Romans 3:23
For all have sinned, and come short
of the glory of God; (KJV)
Please excuse me while I let my
inner nerd show for a moment…
The Greek word ὑστερέω (pronounced
who-ster-eh-oh) that is translated as “come short” in the King James Version of
the Bible is the typical translation of all translations of the New
Testament. The most common translation, I believe, is to render it “fall
short”.
I believe this ὑστερέω (pronounced
who-ster-eh-oh) is mistranslated in that it understates the reality of
things.
First, the word “sin” tells us that
we are unholy. Sin is UNholiness in comparison to God’s Holiness.
The very act of Sin is ANTI-God and is the reason for the separation of God and
man in the first place. Sin places us outside of the garden or the very
presence of God the Father.
Second, to come or fall short
suggests that the sinner came somewhere close. But the Holiness of God
demands that we weren’t even close, in fact, we weren’t even in the same plane
of existence.
Third, because of our sin, there is
no way possible that we could get anywhere near God’s gloriousness without the
covering of Jesus’ Holy blood as our protection and this is the point that the
Apostle Paul is making in this chapter.
The Greek word here has a variant of
meanings and so I suggest a translation that communicates the vast chasm
between God’s Holiness and our sinfulness as the better.
A couple of the ways this word can
be understood is with the meaning of the thing that is ὑστερέω (pronounced
who-ster-eh-oh) is inferior in status and deficient. I think this idea is
closer to the reality of our “falling short”. So with this I offer my own
translation.
Romans 3:23
For all have sinned, and are
deficiently inferior of the glory of God; (RHV)
I believe that this translation best
pairs the reality of our sin with the Glory of God's Holiness to better show
our utter need for the redemption of Christ our Savior. For the idea, in
my mind, of falling short is like getting a spare in the game of bowling; for
if I keep trying I might get closer until I eventually get the strike.
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