My colleague Ruth and I are prone to random conversations during the course of a day. Today’s centred around the expression used in 1 Corinthians 15:52 for a quick change…
The King James Version gives us…
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
The New International Version
in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
Out of the 20 English versions available through Bible Gateway only five give an alternative to the phrase twinkling of an eye. We were just wondering if this is the best translation of the original Greek text, or whether it’s something that just works for the English and that a different turn of phrase was in the original.
I think it’s a pretty good, and fairly close, translation. The Greek phrase in question is:
… ἐν ῥιπῇ ὀφθαλμοῦ, …
“ῥιπῇ” (rhipe) is the word in question – the phrase translates as ” in (the) [rhipe] of an eye”.
And “twinkle” is a pretty good gloss for “rhipe” in this context.
Here’s a lexicon entry (from Perseus) for rhipe, which even mentions 1 Cor 15v52:
A. swing or force with which anything is thrown, ὅσση δ᾽ αἰγανέης ῥιπὴ . . τέτυκται as far as is the flight of a javelin, Il.16.589; “λᾶος ὑπὸ ῥιπῆς” 12.462, Od.8.192; πέτριναι ῥ. E. Hel.1123 (lyr.); βελέων ῥ. Pi.N.1.68; ὑπὸ ῥιπῆς . . Βορέαο the sweep or rush of the N. wind, Il.15.171, 19.358, cf. B.5.46; “κυμάτων ῥιπαὶ ἀνέμων τε” Pi.P.4.195, cf. Parth.2.20, Fr.88.2; “ῥ. ἀνέμων” Id.P.9.48, S.Ant.137 (lyr., here metaph. of gusts of passion, cf. 930); ῥ. Διόθεν τεύχουσα φόβον storm, A.Pr.1089 (anap.), cf. A.R.1.1016; ῥ. πυρός rush of fire, Il.21.12; “ἀνδρός” 8.355; “ἀθανάτων” Hes.Th.681, 849; κεραυνῶν, χαλάζης, Opp.H.3.21, Q.S.14.77; ὑπὸ ῥιπῇς Ἀφροδίτης, of love, Opp.H.4.141; νυχιᾶν （ἐννυχιᾶν Lachm.) ἀπὸ ῥιπᾶν from the night storms, i.e. from the North, the land of darkness and storms, S.OC1248 (lyr., but Sch. understands Ῥιπᾶν, v. Ῥῖπαι).
2. πτερύγων ῥιπαί flapping of wings, A.Pr.126 (anap.), cf. E.Fr.594.4; buzz of a gnat’s wing, A.Ag.893; of the lyre’s quivering notes, Pi.P.1.10.
3. quivering, twinkling light, “ῥιπαὶ ἄστρων” S.El.106 (anap.).
b. of any rapid movement, “ῥ. ποδῶν” E.IT885 (lyr.); ῥ. ὠκυάλῳ, of a dolphin, Opp.H.2.535; of a bird’s wing, “οὐδὲ τινάσσει ῥιπήν” A.R.2.935; ἐν ῥ. ὀφθαλμοῦ the twinkling of an eye, 1 Ep.Cor. 15.52.
4. a strong smell, “ῥ. οἴνου” Pi.Fr.166.
Henry George Liddell. Robert Scott. A Greek-English Lexicon. revised and augmented throughout by. Sir Henry Stuart Jones. with the assistance of. Roderick McKenzie. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1940.
The National Science Foundation provided support for entering this text.
well, I think I might suggest blink, ‘wink’, as better than twinkle.
In most lang. there would be a word for ‘blink’, i suppose.