I do not allow that a BBB contributor should speak but remain silent
Suzanne is going to be away for a bit and I am deep in the middle of a translation checking session so I thought perhaps we could allow you the readers of Better Bibles Blog to have your say.
Serendipitously, I will be checking 1 Timothy 2 with the translators and a consultant and this passage is a key one for the anthropos/aner and authority controversies that we have been discussing recently. Perhaps the most important reference work that translators around the world consult is the Translator's Handbook series by the United Bible Societies. To give you a flavor of this work, I thought I would just give you the Translator's Handbook for 1 Timothy 2:8-15 and let you chew on it:
(We'll see whether the rest of the BBB contributors are able to resist commenting!)
[Text removed]
Source: Handbook For Paul's Letters to Timothy and to Titus by Daniel C. Arichea and Howard A. Hatton, UBS Handbook Series, UNITED BIBLE SOCIETIES, New York, © 1995 by the United Bible Societies
Note: I reserve the right to remove the text of this handbook (but not your comments) after a few days.
posted by David Ker at 9:33 PM
5 Comments:
"The superiority of men over women is grounded first of all on the fact that man was created before woman and that man becomes a source of the creation of woman."
Does this handbook suggest the inferiority of women?
Thanks for this. I will not try to resist the temptation to comment!
You need to bear in mind that at least some UBS consultants believe that the letters to Timothy and Titus were not written by Paul and should not be considered authoritative, but only as a reflection of late 1st or 2nd century church practice.
I am also very surprised, even shocked, that hesuchia in verses 11 and 12 is simply assumed, with no discussion, to mean "silence" in the sense of not speaking even to ask questions. This is by no means the regular sense of this word, which is more like "stillness, quiet, peace". At this point the authors have managed to let themselves be misled by translations and have ignored the actual meaning of the Greek.
I had the same thought Peter. How can one teach effectively if the students are forbidden to ask questions for clarification? I think the sense would be more of respect and quietness, not absolute silence. Still, I found it interesting to read this handbook excerpt, as I've not read any of them before and have wanted to.
I thought you might enjoy another rendering of 1 Timothy 2:8-15, from "The Better Life Bible":
Women should ask God to help them assist others in need instead of buying expensive clothes and jewelry, or spending a lot of time fixing their hair. They should respect their husbands and be willing to learn how to follow God’s advice. Although God created Adam before Eve, she disregarded God’s advice before he did. But mothers like her will enjoy a better life when they diligently follow God’s advice and care about others.
I am going to happily disagree with the author of 1 Timothy - there is no prior creation of Adam before Eve. But that aside, I was astonished by the claim in the instructions that the author (Paul or pseudo-Paul) is instituting a new Rigid Rule (I cannot call this Law or Torah out of respect for the Holy).
I do rarely use the Pastorals for proof-texting (when I am prone to proofing anything.) It is possible that Paul wrote them - the Paul for whom I have a great love, though I have taken leave of him for several years to read Psalms. But it is not possible that Paul is introducing a new regulation as Paul without contradicting at the core his own teaching about grace. I allow that humans may be self-contradoctory and even change their minds - I have. But not to hold two minds together that explode at a touch. A kingdom divided and all that. Theology is more than opinion and desire.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home