Translating paradoseis: 2 Thessalonians 2:15, the Smith–Van Dyck Arabic Bible and Protestant hermeneutics in the 19th century Greater Syria

Abstract

This study examines the rendering of 2 Thessalonians 2:15 in the Smith–Van Dyck Arabic Bible, produced by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) in nineteenth-century Greater Syria. Employing Critical Discourse Analysis alongside historical and exegetical approaches, it investigates the theological significance of translating paradoseis as al-taʿālīm [teachings] rather than the more literal Arabic equivalent al-taqālīd [traditions]. While paradosis in Pauline theology denotes the authoritative apostolic tradition received from Christ and transmitted to the churches, and most major Protestant Bible translations retain the rendering ‘traditions’, the study argues that the Smith–Van Dyck translators’ lexical preference reflects an interpretive choice historically consistent with the Protestant understanding that apostolic tradition is normatively preserved in Scripture. Rather than characterising the Smith–Van Dyck Bible as a wholly Protestant translation, the article demonstrates how a single translation decision may embody theological concerns shaped by missionary objectives and interconfessional debate. It argues that the theological significance of a translation emerges not from lexical equivalence alone but from the interaction between language, historical context and religious discourse.
Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This study contributes to biblical studies, church history and mission studies by demonstrating how a single translation decision reflects theological interpretation within its historical context. By integrating biblical exegesis, translation studies, Critical Discourse Analysis and Middle Eastern history, it shows that translation choices in sacred texts are historically situated interpretive acts shaped by theological commitments and missionary contexts, while encouraging further interdisciplinary research on Bible translation, doctrinal interpretation and religious identity.