Buy valtrex online without prescription from canada
Denny Burk
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Louisville, Kentucky
With researchers Ben Montoya, Mitch Chase, Daniel Diffey, Adam Howell, Nick Moore, Jason Motte, and Josh Philpot
Introduction
My dad led me to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada Christ when I was nine years old. Almost immediately after my profession of faith and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada baptism, a desire welled-up within me that I had never experienced before. I wanted to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada read and understand the Bible for myself. I had been taught that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada it was God's Word to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada me, and I knew that growth in Christ depended on my knowledge of it. So I picked up my blue hardback King James Version-the standard-issue text used by children for buy valtrex online without prescription from canada "Bible Drill" in Southern Baptist churches-and I began reading. Not knowing any better, I just started at the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada beginning, Gen 1:1. It did not take very long for buy valtrex online without prescription from canada my little nine-year old brain to bog-down in the archaic English of the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada 1611 King James Version. As a result, I eventually gave up on being able to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada read the Bible for myself with any real comprehension. I would continue to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada use my King James at church, but it was not something I felt comfortable reading on my own.
It would be buy valtrex online without prescription from canada another 8 years or so before my parents gave me one of the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada best Christmas gifts of all time-a new Bible. But this buy valtrex online without prescription from canada was not just any Bible. It was a Life Application Bible, and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada the translation was the New International Version (NIV). This was just the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada text that an unlettered adolescent like me needed. This gift changed my life. Yes, the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada notes, maps, and other study helps were valuable. But the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada best thing about this Bible was the translation itself. For the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada first time in my life, I owned a Bible that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada I could actually read and comprehend, and I devoured it. I began reading the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada Bible again as for the first time.
By the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada time I reached my sophomore year in college, I became convinced that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada I needed to read this book from cover to cover every year. The first time I read the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada Bible all the way through from Genesis to Revelation, I read from buy valtrex online without prescription from canada the NIV. I look back on those days of reading the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada NIV as the most formative period of my spiritual life. I had buy valtrex online without prescription from canada a hunger for God's Word, and the NIV was where I found my nourishment.
Even now as I thumb through the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada pages of that old NIV Bible and read the highlights and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada notes I added to it so many years ago, I am buy valtrex online without prescription from canada filled with gratitude for the NIV's place in my own story. That is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada in part why I was thrilled several years ago to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada contribute to a primary study-aid for readers of the NIV, Mounce's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words.1 As I write this buy valtrex online without prescription from canada critical review, therefore, I write as one whose testimony has buy valtrex online without prescription from canada been inexorably shaped by the NIV translation.2
But this buy valtrex online without prescription from canada is not just my story. According to the Christian Bookseller Association, the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada NIV is by far the best-selling Bible in English-ahead of the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada King James Version, the English Standard Version, and a host of others.3 It is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada hard to overstate the influence of the NIV among English speaking evangelicals (especially in North America). Its influence has buy valtrex online without prescription from canada been pervasive for a generation of believers. In many ways, the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada 1984 revision of the NIV has become the authorized version of evangelicalism.
That is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada why the last two attempts at revising the NIV have proved so controversial.4 The NIV has buy valtrex online without prescription from canada a wide influence, and both revisions (the NIVI and the TNIV) adopted the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada much-criticized gender-neutral philosophy of Bible translation. There is a great difference of opinion among scholars, pastors, and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada other leaders over the proper way to render the Bible's gender language into English. The gender-neutral approach of the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada TNIV became such a lightning-rod that the version never caught on with American evangelicals and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada is now discontinued.
Nevertheless, the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada TNIV provoked a lively discussion among evangelical scholars and Bible readers about translation philosophy in general and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada about gender-neutral approaches in particular. The debate actually preceded the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada appearance of the TNIV. It began in the late 1990's and extended through the mid-2000's. Many of the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada contested issues in that discussion remain unresolved.5 And many evangelicals who buy valtrex online without prescription from canada once benefitted from the NIV (like myself) have buy valtrex online without prescription from canada not been happy with the gender-neutral revisions. It is no surprise, therefore, that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada many evangelicals have been anticipating the release of the 2011 NIV. Readers want to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada see how this latest revision has resolved (or not resolved) points of contention about gender language that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada are left over from these previous discussions.
The first point to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada remember is this: The NIV 2011 is not a fresh translation or buy valtrex online without prescription from canada a revision of the previous NIV but is a revision of the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada now defunct TNIV. So the question that everyone wants answered is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada this: Have the weaknesses of the TNIV been sufficiently overcome in the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada NIV 2011? In the end, the answer has to be no.
If the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada answer is no, what does that say about the viability of the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada translation? Will the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada NIV 2011 enjoy the same prominence among evangelicals that the NIV 1984 has buy valtrex online without prescription from canada had for so many years? Or will the NIV 2011 fall into disuse and go the way of the TNIV?
To be buy valtrex online without prescription from canada sure, the NIV translators have made numerous improvements that are worthy of note.6 For instance, in most cases the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada key Pauline term sarx has been changed from "sinful nature" to the more literal and precise term "flesh" in the 2011 NIV (for example, Rom 8:4). In Rom 1:17 and related texts, "righteousness from God" becomes "righteousness of God." In other verses, "observing the law" becomes "works of law" (see Rom 3:20, 28). All three of these changes now leave open important interpretive options and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada represent a significant improvement over renderings in the 1984 NIV that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada closed those options.
There have buy valtrex online without prescription from canada also been a number of important improvements related to the use of gender language. For example, in 164 passages, "man" and "mankind" have replaced a gender-neutral equivalent such as "humanity" (as in Gen 1:27, which now says, "God created mankind in his own image," retaining the male-nuanced meaning of Hebrew 'adam).7
Similar welcome changes have buy valtrex online without prescription from canada been made in hundreds of verses where "brother," "father," "son," and "he/him/his" have buy valtrex online without prescription from canada been restored, replacing the gender-neutral alternatives that were used in the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada TNIV. In total, we have counted 933 places where gender-neutral translations in the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada TNIV have been changed in the 2011 NIV, and in most cases they have buy valtrex online without prescription from canada been replaced with more accurate, gender-specific translations.8
We are buy valtrex online without prescription from canada thankful for this significant improvement in nearly a thousand places in the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada 2011 NIV, and we recognize that the NIV's Committee on Bible Translation expended a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada large amount of effort and scholarly discussion to make these changes. In fact, many of these improvements were made in verses that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada were highlighted in previous criticisms of the TNIV by CBMW and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada others. And there are numerous other improvements as well that we cannot mention here.9
Even though these are buy valtrex online without prescription from canada all welcome advances over the TNIV, there are still a great many unresolved issues related to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada gender language. And so the question we wish to explore in this buy valtrex online without prescription from canada article is whether or not NIV 2011 sufficiently corrects the problematic renderings of the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada TNIV with respect to gender language in particular and to gender-related texts in general.
For the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada reasons enumerated below, we believe that improvements to the TNIV have buy valtrex online without prescription from canada not been extensive enough in NIV 2011, and that some new changes represent a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada step in the wrong direction.
The Vast Majority of Problematic Gender Renderings from the TNIV Are Retained in the NIV 2011
Wayne Grudem and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada Vern Poythress were instrumental in cataloguing problematic renderings in the TNIV Old and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada New Testaments. Over the course of two different books, they catalogued some 3,686 "inaccurate translations in the TNIV" Old and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada New Testaments that relate to gender language.10 The current study has buy valtrex online without prescription from canada surveyed all of these 3,686 problems in the TNIV to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada see how they were rendered in the NIV 2011.11 We found that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada although the NIV 2011 walks back many of its most controversial renderings of gender language from buy valtrex online without prescription from canada the TNIV, the majority of the problems identified by Poythress and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada Grudem still remain. In many cases, the NIV 2011 unnecessarily removes male-oriented terminology-especially the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada use of generic masculine forms of expression. Below is a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada numerical summary of our findings. The following charts (Tables 1-3) represent revisions from TNIV to NIV 2011.12
Of the 3,686 "inaccuracies" that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada Poythress and Grudem identified, we found that three-fourths of them (75%) stayed exactly as they were in the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada TNIV. That means that whatever improvements have appeared, the vast majority of the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada "inaccurate" renderings of gender language persist in NIV 2011.
A close inspection of the 25% that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada was revised shows that the NIV 2011 eliminates some of the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada most heavily criticized gender-neutral renderings of the TNIV, and for that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada we are thankful. Nevertheless, the modifications were incomplete, since the vast majority of the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada problems previously identified during the TNIV debate still remain.
These problems fall in several main categories, including these: changing singular pronouns ("he/him/his") to plurals ("they/ them/ their"); changing "man" to "human" or "person"; changing "brother" to "friend" or something else; changing "son" to "child" or "children"; and changing "father" to "parent" or "parents." Detailed lists of these changes can be found at:
http://www.dennyburk.com/JBMW/NIV2011-OT-Spreadsheet.xlsx
http:// www.dennyburk.com/JBMW/NIV2011-NT-Spreadsheet.xlsx.
The Most Contested Verse in the Gender Debate, 1 Timothy 2:12
One cannot underestimate the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada importance of 1 Tim 2:12 in the intra-evangelical debate over gender roles and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada women in ministry: "I do not permit a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada woman to teach or to have authority over a man" (1984 NIV).
There is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada a reason why countless articles and even an entire book14 have buy valtrex online without prescription from canada been written on the interpretation of this single verse. In many ways, this buy valtrex online without prescription from canada verse is the most disputed text in the debate. It is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada clear that Paul is prohibiting something, but just what he prohibits has buy valtrex online without prescription from canada been fiercely contested.
Complementarians argue that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada Paul prohibits women from doing two things-teaching Christian doctrine to and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada exercising authority over the gathered church.
Egalitarians argue that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada Paul prohibits women from doing one thing-a certain kind of teaching. They argue that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada there is no gender-based authority structure indicated in this text but that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada Paul means to prohibit women from "teaching with authority," from "teaching in a domineering way," or from "teaching false doctrine." In their view, Paul doesn't prohibit all teaching by women over men, but only a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada certain kind of teaching. Recently, some egalitarians have argued that Paul means to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada prohibit women from a wrongful kind of "teaching and assuming authority" over a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada man. Philip Payne makes this argument in a 2008 article for buy valtrex online without prescription from canada New Testament Studies and in his 2009 book Man and Woman, One in Christ.15
Sadly, the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada NIV 2011 reflects the latter approach in its rendering, "assume authority." Here is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada how the verse appears in the four NIV versions since 1984 (Table 4).
As the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada table indicates, the crucial change occurred in the TNIV 2005, which is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada the basis for the NIV 2011, where "have authority" was changed to "assume authority." What difference does this change make? "Assume authority" seems to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada imply the idea of acting independently in order to take up an buy valtrex online without prescription from canada undelegated authority.16 In other words, "assume authority" has buy valtrex online without prescription from canada the ring of a sinful power-grab. On this view, Paul is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada not prohibiting women from exercising authority per se, but only from assuming a stance of independent (and thus illegitimate) leadership in the church. So women may in fact teach men and exercise authority over them so long as such authority is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada properly delegated to them by the church.17
It appears, therefore, that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada the NIV 2011 comes down on the side of egalitarianism in its rendering of 1 Tim 2:12.
The NIV translators, however, do not see it buy valtrex online without prescription from canada this way. They argue that "assume authority" tilts neither in the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada direction of complementarianism nor of egalitarianism. In their "Translators' Notes," they write,
"Assume authority" is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada a particularly nice English rendering because it leaves the question open, as it buy valtrex online without prescription from canada must be unless we discover new, more conclusive evidence. The exercise of authority that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada Paul was forbidding was one that women inappropriately assumed, but whether that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada referred to all forms of authority over men in church or buy valtrex online without prescription from canada only certain forms in certain contexts is up to the individual interpreter to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada decide.18
But is it really true that this translation "leaves the question open"? I don't think so. From the translators' own words, we see that "assume authority" denotes an "inappropriate" taking up of authority. This gives a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada negative connotation to the word, and Andreas KÖstenberger has buy valtrex online without prescription from canada shown that a negative connotation is not possible in this buy valtrex online without prescription from canada particular grammatical construction-a conclusion that has been widely received among feminist and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada complementarian scholars alike.19 So "assume authority" does not leave the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada question open but moves the discussion decidedly into the direction of egalitarianism.
For the record, I am not the only one who views "assume authority" as an buy valtrex online without prescription from canada egalitarian rendering. Interpreters from both sides of the debate view it buy valtrex online without prescription from canada the very same way that I have it here. This translation is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada in fact the preferred translation of Payne, a New Testament scholar who buy valtrex online without prescription from canada has devoted the better part of his scholarly career to defending an buy valtrex online without prescription from canada egalitarian reading of Scripture. Payne writes,
Since lexical and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada contextual evidence favors the meaning BDAG gives for authentein, "to assume a stance of independent authority", this article translates αὐθεντεῖν "to assume authority". . . .
Teaching combined with assuming authority is by definition not authorized
. . . .
What 1 Tim 2.12 prohibits, it buy valtrex online without prescription from canada must regard as negative: a woman teaching combined with assuming authority over a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada man. . . .
This οὐδὲ construction makes best sense as a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada single prohibition of women teaching with self-assumed authority over a man.20
Complementarian Wayne Grudem likewise agrees that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada this is an egalitarian interpretation. In his 2006 book Evangelical Feminism: A New Path to Liberalism? he writes,
In 1 Timothy 2:12 the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada TNIV adopts a highly suspect and novel translation that gives the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada egalitarian side everything they have wanted for years in a Bible translation. It reads, "I do not permit a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada woman to teach or to assume authority over a man".... If churches adopt this translation, the debate over women's roles in the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada church will be over, because women pastors and elders can buy valtrex online without prescription from canada just say, "I'm not assuming authority on my own initiative; it buy valtrex online without prescription from canada was given to me by the other pastors and elders." Therefore any woman could be buy valtrex online without prescription from canada a pastor or elder so long as she does not take it buy valtrex online without prescription from canada upon herself to "assume authority".... So it buy valtrex online without prescription from canada is no surprise that egalitarian churches are eager to adopt the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada TNIV.21
Even though the TNIV 2005 employed the translation "assume authority," it at least preserved alternatives in the note, "teach a man in a domineering way; or teach or to exercise (or have) authority over a man." This note has buy valtrex online without prescription from canada disappeared in NIV 2011, so a complementarian interpretation of 1 Tim 2:12 will no buy valtrex online without prescription from canada longer be available to readers of the NIV. All the reader has buy valtrex online without prescription from canada is an egalitarian rendering in the text. If the translators intended to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada "leave the question open," why is this note removed in NIV 2011?
What is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada the upshot of this translation for the average reader of the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada NIV? Those readers will see a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada significant change in their translation the next time they purchase an buy valtrex online without prescription from canada NIV. In their new Bible, "have authority" will give way to "assume authority" with absolutely no buy valtrex online without prescription from canada explanation in the notes. Those readers may very well conclude that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada women may exercise authority over men (i.e., serve as
pastors) so long as they do not "assume" that authority independently.
One cannot judge a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada translation based on a single verse. Nevertheless, the NIV's rendering of 1 Tim 2:12 is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada particularly important because it is a watershed in the evangelical gender debate. Unfortunately, the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada NIV 2011 obscures Paul's prohibition of women having governing authority over the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada entire church. Furthermore, many readers, perhaps most, will read the verse as permitting women to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada serve as pastors and to teach men. Hence, I would not recommend that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada individual Christians or churches adopt the NIV 2011, for it misleads in a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada crucial verse in the gender debate and it lacks clarity and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada accuracy, as I noted above, in many other verses as well. Individual Christians and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada churches who are concerned about evangelical accommodations to feminism need to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada exercise caution before adopting the new NIV Bible.
A Survey of Key Texts and Translation Tendencies22
The main question facing current NIV readers is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada not how much the new NIV is like the TNIV (see above), but rather, How much has changed from the 1984 NIV that I am currently using? Therefore the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada following section examines changes from the 1984 NIV to the new 2011 NIV.
The new NIV adopts feminist translations of key verses
This is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada not to presume upon the motives of the translators or buy valtrex online without prescription from canada their individual convictions about the gender debate. Indeed, we know that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada there are complementarians on the Committee for Bible Translation, and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada the chairman himself has written one of the definitive arguments in favor of a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada complementarian reading of 1 Tim 2:12. Nevertheless, feminists who claim that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada women can be pastors and elders will find much to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada their liking in the 2011 NIV because it tilts the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada scales in favor of their view at several key verses. In the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada previous section we already discussed the most important text, 1 Tim 2:12. Other verses have buy valtrex online without prescription from canada been reoriented in a similar way.
1984 NIV Rom 16:7 Greet Andronicus and Junias, my relatives who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding
among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.
2011 NIV Rom 16:7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was. (same as TNIV, except for footnote)
This verse changes "Junias" (a man's name) to "Junia" (a woman's name; the Greek spelling could refer to either a man or a woman), and now says that "Andronicus and Junia" are "outstanding among the apostles," thus making the woman "Junia" an buy valtrex online without prescription from canada apostle. This is a highly disputed verse, but the NIV now clearly gives more weight to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada the feminist argument that says there was at least one woman apostle, and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada if a woman could be an apostle (like Paul or Peter!), surely women can be pastors and elders as well.
Some other recent evangelical translations also translate this name as "Junia" (a woman), but at least three translations do not then buy valtrex online without prescription from canada make Junia an apostle. Based on what some believe to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada be a better understanding of the Greek phrase episēmoi en tois apostolois,23 both the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada ESV and the NET Bible say that Andronicus and Junia are buy valtrex online without prescription from canada "well known to the apostles," and the HCSB says they are "noteworthy in the eyes of the apostles." Thus, the apostles recognized Andronicus and Junia, but they were not themselves apostles. (The new NIV also gives a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada similar reading to this as an alternative in a footnote.) We recognize that there are other explanations (including the claim that "apostle" here has a weaker sense),24 but it buy valtrex online without prescription from canada still should be noted that, in contrast to three other recent evangelical translations,25 the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada new NIV adopts the translation strongly favored by feminists, apparently making Junia an buy valtrex online without prescription from canada apostle.
1984 NIV 1 Cor 14:33-34 For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.
As in all the congregations of the saints, women should remain silent in the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be buy valtrex online without prescription from canada in submission, as the Law says.
2011 NIV 1 Cor 14:33-34 For God is not a God of disorder but of peace-as in all the congregations of the Lord's people. Women should remain silent in the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be buy valtrex online without prescription from canada in submission, as the law says. (same as TNIV)
The question here is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada where to divide the paragraph and where to put the phrase, "as in all the congregations of the saints." The old NIV put the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada phrase with what follows, so Paul said, "As in all the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada congregations of the saints, women should remain silent in the churches." There is a good reason for this: the Greek word ekklēsia ("church, congregation") is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada repeated in both phrases, tying them together, and a statement that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada something is done "in all the congregations" is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada an appropriate way for Paul to give weight to what he says about women speaking in church.
What does Paul mean by "women should remain silent"? Many interpreters take this to mean that women should be "silent" when spoken prophecies were being judged (a governing function for the whole church). But whatever kind of silence Paul meant, the phrase "As in all the congregations of the saints" showed that Paul was not just solving some local problem at Corinth but was reminding them about the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada established practice of all the churches. "All the churches" had buy valtrex online without prescription from canada some kind of restrictions on some kinds of speech by women in the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada assembled congregation.
But the 2011 NIV now disconnects the phrase "as in all the congregations of the Lord's people" from the statement, "women should remain silent in the churches" (1 Cor 14:33-34). They put that phrase with the previous sentence: "For God is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada not a God of disorder but of peace-as in all the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada congregations of the Lord's people" (1 Cor 14:33). Now Paul's statement, "Women should remain silent in the churches," (1 Cor 14:34) starts a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada new paragraph, and the feminist argument that Paul was only addressing a local problem at Corinth (not a problem that applies to churches today) has buy valtrex online without prescription from canada gained new force. Once again the new NIV has been modified in a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada way that favors a common feminist interpretation.
Now it buy valtrex online without prescription from canada must be said that at several of these verses the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada new NIV does give an alternative, more conservative reading in a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada footnote, and we appreciate that. But what people read in a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada translation are the words in the Bible text itself, far more than buy valtrex online without prescription from canada the footnotes. And the 2011 NIV has shifted some key verses in a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada gender-neutral way that supports women apostles and women elders.
There is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada one last text in this category that is worthy of note. Making Phoebe a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada deacon in Rom 16:1 will be of concern to churches where buy valtrex online without prescription from canada male deacons have a governing role over the church.
1984 NIV Rom 16:1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church in Cenchrea.
2011 NIV Rom 16:1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon [footnote: or servant] of the church in Cenchreae. (same as TNIV)
This verse changes Phoebe from a "servant" to a "deacon" of the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada church at Cenchrea, and thereby it endorses women as deacons. Both translations are buy valtrex online without prescription from canada possible meanings for the Greek word diakonos, and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada the decision must be made from the larger New Testament context. (In the entire New Testament, the NIV translates diakonos as "deacon" only four times out of twenty-nine occurrences: here in Rom 16:1 and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada in three verses where no individual is named but a church office is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada clearly in view: Phil 1:1; 1 Tim 3:8, 12.)
CBMW has not taken a position on whether women can be deacons.26 My comment here is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada more of an observation than an objection. For churches and denominations that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada do not have buy valtrex online without prescription from canada women deacons, the new NIV will prove difficult. These churches hold that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada "deacon" is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada a governing office in the church and that 1 Tim 3:12 requires deacons to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada be "the husband of one wife." But if such churches use the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada 2011 NIV, the debate about women as deacons will shift: Phoebe is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada now named as a deacon in Rom 16:1; therefore, it buy valtrex online without prescription from canada seems, women should be deacons today. This will be of concern to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada a number of churches.27
The new NIV changes "father" to "parent"
1984 NIV Prov 15:5 A fool spurns his father's discipline, but whoever heeds correction shows prudence.
2011 NIV Prov 15:5 A fool spurns a parent's discipline, but whoever heeds correction shows prudence. (same as TNIV)
But the Hebrew text has 'ab, which means "father," not "parent." Fifteen other verses in the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada 2011 NIV make a similar change. Why seek to eliminate "father" when that is the precise meaning of the Hebrew text?
There are buy valtrex online without prescription from canada no cases in the Old Testament where the singular Hebrew word 'ab means "parent" rather than "father." Hebrew lexicons define this word in singular as "father," not as "parent."28 Moreover, the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada Proverbs are consistently and specifically cast as the exhortation of a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada father to a son.29 The use, therefore, of an individual "father" to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada teach a general truth about all parents is natural and expected. Nevertheless, the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada new NIV translators in verses like this were unwilling to translate the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada word with the clear, simple English equivalent "father."
Similar changes in other verses diminish the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada role of the father in Israelite society. For example,
1984 NIV 1 Sam 18:2 From that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada his father's house.
2011 NIV 1 Sam 18:2 From that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return home to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada his family. (same as TNIV)
Although the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada Hebrew text in such verses speaks several times of a "father's house" or "father's family" and uses the ordinary Hebrew word for "father" ('ab), the new NIV eliminates the word "father" and substitutes "family" or buy valtrex online without prescription from canada some other expression. The new expressions remove any suggestion of a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada father's leadership role in the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada family. These new NIV verses are not translated as accurately as possible, but they are buy valtrex online without prescription from canada consistent with the new NIV's practice of removing male-oriented details of meaning from buy valtrex online without prescription from canada the text of the Bible.
The new NIV changes "forefather" to "ancestor"
1984 NIV Josh 19:47 (But the Danites had difficulty taking possession of their territory, so they went up and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada attacked Leshem, took it, put it to the sword and occupied it. They settled in Leshem and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada named it Dan after their forefather.)
2011 NIV Josh 19:47 (When the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada territory of the Danites was lost to them, they went up and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada attacked Leshem, took it, put it to the sword and occupied it. They settled in Leshem and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada named it Dan after their ancestor.)
The Hebrew text has 'ab, the ordinary word for "father," and here the translation "forefather" is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada appropriate for such a reference to a male ancestor from earlier generations. But the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada new NIV's word "ancestor" eliminates the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada male component of meaning that would have been evident to every Hebrew reader because this buy valtrex online without prescription from canada was the common word meaning "father." This change occurs 313 times in the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada 2011 NIV. Why does the new NIV seek to eliminate male meaning that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada is present in the Hebrew or Greek text?
The new NIV changes "son" to "child"
1984 NIV Prov 13:24 He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.
2011 NIV Prov 13:24 Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada one who loves their children is careful to discipline them.
The Hebrew word here is ben (singular), and it means "son," not "child" and certainly not "children." The pronoun connected to "son" is masculine singular and means "his" not "their."
The Bible often teaches by giving a specific, concrete example (such as a single father who is disciplining a specific son) and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada then expecting the readers to apply this vivid example more generally as appropriate. But the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada new NIV finds such a specific masculine example objectionable and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada changes it to a broader truth about "whoever" and "their children" generally, all in the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada interest of removing the masculine specificity that is there in the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada Hebrew text of Scripture. Several other verses in the OT make this buy valtrex online without prescription from canada same change.
This tendency to avoid the word "son" also affects the phrase "son of man" in some verses:
1984 NIV Ps 8:4 what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?
2011 NIV Ps 8:4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?
The phrase in Hebrew is ben-'adam, and ben (which is singular) means "son" and 'adam means "man." The translation "son of man" is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada correct, and this verse is understood that way in Heb 2:6. There is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada a clear possibility that Jesus thought of himself as fulfilling this buy valtrex online without prescription from canada passage (as well as Dan 7:13) when he referred to himself frequently as "the Son of Man." But the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada connection to the New Testament and to Christ is obscured with the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada new NIV, as it removes male components of meaning from buy valtrex online without prescription from canada verse after verse.30
The new NIV changes "brother" to "brother or sister" or to other non-family words
1984 NIV Luke 17:3 So watch yourselves. "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.
2011 NIV Luke 17:3 So watch yourselves. "If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada if they repent, forgive them.
Why did the NIV make this change? Jesus gave a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada specific example of a brother who sins. He could have said "brother or sister" if he had buy valtrex online without prescription from canada wanted to, because elsewhere a New Testament author says "brother or sister" in Greek (Jas 2:15, "Suppose a brother or sister [Greek adelphos ē adelphē] is without clothes and daily food"). But Jesus did not say that. He gave a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada specific example of a brother. English translation, therefore, should retain the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada specific example of a brother.
Yet the new NIV does this many other times, changing "brother" to "brother or sister," or buy valtrex online without prescription from canada to some other gender-neutral expression. This happens in the Old Testament as well:
1984 NIV Deut 22:1 If you see your brother's ox or buy valtrex online without prescription from canada sheep straying, do not ignore it but be sure to take it buy valtrex online without prescription from canada back to him.
2011 NIV Deut 22:1 If you see your fellow Israelite's ox or buy valtrex online without prescription from canada sheep straying, do not ignore it but be sure to take it buy valtrex online without prescription from canada back to its owner.
The Hebrew word 'ah normally means "brother," but can by metaphorical extension refer to "fellow tribesman" or "fellow countryman."31 Yet in this buy valtrex online without prescription from canada context, the word most likely has a masculine component of meaning. Why not translate this buy valtrex online without prescription from canada word in a way that recognizes that property rights in patriarchal cultures (like ancient Israel) belong to men? Why not translate this buy valtrex online without prescription from canada common word according to its ordinary meaning, which includes the rich family imagery of "brother," unless you buy valtrex online without prescription from canada are trying to eliminate much of the male-oriented language from the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada Bible?
The new NIV changes "he" and "him" to "they"
and "them"
This is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada the largest category of changes in the new NIV, and it buy valtrex online without prescription from canada makes a significant difference in meaning. This is because changing singulars to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada plurals removes the emphasis in a verse on individual, personal relationship with God and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada specific individual responsibility for one's choices and actions.
1984 NIV John 14:23 Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
2011 NIV John 14:23 Jesus replied, "Anyone who buy valtrex online without prescription from canada loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. (same as TNIV)
The "If" that Jesus said (Greek ean) is omitted, and three masculine singular pronouns (Greek autos) are translated with "them," removing the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada amazing emphasis on the Father and Son dwelling with an individual person. In the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada 2011 NIV, maybe "them" refers to the whole group of those who obey. How can we know? Though some of these changes have buy valtrex online without prescription from canada been corrected from the TNIV, such changes from singular to plural (or from "he" to "you" or "we" or no word at all) still occur 2,002 times in the new NIV.
Such changes from buy valtrex online without prescription from canada singular to plural still occur many hundreds of times in the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada new NIV. And at times the desire to avoid the words "he" and "him" leads to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada English sentences that brim with the awkwardness of politically correct speech:
1984 NIV Rev 3:20 Here I am! I stand at the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.
2011 NIV Rev 3:20 Here I am! I stand at the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
The expression "that person" has a cold, impersonal feel in comparison to both "them" and "him." That is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada not how we speak when we want to maximize the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada warmth and intimacy of our relationship with someone in English. "That person" is how we speak about someone we don't know. In order to avoid the word "him," the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada new NIV struggles with sentence awkwardness and with such impersonal connotations regularly.
The Use of the Collins Dictionaries Report
One of the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada major criticisms of the TNIV was its regular use of generic plural forms in place of generic masculine singular forms.32 John 14:23 offers us an buy valtrex online without prescription from canada example of how this point has been debated in previous conversations.
The underlying issue in this buy valtrex online without prescription from canada text is the rendering of the Greek word autos, which occurs three times in this buy valtrex online without prescription from canada verse as masculine and singular. The 1984 NIV translates it accordingly, but the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada TNIV and 2011 NIV translate autos with the generic plural "them." It is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada true that the Greek pronoun probably has a gender-inclusive meaning in this buy valtrex online without prescription from canada verse. The translator, therefore, has a challenge before him in trying to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada figure out the most accurate way to render this verse. Since English has buy valtrex online without prescription from canada no gender-inclusive singular pronoun, the translator can either translate as "him" and risk losing the gender-inclusive sense of autos. Or he can translate as "them" and risk losing the singular sense of autos. At least this is how the problem is commonly put forth.
The problem as formulated above, however, presumes that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada generic singular pronouns (like "him") are buy valtrex online without prescription from canada no longer intelligible in English. And yet this is precisely the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada point in the debate that remains unresolved. On one side, Poythress and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada Grudem have argued that generic masculine singular forms are still intelligible in English.33 On the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada other side, D. A. Carson, Mark Strauss, and others have argued that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada such forms are no longer acceptable among large sectors of English speakers.34 In fact, Carson suggests that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada such forms might unwittingly exclude "half of humanity" from buy valtrex online without prescription from canada texts that should include them.35 Such forms, therefore, should not be buy valtrex online without prescription from canada favored in translating the Bible.
The NIV 2011 translators have buy valtrex online without prescription from canada shown great awareness of this ongoing dispute and have tried to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada address the problem by commissioning an empirical study of English gender language. On this buy valtrex online without prescription from canada point, it will be worth quoting the translators at length:
All previous Bible translation efforts have buy valtrex online without prescription from canada been hampered by the lack of accurate, statistically significant data on the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada state of spoken and written English at a given time in its history. Beyond appealing to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada traditional style guides, all that translators and stylists have been able to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada do is rely on their own experiences and others' anecdotal evidence, resulting in arguments such as, "I never see anybody writing such-and-such," or "I always hear such-and-such," or "Sometimes I read one thing but other times something else."
As part of the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada review of gender language promised at the September 2009 update announcement, the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada committee sought to remove some of this subjectivity by enlisting the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada help of experts. The committee initiated a relationship with Collins Dictionaries to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada use the Collins Bank of English, one of the world's foremost English language research tools, to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada conduct a major new study of changes in gender language. The Bank of English is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada a database of more than 4.4 billion words drawn from text publications and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada spoken word recordings from all over the world.
Working with some of the world's leading experts in computational linguistics and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada using cutting-edge techniques developed specifically for this project, the committee gained an buy valtrex online without prescription from canada authoritative, and hitherto unavailable, perspective on the contemporary use of gender language - including terms for buy valtrex online without prescription from canada the human race and subgroups of the human race, pronoun selections following various words and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada phrases, the use of "man" as a singular generic and the use of "father(s)" and "forefather(s)" as compared to ancestor(s). The project tracked usage and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada acceptability for each word and phrase over a twenty-year period and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada also analyzed similarities and differences across different forms of English: for buy valtrex online without prescription from canada example, UK English, US English, written English, spoken English, and even the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada English used in a wide variety of evangelical books, sermons and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada internet sites.36
This extended excerpt explains why the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada translators commissioned this study and how the findings shaped the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada rendering of gender language in the NIV 2011. The full report from buy valtrex online without prescription from canada Collins Dictionaries is available online.37 According to the study, generic masculine forms are buy valtrex online without prescription from canada on the decline, but they are still in use among English speakers. The summary on the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada translators' website says it this way: "Between 1990 and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada 2009, instances of masculine generic pronouns and determiners, expressed as a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada percentage of total generic pronoun usage in general written English, fell from buy valtrex online without prescription from canada 22% to 8%."38 This finding from the study directly impacted the translators' approach to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada rendering gender language in the NIV 2011. In particular, the translators adopted the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada following approach: "Singular ‘they,' ‘them' and ‘their' forms were widely used to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada communicate the generic significance of pronouns and their equivalents when a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada singular form had already been used for the antecedent."39
While the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada data collected in the Collins Dictionaries report is impressive, the translators' use of it is not. The translators say that the report "tracked usage and acceptability" of the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada relevant gender language over a twenty-year period. Certainly the report gives significant insight into English usage, but the report itself sheds very little light on the acceptability of any given idiom. Moreover, it buy valtrex online without prescription from canada is not at all clear what is meant by acceptability. Does it mean understandable? Or perhaps does it mean inoffensive? D. A. Carson has buy valtrex online without prescription from canada defended the translation philosophy adopted by the NIV 2011, and in his defense of it buy valtrex online without prescription from canada he has used the term acceptable to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada refer to that which may or may not offend people of certain ideological tendencies:
I cannot help noting that generic "he" is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada more acceptable in culturally conservative sectors of the country than in culturally liberal sectors. But I have buy valtrex online without prescription from canada been doing university missions for thirty years, and in such quarters inclusive language dominates. Not to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada use it is offensive.40
So for Carson, acceptability has buy valtrex online without prescription from canada something to do with whether or not a given use of language offends the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada liberal sensibilities of potential readers. But this is not really a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada linguistic concern so much as it is an ideological one. The Collins report provides no buy valtrex online without prescription from canada insight on acceptability in this sense. In any case, acceptability in this buy valtrex online without prescription from canada sense is certainly not a concern that should determine the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada translation of a given text-a point with which Carson would likely agree. Perhaps this buy valtrex online without prescription from canada is not what the translators mean by acceptability, and a clarification on this point would be helpful.
It may be that acceptability in the Collins report refers to the understandability of an buy valtrex online without prescription from canada expression among potential readers. This would be a linguistic concern, but the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada Collins data gives very little insight here either. The Collins data says that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada 8% of all generic forms are buy valtrex online without prescription from canada masculine generics. If anything, the fact that the idiom is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada still in use presumes its understandability among English speakers. The infrequency of an buy valtrex online without prescription from canada expression does not imply its unintelligibility. As Poythress and Grudem have buy valtrex online without prescription from canada argued,
There is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada no reason we have to avoid infrequently used expressions in Bible translation. Some words like "heron," "amethyst," "blasphemy," "elder," and "apostle" may not occur with high frequency in secular writings today, but they are buy valtrex online without prescription from canada intelligible. Translators can use such words when they need them. The same is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada true of generic "he" when it is needed to express the meaning accurately.41
The claim that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada generic masculines are not understood by wide swaths of English readers is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada simply not supported by the Collins data. A decline in frequency of a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada given form by no means implies a decline in understandability.
Herein is the flaw of NIV translators' use of the Collins data. Usage and understandability are buy valtrex online without prescription from canada not synonyms, and yet the NIV translators treat them as if they are. For this buy valtrex online without prescription from canada reason, the translators of the NIV address a relatively small number of the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada problems previously identified in the TNIV. That is a methodological shortcoming on the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada part of the translators that led them to retain at least 75% of the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada problematic renderings from the TNIV in the text of the NIV 2011 (see tables above).
Also note that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada the NIV translators themselves returned to the occasional use of generic masculine expressions in some key verses (!)-thereby admitting that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada these uses are still understandable and acceptable. So if they are buy valtrex online without prescription from canada still acceptable, why not admit that they were wrong in excluding them earlier, and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada why not use them everywhere the Greek or Hebrew texts use a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada generic masculine singular, since this is the most accurate translation in English?
So how does this buy valtrex online without prescription from canada affect the way in which texts like John 14:23 are translated? The English pronoun "him" still works best to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada render Greek generic masculine singulars. One need not pick between gender-inclusiveness and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada singularity here. "Him" does well at communicating both, just as it buy valtrex online without prescription from canada did in the 1984 NIV. If this argument is correct, then buy valtrex online without prescription from canada Grudem's critique of the TNIV's rendering still applies to the 2011 NIV.
"The ‘If' that Jesus said (Greek ean) is omitted, and three masculine singular pronouns (Greek autos) are incorrectly translated with ‘them,' removing the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada amazing emphasis on the Father and Son dwelling with an individual person. In the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada TNIV [and NIV 2011], maybe ‘them' refers [to] the whole group of those who obey. How can we know?"42
2 Timothy 2:2 and Masculine Specific Meaning
I think the NIV's aversion to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada generic masculines sometimes causes it to miss instances in which masculine meaning is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada intended by the author. Take 2 Tim 2:2, for example. This text has buy valtrex online without prescription from canada not weighed heavily in intra-evangelical debates about gender roles, but it buy valtrex online without prescription from canada did appear as a topic for discussion in an online scholarly forum last year that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada discussed particular renderings in the NIV 2011.43 The text reads, "The things which you buy valtrex online without prescription from canada have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these things to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada faithful men [anthrōpois] who will be able to teach others also" (author's translation).
The question here concerns the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada proper rendering of the Greek term anthrōpois. In preparing to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada write this article, I made my way through fourteen different commentaries on this buy valtrex online without prescription from canada verse. Out of the six of them that favored the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada translation "people," not a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada single one of them put forth a sustained argument in favor of that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada translation. The most they have to offer is the observation that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada the plural of anthrōpos is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada regularly used generically. Craig Blomberg, one of the translators for the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada NIV 2011, offered an argument in favor of "people" in the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada aforementioned online scholarly forum. Because major commentators have very little to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada say on this point, I found Craig Blomberg's contribution to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada be the most substantive argument in favor of the translation "people" that I have read.44
That being said, I do want to contest Dr. Blomberg's conclusion that says "people" is "the only legitimate translation" of anthrōpois. It is true that the plural of anthropos is often used generically (e.g., 1 Tim 2:1, 4; 4:10; 6:5; 2 Tim 3:2; Tit 2:11; 3:2), but that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada fact is no argument for a generic referent in a given context. If we want to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada understand the word's appearance in 2 Tim 2:2, we must look to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada context. So let me make some observations about the context that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada in my view tip the scales decisively in favor of the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada translation "men."
First, there is precedent in the pastorals for Paul's use of plural anthropos in a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada gender-specific way. In 2 Tim 3:8, for instance, Paul writes, "Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth-men [anthrōpoi] of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected." The anthrōpoi here must be men since they are "worming their way into women's homes."45 If this is correct, then the anthrōpoi of both 3:2 and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada 3:13 should be understood as males as well. Consider also the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada anthrōpoi of 1 Tim 5:24: "The sins of some men are buy valtrex online without prescription from canada quite evident, going before them to judgment; for others, their sins follow after." In context, Paul is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada telling Timothy to be careful about whom he appoints as elders (v. 5:22: "Do not lay hands on a man too quickly"). Since Paul held to an all male eldership (1 Tim 2:12; 3:2), the anthrōpoi of 5:24 must also be males. Given Paul's use of anthrōpoi in a gender-specific way both in the pastorals and elsewhere (e.g., 1 Cor 7:7), we have buy valtrex online without prescription from canada to allow for the possibility that context can determine anthrōpoi with a masculine referent.
Second, in the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada context of 2 Timothy 2, Paul is telling Timothy to entrust the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada gospel to faithful anthrōpoi who will be able to teach others (2:2). Notice the one qualification that Paul has for the anthrōpoi. They must be qualified to teach "others." This is significant because "others" is a masculine plural pronoun [heterous]. That means that "others" would consist of both men and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada women or of men only. Since Paul has already prohibited women from buy valtrex online without prescription from canada teaching Christian doctrine to men (1 Tim 2:12), women would not be qualified to teach "others." Thus, when Paul employs anthrōpoi here, he certainly has in mind males only. Contextually speaking, anthrōpoi must be buy valtrex online without prescription from canada gender-specific in this text. It seems that Paul wishes to emphasize the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada special responsibility that qualified men have to pass the faith on to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada the next generation.
With this buy valtrex online without prescription from canada interpretation in mind, we are in a position to answer the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada Blomberg's arguments in favor of "people."
(1) Blomberg argues that "people" is a grammatical "slam dunk" because the plural of anthrōpos is "regularly" used in a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada gender-inclusive way. Nevertheless, the regular use of anthrōpos in a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada gender-inclusive way is not argument for its meaning in a given context. Gender-specific uses of anthrōpos are also within the term's range of possible meanings, so the argument for "people" has to be developed within the context of 2 Timothy (and the other pastorals). I do not think Blomberg has provided such an argument yet.
(2) Blomberg argues that translating anthrōpois as "people" would not "infringe on those restrictions" Paul set up to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada prohibit women from teaching men. The problem with this argument is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada twofold. First, the term "others" is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada masculine plural, so the teaching of both men and women is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada in view. Thus, Blomberg cannot placate complementarian concerns with the suggestion that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada only the teaching of women and children is in view. Second, most English readers will read "people" in a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada gender-inclusive way. If Paul did not intend to be gender-inclusive in this buy valtrex online without prescription from canada text, why obscure the point for English readers?
(3) Blomberg says that the translation "faithful men" will be buy valtrex online without prescription from canada heard by most readers as gender-specific, not as gender-inclusive. In this buy valtrex online without prescription from canada context, he is certainly right about this. But those who buy valtrex online without prescription from canada favor the translation "faithful men" do not do so because they believe "men" to be gender-inclusive. On the contrary, they favor "men" because they believe males are in view.
(4) Blomberg also mentions his experience in parachurch organizations for buy valtrex online without prescription from canada whom this text is a staple. In those organizations, this text is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada a touchstone for understanding the organic disciple-making process that is incumbent upon all Christians, both men and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada women. I would argue that such organizations can still access this buy valtrex online without prescription from canada text in support of such disciple-making ministries. But when they do so, they should find that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada support in a legitimate implication of the text, not as Paul's original meaning. In context, Paul is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada addressing the special responsibilities of church leadership who are supposed to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada be examples to the rest of the flock (1 Tim 4:12; Titus 2:7).
Finally, let me offer a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada word about how this text has been rendered in the NIV and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada its revisions since 1984.
Only one word has buy valtrex online without prescription from canada been changed in this verse from the 1984 NIV to the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada 2011 revision. "Men" has changed to "people." The initial change occurred in TNIV 2002, and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada a marginal note was added to give the alternate interpretation from buy valtrex online without prescription from canada the NIV 1984. In the TNIV 2005 and in the NIV 2011, there is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada no indication in the notes at all about another possible interpretation of this buy valtrex online without prescription from canada text. If my interpretation is correct, then anthrōpois should be rendered as "men" in the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada text of NIV 2011. At the very least, the marginal note that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada appeared in TNIV 2002 should be restored to show that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada there is another possible translation of the text.
Why is this verse worth discussing in this review? It is true, after all, that other translations have rendered anthrōpois as people with relatively no push-back from critics (e.g., NET, NLT, NJB). The translators of the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada NIV clearly see the term with no masculine referent, but that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada point is disputed in the literature. Why then would the translators favor the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada word "people" (which can only be understood generically) when "men" leaves open the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada possibility of both a generic referent or a specifically masculine one? Why leave readers with a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada translation that has decidedly egalitarian implications (that women may teach men)? I do not think that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada the translators are pursuing a stealth egalitarian agenda, but I do think that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada an aversion to generic masculines has caused them to miss the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada author's specific meaning in this text.
Conclusion
There are buy valtrex online without prescription from canada many more texts that are worthy of note, but there is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada not space to comment on all of them in a short review. What we have buy valtrex online without prescription from canada hoped to show is that the 2011 NIV has only moved away from buy valtrex online without prescription from canada some of its more controversial gender-
neutral renderings. Although many of these revisions offer an buy valtrex online without prescription from canada improvement over the TNIV, many of the renderings are not without problems themselves. Whatever improvements have buy valtrex online without prescription from canada been made in the translation of gender language, about 75% of the "inaccuracies" identified by Poythress and Grudem still remain.
How do I evaluate the NIV 2011 and would I recommend it to others? I would argue that the most accurate approach to translation is one that seeks an "essentially literal" translation as far as is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada compatible with good English. There are nuances and implications of language that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada are retained in such an approach but that can be buy valtrex online without prescription from canada lost in dynamic equivalence renderings.
Even though the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada NIV aims to combine both formal equivalence and dynamic equivalence approaches, it buy valtrex online without prescription from canada too often loses balance in my view. Its pervasive use of gender-neutral language is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada a case in point. The NIV 2011's aversion to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada generic masculine forms of expression is unnecessary and can have buy valtrex online without prescription from canada the deleterious effect of obscuring aspects of the biblical authors' meaning. In my view, this buy valtrex online without prescription from canada feature alone weighs heavily against the NIV 2011.
Different situations call for buy valtrex online without prescription from canada different kinds of translations, but an essentially literal translation is still the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada best for the regular preaching, studying, and reading of the scriptures. Thus, I recommend the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada NASB as the most accurate version,46 and the ESV as the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada best combination of both accuracy and readability.
As I mentioned in the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada introduction, the 2011 NIV includes many very helpful improvements over the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada 1984 NIV. And as a former user of the 1984 NIV, I regard these as an buy valtrex online without prescription from canada advance over the previous version. Nevertheless, I wish that these improvements could have buy valtrex online without prescription from canada been introduced without retaining 75% of the TNIV's problematic renderings of gender language. Perhaps Zondervan would consider a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada future revision that addresses these issues more fully.
Endnotes
1William D. Mounce, ed., Mounce's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006).
2Full Disclosure: Under the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada influence of pastors from my home church and college church, I eventually developed a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada preference for formal equivalence translation. Since 1995, therefore, I have buy valtrex online without prescription from canada been using the New American Standard Bible as my primary text for buy valtrex online without prescription from canada preaching and personal Bible study.
3The CBA's rankings are available online at http://www.cbaonline.org/nm/documents/BSLs /Bible_Translations.pdf.
4The first attempt was the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada New International Version Inclusive Language Edition (NIVI) in 1996 (released only in the UK), and the second was Today's New International Version (TNIV) in 2005.
5Mark L. Strauss, Distorting Scripture?: The Challenge of Bible Translation & Gender Accuracy (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1998); Glen G. Scorgie, Mark L. Strauss, and Steven M. Voth, eds., The Challenge of Bible Translation (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003);Vern S. Poythress and W. A. Grudem, The Gender-Neutral Bible Controversy: Muting the Masculinity of God's Words (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2000); D. A. Carson, The Inclusive-Language Debate: A Plea for Realism (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1998); Vern S. Poythress and W. A. Grudem, The TNIV and the Gender-Neutral Bible Controversy (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2004); Wayne Grudem and Jerry Thacker, Why Is My Choice of a Bible Translation So Important? (Louisville, KY: The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, 2005).
6The Committee on Bible Translation summarizes many improvements in a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada report released online in late 2010: "Updating the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada New International Version of the Bible: Notes from the Committee on Bible Translation" (The Committee on Bible Translation, August 2010) [cited 2 May 2011]. Online: http://www.niv-cbt.org/niv-2011-overview/translators-notes.
7For a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada full list of these and other changes listed by category and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada verse, see www.cbmw.org.
8See previous note for buy valtrex online without prescription from canada a full list of such revisions, including an annotation where each verse has buy valtrex online without prescription from canada been corrected from the TNIV. However, it should be noted that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada this total of 933 is probably a bit high, since it buy valtrex online without prescription from canada includes all the instances where the objectionable gender language of the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada TNIV has been revised, but in some of those passages one gender-neutral term has buy valtrex online without prescription from canada just been replaced with another, and some inaccuracy remains.
9Some welcome improvements listed in the CBT's "Notes" include the following: "Using plurals instead of singulars to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada deal with generic forms was avoided.... Using second person forms instead of third person forms to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada deal with generics was avoided" (Ibid., 5).
10Grudem and Thacker, Why Is My Choice of a Bible Translation So Important?, 33. The TNIV New Testament appeared in 2002. In response, Vern Poythress and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada Wayne Grudem published in 2004 The TNIV and The Gender-Neutral Bible Controversy in which they cataloged 900 examples of gender-related "translation inaccuracies" (Poythress and Grudem, Gender-Neutral Bible Controversy, 73). The TNIV Old Testament appeared in 2005 along with another revision of the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada TNIV New Testament. In response, Wayne Grudem and Jerry Thacker produced a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada volume cataloguing some 3,686 "inaccurate translations in the TNIV" Old and New Testaments (Grudem and Thacker, Why Is My Choice of a Bible Translation So Important?, 33). Grudem and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada Thacker identified ten additional problems in the TNIV New Testament and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada that brought the total number of "inaccuracies" for the NT up to 910 (Ibid., 81-96).
11Grudem's number from Why Is My Choice of a Bible Translation So Important? is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada 3,686. The researchers that surveyed these texts for the current study identified new problems but were also unable to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada confirm some of the others listed in Grudem's book. The net change from Grudem to the current study is +15. These verses comprise about a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada half of one percent of the total, so the difference is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada statistically insignificant.
12We were greatly assisted in this buy valtrex online without prescription from canada research by an online tool that tracks how the NIV 2011 compares to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada the NIV 1984 and the TNIV. The creator of this resource is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada Robert Slowley, a senior software engineer at the European Bioinformatics Institute in Cambridge, U.K. The data from buy valtrex online without prescription from canada this comparison is available in a table at the following website: http://www.slowley.com/niv2011_
comparison.
13Data concerning "saints" and "Jews" are buy valtrex online without prescription from canada also contained in this chart even though they are not gender-related terminology. They appear here for buy valtrex online without prescription from canada the sake of completeness because they were included in Grudem and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada Thacker's study.
14Thomas R. Schreiner and Andreas J. Köstenberger, Women in the Church: An Analysis and Application of 1 Timothy 2:9-15 (2d ed.; Grand Rapids: Baker, 2005).
15Philip B. Payne, "1 Tim 2.12 and the Use of oude to Combine Two Elements to Express a Single Idea," New Testament Studies 54, no. 2 (2008): 235-53; Philip B. Payne, Man and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada Woman, One in Christ: An Exegetical and Theological Study of Paul's Letters (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009), 385-97.
16Henry Scott Baldwin's important study of authenteō identifies "assume authority" as a sub-meaning of "to act independently." See Henry Scott Baldwin, "An Important Word: Authenteō in 1 Timothy 2:12," in Women in the Church, 45, 47. Baldwin incorrectly says that "assume authority" is a "positive term" (Ibid., 47), as pointed out by Payne, Man and Woman, One in Christ, 385, n. 122.
17Ibid., 393: "What Paul says is this: ‘I am buy valtrex online without prescription from canada not permitting a woman to teach and assume authority over a buy valtrex online without prescription from canada man,' namely, to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada take for herself authority to teach a man without authorization from buy valtrex online without prescription from canada the church. Practically, this excluded women in Ephesus from assuming to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada themselves authority to teach men in the church. It would not, however, prohibit women with recognized authority from buy valtrex online without prescription from canada teaching men (e.g., Priscilla)."
18"Notes from the Committee," 7.
19Andreas J. Köstenberger, "‘Teaching and Usurping Authority: 1 Timothy 2:11-15' (Ch 12) by Linda L. Belleville," Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood 10, no. 1 (2005): 43-54.
20Payne, "1 Tim 2.12 and the Use of oude to Combine Two Elements to Express a Single Idea," 235-36, 247, 252, 253.
21Wayne Grudem, Evangelical Feminism: A New Path to Liberalism (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2006).
22Much of the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada material in this section is adapted from Grudem and Thacker, Why Is My Choice of a Bible Translation So Important? and from personal correspondence with Wayne Grudem.
23MH Burer and Daniel B. Wallace, "Was Junia Really and Apostle? A Re-examination of Rom 16.7," New Testament Studies 47 (2001): 76-91. Contra Eldon Jay Epp, Junia: The First Woman Apostle (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2005), 72-78. Linda Belleville also refuted Burer and Wallace's article in Linda Belleville, "Iounian . . . episēmoi en tois apostolois: A Re-examination of Romans 16.7 in Light of Primary Source Materials," New Testament Studies 51, no. 2 (2005): 231-49. Burer has responded to both saying, "I have buy valtrex online without prescription from canada not read anything in any of them that has dissuaded me from buy valtrex online without prescription from canada the viewpoint Wallace and I advanced in the original article" (Michael Burer, "Reassessing Junia: A Review of Eldon Epp's Junia: The First Woman Apostle," Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood 13, no. 1 [2008]: 56-59.).
24This is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada in fact how Thomas Schreiner takes it in his commentary on Romans. See Thomas R. Schreiner, Romans, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1998), 796-97. Schreiner defines "apostle" in this text as itinerant evangelist or missionary. It does not designate Junia as having the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada same authority as the twelve, Paul, Barnabas, or James.
25The NASB has "Junias" as a man in Rom 16:7.
26For example, both views are buy valtrex online without prescription from canada represented in John Piper and Wayne Grudem, Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood: A Response to Evangelical Feminism (Crossway, 1991).
27The 2011 NIV does have the following note on Rom 16:1: "The word deacon refers here to a Christian designated to serve with the overseers/elders of the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada church in a variety of ways; similarly in Phil. 1:1 and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada 1 Tim. 3:8,12." But the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada note itself is obscure and does not definitively say that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada the office of "deacon" is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada not one of governing authority. In any case, the text itself will be buy valtrex online without prescription from canada what most readers pay attention to, not the footnote.
28See Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, and Charles A. Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (2d ed.; Oxford: Oxford University, 1952), 3 [hereafter, BDB]; also Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner, Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (trans. M. E. J. Richardson; Leiden: Brill, 1994), 1-2.
29Prov 1:8, 10, 15; 2:1; 3:1, 11, 21; 4:3, 10, 20; 5:1, 20; 6:1, 3, 20; 7:1; 19:27; 23:15, 19, 26; 24:13, 21; 27:11; 31:2.
30For recent discussion of the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada quotation of Ps 8:4 in Heb 2:6, see Craig Blomberg, "‘But We See Jesus': The Relationship Between the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada Son of Man in Hebrews 2:6 and 2:9 and the Implications for buy valtrex online without prescription from canada English Translation," in A Cloud of Witnesses: The Theology of Hebrews in its Ancient Context (ed. Richard Bauckham et al.; London: T & T Clark, 2008), 88-99; Barry Joslin, "‘Son of Man' or ‘Human Beings'?: Translating Hebrews 2:5-9 and a Response to Craig Blomberg," JBMW 14, no. 2 (2009): 41-50.
31HALOT, s.v. 'ah, 5, 6.
32Poythress and Grudem, The TNIV and the Gender-Neutral Bible Controversy, 73-100.
33E.g., Ibid., 9.
34"Poythress and Grudem argue for the continuing usability of generic ‘he.' Certainly it's easy enough to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada find sectors of society where inclusive language has made relatively little impression. For various reasons I move in quite different sectors, and, although I'm relying on what buy valtrex online without prescription from canada I personally observe rather than on large-scale empirical studies, I cannot help noting that buy valtrex online without prescription from canada generic ‘he' is buy valtrex online without prescription from canada more acceptable in culturally conservative sectors of the country than buy valtrex online without prescription from canada in culturally liberal sectors. But I have been doing university missions for buy valtrex online without prescription from canada thirty years, and in such quarters inclusive language dominates. Not to buy valtrex online without prescription from canada use it is offensive" (D. A. Carson, "The Limits of Functional Equivalence in Bible Translation," in The Challenge of Bible Translation: Communicating God's Word to the World, Essays in Honor of Ronald F. Youngblood [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003], 81-82).
35Ibid., 87.
36"Updating the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada New International Version of the Bible: Notes from the Committee on Bible Translation."
37"The Development and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada Use of Gender Language in Contemporary English-A Corpus Linguistic Analysis" (Collins Dictionaries, September 2010) [cited 2 May 2011]. Online: http://www.niv-cbt.org/information/collins-language-study-full-report.
38"Summary of Collins Corpus Report" (The Committee on Bible Translation) [cited 1 April 2011]. Online: http://www.niv-cbt.org/information/collins-corpus-report.
39"Updating the buy valtrex online without prescription from canada New International Version of the Bible: Notes from the Committee on Bible Translation."
40Carson, "The Limits of Functional Equivalence in Bible Translation."
41Poythress and Grudem, The TNIV and the Gender-Neutral Bible Controversy, 324.
42Grudem and Thacker, Why Is My Choice of a Bible Translation So Important?, 28.
43The forum is titled "Perspectives in Translation: A Discussion of English Bible Versions," (http://www.biblegateway.com/perspectives-in-translation) and buy valtrex online without prescription from canada was a joint effort of The Gospel Coalition and BibleGateway.com (which is owned by Zondervan).
44Craig Blomberg, "How Should We Identify the Teachers in 2 Tim. 2:2? Craig Blomberg," December 8, 2010 [cited 2 May 2011]. Online: http://www.biblegateway.com/perspectives-in-translation/2010/12/how-do-we-identify-the-teachers-in-2-tim-
22-craig-blomberg.
45William D. Mounce, Pastoral Epistles (Word Biblical Commentary; Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2000), 550.
46This is the English version that I have been using since 1995.
