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Healer Posted 12 years ago
Vocabulary
they are forgiven THEM
St. John 20:23 "If you forgive people's sins, they are forgiven; ..."
Some other versions say "... they are forgiven them; ...'
The latter sounds so horrible, while the former is so much simpler. In my thinking, the word 'they' in the former can refer to the people or the sins, the same word in the latter has to refer only to the people as I think the word 'them' has to refer to the sins.
Am I understanding correctly?
Some other versions say "... they are forgiven them; ...'
The latter sounds so horrible, while the former is so much simpler. In my thinking, the word 'they' in the former can refer to the people or the sins, the same word in the latter has to refer only to the people as I think the word 'them' has to refer to the sins.
Am I understanding correctly?
Top answer
I agree with your interpretations. However, I would not agree that the latter sounds "horrible".
- I agree with your interpretations.
- However, I would not agree that the latter sounds "horrible".
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7 Answers
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I agree with your interpretations. However, I would not agree that the latter sounds "horrible".
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healerThanks!I said so because I never heard people say that way.It is more of a literary form. It is not something that you would hear much in everyday conversation.
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healer the word 'they' in the former can refer to the people or the sins,I think the second part of the verse disambiguates the meaning:
If you forgive people's sins, they are forgiven. If you retain people's sins, they are retained.
"Retained" can't really refer to "people" in this context.
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Yes, this is another one I am not happy with. We are supposed to be consistent in our choice of words and in our way of expressing ourselves in order to minimize any possible ambiguity. It is either the original text wasn't written well or the translation wasn't done appropriately. Somehow we always have to choose to translate either word for word or by placing more emphasis on the overall mean
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I have supposed we should always strive to express ourselves clearly in the fewest words possible. If it is possible we should also avoid to depend on subsequent words to clarify ourselves. Extra words, if adopted, should only be used to emphasize the precedents.
I have once heard somebody say, one is regarded writing well or speaking well if a child being a reader or a listener underst
I have once heard somebody say, one is regarded writing well or speaking well if a child being a reader or a listener underst
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