Monday, March 3, 2008
IDEA: A basic tool for studying the Bible is a good translation.
PURPOSE: To make the listener aware of how different translations try to help us understand the biblical text.
Have you done translation from one language to another? What are the challenges you face in doing that?
When you translate, are you most interested in telling me exactly what the original writer or speaker said, or are you most interested in getting me to understand what the writer meant?
Several years ago a Christian group insisted that their materials, when translated into another language, would not deviate in any way from what the English text said. The translator took them very seriously. One story talked about the children getting up each morning and making their beds. They carried that over into the other language, but when children who spoke that language read that, they thought it meant that children got up each morning and constructed a new bed. Was that an accurate translation?
I. The Bible was written in three different languages: Hebrew (most of the Old Testament), Aramaic (used in half of Daniel and part of Ezra), and Greek (the whole New Testament).
Since most people do not know how to read those languages, we have to use a good English translation. In fact, we're better off with several different good translations.
A translation is already involved in interpretation.
That's not a bad thing; it's simply a reality. It does mean that we are at the mercy of the translators because they have had to make judgments about what the original Hebrew or Greek intended to say. When you use only one translation, then you are committed to how that translator or translators interpreted the passage.
Example: 1 Corinthians 7:36:
King James Version - "If a man think that he behaveth himself uncomely toward his virgin . . ."
New American Standard Bible -"If a man thinks he is acting unbecomingly toward his virgin daughter . . ."
New International Version - "If anyone thinks he's acting improperly toward the virgin he is engaged to . . ."
New English Bible: "If a man has a partner in celibacy and feels he's not behaving properly toward her . . ."
The King James Version is very literal but not very helpful.
It leaves the term virgin and the relationship between the man and his virgin ambiguous.
One thing is certain: Paul did not intend to be ambiguous. One of the other three options is probably what he had in mind, and the Corinthians who raised the problem in their letter to him knew exactly which one and knew nothing of the other two.
None of these is a bad translation; all of them are legitimate. Only one can be the correct translation.
What do you do? You have one main translation that you use.
Many translations have notes in the margin that help you know that there is vagueness here. But for the study of the Bible, you should have several good translations.
Which translation should you use?
The choice should not be simply because you find one more readable than the others.
A good translation should be readable, but a readable translation is not necessarily good.