David14589 Posted January 7, 2016 Group: Members Followers: 0 Topic Count: 0 Topics Per Day: 0 Content Count: 1 Content Per Day: 0.00 Reputation: 0 Days Won: 0 Joined: 01/03/2016 Status: Offline Share Posted January 7, 2016 It seems to me that Carlos123 asked a relevant question that deserves a good answer. The question is relevant because most translations still use the word “pastor” and that is the designation that most English speaking churches (among others) use for central figures in the church structure. Since Ephesians 4:11 is the only place in the entire Bible (there are a few older translation exceptions) that one will find the word “pastors” (and only in plural format), any translation problems should turn your world on its head...at least while you ponder this. Contrast the sheer numbers of pastors worldwide (I have no idea how many but it must be staggering) with the fact that that you can not find a single name of a single pastor in the NT and you have the makings of something intriguing. I found this forum by googling the very question that Carlos was asking and am disappointed that he is no longer participating. I was wondering if anyone was thinking the same thing I was. Carlos also asked a good question, because the task of an English translator is to translate the Greek of the NT into English. As such, the translator would have had the choice of “shepherds”, “shepherds” or “shepherds” but chose a Latin/French word instead. All of the previous English translations used “shepherds”. Shepherds are dirty smelly people who hang out with dirty smelly sheep in fields and keep watch over them at night. I work in construction so I understand dirty and smelly, but sheep not so much. So, instead of choosing smelly and dirty, they went with a common Latin/French word that was commonly used for ordained-educated-leaders-of building fixated congregations. Quite a contrast. I could probably go on a tour to all the English speaking countries in the world and I seriously doubt that if I asked everyone I met to play a word game where they would say that first thing that popped into their mind when I said “Pastor”, that anyone would say “smelly stinky person who hangs out with sheep”. No matter what the intent of the original translators was, it seems to me that the intent of current translations is to obscure the metaphor. So back to the original question. The real answer is found in the Translators notes for the Geneva Bible that was published in 1560: “Pastors are those who govern the church”. Try as I might, I can't make that sync with the image of a shepherd. Its not like the Geneva Bible created this error in thought, they just perpetuated it. I think that a shepherd watches the sheep, but the people watch a pastor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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