Topical Studies
What the Bible says about Mistranslations
(From Forerunner Commentary)
Adam and Eve "heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden." This is not a figure of speech; it is simply a bad translation. The word used here simply means "sound." The same word is translated as "crackling" in Ecclesiastes 7:6 and as "steps" or "footsteps" in II Samuel 5:24; I Kings 14:6; and II Kings 6:32. Here, it simply means that they heard the footsteps of God walking in the cool of the day in the garden.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Unity (Part 4): The Voice of God
Another word plays an important part here—the word "into" in Luke 16:16. The Greek word behind it, eis (Strong's #1519), a common preposition, is indeed frequently translated as "into." However, depending on the context, it can also be translated as "against" or "toward."
So, the Greek allows for the subdued translation of "everyone is pressing into [the kingdom]," but it could just as accurately be translated as "everyone is behaving violently against it." The Douay-Rheims Bible, which predates the King James, renders the last part of Luke 16:16 as "everyone use[s] violence towards it." In this way, it matches perfectly with Matthew 11:12: "the kingdom suffers violence, and the violent take it by force."
David C. Grabbe
Taking the Kingdom by ForceRelated Topics: Eis | Kingdom Suffers Violence | Mistranslations | Taking the Kingdom by Force | Translation Difficulties
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