Bible Question: I have heard someone say recently that Bible translators intentionally changed words or mistranslated passages in order to line up with their theology. I find that hard to believe, given the enormous amount of work that goes into a translation by multiple people who will invariably disagree on some things. Can anyone else speak to this? How do we know that we have accurate translations of the original texts? |
Bible Answer: Dear djewell, Welcome to the forum! Textual criticism is the science of determining which manuscript is the closest to the original. This really is a science, and is pursued by many different scholars, frequently they are not religious people at all. The work of any individual scholar is heavily critiqued by all the rest of the scholars. Consequently, a consensus arises, one that improves all the time as we discover new manuscripts. By the way, in many cases we have many thousands of manuscripts from which to choose. In addition, we have quotations from early students of the Bible in the primitive church. Translation is a similar discipline, with the same kind of thorough cross-checking. Nonetheless, it can be something of an art. Fundamental presuppositions can have an impact on the results. For example, if the purpose of the translators is to provide primarily the sense of the original language text into the target language, then certain passages may be impacted. An example of this method, called dynamic equivalence, is the New International Version. If the purpose of the translators is to provide, as much as possible, a word-for-word rendering then this will have an impact as well. An example of this approach is the New American Standard Bible. The correctness of translation is based on the understanding of the original language in its cultural and historical context – something that is always changing as discoveries are made; and an understanding of the target language – something that is always changing with modern histories and cultures. Some of the choices are a bit difficult to provide a decisive answer. Let me give some examples: 1 Samuel 24:3 makes reference to Saul going into a cave to “cover his feet.” In the Hebrew of the day that was a euphemism for defecating. So the translator must decide: Should the phrase be translated word for word (i.e., “cover his feet”), with the fear of losing the meaning of the phrase; or should it be translated as to something more literal (i.e., “move his bowels”), with the fear that the contemporary expression will draw too much attention to phrase. That isn’t an easy choice! However, you can see how the translation presuppositions might cause the translator to make one choice or the other. Another word is the Greek “hairesis” which literally means “a choice at variance.” We might very rightly use the English word “schism.” Nonetheless, the Geneva and King James translators chose the English transliteration “heresy;” also quite rightly for their time. However, here is the catch: Today our understanding of the word “heresy” is a highly Biblical one. That is because the English has gradually evolved. The meaning changed because people were studying the Bible. Hence, though the word “schism” is technically more correct, the word “heresy” more accurately reflects the Greek word used by the writers of the NT. Another couple of examples are the words baptism and bishop. I will leave it to you to look into those words to judge the translators’ choices. So, in answer to your question: No, I do not believe anyone is translating words simply to fit their own theology. I can only think of maybe four instances where that may have happened in older translations – other than the New World Translation by the Russellites. There is just too much scrutiny going on. In the end, assuming the theological perspective is based on sola scriptura, a doctrine will not stand the test of time without the authority of the full sense of the Scriptures. I hope that is helpful. In Him, Doc |
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Questions and/or Subjects for Bible general Archive 4 | Author | ||
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djewell | ||
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DocTrinsograce | ||
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Cwinn | ||
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Cwinn | ||
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justme | ||
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jdvalmonte | ||
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jdvalmonte | ||
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jdvalmonte | ||
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unhappybaptist | ||
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DanMathews | ||
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Jluv402 | ||
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Jluv402 | ||
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FytRobert | ||
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GJF |