Bill Mounce

Bill Mounce: I doubt there is even one verse in the English Bible that actually, clearly, reveals the Greek structure underlying it. The languages are just too different.

Bill Mounce: Do you hear [Mt 28:6] as an active or a divine passive?

Bill Mounce: The ESV represents the standard translation of this verse. “For those who love God all things work together for good” (see also the NET, KJV, HCSB). The reason these are poor translations is because they make it appear that “all things” mystically make everything that happens good.

Bill Mounce: I have no trouble avoiding “man” when the meaning is clearly inclusive of women and men,” but I do struggle when a translation loses so much of the meaning of the passage.

Bill Mounce: The KJV’s use of “desert places” is unfortunate. I suspect that for most of us “desert” evokes images of the Mohave or Sahara desert. As desolate as rural Palestine was in the first century, it certainly was not filled with sand dunes. The NKJV’s adjustment to “country” is better, but as I say above it is not best.

Mondays with Mounce: Why did Mary keep the perfume? An ellipsis is when words are left out, and the assumption is that the context is sufficient to fill in the gaps. It especially happens in the second of two parallel thoughts, words from the first assumed in the second. But John 12:7 gives us a good example of ellipsis when there is no parallel.

Bill Mounce: How should 1 Corinthians 3:6 be translated?