17 How to Choose a Bible Translation – Notes Download Translation basics Fee & Stuart: “Your Bible, whatever translation you use, which is your beginning point, is in fact the end result of much scholarly work. Translators are regularly called upon to make choices regarding meanings, and their choices are going to affect how you”1“Every translation is a commentary” -Lee Brice The Bible is in three languages. Hebrew: Old Testament except the Aramaic part Nearly 99% of the OT (22,945 of 23,213 verses) Aramaic: half of Daniel and two passages in Ezra Daniel 2.4b-7.28; Ezra 4.8-6.18; 7.12-26About 1% of the OT (268 of 23,213 verses) Greek: New Testament (all 7,968 verses) How to begin learning Hebrew or Greek Immersion program in Israel or Greece Whole Word Institute offers a 9-month program. In-person college class (usually 2 semesters) Local colleges, RTS offers an 8-week summer program. In-person classes at a Jewish synagogue or Greek church or community centerOnline program with live instructor Biblical Language Center, Liberty University, etc. Digital program with pre-recordings Aleph with Beth (YouTube), Bill Mounce’s DVD course, etc. How to improve your existing knowledge of Hebrew or Greek Reading group in-person or online Read a portion each week together. Daily dose of Hebrew/Greek/Aramaic Daily YouTube videos of one verse each (email list) Read every day. Read the Bible; read devotionals; read comic books (Glossa House produces great resources) Watch modern Hebrew and Greek shows. Izzy is like Netflix for Israel/HebrewGreece has lots of channels streaming online. Translation process (1 Timothy 2:5 example) Greek New Testament (NA28) Εἷς γὰρ θεός, εἷς καὶ μεσίτης θεοῦ καὶ ἀνθρώπων, ἄνθρωπος Χριστὸς Ἰησοῦς Literal translation One for god, one and mediator of god and men, man Christ JesusFinished translation For (there is) one God, and (there is) one mediator between God and mankind, (the) man Christ Jesus. New Testament critical editions Nestle Aland 28th Edition (NA28) based on the Editio Critica Maior (ECM), which employs the coherence based genealogical method (CBGM)Tyndale House Greek New Testament (THGNT) prioritizes trusted physical manuscripts over the CBGM. Old Testament critical editions Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS) and the partially completed Biblia Hebraica Quinta (BHQ) print the Leningrad Codex in the main text, but include alternative readings in the footnotes.Hebrew Bible Critical Edition (HBCE) by Ronald Mendel is a project of the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) to develop a critical edition. Resources to see decisions about alternative readings NET Bible (accessible at org)New Testament Text and Commentary by Philip ComfortA Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament by Bruce Metzger Formal equivalence translation philosophy Fee & Strauss: “If the Greek or Hebrew text uses an infinitive, the English translation will use an infinitive. When the Greek or Hebrew has a prepositional phrase, so will the English…The goal of this translational theory is formal correspondence as much as possible.”2Ron Rhodes: “Formal equivalence translations can also be trusted not to mix too much commentary in with the text derived from the original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts. To clarify, while all translation entails some interpretation, formal equivalence translations keep to a minimum in intermingling interpretive additives into the text. As one scholar put it, ‘An essentially literal translation operates on the premise that a translator is a steward of what someone else has written, not an editor and exegete who needs to explain or correct what someone else has written.’”3 Dynamic equivalence translation philosophy Ron Rhodes: “Dynamic equivalence translations generally use shorter words, shorter sentences, and shorter paragraphs. They use easy vocabulary and use simple substitutes for theological and cultural terminology. They often convert culturally dependent figures of speech into easy, direct statements. They seek to avoid ambiguity as well as biblical jargon in favor of a natural English style. Translators concentrate on transferring meaning rather than mere words from one language to another.”4 Formal vs. dynamic comparison Formal Equivalence Dynamic EquivalenceFormal Correspondence Functional EquivalenceWord for Word Thought for ThoughtLiteral ReadableTransparent to Originals Replicates ExperienceTransfer Interpretation Interpretation Built InAccurate Easy to Understand Formal equivalence Bibles ESV: English Standard VersionNASB: New American Standard BibleLSB: Legacy Standard BibleNRSV: New Revised Standard VersionHCSB: Holman Christian Standard Bible Gender Accuracy5 “Man” used to mean “men and women”“Men” used to mean “men and women”“he” used to mean “he or she”Translations are changing with the changes in the English language so that female...
