for everyone partaking of milk is without experience in the Word of Righteousness, for he is an infant. [LITV]
Hebrews 5:13
for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. [ESV]
Hebrews 5:13
For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. [NLT]
Hebrews 5:13
In the previous Gem I gave you those provocative, made-up responses to the suggestion that we leave behind the basic teaching like the items in the author’s list:-
- Repentance
- Faith
- Laying on of hands
- Resurrection from the dead
- Eternal Judgment
and move on to higher or deeper things.
“No, hang on a moment. Please, teach us more about these things you tell us we should leave behind. ‘Repentance’ has always bothered me. Please tell me more. ‘Faith’, I have never really understood the concept of “faith”. I just don’t get it. And how are we supposed to understand the saying “the just shall live by faith”? I mean what does that even mean? And please tell us more about the laying on of hands; I haven’t even heard that term before! You can’t mean we’re not going to talk about ‘the resurrection from the dead‘ anymore. I want to know more about that. Please, can we have another class on that; I have so many questions. No more on ‘eternal judgment”. You can’t be serious!”
Then I closed the Gem with the comment: If you want something really deep just look at verse 13!
and a possible reader response I came up with myself in the form of:- “What Ian? That verse I understand. I don’t need that explained.”
It appears to be self-explanatory in the way the NLT has translated it. But it might interest you to know the expression
- [λόγου δικαιοσύνης] “The Word of Righteousness”
- [ἄπειρος λόγου δικαιοσύνης] “unskilled in the Word of Righteousness” or “unskilled in the word of righteousness”
is a unique expression in the whole of the Bible. No other writer uses this combination of words. What is he meaning by the use of this expression? As I have said already, “If you want something really deep just look at verse 13.” I wonder how many of you actually did that. I imagine it would be a small minority. But if you had, you would have the advantage on the rest of the field. For that is what we are going to do. I have given you the survey of the ways to translate this verse in the various translations below.
(AFV) For everyone who is partaking of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness because he is an infant.
(ASV) For every one that partaketh of milk is without experience of the word of righteousness; for he is a babe.
(BBE) For everyone who takes milk is without experience of the word of righteousness: he is a child.
(CEV) People who live on milk are like babies who don’t really know what is right.
(CJB) Anyone who has to drink milk is still a baby, without experience in applying the Word about righteousness.
(ERV) Anyone who lives on milk is still a baby and is not able to understand much about living right.
(ESV) for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child.
(GNB) Anyone who has to drink milk is still a child, without any experience in the matter of right and wrong.
(GW) All those who live on milk lack the experience to talk about what is right. They are still babies.
(ISV) For everyone who lives on milk is still a baby and does not yet know the difference between right and wrong.
(KJV) For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
(LITV) for everyone partaking of milk is without experience in the Word of Righteousness, for he is an infant.
(LSV) for everyone who is partaking of milk [is] unskilled in the word of righteousness—for he is an infant,
(MKJV) For everyone partaking of milk is unskillful in the Word of Righteousness, for he is an infant.
(MSG) Milk is for beginners, inexperienced in God’s ways;
(Murdock) For every one whose food is milk, is unversed in the language of righteousness, because he is a child.
(NENT) For every one that partaketh of milk is inexperienced in the word of righteousness; for he is a babe.
(NET) For everyone who lives on milk is inexperienced in the message of righteousness, because he is an infant.
(NLT) For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right.
(RV) For every one that partaketh of milk is without experience of the word of righteousness; for he is a babe.
(TLV) For anyone living on milk is inexperienced with the teaching about righteousness—he is an infant.
(TPT) For every spiritual infant who lives on milk is not yet pierced by the revelation of righteousness.
(TS2009) For everyone partaking of milk is inexperienced in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.
(WEB) For everyone who lives on milk is not experienced in the word of righteousness, for he is a baby.
(YLT) for every one who is partaking of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness—for he is an infant,
I have even given those of you for whom Indonesian is your mother tongue the various options available to you in Indonesian.
(Indonesian BIS) Orang yang masih minum susu, berarti ia masih bayi; ia belum punya pengalaman tentang apa yang benar dan apa yang salah.
(Indonesian MB) Setiap orang yang masih membutuhkan susu ia masih kanak-kanak dan tidak cakap dalam ajaran firman kebenaran.
(Indonesian TB) Sebab barangsiapa masih memerlukan susu ia tidak memahami ajaran tentang kebenaran, sebab ia adalah anak kecil.
Take your time to look at the translations above to work out what is going on when translators come to translate this very unique phrase “the word of righteousness” – ‘the Word of Righteousness’ or ‘the word of righteousness’ or any of the other variations we have across the versions of the Bible. I will leave you now to ponder it for yourself. How would you translate or express this idea in a way that enables you to understand this curious phrase in the context of the rest of what the author of Hebrews has written?
The best translation is when you translate the Word of God into your daily life. You ought to be a living Bible.
Rick Warren
Many people stick to their favourite translation of the Bible because looking at the other translations only confuses them.
Ian
But did you realise the various versions of the Bible can be your friend not your enemy?
Ian
Helpful Tip: When you see variations of meaning on a phrase or a word you are being given a glimpse into the complexity behind the text. That’s the time when you need to make comparisons.
Ian