5. The one-meaning fallacy. At times we encounter the view that every appearance of a Hebrew or Greek term should be translated by the same English word. This of course is closely related to the root fallacy described previously (see pp. 84–87).
...[after a few comments, Osborne continues]...
Louw uses the excellent example of sarx, “flesh,” a word often translated literally in the versions (1982:39–40). However, note the following widely different semantic uses: Matthew 24:22, “no flesh will be saved” (no person); John 1:14, “the Word became flesh” (became a human being); Romans 9:8, “children of the flesh” (children of natural birth); Hebrews 5:7, “days of his flesh” (his earthly life); Romans 8:13, “live according to the flesh” (sinful nature); Jude 7, “went after strange flesh” (sexual immorality). The point is obvious: the English term flesh cannot adequately express all these divergent connotations, and a translation would be wrong to use “flesh” in all these instances. As Louw concludes, “one can never say what sarx means, but only what it means in this or that context” (pp. 39–40).
Grant R. Osborne, The Hermeneutical Spiral : A Comprehensive Introduction to Biblical Interpretation, Rev. and expanded, 2nd ed. (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2006). 90.
This argument gives the impression of being thoughtful and well-considered, judicious and even-handed. But is it? If sarx does mean flesh (and it does), how is it possible that it means all of these other things in Greek that "flesh" can't mean? Or is the well-considered argument in fact over-wrought? Is Louw (and are linguists and Bible scholars in general) guilty of being too cute and too wise by half? Are the suggested English translations offered above really improvements to a simple, straight-forward translation as "flesh"? I contend they are not.
The fact that sarx may be used in a literal sense in one place and a figurative sense in another does not mean that it doesn't really mean "flesh" in both cases, just as "flesh" can also be used in a literal and figurative sense. What I'm saying is this...both the bolded statement and the underlined statement in the above quote are simply false. Although the intention behind Osborne's comments may be directed toward a concept that deserves close attention, his and Louw's points are, as I said earlier, over-wrought. And just like when you wiggle a wire back and forth too much, it will come loose in your hand, so with this argument. While the "senses" of the uses of sarx may indeed accord with Louw's various summations in parentheses, those variations of sense DO NOT mean that they invalidate the use of "flesh" as an alternative, nor do they displace "flesh" as the best choice for the meaning of sarx in each case.
In fact, aside from the weakness of the case Osborne and Louw make here, there is another pressing factor which they and nearly all other exegetes and hermeneuticists routinely overlook--the prophetic aspect of the use of sarx AS flesh in each of these contexts. I'm not saying the connotations they proffer are all wrong. However, I am saying the conclusions they draw are wrong, which insist that the variations in connotations they put forward REQUIRE the usage of some word other than "flesh" to either adequately, or even more, properly translate sarx.
Simply put, nothing is gained and much is lost by insisting that "flesh" just isn't good enough to get the job done in the face of the (as Osborne and Louw imagine it) "intimidating plethora of various connotations" that one can perceive in the various uses of sarx. Even if one accepts their connotations as stated, "flesh" nevertheless REMAINS the very best choice for translating sarx in each of the instances that Louw and Osborne broach.
That, anyway, is my take. I see this sort of thing all the time in these hermeneutics-focused resources. Whether it be Osborne, Carson, or any of the dozens of others who write on this topic, this kind of over-reaching is common place.
I am firmly convinced that this insistence on translating according to connotation rather than denotation is one of the prime reasons (among many) for the continuing efficacy of the "sealed book"/"famine of the word"/"strong delusion" condition that persists in Biblical hermeneutics.