January 22, 2024

The story of God’s name pt. 4 - Our Translation Strategy for Yahweh and Kyrios

The story of God’s name pt. 4 - Our Translation Strategy for Yahweh and Kyrios

Welcome to the fourth and concluding part of this series, which delves into the translation history of God’s name from its appearance in the Torah through to contemporary English translations.

After a month of thoughtful deliberation and prayer, our Bible translation team for the Spoken English Bible crafted an innovative approach that merges two strategies. This newsletter outlines the heart of the translation issue and our chosen approach to address it.

The Heart of the Translation Issue

The translation of Yahweh and Kyrios is fraught with complexities. Consequently, some scholars have advocated for nuanced translation strategies, particularly in minority languages (Brown and Samuel 2003; Bainbridge 2020). Bainbridge, for instance, proposed translating the term Kyrios in the New Testament using as many as eight different words.¹ Conversely, others propose using the same word consistently throughout (cf. Vitrano-Wilson 2020).

As explored in part 2 of this series, the term kyrios (or 'lord' in English) can denote:

1. Generally, someone in authority, akin to 'Sir'.
2. Specifically, Caesar, representing the ultimate earthly power in the Roman Empire, similar to 'Emperor'.
3. Within the Jewish community, the God of Israel, i.e., 'Yahweh.’ This interpretation is indicated by using kyrios without an article, effectively transforming the title into a name.

These possibilities are visually represented in the following diagram:

Adding to the complexity, the New Testament writers enjoyed telling stories where multiple senses could be at play in the audience’s mind (cf. Mark 7:28; John 4:11ff; John 11:27; John 20:13). Sometimes, they used the term to denote Christ as the supreme leader. At other times, particularly when referencing Old Testament passages, they appeared to equate Christ with the God of Israel (Philippians 2:11; 1 Peter 3:15). The Spirit was also equated with the God of Israel using the title kyrios without an article (2 Corinthians 3:18).

In essence, kyrios serves three significant roles in the New Testament. It plays a vital part in:

1. Unifying the Father, the Son, and the Spirit through shared use of this title.
2. Asserting that Christ is the true ruler, not the Roman emperor/
3. Demonstrating that Christ is the God of Israel from the Old Testament.

To handle these three primary roles, the Spoken English Bible has decided to use a two-pronged approach.

Strategy 1: Translate Kyrios as “in charge” consistently to maintain the unity of the term

Since the term kyrios is a major theme of the New Testament, appearing over 700 times, we believe it should be rendered consistently. We are using the phrase “in charge” because it captures many of the common meanings of the word, as illustrated below.

Here is how it would sound in translation:

Reference	Translation
Luke 5:12	So another time, Jesus was in one of the towns, and there was a man there who had a serious skin disease, which meant he was completely cut off from everybody else. Well, when this man sees Jesus, he bows down with his forehead touching the ground. And he begs Jesus, he says, “If you want to, you can heal me, you’re the One in charge."
Luke 6:46	Then Jesus said, "Why do you say, ‘You’re in charge, you’re in charge,’ but you don't do what I say?”
Luke 7:13	And so, Jesus, the One in charge, was heartbroken over what she was going through.…
However, how will we maintain the equivalence between Yahweh and Kyrios in the Septuagint? Our second strategy addresses this concern.

Strategy 2: Intentionally equate our translation of Kyrios with Yahweh

In instances where Old Testament quotes from the Septuagint appear in the New Testament, we will translate kyrios as “Yahweh, the One in Charge,” and then simply as “Yahweh.” Here's how that would sound in translation:

Reference	Translation
Luke 4:18-19	The Spirit of Yahweh, the One in charge, is on me. He's the one who chose me for announcing Good News to the poor. I was sent to announce: Freedom to the ones confined; sight to the ones who are blind; the season ordained by Yahweh to show he is kind. I was sent to send out, in freedom, the ones who've been oppressed.

We hope that the connection between Yahweh and kyrios will strengthen over the course of entire books, leading readers to equate Yahweh with “in charge,” and ultimately to realize that the New Testament consistently proclaims God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit as the Ones who are “in charge.”

The occurrences of kyrios in 1 Peter 3:12-15 are a great example of how this can play out in a quote from the Septuagint. Verse 12 is the end of a quote from the Septuagint that Peter is using to exhort believers to do good in the face of persecution for Christ’s sake. In verse 15, he then tells Christians to “revere Christ as the One in charge.”

1 Peter 3:12, 14-15:

12 because the eyes of Yahweh, the One in charge, are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayers, but the face of Yahweh is turned against the wicked…. 14 But if you happen to suffer for doing what is right, you are in the best position, but do not fear or be afraid. 15 Instead, in your hearts revere Christ as the One in charge.

In the first two instances, Peter clearly signals the term Yahweh through the direct quote from the Septuagint and by omitting the article in Greek. Interestingly, Peter also omits the article in verse 15 when referring to Christ (cf. Forbes 2016, 115). Since the article would typically be expected, this omission suggests that he may have been equating Christ with Yahweh. Our translation strategy captures this connection.

Looking Forward

Now that you are familiar with our two-pronged translation strategy for the terms "Yahweh" and "Kyrios," you might be curious about its effectiveness. We are, too.

As of now, I cannot provide quantitative data to measure the success of our approach or pinpoint areas of weakness. The process of Bible translation is painstakingly meticulous, and it takes time to complete entire books of both the Old and New Testaments.

However, as we progress in our translation work, we eagerly look forward to testing our strategy. Our primary focus will be individuals who are less familiar with the Bible. It is crucial for us to understand how this new approach resonates with them. In the future, I aim to share these findings with you.

TL;DR

If the email was too long to read, here are the main points:

• The translation of Yahweh and Kyrios is fraught with complexities.
• Our translation team has adopted a unique, two-pronged strategy for translating kyrios in the New Testament.
• Strategy 1: Translate Kyrios as “in charge” consistently to maintain the unity of the term.
• Strategy 2: Intentionally equate our translation of Kyrios with Yahweh in quotes from the Septuagint.

Challenge for You

1. Now that you have read all the newsletters about Kyrios, please feel free to give us an evaluation of the translation strategy.
2. When you come across Lord in the New Testament, see how many of the senses could be active and think about how you would translate it in that context.

Hours of meticulous research went into creating this newsletter. Remember, knowledge grows when it's shared. So, don't hesitate to pass this on!

References

• Bainbridge, John T. 2020. “Translating Κύριος after 600 Years of ‘the Lord’s’ Faithful Service.” The Bible Translator 71 (3): 331–56. https://doi.org/10.1177/2051677020965686.
• Brown, Richard, and Christopher J Samuel. 2003. “The Meanings of Κυριος in the New Testament.”
• Forbes, Greg W. 2016. 1 Peter. Edited by Andreas J. Köstenberger and Robert W. Yarbrough. Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament. B&H Academic; WORDsearch.
• Vitrano-Wilson, Seth. 2020. “Κύριος in the New Testament: Christology, Trinity, and Translation.” https://biblicalmissiology.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Kurios-in-the-NT-Vitrano-Wilson-2020-04-29.pdf.