A Must-read Golden Nugget - The "Translation Disaster"

    

 For most of my life I’ve mainly read the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible because it reads so easily. I knew of the errors it has, but I reasoned that it’s okay for general reading. During the times of serious Bible study, though, I would compare different versions and would then identify the errors.

It seemed I was not the only one to use the New International Version as a base, for in one particular verse, which I’m going to discuss now, three little words were added and taught, which affected the faith of billions. What am I talking about?

     In Matthew17:14-29 we read of the healing of the demon-possessed boy and how the disciples asked Jesus why they could not drive the demons out. Jesus answered them in verse 20:

     He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

     Do you see the words “as small as”? Was it correctly translated like that?

     It is general knowledge that the King James Version is the most accurate translation of the Bible into English, as are the 1933 and 1953 translations into Afrikaans. Let’s look at this verse in the following translations.

And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. (Authorised King James Version AKJV))

So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. (New King James Version NKJV)

He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” (English Standard Version ESV)

     The paraphrases of the Bible I compared also refer to the size of the mustard seed. These are read widely because they are so easily understood and many sermons are preached from them.

     But it seems that an assumption was made that Jesus referred to the size of the mustard seed. I believe the Holy Spirit, however, showed me something entirely different about the meaning of these words of Jesus based on the correct translations, which will affect the lives of believers significantly.

Based on the NIV version of this verse, I have made the statement for years that most people don’t even have faith the size of a mustard seed, for how many believers see powerful things happen in their lives, such as healing, deliverance from demons, etc? Because of this passage believers also tend to put the focus on their faith with statements like:

“I did not have enough faith.”

“Her faith was not big enough.”

     Immediately the focus is turned from the great God we serve to the size of our faith. This causes us to either become boastful because of our great faith when God answers our prayer or feel timid and inferior when we feel our faith is small.

     But let’s look at faith from the perspective of the Bible versions that translate this passage as follows: If you have faith as (or like) a grain of mustard seed (KJV, NKJV, and ESV).

     A mustard seed is a very small seed, but it becomes a very large tree. I’ve seen a picture of such a tree – it’s extraordinarily large. The tiny mustard seed has a great expectation of becoming this big tree, and it actually does. If seeds could talk and the mustard seed had to tell the acorn what the size of his expectation is, the acorn, looking at this tiny seed compared to itself, would probably have a good laugh. ‘How could it be possible,’ it might have thought.

     Therefore, if we look at the meaning of Jesus’ comparison of faith to mustard seed from the perspective of these translations, we see it’s not the size of our faith that counts, but our expectation. He compared our expectation in faith to the expectation a mustard seed has of what it would become. Our faith does not have to be great, but we ought to expect great power and results from a great God. Just as the mustard seed, being so small, expects to become an extremely large tree, so we must expect powerful results, not from our great faith, but based on the Word of a great God.

     Verse one of the famous chapter on faith, Hebrews 11, reads: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (KJV) The word hope does not have a negative meaning such as we often talk; “I hope things will change,” but I don’t really believe it would. No, the word hope in this context actually means “having a glad expectation”, and expectation of something great to happen!

What do we hope (have an expectation) for? Do we hope (have an expectation) that our faith would be big enough to convince the Lord to do something? Or do we hope (have an expectation) that the Almighty God we serve will actually keep the promise He gave us from His word and do what we ask for?

     The attitude we have in our hoping and in asking often also determines the result of our prayer. If we, for instance, pray for healing and silently hope to create a great impression with the onlookers, it’s very likely our prayer won’t be answered, for God is much more interested in our character than in our well-being. But if we pray with the hope, the expectation that God will be glorified and that the faith of the person being healed would be boosted, our prayer would likely be answered. For example, we ought to truly expect to see the healing taking place there and then.

We have been trained in praying for healing, and have learnt to expect healing to take place there and then. Now I usually see healing take place every time I pray for healing.

     I hope this will affect your perspective about faith like a mustard seed in our Almighty God and that when you pray, you will not rely on the size of your faith, but on the great power of God, expecting results.