Mark Goodacre makes a pointed criticism of the NIV’s use of “sinful nature” as a translation of sarx – flesh. Matthew Montonini follows up with some discussion of Moo’s position, linking to a paper of his on the translation of sarx in Romans.
I agree that it is actually a difficult word to translate, not least because of the fluidity with which Paul deploys it. I think there is a good argument here for sticking to the traditional English translation “flesh”. One connotation that seems to be overlooked in Moo’s certy helpful discussion (as in others) is a fairly literal one. The argument that makes this most obvious – at least to me – is in Galatians:
Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? Having started with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh? (Gal 3:2-3)
In context, the flesh is not just the works of the law, but initiation into the covenant within which the law is observed. Paul is contrasting two initiations, and the contrast with accepting Jesus as Messiah and receiving the Spirit, is circumcision, quite literally a covenant in the flesh.
They want you to be circumcised so that they may boast about your flesh. (Gal 6:13).
Obviously it means a lot more than that, but the covenantal connotations seem to me to be overlooked in the debate about “natures”, and yet, surely they are rather an important component. They also, I submit, help explain why the flesh-spirit dichotomy is so dominant in the letters in which Paul is most discussing justification and the relationship between Torah-obedience and Christ-faithfulness.
{ 3 comments }
Good post, Doug. I entirely agree (as my post also shows: http://www.jasonstaples.com/2009/09/sinful-nature-translation-dilemma-and.html)
I have a response at: http://betterbibles.com/2009/09/03/niv-flesh-or-sinful-nature/#comment-14892
Sorry; the link I posted above doesn’t work, thanks to some recent housekeeping on my blog. That piece is now located at: http://blog.jasonstaples.com/2009/09/sinful-nature-translation-dilemma-and.html
Comments on this entry are closed.
{ 2 trackbacks }