With Christmas 2009 rapidly approaching, I thought I might do a series of short posts on the various biblical inaccuracies that seem to spout forth over the festive period. This one is a classic: “peace on Earth and good will to all men”. How many times have you heard that?
It comes from Luke 2:14, which the King James Version (as per usual) mis-translates into the saying above. The early Latin texts render it: “et in terra pax hominibus, bonae voluntatis”. So, a more accurate translation would be: “peace on Earth to men of good will”. And that changes the meaning completely.
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