TRANSLATION CONSIDERATIONS
Why did the translators choose to render Habbakkuh 2:4 as “faith” and not “faithfulness”? The Greek word used in Romans 1:17 is “pistis” and has some ambiguity as it can be rendered as either “faith” or “faithfulness”. Based on the context of Paul’s writings, the translators chose to render “pistis” as “faith” over 200 times in the New Testament of the NASB. The translators then appear to back translate Habbakkah 2:4 as “faith” consistent with the usage they perceived in Paul’s writings and not consistent with the original Hebrew word, “emunah.” Emunah is never translated in the Hebrew text as “faith” apart from the reference in Habbakkah. In fact, the word “faith”, translated from other Hebrew words, occurs only four times in the entire Hebrew text. The predominant words in the Hebrew text are “faithful” and “faithfulness”, which speak of a person’s actions not just their verbal profession.
In one verse of the Greek text, “pistis” is translated as “faithfulness” because the word refers to the behavior of God (Rom 3:3, NASB), who acts in a manner consistent with His word. Another time in the gospel account of Matthew, Jesus tells the Pharisees that the weightier provisions of the Law are “justice and mercy and faithfulness,” (Matt 23:23). Jesus appears to be quoting Micah 6:8, “What does the LORD require of you, but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with thy God.” The translation as “faithfulness” would be consistent with Micah’s “walk humbly.” The believer is also asked to “walk humbly” (Matt 18:4), in “the same manner as He (Jesus) walked,” (1 John 2:6). Therefore, it appears valid to translate “pistis” in most passages as “faithfulness,” such as, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness faithfulness, gentleness, self-control,” (Gal 5:22).
Sometimes a shift in the meaning can occur when Hebrew words move into Greek and then into English. One notable example is “repentance.” The Hebrew word for repentance is “teshuvah,” which literally means “to turn around,” as in, “Repent, then and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out,” (Acts 3:19). The Greek word used for repentance in the New Testament is “metanoeo,” which simply means, “to change one’s mind.” Whereas the Greek culture of Paul’s day tended to elevate the intellect, the Jewish culture aspired to influence the heart since the action of the individual flow from the passion of the heart, as it is written, “Slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,” (Eph 6:6). For this reason, concepts of actions in the Hebrew scriptures are often transformed to contemplation of the mind in the Greek text.
Another example is the word “Law”. In the Greek Text, the word “Law” is derived from the Greek Septuagint “nomos,” which conveys the burden of legal requirements and punishments. The original Hebrew word “Torah,” from which “nomos” is derived, is understood to mean “instructions or teachings,” such as in the statement, “My son, do not forget my teaching (Torah), But let your heart keep my commandments; For length of days and years of life And peace they will add to you,” (Prov 3:1-2). In addition, the Hebrew word for teacher, “moreh,” is a derived from “Torah,” as in “the LORD…your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will behold your Teacher,” (Is 30:20).
I find this shift significant and somewhat perplexing since God is unchanging, (Heb 13:8). It is unclear if the shift occurred because the message moved from a Hebrew audience to a Greek audience or if there was another reason.
(Scott - Austin)
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