Horses of a Different Color
In the current issue of The Bible Translator, D. J. Clark examines the adequacy of translations of the colors of horses in Zechariah and Revelation. He says:
There are four places in the Bible where horses are described in terms of their colours. These are Zech 1.8 and 6.2-3, 6-7, and Rev 6.2-8 and 19.11, 14. Some of the terms chosen for these colours in English Bibles can be rather misleading ... The basic problem arises because different languages divide up the spectrum in different ways, so that words that at first sight seem to be equivalent may turn out not to be when examined in context.
Clark concludes, for example, that in Zech. 1:8, the three colors adom, saroq, and laban should be brown, gray, and white.
Here’s what various versions have:
Another interesting post, Nate. I have linked to it. I tried to trackback to it, but couldn’t get the ping to work.
Posted by Wayne Leman on 08/04 at 11:46 PM
Next entry: Touching Every Word Once
Previous entry: The grammar of Renaissance literature