An Unresolved Dilemma in English Bible Translation: How to English Paul’s Use of the Δικαι- Family

Abstract

From the Lollard versions of the fourteenth century, the six words of the word family at the heart of Paul’s doctrine of justification have most often been represented by two English word families. Tyndale also used them for his 1526 New Testament, providing the model for KJV (1611), dominant for over 350 years. With the Reformation, this two-word-family approach became linked with the Protestants’ forensic model of justification. In the nineteenth century an alternative view was developed: the relational model. Characterized by a single English word family, it became quite influential in the last third of the twentieth century, being the preferred model of the mainstream Bible Societies in the USA and Britain. However, by the twenty-first century it had disappeared from commonly used English versions. Reasons given here show that reinstatement of the relational model is essential if Paul’s message of justification is to become intelligible to an English reader.