349 Bible 20 – Bow or Worship? (Translating Proskuneo)

How should translators render the word προκσυνέω (proskuneo) into English?  Since this word has a range of meanings from bowing as a sign of respect to worshiping God, translators sometimes decide what English words to use based more on their theological presuppositions than the grammar or textual context.  For example, some translations (mostly those done by evangelicals) employ the language of worship when proskuneo is done to Jesus but then interpret the term as a respectful gesture when done to others.  This, I suggest, is another smoking gun of translation bias.

—— Books ——

• A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd Edition (BDAG)
• The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (HAOT)
• Truth in Translation by Jason David BeDuhn
• Did the First Christians Worship Jesus?: The New Testament Evidence by James Dunn

—— Links ——

• Who Should Christians Worship? by Dale Tuggy
• Podcast 21: Should We Worship Jesus? by Sean Finnegan
• Pliny the Younger’s statement about Christians singing hymns to Christ as if to a god
• Check out all the lectures in How We Got the Bible
• See what other classes are available here or on the Restitutio Classes podcast (subscribe in Apple, Spotify, RSS feed)
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