Please help me with this strange translation

[Iso]

Hello brothers and sisters. I apologize in advance for my imperfect English. My post will probably sound strange to you, but I really need your help. In recent time I stumbled across this strange translation or probably interpretation. Its about Ferrar Fenton Bible. I will quote some of his translation that I really need to refute for myself. To be honest the situation is this I am in really bad state of mind just lost my father, his translation bothers me and I really want to trust my bible. The problem is that I have zero knowledge in greek and hebrew so I cannot refute this translation. I believe that God has a plan for everything and he performs this plan. Here are some quotes from Fenton bible.
Isaiah 46:11 " Call an eagle from the east, from afar the man I choose;
Yes I said and I will bring my decision into results."
its sounds a lot different to me compared to NASB, KJV, ESV
"Calling a bird of prey from the east, The man of My purpose from a far country. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it."
Ferrar Fenton Isaiah 14:27 "So the Lord of host fixes and who can annul ? His hand is controlling,- who can turn it back ?
NASB Isaiah 14:27 "For the LORD of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?"
I can give more examples like that. I actually never trusted his translation, but recently I read that ancient Hebrew can have different interpretations of the same thing I mean it can have several versions of the translations, like it could go either way. But if this is true how can we know what is the real meaning and why then all big team translation like ESV, NASB, KJV, ASV, NIV even LXX generally translated the same thing, but Ferrar Fenton look like so different in many places. So could it be translated either way like Ferror Fenton version or just his translation is not accurate. Please help me I really need to trust the word of God.

 

[TheNorwegian]

This is the first time I have heard about the Ferrar Fenton Bible. From what I understand it is a translation made by a single person, who did not have many (any?) formal qualifications in ancient languages, linguistics or theology. This makes it quite likely that his translation is less than top quality.

It is true that some Hebrew words can be translated in different ways. The same is true for a number of English words: Bank, record, cabinet, grave, etc. Words that sound the same, but have different meanings are called homonyms. Here is a list of homonyms in English:
List of true homonyms - Wikipedia

However, the context will very often give us the intended meaning. Hence, most translations will understand a verse in the same way. Sometimes it is more difficult to pinpoint the intended meaning. Then a translator must rely on his/her knowledge of the local culture at the time of writing, similar words in related languages, how words are commonly used in different situations, etc. This kind of knowledge is close to impossible to obtain for a single person. That is why modern translations are made by a team - not by a single individual

To further complicate the issue: There are no vocals in written Hebrew, only consonants. If the same system was used in English, the word SLIM would be spelled SLM. However, many other words would also be spelled SLM (Slam, Slum, Islam ...). Therefore more words are written in the same way in Hebrew, compared to in English. This increases the possibility to make the wrong choice in translation. Again, a translation that is a team effort is much more likely to get this right - compared to a single person's translation.

Without ever having read the Ferrar Fenton Bible, I do think it is unlikely to be a high quality translation. This does not mean that you cannot trust the Bible. I believe it is the Bible in its original languages (Hebrew, Greek) that is the correct one. Translations into English are only more or less decent efforts to convey the meaning of the original languages. Having said that, you can trust most modern translations, as they will not be wrong in any major way - there will only be minor differences. One approach is therefore to have 2 or 3 modern translations and consult them all when you study the Bible. This will give you a good understanding of the given verse. If you wish to drill deeper, you probably have to study the ancient languages

 

[St_Worm2]

Hi Iso, first off, WELCOME TO CF .. That said, I am very sorry to hear about the loss of your father. I know how hard that is.

As for the Fenton Bible, the fact that it was translated by a businessman who was a student of the ancient languages (rather than a team of language scholars) could have something to do with the differences. He began the translation when he was just 21 years old (in 1853) into English as it was spoken and written in the mid-19th century in England.

It's not a translation that I use or will begin to use, but I've seen greater differences in some of the modern paraphrases. I'm not sure there's much to "refute" here because, as I see it, while the NASB and the Fenton use different English words to translate the Hebrew, the general "meaning" of the verse remains the same.

Isaiah 46:11
Frenton: "Call an eagle from the east,
NASB: "Calling a bird of prey from the east,

Fenton: from afar the man I choose;
NASB: The man of My purpose from a far country.

Fenton: Yes I said
NASB: Truly I have spoken;

Fenton: and I will bring my decision into results."
NASB: truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it."​

Yours and His,
David

 

[St_Worm2]

Hi Iso, if you don't mind me asking, why did you pick this particular forum, Ask a Calvinist, to ask these particular questions? It seems to me that it might have been better to post your questions on a board like this one: Christian Scriptures

It would, no doubt, receive more attention there. Perhaps a mod will chose to move it there for you

 

[REBEL CRUSADER]

I've heard that the KJV is the most accurate English translation. From the examples you've given they seem to be driving the same points across. I'm going to go on a limb though and assume you were looking for answers from God concerning your father's death seeing that you had mentioned it?

We can only speculate what the future holds, however judging by the state of the world and current events it isn't too much predict that we could very well be entering the last days, and great tribulation may lay ahead. My older sister recently died of cancer, but even before the cancer came she was in pretty rough shape due to her lifestyle choices earlier in life. She had a very good and a very big heart. Even though she would bend over backwards for another person, especially her family, there was no way she could climb a mountain if her life or anyone else life depended on it. Even though she had a great creative imagination, and loved to sing, ....she wasn't really the brightest bulb on the tree, and there would have been no way she would know when to keep quiet even if her life and anyone else life depended on it.

She didn't know much about the Bible or prophecy, but she believed in and loved Jesus. Just before she died, she said she could see angels coming in and out of her hospital room. When asked about them, she said they were riding horses. There was four of them. One was riding a white horse, another was riding a red horse, another was riding a black horse, and another was riding what sounded like a pale horse.

I think God takes some people in order to spare them something more than they can handle. Even if you think you can't always trust His word due to differences in translations, you can always still trust Him.

 

[AlexDTX]

I apologize in advance for my imperfect English

Do you have a Bible in your own language? If so, read that. If not, contact Wycliff and ask for a translation in your native tongue. It is their mission to make translations of the Bible in every language of the world.