Translating the Bible into English
November 5, 2019 8:53 pm Leave your thoughts
I have written many blogs about translating the Bible into languages that don’t yet have a Bible translation, but now let’s talk about translating the Bible into English. There are approximately 70 English translations.
The New International Version is my favored version and the one that I read the most. I was astounded to learn about the long process that Howard Long went through to get a version that he could use to share Scripture with non-Christians after finding that the King James Version didn’t connect.
In 1965, a cross-denominational gathering of evangelical scholars met near Chicago and agreed to start work on the New International Version. Instead of just updating an existing translation like the KJV, they chose to start from scratch, using the very best manuscripts available in the original Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic of the Bib
le.
To ensure maximum accuracy and readability, the NIV went through perhaps the most rigorous translation process in history. First, each book of the Bible was assigned to a translation team consisting of:
- Two lead translators
- Two translation consultants
- One English style consultant
Then another team of five Bible scholars reviewed their work, carefully comparing it to the original biblical text and assessing its readability. From there, each book went to a general committee of 8 to 12 scholars. As part of the final review, outside critics gave feedback. Samples were tested with pastors, students, and laypeople.
Perhaps no other Bible translation has gone through a more thorough process to ensure accuracy and readability. Ten years later, the full NIV Bible was published. The initial print run of over a million copies sold out before they were even done printing.[i]
You would think after so many years and so much scholarly work, English speakers would be happy, and many are. The easy-to-read version is used by “dozens of evangelical denominations, churches, and seminaries,”[i] but there are also some that find fault with it. You don’t have to read the whole complaint below to understand where it is heading. This is written on a blog of a small church in Texas called Timberland Church.
I noted that the NIV had the head is injured in verse 5, while other translations had the head is sick (ESV, NKJV, NASB). The Hebrew term is sick, not injured. Now, is this a big deal? Will anyone lose their soul because the NIV has injured instead of sick? Probably not. However, one cannot deny that what the NIV has there is simply wrong. Injured is not the same as sick. Since we are a people that often make a point or application from the specifics of Scripture (not a bad thing, Jesus did so Matthew 22:32), I can easily see a Bible class teacher making a point of what it means for the head to be injured and how it got injured. There might be talk of crime or violence. Since the head in Isaiah 1 is the nation of Judah then there might be talk about its injuries at the hands of other nations. Yet such would all be amiss because the text isn’t talking about being injured! The text speaks of the nation being sick, not hurt. There is a difference. It may not be the most important difference ever and it may not have the greatest implications ever, but the difference is there. That kind of sloppy translating is everywhere in the NIV.[ii]
These kind of complaints about the NIV version are all over the internet. Some complaints are about the people who were a part of its translation, declaring that their work is so far from the true, intended meaning of God’s Word that a conscientious believer should never use it.
If you have the next few days free, you can just search for ‘Bible Versions’ on YouTube and watch hours of different explanations and justifications related to this topic that often seems difficult to navigate.
There are some things about Bible Translation that shouldn’t be difficult to navigate. For example, do you agree with these statements?
- It should take more than two weeks to do.
- It should be done by people with more than two weeks of training.
If you agree with these statements, you will be surprised to hear that Wycliffe Associates, who call themselves ‘one of the world’s leading Bible translation organizations’[iii], boasts of doing translations in two weeks, with people who have no more than two weeks of training.
If the Timberland Church in Texas thinks that the NIV has sloppy translating, what would they think of Wycliffe Associates MAST translations?
If Gail Riplinger defends the King James Version with ferocity, what would she think of Wycliffe Associates MAST translations?
Let’s compare different translations and what it takes to be a translator for each team:
Translator for the NIV
Each book of the Bible was assigned to a translation team consisting of:
• Two lead translators
• Two translation consultants
• One English style consultant
Then another team of five Bible scholars reviewed their work, carefully comparing it to the original biblical text and assessing its readability. From there, each book went to a general committee of 8 to 12 scholars. As part of the final review, outside critics gave feedback. Samples were tested with pastors, students, and laypeople.
Translator for The Message
Eugene H. Peterson is a pastor, scholar, writer, and poet. After teaching at a seminary and then giving nearly thirty years to church ministry in the Baltimore area, he created The Message—a vibrant Bible paraphrase that connects with today’s readers like no other.
It took Peterson a full ten years to complete. He worked from the original Greek and Hebrew texts to guarantee authenticity. At the same time, his ear was always tuned to the cadence and energy of contemporary English.
Translator for The Tree of Life
30 translators with masters and doctorates, some with multiple doctorates.
Here is an example of one: Hélène Dallaire is Professor of Old Testament at Denver Seminary. She earned a PhD and an MPhil in Hebrew and cognate studies from Hebrew Union College—Jewish Institute of Religion, an MA in biblical literature from Oral Roberts University, and a BA in psychology from Ottawa University. She completed additional work at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Institute for Holy Land Studies in Jerusalem, McMaster University in Ontario, and Western Pentecostal Bible College in British Columbia. Dr. Dallaire served five years on the faculty of Hebrew Union College…
To be a Bible Translator in a MAST Translation Process:
You have to know someone who hears about a MAST translation coming to your area and have some free time and volunteer. If you say you speak two languages, are connected to a church, and show some passion will get you in.
Summary:
Eugene Peterson spent twenty years of his life, 10 focused on translation, translating the Bible into English, a poetic easy-to-understand English, called The Message. Everyone only calls his work a paraphrase. Peterson could speak Hebrew like a native speaker, studied and taught the Bible at different levels for many years. Madeleine L’Engle, author of A Wrinkle in Time, wrote “The Message is so good it leaves me breathless.“
Still, everyone writes articles, blogs, online forums to debate why it was horrific he called himself a translator. How dare he?
We expect our pastors to have Master’s degrees. Pastors spend an average of 5-12 hours a week preparing a sermon for one 45-minute block on a Sunday morning. We have high expectations for our own church, our own pastor and our own English Bible.
Why doesn’t every organization have high expectation for their Bible translations?