Selected Essays And Book Reviews
OBST 590 - Old Testament Introduction
Lesson 4. Variants in Translations {968 words}
1. Discuss preinterpretation. In terms of hermeneutics, preinterpretation can be grammatical, historical, or literary. Christians approach the Bible with presuppositions, while non-Christians approach the Bible like any other book. Proverbs 30:5-6 teaches that each word of God is pure and trustworthy. The reader should not add to it. Preinterpretation is part of general introduction, and it involves (1) the presuppositions about inspiration and canonicity that people bring to a study of the Bible, (2) the use of variants in the various translations, and (3) textual criticism, which will be discussed in Lesson 5.
When we encounter an English text in the Bible, how do we know that it is reliable? The process of translating Hebrew into a target language, such as English, involves: (1) one-to-one correspondence where the translation is one word for one word and they are the same words in both languages (this is not really possible when going from one language to another, but one might be able to get within 95% of this standard), (2) any translation is to some extent an interpretation of the original but not in the sense of a commentary, (3) base text (translating from one manuscript to the translated version) versus eclectic text (translating from multiple text where there may be some minor differences into the one translated text), and (4) a formal equivalent (which is the direct translation and close to the one-to-one correspondence standard) versus the functional equivalent (aims at hitting the essence of the expression).
2. Discuss some of the English variants that have been used. The English variants have been grouped into the following types:
(a) updating the languages (Hebrew was not the same from Moses to Ezra, and English has not been the same from 1600 to the present - KJV to NIV went from "glorify" to "honor", from "charity" to "love". In these instances, the NIV uses the more common word.) In Nehemiah 13:26, "outlandish (not of this land - KJV) was replaced by "foreign" (NIV) to mean people who worship foreign gods,
(b) transliteration versus translation (using "Negev" (the original Hebrew word) instead of "south". In Genesis 22:14, "Jehovah-jirah" and "The Lord will provide". Both are correct.),
(c) removing a figure of speech (can be difficult if we have lost that figure of speech from the original language - In Exodus 1:21, "houses" (KJV) and "families" (NIV). In Hebrew, houses can mean household. In Genesis 22:17, "gate" and "cities" where gate can mean the whole city. So, the NIV by using cities is removing the figure of speech. The interpreter must be careful when doing this because the communication might be lost. In II Samuel 9:7, "father" and "grandfather" because Hebrew does not have the word "grandfather" but uses "father" in many instances.),
(d) clarification occurs quite rarely (about 1 out of every 50 or 100 verses - adding one or two English words to enhance the meaning. In Genesis 14:11, "the four king seized" (NIV) and "they seized" (KJV). The NIV added the four kings because this cleared up the confusion in the verse. The "they" could have been the four kings or the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, until one reads the whole chapter and sees the one it is. The KJV italicizes clarifications as in Psalm 7:11, "God is angry with the wicked" (can also be underlined)),
(e) tenses (in Exodus 11:1, "Now the Lord had said to Moses" (pluperfect tense where past action is preceded by another past action). In II Samuel 11:4, "she had purified herself from her uncleanness" is also pluperfect tense.)
(f) meaning of words (our understanding of the meaning of words can change) - In Genesis 28:12, "ladder" (KJV) and "stairway" (NIV) because the angels would not have moved up and down a ladder. In Genesis 37:3, "many colors" (KJV) and "richly ornamented" (NIV) because no one is sure if the word really means many colors,
(g) versions (dealing with ancient versions like Hebrew to Greek - in Isaiah 33:8, "cities" and "witnesses" which is not a clarification or a figure of speech. This is two different translations looking at two different words.
3. Discuss how variants can be applied. The application of variants is well suited for apologetics and hermeneutics. Students of the Bible would do well to compare different translations when they study.
4. Name some related books. Some related texts for this lesson are: (1) The English Bible from KJV to NIV, by Jack Lewis and (2) The Comparative Study Bible, which has the KJV, NIV, NAS, and the Amplified versions of the Bible.
5. Discuss some of the variants in Judges 6. (1) In Judges 6:15, the KJV uses the word "least" and the NIV uses "youngest". This is probably a result of an interpretation difference where "least" is more of a one-to-one correspondence. (2) In Judges 6:24, the KJV says "Jehovah-shalom" and the NIV says "The Lord is peace". This is a transliteration where the KJV uses the Hebrew rendering. (3) In Judges 6:25, the KJV says "grove", the NAS says "Asherod", and the NIV says "wood of the Asherod". This particular variant is a mixture of transliteration (Asherod) and clarification. (4) In Judges 6:32, the KJV says "He contended", the NAS says "He has torn", and the NIV says "Gideon has torn". This variant is an example of clarification.
Tom of Bethany
"He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." (I John 5:12)
"And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:13)
Index to Selected Essays And Book Reviews
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