dove

It’s common for artists and writers to present the spirit of God as a dove. One of main points on my mind this week is an idea consistent with the spirit behind Lost in Translation—that a fair approach to translation of the Scriptures requires a certain degree of irreverence.

An easy example from the Gospel According to Matthew 3:16 is the translation choice to have the spirit of God come down like a pigeon rather than to describe the spirit of God as a dove. Precisely because of this passage, doves have taken on a religious significance that can blind us from seeing that they mostly are somewhat annoying birds. Using the word pigeon gets much closer to the original meaning.

Another example from the same passage is to go with “kingdom of the skies” rather than “kingdom of heaven.” When we read heaven, we all think we immediately know what the phrase intends. We read the phrase and move on. In the original Greek however, the phrase actually was intended to be unclear and a bit confusing. We’re meant to wonder how there can be a kingdom of the skies.

Occasionally approaching translation with a touch of irreverence can help to jar us out of our preconceived notions in order to encourage new and fresh encounters with God’s Word.

related topic: kingdom of heaven

you also may like our study of the book of Exodus
You Shall Have No Other Gods: The Book of Exodus, a 28-lesson Catholic Bible study with an imprimatur, provides an in-depth look at how significant events in biblical history that occurred thousands of years ago to descendants of Jacob remain relevant and even critical for present-day Christians to understand. The deliverance of the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt and the giving of Ten Commandments are examined along with the development of Moses’ relationship to God. Click here to view a sample of the first lesson.

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