Thursday, September 12, 2013
Don't Worry! Part 19 of 31
TEXT: "Therefore, I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For after all these things the Gentiles seek. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble" (Matthew 6:25-34).
IDEA: A text that can be translated in different ways carries a message about the futility of worry.
PURPOSE: To help listeners understand why translations differ in getting across the same message.
Have you ever noticed that Bible translations sometimes differ from one another? Is that necessarily bad?
I. Different versions of the Bible translate Matthew 6:27 in what seem like very different ways.
Listen to these translations of this single verse:
New International Version: "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"
Revised Standard Version: "And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life?" (A cubit is about 18 inches.)
Phillips: "Can any of you, however much he worries, make himself an inch taller?"
New Living Translation: Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?
NEB: "Is there a man of you who by anxious thought can add a foot to his height?"
How do these translations differ from one another?
Do you think that some translators play fast and loose with the text?
Do you think some translators are more capable than others?
II. The word translated "life" can mean either stature or age.
In Luke 19:3, Zacchaeus was of little stature.
In Hebrews 11:11, Abraham was past the age of bearing children.
In the Greek New Testament, the same word is used for both stature and age.
Which is best? Neither seems quite right.
However you take it, do you get what Jesus is saying?
