H5254

• {"n":"Genesis 22:1","s":"God did tempt Abraham. The Hebrew verb means tested or proved, not enticed toward evil.","u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/bible-translation-differences\/#id=genesis-22-1","r":"Genesis 22:1","b":[{"l":"How modern translations read it","t":"Modern versions read tested or put to the test, correcting for the English word's drift. The King James, accurate in its own century, now misleads a reader who only knows tempt in its current sense."},{"l":"First, in plain English","t":"In 1611, **tempt** meant to test or try, the way a metallurgist tempts steel by testing its strength. Today **tempt** means to lure someone toward doing something wrong. The Hebrew word never changed; the English word did, and the King James sentence now says something it did not originally mean."},{"l":"What you are seeing","t":"Nissah means to test, try, or prove, used of testing loyalty, resolve, or genuineness, never of enticing someone toward wrongdoing, a sense that belongs to an entirely different Hebrew vocabulary. The same root gives nes, a banner or a standard used to rally and prove an army, and later gives the word for miracle, both senses built on the idea of putting something on display to be examined or proven, not on luring someone toward failure."},{"l":"Why translators split","t":"English tempt has narrowed and shifted meaning since the King James was translated; the translators chose an accurate word for their own time, and English drift, not translation error, is what makes the sentence sound wrong to a modern ear."},{"l":"The rule to carry away","t":"Before assuming an old translation made a theological error, check whether the English word itself has drifted since. Repented, tempt, and charity are three of the clearest cases in the King James where the Hebrew or Greek never moved, but the English gloss did."},{"l":"Choosing between them","t":"Tested or put to the test uses current English accurately. Tempt, correct in 1611, is misleading today only because English tempt itself changed meaning, not because nissah changed or was mistranslated originally."},{"l":"The word","t":"\u05e0\u05b4\u05e1\u05b8\u05bc\u05d4 nissah (test, prove) \u00b7 H5254"}],"src":["The related noun nes, banner\/standard, and later miracle, both from the sense of something displayed to be examined","Oxford English Dictionary on tempt narrowing from 'test, try' toward 'entice to evil'"]}