Changes

I was gone for a few weeks (due to the many demands of real life), and someone translated this passage while I was gone (which is fine, this is not MY translation project). For reasons I cannot fathom, they translated ἐντολή as "promise" instead of "command" in John 12:49-50. There are several Greek words that can be translated "promise" (such as noun = ἐπαγγελία, verb = ἐπαγγέλλω), but ἐντολή simply does not mean promise. It is a command, order, demand, precept, injunction or rule. It appears 71 times in the NT, and as far as I can tell, it is NEVER used in the sense of a promise. Can anyone shed some light on this for me? Is there something that I was missing about the meaning of ἐντολή or is there something in the context here that I missed?--[[User:MBack|Michael Back]] 13:10, 13 March 2010 (EST)

I was gone for a few weeks (due to the many demands of real life), and someone translated this passage while I was gone (which is fine, this is not MY translation project). For reasons I cannot fathom, they translated ἐντολή as "promise" instead of "command" in John 12:49-50. There are several Greek words that can be translated "promise" (such as noun = ἐπαγγελία, verb = ἐπαγγέλλω), but ἐντολή simply does not mean promise. It is a command, order, demand, precept, injunction or rule. It appears 71 times in the NT, and as far as I can tell, it is NEVER used in the sense of a promise. Can anyone shed some light on this for me? Is there something that I was missing about the meaning of ἐντολή or is there something in the context here that I missed?--[[User:MBack|Michael Back]] 13:10, 13 March 2010 (EST)

:I was talking to my wife today about how the words "commandment," "command" and "rule" are understood in modern American culture. All of them seem to carry the idea that if you need to make a "rule" or a "command," it is only because the one who you are giving it to is disinclined to obey. The problem is that this is NOT the case with Jesus and the Father, and it is often not the case with believers. Jesus WANTED to obey His Father, and we often (or maybe sometimes) WANT to obey Jesus. Anyway, we were tossing around words that might have a more neutral, or even positive meaning for modern audiences, and she suggested "directive." I really like that, so as of this moment, I intend to go back and substitute "directive" for "rule" or "command" in places where the ones involved are Jesus, the Father, and believers.--[[User:MBack|MBack]] 19:59, 18 March 2010 (EDT)

:I was talking to my wife today about how the words "commandment," "command" and "rule" are understood in modern American culture. All of them seem to carry the idea that if you need to make a "rule" or a "command," it is only because the one who you are giving it to is disinclined to obey. The problem is that this is NOT the case with Jesus and the Father, and it is often not the case with believers. Jesus WANTED to obey His Father, and we often (or maybe sometimes) WANT to obey Jesus. Anyway, we were tossing around words that might have a more neutral, or even positive meaning for modern audiences, and she suggested "directive." I really like that, so as of this moment, I intend to go back and substitute "directive" for "rule" or "command" in places where the ones involved are Jesus, the Father, and believers.--[[User:MBack|Michael Back]] 19:59, 18 March 2010 (EDT)