Luke 17:21 In your midst
Friday, March 28th, 2008The following verses represent a particularly tricky translation issue. I do not believe there is a clear right answer but there are some observations that can be made.
Luke 17:18
Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” εντος εν ὑμιν TNIVwithin you KJV, NIV
among you HCSB, NRSV
in your midst TNIV, NASB
in the midst of you ESV, RSV Here the KJV and the NIV are in line theologically. However, the TNIV now reflects the interpretation of the other recent translations. It also has the more euphonic and clear “in your midst” instead of “in the midst of you”. That expression probably had its origin in example # 4 below.
1 Cor. 3:16
Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? εν ὑμιν TNIV in you ESV, NIV, NASB, KJV, RSV, NRSV
in your midst TNIV Here the TNIV reflects a very possible interpetation but it seems to be unique to the TNIV. It is certainly justified by this verse in John 1:14.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us εν ὑμινamong us TNIV, ESV, KJV, NIV, NASB, RSV, NRSV Matt. 18:2
He called a little child, whom he placed among them. εν μεσω αυτων TNIVin the midst of them KJV, ESV, RSV
among them NIV, NRSV, TNIV, HCSB
before them NASB I believe that this shows where the term “in the midst of” originated. However, most modern translations including the NASB have not felt that it was necessary to use this expression to provide a literal translation.
My sense is that “in the midst of” was a legitimate reflection of the Greek in the pattern of the KJV, but otherwise is inappropriate in a modern translation. On another note, there seems to be a basis for the unique interpretation of the TNIV in 1 Cor. 3:16.
Note: There is a message on the Greek B-list on Travelling alone and the death of Perseus. Fortunately my post this evening would not have received much benefit from having a Greek lexicon waved over it like a magic wand.