Bugs or Boats? Isaiah 18:1 in the NLT & the LXX
03/26/2006 16:30 Filed in: Faith & Reason
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A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog entry entitled "Romans 14:4 in the NLT." It was in response to a seemingly odd translational choice in the New Living Translation (NLT) discovered by my wife while studying her Sunday School lesson. Upon further examination, I discovered it wasn't as odd as first thought; it was just an example of the dynamic equivalent method of the NLT translators.
Well, it happened again last night. Kathy had her copy of the NLT next to her Sunday School book which includes both the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) text as well as the King James Version (KJV). Again, she made the statement, "Well my Bible reads completely different in this passage."
The passage in question is Isaiah 18:1. Note the original Hebrew below and a selection of a few recent translations:
Geoffrey Grogan notes in the Expositor's Bible Commentary that "The phrase 'the land of whirring wings' (v. 1) is highly evocative for any hearer or reader who has been in the Nile valley, with its swarms of insects." And most, in fact, are agreed that the reference to whirring wings is a reference to bugs. Note that the translators of the HCSB, under their guidelines of "optimal equivalence" felt free to even add the word "insect" to the verse for the sake of clarity.
But there are no bugs in the NLT's rendition of this verse. The NLT (2nd ed.) reads, "Listen, Ethiopia--land of fluttering sails that lies at the headwaters of the Nile... ." The fluttering sails here are undoubtedly referring to the sails of boats as evidenced in 18:2, "that sends ambassadors in swift boats down the river."
Why the boats instead of bugs? Good question. At the very least, the NLT is being consistent in it's roots to the original Living Bible. Compare all three editions together:
Of course, the Living Bible traced its roots to the 1901 American Standard Version (ASV) of which it was a paraphrase. But contrary to the Living Bible/New Living tradition, even the ASV seems to imply bugs (or birds?):
So where do the boats come from? Well, upon further investigation, I found that the boats tradition goes back to the Septuagint (LXX), the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures from the second century BC. Below is the LXX along with my translation:
Undoubtedly, the Living/New Living tradition is based on the LXX and not on the Hebrew text. But the real question is "Why?" Unfortunately I don't know. Perhaps someone does and can offer an explanation in the comments. I might only speculate that perhaps Kenneth Taylor, when working on the original Living Bible consulted a commentary that drew a connection between the buzzing of insect wings and the flapping of sails. Or perhaps he read a source that made a case for the wording of the LXX. Undeniably, there's a connection being made between the insects of v. 1 and the boats of v. 2. That was enough for the translators of the LXX evidently.
Personally, I'd want to stick with the Hebrew tradition.
If you have a definitive answer as to how the LXX tradition found its way into the Living Bible/New Living Translation, please share it in the comments.
A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog entry entitled "Romans 14:4 in the NLT." It was in response to a seemingly odd translational choice in the New Living Translation (NLT) discovered by my wife while studying her Sunday School lesson. Upon further examination, I discovered it wasn't as odd as first thought; it was just an example of the dynamic equivalent method of the NLT translators.
Well, it happened again last night. Kathy had her copy of the NLT next to her Sunday School book which includes both the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) text as well as the King James Version (KJV). Again, she made the statement, "Well my Bible reads completely different in this passage."
The passage in question is Isaiah 18:1. Note the original Hebrew below and a selection of a few recent translations:
BHS |
HCSB |
ESV |
TNIV |
| ה֥וֹי אֶ֖רֶץ צִלְצַ֣ל כְּנָפָ֑יִם אֲשֶׁ֥ר מֵעֵ֖בֶר לְנַֽהֲרֵי־כֽוּשׁ׃ |
Ah! The land of buzzing insect wings beyond the rivers of Cush |
Ah, land of whirring wings that is beyond the rivers of Cush | Woe to the land of whirring wings along the rivers of Cush |
Geoffrey Grogan notes in the Expositor's Bible Commentary that "The phrase 'the land of whirring wings' (v. 1) is highly evocative for any hearer or reader who has been in the Nile valley, with its swarms of insects." And most, in fact, are agreed that the reference to whirring wings is a reference to bugs. Note that the translators of the HCSB, under their guidelines of "optimal equivalence" felt free to even add the word "insect" to the verse for the sake of clarity.
But there are no bugs in the NLT's rendition of this verse. The NLT (2nd ed.) reads, "Listen, Ethiopia--land of fluttering sails that lies at the headwaters of the Nile... ." The fluttering sails here are undoubtedly referring to the sails of boats as evidenced in 18:2, "that sends ambassadors in swift boats down the river."
Why the boats instead of bugs? Good question. At the very least, the NLT is being consistent in it's roots to the original Living Bible. Compare all three editions together:
The Living Bible (1971) |
New Living Translation (1st ed./1996) |
New Living Translation (2nd ed./2004) |
| Ah land beyond the upper reaches of the Nile, where winged sailboats glide along the river! |
Destruction is certain for the land of Ethiopia, which lies at the headwaters of the Nile. Its winged sailboats glide along the river. | Listen Ethiopia--land of fluttering sails that lies at the headwaters of the Nile, |
Of course, the Living Bible traced its roots to the 1901 American Standard Version (ASV) of which it was a paraphrase. But contrary to the Living Bible/New Living tradition, even the ASV seems to imply bugs (or birds?):
"Ah, the land of the rustling of wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia."
So where do the boats come from? Well, upon further investigation, I found that the boats tradition goes back to the Septuagint (LXX), the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures from the second century BC. Below is the LXX along with my translation:
LXX |
Translation |
| οὐαὶ γῆς πλοίων πτέρυγες ἐπέκεινα ποταμῶν Αἰθιοπίας |
Woe to the wings of the land of boats beyond the rivers of Ethiopia. |
Undoubtedly, the Living/New Living tradition is based on the LXX and not on the Hebrew text. But the real question is "Why?" Unfortunately I don't know. Perhaps someone does and can offer an explanation in the comments. I might only speculate that perhaps Kenneth Taylor, when working on the original Living Bible consulted a commentary that drew a connection between the buzzing of insect wings and the flapping of sails. Or perhaps he read a source that made a case for the wording of the LXX. Undeniably, there's a connection being made between the insects of v. 1 and the boats of v. 2. That was enough for the translators of the LXX evidently.
Personally, I'd want to stick with the Hebrew tradition.
If you have a definitive answer as to how the LXX tradition found its way into the Living Bible/New Living Translation, please share it in the comments.