English Translations of the Bible (Part 2)

Author : Keith Sharp

For centuries the Roman Catholic Church controlled all Western Europe. The Pope would not let anyone translate the Bible into the language of the common people. Furthermore, few people could read and, before the invention of the printing press, Bibles had to be copied by hand and were very expensive. So, most people had little if any knowledge of God’s Word.

But John Wyclif, who is remembered as “The Morning Star of the Reformation,” translated the Bible from Latin into the English of his day in around 1384. He was severely persecuted by the Catholic Church for doing this.

William Tyndale completed a translation of the Bible from the original Hebrew and Greek into English in 1524. Because of this, the Church authorities condemned him as an heretic, and he was strangled and burned. His work heavily influenced the translators who gave the world the King James Version of the Bible.

Various other translations were made into English over the next seventy-five years.

In 1603 King James VI of England called a conference of the finest Hebrew and Greek scholars of England to make a standard translation from the original languages into English. Forty-seven scholars, working under guidelines established by the King, completed the translation in 1611. The King James Version of the Bible has been the standard version of the Bible in English ever since. It has had more influence on the English speaking world than any other book.

A number of translations have been made into English since 1611. In 1885 the English Revised Version appeared, the work of 101 scholars who basically agreed with the Westcott and Hort text. This version came out in American English in 1901 as the American Standard Version.

The Revised Standard Version (1947) and New Revised Standard Version (1989) are in basic agreement with the Nestle-Aland andUnited Bible Society texts.

In 1971 the New American Standard Bible, which basically agreed with the Nestle-Aland text, was published. This translation was updated in 1995.

The New King James Version, a revision of the old King James Version, was completed in 1982. It basically follows the Textus Receptus, like the old King James Version, but does make allowances for modern manuscript discoveries. This version is updated regularly.

The most popular modern English translation is the New International Version (1973), which follows the United Bible Society Greek text.

English Translations ComparedSome English translations are not useful for general reading. Some are one man translations, which makes them weighted toward the weaknesses of that man. The so-called New World Translation was made for the purpose of promoting Jehovah’s Witnesses doctrine. Some are not even translations but are paraphrases (putting into one’s own words what one thinks the author meant, e.g. The Living Bible). Some are so loosely translated they are more human doctrine than the word of God (e.g., Today’s English Version, also known as Good News for Modern Man and repackaged as The Book). The translators of the Revised Standard Version were heavily influenced by modernism, and this comes through (e.g., Isaiah 7:14, “young woman” rather than “virgin”). The New Revised Standard Version is influenced by both modernism and political correctness.

The New International Version uses the flawed translation method of “dynamic equivalence,” in which a word or phrase is translated in a “sense for sense” rather than “word for word” fashion. This makes for smoother reading in English, but it makes word studies difficult and gives greater room for doctrinal bias on the part of the translators to slip in. The Revised Standard Version and New Revised Standard Version also follow this method of translation. Furthermore, the translators of the NIV were heavily Calvinistic. The chairman of the translation team was Edwin H. Palmer, author of a textbook (The Five Points of Calvinism) in defense of Calvinism. Both these flaws are illustrated and demonstrated by the fact that theNIV usually mistranslates the Greek word “sarx” as “sinful nature” rather than correctly translating it as “flesh.” Also, the word “nomos” is mistranslated by the word “principle” in its first occurrence in Romans 3:27, whereas it is correctly translated by its primary meaning, “law,” in its second usage.

The New American Standard Bible, is a generally accurate, literal translation made by qualified scholars who believe in both the verbal inspiration of the Bible and the deity of Jesus Christ.

The New King James Version is a generally accurate, literal translation. Some printings of this version have footnotes specifying where the Nestle-Aland/United Bible Society (noted as “NU“) text differs from the Textus Receptus, and where the Textus Receptusdiffers from the majority text. These notes are a useful study tool. This version is updated annually.

ConclusionsMost importantly, we can trust our Bibles if we have a translation that is literal. There are not very many doubtful readings, and no Bible doctrine is affected by any disputed readings.

Translations are made by uninspired men. All of them have faults. But God in His providence has preserved His Word for us in our own language so we can understand His will (1 Peter 1:22-25). If you will study your Bible from a reliable English translation, you can know and do God’s will and go to heaven in the after awhile.