MixedNuts comments on Open Thread, October 16-31, 2012 - Less Wrong

5 Post author: OpenThreadGuy 16 October 2012 10:43PM

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Comment author: MixedNuts 28 October 2012 01:23:43PM 2 points [-]

It's ambiguous whether the translation should be "lower than the angels" or "lower than yourself". (That's what you get for not classifying angels as deities.) Oddly, Hebrews 2:7 is always translated using angels, though the text is the same in Hebrew versions, probably intentionally backtranslating from Greek. (ותחסרהו מעט מאלוהים, וכבוד והדר תעטרהו)

Even weirder, translations of Hebrews 2:7 in other languages tend to say "You have lowered him under the angels for a short time", not created so permanently. But translations of Psalm 8:5 are all about "created lower than", with the same disagreement about the relevant celestial being.

I can't find any Greek translations of Psalm 8:5 so I can't tell if they match Hebrews 2:7, and anyway it'd be Modern Greek.