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NASB | 2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed [given by divine inspiration] and is profitable for instruction, for conviction [of sin], for correction [of error and restoration to obedience], for training in righteousness [learning to live in conformity to God's will, both publicly and privately--behaving honorably with personal integrity and moral courage]; |
Subject: Good-bye, NIV |
Bible Note: Markarios, you ask a good question: "Has the English language really changed to the point that we must update the NIV, a translation that has enjoyed 24 years of existence?" My answer is an unvarnished no. Here's why: Unless a version is written purely in slang and colloquialisms, which change rapidly with each generation, there is no cogent reason to rewrite a version that is rendered in standard English every two decades or so, because standard English expression changes with far less rapidity than that. A piece of literary writing of even a hundred years ago bears up well and is fully understood by readers today who possess but ordinary reading skills. If you juxtapose two pieces of writing of equal reading levels, one written 100 years ago and the other written last week, a reader who comprehends the one will comprehend the other to an equal degree. According to qualified teachers of English, fully 85 per cent of the King James Bible, now nearing 400 years of age, is fully understood by the majority of readers who read at the high-school level. So where else can we turn to seek answers for this trend to revise, update, and translate so frequently? Is it because of truly major breakthroughs in manuscript sources or in knowledge of the ancient languages? The answer can be nothing but no to that, because the English text translated by the King James translation team does not vary in any really substantive or doctrinally important way from the text of Bibles being translated today with fidelity to the ancient manuscripts. So, if neither the language nor manuscript knowledge is the real reason for incessant revised editions, then what is?...... Perhaps it fair to make a market comparison. Why do automobile manufacturers make so many stylistic changes? Is the style of last year's model so flawed that a change simply must be made in this year's model? I think we know the answer to why car manufacturers are committed to constant change. And looking to them, we may find the answer to why there are so many "new models" of Bibles flooding the market. --Hank |