LAST week, we left off at seminarians who belong to God. This week, more of what belongs to God.
For one, there is vengeance. Of which the Good Book says, “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” This is a quote from the King James version of the Bible.
A version that says it is “Aramaic, in plain English,” states: “Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to rage, for it is written: ‘If you will not execute judgment for yourself, I shall execute your judgment, says God.’”
The “Good News” version says: “Never take revenge, my friends, but instead let God's anger do it. For the scripture says, “I will take revenge, I will pay back, says the Lord.”
Oh to be literate in Aramaic, that language Jesus reportedly spoke, though most of the New Testament is attributed to Greek originals. From the Greek, the books of the New Testament were then translated to Latin, the language of the Roman Empire.
And from there, much of the Christian world has translations. Not all translations are from Latin though, because there are original versions of Biblical gospels and non-Biblical gospels in Ethiopic, Slavic and Armenian, and others, according to Curtis Copeland on Quora.
So we wonder, when the above Romans 12:19 Vengeance lines are quoted, what does to “give place to wrath” mean, really?
There are as many meanings given to the phrase as there are priests, pastors, scholars, Faithful.
To “give place to wrath” could mean to “Leave room for the civil magistrate to do his duty, he holds the sword for this purpose; and if he be unfaithful to the trust reposed in him by the state, leave the matter to God, who is the righteous judge: for by avenging yourselves you take your cause both out of the hands of the civil magistrate and out of the hands of God. I believe this to be the meaning of give place to wrath”
This interpretation is attributed to an Adam Clarke in studylight.org.
(to be continued)