09-14-2003, 03:42 AM
My take on this for the BSWA part 12 (this is teh last one for teh first BSWA article - I'll send it to you guys for checking and notes etc)
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12. Angry or merciful? ??? Mark 1:41
The TNIV says: ???Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. ???I am willing,??? he said. ???Be clean!??????
Note: Note the use of ???indignant??? by the TNIV translators, instead of directly saying ???angry???! Similarly, the NEB says ???in warm indignation???. One definition of indignation, is ???righteous anger???. The REB is more upfront with ???moved with anger???.
The Wycliffe says: ???And Jesus had mercy on him, and stretched out his hand, and touched him, and said to him [Forsooth Jesus, having mercy on him, stretched out his hand, and, touching him, saith to him], I will, be thou made clean.???
Versions that say angry, indignation or a variation thereof: NEB, REB (Revised English Bible), TNIV (Today???s New International Version).
Versions that say merciful, compassion, pity or a variation thereof: ALT, AMP, ASV, BBE, CEV, DARBY, Douay-Rheims, ESV, Geneva, GodsWord, Holman, ISV, KJ21, KJV, LITV, MKJV, NASB, NIV, NIV-UK, NKJV, NLT, Rotherham, RSV, TEV, WE, Webster, Weymouth, Wycliffe, YLT.
???In some Greek mss. of this Mk [Mark - Chris] text there???s a curious variance (it was the matter of my Thesis):
Bezae (D 05) and the latins: a 3 d ff2 and r1 original reading, besides Tatian???s Diatessaron, bring , ANGRY, while the rest of mss bring, MERCIFUL. Textual Criticism Scholars are divided in this, because the first reading is certainly less attested but, according to the rule of ???lectio difficilior potior??? (better the more difficult reading: it???s more likely changed later for a softer ???pious??? exegesis; Mt and Lk [Matthew and Luke - Chris] both omitted the ???feeling???, any: quite suspicious!), ???angry??? would be the ???original???. I won???t insist here in the subject of Greek reading preference, but notice that the Greek aorist participles are COMPLETELY DIFFERENT in appearance. How can then the confusion be explained?
In the Peshitta we read [font=Estrangelo (V1.1)]Mxrt0[/font] . Hypotetically, the word corresponding to ???Angry??? could be [font=Estrangelo (V1.1)]M9rt0[/font] . The shape of the [font=Estrangelo (V1.1)]x[/font] (khet) and the [font=Estrangelo (V1.1)]9[/font] (ayn) are very similar, so Zorba???s confusion could have its cause just here (NB: Assuming the Aramaic written in ESTRANGELO, in Hebrew letters the similarity is not so evident.
There???s more: among the meanings of [font=Estrangelo (V1.1)]M9rt0[/font] there???s also ???paradoxically??? ???to have pity???.
During my researches I was really amazed in finding this in the Ferrer, J / Nogueras, M. A.: Breve Diccionario Siriaco, Barcelona 1999. This is a Syriac-Spanish-Catalanian Dict. In order to be sure, I personally called the co-author, Joan Ferrer, and he told me that that peculiar meaning was attested in the Payne Smith Compendious Dict. where they found it. Therefore, in addition to the textual criticism aspect, there???s also a matter of choice in translation, since, if he (wrongly?) saw [font=Estrangelo (V1.1)]M9rt0[/font] , Zorba finally decided to translate it as MERCIFUL.??? - Valentin Sanz Gonzalez
Note: Among ???Greek??? scholars, there is an idea that the verse should read ???angry??? instead of ???mercy???, as it makes more sense that scribes changed ???angry??? to ???mercy???, rather than the other way around, in order to paint a ???happier??? image of Jesus. It could indeed be ???angry???. What is wrong with being angry at a disease? Was Jesus never angry? Or did he happily overturn the tables in the temple, to the tune of ???It???s a Wonderful World????
Acknowledgements: Thanks to Valentin Sanz Gonzalez for this split word.
Most Byzantine and Alexandrian texts agreed with each other, keeping the score at 3-2 for the Byzantines.
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12. Angry or merciful? ??? Mark 1:41
The TNIV says: ???Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. ???I am willing,??? he said. ???Be clean!??????
Note: Note the use of ???indignant??? by the TNIV translators, instead of directly saying ???angry???! Similarly, the NEB says ???in warm indignation???. One definition of indignation, is ???righteous anger???. The REB is more upfront with ???moved with anger???.
The Wycliffe says: ???And Jesus had mercy on him, and stretched out his hand, and touched him, and said to him [Forsooth Jesus, having mercy on him, stretched out his hand, and, touching him, saith to him], I will, be thou made clean.???
Versions that say angry, indignation or a variation thereof: NEB, REB (Revised English Bible), TNIV (Today???s New International Version).
Versions that say merciful, compassion, pity or a variation thereof: ALT, AMP, ASV, BBE, CEV, DARBY, Douay-Rheims, ESV, Geneva, GodsWord, Holman, ISV, KJ21, KJV, LITV, MKJV, NASB, NIV, NIV-UK, NKJV, NLT, Rotherham, RSV, TEV, WE, Webster, Weymouth, Wycliffe, YLT.
???In some Greek mss. of this Mk [Mark - Chris] text there???s a curious variance (it was the matter of my Thesis):
Bezae (D 05) and the latins: a 3 d ff2 and r1 original reading, besides Tatian???s Diatessaron, bring , ANGRY, while the rest of mss bring, MERCIFUL. Textual Criticism Scholars are divided in this, because the first reading is certainly less attested but, according to the rule of ???lectio difficilior potior??? (better the more difficult reading: it???s more likely changed later for a softer ???pious??? exegesis; Mt and Lk [Matthew and Luke - Chris] both omitted the ???feeling???, any: quite suspicious!), ???angry??? would be the ???original???. I won???t insist here in the subject of Greek reading preference, but notice that the Greek aorist participles are COMPLETELY DIFFERENT in appearance. How can then the confusion be explained?
In the Peshitta we read [font=Estrangelo (V1.1)]Mxrt0[/font] . Hypotetically, the word corresponding to ???Angry??? could be [font=Estrangelo (V1.1)]M9rt0[/font] . The shape of the [font=Estrangelo (V1.1)]x[/font] (khet) and the [font=Estrangelo (V1.1)]9[/font] (ayn) are very similar, so Zorba???s confusion could have its cause just here (NB: Assuming the Aramaic written in ESTRANGELO, in Hebrew letters the similarity is not so evident.
There???s more: among the meanings of [font=Estrangelo (V1.1)]M9rt0[/font] there???s also ???paradoxically??? ???to have pity???.
During my researches I was really amazed in finding this in the Ferrer, J / Nogueras, M. A.: Breve Diccionario Siriaco, Barcelona 1999. This is a Syriac-Spanish-Catalanian Dict. In order to be sure, I personally called the co-author, Joan Ferrer, and he told me that that peculiar meaning was attested in the Payne Smith Compendious Dict. where they found it. Therefore, in addition to the textual criticism aspect, there???s also a matter of choice in translation, since, if he (wrongly?) saw [font=Estrangelo (V1.1)]M9rt0[/font] , Zorba finally decided to translate it as MERCIFUL.??? - Valentin Sanz Gonzalez
Note: Among ???Greek??? scholars, there is an idea that the verse should read ???angry??? instead of ???mercy???, as it makes more sense that scribes changed ???angry??? to ???mercy???, rather than the other way around, in order to paint a ???happier??? image of Jesus. It could indeed be ???angry???. What is wrong with being angry at a disease? Was Jesus never angry? Or did he happily overturn the tables in the temple, to the tune of ???It???s a Wonderful World????
Acknowledgements: Thanks to Valentin Sanz Gonzalez for this split word.
Most Byzantine and Alexandrian texts agreed with each other, keeping the score at 3-2 for the Byzantines.