In connection with the concept of justifying, are ‘the people praised God’ (Luke 7:29) and ‘he shall forgive the innocent’ (Deut 25:1) correct translations?
This text is from a letter written by David Gooding.
The phrase 'the people justified God' occurs in Luke 7:29. The translation 'praised God' is not correct and it misses the point. In God's name, John the Baptist had preached that:
The people were sinners.
They needed to repent so that they could be forgiven.
If they did not repent, they would suffer God's judgment (Luke 3:3–9).
The people in general 'justified God'. The Greek verb is a 'declarative': the people 'declared God to be right'. They were in fact sinners: they deserved God's judgment. But now they repented and sought forgiveness (Luke 7:29). The Pharisees, by contrast, rejected the counsel of God. They declared they were not sinners, and did not need to repent and be baptized.
Similarly, in Deuteronomy 25:1 it makes no sense to say 'He shall forgive the innocent'. Innocent people do not need forgiveness. What the judge has to do is 'to declare the innocent to be just'. To condemn the innocent would be unjust. Similarly, the judge must not declare the wicked to be just, for that would be a perversion of justice.
Best wishes,
