Okay this week I'll get at another of the questions I've gotten on the blog. Remember since I moderate the comments you can send me a comment and I'll see it even if it doesn't get posted. Then I'll answer it in a post later. If you want a quicker answer include your e-mail address in the comment.
I got a number of questions about Bible translations. I'll try to summarize them and then answer.
Question - Why are there so many different translations and what translation do you like?
For over three hundred years the King James Version, published in 1611, was the prominent translation used in most Protestant churches. However, the English language is not static and the meanings of words change. This made it more difficult for people to understand the Old English style. So scholars saw a need to translate the scriptures from the original languages (Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic) into modern English.
- Dr. Lewis Foster, one of those who helped translate the NIV and the NKJV says, “It is necessary to continue making new translations and revising old ones if people are to read the Word of God in their contemporary languages. With the passage of time, words change in meanings. For instance, in King James’ day the word ‘prevent’ could mean ‘come before’ but not necessarily in a hindering way. So the translators in that day rendered 1 Thes. 4:15, ‘For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.’ But today the word ‘prevent’ has lost that earlier meaning (come before), so it must be translated differently to convey the proper meaning: ‘According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not ‘precede’ those who have fallen asleep’ (NIV). ...To keep the translation of God’s Word living it must be kept in the living language the people are using.”
While we no longer have the original manuscripts translations are made from ancient manuscript copies. The Bible is the best documented book of the ancient world. We currently have more than 24,000 ancient copies of the manuscripts to compare for accuracy. There really isn't any reason to doubt that we have the word of God as it was intended.
There are a wide variety of current translations that I love for different reasons. I would say my current favorite is the New Living Translation. I would add that I also use the New International and Contemporary English Version when speaking. My advice is to find a version that you can understand and begin reading it regularly. Make notes in it as you read. Write down any questions you have and take them to small group or post the question here.
1 comment:
In my study of Bible translations, I found that the answer to "which is the best translation?" is, "What are you going to do with it?" If you are teaching a child, you don't necessarily use the "best" scholarly work. I have a stack of Bibles. Since "the Greeks have a work for it" and the English don't, I sometimes find that reading more than one will give me a better feel for the actual meaning of the original "Greek" (if the language was Greek).
Just my opinion.
Dan
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