Read the Bible for Life By George Guthrie
Reading the Bible In Translation
chapter 3
As we are reading the Bible as a guide for all of life…
We should be grateful that we have access to God’s Word in our own language, so that we can understand its truth.
Ø Why do we need the Bible to be translated?
• God chose to inspire his prophets and apostles to write in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.
• Translation of God’s Word into another language has a long history and is even present in the Bible itself.
Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed. Laban said, "This heap is a witness between you and me today." That is why it was called Galeed. (Gen 31:47-48 NIV)
They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read. (Neh 8:8 NIV)
About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" (which means "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"). (Mat 27:46 NIV)
• Jesus and the apostles quoted from the Greek translation of the Old Testament that was available in their day.
• Throughout the history of God’s people, the sacred writings have been translated into various languages.
Ø Why do we have so many translations?
• Challenge of translation
• Advances in textual and linguistic information
• Language changes
• Different intended audiences
• Different translation techniques
Ø What are the different types of translations?
• Formal equivalent
• KJV, NKJV, NASB, ESV
• Functional equivalent
• NLT, CEV
• Balanced
• NIV, HCSB
Ø Is a translation the Word of God and can I have confidence in it?
• Translations are done by committees of scholars and are reviewed and checked for accuracy.
• Translations have been used by the church from the beginning.
Ø Should I use one translation or more than one?
• Yes.
• One regular translation for consistency and familiarity in reading and memorization.
• Multiple translations for study and comparison.
Ø Should I be thankful for the Bible in translation?
• 2251/6912 languages still do not have any Scripture.
• Those before us gave their lives so that we could have the Bible in our language.
• The Bible in our language is a gift of God’s grace.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cameron Jungels Eastside Baptist Church Jan 27 2013 Wed PM Unless otherwise noted, the verses are in NIV.