a corrupt tree bringeth forth calamity fruit.?

Question

why do christians change the words in the bible whenever they don't suit their specific needs at that moment?

i just had some nutter tell me that "evil" doesn't mean "evil" it means "calamity."

so, here are some verse of the bible i have corrected.

Gen 3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and calamity

. Gen 37:33 And he knew it, and said, [It is] my son's coat; an calamity beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces.

Mat 12:35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an calamity man out of the calamity treasure bringeth forth calamity things.


i can't say they do any poetic justice to the verses, but i wondered what other words in the bible you are supposed to replace. anyone know?

1985-

alot of christians change the words. words meaning, the context and the content of the bible to suit their needs.

i didn't ask why "all christians" do this.

you've just provided another example that supports my generalization.

cricket

i know the importance of words.

affliction and misery are rooted in evil just as peace is rooted in goodness.

if god is the cause for affliction and misery, then he is the cause of evil.

the exchange of words gives no conflict to my original assertion.

it is unfortunate when we must turn to semantics to try to appear right. i am guilty of this with this very question. but my point is still the same:

exchanging one word for another does not change the nature of god, which he has revealed to us in this passage.

thank you for your humble response, though.

Answer 1

Problem: Hebrew words can have more than one meaning.

The verse in Isaiah 45:7 that you mentioned in your previous question (which inspired this one), in Hebrew, says that God makes shâlôm (peace) and creates ra (evil, calamity, grief, affliction, misery, et cetera).

So. The person that said that "ra" was mistranslated in the "Christian Bible" is mistaken. I own the Tanakh, and I'm learning Hebrew. So far, I have found very few differences between the Tanakh and our Old Testament. Mostly the differences are in order of words, but they still say the same thing.

In translating Hebrew to English, context is very important. The words used previously must be taken into account. If the translation for ra should have been "evil" in Isaiah 45:7, why didn't the author use the word ṭôb, which means "good"?

Answer 2

Why do non-Christians and unbeliever's lump all Christians together?

Just because one person understands 'evil' would be better translated as 'calamity' doesn't mean that all, most, some, a few, or a couple of other Christians do.


God bless you.