Bible Question:
Hi Tim, There are a bunch more verses that the NIV and others leave out when compared to the KJV. My question is.... what constitutes the "best" manuscripts? God Bless, bgg |
Bible Answer: Hello, bgg. How lucky you are! You have received excellent responses to your question from a trio of responsible people who have been a part of the census of this forum for a long time and whom I consider among the elite "true-blue" users! [I can almost see them blushing :-)] While the talk has been about manuscripts -- that was, after all, your question -- I'd like to append a short remark or two about the other factor involved in what you read in the finished product, the English language edition of the Scriptures. I'm speaking, of course, about translation. I've read a good deal about manuscripts and translations, and there is a reasonably impressive consensus among scholars that the differences in manuscripts are actually not terribly pronounced and that, by and large, they tend to be fairly insignifcant, the differences involving no major doctrinal issues. But on the subject of translations and translation philosophies, conservative biblical scholars have been quite vocal. There has been fairly recently a plethoric rise in the number of 'dynamic equivalence' or paraphrased versions to hit the market. These run the gamut from loosey-goosey paraphrases such as The Living Bible and The Message to more modest paraphrasing such as the New International Version. A concomitant of many of these paraphrased versions has been the inclusion of gender-neutral language, for which Zondervan's newest child, the TNIV, has come under intense fire from many conservative groups. Opinions are divided in regard to paraphrased versions. Proponents say that they read smoother and are easier to understand. Opponents counter that they take far too many liberties with the sacred text, and that what the reader reads may not be what the text actually says or means but what the translators say it says and means. I happen to pitch my tent in the camp of opponents of paraphrased versons, preferring a more literal translation. In this group of more literally accurate English translations are, in addition to the venerable old King James Bible, the New King James Version, the New American Standard Bible, and two newcomers whose success is yet to be determined, the Holman Christian Standard Bible and the English Standard Version. --Hank |