The literary Bible: the winner’s wreath (redux)

This is the first post in a new translation comparison series. Focused on “the literary Bible”, my intent is look at passages where translations that have been especially noted for their literary translation qualities seem to capture the meaning of the text with an extra dash of written flavor, at least in comparison with other standard English translations. For the core translations of this series, I intend to focus on:

1. The Authorized Version (KJV)
2. The New English Bible (NEB) and/or Revised English Bible (REB)
3. The Jerusalem Bible and/or New Jerusalem Bible (NJB)

Other translations will be used throughout the series as a point of comparison.

Note: As I’ve alluded to in the post title, this is actually a reworking of a preview post I had blogged in April. In that effort, I eventually succumbed to the temptation of personally rewriting the verse under consideration, which led to interesting but ultimately wayward results. I hope that this mulligan better stays the course and lets the translations speak for themselves.

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The text under consideration today is 1 Corinthians 9:24-27. I will first provide a modern translation, in this case the NRSV, then look at how the target “literary” translations render the text.

New Revised Standard Version:

24 Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it. 25 Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable garland, but we an imperishable one. 26 So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air; 27 but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.

Revised English Bible:

24 At the games, as you know, all the runners take part, though only one wins the prize. You also must run to win. 25 Every athlete goes into strict training. They do it to win a fading garland; we, to win a garland that never fades. 26 For my part, I am no aimless runner; I am not a boxer who beats the air. 27 I do not spare my body, but bring it under strict control, for fear that after preaching to others I should find myself disqualified.

New Jerusalem Bible:

24 Do you not realize that, though all the runners in the stadium take part in the race, only one of them gets the prize? Run like that – to win. 25 Every athlete concentrates completely on training, and this is to win a wreath that will wither, whereas ours will never wither. 26 So that is how I run, not without a clear goal; and how I box, not wasting blows on air. 27 I punish my body and bring it under my control, to avoid any risk that, having acted as a herald to others, I myself may be disqualified.

King James Version:

24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. 25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they [do it] to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. 26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: 27 But I keep under my body, and bring [it] into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

9:24 — Is it a race, a stadium or the games? The underlying Greek is stadion, which Strong’s defines as a race course, a “place in which contests in running were held, the one who outstripped the rest and reached the goal first, receiving the prize. Courses of this description were found in most of the larger Greek cities, and were like that at Olympia, 600 Greek feet in length.” The description seems to be on the place, not the race itself; the NJB is to be preferred here with the explicit mention of stadium.

However, perhaps in consideration of the spiritual “crown that will last forever” (v.25), we might allow ourselves to refer specifically to the Olympic Games as the ultimate place of physical athletic competition, and not just any race track. The REB makes possible reference to the Olympics with its definite “the games”; the NRSV and KJV refer only to “a race”. I must point out that I do like the NRSV’s choice to use the verb “compete” here; that does capture the situation nicely.

There seems to be two possible thoughts in the last part of this verse: “Run in such a way that you may win it.” (NRSV) The interpretations seems to be (1) run well enough to win, or (2) you have to run in order to have a chance at winning. The NRSV, NJB and KJV emphasize the former, running well enough to win; the REB’s choice of “you must run” seems to shift the focus to the second interpretation, putting obligation on Paul’s audience to “get in the game” and not sit on the sidelines.

9:25 — Paul is demanding that his readers approach their spiritual training with the same strictness and focus that physical athletes apply in their training. I’m reading a slight air of sarcasm in Paul’s description of the prize of athletic training in comparison to that of our spiritual training. The KJV is the most inclusive rendering of both physical and spiritual training, with “every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things”, then contrasting “they” and “we” in next sentence, the former referring back to the runners in verse 24.

The translation choices in this particular verse are quite varied. It seems that the flavor of the English word chosen as the translation of phthartos (corruptible, withered, fading) will depend in large part on how you translate stephanos (crown, wreath, garland). All three of the options used here are listed as viable possibilities in Strongs and Vines, and I can only pass along the argument that if Paul meant a royal crown, he might have used diadema instead. But here, athletic competition is the context, and a woven garland of botanicals seems to be a more appropriate cultural choice.

The NJB, REB and NRSV make this choice and have suitably expressive translations of phthartos. In terms of pure word play, the NJB is commended for its alliterative choice of “a wreath that will wither”, as well as the stronger cultural reference to the winner’s wreath (ha!). The REB and NRSV also pick up the botanical angle with “a fading garland” and “a perishable garland”, respectively. The KJV translates stephanos as “crown”, but at least with the literary effect of an alliteration, “a corruptible crown.”

9:26 — The theme of verses 26-27 is the “strict training” or “mastery” from verse 25. In verse 26, Paul emphasizes that, like the physical athlete, his work is focused with a goal in mind; there is no wasted effort. In verse 27, he repeats this thought, bringing his body, i.e. his disciplined spiritual life, under control so that no one may be able to accuse him of carelessly leading his disciples astray.

Paul uses two athletic comparisons, running and boxing. His literal formula is “This is how I run: not without a goal; this is how I fight: not by beating the air.” The question for the translations is how (or whether) to most clearly state the description of Paul’s efforts in the negative, as in the original text, or whether the phrase should be restated in the positive, e.g. “I run with a clear goal; I fight by landing strong blows.”

The KJV, NJB and NRSV all connect v.26 to v.25 through a variation of “therefore” - drawing a causal connection from the “strict training” of the runner to Paul’s description of his effort. The REB creates almost the opposite effect; by starting with “For my part”, the phrase draws itself in contrast to to the athlete. This seems ambiguous at best, and perhaps inaccurate. The NRSV has the most direct language in this passage, the result of avoiding the “I am” constructs of the REB and the literal negative clauses of the NJB and KJV.

For some additional discussion, I want to reference another translation, the New Living Translation (NLTse):

So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing.

I love “shadowboxing” - what a wonderfully descriptive word! However, I’m not sure whether it captures the right sense of “flailing in the air” (lit. beating the air). Is Paul saying that he’s landing blows to his opponent, not just going through the practice movements of boxing (shadowboxing), or is he saying that his boxing movement is efficient, that he is not wildly flailing his arms around in the ring?

Given the emphasis that Paul placed on winning and “getting in the game”, it seems unlikely that Paul would be satisfied with only practicing, so while “shadowboxing” is a particularly evocative word choice, it loses the bruising aspect of the fight, which requires efficiency and training to hit your opponent with maximum effect, while expending as little energy as possible or leaving yourself open to counterattack (as we will see in the last verse below).

9:27 — There are two aspects to this verse that should be considered. First, the phrase “I do not spare my body, but bring it under strict control” (REB) and second, the choice of translation of the Greek kerusso.

With regards to the first idiom, there has been a great deal of discussion of this phrase in blogdom and I would first point the reader to several of the many posts that have been made:

• Discipulus Scripturae (Nathan Stitt): here, here and here.
• MetaCatholic (Doug Chaplin): here, here and here.
• Gentle Wisdom (Peter Kirk): here.
• Ancient Hebrew Poetry (John Hobbins): here.

The discussion as a whole was sparked by comments on the TNIV’s particular rendering: “No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave…” I cannot say that the translations under consideration here add anything significant to the discussion. I think that the REB is the clearest, but all have the flavor of a literally translated idiom, rather than a literary equivalent. For the sake of not rehashing old conversation, I’m going to punt on any further digging on this one.

With regard to kerusso, there are two paths taken by the literary translations: “preach” and “herald”. Both are derived from the base meaning, “to proclaim”, used by the NRSV. The REB and KJV use a variant of “preach”; the NJB translates “having acted as a herald”. In a sense, to preach is to act as a herald, proclaiming the truth and gospel of Christ. The former translations are choosing an active verb that encompasses the meaning of the NJB.

One question is whether the verb “preach” adequately captures Paul’s apostolic role. 2000 years later, this verb conjures up images of a sitting congregation with a pastor on a stage, speaking from a pulpit. “Herald” really captures the proclamation or announcing function of the apostles in presenting the gospel of Jesus Christ. There’s something formal or official about “herald” because it’s not a word we use in contemporary speech - but perhaps that’s the definition of a “literary translation”…

The last phrase of this passage, “so that [...] I myself should not be disqualified”, evokes playing by the rules and making sure that every “t” is crossed and “i” is dotted. Paul’s training is complete so that he cannot be accused of glossing any detail or twisting facts in his proclamation of the gospel. We also think back to verse 26, where his fighting is both offensive and defensive, such that he lands blows with his arguments, but doesn’t leave himself open for counterattack.

The KJV’s choice of “a castaway” as a translation of adokimos is curious. The Greek word is an adjective meaning either “not standing the test, not approved” or “that which does not prove itself such as it ought”. The KJV makes this into a noun, along the lines of “something that is defective and thrown away.”

Final Thoughts – Overall, I like the New Jerusalem Bible’s translation. The word choices are distinctive and draw out shades of meaning not in the base NRSV or the other literary translations, while keeping the sentence structure fairly formal. The REB is much more aggressive about reordering words into fewer grammatical clauses to read more naturally in English. The base translation, the NRSV, proved to be clear and satisfactory in several passages.

It’s proving somewhat difficult for me to fairly evaluate the KJV on more than a word-by-word basis. The language is foreign and I’ve never spent any time with it before, other than scattered individual verse comparisons. In the process of writing this, I’ve tended to leave it to the side and focus on the other translations as I’ve been writing - of course, I don’t have a physical copy, so “leaving it to side” really just means an inactive browser tab.