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Humble Messiah: Tyndale's Translation at Acts 8:33
R. Magnusson Davis
First it is to know that the best translating is…to translate after the sentence [sense] and not only after the words.
— Prologue to revision of Wycliffe’s Bible
Contents:
Tyndale's Skill as a Translator
Clarity in Translation
Clarity in Commentary
Humbleness, Or Humiliation?
Tyndale's Skill as a Translator
Tyndale was a translator of genius, as witnessed by the extensive use of his work in later Bible versions, including the Geneva and King James. As to the extent of the KJV’s reliance upon Tyndale, Professor David Daniell explains:
A computer-based American study published in 1998 has shown just how much Tyndale is in the KJV New Testament. New Testament scholars Jon Nielson and Royal Skousen observed that previous estimates of Tyndale's contribution to the KJV “have run from a high of up to 90% (Westcott) to a low of 18% (Butterworth)”. By a statistically accurate and appropriate method of sampling, based on eighteen portions of the Bible, they concluded that for the New Testament Tyndale's contribution is about 83% of the text, and in the Old Testament 76%.1
Professor Daniell, a renowned expert on the life and works of William Tyndale, also credits Tyndale with much of what has been glorified in the KJV:
…the Authorized Version has been loved throughout the English-speaking world and considered a particular glory of English letters. Right through the sixty-six books of the Bible, from “And God said, Let there be light, and there was light” (Genesis 1) to “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes” (Revelation 7), phrases of lapidary beauty have been admired…All these phrases…were taken by the Authorized Version translators directly from Tyndale. Throughout the New Testament, where the Authorized Version is direct, simple and strong, what it prints is pure Tyndale. 2
Tyndale's directness, strength, and simplicity are remarkable both in translation and in doctrinal commentary, witnessing not only his skill and scholarship, but also the divine hand that guided him. Tyndale could make the scriptures so plain that, just as he wished, even the boy who drives the plough could understand. Considering other translations, where they depart from Tyndale, Daniell wrote, “it is striking how it is Tyndale who gets to the heart of the matter in English”.3
Clarity in Translation
How Tyndale could get to the heart of a matter can be seen in comparing his 1534 rendering of Acts 8:33 with others that did not follow his example. Here, the Ethiopian eunuch has been reading Old Testament scripture and is wondering about the meaning of the Messianic prophecy at Isaiah 53. This prophecy about Jesus, His suffering, and the world’s rejection of Him, is rehearsed in part at Acts 8:32-33. At 33a, Tyndale's rendering of it is simple and clear: “Because of his humbleness, he was not esteemed.” The Geneva version, changing the sense, begins to lose clarity. Then the KJV of 1611 creates yet another mystery. There are difficulties with this passage, and scholars and translators have derived quite different meanings.
Taken from the English Hexapla, following are different renderings with the words under consideration in bold:
Tyndale—1534 (retained in the Matthew Bible and the Great Bible of 1539):
32The tenoure of the scripture which he redde, was this. He was ledde as a shepe to be slayne: and lyke a lambe domme before his sherer, so opened he not his mouth. 33 Because of his humbleness, he was not estemed…
Geneva—1557 (retained in the 1599 edition):
32 The place of the Scripture which he read was this, He was led as a shepe to be slayne: and like a lambe domme before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth. 33In his humilitie his jugement hath bene exalted.
KJV—1611:
32The place of the Scripture which hee read, was this, Hee was led as a sheepe to the slaughter, and like a Lambe dumbe before the shearer, so opened he not his mouth: 33In his humiliation, his Judgement was taken away…
It should be pointed out that in his 1526 New Testament, Tyndale had “In that he submitted hymselfe, his judgement was exalted”,4which is close to the Geneva, but he evidently thought better of it.5
Tyndale’s 1534 rendering is unambiguous. Jesus Himself could say “Because of my humbleness, I was not esteemed”, and we would understand clearly and immediately that men did not regard Him because of his lowliness. But to say “In my humility, my judgement has been exalted” is odd. What does “my judgement” mean? Is it a subjective or objective genitive? Both are possible. And, is the “judgement” spoken of a legal judgement—a verdict or a sentence imposed? Or is it an estimation of worth? And what then could one do with, “In my humiliation, my judgement was taken away”?
Clarity in Commentary
Tyndale considered Acts 8:33 important enough to warrant a commentary. He gives its doctrinal significance in this 1534 marginal note:
Because he was of so low degree in this world: but a poor carpenter, and humbled himself unto all men, and was obedient even unto the most vile death of the cross: therefore cannot the Jews esteem him for the very Messias.6
The boy who drives the plough could understand this. It is a plain and natural explanation. But those drawn from the other translations are not so clear. The note to the 1599 Geneva Bible says:
The Hebrew text readeth it thus, Out of a narrow strait, and out of judgment was he taken: whereby the narrow strait, he meaneth the grave and the very bands of death, and by judgment, the punishment which was laid upon him, and the miserable state which Christ took upon him for our sakes, in bearing his Father’s wrath.7
This is an eloquent comment on the Hebrew text, but important questions remain unanswered. Still, we are told that “judgement” means, here, a sentence imposed—that is, the punishment laid upon Jesus. But could Jesus then tell us, “My punishment has been exalted”? Perhaps, but it is not an unambiguous or natural statement. Would it be splitting hairs to point out that the Bible tells us it was Jesus, not his punishment, who was (and is) exalted? We can speculate that such difficulties influenced Tyndale to amend the translation.
Apparently, the KJV translators also sought something better than the Geneva rendering. They put, instead, that Jesus’ judgement was “taken away”, no doubt striving for literal fidelity to the Greek.8 But the result is obscure. Commentator Matthew Henry, seeking meaning in it, took the view that “judgement” here means not the punishment laid upon Jesus, but rather the justice that was due Him.9 In his 1706 scripture notes, Reverend Henry discussed the difficulties faced by the translators at Acts 8:32-33: the Greek follows the Septuagint, not the original Hebrew scripture, giving rise to issues of interpretation. This may explain the silence of the Geneva note upon the Greek text; space was limited, after all. It may also explain why Tyndale put The tenor [sense, drift] of the scripture which he read, was this, rather than The place…he read. Tyndale’s is a simple solution to the problem if the Greek was not a word by word translation.
As to the taking away of “his judgement”, Reverend Henry goes on to explain that Jesus:
…appeared so mean and despicable in their eyes that they denied him common justice, and against all the rules of equity, to the benefit of which every man is entitled, they declared him innocent, and yet condemned him to die; nothing criminal can be proved upon him, but he is down, and down with him. Thus, in his humiliation his judgement was taken away; so, the sense is much the same with that of the Hebrew, etc…That He should die wrongfully, should die by violence, should be hurried out of His life, and his judgement shall be taken away—no justice done to him…etc.10
This appears a plausible commentary upon a statement that does not really make sense in English. Yet when we extrapolate from it, difficulties remain: would Jesus really say: “I appeared so despicable in their eyes, they took my justice away”? This is not scripture for ploughboys. But more importantly, does it tell us what we need to know about Jesus as Messiah?
It was Tyndale who found the spiritual sense. He saw the vital teaching about men’s inability to recognize a Messiah who is humble and lowly—especially One who meekly submits to vile treatment and death at their hands. Tyndale’s is a particularly valuable commentary because it sheds light upon a great stumbling block to salvation: men seek whom they can esteem their way, and therefore cannot recognize their Messiah. For God’s way is different: behold, the lord and king of your soul comes meek, riding on a donkey, the foal of an ass11—no white charger, no royal chariot. No, a man lowly and poor and despised, one who died a vile death: behold your king! But the Jews, who were given as examples for our edification,12 rejected their king. And so will all who judge according to the flesh. For there is no difference, Jew and Gentile.13
Reverend Henry points out that the Jews would not acknowledge that, in Jesus, Isaiah’s prophecy of the Messiah was fulfilled. But Tyndale goes deeper. Where Reverend Henry, drawing from the KJV translation, could find only men’s refusal to extend “common justice” to a humiliated man, Tyndale saw men’s inability to recognize the divine—even Messiah—in humbleness. He points us to that which is heavenly, and explains important things about Jesus’ nature and conduct. It might greatly sanctify the understanding and conduct of faithful Christians, were the Messiah’s humbleness to inform our contemplations on this passage.
Humbleness, Or Humiliation?
Humbleness and humiliation mean two different things. According to the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed., 1936), their meanings have not changed in centuries. The different translators were, therefore, dealing with the same concepts and nuances of sense when seeking the appropriate English word:
Humbleness: The quality of being humble; meekness, lowliness, unpretentiousness. This describes who a man is, and goes to his identity—his inner nature and, in some contexts, station in life. Other translators evidently understood the Greek as Tyndale did: the “humility” of the Geneva is a close synonym; Wycliffe in 1380 had “mekenesse”; and the Rheimsof 1582 had “humilitie”.
Humiliation: The action of humiliating or condition of being humiliated; humbling, abasement. This describes what a man does, or, as with Jesus, what he suffers. It does not describe who he is. As among the versions surveyed here, the KJV was alone in this usage.14
Anyone, of any degree or station in life, can be humiliated, but not everyone can be humble. Further, to be of a humble or low degree is not necessarily the same as being in a humiliated condition. Looking at Isaiah 53, we see that the prophecy speaks comprehensively about both Jesus’ humbleness and about His humiliation. From the Matthew Bible:
“He shall growe before the Lorde lyke as a branche, and as a rote in a drye grounde, he shall have neither bewtye nor favoure. When we loke upon hym there shall be no fayrenesse: we shall have no lust unto him. He shall be the most simple, and despysed of all…We shall reken him so symple and so vyle, that we shall hyde our faces from hym. Howebeit (of a trueth) he only taketh away oure infyrmyte, and beareth our payne: yet we shall judge him, as though he were plaged and cast down of God: where as he (notwithstanding) shal be wounded for oure offences, and smitten for oure wickedness. For the payne of oure punyshmente shall be layde upon hym, and with hys strypes shall we be healed.”15
Rendered in more modern English, this passage might read:
“He will grow before the Lord as a branch, and as a root in a dry ground; he will have neither beauty nor favour. When we look upon him there will be no fairness: we will have no desire for him. He will be the most simple, and despised by all…We will reckon him so simple and so vile, that we will hide our faces from him. However (of a truth) he only takes away our infirmity, and bears our pain. Yet we will judge him as though he were plagued and cast down by God, whereas he (notwithstanding) will be wounded for our offences, and smitten for our wickedness. For the pain of our punishment will be laid upon him, and with his stripes we will be healed.”16
So then: humbleness, or humiliation? “Humbleness” comprehends all those things that Tyndale mentions in his marginal note: Jesus’ occupation (poor carpenter), lowliness before men (humbled himself unto all men), and submissiveness before God (obedience)—and, flowing from His obedience, His acceptance of suffering and death at Calvary, which was the Father’s will for Him (even unto the most vile death of the cross). But “humiliation” focuses upon the circumstances of Calvary only. Although both renderings may be possible (an issue for linguists more qualified than I), it was Tyndale who found the important doctrine, expressed in his translation and commentary, of the divine humbleness that causes the natural man to stumble: therefore we cannot esteem him as the very Messiah.
Reverend Henry’s understanding has greatly prevailed, as can be seen in 20th century Bibles where the translators paraphrased accordingly. The NIV has “In his humiliation he was deprived of justice”. The NKJV reads similarly. In The Message we find words that surely depart far from the Greek: “He was mocked and put down, never got a fair trial”. The doctrine Tyndale saw has therefore been lost beyond recovery in these modern versions.
© R Davis, 2010
Endnotes:
1 Daniell, David, The Bible in English (New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 2003), p. 448.
2 Daniell, David, Tyndale's New Testament (New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 1989), Introduction, pp. ix-x.
3 ibid, Introduction, p. xix.
4 Tyndale, William, The New Testament, 1526 edition (Facsimile edition by Hendrickson Publishers Inc, Peabody, Mass., 2008).
5 No attempt has been made to review other language versions for possible influence.
6 Daniell, Tyndale's New Testament, p. 176.
7 1599 Geneva Bible (White Hall, West Virginia, Tolle Lege Press, 2006-2007), p. 1105.
8 According to Strong’s, the root verb airo (#142) means “to lift; by implication to take up or away; figuratively to raise (the voice); to keep in suspense (the mind); spec. to sail away (i.e. weigh anchor); by Heb. [comp. 5375] to expiate sin.”
9 Henry, Matthew, Matthew Henry’s [1706]Commentary on the Whole Bible (McLean, Virginia, MacDonald Publishing Company, Posthumous, Revised & Corrected, undated edition), Vol. 6, p. 105.
12 See 1 Corinthians 10:11.
14 Strong defines the Greek tapeinosis (#5014)as “Depression in rank or feeling”. Thayer has “Lowliness, low estate”, and indicates this is the sense applicable at Acts 8:33. Thayer goes on to give a metaphorical meaning, “spiritual abasement, leading one to perceive and lament his (moral) littleness and guilt”, which of course would not apply to a sinless Messiah, but to that human poverty of spirit which is blessed in the Scriptures. Interestingly, “humiliation” was added later to Thayer’s definition, as another meaning of tapeinosis, by the American editor. All things considered, I would not be inclined to accept it as a valid additionsince it is arguably not the sense of the original but, rather, reflects the influence of the KJV.
15 1549 Matthew Bible, Edmunde Becke’s edition, (London, John Day; Facsimile edition by Greyden Press, USA), p. 597.
16 This is not intended as the final rendition.
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