Thursday, July 8, 2021

Craig Keener's use of "Bible" (a translator's anachronism) in his translation of 1 Peter

As with his translation of Galatians, biblical scholar Craig S. Keener uses “Bible” in his translation of 1 Peter:

 

1:16 Do this because the Bible says, “You shall be consecrated to me as holy, because I am holy.”

 

1:24 We recognize this because the Bible says, “Everyone is like grass, and all their glory is like a blossom of grass. The grass dries up, and the blossom falls off

 

2:6 The Bible includes comment about this: “Look, I’m putting a stone in Zion, a chosen, invaluable cornerstone, and whoever trusts in it will not be shamed.”

 

With respect to 1 Pet 1:16, Keener notes that:

 

Because the Bible says renders the Greek expression gegraptai, often translated “as is written . . . (Craig S. Keener, 1 Peter: A Commentary [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2021], 97)

 

If a scholarly translation and commentary on 1 Peter can use “Bible” (a “translator’s anachronism”), so can Joseph Smith in his translation of the underlying text of 2 Nephi 29:3.

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