Why not? Why not translate into English what's in the Greek? Especially if the resultant rendering makes for good English.
As you know, I've been memorizing Philippians 4.
Today I was in verse 9, which includes these two words:
The verb here is a reminder that what's called "verbal aspect" is really, sincerely a thing. Whether you call it "imperfective aspect" or something else, the idea is one of ongoing or durative action. English synonyms include:
- frequently
- regularly
- progressively
- relentlessly
- endlessly
- iteratively
- continuously
I cannot possibly address all potential interpretive baggage here, but I'll say this: Anything in the Greek that's worth noticing is probably worth translating. And there are two things worth noting here:
- The verb itself, which simply means to "do" or "practice."
- And the accompanying verbal aspect (kind of action), which carries the nuance of continuing to do something.
No doubt the first of these ideas is fairly easy to translate over into English. To wit:
- ESV = practice these things
- GNT = Put into practice ...
- LSB = practice these things
- NASB = practice these things
- NKJV = these do
- LUTH = das tut
- NGU = lebt so
- LBLA = esto practicad
So far so good. But let's try and notch it up one level, shall we, and include the verbal aspect:
- ISV = keep practicing these things
- TLB = Keep putting into practice ...
- NTV = No dejen de poner práctica
Can you see the difference?
Now I'm no expert in Spanish, but this last rendering -- it's from a version called the Nueva Traducción Viviente -- is saying something like "Don't stop practicing." Touché!
Thousands of times when reading my English Bible I think to myself, "I wonder why they translated it this way." The answer is: translation is not an exact science. Maybe that's why it's a good idea to read as many English translations as we can lay our hands on when we are studying any passage in the Bible.
Just a random thought.
Have a great day!