BIBLE TRANSLATIONS CONFUSE ME

Galatians 4:4 [NASB 1995]

But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law,...

The world was ripe for God’s miraculous intervention of the birth of Christ that became the dividing point between BC and AD.

The Roman Empire was maintaining a peace throughout much of Europe, Asia Minor, and northern Africa! Their system of roads and enforcement of safety sustained much safer trade routes and travel.

The Old Testament books had been officially recognized and accepted as the foundation for Jewish belief and the emerging new Christian movement. Koine Greek was thoroughly established as the common language of the empire! Essentially it was the right time religiously, culturally, commercially and politically!

Koine is simply the Greek word for “common.” Many people may recognize the word koine from the word koinonia, which means “fellowship.” Fellowship is having something in common.

Koine Greek was simply the common language of the Mediterranean world in the first century. As Alexander the Great conquered the “civilized world” of his time, he spread Greek language and culture. Much like English has become today, Greek became the most common and pervasive “international language” of the day. Since most people could understand Koine, it was uniquely suited to proclaim the gospel throughout the world.

Not only was Koine Greek common in the sense it enjoyed widespread usage throughout the Roman Empire, but it was also common in the sense that it was not the language of the intellectual and academic elites. Classical Greek was used by the educated class. Koine Greek was the language of the working man, the peasant, the vendor, and the housewife—there was nothing pretentious about it. It was the vernacular, or vulgar language, of the day. The great works of Greek literature were written in Classical Greek. No scholar today would care to study anything written in Koine Greek, except for the fact that it is the language of the New Testament. God wanted His Word to be accessible to everyone, and He chose the common language of the day, Koine.

[https://www.gotquestions.org/Koine-Greek.html]

If this use of the common language of the people was important in the beginning, then it is equally important today!

The period we know as the Reformation began a familiarizing with the Bible to the common people. John Wycliff translated the Bible into English in the late 14^th century [pre-printing press]. Martin Luther translated the Bible into the German Language between 1522-34. William Tyndale translated much of the Bible into the English language [and was executed in 1536 for doing so]. 

In 1611, the King James Version was produced under the direction of King James I. It became very popular and was the dominant English version into the twentieth century. The twentieth century produced many translations:

·         King James Version – 1611, 1769

·         American Standard Version – 1901

·         Revised Standard Version – NT 1946  OT 1952

·         New American Standard Bible – [ASV] 1971, [NASB] 1995, 2020

·         Amplified Bible - 1965

·         Good News Bible - 1976

·         New International Version – 1978, 1984, 2011

·         New King James Version  - 1982

·         New Revised Standard Version – 1989, 2021

·         New Century Version – 1991

·         Contemporary English Version – 1995

·         New Living Translation – 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015

·         English Standard Version – 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016

·         The Message – 2002

·         The Voice Bible – 2012  [This is a delightful version that included artists in its translation work. It is written in script form that is very conducive to use in worship!]

I personally became more focused on reading the Bible when I was a teenager and Ken Taylor’s LIVING BIBLE was being published - literally one book at a time - as he worked on it progressively!

It was later revised by large groups of scholars to add authenticity!

In the 21^st century – when THE MESSAGE came out – there was another explosion of reading the Bible! Many - in the church - struggled with Eugene Peterson’s use of the language of the 1990’s. I was in active ministry during those years and found people to be very receptive to this new version!

Taylor and Peterson represented the same spirit as the Koine Greek New Testament! They translated the Bible into the language of the people: Taylor – the language of the 1960’s; Peterson – the language of the 1990’s. And people’s attention was brought back to the Word of God!

Since this is an opinion piece on my personal blog, I can state unequivocally that I am in favor of things that convince people to read the Bible.

Bible translation is a complex subject that we can’t fully embrace here. Some aim for a literal translation from Hebrew/Greek/Aramaic to Word-for-word English. This is a nearly impossible task because of the massive differences in these languages!

Others aim for a thought-for-thought translation that is faithful to communicating the essence of the message without the stilted results often associated with literal versions.

Still others opt for a paraphrase approach that observes the original text and then produces something in the language of the day for readers to reflect on.

Most pastors will – like me – involve people in reading these modern translations to get them engaged with the Word. However, I have ALWAYS stressed that Bible study should be done with reliable texts like the New American Standard Version or the New International Version.

For instance, during my college and seminary years [1969-1980’s] I was usually required to use the Revised Standard Version of the Bible. It was noted for being painfully faithful to the original texts! However, it was not recognized as being a fluid, readable version!

Later the New International Version became the standard for study and public worship [1978]; followed by the New American Standard Bible in 1995.

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This article illustrates the complexities involved in Bible translation! There is room for disagreement. But hopefully, there is also room for agreement!

It seems to me that versions that increase Bible reading – such as The Living Bible and The Message – are a blessing that should be celebrated by people who love the Lord!