Tag: read the Bible

In my post “Translation Confusion,” I pointed out that the Bible has word-for-word translations, thought-for-thought translations, and paraphrases (more technically known as “functional equivalence”).

These all exist on a continuum, so the lines of distinction between them are blurry.

Here is how Ministry Today magazine recently broke them down:

Word-for-word Translations

Popular word-for-word translations are the New American Standard Bible (NASB), King James Version (KJV), and the English Standard Version (ESV).

Thought-for-thought Translations

Popular thought-for-thought translations are the New Jerusalem Bible (NJB), as well as the New International Version (NIV) and New Living Translation (NLT), though both those are viewed as more of a balance between word-for-word and thought-for-thought (hence the aforementioned continuum).

Paraphrases

Popular paraphrases are The Message and The Living Bible.

Not included in their list is the Amplified Bible. It is based on the American Standard Bible, which is word-for-word translation.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

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In continuing our discussion on Bible translations, let’s pretend I’m translating an ancient text. In doing a strict word-for-word translation, I come up with:

“She hit him, I never said.”

Even with punctuation inserted—which is a requirement—it is confusing (and sounds a bit like Yoda). Somewhat modifying a strict word-for-word methodology might result in:

“I never said she hit him.”

This rendering, however, can be interpreted in six different ways, depending on which of the six words are emphasized:

“I never said she hit him.”
“I never said she hit him.”
“I never said she hit him.”
“I never said she hit him.”
“I never said she hit him.”
“I never said she hit him.”

A thought-for-thought translation could be attempted to clarify and might result in:

“I didn’t communicate that she hurt him”

Of course, that still leaves ambiguity that likely did not exist for the ancient reader, as in:

“I didn’t communicate that she hurt him”
“I didn’t communicate that she hurt him”
“I didn’t communicate that she hurt him”
“I didn’t communicate that she hurt him”

This confusion begs for a paraphrase, which might result in:

“I can confirm that no one was hurt in any way.”

This is a clean and straightforward result.

Of course, to come up with this rendering, the translators would have needed to look at the original text from the perspective of the audience of that day and produce a modern-day equivalent.

What if they erred in any of their determinations along the way? Then, what seems clear and understandable is actually skewed and misleading, but that of course, is a matter of opinion.

With all this, it is easy to see why there is debate over the various versions of the Bible, leaving me with my original statement that whatever version you will actually read, is the best one.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”
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In the FAQ section of A-Bible-A-Day, one question is “Which version or translation of the Bible should I use?”

The short answer is to pick whatever version you will actually read.

Unfortunately, there is much vociferous, albeit unwarranted, debate about this issue.

With what seems like a countless list of versions to pick from, they are roughly divided into three groups, which exist on a continuum: word-for-word translations, thought-for-thought translations, and paraphrases.

While a word-for-word translation may seem to be the most pure and accurate, the true meaning of a text can be obscured or even misleading given the cultural and time differences between an ancient document written in another language and today’s English for a modern society.

Some see thought-for-thought translations as the answer to this dilemma and a means to minimize confusion. This helps to some extent, but doesn’t completely address differences in culture, era, and worldview.

To address this, paraphrases attempt to provide a modern understanding of the ancient texts, using more accessible phrasing and terminology.

However, paraphrases are quick to become dated. Another concern is that the team doing the paraphrase has more latitude in the words they choose and must rely on their understanding of the original intent.

Hence, we go full circle, back to word-for-word translations, which takes me back to my original assertion to pick whichever version you will actually read.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

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Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”
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While some may have been distracted—or irritated—by my series of posts about adding to or taking away from the Bible, I feel it is an important question to consider.

Here is a list of the relevant posts on this subject—in the order presented—in case you want to reread them or catch one that you might have missed:

• The Error of the Sadducees and Pharisees
• The Error of the Pharisees
• The Error of the Sadducees
• Omission or Addition?
• In or Out?
• There’s More to Discover in the Bible
• What About Daniel and Esther?
• Definitely Out

Next up will be some thoughts on Nehemiah.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”
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