The Upper Register

The ESV's Mistranslation of "Righteousness" as "Deliverance"

I personally like and use the English Standard Version (ESV) as my chosen text for devotional Bible reading and preaching. It is a fine translation very similar to the NASB in terms of its commitment to word-for-word correspondence, yet with a much better visual presentation. So I hope no one will take this post as a criticism of the ESV as a whole. I trust we can agree that no translation is perfect and that even in our favorite translation we will always find verses that we wish were translated differently. 

So in the spirit of constructive criticism and the desire to make a good translation even better, it must be said that the ESV reproduces some of the errors of the RSV, even though the ESV translation committee made every effort to comb through the RSV base and introduce thousands of fixes. One area that the ESV committee appears to have overlooked is in the RSV's acceptance of the relational theory of "righteousness" in some verses. In the vast majority of the 276 instances of the words for "righteousness" (tsedeq - 119x; tsedaqah - 157x) the ESV does a fine job and translates them correctly as "righteousness," "righteously," "righteous," "what is right," "what is just," etc. There are, however, five instances that I have found where the ESV retains the RSV reading in its departure from the traditional understanding of "righteousness" in favor of the iustitia salutifera interpretation in the tradition of Hermann Cremer, Gerhard von Rad, and many other scholars:

Psalm 40:9-10 (2x)

"I have told the glad news of deliverance [lit. righteousness]
in the great congregation; 
behold, I have not restrained my lips, 
as you know, O LORD. 
I have not hidden your deliverance [RSV saving help; lit. righteousness] within my heart; 
I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness
     from the great congregation."

Isaiah 41:2

"Who stirred up one from the east 
whom victory meets at every step?"
[lit. whom righteousness calls to its foot]

Isaiah 56:1

"Thus says the LORD:
'Keep justice, and do righteousness, 
for soon my salvation will come, 
and my deliverance [lit. righteousness] be revealed.'"

Micah 6:5

"O my people, remember what Balak king of Moab devised, 
and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him, 
and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal, 
that you may know the saving acts [lit. righteous acts] of the LORD."

In each case, the ESV seems to have reproduced the RSV reading. Whether the ESV committee retained the RSV reading at these points intentionally or unintentionally, I cannot say. However, it should be noted that the committee did make one minor change at Ps 40:10: where the RSV has "thy saving help," the ESV reads "your deliverance." Presumably this minor change was made for the sake of consistency with v. 9 which speaks of "the glad news of deliverance" (NASB: "glad tidings of righteousness"). This would seem to suggest intentionality.

On the other hand, the ESV changed the RSV at 1 Sam 12:7. Where the RSV reads, "the saving deeds of the LORD," the ESV has "the righteous deeds of the LORD." Also, in Judges 5:11, where the RSV reads, "the triumphs of the LORD," the ESV clarifies by adding "the righteous triumphs of the LORD." Along with Micah 6:5, these are instances of the phrase tsidqot YHWH. (Cp. Dan 9:16, but there the RSV already had "thy righteous acts.") So the ESV's correcting of the RSV in these other passages would seem to suggest that the RSV's erroneous reading in the above five instances slipped past the committee without their full awareness.

In any event, Crossway quietly released a new text edition in 2007 with hundreds of changes. Perhaps they will consider these in a future revision.

Preface to the King James Version, quote 2

Here is the second quote from the Preface to the King James Version.

Translation Necessary

But how shall men meditate in that, which they cannot understand? How shall they understand that which is kept close in an unknown tongue? as it is written, Except I know the power of the voice, I shall be to him that speaketh, a Barbarian, and he that speaketh, shall be a Barbarian to me. [1 Cor 14] The Apostle excepteth no tongue; not Hebrew the ancientest, not Greek the most copious, not Latin the finest. Nature taught a natural man to confess, that all of us in those tongues which we do not understand, are plainly deaf; we may turn the deaf ear unto them. The Scythian counted the Athenian, whom he did not understand, barbarous; so the Roman did the Syrian, and the Jew (even S. Jerome himself calleth the Hebrew tongue barbarous, belike because it was strange to so many) so the Emperor of Constantinople calleth the Latin tongue, barbarous, though Pope Nicolas do storm at it: so the Jews long before Christ called all other nations, Lognazim, which is little better than barbarous. Therefore as one complaineth, that always in the Senate of Rome, there was one or other that called for an interpreter: so lest the Church be driven to the like exigent, it is necessary to have translations in a readiness. Translation it is that openeth the window, to let in the light; that breaketh the shell, that we may eat the kernel; that putteth aside the curtain, that we may look into the most Holy place; that removeth the cover of the well, that we may come by the water, even as Jacob rolled away the stone from the mouth of the well, by which means the flocks of Laban were watered [Gen 29:10]. Indeed without translation into the vulgar tongue, the unlearned are but like children at Jacob's well (which was deep) [John 4:11] without a bucket or something to draw with; or as that person mentioned by Isaiah, to whom when a sealed book was delivered, with this motion, Read this, I pray thee, he was fain to make this answer, I cannot, for it is sealed. [Isa 29:11]

Let us be thankful for the great tradition of the English Bible from Tyndale to the KJV to any number of modern English versions, and let us "eat the kernel" they provide.

Preface to the King James Version, quote 1

The translators of the King James Version (1611) penned a lengthy preface to their work titled "The Translators to the Reader." Their principal concern was to respond to certain objections that they anticipated would be raised against their work. But what interests me are two delightful passages, one an encomium praising the Scriptures, and the other an explanation of why it is necessary to have the Scriptures translated out of the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek into the vulgar tongues of the nations. The two quotes are actually connected and form one continuous portion of the Preface. I'll give the first quote today and the second quote tomorrow.

The Praise of the Holy Scriptures

It is not only an armor, but also a whole armory of weapons, both offensive and defensive; whereby we may save ourselves and put the enemy to flight. It is not an herb, but a tree, or rather a whole paradise of trees of life, which bring forth fruit every month, and the fruit thereof is for meat, and the leaves for medicine. It is not a pot of Manna, or a cruse of oil, which were for memory only, or for a meal's meat or two, but as it were a shower of heavenly bread sufficient for a whole host, be it never so great; and as it were a whole cellar full of oil vessels; whereby all our necessities may be provided for, and our debts discharged. In a word, it is a Panary of wholesome food, against fenowed traditions; a Physician's shop (Saint Basil calleth it) of preservatives against poisoned heresies; a Pandect of profitable laws, against rebellious spirits; a treasury of most costly jewels, against beggarly rudiments; finally a fountain of most pure water springing up unto everlasting life. And what marvel? The original thereof being from heaven, not from earth; the author being God, not man; the inditer, the holy spirit, not the wit of the Apostles or Prophets; the Penmen such as were sanctified from the womb, and endued with a principal portion of God's spirit; the matter* -- verity, piety, purity, uprightness; the form -- God's word, God's testimony, God's oracles, the word of truth, the word of salvation, etc.; the effects -- light of understanding, stableness of persuasion, repentance from dead works, newness of life, holiness, peace, joy in the holy Ghost; lastly, the end and reward of the study thereof -- fellowship with the Saints, participation of the heavenly nature, fruition of an inheritance immortal, undefiled, and that never shall fade away: Happy is the man that delighteth in the Scripture, and thrice happy that meditateth in it day and night.

[*I have taken the liberty of changing commas to dashes after "the matter," "the form," "the effects," and "the end and reward of the study thereof." I believe this makes the sense clearer.]