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Hi Georgiana,
Regarding the Gospel translation, all parishes must use approved translations.
Unfortunately, some of the approved translations leave much to be desired;
and this is just one of the cases.
Lets look at the text in Matthew:
44 Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him
with the same thing.
Matthew 27:44
According to the original text, the word robbers is the Greek word leistes or leistes (in
our alphabet). It comes from the word leizomai or leizomai (which
means to plunder).
While it is true that revolutionaries sometime plunder,
to translate the text to revolutionaries, as opposed to robber, thief, or
brigand, is an attempt to read into the text that which is not there. It
seems as though the translators had a politically correct motive.
The term revolutionaries clearly
has some noble connotations; if in fact the revolutionaries are fighting
injustice, but there is absolutely nothing in the Gospel text that tells
us the circumstances surrounding their conviction. Hence we are left with
the Greek word leistes which means:
- thief
- robber, or
- brigand.
- Mark uses the same Greek word in his account.
- Luke on the other hand uses the word kakourgos or kakourgos which
means:
- wrong-doer
- evil-doer, or
- criminal.
- John, simply records that two others were crucified along
with Jesus.
I will say this in the defense of the translators. In John 18:40, John
calls Barabbas a robber (using the Greek word leistes). Some traditions
paint Barabbas as a zealot and an insurgent but that's really not
sufficient grounds to call the two thieves, crucified next to Jesus, revolutionaries.
Again, it seems to be politically motivated translation.
Hope this helps,
John
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