I would like to share my personal translation of John 11:25-27 from the Greek New Testament. It was a blessing to me, and I hope it's a blessing to you:
"Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life; the one believing in Me, even if he [or she] might die, he [or she] will live. And everyone living and believing in Me never dies eternally. Do you believe this?' She says to Him, 'Yes, Lord, I have believed [and continue to believe] that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.'" (John 11:25-27, personal translation)
What I found interesting in translating this passage is that most of the English translations don't really bring out the idea of the Greek text when it says in verse 26, "καὶ πᾶς ὁ ζῶν καὶ πιστεύων εἰς ἐμὲ οὐ μὴ ἀποθάνῃ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα." The Greek words literally translated mean: "and everyone living and believing in Me never dies into the eternity." The phrase "into the eternity" has the meaning of "forever" or "for eternity". Bill Mounce, the NT Greek scholar, affirms that the phrase "εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα is an idiom meaning 'forever.'"[1] But most of the English translations of John 11:26 just say something like "...shall never die." Of course that's true, but it leaves the rest of the sentence untranslated. Really, Jesus is saying that everyone who believes in Him never dies forever, or "for eternity". Commenting on John 11:26, A. T. Robertson affirms: "Shall never die (ου μη αποθανη εις τον αιωνα). Strong double negative ου μη with second aorist active subjunctive of αποθνησκω again (but spiritual death, this time), 'shall not die for ever' (eternal death)." Believers in Christ may die physically, but we will never die eternally. Praise the Lord!
What I found interesting in translating this passage is that most of the English translations don't really bring out the idea of the Greek text when it says in verse 26, "καὶ πᾶς ὁ ζῶν καὶ πιστεύων εἰς ἐμὲ οὐ μὴ ἀποθάνῃ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα." The Greek words literally translated mean: "and everyone living and believing in Me never dies into the eternity." The phrase "into the eternity" has the meaning of "forever" or "for eternity". Bill Mounce, the NT Greek scholar, affirms that the phrase "εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα is an idiom meaning 'forever.'"[1] But most of the English translations of John 11:26 just say something like "...shall never die." Of course that's true, but it leaves the rest of the sentence untranslated. Really, Jesus is saying that everyone who believes in Him never dies forever, or "for eternity". Commenting on John 11:26, A. T. Robertson affirms: "Shall never die (ου μη αποθανη εις τον αιωνα). Strong double negative ου μη with second aorist active subjunctive of αποθνησκω again (but spiritual death, this time), 'shall not die for ever' (eternal death)." Believers in Christ may die physically, but we will never die eternally. Praise the Lord!
ENDNOTE:
[1] William D. Mounce, Basics of Biblical Greek Workbook, 4th Edition (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2019), p. 69, footnote 6. Cf. Isaiah 48:12 in Brenton's Septuagint translation, where the same phrase is used to describe God, and is translated as "for ever". Also see Mounce, Basics of Biblical Greek Workbook, p. 187, footnote 6 (on John 6:49-53), where Mounce similarly affirms that "εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα is an idiom that means 'forever.'" Note: The phrase εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα is used in John 6:51, where it is translated as "forever" (NASB), or "for eternity" (Aramaic Bible in Plain English).
No comments:
Post a Comment