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The Contours of the Land in Israel's History
The Land of Palestine
The land of Palestine took its name from the Philistines (the Pelishtim in Hebrew) who settled along the Mediterranean coast from Joppa to Gaza about 1300–12...
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Who Did the Miracle? (Mark 6:41) - Mondays with Mounce 304
NOTE: you can also watch a screencast on this blog on YouTube.
I am a bit hesitant to make the point below since I can’t find a commentary t...
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Is There an Evangelical Bias in Translation (Mark 5:23) - Mondays with Mounce 303
Sometimes we translators are accused of having an evangelical bias, of altering the translation of a passage to make the New Testament not c...
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Translating the Word but Missing the Context (Mark 5:4) - Mondays with Mounce 302
Mark 5:4 has an interesting construction with διά, and provides an example of why we need to watch the larger context when translating. Vers...
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When καί Is a Comma, and Deceptive Marketing (Mark 3:16–19) - Mondays with Mounce 301
One of the differences between Greek and English style is in expressing a series. When English translations mimic Greek style, they are writ...
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When does "Immediately" Not Mean "Immediately" (Gal 1:16)? - Mondays with Mounce 299
BDAG gives the only meaning of εὐθέως as “at once, immediately.” In our passage it describes Paul’s resolve to not confirm his divine call w...
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The Line between Translation and Commentary - Mondays with Mounce 298
Every once in a while you read a verse that obviously cannot mean what it says. Whether you are working with a formal or a functional equiva...
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The Tongue, Evil, and Defilement (James 3:6) - Mondays with Mounce 297
There are several things going on in James 3:6. Two of the more interesting are the placement of γλῶσσα and whether καθίσταται is a middle o...
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What is the “Literal” Meaning of ἄγγελος? (James 2:25) - Mondays with Mounce 296
In James 2:25 we read, “Was not also Rahab the harlot justified by works when she took in the spies (ἀγγέλους) and sent them out by another ...
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Where, Oh Where Did the Antecedent Go? (Phil 1:19) - Mondays with Mounce 295
Usually it is no big deal to find an antecedent. Start looking for a word with the same number and gender as the pronoun. Every once in a wh...
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English Style and Loss of Meaning (1 Peter 5:6–7) - Mondays with Mounce 294
Alistair Begg preached a sermon the other day on Truth for Life about 1 Peter 5:6–7. “Humble yourselves (ταπεινώθητε), therefore, under God’...
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What’s the Point? (James 1:18) - Mondays with Mounce 293
One of the things I am sensitive to is the difference between an indicative and a non-indicative form. English style often blurs the distinc...
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Are Metaphors Inspired? - Mondays with Mounce 292
I have been thinking a lot about some of the general issues of translation, and one of the points that keeps coming up is the issue of metap...
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Nobody Talks Like That! (Ps 102:12) - Mondays with Mounce 291
You know you have been talking too much about translation when your spouse throws your own words back in your face. Robin was reading Ps 102...
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The Case of the Missing Object (Matt 5:25) - Mondays with Mounce 290
I have been enjoying reading the CSB, the new version of the former HCSB. Tom Schreiner and his group of translators have done an excellent ...
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Doesn’t ἀντί Always Mean “Instead of”? (Heb 12:2) - Mondays with Mounce 289
I came across a really strange use of ἀντί the other day. It serves as a good example of semantic range.
Speaking of Jesus, Heb 12:2 says, “...
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Ambiguous and Meaningless (John 3:21) - Mondays with Mounce 288
Sometimes Greek can really be frustrating, especially when it is succinct. Here is a good example: John 3:21 reads, “But the one who does th...
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