A case of mistaken translation
The New International Version adds the word “will” to Matthew 10:29. But it’s not there in the Greek.
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. (Matt. 10:29 NIV)
Recently, I was reading an article about the comprehensive nature of God’s care for creation. Under the heading of God’s sovereignty, the article referenced the quote from Matthew 10:29 about God’s concern for even the lowly sparrow. Somehow, the notion that God might will the fall of little sparrows struck me as odd. So, I decided to check out some other Bible translations that I have on hand to see if they also subscribed to this notion of God’s all-encompassing will. Much to my surprise, they didn’t!
Of the six Bible translations available to me, only the New International Version had the word “will.” The King James Version says no sparrow will “fall on the ground without your Father.” The New Revised Standard Version puts it this way: “not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.” J.B. Phillips translation: “not a single sparrow falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge.” David Bentley Hart’s translation: “and not one of them will fall to earth without your Father.” And finally The New English Bible reads: “without your Father’s leave, not one of them can fall to the ground.”
Why add a word?
Since Greek is all Greek to me, I contacted a retired pastor friend and asked him whether the word “will” was in the original Greek of Matthew 10:29. His response was that “it’s not there in the Greek. The Greek for the phrase under consideration is literally ‘apart from the father of you.’” He speculated that “the will of” would have been added by some translators to try to help the reader make sense of the passage.
“That the father is there when the sparrow falls is clear,” he added, “but what exactly the father is doing there is not. He may just be there to grieve the loss.”
Fatalism is not biblical
Why is this important? Because there is a tremendous difference between God being present during catastrophes (small and large) and God willing them. Did God will (i.e., cause) Adam and Eve’s disobedience? Does God will a child’s arm to break from a bicycle fall? Did God will the genocide of six million Jews in Nazi concentration camps? Does God will . . . (here insert any number of events, from minor inconveniences to major horrors)? Elsewhere in Scripture we are warned not to blame God for the evil in the world (e.g., James 1:13-18). It is important not to conceive of God’s sovereignty in such a way that everything that happens in the world is directly attributed to God’s will. God is not the author of sin and misery. In spite of the brokenness and suffering in the world brought about by sin, we humans still have God-given agency that we use for good or ill. We can choose to be God’s agents of reconciliation or Satan’s servants of chaos. Fatalism is not a biblical concept.
Thanks, Bob, for pointing this out. (I was expecting a picture of the house sparrow, though.)
Some people say “karma” as if it some sort of fatalism, too. Saying God “wills” evil or death is not something unique to some branches of Christianity, perhaps.
Thanks for Bob Bruinsma for your article on “A Case of Mistaken Translation.” It reminded me of a speech given many years ago by Rev. Nicholas Knoppers at Dordt College. I heard the speech in person. It was entitled “Many Little Sparrows Fell from the Rooftop.” It is available at: https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/pro_rege/vol19/iss4/1/. The speech is well worth one’s time to read it.