Now
if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure
from among all the peoples on the earth; for all the earth belongs to me. (NLT, Exodus 19:5)
The
NIV translates this verse: …you will be
my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine… Even though I
love the NIV, including its most recent revision (2011), this is one place they
made a bad choice out of touch with the entirety of biblical context. Of major
translations, only the NIV and the HCSB choose the word although. The NCV uses even (which
communicates the same idea as although),
and three translations avoid the problem by either leaving out the word altogether
(CEV, GNT) or substituting indeed (NRSV).
The ESV, NASB and the NKJV agree with the NLT translators and use the word for.
Why
the confusion? The original word can be translated both
ways, and translators work from the context to determine which word fits best.
Is
God saying, I've chosen you
because I love you the best? Or is God saying, I've chosen you because I'm going to
use my relationship with you to express my love to the nations? Using
the word although communicates the former idea; the word for seems to support the
latter, and fits better with the context of all Scripture.
The
you in this verse is Israel. What if
the you was… you?
How will
you intentionally show God’s love to those around you this week?
This is regarding Exodus 20:4
ReplyDelete4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
Did this commandment mean that nothing was to be made into a statue, a picture, an engraving, or anything like that? I know God is talking about not worshiping these things, but it sounds like they were not supposed to make any of the above. What got me thinking about this was not the golden calf that was going to be made in the very near future but the temple that Solomon made. He had the image of a Cherubim in the inner sanctuary. He had the inner walls decorated with Cherubims, palm trees, open flowers, etc. Also the Sea was on a stand made of 12 bulls. Wasn't this in direct violation of this commandment above? When Soloman built the temple it also said God gave the talent to create all these things to Huram. Why and when did it become okay to make images?