by Ptr. Art Calaguas
Shalom.
The war between Israel and the Hamas has now come to its 114th day since Hamas launched its October 7, 2023 attack into Israel. The Israelis have now moved further south in the Gaza Strip and encircled Khan Younis amidst heavy fighting. The Hezbollah in Lebanon and are still firing missiles into Israel. Meanwhile, conflict in the Red Sea seems to have escalated as the US and UK with the support of other nations increasingly strike the Houthi rebel missile sites in Yemen. There are high-level negotiations going on for the release of the over 100 remaining hostages in exchange for a 2-month suspension of hostilities. We should continue to pray for the release of all hostages and a just end to this war. Let us pray for the peace of Jerusalem as God commands us to (Psalm 122:6-7)!
We have seen the Hebrew words (כִּפְלַ֖יִם (kiphlayim) from the underlying כֶּפֶל (kephel); and מִשְׁנֵ֤ה (mishneh) pointed out by Dr. Meredith G. Kline in the Old Testament (OT) which he says needs a retranslation in the specific contexts where their meaning is best rendered as “matching” or “equivalent” instead of “double” or “two-fold.” Dr. Kline keeps the self-revelation of the LORD God, his goodness, as the ultimate basis of his argument. He also notes that God’s just and righteous character is found in the lex talionis principle found in Exodus 21:23-25 and its parallel in Deuteronomy 19:21 (“…life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth,…”). He says this “talion” principle applies in some New Testament (NT) passages as well.
Thus, as with his analysis of the Hebrew words in context, Dr. Kline also looked at some NT Greek words in a similar context and says that they need some retranslation too. His treatment of the Greek words consistently follow his analysis with the Hebrew words. He further notes that these words derive their meaning from the Hebrew as evidenced by their use in the LXX translations of the OT.
The Greek words to study has limited usage in the NT. One is an adjective and the other a verb. The same Greek adjective is found in 3 different NT verses: Revelation 18:6; Matthew 23:15; and 1 Timothy 5:17. The verb form of this word is found only once; also in Revelation 18:6. We will now look at this Revelation verse.
Revelation 18 is all about the fall and judgment of Babylon. Here, the city is personified and becomes a symbol of all that is vile and evil; the antithesis of all that is good (symbolized by the city of Jerusalem later in Chapter 21). As part of the judgment of Babylon, Revelation 18:6 contains the verb and adjective in question. The SBL GNT verse of this verse is given below:
6ἀπόδοτε αὐτῇ ὡς καὶ αὐτὴ ἀπέδωκεν, καὶ διπλώσατε τὰ διπλᾶ κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτῆς· ἐν τῷ ποτηρίῳ ᾧ ἐκέρασεν κεράσατε αὐτῇ διπλοῦν·
The previous verse 5 says that her (Babylon’s) sins have piled up to heaven and God has remembered her crimes. The first part of verse 6 then says ἀπόδοτε αὐτῇ ὡς καὶ αὐτὴ ἀπέδωκεν, meaning give back to her as also she gave. After this comes the portion that Dr. Kline says needs retranslation. After asking God to give back to Babylon as she gave, which connotes an equivalent, or matching, or proportionate recompense, the verse continues with καὶ διπλώσατε τὰ διπλᾶ κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτῆς· The Greek punctuation mark indicates that it is the end of a sentence. The questionable part has καὶ διπλώσατε τὰ διπλᾶ but the next phrase κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτῆς just means according to her works. The next part of verse 6 has ἐν τῷ ποτηρίῳ ᾧ ἐκέρασεν κεράσατε αὐτῇ διπλοῦν· This is actually another Greek sentence which literally means in the cup which she mixed, mix to her διπλοῦν.
The next verse 7 actually reinforces the thought that a judgment decree of the same degree or commensurate to what Babylon did is in order. Personifying Babylon again, the first part of verse 7 says that as much as she (Babylon) glorified herself and lived sensuously (meaning self-indulgent lustful, wanton behavior), so much should be given back to her as torment and misery.
A survey of the English translations of Revelation 18:6 reveals that without exception, the highlighted verb διπλώσατε (diplosate) has been translated as “double” or “twice” by all the 32 different Bibles found in https://biblehub.com/revelation/18-6.htm. For example, the Berean Literal Bible translates it this way:
6Give back to her as she also has rendered; and pay back double to her, twofold according to her works. In the cup which she has mixed, mix double to her.
The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) simplifies the verse:
6Render to her as she herself has rendered, and repay her double for her deeds; mix a double draught for her in the cup she mixed.
The New English Translation (NET) Bible also chose simplification:
6Repay her the same way she repaid others; pay her back double corresponding to her deeds. In the cup she mixed, mix double the amount for her.
Simplification here means the dropping, or not translating the words τὰ διπλᾶ, which is rendered as twofold in the Berean Literal Bible. This is part of the dynamic equivalence translation method. The words διπλᾶ (dipla) and διπλοῦν (diploun) both come from the same lexical entry, the adjective διπλοῦς (diplous), while διπλώσατε (diplosate) comes from the cognate verb διπλόω (diploó). The adjective διπλοῦς (diplous) is translated as “double” or “twice” in all the English Bible translations for Revelation 18:6.
The adjective διπλᾶ (dipla) is used as the Greek LXX translation for the Hebrew כִּפְלַ֖יִם (kiphlayim) from כֶּפֶל (kephel) in Isaiah 40:2. In the same vein, a form of διπλοῦς (diplous) is also used for the LXX translation of Jeremiah 16:18 for the Hebrew מִשְׁנֵ֤ה (mishneh). Jeremiah 17:18 also uses this word but the LXX uses a different word, δισσόν (disson) from δισσός (dissos) for its translation there; but this word also means “double.”
Following Dr. Kline’s treatment, the context tells us that an appropriate equivalent punishment is meant. We shall turn again to the Psalms for a reminder of the righteousness and fairness of our God. A sampling of translations of Psalm 9:8 would be appropriate:
(NIV) He rules the world in righteousness and judges the peoples with equity.
(NLT) He will judge the world with justice and rule the nations with fairness.
(ESV) and he judges the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with uprightness.
(NASB) And He will judge the world in righteousness; He will execute judgment for the peoples fairly.
Surely, our God who judges fairly, with equity and uprightness can be trusted to uphold righteousness and justice. It is his character. Hence, my formal equivalence translation of Revelation 18:6 follows:
6Give back to her as also she gave and pay back equivalent, a match according to her works. In the cup which she mixed, mix to her a match.
We will continue with the other affected NT verses.
God bless us all.