I ask: Is it a reluctance by translators to accept - as Paul seems to -
that the flesh has a mind of its own that causes them to translate TO
FRONHMA THS SARKOS in 8:6 as "the [person's/human's] mind [which is]
set on the [things of the] flesh" - and hence because of its immediate
proximity to translate the following phrase in the same way as "the
[human] mind set on the Spirit" - instead of as the quite plain "for the
flesh's way of thinking is death, but the Spirit's way of thinking is
life and peace"? Or is it because 8:5 states that persons who are
"according to the flesh" FRONEW "the things of the flesh" - and persons
who are "according to the Spirit" FRONEW "the things of the Spirit" -
that inclines translators to assume that FRONHMA in 8:6 and 8:7 refers
to the subjects of FRONEW in 8:5?
Granted, 8:27 is several verses away, and the context is different - but
the fact that Paul uses the exact same words indicates to me that
translators ought to at least consider translating 8:6-7 the same way
they translate 8:27 before deciding to translate them quite differently.
For it is VERY different to view and translate 8:6 and 8:7 as talking
about the results of the mindset a person chooses or lives by, rather
than to translate them as statements about what "the flesh" and what
"the Spirit" - not "humans" - by nature think about or strive for.
Comments? (Please!)
-- "Eric S. and Karol-Ann Weiss" http://home1.gte.net/eweiss/index.htm eweiss@gte.net