Introduction. Comedians often find rich veins of humor in how words and phrases translate from one language to another. Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball had a lot of fun creating humor using his Spanish and her English in various mistranslations.
God created this language barrier at the tower of Babel to cause confusion and stop sinful mankind from uniting in rebellion against Him (Gen. 11:6-8). Today this inability to understand each other can lead to humor or serious problems. It can be inconvenient or cost time and money. Depending on the outcome, we either laugh or cry at things “lost in the translation.” Today with our global economy, nations and businesses know the importance of a good translator. But what about our Bibles?
God created this language barrier at the tower of Babel to cause confusion and stop sinful mankind from uniting in rebellion against Him (Gen. 11:6-8). Today this inability to understand each other can lead to humor or serious problems. It can be inconvenient or cost time and money. Depending on the outcome, we either laugh or cry at things “lost in the translation.” Today with our global economy, nations and businesses know the importance of a good translator. But what about our Bibles?
Bible Translation. Multitudes reading their Bibles today are unaware of how important this can be to them. The Hebrew/Aramaic OT and the Greek NT must be translated before we can read them. Just as a business contract suffers from a mistranslation, so also can God’s covenant with man. When a business deal is “lost in the translation”, it only costs money. When a verse is “lost in the translation” it could cost a soul. A faulty Bible translation could easily lead to error or a tragic outcome. With all the false teaching and error in the world today, we need as accurate a translation as we can possibly find. Only when we see the truth clearly can we stand against the wiles of the devil.
What about your Bible translation? How certain are you that the verses you read or hear cited in a sermon are the actual truths the Holy Spirit revealed? What a tragedy to closely follow your Bible, only to find that through mistranslations you were actually being led into error. What if something crucial was “lost in the translation?” Yet before we start studying Greek or Hebrew, we need to analyze where the real dangers lie.
God's Power. First of all, God expected disciples to “go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation” in “every nation.” Jesus promised to “be with us always even unto the end of the age” and also said “heaven and earth shall pass away but My words shall not pass away.” (Mk. 16:15; Mt. 28:20; Lk. 21:33; 1Pet. 1:22-25) God’s word will always be available, but we may have to search harder to find it. Jesus used a translation (the Septuagint) in His preaching as did His apostles. Clearly the power of God’s inspired word can handle a translation without losing its power or truth.
Two Primary Translator Goals. The goals of our English translators of the Bible fall into two categories. The first is a “formal” or “literal” translation often called a “word for word” translation, where they seek to translate the “exact form” of the original into English. This was the goal of those who translated the KJV, NKJV, ASV, NASB, and ESV into English for they all believed in plenary inspiration (every word and tense, even syntax and grammar were inspired). Therefore these are called “literal” translations. That these things are important is seen when Jesus used the tense of a verb to prove the resurrection (Mt. 22: 23-33), and Paul using a singular noun to prove Abraham’s seed was Jesus, not the nation of Israel. When faced with a choice of “easy to read” or “accuracy,” we should choose the more accurate “literal” translations.
The second method of translation is called “dynamic equivalence” where the “sense” of a verse is created by a “thought for thought” translation. These translators read the Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek text, then with their own experiences seek to convey the thought and sense into English, but they will change word meanings, grammar, and tenses for the sake of easy reading. They become the interpreters of the literal text, leaving us with their interpretations instead of truth.
Two Examples. The preface of the popular NIV puts it this way: “The first concern of the translators has been the accuracy of the translation and the accuracy to the thought of the Biblical writers.” This sounds like a noble goal, but how would they accomplish it? The Holy Spirit did not even allow Paul to attempt it! The Spirit first gave Paul the thoughts (things), then the exact words and grammar to convey it: “Which things also we speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches, but which the Spirit teaches; combining spiritual things with spiritual (words).” (1Cor. 2:9-13) The Holy Spirit gave Paul the truth “word for word.” He did not allow Paul to use his own “thought for thought” when writing Scripture. God’s thoughts were perfectly revealed by the Holy Spirit word by word, tense by tense, noun by noun, participle by participle. If God knew His thoughts were so precise they must be revealed like that, what must He think of translators who are seeking “thought for thought” while translating God’s thoughts? There is no possible way they can make things more precise with a “thought for thought.”
The translators of the ESV capture this better than I can in the preface to the ESV:
This is extremely dangerous in our morally relative society where political correctness has replaced even common sense. We see this in the “gender neutral” translation where all reference to male or female are removed. Clearly when this is done many things will be “lost in the translation.” Why would anyone want to trust man’s interpretive opinions when they could have the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in a “literal translation?”
Harder to Read, But More Accurate. While previous "literal" translations may be cumbersome and require more effort, the original intent of the Holy Spirit is still there. The tense, word order, gender, number, and idioms are all consistently translated. This makes it harder to read, and takes more study to master, but by this extra effort we can find the truth in the midst of our liberal society.
Think of it like this. A ruler is easier to read if it only has lines for 4th or 8th increments. Though harder to read, it is much more accurate with 32nd or 64th lines. If you want accuracy you use the latter. The same is true of a translation. The more accurate, the harder it will be to read, but over time the more truth we will find. Many newer translations always reflect the opinions of translators, but sometimes at the cost of the truth revealed by the Holy Spirit. Again, this is very dangerous.
A Warning. It was the apostle Peter who strongly warned against “private interpretation,” which is exactly what the “thought for thought” translators are doing.
Conclusion. If you want to check the translation philosophy of your own translation, read the preface. If they speak of “dynamic equivalence,” or “thought for thought,” put them away and find a literal translation. For only then can we know for certain we are fulfilling the words of Jesus:
What about your Bible translation? How certain are you that the verses you read or hear cited in a sermon are the actual truths the Holy Spirit revealed? What a tragedy to closely follow your Bible, only to find that through mistranslations you were actually being led into error. What if something crucial was “lost in the translation?” Yet before we start studying Greek or Hebrew, we need to analyze where the real dangers lie.
God's Power. First of all, God expected disciples to “go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation” in “every nation.” Jesus promised to “be with us always even unto the end of the age” and also said “heaven and earth shall pass away but My words shall not pass away.” (Mk. 16:15; Mt. 28:20; Lk. 21:33; 1Pet. 1:22-25) God’s word will always be available, but we may have to search harder to find it. Jesus used a translation (the Septuagint) in His preaching as did His apostles. Clearly the power of God’s inspired word can handle a translation without losing its power or truth.
Two Primary Translator Goals. The goals of our English translators of the Bible fall into two categories. The first is a “formal” or “literal” translation often called a “word for word” translation, where they seek to translate the “exact form” of the original into English. This was the goal of those who translated the KJV, NKJV, ASV, NASB, and ESV into English for they all believed in plenary inspiration (every word and tense, even syntax and grammar were inspired). Therefore these are called “literal” translations. That these things are important is seen when Jesus used the tense of a verb to prove the resurrection (Mt. 22: 23-33), and Paul using a singular noun to prove Abraham’s seed was Jesus, not the nation of Israel. When faced with a choice of “easy to read” or “accuracy,” we should choose the more accurate “literal” translations.
The second method of translation is called “dynamic equivalence” where the “sense” of a verse is created by a “thought for thought” translation. These translators read the Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek text, then with their own experiences seek to convey the thought and sense into English, but they will change word meanings, grammar, and tenses for the sake of easy reading. They become the interpreters of the literal text, leaving us with their interpretations instead of truth.
Two Examples. The preface of the popular NIV puts it this way: “The first concern of the translators has been the accuracy of the translation and the accuracy to the thought of the Biblical writers.” This sounds like a noble goal, but how would they accomplish it? The Holy Spirit did not even allow Paul to attempt it! The Spirit first gave Paul the thoughts (things), then the exact words and grammar to convey it: “Which things also we speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches, but which the Spirit teaches; combining spiritual things with spiritual (words).” (1Cor. 2:9-13) The Holy Spirit gave Paul the truth “word for word.” He did not allow Paul to use his own “thought for thought” when writing Scripture. God’s thoughts were perfectly revealed by the Holy Spirit word by word, tense by tense, noun by noun, participle by participle. If God knew His thoughts were so precise they must be revealed like that, what must He think of translators who are seeking “thought for thought” while translating God’s thoughts? There is no possible way they can make things more precise with a “thought for thought.”
The translators of the ESV capture this better than I can in the preface to the ESV:
- “The ESV is an “essentially literal” translation that seeks as far as possible to capture the precise wording of the original text and the personal style of each Bible writer. As such, its emphasis is on “word-for-word” correspondence, at the same time taking into account differences of grammar, syntax, and idiom between current literary English and the original languages. Thus it seeks to be transparent to the original text, letting the reader see as directly as possible the structure and meaning of the original.”
- “In contrast to the ESV, some Bible versions have followed a “thought-for-thought” rather than “word-for-word” translation philosophy, emphasizing “dynamic equivalence” rather than the “essentially literal” meaning of the original. A “thought-for-thought” translation is of necessity more inclined to reflect interpretive opinions of the translator and influences of contemporary culture.”
This is extremely dangerous in our morally relative society where political correctness has replaced even common sense. We see this in the “gender neutral” translation where all reference to male or female are removed. Clearly when this is done many things will be “lost in the translation.” Why would anyone want to trust man’s interpretive opinions when they could have the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in a “literal translation?”
Harder to Read, But More Accurate. While previous "literal" translations may be cumbersome and require more effort, the original intent of the Holy Spirit is still there. The tense, word order, gender, number, and idioms are all consistently translated. This makes it harder to read, and takes more study to master, but by this extra effort we can find the truth in the midst of our liberal society.
Think of it like this. A ruler is easier to read if it only has lines for 4th or 8th increments. Though harder to read, it is much more accurate with 32nd or 64th lines. If you want accuracy you use the latter. The same is true of a translation. The more accurate, the harder it will be to read, but over time the more truth we will find. Many newer translations always reflect the opinions of translators, but sometimes at the cost of the truth revealed by the Holy Spirit. Again, this is very dangerous.
A Warning. It was the apostle Peter who strongly warned against “private interpretation,” which is exactly what the “thought for thought” translators are doing.
- knowing this first, that no prophecy of scripture is of private interpretation. 21 For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but men spoke from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit. 2Pet. 1:20-21
Conclusion. If you want to check the translation philosophy of your own translation, read the preface. If they speak of “dynamic equivalence,” or “thought for thought,” put them away and find a literal translation. For only then can we know for certain we are fulfilling the words of Jesus:
- "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Jn 8:31-32