Thanks for the question --- it's a good one. There are two principles
I'm working with here that are in some tension with each other. The
first principle is the principle concordance. If possible translators
like to translate a single Greek word (or a single word in the
original) with a consistent English word. The second principle is my
principle of keeping sentences short and their structures simple as
possible. In Hebrews it's a real challenge, because Hebrews is one of
the most literary, polished books of the NT. If I were going to
translate more literally, I might say, "So we should be afraid that,
while the promise to enter the rest remains, one of you should appear
to fall short of it." But that's too long and grammatically
sophisticated for my target reading age (sixth to seventh grade
reading level), and I'm concerned that if it is read aloud that way in
church, it will "fly over the head" of a lot of people. So I've
chopped the sentence in two so the first piece stands on its own, and
sets up for the second piece. But when you put the first piece by
itself, it looks very strange with the word "afraid" in it. What he's
saying is not that unusual conceptually. But who could actually say as
a single sentence, "So let's be afraid." or "So we should be afraid."
It just doesn't sound right or capture the writer's intent as a free
standing sentence. So I've resorted to paraphrase. Compromises like
this are forced on you at every turn in this sort of translation. I'll
make a note in my reference copy to consider adding a "lit" note here.
Webb
On Jan 29, 2:12 pm, Brent <brentke...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I am really liking SENT so far (I only got it today). I came across
> Hebrews 4:1
> "So let's be extremely careful." Most translations use the word "fear"
> because of the Greek word phobos, though I know the NIV goes with
> "careful." Is there a reason why you decided not to go with "Let's be
> fearful" but chose "careful?" Since chapter 3 was talking about the
> wrath of God, it seems "fearful" (in my opinion) is the better way to
> go.
> Thanks for your hard work and letting us "nobodies" pick on your work.
