If you want to be challenged by scripture, read different translations of the same Biblical verse. The other day I came across Isaiah 1:18 in the King James Version (KJV):
“Come now, let us reason together,” says the Lord.
With the election only a couple of day behind us, the verse resonated. I liked it! But when I looked it up in the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)—(no quotation marks), my considerations became more complex.
Come now, let us argue it out, says the Lord.
There is no correct translation, but different translations promote deeper thought. The KJV suggests an ease. The NRSV implies that reasoning together is much more involved and complex, that it isn’t all that simple.
But what about the word argue? I was brought up in a household where arguing was not ‘allow’. Reasoning, yes, arguing, no. Clearly I’m not finished with this one.
“Come now, let us reason together,” says the Lord.
With the election only a couple of day behind us, the verse resonated. I liked it! But when I looked it up in the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)—(no quotation marks), my considerations became more complex.
Come now, let us argue it out, says the Lord.
There is no correct translation, but different translations promote deeper thought. The KJV suggests an ease. The NRSV implies that reasoning together is much more involved and complex, that it isn’t all that simple.
But what about the word argue? I was brought up in a household where arguing was not ‘allow’. Reasoning, yes, arguing, no. Clearly I’m not finished with this one.
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