Correspondence

So you like simplicity.
You like clarity.
You like certainty.
You like directness.

Well that's not how Scripture works.
God's word is fine literature and chock full of ambiguities!

Simply the fact that our Scriptures were written in another language, in another culture and another time makes ambiguity a certainty.

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Ambiguity certainly can lead to confusion or misinterpretation.
It is a literary technique used to exploit multiple meanings, complexity, double entendre, and humor (such as a pun).

• Ambiguity can be intentional, created by the careful choice of material presented.
• Ambiguity can intentionally mislead or misdirect an audience (have you ever read a mystery novel?)
• Ambiguity means one must be open to considering multiple interpretations.
• Ambiguity allows the participant to use their imagination to personalize a message.

Scripture uses a variety of genres and sub-genres including narrative, poetry, wisdom, poetry, fiction, the Gospels, epistles/letters, and Apocalypse.
Each of these has different general guidelines to assist a reader to understand what was written.

Ambiguity means you have to ask the text questions - the six W's (Who, What, When, Where, Why, Wow)
You need to study. Meditate over the text. Internalize it.

Rob

 

Scripture is full of ambiguity, What else would students of the Bible be arguing about for the past 2500 years?
Some things "biblical" are just not as clear as we might want them to be.
Peter even had trouble reading and understanding the writings of Paul, is it any wonder that we do as well?

...just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which there are some things that are hard to understand, ... 2 Peter 3:15-16​

Biblical Wisdom has deep roots - sometime hard for us to comprehend.

The unfolding of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple. Psalm 119:130, NASB 2020

Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! Romans 11:33​

Ambiguity is not the "enemy" if it is present in the original text.
>>>It is a biblical translators job to maintain the ambiguities in the original text while not creating any additional ambiguities in the translation.<<<

Translators usually provide a preface to their work, explaining the methods and goals of their translation.
Depending on their method and their audience, translations can have significant variation while maintaining the integrity of God's word.
Generally if you understand a translation's methods or philosophy, it will aid you in understanding any perceived ambiguities.

Scripture isn't always plain, simple and easy to understand. Is it any wonder that an authoritative scholastic book on biblical interpretation comes out so often?

The unfolding of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple. Psalm 119:130, NASB 2020
​

There are plenty of examples of Jesus words being misunderstood, misinterpreted or simply passing over the intended audience, not being understood.

And yet they on their part did not understand the statement which He had made to them. Luke 2:50

The disciples understood none of these things, and the meaning of this statement was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend the things that were said. Luke 18:34 NASB 2020

But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him. Mark 9:32

But they did not understand this statement, and it was concealed from them so that they would not comprehend it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this statement. Luke 9:45

For they did not yet understand the Scripture, that He must rise from the dead. John 20:9

Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing, you do not realize right now, but you will understand later.” John 13:7​

The Jews then said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and yet You will raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking about the temple of His body. So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken. John 2:20-22

Rob​

 

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The Preface of the KJV notes:

We think it good to inform you, gentle Reader, that we have not tied ourselves to uniform phrasing, or to the use of identical words, as some, perhaps, would wish that we had done because they have observed that some learned men, somewhere, have been as precise as they could be in that regard. We were indeed particularly careful not to vary from the sense of a word which we had translated before, if the word signified the same thing in both places (for there are some words that do not have the same sense everywhere). In this we were conscientious and dutiful. But our duty was to express the same notion in the same particular word; it was not, for example, if we translate a Hebrew or Greek word once by “purpose,” never to call it “intent,” or if we translated a word as “journeying,” never to call it “traveling”; if as “think,” never as “suppose”; if as “pain,” never as “ache”; if “joy,” never “gladness,” etc. That sort of approach seemed to us to savor more of eccentricity than of wisdom, and we reckon that it would breed scorn in the atheist rather than bring profit to the godly reader. For is the kingdom of God a matter of words or syllables? Why should we be in bondage to them if we may be free? Why use one exclusively when we may use another that is no less appropriate?
Barzon, Joshua. The Forgotten Preface: Surprising Insights on the Translation Philosophy of the King James Translators (pp. 20-21).
​

Strong's Concordance is based upon the King James Bible - you can observe the variation of word meanings.
The numbering in the text relates to single, simple original language word (a lemma).
You can see that the translators DID NOT use the same English word for a single Hebrew or Greek word, there are many words that have multiple different meanings.
I remember learning about homonyms in the third grade (Mrs. Witiker).

EXAMPLES:
Sozo—save (93×), make whole (9×), heal (3×), be whole (3×)
Agape—love (86×), charity (28×), dear (1×), charitably (1×)
Charis—grace (130×), favor (6×), thanks (8×), pleasure (2×)
Kurios—Lord (667×), lord (54×), master (11×), Sir (6×), sir (6×)​

Oh my, I can't find a book in my library by D.A. Carson that might be helpful, (I might have given it away UGGH!), "Exegetical Fallacies".
Anyway, he mentions a number of translational stumbles, one of which is translating a particular word the same way without noticing that the context demands a different meaning... semantic ... anachronism ... that's it! The meaning of words change over time. Since our Scriptures were written over such a long time, meanings of some of the words changed. Think about how the word, "gay", has changed meanings in your own lifetime.
Particularly in the Hebrew Scriptures, in places, particular words were used for their sounds as much as they were for their meaning: they played with word sounds.

Ah, I found it! Chapter: Word Study Fallacies, p. 33. also 'semantic obsolescence' (p. 35), Good stuff, Van, well worth reading. You can pick it up on Amazon used for about $7.

Rob