Matthew 9:9-13
Here, for your viewing pleasure, are the NIV and NRSV, translating Matthew 9:10-13.
NIV |
NRSV |
| While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." |
And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples.When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" But when he heard this, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners." |
What is up with the scare quotes around "sinners" in the NIV (vv. 10 and 11)? Are the translators afraid to leave us with the impression that Jesus was actually fraternizing with real sinners? I wonder why they don't quote Jesus, just a few verses before this text, saying to the paralyzed man, "Your 'sins' are forgiven" (Mt. 9:5), or saying, "I have not come to call the righteous, but 'sinners.'" Imagine the made-for-TV movie: As Jesus walks around teaching, he forms quotes in the air with his fingers. "Take up your 'cross' and follow me." "Unless you become like a 'child,' you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven."
The more charitable explanation is that the NIV translators were trying to say to us, "Of course we're all sinners. When the opponents of Jesus said the word, "sinners," they didn't mean your average sinners. They meant notorious sinners, and to communicate that, we need quotation marks." (Even so, it seems a little "silly" to me.)
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