Tuesday, May 15, 2012

A turn of phrase out of phase?

In Numbers, chapter 3, of the New Jerusalem Bible I read this:
(verse 3) Such were the names of Aaron's sons, priests anointed and invested with the powers of the priesthood.
Scratching my head because of the last part of the verse, I did comparisons with several other translations.  I didn't see anywhere else that mentioned "powers of the priesthood."  The other Bibles had something similar to the King James Version below:
3 These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests which were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest's office. 
Having just left a church that boasts the only "priesthood authority" on the Earth, I am sensitive to such assertions.  Is it possible that the translators of the NJB were trying to support the Roman Catholic Church's claim to priesthood?

I looked in the notes of the ArtScroll Tanach, Stone edition (a Jewish Bible).  Due to copyright, I can't quote them word-for-word.  In summary, the note for Numbers, chapter 6, verse 27, said priests (Kohanim) have no power in themselves to give blessings, they only serve as a channel or pipeline for God.


 

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