The readers of the Ministry are familiar with our understanding and use of the phrase, "Lord's day," as it occurs in the King James and Revised Versions of Revelation 1:10. A brief article in the preceding number of this magazine shows that "Lord's day" is a correct translation in fidelity to the original, and in harmony with Christian usage at the time when Paul applied the word "Lord's" (kuriakos) to the Lord's supper and when John employed it to designate the day on which he "was in the Spirit" and received his marvelous "revelation of Jesus Christ." The purpose of the present article is to note certain mistranslations or interpretations of the phrase "Lord's day" in the languages of Western Europe, which persist up to now in certain current versions, but which there now appears some prospect of correcting. The difficulty lies in the use of a more ancient word for "Lord" in Revelation 1:10, in exception to all others of the numerous passages in the New Testament in which the word "Lord" occurs. That more ancient word is, in the Spanish, Domingo, instead of Sefior elsewhere for Lord; in the French, Dimanche, instead of Seigneur elsewhere; in the Italian, Domenica, instead of Signore elsewhere; in the Portuguese, Domingo, instead of Senhor elsewhere. These more ancient words are all derived from the Latin Dominus, meaning Lord. There is therefore no complaint against the original and basic meaning of these older words. The complaint is against the use they have come to undergo, namely, to designate the first day of the week as Lord's day. These are the words in,common use for Sunday, and are so understood by the people of each language, both in everyday life and in Revelation 1:10.
Some of our workers have made appeal to the General Conference to make an effort through the Bible Societies to have this mistranslation corrected, and this in part because we are contributing annually to the support of both the American Bible Society and the British and Foreign Bible Society. The General Conference Committee, therefore, took formal action courteously requesting these two societies so to revise the translation of Revelation 1:10 that the same word for Lord may appear there as elsewhere throughout the New Testament, as is the case in the original Greek.
In response to our communication the translation committees of both these societies very considerately gave study to our request. Before making decision on the matter, the British Society consulted "scholars in the Latin countries," and also requested us to suggest a translation that would be satisfactory, which we did. Now official word has come from this society reading as follows:
"After making inquiries, our committee has decided that wherever necessary and whenever possible, a change be made in existing Italian, French, Spanish, and Portuguese versions (except the Sacy and Figueiredo) so that the phrase in Revelation 1:10 may read in the several languages: 'I was in the Spirit on the day of the Lord.' "
The American Bible Society has indicated its readiness to cooperate in this decision of the British and Foreign Society to use in Revelation 1:10 the same word for Lord as elsewhere in the New Testament, namely, "el dia de Senor" in Spanish, "le jour du Seigneur" in French, "nel giorno del Signore" in Italian, "no dia do Senhor" in Portuguese.
It is only fair to say that not all the Latin versions use the older term as pointed out above, though a majority do. Out of five versions in Spanish, all use Domingo in the text, and only one gives Sefior in the margin. Out of six versions in French, three use Dimanche and three use Seigneur in the text, though one of the latter inserts in the margin "cest-a dire un Dimanche." In Italian, two texts use Domenica, but one puts Signore in the margin. In Portuguese, one uses Domingo and two use Senhorin the text.
It is gratifying, in the interests of accurate and consistent translation, to look forward to having versions of the Bible in the modern Latin tongues, that render the interesting phrase "Lord's day" with fidelity to the original and to current usage.
Washington, D. C.
