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Some Perspectives on Bible Translations
First, the Bible was originally written in either Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic. Fortunately, accurately understanding the meaning of these languages is available to anyone because of the hard work that language scholars have done, and the in-depth resources they have published. These resources include BDAG, NIDNTT, TWOT, and BDB (see these references in the Bibliography). As a result, no one, including the most learned scholars, has a superior knowledge of Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic vocabulary than what is provided in these resources. Accordingly, these resources are quoted throughout the suggested translation notes.
Of course, the same would be true for anyone who possessed lexicons and dictionaries of the English language. Because of such resources, no English scholar can claim superior knowledge of the meaning of an English word. Fortunately, the same can be said about the ancient languages used in the original writing of the Holy Scriptures.
The grammar of these languages is also important to understand in the task of translation (e.g. noun cases, verb moods, etc. in the Greek). This is where real expertise is needed. Fortunately, again, technical commentaries on Scripture provide the very best information on this issue, and they are regularly quoted in the notes for a suggested translation. Unfortunately, even the best ancient language scholars regularly disagree on grammar issues. However, modern translations are in general agreement on the grammar of a text, and these should be carefully considered in determining the correct translation. Therefore, the author’s suggested translation will often be very similar to the NIV, NLT, NASB, or a combination of these.
The most challenging and important task for any translators of Scripture is not to understand the ancient languages. Rather, it is to determine how to best explain the meaning of an ancient language word, phrase, or sentence, into clear, every-day English for modern-day English speakers. Unfortunately, this has not been accomplished as successfully as it could be. For example, the KJV is still one of the most popular translations in the world. But it is not a good translation for modern English speakers because it uses words that modern English speakers do not normally understand or use. Although to a lesser degree, many other English translations have a similar weakness.
Another potential weakness in many modern translations is the translation philosophy used. Generally, Bible translators have taken two approaches. One is “formal equivalence” or “word for word” translation. In this approach, a translator generally seeks to find one English word that best expresses one Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek word in a biblical text. The weakness of this approach is obvious. Many words in these ancient languages cannot be fully translated by just one English word.
Therefore, the second approach to Bible translation is superior for the modern English reader. It is referred to as “dynamic equivalence” or “thought for thought” translation. In this approach, both the overall context of the biblical text, and the overall intended thought of the author, are emphasized more in developing the translation. In addition, freedom is exercised to use an entire phrase of English words to fully translate the meaning of one Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic word. This usually produces a more accurate translation of the biblical authors’ intent to the modern English reader. But even in this approach, good translation is only accomplished if the best, clear, modern English is used.
The seriousness of the above weaknesses of many Bible versions should not be overlooked. Those weaknesses increase the possibility of a translation obscuring, or even distorting God’s word to God’s people.
In general, the NIV and NLT are used as default translations in Training Timothys material. However, when updated or expanded English seems helpful to better understand the original ancient language text, the author will offer a suggested and expanded translation. Again, it is only a suggestion, and the reader can evaluate the suggestion based on the Bible version they use and trust, and the translation notes usually provided. It is hoped the reader will often find that the suggested translation communicates the same meaning as a traditional translation, but perhaps in better and more modern, every-day English.