Lost in Translation

We all know that phrase from the Bible, “Spare the rod, spoil the child,” right? Well, actually, it is not originally from the Bible, it’s from a 17th century poem by Samuel Butler called Hudibras. The poem is rather long, 11,000 lines, but surprisingly entertaining. (Truth injection: I’m only 20% through currently, I’m pacing myself!)

For any of you willing to give Hudibras a try, you will see that the English language has changed quite a bit in the last 400 years. Spellings are different, some words appear totally foreign, structures are not as now — plus it’s a poem — but you can guess enough to make your way through. Will your educated guesses be my educated guesses, who knows?

Turns out the translators of the Bible had similar issues.

The actual wording of Proverbs 13:24 is, He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes. But even there, the meaning is not what we tend to believe. That translation is found in the King James Bible, published in 1611. It is important to note and remember that the writings that make up what we now call the Bible were originally written in Hebrew (Old Testament) and Greek (New Testament) with some smatterings of Aramaic thrown in here and there. The Greek, however, was Koine Greek, a version of the Greek language spoken around the time the Bible was originally written and which had been derelict for 1,000 years when the work began on the English translation.

It is additionally worth noting that the period of the King James translation was also a time of immense cruelty. People were publicly burned at the stake and hung drawn and quartered with regularity. So, when it seemed to them to say that children should be beaten into submission, they rolled with it.  

Signs of the Times

Except that it does not appear to have been what the Bible meant at all. First up, as you probably know, shepherds and lambs are an ongoing allegory throughout the Bible. When the writers of the Bible referred to a “rod” they were talking about a shepherds staff, which, in normal use, is not an instrument for beating, it is for guiding. And as for “chasteneth,” the translators went with a word that often skews toward punishment, when in fact the original Greek text means “carefully corrects” — it comes from the same root as disciple. I must have missed the part where Jesus beat his disciples into submission.

Soon after the King James Bible was created, England entered the time of The Interregnum, (“between reigns”) the span of eleven years between the execution of Charles I and the ascension of Charles II. It was a very interesting period with a lot of political experimentation. Much of the experimentation involved freedoms (both gaining and losing depending on who you were). Oliver Cromwell granted Jews a sort of “Don’t ask, don’t tell” laxity (much better than most countries of the time) and one party, the True Levelers, (AKA The Diggers) proposed a form of socialism of communal public land ownership, where men and women would have equal rights. It was right after this turbulent period came to a close that Butler wrote Hudibras which, although many of you will never have heard of it, is considered one of the most read texts ever written in the English language and was in popular print for over 150 years.

I also find it interesting that in Hudibras, it is a woman that comes out on top, and the final declaration is about how women are intellectually superior to men. I am constantly amused but no longer surprised that constructs that some now gripe are new or trendy ways of thinking have been around for centuries and longer. Whereas skin-colour based racism is a modern (1500’s+) largely Euro-American invention, open gay and trans sexualism, for example, have woven threads throughout history, including Roman Emperors, Saints, and many many communities going back to ancient Egypt. (And let’s not forget that the 150 pairs of male lovers that made up the “Sacred Band” of Thebes were the Theban special forces and the first ever to defeat Sparta. Put that in your “weakens the military.”) Additionally in many ancient cultures, sex was more something you did, rather than who you were. As such, sex and gender had little or nothing to do with each other. It’s only social acceptance of such issues that changes with the times.

Power vs Authority

Anyway, “spare the rod” got me thinking about the bundle of rods (often with an axe) that made up the Roman fasces — a symbol of the power of office. (It’s where the word “fascist” comes from), which points toward a very current conversation (and confusion): the difference between power and authority.

Aristotle in his book, Politics, says “government exists to promote and foster virtue in a way that leads to the good life of its citizens.” I imagine this is where the “Pursuit of happiness” in the Declaration of Independence was engendered (the Founding Fathers being the sort of well-educated political elite that many have a knee-jerk antipathy toward today). Interestingly, when the Greeks wrote on happiness, it was not the inane bearing of teeth one sees on Instagram, it was considered to be more along the lines of having a life that is directed toward the good — rather a foreign concept to the modern sybaritic, self-absorbed concept of happiness (which all too often doesn’t deliver).

Anyway, I think it is worth showing a table that sums up Aristotle’s definitions of the different forms of power and what happens when they get perverted.
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Funny to see that our vaunted Democracy is considered the perverted version of Polity. (To be fair, the meaning has morphed somewhat over the aeons). What he meant was that when the citizenry are no longer driven by logical thought toward general good (Polity), then they become driven to just be in it only for what they can get for themselves = Democracy.  Feels a little too current, no?

And this is where it’s similarly worth comparing authority vs power.
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We have a ringside seat to watching these struggles play out right now. In truth, they have played out as long as humans have been “playing.” Cyrus the Great took his monarchic authority so seriously that he is still well remembered for it 2,500 years later. Amongst other things, he was the Persian king that set the Jews free from their Babylonian captivity and helped them rebuild Jerusalem. Hitler? Well, he swung to the power side of the equation.

But even on a smaller scale it is worth making comparisons to the tables above. Because it is the same for a family or a company as it is for a country. Do you have power or authority? Which do you seek to have?

Teach your children well

I’m currently reading No Visible Bruises by Rachel Louise Snyder which is a powerfully eye-opening (and indicting) book about domestic violence. One sees a lot of tyranny in that book — very often driven by low self-esteem. People who bully, harass, belittle and beat are often, and often unwittingly, seeking power in the hope that it will make them feel better about themselves, — which it never does and so the cycle continues, for themselves and their victims. Those raised around violence tend to lean toward violence themselves.

And so, we find ourselves back at the real wisdom of that ancient text that was never about beatings or domination, but about love and guidance. In both our homes and our public discourse, carefully correcting and fostering understanding will always outweigh the destructive forces of violence and control. The belittling, demonizing, and castigating that pervades today’s national conversations only perpetuates the same cycle of harm, much like domestic violence creates scars that can resonate through generations.

The lessons our youth learn from watching us and observing our behavior — whether within the walls of our homes or through observing our divided public dialogue — are lasting. If they learn that conflict is settled by aggression rather than conversation, and that victory best comes through force rather than cooperation, it will be a dangerous and terribly sad inheritance.