Introduction
Welcome to The PlowShare Mission.
December 22, 2007, Jonathan K. Mickelson
This is the beginning of the documentation process for a project that began in 2003. I am pleased to present to you the PlowShare Mission. After reading and listening to the Scripture in its entirety (with deliberate and marked attention) 12 times and the New Testament an additional 20 times, I undertook this project to bring clarity to an English translation of the Greek New Testament.
For a simple example of the Greek text being obscured in English, let us look at the conversation between the risen Lord Jesus and Peter on the shore. The vast majority of English translations record the conversation between the two in the following manner (John 21:15-16, abbreviated):
JESUS: Peter, do you love me? PETER: Yes, I love you. JESUS: Feed my lambs.
JESUS: Peter, do you love me? PETER: Yes, I love you. JESUS: Feed my sheep.
JESUS: Peter, do you love me?
Now, Peter was hurt because Jesus had asked the third time, "do you love me?"
Peter replied, "Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you."
JESUS: Feed my sheep.
However, in the Greek, the conversation is different than what is stated in English. In brief, it is as follows:
JESUS: Peter, do you love me? PETER: Yes, I have affection for you. JESUS: Feed my lambs.
JESUS: Peter, do you love me? PETER: Yes, I have affection for you. JESUS: Shepherd my sheep.
JESUS: Peter, do you have affection for me?
Now, Peter was hurt because Jesus had asked the third time, "do you have affection for me?"
Peter replied, "Lord, you know all things. You know that I have affection for you."
JESUS: Feed my sheep.
Recall that Peter expressed unconditional love to Jesus at the Last Supper by saying that he would even die for Jesus and would not leave Him. However, Peter denied knowing Jesus three times. Now, they meet on the shore, and Jesus addresses the matter and reaffirms Peter by repeating a command for Peter to care for Jesus' flock.
Please understand that at this encounter, Peter knew that he did not (yet) possess the love that he expressed to Jesus at the Last Supper. Peter knew he had failed to fulfill his vows of unconditional agape love for Jesus. All that Peter could honestly say was that he had affection for Jesus. Although Jesus called the question to the forefront, Jesus also reinstated Peter as his servant and friend.
Through years of study, I have found numerous occurances where the English has obscured the actual Greek text. Upon these occasions, the English translation obscures the actual concepts and meaning of the passage. At the worst, the English is actually misleading and stands in opposition to the Greek text. In almost all occasions, the Greek is richer and more vibrant than the English renderings.
I started the PlowShare Mission because I needed to know, for myself, what the Greek text actually says. I purposed to build a web-based software tool that allows any interested person to study and verify the text for themselves. But better yet, I purposed to build a tool that would help bring the English speaker to the Word of God, and not merely repackage the Word of God to the culture and bent of the English speaker. The Lord spent 17 years preparing me to undertake this task. For 10 years, I fasted from all television and all secular radio. During this time, I listened only to the Bible on cassette, to worship music, and to Bible teachings. After 10 years and 10 deliberate journies through the entire Bible with care, I spent the next fours years in meditation, reconciliation, and study of what I had ingested that I might fully digest God's Holy Word. Then I journied twice more through the entire English texts (Genesis to Revelation) then stopped because I could not bear to continue in such manner. Some time later, I began this task. And I was required by the Lord to wait another 4 years after starting this task before I was permitted to begin rendering the Greek text in English.
The translation is aided by the use of the PlowShare software and other resources, and has three phases: The Hilkiah translation done by hand for accuracy of words and concepts, the Shaphan translation processed largely by computer for consistency of grammer and verb tenses and error detection, and the Mickelson translation that combines the full work of both into a clarified, consistant, and accurate rendering of the Greek text.
The Greek text being used in PlowShare is the 1550 Stephanus Greek Text. This serves two purposes. First, it puts me at the original Greek text used for English translation, and provides the baseline by which to critically assess modern Greek Bible texts that proclaim a greater measure of accuracy toward the original manuscripts. God willing, I intend to make a future assessment of these of texts and provide the body of Christ a straight forward report as to the nature of the differences between the current critical texts and that of Erasmus' 1550 Stephanus text. The 1550 Stephanus is the most widely attested and publicly available Greek text. Second, the King James translation is based largely on the 1550 Stephanus, and I consider it important to show that the King James is inconsistent and misleading in its rendering of the Greek text into English. The purpose is not to discredit the King James, but rather to make known that the Greek is far more rich than any main English translation has been willing to convey. Due to the historic respect and praise the King James translation has received, it appears that no translator or commitee is willing to deviate from this work. However, I find that it is of utmost importance that we must leave the insufficient workmanship of the King James translators and return once again to unadulterated scriptures as delivered (such as we have them in Greek and Hebrew manuscripts), and render them consistently within its own given context and concepts.
I do not undertake this work for the praise of men, but I labor for a generation not yet born seeing that this generation has little to no interest in a work such as this. I can scarcely find a Christian who has read an entire book of the Bible, let alone the entire text. Yet, they will read book after book that talks about the Bible or some principal therein. Yet, my soul rejoices that I have been so privileged to enjoy the richness of God's Word so clearly - not only in comprehension, but in conduct as well. I bless those that pursue God and His Word with a pure heart.