The traditional translation is that Jesus' star arose "in the East," but the primary meaning of the word is "rising." Of course, stars appear on the eastern horizon as the earth spins. Part of the reasoning for a translation, though, is tied up[in what you think the star was. Can a start point not only to Israel but to Bethlehem, and even to where Jesus was?

Rarely does a translator let his or her theological bias show, but in 1 Corinthians 15:1-2 we can see an example. V 2 also is a strange verse to translate with some unusual constructions.

Sometimes the absence of a comma can significantly alter the meaning of a passage, and its inclusion can clarify. 1 Corinthians 13:2 provides such an example.

The challenge of translating Hebrews 2:6–8 is that the original context (Psalm 8) was talking about people in general (plural), but the author of Hebrews rightly sees that it is messianic (singular) as does the author of Psalm 110:1 (Heb 2:8). So do you keep the original context, or its messianic understanding, and do you try to find a way to represent both?

My Greek Verse of the Day is a screencast vlog that I will be doing weekly at first. I will take a well-known Bible verse, read it, translate it, and then phrase it. Finally, I will include some comments about its meaning or significance. In John 3:16 I will be talking about the meaning of οὕτως, and that it can’t mean “so much” as in the traditional translations. I will also talk about the πᾶς and the fact that it is indefinite. The promises of John 3:16 are available to each and every person (πᾶς) in the entire world (κόσμος) who does in fact believe. There is no inherent limitation in the “all” (“whosoever,” KJV); the limitation is in the modifying clause.