Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Peter Kirk <peter AT qaya.org>]

On 18/03/2006 11:30, Rolf Furuli wrote:
> Dear Peter,
>
> I will not start a theological discussion in any form, only make a few 
> observations. The Old Testament part of many (I think I am justified in 
> saying "most") modern Bible translations is translated in the light of the 
> New Testament. ...

I am happy to say that the Hebrew Bible translation which I worked on, 
in common with all such translations sponsored by the United Bible 
Societies, was specifically intended to be translated in its own right 
as a work in Hebrew concerning Israelite history and religion, and not 
in the light of the New Testament. Of course as the translators are 
Christians they cannot entirely avoid bringing in Christian and New 
Testament insights. But it was a deliberate policy to avoid this as far 
as possible, and the UBS Translation Consultant enforced this rigorously.

I would not disagree with the rest of what you write here except for:


> ... what returns according to the writer of 
> this Psalm, Daniel and other books of the Tanakh is the soul (the very 
> person). Thus, some books of the Tanakh teaches the resurrection of the 
> soul.
>
>   
It is extremely misleading in these sentences to use the English word 
"soul". What you mean is the NP$, and as such I agree. But the English 
word "soul" in itself implies the Greek concept of an immaterial part of 
the person, not the whole person, which survives death. In this sense 
the Tanakh teaches nothing at all about the soul, and certainly not its 
resurrection.

Of course the real problem here is the misleading use of "soul" for NP$ 
in English Bible translations, based on Greek and Latin translations and 
patristic theology in which NP$ was misunderstood to refer to the Greek 
concept of the "soul". But I have indicated to you in the past, I'm not 
sure about on this list, that one of the worst errors of the New World 
Translation (which it adopted from KJV or earlier) is its consistent use 
of "soul" for NP$.

--
Peter Kirk
peter AT qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/