How We Got the BibleThe Bible In Your Hands

General Outline

9. Gnostic Gospels & Beyond10.Textual Criticism11.The Catholic Era & The Reformation12.The Bible in Your Hand

Outline for Study• Why Talk About This?• Translation Philosophies• Other Specific Translation Issues• Which One Is “Right”?• Ben’s General Rules

Why Talk About This?• An Almost Uniquely English Problem

The Version Wars• It was believed that changed Bibles would

lead to a changed church.• It was thought that this could be prevented.Conclusions:• We don’t want to be the people that tell

others to use our “special Bible.”• We need to teach people about the Bible’s

they actually have.

Translation Philosophies

WORD FOR WORD• FORMAL CORRESPONDENCE: Translators try

to retain as much of the originating text’s sentence structure and word order as possible.

THOUGHT FOR THOUGHT• DYNAMIC EQUIVALENCE: Translators put the

ideas of the originating text into the equivalent images and language of the receiving culture.

Translation Philosophies

Translation Philosophies

Example: 1 Corinthians 11:20

• INTERLINEAR: Coming together therefore you to the it not it is of the Lord a supper to eat.

Example: 1 Corinthians 11:20

• INTERLINEAR: Coming together therefore you to the it not it is of the Lord a supper to eat.

FORMAL CORRESPONDENCE• KJV: When ye come together therefore into

one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper.• NASB ‘95: Therefore when you meet

together, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper,

Example: 1 Corinthians 11:20

• INTERLINEAR: Coming together therefore you to the it not it is of the Lord a supper to eat.

DYNAMIC EQUIVALENCE• NIV ‘84: When you come together, it is not

the Lord’s Supper you eat,• ESV: When you come together, it is not the

Lord’s supper that you eat.

Example: 1 Corinthians 11:20

• INTERLINEAR: Coming together therefore you to the it not it is of the Lord a supper to eat.

LOOSE DYNAMIC EQUIVALENCE• NLT: When you meet together, you are not

really interested in the Lord's Supper.• GOD’S WORD: When you gather in the same

place, you can’t possibly be eating the Lord's Supper.

Example: 1 Corinthians 11:20

• INTERLINEAR: Coming together therefore you to the it not it is of the Lord a supper to eat.

PARAPHRASE• MESSAGE: You come together, and instead of

eating the Lord’s Supper, you bring in a lot of food from the outside and make pigs of yourselves.

Example: Matthew 26:27• INTERLINEAR: Drink ye of it all.• KJV: Drink ye all of it.• ESV: Drink of it, all of you.• NIV ‘84: Drink from it, all of you.• MESSAGE: Drink this, all of you.

Example: Romans 10:10• INTERLINEAR: For with heart [one] believes

unto righteousness, and with mouth [one] confesses unto salvation.

FORMAL CORRESPONDENCE• KJV: For with the heart man believeth unto

righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Example: Romans 10:10

DYNAMIC EQUIVALENCE• NASB ’95: for with the heart a person

believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

• NIV ’84: For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

• ESV: For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

Example: Romans 10:10

LOOSE DYNAMIC EQUIVALENCE• NLT: For it is by believing in your heart that

you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.

• GOD’S WORD: By believing you receive God's approval, and by declaring your faith you are saved.

Example: Romans 10:10

PARAPHRASE• MESSAGE: With your whole being you

embrace God setting things right, and then you say it, right out loud: “God has set everything right between him and me!”

Other Specific Translation Issues

Gender Neutrality• Good: 1 Timothy 5:8• Neutral: Mark 16:16; Matthew 4:4• Bad: Gender of God? (Hebrews 12:7)• (NIV ‘84) “Endure hardship as discipline; God is

treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?”

• (NIrV) “Put up with hard times. God uses them to train you. He is treating you as children. What children are not trained by their parents?”

Other Specific Translation Issues

Textual Criticism• Erasmus (16C): 6 mss• Mill / Textus Receptus (17C): 82 mss• Westcott-Hort (19C): Eclectic, Primarily 2 mss• Modern Text (20C): 5,000+ mss & a lot moreImportant Questions• How many manuscripts (etc.) available?• How are manuscripts evaluated?

Which One Is “Right”?

The Version you want to use depends on your purpose.• Word-For-Word: Good for word studies (as

long as you trust the words).• Thought-For-Thought: Good for extended

readings (as long as you trust the thoughts).• Paraphrase: Good for a paraphrase (as long

as you trust the paraphrase).

Ben’s General Rules• Read criticisms of your Bible.• Avoid single author translations for primary

Bible usage.• Avoid translations with a stated agenda.• Be cautious in study from though-for-

thought translations.• Paraphrase Bibles should not be your

primary Bible.• Parallel Bibles: Beware of “picking” phrases.