Kim G
Puritan Board Junior
(I apologize in advance if this doesn't make any sense--I was up all night with a sick child.)
I am reading through Proverbs and came across Proverbs 6:26, which has two different meanings depending on which translation I read. I looked online at a number of translations and they are split down the middle.
One way of translating contrasts going in to a prostitute versus going in to an adulteress: "for the price of a prostitute is only a loaf of bread, but a married woman hunts down a precious life." (The ESV, NIV, and HCSB translate it this way.) It's almost as if going to see a prostitute is not that big a deal, in this translation.
The other way of translating compares going in to a prostitute and an adulteress: "For on account of a harlot one is reduced to a loaf of bread, And an adulteress hunts for the precious life." (The KJV, NASB, and NLT use this translation.) In this case, seeing a prostitute leads to poverty, and seeing an adulteress costs you your life.
Why is there such a difference between these two translations? Is there any indication which one is more accurate to the text?
I ask in part because I have heard a growing number of young "Christians" insist that the prohibition of premarital sex is only if you are committing adultery with a married person. Otherwise, spend a little money on a date and have fun. (Yikes!)
I am reading through Proverbs and came across Proverbs 6:26, which has two different meanings depending on which translation I read. I looked online at a number of translations and they are split down the middle.
One way of translating contrasts going in to a prostitute versus going in to an adulteress: "for the price of a prostitute is only a loaf of bread, but a married woman hunts down a precious life." (The ESV, NIV, and HCSB translate it this way.) It's almost as if going to see a prostitute is not that big a deal, in this translation.
The other way of translating compares going in to a prostitute and an adulteress: "For on account of a harlot one is reduced to a loaf of bread, And an adulteress hunts for the precious life." (The KJV, NASB, and NLT use this translation.) In this case, seeing a prostitute leads to poverty, and seeing an adulteress costs you your life.
Why is there such a difference between these two translations? Is there any indication which one is more accurate to the text?
I ask in part because I have heard a growing number of young "Christians" insist that the prohibition of premarital sex is only if you are committing adultery with a married person. Otherwise, spend a little money on a date and have fun. (Yikes!)