Finding The Self In Scripture

Sat, 14 Aug 2010 15:06:00 GMT

I have noticed at various times when reading scripture that not everyone includes the whole thought when presenting ideas to others. Of course, this allows for rather selfish interpretations of select versus but rarely changes the meaning of the overall passage. I am, of course, a big fan of literal translations - don't just keep the thought, but keep all the words used to convey that thought as well. I ran across a specific example of that this morning. Notice that two of the four verses speak of having a rich or nourished soul, but the other two seem to imply material satisfaction and comfort. Which is it, or is it both? Is it neither? Far from only seeing "prosperity", if we care what scripture actually says, we need to first KNOW what it actually says!

NKJV - Pro 13:4 - The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; But the soul of the diligent shall be made rich.

NLT - Pro 13:4 - Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper and be satisfied.

NIV - Pro 13:4 - The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.

ESV - Pro 13:4 - The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.

The word translated 'Soul' in the ESV and NKJV, above, and absent entirely from the other two is the Hebrew word: nephesh (H5315) (click the link to see other places this word is used in scripture)

The definition is [soul, self, life, creature, person, appetite, mind, living being, desire, emotion, passion], but the caveats are all relating to the inner life, the self itself, not the body or the status (e.g. the title of a person, such as king or master).

that which breathes, the breathing substance or being, soul, the inner being of man
living being
living being (with life in the blood)
the man himself, self, person or individual
seat of the appetites
seat of emotions and passions
activity of mind (1) dubious
activity of the will (1) dubious
activity of the character (1) dubious

So, it appears to me that a good bit of our misunderstanding of big scripture themes can come from a combination of small translation choices that accumulate as we add verses to the pile. This one makes the difference from a soul satisfaction (popular in some circles) to a prosperity gospel (popular in other circles), but the truth is really much deeper. Add up a bunch of verses like this and you can quickly miss some of the more important themes in scripture - like here, where it is not prosperity, but about finding oneself. Nor is it just some hard to define soul-satisfaction (e.g. I know I did the right thing), but a real satisfaction in the body, your life is satisfied, not just some hidden part of your heart. You have met people like this at times - where they are actually, truly, and completely content in their passions, emotions, and mind. And, while we are on the subject, 'Diligence' or 'Hard Work' is not quite clear either when taken out of context. Lazy is not necessarily the same thing as "idle", which is our common English use of the term - a busy person with a sluggard mindset towards God, one that thinks of how to make straight 4.0 grades in law school but ignores the truth, for example, may very well be more lazy than anyone.

Closing thought: Read every verse for what it is. Read it in many translations. Study the core meanings. Never take anything at face value, but see what lies under the surface of what you are fed one verse at a time - and God rewards the diligent!

ExoBlog (by John)

Finding The Self In Scripture

NKJV - Pro 13:4 - The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; But the soul of the diligent shall be made rich.

NLT - Pro 13:4 - Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper and be satisfied.

NIV - Pro 13:4 - The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.

ESV - Pro 13:4 - The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.