{"id":6547,"date":"2025-06-11T13:25:59","date_gmt":"2025-06-11T13:25:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.tyndale.com\/nlt\/?p=6547"},"modified":"2025-06-11T13:25:59","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T13:25:59","slug":"word-studies-in-the-new-living-translation-%ce%ba%ce%b1%cf%85%cf%87%ce%ae%cf%83%cf%89%ce%bc%ce%b1%ce%b9-kauchesomai-or-%ce%ba%ce%b1%cf%85%ce%b8%ce%ae%cf%83%cf%89%ce%bc%ce%b1%ce%b9-kauthesomai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.tyndale.com\/nlt\/2025\/06\/11\/word-studies-in-the-new-living-translation-%ce%ba%ce%b1%cf%85%cf%87%ce%ae%cf%83%cf%89%ce%bc%ce%b1%ce%b9-kauchesomai-or-%ce%ba%ce%b1%cf%85%ce%b8%ce%ae%cf%83%cf%89%ce%bc%ce%b1%ce%b9-kauthesomai\/","title":{"rendered":"Word Studies in the New Living Translation: :<\/strong> \u03ba\u03b1\u03c5\u03c7\u03ae\u03c3\u03c9\u03bc\u03b1\u03b9 (kauch\u0113s\u014dmai<\/em>) or \u03ba\u03b1\u03c5\u03b8\u03ae\u03c3\u03c9\u03bc\u03b1\u03b9 (kauth\u0113s\u014dmai<\/em>)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Greek:      \u03ba\u03b1\u03c5\u03c7\u03ae\u03c3\u03c9\u03bc\u03b1\u03b9 (kauch\u0113s\u014dmai<\/em>), \u03ba\u03b1\u03c5\u03b8\u03ae\u03c3\u03c9\u03bc\u03b1\u03b9 (kauth\u0113s\u014dmai<\/em>)
English:   that I may boast or that I may be burned<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Mark D. Taylor, NLT Bible Translation Committee<\/p>\n\n\n

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We don\u2019t have the original manuscripts of the Old Testament and the New Testament. There are hundreds of ancient copies of the biblical texts, and there are many minor variations between those handwritten copies. The vast majority of the differences between ancient manuscripts make no significant difference in the meaning of the text. But some variations are more significant and do indeed yield different meanings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where there are differences, Bible translators have to determine which variant to use as the basis from which to translate into the modern language (e.g., English, German, or Spanish). One example appears in 1 Corinthians 13:3 where, depending on which Greek word is original, the text can mean either \u201cthat I may boast\u201d or \u201cthat I may be burned.\u201d The two Greek words that appear in the manuscripts, \u03ba\u03b1\u03c5\u03c7<\/mark>\u03ae\u03c3\u03c9\u03bc\u03b1\u03b9 (kauch<\/mark>\u0113s\u014dmai,<\/em> pronounced kow-KAY-so-my) and \u03ba\u03b1\u03c5\u03b8<\/mark>\u03ae\u03c3\u03c9\u03bc\u03b1\u03b9 (kauth<\/mark>\u0113s\u014dmai<\/em>, pronounced kow-THAY-so-my) differ by only one letter, but they have very different meanings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are the translations of this verse in the New Living Translation (NLT) and the English Standard Version (ESV):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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1 Corinthians 13:3 (NLT)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast<\/mark> about it;* but if I didn\u2019t love others, I would have gained nothing.
Footnote: 13:3<\/strong> Some manuscripts read sacrificed my body to be burned.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 Corinthians 13:3 (ESV)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned<\/mark>,* but have not love, I gain nothing.
Footnote: Some manuscripts deliver up my body<\/em> [to death] that I may boast<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n

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Which reading reflects what the apostle Paul originally wrote in his letter to the Corinthians? We cannot be certain, but in such cases, Greek scholars study the ancient manuscripts to determine which Greek word is most likely to be Paul\u2019s original word. While the evidence is fairly balanced between these two alternatives\u2014each is found in early, significant manuscripts\u2014the NLT follows the conclusions of the scholars who put together the authoritative Greek text in use today, which has kauch<\/mark>\u0113s\u014dmai<\/em> (\u201cthat I may boast\u201d). The ESV translators opted to follow the ESV\u2019s predecessors, the KJV and RSV, and go with the other variant, kauth<\/mark>\u0113somai<\/em> (\u201cthat I may be burned\u201d). In each instance, the translation provides the alternate reading in a footnote to reflect the other possibility.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Here’s a list of various translations and which variant they have chosen to follow:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

kauch<\/mark>\u0113s\u014dmai<\/em> (\u201cthat I may boast\u201d): NRSV, NAB, NIV (2011 edition), NLT, CSB
kauth<\/mark>\u0113s\u014dmai<\/em> (\u201cthat I may be burned\u201d): KJV, NKJV, RSV, ESV, NIV (1984 edition)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two words have different meanings, but we must not lose track of Paul\u2019s overall teaching in this section of 1 Corinthians 13. Paul\u2019s main point is that no matter what we do, we gain nothing if we do not love others. Regardless of our Christian \u201ccredentials,\u201d may we truly love those around us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Greek:      \u03ba\u03b1\u03c5\u03c7\u03ae\u03c3\u03c9\u03bc\u03b1\u03b9 (kauch\u0113s\u014dmai), \u03ba\u03b1\u03c5\u03b8\u03ae\u03c3\u03c9\u03bc\u03b1\u03b9 (kauth\u0113s\u014dmai)English:   that I may boast or that I may be burned By Mark D. Taylor, NLT Bible Translation Committee We don\u2019t have the original manuscripts of the Old Testament and the New Testament. There are hundreds of ancient copies of the biblical texts, and there are many minor variations between those […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.tyndale.com\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6547"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.tyndale.com\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.tyndale.com\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.tyndale.com\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.tyndale.com\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6547"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sites.tyndale.com\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6547\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6551,"href":"https:\/\/sites.tyndale.com\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6547\/revisions\/6551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.tyndale.com\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.tyndale.com\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.tyndale.com\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}