Bible Translations

[Stanfi]

What versions of the English bible were translated from the original Hebrew and Greek?

Thanks.

 

[Knight]

Most of them.....

Why do you ask?

 

[Stanfi]

Most of them.....

Why do you ask?

Because I am interested in knowing which ones were translated from the orignial text, and not the KJV translated into "modern english".

 

[Sinai]

What versions of the English bible were translated from the original Hebrew and Greek?

Most of them.....

Why do you ask?

Because I am interested in knowing which ones were translated from the orignial text, and not the KJV translated into "modern english".

If there is a particular translation you have a question about, I suggest you examine the Preface or Introduction at the very beginning of the Bible, since the information about how that particular version was translated will generally be given there.

 

[Knight]

I assume you are looking for a translation that was done completely from scratch and does not come from the KJV line of translations. (KJV-RV-ASV-RSV-NASB-NKJV-NRSV-ESV)

There are only two that I know of off the top of my head:
NIV, HCSB

 

[Zacharias]

This is a message I have from a Reverend Canon Theologian in my church.

The English Standard Version *is a good, solid, conservative rendering of the old Revised Standard Version. I am concerned that rarely but sometimes; Piper, Dobson, and friends overreach when they get so upset about horizontal gender inclusive language. Inclusivity concerns are their main purpose for promoting the ESV. When my son, Andrew, reads James 1:12 in the NIV, "Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him" and then asks, "if men get the crown of life what do women get?" Then, you know that in children's minds "men" no longer means the human race, but the male gender specifically. Therefore, recent translations take that change in language usage into account. Therefore the New Living Translation states, " God blesses the people who patiently endure testing. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him."

However, you do run into significant problems with inclusivity. In the NIV, Galatians 4:7 is rendered,"So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir." Paul is using "son" as a metaphor for all the rights, privileges, and inheritance of the first-born son. But, the New Revised Standard translates this verse inclusively, "So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God." You lose the metaphor when the verse is rendered gender neutral. The metaphor of first-born son is completely lost.

In the Psalms, you lose the messianic flavor of the verses when a translator makes them inclusive. The reader no longer recognizes that many of the psalms are referring to David's future Son, the fulfillment of all prophecy. I asked Dr. Larry Walker, one of my Hebrew professors, about this loss of specificity because he helped translate the TNIV. He had no answer for me, it was almost as if he had never thought about it. (Now, I sound like Richard Clarke.)

Often translation liberties are taken in the interest of promoting female ordination. Most scholars recognize that "brothers" in the Epistle of James is a reference to the elders of the congregation. However in the NRSV, you get "brothers and sisters" for absolutely no reason, "sister" is not in the Greek text. There are two websites that are good for studying this issue: http://www.touchstonemag.com/tniv.html and http://www.cbmw.org/ .

Most CEC bishops use RSV, NKJV, or NASB: all good conservative, literal translations. However, the RSV is hard to obtain, the NKJV is not a great translation (ask its editor, Dr. Allen Ross of Beeson Divinity School) and NASB does not read well in a public setting. If the CEC desires a uniform translation for preaching and liturgy, my suggestion would be the ESV. Currently, I do not own an ESV because I need large print with extra wide margins for notes 8). That style has not been published yet: see their website for styles offered http://www.gnpcb.org/home/esv .

I agree with most of what Piper says in this talk. You know he was a N.T. professor at Bethel College for several years before he became a pastor of Bethlehem.

Christus Victor,

God Bless

 

[Zacharias]

Appendix 1: Examples of NIV Paraphrasing Compared to the More Literal ESV (Compiled April 11, 2003)

Romans 1:5


ESV Through [Christ] we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith (hupakoen pisteos) for the sake of his name among all the nations.

NIV Through him and for his name?s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.


Romans 3:20


ESV By works of the law (ex ergon nomou) no human being will be justified in his sight.

NIV No one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law.


Romans 11:11


ESV Did they stumble in order that they might fall (hina pesosin)? By no means!

NIV Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all!


Romans 13:8


ESV Owe no one anything (Medeni meden opheilete), except to love each other.

NIV Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another.


Hebrews 6:1


ESV . . . not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works (nekron ergon)

NIV . . . not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death.


James 2:12


ESV So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty (nomou eleutherias).

NIV Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom.


1 Peter 1:20


ESV He was foreknown (proegnosmenou) before the foundation of the world.

NIV He was chosen before the creation of the world.


*

Appendix 2: Two Examples of the Effect on Preaching

John 11:1-6


ESV Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. 3 So the sisters sent to him, saying, ?Lord, he whom you love is ill.? 4 But when Jesus heard it he said, ?This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.? 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So, (oun) when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

NIV Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, ?Lord, the one you love is sick.? 4 When he heard this, Jesus said, ?This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God?s glory so that God?s Son may be glorified through it.? 5 Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.

NOTE: It is impossible to make the point from the NIV that Jesus? delay is an expression of love for Mary and Martha and Lazarus, and thus draw out the point that love sometimes does hard things because seeing the glory of God is a more precious gift than being sick or even dead.


Romans 8:35-36


ESV Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? (36) )As it is written, ?For your sake we are being killed (thanatoumetha) all the day long.?

NIV Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: ?For your sake we face death all day long.?

NOTE: From the NIV translation one could argue from a health, wealth, and prosperity ?gospel? that ?famine and nakedness? will not happen to God?s children (as they seem to in verse 35) because the Old Testament support that Paul quotes in verse 36 only says ?we face death,? but not that we really ?are being killed.? So the paraphrase ?face death? removes an utterly crucial argument that Paul gave and that the preacher needs to make the true point that true Christians really do get killed and really do face famine and nakedness.

For information on how to receive DGM email subscriptions visit www.desiringGOD.org/esubs.

©Desiring God Ministries
Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that you do NOT alter the wording in any way, you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction, and you do not make more than 1,000 physical copies. For web posting, a link to this document on our website is preferred. Any exceptions to the above must be explicitly approved by Desiring God Ministries.
Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: By John Piper. ©Desiring God Ministries. Website: www.desiringGOD.org. Email: mail@desiringGOD.org. Toll Free: 888-346-4700.

 

[Knight]

Freak4JC,

Interesting stuff. I'm a fan of Piper myself....

But what does it have to do with the original question?

 

[Stanfi]

What is your all opinions on the ESV, I have been reading about it.. Do you feel it is accurate?

 

[Knight]

What is your all opinions on the ESV, I have been reading about it.. Do you feel it is accurate?

Yes. Very much so. There is also great attention to the English language itself so it's quite readable without sacrificing accuracy.

 

[bliz]

I know many will disagree with me, but the objective is not to find the one best translation and use only that.

Most Christians who do any level of Bible study use multiple translations, even if only checking the ocassional verse on-line. There are different strengths to many translations. One translation may leave you cluelss about a particular passage, and another will make it quite clear, but not always the same translations.

I work with a lot of young people, and if they have grown up in a church, I will often suggest that they try an unfamiliar translation so that they may look into the Word with new eyes and be less likely to think "Oh, yeah, I know that this passage is about."

Personally, there is nothing like the KJV for Bible memory work.

 

[Knight]

I know many will disagree with me, but the objective is not to find the one best translation and use only that.

Most Christians who do any level of Bible study use multiple translations, even if only checking the ocassional verse on-line. There are different strengths to many translations. One translation may leave you cluelss about a particular passage, and another will make it quite clear, but not always the same translations.

I work with a lot of young people, and if they have grown up in a church, I will often suggest that they try an unfamiliar translation so that they may look into the Word with new eyes and be less likely to think "Oh, yeah, I know that this passage is about."

Personally, there is nothing like the KJV for Bible memory work.

I would agree with this.

 

[Zacharias]

I know many will disagree with me, but the objective is not to find the one best translation and use only that.

Most Christians who do any level of Bible study use multiple translations, even if only checking the ocassional verse on-line. There are different strengths to many translations. One translation may leave you cluelss about a particular passage, and another will make it quite clear, but not always the same translations.

I work with a lot of young people, and if they have grown up in a church, I will often suggest that they try an unfamiliar translation so that they may look into the Word with new eyes and be less likely to think "Oh, yeah, I know that this passage is about."

Personally, there is nothing like the KJV for Bible memory work.

I agree with you also.

 

[Sinai]

I know many will disagree with me, but the objective is not to find the one best translation and use only that.

Most Christians who do any level of Bible study use multiple translations, even if only checking the ocassional verse on-line. There are different strengths to many translations. One translation may leave you cluelss about a particular passage, and another will make it quite clear, but not always the same translations.

I work with a lot of young people, and if they have grown up in a church, I will often suggest that they try an unfamiliar translation so that they may look into the Word with new eyes and be less likely to think "Oh, yeah, I know that this passage is about."

Yes, I also agree with your sentiments. The Bible was originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, with different parts being written in one of those languages. No word-for-word translation can be fully "literal" and still express all the nuances of the original language.

Each of the major translations of the Bible attempt to accurately convey what the Bible has to say--but may do it in different ways. For example, the NASB tends to do a good job of accurately translating the original meaning of a word to its current English counterpart--but may sacrifice some clarity of thought in the process. The NIV tends to do a better job of translating the thought being conveyed in the original language to a nearly equivalent thought in modern English--but may sacrifice some word-to-word accuracy in the process. The Amplified attempts to give more of the nuances of the original language by placing various English synonymns in parentheses, while a parallel Bible may place each of those other translations (or some other translations) side by side.



There are many good study Bibles available. I typically carry the Life Application Study Bible with me to church, but prefer the Complete Biblical Library for serious study…..