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God is not the author of confusion

Discussion in '2003 Archive' started by BrianT, Jun 21, 2003.

  1. BrianT

    BrianT New Member

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    Two questions. [​IMG]

    First question:

    1 Cor 14:33 in the KJV says "God is not the author of confusion..." - how many times have we heard that used to condemn multiple versions?

    Ignorning the context of the verse for a moment (which has nothing to do with versions, but a situation prophesying has become chaotic), has anyone noticed that the words "the author" are in italics in the KJV? These words are not in the Greek, and not even required to be added to the English for grammatical reasons. Why "the author"? Why not, as Young's literal has it "God is not [a God] of tumult"?

    2nd question, more minor:

    The KJV has:
    "[33-34] For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law."

    The NIV has:
    "[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 churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says."

    The text is essentially the same, but the first sentence ends in a different place in the NIV: before the phrase about congregations of the saints, instead of after it. Personally, I think the two sentences make more sense the way the NIV rendered them. I realize that originally, the Greek scripture had no punctuation. Does the way the NIV placed punctuation, vs. how most other versions used punctuation here, make any difference?
     
  2. Dr. Bob

    Dr. Bob Administrator
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    NASB has the more traditional sentence breaks (although not choppy like the KJV with periods, but with semi-colons):

    "For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all may be exhorted; and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets; for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.

    Let the women keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but let them subject themselves, just as the Law also says."

    The NASB and the NIV both use the same modern compilation of ancient Greek texts. The KJV uses a slightly difference compilation of texts.

    For the NASB and NIV to "chop" sentences differently is a matter of their linquistic styling. Just as the KJV made each phrase into a complete sentence.

    Remember, there is NO PUNCTUATION or even SPACES between words. No new paragraphs, no capitals (actually, they were ALL capital letters)

    SO . . let's see how YOU would "chop" this up -

    FORGODISNOTTHEAUTHOROFCONFUSIONBUTOFPEACEASINALLC
    HURCHESOFTHESAINTSLETYOURWOMENKEEPSILENCEINTHECHU
    RCHESFORITISNOTPERMITTEDUNTOTHEMTOSPEAKBUTTHEYARE
    COMMANDEDTOBEUNDEROBEDIENCEASALSOSAITHTHELAW

    Tough to see, even in the Jacobean language of the text, where "proper" divisions and punctuation should be placed. :eek:
     
  3. Harald

    Harald New Member

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    A possible rendering of the above would be "For he is not the God of disorder, but on the contrary of concord...". "Concord" or "harmony" is more of an antonym to "disorder" or "confusion" than "peace" is. The strong conjunction alla seems to indicate Paul had an antonym in mind. And the Greek word for "peace" has "harmony" as one lexical definition. Thus I would say that when one sees "peace" in a version in this verse it must not so much be understood in the sense of peace and quiet, but in the sense of harmony and concord.
    FWIW.

    Harald
     
  4. Pastor Larry

    Pastor Larry <b>Moderator</b>
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    This coming from a guy who hates DE??? How strange. The word is the word for peace. The meaning of peace is harmony and concord. But that does seem pretty dynamic.
     
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