From the article in my thread
Recently Published NT Translation:
'On the basis of people I trust to make this decision, the ESV or the TNIV or the NRSV or the NLT is a reliable translation.'"
Yes, my view of the CSB was informed by study materials, lexicons, concordances and commentary. But I did not make any argument from authority. I provided examples and let them speak for themselves.
Here is an example:
John 1:5 "That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it". CSB
Here we are considering whether the CSB's choice of "overcome" should be translated comprehend, as in the NASB, LEB and NKJV. The CSB did footnote overcome with the alternate choices of grasp, comprehend or overtake.
Now we all should know that light overcomes darkness, because darkness is the absence of light. So right away we can clear the muddle away with picking between comprehend and overtake. If we look at verse 9, where the Light "enlightens" every person, the idea here is that the divine illumination was not grasped or fully understood by those exposed to the light.
Therefore, based on context, the best choice is "comprehend" (so NASB, LEB and NKJV).
All this to say that words or phrases may have more than one meaning, and using the word for word philosophy method, translators use context to choose between the possible historical word or phrase meanings. For example, in
John 12:35 the same word translated comprehend here according to context, is translated overtake there.
Finally, lets consider
1 Thessalonians 5:4. Here the NASB and NKJV have overtake and the LEB has catch, but the CSB has surprise. Here the idea is to be caught unawares like we might be if a thief unexpectedly took something. So "surprise" is actually not a bad choice, just outside the historical range of meanings. Therefore, in a word for word philosophy version, surprise might be chosen, but then it would be footnoted "literally overtake."