshot of time) subjunctive (mood as being probable or intentional). The Subjunctive Mood indicates the probability of an event, which is why our supralinear above has might enter.
Subjunctive of Emphatic Negation
οὐµή εἰσέλθῃ (oumē eiselthē): This is the Greek adverb participle negatives οὐ μή and the aorist subjunctive εἰσέλθῃ. This combination of adverb participle negatives with an aorist subjunctive, we get what has been termed the Subjunctive of Emphatic Negation.
This combination of two Greek negative particles οὐµή (oumē) and the aorist subjunctive with reference to a future event is the strongest negation possible in Greek, meaning absolutely not at all, in no way, by no means in any way to something in the future, this being known as the Subjunctive of Emphatic Negation.
So, is the literal translation abandoning their translation philosophy by trying to convey this Subjunctive of Emphatic Negation into the English translation? No, they are not because doing such is actually in line with the literal translation that focuses on finding the corresponding English equivalent. The translations that have “shall not enter it” like the ESV are failing to translate all of the Greek words. Yes, they cannot put “not not” but they can treat that emphatic negation by using never, or doing as the NASB did with will not enter it at all.” However, the NASB’s italicizing at all makes no sense because they are not adding words that are not in the Greek text, they are translating all of the Greek words. This using italics in the wrong way here makes the reader believe that there is no Greek behind the at all when there is. The UASV and the LEB “will never enter into it” works and is always true because the point of this verse is as long as a person does not receive the kingdom of God like a child, he or she will absolutely not at all, in no way, by no means in any way enter God’s kingdom
Other Subjunctive of Emphatic Negation
Luke 6:37 Updated American standard Version (UASV) 37 “Do not judge, and you will never be judged; and do not condemn, and you will never be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned.
Luke 6:37English Standard Version (ESV) 37 “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;
Luke 6:37Christian Standard Bible (CSB) 37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged.Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
Luke 6:37New American Standard Bible (NASB) 37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned.
And you will not be judged. Luke concluded this command with an emphatic promise by using the subjunctive of emphatic negation—the strongest negation possible in Greek, i.e., you shall not in any way be judged. – Robert H. Stein, Luke, vol. 24, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992), 211.
Luke 9:27 Updated American standard Version (UASV) 27 But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will never taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”
Luke 9:27English Standard Version (ESV)
27 But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”
Luke 9:27Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
27 Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”
Luke 9:27New American Standard Bible (NASB)
27 But I say to you truthfully, there are some of those standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”
Some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God. Grammatically this is a subjunctive of emphatic negation used to indicate strong denial. – Robert H. Stein, Luke, vol. 24, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992), 280.
Luke 10:19 Updated American standard Version (UASV) 19 Look, I have given you the authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will ever harm you.
Luke 10:19 English Standard Version (ESV)
19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.
Luke 10:19Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
19 Look, I have given you the authorityto trampleon snakes and scorpionsand over all the power of the enemy;nothingat all will harm you.
Luke 10:19New American Standard Bible (NASB)
19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothingwill injure you.
The Greek form, a subjunctive of emphatic negation, indicates in the strongest possible way that the enemy will not harm Jesus’ messengers in any way whatsoever. – Robert H. Stein, Luke, vol. 24, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992), 310.
Kendell H. Easley writes,
4.2.1.3. Denial subjunctive. Some grammarians call this the subjunctive of emphatic negation. When speakers wanted to assert as strongly as possible that an action could never ever happen, they used the denial subjunctive. It is formed by οὐ μή plus an aorist subjunctive. When preaching from a text that makes a promise applying to today’s believers (as in the example following), it is worthwhile to point out the force of the denial subjunctive.
τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῶν οὐ μὴ μνησθῷ ἔτι.
Their sins I will never any more remember (Heb. 8:12).
–Kendell H. Easley, User-Friendly Greek: A Common Sense Approach to the Greek New Testament (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 1994), 69.
Hebrews 8:12 Updated American Standard Version (UASV) 12 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities,
and I will never remember their sins no more.”
Hebrews 8:12 English Standard Version (ESV)
12 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”
Hebrews 8:12Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
12 For I will forgive their wrongdoing, and I will never again remember their sins.
Hebrews 8:12New American Standard Bible (NASB) 12 “For I will be merciful to their iniquities, And I will remember their sins no more.”
John 8:12 Updated American Standard Version (UASV) 12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. He that follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
John 8:12English Standard Version (ESV) 12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
John 8:12Christian Standard Bible (CSB) 12 Jesus spoke to them again: “I am the lightof the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.”
John 8:12New American Standard Bible (NASB) 12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”
The aorist subjunctive is found within certain constructions that do not normally employ the present subjunctive. The emphatic future negative construction is one that is only ever found with the aorist subjunctive (and also the future indicative). This is due to the fact that perfective aspect is needed when speaking of events that will not occur in the future.* We thus observe a parallel between the aorist subjunctive and the future indicative, since both verbs encode perfective aspect. – Campbell, Constantine R.. Basics of Verbal Aspect in Biblical Greek (Kindle Locations 1369-1376). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
* This is a complicated concept; to follow it up see Campbell, Non-Indicative Verbs, 58 – 59.
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Reblogged this on Theology On The Block and commented:
“The Top Experts In The World Are Ardent Students. The Day You Stop Learning, You’re Definitely Not An Expert.”- Brandon Burchard