More on Luke 2:14
Someone recently remarked on my first post on Luke 2:14, which was in 2019, and I found the remark worthy of reply, but since the thread of comments is six years old, I doubt if anyone will see it. Besides, I had fun replying.
In December of 2019 I posted on “The Fatal Flaw of the ESV, and Why You Should Correct It at Christmas” and I repeated my argument last year (“Why the ESV Should Not Be Used At Christmas”). The gist of my argument is that the angels’ message is about God’s good will toward mankind, and not a message intended only for men of goodwill, as the ESV has it (“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”). My contention is that the ESV ruins the angel’s message.
The crux of the matter begins with the question of which manuscript tradition one uses when it comes to the angels’ message. The majority reading has eudokia (good will), while the Hesychian group adds a sigma, making it eudokias (of good will). Both traditions have strong attestation, so it’s hard to determine which is best. When the term eudokia has a sigma added, making it eudokias, then it serves to modify anthropoi (men) rather than God, but even here the ESV (and the RSV) see the term as being a reference to God’s goodwill, not man’s. The fatal flaw of the ESV is its change of anthropoi (men, human beings) into “those” which makes it impossible to translate the phrase properly. The proper way to translate the phrase with eudokias would be to insert a comma (or at least a pause in oral reading) after anthropoi, so that it reads, “Peace on earth among men, with whom He is pleased.” That is, God is please with mankind (because of Christ). The easiest way to handle this at Christmas, in my opinion, is simply to use the KJV, which guarantees a message that the Gift of the Christ Child is meant for the whole world, and is an expression of God’s goodwill toward men. All mankind, that is.
Out of the blue last September came a charge that I am lying about this. A certain Jeff complained:
“eudokia is used by Paul of his own good will so its a bold faced lie that its only used of God. Romans 10:1 "Brethren, my heart's desire (literally goodwill of my heart, εὐδοκία τῆς ἐμῆς καρδίας) and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved."
Here’s my reply to him:
I can't remember if anyone has ever accused me of a bald faced lie before, but I assume that's what you meant to do, because there's no such thing as a bold face lie. A bald faced lie is something said with a straight face, while knowing it isn't true. And sir, you have no way of knowing whether that's what I have done. It's far more likely, from your persective, that I innocently erred in making my claim, if indeed it is in error. I recommend you take a breath and reconsider your stark accusation that I have lied with a bald face. And as it happens, I still believe my claim is correct and not in error anyway; I'm happy to stand by my claim, because, of the nine NT uses of the term there are two places in Scripture where eudokia is something attributed to men, and in each of these places it's arguable that it remains an attribute of God given to someone. When Paul refers to his heart's desire in Rom 10, he is clearly mirroring the desire of God's heart, no? And in Phil 1:15, it is used of some men who proclaim Christ; again, mirroring God's goodwill. In Phil 2:13 and 2 Thess 1:11, remarkably, there is no modifier of eudokia but the translaters provide the obvious referent: God. For that matter, even the ESV agrees that the goodwill of Lk 2:14 is God's goodwill, not man's goodwill, for it translates "with whom He is pleased." So with respect to your claim, even the ESV is on my side, notwithstanding its horrendous insertion of "those" in place of "men." So the preponderance of evidence remains with my claim that eudokia is something understood to belong to God, and not something found first in men of goodwill that would bring on the angels' announcement of peace to them. Besides, the modifier of the angels' message "on earth" nails it down pretty well all by itself.
So I’ll take this opportunity to remind all you pastors as Christmas approaches again: if you must use the ESV, at the very least go with the footnoted alternative: “peace, good will among men.” But in that case the good will is easier to attribute erroneously to men, because of the use of “among” rather than “toward.” So if you do go this route, go with the footnote and just slip in the term “toward” in place of “among” and you’ll be good to go: “Peace on earth, good will toward men.” Which, of course, is the KJV rendering.