What was the intended meaning of the quotation marks around "sinners" in the old NIV?
score:4
This is not addressed in the Preface to the 1984 NIV, so we must look elsewhere for clues.
The best explanation I've found comes from Craig S. Keener's commentary on Matthew:
Some take sinners here to mean the 'am hΔ'Δres common people whom the Pharisees despised for their lack of adherence to Pharisaic food laws (as in Jeremias 1972:132; thus the quotation marks in the NIV); more scholars today lean toward the view that it means sinners in a more blatant sense. (source)
So the NIV translators make a judgment call β when the word sinners is used to mean something more like "despised by Pharisees" than "those who violate God's law," they put the word in quotes.
James A. Brooks, in The New American Commentary, explains the matter similarly, regarding Mark 2:15:
The NIV is quite correct to put the word "sinners" in quotation marks to indicate that it is being used with an unusual meaning. The reference is not to immoral or irreligious person but to those who because of the necessity of spending all their time earning a bare subsistence were not able to keep the law, especially the oral law, as the scribes thought they should. As a result the scribes despised them. Perhaps a better translation would be "outcasts" (GNB). (source)
But, as Keener notes, this is an interpretive decision and there's some disagreement over it. Thus it shouldn't be surprising that other translations, including the NIV 2011, don't adopt this stylistic approach.
More post
- π Are there other biblical examples of people turning into pillars of salt?
- π How is Jesus God's final word? (Catholic Perspective)
- π Jesus speaks about actors/acting?
- π Are Protestants with valid baptism Catholics, from a Catholic perspective?
- π What is the evidence that the New Testament authors believed, or did not believe, that they were writing an inspired record?
- π Why do Christians believe Christ's death applies to future sins?
- π Is there any specific difference between a "Christian" and a 'true' disciple of Christ?
- π According to the morality of the Catholic Church are there any organs that are not permitted to be offered in organ transplants?
- π What other customary Catholic fasting periods are there aside from Lent?
- π Christian significance of Tolkien and C. S. Lewis putting "heaven" across the sea?
- π Why do people believe God is genderless?
- π Why are Christian books not Public Domain?
- π Why did Jesus say, "Do not touch me"?
- π Why is there a need for a perfect sacrifice? Why does Jesus have to be perfect?
- π John the Baptist appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery as a resurrected being. When was John the Baptist resurrected?
- π Jesus' quotation of Septuagint - Greek or Aramaic?
- π What is the Biblical basis for sharing the cup at communion?
- π Why are transgender prayer requests "too far"?
- π Does Pope Francis' rewording on the subject of capital punishment in the Catechism trump those of Pope John Paul II's encyclical Evangelium vitae?
- π What is an overview of Protestants' answers to why I still sin when I have the Spirit of God in me?
- π What biblical or historical reasons have been given for avoiding creeds & catechisms?
- π What's the difference between 'Divine Providence' and 'Holy Spirit' in this statement?
- π LDS Church and Genealogy Research (What is the connection?)
- π According to Pentecostalism/Charismaticism, can Satan understand all tongues?
- π How widespread was the observance of the Jewish Sabbath among Christians during Early Christianity (A.D. 30β324)?
- π The effect of poison on Christians
- π Christmas Tree Angel holding bread in one hand and coal in the other?
- π Are there any extra-biblical writings that document what the early Christians believed about the second coming of Christ?
- π What positions with regard to epistemology exist in Catholicism?
- π What does biblical inerrancy imply?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- π What was the intended meaning of the quotation marks around "sinners" in the old NIV?
- π What was the literal meaning of the term 'stone rejected by builders'?
- π What was it about the death of Jesus that allows God to forgive us?
- π What is the meaning of "let the dead bury their dead"?
- π What denominations, besides JWs, hold that the Star of Bethlehem was sent by Satan?
- π What is the meaning and origin of bridal veils in Christian weddings?
- π What is the origin of holding hands when praying around a circle before a meal?
- π What does it mean that Jesus was the "second Adam"?
- π What is the specific meaning of "die" in Genesis 2?
- π What was the difference between the Pharisees and Sadducees?
- π What is the purpose and meaning of the Christian Flag?
- π What crime was committed by the "thieves" crucified with Jesus?
- π What is the support for saying Jesus believed Genesis was a literal account of creation?
- π What process was used to translate the KJV?
- π Wave offering; What exactly was the point?
- π What of Augustine's ecclesiology was rejected in the Reformation?
- π What is the meaning of 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice'?
- π What was Isaac Newton's view of the Trinity?
- π What is the biblical meaning of "sanctification"?
- π What was the specific trap being set for Jesus by the Pharisees in John 8?
- π What is the evidence that suggests that the Apostle Paul was married?
- π What was the problem at Babel?
- π In what language was the Book of Matthew written?
- π What was inside the Ark of the Covenant?
- π What happened to the wives of priests when celibacy was first instituted in the Catholic church?
- π What is the basis for Lombard's view that the basis of justification for OT men was different than for OT women?
- π What was the most likely method of crucifixion that was used on Jesus?
- π What is the oldest surviving photograph of someone who was later canonized as a saint?
- π What is significant about the swaddling clothes with which Jesus was wrapped as a baby?
- π What are the arguments that Acts was written prior to 70 AD?
