From God to Us: A Guide to How We Got Our Bible
(Eastside Baptist; Wed PM; May 29, 2013)
Where are we going?
Ø Composition
Ø Canonization
Ø Transmission
Ø Translation
Translation
Ø Why do we need translation?
Ø Is translation permitted?
Ø Brief history of English Bibles
Ø Translations and translation methodology
Why Translations?
From God to Us: A Guide to How We Got Our Bible
(Eastside Baptist; Wed PM; May 29, 2013)
Where are we going?
Ø Composition
Ø Canonization
Ø Transmission
Ø Translation
Translation
Ø Why do we need translation?
Ø Is translation permitted?
Ø Brief history of English Bibles
Ø Translations and translation methodology
Why Translations?
Ø Scriptures originally composed in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.
Ø Two options:
o Learn biblical languages fluently.
o Translate into other languages.
Is Translation Permitted?
Ø Evidence of translation in the Bible itself:
o Nehemiah 8:8 (into Aramaic)
o Mark 5:41 (“Little girl, arise!”)
o Mark 15:34 (My God, my God…
o John 1:42 (Cephas/Peter)
o John 19:20 (sign above cross)
Ø Early translations approved by apostles in NT:
o Hebrew Bible translated into Greek before Jesus’ time
o Evidence of use of Greek translation of OT in NT
o Translation variety in LXX
Ø Translations used by God’s faithful people throughout church history:
o Aramaic
o Greek
o Latin
o Syriac, and host of others
Ø Scriptures originally composed in common languages of the people.
o Evidence that God desires his truth to be communicated in a way that people can understand.
History of English Bibles
Ø Old English/Anglo-Saxon Period (450-1150)
Ø Middle English (1150-1475)
Ø Modern English (1475-present)
Old English/Anglo-Saxon
Ø Most people illiterate
Ø Only small portions into English, all done by hand
Ø All done from Latin Vulgate
Ø Caedmon (c. 670)
Ø Venerable Bede (8th century)
Ø Alfred the Great (849-899)
Middle English
Ø No complete Bible until end
Ø All done from Latin Vulgate
Ø John Wycliffe
o Strongly opposed by Catholics
o First whole Bible in 1380
o Followers burned at stake
o 1408 - Constitutions of Oxford
Ø John Purvey – continued work
Modern English
Ø Printing Press
Ø Emphasis on original languages
Ø Influx of Greek manuscripts into Europe
Ø Most early Bibles still contained Apocrypha
Ø England one of last to get whole Bible by printing press
Ø William Tyndale (1495-1536)
o First printed English NT
o Desired to get Scriptures into hand of common person
o Did translation in Germany
o Smuggled Bible into England
o Burned at stake in 1536
o Foundation for English Bibles
Ø Miles Coverdale (1488-1569)
o Assistant of Tyndale
o Printed first English Bible 1535
o First to separate Apocrypha from OT and place in appendix
o Bible welcomed in England because Henry VIII broke from Catholic church in 1534.
Ø Thomas Matthew (1500-1555)
o Pen name for John Rogers
o Assistant of Tyndale
o Printed his Bible, based on Tyndale and Coverdale, in 1537
Ø Great Bible (1539)
o Revision of Matthew’s Bible by Coverdale
o Large Bible (16.5 by 11 inches)
o Also called Cranmer’s Bible, blessed by Thomas Cranmer
o First Bible authorized for use in Church of England
Ø Geneva Bible (1560)
o Produced in Geneva by Puritan Protestants fleeing persecution
o William Whittingham, with help of Coverdale and Knox
o Verse divisions/clear type/notes
o First entire OT based on Hebrew
o Most popular Bible in homes
Ø Bishop’s Bible (1568)
o Geneva Bible unacceptable to royalty and to church establishment
o Replaced Great Bible as official Church of England translation
o Inferior to Geneva Bible in quality, never popular
Ø Authorized Version/King James
o Intended to replace Bishops’ Bible and supplant Geneva
o Used a team of scholars (47) and guidelines approved by King.
o Main base text was the Bishops’ Bible as well as 2nd Great Rabbinic Bible and Beza’s NT.
- Took about 50 years for KJV to supplant Geneva Bible in popularity
- KJV has gone through numerous revisions since 1611.
- Most modern KJVs are 1762 Paris/Cambridge or 1769 Blayney/Oxford.
Ø Discoveries of 1700-1800’s
o Vast amount of new Greek NT texts found during this period.
o Called for revision of KJV based on these new findings.
o Also need to update archaic language.
Ø Revised Version (1881/1885)
o Update to KJV by 60 British and 30 American scholars
o KJV is base text
o Incorporate older Greek mss.
o Paragraph formatting
o Never popular in churches, because of rough English
Ø ASV (1901)
o Revision of RV by Americans
o No Apocrypha
o Better English style
o Adopted by Presbyterian Church in 1901
Ø RSV (1946/1952)
o Revision of ASV
o Sponsored by National Council of Churches
o Modernized English (saith to says; Thou to you)
o Mostly liberal scholars – never accepted by evangelicals.
Ø NASB (1963/1971)
o Revision of ASV by evangelical, conservative scholars not happy with RSV
o Very literal (word for word) translation.
o Update released in 1995, which changed thee/thou to you.
Ø Living Bible
o Free paraphrase of ASV by Kenneth Taylor
o Originally intended for his children, but later published and became very popular
o Not accurate, based on paraphrase of English Bible
Ø NIV (1973/1978)
o First original translation of original languages, not based on previous English Bible
o Employed a balance of literal and meaning based translation
o First Bible to outsell KJV
o Updated in 2011
Ø NKJV (1979/1982)
o Modern English revision of KJV
o Based on same textual foundation as KJV translators
o Updated archaic language
Ø NRSV (1990)
o Update of RSV
o Ecumenical and liberal scholars on committee
o Not welcomed by most evangelicals
Ø NLT (1996; updated 2004)
o Thorough revision of Living Bible, using original languages
o Done by committee, not one person
o More of a dynamic, meaning centered translation than a paraphrase.
Ø NET (1996)
o Done by scholars collaborating on internet
o Freely available on net at www.bible.org
o Supplies over 60,000 notes on text, translation, and meaning
Ø HCSB (2000, 2004)
o Endeavors to be balance of literal and meaning based translation
o Commissioned by Lifeway (SBC) and published by Broadman/Holman.
o Replaces NIV in Lifeway studies
Ø ESV (2001)
o Conservative, evangelical group obtained rights to 1971 RSV.
o Revision of RSV
o Tends toward literal (word for word) style
o More readable than NASB
Ø Advantages of Modern Bibles
o Paragraph divisions
o Replace obsolete words
o Update old/obscure English
o Removes ambiguous language
o Improved understanding of original languages
- Marking of poetic sections
- Use of older and more geographical diverse manuscripts
- Improved understanding of ancient customs, geography, and history
Translation
Ø Why do we need translation?
Ø Is translation permitted?
Ø Brief history of English Bibles
Ø Translations and translation methodology
Translation Methodology
Ø Spectrum between:
o Formal equivalence
ü Emphasis on original form and sentence structure
ü English is vastly different from Hebrew and Greek in structure
ü Unnatural English
ü Ambiguous translations
ü Less emphasis on form and structure
ü More emphasis on conveying meaning
ü Natural English
ü More specific translations
ü More interpretive
Ø Representatives:
o Formal equivalence
ü NASB; ESV; KJV; NKJV; NRSV
o Functional equivalence
ü NET; HCSB; NIV; NLT
o Paraphrase
ü Living Bible
Choosing a Translation
Ø Have one main Bible to read and memorize from.
Ø Consult multiple translations when studying:
o KJV or NKJV
o NASB or ESV
o NIV or HCSB
o NLT
